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"Duck Dynasty" Under Fire; Royals Phones Hacked; How Safe is Chicken?

Aired December 19, 2013 - 08:30   ET

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

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Time now for the five things you need to know for your new day.

We start with one you really need to be alerted to. As many as 40 million Target shoppers may have had credit and debit accounts hacked. The retailer says it notified authorities and banks immediately. Investigators are looking into just how that breach occurred.

A presidential task for recommending big changes at the NSA, including a ban on the bulk collection of domestic phone records and stricter standards for spying on allies.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman back in North Korea for another round of basketball diplomacy. He'll help train players for a basketball exhibition game in Pyongyang next month. This is Rodman's third visit to North Korea.

Even a change in federal rules may not allow you to use phones on a plane. Delta's CEO now the latest airline official to say phones will still be banned if the government lifts its restrictions.

Rain, snow, sleet, even sunlight have taken a major toll on the Capitol dome in Washington, so a facelift is underway. The nearly $60 million restoration started last month and is expected to last two years.

We always update those five things to know, so be sure to go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Michaela.

A "Duck "Dynasty"" star suspended for shooting off his mouth. Phil Robertson is the patriarch who turned a family business making products for duck hunters and dunk hunting into a multimillion-dollar empire. But now comments he made attacking gay people could put his top rated reality show in jeopardy. CNN's Nischelle Turner has been looking into it.

Good morning, Nischelle.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, you like to hunt, so you know it's the height of duck hunting season in Louisiana right now.

BOLDUAN: Nope (ph).

TURNER: But now the patriarch of the "Duck Dynasty" family will not be on camera to show off his shot. The show's network, A&E, has pulled him from future shoots indefinitely, saying they were, quote, "extremely disappointed" to have read Phil Robertson's comments in "GQ."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER (voice-over): The patriarch of the hit reality TV show "Duck Dynasty" sounded off.

PHIL ROBERTSON, "DUCK DYNASTY": My idea of happiness is killing things.

TURNER: But he turned the target on himself. On Wednesday, A&E suspended Phil Robertson, founder of the Duck Commander company and head of his back woods Louisiana family from filming indefinitely for the controversial anti-gay statements he made in an interview with "GQ" magazine. In the article, Robertson says, quote, "it's not logical, my man, it's just not logical."

He goes on to explain what he finds sinful, saying, "start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men," he says. Robertson then refers to a Bible passage from Corinthians, saying, "don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself. It's not right."

His words angering gay rights activists.

WILSON CRUZ, GLAAD SPOKESPERSON: I was shocked and appalled really that somebody who's on A&E's highest rated show would say something along the lines of comparing homosexuality to bestiality, among other things.

TURNER: Robertson and his family are known for preaching their Christian beliefs.

ROBERTSON: We still manage to stay true to ourselves.

TURNER: Telling "GQ" they're, quote, "Bible thumpers who just happened to end up on television." But gay rights advocates say, along with the limelight comes responsibility.

CRUZ: You have the freedom of speech, absolutely, but we have the freedom to turn off all of our televisions when you say something that offends us and the people that we love.

TURNER: Robertson released this statement after the article was released saying, "I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: And not only did Phil Robertson make anti-gay comments, he also said in the article that while growing up in the Jim Crow south, he, quote, "never saw black people mistreated," and that he worked cotton fields with blacks and said, quote, "they're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person say, I tell you what, these doggone white people, not a word. Were they happy? They were godly. They were happy. No one was singing the blues."

Which I have a hard time believing with my ancestors that grew up in the Jim Crow south. I don't necessarily think that's the truth.

BOLDUAN: I think it's pretty telling how quickly A&E moved on this. The article comes out, people just start talking about it online and he's already pulled off the show.

TURNER: Well, what people have been talking about too throughout the night when this story broke that he was being suspended was, well doesn't he have freedom of speech? Shouldn't he be able to say what he wants to say and even if his beliefs don't jive with yours?

That is true. He does have freedom of speech. But freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. And if you say something, you're a public figure, a figure that is being backed by a network, sometimes the hammer will come down.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Having a right to do it doesn't make it right to do it.

TURNER: Hey.

CUOMO: And A&E is saying that they believe in a different cultural standard.

PEREIRA: (INAUDIBLE) that.

TURNER: Exactly. I'm going to steal that, having a right to do it doesn't make it right to do. I'm going to steal that, Chris Cuomo.

