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Deadly Floods Pound Midwest, East; Remembering Polly Klaas; New Warning In Amber Alert Case; Wildfire Spreads In Southern California; Report: New Jersey Co-Workers Are Powerball Winners; President To Sign Student :NCAA Stops Selling Players Jersey's; Alleged Murder Posted On Facebook; U.S. Evacuates Consulate In Pakistan; Murder Case Against Hasan Continues; Dolphins Dying Along East Coast

Aired August 09, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Floods and fire, breaking overnight, devastating storms and one of the fastest moving fires in 50 years.

The NCAA says it made a mistake and starting today no more player jerseys will be sold on their web site. What's behind the about face?

One hundred and twenty dolphins all found dead, all off the east coast and all since June. What's behind their mysterious deaths?

Plus --

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: How quickly do you expect this to work?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within like the first 5 minutes and then I'm done.

GUPTA: That's it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it.

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LEMON: Medical marijuana and the quick effective relief it brings to the sick. NEWSROOM starts right now.

Good morning, everyone, top of the hour, I'm Don Lemon in for Carol today. For millions of Americans, it is another day to take cover from flooding rains. Parts of the Midwest and east are underwater after getting pounded day after day and the death toll is climbing. Among the latest victims, an Oklahoma man and South Carolina man, both of whom were caught in flash floods. And at least two deaths are reported in Missouri.

George Howell is in one of the hardest hit areas. He is in Hollister, Missouri with the very latest. What are you seeing, George?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, good morning. So we're in pretty much in an evacuated neighborhood and I want to take a minute to show you an example of the force, the power of Mother Nature. I mean, when you look at this, this is the result of water that ripped the side off of this mobile home. But look in there. It's interesting to see how some things remain standing.

The pencils are still standing. You see a few shoes there. It's always interesting to see these things when you imaging the force that came through here. Enough force over here, look at this, to move an entire mobile home over. You can see. It was shifted over that way and it's all because of this creek.

Don, what is typically a very quiet creek was a raging river overnight. The neighbors here tell me that the water at one point was as high as I'm standing now. Water that came in to many people's homes, moved trailer homes and there were stories of heroism out here. Nick Ramirez, this one neighbor who went door to door. He saw that water was creeping into his home.

He didn't go in to try to save his own stuff. He went door to door, knocking on doors, making sure everyone got out. The word here, no one was hurt or injured. Everyone did get out. There were several rescues, but what a night just 24 hours ago in this one neighborhood.

LEMON: George Howell reporting for us. George, thank you very much. We appreciate that.

I want to tell you about some new developments in the national manhunt for kidnapping and murder suspect now. Authorities say James DiMaggio maybe armed with explosives or may have booby-trapped his car with them. DiMaggio is believed to have abducted 16-year-old Hannah Anderson and possibly her 8-year-old brother, Ethan. DiMaggio is also wanted in the killing of the children's mother whose body was found in his burned out San Diego home.

Twenty years ago, another missing California child case gained national attention, that one ending tragically, of course. Poly Klaas was abducted from her home at knife point and later strangled. Richard Allan Davis was convicted of murder and remains on death row. Poly's father, Marc Klaas has since become an advocate for child safety and is the president of the Klaas Kids Foundation. Thanks for joining us this morning. How are you doing?

MARC KLAAS, FATHER OF POLY KLAAS: I'm well, Don. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

LEMON: Thanks for coming. What do you think the chances are that Hannah Anderson is alive now and may be able to survive the kidnapping?

KLAAS: I think the chances of her being alive are good. I mean, she was obviously the object of this individual's affection and he would do whatever he can to get her. I can't imagine then that he would try to kill her.

LEMON: You know, Mr. Klaas, we tell kids to look out for strangers, but in this case the suspect was a close friend of the family. I mean, should we change our messages to kids to include adults they know?

KLAAS: Absolutely. It's never really been about strangers. The vast majority of children that are abused are abused by somebody that they know. So I think that we need to change the rules. Instead of not talking to strangers and, quite frankly, Don, strangers are going to help a child out of a difficult situation. Stranger doesn't mean bad. What we have to tell our kids is that if something feels bad, they need to put distance between themselves and whatever that is and then find a trusted adult and tell that adult so they can intervene and assure that what happened here doesn't happen again.

