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CNN NEWSROOM

Weiner Sexting Case Latest; Preview of an Interview with Michael C. Hall; Whitey Bulger Trial Update

Aired July 26, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": We have all heard about the latest batch of Anthony Weiner's very naked, very sexually explicit photographs.

Now the woman on the other end of his latest sexting scandal is talking. She is Sydney Leathers. She is a 23-year-old from Indiana, revealing to "Inside Edition" everything you probably did not want to know about the man running for mayor of New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would you describe him? I read one quote that suggested you thought he was a dirty old man.

SYDNEY LEATHERS, EXCHANGED SEXUAL MESSAGES WITH ANTHONY WEINER: He actually said that about himself to me. The exact wording was that he is an "argumentative, perpetually horny middle-aged man."

At the time I was like, oh, no, you're not. But, yes, he is. I felt manipulated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

LEATHERS: Because obviously I felt like, you know, he's saying one thing to me, saying another thing to his wife, saying another thing on the campaign trail.

I don't know who the real Anthony Weiner is, I guess.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So at what point did it break off and why?

LEATHERS: There wasn't really a specific reason why, and neither one of us ever really officially ended it. It just kind of started to fizzle out.

He got a little bit controlling with me towards the end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How so?

LEATHERS: He would tell me that he would be jealous. He would, like, look at my Facebook frequently.

He would tell me that he would get jealous if other men would compliment me and just little stuff like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Leathers says she sent 30 messages in total to Weiner at his request, many of them pictures of her feet. She says he liked that kind of thing.

So she also told "Inside Edition" she feels sorry for Weiner's wife, Huma, who, of course, is publicly standing by her man.

His wife may be OK with it. We heard her talk about forgiveness the other day. But House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is not. She is speaking out against Weiner's behavior and she also threw in there Mayor Bob Filner of San Diego who is accused of sexually harassing at least seven women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: Let me just say before I leave, let me be very clear, the conduct of some of these people that we're talking about here is reprehensible. It's so disrespectful of women.

And what's really stunning about it is that they don't even realize it. You know, they don't have a clue. And it is really -- if they're clueless, get a clue. If they need therapy, do it in private.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to mention as well, in case you missed it at the top of the hour, moments ago we actually heard from Mayor Filner himself out of San Diego, bizarre press conference.

Mike went out, comes back to the microphone, finishes his thoughts, says he is taking time-out, entering this behavioral counseling for two weeks, but he will not resign.

Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BOB FILNER (D), SAN DIEGO: The behavior I have engaged in over many years is wrong. My failure to respect women and the intimidating contact I've had at times is inexcusable. It has undermined what I have spent my whole professional life working on, fighting for equality and justice for all people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Judy Kuriansky, I wanted to talk to you about this today. You are a clinical psychologist, a sex therapist. I hear you laughing.

Men in politics behaving badly, it's not an original concept. It got us thinking today, why do they do it? What's your answer? JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: They do it because they can get away with it. Part of it has to do with them, and part of it, Brooke, is because of us.

We give them a pass. We gave Anthony Weiner a pass. Well, he may not get away with it this time.

The other is that they really have some deep psychological problems. Besides a potential sex a addiction that we know some of the others have suffered from, the psychological problem of just what we heard the mayor talk about.

He said intimidating women, not feeling that they're equal. I'm particularly worried that two weeks of behavioral counseling is not enough.

This is not a quick fix of just withholding your behavior and not pinching a girl or going to kiss her. There's deeper psychological needs, narcissism, feeling entitled, egotism.

BALDWIN: I hear you, Judy. I hear you.

But I'm also curious because, when you look at the case, again, we have to be crystal clear in San Diego, you know, these are allegations.

But here you have the mayor, and when you look, Judy, at these four latest women who have come forward, they are women of power.

These are not young women. Yet they allege, you know, that the headlock, the attempted kisses, the slobbering, the fingers in places they don't want fingers, how do you explain that?

KURIANSKY: I think that's a very interesting case because he is one of the few who have not had that power imbalance looking at interns or students or much younger girls.

This is a man who's going after women of power. The dean, imagine all those.

