Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

President Obama Opens up in Interview; Indian Socialite Dies "Unnatural Death"; Big Beer Deal In Asia; Ship Before You Click Buy?

Aired January 20, 2014 - 06:45   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. It's half past the hour. Let's take a look at your headlines at this hour.

Fresh security concerns for the upcoming Sochi Winter Games. A video from two men, claiming a responsibility for last month's bombings in Volgograd say more attacks are on the way during the Olympic Games. Terrorists say they'll target athletes and fans alike in Russia, but the Russians, for their part, are promising a secure Olympics.

Governor Christie's administration fighting back hard. Today, New Jersey's lieutenant governor is expected to categorically deny allegations that they held Superstorm Sandy recovery money. The mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey claims she was pressured to approve a Christie advisor's real estate project in order to get that aid.

Breaking news from North Korea where we're hearing this morning from Kenneth Bae. He's the American missionary jailed for more than a year. He is now, once again, asking the U.S. government to help get him released. Bae talked to reporters in Pyangyang in a news conference, saying he has not been treated badly, but admitting he had committed a crime against North Korea.

Meanwhile, former NBA star Dennis Rodman is in rehab this morning being treated for alcoholism at a facility in New Jersey. Rodman's agent says the hall-of-famer drank heavily during his recent trip to North Korea. You might recall he sang "Happy Birthday" to the country's leader, Kim Jong-un. The 52-year-old blamed alcohol for the outburst during an interview with Chris Cuomo right here on NEW DAY. He later apologized.

With apologies to Chris and our good stuff, a really touching story for you out of Tennessee. A community of neighbors in Memphis banded together to buy a new car for their long-time newspaper carrier. Jeff Cain (ph) has been bringing the commercial-appeal newspaper to the central gardens in Annesdale Park neighborhoods since 1965. Neighbors noticed that his truck had been giving him some trouble. So they raised enough money to buy him a new Ford Explorer.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: That is indeed the good stuff.

PEREIRA: And that is definition of "neighborly".

CUOMO: Of course, it came from you, which makes it even better than when I do.

PEREIRA: Hey guys, I missed you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Extra good stuff. Welcome back.

PEREIRA: Thank you.

CUOMO: Great to have you back. You are our daily dose of the good stuff, guaranteed.

So you want to know what President Obama thinks about the hot foot (ph) issues in society today? Well, there's some food for thought in a new interview as the president gives his take on the NSA leaks, legalized marijuana, the dangers of football, as well as his fears about his legacy.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is at the White House with new details. Tell us about it.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, on his legacy and perhaps giving us a little preview into what he'll say at the State of the Union address next week, President Obama said in large part at the end of his presidency, he will judge himself by whether he's been able to start rebuilding the middle class and also ladders into the middle class. But this was a very wide-ranging interview where he talked about everything from sports to, yes, marijuana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice-over): President Obama getting real in the pages of "The New Yorker" about his battles in the White House and opening up on a personal level, telling editor David Remnick in an interview that if he had a son, he wouldn't let him play football for fear of concussions. He also revealed new details of his own views on marijuana, calling pot use a vice, but adding, "I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol."

Obama described his use of marijuana in his 1995 memoir, "Dreams From my Father." And as a senator campaigning for president, he talked about Bill Clinton's infamous claim that he didn't inhale.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not something I'm proud of. It was a mistake as a young man. But, you know, (inaudible) I never understood that line. The point was to inhale. That was the point.

I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear.

KEILOR: Five years ago today, Obama was sworn in, vowing change no matter the obstacle.

OBAMA: With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come.

KEILOR: Come those storms did. Last year alone saw a controversy over NSA spying, a government shutdown, and the botched rollout of healthcare reform.

And now, battered by those struggles, a more realistic Obama, describing himself as swimming upstream, admitting he may end his second term without accomplishing some of his biggest goals. Obama likens himself to a relay swimmer in a river full of rapids.

He says, "At the end of the day, we're part of a long-running story. We just try to get our paragraph right," as he talks about reducing income inequality. It's a goal that he has recently made a hallmark of his second term.

