Return to Transcripts main page

Erin Burnett Outfront

Weiner Admits To More Lewd Chat And Photos; Interview with NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly

Aired July 23, 2013 - 19:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, you cannot make tonight's top story up. Anthony Weiner holding a press conference to address allegations that he was sexting online under the name Carlos Danger. And the biggest surprise was who spoke next.

Plus the royal tot, our first glimpse of the baby who would be king.

And Ray Kelly writes a controversial op-ed. Should racial profiling be part of police work? We'll talk George Zimmerman. Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight we begin with the breaking news, new revelations and shocking revelations in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal. In what can only be described as a stunning news conference. Truly this is an incredible event that just happened in American politics, and I am not exaggerating here. Anthony Weiner walked out there from behind that cube with his wife, Huma Abedin at his side.

He went before cameras just an hour ago to address allegations that appeared on the web site. Like I said, everyone, you cannot make this up, the dirty.com. Now this web site had reported that Weiner used an anonymous handle, Carlos Danger, to exchange sexually explicit photos and messages with a 22-year-old young woman for six months after his scandal, after he resigned from Congress. I want to play for you Weiner's statement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I have said that other texts and photos were likely to come out, and today they have. As I've said in the past, these things that I did were wrong and hurtful to my wife and caused us to go through many challenges in our marriage that extended past my resignation from Congress. While some of the things that have been posted today are true and some are not, there is no question that what I did was wrong. This behavior is behind me.

I have apologized to my wife, Huma, and I am grateful that she has worked through these issues with me and that I've had her forgiveness. I want to again say how very sorry I am to anyone that was on the receiving end of these messages and the disruption that this has caused, and my wife, as I have said, are moving forward together. To some degree with 49 days left until primary day, perhaps I'm surprised that more things didn't come out sooner.

I am responsible for this behavior that led us to be in this place, but in many ways, things are not that much different than they were yesterday. This behavior that I did was problematic, to say the least, destructive, to say the most, caused many stresses and strains in my marriage, but I am pleased and blessed that she has given me a second chance.

For the past several months I've been asking New Yorkers to also give me another chance to show them that I had a vision for the middle class and those struggling to make it and that I wanted to move forward. It is perfectly reasonable for people to ask about this chapter in my life, to be curious about it, and I'm going to be there and try to answer those questions as best I can.

It is also perfectly understandable that all of you are doing your job being here in these great numbers, and I'm sure it's not just because of the mayoral forum we're going to have in a few minutes. But all that being said, let me just reiterate to my wife how sorry I am that I did these things and how sorry I am to the people that got these messages for any inconvenience or embarrassment they have caused.

Now, some have asked the question where does this fit in, some timeline, some timeline of continuum of resignation. The resignation was not a point in time that was nearly as important to my wife and me as the challenges in our marriage and the challenges of the things that I had done and working through them.

Some of these things happened before my resignation, some of them happened after, but the fact is that that was also the time that my wife and I were working through some things in our marriage. I am glad these things are behind us. I know that this was a very public thing that we had happen to us. But by no means does it change the fundamentals of my feelings here, and that is that I want to bring my vision to the people of the city of New York.

I hope they're willing to still continue to give me a second chance, and I hope they realize that in many ways what happened today was something that, frankly, had happened before but it doesn't represent all that much that is new.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: All right, now, after Weiner and his wife spoke, and yes, Huma did speak, and we are going to play that for you in its entirety because some of what she said absolutely crucial to talk about and to understand. Weiner, though, took some questions then and he was asked what we thought was a crucial question. The one that could make or break his campaign and redefine what is a political comeback in the United States of America. This is the question. Were the messages, the sexually explicit messages, sent before or after the scandal when he resigned from Congress in 2011?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEINER: I can't -- I can't say exactly. Sometime last summer, I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Sometime last summer. That, of course, would be the summer of 2012. He resigned in June of 2011. That would be more than a year after he resigned from Congress due to a sexting scandal and said it wouldn't happen again. Does this threaten Anthony Weiner's big political comeback and his run for mayor in the biggest city in the United States, New York City.

OUTFRONT now, our contributors, Dean Obeidallah and John Avlon, John with the "Daily Beast" and Dr. Jeff Gardere, a clinical psychologist. OK, this was almost impossible to imagine. There was a revelation today from the web site, the dirty, Jeff, and we thought, OK, web site, the dirty, what do you know, people have allegations all the time.

