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New Day

Companies Paying for Your Tuition; Wisconsin Governor in Alleged Scheme; IRS Claims Hard Drive Was "Recycled"; Big Test for Team USA in the Amazon

Aired June 20, 2014 - 06:30   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: Happy Friday to you. Here's a look at your headlines this hour.

Iraq's grand ayatollah is calling for new parliament and government and for all sects to stand together against ISIS. This comes after President Obama decided to send as many as 300 military advisers to Iraq to help in the fight against militants. Fighters have now taken over a Saddam Hussein-era chemical weapons complex storing dozens of potentially deadly toxins.

House Speaker John Boehner has a new number two. The Republicans chose California Representative Kevin McCarthy to be the majority leader. The vote is seen as a boost for Boehner as some factions of the party tried to put a tea partier in the leadership. McCarthy replaces Eric Cantor who is stepping down after his stunning defeat in the primary in Virginia.

The New England Patriots and owner Bob Kraft had been named in a wrongful death suit against Aaron Hernandez. It was brought about by the families of two men allegedly killed by the former Patriot star in 2012. The civil suit seeks to prevent the Patriots from paying Hernandez more than $3 million he may be due. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty last month to those murders.

I want to show you a picture. Yes, that's being called the hottest mug shot ever. It has taken the Internet by storm. This is Jeremy Meeks. He's a 30-year-old convicted felon. He was busted during a weapons sweep in Stockton, California, this week.

But his mug shot on the Stockton PD Facebook page, it's received more than 39,000 likes and more than 12,000 comments, most from women fawning over his good looks and chiseled features and blue eyes and critics are reminding his adoring fans that as fine as this fellow is, Meeks is a criminal who has already done time and is now facing weapons and a gang charge. He is scheduled for arraignment today.

So, just don't forget that.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: What is it with you ladies?

PEREIRA: Why did I know that was coming?

CUOMO: You know --

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: When we say, like, the critics try to remind people that he is a criminal. It's like, those critics, are the people that have a brain.

CUOMO: If you flipped the script here and it was a picture of a very attractive woman.

BOLDUAN: Don't generalize.

CUOMO: And guys were saying how hot the women were, you guys would be like, you see how men are, you're so superficial.

PEREIRA: Where's that mute button? You got in a --

CUOMO: No, it's called a truth button, and I'm pushing it, baby. I'm pushing it.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: We're moving on. He wants to make it an argument, on something that's not an argument.

CUOMO: Yes, no argument here.

BOLDUAN: We're not even losing. We're not engaging in said debate.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: That means we're moving on.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Time now for your money. Alison Kosik is here.

Alison, please take it away.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can't disagree with Chris.

CUOMO: Thank you.

KOSIK: I just want to say, sorry, Chris.

All right. Let's talk money.

BOLDUAN: Alison clearly wasn't listening.

KOSIK: Starbucks is not the only hourly job that will actually help pay your tuition costs. Now, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz did say this week that he's the first to offer all employees free tuition but there's plenty of other companies already offering their hourly workers money for their education. The first one UPS, offering up to $20,000 for employees to continue their education. Wal-Mart offers a 15 percent discount on online tuition at American

public universities. Dick's Drive-In in Seattle, workers there can study anything as long as they work 20 hours per week. Home Depot offers this perk as well. You can attend any school and get salaried -- for any salaried worker and they get $5,000 a year. Walgreens is also out there offering this, $2,500 annually for workers attending pharmacy school.

So that's good to know when you apply for jobs out there that this is a great perk that's out there -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, thanks so much, Alison.

Coming up on NEW DAY, he's been mentioned as a 2016 contender for the Republican Party. Now, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is accused in a political fund-raising scheme. What could it mean for his political future? Our experts are here to weigh in.

CUOMO: Plus, today, Portugal. Tomorrow, the world. How far can the U.S. really go in the World Cup? You might be surprise.

We're going to break down the important matches and tell you the chances, the reason to be excited here. This is big for us. This is big.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Republican governor and presidential hopeful is under fire this morning. Prosecutors in Wisconsin say Governor Scott Walker took part in a criminal scheme, that's how they term, violating election laws during his fight to win a recall election back in 2012.

So, of course, in present day, what does that mean for his current re- election bid that he's in the middle of?

Marc Lamont Hill, CNN political commentator, and host of "Huff Post Live" is here, as well as Cheri Jacobus, GOP strategist and president of Capital Strategies PR.

