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Torch Lighter Sent Racist Obama Tweet; Man Accused of Killing Teen over "Loud Music"; Woody Allen: "I did not Molest Dylan"; Paul Revives Monica Lewinsky Affair Talk; U.S. Snowboarder Earns First Gold Of Games; Hijacker Tries To Take Plane To Sochi; Team USA Hires Extra Security In Sochi; Wallenda Attempts Georgia Dome Feat

Aired February 08, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We've got a lot straight ahead.

It's the 11:00 a.m. Eastern hour of the NEWSROOM -- starts right now.

Controversy at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Russia gives one of the most prestigious roles of the night to a woman who sent a racially offensive tweet recently about President Obama. We are live from Sochi.

And firing back, Woody Allen writes a column in "The New York Times" addressing allegations that he sexually assaulted his adopted daughter. He lays out his case and addresses rumors that his son may actually be Frank Sinatra's child.

Plus, we dig deeper into the story of the mysterious cast away. Did he really survive 13 months at sea? His extraordinary account and new information about his condition this hour.

Oh it didn't take long for controversy to hit the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. It happened right at the opening ceremonies. An extremely controversial former Olympian was chosen to light the Olympic torch -- a three-time figure skating champion stirring up outrage around the world last year.

After sending a racially offensive tweet the posting was a photograph of the President and Mrs. Obama with a banana photo shop in the foreground as you see there.

And Nick Paton Walsh joining us live now from Sochi, Russia. So Nick, was this a political jab from the Russian President, Vladimir Putin?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hard to tell in many ways but I'm sure they were fully mindful of that recent controversy. Miss Rodnina though also a very well-known Olympic athlete here, a multiple gold medal winner so a very well-known figure amongst the Russian public. That's the justification clearly for giving her that key role shared Vladislav Tretiak also an Olympic veteran as well.

But the tweet she put up was removed by her but no apology issued. And this probably feeds into the broader tone of relations between Moscow and Washington, simply no love lost. Edward Snowden, a variety of problems, Syria as well, the decision by Barack Obama not to personally attend but instead to send a delegation of openly gay individuals -- that's a rebuttal, too to a lot of the homophobic legislation the Kremlin has been putting out in the past few years.

So relations and no love lost at all. It might just be a jab perhaps at Washington but also at the same time this is a popular figure. An NP in the Russian parliament, too, part of the Putin kind of loyal coterie, that's another reason why she got that role.

WHITFIELD: And then a lot of security concerns of course you know persist around these Olympic Games. And today Russian Special Forces carried out an operation in the Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. What have you learned about what took place?

WALSH: That's not a lot of information that gets circulated about these military operations in the Russian media because many say that the Kremlin are trying to kind of keep that all quiet during the Olympics. What we know is that in Makhachkala the Capital of Dagestan Russian Special Forces circled a house. In that was a man, ethnic Russian who converted to Islam who is a leader of one of the militant groups who is said to have tangential links to the Volgograd bombing which killed 34 at the end of last year. They surrounded that house. One person surrendered themselves. Five were killed in the operation.

So those jobs, those operations continue by Russian Special Forces all the time. They are continually pursuing what they can. That gives you an idea of the level of security threat and of course, also we're not hearing much about this in the local media and nothing really about it on state media. Russia's not really one to talk about that kind of activity when they want everyone to focus on the sports behind me.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Nick Paton Walsh. We'll check back with you.

All right. Big news, in fact, on the medal front. Let's talk about that as the winter Olympic Games under way. The U.S. actually winning its first gold medal today -- there is a picture right there officially Sage Kotsenburg clinched first place in that new snowboard event, the men's slope style event. He tweeted, "Wow, I just won the Olympics. Bringing back the first gold here to the USA."

And here is what he had to say at a press conference just half an hour ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAGE KOTSENBURG, U.S. GOLD MEDALIST: It feels like a dream right now. Just winning a gold on the first day and the first event of slope style ever being in the Olympics, is seriously the craziest thing ever. You know, I thought about it a little bit but I never really -- I don't know. There's something like I didn't really -- I think it would happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, it very much did happen. Congrats to him, Sage.

