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NEW DAY
Fight Over Attorney General Vote Heats Up; Aaron Hernandez Jurors Speak Out. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired April 17, 2015 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:32:27] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: There's big development here -- 23-year-old Ohio man is in custody this morning, charged with providing material support to terrorists. Authorities say Abdirahman Shaikh Mohamud trained with Islamic terrorists in Syria last year before returning to America on a mission to kill. According to an indictment, Mohamud planned to execute soldiers at a Texas military base and had a backup plan to attack a prison. This is the first case brought by the American government against an American for allegedly planning attacks here after training over there.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Big changes in security expected at the White House. The U.S. official tells us that temporary steel spikes will be added to the perimeter fence to help keep jumpers away. Word of the move comes after several alarming incidents including one last September where a man jumped the White House fence and made it into the White House itself all the way to the East Room. Replacement fence is expected to be built next year.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: A new study out finding the number of teens using e-cigarettes tripled in the last year in this country. This comes from the Centers for Disease Control, and it says high schoolers use the electronic cigarettes more than conventional tobacco cigarettes. Remember, no one under 18 is supposed to be smoking these.
E-cigarettes don't contain tobacco. They do almost always have nicotine, which can harm brain development in children. And that is the big issue here.
CUOMO: All right. So we are now hearing the 911 call from a Seattle airport worker who fell asleep and ended up taking off in a cargo hold of an Alaska Airlines jet. The emergency operator seemed to have trouble understanding that the panicked caller is actually stuck in the belly of a plane. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Are you at the airport?
AIRLINE WORKER: I'm not at the airport. I feel like it's moving. (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Are you by yourself or with somebody? AIRLINE WORKER: By myself, geez.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CUOMO: It is so bizarre and it's terrible. Obviously, the plane made an emergency landing. It's not obvious. Actually, luckily the pilots heard them. And after 14 minutes, they wound up landing again. They were hearing banging coming from underneath the floor.
The worker wasn't hurt, amazingly, because that cargo hold was pressurized and temperature controlled. But he's banned from working on any Alaska Airlines flights.
HARLOW: He was on a sleep. So, can you imagine waking up to that?
BERMAN: Well, I don't think -- I can't imagine that and I can't imagine being the 911 operator getting that call. I don't think they train for, I'm trapped in the cargo hold of a plane that's flying right now.
[06:35:00] So, when she asked are you alone, he's like that's not an important question right now.
HARLOW: I know. But this is how they're trained to stay so calm throughout the 911 operators.
CUOMO: It's also got hoax all over it in terms of if it's coming in. They have to take everything seriously, but she probably never heard anything like that before and hopefully never again.
HARLOW: I don't think this is going to happen again.
BERMAN: Let's hope not.
All right. It is CNN Money now time. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans in the Money Center.
Hey, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, again, John.
Apple Watch mystery. If you ordered one, get ready to wait until June to have it ship. The original plan was for watches to be on sale in stores next Friday. You can still have them, try them on in the stores. You can preorder them still online. But to have one on your wrist won't be next Friday as planned. No word from Apple why.
Netflix added an unbelievable 5 million new subscribers in just three months, 5 million new customers. Looks like that gamble of original programming like "House of Cards," looks like that's paying off. The stock surged 18 percent yesterday, $562 a share, folks. Some predict Netflix shares could double by the next year.
Millennials don't talk about what are you watching on TV, they talk about what you're going to watch on Netflix. It's really changed the game -- Poppy.
HARLOW: They do. They have a few good shows on Netflix, right, Romans?
ROMANS: I'd say.
HARLOW: Just a few.
Coming up on NEW DAY, growing outrage as Loretta Lynch waits and waits and waits for her confirmation vote, just a vote on her confirmation as possibly the next attorney general. How much longer will she have to wait and what can Democrats do to move the process along? How much can they force the hand here?
Also, the new CNN original series "High Profits" tells the extraordinary story of two marijuana entrepreneurs. It is only here on CNN this coming Sunday night. Here's a sneak peek.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're starting off with some of the most beautiful places in Colorado. We'd like to open a store in Crested Butte. We'd like to open one in Steamboat Springs and Vail, different states, different countries. I want the Breckenridge cannabis club to be a household name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people made money selling picks and shovels during the gold rush. This is the green rush.
