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Winter Weather Hits Country; New FAA Rules Slowing Airlines; Brain-dead Girl Released; LaBeouf Blames Plagiarism Woes on Drug; Colorado Plane Crash Kills Co-Pilot

Aired January 06, 2014 - 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: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me on this very cold Monday.

Happening right now, we've got to talk about the opening bell on Wall Street. It just - well, I think it's ringing right now. There you see it. It could be the biggest trading day of the year as more investors and traders return after the holidays. But a caution light seems to be flashing on Wall Street this morning as many investors are waiting on Friday's job reporter and other economic news later on this week. Of course we'll keep you posted.

Of course the big story this morning is the cold. For most of the country, oh, it's all about the cold. You're looking live at Indianapolis, where it's about 10 degrees - oh, look at that. It looks like arctic landscape. That's Indianapolis. It's 10 degrees below zero. The mayor has actually made it illegal to drive in the city except for emergency personnel because it's so darn cold. Indianapolis hasn't had a travel warning like that since 1978.

Let's head to Detroit now, shall we. Oh, it's 13 degrees, but it's going to get colder and the blowing snow is making things pretty darn miserable. Since Saturday, about six to 12 inches of snow have fallen in the area. Schools are, of course, closed today, as well as the courts, which means the major bankruptcy hearing for the city of Detroit is now on hold.

Let's go to Des Moines, shall we, because in Des Moines they have wind chills of minus 35 degrees. The high temperature expected today, five -- five degrees.

Now, this arctic blast is so widespread, about 140 million of us will see wind chills dip below zero. CNN meteorologist Indra Petersons is in the Weather Center.

So have we officially entered the polar vortex?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. That's what we're talking about, that polar vortex. We're seeing a little bit of that dipping down. Here's some words I want to explain, "particularly dangerous situation." In a weather world, as meteorologists, we see these words, we go, what is that because it really grabs your attention. These are warnings that are put out by forecasters when the weather is life threatening. Typically we see them with tornado outbreaks. But even more rare is today, for the first time, Minneapolis has put this out for severe chills. So wind chills are so low out there between negative 45 and negative 65 degrees. So places in Minneapolis, also Sioux Falls, under this particularly dangerous situation. That is how rare this event is.

Want to bring the impact home here. Motor oil, that freezes at 15 degrees. Antifreeze freezes at negative 35 degrees. Your tires, we know the pressure goes down when the pressure goes down. But talk about the seals actually breaking once you get those temperatures below zero. These are the concerns today. Also the frostbite, in as early as five to 10 minutes. That's the concern out there.

Now, we talked about Indianapolis. Temperature there, negative 40 degrees with the wind chill. It's not the only reason they're talking about it being illegal to drive. They had almost a foot of snow yesterday and their winds gusting as high as 40 miles per hour. So that's what's brings the wind chill into region. But it's also picking up that snow and blowing it around. So the concern is, people are going to be trapped on the roads. They're not going to be able to see. And then they're stuck in negative 40 temperatures. That is life threatening. That is the concern in that region.

Notice the chill is going to stay for some time. These temperatures are 40 degrees below average, even for that region. And again, that cold air spreading all the way down even into the southeast. Those temperatures, they are frigid, they are staying. But by the middle of the week, we should start to see some recovery. Just want to tell you, in the Northeast, that cold air is moving your way. By tomorrow morning, the wind chill will be here for you as well. No one is escaping it except for the west, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm still getting over that antifreeze freezes. I didn't know that.

PETERSONS: What a concept, right? We shouldn't know that.

COSTELLO: I hope we never know that.

PETERSONS: Exactly.

COSTELLO: Thanks so much, Indra.

PETERSONS: Sure.

COSTELLO: Think the nasty weather is the only thing to blame for the thousands of cancelled and delayed flights today? Well, airlines like JetBlue blame the FAA. They say new rules designed to avoid pilot fatigue are resulting in more flights and more crowds like this crowds at airports across the country. CNN's Rene Marsh live in Washington with more on this.

