Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Texans Coach Collapses on Sideline; A Vendetta Against TSA; Snowden: I'm No Criminal; Jump For Their Lives

Aired November 04, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: What you need to know --

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN: If he wants to come back and own up the responsibility and the fact that he took and stole information, I'd be happy to have that discussion with him.

ANNOUNCER: What you just have to see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the enemy first invaded, we were not ready. Millions of innocent lives were lost. That must never be allowed to happen again.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. It is Monday, November 4th, 8:00 in the East.

New this hour, NSA leaker Edward Snowden is out with what he's calling a manifesto of truth. In his open letter published Sunday, he says he is not a criminal and should not be treated as one. Well, the White House is firing back. We'll have the details, coming up.

CUOMO: And you think you know how the story ends when planes collide in midair, right? But not this time. Two planes filled with skydivers collide in midair. Everyone lives to talk about it. We're going to hear from one of the skydivers. They're going to tell us how they got to walk away.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And from one survival story to another, a 6-year-old boy survived a shark attack. You'll hear from little Logan Hamby. Apparently, the shark bit his leg, tried to drag him under. Logan and his parents are all here to talk about his miraculous escape, and the two strangers who came to his rescue.

CUOMO: And two stories that thankfully don't end the way we usually expect them to.

BOLDUAN: No kidding. CUOMO: But first this morning, Gary Kubiak, coach of the Texans, is recovering in the hospital this morning after a frightening scene during last night's Colts-Texans game. Kubiak is only 52 years old, but he collapsed as he was walking off the field at the end of the first half. The team says he didn't have a heart attack. He's undergoing test to determine what did happen.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live in Houston with details for us.

Ed, what's the latest?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

Well, it was a stunning scene in front of more than 70,000 fans here at Reliant Stadium in Houston and a national TV audience. The teams were walking off the field as half-time was just starting up. And then you see Gary Kubiak kind of fall to his knees and quickly surrounded by teammates and -- or members of the team and other officials. And the ambulance came out on to the field. He was taken off in a stretch and taken with his family by his side to a hospital.

Team officials as you mentioned, Chris, say that Gary Kubiak did not have a heart attack, but team executives said that he was going through an episode of feeling dizzy and lightheaded and that's what kind of sent him to the ground.

As far as we know, Gary Kubiak is still in the hospital. He's regularly scheduled to meet with reporters the day after the game on Monday afternoon, about 4:30 Eastern Time. Whether or not Gary Kubiak will be there this afternoon, team officials have not said that that has changed. He's supposed to be there this afternoon. So we'll see if it plays out and Gary Kubiak was there. But the team executives said they did expect Gary Kubiak to rejoin the team at some point today.

Chris and Kate, back to you.

BOLDUAN: All right. Ed, thank you so much for that.

Let's bring in Dr. Jennifer Caudle, a family physician joining me now from Philadelphia this morning to talk more about this.

Dr. Caudle, great to see you.

DR. JENNIFER CAUDLE, ROWAN UNIVERSITY: Good to see you, too.

BOLDUAN: So as you just heard Ed reporting, the team says he did not have a heart attack but that he had an episode, he was lightheaded and was dizzy. Of course, you have not had the opportunity to seat e the coach.

But what does that tell you?

CAUDLE: Right. Lightheadedness and dizziness can -- those can be very vague symptoms. They can be serious, but they can also lead to a number of different things. So, as physicians, one of the things we want to do is try to narrow down which direction we need to go. We need to look at the heart sometimes with lightheadedness and dizziness, we need to look at the lungs and check for breathing. Oftentimes, we also need to look at the brain and make sure the brain is functioning properly as well as getting blood work just to see kind of what's going on metabolically in the patient's body.

BOLDUAN: And the team also said he's awake and coherent, that his family was with him. But the areas you're describing -- the brain, the lungs, the heart -- these are all very serious area as of the body that could have real consequences. The fact that he's awake and coherent and possibly even returning to the team -- what does that indicate kind of his condition, he's in the clear?

CAUDLE: Well, you know, I think it's important and very good that he's coherent and he's awake and that he's likely working with his doctors right now.

