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Anthony Weiner Refusing to Drop Out of New York Mayoral Race; Spain Mourning the Victims of Train Crash; Mystery Stomach Virus Strikes Across US; Weiner's Sexting Partner Identified

Aired July 25, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong wants the federal lawsuit against him dropped, saying his sponsors knew about the doping allegations and kept him anyway. We're going to hear from Armstrong's lawyers up next.

And Anthony Weiner's latest sexting scandal has people calling for him to back out of the race for mayor of New York. So will he give in?

Plus, the woman who was sexting, Sydney Leathers, did she spill of course to make money off the online relationship? When will more women actually come out?

Then, new video of a train derailing in Spain. The train may have been going too fast, but was it human error or a mechanical one?

This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner pressing ahead with his campaign for mayor of New York. He is resisting now calls to drop out of the race because of his latest sexting scandal. But a new poll now shows him falling out of first place. That's right, Weiner was back on the campaign trail today, visiting a non-profit group in Brooklyn. Things, however, you see him in the kitchen, getting a little hot. He couldn't escape more questions about the lewd e-mail exchanges.

I want to bring in our Mary Snow who joins us with the very latest. So, what is he saying now?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, Anthony Weiner keeps trying to stress that this is behind him, but clearly the questions at this Brooklyn campaign event were focused on how many more women may come forward. This, of course, after revelations became public on Tuesday that he had been carrying on a sexually explicit relationship online with a woman after he resigned from Congress in disgrace in 2011, saying that that relationship had ended last summer. He was pressed on several occasions and he said finally that, in his words, I don't believe it was any more than three, when asked how many women he had these sorts of relationships with after he resigned from Congress. He was also asked about how many women all together did he engage in these kind of conversations with, this also includes before he resigned from Congress, here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: It's not dozens and is dozens. It is -- it is six to 10, I suppose, but I can't tell you absolutely what someone else is going to consider inappropriate or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: And, Suzanne, at this event today, he was asked straight out, does he think he has an addiction? And he said that he does not believe that he has an addiction. He said that he has spoken previously about his therapy and he acknowledged today that he is still getting help.

MALVEAUX: And, Mary, we see a new poll out today. Give us a sense of how this is impacting the race.

SNOW: Yes, you know, one thing Weiner keeps stressing that this is a personal issue between him and his wife but obviously questions about credibility and judgment have come into the public realm and this poll was taken after Tuesday's revelations came out. It was a poll done among registered Democrats showing him -- dropping to second place.

We're on a busy New York City street, excuse the horns. But -- he has dropped. He had been in the lead just about a month ago. And, Suzanne, one other quick thing I'll tell you is people in this poll were also asked, should he remain in the race? 47 percent said, yes, 43 percent said that they felt he should drop out.

MALVEAUX: Mary, thanks. Good focusing on there with all that going on in the background. We appreciate it.

We're going to talk about the political implications straight ahead with "State of the Union's" Candy Crowley, Plus. We're going to hear from Sydney Leather's friend about this incident.

Turning to Spain witnesses say they heard thunderous bang. What they saw horrified them. This is a passenger train sprawled out on the tracks. This happened last night. Security footage now showing the train speeding around the bend and then a huge plume of smoke. Then it flies off the tracks, you see it there, it's on its side. It slams into that concrete wall. You'll see it again. At least 80 people were killed from that crash, more than 140 injured.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): We heard a huge explosion. There were lots of people injured. We started to help the injured in that train car there. Then we went to the other cars and that was shocking, indescribable. It was crazy. I was shocked. Wounded people carrying children. There are no words to describe it. I was devastated.

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MALVEAUX: It is devastating. Many people were traveling to the town for religious celebration. Spain's prime minister has declared three days of national mourning to honor the victims of that crash.

In Florida, hazmat teams are working to contain an ethanol leak after a train derailed there. You can see it, firefighters using foam on that spill to prevent any kind of fire. The accident happened just after 1:00 this morning. This is in Tampa. Now, officials are still trying to figure out why that train jumped the tracks. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

And disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong raising some eyebrows again today. He is now saying that his former sponsor, the U.S. Postal Service, should have known that he was doping. That is his defense for $120 million lawsuit filed by the postal service. Now, the suit claims Armstrong defrauded the government by using performance- enhancing drugs. Well, Armstrong told the "Des Moines Register" that he was shocked by public reaction when he admitted the drug use.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE ARMSTRONG, CYCLIST: The reaction and the fallout was more than I expected but that's life. I'm a big boy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Earlier today, two "Wall Street Journal" reporters who have covered Armstrong talked with my colleague, Carol Costello, about this lawsuit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REED ALBERGOTTI, REPORTER, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": I mean, it basically says, you can't sue us or you can't sue me for defrauding you because basically my fraud was all over the news and there were rumors of it.

