Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Obamacare Website Continues to Experience Technical Problems; Controversy Continues over NSA Spying Program on Foreign Leaders; Gearing up for 2016 Election; Biggest Tech Consumers Still in Diapers; Conrad Murray, Free

Aired October 28, 2013 - 07:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Athena Jones is following the developments for us from the White House this morning. Good morning, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. This is more bad news for the administration when it comes to Obamacare. Jeff Zients, the man the president put in charge of fixing the healthcare.gov website says it will be running smoothly by the end of November. But this is another major meltdown that's raising questions about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Another major stumble for the problem-riddled website healthcare.gov.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: It's better today than it was on October 1st. But it's a long way from perfect.

JONES: Visitors to the site Sunday and couldn't apply for health care coverage. A vendor for Verizon, quote, "experienced a failure in a networking component." That service connects healthcare.gov to the IRS and databases used to determine eligibility. The company says they are working to fix the problem.

VIVEK KUNDRA, VP OF EMERGING MARKETS FOR SALESFORCE.COM: What you are seeing here is a gap in innovation and a gap in execution.

JONES: Plagued with technical issue, healthcare.gov ridiculed on late night TV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The site was only designed to handle six users at a time.

(LAUGHTER)

JONES: "Saturday Night Live" mocking Kathleen Sebelius.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Considering using our low res website with simpler graphics.

(LAUGHTER)

JONES: -- responsible for overseeing the implementation, and the pressure isn't letting up.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO, (R) WYOMING: She is already, as of "Saturday Night Live" last night, the laughing stock of America. So she has lost considerable credibility.

JONES: New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen urged an extension of the March 31 enrollment deadline.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN, (D) NEW HAMPSHIRE: So we can make sure we get as many people who want health insurance able to enroll and be able to be covered.

JONES: The administration says that mandate won't change.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're way still early in the process.

JONES: The president promising --

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We got people working overtime 24/7 to boost capacity and address these problems every single day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, we expect Secretary Sebelius will face tough questioning before Congress on Wednesday. And that same day the president travels to Boston to promote Obamacare with a big event there. Back to you, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks so much, Athena.

So the White House is also now facing more questions over NSA surveillance. The "Wall Street Journal" reporting the agency was eavesdropping on some 35 world leaders that ended over the summer after an internal review at the White House. But what did President Obama know about that program and one targeting Germany's Angela Merkel?

CNN National Security analyst Fran Townsend is here. Fran, lots to talk about. As we keep saying, another day another intelligence leak is out there. Does this surprise you the combination, that we are seeing more and more reports of surveillance of 35 world leaders, but also that the president was not briefed on it, at least we have learned.

FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, every year there is a process by which intelligence priority, collection priorities get set. And that's reviewed all the way up to the White House. So whether it's political leadership, terrorism, counter- proliferation, those priorities are well known. Specific targets, however, Angela Merkel's cellphone, are not the sort of thing to discuss with the president of the United States.

On the other hand, Kate, what he gets each morning is finished intelligence, that is a narrative that's written for him. It doesn't tell him specifically where the collection came from. But some of it is sort of self-evident.

BOLDUAN: On the flipside, would it be surprising if there wasn't intelligence gathering going on? We hear from some members of Capitol Hill, they say this is the price of business. The U.S. is gathering the same kind of intelligence and surveillance that other countries are doing at this time.

TOWNSEND: That's right. Let ask ourselves when we hear the Germans and others, Angela Merkel, outraged, short of shocked that this is going on. You don't hear them saying they're not doing precisely the same thing to visiting dignitaries and to other heads of state when they're in Germany or around the world if they have the opportunity. And so this is sort of the cost of doing business.

BOLDUAN: With that in mind, Angela Merkel said this has shaken, severely shaken the relationships of the U.S. and European leaders. Is this public posturing or is there something more, could there be real fallout with our European partners?

TOWNSEND: Look, I think there is a good deal of posturing going on here. There's a special relationship, though, that is well understood around the world between what we call the five 5-Is, the English speaking countries, where there are agreements that we don't spy on each other's heads of states and that sort of thing. And I think that this is sort of public outrage that will be used to try and leverage. We have heard now German intelligence officials won't meet with American intelligence officials, and we've got to expect they're going to lock to see if they can't sort of squeeze some concessions from American intelligence officials.

