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New Day

Dramatic Roadside Rescue Saves Baby; Bode Miller Interview; Prince of the Slopes

Aired February 21, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

Let's get over to Don Lemon for the five things to know for your new day.

Donald.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there are five important things.

Number one, eight tornadoes touching down in Illinois leaving thousands without power. The storm now threatening more than 30 million people from New England to the Gulf Coast.

Breaking news, conflicting reports on a breakthrough in violence plagued Ukraine. It is unclear if a deal has been reached, even though Ukraine's president announced on his website that he plans to follow through on some of the opposition's demands.

China urging the White House to scrap President Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama today. Beijing says holding it would severely impair relations between the U.S. and China.

And America's governors, including Chris Christie, arriving in Washington ahead of tomorrow's National Governor's Association winter meeting. Both Democrats and Republicans are looking to strengthen their appeal as midterm elections approach.

And the U.S. men's hockey team looking to even the score against Canada after the women's team blew a late lead and lost the gold to our northern neighbors. Two medals already handed out today, six more on the schedule. Closing ceremonies are on Sunday.

And we are always updating the five things you need to know. So go to newday.com for the very latest.

Back over to you guys.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Don.

An incredible roadside rescue captured on camera, qualifies as "The Good Stuff." Here's the story. A five month old stops breathing. He's in the car with his aunt. She's there taking care of him. They're stuck in traffic in Miami. First responders and strangers nearby hear the woman screaming, step up, and rush to help. They were able to keep the baby breathing until paramedics arrived. Joining us by phone is the baby's aunt, Pamela Rauseo. And on Skype we have Lucila Godoy, one of the good Samaritans who helped Pamela with CPR.

Thank you both.

First of all, aunt, can you hear me on the phone?

PAMELA RAUSEO, BABY'S AUNT (via telephone): Yes. Good morning.

CUOMO: Good.

Lucila, can you see me?

LUCILA GODOY, HELPED ADMINISTER CPR TO 5-MONTH-OLD: Yes. Hi.

CUOMO: Beautiful. Then we're ready to go.

All right, so, let's start with what was happening with the baby boy. You're in the car. You're stopped in traffic. What happens?

RAUSEO: Well, he was crying and he usually does that when the car's not moving. And all of a sudden he stopped crying, and that was the red flag to me because the car was at a standstill. And he'd had a little bit of a cold and I knew he was congested, so I got really worried. And I just pulled over. I pulled over on the left and I jumped to the back to check up on him and he was out. He was sleeping. And I touched him to stimulate him. I got no response. So I took him out of his car seat and he was completely limp and turning purple.

CUOMO: Oh, terrible. Terrible.

RAUSEO: And I tried to call 911, but I was just so nervous I -- my hands wouldn't function.

CUOMO: Terrible. They're so small. You don't know what to do. Incredible panic. You do the only natural thing, you start asking for help. And then Lucila --

RAUSEO: I was screaming for help.

CUOMO: Lucila, you're there in a car. You've got your own kid. What do you hear and how do you decide to react?

GODOY: Well, I was driving in the middle line. She was in the fast line. All of a sudden I see her and she's screaming and, you know, she's holding the baby and she's putting it up and down like knowing what - you know she was desperate.

I don't - I just stopped the car and jumped out of the car and I asked her what was going on and we tried to start working as a team at that time, when I see it, and we start doing CPR to the baby and the police officers helped with the chest compressions and the baby finally started breathing. And then it happened again like he wouldn't respond.

CUOMO: The baby stopped breathing. The baby started breathing again and then stopped again.

GODOY: Yes. Yes.

CUOMO: What did you think and how did you respond when the baby stopped breathing again?

GODOY: Well, we -- the first second we were so glad. But then again it was like the nightmare started all over again.

CUOMO: Oh.

GODOY: So we started doing it again. Pamela started doing the CPR and the officer started doing the chest compressions again. And the baby finally reacted and this time it was for a much longer until the fire rescue came.

CUOMO: And they didn't have to do CPR again? By then the baby was stable enough?

RAUSEO: Yes, at that point -

GODOY: The -

CUOMO: Pamela.

RAUSEO: When rescue came, we -- they took us to the hospital. But luckily, on their way to the hospital, the baby remained stable and we didn't have to do that again.

CUOMO: And I know for you, Pamela, you know, all you were trying to do, you just want to make sure that your nephew's OK. You promised his mother that you'd make sure everything's OK. I'm sure your heart was just beating the fastest in your life. But you did the right thing. You acted to get help. And, luckily, people stepped up, like your new best friend, Lucila -

RAUSEO: Yes.

CUOMO: Who came and did it. Now, Lucila, did you know how to give CPR to an infant of that age, because it's different than for an adult, right?

