Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Asiana Will Sue Over Offensive Names; Zimmerman's Jurors Remain Anonymous; Zimmerman Could Face New Trial; George Zimmerman, A Marked Man?; Co-Stars, Fans Mourn Death of "Glee" Actor; Stocks Poised for New Record Highs; Waiting for the Royal Birth

Aired July 15, 2013 - 09:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Chris. And I understand, Chris, you'll be with us in about five minutes. So we look forward to that.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: You're going.

COSTELLO: The rest of you, have a great day.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: See you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning, everyone. NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Happening now in NEWSROOM.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want you to disperse.

COSTELLO: Outrage, fury.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hell no, we won't go.

COSTELLO: Protesters take to the streets overnight. Police firing bean bags to disperse angry protesters over the George Zimmerman verdict as calls for the feds to take up the case are heating up.

BEN JEALOUS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NAACP: There is reason to be concerned that race was a factor.

MARK O'MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If someone believes that it's appropriate to see George Zimmerman, then we will seek and we will get immunity in a civil hearing.

COSTELLO: Plus, another Snowden bombshell? "The Guardian" reporting the NSA leaker has a blue print on how the NSA operates.

Also, he was considered the gloom of "Glee." Cory Monteith found dead at the age of 31.

And a desperate rescue to save a 6-year-old boy swallowed by a sinkhole while playing on a sand dune. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And good morning, thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello.

The George Zimmerman verdict is in, but the case is far from over. From Sanford, Florida, to the San Francisco Bay, protesters rallied against his acquittal in the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.

Most of the demonstrations were peaceful, but things did turn tense and ugly in Los Angeles.

This is what it looked like last night. Some protesters pelted police with rocks and batteries and officers responded by firing bean bags into the crowd. But the biggest fight may now shift to a federal court where Zimmerman could face new charges.

CNN's George Howell is in Sanford.

George, tell us what federal prosecutors are considering.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. So, yes, we're talking about the Department of Justice. Even heard from Reverend Jesse Jackson saying that another investigation is necessary. And now we're hearing from the NAACP president Benjamin Jealous who told CNN's Candy Crowley on "STATE OF THE UNION" that he's reaching out to top level staff at the DOJ. Want you to listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEALOUS: We are calling on them to do just that because when you look at his comments and when you look at comments made by young, black men who lived in that neighborhood about how they felt, especially targeted by him, there is -- there is reason to be concerned that race was a factor in why he targeted young Trayvon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Now you heard in the set up there from defense attorney Mark O'Mara saying, quote, "We will seek and we will get immunity." That is part of the Stand Your Ground clause of self-defense. That statute here in the state of Florida. He's basically saying, you know, if you come at him with a lawsuit, he will seek and get immunity through that particular clause.

COSTELLO: So the federal Department of Justice is now investigating whether it will, indeed, press charges. Hasn't decided yet. We're also getting an idea of George Zimmerman's future plans. He remains in hiding, but does he have plans?

HOWELL: Well, you know, what we know at this point, very little. First of all, that he doesn't have a curfew, Carol. You remember that he had that 10:00 p.m. curfew. Doesn't have that any more. Doesn't have to wear that GPS ankle bracelet either. So he is now truly a free man this Monday.

However, we know that he will have to remain in hiding. His attorney said that George Zimmerman has received death threats. He'll have to watch out for a safety and look over his shoulder because there is a -- you know, a group of the population who feels strongly about, you know, this verdict. They don't agree with it and they say and his attorney says that, you know, Zimmerman will always have to just be careful moving forward in his life.

COSTELLO: George Howell reporting live from Sanford, Florida.

In the next hour of NEWSROOM I'm going to talk to a leader of the NAACP. Hillary Shelton is the director of the Washington bureau. She along with her organization is pushing for Zimmerman to be charged by the Department of Justice. She'll be with us live at 10:30 Eastern.

Among those echoing the calls for calm this morning, George Zimmerman's defense attorney Mark O'Mara spoke at length with CNN's Chris Cuomo. He joins us now from New York.

Chris, what did he say?

