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Sinkhole Threatens Disney-Area Resort; Kidnapped Teen Reunited with Father; BlackBerry Considers Sale; Report: Hernandez Fiancee Investigated; Controversial "Slap Hillary" Game

Aired August 12, 2013 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for that, I appreciate it. And have a great day all of you. NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, breaking overnight a massive sink hole swallows part of a hotel just minutes from Disney World.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One woman was sitting in the tub and the tub just levitated and that's when she just grabbed a pair of shorts and came out with nothing.

COSTELLO: Sixty feet of earth opening up and devouring a three-story building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone out the buildings. A guy went out. They're going by searching for them in the rooms.

COSTELLO: New worry this morning that the hole is getting bigger.

Also reunited, 16-year-old Hannah Anderson finally back with her father this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hannah is safe and that is the best outcome that we were hoping for, our top priority.

COSTELLO: The California teen kidnapped triggering a nationwide AMBER alert. This morning the critical tip that saved her live.

Plus shocking pictures from Colorado. A massive mudslide tearing through a resort town. At least one person is dead. It's being called the worst disaster to strike that town in decades.

And -- look to the heavens. Streaks of light. Fire and also a comet. An amazing show. The first meteor shower is (INAUDIBLE).

You're live at the CNN NEWSROOM.

Nothing like David Bowie on a Monday morning. Good morning to you, thank you so much for joining me, I'm Carol Costello.

We begin, though, in Florida where a sink hole has already swallowed one building and another teeter on the edge of collapse. It's all unfolding this hour at a resort near Disney World as vacationers find their getaway is cast into the growing chasm of that harrowing phenomenon.

Reporter Steve Barrett of CNN affiliate WFTV joins us now from Claremont, Florida.

Tell us what's happening.

STEVE BARRETT, WFTV REPORTER: This building is collapsing right into the ground, a regular Florida sink hole, we have them here all the time. But it's not often that a three-story building falls into one of those sink holes. This all started at about 11:00 last night. But it wasn't until this morning that we really got some good aerial images of exactly what this looks like and what the people inside might have been going through.

We heard stories from them, sort of hearing creaking and cracking inside this building. It's one of those vacation rental condos that you might get if you have a timeshare, it's right outside of Walt Disney World. These folks then started seeing and hearing windows popping, a security guard was quickly able to determine that there was a big problem here.

And about 15 to 20 minutes later, he had the whole building evacuated. Just a couple of hours later, we were talking to some of those eyewitnesses about how they scrambled to get out of that building. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One person had to break out of a window because the door frame collapsed and it was him, and his wife and an infant. He had to break the window just so that they could escape. Then there were windows breaking everywhere. One of the security guards ran up and was evacuating people, barging into their rooms. It was the most surreal experience. I never could imagine in my wildest dreams that this would be my 2013 vacation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARRETT: And that security guard she was talking about, the managers here are crediting him with saving some lives because as you look at the video, you can just imagine what would happen if some of those folks would have been inside that building as it went down into that hole.

Right now they're still evaluating that area to see whether or not surrounding buildings might be in danger, several of them right now have already been evacuated. But there is one security guard here today that's getting a lot of credit for what he did.

COSTELLO: So, Steve, is the sink hole deepening? Widening still? Do we know?

BARRETT: Well, I talked to the fire chief a little while ago, he's putting it at around 60 feet around and 15 to 20 feet deep, but it's really hard to tell and this can kind of go on over the course of a day or days. They'll bring the engineers in here to try and figure out just what the risk is to everything around it. They know that that one building is a complete loss. That three-story building that's not going to be rebuilt any time soon.

But now they want to know whether any of the surrounding buildings might have some problems or if there might be some subsequent areas on the property that still might have some trouble and of course you have a lot of vacationers that came out of that building. They essentially escaped with their children in their arms and their clothes on their backs. They're left here in Florida with nothing else at this point.

COSTELLO: Just awful. Steve Barrett, many thanks to you.

Also this morning a missing teenager back with her dad. Sixteen-year- old Hannah Anderson does not appear to have any physical injuries but the emotional trauma may be haunting and probably is.

Police say her captor, a man described as a longtime family friend, killed Hannah's mother and her younger brother before whisking the teenager into the Idaho wilderness.

And new this morning, images of just how determined James DiMaggio was in hiding his getaway car. Look very closely as these pictures and you'll see the brush and timber that made his car virtually invisible from the ground and air. But not far away, the big break came when an alert horseback rider, two of them, had a chance encounter with them and became suspicious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK JOHN, SPOTTED ANDERSON IN IDAHO: We came upon these -- this young girl and this older man and they just really didn't fit very well. The expressions on their face, their demeanor just didn't fit that country. They was out of place completely. They weren't dressed for the country or the area.

