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New Day

Texas Execution; Deep Freeze; President Addresses Sexual Assault; White House Backtracks On Pot; Justin Bieber Arrested; Man Impersonates Missing Child

Aired January 23, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Let's bring you up to date on the very latest news. Breaking overnight, Texas has executed 46-year-old Edgar Tamayo, a Mexican national convicted of killing a Houston police officer in 1994. Tamayo received a lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay. Both Mexico's government and our own State Department objected to the execution. Secretary of State John Kerry believes it could put Americans detained abroad at risk.

The deep freeze is certainly taking hold in the eastern half of the country, windchills plunging as low as 40 below. In New York, temperatures are expected to remain at or below freezing through the end of the month with more snow in the forecast for next week.

President Obama is stepping up efforts to combat sexual assault. He announced a new task force to focus on protecting students after meeting with the White House Council on Women and Girls. A report finds one in five women experience sexual assault at college. The task force has 90 days to come up with recommendations to colleges to address prevention and awareness.

George Zimmerman putting another painting up for sale, this one featuring Florida Attorney Angela Corey, the moment she announced charges against Zimmerman with the caption reading, "I have this much respect for the American justice system." Zimmerman's art first came to light last month when he sold a painting of a blue American flag for more than $100,000.

Obviously the Sochi Olympic organizers have much bigger problems to deal with, but can we show this? This is a picture of twin toilets in one stall at the Olympic ski center. It has gone viral. It was tweeted by a BBC reporter, Chris. Russian sports officials say communal toilets are actually quite standard at the country soccer stadiums, but apparently they have since been replaced. You remember that old SNL skit?

BOLDUAN: I think I might have blocked that one out.

CUOMO: That was a good one.

PEREIRA: It wasn't the whole line of them but just two.

CUOMO: You know what they say, people who go together stay together.

BOLDUAN: That's not how it applies. Choked up.

Time for our "Political Gut Check" of the morning, the White House is now clarifying the president's recent comments on pot. You'll remember in an extensive interview with the "New Yorker" in part the president said that marijuana isn't any more dangerous than alcohol. A change in drug policy or not so much.

CNN's chief national correspondent, John King, is here to talk more about it. I want to get just essentially your take on what Jay Carney was saying, John, because he basically says that we are all taking the president's words and his quotes from this "new Yorker" article out of context, right?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sometimes the White House press secretary has a very important job to do and this was an important job that you might call clean up on I-1. Look, Jay Carney has a point. If you read the entire 17,000 words "New Yorker" article, I mean, just a couple of hundreds words dedicated to the president view's on marijuana, it's a nuanced answer.

But most 9-and 10 years old, most teenagers probably don't read that so what do they hear that the president says he doesn't see marijuana as any more dangerous than alcohol. Well, that's not what most parents tell their children. It's also not what the United States government tell its citizens.

If you got to the Drug Enforcement administration web site, pot is a schedule one drug. It's called one of the, quote, "most dangerous drugs because of its effect on you. So the White House I'm told had some incoming from within the administration, within the bureaucracy and also from outside.

I haven't figured out exactly who outside. But remember, the president's got two kids that go to school. They have parents too and they want to clear this up. The president was not trying to give a green light to pot use. He was not trying to say he endorses pot use and what you would hope to do is more focused.

We talked about this the other day, his view that lower income black kids and Latino kids don't get treated the same way as many white kids do if they get caught with a little bit of pot on them. That is something the president does feel passionately about, but look, this was a cleanup and that's part of Jay's job.

BOLDUAN: But John, that is part of Jay's job and he does a good job at it, but I got to tell you the president did say in one part it is important for these experiments in Colorado and Washington State that they move forward. That's a big statement.

KING: It is a big statement. Some took that as a change in policy. There's no question the president's tone was very different and that's what Jay Carney was trying to, you know, put some steel back in the tone if you will. Remember, just a couple months ago, this administration has been fighting states that even have medical marijuana laws.

Now the Colorado law and Washington State law go beyond that de- criminalization and again Jay Carney saying the president's not in favor of that. It seemed like he was at least curious about these experiments and saying let's see how they unfold at a time not long after his own Justice Department was fighting them.

CUOMO: It's a dance. Come on. It's a dance. He could have said the obvious, alcohol's really bad for you, it's really dangerous so pot is bad too but it's no worse than alcohol because alcohol is so bad. He could have said prosecution of marijuana is completely unequal cops ask for marijuana to be rescheduled. He could have said those things. He didn't. He was playing to the culture shift. They got scared, John, because they don't want to get out in front of it because it makes you seem like you're pro drug.

KING: I think that's pretty close to the truth. You have Cuomo-isms in there --

CUOMO: Those are the parts I like.

KING: It's very difficult. It's very difficult. Chris knows this coming from a political family. President Obama is allowed to have personal views as a human being and a parent. As the president of the United States, sometimes he's grabbing a giant bureaucracy of the federal government or he is sending a message to other parents that they say, whoa, wait a minute here. We watched his evolution on same- sex marriage.

