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Bourdain's CNN Show Debuits Sunday; CNN Locates Abducted Boys In Cuba; A video of Missing Family's Boat In Cuba; Giffords Fights For Tougher Gun Laws; North Korea Issues New Threats; Severe Storms Hit Across the Country; NCAA Men's Tournament Over, Women's Wraps Tonight

Aired April 09, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: This one is called "PARTS UNKNOWN." That's the name of the show. This weekend, Bourdain will take us inside Myanmar where few have traveled at all because of the country's political troubles. I have a little preview here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": It's an enormous and beautiful country that very, very few westerners have seen or visited. It's been closed off from the rest of the world, a pores state for as long as I've been alive. And I'm told just a little over a year ago, if western film crew would have been discovered, would have been kicked out of the country. So, we're really one of the first crews to have gone in really shown a big -- not all, but a big slice of a country that a lot of people haven't seen and it is incredibly gorgeous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. I'm really looking forward to that.

HOLMES: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Tomorrow, we've got Anthony Bourdain, he is actually going to be live with us here at noon Eastern --

HOLMES: He is?

MALVEAUX: -- to talk all about it.

HOLMES: I told you, I'm a huge fan. If you've got anything you want to ask him, go ahead and tweet your questions at SuzanneMalveaux and at Holmes.CNN. Include the hash tag, ask Bordain, and we'll see what we can get to him.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Well also, of course, you'll want to tune into "PARTS UNKNOWN," that is Sunday 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Join Bordain as his crew traveling to, as we mentioned, Myanmar, Columbia, Libya and Peru and beyond.

HOLMES: Oh, I'm really excited. Great show, it's going to be good.

That will do it for me. Thanks for watching "AROUND THE WORLD." Do carry on.

MALVEAUX: I will. I'll see you tomorrow.

HOLMES: OK. See you tomorrow.

MALVEAUX: Breaking news out of Cuba. CNN has now located two missing boys and the father accused of abducting them from their Florida home. Police say two-year-old Chase Hakken and his four-year-old brother Cole were kidnapped. They say the father tied up the grandmother and then fled with them and his wife. We are taking a look. This is exclusive live video. This is of the boat that is in Havana, in a marina there.

Our own Patrick Oppman who was -- who is there and actually had a chance to see the father talk with the mother, both of the parents there and at least saw one of those two boys. I want to bring him in here. Patrick, I mean, you were watching as these boats came into this marina. You didn't know at first who they were and then you discovered these, in fact, were those two missing American boys and their parents. Tell us about how that happened.

PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, (INAUDIBLE.) We had a (INAUDIBLE) live shots today. I was talking to their desk, I said, this is one place they might be. But I really didn't expect to find them. We were able to go into the marina. Sometimes they stop you at the gate. We started driving around. I didn't see unusual presence of security. It seemed like just a beautiful day. Lots of boats, including boats from the United States. And then we get to the last slip and sure enough, I see the name there, Salty. I see the paw print on the side. I see a boy playing on the top deck. And then a man with a large beard, really kind of a hulky guy. He comes out. I say, hey, are you Josh? And he says, yes, who are you? And I say, I'm from CNN. He got very angry. He goes in the boat.

And almost immediately, Cuban security (INAUDIBLE) come out of the bushes, some of them with sidearms on, which thankfully they kept holstered. And then, immediately, started yelling at us to stop filming. They didn't take our footage and so we were able to come back with these pictures of the boat. But I was able to go up and speak with Josh and Sharon Hakken, had the opportunity to say -- give them the opportunity to explain their side of things and they didn't want to do that. It seems, for the moment, they are under close wrap, here in Havana, while the United States and Cuba are trying to figure out what to do with this case of fugitives who have now made it to Cuba.

MALVEAUX: And, Patrick, I just want to tell our viewers, there is quite a delay here just to get to you, so that they are aware of that and also a lot of wind so there's a little bit of disruption with your audio. But you did have a chance to speak with the wife, the mother, Sharon, about the condition of her sons. Can you share that conversation with us? What did you learn about the state of the boys?