OBAMA: We want to restore the essential promise of opportunity and upward mobility that's at the heart of America.

KEILOR: Obama also revealed that like other presidents, he will write a memoir of his time in the Oval Office, and that the first lady has already begun working on hers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILOR (on-camera): And finally, on the issue of Edward Snowden, President Obama said he doesn't have an answer on clemency, whether that's something that may happen for the NSA leaker, Chris and Kate. But he said in his personal view, what Snowden did isn't akin to something like Watergate or where there was some other cover-up. He said people were put at risk.

BOLDUAN: Brianna, thank you.

CUOMO: All right, let's take a break here on NEW DAY.

When we come back, a big fight is brewing over the postal service and its latest efforts to make some money. Workers are angry that Staples may become your new post office.

BOLDUAN: Also ahead, it could be the perfect ending to Peyton Manning's amazing record-breaking season. The Broncos are heading the Super Bowl in search of the title. But the Seattle Seahawks and their top-rated defense could get in the way.

CUOMO: The horses versus the hawks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN; Let's go around the world now, starting in Ukraine. Demonstrations continuing today in the capital city of Kiev where thousands are rallying against new laws.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin has more.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There were clashes in the streets of Kiev after thousands had gathered to protest new laws. The new legislation severely restricts people's ability to demonstrate in the Ukraine was passed after months after pro-E.U. demonstration.

Now, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been very critical of the new legislation, saying that it was rammed through parliament without transparency or accountability.

Following Sunday's clashes, the government has agreed to negotiate with the pro-E.U. demonstrators.

Back to you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Erin, thank you so much.

And in Japan, a dolphin hunt continues today despite international outrage against it and calls from many for it to stop.

Paula Hancocks has the details from Tokyo.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN COMMENTATOR: More than 200 bottle-nosed dolphins are waiting to be either captured or killed in Japan. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says that some of these dolphins are visibly bloodied and injured as they're trying to escape from the hunters.

Japan rejects international criticism, saying that the annual dolphin hunting season is an ancient local custom. The U.S. ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, has also become involved in this (inaudible), tweeting that she is, quote, "deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive-hunt dolphin killing."

Back to you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Paula, thank you.

And a growing political scandal in India where a government minister's wife was found dead after accusing him of adultery.

CNN's Sumnima Udas has more from New Dehli.

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, never has the death of a socialite garnered so much intrigue in India. Sunanda Pushkar and her high-profile husband, the Indian politician, Shashi Tharoor, were really a mainstay in New Dehli's glamorous social circle.

But last week on Twitter, she accused her husband of having an affair with a Pakistani journalist. And on Friday, she was found dead in this luxury hotel.

Now, doctors say her death was sudden and unnatural. The cause is still being investigated. But Tharoor has given his testimony and says nothing short of the truth will end the indignity that he and his wife have been subjected to.

Back to you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sumnima, thank you so much.

PEREIRA: All right, let's talk weather and Super Bowl. If you are a believer in the Farmer's Almanac, it looks like you should stock up on long johns. Now, Indra Petersons is here to talk.

Do you pay much attention, give much credence to the Farmer's Almanac?

(CROSSTALK)

INDRA PETERSONS, METEOROLOGIST: Everyone already knows from my face. They say they're 80 percent accurate, but they have literally zero analysis to prove why they're that accurate. Most meteorologists say not even close. I mean, if you look at any stats they're given, for example, the Southeast, they said it was going to be abundant or very dry, but there's so much rain, they had record rain fall.

But regardless, let's talk about what the Farmer's Almanac is saying. First of all, they're giving you three scenarios, so it's winter time. They're saying there's going to be nor'easter. If you're going to go way off-shore, you'll get snow flurries. It's going to go right up the border here, and you're gonna get heavy snow or you're gonna get rain. So regardless, that's kind of encompassing everything except for completely dry.

