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Porsche Carrera GT Safety; New Push to Promote Obamacare; Nationwide Strike to Push $15 Living Wage; Interview with Rep. Keith Ellison; Seahawks Crowd Registers Earthquake

Aired December 03, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Checking out top stories at 33 minutes past the hour.

Investigators now trying to figure out why a train, that derailed on Sunday killing four people, was going 82 miles per hour. That's nearly three times the speed limit it should have been going around a curve. The train's engineer is being questioned for a second day as investigators try to pinpoint why that train was going so fast.

Health officials say there is little chance passengers on a U.S. Airways flight might come down with tuberculosis after a scare in the air. A passenger, suspected to have TB, was removed from a flight from Austin, Texas, to Phoenix. The move caught others on the plane off- guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN DAVIDSON, U.S. AIRWAYS PASSENGER: The flight attendant approached us. She had a mask in her hands that you cover your nose with. And she approached a man. He was about mid cabin, I would say, on -- to my left. A window seat. A very slight -- slightly built man, and told him to put the mask on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CDC says it's still waiting for test results to confirm if, indeed, that passenger really has TB.

This morning, we have new video to show you, the moment when "Fast and Furious" star Paul Walker's Porsche slammed into a light pole and burst into flames. The surveillance video knocks down claims that another car was involved in a possible case of drag racing. Officials are now focusing on speed as the primary cause of the accident. Overnight, friend and co-star Vin Diesel broke his silence during a visit to the crash site. He thanked fans for their support over a police loud speaker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIN DIESEL, ACTOR: Thank you, thank you for coming down here and showing that angel up in heaven how much you appreciated him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Diesel also posted a message to his FaceBook page Monday and quoted a poem in remembrance of Walker, referring to the actor by his character's name in "Fast and Furious," Brian O'Conner. Vin Diesel wrote, quote, "to live in the hearts we leave behind, is not to die. I will always love you, Brian, as the brother you were on and off screen.

Also new this morning, Walker's father choking back tears as he remembered his son's life and legacy during an interview with Krahn (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WALKER SR., ACTOR'S FATHER: I was proud of him every day of his life. He was always doing stuff for us, always -- big gestures. He just -- his heart was so big.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This morning, there are new safety concerns about the Carrera GT, you know, the vehicle involved in the crash. Experts tell CNN the car is difficult to drive, even for veteran race car drivers. Martin Savidge has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paul Walker died in a car most of us could only dream of, a Porsche Carrera GT. An exotic two-seater with three times the horsepower of the average car, capable of going over 200 miles per hour. Price tag? $450,000. Exotic car mechanic Todd Trimble has just finished some routine maintenance on this Carrera GT in Las Vegas. He says, by the way, an oil change costs $900.

TODD TRIMBLE, EXOTIC CAR MECHANIC: It's a mid-engine car. You can see the full carbon fiber construction of it.

SAVIDGE: Porsche only made around 1,300 Carrera GTs. And to hear Trimble telling it, they're disappearing fast.

TRIMBLE: They're getting rarer and rarer. Most of the time when they do get wrecked, there's not much left to them. So the rumor has it there's 25 percent are already gone.

SAVIDGE: I have no way of verifying that, but Trimble does say there were 15 Carrera GTs in Las Vegas. Now there are only six.

TRIMBLE: A very hard car to drive. It's a pure racer's car. You really need to know what you're doing when you drive them. And a lot of people are learning the hard way.

SAVIDGE: Race car driver Randy Pobst has driver a Carrera GT. He also taught the actors in the second "Fast and Furious" movie, including Paul Walker.

RANDY POBST, PROFESSIONAL RACE CAR DRIVER: Worked with all the stars of the film, Paul, and Tyrese Gibson and Devon Aoki and -

SAVIDGE (on camera): How was -- let me ask you honestly, how was Paul?

POBST: Paul was, by far, the best driver. A natural car guy.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): As for the car, Pobst says driving an exotic like the Carrera GT for an experienced driver offers a thrill few vehicles can match.

POBST: I love the power. The 612 horsepower. And the higher you rev the engine, the stronger it pulls. It's just - it's a great feeling. You feel it right in the chest, pushing you back.

SAVIDGE: But the car isn't forgiving of mistakes, lacking the feature common on many conventional cars today, electronic stability control.

POBST: Stability control is really good at correcting slides, keeping the car from getting out of shape.

SAVIDGE: Everyone I spoke to who drivers or works on the car told me pretty much the same thing. In the right hands, it's a great car.

POBST: But a car like the Carrera GT needs to be driven with great respect because it has so much power and capability.

