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New Day
Rachel Jeantel Speaks Out; San Diego Mayor Refuses to Step Down; Apple Investigates Claim Chinese Woman Electrocuted by iPhone 5; High Blood Pressure In Children
Aired July 16, 2013 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Billy Joel, "Walking in My Sleep".
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Welcome back, everybody. I know. Hopefully not perfect for you, got to be wide awake. It's time for NEW DAY, Tuesday, July 16th, I'm Chris Cuomo.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Kate Bolduan. We're here with news anchor Michaela Pereira.
A lot coming up this half hour, including Trayvon Martin's close friend, Rachel Jeantel. She is speaking out exclusively to CNN about George Zimmerman and about his defense team.
CUOMO: All right. I don't know what you're doing, but take a look right now. But, do you see this? These smoke stacks, they're coming down. There's going to be a big implosion in about 15 minutes live from a power plant in Hollywood, Florida.
We'll try and bring it to you, if we can get close enough to where it happens. It always like to see that as long as it's safe. Interesting picture in the morning.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: You like those implosions?
CUOMO: I like to see things get blown up and fall down but that's me.
PEREIRA: All right. Good to know.
CUOMO: A lot of -- and you like news, what do you have for us?
PEREIRA: We all do, don't we?
All right. Let's take a look at the headlines this morning. Good morning to you at home.
For the first time, a juror in the George Zimmerman trial is breaking her silence. Juror B-37 speaking exclusively to our Anderson Cooper saying she believes George Zimmerman had a right to defend himself and that the shooting of Trayvon Martin should have never have happened in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUROR B37, JUROR IN GEORGE ZIMMERMAN TRIAL: I think both were responsible for the situation they had gotten themselves into. I think both of them could have walked away. It just didn't happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEREIRA: B-37 went on to say all the jurors broke into tears after handing in their not guilty verdict.
A sizzling week will be scorching the Northeast. We do not expect record-breaking temperatures but there are heat advisories and warnings in Boston, Philly, the D.C. area and New York City. That heat will expand into the Midwest and Northern Plains over the next couple of days. Relief is not expected until the weekend.
Senators meeting again this morning to try to prevent the nuclear option that's the Democrats' threat to wipe out Republican filibusters of the president's cabinet and agency nominees and put them to a simple majority vote. Nearly all 100 senators met late into the night, but they could not hash out a deal. Two cabinet member nominees and five agency appointees are up for votes this morning. Republicans have been stalling the confirmation process for months.
A group of deaf customers are suing Starbucks, saying workers at two New York City locations were cruel and refused to serve them. An attorney for a dozen deaf customers say they were ridiculed, laughed at and told to leave. In one incident last year a deaf customer says he was continually told to repeat himself to the point that a worker started laughing hysterically.
Starbucks for their part says they're investigating the allegations.
I want to show you this. Take a look -- the driver who crashed his van into a Toledo motel, going about 100 miles per hour now under arrest.
The shirtless suspect is seen on camera running away from the Crowne Inn Motel. Amazingly two people inside the room he crashed into are both OK. Workers tell CNN affiliate WTOL police soon caught up with the driver outside a nearby K-Mart.
All right. Here you go, Chris. This is the story, Kate, you know, the baby panda -- congratulations in order for Lun Lun, the panda in Zoo Atlanta. The giant panda gave birth to twins Monday. Oh, we have a sneak peek at the zoo's live panda cam. Because you need a panda cam.
BOLDUAN: She's awake. She's watching NEW DAY as well.
PEREIRA: She's definitely contemplating her belly button, I think. The twins have not been spotted. They were surprised as zookeepers were expecting only one cub based on a recent ultrasound. It's the first set of twin pandas born in the U.S. since 1987. We've been monitoring. Our producer Miguel has been monitoring the panda cam. We haven't seen the pandas yet this morning.
BOLDUAN: Because they're so teenie.
PEREIRA: They have eclipsed by mom, likely.
CUOMO: Names?
PEREIRA: I don't think they named them yet. Lun Lun is working on it.