Good morning.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

You know, those new rules, they went into effect on Saturday. It's an FAA mandate which says essentially that commercial airline pilots, they must get 10 hour minimum rest period before flight and that should include the ability for them to get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Now, this is a major change in the pilot's schedule and it really is just to prevent sleepy pilots in the cockpit and, of course, reduce fatigue related accidents. It comes after the Colgan Air crash near Buffalo, New York, where 50 people died. And the NTSB, they ruled that fatigue played a role.

Well, yesterday, JetBlue, they announced in a blog post to their passengers that these new rules, on top of the weather and the high passenger volume, is what's causing that nightmarish situation at airports where people are sleeping on the ground there, their flights are delayed, we're seeing lots of cancellations.

But how so? How is this rest rule translating to delays for people who just want to get home? Well, a JetBlue spokeswoman, she gave me this example. She says, let's just say they already have delayed flights. Well, if that pilot times out and they have to be off of the clock because of these new rules, they now have to find another pilot and she says that causes further delays, Carol. So --

COSTELLO: Is this JFK we're looking at? Because those pictures are -- where is it? JFK. Those pictures are insane, Rene.

MARSH: It is insane.

CUOMO: I just can't -- oh, my gosh. But, I mean, you can look at the FAA, the new rules the FAA put into place and you can say, oh, it's causing me so many frustrations, but they put it into place for a good reason, right?

MARSH: Absolutely. Because, again, they want to make sure that these pilots are well rested. They don't want a situation where, you know, a plane goes down and they have found that the reason for that is because the pilot was sleepy. And in that Colgan Air crash in 2009, that was one of the contributing factors according to investigators. So that is the reason why it's in play.

And just to be fair, the airlines knew this day was coming. These new rules were two years in the making, Carol.

COSTELLO: Rene Marsh, many thanks to you.

MARSH: Sure.

COSTELLO: The family of a brain dead girl is calling an Oakland Hospital's release of her a victory. The case of 13-year-old Jahi McMath has triggered a court battle and a national debate. The girl suffered cardiac arrest on December 12th, three days after tonsil surgery. Doctors and a judge have declared her brain dead. But her family says she's not dead. Her uncle says hospital staff was unfriendly to the family and referred to Jahi as the, quote, "deceased body," after the 12th of December. CNN's Dan Simon joins us now from San Francisco on Jahi's next steps.

Good morning.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

We know that she was quietly released to her family last night. The hospital put out a statement saying that the body was released to the coroner, which in turn released her to her family. During a late night news conference, the attorney for the family said that she was transported by a private ambulance. He didn't disclose where due to security concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER DOLAN, MCMATH FAMILY ATTORNEY: We've had people make threats from around the country. It's sad that people act that way. So for Jahi's safety and those around her, we will not be saying where she went or where she is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: The family raised $50,000 in online donations. Much of that money, they say, is going to be used for a private air ambulance to get her to an out of state facility. We know that a New York facility has been identified as a facility that would take her indefinitely, but it's not entirely clear if that's where she's headed. Of course, the hospital says it doesn't matter, Carol, because she's brain dead and there's no chance of recovery. In any event, this particular part of this tragic saga appears to be over. But, of course, you can expect a lot more legal action in the months ahead.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, just so sad. Dan Simon, many thanks to you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, actor Shia LaBeouf fights with robots in the action packed series "Transformers." OK, we know all of that. Here's where it gets weird. Now he's taking on some of Hollywood's biggest names after admitting to plagiarizing. Well, he has a strange and bizarre explanation for that, but now his explanation may be plagiarism. I know it's weird and confusing. We'll sort it out when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The actor Shia LaBeouf went from a scrappy teenager in the movie "Transformers" to scrapping it out on Twitter over plagiarism. Last month LaBeouf admitted to ripping off another author's work for his short film "HowardCantour.com." LaBeouf has posted more than a dozen tweets apologizing for that. He even hired an airplane to write an apology in the sky. The "Transformers" star isn't really offering an explanation for any of it. Actually, he is offering an explanation for his bizarre behavior, but I think he allegedly stole that too. Let's bring in CNN entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner to sort this all out for us.

