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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  July 29, 2012 10:00pm-11:00pm PDT

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a million mistakes in my life. as long as i never make the same mistake again, i've been able to learn and grow. >> michael phelps. >> a fascinating interview with america's greatest olympian. that's on monday. that's all for us tonight. this was -- had not -- had never been done here before. >> what he's referring to is this. a black couple getting married in their church. >> he had people in the sanctuary that was pitching a fit. >> just 48 hours before saying "i do," the church bans the wedding. the couple joins us live tonight. and laughter in the midst of pain. an emotional interview with the parents of a colorado shooting victim. >> we're already moving into celebration mode for alex sullivan, and nobody's ever going to forget him.
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then a first for the u.s. and the olympics. hello. i'm deborah at cnn world headquarters in tonight for don lemon. let's get you up to speed on some of the day's headlines. the colorado suspect linked to that massed shooting spree back in court in just a couple of hours. james holmes expected to be formally charged with 12 counts of first-degree murder. 58 others were injured. court documents filed friday showed holmes was a patient of university of colorado's psychiatrist before the attack. a live report from the courthouse is just ahead. this is jerusalem. the old city republican presidential hopeful mitt romney praying alt at the jewish holy site.
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romney met some israeli leaders today and raised eyebrows when he said israel's capital is jerusalem and if elected he would support moving the american embassy there. he also left no guessing where he stands on israel's defense against iran. >> we recognize israel's right to defend itself and that it is right for america to stand with you. >> full details on romney's day in jerusalem coming up in a moment. defense secretary leon panetta says the battle for aleppo will be another nail in president assad's coffin. government troops are battling the free syrian army in the country's biggest city. some 200,000 people have fled aleppo and surrounding areas in just the past two days. another busy, action-packed day for athletes at the london olympics. the u.s. men's swim team took silver, losing out to france in the 4 by 100 meter relay.
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in basketball, the u.s. beat france. 98-71. and american swimmer dana vollmer set a world record. she became the first woman to swim the 100 meter butterfly in under 56 seconds. seven people were killed today in arizona when a tractor trailer crossed over a median and slammed into a van. all the victims were in the van. the truck's driver and his wife are both hospitalized in serious condition. the accident happened on interstate 10 near phoenix. a missing 12-year-old arkansas girl has been found safe after police discovered the bodies of the couple she lived with. amber was found with her 33-year-old brother, now a suspect in her abduction as well as a double homicide. the girl is believed to be either the daughter or granddaughter of the deceased couple. and if you feel like you're paying more at the pump, well, it is not your imagination. the price of a gallon of gas has gone up by a dime past two weeks to $3.51 a gallon.
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that's according to the lundberg survey. the highest average measured price was on long island, new york, at $3.83 a gallon. well, we're telling a love story tonight here on cnn. a man and a woman, they met, they fell in love, and before you knew it, they're going to the chapel, just like the way it's supposed to happen. except one thing. here's the bride and groom two saturdays ago, the day they walked down the aisle. but at the very last minute, charles and tiandria wilson had to change venues. they want to get married at their home church. first baptist church of crystal springs, mississippi. well, that turned out to be a problem for some people. charles and tiandria are live with me now from jackson, mississippi. first of all, congratulations. didn't exactly happen the way you expected it to. you did eventually get married, but not where you wanted to. charles, take over the story from here. you're two days from your
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wedding in your home church. what happens? >> well, basically we were told that my wife was called and said because of the fact that we were black, so many members of the congregation got upset and decided no black couple would ever be married at that church. as she informed me, i decided to come home and comfort her. >> in all your time in this church, and i know that your wife had been a member there for more than a year. her father, her uncle also members. in all that time at the church, did you or she ever feel unwelcome? >> ma'am, honestly, i felt at home. i can honestly say that. i felt that i was in the right place serving the lord with the right people. i felt that i couldn't wait to join the church. i couldn't wait to come back to sunday school.
