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Boat Carrying Bridal Party Crashes; Violence Continues in Egypt; U.S. Government Promises Russia NSA Leaker Will Not Be Tortured, Executed; ALS Disease Examined; President Speaks at Korean War Memorial

Aired July 27, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. prepares for its own tribute to the veterans of the forgotten war. We will take you live to the ceremonies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB FILNER, (D) SAN DIEGO MAYOR: The behavior I have engaged in over many years is wrong.

MALVEAUX: Another day, another apology. But the San Diego mayor facing sexual harassment charges refuses to step down. You will hear his solution and one of his accuser's reactions.

AMANDA BYNES, ACTOR: I don't want to do anything that I would have sort of hard time telling my parents.

MALVEAUX: A former Nickelodeon star's sudden personality change has her on a psychiatric hold and her parents calling for legal intervention. What Paris Hilton's therapist says about Amanda Bynes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Good morning, everyone. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Poppy Harlow. It is 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. Happy Saturday. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

MALVEAUX: We begin with breaking news this morning. Two people are now missing. This is after a boat crashed into a barge in the Hudson River. This is just north of New York City. One of the missing is a bride-to-be. She was just going to be married in two weeks. Earlier today her mother spoke with CNN affiliate WABC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She lives in Pier Mont, down here a bit. Some friends came to pick them up by boat. Where they were going, I don't know. It was probably about 9:30, 10:00. And from what we understand from her fiance they hit something. He called 911. He was unconscious. When he came to, there were three people in the boat with him, his best man missing. She's supposed to be married would weeks from today. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A mother in pain. She has said she's praying for a miracle looking for her daughter. Four others were injured, we know, with head injuries, taken to area hospitals. Less than an hour ago, we heard from officials about the rescue and search right now. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were four people remaining on the boat when the boat was located south of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Various head injuries and one party was unconscious. Those individuals were transported to the boats and brought in to an EMS staging area where they were evaluated and transported to area hospitals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were on the boat, not in the water?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These four were on the boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The other two were ejected from the boat?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what our investigation is going to look at. That would be an assumption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The search for the two missing people has now resumed. It had been called off late last night because of the tides. But now we know that they are looking for them still very actively. It is very sad to think about it, though, when you -- very tragic.

Also want to cover heading to Washington. This is where the president is set to speak at the Korean War veterans memorial. This is going to happen in just a few moments. I believe we are looking at live pictures of the ceremony now. It is the 60th anniversary of the troops that ended the fighting in the Korean War. We expect that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is also going to be attending and participating in this. You are listening to "Taps," honoring those that served in the war, and the president will go ahead and lay a wreath at that wreath laying ceremony. Listen.

(MUSIC)

MALVEAUX: And we will go back when he hear the president making those remarks. But really a very touching moment there.

HARLOW: Beautiful to hear that.

Let's talk about Edward Snowden. Some new developments in the case of the NSA leaker. Edward Snowden will not face the death penalty. He won't be tortured. That is about all the U.S. is promising, however, as it's going to try to persuade Russia to hand over the notorious NSA leaker. We heard from Attorney General Eric Holder. He wrote a letter saying earlier in the week the charges he faces do not carry that possibility and that the United States would not seek the death penalty even if Mr. Snowden were charged with additional death penalty eligible crimes.

MALVEAUX: CNN foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty has the latest in the effort to get Snowden back to the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDWARD SNOWDEN, NSA LEAKER: I had a family, a home in paradise. I lived in great comfort.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. is stepping up efforts to get its hands on Edward Snowden getting him out of the Moscow airport transit area he has been holed newspaper now for more than a month. Snowden has asked Russia for temporary asylum, claiming that he would be tortured and could face the death penalty if he is returned to the U.S.

REP. MIKE ROGERS, (R) INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: This person a traitor to the United States of America.

DOUGHERTY: Attorney General Eric Holder says Snowden's claims are not only not true but, to address Russian concerns, he's giving written assurances to Moscow that if Snowden comes back the United States would not seek the death penalty and that Mr. Snowden will not be tortured.

