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Nuclear Summit; Multiple Tornadoes In Mississippi And Alabama; Classes Cancelled In Chicago; U.S. Soccer Wage Controversy; California To Increase Minimum Wage; Explosive Material Found On School Bus; EgyptAir Passenger Took Selfie With Hijacker; Tour Boat Slams Into Pier; The Ponytail That Went Viral Aired 10:30-11:00a

Aired April 01, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... to a year. I believe we have that sound now from the president. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... was Iran's nuclear program. After nearly two years of intensive negotiations backed by strong sanctions, the countries represented in this room achieved what decades of animosity and rhetoric did not. A long-term deal that closes off every possible path to build a nuclear weapon and subjects Iran to the most comprehensive nuclear inspections ever negotiated. And thanks to this deal we have seen real progress.

Already Iran has dismantled two-thirds of its installed centrifuges. Iran has shipped 98 percent of its enriched uranium stockpile out of Iran. Iran has removed the Iraq reactor core and filled it with concrete. If Iran were to cheat, the breakout time to build a nuclear weapon has gone from two to three months to about a year.

In January the IAEA verified that Iran had fulfilled key commitments of the deal. And today, Director General Amano will update us on implementation. Our nations have lifted nuclear-related sanctions and it will take time for Iran to reintegrate into the global economy, but Iran is already beginning to see the benefits of this deal.

I think it's important to note that this deal does not resolve all of our differences with Iran including destabilizing activities in the region except for limited exceptions, the U.S. trade embargo on Iran remains in place. We also continue to vigorously enforce sanctions pertaining to Iran's support for terrorism, human rights abuses and ballistic missile programs. That's U.S. policy. But what this group that doesn't agree on all aspects of policy does agree on is that this deal has achieved a substantial success and focused on the dangers of nuclear proliferation in an effective way.

The road to this deal was not easy. It took commitment, diplomacy, hard work. It took the leaders and countries gathered around this table, coming together, and working out our own differences in approach. Full and continued implementation is going to take the same kind of cooperation and consultation. But I am extremely grateful to our partners in this effort.

Even as we continue to face nuclear threats around the world which is the topic of this summit, the deal does remind us that when the international community stands as one, we can advance our common security. So I want to thank all the leaders who are gathered here, the countries who are participating, Director General Amano. This is a success of diplomacy that hopefully we'll be able to copy in the future.

Thank you very much, everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama's remark on the Iranian nuclear deal. Here to talk about it is CNN's global affairs analyst, Bobby Ghosh.

So Bobby, we hear from the Republican side that the Iran deal is the worst deal ever. That it will endanger not only the United States but the world. We just heard from President Obama, it's a great deal and it's working. So which is true?

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think the world doesn't seem to agree that the deal endangers the world.

Everyone seems to agree that -- and it's demonstrably true that Iran has pulled back from the brink of developing nuclear weapons. That doesn't diminish Iran's threat to the region as the president pointed out. There are many ways in which Iran can and actually does make mischief in the Middle East without nuclear weapons.

So I think if you take the politics out of the picture, frankly at the end of the day, that was the only deal that was possible. Under the sort of circumstances it's not a terrible deal. It won't change Iran's behavior toward its neighbors. It won't change Iran's behavior toward the Sunni world where so much of the troubles of the Middle East now seem to emanate. That's something that the president had no control over. By the time we sat down to have a discussion, this was the only deal --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Let me ask you this - for example, if Mr. Trump gets into office, is it possible to renegotiate this Iran deal? Because he train has left the station, hasn't it?

GHOSH: No, it's not possible to renegotiate the Iran deal.

There are five countries involved in that deal and the European Union. They are not going -- they have no interest in renegotiating this. There are going ahead and making -- many of the countries are making economic deals, business deals in Iran. As the president pointed out, American sanctions against Iran which are separate from the nuclear sanctions continue to remain in place for the most part.

The best that a future American president can do is to add some more U.S. sanctions that will limit American trade with Iran, American businesses from operating in Iran.

[10:35:09]

The Germans are not going to go along with that and certainly the Russians are not, the Chinese are not. They are sort of stumbling over each other to get into that market and make deals on oil, on trade. So, yes, I mean, a future American president could add some American sanctions. That's not really --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: But can't reverse the deal or negate the deal?

(CROSSTALK)

GHOSH: No. The world has changed.

Iran doesn't need the United States for a lot of the things that its economy necessarily wants at this point. It needs technologies. Technologies that America may have the best of, but there are plenty of other places where it could get those technologies. If it wants refineries for instance -- if the U.S. says, we won't give you technologies, sure, the Chinese will. The Russians will. The Germans are happy to give them some of the technologies of the U.S.

So it's great for political rhetoric to say I'm going to tear up this deal in material terms, in terms of what it actually does to Iran makes no difference really.

