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Mayor Would Try to Kiss Me; Trayvon Martin's Mother Speaks Out; Zimmerman Got Away with Murder; Father Defends NSA Leaker's Actions; Governor Christie Takes On Senator Rand Paul

Aired July 26, 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: The man accused of holding three women captive for more than a decade makes a deal to save his life. The latest on Ariel Castro's plea agreement in Cleveland.

And there are now seven women formerly saying San Diego's mayor sexually harassed them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would come in and try to kiss me on the lips and I'd have to squirm to get away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Should he step down?

And the second sexting scandal involving Anthony Weiner gets even more salacious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would get jealous if other men would complement me and just little stuff like that. I felt manipulated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Can Weiner's political career really recover from this?

This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We expect to hear more from Trayvon Martin's mother soon. Sybrina Fulton is taking part, this is a panel, at the National Urban League conference in Philadelphia, you see the pictures there. We're keeping an eye on that event. We're going to bring you her comments as soon as they begin.

The latest juror to speak out about the George Zimmerman trial says she feels that he got away with murder. The juror is the second one now to come forward and talk about the decision to acquit Zimmerman of killing Trayvon Martin. She tells ABC news she wanted to find Zimmerman guilty but the law would not allow it.

Pamela Brown has more on the juror's insight into the verdict.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suzanne, the second juror to come forward is not only speaking out but she's showing her face. And it's clear in her interview with ABC News that she's deeply conflicted. In fact, she says being a member of the jury that acquitted George Zimmerman of second degree murder and the death of Trayvon Martin weighs on her so heavily that she has trouble eating and sleeping. And she says she owes Trayvon's parents an apology.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman got away with murder but you can't get away from god.

BROWN: Anguished and apologetic, juror B29 going by the name Madi (ph) told ABC's Robin Roberts that she favored convicting George Zimmerman of second-degree murder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm the only minority and I felt like I let a lot of people down.

BROWN: Madi says it was the all-female jury's interpretation of the law that ultimately led them to acquitting Zimmerman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For myself, he's guilty. But as the law was read to me, if you have to proof that he killed him intentionally, you can't find -- you can't say he's guilty.

BROWN: Anderson Cooper spoke exclusively to juror B37 soon after the verdict about how they got to a not guilty verdict.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After hours and hours of deliberating over the law and reading it over and over and over again, we decided there's just no other place to go.

BROWN: After more than 16 hours of deliberations, Madi says she struggled with the proof to convict.

ROBIN ROBERTS, ANCHOR, ABC NEWS: How did you go from -- in nine hours, from feeling he was guilty of second-degree murder to not guilty?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In between the nine hours, it was hard. A lot of us had wanted to find something bad, something that we could connect to the law.

BROWN: Madi concedes she still struggles with the verdict and the public outcry that followed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I literally fell on my knees and I broke down and my husband was holding me. I was screaming and crying. And I kept saying to myself, I feel like I killed him.

ROBERTS: What would you like to say to tray Trayvon's parents?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to apologize because I feel like I let them down.

BROWN: And in response, Trayvon's mother called Madi's revelations, quote, "devastating" and says in a statement, this new information challenges our nation once again to do everything we can to make sure that this never happens to another child -- Suzanne.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Thanks.

Now, to the huge challenge facing New York mayoral candidate, Anthony Weiner. How does he shift the attention back on his campaign away from the sex scandal that has pushed his poll numbers way down now. Complicating matters for him, the woman at the center of the scandal, she's now speaking out about the sexually explicit texts that were sent, e-mails, phone conversations she had with Weiner. Here, she is explaining why the relationship ended. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, at what point did it break off and why?

SYDNEY LEATHERS: There wasn't really a specific reason why and neither one of us ever really officially ended it. It just kind of started to fizzle out. He got a bit controlling with me towards the end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How so?

LEATHERS: He would tell me he would be jealous. He would, like, look at my Facebook frequently and he would tell me that he would get jealous if other men would complement me and just little stuff like that. I felt manipulated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

LEATHERS: Because, obviously, I felt like, you know, he's saying one thing to me, saying another thing to his wife. Saying another thing on the campaign trail. I don't know who the real Anthony Weiner is, I guess.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And she had a lot more to say about her conversations with Weiner. Mary Snow has more about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The woman now at the center of the Anthony Weiner scandal says, the best description of the former Congressman is one he offered to her himself.

