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Fired Over Fears of Abusive Ex; Evolution of an American Hero; Patio Falls into Water, 24 Hurt; Murdoch Files for Divorce; Small Jet Plows into Hangar; "Unabashedly" Biased Toward Mom; New CNN Morning Show Set to Debut

Aired June 14, 2013 - 14:30   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: Let me tell you about this possible case here. The firing of a California teacher may put more fear into a group of people often already living on the edge, victims of domestic violence. According to our affiliate KGTV, the Diocese of San Diego terminated this woman because the catholic school she worked at feared what her abusive ex-husband could do.

KGTV reports Charlesworth warned school administrators about him and then in January the school went on lockdown after he was seen on campus. At this time, Charlesworth was put on indefinite leave. Her four kids, all students at the school, were removed from class. They haven't been back. In fact, some parents told KGTV they would have pulled their kids had she stayed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARIE CHARLESWORTH, FIRED TEACHER: That there comes a point where you have to do what's right for people. This is, I think, a prime example of why victims of domestic violence do not come forward with their situation. How am I going to get a job? What do I say when they say why did you leave your last job? Because my school thought I was a security threat? Who's going to put me in front of a classroom?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's talk about this. Monica Lindstrom is an attorney and a former prosecutor and Joey Jackson, an attorney and a legal analyst for our sister network HLN. So welcome to both of you. Joey, let me start with you. She's considering a lawsuit. Does she have a case?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, unfortunately, she really does not. Here's the problem, Brooke. I think something like this lends itself to a legislative solution. The reason I say that is because when you work for an employer they can hire or fire for any reason or no reason as long as it's not predicated upon discrimination.

Now certainly she should be in a class of protected people as a domestic violence victim. This is unfair. It's most unfortunate, but I think the legislature would have to create an exception in the law so as to give her the ability that she needs to work. Not be penalized for being a victim of domestic violence.

BALDWIN: Let me say this to be fair, of course, we reached out to the school, to officials. They have yet to respond. Monica, you see their position. You know, they say her ex, who is in jail now, he got out, went to the school. Hurt someone. I mean, couldn't the school be held responsible if that were to happen?

MONICA LINDSTROM, ATTORNEY: I completely agree with Joey. This is a very unfortunate situation, but if they had kept her on staff, that is a danger to all the children that are in the school. They already went on lockdown once. If he had come to the school and the school knew about this danger and they didn't do something about it, he comes in, hurts her, hurts the children, anything like that, then, yes, the parents could try to hold that school responsible.

When it comes down to it, I think this is a public policy decision. We have to basically weigh the interests of the domestic violence victims in a situation like this versus the safety of the children in the classroom. And it's unfortunate all around.

BALDWIN: It is.

LINDSTROM: But it's a decision that had to be made.

BALDWIN: It is because, you know, to her point, how does she get another job if she has to explain why she left her last one? Let me go to our next story. It's a much lighter one about the most popular song in the English language. I'm going to put money on it that you know it by heart. Roll it.

Happy birthday is the song that is at the heart of a class action lawsuit. So this group doing a documentary on the song says the song written back in 1893, how is that for you trivia geeks, 1893 should be considered part of the public domain. It's fighting to pay a license fee of $1,500 to the copyright owner, Warner Chapel, which has not -- he hasn't responded to CNN about the case.

But Monica, who knew happy birthday was copyrighted? I mean, is it true this group could ask you for money if they heard you sing this at your kid's birthday party? We've all done it.

LINDSTROM: Well, they have been doing that, but not for the little private ceremonies. They do it mostly for public performances like in movies or TV shows. But the plaintiffs in this lawsuit are basically saying, look, you can't do this. First of all, it was never copyrighted at least not officially or if it was, it has run out. And, number two, this is part of the public domain. How can you possibly stick a copyright on this and make everybody pay you for it?

BALDWIN: Yes.

LINDSTROM: They have a really good basis for their suit.

BALDWIN: Joey, 30 seconds.

JACKSON: Sure. Listen, here's the deal. We may be talking about $1,500 here, Brooke, but when you add that up we're talking about annual revenues of 2 million. You know, fortunately, for this documentary company, they said, look, we're going to hold you accountable. This is nonsense. It's in the public domain and we should all be able to say "happy birthday to you" without being fined or having to pay fees.

BALDWIN: Joey Jackson, Monica Lindstrom, thank you very much.

Coming up, the new Superman movie "The Man of Steel" has been out less than 24 hours. It's already nearly raked in $21 million. A look at the film and Clark Kent's alter ego throughout the years on TV and the big screen that's next.

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BALDWIN: All right, my fellow pop culture nerds. The new Superman movie, "Man of Steel," out today already has earned $21 million, impressive, yes. But that doesn't stack up to day one top earners ever, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," $43 million, "Twilight Breaking Dawn," more than $30 million and there you see, "Twilight Eclipse," $30 million.

Now no one wants man of steel to be good more than me. Not just because Time Warner owns CNN. Superman is a classic, I say. In the era when even B-list heroes have big movie franchises, why has Superman remained so earthbound?