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i would talk about the church everywhere i go and tell people how much i enjoyed the people, the pastor, and the whole congregation. >> do you know who complained about your wedding? do you know any of these people personally? >> no, ma'am. i actually do not, but i do know dr. stan personally, the pastor of the church. but none of the members. >> were you surprised that the pastor did not stand up to really what amounted to a handful of congregates saying you shouldn't be married in that church? >> yes, ma'am, i was. i was very devastated. it really hurt me very badly because i had dreams of having my wedding the way i wanted it, and i also dreamed of having it at the church. and unfortunately, it didn't happen. so i was very devastated and in turmoil and just very hurt. >> i want you to listen to this
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reaction from members of your church today in crystal springs. let's take a quick listen. >> i'm hoping the church body will address this, but myself personally, i would like to apologize to the wsons, to their family and friends and the entire black community because this has happened. >> these are some great people and a great church. i don't see nothing, you know, what they saying is true. i love these people. they love me. >> we have basically been betrayed as a racist church. we're not. we welcome anybody that wants to come through those doors. >> i would say i'm sorry this happened. would you forgive the people who caused it? because we're going to try to. >> so mr. and mrs. wilson, let me ask you, can you forgive these people? i mean, clearly, mrs. wilson, you had an idea of how you wanted your wedding to be, and then just days before you're
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supposed to be walking down the aisle, you must have been crushed. >> yes, ma'am, i was. very crushed. i couldn't think straight. i mean, i couldn't even sleep right that night. >> it seems like you had a lot of support from other members of the congregation, those who you just heard who said this never should have happened, that it's not a racist congregation. that was just a small group of people who made a terrible decision by having the reverend do this. what is it you want? do you plan to go back to that church? >> well, me, myself, ma'am, let me say this. i'm sorry to interrupt my wife, but i have to say that i listened to what you said about the congregation and all those people that was sorry. we're god fearing people. we love jesus. we are christians. what i would say to those people
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and everyone else that's listening to what we're talking about is that why didn't though people stand up in the beginning? if it was such a minority of people, why didn't the majority stand up and say, in god's house, we don't do this? so it's easy to come back now when the news has focused on this and say -- secondhand guess what you would have said or did. the time to say it was the day before we get married. that was the time to step up and be christ like. >> we were seeing some pictures of you and your wife there getting married. it was not the church you originally chose. it was the pastor. the pastor did do the ceremony. do you have any legal recourse here? is it against the law to deny somebody a wedding ceremony, certainly at a church where they thought they were welcome? >> well, honestly, we can't talk about the legal recourse. we just can't do that. i know morally it was wrong.
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it was completely wrong. a lot of people can say right now today that they don't understand why we're going after them, what we're doing. what if it was your daughter, your niece, your aunt, your mother? what if it was your husband, your nephew, your cousin? all we wanted to do in the eyes of god was be man and wife in a church we thought we felt loved. what was wrong with that? we have a 3-year-old son and a 9 -year-old daughter. i have to explain to my 9-year-old, who's very much aware of what goes on. she went to church there. what happened. so tell me, why are we so wrong for pushing what was right? on our end. >> all right. well, thank you very, very much. we appreciate hearing what happened. well, congratulations on the wedding that did happen. thank you very joining us tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. up next, a side of mitt romney few of us have seen.
