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22 U.S. Embassies Closed Due to Terrorism Threat; Time Warner, CBS Feud over Transmission Fees; Ariel Castro's Neighbor Talks; Ayman al Zawahiri Points Finger at U.S. for Egyptian Crisis; FDA Finds Source of Illnesses; Is Major League Baseball Over for A-Rod?
Aired August 03, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN: All right, it's as if something took a bite out of the Kansas prairie. Take a look at this giant, and I mean sinkhole that opened up in Wallace County in the western part of the state, 200 feet across, 90 feet deep, and, guess what, it's still growing. Folks on the prairie say it's hard to believe until you actually see it up close and personal. The good news here, no homes nearby.
All right, that is going to do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead. My colleague and Anna Coren is joining us from New York with more of the day's top stories -- Anna.
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Fredricka.
And hello, and welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren, sitting in for Don Lemon.
I'm going to start with State Department workers. They're not taking any chances this weekend. Nearly two dozen U.S. embassies will be locked up tight tomorrow while the one in Yemen is circled by tanks and road blocks. Only time will tell if the threat was real or just chatter.
CNN's Emily Schmidt joins me from Washington with much more.
Emily, is there a clearer picture of what the real threat here is?
EMILY SCHMIDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In some way, there's a little bit of a clearer picture. We've now seen the number of embassies and consulates that will be closed increase. We were talking 21 yesterday, now we're talking about 22. This is a sign. It is very much viewed as a threat that officials say they are taking very seriously, stretching from the Middle East, North Africa to South Asia. But as Saturday begins to turn to Sunday now in this affected region, we're also seeing security increased. A number of officials have said the chatter seemed to originate from al Qaeda in Yemen. The U.S. embassy in Yemen, which is one of the embassies that will be closed, has even greater security than normal today. At least 12 tanks, we're told, within a few hundred yards of the building.
Congressman Peter King has been briefed on the threat as a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Here's how he describes it. We don't have that sound bite, but basically what he said is the numbers are so big he can't get into it, he said, other than the fact that it is definitely planned as a very enormous attack. He continued to say a catastrophic-type attack. He said the best way to describe it, but he can't go any further than that.
Important to note that Congressman King is a Republican. He said he believes the administration is doing all the right things when you're talking about its reaction to this particular threat.
COREN: Emily, officials must hear rumors of plots all the time, so what makes this time any different?
SCHMIDT: They do all the time. And officials have said they have been tracking this one for weeks. But over the past few days, they say that's when the chatter increased. They really believe that Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula could be in the final stages of planning that attack. That's why officials are particularly concerned about the next few days. That's why we are seeing all of these embassies closed on Sunday.
They also say, Anna, that they could be extending that by more days as this situation moves forward.
COREN: Emily, what's to say that the militants don't just wait out to then launch their attack? Obviously, we're looking at the next couple of days, the next week. But what's to say they won't just wait?
SCHMIDT: That's one of the questions everybody is asking. If it doesn't happen Sunday, does that mean it could happen Monday or happen in three weeks from now? But that's one reason the closings could be extended. The travel alert goes through the end of the month.
You know, I talked with the CNN terrorism analyst, Paul Kirkshaw, today. I said, what if there is no attack? He says, in some ways, al Qaeda may still be able to claim a win to its supporters on this because, no matter what happens, they have been pushed to the headlines. Everyone is talking about them. Everyone is watching them. And they can say that their threat has caused the closing of embassies, proving that they are a threat, that indeed U.S. intelligence does not take lightly -- Anna?
COREN: Emily Schmidt following this story very closely from Washington. Thank you very much.
Turning our attention now to California, the demolition of a California power plant turns dangerous. Flying shrapnel injured three people.
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COREN: The shrapnel hit a man standing more than a thousand feet from the site in Bakersfield. Police say one of the man's legs was partially amputated and the other leg severely injured. He was air- lifted to a nearby hospital. Two others were treated for minor injuries.
Well, Time Warner Cable and CBS television are starring in their own reality show. The media companies are at odds over a transmission fee so Time Warner Cable has dropped CBS stations in some of its biggest cities. That's obviously bad news for fans of many popular CBS shows.
Well, our Alina Cho joins us from New York.
