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Pope Benedict XVI Will Resign; Priest Abuse Survivor Says Take Action; Reward To Catch Ex-Cop; Police Processing 600 Clues; Market Boom Could Be A Bubble; Rick Perry Wants Businesses in Texas

Aired February 11, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what we are watching this hour. The resignation that has stunned people around the world. Pope Benedict XVI announcing today that he is stepping down at the end of the month. He says he is no longer able to handle the demands of being pope. In the Northeast, they are still digging out from the blizzard. In the South they are recovering after 15, 15 that's right, tornadoes, and now the Midwest bracing for the latest winter blast. And a blizzard hitting the Dakotas and Minnesota with as much as 15 inches of snow.

And the Coast Guard comes to the rescue to help a cruise ship that is stranded now in the Gulf of Mexico. More than 4,200 passengers and crew stuck on Carnival Cruise Lines Triumph, fire broke out on the ship yesterday as it was headed back to Galveston, Texas. Coast Guard Cutter will tow the cruise liner to the nearest port in Progreso, Mexico.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. And, of course, Catholics around the world have a new leader in the church by Easter, that is the hope. Today, Pope Benedict XVI announcing his resignation effective at the end of the month. He cited his deteriorating strength and his advanced age. He turns 86 in April.

Well, I want to bring in two guests here. First of all, Senior Vatican Analyst John Allen and the Reverend Thomas Reese, he is author of "Inside the Vatican." John, I want to start with you first of all. Very historic, hasn't happened really in 600 years. What is the significance to the church?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Well, Suzanne, the significance is enormous. The pope is considered, by Catholics, to be the vicar of Christ on earth, the successor of Peter, the kind of unquestioned leader of the 1.2 billion strong Catholic community around the world. And while Benedict has done everything he can to send signals of stability and continuity here, that is the indication that there will be a regular conclave to elect the next pope and that the next pope will enjoy his full support and so on.

I mean, nevertheless, these moments of transition are always jarring to Catholics. I mean, you remember, of course, the anxiety millions of Catholics around the world felt when John Paul II died in 2005. And in some ways, this transition creates the same sense of crossroads, the same set of question marks about the future of the church that we experienced and lived through seven years ago. MALVEAUX: Sure. And, John, being a Roman Catholic myself, I understand the huge symbolism that is involved in this transition, but do we think that there's going to be anything concrete when it comes to any change in position in the church? We know that Benedict was very conservative when it came -- comes to gay rights, when it comes to women being ordained in the church, when it comes to birth control. Many of those things that people are looking to and wondering if the church will, in fact, alter or adjust to the times.

ALLEN: Well, look, I mean, at the big picture level on the kinds of issues you ticked off that sort of frame the front lines of the culture wars in the West, you know, we should remember that the 118 cardinals who are under the age of 80 and will, therefore, be voting for the next pope are all men appointed by John Paul II and Benedict XVI. So, you know, one can assume that they will look for someone who would be in synch with those folks in --

MALVEAUX: Sure.

ALLEN: -- terms of the content of church teaching. But, on the other hand, you know, every pope is also different. I mean, Benedict XVI, even though he had most of the same ideas as John Paul II, was a very different figure. Just as John Paul II was a very different figure from the pope briefly who preceded him John Paul I and Paul VI. So, there will be change in tone and style, probably not so much on substance -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. John, thank you very much. I want to bring in Reverend Reese here. Reverend, what is the process, the procedure this go around? How do we know when the next pope will be announced?

REV. THOMAS REESE, AUTHOR, "INSIDE THE VATICAN": Well, the process is all very well laid out. There will be a conclave call 15 days after the pope resigns. And, in fact, I mean, the -- under law, it doesn't make a difference whether the pope died or whether he resigned. The same process goes into effect. So, there will be a conclave 15 days after the pope resigns, and the College of Cardinals will meet and they'll elect a new pope.

MALVEAUX: What does a pope do after he resigns? (INAUDIBLE.) Do you consult? I mean, what does he do?

REESE: Well, we haven't had that in -- since the 15th century, so it's really kind of hard to tell. My guess is he's going to try and lead a very quiet life. He is a quiet person who was thrust on the world stage. I think he'd love to go lock himself in a room and read books and write and enjoy the rest of his years praying for his poor successor.