CUOMO: Lun Lun?
PEREIRA: That's mom.
BOLDUAN: That's the mom's name.
CUOMO: I know that.
BOLDUAN: I think it's fun when you involve the kids and have the community naming the pandas.
CUOMO: What have you got, kids? What do you think?
PEREIRA: What do you think?
BOLDUAN: Lun Lun?
CUOMO: That's the mom.
PEREIRA: Nigel and Basil.
BOLDUAN: Nigel and Basil?
CUOMO: Really?
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: I like when people name their dog very undog-like like, Steve.
CUOMO: I love that. I like when if you're going to have a name, you should have like what a name --
BOLDUAN: One of them is going to be Dave. The other one is going to be Molly.
PEREIRA: Dave and Molly the twins. We'll work on that and find out what the names will be.
CUOMO: A panda named Frank. Is that so bad? It's an American panda.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: All right. We'll keep contemplating that and we're also going to be back to much more news to the CNN exclusive that she was the star witness for the prosecution in the George Zimmerman trial and she captivated much of the nation with her gripping and sometimes contentious testimony.
For the first time, Rachel Jeantel is speaking out. She talked with Piers Morgan last night about the verdict and also who Trayvon Martin really was.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: Tell me, first of all, your reaction to the fact that George Zimmerman was acquitted.
RACHEL JEANTEL, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FRIEND: Disappointed, upset, angry.
MORGAN: Well, what is your view of George Zimmerman?
JEANTEL: Weak.
If you were a real man, you would have stand on that stage and tell what happened.
MORGAN: In your heart, what do you believe happened?
JEANTEL: He was trying to get home, and he was, and that's a fact.
He keeps telling me that the man still watch him. So if it was a security guard or a policeman, they would come up to Trayvon and say, do you have -- do you need -- do you have a problem, do you need help? You know, like normal people.
MORGAN: And if George Zimmerman had done that, if he'd introduced himself as a neighborhood watch patrolman, what would Trayvon have said to him, do you think?
JEANTEL: No, I'm just trying to get home.
MORGAN: And be honest with me, Rachel, do you think that that was racially motivated or more a case of somebody he thought was a young thug, black or white?
JEANTEL: It was racial. Let's be honest. Racial. If he -- if Trayvon was white and he had a hoodie on, would that happen?
MORGAN: One thing we didn't get in this trial, Rachel, was a real sense of what Trayvon Martin was really like.
What kind of guy was he?
JEANTEL: He was a calm, chill, loving person. Loved his family, definitely his mother.
MORGAN: He was a good friend to you?
JEANTEL: Yes.
MORGAN: A kind friend?
JEANTEL: Yes.
MORGAN: Was he ever aggressive?
JEANTEL: No.
MORGAN: Did you ever see him aggressive?
JEANTEL: No.
MORGAN: Did he ever lose his temper?
JEANTEL: No.
MORGAN: Did he take a lot of weed?
JEANTEL: No.
MORGAN: How much would you say?
JEANTEL: Like twice a week.
MORGAN: Is that normal for teenagers in your community?
JEANTEL: Yes. Real normal.
MORGAN: What effect did it have on you, Trayvon's death?
JEANTEL: You can't believe -- like you can't believe what just happened. You were just a minute on the phone with the person.
And people got the nerve to tell me, oh, why didn't you come to the funeral? I didn't put Trayvon at the funeral.
MORGAN: So you seem to me a very different character tonight to the one we saw in court.
JEANTEL: I was dealing with a lot of stress for 16 months, I think?
MORGAN: And you were grieving a friend.
JEANTEL: I was grieving.
MORGAN: Don West gave you a very hard time, the defense attorney?
JEANTEL: Don West.
MORGAN: What is your --
(LAUGHTER)
What is your view of him?
JEANTEL: I'm going to have to say, he -- like I'm a Christian.
(LAUGHTER)
JEANTEL: I didn't cuss at Don (ph). The only reason I have not said nothing to Don West, because my parents taught me better. That's as an adult, you don't have the right to disrespect an adult.
