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Telemarketer Samantha West, Robot or Real?; Teacher Tells Student Santa Is White; Fox News Anchor Claims Jesus, Santa Are White; China Successfully Lands Rover on Moon; FDA May Ban Antibacterial Soaps; New Audio of Granite Mountain Hotshot Firefighters; Google Purchases Robotics Firm, Boston Dynamics; Mega Millions Grows to Half Billion
Aired December 16, 2013 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to a story that brings new meaning to the word robo-call.
A Time.com reporter digs into this telemarketer by the name of Samantha West. She giggles, she asks questions, but is she human?
You be the judge. Take a listen for yourself after hearing this conversation. This is actually one of several "Time" says it had with West.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VOICE: Work with all major companies and compare --
TIME REPORTER: Hey, are you a robot?
VOICE: What? No, I am a real person. Maybe we have a bad connection. I'm sorry about that.
TIME REPORTER: That's crazy. You just sound so much like a robot.
VOICE: I am a real person. Maybe we have a bad connection. I'm sorry about that.
TIME REPORTER: Will you tell me you're not a robot? Just say, I'm not a robot, please.
VOICE: I am a real person.
TIME REPORTER: I mean, I believe you, but will you just say, I'm not a robot? It will make me feel better to hear you say it.
VOICE: There is a live person here.
TIME REPORTER: But I know there is. It would just make me feel so much better to hear you say, I am not a robot.
VOICE: What? TIME REPORTER: If you could say the words, I'm not a robot, it would really mean a lot to me.
VOICE: I am a real person. Can you hear me OK?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Can't you just hear that Time reporter -- you can hear the smile. He's trying. He's trying.
Time tried to locate the company behind Samantha West, but the company's Web site is offline.
Plus, the phone number Samantha used, according to "Time," now just gives a busy signal.
Santa Claus is supposed to bring you good cheer this time of year, but the color of his skin is attracting a lot of bad attention.
First, a news anchor creates this fire storm after insisting Santa is white, and now you have this New Mexico family calling for a high school teacher to be fired after he told a student Santa is not black.
We're going to get to Don Lemon here in just a minute, but first, let's set this thing up. George Howell has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MICHAEL ROUGIER, FATHER OF STUDENT: This is the hat and the beard, fake beard that Christopher was wearing to school.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The spirit of Christmas was all but shattered for a New Mexico high school student who wore this Santa mask to class, but was then challenged by his teacher who told Christopher he couldn't be Santa because --
ROUGIER: Santa Claus is white. What are you doing wearing that? Christopher was embarrassed.
HOWELL: Chris's father, Michael Rougier, called the school's principal, furious, saying he heard about it from another parent.
His son didn't tell him because he was too embarrassed, and initially, this parent says his outrage was dismissed.
ROUGIER: The principal just hung up the phone on me and hasn't called back, hasn't said anything.
HOWELL: Michael tells our affiliates the only phone call he's received was from the teacher who spoke to his wife and apologized.
The Rio Rancho School District put out this statement saying, quote, "He self-reported the incident to the principal and has apologized to the student and the student's parents. Appropriate disciplinary actions have been taken."
The incident comes the same week that Fox News host Megyn Kelly said on the air that both Santa and Jesus were white.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: And by the way, for all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white, but this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black Santa.
HOWELL: Comments that sparked a firestorm of criticism. She later issued a statement saying her comments were misunderstood.
JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think the criticism is need because we all know that Santa Claus, of course, is a symbol, a symbol of hope, a symbol of the holidays, a symbol of love and giving.
HOWELL: Clinical psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Gardere.
When a child hears comments like that from Megyn Kelly or from a teacher who puts his opinion out there like we heard in New Mexico, what does it do to the child's self-image?
GARDERE: It begins to erode that child's self-image. We are a society that says that we are all equal and we can all participate in something that is generic as Santa Claus.
HOWELL: The teacher still works at Cleveland High School, but we've learned Christopher has been removed from his class after what happened.
His father says he really wants nothing to do with Christmas this year. Michael says the teacher should be fired.
ROUGIER: For him to make a comment like that, there has to be at a minimum prejudice. In him. And we don't have room for that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: That was from George Howell.
