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Almost 100 World Leaders Honor Mandela; Struggling to Survive on Low Wages; Sarah Palin to Host New TV Series; Another Wet, Snowy and Cold Day; Epic Coma Prank

Aired December 10, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, if you're flying out of New York City or Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., please call ahead. Fred Pleitgen, try to stay warm. Thanks so much.

They met only once but to President Obama, Nelson Mandela's influence went beyond that hastily-arranged meeting some eight years ago. Now today, when the world gathered to pay tribute to the late South African leader, President Obama spoke to what he called Mandela's greatest gift.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. There's a word in South Africa -- "ubuntu". His recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye, that there's a oneness to humanity, that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: President Obama was joined by several of his predecessors, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush along with a congressional delegation that included members of the House and Senate.

Wolf Blitzer is in Washington and he joins me now. Hi -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: You know part of that delegation included Senator Ted Cruz, the Tea Party Republican. He was slammed by some of his constituents for praising Mandela. What do you make of that?

BLITZER: Well, there is -- obviously there's going to be some who are going to criticize not only Ted Cruz but Newt Gingrich who's one of the new co-hosts of CNN's "Cross Fire" for praising Nelson Mandela.

You know it's a -- when you think about what Mandela achieved during the course of his lifetime when he went through, what he led to a peaceful transition from a racist apartheid regime to a democratic regime in South Africa where he tried to bring everyone together, it was really an incredible evolvement and he's almost single-handedly avoided a civil war, a blood bath that would have been brutal in it's consequences so he deserves praise.

And Ted Cruz, Newt Gingrich, other Republicans including Mitch McConnell who was just on the Senate floor, the Republican leader in the Senate praising Nelson Mandela profusely, they deserve a lot of credit for accurately recalling what this man achieved in South -- in South Africa -- a historic figure, a truly wonderful man.

I was privileged to have met him. I sat down for my one-on-one interview with him back in March of 1998 and it was one of the great moments of my journalistic career.

COSTELLO: I can understand that. Another headline -- headline-making moment, I guess I could call it today, when President Obama shook hands with the Cuban President Raul Castro. President Carter called it, quote, "significant" and said he hopes it will be an omen for the future. Does it mean anything?

BLITZER: I think it does. I think, you know, it potentially could mean something. Let's see what happens if there's a follow through, if the Cubans, for example, were to release Alan Gross, the American who's been held in Cuba now for four years, four years, if Raul Castro, there you see him in the middle of the screen right now, he's pretty happy, he was smiling.

There is the president kissing the president of Brazil over there, even though she snubbed the United States a few weeks ago, canceling a state visit to the United States because of NSA surveillance supposedly going on in Brazil. There's the kiss once again.

But if, in fact, Cuban President Raul Castro were to do something right now, make that gesture, release Alan Gross, I think there could be an improvement in U.S./Cuban relations. I have no doubt President Obama would like to see an improvement. Had he's been working for that, but there's not going to be any improvement as long as Alan Gross is held.

COSTELLO: All right. Wolf Blitzer, thanks for your insight this morning, we appreciate it.

Much more to come in "THE SITUATION ROOM" I'm sure.

BLITZER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: The debate over hiking the minimum wage is causing a split among Democrats on Capitol Hill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is among those calling for an increase to $10.10 an hour, but there are other Democrats, centrist Democrats, who oppose the increase. Those Democrats are tighter with Wall Street and business interests.

Beyond the political divide, there are Americans fighting to support their families on low wages and there are many of them. CNN's Poppy Harlow talked with one woman who is struggling. Good morning, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Yes. The story we're going to tell you is emblematic of this fight happening on Main Street across America. You're increasingly seeing workers calling for $15 wages, what they call a living wage. And as we see this fight play out on Main Street, Wall Street is watching the stock market hit record highs, increasingly. What we're seeing here is really a tale of two Americas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have no money in your lunch account?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not a dollar.

HARLOW (voice over): At 29 years old, Joanna Cruz is stuck, stuck in a job that pays $7.30 an hour. She works overnights at a deli 40 hours a week. Her weekly paycheck -- $244.70.

(on camera): What do you need to make to be able to get by on your own?

JOANNA CRUZ: I would have to make at least $14, $15 to be able to live comfortably.

HARLOW: Do you add it up as you go?

