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Brits Detain Partner of Leaks Reporter; Egypt Violence Triggers Oil Price Rise; A-Rod Plunked in Boston; New Princess Diana Death Claim; Recall Effort Begins Against Bob Filner; First Interview of Prince William
Aired August 19, 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: Happening now in the NEWSROOM:
Inferno in the west. The blaze the size of Denver tearing through Sun Valley. The resort town dangerously close to the flames.
Plus, a lightning rod at A-Rod. A direct hit or was it revenge? This morning A-Rod's lawyers come out swinging.
And hours slashed, benefits cut. Outrage this morning at fast fashion spot Forever 21. Thirty thousand workers now becoming part-time. Find out what's behind this bold move.
NEWSROOM starts now.
Good morning, thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello reporting from Washington, D.C. this morning.
This hour there is new outrage echoing across the pond. It involves the man on your left. And I bet he doesn't look so familiar. Well, his name is David Miranda. He's the partner of the man next to him. That would be Glenn Greenwald. And of course Greenwald is the reporter who broke the story of Edward Snowden, the American contractor who exposed Washington's secret surveillance program.
That has put Greenwald under U.S. scrutiny and now apparently his partner, too. Greenwald's newspaper "The Guardian" says British security detained Miranda for nearly nine hours yesterday as he tried to make a connecting flight through London's Heathrow Airport.
Greenwald says it was meant to bully and harass. He writes, quote, "It's bad enough to prosecute and imprison sources. It's worse still to imprison journalists who report the truth. But to start detaining the family members and loved ones of journalists is simply despotic," end quote.
CNN's Atika Shubert is in London with more.
Good morning, Atika.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, here's that headline in "The Guardian." They put it on their front page. Understandably, they're very upset about this detention. And they're not the only ones. Brazilian diplomats have expressed their outrage with the British government over this. And even British politicians are saying that this is an abuse of the law.
Now, basically, David Miranda was held for nine hours under Schedule Seven of the Terrorism Act here and that allows British police to detain and interrogate anyone passing through British borders. But there's no explanation as to why Miranda was held for nine hours and interrogated apparently only about Edward Snowden and those NSA documents that he leaked.
Even though he was apparently detained on the terrorism act, there was no terror-related questions. And so this is why Glenn Greenwald is understandably very upset. As you say, he calls it intimidation and despotic. And Amnesty International has also come out saying it is an abuse of the law here in Britain.
So it is causing a number of controversies out here. But whether or not that's going to result in any action, we're waiting to see.
COSTELLO: All right. Atika Shubert reporting live from London this morning.
Also this morning extreme weather making headlines in Idaho. Wildfires racing across the posh report area of Sun Valley. Some 5,000 homes are in the potential path and that includes pricey spreads of the rich and famous. Actors Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis both have homes there. Some ski resorts are even rolling out their snowmaking machines to hose down flying embers and perhaps gain an edge against the advancing fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had support from the ski area. They have some very high-capacity pumps at the top of the ski area. So, we're protecting the power supply for those pumps because if the fire does approach there, we're going to be relying on those.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now to the soggy south. This churchgoers had quite the big surprise. They walked out of Sunday services only to discover waist deep flood waters had stranded them. Can you imagine?
(LAUGHTER)
Flash flood watches dot the region. Record rainfalls have saturated the ground and the threat of more heavy rain looms.
CNN meteorologist Indra Petersons joins us live from New York.
Good morning.
INDRA PETERSONS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. You getting familiar with this, Carol, at all just a tad?
COSTELLO: Yes. I'm getting a little tired of it. PETERSONS: I do not blame you whatsoever. And we were talking about June setting records. July we set more records. It's now August and take a look, this is the water vapor. From the last three days. I mean, look at all of these moisture from the Yucatan Peninsula just feeding into the southeast. I mean, day after day. Record-breaking rain.
We're talking about 20, even 30 inches of rain since June in the southeast. All thanks to now a stationary front still in place. That combining with that tropical moisture and, yes, more rain in the forecast.
Let's talk about how far above average you are. Look at this, about 15 inches above average. So yes, we're talking two to three inches since June alone. This is not a good thing. Now we talk about last week. I know it was rough out there, almost 10 inches in Panama City, about seven inches in Pensacola.
There is nowhere left for this rain to go, Carol. And for that reason, of course, we have those flash flood watches and warnings still in effect in the area. It's a very tough situation. More rain in the forecast. About one to two inches, even two to five as we go through the middle of the week.
COSTELLO: Continue napping in the afternoon.