GODOY: Yes. When I was pregnant, I did a course in Venezuela for CPR and all the things that could happen to your baby. So that's when -- I didn't even think about it, I just hold the baby like it was my baby and there's -- the baby's name is the same name as my baby, Sebastian.

CUOMO: Oh.

GODOY: So when I heard her screaming Sebastian, that - that was - that was hard. So that's how it happened, yes.

CUOMO: Well, the baby's OK now, right, Pamela?

RAUSEO: Yes, he's in stable condition. CUOMO: OK. And they feel that there will be a full (INAUDIBLE) -- he had respiratory illness as a -- when he was first born, right, because he was a little premature, but they think he's going to be OK, yes?

RAUSEO: Yes. Yes. We're confident he will be fine. We just need to, you know, get to the root of exactly what's causing these issues for him.

CUOMO: All right. And you and Lucila, Pamela and Lucila, you now have a bond. Do you think you'll see each other again?

RAUSEO: Hopefully, yes. I'm sure Lucila would love to, at some point, get to see Seba against once he's home.

GODOY: I would love to. Yes, I would love to.

PAMELA: She (ph) has my number. I have hers. So I'm sure we'll be in touch.

CUOMO: Well, Pamela, thank you for doing what you could to help your nephew, and, Lucila, thank you for stepping up and doing something that could have made all the difference. And now little Seba is OK. This is a great story and a great ending, most importantly. Thank you, Pamela, thank you, Lucila, for being with us. Give Seba a big hug and kiss for us.

RAUSEO: We'll do. Thank you.

GODOY: Thank you.

CUOMO: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: It breaks -- it breaks your heart and melts your heart at the same time. Thank God for strangers with big hearts.

CUOMO: Right. And also, remember, you know, new parents out there, you've got to take the course about CPR -

BOLDUAN: Because of a minor (ph).

CUOMO: Even if you think you know how to do it. With an infant that age, you don't do it on their back, you have to do it on - you have, you have to do it with the compression on their back. There's a whole different way to deal with an infant. It's so important to learn because you never know.

BOLDUAN: Sweet little (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: Well, it looked like they were doing it the traditional way, but it worked. You know, and they were breathing in the mouth. Now they teach you not even to breathe in the mouth.

LEMON: Right.

CUOMO: But whatever they did worked there and thank God that's all that matters. But we should all know what to do in an emergency. LEMON: What are the odds of Sebastian/Sebastian?

CUOMO: Right. Look, it makes you think.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: You know, a lot of people say there are no coincidences.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: Sometimes you're put into a situation for a reason. All we know is Lucila stepped up and the baby's OK.

LEMON: Yes, that's good stuff.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

CUOMO: That is the good stuff indeed.

Coming up on NEW DAY, speaking of the good stuff, a guy who's the good stuff. He made America proud in Sochi. An injury ended his Olympics early, but his loss, our gain. We're joined by legendary skier Bode Miller right after the break.

CUOMO: And another skier we've been talking about for you, Prince Hubertus Von Hohenlohe, Mexico's only winter Olympian. Remember we introduced you to this flamboyant styled man just before the games. Well now he's back. And just before his first and only Olympic skiing event, he's going to join us once again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: I think that's a universal man. I'll take it as well, thank you very much.

Welcome back to NEW DAY.

He made history in Sochi, Bode Miller. I know this is the best title you've always wanted, the oldest alpine skier to win an Olympic medal. And his bronze win in the super g event increases his total to a U.S. record of six, the second highest total for a male ski racer. Bode is here in studio already. Don Lemon has already stolen your medal.

LEMON: Look at this thing.

BODE MILLER, SIX-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: Yes.

BOLDUAN: You need to be very careful.

LEMON: Isn't that cool?

MILLER: Yes. It's hard to make off with those things. They're heavy. You get tired before you got out of the studio.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE) take it off.

LEMON: I said -- I said, Bode, can I see that? And he slid it across the table like air hockey. Can I - he goes like this.

BOLDUAN: Oh, let's - Don. OK. Because I've got to (INAUDIBLE). Congratulations.

MILLER: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for being here. What does this medal mean for you? I'm sure every medal matters, but was this one extra special?

MILLER: I mean they're all different.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

MILLER: It really is. Going to the Olympics alone is really unique. But at my age now, I wasn't really sure if I was going to come back from my injury healthy enough to compete again. I mean that injury that I had has been a career ender for a lot of people and the surgery is kind of one of those ones where you don't know if it's going to work until afterwards. So I went through the year and a half or two years of rehab and prepared and really was just hoping for the best. And to come into the season, ski the way I did, I really was building well and was able to use some of my experience, ancient years that I put out -

BOLDUAN: You're so old. What are you - are you 30 -

LEMON: You're 36.

