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NEW DAY

George Zimmerman Attracts Trouble?; Obama Library to Be Built in Chicago; White House Calls Bin Laden Raid Report "Baseless"; Verizon Buying AOL For $4.4 Billion. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 12, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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


MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: Meanwhile the Patriots were hit with a $1 million fine. They will forfeit two draft picks, including their first round pick next year.

[07:30:01] Meanwhile, the Patriots were hit with a $1 million fine. They will forfeit two draft picks including their first round pick next year. Meanwhile, Brady's agent blasting the league punishment and is promising an appeal.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Investigators trying to determine exactly what led to the fatal shooting of two Hattiesburg, Mississippi police officers during a traffic stop.

Four suspects charged in the case, but just one, 29-year-old Marvin Banks is accused of pulling the trigger. He's facing two counts of capital murder. We are expecting to learn funeral details today for the two slain officers, Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And what more do you need out of life than to see an orangutan bottle feeding tiger cubs. Michaela Pereira says nothing, she loves this.

Orangutan at Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina has apparently become a surrogate parent to these darling little cubs spotted daily playing with little guys, even giving them tons of hugs and somehow resistant to the massive claws that they seem to be digging in to her chest plate.

PEREIRA: So darling.

CUOMO: Only a mother can get clawed by a baby tiger.

PEREIRA: I think they're so genius.

CAMEROTA: Your life is complete now.

PEREIRA: It is. It's complete.

All right, guys, let's turn to this now. George Zimmerman involved in a violent confrontation in Florida once again. This time it was Zimmerman who was shot. He was shot by a man he had a run-in with last year.

This incident is just his latest brush with the law since his acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Let's get a look back at his trail of trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury find George Zimmerman not guilty.

PEREIRA (voice-over): George Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin hasn't kept the polarizing figure away from the law. In September of that year, Zimmerman's estranged wife called 911 over an alleged altercation. She declined prosecution, no charges were filed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He pointed at me for a second and said do you really want to do this.

PEREIRA: Then two months later he was arrested on aggravated assault charges after his then-girlfriend said Zimmerman pointed a gun at her during an argument and smashed her coffee table. Later, prosecutors decided not to pursue the case.

A year later Florida resident, Matthew Apperson, said Zimmerman threatened to kill him during a road rage incident, but Apperson never pursued charges.

In January 2015, Zimmerman was arrested again after an ex-girlfriend said he threw a wine bottle at her. She later recanted. No charges were filed.

KENNETH CORNELL, WITNESS: I'm like, what, you shot George Zimmerman? He said, yes, sir, I shot George Zimmerman, please call 911.

PEREIRA: This latest incident a shooting and this time Zimmerman was the target.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the gunshot wound --

PEREIRA: According to Zimmerman's lawyer the same man from the road rage incident in September 2014 pulled up next to George yelling obscenities at him. When Zimmerman raised the window, the man shot through the glass almost hitting him in the head.

Apperson says Zimmerman first waved a gun at him. Something Zimmerman's attorney outright denies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: All right. Here to weigh-in attorney and radio host, Mo Ivory and HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson. Joey, were you at all surprised that we're here again with George Zimmerman in the news?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: I was not surprised at all. Certainly he's been in the spotlight. He continues to be in the spotlight. Apparently he likes the spotlight and as a result was just another day in paradise. But here's the issue. The issue really is not so much he's been embroiled in past instances because every case has to be judged on the merits of that case. PEREIRA: Absolutely.

JACKSON: Right. So what the attorneys will say in the event he is brought forward even though he was the one shot at, but in the event he was waving that gun and menacing that other person leading that other person to believe, Michaela, that they needed to let off a round before he let off a round on him.

