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NEW DAY

Supreme Court Decides; Prayers For Mandela; Army Now Fights Budget Battles; Hysterical Woman Pulled Off Plane; 23 Boy Scouts Injured In Lightning Strike; Student Loan Interest Rates; Chris Brown In Trouble; Broadway To Honor Gandolfini

Aired June 26, 2013 - 07:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody, to NEW DAY. I'm Chris Cuomo.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We are here with our news anchor, Michaela Pereira. It is Wednesday, June 26th. Coming up in this half hour, a woman gets out of control a little bit on a plane and eventually gets dragged off. But what caused the whole incident is pretty outrageous.

CUOMO: Plus, did you hear one of Liz Taylor's many wedding dresses are up for auction. That's where John Berman comes in because he is giving his NEW DAY award of the day award.

MICHAEL PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: He is pretty fashion forward.

CUOMO: He is a talented man. Everybody knows that. What we don't know is the rest of the news so we have to get to you.

PEREIRA: All right, good morning, Kate and Chris. Good morning to you at home. In a few hours, we expect the Supreme Court today to issue two historic rulings on same-sex marriage. The high court will decide on the challenge to the defense of marriage act prohibiting federal recognition of gay unions and it will rule on the challenge to California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in that state.

This morning, Nelson Mandela's family by his side at a Pretoria hospital where the former South African president remains in critical condition. The archbishop of Cape Town led the family in prayer Tuesday calling for a peaceful, perfect end for the 94-year-old Mandela. The government of South Africa says Mandela's condition remains unchanged. Today, Mandela received a visit from South Africa's former sergeant general.

In Aurora, Colorado, some sex assault victims are being victimized again. Police say DNA evidence in as many as 48 sex assault cases may have been destroyed in error. This means some cases from 2009 can no longer be prosecuted. That includes one case involving an unidentified suspect who was a DNA match for two other unsolved cases in Denver. The Army with two wars over now fighting some budget battles, it plans to cut a dozen combat brigades, reorganize the rest and reduce its total number of troops by about 14 percent. Most of the cuts have come through attrition. The Pentagon is trying to save $500 billion over a 10-year span.

A South Florida paramedic says he wanted to go big when he proposed to his girlfriend, but why a flash mob at an Ikea megastore. Why not? Well, it turns out that Carlos met Rebecca at the store and it's where they spent their first date. So a flash mob danced and Carlos surprised Rebecca by coming down the escalator and popping the question. He is overdressed for an Ikea. The good news is, she said yes.

CUOMO: Did you hear that, the greatest thing that ever happened to me? I can't spend my life without you.

BOLDUAN: That's a great idea. Ikea, you should give them a bedroom set.

PEREIRA: That's nice.

BOLDUAN: It's great. It's not my money, spending other people's money.

PEREIRA: Kate Bolduan.

BOLDUAN: Thank you very much.

It started out with a woman refusing to turn off her cell phone. It seems to happen quite often on a plane. This doesn't always happen. It's escalating so quickly. It ended as an example of what not to do when the authorities get involved. The whole thing was, of course, captured on dramatic cell phone video.

Pamela Brown is looking into this story. Here we go again.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She sure did. Another unruly passenger was seen here. We know that turning off the cell phone is a standard part of pre-flight preparation. Some passengers do it begrudgingly. One woman appeared to take it to a whole new level after she allegedly refused to stop talking on her cell phone before take-off. Authorities got involved. Her outrage was caught on another passenger's cell phone video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off me.

BROWN (voice-over): It is a struggle to remove an irate passenger. In this video, a woman refuses to leave this U.S. Airways flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Charlotte on Sunday. According to the flight crew, the woman ignored repeated instructions to turn off her cell phone before takeoff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is going to go down bad. BROWN: WPLG in Miami reports the crew called in authorities to forcibly remove her for being, quote, "unruly." According to WPLG, officials charged the 22-year-old woman with battery on an officer and disorderly conduct. It's the latest example of passenger air rage in recent weeks.

