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New Day

Vanuatu Suffering in Wake of Monster Cyclone; Will Tsarnaev Take the Stand?; Teacher Wins First $1 Million Global Teacher Prize. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired March 17, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

<08:32:09> JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for the five things you need to know for your new day.

Number one, a United flight to Denver forced back to Dulles International Airport in Washington because a passenger reportedly charged the cockpit. He was subdued by other passengers and taken to the hospital after that plane ended.

Real estate heir Robert Durst has officially been charged with murdering his friend Susan Berman in 2000. He could face the death penalty. Durst also faces weapons and drug charges in New Orleans.

President Obama says he's embarrassed for the GOP senators who sent that warning letter to Iran. A new CNN/ORC poll finds the majority of Americans agree those senators went too far and backed direct talks with Iran.

A huge turnout expected as Israeli's head to the polls. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making a last-ditch move to win over right-wing voters, promising that no Palestinian state would be established while he remains in office.

New Obamacare numbers out this morning. The government estimates more than 16 million people now have coverage since the health care law was passed in 2010.

For more on the five things you need to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, John.

Well, a desperate plea for help from the president of Vanuatu after a monster cyclone slams that island nation. CNN's Ivan Watson gives us a firsthand look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the ward where people who were wounded in the storm are being taken care of and the only real hospital on Tanna Island. Now, we've been listening to Jakapeth Nela (ph) really kind of whimper in pain. She's nine years old. And she suffered a severe head wound when the roof collapsed. It also killed her mother and brother. That's the storm four days ago.

Now, we've spoken to the head doctor here. There's extensive damage. Extensive damage in this hospital. And they haven't been able to communicate at all with the outside world because radios are down, the telephones are down to tell the capital city and the outside world the damage here and the help that they need. And the doctor says that this little girl needs to be medevaced. She could lose her life if she doesn't get taken to an intensive care ward.

What do you need most right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would be water and food for the patients and some medical supplies to deal with injuries, IV fluids and oral rehydration foods for dehydration. And I think water would be the number one on the list.

WATSON: This used to be the maternity ward. As you can see now, unusable, still flooded, under several inches of water. And the only doctor here says that all of the medical machines that this hospital was equipped with have all been damaged by the storm.

<08:35:06> I'm going to bring you over here, and you can just see kind of the improvisational nature of what's going on here. And some good news. This is a little baby who was born one day ago. The mother is Alina Loman (ph).

Hi. How are you? Congratulations.

And the baby is healthy right now. But as you can see, since the storm there are new medical problems and challenges that are coming up. And this is not a facility that is equipped to deal with them.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Tanna in Vanuatu.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: What a stark illustration of all that they need there. If you want to help the victims of the cyclone in Vanuatu, go to cnn.com/impact.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Really powerful. Really powerful.

Jurors in the Boston bombing trial hearing from 58 witnesses so far, but will they hear from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev? Our legal experts are ahead.

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<08:40:20> BERMAN: This is now the third week of the Boston Marathon bombing trial. So far the jury has heard from 58 witnesses. The big question right now, will Dzhokhar Tsarnaev take the stand in his own defense? We're going to get to that question after we go through some of the key pieces of evidence in this case so far with Paul Callan, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, also a former prosecutor, and Joey Jackson, HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney.

Gentlemen, thank you so much for being with us.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Sure.

BERMAN: Paul, I think this trial started off with a notable really barrage, a parade of witnesses, people who suffered at these bombings, the graphic images, this carnage, these awful pictures of what happened here. What effect do you think that had?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's going to have an enormous effect. And this case has been moving very, very quickly, as we know. But when you talk about the death penalty, even people who are conscientiously opposed to the death penalty often have one exception. In a case that involves a family member, a friend, or carnage of this extent, and that's what prosecutors are showing here. This is a special case. It's a poster child for the death penalty. It's -- you know, Massachusetts is a liberal place. They generally oppose the death penalty up there, but prosecutors are making a very persuasive case here.

BERMAN: And I -- and I think these images are extraordinary, even for the people who were there at the time.

Joey, we've been talking about key pieces of evidence here.

JACKSON: Sure.

BERMAN: And the boat keeps coming up. The boat and the message that he wrote inside the boat, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did. We're looking at a picture of those messages right now, bullet riddled, talking about the United States attacking civilians, essentially saying this was in defense of Islam. What's the effect here?

JACKSON: John, understand that this is compelling for the following reason. The whole defense is predicated upon the notion that he did not have a mind of his own. His brother put him up to everything. He led him. He radicalized him. He was in that boat, John, by himself. He had an opportunity by himself to give his views about what he felt about America, about what he felt about the actions that he engaged in with his brother in the bombing, in killing innocent civilians that, in his view, deserved it. And so I think what the prosecution is going to do is to align that with his tweets to make it clear that he acted, he acted knowingly, he acted intelligently and he acted on his own volition to kill and destroy (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Here's -- here's one of these tweets right here. Listen to Anwar al-Awlaki. He, of course, was the -- was the al Qaeda terrorist in Yemen. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev says you will gain an unbelievable amount of knowledge if you listen to him.

