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Bombing at U.S. Embassy in Turkey; Murderer Mistakenly Released; NASA Pays Tribute to Columbia Crew; Te'o Hoaxer Speaks Out; Dow Hits 14,000; Controversial Comments by NFL Player; Harbaugh Brothers Make More History
Aired February 01, 2013 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Stories we're watching right now, a suicide bomber strikes at the U.S. Embassy in Turkey. The search is on for who is behind this deadly terrorist attack.
The man who made a mockery of Manti Te'o now talking about the fictional girlfriend he killed off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMAIAH TUIASOSOPO, ADMITTED TE'O HOAXER: I tried every other way to end this. I tried this lie and this lie and this lie, but nothing would work.
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COSTELLO: But he says his emotions were not faked. He was really in love.
A few good pot heads, ideally with law degrees. That's what officials in Washington State say they need to help them regulate their new recreational marijuana market.
And Super Bowl special, we'll take you live to New Orleans and talk to the mayors of the rival cities and the chef of the Super Bowl. How about some alligator sausage? NEWSROOM starts now.
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COSTELLO: Hi. Good morning. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Carol Costello. Right now, U.S. officials are scrambling who's behind this morning's suicide bombing outside the U.S. Embassy in Turkey.
One person was killed, two more wounded, none of them American. Today's attack comes as the State Department struggles to beef up security in response to that deadly attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya.
Ivan Watson is our senior international correspondent who joins us live. And I guess this is a reminder that U.S. embassies these days are under attack. IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They do come under attack. This is not the first time that a U.S. diplomatic mission has been attacked in Turkey, Carol. In this case, the State Department is calling this a terrorist blast, Turkish authorities say this was a suicide bomber killing one Turkish guard who worked at the embassy and wounding another Turkish citizen.
From the initial glances at this, it does look like the fortifications, the protection measures around the embassy, which is very heavily fortified did appear to work. It doesn't seem like the suicide bomber got beyond that first bunker-like structure that guests and diplomatic personnel have to go through to try to get into the embassy.
The U.S. ambassador was unhurt. He's come out and given a statement praying for the speedy recovery of a Turkish woman who was wounded and expressing remorse for the death of the Turkish guard. This was in a very heavily protected area with a lot of security personnel, and there are a lot of questions going to be asked now, which group may have wanted to carry out this attack against the U.S. Embassy -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ivan Watson reporting live for us this morning.
Back here at home in the United States, a hostage drama enters a fourth day in Southeast Alabama. Police say communications still open with the man who is accused of killing a school bus driver and then taking a 5-year-old boy hostage. They're still holed up in the man's underground bunker. Police say they believe the child is unharmed, at least, physically.
It was a mistake and a dangerous one. Sheriff deputies in Chicago inadvertently released a dangerous killer instead of transporting him back to prison. This morning, a man hunt is underway in Illinois and Indiana.
Steven Robbins, this man, was in court on unrelated charges. Those charges were dropped, but instead of being returned to Indiana to complete his 60-year sentence for murder, Robbins was released by the Cook County sheriff's office.
Liam Ford is the breaking news reporter for the "Chicago Tribune," he has been following the story. Good morning.
LIAM FORD, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE" (via telephone): Good morning, how are you?
COSTELLO: I'm good. I mean, any luck on the man hunt so far?
FORD: Not yet. They're broadcasting his description and a little bit of what happened on the police radio every hour in Chicago, but they haven't tracked him down yet. There's some thought he might be in areas where he used to live on the south side of Chicago, but no sign of him yet.
COSTELLO: It just makes you wonder how this could've happened and what this killer's reaction was when deputies just freed him.
FORD: Well, I'm sure he was pretty happy. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened. Basically the same thing happened in 2009. What's happened here is an old, lesser charge they wanted to drop was dropped the other day, and Robbins was released.
But the fact he had been brought in from Indiana from the Indiana prison system wasn't noted on his file apparently. Same thing happened in 2009 when a Mississippi inmate who was serving a long sentence was brought to have charges dropped here in Cook County.
They didn't note that he was serving a 30-year prison sentence in Mississippi, and he was released in Cook County after his Cook County charges were dropped.
COSTELLO: So how dangerous is this man?