Then he announces this press conference and then he comes out and says not only is it true, but yes, I was doing it more than a year after I resigned, after I patched things up with my wife and went through therapy. What do you read into it?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: What I read into it is that he needs much more therapy. He doesn't talk about it as being a psychological issue. Keeps referring to it as other politicians have around their own sex scandals as just being a mistake, poor judgment, but clearly this is someone who has a sexual addiction, some sort of exhibitionism problem, impulse control problem. He needs to be in continual treatment. You can't vote for someone if they're an alcoholic and they're not in a 12-step program attending meetings every day because the stress will take them back to that very destructive behavior, especially if they don't work it through.

BURNETT: John Avlon, do that point, you just heard Anthony Weiner say this is not that much different than yesterday, and I'm actually surprised more of these things didn't come out sooner.

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, that is absolutely stunning. I mean, that is admission of a man who is not in complete control of his actions, who enjoys the attention that come with cameras and enjoys putting his wife and the city of New York through this. Look, sex scandals have a new name in America, Carlos Danger. I mean, that is such a creepy part of this whole story.

BURNETT: This is his quote/unquote the name according to this latest report, sexually explicit photos for six months with a 22-year- old woman calling himself Carlos Danger.

AVLON: The name he chooses, right? This is the impulse really large. He's saying after he's apologized to his wife, to the country, to the city, he must have been planning a political comeback, he goes online and sex with a stranger under the name Carlos Danger. I mean, come on, now. GARDERE: Subconsciously, the name Carlos Danger. It's the danger of what he's doing that takes him to these sexual heights, and that is part of the impulse control problem.

AVLON: And he thinks it's kind of cool and that's what's so creepy.

BURNETT: Dean, do you read that into it too? Can this guy win?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: I tell you this, if your name is Anthony Weiner, Carlos Danger is a step up from that. That's a horrible name. I really wish Carlos Danger would have shown up at the press event and answered some questions for us. I was amazed by one thing Anthony Weiner said. He said I apologize to everybody who got these e-mails, like he's spamming women.

He's sending it out en masse trying to get connections to people. You have to feel bad for him but on the same level he made Eliot Spitzer look like husband of the year today. So it goes both ways. I live in New York, we're tough people. I don't think it will kill him but I think it will hurt him in the polls.

AVLON: It's not also license to show contempt for the people of New York or your wife. That's what's so pathetic here. It wasn't just that he made the really embarrassing mistake and tried to make a comeback, it's he did that knowing. He can't even say when he stopped this behavior. At this point it is all about him. It is narcissism on a level that is unusual even for New York politics.

GARDERE: And he threw his wife under the bus and said that this further texting or sexting happened when they were still working out issues in their marriage as if that was a reason to be involved in that really, really disturbing behavior.

BURNETT: And I know no one likes to put the personal in this, but on some level you've got to think about it, right? During that year and three months or two months after he resigned when this was still happening, at least it could have been happening after August of 2012, but we know it was happening before then, she had a baby, they went through therapy. All those lovey-dovey pictures we saw and obviously things were different.

GARDERE: He needs continued help and that is the takeaway from this. You can't say because I'm running for mayor, put everything in the past. These are continual day-to-day impulse issues.

BURNETT: All right, we're going to keep our panel standing by because Huma Abedin is a crucial part of this story of the standing by her man literally today. Physically there, but not just standing. Huma speaks. We're going to play you every word that Huma Abedin said and tell you who is this good wife.

And then days after a woman fell to her death from a roller coaster at an amusement park in Texas, why the investigation is so secret and does your size really matter when it comes to the safety on a ride in this country? Plus an al Qaeda-affiliated group claims responsibility for a prison break that freed 500 inmates.

And later, thought North Korea had economic issues, so what is this about?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Now, of course, we've all seen many political wives make a very difficult choice and stand by their man physically in front of the cameras. Even Hillary Clinton did it and her long-time aide, Huma Abedin, Anthony Weiner's wife, has been doing it too. Today though when she walked out everyone said she's there, she's there, but then she did something absolutely no one expected. She spoke.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUMA ABEDIN, WIFE OF ANTHONY WEINER: As many of you who have followed this campaign know, I've spent a good deal out on the campaign trail, at churches and street fairs, parades. But this is the first time I've spoken at a press conference, and you'll have to bear with me because I'm very nervous and I wrote down what I wanted to say.

