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Protesters Fight For $15 An Hour In Wages; 30 Plus Million In Arctic Storm's Path; Minneapolis Mayor Tweets Storm Rhymes; Reuters: Gunmen Shot Dead U.S. Chemistry Teacher As He Exercised At Benghazi School; Tired Driving As Dangerous As Drunk Driving
Aired December 05, 2013 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're not happy because likely this means that the Federal Reserve can start pulling back on all that stimulus sometime next year. It's more ammunition for this idea that the Fed is going to have to take the training wheels off the economy. One other piece of news I just got 43 seconds ago, Carol, was mortgage rates. Get those every Thursday morning. Mortgage rates ticked higher, 4.46 percent for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.
Lot of forecast and mortgage rates, Carol, especially if the economy starts to strengthen into next year. Mortgage rates will rise from here. So don't delay if you still want to get one of those mortgages below 5 percent -- Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Christine Romans. We appreciate it. Despite that good economic news, the wage gap remains very large in this country. That's why fast food workers across the nation are taking to the picket lines, right now.
Fighting to close that pay gap, calling for a raise up to 15 bucks an hour, which is nearly $29,000 a year if you work full time. Powerful ally on its side now, President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We know that we're going to have a greater and greater portion of our people in the service sector. We know there are airport workers, fast food workers and nurse assistants and retail salespeople who work their tails off and are still living at or barely above poverty. That's why it's well past the time to raise a minimum wage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So the president wants the minimum wage to rise to 10 bucks an hour, the federal minimum wage, but that message being pushed by the president and protesters does not sit well with some corporate executives. Here is the dire prediction from an executive at White Castle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE RICHARDSON, VICE PRESIDENT, WHITE CASTLE: There are groups out there that are asking and pleading to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and to more than double the federally mandated minimum wage wouldn't be bad for White Castle. It would be catastrophic. The 406 restaurants and what we know that would result in closing more than 200 of those restaurants and the ones remaining would be glowing embers, dying stars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Alison Kosik is at a Wendy's in Brooklyn with more for you. Good morning, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Right now, very quiet here, but we're hearing that protesters, about a couple of hundred of them are expected to arrive in a few hours. Why all of a sudden is it growing? You think about what happened in the recession. Eight million jobs were lost. The reality is that a lot of those jobs haven't come back.
What has happened now is that people are having to get these minimum wage jobs. A lot of people over the age of 25 and that is really building this momentum. Here is more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASST. PROFESSOR DORIAN WARREN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Workers are taking these jobs because they are desperate in an economy that is still not creating enough middle class jobs or jobs that have a ladder to the middle class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: And many are wondering, do these strikes work? Do these work to move that federal minimum wage to $15? Many say while these folks are long off in that respect, others are saying this is resonating in other ways. We've been keeping track of people continually going on these protests over the past year who work at these fast food restaurants.
Once their boss has caught wind they were taking part in these protests, the bosses have hiked up the number of hours that they've had or even hiked up their pay and even given them promotions - Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Protests across the country start officially at 11:00 Eastern time this morning, right?
KOSIK: Well, I think you're seeing different protests start at different times. There was actually one over at a McDonald's in Manhattan. I'm here covering the New York area in Brooklyn right now. Quiet now. A couple hundred expected to arrive in a couple of hours.
COSTELLO: All right, Alison Kosik live in Brooklyn this morning.
For millions of Americans, the worst of that arctic storm is yet to come. It's pounded places like the northern plains. Some places got three feet of snow. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't go anywhere without the snow blower clogging up, stopping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Forty inches, that's incredible. We usually only get 100 a year so we've gotten almost half our snow already and we're not done.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Fun to play in it, throw snowballs at each other, you know. Mostly building forts and wrecking them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, it might be fun for the kids, but take a look at this, from Texas all the way to Ohio, snow and ice could cause slick roads and widespread power outages. Another problem, dangerously low temperatures. Minneapolis with a high of 8 degrees, but it will feel like 20 below zero with the wind-chill. And now Dallas is getting ready for a drastic temperature drop and freezing rain.
Joining us from Denver, Ana Cabrera, who is already in the deep freeze. Good morning.
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Frigid cold, bone-chilling temperatures. The kind of cold it's hard to stand still for two too long. You just want to move to stay warm. Negative 15 degrees was the low early this morning. That actually ties the record for this date here in Denver set back in 1972. So in a place where snow and cold are fairly common in the wintertime, this ticks to a whole other level.
Of course, that also means that the snow and ice on the ground isn't melting any time soon. We've heard of a lot of slide-offs, a lot of spin-outs on the highways this morning. Accidents are becoming more and more abundant. On that note, it's not just here in Colorado. We've shown you the pictures of this snowy arctic system hitting so many parts of the United States.
