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The Man Behind Tumblr; Arias To Talk To Jury Tomorrow; The Obamas' Advice For Graduates; Hot Air Balloons Collide; Seven People Arrested In NOLA Shooting; 787 Cleared For Take Off, Again; Tornado Watches In Midwest; Army Wife's Weight Loss Surprise
Aired May 20, 2013 - 14:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY: You're absolutely right. You know, I know David. I've met him a couple times. A lot of people say he's just a genius. He's a very, very smart guy. And the one thing I'll say that he said right as this all happened, he wrote a note and he put it on Tumblr and he said, we're not turning purple. Our headquarters isn't moving. Our team isn't changing. Our road map isn't changing. You're looking at it right there.
But really what he's trying to get at is what a lot of people were talking about, will this remain authentic? Is Tumblr going to, you know, become part of Yahoo! and is it going to change? A lot of people concerned about that.
But, really, David Karp is an interesting character. I will tell you that, Ashleigh. I just -- to go over a couple of things you might not know about him. He -- you mentioned this earlier. He didn't finish high school. Taught himself to code at a very young age. He founded Tumblr at 19 and also I should mention he founded Tumblr in New York, a huge tech company in New York City, not Silicon Valley. A lot of people think you have to start a tech company in Silicon Valley. He very much set the precedent that you absolutely don't have to do that.
This is a funny one. He's actually a model for Uniglow. He became a bit of a tech celebrity in the New York community and Uniglow, the clothing company, asked him to model. You'll be in a subway and you'll see different pictures of David Karp, which is interesting.
He also was an adviser for Obama's social media team. You know, in 2008, we all heard about Obama using Facebook. They were using Twitter. In 2012, Obama had a Tumblr. Now this wasn't completely random. He was brought in. He's always looked at as a very bright mind.
And, you know, his friends say this. He's a very private person, but he's always been against display advertising so very interesting character -- Ashleigh.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I just keep thinking about the innovation of this in 2007. I think I have cheese in my fridge that's older than this guy's product. I'm just -- I cannot believe the value that it accrued so quickly. One quick question for you, I can't hear you really clearly so my apologies if this is repetitive, but the fact that Yahoo! brings on something as edgy as Tumblr, aren't there a lot of people who are on Tumblr.
Because you really have, like, a lot of editorial freedom. You can do and say and see a lot of stuff that you might not be able to do so with all of the restrictions on Yahoo! If they apply that to Tumblr, doesn't it become a lot less cool?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a good question. That's the big question here, right? Everybody went on Tumblr because it is an independent blogging platform. You can say what you want. That's why David Karp is saying very clearly, we're not going to clutter your Tumblr page with ads, but a lot of users are signing off.
You have Matt Mullinics who is the founder of Word Press. It's Tumblr's competitor. He said he signed over 72,000 users moments after this deal took place. So, you know, we'll see. Only time is going to tell about whether or not this is going to remain authentic and whether or not it's going to be the kind of blogging platform that isn't going to be cluttered with ads -- Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: All right, Laurie, thank you. Advice to all of our viewers, don't drop out of high school just because you think you're going to have the same thing happen to you. It is a one in a billion, let's just say.
Coming up next, the president and the first lady getting extremely personal in their speeches to college graduates. You're going to hear their very blunt advice on race, on dreams, and it being a man and a woman in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA: Instead of dreaming of being a teacher, a lawyer, a business leader, they're fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Sometimes I wrote off my own failings at just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield reporting live in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Maricopa County Courthouse where we just witnessed a very bizarre, surprise ending to today's proceedings in the sentencing or at least the attempt to sentence Jodi Arias. The 32-year-old murderer was supposed to say something to the jurors who are scheduled to decide if she should live or die for stabbing and nearly decapitating and shooting her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, back in 2008. But just in the last hour, a very frenzied series of developments, the judge adjourned for the day, called it quits in that courtroom after one of Arias' witnesses decided she just could not show up to speak on behalf of her friend. Arias is now set to make her statement to the jury tomorrow, yet to be determined why the ex-boyfriend of Arias didn't speak today because he was also scheduled to speak.