LON SNOWDEN, EDWARD SNOWDEN'S FATHER: I have confidence in my son. At this point I am absolutely certain that he's speaking the truth.

DOUGHERTY: At the same time, Snowden's father went on NBC's "Today" show to defend his son and complain about the way his son is being treated. Lon Snowden also firing off a letter to President Obama, calling the zeal to punish his son unconscionable, saying his administration has shown scorn for due process, the rule of law, fairness, and the presumption of innocence. He is calling on the president to have Holder dismiss the charges against his son and, taking up his son's cause, he is blasting that close congressional vote to keep the NSA surveillance program alive.

SNOWDEN: I am extremely disappointed and angry. I'm an angry American citizen.

DOUGHERTY: The White House meanwhile still isn't committing President Obama to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow ahead of G-20 summit talks in September.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: That's Jill Dougherty reporting. We have new unrest that's flaring up in Egypt now. Reports anywhere from 21 to 75 people have been killed.

MALVEAUX: Around the protests overnight spilling into the early morning hours. Our Reza Sayah is live for us in Cairo at this hour. Reza, what is the scene like there right now? REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Things are much calmer at this hour, Poppy. But overnight this was one of the most intense and most violent nights we have seen ever since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsy here in Egypt. Many of those casualties and fatalities were brought to where we are. This neighborhood in east Cairo has really served as a home base for the Morsy backers. There is a makeshift hospital here, an incredibly emotional and chaotic night at that makeshift hospital, doctors racing to treat the injured and take care of the victims.

There are conflicting reports about the death toll. If you talk to volunteers and doctors, they say that 15 to 70 people were killed and more than 2,000 people were injured. But the health ministry here says 38 people were killed, 180 people were injured.

There's also conflicting reports as to what happened. The demonstrators here say that they were peacefully protesting when security forces fired off with live weapons and bird shot and tear gas. But the interior ministry denies that police used live weapons. They say they only fought back with tear gas.

There's also conflicting accounts from demonstrators about civilians and local residents getting involved. Many of these demonstrators here are convinced some of those people in civilian clothes were actually police with guns. So all kinds of contradicting accounts, and that's not unusual because what you have here is an information war, where both sides are trying to win public opinion and some of the information that they are giving out is not always accurate. But an intense night of clashes that signals this conflict is far from over.

MALVEAUX: And Reza, tell us about Mohamed Morsy. What's the situation with him? I understand that he's in custody and possibly paces charges.

SAYAH: That is correct. First off, mob knows where he is. We talked to some western diplomats. They believe he's being moved from one defense installation to another. But the prosecutor's office has come out and said that he's going to be held in custody for 15 days and he will be investigated on possible charges that he conspired with Hamas to break out of jail in 2011.

Of course his supporters here reject that claim. They say that is proof that this interim government backed by the military is on a campaign to sideline and push aside the Muslim Brotherhood leaders and clear out this demonstration. But these demonstrators are determined to stay here. They say they are not going to leave until Mohamed Morsy is reinstated. But obviously that's a scenario that seems more and more unlikely.

HARLOW: Reza Sayah, appreciate it. This just terrible news when you think about it. This was the worst case scenario that has the two sides -- they tried to separate the two and then it -- the violence erupted overnight.

We are also following this story. The driver in the deadly train crash now stands formally accused. The crime police say he committed. We are going to have that up next.

HARLOW: Plus, accused of setting fire and forced to undergo a mental evaluation. We will talk to Paris Hilton's psychiatrist about what can be done to help Amanda Bynes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Police in Spain are accusing a driver of reckless homicide in Wednesday's deadly crash of a high-speed train.

