Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

A Prince is Born; Plane's Nose Gear Collapses on Landing; MLB Suspends Ryan Braun for Season

Aired July 23, 2013 - 09:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Happening now in the NEWSROOM.

The buzz over the baby, breaking new details this morning direct from the hospital. William and Kate and the birth of a prince as the world watches and waits for a name.

Moment of impact, amazing new pictures this morning as a plane's landing gear collapses. The fiery crash and the terrifying moments and the question, what went wrong?

Security fiasco. The Pope's visit to brazil marred by a bomb plot, a wrong turn, and barricaded by gridlocked traffic. New concerns this morning in a country notorious for crime. Is the Pope safe?

Caught on camera, divers off the California coast almost devoured by two humongous hump-back whales. Wow.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (on camera): And good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello. This is a 41-gun salute in honor of the prince being born at St. Mary's, and we'd like to welcome to our American audience and viewers from around the world.

So much for that legendary British reserve. From London to Liverpool, Brits celebrate the birth of a future king. Big, bold headlines scream the news across British newspaper. "The Daily Telegraph" announcing somewhat cheekily the baby was "Heir at Last." "The Guardian" used just eight words to capture the story and its magnitude: "A Birth, a boy, a prince, a king."

CNN royal correspondent Max Foster at St. Mary's Hospital where crowds are hoping for an appearance from the royal family and our Kate Bolduan is at Buckingham Palace. CNN's Dan Rivers is in the village of Bucklebury, the home of Kate Middleton's family, and possibly one of the first stops for the royal couple.

Right now, celebrations echoing across London. As I told you, church bells are ringing, dozens of shots are being fired in salute to the new baby prince. At the Tower of London, 62 rounds are being fired. (GUN SALUTES)

COSTELLO: All right, just to tell you what you're seeing here, this is at the Tower of London. Sixty-two rounds being fired from the canons in honor of the prince being born. Simultaneously ,in Green Park, the King's Troops unleashing 41 rounds. We also understand the bells of Westminster Abbey will ring for more than three hours in keeping with royal tradition. Incidentally, that's where William and Kate were married a little more than two years ago.

Kate Bolduan is anchor of CNN's "NEW DAY". She joins us live from Buckingham Palace. Can you hear it?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Oh, I don't know how you can't hear it, Carol. Green Park, as you mentioned, is one of the places, one of the locations where this ceremonial gun salute is happening and it's right over my left side. And everyone can hear it and it seems -- this clearly doesn't happen every day, but these gun salutes, they're a sign of respect, they're a way of welcoming and, they're obviously, a show of celebration.

It's interesting, Carol. I was talking to Kate Williams, the royal historian, just earlier and she was saying --and this makes sense when you think about it -- this was also the way, the gun salutes and bells ringing, was all part of, way back in the day, a way of announcing to the public -- who didn't have access to newspapers or couldn't read the newspapers or hear the announcement -- a way of announcing that an heir was born. Clearly something for the country to celebrate.

And that's part of this tradition that we're seeing and that we've talked about so much throughout, just the birth of an heir and all the tradition that carries on through generations and centuries. And we're seeing part of that play out in London right now.

COSTELLO: Isn't that a beautiful -- that is gorgeous, you have to admit, that is unbelievable. I can't believe that they're going to ring the bells of Westminster Abbey for more than three hours today.

BOLDUAN: You know, it might be a good day to take a day off work is what might be a good suggestion or at least bring your ear plugs to work. But everyone that we've talked to around here, they're either going about their business but everyone is clearly aware this is a very special time. And if you weren't excited in the anticipation, everyone's celebrating in the moment of this new royal and new heir being born.

COSTELLO: This is just an incredible picture. Kate, you stay right there, because I also want to talk to Max Foster. He's outside of St. Mary's Hospital. We can stay on these pictures, though.

Max, can you hear me?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I can. I mean, it's fascinating to see this happen. The last time we saw this was for Princess Eugene, so it's customary for gun salutes at the birth of a prince or princess and what they signify is either respect or welcome. On this occasion it's both, really, though -- respect for the monarchy, because this is a future monarch that's been born in the hospital behind me, but also welcome because they are coming into the world.

There are a complicated set of rules to these gun salutes, and they are practiced to the tee. And you can see these guys and girls putting it all into practice. They've been trying very hard to get this exactly right and it's going pretty well.

