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Romney: GOP Would Suffer with Govt. Shutdown; Obama Praises Former Rivals; New Hard Landing Details; American Tourist Breaks 600 Year Old Statue; Eagles' Riley Cooper Returns from Sensitivity Counseling; Govt. Sues Bank Of America

Aired August 7, 2013 - 06:30   ET



CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The Bruce. Hopefully, the best days are yet to come.

Welcome back to NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, August 7th. I'm Chris Cuomo.


We are joined by news anchor Michaela Pereira.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.

BOLDUAN: Coming up this morning, new details about the final moments of a Southwest flight that made a hard landing at New York's LaGuardia airport. Did the captain make a critical mistake?

CUOMO: Here's another airplane story, right? One guy is a joyriding pilot. His friend who is afraid to fly realized he made the biggest mistake of his life riding shotgun.

BOLDUAN: Why would you ever?

CUOMO: It's a must-see moment. Look at him.

PEREIRA: We needed the beep button, too.

CUOMO: That scream is a violation of man law.

BOLDUAN: He's hitting a higher note than I can hit.

PEREIRA: You know what, man didn't apply. His reaction was visceral.

CUOMO: Talk about the man laws that relate to that situation. Still a violation.

A lot of serious news, though, this is morning. So, let's get to Michaela with that. First up, we're going to deal with the Amber alert, right?

PEREIRA: Yes, we're really concerned. This is in its second day. No sign of a California teen and her little brother who police say were taken after their mother's murder. Police are looking for this man, James DiMaggio, the suspected abductor.

The children's father making a desperate plea to DiMaggio, a former close friend, saying, "I'm begging you to let my daughter go. You have taken everything else."

Then to his missing daughter Hannah, he said, "If you have a chance, take it. You run."

President Obama makes his first comments on the decision to close embassies across the Middle East and Africa. In an interview on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno, the president said the decision to close a broad swath of American embassies and diplomatic posts over overseas was not an overreaction.


BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are things we can do to make sure that we are keeping pressure on these networks that would try to injure Americans. The first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing when I go to bed is making sure that I'm doing everything I can to keep Americans safe.


PEREIRA: The president stressed the importance of using caution and common sense if have to be vacationing abroad.

A Colorado man accused of mowing down nearly two dozen people on Venice Beach boardwalk in California now faces murder and assault charges. Nathan Louie Campbell could get life in prison if he is convicted. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment yesterday. He's accused of killing an Italian tourist who was on her honeymoon and injuring some 16 others.

Bank of America is now facing civil lawsuits from the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The suits claim the bank defrauded investors selling mortgage-backed securities. Bank of America accused of making false statements and intentionally failing to perform proper due diligence on risky mortgages from third party brokers.

What do you do when you crash your car, you flip it twice and land on top of a bus stop? Well, you hail a cab, of course. This is some crazy from Cincinnati. Police there are looking for the driver who rolled his car, causing $5,000 worth of damage to that gas station. When his car stopped flipping, the driver climbed out, simply hailed a taxi and took off.

CUOMO: What do you say?

PEREIRA: There's almost nothing to say.

CUOMO: Nothing to say. We'll leave it at that.

BOLDUAN: We'll leave it at that. Thanks so much, Michaela.

PEREIRA: No problem.

CUOMO: Talk amongst yourselves.

BOLDUAN: No, listen to the next segment.

CUOMO: While talking amongst yourselves.

BOLDUAN: Multitasking.

It's time for the political gut check, everyone. All the stories you need to know from straight out of Washington and around the country.

First this morning, Mitt Romney, he campaigned in the 2012 presidential election on getting rid of President Obama's health care law. But while attending his first political fund-raiser since the election, he advised against plans by fellow Republicans trying to do that. So, what's going on?

CNN's White House correspondent Brianna Keilar is back with us to break this down.

We talked about this yesterday a little bit. But it seems Mitt Romney is joining the chorus with other big names and presidential hopefuls, Marco Rubio included, who want to shut down the government if the health care law isn't funded.

But I guess the question is, I don't think Mitt Romney is the guy that Marco Rubio and Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are trying to talk to and appease in this debate.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No. They are trying to speak to their Tea Party backers, right? That's who they're talking to.