LEATHER: That he is an argumentative, perpetually horny middle-aged man.

SNOW: In an interview with "Inside Addition," Sydney Leathers talked candidly about her sexually suggestive relationship online and over the phone with Weiner last summer. A year after he resigned from Congress and why she's speaking out now. LEATHER: He was making these campaign promises that he totally changed and he was a better man now and he learned from his mistakes. And I am proof that that is not true.

SNOW: Lisa Weiss who exchanged explicit messages with then Congressman Weiner in 2010 and 2011 doesn't blame Leathers.

LISA WEISS: I understand to a point, yes, I do because I would speak to him about politics and then some -- you know, he sort of turns the conversation into a sexual thing and it becomes very flattering.

SNOW: Weiner, appearing with his wife by his side, admitted Tuesday to a new round of lewd exchanges with women after he got caught and left office. On Thursday, for the first time, he put a number on just how many women.

ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I don't believe I had any more than three.

SNOW: And as for how many altogether.

WEINER: It's not dozens and dozens. It is -- it is six to 10, I suppose.

SNOW: When he launched his mayoral campaign, Weiner raised the possibility that other women may come forward. Now he says, that's all behind him but admitted he continues to get professional help. And when asked if it's an addiction.

WEINER: I don't believe it is. The people that I'm working with don't believe that it is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Mary Snow joins us live from New York. So, Mary, we see the poll numbers plummeting since the story broke. How do they manage to shift voters' attention back on the campaign, not on the sex scandal, or does it just continue and he has to drop out of the race?

SNOW (live): You know, Suzanne, he's really in damage control mode right now. He's been sticking to his campaign schedule. But, you know, just about everywhere he goes, even that, you know, he left his house this morning and he was faced with the crush of cameras waiting outside. Anthony Weiner has kept stressing that his past is behind him but with interviews like the one we saw with Sydney Lathers, you know, clearly the focus is on his past. But he's resisting any calls to drop his campaign and there is no sign that he's about to do that.

MALVEAUX: All right. It will be interesting to see how many other women, if there are more women who come forward and talk about the kinds of messages that he's sent, pictures as well. Thank you, Mary, appreciate it.

Another sex scandal involving San Diego's mayor getting more serious now. The number of women accusing Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment has grown the seven. Four women came forward yesterday claiming Filner's behavior made them feel uncomfortable and violated. Several of them are going public with their stories, including businesswoman Patti Roscoe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTI ROSCOE: He would come in and try to kiss me on the lips and I'd have to squirm to get away. And just as recently as a few months ago this happened. And I turned and he just slobbered down my chin and I was so violated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The woman accusing Mayor Filner of harassment include his former spokeswoman who is also suing him. Irene McCormick Jackson says his unwanted advances forced her to quit. CNN's Casey Wian asked Filner about these allegations during a public appearance yesterday. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you have to say to these women who have accused you of inappropriate behavior?

BOB FILNER, MAYOR, SAN DIEGO: There is a legal process by which all this will be decided. And that's what we'll be dealing with. There will be no other statements regarding except for the legal process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Pressure, as you can imagine, is mounting on the Democrat to step down. Even city leaders in his own party are now calling on him to resign.

The father of intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, he is defending now his son's actions. Snowden has been holed up at the Moscow airport since he left Hong Kong. This is back on June 23rd. Well, in an interview on NBC's "Today's Show," his father said that Snowden's conscience is clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LON SNOWDEN: I believe when my son takes his final breath, whether it's today or a hundred years from now, he will be comfortable with what he did because he did what he knew was right. He shared the truth with the American people. What we choose to do with it is up to us as a people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric holder has written Russians authorities challenging Snowden's asylum request.

Now, he says Snowden is not going to be tortured if he returns to the United States as Snowden claims.

Coming up, Chris Christie says critics of government surveillance programs what they should talk to the families of victims of 911. He specifically goes after libertarians. Why he says their way of thinking is dangerous.