You know, one of the things that's really important with situations like this is a patient's story. And what I mean by that is the story about what happened when they were having the symptoms, and the particular patient's medical history themselves. So, a patient -- his medical history is likely going to play a big part in this. What surgeries he's had, what medications he's on, what other medical conditions he's had, as well.

So I think it's great that he is awake, he's alert. But I can pretty much tell that you that there's going to be lots of testing undergone and his medical history really will play a role in that, as well.

BOLDUAN: And medical history is a huge part of this I'm sure. Such a strange coincidence, though, Doctor, that this happens just a day after the Denver Broncos coach goes into the hospital for a heart condition. They say he had been suffering from dizziness, as well. No connection between the two obviously.

But when you think about it, head coaches of these professional football teams, how does stress play on someone, how does stress of the job could impact a coach like this?

CAUDLE: Well, let me just tell you about stress in general. Stress in general can impact anyone in many, many different ways. Stress can absolutely negatively impact us. And again, in every patient, it manifests very differently.

You know, I think it's important here when we look at the signs and symptoms of dizziness and lightheadedness, I mentioned looking at the brain, looking at the heart, looking at the lungs. You know, these are big areas of the body, Kate, as you mentioned that we want to look into, making sure that the heart is functioning properly, that it's beating and delivering blood the way it needs to, that the patient is able to breathe properly and also that the brain is functioning, as well.

So, can stress absolutely impact a patient's health? The answer to that -- the short answer is yes, it can impact anyone, in any different ways. But a patient's medical history really does matter here, too.

BOLDUAN: One good thing here is both of these coaches, both of these men to be sure have very good doctors that they're consulting at this moment.

Dr. Jennifer Caudle, great to see you. Thank you.

CAUDLE: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: All right. Chris, over to you.

CUOMO: All right. We have a CNN exclusive now.

We're hearing this morning from a woman who claims to know the suspect in the deadly LAX shooting. And we're also gaining some insight into his twisted motivation.

The shooter's friends and family say they sensed something was wrong. They even alerted authorities the day of the attack, but by then, it was too late. The shooting would take the life of a TSA officer and wound two others along with the traveler.

CNN's Miguel Marquez has more from Los Angeles.

Good morning, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Chris.

This woman has a fascinating story to tell. She does not want her name out there. She wants to remain anonymous. She doesn't want her name or her life associated with Paul Ciancia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Days before Paul Ciancia's murderous rampage, this woman who knows the alleged gunman and his three roommates says Ciancia was already plotting his crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He asked one of the roommates if he could have a ride to the airport, he said that.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Why did he need a ride?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's going back home, either that his dad was kind of sick and he needed to deal with some family issues.

MARQUEZ: Did anyone ever see tickets or --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. He also then mentioned what day he had to leave.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): She says Ciancia rarely left his San Fernando Valley apartment since moving here in January, describing him as awkward and heavily smoker. The day he put his alleged plan into action, she says, it took his roommate by surprise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That morning, he doesn't knock. Just opens the door and says, "I need to leave. Can you take me now?"

MARQUEZ: Ciancia's roommates believe this was the moment he texted family members in New Jersey, telling them he was going to commit suicide, that prompted frantic calls between police in New Jersey and L.A. Police came to Ciancia's home.

(on camera): He has a bag, gets in the car --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MARQUEZ: -- off they go. And a short time later, a knock at the door?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MARQUEZ: Police?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police.

MARQUEZ: Why the police there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They heard that Paul was suicidal and they needed to go a welfare check on him.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): She says the other two roommates were woken and handcuffed as police searched the premises. Paul already gone, no sign of a gun.

Police say Ciancia took his military style weapon, a legally purchased Smith & Wesson .223 caliber rifle, hopped out of his roommate's car at LAX and began seeking out TSA agents to kill.

