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Tourists Killed in Balloon Explosion; Power Outages in Metro Kansas City; Three Days Before Forced Budget Cuts; Photographer Heard Balloon Explosion; Home Prices Jump 7.3 Percent in 2012; Surprising Cards, Emails to Zimmerman

Aired February 26, 2013 - 09:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the "NEWSROOM" breaking overnight, a hot air balloon horror. The balloon filled with 21 people explodes and plummets a thousand feet.

Also a blizzard for the history books.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one could be much more treacherous to travel in.

COSTELLO: Snow falling horizontally in middle America this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We declared a state of emergency for Kansas City, Missouri.

COSTELLO: Plus marijuana nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marijuana cultivation, distribution and consumption is going to happen with or without their acceptance. The choice that we have to make is whether we want to regulate and tax it.

COSTELLO: And tax it they will. Some dispensaries could see tax rates as high as 75 percent.

Plus this. A year after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, artist, activist Chuck Dee joins to us talk about his new project "Beyond Trayvon."

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello.

We begin this morning with what's being called the deadliest hot air balloon accident in the world in at least 20 years. Fourteen tourists killed today when a balloon exploded in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor. It's the site of some of Egypt's most famous ruins.

These pictures were shot just before the explosion.

CNN's Reza Sayah is following the deadly mishap from Cairo.

Good morning.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

This was a terrifying incident. Officials say this hot air balloon dropped 1,000 feet, to put it in perspective. The Empire State Building is a little more than 1200 feet so this was a lengthy drop, officials say at least 19 people were killed, this incident happening in the city of Luxor in southern Egypt, the site of some of the most famous ancient ruins here in Egypt.

Officials saying 21 people were on board, almost all of them with the exception of the pilot were tourists, among them Hong Kong nationals, Japanese nationals, British, the French.

The operator of this hot air balloon was Sky Cruise. Obviously there's going to be a lot of questions asked of the owner of this company. Officials say the hot air balloon plummeted when a flammable gas cylinder on board exploded. Witnesses say some of the tourists actually jumped out of the hot air balloon while it was falling.

An incredibly horrifying incident, investigation is on the way, officials have banned all hot air balloon flights until further notice -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow. Reza Sayah, reporting live from Cairo this morning.

Now let's turn our attention to the central part of our own country. The ferocious storm the National Weather Service is calling a crippling historic blizzard. How crippling? Well, this the view of one truck driver trapped on Interstate 40 near Groom, Texas. He was stranded nine hours in what he calls the worst snowstorm he has ever seen.

Heavy snow, fierce winds also brought traffic to a standstill in Lubbock. Many drivers wound up in ditches when they could not see the road. Much less stay on it. Some parts of the state have seen as much as 19 inches of snow. From Texas to Illinois the misery is measured in feet, winds whipping up wicked snow drifts and even paralyzing emergency crews.

In Oklahoma firefighters bogged down on a four-foot drift and a snowplow sent to free them it got stuck, too.

We are covering it all. CNN's Erin McPike is in Kansas City, Missouri, and meteorologist Jennifer Delgado is tracking the storm here in our Weather Center.

Let's begin with Erin in the nation's heartland.

Good morning, Erin. It looks terrible.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, it's getting worse and worse. We're getting about two inches of snow an hour, but what I want to tell you about are the power outages. We talked to Kansas City power and light. We've been talking to them all morning and the power outages have doubled and tripled since we first started talking to them.

We're up to 35,000 power outages just in the Kansas City metro area. There are also about 10,000 power outages in Texas and another 10,000 or so in Oklahoma. Obviously that's a problem for those getting heat so that's something to watch out for. Also around me it's getting harder to see if you can look a little bit behind me here you don't see very many cars on the road. However the cars that we have seen have gotten stuck, one of them rolled down the hill so it is very dangerous.

We also know from Kansas Governor Sam Brownback that there was a second death in this storm reported last night. So dangerous storm -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. Hopefully people are staying off the roads today.

Thanks so much, Erin.

Now let's get the latest on the storm and where it's heading. Meteorologist Jennifer Delgado is here to tell us that.

Good morning.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. You know, Erin looked kind of miserable outside. You know, with the winds blowing around in some of these locations, up to about 30 miles per hour, yes, visibility is going to be compromised at times. You can see on the radar where the snow is starting to taper off in the western part of Kansas City. But still we're going to pick up anywhere between another four and five inches of snowfall for St. Louis, southern parts of Missouri.