And then, could speed have been a factor in this deadly train wreck? We're going to hear from one of survivors.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a little screen across from me that had the speed on it and it was very, very fast. But it didn't feel that much faster to me, but I wasn't paying super close attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: How the conductor is now under investigation.

And this week, we've been shining the spotlight on a disease as mysterious and deadly. It ravages its victim in a very short period of time before it ultimately takes their breath away. Life Fitness founder talks to us about living with ALS and his passion for finding a cure. Our own Sanjay Gupta, he's going to take us behind the mystery of this disease.

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MALVEAUX: Heated debate over government surveillance and privacy rights just got gotten hotter. New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, has now jumped into the controversy, blasting fellow Republican Senator Rand Paul for challenging the NSA surveillance program. Speaking of reform of Republican governors in Colorado, Christie says this in part. This strain of libertarianism is going through parties right now and making big headlines. I think it's a dangerous thought. You can name any number of people and Paul is one of them. He goes onto say, these esoteric intellectual debates, I want them to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans and have that conversation. And they won't because that's a much tougher conversation to have.

Well, Senator Rand Paul fired back. His senior advisor issued a statement saying, if Governor Christie believes the constitutional rights and the privacy of all Americans is esoteric, he either needs a new dictionary or he needs to talk to more Americans because a great number of them are concerned about overreach of government in the past years. Wow. OK.

CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley joining us live from Washington. Why did this spill out? Why did this happen now?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, I think they were asked about it. But the fact of the matter is there's a split inside the Republican Party on any number of issues.

He either needs a new dictionary or he needs to talk to more Americans, because a great number of them are concerned about the dramatic overreach of government in recent years."

Wow, OK. CNN chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley, joining us live from Washington. Why did this spill out? Why did this happen now?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, I think they were asked about it. But the fact of the matter is, there's a split inside the Republican Party on any number of issues. And one of them, as we saw in the House vote about reducing funding for the National Security Administration -- as we saw in that vote, Republicans don't agree on whether the NSA with its metadata program to look at Americans - look at the information about Americans' phone calls should be as broad as it is.

It's interesting also and it hits the headlines because Rand Paul has made no secret about his desire to run for president in 2016, and neither has Chris Christie. So what you're seeing really, and I think you'll see this play out over any number of issues, including government shutdowns, what to do about the budget and the debt ceiling. You will see this divide in the Republican Party, which happens frequently when a party is out of power and there's no specific leader. It is the back-and-forth and to-and-froing of a party trying to get back into power and trying to figure out where that road is. And that's what you're seeing.

MALVEAUX: They seem very, very far apart. How much of this is political here, political posturing, and how much of it is, OK, you know, this is firmly what I believe here, and so I'm going to take you on. You take me on, I'm going to take you on as well.

CROWLEY: I think on this issue, particularly when you consider that Governor Christie is from New Jersey, any number of the victims on 9/11 were from New Jersey, including firefighters and any number of people who worked in the World Trade Center, so it is a personal thing to him. You can see him taking this on.

On the other hand, he likes headlines. Rand Paul likes headlines. They understand how to generate them. But I don't question at all that the two of them feel precisely as they are saying right now.

MALVEAUX: All right, Candy, politics, fireworks as always. We're going to be watching your show this weekend.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it. Watch "State of the Union." It's this Sunday, 9:00 am. Eastern. And Candy is going to talk with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. That's Sunday morning at 9:00. Good to see you as always, Candy.

CROWLEY: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: New dramatic details in the hard landing of Southwest Airlines flight. How this plane's weight might have been a factor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're learning more about the crash landing of the Southwest Airlines jet at New York's LaGuardia airport. Now, this happened on Tuesday when the plane's nose pitched down seconds before touchdown. You see the pictures there. CNN's Rene Marsh has the latest on what investigators are saying behind this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Federal investigators revealing dramatic new details about the hard landing of Southwest flight 345 at New York's LaGuardia airport. When it comes to landing, the 737's rear landing wheels touch ground first. The front wheels second. But investigators say that's not how it happened here. The first wheels came down first, and it couldn't withstand the weight of the plane, ending with a 19-second skid.

KEVIN HATT, PRESIDENT, FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION: Normal approach would be an aircraft coming in like this and then actually touching down and then going like that straight across your runway.

