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Black America Under Obama; Nature Wreaks Havoc in Utah, Arizona, in China; Royal Baby Delivery Difference; $1.6 Billion Toyota Settlement

Aired July 22, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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


GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: He also expressed support to Candy about taking another look at it in his home state of Arizona. The governor of Arizona has said that Stand Your Ground laws are a constitutional right. It doesn't seem like she's interested in changing them.

Suzanne, almost half the states in this country have some form of Stand Your Ground laws. While it may come up in a bunch of state legislatures, they seem to be pretty popular right now. There's nothing that, for example, the federal government can do, even though Eric Holder talked about it, the president talked about it. This is a state issue. It has to come up state by state. I wouldn't expect you'll have a ground swell to overturn Stand Your Ground laws now.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: One of the reasons the people are discussing this is the president weighed in on this debate. This was on Friday. He does not like to discuss race and racial matters. We know that from covering him. But he did some soul searching himself and he said that we need to move beyond this. We need to deal with this.

And the head of the National Urban League, President Marc Morial, also said he'd like to see some new things happen, a new dialogue. Here is what he said over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC MORIAL, PRESIDENT & CEO, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: What I hope it leads to and what I hope we will see is not only a discussion that starts and ends quickly but a discussion that will lead to serious action steps by the nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Gloria, we know the president will be talking about the state of the economy on Wednesday. He's taking his agenda on the road. What is the push here? What are expectations in terms of what he can do in talking about real ways that the black community can move ahead?

BORGER: It's interesting, Suzanne. I think that conversation will have to occur very much without him. I think he's said his piece on this. I think the Congressional Black Caucus has said it will continue this conversation and it's going to happen on a different level. I think what you'll see the president do in traveling to the Midwest, Suzanne, is try and reset his agenda and go back to kind of the terra firma of the economy that -- and enabling the middle class to succeed, which is what got him reelected in the first place. I think what we'll see is a turn to the economy. You've got the debt ceiling and the budget coming up this fall. This is a president I think we'll hear him sound a little populist during the campaign, and remind people he's there for the middle class. We're seeing him trying to say, OK, I've said my piece on race. I know where we are on immigration reform. I want immigration reform. I want gun control. But I'm heading back to the things that really matter to Americans, front and center right now, which is what's happening in their pocketbooks.

MALVEAUX: Running out of time. He needs to put that focus --

BORGER: He does.

MALVEAUX: Get back on track.

Gloria, thank you. Good to see you as always.

There's some critics who are calling the president's observations on the Trayvon Martin verdict too little too late. Talk show host, Tavis Smiley, said the president's comments missed the mark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAVIS SMILEY, HOST, "TAVIS SMILEY": I appreciate the fact that the president did show up but this town has been spinning a story that's not all together true. He did not walk to the podium for an impromptu address to the nation. He was pushed to the podium. A week of protests outside the White House, pressure building outside the White House push him to that podium. I'm glad he finally arrived. But when he left the podium, he still had not answered the most important question, where do we go from here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in the head of the Urban National League, President Marc Morial.

Marc, good to see you as always.

I know you're holding a national conference --

MORIAL: Hello, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Hello -- in Philadelphia this week. A lot of questions for you. If you could respond to Tavis Smiley's comments that the president was slow in responding to this. Does it matter he was pushed or how he got there or that he spoke and got involved?

MORIAL: It's important for people to know that my good friend, Tavis Smiley, has been a persistent and consistent critic of the president of the president before he became president of the United States. I doubt if the president turned water to wine, I doubt if Tavis could have anything positive to say about it. I say that, and he's a friend of mine.

Here is what the nation heard. I think what the nation heard is a president who agonized a bit and has agonized throughout his presidency on how to confront one of the most challenging and difficult issues that faces the nation, and a president who spoke in a way that he always speaks and only can speak, and that is in a personal way, in a healing way and a calming way.

I disagree with Gloria that he said his piece and it's time to move on. These issues that this Trayvon Martin situation and tragedy has brought to the surface are not issues that are only of concern to some Americans. I think they are issues that all Americans should be concerned about. An economic agenda for the middle class has to necessarily include the urban community.

MALVEAUX: Right.

MORIAL: It has to necessarily include communities of color. So this is a time when the president's going to pivot a bit and rightfully so to confront this. The palpable anger in the community is not going to subside. Because when you take what happened along with the Supreme Court's decision on voting rights, combined with the efforts to eliminate food stamps, combined with the cutbacks in investment in human programs like education and work force, a message is being sent. That message is being responded to by how people are responding to this case. This case ignited that feeling.

MALVEAUX: I want to talk about the economic situation here. That's clearly what the president is going to be focusing on on Wednesday here. You take a look at these numbers, when it comes to the African- American community, when the president first took office, employment rate among African-Americans, 12.7 percent. Now it's at 13 percent. Where does this go from here? How does he address the real serious economic concerns of the black community?

