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California Farmers Fight Freeze; Mandela Family Friend Shares Memories; U.S. Men's Soccer Team Drawn Into "Group of Death" for World Cup 2014; Cano Gets 10-Year, $240 Million With Mariners; Kobe Bryant Returns to Lakers After Injury; Willie Nelson Cancels SeaWorld Concert Over Killer Whale Confinement; Ted Cruz Draws Ire After Mandela Eulogy; Plane Fights High Winds to Land
Aired December 06, 2013 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a wind machine, powered by a six-cylinder Caterpillar diesel engine. It creates an inversion layer of air that raises ground temperature a couple degrees.
JOHN S. GLESS, VICE PRESIDENT AND MANAGER, GLESS RANCH: Very powerful, it's good for about 10 to 15 acres.
WIAN: Growers also warm the ground by saturating it with water, but they must do that before the pipes freeze.
GLESS: Just putting moisture in the ground just generates warmth.
WIAN: It's a tricky job that Gless refuses to delegate to anyone else.
GLESS: I've got a great crew with me, but, no. No, it's hands on. You've got to be out here.
WIAN: So far, despite some temperatures in the low 20s, so good.
GLESS: You can cut the fruit, check for damage. This is unscathed. It's perfect.
WIAN: Growers here have spent nearly $7 million battling freezing temperatures. Gless says he hasn't slept in three days.
GLESS: Next week is -- it's going to be a tough one, but I think we're going to beat it.
WIAN: Which means you're less likely to see higher prices at the supermarket.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Just a little bit of updated information, growers here in the Central Valley now say they've spent $12 million on frost protection efforts. It got down as low as 23 degrees last night.
Some of these groves do not have those wind machines we showed you in the piece. They're so expensive, $40,000 apiece, so some of the growers have resorted to using helicopters to try to accomplish the same effect, Brooke. BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Casey Wian for us in California, Casey, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nelson Mandela --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nelson Mandela --
BALDWIN: In South Africa, 10 days of mourning to remember the man who changed their country and influenced the world, and, by the looks of the celebrating, a life.
Nelson Mandela was the prisoner-turned-president who helped end racial segregation and do away with white minority-rule in South Africa. But instead of anger against those who oppressed him and imprisoned him, he chose forgiveness.
And my colleague Nadia Bilchik is a close friend of the Mandela family. You're South African. You were a television anchor there for a decade. You have shared a stage with Nelson Mandela and you were just there last week.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCERS: I spent the morning with Winnie Mandela and her granddaughters. And I said, how is he doing? And they said, the same.
And of course, we know he's been gravely ill, so he had tubes down his throat, draining the fluid from his lungs, but I don't think they realized death was this imminent.
We didn't speak too much about that, but we spoke about the new film, "Long Walk to Freedom," starring Idris Elba.
I have to share with you one of my favorite clips.
BALDWIN: OK, let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IDRIS ELBA, ACTOR, "LONG WALK TO FREEDOM": You are Winnie Madikizela, the first black social worker that I've ever hired. And you're the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.
NAOMI HARRIS, ACTOR, "LONG WALK TO FREEDOM": (Inaudible) and different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILCHIK: Winnie loved the movie. She thought Naomi Harris really captured her mannerisms and her walk.
But when I spoke to one of Mandela's daughters, Zenani, she really liked the movie because it was one of the first movies who highlighted her mother's role in the struggle.
And, today, we've been interviewing people like (inaudible), (inaudible), people who fought the struggle with Mandela - BALDWIN: Right.
BILCHIK: -- but sometimes we overlook Winnie's role in the struggle.
She's a somewhat controversial character, but the family really hoped that Naomi Harris gets an Oscar.
And, of course, they love Idris Elba. Who doesn't love Idris Elba? But they were laudatory about the movie.
BALDWIN: Look at these pictures of you, and from his family to the tribe, the Thembu tribe. He's known as Madiba.
BILCHIK: That's right. Madiba is his clan name. His second name is Rolihlahla, meaning "one who shakes the tree," otherwise "troublemaker."
And he was somewhat somebody who shook things up, but what we're going to see, Brooke, is up until Monday, there's going to be no public ceremony.
On Monday, there will be a public memorial at Soccer City, and that's the place that Mandela made his last public appearance.
But what's going on right now -
BALDWIN: This is fascinating.
