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Lawmakers Disappointed by New TSA Policy; Afghan President Karzai Accuses U.S. of Colluding with Taliban; Cardinals Vote for New Pope on Tuesday; Six Teens Killed, Two Injured in SUV Accident
Aired March 10, 2013 - 22:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The TSA gives a thumbs up to small knives on airplanes. It is getting a thumbs down from some lawmakers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't even bring a cup of coffee on to an airplane and here we are allowing small knives?
LEMON: A billionaire space pioneer gives us a glimpse at the future of space flight. We have brand new video of space X's cutting edge roster.
The government controlling what you eat and drink. Now, the New York mayor is looking at how people listen to music.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayor Bloomberg should but out.
LEMON: Is this the nanny state at work? We're asking, do you think we're stupid? Are we? All that and more just ahead.
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LEMON: Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Those stories plus, Facebook COO Cheryl Sandberg's is in "60 Minutes" interview about women in the workplace coming up.
But first, let's get you up to speed about the big stories happening now.
A tragic accident today near Warner, Ohio. Six teenagers were killed and two injured when their SUV crashed into a pond. The SUV hit a guardrail and flipped over before landing in the water. No one was wearing a seat belt. The grieving man talked about the tragedy. His cousin died in that crash.
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KASMOND PARKER, COUSIN, DEATH IN CRASH: We have to come together as a community, because we can't just lose each other like this and people need to be responsible before they get into any type of vehicle.
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LEMON: The victims range in age from 14 to 19.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is trying to smooth over new trouble with Afghanistan. He held a working dinner tonight with Hammed Karzai, hours after Karzai accused the U.S. of collusion with the Taliban. Karzai's charge at the Taliban is working with foreigners because it want a continued American presence in the country. Hagel says he tried to pressure Karzai that the U.S. has had no back channel talks with the Taliban and is still on track to leave by the end of 2014.
Outrage in Pakistan today over a tax on Christians.
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LEMON: Hundreds of Christians took to the streets of Lahore (ph) in protest after a mob burned more than 100 homes in their neighborhood. It all started with allegations that a Christian man made derogatory remarks about the Muslim prophet Mohammed. We were told many Christians have fled the area over fear of being killed.
The first vote for the next Pope will be on Tuesday. The 115 voting cardinals will gather for the papal conclave in Vatican City. They will keep voting until the winner emerges. When the next pope has been chosen, white smoke will pour from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
And just a month before the season's first major golf tournament, Tiger Woods won his second title of the year today in Miami. He made 27 birdies, one short of his personal record in the tournament. He's now a favorite to win a fifth green jacket in the Masters in April.
For more than 10 years, the TSA stood by its rule, no pocket knives on a plane, not even those tiny ones, not even nail clippers. That changes next month, when the rules relax and you will be allowed to bring certain small knives on board. Airline executives don't like it. Flight attendants don't like it. And as we have heard today, some lawmakers on Capitol Hill don't like it either.
CNN's Lisa Desjardins is in Washington with more - Lisa.
LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Don, the TSA says it's trying to prevent things like a bomb, an explosion or a takeover of an aircraft. And it says, small knives with the current safety precautions on cockpit doors could not cause such a catastrophic problem.
But now, lawmakers, including Chuck Schumer say small knives are still too dangerous to go on planes and Schumer issued this threat to the TSA.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The TSA refuses to go along. We would very much consider legislation and my guess is it would have large bipartisan support. I don't know anyone who's defended the TSA on this demerits, because it doesn't make any sense. (END VIDEO CLIP)
DESJARDINS: Here, you can see what this change is. Starting April 25th, can you carry knives this size under 2.6 inches, on to a plane's cabin. Now, the TSA believes with cockpit doors more secure these knives cannot bring down a plane. But, there is some fears opposition, this petition on WhiteHouse.gov is against the new knife policy. It is being pushed by union representing flight attendant. So far, as you can see, it has about 17,000 signatures.
