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Black Friday Pushes up Auto Sales; 911 Tapes from Newtown to be Released; Highway Hypnosis; California Students to get Meningitis Antibiotic; Bill Clinton Talks 2016 Race, Joe Biden and Obamacare

Aired December 04, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Here are some of the top stories we're watching this morning at 32 minutes past.

A rail union is no longer part of the investigation into that deadly train derailment in the Bronx. That's because federal officials say it violated confidentiality rules. This after a representative - a union representative told CNN the train engineer was nodding off and caught himself too late to stop the crash. The union rep also said investigators are leaning toward human error as the cause.

Temperatures across most of the country plummeting as a massive arctic storm system moves through the United States. Now ice, freezing rain expected to cause major problems. Temperatures are about to change drastically, too. Like in Dallas, today we're seeing a high of 80. That temperature is expected to drop to 31 degrees by Friday. That's a 50 degree difference. And not in a good way.

Black Friday helped lead U.S. automakers to a strong sales month. One of the best in years. Sales for the big three were all up compared with last November. And it's not all due to those doorbuster sales promotions. CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here with the good news.

Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And the automakers, Carol, say the economy is getting better and they think it will keep getting better next year and that's great for auto sales. You know, when you look at car sales, it really gives you a clue into the mind of the consumer because you don't just walk out and spend $38,000 on something casually, right? You need access to credit. You need confidence about your job. You need a reason and an ability to do for it.

I want you to look at these numbers. Very good numbers for November. Fourteen percent year over year increase for GM. That's great. Ford, up 7 percent. Chrysler, up 16 percent. You know, and it wasn't just the incentives. There were good incentives. About $2,500 on average was the incentive to get out there and buy a car, right? Big, big advertising for Black Friday. A lot of people went to the showrooms for Black Friday. That really helped. But this is really a recovering economy story and pent up demand story. And you're hearing it from the automakers who are looking at - who are looking at a good 2014, as well. Their stock's reflecting it, too, Carol.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. So the auto bailout was a good idea? I mean we all remember back in 2008 when Mitt Romney said, let Detroit go bankrupt, and there was a big fight, a partisan fight. So who's right? I mean does the American public get money back?

ROMANS: So -- the American public has gotten all but about $10 billion back from GM, right? Lost about $1.3 billion on Chrysler. Ford never took the bailout. Should be very clear, Ford never took the bailout. It was in a better position in the beginning of the financial crisis financially. But the U.S. taxpayer lost money on those two bailouts of Chrysler and GM.

But let's be clear, they could have lost a lot more money and you could have lost the presence of American automakers. So there's what they've lost, the taxpayer bill. That's just GM. But a lot of people say, wow, that ended up being a pretty good investment. GM, since 2010, has invested $8.8 billion of its own money into 34 facilities and saved or created 25,000 jobs they say. And you have basically the auto industry in America right back where it was in 2008 before it all fell apart.

COSTELLO: All right, Christine Romans, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Nearly one year ago, Newtown, Connecticut, was forever changed. Sandy Hook Elementary School became the site of the second deadliest shooting in our nation's history. Today we'll get more insight into how the tragedy unfolded when 911 calls are released later this afternoon. A state attorney, in an effort to shield the victims' families, had tried to block the release, but last week a judge upheld an earlier decision by a freedom of information commission to make those tapes public. Suffice it to say, today will be a rough day for Connecticut families. Kris Mohandie is here to talk about this. Kris is a police and forensic psychologist and has written a book on school violence, "Threat Management."

Thanks for being here.

KRIS MOHANDIE, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Should these tapes be made public?

MOHANDIE: Well, I think it's a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have the families who suffered tremendous losses and are dealing daily with the grief of that. And to have these tapes inflicted on them without any warning or potentially sprung on them would be, you know, traumatizing, re-traumatizing. On the other hand, if there is some control that they can exercise over being exposed to them, that is there's ample warning and it's -- if they choose not to have to listen to them, that could somewhat mitigate it. And for some people, they may want to, at their own time and in their own pace, listen to some of those tapes in order to answer questions that they may have. So the issue comes down to one of power and control over being exposed to this potentially traumatic material. And for many people it will be significantly traumatic and I think the issue is them having control over having to hear it.

COSTELLO: Well, I will say - I will say, I've covered many murder trials and I've always wondered why families sat in the courtroom and listened to every single grisly detail. And I used to go up to parents whose children were murdered and I'd say, how can you bear this? And many of them told me, we have to hear it. We need to know what happened for our loved one.

MOHANDIE: That's right.

COSTELLO: This is a good thing for them.

MOHANDIE: That's right.

COSTELLO: That's not to say every family feels that way, but there is another side to what you're saying.

MOHANDIE: Exactly. And there's a price to be paid for that. And that's where it's important to have support systems in place that can help buffer that exposure to something that often is re-traumatizing. But you're right, there are many families and survivors and even first responders who may feel compelled to know exactly what happened and at their own time, at their own pace, with a sense of control to be able to have access to that can be an important part of that reintegration process of that terrible information.