And here's a look at where the medal count overall standing right now. We are -- we're -- we are looking at the winner, the losers and all the highlights later on this hour. And you can always find complete results on CNN.com. Take a look at the numbers right there.

All right. Now to North Korea where American Kenneth Bae is in a labor camp at this moment. A pro-North Korean publication says he has been there for about three weeks now. The State Department says they are deeply concerned about Bae's health. They want Pyongyang to grant him special amnesty and are calling for his immediate release. Bae was arrested in November of 2012.

In the U.S. now a former police officer accused of killing a man for texting during a movie is vowing to fight for his freedom, 71-year-old Curtis Reeves' lawyer says that he will appeal a Florida judge's ruling denying his client bail. Police say Reeves got into an argument with Navy vet Chad Oulson after Oulson texted his two-year- old daughter inside a Tampa theater just last month. When the argument escalated Reeves allegedly opened fire on Oulson. Surveillance video released at yesterday's bail hearing shows Reeves in the theater before the shooting, sitting down there.

All right, happening right now in Florida -- a trial resumes over the death of a teenager who was killed after an argument over loud music coming from the car. Prosecutors from the George Zimmerman murder trial are trying this case. They say Michael Dunn opened fire into an SUV full of teenagers at a gas station after arguing with them for playing loud music.

Our Tory Dunnan has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I reached and touched him, blood appeared on my fingers.

TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Michael Dunn, the man charge with first degree murder in the Jordan Davis case, looked on as witnesses relived the night the 17-year-old was shot and killed. Davis' best friend Leland Brunson, among those who testified. He was sitting next to Davis in the back of a red SUV when an argument over loud music broke out at a Jacksonville gas station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fair to say he asked for a common courtesy just to lower the music, correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

DUNNAN: Tevin Thompson, another teen in the SUV said Dunn who was in his parked car next to them asked them to turn down the music. Everyone agrees the music was turned down. But that's when things escalated between Davis and Dunn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But isn't it true that Jordan Davis said to you, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) turn it back up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

DUNNAN: Thompson testified he did exactly that. And that he turned the music back up. It's at that point the timeline gets fuzzy. Dunn told investigators he heard threats, then saw a weapon.

MICHAEL DUNN, ALLEGED SHOOTER: I saw a barrel come up on the window, like a -- like a single shot shotgun where here's the barrel and this part of the barrel, I saw that part of the barrel. And it was either a barrel or a stick. But sir they're -- they're like, we're going to kill you.

DUNNAN: Dunn by his own admission says he pulled out a gun that he kept in his glove compartment and he says in self-defense -- fired multiple times. Jordan Davis was shot. As for Michael Dunn's claims of being threatened with the weapon first, police they say never found a weapon inside the Teens' SUV.

In court, all three teens maintained they never had a weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right let's bring in Tory Dunnan right now. So Tory, what happened in court today? This is a rare Saturday trial. And in fact, it's the jury who said we want to keep this going. So what do they hear today?

DUNNAN: Yes, yes, Fred. I mean, the jury, they're sequestered so they said, ok, yes, let's -- let's just go and deal with this today. They actually wanted to work tomorrow but the judge denied the request to work on Sunday.

But anyway, this morning you had the lead evidence tech. He's the guy who gathered all of the information on the scene. Looked at all the evidence and this was a question that he answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What types of things would you be looking for as a major case evidence technician in a homicide case?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking for weapons, contraband, items of that nature.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. Is there a pocket in that door?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you circle the pocket of the door? Did you closely examine the items inside the pocket of that door?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you find any weapons, sticks, cylindrical object, metal pipes, or anything else in that pocket? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I did not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUNNAN: So, Fred, this is obviously a key component of the case because Michael Dunn said that he saw a weapon pointed at him in the car. Police have said they never found a weapon inside the car at all. And yesterday in court the three teens testified they never had one, they never threw it off to the side after the shooting, they never had anyone pick it up, they never stashed it anywhere.