J. CRUZ: Yes.

HARLOW: You do.

J. CRUZ: I have to.

HARLOW: She's a single mom fighting to get by. Don't be mistaken; she blames herself for not finishing high school and not going to college. But she tells me there has to be more she can achieve.

J. CRUZ: There is no moving up. I mean, I might get a raise if I'm there long enough, but that's about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For dinner.

HARLOW: Joanna's life mirrors her mother's. Augusta Cruz worked 30 years in a mattress factory and said she never made more than $9 an hour.

AUGUSTA CRUZ: It's a vicious cycle for everybody.

HARLOW: Her mother provides the home Joanna can't afford.

(On camera): If it weren't for you having them here under your roof where would Joanna be?

A. CRUZ: Out in the shelter in a street.

HARLOW: Years of low wage work has left Joanna with little hope.

J. CRUZ: I'm already 29. Like by the time I finish school I'm going to be like 40. Like, and then who's going to hire a 40-year-old, you know, just starting off with no experience? Like it's probably not going to happen. Some days I don't want to try.

HARLOW: Tell me what you mean.

J. CRUZ: I mean I just feel like what's the point? Like, what's the point of trying? I'm not going to make it anyway.

HARLOW: Do you think from the outside looking in, people have any idea what you go through?

J. CRUZ: No. None.

HARLOW: Americans have long believed in a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. But we can't agree on what that wage is today. President Obama supports raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to about $10 an hour, but critics argue that won't help. It will hurt, costing jobs and increasing prices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In general prices go up, people buy a little less and firms use less labor. You are better off if you earn a high wage clearly, but weigh that against the likelihood that your employer is going to make due with fewer workers and you might be one of those workers.

HARLOW: At the center of the debate fast food chains and big box retailers. In 2012 the average pay for a fast food worker was $9 an hour. For a retail worker it was $12.17. Both higher than minimum wage. Still, Tiffany Beroid, a part-time Wal-Mart worker, is among those demanding higher pay.

BEROID: I want more.

HARLOW: She's a member of Our Wal-Mart, a union backed group that does not represent Wal-Mart workers but protests for higher wages.

TIFFANY BEROID, PART-TIME WAL-MART WORKER: It isn't enough money for me to get by. It's very hard. We're at a standstill right now with my family.

HARLOW: Wal-Mart's U.S. CEO says they pay a fair wage and are unfairly criticized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We pay above average wages for the retail industry and we provide incredible opportunity. The discussion around the starting wage, minimum wage, is one that the country needs to have. The debate needs to be had. But that's not the issue. The issue isn't where you start, it's where you go to once you've started.

BEROID: Oh you have two.

HARLOW: Tiffany wants more opportunity, but at $10.70 an hour she says she can't afford to work full-time given the child care costs she would need to cover. So why doesn't she look for another job?

BEROID: I'm actually not unhappy with my job. I really like my job. I like being with the customers. So it's not -- I mean it's pointless for me to find a job. I would rather stay and fight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HARLOW: As for Joanna her pay will go up in January when minimum wage in New Jersey increases to $8.25 an hour. She will still struggle but hopes her children's lives will be better.

J. CRUZ: It's not going to happen to my kids. It's not. I promise you that it's not going to happen to my kids. It's just not. I won't allow it to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And that's the question, Carol. Does this cycle continue? Joanna's mom never made more than $9 an hour. Joanna is making $7.30 an hour. What is life going to be like for her children?

Consider this fact. Last year more than 12 million full-time, full- time working Americans, made less than $20,000. And that is why we are seeing this fight play out on Main Street but the counter arguments, someone came up to me yesterday and said it to me on the street when we were doing this story is if you raise the minimum wage, how many jobs is that going to cost? That's the big question.

COSTELLO: And economists can't agree on the answer to that, right?

HARLOW: Right.

COSTELLO: I mean they have mixed opinions. You know the other thing to keep in mind, a lot of successful people say yes, I worked in a deli and made minimum wage and look where I am now. I could say that about myself. But I wasn't a single mother. I had parents who expected me to go to college. I was able to pay for my college education.

A lot of other people don't have those advantages. So what's the answer? And I'm only saying -- we do need to have a national conversation, just like that guy at Wal-Mart told you, but we're not really having that conversation. We're just fighting about it. People on one side, people on the other, just like normal.