(on camera): Did he ever express any hatred toward the government, toward the TSA?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of the findings that came out this year that he was very upset about it and he also thought that TSA abused their power.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): CNN has confirmed this picture making the rounds online is legitimate. Paul Anthony Ciancia shot at least twice, his face and neck hit. He is wearing chinos and a polo shirt. No ballistic vest, no special clothing. He looks like any other traveler.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the moment that they are seeing this on the TV, their third roommate comes back and said, 'Oh, I just dropped off Paul at LAX and he had to go home.' That they knew, I think, that you just dropped Paul off to a shooting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, in addition to the TSA agent who died, there were two that were shot. They have been released from the hospital already. There was a traveler who was shot in the leg, he is still in the hospital in fair condition. And perhaps the grandest irony of all this, Ciancia's injuries are extensive. If he survives them, he may face the death penalty.

Back to you all.

CUOMO: And obviously we try do what we can. Miguel, thank you for the reporting.

We try to minimize how much discussion of the shooters we do in these situations so as not to glorify them, but it's important to know what was going on and figure out what checks could be put in place to help prevent it next.

BOLDUAN: Simply figure it out why, which sometimes you're never going to get that answer.

PEREIRA: You can tell even by the lady there, she is scratching her head about what happened.

Let's take a look at our headlines at this hour, shall we?

Making news: protests outside the court where the trial for ousted president, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, began today. But inside, the judge was forced to adjourn the proceedings when the defendants began chanting, calling the court invalid. Morsi also refusing to wear white as ordered by the court. The charges against Morsi and 14 Muslim Brotherhood members stem from deadly protests at the presidential palace last year.

A 19-year-old college student in New York City recovering from quite a harrowing weekend. Asher Vongtau, pardon me, spent nearly two days trapped in a two foot crevice between a dorm building and garage. Firefighters having to cut through a wall to get him out. It's really not clear how he got there, but authorities believe he may have fallen out of a window or from the roof.

A disturbing report on the role military doctors and health professionals played in treating detainees since 2001. A task force of independent military, medical and ethics experts say health professionals have been ordered to design and participate in cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees, including torture. Practices the review says are still in place today.

Secretary of State John Kerry is in Saudi Arabia for some serious fence mending. Relations with its long standing ally have been strained by U.S. actions concerning Iran, Syria and Egypt. Mr. Kerry is meeting today with King Abdullah in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia is the second stop on the secretary's 11-day trip through the Mideast, North Africa and Europe.

Congratulations in order for our girl, Minda Dentler. You'll remember her. She stopped by NEW DAY just a little while ago to talk with Chris about her many accomplishments.

She can add another one to her list. She came in first in the New York City marathon's hand cycling division. She came in at two hours, five minutes, 48 seconds. Last month, Dentler became the first official woman and cyclist to compete in the Iron Man World Championship. She is bad. Let's just tell you.

BOLDUAN: That is about all you can say about her. She is amazing.

CUOMO: First one to finish the hardest Iron Man in the world. She has a great message. The only limitations she says is the one you put on yourself.

PEREIRA: Yes, absolutely.

BOLDUAN: As one cold check.

All right. Let's get over to another cold check. Karen Maginnis in for Indra Petersons this morning for another check of the forecast.

Hey, Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kate and Chris.

We start the morning out with the only place reporting any delays right now are in New York. At LaGuardia, where delays running about 15 to 30 minutes ground delay. Weather not a factor, it is cold and it's going to remain cold at least for today. But then those temperatures started moderating just a bit.

Over the weekend, we had a dip in the jet stream across the Northeast, but then that starts to shift. The dip is going to b across the West, where cool, if in fact not cold temperatures will prevail. Mild weather conditions across the Southeast and into the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast where these temperatures that start off in the 20s and 30s, well, not going to be quite that cold as we go in towards the middle of the work week. However, it should be 5 to 10 degrees warmer than it actually is outside.

Right now in New York, 36 degrees, should be around 45. In Buffalo, temperature 28. It should be around 37. Buffalo in December or November, anything could happen. But as we go towards Thursday, if you're living in the Northeast and watching this, be careful because it looks like your nice weather is going to be interrupted by Thursday. We'll keep you updated.

Chris, Kate, back to you.

