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Tropical Storm Arthur; World Cup Soccer; Israel Mourns Murdered Teens; Desperate Families Give Up Children
Aired July 01, 2014 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Roll that tropical storm animation, because that is what we have to talk about this Tuesday afternoon. Thank you so much for watching us here on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
And we begin with what could be a holiday nightmare for millions of you up and down the East Coast. Tropical Storm Arthur right now spinning in the Atlantic. Could become a hurricane by July 4th. So, New York, D.C., expected to feel the effects. Let's go straight to Chad Myers in the CNN Weather Center with more on when this would make landfall.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's already affecting parts of Florida right now.
BALDWIN: Really?
MYERS: Yes, really it is. And it's going to get stronger. And the closest approach to land will be North Carolina, the outer banks likely right there. What we have all week long, and even into the weekend, will be life-threatening surf and rip currents from Florida to Maine and, even for that matter, Nova Scotia, if you're brave enough to get in the water up there.
This is the storm right now. It is gaining strength. The Hurricane Center said this just a minute ago. This is getting more organized. The offshore flow here, but the onshore flow here. And it's that onshore flow that will make its way all the way up the coast, all the way into Virginia, and then even into New Jersey and Massachusetts by the time this is all over, all because that flow pushes water on shore and then it runs out in one spot. That's called the rip current.
There it is right there, getting bigger, badder, and deeper in color. That means it's gaining more strength. Right now, only 40 miles per hour, but forecast to be an 80-mile-per-hour hurricane right very close to Nags Head.
Now remember, Brooke, we haven't talked about this for many land- falling hurricanes. Here is the cone. It could be all the way on shore here, Myrtle, all the way to Wilmington, or it could be completely offshore. As the storm gets closer and closer, that cone will get smaller and smaller and we'll have a better idea. Right now, Nags Head's approach would be about 65 hours away. So you see how it gets closer and closer, you're going to get more and more accurate.
Here we go here. But when the storm is here, there's your onshore flow. There's your onshore flow. There's your onshore flow and it's the rip current issue. The waves go over the sand bars. As the waves go over the sandbars, that water builds up on the shore. And it's only one place out. It's a break in the sandbar. If you're in that area, you're going to get sucked right out to sea. Sandbar, sandbar, those are the high spots in the sand. The water comes around and gets shoved right out in one spot. You can't be there. In fact, you really shouldn't be in the water at all this weekend either without a surfboard and a life jacket on.
BALDWIN: Yes.
MYERS: Everybody needs to have a life jacket on if you're going to approach the water this weekend. This surf is going to be six to 10 feet.
BALDWIN: It's one of those things, when you think surf's up, when you look at it, but just don't do it.
MYERS: No.
BALDWIN: We'll keep a close eye on it. I'll be here the Fourth of July. I don't know if you will. But we'll be watching the weather through this holiday week. Chad Myers, thank you so much.
To Wall Street we go where the Dow flirting with an all-time high. So as we're watching the numbers, and here they are for you, if it does close above that 17,000 mark, it comes more than six months after the Dow crossed 16,000 for the very first time.
What's the takeaway here? Really that's the question. Experts say it's a pretty good gauge for the health of corporate America, not to mention achieving an important psychological milestone by hitting that 17,000 mark this afternoon. So two hours to go before the closing bell. Let's see if we make it. We'll keep an eye on it for you.
Take your temperature, folks. World Cup fever is spiking today. Check the heart rate as well because we are watching and waiting for a do or die match in Salvador, Brazil. The United States versus Belgium. Despite America's penchant for losing, yes, I said losing big games and despite the fact that Belgium is pretty darn good, the United States has a real chance to win and that would put them into the final eight times for the first time ever. We've talked about the fever. How's this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Those are U.S. fans who have invaded Brazil. They're pumped up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that we will win. CROWD: I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Pumped up. I believe we will win. Pumped up here at home as well, among other places. Camp Sunshine, north of Atlanta, it's a summer camp for kids with cancer. World Cup fever pervasive on this Tuesday. The news out of Brazil, sidelined American star Jozy Altidore now cleared to play. Belgian star Vincent Kompany might not play. He is injured. Also this, U.S. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann says he is worried about the Algerian ref. You've got to listen to this. Not a bad ref, says Klinsmann, but there may be a language issue since the ref and the Belgians all speak French, but many U.S. players do not.