MARSH: So I just saw you tip that nose up a bit. So it should remain upwards?

HATT: It should be up, and that nose gear should be the last to touch down.

MARSH: What's troubling, in the final four seconds before touchdown, the NTSB says the plane shifting from two degrees nose up to three degrees nose down.

Southwest tells CNN the landing scenario the NTSB describes is not in accordance with our operating procedures. Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Ohio kidnapper Ariel Castro accepts a plea deal avoiding the possibility of the death penalty. Now, under the deal, his house, where he kept three women hostage, could be demolished. That is - we're going to have the very latest from Cleveland, up next.

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MALVEAUX: We expect to hear from Trayvon Martin's mother soon there. This is Sybrina Fulton taking part in a panel at the National Urban League conference in Philadelphia. You can see, she's getting wild applause there from the organization. We're watching and waiting for her comments. We will dip in live as soon as that begins.

Reliving those terrifying moments from Wednesday's deadly crash in Spain. Stephen Ward, he is an American teenager, who was on that train when it left the rails and crashed. You see it there, killing at least 78 people. One moment everything was normal. The next, Ward says he was covered in blood. In an exclusive interview with CNN, he gave a first-hand account of how all of that happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHEN WARD, TRAIN CRASH SURVIVOR: I thought it was a dream for a couple of minutes. I vaguely remember someone helping me out of the car. I don't remember what it looked like inside at all. And then they kind of helped me out. The train had fallen into a ditch where I was, and they helped me up and off to the side. I kind of looked around. I was one of the first people they helped out. They were helping other people out. There was screaming, there were bodies, there was smoke. And it was after 30 seconds or a minute that I finally thought to myself, you know, I don't think I'm asleep. I think this is real. And that was a scary realization. And I mean, people were helping, people were trying to get people out as fast as they could. I just kind of sat there dumbfounded for a while.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Also, an American woman from Virginia was killed in that crash. Right now, investigators, they are focusing on the driver of the train. Police say he's under detention while he's being treated in a hospital and he is being investigated for a crime.

O.J. Simpson has been in prison now for five years. Yesterday, he gave a parole board reasons why he should be released early, he says. Well, Simpson said he never intended to rob anybody. He just wanted his stuff back. Remember, that was his defense when he was convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery. Now, the parole board are going to come back with a decision in two weeks.

And this is a murder case that's been front page news in the Atlanta area for a few years now. Andrea Sneiderman facing several charges, including felony murder, in the death of her husband back in 2010. CNN producers have learned this week that prosecutors might actually drop the murder charges. Not many more details are available. A gag order is in place at this trial. Now, Rusty Sneiderman was shot dead outside a pre-school in suburban Atlanta. A man convicted of pulling the trigger is serving life in prison. Prosecutors say Andrea Sneiderman planned her husband's death.

I want to go back to Philadelphia before the National Urban League, and listen to Sybrina Fulton. This is Trayvon Martin's father (sic). Let's listen.

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: -- your son you will never kiss again. I'm just asking you to wrap your mind around that. Wrap your mind around no prom for Trayvon. No high school graduation for Trayvon. No college for Trayvon. No grandkids coming from Trayvon. All because of a law. A law that has prevented the person who shot and killed my son to be held accountable and to pay for this awful crime.

What is my message to you? My message to you is, please use my story. Please use my tragedy. Please use my broken heart to say to yourself we cannot let this happen to anybody else's child.

(APPLAUSE)

FULTON: And I hope I've delivered that message, because on the way here I gave the driver one of my business cards. And it has a picture of Trayvon on there. And what he said was, he told me, that's my son too.

So my message is coming across, and it's coming across the right way. It's coming across because I know that regardless of the color of someone's skin, that somebody is listening. That somebody wants to act and somebody wants to react. The only thing that I say to you is, nobody is hurting worse than me as a parent. Me as a mom, because you know as a mom, we're a little sensitive when it comes to our children, and we have every right to be. When they hurt, we hurt. When they're happy, we're happy. At times, I feel like I'm a broken vessel. At times, I don't know if I'm going or coming, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is using me and God is using my family to make a change to make a difference.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin. A message for the country to try to move forward, using the killing of her own son as an example for this to never happen again.

We'll take a quick break.

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