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Climate Change Report; Flight 370 Meeting; Justice Delayed or Justice Denied?

Aired May 06, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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


JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: When he sits down with a group of meteorologists from around the country trying to get the word out that the weather for this country is going to be getting worse and worse over the coming decades as a result of man-made climate change.

Here's the report right here. We even have it in color for you, Kate. The is the new National Climate Assessment from the White House. It's up on the website globalchange.gov right now. And it talks about what the country can expect over the coming decades if action is not taken right away.

Here are some of the warnings from this White House in this report. That sea levels will rise one to four feet by the year 2100. That intense heat waves and droughts in the southwest are on the way. An increase in storm intensity and rainfall rates. And even ice-free summers in the Arctic Ocean over the coming decades if nothing is done.

The White House already pointing out that temperatures have gone up at least, or almost, two degrees since the year 1895, but that most of that has occurred in the last 30 or 40 years. So they're trying to really drive home the point that there's really an urgent case for action. And you're going to hear the president talking about that later today when he sits down for those interviews.

But as you know, Kate, this is fraught with politics. Republicans accusing the president of waging a war on coal and a lot of nervous Democrats running for re-election who wish this president would do more on the side of developing energy resources in this country, and not really going after climate change so much.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Kind of about (ph) both of those points, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: So the White House puts out this report. It's a big report. Described as kind of the biggest assessment in probably a decade on climate change.

ACOSTA: Right. BOLDUAN: On a new website. It's a big push by the administration. What are they actually going to plan to do about it in response to their findings and how are they going to pull it off because we know Republicans have long fought environmental regulations by this administration?

ACOSTA: Right. Well, I think this week is sort of the public awareness campaign. You know, one thing that we do have coming up from this White House is in June they're going to be imposing new limits on coal fired power plants across the country. Those power plants, the energy sector, Republicans up on Capitol Hill, they've really fought that tooth and nail, but the courts have really cleared the way for that to go into effect.

As you know, Kate, the president's climate agenda has been stalled in Congress. He's not going to get cap and trade. So what they've tried to do is do things through executive action. Sort of try to raise fuel efficiency standards, that sort of thing. And you're going to hear the president say later on this week that he's got commitments from private companies to use more solar energy, to use better building methods. Those are the sort of small ball things that the president can do without the authorization from Congress.

But, of course, Kate, as you know, this big issue of the Keystone oil pipeline is weighing out there and the president has basically kicked that ball down the field, has said he's not going to make a decision until this court dispute is settled out in Nebraska, where the route of that pipeline.

That has environmentalists happy, but it also has a lot of nervous red state Democrats running for re-election and these key Senate races saying, hey, wait a minute, we need that approved. So this is a very tricky balancing act for this White House when it comes to climate change, Kate.

BOLDUAN: It's a tough issue for any president, that's for sure, especially with the divided Congress.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: Jim Acosta at the White House. New details coming out of the White House just now on a climate change report going up on its website. We'll be working through that throughout the day. Jim, thank you.

ACOSTA: You bet.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, coming up on NEW DAY, coverage of the search for Flight 370 has slowed because this search has slowed. There's a big meeting tomorrow to figure out what they will do next. We're going to bring you some inside scoop on what may be in store.

And listen to this one. A man was sentenced to prison time but he never wound up serving the time because of a clerical mistake. And then, when the system finds out, they want to send him to prison 13 years later. But a judge steps in. We're going to tell you the story. He's joining us live to tell us about a wild ride.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Go to have you with us.

Officials from Malaysia, China and Australia meeting tomorrow. They're going to determine the framework for future Flight 370 search operations. They're expected to re-examine data and determine where this search area will be, among other things. Here to break down, oh, all the possibilities, Miles O'Brien, CNN aviation analyst, and David Soucie, also a CNN aviation analyst and author of "Why Planes Crash" and former FAA inspector.

It's so great to have you both here with us.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Good to be here, Michaela.

PEREIRA: This is kind of delight. In fact, you two are meeting for the first time in person.

O'BRIEN: I thought he was a holograph, but he's real.

PEREIRA: Well, he still may be. We don't know that.

