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Trayvon "Day Of Action" Protest; East Coast Heat Wave; Mayor Pressured To Resign; Randy Travis Awake, Improving; Skateboarding Bulldogs; Jeantel: Verdict Was Disappointing; Kris Jenner's Baby Fake Out; Jenny McCarthy Is New "View" Host

Aired July 16, 2013 - 07:30   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: Welcome back, everybody. This is NEW DAY, Tuesday, July 16th. I'm Chris Cuomo.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I am Kate Bolduan joined by news anchor Michaela Pereira. Coming up in this half hour, more of CNN's exclusive interview with the woman on the phone with Trayvon Martin in the final moments of his life, that's right there, what Rachel Jeantel thinks of the jury's decision to acquit George Zimmerman.

CUOMO: And a really high interest story, a child custody battle involving actor, Jason Patrick, you know him, the respected actor. Well, this battle could wind up changing one state's law. We're going to bring you the full, fascinating story. But there are a lot of headlines to get to this morning so let's get to Michaela Pereira.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning to the two of you and good morning to you at home. Plans are in the works for a Trayvon Martin National Day of Action, protests in over 100 U.S. cities this weekend as demonstrations continue in the wake of George Zimmerman's acquittal. A CBS cameraman assaulted and injured overnight in a violent protest in Los Angeles.

Later today, Attorney General Eric Holder addresses the NAACP's annual convention and is expected to address growing demands for federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman.

Heat advisories in effect today for parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island as stifling heat wave rolls over the east coast, temperatures in the 90s will combine with high humidity making things quite uncomfortable in the northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions and it will feel even hotter. The National Weather Service says heat indices are expected to soar well over 100 degrees.

Former supporters are turning up the heat on San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to resign and sharing details of their sexual harassment claims. For his part, Filner says his behavior has been misinterpreted and he insists he will not step down from his post.

Encouraging news about ailing country star, Randy Travis, doctors say he is awake and undergoing physical therapy after undergoing emergency surgery to relieve pressure in his brain following a stroke. They say that he will, however, need months to recover. They're also trying to wean him from a ventilator. The Grammy winner has been fighting a viral illness that aggravated a chronic heart condition.

First of all I do not know this dog. I just need Kate and Chris to know this. Apparently, you can teach an old dog new tricks, the owner of the skateboarding bulldog who became an instant internet sensation in South America decided that other dogs should be able to get in on the act too. So he started a weekend skate boarding class for dogs and their upright owners. Eventually plans to open a formal school and use the profits to help dogs that are in shelters. I do not know that dog. I have to connection to the dog.

COUMO: All the motivations in that story to a dog, why he started his foundation, what he wants to do after --

PEREIRA: I feel they need to be explained.

BOLDUAN: Not only does that dog skateboard he's fast.

CUOMO: I've seen him before that dog.

PEREIRA: Have you?

CUOMO: When you give him all of the human traits people like me think a dog is a man in a dog suit. This is how it happens.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, she was the last person Trayvon Martin talked to before his confrontation with George Zimmerman, but her testimony didn't help win a conviction. CNN's exclusive interview with Rachel Jeantel is coming right up.

CUOMO: And later, Jennie McCarthy, you know here. The new host of "The View," many questioned if she's the right choice. We expected that right, given her controversial stance on autism and vaccines. There's always controversy surrounding the views. So we're going to take it on in our Pop Four.

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CUOMO: Welcome back, everybody. This young woman became the reluctant star of the George Zimmerman trial. Now for the first time since her contentious testimony, Rachel Jeantel is speaking out in an exclusive interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, Rachel Jeantel remembered her friend and had some choice words for the defense.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, CNN'S "PIERS MORGAN LIVE": 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: 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 the man's still watching him so if it was a security guard or policeman they'd come up to Trayvon and say do you have a problem, do you need help, you know, like normal people.

MORGAN: 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: Be honest with me Rachel, do you think that was racially motivated or more a case somebody he thought was a young thug, black or white?

JEANTEL: It was racial, let's be honest, racial, if Trayvon was white and he had a hoodie on, would it have happened?

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 he ever lose his temper?

JEANTEL: No.

MORGAN: Did he take a lot of weed?

JEANTEL: No.

MORGAN: How much would you say?

