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Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien

Jodi Arias Jurors Speak Out; Camilla's Queen-in-Waiting Tour; All Star "Healing in the Heartland" Concert Tonight; Queen Bey Gets Butt Slapped; Not Cold Feet, Wet Feet

Aired May 29, 2013 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to STARTING POINT, everyone. I'm John Berman.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. We're hearing for the first time from some of the jurors who convicted Jodi Arias of first degree murder for viciously killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Last week, the jury deadlocked during the sentencing phase. Eight jurors wanted the death penalty, four others held out for life, forcing to the judge to declare a mistrial. What were they thinking in that jury room and why couldn't they reach a unanimous decision?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The defendant should be sentenced -- no unanimous agreement.

ROMANS (voice-over): For nearly five months, jurors in the Jodi Arias trial listened to gory details of a gruesome murder and were subject to intense media coverage. That jury could not unanimously decide whether she deserved the death penalty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Juror number three, is this your verdict?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ROMANS: Juror, Marilou Allen-Coogan felt the state proved its case. She voted for the death penalty.

MARILOU ALLEN-COOGAN, JODI ARIAS' JUROR: I don't think she ever was truly honest with us. I know that, for me, I didn't see any remorse or any issues with herself for what happened that day or for what Travis went through. I didn't see any of that.

ROMANS: Juror Diane Schwartz says she also voted for the death penalty. She told HLN's Dr. Drew the crime was too heinous.

DIANE SCHWARTZ, JODI ARIAS' JUROR: When I looked at the mitigating factors, those mitigating factors being was she abused, her age, her criminal history -- those just did not weigh enough in my mind to look at what she had done. ROMANS: But Schwartz says, for the four juror who did not impose death, those mitigating factors were enough to spare Arias.

SCHWARTZ: The way the jury instructions are given to you is -- you look at the eight mitigators presented before us in the penalty phase, and to be very honest, I cannot remember all eight of them. But some of the things were Jodi could accomplish if she were to live. It was the fact she was 27, no criminal history. And then there was a big factor on she had been abused, that as a child and in her relationship with Travis.

ROMANS: Alternate juror Tara Kelly said she could tell that Travis Alexander's family was disappointed by deadlock.

TARA KELLEY, JOD AIRAS' ATLERNATE JUROR: I personally felt like the family was let down because you could tell by the statements and everything that they wanted Jodi to get the death penalty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (on camera): The jury foreman in the Arias case says he's been receiving hate mail and threats for failing to get a death sentence. The Superior Court judge for Maricopa County called for a retrial in the penalty phase since there hasn't been a unanimous verdict. The new jury will be impanelled July 18th unless the prosecutor decides to no longer seek the death penalty and agrees to a life sentence.

BERMAN: Coastal Mexico bracing for the arrival Tropical Storm Barbara. The storm formed in the Eastern Pacific and is currently about 145 miles south and west of Salina Cruz, Mexico. Barbara's packing 45 mile an hour winds and is expected to start moving soon, and could reach the coast of Mexico by late today. The bad part is it could bring up to ten inches of rain.

ROMANS: A Pennsylvania couple faces child endangerment charges this morning for allegedly putting their 10-year-old daughter in a dog crate in the back of their pickup truck. Shocked motorists on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, of course, called police. Now, the child was not injured. Her stepfather told officers that he and her mother put the girl in that crate because she wanted to be with her dog.

More fallout from Lance Armstrong's disgraceful exit from cycling. Nike cutting ties with Livestrong, the cancer charity founded by Armstrong, after a nine-year partnership. The company dropped its personal sponsorship of Armstrong last year in the wake of a doping scandal. Armstrong later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. Now, Nike will stop manufacturing Livestrong-brand clothes and shoes at the end of the year.

BERMAN: So from terror victim to prom queen in six short works. Take a look at Sydney Corcoran, looking beautiful, showing the world the true meaning of Boston Strong last night. The 18-year-old Boll (ph) High School senior suffered serious injuries to both of her legs in the Boston Marathon bombings. Last night was very emotional for Sydney because a few short weeks ago, she wasn't sure she would be able to make it to prom, let alone be crowned the queen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYDNEY CORCORAN, PROM QUEEN: When I was in the hospital, I didn't think this was going to be possible. Oh my gosh, the rehab, and I just - because I was up and I was doing stuff, it felt more like I could do it.

I just keep feeling like I'm going to cry because I'm just happy to be back, but - see, now I'm going to start crying. It's really good to see everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Such an emotional time. Sydney's mother, Celeste, lost both legs in the marathon bombing. She is now waiting for a pair of prosthetic legs.

ROMANS: OK, call it the Queen-in-Waiting Tour.

BERMAN: The Duchess of Cornwall attracting lots of attention on her first major solo trip abroad. And Camilla appears to have wowed the crowd in Paris.

