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CBS Apology Accepted by Veterans' Groups; IRS in Trouble over Expensive Training Videos; Honeymoon Shark Encounter; Discussing NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament
Aired March 25, 2013 - 15:30 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, I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Technology, sports, business, health, science and showbiz news, we're hitting it all for you right now in the "Power Block," beginning with this.
CBS forced to say sorry for this scene in "The Amazing Race." Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here? Wait, wait, wait. Oh, there's the (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A double U-turn ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: This episode was shot in Vietnam and that memorial, you see here, in the water, this is a wreckage of an American B-52 bomber, shot down during the Vietnam war.
Entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner has more on this fallout. Nischelle?
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brooke, judging by the responses, this might be the case. This might be the end of it because the veterans groups that we heard from seem to be accepting CBS' apology at face value.
But let's start with that apology, OK? Last night at the beginning of the amazing race, here is how the show opened. Listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to apologize to veterans, particularly those who served in Vietnam, as well as to their families and any viewers who were offended by the broadcast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TURNER: Now, you talked about the incident that started all of this. We have to point out that two Americans died when that bomber was shot down during the Vietnam war.
And competitors also had to memorize a propaganda song during the show. This was in front of a portrait of Ho Chi Minh, so you can understand why the veterans groups were really upset.
The national commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars wrote CBS saying, quote, "The B-52 scene was totally unnecessary to the show's plot, which speaks volumes about the naive producers who think they're in charge when they are not."
But now the VFW has released another statement thanking CBS for their apology and they seem to be ready to let this all go.
The same thing from the American Legion which also complained to CBS. In their statement, they applauded the network for making the apology.
Even Senator and former Vietnamese POW John McCain says this apology is good enough for him.
He tweeted out, as far as he's concerned, the issue is now closed.
But while this doesn't seem like it is going to be a lasting controversy, you can bet the organizations won't soon forget what happened and that they'll really be keeping an eye on this show in the future.
Brooke?
BALDWIN: Nischelle Turner, thank you.
And Nischelle mentioned some of these veterans groups sort of taking this apology here.
One of our most well known prisoners of war, Vietnam vet Senator John McCain, he took to twitter. He tweeted, quote, "CBS did the right thing by apologizing. We all make mistakes. The issue is closed."
And CBS isn't the only one backpedaling today. Ford is apologizing for this ad. Take a look. Issued by the country's unit in India, you have this trio of women tied up and gagged in the back of a Ford Figo compact.
And the guy at the front, that's a caricature of the former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The slogan accompanying this ad, quote, "Leave your worries behind with the Figo's extra large boot."
Ford India says the ads were never used commercially, but did appear without authorization on an advertising website.
And the boys of NASCAR at it again. Three-time Cup winner, Tony Stewart didn't like -- we'll say -- didn't exactly like the way Joey Logano blocked him when Stewart made a move Sunday to take the lead.
So Stewart, as you can see here, by this melee, went after Logano. The pit crews quickly separated the drivers.
But this is what you need to listen to. Listen for the bleep and you can tell how peeved Stewart is.
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TONY STEWART, NASCAR DRIVER: What the hell do you think I was mad about? Dumb little (inaudible) runs us clear down to the infield. He wants to (inaudible) about everybody else and he's the one that drives like a little (inaudible). I'm going to bust his (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Tony.
STEWART: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Whew, well, Joey Logano, he disagrees, of course. He says he was only trying to protect his spot in the race.
He's back, officially that is, Tiger Woods, winning the tournament at Bay Hill today. That means he'll regain his number one ranking for the first time since October of 2010.
Coming up next for Tiger, the Masters in two weeks.
And take a look with me at where your tax dollars are boldly going.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it, boss?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just received an emergency medical distress call from the planet. Chris (ph), they're dying down there, some newfangled disease. I've never seen anything like it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They call is the tax-gap flu.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Engineering, how fast can you get us the heck out of here?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: OK. Not exactly your J.J. Abrams production, but the IRS apparently spent about $60,000 on two "Star Trek" and "Gilligan's Island" knockoffs. Why? To train their employees.
Zain Asher joins me with more.
OK. What do we know about these videos, Zain?
ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry I'm laughing.
Well, they were made for 2010 leadership conference. They only came to light recently because the House Ways and Means Subcommittee requested they be released.
They were produced in a TV studio just outside Washington, very fancy, and they cost a total of $60,000 to make both videos. The IRS now paying the price for this in more ways than one.
You think about the forced budget cuts this year, Brooke, the deficit. The government doesn't have this kind of cash and people are concerned that this isn't necessarily the best use of taxpayer money.
In the video you saw a second ago, you've got people are dressed up as crew members on the Starship Enterprise. You've even got the government employee version of Spock, characters claiming that they will boldly go where no government employees have ever gone before.
Yeah, sure, it's funny, but I watched these videos with my producer, Amanda. We were sort of hard-pressed to figure out the training value and I think that a lot of people have similar questions.
Brooke?
BALDWIN: And I have been since corrected and am about to burst into a fit of giggles as I inappropriately said it is "Gilligan's Island," not whatever I said.
Anyway, what is the IRS saying about this?
