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Interview with Carie Charlesworth; Report: Nigella Lawson Choking Allegation; Investors Optimistic Ahead of Fed Meeting; Waiting on Key Supreme Court Decisions; Spurs Take Down Heat, Lead Series 3-2; Justin Rose Wins the U.S. Open

Aired June 17, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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


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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, thank you so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM at 32 minutes past the hour. The opening bells starts a new week on Wall Street, where investors are feeling cautiously optimistic. CNN's Alison Kosik is at New York stock exchange. Why the cautious optimism?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, not so much caution right now when you look at the Dow, Carol. Over100 points already. We're just two minutes into the trading day. You're looking at stocks actually coming off another wild week where there were lots of triple- digit moves for the Dow. Lately, it's actually more down days than up. That could change this week if the investors like what the Federal Reserve has to say. The meeting begins tomorrow and this is a biggie because the Central Bank is expected to say to keep its stimulus program in place and also could say it's easing up on the program meaning cutting back on the amount of money it's pumping into the financial system that could wind up actually calming the market because it will bring some certainty back. Until then, don't be surprised to see more of this roller coaster action although this action is pretty good. Carol?

COSTELLO: It is today, you're right. Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

Whole Foods employees can now use any darn language they choose when speaking to one another at work. The change comes after two employees in New Mexico say they were suspended for speaking Spanish to each other on the job. Whole Foods says the two were actually suspended for poor behavior.

The London newspaper "The Guardian" reports British spies targeted world leaders during the G-20 summit in 2009. Spies intercepted delegates' phone calls and monitored e-mails. "The Guardian" also reports U.S. spies based in Britain intercepted communications of then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The paper cites documents from NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

Here's a disturbing question. If you were the victim of a crime, could you be fired for your job? Well, the answer apparently is yes. It happened to Carie Charlesworth. Her ex-husband is an abuser. In fact, in prison for violating a restraining order and that has cost his victim, his wife, Carrie, her job. She was fired from her teaching job at the Holy Trinity School in San Diego. The exact reason, Charlesworth's ex-husband violated that restraining order by showing up at Carie's school earlier this year. Even though he went to jail for that, the school says Carrie cannot go back to work and her children can no longer attend the school. Carie joins me now live from San Diego. Good morning.

CARIE CHARLESWORTH, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for sharing your story. I really appreciate it.

CHARLESWORTH: Thank you for taking the time to have my story shared.

COSTELLO: So, how are you informed that you were going to be fired? What did the school tell you?

CHARLESWORTH: Basically, I met with the director of schools and the human resources director for the diocese of San Diego and they informed me that due to the behavior of my now ex-husband, that I was considered a liability to the school and was no longer allowed to work at Holy Trinity or any other school in the diocese of San Diego.

COSTELLO: Just tell us a little bit, bring us back and tell us about the abuse that you suffered at the hands of your ex-husband?

CHARLESWORTH: There was not just one form of abuse, there were physical instances, but there was mostly the verbal and mental and lots of intimidation.

COSTELLO: And, so, he's in jail now, right?

CHARLESWORTH: Correct.

COSTELLO: So, physical violence, though, I suppose that's what the school is most worried about. That he's going to show up at this school, Holy Trinity School, and he's going to, somebody is going to get caught in the crossfire, so to speak.

CHARLESWORTH: Yes. As a parent, I understand their concern. But as a victim and as a woman who has four children that attended that school, you cannot blame us for his choices. This is why women and men of victims of domestic violence do not come forward. They're too afraid to share their story and have themselves suffer the consequences of another person.

COSTELLO: Do you think that if you continue to work at the school that you would be endangering students and other teachers?

CHARLESWORTH: He never threatened another staff member, another student. He never threatened anybody else on that campus.

COSTELLO: I'm just going to read part of the statement that we got from the school. And, actually, this is from the diocese of San Diego because this is a Catholic school. "In the interest of the safety of the students, faculty and parents at Holy Trinity School, we simply cannot allow you to return to work there or, u unfortunately, at any other school in the diocese. We feel deeply for you and about situation in which you and your children find yourselves through no fault of your own."

And I just want to read the last paragraph of the letter because it strikes me. "Please understand that this was a very difficult decision to make and we are deeply, deeply sorry about the situation. We will continue to pray for you and your family."

I'm sure you need prayers, but you need other things, as well, right?

CHARLESWORTH: We needed help. Our family was in turmoil and in a time of our most need, we were turned away. There was no dialogue between my principal and myself. There was no dialogue between the director of schools and myself. This decision was made and nobody ever called me to say, how are you and your children? What do you need? I know this is a difficult time. Nobody showed up to support me at the court cases. Nobody called after he was sentenced to see what had happened. We were turned away and they never bothered to say what can we do for you now?