Good morning.

Cheri, what is going on? Scott Walker, he's already in a tight re- election battle, the latest polls show. A criminal scheme?

CHERI JACOBUS, GOP STRATEGIST: Well, they like the headlines. They like going after somebody who is named a potential presidential candidate for 2016. You've got anonymous people, these john does that are hiding in the shadows smearing this guy. You have two judges who have said this is a bogus charge. They have been ordered to stop this investigation. They know it's politically motivated.

BOLDUAN: Five prosecutors in five counties. JACOBUS: Yes, but you've got two judges that is saying this is bogus.

You have to look at timing of this. Look, things got pretty rough. There was a rough recall. You know, this is a governor who beat his opponent pretty solidly and, of course, they are going to go after him and it's not a coincidence that they are doing this just as this election heats up, just as people are paying attention.

I think it's irresponsible to have these headlines acting like this guy has done something wrong and they don't even talk about the fact that you've had two judges saying this is wrong. Throw this out. You've got prosecutors --

CUOMO: Fair point.

JACOBUS: You've got prosecutors who might be breaking the law by having this interpretation of the law that's unconstitutional.

CUOMO: I don't know about them breaking the law, but you do make a fair point that they are making this sound like this is a new litigation going on. That would be misleading because the judges haven't sided with the prosecutors yet.

BOLDUAN: Right.

CUOMO: They've just opened up e-mails that are unsavory, which takes to the point I want you to discuss. Maybe can you fairly say, don't paint Scott Walker as someone who is about to go to jail, that's wrong. However, can you paint him as someone who's no better than everybody else, because he's playing the same ugly game the politicians the play with money?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think -- there's political motivation to this. I don't think it's to smear him. I think it's to position him in a line with other leaders, Democrat and Republican, who have made this rules, who are no better than anyone else, who are going, circumventing the rules for their own game.

And when you look at the e-mail which is kind of a smoking e-mail, it looks really bad.

BOLDUAN: Well, and to note, people who been following, it's an e-mail that was to Karl Rove and that's an e-mail --

CUOMO: As soon as you hear Karl Rove, you wince you found out it was to Karl Rove.

JACOBUS: And that's the thing, you throw these out, it's Karl Rove, it's an e-mail, and the headline is wrong and misleading.

BOLDUAN: We can read it.

JACOBUS: And the fact is you have two judges saying no. And you got a Democrat who is behind it.

CUOMO: Just because it's not illegal doesn't mean it's not wrong. HILL: But it's not a legal challenge merely. It's an actual ethical

challenge and a political challenge because when everyday people see that e-mail, and you guys --

BOLDUAN: Here's the email, I read it to you. It says, this is from Scott Walker to Karl Rove. Bottom line, R.J., it's one of his top political aides also been accused in this, helps keep in place a team that's wildly successful in Wisconsin. We're running nine recall elections and it will be like running nine congressional markets and every market in the state in twin cities.

The whole point is that they are accused of coordinating fund-raising between his campaign and outside conservative tax-exempt groups which is -- it would be a violation of state law.

JACOBUS: This is what we've done to Tom DeLay. Remember that? And he was smeared. He was thought of as guilty for years. He spent untold amount of money and he was exonerated.

BOLDUAN: Cheri's made a point, though. This could backfire on Democrats.

HILL: I don't think so.

BOLDUAN: Why not?

JACOBUS: There are people in this country who have no idea that Tom DeLay was exonerated because this was politically motivated.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: We had him on NEW DAY to talk about being exonerated. By the way, just so you know.

JACOBUS: Good for you.

HILL: I don't want to see anyone unfairly smeared. However, there is the question of how you position yourself as someone who's above the ethical fray, someone who doesn't do this type of stuff. And then even if you don't break the law, you still violate ethical rules, rules that voters find out.

CUOMO: All right. So own it.

BOLDUAN: Do you think it will affect this race? I just want to be, we all move on or --

JACOBUS: No, I think they will move past this. I think he's fine. Nothing else to put out there. You got two judges saying this is bogus. It's a political attack.

CUOMO: So, own the problem because this has been way too quiet in the media, many would suggest. The IRS investigation is real.

I would caution all of you -- don't make the IRS stop looking into 501c4 groups. There are dirty groups on both sides of the political aisle. They're going to get shut up because of this investigation, that's the problem. However --

BOLDUAN: But this latest thing.