All right, so let's talk about this new strategy. International panel of experts coming together, reinvigorate, new eyes, new tools, probably more money. Let's start with the data. They're likely going to reanalyze the data. Do you assume that we're going to see a big variance in what we've seen, David, or the flight path will change?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: You know, I think it's more about the assumptions. The data, I don't think, is going to change that much. They're not going to - they're going to look at it. They've looked at that seven different times. They've made adjustments. But I think it's the assumptions of how fast it was flying and how high it was flying, I think those are the things they're going to look at again to see if they have information about that from other countries that haven't told us things yet. So I think that's mostly what the changes would happen if they do.

PEREIRA: But the assumptions would change the math, which could change the outcome, right, Miles?

O'BRIEN: I think it's really important we have fresh eyes on this data.

PEREIRA: Yes, agreed, agreed.

O'BRIEN: And I mean outside the investigation. We've been calling for a long time that Inmarsat releases the data. Now, there's all kinds of proprietary reasons and crash investigation protocols and so forth.

PEREIRA: Yes.

O'BRIEN: But, you know, we're at a point now where we need some fresh eyes on this.

PEREIRA: We need to get onto it.

O'BRIEN: Why not have a blue ribbon panel created that would sign non- disclosure agreements and do a proper peer review of this and challenge every assumption?

PEREIRA: It doesn't make sense them dragging their heels on this. What do you think that's about, Miles?

O'BRIEN: I - you know, it's just the way crash investigations are done. You've got the Malaysian culture, which is not an open society on top of that. And as a result, a lot of this has been held back. Inmarsat also has propriety interest in this as well.

PEREIRA: Which I think most people understand that. Yes.

O'BRIEN: We get that. But there's got to be a way to do this without, you know, letting the world know their secrets.

PEREIRA: Right.

O'BRIEN: I think this can be done.

PEREIRA: Do you think it can be done, David?

SOUCIE: Well, yes. One of the most challenging things in my investigations I've done is that its asset management, resource management. So the difficulty in releasing that is that then you have to react to it. You know, if you're going to ask a question, you have to be expected to answer it.

PEREIRA: Yes.

SOUCIE: So if you're going to put it out there and say, let's see what you guys think, you have to be prepared to answer those things when they come back to you. So that takes resources and maybe that's what it is, they're (INAUDIBLE).

PEREIRA: Well, let's talk about the resources. It's interesting when you say talk about, you know, reinvigorating the plan, re-assessing the data and then bringing in some new tools. And you just talked about the logistics of coordinating something like that. I was imagining that is a massive undertaking to coordinate all of those resources, especially if they're bringing in additional ones, and more towed ping locators and such. Talk about the management of that.

SOUCIE: Well, it's mostly right now about positioning. When do you send the - when do you send the Ocean Shield back out? What do you put on it when you go out? You don't want to be stuck again, like they were last time, with just the Bluefin.

PEREIRA: Just the Bluefin.

SOUCIE: Because they don't know how deep it is, they don't know what they might encounter. This area hasn't been mapped yet. PEREIRA: (INAUDIBLE).

O'BRIEN: Right.

SOUCIE: So they need to make sure they have all the tools necessary before they go out so they don't waste another week going back and forth. That's, I think, the most concerning.

O'BRIEN: We know more about the surface of the moon -

PEREIRA: I was just about to ask you about that.

O'BRIEN: Than we do at the depths that we're going. So, at the very least, we need to get a good map.

PEREIRA: Yes.

O'BRIEN: If there's a deep valley there, for example, that might explain how those ping noises propagated over such great distances. You know that - that - submariners use that to spoof other submarines. And they can - those noises can travel many, many kilometers, in the hundreds of kilometers, under the right circumstances. So the fact that those pings were heard in that one spot, we can't presume that they're just right below there. And that's part of what has to happen.

PEREIRA: Because, again, we know the ocean and the water plays, and the currents play with the sound, et cetera, (INAUDIBLE).

SOUCIE: Except for that two-hour - except for that two-hour one. I think that's the most probable one, but they couldn't get there. It was too deep. So I think that's why they went for the center one. It wasn't necessarily the best one, it was the best one they had with the tools that they had onboard.