And then as we rode further on, we encountered the tent that they had set which was totally out of place. It was way up on a mountain. Looked like it was -- would make a really good lightning rod. So we were discussing the fact that they didn't fit there, something was wrong.

CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": So it's interesting. You're talking about the particulars of how they set themselves up as campers, but also one of the ladies felt there was something about Hannah.

Ladies, will you speak to that? Who was it who felt that they wanted to reach out and speak to Hannah? They were sensing something. What was it?

CHRISTA JOHN, SPOTTED ANDERSON IN IDAHO: That was me. They followed us from the top of the ridge, we rode down into the lake and they followed us on foot. And she was sitting there and I just felt like I should go over there and kind of just see if she needed help.

And Mark says, you know, maybe he had a feeling being in law enforcement for all those years, and in the military, he had a feeling I shouldn't maybe do that. I did talk to him about why he was there in this far out place. And he said she got to pick where we went last year, she wanted to go Los Angeles and Hollywood. So this year was my turn and I -- that was a good explanation for me.

So -- but I did want to make kind of a contact with her and in retrospect I'm glad I didn't because that could have turned out terribly wrong for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: She's got that right. Because, as you know, the suspect was shot and killed by authorities.

Miguel Marquez is in Donnelly, Idaho, with more.

Good morning, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Carol. You know, when all of this thing broke, a lot of people got those AMBER alerts on their iPhones. And some people even complained about them. But one thing seems clear, it worked. They tracked these individuals in northern California then Oregon and all the way out here in the pristine wilderness of Idaho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): This morning 16-year-old Hannah Anderson recuperating from a hellish experience. She's secluded in a government facility, her father now with her. An FBI victims specialist helping her cope with the devastating loss of her mother, Christine, her brother Ethan, and a terrifying week on the run with her captor, James DiMaggio.

Two couples on horseback in Idaho's back country providing critical tips after their unusual encounter with Anderson and her suspected abductor.

JOHN: They showed up at the lake and they were just like a square peg going into a round hole, they didn't fit. He might have been an outdoorsman in California, but he was not an outdoorsman in Idaho and he didn't fit.

MARQUEZ: Few words spoken but nothing seemed right.

MIKE YOUNG, SPOTTED ANDERSON IN IDAHO: Usually you don't run into somebody who's wearing pajamas.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What was about them --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who was wearing pajamas?

YOUNG: Well, it looked kind of like pajama bottoms that she was wearing.

MARQUEZ: Even stranger they were hiking with a cat. A house cat. Possibly purchased for Hannah who loves cats along their run as a way of trying to soothe her.

JOHN: I said, what are you doing with a cat in here? Them cats are only good for -- you know, for a wolf, you know, to charm a wolf in or to bring in a mountain lion or something.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What did he say?

JOHN: And he just -- he just kind of grinned.

MARQUEZ: What really set off alarm bells, DiMaggio told the foursome he was headed for the Salmon River. They didn't say it at the time but knew he was headed in the wrong direction.

Asked if they ever feared for their lives, the answer, pure Idaho.

JOHN: We were three -- we was all packing pistols. Don't go in the woods without a pistol. He might have got one of us, but we would have got him.

MARQUEZ: In the end, they didn't have to, a government plane surveilled the pair for hours watching their every move. The FBI's hostage rescue team delivered to waiting choppers in a U-Haul were dropped off more than a two-hour hike from the campsite. Stealthily they surrounded the camp waiting for DiMaggio and Hannah to separate then they moved in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: And then they took out Mr. DiMaggio, it's not clear how exactly that went down. It's under review at the moment. It's also not clear what Hannah actually saw of that, how far apart they were. Physically as you said she is OK but it's going to be a very long recovery. First order of business for her when she returns home, the funerals for her mother and her 8-year-old brother Ethan -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I can't even imagine. I cannot. Miguel Marquez, live from Donnelly, Idaho, this morning.

Other stories we're following this morning, just days before peace talks resumes, Israel gets sent to prison two dozen Palestinian prisoners. The names of 26 to be released or published this morning. Some of those prisoners have spent more than two decades behind bars.

Some drug offenders here in the United States could soon avoid prison. Today Attorney General Eric Holder will address the American Bar Association in San Francisco. He'll announce that the Justice Department is changing its policies to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for certain offenses. Judges would be given more discretion during sentencing which could lead to fewer people in prison.

Surviving passengers on Asiana Flight 214 which crashed upon land in San Francisco last month will each get $10,000. According to the airline, the money is separate from any medical compensation the passengers might receive and those passengers who take the money can still sue the airline. Strategic alternatives, that's what BlackBerry is calling it which just really just a fancy corporate way of saying, we might want to sell our company or take it private.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with more on this.