But it's interesting to hear Mitt Romney weigh in, even though you would say, he's not the most influential Republican there is. I do think this is pretty intriguing, because he sort of doesn't have maybe the political ax to grind he once did, right? S, he's talking about the realities of what happened if they are trying to vote to defund Obamacare and attaching it to the spending bills for the government.

What did he warn? He said, you'll have soldiers who won't get paid. You have seniors who are worried about Medicare and Social Security.

And he's right. I mean, these are the images the Obama administration could put out there. And these are the images that Republican leaders who are saying, we don't want to shut down the government. This is what they are worried about, too.

BOLDUAN: So, if he is right and he thinks Republicans will be to blame if this happens and they will pay in the next election if the government is shut down then why are Marco Rubio -- why are they pushing for this? Because the raw politics of it seem pretty obvious. KEILAR: OK. Well, they are pushing because it's popular with the folks who backed them. Even if the Republicans don't go ahead and force a shut-down of the government, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz have still managed to appeal to those who backed them.

BOLDUAN: And at least they get to make the statement, even if they don't even go through it come September, right?

KEILAR: It's not always about the end game is, right? It's about the message that you send in politics. And that's what we're seeing play out here.

BOLDUAN: We also talked a little bit today about the president visiting Jay Leno. And they hit on a ton of topic.

But one that is obviously interesting in the political realm is president side stepped the question about Hillary Clinton. They had lunch. There is obviously a lot of buzz about 2016. And when asked if she was measuring the drapes, the president simply said, she's been there before. I don't think she needs to measure.

There is no benefit for him to jump into presidential politics. Joe Biden is his vice president and Hillary Clinton is a friend.

KEILAR: Did you ever have two friends running for student council at the same time and the anguish of who you would support for secretary of the student council? It's like that on steroids, right? So -- although not really. These are two folks who are or were very important members of his administration. So, he's kind of walking a fine line I think here.

But also, I just -- I don't think you really see him weigh in until the nominee is decided in 2016. If he's not popular, he probably may take a little bit of back seat even then.

BOLDUAN: Then a lot of conversation is that it's unlikely that both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton will be in the primary. That will likely be hammered out, some would say, before any of them --

KEILAR: I don't know.

BOLDUAN: That's true. You'll never know.

KEILAR: I think it's going to be really interesting. I think it could be really interesting.

BOLDUAN: It will be interesting regardless. But will there be a fight? We'll see.

All right. Brianna, thank you very much. Great to have you in New York.

KEILAR: Yes, definitely.

CUOMO: We're going to take another break here on NEW DAY. When we come back, stunning details about the final seconds of Southwest flight 345. What the captain tried to do when the jet was just 400 feet from impact.

BOLDUAN: An American in Italy triggering outrage after breaking the finger off a 600-year-old statue in a Florence museum. We'll have that story, coming up.


CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everybody. We have new details for you from inside the cockpit of the Southwest flight that hard landed at LaGuardia airport last month.

Federal investigators say the captain took the controls from the copilot just moments before the jet slammed nose first into the runway.

CNN's Rene Marsh is in Washington with more on that. Rene, what are the latest developments here?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. You know, this morning, investigators are getting closer to understanding what caused that crash at LaGuardia. Believe me it was ugly. We saw the pictures of oh sparks flying, the plane skidding and of course the passengers being tossed back and forth.

Now, we have new information that the captain of Southwest 345, he took over the controls from the copilot in the final seconds before touchdown. The switch happened when the plane was below 400 feet. So, that means the plane was likely about 30 to 40 seconds from touchdown.

Pilots I spoke to say it is rare to have a change like that so late in the game. Those final seconds are critical in landing. The question now for investigators, what made the captain so uncomfortable that he felt he needed to take control?

And, Chris, we are also learning more about the pilots flying in the plane last month. The captain who took over the controls was experience. He'd flown with the airline for 13 years. This was only his second flight into LaGuardia. His co-pilot with the airlines for 18 months, but he had flown into LaGuardia six times already for the year -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So, Rene, it doesn't sound good with these developments, all right? That's the obvious point. The important question then becomes, well, what does it mean in terms of the analysis of fault? What are you hearing about how investigators are viewing this information in terms of accountability for the airline?