MORGAN: The juror who was interviewed tonight by Anderson Cooper for CNN said that she felt sorry for you. You're uneducated. You have no communication skills.
What do you feel about what that juror said about you?
JEANTEL: Angry. Upset. When the state closed they're trying to explain what kind of person I am. You can see the kind of person I am.
The jury is so shocked what I said and they're acting like the generation we got now don't say that.
MORGAN: Are you an honest person by nature?
JEANTEL: Yes.
MORGAN: You took that seriously.
JEANTEL: Yes, because mind you, who wants to be in a murder case? You think I would make all that up to be in a murder case, never knew it was going to be nationwide. So why I'd make that up, deal with the B.S. to get to trial. How do I make that up?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: The last point is a big one. People love to judge and social media only makes it easier for us.
But when you want to think about Rachel Jeantel, she said it perfectly there, 16 months she had to deal with this, she lost her friend.
BOLDUAN: She's 19 years old.
CUOMO: She's 19 years old, she's part of a murder case now. She knows she's on national television all the time and people feel so free to judge her reactions and behavior.
PEREIRA: A case that has such massive implications, too.
BOLDUAN: People care so passionately about it. Remember she did not ask to be put in this position and you don't know what it would be like if you were on that stand.
CUOMO: Hard enough for you to live on the fact her friend was on the phone with her before his life was taken.
BOLDUAN: Tough, tough, tough.
CUOMO: All right. We're going to take a break here on NEW DAY. And when he come back the scandal rocking the mayor of San Diego, new allegations how he groped and coerced women inside his own office and why he's refusing, with all that, to step down.
BOLDUAN: That's pretty interesting.
And we're also moments away from, what am I looking at here? Oh, yes, you're going to wait and want to see spectacular power plant implosion.
CUOMO: See, everybody wants to see it. You even want to see it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everybody.
The mayor of San Diego refusing to step down this morning. Bob Filner is accused of inappropriately touching and kissing former supporters, including an ex-staff member. Now, with threats of a sexual harassment claim, many are calling for his resignation.
CNN's Stephanie Elam has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONNA FRYE, FORMER SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL: Bob Filner is to blame! And he needs to resign!
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): San Diego Mayor Bob Filner hasn't been in office a year yet, but he's already fighting for his job. Filner's chief of staff has resigned, his fiance has left him and is calling for his resignation. And heading up the chant, former city councilwoman, Donna Frye, who says she has evidence Filner was inappropriate with some women.
FRYE: We need to stand by our women who have been abused, who have been sexually harassed and stand up for them and get him out of office.
ELAM: The political fire storm prompted the mayor to release this video on YouTube.
MAYOR BOB FILNER (D), SAN DIEGO: When a friend like Donna Frye is compelled to call for any resignation, I'm clearly doing something wrong. I'm embarrassed to admit I have failed to fully respect the women who work for and with me.
ELAM: Marco Gonzalez, a lawyer for one of Filner's accusers, alleged the mayor forcibly kissed and groped several women.
MARCO GONZALEZ, CIVIL ATTORNEY: He says things, come on, you know you love me, just give me a kiss. Let's go up to my office. No one will know.
ELAM: But Filner made it clear he's not going to step down. FILNER: It's very important that I think we continue with my priorities, that's what I was elected to do, with the vision I have for the city, and we've made some very great strides and those will continue. That's why I'm not resigning.
ELAM: So, can the embattled mayor survive the storm?
DAN SCHNUR, DIRECTOR: Politics is ultimately about trust. When your own fiance turns on you, when your closest friends and political allies level accusations against you it's almost impossible to rebuild that trust.
ELAM: Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: All right. Time now for around the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he wants NSA leaker Edward Snowden to leave Russia as soon as possible, but he is not ruling out Snowden's request for asylum there.
Phil Black has the latest from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the United States for trapping Edward Snowden here. He says from the moment Snowden left Hong Kong, the U.S. has intimidated other countries and that's why he can't leave. Putin hasn't ruled out the possibility of granting Snowden asylum. He said as soon as Snowden can be transferred to another country, he will do so.