When we faced this publicly two years ago, it was the beginning of a time in our marriage that was very difficult, and it took us a very long time to get through it. Our marriage, like many others, has had its ups and its downs. It took a lot of work and a whole lot of therapy to get to a place where I could forgive Anthony.

It was not an easy choice in any way. But I made the decision that it was worth staying in this marriage. That was a decision I made for me, for our son, and for our family.

I didn't know how it would work out. But I did know that I wanted to give it a try. Anthony's made some horrible mistakes, both before he resigned from Congress and after. But I do very strongly believe that is between us and our marriage.

We discussed all of this before Anthony decided to run for mayor. So really what I want to say is, I loved him, I have forgiven him, I believe in him, and as we have said from the beginning, we are moving forward.

Thank you very much. Thank you for your time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What do you make of that, John?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I've got to tell you, that is the saddest part of this strange, surreal press conference. The fact that he used this opportunity to put his wife in front of the cameras for the first time to speak as a way of distracting the press. That -- that is an abuse of that relationship, a further degradation. She obviously is invested in this campaign. She probably is in some degree of shock because I can't imagine she knew that this behavior had occurred after he apologized to her. But maybe she did -- that's really between them. This -- she is such an intelligent woman, and she clearly has taken notes from Hillary Clinton, her long-time employer and mentor. But she took that lesson too far. This is behavior -- she's a sympathetic figure. This is deeply unsympathetic behavior. This is shameless behavior on his part, including using her tonight.

BURNETT: Stephanie Miller joins us now. Of course, radio host and a regular on our program. Stephanie, I want to just ask you, you heard her say I very strongly believe this is between us and our marriage -- emphasis exactly, I believe, as Huma said it. Is it when he's running for mayor?

STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO HOST: Well, you know, Erin, I'm a fan of "The Good Wife," the TV show fictionally, but -- I know you're going to have experts on all night. But as girls, can we talk for a minute? Are you kidding me? I mean, are you kidding me? He kept doing this after this became public, and she was pregnant and she had a baby? I mean, I came on this show the last time and defended him. But now you're like, come on, give me a break, this guy needs help. This is humiliating.

BURNETT: Dr. Gardere, what do you think about it?

DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I'm going to take a different tack on this. I don't think this is a defenseless wife by any means of the imagination. This is a very strong woman. She was behind him running for mayor. She didn't want him to resign from Congress. And she is working with him in therapy, so she claims, and let me just give her the benefit of the doubt, positive, unconditional regard. Perhaps some of this came out in the therapy, but she's invested in this. She's invested in the marriage, invested in the campaign. She's not a stupid woman, and she's not going to bail out right now because it would be much, much worse.

BURNETT: So you don't see her as a victim, as defenseless --

GARDERE: I don't see her as a victim at all. I see him as the person who looks really bad through this, and I admire her strength. She's going to see this to the end.

MILLER: I also -- Erin --

BURNETT: Yes.

MILLER: Erin, I also think it's significant some of the language he used in his. He said we had this very public thing happen to us. No, no, no. There's no we, Kimosabe. You did this and put your wife through this. You know, to use that sort of language.

I mean, look, as we all know, I'm an unmarried, childless loser, so I don't mean to judge her. But I'm judging. And I think that -- you know, I'm sure the baby is a factor in this, and it's very sad. But the fact is the language he used, Erin, tells me he still isn't taking responsibility for it.

BURNETT: And John, I think we should -- for those out there, obviously the country will know who she is because she's so close to Hillary Clinton, she is seen as a second daughter, as you'll all see in just a moment but we have a profile of Huma coming up. But yet she's been central to this campaign.

AVLON: Oh, yes.

BURNETT: Anthony Weiner without Huma Abedin and that Clinton power is what?

AVLON: That's exactly right. She's been core to the redemption narrative. She's been invested in this campaign. And she definitely has taken notes from her mentor. I mean, this is a very close relationship. And so even though the Clintons are not backing Anthony Weiner in this case, you can tell the playbook is being used by Huma.