These past instances of his misconduct may never see a light of day in the courtroom because of the fact they go to bad character, propensity and --

PEREIRA: Bad character and propensity. Mo, I want you to listen how Zimmerman's lawyer described the confrontation. Play the sound and I want your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON WEST, ATTORNEY FOR GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: This fellow was taunting and yelling at him, calling him names. You are going to shoot me now kind of thing. I don't know where that came from. But in any event when George recognized him, realized who he was and what he was saying, he rolled his window up and decided to get away, not to provoke it whatsoever.

And the fellow followed him, followed him around the u-turn and pulled up next to him and shot at him. He could have easily killed him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: I mean, the fact is he could have killed him. That's a very true statement. Mo, do you buy this version of the story or do you think trouble keeps finding this guy?

MO IVORY, ATTORNEY AND RADIO HOST: I mean, enter the violins for George Zimmerman. You know, was previously at the garden helping the children plant vegetables, right? I mean, give me a break. This man is a menace to society. And, yes, you do take each case on its own merits.

But in the law we also will look at past acts. We will look at when someone comes up for a case if they are a convicted felon from before or if they have things in their past, it will come up.

[07:35:13] George Zimmerman has a pattern of violence. He obviously suffers from a power tripping type of --

PEREIRA: Mo --

IVORY: -- paranoia almost that he has to constantly be in a position where people are watching him, people know what he's doing.

PEREIRA: Is there any chance in your mind, Mo, that he could be -- let's just try and look at it this way. Is there any chance that he could be being intentionally targeted in your mind?

IVORY: No. I don't think so.

PEREIRA: Not at all?

IVORY: Well, I definitely -- look, he got off on a case that was very controversial and of course, there are people on both sides. There are people that think George Zimmerman is a murderer like I do, and there are people that believe, you know, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So, sure, could he be in the middle of something. But it's no accident that he continues to be, you know, charged with assault, charged with battery, charged with cases that involve being violent.

You know, his girlfriends, both his wife and his girlfriend, even jurors from the Zimmerman trial came out later on and said they were sorry they made the decision they did. It's just not an accident that a lot of people feel this way about George Zimmerman.

And I heard people were saying he suffers from PTSD because of, you know, his life being so under the microscope and him not being able to live a normal life. He has never pursued a normal life ever.

PEREIRA: Let's let Joey get in here.

IVORY: Yes.

PEREIRA: You talk about this and you look down the list of the aggressive behavior, the run-ins with the law. What would you do if you were his counsel? Would you advise him? Would you say you and trouble seem to dance together a whole lot?

Whether you think that he is courting it or it just seems to find him. Would you tell him to leave the state? Would you tell him to leave the country, to lie low?

JACKSON: We would tell him to relax, get out of the public eye and stop having trouble find you. It's important we attorneys don't like our clients talking. We don't like our clients in the spotlight. We like them to go relax and not be in the thick of it.

PEREIRA: But he's in the spotlight because trouble keeps finding him.

JACKSON: It certainly does. I think in this case of course nobody charged at this point so we don't know. But I think what's going to be very important in this case, Michaela, is if there's any ongoing dispute as between him and the party, Mr. Apperson, who fired at him. That's going to be critical. Why?

Because it goes to the state of mind of the person who discharged the round and if I have a past history with you, I'm going to be in a heightened state of alert and I might really feel if you're waving a gun that you might use it.

PEREIRA: So that waving the gun thing, how difficult is that going to be, Joey, for him, the prosecution to confirm because it was the two of them. I don't know that there were witnesses to the brandishing of the gun.

JACKSON: Aha. So that's important and then it's also going to be relevant as to whether or not a gun was found, right? When he was ultimately gotten under custody and control, was there a gun with him?

Not to suggest he couldn't have gotten rid of a gun, but that will go to the credibility of Mr. Apperson who said he was waving a gun, if no gun was found, it would be hard to believe that and we live in a day and age of surveillance also --

PEREIRA: Boy, what a mess. Joey Jackson, Mo, I got to end it there, Mo, I'm so sorry.

JACKSON: Mo's on fire.