Back to you, Kate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks so much, Phil.
Now, to Mexico, where the head of the Mexico's notorious Zetas drug cartel is now under arrest, taken into custody not far from the U.S. border.
CNN's Nick Parker has more from Mexico City.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PARKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The notorious drug lord was arrested on a remote road just south of Nuevo Laredo, a border city and known transit point to drugs. Mexican marines had the area under surveillance for some months and when they stopped his pickup truck they found $2 million in cash, eight guns and two other men.
As leader of Los Zetas, perhaps Mexico's largest drug cartel, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales was known for his gruesome violence. In 2009, he was indicted in the United States on a $5 million reward placed on his head -- Kate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Nick, thanks so much for that.
Apple is now investigating reports that a woman in China was electrocuted by her iPhone 5. The family claims she died answering a call while her phone was charging.
David McKenzie is in Beijing with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chinese state media say a woman in western China has been electrocuted and died while using an iPhone 5 when it was charging. Now, Apple, the electronics giant, says they are saddened by her death and that they are investigating the reports.
State media says the woman's body showed clear signs of electrocution but they did say that smartphones like this give off tiny voltage, and Chinese authorities have warned consumers here not to use dodgy cell phone chargers.
Apple used to be known just for creating products here in China, but increasingly, it's an important market for the company. Kate, back to you.
BOLDUAN: All right. David, thanks so much. Terrifying, clearly something they need to investigate.
CUOMO: Absolutely. All right. We're going to take a break here. When we come back, we've been watching the smokestacks that are going to be imploded. Right now, we're showing you them right there.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: It looks like it's happening.
CUOMO: Here they go. It's imploding. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Second boiler, the third boiler. Now, all four boilers are down. And the first smoke stack there it is starting to lean.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Now, this is all OK. This is a controlled implosion of an old power plant that they're knocking down make way for something else.
PEREIRA: This is said to be the biggest power plant implosion in Florida history. In fact, one of the biggest general demolitions in the past 20 years in that state. It's pretty impressive when you look at it. BOLDUAN: Fifty years old, think of all the technological advances since then.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Since the 1960s, the broadcaster is saying it stood and they brought it down. And remember, it's a controlled implosion so they make those stacks fall the way they want so that everything surrounding them is kept safe and they can deal with the deconstruction after it.
PEREIRA: When you look at the size of what it was, the pile of rubble is remarkably small. They're going to build a brand new power plant there that's going to be much more efficient.
BOLDUAN: It looks like it all went well. Let's hope it did.
CUOMO: Where you don't want to live, though, is the way that that cloud is going.
BOLDUAN: Downwind.
CUOMO: Because that's unfortunately downwind and not a very good place to be.
PEREIRA: They likely evacuated those folks in light of that.
CUOMO: Anyway, talk amongst yourselves. We're going to take a break here, but you know it was fun to watch.
(LAUGHTER)
CUOMO: Come on.
BOLDUAN: Come on, people!
CUOMO: See you back on NEW DAY.
BOLDUAN: Happy Tuesday. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: This is what I call American ingenuity and what smart people in Indiana can do when they put their mind to it.
CUOMO: This is his backyard. The guy built a roller coaster in his backyard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEREIRA: All right. Keep your hands inside the moving vehicle in your backyard. We want to show you our must-see moment today. It might be called you must have a lot of time on your hands and all the courage in the world. This is John Ivers (ph). He's in Southern Indiana, where is it, Kate?
BOLDUAN: Vincent, Indiana.
PEREIRA: Thank you very much. Taking the I (ph) wide a new hyper. Literally, he did not just build a homemade roller coaster, he made two homemade roller coasters in his backyard. One of them called blue force. It is a 20-foot tall climb and a G-force drop. He says that he just used scrap metal and old parts from his job to make the rides. I have to say, I gave my dad props for flooding our backyard to make an ice rink. This is kind of bringing the daddy DIY stuff to a new level, Chris.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: I think, we're going to have some Hoosiers that are going to be a little upset about one aspect of this. This is not a -- what happens when you have too much time on your hand. This is called a great use of your day.