(LAUGHTER)
Indra Petersons, thanks so much.
Tuesday should be one interesting day in San Diego. That's when the embattled Mayor Bob Filner is expected to return to work. Of course he may find that difficult as a new effort begins to remove him from office.
Filner has stood firm in his refusal to resign despite 16 women coming forward with accusations of inappropriate behavior against him. So on Sunday organizers used a march across the city to start collecting the more than 101,000 signatures needed to force a recall election.
Opponents say they'll be everywhere to gather support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHRYN VAUGHN, FILNER ACCUSER: We will work every hour, every day until you step down from office.
DAVE MCCULLOCH, RECALL ORGANIZER: Just a couple hours I was able, myself, personally, to get over 100 signatures. We are going to be everywhere. We're going to be at sporting events, we're going to be at street fairs, art shows, you name it, we will be out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He ain't kidding. You can't even look up into the sky without seeing a message calling for Filner to resign. On Friday a sky rider wrote "Surrender Bob" in three locations across San Diego.
The crisis in Egypt hitting your wallet with tensions remaining high between the interim government and supporters of the deposed president. There are fears that oil shipments could be disrupted and that is spiking oil prices.
Christine Romans is following this side of the story.
Good morning, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Good morning. And of course, the human cost and the human tragedy on the ground in Cairo is what's really important. But when you look at how that plays out in global markets, you can see unease about what's happening there.
Price of oil above $107 a barrel, Carol. And the reason why it's going up, you know, Egypt is not a huge producer of oil. It's number 28 in the world or something. But it is the transport hub. It controls the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal cuts 6,000 miles off a shipment of oil to Europe and that is something that's incredibly important.
Seven percent of shipped oil every day flows through the Suez Canal. So if the crisis in Egypt were to spread, analysts say that could -- that could, you know, spark fear that you would see oil shipments curtailed.
As of right now, it is a contained crisis within Egypt and analysts are saying they don't expect prices to move too much higher from here. Although they're watching very, very carefully. Should be noted the Suez Canal has been closed in some 38 years.
It generates, Carol, more than $5 billion a year in revenue for the government so it behooves the government or whoever is in control in Egypt to make sure that that oil keeps flowing, no question. But you could see, what had been gas prices coming down, if oil prices stay high, you could see that trend start to stabilize.
COSTELLO: Well, and when people talk about that $1.3 billion in aid we send over to Egypt for its military, now we know why it's pretty complicated just to cut that off, right?
ROMANS: Yes. You're absolutely right, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROMANS: And it's something that really bears watching.
COSTELLO: Christine Romans, thanks.
It is getting increasingly ugly for A-Rod on the field. Yes, we know many fans don't much like him, especially in Boston.
Oh, yes. But Rodriguez's fellow ball players don't appear to be his biggest fans either. As Red Sox fans chanted "cheater" Ryan Dempster hit Rodriguez with a pitch on purpose? Well, you know what's going on.
Andy Scholes from "Bleacher Report" is here to tell us more.
Good morning, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, Carol.
You know, multiple players are on record saying that they're not very happy that A-Rod is playing right now when he allegedly cheated the game for so many years. Apparently Ryan Dempster is one of those players. He was clearly going after A-Rod last night. Very first pitch from him went behind A-Rod and then three pitches later, he succeeded in hitting A-Rod with the pitch.
A-Rod said of getting hit by the pitch from Dempster, like me or hate me, that's definitely the wrong thing to do. Dempster meanwhile saying, I was just trying to pitch inside. Funny how he didn't hit anyone else during the game.
Now this is the second time A-Rod has been hit this season, but A-Rod not concerned about this going forward. Here's what he had to say after the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX RODRIGUEZ, NEW YORK YANKEES' THIRD BASEMAN: That today kind of brought us together and Joe's reaction was amazing. Every single one of my teammates came up to me and said, you know, hit a bomb and walk it off. And they were more -- as pissed as I was. No, that's just not right.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think he should be suspended?
RODRIGUEZ: Who?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ryan.
RODRIGUEZ: I'm the wrong guy to be asking about suspensions.
(LAUGHTER)
RODRIGUEZ: Holy mackerel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: There you go. A-Rod laughing and joking in the locker room after the game.
That's pretty funny, Carol, considering his GM Brian Cashman this weekend said that A-Rod has created an atmosphere unlike any other. It makes it so tense around there that people just can't even be themselves. Very interesting times in the New York Yankees clubhouse.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: That's a very interesting way to put it. Because in light of all of this, A-Rod is fighting with the ownership of the Yankees, right, because he claims the Yankees purposely covered up health reports about him --
SCHOLES: Yes.