BOLDUAN: Going forward, what does the White House, should the White House do, because there is no indication that the leaks from Edward Snowden are going to be stopping?

TOWNSEND: No, that's right. What we don't know, what we can't see from behind the scenes is whether or not they went to the Germans in advance of the public leak. One would hope that you do an audit to understand the damage assessment, what was leaked, what does Edward Snowden have, so you could at least privately try and get in front of it.

BOLDUAN: We'll see, because it doesn't seem to be over at least yet. Fran, great to see you, thank you so much. Covering this story, of course, we will continue to follow it. But Michaela is here with more of the morning's headlines as well.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks so much, Kate. Breaking news overnight. Dr. Conrad Murray, who spent two years in prison for his role in Michael Jackson's death, is now a free man. Murray was sentenced to the maximum four years, but under state sentencing rules, he was eligible for parole early. He is challenging his conviction and that will continue in an appeals court. We'll have much more on this story later this hour.

A desperate search under way this morning for four inmates after a bold escape from a detention center about an hour south of Oklahoma City. Four inmates at a county jail got out through a trap door above a shower and slid through a pipe leading outside. Three of the men were convicted on various drug charges. The fourth was awaiting trial on a gun charge.

Charges this morning are against a ride operator at the North Carolina state fair, officials say Timothy Tutterrow tampered with safety devices after the Vortex ride was inspected. That ride then malfunctioned last week, leaving five people injured. Tutterrow is charged with three counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon.

A landmark damaged by super-storm Sandy reopening today nearly a year after the storm hit. Ellis Island has been closed since last October when the storm flooded much of the grounds. Visitors will now be able to tour the island. But the immigration museum will remain closed through the spring while a new electrical system is installed.

A surprising revelation about Alzheimer's disease. A team of international researchers finding that at least 20 genes play a role in late onset Alzheimer's. That's double the number previously thought. The study was the largest ever genetic analysis conducted on the disease. Researchers scanned the DNA of about 74,000 older volunteers with and without the disease from 15 countries. This is so amazing because it raises the possibility of a test that could tell us whether we are susceptible to it or not. Then they might be able to develop a drug that could prevent it. So this is a really big finding.

CUOMO: Because the knowing winds up spurring what comes next.

PEREIRA: You think of all the millions of people that live with Alzheimer's and the families that are affected by it. It's profound.

CUOMO: The frustration that you can do very little about it.

How about a little weather, what do you say? I say yes.

(LAUGHTER)

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Why not, right? It may be a Monday, but I hope it actually means above normal temperatures, unlike the weekend. We were chilly out there. Boston, New York, D.C., seeing above normal temperatures for one day. A little cold front still swinging through, not bringing much in the way of rain, but it will bring the temperatures below 10 degrees below normal for Tuesday and Wednesday for the mid-Atlantic and northeast.

Now, if you are in the southeast, what a different picture. You are actually seeing above normal temperatures, beautiful weather. Today, 76 degrees, yes, it is your fall. You guys are lucky. This pattern is going to shift. It will make its way into the northeast. Meanwhile the Pacific Northwest, once again looking at this big system bringing in more cold air and heavy snow, this big system bringing as much as 18 inches of snow into Montana, Wyoming also looking for the snow. The system is big enough. You will see rain in southern California, even a mountain peak looking for a dusting of snow. Why does the system matter on the east coast? We will track this guy all throughout the week. By the middle of the week, we're talking severe weather possible through Kansas. But notice by Halloween, it looks like, yes, some rain, even some gusty conditions, extending a huge chunk of the country. We are talking the mid-west through Texas by Friday, Thursday night in through Friday in the mid-Atlantic and northeast. I'm noticed a trend. Kids go trick or treating twice now.

BOLDUAN: Multiple costumes. It's a week-long event.

PETERSONS: A lot of candy we need.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: And I am they. If you are having that conversation, you are pointing at me.

BOLDUAN: Did you have it over the weekend?