The forecast right now is kind of in between two and three, so right now it looks like, for the most part, average temperatures; 35, though, very cold for the Super Bowl. And temperatures, winds maybe about five to 10 miles per hour and snow. So, I mean, sure, not this huge blizzard. But regardless, they did give all three scenarios, so they're kind of covered at this point.

Let's talk about what we actually do know. It's going to be cold, and it's going to be getting colder. Look at these temperatures. They're going to be diving down over the next several days. The departures (ph) from normal are going to be good 20 degrees below normal.

So, by tomorrow morning, you're going to be talking about that wind chill again, around Minneapolis, a good 30 degrees below zero. Here's the difference, though. It's not 65 little like last time. There's a drastic difference here between cold polar air we saw and now the arctic air that's moving in. We want to show you very quickly, though, the next clipper that's making its way through. New forecast just came in could produce some heavy snow by tomorrow.

The New York City, D.C. heads up five to seven inches of snow for tomorrow. It looks like from us maybe in bed not be able to make it to work unless you stay nearby.

BOLDUAN: Breaking out those --

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Indra.

CUOMO: I'm interested in your whole almanac analysis there, because if any of those come true, it will change the odds of the game, because as we all know, one of the quarterback involve in the game --

BOLDUAN: We'll discuss. I've been -- people have told me that that -- aversion to cold is over --

CUOMO: Really? (CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: When they say that --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: I've talked to many people about this now, and they say that it's overblown. We'll discuss later.

CUOMO: Yes.

It is "Money Time." That's what's happening. Chief business correspondent, Chris Romans, in our money center. The liquor industry is attracting a lot of attention lately. Christine, another big deal this morning?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Another big industry deal this morning. It's happy hour for these investors in the studio, Chris. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the owner of Budweiser, is going to buy South Korea's Oriental Brewery for $5.8 billion. The private equity owners of Oriental Brewery are going to walk home with a $4 billion profit on that one.

Last Monday, Japan's Suntory said it would buy Jim Beam for 16 billion. So, yes, investors bullish on urban (ph) and beer.

A U.S. Postal Service employees are up in arms about a new plan from Staples. Staples would open mini-post offices in stores as part of a drive to eventually privatize the U.S. Postal Service. Here's the catch, Staples would use its own employees to man those stations and that something the American Postal Workers union is upset about. Staples declined to comment on the union concern.

Nintendo shares at one point this morning down 20 percent in Tokyo trading. Nintendo says it's going to lose, lose $335 million this fiscal year. It hit forecast a nearly billion dollar gain. Software and hardware sales were disappointing over the holiday shopping season. They slashed their forecast for the Wii consul sales, slashed them -- lot of changing taste and technology and the competition in the game's fave (ph), guys.

BOLDUAN: All right. Christine, thank you.

CUOMO: Coming up on NEW DAY, how you know that Amazon knows what you want to order before you even order?

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: It's a convoluted question and I'm putting it that was on purpose, because this is really confusing. Amazon has this new plan to stop what you want before you even order it so that you have it nearby. How did they know what you're going to order before you even order? We'll tell you.

PEREIRA: Plus, there are dunks and then there are dunks. How George taking it to the hoop, wait for it. "Must-See Moment," you'll see when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Amazon.com getting a whole lot of attention today. You thought Amazon delivering its shipments with drones which big. Check out this new promise. It knows just what you're about to order. It's calling it "anticipatory shipping." The internet giant now has a patent on getting you your stuff before you actually click buy. Here to explain what it all means because it sounds kind of convoluted is chief business correspondent, Christine Romans. Anticipatory shopping, explain what they mean by this.

ROMANS: It means they know what you're going to buy before you buy it, and they're going to ship it to you, thinking that buy the time you figure it out, it's already at your doorstep. Look, they have so much information. They can see how long the cursor is hovering over a certain item. They know what you shop before. They know what you search for.

So, the idea here is to really cut down on the shipping times to ship it before you even know. Now, this is the "Wall Street Journal" found a patent that they had applied for.

PEREIRA: So, this isn't a done deal?