So this is going to continue to come up.

WHITFIELD: All right certainly not in dispute a tragic situation. Tory Dunnan, thank you so much. Our legal guys will be weighing in on this case next hour and they'll also dig deep into the Philip Seymour Hoffman death investigation.

All right let's talk about somebody who loves heights. Nick Wallenda or is he's getting back up there on the wire. He conquered the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. So what's his next challenge? He's actually going to join me live here next hour.

And next, Woody Allen is giving his take on accusations of sexual assault against him and he says it's the last time he's talking about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Woody Allen is telling his side of the story in an ongoing feud with his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow and ex-wife Mia. In a new op-ed in "The New York Times" Allen said he never molested Dylan. And he blames Mia Farrow for planting the story in Dylan's mind.

Alexandra Field is following the story. So Alexandra, what more is Woody Allen revealing in this op-ed?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's just full-throated denial, something that he's been saying for the last 20 years and he repeats it here in a piece that's going to be published tomorrow.

Here's what writes directly, he says quote, "Of course, I did not molest Dylan. I loved her and hoped one day she will grasp how she's been cheated out of having a loving father."

Now, on top of the denial he goes on to blame his ex, Mia Farrow with whom he adopted Dylan. He says that she's the one who has fueled these allegations over the years and he accuses her of coaching Dylan.

So we spoke to a clinical psychologist to ask whether or not it is possible for a parent to coach a child in this way. Without ever having been involved in this case, it would be impossible to say. But when asked, here's what Jeff Gardere told us about whether or not a parent could theoretically guide a child in this way. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: There are cases where we have what's called false memories, where there may be a family divided as we see with this particular family and the situation where a parent may say that you were abused when, in fact, maybe they were not abused. All it takes is that one suggestion and then the mind just accepts it and then runs with it and over the years has all sorts of cognitive reconstructs to make it real for that individual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: Now, Dylan Farrow is maintaining the same story that she has been telling for more than 20 years. She's already responded to the op-ed written by Woody Allen. She says that it's a rehash of some of the old lies. She's sticking with her story.

As for Allen, he writes in the op-ed that that's the last that he's going to comment on this matter. He won't be saying anything else -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alexandra Field, thanks so much in New York.

All right. Justin Bieber, just can't seem to stay out of trouble these days. The FAA is now, quote, "looking into a problem onboard a charter flight that he took from Canada to New Jersey.

Sources say Bieber and his father were extremely verbally abusive to the flight attendant. They apparently ignored repeated orders from her and the pilot to stop smoking marijuana. According to the crew, the cabin wreaked with pot smoke forcing the pilots to wear oxygen masks.

And this is just Bieber's latest run-in with the law. Some are even suggesting that it's time to deport him back to Canada. Naturally that's become kind of a late night punch line as well these days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, TALK SHOW HOST: If Justin Bieber does get deported can we do it by catapult?

Frankly I'm fine with deporting Justin Bieber as long as we get Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in exchange.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Ok.

One has been president and one may want to be president. Why is Senator Rand Paul throwing mud at Bill Clinton? And will it stick?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is defending his comments calling former president Bill Clinton a sexual predator. He went on C-Span and called out Clinton because of the 1998 Monica Lewinsky affair and said Democrats who raised campaign cash with Clinton's help should return it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I really think that anybody who wants to take money from Bill Clinton or have a fund-raiser has a lot of explaining to do. In fact, I think they should give the money back. If they want to take a position on women's rights, by all means, do, but you can't do it and take it from a guy who is using his position of authority to take advantage of young women in the workplace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what does it all mean for 2016 presidential politics? Will Cain is a CNN political commentator and conservative columnist on theblaze.com. Good to see you -- oh, with the haircut, too --

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: A new haircut.

CAIN: I did.

WHITFIELD: And Bernard Whitman -- looks good -- is a Democratic strategist and author of "52 Reasons to Vote for Obama". Good to see you.

