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Gunfire, Explosions Going Off In Cairo; Two Killed In UPS Cargo Plane Crash; Egypt Declares State Of Emergency; San Diego Mayor's Finances Questioned; Hooters Says Filner Not Welcome; "Real Housewives" Stars To Court; Violent End To Bank Hostage Standoff; Convicted Leaker Bradley Manning In Court; Jesse Jackson Jr. Sentencing Today; Coca-Cola Defends Use Of Aspartame; Activist Investor Out For Apple

Aired August 14, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is 10:00 eastern straight up. Let's go right to Cairo, Egypt because things are becoming increasingly violent there. All day long the military of Egypt has been trying to clear out protesters who have been staging a sit-in in support of Mohammed Morsy. He is the ousted president.

Just a short time ago, we heard several explosions, people throwing Molotov cocktails, things being set on fire. Our Reza Sayah said people were actually running through the streets of Cairo setting cars on fire, setting churches on fire, actually setting fire to pretty much everything they saw.

We understand that at least 95 people have been killed. Again, Reza Sayah says he has been -- he was walking through a hospital earlier this morning and blood just covered the floor. That's how violent and terrible things are in this city right now.

We also understand that hundreds of people have been injured and these protests continue. As soon as Reza is able to talk with us because as you might imagine, it's kind of an untenable situation right now, we'll get to Reza.

Good morning to you, though. I'm Carol Costello. Let's turn to our other big story this morning. A cargo plane, it slammed into a field and burst into flames. It was on approach to land at the international airport in Birmingham, Alabama. Here are pictures of the burned-out hall of that massive plane. It was an A-300.

The two people confirmed dead are said to be the pilot and co-pilot flying for their courier UPS. Now this video you're about to see, it shows the massive debris field by some estimates up to a half mile is littered with wreckage and spilled cargo. UPS Flight 1354 originated in Louisville, Kentucky. Those living in neighborhood near the airport awakened to the sound of that doom flight crashing into the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHARON WILSON, WITNESS TO PLANE CRASH: We were in bed and we heard something go over the house and it sounded like a plane had gave out a fuel and we heard this large boom. We really didn't know what it was, but we came out the door. We did see some smoke through the trees, but we still didn't really know what it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Unbelievable. Well, let's get more on this accident. CNN's David Mattingly is on the phone. What can you tell us, David?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Carol, unbelievable is probably a very accurate description here. The homes were probably about half a mile away from where the aircraft eventually went down into this vacant field. No houses were damaged. Electricity in the area actually went out from the impact it was so hard. Residents talking about that huge explosion that they heard as the plane came down.

I had a brief conversation just a few minutes ago with Birmingham Mayor William Bell. He's given me new information saying that they've talked to people at the tower saying that there was no distressed call from the crew at the time the plane was approaching the Birmingham Airport. So that is a very curious bit of information if there was no on board emergency, if the crew wasn't having any problems, it certainly raises a lot of questions about what happened at the very late stages of this flight, again, that information coming from Birmingham Mayor William Bell.

He was also telling me that they thought the debris was going to be limited to that debris field, that opened field where the plane went down. At this point, though, they are now finding small bits of debris on the houses, about half a mile from the crash site. He says that they are not quite sure what to make of that. Either it could be possible that this is debris that went up in the air from the explosion that everyone heard or came down later. But they are finding debris half a mile away at some of these houses.

This plane was just hundreds of yards away from making a landing at the Birmingham Airport. You can bet that when the NTSB investigators get on the ground. They have a lot of things right away to look at. Looking at the pictures of the plane, it's probably safe to assume that the cockpit voice recorder and the cockpit data recorder will be recovered fairly quickly. Now, that's going to be a treasure trove of information but they are also going to be asking obvious questions of the tower.

Was the plane -- was the crew getting the information they need? Was the crew acting appropriately with the conditions that they had? What was the weather like? There was some light rain in the area, but no one here really believes that weather was a factor, but that hasn't been ruled out. At the moment we're hearing a statement from the UPS Airlines president, Mitch Nichols, saying this incident is very unfortunate and our thoughts and prayers are with those involved, but within the last hour, UPS still not being able to confirm the status of their pilots -- Carol. COSTELLO: And of course, it does make you wonder what was on board that plane. It was a UPS plane, lots and lots of boxes and packages. They are sure to investigate that part of it, too, right?

MATTINGLY: Absolutely. The A-300 is a workhorse of the U.S. commercial flights across the country and when they look at this, they are definitely going to be looking at what the plane was carrying. They might be looking at the possibility of something gone wrong with something of the cargo either the cargo itself or perhaps the way the cargo might have been secured on board. But again, this is all speculation at this point. These are all questions that will be asked immediately and answers will be sought immediately once the NTSB gets here.

