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Anthony Weiner Sexting Scandal; Castro In Court; Interview with Jay Carney; Obama To Giver Speech On Economy; Sergeant On Desk Duty

Aired July 24, 2013 - 07:30   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It's going to be great and back here, we got White House Spokesman Jay Carney joining us live. He's going to be talking about the president's new economic push. Also we'll be asking him things about what's going on in the world and about American mojo and how do you help the middle class. We'll try to get our questions answered for you this morning on NEW DAY. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back, everybody. This is NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, July 24th. I'm Chris Cuomo. Coming up the president's hitting the road, his mission to refocus the American people on his economic plan. We're going to have White House Spokesman Jay Carney here in just a few moments saying what that will mean and answering our questions how it will matter to you -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And much more from London, the new prince spending his first night with his parents in Kensington Palace. Up next for the future king you may ask? Well, meeting more of his extended family, Aunt Pippa, Uncle Harry, wonder what gifts they'll get the new king, new prince. First let's get to news anchor, Michaela Pereira for the top news happening right now. Hi, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Pretty cool aunt and uncle to have, not bad at all. All right, Kate, thank you so much.

First up in the news, Anthony Weiner makes a stunning confession admitting that he continued in engaging in inappropriate online behavior even after a sexting scandal forced him to resign from Congress. Weiner says that will not stop him from running for mayor of New York City. His wife, Huma Abedin, was at his side Tuesday when he made this latest confession. She says she loves him. She believes in him and has forgiven him.

New this morning the principal of the school in India where 23 children died after eating tainted food has been arrested and could face charges. Police also want to speak with her husband as well. Authorities believe a container of cooking oil had been tainted by deadly fertilizer.

In just a couple of hours from now, Ariel Castro will be back in a Cleveland courtroom for a pre-trial hearing. Castro is accused of holding three women captive in his home for nearly a decade. Earlier this month, the judge ruled him competent to stand trial next month. Castro has pleaded not guilty to nearly 1,000 counts including kidnapping, rape and murder.

We're expecting new insight this morning into President John F. Kennedy. An hour from now the Kennedy Library in Boston is set to release 7,500 pages of never before seen records from his brother, former U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Experts say the documents are important because Robert Kennedy was his brother's closest confidant and adviser.

Check it out, a mama bear trying to rescue her cub from a dumpster in California, almost unbearable to watch. She tries climbing, biting and banging on the lid. Her baby bear is trapped inside. Enter a Fish and Wildlife officer, he saw what was happening, set off a loud siren and flashing lights to scare the mother away.

When she was retreated far enough, he opened the dumpster lid and then quickly backed away for the family to enjoy a happy reunion, kind of a sweet little video there, hard stuff to follow now. Chris an interesting conversation you're about to have.

CUOMO: All right, thank you very much, Mickey.

Today President Obama returning to Knox College, the first site of an economic address when he was a senator in 2005. He believes this is part of the first in a series of speeches intended to reframe the economic debate for his dream for the rest of the second term. He will then reaffirm the importance of economic growth from the middle out rather than the top down. What does that mean for you?

Joining me now from the White House to talk about this as well as other major issues facing the president is White House Press Secretary Mr. Jay Carney. Jay, let me welcome you to NEW DAY. Thanks for coming on.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Chris, I appreciate it. Congratulations on your show and it is indeed a new and glorious day in Washington to see a reduction in humidity down here.

CUOMO: It would be very nice. Now I do know it's easy to get right into the weeds of politics about this, but for this discussion, let's try and keep it on the people who are going to be affected by this speech and not so much the partisan back and forth because people hear enough about that every day. This speech that the president's going to give that is supposed to set out the new plan, people will hear this and say hasn't he reset the plan like three, four times in the last year? What will make this time different for American families?

CARNEY: Well, I think the question is appropriate and in a way the answer is contained within it. The president will speak about the very same consistent themes that he's been talking about ever since he was a new senator from Illinois and gave a speech at Knox College in 2005 and laid out the challenges economically and focusing on the stresses the middle class feels and even before the great recession, Chris, back in 2005, you had a situation where middle class incomes were stagnating, flat lining.

Folks in the middle class felt stressed, they didn't know how they'd send their kids to college or meet their payments even as the wealthiest most affluent Americans were seeing their incomes increase dramatically. And that situation was only exacerbated by the great recession and now we have made some significant progress since the recession ended, since the economy began growing steadily and since we've seen over the past 40 months 7.2 million private sector jobs created.