ROMANS: No. It could be that maybe they think somebody else might try to do this so they want to get the patent for it or it means they really are developing a kind of a system where they can look (ph) at your data and figure out what you need before you do it.

BOLDUAN: People are not going to like the idea that they're watching where your cursor is, where your mouse is on your screen, but people also hate waiting for delivery. They want it here now, like, as in I just click purchase.

ROMANS: Imagine, Amazon has these hubs around the country, right? Maybe they ship it to the hub first and they think, perhaps, they've seen your history. They know you buy coffee, diapers, and you know, sheets this time of year, or whatever. And so, they ship it to be close to you so that in 12 or 18 hours after you actually buy it, boom, it's there in your doorstep. We do know that customers want things fast, and they don't want to pay a lot of money for it either. So, what happens if you get something that you didn't order?

PEREIRA: Right.

ROMANS: Would you maybe just keep it?

PEREIRA: That's what I hate more than anything is having to return things --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: -- good way to gain the --

(LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: -- question, though. You know, everybody's up in arms about the NSA, you know? But I'm telling you, these companies, they know things about us that we don't even know. And the question is, what are they going to use it for?

ROMANS: They're going to use it to sell you stuff. I mean -- FYI, the reason why all this is free that you can use online like your e- mail accounts and your search engines, because they're watching you so they can sell you stuff.

CUOMO: Never --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Did they?

ROMANS: No.

CUOMO: Don't remember that, that nine-page contract you just pushed that --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: That Cuomo --

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: All right. We'll move from that to our "Must-See Moment" of the day. This year's official slam dunk contest isn't even happen until next month during all-star weekend in New Orleans, but is it even necessary given this. Look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Indiana Pacer Paul George showing off some serious hang-time in gravity defying 360-degree slam dunk against my Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night. The Pacers go on to win 106- 92. One of the local newspapers in L.A. talked to him after the game and asked him about the dunk. He said, "We've got a great crowd tonight. I wanted to put on a show. Keep guys coming back."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: And he did it on Blake Griffin's turk (ph), too.

CUOMO: One of at least known superstars in the league, Mr. George.

PEREIRA: Really impressive. That clip is going to go a long way.

CUOMO: It's very hard to do. As you're getting ready this morning --

PEREIRA: Are you going to try it? CUOMO: Try to jump off and just spin around and land in a place when you don't wind up on your face.

PEREIRA: No. I don't advise it. This is Michaela's cautionary tale. You'll get hurt something. You don't need that starting your Monday off.

CUOMO: And in that pain will be --

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: How impressive that was.

BOLDUAN: That this is hard.

CUOMO: I'm going to give you a break right now to do it. Please, all this claim is apply and when we come back on NEW DAY, there are new allegations this morning about the government of New Jersey governor, Chris Christie. You know some of the accusations. They're getting worse, strong arming yet another mayor. We're going to have the latest and talk to one of his biggest supporters.

BOLDUAN: Plus, new video with more threats of a terrorist attack in Russia just 18 days before the Olympics. We're set to begin the torch arrives today in the city where dozens have already died in two brazen attacks. What are officials doing to keep the game safe? We're going to talk about it ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have the Christie administration using their authority to try and get something.

CUOMO: The Christie defense. New details on how the New Jersey governor plans to take on allegations of corruption as the latest mayor to accuse him goes to the feds. How valid are her claims?

BOLDUAN: It's back. Another round of vicious cold set to freeze out the Midwest and northeast this week. How low will temperatures go? We're tracking it all.

PEREIRA: Cool running part two? The unlikely heroes of the winter Olympics back in action. Can the Jamaican bobsled team make a triumphant return to the games? They qualified, but what they need now to make it to Sochi?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It's seven o'clock in the east on this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 20th. And new this morning, the most direct challenge to Governor Chris Christie's administration yet, this time, from a fellow Jersey politician. Hoboken mayor, Dawn Zimmer, says Chris Christie, himself, ordered the withholding of Sandy recovery funds, unless, she backed an unrelated re-development plan that he wanted.