COSTELLO: And there are some things useful that can be gleaned from these tapes, right? I mean you wrote a book on school security. Aren't you interested in listening to these tapes and listening to how the police responded to these 911 calls?

MOHANDIE: That's right. Understanding what exactly has happened is an important part of planning for the future. How can we better respond to these events? What happened? Was there anything that we did well, anything that we could improve upon? What can we learn to help other institutions when they deal with this? What are the factors that come up?

So there's a tremendous wealth of information that we've gleaned already from the report that was released by the state attorney's office. And having access to some of this information for professionals and schools and other settings can be an important part of preventing and mitigating the devastation these events cause for the future.

COSTELLO: Kris Mohandie, forensic psychologist, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

MOHANDIE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, highway hypnosis. What exactly is that and why it could be partly to blame for that deadly train derailment in the Bronx? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Highway hypnosis. You don't hear that one every day, but it could be partly to blame for that deadly train derailment in the Bronx. The engineer, William Rockefeller Jr., supposedly nodded off just before his speeding train hit the curve. Rockefeller snapped back to attention too late to slow the train in time. His union rep says Rockefeller is traumatized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOTTALICO, ASSOCIATION OF COMMUTER RAIL EMPLOYEES: I know that he's been extremely traumatized and he is very distraught over the loss of life and all the injuries that occurred. And I know over the last couple of days, he's been getting his thoughts together, trying to put it back together, as any of us would. And that's what I'd like to say for now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's talk about this. Steven Harrod, a railroad - a transportation expert joins us now.

Good morning.

STEVEN HARROD, RAILROAD AND TRANSPORTATION EXPERT: Carol, thanks for inviting me.

COSTELLO: Oh, glad you're here.

So let's talk about this highway hypnosis. It's been described as a condition where a person can operate a vehicle, a train in this case, for great distances despite not remembering having done so. I can see people kind of rolling their eyes at that one.

HARROD: This isn't - I'm sorry, go ahead.

COSTELLO: Is it real? Is that a real condition?

HARROD: This is real. This is real. And it's a real problem in railroad transportation. We have a different name for it in the railroad industry. It's called automatic behavior syndrome and it is a real problem where you get so accustomed to certain automated tasks that you can kind of go into micro sleep and actually be nodding off while you're still kind of going through the motions of operating the controls. And this is a real problem.

COSTELLO: well, the engineer, Mr. Rockefeller, supposed switched shifts recently to an earlier schedule and he may have been tired. This is how his union rep described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOTTALICO: I mean he used -- people used the term zoned out. No, I fell asleep. You know, I mean, I don't know. That's a tough question. You know, I'm not a - I'm not a sleep expert, nor am I a (INAUDIBLE) rhythm expert, so I think that would be left best to the experts and what comes out of the interview today will Billy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let me explain exactly what he means by that. This engineer shift changed to a very early shift, which means he had to get up at 3:30 in the morning, so he's getting up in the dark, right? He had to be at work by 5:00 a.m. And then he just had to start work. He wasn't used -- it's - I know because I do it, its very difficult to get up at 3:30 in the morning. Although if I were an engineer behind the controls of a train, I might say to myself, if I'm feeling tired, I've got to tell someone.

HARROD: That's right, Carol. But this is a common problem and actually the situation for the passenger engineer in New York City is much better than engineers on trains out west because at least the engineer in New York City had a schedule. Trains out west, the crew members do not get a schedule, and very often they do not have advanced warning of what time they're supposed to report for duty. And so this is a real problem in fatigue management.

COSTELLO: So what's the answer?

HARROD: Well, there's a lot of research that has gone on. I'm afraid to say that this is not a new issue. It comes up every few years when there's a major accident and then a lot of suggestions are made and then it kind of fades away again. This - there's a lot of research on this topic going back 20, 30 years. And, unfortunately, today, still about 30 percent of rail accidents are fatigue-related. And there are technologies that have been introduced that are required by federal law in many locomotives and trains, particularly out west where there's a lot of dead, slow time on the track where people fall asleep.

But surprisingly 70 percent of those accidents I already mentioned that are fatigue-related have already occurred in trains that were already equipped with the current generation of alert monitoring devices. So this is still an ongoing problem.

There are a lot of suggestions being made, one suggestion is that we need to have some kind of stimulating environment in the locomotive cab. One suggestion has been to include music to actually have audio entertainment to actually keep people awake, keep people stimulated, keep people involved in their environment in the locomotive cab.

COSTELLO: Steven Harrod -- thanks so much for joining me this morning. Appreciate it.

All new in the next hour of NEWSROOM, it is a difficult and extremely dangerous job that's been riddled with problems when a tsunami tore through Japan's Fukushima -- Fukushima nuclear plant and led to the toughest nuclear cleanup ever. Ahead at 10:00 our Anna Coren takes us deep within the plant. It's the closest any camera has ever been to the recovery work. A CNN exclusive -- ahead in the next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our "Top Stories" at 50 minutes past the hour.

