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Credit Cards of Hotel Guests Hacked; Autopsy today for Philip Seymour Hoffman; Bruno Mars Kicks off Sunday Half-Time Show; Dylan Farrow: Woody Allen Sexually Assaulted Me; Who Won the Super Bowl Ad Wars?
Aired February 03, 2014 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Into his own hands, he is the good stuff.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: He can come into the city.
CUOMO: Right.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right.
CUOMO: He would be very busy. Bobby, thank you for showing what a citizen can do on their own time. Appreciate it.
A lot of news this morning. Let's get you to the "NEWSROOM" and Miss Carol Costello.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, guys. Have a great day.
NEWSROOM starts now.
Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The Seahawks reigned supreme, destroying the Denver Broncos. It was a blowout 43-8.
And this is what Seattle looked like right after the win, celebration getting wild, hundreds if not thousands in the streets, some fans starting bonfires tossing furniture into the flames.
The Seattle head coach Pete Carroll just finished speaking about the win. We'll check in with Rachel Nichols in just a minute.
We're going to talk about all that and just how lame the ads were this year except for that puppy in just a minute.
But first let's start with this. There has been another massive credit and debit card breach. If you stayed at a Hilton, a Marriott, a Sheraton or a Westin Hotel recently, check your bank accounts now because information belonging to thousands of hotel guests may be in jeopardy.
All of this, of course, coming on the heels of last week's cyber attack on Yahoo! mail and before that Target which possibly the largest breach in U.S. retail history information from 110 million Target customers stolen.
CNN's Christine Romans live in New York with this latest breach.
Good morning, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Here we go again, the same security firm that first told us about that Target hack, now saying there has been a hotel hack.
All of these hotels managed by a company called White Lodging in Merrillville, Maryland, and banking industry security experts were noticing, Carol, that there was a common denominator. People around the country who stayed at a Marriott sometime in 2013 were finding that later their credit cards and debit cards were being used for other purposes fraudulently.
Let me tell you what the company White Lodging is saying. They say that an investigation has begun but they're not saying anything else besides that. They're saying they'll let us know more details as they get them in their investigation but an investigation is under way.
So where did you stay? So, say, you were staying at a Chicago Marriott, Austin, Texas, Denver, Louisville, Kentucky, Los Angeles, Tampa, these are some of the places where Marriott customers were hacked. Also we saw Sheraton, Westin and some others.
Brian Krebs from Krebs Security, again, the people who first brought us the Target hack, now bringing us more details on this. And then investigations just getting started -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Christine Romans, reporting live from New York. Thanks so much.
A manhunt under way now for a dangerous killer who escaped from prison and promptly kidnapped a woman. Authorities believe Michael David Elliot who killed four people broke out of a correctional facility in central Michigan last night and carjacked a woman using a knife or box cutter. They then drove about 130 miles south to Indiana when Elliot stopped for gas his victim managed to escape and called 911 from behind a locked door.
That woman now OK. Elliot is serving life sentences for killing those four people and burning down one of their homes in 1993. If you spot him do not approach him. Call police.
To many movie goers just knowing that Philip Seymour Hoffman was in a movie immediately boosted the chances that it would be worth watching. By almost all accounts the 46-year-old was one of the most talented actors of his generation. And today he's seen as one of its most tragic loss.
Today an autopsy is scheduled, expected to confirm Seymour suffered a fatal drug relapse after more than two decades of staying clean and sober.
Alexandra Field is outside the New York apartment where Hoffman's body was found.
Tell us more.
ALEXANDER FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, when the news broke that the body was found inside this Greenwich Village apartment, New York City Police actually had to put up barricades and police tape in order to keep the fans back and let the investigators do their work.
But this morning you can see that some devoted fans have made their way through here, leaving flowers and candles at Hoffman's doorstep, a tribute to a man whose talent was widely admired.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD (voice-over): A flurry of flash bulbs as actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's body was carried out of his New York City home. The Academy Award-winning actor was found dead Sunday morning on his bathroom floor of an apparent overdose. Law enforcement sources say Hoffman was found with a needle in his left arm and at least two baggies that they believed contained heroin, several other envelopes were found empty.
Police say Hoffman hadn't been seen since 8:00 the night before. Playwright David Katz called police after finding his body at his apartment. Hoffman's family released a statement that reads in part, "We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone."
<09:05:02>
This was the Philip Seymour Hoffman that was known in this star- studded neighborhood, regarded as a great father and neighbor, one who is concerned about issues in his community.
ELENA PEREAZZINI, NEIGHBOR: I'm just in shock. I feel so horrified in a way and it's -- to know how he died because, I mean, he must have been in a lot of pain. I don't know.