LEMON: You know, we talked about this on our show yesterday. You're critical of the California amber alert system, the warnings sent out to mobile devices that came in the middle of the night. It frightened some people. A lot of people felt disturbed by it because they said, you know, it was too loud. They didn't want it. Why are you so critical of the warning system?

KLAAS: Well, listen, if people don't like it, they can opt out. I mean, that's a very easy thing to do. I think it's got huge potential the way they are rolling out this new system. It's got fantastic potential. But listen, I received the amber alert at 10:45 on Monday night. I live almost 500 miles away from where this crime was committed. However, Yuma, Arizona, which is only 100 miles away did not receive the alert. I think it's an absurd policy to do a statewide distribution when you need to do a geographic distribution.

In other words, you want to put the house, the crime scene in the middle of the distribution. You don't just want to shoot it willy- nilly. I know that other people received it during the night. That's going to turn them off. They are going to eliminate that from the kinds of things that they receive on their cell phones and there was no way to link to what was going on with that amber alert. So it's got great potential but it needs to be tweaked. It needs to be fixed and they need to try to include people and not push them into opting out of the system, which is what I think they are doing now.

LEMON: How's your family?

KLAAS: My family's good, Don. You know, we're fast approaching our 20th anniversary. It's about 6 or 8 weeks away now. And we're kind of looking at it with dread. It just doesn't seem like it's been that long in many ways.

LEMON: Marc Klaas, thank you very much. We appreciate your perspective. Good luck to you and your family.

KLAAS: Thank you.

LEMON: Now to some other stories we are watching this morning. In Southern California, one of the fastest moving wildfires in half a century is still burning out of control. The fire near Palm Springs has scorched out more than 14,000 acres, broke out yesterday and so far it has destroyed more than two dozen homes and businesses. And seven communities have been ordered to evacuate. More than 1,400 firefighters are battling the flames. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing fire behavior that we haven't seen in a long time because the fields are so dry and then you add a little bit of wind to that and it really makes it a challenge for us to keep up with the fire.

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LEMON: Right now the fire is about 20 percent contained. It is the second big wildfire in the area in less than two weeks.

In just a few hours, pop star, Usher Raymond, will face off against his ex-wife to make arraignment over the custody of their young sons. The pair's 5-year-old nearly drowned at his home, the home of Usher on Tuesday. His ex-wife says Usher is not home enough to adequately supervise their children. We'll be watching that.

This check is waiting to get picked up in New Jersey, look at that, just a measly $86,000. It could belong to 16 co-workers at a garage. A second ticket belongs to Paul White of Minnesota. He says he doesn't know what he'll do, but he's definitely not going back to work. There is still one more winning ticket left unclaimed.

And some students heading back to college, breathing a sigh of relief, the president preparing to sign a bill that would bring interest rates on student loans back down, students are happy to hear that. Parents, too, I'm sure. Alison Kosik is following the story from New York. Alison, when does this law kick in?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: When the president signs it, it's going to kick in immediately. Just in time for the next school year. It's retroactive back to July 1st because that's when the rates for undergrads jumped to 6.8 percent because Congress couldn't get a deal in time. What's going to happen now is the interest rates on these loans is going to drop to 3.86 percent. Graduate loans are going to be a bit higher at 5.41 percent. When you look at the average student carrying $27,000 in debt, this lower interest rates is going to save families thousands of dollars -- Don.

LEMON: So what happens this year, rates going to go back up?

KOSIK: And that is really a good question. So yes, rates will most likely go back up because look at this kind of as a longer term plan. This isn't a band-aid approach with an expiration date, but what this law actually does is lays out what is going to happen to these student loans as time marches on. These rates are actually pegged to financial markets. You're going to see the rate fluctuate specifically, it's tied to the ten-year Treasury bond.

What that means is when interest rates on bonds are low. Rates on the student loans will also be low. But as the economy heals, you're going to see bond rates go up so that interest rate on these student loans will go up as well. But the good thing about this law is that there's a cap on here and yet there's a catch because the cap on the loan rate is high. It's between 8 and 9 percent but the good thing about that is at least it wouldn't happen overnight which is what could have happened if Congress didn't come to some kind of compromise. Although you're going to see the rate fluctuate, it is starting out at a lower rate -- Don.