BERNARD WHITMAN, AUTHOR, "52 REASONS TO VOTE FOR OBAMA": Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Will, you first. Rand Paul says Bill Clinton is bad for Democratic candidates but they embrace Clinton at a treat this weekend in Washington. What is Senator Rand Paul up to with all of this?

CAIN: You know what -- I think that what's going on, Fredricka, I think there's an extreme amount of frustration on the conservative side, on the Republican side of the aisle over the hypocrisy of the whole war on women. I understand if you're a Democrat or even if you're an independent and you're like, Bill Clinton again? I mean, it's hard for me to get very passionate about this.

WHITFIELD: Yes, why reach back -- 1998, what is this all about?

CAIN: Right. Almost 20 years. Why do that? Because Republicans have had that to endure this fictitious war on women because they question whether or not women have a right to have birth control paid for by someone else or because we have a serious disagreement over abortion. We've had this war on women thing launched over and over.

And when you examine hypocrisy of Bill Clinton being a leader of the party and Rand Paul making the very legitimate point about Bill Clinton's past you choke, you begin choke on the hypocrisy. And so I mean in the end -- I will say this, if you painted a cardboard picture of this store and you said here is a man who has done this in the past and you didn't have a name attached to it or you didn't have a party attached to it, I think most Americans would look at it and go, yes, you know what -- that's kind of hypocritical to be launching war on women attacks from that position.

WHITFIELD: All right. So Bernard, legitimate point or irrelevant point?

WHITMAN: Fredricka -- this goes to show what a complete nut Rand Paul is. I mean I know what he's doing. He's trying to fire up the far right Republican base ultimately it's a stupid strategy. Why -- because Bill Clinton is arguably the most popular politician on the face of the earth. Even half the Republicans have a favorable view of him. His favorability nationwide is consistently in the 60s and 70s.

I think Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike recall very fondly the economic expansion and job growth that prevailed during his eight years in office. Look at what he's done with the Clinton Global Initiative. Look at what he's done with President George H.W. Bush.

The fact is, the Lewinsky scandal is ancient history. It happened 16 years ago. And if you think back as to what happened to the Republicans when they went down this moral crusade against Bill Clinton last time during the '98 midterm, it was the first time since the civil war that the opposition party failed to a 6-year midterm like Obama is facing. It was the first time there's a civil war that the opposition party failed to gain any seats in Congress. It's just plain dumb.

COSTELLO: So let's talk more about the potential on backfiring, thought. Especially you know Will, if you look at this latest poll and it shows, you know, Hillary Clinton is still, you know, receiving about 70 percent, you know, of the support here. If a choice, you know, for the 2016. So, you know, you wonder, language like this, whether it's to bring in Bill Clinton or not, does this only make Hillary Clinton an even stronger, more viable candidate?

CAIN: You know, I don't think this is a potential win for Republicans politically. But look, Bernard has the name -- the title "strategist" attached to his name which means he's going to be much more adept at painting a picture than he wants you to see, to tell you the strategy behind that.

What I'm telling you is this, the question we're addressing is should it be. Should Bill Clinton be that popular? Should he have that kind of approval rating when he has that kind of a past? Should he be able to launch and be the leader of a party that points out, hey, women's rights are important, women's place in the workplace is important. Should he be the spokesman for this? That's a very valid question and has nothing to do with strategy. I don't know if this is going to work, making Hillary Clinton president or not. I'm telling you this is a legit should question.

WHITFIELD: Ok. So Bernard, really quick, respond to that one and then we've got to go.

WHITMAN: Yes, Will, listen, we have to deal with the facts. Hillary Clinton, I believe, is going to be the standard bearer of the Democratic Party and she'll likely be the next president. She's got 58 percent favorability. She's got a 55/39 lead over Chris Christie in the latest polls. I think the Democratic Party is going to be united around her and I think she can speak far better than her husband on the cause of women's rights in the future of the United States.

I think Hillary Clinton, should she run, is very well positioned to be our next president and our first female president.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bernard Whitman and Will Cain -- thanks so much gentlemen -- appreciate it.

WHITMAN: Thank you Fredricka.