You know, dry slot where we are going to see some of that wrapping around potentially about an inch of snow for St. Louis, and then for Chicago, you're going to start to see a bit of a mix arriving right around the midday hour but just now arriving at noon.

Now look at the winds now for Kansas City 33, so that's why Erin was dealing with the windy conditions out there and the snow, with the winds, we're talking eight to 12 inches. Well, this is going to be plain miserable as well as dangerous right along the northern parts of Missouri.

As you can see for areas including Iowa we're going to see the heaviest amount of snowfall for Chicago, three to six inches but we're not just talking snow here. We're also talking about rain, flooding, as well as severe weather. We do have a tornado watch in place across parts of Florida, that is in effect until 3:00 and this whole area potentially we could see one to two inches of rain.

Here's the area we're looking at for potentially the severe storms. Well, of course that rain has to go somewhere and it's going to move up towards the East Coast and that means rainy conditions with a little bit of snow and wintry mix in some of those higher elevations. Carol, I'm happy to be in the studio. You know, I kind of would like to see a blizzard from time to time.

COSTELLO: No, you wouldn't.

DELGADO: I like to visit them then come home.

COSTELLO: Yes. Well, OK, I'll take that. Jennifer, thank you.

DELGADO: Bye, Carol.

COSTELLO: Checking our other top stories this morning. The company laying a cable just before an explosion last week in Kansas City did not have an excavation permit and had hit a two inch gas line at J.J.'s Restaurant. Kansas City officials also don't know what ignited the leaking gas. The blast killed one person and injured 15 others.

"The New York Times" says several Republican leaders have signed a legal brief supporting same-sex marriage. They include Jon Huntsman, two members of Congress, and Meg Whitman, who ran for California governor.

The brief asked the Supreme Court to strike down a California initiative barring same-sex marriages in similar bans.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gets snubbed by the Conservative Political Action Conference. Some close to CPAC says Christie was not invited to attend or speak. Officially CPAC says it's finalizing its schedule. Next month's meeting is considered a key event for any Republican considering a presidential bid.

On Capitol Hill more lawmakers are warning Americans, you better brace for those forced spending cuts to go into effect on Friday. Here's what's set to kick in in less than three days now. A total of $85 billion slashed automatically across-the-board from the federal budget. That adds up to 9 percent of nondefense spending and 13 percent of the Pentagon's budget office over the next seven months.

Are you feeling it yet? Here's what's not being targeted. Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps, and military personnel and the Veterans Administration. Clearly, though, frustration is building against Congress and the White House.

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GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: I think it's time for the president to show leadership. The reality is he's been engaged in almost non- stop campaigning trying to scare the American people, trying to scare now states and others.

GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Has there ever been more of a time where government was more intrusive than it is today, and to the point that it is really psychotic. Something's wrong. My kids could go and find $83 billion out of a $4 trillion budget. This is not rocket science. What this is, is an inability to want to get to work. No one should be going home. No one should be playing golf, no one should be taking vacations.

What they need to do is do what these governors do every day. We stay until we get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: President Obama will hear some of that anger firsthand when he visited the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. Defense spending makes up nearly half the region's economy and as we saw from a Republican -- Republican blitz there yesterday makes it fertile ground for the blame game.

Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the welders to sheet metal workers who do repairs and maintenance on these massive Navy ships, Washington's inability to so far avert deep cuts has left them concerned about their futures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is talking about it. Everybody is worried.

LOTHIAN: Last week the military notified BAE that work on 13 ships at several of its sites would have to stop if a deal wasn't struck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it goes fully and we run completely out of work there'll be a skeletal crew in here just to keep the plant up and running.

LOTHIAN: This air of uncertainty is why some members of Virginia's congressional delegation took part in a town hall meeting in Newport News Monday. Where they got an earful from residents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've given my personal salary into my business because I love my business and you guys I think need to do the same thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. It's a national issue. It's our boys, our girls, our families.

LOTHIAN: President Obama is painting a grim picture to put pressure on Congress. This shipyard is part of his mosaic.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These cuts do not have to happen. Congress can turn them off any time with just a little bit of compromise.

LOTHIAN: But some Republicans aren't buying it.

JINDAL: So I think that the president needs to stop trying to scare the American people.

LOTHIAN: And that the town hall meeting lawmakers all convinced that cuts will happen were blaming the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We welcome him to Newport shipbuilding. I hope he brings with him a definitive proposal with all the entourage that he'll have with him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Now it's not just these civilian defense workers who are concerned here in the state. But there are a lot of small business owners who worry that if people are furloughed, that will mean fewer customers for them so that's something that we expect the president will be talking about today, but also we expect the president will be going after Republicans accusing them of protecting loopholes that benefit the wealthy and big companies.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Dan Lothian reporting live this morning.