FIELD: Friends say Hoffman moved here alone last year, not far from his family, after revealing he was in rehab for abusing prescription pills. Hoffman acknowledged his battle with addiction on "60 Minutes" in 2006.
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, ACTOR: You panic. It was -- I was 22 and I got panicked for my life. It really was. It was just that. And I always think God, you know, I have so much empathy for these young actors that are 19 and all of sudden, they're beautiful and famous and rich. I'm like, my God, I'll be dead.
FIELD: Hoffman's death a profound loss for the Hollywood community and his devoted fans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do anything. I just have so much respect for him. I've been thinking about his children all day. It's just such a tragedy.
(END VIDEOTAPE) FIELD: That sentiment there shared by so many of Hoffman's fans this morning. Law enforcement sources tells CNN that the baggies found inside Hoffman's apartment had brand names on them. Those labels are typically associated. They say with heroin still the substances that were found in the apartment will be taken to a police lab for further testing and confirmation -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. You'll have more for us later.
Alexandra Field, many thanks.
Super blow-out. The Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champs dominated the Denver Broncos in 43-8 blow-out. The Seahawks legion of boom defense shut down Peyton Manning and the Broncos. Denver turning the ball over four times.
Seattle head coach Pete Carroll got a Gatorade bath as the game came to an end. The Seahawks win their very first Super Bowl. Here's how Seattle celebrated. Fans took to the streets. They were dancing and jumping, fireworks from a city landmark, the space needle -- some celebrations got a little bit out of hand with Seahawks fans starting a bonfire, tossing furniture into the flames and then chanting their team's name.
Not good. The "Seattle Times" front page said it all. "Champs." The "Denver Post" used a different word, "Seasick."
CNN's Rachel Nichols joins me to talk about the big game and I guess defense does trump offense, right?
RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN'S SPORTS ANCHOR: Defense wins championships. That's what they say. And let me give you a little perspective, Carol. They played 48 Super Bowls. The 12 seconds in that the Seattle Seahawks scored last night that's the fastest anyone has ever scored in any of those 48 Super Bowls.
That's the kind of dominance they had going on. They had a 36-0 lead before Denver even got on the board. And you have to think about two different sides of this. On one side you have the prototypical quarterback in Peyton Manning, 6'4", son himself of an NFL quarterback, really a guy raids on the game.
On the other side Russell Wilson, 5'10" and three eighths inches. In the NFL scouts say you've got to be 6'2" to be a starter. He was told he would never make it. He proved them wrong. Just a second year player, led his team to this great win.
I talked to him after the game not only about the victory but what it meant to him personally and to his family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLS: You told me that when you were a kid your late father would quiz you in the car.
RUSSELL WILSON, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: Yes, he would. NICHOLS: And say Russell Wilson, Super Bowl Champion, and give you interview tips. So what does it feel like to go through all these interviews knowing that your dad was a part of this?
WILSON: Just standing up there on the stage and holding the trophy, the Lombardi Trophy, and to hold it up in front of all of Seattle and all the people who came in the game. And first -- our first Super Bowl in franchise history. Think about all the special times I had with my dad. And my mom, too. But, you know, I miss my dad so much. All the things he taught me.
NICHOLS: Since you and I talked two weeks ago you have had a crazy couple of weeks. What has the Super Bowl experience been like?
RICHARD SHERMAN, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS CORNERBACK: It's been a lot of fun. It's been really humbling. You learn a lot about yourself, you learn a lot about the media and the way people perceive things. And it's really -- it's really a chance to grow. And I've had a chance to grow and I thank you for giving me an opportunity to do the interview because there was tremendous opportunity for people if you really get to know him. And not judge the book by its cover.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So what are you going to do now?
SHERMAN: Disney World, if I can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLS: You got to love that. And of course that was Richard Sherman who we sat down with a couple of weeks ago after his outburst after the NFC championship game. He's a little bit more relaxed last night. But as you said, people got to know him through that outburst, through our conversation, through the Super Bowl and he really has emerged as the most marketable guy coming out of the Super Bowl.
His agent thinks that he's going to get $5 million in endorsements in the offseason, not bad for not only a defensive player but a fifth round draft pick. A lot of underdog stories on this Seattle team. A lot of fun.
COSTELLO: I love underdog stories. I wanted to ask you a question about the crowd because some people were saying there were a whole lot of Seattle fans there. And that made a difference?
NICHOLS: Well, they were certainly very, very loud. In fact that snap that Peyton Manning, he said he couldn't here. So they always talk about the 12's in Seattle, the 12-month man fans, they were out in force.
