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Martin's Mother in "Complete Shock"; Florida Governor Meets with Protesters; Actress Remini Splits from Scientology;

Aired July 19, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, thank you so much for joining us. I'm Carol Costello.

Checking our "Top Stories", it's 30 minutes past the hour, a Massachusetts state police sergeant is suspended for one day and could possibly face more punishment, that's after he released these new photos of the capture of Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Photos of a bloody Tsarnaev were leaked to a Boston magazine in response to the controversial "Rolling Stone" magazine cover. State police say the department did not authorize the release of these photos.

And there is new video of that deadly building collapse in Philadelphia last month. Oh, you can see the wall come crashing down on the right side of your screen. And then you see the people running away from the dust and debris. These images were captured by a surveillance camera on a Philadelphia city bus. Six people were killed in that building collapse; 13 others injured.

Trayvon Martin's mom was not in the courtroom when the not guilty verdict against George Zimmerman came down. Sybrina Fulton said she just didn't think she would be able to control her emotions. Now Fulton is speaking out about the acquittal. She and Trayvon's dad sat down with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: It came as a complete shock for me and the reason I say that is because I just look at people as people and I thought for sure that the jury looked at Trayvon as an average teenager that was minding his own business, that wasn't committing any crimes, that was coming home from the store and were feet away from where he was actually going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Trayvon Martin's parents say they aren't sure whether they plan to bring a civil suit against George Zimmerman.

In the wake of that Zimmerman verdict protesters camped out for three days outside of the governor's office in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rick Scott.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When do we want him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rick Scott.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When do we want him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ok. So Rick Scott is the Governor of Florida, and these people wanted to call a -- wanted Rick Scot to call a special session of the legislature to repeal the state's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law. Well, the Governor finally, finally met with protesters last night, but John Zarrella is in Miami, so there is a "but" attached to this story.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes there really is, Carol. And you know the -- it's somewhat of a surprise that the Governor actually met with them. We were saying that you know it was questionable whether he would sit down with them, but he did late last night and, of course, they wanted a special session of the Florida legislature to hopefully in their opinion get a repeal of the "Stand Your Ground" law here in Florida.

But the Governor told them last night that's not going to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: I'm not going to call a special session. I don't believe right now that "Stand Your Ground" should be changed, but I tell you right now I appreciate you -- and I'm sure I'll see you again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: You know and the Governor had said -- been saying right along that right after the shooting, he impaneled a task force, 19- member task force, to go around the state of Florida, get opinions from the people of Florida as to whether they felt that the "Stand Your Ground" should be repealed or at least looked at amended. And what came back to him from the task force he said was that it should remain in place the way it is and so that is his position going forward and he does not appear inclined to change it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So these protesters have been camping out for days, they didn't get what they want, did they clear out?

ZARRELLA: No. And right now, because they didn't get what they want, the plan is that they're going to stay there you know as long as they can at the state capital. They got their meeting with the Governor. I doubt they'll get a second meeting with him, so what they do after this, certainly hard to say, but for now their plan is to stay put in Tallahassee outside the Governor's office.

COSTELLO: All right. John Zarrella reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

This weekend we're going to follow up on the rallies on CNN. NEW DAY will be reporting on them starting bright and early in the morning 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM actress Leah Remini leaves Scientology after 30 years. Well the sisters say she left because she shunned after questioning Tom Cruise's relationship with the church. You will hear from her sister -- Leah's sister next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Actress Leah Remini is best known for her role on the hit sitcom "King of Queens." What you may not know is that she was a Scientologist for more than 30 years and that she recently left the church after sounding off about fellow Scientologist Tom Cruise.

Now Leah's sister is talking about the split. Pamela Brown is live in our Washington Bureau with a -- kind of a sordid tale.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is an interesting story here Carol. You know as you know mentioned "King of Queens" star Leah Remini well she's been a long time member of the church and she announced earlier this month that she's actually leaving the church. Since parting ways, she's been keeping a low profile, laying low but her sister has been speaking out defending her sister's decision in an exclusive interview with "My Talk Radio."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAH REMINI, ACTRESS: It's really going to set us back in the bedroom.

BROWN: TV star turned talk show host Leah Remini have never been one to mince words --

REMINI: No and she's like no --

BROWN: But she's been uncharacteristically quiet ever since leaving the Church of Scientology. Now her sister Nicole who also left the church is speaking out about the headline-making split and how she says the church is fighting back.

NICOLE REMINI, LEAH REMINI'S SISTER: We have been involved in Scientology for 30, 35 years of our life. So you can imagine the circle of friends that my mother has. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

N. REMINI: My sister has, they literally have pulled in these people and told them they had to choose between a relationship with my sister and my mother or the church. Well I'm going to tell you, these people chose the church.

BROWN: In an interview with "My Talk Radio" in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nicole says her sister's problems with Scientology all started at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding when she asked the head of the church David Miscavige of the whereabouts of his wife Shelly.

N. REMINI: And that's part of the reason that Leah started questioning things.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok.

