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New Day

Jeter Will Bat Leadoff for American League Tonight; Deadly Train Derailment; NFL Investigated Over Prescription Drug Use; Israel Launches an Air Strike on Gaza

Aired July 15, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on NEW DAY: breaking news, a terrible subway crash at rush hour in Moscow. Ten killed, over hundred injured, many now fighting for their lives. We're going to take you inside that crash.

Plus, did the NFL drug up its players to keep them on the field, despite knowing the risks? An explosive question the DEA is investigating that very possibility. A lawsuit is in the works. We've got a former player. We're going to get his perspective straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you back with us on NEW DAY.

Let's take a look at your headlines.

We begin with breaking news. Israel has accepted an Egyptian proposed cease-fire with Hamas militants in Gaza. However, Hamas will not sign on and is still firing rockets towards Israel, 35 so far this morning.

They say the resistance will continue until their demands are met despite a death toll approaching 100. Meantime, three Israelis appeared in court in connection with the killing of a Palestinian teenager as revenge for murders of three Israeli teens.

A bloody night north of Baghdad as Iraqi forces launch a new assault on Sunni militants to try to retake Tikrit, the two sides exchanging fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in one village. A dozen bodies have been found. Meanwhile, Iraq's parliament is in session this morning trying desperately to form a new unity government.

More trouble for Oscar Pistorius, so-called Blade Runner was involved in some sort of a scuffle at a Johannesburg nightclub this weekend. Pistorius' rep says an argument broke out after a man confronted him with questions about his murder trial. The man reportedly pushed the double amputee over. Bouncers stepped in and separated the two men. The Olympic star is out on bail while he stands trial for the shooting death of his girlfriend.

And he did it again. Oakland A's slugger Yoenis Cespedes winning baseball's home run derby for the second straight year. He's the first repeat winner of the all star contest in 15 years. In all, he belted 30 homers, just like that, bam, bam, bam and beat the Reds' Todd Frazier in the final round, just like that, bam.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's one of those live long dreams to hit a home run and dunk a basketball.

PEREIRA: I'm with you.

BOLDUAN: Never happen. You hear me?

PEREIRA: I got those three things on my bucket list.

CUOMO: Let alone to do it a dozen times in a row. They say on baseball the speed with which the ball leaves the stadium is a big indication of power.

BOLDUAN: OK.

CUOMO: There's a guy Dave Winfield before your time.

PEREIRA: I know Dave Winfield.

CUOMO: He used to look like line drives, big all-star, this guy, Cespedes knocks the ball out so fast you barely have time to cheer. He's --

BOLDUAN: Doesn't the field matter. They're like long fields and short fields.

CUOMO: Altitude, all these different things, but it's about your ability to muscle pitches out of the stadium. They were going so fast he couldn't follow them. He was hitting them, he's like, where is it? Oh, it's already in the stand.

BOLDAUN: Did I hit another one?

CUOMO: Amazing, amazing.

Huge achievement, no question about it, but probably going to be overshadowed at the all-star game this year and here's why. Tonight at the game, one of the brightest stars ever to shine may be making his last turn on the national stage. We're, of course, discussing Derek Jeter, The Captain, the legend of the storied New York Yankees.

We bring in Andy Scholes with this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Everyone will tip their hat tonight to be sure. Yes, my friend?

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, they certainly will, Chris. It's going to be a special moment. I'm not even a Yankees fan and I'm really looking forward to this.

Jeter will be hitting lead-off for American League squad tonight, so you can guarantee when he comes to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, there's going to be one long-standing ovation. Now, Nike, they have filmed an awesome tribute video for tonight. It's going to air in the commercial break before Jeter's first at-bat and here's a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Now batting for the Yankees, number 2, Derek Jeter. Number 2.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The ad, you know, from Red Sox fans to Mets fans, everyone realizes that Jeter has meant to the game over the year. Tiger Woods, Jay-Z, Michael Jordan, all make appearances in the ad, along with Jeter's mom, she's in there as well and it will be a pretty special moment when he comes to the plate. Fans are looking forward to it as well as players on the field.

