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245 Dead in Coal Mine Explosion, Fire; Magic Johnson Responds to Donald Sterling; Bill Clinton Responds to Hillary Brain Damage Remarks; Long-Lost Columbus Ship Being Looted.
Aired May 14, 2014 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
More miners have been rescued today from a burning coal mine in Turkey, but as many as 120 are still trapped inside. It is a desperate race against time halfway around the world. The smoke is rising from the openings in the complex of tunnels there in Soma. Anxious loved ones are offered comfort as throngs of people are gathering outside of the mine. It's a somber, grim scene at this hour there. Hundreds of people were believed to be inside the mine when a transformer blew up during a Tuesday shift change. Some miners managed to crawl out on their own. So far, at least 88 people have been rescued but the number of known dead continues to rise. Two hundred and forty-five at last count. Ivan Watson is in Soma for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's here, not far from the Soma Coal Mine that a crowd awaits during a very grim vigil, as coal miners, their lifeless bodies are being brought out one by one. Hundreds of men were trapped in the mine shaft when an electrical fire broke out on Tuesday.
The government says about 90 people have been recovered alive. But far more have succumbed most likely to the smoke and carbon monoxide poisoning that seems to have been the chief cause of death here.
The Turkish prime minister has come to visit as family members, rescue workers wait here. He has vowed to investigate the causes behind what could be one of the most deadly mining disasters in Turkish history. He went one step further to say that this mine had recently been inspected and it had a clean bill of health. The questions about culpability, about who could be responsible will be resolved perhaps in the days and weeks ahead, certainly debated and discussed.
In the meantime, this is a disaster that has devastated communities in this mountainous mining district of Western Turkey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: That is Ivan Watson reporting from Turkey.
Now to basketball and Magic Johnson. He says he is a God-fearing man and he's going pray for Donald Sterling. Happening during another exclusive interview with Anderson Cooper after Sterling launched personal attacks against the Hall of Famer. And now that Magic has spoken, the focus shifts back to Sterling and his quest to keep his team. So CNN asked Magic what he thought of the future of the Clippers team and Sterling's chances to hang on as owner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGIC JOHNSON, FORMER NBA PLAYERS: Here we are in a league that is over 80 percent, at least 75 percent African-Americans. He wants us to play for him but he doesn't want us in the stands. He wants us to help him win a championship but he doesn't want us in the stands. The players have rallied together. The only thing they're waiting for is to see what will happen with the vote and the board of governors.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, A.C. 360: By the other owners?
MAGIC: By the other owners. We can't have this kind of action in our league or in our society. We just can't have it.
COOPER: Sterling claims that, push comes to shove, he can bide time. The players will play, sponsors will sponsor his team even if he stays there. That money talks and in the end they have got contracts, sponsors want to make money. He clearly believes that there is a root for him to remain owner.
JOHNSON: He can't buy his way out of this one. He has bought his way out of all the other situations. Can't do it this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Here you have a majority black league, anxious players, jittery sponsors. Magic said Sterling is fighting a losing battle.
Joining me now to discuss is former NBA player, Spencer Haywood.
Spencer, nice to have you on the show.
SPENCER HAYWOOD, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Thank you for having me.
BALDWIN: We are hearing from Lebron James suggesting that people boycott next season if Sterling is still the owner. Tell me, is that realistic?
HAYWOOD: It is talk at this time but it is realistic. And what the players are stating. And not the Sterling family. That should happen prior to the opening game of next year, opening season. And what league aspect this will bring, I don't know. When the board of governors will make a decision and they will make a positive decision to have Mr. Sterling removed from ownership, I think that it might have some legal ramifications that would ensue later. When you did that line in the sand, you might have to push it back a little because of the fact that this could get ugly and nasty, but we don't want it to get ugly and nasty. It is a great time for the NBA. The NBA is doing spectacularly. We have the best playoffs I've seen. And go Thunder.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Let me stop you there. Others are thinking, go Clippers. You have a unique position. You played with Magic. What would Magic the player, playing right now, a possibly revolt if Sterling is still in the owner's chair, what would he do in that situation?
HAYWOOD: He would be the same as Lebron James at this time, which he has stated that he would not play next year. And Magic is the kind of guy that is upstanding and up front. During the time that I was playing with Magic, I had a drug issue. Magic and the players came to me and said we need you to walk away from this situation for the next three games. We were in the championship. And I was suspended and we won the championship and things worked themselves out. Over the years I have worked hard and diligently to help us out to eradicate drugs and alcohol from our society and Magic has done the same thing with HIV.
BALDWIN: Raising awareness.
HAYWOOD: He has traveled all over, raised awareness, millions of dollars. He has always done the right thing. So, I just think that this is an inopportune time for the NBA, especially with our new commissioner, Adam Silver, who is an upfront and forthright person that will do the best thing for all that's involved. There are some things that have to take place at this time.