CNN's Max Foster joins us now live from outside Buckingham Palace in London with the story and the intrigue. Good morning, Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi. It has been 16 years since Diana died and ever since then, Camilla has lived in her shadow. She's aware that public opinion generally has fallen on Diana's side of things. But that has started to change over the years. And it's interesting that Camilla is now trying to define herself in her own right on the world stage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (voice-over): The duchess at Dior, an iconic French brand, also coveted by her husband's first wife. There are obvious parallels between Diana, Princess of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, but also stark differences. These are Camilla's first tentative steps towards defining herself outside the UK.

And luckily, there are horses at hand, Camilla's big passion. This is the duchess in her element.

She also showed her down to earth, approachable side, at a Parisian market. Traders getting a glimpse into Camilla's legendary sense of humor.

(on-camera): So, this is the piece of meat that she actually tried?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --

FOSTER (voice-over): "I thought she was very nice," he tells me, "very agreeable, "very in mind of her status."

(on-camera): So, the duchess came here, bought some dresses for her grandchildren. What did you think of her?

(voice-over): "She was very nice, polite. She loved everything I sold. She was very respectful."

And before she heads home, a must do for all visitors to Paris. She went to see the Mona Lisa. All this part of a long, slow emergence for a queen in waiting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (on camera): And John, Christine, I was with you recently when we were with Prince Harry, touring the U.S. We talked about his relationship with the press. What's interesting about Camilla, she's always had a really good relationship with the press. She's the one royal that comes up to us, gives us a big hello, gives us a chat. So she's always that sort of support from the media, so that's helping her in this sort of emergence into this role which will eventually be Queen of Great Britain, living in Buckingham Palace behind me.

BERMAN: We're entering this really big stretch for the royal family, Max. We had the celebration, the anniversary of the queen's coronation, and then maybe one of the biggest events ever coming this summer.

FOSTER: Yes, it's big. I mean, the coronation, of course, sixty years ago was a massive story when the queen was crowned. And she's been such a successful monarch. And they're going to be remembering that on Tuesday, a big service at Westminster Abbey. The whole royal family will be out.

And as you intonated (ph), Duchess of Cambridge, Kate, will be there. We're going to get a sense of how pregnant she looks. People are fascinated with the pictures in relation to the Duchess of Cambridge. So that's really going to be the interest there. But actually it's a big historical occasion, marking sixty years on the throne for the queen, and she's really regarded as one of the most successful monarchs in British history.

BERMAN: Sixty years, a long time. Max Foster in London for us this morning, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Sixty years. Nine months. It's taking nine months to see the other big story about the monarchy.

All right, ahead on STARTING POINT, raising money through music. Tonight, Blake Shelton kicks off his disaster relief concert for the victims of the devastating Oklahoma tornadoes. We have a preview of that for you, next.

BERMAN: And then they really made at smash at the wedding. We're going to talk to the couple whose entire bridal party tumbled into a lake when the dock they are were standing on gave way.

You're watching STARTING POINT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC: BLAKE SHELTON)

BERMAN: That is country star Blake Shelton. He's going to lead an all-star lineup at a concert to raise funds for victims of last week's deadly tornado. Shelton is a native Oklahoman and he's going to appear alongside Miranda Lambert, Vince Gil, Usher, and Reba McIntyre tonight at a concert in Oklahoma City.

And CNN's Nischelle Turner is there live for us with a preview this morning. Hey, Nischelle.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John. First of all, we should say that we're once again on severe weather watch here in Oklahoma City this morning. The people here hoping they don't have a repeat of what happened nine days ago when a tornado did come and create that path of destruction that we say where 24 lives were lost, more than 300 people were injured, and the rest of this community was pretty much changed forever.

The people here are trying to pick up the pieces, so tonight's concert appropriately dubbed "Healing in the Heartland." So many people after that tornado wanted to help, including country superstar Blake Shelton. So he decided he had to do something when he saw all the devastation here. He said, "Listen, I'm an entertainer. What I do best is perform. That's how I make people feel better." So he wanted to put on a benefits concert. Blake was born and raised in Oklahoma; he still lives in Tishomingo, which is about two hours south of here.

But he does have strong roots to the hardest hit community of Moore, Oklahoma.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAKE SHELTON, MUSICIAN: I spent three Christmases at my sister's house in Moore, Oklahoma. And some of those helicopter views of the destruction, you can see her house a quarter mile away from there, and just going -- my nieces and nephews would have gone to that school.