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BALDWIN (voice-over): Superman has long been at home on the small screen. There was Lois and Clark in the '90s, Smallville and the Otts, both successes. But on the big screen it's a different story. This weekend after decades of missteps, Warner Brothers is taking another shot at establishing a Superman franchise with "Man of Steel."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the "s" stand for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not an "s." In my world it means hope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, here it's an "s."

BALDWIN: Why has it been so hard? It started off well enough in 1978 when "Superman" the movie ushered in the era of the superhero franchise. Christopher Reeve really did make us believe a man could fly. The movie did take liberties, like when Superman reversed the earth's rotation to stop Lois Lane from dying. Why wouldn't he do that every time manager horrible happens?

"Superman 2" has its fans. Terrence Stamp was a great zod despite looking like McFleetwood on the cover of "Rumors." But there were huge battles behind the camera, the original's director, Richard Donner was fired after finishing most of the principal photography. Richard Lester of "A Hard Day's Night" fame was brought in to finish.

Then there were moments like this. Just try that kind of revision with today's comic book crowd. "Superman 3" is where the franchise went off the rails. No Lex Luther. Robert Vaughn's generic villain subbed in for Gene Hackman. Lois is barely in it. Both Hackman and Margo Kidder were reportedly angry over Donner's firing on number two.

What's Richard Pryor doing in this? It was the box office kryptonite of "Superman 4, The Quest for Peace," that buried the franchise for two decades. By that point, hackman returned looking like the producers were holding a loved one hostage. The special effects are one step above kids with action figures and a camcorder.

Warner tried unsuccessfully to revive the series in the late '90s. Tim Burton was attached to direct with Nicolas Cage set to don the cape because when you think all powerful superhuman, you think of this guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not the bees! Not the bees!

BALDWIN: Here's a purported costume test with Cage. Yikes. Comic super fan Kevin Smith was hired to write the script, but quickly found himself bogged down by ludicrous producer demands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three things. One, I don't want to see him in that suit. Two, I don't want to see him fly, and three, he's got to fight a giant spider in the third act.

BALDWIN: In the Ots Warner Brothers tried again but struggled with its vision. J.J. Abrams even scripted a version in which krypton never blew up. Ashton Kutcher, Josh Hartnet even Will Smith, practically every actor in Hollywood that could walk upright and speak English was considered.

Producers settled on Brandon Ralph. Who? Everyone asked and are still asking. Director Brian Singer ditched the X-Men franchise to direct 2006's "Superman Returns." Singer's concept, pretend like "Superman 3 and 4" never happened, way ahead of you, Brian. But it was a confusing concept to sell to audiences. Even Singer took liberties. He gave Superman a son with Lois. How would that work?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His kryptonian biological makeup is enhanced by the --

BALDWIN: The movies have never totally gotten Superman, that most American of superheroes. He's an ideal. The way we'd like to think of ourselves, patriotic, benevolent, but don't screw with us. Let's face it. No one fantasizes about being Clark Kent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The glasses, the business suit, that's the costume. That's the costume that Superman wears to blend in with us.

BALDWIN: Your move, Zack Snyder. You've got a lot of people hoping you can make us believe a man can fly, again.

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BALDWIN: I've been checking my tweets on your favorite Superman. By far, Christopher Reeve wins. Send me tweets. Coming up, chaos in Florida after a sports bar deck goes crashing into Biscayne Bay. Water, pitch black, nearly 100 people were on that deck when it collapsed. We will have the brand-new video of the crazy scene to show you after the break.

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BALDWIN: Now to some of the hottest stories in a flash. Rapid fire. Roll it.

Let's begin with this new video just into us here. Take a listen. You hear screaming, everyone out, chaos. People in the water after this restaurant patio collapsed into a Miami Bay. Twenty four people are hurt after this deck plummeted into -- as you can see it is pitch dark. This was last night. Here, daytime pictures of this deck just sort of submerged, floating in this water. It all happened in a split second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM TUCKER, WITNESS: It was this peculiar, just roar of noise. By the time I turned around, in a split second, where there was once people, I mean, 50, 100 people maybe at least. There was nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He's close. About 100 people were on the deck when it fell into the water. Three are suffering critical injuries.

News Corp.'s CEO Rupert Murdoch wants to end his marriage. Murdoch has filed for divorce from his wife, Wendi Deng. This video shows Deng, remember this, defending her man after the infamous pie toss. He was testifying in the phone hacking scandal involving one of his papers in London. Deng is Murdoch's third wife.

In California, a plane, look at this, half of it in a hangar. Listen to how it got there. Mechanics were working on this small jet at the Chino Airport. The plane somehow it came free, rolled right into the hangar. Thankfully it happened after hours. Nobody was hurt there.