COSTELLO: Rachel Nichols, thanks for a great report as always.
OK. So the game was lame. Thank goodness for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruno Mars.
Oh, yes, Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers rocked MetLife Stadium. But there was nothing more to talk about besides the halftime show. CNN's Nischelle Turner is outside the stadium to tell good morning.
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Do you see how much it's snowing out here, Carol? It's an absolute white out. I'm like, what's going on here? Someone said Roger Goodell must -- have control of the weather because he held off this snowstorm until just after the game and now it is ridiculously snowing out here.
But yes, you know, you were talking about the halftime show and admittedly I'm a big Bruno Mars fan and a big Red Hot Chili Peppers fan so I was really excited to see him. But I was inside the stadium watching and I'm not sure how it translated on television but the people in the stadium were a little bit subdued. I felt like I was having a one-woman dance party and no one around me was doing anything.
Maybe just because it was the media. But I was trying to look around and it didn't look like people were moving a lot. I'm luck, how do you not move to that?
COSTELLO: I thought you had more for us. But, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
TURNER: I'm sorry.
COSTELLO: Just following up on what you said Bruno Mars was great but he was no Beyonce. I sort of miss Beyonce.
TURNER: Yes, you know, I completely agree. I don't -- I think it's a little unfair because when you have a performance like she had in last year's Super Bowl, I mean she was just outstanding. It was another level. You follow that and you're always going to be compared to that. So being in the first person after her is a little unfair for him. You
And you know, his show, it is definitely a concert show. So, once again I'm not really sure how it translated on to television. He's great live. He's great in concert. He had fantastic pitch. I mean, he sounded really good in the stadium, although I just didn't feel like the crowd was super excited to see him.
COSTELLO: Yes. My favorite moment had to be Joe Namath. I mean, let's face it. He was wearing a big furry animal and he messed up the toss.
TURNER: Listen, when he walked out everybody in the section I was sitting started saying Broadway Joe, like loved it. I thought, you know, listen, I don't know if the coach is real or fake and I don't really think at this point it matters. I'm sorry, but it was a moment. It's a moment everyone was talking about. It was a moment everybody was talking about you need a moment. It was fantastic. I mean, you couldn't beat that. Look at him. Come on. Look at him
COSTELLO: And the ref made a fabulous catch before that coin hit the ground so they could do it over again and everything is fair. Nischelle Turner, thank you so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, have to sober up now, right? Shocking claims of sexual assault against Woody Allen by his adopted daughter. We have that story from New York - Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, Woody Allen is lashing out against his adopted daughter calling those charges untrue and disgraceful.
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<09:17:15>
COSTELLO: This morning, Woody Allen is facing renewed allegations of sexual assault from his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. In a letter posted on "New York Times" Web site, Dylan not only describes the assault, but slams some in Hollywood for turning a blind eye.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has been following the story.
Good morning, Deborah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dylan Farrow, the adopted daughter of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, speaking out, and renewing allegations of sexual abuse by the Hollywood filmmaker.
In an open letter published in the "New York Times" blog, she gives a graphic account of what she says happened in their Connecticut home. Quote, "When I was 7 years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim closet-like attic. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then, he sexually assaulted me."
Quote, "He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl and this was our secret, promising we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies."
Late Sunday, Allen's representative responded. Quote, "Mr. Allen has read the article and found it untrue and disgraceful. At the time, a thorough investigation was conducted by court appointed independent experts. The experts concluded there was no credible evidence of molestation. That Dylan Farrow had an inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality and that Dylan Farrow had likely been coached by her mother Mia Farrow. No charges were ever filed."
The allegations first came to light 1992. But the letter and recent tweets are putting them back in the spotlight and back in the court of public opinion.
Mia Farrow displayed her contempt for her ex in January as the 70- year-old Allen was being honored by his peers at the Golden Globes Awards, tweeting, "A woman who's publicly detailed Woody Allen's molestation of her at age 7. Golden Globe tribute showed contempt for her and all abuse survivors."
Farrow's son Ronan followed suit, making no effort to veil disgust for his father. "Missed the Woody Allen tribute, did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7, before or after Annie Hall".
It's all part of the complicated story that is Woody Allen's personal life. The couple separated after 12 years when Mia Farrow discovered that Allen was having an affair with their other adopted daughter Soon Yi, who is now Allen's wife, the same year Dylan told her mother Allen had allegedly touched her inappropriately.
Allen has consistently denied claims and was never charged. But the allegations have tainted his image for two decades.