COSTELLO: All right, David Mattingly, thanks so much, reporting live for us this morning.

Let's head back to Egypt now, a month-long state of emergency going into effect at this hour. It comes on a violent and bloody day as the military and pro-Morsy supporters clash in two makeshift camps. CNN's Arwa Damon and her crew were in the middle of gunfire. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the same time, you have this --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, as you can see, Arwa Damon managed to take cover. She's OK this morning, but there's much more violence happening right now on the streets of Cairo, Egypt. Let's go there live now and check in with Reza Sayah. Tell us what is happening?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, this is a ferocious fight between the protesters of ousted President Mohammed Morsy and Egyptian security forces --

COSTELLO: All right, we're having a technical problem because as you can imagine it's difficult to get a live shot out of Cairo this morning. Reza actually did a report for us in the last hour and kind of set the scene for you. So let's go to that now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAYAH: You can hear it behind us, the gunfire has rarely stopped in what has been an awful day here in Cairo. We have witnessed some awful scenes and there are neighborhoods in this city that are simply unrecognizable at this hour because they've been turned into war zones. That was a huge explosion. It's not clear where that --

COSTELLO: Do you need to leave, Reza? Do you need to leave? Leave if you have to?

SAYAH: I think we're -- we will. I think we're OK. We're several blocks away from the front line where the standoff is taking place. It's not clear what these explosions are. We can tell you that a number of vehicles have been set on fire and when that happens, they tend to explode. There is also a gas station nearby that's been set on fire. The explosion could be coming from there or these could be flash bangs, in effort by security forces to scare away these demonstrators.

But you get an idea of what we've been witnessing throughout the past eight hours. If you look down the street, that's where one of the front lines is, it's about four or five blocks. You can see the thick plumes of smoke going up into the air. To the right of that smoke, what you have are supported of the ousted President Mohammed Morsy barricading themselves behind a makeshift wall. They get their hands on anything they can get their hands on, the trash dumpsters, the wooden tables, cabinets to make this barrier and then about 100 yards away you have security forces.

We were down there about half an hour ago through this smoke. We saw a bulldozer that seems prepared to come through and then we have armored vehicles and police officers and that's where the face-off is. These clashes, this fierce fight has resulted in a lot of casualties. It's impossible at this point to verify and confirm the injury toll and the death toll.

But I can tell you personally we have witnessed at least scores of casualties and many fatalities. A little while ago -- as we hear more gunfire, a little while ago we were where the victims were being taken to, we were literally walking on blood, walking by these victims, just an awful scene today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Definitely an awful scene. Our latest figures 95 dead in Cairo, more than 600 injured. The Muslim Brotherhood says the number of dead is much higher. Of course, the Muslim Brotherhood, that's the group that these protesters belong to, that the military is trying to clear from the streets of Cairo. They say more than 200 people have been killed, but CNN has not been able to confirm that number. We'll take you back to Egypt when we can.

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner could now be facing another potentially damaging problem. Every day more people are calling for him to quit after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment. Now investigators are looking into the possibility of improper charges on his city credit card.

CNN's Kyung Lah is in San Diego this morning with another potential bombshell. Good morning.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. We know about this investigation into the sexual harassment charges that the city is conducting. Well, now there's another investigation on these questionable charges on a city credit card and whether taxpayers ended up getting billed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, we have a mayor who is out of touch with reality.

LAH (voice-over): Out of touch in every way, says San Diego City Councilman Kevin Faulconer who is now demanding answers about this. CNN obtained Filner's city credit card statements from January to May, all paid by taxpayers.

(on camera): What are these, do you think?

KEVIN FAULCONER, SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL: When you see statements like this, it raises questions about city business being done or not. He doesn't think that the rules apply to him.

LAH (voice-over): Expenses investigators are very interested in, over five months, $511 spent at the Westgate Hotel at least one charge was on a Sunday.

(on camera): The mayor's office is over here at the City Administration Building. The Westgate Hotel, right across the street, just steps away. The regulars at the bar tell us that the mayor was often here and usually with a different woman every time.

(voice-over): Why that matters? The "UT San Diego" reports the mayor's security detail told investigators that Filner took women to the Westgate. Faulconer, a Republican, and on the city's audit committee, is looking into a junket Filner took to Paris that appears to have little to do with San Diego.