OPPMAN: Yes. You know, I was concerned because, you know, we had heard that some members of the family, you know, weren't accounted for. Certainly, I can't imagine the journey across the Florida straits in this tiny, tiny boat, the smallest boat that was in the Hemingway Marina and only about 25 feet. And so, I only saw this one boy and I got very worried. And I kept saying, you know, listen, forgetting the legal ramifications (INAUDIBLE), people are very, very worried about your son's well being. Is everyone OK? That is the one time that Sharon Hakken decided to speak with me. And she said, yes. She just nodded and said, yes, everyone is fine. So, it seems like, despite the fact they would have come in where it's really rough weather, the family is fine. But what happens next, of course, is still a big question mark as U.S. officials, Cuban officials, try to figure out whether this family will stay some time in Cuba or be sent back to the United States.

MALVEAUX: Yes.

OPPMAN: There's a lot of closed door diplomatic wrangling going on right now we know.

MALVEAUX: And, Patrick, just to be clear here. Are they with Cuban authorities now or are they still in the boat?

OPPMAN: You know, they are on the boat. It seems like that is where they are still spending time. But there's literally a courting of Cuban authorities, a perimeter around them. They don't want you coming into this marina. They don't want you filming the boat as we did. Almost immediately as we started filming --

MALVEAUX: Yes.

OPPMAN: -- we got people coming out of the woodwork. Some people wore plain clothes, some people wore uniform, telling us to stop filming. And just within minutes, that we were being told to leave the site. Certainly Cuban authorities have a good idea of where they are.

MALVEAUX: All right. Patrick Oppman, thank you very much. Excellent reporting. I want to bring in our own Elise Labott from the State Department. And, Elise, what are U.S. officials doing? How are they reacting to this discovery now that these two little Americans -- American boys who were snatched from the grandmother who has legal custody here has -- they've been found in Cuba?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, it's a very delicate situation. But as Patrick said, the fact that the Cuban authorities are kind of standing by, coming out of the woodwork. I've been told over the last couple of days, the U.S. and Cuban authorities have been talking about this, that it's very difficult because not only are there privacy laws involved about these American citizens but also they are very concerned that these children could be in danger, this gentleman is believed to be armed. Let's take a listen to State Department briefing just moments ago, acting deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell, talking about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK VENTRELL, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN, STATE DEPARTMENT: So, we are aware of the case and the U.S. intersection is in contact with local authorities. The U.S. officials are providing all appropriate assistance to the family. Because of privacy reasons, we are unable to provide additional information about the specific family. But what I do want to say more broadly speaking is that one of the department's highest priorities is the welfare of U.S. citizens overseas and this is particularly true for children who are our most vulnerable citizens. So, we were --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: So, it's not a warm and fuzzy relationship, Suzanne, between the U.S. and Cubans, as you know. But on instances like this, on issues of law enforcement, on matters of danger, there is cooperation every day between the U.S. and Cubans. Officials tell me, they are receiving good cooperation from the Cuban government. They have a couple of things they need to do now. They have to get the parents to give up the children and also we need to talk about the Cubans about how to get those -- these suspects back to the states. So, a lot of wrangling going on right now but the U.S. officials are telling me they don't see any reason why there should be a problem with the Cuban government on the issue.

MALVEAUX: All right. Elise, thank you very much. Give us an update if you learn anything else.

We are also following, of course, this is a fight over gun control. Former Congresswoman, as you might recall, Gabrielle Giffords almost killed. This was more than two years ago, of course, by somebody who was trying to kill her, a man with a gun. Well, today, the brain injuries, of course, making it difficult for her to speak and yet she has become somewhat of a spokes woman for new restrictions on guns. And ironically as well, she has not lost her appreciation for gun culture. Our Dana Bash, she spent some time with Giffords exclusively and her husband, Mark Kelly, in their home in Arizona and takes us behind the scenes in their lives.

( BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Target practice is still a form of entertainment at Giffords' mother's house deep in the Arizona desert.

(on camera): Watch this, he's aiming for my pot.

(voice-over): Husband Mark Kelly using planting pots and water bottles as targets while Giffords watches from the patio with her mother cheering him on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excellent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excellent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excellent.

BASH: And Kelly isn't shooting with just any kind of gun. MARK KELLY: This is the same kind of gun Gabby was shot with, a glock, a nine millimeter glock. But in that case, it had a magazine that held 33 rounds. This, when it's full, holds 17. He shot 33 rounds, every round hit somebody, we think.

BASH (on camera): How long have you had this gun?

KELLY: Well, I gave this to Gabby as a gift.

BASH: When?

KELLY: A number of years ago. She is a gun owner. You know, she's from the west.

BASH (voice-over): Still, we asked the question a lot of incredulous people seeing this scene would ask.

(on camera): Really? This guy sort of still has -- gets his kicks or he -- recreation for him is shooting a gun after his wife was shot through the head?

KELLY: Well, Gabby used to like shooting a gun, too, occasionally.

GABBY GIFFORDS: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Giffords and Kelly argue that it is because they have this appreciation for guns and gun culture that they have credibility in actually their fight to expand background checks to private gun sales. And our Dana Bash, she's going to have more on all of this as well as Gifford's remarkable recovery, absolutely amazing, as well as her experience of coming face to face with that shooter. That is tonight "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

Lawmakers trying to work out a compromise now, of course, a new gun legislation that would expand at least background checks. The Obama administration, it's pushing harder and harder for tougher gun laws. We've got the vice president, Biden, of course, holding an event. That's going to happen next hour.

And then, late yesterday, the president making an emotional appeal during a stop in Connecticut. This isn't far from the site of the elementary school massacre in Newtown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Newtown, we want you to know that we will not walk away from the promises we've made. We are determined as every to do what must be done. In fact, I'm here to ask you to help me show that we can get it done. We're not forgetting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our own Wolf Blitzer. And Wolf, good to see you as always. The president is talking about this compromise, of course, expanded background checks. But it sounds rather limited that this would not necessarily cover private sales but perhaps gun shows, Internet sales. But these kinds of exchanges between family and friends wouldn't necessarily apply. Is this really considered a victory of sorts for the Obama administration? It's so watered down.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly not what they wanted. They wanted universal background checks. Every gun sale, in effect, to make sure that whoever buys a gun has a background check, there are no criminals, felons, terrorists, mentally ill people. They can't buy guns. So, this is a step in the right direction from the -- from the president's perspective but certainly not what he really wanted.

And he wanted a whole lot more than just universal background checks. He wanted a ban on those semi assault weapons, the assault-type weapons. He wanted a limit on how many bullets could be on magazines. Those two issues are clearly not on the table right now. Not only they don't have much Republican support, there are some Democrats who strongly oppose those kinds of expanded areas of gun control. This would be a step, as far as the president is concerned, in the right direction but doesn't go nearly as far as he would have liked. And he is continuing his emotional pushing. He started last night once again and the others in the administration are continuing their effort. And they're confused to a certain degree because 90 percent, according to all the recent polls, say the American -- of the American public want these kinds of universal background checks so why can't the legislation go forward? And that's clearly -- that's clearly the case right now.

MALVEAUX: And, Wolf, talk about this -- kind of this full-court press that we're seeing from the administration here. You and I have both covered the presidents and we've seen Air Force One, right, to have a guest or two on Air Force One. But to have 12 people, these parents of those who lost their loved ones in that Newtown massacre all on board the plane, I mean, that's pretty extraordinary.

BLITZER: He's brought -- he brought them back here to Washington to help. It's an emotional effort. And, by the way, Jillian Soto, the sister of Vicki Soto, one of the first grade teachers in Connecticut, she's going to be my guest later today in "THE SITUATION ROOM." We're going to talk a little bit about what's going on. But the president is trying to use his bully pulpit but he also wants to use any effort that he can to convince wavering members of Congress that they should go ahead. And as I said, the focus right now is of expanding the background checks.