CAIN: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, castaways -- everyone agrees, this is a pretty amazing survival story. 13 months on a small boat in the ocean but then there are a lot of folks who are still doubting that claim. We have an exclusive interview.

And next, the U.S. getting gold -- who got it? Where that puts the U.S. on the medal count now in Russia?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here are the numbers. Three billion people watched the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Pretty spectacular, but, not perfect. There were a couple of flaws. Let's start with the failed lighting of the fifth Olympic ring there, but it was still pretty. Guess what, some of you saw it and some of you didn't. Russians in particular were shown a doctored video of the ring before it actually aired. It was a rehearsal video where all five rings actually burst on cue, miraculous how that happens.

Well, some gaffes aside, this is about the sports and really the opening ceremonies, about, you know, celebrating the culture of the host city. Amanda Davies is with us now. Amanda, pretty extraordinary display of pride, but at the same time there was kind of this facade that came with the opening ceremonies, right, Amanda?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, the organizers had put so much emphasis on that opening ceremony because of all the controversy in the build-up to these games. They really wanted that to be the moment that drew a line in the sands and then we had the ring incident, which we sitting here watching it on Russian television didn't see because, as you said, they put up the picture from the rehearsals. But it's not the first time we've been duked in an opening ceremony.

You might remember the incident in Beijing with that beautiful little girl who was singing that solo in front of billions around the world and actually we realized afterwards that she had been dubbed as well. But today it is all about these things, slightly more impressive. This is actually a chocolate medal.

WHITFIELD: My gosh.

DAVIES: I'm eating it later. Yes.

WHITFIELD: We know it's been -- one of those have already been awarded to a snowboarder, sage, who is, you know, corking it out, as he says. Tell us more.

DAVIES: Yes, the most fantastic story. The first Olympic gold medal ever awarded in this snowboard slopestyle is one of the 12 new events here this year. But we've been talking about it all week because of the controversy about the course being a bit dangerous. One of the riders broke his collar bone in practice and then, of course, the mega star, Shaun White pulled out. It's expected one of the Canadians actually win the gold. People have been talking about Max Paris and Matt McMorris.

But Sage Kotsenburg who didn't even expect to be in the final, he tweeted 11:00 this morning saying, whoa, how random is this. I made the finals at the Olympics. He didn't just make the finals. Two hours later he then took gold with a fantastic performance on his first round. Even at his press conference a couple hours later, you could tell he still couldn't believe what he had done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAGE KOTSTENBURG, U.S. GOLD MEDALIST: I'm really stoked to just -- I can't believe like it's -- this is all in one day, too. Feels like already a week ago that it happened because it's just been already getting so crazy. But so stoked to be here and just like represent the USA for sure and being part of the first slopestyle team for the U.S. is pretty cool and then bringing home the gold is just icing on the cake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIES: We went to see the women's hockey Team USA got off to a winning start there. They beat Finland 3-1. Five gold medals in total awarded here today. A couple more up in the mountains. Norway won more medals than anybody else in Vancouver four years ago basically picked up where she left off. She took gold in the 15- kilometer biathlon and then her veteran teammate, sorry, won the ski- athlon. And in the biathlon her compatriot, 40 years of age and took gold in that. Equal the all-time record for Olympic medals.

He's got 12 Olympic medals in total and then the other great story out of today is the arena where the speed skaters will take place. They installed orange seats. It looks absolutely spectacular inside. There were hundreds of Dutch fans. And they were rewarded for their dedication. It was a Dutch one-two-three on the podium and the reigning Olympic champion set another Olympic record. I think there will be a big party in Holland as well.

WHITFIELD: I think so. Lots of excitement at the start of these games, I like it. Amanda Davies, thanks so much. Appreciate it. We'll check back with you later on.

All right, the backdrop of all of this, the on-going threat of terror while the opening ceremony was going on. Hijacker, in fact, who a Turkish news agency say is this man that you're about to see actually attempted to take over a plane and fly it to Sochi. Meanwhile, several U.S. athletes are hiring private security to feel secure. Zain Asher has that.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE/BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka, they're called Global Rescue. Their job is to provide medical and security services. They're working closely with the U.S. snowboarding team in Sochi, Russia. We traveled down to Boston to take a look at their command center.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER (voice-over): War zones, natural disaster, remote rescue operations.