VANESSA O'CONNELL, REPORTER, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": So, it's interesting that his lawyers are arguing essentially that the U.S. Postal Service renewed its sponsorship at a time when there were allegations about lance's doping. Most of the allegations though were covered in Europe but didn't really make their way to the United States and the postal service, in fact, did renew the sponsorship in November 2000 around the time when there were some allegations covered in Europe.

MALVEAUX: We want to talk more about Armstrong's claims, the merits of the law suit. Dominique Romano is a sports and entertainment lawyer. And, you know, it sounds pretty outrageous when you think about the claims here, that he says, you guys should have known. Didn't you know?

DOMINIC ROMANO, FOUNDING MEMBER, BUSINESS LAWYERS GROUP: In audacity, it's unmatched. I mean, he is saying, I lied and you should have known that I lied. And I was guilty until proven innocent. I haven't been proven innocent. Actually I admit lying but I get to ride away into the sunset with $18 million. Agency of the U.S. government, see you later.

MALVEAUXZ: So, how's that going to fly?

ROMANO: That's his argument.

MALVEAUX: How is that going to work? I mean, does that kind of argument stick at all?

ROMANO: I can't imagine a judge accepting a motion based on that premise and dismissing this lawsuit and not allowing it to go forward. I mean, you know, he says this morning in that interview that he had no idea the public would react this way. It's -- his advisers must be tone deaf. I don't know who is spearheading his team but it doesn't seem like they're in touch with the public.

MALVEAUX: And, Dominic, have we ever seen this before where was a similar case by a celebrity or athlete who thinks, well, you know, you should have known better and this is my argument?

ROMANO: Yes, his argument is basically, you know, there were $30 million of exposure, there were lots of spectators of events and you didn't conduct independent investigation into my credibility, into my veracity, into my telling you the truth, into my, you know, performing the contract that I should have. In 20 years of being an attorney, I've never heard that argument made much less been made successfully.

MALVEAUX: And how many years was he being untruthful that he was actually lying about his drug use?

ROMANO: Well, it goes back to the 1990s. I mean, we're not talking about one or two instances here. And the government's position is that they asked him about it during that whole investigation in 2000 when the contract was renewed they asked him and his team and they said we're clean, haven't been cheating, haven't been doping. This is just the French authorities and now we're seeing the result.

MALVEAUX: Does it make a difference whether or not he was lying under oath or not, if he says, well, you should have known during this time but not this time?

ROMANO: Yes, it does make a difference. And there could be other consequences, so it's quite a remarkable legal strategy.

NALVEAUX: All right, Dominic Romano thanks so much, we appreciate it. We'll follow that closely.

Coming up he spilled the beans on NSA surveillance techniques and Congress responded by keeping the controversial data collecting program. Coming up how the White House is responding and a look at what Edward Snowden's next move could be.

And she shared her sexual conversation with Anthony Weiner with the world. Well, now, people are asking, did Sydney letters basically come out to strategically try and destroy the New York City mayor hopeful? We're going to hear from one acquaintance straight up ahead.

It is mysterious and frustrating, ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It challenges to ravages the body but not the mind. It challenges the notion of what it means to be alive. My mother was diagnosed a year and a half ago and she, like others, relies on life- saving measures and equipment to sustain life. Former football player Steve Gleason, he is also battling ALS and he is a big promoter of using technology to improve patient's quality of life. We're going to bring his story in the next hour.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has not been easy.

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MALVEAUX: World watchers are keeping a close eye on the Duchess of Cambridge's home town. This is Bucklebury. This is just outside of London. That is where she, Prince William and their newborn son are spending time with Catherine's parents. It's unclear how long they'll actually stay there, but now that the baby has a name, Prince George Alexander Louis, the next big focus is going to be on the christening. That ceremony expected to take place sometime in the fall. Good for them.