PEREIRA: Really good.

TURNER: I like it.

CUOMO: Yes, you got it.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Nischelle.

CUOMO: Coming up on NEW DAY, this just in, the phone hacking scandal in the U.K. reaches the royals. We've just learned Duchess Catherine and Prince Harry's phones were illegally accessed. A live report, details coming up.

BOLDUAN: And just how dangerous is the chicken we eat? A new report out is saying almost all of it is contaminated with bacteria, at least on some levels. So what do we need to know to keep our families safe? We'll find out from a doctor who specializes in food safety.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: A killer -- I'm going to milk it for all it's worth. All right, now I got to start.

Welcome back to NEW DAY. Let's get right over to Indra Petersons in the Weather Center.

What are we seeing, Indra?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Close to the weekend. I mean we're so close and at least finally I'm having some better news. Yes, there are storms - I'm not going to say there's no storms -- but at least it is warmer this time. Look at the temperatures and how high they climb as we go in through December. I mean 71 degrees. That's what you're expecting for D.C. by the time you get through Sunday. New York City, up to 69. Atlanta, also seeing the 70s.

So let's talk about the impact here. Here comes the first storm that we're now seeing today making its way into the Midwest. Do want to point out, though, overnight tonight, if you're in places like Wisconsin, back through Missouri, we do have a threat for some icing. Not a major system. Very light. It even pretty much dissipates as it continues to bring light rain into the northeast by tomorrow.

It is the story behind it, or the storm behind it that we're really watching. It moves into all that warm air into the southeast. This low moves not only in that area, where you have that clashing of warm air and cold air, but the jet stream. That lines up right over it. So with that, we do have that severe weather threat as we go in through Saturday and Sunday.

And that's not even the only story. Yes, we have a threat for tornadoes, but also heavy rain, flooding concerns for the Ohio Valley, back to the Mississippi Valley, and then look at the temperature contrast. So that's for the southeast.

Look what's going on in the northeast, 22 degrees in Burlington, meanwhile, 70s down into the south. That temperature contrast means icing conditions into the northeast as we go through the weekend. So dangerous conditions. Also keep in mind, if you're flying, that does mean some flight delays in that region. So, so much going on. Everyone just needs to be one thing, and that is aware over the weekend.

Kate and Chris.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Indra.

All right, this just in to CNN. A royal bombshell revealed in a London courtroom. Prosecutors say the now shut down "News of the World" newspaper hacked the royals' phones, even accessing private voice mails between the duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, and Prince William. Pamela Brown has been looking at these new developments as they've been coming out.

What more are we learning, Pamela?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kate, this has really been a question ever since this trial began several months ago about whether the royals' phones were hacked and now we're learning that in this hacking trial that the duchess of Cambridge's phone was hacked according to the Press Association that her phone was hacked allegedly by the "News of the World," the now defunct "News of the World," and that - also that a voicemail left on her phone by Prince William was hacked as well, that he nearly got shot with blank rounds during a training exercise at Aldershot.

This is what the text read. This was read allowed in court today. This is what the jury heard, that he said, "I had a busy day today again. I've been running around the woods of Aldershot chasing shadows and getting horribly lost and I walked into some of other regiments ambush, which was slightly embarrassing because I merely got shot, not by live rounds, but by blank rounds, which would have been embarrassing though."

Also in the voicemail that was read today in court, he allegedly called Milton (ph) "baby pins (ph)," and then also they talked about a voicemail that was left on Harry's phone from an unnamed man impersonating his then girlfriend Chelsy Davy. There were three messages apparently -- transcripts of these messages that were read in court today.

So this really is a bombshell because we're learning that the voicemails from both Prince Harry and Prince William were intercepted and that Kate Middleton's phone was allegedly hacked. Again, this is all according to the Press Association.

BOLDUAN: It's serious no matter whose phone is being hacked, be them royal, be them every day. I mean these are serious allegations. How did -- did they say how they found out that her phone was hacked? How they found these messages?

BROWN: Yes, that is the big question. So the prosecution is saying basically -- telling the court that the voicemails left from William on the duchesses phone was discovered at the house of Clive Goodman. He was the then royal editor at the "News of the World" back in 2006. Important to note here that Clive Goodman actually pleaded guilty to intercepting voicemails and he actually served jail time. So the prosecution saying that is where these voicemails are coming from.

BOLDUAN: Wow. Much more to learn on this one.