And there seems to be, as Dana Bash reported yesterday, and we've been reporting this compromise effort, not nearly as far as the White House would like, but an expansion of these background checks. Pat Toomey, the Republican senator from Pennsylvania, Joe Mangion, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, they're trying to come up with some sort of compromise and want -- and get everything the president wants. But at least, from this perspective, move it in the right direction. We'll see how far that goes. That's -- even that, by no means, a done deal. And as you know, there are a bunch of Republican senators threatening a filibuster, meaning to break that filibuster, you need 60 votes to break that. And that's going to be hard.

MALVEAUX: Wolf, thank you very much. As, of course, as Wolf mentioned, he's got a special guest on "THE SITUATION ROOM." We're talking Jillian Soto. Her sister, Vicki Soto, was a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary school. And, of course, she died in that shooting. That is going to be a special guest in "THE SITUATION ROOM," and that is later today. The sister pushing for tougher gun laws.

Here's what we're working on for this hour. Lead, of course, banned in paint and gasoline, so what's it doing in baby food? That is right. There is one state that wants to make sure there is at least a warning label for parents.

And plus, Louisville won the men's college basketball tournament but wait until you hear the tournament about Louisville sisters. That is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: North Korea issuing an ominous new warning today this time directed at foreigners in South Korea. The North is telling them to prepare in case there is an all-out war. A message on state-run media urges foreigners to find shelter or get out of South Korea all together. The North says it does not want them to get caught up in a conflict if war breaks out. North Korea now making good on its threat to pull its workers out of an industrial site that operates with South Korea; 50,000 workers did not show up today. South Korean workers have been blocked from the site since last week. Tonight 6 eastern Wolf Blitzer will devote an entire hour to the crisis in North Korea. We will tune in to a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM." That is 6p.m. Eastern.

We are following weather. Snow, hail, tornadoes, wild fires. Just a few weeks in spring and the weather really turning kind of bizarre. Parts of the Midwest, Great Plains could get more than a foot of snow from a big storm system. It is already causing a lot of slick roads and other problems out of Denver. There is a threat of tornadoes and thunderstorms. Chad Myers keeping track of all of this and Jim Spellman, he is in Golden, Colorado. So, Jim first of all, I want to start off with you. How is it looking?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is not too bad. It has been snowing for about six hours. You can see the roads are pretty clear here, though. 470 snow plows out across Colorado trying to keep the roads open. In the air over 500 flights canceled. We can count on that probably going up a little bit as the day continues. If they can keep the roads clear, keep everybody safe, planes landing and taking off.

The upside is that all of this snow means moisture. We have had severe drought conditions here for really the last two years. Last year was a horrible wildfire season so every inch of snow here is a plus come wildfire season. If you can deal with the roads you can deal with the skies and you can deal with your kids, because this is the first snow day for Denver schools all year, then this is a blessing this late spring snow. Feels like winter, but it says spring on my calendat.

MALVEAUX: A snow day in the spring is pretty crazy. Chad, where is this going next?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Very cold. Temperatures are going to be maybe down to single digits in some spots around the foothills. If you see something that is slush now it will be frozen tonight, especially when it gets cold and the sun sets. Look at Encampment, Wyoming. The winter so far had 16 inches of snow on the ground. As Jim said, it's still snowing and there are even some thunder bolts in some of the ice showers as across parts of Nebraska.

Thunderstorms across parts of Ohio, into Illinois, Indiana later on tonight. This is going to be a wide-spread storm. We will see severe weather all the way from the high plains, Oklahoma, Texas, all the way even to Georgia over the next three days. And a windy storm, too. Winds could gust 55 or 60 miles per hour. Already have power lines and trees down in some areas because of that.

