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New Day

Zimmerman Juror B37 Speaks Out; Liz Cheney for Senate; Nuclear Option Off the Table, For Now; NSA Leaker May Soon Leave Moscow Airport

Aired July 17, 2013 - 06:30   ET

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


JUROR B37: I'm sure there were some fabrications, enhancements, but I think pretty much it happened the way George said it happened.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Would you like have to have heard Zimmerman testify? Would you like to have seen him on the stand so he can be cross- examined?

JUROR B37: I don't think it would have done any -- been any different. I don't -- I don't think he -- I think he would have told the story the same exact way.

COOPER: So you don't think him being on the stand, being cross- examined would have made any difference?

JUROR B37: I don't think it would have, I really don't.

COOPER: Do you think the state overcharged by going for second- degree murder? Do you think if they had gone into it, started off opening statements saying manslaughter, it might have made a difference in terms of the end result?

JUROR B37: It wouldn't have made a difference if they would have given us the same paperwork they gave us. They gave us the laws and we went by the laws, and that's how we found him innocent. If they would have given us manslaughter and everything that was attached to it, it would have come out the exact same way.

COOPER: And did the jurors, did you-all get along well? I mean, was there conflict? Was there -- how did the deliberation process? How was being together this long?

JUROR B37: The deliberation was -- it was tough. We all pretty much get along. It's hard sometimes to let other people talk, you know, at one time and then have somebody else talk instead of adding your comments to whatever they were saying trying to help figure it out what we were trying to figure out.

At times, I thought we might have a hung jury because one of them said they were going to leave, and we convinced them that you can't leave. You can't do this. You have been in this too long to walk out now.

COOPER: They were going to leave for personal reasons, family reasons?

JUROR B37: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

COOPER: When you lay your head tonight on the pillow, in your heart and in your head you are 100 percent convinced that George Zimmerman in taking out his gun and pulling the trigger did nothing wrong?

JUROR B37: I'm 101 percent that he was -- that he should have done what he did except for the things that he did before.

COOPER: You mean he shouldn't have gotten out of the car, he shouldn't have pursued Trayvon Martin but in the final analysis and the final struggle --

JUROR B37: When the end came to the end --

COOPER: He was justified?

JUROR B37: He was justified in shooting Trayvon Martin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hmm.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A hundred and one percent sure. We thought it would be a very close case and that testifying wouldn't have mattered if Zimmerman had taken the stand. I've never heard that from a juror as well.

BOLDUAN: Really when you know where they began when they walked into the jury room split 3/3, half wanting to convict him of something, and where they ended up, she says it's because of the instructions -- the legal instructions that they had that came from the court. Very interesting. We'll be talking much more about this.

Coming up next this is putting a lot of attention on Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, bringing to light another case a woman who said she fired a warning shot. She's serving 20 years in prison. It's taking over social media and we're going to take a closer look at that case.

CUOMO: Marissa Alexander didn't even hit anybody with the bullet. So, it makes it very interesting.

Also, we're going to show, what you're looking at now retail stores using your smartphone to track your movements and see what you're buying. Somebody's watching me -- the song is true.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: It is time now for our political gut check, everyone. All the stories you need to know coming out of Washington and around the country.

First up, Liz Cheney, familiar last name, right, daughter of the former vice president challenging an incumbent Republican for a Senate seat in Wyoming.

CNN's chief national correspondent John King is here to break it down for us.

So, John, I feel like Mike Enzi for many people around the country is the nicest senator that you've known nothing about in Wyoming. He's served I think some 18 years now, but Liz Cheney coming in to challenge him in this primary.

It has another -- a former Wyoming senator saying which I was surprised by, this is a disaster, divisive, ugly situation that will open the door for Democrats for 20 years. Why is Alan Simpson saying that?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to the fray, Liz Cheney. Why is Alan Simpson saying that? Because they're shocked in Wyoming.

Liz Cheney is not doing what her father used to do. He was Jerry Ford's chief of staff. Yes, he's become controversial as the former vice president but he was a soft spoken kind of guy.

This race now will be the highest profile. It will get huge national attention, test of what's happening in the Republican Party. She says her last announcement, statement, "I will never compromise our freedom."

What is Liz Cheney saying here? That Mike Enzi, you know, he's actually met with the president of the United States, a Democrat, he's trying to strike compromises. She says compromise is a dirty word when it comes to certain issues.

So, you're going to have this high profile fight. And what Alan Simpson is saying is it's going to divide the Republican Party in Wyoming. He's saying it may be opened a door for a Democrat to win.

