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White House: It's Just Lunch; Is a Government Shutdown Looming?; Epic Diamond Heist on Riviera; A-Rod Lawyer: "We Are Focused On An Appeal"; BMW Unveils First Mass Production Electric Car

Aired July 30, 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: Welcome back, everybody. Welcome to NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, July 30th. I'm Chris Cuomo.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We're here with news anchor Michaela Pereira.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

BOLDUAN: It could be the biggest jewel heist in history. How did a thief make off with $136 million in jewels it in broad daylight? We're going to look at it.

CUOMO: Not 137, not 135, but 136. That's what makes it the biggest.

Plus, we all know the seductive lure of bubble wrap. The frustration you just can't pop enough of it. Well, guess what? today you can. We give you the bubble wrap bike.

BOLDUAN: I love this in a very real way.

CUOMO: Listen to that soothing way.

PEREIRA: Satisfying.

CUOMO: Look at his face.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: You have no idea, my nephew loves bubble wrap. He wants it for Christmas. He's obsessed with bubble wrap. It's the only way to make him happy.

CUOMO: You know what to get him now.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Bubble wrap bike.

PEREIRA: We'll make you wait for that video. It is just so good.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: There's more. PEREIRA: It's not about immediacy with that, but there is immediacy onto our top stories right now.

Taking a look at the news:

Explosion after explosion lasting for about an hour rock a central Florida propane plant. Check out the massive fire at the Blue Rhino propane plant. All workers have been accounted for thankfully. Seven people were injured. Some of them were injured critically.

The plant contains 53,000 20-pound propane cylinders. Folks living within a half mile were originally ordered to evacuate. But that order has been now lifted. We'll keep an eye on that situation there.

A 58-year-old woman has been charged with defacing the national cathedral with green paint. It was splattered on an organ consul inside the historic Bethlehem Chapel and in the Children's Chapel. Investigators say it wasn't clear if the green paint there and on the statue outside the Smithsonian Castle are related to the vandalism at the Lincoln memorial and are now investigating.

This morning, police dive teams will resume searching a lake in Bristol, Connecticut, in connection with the Aaron Hernandez murder investigation. The former NFL star is from Bristol. The lake is about a mile from his uncle's home which police have searched several times since Hernandez was charged in a shooting death of Odin Lloyd.

Archaeologists in Central is trying to unravel the mystery of a coffin within a coffin. After finding the long lost remains of King Richard III beneath a parking lot, they have now discovered a sealed lead coffin encased in a larger stone coffin. It is believed to be from 13th or the 14th century. That coffin is now being moved to a local university where experts will determine the safest way to open it.

And, finally, some amazing surveillance video of a would-be robber. Definitely picked the wrong restaurant to try to pick up. Came in with a mask and gun and these two brothers who run their father's wing zone in Virginia said, oh, no, and wrestled the weapon away from him and shoved him right out the door.

But it gets even better. At the end, watch this. They're so happy, they do this awkward chest bump hug thing to celebrate. Turns out they have had several robberies at this area and the employees of this restaurant are saying, no, we're not doing this anymore.

So they have been taking -- this is just the latest incident apparently.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: As brother, you'd think they would have the chest bump hug thing down a little better.

PEREIRA: What you don't know at home is how these two end the show every day.

CUOMO: Yes, we did that once. Kate would fly like 25 feet and hit something hard and my job would be gone. That's we don't that.

But I have to say, as enjoyable as that video was, even with the awkward --

BOLDUAN: It's the recommendation that you always have to go.

PEREIRA: Right. Don't do it?

CUOMO: You are not supposed to be taking on people who have weapons.

BOLDUAN: Agreed. And I'm sorry I'm giggling about it.

CUOMO: They are lucky there were two of them. The guy looked strong. You see how he threw the first one back. So, you know, they will tell you, those who know will say, when the weapon comes out, you go back because your life isn't worth whatever is in the register at that time.

That said, good on time from making it out of the situation.