CUOMO: I did. My wife's Instagram.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: We'll talk with her. Coming up next on NEW DAY, 2016 is a long way off, but some are showing that it's never too early to start planting the seed of a presidential campaign. We will show you who already seems to be gearing up.

CUOMO: Men in ties talking, never good. Plus a Miami Dolphin subpoenaed in the Aaron Hernandez murder investigation. We'll tell you what authorities think they're on to.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Miami Dolphin center Mike Pouncey has been called into court in connection with the Aaron Hernandez case. According to "Sports Illustrated" Pouncey was served less than an hour after his team's loss to the Patriots on Sunday. So why the urgency? CNN's Alexandra Field is live in Andover with the latest. Good morning.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Mike Pouncey, the center for the Miami Dolphins, leaves Massachusetts with a loss on the field and according to "Sports Illustrated" court paperwork in hand. The magazine reports that just an hour after the game, Mike Puncy was served with a subpoena to testify in front of the grand jury in relation to the investigations surrounding Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez, the former Patriot's tight end, remains behind bars. He is charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi- professional football player. Hernandez pleaded not guilty to that charge and to several weapons charges.

Also, sources tell CNN that a Boston grand jury has been hearing evidence allegedly linking Hernandez to a separate double murder back in 2012. Mike Pouncey and Aaron Hernandez are close friends, they are former college teammates. Pouncey has not been charged with a crime. CNN has had no comment from the team, the league, the district attorney, or the state police. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right, Alexandra, thanks so much.

Let's go now to an early dose of presidential politics and an early look at who could run for the White House in 2016. Yes, it is more than three years away. We know the calendar. But some heavyweight hit the campaign trail this weekend and they appear to be jockeying for the position. CNN's Erin McPike is following the major players. Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We have been hearing the Clintons talk a lot about experience, while most of the Republicans eyeing presidential bids have been focused on their devotion to conservative principles.

That may be a bit of a preview of the 2016 campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCPIKE: Trips to Iowa. Multiple speeches. Big guns on the campaign stump. A full year before the mid-term elections. The 2016 presidential race is already beginning to take shape with Hillary Clinton dominating the field on the left, and a crew of mostly younger up and coming Republicans competing for attention on the right.

One of those, 42-year-old Texas Senator Ted Cruz, took the critical state of Iowa by storm over the weekend. He hunted pheasant with conservative Congressman Steve King and fired up the GOP faithful.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: Nothing, nothing, nothing, matters more than an energized, active and vocal grassroots America. That's how you win elections.

MCPIKE: Meantime, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who is also 42, left the door opened on his plans.

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL, (R) LOUISANA: I don't know what I'm going to do in 2016. I think it's too early.

MCPIKE: In New Jersey, tough talking GOP favorite Chris Christie, at age 51, is just a week away from winning a second term as governor of a state that leans far to the left.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: We could stick to our principles and still come together.

MCPIKE: On Tuesday, he'll tour the communities hard hit by Superstorm Sandy a year ago this week, a tragedy that cemented Christie's reputation as a bipartisan leader.

Tonight, Jeb Bush will receive an award in Washington and appear onstage with potential 2016 competitor, Paul Ryan. Like the Bush dynasty on one side, the on the other side of the aisle begins to be gearing up too.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, (D) VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to welcome back to Virginia, the 42nd president of the United States of America, Bill Clinton.

MCPIKE: Bill Clinton is on a four-day tour of Virginia, trying to help long-time friend and former DNC leader, Terry McAuliffe close the deal in the state governor's race.

The former secretary of state and first lady who celebrated her 66th birthday on Saturday is starting to look a lot like someone picking up the pace for a presidential campaign with a series of speeches.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCPIKE: Now, right after giving three speeches in just three days last week, Hillary Clinton announced, she'll speak again on women's issues Friday night in Philadelphia and it may seem like it's all Hillary, but we can't forget Vice President Biden. He is laying low, not getting the same attention as Clinton. He has been poking around Iowa a little bit. It's clear he still got a little skin in the game. Kate, Chris.