Most are skeptical about that. Most assume whoever wins the Republican primary will win this race but, boy, what a huge high profile test of what is a huge struggle within the Republican Party. Do you fight and compromise or do you fight and keep fighting? This is going to be a great race.

BOLDUAN: It has other Wyoming lawmakers not on her team, not in her camp. I mean, Congressman Cynthia Loomis compared her to Hillary Clinton, is the fact that she's saying Cheney is not from Wyoming, just moving there in order to run, and that she should be running in Virginia where she grew up.

The question I was going to ask Cynthia Loomis is, is she going to have as much success as Hillary Clinton?

KING: I think you hit the nail on the head there. If you extend the Hillary Clinton comparison, what is she saying? Well, maybe she's not from here, they tried the carpetbagger argument on Hillary Clinton who's the house at Chappaqua after the Clinton presidency.

But what did Hillary Clinton have? She has national name identification. She had a giant fundraising network. She had a bunch of people who are willing to work for her and continue to fight and she ran a very effective campaign and she won.

The question for Liz Cheney is that campaign part. She will have the money. She has the name identification. Now, the test is, she's new to politics. Can she run a campaign and convince the people of Wyoming that she's right? To defeat in a primary a senator who is widely regarded in the Republican Party back home.

So, the congresswoman might want to be careful. There's no question Liz Cheney will have the money. There's no question she will get a lot of attention. The test now, is she a good politician?

CUOMO: What about the elephant in the room, what about her dad? Do you think she'd be running if her father didn't want her to do it? And what does that mean?

KING: In a word, no. She has been a very loyal -- trust me I've taken phone calls and e-mails from Liz Cheney when she's not happy with something I or this network has said about her father. She's a very loyal aide to her father. She has helped her father.

And God bless her for that, she's been a loyal daughter, whether you agree or disagree with Dick Cheney. You like that in the family.

Chris, you know as well you fight for your family and she stands up for her family in politics. But if her dad turned to her and said, don't do this, she wouldn't do this. So, you know her that in her putting her neck out there, in her offending Alan Simpson and Mike Enzi, and everyone else in Wyoming Republican Party, so has her dad -- clearly there might be parts of him who has reservations but she has his blessing or she wouldn't do it.

BOLDUAN: Well, another thing happening in Congress right now, is Harry Reid, you know, she's threatened to go nuclear on Congress, as it related to presidential nominees would give the majority party more power to push through appointments that the president wants, but the crisis averted yesterday.

What happened?

KING: What happened in the short term is crisis averted because John McCain got into some negotiations with Harry Reid, other Republicans came to the table and the president made a key concession. This is not just Republicans making concessions. The president will now get five of his nominees confirmed and agreed to pull back on two at the National Labor Relations Board. We could talk a month about the policy disagreements with the Democrats and Republicans over the practices of the NLRB.

So, the president says, OK, fine, I'll take two people back and nominate new people. You give me the other five. That's the deal cut in the short term. They avoid this nuclear option crisis.

The question is does it have any staying power? What was stunning in announcing the agreement, the leader Harry Reid says see what happens when we talk?

Guys, we've talked about immigration. We've talked about student loans. We're going to talk about taxes and spending pretty soon.

Yes, look what happens when you talk. When grownups sit around a table and talk they can work things out. Will they work it out again, we'll see.

BOLDUAN: Only the shadow knows.

All right, John, thank you so much. Great to see you.

CUOMO: We didn't ask John about student loans because there's nothing to report. Remember, if you care, you get to your lawmakers, because that's the only way something we';ll get done there.

We're going to take a break. Coming back on NEW DAY: stores that snoop on customers, also known as you, and they're not just watching you, they're peeking into your cell phone, too.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up our must see moment. Chris calls this old school. That's how you get this done.

CUOMO: That's what I'm talking about.

PEREIRA: This fisherman went to plan B, he got into a wrestling match with the shark.

CUOMO: Look at the guy just filming it with the yellow pants.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back, everyone. Time to go around the world starting in India this morning, 20 children have died and 25 others hospitalized from poison in their free school lunches. Sumnima Udas with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of India's most ambitious and successful anti-poverty programs is being tainted by a mass food poisoning scandal. Every government school in India is mandated to provide meals (ph) to millions of children (ph) every single day, but in the northeastern state of Behar, 20 children have just died and another 30 are seriously ill because of that free food.

Now, authorities are looking into what exactly caused this, whether this food was deliberately tainted or whether this is just a case of food poisoning -- Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right. Thank you so much. Now to Russia, NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, could be days away from leaving his safe haven at one of Moscow's main airports, but getting temporary asylum will take some more time. Here's Phil Black with an update from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Edward Snowden could be walking out of Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport in just a few days according to the lawyer who helped him prepare his application for temporary asylum here. His lawyer says now the application is in, Snowden should receive a permit allowing him to enter Russia officially why the request is being considered.

