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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Anger In A Small Town
Aired July 11, 2013 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Don't drive-through water like that, right, Chad Myers?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And severe damage reporting several counties in Central and Northern Indiana as slow moving storms there raked parts of the state. There are lots of trees and power lines down. The storm system dumped two to three inches of rain per hour on some areas.
ROMANS: Chad Myers tracking all the weather for us. Does the forecast look any better today and that water when it's like six inches like you should drive through it, right?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It wasn't just water in Colorado. It was mud and boulders. That one car, I didn't see it the first time I looked at it. But now, the car was literally floating down the street. You know, where is it going from there? Down to some other canyon. So, please, don't do that when you have water going that swiftly. Yesterday, we'll back you up, last night, right on through Pittsburgh into state college and then it dies.
That seems like a good thing. Unfortunately, storms will re-fire right here, right in Eastern Pennsylvania down through D.C. and will right through New York. Now, that's going to give us a great weekend, but it's going to give us the potential for wind damage, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. for later on this afternoon. By the time the front goes by for tomorrow, I'm telling you, it doesn't get to a better summer.
We're going to have summer day (ph) tomorrow. It's just going to be outrageous. It's going to be perfect. And in Atlanta, you have some storms overnight. They are now moved up toward Montgomery and away from you. Cooler and less humid for the weekend here. Still flooding across the southeast. Still that potential for a big monsoon rain across some of the flooding areas that we saw today. Just those pictures.
Also some of the burn areas that don't have anything left holding those structures, that dirt there. If you're downhill from a mud area or from a fire area, watch out for it later on today and through tomorrow. Boston tomorrow 72, New York, 76. How's good better than that? We have to go through a day of storms, but that's the cold front that will make a very nice weekend.
And you know, I was taunting Chantal all week. It's now dead. There's no such thing as Chantal. It completely fizzled in the Caribbean.
BERMAN: You beat the storm into submission. The power of Chad Myers.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: The disorganized tuft that was Chantal is no longer.
BERMAN: Thank you for that.
ROMANS: Thank you so much.
BERMAN: Appreciate it.
ROMANS: All right. Closing arguments set to begin today at the murder trial of neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): The defense has now rested after Zimmerman told the court he would not testify about the night he killed Trayvon Martin. The last witness was his father saying it was his son's voice, George Zimmerman's voice, on a 911 call crying for help.
And lawyers on both sides were seen grabbling with a foam dummy trying to explain what happened that February night a year ago. Before prosecutors make their final case to the jury, the judge still has to rule on whether jurors can consider manslaughter or aggravated assault charges and whether Florida's controversial stand your ground law applies to this case.
BERMAN (voice-over): The search for a missing 11-year-old with autism near Los Angeles has ended tragically with his body found and a relative arrested. Terry Smith (ph) has been missing for days and the search brought out nearly a thousand volunteers. His 16-year-old step-brother had been one of the last to see him.
Police are not confirming if that stepbrother is the person arrested or how the boy died, but say his body was found in a shallow grave not far from his home.
The search is on in the San Francisco area for a 21-month-old girl taken from a car (Inaudible). Daphne Viola Webb (ph) went missing Wednesday morning outside a supermarket in Oakland. Her father says left her in the car with an adult family member that is mentally disabled. When he came back from the store, just the family member was in the car. The girl was gone. Authorities now looking for a woman witnesses say walking away with the little girl.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN (on-camera): The aftermath of that deadly train explosion in Quebec now dramatically fear in these new pictures. This is what Lac- Megantic area looks like now. The death toll continues to rise. Twenty people are confirmed dead with 30 still missing and presumed killed in the inferno. And as Anna Coren reports, residents there want answers. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under tight security, the man in charge of the company that owns the runaway train finally confronted an angry community now at the center of one of the worst rail disasters in recent history.
EDWARD BURKHARDT, CHAIRMAN, MONTRAL, MAINE & ATLANTIC RAILWAY (MMAR): I understand the anger, and beyond that, I will do what we can to address the issues here. We can't roll back time.
COREN: Five days ago, a freight train carrying 73 cars of crude oil derailed and exploded wiping out the hot of downtown Lac-Megantic.
BURKHARDT: If i lived here, I would be very angry with the management of this.
COREN: Police say they found evidence of tampering on the locomotive and have launched a criminal investigation. Separately, the engineer has been suspended without pay over whether or not enough brakes were engaged on the train. But that didn't stop local residents from directing their anger at the train company as this mourning township demands answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bomb that is on the railroad. Why is it normal that it's acceptable?
COREN: And for those reliving the horrors of that night, they describes the scene as apocalyptic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will all die. We will die at the end of the world.
