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New Day

Boston Bomber Convicted; Mike Rowe Wrangles Bulls In New Season of "Somebody's Gotta Do It" Which Airs Tonight. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 09, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Alisyn.

The Boston bomber now facing life in prison or execution after being found guilty on 30 counts. What do the people who lived through the attack think should happen to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN BRASSARD, BOSTON BOMBING SURVIVOR: We're obviously grateful for the outcome today. It's not a happy occasion, but it's something that we can put, you know, one more step behind us. It's been difficult, but we've gotten through it with each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: That was Boston bombing survivor Karen Brassard reacting to the guilty verdict in the Boston bombing trial. She said it's a step. Well, next comes the biggest step that the judicial system can provide in terms of justice and closure here, the penalty phase. Jurors deciding if the Boston bomber gets life in prison or the death penalty.

Joining us this morning is Steve Murphy. He's former Boston city council president and he was there when the bombs went off and thank God he is still with us today.

And one of the things, just for some context to this, that - so people understand, because if they're not from Boston, they don't understand the marathon culture. It is like happy day in Boston. Everybody is there for the best of reasons, the best of circumstances. It's a jubilant environment, so no one's on guard. So attack that matters even more in a way. And what does it demand as justice?

[08:35:19] STEVE MURPHY, FMR. BOSTON CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Well, it's - you're so right, Chris, it's the - the rite of spring begins in Boston with the Red Sox opening day and Marathon Monday and they both kind of herald in the new season. So it is a time when people are happy and optimistic about what lies ahead.

And ,you know, to re-live what happened two years ago and there for the grace of God go I. I am not a victim, but I was 50 feet from the first blast and I saw way too much. Stuff I had never thought I would see in my lifetime on the streets of the city that I've called home my whole life.

Now we're in a phase where we knew he was a perpetrator. He's, in my view, responsible for his own actions. You can't blame the older brother. I know older brothers have an influence. And I really think it's up to the victims. There were four people killed, there were 17 people who lost limbs and over 200 that had various shrapnel wounds and injuries. And I think they should say what the penalty is.

CUOMO: Well, the jury -

MURPHY: For me personally -

CUOMO: The jury's going to decide it. But what do you think personally should happen?

MURPHY: Personally, I think he should spend the rest of his time on this planet in jail. I think that there's a - there was a note that he scribbled on the - in the boat before they took him alive out in Watertown, and it was something about Islam and martyrdom and I don't have the particulars of the note. But if he gets the death penalty, we give him what he wants in death. We raise him to martyrdom status. And I believe that engineers copy cats, it engenders people who will want to join him in martyrdom and continue to perpetrate these horrific crimes that really are crimes against citizens, you know?

It's not like when we fought the Revolutionary War, we had our army go fight their army. Now these folks, they're cowardly and they come in and they attack women and children. And I was on Boylston Street just before the blast and I was remarking to people in my party how many strollers there were, how many baby carriages there were. It was a beautiful day.

CUOMO: Yes.

MURPHY: It was in the mid-60s. The spring was sprung - had sprung and, you know, a few minutes later carnage and a loss of life and just -

CUOMO: What - you know what the other side says -

MURPHY: (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: These were all capital crimes and if this crime, which is unlike anything else that Boston has seen in recent history certainly, doesn't deserve the death penalty, what does? What do you think the jury will do because of that?

MURPHY: What does? I really don't know. You know, I'm not in the - there's two schools of thought, and you just - you just enunciated one. I just enunciated another. Either way, Dzhokhar is a loser. He's either going to lose his life or he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I think, you know, some school of thought says, let's get it over with now because a year or two years from now they'll be writing human interest stories about what his days are in prison and I - and I just don't think he's worth that at this point, you know? CUOMO: And Massachusetts, as a culture, the state doesn't have a death

penalty. You know, it's gone back and forth over the years.

MURPHY: No.

CUOMO: But the people there have been against it. They believe in life in prison without parole. But one way or the other, do you think after this is done and the punishment is meted out, whatever it is, do you think the city moves on?

MURPHY: The city has moved on. "Boston Strong" is more than a slogan. We had a mayor at the time, Tom Menino, who gave his all to the city and, you know, he and Governor Patrick at the time put together the One Fund for the victims. And the city has moved on. We have - the Red Sox won a championship. They went from last place to first place. The spirit of Boston was never broken.