HARLOW: We are -- we are absolutely fighting about it. We're -- we have these bills proposed in Washington, Senate Democrats to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. But they really haven't made any fraction or move anywhere. The question that Bill Simon brought up, the U.S. CEO of Wal-Mart who we've talked to before is the issue of mobility. OK you come in at one level but how can you rise higher? And Joanna as you saw in our piece feels like she can't rise higher.

Here's another really important thing, Carol, younger people used to be the majority of people who had these jobs. Increasingly, that's not what's happening. Look at the data from last year.

What it shows us is that out of all of the hourly workers in this country, of those that make minimum wage or less, about 50 percent of them are 25 and older. So these aren't just teenagers' jobs anymore. Joanna is 29, Tiffany Beroid in our piece not a teenager, that that's really an issue here too. Is that how can you move up and move higher?

There is personal responsibility here as you heard Joanna take, right? You have to put in your part too, but the question is, now should the government step in more? Should companies be paying more? Or is that going to cost us jobs? And I hope that this conversation can really, really continue in full steam as you said, Carol.

COSTELLO: Me too. Poppy Harlow, many thanks.

HARLOW: Sure.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the "NEWSROOM", lights, camera, action, Sarah Palin has a new TV show outside the world of politics. We'll tell you all about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Sarah Palin is adding to her TV credits. The Fox News contributor and former host of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" has a brand new show in the pipeline. CNN's Nischelle Turner is here to tell us all about it. Good morning.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. You know this is a little bit of a departure for Sarah Palin because like you mentioned, she's been a contributor on Fox News. She also had the show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" and even though they called her the host of that show, "Sarah Palin's Alaska", it was more like a reality TV show.

Now this show that's coming up on the Sportsman Channel she will be the host of and it's a weekly outdoors show. Now, the Sportsman Channel says that they will celebrate the red, the wild and the blue lifestyle. I'm anxious to see what that means. The show is going to be called "Amazing America". It debuts next April.

Now the Sportsman Channel is a small channel. It's in 32 million homes, that's less than a third of American households with televisions. They say that their programming is geared to people that are interested in hunting, fishing and shooting. Now Sarah Palin's show will include stories about people and personalities and activities that are along the lines of that.

There's 12 episodes to start, but I do think one interesting thing about this, Carol, the show says that it doesn't want to be politically polarizing, but they hired one of the most polarizing political figures. So do with it as you will.

COSTELLO: And they're calling it red, white and blue. Yes.

TURNER: Red, wild and blue -- yes.

COSTELLO: Oh, OK. There's a distinction there. The Sportsman Channel, what else is on there? TURNER: You know, it's interesting, they have a couple of shows that have done fairly well, but they don't have a lot of, you know, signature programming yet. I think they're trying to make this their signature show with Sarah Palin. It could work.

You know, whatever you think about her politics, she has a personality for television. She really does. That kind of folksy style, that every woman, you know, any town USA type of style works and it comes across on television, so we'll have to see what happens. Although, her former show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" did only last one season. It did not get renewed for a second season. We'll have to see how this one plays out.

COSTELLO: All right. Nischelle Turner thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

TURNER: Sure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 50 minutes past the hour.

Fears of a tragic ending for a pod of stranded pilot whales. In the last week nearly half the group, 22 of them, died in Florida's Everglades National Park. Authorities are racing to save the 29 survivors, but they warn that some or all of them could die too. Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly what's killing them.

Hundreds of people are still on board the "Costa Concordia" when the captain abandoned the ship. That testimony is from the trial of Captain Francesco Schettino taking place in Italy right now. The captain faces charges of manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster and abandoning the cruise liner. He denies any wrongdoing.

It's going to be another wet, snowy and cold day across the mid- Atlantic and the northeast -- the region getting slammed for a second straight day. Jennifer Gray is here now. She's in the CNN Severe Weather Center to tell us more. Hi -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi -- Carol. Yes. And if you are trying to fly in or out of the northeast you're not going anywhere any time soon -- a lot of delays because of the weather. New York, almost a five-hour delay right now as well as Newark, LaGuardia, also JFK -- we are delayed about an hour and 15 minutes there, but Newark and LaGuardia are the main ones. Of course, seeing delays in Philly, Chicago, Charlotte -- all across the northeast mainly and it's all due to this snow and low visibility.

