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Jobless Rate Slides to Six-year Low; Philly Suspect, a Vicious Predator; Former Navy SEAL Claims He Killed bin Laden; NYT: Takata Knew of Airbag Defects in 2004; Patient Attacks Nurses Inside Hospital

Aired November 07, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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


POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, have a great weekend, guys.

NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Poppy Harlow in today for Carol Costello.

We begin with breaking news on the economy and the nation's lowest unemployment rate in six years. Just minutes ago the government announced that October saw the rate slide 0.1 percent to 5.8 percent.

Here's the mixed news, though. Even though 214,000 jobs were created last month, that is fewer than expected.

Let's bring in chief business correspondent Christine Romans to go through this.

So the headline number is strong.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HARLOW: But it could be better.

ROMANS: I could be better but I wouldn't get too caught up in that because you got nine months in a row now, 200,000 plus jobs created in the couple of months that were revised higher. Nine months in a row of 200,000 plus for the year now. The average every month 228,000 jobs created and I see a lot of strong evidence in this number. For example, I see that 1.1 million fewer people this year are considered long-term unemployed. That's very good.

HARLOW: That's great news.

ROMANS: Seven million people are still working part time but want to be working full time but that number is also coming down, and Poppy, when you look in the sector gains, I'm seeing sector gains broadening out to jobs that have better pay.

Look at this, professional business services, those were attorneys, those are lawyers, those are people who work in offices. Retail. Now that's a big push for the holiday hiring but it also shows you the consumers are feeling better about things and retailers at least think you're going to be out shopping. Health care, a consistent steady performer. Some of those are very highly paid jobs in health care, doctors, highly skilled nurses, so those are strong numbers.

One thing I also want to show you, if you have a bachelor's degree, if you have a bachelor's degree in October, the unemployment rate was 3.1 percent. That is full employment. If you have a high school diploma, also 5.7 percent. That's down two points over the past year or so.

HARLOW: Because there's this debate that you are often engaged in.

ROMANS: Yes.

HARLOW: Many people ask, is it really worth it to get my college degree now, go deeply into debt for that and the numbers bear it out.

ROMANS: The college degree is worth it. The deeply in debt for a quarter of students is not worth it.

HARLOW: Right.

ROMANS: There's some really good analysis in the New York Fed that for a quarter of students who are loading up on debt or who are dropping out with a bunch of debt, then it's not worth it for them. So there is -- college is worth it with an asterisk is how I always say. You have to be so much smarter about it.

I think it also shows the American economy is resilient in the face of a slowing global economy. Look at the yearly breakdowns. Average job growth per month since 2010. You might not think this is a barn burner, folks, of a jobs report but the trend there is what I see. I like to look at the trend, not just noise from one month.

The trend here shows an American economy that is recovering, and late, late in the game, the jobs are starting to broaden out a bit.

HARLOW: Especially with what's happening in Europe and especially with concerns about China.

ROMANS: Right.

HARLOW: The U.S. looks pretty darned good right now.

ROMANS: Wages up just a little bit. The wage part of this has not been very helpful, and this is why in the exit polling on the midterm elections, Poppy, I was going through all those --

HARLOW: People aren't feeling it.

ROMANS: People don't feel it. The reason is, because they're not feeling it in their own paycheck.

HARLOW: Paycheck.

ROMANS: And sometimes there's a light effect. It could take people a couple of years to really feel like the job market is --

HARLOW: That it's really good.

ROMANS: We went through something terrible and so that lingers.

HARLOW: And it's really good to see some of those sectors with higher paying jobs are adding.

ROMANS: Yes. Yes.

HARLOW: And it's really good to hear that -- those that are long-term unemployed, meaning it's harder for them to get a job the longer they been out of work.

ROMANS: Yes. Yes.

HARLOW: Is improving slightly.

ROMANS: Absolutely.

HARLOW: Still millions of people in that situation but it needs to get better.

ROMANS: You're right.