COSTELLO: So, nobody from the diocese. Nobody showed up to even reach out a hand?

CHARLESWORTH: There was monetary donations provided by the school when everything first started to happen in January. And that was it. Nobody ever called after that.

COSTELLO: Do you think you'll be able to get a job anywhere?

CHARLESWORTH: Well, that's what makes me question myself. Because any job I get, I'm going to be in the public. If I were working in retail. If I worked at a restaurant, if I worked at a bank, anywhere I work, I'm going to come into contact with people. So, does that mean I don't get to work any more, anywhere? Does that mean my children can't play sports for their baseball league because if I'm there everybody else there is threatened? It makes me feel like I need to live in a little hole and bury myself because of the actions of somebody I have no control over.

COSTELLO: It just seems like -- it just seems like people are forgetting that you are the victim. You are victim.

CHARLESWORTH: I was the victim. And I needed help and their help to me was to tell my kids and I that we were to stay away from the school.

COSTELLO: What would you like to happen? I mean, why are you speaking out today?

CHARLESWORTH: I am speaking out for other victims of domestic violence who are in fear of losing their jobs because they come forward. Something has to change. Workplace policies, guidelines, employers need to work with their employees. Not just get them out of the workplace because -- to make them somebody else's problem. Something needs to change. Women and men of domestic violence need to be protected so that they do not lose their job and lose the way that they provide income for themselves and their family. Something has to change.

COSTELLO: Carie Charlesworth, thank you so much for sharing your story this morning. We appreciate it.

CHARLESWORTH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Coming up in NEWSROOM, domestic violence that touches women in all social circles. Now the famous chef, Nigella Lawson, may be a victim, too. Her husband caught on camera, allegedly, choking her.

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COSTELLO: New pictures of celebrity chef Nigella Lawson and her husband may lead to a criminal investigation in Britain. This weekend, the UK tabloid "The Sunday People" ran images of Lawson's husband with his hands around her neck at a restaurant. It appeared he was choking her. CNN entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner is in New York with more on this story. I've seen the pictures and they're pretty disturbing.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I've seen them too, Carol. You're right, this is a story stunning Great Britain. This is one of the biggest power couples in that country. Now, Nigella Lawson is not only a celebrity chef, she's also part of British society and her husband Charles Saatchi is one of the co- founders of Saatchi and Saatchi, which was at one point the biggest advertising agency in the world.

So, let me run through what we do know. Now, these photos of Charles Saatcha putting his hands on Nigella's neck really look disturbing. They were in a restaurant, but in an area that was screened off from view when this incident occurred. While we don't know exactly what happened there, Nigella's spokesperson has just told CNN that she and the children have moved out of the family home. It may indicate the pictures are showing something that we think they're showing.

Now, the London police have told CNN that they're also looking into what happened, quote, "I order to assess whether an investigation is necessary."

Carol, just about 30 minutes ago, we got a statement from Charles Saatchi about this incident. And if you bear with me, I'm going to read it to you because we're just getting it. I haven't seen it either. So, I'm going to go through what he says happened.

He says quote, "About a week ago we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children and I held Nigella's neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasize my point. There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but given a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. Nigella's tears were because we both hate arguing not because she had been hurt. We had made up by the time we were home, the paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke yesterday morning so I told Nigella to take the kids off until the dust settles." Again that is a statement from Charles Saatchi. That's what he said happened. So we just leave it that.

COSTELLO: He was just touching her neck and just kind of playful choking. I don't know. It's very strange. We haven't heard from Nigella Lawson yet. But we will soon, we hope.

TURNER: Exactly the only thing we do know is that her and the kids have moved out of the home whether it's because he told them to go or because she felt like she needed sometime apart we -- we don't know exactly what's happening there.

COSTELLO: All right Nischelle Turner reporting live for us this morning.

I want take you back to Wall Street and take a look at the big board because stocks are up. You can see a hefty 168 points. CNN's Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange. Why the uptick?

KOSIK: Well, this is all about optimism, Carol, about what's going to come out of the Federal Reserve meeting that starts on Tuesday and ends Wednesday because this is really a big meeting because the central bank is expected to say it's going to keep up its monetary stimulus program meaning keep it in place.

What the Fed has been doing, it's been buying up mortgage-backed securities and treasuries $85 billion every months. And that's pouring a lot of money into the financial system and pushing interest rates lower and basically pushing investors to stocks. It's why -- it's one of the huge reasons why we're seeing stocks up so much with the Dow over 15,000.