MALVEAUX: Jose Francisco Garcon is now being held at police headquarters. An investigating judge has to decide whether or not to press formal charges in that crash that killed at least 78 people. Our Karl Penhaul is at the crash site in northwestern Spain. Karl, what's taking the judge this period of time to make a decision on this? Is it -- is it not before him?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Essentially the judge has 72 hours to decide -- set up the formal detention by the police. The judge then has 72 hours to decide what formal charges he will present. It was only this morning in fact the train driver was well enough to be transferred from hospital to police headquarters because, although we saw him being led away from the crash site with some assistance, we do see that he's bleeding heavily from the head and was pretty banged up after that crash.

We also understand that the driver has not been cooperating with the police so far, that according to the interior minister. And so the judge is not scheduled to meet the train driver until tomorrow sometime tomorrow and then decide on what formal charges to press whether he upholds this idea of reckless homicide.

Of course, not only will he be relying on the driver's statements to decide on nose charges, he will be sifting through evidence. Again, according to the interior ministry today, the black boxes from the train have not yet been passed to investigators. They are still in police custody. So that could be some of the reason for that the time it's taking to press or decide on formal charge against the train driver.

HARLOW: I also wonder, Karl, about speed because I know that there is a maximum speed limit really there on the tracks for those trains. Do we have any indication how fast the train was going and if that may have played any role?

PENHAUL: You are right. There has been a lot of focus on the speed issue up until now. And part of that was driven by early comments from one of the junior government ministers saying that he believed excessive speed was a factor. The rest of the government, though, now seems to have reeled back a little bit and said we have to keep an open mind and look at all the factors.

But look a little bit at the facts we have before us in is the curve behind me. That's where the train derailed and there is a speed limit there of 80 kilometer. Now, that's 45 miles per hour, that according to the state railway company. When we look at that chilling video from the surveillance camera, to the untrained eye, the layman's eye, it does seem like that train was going a lot faster than that. Nevertheless, today, talking to government ministers, they say we are looking at all factors and that will include technical factors to see if there was anything wrong with the train or the line. They say they will go right down to looking at budgetary factors to make sure that there have been no budget cuts that affected safety measures and maintenance on this line.

HARLOW: That's so hard to watch that video that plays over and over again of that train just crashing and so many people have died and many more, I think about 80, in the hospital at this hour. Karl, thank you for the reporting. We appreciate it.

HARLOW: We're talking to people throughout the week and they said it is such a gruesome, terrifying experience when they saw the injure who'd survived, like the walking dead. Unbelievable.

San Diego's mayor heads to rehab. We are going talk live to the San Diego newspaper reporter about Bob Filner and the sexual harassment allegation against him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BOB FILNER, (D) SAN DIEGO: I am responsible for my conduct. And I must take responsibility for my conduct by taking action so that such conduct does not ever happen again. So beginning on August 5 I will be entering a behavior counseling clinic to undergo two weeks of intensive therapy to begin the process of addressing my behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Pressure is now building for mayor of San Diego to quit. Seven women accuse Bob Filner of sexual harassment. Filner admits he needs help. He said he will go to counseling for two weeks, and he insists he will be vindicated.

We want to talk to Trent Seibert, investigative reporter for the "San Diego Union-Tribune." Thanks for being with us here. First of all, had a chance to talk somebody who -- alleged sexual harassment by the mayor who was not mayor at the time, but eight years ago. Is this new or something that's followed him, these accusations, whispers for years?

TRENT SEIBERT, REPORTER, "SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE": We have always heard rumors, but they were just rumors. This past two weeks have been surreal just because so many women have now come forward. Again, we heard these things in the past. We tried digging into these things. It is -- just recently, it has all emerged.

HARLOW: Trent, why do you suppose that's happening now? You have quite a number of people coming forward. It is almost like the dam that has broken here. Why now? Why the timing of this? SEIBERT: Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the mayor's allies. A lot -- it is his friends that are now coming forward, and they started about three weeks ago imploring the mayor to get help and to step down. He is a Democrat, he has a lot of labor support and support from traditional Democratic sources. And it is those folks that came forward, not the GOP or his enemies. It's his friends, his former allies, that came forward and said please step down. I think they are concerned about their political viability going forward.

