After the Verdict; Holder on Verdict; Summer Heat Wave; Senators Avoid "Nuclear Option"; Liz Cheney Announces Senate Run
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Verdict outrage continues. Protesters again taking to the streets overnight by the thousands across the country demanding justice in Trayvon Martin's death.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Partners in crime. New information about hidden weapons discovered on board a North Korean ship. Is the communist country secretly arming Cuba?</s>LEMON: And if you think it is hot now, you just wait. The summer's first major heat wave intensifies. How high will the mercury rise?</s>ROMANS: I don't know if I want to know. Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.</s>LEMON: Oh, you're certainly going to find out.</s>ROMANS: I know, I know.</s>LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. It is Wednesday, July 17th, 5:00 a.m. here on the East.</s>ROMANS: All right. We begin with more fallout from the acquittal of George Zimmerman. The neighborhood watch volunteer was found not guilty of all charges, of course, Saturday. But as Miguel Marquez tells us, anger remains high.</s>MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The call for justice now in the Florida governor's office, a sit-in demanding the reversal of the state's "Stand Your Ground" laws. Protesters vowing to stay until they speak directly to Governor Rick Scott. This, as we are hearing more from the only juror speaking out. Juror B-37 saying they wanted to find George Zimmerman guilty of something, but the evidence in law just didn't add up.</s>JUROR B-37: I feel bad that we can't give them the verdict that they wanted. But legally, we could not do that.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think Trayvon Martin played a role in his own death?</s>JUROR B-37: Oh, I believe he played a huge role in his death. He could have -- when George confronted him and he could have walked away and gone home. He didn't have to do whatever he did and come back and be in a fight.</s>MARQUEZ: And four other jurors now speaking out, saying B-37 doesn't speak for them. In a statement saying, "Serving on this jury has been highly emotional and physically training experience for each of us. The death of a teenager weighed heavily on our hearts, but in the end, we did what the law required us to do." Frustration at that decision turning to protest and calls for action. (on camera): These protesters here in Los Angeles have come to police headquarters to make the point that the death of Trayvon Martin has prompted what they hope say national movement. Why are you marching? What do you hope to achieve?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hoping that at least the DOJ will look at this case and see that his civil rights were -- I think the civil rights were violated.</s>MARQUEZ (voice-over): Frustration over the verdict in a few places has turned violent. A photographer and reporter assaulted in allegation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those men just got here. You all right, man?</s>MARQUEZ: Juror B-37 saying the trial weighed heavily on all of them. Even bringing them to tears. Despite all, she still believes their judgment was the right call.</s>COOPER: In your head, you were 100 percent convinced that George Zimmerman in taking out his gun and pulling the trigger did nothing wrong?</s>JUROR B-37: I'm 101 percent that he was -- that he should have done what he did, except for the things that he did before.</s>COOPER: You mean, he shouldn't have gotten out of the car? He shouldn't have pursued Trayvon Martin? But in the final analysis, in the final struggle --</s>JUROR B-37: When the end came to the end --</s>COOPER: -- he was justified?</s>JUROR B-37: -- he was justified in shooting Trayvon Martin.</s>MARQUEZ: Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>LEMON: In the meantime, as the Justice Department investigation continues into whether George Zimmerman should face civil rights charges in Trayvon Martin's death, Attorney General Eric Holder is slamming laws like the one in Florida.</s>ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods. These laws try to fix something that was never broken. There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if -- and the "if" is important -- if no safe retreat is available.</s>LEMON: The attorney general said at the NAACP convention that these laws encourage violent situations to escalate, and that undermines public safety.</s>ROMANS: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also commenting on this verdict. Telling a meeting of the African-American sorority Delta Sigma Theta in Washington -- no mother or father should fear for their child walking down the street in the United States of America.</s>LEMON: And coming up in our next half hour, more of Anderson Cooper's exclusive interview with Juror B-37. You'll hear about the emotions in the jury room before and after the six women reached a verdict.</s>ROMANS: And interesting, several of the other jurors issued a statement saying the Juror</s>B -- LEMON: Very quickly.</s>ROMANS: Right. Very quickly issued a statement through the court that juror saying that that juror speaking to Anderson Cooper did not speak for the rest of the jury. I thought that was interesting.</s>LEMON: Yes, I think they would want to separate themselves, saying what I thought was what I thought, not necessarily what this juror thought.</s>ROMANS: Turning now to another big story this morning. It's something we've been dealing with all week, this heat.</s>LEMON: Yes.</s>ROMANS: It's hot.