I have to say one other thing, it's not just on land you're seeing these sorts of occasions. Out at sea, all the queen's ships, there are many of them, they are all flying the Royal Enzyme today, as well, in honor of the new royal baby.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's talk about that royal baby, because the baby is supposed to pop out with his parents later today. Tell us about that.

FOSTER: Well, we were waiting for the moment, weren't we, when they were going to come out on the doorstep and we have been given some guidance from palace sources saying it will happen either tonight or this evening, U.K. Time tomorrow morning. The earliest in four hours' time, but certainly within 24 hours. So it is happening.

There were some checkups being carried out on the duchess and her new son this morning. Was there a delay because of that? Not sure. We do know that this is a family that's trying to bond. The parents really want to get to know their baby before they come out to the world and, certainly, Carol, I'd be pretty apprehensive to come out to this barrage of media. I mean, I've never seen anything quite like it.

COSTELLO: Oh I know, there must be hundreds of reporters there. I'm sure there are.

Back to Kate Bolduan for just a second. What's the scene like at Buckingham Palace? I know the queen is still inside. Everybody's waiting to hear what the prince's name will be.

BOLDUAN: It's all -- it goes from excitement when you get a little tidbit and then it goes into anticipation once again. I was actually just looking behind me to look how the crowds are. They've really come and gone.

Take a look if you can see behind me, Carol, you can see the gun salute, some of them walking past right now. They walked past earlier during our show as they were heading in to set up. It's really a beautiful sight to see, everything that goes in to celebrating this new royal, the birth of this prince. You can be sure that some day his mother and father will tell him, "You better appreciate everything that went into this and celebrated you."

But here at Buckingham Palace, ever since I arrived this morning, the crowds have really been -- you can see the guns right back there, if you can see right over the bushes. The crowds are clearly gathering. You can see them all behind me. This is where the gilded easel is announcing the formal announcement announcing the birth of the baby boy. Eight pounds, six ounces, we all have memorized that at this point nd everyone's asking the same question, "What is the name of the little prince? What should it be?"

I think everyone you talk to has a better idea of what the name should be. I'm not good at those guessing games, clearly, because I thought the baby was going to be a girl. So I'm out on that one. But it is -- it's just a fun moment. It is another hot day in London and there were some really torrential downpours earlier today, so everyone's kind of braving the elements to enjoy another day of celebration and to wait and see the big moment Max was talking about, Carol, to see the duke and duchess come out on to the steps of St. Mary's Hospital with their baby boy.

It will really give everyone a flashback to that moment 30 years ago when Charles and Diana did the same thing to introduce the world to Prince William. It will be quite a poignant moment, I'm sure, for William himself, but for everyone who has followed his life all along the way.

COSTELLO: Yes, I think we have a picture of Diana with Prince William in her arms. Can we put that up for just a second? Because, you know, Diana means a lot to people of my age, right? Really could relate to her. You can see that -- there's Charles and Diana with Prince William in Diana's arms and how the people greeted her after the birth of the baby.

Oh there she is while she was pregnant. So a lot of memories to relive and we're hoping the royal couple pops out soon. When they do, of course, we'll take you back to St. Mary's Hospital.

Kate Bolduan, you stay there because we're going to get back to you at the bottom of the hour. We'll go live to CNN's Dan Rivers. He's in Bucklebury, the home village of Kate Middleton's family and possibly the next stop for the family. We're back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 16 minutes past the hour.

A scary moment, a potentially dangerous moment for Pope Francis in Brazil. The pope's driver took a wrong turn and with no uniformed security in sight, a crowd literally surrounded his car. Pope Francis didn't blink, rolling down the window and kissing a few babies. But security experts were appalled, including former Los Angeles police chief, Bill Bratton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BRATTON, FORMER LOS ANGELES POLICE CHIEF: I've never seen anything like it in over 40 years in the business. The thing that you want to not allow to happen at any time in a motorcade is choke points where you are not able to move backwards, forwards, or sideways, and you look at these photos, they are extraordinarily frightening. If this is the best that the Brazilian security forces can do for the pope's visit, we want to watch very carefully the next couple of days, because this was an absolute mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: To make matters worse, a homemade explosive device was found near a basilica where the pope is expected to speak tomorrow. The device was diffused without incident.