ASHER: Well, they came up with this statement basically saying that there is -- and I'm quoting now -- "no mistaking that this video does not reflect the best stewardship of resources, and that a video of this type will not be made today."
Still, the IRS does maintain that training videos, in general, are cheaper than training nearly 2,000 employees and persons that are, of course, spread all over the country, so that would involve some travel.
They're saying that by the end of the fiscal year they will have cut employee training costs by up to 83 percent, so -- Brooke?
BALDWIN: OK. Zain Asher, thank you.
Honeymoons, they are the icing on the cake after a wedding. But this honeymoon adventure may overshadow the ceremony.
Take a look at a great scare from a great white. Marriage? Maybe that's a breeze after this close encounter. More on this incredible video, next.
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BALDWIN: This is the one thing that makes cage-diving with sharks, the cage loses its appeal, though, when this happens. Take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.
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BALDWIN: Yeah, no thank you. The shark manages to get its head inside this cage.
And who better to talk to about sharks than our resident Aussie, my favorite, Amy La Porte. We're always talking sharks, close encounters.
AMY LA PORTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We swim with them on the weekend, so you know.
BALDWIN: Apparently, you and Michael Holmes, I'm sure.
Tell me what happened.
LA PORTE: OK, this is actually off the coast of Cape Town in South Africa. And it was a group of Canadian tourists. They pay money to go out into a cage, basically, dropped into the water. The way it works is they will pour fish guts and blood nearby. It's called chum.
BALDWIN: Lovely.
LA PORTE: Yeah, and more adventurous cage-diving companies will actually pour those fish guts on top of you, so the shark will actually attack the cage.
In this case, there was a viewing window, and the bait was put nearby. One shark decided there was a more tasty treat inside the cage and, instead of going to the bait, actually rams its head ...
BALDWIN: For a person.
LA PORTE: Yes. And you can actually hear someone on the video scream, "Get back!"
You wouldn't have to tell me twice. You can see the people kind of swam down to one end of the cage.
BALDWIN: How often would this kind of thing actually happen where you have a shark head getting through one of the ...
LA PORTE: Well, that's the thing. The company -- when this video went viral, the company actually responded and they said, "The cage is built to industry standards and is inspected every year. Since the incident, the viewing gap has been reduced by 10 percent to 45 centimeters."
That's about a foot and a half. That's -- that is the smallest in industry standards
BALDWIN: Take a look.
LA PORTE: Check that out. That's still pretty big. You can definitely fit a shark head through that.
Sometimes they will get to be about this big. Now, if my face was in front of a viewing window and there was a great white shark, eight- and-a-half feet long outside, I might be a little freaked out.
There was actually an incident in this very part of the ocean in Cape Town. In 2005, a guy almost died when a shark actually managed to sever the cable that connects the cage to the boat and drag it down.
BALDWIN: All I can do is shake my head at this whole story. I mean, I understand people pay good money to come this close and not my cup of tea.
Amy La Porte, thank you very much. Pretty incredible video there, I appreciate it.
BALDWIN: We all know our share of bad drivers who maybe have trouble particular parking or making a three-point turn, but this one probably takes the cake.
How does this happen? A car on a roof. You heard me right. Pictures tell the story.
The passenger explains exactly what happened next.
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BALDWIN: Some of the hottest stories in a flash, "Rapid Fire." Roll it.
The United Nations is withdrawing now its national and international staff from Syria after mortars fell near a Damascus hotel where U.N. staffers have been staying.
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MARTIN NESIRKY, SPOKESMAN FOR THE U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: All of the national staff at that office have been asked to work from home until further notice.
These measures are being undertaken solely for security reasons.
The United Nations remains active and committed to helping the Syrian side in this for a political solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: This news comes as soil and blood samples are being smuggled out of Syria.
Now in the hands of the U.N., they're testing it for nerve gas after the Assad regime and the rebel forces accused one another of shooting off deadly missiles suspected of carrying chemical weapons.
And this is a sign you need new brakes. Look at this. A Cadillac smack dab on a roof of a house in California.
The couple inside told our affiliate KABC they were driving down a hill and couldn't stop, turn a corner.
Next thing they knew, boom, off the road, in the air, on a roof.
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GALINA LYNN, PASSENGER: As soon as we hit the corner, the air bag deployed and I don't even see where we're going from there because the view was obscured and I just heard that we stopped. I can see that myself and my husband are very, very lucky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So lucky indeed.
A neighbor used a ladder to help this couple out. It took a crane to get this Cadillac off the roof.
Authorities say there was a man inside the house, but he was not hurt. Wow.
Bad news for tourists and history buffs here, New York's iconic Ellis Island will not be opening anytime soon. The National Parks Service says damage from Superstorm Sandy was so bad, they don't have a projected reopening date.
Repairs could cost up to $59 million.
And he claims to know everything about the '82 Phillies, but what's he know about March Madness? Jake Tapper, his bracket, my bracket, next.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In seasons to come, (inaudible) and the (inaudible), they are, first and foremost, her people and, so, wherever she goes, they follow.