The weather charges through Oklahoma, Texas today, maybe even parts of Kansas. And then severe weather into Arkansas, into Mississippi, Alabama for tomorrow. The snow spreading over a very dry Nebraska and into Iowa. The drought just in the grips of these states here. And these areas really will take the snow and use it later on just as Jim said, because a foot of snow melts down to about an inch and a half of rain. They will take that to plant in and eventually grow some crops this year.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you Chad. Appreciate it.

Louisville playing again tonight. This time it's two sisters that has everybody talking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: March Madness, in the history books Louisville coming out on top. That was actually my team. What a ride the Cardinals had. It was amazing. Last night capping off with a big win over a tough Michigan Wolverines team. But, of course Louisville had big uplift from their teammate. Kevin Ware broke his leg and had to sit out. He had the chance to cut down the net. Our CNN sports anchor Rachael Nichols caught up with Coach Pitino after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PITINO, LOUISVILLE COACH: You don't know sometimes. You know, we have a lot of discipline in our program, and anytime you struggle and you have to fight for things in your life you become very close. And the spontaneous emotion from that event today makes me as proud as any moment I have ever had in coaching. To see the love of my players for an injured player, to see the courage of the injured player to say forget me, it is not about me, we have to win just as a teacher of the game it is the most special moment anyone can have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Joe Carter joining us. I stayed up to watch. It was awesome. Amazing.

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: First half was probably one of the best first halves I have seen ina championship game in years. So, fans certainly got their money's worth both on television last night. Broke an attendance record (ph) as well.

MALVEAUX: I know, it was pretty incredible. Tell us about the women's game tonight.

CARTER: Well, Louisville could be doing some really great things. The women are playing in the national championship game tonight trying to do what UConn did back in 2004. Obviously the men win as well as the women win.

But, two big sisters on this team that I think a lot of people are starting to latch on to the story. The Schimmel sisters. Native Americans. Actually to put it in perspective there is over 10,000 men and women that play division 1 basketball but there are only 24 Native Americans that play division I basketball.

So you have two sisters that are both Native American on the same team and then are big contributors to the team. The older sister, Shoni as opposed to Jude, is more of the star of the team. They are taking center stage tonight.

This team has beaten the defending champion in Baylor and then they beat the powerhouse in Tennessee and then they take on the other power in women's basketball which is UConn in that hame tonight. A lot of people latching on to the story.

Louisville, the men's basketball team said they would love to join the women tonight when they play. Obviously, there are some NCAA hurdles that they're going to have to get to do that. Rick Pitino, the coach, saying he is certainly going to make the trip and support the women when they play tonight.

What a week he has had. I can't think of a guy in sports having a better week. Maybe a Lottery winner, can't think of a better person having a better week. But for him to be able to with the national championship, be elected to the hall of fame in the same day, become the first coach to win a national championship with two different programs, the guy has coached for over 30 years.

From what he said to Rachel Nichols last night about the Kevin Ware situation to see how it united his team and how well they responded to something like that. I mean that could have been a big distraction. We went out to Louisville after Kevin Ware came back to campus and it was a media circus. That young man, 20 years old, handled himself with such composure on a broken leg. His teammates could have been distracted by that. You've got everybody from us and "Good Morning America," CBS, and everybody was pulling and tugging at that story. For them to keep focus and cut down the net last night and for them to lower the basket like they did for Kevin Ware so he could cut down the net much like his teammates did was a really nice touch I thought by the NCAA.

MALVEAUX: We'll be watching tonight. It's happening in New Orleans, yes? Women in New Orleans?

CARTER: Yes. That is the site for tonight's game. UConn, Louisville, we will see.

MALVEAUX: All right. I'll stay up. Not too late, though.

CARTER: Coffee in the morning.

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you Joe. Appreciate it as always.

Two American boys abducted from their grandparents' house have now turned up in Cuba. Their parents allegedly took them making them fugitives. So what is going to happen next? Coming up, the legal steps the U.S. can take against the boys' parents.

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