MILLER: I'm 36.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CUOMO: But he puts (INAUDIBLE) on his body.

MILLER: It sounds (INAUDIBLE) when you say that I'll be 50 in 14 years. So less time - less time than since I raced my first Olympics till now and I'll be 50 years old. (INAUDIBLE).

LEMON: I'll be 50 in three years, thank you very much.

CUOMO: But he's been putting it on his body in a unique way for 18 years, you know, at least and, you know, that's a long time and you've done it at a high level and you're known as a guy who goes to the edge so often when you're skiing. What has it been like to carry the mantle of American male skiing for as long as you have? Because not since the Mahre brothers, dating myself, has one person really held like the, he's our best, he's our hope. What's that like?

MILLER: You know, it's been kind of interesting because everyone always talks about the American mentality in the big games. Like we've stepped up more often than any other country and performed at our very best or beyond it in the big games. I mean, Andrew Weibrecht is a perfect example. But we're kind of known for that.

So, in a way, it fits my style because I tend to go pretty hard on my - on regular race days also. But to be able to kind of fit in my natural feel or my approach to ski racing and it represents the U.S. the way that kind of the U.S. likes to be represented, that we don't hold back and we step up in the big games and we're -

CUOMO: Big and bold.

MILLER: You know, even if we haven't won 10 races coming in, we know or we think we're going to win on that given day. And we tend to do it more often than not, which has - you know, has been great to be a part of and it's fun to be, you know, able to represent that kind of attitude, because I really think it's what the big games are about.

LEMON: Don't take this the wrong way but you realize that every four years like people think about the Olympics every four years, your name comes up a lot every four years. This time even more and I don't want to talk about the interview or what have you, but now you're even more in the public eye. You're top of mind now.

Has it affected you coming back? How do people react to you after the, you know, the last couple weeks that you're there?

MILLER: You know, it's another one of those things, when you're over there, you're so isolated. Like, it is almost like you have no idea how the rest of the world is perceiving what's going on in your little area because we're just part of the team. I had my wife there, my own little support crew. We're all just trying to get through the best we can, we're trying to prepare for the next race. We're, you know, doing the sort of routine and being prepared.

The rest of the world is experiencing it through the media and from thousands of miles away. It's happened a few times where I'm really surprised by what the overall impression of the Olympics is when I return and kind of see it through everyone else's eyes.

And I think that's an area where experience helps because you kind of -- you can feel it a little bit more whereas in the beginning, I was so disconnected. I saw it only through my own eyes. That kind of, I think, hampered me a little bit.

LEMON: Can I ask you -- are you different now?

MILLER: Yes, absolutely. I mean the experiences you get from being in that kind of spotlight with that kind of pressure, and then dealing with consequences of your actions and all the different stuff, it's just that's growing up. But it is growing up in a like hyper- accelerated version because you have to deal with things that almost no one else would have to.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: What's next? Have you thought about it?

MILLER: Well, you know --

BOLDUAN: I know --

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: I have a pretty busy life. Actually, I saw Wesley Clark on just before. I am one of the partners in the grilled cheese truck, which I am really excited about.

I wanted to talk a little about the Paralympics, which is on now. It follows the Olympics in every venue after we leave, they come. And I think they're really underappreciated. It is kind of one of the things that I looked at moving into. I think this push between this Olympics and the end of my career or the next Olympics is something I really want to focus on.

But the grilled cheese truck, to be able to give a franchise opportunity for returning vets I think is just a really cool thing that I want to put energy into for a little while now and see if we can get that really cranking.

CUOMO: It's great that you're using fame for the right reasons, and just in skiing alone, you mean so much to the whole culture here in the country. My kids coming up now skiing, we go out to Jackson Hole -- Bode is a god everywhere but when you hear his name --

BOLDUAN: Are you kidding me? My husband never cares about the interviews we do. He was very excited that you were coming on the show today.

CUOMO: It's great that you're going to use it to extend your influence in the situations that matter like the Special Olympics, like helping returning vets. Just awesome -- that's being a true champion.

BOLDUAN: Great to meet you.

LEMON: How are you? You feeling better now?

MILLER: Yes, my body is -- I mean managing your body is one of the things that's tough as you get older. I mean it happens to everybody but you know, managing my injuries and stuff is part of the challenge.

BOLDUAN: Congratulations.

CUOMO: Well, thank you for being with us, Bode Miller but when it comes to having to manage your body and dealing with it as you get older, you have nothing on our next guest Bode and I know he's a friend of yours.

BOLDUAN: Style wise.

CUOMO: When we come back we're going to meet one of the most decorated Olympians ever. We're then going to come back to one of our favorites. There he is. Do you remember the prince, the only Mexican athlete at the winter Olympics? Prince Hubertus Von Hohenlohe is with us.