Now, flight attendants are worried about their personal safety, the risk from knives to them personally. But what does the TSA say in response?
The TSA gave us this statement. It says, "TSA's decision was driven by a threat assessment as part of our overall risk based security approach. We concluded that removing small knives from the prohibited list would not cause catastrophic damage to the aircraft."
That is the key. Catastrophic damage versus the threat to individuals here.
Now, this issue is not the only thing to be watching this week. Also, this is a huge week for small and medium sized airports. About 200 of them are sitting nervously on a list for control tower shutdowns, that's part of those forced budget cuts also known as the sequester. They do not have enough money to staff all the airports full time now through the end of the fiscal year.
So, these airports, 200 of them, more than that, have until Wednesday to make their argument for keeping their towers over. And here's one of them. This is Hagerstown, Maryland. Their tower is slated for closure starting April 7th. Now, closing a tower doesn't mean an airport will close. In some places, pilots can fly in without talking to a control tower or they can talk to another tower nearby.
All right, how big of a deal is this? Well, the FAA says these towers combined handed just under six percent of commercial flights last year. So, not a huge number overall, Don, but for people who travel in and out of these locations, it will be a very big impact - Don.
LEMON: Lisa, thank you very much.
A book by Facebook's number two in command comes out tomorrow. But it's already angered a lot of one big group of readers, women.
And congressional squabbles are nothing new, but actual fighting? Why this New York congressman is in the ring, next.
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LEMON: It is less than two months sense President Obama's inauguration. But, of course, we are already talking about 2016.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush dodged a question about a possible presidential bid today when he talked with Candy Crowley. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: When you asked me before 2012 was I going to run in 2012, then, I said no. I went to the process and said it wasn't appropriate. Now I've decided to defer any consideration of it until the proper time to make those kind of considerations. Which is out, you know, more than a year from now for sure.
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LEMON: The former governor seemed less tolerant when asked the same question by NBC's David Gregory.
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DAVID GREGORY, HOST, MEET THE PRESS: Is it you or Marco Rubio, who are we more likely to see in the White House?
BUSH: Man, you guys are crack addicts. You are really obsessed with all this politics. Marco Rubio is a great guy. OK, heroin addict, is that better? I mean, put aside the politics for we have big challenges.
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LEMON: Bush said being Florida's governor was one of the greatest thrills of his life.
A congressman known for putting up his dukes on Capitol Hill stepped into a real ring for some real rope-a-dope last night.
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LEMON: That is New York Republican Peter King. He says he likes to box, he's been training for several years. So, last night for fund raiser on Long Island, he put on some gloves and went toe to toe with a kickboxing champ almost 40 years younger than him.
Congressman King is 68 years old, 230 pounds. He wore no head gear and threw punches pretty aggressively for two rounds. He said they really went at it, no sparring, but it was just an exhibition.
There's a lot of buzz right now about a new book by Facebook's number two in command, Sheryl Sandberg. "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead," hits shelves tomorrow.
Tonight's CBS' "60 minutes" aired an interview with Sandberg, and our Susan Candiotti explains why the words of this billionaire businesswoman are drawing praise and a healthy dose of criticism.
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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Cheryl Sandberg wants women to succeed and says it's alarming how far they haven't come. CHERYL SANDBERG, AUTHOR, LEAN IN: The very blunt truth is that men still run the world.
CANDIOTTI: In her first televised interview to debut her new book, "Lean In," Sandberg tells "60 Minutes" that leadership roles for women are alarmingly small, only 21 female CEOs in the Fortune 500.
SANDBERG: This is deeply personal for me. I want every little girl who someone says they're bossy to be told instead, you have leadership skills.
CANDIOTTI: Sandberg lays a good deal of responsibility on women themselves. Facebook's 43-year-old chief operating offer says women too often don't compete for promotions because they're worrying too early about the future.
SANDBERG: They start leaning back. They say, I'm busy. I want a child one day. I could possibly, you know, take on anymore. Or I'm still learning my current job. I've never had a man say that stuff to me.