COSTELLO: Bobby Ghosh, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Chicago teachers walk off the job leaving 400,000 students without any classes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:33]

COSTELLO: Parts of the south are cleaning up today after at least four tornadoes touched down. This was one near New Hope, Mississippi. It came down a second time across the state line in Alabama. No one was hurt or killed but downed trees and power lines formed a tangled mess across roads. More damaging winds and tornadoes are possible today from Louisiana to Virginia.

Classes are cancelled today at Chicago public schools.

Twenty-seven thousand unionized teachers are staging a one day walk out to protest the fact they haven't had a contract since last June. This could be the prelude to a much longer strike like the one four years ago that shut down the schools for a week.

Ryan Young live in Chicago with more on this. Good morning.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. We're walking around with some of these teachers as we're walking the streets right now. And you can see the crowd of teachers that have spilled into the streets here. In fact they're on the sidewalks right now.

You know, there's 360,000 students in the school district and we know that none of them will be turned away from school if they show up to classes today. There will be a plan in place to make sure they're OK.

But look, they want to make sure they highlight the issues here in this city in terms with the fact that they had to miss a day last Friday because of what the public school system has done. Whereas you can see people are holding up their signs here.

Why the day of action? Why did you think it was important to do this strike?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're fighting for not only our own contact but for better funding across the entire state. As you can see, there's tons of people out there from all walks of life.

YOUNG: Just talk about that commitment to education because everybody has been talking about that as we've been walking through the lines.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We care about the students. We want nurses. We want counselors. We want funding for our schools so our children can have supplies so they can have gym, art, and P.E. just like the kids in the suburbs do.

YOUNG: And how important do you feel like this day of action is that's for the students in Chicago?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think it's important for the entire city to come together. It's showing solidarity. It's everybody standing together and saying we're not going to take this anymore.

YOUNG: And obviously you can feel some of the passion as people (INAUDIBLE) walking through (INAUDIBLE). People who've been driving by have been honking horns, Carol. As we've seen the protest over the last few days and other situations it's quite different because you see a lot of support from people in the community in terms of what these protesters are doing.

Because obviously there has been a hold up in the budget at the state's capital and people want to know what's exactly going on with the schools here in Chicago.

COSTELLO: All right. Ryan Young reporting live from Chicago. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the U.S. women's soccer team is pulling out the red card as the men's team really getting paid four times more? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:17]

COSTELLO: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team is taking a stand demanding equal pay for equal play. The disparity is outrageous. Even though the women's team, the soccer team, is profitable and women won the World Cup, something the men's team has never done.

Coy Wire is live in Atlanta with more on this. Hi, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

The women have been fighting for decades to be treated as their equals, as equals to the male counterparts. And it's not just about the money. It's about respect.

We're talking about superstars. To the casual sports fan, there are arguably more well-known women players than there are men in the U.S. So we're talking about some of the biggest names in this women's game filed a wage discrimination action against the U.S. Soccer Federation. They're saying they deserve to be paid equal to the men. Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo, they led the charge. Here's Hope explaining their decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOPE SOLO, GOALKEEPER: We continue to be told we can be grateful just to have the opportunity to play professional soccer and to get paid for doing it. And in this day and age, you know, it's about equality. It's about equal rights. It's about equal pay, and we're pushing for that. And we believe now the time is right because we believe it's a responsibility for women's sports, and specifically for women's soccer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: So, let's take a look at some of the numbers here.

Just some examples of why the women are so upset. Last year the U.S. Women's National Team earned a max of $5,000 per exhibition match. The men, nearly four times that amount, Carol, at about $18,000. Now, how about in the World Cup years, the men's team earned $9 million in 2014 for losing in the round of 16. The women who won last year's World Cup got just $2 million.

Remember the women's final last summer was the most watched U.S. soccer game in history, men's or (ph) women's. And according to U.S. Soccer Federation a 2015 financial report, the women's team generated $20 million more than the men's team. Now bear in mind that was a World Cup year for the women and not the men's. We have to note that.

But U.S. soccer did respond. Here's what they are saying. The statement says -- quote -- "Our efforts to be advocates for women's soccer are unwavering. We are committed to and engaged in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement that addresses compensation with the Women's National Team Players Association to take effect when the current CBA expires at the end of this year." Now, the U.S. federal government will now investigate and if it determines that the women's arguments are justified it could try to reach a settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation. And if they can't the complaint could go to federal court. The women's attorney says that, not only do members of the U.S. Women's National Team deserve equal pay moving forward, Carol, they could even be entitled to back pay.

COSTELLO: It kind of reminds me of what women's tennis went through, right -- a couple of years ago.