In Minnesota we've now learned of at least one death that's related to this weather system, a 16-year-old girl who died on her way to school when she lost control of her car after hitting a slushy patch. Warning to all drivers who are taking to the roads, be patient.
Take it slow. We've also heard of power outages here in Colorado thanks to these very cold temperatures, Carol. Those power companies certainly have their work cut out for them as everybody tries their hardest to stay warm.
COSTELLO: I'm not going to be cruel and ask you a question. I want you to go get warm yourself. Ana Cabrera, many thanks to you.
What better way to tolerate frigid, icy, snowy weather than with a snappy rhyme, Minneapolis mayor is living proof that a sweet tweet can make things a tad more tolerable. For example, here are some of his fun tweets. Rock out, wine and dine. By for snow emergency routes move your car by 9 or after a long day at work, I just shoveled my walk, that snow was so heavy I can now barely talk.
With me now, Mayor Rybak joins us now. Good morning, Mayor.
MAYOR R.T. RYBAK, MINNEAPOLIS (via telephone): Good morning. Those of you in these climates that have drab, rainy, cold days it's just as cold there as it is here. It's just a different way of looking at it.
COSTELLO: That's certainly a way of -- that's certainly glass half full.
RYBAK: And when you look at that 34 inches of snow up on the north shore of Minnesota, I just made reservations to go cross country skiing. I'm a happy guy.
COSTELLO: Still it's going to be 8 degrees in Minneapolis. That's the high temperature. How are people coping?
RYBACK: Well, you know what? There's a little secret we've got here in Minnesota called silk long johns. You put those things on, wear a coat and go to work. And it's a beautiful thing we do here.
COSTELLO: Still, I mean, your tweets had a purpose. Snow removal is very important in cities like yours, but the rules are very difficult to understand sometimes. I know you were trying to make things a little easier through your tweets. Did it work?
RYBACK: Yes, definitely it worked. For those who didn't, I had to shame them a little bit. I said you aren't so groovy. You isn't no playa if you can't move your car without a poem from the mayor. It's important for people to move their car. Otherwise the snow plow driver has to go around and leaves a big hump in the snow that sits out there in the streets for the whole year.
So my goal is to starve the impound lot. People think they want the city to tow their car because we make money off of it. The idea is that we want everybody to move their car. We give them e-mail text alerts and reverse 911 calls and we go out into bathroom stalls and write in grease pencil. We do everything we can to tell people to move your darn car so we can plow the streets.
People in Minnesota get it. We move the cars, get them off the streets and plow the streets. Instead of in a lot of cities that wine about the snow, we get it done and get out and enjoy it. I want you to come in the first week in February for the city lakes. We have dog sled races, two-story high ice globes and we show the whole world that this is a theater of seasons so stop whining and loving it.
COSTELLO: That sounds great. I'm going up to Minneapolis in February. Mayor R.T. Rybak, thank you so much. You're a lovely mayor.
RYBAK: Thank you. Bye-bye.
COSTELLO: Breaking news to tell you about now and this breaking news of Reuters is reporting that a gunman shot and killed an American chemistry teacher working at an international school in the Libyan city of Benghazi according to medical and security sources. Director at the school in Benghazi told Reuters, quote, "He was doing his morning exercise when gunmen just shot him down. I don't know why. He was so sweet with everyone. Not immediately clear who was responsible for this killing.
We do have a reporter in Tripoli and will bring you the latest when we have it. Breaking news out of Libya this morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, an offer of thousands of dollars in exchange for a video that could show the Toronto mayor smoking crack, that is the latest claim of the political saga of Rob Ford.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 14 minutes past, Mexican authorities believe they've recovered all the radioactive material that was inside a stolen truck. The missing cobalt-60 had triggered concerns in both Mexico and the United States because of the danger of radiation exposure. The suspects who may have exposed themselves are still at large. Besides using for medical purposes, cobalt-60 can also be used to make a dirty bomb.
Actor, Paul Walker may have survived the initial impact of Saturday's crash in California autopsy results suggest the "Fast and Furious" star died from a combination of traumatic injuries from the crash and the resulting fire. His friend, Roger Rodas, was driving the car when it crashed. Universal Pictures says the production of the next "Fast and Furious" movie has been shut down.
Forty one whales are still stranded off the coast of Florida Everglades National Park. Officials have been working to save them, but they say the outlook is not good. Fishermen discovered the whales late Tuesday, but it's not clear how they got there or why.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was so desperate to keep a video showing his crack cocaine use out of the public eye that he offered two suspected drug dealers $5,000 and a car to hand it over. That's what newly released wiretaps suggest. And that's not the only shocking claim. Those suspects say Ford smoked heroin, too.
Also on the wiretaps, allegations that the mayor left his cell phone at the crack house and then had his driver go back to the house to try to get the cell phone back by offering the owners inside that house marijuana.
