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The Situation Room

Autopsy Report Released for Cory Monteith; George Zimmerman Verdict Reaction

Aired July 16, 2013 - 18:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news we're following. The coroner finds a fatal mix of heroin and alcohol in the "Glee" star Cory Monteith. We're standing by on a press conference for his death. Also, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us live.

Plus, the attorney general's very personal remarks about Trayvon Martin's death and George Zimmerman's acquittal. Did he reassure members of the African-American community who are demanding federal action?

And two exclusive CNN interviews and two different takes on the George Zimmerman trial. We're comparing the views of juror B-37 and Rachel Jeantel, the witness.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

All that and a lot more coming up, but the breaking news on the sudden shocking death of Cory Monteith, the 31-year-old Canadian star of the hit TV musical series "Glee." He was found dead in a Vancouver hotel over the weekend. Autopsy reports -- results have just been released confirming the worst fears of the actor's family, friends, so many fans out there who witnessed his long struggle with substance abuse.

We're standing by for a news conference from the Vancouver police.

But first let's go to CNN's Tory Dunnan. She's in Los Angeles. She's got more on what is going on.

What did the coroner say, Tory?

TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the British Columbia coroner's office just released new information regarding Cory Monteith's cause of death. An autopsy and toxicology testing confirmed that the "Glee" star died of a lethal combination involving heroin and alcohol.

Monteith's was found you might remember at his hotel resume in Vancouver on Saturday afternoon. That was after he failed to check out on time. Video surveillance showed the actor going out with friends the night before but coming back to the hotel alone. Monteith was really relatively open about his struggle. It was just this past spring that he decided to check himself into rehab. And also in previous interviews the 31-year-old actor had often described himself as an out of control teen who abused drugs and alcohol. That he would often skip school to drink and smoke pot when he was just 13. His teen years were really a far cry from the character Finn he portrayed on screen. More information, Wolf, the coroner's officer says there is nothing to suggest this is anything other than just a very tragic accident. And, Wolf, we're told his family knows about the circumstances regarding his death. We should find out more information soon.

BLITZER: In fact, we're going to find out a little bit more right now. Let's go to the news conference in Vancouver. Authorities there are speaking out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was an overdose and a tragic accident. The (INAUDIBLE) has been released and the file will remain with the coroner's office.

The police investigation has been concluded unless new information is received. Again, we'd like to express our condolences to the family, friends, colleagues, cast mates, and fans of Mr. Monteith. At this time I will try to answer any questions you have.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. The coroner's report doesn't suggest levels of alcohol and heroin. It just indicates that it was heroin and alcohol that were -- that killed Mr. Monteith. So I don't have the levels. So I can't answer that question.

QUESTION: Do you know whether it was injected, smoked, or snorted?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would be something that's now in the hands of the coroner. They will have to provide that in their final report.

QUESTION: You said this investigation is concluded. So (OFF-MIKE) any attempt where he got the heroin from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is -- from the police perspective, the investigation has been concluded. This -- there are provisions in the criminal code like criminal negligence, provisions that there's a duty to provide the necessities of life.

Our investigation shows that Mr. Monteith was alone at the time he died. And that's -- the factors involved in his death wouldn't be relevant to an investigation of that sort.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's our belief.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's something you would have to ask the coroner. I don't have that information.

QUESTION: How is it possible they were able to get these results so quickly?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, you would have to ask the coroner. They're responsible for toxicology reports and findings.

QUESTION: Have the police been able to identify and discuss with people who were with Cory earlier in the evening...

BLITZER: All right, so there you have it. Cory Monteith died of what the coroner says was a mixed drug toxicity involving heroin and alcohol.

Let's bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

This combination of heroin and alcohol, two substances potentially, what, it can kill you.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it could. And you just obviously heard there from the official report that it was a mixed drug toxicity.

So these two substances together. We have talked about this with other tragic stories, Wolf. One thing to keep in mind when you talk about these types of substances, heroin is really sort of a derivative of morphine. It's a type of morphine. And both that and alcohol basically they suppress your body's central nervous system.