CUOMO: -- the e-mails go missing that are relevant to the investigation with the IRS? You talk about what looks and smells terrible --

HILL: Seems reasonable to me.

BOLDUAN: Why is that? I really thought you were serious.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: This was terrible.

CUOMO: This is so bad that the Republicans don't even need to say it's bad. Of course, they are because everything is gratuitous in politics. But how does this happen and where is the leadership from the Democrats standing up and saying, we want them even more? We want them even more than the right because we want to keep our side of the street clean? This is ugly stuff.

HILL: (INAUDIBLE) exactly what should happen. I can't defend the indefensible. This is just bad business.

CUOMO: Have to, because you want to say you're better than the other side.

HILL: That's why the Democrats have to exercise better leadership. They have to own this from the beginning.

CUOMO: They haven't.

HILL: They have not. They haven't done it from day one, and every piece of this that comes out --

CUOMO: They get their friends to bury it.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: And all Democrats have been saying is that this is the conservatives; this is a witch-hunt.

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: Exactly. And that's going to hurt them because everybody understands the IRS is --

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: No, no, no. I think there's a big difference. I mean, you've got the IRS that -- where these things are just gone, everything that could be incriminating. And this is designed to keep people out of jail. The people who destroyed those e-mails and that are hiding them --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: We don't yet know if they were destroyed. Same thing as Scott Walker.

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: And where is Eric Holder on this? Where's Barack Obama on this? They should be speaking out instead of acting like, well, this isn't our thing. It's very much their thing, and they are silent.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: I think the president --

JACOBUS: I think you can.

HILL: No, I'm not saying we shouldn't. But I'm saying as a practical matter. I would -- I would imagine President Obama is going to run as far away from this as possible.

JACOBUS: And Eric Holder.

CUOMO: Not as close to power (ph). But please make your point.

BOLDUAN: No, I think the president has called for records to be kept all electronically by 2016, like there was some order to all of his agencies. This clearly is not -- is before that deadline. I mean, they say it's a computer crash.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Why does he load them on the hard drive in the first place?

BOLDUAN: I don't disagree.

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: Everybody knows what happened. These things were hidden, gotten rid of on purpose.

HILL: We don't know that.

JACOBUS: It's to keep people out of jail.

CUOMO: They have to find out the facts. I'm just saying the suggestion is there.

JACOBUS: This is to keep people out of jail. It doesn't pass the smell test. They know it.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Well, the problem that they have is that the fact that they are focusing on these missing e-mails might means they might not have been able to make the case so far, the fact that this is the crux of their argument. She's pleaded the Fifth nine times. They might not be able to make -- sounds to me like they are having trouble making the case.

HILL: But again, it goes back to the same point I made about Scott Walker. Just because you don't make the case, just because you don't make the legal case doesn't mean that it doesn't look bad. And it doesn't mean that it's not politically unwise and unethical.

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: This is completely different. This is something where they are clearly guilty, and they are trying to stay out of jail.

HILL: Clearly guilty.

JACOBUS: They know they are losing the pr war on this --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Let them do just like with Scott Walker. Let the system work. But I will caution this as we wrap this up, thanking both of you for being here. The IRS investigating these groups is fundamentally important for the integrity of the system, which almost has no integrity at this point. Because everything's legal. The legal money is a problem in politics, not the illegal money, and the IRS is going to get closed down from looking at these groups because of this investigation. And it's a mistake. That said, they should --

JACOBUS: Not if (ph) you have liberal groups, too. It was just conservative groups.

CUOMO: They should be -- well, no, looked at liberal groups also.

HILL: They looked at liberal groups. And these were extremist groups.

CUOMO: And that's why the Democrats are being quiet about this entire investigation in my opinion because they benefit from the outcome no matter how it comes out because they benefit from the outcome no matter how it comes out because they don't want their groups looked at either.

Anyway, thank you very much to both of you.

BOLDUAN: We need more time on that one. That was --

CUOMO: Well, we do.

Coming up on NEW DAY, does Team USA have legs in the World Cup? Of course they do! That is a rhetorical question.

BOLDUAN: Pretty good looking legs.

CUOMO: We're gonna (inaudible) chances starting with Portugal on Sunday. There is reason to be optimistic about U.S. soccer.

BOLDUAN: That we can all agree on.

CUOMO: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: All right. Welcome back. It is time for our Bleacher Report today. This Sunday, anything happening? Oh, yeah. The big test for Team USA at the World Cup. Challenges are mounting though for their match against Portugal. They're gonna be without one of their top players. They are playing in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. It's going to be hot.