But at the same time, yes, as she is traveling through many different lands, there are other languages that she comes across.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have other languages coming up on the show that are not (inaudible), but that also need to be invented and we're hoping that David will do those for us, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personally, I would love to keep creating languages for projects like "Game of Thrones," for TV shows, for movies. That's the dream of everybody who sits down to create a language.
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BALDWIN: Basketball fan or not, I know a lot of people are talking today about Florida Gulf Coast University, the team of basic unknowns, the first 15-seed in the big dance, coached by a millionaire, married to a former supermodel.
The Eagles, as I mentioned became the first-ever 15-seed to make it to the Sweet 16 after knocking off San Diego State, 81-71,with a fun run- and-gun style dubbed "dunk city." Look at that. It was fun watching them over the weekend. I did a little Googling bit. I can't say, Chad Myers I had heard of them, but now a lot of people know about the school.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. And they played a fantastic game.
We're going to go to the brackets, Brooke, because everybody wants to know who's winning, who's losing.
BALDWIN: OK.
MYERS: And you, me and Jake, we're kind of neck and neck in all this.
But Christine Romans is far out in front. She has 48 points, but only 100 still possible. We still have more possible points than that, so let me take you to the brackets. Here we go.
Christine, Zoraida, John King, Michael Holmes, there's Jake, there's me and there's you.
BALDWIN: OK.
MYERS: So, we're all tied kind of there at some point in time.
Your bracket still looks pretty good, Louisville, Georgetown, though I'm afraid Georgetown's not going to make it, I don't think, to the Final Four.
BALDWIN: Yeah, I've got my four in the final.
MYERS: Just don't think that's going to happen right now, but you know what? I did the same thing.
I took Georgetown, put them as well right there, but instead of that, I put Ohio State to the middle. I'm going to win if Ohio State wins this whole thing.
And where's Jake? Jake, he's right there. He's got Miami and a bunch of non-number one teams in the Final Four, Michigan State, New Mexico and Miami.
Miami beating Kansas and then Miami beating Michigan State, a good- looking bracket. I just don't think you have a chance, Jake.
BALDWIN: Jake Tapper, listen, I know you've had a book on "The New York Times" best-selling lists. You've won a couple of awards, some White House Correspondents Association, but I want to tell you, my friend, you and I are one point apart, one point.
JAKE TAPPER, ANCHOR, "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER": I know. I know.
I have to say, though, even though Gulf Coast smattered, just destroyed my bracket, that is just -- that is a team you cannot help but get behind and root for ...
BALDWIN: Isn't it fun to watch?
TAPPER: And that was just an exciting game last night.
BALDWIN: The Georgetown game? Whoa. That was quite a Friday night.
TAPPER: Georgetown, Wisconsin and New Mexico, I had going a lot farther than -- I can't believe I'm fifth in this.
It must be a really horrible submission of brackets because my brackets are awful and I'm fifth. I don't know how that happened.
John Berman is like ...
MYERS: Had like 30 points, or something.
TAPPER: John Berman is like 300th. I don't even know.
John Berman is so far down on this list, he must have just handed in a blank sheet, or it must have been just list the names of Boston Celtics from 1973 or something. I don't know how he ...
BALDWIN: I wonder what your pal Nate Silver, like if he ever could have predicted this whole -- a total bracket buster, all the games, which makes it that much more fun.
Anyway, from basketball to you, what do you have coming up on "The Lead?"
TAPPER: We've got -- we're going to set the stage for the Supreme Court arguments this week on same-sex marriage.
We're going to look into all that intrigue involving Russia, dead oligarchs and protesters jailed for years and the like.
We're going to have John Berman take a look at Florida Gulf Coast.
We're going to look at Hollywood's new proclivity for blowing up the White House in their movies.
And we've got a whole bunch just more coming up on "The Lead."
BALDWIN: Good deal. We will see you in a few.
Jake Tapper, thank you so much.
Before I let you go, $338 million, we learned exactly where this one winning Powerball ticket was sold. Powerball fever, people, next.
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BALDWIN: The calendar says spring. Much of the country, though, still in the icy grip of winter. This is Bordentown, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, up to five inches of snow expected near the Jersey Shore.
And check this out. Parts of Illinois got record snow from the storm. This is Urbana where drivers were urged to stay off the roads because of what you're looking at, bad conditions there.
Not too far away in the city of Springfield, took first place for getting the most snow. City set a one-day record of a whopping eighteen-and-a-half inches.
And New Jersey, a mega-millionaire may be among you. Lottery officials just announced the winning Powerball ticket for a $338 million jackpot was sold -- you listening -- at Eagle Liquors in Passaic, New Jersey.
Lottery officials say no one has claimed the prize.
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CAROLE HEDINGER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW JERSEY LOTTERY: The winners have one year to come forward.
And I think I would like to say it's not unusual that somebody winning a prize this large, whether it's a sole person or a group of people -- they often take their time. We don't hear right away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We're told only one winning ticket was sold.
And good news. If you like rapper Lil Wayne -- this week after being hospitalized for a seizure, the rapper is back to business, announcing a 40-city summer tour today along with names like T.I. and Future. The first show is July 9th in Birmingham, Alabama.
That's it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
Now "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts now.