But this is a bridge too far. You change your decisions, no matter how invested you are based on new information. And this is disgraceful new information that takes a very strong, intelligent woman and demeans her in front of the city. And at this point, only the voters of the city of New York can stop him from becoming Mayor Danger. And that's really disturbing.

GARDERE: We just don't know how much new information it is for Huma. She say they have been in therapy. I would think any credible therapist can get at the bottom of what was going on. This information was going to be released, though I do believe talking about it in therapy is different from it being released in the public.

BURNETT: Well, what does that say to you that both of them -- so let's just assume she knew this is going on for more than a year, if not more, who knows, because he wouldn't say when the last time it was happened, right?

AVLON: Couldn't remember.

BURNETT: Right. So it could be now, no one knows. OK. Say she knew. And they knew it's going to come out because these things always come out. So what do you think about the fact, Doctor, that they're both fine with that? In a sense, they knew this moment was going to come.

GARDERE: I think they're playing to the cameras. I don't think they're fine with it at all. I think it's going to be a real, real, real challenge to not just this mayoral contest, but also to their marriage. Now this is where the rubber hits the road.

MILLER: And I believe -

BURNETT: I also -- go ahead, Stephanie.

MILLER: -- it goes to his credibility as a politician, as a leader, Erin. I mean, how do you trust somebody like this?

AVLON: Well, and that was the question.

MILLER:He really needs to continue to get help, I think.

AVLON: And Erin, that was the question. At the end of the press conference as he leaving, someone shouted a question: "How can we trust your judgment?" and he didn't answer. The reason he didn't answer is because there is no good answer to that question.

BURNETTT: Right. It was on that last shouted-out question when he just walked off.

AVLON: That's right.

BURNETT: All right. Well, thanks very much to all three of you.

And as we said, Huma Abedin has long been a quiet force in politics. Both those words very important, quiet but a force. And her role in her husband's campaign is not her first outing in the very, very public political spotlight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT (voice-over): She's the right-hand woman of Hillary Clinton, known by just one name in Washington: Huma. But her personal life has been just that. "The Washington Post" called her "notoriously private." For years, she shied away from the spotlight while sitting directly in its glow.

Before marrying Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin began her career in Washington as an intern in the East Wing of the White House in 1996. She was assigned to then-first lady Hillary Clinton. She was by Clinton's side during her years in the Senate, on the presidential campaign trail and at the State Department. Her rise was fast. Her fluency in Arabic helped her become one of Clinton's most trusted advisers on the Middle East.

Her background is unusual. She was born in Michigan to an Indian father and Pakistani mother. They moved the family to Saudi Arabia when Huma was two years old. She grew up in Saudi Arabia, returning to the U.S. to attend George Washington University. At a pre-wedding celebration for Abedin and Weiner, Clinton said, "I have one daughter. But if I had a second daughter, it would be Huma."

Now Huma may be taking a page from her mentor's playbook.

HILLARY CLINTON, THEN-FIRST LADY: I respect him and I honor what he's been through and what we've been through together. And you know, if that's not enough for people, then heck, don't vote for him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: All right, please let us know what you think of this story. Pretty incredible day in American politics.

Still to come, the first shots of the royal baby. A very little boy. William and Kate emerge and speak to the media. Plus, a woman falls to her death from a roller coaster. And the big question tonight is whether her weight caused the tragedy, with implications around the country.

And under the sea, something you have to see

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Welcome back to the second half of OUTFRONT. We want to begin the second half of the show with stories where we focus on our reporting from the front lines.

And I want to begin with a big development on whether America could be involved in military conflict. President Obama moving forward tonight with a plan to weaponize Syrian rebels. The military support comes after Congress approved the plan. Joint Chiefs Chair General Martin Dempsey is also skeptical, warning the involvement could cost billions of dollars. An expert (INAUDIBLE) tells us all kinds of transfers that the U.S. is willing to entertain, which include small arms, real modern anti-air, anti-armor capability won't actually shift the balance against president Bashar al-Assad.

Now an OUTFRONT update on the Southwest airlines jet that skidded more than 2,000 feet before coming to a halt. This photo was tweeted out today by the NTSB. They are conducting an investigation into the crash landing. Ten were injured. The agency says the flight data and voice recorders have already been sent to a laboratory. Former NTSB board member John Goglia tells OUTFRONT pilots practice for these situations, but usually when there's a problem with the landing gear, a warning light goes off. Since the pilot never declared an emergency, he says it's likely there wasn't any warning, which of course raises questions about the jet itself.