BILCHIK: -- is something called the "eye-closing ceremony," and it's here that elders of the Thembu tribe are with the body of Mandela.
BALDWIN: Talking to the body.
BILCHIK: They talk to the body and they talk to the ancestors. So they help the transition of the body to the afterlife.
And there's a Zulu word that says, hamba kahle, go slowly, go carefully, and we hope that the spirit of Nelson Mandela goes carefully.
BALDWIN: Nadia Bilchik, thank you so much, incredible pictures and that you were there a week ago.
BILCHIK: A week ago.
BALDWIN: Nadia, thank you.
As reaction is pouring in really from all around the world, celebrities are speaking out and they remembering the Nelson Mandela they came to know as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: He certainly had an impact on my life and certainly my father. And I think that timeframe in which he -- when he came out, could have -- the country could have fallen apart. It could have gone a lot of different ways.
And he led it to where it's at now, and, you know, he -- and the world's going to miss him.
PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM: Extremely sad and tragic news, we just are reminded of what an extraordinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was.
And my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family right now.
PETER GABRIEL, SINGER: It's a really sad day for us, and you know, we're going to miss him enormously, but he's left a hell of a legacy.
You know, you can come out of murder, injustice, you know, racism, enshrined in a constitution, and then turn to those very people responsible and invite them to build a rainbow nation with you.
You know, you don't see that now. They don't make them like that anymore
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I want to remind you, 5:00 p.m. Eastern tonight, Bill Clinton will be giving his thoughts on the life of Nelson Mandela.
Do not miss that interview live with Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Coming up next, we're hearing about one of the richest contracts in sports history. So why are we showing you video of Jay-Z?
We'll explain what the hip-hop mogul reportedly did that he's never done before.
Plus, don't like flying? Yeah, after watching this, you won't like it even more, video of a plane trying to land.
Did it happen? You've got to wait for it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If the U.S. men's soccer team ends up winning next year's World Cup, you might say they cheated death.
It was draw day in Brazil for next summer's World Cup. The U.S. men's soccer team, they were drawn into what's dubbed "the group of death."
They will be facing, arguably, the three hardest teams in the tournament. You have Germany, you have Portugal, and you have Ghana.
Lara Baldesarra from CNN Sports joining me, and welcome, welcome, welcome to CNN, first and foremost.
LARA BALDESARRA, CNN ANCHOR, "WORLD SPORT: Thank you very much.
BALDWIN: Awesome having you on.
Talk to me first about this "league of death" and how this is not looking good for us.
BALDESARRA: "The group of death," it's always "the group."
BALDWIN: The group of death.
BALDESARRA: The group in the World Cup or any tournament like this where it's the toughest teams that have been drawn together.
So, this year, we're looking at, there could possibly be two groups of death, but most people are saying that the one the USA has been drawn into is definitely the group of death.
So, if we start by taking a look at Ghana -
BALDWIN: Yeah.
BALDESARRA: -- this is a team --
BALDWIN: Didn't go well for us last time?
BALDESARRA: It didn't go well for you last time or the time before that, either. There's a lot of history that's involved with the USA and Ghana.
And, Ghana, it's a really, really threatening team. They have a lot of big, well-known players, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Michael Essien. This is a tough, fast-paced team.
But -- I will say but, the USA, they play a very tough, fast-paced style of soccer, too, so they should be able to take care of them.
BALDWIN: Team USA coach, very familiar with Germany, could that give us an advantage?
BALDESARRA: Or a disadvantage, I have to say.
BALDWIN: Why?
BALDESARRA: Jurgen Klinsmann used to be the head coach of Germany. He was the head coach of Germany in the 2006 World Cup.
He was also a player on the German national team when they won the World Cup in 1990.
It must be awfully difficult to have to play against a team that it's your team. That's your country. That's your home.
It will be definitely an interesting match.
BALDWIN: And you brought me a soccer ball.
BALDESARRA: I did bring you a soccer ball.
BALDWIN: Why, Lara? What's so special about this?
BALDESARRA: This is the Brazuca. This is -
BALDWIN: The Brazuca?
BALDESARRA: This is the match ball for the 2014 World Cup.
Every World Cup has a different ball, and in 2010, it was called the Jabulani. This -- that ball, absolutely dreadful.
BALDWIN: People hated it.