We have snow anywhere from D.C. to New York all the way up to Boston. Washington, you are on the back end of that, so it should be ending for you in the next couple hours. Just a closer look, we're going to see anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of snow within the city; isolated amounts higher outside the city.

The good news is this is going to push out of here by this afternoon, so it's not going to sit on top of you for very long. It's going to move on out, but this is just one final blow from this system that has just wreaked havoc across all of the east. We are going to see isolated amounts, 3 to 5 inches of snow possible and this will move out and give us a little bit of a breather after today.

COSTELLO: I hope so. Thanks so much, Jennifer.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM", part prank, part intervention, some friends convince a man he's been in a coma for ten years except he wasn't.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This just in to CNN. The Senate has confirmed Patricia Millett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Now, you might be saying so? Well, Millett is the first presidential nominee to be confirmed under new senate rules pushed through by Democrats that make it harder for Republicans to filibuster presidential appointments. So there you have it. Patricia Millett now a judge.

Finally this morning, for the friends of one Kentucky man it was a prank with a message all in the hopes of stopping him from drinking and driving. Jeanne Moos has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who deserves a prank who fools you into believing you're waking up --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my gosh.

MOOS: -- from a 10-year long coma.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My son was 2 years old when you came in here. And he's 12 now.

MOOS: We know only his first name -- Dennis. His friends say he has a long history of driving under the influence.

TOM MABE, PROFESSIONAL PRANKSTER: He drinks quite a bit. I mean, we could do this bit at any given night.

MOOS: The bit involved turning an office into a hospital room. And when Dennis passed out from drinking, they say they carried him in under the care of a fake nurse and doctors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you're confused, a little disoriented.

MOOS (on camera): Dennis was only out for about three hours or so. The pranksters say he was still intoxicated when he woke up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were out drinking and you decided to drive, and there was an accident. This accident took place back in 2013. This is 2023. You've been in a coma for the past 10 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is my daughter all right? MOOS (voice-over): Who would doing something like this? Tom Mabe is a professional prankster, but in this case he said he was worried about his friend's drinking. So this was half prank, half intervention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch a little television if you got.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former songstress and actress Miley Cyrus is facing eviction from a Bullet County, Kentucky, trailer park. You may recall back in 2015, Cyrus was busted for cooking meth in her double wide.

MOOS (on camera): I have to say it was hard to believe at first. You know, we go through all this stuff, looking at it and say, well, is that fake?

MABE: He was totally hook, line and sinker up to the point to where he'd just seen a video he recognizes me. This is 100 percent real.

MOOS (voice-over): This is Tom dressed up like a doctor.

MABE: What do you recall?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drinking, that's all I remember.

MOOS: And then the doctor.

MABE: Feel that? Feel that?

MOOS: Slaps some sense into him.

MABE: Do you feel that?

MOOS: With the doctor's mask off Dennis recognized Tom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). It's not funny. It's not funny.

MABE: Five DUIs. Yes, I ought to kill you.

He laughed a lot. He laughed the whole, whole lot. He just thought, we got, man, you guys got me, man, you got me. So I'm not sure that he learned a lesson.

MOOS: Some posters were mad. "They have turned his addiction into a joke." Tom says they're pushing to get Dennis into a program. After all, a DUI can leave someone else in a real coma. But Dennis came out of this one slaphappy.

MABE: Dude, you (EXPLETIVE DELETED), you got to stop it. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: I'll be thinking about that one all day.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts now.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Hi, everybody. Welcome to New York City. It is December 10th and there is no greater place than the holiday is to be in New York City and Central Park. Nice little dusting of snow behind me.

Of course, that is if the weather is really bad and you can't get here because here's the deal today. When it comes to the weather, if you live somewhere between California and New York, there's a pretty good chance you're either going to have snow, some ice, some rain, or it's going to be pretty darn cold where you live, at least colder than you're used to.

And guess what else -- a lot of schools are closed and the government shut down. This time, it wasn't something they did. It was Mother Nature that did it.

I want to take you around the country right now so you can see some of the things that are happening -- some good, some not so good. Let's start right here in Milwaukee. Take a look at these cars just pile into one another. One after another.

Squint at your screen -- right there in the middle. Do you see those people? They are not moving and those cars are coming at them. I'm happy to report they did not get hit. It is by the grace of God that they didn't though because this just kept on happening.