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Indecisiveness of European Union towards Crisis in Greece; Pope Francis' Visit to Paraguay; Driving Backwards in L.A.; James Holmes' Trial Coming to an End. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 12, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But as they would say here, your urgency is no reason why hear in Brussels they need to actually do a deal that's not the right deal. The banks are probably out of money by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week at best. So they're hoping that if they manage to do just enough that the European equivalent of the Federal Reserve, the ECB, the European Central Bank, they will agree to start lending once again. But every minister I spoke to, every single minister pointed out the complexity of this issue. The difficulty. This is a word, this is a phrase we hear again and again. This is an extremely difficult set of circumstances of negotiations. Frankly, there is absolutely no guarantee that by the end of the day there will be anything concrete on the table.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Richard Quest, so grateful for the insight today. Thank you so much.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Let's bring in John Sitilides, an international relations specialist. And John, I want to pick up on something that Richard just reported there. That the E.U. the Eurozone leaders want the Greek government to prove that they mean business. Obviously, there's been a series of reversals and revisions over the short and long-term. How does the Greek government do that?

JOHN SITILIDES, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SPECIALIST: Well, Victor, it's another one of these whiplash moments that we've seen so many of in the past week. This is going to be a very difficult process. We've been talking about this for days. The last 24 hours have been especially pivotal. And I think what's most concerning here is that the European Union remains essentially an indecisive body. You have solidarity on the one hand, especially pronounced by countries such as France and Italy for the plight of Greece. Then you have the rules obsessed faction in the north led by Germany, by Holland or the Netherlands, by Finland and those types of countries. And so, you have an internal contradiction within the European Union that makes it very difficult for them to come to terms with what is an existential problem, within the block. And on a large scale, Victor, if they can't sort out problems regarding one small economy inside the European Union how is President Obama and how is Washington going to work with the European Union on major issues involving, for instance, Russia, Syria and Iran?

BLACKWELL: There are many concerns once you extrapolate from this situation that you have questions about the other world event that is the Eurozone and the Euro group will have to get involved with. But let's take to this one, and how long could this process go on?

SITILIDES: We have to keep in mind that this is really not about an immediate deal. If the European finance ministers are able to come to agreement on this particular issue, it's simply to enter the next phase, which is to launch negotiations, a process which may take several weeks if not several months. So, this is very, very far away from any type of decisive outcome. But it is critical to overcome this enormous trust deficit that's largely been set by the strategy, the negotiating strategy of the Greek government, since this government was elected in January.

And in many ways it's probably incumbent upon Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to pull this - well, what we like to call a Nixon in China moment and come from the radical left and sell to his Marxist colleagues the kinds of deep profound structural reform, that previously were unimaginable in Greece. But the only person that can do that is a Marxist leader in Greece, who can go to his people, sell the reforms, begin enacting some of these reforms in the next 24 to 48 hours. And then go to Europe and say you can trust us. We are making the kinds of changes that you always thought we were never capable of.

BLACKWELL: But he'll lose the support of the people if he does that, won't he?

SITILIDES: I don't believe so. I think the Greeks have been so shocked by events of the last several days. They understand now what it means to collapse into a cashless, semi-barter economy. They understand they really have no choice. It's either this very bad situation or an utterly catastrophic situation going forward that is filled with complete hopelessness and despair. I think he can do this. The other party leaders are willing to work with him. He's going to have to shed some of the more radical members of his coalition. And that seems to be in the offering right now over the next few days. I think in Greece they can make the kinds of changes that are needed to satisfy some of the more incalcitrant European leaders. The problem, though, I think is going to be less in Greece over the next 24 to 48 hours, and whether or not nationalism and factionalism overcomes solidarity in the European Union.

BLACKWELL: All right. So many things to unpack here. John Sitilides, always appreciate the insight.

SITILIDES: Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

PAUL: Well, today is Pope Francis's last day in South America. He's going to be visiting a poor neighborhood in Asuncion. And he will celebrate mass soon at a sports field. Thousands of people expected to attend that. CNN's Rosa Flores is live for us from Asuncion. Rosa, this has to be quite an experience for you as well.