COREN: But Therese Custeau, her world will never be the same. Her son, Real, lived in the town center and hasn't been heard from since. His home, no longer standing. "The days I hoped that my son would call, that he was still alive, but I know in my heart, he is gone." The family has given DNA samples to investigators, but this 79-year- old mother is fearful they will never locate his son's remains.
Anna Coren, CNN, Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Canada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (on-camera): All right. Former president, George W. Bush speaking out for immigration reform during a naturalization ceremony at his presidential library in Dallas. Mr. Bush said that Congress should act to fix the immigration system.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't intend to get involved in the politics or the specifics of policy, but I do hope there is a positive resolution to the debate. And I hope during the debate, that we keep a benevolent spirit in mind and we understand the contributions immigrants make to our country.
ROMANS (voice-over): The former president says the country should uphold this tradition of welcoming immigrants while also enforcing American law.
BERMAN (voice-over): So, it looks like New York voters might be open to forgiving former governor, Eliot Spitzer. Days after Spitzer announced he'd run to become New York's top financial official, a new poll shows him leading a Democratic challenger by a nine-point margin. But he only has until today to collect the signatures necessary to get on the ballot. Spitzer, you may recall, had to resign in 2008 after admitting that he had solicited prostitutes.
ROMANS: Texas one step closer to enacting new restrictions on abortion. The statehouse is now giving final approval to the bill which would ban most abortions after 20 weeks and require the procedure to take place in surgical centers. The next step is in the Senate where a committee is expected to give its OK today before sending it on for a vote. Just two weeks ago, Democrat successfully filibuster the bill in the Senate, but it is expected to pass this time.
BERMAN: Something truly terrifying to show you right now. Watch this van as it backs up right here.
ROMANS: Oh!
BERMAN: It hits a mom and her son in his stroller right there, then the van keeps going, seeming unaware of what happened.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: The stroller is still attached to the car with the boy in it. She goes over. She frees the boy, but the van apparently drives off with the stroller still attached. Look at it again there. There it goes with the stroller and the baby. She gets -- I guess it's more of a toddler. She gets the kid off the stroller and then the van just splits with the stroller still attached. Police in Michigan apparently is still trying to find the driver.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (on-camera): I can't believe that. I can't believe somebody could drive away. The driver stopped because --
BERMAN (on-camera): Knew enough to stop so they get the kid off.
ROMANS: Unbelievable.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Every parent's worst nightmare.
All right. Coming up, chilling testimony in Michael Jackson's wrongful death case. The concert director describes the king of pop's health. What he said, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: A setback to tell you about this morning for country star, Randy Travis. His publicist says the 54-year-old singer has suffered a stroke and underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. Also revealing, in the meantime, that Travis has congestive heart failure. He's been in the hospital since Sunday for treatment of a virus in his heart.
Just hours earlier, doctors said Travis was showing signs of improvement. Now, they say, he's in critical condition with his family at the hospital in Texas.
ROMANS: I hope that he can recover. I hope that he can -- so tough.
All right. The director hired to help Michael Jackson prepare for his comeback concerts now says he was frightened by what he saw in the days before the king of pop died. Testifying in the Jackson family's wrongful death case against concert promoter, AEG live, Kenny Ortega (ph) said Jackson was shivering.
He was incoherent at a rehearsal six days before he died and he raised his concerns to AEG's CEO and Dr. Conrad Murray who assured him Jackson could continue rehearsing.
BERMAN: So, a collective smile from the music branch of the motion picture academy. The academy announcing this year's Oscar nominated songs and scores will be showcased in a live concert just days before the 2014 academy awards ceremony.
Singers have frequently performed original songs on the Oscar telecast, but musical score composers have traditionally gotten the shaft. I wonder if it means they won't be performing every songs during the Oscars.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: It usually makes it about a 14-hour broadcast. It may shorten the entire broadcast for about seven and a half hours now.
ROMANS: It will still be seven and a half hours. It's still be long.
BERMAN: A broadcast that seemed like they go on forever. No, I'm joking, I'm joking. The best morning crew on TV, Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan. Tell us what's coming up on "NEW DAY."
ROMANS: Good morning.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think this is one we go, I'm sorry. I don't hear anything.
(CROSSTALK)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I tell you about this guy all the time. But he's so cute and funny and everybody like him.
BOLDUAN: Last time I say that about you, John.
CUOMO: I say he is like the bunny rabbit in Monty Python.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Separate. The scene (ph), separate. That's all I have to say.
(LAUGHTER)
CUOMO: He's an angry little man.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: I don't claim any victories with him or any successes because I don't want to claim any of his failures. OK?
CUOMO: I love you, JB. You know, I love you. We've got a lot of news for you here on "NEW DAY." We're getting ready for closing arguments in the George Zimmerman trial. A lot of fireworks yesterday. The judge going right at the defendant, pushing him to declare he would not testify. Could be some surprises at the end.