BOLDUAN: Yes, for sure. Those are the wrong two brothers to mess with.

CUOMO: Should have had a better coordinated response, being brothers.

BOLDUAN: I just said that.

CUOMO: Did you? Sounded better when I said it.

BOLDUAN: Sounded way better.

All right. They're moving on, and you know what this means. It's time for our political gut check. All the stories you need to know coming out of Washington and around the country.

The White House said friendship was on the menu, but what really went on during President Obama and Hillary Clinton's private lunch Monday? No one knows except one man.

CNN's chief national correspondent John King, who if you didn't know was actually the fly on the way at that lunch. Right, John?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You look closely -- you look closely at that White House photo, I'm hiding in the tree. The guy on the bubble wrap bike gave me a ride to the White House.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: So seriously, though, lunch is one thing. But when the White House puts out an official photo of the lunch, it has everyone talking. What does this really mean?

KING: That's a great tease, isn't it? We always complain to this White House what about more access? Would have been nice if the news media could have gone in and said hello, but they did he release that photograph. And, look, there's been a lot of criticism of this president, that he only talks to his inside group.

But, you know, Secretary Clinton is a former rival. Good for the president for bringing somebody out. But was she there measuring the drapes? You know, everybody wants, you know, talking about the Middle East peace process. Everybody wants to ask this question. They're not going to tell us.

I was e-mailing with a bunch of senior White House people last night, they said, no, no, nope, go away. Not talking about that one.

BOLDUAN: That's right.

CUOMO: They shouldn't let people know it was happening then if they don't want to talk about it.

But all right. That's the Obama lunch. What about the Biden breakfast?

KING: Well, show of hands there, all three of you. If you could be a fly on the wall at the Clinton/Obama meeting or the Clinton/Biden meeting, which one would you rather be at?

BOLDUAN: I'll show my hand for the Biden meeting.

PEREIRA: Ditto.

KING: Come on. Be brave.

You know, these are two very candid people who have a very good relationship, I'm talking about the vice president and Secretary Clinton. So the question is does 2016 come up? If it does, I'm sure they will be candid about it.

The betting in Washington among top Democrats is that if she runs, he won't. That's the betting. That's the early betting.

But will they talk about that? We won't know. Trust me, we won't know.

BOLDUAN: We also won't know about that. But one thing we do know. You wrote a fascinating article for CNN.com about the budget battles that are going to be coming up when Congress comes back in September.

We know that it's going to happen because that's when they use their political leverage to try to win favor, one way or the other, while they're working on budget bills. But you also make the case that we should not beat on seeing another government shutdown necessarily.

Who has the upper hand? What do you think?

KING: The president always has the upper hand, whether the president is a Democrat or a Republican, mind you. Now, this threat has happened under Democratic presidents. Remember, it did happen in the Clinton presidency and didn't go so well for the Republicans. And they remember that politically. Any president has the upper happened because he has the bully pulpit which is why the president is traveling now and in Washington now warning that this might be coming, because he's trying to shape the mole ticks in his favor. I talked to a top House Republican source last night who said on a scale of one to 10, 10 being a certain government shutdown, he thought, eh, two or three was the likelihood. That's because most Republicans think it's a bad idea.

Now, the Republicans who say they want to set up that prospect, they want to do it, Kate and Chris, because they want t o take away a the money for Obamacare and they know the president then would veto the spending bills and that would cause the government to shut down. Some Republicans think it's a great idea.

The president brings this up because the leadership says that's bad politics. But a lot of conservatives say let's stand on principal. Let's deny the president money for his health care plan.

So, the president knows by talking about this, he exacerbates internal tensions in the Republican Party and the president likes to do that.

BOLDUAN: And the president likes to that.

All right. John, great to see you. Thanks so much.

John also makes the case that House Republicans and the president are looking at into different electoral maps because Romney won a majority of House districts. The president won obviously the election. So they see two different motivations of who they're entering to.

