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The Search for Edward Snowden; Interview with Miriam Elder; Zimmerman Trial Enters Day Two; Apple Stock Tanks; Paula Deen's Sons Speak Out; Deen Loses Big Endorsement Deal
Aired June 25, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A search for Snowden and a problem for the president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What can you tell us about Edward Snowden's whereabouts?
COSTELLO: A 30-year-old high school dropout vanishes but he's still front and center.
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: People may die as a consequence of what man did.
COSTELLO: The big question this morning, why can't America find this guy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the White House working under the assumption he's still in Russia?
COSTELLO: Also, Boston bakes and the South sizzles.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's so hot out here. Look at the huge chunk of the country dealing with temperatures this hot.
COSTELLO: Haze and humidity firing up severe weather in the midwest, 40 million Americans on alert.
Plus, fireworks in Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVIE DELETED) punks. These (EXPLETIVIE DELETED).
COSTELLO: George Zimmerman and the tale of the two opening statements, the F-bombs, the surveillance tape, and the knock-knock joke everyone's talking about this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock, knock. Who's there?
COSTELLO: We're live outside the courthouse.
And Blackhawks bash. The Stanley Cup now home in Chicago. NEWSROOM starts now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO (on camera): Good morning, I'm Carol Costello, thanks so much for being with me.
This morning, the United States blusters, other nations bristle, and Edward Snowden remains very much invisible. The man who exposed a secret U.S. surveillance program is still in hiding a full two days after leaving Hong Kong. The U.S. believes he may be hunkered down at a transit area of the Moscow airport. That leaves him in diplomatic limbo and without a deadline to come forward. It would also allow wiggle room for this angry response from Russia's foreign minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (via translator): He independently chose his route and we learned, as did everyone else, from the mass media. He did not cross the Russian border and we think all of the attempts that we are now witnessing, attempts to accuse the Russian side of violating U.S. law and almost conspiring, accompanied by threats towards us, are totally unfounded and unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ecuador also brushing off Washington's call to block asylum in that country. Ecuador's president tweeting, "We will make with absolute sovereignty the decision that we believe is most appropriate." He ended his tweet, oddly, with this, "A big hug to everyone and happy week."
The U.S. says Snowden's betrayal should not be taken lightly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: People may die as a consequence of what this man did. It is possible the United States will be attacked because terrorists may now know how to protect themselves in some way or another that they didn't know before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Miriam Elder is the Moscow correspondent for "The Guardian". That's the British newspaper Snowden entrusted with one of the biggest intelligence scandals in recent U.S. history. Welcome, Miriam.
MIRIAM ELDER, MOSCOW CORRESPONDENT, THE GUARDIAN: Hi.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. Not many people know where Snowden is. Why play this game?
ELDER: Actually, Russia has this strange approach to its politics. It does like to be sneaky; it does like to play games, but it is kind of honest and does like to stick to the letter of the law. When Lavrov says Snowden didn't enter Russian territory, my inclination is to believe him. The question is was he whisked away from the airplane without touching foot on Russian soil? That's another question.
COSTELLO: How could Snowden elude all of these journalists following him and many countries following him, as well?
ELDER: I mean, that's the question. Was he ever in the airport, really, for as long as we expected him to be? We thought he would be there for 20 hours after he got off this flight from Hong Kong and was supposedly planning to get on the flight to Cuba, and nobody saw him. There were no pictures taken of him. And the Russians didn't take any photos and leak them to their press, which would have been sort of an expected thing to do. You'd think it would be a huge P.R. coup for them if they got a photo of him out.
COSTELLO: Yes, I was going to ask you, if Snowden is, indeed, in the airport, you would expect the KGB to go in there and question him. Because if a similar guy was in the United States holed up at Dulles, the American CIA would probably be pretty interested in him.