Good morning, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Love that corporate speak. Yes, BlackBerry may have started out as the pioneer of smartphones but Carol, I just couldn't keep it together, so today the company announced just actually a short time ago that it's forming a special committee to look at all its options to find a way to stay upfloat.

Now there's several possibilities. There could be a joint venture here, there could be a partnership. It could put itself up for sale. Analysts say the company would actually like to go private because it would give the company time to work out its troubles, . You know, get it out of the spotlight, get the pressure off them from shareholders.

Here's the problem, though. BlackBerry can't go private on its own, it needs help, meaning funding, money from a private equity firm. But it may be difficult at this point to find a buyer, because you look at the company. It just not worth what it was. You look at the stock price. Cut in half since 2008.

That's hundreds of millions of dollars gone. It's also bleeding market share because of competition. The very tough completion from the iPhone, and the Galaxy Android. So clearly Blackberry is facing an uphill battle just to keep up.

You look at its market share now, it's got only 3 percent of the smartphone market share right at this point. In 2009, it had about 50 percent. So with BlackBerry, Carol, it's a very uncertain future for a company that was once the phone of the smartphone -- the phone of the smartphone market "Once Upon a Time." So we'll see if any of those options help it get on its feet -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Alison Kosik reporting live from New York this morning.

Take a look at the world of sports because the big redemption day for Jason Dufner. Cheers for Jason, two years after blowing a five-short lead in the PGA -- championship, rather, Dufner won the tournament yesterday. It is his first major victory. But the celebration afterwards was low key, handshakes instead of high-fives suggests the kind of guy Dufner is.

CNN's Rachel Nichols talk with Dufner after his big win. He spoke about coming back from the heartbreak of that 2011 collapse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON DUFNER, WINNER, 2013 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: It made me hungrier actually. You know, to be so close and then to lose it like I did, and then to learn I was able to learn from all the mistakes that I made, learn from that experience and put it all together this week. So I think unfortunately when I did lose, I was a little disappointed but I think it did help me out in the long run.

RACHEL NICHOLS, ANCHOR, CNN SPORTS: From here on out you're going to be known as a major champion. Before today, it's possible you were best known for an Internet trend, you had this photo taken of you, I know you've seen it many times. You were doing a nice thing, visiting a school group that caught you in a laid back moment.

DUFNER: Yes. It checked out.

(LAUGHTER)

NICHOLS: But it was great to see all your friends on the PGA Tour. They did their own photos. Their own Dufnering. So, of course, everybody wants to know, are you going to be Dufnering, as they call it, with the trophy?

DUFNER: Maybe, I don't know. They caught me in a moment of relaxation, I guess. And then the guys all out here tried to give me a good ribbing on it. Get me in trouble and all this stuff. But I kind of ran with it and it turned out to be a good thing. A lot of people have taken to it. So maybe I'll give them a little special treat later this week when I get home with the trophy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I hope he does. About that first major win, Dufner said a lot of things are going to change in my life because of this, but I don't think it's going to change me.

Just ahead of the NEWSROOM. Set your alarms for an incredible sight tonight. The earth will pass through the dust of a comet's tail. We'll tell you the best time you can see the meteor shower.

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COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 18 minutes past the hour.

At least one person is dead and two others missing after a deadly flash flood ripped through Colorado over the weekend. Floodwaters over 15 feet deep threw flooded homes and threw cars into the river. The water reached speeds of 30 miles per hour.

And ugly and most possibly the most idiotic rodeo stunt at the Missouri state fair, under criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. A clown, a rodeo clown wearing a Barack Obama mask stuck a broom up his backside as the announcer joked -- asked and joked that the spectators wanted to see the president, quote, "run down by a bull." Republican Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder called for those responsible to be held accountable. It is not clear if any action will be taken against the rodeo clowns.

In money news: Apple users may have another reason to get excited. According to reports, apple plans to now the newest addition to the iPhone in September. Apple has not released an official statement. But iPhone users are buzzing online that a new iPhone could come at a lower cost with an improved camera and fingerprint sensor abilities.

Keep your eyes open tonight, a celestial fireworks show known as the Perseid meteor shower is expected to hit its peak. The immediate your shower occurs every August when the earth passes through the dust of a comet's tail. The best time to view the shower is between midnight and just before sunrise. I'm amusing that's Eastern Time. If you missed it tonight, we have one more chance tomorrow.

There's a new twist in the murder case former NFL player Aaron Hernandez as the former New England Patriot star waits for a possible indictment by a grand jury, there's a newly revealed focus on Hernandez's fiance, specifically whether she hid the murder weapon.

CNN's Susan Candiotti has been covering this case. She's in New York with more.