Faulconer says it cost taxpayer's $30,000. Filner has promised to pay it back, but so far no proof of a refund. Other credit card charges that raise red flags to Faulconer, $3,000 to an online reputation management firm and oddly $128 for a juicer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can turn ordinary food into super food.

LAH: We tried again to talk to Filner's chief of staff, Lee Burdick. She still doesn't have anything to stay to us, but she spoke at a luncheon meeting. When asked if the mayor can still lead she replied --

LEE BURDICK, MAYOR BOB FILNER'S CHIEF OF STAFF: I don't know if you know this, the mayor has not resigned yet and consequently I'm drawing the conclusion that, yes, he does believe that he has the way to achieve the objectives set out in his vision.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Well, certainly the public support for the mayor, though, is dropping and dwindling every single day. We actually saw visible display of this. This is something we saw at a Hooters Restaurant in downtown San Diego. Hooters, as you know, known for its waitresses and the way they dress. Look at the sign that is posted on their front door.

It says "It is imperative people have standards. The mayor of San Diego will not be served in this establishment. We believe women should be treated with respect." Now Hooters corporate also sent out a brief response saying, quote, "We support our girls" and Carol, a little bit of context, a conservative radio host offered --

COSTELLO: Shouldn't we support our women?

LAH: No, girls. And so the template is out there and so all of the Hooters restaurants in this area decided to print it out and put it on their front doorsteps. I think it's a barometer of how unpopular the mayor is.

COSTELLO: All right, Kyung Lah, thanks so much.

Well, it was a real-life drama for reality stars Teresa and Joe Guidices. The pair found fame on the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" and who could forget scenes from that show, like the table-flipping incident?

OK, but the Guidices, they are expected in court this afternoon on multiple fraud charges and to discuss all of this, I'm joined by Page Pate. He is a criminal defense attorney. Welcome back, Page.

PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good to be here.

COSTELLO: Do you watch the show?

PATE: No, but I do know who they are.

COSTELLO: Lots of people watch the show. It's very popular. The Guidices allegedly exaggerated their income as they applied for loans and then they allegedly hid their increasing incomes after they filed for bankruptcy and also, I guess, Joe was charged with failing to file federal income tax returns for four years. These are serious charges.

PATE: They are serious charges. A lot of people have thought about the punishment they may be facing if they are convicted. The statute says up to 30 years. In reality though federal courts sentencing guidelines it's all based on the amount of money and in this indictment they are looking at about $5 million in loss and that means about four or five years in federal prison.

COSTELLO: He's an Italian citizen, the husband, Joe. So what does that mean in an American court system?

PATE: Any felony conviction makes him subject to deportation. So if they are convicted of this, even if they plead guilty, go to trial, lose, then he's looking at being deported. No question about that.

COSTELLO: And what about her? She says she's going to stand by her man, but I mean, could she prove she had no idea her husband was doing this and still stand beside him?

PAGE: I've heard that she may be taking that approach, but if you look at the charges, it's all based on documents, documents that she signed as well as her husband. So if she signed these documents and they are false then she is just as responsible as he is.

COSTELLO: So on the show she's often seen flashing a lot of money like I think she furnished her house and she flashed like $120,000 in cash. Will that make a difference in the court proceedings?

PATE: Yes, absolutely. Because in a case like this, the government is alleging that they used false statements to get all of this money, to get the loan money that they were able to use for expenses, to flash, all of the things that we saw on the show. So I expect if this case goes to trial, the government will likely use some of that footage, say, look, this is how they are spending the money that they got illegally.

COSTELLO: Page Pate, thanks so much for being here this morning. Appreciate it.

Still to come to come in the NEWSROOM, Apple's lagging stock gets a huge boost to the tune of $12 billion. That's a pretty big pay off from 140 characters. What's to blame? Just ahead.

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COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 19 minutes past the hour, two people remain in critical condition in Louisiana after a 12-hour hostage standoff at a bank turned violent. Police stormed the bank to rescue the hostages and they say the suspect had already shot them, each in the torso. Police shot and killed the suspect then. They say he was a paranoid schizophrenic and that he claimed a device had been implanted in his head and was demanding someone remove it.

Private First Class Bradley Manning arriving a short time ago for the sentencing phase of his court-martial. Manning is expected to address the judge today. He was convicted last month of handing over 750,000 pages of classified documents to videos and Wikileaks. Manning's aunt and sister are also expected to speak at court.

Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife in court too this morning. They'll be sentenced for misuse of campaign funds and other charges. The Chicago Democrat and his wife have pleaded guilty to spending more than $600,000 to illegally pay for vacations, jewelry, fur coats and more. Jackson faces up to four years in prison.