I would say there will be three to five billionaires minted in this industry in the next three years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This right here, this is the real stuff. You're not going to find this on the street. This is top quality organic bud. In 2009 when we first started, we started off very small. We were growing in a garage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had our own medical marijuana cards and a few other patients. Mostly just grew and gave that away until there was a profitable business plan that we could go forward with. And that's when we got into Breckenridge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn't work as hard as we've worked the last four years to just scrape by. We have much bigger plans than that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:41:54] BERMAN: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is threatening to force a vote on President Obama's nominee for attorney general, Loretta Lynch. She's been waiting 160 days for this Senate vote, but we should tell you there are signs that the block could be resolved soon. And perhaps as soon as next week, there could be a vote. But, man, it's taken a long, long time. Joining us now, Richard Socarides, former senior adviser to President
Bill Clinton and A Democratic strategist. Also here, Cheri Jacobus, a Republican strategist and the president of the political consulting firm Capital Strategies PR.
Richard, I just said there are indications from our Senate folks from CNN that may be there could be a deal that would put a vote some time next week. Barring that, because these thing haves a tendency to fall through, you think this has gone on an inexcusably long time.
RICHARD SOCARIDES, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Way too long. And you know, you said that she's been waiting for a vote. The unfortunate part about it is that the American people have been waiting to have this woman confirmed, a career prosecutor, an African-American woman who has been waiting for the longest time since seven attorney generals combined, and for absolutely no good reason. I mean, the Republicans are blocking her without any reason whatsoever.
BERMAN: Technically speaking, the Democrats are blocking a vote on a human trafficking bill because there is abortion language in that bill. Democrats aren't allowing that vote, the Loretta Lynch vote would have to come after the human trafficking.
Cheri Jacobus, is this a fight worth having for the Republicans? Rudy Giuliani who thinks President Obama doesn't love America, Giuliani loves Loretta Lynch. He calls her an extraordinary pick to be attorney general.
So, why not have the vote?
CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look, Mitch McConnell is well within his rights and job description to do this. This is the type of thing that happens all the time.
The Democrats and Harry Reid did this sort of thing all the time to Republicans. In fact when he was majority leader, they actually instituted rules that made it harder for the minority to block and filibuster some lower level nominees. So this is him, you know, yelling and screaming.
BERMAN: But, Cheri, does can mean should? He can do it, should he?
JACOBUS: I think it's fine. I think it's going to have to be resolved at some point. But they're making the point.
And the Democrats screaming about the abortion language in this bill is basically the Hyde Amendment, no federal funding for abortion, and it's been public since January. And they're acting like this was snuck in and we just found it.
So, there's some politics on both sides. There's much ado about nothing.
In terms of this nominee, yes, she's a strong nominee. When she reached the threshold of 51, it looked like this could be a done deal. However, very important position, it's now come out just as of
yesterday, Senator Vitter sent her a letter asking her what would you be willing to or would you commit to an investigation of Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal? Which is very serious. That's not just partisan Republicans saying it, that's voters and the public when you look at the polls.
And she wrote back yesterday and said, you know, I just don't have enough information so I can't commit to that. That might change a few votes. This is a very important issue.
BERMAN: If there's a vote, which there isn't one yet because the whole thing is being held up.
JACOBUS: Right. They want that 51 percent. Senators need to be comfortable that to the degree possible this nominee would not be partisan would do her job.
[06:45:06] BERMAN: Richard, on the subject of politics you think it's very important, crucial, inexcusable that there's not an up or down vote on Loretta Lynch because you think they're playing politics. How come there isn't an up or down vote on the human trafficking bill? How come that's not just as much politics?
SOCARIDES: I'm glad that Cheri --
BERMAN: You don't have an answer for that.
SOCARIDES: No, I do have an answer.
BERMAN: OK.
SOCARIDES: I'm glad that Cheri raises the issue of woman's right to choose and Hillary Clinton e-mails in this context, because this is exactly what's happening. The Republicans are playing politics with a career prosecutor who's been nominated for the most important law enforcement job in the world. And all of a sudden, they've interconnected issues of a woman's right to choose and if Hillary Clinton's e-mails just as Cheri said with this issue.
The point is this is a very important job. This is a job that American security and freedom depends upon this job. Now, the ironic thing here, of course, is that Republicans have complained for six years how horrible Eric Holder is and he's a partisan attorney general and now they're fighting to keep him.
JACOBUS: They're not fighting to keep him. That's a good point.