Calls for former congressman Anthony Weiner to drop out of the race are growing louder by the day. Weiner is ignoring those calls. But a new poll now shows him no longer leading the race for the Democratic nomination. It is the first poll since new sexting admissions by Weiner. The NBC 4 "Wall Street Journal" Marist Poll shows Christine Quinn at 25 percent, Weiner at 16 percent.

I want to bring in our Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley, host of "State of the Union." So, Candy, what do you think this means for him and his campaign moving forward?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He seems pretty determined to move forward. I think anybody that got into the race with the history of what he had done not all that long ago is impervious to calls to folks saying, you ought to get out, you ought to be ashamed, you ought to get out, even when you find out that actually as recently as nine months ago, he was sexting someone. So, it doesn't -- this is not a man, I think, that will be listening to the calls for him to get out. You saw on that poll more New Yorkers thought he should stay in than get out.

I do think you're looking at a crowded race, this is for the New York mayor's race, and it is crowded. When you go into that kind of race without the machinery behind you, without big named politicians behind you, in what will be low turnout because it's a mayoral race in an off year, it's a distinct disadvantage. And I think that organizational disadvantage is probably greater than the disadvantage of what he's done. But what he's done has meant that he doesn't have the organizational advantage because there are not big named Republicans -- Democrats willing to put their name behind him or their organization.

MALVEAUX: So, Candy, when you see him out there, he's in the kitchen and going through with all these different campaigns -- schedule campaign events, does it help or hurt him, do you think, to really be out there and try to convince people that he's the right guy for the job? I mean, I imagine the questions will continue to follow him as he goes along.

CROWLEY: Well, we thought they would from the first time around, from the things we knew from when he left Congress. And we thought, oh, he's getting into the mayor's race, and that's all anyone's going to talk about. And, sure enough, that was all anybody talked about but then it kind of died down. I'm assuming that he thinks this, too, shall pass and he can't -- you can't hide from questions because you come out and they're still there.

So, what do you do? If he -- if he is determined to stay in the race, he's going to stay in the race and he's going to have those questions until the story moves on or dies away.

MALVEAUX: All right. Candy, thank you so much. We're going to be watching that race very closely.

And, of course you can see Candy on "STATE OF THE UNION" Sundays 9:00 am Eastern here on CNN.

Thanks, Candy, we'll be watching.

A mysterious stomach bug spreading across the country. Now get this: the CDC doesn't even know what it is or what it really, what really even causes this. You want to know all about it, up next.

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MALVEAUX: Health officials are investigating now an outbreak of this nasty intestinal bug. It is getting hundreds of people sick in 11 states. The cause behind this is still a mystery. I want to bring in our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen to tell us what is making people so sick.

What is this all about?

ELIZABETH COHEN, SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's something called cyclospora, which you don't hear a lot about because it's a parasite. Usually we think of like bacteria or viruses getting us sick. But this is a parasite, and here's where the mystery part comes in. They don't know where it's coming from. Often you'll hear, oh, it's this food or that food.

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COHEN: That's what it looks like under a microscope, pretty gross, isn't it?

So yes, they know that it usually comes from produce; when they've had other outbreaks it comes from produce but in this case they can't trace it back so they can't tell you don't eat this or don't eat that.

MALVEAUX: So what do you do? COHEN: Well --

MALVEAUX: What do you do to avoid this?

COHEN: -- you know, I'm the empowered patient; I'm all about being empowered and being active and doing things, there's not a whole lot you can do. You should definitely wash your produce but we're also told that this parasite is sticky and you might not be able to wash it off.

MALVEAUX: How dangerous is it?

COHEN: It's not going to kill you but you may feel as if you want to die. You, you're going to have -- sorry to be disgusting but I have to say it -- watery diarrhea, vomiting, low grade fever; you're not going to want to eat. And the thing here is that it can go on for quite a while.

MALVEAUX: How long is that?

COHEN: It can go on for days or even weeks or even longer than that. Now some people who are healthy can fight it off and they're fine but for other people it goes on and on. So here is what you can do. Here is my one empowered (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: What you can do is I think most of the time people feel this way, they'll like, ah, this will go away and they don't go to the doctor. In this case, because we know what's causing so many of these problems, go to your doctor, tell them and tell them you've heard about cyclospora on CNN -- Suzanne and Elizabeth -- and that you want to know if that's what you have, because there are drugs that you can take. There is something they can give you. So that's the good news and that's, thank goodness, why we don't see deaths. And there have been about 18 people in the hospital, but that's not many when you consider the hundreds who have been sick.