In Japan, the operator running the Fukushima nuclear plant has admitted radioactive groundwater has been leaking into the Pacific Ocean. This is according to Bloomberg News. The Tokyo Electric Power Company doesn't know when the leak started, meaning they could have been going on for two-and-a-half years. People there are concerned contaminated fish could enter the food chain and with good reason. A report by the World Health Organization earlier this year found a higher risk of cancer among those located in the most contaminated areas, and of course, if this has been leaking for a long time, there are big questions about how far that radioactive material could have gone. Perhaps even here.

Well, North Korea has kicked off its annual mass games. It's a 90-minute show. It runs until September 9, and it features more than 120,000 performers in a highly synchronized spectacle of song, dance and propaganda. A record number of foreigners are expected to attend. And while expert Gordon Chang tells the games do attract tourists, the regime really cares about the propaganda value. And this year the games coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the Korean War armistice. Chang says the Mass games help perpetuate the myth that the Kim family won the war.

It has been 717 days since the United States lost its top credit rating. What are we doing to get it back?

Well, the biggest story today in the world of money was Apple. The company sold 31.2 million iPhones last quarter, a number few saw coming. Expectations were only 26 million iPhones, but despite that, profits still plunged 22 percent and sales barely rose at all.

Well, our third story OUTFRONT: a theme park ride turns deadly. At Six Flags in Texas on Friday, 52-year-old Rosy Esparza slipped out of her seat on a 14-story high roller coaster. It was actually in motion at the time. She fell and she died.

The park is refusing to speculate on exactly what happened, pending an ongoing investigation, which we have told you is going to be done by the park itself because there isn't any regulation. Some, though, are saying Esparza's weight may have played a role.

I want to go to Ed Lavandera tonight with an OUTFRONT investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's supposed to be the first thrilling moment of the Texas Giant, climb the peak and race down, what Six Flags hails as the steepest drop of any wooden rollercoaster in the world.

This is where Rosy Esparza tumbled to her death. The medical examiner says Esparza was sitting in the third row and fell 75 feet. Her body struck a metal support beam and then landed on the metal roof of a tunnel.

A terrifying sight for Carmen Brown, who saw it firsthand.

CARMEN BROWN, WITNESS: It didn't hit me until we got down -- back down to the bottom. And I said like she was no bigger than I was. Like that could have been me. And then I like -- I lost it.

LAVANDERA: As Six Flags begins investigating, the company says it won't speculate about the cause, but a lot of attention is focused on whether Rosy Esparza's larger size should have kept her off the ride. Rollercoaster experts say most thrill rides, like the Texas Giant, are designed for people who weigh about 180 pounds and don't take into account the various shapes and sizes of riders.

And it's just not about weight. Sergeant James Hackamer, an Iraq War veteran who lost both legs in battle, died when he was thrown from a roller coaster in New York two years ago.

Bob Swint is CEO of ATA Associates and specializes in reconstructing accidents.

BOB SWINT, CEO, ATA ASSOCIATES: It could be something with the ride. It could be something with the operator. It could be something with the weight. It could be something with the design.

So I think this is what ultimately I think we'll find out when this accident reconstruction is completed.

LAVANDERA: Swint's company created this animated analysis of how passenger size can affect how seat restraints work. On an average- sized rider, the T-bar restraint similar to what's used on the Texas Giant rotates further down. Now, watch how the T-bar functions when someone who is perhaps too large rides.

Swint says at some point, the restraint stops working safely.

SWINT: There are various positions that bar can be placed in to accommodate the different ranges that you can expect to see in that seat. This bar is used as a primary mechanism to keep the body of the occupant stable and controlled so it doesn't become ejection.

LAVANDERA: But witnesses say Rosy Esparza told a Six Flags employee she was worried the restraint wasn't locked properly. So, the accident could also be a mechanical failure or negligence.

Regardless, tragedies of this magnitude are rare, and people keep coming back to experience the thrill of rides that take you to the edge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: And, Ed, you know, the need to turn passengers away because of weight -- I mean, obviously is delicate, right? You can imagine you can't get on this ride, you're too big, and then someone could, you know, say you're discriminating against them, right? You could have lawsuits because of that.