HARLOW: Trent, what kind of accusations are we talking about? How serious are these allegations?

SEIBERT: They range from the creepy from severe sexual harassment. Here is the difference between say a Spitzer or an Anthony Weiner problem. This is sexual harassment in the workplace. These are some of the more severe allegations that we have heard, and that really is a problem.

And how do you get work done in city hall if you as a woman can't sit alone and negotiate a deal with the mayor without fear of being touched? And some of the things we heard about his famous now Filner headlock is what they call it where he pins these women down and tries to -- allegations about him putting his tongue down women's throats. It is -- I don't know how business can get done. I think you see city hall just in a virtual standstill.

HARLOW: Trent, let's listen to the mayor and see -- he did apologize and -- at least has what he thinks is going to be a reasonable solution tow all of this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you have to say to these women that have come forward and publicly accused you of inappropriate behavior?

FILNER: There is a legal process by which all of this will be decided, and that's what we'll be dealing with. There will be no other process except regarding the legal process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Trent, he later apologized and said he would go into some sort of counseling program for two weeks. Is there anybody there that thinks that's adequate?

SEIBERT: It's sort of bizarre. Sort of -- we talked to experts today. And many question whether two weeks is enough, particularly -- this is not a young kid. I mean -- this is a 70-year-old experienced politically -- mayor.

Let me give you another twist on this, too. This is a mayor who says he wants due process. You about -- his deposition, scheduled to take -- there will be sworn testimony. He has to make. That is supposed to be happening on August 9 right in the middle of when he's supposedly going to be in this clinic for two weeks. We question, I think, and there is a lot of questions, whether due process can go forward. You know, what's the real reason that the mayor is going to go to this clinic?

HARLOW: And, you know, I wonder if he can survive this. He will do this clinic, counseling, for two weeks. But you've got the national Democratic Party chair and the local Democratic Party as well all calling for him to resign. There's an incredible amount of pressure on him now. What do you think will be the point, perhaps the breaking point if he changes his mind?

SEIBERT: If there is a breaking point, it will be hardcore labor supporters he has had for years that have always been in his camp. He's always been a labor supporter and they have stood by him. It is the most fervent labor supporters who are in his corner. Those are the ones that have been silent. Everyone else has called on this mayor to resign to get help. Once we hear from that hardcore labor voice, I think that he's done.

MALVEAUX: All right, Trent Seibert, thank you so much, investigative reporter at the San Diego union tribune, appreciate your talking with us this morning. A note that tomorrow morning, 6:00, new day Sunday, you will hear my interview with Laura fink, the second woman to allege sexual harassment against Filner. What she says about his refusal to resign.

And this, it is mysterious, frustrating, and frightening. ALS, or better known as Lou Gehrig's disease that ravages the body but not the mind, it challenges the very notion of what it means to be alive. My mother has been diagnosed with it a year and a half ago. We will share our family's story next in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

HARLOW: I'm Poppy Harlow. Here are five stories we're watching for you this morning. First off, a terrifying accident on the Hudson River. Two people are missing and four others hospitalized after their boat hit a barge. According to CNN affiliate WABC, one of the missing is a 30-year-old woman who is getting married in just two weeks. The other missing person is her groom's best man. The Coast Guard has resumed its search for those two people. We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

MALVEAUX: Number two, authorities say six people and their alleged shooter are dead. This is in Florida. Police say that they found six bodies thrown and near an apartment complex. The suspect pulled up with would hostages. Police rescued them and killed the suspect in a shoot-out.

HARLOW: And number three, this morning President Obama is speaking at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington. Today marks 60 years since the troops that ended fighting on the Korean peninsula. More than 36,000 U.S. troops died in that war. The president and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel are honoring those that served and attending a wreath laying ceremony. MALVEAUX: Number four a new route of bloodshed rips through the Egyptian capital. Supporters of former president Morsy say security forces shot into a crowd early today. Reports vary widely on the number of dead. But Egypt's military denies using deadly force.