MARSH: Well, I spoke with a couple of pilots and tell me that -- they say they didn't believe the fact that the pilot was flying into LaGuardia for the first time was a factor and that this crew was flying together for the second time flying into LaGuardia. He didn't believe that that was a factor. He said, look, they are all trained to land planes no matter what the airport is. They have the equipment in the cockpit to make it happen. It's just like me doing a story for the first time on a topic that may not be on my beat. I can still do the story.

So, they did not again believe that that was a factor, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Rene. Obviously, they're going to have to figure things out because they have to do their best to make sure it doesn't happen again. I appreciate the reporting this morning.

MARSH: Sure.

CUOMO: Kate, over to you.

BOLDUAN: Let's go around the world now, starting in Germany where U.S. military planes have landed after helping Americans evacuate from Yemen.

CNN's Diana Magnay has more.


DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. has evacuated what it calls nonessential personnel from its embassy in Yemen. Two military planes carrying 90 American citizens arrived here in base in Germany on Tuesday. This as U.S. embassies and consulates remain closed across the Middle East and Africa. U.S. Special Forces on alert in case al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula follows through on a command to do something. A message intercepted by U.S. intelligence.

Kate, back to you.


BOLDUAN: Diana, thanks so much.

Now, to Russia where NSA leaker Edward Snowden is adjusting to his new life there. And he could be getting some visitors soon. Phil Black reports from Moscow.


PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Edward Snowden's Russian lawyers said he sent an official document to Snowden's father in the United States inviting him to travel to Russia. That invitation is a necessary step in the process of applying for a Russian visa. The lawyer says he sent invitations to a number of other people as well, as Snowden's request, but he won't say who.

Snowden's father is expected here in early September, around the same time President Obama is scheduled to visit Moscow.

Back to you, Kate.


BOLDUAN: Phil, thank you.

And we all know the statement, the line, "look but don't touch." Outrage in Italy after an American tourist accidentally broke off a finger of a 600-year-old statue in a Florence museum.

Dan Rivers is in London with the latest.


DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An American tourist in Florence is in trouble after snapping a finger off a priceless medieval sculpture. He was attempting to measure a finger of a sculpture of the Virgin Mary by Giovanni Dambrogio and snapped it off inadvertently. The head of the museum there says the fundamental rules for visiting museums have been forgotten -- namely, do not touch the works. The tourist in question could now face a hefty fine. Back to you, Kate.


BOLDUAN: Why oh why? I guess we should find out. That will be our next guest. Why oh why do you need to measure the pinky of a 600- year-old statue?

CUOMO: Better than how it sounded, though. I thought it was just vandalism. You know, it was like this, you know, stereotype of like the ugly American, you know, going and breaking this piece of art. But at least, it seems like it was some part of, you know, if you're measuring it, maybe there was some decent reason you're trying to do it.

BOLDUAN: Maybe. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt, though, he is not going to have any benefit when he has to pay the hefty fine.

PEREIRA: You want to see some doubt?

CUOMO: I want doubt.

PEREIRA: You know how we love seeing parings of odd couples? This is quite an odd couple. A guy who specializes in acrobatics freaks out his friend who happens to be terrified of flying. This is our must see moment next. It really is come cry with me.



CUOMO: "Top Gun," this guy wishes.


PEREIRA: -- must see moment. What do you do when your friend is afraid of flying? Well, of course, you take him up in your tiny two- seater, of course, so it feels like he's not even in a plane. If that's not terrifying enough, you start doing some extreme acrobatic in the air.



PEREIRA: Here's the choreography. Spin, spin, spin. then scream, scream, scream. The guy's high pitched squeals make today's must see moment so extra brilliant. Here is the question. How strong is their friendship now?

BOLDUAN: I was going to say. That is a loose definition of friend. Maybe he's really trying to get him to overcome his fear, but that's a healthy fear to have.


CUOMO: Who puts out the video out?

PEREIRA: I think they both did. I'm betting.

BOLDUAN: Let's just comment more on the screaming. Can you scream that high?

CUOMO: Of course not.

PEREIRA: Yes, you can.

CUOMO: It would be a violation of man law to scream that way.

PEREIRA: Come on. Don't question his manhood.


CUOMO: What else do you question?


PEREIRA: Too good.

BOLDUAN: That's it.

CUOMO: Maybe I'm wrong.


