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New Day

Two Winners Announced for Mega Millions Jackpot; Shooting Occurs in Reno Medical Center; Congress to Pass Bipartisan Budget; Harvard Student Arrested for Bomb Threat; Family Fighting to Keep Girl on Life Support

Aired December 18, 2013 - 07:00   ET

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

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It turned out to be a good investment for that gentleman. His takeaway is $1 million. Meantime, Chris and Kate, we're waiting to see if this mystery winner in California will come forward today. We send it back to you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Keep a close eye on that door. Thanks so much, Dan. Now let's go to the other lucky lottery spot. Martin Savidge is live in Atlanta. Hi, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. For somebody here in Atlanta, maybe a group of people, this is an outstanding morning. Let me show you what the lucky lottery ticket looks like. It looks just like this with the exception of the winning one having the winning combination of numbers, which that one didn't.

And it was purchased inside this office complex here at something called the gateway newsstand. That store right now is all locked up tight because it's still very early in the morning. So we don't know much about who may have purchased the ticket, but a couple of tickets you might surmise. Because it is an office building complex, maybe it was an office pool. So in other words, could be a whole group of people that could have won the multimillions down here.

We should also point out this is an extremely wealthy neighborhood. So there's also that going, that it's possible somebody who already had money has a lot more as of this morning. We hope to find out later in the day just whether it's one or many who are mega million winners. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Martin, thank you so much.

Let's get more answers straight from the source, Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia lottery and also the lead director of Mega Millions at this moment. Good morning, Paula.

PAULA OTTO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA LOTTERY: Good morning. We are on winner watch across the country, aren't we?

BOLDUAN: We sure are. We know one ticket sold in Georgia, one in California. What more can you tell us? Everyone is waiting to know.

OTTO: Well, it's really up to the winners how quickly they come in. Sometimes you have winners who will come in the very next day, other times you have winners that will wait for weeks. We just had a Mega Millions winner that waited more than five months to come forward in Virginia. So you never know.

We do advise those winners if they're watching this morning, sign your ticket. Sign it a couple of times. Make certain it is in a very safe place. And perhaps consult with some legal or financial folks before you officially come forward to claim that prize. I know that the lotteries in California and Georgia are geared up and absolutely ready to help whoever the winner or winners are, as you all speculated. Maybe the one in Georgia is an office pool and to take them through the process of becoming multimillionaires.

BOLDUAN: Paula, any indication one way or another if it's an individual or a group, an office pool at this point?

OTTO: We really don't know that. We only know where the winning tickets were sold, and until somebody comes forward, we're not going to have the answer to that question.

BOLDUAN: So what happens now? We're all just watching and waiting?

OTTO: That's right. That's right. You know, it's fun. Everybody was thinking about what would I do if I were lucky enough to win and to have those winning numbers? And now we all switch over to I wonder who those lucky folks are who hold those winning tickets? Important to know, though, that it wasn't just these two tickets that made people millionaires. We had 20 tickets across the country that matched the first five numbers, and they are the proud owner of $1 million ticket this morning. So same advice to them -- sign that ticket, put it in a safe place until you're ready to go into your lottery office in your state to make that claim.

BOLDUAN: So that is pretty good, 20 tickets. Everyone now will recheck their tickets one more time.

OTTO: You should.

BOLDUAN: The odds to begin with, they're always bad when you're talking about the lottery. It used to be one in 176 million for your chances. Now they are even worse, one in 259 million. So you're making it even harder. Why, oh, why?

OTTO: Well, they are longer. We had not had any big jackpots in Mega Millions for nearly two years. So we went to our players and did a lot of research and said what do you like about the game? What can we change about the game so that we can make certain we get some of these big jackpots. We made a couple of changes, including the matrix or the way you play the game. You're right, the odds are huge. But I think the reporting this morning is proof that somebody wins, and in this case, we have two winning tickets.

BOLDUAN: Which keeps the dream alive going forward. Paula Otto, great to meet you. Thanks so much.

