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Steve Harvey Crowns Wrong Miss Universe; New Hampshire School District Closes All 17 Schools After E-mail Threat; Rider Trapped on Sky Tower Ride at SeaWorld.

Aired December 21, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00] STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She gave her reasoning, but they didn't give us that reason in the press conference because they said they don't want to taint the jury pool. So while they may have an idea, we still do not.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It's awful no matter what the cause is.

Thank you both. Appreciate that.

Coming up, a New Hampshire school district closing all 17 schools today after an e-mail threat. Was this the right call?

Plus, Steve Harvey crowns the wrong Miss Universe. We'll talk with someone who was there when the wrong winner was announced and what the confusion was like backstage, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Grab your popcorn. We're about to show you the most stunning reversal ever seen anywhere in a pageant. This was the Miss Universe pageant. Last night, the host, actor and comedian, Steve Harvey, before thousands of fans, millions watching on TV, crowned the wrong Miss Universe. He told the audience it was Miss Colombia when it was not. It was Miss Philippines. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HARVEY, COMEDIAN & MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT HOST: Good luck to both of you.

Miss Universe 2015 is -- Colombia!

(CHEERING)

[14:35:40] HARVEY: OK, folks --

(CHEERING)

HARVEY: There's -- I have to apologize.

(CHEERING)

HARVEY: The first runner up is Colombia.

(CHEERING)

HARVEY: Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines!

(CHEERING)

HARVEY: Listen, folks, let me just take control of this. This is exactly what's on the card. I will take responsibility for this. It was my mistake. It was on the card. Horrible mistake, but the right thing. I can show it to you right here. The first runner up is Colombia. It is my mistake. Still a great night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: A mess, a mess. So now poor Steve Harvey. To add to the misery, he went on social media and tweeted an apology to misspelled both Colombia and Philippines and said, "I want to apologize to Miss Philippines and Miss Columbia." You see it's misspelled with a "U." "This was a terribly honest, human mistake, and I'm so regretful." I believe him. He corrected the mistake and sent out a new tweet. It was a bad night for Steve Harvey.

"Entertainment Tonight" host, Nischelle Turner, joins me now.

(LAUGHTER)

NISCHELLE TURNER, HOST, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: Maybe he was apologizing to me because I'm from Columbia with a "U."

LEMON: Let me say who you are. You're the host of "Entertainment Tonight." You were backstage. You were a prelim judge. Steve Harvey is a good guy. We both know him.

TURNER: Very good guy.

LEMON: Live TV is awful.

But what a mess. What was it like back there?

TURNER: First of all, why were we both holding our hands like this?

LEMON: Because it was like, no!

(LAUGHTER)

TURNER: I feel like I need a drink after watching that again. I watched it so many times and it is really terrible to watch. I know Steve feels terrible today.

And also let's give a little credit to him because he stepped up on that stage like a man, by himself, took ownership of the mistake and tried his best to correct it. And that shows the measure of a man.

LEMON: Did he say anything to you backstage? TURNER: No. We didn't see Steve. I didn't expect to see him. I

expected him to probably leave and probably went and had a moment or two with his wife or by himself.

LEMON: I said the same thing. His wife today was like, it's OK, you're OK. I know he feels awful, but here's the thing. The other girl -- for both women, Miss Philippines did not get her moment. And the other girl was celebrating because she thought she won. It's a no-win situation all the way around. I'm sorry, go ahead.

TURNER: It went on for awhile. They gave her the crown. Let her do her walk. Backstage nobody knew what was going on. Remember "The Matrix" when they do that. It was like everything was in slow motion. Because everyone was just standing there with their mouths open like what is going on. Myself included. I was waiting backstage because right after the show I was going on stage to interview the new Miss Universe. When they said, Colombia, I said, all right, here we go. We're going to interview her and get ready. She's beautiful. She looks like Sofia Vergara.

LEMON: Everybody, she looks like Sofia Vergara. We were like, she won.

[14:40:09] TURNER: And then Steve came out and said, hold on, there's been a mistake. I talked to Miss USA who was second runner up, and she said, I thought he was just making this bizarre joke because he's a comedian, I didn't know what was going on. No one did. It was wild.

LEMON: You have an interview after. Let's look at some of it right after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISS UNIVERSE: I was confused. I wasn't sure what was going on. I didn't expect that to happen at all. I was hesitating to go up front because that could have been a mistake as well. I was looking at the people off stage like the staff and looking for signals or cues for them to cue me to get into the center of the stage, in front of the stage. But even they were confused. I can't help but think of Miss Colombia as well. It's very confusing.