BOLDUAN: Where does the conversation go from here? Do they continue to say -- does it end here or does the conversation move on from here? Do you see this as an evolution or do you see this as the president got out in front of skis. The White House, his press secretary cleaned it up and he is not going to be talking about this anymore.

KING: He'll have to talk about it some more. He is going to have other interviews. He is going to have press conferences and he will have to either restate what he said or clean it up. Again, this is a conversation the country is going to be having for years now because you have these two states doing it. You have other states considering.

A lot of states are, you know, getting more implementation of the medical marijuana. Some states saying let's regulate this and make money off in taxation and the life so this -- you know, he's got three years left in his presidency. We're going to have this conversation for those three years and then beyond because this is a change happening all across the country.

BOLDUAN: Then maybe that's the good thing that comes out of the article. It also came with the side order and part burned for Jay Carney. It works every time.

CUOMO: Takes care of all of that. Look, the good news is most, you know with all due respect to the president and I do respect him and his office, people don't parent by presidential proxy anyway. You know, you are going to make your own decisions about what you want your kids to know about drugs. It doesn't for a lot of parents. They don't care what the president is saying about it on that level. They are going to say what they think is important for their own kids.

What do you think? Tweets us, you know the hash tag #newday. Let us have it. Coming up on NEW DAY, breaking just moments ago, talk about somebody who is in the middle of culture conflict, Justin Bieber. Now it's not just about shenanigans. It's about breaking the law, DUI, drag racing, serious offenses, has he finally gone too far?

BOLDUAN: And how did a 23-year-old man convince authorities on two continents and one family, a grieving family that he was their long lost son. It's a gripping story of deception and it's the subject of a CNN documentary "The Impostor" and we are going to be talking to a private investigator who cracked the case. This is fascinating.

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CUOMO: All right, we have breaking news for you this morning. We are learning Justin Bieber arrested overnight, significant offenses, DUI, drag racing, this happened in Miami Beach. Police say the young star failed a field sobriety test. That's different than blowing a number, right? Question is now has it gone from naughty to illegal. What's going to happen?

Let's bring in CNN's Tory Dunnan joining us by phone from Miami. Tory, if you can hear us tell us what we know.

TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Sure. Well, Chris, we're just getting information from Miami Beach police this morning. We're hearing from Detective Vivian Hernandez. She's confirming to CNN that Justin Bieber was indeed arrested for DUI and drag racing, a segment that happened earlier this morning potentially at some point during the overnight hours.

Chris, I can tell you we know that Justin Bieber has been here in the area for the past few days. On his Twitter page, on Instagram, he's been pushing various pictures around Miami. So the star has been in the area and now police say he's in a little bit of trouble. Police are gathering that information right now. They should have more basically any minute.

CUOMO: A little bit of trouble. DUI almost always a felony, drag racing combined. It could be very significant legal offenses. What is the take? We know that Justin Bieber had run-ins with the law, quite an eventful year. Do people believe this is him finally crossing the line?

DUNNAN: I'm listening to the various radio stations as I was driving down to Miami and, of course, people saying this is just the latest run-in with the law that Justin Bieber has had. The most recent one happening earlier in January when detectives were at his house for that egg throwing incident and then on top of that, we've got this latest serious offense as you mentioned, arrested for DUI and drag racing. This is just another example of the trouble the star is getting in. People do think this is a very serious offense. CUOMO: Drag racing while drunk is no joke. It's certainly different than acting out. Tory Dunnan, thanks for staying on it for us. Let us know if anything develops. Appreciate.

DUNNAN: Sure.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's get another check of this brutally cold weather. I think we are all over it at this point, but unfortunately, it's going nowhere any time soon. Let's get back out to Indra who is the studios for us this morning. How is it looking now, Indra?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You mentioned that we're all over this. I made a little chart here. One point, Cuomo 1.5 points, me clear winner. Do you see this blank spot?

BOLDUAN: I also have an operative word. Our job titles.

PETERSONS: I'm going to have you join me. You see everyone else has. We're going to fill this out by the end of the season, I promise you that.

CUOMO: How many times you've been outside?

PETERSONS: You made it 5 minutes yesterday. Let's talk about the cold air. We know the windchills are brutal out there. In the northeast, single digit temperatures today. Once you add in the windchill, we're talking about subzero temperatures again. This dome of high pressure staying in place, but it's actually going to be making its way farther south, meaning

That cold air is going to be moving farther south as well. Speaking of Super Bowl, we know that we're going to be talking about the chances for snow. The third one in the line of Clippers has the potential to bring snow by next week. Chances are right now that that snow will be ahead of the Super Bowl. For now, it looks like clear skies for the super bowl itself. Could affect some gambling maybe?

BOLDUAN: All right, Indra, thank you so much. We'll debate this later.

CUOMO: Have fun out there.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

CUOMO: Stay there all day.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, a serial con artist passes himself off as a teenager who went missing for three years. We are talking about the gripping and heart breaking CNN film "The Impostor" with the investigator who knew something was just wrong all along.