OTTO: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

OTTO: Police have not determined a motive in a deadly shooting at a Nevada medical center. They do say it wasn't random. The gunman killed one and critically wounded two others before turning the gun on himself, leaving many questions to be answered this morning. Miguel Marquez is in Reno with the latest. Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here we go again, Chris. Just after 2:00 p.m. a gunman walked into the waiting room of the urology department here on this sprawling hospital complex. He told everybody out to get out, they did and then he went back to where the doctors and nurses were. Among those people killed one of them in surgery, one of them, a doctor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Yet another shooting, this time a state-of-the-art medical center targeted. One person killed, two more injured before the shooter took his own life.

OFFICER TOM ROBINSON, DEPUTY CHIEF RENO POLICE DEPARTMENT: We had a lone suspect enter the medical facility here with at least one firearm.

MARQUEZ: The shooting contained to the third floor of Reno's renowned medical center. In its neurology office, a male gunman opened fire, killing one person, the shooting in a building next to the main hospital campus. Inside this walkway between the two, workers told to stay put, the entire complex on lockdown, an all too familiar scenario. This video shot while SWAT teams secured the building room by room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay in this room.

MARQUEZ: A systematic search by police.

ROBINSON: On the third floor of the building they located two people down. And they located a couple of injuries.

MARQUEZ: Amazingly, operations at the medical center resumed within an hour of police clearing it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Despite this being on the third flier of one of the office buildings in this very big hospital complex, the police response was very fast, about five minutes from the time the call went out. By the time they got there, though, the damage was done, the shooter dead himself from his own hand. We expect more from police here in Reno later in the afternoon your time, 1:00 p.m. eastern, 10:00 local. We'll bring that to you. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right, Miguel, thank you for that.

Back to Washington, we are learning this morning the tech executives who met with President Obama at the White House Tuesday that some of them are upset they didn't focus more on the NSA spying program. Top firms in the technology industry are trying to pressure the White House, the administration, into scaling back that surveillance and making reforms to those programs. Let's get more from Jim Acosta, who is live again at the White House this morning. What are you learning, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kate, one thing we're learn and we talked to several sources familiar with this meeting yesterday between the president and those top tech leaders who are here at the White House to talk about their very big concerns about the NSA surveillance programs, one thing that we did hear from a source familiar with this exchange that went on between the president and those tech executives is that several of those executives were disappointed that there was too much of a discussion about healthcare.gov that was on the agenda and not enough of a discussion about their concerns with government surveillance, especially with what is beginning on over at the National Security Agency.

And in the words of one source familiar with this meeting, quote, "We didn't fly across the country for a discussion on healthcare.gov," end quote. That is a pretty clear indication as to how some of the executives felt.

I did talk to another source with this meeting that said, no, some of them were satisfied with this meeting because they wanted this dialogue and are glad this dialogue got going.

One other thing that we want to point out. "The Washington Post" reported this morning that at this meeting one of the tech executives suggested to the president that he pardon Edward Snowden, that the president said he could not do that. Kate and Chris, I can confirm to you a source familiar with this meeting between the president and those tech exec leaders said, yes, that offer was talked about at this meeting, it was suggested that perhaps the president pardon Edward Snowden, and he said no. That is according to a source familiar with this meeting that happened here yesterday. Kate and Chris?

BOLDUAN: Jim, thanks so much for the update.

ACOSTA: You bet.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: That compromised budget deal that everyone is rightly praising as a bipartisan victory is expected to pass today. But the deal still must be scrutinized. It turns out one of the compromises is over something many say should never be skimped on, military benefits. CNN's Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill. Dana, tell us what's going on here and what the rationale is for it.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right, usually when it comes to budget cutting, Chris, anything that has to do with the troops, active duty or retired, it's sacrosanct, nobody touches it. But this time, in a bipartisan way negotiators said that compensation for military retirees has gotten so expensive it could use a little trim. That went into high profile and rather colorful opposition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Retired Admiral Norb Ryan pounced the marble halls of Congress, refusing to give up, urging senators to restore cuts to military pensions in the bipartisan budget deal.