FORD: Well, he certainly has a history of violence, the case that they brought him in for, some people have been describing it as a drug case, and that was one of the charges. But it was an armed violence case, meaning that he may have been using a gun or another weapon.
And he was convicted in a very heated argument and fight in which he killed someone who appears he didn't know before after they met at a party in Indianapolis. That's what he's serving the 60-year prison sentence for.
COSTELLO: Liam Ford from the "Chicago Tribune," thanks for filling us in. We appreciate it.
FORD: Thank you, have a good day.
COSTELLO: You too.
One of the worst days in NASA history took place ten years ago today. It was on this date in 2003 that the space shuttle "Columbia" broke up over Texas during re-entry. All seven astronauts were killed because unknown to them debris hit the shuttle wing during the launch.
This morning, NASA pays tribute to the crew of "Columbia" along with those killed in the "Challenger" explosion and in a fire during an "Apollo 1" test. During the special ceremony, a wreath is being placed at the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The man who says he pretended to be Manti Te'o's girlfriend for months is speaking out. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo told Dr. Phil why he decided to kill off the persona he created and her name was Lenay Kukua. He says it was partly because he was in love with Te'o.
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TUIASOSOPO: Me, Ronaiah, I was hurting. It hit me like a brick wall. I was like, whoa, I've given so much to this. And I realized in that moment I poured so much into it that I, myself, wasn't getting nothing and look at what I was left with. I was crying that morning, I was hurt, emotionally, all kinds of things took over. And so right then and there, I made the decision I can't do this thing anymore.
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COSTELLO: He also said the Notre Dame star had nothing to do with the hoax. Dr. Phil asked him to recreate that female voice. He initially refused, but then he agreed. Of course, Dr. Phil will air that part of the show today.
Now, let's check out the Dow right now because it's flirting with 14,000, which is an important -- it went over and then it kind of dropped a little bit. It's going back and forth. But as you know, 14,000 is a good psychological marker. Investors like that kind of thing.
Alison Kosik is keeping her eye on this. We'll get a full report from her in just a second, but I just wanted to show that bit of good economic news with you this morning.
Everyone has an area of expertise. If yours happens to be marijuana, growing it, processing it, selling it, your dream job may be waiting for you in Washington State.
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COSTELLO: A bit of breaking news to share with you. I mentioned it a little bit ago, the Dow hit 14,000, it's flirting with it. It's going a little bit back and forth. Let's head to the New York Stock Exchange and check in with Alison Kosik. Tell us more.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, you know what happened here when we saw the Dow hit 14,000? You know what we heard?
COSTELLO: A cheer.
KOSIK: No, we heard absolutely nothing. We could hear a pin drop here. There was no reaction, but, come on, it's a great milestone. What pushed it over the edge was really the optimism over the jobs report. But you know, the fact that we didn't hear much of a reaction really no reaction from the exchange here is because for many people, it's just a round number.
It really doesn't mean anything. But then you talk to others who say this is a big deal because it's a reminder that stocks have made a big comeback. You know, the last time it was at this level was five years ago in October of 2007. And then, you know, the bottom started to fall out of the economy, we had the great recession.
You know, the Dow even went all the way down to 6,500 in 2009, March of 2009. So this really has been a trek upward. One well known economist that we just talked to yesterday says you know what this is? This could be a sign of better things to come. Although he is a big bull, and for every bull, there's a bear.
I did speak with a bear, another economist who said this is like a correction waiting to happen. So it depends on who you talk to about how exciting this is, how momentous it is. It is a nice round number and it was nice to see it on the screen, even for a few seconds.
COSTELLO: I think a lot of people are confused about what the state of our economy actually is.
KOSIK: Well, and that's why some wonder what is the point of the Dow hitting 14,000. And, by the way, it's not even the record high, the record high is 14,164, and, yes, a lot of people talk about, you know, the disconnect. We see the Dow reaching these highs that we haven't seen in five years, yet, the jobs market is recovering, but we've still got 12 million people out of work so people think what gives.
At the very least, it really instils confidence because it instils confidence not just in investors, but regular investors and consumers too because maybe you'll see that headline in the newspaper tomorrow about the Dow hitting 14,000. And over time, it shows that the economic recovery is happening, albeit slowly, but that can help in the end to grow the economy -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Alison Kosik live from the New York Stock Exchange. We'll be back in a minute.