BOLDUAN: All right. Karen, thank you.

CUOMO: Coming up on NEW DAY, NSA leaker Edward Snowden, remember him, he is demanding the U.S. drop espionage charges against him, and welcoming him back with open arms. It's part of a manifesto of truth he just issued. We'll tell you about it and how it's going over here at home.

BOLDUAN: And then a frightening close call in the sky. Two planes carrying skydivers collide midair, but everyone, including the pilots, survived. The jumpers are going to tell us how they managed that. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Edward Snowden is thumbing his nose at U.S. officials once again. He's out with what he call a manifesto of truth. In it, he says, he is not a criminal and does not deserve to be treated as one. But one thing is for certain, he has managed to unite members of both political parties in their strong disagreement with him.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with more. Fair statement I made there, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Good morning. You know, Edward Snowden might have thought that the world was ready in Washington to treat him a little more kindly given all the embarrassment over his revelations. Top Washington officials say to Edward Snowden: don't count on it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): If Edward Snowden has any thoughts he might be forgiven for disclosing classified information, the White House says think again. On ABC's "This Week," White House senior advisor, Dan Pfeiffer, was asked if there are conditions under which president Obama would consider clemency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing have been discussed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all.

STARR: The chatter about forgiveness has been sparked by this cover in the German magazine, "Der Spiegel," which published Snowden's a manifesto for the truth in which he says he's seen a positive reaction to his disclosures and he wants the U.S. to stop treating him like a criminal. Snowden says, quote, "The people must fight against the suppression of information about issues of public significance. Whoever speaks the truth is not a criminal."

Snowden's fate is one of the few areas these days where both parties seem to agree. On CBS' "Face the Nation," the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said clemency is a terrible idea.

REP. MIKE ROGERS, (R) INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: If he wants to come back and own up to the responsibility of the fact that he took and stole information, he violated his oath, he disclosed classified information that, by the way, has allowed three different terrorist organizations, affiliates of Al Qaida to change the way they communicate, I'd be happy to have that discussion with him.

STARR: For now, Snowden stays in Moscow. There's been discussion of him traveling to Germany but Snowden also wants assurances that Germans won't turn him over. Of course, German chancellor, Angela Merkel's government is furious at finding out the U.S. was spying on it, another Snowden revelation.

(END VIDEOTAPE) STARR (on-camera): So, is there a case to still be made that Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower? Government officials say absolutely not, that he followed no legal procedures to report his concerns about what he saw as wrongdoing. They say he took classified information and made a run for it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Barbara, thank you so much for that.

Now to a remarkable story of a routine skydiving trip almost turned to tragedy this weekend when two planes collided thousands of feet in the air. But what seems like a miracle, there were no major injuries. But what caused it all remains a mystery. CNN's George Howell has been looking into this with much more from Chicago this morning. Hi there, George.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, good morning. So, look, you got to think, what are the odds on a thing like this? Eleven people jump for their lives. Everyone survives, only a few scrapes and bruises. It is by all means an incredible story of survival here. Here's a look at how it played out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL (voice-over): Flying in formation some 12,000 feet in the air, two planes have just reached their targeted altitude carrying nearly a dozen sky divers when something went wrong. One of the pilots remembered hearing a loud bang, then the windshield shattered, the moment both planes collided in midair. According to one of the men who was onboard the plane, it turned out to be a jump for their lives.

MIKE ROBINSON, SKYDIVER: Four jumpers on the lead plane get actually out of the airplane or on the step hanging onto the strut. Then they leave. Meanwhile, the jumpers on the trail plane have done the same thing, they're on the step. So, when they see these jumpers leave, then they leave. We're not sure exactly why they collided yet, but they did.

HOWELL: You can see from these pictures how the lead plane was left mangled.

ROBINSON: The wings came off, they were on fire. The pilot got out safely, used his emergency parachute and landed.

HOWELL: The pilot of the trailed plane also survived, landing his aircraft safely. Firefighters say when they arrived on scene, jumpers were still making their way to the ground. Amazingly, everyone made it off the planes safely. For something that's so routine for these sky divers at hundreds or even thousands of jumps under their belts, this accident served as a reminder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can be a dangerous sport. It usually is not. Unfortunately, an airplane crash, you know, you take what you get.