CNN legal correspondent Jean Casarez is in New York with more on this ever-evolving story. Good morning.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Did he know about the video as early as March because the case blew up in May. Did he try to bribe an alleged drug dealer? The mayor of Toronto, minutes ago, went on a sports talk radio station in Washington, D.C. and he was posed a very tough question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say to that? These are wiretaps from gang members who say you offered $5,000 if not more, $150,000 and a car to confiscate the video of you doing crack on the tape. What would you say to that?
MAYOR ROB FORD, TORONTO: Number one, that's an outright lie. And, number two can you talk to my lawyers about it, but I'm here to talk football.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And the mayor went on to say that he looks forward to the election next October, that he has supporters and that he will continue to serve as mayor. Now, Carol, we want to tell everybody that the way this happened was that Toronto police were targeting a rather large drug gang and so they got wiretaps to listen to the conversations and they suddenly hear the mayor's name.
That's what we believe started all of this and they hear about this video that exists and the mayor is saying that he'll pay some money so it's not released. Here is the interesting thing. All of these interviews were in a Somalian language and had to be translated to then have those transcripts released in English, which they were yesterday by a judge.
CASAREZ: The story is so strange. You won't even know what question to ask next. The most glaring question is why is this guy still in office? You know, everybody is saying why isn't he charged yet? I think we have the answer from these transcripts. It's one thing to have an alleged video of him smoking crack, but when you look at these transcripts.
They were building a case. And the transcripts say that they not only intercepted 59 cell phone conversations for several months, but they had GPS monitoring, cell phone pings to find out where the vehicles and the cell phones actually were. And they used a public monitoring system that they have in Canada to be able to view vehicles as they drive around. How much more, Carol, do they allegedly have on the mayor?
COSTELLO: And how much more do they really need before they file charges against him?
CASAREZ: Well, they want to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt -- at least in American standards -- that they can convict him of any crimes that he is charged with. And sometimes that takes time.
COSTELLO: Jean Casarez, thank you so much. Poor people in Toronto. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A second passenger in Sunday's deadly train derailment in New York has filed a lawsuit. Edward Russell was seriously hurt when all seven train cars flew off its tracks. According to his claim $10 million in punitive damages citing negligence on the part of Metro North, the MTA and the city and state of New York.
Some people have speculated that the driver of that train may have been tired. He had recently switched to a new and much earlier schedule. Our transportation correspondent, Rene Marsh, found, driving when you're tired can be as dangerous as driving when you're drunk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RENE MARSH, CNN TRANSPORTATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dramatic dashboard video captured a 71-year-old woman asleep at the wheel. Her car crashes through the windshield of an oncoming car. Everyone survives and in Florida, a police officer's dash cam captured a reported drowsy driver smashing into his cruiser. Both lived. Drowsy drivers cause an estimated 40,000 injury and more than 1,500 deaths annually. Being awake for more than 20 hours can cause impairment equal to a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent, the legal limit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Similar to alcohol intoxication, your reflexes, responses and data processing speed would be slower.
MARSH: Twenty percent of accidents involve drowsy drivers, according to researchers here at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. No sleep means bad moves on the road. Awake for 21 hours, I got behind the wheel. I drove the 2.2 mile test track at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Nearly an hour later, cameras installed inside the car captured my eye movements, slow blinking, one indication of a drowsy driver.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your turn signal on, that you're going to pass them.
MARSH: Wrong thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You start making errors. Now you're drifting outside the lane a little bit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I'm starting to kind of nod off, it follows my face down.
MARSH: Virginia Tech researchers are developing facial tracking software that could one day be installed in vehicles.
(on camera): How did I do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was good. There was -- certainly had some effects of fatigue, lot of slow eyelid closures. I could definitely tell you were fatigued. We made it back in one piece.
MARSH: A 10-minute nap can restore the body somewhat, but the more, the better. Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Wow! Still to come in the "NEWSROOM", you use them to protect your e-mail and other accounts. Millions of passports have been stolen in an international hack attack. Details for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining me. An American teaching school there was shot and killed while he was jogging in the morning. This incident happened very near the American consulate that came under attack in which, of course, the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed, all according to Reuters. We have a reporter there now in Tripoli. Her name is Jamana Karacha. Jamana, do we know anything more about what happened?
JAMANA KARACHA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Carol, at the U.S. embassy here in Tripoli has not yet confirmed -- hearing from multiple -- Libyan news agencies reporting this. No official confirmation as of yet. It is not an isolated incident, Carol. As you mentioned, Benghazi consulate (inaudible) not a first multiple times. This was the first time seeing a civilian, American or western civilian being targeted.
In the past, it has been diplomatic institutions, government organizations. When we were there a few months ago, Carol, the city was empty of westerners (inaudible) really had driven many westerners out of Benghazi. Just last month in late October there was also an attack on the Swedish consulate there, no casualties. So this is not the first time we're seeing westerners being targeted.