And we actually gave up our freedom for a couple of days to preserve the concept of freedom back in 2013. We were ordered to shelter in place. We did so. And we got the bad guys. And as a result, one was killed in the firefight out in Watertown, another one has gone to trial and been found guilty on all counts and now the penalty phase. It's kind of anticlimactic. We all knew he was pleading guilty. So now here's the key part of it. And, for me, I just don't think we make this guy a martyr. That's my own personal feeling on it.

[08:40:06] CUOMO: I understood. A it's a very - it's a very intelligent point and a situation that rules so many by emotion. But, Mr. Murphy, thank you very much for joining us. We'll know soon enough what the fate is.

MURPHY: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

MURPHY: Take care. Bye-bye.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris.

On a much lighter note, he's back for another season. Mike Rowe joins us live to talk about the new round of trouble that he's getting into in his popular TV show, "Somebody's Gotta Do It." He's made himself comfortable in our greenroom. He does strike a good pose. He'll be out here in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Time now for the five things you need to know for your new day.

Number one, the witness who recorded the fatal South Carolina police shooting speaks out. He says police had control of the situation before Officer Michael Slager shot Walter Scott. Slager's now been fired from the force.

Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev now faces life in prison or the death penalty. He was found guilty on all 30 counts against him. He could learn his punishment as early as next week.

[08:45:04] The Secret Service facing yet another scandal. A high- ranking supervisor is now on administrative leave and his security clearance suspended after a female agent accused him of unwanted sexual advances.

Iran taking a strong stand against limiting its nuclear program. The Iranian president says his country will not sign a deal unless all economic sanctions are lifted the same day the agreement goes into effect.

And all eyes on Augusta National. The Masters has already teed off this morning. Tiger Woods in the field looking to regain his form. This is the first tournament he's played in since the last two months and since falling out of the top 100.

For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

Chris?

CUOMO: You know who's here with us? This guy. Show them. Mike Rowe, behind the camera, soon to be in front of it. Why? Who knows! Come back and figure it out.

CAMEROTA: He does everything, Chris. He just does it all.

CUOMO: He's handsome.

CAMEROTA: He is.

CUOMO: I want to kiss his face.

MIKE ROWE, CNN HOST, "SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO IT": That's not weird at all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get over there, get over there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey, hey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:50: 14] CAMEROTA: Wow.

BERMAN: So that was Mike Rowe, and I don't want to give too much away, but he survived, barely, in his attempt to wrangle that bull right there. Now Mike Rowe, of course, is immensely popular himself. He's also the host of the immensely popular CNN show "Somebody's Gotta Do It," which returns tonight. And he's here with us right now to tell us all about his new adventures.

ROWE: I'm immensely grateful. BERMAN: I've got to say, look, I mean, we do dumb things occasionally

for TV.

ROWE: Sure.

BERMAN: Because, you know, sweeps and things like that.

ROWE: Sure.

BERMAN: But when you got in that ring with that bull, I thought that was nuts. That was genuinely -- that bull could have killed you.

ROWE: Ill advised, yes. I mean, look, I'm not really paid to do anything with a level of confidence or expertise.

CUOMO: You moved with cat-like dexterity.

ROWE: I did move with extreme prejudice, yes. You would, too. The thing's 2200 pounds. He kind of looks at you with a calm indifference that seems to say, I have horns and you don't and that's too bad for you and so you run, but mostly we go there to do a somewhat sincere profile of the guys who, night after night after night, literally save the lives of the riders. Rider goes off, if those three, Frank, Jesse and Cody, don't do what they do, the rider's done. And so there's a very, very specific class you go through. The training is actually extensive, the stakes are high.

BERMAN: They are (INAUDIBLE) watching them do it.

ROWE: They really are. If you've played football at all or any kind of sport, everything is very, very strategic and they take their cue, not just from the bull, but from each other and the rider. There's a whole thing.

CAMEROTA: Now what advice did they give you about when a 2,000 pound animal --

CUOMO: Avoid the horns.

CAMEROTA: -- is running towards you.

ROWE: Here's the thing. In a situation like this, honestly, as valuable as advice sounds, it's completely useless.

CUOMO: You seem to be acting on instinct here.