The instruction to the jury, all important. What charges will they consider for this defendant? A big day. We'll take you through all of it.
BOLDUAN: It is a big day in that trial.
And also following a heartbreaking international custody battle. We have a woman, an Indiana woman, a mother, fighting to get her kids back from their father in Cyprus. The kids are in Cyprus with the father at the moment. Why, though, the mother could soon be arrested even though she has custody of the kids? We're going to bring that all to you. It's a very sad story.
CUOMO: You probably saw this one coming. You know, how like when you feel like, oh, this is good for me --
BOLDUAN: Anything that's good is not.
CUOMO: Like this is -- I can get away with this, diet soda, right? We always think it's like having soda for free, right, other than paying for the actual soda. Now, we got Sanjay Gupta here. He's saying that the diet soda may be just as bad for you as the regular soda.
BOLDUAN: Say it ain't so.
CUOMO: And he says science. So, he'll be here with that.
BOLDUAN: He'll explain it to us. So, now, we're going to start drinking the full calorie soda. Well, Christine Romans already does because she has the metabolism of like, I don't even know, whatever animal has a high metabolism. Christine Romans --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: -- so I drink water.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Water has zero calories and it's free.
CUOMO: I'm like John Berman who only drinks the blood of his enemies.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Oh, my god.
BERMAN: Dying blood of my enemies.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Anyone? All right. Christine, you take it. John Berman, walk offset. Thank you.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, guys. We'll see you in a few minutes.
Coming up, a rap star turned sports mogul, Jay-Z wants a baseball star on his team. We're going to tell you who. The "Bleacher Report" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Huge news in baseball today. Derek Jeter expected to make his long awaited return to the lineup when the Yankees play the Kansas City Royals today. Andy Scholes is here now with the "Bleacher Report." The cap is back, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes. Good morning, guys. The Yankees have been without their captain for the entire season thus far. But according to Fox Sports, that will change tonight when Jeter makes his regular season debut. And the Yankee shortstop has been out of action since breaking his ankle during last year's ALCS.
He tried to play during spring training but ended up reinjuring his ankle. Five players filled in as shortstop for Jeter while he was out. They combined to hit just two-tenths. So, even a rusty Jeter will be an upgrade for the Yankees.
Well, according to Yahoo! Sports, Jay-Z is looking to make another huge splash in the sports agency business. The rapper is reportedly trying to recruit Cuban defector and Dodger's rookie sensation, Yasiel Puig, to join rock nation's sports. Jay-Z already signed Robinson Cano and Kevin Durant as clients earlier this year.
The 22-year-old Puig would be another huge acquisition for Jay-Z. Puig just wrapped up arguably the greatest first month ever by a batter in baseball history. And he could be in the all-star game next week if he wins the online fan vote which ends this afternoon at 4:00 eastern. Well, it looks like Andrew Bynum is heading to Cleveland. According to reports, the injury played center will sign a two-year deal worth $24 million to play for the Cavs. Only $6 million of the contract is guaranteed. Bynum missed all of last season with the 76ers because of a knee injury.
Well, Florida State won the ACC championship last season and a reward for being part of the team is, of course, a championship ring. Offensive lineman, Menelik Watson, received a very unique ring this week. Check it out, guys. Watson's ring reads "SEC champions" instead of ACC. Now, Watson was a good sport about this (ph), tweeting, "Apparently, I'm the only player in FSU history to win an SEC championship."
Now, guys, they said they checked the 100 rings the rest of the players got and that was the only one that reads SEC champions.
BERMAN: That is crazy. One of a kind, though. It will be worth something in auction (ph). All right. Andy, appreciate it. Thanks very much.
ROMANS: All right. Coming up, Whitney Houston's daughter is engaged, but it's not without controversy. Why she's telling the public her mom would be proud?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: OK. Welcome back. Fifty-four minutes after the hour. Taking a look at the top CNN trends on the web this morning. Wedding bells may soon ring for the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. Bobbi Kristina Brown she's engaged to Nick Jordan. He's the man who grew up alongside her and was raised by Whitney Houston for more than a decade.
Though, Brown -- Gordon was never adopted. Bobbi Kristina writes on her Facebook page she's tired of hearing people say you and that her mother wouldn't approve, like he's her brother, right? Whitney, she writes -- once said she knew they would one day be dating.
BERMAN: It is one of the tallest buildings in Europe and the world, and a group of protesters are trying to scale it this morning from the outside. Six women connected with the environmental group, Green Peace, dodged security guards and tried to climb up the shard in London.