HOWELL: This time, they all got very lucky after a terrifying scare in the sky.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL (on-camera): So here's the deal with that second plane. We understand that it was insured for liability. It was not insured for collision. So, we understand that that skydiving team will be on the ground here at least, you know, for the next two weeks until they get a new plane, and the investigation, Chris, Kate, continues, to determine how this accident happened.

BOLDUAN: Yes, no kidding. That's the big question, right? Thanks, George. Thanks so much.

CUOMO: Collision insurance, I guess, is an issue. You can make more money, you can't make more you, you know? So, it's important that they made it and that's the take away from that.

Coming up on NEW DAY, a terrifying fall during a Cirque Du Soleil show in Las Vegas. Now, this one comes just months after another acrobat fell to her death. Is this just the danger reality or is not enough being done to make sure they're safe? Tweet us your take.

BOLDUAN: Plus coming up, a Hollywood A-Lister is in the NEW DAY" house. Harrison Ford's new film, "Ender's Game," is the number one movie in the country, and we're going to talk to him about all that and much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: You're watching NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Simple minds. I should have been in that band. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It is Monday, November 4th.

Coming up in the show, listen to this. Six-year-old boy on vacation in Florida, goes for a swim, attacked by a shark, survives. Thanks to his family and some Good Samaritans. Get this, the shark still attached as they pull him from the water. How fine is he? Fine enough to be here with us on the show today. There they are. The whole family is going to talk about the ordeal.

BOLDUAN: That's a wild story. One I want to hear.

Plus, this ahead, Hans Solo, Indiana Jones, maybe? Need I say more? We're going to go three on one with the legend, the film legend, Harrison Ford. His new movie, "Ender's Game," is the current box office champ. We're going to pick his brain about it.

PEREIRA: But before we get to all of that, I want to give you the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY starting at number one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Houston Texans coach, Gary Kubiak, in stable condition this morning, undergoing test as well after collapsing on the field last night at the game against the Indianapolis Colts. Doctors say he did not have a heart attack. The alleged L.A.X. gunman under 24-hour armed guard at a hospital. Paul Ciancia was shot in the head and the leg. A woman who knows him says police came to his apartment just minutes after he left for that attack on the airport.

An NYU student rescued by New York City firefighters after spending nearly two days trapped between two buildings. Nineteen-year-old Asher Vontu (ph) was found between his dorm and a garage in a space just two feet wide.

Tensions are rising inside the courtroom during the trial of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The judge adjourning those proceedings when the defendants began chanting. No word yet on when that trial would resume.

And, at number five, nearly 1,500 pieces of priceless stolen art stolen by the Nazis may have been discovered in an apartment in Munich where the son of a German art collector lived. Those masterpieces, are you ready for this, said to be worth around a billion dollars.

We always those update five things to know, so be sure to go to NEWDAYCNN.com for the latest -- guys.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Michaela.

Another terrifying fall at Cirque Du Soleil, if you can believe. The Las Vegas show facing several work safety citations just last week following the tragic death of an acrobat in June. Well, now, another performer is hospitalized after slipping from one of the show's high flying stunts. CNNs Christine Romans is here with more on this.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. You know, Cirque De Soleil does not release the policy now to release the names of its performers, but what we do know this morning is that one of the show's acrobats is in stable condition, is recovering at a Las Vegas hospital after this horrifying fall from the wheel of death. That's the signature revolving wheel in the performance, Zarkana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): It's the high flying acrobatics that drew theater lovers to the Cirque De Soleil stage. Performances like Zarkana's wheel of death at the Aria Resort in Las Vegas. But on Friday night, one performer came terrifyingly close to that fate. At times flying 40 feet above the stage like in this video, maneuvering into and out of the revolving wheel with no harness or safety mat, a veteran acrobat slipped, falling off the wheel.

The show staff drew the curtains and transported the performer to the hospital before resuming their act.