Let's break it down with Greg Lalas. He's the editor-in-chief of mlssoccer.com. Good to have you here, playing with some new technology.

GREG LALAS, MLSSOCCER.COM: Thanks for having me. It's a new toy.

PEREIRA: It's a new toy for you. Bear with me as we go through. We know a lot of eyes are watching this game.

LALAS: Yeah.

PEREIRA: We also know that the two teams, USA and Portugal, are coming in kind of from different worlds in term of, the U.S. is coming off a win against Ghana. Meanwhile, Portugal is coming off a loss.

Talk to us a little bit about it. Let's brag on the U.S. and tell us about where their heads are likely at going into this game.

LALAS: When you go into the World Cup, especially for the U.S. into this one and the group of death, as they say, coming into this one, there were a lot of question marks. And -- and ultimately they knew they had to go to the Ghana game and get a good result. Jurgen Klinsmann, the head coach, said this was a knockout game in some ways. So they had to get a result, and they got a win, so that just lifts all of their confidence.

PEREIRA: Meanwhile on the other side, of the pitch we've got Portugal.

LALAS: And they lost, of course, 3-0 to Germany in their first game. But it wasn't just the loss itself and the result. It was the way they lost. They imploded. They didn't look good. Injuries; here's the head-butt --

PEREIRA: Injury after injury.

LALAS: -- from Pepe on Thomas Muller, so Pepe will be out because of his red card because of that. Cristiano Ronaldo didn't look like Cristiano Ronaldo and all the questions about his injuries.

PERIERA: Well, he looked like him.

LALAS: And so, but I think, you know, that they are sort of like a wounded animal. That's what people keep saying now.

PEREIRA: And the question is will it fuel them and they'll be like a cornered animal ready for a fight? Or will they kind of come limping into this next game?

All right, you talked to us a little bit about the key players. First of all, on the Portugal side --

LALAS: The easy one right here.

PEREIRA: The easy one.

LALAS: Cristiano Ronaldo.

PEREIRA: Easy on the eyes, easy one to talk about.

LALAS: Yes, and of course his knee injury and thigh injury.

PEREIRA: Big question mark for him.

The goalkeeper for Portugal came out just yesterday and said he's 100 percent fit and ready to go. I said to you guys earlier, we're going to not know until about an hour before kickoff what is really going to happen.

PEREIRA: Game time. Game time decision.

On the U.S. side, you've given us some indication that there's a couple we should watch for. He was a big player in the win against Ghana, Clint Dempsey.

LALAS: Right, so Clint Dempsey, he's shown it this year in particular with the Seattle Sounders. Everything he's done is, he is in form and ready to go. He had an amazing early goal in the first game against Ghana. Then he broke his nose. Didn't matter. He finished the game, and he's going to be ready the go. The question now with him does he wear a mask or not? U.S. soccer actually travels with a mask, so they don't have to get one made.

PEREIRA: They have one at ready.

You also said Kyle Beckerman is somebody we should for, not just because of the fantastic hairdo, but because he's got some skills.

LALAS: Yeah, it's fantastic. He's got these dreads all over the place. He reminds me sort of the predator, that old movie. So what he does in the middle of the mid-field is all of the defensive destroying. And his positioning is going to be so key. If Cristiano Ronaldo can go, and Beckerman said they're training as if he can go, he's going to be important for sliding out to help on that side, in particular.

PEREIRA: So like a point counterpoint kind of thing.

LALAS: Exactly.

PEREIRA: All right, next up, past (ph) a victory, what is the strategy going to be from each of these teams with Ronaldo, without Ronaldo? Give us an idea.

LALAS: Well, I think everyone should be planning as if Ronaldo is going to play.

PEREIRA: OK.

LALAS: So I think that's --

PEREIRA: That's the worst case scenario for the U.S.

LALAS: Yeah, exactly. So, but look, you have to think about it from a defensive side. You need to contain him as much as possible.

PEREIRA: Yeah.

LALAS: So that means the guys on that side, Fabian Johnson and Alejandro Bedoya, who you are talking to a little bit later --

PEREIRA: I know, very exciting.

LALAS: It's important for them to contain him and Kyle Beckerman from sliding over. But I think for the U.S., they need to go fast early and try to get a quick goal.

PEREIRA: Well, it's interesting you speak of fast, my friend.

LALAS: Yes.