Coming up next, Chelsea Clinton sits down with CNN and talks everything from her mom's presidential ambitions to the kind of movies Hollywood should be making. And my newest colleague, Michaela Pereira joins me live. Lady, so exciting. We're going to chat with Michaela about obviously, you know, Chelsea. They're on a first name basis now and a little something, something up our sleeves for Miss Michaela. Stay tuned for that next.

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BALDWIN: Just a short time ago, Hillary Clinton spoke in Chicago amid speculation that she is considering this 2016 run. Tonight, I should tell you that Chris Christie and Bill Clinton are speaking. It is the Clintons' daughter who sat town with my newest colleague, Michaela Pereira. Here's part of their interview.

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CHELSEA CLINTON: We need, you know, Hollywood to make movies and television shows about sexy female engineers. At the fourth grade level, girls at the same percentages of boys say they're interested in careers in engineering or math or astrophysics. By eight grade that has dropped precipitously.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": What is happening?

CLINTON: A few things. I think they're not seeing role models. They're seeing boys who are astronauts, engineers, boys who start Facebook or Google. They're not seeing girls. It's hard to imagine yourself as something you don't see, particularly when you're a kid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sexy female engineers. I love she said that. One of the surprises in store on CNN's new show, "NEW DAY." Here she is, the news anchor Michaela Pereira. Welcome to you. How are you doing?

PEREIRA: I'm doing fantastically. It's the eve of our show. We've doing so much. Really glad to here with you, Brooke, I've been a fan of yours for many years.

BALDWIN: I'm humbled by the compliment. I want to get to you in just a moment, but first tell me about this interview with Chelsea Clinton. What surprised you?

PEREIRA: How effortlessly she spoke and how passionately she spoke. She and I both bonded about conversations about how influential our grandmothers have been in our life. She talks about Dorothy Rodham, about having her push her into the limelight a little bit more.

BALDWIN: Really.

PEREIRA: Encourage her to do more with her name, which makes sense now when you look at the name change for the Clinton Foundation. Yesterday Hillary announcing that it's going to be the Bill Hillary Chelsea Foundation, which seems like it doesn't flow quite as well in terms of branding. It does show that they're going to allow her to step out into the forefront more.

BALDWIN: That's great. Speaking of nerdy female engineers, I loved Sally Rye growing up. I totally agree with her. So here you have Chelsea Clinton. Here you are, Michaela Pereira. From L.A. to national TV you go. I'm sure that would be a pinch me moment sitting in front of Chelsea Clinton. Who's on your wish list?

PEREIRA: I don't know where to start. This is great. Let's do it. Maya Angelou, one of them, I won't to go on assignment to -- I want to go the Iditarod. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm Canadian. I want to go up there and see what it takes to do that. That, to me, seems the ultimate in pushing human ability and strength and intestinal fortitude to the edge.

BALDWIN: OK, so Michaela at the Iditarod. You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. Let's talk about this show, "NEW DAY." Tell me what to expect. What do you have up your sleeve the first week?

PEREIRA: OK, well, first off, you have not had a chance and I got to see it today, rehearsing on the set, a brand-new set.

BALDWIN: Pretty fancy.

PEREIRA: Pretty fancy, a lot of bells and whistles. We're trying to keep Chris from breaking them. He's throwing this football around the set all the time making me very nervous. The three of us have had a chance to bond off air. You know what that's like when you sit down on air for the first time with somebody. It's always a little awkward.

We've had a chance to bond on the fantastic new set. We've got a lot of cameras bringing us various angles. We're going to have a high story count. Let me go through the points we've been telling people about. We want to have a real broad range of news, too. We know there's a lot going on in the world that people care about, here at home, internationally.

We know that people are caring about science and technology. What's going on in the kids' classrooms, we're going to try to bring a lot of that into the morning in a tone that people can start their day with.

BALDWIN: I know. We're looking forward to it. It's 6:00 a.m. Monday morning.

PEREIRA: You'll be up.

BALDWIN: This a little something we do on the show. This is what you get to do with me. Little thing we like to call word association. Just roll with me.

PEREIRA: OK.

BALDWIN: I'm going to go with some words. You tell me what comes quickly to the top of your head. Are you ready?

PEREIRA: Yes. I'm so afraid.

BALDWIN: Los Angeles.

PEREIRA: Palm trees.

BALDWIN: New York.

PEREIRA: Subway.

BALDWIN: Alarm clock.

PEREIRA: Early.

BALDWIN: Chris Cuomo.

PEREIRA: Nuts.

BALDWIN: Kate Bolduan.

PEREIRA: Fierce.

BALDWIN: Snowboarding.

PEREIRA: Pain in my knees.

BALDWIN: Me, too, ripped my ACL. Favorite song?

PEREIRA: I did, too, both of them. Favorite song. "Tribe They Call Quest." I'm all about the tribe.

BALDWIN: Finally, CNN.

PEREIRA: Home.

BALDWIN: Welcome to this home, Michaela Pereira. I cannot wait to meet you in person. I'm no excited for you. Thank you so much. "NEW DAY" starts Monday 6:00 a.m. Eastern. Thank you. We will right back.

PEREIRA: Thank you.

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