PEREIRA: I want you to both -- since we have the benefit - it's like armchair athletes on Monday, you know? What would you like to see -- aside from some of this data being let out for peer review -- what else would you like to see in the new strategy, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Well, I -- fresh eyes on the data for sure. I would like to see - you know, it's time to step up the game and get the resources on site, because there's only a handful of devices that can do this tank and they're still not there yet. There's not a lot of time to do that before winter.

PEREIRA: It's going to take some time to get them (INAUDIBLE).

O'BRIEN: And it may not happen until after winter, which is a sad statement.

PEREIRA: Right.

O'BRIEN: So maybe this is a good time to rethink, think about all that. And then I, you know, I think, as marching forward, I think there has to be an honest appraisal of who's going to pay the bills here, you know, because - PEREIRA: $60 million seems low to me, too.

O'BRIEN: Yes. I mean it's going to -- the bills are going to run up -

PEREIRA: They are.

O'BRIEN: And no one -- they're very reluctant to talk about this thing. Who's going to pay this? Because there's families involved in all this -

PEREIRA: Sure.

O'BRIEN: And this is an important factor.

SOUCIE: Well, I think because they're in Canberra (ph), it's really a good clue, because that's where their capital is, that's where the cabinet is. So they're having this meeting there. I suspect that this is a plan by Australia. What I'd like to see is one ICC, one inspector in charge of this whole thing. Not one for the search. Not one for the gathering of the information. Not -- that's what's happening. All this stuff, nobody has everything in one place.

PEREIRA: Right.

SOUCIE: So one hand doesn't know what the other's doing. I think Angus Houston's done an excellent job. I think I'd made, if it was me, I would vote for him to take over the entire investigation. It's within Malaysia's purview to release (INAUDIBLE) and delegate this accident and the entire investigation to them and I think that's what needs to happen in this.

PEREIRA: Let's put David and Miles in charge and let's just put in Mary Schiavo to keep you both honest (INAUDIBLE), don't you think?

SOUCIE: I think it's a chorus (ph).

O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE).

PEREIRA: It's really a delight to have you both here. Thanks so much for sticking with us and covering this with us, OK, Miles, David.

SOUCIE: Thanks, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Kate, Chris, over to you.

BOLDUAN: All right, coming up next on NEW DAY, if you do the crime, you do the time, but should you have to do the time if the system completely forgets you for more than a decade and then comes calling? This is a real story. An incredible one. And the man at the center of it all, Mike Anderson, is joining us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: This may be a story unlike any other I've ever heard in this category before. Here it is. Back in 2000, Mike Anderson was convicted of armed robbery. That's not unusual. And he did the crime, but what about the time? His sentence was 13 years but he never went to prison. Why? Because no one took him there. Why? Because the state already thought he was in prison, because of a clerical error.

So what does he do during the time he was free? He just keeps on robbing, right? No. He marries. He raises a family. He starts his own business and was an upstanding member of the community. So then 13 years later the state realizes its mistake and decides to put him in prison to serve the original sentence, but a judge steps in just yesterday, recognizes Anderson's exemplary behavior -- that's the judge's word during his 13 years of freedom and releases him. That is the story.

The man is Mike Anderson and he is here with us, with considerably less hair on you than you had in that video.

Bizarre tale.

MIKE ANDERSON, CONVICTED OF ARMED ROBBERY: Yes.

CUOMO: So let's take all the interesting turns from the beginning. You robbed the Burger King. Why?

ANDERSON: I was young, and that's something I don't even like to talk about, because to me once again it does a disservice to the people that were involved especially the gentleman. It's something that he's been trying to, you know, get over for the last 14 years or put behind him and to have this out there, him to have to relive this, it does a disservice to him.

CUOMO: So that was you in your past?

ANDERSON: That's not who I was. It was just something that should have never happened.

CUOMO: But it happened.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: You get tried.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: You're convicted.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: You think you're going to prison.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: 13 years.

ANDERSON: Yes. CUOMO: What was that doing to your head in terms of what life was going to be like for you?