Tell us, Alina, has there been any progress?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anna, no, I'm sad to report. The latest we're hearing is negotiations have stalled for a moment. They'll pick up again Monday. Essentially, what that means is, if you turn on CBS right now in New York, Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Detroit, Pittsburgh, eight cities in all, you will see something that you have likely never seen before. No programming. No sound. Just a slate with a Time Warner logo and a scathing open letter. At least earlier, there was a letter that you could see, that read in part, "CBS has made outrageous demands for the programming that it delivers free over the air and online, requiring us to remove their stations from your lineup while we continue to negotiate for fair and reasonable terms." CBS called it a first.
In case you're wondering, this whole fight is over something called "retransmission fees." These are the fees that cable companies pay to broadcasters like CBS in order to get that content that they so desire and the content that viewers love.
Remember, too, it's not just CBS that's dark right now. CBS-owned premium networks like Showtime and The Movie Channel are dark as well.
Today, we are on the streets of New York, TV's number-one market, to see how viewers are responding. Take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I only heard about it because I went to watch "Wet Therapy" this morning on Showtime and there was a page on the cable thing saying, due to outrageous behavior ,or something like that they, said from CBS they are not -- they don't have Showtime right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's annoying, you know? There's a ton of stuff I watch on CBS. That's the main annoying thing. David Letterman, I'm about ready to lose my mind. I don't know what I'm going to do next week.
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CHO: Annoying and unprecedented. Remember, CBS is the most-watched network in the country. This weekend, for golf fans, Anna, it means no PGA tour. It means no "Big Brother," no "CSI: Miami," and on Sunday, tomorrow, no "60 Minutes." I know you live in Hong Kong and you may not be familiar with these shows, but I know you are familiar with "60 Minutes." Tomorrow night, you will not be able to watch it.
COREN: Wow. I do know all those programs. We do get them in Hong Kong as well. Both parties, Alina, saying the other is unreasonable. Very interesting to see how this all plays out.
Alina Cho, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
COREN: A former FBI agent is behind bars in Salt Lake City, accused of conspiring to sell confidential information. Robert Lustyik, he's seen here in photos from his legal defense fund web site. A criminal complaint states Lustyik and two others accepted $1,000 from a Bangladeshi man who wanted information on a political rival. The men were planning additional bribes for other confidential information. Lustyik worked in counter intelligence and retired last September. He said he did nothing wrong.
Speaking out. A neighbor of the Cleveland man who kidnapped and tortured three women, speaks out about what she saw happening inside the house. That's coming up next.
And Alex Rodriguez is back on the baseball field tonight, but could it be the last game he ever plays? We'll go live.
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COREN: Ariel Castro is now serving his time in a maximum-security prison in Ohio where he will be kept in isolation. On Thursday, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years for the kidnapping, raping and beating three women for more than a decade.
Well, during his rambling speech, Castro blamed the FBI for failing the women. And now we're learning Castro's neighbor may have had the opportunity to report the crime if she'd only known what was happening inside the home.
Well, Martin Savidge sat down with Altagracia Tejada for an interview. She told him that she saw Michelle Knight inside the house several times but she didn't realize she was being held captive.
Let's take a listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: She says when she saw her, those one or two times across the street in the screen door. She had her hands up against the window, pressing against the glass. She had longer hair. She just looked like a child. She was young. She looked like a child.
ALTAGRACIA TEJADA, NEIGHBOR OF ARIEL CASTRO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: She says that when seeing her, she wouldn't even imagine the things that were going on in that house. She would never think that that was her. And when had she came by today, she asked her if the person that she saw standing in the screen door, if it was her, and she said, yes, it was her.
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COREN: How frightening.
Knight, for her part, isn't holding any grudges. Yesterday, she returned to the house where she was held captive and thanked all the neighbors for their support. Amazingly brave.
Syria's violent civil war is spilling across the border into Lebanon. Syria jets launched a deadly launch a deadly strike in the northern Bekaa Valley, an area home to rebel sympathizers. Lebanese media saying nine people were killed or displaced as Syrian refugees. Syrian jets also struck Lebanese territory back in March, but today's attack marks the first time Lebanon has been hit since the militant group Hezbollah openly announced it was siding with the Syrian regime.
Well, nine children were killed in Afghanistan during a botched attack on the Indian consulate in Jalalabad. Police say the children were studying at a nearby mosque when three suicide bombers detonated their explosives. At least 23 others, including many children, were also injured. Jalalabad is a border region near Pakistan that is frequently a target for militant attacks.
