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U.S. Very Concerned About Russia Movements; North Korea Fires Four Missiles Into East Sea; New Labels Would Better Emphasize The Total Calories, Added Sugar And Some Nutrients; New Restrictions For Boston Marathon Course; Christie Blames Media For Stoking Scandal; Another Wintry Blast

Aired February 27, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM --

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GOVERNOR JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: I call them like I see them despite the cheers or the boos from the crowd.

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COSTELLO: Arizona's governor kills the controversial anti-gay bill that setup a huge national outcry. But now the fight may be headed to other states.

Plus, dark and panic on a flight landing in California.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot breathe back here. Go.

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COSTELLO: Passengers rushed off the plane after the cabin started smelling like smoke.

And the newest push to promote healthy eating.

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MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: Folks are really starting to think about what to eat and how active they are.

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COSTELLO: Those nutrition labels on your food are about to get a major makeover. The second hour of NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin this hour with breaking news in chilling echoes of the cold war. In Southern Ukraine, one of the youngest governments in the world is under assault, caught in the middle of new cold war tensions between Russia and the United States.

These street fights broke out after dozens of gunmen seized the headquarters of a regional parliament and immediately raised the Russian flag. It's the latest flashpoint as the U.S. are more concern about those Russian troops now holding military exercises near the Ukrainian border. Barbara Starr has more for us from the Pentagon. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Harkening back memories of the Cold War. In fact, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel just a short time ago in Bat a NATO defense minister meeting spoke to reporters and weighed in say that he is concerned about those Russian military exercises, that he's watching them very closely and does not want to see any escalation of tensions. Why is the U.S. so concerned now about the Russian exercises?

It goes to the question of Russian military capabilities and intentions. These exercises on the Russian/Ukraine border would, if ordered, give Russia the ability to move the troops very quickly into the Ukraine. That's the U.S. assessment. If that were to happen, it could happen so quickly the U.S. might not see it right away, may not have the time to diplomatically try to urge Russia at the last minute not to do it. It shortens the warning time because they are so close. That's the U.S. assessment about capability.

The key question, of course, as our own Phil Black has been reporting from Moscow for the last several days, Vladimir Putin's intentions. Would he actually order Russian troops into the Ukraine? At this point, the U.S. doesn't think so. They don't think he is doing more than sending a message doesn't think they are doing more than sending a message to the world that Russia would have the capability to do it, that Russia would be able to protect its own interest. They don't think he will order Russian troops to cross the border, but this certainly is raising tensions -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Barbara Starr, reporting live from the Pentagon, thanks so much.

Let's head to the Korean Peninsula where new tensions are flaring. North Korea has fired four short-range missiles into the east sea. That's according to its ally, South Korea. CNN Kristie Lu Stout joins us live from Hong Kong to tell us more. Good morning

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Carol. About four hours ago, North Korea launched four short-range missiles into the sea. They were fired off the east coast of North Korea. Now U.S. military official told CNN that these missiles were short-range scuds.

In fact, they were so short range that they never left North Korean waters. They were fired north towards Russia. That's very significant because that's nowhere near where U.S. and South Korea joint military exercises are under way. This type of test was routine, they added -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And North Korea has done this before but as you've mentioned, they are upset at the military exercises going on right now in the region?

STOUT: You're right. North Korea has done this before, but this is not a repeat of what happened last year when we saw that dramatic ratcheting up of tensions. The conditions here are very, very different. Last year, the north tested this multi-state throughout intercontinental potential and then conducted a nuclear test.

What we have here is very different. It's that very short-range scud missile test. It's designed to send a message not likely going into North Korean waters, not likely to trigger any significant rise in military tensions, a very important point here. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Indeed, Kristie Lu Stout, thanks so much.

Also happening right now, Fed Chief Janet Yellen is making her second appearance before lawmakers, testifying right now before the Senate Banking Committee and on Wall Street. Triggers are about what the fed has planned for its stimulus program. Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange following this for us. Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We're going to be really looking more at the Q & A session that comes after the prepared testimony. No one is expecting her to veer off from the testimony that she gave two days go before the house, but the wild card here is that a lot of the data that we've seen since she game the testimony before the house, a lot of that data has come out weak.

You may see senators press her a little bit on the sluggish retail, manufacturing and home construction reports that we've gotten. They are going to want to know if those reports have changed her outlook on the economy and interest rates. Another big question they are going to want answered, how concerned is she about the recent weakness that we've seen in the labor markets. Job reports are nothing to write home about.