DAN RICHARDS, CEO, GLOBAL RESCUE: We're used to these types of environments where there are threats and they're not quite sure necessarily where those threats might come from.

ASHER: Meet the man who will be watching the Olympics more closely than most and not for the athletics. Dan Richards runs Global Rescue, a private security firm that will provide additional security for the U.S. ski and snowboarding team in Sochi.

RICHARDS: When it comes to information and intelligence we actually have our own teams of Intel analysts located in our operations centers here in the United States and some of our other global locations. And they're constantly feeding us information.

ASHER: Global Rescue has had people on the ground gathering intelligence in Sochi for months. They include former Navy SEALs and Army Rangers trained and dispatched from this command center in Boston.

RICHARDS: The strength of our guys on the ground is for them to be able to see multiple options sometime simultaneously and immediately, right and understand what the spectrum of capability they bring. How do you get everybody together? How do you communicate? You know, what are your options?

ASHER: The U.S. ski and snowboarding team will compete here at the ski resort in Sochi. An area where narrow roads and rugged terrain.

(on camera): Does that make, you know, evacuating the U.S. ski team from an area particularly challenging?

RICHARDS: Well, any time you have a limitation on entry of points, it definitely presents a level of challenge.

ASHER (voice-over): But how much can a private security firm really do in the event of an attack?

RICHARDS: In our city, for example, if we have an incident, the first thing they do is they close the bridges and the tunnels. The same thing is going to happen over there. They're going to lock it down. No private security firm is going to walk in there and suddenly have them abandon their procedures.

ASHER: Global rescue admits that while the Russians are in charge, their value lies in providing an extra layer of protection, especially when the athletes are traveling to and from the games.

RICHARDS: If you're on the outside, you're pretty much on your own. And that's unfortunately the reality of this situation.

ASHER: But Richards points out there is a silver lining.

RICHARDS: This terror threat to the games, which should represent the world coming together in front of the athletic competition, is actually bringing us together in ways that we might not expected. We're being forced to come together and unite to try and confront this threat in a united way, which is interesting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: And, Fred, now that the games have begun, the big question is if there is an attack or something does happen can this small private security firm really provide the degree of security that's needed to protect the U.S. ski and snowboarding teams. Obviously they don't have the same capabilities as the military, for example, they don't have the capacity to wiretap and we did try and ask them what they have in terms of weapons. They said they do not disclose that information -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Tight lipped on that, understandably. Zain Asher, thanks so much.

All right, so for all the latest results from the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, you want to go to CNN.com/olympics. You'll find it all there. Again, we celebrate the first gold win by an American snowboarder.

All right, extreme tightrope walker, you know the name that's synonymous with that. It would be this man right here. Nick Wallenda is at it again. When is he not at it? He's moving indoors for a new attempt, in fact. Tonight right here in Atlanta and right now he's in the studio. He's going to be walking right over, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: When you're a high wire expert, there's always a new challenge, kind of how life rolls. For Nik Wallenda, this time he's doing something a little differently today at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. He is one of the featured performers at the winter Jam Christian Music Concert tonight. And Nik Wallenda is right here in the studio. Good to see you.

NIK WALLENDA, HIGH WIRE WALKER: Great to be here.

WHITFIELD: Last we spoke you had just completed the Grand Canyon walk and everyone remembers that with the winds and, you know, your pants blowing and you were just, you know, a force of steel up there. And we're used to seeing you take on these incredible challenges, but we always wonder what is going to be the next one. Describe what's happening today at the Georgia Dome.