Well, let's take you to Chicago. CNN's George Howell is among the soccer fans there and Dan Simon is in San Francisco for us at an Irish bar, the Irish Times, believe it or not, actually attracting Belgian Americans. So we've got both sides covered here as we go into this match this afternoon.
George Howell, how's the buzz there at Soldier Field in Chicago?
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the middle of Soldier Field, I mean, does it get any better than this? I mean if you're in Salvador, sure, it gets better. But this is where we're going to see a lot of people get together to watch this game today.
Remember back in 1994, this is the place. You know, this stadium hold some 70,000 people. This is the place where we watched the World Cup in '94. And you'll remember the U.S. soccer coach, he was actually playing for Germany back then and he scored a goal to help that team win. Now the focus is on him. It's on our team today. A lot of excitement for red, white, and blue.
But don't let the quiet here, Brooke, fool you right now, OK. So outside the stadium, there are a lot of people that are just excited, waiting to get in here. We talked to some people who are out there tailgating. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's blowing off work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a believer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jurgen gave us the day off. It's like he gave us permission. So it's not even - we're not taking work off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no work. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no work to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: National watch soccer day. Do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, 2-1, us, final. Regular time. No overtime. Nothing. Two to one, USA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No overtime. We're taking care of business today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we got this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're taking care of business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So this is where the excitement will be in Chicago, the headquarters of U.S. soccer, obviously. And some 20,000 fans are expected to show up here today. The gates open here in just about 30 minutes and a lot of people will be pulling for red, white, and blue, Brooke.
BALDWIN: The quiet before the storm. George Howell, my friend, you may need earplugs in a couple of hours. Thank you so much.
Let's go to California now, Dan Simon. And before we chat, there are some of us Americans - guilty - still wading through some of the World Cup nuance. So here is what I learned today. A lot of folks know, of course, the game, the match is 90 minutes. Plus you have the serious injury time.
Here's the deal. If the game then is tied, they go into a 30-minute overtime. It's not sudden. They play the whole thing, plus a few more minutes injury time. If they are still tied, right, because we love to play out all these scenarios, you have five players from each team going one-on-one with the goalie trying to get past him, trying to convert it, right, into a point, into the net. That the most goals, wins. If they are still tied, more penalty kicks, now sudden death.
You got it. Dan Simon, your fans are out there. I don't know if they get the rules. I get the rules. We're all getting in on the rules on this World Cup fever.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you for that clarification, Brooke. Helpful to me. This is called the Irish Times. It's an Irish bar, but the Belgians have claimed it as their own. As you can imagine, here in downtown San Francisco, you have a very broad international workforce. And this is where people have been coming to cheer on their home country.
As you can see at the moment, a lot of people in their blue and white jerseys. They're cheering on team Argentina taking on the Swiss right now. And so this game right now I believe is in sudden death. And so once this game is over, you're going to see a million Belgian fans and I would imagine a few Team USA fans as well.
But I think in the history of sports bars, Tuesday afternoon, a Tuesday lunch, this has got to be the best day for business for sports bars all across the country and we'll come back to you when Team USA takes to the field.
Brooke.
BALDWIN: I know. I was kind of wondering today how many people are falling ill in a few hours at work and are having to leave. Dan Simon and George Howell, thank you. We have our red, white, and blue on. We are excited, of course, here at CNN. We'll take you back to much more World Cup coverage.
Meantime, though, what is going on with Serena Williams? She just dropped out of Wimbledon -- you see these pictures - after appearing disoriented during a match, stumbling on the court crying. Now we have an explanation.