What that means is that your body constantly has a reflex to beat the heart on its own, to breathe on its own. When these two substances are in too high a dose, obviously, as you just heard there, the body's drive to breathe is essentially suppressed. We heard about the same sort of thing although with different drugs with Michael Jackson.

But that's a common scenario. We talked about this before, but in this country, accidental drug overdoses involving all sorts of different substances, a lot of them prescription pain kills, accidentally kill somebody every 19 minutes. So we're talking about it with regard to Mr. Monteith. But this is a very common and tragic problem.

BLITZER: Only 31 years old. He told "Parade" magazine back, what, in 2011 he began using drugs at the age of 13. He went into rehab the first -- this year, he was in the rehab.

I guess it must be so hard once you're hooked on heroin or alcohol, unless you're an incredibly powerful person with a great desire to stop it, even if you have the best rehab people in the world, it's very hard to get off of it.

GUPTA: Heroin is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. And so you're absolutely right.

You know, they grade these types of things, heroin, cocaine, nicotine, alcohol. Heroin ranks there right there at the very top. And it is incredibly difficult to recover from the addiction. The sadder truth is a small fraction of the people who need treatment for addiction actually get it. Then of the people who actually get treatment, maybe 20 percent to 30 percent actually have abstinence after a few years.

So a lot of people go through rehab over and over again and have relapses. Those aren't considered failures in the addiction community, but you're absolutely right. It usually involves multiple trips to rehab. And even then fewer than 50 percent stay abstinent off of heroin.

And again you combine it with alcohol, which is safe which is -- I'm sorry -- easier to obtain, which is legal, and you start combining it with heroin and you get a sort of double problem, Wolf.

BLITZER: What a tragedy. What waste of a great, great talent. He was so good in "Glee," as so many of the fans know. Our heart goes out to his family and his friends. Sanjay, thanks very much for helping us better appreciate this horrible, horrible addiction.

Now to the backlash from the George Zimmerman trial that continues. Just a little while ago, the attorney general of the United States, Eric Holder, faced hundreds of the harshest critics of Zimmerman's not guilty verdict. He spoke to members of the NAACP, not simply as the nation's top law enforcement officer, but also as a father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Trayvon's death last spring caused me to sit down to have a conversation with my own 15-year-old son, like my dad did with me.

This was a father/son tradition I hoped would not need to be handed down. But as a father who loves his son and who is more knowing in the ways of the world, I had to do this to protect my boy. I am his father. And it is my responsibility not to burden him with the baggage of eras long gone, but to make him aware of the world that he must still confront.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: It was a very personal take on the death of Trayvon Martin as the Obama administration now facing growing pressure to pursue civil rights charges against George Zimmerman.

The NAACP says it now has one million, one million signatures on a petition urging the Justice Department to take action against Zimmerman.

Our national political correspondent, Jim Acosta is over at the White House getting more reaction over there.

What else are you hearing, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, under pressure from civil rights groups across the country, President Obama and his administration, they are under growing pressure to take some kind of federal action with respect to the stand your ground laws that are in place in states like Florida.

And Eric Holder earlier today the attorney general sharply criticized that law. He made the comments as you mentioned, Wolf, just a few moments ago during a speech at an NAACP conference in Florida. The law allows people in Florida and more than 20 other states to use deadly force to defend themselves if they feel they are seriously threatened.

That would be something they would do instead of fleeing or retreating. Stand your ground was not used in the Zimmerman defense, but one of the jurors in that trial did tell CNN's Anderson Cooper that they felt or at least this one juror felt that Zimmerman had a right to stand his ground in his confrontation with Trayvon Martin.

Holder did not say the Justice Department would take some kind of direct federal action against Florida to challenge stand your ground, but he did say the law needs to be re-examined.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLDER: It's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods. These laws try to fix something that was never broken. There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if -- and the if is important -- if no safe retreat is available.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, Holder did seem to go a bit further than White House Press Secretary Jay Carney who said earlier today at the news briefing here at the White House that the president believes some of the laws in these states need to be examined through the prism he said of gun violence.

