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SeaWorld Buys Full-Page Ad; Apollo Theater Roof Collapse; ISS Emergency Spacewalks; NASA has New Snorkels and towels; "Duck" Clan Rallies around TV Patriarch

Aired December 20, 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.

SeaWorld once again defending itself from criticism surrounding the CNN documentary "Blackfish." The theme park has taken out full page newspaper ads nationwide to defend its record with animals. Part of the open letter says, quote, "due to the groundbreaking success of our research in marine mammal reproduction, we haven't collected a killer whale from the wild in 35 years. And in the last three years, we have invested $70 million in our killer whale habitats and millions of dollars annually in support of these facilities."

Now, since "Blackfish" was released in October, several artists, including the Barenaked Ladies, Willie Nelson, REO Speedwagon have all canceled shows at SeaWorld. Some elementary school students even petitioned their school to cancel a trip to SeaWorld. CNN's Martin Savidge joins me now with more of SeaWorld's woes.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, this is very interesting, the timing of this full page ad that appeared in so many national publications. You know, one of the things we have talked with SeaWorld about is how they say, look, "Blackfish" has not had any impact whatsoever on the revenues and on the number of people attending. But then you have to wonder, well, why would they go to such an expense and why would they take this out. Part of it could be because they're starting to see an impact on a very key part of their audience, and that's what we found in our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): A parade of performers, including Heart, Barenaked Ladies and Trisha Yearwood have bailed on gigs at SeaWorld, saying they're troubled by what they saw in "Blackfish."

WILLIE NELSON, MUSICIAN (voice-over): Well, I don't agree with the way they treat their animals. So it wasn't that hard a deal for me to cancel.

SAVIDGE: But as far as impact, this voice may be much more powerful.

KIRRA KOTLER, 5TH GRADER: I felt sad how they treat them.

SAVIDGE: After seeing the film "Blackfish," 10-year-old Kirra Kotler told her dad she never wanted to go to SeaWorld again, which was a problem, since her fifth grade field trip in a few weeks was to SeaWorld.

KIRBY KOTLER, KIRRA'S FATHER: She goes, I'm not going. I don't want our money going to SeaWorld. And that was pretty loud.

SAVIDGE: As this picture posted on the web shows, the Point Dew (ph) Marine Science Elementary School annual trip to SeaWorld is a longstanding tradition. But dad and daughter, backed by other parents and students, lobbied to go somewhere else. It worked. Announcing the decision, the school's principal credited their protest for the change. "I am pleased to model for our students the importance of speaking up to express your views and voice." SeaWorld downplays the decision saying, quote, "this is the only instance of a camp cancellation that we have experienced." It may not be the last.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dear SeaWorld.

SAVIDGE: Students at Point Loma (ph) High School put together this video that starts off by thanking SeaWorld for the memories -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But after watching the documentary "Blackfish" on CNN --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All those special memories have totally been cheapened.

SAVIDGE: Next comes a series of critical questions about how SeaWorld cares for its animals. Then, the real punch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There will be no more admission tickets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more rides.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No more teddy bears.

SAVIDGE (on camera): What's the impact of something like that?

DAVID JOHNSON, STRATEGIC VISION PR CRISIS MANAGEMENT: Oh, it's really damaging, especially it's a cross section of the population, if you notice, very clean-cut, well-spoken children, I mean talking in a very moderate language, talking about how much they've enjoyed SeaWorld but now, you know, they just can't continue supporting SeaWorld until they change their policies.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): PR crisis expert David Johnson says SeaWorld can get by without music performers, but it's got a real problem when kids feel this way about not going to SeaWorld.

KIDS: Free (ph) the orcas (ph).

KIRRA KOTLER: Like I did something that was actually something that was really amazing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Very powerful stuff.

We should point out, Carol, that we have asked repeatedly over and over regularly of SeaWorld to sit down and do an interview to talk about the very things they mentioned in this full page ad. We even asked again this morning. And again the answer to us was no.

COSTELLO: So interesting. You know, the whales depicted in the documentary, are any of them still at a SeaWorld?

SAVIDGE: Yes, they are. I mean, of course, the one that is focused on is Tillicum, and that one is still at SeaWorld in Orlando. One of the things that is brought out in this ad is to say they no longer capture killer whales. That's true. They have a successful breeding program. But Tillikum, he was captured from the wild.

COSTELLO: Yes. And, see, that - I think a lot of people would find that disturbing because, you know, in the documentary it shows how the poor whale was treated, right?