CANDIOTTI: Though she does blame discrimination at work and a lack of affordable child care, her views have made her a lightning rod.
LESLEY JANE SEYMOUR, EPIC EDITOR IN-CHIEF: Instead of saying that doesn't work for women, and it won't work, and let's change the system, she's kind of going backwards and saying, let's change you instead. That's probably where most of the anger is coming from.
CANDIOTTI: But Sandberg isn't apologetic.
SANDBERG: I'm not trying to say that everything I can do, everyone can do. But I do believe that these messages are completely universal. The things that hold women back hold women back from sitting at the boardroom table and it hold women back from speaking up at the PTA meeting.
CANDIOTTI: Sandberg a mother of two also says leading at work requires men to share the work load at home.
SANDBERG: There is an awful lot we don't control. I am saying there's an awful lot we can control and we can do for ourselves, to sit at more tables, raise more hands.
CANDIOTTI: Challenging women to "Lean In" and listen.
Susan Candiotti, CNN New York.
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LEMON: After Yahoo's CEO caused a national outcry by banning work from home, the conversation about women's career and home life balance has grown even louder.
Beginning tomorrow, CNN will focus on various aspects of this conversation throughout the day. Watch what women want, work and family beginning tomorrow on CNN.
An attorney for former tennis star Jennifer Capriati denies a report that there's a warrant out for her arrest. What she's being accused of next.
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LEMON: Police in Florida are reportedly seeking an arrest warrant against former tennis star Jennifer Capriati. The 36-year-old's ex- boyfriend says she punched, pushed and stalked him at the health club on Valentine's day and there were at least seven other times Capriati harassed and stalked him. And attorney for the former top-rank tennis start says, there is no arrest warrant, and the allegations are an over exaggeration.
A California animal sanctuary is back open four days after an intern was tragically killed. 24-year-old Diana Hanson was killed by a lion while she was cleaning a fenced in enclosure on Wednesday. That lion was killed. Hanson's family says her death was an accident and she died doing what she loved.
According to a new survey, U.S. household gun ownership has continuously fallen since the 1970s. From a high of 50 percent to 32 percent in 2010. Researchers say, a two percent rise from 2010 to 2012 is not surprising. There is also maybe surprising that some of you given the recent spike and gun sales. These numbers come from a public opinion survey where people answer yes or no to whether they own a gun. Survey tracks households not the number of guns one person may own.
It's New York mayor's Michael Bloomberg. It's his crusade, you probably heard about it, a ban on those large sugary drinks to help fight obesity, depending on how you look at it, it's either a great idea or one that impedes on your civil liberties.
But it isn't the first such measure in New York. The question is, is it fair? I broached that question with talk show host, Jerry Doyle, Wendy Walsh Psychologist and David Harsansyi, editor of human events.
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DAVID HARSANSYI, EDITOR, HUMAN EVENTS: First of all, they're ineffective laws. What they do though, they reflect how government thinks they have a right to involve themselves in your life in every aspect. So, it reflects something larger, I think, that's corroding our government because they are busy trying to tell us what to drink rather than taking care of real problems almost everywhere across the country.
LEMON: OK. Wendy, you're the human behavior --
WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST: Can I get in there, Don?
LEMON: Maybe people need to be saved. Go ahead, Wendy.
WALSH: OK. Here's what you should know. In our anthropological past, there were trace nutrients, sugar, salt and fat. And we have an unfettered desire and craving for these things that many can't control. But modern capitalist America has capitalized on that and make sure they put a large dose of that in everything they give us. How can we be making free choice when we're addicted? We are addicted to everything from sex and gambling to salt, sugar and fat? Unless, you think this is a nanny state, what this is, is finally consumer protection. Remember, we don't have socialism here. We have neo- capital - sorry, neo-futilism. We are about 20 grams only --
LEMON: Before I let Jerry respond, I want to play devil's advocate here.