I think that shows a different kind of psychology. This is a man who's competing with women, who has to look at a powerful woman and prove, then, that he is more powerful than her, that he can dominate her.

I would go back to his childhood about that and take a look at what happened with mommy. That's why I think that these are issues that really need to be dealt with well over a period of time beyond two weeks.

He even admitted it. He said something very important there. He said, Brooke, I'm in the process, and so this is a long process, not two weeks of quick change your behavior.

It's very significant how he feels about women in power, and what that does to make him impotent that he needs to dominate them. BALDWIN: We'll see how he does when he gets back on the job in two weeks and how he proves that to the people of San Diego.

Judy Kuriansky, thank you very much. Always a pleasure, your perspective.

Coming up, the prosecution rests in reputed mob boss "Whitey" Bulger's trial in Boston, but this week the testimony has absolutely been explosive.

Later this hour, we will hear more from the courtroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: America's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Eric Holder, has sent a letter to Russian officials saying NSA leaker Edward Snowden will not face the death penalty if convicted of espionage.

Snowden's request for asylum in Russia is based upon a claim that he could die by execution or face torture at the hands of the U.S. government.

As Snowden awaits a response on his request, his own father says he fully supports his son's actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LON SNOWDEN, EDWARD SNOWDEN'S FATHER: I believe that my son, when he takes his final breath, whether it's today or 100 years from now, he will be comfortable with what he did because he did what he knew was right.

He shared the truth with the American people. What he choose to do with it is up to us as a people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Lon Snowden says he has not had direct contact with his son, but they have communicated through third parties.

Coming up, we're taking you to Boston, the trial of the reputed mob boss "Whitey" Bulger.

Today the prosecution has rested. The jury could get this case as early as next week.

We're going to take a closer look at what has certainly been an explosive, colorful trial, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The dramatic capture of reputed mob boss "Whitey" Bulger, that was relived in court today right before the prosecution rested its case.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has been in court each and every day for us. Deb, what have the highlights been?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What was so fascinating, Brooke, was that in resting their case, prosecutors showed exactly who "Whitey" Bulger is and what he's all about, not from 20 years ago when he was at the height of his power, but just two years ago when he was arrested in Santa Monica.

They trotted out guns, pistols, Berettas, 30 different weapons they found in his apartment, also $822,000 in cash, all of that stored in holes in walls.

They wanted to remind the jury this was a man who was ready to shoot his way out if and when he was arrested.

That's one of the reasons, Brooke, that he was actually brought to a garage, to the basement of his apartment so that, in fact, he was separate from all those things he had in his apartment.

You can see some of the books you're showing there. Those are mob books from his former criminal associates. He was actually keeping tabs on what they were doing, what they were writing, where they were going.

What was interesting today was just to listen how even when he was surrounded by FBI agents with their guns drawn, he initially refused to follow orders and get on his knees, Brooke, because he didn't want to get grease on his pants. That's how defiant he was.

Then when one of the agents said, you know, who are you? Let me see identification. He finally acknowledged, he said, you know who I am. I'm "Whitey" Bulger.

The defense is going to wrap its case next week, so we could hear closing arguments. This is going much quicker than anticipated.

And, Brooke, just a final note. The defense does want to call the mother of one of the female victims because two of the men who last saw that girl alive, "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen Flemmi.

She'll make the case that Flemmi had more motive to kill her than Bulger, so a little smoke coming up there.

BALDWIN: Next week, huge week.

We'll be talking to you next week out of Boston. Deborah Feyerick, thank you so much.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Guess who's in for Jake Tapper today. My friend Brianna Keilar. Miss Keilar, what's coming up?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Brooke.

Coming up, we talk to Christine Quinn. She is right now up in the polls in the mayoral race in New York City.

And we wanted her to react to this news of Anthony Weiner. And she is in a unique position of being the only female in the race, so we asked her if she thought a woman could get away with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE QUINN, NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: No one should have behaved this way. No one should have lied about they behaved this way.

His gender isn't the issue for me. The issue is that he clearly has a disconnect from the ability to tell the truth and a pattern of reckless behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We'll also talk to her about she's benefiting from, really, his indiscretions, politically speaking, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I can't wait to see the interview, Brianna Keilar, thank you very much, on "The Lead" in 10 minutes.

