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Royal Baby on the Way; Pope Francis to Visit Brazil; The Race Debate over Travyon Martin; Obama Speaks on Trayvon Martin Death; The Road to Redemption

Aired July 22, 2013 - 08:30   ET



CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everybody. It is Monday, July 22nd and I'm Chris Cuomo.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan, of course with, joined by news anchor Michaela Pereira. What are we looking at, people?

CUOMO: A big ambulance.

BOLDUAN: A big ambulance and a very big day. These are live pictures outside of St. Mary's Hospital in London where Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, is in labor right now as we know it, and we could meet the newest heir to the British throne any minute.

CNN's Max Foster has been following the latest developments from St. Mary's Hospital and is joining us now. So what's the latest, Max?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, it's interesting, everyone's really preparing for that big moment. She's in labor, it's been almost eight hours at least now. So even Prince Charles suggested it could come in the next few hours. He was talking to well-wishers today when he was out and about on a public engagement.

When the birth has happened, the first we'll hear from it is when this notice comes out on the doorstep. Someone will, a palace official will be bringing a note out, it will go to Buckingham Palace. An interesting little conversation I had with a person on Buckingham Palace who's going to place it on the easel. I mean what do you wear for such a moment in British history, well, she tells me she has chosen a pink and blue dress. She has all her options covered. She's also not indicating in any way whether she thinks this is a boy or a girl.

BODLUAN: Just working the odds. Pink or blue. Either way, you're going to be right. At least you've got one of those on hand. All right, Max, stand by with us. We're going to talk much more about this exciting moment in their lives, obviously.

But to do that, let's bring in CNN royal commentator, Victoria Arbiter. So Victoria, we've been talking a lot about all this. The pomp and circumstance surrounding that easel that we're going to see, but we won't learn the name of the baby, likely, when we get that first moment of knowing the sex, the weight and the time of birth, right?

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: That's right. It took seven days to announce William's name. Harry's name was announced the next day when he was leaving hospital. Took a month to name Prince Charles. It took William three weeks to announce the name of his dog. So anything is possible. I hope he's not going to leave us hanging that long.

BOLDUAN: We were also talking in the break, not to diminish how the queen loves all her great grandchildren that she has, but this will be very special, that moment she gets to hold this child.

ARBITER: I'm really looking forward to the picture when we see the queen with this great grandbaby. She does have two already. She loves them dearly. But this one is the future of the monarchy. This child is potentially the first monarch of the 22nd Century. And I think for the queen, she's riding this wave of immense popularity right now. It's a great time for the royal family. She sees Charles the III next, William VI, and then this baby. And so she sees that the monarchy is safe for all intents and purposes for generations to come.

CUOMO: Now just because we don't get the announcement of the name doesn't mean they don't name the baby right away like everybody else, right?

ARBITER: Well, you would think, like most parents, they've nine months to think about a name. Some people say it isn't until they look at the baby that a name even feels right. But I think it's more about keeping it private and to themselves just for a couple days because every little part of it is going to be analyzed and pulled apart.

So I'm hoping that they allow us to have the name sooner rather than later because otherwise we've seen what happens with speculation.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And it's been interesting to watch what parts of tradition they follow. Obviously they have to follow the protocol of the royal family, but they also are new parents in a new era, aren't they?

ARBITER: They really are. William and Kate really do do things their own way. Just last Christmas they spent Christmas Day with the Middletons. Royals don't do that. They don't go to the in-laws for Christmas. And so I think William is really keen to say, look, yes, we're members of the royal family. We're going to adhere to the formalities and the traditions, but at the same time, we're shaking things up. We're doing what's right for us and for our child.

BOLDUAN: And it's great because you've seen really all along the way -- how close and included the Middleton family has been in all of the special moments with this couple.

ARBITER: They really have. And Carol is going to be the only living grandmother. And so it's going to be interesting to see sort of how much of an influence they have. The Middletons are the most working class family, I suppose, that has been associated with the royal family since 1028. So, going to see a lot of --

CUOMO: I like that excuse for the holidays. Yeah, can't go to the in-laws, going royal this year.

BOLDUAN: Victoria, thanks so much.

CUOMO: All right, five things you want to know. You want to know what they are? Michaela.