Now, as for the law in Florida, Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican there, he is defending stand your ground. His office put out a statement earlier today saying that a bipartisan commission examined that law in the aftermath of the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case and that at this stage, the governor there believes that that law should be kept and that he defends that law.

And I should also point out President Obama did sit down for a series of interviews with Spanish-language TV stations. No definitive word yet as to whether or not he commented on that case or on the stand your ground law. But at this point the White House and the attorney general seems to be saying these laws need to be reexamined, but not necessarily that any kind of federal action will be taken any time soon -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jim, thanks very much. Jim Acosta reporting from the White House.

Up next, the first Zimmerman juror to speak out, her insights on the trial and whether racial profiling for a factor. This is a CNN exclusive. And a North Korean ship is seized with secret weapons hidden in the cargo of brown sugar, setting off a violent confrontation, and lots of international intrigue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: CNN is getting ready to roll out never-seen portions of our exclusive interview with one of the six jurors in the Zimmerman trial. She spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper, the first juror to speak out publicly about the testimony, the deliberations, and the not guilty verdict.

The juror called B-37 told Anderson she doesn't believe race or racial profiling were factors in the trial.

Listen to this clip that's been getting lots of attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The prosecution didn't use the word racial profiling during the case. They used the word profiling. And that was something that was worked out between the judge and the lawyers when the jury wasn't in the room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

COOPER: Do you feel that George Zimmerman racially profiled Trayvon Martin? Do you think race played a role in his decision, his view of Trayvon Martin as suspicious?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think he did. I think just circumstances caused George to think that he might be a robber, or trying to do something bad in the neighborhood because of all that had gone on previously. There were an unbelievable number of robberies in the neighborhood.

COOPER: So you don't believe race played a role in this case?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it did. I think if there was another person, Spanish, white, Asian, if they came in the same situation where Trayvon was, I think George would have reacted the exact same way.

COOPER: Why do you think George Zimmerman found Trayvon Martin suspicious then?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because he was cutting through the back, it was raining. He said he was looking in houses as he was walking down the road. Kind of just not having a purpose to where he was going. He was stopping and starting.

But, I mean, that's George's rendition of it, but I think the situation where Trayvon got into him being late at night, dark at night, raining, and anybody would think anybody walking down the road stopping and turning and looking, if that's exactly what happened, is suspicious. And George said that he didn't recognize who he was. COOPER: Well, was that a common belief on the jury that race was not -- that race did not play a role in this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think all of us thought that race did not play a role.

COOPER: So nobody thought race played a role?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think so.

COOPER: None of the jurors?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't speak for them. I'm not their voice...

COOPER: That wasn't part of the discussion in the jury room?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, we never had that discussion.

COOPER: It didn't come up, the question of, did George Zimmerman profile Trayvon Martin because he was African-American?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I think he just profiled him because he was the neighborhood watch, and he profiled anyone who came in acting strange. I think it was just circumstances happened that he saw Trayvon at the exact time that he thought he was suspicious.

COOPER: The prosecution tried to paint George Zimmerman as a wannabe cop, overeager. Did you buy that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's overeager to help people, like the lady who got broken in and robbed while her baby and her were upstairs.

He came over and offered her a lock for her back sliding glass door. He offered her his phone number, his wife's phone number. He told her that she could come over if she felt stressed or she needed anybody, come over to their house, sit down, have dinner. Not anybody -- I mean, you have to have a heart to do that and care and help people.

COOPER: So you didn't find it creepy that -- you didn't find it a negative? You didn't buy the prosecution when they kind of said he was a wannabe cop?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I didn't at all.

COOPER: Is George Zimmerman somebody you would like to have on a neighborhood watch in your community?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he didn't go too far. I mean, you can always go too far. He just didn't stop at the limitations that he should have stopped at.