Want to get back to that horrifying hot air balloon crash in Egypt, in Luxor, Egypt. Eighteen people have now been killed.

Joining me now by phone is freelance photographer Christopher Michel. He was in another balloon a short distance away when he heard an explosion.

Christopher, welcome.

CHRISTOPHER MICHEL, FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER (via phone): Thank you.

COSTELLO: So you were up in this hot air balloon taking pictures and just describe to us what you heard.

MICHEL: So it was a -- it was an early smoky and dark morning and right off the city of Luxor. About 45 minutes into the flight, about 50 feet above the ground as we prepared to land, I heard a loud explosion behind us. I looked back, saw a lot of smoke. I first saw it was -- that it was part of a sugar cane that was burning and they burn sugar cane this time of the year here and as soon as our balloon sat down I could see by the reaction of the pilot that there was a problem and then he says, this is the first time this has happened in a long, long time.

And then they knew that there was a problem. Sirens started to be arrive -- started to be heard and people started to arrive and then the tragedy unfolded for all of us.

COSTELLO: When the pilot of your balloon said that, Christopher, did you know what he meant?

MICHEL: Well, I had assumed then there had been an accident on the balloon. I don't think anyone had a sense of how horrible it would turn out to be.

COSTELLO: Before you boarded the balloon to take that flight against those beautiful sites in Egypt, was there any -- I don't know, did they teach you anything about safety measures or things like that?

MICHEL: You know, that's an excellent question. You know, I had just been on a -- I've done this a similar kind of thing in Myanmar over the city of Bagan for a photo shoot with "Outside" magazine. And I was incredibly impressed by the professionalism of the pilot, great safety briefing, great condition of the balloon. None of that was here, no safety briefing, the balloon looked like it was in just OK condition. I feel very safe on the blue light and going very safe in Egypt. But it was a marked difference from the professionalism I saw with the British and Myanmar.

COSTELLO: Once your balloon landed, were you able to see anything or find out more about what happened?

MICHEL: Well, we're unable to see anything. We could certainly hear the sirens and -- we could hear cars and emergency vehicles approaching for the next hour or so. Like each balloons lands in its own air. They don't actually even know where the balloons are going to land. There is a kind of a team that follows the balloons around. So it -- the other balloon landed in a different area. So we didn't see anything. A little bit of smoke and then obviously we saw more and more from the people there.

COSTELLO: And I suspect you're feeling really lucky today.

MICHEL: Well, I'm feeling very lucky but I have to tell you the juxtaposition of this great beauty and this wonderful country, with this horrible tragedy. It's just really shocking and I think all of us feel very, very terrible.

COSTELLO: You're right, Christopher Michel. Thank you so much for sharing your story this morning. We appreciate it.

MICHEL: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Paying the cost to sell marijuana, why businesses doing it legally for medicinal purposes are getting slammed by very, very high taxes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Seventeen minutes past the hour. Time to our check our top stories.

This news is just in to CNN. It is good news. Home prices rose more than 7 percent last year. That's according to new numbers this morning by Case-Shiller.

Christine Romans is crunching the numbers on this. She'll join us about 30 minutes to tell us more about what this means. It will likely mean good news, though, for the markets already poised to open higher this morning after the Dow saw its worst loss of the year yesterday.

The California Coast Guard is searching this morning for a family missing at sea since Sunday. A couple and two children reportedly abandoned ship off Monterey after sending a distress call that their boat was taking on water, the boat was similar to the one you see here in these pictures.

The U.S. Census reportedly will stop using the word "negro" in its surveys. Research shows most people no longer identify with the term and actually find it quite offensive. The bureau will now use black or African-American.

G.M. reportedly will begin selling 4G AT&T wireless connections next year on most of its 2015 models. G.M. hopes the high speed connection will offer drivers new services, the deal ends a long relationship G.M. had with Verizon.

Today marks one year since Trayvon Martin was killed, and since then his parents have gone from mourners to activists, speaking out against gun violence in America.

CNN's Piers Morgan asked them about a possible result in the upcoming trial of George Zimmerman who has been charged with killing their son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: Are you ready to let justice take its course, however that turns out? In other words, if at the end of this trial, George Zimmerman is exonerated of illegally killing your son, would you be prepared to publicly accept that verdict?