Then they get on the ride and something awful could happen. So what are parks supposed to do?

LAVANDERA: Well, you know, ultimately to avoid the situation, it's incumbent upon them. Many of the roller -- amusement park experts we've been talking about say that, look, on this -- for example, on this Texas giant ride, when you look on the six flags Web site, it doesn't say anything about a weight restriction. It does say that you have to be four feet tall to make the ride.

And what experts in this industry say, as long as you are up front with riders and park goers so they understand what it is they're paying for and what they're getting into, as long as they're aware of what those restrictions might be, then you avoid those situations. But ultimately, even if you get into that situation where someone gets into that seat, it's up to those park employees to really get a sense of whether or not this is a safe situation, and these experts tell us they should be the ones that, look, as awkward as it might be, they have to step in and tell them they should or shouldn't ride.

BURNETT: All right. Ed Lavandera, thank you very much.

And now our fourth story OUTFRONT: behold the little prince. So the world, if you have been under a rock, got its first glimpse today of the royal baby, Prince William and Duchess Catherine stepped out of St. Mary's Hospital in coordinating blue outfits to a throng of reporters who were all desperately waiting to see what you see Kate holding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE WILLIAM OF CAMBRIDGE: He's got a good pair of lungs on him, that's for sure. He's a big boy, he's quite heavy. We're still working on a name. So, we'll have that as soon as we can. But it's the first time we've seen him really, so having a proper chance to catch up, it's very emotional.

DUCHESS KATE OF CAMBRIDGE: It's very emotional and such a special time. And I think any parent I think probably sort of know what this feeling feels like.

PRINCE WILLIAM: It's very special.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: After just a few minutes, the happy couple went back inside, put the little baby, right now he's just the prince of Cambridge, I believe, because he doesn't have a name, they say.

Put the unnamed future king in a car seat and then they came out. But it was very clear Prince William had practiced or, I don't know, he was just incredibly adept. He snapped the car seat into the Range Rover without any problem and drove home to Kensington Palace himself, which was a very ordinary departure for whatever you may think is an extraordinary couple. There is no one the world cares about more in more places around the world than these two.

OUTFRONT tonight, Katie Nicholl, our royal commentator and a royal columnist for "The Mail on Sunday".

Now, Katie, this departure from the hospital was, obviously, incredibly, well-choreographed even down to their outfits. I can't believe they weren't choreographed, so don't burst my bubble if you don't think so. But, obviously symbolic of a modern monarchy.

Were you surprised that William loaded the baby into the car and actually drove himself?

KATIE NICHOLL, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, very, because that could -- as orchestrated as it was, it must have been an incredibly nerve-racking experience for them. The throng of reporters and press and photographers outside is like nothing I've ever seen actually in my lifetime. So, for them to be facing that as new parents, a daunting enough prospect, but it really was quite an experience.

So I was completely surprised that Prince William drove themselves off. But then he did drive them into that hospital, so he's very much taking on the mantle of man of the new household, man of the family, and he was very adept, as you say, as snapping that baby seat straight into the carriage. I'm very, very impressive because it took my husband quite a long time to master how to do that. I can tell you that much.

BURNETT: And still no name. William says they're still getting to know the new prince, but obviously -- I mean, like they could go and shock everybody, right? But a lot of people say, look, they have to know the name. Given the importance of this baby, do you really think they just don't know?

NICHOLL: Well, I'm sure that there was -- we know there was a shortlist because they said they had come up with a shortlist of names for a boy and names for a girl because they say they didn't know the sex of the baby. So, because, as you say, this is a royal heir, certain names, certain protocol needs to be adhered to. There will be names, I would imagine Philip and George, Arthur, names of historical significance, particularly Philip, the duke of Cambridge's grandfather. There are names that will be in there.

But possibly it was the case that they looked at Little Baby Cambridge and thought, do you know what, we don't think you are a George. Maybe we need to change this part of the name around or that part of the name around and they obviously haven't decided.

You know, this needs to be definitive. They can't change their mind once they have announced it. So, they obviously need a little bit more time on that.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Katie, thank you very much -- obviously working 24/7. They are getting less rest than the new parents.