We'll see if there is a lack of momentum in the labor market. The new head of the fed had quite an impact the last time she spoke. The Dow jumped 200 points on the day. Right now we're seeing the Dow in the red, but she has yet to get started on her testimony -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, you'll continue to cover that for us. Thank you so much, Alison Kosik, reporting live.

If you do a lot of reading in the grocery store aisles, you'll want to know this. The labels will undergo an overhaul for the first time in over 20 years. Janet Helms is a nutritionist. Let's talk about this. When they list the amount of calories, the type is much bigger. You see how much bigger that is in the middle than the nutrition facts on the left. And I suppose that's a good thing. Why?

JANET HELMS, REGISTERED DIETICIAN AND NUTRITIONIST: It's a great thing. I mean, this is really to address the obesity problem in America. So calories are important. The serving size has gotten a reality check and that is even more important. Actually how much you are eating. So now you'll -- because we tend to eat in units. If you think it's a single serving bag, you'll likely eat that entire serving. You don't want to have to do math when you're eating. So now you'll see the amount of calories in that full bag or that 20 ounce bottle of coke, for example, it will be a single serving because we're likely to drink the whole thing.

COSTELLO: Definitely. You get a bag of potato chips and it has the calories listed, it's only for 10 chips, not the whole bag.

HELMS: Yes. And you're going to likely eat the whole bag. I think that's a major advancement. As a dietitian, I think that is terrific. That's probably the biggest change, is calories and we've got the portion size of figuring it out. Also added sugars. The addition of that on a food label is another big change and I think that's terrific as well because right now people are -- a lot of people consider sugar the new transfat. There's a lot of concern about added sugars that we are eating. This is going to make it easier for people to track how much added sugar they are getting in their diet.

COSTELLO: When you say that, sometimes sugar is listed on labels, like fructose is sugary syrup and that's not included in the number of sugar in the product. Is that going to be taken into account for?

HELMS: Now you're going to see added sugar. Before it was a total sugars, a reflection of naturally occurring and added sugars. Now they have pulled out added sugars so you'll know what maybe some syrups or all sorts of other things that are not naturally occurring because those are the types of sugars that we need to look to reduce and the more information we have, the greater chance that we're going to make the healthier changes.

COSTELLO: OK. So I was talking about this with one of my producers, Pam, and we were pondering how many people actually read those food labels. Do you think many do?

HELMS: Well, that's the trouble. I think hopefully this discussion, we're revamping it for the first time in 20 years. We're talking about it more. Maybe that will motivate people to turn the package around and look at the label. When they do, it does make them more mindful and maybe look and stop and look at the amount of food and calories they are eating. That's the first step. If we're going to make it not -- there was some confusion, some folks thought. It's going to be a little clearer, calories front and center. Maybe we'll start to see some improvement.

COSTELLO: I hope so. Janet Helms, that's for your insight. Appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Bridgegate is still a major distraction for Chris Christie in the state of New Jersey. Is the media to blame? We'll talk about that next.

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COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 13 minutes past the hour, a routine flight from Los Angeles to Oakland ended with quick evacuations for passengers and crew aboard a Delta SkyWest Jet. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're evacuating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please leave all of your belongings behind. We'll let you back on when we clear off the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave all of your belongings and get off this aircraft. Go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot breathe back here. Go!

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COSTELLO: Can you imagine that? People were trying to take their luggage out. There was a smell of smoke in the cabin. That's why they had to get off the plane quickly. The plane taxied to the gate with the 74 passengers and four crew members were eventually hurried off.

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LINTON JOHNSON, PASSENGER: By the time we got to the gate, the cabin started filling up. It smelled like burnt rubber and the pilot immediately put the plane to a stop. We really came to a jolting stop and the flight attendants were telling everyone to get off the plane. Get off, leave your stuff behind, get off the plane.

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COSTELLO: No one was hurt. Fighters still cannot find the source of that smell. Boston marathon organizers are offering new restrictions along this year's course following last year's deadly bombing. Backpacks, handbags and containers with more than one liter of liquid will be banned from the April 21st event. Strollers are also banned. Runners will be allowed to carry clear plastic bags. They can also wear a very small fanny packs for medications and cell phones.

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WILLIAMS EVANS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: We know it's intrusive but it's a necessary evil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be received well. If you are a couple miles in, it's not going to be on your mind. You're going to be thinking about the race and that's it.

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COSTELLO: Unregistered runners who have been invited to jump into the marathon in previous years, well, they will not be welcome this time around.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie now blaming the media for keeping the Bridgegate scandal alive. You remember Bridgegate, the traffic headache last year at the foot of the George Washington Bridge and the investigation is still going on to figure out whether it was political payback. The governor says only the media is talking about this.