SAVIDGE: Martin Savidge, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Autopsies for Walker and the driver, Roger Rodas, who was also killed, are scheduled for later today.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, from Walmart to Wendy's, workers are walking off the job this week to fight for a living wage. After the break I'll talk to one congressman who's joining in the protests.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A top Republican senator sees a link between the 2012 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi and the new health care reform law. Senator John Cornyn of Texas says in both cases the Obama administration has been doing nothing but lying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: I think the current administration has taken lying to a new level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Cornyn made that statement during a Google hangout section. He is running for re-election.

While Republicans attack Obamacare, the White House is about to go on the offensive. It's making a new push to tout the program's benefits as it tries to turn public opinion after two months of really bad publicity. CNN's senior White House correspondent Brianna Keilar is in Washington to tell us how.

Good morning.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Well, this is a push that President Obama is beginning today and is going to take place over the next few weeks. So today he'll be trying to focus not on the website, which still has some issues, although it's doing better, but focus instead on his signature health care program. And then what we're going to see, starting tomorrow, is an emphasis each day on what the White House feels are some of the best selling points, consumer selling points, for this program. Tomorrow, for instance, is going to be preventive care. Thursday they will focus on pre-existing conditions that insurance companies now must cover folks for.

But still, of course, there are some problems with the website. The administration had said that they expected the capacity to be at 50,000 yesterday. So that's 50,000 users who could use it at the same time. It turns out it really kind of topped out somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000. Some of those problems still being acknowledged by the White House. Here's what Jay Carney said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think that we're not done with the work that needs to be done on that website, but we have, I think, passed an important milestone when it comes to making it work effectively for the vast majority of users.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And, Carol, for this program, it's essential that the administration is able to do that because from the get-go, this month was an anticipated heavy period of use for the website, for people signing up for Obamacare, and that's because people -- many of them, need their insurance in place by January 1st. The last day to ensure that they can get enrolled or really to finish the process is December 23rd. So that's where you're seeing this big push starting with what President Obama is doing this afternoon.

COSTELLO: We'll see if it works. Brianna Keilar, many thanks.

And by the way, President Obama will kick off the administration's new push to promote Obamacare during a White House event today. That is scheduled to start around 2:30 pm Eastern. Of course, CNN will bring it to you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our "Top Stories" at 48 minutes past the hour.

In the Ukraine right now hundreds of thousands of protesters now heading toward the country's main political headquarters. This after the opposition failed in its bid to win a no confidence vote against parliament. The protesters are angry over the government's turning away from the integration with the rest of Europe. We'll keep you posted.

You may know singer/songwriter Bob Dylan best for his hit songs. But the ten-time Grammy award winner is now facing charges in France for allegedly inciting hatred after comparing Croatian people to Nazis. The remarks in question were quoted in the French "Rolling Stone". These were the remarks, quote, "If you've got a slave master or Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood." No comment yet by Dylan's representative about this latest decisions.

U.S. high school students getting a bad grade from a new report that measures proficiency in reading, math and science among 65 countries. According to an international assessment group, U.S. students did not make the global top 20 and results remained flat while other countries made gains. Top scores came from Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong. The U.S. was 36 behind the Slovak Republic.

In Rhode Island, the war on Christmas is finally over. The state house tree will now officially be called a "Christmas Tree". For the past two years, the governor made the controversial decision to call the tree a "Holiday Tree". But he has since changed his mind because he appears to be tired of being called the Grinch.

Here is the governor's statement on the decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. LINCOLN CHAFEE (D), RHODE ISLAND: I want to concentrate on the real issues and if this is what people care about rather than lowering the taxes and providing the services then so be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The 17-foot Christmas tree will be lit on Thursday.

A special holiday hug for one guy. Check out this video from Thanksgiving of a manatee literally hugging the diver's foot. The diver says the manatee was eight feet long and probably weighed around 1,000 pounds.

All right. In the news this morning, they're not giving up. Fast food workers backed by national labor unions will walk off the job in 100 cities on Thursday. They're pushing for what they call a living wage. That means $15 bucks an hour. Not the $7.25 most make now.

The protest coming days after Wal-Mart workers protested low wages. Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison protested along with them in Minnesota. He called the protesters courageous and urged them to continue to push for change. In case you're not up to doing the math this morning $7.25 an hour translates to $14,500 a year -- well below the poverty level.

Congressman Ellison joins me now. Good morning. REP. KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA: Good morning. Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. You know taking a look at those pictures, those protests seem so small. And frankly many workers who are protesting don't actually work at Wal-Mart.

So in your mind, why do they matter?

ELLISON: They matter because they speak for literally millions of people who are laboring at $7.25, $8.40 below poverty wages. I mean you've got to understand, if you're making $7.25, walking off the job is an enormous sacrifice. Nearly all of these folks need some sort of assistance, whether it's housing, medical, or food stamps or something like that, but they work full-time. So if they walk off the job that means a devastating blow to their family budget. So other folks step up and do it.