BROWN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Pamela.

CUOMO: There's something ironic, though. It is wrong, their phones were hacked, their privacy invaded, and now let's play for all what was said. Now we cover these things. In open court they then read it at the same time they're prosecuting the people for hacking the information.

BOLDUAN: To prove that they did.

BROWN: Right.

CUOMO: Well, you don't have to - but it's just - you know, there's an irony.

BROWN: I mean, do you blame them for reading it?

CUOMO: Well, it just shows the interest, the interests in what other people are saying, right?

BROWN: Yes. Well, and especially when it comes to the royals.

CUOMO: That's true. I'm sure even more so.

BROWN: Yes.

CUOMO: You look very nice with the whole flag of Britain behind you, by the way.

BROWN: I know, I saw that.

CUOMO: It was very good. Very good.

Coming up on NEW DAY, a disturbing new report says the chicken we buy is literally covered in potentially dangerous bacteria. We'll tell you what you need to know to stay safe.

BOLDUAN: And the shocking video of a gunman aboard a busy bus, pulling a gun and points it square at the face of another man. What happened next is even more shocking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back. You're probably waking up to hear about this alarming new report just released this morning. It says there is potentially harmful bacteria in, get this, almost all store-bought raw chicken. "Consumer Reports" tested more than 300 raw chicken breasts from stores all over the nation and found a shocking 97 percent of them tested positive for bacteria.

We're going to bring in Dr. Urvashi Rangan, she's the executive director of the "Consumer Reports'" Food Safety and Sustainability Center. I think there's a few people that just spit out their coffee right now hearing that startling statistic -- 97 percent. And this is all harmful bacteria. This is not just sort of regular -- I guess there's only harmful bacteria on chicken, is there?

DR. URVASHI RANGAN, "CONSUMER REPORTS": All of these bacteria come from the gut and all of these bacteria are potentially harmful. We looked at salmonella campylobacter, e. coli, some extra virulent e. coli, staphylococcus aureus, klebsiella pneumoniae and terracoccus. All of this organisms have the potential to make you sick. It doesn't mean you'll get sick every time.

And certainly on chicken there's going to be some bacteria. It's a raw meat product.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

RANGAN: That's why we tell people you've got to cook it to 165 degrees.

PEREIRA: And cook it well.

RANGAN: Only 37 percent of people own a meat thermometer and yet the majority of people think they cook their chicken thoroughly. So there's a disconnect there. You've got to have a thermometer to know you're cooking it properly.

BOLDUAN: The name of the report is "The High Cost of Cheap Chicken". Are you saying this is clearly just to save money that there's more bacteria and people are getting more sick because of it?

There's more bacteria, there's also more antibiotic resistance. So half of the bacteria that we found -- and this is the more than concerning result was resistance to three or more antibiotic classes. And that's in large part because we feed antibiotics routinely at low levels everyday to help the animals.

BOLDUAN: So you like this new move that the FDA has announced that they'd like to take more of the antibiotics out of livestock?

RANGAN: That's a very good move and a good step forward. It's going to need more teeth to it and it's going to need more length to it but it is a very good step forward.

CUOMO: The people who have spit out their coffee are now shaking their head and saying wait if so much of it has bacteria and we're not all sick obviously it's not a big deal, this is one of those false statistics that's just supposed to scare us. Defend the proposition.

RANGAN: So 48 million people get food borne illness every year. That's the CDC estimate -- about 3,000 people die every year from food borne illness. We at "Consumer Reports" don't think people should die from food. And poultry is one of the leading causes in meat of hospitalizations in that statistic.

So when you think about that, we have a lot of work to do to clean up this system. People shouldn't have to wonder if they're going to get sick from the chicken that they eat even when they cook it. We can talk a little bit about how do you manage that.

PEREIRA: Well, I want to talk about this, what is supposed to be happening that isn't or is there not a structure in place to make sure that this kind of disease isn't being borne in those facilities?

RANGAN: Unfortunately we have a really fragmented food safety system where one agency is looking at the use of antibiotics, say in this. And another at the processing plant. It turns out, no one is really on the farm. No one's at the hatchery. These are gut pathogens so they begin in the animal's all the way to the egg stage. We need to have standards at the hatchery. There are 22 countries in Europe who are at one percent salmonella or less in their chicken supply.

PEREIRA: It's doable.

RANGAN: It's doable.