COOPER: So is that a yes or -- if he didn't go too far, is he somebody prone, you think, to going too far? Is he somebody you would feel comfortable -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he was frustrated. I think he was frustrated with the whole situation in the neighborhood, with the break-ins and the robberies. And they actually arrested somebody not that long ago. I -- I mean, I would feel comfortable having George, but I think he's learned a good lesson.

COOPER: So you would feel comfortable having him now, because you think he's learned a lesson from all of this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. I think he just didn't know when to stop. He was frustrated, and things just got out of hand.

COOPER: People have now remarked subsequently that he gets his gun back. And there are some people that said that the idea that he gets -- is -- can have a gun, worries them. Does that worry you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't worry me. I think he would be more responsible than anybody else on this planet right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Anderson Cooper, by the way, will join us a little bit later this hour with more on the interview, his impressions of this juror called B-37.

Coming up, two very different views of the George Zimmerman trial. We will have a closer look at CNN's exclusive interviews with the juror and a star witness.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Hidden weapons and international intrigue involving a North Korean ship, Cuba, and the Panama Canal.

Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High drama when the Panamanians seized this North Korean cargo ship and found weapons-related parts on board.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli detailed what happened next.

RICARDO MARTINELLI, PANAMA PRESIDENT (through translator): We faced great resistance from the ship's captain and the 35 crew members. The captain initially suffered what seemed to be a heart attack. Then he tried to commit suicide.

STARR: Panama showed the smuggled material, including what the U.S. believes is a surface-to-air missile radar hidden under bags of sugar from Cuba.

MARTINELLI (through translator): And, honestly, this kind of military equipment can't go through the country while declaring it is something else, especially hiding it, as you can see for yourselves. STARR: U.S. intelligence had been watching the ship for days and knew in advance that Panama would stop the freighter, a senior U.S. official tells CNN. The North Korean ship is believed to have first gone to Cuba, picked up the missile radar, and was headed back through the Panama Canal.

U.S. officials are looking at the possibility that Cuba was sending the equipment to North Korea for an upgrade.

PATRICK VENTRELL, STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESMAN: It's going to take some time to confirm the details of this case, but that kind of export would be a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution.

STARR: All indications are U.S. intelligence tipped off the Panamanians to the North Korean ship. The canal is a security nightmare for billions of dollars in shipping; 14,000 vessels transit every year; 60 percent of the cargo carried is either delivered to the U.S. or shipped from American ports; 755,000 barrels a day of crude oil and other fuels move through the canal.

BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: They unearthed this problem with the North Koreans. So it's great. It really is a tribute to the Panamanians. You have to have a very aggressive entry and exit procedure to make sure that what is going through, what's passing through the canal is in fact intended for commercial purposes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: The Panamanian government now is asking for a team of international inspectors to board the ship, look at the cargo, and determine exactly what was hidden under those Cuban bags of sugar -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Barbara, thank you.

Up next, though, we will get back to the George Zimmerman verdict. Were juror B-37 and witness Rachel Jeantel at the same trial? We're comparing their very different takes on the case in exclusive CNN interviews.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Two women, one a juror, the other a witness, with two completely different takes on George Zimmerman's murder trial, both exclusive CNN interviews truly fascinating to watch.

And we learned a lot about what jurors were thinking during the trial, and later, when they found George Zimmerman not guilty. We saw a new side of Trayvon Martin's friend, Rachel Jeantel, than we saw on the witness stand as well. But their conflicting views may have stood out most of all.

Let's bring in CNN's Brian Todd. He's been comparing these two respective interviews.

What are you seeing, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, what is extraordinary here is that these women both crucial players in this trial each sat in the courtroom for extended periods and they come away with such different views of the case. We are talking about Juror B-37 who did an exclusive interview with our Anderson Cooper and Rachel Jeantel a key witness for the prosecution whose testimony was so controversial.