Don Lemon, hi, friend.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, "THE 11TH HOUR": This whole thing is driving me to drink.
BALDWIN: Just tease me (inaudible) on Friday -- hang tight, my friend.
On Friday, you were sitting in for me. You did a segment about the whole Megyn Kelly Santa thing. She reacted to your discussion as well as others from other networks.
So, let's just set it up and then we'll chat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Well, this would be funny if it were not so telling about our society, in particular, the kneejerk instinct by so many to race bait and assume the worse from people.
From "Miracle on 34th Street" to the Thanksgiving Day parade to the national Christmas tree lighting, we continually see St. Nick as a white man in modern day America.
Should that change? Well, that debate got lost because so many couldn't get past the fact that I acknowledged, as Harris did, that the most commonly depicted image of Santa does, in fact, have white skin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: OK. So we wanted to follow up with you. I know you will talk about it on "THE 11th HOUR" tonight.
She used your clip on her show.
LEMON: Yeah.
BALDWIN: Your reaction?
LEMON: I said that in my clip. I said, if Megyn Kelly had said the popular depiction of Santa Claus is white, I would say, yes, she's absolutely right. I said that on Friday.
I said where she lost me though is that sort of emphatic -- I couldn't believe I was doing a segment like this that stirred such a controversy, so mine was tongue in cheek, as well.
But, also, she didn't acknowledge people who saw what she was saying but where she lost me is when she said Jesus was white, right?
And anyone, any scholar of the Bible knows that Jesus was probably -- wasn't probably, was not white. He was of darker persuasion.
BALDWIN: You talked about that with Eric Marrapodi, right, a little bit on Friday.
And I thought it was interesting, part of Megyn's response, she really only talked about Santa.
LEMON: She didn't talk about that. She said that particular -- she said that is unsettled or something like that. But she just kind of glossed over that.
And, listen, there was a headline that said "Don Lemon Tears Into Megyn Kelly." I didn't tear into Megyn Kelly. I actually like Megyn Kelly. I think she's very talented.
But she did not play the part where I said, you know what? I understand. I have been misinterpreted, misquoted.
And she could have had the chance to come on and say here's what I meant. And also give knowledge to the fact that maybe she needs to learn a little bit about what have you. This isn't about Megyn Kelly. And she did that on Friday, actually.
But I don't think she understood quite what her guests were saying about white as a default, and so in popular depictions, yes, Santa is depicted as white. But Santa is a fictional character where we get to decide in our own minds what Santa is as children.
And I asked a bunch of people on my way here. They were like, hey, you're the Santa guy. You're the Jesus guy. I was like, No, I'm not Megyn Kelly. No, I saw your thing.
I said, Well, what color do you think Santa is? Someone said Santa is black, Santa is white, Santa is red. And someone actually said, Santa is mulatto. I said, that's not a pc term. They said, what do you mean? Like you, but a little bit lighter, which is kind of everyman.
BALDWIN: Wow.
LEMON: But there are people who are saying, Don, Santa is white. If you look at St. Nick, if you look at where he came from, Santa is white.
But then you know there are cases of black Santas, right, which are controversial? If you look at Black Pete in The Netherlands --
BALDWIN: I can't believe this is a thing.
LEMON: Black Pete in The Netherlands is a huge controversial figure.
BALDWIN: I was just talking to someone about that the other day.
LEMON: Yes, because it's -- because Santa is black.
BALDWIN: It's like black face over there during the holidays.
LEMON: Because it's white people in black face. That's the thing that gets people set off.
BALDWIN: There was a "New York Times" piece about that recently.
LEMON: Sorry, I kind of hijacked your show, but what did you --
BALDWIN: Never. Never hijacking.
But, tonight, 11:00, "11th Hour," you're talking about it.
LEMON: We have decided the definitive answer tonight as to what Santa is, whether he's black, white, Puerto Rican, everybody just freaking -- whatever he is, we're coming to a conclusion tonight at 11:00.
You may not like what I have to say.
BALDWIN: A conclusion?
LEMON: You may not like what the guests have to say. You may disagree with it. We're going to tell you what color Santa is, 11:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
BALDWIN: All right, 11:00, Don Lemon, thanks, man.
Never hijacking, always a guest. Always a guest.