Meantime, coming up next, Stroumbo! George Stroumboulopoulos joins me live. Hello, friend!

We're going to talk about your big show. Big news for "Dexter" fans. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Move over "Kojak" and "CSI." The real TV mystery nowadays comes from what's behind the camera.

The rumors have been rampant. Will this be the final season of Showtime's crime-fighting serial killer, "Dexter"?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL C. HALL, ACTOR, "DEXTER": I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

HALL: I'm a serial killer. Oh, god! Oh, that feels so amazing to say out loud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you must be letting go because I've never heard you make a joke before.

HALL: I'm not joking. I kill people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was huge. The eighth season just started in late June. Take a look at "Entertainment Weekly's" recent tribute to the show, and our own favorite late-night host, George Stroumboulopoulos, may have the scoop.

Michael C. Hall, the actor who plays the blood spatter specialist -- you like that -- talks to Stroumbo tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern.

Stroumbo, did you get the scoop? Give me some hints from Michael C. Hall.

GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS, HOST, CNN'S "STROUMBOULOPOULOS": Yeah, hey, B.

We dug in a little bit to find out what's going on with the finale, and he didn't give us everything, but I think he started to open up a little bit.

So I think it's interesting the fact that he's got this kind of ghost dad concept in a couple of the shows he's worked on and it's had an effect on him. And I think it's going to play out near the end of "Dexter" as well.

I mean, how long can this go? At some point he's going down.

BALDWIN: I know. Well, now they know he's a serial killer.

I mean, here he is, eight years. It's a long time to play one character. You got into that a little bit with him.

Let's watch this clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALL: If you do something this long, the lines start to blur between -- I mean, I'm not, you know ...

STROUMBOULOPOULOS: You did stalk people in New York when you were ...

HALL: That is true. Yeah, when I was getting ready to play the part, just to feel like what it would be like to do that, I picked out people when living in New York City, where I was living at the time, and followed them around.

Just to see if I could get away with it, and it was surprisingly easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He followed people around in New York, seriously?

STROUMBOULOPOULOS: So weird. And not only that, before this, he was also, I believe, a door-to-door knife salesman and so can you imagine going door to door and selling knives?

BALDWIN: Creepy!

STROUMBOULOPOULOS: Later someone goes, that's the guy that sold knives. I don't like how blurry these lines really are.

(Inaudible) Ely Roth is really fun on the show, and Valerie Bertinelli, who people love, has a lot to say as well, so it's going to be a neat little line-up on the program tonight.

BALDWIN: Yeah, Valerie Bertinelli, remember her on the -- what was it? The cover of "People"? She was smoking. Good for her, looking great.

STROUMBOULOPOULOS: Yeah, she talked about food. Talked a lot about food issues as well on the program, which is kind of neat.

BALDWIN: We look forward -- here she was.

George Stroumboulopoulos, thank you very much. We'll watch the show. Set the DVR if you're not around to watch, 11:00 Eastern on CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STROUMBOULOPOULOS: I tell you. I love Washington, D.C., love walking the monuments. This is tough to look at here.

Some vandals have struck the Lincoln Memorial. See below President Lincoln's feet? See the green splattering? That is what vandals now have done in the overnight hours to the base of this statue there at the Lincoln Memorial last night.

Officials have closed down the memorial. They say it will reopen once they get the paint away.

They are looking at surveillance video to try to catch the suspect.

And the newborn Prince George of Cambridge may have the coolest and best-looking uncle ever, Prince Harry.

He saw his nephew for the first time since he was born on Monday. Talked to reporters outside of this charity about how the little one was crying his eyes out, but that's OK because he plans to have a little fun with this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY, UNITED KINGDOM: Make sure he has a good upbringing, keep him out of harm's way, and make sure he has fun. The rest of it I leave to the parents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: As for babysitting, in so many words, Prince Harry says he's not so sure William and Kate can afford him.

And that does it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin here at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Have a wonderful weekend.

"THE LEAD" with Brianna Keilar starts right now.