CUOMO: Coming up on NEW DAY, President Obama not joking around during his visit with Jay Leno. He's talking about the new terror threats, Edward Snowden, and Hillary Clinton.

BOLDUAN: And a manhunt is on in California where the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl has triggered an amber alert. The girl's father is begging the suspect to let her go.


CUOMO: Ah, we have a "Bleacher Report" for you. Big topic. Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, Riley Cooper, back in training camp after taking sensitivity counseling. This after he was caught using a racial slur. Andy Scholes is with us. Always good to see you, my friend. What's the latest on this? Talk about a difficult situation to reenter.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, definitely difficult situation, Chris. You know, Cooper back on the field with his teammates yesterday, and he said that he met with each and every one of them individually to talk about the video that caught him using a racial slur at Kenny Chesney concert. Now, Cooper said he hopes people judge him on the future and not his past going forward.

He apologized for his actions once again, but he did not seek forgiveness. He said this whole situation is on him and it's up to him to prove to everyone that he is not that kind of person.

Well, A-Rod is playing in his second game since deciding to appeal his suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. In his second bat, White Sox pitcher, Chris Sale, hit him in the elbow. The Chicago crowd, of course, let out a big cheer. They love seeing A-Rod get plunked. Yankees would lose again.

You can go to right now to see where A-Rod ranks among the biggest scandals in sports history. And as this thing continues to develop, guys, I'm saying this scandal just keeps getting worse and worse.

BOLDUAN: And he's got a banged-up elbow today.


CUOMO: The question is baseball is doing it to try to help the sport, but early on, it's going to hurt the sport because you're taking on your biggest stars. You know, fans are unhappy. It's going to take some time.

BOLDUAN: Fans are clearly upset. All right, Andy --

SCHOLES: This could drag out until November.

BOLDUAN: -- thank you so much.

CUOMO: All right. Always a pleasure, Andy.

BOLDUAN: Always a pleasure.

CUOMO: Hear the music?

BOLDUAN: I do. You know what that means?

CUOMO: No, what is it?


BOLDUAN: It's time for the "rock block," everyone, a quick round up of the stories you'll be talking about today. First up, Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Let's take a look in the papers. In "The New York Post," call it the Twitter effect. A new study says that live tweets about a primetime television comedy or drama can dramatically boost a show's ratings.

In "The Wall Street Journal," elementary schools sending a message to parents heading ended (ph) up coming school year, do not request your favorite teacher. More and more schools are skipping parental input all together when it comes to teacher assignment.

And in "The Washington Post," it turns out dolphins have the best memory in the animal kingdom. A study says they can remember friends after 20 years apart.

Time now for your business news and Alison Kosik.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And thank you. Another hit on the Wall Street. The Dow set to fall for a third straight day. Two Federal Reserve officials hinted the central bank has pulled back on its stimulus program as soon as next month.

The Department of Justice suing Bank of America. B of A allegedly sold mortgage securities in 2008 that it knew were risky. Almost a quarter of the mortgages in those investments failed. B of A is fighting the charges.

Hey, you can now buy a genuine Warhol, Monet or Rockwell on Amazon. Online retailer launching Amazon art more than 40,000 pieces from galleries and dealers.

Indra Petersons, how's the weather?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Now, if I win the Powerball maybe I can buy one of those, Alison. Yes, I might take a little bit. All right. We have an update for you in the tropics. Gil has dissipated. Henriette (ph) soon to have the same fate. You can tell still a category one hurricane, but the latest track continues to weaken and keep it south of Hawaii. All good news eventually via nice fish out there.

Bad news, though. Look at this still feeling the heat in the south. We're talking about Texas, even Arkansas, Louisiana. Heat indices today anywhere from 100 to 115. That is a big ouch out there. And for everyone else, yes, rain looks so much better. You're not dealing with heat, but a lot of rain especially in through Missouri, Kansas, even now pushing in through Tennessee and Kentucky everyone else

Mid-Atlantic and northeast looks about one to two inches of rain where we kind of starting overnight tonight. And then, in through the next couple of days, it hurts to say it when you get close to the weekend to talk about rain. I'm sorry.


CUOMO: Everyone blames you. Tough being a meteorologist.

PETERSONS: No one gives me credit when it's nice. See, that's the key.

(LAUGHTER) BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Indra.

We're now the top of the hour, which means it's time for the top news.