BALDWIN: I say good on you and good on Magic for everything that you both have done.
Let's talk about the series. I hear you, go Thunder. But do you think -- do you think the Clippers' loss last night, how might a Clippers loss -- sorry Clippers fans -- how might a Clippers' loss affect this at all?
HAYWOOD: I don't think it has any effect. As a player you have to perform on the floor and you're going to have adversities that will arise during the season. The Clipper players are going to have to just rise up for the next game. And I think this is a seven game series. Oklahoma Thunder is the Super Sonics. I love Kevin Durant.
BALDWIN: I hear you.
(CROSSTALK)
HAYWOOD: I hear you. I know you are.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: We will also see how this plays out in L.A. and Oklahoma City and really it's a bigger story.
Mr. Haywood, thank you so much. Pleasure having you on.
HAYWOOD: Thank you so much.
BALDWIN: And now to this 500-year-old mystery that may have just been solved, but already the possible long-lost remains of Christopher Columbus' ship are being looted. Say it ain't so? We're talking to the man who found it, as he makes a desperate plea for help.
And you have all heard Karl Rove's comments about Hillary Clinton, those thinly veiled accusations suggesting she may be suffering from a brain injury? Now Hillary's husband has something to say about it. Bill Clinton himself responding next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The underwater explorer, who claims to have an historic find of a lifetime, now says it's in danger of being totally looted. The wreck of Christopher Columbus' flag ship, the Santa Maria, is a mystery some 500 years old, now under threat. The team of explorers is racing here against time to find a way to pull the ship wreck remains off of Haiti, remains that they are sure belong to the ship that was lost way back. We all remember what we learned in grade school, way back in 1492.
So, Barry Clifford, the man who led that team that found the remains joins be from New York.
Barry, I have been waiting all day to talk to you. Nice to have you on.
BARRY CLIFFORD, UNDERWATER ARCHEOLOGIST: Than you very much.
BALDWIN: So, let's just reel back for a minute. You have spent a decade or so looking for this particular ship. Can you just take me back to that moment when you said this is it?
CLIFFORD: Well, that was -- we actually discovered the ship in 2003, but based on some misinterpretation of some art facts the ship was dismissed. We went to another location and basically threw our hands up in the air and then in 2012, I came across documents that I knew at that moment that we had found what we were looking for.
BALDWIN: You thought you had the a-ha moment years ago. Be special with me. I don't know if you have a TV where you are and see what we're looking at on the screen.
CLIFFORD: I have.
BALDWIN: Tell me what we're looking at and tell me why you're so sure.
CLIFFORD: That is Charles Beaker, who is with Indiana University, one of the foremost underwater archeologists. And he is measuring the ballast pile, the stones they put in the bottom of ship. There is the Lombard. That is 15th century weapon. There's been less than a dozen of those in the Western Hemisphere. We found that and the ballast pile, the same size ballast pile that we would expect to find on a 15th century vessel the size of the Santa Maria, the precise distance from the shore in the precise distance from where Columbus said wrecked from the fort he built in 19492?
BALDWIN: Is that how you knew where to look?
CLIFFORD: Columbus Dario -- he kept a diary and he wrote in it every day.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Columbus kept a diary? How about that?
CLIFFORD: He did. It was my interpretation of the diary that led me -- basically, it's the riddle of the Dario, in solving Columbus's -- in getting into Columbus's head and understanding what he was going through, led us to the position. When he gave us the position of where Navidad was, the fort, and said the ship was a league and a half away, which is 4.7 miles, we put one end of the compass on Navidad, swung the other end out into the bay, went to that spot and found exactly what we were looking for.
BALDWIN: And here you are, you, what, weeks later, from what I understand from this news conference you gave today, you went back to Haiti and the site, you noticed something was awry, something was different. What was different?
CLIFFORD: A few weeks ago, I heard that rumors that the site may have been looted. And based on that information, I put an emergency project together with the History Channel. I got a couple of my archeologist together and we went down there, dove on the site where we had seen these things before, and nothing looked the same. In fact, all of the artifacts, including what you are seeing right now, were looted from the site.
BALDWIN: Whoa. Whoa. So they're gone? Or just moved?
CLIFFORD: They're gone. They're gone. And that's not to say that there's not a lot more there. That's why I'm concerned. Of course, in situations like this, there are -- it is obvious, a lot more under the ballast pile. I have been working very closely with the Haitian government and the president, who is very concerned about this. We need all the help we can get to make sure this shipwreck is preserved, excavated and it can be put on display for the public. Because this is a --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: That's what I wanted to ask you about. Once you do the final excavation, where would you like the public to see this?
