Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Four More Funerals in Newtown Today; Random Acts of Kindness for Newtown; "She Was in a Place That She Really Loved"; Instagram's About Face on New Policy; Obama is Time's "Person of the Year"; Films to Be Preserved in Library of Congress; Mudslide Knocks Train Off Tracks

Aired December 19, 2012 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brooke Baldwin. More funerals today where all eyes are focused on these child-sized caskets. People paying tribute to three students killed in the shooting Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School as well as that 27-year-old teacher, Vicki Soto.

A police honor guard saluted the casket of the 27-year-old teacher who died shielding her students, her 6 and 7-year-olds, from the gunfire. Also Caroline Previdi, she was 6 years old. A Facebook page dedicated to her has more than 5,400 likes since her death.

Daniel Barden, 7, he was the drummer in a band he formed with his brother and his sister and 6-year-old Charlotte Bacon was described as a bundle of energy under bright red curls.

As this town, this sweet sleepy New England town of Newtown mourns, the kindness of total strangers has become as much a part of the story here as what happened last Friday morning. People, perhaps you include in this, rallying behind this town, like the act that started this Facebook page.

It is called 100 cups of coffee. This is what one California man paid for, 100 cups of coffee at this Newtown coffee spot. His act has generated so many people doing the same, folks across the country, paying for candy, paying for hot chocolate, all for the people in Newtown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CAVANAUGH, GOOD SAMARITAN: I wanted to do more than donate a few dollars. My mom always taught us, when somebody's grieving, you send prayers and food, can't really afford to buy them all breakfast right now.

I can buy them a cup of coffee. You heal. We'll do the rest of this stuff. It is just our way. It goes both ways. Their tragedy can come to us, but, you know, with technology and media, we can go to them and help.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: And that is just one of the efforts people making teddy bears, sending care boxes, the generosity is going beyond Newtown. On Twitter, there are a bunch of hashtags, one of them is hashtag 20actsofkindness. It's inspiring many, many people to do these simple gestures no matter their location.

Let me read you one tweet, quote, "Picked up neighbor's mail because she has a cold." Hashtag 20actsofkindness say this all the time. It is the little things. Inspired by all the acts of kindness coming out of Newtown's loss, this next couple here will make a bigger and deeper impression on you.

Their daughter, Grace, did not make it out of Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday and it is tough not to get emotional when you hear this story of this young girl, not just from grief here, but from the way Chris and Lynn McDonnell are moving forward, moving forward, not moving on, moving forward. They sat down with Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "360": What do you want people to know about Grace?

LYNN MCDONNELL, MOTHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: Well, Grace had such a great spirit. She was a kind and gentle soul and she was just the light and love of our family. She was just truly a special, special little girl that we loved and she loved her brother so much.

And she loved her school, Sandy Hook. In fact, this week I was telling somebody she had a stomach ache one day and I said to her, why don't you stay home with mom and she said, no way, I have too much fun there and I don't want to miss anything.

She would skip to get on the bus. It wasn't even a, you know, every morning it was the backpack was packed the night before and ready to get on the bus in the morning and head off to school. We would blow kisses every morning to each other.

And I remember that morning, putting her on the bus, she had a habit of blowing kisses, but then she give me a big little liver lip, like, but then she -- I knew she was so happy to go off and get there.

So it -- I'd like to say that she was at a place that she loved and so we take comfort in that. That we know she was in a place that she really loved.

COOPER: And with friends.

LYNN MCDONNELL: And with friends.

CHRIS MCDONNELL, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: People that loved her. I think that's the whole community and the school and the teachers, they all -- they're all raising your child. And it is a special place.

LYNN MCDONNELL: It is. And I take comfort that she was with all her friends and I just envision all of them holding hands and they're all together up there. And they're up there with their wonderful principal.

I mean, they have so many people up there helping them, and I said to somebody, like, just Sandy Hook, we have so many angels and so many bright stars shining over all of us in this town right now.

And each one of those children was, you look at their pictures, they were so beautiful, and they all had a story and a talent.

COOPER: What did you say to Jack? I mean, how did you -- because there is a lot of parents now who are trying to figure out what to say to their children all around the world about this.

CHRIS MCDONNELL: Telling him was by far the toughest thing to do. I think what we did was truthful, honest words that he could understand. And hoping that he'll be able to process this and how we can help to guide him to process this over the long journey ahead.