Last Monday, a disruptive passenger caused this overseas flight to turn around after a rant about being poisoned. Passengers jumping in to restrain him until they landed at Newark Airport. Remember this woman? She was booted off her New York bound flight last month for singing this Whitney Houston ballad.

Who could forget this high-profile incident? The "30 Rock" actor, Alec Baldwin, was kicked off a Los Angeles bound flight in 2011 because he refused to stop playing "Words with Friends" on his cell phone. Well, not everyone wants to play by the rules. Flight delays caused by passengers can have a huge ripple effect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It delays the passengers obviously that are on board the aircraft, but it can also delay the passengers that are perhaps in an aircraft waiting for that gate. Then, it has ripple effects through the system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: U.S. Airways released this statement regarding Sunday's incident. While these types of events are far from the norm they are nonetheless an inconvenience for those customers caught up in a delay due to one passenger with less than stellar manners. You know, we have seen some more serious problems we've talked about recently, one passenger claiming to have a bomb in his backpack and another leaving a disturbing note in the plane's bathroom. What's so interesting in some of these incidents is just how the passengers are stepping in to play the role of air marshal.

BOLDUAN: Well, in this case camera operator. You have to be careful to judge. You don't necessarily know exactly what the phone call was all about.

CUOMO: Maybe it was an emergency call or something like that. Once the authorities get involved, you better get moving.

BOLDUAN: You have to listen to them.

CUOMO: Pamela Brown, thank you very much for bringing that too.

Another story this morning, most of the 23 Boy Scouts burned this week in a lightning strike, here's the good news, back at their camp in New Hampshire. Strikes like this are more common than you think. The National Weather Service estimates 30 people were killed by lightning every year in this country. Luckily, these Boy Scouts were prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIAN SEABURY, BOY SCOUT INJURED BY LIGHTNING: The brightest, brightest white, total whiteout before I blacked, and the loudest noise. You cannot hear anything.

CUOMO (voice-over): The 15-year-old Julian Seaberry is still recovering after a frightening face-off with a powerful summer storm. He was one of 23 Boy Scouts hurt in a lightning strike Monday night.

SEABURY: I kind of shake it off. I look around. Everybody is kind of screaming. It's a little chaotic.

CUOMO: Julian was participating in a Boy Scout Leadership Training course in a mountaintop near Belmont, New Hampshire. They were two miles into the woods when a fast-moving storm system headed straight for them. The only shelter for the scouts was this tarp secured by ropes tied to trees and metal stakes. Take a look at this tree where the lightning struck.

GERRY BOYLE, BOY SCOUT LEADER: We knew that it was very close and we knew that some people were shaken because it was so close and there was such a loud clap of thunder along with this lightning volt.

CUOMO: Julian blacked out and immediately felt burns on his back and pain in his knee. The 23 scouts and three adults were shuttled to the Belmont Fire Department and then on to nearby hospitals.

CHIEF DAVID PARENTI, BELMONT FIRE DEPARTMENT: A lot of times you can arrive on the scene and you can work your way through, but we had them all come in a bus and a pickup and then we had to figure out, OK, how serious are these injuries and how long ago did this happen?

CUOMO: Another close encounter with ferocious storms. Last week, this incredible video of the moment a mother and her daughter were hit by lightning in Russia, they were badly burned but survived. It is not the first time the Boy Scouts have been affected by thunderstorms.

Back in 2005, 13-year-old Ryan Collins and his scout leader were killed in California's Sequoia National Park as they scramble for shelter. In 2011, a 12-year-old Boy Scout was killed by lightning after being stuck in a hail storm outside Salt Lake City. As for Julian's troop, none of the scouts were seriously injured perhaps thanks to the scout's motto be prepared.