This jury has a huge decision to make. Altogether unanimously they have to decide on a sentence for this woman, either life or death or if they can't, if they're a hung jury, believe it or not, in the state of Arizona you can reconvene a brand-new jury for this phase of the trial.
They will not re-litigate all of this. It is just the life or death option that a brand-new jury would be brought in to decide, very strange, but very real, and a lot more ahead before we get to that particular phase.
In a pair of highly personal commencement speeches at historically black colleges over the weekend, President Obama and the first lady discussed race and responsibility and encouraged graduates to be good role models in society.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices and I have to say, growing up, I made quite a few myself. Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is there is no longer any room for excuses.
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA: But today, more than 150 years after the emancipation proclamation, more than 50 years after the end of separate but equal, when it comes to getting an education, too many of our young people just can't be bothered. Today, instead of walking miles every day to school, they're sitting on couches for hours, playing video games, watching TV. Instead of dreaming of being a teacher or lawyer or business leader, they're fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Whatever success I have achieved, whatever positions of leadership I have held, have depended less on Ivy League degrees or SAT scores or GPAs, and have instead been due to that sense of connection and empathy, the special obligation I felt as a black man like you to help those who need it most, people who didn't have the opportunities that I had because there, but for the grace of God go I. I might have been in their shoes. I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family and that motivates me.
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA: Please stand up and reject the slander that says a black child with a book is trying to act white. Reject that. PRESIDENT OBAMA: Didn't know my dad. So my whole life I tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father was not for my mother and me. I want to break that cycle, where a father is not at home, where a father is not helping to raise that son or daughter. I want to be a better father, a better husband, a better man.
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA: And when it comes to your own kids, if you don't like what they're watching on TV, turn it off. If you don't like the video games they're playing, take them away. Take a stand against the immediate media that celebrates today's celebrity gossips instead of the serious issues of our time. Take a stand against the culture that glorifies instant gratification instead of hard work and lasting success.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: The first lady speaking in Maryland, the president speaking in Atlanta. Chilling video of tourists in Turkey, one minute they're taking in the sites from the air, and the next minute they're dropping from the sky. More of this amazing video and what caused this deadly accident coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Seven people have now been arrested in connection with that shooting that rang through the streets of New Orleans on Mother's Day. According to our affiliate, WWL, New Orleans police have now arrested five more people that they say harbored two brothers who were arrested.
Brothers the investigators say allegedly fired shots into the street, injuring 20 people. Those brothers, Shawn and Akein Scott, are each facing 20 counts of attempted second degree murder.
Some terrifying video out of Turkey today, two hot air balloons collided midflight causing one to come crashing to the ground. Two people were killed in that accident, apparently one balloon striking the other from the top, causing the second balloon to go down. Those balloons incidentally had been flying above a volcanic area, which is a very popular tourist destination in Central Turkey. At least 23 people were injured in that crash.
And the Dreamliner is cleared for takeoff again. The domestic flight on the new jet set to resume today after a series of mechanical issues grounded Boeing's 787 fleet earlier this year. The first Dreamliner flight in more than four months left Houston this morning and arrived safely at Chicago's O'Hare a short while ago. Those wanting to take the Dreamliner overseas will have to wait a little longer though. International flights are not scheduled to get up and running until June.
Tornadoes damaged hundreds of homes in five states and there could be another outbreak of severe weather this afternoon. We just received word that several states are now under tornado watches. We're going to tell you if you're in that state what you need to do now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to go soon!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this shifts, we're done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Just an incredible scene in the Midwest last night where tornadoes tore through that region, monster tornadoes. And tonight could bring more of the same. Our severe weather expert Chad Myers has been watching these patterns all throughout the day. We talked just a couple of hours ago and you said things are not looking good and now we know they're really not good in some areas, right?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, we already have thunderstorms that are developing in Michigan. Other ones that are in Texas and a line really connecting the entire system from Milwaukee back out to the west of Detroit, up north there, and then the biggest threat for the largest tornadoes in the red zone from Springfield, Missouri, back to Oklahoma City, Wichita Falls.