MORIAL: I think economic concerns of the black community are linked to the overall concerns of middle income Americans. What we have seen since the Great Recession is those at the very top have had an awesome recovery. Those in the middle and at the bottom, it's been a stagnant recovery. I believe a reset around the economic agenda is warranted given the facts that we face and that the fortunes of African- Americans and Latinos are tied to the fortunes of all working and middle income Americans. It has to be targeted policies. There has to be an investment in these communities. I think if we did it, we'd see economic growth. That's the important thing to realize that the solutions to these problems are linked to what I think is an overall stronger American economy.

MALVEAUX: Marc, we'll be listening closely to the president on Wednesday, whether or not he addresses the African-American community when it comes to job creation, houses, owning their own homes, these types of things.

Marc, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it as always.

MORIAL: Thank you, Suzanne. MALVEAUX: Dozens of people lose their lives after an earthquake rattling China's northwest region. We'll show you the destruction, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Nature wreaking havoc both here at home and abroad as well. First, this is northwest China. Hundreds of workers still trying to reach the site of a powerful early morning earthquake. At least 89 people are dead. More than 580 injured in the tremor. This is the Gansu Province.

Meantime, take a look at this video. This is something we just got. This is from southern Utah. This is unbelievable. You can see the water rolling in after the flash flooding. And in Arizona, weekend flooding led to this, stranded motorists and the closure of at least two roadways.

I want to bring in our meteorologist, Chad Meyers, to talk about, first, the earthquake.

It was strong. It was shallow. How did this thing play out?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The earthquake -- on USGS, there's something called a pager map and they figure out how bad the earthquake will effect people. There was a 65 percent chance that less than one person would be injured. Something is very wrong in this area whether it's how the structures were build or what mountain may have come down, but to lose almost 100 people with that earthquake, only a 5.9. I say only 5.9 because that isn't very big compared to others, but it was only six miles deep. The shaking was so severe, there's no padding. If you get an earthquake that's 200 miles deep in the earth, it gets padding from the dirt and crust. There was no padding. It was violent -- quick --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: What about the flooding in the United States? It's all over the place. In Atlanta, it was raining and raining all weekend.

MYERS: The sun hasn't even been out here in Georgia. It hasn't for weeks.

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: But here in Arizona, when a storm pops up, they don't move very fast. They just sit there and it rains and rains and then it dies off. You can get three to four inches of rain all at one time and then it runs out.

The video here is out of Utah. There are flash flood chasers. This is what a flow debris -- a debris flow, a flash flood, coming down the mountain in Utah.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: What's flowing there?

MYERS: That's trees, debris, stuff that was on the ground. At the beginning of this flow, it's almost like a little beaver dam. The water gets very quick and very high. You don't see the water rising slowly. It comes down like a wall of this muck. And this debris flow is full of are sticks and twigs and --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: It's moving fast too.

MYERS: That's how people get caught off guard when driving across a bridge or somewhere that's not flooded at all and, all of a sudden, you see that coming, you don't have a chance to get out of the way.

MALVEAUX: That's crazy.

MYERS: Yeah.

MALVEAUX: All right, Chad, thank you. Appreciate it.

A Florida alligator handler, Will Nace, says he wasn't afraid when a gator started chomping on his arm. He was doing some tricks at a gator park in Hollywood, Florida. The alligator went for it and clamped down on his arm. Nace said he tried to stop the attack but the gator was too fast for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL NACE, ALLIGATOR HANDLER: He ended up lunging at me before I got to his nose. So my hand happened to be right in front of his face. He lunged up. He grabbed my hand and bent it backwards and bit down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: This guy is lucky. Another animal handler came to the rescue and saved him. He's got a broken arm, severe skin lacerations, but he's going to be OK.

We're watching this. This is the royal baby on its way. How different will the duchess' delivery be compared to Americans? Quite different, apparently.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Some breaking news now. Actor Dennis Farina, the police officer who turned into a star on "Law and Order," has now died. He was 69 years old. He played Detective Fontana. Farina was a police consultant when he first became interested in acting. He started acting at various Chicago theaters and appeared in numerous tv shows and appearances, "Midnight Run," "Striking Distance," "Get Shorty," "Our of Sight," "Saving Private Ryan," "Big Trouble Snatch," "The Mod Squad," just to name a few of the performances that he was a part of.

He died at 69 years old. He leaves behind three sons with his ex- wife, Patricia -- Dennis, Michael and Joseph. He publicist released a statement. I want to read this. It says, "We're deeply saddened by the loss of a great actor and a wonderful man. Dennis Farina was always warmhearted and professional with a great sense of humor and passion of his profession. He will be greatly missed by his family and colleagues. We hope he finds a new life where great roles are plentiful and the Cubs are always winning the pennant. We ask that the press refrain from contracting his family at this time so that they can mourn their loss together." Again, a sad day. Actor Dennis Farina died at 69.