They were protesting Shell (ph) oil companies arctic drilling plan. Shell isn't in the building, but the shard does overlook Shell's headquarters nearby. Police, ambulances are on the scene watching, just in case.
ROMANS: OK. We first showed you the great video of a very helpful motorcyclist returning a coffee cup to a driver. Remember? Well, that motorcyclist is now telling his story to our Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Riding on his motorcycle -- he's used to seeing the gorgeous snowcap mountains near Utah. What caught his eye was the snow white of the cup from the dark SUV's bumper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I saw the cup, I was like, well, the lady just has a cup on her bumper.
MOOS: To the rescue, Nate gave chase. And then, as calmly as if he were picking up at a Starbucks drive-through window --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't a big deal to me, like getting close to her, I wasn't really that nervous.
MOOS: Nate figures he was doing about 40 with his head cam rolling, he says he decided to deliver the cup to the driver on a whim.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make her day, I guess.
MOOS: When she made a turn, he followed her and a few seconds later managed to show her the cup. She saw, but didn't pull over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I kind of thought it would be cool if I was able to do the hand off while moving. And, sure enough, she just rolled her window down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she poured it out, I was like, man.
MOOS: Nate said he sort of wished she'd taken a drink out of it, but he wasn't insulted that she dumped what look like milk or milky coffee.
(on-camera) Of course, there are worse things in a mug that you can accidentally leave on your car.
(voice-over) A Seattle police officer drove a few blocks with this assault rifle lying on the trunk. A teen mom in Phoenix got arrested when she allegedly left her baby in a car seat on the roof of her car and drove 12 miles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The car seat toppled and was discovered by a motorist later in an intersection.
MOOS: The baby was fine. The mom pleaded not guilty to child abuse and DUI. Police say she told them she just smoked marijuana. Better a mug than a mug shot.
(on-camera) There was one other time Nate played Good Samaritan from his moving motorcycle. He spotted a Pontiac with a dangling gas cap.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I screwed it in and close the lid.
MOOS (voice-over): Closing gas caps, returning cup he sent on to wheels, and we heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: So, while we're watching this and Christine Romans says, I don't think that's safe.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: Really?
ROMANS: I'm just saying. Don't try this at home or on the road or on your motorcycle or anything.
BERMAN: It's like the least safe thing you could ever do.
ROMANS: Screwing in a gas cap at 40 miles an hour. Oh, geez!
BERMAN: Bad idea. All right. Great idea, Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan here for "NEW DAY." Take it away, guys.
BOLDUAN: See, now, he's trying to redeem himself.
(LAUGHTER)
CUOMO: But he can, because he's JB. We all love him. And you have to respect the guy's dexterity because a throttle on a motorcycle is on the right. So, he had to gauge his speed, release, pick up the cup.
BOLDUAN: It does seem as we now learned. This is not the first time that he has done -
CUOMO: Right.
BOLDUAN: -- this thoughtful motorcycling act.
CUOMO: That's why he has a camera on his helmet.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: If you're doing something awesome, why not videotape it.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: We do every day.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: That is a good comment to end on.
CUOMO: That's why you love him. He's very smart. Look at that, everybody. It's almost the top of the hour, and you know what that means here on "NEW DAY," time for the top news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He really wanted to talk to his jury and tell them what he was facing when he made that decision and fired the shot.
CUOMO: Courtroom drama. Closing arguments begin today in the George Zimmerman trial. What it will be? Could the prosecution have one last surprise? And why did the judge go right at George Zimmerman?
BOLDUAN: Wild weather. Dangerous flooding hits the northeast. A major city submerged. Meanwhile, mud slides in the Rockies and Chantal still taking aim at Florida. We're tracking it all this morning.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Terrified voices. The just released dramatic 911 calls from the survivors of the flight 214 moments after impact. And new questions this morning, why did it take so long to evacuate?
CUOMO: Your "NEW DAY" starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michael Pereira.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to "NEW DAY." It's Thursday, July 11th, six o'clock in the east. I'm Chris Cuomo.
BOLDUAN: Good morning, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We're joined by news anchor, Michaela Pereira, and there is a lot coming up this morning, including those newly released 911 calls from passengers aboard flight 214 just after crash landing. You can hear just how chaotic and terrifying the scene was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just got in a plane crash and there are a lot of people who need help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have people over here who weren't found and they're burned really badly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: All right. We're going to have much more on that coming up, but understandably, terrifying scene.
CUOMO: Absolutely. Plus, a very intense day in court. The Boston bombing suspect in public for the first time facing his victims. We're going to hear from some of those victim's voices this morning. What do you think it would be like to be face-to-face with a killer?
PEREIRA: And it might seem counter intuitive to some. Are diet sodas actually bad for you? A new study out says they may actually cause you to gain weight. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join us to break down what it all means.