BOLDUAN: That's right. All right, Erin, thank you so much. The best part is they always deny their presidential aspirations until they don't.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: That's correct. We can go from speculation to some real deal information. It's money time. If you have a kid at home. You already know how true this is we are about to tell you. Toddlers are incredibly tech savvy. A new study offers some real eye openers about what early adapter now means. Christine Romans is here with that. I mean, we know this. We have kids, but the study is shocking even if you know already.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We used to call them cord cutters. People like us who started with a cord and now we have a tablet. Now they're called the cord-nevers. These little kids who have never, ever been tethered to a traditional device. The fastest growing segment of the mobile device market is still wearing diapers.

Thirty-eight percent of children under age two are using mobile devices to watch shows or use apps. That's compared to only ten percent two years ago. This is according to a study from Common Sense Media.

Now, for some idea of how powerful this explosion of apps has been, almost as many children have their own tablets as their parents did two years ago. That's how fast it's moving. Now, what about the concern that all this media consumption is cutting into family time? As it turns out, about 60 percent of parents say that media does not affect the time spent together. Some families say you spend more time looking through family pictures, doing an app together.

The TV still dominates children's media consumption, no question. But the time spent with the traditional screen media, like TV, DVDs, video games, computers, down substantially by more than a half hour a day. Replaced by little Timmy and little Sally on the iPad or other devices, Kindles, phones, playing with apps under age two.

CUOMO: That's true.

BOLDUAN: When you see that jump that, stat, that jump in how many kids are using it, that will change business.

ROMANS: Unbelievable.

BOLDUAN: Companies know that that's their next target.

ROMANS: Absolutely. And they're watching the cord cutters and cord nevers. Two completely different markets. Fastest growing consumers of this media, still in diapers.

CUOMO: Advertisers say they want to get them younger to build brand identity, but it's becoming so much easier for them. The rest of us in the media find ways to compete and stay up with the game. But for advertisers, it's getting more and more easy, kids are so young.

ROMANS: Have you seen a kid flipping through the photo library on a phone and stopping and talking about? It's amazing what they can do.

BOLDUAN: Or when the kid is presented with something that doesn't have a touch screen.

CUOMO: They don't know how to touch it. I have a three and a half- year-old in the house, she will pick up the iPhone, she'll take your iPhone, she knows the code, she'll be able to get through the code. She'll go on Netflix.

She was playing some app the other day, where she was cutting somebody's hair. You ask her a question, she doesn't answer, she's only three-and-a-half.

BOLDUAN: Did you buy that? I don't know.

ROMANS: And, dad, I need more apps.

CUOMO: One of the rare studies that's filled with great information and it's true. How often does that happen? Thanks.

Coming up on NEW DAY, a 12-year-old girl, you know this story. We're going to follow it all the way through, because it matters. She has been arrested. One of two girls, accused of bullying another girl to death. Well, she has a lawyer now. She says, the lawyer says she is the one being bullied. Jose Baez, Casey Anthony's former attorney, is going to join us straight ahead to make the case for his client.

Also ahead, the doctor who went to jail over Michael Jackson's death, a free man this morning. How did a four-year sentence become a two- year jail stint? More on that ahead. T

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: You are watching NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira. BOLDUAN: Welcome to NEW DAY it is Monday, October 28. Coming up in the show, how is Jose Baez following up his blockbuster defense of Casey Anthony? By representing one of the young girls that's accused of bullying a classmate who later committed suicide. We are going to talk to Baez live in just a few minutes.

CUOMO: Plus, singer Chris Brown in trouble. Serious accusations piled on top already of what he's dealing with, the probation for beating Rihanna. He could face hard time, we'll take you through it.

PEREIRA: But first, let's get to your top stories. Looking at our headlines, another disastrous development this morning for the problem plagued Obamacare website. Apparently no one in the nation can sign up currently. Online enrollment stopped Sunday because of a data glitch caused by an outage at a Verizon data center used by the government's healthcare site to verify people's identity and citizenship. No word yet on how long it will take to fix that problem.