Paul Callan, if you're a juror, you see that.

CALLAN: Well, you know, once again, I mean the portrayal here through the use of the tweets is that this is a soldier in furtherance of an ideology that supports killing innocent American citizens. And he clearly understood what he was doing when he executed that ideology.

BERMAN: Let's talk about the demeanor right now because there's been all this new evidence that we did not see two years ago.

JACKSON: Right.

BERMAN: Surveillance in and around the bombing. I think the one that the most people are talking about is though is right here, this simple moment where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, after killing three people at the end of the Boston Marathon, maiming dozens of others, goes and buys milk. What effect does a video here -- what does a -- what does a jury think when they see that?

JACKSON: He did not care will be the prosecution's argument. He affected a nation, devastated a community, changed lives forever and took other lives. And what did he do after that? He went and he purchased milk. And then his brother said, you know what, we don't like this milk, let's take it back. And then certainly thereafter he goes for a workout and does other things that are just inconsistent with a person who really cares about anything.

BERMAN: Other side --

CALLAN: I think there -- there are two pieces of video. And I think, John, you're right on this one because it shows cold heartedness after this carnage. The other one is, when he's actually at the scene placing the bomb in a place where there are children --

JACKSON: Right.

CALLAN: Where there are women, where there are innocent people. And you really get a sense that he knew exactly who was going to be destroyed, utterly destroyed by this explosion.

BERMAN: And this is all prelude, of course, to this trial right now and the big question, if you are the defense, do you have your client, do you have Dzhokhar Tsarnaev take the stand? And it's a two-part question, right, because you could have him take the stand before the determination of guilt or innocence or you could have him take the stand after during the sentencing phase.

JACKSON: John, no way would he take the stand. You're talking about skilled attorneys who would rip him to shreds. If your ultimate argument is he had no mind of his own, didn't know what he was doing. Remember, the defense is not contesting guilt. They stood up during the opening statement and they said, our guy's guilty, but let me tell you why he's guilty.

The defense will confront him with what we talked about, which is the evidence in that boat. The defense will confront him with running over his brother in addition to other police officers.

<08:45:02> The defense will confront him with "Inquire" magazine, and him reading it and reviewing it. Confront him with his tweets. He'll stand no chance. He doesn't get on the stand.

BERMAN: Paul, even in sentencing?

CALLAN: Unlikely that he takes the stand. I can't say 100 percent no only because this case is going so badly for the defense. They're crashing and burning. The one shot, the Hail Mary pass they might have, is putting him on the stand and making him sympathetic to the jury that he's the pawn of his brother.

And you know something? I've never met him. You've never met him. Only the defense attorneys can know how he will project to a jury. Will he be human? And what would they have to lose by putting him on? They know what's going to happen if they continue to follow this road -- the death penalty.

BERMAN: Paul Callan, Joey Jackson, great to have you as always.

JACKSON: Thank you.

BERMAN: Thanks so much, guys. Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right, John, you know, most teachers don't get the recognition they deserve. We are going to speak with one teacher who just received the most incredible award, giving her 1 million reasons to smile. You have to hear her story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: I love shining a spotlight on this. It's often said that teachers don't get the recognition they deserve. However, an English teacher in Maine won the highest honor ever bestowed on the teaching profession. Her name is Nancie Atwell. She received the world's first Global Teacher Prize, a $1 million award, referred to as the Nobel Prize of Teaching.

<08:50:02> Nancie Atwell, the founder of the Center for Teaching and Learning in an independent K-8 school in Edgecomb, Maine, joins us this morning, fresh off a plane, probably jet lagged and doesn't know where she is.

First of all, our congratulations, Nancy.

NANCIE ATWELL, WINNER, WORLD'S FIRST $1 MILLION GLOBAL TEACHER PRIZE: Thank you.

PEREIRA: This must feel like a nod in your favor for your life's worth?

ATWELL: I think it's a recognition of the entire profession. That's really the way I'm looking at it. And I think that was the intention of Sunny Varkey, who's the founder of the Varkey Foundation, to acknowledge all teachers and validate the profession at a time where I know he said, you know, Kim Kardashian gets a million times more press than any teacher in this nation.

CAMEROTA: But there's something special that you do because you won this. What is it that you bring to the classroom, do you think?

ATWELL: My work has been in the area of literacy, especially teaching writing and reading. And for 40 years, my students have chosen the topics they write about, and they've selected the books they read.

PEREIRA: Choice, ooh.

BERMAN: That's so important.

ATWELL: And they have time in class every day to practice writing and to read. So they read 40 books a year on average. They finish 21 pieces of writing on average across a range of genres -- essays, reviews, short fiction, poetry, memoirs. They are authentic writers and readers. They write and read the way that you do, and because they do, they know what writing and reading are good for. They become skilled, fluent, passionate writers and readers with never an exercise in sight.

BERMAN: What was their reaction when they found out you won this award. Were they like, yes?