BALDESARRA: Flew through the air like this, a keeper's nightmare. You couldn't stop a shot when it was coming at you.
This one, they say this one is infinitely better. They've tested it with over 600 top players. It will fly straight, and, also, the shell of it does not absorb moisture very well, which means it will be kept very lightweight if it gets wet.
BALDWIN: Here we go. Hopefully, we do well with the Brazuca, Team USA.
Lara Baldesarra, thank you very much.
BALDESARRA: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Nice having you on.
And here is something you won't hear very often. The Yankees may have just lost a bid for a free star agent.
The free agent, Robinson Cano, and the Seattle Mariners have agreed to a 10-year, $240 million contract. That's not nothing.
The deal came just hours after talks between Cano and his agent Jay-Z and the Mariners had broken down.
CNN's Rachel Nichols is with me, and nice to see you, my friend, by the way. But, Jay-Z, with his sports agent hat, if reports are true, this contract is huge.
RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, "UNGUARDED": Yes, it's nice to see something finally going well for Jay-Z, isn't it? Right?
BALDWIN: Yeah, rough gig for him, not doing well at all.
NICHOLS: Exactly, so finally, he gets a little money in his pocket from the agent commission.
But in all seriousness, this is a very good deal for Robinson Cano, 10 years, $240 million. That's the third richest contract in baseball history.
And it is actually very good for Jay-Z, because this is his first major deal in his relatively new business, being a sports agent.
So he got Cano this blockbuster deal that sends a clear message to other big-name athletes, you want to go with Jay-Z, because he will walk into the room and strike you a good bargain.
The question is, is this good for the Seattle Mariners? They paid $70 million more for him than the Yankees were offering.
That seems a bit like overpaying. Plus, it's a 10-year contract. You know, Alex Rodriguez in New York is on a 10-year contract with the Yankees, and that hasn't worked out so well.
You sign up for a decade with a player, it's a long commitment. We'll have to see how it works out.
BALDWIN: Just do the math and the commission for Jay-Z, since he's really hurting, as you point out.
Let's talk about your show. You have landed amazing guests. Kobe Bryant, he injured his Achilles in April, ready to make his return to the court.
You sat down with him. What did he tell you?
NICHOLS: He's not going to play in the Lakers game tonight, but could come back as early as Sunday, and he said that he's able to move around. He feels very good out there.
But he does think he might have to shift and adjust his game a little bit, which is interesting for a guy who's been in the league for 17 years.
We also talked about his contract. He got a lot of criticism for his mega deal. Not quite as much as Cano's, but he's the highest paid player in the NBA, when he's 37-, 38-years old.
And he defended the contract to me, talked a little bit about, hey, if someone offers you a bunch of money, are you going to turn it down?
He said he doesn't think it's fair where players are put in the position where they're supposed to take less for the team, so you'll hear about that tonight.
And he also just talked about the recovery from the Achilles injury. He said that there were very dark times.
He talks about the fact that he seriously thought about retiring. He gets very emotional at one point. It was really interesting.
BALDWIN: We'll be watching "UNGUARDED," Rachel Nichols, tonight, 10:30 Eastern, only here on CNN.
Thank you very much, Rachel.
NICHOLS: Thanks.
BALDWIN: And coming up, this is what's coming up here on CNN.
Coming up, planning a flight for the holidays? You may not want this pilot in charge of your plane.
Actually, this is not the pilot's fault. We'll tell you why the plane is having such a tough time, up and down, up and down.
What's going on here? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Music legend Willie Nelson is known for making music to make a statement, but now he's sending a message by not singing. He's canceling a February performance set for SeaWorld Orlando and this decision comes after this petition showed up on change.org.
We have been checking on this today. More than 9,000 so far have signed it asking Willie Nelson not to sing at SeaWorld in the wake of the revelations from "Blackfish," the CNN Film documentary that traces 39 years of killer whales in captivity leading up to a SeaWorld orca killing its trainer in 2010.
Just last hour, I talked to Willie Nelson about why he stopped his show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIE NELSON, COUNTRY MUSIC STAR, CANCELED SEAWORLD SHOW (via telephone): I had a lot of calls from people asking me to cancel, and I understand there are petitions going around with thousands of people's names on it. So, you know, I had to cancel.
And, also, I don't agree with the way they treat their animals. It wasn't that hard a deal for me to cancel.
