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Life on Minimum Wage; Putin Visits Volgograd Survivors; Kim Jong-un Calls U.S., South Korea "War Maniacs"; Chicago Violence Down; Claire Davis Memorial; Jovan Belcher's Mother Sues Chiefs; Barbara Bush Hospitalized; Russian Ship May Soon Be Rescued; Dubai Sets Fireworks Record; Packers May Be Blacked Out -- In Green Bay; Aaron Rodgers Denies Gay Rumors

Aired January 01, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joanna's life mirrors her mother's. Augusta Cruz worked 30 years in a mattress factory and said she never made more than $9 an hour.

AUGUSTA CRUZ, MOTHER OF JOANNA: It's a vicious cycle for everybody.

HARLOW: She provides the home Joanna can't afford.

If it weren't for you having them here under your roof, where would she be?

A. CRUZ: In the shelter or street.

HARLOW: Years of low wage work has left her with little hope.

JOANNA CRUZ, WORKS FOR MINIMUM WAGE: I'm 29. By the time I finish school, I'll probably be like 40.

Then who is going to hire a 40-year-old that just starting off with no experience? It's probably not going to happen.

Some days I don't want to try.

HARLOW: Tell me what you mean.

CRUZ: I feel like, what's the point? What's the point of trying, I'm not going to make it anyway.

HARLOW: Do you think from the outside looking in people have any idea what you go through?

CRUZ: No. None.

HARLOW: Americans have long believed in a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. But we can't agree on that that wage is today.

President Obama supports raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 for about $10 an hour, but critics argue that won't help but hurt, costing jobs and increasing prices. DAVID NEUMARK, CENTER FOR ECONOMICS & PUBLIC POLICY, U.C.-IRVINE: In general, prices go up, people buy less and firms use less labor. You are better off if you earn a higher wage, clearly.

But weigh that against the fact that your employer might make do with fewer workers and you might be one of them.

HARLOW: At the center of the debate, fast-food chains and big, box retailers.

In 2012, the average cost was $9 an hour, for retail workers, $12. 17, both higher than minimum wage.

Still, Tiffany Beroid is among those demanding higher pay.

HARLOW: She's a member of Our Walmart, a union-backed group.

TIFFANY BEROID, OUR WALMART: It isn't enough money for me to get by. We're stay stand still right now.

HARLOW: Walmart's U.S. CEO says they pay a fair wage and unfairly criticized.

BILL SIMON, PRESIDENT & CEO, WALMART U.S.: We pay above average wages for the retail industry and provide incredible opportunity.

The discussion around the minimum wage is one that the country needs to be had, but that's not the issue. The issue is where you go to once you've started.

HARLOW: Tiffany wants more opportunity, but at $10.70 an hour, she says she can't afford to work full-time with the child care costs.

So why doesn't she look for another job?

BEROID: I'm not unhappy with my job. I like being with the customers. So it's not -- I mean it's pointless for me to find a job. I would rather stay and fight.

HARLOW: As for Joanna, her pay will go up in January when minimum wage in New Jersey increased to $8.25 an hour. She will still struggle but hopes her children's lives will be better.

CRUZ: It's not going to happen to my kids. It's not. I promise you it's not going to happen to my kids. I won't allow it to.

HARLOW: Poppy Harlow, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: It was a subdued New Year's Eve in Volgograd. That is the Russian city that closed out 2013 with two bombings that left 34 people dead.

Today, President Vladimir Putin made an unannounced visit to some of the survivors, trying to comfort them after those apparent suicide attacks. Yesterday, Putin spoke to the nation, promising to fight until terrorists are defeated.

North Korea's leader gave his own speech today, but it's doubtful it made anyone feel safer. In the address, Kim Jong-un called the U.S. and South Korea "war maniacs" and suggested that they're laying the groundwork for war.

CNN's Brian Todd joins me now with more. And Brian, happy new year, I guess.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy new year, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Is this just unusual, over the top propaganda, the kind of stuff we're accustomed to hearing from North Korea, or is there really more to it?

TODD: On the one hand, analysts say it's not more serious than threats in recent years, but at the same time, given the political upheaval in North Korea recently, any threat from Kim Jong-un is ominous.

As you mentioned, he called the U.S. and South Korea "war maniacs." He said they were building up their forces in the region, gearing up for nuclear war, and then this warning for America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM JONG-UN, NORTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (via translator): The U.S. and South Korea war maniacs have deployed legions of equipment for a nuclear war in and around the Korean Peninsula.