Troy Tulowitzki will be the starting shortstop for the National League squad, he said Jeter is the reason he is a shortstop. He's the reason he wears number 2, and it's going to be awesome to be on the field for this moment when Jeter comes to play in the first inning.

PEREIRA: (INAUDIBLE) couldn't tip his hat.

CUOMO: There's a generation of players who wear 2, you know, because for a long time the dream of a baseball player was to be shortstop for the New York Yankees, and this guy has done it the longest and the best it's ever been done, ever been done -- whether you like the team or not.

BOLDUAN: His name is so commonly known, you know?

CUOMO: It's huge. Can't even say a bad thing about the guy.

BOLDUAN: Well, we could find something.

CUOMO: The media has tried, and this is a guy who stood up on and off the field, he just has. What are you going to hate about him? Boy, his girlfriends are good looking.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: There you go.

CUOMO: He should marry and have kids.

BOLDUAN: That will stick.

PEREIRA: That's going to hurt.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Andy.

CUOMO: It will be a big moment tonight and then we'll have to see, who is the next great? That's beautiful thing about sport. BOLDUAN: Who is the next great?

PEREIRA: Playing on a little league diamond somewhere.

CUOMO: That's right.

PEREIRA: Waiting for his turn.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, a deadly train derailment during rush hour in Moscow. At least ten people have been killed. More than 100 injured. We're going to look at how this could have happened and what's going on at the scene.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: We are following breaking news out of Russia. At least 15 people are dead after a subway derailed in Moscow during rush hour. More than 100 others have been injured. Half of them, we're told, are fighting for their lives.

I want to bring in our CNN safety analyst David Soucie, who joins us this morning.

Appreciate you taking a look at this with us, David. We know that Moscow has a history of terror attacks in their trains, although authorities there are ruling out terrorism. How can they be sure? How do you they know this?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, they do have indications that there was an electrical failure of the system before the crash, which can affect breaking and can affect deceleration and acceleration in the system.

So, there's a lot going on other than that that wouldn't indicate that there's kind of terrorist activity.

PEREIRA: So, electrical failure. Why would that happen?

SOUCIE: Well, it could be because of the fact -- I mean, this system is -- while, it's a museum piece, it's a beautiful piece of work, this entire system, but a modern marvel it really isn't. It hasn't been updated for quite some years. It's over stretched. There's 9 million passengers a day using the system, almost twice what the New York subway has as far as ridership.

So, it's a very stressed system that's being used 24/7 in ways it wasn't really designed to do. So, the system is getting old and needs some updating.

PEREIRA: Critics have been complaining about the maintenance of it. I imagine it is hard when you have that kind of volume, 9 million people a day. How do you get a time when you can get in there and do it? But that's really no excuse. They've got to take care of that system. SOUCIE: Yes, they really do. I mean, it's a matter of public safety

certainly, and the fact that it's gone on for a long time is a problem. Now, most of their fatalities historically have been slips and falls and people falling on to the tracks because of just the way that it's designed. It's very kind of hazardous, so they don't have as far as the number of ridership versus accidents, it's been very low but this one is certainly the most severe and the most deadly.

PEREIRA: Given what you know, was it a matter of time before something like this happened on that busy, overstressed system?

SOUCIE: Well, yes, I think it is. There's a little bit to know about the safety culture over there as well. If you look at this investigation, in the United States what we do first is we investigate the accident and we look for ways to improve safety. We have a very open and transparent safety culture about -- I made a mistake or there was some kind of issue going on. Those kinds of things are, while they can be criminal and punitive, are rarely investigated in that way. But, this one is already a criminal investigation, even though that we know it was a system failure.

PEREIRA: Already a criminal investigation. That is very important. We'll obviously keep watching that situation.

We know where the accident occurred. It happened near one of the stations in Moscow there that is the deepest. I think it's a 275 feet deep, the deepest metro station in Moscow and we know that's hammering rescue efforts. There's one person, we understand, that they are working to get to. 275 feet, is that standard? I understand it's the deepest in Mexico. Give us some sort of perspective on that.