This is just weird. NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: You couldn't have let me start off the new year with a celebrity wedding or a baby, could you, Carol?

COSTELLO: No, no, no.

TURNER: No. No, no, I had to get to the weirdness right off the bat, January 6th, here we go, because this is definitely bizarre.

Here's a little back story for you here because this has actually been going on for several weeks. After Shia LaBeouf was accused of plagiarizing the short film "HowardCantour.com," from Daniel Clowes, the apology tweet started coming. This was December 16th. Shia tweeted that he was embarrassed that he failed to credit the author for the original work and he claimed that he was just so inspired by the original and he wanted to turn it into a short film. Apology. OK.

But no, it didn't stop there. There was also an apology via a sky writer, like you mentioned. He also had a tweet that he blamed it on an addiction to lien (ph), but he was actually copying an apology from the rapper Gucci Mane. Then on New Year's Eve he sent out this other tweet that said, "you have my apologies for offending you for thinking I was being serious instead of accurately realizing I was mocking you." Hollywood's been shooting back at him for this because Lena Dunham is now criticizing him for this whole stunt. He replied to her on Twitter saying, "I don't mind creating debate and thoroughly considered artistic expressions, but I don't want to offend with a tweet. Sorry world." Sound familiar? It did to Lena. Because that's exactly what she said as an apology at one time on her Twitter feed. So now there's this feud between them.

COSTELLO: Why? Why is he doing this? I don't understand why he's doing this?

TURNER: You know, it's a good question because, throughout this whole thing with him, I mean every time he apologizes, it does seem like it may be an apology from someone else. Early on when he was apologizing, there was a quote that he tweeted out that seemed like it was from Shepard Fairey. Remember when he - he's the street author that did the "Obama Hope" portrait back in 2008 and the AP said he took their picture, so he gave them an apology. And the same words he said were the same words that Shia LaBeouf used a few weeks ago.

So nobody really knows what's going on here, if he's just trying to be cute and smart or if there's something other like just weird. I don't know. It's a head scratcher. Shia LaBeouf is an interesting character. And I don't think that this is the end of it. I hope he doesn't start tweeting me. Just - I --

COSTELLO: I like the explanation that he's addicted to leif (ph) and my head's going to explode.

TURNER: You know (ph).

COSTELLO: Thank you, Nischelle. I so appreciate you for like sorting that all out for us. TURNER: OK. OK.

COSTELLO: Our lives are enriched now.

All new in the next hour of NEWSROOM, a millionaire murder. There is sorrow but there is also controversy. Outrage grows over a man found dead inside a New York City trash bin and a newspaper headline that reads, "who didn't want him dead?"

And it's possibly the most controversial way to crown a national champion, but tonight we say good-bye to the college football - to college football's BCS. A preview of tonight's final matchup ahead in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our "Top Stories" at 47 minutes past the hour. New York is set to become the next state to allow medical marijuana. Governor Andrew Cuomo plans to take executive action to let certain hospitals dispense it to select patients. A state assemblyman calls the move a key step but notes that legislation is still needed for a more complete program. Twenty states and the District of Columbia now allow medical marijuana in some form.

A malware attack hits Yahoo over the last few days affecting thousands of users in various countries. A security firm says it doesn't know who is behind the attack but that it seems to be financially motivated. Yahoo did release this statement quote, "On Friday January 3rd on our European sites we served some advertisements that did not meet our editorial guidelines -- specifically they spread malware. We promptly removed these advertisements. Users in North America, Asia -- Asia-Pacific rather and Latin America were not served these advertisements and were not affected", end quote.