MALVEAUX: If you were to take the medication would it stop right away or is -- would it have to run its course, days and weeks, as you had said before?

COHEN: It probably wouldn't take days and weeks but it probably wouldn't be immediate either. So you might have to be a little bit patient, but it does help.

MALVEAUX: All right, Elizabeth. Thank you. Appreciate it.

COHEN: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: She shared her intimate conversations with former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Well, now people want to know who is this young woman. We'll tell you all about Sydney Leathers, up next.

LOU COLAGIOVANNI, LEATHERS' FRIEND: She initially contacted him through Twitter, she was a fan. She said that she was a fan. I assume that, based on how beautiful of a young lady that Sydney is, Anthony Weiner had no choice but to act on his instincts.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, NBC HOST: Before we begin the show I want everyone to turn off their cell phones. It has nothing to do with our program. We just want to protect you from Anthony Weiner. He may try to send you a text.

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS HOST: So yesterday Anthony Weiner apologized again and he's said that he is ready to move on and yes, take it from me, it's just that easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Of course late night comedians having a field day with the latest scandal involving Anthony Weiner. Now Weiner has admitted that he continued sexting after he resigned from Congress. We're learning more details about Weiner's latest sexting exploits.

We now know the identity of one of the women he exchanged these explicit messages with; she is a 23-year-old woman from Indiana who seems to have a passion for politics. Randi Kaye has her profile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The woman at the center of the latest Anthony Weiner sexting scandal is Sydney Leathers, who also identifies herself online as Sydney Elaine XO.

We don't know much about her but we do know she's very comfortable in her own skin. These are just some of the pictures she posted of herself on Twitter that have since been removed.

So how did she meet Anthony Weiner? Lou Colagiovanni is a friend of Leathers.

She initially contacted him through Twitter. She was a fan.

KAYE (voice-over): Colagiovanni says the conversations quickly turned from politics to sex. This was the result, dozens and dozens of sexually explicit text messages and photographs, including images of his anatomy that are simply too explicit to show here. Their online relationship continued for quite a while.

COLAGIOVANNI: It's been around for eight or nine, maybe even possibly a year.

KAYE: We came here to Princeton, Indiana, hoping to talk with Sydney Leathers about her communication and relationship with Anthony Weiner. This is where a friend of hers, who asked not to be identified, told me she lived with her father. Nobody answered the door when we went inside. That same friend told me that Sydney Leathers never mentioned Anthony Weiner by name but did say she had met a lot of people with strong political contacts online; politics was her passion.

KAYE (voice-over): It seems long before Sydney Leathers first communicated with Anthony Weiner she had her eye on him. One of her websites that's since been removed listed him as one of her heroes.

Sydney Leathers is now 23, her friend says she never slept with Anthony Weiner or took any money from him but that he did offer to help her get an apartment in Chicago and suggested he visit her.

At one point she told the website thedirty.com that Weiner asked her, quote, "do me a solid and hard delete all our chats." -- Randi Kaye, CNN, Princeton, Indiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: "CNNMONEY" spoke to Sydney Elaine Leathers' confidant, who leaked the information about her connection to Anthony Weiner. Well, he sheds more light on the scandal, including her conversations with Weiner and her decision to go public. Listen to this.

COLAGIOVANNI: I'm a would-be journalist and I do get paid for what I put out in the public and I told her listen, this is an opportunity, if this story does come out, you should make money from it. It's your story. That was absolutely my position with her.

I don't know if she's profiting from the story now. I know that I'm personally not profiting from any of this whatsoever, but I didn't think that was unreasonable for her to tell her story in the media, for her to -- because in my opinion, her life is going to be ruined because of this. She's going to be forever tainted by this. So if she could have made a couple of dollars I would have saw that as a silver lining and I did counsel her towards that fact.

MALVEAUX: Well, if you want to see the full interview with Leathers' confidant, log on to cnnmoney.com.

Plus it is mysterious, it is frustrating, ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It ravages the body but not the mind. My mother was diagnosed a year and a half ago and she like others relies on life saving measures and equipment to sustain life.

For former football player Steve Gleason, he is also battling ALS. He is a big promoter of using technology to improve patients' quality of life. He can tweet by just blinking his eyes. I got a chance to meet him and his family. Up next I'll share their story.

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