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the fight for the white house goes overseas. republican mitt romney was in jerusalem today touring holy sites and plunging head first into one of the most divisive
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issues of the middle east conflict. jim acosta is there. >> reporter: mitt romney stuck to his pledge not to criticize the president here in jerusalem, but he did draw some big contrast with mr. obama. the main headline from the speech, his call for jerusalem to be the undisputed capital of israel. that's something no other u.s. president has ever called for. it's also a position that could enflame tensions in this region should romney become president. the other headline from this speech, romney issued a stern warning to iran should that country continue to develop nuclear weapons. here's a portion from romney's speech. >> make no mistake, the ayatollahs in tehran are testing our moral defenses. they want to know who will object and who will look the other way. my message to the people of israel and the leaders of iran is one in the same. we will not look away, nor will my country ever look away from our passion and commitment to israel. [ applause ] >> reporter: after a bruising
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week for romney in britain, his campaign offered up a new optic to voters back home. that was of romney and his wife visiting the western wall here in jerusalem. that is one of the jewish religions most sacred sites. romney paused to pray and left a note in one of the wall's cracks. next up for romney, he holds a fundraiser here in jerusalem before he heads off to the last leg of his trip, poland. jim acosta, cnn n jerusalem. also traveling this weekend, the secretary of defense, leon panetta. barbara starr is in north africa. >> reporter: defense secretary leon panetta made it clear on this trip to north africa and the middle east he is not stepping into presidential politics, telling reporters he won't talk about mitt romney's views on the possibility of israel attacking iran. but panetta, of course, has an opinion. >> i'm not going to comment on what political candidates say or don't say. but with regards to, you know,
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where israel is right now, my view is that they have not made any decisions with regards to iran. >> reporter: panetta now believes israel is less likely to bomb iranian nuclear sites in the near future. he will again reassure the israelis on this this trip that the u.s. is doing everything it can on the diplomatic front. but panetta also made it clear that the u.s./israeli partnership also means no options are off the table. >> my goal, frankly, is to strengthen that partnership so that, you know, we can -- we can be fully prepared to deal with any contingency that may happen. >> reporter: but overshadowing the secretary's entire trip, urgent worries about the security of syria's chemical weapons. and panetta acknowledged that the u.s. is using other countries in the region to
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gather the latest intelligence on the security at those syrian weapons sites. >> i don't want to go into, yo know, particulars with regards to, you know, some of the more specific steps that we're taking, but i think it's fair to say that we have been in very close consultation with jordanians, with turkey, with other allies in the region to ensure that we are closely monitoring the situation. >> reporter: as defense secretary leon panetta arrived here in north africa at his first stop in tunisia, he said the fighting in aleppo, syria, is now so bad that he believes in his words it will become the nail in assad's coffin and the assad regime is coming to an end. barbara starr, cnn. >> thank you, barbara. well, the man accused in the colorado theater shooting is in court tomorrow.
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the colorado suspect linked to a shooting rampage at a movie theater is due in court tomorrow. james holmes is expected to be formally charged in the case. 12 people died, 58 others were injured. dave mattingly joins us live outside the courthouse. dave, what are we expecting tomorrow? >> reporter: well, tomorrow the prosecution is going to set the tone with how this case is going to be heading through the courts here in colorado. what we're expecting to hear with 12 people killed, that's 12 potential premeditated murder charges we could hear tomorrow. 58 wounded in that theater could mean dozens of potential attempted murder charges. we're also going to be watching closely to see if there's any sort of decision made about the mysterious package the alleged killer sent to his psychiatrist at the university of colorado. that package now in the
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possession of authorities. the defense says that could contain privileged communication between a patient and his doctor and may not be released into evidence. we're going to see if the judge is going to rule on this if he allows the contents of that package into evidence, and if so, how. >> and, david, police say holmes had rigged his apartment. we saw that dramatic video of them going in there, searching for explosives. what types of charges could that bring? because that also was designed to hurt people. >> reporter: that's right. not just hurt people, but according to authorities who actually went in there, that was a room that was rigged to kill people, anyone who came through that door. remember, he had multiple improvised explosive devices inside. trip wires all over the place. and he had a device set up so that it was playing very loud music, almost trying to entice people or to bait people to come knock on that door and possibly try to gain entry to see what was going on.