CUOMO: Biggest difference?

RANGAN: They look at the root cause of the problem. They go all the way to the hatchery and they don't even use chlorine washes at the end which is very conventional in this country to sort of wash the problem off.

BOLDUAN: Is there a quick answer to this. Is organic safer?

RANGAN: When it comes to safety organic is not safer. The bacteria levels are comparable, even the resistance rates while slightly lower doesn't give us any opportunity to say there's a better choice out there in terms of safety.

However, in terms of production practices there is value to organic. And another important thing, don't confuse natural with organic. Natural doesn't mean anything close. It's not verified and it has very little meaning.

BOLDUAN: Wow, this is really helpful and scary.

PEREIRA: Dr. Urvashi Rangan, this frightening, shocking and something that people are going to have to do a little more digging on to research on where they stand on the issue.

RANGAN: And wash your hands and keep your kitchen clean.

BOLDUAN: Back to the basics.

PEREIRA: Yes. All right. Yes.

BOLDUAN: Sometimes that's the way we have to go.

RANGAN: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

RANGAN: You're welcome.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, a shocking moment caught on a bus surveillance tape. A gunman -- just look at this -- tries to rob a passenger and we're going to show you what happened moments after he pulled that gun.

CUOMO: And Cecil and his dog Orlando, they faced death together, now will they be separated? Not if "The Good Stuff" has anything to say about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CUOMO: You must see this. I will show it to you and then you decide what it means. Could it be the brazenness of crime? Could it be how sleepy everyone is on the train? I don't know. But look at this.

It shows 19-year-old Trevonte Brown terrorizing bus passengers last month stealing their cell phones at gun point, but he reaches the front of the bus, points the gun at a man's face, that man fights back, other passengers then join in, subdued Brown who faces robbery and attempted robbery charges being held on $350,000 bail.

What does it mean? Should he have done it? They tell us no but it was his life, he thought, and everybody joined in on the fight, and the criminal was stopped.

What does it mean? It is up to you, I'm pondering it as I walk to the couch, as I turn to the couch and as I sit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Time for "The Better Stuff". Why? Well, on Wednesday we told you the miraculous of Cecil Williams and his seeing eye dog Orlando fell onto the tracks in front of the New York City subway. Cecil had the presence of mind to lie down between the tracks and so did Orlando, stayed by his side, licking his face to help him come to.

Then we learned some awful news. Orlando almost too old to be a seeing eye dog anymore, insurance would no longer cover his care. After they literally faced death, Cecil was going to lose Orlando.

So we called on all of you to help out. An online fund-raising drive commenced and in a matter of only hours not only will Orlando stay put, he is covered as Cecil's pet for the rest of his life. May it be long and Cecil will get a younger seeing eye dog to help him from now on. Cecil was overjoyed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CECIL WILLIAMS: Thank you for everybody showing their humanity, and peace and goodwill at this time, because for me, Orlando, he's my best buddy. He's my pal. He's done work for eight years straight, taking me through New York, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and everywhere. He's a senior citizen. He got gray hair you know so he's looking forward to enjoying life now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: He is. His golden years.

BOLDUAN: He's a senior citizen.

CUOMO: Well deserved. Well deserved. But you know what -- Job isn't done. Time for more gooder stuff. Why? There are a lot of blind people who can't afford assistance animals, let alone their training. So if you'd like to help please visit guidingeyes.org --

PEREIRA: That's right. CUOMO: -- OK. Guidingeyes.org.

A lot of news this morning. For that, we take you to the "NEWSROOM" with Miss Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That was a nice story. Thanks guys. Have a great day.

"NEWSROOM" starts now.

Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

As many as 40 million credit and debit card accounts hit, if you shopped at Target at all this holiday season, hackers may now have your financial information. It's a massive attack that now has the attention of the U.S. Secret Service. For almost three weeks the nation's second largest retailer apparently was under attack. Now it's shoppers who need to be on the lockout for the Grinch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TALA BANATAO, TARGET SHOPPER: It's scary. Like I said, this is the first time I've heard of that, and I am curious as to how that happened in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Millions of Black Friday shoppers at risk for identity theft. The Secret Service says hackers broke into Target's computer network, stealing your information as you swiped your credit or debit card.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BRIAN KREBS, KREBSONSECURITY.COM: It lets them take that information then encode it onto a new card and essentially duplicate that card and use it as if, you know, it's their credit card.