CUOMO: And good morning, again, Carol, you know, Mark O'Mara took the opportunity, he didn't have to, right? The case is over. But he wants to deal with the open issues in the case, which he believes are driving a lot of the outrage. And he said you want to ask him, go right ahead. So we did. We offered that perspective of why people are upset about the verdict.

And he informed on all the issues, whether or not you agree with his answers is up to you. But we wanted to provide the opportunity.

And it was interesting, Carol, one of the things that he did mention is that he knows from his days as a prosecutor that the system can be unfair to African-Americans, specifically youths. He just said, don't make this case an example of that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Perhaps many people don't equate what happens to you when you get beat up with the proper justification for taking someone's life.

O'MARA: And that's a frustration that people have and I share it with them because this is my life and I deal with this every day. When you have to look inside somebody's head, and in this case, they had to look inside George Zimmerman's head. As he was on the ground with somebody unknown on top of him doing basically whatever they were doing to him and him not returning any blows, you don't know that the next shot on concrete isn't going to be the one that sends you unconscious.

You are allowed to react to your reasonable perception of potential injury and I think anybody in that set of circumstances screaming for help for 45 seconds would say that they acted reasonably in stopping the attack.

CUOMO: Because at that point, legally, you are allowed to use lethal force to protect yourself?

O'MARA: George Zimmerman did not want to shoot anybody. I think it's a testament to the fact that he didn't want to shoot anybody that he went through 45 seconds of screaming for help before he did. I wish people would look at it through that filter. I think they'd understand a very unfortunate and tragic circumstance that are unfolded that very night.

CUOMO: Taking a half a step back. We talked about the 911 operator saying to Mr. Zimmerman, you don't need to do that. We don't need you to go after him. And then he goes after him anyway. Do you think that that is something that George Zimmerman wishes he could take back, that decision?

O'MARA: You know, he's gotten criticized because he said he wouldn't have changed anything. Does he wish he that he now be gotten out of the car? Is he wishing anyone to target? Absolutely. But let's remember that he got out of the car at the precise moment after the 911 or nonemergency operator said, where's he going? What's he doing now? He has said that on three separate occasions so it's tragedy but I don't think that it was George Zimmerman's fault in the way this thing unfolded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: You know, Carol, look, one of the things, a choice we have to make as journalists is what do you do with the questions that still remain? The case is over, do you let them lie?

I personally think it's a mistake. I think as long as people have questions about the verdict, it's going to fuel the outrage and you want to do the best you can to inform the public as to why this verdict happened the way it did.

The burden in court is very high, Carol. It's much higher than people expect. We try to make it as difficult as possible to convict people here, that's what the whole presumption is about. So we appreciate it, Mr. O'Mara taking the questions head on.

COSTELLO: You know, a lot of people are dying to hear from the jurors because certain questions can be only answered by them. But they remain anonymous, they want to remain anonymous and are under court order that they must remain anonymous. So we're wondering, at one point, will their names be made public?

CUOMO: You know, it's dangerous. Look at what's happening surrounding this case. The really doesn't have to do with the facts and law as they were adjudicated at trial. It all rested on these jurors' shoulders, these six women, and they took their time., Carol. You know that so many legal experts would tell you that they thought this case, they were surprised it was brought. They were surprised at the height of the charge. They were surprised by what the prosecution wasn't able to show.

And in court, you only know what you show. They thought that it was going to be very difficult for anything but an acquittal. But they still took 16.5 hours, and that let you know they were painstaking, they were meticulous. Because they knew inherently, I guess, what was surrounding this, so I think we give them their privacy because we do not want them to be symbolic of anybody's outrage.

COSTELLO: Chris Cuomo, thanks so much.

Also this morning, we're going to hear from prosecutors. HLN's Vinnie Politan himself a former prosecutor is interviewing the entire prosecution team. He is scrambling right now to bring you some of that sound. We'll take you live when it's available.

More now on the Edward Snowden saga. Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke the story about the NSA surveillance programs, told an Argentinean newspaper, Snowden still has information that would be the United States', quote, "worst nightmare" if revealed.