She did an exclusive interview with our Piers Morgan. First we're going to look at their takes on whether George Zimmerman was racially profiling Trayvon Martin just before their encounter. You're going to hear first from the juror, then from Jeantel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUROR B-37, ZIMMERMAN TRIAL: No. I think he just profiled him because he was the neighborhood watch and he profiled anybody that came in acting strange. I think it was just circumstances happened that he saw Trayvon at the exact time that he thought he was suspicious.

RACHEL JEANTEL, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FRIEND: It was racial. Let's be honest. Racial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: The juror saying no racial profiling; Rachel Jeantel saying clearly racial profiling. Now we get their versions of whether Trayvon Martin threw the first punch in the encounter.

First you'll hear from the juror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUROR: I think he did.

COOPER: What makes you think that?

JUROR: Because the evidence of on the T, on the sidewalk where George says he was punched, there was evidence of his flashlight and Keys there. And then a little bit farther down, there was a flashlight that he was carrying. And I think that's where Trayvon hit him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So the juror with the strong view that Trayvon Martin threw that first punch.

But Rachel Jeantel was asked by Piers Morgan did Trayvon have that in him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANTEL: No. No. Trayvon was too quiet, and why Trayvon going to run if he wanted to confront him, beat him, why would he run?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: And that brings us now to a comparison of their takes on Trayvon Martin himself based on everything that they knew about him.

First, you're going to hear the juror's description of how she thinks Martin's personality played into the encounter. Then you'll hear Rachel Jeantel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUROR: Trayvon decided that he wasn't going to let him scare him and get the one over up on him or something. And I think Trayvon got mad and attacked him.

JEANTEL: He was a calm, chill, loving person. Loved his family. Definitely his mother. And a good friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: They were both also asked about race in the trial overall. The juror told Anderson she didn't think race played a role and that none of the other jurors thought so either. Jeantel told Piers Morgan the jurors were all white with one black or Hispanic lady, quote, "stuck in the middle," and that she, Jeantel, had a feeling the verdict would come out the way it did because of all that.

Two polar opposite takes on this trial and on the personalities involved, Wolf. It really speaks to the incredible split that this whole thing has drawn in the country.

BLITZER: It certainly does, Brian. Thank you for that report. Brian Todd reporting.

And Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League is joining us right now. Lots --

MARC MORIAL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: Good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you very much. Let's talk a little bit about these two CNN interviews. I'm going to play a clip. This is from the juror known as Juror B-37 in shadow. She didn't want her identity to be revealed. And Rachel Jeantel, the 19-year-old star witness for the prosecution. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Was that a common belief on the jury that race was not -- that race did not play a role in this?

JUROR: I think all of us thought race did not play a role.

COOPER: So nobody felt race played a role?

JUROR: I don't think so. PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: The jury -- the juror tonight made it clear that the jury never really discussed race as being a motivating factor here.

JEANTEL: Imagine. They're white. Well, one Hispanic. But she stuck in the middle.

MORGAN: Five white women on the jury and one Hispanic lady.

JEANTEL: Yes. I had a feeling it was going to be a not guilty. So...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: If you watch these two interviews with the juror in shadow -- she didn't want to be identified -- and this 19-year-old woman, Rachel, it's as if they came from two different worlds when they were speaking of the impact of race on this case.

You're the president of the National Urban League.

MORIAL: I think Rachel nailed it. You know, who's on the jury counts. Who's on the jury determines what gets discussed and what doesn't get discussed. There's a human dynamic and a human element.

And I always sort of put it in this way, Wolf. Here you have a teenage boy unarmed and he's being pursued by a grown man with a gun. Would that grown man with a gun have pursued a white teenager walking in his neighborhood? I dare say not.

BLITZER: Why didn't the prosecution bring up the whole issue of race? They never -- they said there was some profiling, but they never said racial profiling. They tried to avoid the whole racial aspect.

MORIAL: We have a problem in this nation that we think that discussing race even in intelligent terms, even when it's a factor, is wrong. We have a problem in this nation that by not discussing it, we're solving the problem, we're diminishing the problem, we're getting away from the problem.