This creates a critical situation where an accidental military skirmish could lead to an all-out war.

That would result in a deadly nuclear catastrophe and the United States would never be safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: I spoke with one analyst, Bruce Klingner, who was a CIA officer assigned to monitor North Korea.

He said with that warning, he's saying North Korea can hit the United States, more specifically, the West Coast, with a ballistic missile, possibly a nuclear-tipped one.

SAVIDGE: Pretty troubling.

How about his uncle? We know, prior to all of this, he had his uncle executed. Did he mention that at all?

TODD: He mentioned the event. He never mentioned the uncle by name, but he said of that execution, quote, "In the seething period of the effort for rebuilding a thriving country last year, we took the resolute measure of removing the factionalists lurking in the party."

That's what he called his uncle and his cronies. Kim says the purge of the uncle unified North Korea, but analysts said there are more likely purges coming ahead and more instability inside this very volatile regime, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Yeah, Brian Todd, thanks very much.

Very easy to sort of laugh it off somewhat, but so many troops on a hair's trigger out there on the DMZ.

Thanks very much.

TODD: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Next, we are learning about a lawsuit that's been filed by the mother of a former NFL player.

Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend before killing himself. Now, his mom is suing the Kansas City Chiefs. We'll explain why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: We have talked a lot about the violence in Chicago and the epidemic it seems to have been suffering.

There's good news. It seems to be on the downswing. The city is poised to have its lowest murder rate since the 1960s.

Ted Rowlands finds out why and just what is changing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seventy-three, Solace (ph). Villa.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The final role call of the year at Chicago's ninth precinct.

Lieutenant Tom Razirek (ph) talks about new year's eve and goes through his precincts' numbers for the year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shootings, down 88 from last year, that's a 46 percent decrease.

ROWLANDS: 2013 was a great year for the entire Chicago police force.

Overall, crime was down nearly 25 percent from 2012, and the murder rate was the lowest since 1967.

GARRY MCCARTHY, SUPERINTENDENT CHICAGO POLICE: It's hard not to be pleased, but we're not satisfied.

ROWLANDS: Some of the credit goes to Chicago's police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, who was brought in two years ago by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

McCarthy and Emanuel made sweeping changes that now seem to be paying off, including major changes at the police department.

MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL, CHICAGO: Moving cops from behind the desk out onto the street, officers doing foot patrol, a strategy on gangs so there's no reprisal shootings.

ROWLANDS: Besides policing, the city has invested in more after-school programs and doubled the size of its summer jobs program.

It's also putting pressure on parents to keep better tabs on their kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's starting to get late, boys, get close to home.

ROWLANDS: There were several stories in 2013, including the killing of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, an honor student shot after taking a final exam.

President Obama talked about Hadiya in his State of the Union.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school. Just a mile away from my house.

ROWLANDS: The biggest problem still facing Chicago is illegal guns and the lack of accountability for those caught with one

An example? The man accused of killing Pendleton, who McCarthy says would have been in prison if Illinois gun policies were stronger.

MCCARTHY: Her alleged killer pled guilty to illegal possession of a firearm in November of 2012 and killed her in January of 2013.

ROWLANDS: Still things are better. And most people we talked to say they have noticed a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has slowed down, though. It has slowed down.

ROWLANDS: Is it getting better?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is. It's getting better.

MCCARTHY: It's kind of all coming together in one monstrous thunderclap, and the goal is to keep making it better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure you guys watch each other's backs, OK?

Thank you, again. Have a good night. Be safe.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Thousands of people right now are saying goodbye to a Colorado student who was shot at and killed last month at her Denver- area high school.

These are pictures that are live now, coming from a public memorial happening for 17-year-old Claire Davis. She attended Arapahoe High School.

Claire died December 21st, eight days after being randomly shot by Karl Pierson. Pierson committed suicide after that violent attack.

The National Western Stock Show says, later this month, it will honor her memory by naming a horse show in her honor.

Today, all the flags statewide were lowered to half staff on all public buildings in her memory.

The mother of a dead NFL player is accusing his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, of literally playing him to death.

Jovan Belcher killed himself in December of 2012 after he fatally shot his girlfriend.