Some of the 911 calls from the Sandy Hook School shooting are due to be released later today. A judge upheld the decision to release the calls after a state attorney sought to block the release to shield the victim's families; 26 people were killed in that massacre last December.

Nearly 700 students at the University of California Santa Barbara will get an antibiotic pill today to guard against meningitis. Officials say they -- they have come into contact with four students who are recently diagnosed with the illness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. CHARITY THOMAN, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT: It can have a mortality rate of 10 percent to 30 percent. And some cases do end up with permanent disability so this outbreak of UCSB is very serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The six students were all diagnosed within a three-week period last month. Two of them already have been cleared to resume classes.

Former President Bill Clinton recently sat down with CNN and he talked about his wife's chances of running for president in 2016, Joe Biden and his critique of Obamacare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Mrs. Clinton running for president?

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know. And I think, and she believes, that the country should spend at least another year working very hard on the problems that we have. We have very serious challenges in America and we have responsibilities around the world. I think it's a big mistake this, you know, constant four- year peripatetic campaign. It's not good for America we need to deal with the business we have before us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of president do you think that Vice President Joe Biden would make if he runs? And if he runs?

CLINTON: If he runs and he's a nominee, I'll try to help him. I think the world of him. I think he's -- you know he's -- we've been friends. I first remember working with him when he was the chairman of the judiciary committee to the senate and I was a governor and he asked me to testify in a judicial hearing for him. And I had to -- I had to file a testimony because I had to go to Asia.

But I've known him for years and years. And I have a very high opinion of him. And my -- and I care a great deal about him and I think he's done a good job for the President and for the country. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it because you are setting the way for Mrs. Clinton to run and, second, are the promises with Obamacare limited to the Web site?

CLINTON: The answer to the first question is no. And first of all, I said nothing about this. Not one word until the President himself spoke. And it was obvious to me listening to him that he wanted the American people to feel that he had kept his commitment and that they didn't understand that he, in fact, did grandfather in, that is protect, all the policies that were in existence on the day he signed the health care bill. That was done.

But most -- but he didn't take over the insurance industry in America. So, for example, today, less than 20 percent of those 11 million policies which exist in the individual insurance market even existed when President Obama signed the bill. So I was trying to be supportive of him. I don't think you can find anybody in America who has worked harder for his re-election or supported this bill or went out of his way to explain the bill to the American people more than I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Clinton went on to say he's not playing politics and fully supports the Affordable Care Act. But he agrees the Web site must be fixed so people can figure out what options are available to him.

Let's head to the Everglades National Park in Florida shall we a sad story unfolding there. Dozens and dozens of whales are beaching themselves. It's not clear why they're doing this. But of course this is dangerous behavior and those whales could possibly die. We'll have a live report for you on the other side of the break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The New York Yankees making a huge gigantic splash in free agency, this time stealing Jacoby Ellsbury from their rivals of Boston Red Sox. Andy Scholes is here to tell us about the big fat contract.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes Carol. You knew the Yankees missing the playoffs for the second time in 19 years it wasn't going to sit well with them. And so they're doing what the Yankees do right. Spend big bucks on all star free agents and this time they're backing up the brinks truck to Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Yankees reportedly signed the former Red Sox centerfielder to a seven-year, $153 million contract. That's the fourth largest deal in Yankees' history.

COSTELLO: Wow.

SCHOLES: And Carol, do you know what this means. Ellsbury's going to shave that beard because the Yankees -- they have that no facial hair policy. So bye-bye beard. All right. Turning on bleacherreport.com today, did you ever think of inviting your favorite pro athletes to your wedding, you know, just to say they were invited? Well, that's what one couple did with Peyton Manning. And check it out, they got a handwritten response. The couple posted a pic of the RSVP on line. Manning respectfully declined the invite but it gives them a pretty cool autograph.

COSTELLO: Cool. That's really cool.

SCHOLES: All right, Carol, you know this. The Browns fans have had it pretty bad since regaining the team back in 1999. But at least they do have a sense of humor about it and one fan is even using the Browns' misery to get into the Christmas spirit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you see what I see? A team, a team without a QB and a back who looks 63.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's really old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a back who looks 63.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: This guy goes on and on. It's called "An Angry Browns Christmas". He's got some great songs in there.

COSTELLO: God I love that.

My people have a sense of humor, they knew. And we're used to misery, you know.

Andy Scholes --

SCHOLES: Poor Browns, then.

COSTELLO: -- I know. Thanks.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, a shocking revelation: the union rep for the engineer in that deadly train derailment says he was nodding off moments before the crash. Just how big of a problem is this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I was to get 15 an hour, I mean, you got to understand where I'm coming from, how that would change my life tremendously. My kids can have simple things like Christmas gifts.