BALDWIN: Tell me about that. Tell me about how you feel, the notion of these animals, these whales, being held in captivity and performing for audiences. Does that bother you?
NELSON (via telephone): I feel the same way about all animals in the zoo. I have been to some zoos that were, you know, the monkey in the zoo, I don't blame him for wanting to throw stuff at you.
All of that stuff is hard on animals, it's cruel and I understand there are some natural habitat zoos out there, which is probably OK, but what they do at SeaWorld is not OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: SeaWorld told CNN scheduling conflicts led to Nelson's canceling of a show, but you just heard him for yourself.
Just 24 hours after the death of Nelson Mandela, Republican Senator Ted Cruz is facing an online backlash to his Facebook posting honoring the icon.
Cruz wrote this. "Nelson Mandela will live in history as an inspiration for defenders of liberty around the globe.
"He stood firm for decades on the principle that, until all South Africans enjoy equal liberties, he would not leave prison himself, declaring in his autobiography, freedom is indivisible.
"The chains on any of my people are the chains on all of them. The chains on all of my people are the chains on me.
"Because of his epic fight against injustice an entire nation is now free. We mourn his loss and offer our condolences to his family and the people of South Africa."
That was from Ted Cruz on his Facebook page.
Nelson Mandela, no stranger to controversy, he was on a U.S. terror watch list up until 2008, because of militant activities in the fight against apartheid.
Mandela once reached out and hugged Cuba's Fidel Castro. Here's that video, from 1991. Castro, you know, a communist.
Also, Mandela meet with Libya's Moammar Gadhafi in 1997.
Jake Tapper, joining me now, host of "THE LEAD," so, Jake, what are some of -- we read the posting on Ted Cruz's Facebook page. What are some of the people posting back?
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": Well, some context here. Anybody who has ever perused the comment section of the Internet knows that it's essentially the bathroom wall of the Internet, where people write --
BALDWIN: Good way to put it, Tapper.
TAPPER: -- the meanest, anonymous things they can.
What's interesting about this is that these are criticisms from conservatives and Ted Cruz quite often does not anger conservatives.
But some examples from his Facebook posting include, "Let's not forget that Mandela called Castro's communist revolution a source of inspiration to all freedom loving people." That's from Mike.
"Sad to see you feel this way, Ted. He was a terrorist. I guess you have only seen the Hollywood movie," said Tom.
"Stunned to see you support this scumbag. He was a murderer, not to mention a communist." That's from a delightful gentleman named Derek.
We should also put in context the following. There are nearly 6,000 "Likes" on Ted Cruz's Facebook page for what he said, so a lot of his friends on Facebook or supporters did approve of it.
That's actually more likes than President Obama's statement on his White House Facebook page which is, not surprisingly, much more popular than the Ted Cruz Facebook page, given that he's the president.
Also, at the White House page, you can find a lot of nasty invective, but you expect that conservatives would lash out against President Obama, not so much against Ted Cruz.
BALDWIN: Sure. But do we think, to use your metaphor of the proverbial bathroom wall of the Internet, do we think Ted Cruz is reading this stuff and responding?
TAPPER: Well, there is a response from his office, which is, "Mr. Mandela deserves to be remembered and honored for his sacrifices in pursuit of freedom, for the oppressed and his historic achievements to that end."
That's from a spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier.
He's aware there has been a negative response from some conservatives. He got similar, not as negative, but some negative response when he supported the Gillibrand Amendment that had to do with sexual assault in the military, a complicated bill we can talk about at another time, but he also got brush back from conservatives on that.
BALDWIN: We'll watch you tackle this and other stories coming up in five minutes.
I'll let you go. Jake Tapper on "THE LEAD," thank you very much.
Have you seen this video? I know you're all tweeting what happens to the video. We will tell you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, we get to the plane. Here we have this Boeing 777 trying to land at an airport. This is the United Kingdom. This is Birmingham.
Powerful winds force the jet to tilt sideways. It's trying to go down, it starts to go down, and there it goes again, back up in the air.
We're actually told that the gusts hit 50-miles-an-hour at one point, and then imagine, because a lot of planes have TVs, a lot of passengers are sitting on this plane watching this whole thing live on television from their seats.
The plane actually tried landing twice before diverting to another airport. How about that?
Well, that is it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for watching me on this Friday.
Back on Monday, we will see you then. In the meantime, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.