WALLENDA: Well, today I'm walking over the top of the field there at the Georgia Dome looking forward to it. It's something I've been very excited about for a while. We've been working on the permitting, the engineering, and all of that stuff and very excited. I'll be over 100 feet up above the field walking over the stage where the concert will be playing and just very excited. It's an amazing venue and amazing event, $10 to get in, very, very cheap, with some of the best Christian bands out there.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So this time it will be indoors. That's something that's different than what we've seen. You're going to have an audience, a live audience, means a lot of people. You're not going to have the serenity of lake placid or Niagara Falls or even the Grand Canyon.

WALLENDA: You're giving me ideas for the next one.

WHITFIELD: There you go. We'll talk. So what does that do for your performance? I mean, does it offer like a new challenge for you in this challenge when you've got a live audience?

WALLENDA: It does, you know, it's funny. I posted the other day I will be walking over the Georgia Dome over 100 feet up and I got a bunch of tweets back and stuff, people saying, that's nothing. But the truth is, every one we take seriously, just as serious as the last. My great grandfather lost his life actually on a walk between two buildings in Puerto Rico on a wire that was fairly minuscule compared to other walks that he had done.

So because of that we've learned that it doesn't matter whether you're 50 feet up, 100 feet up or 1,500 feet up over the Grand Canyon, either way you have to stay focus and treat them all the same. There are different challenges. Here at the dome we had to rig between the chain motors hanging on the entire set for the actually concert.

There is a backdrop curtain that's right there so my balance, we have to maneuver around that. So there are many, many challenges indoors or outdoors. You always have to stay just as focused one or the other.

WHITFIELD: Wow. The next challenge is really what drives you. It is at your core. You and your team, how do you come about these challenges? I mean, are you sitting around throwing darts and just saying, let's think of the most ordinary next place?

WALLENDA: I feel like I'm very in tune with my great grandfather, Carl Wallenda, and you know, in the middle of the night, I'll wake up with a thought and I'll write it down. You know, whether it be the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls came to me when I was a small child 4 years old when that vision came to my mind and I said I want to be the first person in the world to do that.

The same with the Grand Canyon, and I'm looking forward that we're doing two more specials that will live in the next two years with the Discovery Channel and extremely excited about those. We can't talk exact specifics, but I'm working on some big stuff.

WHITFIELD: That's fun, very exciting. Well, all the best to you. Always good to see you, and it's all very heart palpitating, but how exciting and wonderful to see you achieve and accomplish so much

WALLENDA: Well, thank you for watching.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Nick. Nice to meet you.

WALLENDA: Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right, well, he says he survived on more than a year on a small boat on the ocean. That's a pretty extraordinary challenge. I think everybody would agree on that one, but why is it that so many people don't believe him?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, by now, you've probably heard the story. A man says he survived more than a year on the ocean in a small boat, but many are doubting his claim. Here's CNN's Miguel Marquez with his exclusive report.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the biggest Island and this is the hotel where Mr. Alvarenga has been staying since he got out of the hospital here. We believe that he is getting ready to leave soon. Officials from El Salvador have now arrived from Tokyo because there's no representation for the country here. It is a very, very out of the way place. We also spoke to a doctor, one who has intimate details about Mr. Alvarenga care here, who says he believes he is ready to travel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KENNAR BRIAND, CHIEF OF STAFF, MAJURO HOSPITAL: Physically he is OK. You know, we had staff come in from mental health program to check up on him, his mental status. And you know, he was a bit off, but maybe it's due to him being in the open for so many months and not to people, but I think he's finally getting it back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now, there has been a lot of skepticism about Mr. Alvarenga's story, whether or not he actually spent more than 13 months floating in a boat more than 6,000 miles from Mexico to the Marshall Islands here out in the middle of the South Pacific. One local we spoke to who has a little knowledge of this, he spent three days after getting trapped out in the ocean himself. He says he just doesn't buy it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: How tough is it to be out on the ocean for just a few days?

JERRY KRAMER, THREE DAYS LOST AT SEA: It's very, very tough.

MARQUEZ: You thought you were going to die.