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: Well, that's something that we've always asked for. We've always asked for an arrest, we've always asked for just for it to come to a trial. We just want to have that trial and let the jury decide and whatever decision comes out of that, we're going to accept that. We may not like it but we're going to accept it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Hundreds of letters and e-mails sent to George Zimmerman have now been released and they reveal some surprises.

CNN's David Mattingly has this exclusive report.

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DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONALCORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Until now, they have been the silent opinions for and against expressed directly to George Zimmerman.

The hundreds of cards, letters, and e-mail that only now we are allowed to see.

As expected, we find words of encouragement to Zimmerman, and harsh condemnation.

(on camera): But in those hundreds of personal and often passionate notes, we were able to look a little deeper, to look for trends, and to possibly see what is driving so many deeply-held opinions. And immediately, there were some surprises.

(voice-over): The accusations of racism and profiling that dominated demonstrations a year ago are not so prevalent in notes written to Zimmerman. Of the e-mail condemning his actions, fewer than 10 percent call him a racist. Only 5 percent accuse him of profiling.

(on camera): The most common factor and opinions against George Zimmerman may have its roots right here, that mental image of Trayvon Martin buying a pack of Skittles and a can of iced tea at this convenience store before walking home to watch a basketball game.

The one thing Zimmerman critics mention most is Trayvon Martin's age.

(voice-over): Forty-one percent, in fact, condemning Zimmerman's actions explicitly mention Trayvon Martin's youth. Some calling him a 17-year-old, a teenager, a young man. But most may have formed opinions based on the younger photos of Martin, publicized early in the case, calling martin a boy, a kid, a child.

(on camera): And many of the people writing notes of support to George Zimmerman seemed to be reacting to what they saw playing out right here in the streets of Sanford, Florida. Nearly a quarter of the people supporting Zimmerman objected to race being an issue in this case.

(voice-over): Some blamed the media. Others blamed leaders of the protests. Some went even further, to suggest a conspiracy at work, or that Zimmerman was himself a victim of racism.

A few made comments offering a possible glimpse into a racial divide, and racially motivated resentment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And there were extreme points of view on both sides, just looking at the big stack of e-mail to George Zimmerman of the people who were condemning his actions, between 15 percent and 20 percent, Carol, were wishing him bodily harm or death -- a lot of those e-mail contains way too much profanity obviously to show you here.

COSTELLO: Wow. Fascinating story, David Mattingly reporting live from Florida this morning.

And, by the way, artists and activist Chuck D from the legendary rap group Public Enemy has spoken out about the Trayvon Martin case through his music and visual art.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK D, RAPPER: Trayvon Martin was a young black man that was brutally murdered and right now, it's a big debate, whether was it law or was it the law as usual?

"Beyond Trayvon" is the title that the picture kind of speaks a million words but the two words is powerful in itself. So, I'm very happy that the art depiction was like beyond expectations. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Chuck D and his wife will join us life in our next half hour.

Talk back question today, who do you believe when it comes to forced budget cuts? Facebook.com/CarolCNN or tweet me @carolCNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Talk back today: who do you believe when it comes to forced budget cuts? It's like a ping-pong game with no winner. The more you watch, the more you risk whiplash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: I think it's time for the president to show leadership. The reality is he's been engaged in almost nonstop campaigning, trying to scare the American people, trying to scare now states and others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, insisting the president is yelling fire in a crowded theater.

According to House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy it won't break us if Congress kicks back, comes to no deal and allows the meat axe to fall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: The only thing that catastrophic that it will be is it will be shocking that we kept our word in Washington. That we said we'd do this 18 months ago, but the president wanted a fight, changed the plan of what he said he'd agreed to and that we followed through. Maybe that would be catastrophic that people finally would say Washington kept their word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But the Democrats paint a different picture. None other than Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, says we can expect longer lines at airports and border security, it will be affected too, and not in a good way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Threats from terrorism and the need to respond and recover from natural disasters do not diminish because of budget cuts. Even in the current fiscal climate, we do not have the luxury of making significant reductions to our capabilities without significant impacts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The problem is, since Democrats are saying one thing and Republicans another, it's difficult to know what's true. So here's what we do know, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says if the meat ax falls, you know, with these across-the-board cuts to the tune of $85 billion, it will cost us 750,000 jobs and slow the economy and that cannot be good.

So talk back: who do you believe when it comes to forced budget cuts? Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, or tweet me @carolCNN.

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