5 Things to Know for Your New Day – Friday, July 26th, 2013

Welcome to the Friday edition of “5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

Every weekday morning around 6, we’ll hit the top five stories of the day, clue you in on a few other buzzy items, and let you know about some of the must-watch stories coming up on CNN’s new morning show, “New Day.”

1. ZIMMERMAN JUROR SPEAKS

Feeling guilty: She says she hurts as much as Trayvon Martin’s mother. She says she owes Sybrina Fulton – and Tracy Martin - an apology. But she also told ABC there wasn’t evidence in George Zimmerman’s trial to result in a conviction. Maddy was the juror who almost caused a hung jury but she changed her vote to not guilty. “I fought to the end,” she told ABC.

Juror B29 – if you had just stood your ground like Zimmerman supposedly did then justice might have actually prevailed.

— Danielle Mason-Rains (@nelliebellie223) July 26, 2013

Pamela Brown joins us all morning with more on the story.

2. WEINER’S OTHER WOMAN

Feeling manipulated: A woman who took part in racy chats with Anthony Weiner sees him in a different light these days. He once told her he was an "argumentative, perpetually horny, middle-aged man," she claims. Nuh uh, she said at the time. Now? Oh, he is, she says. Sydney Leathers told the TV tabloid show, “Inside Edition,” that the mayoral candidate is trying to pull one over on NYC voters.

At 7, CNN political analyst John Avalon joins us with political commentator Ana Navarro. Jim Moret of “Inside Edition” will be with us at 8.

3. DEADLY TRAIN CRASH

”It felt like a roller coaster”: Police are questioning the engineer of a fast-moving train that crashed on a curve in Spain and killed at least 80 people. Scary video of the accident and the words of one survivor appear to support the theory that the train was going way too fast. Another rider says one moment he was writing in his journal and the next, he was covered in blood.

Karl Penhaul will be live from the crash site in Spain at 6 and 7.

4. CLEVELAND KIDNAPPINGS CASE

Seeking a plea: Amanda Berry, Georgina "Gina" DeJesus and Michelle Knight don’t want a trial, where they would have to testify against Ariel Castro. And there’s a chance they won’t, if prosecutors and the defense team can work out a plea deal. A court source says Castro could avoid the death penalty if he pleads guilty. Another source says a deal could be in place by the time Castro appears at a pre-trial hearing today.

Gary Tuchman has the latest developments at 8.

5. O.J. SIMPSON PAROLE HEARING

Let me go; I’ve been good: O.J. Simpson says he’s one of the best prisoners ever. So those final 28 years of his sentence? He’s served enough time, he says. We’ll see in two weeks if the parole board that heard his case yesterday agrees with him. Simpson did admit that he brought the wrong people with him when he went to get items he thought belonged to him back from a memorabilia dealer. “That’s on me,” he says.

Ted Rowlands looks at what Simpson told the parole board yesterday.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

–Now that’s our kind of car pool: Once before heading in to cover an event, I left the sunroof open on a hot day. And that hot day produced a terrible afternoon thunderstorm, which left several inches of water in the car. It was awfully unpleasant driving home. No one would ever intentionally do that, would they? Well, four guys in Germany took a cool BMW convertible and turned the interior into a cool pool. They ran off when police tried to question them, so no word on why they did it and if there was alcohol involved.

- Put a hex on You(Tube): YouTube posted a tweet (hint – it’s in hex) telling people to type the characters “/ geekweek” (don’t forget the space!) into the YouTube’s search bar. When you do, the site goes ‘retro’ to commemorate their upcoming showcase of nerdy channels and other content called Geek Week.

Crack the code to go retro: 53 65 61 72 63 68 20 59 6f 75 54 75 62 65 20 66 6f 72 20 2f 20 67 65 65 6b 77 65 65 6b #GeekWeek

— YouTube (@YouTube) July 24, 2013

–Ice storm a brewin': There’s a raging cyclone in the Arctic. That’s right, in the Arctic. It’s ripping up sea ice, the Canadian Press reports, and while it may not be as powerful as last year’s big storm, the ice is more vulnerable.

Awesome near-IR image from AVHRR on NOAA-18 showing Arctic / polar cyclone wrapped up (warm seclusion). pic.twitter.com/J22TkbOC5f

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) July 25, 2013

- Tree-ting that itch: Bear. Itch. Tree. Cuteness. But he or she better hope the other bears don’t see this.

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.
Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at CNN.com/NewDay and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY