Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Too Low, Too Slow; Unrest in Egypt; Weather Outlook; Baby Bets; A Win For Britain

Aired July 08, 2013 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Moment of impact, a close-up look at what happened the moment a Korean jetliner crashed in San Francisco.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Chaos in Egypt, deadly protests overnight, hundreds of arrests, and calls for the new president to step down.

PEREIRA: And forget Vegas. The newest game in gambling is in Buckingham Palace. The world waiting on Will and Kate's baby. Place your bets, folks, we're live.

BERMAN: Welcome back to this special edition of EARLY START. The early EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

PEREIRA: And I'm Michaela Pereira. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

BERMAN: The latest now on the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214. This was coming in for a landing at San Francisco International Airport Saturday when something went terribly wrong. The plane slammed into the runway killing two and injuring more than 180.

And new this morning, more details, new details on the man flying the plane. We now know that the pilot had only 43 hours of experience flying the Boeing 777. This was his first landing in this plane at San Francisco International Airport -- his first landing in the 777, though he had landed other jets at the airport before. And the crew tried to abort the landing just seconds before the crash, but there may not have been enough time. Rene Marsh tells us that one big question now is, was that 777 coming in too low and too slow? Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Asiana 214 heavy, San Francisco tower, runway 28 left, cleared to land.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Air traffic control clears Asiana 214 for landing Saturday. It seems routine. The crew setting a target speed of 137 knots. But then the first sign of trouble on the cockpit voice recorder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A call from one of the crew members to increase speed was made approximately seven seconds prior to impact.

MARSH: Inexplicitly, the plane is approaching the runway far too slowly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will tell you that the speed was significantly below 137 knots and we're not talking about a few knots.

MARSH: Seconds later, the pilot's controls shake, warning the plane is about to fall out of the sky.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sound of the stick shaker occurs approximately four seconds prior to impact.

MARSH: Then, just before slamming into the seawall --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A call to initiate a go around occurred 1.5 seconds before impact.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god. Oh, it's an accident.

MARSH: That attempt to abort the landing, impossibly late. The aircraft careens down the runway and bursts into flames.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Asiana 214 heavy, emergency vehicles are responding. We have everyone on their way.

MARSH: Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: What is amazing is that almost everyone on board Flight 214 lived. These pictures show just how quickly many of them were able to get away from the jet as it burst into flames. But more than 180 others were hurt, some critically. The two who died were 16-year-old girls from China. Apparently they were on their way to a church summer camp. Authorities are now looking into whether one of them was actually hit by a first responder vehicle on the runway and may not have actually been killed in the crash.

BERMAN: We're also hearing voices from some of the survivors now. Among them, Eugene Rah. He had made this flight many times and he worried as they were coming in for the landing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUGENE RAH, FLIGHT SURVIVOR: I looked out through the window and I knew something was wrong. It's because, you know, we were too low. At one point I kind of, you know, felt, this is not right. It's because I see water right there. Right there. Right outside the window. I should not. I knew. I knew it was going to happen. So, I tried to hold on to, you know, whatever I could. It was like, you know, bang. And the impact was so powerful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You know, when you do fly a lot, you can tell when something's different.

PEREIRA: Sure. BERMAN: Rah helped others. He walked away with cuts and bruises. He says, despite flying so many times, he's now nervous to even hear a plane flying overhead.

PEREIRA: We have another weekend plane crash to tell you about. This one in Alaska that left 10 people dead. Authorities say the air taxi went down at an airport about 150 miles south of Anchorage. The plane was apparently taking off at the time of the crash. Everyone on board, the pilot and nine passengers, were killed. Investigators now looking into the cause.

BERMAN: Also this morning, dozens of people in a small Canadian town are still missing after a runaway train disaster. The train was just hauling more than 70 tanker cars full of crude oil. It derailed and exploded over the weekend. These pictures are stunning. Five people were killed in the town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec province, near the Maine border. Authorities say an engine shutdown may have caused the train's air brakes to release. Canada's prime minister says the town looks like a war zone. You can see it for itself - for yourself right there. The death toll could rise there dramatically.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN HARPER, CANADA PRIME MINISTER: But I know there's going to be waves of emotion over the next few weeks as the extent of this, and this is a very big disaster in human terms, as the extent of this becomes increasingly obvious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: More than a third of the town's 6,000 residents were evacuated.