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COSTELLO: Yes, we want to continue with our breaking news as we told you a bit ago, the Dow hit 14,000. It's going back and forth a little bit. This comes on the heels of the jobs report. It was released at 8:30 Eastern this morning.
And it showed the economy is sort of like, you know, crawling along at a slow pace, but at least it's going in the right direction. Let's head to New York and check in with our business guru Christine Romans. She knows about it more than I do. Good morning, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That was perfect economic analysis, crawling around kind of moving ahead. You know, you're absolutely right. The most important part of this is that number modest jobs growth, it kind of allayed concerns we might be heading to a soft patch.
Remember GDP earlier this week, that GDP report showed that the economy actually shrank at the end of last year, big surprise, and now the jobs report shows us that job growth was strong in November and December and a little more modest in January.
And so now people aren't very concerned about some sort of a rough patch in the early part of the year barring Washington doing anything really crazy. So 14,000 in the Dow, you know, the path of least resistance is still higher for stocks because lots of people like you and me, Carol, regular investors after the S&P has doubled over the past five years, now they believe it and are rushing in with money.
COSTELLO: Yes, but it's hard to wrap your mind around because there's still 12 million people unemployed and the unemployment rate went up a smidge to 7.9 percent.
ROMANS: Yes. There's Main Street and Wall Street. And stocks reflect how companies are doing and how investors are doing and the return that shareholders are getting on their investments. And that's different than what's happening on Main Street and how many people are unemployed, how many people are actually getting work.
And what I've seen happen is this two-tier recovery. Where if you have a job and you can pay your mortgage and you have some investments, you have had a really great couple of years.
If you don't have a job, you're not secure in your job, you're not secure in your house or you don't have any savings, it feels the same today as it did four or five years ago. So that's the two-speed recovery that is America, quite frankly.
COSTELLO: Christine Romans reporting live from New York. Thanks so much. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with much more after this.
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COSTELLO (voice-over): Two teams, one game, and more than 100 million people expected to watch. It's the biggest sporting event of the year and we've got a special show covering all the angles from the players and coaches' final preparations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just fighting for everything.
COSTELLO: To the rowdiest fans, to the chef of the Super Bowl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where I come in, really, is, you know, localizing the product that they're using.
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COSTELLO: Welcome to a special Super Bowl edition of NEWSROOM. This is a live look at the Super Dome in New Orleans, Louisiana, where the San Francisco 49ers will face off against the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII. We'll take you to the big easy for a look at unique angles of this year's game.
But first, we want to get your take on one of the stories making headlines this morning. And it is today's Talk Back question. Here it is. Should the NFL's Chris Culliver be penalized for anti-gay comments?
I mean, here we are ready to kick back with chicken wings and beer, and watch the Super Bowl, and bam, Chris Culliver of the San Francisco 49ers ignites the culture wars spurred on by radio host Artie Lang's question about gay guys.
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CHRIS CULLIVER, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS CORNERBACK: I don't do the gay guys, I don't do that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there any on the 49ers?
CULLIVER: No, they don't got no gay people on the team. They got to get up out of here if they do, can't be with that sweet stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that true?
CULLIVER: Yes, it's true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They might be able to play well.
CULLIVER: No. No. Can't be in the locker room, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Hello, did Culliver forget he plays for San Francisco, the cradle of the gay rights movement? Apparently, yes, because he later apologized.
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CULLIVER: I'm sorry that I offended anyone. That was very ugly comments and that's not what I feel in my heart and hopefully I can learn and grow from this experience in this situation. And I love San Francisco.
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COSTELLO: Already there are calls for his suspension. Michael Kaiser writes on the "Huffington Post," quote, "Culliver must be suspended if the NFL is serious about its claims to be taking on homophobia in its ranks."
The pressure is on in the NFL. Players like Brendon Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe speaking out strongly for gay rights. Still, they're the minority. Former NFL cornerback Wade Davis came out as gay only after he stopped playing. Davis says conquering the NFL's macho culture is no easy task.
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WADE DAVIS, FORMER NFL CORNERBACK: Well, the ideas of masculinity, you know, to prove that you're tough, to prove that you can be one of the guys. That notion is very present in the NFL and in the locker room.