HARLOW: And number five, a mysterious stomach virus is spreading across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still trying to confirm the source of this outbreak. There are at least 321 cases in multiple states. No one has died as a result of the bug. At least 18 people, though, have been hospitalized.

MALVEAUX: It is mysterious, frustrating, and frightening. Little is known about it. We are shedding light and going in depth on a killer disease called ALS. It kills more than 100,000 people each year. It is fast moving, taking people's abilities away to control their muscles, causing patients to quickly lose their ability to speak, swallow, breathe, or move. For me, it is personal. My mother Myrna Malveaux was diagnosed with the disease a year and a half ago. This is our family's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLOYD MALVEAUX: These alarms are going off. She can't cough, she can't swallow. She was struggling for the next breath.

MALVEAUX: But just five months prior, she was leading the Mardi Gras parade at her birthday party.

FLOYD MALVEAUX: She is the life of the party, no doubt about it.

MALVEAUX: Always vibrant, glamorous, and energetic, young looking beyond her years. But then my father started to notice subtle changes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pretty much --

FLOYD MALVEAUX: The loss of a smile. She had the most radiant smile. She was unable to really control her facial muscles and her lips. And she says, I can't kiss anymore.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Soon other odd difficulties developed.

FLOYD MALVEAUX: She tripped and fell a couple of times. And then change in the voice.

MALVEAUX: After several trips to various doctors, our family got the shocking news. Mom was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

DR. JEFF ROTHSTEIN, ALS SPECIALIST: It is a disease where the cells in your brain and spinal cord, the cells that control our muscles, slowly degenerate. They die.

MALVEAUX: A fatal condition that would paralyze her limb by limb, first taking away her ability to swallow, then speak, then breathe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really devastating.

ROTHSTEIN: You become angry, cry a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just felt like being on the floor was the most comfortable place, only place I wanted to be.

FLOYD MALVEAUX: I have been angry as hell, a whole host of emotions. I was very afraid.

MALVEAUX: Mom responded differently. Embracing her New Orleans roots, let the good times roll. In 2012 we squeezed in two family reunions, a beach trip, a birthday party, a visit to the White House, and her own wish come true, to drive an 18-wheeler. But life for mom got tougher fast. Within a year she could no longer swallow or breathe on her own. Speaking also became very difficult.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you angry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I'm not angry. I am just dealing with it day by day. No, I'm not angry.

MALVEAUX: Mom decided to fight, first by going before the FDA to push to make drug trials more available. Something that was too late for her. Mom also wanted to tell our family story, but the week we were scheduled to do our interview, mom was rushed to the ER with pneumonia, which changed everything.

FLOYD MALVEAUX: She was having difficulty breathing. And she says, I'm exhausted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was so, so scared. You could see it in her eyes how scared she was.

MALVEAUX: Mom was transferred to Johns Hopkins where there are ALS specialists.

FLOYD MALVEAUX: I thought we could have lost her that night.

Your mother was in end stage of ALS. She was moved into a coma and would have died within a few days.

MALVEAUX: Instead mom chose an extraordinary lifesaving measure, to get a tracheotomy, a tube hook on a machine that would force air into her lungs and breathe for her, a game changer.

ROTHSTEIN: We haven't cured them of their disease but we do keep them alive.

MALVEAUX: And 90 percent of ALS patients do not get a tracheotomy, because they don't have the money, the resources, or the desire. Keeping alive is hard work for mom. Since she cannot clear her throat a machine has to do it for her, a procedure which is done at least a dozen times a day, relieves the feeling that she's drowning. Mom uses a word board to spell out our conversations. Occasionally through a speaking valve put on her tracheotomy she's able to talk a few sentences at a time.

Can you say hello?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

MALVEAUX: Hello. I love your voice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love Roseanne.

MALVEAUX: It would be nine weeks in the hospital learning how to care for her before mom would be able to come home on life support.

Breaking out. Getting out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good-bye. Good luck.

MALVEAUX: Her journey is bringing us closer together and changing us as a family.