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GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: You folks are the only people at the moment who are asking me about this. I've been to two town halls for the past 28 days and there has not been one question on this, not one. I will be damned if I let this get in the way of --

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COSTELLO: CNN political director, Mark Preston, joins -- it is such an old line, blame the media. Come on.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He doesn't like to get the questions, Carol. This was supposed to be the year of Chris Christie, right? He beats a woman in a Democratic state, wins women voters, Latino voters. He's supposed to be traveling the country. He's supposed be to the front-runner for the Republican nomination and right now he's having to deal with Bridgegate, something that Chris Christie doesn't like to do.

Really the big question for Chris Christie right now is how does he answer the questions? Does he get his anger out? Does he lose control? Sometimes as you know, Carol, he tends to get angry and I really think that's the big question. How does he handle the question when he's asked? Last night he got angry about that. So we'll see how he handles it because it's not going to go away.

COSTELLO: Well, his approval ratings are slipping and by the way, isn't his office still investigating Bridgegate?

PRESTON: His office is and very smartly so. They are doing an internal investigation and perhaps we'll see some findings within the last couple of months. They are doing so at the time that the U.S. attorney is investigating Bridgegate and as a special legislative committee is investigating as well and by doing so I think they are trying to make sure that anything that comes out from the legislative committee or the U.S. attorney's office, Christie can try to get out in front of it.

Certainly I think that he wants to find out any wrongdoing or at least he's saying so before the legislative committee does so or it's the U.S. attorney's office that finds something.

COSTELLO: OK. So we won't ask any more questions about an ongoing investigation or should I say ongoing investigations? Mark Preston, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the calendar says spring is just three weeks away, but it sure doesn't feel like it, Indra Petersons.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Definitely talking about another blast of cold arctic air and on top of that, we are talking another winter storm. We are going to have all these details coming up in just a bit.

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COSTELLO: Our winter of discontent is still growing stronger. It's cold here in Atlanta, too. States in the Upper Midwest look more like the frozen tundra with the latest frigid blast and, guess what, it's heading east. Indra Petersons is in New York with the details. Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. I'm glad you're breaking the news this time and not me. It's going to take the weight off of me a little bit because these are the current windchills. When you're talking about 40 below, that's what it feels like in Duluth, that's when things get dangerous. Boston, feeling like 9 degrees even New York City, 18.

But unfortunately tonight even more cold air is going to be spreading further to the south and to the east. Even by the afternoon, the departure from average, 9 degrees. That's going to be your high in Chicago. That's 30 degrees even for the wintertime below where you should be this time of year.

And that cold air is going to be spreading further the east. So New York City today, you're high is 31, Chicago, 9 degrees. 20s as your high over the weekend. The temperatures really kind of back off and that's the concern here. This is really just the story for the east coast. A really big story is what has been going on out west.

Keep in mind, look at the rain totals. They have seen less rain than they have seen since we started record keeping. Places like L.A., they haven't seen rain all season and now you have a complete bull's- eye, the biggest storm that they have seen in three years. The soil is not going to be able to absorb this water. It's going to be a huge snowmaker for the Midwest and northeast. A lot is going on.

COSTELLO: There certainly is. Indra Petersons, thanks so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Tea Party Movement is celebrating five years of existence today. You're looking at live pictures from the Tea Party celebration in Washington. Experiencing the Tea Party celebration in Washington. So how has the tea party changed our country, changed American politics? We'll talk about that next.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta and today I'd like to show you a different side of Dubai. Certainly it's a city known for their skyscrapers, beaches, and shopping. But Dubai has a lot of different activities, including skiing, yes, snow skiing.

I've never seen anything like this. There is something counterintuitive about skiing indoors. They also provide you with a helmet and as a surgeon, I think this is the most important thing. I'm going to give it a shot. There's something sort of unnatural about skiing in the middle of the desert. But I think just the novelty of it makes this pretty extraordinary. A lot of fun. So who would have thought, I'd come all the way to the desert here in Dubai and I'd get to go snow skiing. What a terrific day.

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COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. This morning in Southern Ukraine, breaking news to tell you about, chilling echoes of the Cold War, a Russian flag is flying after armed gunmen seized the building. It is the latest salvo escalating the east-west tension and according to a senior U.S. official has raised Americans concerns about the Russian troops now holding military exercises near Ukraine border.

CNN's Phil Black is in Kiev. Phil, it's been several days since the president was ousted. Is there a sense that the crisis is getting worse?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly in the southern region and to the east of this court, the part of the country that has close ties to Russia, yes. We're seeing clear outbreaks. A lot of unhappiness about the events that are taking place here in the capital.