The family gave a brief statement at that time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY KIMBLE, JOVAN BELCHER'S AUNT: We will cherish the wonderful memories we have of Jovan, and pray that those memories will bring us peace as we grapple to understand the unpredictable and tragic ending of his life and the life of Kasandra Perkins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: That struggle to understand has turned into a lawsuit from Belcher's mother. That's Cheryl Shepherd. She just filed it in Missouri claims court.

The Kansas City Chiefs caused Belcher to get, quote, "post-concussion syndrome. Now, we're aware of his cognitive and neuropsychiatric impairment," end quote, and required him to play through his injuries, risking his, quote, "further neurological harm."

The Chiefs know about the lawsuit, but they are not saying anything about it.

CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos is "On the Case." He's back with us again.

And, Danny, let me ask you this. Do you think that this family has a solid case against the team?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Typically, suicide in negligence cases is an independent, intervening cause that breaks the chain of causation.

But Missouri courts and other courts increasingly hold that if you can prove that the negligent act caused some kind of insanity and that insanity then caused a suicide, if you can show that causation, and I imagine that's going to be a difficult burden, then your case can proceed to a jury.

This really isn't a significant development because, historically, suicide, we all understand to be an independent act, and historically, it has broken that chain of negligence, typically absolving a tortfeasor or a defendant of liability. SAVIDGE: Right. Yeah, I'm with you on this, because as you point out, suicide is one of those acts that we definitely would say, the person who did it is responsible.

And the whole idea of concussions and this has come out. Players and other NFL families have sued over brain trauma, including the loved ones of star linebacker Junior Seau. He killed himself at the age of 43.

But they went after the NFL and settled. So, I'm wondering, does suing the team directly make a difference in this case?

CEVALLOS: Well, the first problem they're going to have -- the obstacle they're going to have to overcome is what we call the workers compensation bar.

They're going to have to show, and they've already pleaded, that this falls outside of workers comp.

Most people don't realize you can't normally sue your employer because of a statute that says you have to go through the workers compensation process.

So, if they can show that this was not an accident as defined under the code and that this was not a work-related, single incident accident, then they may be able to avoid that workers compensation issue.

But I have to imagine that the NFL has been a much more appetizing defendant because it's not a direct employer of the players.

So, if they can get over the hurdle, the plaintiffs, of suing the Kansas City Chiefs directly, the decedent's employer, then the case will proceed.

And then, of course, they have their burden to show -- causation, causation, causation. This insanity was caused by the injury which caused the suicide.

SAVIDGE: But if Belcher's mother is successful, I imagine that this just sort of would open the door for many other lawsuits like it.

CEVALLOS: Absolutely. I mean, bringing these lawsuits requires a lot of science.

They are expensive because you need a neurologist or another expert to testify the causation of these injuries, that these brain injuries were caused in the manner that was the negligence of these employers, the negligence of these teams and the negligence of the NFL.

If they can demonstrate that, then they may have a cause of action, so I expect that some well-funded lawsuits will begin if this one is allowed to proceed.

I think these lawsuits that we have seen so far are just the first of many. SAVIDGE: Yeah, I agree with you.

Danny Cevallos, as always, a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks very much.

Stuck in a ship for days, forced to celebrate Christmas then new year's away from home, how would you be feeling?

Apparently, great. That's the crew aboard an expedition ship stranded -- yeah, it's in the arctic, and that's not the only video they posted.

We'll show you some more, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Former first lady Barbara Bush is in a Houston hospital. A family spokesman says that Bush is being treated for a, quote, "respiratory-related issue," unquote, and the 88-year-old is in great spirits.

Her husband and relatives have visited here in the hospital.

Bush has been dealing with Grave's disease. That's an autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid since, really, her late 80s. Actually, the late '80s.

We do not know whether her current hospitalization may be linked to that disease.

Bush got a warm wish, though, today from President Obama. Here is the president's message.

Quote, "Michelle and I send our best wishes to Mrs. Bush for a speedy recovery. Barbara is blessed to have both a loving, supportive family by her side and a vibrant spirit that we hope will have her feeling better soon.

"I know I speak for Americans everywhere when I say that our thoughts and prayers are with Barbara and her family on this New Year's Day."

It's kind of a "Gilligan's Island" with a lot of snow and no palm trees. I'm talking about those 74 people stranded on an expedition in the ice off Antarctica, because they had so much time on TV for being stranded.