JEANTEL: 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 what just happened. You were just a minute on the phone with the person and people got the nerve to tell me why?

MORGAN: You seemed to me a different character 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 view of him?

JEANTEL: What do I have to say? I'm a Christian. I never cussed out Don. The only reason I have not said nothing to Don West because my parents taught me better. That's an adult. You don't have the right to disrespect an adult.

MORGAN: The juror who was interviewed 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 tried to explain what kind of person I am and you could see the kind of person I am. You can't be too honest. 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)

BOLDUAN: Riveting interview. Joining me now to talk more about this, CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Sunny Hostin. I mean, Sunny, our viewers know you were in the courtroom. You were with us for every step of the way and for especially this dramatic part of the trial. What are your impressions when you see this interview with Piers? What are impressions of Rachel Jeantel now? Is this the same Rachel Jeantel you saw in the courtroom? SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The exact same person I saw in the courtroom. If you remember when we were talking about her testimony I said what came across to me was her authenticity. She is who she is. That is the kind of witness that you want. That is the kind of witness that I used to put on the witness stand every single day when I was a prosecutor in D.C., people that were being themselves. People that through no fault of their own happen to be on the witness stand because they happened to see or hear something.

And I thought that a person like that so authentic was really credible and incapable of putting on airs, incapable of shaping her testimony to fit the situation. She happened to be there on the phone with Trayvon Martin and after listening to Juror B37. I'm shocked.

BOLDUAN: That's exactly what I wanted to ask you, when you talk about her being just who she is. She's being authentic and that's the type of witness you want to have on the stand. But when you hear the juror tell Anderson Cooper that she felt sorry for Rachel, that she did not consider her a credible witness, what does that tell you?

HOSTIN: You know, I was shocked by that, stunned. I was stunned.

BOLDUAN: Did you see that in the courtroom?

HOSTIN: I did not.

BOLDUAN: That they weren't --

HOSTIN: I did not and I understood everything Rachel Jeantel said on the witness stand just the way I understood her interview and the way she communicated with Piers Morgan and it's shocking to me because many people observing the trial were saying things like well these other witnesses they were dressed up, they had ties on.

That means they maybe had a better closet. That didn't mean that they were more credible, and so it's shocking to me. Upon reflection I guess perhaps that is the way people view someone like Rachel Jeantel, but that certainly wasn't my view.

BOLDUAN: I want to ask you about another part when Piers asked her about, was race involved, and she said it was racial, it was racial, but then when you hear what the juror told Anderson that race was not any part of the deliberation, never any part of their discussion, what do you make of that?

HOSTIN: I don't know how to reconcile it. I certainly believed that in observing the trial, Kate, that race wasn't an element of the crime, but it's certainly was the elephant in the room. We talked a lot about profiling, but profiling is criminal, not necessarily racial profiling.

In retrospect when I listened to Juror B37 and listened to the feedback of people that observed the trial it seems that people with their own perceptions of race perhaps put that lens on when they were viewing the testimony and that makes race a very big part of it. BOLDUAN: Would that have changed the legal analysis if Juror B37 who said yes that was part of our deliberation. How would that have changed the legal analysis?

HOSTIN: For me it wouldn't have because I was looking at this very race neutrally. I was just looking at the evidence as a former prosecutor.

BOLDUAN: All right, Sunny Hostin, a lot more to talk about.

HOSTIN: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: This trial ends and people are talking about it and having very passionate discussions about this all over the country. Thanks, Sunny. It's great to see you. It's great to have you back in New York.

HOSTIN: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Kate, still to come on NEW DAY, a man wakes up in the hospital, has no idea who he is, total amnesia. You heard that kind of story before, but what about this? When he starts to speak, he's only speaking Swedish and he is not from Sweden.

Plus for those of you who saw this baby and said, look, there's Kim and Kanye's new baby, how nice. We're going to tell you why Grandma Kris Jenner may have pulled a fast one on all of you, straight ahead.

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BOLDUAN: All right, all right, Kanye. Welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. It's time for the Pop Four with our Nischelle Turner.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Guys, lots of new today. I'm going to give you a little bit more, some entertainment nuggets to add to the mix of everything that's going on today.