SEABURY: There was no one I would rather have been with if that had to happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Local authorities also triaged very well and quickly very important to note. Let's bring in chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It's great to have you as always, Doctor. Let's begin at the beginning. The sensations, what they said they felt, the tingling, why is that?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is the electricity. What you sort of expect, the scale of reference, your socket at home has about 120 volts. Talk about a lightning strike, 120 million volts. It is very short lasting, which is why people survive at all but that's a lot of electricity. You don't have to be directly hit. It can hit the ground around you and then transmit itself through the ground. Obviously water and metal are the worst things to be standing next to because that can conduct. The human body can conduct as well. Our bodies are 60 percent water.

These are all reasons that people might have that sensation. The strike was quite some distance away. You get a lot of cross-chatter. Also as you mentioned, not that uncommon, I mean, you know, 1 in 3,000 or so people, your chance of getting hit by lightning, 1 in 3,000, thankfully, very few people die. It happens a lot more than people realize.

BOLDUAN: It happens, of course, a lot more in the summertime. People are outdoors more and there are more thunderstorms -- kind of logical, but when this is happening, when this does happen, you wonder what's the difference between -- if you feel that tingling and if it becomes fatal, what's happening in the body?

GUPTA: A lot of that has to do with how close you are to the strike. But in terms of what you can do to prepare yourself, if your outside, as you mentioned, if you are the tallest object outside, like Chris would have a harder time than other people, because he is the tallest object.

If you are in water, touching metal, being in a car is actually quite protective. It will actually transmit around the car and go into the ground. Those are the things that are going to make you more vulnerable. What happens is you can get the burns as you heard a little bit that a couple of Boy Scouts got more minor burns.

It interferes with your whole electrical system in your body. Your body is an electrical system, the nervous system. Your heart is an electrical system as well so typically when people die from these sorts of things, it is because it causes a jolt or a burst of electricity to the heart specifically. And so that's what often happens. So get inside is your best bet. Also, staying away from metal, water, things like that.

PEREIRA: It is so interesting. They talk about these kids with the burns. Beside the burns, we understand they will have lasting effects. Will there be other electrical issues in their body down the line?

GUPTA: That's a great question. There shouldn't be. One of the things that people will do often, if you come to the emergency room and think, look, I'm fine. Nothing happened to me. They will get an EKG to rule out this exact thing. Did something happen to the heart that even the person who was involved does not realize yet? Could that be a problem later on down the line? If that EKG is OK and it sounds like with these Boy Scouts, thankfully, things are OK. That is something they would look for as well.

BOLDUAN: Good advice, nonetheless. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, great to see you. Stay inside.

GUPTA: When you hear the thunder roar, get indoors, and don't be too tall. There is your takeaway. Thanks, Sanjay.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, accusations in a major city that police pay raises are tied to the number of tickets they write. The surprising memo that started it all.

CUOMO: Plus, you can't buy Monica Lewinsky's infamous blue dress, but we will tell you about some of her personal items that are up for sale.

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CUOMO: Welcome back, everybody. There is news about your money and Christine Romans has it. Good morning, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Stock futures strongly higher this morning, this follows the rally yesterday thank goodness. The Dow, NASDAQ and the S&P 500 all ended with significant gains after a string of sharply lower closes, very strong housing news yesterday.

The Ford F-150 is the most American made vehicle. It's the first time in four years that a domestic automaker has topped the American made list. The Toyota Camry knocked down to number two. Cars.com ranked each vehicle based on where it is assembled, how many parts are made in the U.S. and vehicle sales. The F-150 benefiting from very strong sales right now.

The clock ticking down on student loans, on July 1st interest rates on federally subsidized student loans are set to double, you guys, to 6.8 percent, if Congress doesn't act. It doesn't look like they're doing it right now. In real dollars, that means if you have $27,000 in student debt in a 20-year loan, your monthly payment will jump from 155 bucks to $206. It will affect seven million college students. Just a few more days, student loans will double the interest rate, guys.

CUOMO: That's terrible. That actually matters. I hope everybody is paying attention. It is that time of the morning. John Berman is here to give us his NEW DAY award of the day award.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Matter is a relative term here. I have a women's wear edition. Later today, Christie's is hosting a very special auction. Elizabeth Taylor's wedding dress. It is a pearl encrusted satin gown. It's about $47,000. This was the dress she wore for the 1950 marriage to Conrad Hilton. She was just 18. Astounding, stunning, but, if you don't like it, there could be several more options available soon.