SAVIDGE: It does and --

COSTELLO: People think SeaWorld should do something.

SAVIDGE: They do. We'll continue to follow.

COSTELLO: All right, Martin Savidge, thanks so much.

Let's head to London now. The roof of the famous Apollo Theater has now been declared secure following a terrifying collapse that injured 79 people, seven of them seriously. The ceiling falling apart about 40 minutes into the play. One man who was inside the theater told CNN's Max Foster what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON USBORNE, ESCAPED THEATER COLLAPSE: My view of the stage was immediately obscured by this dust and debris. As some other people have said, it was like an avalanche. And that's probably a better description. And it was very clear something serious had happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did people start heading out at that point?

USBORNE: Immediately. Nobody needed to say get out. There was no alarm. Everybody knew that something was happening and the fear was then that more might come down. And so everybody immediately dashed for an exit. People were screaming. I was fortunately close to an exit and so I was on the pavement probably within three seconds I would say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Max Foster is in London this morning with more.

Good morning, Max.

MAT FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Imagine, an avalanche, and that's what so many people described. At one point, people were looking down at the lower levels and they saw people looking up at the ceiling and there was some movement. And then moments afterwards, just this cloud of smoke. And, of course, some people were directly under all of this plaster falling from this very ornate ceiling, and some of them are still in hospital, not very serious injuries. But that's part of the story here, because inside you see these large planks scattered around. You see some of the seats completely covered in rubble. And to think that people got out without any major injuries, it's just extraordinary. And some of the images of people coming out last night were dramatic, you know, blood pouring down their faces. We were expecting to hear about some serious injuries. There weren't any. They were extremely lucky indeed.

COSTELLO: Max Foster reporting live from London this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the "Duck Dynasty" gang is standing behind its patriarch, now on suspension from reality TV, and they have their own message for A&E. Nischelle Turner has that story.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they do, Carol. The rest of the Robertson family is speaking out and presenting a united front. So the question now is, what does this mean for the future of the franchise? I'll tell you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just a few months after a NASA astronaut nearly drowned inside his space suit during a spacewalk, two astronauts will start the first of three emergency space walks tomorrow at the International Space Station. They need to fix a broken cooling pump which would cause the space station to overheat. NASA has two more space walks scheduled for Monday and Christmas Day. Now, these are huge risks any time astronauts venture into space. In July, as I said, about a gallon of cooling water leaked from an astronaut's space suit into his helmet and, yes, he nearly drowned. Joining me now is NASA astronaut Michael Massimino.

Good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL MASSIMINO, NASA ASTRONAUT: Hi, Carol, good morning.

COSTELLO: Man, as a fellow Italian, I should -- that name should have flown through my lips but I'm sorry about that.

MASSIMINO: That's OK. That's why - that's why my friends called me "Mass."

COSTELLO: I like that. You've been on four space walks. Tell us how dangerous it is to go on a spacewalk.

MASSIMINO: It's actually pretty dangerous business. We -- we're very, very careful. We check out our space suits very, very diligently, handle them very carefully. There's lots of people involved on the ground to handle them. Once you get to space, the crew looks out for each other. We work with the control center, make sure everything's good.

And once you get out there, you have to be very, very careful because it could potentially be a very dangerous situation. But because you're so careful and because our equipment is so good and we practice and train so much and have such a good team, we usually don't have any problems.

COSTELLO: Well, you know what's on everyone's mind now is the movie "Gravity." That makes this much more scary as people begin to watch it tomorrow morning and also on Tuesday and Christmas Day. So space junk was a factor in that movie and that is a real concern for real astronauts, correct?

MASSIMINO: Oh, it certainly is. You know there are -- there is stuff up there, micrometeorites, pieces of human-made material that is floating up there and you have to be careful for it. We do our best to avoid it. We have procedures in case we do take a strike during a spacewalk of what we would do. We practice those procedures on the ground. And we hopefully are ready for something like that if it happens in space. But you really are hoping that that doesn't happen to you and you can concentrate on your job and have a good day out there, because that was a bad day in that movie. We don't want that to happen.

COSTELLO: That was a really bad day in that movie.

MASSIMINO: Yes.

COSTELLO: That movie was scary. You know, let's talk about the astronaut that went out and almost drowned inside of his helmet, because NASA has come up with this MacGyver (ph) system of a snorkel and towels to avoid that. Explain that to me.