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it seemed like he was setting that up to not only give someone some serious injuries but possibly kill them as well. so there could be state, possibly federal charges coming out of that as well. >> and david, another heartbreaking tragedy today. ashley mosier, who had a miscarriage just today, we are learning, after surgery. remember, her 6-year-old daughter veronica, she was the youngest person killed in the theater attack. could this death also effect what happens and how holmes is charged potentially? >> reporter: well, this shows just how this tragedy continues to get worse for some families affected by this. but colorado law does provide for charges to be filed in cases like this, possible murder charges. we don't know what degree prosecutors might seek in this case. there's a lot of questions to be answered. it's a lot more complicated than just shooting at someone in that theater. so we're going to see what the prosecution plans to do with
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that. we could see another possible murder charge of some type coming out of this case. >> all right, david mattingly, thank you so much. it will also be interesting to see the demeanor, obviously, of holmes, who was just so strange during his last court appearance. we are going to be taking a look at all the legal issues that james holmes is facing next. ♪ you don't have to be in front of the computer to watch cnn. can you do like i do it. on your computer, phone or at work. ♪ our fireworks. ♪ and our slip and slide. you have your idea of summer fun, and we have ours. now during the summer event get an exceptionally engineered mercedes-benz for an exceptional price. but hurry, this offer ends july 31st.
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well, the man accused of turning a midnight movie into a theater of chaos is due in court in just hours. a shooting survivor is facing even more tragedy. she first lost her 6-year-old daughter, who was shot in that theater.
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today we learned she had a miscarriage after surgery this weekend. she was just eight weeks pregnant, but had been shot in the abdomen. karen, could james holmes be charged in connection with this woman's miscarriage, given that she was shot in the abdomen? also the neck. >> well, there are things called fetal homicide laws. 38 states have them. colorado has one, but interestingly, all it does is increase the penalty for someone who commits a crime against a pregnant woman. it does not allow for a charge of murder in the case of a fetus. so the only way that it could have happened would be if the child was born and then died, then that child would have been a person under colorado law, and therefore a murder charge could have been brought. but because it was a miscarriage, died inside of her, there is no such crime in colorado. >> so what crimes are we going to see him charged with in connection with the 58 people
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who were shot? clearly, you've got the 12 murders. but there's a range of charges he's likely to face. what is your experience telling you? >> i mean, you're going to have arms charges. you're going to have some sort of mayhem charge. you're going to have, you know, attempted murder. you're going to have assault. you're going to have a lot of charges. listen, i feel terrible for this victim, but there's enough to charge this guy with enough to give him six death penalties. so colorado has the death penalty, but it hasn't been used in a long time. you would think that if there's a case for the death penalty, this would be it. >> and do you think prosecutors will actually go for that, and how equally hard will defense try to go after, you know, an insanity defense? >> well, you know, the death penalty, again, has not been used at all in colorado. i think one time in the last century, really. so they don't like the death penalty, but again, there's going to be huge public pressure.
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that's what happens in these cases. i think they're going to go for it, maybe set a precedent that this isn't going to be allowed, to the extent it's some deterrent. i think that, you know, the insanity defense is very difficult. you have to show the person doesn't appreciate what's wrong or what's right. that's a really hard case to prove. john wayne gacey knew what was wrong and right. he covered up the bodies. jeffrey dahmer knew what was wrong or right. those people are crazy under our definition. under a legal definition, not so much. >> all right. karen, thank you so much. what's fascinating also is there's such a tight gag order in place. everyone is so eager to know what kind of information authorities have, but right now we're not going to be getting a whole heck of a lot of it. it will be interesting to see the charges. thank you so much. well, let's get you up to speed now. syrians are fleeing the country's biggest city, aleppo. take a listen. and the arab league is warning of war crimes there. the u.n. estimates 200,000 have fled in the past two days.