Coca-Cola is defending its use of a controversial sweetener for many of its low and no calorie drinks. At a full-page ad in today's Atlanta edition of "USA Today," Coke says the safety of aspertame is supported by more than 200 studies over the past 40 years. Now the ad is part of Coke's push back against critics who blame sugary drinks for soaring obesity rates.

Joining me now from New York is CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. So this is kind of confusing to me. Sales of Coke are plummeting, right? They are trying to get them back up. So they put out this ad out saying, our diet Coke is safe? I never knew it wasn't?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting. In your case, I think if you've looked at some of the data or you paid attention to this, the idea that aspartame is unsafe or causes cancer or something, I don't think there's science doesn't show that. I mean, you know, it's been around for a long time. The FDA has deemed it safe, but also other studies as you just mentioned have looked at this specific issue.

This has been decades now of research. The American Cancer Society has weighed in on this as well specifically with regard to causing cancer. I think in part what has prompted it is what you're saying, but also there was a couple of studies over the last several years not looking so much as cancer, but saying there's an association, people who drink diet sodas do tend to be heavier and be more likely to be obese and develop diabetes.

And the science there is much more nascent, which is coming first? Is it that the people who developed obesity have problems with diabetes are more likely to drink diet sodas or is it something about the diet soda that makes you more likely to develop those conditions? We don't know for sure right now. But what this ad campaign is really about is saying that it's safe I think in terms of way people think about it and its relationship to cancer.

COSTELLO: OK. So I'm going to read Coke's statement about the ad and then I'm going to ask you another question on the other side. This is from Coke, "Low and no-calorie sweeteners offer a great way for people to manage their calories off still enjoying the sweet taste of the beverages and products that they love. We know that people have questions about aspartame. We created this print ad to address their concerns and make it easier for them to get the facts."

So you're a doctor and I know you've done a lot of research on this, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, so in your opinion, should we drink Diet Coke?

GUPTA: You know, I occasionally have diet drinks myself. I think like with most things you want to do it with moderation. Look, I think people who are concerned about taking in a lot of calories this may be a way to get fewer calories for them. If you're drinking regularly sugary difference and you're looking to get the sweet taste, it could be an option for you.

I think if the question is, is this going to help me not develop obesity or diabetes, the science is still sort of answering that question. If the question is, is this going to possibly lead to cancer. There a safety issue in that regard, I think the science is much clearer there. I don't think that there is a link between aspartame and cancer, for example.

COSTELLO: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for filling us in. We appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, two tweets and Apple's stock soaring. We'll talk about that next.

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COSTELLO: A tweet from a very important person, an investor, sent a stock you probably have in your 401(k) on a tear. We're talking about Apple. It's up 1 percent today. Christine Romans is in New York to tell us more. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This is the billionaire, Carl Icahn, he sent out a tweet yesterday and, wow, that ignited a fire under Apple's shares. Yesterday up 5 percent, up another 1 percent today. So what did he say that had Wall Street so excited, Carol? He said, guess what, I have a sizeable stake in Apple's shares. I think the company is undervalued. I talked to Tim Cook, more to come.

Tim Cook, of course, is the chief executive officer of Apple. That's the stock over the past year. You can see there's been a little self rally since April. It's up about 30 percent since April, but it's well off its peak and a lot of people have been saying are the best days of Apple behind it? And it looks as though Carl Icahn, an influential investor, he thinks no and he wants the world to know he has some of the stock. He said a sizeable stake. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that it's $1 billion, Carol.

COSTELLO: So could it hit 700 bucks again per share?

ROMANS: Wel, if you own it, you sure want it to hit that kind of a level again. Look, you probably have this in your 401(k). It's the first or second most widely held stock in the nation so you probably have this. If you don't use Apple products, you probably have exposure to the stock somehow. You know, Carl Icahn is somebody -- he certainly would like it to keep going up, right? Because he's just revealed he owns it.

So anything positive he says about the company that sends the stock higher is something that's going to personally profit him. September 10 is when think we are going to get the new iPhone. Will there be a lower cost version of the iPhone? Will they have an iWatch, Apple TV? What's in store for this company this fall? Still has an awful lot to prove if it can fire on all of those cylinders, the stock could continue to go higher, Carol. You just never know for sure.

COSTELLO: No, you don't. Christine Romans, thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Bob Filner is fighting for his job and he may not be winning anyone over those. Several businesses, more than hundreds of businesses in San Diego are now refusing to serve the mayor. Still says he won't quit, though. We'll talk more about that when we come back.

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