A manhunt under way in Iraq for hundreds of al Qaeda militants who escaped in Abu Ghraib prison in a violent breakout. Authorities say suicide drivers drove cars packed with explosives into the prison gates while gunmen attacked guards with mortar and rocket-propelled grenades. Between over 500 and 1,000 prisoners are said to have fled the prison.

A Massachusetts state police sergeant who released this photo without permission is expected to face a private disciplinary hearing today. But we can't tell you what time, because that information is being kept hush-hush. Sergeant Sean Murphy was suspended without pay a day last week as the investigation continues into whether he can keep his job.

A Texas giant roller coaster is still closed while Six Flags over in Texas investigates a female rider's death. The medical examiner says Rosie Esparza died after falling out of her seat. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts now calling for more safety oversight saying, quote, "a baby stroller is subject to tougher federal regulation than roller coaster carrying a child in excess of 100 miles per hour."

President Obama hoping celebs like Jennifer Hudson, Kal Penn, and Amy Poehler can help promote his health care law to young people. All of those stars part of the group meeting at the White House. The administration says at least 2.7 million young and healthy adults need to sign up for Obamacare to keep premium costs low overall.

Passengers describe it as a bang and a bounce. Their southwest plane was landing at New York's LaGuardia airport when the front landing gear collapsed. The Boeing 737 jet came to a screeching stop after skidding off a runway.

One hundred fifty people were onboard the plane. Ten of them suffered minor injuries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL ROLAND, PASSENGER: It sort of came down really fast and kind of steep. Then it just sort of banged and then it banged again, then sort of skidded to a stop. It all stopped quicker than you would have thought for as fast as we were going. It stopped pretty quick.

MARTA BORDEAUAX, PASSENGER: I knew it was bad when I saw the door open and then when it started filling up with smoke, they passed out wet napkins, paper towels, to put over our nose and mouths.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Poppy Harlow joins us live from LaGuardia where the runway just opened a few hours ago.

Good morning, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, runway number 4 opened about 7:00 a.m. this morning. Very scary. One of the women I spoke with was hospitalized last night because of smoke inhalation, but luckily everyone seems to be doing OK. This was a scary and shocking landing for passengers on Southwest Airlines Flight 345 coming to New York last night from Nashville.

And what makes it scarier is the fact this comes just a few weeks after Asiana Flight 214 crash landed in San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emergency vehicles proceed onto runway 4.

HARLOW (voice-over): You can see sparks flying as Southwest Airlines Flight 345 out of Nashville lands hard on its nose.

THOMAS BOSCO, GENERAL MANAGER, LAGUARDIA AIRPORT: The nose wheel specifically collapsed, the aircraft skidded down the runway on its nose and then veered off and came to rest in a grass area.

HARLOW: The 150 people aboard evacuated on emergency slides.

ROLANDO OCHO, PASSENGER: I thought it was just -- but I didn't realize what happened until I left the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like getting smashed in a car wreck.

ANASTASIA ELLIOT, PASSENGER: Very chaotic. No one knew what was going on. Flight attendants crying.

HARLOW: These photos obtained exclusively by CNN showed the scene inside the airport lounge where passengers waited hours for luggage from the stranded plane.

According to the FAA, the plan came safely to a stop at the edge of the runway. No injuries were immediately reported to air traffic control. The FAA is investigating.

Ten nonlife threatening injuries were later reported, but the scare comes on the heels of the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 that left three dead at San Francisco International Airport earlier this month.

Now, images of that planes interior showed charred seats, an eerie reminder of what can happen. The incident at LaGuardia closed the airport to incoming flights for just over an hour, but caused a ripple effect of flight delays the rest of the night.

Southwest said in a statement it's cooperating with local authorities and the NTSB has been notified.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARLOW: And one of the passengers that I spoke with, a woman who was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, told me that overall the exit, the emergency exit from the plane, was pretty orderly. She said they weren't on the plane for more than ten minutes before getting on those slides and walking out on to the runway. We know at this hour, Carol, that the NTSB is here. We know they are still assessing the incident to decide whether or not to open a formal investigation.

The plane has been taken off the runway to a hangar to be investigated and we know that the data recorders have been recovered and sent to the NSTB labs in Washington so they can hear from the pilots what was happening when that landing occurred.

COSTELLO: All right. Poppy Harlow reporting live from LaGuardia this morning.