But like many new parents, William and Kate are moving into a bigger home now that they have a new child and this fall they'll move into apartment 1-A. It is a legendary four-story, 20-room house. I mean, hey, why not take it small.

Anyway, it forms half of the clock tower wing of Kensington Palace, originally built for King Edward and Queen Mary in the 17th century. It was also occupied by the queen's sister, Princess Margaret.

Already, they're already baby-proofing the property. The entire $1.5 million renovation cost. Wouldn't it be great if this happened to all new parents? It's being covered by British taxpayers.

Still to come, racial profiling. Some say that is what cost Trayvon Martin his life. We're going to ask police commissioner Ray Kelly if New York's controversial stop and frisk policy is exactly the same thing.

Plus, al Qaeda stages a coordinated attack, 500 inmates freed from prison. How did it happen?

And tonight's shout-out, an extremely close call. I've been waiting all day to show you this. A couple of divers off the California coast were surprised when they were nearly hit by two humpback whales. I mean, literally they were a few feet away from the whales as they broke the surface of the water in an attempt to get some fish.

So, therefore, the shout-out tonight in my view goes to the whales for kindly not swallowing the divers, which probably seemed about as small as fish to those whales.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Our fifth story OUTFRONT: Racial profiling. It is why some say George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin. But it's also what some say the New York City Police Department does every day with its stop and frisk policy. That's a policy that allows police to stop, question, and pat down people that they believe could be carrying weapons or drugs.

Now, the policy is now being challenged in the courts and the statistics are actually very interesting. Eighty-five percent of those stopped in 2011, the latest statistics, were black and Hispanic. Those same groups only make up half the population.

Today, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly defended his department in an op-ed writing, quote, "The NYPD: guilty of saving 7,383 lives. Accusations of racial profiling ignore the fact that violent crime overwhelmingly occurs in minority neighborhoods."

So, is George Zimmerman guilty of more than what the NYPD does every day?

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly joins me tonight.

And thank you very much for coming on, commissioner. This is a fascinating issue. As you know, the FBI report that came out last summer about the Zimmerman case said, look, we don't see any evidence that he was racially profiling or there was any kind of a hate crime involved in that case. A lot of people believe that he did racially profile Trayvon Martin, even if subconsciously, because he thought he might be a criminal.

What do you think?

RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: First of all, you're talking about two private citizens. In terms of what the police department does, these are sworn police officers who are acting pursuant to the law. In every state in the Union, there's authority to stop and question, and sometimes frisk individuals who police officers have suspicion that they are about to or are or have committed a crime.

And as I say, it's throughout America. It's certainly not being done only in New York.

BURNETT: Fair point.

KELLY: And we believe we're doing it pursuant to the Constitution and pursuant to New York state law.

BURNETT: Just to extrapolate from what you're doing, you're saying crime overwhelmingly occurs in minority neighborhoods and you have the statistics that you put out there, 96.3 percent of New York City shooting victims were black and Hispanic, 90 percent of the people they shot were black or Hispanic. So when you look at those statistics you would say, all right, it's more likely that somebody who is going to shoot somebody is going to be black or Hispanic so then you would criminally profile as a police officer.

But if George Zimmerman did that, there had been in that neighborhood crime that they had -- people thought was committed by teenage black men. He's doing the same thing, private citizen, but isn't he doing the same thing?

KELLY: No, please, I don't want to get into Trayvon Martin. It was a terrible tragedy and I know it's very significant matter.

But really talking about, as I say, police officers acting pursuant to the law. You know, they're sworn to protect the people, and that's what we're doing here in New York. And the op-ed today I think attempted to show the success of the tactics and strategies that we're using, and it's certainly not using the stop and question tactics. That's a small portion of what goes on.

We are proactive here and you see the results. We've taken in the last decade 10,000 guns off the street, 80,000 other weapons. Murders are down to record lows. They were record low last year. Shootings are record lows. We're down about 30 percent from those numbers this year.

So we submit that something is going right here in New York. It's safer than it's ever been. As you said, there's a lawsuit and we'll see what happens. The judge has not rendered her decision yet. But we certainly believe that what we're doing is pursuant to the constitution.

BURNETT: And let me ask you about that, because, you know, look, you're making your case. But the president spoke out last week about race and what it's like to grow up black in America, and he said something that made me actually think exactly of what's happening in New York and I just wanted to play a little bit of it.