CUOMO: But the same kind of crazy, because the idea of punishing people for not getting your job done, because essentially that's what it is -- we can't agree, so let's shut down the government and punish people and not give them the essential services.

BOLDUAN: That's why we have elections.

CUOMO: I mean, holly molly, just makes you shake your head so much my neck hurts.

Coming up on NEW DAY, a jewel heist in the south of France could be the largest theft of its kind. But how was it pulled off in broad daylight. That's the question. We're live in Cannes looking for answers.

BOLDUAN: And bubble wrap addicts, rejoice. Behold the bubble wrapped bike. You know you love it and you want to know who are about it, we'll tell you about it a little bit.

CUOMO: Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, morons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everybody.

A daring robbery at hotel in French Riviera is now being called the biggest jewelry heist in history. Originally, authorities said the crooks stole $53 million worth of diamonds and jewelry, but this morning, they believe it's closer -- wait for it -- a staggering $136 million.

Erin McLaughlin has been following the story for us in Cannes. Good morning. How are you?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

Well, it was brazen, it was fast, and some say the work of an expert. Now, new details into the heist that could be one of the biggest gem robberies ever.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGLIN (voice-over): It's now thought to be possibly the largest gem theft in recent history. The estimated amount of stolen jewelry from the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France, now believed to be worth close to $136 million. While police scour through countless hours of surveillance video, we're learning more about how one gunman managed to pull off such a huge heist.

According to the deputy prosecutor for organized crime, the suspect entered the exhibition in the hotel around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, entering through normally secure doors that opened on to Cannes's famed Croisette Promenade.

SCOTT ANDREW SELBY, CO-AUTHOR, "FLAWLESS: INSIDE THE LARGEST DIAMOND HEIST IN HISTORY": This person knew exactly how they were going this. There was a locked French door that this person was somehow able to open.

MCLAUGHLIN: Armed with a semiautomatic pistol, the suspect, his face covered with a hat and scarf, held up the manager of the sale exhibit and other vendors in the presence of unarmed private guards without firing a single shot.

Authorities say he then escaped with a bag containing rings, earrings and pendants. He exited by another door on the inside. Officials describe the sequence of events as very fast.

SELBY: Police are very intrigued as to whether it's an inside job, where they sense (INAUDIBLE) this door and took advantage of it. They knew exactly what they were doing and they planned this with military precision.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN: Business as usual here at the Carlton Hotel. A walk through the lobby, you would never know this was the scene of a $136 million jewelry heist. There are still jewelries on display, diamonds and sapphires and fine furs for sale, and pretty low key security. As for that Leviev diamond exhibition, they were dismantling that this morning, Chris.

CUOMO: Fear in the air there. Erin, thank you very much.

So how could this have been done? At the top of the hour, we're going to talk with former jewel thief Larry Lawton for insight into how this could pull this off -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Let's go around the world.

Starting in Egypt this morning, defiant supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsy taking to the streets despite a promise of decisive and firm action from the nation's military.

CNN's Arwa Damon has more from Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: E.U. foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, in Cairo with this phenomenally tough task of trying to mediate between the military and the interim backed government it supports, and the Muslim Brotherhood. She's been meeting with top players and even managed to meet with deposed President Mohamed Morsy for around two hours. Very difficult to see exactly how Egypt will politically extract itself from its current situation given that Morsi's supporters are determined to continue their sit-in until he is restored to power, and security forces here are saying that they must clear the streets -- Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Arwa.

Now, there has been a bloody prison break in northwest Pakistan. Dozens of heavily armed Taliban militants freeing hundreds of inmates, some of them dangerous terrorists.

Saima Mohsin has the latest from Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thirty-five high profile militants are confirmed to have escaped amongst 175 prisoners from one of Pakistan's largest jails. The Pakistan Taliban has claimed responsibility for this attack. A bomb disposal unit expert has told CNN that they discovered a 20 kilogram bomb at the main prison gates, another one inside the main office and an ambulance full explosives and chemicals waiting to be detonated.

Now, the army is said to have taken control of the prison. Four policemen and five militants have been killed.

Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right. Saima, thank you so much.

And to London. The bestselling novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" apparently keeping first responders there quite busy. It's being blamed for arising number of emergency calls involving handcuffs.

More from Atika Shubert in London.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, these may look like ordinary household items, but according to the London fire brigade, these are dangerous. They have cases of one map getting his manhood stuck in a toaster and the other in a vacuum cleaner.

Now, apparently according to the London fire brigade, these have all been caused by "Fifty Shades of Grey," that famous book of erotica. People trying it at home. And apparently getting stuck, including 79 cases of people calling because they couldn't get their handcuffs off. And it's all costing taxpayer $500,000 and counting.

Back to you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: And there you have it. Thank you so much, Atika.

PEREIRA: Wow!

BOLDUAN: Yes. I think that about sums it up.

PEREIRA: Thank you, Atika, for that thought.

CUOMO: If you ever needed an excuse not to vacuum, now you got one.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Or use a toaster.

CUOMO: Boy, oh, boy.

All right. coming up on NEW DAY, is this crazy or pure genius? Not me. We're going to show you what's going on when that bubble plastic meets the road. It is a NEW DAY must see moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: I can't -- the toasted thing and the vacuum.

BOLDUAN: We have got to focus on the bubble wrap because I've got --

CUOMO: Good thing I don't read those books.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: I'm a little torn about today's must see moment. It could very well be the greatest invention ever or it could bug royally especially if one of those people can't resist popping bubble wrapping holds the bubble bike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Eric Bus (ph). This is my bubble wrap bike. Jealous much?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The moment he starts --

PEREIRA: I kind of love it. It's kind of genius. The creator of the bubble bike is this man, Eric Bus. He's a magician, a comedian, and calls himself an imaginator. One blogger called it the most awesome and most annoying invention ever made. I imagine the neighbors might agree. It's a pretty accurate description. You kind of want to ride it for yourself because I think it would be a very satisfying ride, you know?

BOLDUAN: That's the thing about bubble wrap. It's very satisfying.

PEREIRA: And you can't stop.

BOLDUAN: Oh, no.

PEREIRA: That's the problem.

CUOMO: So nice we'll play it twice.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO I like when he says jealous much?

BOLDUAN: The answer to that is yes.

CUOMO: I'll tell you, it's also just genetic. Because kids as soon as bubble wrap is introduced, they love. Adults love it.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: All right. Coming up next on NEW DAY, turns out the jewelry heist at a Cannes hotel is one for the record books, my friend. $136 million worth. That's more than twice the initial estimate. We're going to be live in Cannes with the latest.

CUOMO: Or just an example of really poor counting that people owned (ph) you.

(LAUGHTER)

Also, it sounded like bombs going off. A series of explosions overnight at a propane plant near Orlando, Florida. Seven people rushed to the hospital. Question, why did this happen. We will have the details for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": And more problems for Anthony Weiner. His campaign manager quits. I guess he felt Anthony was becoming overexposed. (LAUGHTER)

Jimmy Fallon, Host, "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon": -- because every time he e-mails someone, they're like I'm not opening that.

(LAUGHTER)

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Former President Bill Clinton is reportedly very upset that Anthony Weiner is comparing his sexting scandal to Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton is upset. Yes. Today, Bill Clinton said real men cheat in person.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Terrible. Coco wins, though.

BOLDUAN: Coco.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Seriously, though, it's gotten to the point where scandal is so common now it gets ranked in terms of order of like where you are in the --

BOLDUAN: Very unfortunate statement about society and our politics.

CUOMO: You know, we need to go to a place with real ethics, real scruples (ph) like Major League Baseball.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: It turns out they could hand down a major suspension today. Get that. Alex Rodriguez may be in their crosshairs. It could happen as early as today. But don't expect A-Rod to go down without a fight. That's what Andy Scholes says here with the "Bleacher Report." What do you know, my friend? Good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes. Good morning, guys. You know, this the fight between A-Rod and Major League Baseball could be a pretty ugly one. On a New York radio show yesterday, A-Rod's lawyer said not only do they plan on fighting any suspension or lifetime ban, their goal is for A-Rod to face no discipline at all.