SOUCIE: Well, it is one of the deepest actually in the world, and partly that's because they tunneled under existing infrastructure that was there already. So, that is a difficult thing to get to, but what's hampering the efforts mostly is the fact that as the accident happened the cars wedged each other in. They kind of smashed together and made it almost impossible to get in, so they are literally using whatever they can to try to tunnel ways to get to this person that's still left in there. They don't think there's any more than four or five people left in the wreckage at this point, but it is a very serious situation. The death toll could rise.

PEREIRA: And the fact that it happened during rush hour. 9 million people a day. I think that's something to let sink in.

David Soucie, thanks so much for being so nimble to jump on this with us this morning. Kate, Chris, obviously we're going to stay on top of this story as the rescue efforts continue.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Thanks so much, Michaela. Coming up next on NEW DAY, they are tasked with caring for and protecting the health of players. But, did trainers doctors illegally give NFL players powerful drugs just to keep them on the field? We're going to look at the new investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CUOMO: Welcome back. Some big news from the sports world. The DEA is launching an investigation into the alleged abuse of prescription drugs in the NFL. Now, this isn't the first time we've heard about this story. Earlier this year a group of retired players sued the league for allegedly drugging them to keep them on the field without informing them of the long-term risks. But this potential criminality is an entirely new and much more serious level of the situation so let's get some perspective. We have Coy Wire, a former Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills player, and Mr. Bob Bolen, professor of sports management at NYU's Tisch center and a former NFL agent. And I must disclose a huge conflict of interest here in that Bob you know Coy. You tried to recruit him back in the day when you were an agent.

BOB BOLEN, PROFESSOR OF SPORTS MANAGEMENT AND FORMER NFL AGENT: When he was a senior at Stanford I tried to recruit him.

CUOMO: Alright, so I expect you to have to just impartiality you must disagree with everything he says. Coy, let me start with you. Obviously you understand the players' side of it. We all know you have to play hurt to stay in the league, but what do you make of the lawsuit and now the attendant(ph) investigation?

COY WIRE, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Well, there are two things that I've heard from the players to whom I have spoken. The first aspect is the addiction. They say that they were given too many pills, they built up too high of a tolerance and now they have had to turn to street drugs to cope with the pain. Kidney failure, high blood pressure, violent headaches. These are some of the symptoms they now face every day because they took too many prescription drugs. The other thing, and I think this is the thing that probably every NFL player has gone through, is prescription drugs that now allow a player to play through injury. We're always taught there's a difference between pain and injury. Pain you can play through. Injury you should not. Players who are masked -- have their pain masked are able to play through injury that they shouldn't. Yet guys who have said they have played with broken legs, a guy like Richard Dent who has nerve damage now because he played through an injury he should not have. I think that's the main issue here, Chris.

CUOMO: Were you on this number of players who was offered a lot of pain meds when you were playing and did you accept them?

WIRE: It's an interesting thing, you know, how timing happens and serendipity. It was a few days ago that my wife just threw away an old pill bottle that I had. It had 100 Codeine in it and it was something that I was given, that I was able to take when I was wanting to, and fortunately I didn't. If I had gone through that whole bottle at will, I probably would have had some serious issues, maybe even to this day. And so I know that these prescription drugs are given out in high volumes, and too often. So, I think this is definitely something that the NFL should look into what these clubs are doing and what they have been allowing in the past.

CUOMO: Alright, so let's and check off some of the boxes of resistance here first, Bob. Why the league and not the individual teams? BOLEN: Well, the league is actually the deep pockets in this case, so

this is a matter more likely based on the individual teams, and Coy would probably point out that some teams have a deeper culture of this than others. But, for the tort lawyers and the DEA the league is the big target because they're the ones who have the biggest ability to solve the problem. But, also, they're remote from it.

CUOMO: Do they have the biggest ability to solve it? Can they really control what individual teams do in this regard?

BOLEN: Its very difficult, but by rule they would be the ones who would probably have the ability to make the most difference.

CUOMO: OK. And then you get to the next one which will be, and saying just procedurally, this DEA investigation sounds good for the players on the face of it. But it may lock down a lot of witnesses because now it's not just about me pissing off the league. I may get prosecuted for what I say.