PEREIRA: I want to introduce you people to the name of the state where they're going to be playing, Arena da Amazonia.

LALAS: Exactly. Well done.

PEREIRA: Thank you very much. I speak Portuguese -- located in Manaus, in the heart of the rain forest in Brazil.

LALAS: Yes.

PEREIRA: Why is this important? It's going to be hot. Greg, it's going to be humid. Are our players on Team USA prepared for this kind of heat and humidity?

LALAS: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: OK.

LALAS: Here's why. One, first they did some training in northern Florida before they went down there, so they got a little bit of climate --

PEREIRA: It's not a rain forest.

LALAS: It's not quite, but if you look at the humidity and heat levels they are pretty close.

The other thing to think about, is some of the -- many of these players, there are ten players from MLS (ph) that are on this U.S. team.

PEREIRA: Sure.

LALAS: And they all have played in Houston in July and August, and if you look at that heat and humidity, it's very similar. Brad Davis actually plays for Houston, and Jeff Cameron, a center back for the U.S., played in Houston for four years. And he said if you can survive that, you can survive anything.

PEREIRA: I've heard complaints about the term fungus, tropical fungus. No issue, you don't think?

LALAS: I don't believe there's any issue there.

PEREIRA: Last but not least, you brought something.

LALAS: I did. I brought a couple of gifts for you guys.

PEREIRA: Check this out, guys! He came bearing gifts!

LALAS: Because, you know, this is a big game. This is obviously a big game. You need to support the correct way. These are scarves.

PEREIRA: Because it's important when you're playing in Brazil.

LALAS: And in soccer you wear a scarf, even when it's super hot, you have to wear a scarf.

PEREIRA: How about that.

CUOMO: What does it say?

PEREIRA: I love it.

LALAS: For club and country.

PEREIRA: It says, for club and country.

BOLDUAN: What I'm seeing here is there are only two.

(CROSSTALK)

LALAS: There are three. Don't worry, there are three, because you should wear this during a game, wrap it around.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Very nice.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: For analysis, results and preview, head to bleacherreport.com.

Greg, awesome. This is fantastic.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: I'm gonna do it like a beauty queen.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Greg, why don't you have a seat (ph)?

PEREIRA: He can't.

CUOMO: Get into a soccer squat.

PEREIRA: Greg, thanks for that analysis. Thanks for the gift.

CUOMO: Great to have you. The excitement is building. This could be it. This is big this weekend, big big, big.

BOLDUAN: Now read the tease.

CUOMO: I can still read it. This is just one of the stories -- how is my hair?

A lot of stories this morning. We want to talk to you about serious things going on. Chemical weapons, if you thought they were out in Iraq, you're wrong. They are back, and they are in the wrong hands. How did this happen? Big story. We've got the latest. Let's get after it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-AZ: The president of the United States goes for fund-raising and golfing while Iraq burns.

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq.

JOHN KERRY, SEC. OF STATE: It's not the time for a war about the war.

UNIDENTIFIED HILL: Potential cases of anthrax.

UNIDENTIFIED HILL: This sort of thing should not happen. We're talking about some of the most dangerous pathogens that really exist.

UNIDENTIFIED JACOBUS: Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to play for Portugal.

UNIDENTIFIED HILL: We're gonna have to be aware about him at all times. That's how dangerous he is.

CHANTING: USA! USA!

UNIDENTIFIED HILL: The world stops. Everybody is watching.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. We spent almost a decade looking for chemical weapons in Iraq and

supposedly getting rid of them. Well, guess who found them? ISIS. Militants have taken control of a notorious chemical weapons facility that once, of course, belonged to Saddam Hussein. Potentially deadly poisons are said to still be inside.

Now Iraq's grand ayatollah is speaking out as President Obama announces the U.S. course of action. We're tracking every angle of this crisis.

Let's begin in Baghdad with Nic Robertson. Nic, what are we hearing from there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPODENT: Well, Chris, one of the keys is, and as we all know, there's a real distrust in this country of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. President Obama says essentially that he has to go, but how does he go? Well, it's got to be through the - if you will, the -- the words of the senior -- most senior Shia cleric here.

I mean, listen to his prayers this morning. He was addressing millions of Shias in this country. They follow his every word. He told them that they needed to be patient with the constitution time line as a new government is formed. He's wading into politics here. He doesn't normally do this. But he's making it very clear that a new government needs to be formed. Is that a between the lines message for Maliki, that he was the old prime minister, there needs to be a new one?