MASSIMINO: Yes. So it's -- what happened to Luca was actually not a very good situation having that - the cooling loop (ph) inside of his suit spill water into his helmet area. But NASA does a really good job of investigating and finding out where the problem is. They're still trying to find the root cause. But they know that the problem - or they're pretty sure the problem had something to do with the fan pump separator. That is a very small electric device that works in our life support backpack. So they replaced that on that suit that Luca wore. It's going to be the same suit that Mike Hopkins is going to wear tomorrow. And the suit has been -- that part's been replaced, the suit's been checked out and it's working fine. So we don't expect any problems. But just in case -

COSTELLO: Well - well - we - yes, that snorkel thing, explain that to me.

MASSIMINO: Yes. Yes. OK, just in case, you mentioned the snorkel. There's also a water absorbing pad that's going to be in the back of the helmet that can soak up any water that might spill out. And the snorkel is not like a snorkel you can imagine if you're going to go snorkeling in the ocean or in a swimming pool. It's actually a hose, more like a piece of tubing, that is a piece that is -- from a larger piece of tubing that we use in our space suits, so it's an approved piece of material. That tube is placed inside of the suit so that if the astronaut needs to get air, just in case, they can lean over inside of the helmet and get to this piece of tubing, which they're calling a snorkel. So we have a fix in place so the suit should be fine. But just in case, we also have another device inside of there to help us if you need it.

COSTELLO: Well, you're very brave people. Michael Massamino, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

MASSIMINO: Carol, it's my pleasure. Nice talking with you.

COSTELLO: Nice talking with you too.

Of course, stay with CNN. We'll have complete coverage of the space walk on CNN's "New Day Saturday" starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.

New in the next hour of NEWSROOM, New York City moves to expand its smoking ban to include e-cigarettes, even though the makers of the tobacco free e-cigarettes say the vapors they give off are absolutely harmless.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The "Duck Dynasty" may be over. The stars of the hit reality show are rallying around their patriarch Phil Robertson following anti-gay comments he made to "GQ" magazine. And they are threatening to quit the show if Phil isn't filming with them. So is "Dynasty" done?

Nischelle Turner is following the story. Good morning.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi good morning Carol. It's a very good question. The Robertson family is presenting a united front now releasing a statement late yesterday in support of Phil -- the man they call the head of their family.

They said, in part, quote, "We've had a successful working relationship with A&E but as a family we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We're in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of 'Duck Dynasty'."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER (voice over): Talk about rocking the boat. Just a day after A&E suspended the backwoods Louisiana star Phil Robertson from his hit reality show "Duck Dynasty" for making anti-gay comments, a fire storm erupted.

Now as his critics and supporters are lining up getting their duck in a row, Robertson's family has addressed the controversy for the first time. Saying, "While some of Phil's unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the bible. Phil would never incite or encourage hate."

But now, surfacing a video from 2010 showing Robertson in a Pennsylvania pulpit preaching morality. PHIL ROBERTSON, CAST MEMBER, "DUCK DYNASTY": Women with women, men with men -- they commit indecent acts with one another. And they receive in themselves the deep penalty for their perversion. They're full of murder, envy, strife, hatred. They are insolent, arrogant, God haters.

MATTHEW BREEN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE ADVOCATE": He has the right of course to say what he likes to say. But A&E I think made a very good decision when they decided that those views are not American views, those views do not represent their brand as a network and they pulled him.

TURNER: But now coming out of the woodwork are Robertson's supporters even pledging their support on Twitter with the hashtag #StandbyPhil. Republicans like Texas Senator Ted Cruz and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin taking a stand behind the boys from the bayou as well. Palin saying on her Facebook page, "Free speech is an endangered species. Those intolerants hating and taking on the 'Duck Dynasty' patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us."

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: The left keep saying they're for tolerance except for people that disagree with them. You know, it's -- it's stunning to me after all of those antics that Miley Cyrus was still be on TV and Phil is the one getting kicked off.

TURNER: Robertson's supporters say they are fighting the good fight. But critics say it's an old fight likely to lose in a new world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER: Now, A&E tells CNN they will have no further comment on the situation. The network though did air a previously scheduled three- hour "Duck Dynasty" marathon last night with another one scheduled for the weekend. And the new season is also still set to kick off January 15th. And although they say Phil Robertson is suspended from filming he is expected to appear in the new season's initial episodes Carol that have already been shot.

COSTELLO: We'll be watching.

TURNER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Nischelle Turner reports.