[10:50:04]

They had to fight for equal pay with men's tennis players and eventually they were successful. And you can't argue that women's tennis is not profitable or there are mega stars in women's tennis more so over the men's team.

COSTELLO: You're absolutely right, Carol. I think it was in 2007 that the women did in fact start to get equal pay when they were playing in terms with men. And Serena Williams she noted (ph) so eloquently she reminded everyone that last year at the U.S. Open the women's finals sold out well before the men's.

COSTELLO: It did. OK. Well, you go, girls. Coy Wire, thank you so much.

WIRE: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Checking some of the top stories for your 50 minutes past.

One of the most long awaited automobiles is no longer a mystery. Tesla has officially unveiled its new Model 3. The company has high hopes it will sell a lot of the all electric cars at about $35,000 each. Tesla says the Model 3 has a range of at least 215 miles.

The California Governor Jerry Brown says he will sign into law an increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He's expected to do that on Monday. The new law will raise the state's minimum wage from $10.00 an hour to $10.50 an hour starting in January. For the next six years the state's minimum wage will rise until it hits $15 an hour.

A school bus maintenance working in Virginia made a shocking discovery during a routine inspection. He found explosive material left behind by federal agents who had recently used the bus for a training exercise. The material was still on the bus Monday and Tuesday when children were aboard. The school sent an email to parents alerting them of the issue but said the material was in a benign state and could not be set off without a detonator. And I'm sure that made parents feel a whole lot better.

The British man who shocked the world by taking a selfie with the plane hijacker says it was not a frivolous gesture. Ben Innes said he did it to find out what was happening because everyone onboard the EgyptAir flight was speaking Arabic. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN INNES, TOOK SELFIE WITH EGYPTAIR HIJACKER: I wanted to interrupt with the hijacker. I wanted him to understand that I was a human. I was doing human things. That I wasn't just a nameless, faceless victim. That I was a real living person. And I wanted to -- I wanted that to be clear. And so he would understand that.

I also wanted to get a better look at the device, at him. I needed to understand if he had any other weapons, if there were any other hijackers I hadn't seen who were with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The incident, as you know, ended peacefully when the hijacker was taken into custody in Cyprus.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a hair raising intrusion at 30,000 feet. A wayward ponytail goes viral. And Jeanne Moos has the scoop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:57:01]

COSTELLO: A whale watching adventure comes to a startling end for some tourists in San Diego.

Whoa. The horn blaring as the tour boat slams into a pier. People were scattering in the nick of time including that elderly woman in the red coat. She's a lucky lady. No one on the dock was hurt. Three passengers on board did complain of pain and they were taken to a hospital. Wow.

Frequent fliers know all the different lingo attacked to air travel. There's the overnight, the red-eye flight or the small commuter plane known as the puddle jumper. How about boarding a ponytail express? Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It doesn't quite qualify as an in-flight emergency, but --

DANTE RAMOS, PASSENGER, TOOK PONYTAIL PHOTO: All of a sudden this ponytail drops down in front of us.

MOOS: This ponytail. Dante Ramos and his partner exchanged can-you- believe-this looks -- then Dante snapped the photo. "Congrats to the ponytailed young woman in seat 22B you've invented a whole new way to be awful at 35,000 feet."

RAMOS: We looked at it in disbelief. So we waited to see whether the ponytail owner would notice. She didn't appear to.

MOOS: The photo went massively viral landing on the infamous "Passenger Shaming" Facebook page, where it joined bare feet in midair, bare feet on tray tables, feet on armrests, Q-tips left in seat pockets, litter, travelers half undressed.

Former flight attendant Shawn Kathleen created "Passenger Shaming".

Yikes.

SHAWN KATHLEEN, FOUNDER, PASSENGER SHAMING: It's so yikes. It's so beyond yikes. There was a gentleman treating his warts with Compound W.

MOOS: There are other hair plane photos on the Passenger Shaming page, but this one struck a cord.

What were people suggesting you should have done?

RAMOS: We should have put gum in her hair.

MOOS: "Hey, Rapunzel," commented someone, "You have five seconds to move your hair before I cut it off."

Suggested another, "Just grab it, caress it, sniff it -- give it just enough of a tug."

But Dante's partner opted to simply stand up.

RAMOS: Hovered over her in a way that she noticed.

MOOS: Without exchanging a word, she brought up her seat, her hair disappeared.

Dante is a Boston Globe columnist, so he wrote a piece entitled "The Day I Went Viral" bemoaning how much attention his hair tweet got compared to serious stuff, while still admiring clever puns like...

RAMOS: "Weave been hijacked" as if it was a hair weave that had somehow taken over the plane.

MOOS: Unless your locks threaten to overflow your seat, lock them down.

Jeanne Moos CNN New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:00:00]

COSTELLO: That is such a clever idea. I'm going to try that on the plane today.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" starts now.