PEREIRA: There you go, for your NEW DAY.

Number one, dangerous flooding in the Arizona desert. Monsoon-like weather triggering raging flash floods in the Phoenix area, two inches of rain in an hour. Of course, rescue teams in choppers to airlift drivers to safety.

And a witness says she heard victim Rosie Esparza complain that her lap bar was not secure moments before she fell to her death from a roller coaster at Six Flags over Texas. Investigators have ruled out foul play.

Earnest Wallace will be in court this morning for a pretrial conference. He's a friend of former Patriot star Aaron Hernandez and he is charged with being accessory to murder after the fact.

The cross-examination of Katherine Jackson resuming this morning. The matriarch of the family will be back on the witness stand at her son's wrongful death trial. It is now entering its 12th week.

And at number five, Pope Francis making his first major overseas trip since becoming Pontiff. He's set to arrive in Rio de Janeiro at 4:00 Eastern this afternoon for a week-long visit to Brazil.

You know, we're always updating the five things to know. So be sure to go to for the very latest.

CUOMO: That is huge, having the Pope in Brazil. First Pope from South America, he's back there. Big deal, big deal.

All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back on NEW DAY rallies across the country this weekend as outrage grows over George Zimmerman's acquittal. Is it time for Stand Your Ground laws to change? One provocative question we'll ask.

BOLDUAN: Also coming up on NEW DAY, scandals can't seem to keep Eliot Spitzer or Anthony Weiner down. The latest on their political second wind. Straight ahead.


CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY everybody. The debate over race and the criminal justice system rages on. It's been one week since the acquittal of George Zimmerman but the dialogue has continued to grow. There are now calls by protesters and political leaders to reexamine Stand Your Ground laws, the president even speaking about the case. Take a listen.


BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.


CUOMO: But when the president said those words, it took the story of the case to an entirely different level and now we have the protests among us that we have to figure out where they go from here.

Joining me, Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny and founder of the South Central L.A. Tea Party, and Mr. Charles Blow, CNN contributor, "New York Times" columnist.

Thank you to both of you, gentlemen, for being here. I appreciate it. You are in different locations so only one rule, as we have in all debates here, just let the other guy finish, then say what you want even if the question isn't directed at you. Happy to have you both.

OK, all right, let's begin with the question surrounding the president. Charles, the president came out, he said, "That could have been me." A lot of people believed that that injected race into a case where race did not belong. Your take on that?

CHARLES BLOW, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think that it was important, I think, for him as a person, as a black man in America, to do what he did. And I think that he has the prerogative to do that, to say he found some kinship with this young man.

And I think that the case is whether or not George Zimmerman profiled Trayvon Martin on the base of race we'll never know because we're not in George Zimmerman's head. However, we do have what George Zimmerman said the night that he saw Trayvon Martin. And he didn't know anything about Trayvon Martin. He didn't know Trayvon Martin's name. But he did know a few things. He knew what he was wearing. He knew that he seemed, according to what he said, he seemed to be in his late teens. He knew that he was a young black man. And there was something about that set of criterias that led George Zimmerman to group Trayvon Martin with the criminals who have burglarized before.

CUOMO: OK, OK, Charles --

BLOW: And I think that you have to take that into account.

CUOMO: OK, and I and we will right now. Thank you for that point, Charles. So I bring it to you, Reverend. Charles just said it. One of the things that seemed to be on Zimmerman's mind was this young man looks like the kids who have been robbing our houses. Does that make George Zimmerman a racist or a profiler? REV. JESSE LEE PETERSON, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT BROTHERHOOD ORGANIZATION OF A NEW DESTINY: Not at all. And this case was not about race. It was not about Trayvon Martin. It was not about George Zimmerman. It was about people like Barack Obama and the so-called black leaders of the black community, race-hustlers like Sharpton and Jackson and others tried to manipulate the hearts and minds or insight anger in the hearts and minds of black Americans in order to get the Stand Your Ground laws changed. In order to usher in new gun laws, in order to control American -- Americans ever more so.

Barack Obama should be ashamed of himself. He had no business inserting himself into this trial. He knew what he was doing and what's happening right now with this rally and marches across the country. The races are fighting and while blacks and whites are fighting, this corrupt government is getting new laws passed in order to control us even more. And this is why black Americans should overcome their anger so they can see that the real enemies are not white Americans but people like Barack Obama, Eric Holder and the so- called civil rights leaders.