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COSTELLO: So the Talk Back question today: Should the NFL's Chris Culliver be penalized for his anti-gay comments? Facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me @carolcnn.
Now on to New Orleans where Super Bowl history is being made this morning, rival coaches holding a joint news conference may not sound like a big deal. But, of course, this year, those coaches have a history together. We're talking about the Harbaugh brothers, John and Jim. CNN's Mark McKay is outside the super dome. And Mark, I'm guessing these guys didn't get into game strategy.
MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at all. It was fun, still a bit awkward, Carol, with both brothers, John and Jim, facing the media. For the first time I can remember, it always happens, both head coaches meet the media the Friday before the Super Bowl, but here in New Orleans it was Jim and John Harbaugh sitting in two chairs with the Lombardi trophy right between them.
One of the two brothers will be holding that trophy come Sunday. So it is certainly a super bowl of mixed feelings for the Harbaugh family. As for one of the questions that was fired at the brothers, could one brother work for the other?
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JOHN HARBAUGH, RAVENS HEAD COACH: I would love to work for Jim, I'd love it. It'd be the greatest thing in the world and we almost made it happen at Stanford at one time. And it'd be an honor to have him on the staff, great coach. You always try to get great coaches and there's none better than Jim Harbaugh. I mean that seriously. No better coaches than this guy sitting right here.
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MCKAY: And this could very well be, Carol, all in the family next chapter. Why? Because John's son Jay is currently on -- see, I knew I'd mess that up. Jim's son Jay is on John's Ravens coaching staff. This is hard to keep up with, the Harbaugh family --
COSTELLO: Too many Harbaughs.
MCKAY: This will keep going on and on, Carol.
COSTELLO: I like how one wears a suit and the other dresses casually. Just kind of differentiates them a little bit. What did they say about their mom?
MCKAY: Well, another thing about this story is they're all "Js." There's Jack the dad, Jackie the mom. They have love for both of their parents, Jack being the football father and mom being the nurturing mom and teaching these two young boys there are more to life than just football, bringing them up and making them realize that it's not all about the game that their father, a successful college coach, was able to pass along to them. As any nurturing mom would do, she would let them know it's all about life and not just football, although I have a feeling it'll be hard for her to convince them of that this weekend here in New Orleans -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Mark Mckay reporting live from New Orleans, thanks so much.
So, it's a family affair for the Harbaughs, reminds us of another sports family, this one with ties to one of the Super Bowl team cities. We're talking about the Ripkens of Baltimore.
Cal Sr. was a player, coach, and manager during 36th season with the Orioles. He's the only dad to manage two sons at the same time in the big leagues so to speak. Cal Jr., baseball's all-time iron man and his brother, Billy. Here's what Cal had to say about the Harbaughs.
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CAL RIPKEN JR., BASEBALL HALL OF FAMER: They're probably thinking about it the same way that Billy and I did or even Billy and I and dad is that this is our job. This is our normal life. This is what we go on every single day.
And they probably don't give a second thought to the fact that they're brothers or they're a family and this is a unique sort of situation. I would guess they'll look back on it and have the same sort of feelings.
But right now, they're in the trenches. They're doing what they do best, they're enjoying it. They love it, so maybe just maybe they don't appreciate it as much as they will in the future.
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COSTELLO: Maybe not.
Everyone's still talking about Beyonce. She had been silent, perhaps ironically silent after it leaked that she had lip synced the national anthem at President Obama's inauguration. But with her next performance days away, the superstar answered her critics in one dramatic fashion.
Here's Carlos Diaz.
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BEYONCE, SINGER: Any questions?
CARLOS DIAZ, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Let me say what everyone's thinking. That was the first in your face of the Super Bowl. You walking out here and nailing that national anthem.
BEYONCE: Thank you so much.
DIAZ: Did all of that flak unnecessary or not affect what you were doing at halftime?
BEYONCE: I always sing live. If there's -- this inauguration was, unfortunately, a time where I could not rehearse with the orchestra, actually because I was practicing for the Super Bowl. It was always the plan.
DIAZ (voice-over): And after her singing was done on this stage. Beyonce wanted to make sure she explained to everyone why she used the backing track at the presidential inauguration.