MALVEAUX: And a lot of people don't know, he plays the piano. He cut an album, as a matter of fact. So, he's got a lot of hobbies, different things that he does. Do you have any idea who might be a front runner for the next pope? Do we -- do we -- is there a list of folks that they think might take his place?

REESE: Well, I've always avoided trying to play Jimmy the Greek. I think they will look for someone who is in continuity with this pope and with John Paul II. After all, Pope Benedict appointed more than half of the cardinals, and Pope John Paul II appointed the rest of them. And they did exactly what you or I would do. If we were pope, they appointed people who basically agreed with them on major issues facing the church. So, they're going to elect somebody that holds the same positions as these last two popes. It'll be a different personality. They might look for, for example, a diplomat rather than another academic. But we're not going to see major changes in the next papacy.

MALVEAUX: All right, Reverend Reese. Change takes a long time, I think. I appreciate it. Thank you, once again.

Well, a woman who repeatedly was molested by a priest in her Ohio parish, she says that she hopes the pope is going to take action before he leaves to prevent further abuse in the church. Barbara Blaine, she founded the group called SNAP, it is Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. I had a chance to talk to her just in this last hour. And here's what she says she wants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA BLAINE, SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS: I think it's really important to recognize that while the statements that the pope and the Vatican have made in recent years are lofty and frequently they appear to be compassionate, he really has not made any major changes in behavior. And so, it's almost as though the deeds do not match the words. So, I would hate for him to be remembered as someone who did the right thing, because from our perspective, Pope Benedict's record has been dismal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Blaine also wants the pope to issue a decree to tell all the bishops of the world to post the names of the predators on the diocese Web sites. She also wants all of the bishops to turn over their records about sex crimes to police in their jurisdictions.

City of Los Angeles hopes that a million dollar reward is going to help police catch this fugitive, he's a former cop, you see him there, Christopher Dorner. He's accused of killing a police officer and two other people in a revenge plot targeting the LAPD, that, of course, is where he used to work. The search has centered on this mountain resort community. It is Big Bear. And schools in that area, they actually reopened today after closing last week. We are now hearing investigators have scaled back the search. Miguel Marquez, he is at the LAPD headquarters. So, do we think this reward, first of all, is going to make any difference? I mean, this was a very big story, just 48 hours ago.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Huge story. And, you know, with the schools opening in San Bernardino, for instance, there was -- they were open under guard today. So, there are still a lot of nervous individuals across southern California. The tactical alert for Los Angeles Police Department has been taken down. It's turned off right now. They say that's because the number of calls outside of the Dorner case have come down, and they can -- they can afford to give people a little more time off. So, they don't have to have him in here 24-7, like they have since this thing all started to break loose last week.

That said, police just came out for a briefing saying that they have some 600 clues that they are pouring through, trying to figure out where Mr. Dorner is. They have hundreds of investigators working on those clues. And they are prioritizing now, trying to figure out what is the best information, but sometimes that leads to some pretty dramatic and frustrating results. At a Lowe's home store yesterday, for instance, hundreds of people had to be taken out of the store after a 911 call came in. The person stayed on the phone with police. They say --

MALVEAUX: Right.

MARQUEZ: -- that it was amazing. This Lowe's home store, the people coming out of there in single file, with a very heavy police presence. It turned out to be a domestic dispute, it sounds like. So, there's -- people are very, very concerned around here and being watchful at the moment. And the entire area is on very high alert -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, Miguel, so we think that -- do they suspect that he's still in California and, essentially, has the trail gotten cold?

MARQUEZ: It's -- talking to all of my sources, it certainly sounds like there is not much for them to follow up on, at the moment. While police are trying to pile through all of these clues that they have, there's not a lot of actionable stuff out there. So, it doesn't sound like anything that we've seen so far is real. There was another -- apparently, there was one reported sighting of Dorner in Phoenix, Arizona. So, you're starting to see cities farther out have concerns about him.

MALVEAUX: All right.

MARQUEZ: The TSA issued a warning to small regional airports over the weekend because Dorner has some flying experience. So, there's a lot of generic stuff out there but nothing specific.

MALVEUAX: All right.

MARQUEZ: At the moment, it seems fairly cold but they're keeping all of the pressure on all of the -- all of the resources bearing down that -- so that if it does pop and it does happen, they'll be ready to go -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Miguel, thank you very much. We'll be following that story.

Here's also what we're working on for this hour.