NORB RYAN, PRESIDENT, MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: Soldiers are lucky if they're under the same roof as their family eight out of 36 months and they've done that for 10 years. They paid an enormous price up front. This is really, really a disgrace.

BASH: As part of their budget Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Patty Murray decided to reduce by one percent the cost of living adjustment for military retirees who retire after 20 years of service. That's people generally in their 40s. It would go back up at age 62. It would save $6.2 billion. Right savings, wrong target, say some Republicans.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: Of all the people we could have picked on to screw, how could we have arrived here? How could we have done this?

BASH: But Lindsey Graham's best Senate friend and well-known military vet disagrees, effectively asking, how could we not?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: In words of former secretary of defense Mr. Gates said that these entitlements in military are, quote, "eating us alive."

BASH: John McCain says this gives him heartburn but noted military pensions cost $52 billion last year and skyrocketed 49 percent over a 10-year period.

MCCAIN: We're going to have to look at this whole issue of the pay, benefits, and retirement and all of that, and of members of the military in a prospective fashion.

BASH: Norb Ryan of the military officers association argues the average enlisted person would lose a total of $8,000.

RYAN: A bucket of coal for this Christmas.

BASH: Graham, up for re-election in military rich South Carolina, admits they'll probably lose this battle but vows to win the broader war.

GRAHAM: We're going to remind people who you are. And any politician who wants to do this again is going to get the hill kicked out of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now, the Democratic Senate armed services chairman says they are going to re-open, look at this in the new year when Congress returns. But they are up against certainly some lawmakers who think that this is terrible, they're outraged about it, but others who say you know what, many people in the military, maybe most, retire in their 40s and still get civilian jobs and maybe have those for 20 years before then getting other military benefits and maybe other pensions as well.

CUOMO: Just one of those situations where the economics and politics make one set of ideas right but still the military, you think there would be sensitivity.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's take a look at some of our other headlines this morning. NATO forces coming under fire in a military base in eastern Afghanistan overnight. Officials say three militants were killed in the firefight. It follows the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since August of 2012. Six American forces were killed after their helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan. The Pentagon is trying to determine if their deaths were the result of enemy fire or of that crash.

The teenage gunman who critically wounded a classmate at a Colorado high school last week before killing himself apparently plan an even bigger attack, 18-year-old Karl Pierson scrawled on his foreman the Latin phrase meaning "The die has been cast." Investigators say they also found letters that indicated Pierson planned to attack five different classrooms. His victims, 17-year-old Claire Davis, remains in critical condition in a coma.

The suspect in last month's shooting at Los Angeles International Airport has been indicted on murder and other charges. Investigators say Paul Ciancia shot and killed TSA agent Hernandez and wounded three other people. He could face the death penalty if convicted on the top charges. Ciancia is due back in court the day after Christmas.

Firefighters are racing to contain a slow-moving wildfire in the Big Sur area of California. Right now it is at 20 percent containment. Nearly 800 acres have been consumed, 22 buildings and homes have been destroyed. Thankfully, no injuries have yet been reported. The cause of that blaze is under investigation.

And here's our Toronto's troubled mayor dancing his cares away seemingly. Rob ford and other city officials took a dance break on the council floor Tuesday as the local jazz trail played Christmas carol blues and "One Love." The dance-off happened moments after Ford had an angry spat with the very same city counselor he knocked into last month. You might recall this.

BOLDUAN: So much to say. But at least they're dancing and let's hoping the holiday spirit, they are OK.

CUOMO: Boy, oh, boy.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Indra?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Got moves, kind of. I don't know. Trying to help you guys out.

Let's talk about the weather. We're definitely seeing still some snow just in Maine today left over from the system we saw yesterday. As far as how much we saw, you might want to take note, in Central Park we only saw an inch. We know there was more snow than that, higher amounts towards Massachusetts. We saw about six inches of snow. Here's what's left. We have the lake-effect snow as typically we do. We have winds going over the warmer waters, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, you'll be looking for more snow today. Maine, maybe several more inches as the low tries to make its way offshore.