After more than a month of protests in Eygpt, international powers are taking a closer look at the political standoff. Envoys from the U.S. and Europe are in Cairo trying to find a way out of the crisis. But even as they talk, tens of thousands of supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy are gathered. They say they won't leave until Morsy is reinstated. The interior ministry however, once again hinted at an impending crackdown and urged the demonstrators to go home.
The leader of al Qaeda is speaking out about the crisis in Egypt. A 14-minute audio message posted online is thought to be from Ayman al Zawahiri. In it, Zawahiri urges Muslims to stand together to keep Egypt from becoming divided. And he accuses Washington of plotting Mohamed Morsy's overthrow.
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AYMAN AL ZAWAHIRI, AL QAEDA MEMBER: The crusaders, the seculars, the Americanized army, Mubarak thugs, and some of member of Islamic parties with the support of Gulf money and American plotting all agreed to topple Mohamed Morsy's government.
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COREN: CNN cannot verify the authenticity of that message.
Well, he's been in power for more than three decades and Robert Mugabe has been elected to serve another five-year term in Zimbabwe. The country's election commission says the 89-year-old leader surpassed his rival by a 61-33 percent margin. Mr. Mugabe's party will also control parliament as well. His rival says his party will challenge the results. The U.S. is also casting doubt on the outcome. Secretary of State John Kerry has just issued a statement saying the results are not credible.
Well, tracing an outbreak that has made hundreds sick across America. Two restaurant chains now identified as having served bad lettuce to customers. That's coming up after the break.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Anna, ahead on SGMD, parents demand more information from an elite children's hospital following the deaths of multiple young heart patients.
Also, convicted Cleveland kidnapper, Ariel Castro, he said in court he's a sex addict. Is that even real?
And a new warning about energy drinks. I'll tell you what to look for.
We'll see you in a few minutes at the bottom of the hour.
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COREN: That's right. We'll be looking forward to Dr. Gupta's show coming up in about 10 minutes' time.
But first, an update on the cyclospora outbreak that's made hundreds of people ill in at least 16 states. The FDA tells CNN illnesses in Iowa and Nebraska have been linked to a salad provider in Mexico who provided lettuce to two restaurant chains, Olive Garden and Red Lobster.
As Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains, this is proving to be a difficult bug to figure out.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Anna, I think it's say to say there are things we know and things we don't know about this cyclospora outbreak. A couple of things. First of all, in Iowa and Nebraska, they narrowed it down to prepackaged salad mixtures in most people, about 80 percent of people. But they also say, look, the product is no longer in story stores, it's highly unlikely people have it in refrigerants. It's a great part of the reason they aren't naming the product. That may seem strange or unsatisfying but they say there's no imminent public health risk so they don't necessarily need to name a company.
As far as the other state goes, the FDA said, look, we don't have the evidence to say it's one specific brand of product that's making people sick. They're still sorting it out. I can tell you, having covered these types of stories, it's a tough challenge. You're asking people to remember what they ate three to six weeks ago. A lot of people can barely remember what they had for breakfast yesterday.
Also, if they do narrow it down to the salad, there are multiple ingredients to the salad. There's iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, carrots, red cabbage. They could have come from different farms. And the contamination from the farms could have come from irrigation water, from something the washers did or in the washing process itself. They simply don't know.
The good news is it seems that we're not seeing new infections. While the numbers are going up, these are probably people who got infected a few weeks ago. It can take weeks to get sick and then you can have symptoms that last even months.
Now, in Iowa and Nebraska, I think it's safe to say the product is no longer on the shelves. Again, regardless, it's a good rule of thumb to wash your produce, wash it well, but also dry it. That helps get the pesky parasite residue off. It's not absolute protection. Some contaminates remain. You can try peeling the fruit as well to try and get that skin off. That can help reduce your chance of infection.
Anna, hope that keeps you safe.
Back to you.
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COREN: Thank you.
Sanjay Gupta reporting.
Next hour, we'll be speaking with a doctor about a threat from one of the most common pain medications around, something you probably have in your medicine cabinet. That's next hour here in the NEWSROOM.
In Garland County, Arkansas, police have arrested the mother of an inmate who broke out of jail. The escaped inmate is still on the loose. His daring getaway all caught on surveillance tape. Watch as Derek Estelle talks on a phone. He sees a chance to escape through a reception window and takes off. While another inmate distracts a deputy, Estelle clears the jail. The officer gives chase but could not catch Estelle who left in a get-away car. Well, his mother, Glenda, is charged with helping her son. He was facing charges, including aggravated robbery and breaking and entering.