HARLOW: Thank you, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

HARLOW: Good to be with you.

Well, police call him a vicious predator and the length and depravity of his alleged crimes is shocking even seasoned detectives.

This morning, Delvin Barnes awoke in a Virginia jail cell after being whisked to state to face charges. He's accused of attacking a teen with a shovel and then stuffing her into a car trunk. A police -- and police say that was just a month before he violently snatched this young woman off a Philadelphia street. That was all caught on surveillance video that ultimately helped lead to his capture.

Let's bring in Alexandra Field she's live for us in Philadelphia. It is stunning what we are learning about this suspect's past.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, horrific really the allegations that he is facing and really interesting the way this came together because it took a lot of collaboration. You had police here in Pennsylvania who are laser focused on finding Carlesha Freeland Gaither. But the really big break in this case actually came from investigators in another state investigating an entirely separate crime and because of their collaboration you now have one man facing a rash of charges in both of these cases.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES RAMSAY, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: He's a vicious predator. He's off the streets and hopefully he'll be in jail for the rest of his life. FIELD (voice-over): Delvin Barnes under arrest, accused of snatching

a woman from a Philadelphia street corner. Now investigators are releasing new details of another vicious attack allegedly perpetrated by Barnes.

Barnes will face federal charges in the abduction of 22-year-old nursing assistant Carlesha Freeland Gaither. The violent crime caught on tape. But first he's being extradited to Virginia to face additional charges including attempted murder related to an attack last month on a 16-year-old Richmond girl.

Police in Charles City County say Barnes hit the teen in the head with a shovel, put her in the trunk of his car and took her to his parents' Virginia home where he raped and tortured her.

CAPT. JAYSON CROWLEY, CHARLES CITY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: He proceeded to douse her clothing in gasoline, and then also doused her in gasoline and bleach and then he proceeded to burn her clothing.

FIELD: Officers say Barnes asked her how she wanted to die and at one point showed her pictures of other girls he claimed he attacked.

CROWLEY: He was attempting to dig a hole but somehow he got distracted from her and she proceeded to flee in the woods.

FIELD: The victim ran two miles away to this business where she was discovered naked with third-degree burns. Police say DNA tests led them to name Barnes as their suspect.

Barnes has a lengthy and violent rap sheet officials says including dozens of charges from armed robbery to aggravated assault and false imprisonment. Barnes' former father-in-law says his daughter married but quickly divorced the suspect.

ANTHONY, FORMER FATHER-IN-LAW OF SUSPECT: I knew he was going to get in trouble, I knew he was going to get in trouble again. I just knew. That's the kind of person he is.

FIELD: A friend of Barnes describes an entirely different person.

RONALD DAVIS, FRIEND OF SUSPECT DELVING BARNES: He's always looking to help somebody, always looking to bend over backwards. He'll give the shirt off his back if he could.

FIELD: Carlesha Freeland Gaither is now back in Philadelphia, her family at her side. Officers who worked for days to find her relieved she's finally home.

DET. JAMES SLOAN, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: It felt extremely personal. After seeing the video, it struck a chord with just about everybody who saw and just made it a mission that we were going to find her and we were going to find her OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: And Poppy, over the last few days there's been a lot of well- earned praise for the police working this case. You have of course these officers working together in different states. They were also relying on surveillance video, they used a GPS installed in Barnes' car to finally track him down and make that arrest but also a big hand is going out to one of the witnesses who's key to cracking this case.

There was a man who actually saw Carlesha get stuffed into that car out Sunday night. It was one of those cases where a lot of people might try to get out of there, worried about what's going on. This is man who really did the right thing. He pulled out his phone, he called 911, he waited for police to get there. And that's why they were able to act so quickly and get that surveillance video which was so key here.

HARLOW: No question about it, the authorities did an astonishing job and did the eyewitnesses helping in all of it. Thank goodness that she is home.

Alexandra, thanks for the reporting this morning.