ROWE: There's one prime directive in bull fighting and it's don't run away from the bull.

CAMEROTA: Oh.

ROWE: If the bull's charging you, run toward it and then do a little dosey-do and let the bull -- The bull is not that agile but he's much faster than you.

BERMAN: He's taunting the bull because the bull is not here. CUOMO: That's exactly right.

CAMEROTA: So was that a shot of you running away from the bull?

ROWE: You bet that was, Alisyn. You bet it was.

CAMEROTA: Right, right. I thought I saw that.

CUOMO: So you're not supposed to do that?

ROWE: No, it's the one thing you're not supposed to do. You're talking about 2,000 generations of inertia and an awful lot of instinct telling you to do the precise opposite. That's the difference between somebody who knows what they're doing and me.

CAMEROTA: That's beautiful. Your show has been called a "schizophrenic hot mess," and that was by you. So what exactly are you trying to accomplish?

(LAUGHTER)

ROWE: You know, it is sort of a tribute to indecision in a way. I mean, we have a very simple prime directive, which is don't do a second take, show people as they honestly are. And, I mean, to be honest, in the spirit of managing expectations, we never swing for the fence. We're looking for a standup double or a single because reality TV has become sort of a production. It's not very real. We try hard just to show up, pay an honest tribute, learn some things, have a few laughs and leave. Consequently, on tonight's show, for instance, you've got bull fighting, we also ran into a guy dressed as Abe Lincoln, completely random, in Iowa. And when you see a person who has assumed the identity -

CUOMO: That's not where he's from.

ROWE: No, that's not where he's from, but there he was in a Starbucks. You can't ignore that kind of thing.

(CROSSTALK)

ROWE: He's back. And I'll tell you, he has a lot of questions about what's going on in the country. Then finally we go to Humboldt County to meet a couple of carpenters who walked away from their business to make bean to bar chocolate. That turns into a whole exploration of Humboldt County, which is this self-contained little area of Northern California. A weird mix of sort of like a Birkenstocks and capitalism. Everybody is making stuff and selling it to one another. It's a fascinating look at manufacturing in 2015. From carpentry to chocolate. So yes, schizophrenic hot mess. You can use that.

CAMEROTA: Perfect. Thank you.

BERMAN: Just to be clear, you got hurt in the bull fighting episode here, but it wasn't the bulls that did it -

ROWE: -- CUOMO: Emotionally? Was it emotionally or was it a physically --

ROWE: I was deeply wounded, Chris, on an emotional level but I'd rather not get into that now. Physically, what happens to me is so depressingly predictable. I'm almost never hurt by the obvious thing. I escape the bull. 20 minutes later, I'm with the cowboy loading bulls into these cages. The cages have spring loaded latches and there you saw the end of my little finger essentially vanish. It explodes. The distal is gone. The nail just grew back.

CUOMO: What is a distal and why do we need it?

ROWE: The distal is the very last little joint in the very tip of your finger and it's way more important than you think, especially when you're, you know, pointing at people and whatnot. Without a distal when you point at people, it just kind of hangs there.

[08:55:10] BERMAN: Are you all right now?

ROWE: I'm OK now.

BERMAN: He had a distalectomy.

ROWE: That's right. They can replace the distal now, John. The medical science is fascinating.

BERMAN: That's in next week's episode.

ROWE: The point is when you hurt your little finger and get a boo boo at the PBR, you can't complain because I turned to Frank and said look at this. And Frank holds up his hand, same hand, points to the same finger, half of which is just totally gone, and said yeah, that looked like it hurt, slugger. I'll give you a call when mine grows back.

BERMAN: Bleeding profusely and they had zero sympathy. You have to watch this. Make sure to tune into season two, the premiere of "Somebody's Got To Do It." That is tonight at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN. I will also be available on CNN Go. Watch it multiple times whenever and wherever you want.

CAMEROTA: Great to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Stay with us. We have a great "Good Stuff" ahead for you and Mike Rowe.

ROWE: I like good stuff.

CUOMO: See that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Mike Rowe stuck around. That's good stuff enough, yet it got better. It may not seem like "The Good Stuff,' but bear with us. Organization #22Kill and other military groups around the country are using social media to raise awareness about a very serious issue that we know too well; veteran suicide. 22 vets take their own lives every day so the challenge is simple.