CUOMO: Well Reverend, why don't you have a right as a black person to be angry when a young man is just walking home, winds up dead and there is no punishment? Why isn't that a situation that should make you angry?

PETERSON: These folks are going to be angry about one thug getting killed why everyday black Americans are being shot down and killed by other blacks across the country. Last year we had 500 homicides in Chicago right in Barack Obama's back door, Jesse Jackson's back door. Why are they upset about those people? And when Barack Obama said that Trayvon Martin, if he had a son, Trayvon Martin would look just like him. So these black guys around the country who have been murdered by other black people they don't look like his son or wouldn't look like his son if he had a son. This is hypocrisy, this is black racism at its worst.


CUOMO: All right Reverend, let me stop you there.

PETERSON: And I think black Americans should have a sense of shame about what they're doing.

CUOMO: OK, let me stop you there and bring that to you, Charles. The idea that because there is a lot of other black-on-black crime this case shouldn't have been focused on -- does that make sense to you?

BLOW: I think it's kind of ridiculous when you say that there are some competition among killings. That you just have to say you only care about one or the other, that you cannot simultaneously care about both issues. And I also -- and I also think that when you have so many people say -- excuse -- I think the rules were that we would --

CUOMO: Keep going, Charles. Just keep going -- just keep going.

BLOW: And I think that what -- you should ask the inverse question when you have people saying don't care about this, then you ask yourself why do not -- people don't want people to care about this. And what -- and this is -- this case is inextricably linked to kind of gun policy in this country. So, it's not that anyone is trying to introduce it. It's just linked to it.

So Illinois just passed, enacted concealed carry laws. That made it the 50th state. So now conceal carry is the law in all 50 states. You have the Stand Your Ground laws and the self-defense laws in Florida, which was what the police used as part of their rationale for letting George Zimmerman talk his way out of a police precinct the night that he was found standing over a boy who he had shot through the heart. That is also what allowed the jury to acquit George Zimmerman.

I think that what -- what is upsetting most Americans and I think from what the protests that I've seen is that not only black but there are white people marching that all of the marching a lot of parents are marching because people with children look at that and they say, something is odd about the idea that someone could have a concealed weapon, can set events into motion that ends up with a person being killed and have no legal culpability for doing that whatsoever.

I think that strikes people as odd and you know, when you have a concealed weapon, you know it. The other person may not know. You came into that situation with the gun. I think that's really important to understand that it is, you know, this particular case is not local like what is happening with Chicago. I mean Chicago is a great case to look at because, you know, you have other large cities with large African-American populations that are not experiencing --


PETERSON: This is absolutely non --

CUOMO: Hold on one second, Reverend. I'm coming to you.

BLOW: -- that are not experiencing the same levels of homicide that you are experiencing in Chicago. So Chicago has 500 homicides last year.

CUOMO: Right.

BLOW: But there are almost 900,000 black people who live in Chicago and this is what happens when people use data to discriminate. They say that you are more likely to have all the people who are not criminals who are doing exactly what they are supposed to do who are just part of families going to school --


CUOMO: Right.

BLOW: -- going to church or whatever. And we -- we say well, you're more likely because of the criminal element that you have a higher percentage.

CUOMO: Right.

BLOW: And so, I think that's profiling writ large.

CUOMO: Right, Charles, but the point is at the end of the day you still have blacks killing blacks in large numbers. It doesn't get the attention Zimmerman got. And that's the Reverend's point. Reverend, make that point.

PETERSON: You know, first of all, I want to say that had George Bush inserted himself as President in this same case, had George Bush said that if I have a son, he would look like George Zimmerman, all hell would have broke loose. And secondly, there is nothing wrong with Stand Your Ground laws. There are now -- and Stand Your Ground laws are now in 30 states and also we have -- as citizens of this great nation, we have the right to bear arms.

If you change all the laws in this country, it is not going to stop the destruction of black Americans. The only thing that is going to change the destruction of black Americans is that they have is to rebuild families. Fathers and mothers in the black community need to get married and guide their children in the right way to go. They need to teach them to understand and respect authority.