ELDER: Right. And I was in the airport for a couple of days and the only time we saw some really sort of strange activity was on Sunday evening. There were really a lot of FSB officials milling about, blocking access particularly to one corridor. There were up to ten of them at one time, so it's very possible that if he did, in fact, make it into the airport without passing through passport control, that he was questioned by the Russians. But it's all really speculation right now.
COSTELLO: And I would suppose many, many journalists have gone back to Russia, back to Moscow's airport, to play a waiting game again today.
ELDER: Exactly. There are many people there checking out the flights to Havana, flights to other destinations, checking the hallways and the duty free, but nobody's seen him.
COSTELLO: We'll see. Miriam Elder from "The Guardian," thank you for joining us this morning.
Of course, the hunt for Edward Snowden has cost a bit of embarrassment for the British newspaper, "The Independent." This was the front page yesterday which declared, quote, "A red shirted Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow after flying in from Hong Kong."
There's a problem with that -- that guy is not Snowden. Barcroft Media, which supplied the photo, later admitted the gaffe and the image was changed for later editions. For some it brought to mind the error by "The New York Post," which printed this front page as officials searched for the Boston bombing suspects. Those men recently filed a defamation lawsuit against the "Post", claiming it accused them of the crime. "Post" has denied the charge and says it stands by the story.
After opening with fireworks, including four-letter words from the prosecutor and a bizarre knock-knock joke by the defense, the trial of George Zimmerman has now entered day two, the jury seeing images of Trayvon Martin caught on a 7-Eleven surveillance camera buying iced tea and Skittles shortly before the 17-year-old heads back to his father's Sanford, Florida, neighborhood.
Jurors also heard that chilling 911 call, the call that captured the confrontation that ended in Martin's death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: This is 911, do you need police for medical?
CALLER: Maybe both, I'm not sure. There's just someone screaming outside.
911 OPERATOR: And what's the address that they are near? Is this is (INAUDIBLE) in Sanford?
CALLER: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: OK, and is it a male or female?
CALLER: It sounds like a male.
911 OPERATOR: You don't know why?
CALLER: I don't know why. I think they're yelling, "Help," but I don't know. Just send someone quick, fast.
911 OPERATOR: OK, does he look hurt to you?
CALLER: I can't see him. I don't want to go out there, I don't know what's going on. They're sending.
911 OPERATOR: He keeps yelling help?
CALLER: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: All right, what is your phone number?
CALLER: There's gunshots.
911 OPERATOR: You just heard gunshots?
CALLER: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: How many?
CALLER: Just one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin is in Sanford, Florida. Good morning, Sunny.
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: So the judge has ruled voice analysts can't testify in regards to the tape we just heard. So why introduce it at all? Because we don't know whose voice that is yelling for help.
HOSTIN: We don't know whose voice that is yelling for help, but it's a crucial and critical piece of evidence because you do hear someone screaming for help and then you hear those screams silenced after this gunshot.
I've got to tell you, I think it sort of tees up a quite dramatic moment that will likely happen in the courtroom. My understanding is that members of Trayvon Martin's family, perhaps even Sabrina Fulton, will get on the stand and identify those screams as those of her son.
My understanding, then, is that someone from George Zimmerman's family may also testify identifying those screams as the voice of George Zimmerman. And so you will see, rather than experts talking about those voices, you will hear family members talking about those voices. And I think that will be very significant for this jury.
COSTELLO: Other 911 calls will be introduced -- I guess the prosecution will try to introduce other 911 calls -- the prosecution will try to introduce other 911 calls into evidence today, and these 911 calls all done by George Zimmerman, but they have nothing to do with this particular case. So why introduce those calls?
HOSTIN: Yes, that's right. I mean, I was just in the courtroom right before coming out to speak with you, Carol, and the lawyers are making those arguments. There are a lot of nonemergency calls actually that were made by George Zimmerman to the Sanford Police Department, and he's reporting burglaries in and around his neighborhood.