LEMON: Alison Kosik, thank you very much.

Another big story now, the NCAA getting out of the business of selling numbered jerseys. The move comes after ESPN exposed an official web site that linked players' names with the shirts. The groups' president said the sales could be seen as hypocritical since the NCAA bans players from earning outside money from performance.

This comes amid the claim that Manziel got thousands of dollars for authorities. Joining me now from Mike, does this really eliminate the hypocrisy that mark was talking about?

MIKE PESCA, NPR SPORTS CORRESONDENT: What I think this move does is take about the thinnest figure leaf in amateur sports and adds a thickness to that figure leaf. What I'm saying is that college football is amateurism only in that the players don't get paid. Everyone else gets paid. The coaches make money, the schools make money. But it adds to the fact that the players don't get paid.

The NCAA wants to put up a little bit of wall and distance from the fact that it is making money on specific players. So if you want to buy a Johnny Manziel jersey, it won't say Manziel on the back. But guess where you can buy that, every other web site that sells jerseys.

LEMON: Yes. Listen, for someone who is -- listen, I'm not a sports junkie. I jump on the bandwagon for playoffs. I love my LSU tigers. What's wrong with Johnny Manziel making money off an autograph?

PESCA: Right. This is a guy who the market is saying you're going to get paid millions of dollars. The only reason he's not in the NFL is the NCAA and the NFL have a rule to wait until your high school graduating class has completed their sophomore year. They say it's to protect the health of young players. Really, let's not forget the NFL has a free minor league system in the NCAA. Now, I'll articulate their point of view.

If you pay Johnny Manziel for an autograph, that's fine. But what's to stop the entire offensive line getting paid for autographs? Once you close the door on being able to profit on the fact that they are athletes, it's going to be game on and athletes will essentially just sign contracts and the official reason will be, you're not getting paid to play for your signature on that contract. We're just going to pay you actually for your signature, or whatever, to open up a car store or --

LEMON: It's a slippery slope, is what you're saying? It's a slippery slope.

PESCA: Yes. The door would be opened. LEMON: The school is making money and Johnny Manziel and others, make your money. There are a lot of people who need it. Thank you, Mike. We'll be right back.

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LEMON: Want to check your top stories on CNN. A Florida man accused of killing a woman and posting her picture on his Facebook page says after shooting his wife to death, Medina drove to his family to tell them what he did and then turned himself into the police. The photo was on Facebook for over five hours before Facebook removed the page. It was shared over and over again before it was taken down.

And this morning in Pakistan, another terrorist threat force the State Department to be evacuated, to evacuate of its diplomat from the U.S. consulate in Lahore. Only a few emergency personnel will stick around. The State Department has warned also U.S. citizens against travel to Pakistan.

We expect more chilling testimony today in the murder trial of the Fort Hood. Nidal Hasan's back-up defense lawyers cannot quit. They say the former Army psychiatrist is trying to get the death penalty and that they shouldn't be forced to help him.

Another big court case we're watching today, the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger, which could be decided by the jury at any time now. The admitted mob boss is accused of roccheteering and extortion and being involved in 19 killings.

CNN's National correspondent, Deborah Feyerick joins us from Boston. Deb, the jury has been deliberating for more than 20 hours now. Do we know if they are close, close to making a decision?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We never know if they are close to a decision. But they have been very, very thorough. Keep in mind, Don, this is a case that involved some 70 witnesses, 800 pieces of evidence, and not only that, they've also got to go through 32 counts plus 33 additional charges. This is a big -- this is big, what they have to consider, what they have to weigh. It appears that they are being very deliberate, very methodical.

They've got a lot in front of them. Yesterday there was a little bit of anticipation because it seemed that they were asking a question, what is the final count, the gun possession count from the serial number that was worn off one of the guns. But we don't know. They may be going over what they decided, making sure that they didn't leave any stone unturned -- Don

LEMON: What happens if they don't reach a verdict today? I mean, do they work through the weekend here. Are they allowed to work through the weekend? Courts are different in different municipalities.