N. REMINI: So like where's his wife?

BROWN: And according to Nicole, that question led to others and ultimately to Leah leaving scientology.

N. REMINI: You're teaching your parishioners about morals and integrity, but then you have the audacity to tell them you have to betray your own integrity and you have to go with us or you're out, too?

BROWN: Leah Remini has only released this cryptic statement saying "I wish to share my sincere and heartfelt appreciation for the overwhelming positive response I have received."

The Church of Scientology provided a statement to CNN that says in part "The church respects the privacy of parishioners. We do not believe an individual's private spiritual matters should be exploited for personal gain by a handful of self-promoters who surface to spout the same tired tabloid myths."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And also in the statement to CNN, the Church of Scientology says Mrs. Miscavige is doing fine, and is still actively engaged with the church saying as for the specific allegations regarding Shelly, they are insulting and offensive. Mrs. Miscavige continues her work in the church as she always has -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow, Pamela Brown reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

We now -- we now know who leaked the details about J.K. Rowling's alter ego -- alter ego, her secret revealed, just ahead.

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COSTELLO: We've been talking this morning about the city of Detroit filing for bankruptcy. Right now Detroit has $18 billion in debt. Michigan's governor spoke moments ago about why declaring bankruptcy was the best decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SNYDER (R), MICHIGAN: I don't view this as a terrible answer in the sense that now's our opportunity to stop 60 years of decline. This is fundamental. Does anyone like the Detroit of five years ago or 10 years ago or 15 years ago? How long has this gone on and people had not stopped to say stop kicking the can down the road and do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Filing was expected but not everybody is happy about it. City Unions are vowing to fight the proposed cuts in court. The controversial decision to file is on the shoulders of one man. You're going to meet him right now with Poppy Harlow.

Poppy, take it away.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Carol, his name is Kevyn Orr. He's the emergency manager of the city of Detroit. Thank you for joining.

KEVYN ORR, EMERGENCY MANAGER, DETROIT: Sure Poppy.

HARLOW: Just to give our viewers a little context. You were put in place by the governor back in March to basically take over the city. You have complete control of the city finances. This decision ultimately was yours. You asked for the permission of the governor. He gave it to you.

You know, I want to talk about some real people, the pensioners, the people currently working for the city, and retired. You've got about 30,000 of them. And they're telling me they are scared. They're scared their health care benefits are going to be cut. They're scared their pensions are going to be cut. Is there any way you exit bankruptcy without some concessions from them?

ORR: Well, first of all Poppy, we do have 10,000 roughly 9,700 employees and 19,700 retires -- about 700,000 citizens who deserve state of the art current 21st century services. So we're going to focus on trying to get that.

But let me speak to those employees and venturists (ph). First of all, nothing is going to change for the rest of this year. I can give them that assurance.

We will go through this process. We have no plans. We don't have the ability to change anything for 2013. So with Healthcare.

HARLOW: They're worried about their retirement.

ORR: Understood -- the retirement.

So let's talk about that retirement. When we're talking retirement, looking at the unfunded portion, we only have two retirement plans -- General Service and then Police and fire. We're looking at the unfunded portion of that retirement plan. That's going to be part of a dialogue to determine what that is.

Police and fire may be a little bit better than general services but we're looking at an (inaudible) approach. With regard to health care, unlike some other communities that were in dire straits, even in Chapter 9, we have not decided to take away health care. We're trying to provide some form of health care even through this process.

HARLOW: But is it likely that they're going to have to see some sort of concessions made?

ORR: There are going to have to be some concessions because that's just the reality.

HARLOW: Ok. I want to talk about the White House. There have been multiple reports that you had a conversation with the President or senior staff, some reports you talked to Valerie Jarrett. Did you talk to the White House about a potential federal bailout for Detroit?

ORR: No. I haven't talked to the President, I did not talk to the White House about a potential federal bailout for Detroit.

HARLOW: And did you have discussions with them about any alternatives?

ORR: No. We have no substantive discussions about alternatives.

HARLOW: Reporter: in terms of what could happen if the city is on the fringe, would you have liked to see the federal government step in to aid the city, maybe a partial bailout? GM got one, Chrysler got one -- it didn't save Detroit. Frankly, a lot of us don't (inaudible) in Detroit.

ORR: Right. Well, you know, the reality is these problems have been a long time in making, over 60 years, more acutely in the past 10, 25, 8 years have been severe, you know. These are problems of Detroit's making, They're problems that should have been dealt with many, many, many years ago.

Detroit has its own unique texture. I'm sure you've heard some of the stories about some of the problems -- corruption being run. Mismanagement, that's the one on. So we have to solve these problems ourselves. The concept that someone else is going to come in and solve problems of our making isn't exactly productive.

HARLOW: I appreciate your time. We'll continue the conversation --

ORR: Sure. Thank you so much, Poppy.

HARLOW: -- Carol I'll throw it back to you. But have you heard anything. The headline there, people are going to have to make concessions across the board. It may hurt in the near but in the future I think everyone hopes this means a stronger Detroit that is yet to be --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going forward, absolutely.

HARLOW: Appreciate it.