</s>LEMON: Is it going to be hotter today? Because yesterday, it was crazy. I told Indra Petersons yesterday, she did not follow my advice. And now, she is Times Square --</s>INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hello, Christine and Don. This is the time to actually feel good outside. When you're in Times Square, well, I think the overall hours, 80 feels good. Here's the problem, though, this is where we're getting the relief from the heat. It's only getting warmer from her here. We know what it felt like the last couple of days. In fact, we're getting that intensity again, in the large metropolitan cities today. We're talking about starting the morning off, temperatures 79, 80 degrees here in New York City, 70 percent humidity. I mean, you can feel the stickiness in the air. As we go through the afternoon, remember, it is July, temperatures are normally high. But we're talking about temperatures 10 degrees above normal today. So, we're talking about temperatures in the mid-90s. We're adding in that humanity. So, that's where we have these heat indices. You combine those two factors, and we're talking about feeling like 100 degrees out here. It's not just New York. We're talking about southern New England, where we have Boston throughout. D.C. does not have advisories, but still, you're dealing with that sticky weather. The difference between today and yesterday was that big dip of high pressure that was really focused on the East Coast. Well, that's going to be pushing farther west today. So now, it's not just the Eastern Seaboard. We're talking about all the way from Minneapolis, feeling that hot, sticky air. Advisories from Minneapolis, even from Ohio right through the Ohio Valley, all the way across the Eastern Seaboard. That is what we're going to be dealing with. And we're going to be continuing to see that all the way up until the weekend. We're actually seeing thunderstorms that will bring us the relief. We're going to hang in there.</s>ROMANS: Hang in there. All right. I think sometimes you get the blame for the weather but I get the blame for the stock market. The stock market is doing great. So, I'll take that. But poor Indra and all this weather we've had lately. Thanks.</s>LEMON: Well, the weather is soaring, too, just like the stock market.</s>ROMANS: You're right. Well, the feeling is different.</s>LEMON: Yes, it's different. Other news now: Senate Democrats won't have to deploy the nuclear option after all they've reached a deal with Republicans that ends the fight over a handful of presidential nominees whose confirmations have been stalled by filibusters. The first vote on Tuesday was to approve the head of the Financial Consumer Financial Protection board and the president has agreed to replace two of his appointees. Democrats had threatened to use a nuclear option that would have involved rewriting the rules to make it easier to approve executive branch nominations.</s>ROMANS: The Republican-controlled House votes today on several bills that would delay key elements of Obamacare. The White House has already delayed the employer mandate which would have required small businesses to buy health insurance next year, or face penalties. Excuse me. Today, the House votes on a measure that would delay the individual mandates.</s>LEMON: Well, after days of speculation, a political daughter is now in the running for the U.S. Senate. Liz Cheney is challenging Wyoming three-term Republican incumbent Senator Michael Enzi. She made the announcement in a six-minute video that did not mention Enzi by the name, but was highly critical of President Obama.</s>LIZ CHENEY (R), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: President Obama has launched a war on our Second American rights. He's launched a war on our religious freedom. He's used the IRS to launch a war on our freedom of speech. And he's used the EPA to launch a war on Wyoming's ranchers, our farmers, and our energy industries.</s>LEMON: Cheney faces a tough battle because the national GOP is supporting the incumbent.</s>ROMANS: All right. The more than 80 passengers who survived the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco are filing a lawsuit, going after Boeing, the company, and companies that made parts for the 787. Attorneys say it looks like a faulty auto throttle might have caused the crash. They also say the inflatable seats trapped people in the burning wreckage. Three people died, more than 180 were hurt in that crash.</s>LEMON: Now to the continuing saga of the leaker. NSA leaker Edward Snowden has made it official, applying formally for temporary asylum in Russia. He's been stuck in the Moscow airport for weeks now. And if the request is granted, he could be given the freedom to live in Russia, or possibly even travel abroad for up to a year. It is expected to take up to three months before the government responds.</s>ROMANS: Microsoft is appealing to Attorney General Eric Holder to allow the tech giants to share more information with the public about how it handles NSA requests for customer information. In a blog post, Microsoft says it tried to open public discussion on information sharing only to be ignored or denied by government lawyers. It claims there were quote significant inaccuracies in recent media reports about leaks to government documents. It denies giving the government direct access to any of its products.</s>LEMON: This is in one of those "you've got to see this" category. OK? Are you paying, Christine Romans?</s>ROMANS: It's a big fish story?</s>LEMON: It's a --</s>ROMANS: Sorry!</s>LEMON: You stole my thunder. What is it --</s>ROMANS: I know, I know, I'm sorry.</s>LEMON: So, everybody at home watching, sometimes, the rod and reel just aren't enough. A fisherman in Nantucket hooked a seven-foot, 200-pound shark and spent about 45 minutes trying to reel it in. But he had no success. Look at that. Finally, he handed the pole to his cousin, ran into the water and wrestled shark to shore. He took posed for some pictures with the catch, and then let it go. He says the shark wasn't hurt, though.</s>ROMANS: But everybody was very tired.</s>LEMON: How cool is that?</s>ROMANS: And now, we've got a big fish story.</s>LEMON: I'd see he's little crazy --</s>ROMANS: There are a lot of sharp teeth. Rows of rows of sharp teeth.</s>LEMON: Now, that's a real man. Arr!</s>ROMANS: All right. Coming up, international concern this morning. Weapons hidden on board a North Korean ship. Why Cuba is claiming responsibility.</s>LEMON: And cover controversy. A suspected terrorist looking like a rock star?</s>ROMANS: Oh my!</s>LEMON: The story, next.