But all the way to up even into Michigan, there is a chance of tornadoes today. Kind of a warm, cold clashing system, that's what we're seeing from today. The first storm we're actually seeing on radar significantly has a potential to rotate would be parts of Oklahoma here, Oklahoma City, Duncan, Brea and we actually have a picture of that storm on our live stream right there, looking at the base of the cloud.
That would be the bottom of the wall cloud, waiting for maybe a funnel to fall out of the bottom of that. They actually have chasers all over the country. We're watching their live streaming feeds from their car. Now, believe me, just because you have a car or a pickup and a NOAA weather radio doesn't make you a chaser. So please don't go out there and look for these today because it's so muggy outside.
Won't be those classic there it is type tornadoes. I can see it beautifully. It is going to be wrapped in rain, just can't see it at all. Looks like a rain shaft, but in the middle of the rain shaft could be a tornado. There is the watch box we had. A severe thunderstorm watch box for parts of Michigan.
It continues through the day, up north into Michigan and U.P. of Michigan and parts of Ontario there could be some severe weather this afternoon. The heat of the day, that's when the storms will be the strongest and still 1:30, 2:00, Central Time, we still have many more hours of heating to go before these storms really get to their peak.
BANFIELD: That is just an incredible swath. I don't know I've seen it stretch that far north.
MYERS: Well, Ontario to Texas.
BANFIELD: It is just incredible. Chad, thank you. Keep an eye and let us know how things change, especially in those areas that have the watches that they turn to warnings. Chad will watch that for us.
In the meantime, you have heard of soldiers surprising their families when they come back from serving overseas. Have I got one for you? A wife who decided to turn the tables, you're going to hear why her husband says he barely recognized the woman he was hugging and this is awesome.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: You know, it can be really tough to get kids in this country excited about school, but as a lot of American kids whine about classes, and school structures, there are kids all over the world who are desperate, fighting for the opportunity to step foot in a building where they can be taught.
I want to take you to Nepal, for example, and that's where we have the story of one girl who is definitely one of the lucky ones with the opportunity and the will to rise up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD (voice-over): This is 16-year-old Purnima. She lives in Nepal. Purnima is one of the lucky ones. She's attending school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm proud of my school.
BANFIELD: Girls in Nepal have a higher illiteracy rate than boys. "Room to Read," a global non-profit group that promotes literacy and gender equality and education is trying to change that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Girls Education Program started out because we found out that most families, if they were able to afford education of one child, it was boys that got preferred over girls.
BANFIELD: Purnima attended primary school, but government education is free only through the fifth grade. Organizations like "Room to Read" allow her to continue her education.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am the first person getting education in my family. We are a poor family so we cannot afford to go to high school.
BANFIELD: Purnima lives with her family above a carpet factory. Her father is paralyzed and her mother is blind. Without an education, Purnima says she would probably end up working at the carpet factory, but now she has big dreams.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be an eye doctor when I grow up because my mother is blind. So I want to be an eye doctor in the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Sweetheart. Purnima is now 17 years old and she is waiting to find out if she passed her 10th grade final exam. CNN's film "Girl Rising" is going to premiere on Sunday, June 16th, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Vets returning home from military duty often expect from changes in their families. That's fair, been away a long time. But one Army specialist from North Carolina got a heck of a surprise when he got home. His wife had lost more than 100 pounds while he was away. Take a look.
I love these moments. Look at that. Misty Shaffer went from 254 pounds to 150 pounds in just the 12 months that her husband was gone and her husband actually had no idea what she was up to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPEC. LARRY SHAFFER, U.S. ARMY: At the airport, I was in shock. I didn't know what to expect when I saw her. I was, like, there is no way -- that's my wife that I left a year ago.
MISTY SHAFFER, LOST 100 PLUS POUNDS: I was, like, you know what, I'm going to keep this a surprise for him because he's never seen me like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Misty Shaffer looks so different that her own three-year- old daughter couldn't even recognize her in old photographs.