FLOYD MALVEAUX: I learn I have inner strength I didn't think I had.

MALVEAUX: Mom's message to all of us, because after all, mom is still mom.

She is still gives me a hard time about my curly hair being messy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is the glue.

FLOYD MALVEAUX: She is a fighter.

MALVEAUX: These days mom has a new sense of freedom, zooming around the house in a motorized chair usually with grandkids in tow, the sun on her face, surrounded by family, she is still leading the parade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: If you would like to read more about ALS and how you can help push forward, go to CNN.com/impactyourworld and MalveauxMission.org. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you see yourself looking forward, being somehow involved in the world of stardom and celebrity for the rest of your life? Is that something you can imagine?

AMANDA BYNES, ACTOR: I don't know. I have to tell you, I don't know if I will be able to take it for the rest of my life. It is -- you know, it is very stressful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's intense, right? BYNES: It is really intense. I think as long as I'm -- you know -- I don't know. I guess as long as I'm surrounded by positive people it will -- you know, it will be OK. Ace get older I definitely want to have family and step away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We are going to get to that in just a moment, talk about Amanda Bynes going through something very serious and sad right now. First I want to take to you Washington, D.C., where President Obama is speaking on the 60th anniversary of the end of fighting in the Korean War. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of our friends from the Republic of Korea, including the legendary general, distinguished guests, most of all, veterans of the Korean War and your families.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: To our veterans, many in your 80s, a few of you in your old uniform, which still fit, let me just say you look outstanding, and I would ask that all United States, Republic of Korea, and other veterans who fought, I would ask those that can stand to please stand so we can properly honor you here today.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: July 27, 1953, 60 years ago today, the village, the generals picked up hair pens and signed their names to the agreement spread before them. That night as the armistice took hold the guns of war thundered no more. Along the jagged front men emerged from their muddy trenches and raised his bugle and played "Taps." And a soldier spoke for millions when he said thank god it is over.

In the days that followed, both sides pulled back, leaving a demilitarized zone between them. Soldiers emptied their sand bags and tore down their bunkers. Our POWs emerged from the camps. Our troops boarded ships and steamed back across the ocean.

And describing the moment he passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the soldiers wrote "we suddenly knew we had survived the war and we were home."

If asked, these veterans here today and many will tell you, compared to other wars, theirs was a different kind of homecoming. Unlike the Second World War, Korea did not galvanize our country. These veterans did not return to parades. Unlike Vietnam, Korea did not tear at our country. These veterans did not return to protest.

Among many Americans tired of war, there was it seemed a desire to forget, to move on. As one of these veterans recalls, we just came home and took off our uniforms and went to work. That was about it.

You, our veterans of Korea, deserve better. Down the decades our nation worked to right that wrong, including here, with this eternal memorial where the measure of your sacrifice is enshrined for all time, because here in America, no war should ever be forgotten, no veteran should ever be overlooked.

And after the armistice a reporter wrote "When men talk in some distant time, with faint remembrance of the Korean War, the shining deeds will live." The shining deeds will live. On this 60th anniversary, perhaps the highest tribute we can offer our veterans of Korea is to do what should have been done the day you come home. In our hurried lives, let us pause. Let us listen. Let these veterans carry us back to the days of their youth and let us be on by their shining deeds.

Listen closely and hear the stories of a generation. Veterans of World War II recalled to duty, husbands kissing their wives goodbye yet again, young men, some just boys, 18, 19, 20 years old, leaving behind everyone they loved to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.

Let's never forget all the daughters who left home, especially our heroic nurses who saved so many. Our women in Korea also served with honor. They also gave their lives.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Listen and hear how these Americans faced down their fears and did their duty, clutching their rifles, hearing the bugles in the distance, knowing that waves of enemy fighters would soon be upon them, and ships offshore climbing down the ropes into the landing craft knowing some of them would not leave that beach. On the tarmacs and flight decks taking off, knowing that they might not return to this earth, listen and hear of their gallantry outnumbered and outgunned in some of the most brutal combat and modern history. How they held the line of the Pusan perimeter, how they landed at Inchon and turned the tide of the war, how surrounded and freezing they battled their way out of the reservoir, and how they fought foxhole by foxhole, mountain after mountain, day and night at the punch bowl and heart break ridge, old baldy, and pork chop hill.