ANDERSON: At that point in my life it was, you know, something I knew I couldn't fathom 13 years. I always thought it was harsh. There's people out there, I've seen guys on second-degree murder that had ten years. They pled out to ten years, were offered ten years. It was just something I just couldn't fathom at any time.

CUOMO: So you're going through the appeals process. It's not unusual, especially if you have a lawyer and a little money to stay out pending the appeal of a sentence. And then once it's all done, you have to go. That's what you thought was going to happen to you.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: So that day comes. The appeals are exhausted. You're supposed to go. What happens?

ANDERSON: What happened was my attorney was at court, it was my attorney, the judge, and the prosecuting attorney for St. Charles. The judge asked both of them where is Mr. Anderson? My attorney handed her his briefs and physically told here Mr. Anderson is currently out on bond. At that time the prosecuting attorney from St. Charles stood up and said "No, my office checked. He's currently in Fulton with the Department of Correction." And that's where they thought I was.

So a couple of days -- actually that day I called my attorney to ask how court went. He said, "Wait a minute, you're not in prison?" I said, "No, I'm at home." He said "Well you need to come in and talk to me."

And so after about two days I went in and talked to him. He said, "Man, for the last two days I've called the Department of Correction, I've called the marshal's office. The Department of Correction is saying you're there. I'm trying to tell them that you're not. The marshal's office won't pick you up because there's no warrant for you. It's a mistake. You know, I don't know how they made this mistake. They're going to figure out their mistake. So be prepared to be picked up.

CUOMO: So a dozen years go by.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: How often was this hanging over your head, that today's the day? Today's the day?

ANDERSON: For the first couple of years, it was a thought that was always in the back of my mind. But as the years went on, it didn't get easier. It just got -- just seemed a little bit more natural, or you know, just more, have they forgotten about me? It was just -- I had to just do the right thing. I had to prove to everyone that that wasn't who I was, and I can do the right thing. CUOMO: That's interesting. How motivating was it to you to know that today may be your last chance to prove yourself? Right? Because every day could have been the day that they yoked you back to do your time?

ANDERSON: Yes, yes.

CUOMO: So what was that like, as motivation?

ANDERSON: You know, them pulling me back was motivation, but my main motivation was, I turned my life around. I gave my life to the Lord, and I didn't want to do anything that displeased God. I didn't want to do anything that was disfavorable to him and that was my motivation.

CUOMO: So you didn't need the fear of going to prison? You had already decided to make a change in yourself?

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: So years go by. You're raising -- you're doing all the right things.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: Tell me about the call where they say, "We made a mistake."

ANDERSON: Well, there was no call. There was a knock at the door. It was about 6:30 in the morning. It was me and my two-year-old daughter at the house. I heard the knock on the door. I was at the top of the stairs just getting out of bed. I saw the shadows and I said, who is it? They said "U.S. Marshals open up or it's coming down." And I said, "Hold on. Let me turn the alarm off." I turned the alarm off. As soon as I unlocked the door, they already pushed the door open.

I put my arms up and said "Hey, man, you got the wrong guy." And they said, "No, we don't." He kind of looked down and he said, "Hey man, you remember 13 years ago." And soon as he said that -- that's when it hit me.

CUOMO: What goes through your head? What goes through your heart when you hear those words?

ANDERSON: My family. That was the only thing I could think about was my wife and children. What is my wife going to do, you know? How is my family going to react, you know, especially my children?

CUOMO: Did your wife know about what had happened?

ANDERSON: No, she didn't know.

CUOMO: Oh. So she had never heard this story?

ANDERSON: No. She had never heard the story itself, no.

CUOMO: So now what happens?

ANDERSON: Now they take me to Fulton. They took me straight from the house. They took me downtown. The minimum security they were told to hand me over to the nearest Department of Corrections. Downtown on Broadway didn't want me. They said, "We don't deal with this. We're not taking this guy." So after about a half hour they argued with them. They argued on the phone, they took me to the federal building.

CUOMO: They were still messed up.

ANDERSON: They were still messed up.

They called the city, the County of St. Charles, told them "Hey, we don't house people overnight. We just house them for court. If you guys aren't here by 2:00 we're letting this guy out at the front door."