I think what this demonstrates is we are a better nation if we can intelligently discuss it. If we can recognize it's not a factor in every single thing. But it is a significant factor. And I think it played a role. And that's why the emotions around this have been so raw. That's why the sense that justice has not been done is so strong.

BLITZER: I want you to listen also to Rachel, the 19-year-old woman, the last person who spoke with Trayvon Martin before he was shot and killed. And she was asked about the use of the N word. And she had this to say. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: Was there anything you wished you'd said, Rachel? When you finished and you went home and you saw the reaction and everyone giving you a hard time. Is there anything you wished you'd said when you were in there?

JEANTEL: Nigger.

MORGAN: Why?

JEANTEL: People -- the whole world say it's a racist word. Imagine around 2000, that was not. They change it around I think. It starts spelling it N-I-G-G-A. Nigga --

MORGAN: What does that mean to you? That way of spelling it? What does that word mean to you?

JEANTEL: That mean a male.

MORGAN: A black man?

JEANTEL: No, any kind of male.

MORGAN: Black or white?

JEANTEL: Any kind. Chinese can say nigga. That's my chino nigga. They could say that.

MORGAN: And rappers and everything use it in their music.

JEANTEL: They use it.

MORGAN: And that's what they mean.

JEANTEL: Yes. But nigger, or nigger, I advise you not to be by black people. Because they not going to have it like that.

MORGAN: Why?

JEANTEL: Because that's a racist word.

MORGAN: They're two different words and they have different meanings in your community.

JEANTEL: No. In a generation, 2000 --

MORGAN: To young people, you mean?

JEANTEL: Not young people. Old people use that, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right.

MORIAL: She's -- I hear her. She's promoting a difference without a distinction. However you spell it, however you say it, it's an offensive word that we shouldn't use.

Now, we use a lot of offensive and raw language in close company in this nation. We do. But we shouldn't. And the reality is she was sort of saying, OK, I use it in a broader way. But it's a derogatory term whether you spell it with an "a" or with an "er," Wolf.

And I think that people should recognize that. I hear exactly what she's saying. People might say, does that sanction it? Does that say it's OK because she may say, well, we use it and I don't think it's offensive? It is offensive because it's a very derogatory way to refer to people. Its roots that antecedes it. You can't change the ending and whitewash its offensiveness.

BLITZER: One final question. You have a son. Get personal, if you don't mind, for a moment and just tell us what this whole Trayvon Martin saga has been to you.

MORIAL: You know, it's -- it shocks your consciousness because we've had to talk to our children about it. They watch the media. They understand it. Look, my son likes to wear a hoodie. That's part of what he and his friends do. Black kids wear it. White kids wear it. Latino kids wear it. They like to wear hoodies.

Because Trayvon was so young and had so much of his future ahead, you shudder to think that if my son walks, you know, a thousand feet from home, that if somebody profiles him he could not come home.

That's the important impact of this. This young boy was not where he wasn't supposed to be. This young boy was not acting out of sorts, acting out of turn, trespassing, interfering with someone and he loses his life. It hurts, Wolf.

And you try not to personalize it, but any and every parent in America shudders. Look. Whether it's Trayvon Martin or Sandy Hook, the fact that our children -- our children are being victimized by intentional, illegal, raw violence means there's something wrong in this nation that we've got to get hold of.

BLITZER: Mark Morial, the president of the National Urban League, the former mayor of New Orleans. Thanks very much for coming in.

MORIAL: Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: Up next, Anderson Cooper is getting ready to show us more of his exclusive interview with the Juror B-37, parts you haven't seen before. Anderson is standing by to join us when we come back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're getting some truly remarkable insight into what the jurors in the George Zimmerman trial were thinking when they reached their not guilty verdict. The juror called B-37 spoke exclusively as you all know to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

She says she and the other five women on the jury carefully studied the judge's instructions and the state law before deciding that Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JUROR: Well, because of the heat of the moment and the "stand your ground". He had a right to defend himself. If he felt threatened, that his life was going to be taken away from him or he was going to have bodily harm, he had a right.