Otherwise, the new story today, kind of mild as this transition day for the northeast into the southeast, temperatures on the cool side in the northeast, but warming significantly in the southeast. This is key as we start to see these temperatures climb close to the 70s and another system is going to be making its way across. We are going to have a threat for severe weather this weekend. I'll kind of show you how it pans out.

First take a look. There are two storms. Second one down here, this is great. For Big Sur today, a chance for showers. They need that. This first one is going to move a lot quicker, so it should impact us over the next several days.

The second one is going to be slower to impact us as we go towards the weekend. So here's number one. Notice some light showers into the midwest. Eventually, by Friday into the northeast we're going to be talking about probably just rain out of this.

Now let's take you into the second one. Rain into southern California today but eventually making its way across, still models varying on how much rain or snow we're going to be seeing out of as it is far away.

But the big takeaway here, Saturday and Sunday, notice we have a threat for severe weather from Kentucky back in through Texas. So we're going to be watching that on Saturday.

By Sunday the storm moves a little bit farther to the east. So on Sunday we're talking about the Carolinas, even maybe even possibly the panhandle into Florida. Most likely straight line winds, large hail, but tornadoes not ruled out, which is crazy this time of year. And we're talking about a snowstorm here yesterday. Things can change in my world.

BOLDUAN: Very, very quickly. Thanks, Indra.

CUOMO: Stay on it, Indra. Stay on it.

Coming up on NEW DAY. This is a bit more serious than dog ate my home work. A Harvard student now under arrest for that campus bomb hoax. Wait until you hear why he did it and what he did to try and get away with it.

BOLDUAN: Plus, she came to the hospital for a routine tonsillectomy but it was anything but routine. Now a 13-year-old California girl is brain dead and her family is locked in a battle with the hospital to keep her on life support. We have a report, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY. A Harvard University sophomore is due in court today facing charges that he's behind a bomb hoax that left students in panic on Monday -- really the entire school in panic. The 20-year-old is accused of e-mailing threats saying there were explosives on the campus. CNN's Jean Casarez is joining us with more.

So Jean, you gotta tell me, what was the motive?

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: This is so serious, the motive was, and they know this because the FBI confronted him Monday night, gave him his Miranda rights, he signed a waiver and he said, "I did it. I acted alone. I didn't want to take an exam." He also told him them that he sent the e-mails at 8:30 at the morning. His exam was set for 9:00. He went to the classroom where his exam was to be.

BOLDUAN: So he showed up.

CASAREZ: He showed up. At 9:00, the fire alarm went of. They told everybody to evacuate, and he said, "My plan worked."

Well, it didn't work because he got a fake e-mail address, temporary and a temporary IP address. He thought he was going to be anonymous, sent it, but he sent it over the Harvard wireless network. And so, the FBI and police found that a student had accessed the way to do that temporary internet access, and that's how they got to him. And now today is going to be his first appearance in court.

BOLDUAN: It sounds to me like he should have been spending more time -- this time, that he was spending -- trying to get this plot all together, he could have been spending it studying for his exam.

CASAREZ: He chose --

BOLDUAN: And he would have been much better off.

CASAREZ: -- his words very carefully. We want to show everybody exactly what those e-mails said. The title was, "Bombs placed around campus." That was the subject line to officials at Harvard including their police department. "Shrapnel bombs placed in the Science Center, Sever Hall, Emerson Hall, Thayer Hall, 2/4. Guess correctly. Be quick for they will go off soon."

And he told authorities he used the terminology shrapnel to elevate it, to make it more serious. And he said guess where? They're going to go off soon, so it would take longer periods of time for them to find and then evacuate the entire campus.

BOLDUAN: This makes absolutely no sense and he clearly has some lessons to learn, and now he's facing some very serious legal charges.

CASAREZ: He's facing five years in prison. This federal statute comes from the Atomic Energy Act in the 1950s. Facing five years, but I think his attorneys will be concerned for his future -- because to be convicted of this and you are innocent until proven guilty.