(CROSSTALK)
SOCARIDES: The hatred of Barack Obama by these Republicans is so without bounds that they have decided that they want to keep Holder in there just to punish --
(CROSSTALK) BERMAN: Hang on one second. Well, you know who thinks it might be a little better, who thinks that this is getting tied up? And it is Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush in New Hampshire yesterday commenting on the Loretta Lynch vote. He thinks the vote should go forward.
Listen to what Jeb said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I think presidents have the right to pick their team in general. The longer it takes to confirm her, the longer Eric Holder stays as attorney general. Look at it that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So Republicans in the Senate really don't like Eric Holder one bit, yet ironically their inaction is keeping him in that attorney general's office more days.
JACOBUS: It is. I think Loretta Lynch will eventually be, you know, she'll be in. It's going to take a little while longer, more questioning which the American people deserve.
But I think it's the Democrats who are playing politics. This is actually not about a woman's right to choose. This is about federal funding for abortion. And so, let's not misrepresent what it is.
It will be resolved. It's possible both sides are playing politics. But to say this is just Republicans, no, that's not true. I think we need to be sure about this nominee. I think Senator Vitter and others are doing the right thing by making sure that we can make sure to the degree possible she's not a partisan.
BERMAN: I think it's more than possible both sides are playing politics. I think it's likely.
But thank you both for being with us. Cheri Jacobus, Richard Socarides, thanks so much.
Chris?
CUOMO: All right, JB, good discussion there.
So here's a big question, what made the case against Aaron Hernandez for jurors? They gave their answer to CNN's Anderson Cooper exclusively. They say they faced a number of challenges in finding the former New England Patriots star guilty. That's why it took seven days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you feel like he did pull the trigger or do you don't?
FEMALE JUROR: I don't know. There's no evidence to support that he pulled the trigger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Anderson in a huge issue there.
So, if the jurors weren't sure who pulled the trigger, how did they find Hernandez guilty? The answer in a CNN exclusive you don't want to miss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:52:12] CUOMO: They deliberated for nearly 36 hours over seven days before deciding former NFL star Aaron Hernandez was guilty of first-degree murder. The jury foreperson says arriving at that verdict was by far the hardest thing she's ever done.
Now, she along with her fellow jurors spoke exclusively with CNN's Anderson Cooper about the trial, and most importantly, how they reached their verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So it wasn't premeditation?
FEMALE JUROR: No.
COOPER: You don't you can't say this was premeditated?
FEMALE JUROR: No. I can't say with 100 percent certainty that he premeditated that while I was sitting in that jury room I can't say that.
COOPER: But you do see extreme atrocity or cruelty?
FEMALE JUROR: I see extreme atrocity and cruelty.
COOPER: Was it with the number of shots?
FEMALE JUROR: It was his indifference. And that was part of what I had to look at. And it was, even if there was no premeditation, he could have made choices there when he was there. He was there. They admitted that. And he could have made different choices and he chose not to.
MALE JUROR: I think one thing in that regard that surprised a lot of us was that indifference. We watched the video footage at his home later in the morning or early afternoon after the incident occurred. And he was just lounging around by the pool and playing with the baby and just going about his regular life.
I mean, for us to acknowledge he was there at the time that his close friend was murdered, personally, there's no way I could just carry on hours later like nothing ever happened. That's indifference.
COOPER: So those videotapes, in particular his own security camera tapes were crucial. MALE JUROR: Hours later.
FEMALE JUROR: Definitely.
FEMALE JUROR: But in the instructions we weren't asked to use that after the murder to weigh our decision, to leave your friend on the ground knowing that he's not there anymore. He's either dead or he's going to die, that's indifference. He didn't need to pull the trigger. He could have made different choices when that man was laying there.
COOPER: Were there other signs to you of extreme cruelty?
FEMALE JUROR: For me it was -- somebody had mentioned that, well, it was a gun. So for me trying to think about extreme cruelty, what are we talking about? Are we talking about somebody physically cutting off someone's arm and letting them bleed to death? Is that extreme cruelty?
Or is the fact -- for me, it was a gun. You took a weapon, it didn't matter. You shot him once, but you kept going and shot him six times.
[06:55:00] There's just no need for that. And there's no need to use a gun, period. No need to use a gun.
So, for me personally, it was about the gun. It was about taking that weapon, knowing what you're going to do and shooting somebody and killing them. That's pretty cruel.