And so the prosecution is saying, well, this goes to his state of mind when he profiled Trayvon Martin. They are saying, of course, in his mind he profiled him because he was sort of assuming that Trayvon Martin was another one of these burglars up to criminal activity. And so they say it's completely relevant. But, of course, the defense team says, no, not relevant at all. These have nothing to do with the case.
But they are arguing about that very point right now.
COSTELLO: All right. Sunny Hostin live in Sanford, Florida, this morning. Thank you.
Sources in Nelson Mandela's family say there are no plans for the ailing former South African president to meet with President Obama. President Obama leaves for the African continent tomorrow. The White House has not officially said one way or the another if a visit with Mandela was planned. As you know, Mandela's health took a turn for the worse over the weekend. And this morning, well wishers released doves outside the Pretoria hospital Mandela remains in critical condition. They say the doves represent the freedom Mandela brought to their country.
In New Hampshire, 23 Boy Scouts and three scout leaders are rushed to hospitals after lightning strikes a tree near their camp. The scouts were under a canopy during a rainstorm when lightning struck a tree. Several scouts complained of a tingling sensation. No one was seriously hurt.
Crews in Iowa race to save a man s his pickup truck is swallowed by rising flood waters. Several other people also had to be rescued from their cars. The rising water caught many people by surprise. This happened in Lowden, Iowa; no one was seriously hurt.
Apple stock is tanking. It opens this morning around $400 a share. Awful since it soared past $700 a share in late September. But never fear, the new Steve Jobs biopic is about to polish the apple -- at least that's what stockholders hope. Here's the trailer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR: We're making Apple cool again. Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The movie starring Ashton Kutcher portrays Jobs as a saintly Apple genius, something many say Apple sorely needs right now.
CNN business anchor Christine Romans live in New York. So, what's going on with Apple?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that picture, that trailer, is the past. What's the future, what have you done for me lately, Apple? That's what shareholders are asking. They are also looking, Carol, at very aggressive competition from Samsung, very aggressive competition. Some patent losses there.
And some analysts are now asking is there low morale, potentially, at Apple as the share prices have been coming down. And are they rolling out new products fast enough? Analysts very closely watching all of the supply chains to see exactly what's going to happen there. Just yesterday you had one analyst cut his price target of Apple so that was why the stocks fell yesterday.
But let me show you stock, Carol. The Apple shares are down 30 percent over the past year. They had been more than $700 a share back in September. If you are one of the many, many people who own Apple shares, you have been watching this company go down as the share price go down, as the stock prices are going up.
I want to show you smartphone sales, because here's one reason why. You can see how Samsung has been an amazing story. It has 30 percent now of the first quarter market share for smart phone cells. Apple had 18 percent. It is the only of the top 5 major smartphone producers that is declining in market share, not gaining.
So this is a company criticized by some analysts who say it's not doing enough, but remember, it is pouring out all kinds of iPads, iPhones, Macbook computers, all kinds of things so quickly. They are still selling things very, very briskly, but there are very high expectations for Apple, even as consumers are looking to some other things right now, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK, so you're a smart investor. Should I buy, if I could afford $400 a share, should I buy Apple stock?
ROMANS: If you want the dividend that this company gives, if you think the company has a brighter future, if you think that when it rolls out the new generation of iPhone in the fall that it will be transformative, if you think that coming up with a maybe lower-end iPhone is not going to eat into its overall market share -- if you believe all these things, then yes, you should.
Essentially you buy a stock if you think it will go up. There are analysts saying we thought it would have a $450 price tag, right now we think a $400 price target. That's where it's sitting right now, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, you never know. What, if you bought $10,000 worth of Apple stock back in September, it's worth half that now?
ROMANS: Yes, yes. But if you bought it five years ago, you're rich.
COSTELLO: True. That's why playing the stock market is like playing the lottery sometimes. Christine Romans, thank you.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Opening bell just a few minutes away. Right now, futures are flat and Christine will be back to check on how stocks are faring this morning.