PEREIRA: We're all on fire today. It's that kind of day. What's your take at home? Are you on fire as well? Use #newdayCNN and also leave comments on our Facebook page. Thanks to the both of you -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Mich, a huge merger in the tech field to tell you about. What's behind Verizon's big purchase? And guess what? It could affect you. We'll tell you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:42:33]

CAMEROTA: After years of speculation, President Obama has officially announced that his library and museum will be built in a place very close to his heart, the south side of Chicago.

Let's bring in someone who knows both Chicago and the president very well, his former senior adviser, David Axelrod. Good morning, David.

DAVID AXELROD, FORMER OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER: Hi, Alisyn. How are you doing?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing well. I can't say I was terribly surprised that they chose Chicago for the presidential library, but why Chicago over say Hawaii?

AXELROD: Well, listen, it's a wonderful story. First of all we're ecstatic here in Chicago as you can imagine, but what a great story. Barack Obama came here about 30 years ago to work for a consortium of churches to try and lift neighborhoods that were down on their luck on the south side of Chicago.

Michelle Obama grew up on the south side of Chicago. Her roots are firmly planted there and now they're bringing this wonderful asset back to the south side of Chicago that will mean not just thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of economic activity, but it will lift the community. And Chicago is very, very excited today.

CAMEROTA: And let's talk -- I mean, if libraries mean legacy generally and that's sort of what they represent, let's talk about some of that with President Obama.

Because one of the things people often considered his crowning achievement, and that was the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, today is called into a little bit of question with Seymour Hersh's report.

Seymour Hersh is an award winning investigative journalist and he says the raid did not go down the way the administration has always said it did. What's your reaction?

AXELROD: Well, first of all, multiple sources have debunked -- I have great respect for what he did in the 1960s. I don't in any way dismiss that. But this report by all accounts is just plain wrong.

And all I know is what I know, which is that I wasn't in the White House at the time of the raid, but after the raid I talked to many of the people who were involved in that. And nothing that they told me jibes with what he said. So I'm very dismissive of that report.

CAMEROTA: But is it possible that Pakistan knew where Bin Laden was for years or months before the raid?

AXELROD: It may be possible that they knew where he was. I don't know, but that doesn't mean that information was shared and certainly doesn't mean that America was working with them on this raid. I think there was a great deal of concern if Pakistan had been tipped to the raid that Bin Laden wouldn't be at that location.

[07:45:13] And there's ample evidence, the scrambling of planes by Pakistan when they found out about the raid and so on, that suggests that they were not part of this. So I'm deeply, deeply skeptical about Sy Hersh's piece.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's get into your wheelhouse, that's politics and campaign politics. I'm interested in your thoughts on Hillary Clinton's campaign so far. One of the tweets you've sent out about this, "Learning the lessons of 2008, HRC rollout plans stress humility, no Clinton Inc., the inevitable juggernaut that left voters behind."

That's not exactly the most supportive tweet that we've ever read for Hillary's campaign. What do you think?

AXELROD: Well, I actually meant it to be supportive because I was impressed with the way she rolled out her campaign. I think she recognized -- you know, she was two candidates in 2007 and 2008.

The first in 2007 was a candidate who was completely wrapped, cloaked in this cloak off inevitability and she wasn't relating to voters very well.

In 2008 after she lost the Iowa caucuses, she threw that off and connected with voters in a visceral way. I know because I was on the other side of that fight. It was too late for her in that campaign.

I think she needs to be that connecting person that she has to throw caution off, talk to voters directly about their lives, expose her own motivations. And if she does she'll do very well in this race.

CAMEROTA: What do you think about all the questions about the fundraising for the Clinton Foundation? Do you think those are a problem for her campaign?

AXELROD: Well, they're obviously going to be a somewhat persistent story here. What is missing from all these stories is any connection between her official actions and that fundraising. And that's what makes these stories less than they've been -- than some have made of them unless there is that connection.

I think they're going to be a nuisance more than a real drag on her candidacy. I think ultimately people are worried about their own families, their own futures. And they're going to respond to a candidate who they think will be an advocate for them particularly in the big economic decisions that lie ahead.