KRAMER: I thought I was going to die. You start hallucinating without fresh water. As far as burns, well, there isn't any burns until you get very close to land. And turtles, we didn't, we have turtles in the Marshall Islands, but I've never heard of a turtle coming up and bumping our boats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Despite the skepticism, perhaps Mr. Alvarenga's story really speaks for himself. He did speak to CNN exclusively. We are the only network that's talked to hem and he told us how he survived on turtles and birds, turtles that bumped up against the side the boat that he was able to capture and consume, and then capturing water in a bit of plastic on that boat as well, just unbelievable facts.

But the fact that boat made it from Mexico to here, CNN also has pictures of that boat and the boat that he says he left on in Mexico. There's just no other way around it, no matter what skepticism you may have about this story, that boat clearly got from Mexico to this place here. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Majuro, Marshall Islands

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Miguel. Carmen Carrera, she's not like most other fashion models, her story in her own words coming up.

And are you a dog lover? In today's "American Journey," one man says a dying dog turned his life around. Tom Foreman has a story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This may look like an animal rescue, but for James Giuliani it is more like redemption.

JAMES GIULIANI, RESCUES DOG: I was a bad person my whole life. Now I feel good about waking up in the morning and going out.

FOREMAN: It was so bad, and now it's so good. His turn around is the focus of a new reality show on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

GIULIANI: I used to deal cocaine, marijuana, stick people up.

FOREMAN: He used to work with the toughest mob bosses around New York unless one day he found a small dog, neglected and sick. He nursed it back to health and much later when the animal died, the self-professed gangster discovered something newborn in him.

GIULIANI: And from that day on, I've been sober, not a drink, not a drug. It gave me a purpose in my life. It gave me a reason to live.

FOREMAN: For almost a dozen years now, he's taken in countless lost, abandoned and hurting animals, trying to ultimately find new homes for them and always at very least keeping them safe.

GIULIANI: Every animal that comes here can stay here for their entire life. Until they find the right home.

FOREMAN: The work is time consuming and can be expensive. He helps pay the bills with a dog grooming business called Diamond Collar.

GIULIANI: Diamond collar!

FOREMAN: He doesn't make mobster money anymore.

GIULIANI: Hello, everyone.

FOREMAN: But in many ways, he suggests, he's never felt richer.

GIULIANI: Some people never figure out what their purpose is. I figured it out from a little dog dying on the street.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Fashion week is underway in New York and one stand out model is Carmen Carrera, but as you'll see Carrera isn't like everybody else.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARMEN CARRERA: I take selfies all day long. And little by little, I would see my photos, I would look in the mirror and kind of see it, but not really and now, I really see my angles. I told my husband, like wow, I'm kind of pretty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her name is Carmen. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trans gender knockout. To get Victoria's Secret to hire her as their newest angel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, she says to Victoria's Secret, bring it on.

CARRERA: About a week before the show was filmed, in the back of my mind, I don't think that's going to happen, but I decided I'm going to audition this year. I've already reached out so Victoria's Secret, so why not? It's 2014.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, my next guest could -- just one catch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meet the glamorous model who used to be a boy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your private parts are different now, aren't they?

CARRERA: We always kind of just make it about OK, well, let's see your before, your after and now, what do your genitals look like? It really doesn't give transgendered people the proper credit, especially when you're working hard and you're doing things that not a lot of others have been able to do. I have a crazy amount of creativity and I'd rather just be respected for that, you know, rather than look at me put on makeup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She definitely has a spark and we saw Cindy Crawford in her. We saw Daisy Fuentes. We saw Jessica Alba.

CARRERA: The spread is for "Glamour" U.K. It's my first I guess international magazine feature. It just goes to show I'm a model. That's what we do. It's exciting because I don't know too many trans models that have done that. There's very few.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, look at her now. Everybody looks at her, she has this positive energy that she brings out there. I know for a fact she's going to make history.

CARRERA: The Victoria's Secret position that my fans started, it's kind of validation. No matter how insecure I might be, how unpretty I fight feel, there are people out there that look to me to be strong. Like no matter what, I don't care if it's being trans or just Latin, I'm proud of these things. Just because it's not respected by some doesn't necessarily mean that I'm not going to respect myself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, we have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all gets to start right now.