Everybody thought the Stanley Cup finals were going back to Chicago for Game Seven, everybody except the Chicago Blackhawks, that is. The Blackhawks score two goals within 17 seconds at the end of Game Six to stop the Boston Bruins 3-2. Chicago takes the series four games to two, winning the Stanley Cup for the second time in four years. The Blackhawks' Patrick Kane is the postseason MVP.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK KANE, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: Hopefully we can stay together a long time, because that's two cups in four years and we seem to only be getting better and better as players as time goes on here. It's unbelievable to be in this situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Blackhawks fans watching the game from Chicago may have been as surprised as anyone by the late game turn of events. Fire trucks shot water in the air as the Blackhawks' plane arrived at O'Hare airport early this morning. Blackhawks center carried the cup off the plane. You see him there. Congratulations, guys.
Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, Paula Deen's sons speak out in an exclusive interview with CNN, and they talk about their mother and bigotry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE DEEN, PAULA DEEN'S SON: Mom has admitted and she has apologized and, as a person, what more can you do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: More of Chris Cuomo's interview with Jamie and Bobby Deen, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 18 minutes past the hour.
Wild story in Orlando. While giving an interview about a string of robberies in his supermarket, a store manager actually recognized one of the alleged thieves and took the law into his own hands. Check out the dramatic citizen's arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just -- give me one second. This is the guy that stole the other day.
Come with me. This is the guy that stole the other day. No, no, no. You're going on the floor. You're going on the floor. Tell my brother to call the police.
I don't care. I don't care.
I got your face when you take the meat and the eggs. Don't worry. Don't worry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Apparently, this wasn't the first time the manager has taken down a suspect. Last Wednesday, he held another man until police arrived.
A mega heist at JFK, $1.2 million vanishes into thin air from a Swiss air flight. "The New York Post" is reporting the cash was in a cargo container, but it wouldn't have been hard to sneak off with the money, it only weighs 22 pounds.
Sound familiar? It is if you've seen "Goodfellas."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do I tell you, don't buy anything, you hear me? Don't buy anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe this. I am stupid or what? Excuse me, excuse me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Of course, "Goodfellas" based the scene on another major JFK heist. A $5 million stolen off a Lufthansa flight in 1978.
In central Massachusetts, a public bus slams into a home, injuring eight people, including a mother and three young children inside the home at the time. One of the kids was watching TV, just feet away from the crash. All four people onboard the bus, including the driver, were sent to the hospital. Cause of the crash still under investigation.
One person is dead after a grain elevator exploded in Indiana. LaPorte County police have yet to determine the cause of the explosion. According to the coroner, the man was on top of the grain elevator tower and may have been knocked off by the blast.
And you will be relieved to know the little red panda the entire nation was holding its breath over is back home safe and sound. Rusty the red panda went missing from the national zoo in Washington, D.C. yesterday. He was eventually spotted by a family in a nearby neighborhood. The family then said, oh, I think we found Rusty. Zoo officials came out and Rusty's back at home this morning.
Paula Deen's sons are coming to her defense. In an exclusive interview with CNN's NEW DAY, Bobby and Jamie Deen told Chris Cuomo their mother is not a racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOBBY DEEN, PAULA DEEN'S SON: We were raised in a family with love and of faith and a house where God lived, and neither one of our parents ever taught us to be bigoted towards any other person for any reason. And this is so saddening to me, because our mother is one of the most compassionate, good hearted, empathetic people that you'd ever meet, and these accusations are very hurtful to her and it's very sad.
JAMIE DEEN, PAULA DEEN'S SON: This environment of racism that's been spoken about is -- could not be further from the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But the fallout for the Southern cooking queen shows no signs of slowing down, at least for now. She just lost another big endorsement deal after admitting to using the "N" word in the past.