Good morning.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, they still haven't found this murder weapon yet. Investigators are now turning their attention to the fiance of Aaron Hernandez. Court documents indicating that police believe she may have ditched the gun. And part of the reason they're suspicious is because of a surveillance video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Did the fiancee of fallen football star Aaron Hernandez help him hide a murder weapon? It a possibility police are apparently considering as they desperately try to find the .45-caliber gun used to kill Odin Lloyd on Father's Day.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If Ms. Jenkins is tied into this conduct, she is in very serious trouble, she is an accomplice after the fact to murder.

CANDIOTTI: The theory revealed a new search warrant affidavits obtained by Hernandez's hometown newspaper, "The Bristol Press" in Connecticut. In the ten days before Hernandez was arrested, fiancee, Shaina Jenkins was seen coming and going from their home.

She's also seen on different surveillance video leaving the house after receiving a mysterious message from the former New England Patriot. The documents reportedly state, his fiancee allegedly puts a rigid object into the car, according to affidavit, and returns a half hour later without carrying anything back inside the house.

These surveillance stills taken inside Hernandez's home shown him in the hours just before and after the murder of Odin Lloyd holding what prosecutors believed is a gun. Another defending, Carlos Ortiz, allegedly told police that after the murder Hernandez put two guns into a lock box. Warrants also were executed at a storage facility in Bristol where Hernandez allegedly rented a unit. Investigators also searched a lake near his uncle's home and plan to search another pond nearby this week. CALLAN: Even if the murder weapon is not found, this appears to be a very strong case against Mr. Hernandez.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Aaron Hernandez has pleaded not guilty. We have been unable to reach his lawyers to find out what they have to say about his fiancee. The murder weapon as we said earlier still hasn't been found, but everyone's waiting for a grand jury to file an indictment very soon, wondering more people may be charged in the case -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Susan. Susan Candiotti reporting live from New York this morning.

Coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

Do I mean have to explain? We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Get ready for the race for president 2016 because it's all right underway. Just ask anyone who live in Iowa. That's because many who want to be our next president have and will visit that critical caucus state in 2013, including Joe Biden. The vice president will travel to Iowa next month to deliver the keynote speech of Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry. Republicans Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum and Donald Trump have already visited Iowa.

So the presidential race is on even though we just elected a president barely nine months ago. Plenty of time for stupid stuff on the Internet, perhaps emboldened by the "Slap Sarah Palin" game, the Republicans have started a "Slap Hillary" game.

All right. You get the picture. Mrs. Clinton, a little thumping and you get to slap her. Democrats and anti-violence groups are not happy, although they did not condemn the "Slap Palin" game. They are now condemning the "Slap Hillary" game.

CNN's Athena Jones is in Washington with more.

Good morning.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, we all know that Hillary Clinton has not said she's running for president in 2016, but she's speaking today at the American Bar Association's annual meeting in San Francisco where she's getting an award and any time she gives a big speech, we get to talk about her potential future plans, and if those plans do include the wine house, this group, The Hillary Project, wants to keep her from getting there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): The Hillary Project bills itself as the only thing standing between her and the White House. And this "Slap Hillary" game on its website is now causing an uproar. The New Hampshire based group says it wants to wage a war on Clinton's image should she run for president in 2016.

SHAUNNA THOMAS, ULTRAVIOLET, CO-FOUNDER: This is clearly meant to be funny and that's honestly one of the worst parts about this so-called game. It's a gimmick, and it shouldn't have any place in our politics, it's outrageous.

JONES: The anti-sexism group Ultraviolet says over 100,000 people have signed its online petition demanding the game be taken down. And top Democrat Nancy Pelosi tweeted, like all violence against women, it's sick.

But the Hillary Project is firing back, complaining liberals said nothing about this slap Sarah Palin when it surfaced.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, the Hillary Project released another statement this morning making some of these same points, but I should say that these Hillary jokes have been around for a while. Some folks may remember the Hillary Clinton nutcracker that was being sold during the 2008 election.

But with all the attention on the former secretary of state and her potential presidential plans, we could see more of this type of things in the next few years -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm sure we will. It just makes me kind of sad because it's just stupid. It's just stupid. Why not have some semi- intellectual conversation about Hillary Clinton and her policies. It's just stupid.

JONES: It certainly gets a lot of attention, Carol.

COSTELLO: Anybody who would go to that game would not vote for Hillary Clinton anyway, so what's the point?

JONES: Just have fun, I guess they would say.

Carol, Back to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Well, the Sarah Palin one was vile too. Thanks, Athena.

JONES: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Coming up next, he's out, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is done with his intensive sexual harassment therapy. But women in California say that ain't good enough. The push to oust Filner, next.

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