BOLEN: Absolutely. Usually nothing is better if you're a plaintiff in a lawsuit to have a government investigation. This one does exactly that. It will shut down information. And the other part of it is because some of it came from teams but some of it may have come from other players, there will be a lot of people will be not talking about this.

CUOMO: Now the big point of resistance that I want to get both your take on, Coy and Bob. I am a failed football player and rugby player. I know that you get hurt. I know that you can take things and continue playing. I did it. It's an assumption of risk, isn't it? I mean, especially at this level. You know you're the biggest, the fastest, the strongest. You know it's available. Coy, you just said yourself, you didn't take the pills, so why should the players who make that choice now get to basically come back and say I want to be held harmless from my own choice and paid off for it?

WIRE: Well, I think there's certainly some shared responsibility there. Ultimately it could be up to the players to say no to drugs. I know, it's cliche but this is potentially the case.

CUOMO: Or go after the players union. Why aren't they going after their own union?

WIRE: That's right.

And I also think, Chris, is these players, though, are under pressure to perform. I know that there are players that I've spoken to who say they were forced back on to the field, and it was basically said to them that if they didn't get out there to perform, they would find someone else who would. They'd be cut. You can't make the club in the tub, and that's how the saying go. So these players feel that they have to do whatever they can and whatever they are told to do to get back out there and do their job.

CUOMO: It seems different though, Bob, than the concussions. The concussions, I feel like you have a lot of leverage with the

science. I didn't know. When I used to get my bell rung, your drop shoulder and it goes away in 10, 15 minutes, they say you're okay. So, there maybe you have a much more constructive lawsuit of you held things from me you should have known. Do you see that here?

BOLEN: This is a very difficult lawsuit for the plaintiffs. The investigation may open up some windows where there was misuse on the team level, but its a very difficult lawsuit for the plaintiffs to win against the NFL because of the assumption of the risk argument, and the fact that the players took the drugs, maybe took them after their playing career in dosages they shouldn't have been given. So I think it's easier for the league to push it off on the teams and maybe a few rogue doctors and trainers.

WIRE: One thing I will say, guys, is that there was some irresponsibility that I've heard from some players. I talked to players, Chris, Rob, who were given Viagra. Not because they needed it, not because of a medical condition. They were given this drug simply because they could have it from team doctors. Now, if these medications that weren't needed for any sort of medical reason were given freely, how much more freely were the prescription drugs that could help these players perform on the football field? So this is an issue that I think we're going to see a lot revealed, and these players are going to reveal a lot about the culture of the prescription drug problem that has existed in the NFL

CUOMO: Viagara. You take away the Viagra from the players, Coy, you may be a marked man. I'll tell you that right now. I also think this takes us to a bigger situation. Not your Viagra comment, which totally flustered me, but the idea of how we take care of retired players. A lot of these issues seem to go to the same threat basis, which is I played this game. I gave myself to you. You made a ton of money off me, and now that I'm retired, what's in place to help me deal with what I sacrificed during my play? So it's a continuing conversation. We'll see what happens with the DEA side as well. Coy, thank you very much for the perspective and talking to players for us. Bob, thank you for helping us understand what happens going forward. The conversation will continue.

All right this is just one story for you this morning as you begin your new day. There's a lot of news, so let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel approved Egypt's proposal for a cease-fire, but Hamas' military wing has reject it had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a joke. Someone is trying to just play games.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A significant accident striking here in peak hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our borders are not open to illegal migration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Round them up and ship them back. Sounds like we're dealing with cattle. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bystanders struggle to stop an alleged car-

jacking while a woman and child were still inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I seen a guy in the back seat choking out the driver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY, and there is breaking news. It's the cease-fire that wasn't in the Middle East. Overnight Israel accepted the terms proposed by Egypt to ease tensions with Hamas, but Hamas called the proposed cease-fire, quote, "not worth the ink it's written with." So the quiet did not last long. Israel has launched an air strike on Gaza after 35 rockets were reportedly launched into Israel.

BOLDUAN: Meanwhile, back here at home President Obama has again backed Israel's right to defend itself from what he calls inexcusable attacks from Hamas. So, how are the latest developments being received in the Middle East? Where do they go from here?