CNN's Pamela Brown has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA DEEN, CELEBRITY CHEF: I'm going to wrap it in bacon and we're going to deep fry it.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Celebrity chef Paula Deen is now bringing home a lot less bacon. First, the Food Network announced it would not renew her contract. Now, her lucrative endorsement deal with pork processor Smithfield Foods has been canned.
DEEN: I want to apologize to everybody.
BROWN: Deen issued back-to-back video apologies last Friday after readily admitting to using the N-word in the past. The revelation surfaced in a deposition stemming from a racial and sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former employee.
Under oath, an attorney asks Deen if she's ever used the N-word. She answers, "Yes, of course." She admits she used the slur to describe a black man who robbed her at gunpoint back in the 1980's when she worked in a bank.
She goes on to say she is sure she used it on other occasions in the past, but doesn't remember the context. The suit also claims Deen wanted to plan a southern plantation themed party staffed with black waiters. Deen has talked openly about her views on slavery and race relations, speaking at a "New York Times" event last year.
DEEN: Black folks played such an integral part in our lives. They were like our family, and we didn't see ourselves as being prejudiced. I think we are a all prejudiced against one something or another and I think black people feel the same prejudice that white people feel.
BROWN: But another comment from that even about a black employee has raised some eyebrows.
DEEN: I have a young man in my life and his name is Hollis Johnson and he's black as that board.
Come out here, Hollis. We can't see you standing against that dark board.
BROWN: Despite the backlash, support for the southern chef is still flowing in from fans, several flocked to her restaurants over the weekend, some have threatened to boycott The Food Network over her firing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has apologized, and I think maybe we all should take that for what it's worth.
BROWN: But will her public apologies be enough to keep her products on store shelves?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's already whispers that QVC may be dropping, Walmart is another big one on the line. It seems that the Food Network may have started some sort of domino effect for Paula.
BROWN (on camera): "The Forbes" editor I spoke with says that Deen has already lost $2.5 million from the Food Network alone and she stands to lose another $5.5 million if other companies sever relationships with Deen.
According to "Forbes", she's the fourth highest earning chef, earning $17 million just in 2012 alone. Analysts though say that if she is able to repair her image, they wouldn't be surprised if the Food Network or perhaps another food channel picks her back up. After all, she does have a very loyal fan base -- Carol.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That she does. Pamela Brown reporting.
Of course, Deen is taking a beating, not only in the mainstream press, but from late night comedians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
CONAN O'BRIEN, COMEDIAN: Over the weekend, fans, big fans of Paula Deen, staged a protest against her firing. Yes. Deen's fans were so upset. They held a hunger strike for eight seconds. They took out their emergency butter.
Has it been eight seconds? It's been eight seconds.
Paula Deen is also -- charges are coming out of the woodwork. Paula Deen's also accused of paying some of her employees in beer. Yes.
After hearing this, Andy Richter asked, is she hiring?
JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: Paula Deen is having a difficult week. Paula Deen was deposed as part of a discrimination lawsuit filed against her. The attorney for the attorney side asked if she's used the N- word, and she said, yes, of course.
Just an FYI, if the lawyer asks if you've ever used the N-word, the only you can say yes is, yes, of course. Duh.
On Friday, the Food Network announced they would not renew Paula's contract, and today Smithfield, a company for whom she endorsed pork products also severed ties with Deen. Even the other white meat is turning on her. That's big. Pork severing ties with Paula Deen is like spinach cutting ties with Popeye.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
COSTELLO: Too many, though, the Deen saga is not funny. By the way, Deen is set to appear on the "Today" show tomorrow to stand up for herself. It should be interesting.
Still ahead in THE NEWSROOM: opening bell just minutes away. We're heading live to the New York Stock Exchange where stocks, we hope, are set for a rebound.
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COSTELLO: Opening bell just about to ring on Wall Street, if it hasn't already. Investors are hoping for a rebound today after stocks finished in the red yesterday.