COSTELLO: -- to push him out of the game so they wouldn't have to pay him.
SCHOLES: Yes. They said -- he's claiming they mismanaged his medical situation last season in the playoffs saying he was fit to play, even though he wasn't and the Yankees of course deny those accusations and -- basically calling A-Rod a liar.
COSTELLO: I'm sure his teammates really, really love him. We'll see.
(LAUGHTER)
Andy Scholes, thanks so much.
Still to come on the NEWSROOM, was Princess Diana murdered? The newly revealed claim about one of the most investigated car crashes in history. The latest for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 14 minutes past the hour.
Deadly rip tides off Miami Beach. Fire officials say a man and a woman in their 60s died after going underwater. Fifty other swimmers were rescued in separate incidents in the area.
Tragedy on a high school football field. A suburban Atlanta 16-year- old died after making a tackle in a preseason scrimmage over the weekend. The Medical Examiner's Office said the boy had broke his neck. He had already received a scholarship to play football at the University of Kentucky.
A judge could announce Bradley Manning sentence as early as today. The former Army intelligence analyst faces up to 90 years in prison for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks. In a court document released last week, the judge called Manning's conduct both wanton and reckless.
Lindsay Lohan back in the news sitting down for a one-on-one with Oprah. Just four days after her latest rehab stint. During the interview Lohan admitted she's an addict and that the 2010 sentence was critical in facing her addictions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDSAY LOHAN, ACTRESS: You know, being in my addiction and everything, and having all the chaos around me that I was so comfortable with, I somewhere inside knew and kind of wanted to go to jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Winfrey's network OWN is working with the actress on an eight-part documentary that will chronicle her recovery efforts. It airs next year.
Might be the most investigated car crash in history, but it's on the radar again. I'm talking about the crash that killed Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed. It's a new theory this morning -- get ready. It blames a British Special Commando Unit for Princess Di's death.
CNN's Erin McLaughlin is live in London with more.
Good morning, Erin.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Scotland Yard said this is the first time since the inquest into Princess Diana's death concluded in 2008, that they are assessing new information and it has the British press and social media buzzing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): New questions launched by a shocking new allegation. Claiming British Special Forces were behind the deaths of Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed. It's the latest conspiracy theory about Diana's death, coming almost 16 years after that horrific middle-of-the-night car crash. The high-speed paparazzi chase through a tunnel in Paris with a deadly end.
Scotland Yard put out a statement saying it is, quote, "scoping new information." Assessing its relevance and credibility.
According to the British newspaper "The Sunday People" the claim surfaced in a seven-page letter written by the estranged in-laws of an unidentified Special Forces sniper. In a hand-written letter they allege their former son-in-law boasted that the British SAS was behind the deaths.
MARK SAUNDERS, ROYAL ANALYST: People don't want to believe that somebody as loved as Princess Diana can just die in a road accident. It just isn't enough. They want more.
MCLAUGHLIN: Scotland Yard has made it clear. For the moment, the new claims will not reopen the exhaustive investigation which concluded that Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed by the gross negligence of their driver and of the paparazzi chasing them that night.
Buckingham Palace is not commenting, but those who know the royal family have been quick to dismiss the claim.
DICKI ARBITER, FORMER ROYAL FAMILY PRESS SECRETARY: There's not a lot they can do about it. There'll always be people coming out with conspiracy theories and the best they can do is just get on with their lives in a normal way.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MCLAUGHLIN: Sixteenth anniversary of Princess Diana's death is just days away. This information raises new questions as to what happened that horrific night in August -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Erin McLaughlin reporting live from London this morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, San Diegans want their mayor out? It won't be easy.
But hundreds have decided Bob Filner must go and they have a little more than a month to find 100,000 others to support them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This is a very crucial time for the city of San Diego. Embattled mayor Bob Filner is expected to return to work tomorrow. He's been missing in action since exiting therapy. And sexual accusations pile up against him. And now work is underway to collect enough signatures for a recall.
Shannon Handy from affiliate KFMB has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHANNON HANDY, REPORTER, KFMB: The calls to get rid of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner aren't going away any time soon.
VAUGHN: We will work every hour, every day until you step down from office.
HANDY: That was the message Filner opponents sent Sunday during a so- called "Freedom from Filner" rally in front of city hall.
GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY FOR THREE ACCUSERS: There is no excuse for abuse and there is no excuse for you to stay in power.