Two Florida inmates went fishing for marijuana. The inmates allegedly lowered a line down six stories to a waiting accomplice standing outside the jail. The accomplice reportedly hooked a flimsy bag containing 29 grams of marijuana to the line and the inmates tried to reel in the contraband. Well, something went wrong. Surprise, surprise. Authorities found the pot-filled bag hanging outside the jail's fourth floor on Monday. Authorities quickly installed a new fence to discourage future fishing expeditions. Well, the best courtroom drama not on television. Mobster Whitey Bulger's life is on the line. But this week, it seemed like the FBI was on trial. We'll talk exclusively with a former agent who took the stand. That's coming up at 6:00 eastern.
But next, Alex Rodriguez is back on the baseball field tonight, but could it be the last game he ever plays?
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COREN: Tonight could be Alex Rodriguez's last professional baseball game. The New York Yankees slugger is expected to play a rehab game in the minor leagues before joining the big-league club on Monday, but that's only if Major League Baseball doesn't suspend him first.
CNN's Joe Carter has more from Trenton, New Jersey.
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JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alex Rodriguez has not played a baseball game or spoken directly to the media in weeks. But on Friday night, Alex Rodriguez did both, and he came out swinging both on and off the field. On the field, he only took three at-bats but hit what looked like an effortless home run. Off the field, after the game, he addressed a number of topics, including those that want to keep him off a big league diamond.
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RODRIGUEZ: There's more than one party that benefits from me not ever stepping back on the field, and that's not my teammates and it's not the Yankee fans.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who is it? Who benefits?
RODRIGUEZ: I can't tell you that right now, and I hope I never have to.
Andrew?
RODRIGUEZ: I asked that, and he didn't answer that, so he was under the mic. I'm not sure. I mean, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. I think that's the pink elephant in the room. I think we all agree that we want to get rid of PEDs. That's a must. I think all the players feel that way. But when all this stuff is going on in the background and people are finding creative ways to, you know, cancel your contract and stuff like that, I think that's concerning for me. It's concerning for the present, and I think it should be concerning for future players as well. There is a process. I'm excited about the way I feel tonight. And I'm going to keep fighting.
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CARTER: Well, there's been plenty of speculation that the New York Yankees front office wouldn't mind if Alex Rodriguez were to be suspended rather than rejoin the team. See, if you're suspended in Major League Baseball for performance-enhancing drugs, you do not get paid a salary. The Yankees are on the hook to pay Alex Rodriguez a guaranteed $100 million-plus, up to the 2017 season.
Now, Major League Baseball, it's believed, is going to be making an announcement on its entire suspension related to Alex Rodriguez and a number of other players on Monday.
Now, Alex Rodriguez told us on Friday night that he plans to play with the Trenton Thunder on Saturday night and then take a short workout Sunday before heading to join his New York Yankees in Chicago to play the White Sox on Monday.
Joe Carter, CNN, Trenton, New Jersey.
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COREN: Meantime, back on the field, fans in Los Angeles may have witnessed the catch of the year, if not the catch of the decade last night. Take a look as outfielder, J.B. Shuck, of the L.A. Angels, chases down this long fly ball against the Toronto Blue Jays. Well, he leaps into the air, over the fence. He comes down with the ball in the front row. What an incredible catch. Well, earning a well- deserved standing ovation from the crowd.
Well, it's as if something took a big bite out of the Kansas prairie. Look at this giant sinkhole that opened up in Willis County in the western part of the state. Well, it's 200 feet across, 90 feet deep and still growing. Folks on the prairie say it's hard to believe until you see it up close. The good news is there are no homes nearby.
We're going to leave you with a rather sad but very touching story. A dying toddler played a key role in his parents' wedding today. 2- year-old Logan Stevenson was born with a rare genetic disorder. Doctors say he only has weeks left to live. Well, his parents moved up their wedding date so Logan could be his father's best man today. His mother planned to carry him down the aisle. The parents got married a few hours ago in Pennsylvania. And they say they wanted to make sure their little boy saw them get married. Certainly, mixed emotions there.
Well, an interesting twist in an attempted murder trial. The would-be victim, begging for forgiveness from the woman who tried to have him murdered. How unusual is that? That's coming up at the top of the hour.
But first, sex addition, is it real or not? "DR. SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." starts right now.