Top foreign leaders apparently targets of NSA surveillance. Officials tell "The Wall Street Journal," 35 foreign leaders were eavesdropped on, including German chancellor Angela Merkel. Those officials say President Obama was not aware of the problem and some of the monitoring was stopped. The NSA denies the president was told three years ago that Merkel -- there had been reports -- there had been reports the president was told three years ago Merkel was being monitored, the NSA denies that.

An intense man hunt in Oklahoma for four inmates who escaped from a county jail through the shower. Police say the men went through a trap door above the shower and then into some sort of crawlway or pipe and out the door. They are thought to still be wearing their orange jump suits.

In China, three people are dead, nearly a dozen others are injured after a car plowed into a crowd in Tiananmen Square. The car then apparently burst into flames. Security around the square is tight. It is unclear just how that car got through or if there was any sort of attack. We will keep an eye on that situation.

Breaking news overnight, Dr. Conrad Murray released from jail. The Los Angeles sheriff's office says he was escorted through a back door to avoid media attention, and of course the attention of Michael Jackson fans. Murray was convicted in 2011 for giving Jackson an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol, but because of California rules, he only spent two years in jail out of a four-year sentence. His lawyer says he hopes to get Murray's medical licenses reinstated.

Let's bring in CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Sonny Hostin. Good morning, darling, how are you?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

PEREIRA: First of all, can you explain to us how he was able -- explain the law in California how he was able to get released after only two years of his four year sentence.

HOSTIN: They get time credit for every day served in California. So a four-year sentence becomes two years. I know a lot of people feel that that's unfair because it was involuntary manslaughter, and we are talking about the death of Michael Jackson. But that is the law in California, so four years really equals two years. Actually for California, that was pretty extensive. We seen the Lindsay Lohans and because of jail overcrowding, people have gotten out in a couple of hours. So, he did serve a significant part of his sentence.

CUOMO: It goes to the length of what the original sentence was, right? That that's where your frustrations will be calculated if you feel he got out too early. The licenses. What are the chances he gets them back?

HOSTIN: I don't know, I'm sort of and the fence about it.

CUOMO: You certainly can get tell back, right?

HOSTIN: He may be able to get them back. In California, at least, they haven't revoked his license completely. They said, we're going to wait until he exhausts all of his appeals. And he is appealing his conviction.

But let's face it, he's always maintained his innocence. So California is saying, you know what, listen, let's wait to see what happens and then we may revoke his license, then he's got Texas as well. Texas says, we will revoke your license, he will fight that, too. That was an early revocation, because I'm an innocent man, and my appellate process hasn't gone through to its end, then you shouldn't have revoked my license.

And I think we've taken informal polls this weekend, and there are some folks who say isn't this what rehabilitation is about? This man served his time, and so why doesn't he have the ability to earn a living and sort of go back to doing what he did? He served his time.

Then there are other folks saying, no, no, no, you sort of. If you killed somebody using your medical license, why do you get the right to practice again? So I'm not sure. I don't know which way it's going to go. People are split 50-50 on it.

BOLDUAN: He's out of prison now. Is he completely have legal troubles other than when we got this license?

HOSTIN: Probably. I think it's about whether or not he will be able to practice medicine again.

CUOMO: When they issue a sentence what do we have with Chris Brown?

PEREIRA: We do. We want to talk about Chris Brown. He can't get away from trouble. He has another serious issue over the weekend. He and a bodyguard now facing trouble. A felony assault. How serious is that? Does it normally carry jail time or no?

HOSTIN: Oh, yes. I will tell you, we are in my neck of the woods now right. I was an assistant United States attorney in D.C. This happened in D.C. When you commit a crime in D.C., you are facing federal prosecutors because D.C. is not a state. It's a district. So federal prosecutors try local crimes as well.

He is up against I think some of the best in the business. Of course, he also has my good friend Mark Geragos, fantastic attorney. I'm sure he will get local council in D.C., very good council. But in D.C., it's really very serious.

CUOMO: But his problems are probation, though. Explain why.

HOSTON: In D.C., there could be a very significant time. But he is on probation. So I think the argument really needs to be wow, you know is that now a violation of his probation?

CUOMO: How could it not be?

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: I think so. You're right Chris. How could it not be?