CUOMO: You get a judge who actually has a mind for justice being about a rehabilitative process. Right?

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: Because not all of them believe that.

ANDERSON: Exactly.

CUOMO: But this one does. Were you surprised that the judge took a look at your life and said you know what? This was the goal anyway. You know, this is the unknown reality for people who wind up being incarcerated is what could they have made of their lives?

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: Were you surprised that you got a break?

ANDERSON: I wasn't surprised. I walked by faith this whole time -- my family and I. And I was just praying and believing that we had favor from God and from man.

And it was pleasant. I paid attention to everything he said. He was very articulate. He was in detail -- he detailed the law. He explained everything to us. But once he said you're free to go, everything else went out.

CUOMO: That's all you needed to hear.

ANDERSON: That's all I needed to hear.

CUOMO: Two quick things. People will say, no, you did the crime you should have done the time. You're a righteous man. You follow the word of God, you know you're supposed to pay for your sins. It's unfair that you didn't do it. What do you say?

ANDERSON: You know, people are always going to have hardened hearts. And there's -- I can't change their view. God can't even change their view if they're hearts are hardened. And you know, I just -- I just hope that they can instead of looking at what happened now, 15 years now, I hope they can look at what I've been doing for the last 14 years of my life.

CUOMO: How old were you when this happened?

ANDERSON: 22 -- just turned 22.

CUOMO: Last question.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: What were you more scared of? Doing that time in jail or what your wife was going to do to you when you got out and found out you hadn't been telling about this?

ANDERSON: I was more afraid of the wife. I was more afraid of losing my wife, my children, my home, everything.

CUOMO: Right -- I mean it's part joke, part not. You built all of this stuff and you could have lost it in just a flash.

ANDERSON: Yes.

CUOMO: But you didn't.

ANDERSON: I didn't. Thank God.

CUOMO: What's the big dream going forward? Because now this is done -- it's not there anymore. You've got to have a new nightmare.

ANDERSON: Yes. I just want to get back to work. I want to get back to using my hands, using the gifts, qualities and talents that God blessed me with and give my wife a well-needed vacation.

CUOMO: That's right. She's got a lot of leverage here.

ANDERSON: Yes, a lot of leverage.

CUOMO: It's a different kind of prison -- different kind of prison now.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Leverage for new handbags, new jewelry -- everything.

CUOMO: Mr. Anderson --

ANDERSON: Thank you. I appreciate you.

CUOMO: -- you are a truly free man and I appreciate you telling us this story, because this is the myth -- right? What could people do with their lives if they were given another chance?

ANDERSON: Exactly.

CUOMO: We usually never find out. We did with you. ANDERSON: Thank you.

CUOMO: Thank you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right. It's time for "The Good Stuff". Today's edition -- we often have to tell you about bad stuff coming from our elected officials -- right. Here's a story about one doing something good. Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber was heading to dinner when he spotted a woman lying prone on the street. What does he do? He jumps out of his car. He tells his security to call 911, and he goes right to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely a surprise to see him there. The governor was able to assist the ventilations and it was great work by the governor. I was proud to see him do his work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Big work and training -- EMT training in his background, that's why the governor kept performing CPR until EMS arrived. They say if it wasn't for the governor, the young lady would be dead. The governor, who didn't want to take credit at all eventually issued a statement through his office saying "The governor is glad that the woman is OK and wishes her well. He was very glad he was in the right place at the right time to be able to help her."

He was. But he also did the right thing. That's why you're "The Good Stuff". You get a lot of criticism when you're in politics. You should take the praise when it comes.

The woman suffering from a drug overdose has addiction issues. Now because of the chance that the governor gave her --

PEREIRA: Getting some help.

CUOMO: -- she's going to get help.

BOLDUAN: That's what we like to hear.

CUOMO: "The Good Stuff".

Ladies and gentlemen it is time for "NEWSROOM" with Ms. Carol Costello. Carol, looking beautiful in blue today.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hmm, I appreciate that. I'll take that. Thank you, Chris Cuomo. You have a great day, and all of you, too.

And a great day to all of you, too. I don't want to leave you out.

Good morning to all of you. NEWSROOM starts now.