COOPER: So even though it was he who had gotten out of the car, followed Trayvon Martin, that didn't matter in the deliberations. What mattered was those final seconds, minutes when there was an altercation and whether or not in your mind what the most important thing was whether or not George Zimmerman felt his life was in danger.

JUROR: Well, that's how we read the law. That's how we got to the point of everybody being not guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's bring in Anderson Cooper.

Anderson, I know you have much more of this interview that has not yet previously aired that you'll be airing later tonight on "AC360." If you can, share with our viewers a little bit of what else she has to say.

COOPER: Yes, we have about 15 to 20 minutes of this interview that we haven't aired yet. And it's really fascinating. She goes a lot more in depth into what happened inside that jury room once it was in the hands of those six women.

And she talked about a lone holdout juror. One of the jurors who was the last one to decide not guilty. And the pressure that person felt and what it took to get that person to agree not to go after -- try to hold onto manslaughter but to actually say not guilty. So she talks a lot about the dynamics inside the jury room. And that'll be on tonight on "360."

BLITZER: 8:00 pm Eastern. Tell us a little bit more about this woman, because you spent some serious time with her.

COOPER: Yes, I did. I spent about two hours or so with her before we actually -- before she decided to do the interview. It was all very last minute. It was all -- nothing had been planned in advance. We were just to meet and to talk.

And after about two hours, you know, she clearly -- this has been a really traumatic experience for her. And she says for the other jurors as well. There were a lot of tears, she said, shed after they reached their verdict. In the meeting that I had with her, she was quite emotional as she was on camera at times as well.

This is clearly something that, you know, she never really said she wanted. She had never been on a jury before. She never wants to be on a jury again. She hopes she never gets selected for a jury again.

But she was also really stunned at the amount of attention this case has gotten. She said that while they were sequestered, they really had no idea how big this case had gotten. But once it was done and once they were being escorted from their hotel rooms, that's when she saw helicopters, she saw media she described as being like something out of Disneyland. And it's something she's not very comfortable with and is hoping it will all go away.

BLITZER: Yes. Well, thank you so much, Anderson. Excellent work. We'll all be watching later tonight. Part two of this interview, new part that has not yet aired with this juror called B-37. "AC360" 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, only here on CNN. Anderson, thanks.

Coming up, millions of Americans are sweltering through extreme and very dangerous temperatures. Right now we'll have the latest on the heat wave. That's next.

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BLITZER: It's not just hot out there, it's dangerously hot. Much of the United States right now, millions of people sweltering in what feels like a triple-digit scorcher. CNN's Erin McPike is joining us right now. She's here in Washington with very hot.

What's going on around the country, Erin?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it was actually 103 degrees in New York City today and there have been heat advisories in effect throughout the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic and even the Upper Midwest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cold water! Get your cold water!

MCPIKE (voice-over): Up and down the East Coast, the heat index is pushing 100.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extended periods of heat can kill individuals.

MCPIKE (voice-over): In Baltimore, a code red heat alert from the health department.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to have a series of four really hot days, and so the effects of heat and the stress on the body are going to be cumulative.

MCPIKE (voice-over): Tourists in Times Square were feeling it too, where the temperatures cracked triple digits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here it's really hot and humid.

MCPIKE (voice-over): Making it a terrible time for a massive water main repair in Maryland's Prince George's County, just outside of Washington, D.C.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Conserve as much as possible because come tomorrow morning when everybody wakes up and takes a shower, we're going to run out of water pretty fast. MCPIKE (voice-over): Officials estimate the outage will impact between 150,000 to 200,000 residents in one of the worst heat waves of the summer. Outages are expected to last three to five days.

LIZA FENTON, NEW CARROLLTON CITY COUNCILWOMAN: What do you tell the tourists when they go to check into their hotel, that they're not going to have water for five days?