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the free syrian army, meantime, is taking the fight to the government fighters at an army base. >> i've been watching a rebel attack on a syrian army base located just outside the northern limits of that city of aleppo. it started around sunset with a great deal of rocket fire and mortar fire and machine gunfire. and we've basically been watching constant tracer fire at night focused on this syrian army base and emerge hadding from ts syrian army base. >> syrian activists say 114 people were killed in today's violence. seven people were killed today in arizona when a tractor trailer crossed over a median and slammed into a van. all the victims were in that van. the truck's driver and his wife are both hospitalized in serious condition. the accident happened on interstate 10 near phoenix.
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and if you feel like you're paying more at the pump, it is not your imagination. the price of a gallon of gas has now gone up by a dime the past two weeks to $3.51 a gallon. that's according to the lundberg survey and reverses a three-month slide. the highest average measured price was on long island, new york. that was at $3.83 a gallon. and this man and this woman tried to get married in their own church. the answer they got, no. the reason they got it, because they're black. it happened in mississippi. they're angry and doing something about it. stay with cnn. we talked to them earlier. they're going to be back. and another busy action-packed day for athletes at the london olympics. the u.s. men's swim team took silver, losing out to france. in basketball, the u.s. men beat france 98-71. and american swimmer dana vollmer set a world record.
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she became the first woman to swim the 100 meter butterfly in under 56 seconds. well, mitt romney's campaign goes global. how's he going? that's next. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, that pride, that was on my face. i am jocelyn taylor. i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. [ male announcer ] this is our beach. ♪ this is our pool. ♪ our fireworks. ♪ and our slip and slide. you have your idea of summer fun, and we have ours. now during the summer event get an exceptionally engineered
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just four minutes into his speech, he brought up iran. >> make no mistake, the ayatollahs in tehran are testing our moral defenses. they want to know who will object and who will look the other way. my message to the people of israel and the leaders of iran is one in the same. we will not look away, nor will my country ever look away from our passion and commitment to israel. >> well, some have criticized romney for not taking a stand on issues, but today he came out strong and unambiguous on israel saying, whenever the security of israel is most endowed, america's commitment to israel
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must be most secure. earlier, i spoke to cnn contributors and asked them if this is the new mitt romney. >> for the most part, he just went out and said what president obama has been saying for the last three years. there hasn't been much difference from his stance than the stance that w. had and clinton had before him. that is, we will be there for israel and do everything we can to keep nuclear arms out of iran. that's the only thing he said. that's something all the other presidents have said. the thing about jerusalem, that's the thing raising eyebrows. essentially, as we were talking during the break, that sort of sets up a conversation that could lead towards war in the last thing we need is some want-to-be going overseas and talking about war, especially someone who, when given the opportunity to fight in a war for his country, opted to go to france. that's the thing that raises eyebrows and really ticks me off about his visit.
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>> lz, let me clarify for everybody listening. he said he believed jerusalem should be the capital of israel because jerusalem obviously is such a main point of contention between the israelis and the palestinians. anna, what do you think? do you think that was deliberate? do you think defensive a gaffe saying jerusalem to be the capital? >> absolutely not. i think it makes all the sense in the world. what he basically said, is look, countries get to choose what their capitals are. if i were to move it, i would do it in consultation with the israelis. i would ask the israelis, do you want this? is this something that's important to you? if so, then make the decision. so i think it's a very logical thing that he's saying. and i also would beg to differ with my friend lz when he says it's the same position as barack obama's. one of the things mitt romney made clear today is he's not going to look the other way when it comes to iran. as somebody that lives in miami, i'm painfully aware of all the
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efforts and outreach and cooperation that's been going on for the last 3 1/2 years between iran and latin america. our neighbors across the border. we've seen him establish operations in cuba, establish operations in venezuela. yes, we have a president who has looked the other way, who says it's not a national security threat. as somebody that lives 90 miles away from cuba, it's a threat to me. >> i don't understand how someone -- >> here's the point. basically, president obama said he would not support an israeli strike against teheran. he will not support that. he asked israel to stand down. a lot of people didn't think that was the correct thing to do because it is their national security. then when mitt romney's foreign policy adviser suggested that, in fact, he would back an israeli strike against tehran, mitt romney, then mitt romney sort of backed away from that. so what are we really talking about here? are these just words? >> we're talking about no one wants a war.