Listen and hear how perhaps the only thing worse than the enemy was the weather, the searing heat, the choking dust of summer, the deep snow and bitter cold of winter, so cold that their weapons could jam, so cold that their food would turn to ice.

And surely no one endured more than our POWs in those hellish camps where the torment was unimaginable. Our POWs from Korea are some of the strongest men our nation has ever produced, and today we honor them all, those that never came home and those who are here today.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Listen to these veterans and you will also hear of the resilience of the human spirit. There was compassion, starving prisoners that shared their food. There was love, men that reached for grenades so their brothers might live. There was the dark humor aboard is when someone misunderstood the code name for mortar rounds, tootsie rolls, and then shipped our troops thousands of tootsie rolls, candies.

And there was hope, as told in letter home written by a soldier in the Seventh cavalry. Marching through the snow and ice, something caught his eye, a young lieutenant up ahead and from the muzzle of his rifle hung a pair of tiny baby booties swinging silently in the wind like tiny bells. They were sent by the lieutenant's wife pregnant with their first child. And she promised to send ribbons, blue if a boy and pink if a girl.

But as the war ground on, those soldiers were scattered until one day on a Korean road he spotted the lieutenant again. In the first rays of the morning sun, the soldier wrote, "were those booties, and fluttering below them was the brightest bluest piece of ribbon I have ever seen."

Six decades on, these moments may seem like faint remembrances of a distance in time but for you, our Korean veterans and your families, I know it must feel sometime just like yesterday. Object days such as this, you are back there once more.

HARLOW: And there you have some of the remarks by President Barack Obama on this very important day, today marking 60 years since the agreement, the end of fighting, on the Korean peninsula. The president saying the guns of war fire no more. Men emerged from their muddy trenches.

And he talked about the fact that the soldiers that fought in Korea for this country didn't come back to parades. They didn't come back to protests, remarking about this largely forgotten war, saying that the veterans of this war deserve better and said the nation has worked and will continue to work to right that wrong.

Again, the president in Washington, D.C., laying a wreath, live remarks there on this 60th anniversary of the end of fighting in Korea. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: We took a break to listen to the president talking in Washington. We are going to bring you more than Amanda Bynes story we cut out of early tomorrow on the show. But we are talking about technology now, making the world a much smaller place than it used to be. But living in such an interconnected stage certainly has its pitfall.

MALVEAUX: And some headaches as well. We are taking a look at some of those unfortunate moments in this week's "Technology is Ruining my Life." That's right. All morning we're talking about the biggest tech failure of all week. Not surprising here.

HARLOW: We are talking about New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner or, as he's reportedly known on the Internet to some, Carlos Danger. New admissions of lewd sexting with women after his 2011 fall from grace has sent his approval ratings down.

MALVEAUX: Not everybody is suffering from a tech age in the public eye, or at least weren't before it all ruined their life, right?

MALVEAUX: Yes. Watch what happens when one fed-up husband secretly records his wife's rant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never get my way. One day, one day!

(SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is OK. This is the best part about this. Now you are going to text everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you are going to make me look like a bad guy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are. You are not taking your wife -- I'm about to go crazy! Please!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Oh, my god. That's first time I have seen that.

HARLOW: I could tell watching it -- oh, boy.

MALVEAUX: So this couple, they did not make it to their vacation spot. As a matter of fact, they made a beeline for divorce court. He was secretly taping her.

HARLOW: Not good. Not very nice. That will do it for us. Thanks for watching.

MALVEAUX: But stay here. There's much more ahead the next hour of CNN Newsroom. We turn it over to Pamela Brown. Hey, Pam.