PEREIRA: To Egypt now and breaking news from Cairo. Deadly protests outside the Republican Guard headquarters where deposed former President Mohamed Morsy is said to be held. Health officials say at least 42 people are dead, hundreds have been wounded. Reza Sayah is monitoring developments for us in Cairo.

Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, just an awful, awful morning here in Cairo. A lot of people were anxious to see which direction this conflict would go. And this is an indication that we're going in a very ugly direction.

As you mentioned, at least 42 people killed, more than 300 people injured in clashes between supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsy, and security forces. The clashes taking place around 4:00 a.m. local time, about six and a half hours ago. In front of the presidential guard headquarters, this is where we believe, and there are reports that Mr. Morsy is being held in custody. There are reports that some of the victims were women and children. We're working to verify that claim.

There's all sorts of conflicting reports, who started this clash? The armed forces, saying this was an armed terrorist group that attacked them. The protesters are saying, no, this was security forces fired first. And they're also saying they fired either during morning prayers or shortly thereafter. Again, it's critical to point out that we haven't verified all these claims. We're working to do that.

The aftermath, bloody and chaotic. Many of the victims raced to a makeshift hospital close by. Video from that scene shows many of the fatalities placed on the ground, covered with blankets. This is the single most deadliest incident we've seen after President Morsy was ousted on Wednesday. We're already seeing the repercussions. The ultraconservative Islamist Nor (ph) party, a critical part of this coalition here to get the transitional government going, they've already pulled out of the coalition in protest of this morning's deadly incident.

Michaela.

PEREIRA: And some -- we understand there's voices calling for the ouster of Adli Mansour, who was just installed as interim leader there. What are military leaders saying? It seems as though they've lost control.

SAYAH: Well, it would seem to appear that way today. They are saying that this was an attack launched by armed terrorist groups. But what you have here is a fresh element of uncertainty injected into this conflict. A lot of people among the opposition, who managed to oust Mr. Morsy, were hopeful that this would be a smooth transition into another government, a new government. But this is a clear signal that there are a lot of people here who are not happy and there are elements that are willing to escalate matters. So uncertain days ahead for this country.

Michaela.

PEREIRA: A vicarious time to be sure. Reza Sayah in Egypt, thank you for that report.

BERMAN: A radical cleric who fought extradition from Britain for years, he is back in Jordan this morning facing terror charges. Abu Qatada is being held in a high security prison near Amman. Authorities say several prominent terrorists, including shoe bomber Richard Reid, turned to Qatada for advice and that his writings were consulted by some of the 9/11 hijackers. He insists he's innocent of playing a role in two terror plots against foreigners in Jordan.

PEREIRA: The new leader of the Syrian opposition is hopeful a new influx in weapons from Saudi Arabia will help turn the fight around. Ahmad Jarba tells Reuters, the country is in a real humanitarian crisis and the opposition needs advanced weapons to hit back at the Syrian military. He says the Syrian National Coalition won't take part in a proposed peace conference unless they have more success fighting the Assad regime. He describes the rebel position right now as weak.

BERMAN: It has now been a month since former South African President Nelson Mandela entered a Pretoria hospital. The anti-apartheid leader continues to battle a lung infection that apparently has brought him close to death. He is on life support with his wife by his side. Mandela is still said to be in critical, but stable condition.

PEREIRA: A final farewell to 19 elite firefighters who died battling the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona. Their remains are back home this morning in Prescott, Arizona, where they'll be laid to rest this week. The 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hot Shots were honored in a beautiful procession of 19 white hearses. Thousands of people across the state paying tribute as the caravan traveled more than 100 miles beginning in Phoenix, passing through the town of Yarnell, and ending in Prescott.

BERMAN: Parts of West Virginia cleaning up this morning after a severe storm blew through. Heavy rain, high winds brought down trees and power lines in King Wood, West Virginia. Many people had their yards littered with tress and limbs. And road crews have been busy clearing lots of debris overnight. We're hearing about a lot of severe storms overnight. Kind of a mess.