CLIFFORD: I think that this is an -- I am basically, you know, looking for the ship and we plan to excavate it. How it's going to be displayed -- that will be up to Haiti. And hopefully, it's such an important touch stone to this period -- 1492, the world was changing. It's the end of the dark ages. A third of the population of Europe was wiped out with the plague. The Inquisition. And then Columbus finds a path to the new world, and rays of light start coming through this dark cloud. I think this was a turning point in history and I think this touch stone to this period is so important that every effort must be made to preserve it. And Haiti needs all the help they can get.
BALDWIN: Yeah. It makes my skin crawl to think people are looting that.
Barry Clifford, congratulations. I hope this is it. Thank you so much for joining me.
CLIFFORD: Thank you so much. Thank you.
BALDWIN: Still to come here, Bill Clinton firing back at Karl Rove's questions about Hillary Clinton's health. We will play exactly what he said after the break.
Plus, CNN takes a first look inside the 911 museum set to open soon. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Got some news just into us. It's pretty big news in the world of media. "New York Times" announced today that Jill Abramson says she is leaving as executive editor of the newspaper to be succeeded by Dean McKay (ph), effective immediately. Abramson, she was the first woman to hold this post. McKay will be the next will be the first African-American editor for the "New York Times." There you have it, news from "The New York Times" this afternoon.
News from Washington here. Former President Bill Clintons says he was -- and I'm quoting him -- "dumbfounded" over suggestions by Karl Rove that Hillary Clinton suffers from brain damage. Speaking today at the Peterson Foundation fiscal summit, Clinton strongly came to the defense of his wife's health while also conceding comments such as Rove's are, quote, "just the beginning," as his wife eyes a possible 2016 presidential run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have got to give him credit that that embodies that old saying that consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
(LAUGHTER)
First they said she faked her concussion and now they say she's auditioning for a part on "The Walking Dead."
(LAUGHTER)
I was sort of dumbfounded. Look, she works out every week. She is strong and doing great. As far as I can tell, she is in better shape than I am. There is nothing to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A little humor from the former president.
Here she is, Brianna Keilar, our senior political correspondent, joining me.
You have been running around covering Hillary Clinton. You saw her this morning. She spoke as well this morning. She did not specifically address remarks from Karl Rove. He husband did. What do you make of that strategy?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it leaves the politics to Bill Clinton. You really don't want to be political if you're thinking of running. Political creatures are really likable creatures. Right now, Hillary Clinton still has some of her post- State Department kind of shine. The polls are showing that. So she really doesn't want that to be tarnished at all. Also, he used humor. That was probably the way to do it.
But we have been following her around. I will say on a fact check on this, she does appear to be very healthy. I spoke with one neurologist who said the schedule that she's keeping and the fact that you see her talking about complex subjects and that she does have stamina that that is a test in itself.
BALDWIN: Brianna Keilar, thank you so much. Great to talk to you. Update on Hillary Clinton and her husband speaking out about remarks from Karl Rove. Thank you.
Let's move on. As many as a 120 miners are trapped in a Turkish mine. Rescuers are racing against time to find survivors. Coming up next, we will talk to a man who knows all too well how dangerous mining really is.
And more than 12 years after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center, CNN takes you inside the new 911 museum for a preview coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: First on CNN, a peak inside of the 911 museum nearly 13 years after the attack that forever changed America. The National September 11th Memorial and Museum will soon open at Ground Zero. President Obama and the first lady will be on hand for tomorrow's dedication ceremony. And the museum, it is full of painful reminders, like this pair of yellow bloody shoes belonging to Linda Lopez, who worked in the South Tower. She said, when the first plane hit, she took off her heels and ran barefoot across broken glass to escape alive.
And this wall evokes the brilliant blue skies of that September morning. Behind the wall remains of unidentified victims. Only family members are allowed behind that blue wall. And then there's this, what they're calling Big Red, the ladder, the fire truck of the brave captain, 10 of his firefighters raced into the tower, trying to save lives. They never returned.
CNN's Kate Bolduan has more with a look inside the memories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Throughout the museum, chilling reminders of the day. Handmade fliers for missing, a cross emerging from the wreckage. Everyday items simply left behind.
JOE DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11TH MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM: We help, through these artifacts and images, tell that story of just -- it was panic.
BOLDUAN: One small exhibit has been the biggest source of controversy. Its focus, the terrorists themselves, including a film criticized for not making a clear enough distinction between Islam and al Qaeda.
DANIELS: One way to look at it is you don't build a holocaust museum and not be very clear that the Nazis were the ones that committed those atrocities.
BOLDUAN: Visitors will also walk alongside the survivor stairs.
DANIELS: Used by hundreds of people as the buildings are crumbing, running from the dust cloud to escape to safety. And it's for all our visitors to understand the story of survival.
BOLDUAN (on camera): It seems very appropriate that you end here at the last column.
DANIELS: It again goes right back to this, seeing those messages of hope and remembrance on a very tall column that is still standing strong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: That museum officially opens to the public next week.