BOLDUAN: We'll see. Want to make sure everybody knows that.

A reminder. Thanks. CUOMO: Even when you admit it.

CASAREZ: Even when you admit it. That's right. Because there can be a mental defense.

CUOMO: That's right.

A little more than a week ago, 13-year-old Jahi McMath was in a California hospital for routine tonsil surgery. This morning, her mother is fighting with the hospital just to keep her on life support.

The hospital says the procedure went horribly wrong and the 13-year- old is now legally dead. Her mother says she isn't; she's just trapped in her body and will make up.

Stephanie Elam is following developments for us from Los Angeles. Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris, Kate and Michaela. It's every parent's nightmare that your child goes into the hospital but doesn't come back out. At this point, the family is hoping against hope for a miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): It was a simple operation that was supposed to improve her quality of life. Instead, Jahi McMath lay brain dead just hours after surgery.

NAILAH WINKFIELD, MOTHER OF JAHI MCMATH: I don't even any tears no more because I'm all cried out. I'm angry.

ELAM: The 13-year-old was admitted to Oakland's Children's Hospital on December 9th for a tonsillectomy, which doctors prescribed to correct her sleep apnea. Jahi was alert after the surgery her family says, but then went into cardiac arrest after being moved to the Intensive Care Unit. The medical team worked to revive her. Blood had filled her lungs and stomach.

WINKFIELD: Nobody called the doctor until it was too late. That's the problem. My daughter drowned on her own blood.

ELAM: The next day, a CT scan showed that two-thirds of Jahi's brain was swollen. By Friday, further testing by the hospital confirmed that Jahi was medically dead. Her death was reported to the Oakland coroner's office, which was scheduled to take the girl's body Tuesday. But the family who wants to keep Jahi on life support, handed the hospital a cease and desist order.

CROWD: Don't pull the plug.

ELAM: Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield wants more time for her child to show signs of brain activity.

WINFIELD: And I went in there and cried to this man and said, "Just check her brain one more time." I asked him, "Do you have children?" He said yeah. "Well then, you should know how it feels."

ELAM: As for the hospital, the chief of pediatrics gave CNN this statement, "We can say that, as whenever we see a medical or surgical complication, we are reviewing her case very closely. Our hearts go out to her family, and we want to support them during this extremely difficult time."

WINFIELD: I feel her. I can feel my daughter. I just kinda feel like maybe she's trapped inside her own body and she wants to scream out and tell me something. That's why every time I go in there I let her know I would not let them take you to the coroner's office, Jahi. I won't.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (on-camera): And the result of another test yesterday show the same status for this young child.

So at this point, though, the family has gotten a little bit of a breathing room here, the coroner's office, as well as the hospital have backed off of rushing to try to get this child removed from the hospital, now giving the family time to figure out what steps they're going to take next. Chris and Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right.

CUOMO: Boy, oh boy. Having to fight with the hospital just so that you then have the right to deal with what is absolutely the worst situation you can imagine.

BOLDUAN: Terrible situation. Thanks so much.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, no one from the first family is going to the Olympics this year, but the delegation the president tapped to replace them is sure to send a clear message to Vladimir Putin. We have the details coming up in our political gutcheck.

CUOMO: And George Zimmerman, the artist. Six figures in the offing for this. Is it even an original? We have someone who will say what it's worth and why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA Good to have you with us on NEW DAY. It is half past the hour. Here are some of the stories making news. Two winning tickets were sold in last night's $636 million mega-millions jackpot drawing. One purchased in Atlanta. The other in San Jose, California. Let's show you those winning numbers in case you won a little something: eight; 14; 17; 20; and 39. The mega-ball is seven.

In other news, police say the deadly shooting at a Nevada medical center was not a random act. The gunman killed one person and critically wounded two others before turning the gun on himself. The shooting happened in an neurology office at the renowned medical center in Reno. The shooter has yet to be identified publicly.

Amanda Knox once again is declaring her innocence, this time to -- in an e-mail to an Italian court.