Dennis Rodman is on his latest basketball diplomacy trip to North Korea. Rodman and six other former NBA players took a flight from the Beijing Airport today. The Americans are scheduled to play an exhibition game on Wednesday believed to be North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's birthday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA PLAYER: For one thing as strong people we can actually get along. Just get along as you advance not politicians, nothing like that. I'm not trying to save the world. I'm not trying to save Kenneth Bae and all these people. That's not my job. It's not my job. My job is one thing -- sports. They love sports. And he loves sports and that's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The State Department says it has nothing whatsoever to do with Rodman's visits to North Korea and that attention should be focused on the brutality of Kim's regime.

The flu is spreading rapidly across the United States. In fact in just one week the number of states reporting widespread flu has more than doubled from ten states to 25. So far the main strain we're seeing is H1N1. And it's disproportionately affecting people under the age of 65. The strain is covered by a flu vaccine that's the good news. And the other good news it's not too late to get your flu shot. You have to do that.

This morning we have new pictures of a deadly plane crash in Aspen, Colorado. The private jet burst into flames as it was landing on Sunday killing the co-pilot and injuring two others. Celebrities like Leann Rimes, who were at this small airport, posted tweets about the horrific scene moments after the crash. "So sad," she said. "Horrible plane crash. We just saw it happen at the Aspen airport."

This morning, investigators are still combing through the charred wreckage for answers. CNN's Ana Cabrera is live from Denver with more on this story. Good morning Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Carol. We don't know the exact cause of the plane crash just yet but we know the pilot had aborted a previous landing attempt because of a very strong tail wind. Now just minutes later, witnesses say the plane came in for landing and burst into flames.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA (voice over): A horrific scene on the runway in Aspen, Colorado. Still photographs show the charred fuselage of a private jet that crashed Sunday afternoon near the Aspen ski area.

JAY SILLS, CRASH WITNESS: I'm driving down the road and I see that big plume of black smoke. And then I come around the bend and that plane is flipped over.

CABRERA: Three were onboard the Bombardier Challenger 600 all three were pilots heading to Aspen from Mexico after making a stop in Tucson, Arizona. According to the plane tracking Web site, Flight Aware, the plane circled three times before trying to land.

STEVE COWELL, AVIATION SAFETY CONSULTANT: These pilots were attempting to land at a high altitude mountainous terrain airport with a tailwind which is very, very challenging.

CABRERA: Radio communications from air traffic control reference difficult conditions. The pilot aborts one landing because of the wind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missed approach, November 115 Whiskey Fox 33 knots of tail wind.

CABRERA: Minutes later, the plane crashes flipping upside down on impact. Country singer Leann Rimes Cibrian witnessed the crash and tweeted, "So sad. Horrible plane crash we just saw happen at the Aspen airport."

Another witness comedian Kevin Nealon tweeted, "Horrible plane crash here at Aspen airport. Exploded into flames as it was landing. Fire truck and ambulances were on the scene within minutes."

But it was too late to save everyone, 54-year-old Sergio Emelio Carranza Brabata died at the scene from blunt force trauma. The other pilot and co-pilot were rushed to the hospital with moderate to severe injuries. Those two survivors will likely be key to the investigation as the NTSB tries to determine what went wrong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: The NTSB of course is going to be looking at the decision- making process of these pilots as they came in for landing as well as the weather conditions, the runway conditions, the mechanical conditions as they go forward in this investigation. And Carol, we are told because this is a fatal crash, it could take several months, up to a year for this investigation to be complete.

COSTELLO: Ana Cabrera reporting live this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM Colin Kaepernick leads the 49ers to a playoff win in frigid Lambeau Field and he does it sleeveless Andy Scholes.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: That's right Carol. The Niners getting it done despite the bitterly cold temperatures. We'll show you how they did it next in your Bleacher Report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: What a start to the NFL playoffs. The four games this weekend were awesome, capped off by the Packers and Niners playing in ridiculously cold temperatures.