We're learning new details from the "New York Times" about U.S. troops who served in Iraq. According to the paper, since 2003 more than 600 service members reported they were exposed to chemical weapons while they were deployed.

Pentagon officials ordered an internal review after the newspaper reported last month that 17 people were injured by either sarin or sulfur mustard agent. That review revealed the number of troops who were exposed was actually much, much higher. Defense officials are saying to "The Times" that the Pentagon failed to recognize the scope of that initial report.

Now to a former Navy SEAL under fire for breaking the military's sacred code of silence. Robert O'Neill tells "The Washington Post" he was the one who fired the fatal shot that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

O'Neill previously had told his story to "Esquire" magazine but was referred to only as the shooter. Now more than three years after that famous raid, he is publicly speaking out, but his decision to come forward is certainly not without controversy.

Our Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A former Navy SEAL comes forward saying he's the man who killed Osama bin Laden. Sources in the Special Operations community tell CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen Robert O'Neill claims to be the shooter.

O'Neill is a decorated former SEAL from Montana who now works as a motivational speaker.

ROBERT O'NEILL, FORMER U.S. NAVY SEAL: My name's Robert O'Neill. I was a Navy SEAL for almost 17 years. TODD: O'Neill told "The Washington Post" he fired a shot which struck

bin Laden in the forehead. The terrorist leader died instantly, he says, his skull split by the first bullet. But sources in SEAL Team Six, the unit which conducted the bin Laden raid, tell Peter Bergen another SEAL fired the fatal shot from the area of the stairs leading to bin Laden's floor, as bin Laden peered out the door of his bedroom.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Most of the people in the SEAL community I spoke to say that the night that bin Laden was killed somebody called the point man who was never going to identify himself publicly was the guy who took the first shot at bin Laden and winged him, and then bin Laden collapsed on the ground in his bedroom, and he was finished off by two other SEALs.

TODD: Those two SEALs, according to Bergen's sources, Robert O'Neill and Matt Bissonette, who wrote the book "No Easy Day" about the raid. Separately a U.S. military official told CNN's Barbara Starr there was a SEAL named Robert O'Neill on that mission but they don't know if O'Neill fired the kill shot.

Bergen acknowledges the scene was confusing.

BERGEN: It was a night with no moon, there was no electricity in the house. It was -- a helicopter had crashed. There were two or three firefights. These guys were wearing night vision goggles so -- and the whole event of killing bin Laden my guess took place in 10 seconds.

TODD: The head of the SEAL command sent a letter in recent days reminding SEALs not to break their code of silence, warning of, quote, "judicial consequence" if they do. Former SEAL John McGuire says neither O'Neill nor Bissonette should have spoken about the bin Laden raid.

JOHN MCGUIRE, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Everybody wants to know how Special Operations folks do things. Our enemy wants to know more that we do. And we've got to protect future missions and other Americans' lives.

TODD (on camera): We tried to reach Robert O'Neill directly and through his representatives. We could not get him to comment. O'Neill told "The Washington Post" the SEALs expected the bin Laden compound to be heavily guarded and boobytrapped and said this was the first mission where he thought he would likely be killed.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Brian, thank you for that.

And while some are questioning O'Neill's version of the events, others are questioning his decision to step into the public eye to talk about this.

Last night Anderson Cooper sat down with the former Navy SEAL named Jonathan Gilliam who said O'Neill is at risk now, and that he has made himself into a target for jihadists wanting to get revenge for bin Laden's death. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER NAVY SEAL: He sacrificed a lot in doing this. Whether he is the real shooter or not, he's put a bull's eye on his back that is bigger in a lot of ways than the bull's eye that Osama bin Laden had on his.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You're talking about an actual bull's eye from jihadists.

GILLIAM: From jihadists. You know, so, his family, himself, he's on the speaking lecture circuit. Anybody that goes to see this guy now is a target when they're in a room with him. That's a big deal for his career and for what I believe is his motivation.

COOPER: If you were invited to hear him speak would you want to be in the same auditorium?