[06:35:02]

PAUL: Help us understand, give us a sense of what it's like there right now on the last few moments here, of the last few hours of the pope's visit.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I kind of want to set the scene here, because this is very telling. People have been flocking to this location, to the Nu Guazu field since very early this morning in ponchos, in rubber boots. If you look at the cloud cover behind me, you'll see that there's threatening inclement weather here. Nobody cares. There's lots of people here. This could be the largest mass ever. And I'll get to that in just a moment. But if you look at the altar that's behind me, the stage, this is very unique. We haven't seen this throughout Pope Francis's tour through South America. All of these are organic. So, what you see in orange, that's corn. What you see in green, those are cocoa. So, they are very much in line and in tune with Pope Francis's recent encyclical on going green using the material that you have rather than extracting something else from the earth. And then polluting the Earth.

Now, about the people who are here, Vatican radio is reporting this morning of a type of exodus from Argentina. And that's why this could be the largest mass that we've seen since Pope Francis landed in his home continent. Because hear this - They're reporting - and this is immigration officials from both countries that 1.5 million Argentinians could be in Paraguay right now, and that's what they are calling it an Exodus. Just to see the pope. Now we know that Pope Francis has been yearning to go back to Argentina. He has not been back since he became Pope, and he's expecting to be back next year, hopefully. And we know that he's anticipating that. But just to give you a sense of the message, Christi and Victor, it's been one of inclusion, one of family, one of evangelization, one of coming together and helping the poor.

PAUL: All right. Rosa Flores, great job setting the scene for us there. We appreciate it. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Look at your screen. This daredevil joyride in Los Angeles.

PAUL: Whoo.

BLACKWELL: Yes. This car, this driver is driving backward through some of the busiest streets in the city. You see the traffic there. All captured on video. And now police of course are looking for this driver.

And the murder trial of James Holmes, the theater shooter. It's now coming to an end. The big question here, will Holmes's insanity plea hold up as jurors struck deliberations?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:46]

BLACKWELL: So, if you've ever driven through L.A., you know that Los Angeles streets are difficult enough to drive on.

PAUL: Yeah.

BLACKWELL: But imagine doing it in reverse.

PAUL: Well, and you can see it right here, because this driver did it for miles on some of L.A.'s busiest roads. And kudos to the person with the cell phone video here who thought, I'm driving down this road looking at the front of this car. Something's not right.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

PAUL: And as a way, also take the video.

BLACKWELL: Is the person recording also driving? That's a concern. Put your cell phone away. You're behind the guy who's driving backwards.

PAUL: I don't know. Is that a person at the driver's seat?

BLACKWELL: I don't know.

PAUL: It might be the passenger seat. We don't know.

BLACKWELL: I don't.

PAUL: Either way, L.A. police are looking for the guy in that car that's driving backwards. Here's Peter Daut of CNN affiliate KCAL.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN ZANAZANIAN, RECORDED VIDEO: Amazing. Amazing, guys.

PETER DAUT, KCAL CORRESPONDENT: You're looking at what the LAPD is calling some of the most reckless driving investigators have ever seen.

ZANAZANIAN: Do it.

DAUT: Cell phone video showing a car going backwards all the way down Lauren Canyon Boulevard. Listen to reaction from astound witness who recorded what he could barely believe was happening.

ZANAZANIAN: This guy's going backwards on oncoming traffic. Amazing.

DAUT: The driver of the Audi staying in reverse for several minutes and along windy turns.

ZANAZANIAN: Unbelievable.

DAUT: At one point the car appears to almost hit a pedestrian. Several times the Audi crosses the double yellow lines, narrowly missing oncoming traffic.

ZANAZANIAN: Only in L.A.

DAUT: Watch what happens when the car eventually approaches busy Hollywood Boulevard.

ZANAZANIAN: Wow. Look what he's doing. Look what he's doing. DAUT: Still in reverse, the driver moves around other vehicles and into the left turn lane.

ZANAZANIAN: This man was a shocker for me.