Greenwald says the document which he called the NSA's blueprint have been given to several people and warn the U.S. government if they would be released if anything happens to Snowden. By the way, Snowden has requested temporary asylum in Russia.

His director called him the glue of "Glee." And this morning investigators in Canada are trying to figure out how Cory Monteith died.

The talented 31-year-old actor was found dead Saturday in his hotel room in Vancouver. The cause of death is not immediately clear. But police have ruled out foul. Monteith have long struggled with addiction. He spent time this year in rehab.

CNN entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner is following the story from New York.

What's the latest, Nischelle?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Carol, you said the director called him the glue of "Glee." On the show he's also the moral compass but despite his fame and that clean cut image on the show he did live a troubled life. Now this wasn't the case of a child star that was suddenly out of control. He was in his late 20s before he became a star on "Glee" but unlike that alter ego, Finn Hudson on the show, he did have a troubled childhood.

In previous interviews Cory Monteith described himself as an out of control drug and alcohol abusing teen who was skipping school to drink and smoke pot by the age of 13.

Now, Carol, it's really interesting because "Glee," you know, in a lot of ways is about kids struggling to fit in and Cory Monteith was really open about how he struggled with his self-image and how to fit in when he was younger. And you mentioned that he continued to battle his substance abuse demons after his success. You mentioned that earlier this year he checked himself into rehab.

But we should make it clear here that investigators have not officially tied his death to substance abuse. But Vancouver police have already ruled out foul play. They're going to be conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death later on today.

COSTELLO: Yes. Hopefully we'll find out something soon. Nischelle Turner, thanks so much.

TURNER: Yes. Absolutely.

COSTELLO: After the Dow and S&P close Friday at record highs, we're waiting to see if today will be a repeat performance. The Nasdaq closed at its highest level in a decade.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

Tell us more good news, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You may see the bulls see more of a trot and a charge out of the gate when the Opening Bell rings in about 20 minutes. But you know what, not much is needed to break some new records because if the Dow and the S&P 500 even close just a couple of points higher today, it will mean new record highs for both.

You look at the Dow, it settled at record highs, 25 times so far this year. And it's only July. And after churning for much of June, it's had a pretty good run-up recently, gaining about 660 points over just the past three weeks. That's amazing.

Now today a boost is expected to come thanks to some data out of China showing GDP in line with estimates.

Here in the U.S. we learned retail sales edged up by .4 percent in June so it came in a little weak and coming in half of what was expected. But I don't think it's looking like it's going to have a huge impact on the market movement this morning, Carol. Looking at the Dow to open about 30 points higher once again in about 20 minutes -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. We'll get back to you, Alison Kosik, live at the New York Stock Exchange.

(LAUGHTER)

Could today be the day that the third direct heir to the British throne makes his or her debut? Royal baby watch is in full swing in Britain. Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge is due any day now and journalists, as you might expect, are camped outside the London hospital, including our own royal correspondent Max Foster.

Tell us, set the scene.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the sun is getting to us a bit, Carol. I have to tell you. I mean, we need this baby to come sooner rather than later. Let's just say that.

The great Kate wait. It was a hash tag developed here in the press at the hospital over the weekend on Twitter and it pretty much expresses it. We give you a look around. People over there. Their sun chairs out. They got drinks. You know, (INAUDIBLE) here. We've got a cafe. Ice cream is keeping us entertained.

There is no indication of when this baby is coming. Mid-July, though, is the best indication we've had. And that is this week. So we're hopeful. And we know that Prince William, I was told this morning, is taking a few days off work. So we're trying to read between the lines here.

In the meantime, actually we have become the tourist attraction because -- you know, you missed them. All day we've had tourists coming along to the pavement there taking pictures of us. So it's all a bit (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: Yes, tourists saying those silly, silly journalists. The baby is going to come and when it comes, they can go back.

(LAUGHTER)

FOSTER: I know. Where is the logic, I don't know.

COSTELLO: I know. Thank you, Max. We'll get back to you if something happens. I'm dying to know myself, though.