GILLIAM: You know, I also served as an FBI agent and here to tell you right now that I wouldn't be anywhere close to this guy.

COOPER: You really think there's potential threat against his life from coming forward and giving his name, identifying himself that publicly?

GILLIAM: Sure. And again, you know, you talk about the brotherhood, talking about secrets, this transcends many, many levels but it's not a SEAL problem. It's an O'Neill problem. It's a Bissonette problem. These two individuals have gone out and taken the knowledge that they're trusted with and exposed this, and perception is reality, and it's had an effect on the way that the public looks at us and that is wrong because the SEAL community, as you know, you know many of us, it's a brotherhood and it is a tight group that is very professional and take their job very seriously.

COOPER: Yes.

GILLIAM: And this is not a good light to be shown on. This is a leadership problem, when you have the vice president and the secretary of defense pretty much given the same briefs, are allowing Hollywood to come in and sit in a brief.

COOPER: The movie "Zero Dark Thirty."

GILLIAM: That's correct. You know, now you have these guys that are saying hey, we can go out and we can do the same thing and we're probably not going to be punished. But the reality is, the leadership of the SEAL team should look into pulling these guys back in. They've broken laws.

COOPER: Pulling them back in, in order to prosecute them, that's your opinion.

GILLIAM: Reduced in rank, prosecuted and given dishonorable discharges. COOPER: Peter, do you think that's actually --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Wow. Well, Gilliam also says that the breakdown in leadership and O'Neill's decision to disclose that classified information empowers the enemy.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a story you are going to want to hear. The air bag you're counting on to save your life in a crash could be the very thing that kills you. So when did the manufacturer know that, and did they keep it a secret?

Rene Marsh is following that for us this morning.

Good morning, Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. This is something that impacts millions of drivers. We're talking about allegations of a cover-up by a major airbag manufacturer. We have the disturbing details on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Honda has expanded a recall of its vehicles made from 2001 to 2005 because the airbags could explode. That is on top of the 5 million cars they already recalled for this defect. Those airbags are not made by Honda. They're made by a Japanese company named Takata.

The move comes amid disturbing allegations today that Takata knew a decade ago that its airbags were potentially lethal to drivers and passengers. But instead of fixing the problem, the executives allegedly hid their own test results and ordered those faulty units to be shipped to car assembly plants around the world and put in the cars a lot of people are driving today.

It is all reported in the "New York Times" this morning, Takata air bags are found in almost all brands of cars resulting in the recalls of nearly 8 million vehicles by the ten different carmakers due to faulty airbags. At issue are incidents of the airbags sending metal fragments hurling toward passengers. The exploding air bags are responsible for four deaths.

Our Rene Marsh has been looking into this.

Rene, it is a stunning, incredibly disturbing report in "The Times" this morning. And they got this information from the two former Takata employees involved in the secret tests of these air bags done on nights, on weekends. They were allegedly deleting the information. What do we know?

MARSH: Well, according to the report, Poppy, this disturbing information as you mentioned comes from these two former employees who were directly involved in the secret test. One of them according to the report a senior member of Takata's testing lab. Now, in two of these tests, which as you mentioned happened in secret,

we're talking about weekends, during holidays, during two of the tests the metal inflator cracked. What is so egregious here is the company didn't alert safety regulators. The former employees allege a cover- up. They say that the testers were told to delete the data from their computers, dispose of the faulty air bags.

We know now that the first recalls for cars involving these airbags didn't happen until another whole four years later, and that first recall was a limited one. Of course, this all comes as NTHTSA, the federal agency responsible for making sure the vehicles we drive are safe, NHTSA says it received information that Honda also failed to report incidents involving faulty Takata airbags.

We do know that the agency is concerned. Honda may not have reported deaths or injuries. Just this week, they demanded documents from the automaker and also have in the past demanded documents from Takata. They're asking specific questions and they want them answered under oath, Poppy.

HARLOW: Do we know what Takata is saying? Are they talking at all?