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PEREIRA: This promises to be a really fascinating and intriguing story now. CNN film presents "The Impostor." It's truly a gripping and true story about a Frenchman who managed to pass himself off as a missing boy from Texas. The con might have actually worked if not for one Texas investigator. He is standing by here in studio to talk with us, that's Mr. Charley Parker. But first we'll tell you how it all went down.

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PEREIRA (voice-over): In 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay vanished from his suburban, Texas, neighborhood. For three long years, the Barclay family grieved for their missing son, until one day, his mother got a phone call saying someone in Spain had Nicholas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was really nervous, anticipation, pretty upbeat.

PEREIRA: From there, the disturbing story of a soft-spoken master manipulator begins to unfold, incorporating blend of interviews with the Barclay family and reenactments, the film shows how the 23-year- old impostor assumed the identity of a blond-haired, blue-eyed teen fooling everyone, including the Barclay family themselves who welcomed him into their home as he begins a new life in America.

As the film rolls on, the serial impersonator is foiled by a skilled private investigator, Charley Parker who plays himself in the film.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't let him go. It was no way in the world I could let it go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That private investigator, Charlie Parker, is live using an unorthodox identification technique. He starts to uncover the disturbing truth. That private investigator, Charley Parker is live with us on the NEW DAY set. We're so glad to have you here. We know this is a story --

BOLDUAN: We have to say, we have to be careful. There are many twists and turns. Michaela and I were saying, we wish we hadn't had a sneak peek of this before we talked to you because it's going to be hard to hold our tongue.

PEREIRA: So talk to me about how you came on to this story. Why were you brought in as a private investigator?

CHARLIE PARKER, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: I got hired by a show called "Hard Copy." The producer wanted me to go along for some reason. And when I went to the house, during the interview, I was fortunate enough to have the real Nicholas Barclay's photograph sitting right by me. And the impostor was being interviewed. I noticed that the real Nicholas Barclay had blue/gray eyes. The impostor's eyes were brown and I asked the cameraman to zoom in on his ears.

PEREIRA: His ears?

PARKER: It's a technique Scotland Yard uses to identify people. The ear is the only part of the human body that doesn't age. I knew if I could compare the ears, I could know what I had here. So I got to my office and compared the ears and I knew instantly, I had an impostor. PEREIRA: After that, did you have a gut feeling something was off or no?

PARKER: Kind of, but not really. Not until I got to looking there. I was able to see him and the boy. Knew there was a huge difference.

CUOMO: How do you get past the eye thing?

PARKER: The eye test, what happened is he claimed he had chemicals injected into his eyes by his captors. A telephone and ophthalmology school --

PEREIRA: They said it's not possible.

BOLDUAN: Before and after you kind of got a few of his ears. The family really wanted -- wanted to believe in this -- throughout this whole thing that this man is Nicholas, is their son their brother. Why did you -- you could not shake these lingering questions, though. Why was it? Because the family was really ready to accept this.

PARKER: One thing we've learned in our business is teenagers are change links. Every day they are different. One day a rock star. The next day they look like a computer nerd working for apple. So we know that. And I think -- I think they overlooked a lot of that. I really do. I think they -- as you will see in the movie, I don't want to give anything away, but you'll see that he disguises himself. He dyed his hair, you know, as the boy did. He claimed that his accent was what he was told to do. He was told he couldn't speak English.

PEREIRA: It is a really well produced film and cinematography really contributes to the intrigue as you are going on. This is a fascinating case. Have you ever seen anything like this in your career?

PARKER: On a 1 to 10, it's a 10.

PEREIRA: It's a 15.

BOLDUAN: I agree. Charlie, for you, the search continues.

PARKER: Yes it does. And we've gotten two leads off of the movie.

PEREIRA: You have?

PARKER: Yes. We're working the leads and I'm continuing to look for the boy.

PEREIRA: Because the fact remains is that case is still open.

PARKER: It's still open, yes.

PEREIRA: Wow. Charlie Parker, thank you so much for joining us to talk more about this. I wish we could tell you more, but we want to point you to the film tonight so you can see for yourself. It's called "The Impostor," -- CNN Presents "The Impostor." It's at 9 p.m. only on CNN and then we discuss online. BOLDUAN: Thank you for your work and thank you coming in. Thank you very much.

CUOMO: For a private investigator to break a case like this.

BOLDUAN: There was a struggle with the FBI at one point.

CUOMO: At a big disadvantage. Big kudos to you.

Coming up on NEW DAY, Animal Planet blasted for allegedly harming the animals in their network's name. Is there a mistreatment on "Call of The Wild Man"? The people producing the show say, no there isn't. We'll hear both sides.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cold. My toes are freezing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Arctic nation. Much of the country plunging into a deep freeze, a bitter cold. That's not going away for weeks. Who and what is at risk? Meteorologist, Indra Petersons is tracking it all.

BOLDUAN: Battle raging over a brain-dead pregnant woman and her unborn baby. New information about the health of the fetus and how does the new detail impact the ongoing legal battle. The debate ahead.

PEREIRA: Breaking news. Justin Bieber arrested. The pop star accused of driving under the influence and drag racing this morning. It's his latest run-in with the law. Just how much trouble is he in this time?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.