<09:20:02>
Now, Dylan breaking her silence and admonishing some of Hollywood's most celebrated by name for, in her words, "turning a blind eye" by continuing to work with Allen. Quote, "Others are still scared, vulnerable and struggling for the courage to tell the truth. The message Hollywood sends matters for them." She goes on to write, "Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse."
Allen's lawyer reportedly responding, quote, "It is tragic that after 20 years, a story engineered by a vengeful lover resurfaces, after it was fully vetted and rejected by independent authorities."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And those independent authorities, Carol, include a team back in 1992 from Yale New Haven who concluded in fact Dylan Farrow had not been abused. Soon Yi Previn and Woody Allen have been married nearly 18 years. They have two children.
As for Dylan Farrow is also now married and praises her mother Mia for saving the family from the chaos all this inflicted -- Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Deborah Feyerick reporting live from New York, thanks so much.
Still to come on the NEWSROOM, if you were disappointed by last night's blow-out between the Broncos and Seahawks, the ads weren't much better. Why were they so lame? We're going to talk about that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
<09:25:00>
COSTELLO: If you felt the Super Bowl was a bust, well, the ads weren't much better. There were a couple of exceptions, cue that Budweiser puppy.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS) COSTELLO: OK. That one got me. The Hyundai ad, you know, the one where the dad kept saving his son. That was almost pretty good.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
COSTELLO: After that one you kind of fell off a cliff but let's bring in the experts. President and publisher of "USA Today", Larry Kramer, is here, and deputy managing editor at "Advertising Age", Michael Learmonth, is also with us.
Welcome to both of you.
LARRY KRAMER, USA TODAY: Thanks for having me.
MICHAEL LEARMONTH, ADVERTISING AGE: Thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.
Michael, advertisers seemed to play it safe this year. Sappy was in, sleazy was out. Question is, did they play it too safe?
LEARMONTH: You know I think they really did, but I think part of it is the expectations are so high for these things. You know, the advertisers on the Super Bowl start promoting their ads a month before the big game.
So, by the time the game comes around, many of these ads have been seen before. We were bombarded with promotions for them. And I think we just expect to be fantastically entertained especially when a game that kind of -- you know, wasn't very good people look to the ads for some wow factor and it just didn't happen this year.
COSTELLO: I know. That's what I was doing.
Well, Larry, the "USA Today" meter rated the Anheuser-Busch puppy love commercial the best. Running a close second was the Budweiser's soldier returns home spot.
What other ads did people like?
KRAMER: Well, actually, the second one very closely was Doritos. It was called cowboy kid and Budweiser and another Doritos one and then the other two that did well were RadioShack and the Hyundai ad you showed well. The Hyundai ad scored first with 18 to 35s, so the theme on these, a lot of these was kids. You know, they used kids in almost every one much these ads and they seem to work.
COSTELLO: So, Larry, maybe the secret is -- kids, puppies, soldiers.
KRAMER: There's a surprise. I would say, though, there's no -- one of the things that didn't work so well was celeb endorsers. We've had a lot of them and almost none of them really stood out from the pack.
COSTELLO: So, none of the people in your poll even noticed them?
(CROSSTALK) KRAMER: No, they noticed them. Bob Dylan was the most riskiest but did very well of all the celebrity ones it did number one. Part of the reason, I think, was, you know, he was controversial, a little bit of controversy. A lot of Twitter sphere chatter about that one.
But I think -- you know, Scarlet Johansson scored much higher among men than women and David Beckham in underwear quite the opposite. He scored, he was like 15 in men, and then the 30s in women.
COSTELLO: Yes, that seems logical.
Michael, most of the commercials, those they seemed like standard fare to me. Was it worth $4 million per spot?
LEARMONTH: You know, I think -- the answer is it depends. I think as audiences get fractured across, Netflix the web, you know, hundreds of cable channels, it's only actually made the Super Bowl more valuable. This is the one moment where, you know, 110 million Americans sit down and watch the same thing at the same time. That's very unusual.
And, you know, as you've seen advertisers can, you know, if they are in the Super Bowl, they can use this as an anchor for a multi-month kind of campaign, and I think it can work very well.
I think you can also sort of wake up the next day and think wow I spent $4 million for the time. It's $6 million to $10 million for 30 seconds when you count the cost of the ad, the cost of promoting it, and some of these fell like a thud on the floor.
COSTELLO: Larry Kramer, Mike Learmonth, thanks to both of you. I appreciate your time.
KRAMER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM: the first Olympic event in Sochi racing the clock and clearing hurdles as hotels sit unfinished just days before the games begin. We'll have the latest for you.
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