Number four on this NEW DAY, Kris Jenner faking everybody out. Yes, Kim Kardashian's mom promoted her new talk show with this picture on Facebook. Now most people would think maybe that's her granddaughter North West, right? No, it was the picture of a baby of a stylist on the show. Of course, I'm giving you the side eye this morning, Ms. Jenner, because we knew there was going to be some kind of stunt on the very first day, but it's a cute baby, very cute baby. I can't wait to see that nor North West, though.

All right, did the world get its first Instagram movie trailer? Innovation is our number three story this morning. The studio behind the new Steve Jobs movie starring Ashton Kutcher is giving us a new way to give a sneak peek at the film. They posted a 15-second trailer on the smartphone app, a movie about the innovator giving us innovation.

A new pick for "The View" that's raising some eyebrows, it's number two this morning. ABC announcing Jenny McCarthy will be the new co- host for the show. We talked about this last week, guys, it's come true now. The controversy is that McCarthy's previous statement was linking some vaccinations to autism and she's been very outspoken about this.

Her son was diagnosed with autism some years ago. She said now he doesn't have it, but she linked it to him getting a plethora of vaccinations early on, which a lot of parents who had kids with autisms do think that's part of it.

CUOMO: A talk show wants controversy.

TURNER: All right, the bad news, team breezy, number one story, a Los Angeles judge has revoked Chris Brown's probation after he left the scene of a minor car accident. The probation was in connection with the beating of his then-girlfriend Rihanna. He does have another hearing in August to decide whether or not he'll face any jail time.

I want to add a quick note, his team did release a statement saying they believe this is a complete misunderstanding that the case will be dismissed, they believe, in the next couple weeks.

CUOMO: Nichelle, thanks very much for that.

We're going to take a break. When we come back, the protests against the Zimmerman verdict becoming anything but peaceful, assault, arrest and riot police have become involved. Details on that ahead.

BOLDUAN: Plus, we're going to bring you the man who woke up with no memory of his past and no clue about his present and he can only speak Swedish. Is he Swedish? We're coming back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. You know what that music means, it's time for the rock clock, a quick roundup of stories you're going to be talking about today, first up, Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, lawyers for Private Bradley Manning asking the judge to dismiss aiding the enemy. Manning was accused of leaking thousands of U.S. documents.

In "USA Today," a study of U.S. military veterans found those diagnosed with most forms of cancer are far less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Those numbers went even further down for vets who received chemotherapy.

In the "New York Times," a new way to see if your child has ADHD, government officials have approved the first brain wave test to help diagnose the disorder in children.

All right, it's time now for Alison Kosik for today's money talk.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is money time. Good morning. Goldman Sachs beating the Street with better than expected earnings. Goldman's second quarter earnings were almost a $1 per share over what was expected. Net revenues were $8.5 billion.

About 300 fighter jets including the Air Force Thunderbirds are going to be up in the air again. They were grounded in April because of federal spending cuts, but the Air Force won a temporary reprieve from the cuts.

Can buffalo bill rescue Harrisburg? It depends -- your town is auctioning off thousands of western artifacts to try to raise cash to cut its debt. The items were collected for a museum it never built.

Now let's get to Indra Petersons outside with the weather.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are sweating in New York City today, but we're not the only ones, major cities dealing with the heat. We're talking all of Southern New England, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, we're all going to be talking about temperatures today 10 degrees above normal. This is definitely not a dry heat. We're adding 50 percent humidity, even by the afternoons. So heat indices 95 to even 105 degrees. Yes, we know the all-star game is tonight, how do you think it's to feel out there? We're talking 9:00 tonight, 80 degrees, a lot of people kind of sweating it out together. I think I'm good right here, guys.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Indra. We are now at the top of the hour, which you know means is time for the top news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANTEL: That day I was so shaken, like, wow, this is really happening, he really dead?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: A CNN exclusive, breaking her silence, a juror in the George Zimmerman trial speaks only to CNN, revelations from inside the jury room. Three originally wanted to vote guilty.

BOLDUAN: A scorcher, the most brutal week of the summer for the east coast, a dangerous heat wave with no end in sight. What you need to know this morning.

PEREIRA: Medical mystery. Meet the American veteran who woke up in a hospital speaking only Swedish with no idea who he is. We piece together the clues, who is this mystery man?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.