Just ahead in NEWSROOM, will the jurors in George Zimmerman's murder trial ever speak out? Seems we're hearing from everyone except the six women who found him not guilty. But do those jurors owe the country an explanation for how they reached their verdict? Try to answer that question, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Seventeen minutes past the hour. Time to check our top stories.

Bizarre twist to the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 eight days ago. Airline officials say they will sue a San Francisco television station after it aired inaccurate and racially offensive names of the pilots of the flight. Of course, they weren't the pilots' names. The names were broadcast by KTVU Friday after being mistakenly confirmed by an NTSB intern.

In sports news, the pro-football Hall of Fame has taken down the picture of Aaron Hernandez. Several visitors complained about the photo which showed him celebrating a touchdown. Hernandez has been charged with the June 17th shooting death of Odin Lloyd. He pled not guilty to one count of murder, along with five gang-related charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This jamboree is going to involve white water rafting, zip line, skateboarding, mountain biking, things that we've never seen before in jamborees. And it's going to be a totally new experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Looks like fun. Jamboree 2013 starts today in West Virginia and it's the first requiring Boy Scouts and Boy Scout leaders to meet body mass index standards based on their height and weight to be eligible for intense physical activity. Boy Scout says this year's jamboree will be more demanding than in previous years.

No word yet from the six women who decided that George Zimmerman was not guilty of murder or manslaughter in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The jurors remain anonymous and countless questions about the verdict that only they can answer.

Criminal defense attorney Page Pate joins me here in Atlanta, and former prosecutor Beth Karas is in New York. Welcome to both of you.

PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So, Page, I'll pose the simplest question for you. Could the jurors remain anonymous forever under court order?

PATE: They can. Jury anonymity protected under both state of Florida law and federal law, and you want to have that, because if jurors thought by serving and doing their civic duty that their identity could be broadcast and people could know who they are, then I think you would have a problem with people wanting to serve. So, it can be protected.

COSTELLO: Well, Beth, I understand that during trial, but after the trial, when everything is over and we live in a transparent society, should jurors remain anonymous?

BETH KARAS, FORMER NEW YORK PROSECUTOR: Well, it really is kind of contrary to Florida law. I mean, they have a very open policy there when it comes to their court records, police records. It's very easy for the public to get a hold of documents there in advance as opposed to other states.

The defense has asked that the jurors in this case remain anonymous for six months -- just as the judge did in the Casey Anthony case. He ordered that. The media has already filed a motion a couple days ago saying, look, don't make a decision on not releasing the jurors' names until we have a hearing on this because we have a right to know who these jurors are.

So, we'll see what judge nelson does. She may have a hearing on it.

But as far as I know, she hasn't ruled yet. I do think, though, that people know who these jurors are. And the media is very crafty. I covered trials for 20 years across the country and usually the people in the media know at least some of the jurors and they'll speak out eventually.

COSTELLO: Yes. But in this case, it's a court order. We're not allowed to contact these jurors. What would happen, Page, if a reporter did?

PATE: Contempt of court. If you violate a court order, then the judge can bring you into court and say, look, I told you not to do this. You did it, I can fine you or even send you to jail.

COSTELLO: Beth, you mentioned the Jodi Arias trial we heard from jurors in that case despite their wish to be anonymous.

KARAS: You know, I misspoke. I meant Casey Anthony. If I said Jodi Arias, I have Arias on my mind. I just go back by Phoenix.

No, those jurors have spoken out. There was no order there. And jurors -- a number of them have spoken out and everybody knows who they are. The media there worked for months. It was a five-month trial.

I meant Casey Anthony. I apologize. In Casey Anthony, the judge said because there was so much against the jury, people really blamed jurors for that acquittal, obviously. It was their decision. They were protected for six months. Their names were eventually released. I think maybe the following October or later.

COSTELLO: Look, page, these protests are going on all across the country, tensions are very high and the jury, the jury members, they have a chance to kind of settle things down because only they can answer questions about why they found George Zimmerman not guilty.

For example, was it Florida "Stand Your Ground" law? Was it something else? Did they think race did not factor in? Did they think that race didn't factor in under the law and that's why they made their decision?