And this is kind of what many investors want to hear. They want to hear that instead of easing up on the program that the fed is not going to change course and keep doing this because, of course, in this gambling game they want to see stocks go higher. You're seeing that optimism play out with the Dow up 171 points less than a half hour into the trading day -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right Alison Kosik, I'm sure you'll keep an eye on it for us throughout the day. Alison Kosik thanks so much.

All eyes on the U.S. Supreme Court this morning as justices have several big, huge cases to rule on before the end of this year's term. In fact, we could see a decision on an affirmative action case. We'll talk about that, next.

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COSTELLO: We will find out in just a few minutes if the U.S. Supreme Court will issue a ruling today on any one of key rulings still on its plate and it could be a decision on affirmative action. Carrie Severino is the chief counsel and policy director for Judicial Crisis Network. Good morning.

CARRIE SEVERINO, CHIEF COUNSEL AND POLICY DIRECTOR, JUDICIAL CRISIS NETWORK: Good morning. How are you doing?

COSTELLO: I'm good. So I could be completely wrong, they could rule on same-sex or the voting rights act, but we think they're going to rule on affirmative action and if you could just take us to that case briefly we would appreciate it.

SEVERINO: Sure. Well we don't know which case it will be, but if it's this case, this is the longest outstanding case on the court's calendar. It's Fisher versus University of Texas and deals with a challenge to their affirmative action program that the University of Texas has. The question is going to be whether that program is too strict in how it balances the -- the braces, in saying we need to have exactly the same racial balance as a state as a whole.

This goes a little beyond the case of Grutter versus Bollinger that the court decided several years ago at the University of Michigan. So the question is whether they are going to just say well we will keep what we said before. We're going to say we really strictly scrutinize these opinions, these state decisions, or whether they'll say this is not too big of a deal, we'll let it slide.

And we think Justice Kennedy will come out with that case and I think they'll probably find the University of Texas goes too far in its racial preferences on campus.

COSTELLO: Yes and just to put into personal terms, we are seeing a young woman in the video that we we're running previous to this, her name was Abigail Fisher, she says she was denied admission to the University of Texas because she was white. The interesting thing about this case and I know you're saying it hinges on Kennedy but Justice Kagan recused herself. This decision could possibly end in a tie, couldn't it?

SEVERINO: It could. If that happens, the lower court decisions stands Justice Kagan was involved in this case when she was Solicitor General because they filed an amicus brief in this case, so she's recused from the case.

COSTELLO: Ok so we'll find out in the 10:00 o'clock hour, 10:00 o'clock Eastern hour of NEWSROOM what the decision will be hopefully. Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director for Judicial Crisis Networks, thanks so much for being here.

SEVERINO: Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, the San Antonio Spurs are one game away from taking the NBA title. Highlights of their big win over Miami in "Bleacher Report".

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COSTELLO: The Heat's big three unable to stop the Spurs. San Antonio crushed Miami in game 5 of the NBA finals. Andy Scholes is here with Bleacher Report. Good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: And good morning, Carol. This series continues to go back and forth, neither team has been able to win two games in a row. But that doesn't matter now. For the Spurs they need just one more win to claim their fifth NBA title.

Last night in game 5, Gregg Popovich is trying to find a way to get Manu Ginobili going, so he put him in the starting line-up for the first time in over a year and boy did it work. Ginobili had a season high 24 points to go along with 10 assists. Now this game was still close in the third quarter. But that's when the Spurs went on a 19-1 run.

Danny Green was on fire once again he set an NBA finals record for three pointers hitting six more while scoring 24, Spurs cruise to a 114-104 win. The series now shifts back to Miami for game six tomorrow night.

Well yesterday's final round turned out to be another heartbreaker for Phil Mickelson. Lefty had the lead heading into the final round. And check out his shot on the 10th. And he holed it from the fairway. That was an Eagle. He was still in the lead at that point, but Mickelson would bogey three of his final six holes. He finished in second place for a record sixth time at the U.S. Open.

And while Mickelson struggled through his final round, Englishman Justin Rose had a solid day. Rose shot even par. That was good enough to win his first major of his career. Now he's expected to rise to number three in the world right behind tiger woods and Rory McIlroy. And as happy as everyone is for Justin Rose, Carol you've got to feel bad for Mickelson, six times second place at U.S. Open. That's just incredible.

COSTELLO: Always a bride maid.

SCHOLES: Yes.

COSTELLO: Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM -- awkward -- Obama, Putin sit down to talk Syria but this may be on the table, too.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nobody is listening to your telephone calls.

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COSTELLO: But fresh from the NSA leaker, American spy tapped top secret Russian communications during the last summit.

Plus homicide -- Colorado's Black Forest fire ruled a crime scene -- two dead, hundreds of others lucky.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the other stuff -- that means nothing. That's what we bought insurance for. But it's the things that represent our family's heritage --