And secondly, employment is very important in the black community. Barack Obama and the so-called civil rights leaders could care a less about that. Unemployment is at 13 percent or 14 percent in the black community. So you could change all the laws that you want black folks are still be killing each other because it's not about white racism, it's about black racism and the lack of family and morality in the black community.


CUOMO: All right, Reverend I've got to stop you there.

PETERSON: Black Americans need to turn away from Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson and others and start thinking for themselves and become individuals so that they can understand what this country is all about.

CUOMO: All right, Reverend, thank you very much. Reverend Peterson, Charles Blow, thank you very much. I appreciate having you both. This is a big conversation.

BLOW: All right, thank you.

CUOMO: We'll keep it having it on NEW DAY, I promise you that. Thanks for the insight this morning. Kate -- over to you.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Chris.

Coming up next on NEW DAY their careers were rocked by scandals -- a sex scandal and a scandal over lewd photos. Well now, Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner are back leading in the polls. So what's behind their political comebacks?


BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY everyone.

Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer both in the final stretch of about to stage their own political comebacks; and if poll numbers are any indication, which we like to believe that we're right on the polls, that typically defeating sex scandal won't get in their way.

Let's talk more about this. Joining me now is CNN contributor and Daily Beast senior political columnist John Avlon. So John, you've -- we've -- I've been talking a lot about this, what does this mean in politics in general. But you -- you wrote about this recently and one line stuck out, you said "It's official, the sex scandal is dead."

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The sex scandal is dead.

BOLDUAN: What does that mean?

AVLON: What I mean is that politicians now can look at a sex scandal as a way to make their name ID. I mean it will help them stand out from the pack. They get to say that they're on an arc that they've been forgiven. That they're really relatable and that's what Weiner and Spitzer have both done with great success -- at least according to the polls right now in New York City. If anything, it's increased their street cred. Kind of depressing.

BOLDUAN: Kind of depressing. But does that mean New Yorkers are a more forgiving bunch, which I would say probably not. Or is this the way it is everywhere now.

AVLON: I mean one thing -- the celebrity gossip culture in the country, this is a reflection of it. All of a sudden politicians play that celebrity game rather than trying to hold themselves to a higher standard. That's a loss.

But look I mean this began -- this cycle at least -- with Mark Sanford in South Carolina, winning in South Carolina, coming back, a campaign I covered well. One commonality is in these one-party towns, one- party states. If you can win that primary, you basically win the general and that makes it easier to come back from a scandal.

BOLDUAN: People do seem to be forgiving when they have that big name ID, right?

AVLON: Absolutely because there is that celebrity factor and all of a sudden they stand away from the pack.

BOLDUAN: Also an interesting element of this is the role of their wives. Both of these men, as well as Mark Sanford, he made his way back from the Appalachian Trail. Their wives have played a big role in very different ways.

When you talk about Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner, two very different strategies -- Weiner's wife, Huma, has been right by his side; Spitzer's wife, not so much. How does that play? AVLON: Two very different playbooks. I think to understand Huma Abedin, Anthony Weiner's wife, you need to focus on the fact that she worked for Hillary Clinton for so many years and she's very much following that playbook. You know, after having suffered through it, this race is a redemption for her as well, for political redemption and power.

Whereas Silda Spitzer, you get the sense that she doesn't want to be seen anywhere near her husband. There's a degree of disgust. One interview recently she described him as a colleague -- oh, that's cold -- colleague.

BOLDUAN: That is cold.

AVLON: So, I'm tolerating the ambition, but this is not something I'm invested in.

BOLDUAN: All right. Well, we're going to watch those races are coming up. We'll watch it with you and we'll make some predictions later. John, great to see you.

AVLON: Great to see you guys.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Pleasure. Pleasure to have you here.

Look at the time, it's almost 9:00, you know what that means, we're done here at NEW DAY. Thanks for being with us and it is time for "CNN NEWSROOM" with the one and only Carol Costello. look at that smile, everybody. Good morning Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That's because I thought -- I thought you were going to it's time, the royal baby has been born, but not yet.

BOLDUAN: We wait, we watch with you.

COSTELLO: I know, I can't wait. Have a great day.

CUOMO: You too.

COSTELLO: "NEWSROOM" starts now.