If these jurors would answer these questions publicly, might it not help calm things down?

PATE: I think so. I expect one juror will eventually come forward. And in my 20 years of trying these cases, I never had a situation where the jury didn't want to talk about what they did. They know they've been under a lot of scrutiny. They know that this trial was watched by millions of people. I think they want to explain how they reached their verdict and I expect someone will.

COSTELLO: Yes. And, Beth, I want to make it clear why the jury might not want to come forward publicly because there have been several angry tweets kind of attacking them, not in a good way.

KARAS: Yes. Social media is playing a role now that is actually very troubling in these trials. And we saw threats against witnesses in the Jodi Arias, now, I do mean the Arias trial.

And it is problematic. I mean, are they empty threats? Yes, maybe. But they are frightening.

I do agree with Page, though. Jurors do eventually come out, at least one. And I think that they'll at least one will come out to say, look, we followed the law. I'm sorry, I do feel -- maybe I wanted to find them guilty of something. But when you follow the law, which is what we believe we did, we just couldn't convict.

COSTELLO: All right. Beth Karas, Page Pate, thanks so much for your insight this morning. I appreciate it.

Still ahead in NEWSROOM, we're minutes away from opening bell on Wall Street. We'll get a check on the numbers and see if another record day is on pace. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me.

Checking our top stories at 27 minutes past the hour. Asiana Airlines says it will sue a California TV station after a report used several phony and offensive names for the pilots aboard the flight that crashed in San Francisco. Asiana says its reputation was damaged. KTVU has apologized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KTVU ANCHOR: Tonight, we want to take a moment and say we're sorry. Earlier today, during our noon newscast, we misidentified the pilots in the Asiana Airlines crashed. We made several mistakes when we received this information. First of all, we never read the names out allowed phonetically sounding them out.

Then, during our phone call to the NTSB, when the person confirmed the spellings of the names, we never asked that person to give us their position within the agency. We heard this person verified the information without questioning who they were and then we rushed the name on to our noon newscast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The NTSB says a summer intern erroneously confirmed the names, the phony names of the flight crew.

Cirque du Soleil will resume the performance of "Ka" tomorrow. It will be the first show since the death of an acrobat last month. She fell during a performance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. And an investigation is under way. Tuesday's performance will be dedicated to her memory.

And two Pennsylvania teenagers are being hailed heroes this morning after officials say they may have saved a 5-year-old girl's life. She was playing in their front yard when she was abducted. The teens spotted a little girl inside a car. They chased down that car on their bicycles and after the would-be kidnapper let the girl go, the boys took her to police and the girl is fine and dandy this morning. Police are still looking for the suspect.

The latest in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial now. CNN obtained the video testimony of a doctor who toured with Michael Jackson in the '90s. The jury saw it last week.

In it, Dr. Stuart Finkelstein said he told an executive of the concert promoter AEG Live that Jackson was dependent on opiates. He says the CEO responded with the reference to Elvis. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. STUART FINKELSTEIN, MICHAEL JACKSON'S FORMER DOCTOR: I think Elvis died with like 14 different chemicals in his system. And he was kind of warning me that, you know, don't get all infatuated where you start administering meds to a rock star, and have the rock star overdose and die on you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Due next on the stand, Jackson's mother, Katherine. She and her kids are suing AEG Live for playing a part in Michael Jackson's death.

Minutes before this morning's opening bell stocks are poised to climb even higher, that's after the Dow and S&P 500 each closed Friday at record highs.

Alison Kosik at New York Stock Exchange eagerly awaiting the bell which just rang. Good morning, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Ringing now.

Good morning to you, Carol. Have you checked your retirement funds lately? If you have, you're probably feeling a little richer. You look at S&P 500 which most of our mutual and retirement funds track, it's now up almost 18 percent just this year. That's actually quite more than most analysts expected to gain in all of this year.

What's the main driver behind these recent gains? What else? The Fed stimulus and the promise behind it. The flow of easy money has been the main thing propping up the market this year.