PEREIRA: Yes. He's going to have a lot of neighbors coming out to visit.
BOLDUAN: It's about the community.
PEREIRA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: In Vincent, he might not have neighbors for miles. So --
PEREIRA: There are going to be happy glee -- streams of glee coming from that backyard.
CUOMO: Who wouldn't want a roller coaster in their backyard?
BOLDUAN: You just invite me over, I'm there. Next time, I'm home.
CUOMO: If I had one of those in my backyard, we would just be throwing food to the kids at the back door and never come inside. I can't believe that he do it. I could never do it.
PEREIRA: Impressive, looks good.
BOLDUAN: Looks good. All right. Indiana, everything good comes from Indiana. That is what you learned this morning.
Coming up, we do have two very big exclusives we've been talking about and you will want to see. Pivotal people from George Zimmerman's murder trial speaking to CNN and you won't see it anywhere else right here on NEW DAY.
We're also -- we're going to hear from the first juror to break her silence since the verdict and the last person to talk to Trayvon Martin on the night he died, Rachel Jeantel.
CUOMO: Plus, we have the latest on this story we were telling you about. The family of a little boy sucked into that sand dune on Lake Michigan, they say he is lucky to be alive. We have all the details about the incredible race against time to save his life and how he's doing today. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Kate Middleton and Prince William are expecting the baby any minute now. That's the story. Yes. Royals say they don't care what gender it is as long as it's healthy enough to never work a day in its life.
(LAUGHTER)
CRAIG FERGUSON, HOST, "THE LATE, LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON": William's brother, Prince Harry, is said to be very excited because he'll be an uncle for the first time and he will no longer be the only one running around the royal palace naked.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: We look forward to welcoming the little bundle of joy.
PEREIRA: Craig Ferguson is so funny.
BOLDUAN: He is funny.
All right. You hear it, which means, it's time for the "Rock Block," a quick roundup of stories we'll be talking about this morning. So, let's get straight to it, Michaela.
PEREIRA: Are you ready? Let's do it. First up in the papers, in "The Chicago Tribune" Rod Blagojevich is back. The former Illinois governor and current inmate is appealing his conviction. He was sent to prison for trying to sell President Obama's Senate seat.
In "U.S. News and World Report," the risk of high blood pressure for American kids has shot up by 27 percent over the last 13 years. Yale University researchers blame thickening waistlines and more salt in the diets for the increase.
And from "The Wall Street Journal," new fossil evidence proved T-Rex was a hunter. Scientists say a tyrannosaurus tooth found buried in the spine of another dinosaur proves he was a hunter and not a scavenger.
How about that? Let's go to Alison Kosik with today's business news.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Michaela. Stock closed at a record Monday. The Dow and the S&P are at new high. NASDAQ closing at its highest level in a decade.
Things may be getting better with the economy, but pay raises next year are only going to be a bit more generous that they've been over the past few years. Mercer Consulting says employers expect workers' salaries to go up next year by an average of 2.9 percent.
Let me ask you this, who works the hardest? Those who live in Mexico. A new study shows Mexicans work about 519 hours more than the typical American for an annual pay of $9,885. Chile comes in second. Korea comes in third.
Now let's get to Indra Petersons outside with the weather.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes. It's a hot one. We're talking about many major cities they're dealing with this heat wave, Southern New England, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, all of you looking for temperatures ten degrees above normal for July. On top of that, we're adding tons of humidity, heat indices, we're talking 95 to 105 degrees.
Here's the problem, it's expected to last all week long. Remember, heat is the biggest killer of all weather events. So, please everyone, stay safe out there today.
CUOMO: We're going to have to bring you back inside, Indra. It's going to get too hot out there.
Look everybody, if you check your clock, it's almost the top of the hour and you know what that means, it's time for the top news.