Still ahead in THE NEWSROOM: Ryan Braun suspended, the Milwaukee Brewer has to walk away for the rest of the season without, pay as Major League Baseball starts handing out penalties in connection with the growing drug scandal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Suspended for the season. Former National League MVP Ryan Braun gets the first punishment in the growing scandal over performance-enhancing drugs. Braun will sit for 65 games and the postseason, all without pay.

Last month, an ESPN report named Braun as one of the 20 players linked to a south Florida clinic.

Now, the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder admits, "Hey, I did make some mistakes."

Rachel Nichols joins us now and --

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: Yes, Carol. Apparently, that mistakes were made refrain of the disgraced politician -- well, that applies to ballplayers, too.

Take a look at the statement that Ryan Braun issued, saying, quote, "I realize now that I have made some mistakes. This situation has taken a toll on me and my entire family." He added, I wish to apologize to anyone I may have disappointed. All of the baseball fans, especially those in Milwaukee, the great brewers organization, and my teammates."

Now, Carol, I can tell you that statement didn't do a lot to win over hearts around the sport or among fans. Him talking about the toll this has taken on him, using language that I apologize to anyone I may have disappointed. You've heard me say this before when we talk about disgraced athletes.

If you're using the language, that's not a real apology. In fact, it reflects the attitude Braun has had since he was first associated with performance-enhancing drugs in 2011. At that time, Braun failed a drug test. Not only did he not admit it, he went the Lance Armstrong route. He loudly proclaimed his innocence. He actually blamed the test collector at that time, taking a wrecking ball at that poor guy's life.

Braun succeeded in getting that test thrown out, but he is caught now. There are a lot of people who are angry with him, not even for the cheating, but the arrogant way he's handled it. And, Carol, it's telling here, the Major League Players' Association, they didn't fight the suspension on Braun's behalf. Many other players in the league -- well, they're just as fed up with Braun as the public is.

COSTELLO: You know what my favorite part of the statement was, though, Rachel, really. At the end, he said, I can't --

NICHOLS: The toll it's taken on him?

COSTELLO: Well, that. But at the end he said, "I can't wait to get back to the game I love."

Oh, come on, if you loved the game, you wouldn't have cheated.

NICHOLS: Absolutely. There's a lot of people around the country frustrated with him and with this whole situation.

COSTELLO: So what can we expect next, because there are 19 other players on that list?

NICHOLS: Yes, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said yesterday, quote, "I'm tired of steroids." He's certainly not the only one. But there's more coming. You mention the 20 other players who may have been clients of this performance-enhancing clinic, so expect to see more suspensions, including perhaps one of Girardi's most high profile players, Alex Rodriguez. In fact, league officials have been pursuing Rodriguez even harder than Braun, because Rodriguez reportedly has tried to block their investigation, buying up documents that might incriminate him.

And honestly, Carol, a lot of Yankees fans and players seem OK with them pursuing him. If the Major League Baseball suspends him, the Yankees don't have to pay him for that. Yesterday, several Yankees players said they do support their teammate. But they added, if he's guilty, they also support seeing him punished.

COSTELLO: Yes, well, the Yankees won't miss him because he hasn't been playing in forever, right. But players like Jhonny Peralta of the Detroit Tigers, having a banner season. If he gets suspended for, what, 50 games or more, that will --

NICHOLS: Fifty games is the first offense. The reason Braun got 65 games is they've been basically using the argument that if we had a discussion with you about this previous to this particular moment and you lied to us about it, that's a second offense in and of itself. So the suspensions could be pretty significant here, really baseball showing it is serious about trying to clean up the game, which is a good thing, but in the meantime, the toll it's taking on the game and the fans has been significant.

COSTELLO: Yes. Rachel Nichols, many thanks, as always.

Opening bell just about to ring. Howie Mandel is ringing the bell with "America's Got Talent". Investors should be at a good, good mood this morning with better than expected corporate earnings.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Howie Mandel right behind me, you can see, yes, there he is, ringing that opening bell. "America's Got Talent" is commemorating its first live show at Radio City Music Hall. Yes, it is another day, another record. It could be. It is becoming old hat here on Wall Street.

Yesterday, the S&P 500 made history again, though the Dow didn't. Company earnings could drive the market higher today. Solid numbers coming from DuPont and UPS actually sent up a red flag warning last week, warning investors earnings aren't going to look so hot, yet they managed to beat Wall Street estimates, which were lowered estimates.