Andy Scholes is there with Bleacher Report.

SCHOLES: Hey Carol, this is why the NFL is king. All the games this weekend were must-see TV. We are calling it a frostbite bowl between the Niners and the Packers. It was awesome. You know the game wasn't quite as cold as the legendary ice bowl. The temperature 5 degrees at kickoff with a windchill of 10 below zero -- that's still really, really cold.

Now, Aaron Rodgers was so cold he couldn't feel the 49ers defensive linemen all over him in the fourth quarter. Somehow he escaped from that and was able to complete the pass down field. That led to a go- ahead touchdown.

Fast forward to under two minutes to go in the games. The Niners driving with the game tied and Colin Kaepernick comes up with this huge run for the first down. That set off the game-winning field goal. The Niners, they survive the goal and win the game, 23-20.

Trending on BleacherReport.com today -- Bengals, Chargers squaring off in the AFC wild card. Philip Rivers (ph) -- check this out -- he passed and the amazing catch by Lardarius Green (ph) (inaudible) feed and bounce. San Diego, they go to Cincinnati and stun the Bengals, 27-10. Philip Rivers pretty pumped about advancing to the next round. In case you missed it, the Indianapolis Colts made NFL history Saturday rallying some 28 points down the third quarter to beat the Chiefs. This may be the heads up play of the year. Donald Brown fumbled at the goal line and Andrew Luck just picks it up and then dives in for the touchdown. Definitely a lucky play for the Colts?

Now Indianapolis will move on to face the New England Patriots on Saturday night, the divisional round -- Saturday afternoon. The Saints -- they're going to be at the Seahawks. Sunday, Niners will play the Carolina Panthers. That game will be followed by the rubber match between Chargers and Broncos. They split their two matchups this season.

A new champion in college football will be crowned tonight. This year's BCS title game is being called Team Destiny versus Team Domination. Auburn, they of course, won those two amazing in the last decade to get to this point while Florida State, they rolled over nearly every one they played this season.

And the Seminoles, they're led by Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. He says all the individual awards are nice but his ultimate goal is to win tonight's game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMEIS WINSTON, HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER: My life hasn't changed because I still have that goal to get that national championship. I'm not looking for my life to change. I'm looking to change other people's lives. I'm looking to make my teammates happy and bringing home this national championship is more important than anything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: today is ironically Winston's 20th birthday. So you can imagine winning a national championship would be a nice way to celebrate that.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. And his life will soon change right after that game, I'll bet you.

SCHOLES: I bet it will. And we will see. Tonight kickoff -- 8:30 Eastern.

All right, Carol. It's been 20 years since one of the biggest sports scandals of all time went down in Detroit, Michigan. Today is the anniversary of figure skater Nancy Kerrigan being attacked by a club- wielding thug; she was hit on the knee by an associate of rival skater, Tonya Harding's ex-husband.

Right, four men ended up going to jail for this. And Tonya Harding, she got probation was banned for life for skating for the U.S. team. I remember this like it was yesterday even though I was ten years old.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Why did you say that? SCHOLES: Sorry. I thought I would fit that in there.

COSTELLO: well I was a little older than you Andy when I saw it and I too remember it very clearly. And life turned out great for --

SCHOLES: Nancy Kerrigan.

COSTELLO: Nancy Kerrigan.

SCHOLES: Yes. Not so much for Tonya Harding.

COSTELLO: Not so much for Tonya Harding.

I can't believe it has been 20 years.

SCHOLES: Yes, it doesn't seem like that long.

COSTELLO: Yes, right.

Thank you, Andy.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, deep freeze -- half the country now shivering in record cold temperatures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This right here, the ski mask, my hat, gloves and I'm still cold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. So how much longer will we all have to suffer through this?

Plus, a murdered millionaire, his body found lying in a New York City dumpster but not everyone is upset over his death and that's drawing a lot of criticism this morning.