LEMON: Were you hanging out at some big fancy place this weekend?
BALDWIN: Whatever. We'll be right back.
LEMON: You don't want to go there. Santa Claus is a black man. You ever heard that song?
BALDWIN: Shall we go to break or are we moving on?
LEMON: Have you heard that?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: As the United States defunds NASA, puts an end to the shuttle program, this whole new generation is set to see a different kind of space race, one in which the Chinese could be leading the way here.
China's first lunar rover deployed successfully after landing on the moon Saturday. The solar-powered rover will patrol the moon's surface, studying the structure of the lunar crust as well as soil and rocks for at least three months.
Now, the Chinese admit they are decades behind, but they do acknowledge that they are only the third country to soft land on the moon, joining Russia and us, the United States.
John Zarrella joins me from Miami. And, so, John, as we talk about, you know, just really the space race in 2013, how in danger are we of falling behind?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, from a technological standpoint, clearly the United States is not behind.
Let's face it. 1969, the United States lands astronauts on the moon. In 2013, the Chinese land a rover on the moon. So, yeah, the Chinese are still way behind in that regard.
The U.S.'s problem is direction. When the new Orion spacecraft comes on board next year some time, the U.S. is still not sure where it's going to go.
Do you send humans back to the moon? Do you go to an asteroid? Do you go to Mars? Why go to the moon when you have been there? There's all these questions still out there.
Two years ago when the shuttle program was ending, we talked with a lot of experts who said China is definitely moving forward with a purpose.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EUGENE CERNAN, APOLLO ASTRONAUT: -- the value of space.
They realize the economic value of space, they realize the significance in terms of international diplomacy and what it means, and they certainly realize that the high ground is certainly significant when it comes to national security.
They're smart enough to know all those things, and they're going to take advantage of them.
NORMAN AUGUSTINE, FORMER CHAIRMAN, HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT COMMITTEE: If I were China, I would head out for an asteroid in the very near future.
That will be a stunner to Americans when that happens, probably eclipsing what we saw. The reaction to what Russia did with Sputnik.
And ironically, it might be a good thing for us because it might wake us up that as Sputnik did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: All these experts tell me that out there, say, look, what the Chinese are doing right now is clearly a precursor to going to the moon with humans down the road, albeit, it's going to be a while.
Brooke?
BALDWIN: Yeah. John Zarrella, thank you very much.
Coming up next, new video and audio recordings from the 19 Hotshot Firefighters killed while fighting that massive fire in Yarnell, Arizona.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Air attack, Granite Mountain Seven.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Granite Mountain Seven (inaudible).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: New insight into the final moments of those brave firefighters, after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Some news today that impacts all of us or at least those of us who like to use soap.
The government may look to ban those antibacterial hand soaps along with body wash unless companies can prove they are effective and safe.
So how does this impact you?
CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to explain.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: These soaps are everywhere, soaps that claim to be antibacterial.
Now, the FDA says if they want to claim to be antibacterial they'll have to prove that they are safe and effective, long term. That's a pretty high bar. There are lots of concerns about the safety. There are concerns that these soaps may be causing hormonal problems, may be causing antibiotic resistance so that the antibiotics our doctors give us aren't working as well as they should be.
There are also concerns that really, this soap is no more effective than plain old soap that doesn't have the antibacterial claim.
The FDA says you have to prove these claims or else you need to stop making them.
Brooke?
BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
And now this, just chilling audio recordings just released recount the final moments before a Hotshot firefighting crew in Arizona was killed.
For the very first time we are hearing what happened minutes before that fire swept through, leaving the Granite Mountain Hotshots with no way to escape.
So, the firefighter wearing the camera was not actually with the crew, but the video captured radio transmissions between the Hotshot crew there on the ground, operations and the air support team flying high above.
Moments later, these 19 men would be dead. A warning, of course while this video is not graphic, it's tough to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS: Breaking in on Arizona 16, Granite Mountain Hotshots, we are in front of the flaming front.