Here's the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me. The fact that a lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuses given -- well, there are these statistics out there that show that African-American boys are more violent, using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He puts an emotional spin on something. I mean, does that make you think twice?

KELLY: This is a very complex issue.

BURNETT: Yes.

KELLY: Absolutely. If you are an African-American male in this country, certainly in urban America, you have an awful lot of challenges. What we're doing, I believe, is saving lives in a significant way. The lives that are saved and the 7,000 that you mentioned are largely young men of color, because that's who's getting shot on the streets.

BURNETT: Fair point.

KELLY: Not only in New York but other cities.

BURNETT: Right.

KELLY: So it's complex, but, you know, the bottom line for us is New York is safer than it's ever been, and these people are arguably alive today because of the strategy and tactics that we put in place.

BURNETT: That's an interesting point that you're making, that you're saving lives of color and that comes with a cost. It comes with, in your view.

Now, let me just talk about the president because he said that but he also talked about you recently. He said you did an extraordinary job as police commissioner. He wants to consider you to replace Janet Napolitano as homeland security chief and here's exactly how he said it, because I don't want to paraphrase it, I want him to say it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Mr. Kelly might be very happy where he is, but if he's not, I'd want to know about it because obviously he'd be very well- qualified for the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: Well, it's very nice, very flattering to hear the president say that. But I'm not going to comment any further on it.

BURNETT: And do you think that the stop and frisk, the whole issue with the Zimmerman case, plays into that at all? I guess the question is, do you care if it does?

KELLY: We're doing what we think is the right thing here in New York. We're saving lives. As I say, it's safer than it's ever been. We have record lows in shootings, record lows in murders. And people are alive today because of the tactics that we are using.

BURNETT: All right. Commissioner Kelly, thank you very much.

Everyone, please weigh in and let us know what you think about the issue, as he said a complicated one, but he's making a clear case for his view. Let's check in with Anderson Cooper with a look on what's coming up on "A.C. 360".

Hi, Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Erin.

Yes, ahead tonight on the program, more on the stunning admission from New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner. He admitted he continued the behavior that forced him to step down from his job in Congress two years ago tonight with his wife standing by his side. He said he exchanged raunchy text messages with other women a full year after he stepped down. How will this impact the race for office and what exactly drives someone to this kind of self-destructive behavior. We'll have more on that tonight.

And plenty of people around the world got their first glimpse of the baby who will be king. The duke and duchess of Cambridge made their first appearance post-pregnancy today, showing off the newest member of the royal family. We'll speak to a friend of Princess Diana who witnessed firsthand how Will and Harry were raised.

Also, Erin, I know you talked about the divers that had an incredibly close encounter with humpback whales. The picture, the video is incredible. We're going to talk to them tonight and find out what it was like to be in the water with those whales. Plus, the ridiculous, all at the top of the hour, Erin.

BURNETT: It's almost fish food. All right. Thank you, Anderson.

And up next, al Qaeda stages a prison break with 500 inmates free tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And we are back with tonight's outer circle where we reach out to sources around the world.

Tonight, we go to Iraq. An al Qaeda group in Iraq tonight taking responsibility for a coordinated attack at a Abu Ghraib prison.

According to one official, more than 500 inmate s were freed, some of them radicals. Let me say -- many of them radicals or all.

I asked Nick Paton Walsh how the prison breakdown went down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, a coordinated, sophisticated attack on infamous Abu Ghraib jail. Hundreds of inmates released, some reportedly put there by the U.S. military. Car bombs, al Qaeda suicide bombers, rocket propel grenades used to get inside the walls. The fear now is the Iraq government hunts these men down, will they join the ranks of insurgency, wrecking havoc every day and dozens of dead across Iraq and, of course, across the border, into Syria increasing the number of Islamist inside rebel ranks, Erin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. Thanks very much to Nick Paton Walsh. And, obviously, a crucial story, given all the questions about America and the operations of this country in Iraq.

Thanks so much, as always, for watching. Anderson Cooper is going to have much more on the top stories of the night. Anthony Weiner and new revolutions about raunchy, inappropriate sexual texts with a woman and perhaps revelations on who that latest woman may have been. That's coming up after this.

"A.C. 360" is next.