He should get an answer in less than three months, and if successful, will be allowed to stay here for at least a year with all the same rights as a Russian citizen. Back to you Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right. Phil, thank you. Now, this week's high temperatures, they are not confined to just the United States. Western Europe is also in the midst of a heat wave. CNNs Erin McLaughlin has more from London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're not used to weather this hot in London. In fact, it's the hottest it's been in years. And when it gets this warm, this is what happens to London's parks and squares, looks like something out of the south of France. Are you enjoying the sunshine over here?

(CHANTING) Yes. We love it.

MCLAUGHLIN: All right. Let's ask this gentleman over here, is it too hot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We're not used to this.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you. Well, this kind of warm weather is happening all over Western Europe. Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks so much. As we always say, yes, it's summer. It's going to be hot, but this is really hot.

CUOMO: Too hot.

PEREIRA: Too hot but a good time to go fishing.

CUOMO: Yes. Always.

PEREIRA: Let's show today's must see moment as part rod, part reel, and part wrestling. A Nantucket fisherman spent nearly an hour trying to reel in a 200-pound shark. It looked like the big one might get away, so what does Eliot Sudal (ph) do? Well, he hands the pole to his cousin, runs in the water, drags the shark to shore with his bare hands.

Sudal posts for some pictures with his wrestling opponent and let it go. Apparently, he has caught about 100 sharks this year, most of them in Florida, but this is the second time he's caught one in Nantucket where he just moved, but he always lets them go.

BOLDUAN: That is the moral of the story.

CUOMO: Catch and release, especially, you know, because you're not going to eat it.

PEREIRA: You're not going to eat it.

CUOMO: A lot of the sharks you can't because --

PEREIRA: You know what kind of shark that is?

BOLDUAN: I don't know.

PEREIRA: I think they said it was a brown shark.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I'm sure many of will you tweet me right now and let me know what kind it is.

PEREIRA: All right.

CUOMO: I respect that he did it with his hands, and I respect that he --

PEREIRA: Respect that he still has his hands.

CUOMO: Grab the tail, note to self.

Coming up on NEW DAY, the heat wave that is turning a big part of the United States into a united sauna. Not just uncomfortable, could be dangerous. So, we'll give you more on that ahead.

BOLDUAN: And the mercury isn't all that's going up. Gas prices will have you sweating at the pump as well and the forecast doesn't look any cheaper.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": The first President Bush, the elder President Bush, visited the White House yesterday. At the White House yesterday, former president, George H.W. Bush, gave President Obama a pair of socks. That's right, yes. That's nice, yes. President Obama thanked him and said the last time I got a gift from the Republicans, it was Mitt Romney.

(LAUGHTER)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Last week, President Obama told a group of schoolchildren that broccoli was his favorite food which the kids seemed to believe him. Then he told them Obamacare would reduce the deficit and the kids all burst out laughing. (LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That is actually pretty good. No, H.W. does have some good socks.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Their entire website is tracking his sock selections.

CUOMO: Really?

BOLDUAN: Yes. He's got some nice socks.

CUOMO: Who knew?

The brightest stars in baseball gathered last night in New York City for the all-star game. Let's bring in Andy Scholes with the "Bleacher Report" this morning, and it was hot, but it was a great game, great moment for one big star. Tell us about it.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, guys. The all-star game in baseball considered by many as the best all-star game in all sports. It's not just an exhibition. The winner, of course, secures their league home field advantage in the World Series. That's a pretty big deal.

To decide to win the all-star, last four all-star games had gone on to win the World Series. Mets Ace Matt Harvey getting the start for the National League on his home field, second batter of the game ouch, drills Robinson Cano in the knee. Cano would leave the game, but he's expected to be OK. While it was a rough night for Cano, his teammate, Mariano Rivera, would have one last hurrah in the midsummer classic.

Rivera who is retiring at the end of the season came in to pitch the eighth inning for the American League. His teammate left him alone on the field and gave him a standing ovation to start the inning. The 43-year-old would record three straight outs and even though he didn't get the save, Rivera was named the MVP of the game as the American League got the win 3-0.

All right, guys. Take a look at this Carolina Panthers Nike T-shirt and tell me if you can see what's wrong with it? Panthers logo and the letters NC are inside the wrong state.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: OK. I am vindicated. I said that's not North Carolina. And everyone's like you got to be wrong, Kate.

SCHOLES: The team plays in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nike, they realized the mistake and they took all the shirts off the racks and apologize for the error.