MARSH: I reached out to Takata this morning. No comment from them as yet.

However, I did speak with NHTSA today and they told me this, in a statement. They say, "Any additional information, they welcome it. Their statement goes on to say we have it there on our screen here that they are actively investigating Honda for its early warning reporting and compelling both Honda and Takata to produce documents and answer questions under oath."

They also go on to say they will leave no stone unturned and they will review everything as it relates to the information that they receive. Again, they want the former employees to come directly to them. They made that clear to me this morning and they also go on to say these claims have raised additional concerns, Poppy.

HARLOW: And for people's safety who may be driving the vehicles because they're in so many different vehicles go to the NHTSA Web site and check and see if your vehicle is one of those included and if you need to get it fixed.

Rene Marsh, thanks for the report this morning.

MARSH: Sure.

HARLOW: Still to come in the NEWSROOM: it was supposed be another day at work for nurses inside this Minnesota hospital but everything changed when one of the patients they were treating went on an absolute rampage.

Up next, we're going to show you this chilling video from the attack on Sunday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARLOW: Horror inside a Minnesota hospital and it was all caught on camera. We should warn you the video we're about to show you is tough to watch. Officials say a 68-year-old patient attacked eight nurses using a bar he pulled from the side of his hospital bed.

This is the chilling surveillance video, it happened on Sunday and what you can see is workers scrambling for cover as they realize what is going on.

Michaela Pereira joins us now with more.

This is an unbelievable story and you see it all play out here.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You really do. What I think it is, it is a stark reminder of what health care workers face when they are confronted with a patient that goes on a rampage like this. Take a look. It's horrifying.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (voice-over): In just seconds, the very people who help heal suddenly need help of their own inside this Minnesota hospital.

The disturbing incident caught on camera after a patient apparently removed a bar from the side of his hospital bed. Sixty-eight-year-old Charles Logan storms the St. John's Hospital nurses station around 2:00 a.m. Sunday, swinging wildly.

Nurses running toward the exit. One woman here even tries to secure the doors, but Logan barrels through, the bar held high above his head, hurling it down right on one nurse's back. And then another, repeatedly striking two nurses that are left helpless.

Once the patient made his way outside, even the police had a hard time subduing him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The taser was ineffective. In other words, it did not connect to the man.

PEREIRA: Officers finally tackling Logan to the ground, but not before he injures four nurses, one reportedly suffering a collapsed lung.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That kind of thing can happen. It happens all the time.

PEREIRA: This brutal rampage highlights the dangers healthcare workers face every day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've heard stories of primarily nurses who have been hit or spit on or punched.

PEREIRA: A survey from the International Healthcare Security and Safety Foundation says 60 percent of workplace assaults occur in healthcare facilities.

For these nurses, running this sanctuary for the sick has come at a cost.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: So, Charles Logan, police caught up with him about three months or three days -- pardon me, let me try that again, three blocks from where he was from the hospital.

HARLOW: Wow.

PEREIRA: They were able to apprehend him but he died after he was taken into police custody. They tased him, apparently, as you heard the captain there talking, one of the probes didn't attach, so there's an investigation going into his death now.

HARLOW: Any idea what would spark this, any mental instability?

PEREIRA: Local media is saying he reported to the hospital like he showed up at the hospital some sort of confusion, some reports are saying he was paranoid. There's also reports that there was some sort of dispute going on with his family. So there's a lot of big questions, why did he die after being tased. What led to this rampage?

What's really concerning though is all of these nurses right there had really no defense.

HARLOW: No, I was wondering, we were talking, are there police there, what kind of security. You wouldn't think you would need that but I know one of the nurses was hit so hard they have a collapsed lung. How are they doing?

PEREIRA: Yes, another one broke her wrist. They're going to be recovering from this and obviously the trauma, Poppy, of having to do with something like that. They're going to help people.

HARLOW: And for people give of themselves to help others.

Michaela, thank you, good to be with you.

PEREIRA: You're welcome.

HARLOW: All right. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)