In 2009, the Taliban attacked a remote U.S. outpost in Afghanistan. Well, that day, one man in particular became a reluctant hero, now he is receiving the medal of honor. I want you to take a look at this. This is video of a massive tornado. This is in Mississippi. Amazingly, no one was killed.

This was a special moment last night. Mumford & Sons winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. We're going to show you more of the fun highlights from the ceremony.

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MALVEAUX: Starling new report from the Federal Trade Commission. It finds that as many as 42 million Americans now have errors, mistakes in their credit reports. About half of those mistakes are actually considered pretty significant. The big credit bureaus are answering the report with this statement, this is from the industry association. So, it says, quote, "Credit reports are materially accurate 98 percent of the time, and when they do contain mistakes, our members work to resolve them quickly and to the consumers' satisfaction 95 percent of the time."

Well, with the Dow now hovering around 14,000, edging higher, a lot of people suddenly tempted to get in a piece of the action. So, -- but get a hold of your horses here. Smart Money says, could be a bubble that's going to go bust. Christine Romans explains in today's "SMART IS THE NEW RICH."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRINCE, MUSICIAN: Tonight, I'm going to party like it's 1999.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Prince had it right, 1999 was quite a party for the stock market. But a year later, it crashed, wiping out trillions in wealth. Recalling this warning from the maestro.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN GREENSPAN, FMR. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: How do we know when irrational exuberance unduly has executed asset values?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Translation, a bubble. It looks so obvious after it pops. Is it happening again? Four years into this bull market record cash flowed into the stock market in January. It's a running of the bulls. Either that or investors are late to the party. Getting in now goes against that legendary advice from Warren Buffett, when they all zig, you should zag.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN BUFFETT, CEO BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: Be greedy when others are fearful. You want to be fearful when others are greedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: There is more greed than fear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my view it's a correction (ph) waiting to happen. I don't think it's real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Real or now, the S&P 500 has doubled since the lows in 2009. Companies are flush, profits are growing. And there's this guy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY RITHOLTZ, CEO, FUSION IQ: If the fed wasn't doing quantitative easing the markets would easily be 20 to 30 percent lower than where they are today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: With apologies to the "Little Rascals," it's baby Ben throwing money into the economy. $85 billion a month with no end in sight. But does that mean you should jump in?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE MUNSON, FOUNDER AND CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, PORTFOLIO: You always have to step back. Why are we investing in stocks or investing in bonds? it has to fit your situation. Until we do that, I don't think anybody should invest in anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Will stocks go higher? If I knew that I'd be on a Caribbean island. The better question, do you have a plan?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: If you have a financial goal of buying a house or starting a business in the next year, this is not your time to use the stock market as a gamble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUNSON: This is the perfect time to surrender to a financial plan. You have the fundamentals, you have Uncle Ben pumping billions into the system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Christine Romans CNN New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Two states duke it out for jobs. Texas governor Rick Perry is taking a trip to California, hoping that big companies are going to follow him home.

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MALVEAUX: Shooting in Delaware, courthouse has left three people dead. It happened this morning when a man opened fire in the county courthouse in Wilmington. Two women were gunned down before police killed the gunman. Reports say his estranged wife was among the victims.

At least 15 tornadoes ripped through Mississippi and Alabama, that happened last night. Hattiesburg, Mississippi sustained a lot of damage, but incredibly no fatalities. Victor Blackwell went to see for himself. Take a look.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, the people who live here in Hattiesburg say when this tornado came through, it was powerful and just created a path of destruction. Most of what we are seeing, though, are these branches that are down here on the University of Southern Mississippi campus, but there is considerable structural damage.

Look at this. This is the 100-year-old Ogletree house, one of the five original buildings on campus, it's representative of some of the damage we are seeing across the city. There is other minor damage here on campus, but the governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant, says 200 homes in Hattiesburg, 100 apartments have been damaged. The priority is finding places for those people to say. We know two shelters are open. Let's talk about injuries. There were reports of more than 60 people with minor injuries going to local hospitals. Two reports of very critical injuries. At the height, power outages of 13,000 now down below 4,000. Schools here are out today even on this campus, classes have been canceled for Monday and Tuesday, the concern now is the cleanup. Fortunately, no loss of life in this tornado. Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks. I want to bring in Chad Myers. Chad, tell us how big this tornado was? It looked pretty menacing.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It was big. They are just out there right now the weather service out of Jackson, Mississippi surveying the damage. They found 140 mile per hour winds so far, EF 3, and they said at least. That's what they put in their last statement on Twitter. At least 140. We have much more to see, they said. This storm is a long track tornado. This may have been on the ground 40 or 60 miles. It went over Oak Grove high school. I saw pictures of that earlier. Then just to the south, right along Hardy Street and University of Southern Mississippi. Even took out an Ace hardware. This continued off to the northeast, by that time the chasers couldn't get to it anymore because there was so much damage on the ground they couldn't drive over it. They couldn't keep up with the storm. This is the danger in a southern storm. There's a lot of trees down, power lines down. And you need to be very careful when trying to chase these things or don't do it at all. Because there are professional chasers doing it for you.