COSTELLO: Mr. Orr and Poppy Harlow, thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: 51 minutes past the hour, time to check our top stories.

We thought the newest addition to the royal family was due last Saturday, but Kate still has not delivered. That baby is now a royal frustration. Britain's "Telegraph" newspaper reports that the baby may actually be due today, though.

And as the world's media camps out at St. Mary's Hospital in London, the "Telegraph" also says that if the duchess goes into labor at her parents' house, the baby could be born at a hospital in Redding near her parents' home. Kate's she's been staying there to avoid the London heat.

Wesley Snipes scheduled to be released from a half-way house today. Once he is free, he will have one year of supervised probation. The actor was released from prison back in April. He was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of tax evasion. Wesley Snipes starred in movies like "Demolition Man" and "Major League."

Comic-Con under way in San Diego -- people dressed up like Luke Skywalker, Wolverine, Dead Pool and hundreds of other comic and science fiction characters. The convention also features movie memorabilia and panels of actors and comic creators. But mostly people just go there to see the crazy costumes. It's fun.

J.K. Rowling, the author of the "Harry Potter" series is reportedly very angry that a law firm exposed her as the true author of a new crime detective book. She wrote "The Cuckoo's Calling" under a fake name, Robert Galbraith. Now a British law firm admits that one lawyer leaked the secret to his wife's best friend. And guess what? She then tweeted the news to a newspaper columnist.

The law firm says this was not a marketing ploy or a publicity stunt.

It is the TV/movie that took the Internet by storm or perhaps you should say by "Sharknado."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First time in a chopper?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scared?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well, maybe she should be scared, because those are sharks swirling out there. You have to love a movie that embraces absolute implausibility.

CNN Money technology correspondent, Laurie Segall got a chance to sit down with the screenwriter. And I can't wait to hear what she has to say, Laurie.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: It was definitely interesting. And you think about sharks in a tornado, this movie took the Internet by storm. There were 5,000 tweets per minute. That was more than with "Game of Thrones." And so something about this really struck a chord.

I talked to Thunder Levin (ph) and he actually spoke a little bit about it. Listen to what he had to say -- Carol.

THUNDER LEVIN, SCREENWRITER, "SHARKNADO": I think we're into a new era where social media is going to become even more important and possibly even interactive with our entertainment.

SEGALL: Do you think Twitter is now a game changer when it comes to viewing a film?

LEVIN: It's certainly starting to look that way from this. I'm sure Syfy Network contemplated a Sharknado 2 until all of this happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEGALL: He also did mention that if there is a "Sharknado 2" it might take place here in New York City, so that's a fun one, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm just laughing at that scene. C'mon, show us more. This movie is just -- well, it's kind of stupid, but entertaining at the same time.

SEGALL: It's -- I've heard it's so bad that it's actually good, right? This is why everybody on the Internet was just going crazy for it. I'm excited to potential host "Sharknado 2" here in New York. But I want to actually play for you Thunder's favorite scene. I asked him about it and I just want to say, "Prepare yourself for this." Take a look.

COSTELLO: Ok.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEVIN: I think it has to be the finale, where Ian Ziering's is character is engulfed by the shark, goes right down his throat, and then chainsaws his way out. That was something I was very protective of. I thought we had to do that idea. And there was some pushback as to whether maybe it was just going to far. And I said it's called "Sharknado", you can't go too far.

And eventually reasonable minds prevailed and it got into the movie. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SEGALL: And so there it is. We'll see what happens if "Sharknado 2" happens here in New York City, Carol.

COSTELLO: That was ridiculous.

SEGALL: It is. It is so ridiculous that people absolutely loved it. The Internet went crazy over it.

COSTELLO: Sorry for all the blood we showed you, but come on it was ridiculous. Thank you Laurie, we appreciated it. I needed to laugh like that this morning.

SEGALL: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Ok. So I want to -- thanks, Laurie.

So I want to show this. The Arizona Diamondbacks have a brand-new mascot. His name is Luchador. How strange is that. He's a real wrestler, dressed in black leather, bare-chested, carrying a bat. Luchador is unlike any other mascot in professional sports. He speaks in Spanish and English.

The D-backs will give away 20,000 Luchador masks at their game on July -- I don't why I say his name like that but it just seems you have to. He would kill the oriole bird, wouldn't he?

Ok. That's it for me. I'm Carol Costello. I'm going to go enjoy my weekend. I hope you do the same.

"CNN NEWSROOM" continues after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone and welcome to Friday. Maybe you're just joining us on this Friday. I'm Michaela Pereira, in for Ashleigh Banfield in the NEWSROOM.

Police suspect it was cooking oil stored in a contaminated container that caused the death of 23 school children in India. Authorities said today they have evidence the cooking oil used to prepare the children's food stored in a container previously used to store pesticides or insecticides.

Sexual assault plaguing the U.S. military -- that's the focus of a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing right now on Capitol Hill. It comes in the wake of reports of thousands of men and women in the armed services being victims of sexual attacks. Today's hearing is focusing on safety, care and treatment.