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i think that's the responsible thing to do, push toward peace. i don't think you can call a president who has a kill list as someone who looks away when it comes to foreign policy, when it comes to national security, when it comes to foreign relations and foreign policy. i don't think that's a fair assessment. you might not be happy with the measure he's taken, but to say he's looking away and ignoring iran is highly inaccurate. no one wants a war. no one can afford a war, which is another part of the conversation that we're not having. we can't afford to fight. so we're hoping that sanctions and diplomacy would be first. what we don't need, as i said earlier, is someone who is saying words that would incite a war. >> sure. okay. >> i agree with you, nobody wants a war. nobody wants a war. nobody wants a nuclear iran. nobody wants an iran that thinks we are a weak united states. >> thank you.
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all eyes are focused on the u.s. swim team at the olympics. our fredricka whitfield caught up with some of them and asked them about diversity on the team and what it means to people watching back home. >> reporter: 2008 olympic gold medalist cullen jones relishes
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the idea of being a role model. >> i think that's huge. i can't tell you how many family members i knew picked up a driver because they saw tiger woods doing it. i think that the beacon of seeing someone that looks like you that is excelling in a sport, like i said, getting out of a bad situation, those are the glimpse of hope people see. >> reporter: jones is part of something historically different about usa swimming. he's one of three athletes with african-american heritage who will compete for the u.s. the first time there's ever been more than one. growing up in new jersey, jones learned to swim at age 5 after nearly drowning at a water park. now he helps teach other minority kids to swim through usa swimming foundation's make a splash program. he knows it will take time before those efforts create more minority swimmers with olympic dreams. >> good job. all right. i don't know if it's going to be necessarily in my lifetime or not, but i just think the ball is rolling.
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make a splash initiative is an amazing step in the right direction. i think there are going to be other programs that are going to be just like them. >> reporter: 17-year-old leah neil, a native of brooklyn, new york, is just the second african-american woman to swim for team usa. she was inspired. >> one day i was taking a nap. when i woke up from a nap, i saw i gained like 30 new twitter followers. i was like, something must have happened. i looked at my mentions. i saw alicia keys tweeted me. that's kind of a big deal. that's cool. spike lee also tweeted me. that was really cool. >> reporter: anthony irvin blazed a trail as the first u.s. swimmer with african-american
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her daj heritage at the 2000 games in sidney. he won gold and silver. after retiring from swimming nine years ago, he made a remarkable comeback to qualify for the london games. despite the progress in the makeup of the u.s. swim team, though, irvin thinks it'll be a while before the sport gets so diverse that race won't be a topic anymore. >> i mean, the race question is always going to be involved one way or another. if it's -- it might not be the same exact race question that it was ten years ago, but there's always going to be a race question. >> reporter: fredricka whitfield, cnn, atlanta. and of course we want you to stay connected to us here at cnn, even when you're not at home, when you're on the go. grab your mobile phone. go to cnn.com/tv. if you're on a desk top or laptop, you can also watch cnn live. echnology as the world around it. with the available lexus enform app suite, you can use opentable to make restaurant reservations... search with bing... and listen to pandora.
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survivors fulfill their ultimate dreams. >> when i was 13, my dad was very violent and attempted to murder my mom. it wasn't until i was 55 that i came to work in a shelter and met a woman who had fled chicago with two young children. she had no documentation. she did not legally exist. she said, can you help me? i need $40 to get all the documentation. it is totally forbidden, but i gave her the two $20 bills. i'm thinking, i just changed three lives with $40. i had no idea i had actually changed my life as well. my name is jo crawford. i ask women survivors of domestic violence to dream their best life, and i give them the means to accomplish the first step. this is what you want. this is what you deserve.