GRANITE MOUNTAIN 7: Air Attack, Granite Mountain 7, how do you copy me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that Eric?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard Granite Mountain 7.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hear saws running. That's not good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not when they are in a safety -
BRAVO 33: Operations Bravo 33, I was copying that traffic on air to ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard Granite Mountain 7.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
OPERATIONS: Three, operations on air to ground. BRAVO 33: OK, I was copying a little bit of that conversation on air to ground. We're -- we'll do the best we can. We got the Type 1 helicopters ordered back in. We'll see what we can do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy -
OPERATIONS: Bravo 33, Operations, on air to ground.
BRAVO 33: Operations, Bravo 33.
GRANITE MOUNTAIN 7: Air attack, Granite Mountain 7!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, he's screaming.
BRAVO 33: OK, unit that's hollering in the radio, I need you to quit and (inaudible) Operations, Bravo 33.
OPERATIONS: OK, Granite Mountain 7 sounds like they got some trouble. Go ahead and get that. He's trying to get you on the radio. Let's go ahead and see what we've got going on.
BRAVO 33: OK, copy that. I'll get with Granite Mountain 7 then.
DIVISION ALPHA: Bravo 33, Division Alpha with Granite Mountain.
BRAVO 33: OK, Division Alpha, Bravo 33.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell.
DIVISION ALPHA: Yeah, I'm here with Granite Mountain Hotshots. Our escape route has been cut off. We are preparing a deployment site and we are burning out around ourselves in the brush and I'll give you a call when we are under our -- the shelters.
BRAVO 33: OK, copy that. So you're on the south side of the fire then?
DIVISION ALPHA: Confirm!
BRAVO 33: OK, we're going to bring you the VLAT, OK?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: The Yarnell Hill Fire which is considered the deadliest in Arizona history started June 28th, when lightning strikes began several of those fires. It was the worst firefighting tragedy since 9/11.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Google is now getting deeper into robots. It has now bought Boston Dynamics.
Here you go. Boston Dynamics, this is the robotics pioneer behind the Cheetah robot. This is the fastest-legged robot in the world, according to the company Web site. It runs as fast as 29 miles per hour.
The company has been developing robots for the U.S. military for more than a decade. This is the eighth robotics company Google has purchased.
And now we talk odds, because the odds are long, but the reward here is massive. So far, no one has matched all six Mega Millions numbers Friday night, so now the jackpot rolls over.
You know how that works. It grows and grows, so now it's worth more than half a billion -- that is billion with a "B" -- bucks, keeps climbing.
Alison Kosik, joining me now with -- I'm afraid to -- I always hate these segments because it's like you're more likely to be struck by lightning 18,000 times than winning the Mega Millions.
So, go ahead. Rain on my parade.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: But it's true.
So let's talk about where the jackpot is now. The jackpot's at $586 million. Just so you know, it went up just a few hours ago.
BALDWIN: Wow.
KOSIK: The drawing is tomorrow, so it still go up even more.
If you win, here's the cash payout, Brooke, $360 million. That's before taxes.
BALDWIN: Sweet.
KOSIK: OK.
But before you start dreaming of going to Bora Bora, just remember your odds recently got a lot worse, and here's why.
Your odds of winning were -- are 1-in-259 million. Now, before the rules changed a couple months ago, because this game changed its rules, your chances were better. They were 1-in-176 million.
Because Mega Millions made this adjustment, it made this big adjustment, because before, you picked five numbers ranging from one to 56.
Now what's happening is you get to pick those five numbers between one and 75, so more numbers means more combinations and less of a chance you'll win.
Of course, you've got that sixth number, that Mega Ball, to pick from, as well.
So, yes, let's talk about your chances, shall we? Being attacked by a shark -
BALDWIN: OK, quickly, 20 seconds.
KOSIK: -- better chance. Yes.
Dying from a bee sting, dying from being struck by lightning, so keep that in mind. I'm still going to go buy a ticket or two. How about you?
BALDWIN: I think I should. And, of course, if I win, since we are talking about it, we have to share. I hope whoever buys tickets, we need to share.
I hear the closing bell. That means time for me to go.
Alison Kosik, thank you very much.
And, listen, if no one gets it, this could be up to $1 billion, so who knows.
I'm back on CNN, 11:30 tonight on "IN CASE YOU MISSED IT," 8:30 Pacific.
In the meantime, Jake Tapper and "THE LEAD" starts right now.