BOLDUAN: They'll have yet to learn how to say his name.

CUOMO: He is getting ready for his jumping competition and he's joining us here on NEW DAY before the big day. Your buddy Bode says "hello", Prince.

Silent before a competition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: He is cool like that. Perhaps he is the -- one of the coolest and most colorful and most interesting Olympian there is in Sochi right now. He is back with us just 24 hours before he competes. His name Prince Hubertus Von Hohenlohe -- the sole athlete representing Mexico in Sochi -- it's good to see you again Prince. Bode Miller was just saying "I know the prince. I love him. I gave him a pair of my skis once and they broke his leg."

PRINCE HUBERTUS VON HOHENLOHE, OLYMPIC ATHLETE: That's true, it's true. It's not a good thing to remember before the slalom, but that's OK.

BOLDUAN: So your big event is coming up this weekend. What have you been doing while you're in Sochi? What's it like?

VON HOHENLOHE: Thanks to you guys, I've had the biggest interview slalom of my life. If I am already so tired, that if I do well tomorrow, it is going to be my fault. And if I do badly, I'll blame it all on you guys.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

VON HOHENLOHE: My little CNN striptease has kind of made me very, very tired.

BOLDUAN: You're the one that did that striptease. You're the one -- what was the line you used, you were some combination of euro Mexican euro trash. That was not my line -- that was yours. You brought this on yourself.

VON HOHENLOHE: It's true. In a way, it is true. But I mean you kind of pushed me to do something special and the worst are the Japanese, they went totally bananas. They're such fashion victims. And they just totally kind of love me. I don't know why and I can't speak Japanese. I don't know what to interview with them, so it is really like lost in translation the whole thing.

CUOMO: What has made Sochi different for you other than the media onslaught? There you are -- we have you in your mariachi outfit right now going down, form looks great. The suit looks great. But how has this Olympics been different for you?

VON HOHENLOHE: Well, listen, I think the best thing about the Olympics is to learn about cultures and to kind of you know -- they teach us something and we'll teach them something. That was very interesting already from the opening ceremony to what they built here. And I must say they've done a great effort, except that what is around town is not so much fun, but everything surrounding the Olympics has been great.

I would say it is one of the top two Olympics I have been to, maybe Little Hammer was more winter and more colorful. But this is maybe one of the best ones. They've done a good job. Everybody is in a really good mood.

Up in the mountains, we had a lot of kind of injuries because it is kind of dangerous. They have huge jumps and it has kind of been a lot of people -- I'm sorry, I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry for this. But we had a great time. I must say that coming in, we expected something different, and it's really been much better than we expected.

LEMON: You don't think -- has the weather affected you? Because I wanted to ask Bode, we ran out of time. A lot of athletes especially the people competing in skiing are saying that, you know, the weather has really thrown them off their game.

VON HOHENLOHE: Yes. It's difficult. I mean I think tomorrow, I have to ski smart to be able to get down because it is steep, it is wet, and it is very difficult conditions to ski well. And maybe with experience you can make it down. Bode had a great run at everything. I think maybe he could have just done one less training run in downhill and kept his forces, he would have been up there for the gold, but I don't know.

It's so easy to say from far away, but it changes the whole time. You expect it to be soft then it is kind of icy then changes to again medium soft. So it is never consistent. It is always kind of changing. And that's very difficult for the preparation of the material and for you to ski.

CUOMO: I'll tell you what, Prince, you know what I'm smelling here? Experience is going to matter. The veterans have an advantage.

VON HOHENLOHE: No.

CUOMO: I'll tell you skiing in Mexico, coming from Mexico this may be just what you need, that warm weather instinct to deal with the slushy snow. This could be your advantage, Prince.

VON HOHENLOHE: Yes, it is my (inaudible) style tomorrow that will outlast all the other exotic countries.

CUOMO: I don't know if that's allowed to be said on television.

VON HOHENLOHE: I think so. I really think --

LEMON: Well, we said Von Hohenlohe, so I think we can --

CUOMO: Prince, we wish you the best. We'll be following you with rapt attention. I hope you do well and that you're safe and that you'll join us on the show afterwards. Good luck, my friend.

BOLDUAN: Cheering you on, Prince, good luck.

VON HOHENLOHE: That's very cool. And my mariachi suit will go directly from the course into the after show party because it is like a tuxedo. I love that, too.

CUOMO: If you have your best finish ever, I will wear the mariachi suit on air. Take care, Prince. BOLDUAN: Done.

CUOMO: That's all for us on NEW DAY. There's a lot of news out there, specifically efforts to try to reach a deal and end the violence in Ukraine.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: So you're going to get that just ahead in the "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

LEMON: We need to hire that guy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)