Chad Myers here with the details.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That much heat. It was hot. It was humid. You get big storms, especially in the afternoon. And that's what you want to think about if you're going to be trying to fly in the summer. Try to get a noon flight, a 1:00 flight, because if you're stuck on a 5:00, 6:00 or 7:00, there's a chance that you don't make it to your destination like thousands of people didn't yesterday.

Storms fired up across West Virginia, Pennsylvania, even up into Herkamer (ph) County up in New York. And some of those storms caused flooding. Some of those storms knocked down trees, power lines. We're seeing a line of storms coming in to Chicago right now. That may delay some flights. Now we're talking still only, you know, 3:40 in the morning in Chicago. So not that many flights, yet. But as flights start to get going today, you may have a couple of delays out of Chicago.

A big pattern change for us. Last week we had a big dip in the jet stream. It was beautiful in the central plains. Hot here. Hot here. That all changes. Now everybody gets hot. When the jet goes way to the north, it turns into summer everywhere. And that's what we're into for the next few days. Eventually it changes back. We get a couple of cool downs still to come. But it's going to be a hot couple of days. Not quite as hot in some spots as it's been because you don't have the up and down any more. D.C., you're only going to be 89 today. That's better than you've been all weekend long. Atlanta, 86.

Now, you have to understand, Atlanta, on Saturday, felt 25 degrees warmer than Boston did because it rained all day. So, Boston, you're still in the thick of it, although tomorrow, look at that, a high of only 78 with a couple showers. That's pretty good.

PEREIRA: Will this go in the record books as one of the more extreme summers that we've had?

MYERS: You know, for the east, yes. But it was nice and cool in the Midwest. And then it was hot in the west.

PEREIRA: Right.

MYERS: So hot, cool, hot. So, if you add them up, probably pretty normal.

PEREIRA: All right. Chad Myers, thanks so much.

BERMAN: We appreciate it.

PEREIRA: A two-year-old Alabama boy home from the hospital this morning and by all accounts he is lucky to be alive. Two-year-old Jayden Myslinski was saved from drowning in his backyard pool by who? His quick-thinking eight-year-old brother, who grabbed Jayden after he had gone under the water.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MYSLINSKI, EIGHT-YEAR-OLD: I thought to pull him up and then yell for help because I don't want anything to happen to my little brother.

JAMES MYSLINSKI, VICTIM'S DAD: It can happen in a split second. And you may be right there. You turn your back for one second and they can slip right into that pool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Well, apparently the parents have now returned that pool to the store. They plan to buy the boys a backyard play set instead.

BERMAN: A nice idea.

PEREIRA: Yes.

BERMAN: Glad they're all OK.

Coming up here, political comeback. Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has his eye on a new political office.

PEREIRA: And the world is watching and waiting, pocketbook in hand, for Will and Kate's baby to arrive. So, is it going to be a boy or a girl? What do you think?

BERMAN: One or the other for sure.

PEREIRA: Right. Pretty - pretty 50/50.

BERMAN: I'm going with one of those.

PEREIRA: And do they have a name picked out? Place your bets. We're live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back.

Could it be redemption for a politician who lost his last job thanks to a prostitution scandal? Eliot Spitzer, the former New York Governor, now says he is running to be the top financial official in New York City. You'll recall that he resigned the governorship in disgrace back in 2008 after admitting patronizing prostitutes. He has been a commentator ever since, including some time spent here at CNN. He says he is the right person to help keep an eye on New York City's spending and he's hopeful voters will give him a second chance.

BERMAN: Another Cheney may take the plunge into politics. Liz Cheney, the daughter of the former vice president, is said to be considering a run for senate in Wyoming. "The New York Times" reports that the 46- year-old Cheney called Republican Incumbent Mike Enzi to say she's thinking about challenging him in a primary for the senate seat in 2014. Senator Enzi has been there since 1996.

PEREIRA: We could find out today if Texas Governor Rick Perry plans to take another shot at the presidency. He has scheduled an event this afternoon to announce whether he'll run for a fourth term as governor. But if he bows out, political watchers say that could be a sign that Perry wants to run for president again. You'll recall that Perry tried to win the Republican nomination in 2012, but had end his run early in the race after disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

BERMAN: All right, can you feel the electricity?