MALVEAUX: Yeah, unbelievable pictures. Thank you, Chad. Quick look at today's top three videos on CNN.com. Number three, carnivale time in Rio, our crews catching up with the celebration over the weekend in Rio de Janeiro. And carnivale, one of the biggest in the world. Number two, this kid caught red handed or should I say red faced, the viral video showing him denying that he ate some sprinkles. I think he did. His face says otherwise. Okay. You are caught, buddy.

Number one most popular video on CNN.com from the Grammys, video from last night's performances we saw them going viral, this one from Taylor Swift who opened the show. Reminder to watch other popular videos watching CNN live on your computer. While you're on you're at work head to CNN.com/tv.

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MALVEAUX: Coast guard comes to the rescue just in time to help a cruise ship that is stranded now off the Gulf of Mexico. More than 4200 passengers and crew, they are stuck on the carnival cruise lines Triumph, fire broke out on the ship yesterday as it was headed back to Galveston, Texas. Two coast guard tugboats will tow the cruise liner to the nearest port in Progreso, Mexico. I talked to a guy, whose wife is actually stuck on that ship, asked him what is she going through now, what are the conditions like on board?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BRENT NUTT, WIFE STUCK ON DRIFTIN CRUISE SHIP: I mean, it's horrible. I mean there's no running water. There's no power. They are having to use a restroom in buckets and bags. Whenever she called me, there was another ship cruise ship that pulled up beside them to give them food. And up until that point yesterday, they had not eaten anything at all. And she was able to get cell phone service off of the other ships tower.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Carnival company says now that the cruise ship should arrive in Mexico late Wednesday. Passengers will be flown back to the United States on a chartered aircraft. We wish them the best. That sounds rough.

This is a concern all of us have, is the economy going to get better? Is unemployment going down? Texas governor Rick Perry is doing something unusual to help out the state. Dan Simon shows us that he's actually trying to lure businesses away from California.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick Perry's Texas throwdown began with a 30 second radio ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY, (R ) TEXAS: Building a business is tough. But I hear building a business in California is next to impossible. This is Texas governor Rick Perry, and I have a message for California businesses. Come check out Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: California governor Jerry Brown immediately dismissed the spot and the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JERRY BROWN, (D) CALIFORNIA: Take a little radio ad and all you guys run like lap dogs to report it. It is not a burp. It is barely a fart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Governor's Perry answer was buy a plane ticket to the west coast. What it really is, is an all out war for jobs. As the nation's two biggest states grow their economies by attracting business. Brown brushed aside his fellow governor.

But Governor Perry appears to be serious in his quest to lure businesses away from California. He's got meetings this week with CEOs across the state including here in San Francisco and in Silicon Valley. Some say governor Brown shouldn't be taking all of this lightly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: What do you think of Governor Brown's response.

AARON MCCLEAR, FMR GOVERNOR STAFFER: Well, it's disappointing. I wish the leaders of the state took this issue more seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Aaron McClear worked for a former California governor, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's advising Perry, who may have plenty of ammo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCLEAR: We have the third highest unemployment. CEOs year after year say California is the worst place to do business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Still, Perry is likely to encounter resistance, especially from Silicon Salley. The CEO of the hot new travel web site called "Peak."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUZWANA BASHIR, PEAK FOUNDER AND CEO: Those of us that want to build big technology companies don't see anywhere else but California to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Perry has his sights on other industries, including Hollywood where a lot of film production already has left the state. His visit there seems fitting for what is becoming a high political drama. Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.

MALVEAUX: All right. So he's been away from the music scene for years. Check it out.

(MUSIC)

MALVEAUX: It was pretty hot, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z performing at the Grammies, we will take a look at the winners up next.

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