We're watching as well as the rest of the world, the royal baby on its way. Kate went into labor overnight. Other than a comment that her labor is progressing normally, we don't know that much else.

What we do know is that giving birth in the United Kingdom is pretty different compared to having a child here in the United States.

I want to bring in CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, to explain this. This is really our favorite story.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: It's fascinating.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT; It is fascinating. You think giving birth is giving birth and how can it be different. I was in London last month, and having had four children myself, I was surprised when I was there, how far different things are. What it's rooted in is that in the United Kingdom, they have a big emphasis on what they call normal births.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): Outside St. Mary's Hospital in London, the crowds have been swarming. Everyone waiting with baited breath. But inside, a team of doctors is working. And the first question on everyone's mind --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will she be too posh to perch? Is it going to be a caesarian section or is it going to be a natural birth.

She wants to be the new people's princes, she wants to be normal.

COHEN: But normal in England may be more painful than normal in the United States. In other words, Kate's royal birth may be a royal pain.

In England, only three of 10 women have epidurals compared to six out of eight women in the United States.

The delivery rooms in Overton Hospital (ph) in London are designed to avoid epidurals and instead, the moms can have aquadurals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Quite soothing. The water may be all that she needs.

COHEN: If Kate wanted a tub, William could be right there with here. There's also a birthing chair. If Kate wanted one of these contraptions, she's sit in front and William behind her.

(on camera): This is kind of instead of an epidural?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

COHEN: She grabs on to this and feels better?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, and also helps from pinching the husbands.

(LAUGHTER)

COHEN (voice-over): One pain drug is quite common here.

(on camera): I'm here in the delivery room with April, who is about to have a baby, and she is doing something that is almost unheard of in the United States. She's taking laughing gas for pain.

APRIL RICHARDS, PREGNANT MOTHER: It doesn't make you laugh even though it is called laughing gas.

COHEN: So nothing is funny right now?

RICHARD: No, nothing is funny.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: And now, of course, we don't know how exactly Kate will give birth. Our royal correspondent, Katie Nicholls, says he sources say she will have a birthing ball and all of the accouterments to have a normal birth.

MALVEAUX: And including the hanging curtain.

COHEN: And, yes, anything to help you there the labor.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: OK, thank you, Elizabeth.

A judge has approved a whopping $1.6 billion settlement to compensate drivers whose cars suddenly accelerated. We have more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM.

I want to take -- to check on the money right now and head over to Wall Street.

Zain Asher, New York Stock Exchange, how is it going? ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, we are down 11 points right now, but we are in record higher territory. Tech stocks are rebounding from the beating on Friday. Microsoft, IBM Hewlett- Packard all heading higher and that's helping offset weaknesses coming from one very well known company. McDonald's second-quarter earnings fell short of expectations. Sales rose in the U.S., but fell in Europe and Asia, despite new food items added to the menu -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: And, Zain, big news, Toyota, a judge approving a billion dollar settlement with Toyota. Who gets the money? Who benefits here?

ASHER: Suzanne, this is the largest judgment in history involving a car defect. It covers Toyota owners whose vehicles lost value following the 2010 recall of Toyota cars that allegedly accelerated on their own. Claimers can receive from $125 as much as $6,000 in economic loss damages depending upon the model and the year and the date of the sale.

Now, any one who is eligible for the settlement should have received a check notice already. The deadline is July 29th, one week from today. If you want more information, go the Toyotaelsettlement.com.

MALVEAUX: Zain Asher, thank you. Appreciate that very much.

Just getting some breaking news here that I want to read. This is news after George Zimmerman was acquitted here. This happened on Wednesday, July 17th, and this is according to the Seminal County Sheriff's Office. They said that George Zimmerman responded to a single-car accident in Sanford, Florida. They say he actually rescued a person from an overturned truck. It was a blue Ford Explorer SUV. Traveled off the road and rolled over. Four people were inside, two parents and two kids, apparently, and they say that one of the people who was rescuing this, what looks like apparently a family, was George Zimmerman. So we are getting new details about what he has been doing since the days of his acquittal. This happening on Wednesday. We will have more details at the top of the two to explain what it is that we have learned in this interesting development.

Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, she has taken the stand today to be cross-examined in the trial of the concert promoter, AEG. Here why she was upset Friday in what some are calling, quote, "a very Christian way."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Join us tomorrow as we launch out Fighting ALS series. We are shedding light on ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which is a fast-moving fatal disease that impacts more than 30,000 Americans. This week, we will look at people coping with it, including former NFL player, Steve Gleason. We'll also look at families supporting them, including my own. We'll also show you the amazing new technology helping to improve the quality of life of those living with the disease. That is tomorrow, Thursday and Friday at 1:00 p.m.

That is it for me.

Brooke Baldwin joins us from here.