(LAUGHTER)

ATWELL: I wasn't there. I was on a 13-hour flight back from Dubai, but we have an assembly every day at our school.

PEREIRA: There's the picture right there. Have you seen this?

ATWELL: No. Called Morning Meeting. And, oh gosh.

PEREIRA: Look at that. Look at all the kiddos.

ATWELL: Man, I love them.

PEREIRA: I think they love you.

BERMAN: Luckily they spelled it correctly after all that great teaching you did.

(LAUGHTER)

ATWELL: They had ideas for how to spend the money, because I'm giving the entire $1 million prize to the school.

PEREIRA: Hold the phone a second. You won a million dollars. This is what we need to highlight. This is what the spirit of a teacher is about -- giving, giving, giving. You're giving the million dollars --

ATWELL: Yes.

PEREIRA: -- to your school.

ATWELL: Yes.

PEREIRA: A school which you founded back in 1990. ATWELL: Yes. I have everything I need, but my kids don't have what

they need and the school doesn't have what it needs, including two new boilers, two furnaces. Because it's a 25-year-old school we've got some 25-year-old furnaces. So I need to make sure that school exists for another 25 years.

But I need to also make sure that we continue to attract a range of regular kids, which our school does. It's a nonprofit demonstration school and teachers come from all over the country to see the work we're doing across the curriculum. They need to see regular kids. So we've got kids who live below the federal poverty line, and we need to be able to keep them there K-8 to maintain this as their school.

So I will establish a tuition assistance endowment with some of the money and the rest will be spent on books.

PEREIRA: You're amazing.

ATWELL: Books, books, books. Because our kids can't get enough, and because on our website we have lists of the books our kids recommend to other children.

PEREIRA: That's a good idea.

ATWELL: It's visited at least 10,000 times a month by teachers around the country. It's a go-to resource if you want to teach with children's literature. We need to keep it current.

PEREIRA: Pay it forward.

CAMEROTA: I can't wait to check that out.

ATWELL: Oh, yes, if you have children and you're looking for books to give them that they will love, these are the books our kids say they will love.

CAMEROTA: What do you say to kids who are trying to figure out what they want to do when they grow up and might be considering teaching?

ATWELL: Honestly, right now I encourage them to look in the private sector.

CAMEROTA: Why?

ATWELL: Because public school teachers are so constrained right now by the Common Core standards and the tests that are developed to monitor what teachers are doing with them. It's -- it's a movement that's turned teachers into technicians, not reflective practitiners.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

ATWELL: And if you're a creative, smart young person, I don't think this is the time to go into teaching unless an independent school would suit you.

(CROSSTALK) BERMAN: We need teachers across the board.

PEREIRA: Can I do one thing? Maybe we can show the video of you receiving the award. Do we have that? I think we do. I want to show this because this is a really beautiful moment. And what you see there is the beautiful prize. I think you're probably even getting a little teary watching this because this is a beautiful moment when you're accepting the award.

But I want to come back here live and actually just ask John Berman if he wouldn't picking that up and handing it over.

BERMAN: Oh, my god.

PEREIRA: It's very, very, very --

BERMAN: You have to pass a physical test before you won the award?

(CROSSTALK)

ATWELL: I think it weighs about 100 pounds.

BERMAN: This is 100 pounds!

(LAUGHTER)

ATWELL: Well, they made all the nominees -- because we didn't know until the name was announced who the winner was. But they made us all practice holding it so nobody would drop it.

<08:55:00> PEREIRA: Nancy, we are so very proud of you. Keep up the good work.

ATWELL: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Inspire lots of teachers like you to pick up when you decide that you've had your time, you pass on the mantle to other teachers just like you, OK?

ATWELL: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Thanks so much. Congratulations.

ATWELL: It's been a pleasure.

CAMEROTA: All right, well, a Cincinnati doctor doing surgery. What makes that the Good Stuff? We'll tell you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: OK, time now for the Good Stuff. In today's edition, a doctor serves up second chances. Check out these guys. These are ex- cons. They've already paid their debt to society but they still feel like they're serving a life sentence because of their permanent tattoos. And now they want to look as they feel, like law-abiding dads. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To take care of her, I've got to have a job. So in order to have a job, I can't look like this. Nobody wants to hire me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want my self-esteem back, I want my confidence back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So enter Dr. John Mendleson from Cincinnati. He has new tattoo removal technology that he is offering free of charge to former felons trying to reenter the work force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN MENDLESON, CINCINNATI: While, we all make mistakes in life, we all hope for a second opportunity.

<09:00:00> The fact that we can finally clear tattoos really does give people a second opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Wow. That cannot feel good. That cannot be easy to get those off, but worth it. Well done, Doctor.

PEREIRA: All right, a lot of news to get to. Let's go to Randi Kaye in for Carol Costello in the "NEWSROOM". Hi Randi.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": Good morning, guys. I was saying that looks as painful probably as getting the first one, but good for them, right?

Nice to see you all. "NEWSROOM" starts right now.