But they could be rescued in just a matter of hours. CNN's Anna Coren reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Finally some encouraging news for the 74 passengers and crew on board the research vessel stuck in ice in Antarctica since Christmas.

We've just got off the phone with Captain Murray Doyle of the Australian ice breaker that's come to assist, and he believes that the rescue could begin as early as Thursday morning.

At the moment, they are 12 nautical miles away from the vessel, but only two nautical miles from the Chinese ice breaker that's also come to help.

The Chinese ship is in a holding position because the ice surrounding it is so deep. But once the Australian vessel arrives, it's hoped the two ships can be together reach open water.

If that happens, a helicopter on the Chinese ship will fly to the research vessel and evacuate scientists and journalists in groups of 12 to 15.

They will then be transported by barge to the Australian ice breaker where they will stop at Casey, an Australian base in Antarctica, before heading to Australia.

The 22 crew will remain on the stranded vessel until the ice loosens up. They have ample supplies and will also be restocked.

Despite the situation, everyone on board is in remarkable spirits. Their plight has, of course, attracted the attention of the world's media, including our Anderson Cooper, who spoke to the team on New Year's Eve.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You guys are really keeping up morale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're working hard to keep everyone going and everyone's been fantastic.

It's been a great team spirit and just looking forward to getting home, really.

COREN: Now, bad weather has been the biggest obstacle in reaching the research ship.

But according to the Australian captain en route to their aid, the skies have now cleared, a promising sign for the rescue teams and those on board the stranded vessel.

Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Dubai had a record-breaking new year. It set that Guinness Record for Largest Fireworks Display with more than 400,000 pyrotechnics lighting up the skies as 2014 began.

We had it for you live yesterday. The city in the United Arab Emirates set off the show near the world's tallest building, involving 400 parts -- yeah, 400 parts -- of the Dubai skyline and spanning 62 miles of waterfront.

Reportedly, the over-the-top exhibition cost about $6 million.

Next, the NFL playoffs, they are coming up this weekend, and fans are gearing up for a Super Bowl run.

But in Green Bay, the Packers game may not even be shown on local TV.

We'll tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: It's the first of the year, and for college football fans, it is the start of the BCS Bowl season.

There are two BCS games today, as if you didn't know. Stanford takes on Michigan State in the Rose Bowl. And then, of course, the Fiesta Bowls features the University of Central Florida against Baylor.

If your memory, though, is long enough, you might remember the football game that came to be known as the "Ice Bowl," December 31st, 1967, Packers versus Cowboys, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

It was so cold at the "Ice Bowl," how cold? The referees couldn't make their whistles blow and trumpets got stuck to band members' lips, minus-15 degrees at game time, wind chill minus-48.

So what's going on in Green Bay now? They've got a playoff game this Sunday. And some of the hardiest fans in the NFL apparently plan to stay home. They say it's going to be too cold.

Here's Andy Scholes of CNN Sports.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Hey, Martin.

A TV blackout in Green Bay for a playoff game? It seems unbelievable, right? It actually could happen Sunday.

NFL rules state that teams must sell out their games 72 hours before kickoff or the game will be blacked out in the team's television market.

As of last night, the Packers still had 11,000 tickets unsold. That's pretty shocking considering the Packers have sold out 319 straight games at Lambeau Field, and they have nearly 100,000 people on the season ticket waiting list.

Now, weather is believed to be a factor in this. A low temperature in Green Bay on Sunday night is expected to be around negative-15 degrees.

As you can imagine, fans might want to stay home and watch the game on TV, but the dilemma is they can't if it's blacked out.

The NFL has extended the deadline to sell the game until Thursday, because of today's holiday.

Now, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been the subject of a rumor swirling around the Internet, and he wants everyone to know it's not true; he's not gay. Multiple Web sites suggested that Rodgers was gay because of his relationship with his ex-personal assistant. They attended numerous award shows together and reportedly were roommates for a while.

But Rodgers squashed all these rumors on his radio show yesterday.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

AARON RODGERS, GREEN BAY PACKERS QUARTERBACK: I'm just going to say I'm not gay. I really, really like women.

There's always going to be silly stuff out there in the media that just, you know, you can't worry too much about.

I think they should be professional is professional and personal is personal.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And with that out of the way now, Rodgers can start thinking about other things, like his big game against the 49ers on Sunday.

Martin?

SAVIDGE: Yes, he can. Andy Scholes, thanks very much. Happy new year.

And thank you for watching. That's it for me.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.