TURNER: Did you say anything to her?

MISS UNIVERSE: No, because she was crying and then there was a crowd around her, the girls, who were comforting her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: They were very gracious, Nischelle, both of them.

TURNER: She said she thought it would be bad timing to say something to her right then.

I tell you what, Miss Philippines, I felt for her as well. Her lips were trembling. She was shaking. She was on the verge of just breaking down herself. It was really an awkward situation.

LEMON: The thing is, if you watch it, you're like should I be celebrating now? Then it seems like someone else's expense. The girl standing on stage just got the crown yanked off her head. Do I smile, do I feel bad for her. It seems to indicate that something.

TURNER: I could not see the teleprompter. This is what the card looks like. On the left you see it says second runner up. First runner up, Miss Colombia. And then the winner on the right is Miss Universe, Miss Philippines. I saw the card. That's the official card that has it right. I didn't see a teleprompter so I don't know what went on there. But inside the crowd didn't like either of it. Because Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines had the most people there. People were booing and would not leave. The loud speakers came on and they kept asking people to leave the arena.

LEMON: What?

TURNER: Nobody wanted to go anywhere. It was very intense. One of the judges told me last night exclusively -- I'll have this on "Entertainment Tonight" -- that she was really heartbroken for both of them because all of the girls went over to console Miss Colombia and nobody congratulated Miss Philippines.

LEMON: That's what I said, she never got her moment.

TURNER: Right, yes.

LEMON: She never got her moment. So what do you do?

So I've got to run. But this is the story of the day. Everybody is talking about Lindsey Graham but --

TURNER: I know. Right.

LEMON: This is the water cooler. The video to support it, and then you have all this juicy stuff that happened after. Donald Trump is saying there should be co-Miss Universes now. Do you think there's any discussion like that in the pageant?

TURNER: I don't know if there was any discussion like that. I said the same thing last night. Immediately after, I said what if they can make them co-Miss Universes because it was a weird situation. I tell you during the preliminaries, I did get to interview both of those ladies because they go through the interview process. Both were phenomenal and both talked about how much of a lifelong dream this was for them to be Miss Universe. The pageants in the countries are a way of life. They breed these girls. But both of them, it was their lifelong dream. I can't imagine how they are feeling today.

Kudos to Miss Colombia. She was very, very, very gracious in a situation where she could have felt a lot different.

LEMON: I wonder if Miss USA was like I'm glad I ain't in this mess.

(CROSSTALK) (LAUGHTER)

LEMON: They are telling me I've got to go. I could talk to you all day.

Girl, this is a mess. Thank you. Merry Christmas.

TURNER: Bye, Don.

LEMON: Thank you. See you later.

TURNER: OK.

[14:44:50] LEMON: Up next, a New Hampshire school district closing all 17 schools after an e-mail threat. Was it the right call? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Take a look at the screen. We're just getting pictures in. You're looking at SeaWorld in Florida. Passengers have been trapped on a ride at SeaWorld in Orlando. This has been happening for more than an hour now. It is called the Sky Tower. If you have been there, you have seen it. It goes up on the needle-like thing, 400 feet high. These passengers are about half way up that. You can see emergency crews are working to get them down. We're going to continue to follow this story and bring you updates. These are emergency workers on the scene. SeaWorld in Orlando, where passengers have been stuck on that ride, that Sky Tower ride for over an hour now. Orlando, Florida. We'll continue to check.

Moving on, the FBI looking into another school threat, this time, in Nashua, New Hampshire. The district closed all 17 schools today. The bomb squad searched the building last night. The decision was made after administrator got an e-mail with a detailed threat. That e-mail contained specifics. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. KERRY BAXTER, NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, POLICE DEPARTMENT: One of the school administrators received an e-mail earlier in the day and that was when we received notification of this threat that was received. So it was a threat that was received via e-mail that had specific directions towards the two high schools with specific threats of violence, which is why we're taking it seriously

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Officials don't know how credible the threat is. This comes after e-mail threats last week in New York City, Texas and Los Angeles. But we're told the threats in New Hampshire are not the same as those in New York and L.A.

David Katz is here, a former DEA special agent and a Homeland Security expert; and Jonathan Gilliam is with me as well, CNN law enforcement analyst and a former Navy SEAL and FBI special agent. [14:50:07] So, John, we talked about this last week. The school

officials do the right thing here?