USHER, MUSICIAN: I have family in Oklahoma City. My little sister, Ashira, and her family is OK. Unfortunately, this is something you can't -- you know, all you can do is put your best efforts forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER: Now, you heard from Usher. He will be performing tonight. He talked about putting his best foot forward and Blake put forth a lineup of artists that will all be doing that. Usher's going to be here along with Blake's wife, Miranda Lambert, that you mentioned, John; Reba McIntyre; Luke Bryan, who was just Artist of the Year by the Coutnry Music Association; Ryan Tedder from One Republic will also perform tonight. Vince Gil, who was born here in Oklahoma City, will take the stage; also Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker.

So especially if you like country music, you're going to love this concert. But it will be a really good tribute tonight. The tickets they offered were $25. Blake said he wanted to make it affordable so so many people could come. It's going to benefit the United Way of Central Oklahoma May Tornado Relief Fund. And I have an update and a little bit of good news this morning. At 10:00 this morning Central Time, they're going to release another allotment of ticket. A limited allotment, they say. You can only get them on ticketmaster.com. But 10:00 a.m. Central Time, you can still buy tickets to come to this concert here tonight.

So should be a good time. I know I'm going to talk to some of the artists that will be performing tonight a little later on this morning, John, so we're definitely looking forward to that.

BERMAN: Should be a great time. And good for all of them, pitching in to help out. Nischelle Turner in Oklahoma City. Stay safe down there because, as you said, severe weather warnings do continue throughout that region today. Thanks, Nischelle.

ROMANS: All right, ahead on STARTING POINT, they really - I mean, they took the plunge. An entire bridal party splashes into the lake when their dock collapses. The video, of course, is viral. We're going to meet the newlyweds who took it in a stride, next.

You're watching STARTING POINT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right ahead on STARTING POINT, they really I mean they took the plunge. An entire bridal party splashes into a lake when their dock collapses. The video of course is viral. We're going to meet the newlyweds who took it all in stride, next.

You're watching STARTING POINT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Good morning. Welcome back.

New legal maneuvering for Fort Hood shooting suspect Major Nidal Hasan; he wants to represent himself at his upcoming trial. And today a judge will consider his request. Hasan is accused of killing 13 people and injuring 32 more at a Texas base back in 2009. His trial is scheduled to start June 5th. A Dallas station reporting Hasan has been paid $278,000 since his arrest. His salary cannot be suspended until he has been found guilty.

BERMAN: The dean of Harvard College says an e-mail scandal earlier this year had nothing to do with her decision to step down. Evelyn Hammond who is the College's first African-American and first female dean of the school says she will take a sabbatical before returning to teaching. There were calls for resignation in March after her office conducted a secret search of e-mail accounts of resident deans to find out who leaked information concerning a cheating scandal.

A sad ending to the search for a missing former college football star quarterback from Michigan -- the body of 30-year-old Colin Finnerty has been recovered in a lake not far from a cabin his family owns. The Grand Valley University player's former teammates were among those helping to look for him. Finnerty spent a year in the NFL with Baltimore Ravens although he never played in a game. No foul play is suspected.

Hundreds of furious passengers are finding their way home this morning from the cruise that was such a nightmare. Investigators still do not know what caused the fire Monday on the Royal Caribbean's "Grandeur of the Seas." Well over 2,000 passengers found themselves stranded in the Bahamas mid-way through their trip. They are getting refunds. They're also vouchers for a future cruise.

ROMANS: And more questions swirling around Rutgers new athletic director Julie Hermann. We've learned she was named in a sex discrimination lawsuit in 2008, during her tenure as the senior athletics administrator at Louisville.

In that suit an assistant track coach alleged she faced gender and sexual discrimination and was fired after placing a complaint with the university's Human Resources Department. The lawsuit holds Hermann largely responsible for the coach's firing.

All right, coming soon to a theater near you shorter movie trailers; that's if the National Association of Theater Owners gets its way. The trailers, like this one of the new "Fast and Furious" sequel will no longer run as long. They are pushing for new guidelines to limit their running time of trailers to two minutes, thirty seconds, or two minutes -- that's 30 seconds shorter than the norm. They exhibitors believe it will give them more say in advertising the films they're showing and improve the audience experience.

BERMAN: You know there's a lot of money at play here. Usually the complaints about trailers have to do with fact that they give too much away. People in consumer groups have complained about the fact that trailers give too much away for years. I've talked to movie executives about this and they do not care. They will do anything to get to you come see their films even playing all the best parts in their trailers. So it will be interesting to see how these competing interests play out.

ROMANS: Two and a half minutes sliced and the 30 seconds out. Will they keep too many eye balls? It will interesting to see. STARTING POINT, back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back to EARLY START everyone. I do not have to tell you it is not the first time that Beyonce's backside has made headlines. And this time a fan got within slapping distance. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Beyonce may be celebrated for her booty, but she almost had to boot out a fan for celebrating it a little too much. It happened at a concert in Copenhagen. Beyonce was interacting with fans she shared her mike with a guy and as she started to walk away, he gave her derriere a little slap.