PEREIRA: I felt it.

BERMAN: Can you feel the excitement? We are just days away from the expected birth of the royal baby and son or daughter to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate. And the U.K. is abuzz with excitement. Look, the U.S. is abuzz with excitement. The whole world is abuzz with excitement. So what are the odds that it will be a boy or a girl? Well, I think it's 100 percent odds it will be one or the other.

PEREIRA: Yes.

BERMAN: But what are the odds it will be half of that? Max Foster live outside Buckingham Palace this morning.

And, Max, the bookmakers, they're going nuts. You can lay down money on just about anything.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They really are. I tell you, John, in this country, we bet on anything. And this is the classic example. Joining me here, Jess from Labrooks (ph), Rory from Padypower (ph).

Rory, how -- what sort of level of betting have you had so far?

RORY (ph): Royal baby betting is booming. This is turning (ph) out to be the biggest novelty market of the year.

FOSTER: So what sort of figures so far?

RORY: Northwards of 300,000 pounds. That's, what, half a million dollars.

FOSTER: Same for you, Jess?

JESS (ph): Absolutely.

FOSTER: The date?

JESS: Well, our mathematical geniuses worked it out to be the 16th or 17th of July. They're the joint favorites. So eight to one at the moment. But she could pop any day soon.

FOSTER: The other big one is the name or the sex, actually. Let's talk about the sex first. I know that both of you got much more likely to be a girl because (ph) of a bit of a slip-up. So, therefore, in terms of names, they're mainly girl names, right?

RORY: Yes, girls names are leading the betting at the moment. Charlotte's the current favorite. So a lot of money over the last few days coming from forty to one to four to one.

FOSTER: OK.

RORY: And that's just ahead of Alexandra.

FOSTER: But you've got Alexandra number one. And what's the relationship with Alexandra?

JESS: Well, we just had a lot of gambles. Like Rory said, the money has just kept coming in. They (INAUDIBLE) really big prizes (ph). And actually, on Saturday, we had to suspend betting on Victoria because that many bets, you know, 300, 400 -

FOSTER: Yes.

JESS: And we thought they're chunking (ph) up (INAUDIBLE). The alarm bells have got to start (ph) ringing here. She's going to give birth any day soon so we said, no, enough is enough, flush (ph) the odds and it's now (INAUDIBLE).

FOSTER: How appropriate, you've got Victoria behind you as well. Victoria, of course, very popular throughout the royal family. So really quirky bets as well. What's one of the weirder ones you're offering - it comes off the back of people asking, right?

RORY: Exactly. People are betting on anything. You know, we've had requests for which magazine will have the first exclusive pictures. Who's going to be holding the baby outside of the hospital? You know we've had money on --

FOSTER: Who is going to be holding the baby outside the hospital?

RORY: We think William.

FOSTER: William. Do you agree?

JESS: Absolutely, yes.

FOSTER: And you've got hair color as well. So brown. I mean that's a bit of an obvious one, isn't it. But what's this about ginger at the bottom?

JESS: Yes, obviously. But ginger - (INAUDIBLE) fifty to one to seven to one. So here in the U.K. we love a little bit (INAUDIBLE).

FOSTER: What (INAUDIBLE) - well -

JESS: Maybe Harry's the daddy. (INAUDIBLE).

FOSTER: There you go.

JESS: I'm not (INAUDIBLE).

FOSTER: (INAUDIBLE) you're just going on the finances. And in terms of the developments, I presume when she's in the hospital, that's when it's going to really - you're going to -- the money's going to come in, right?

RORY: Exactly. I mean this is the latest installment of our longest running reality show the Windsors. You know this episode is completely gripping, boy or girl, gemini or cancer. Is Kate to push (ph) to push? Who knows. Turn in this week and we'll find out.

FOSTER: Rory, Jess, you're going to have a busy week. You've got Wimbledon as well.

JESS: That's right. Exactly.

FOSTER: You must be exhausted.

There you go, John. We haven't got odds on John, but I'm sure they're somewhere.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE), I'm sure. You know it's amazing to me that the empire ever declined, Max, after hearing this. It's astounding. It is great to see you. This is really fun stuff.