The award today is the not so limited edition award. Of course, not to make fun, but Elizabeth Taylor went on to marry seven more times. It is possible you have other styles available eventually. If wedding wear is not what you're after, another option raising eyebrows this week, online at this very moment, some gear once owned by Monica Lewinsky is up for auction. Well, there were 32 items submitted as evidence and they include a sheer black negligee.

CUOMO: John Berman looking down when he said the word.

BERMAN: I barely know what the word means. In addition to the negligee, which I don't know what that means there were some M&Ms. If you're into negligee and M&Ms, they are both up for sale. These are owned by someone she was allegedly having a relationship with at that time. These people putting them up for auction. I should say one thing that's not up for auction that dress, that one. It's not up, you can't get that dress. Not available under any circumstances.

PEREIRA: I like the fashion term.

BERMAN: A broad range of subject.

BOLDUAN: Did you say broad.

CUOMO: You're terrible.

PEREIRA: Nice to see somebody else in the hot seat now.

CUOMO: I like it when John is in trouble and not me.

BOLDUAN: I'm moving on. Coming up next on NEW DAY, history in the making at Supreme Court, the justices set to announce decisions that could redefine marriage for generations.

CUOMO: Not everyone is bailing on Paula Deen. Celebrity chef is defending herself in a TV interview this morning following the criticism for her admitted of racially insensitive language. We'll take you through the reactions of the interview.

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BOLDUAN: When you hear the music, it means it's time for rock clock, a quick round up of stories you'll be talking about today. Let's start with Michaela.

PEREIRA: Let us take a look. In "Time" magazine, another reason to breast feed babies. A new study suggests it will increase social status later in life including better jobs and better pay.

From the "Wall Street Journal," disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner now frontrunner in the race for New York mayor. A new poll shows he's leading the Democratic pack for the nomination.

Finally from "Chicago Sun-Times" could the Cubs leave their beloved -- the mayor of Tinley Park trying to lure the team over to Chicago south side offering 250 acres for a new stadium.

BOLDUAN: Say it isn't so. Chicago will have a lot to say about that.

CUOMO: Christine Romans is back, but this time for Nischelle Turner to get her pop on.

ROMANS: Yes, I've got pop on this morning, new legal trouble for singer, Chris Brown. He's charged in a hit and run and driving without a valid license for an accident last month. He is still on probation for then beating up then girlfriend Rihanna.

Miley Cyrus' tweets should have a warning label. The latest threatening her dad saying, I'm giving you an hour to tell the truth or I'll tell it for you. She quickly deleted that and wrote that her Twitter was acting up.

Tonight, Broadway theaters will dim their lights to honor the late James Gandolfini. The actor who died last died last week in Italy was nominated for a 2009 Tony for "God of Carnage."

BOLDUAN: All right, Christine, thank you so much. Finally, let's get to Indra Petersons in the weather center with what you need to know before you head out the door.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: More showers and more -- Ohio Valley, that same cold front producing some heavy rains there. Watch out for those. Plus, it does look it is moving to the east. Not only heavier rain to the mid-Atlantic by tomorrow but that's the plus. The bad side of the huge ridge of high pressure is building into the southwest so we're going to be looking for record-breaking heat as we towards the weekend.

BOLDUAN: OK, Indra, thank you. We're now at the top of the hour which means it's time for the top news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the central jagged line in our politics. The Supreme Court is going to be poking at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Decision day, the Supreme Court just hours away from a landmark decision. Will they make same-sex marriage the law of the land?

BOLDUAN: Speaking out. Paula Deen breaks her silence this morning answering questions for the first time since admitting using racial slurs. Can she win back the fans?

PEREIRA: Helping hands. The task force that goes into the homes of hoarders and helps them get rid of the clutter. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.