COOPER: You met with President Obama yesterday. What was that like?

LYNN MCDONNELL: I know he's the leader of our country, but when he walked in that room, it was a very private meeting, but when he walked in the room to greet us, it was just a dad. He's just a dad coming in to meet a dad and a mom and a son. And we really felt that. We felt his support and it was really -- it was really special and we shared some special things about Grace with him and her art.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Inspired by Grace's art, her parents say the family drew pictures, remembering Grace, all over her little white casket and laid her to rest with the things she loved, like a New York Yankees hat and sea shells.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Instagram, the place to post pictures, right? Now it is the web site's fine print that users have been focusing on and many of them, perhaps including you, are outraged over this.

Because Instagram now, they have responded. The company is backing away from this change in its policy, that said this, let me quote Instagram, the terms of use, quote, "To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your user name, likeness, photos, and/or actions you take in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions without any compensation to you."

Bottom line, without your permission, Instagram could get paid for a picture of you. Then yesterday after a revolt and backlash, Instagram said it was going to modify the terms, saying on a blog it was never its intent to sell your photos.

Let me talk about this with Mat Honan, senior writer at "Wired." Mat, I loved your piece and I know you signed up very early with Instagram. We'll get to your back story in a moment.

But let me just, off the top, crystal clear, what happens today if I post a picture to Instagram, could they use it or not?

MAT HONAN, SENIOR WRITER, "WIRED": Not yet. The terms go into effect on January 16th. So there is basically no reason to freak out until January 16th. They have until then to modify those new terms that they just posted on Monday.

BALDWIN: OK, so then January 16th, we will -- to be determined if people should be freaking out. Is that correct?

HONAN: That's right. It seems like Instagram is probably going to back off on this.

BALDWIN: OK, as we await if they do back off, you're an early adopter, you've done Instagram after it started in 2010. Love this line and what you wrote, you uploaded photos of food and beer and nights out on the town, banalities, burritos and bad photography through the Valencia hues. But a last Mat Honan, you quit Instagram. In fact, your page isn't found anymore. If they're backing off, why don't you hop back on?

HONAN: I may do that. I actually said that in my piece. I wrote it before they released the blog post. They're going to be backing off. But to me it really bothered me they had set up these new terms, going to force people into using -- if you wanted to use Instagram.

To have your photos used in ads or have your actions used in ads with no way to opt out other than to delete your account. I felt like that was an ultimatum, I felt if that's my only option, I'm going to delete because I don't want my stuff used in ads.

BALDWIN: Do you believe this could have been a trial balloon from Facebook who bought Instagram, testing the waters to see how folks would feel about policies, perhaps?

HONAN: If it was, it was -- it went really badly, didn't it? It could have been a trial, but those terms were certainly vetted by a lot of lawyers. It seems like it was something that was -- it was, you know, one of Facebook's big things, they move quickly and change things quickly if it goes badly. That's more what you're seeing.

BALDWIN: OK, Mat Honan, thank you very much. We'll wait to see what happens on the 16th of January. Thank you, from "Wired" magazine.

To another magazine today, big news out of "Time" magazine, the person of the year of 2012 is President Barack Obama again. But not everyone is thrilled with the magazine's choice. My next guest from "Time" responds live after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The big reveal from "Time" magazine today, unveiled its person of the year, who is U.S. President Barack Obama. Maybe just having the best year ever because he's also Forbes' most powerful person of 2012. He won re-election. It is his second time as "Time" magazine's person of the year. Time gave him the title when he was elected in 2008 and of course, with the winner were a couple of runner ups. Let me read to you, Malala Yousefsai, she is number two on "Time" magazine's list. What an amazing story, she was that courageous Pakistani teenager who survived a gunshot to her head for promoting the rights of girls to get an education.

"Time" calls Malala a symbol for women's rights all over the world, despite an attempt by the Taliban to silence her. Number three on "Time's," list, the successor to Apple's Steve Jobs. He is Tim Cook. "Time" says Cook has presided over Apple in a masterly way since Jobs past last year.

Let's talk a little bit more about this pick from "Time" magazine. Joining me now from Washington is Michael Scherer. Michael, welcome back. The president of the United States, once again, on the cover of your magazine for person of the year, why the president?

MICHAEL SCHERER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "TIME": Well, in 2008, we gave him person of the year because of the historic election, the potential he had to change the country and the direction of the country.