PEREIRA: All right. Well, speaking of Wimbledon, what a day at the all England club. It hasn't happened in more than seven decades. But now the men's Wimbledon title belongs to a player from the U.K. Christina MacFarlane has that for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a win that made history. After 77 years, Britain finally has a Wimbledon champion and a national hero.

ANDY MURRAY, PRO TENNIS PLAYER: Like right now I'm extremely tired, mentally and physically. And I'm just relieved to have won that match, especially after the way the last game went. It's just a crazy last game, but I think when I get to take a step back over the next couple days and sort of relax and think about what I did today, I'll realize it was - it was a big day in our sporting history.

MACFARLANE: Eight years to the day of the London terrorist attacks, July 7th now forever holds new meaning for the British people. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So exciting and you just see the country all just celebrate and take ownership of such a great moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's playing so well. The previous (INAUDIBLE), when he was playing, it was three sets to one. And to win these six (ph), (INAUDIBLE) is just amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone was standing up. Everyone was almost in tears as well. It was just an emotional outpouring, really, which us Brits don't normally do very well, as you know, but it was actually incredible.

MACFARLANE: Watching from inside the royal box was the British prime minister, David Cameron, who struggled to contain his emotion.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Every point was an exciting point. There was - you know, there were so many breaks and break backs that I think the crowd was just on the - on tenterhooks the whole way through. I mean in the royal box we were jumping up and down and shouting, hugging. I mean it was sort of -- it was incredibly emotional because we've waited for that so long for a Wimbledon champion.

MACFARLANE: But this victory was made even sweeter by the defeat of world (ph) number one, Novak Djokovic, in straight sets. A score line no one would have predicted. But perhaps nowhere was this felt more poignantly than in Dunblane, Scotland, the small town where Murray grew up. Seventeen years ago torn apart by horrific school shooting and sadness. Today, united in celebration and immense pride.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just so proud of him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just thrilled. He's worked so hard. He deserves it.

MACFARLANE (on camera): As the sun sets on the scene of his historic triumph, Britains will continue to celebrate an historic win with special meaning.

Christina MacFarlane, CNN, Wimbledon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: You know, it was a phenomenal match. It was straight sets, but it was still over three hours long. It was pretty close.

PEREIRA: You watched - did you watch the entire thing?

BERMAN: I - look, I love tennis and these are great players.

PEREIRA: This was the one to watch, that's for sure.

BERMAN: Absolutely. Congratulations to Andy Murray.

Coming up here, another big winner, but also a big loser at the box office this weekend. We'll tell you who the loser was. That's right after the break.

PEREIRA: You're relishing the word "loser" today.

BERMAN: Loser.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: All right, it's three minutes before the hour. Taking a look at the top CNN trends on the web this morning.

It looks like it may be the end for celebrity chef Nigella Lawson's marriage. Her husband, Charles Saatchi, tells Britain's "Mail on Sunday" newspaper he will be divorcing Lawson because they've grown apart. She reportedly moved out weeks ago after pictures surfaced of the two of them at a restaurant with his hand around her neck. Saatchi insisted he's never abused her physically, but the paper says Lawson found out about the divorce the very same way millions of readers did, in the newspaper.

BERMAN: Actress Amanda Bynes back in a New York court this week facing a slew of charges after police say she threw a bong out of her apartment window. The troubled actress was busted back in May when a worker says he caught her smoking pot in the lobby of her luxury New York City building. The cops say her apartment smelled like pot too. And when they went to check it out, she threw the foot tall bong out the window. She has denied these charges.

PEREIRA: Nothing despicable about these members. "Despicable Me 2" was a hit at the movies, taking in nearly $142 million in the country during the five-day holiday period. Worldwide it earned nearly $300 million. That's one of the best starts ever for an animated film.

Now the bad news, Chad Myers, who spend $14 to see it. "The Lone Ranger" only earned a disappointing $49 million, a fraction of the $225 million it cost to make it. I'm still going to see it because I love Johnny Depp.

BERMAN: Chad says he was spending it too. It was only a one on the scale of one to 10.

PEREIRA: Good cinematography, however, he said.

BERMAN: To check out the other top CNN trends, head to cnn.com/trends.

EARLY START continues right now.