But also many of them do too as well. When I was protesting with Wal- Mart workers the other day, several of them were in fact -- left the shop floor and joined me and many others to stand up for higher wages. So it's both workers and non-workers --

COSTELLO: But isn't -- isn't it going to take a large number of workers protesting? It can't just be a couple of people, you know, with some anonymous union workers helping. Doesn't it have to be like a huge movement to make a difference?

ELLISON: Well yes but it has to start somewhere right? And as a matter of fact you've been seeing all summer long, whether they be in you know Milwaukee or Minneapolis or New York or Chicago or L.A. or San Jose, people have been standing up for better wages over the course of a better part of the year.

But these things are growing. They're getting stronger, they are getting longer, they are getting bigger, and more workers are getting encouraged. Remember you know if one person -- the Montgomery bus boycott didn't start with a big crowd it started with one lady saying, "I am not moving." And that's how these things are going to start too.

COSTELLO: I talked with a Wall Street Journal economist who said these strikes were signs of an underlying resentment that's building to something.

ELLISON: You're right.

COSTELLO: But what is that something, do you suppose?

ELLISON: A fairer economy. An economy that really meets our expectations of what the American dream should be. I mean we've seen four decades -- four decades of wage stagnation and it's because of unfair taxation, a tax on union and collective bargaining, unfair trade policies. And the net result has been so many hard working people cannot put food on the table based on the pay that they're offered as they see bonuses from CEOs and Wall Street types. I mean we see these exorbitant types of bonuses folks are getting where other people are getting $7.25. It's not fair. The United States is the richest country in the world. And we can do better.

COSTELLO: But in all honesty I mean the government seems helpless to do anything about the wage gap in this country. There's a bill that's waiting to be introduced in the Senate that would raise the minimum wage to $10 bucks an hour. But you know that's a nonstarter. You guys are working a couple more days this year and then you're going to deal with the budget next year. There's not going to be any time to push for a minimum wage bill. Why not just be honest about it and tell people now?

ELLISON: Well because we believe that where there's a will, there's a way. And we're not going to stop fighting just because the odds are long. I mean the reality is people need better pay. And so it's not for me to say because the odd are tough that we're not going to fight for it, we're going to fight for it anyway.

And if you know John Boehner and others see fit to bring -- put bills on the floor to help hard working people even to make their ends meet, so much the better. But if they don't, then the American people are going to know who is standing in the way between them and a higher minimum wage.

COSTELLO: Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota thanks so much for being with me this morning.

ELLISON: Yes ma'am.

COSTELLO: We'll be back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Seattle Seahawks fans, loud and proud -- we knew that. But now we really know it. Andy Scholes is here with "Bleacher Report". This is insane.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Yes, you know, the Seahawks fans, they're known for being the loudest in the NFL. They took it to another level last night. After a touchdown, it registered as an earthquake on the seismometer a block away at the University of Washington.

This is great. It happened after a play in the first quarter. It was a great play too. Seattle knocked the ball out of Drew Brees' hand. It goes right to Michael Bennett. He takes it 22 yards the other way for the touchdown. The fans go absolutely nuts. And all the noise they created registered as a magnitude 1 or 2 earthquake -- that's crazy.

You know the fans had plenty to cheer about all night. Seattle dominated the game, 34-7 was the final. They're the first team to clinch a playoff spot this year.

All right. Golfer Jason Dufner is a die-hard Auburn fan. He we want to school there. So you know he really wants to watch Saturday's SEC championship game against Missouri. The only problem is, he's playing in Tiger Woods' golf tournament this weekend. So Dufner took to Twitter to ask Tiger to shorten the tournament.

COSTELLO: No.

SCHOLES: He tweeted -- yes, check this out -- he tweeted, "Dr. Mr. Tiger Woods, I petition the event this week to play 36 holes Thursday and Friday so I can watch my beloved Auburn play for the SEC championship. Thanks." Carol, Tiger Woods was very sympathetic. His response, "Petition denied."

(CROSSTALK)

SCHOLES: I'm sure Dufner will find a way to watch the game out on the course.

All right. In the lineup section of BleacherReport.com this morning, UConn down one to Florida in the closing seconds of their game last night. And Shabazz Napier misses the shot and he's going to get a second chance and he buries it for the game winner. Napier's so happy, Carol, he just keeps running straight out of the arena.

COSTELLO: I'm going to Disneyland.

SCHOLES: His teammates chase after and eventually catch up with him. They celebrate in the locker room.

And Carol, there was some controversy surrounding this game, you know. Florida had to go from Gainesville up to Connecticut and their flight had mechanical difficulties to Delta just bumped 50 passengers off a commercial flight and put Florida on it. One passenger told the "Gainesville Sun" newspaper that they were told there were mechanical issues on their plane. But then they watched the Gators board it.

COSTELLO: I would be mad.

SCHOLES: Oh man. Yes, there are some mad people down in Gainesville about this.

COSTELLO: Andy Scholes thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.