DAUT: Kevin Zanazanian recorded the video on his cell phone. The realtor says, he first noticed the Audi around 4:45 Thursday afternoon near Moll Holland. He says there were two people in the car, a man behind the wheel and a woman in the passenger seat.

ZANAZANIAN: It was definitely like a movie, and I just think that either this individual had an argument or a fight or something or possibly just wanted to be a cool guy.

DAUT: We showed the video to LAPD investigators who say the driver could be arrested for numerous charges.

UM: A reckless driving, unsafe speed, crossing double - lines, failure to drive on the right half of the roadway.

DAUT: And given the numerous close calls, police say it's incredible no one was hurt.

UM: Imagine if you with your family member driving and being hit - struck by someone doing something irresponsible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: She should have got out of this car. You are going to be the passenger in this car when he's driving around?

PAUL: No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm jumping out, just saying.

BLACKWELL: Thanks to Peter Daut for his giving us that story. KCAL, CNN affiliate.

PAUL: Thank you, Peter.

Listen, the mass murder trial of James Holmes, it's almost over, nearing the end here and closing arguments begin this week.

BLACKWELL: But is his insanity plea go into whole doubt when jury starts deliberation?

PAUL: Yeah, remember that death sentence is a possibility here.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. And we're going to have more on this story out of Mexico. Massive manhunt underway now to find this man. He's one of the world's most notorious drug lords. Joaquin Al Chapo Guzman.

[06:45:01]

BLACKWELL: He escaped from a maximum security prison overnight. We're following this very closely. We've got much more next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLACKWELL: The mass murder trial of James Holmes is nearing its end nearly three years after the now 27-year-old opened fire and killed a dozen people at a Colorado movie theater. His defense has rested its case. And after closing arguments on Tuesday, jurors will have to decide whether or not the former doctoral student was legally insane when he opened fire. That was back on July 20th 2012. Let's go now to CNN's Paul Vercammen for the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The judge in the James Holmes movie theater shooting trial told the jurors to go home for the weekend, get some rest and then hear his instructions on Tuesday morning. After that, the defense and prosecution closing arguments. Now, James Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. And much of what the jurors heard in this trial was very nuanced testimony about sanity, delusions and schizophrenia. Of course, the defense is arguing that James Holmes was completely insane when he went into that movie theater and killed 12 people and injured 70 more, armed to the teeth and dressed in protective clothing. The prosecution countering that Holmes knew every bit of what he was doing, planned this for a long time, suggesting don't believe anything that the genius graduate neuro science student was saying about not knowing exactly what he was doing or about being insane.

[06:50:03]

VERCAMMEN: And the jurors also heard very emotional testimony at times from the survivors of the victims of this attack. The judge saying that he expects that the jurors will begin their deliberations midweek next week. Reporting from Colorado, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now, back to you.

PAUL: Thank you, Paul. So, let's talk to HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson as well as psychologist Jeff Gardere. Joey, I want to start with you. How convincing do you think the defense has been to claim that Holmes is insane?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Christi. Good morning, Jeff. Listen, the reality is whenever you have a doctor in a courtroom, it could be very compelling. Why? Because doctors certainly, they have, you know, a level of education, a level of expertise and certainly can be very persuasive in terms of telling a jury what their client, and that is the defense, wants them to hear. And so, yes, the defense has done its job in terms of laying out the issue for mental illness. However, I would say this, and, of course, they've, you know, they've had experts parade before the jury to suggest that you know what, the man you see right there was insane.

But there's a very big difference, Christi, between mental illness and insanity as that is defined in Colorado. Clearly there was some mental issues there and potentially - I mean, that could have certainly went into what he was doing in terms of the psychosis that the experts are saying that he had. However, when you look at what the prosecutions expert said -- it's a battle of the experts here. In terms of the plotting, the planning, the preparation, everything that went into it, I would be suggestive of what the prosecution's defense expert, excuse me, experts have said. And that is that he was sane under Colorado law.

PAUL: OK. So, Jeff, when we look at video, I think we have something we can pull up here, of him in court, I have to think that the jury was watching him quite closely. Sometimes he had this blank stare on his face. How much might his demeanor in court affect how they view him, for one? And what does make someone legally insane? What constitutes that?

JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, certainly we've seen that he is a person who has not showed much emotion at all. His mother and father have been sitting in court from the beginning and he hasn't even looked at them in any way, always staring forward. And that is consistent with someone who has psychosis, so what we call the negative symptoms of psychosis, meaning that there is absolutely no emotion. They can't even get that emotion into their features or in their behavior. What constitutes at this point whether he's not guilty by reason of insanity? Well, you have -- Joey's right. - The legal definition is different from the psychological or psychiatric definition. We in psychology look and psychiatry look at whether there's a psychosis, whether he's hearing voices, whether he's seeing things, whether he's delusional. He had all of those things.

PAUL: Hey, Jeff.

GARDERE: Yes.

PAUL: Can you fake that?

GARDERE: Yeah, you can malinger that. But we have to remember that this was an individual who the psychiatrists on the defense side have said he clearly had a psychosis even before the shootings. And this is a person who had a long psychiatric history including taking anti- depressants, which some say may have played the role in some of the shootings also.

PAUL: All right. And Joey, I mean he's facing 165 counts. When the jury does finally gets this for deliberation, they are not going to have it in a couple of hours, right?

JACKSON: No. And you know, you never can tell. And remember this, Christi. There are 12 jurors that are presiding there and there are seven alternates. They started with 12 alternates, but they then wheedled down. Five jurors have been dismissed. And so, it could be depending upon -- remember, jurors deliberate, which is their only opportunity to collectively discuss the case. However, you do formulate opinions as a juror when you sit there. And so, it depends upon what the evidence has suggested to them. Is it compelling for the issue of the prosecution? And that is the planning the premedication and all the people that he killed, and not only the 12 people, but the 70 people that he injured, some of whom would not ever walk again. So, they could be saying, right, that you know what, he's guilty. And certainly he was saying, or there could be others who are just not yet convinced. So you never know, Christi. We've been down this road before in terms of how jury deliberations will go and how long they will last.

PAUL: Jeff, real quickly. We only have a second, but go ahead.

GARDERE: Yeah, and Christi, the important thing here they're saying is he planned this therefore he knew the difference between right and wrong even though he had a severe mental illness. But it doesn't meet the legal definition of insanity.

PAUL: All right. Yeah. And remember, the death penalty is at stake here. Joey Jackson, Jeff Gardere, always so grateful to have your expertise. Thank you, gentlemen.

JACKSON: Thank you, Christi, have a good day.

PAUL: You too.

BLACKWELL: Donald Trump is slapping back at his critics and opponents in a speech in Phoenix. Typically, we say you won't believe what Donald Trump is going to say. It's coming. So you'll believe it.

[06:55:08]

BLACKWELL: Also, ahead next hour, find out which presidential candidate he dismissed during this speech.

And Serena. She won yesterday. Now it's the guys turn. See which titans of the tennis world are squaring off for the finals of Wimbledon, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It is number one versus number two in a dream match-up at Wimbledon.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, Coy Wire is here with the preview of today's men's final.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning. Even if you don't like tennis, this is one of those match-ups you can get into because you know you're watching two of the sports' greatest of all times. Seven times Wimbledon champ Roger Federer will take on the defending champ Novac Djokovic on center court for all the marbles. If Federer wins he'd hold two records, most Wimbledon titles and he'd become the oldest to hold the title. He is 33. Djokovic, on the other hand, is the favorite to win. He's looking for his ninth grand slam title. Look, this is their 40th meeting. Federer is up 20 to 19. This is an epic rivalry. It raises the question what is the greatest sports rivalry of all time. We want to have some fun with you this morning. We want to know what you think. Tweet us with the hashtag new day CNN or comment on Facebook. There are lots to choose from. Yankees, Red Sox. Bird and magic. You got Tiger fill, Coyote and Road Runner. I mean that's ....

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Coyote and Road Runner. PAUL: That's awesome. Thank you so much.

WIRE: See you soon.

PAUL: I appreciate it. And thank you so much for starting your morning with us.

BLACKWELL: Always good to have you. Next hour of your "NEW DAY" starts right now.

[07:00:00]