And this year we're giving it to him because of the change he's brought in the makeup of the electorate who comes to vote, and this new emerging electoral majority that he seems to be establishing, in the way we do campaigns, another historic year despite down enthusiasm.

Outraised small dollar money from 2008, clearly changed the way grassroots campaigns are being done. And also for the way he is shifting policy here in the United States. We're just two or three weeks -- two months now out from the election, I don't even know, actually. Six weeks out from the election.

BALDWIN: It's OK, we're all using track of time. It is the end of the year. It is happening soon. It's happening soon.

SCHERER: And already this shift, you know, we're going to be raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, inevitable it will happen. Just two months ago, that wasn't the case.

BALDWIN: OK, so you laid out myriad reasons. Let me also lay out, this is Rick Stengel, one of your editors at the magazine, said, quote, "As far as a reason for the pick, for finding and forging a new majority, for turning weakness into opportunity and for seeking amid great adversity to create a more perfect union Barack Obama is "Time's" 2012 "Person of the Year."

So, Howard Kurtz, who you know, of course, writes about media, and is the host for CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES." This is his response to that. Kurtz writes, "Wow, little did we know he was superman. I know "Time" has to justify its choice, but really? Obama himself is more modest in saying 2012 proves 2008 was not an anomaly."

I'm sure you've heard this today, Michael, already. How do you respond to that criticism?

SCHERER: Well, I think Rick was not calling him superman. I think Rick was restating a little more poetically what I just said in prose, and what I said in prose wasn't calling him superman or anything.

The anomaly part is really at the core of what we're talking about here. There say real question coming out of 2008 about whether Obama was sort of a flash in the pan, a one-time thing that came because of the economic collapse, because of the collapse of the Bush administration, because of the desire of the country to have a first African-American president.

Would he establish in 2012 is that was not the case. Those people are still there. Demographically they're growing and will continue to grow. There are people who don't always vote in elections who don't vote for other people, who come out to vote when Barack Obama is on the ticket and that has created an electoral majority.

That's a big deal. That's not saying he's superman or flawless or, you know, hasn't done things wrong or won't do things wrong in the future.

BALDWIN: OK, here is my final question, just because I'm curious. Michael, when did "Time" magazine decide? How long did you have to sit on this, 20 seconds?

SCHERER: The actual decision, maybe a few weeks ago, but there is qualifications to that. I started working on this story as if it would be the person of the year story maybe three or four weeks ago. There is always time as you said, you know, there are runners up, always time to move things around. When the actual final decision was made, that wasn't my decision.

BALDWIN: There is some wiggle room. There is wiggle room.

SCHERER: There is. We start several stories all at once and we're pursuing all of them at the same time. So you can always juggle things around at the end.

BALDWIN: Michael Scherer, thank you very much, from "Time" magazine. Thanks for talking with me today.

Twenty five films were selected today to be enshrined in the national Film Registry in the Library of Congress. You know that. The movies are picked for preservation because they represented cultural and historic achievements in filmmaking.

So let's run down some of the notable films on the list here. First up, "Dirty Harry." It has been listed as one of the greatest films of all time. Then you have "Breakfast at Tiffany's," Audrey Hepburn won rave reviews for her role as a Manhattan call girl in this one.

And "The Matrix" from 1999, this makes the list for its stylish special effects, they say, the gripping story. But that's not all. There were a couple more surprises. Could you guess? The answers on the other side of the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, you've been thinking, marinating over the commercial break, talking movies. There is this list of the 25 films chosen today to be preserved in the National Film Institute, two more to add to this list. Did you guess this one? Perfect time of year "A Christmas Story," a classic and for this next one, here's the hint.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you crying?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you crying? Are you crying? There's no crying. There's no crying in baseball!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: There's no crying in baseball! Of course, it's "A League of Their Own," love that movie. These are a couple of the 25 movies to be preserved in the Library of Congress. Check out the full list, go to loc.gov/film.

Now to some pretty crazy video, have you ever seen a mud slide knock a train off its tracks? No? Watch this. That mud slide, right there, down a 100-foot rain-soaked cliff, this is near Everett, Washington, Monday, the area getting hit with stormy weather for a third straight day.

You see the freight cars one after another after another, some of them splitting wide open. They were carrying small packages of disinfectant and chemicals. Everything is OK. Officials said says no need to panic, no threat whatsoever to the environment or public health. How about that, though? And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)