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the women are all out of a relationship for at least six months. they have to be free of alcohol and drugs, and they have got to have a dream. >> i want to go back to school to do social services, to be a social worker. >> it's not a gift. she agrees to pay it forward to three other survivors. >> i'm going to be helping three other ladies get their ged. >> these women need to know that they deserve to dream and have the power to create it. >> i got so much help, which enabled me to buy a sewing machine. that made me realize i should be a person who not only receives help but also gives help. >> i am so proud of you. one woman can make a difference, but women working together can change the world. >> and cnn heros are all chosen from people you tell us about. to nominate someone who you know is making a difference, go to cnnhero hads.com. . well, it was his 27th birthday, and his first wedding
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anniversary. but alex sullivan's life was cut short in the colorado theater massacre. an emotional interview with his family next. arthritis pain. a. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. because vitamin d3 helps bones absorb calcium, caltrate's double the d. it now has more than any other brand to help maximize calcium absorption. so caltrate women can move the world.
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geico, see how much you could save. fun-filled birthday. celebrating his birthday with a
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special showing of "the dark knight rises". the next night he was to celebrate his wedding anniversary. our don lemon sat down with his father and sister. >> people said he was, he was a big guy, but he was a gentle giant. >> he was a big and that's what always people thought he was older than he was. and what you had to do then, is when you got up to him and you looked in his eyes, there was the child. >> we did so much together. we crimed trees, climbed through sewers when we weren't supposed to. we got in trouble. had so much fun together. >> he really wanted to go to that movie and i understand one of the last things he did was, he tweeted, the movie's about to start in an hour, i can't wait, i can't wait. >> best birthday ever, is what i think it said. and that was -- that was his thing, is we went to the movies on his birthday.
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>> he is in the movie, can you imagine what they went through? >> from what i heard, it was instantaneous for alex. alex -- it was an instantaneous death, and when i went to the coroner's office, on saturday, and saw him, and got the coroner's report, it was -- it was a relief. that was our worry that it was going to be, you know, some kind of a gruesome thing and it was going to be tough. but he took a single shot and it ended up going through his heart and he died instantaneously. so there was no -- there was no screaming. there was no anguish. he hit the ground and he was gone. and so, i have a lot of relief from that. >> who told you? >> sarah was our victim advocate.
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and she -- we all moved over to to the aurora south, cassie was admit need the hospital for anxiety attacks and we wanted to be close to her. they put us all in a huge room. everyone from gateway followed us. even though they said, it was only family. and we said, no, they are all coming with us. and we just kind of sat under that room. and you know, once the door opened, sarah walked in, and we kind of knew. >> when she came through the door deathly silence, everything stopped. and she came over and got me and my wife terry, and we sat down. she sat in front of us, and she
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said, it's confirmed, alex is one of the ten in the movie thter. and we, you know, grabbed each other, held each other. they told us people might be outside, so the security guard there was just a wonderful man. you guys might be around and somebody might be running through. he came out, and he said, you know, how sorry he was. i told him -- and i said, today was my son's birthday. it staggered the man. i mean, he actually staggered back when i told him that. and he told me, he said, i've been in the prison system working in corrections for 26 years. he said, i will tell you, he said, maximum security prison is hell on earth. that man will be feeling it for the rest of his days.
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he says, you don't have to worry about that. i said, i'm not worried. i said, we're already moving into celebration mode for alex sullivan, and nobody's ever going to forget him. we've already forgotten about whoever else took care of this. and then we went home, got the jamisons out, you know, got a cigar, put some van morrison on and began to celebrate our son. >> amen, brother. >> that's it. >> right. >> into the mystic. >> good for you. >> you're going to hear a lot more stories like the sullivans, the survivors of this tragedy, and the heros that emerged. i'm deborah feyerick in atlanta. have a good night and a great week. next, a cnn special report with don lemon and drew griffin. madness