But we have more work to do and we need to focus that work on the middle class because America's greatness came from the dramatic expansion and solidifying of the middle class in the 20th Century. We need to see that happen again in the 21st because if we don't we will not be at our strongest. The president wants to focus on what we can do to help the middle class.

CUOMO: OK, and let's pick up on that point, let's go specifically what can be done, I know you can't take the speech apart, but just thematically here, middle class families, the re-default rate on mortgages even after modified very high, the ability to get their kid to colleges, getting screwed up down there in Congress. Is the president going to offer a solution for mortgage stress? Is there a new answer for these college loans? Does he have anything in this speech for people on those points?

CARNEY: Well, let me just address the college loan situation.

CUOMO: Yes.

CARNEY: We are very optimistic that there has been a deal reached in the Senate to resolve the situation regarding the loan rates for students across the country, and we believe that it will come together and we've been pushing for it, the president insists on it so that students and their families across the country won't see their loan rates double. So that represents progress.

CUOMO: Jay, will he makes sure that it is not a teaser rate and not just going to jump a year or so from now? You know that this is the most important expenditure for families after their mortgage.

CARNEY: Absolutely. The answer is the compromise coming together in the Senate does ensure that rates remain low because that's what the president insists on and what leaders in both parties said they want to see happen but I think it's a great question, Chris, because it goes to more that we need to do to make sure that college remains within reach for middle class families and families striving to get into the middle class.

You know college costs have been soaring and this has put huge pressure on middle class families, even as we see more Americans going to college than ever, the costs of college continues to rise and we need to address that and there are ways we can do that and the president will talk about that and talk about it more specifically in future speeches and proposals that he makes.

On the housing situation, we've seen housing come back substantially from the depths in the wake of the bursting of the housing bubble. We've seen home prices rise and more people see their mortgages come out from under water. There are millions of American families who still have underwater mortgages who could benefit from refinancing at low interest rates if Congress would work with the president and act to enable them to do that. He's been pushing that proposal and will push it again. What's good for the economy is good for the families.

CUOMO: Let's get in on that. The criticism before this speech is even offered by Speaker Boehner is they, don't talk about it. Come work with us. The American public are sitting out there. Washington dysfunction has become synonymous with Washington. How do we know that the president can get anything done in congress when he hasn't shown that kind of leadership to this point?

CARNEY: First of all I strongly disagree with the last point you made. Look what happened since the president took office. The worst recession since the great depression has been reversed, the fastest pace of job growth we've seen in decades and recession after recession, economic growth has been consistent for quarter after quarter, again, 7.2 million jobs.

We've seen the automobile industry on the verge of collapse in this country, saved, revitalized and now creating jobs in America and selling great cars around the world. We've seen the housing situation stabilize and begin to improve. You know, we've seen affordable care act passed that will provide access to insurance for millions of Americans who didn't otherwise have it and benefits for other millions of other Americans.

There is more work to do. I would also say on the point of cooperating and making this Congress work, don't forget at the beginning of this year, the president reached a deal with Congress, including Republicans on Congress, but for the first time in 20 years Republicans agreed to the basic principle that our tax code was out of whack and the wealthiest needed to pay a little bit more and that happened and we finally introduced tax fairness into our code on January 1st. We can do more.

Meanwhile, by the way, in terms of the progress we've made the deficit's been coming down at the fastest pace since demobilization after World War II. So let's be clear --

CUOMO: Those are all good indicators.

CARNEY: We had halved the deficit under President Obama. This is important work and he's done it with Congress and he's done on his own when Congress hasn't cooperate and that's what he's going to continue to do.

CUOMO: The point of criticism doesn't go to the fact that the president has done nothing in terms of leadership. That's not my point. It's that the condition in Washington right now speaks to a need for leadership that's my point. No vote on immigration. You know, this crap with the student loans that they even made it an issue down there is so appalling to so many American families.

That they should be figuring out how to make college loans deductible like we do mortgages, that's the way you incentivize education. That's what many families believe. That's where that point goes to that kind of leadership. How do you think the president can communicate to the American people that he can get things done with what we see every day down there?

CARNEY: Well, I think by engaging the American people, by keeping the focus on the issues that the American people care about and by working with members of Congress of both parties to press them to work with them to get the things done that the American people care about. In the end, members of Congress respond to their constituents and I think a perfect example is immigration reform.

The fact is if the president hadn't been re-elected the policy of the Republican Party would still be on immigration reform, self- deportation that was the policy the Republican nominee put forward last year so chances for comprehensive immigration reform would be at zero.

Instead we see a situation because of the president's leadership and the unbelievably strong leadership of a bipartisan group in the Senate we have a bill emerged from the Senate that represents a real chance to deal with this issue.