TURNER: Sure thing.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Kobe Bryant down and out but for how long? His injury didn't look serious at first. But Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes you know you're right Carol. He's played for than a quarter with this injury but now he's going to miss quite a while. We'll talk about in next in your "Bleacher Report."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just when it looked like he was getting back to his old self, Kobe Bryant was delivered another blow. The Lakers star is going to miss oh well, he has a fractured knee. Let's ask Andy Scholes that question.

SCHOLES: Oh Carol you know this is devastating news for Kobe. Just when it looked like he was getting back to his old self. And he was playing really well. He's going to miss six weeks now with a fracture in his left knee.

Now it happened on Tuesday night when they were playing the Grizzlies it happened on this play right here. Kobe and Tony Allen were going at it. Kobe is going to go to the ground and grab his knee. And no one thought much of it at the time because Kobe actually played the rest of the game with it Carol. He even hit a big three pointer late in it, late in the game to steal the victory.

COSTELLO: Oh wow.

SCHOLES: But then the knee it kept bothering him so they ended up having an MRI and it revealed the fracture. Now no surgery is needed for this injury Kobe is just going to have to wait and let it heal. And they're -- they're hoping it'll like take six week and Kobe is 35 years old now. So who knows?

All right turning on BleacherReport.com today Major League pitchers look like they will have the option to wear protective head gear this upcoming season. In an interview with Fox Sports, Diamondbacks star Brandon McCarthy said protective gear for pitchers is being developed and it will be optional and not mandatory. McCarthy is one of a number of pitchers who have suffered head injuries over the last few years as a result of being hit in the head with a line drive. And many pitchers say they welcome the protective gear but only if it doesn't affect their delivery.

We recently saw Mike Tyson making up with Evander Holyfield in a Foot Locker commercial. And this week Iron Mike sat down with CNN's Rachel Nichols to talk about a number of topics including his relationship with Holyfield.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: When you look back on it now, what do you think?

MIKE TYSON, FORMER PRO BOXER: Well, I'm sorry I bit his ear. I really am sorry I bit his ear. Because I'm like brand new -- he's a good guy. A really good guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I will never forget watching that fight -- Andy.

SCHOLES: Those are the first boxing fights I ever really watched.

COSTELLO: Me too. And it was like did he really just bite his ear off SCHOLES: You can watch that whole interview with Rachel Nichols on "UNGUARDED" tonight. That's at 10:30 Eastern right here on CNN. I can't wait. I think they actually talked about Mike Tyson's pet tiger. Can't wait to see what he has to say about that.

COSTELLO: Oh really? He still has that tiger? I thought that was a just myth of that movie "Hangover".

SCHOLES: Yes in the movie, "The Hangover".

COSTELLO: What do I know.

The next hour of NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Just hours from now, the holiday travel season kicks into high gear and for millions those plans may ground to a halt. A sprawling storm is plowing across much of the country painting scenes that are the most spectacular and kind of scary.

Yes, that would be good-bye transformer. A wicked combination of high winds, freezing rain and heavy snow knocked out power across much of Salt Lake City, closed the airport. Now weekend travelers are being warned of similar frustrations across the Eastern half of the country.

Indra Petersons is in the CNN Severe Weather Center to tell us more. Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Once again, Carol, definitely looks like we're still going to be talking about all these travel woes as we go into the holidays. I mean take a look -- this is kind of Cliff Note here, heavy rain and flooding.

I'm talking about the Ohio Valley really all the way down to the Mississippi Valley. Then we're still talking about icing conditions -- heavy snow into the Great Lakes and even more icing into the northeast. So let's take you day by day here and tell you what we're expecting and how it is that we are expected to get there.

We're going to go out and get some -- my producer to put this in play mode. There we go. Looking at the system today -- this is a light system already producing some light showers this morning -- kind of making its way into the northeast. Should be dissipating.

This is not the big system. The system that we're really going to be concerned with here is the one down going into the southeast tomorrow. Look at all this moisture funneling into the southeast. That's going to produce the heavy rain and the flooding concerns I showed you.

But look at the backside. Still some threats. The same system makes its way to the north and they're intersecting colder air and on the backside here now is where you're getting the threat for some of that heavy snow off the lakes.

Same system now continuing East -- look at the icing concerns. So now we're into Sunday here and we're talking about places like upstate New York looking for over a half inch. That's the threshold we continue to talk about. That means power lines go down. That's the immediate concern for power outages and again -- that would be Sunday. Not the only side of the story.