CAMEROTA: So, I mean, you were the strategist for Barack Obama's wildly successful campaign. So what's your one bit of advice for Hillary Clinton today?

AXELROD: I think be authentic. Be a throwaway caution. Be honest about what motivates you and be very attuned to what's going on in the country. Forget about the eco-chamber in Washington, go out there and listen to what's going on in people's lives and tell them what your ideas are to make this economy work better for people who live from paycheck-to-paycheck.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the GOP field. Who do you think stands the best chance of being the nominee?

AXELROD: You know, I'm not a Republican and all the smart Republicans I talk to are unwilling to make a guess on this. But I will say the history of the Republican Party is that the candidate favored by the sort of center-right Republican establishment tends to win the nomination.

And that candidate would be Jeb Bush in this case. And, you know, there are reasons to believe he would be a formidable nominee for them, not the least of which is his kinship with the Hispanic community.

You know, in 2004 when the Republicans last won, George W. Bush got 44 percent of the Hispanic vote. In 2012, Mitt Romney got 27 percent and that's a big, big factor in a country that's becoming more diverse every election.

CAMEROTA: All right. David Axelrod, thanks so much for your all insights. Great to see you on NEW DAY. Congratulations to Chicago.

AXELROD: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: Did you hear about the big punishment that Tom Brady and the patriots got over deflate-gate? The stuff of records. He's out for the start of the season. How long and is the league being consistent? There's another story that maybe they're ignoring.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: It should go without saying, but it is time for CNN Money Now. Chief business correspondent, Christine Romans is in the Money Center. Huge merger, what happened?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Verizon is buying AOL for $4.4 billion, Chris. This is a move to improve Verizon's mobile and advertising. AOL has several media businesses including Huffington Post and Tech Crunch. Verizon has plans to launch a video service later this summer.

Google's self-driving cars have been in 11 accidents in the last six years, and that's according to Google, and they were all minor accidents with limited damage and no injuries, and the self-driving car was never the cause of the accident.

Google says these cars could potentially save thousands of lives every year. A lot of people interested in how that experiment is going.

Would you pass up a $1,300 bonus? That's what one in four workers are doing by not taking advantage of the 401(k) match. That's about $1,300 a person. Don't do it, free money, folks.

BERMAN: That's a great way to spell it out. Thanks for that.

Meanwhile, there's been another deadly earthquake in Nepal. This is the moment that the tremors hit the city. A live report ahead as an already devastated country faces more death and destruction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:58:16]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everywhere, people just started running out of the buildings.

CUOMO: Another major earthquake hitting Nepal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are in shock. The earth began shaking, everybody running out to the streets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unprecedented penalties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suspended for four game without pay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have full believe and faith in our quarterback.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone's breaking rules, you need to get punished for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This video from a French pro ISIS hacking group threatening a cyber-attack is coming. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time in about a decade that I personally have been concerned about the fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shooting death of an unarmed teen, Tony Robinson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a good kind-hearted kid, who was very happy and just wanted to be accepted.

CUOMO: Will the Madison police officer be charged.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, May 12th, 8:00 in the east. And we do have breaking news out of Nepal. At least 29 people dead, more than a thousand injured after another earthquake hits Nepal. Chaos caught on video.

The ground shaking underneath people, you see it here in an auditorium, and it caused this landslide, everything vulnerable in that region because of the last earthquake.

CAMEROTA: Yes, the new earthquake coming just weeks after that other massive earthquake hit the region killing more than 8,000 people. Let's get right to CNN senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson. He is live in Hong Kong with more for us. Ivan, this is exactly what the people in that region did not need.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Can you imagine anything more frightening, Alisyn, a little bit more than two weeks after the deadliest earthquake hit this country in generations, boom, another powerful earthquake, 7.3 magnitude hits these people, already traumatized and still struggling to overcome the damage from the initial earthquake.