BOLDUAN: I would say, but now, that's a collector's item. SCHOLES: Yes. You have to buy it on eBay now.

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly.

CUOMO: Good stuff. Andy Scholes, thank you very much, my friend.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Andy.

CUOMO: Always appreciate "The Bleacher Report."

BOLDUAN: You hear it? You hear it?

CUOMO: I do hear that. The music of news.

BOLDUAN: The music of news, and also, that means it's time for the "Rock Block," a quick roundup of the stories that'll be making headlines this morning -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: It's a rock and news. All right. Here we go, first in the papers of "The Washington Post," job cuts at the Pentagon, defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, calling for 20 percent reduction in senior staff both military and civilian by 2019.

And from the "New York Times," a new British study finds dementia rates declining by 25 percent over the past two decades in the UK and Wales. Researchers believe the same thing is happening in all developed countries.

And "USA" reporting on Jay-Z's new mega hit "Magna Carta." It's his 13th number one album. That's a record. Remember, Jay-Z gave away a million "Magna Carta's" already.

All right. Time now for Christine Romans with your business news.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Ninety minutes and counting, that's when Ben Bernanke's testimony gets released. Wall Street is salivating. The fed chairman speaks at 10:00 a.m. but the snooping starts at 8:30. When its comments are released, it could move market.

Remember Booz Allen? That's the firm where Edward Snowden worked when he leaked top secret info? The "Wall Street Journal" says Booz just won its first major military contract since then a piece of a billion- dollar project.

Yahoo! doesn't have much to cheer about. In an unusual anchor-style news conference, CEO, Marissa Meyer, she marked her one-year anniversary and talked about earnings. Profit was up, the sales were stagnant.

Let's get to Indra Petersons outside in a Times Square for the hot weather -- Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. That's an understatement. The heat is still on. We're talking about advisories say a large metropolitan city stretching from Southern New England all the way down to Philadelphia, but that's not all today. This is spreading even farther to the west as high pressure builds.

You're talking about Detroit and even on Minneapolis. So, really, entire Ohio Valley and now into the Midwest dealing with the heat. We're talking temperatures 95 degrees, add in the humidity, and it feels like over 100 degrees.

BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks so much, Indra. We're going to check back with you in just a minute, but we are now at the top of the hour which means it's time for the top news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Too hot to handle. Temperatures spiking across the country in an epic heat wave that just won't let up. One county now with no water. When will the heat break?

BOLDUAN: CNN exclusive, new details from juror B37 in the George Zimmerman trial. There was a lone holdout who wanted to convict. This as four other jurors make their first public comments.

PEREIRA: Toxic mix, the investigation into the death of "Glee" actor, Cory Monteith, now complete. New revelations on his struggles with drugs and alcohol and how they led to his death.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: What you need to know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must stand our ground to ensure that our laws reduce violence.

ANNOUNCER: What you just have to see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Agree to pay the fine and let you go if you take his hand in marriage?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh, yes. Oh, my God.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning, good morning. Welcome, everybody. This is NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, July 17th, seven o'clock in the east. I'm Chris Cuomo.

BOLDUAN: Hey, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We're joined by news anchor, Michaela Pereira.

PEREIRA: Good morning.

BOLDUAN: Coming up this hour, much more from that incredible exclusive CNN interview with the only George Zimmerman juror speaking out. Her shocking revelations about the last day of deliberations, was there a holdout? CUOMO: And it is the case that is putting Florida's stand your ground law under the microscope, not the Zimmerman trial as we now know stand your ground wasn't the reason for that verdict, it's a story about a mother spending 20 years in jail for firing a warning shot at her allegedly abusive husband. Is that fair? Story's taking over social media. We're going to take a close look at it.

PEREIRA: And guess what, the government is not the only one spying on you, retailers tracking your movements as you move through their stores but how and why.

CUOMO: Let's get started this morning with something that's affecting tens of millions right now, that dangerous heat wave that just isn't letting up. Let's take a look at the map and look at all of that deep red. You can see how many states across the country are going to be sweating it out well into the weekend. Indra Petersons is outside of New York's Times Square. Good morning, Indra. Tell us about it.

PETERSONS: Good morning. Yes. This dangerous heat wave continues even in the overnight hours really not seeing that relief. Temperatures still into the 80s with 70 percent humidity, and unfortunately, it looks like this heat wave is spreading today. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETERSONS (voice-over): The heat is on. Dangerous temperatures are scorching much of the nation from the Midwest all the way to the northeast. The heat can be deadly. This year alone, excessive temperatures have taken the lives of nearly 20 children left alone in hot cars.