COOPER: Do you feel like he did pull the trigger? Or do you know?
FEMALE JUROR: I don't know. There's no evidence to support that he pulled the trigger, but he chose not to do anything about it. And he's the one that had the --
COOPER: In that moment or the aftermath?
FEMALE JUROR: Exactly. In that moment is what I was looking at because that's what I was instructed to do in that moment.
MALE JUROR: He played a role.
FEMALE JUROR: Yes.
MALE JUROR: Whether he was a shooter or the transport, he played a role in that murder. And that's what he was charged with.
COOPER: I notice a couple of you have called him Aaron. And I think people who haven't been on a jury don't understand the intimacy that exists in a courtroom where somebody is sitting, you know, a couple feet away from you.
FEMALE JUROR: For three months every day.
FEMALE JUROR: Yes.
COOPER: Did you look at him a lot? Did he look at you?
FEMALE JUROR: Yes.
FEMALE JUROR: I did.
COOPER: You did?
FEMALE JUROR: Oh, yes. One time we made eye contact and he actually nodded to me at one time. You know, it's hard. You come in that room every day and you see this person. And it's hard to come to that decision at the end because three months with them it's almost like you, you know, they're part of you.
And all of a sudden, now, you've got to make that decision to either put him away or let him go. It's very hard.
MALE JUROR: At the end of the day though you make sure you understand you didn't choose to make those decisions. You were just asked to decide if they were relevant.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: What stands out to you?
BERMAN: Look, the jurors say that the defense admitted that Aaron Hernandez was there. The defense did that to offer the possibility he was there but didn't pull the trigger. And it seems to have been a big mistake perhaps.
HARLOW: And they say the fact that in opening statements the defense alleged he wasn't there. Later in the trial says, all right, he was, but -- I think that change for them was a big deal.
CUOMO: I think this was a great example of the humanity that is at play in a jury that often you don't suggest it's all about the documents and the clues and the gotcha and forensics.
Anderson did a great job of listening. The impact of I saw him every day was a part of me then I have to make this decision.
BERMAN: And they understood the law too. The idea did he pull the trigger or not pull the trigger? He didn't have to pull the trigger to get convicted. They understood that. It's not a totally easy concept.
CUOMO: But it's a very high bar. If you don't feel beyond a reasonable doubt that he pulled the trigger, if you don't field beyond a reasonable doubt that this was a premeditated evil plan, the bar is now much higher for you to get over. It is interesting what they said they pointed to was the stuff that happened afterwards and his emotion and his reactions.
HARLOW: Indifference. That word kept coming up, indifference.
CUOMO: Things that a lot of people would dismiss, yes. What do you think? You know how to tweet us and Facebook us. Let's
keep this conversation going because we just got great grist for the mail.
Big story this morning. A lot of news. So, let's get to it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Purgatory for Loretta Lynch.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: She's waited now more than twice as long as the previous seven attorney general nominees combined.
BUSH: Presidents have the right to pick their team.
CUOMO: Terrorism here at home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-three-year-old from Columbus, Ohio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He left the United States last year to go join the al Nusra front in Syria.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the brink of falling punishing assault on Ramadi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a test of the new government in Baghdad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It won't be the end of a campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those pleas for help from the civilians, the commanders cannot be ignored.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 73-year-old Robert Bates may not have been telling the full truth about his training.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He provided service, he made an honest mistake.
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Alisyn and Micky are off. Poppy and John are here with me this morning.
Loretta lynch, you know the name. She would make history as the first African-American to serve as attorney general. You know what? She's already made history in the wrong way for how long she's had to wait for a vote, 160 days and counting. That is longer than the last seven nominees combined.
HARLOW: The fight over Lynch's stalled nomination is heating up. It may come to a head next week in the Senate. The Democratic leader of that chamber threatening to force a vote to force Washington's hand.
Our Sunlen Serfaty joins from the White House this morning.
I guess if you look technically at the rules, he can do that.
SUNLEN SEFARTY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And, you know, he's one of the people on Capitol Hill, Harry Reid, saying that Loretta Lynch is in purgatory over this hold up.
Now, Poppy, we know this hold up will at least continue into next week. But there are some small signs of progress. Democratic and Republican sources telling us that they are close to reaching a compromise on this other unrelated issue, the human trafficking bill that's standing in Loretta Lynch's way.