HANDY: Powerhouse attorney Gloria Allred represents three of the 16 women who have accused Filner of sexual harassment. Some were at Sunday's event including the latest woman to come forward, a 67-year- old great-grandmother named Peggy Shannon.
ALLRED: Mayor Filner came up to her, gave her a hug, and suddenly kissed her on the lips.
HANDY: Well, a few Filner supporters were there to have their voices heard --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, put your signs down. You're blocking my sign.
HANDY: -- it did nothing to silence the hundreds who want Filner out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His treatment of women is unacceptable.
HANDY: This rally and march capped off a day of recall events, starting at 12:01 a.m. The official recall Filner campaign kicked off in the Gas Lamp district where volunteers stood on street corners collecting signatures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to help recall Bob Filner?
HANDY: Volunteers also head up the America's Finest City Half Marathon.
MCCULLOUGH: There is no time to waste in this. We only have 39 days to collect over 102,000 signatures.
HANDY: Dave McCullough is one of the recall organizers. He says, though, it's only day one, the momentum has been fantastic.
MCCULLOUGH: In just a couple hours, I was able, myself, personally, to get over 100 signatures.
HANDY: The process of getting enough signatures was explained during an afternoon meeting at the Town and Country Hotel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll take next, ma'am.
HANDY: Where hundreds of people showed up to help.
MCCULLOUGH: We are going to be everywhere, we're going to be at sporting events, we're going to be at street fairs, art shows, you name it, we will be out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That was Shannon Handy from affiliate KFMB reporting.
Coming up in the next hour of NEWSROOM I'm going to talk to San Diego city councilman, Scott Sherman. He's already called for Filner to resign. We'll find out what the city plans to do next to get the mayor out of office. That comes your way at 10:30 eastern.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM Olympian Oscar Pistorius goes back to court and now faces a charge that could land him in prison for 25 years.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Happening now in NEWSROOM bladerunner indicted, murder charges now facing the South African Olympian in the shooting death of his girlfriend.
Plus, this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: I think more shock and dauntingness is more the feeling I felt.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Prince William sitting down and opening up about being a new dad. His captivating first interview since the birth of his son.
And second down and -- ouch. Sideline reporter Pam Oliver taking a pass off the face.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me.
Checking our top stories at 27 minutes past. More than 100,000 acres have already burned in the Idaho wilderness and firefighters are working tirelessly to protect 5,000 homes near Sun Valley from going up into flames.
Lightning sparked the fire more than two weeks ago. It's one of nine big fires burning across Idaho. But in the southeast, the problem is too much water, more rain and flooding expected this week. Six inches of rain fell in southern Mississippi on Sunday turning roads into rivers. Flooding has not been this bad since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
In England, outrage grows after the partner of newspaper reporter Glenn Greenwald is detained under a UK terrorism act. David Miranda, that's him on the left, was released after nine hours of questioning. This is according to the "Guardian" newspaper. No charges were filed but Miranda's computer, cell phone and other items were confiscated.
Greenwald, who's on the right, works for the "Guardian" newspaper and broke the story about the secret surveillance programs in the United States. Miranda was traveling from Germany to Brazil when he was stopped.
In money news, a new week of trading on Wall Street and stocks are expected to open flat. Investors take a breath following two weeks of losses.
Ringing the opening bell this morning, by the way, representatives from American corporate partners, nonprofits and helps veterans transition to civilian jobs. There they are, just about to ring the bell.
One-on-one with the future king. Prince William sat down with CNN's Max Foster opening up about parenthood for the first time since the birth of his son, George. And of course, the prince talked about that moment he walked out of the hospital with his wife and his son to that incredible media frenzy. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE WILLIAM: I think more shock and dauntingness was more like the feeling I felt. But it was -- the thing is, is that some -- I think I was on such a high anyway so was Catherine about George that really we were happy to show him off to anyone who wanted to see him, as any new parent knows. You're only too happy to show off your new child and, you know, pretend he's the best-looking, all the best, everything.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: There's the baby. The new royal heir in the United Kingdom.
(On camera): Are you comfortable there?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Yes, I thought -- again, it was -- it's not somewhere I enjoy being, but I know in the position that I'm that what's required of me to do and I think it's, you know, one of the things and I -- you know, it's nice that people want to see George.
So, you know, I'm just glad he wasn't screaming his head off.
FOSTER: That moment you came out with the car seat, I mean, we had some warning that you might be doing that. Fathers around the planet will be cursing you for doing it so easily.