JOHN GILLIAM, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I think they did. I'll leave it up to them to make these decisions, but what I would like to see is standard operating procedures across the United States where schools and sheriff departments start coming together and thinking these things through before they happy they give it some thought, but when it is this big of a threat, there needs to be some preplanned initiatives to how they are going to handle this. I would rather see them err on the side of caution.

LEMON: You were critical of New York.

GILLIAM: That's what I don't want to see. I don't think closing down schools will raise the fear level.

LEMON: What do you think, David.

DAVID KATZ, FORMER DEA SPECIAL AGENT & HOMELAND SECURITY EXPERT: Surprise, a DEA agent is going to disagree with an FBI agent.

(LAUGHTER)

I disagree. The reason I disagree is 95 percent of the time the threats are unfounded. You kind of bias with it's probably not legitimate. From that point, you make an assessment. It's a specific threat. Who is judging that? If it's a school administrator, you have a person who is well intentioned who is worried. I get that. Maybe they don't have the necessary background training and experience to say this one we take seriously, this one perhaps not.

LEMON: If you close schools, is that a domino effect?

(CROSSTALK)

KATZ: Every year, the kids take the SAT on a Saturday morning. You know how many schools get bomb threats? A kid wakes up, butterflies in the stomach, my god -- they close a school and cancel the SATs. You can't do that. You have to take them separately and evaluate it.

LEMON: It's sad but true. The FBI is looking at the e-mail. They will be able to trace this, won't they?

GILLIAM: To an extent. I think there's technology out there where people can mask where this e e-mail is coming from. I don't know who sent this is that advanced in this, but the FBI is really good at what they do when it comes to tracking this. As soon as they get a terroristic threat, the joint task force is going to be involved. I think they are going to be able to at least trace this back somewhat to where it came from. But I just want to say that when we do look at these things, some of the feedback from parents that heard what I said agreed with what L.A. did. I think what you're seeing from the school administrators is what the parents actually think is important. I know what law enforcement says that we can't verify, it's not credible. But to parents and to school administrators, if there's a threat it has to be at least looked into. Sometimes shutting these schools down is safer than assuming that it's nothing.

LEMON: Thank you both. David and Jonathan, I appreciate that.

I want to get back to breaking news now, OK?

We have new pictures in. There it is. You see the rescue or the emergency bucket going up now. This is in Orlando, Florida. This is at SeaWorld. This is where the passengers have been stuck for more than an hour on this ride. This is a statement as we look at these pictures. Are these live? On the right is a live picture. On the left is from moments ago. Emergency crews going up to try to rescue those people. This is about 400 feet up. They are about half way up now. Life is going on because you see the pink flamingos in the water, but there's this bucket. Here's what SeaWorld is saying, "We are working closely with Orange County Fire Rescue to remove all guests from the ride. We are in constant communication with the guests and team members on the ride. And all passengers are safe. The safety of our guests and team members' is SeaWorld's top priority."

Jonathan Gilliam, this is a dilemma? They have to make provisions that things are going to go wrong on rides, but it's certainly pretty frightening.

GILLIAM: It is, but these rescue workers train for this type of thing. You don't put something like this up in the city without having some type of rescue plan. And unfortunately these rescue plans normally take a little bit more time. We have the tram that goes over the east river to Roosevelt Island and this happens once every couple years. It's not a fast process to get these people out of here.

LEMON: But again, live pictures and the pictures are going in and out courtesy of our affiliate, WESH (ph). Look at the people here inside this space needle. They are waving. It probably ruined their day for just awhile at least. They are not moving. Luckily, it's not so hot out right now. I'm sure the thing is air-conditioned.

Again, this is what's happening in the world today on this week before Christmas. We have a situation happening in Orlando, Florida, at SeaWorld. Some folks are stuck. They're working to get them out. There's the bucket. Just underneath our banner right now, them trying to rescue these people. I don't know how many people they can get in a bucket at that time, but there's a lot of people on that ride. Hopefully, they will get it working and get them all out of there.

[14:55:25] A quick break. We'll continue to check back with this. And more news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's every American's duty to give back to their country. I've always had a soft spot for the military. When my son went to Iraq on two tours, I wasn't prepared for how he came home. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isolation was the first thing they saw. I didn't

feel anything wrong with me. I was diagnosed with PTSD.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the dog does not make the program, we find them a good home.

Canines for Warriors started in a small house. I was making all their food and Brett was training the dogs, and it grew and grew and grew into an organization that's saving lives.

Our mission is to get them back into civilian life with dignity and independence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel great for the first time in a long time. Whenever I would go to stores, I noticed I would go into an anxiety attack. And Canines for Warriors has helped me with that.