BEYONCE, SINGER: Now we'll have you escorted out right now, all right?

MOOS: Beyonce sashayed away. We're not sure whether the butt slapper went or stayed. Fans captured the swat from all angles and debated it online. "If you don't want it slapped, girlfriend, stop flaunting it in their faces," versus "Just because she performs for a living doesn't give you the right to violate her space."

(on camera): Reporters wanting to ask Beyonce about the butt grab might as well butt out. No comment was all her record label would say. Now Beyonce is no stranger to administering a little booty love, floor dancers and getting it from her husband Jay-Z.

Beyonce seemed to reward Jay-Z for his playful pat, not so playful was how some over excited fans out in Belgrade, Serbia -- pulling Beyonce's hair, touching her face. Earlier this month, a fan rushed the stage when Justin Bieber was seated at the piano. Security instantly jumped in, knocking down the piano in the scuffle, while Justin calmly walked away performing.

And who can forget Will Smith when a Ukrainian prankster interviewer tried to kiss him?

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: Come on, man. What the hell is your problem buddy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, Will.

SMITH: It's just awkward, Dave.

MOOS: Oddest of all was when Britney Spears invited a guy from the audience on stage so she could perform a pole dance on him. He bit her. Bit me Spears they called her and now the personification of bootyliciousness -- had to just turn the other cheek.

Jeanne Moos, CNN. New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Bad manners --

BERMAN: Not cool.

ROMANS: -- very bad manners, Denmark. Bad manners.

BERMAN: Yes bad for you, Denmark.

All right, turning now, this bride and groom took the phrase "taking the plunge" to a whole new level. Yes, believe it or not, see it with your own eyes, that's the entire wedding party, all 29 of them tumbling into the water. The dock they were standing on gave way while they were taking pictures.

Patricia Andrews and Frank Fearon's videographer released the clip, dubbed "The Wedding Wetting" on YouTube. It has become a huge hit, understandable.

Joining us now from their honeymoon in Chile are the bride and groom, Tricia and Frank. We have them on the phone right now. Thank you so much for taking some of your time together to be us with. Really appreciate it.

ROMANS: Because on your honeymoon you want to talk to reporters.

FRANK FEARON, GROOM (via telephone): You're welcome.

ROMANS: So I know one person got hurt. One of the bridesmaids got hurt. I mean she broke her arm and so she spent the evening in the ER. But other than that everyone was wet and went on with the party? Is that right?

PATRICIA ANDREWS, BRIDE: That's right. Everyone was amazing. Even Suzie who hurt her arm, was a great sport and they would laugh it out pretty quickly. But yes, it turned into the best party ever. A million people came up to us, saying it was the best wedding they have ever been to.

BERMAN: Almost like you're playing. Tricia, I've been to a few weddings, and sometimes the bride can get a little bit tense. So level with us, what was your first reaction when that dock gives way?

ANDREWS: Of course, my first reaction is to make sure everyone is OK. That's an old lifeguard tendency, but as soon as I knew that everyone was fine, I instantly laughed. I mean it was just hilarious because we were all worried all day about the rain, it was an outdoor ceremony and an outdoor reception. And the rain miraculously held off and then we got wet anyway.

BERMAN: The rain wasn't a problem.

FEARON: Yes.

ROMANS: I love the colors, too. The beautiful shade of blue reflected in the beautiful shade of blue of the water right below you is almost just perfect and artistic. So what -- the people at the wedding what did they say? Were they shocked? Were they running up to you? Trying to make sure everyone is OK? It must have been a few moments of chaos.

FEARON: It was pandemonium for about five minutes, before we knew everyone is OK was and everyone was under the dock and all that kind of stuff. But everyone took it really well. Everyone laughed it off. Yes, I mean pretty much once everyone saw that Trisha was OK and she was smiling, everyone else was able to have a good time again.

BERMAN: I'm sure at least a few people were hopeful that you were OK too, Frank. But what did you guys do. Did you guys just wear the soggy clothes for the rest of the night?

FEARON: I'm sorry? Say again?

BERMAN: Did you get a chance to change into dry clothes or was it really a wet wedding the rest of the night?

ANDREWS: No, we didn't. Actually Frank and I got pretty lucky in that we were on the end of the dock. And so he, you know, very quickly former stunt man, jumped off on to the solid dock and grabbed me immediately. So just the bottom of my dress got wet which made it incredibly heavy. But it was fine. It was a lot of fun. Actually a sailboat had just pulled up and so we got disconnected from land. And so we just jumped on the sailboat to get pictures.

BERMAN: Tricia and Frank, you guys are the coolest newlyweds ever. Thank you so much for being with us. Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon.

ANDREWS: Thank you so much

FEARON: Thanks guys.

ROMANS: That's it for STARTING POINT. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. CNN NEWSROOM with Carol Costello begins right now.