FEYERICK: All courts are different. If they are very, very close, she might consider bringing them in on Saturday. It all depends. But right now there's just so much anticipation in the court. You've got a lot of family members of the victims, the 19 people who were murdered, and they want resolution. They sort of want to get this part of their life over with. He comes in to court and sees his brother in the front row. That's one thing that makes him happy is seeing the loyalty of his brother and niece who have been with him throughout the trial -- Don.

LEMON: Deb Feyerick in a rainy Boston. Thank you, Deb. We'll be watching that

It's a mystery along the east coast, dead dolphins washing up on beaches from New Jersey so far, the cause of mystery. We'll hear from Jeff Corwin.

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LEMON: OK. So along the east coast of the U.S., a big mystery, since June, an unusually high number of dead bottled-nose dolphins have washed up on beaches from New Jersey to Virginia. At least 28 dead dolphins have washed ashore in the last month. Experts don't know what is causing it but it could be a virus.

Jeff Corwin is joining us. He's also the author of a new e-book, "Sharks." So Jeff, what do you think, what is causing this?

JEFF CORWIN, NATURE AND ANIMAL CONSERVATIONIST: Well, Don, it is a great mystery and unfortunately there could be a number of answers to what is causing all these dolphins to die off in what is called a catastrophic mortality event. And it could be the result of ship strikes. This is not uncommon, especially in areas where human beings moving their boats around a lot. That usually wouldn't target a large amount of animals. It could be a result of weather.

Storms have been known to throw large pods of dolphins and whales off, causing them to beach themselves. Sometimes there may be issues with navigational sonar. But what likely this could be is a disease or pollution. Now, we did have a die-off event about 25 years ago, over 700 dolphins from New Jersey to Florida and that was from a deadly virus which is sort of like a marine mammal version of distemper.

LEMON: So then why would -- would that explain why it's happening only in this area of the Atlantic?

CORWIN: Well, often times diseases tend to be regionally focused and then they move in what is called the outbreak phase as they sort of ripple out into greater population and because pods of dolphins are so tight, they only have an opportunity to share these diseases when they connect with other dolphins and the truth is, diseases are naturally occurring in waters around our world. We have been known to fall prey to diseases like the red tide and shell fish and these animals are vulnerable to disease like that as well, but if it's not a disease, we immediate to look towards pollution.

Recently in our series "Ocean Mysteries" we did a study called "Harrah," which is this rapid health assessment on dolphins. We discovered that dolphins living in this lagoon system in Florida have a much higher rate, sometimes 30, 50 percent higher rate when it comes to diseases, cancer-causing agents and heavy metals and chemicals that can be very dangerous to a creature's health.

LEMON: So can these deaths be stopped and can these sick or dying dolphins be rescued at this point?

CORWIN: Very interesting question, complex answer. Yes and no. Out there in the watery wilderness, it is almost impossible to intervene with the natural process of disease as it plays out in the edge environmental world. With the human environment, we can control what we're leaking and adding into water flows that makes their way into the ocean and pollutes the oceans.

When you come across a dolphin that is distressed, there's nothing that you can do. In fact, you can expose yourself to diseases. What you need to do is contact the Noah marine, 866-755-6622, or contact your local recognized aquarium or wildlife center and those are the folks best equipped and trained to respond to a stranded animal like this.

LEMON: Listen -- and I'm hearing you here where you say you can expose yourself to a disease. How concerned are you about this? Do you consider this a crisis?

CORWIN: I think it has the potential of being a crisis. I don't know if this is just the beginning of something much greater. We know many environments throughout our country are experiencing distress from climate change and pollution and habitat destruction and the great question is, are events like this when we see 120 dolphins die since June alone, 28 dead just in the latter part of summer, is that the beginning of a greater catastrophic event? Are these animals the indicator species? We can look at these animals as the beacon for the state of our planet's health when it comes to our oceans.

LEMON: So glad to have your perspective, Jeff Corwin, thank you very much.

CORWIN: Thanks, Don, going to go jogging.

LEMON: We'll talk about that later. Thank you.

Just ahead, could there be a helpful high? Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us why he now is in favor of the illegal drug.

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