MCPIKE (voice-over): Like at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a 4,000-person conference. I'm not sure how we can possibly deal without having water.

MCPIKE (voice-over): Other businesses are sweating it out too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a new business and bill collectors still come. We've got to still make a profit and it's kind of hurting us.

MCPIKE (voice-over): Of course everyone with access is soaking up as much water as they can.

MCPIKE: What are you going to do with all these wet kids for the rest of the day?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to dry off.

MCPIKE: Are you going to pour water over your head?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. We have a fan.

MCPIKE (voice-over): Good thing, because from Washington to Philadelphia to Richmond to New York --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hot!

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MCPIKE: Now, Wolf, if he thinks this is bad, just wait until August. But I guess we all need to heed the warnings and drink some more water. Wolf?

BLITZER: Good advice, Erin, thanks very much.

Coming up, a panda in need of privacy. Jeanne Moos is next.

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BLITZER: So it's hard enough having twins without the eyes of the world on you. CNN's Jeanne Moos explains.

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Can't a panda get a little privacy around here? Can't a mom even give birth without everyone watching and clapping? Exposed in front of a morning TV audience of millions. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then two minutes later as Lunlun (ph) cuddled her newborn baby, something happened that no one expected.

MOOS (voice-over): Not even Mom. Two babies. Lunlun (ph) had twins here at Zoo Atlanta, and every bit of it was on camera. It's like something out of "Anchorman."

WILL FERRELL, "ANCHORMAN": And watch. The mood is tense.

MOOS (voice-over): The panda cam is focused on Lunlun (ph) 24/7 and even beamed out the moment her water broke.

DWIGHT LAWSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ZOO ATLANTA: Somebody caught that off of panda cam before we did. And we started getting phone calls at about the same time the keeper saw that.

MOOS (voice-over): Long before that, the zoo proudly released her sonogram.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Containing the fetus.

MOOS (voice-over): Ha! Fooled them. Not the fetus. There were two fetuses in there.

MOOS: The newborns are about the size and weight of an iPhone, which, by the way, you can use to keep an eye on the panda cam, spy on the pandas on the go.

MOOS (voice-over): How would you like people watching you toss and turn, trying to get comfortable with one of her babies tucked close to her.

Even in the wild, pandas won't take care of two, so the zoo swaps the cubs out every few hours so she's raising both of them, just not at the same time. When the second cub is not with Mom, it stays in an incubator.

MOOS: She doesn't think it's the same cub, she realizes it's two different cubs?

LAWSON: The assumption is she realizes its two different cubs but if she does, she doesn't care. She's just taking care of whatever cub is in front of her.

MOOS (voice-over): Some viewers cried ooh, giant panda babies arrive notoriously undeveloped. "These aren't done cookin'," posted someone. "They'll definitely cuten up," tweeted Zoo Atlanta.

The website Jezebel compared the cubs to rodents with indents instead of eyes, calling them "hairy hot dogs."

MOOS: Hairy hot dog? Who are you calling a hairy hot dog?

MOOS (voice-over): Some day that hairy hot dog will be big enough to kick your buns. Chew on that -- Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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BLITZER: Before we go, a big honor for this network and our team. CNN has received eight, eight Emmy nominations in the news and documentary categories. And I'm proud to say I was involved in our Emmy nominated coverage of the Israel/Gaza conflict last year, also the Election Night in America coverage here on CNN. I want to congratulate everyone at CNN who played such an important role.

By the way, the news and documentary Emmy awards will be handed out in New York City October 1st.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, missile equipment intercepted on the way from Cuba to North Korea. We're going to tell you what authorities have found on that ship. We have new developments tonight.

Plus new developments in the death of Cory Monteith. The coroner revealing tonight what killed the actor.

And protests continuing across the country in reaction to the George Zimmerman verdict. The big question, will the Department of Justice file new charges? Eric Holder spoke today. Let's go OUTFRONT.

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