Now, the latest twist in A-Rod versus Major League Baseball Battle is that Bud Selig is looking to suspend A-Rod for the use of performance- enhancing drugs and also for violating the collective bargaining agreement. That's according to multiple reports. A suspension for violating the CBA would allow Selig to suspend A-Rod immediately and what is known as the best interests of baseball privilege.

Red Sox nation has a legitimate gripe with the umpires after a big blown call last night's eight inning against the Rays. Boston's Daniel Nava is going to be coming in from third base on this play. He's going to slide in, looks like he's safe. The umpire in terrible position to make the call calls him out. That would have been the tying run for the Sox. Instead, it's the final out of the inning and the Rays would go on to win and take the lead in the American League East.

Fresh off of their Stanley Cup win, the Chicago Blackhawks are giving their fans a chance to own a piece of history and that piece of history is ice, or better yet, melted ice. The Blackhawks are selling a limited number of souvenir packages that include actual melted ice from the United Center and the proceeds are going to go to local charities. Check it out, guys. See that little vial?

CUOMO: Yes.

SCHOLES: That's your melted ice that you can get. It's pretty cool deal. You know, you've seen NBA teams give away pieces of floor from their championship. A little vial of water from the Blackhawks win.

BOLDUAN: Are you in the market? I could sell you some.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHOLES: Really? As special as that ice though?

BOLDUAN: We can pretend it's very special if you wanted to. If you'll pay for it, I'll sell it to you.

CUOMO: Andy, never buy anything from someone in a vial.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: That should be policy from here on out. All right. Andy, thanks so much.

SCHOLES: I will take that. All right.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

All right. You hear the music. You know what it means. It's time for the "Rock Block," everybody. A quick round up of the stories you'll be talking about today. First up, Michaela.

PEREIRA): All right. Let's do it. First up in the papers, from the "Washington Post," got traffic problems? There's an app for that. A new mobile device called "I'm Stuck" allows drivers to complain to Congress about everything from potholes to rusted bridges.

From "The Wall Stret Journal," a former stockbroker admits to scamming Broadway producers "Rebecca the Musical" by concocting bogus investors in a scheme to bill them out of half a million dollars.

And from the "Detroit Press," customs agents confirm finding a small quantity of marijuana on a tour bus belonging to Justin Bieber. The bus was (INAUDIBLE) to enter Detroit from Canada. Bieber not on board.

Here's your Bieber update, Christine. Here she is with business news. (LAUGHTER)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: All right. Here's your money update. Fast food workers walked off the job in protest yesterday. They want 15 bucks an hour instead of the 7.25 minimum wage. Retails workers are joined the movement for better pay.

BMW has unveiled its first mass production electric car. The I-3 goes on sale next year starting at $41,000.

A new job posting is stirring rumors that Twitter is going public. The company is looking for a financial reporting manager raising eyebrows could that be the person who fills out all the IPO paperwork.

Now, let's get to Indra Petersons for the weather -- Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Good morning. Flossie downgraded now to a depression. Currently headed for Hawaii. Steady winds about 35 miles per hour. Well, what's next? We're talking about winds now downgrading to a depression or excuse me a remnant low in about 72 hours and completely dissipating.

Kansas, heavy rain, seven inches of rain last night. Today, that same system now kind of moving off to the east two to four inches of rain expected anywhere in the Mississippi Valley. And here is where it starts to feel so much better. We are loving this. Anywhere from the northeast to the southeast today, feels so much better.

We're actually getting a break, a drier conditions expected. Temperatures a little bit below normal. Rain is on the way. And I don't know what it is about New York. We can handle heat, we can handle snow, but if it rains, everything shuts down. Tell me about this.

PEREIRA: -- melting the rain.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Indra. Here at the top of the hour, which you know means it's time for the top news.