And Wendy, I'm going to be on your side here. A guy like Bloomberg, I mean, maybe he's raising awareness. Remember Giuliani ten years ago, a lot of people thought the smoking ban went too far. Nowadays, a lot of New Yorkers seem to like it. So, maybe the soft drink thing, they'll like it and maybe will like the sugary - maybe, they will like it. They realized this is good for me. I'm healthier now. Maybe their weight will go down and their health will get better.
Go ahead, Jerry.
JERRY DOYLE, SYNDICATED RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It's I call the creeping incrementalism. It's easy to go after cigarettes, tobacco, gambling and drinking because that's the low-hanging fruit. But eventually they want to worm their way into every nook and cranny of your English muffin light.
Look. I smoke cigarette. It is really stupid. When you light something on fire and breath it in and your first reaction is to cough and shoot your eyeballs across the room. It's probably not good for you. I pay a premium on my health insurance for that. I'm going to die sooner than I should. My life expectancy tables, I actually call myself from the herd and save the system money.
It's my right to smoke a legal FDA-approved product. It's my right to drink soda. It's my right to eat fatty foods. It's my right to gamble. It's my right. It's my life. And if we start to take away the individual's ownership of their own lives, what, down the line, in creeping incrementalism does the government then say, they have the right to regulate?
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LEMON: That large sized drink ban in New York city takes effect on Tuesday.
The stars of a new movie about magic talk about glittery outfits and shaving their chests. That's ahead.
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LEMON: "Oz: the Great and Powerful" has raked in more than $150 million worldwide in its opening weekend at the box office. James Franco plays a carnival magician swept into the land of Oz by a tornado. Oz is a pretty cool prequel to the 1939 classic, "The Wizard of Oz," starring a young Judy Garland.
Jason Bourne could make a comeback to the silver screen after Matt Damon tells "Entertainment Weekly" he's not ruling out a return to his blockbuster spy franchise despite his absent in last year's "The Bourne Legacy."
And another movie, Steve Carell plays a tacky magician named Burt Wonderstone performing in Las Vegas. His nemesis, an edgy new magician played by Jim Carrey. The film premiered this weekend at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
CNN's Nischelle Turner sat down with the stars and asked about the outrageous magician costumes.
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NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I liked it because for the first time it wasn't the woman in the movie having to do the wig and the tan and all the glitter.
JIM CARREY, ACTOR: We were her --
TURNER: The men got silent. But, I tend to think there's something you took.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For once I didn't have to shave my chest I let it grow, but Steve you did.
STEVE CARELL, ACTOR, THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE: I, finally, I did. I have to shaved it this time as opposed to pulling the hair out.
TURNER: And we're glad about that. But actually, you know, we all love you for taking one for the team.
CARELL: Yes, I took one for the team a few years ago, I wouldn't do that again. I wouldn't do the waxing thing again.
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LEMON: Up next here on CNN, its creator calls it the future of space travel. It's a rocket that can be reused. You want to see this.
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LEMON: It was only a few short months ago that we watched NASA space shuttles head to museums, grounded. It seems like thoughts about mankind's trek into space were best put aside for a while. But quickly, private industry stepped up, testing new rockets, some have even been delivering supplies to the international space station.
Just last weekend we talked to a couple who may be the first to slingshot around the red planet as part of the inspiration Mars project. Incredible. Unquestionably, one of the guys ride out in front is Space X CEO Elan Musk. And Musk says it's future may lie in rockets that could be used more than once. This week in Austin, Texas, he gave both the world the first look at a step in that direction. It's called a grasshopper, an experimental rocket. This is a test video from this week. Once they perfected grasshopper, the plan is for the rocket to launch a spacecraft out to the earth's atmosphere and then flip around, sprout landing gear and return intact on the launch pad. It could make space launches 100 times cheaper. Must also hint at commercial launch for rockets like this which may begin construction as early as next year. Incredible.
I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for watching. Good night.
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