CUOMO: Jay, when do you think you get a vote on immigration?

CARNEY: I wouldn't pick a day, but I believe that not because the president says so, but because he's leading, not because any individual Republican senator says so because they're leading, enough pressure will be brought to bear on House Republicans that they will act and we will see comprehensive immigration reform arrive on the president's desk so he can sign it.

There's a coalition of business leaders, of labor leaders, of church, faith leaders, of law enforcement leaders who say we need to do this for our economy and middle class. That's the thing the president believes provides a template for action moving forward on the economy. He'll talk about that in Galesburg and focus on the economy.

CUOMO: People need to see that the men and women in Washington are working for them again and everybody is looking to the president for leadership. Jay Carney, thank you very much for taking the time. It's great to have your introduction on NEW DAY. Hope to have you back.

CARNEY: Thanks, Chris, take care.

CUOMO: All the best.

Coming up on NEW DAY, the sergeant who released those bloody pictures of the Boston bombing suspect learns what his punishment is to be for now. What does it mean for his job? We'll take you through it.

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CUOMO: Welcome back, everybody. That police sergeant who releases photographs of the Boston bombing suspect being taken into custody remains on desk duty this morning. An administrative hearing was held for Sergeant Sean Murphy and Jason Carroll has more on his fate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His Massachusetts State Police colleagues hail Sergeant Sean Murphy as a man of honor and conscience. And as Murphy walked into a meeting with his superiors, he described his feelings this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Life is good.

CARROLL: Murphy could lose his job for releasing these bloody and bruised photos of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to Boston magazine, a violation of department policy. Murphy said he was protesting, "Rolling Stone" magazines glamorized cover of the Boston bombing suspect. Murphy's superiors put him on restricted duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Murphy unable to comment because of the investigation so his 19-year-old son came to his defense.

CONNOR PATRICK MURPHY, SERGEANT MURPHY'S SON: My dad has been a huge hero to me. If I could be one fourth of the man he is, I'll be more than happy with my life, couldn't be prouder.

LEONARD KESTEN, SERGEANT MURPHY'S LAWYER: Sergeant Murphy acted from the heart and I admire it. He saw courage in putting it out there with his name on it. I think we all recognize that.

CARROLL: Murphy received an outpouring of support after the photos were released. A Facebook page set up in his honor has some 60,000 followers and counting. Murphy's boss said it's a difficult situation, but he must maintain the integrity of the department.

TIMOTHY ALBEN, SUPERINTENDENT, MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE: If we get into a situation where we allow employees to cherry pick and to choose what confidential information can be shared with the public, then we've lost the integrity of the Massachusetts State Police.

CARROLL: State Police say they expect their investigation to take several weeks. During that time, Murphy's superiors will decide what further punishment, if any, he is likely to face. Jason Carroll, CNN, Framingham, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: That's a tough one there because did he have the right to do it? Probably not. Administrative rules, protocol, but was it right to do it?

PEREIRA: Moral, professional restrictions and guidelines playing a part into this. If you ask people on the street they probably feel differently than what the law says.

CUOMO: That's why it will take a little time.

Coming up on NEW DAY, breaking news, NSA leaker Edward Snowden may be leaving the Moscow airport any moment. We'll go live to Moscow for the latest development. You'll want to see it. PEREIRA: A little too close for comfort at 30,000 feet. How did this guy handle this very awkward situation? We'll show you more.

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BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY. A picture of Queen Victoria. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm hearing in my ear that we're told William and Kate have left Kensington Palace. Where are they going? We don't know but we may find out. We'll look for more information on that.

In the meantime, maybe it's genetics, maybe it's wishful thinking, but it seems people are having a lot of fun today. It seems the new prince has the royal wave already mastered. Did you watch this moment yesterday? The hospital doors open, Will and Kate emerge with their beautiful new son.

And the future king almost on cue raises his tiny little hand beneath that white blanket, guys, and gave the world a brief but regal wave, something everyone has been telling me we need to practice. The queen goes like this. Some say it goes like this. It's clearly up to interpretation. I'm clearly not royal.

CUOMO: You are to us.

PEREIRA: It's like this, more, more.

BOLDUAN: That's much better than mine. Mine's kind of like this.

CUOMO: We'll discuss it in break. We'll take a quick break on NEW DAY. When we come back, we are monitoring breaking news out of Russia for you. NSA leaker Edward Snowden may be leaving the Moscow Airport for the first time in weeks. The big question, where's he headed? We'll go to live news out of Moscow, trying to get you the latest.

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