Plus, Israel attacks after the bodies of three teenagers are found and now the militant group Hamas is vowing to open the gates of hell. I will speak live with an American cousin of one of those teenagers. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
In Israel today, a nation mourns the death of three teenagers. Massive crowds came together for the funeral of the boys they had prayed for ever since June 12th. That is when these three young men were kidnapped as they hitchhiked home from school. They had been called "our boys." Their bodies were found yesterday in an open field in the West Bank. At their funeral today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said their faces were, quote, "engraved on the hearts of everyone." CNN's Atika Shubert is live for us in Jerusalem.
And, Atika, I know it has been a day of mourning nationwide there.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really been a day of anger and an outpouring of grief. We saw tens and thousands of people flock to the funeral in Mudin (ph) today. All three teenagers were laid to rest side by side. And we heard emotional speeches both from the parents at the services but also from the prime minister, who refrained from making any overtly political statements at the funeral, but instead spoke about the strength of the family and how the boys touched the entire nation and how the - how all of Israel was weeping with these families.
After the funeral, however, we heard also, again, from the prime minister just before going into his cabinet meeting and there the message was much stronger. It was that Israel would hit back hard at Hamas, the group that the Israeli government holds responsible for these abductions, saying that they would continue with dozens of air strikes across Gaza, but also hundreds of arrests in the West Bank, all of them targeting Hamas' infrastructure until they find the two men they believe responsible for these abductions, Brooke.
BALDWIN: We saw the Israeli air strikes stepped up in Gaza last night. And you mentioned Netanyahu saying they will hit back hard. Atika Shubert, thank you so much.
These three young men were buried today side-by-side and one of these boys is Naftali Fraenkel. He was just 16 years of age and his cousin is Manny Halberstam and he joins me live from Washington.
Manny, just, welcome. And I'm so sorry for the loss in your family.
MANNY HALBERSTAM, COUSIN OF NAFTALI FRAENKEL: Thank you, Brooke. And it's good to be here.
BALDWIN: I understand that you took a year off school between college and law school to study at Ishiba (ph) in Israel.
HALBERSTAM: Exactly. Yes.
BALDWIN: And then you spent time with your cousin, Naftali, who, at the time, was 13. How close did you two become?
HALBERSTAM: So I had the opportunity of meeting Naftali, you know, when I spent weekends at his grandmother's house. His grandmother is my - is my grandmother's sister.
BALDWIN: OK.
HALBERSTAM: And it was really great meeting him. He was such a great kid. He - and I'm still getting used to saying was.
BALDWIN: Right.
HALBERSTAM: Saying was instead of is and it's difficult. But he was always just full of joy and full of positivity. He was really a great older brother to his younger siblings and he made it - he made his parents' lives a lot easier by being such a good older brother.
BALDWIN: You say he's an older brother. He is one of seven siblings, raised in Israel. Much of his family, though, does live here in the U.S. And I'm just curious, other than being the good big brother, what was he like?
HALBERSTAM: Yes, I mean, exactly as I said, always full -- filled with joy and filled with positivity. I remember, you know, my one - my one strongest memory with him was this one time that, you know, me and him played guitar together. He was also, you know, quite musical. And it's just -- it's so sad to see his life cut short like this.
BALDWIN: We know that, as our reporter was just discussing, Israel is already retaliating, saying that Hamas will play in cold blood. Obviously this is a volatile region. You were there. I'm curious, in your year there, did you ever worry for your safety when you were there? Did Naftali's family ever talk about security?
HALBERSTAM: See, it's interesting you ask. I think there's this perception that sort of spending time in Israel, spending time in the West Bank could be pretty dangerous. The truth is, is that when you're there in the West Bank, and up until a few weeks ago when you're there you really feel pretty safe. You don't feel like you're in danger at all. And I think, unfortunately, in response to this incident that that, you know, sense of safety is going to change.
BALDWIN: What about the search effort, Manny? What about the search effort since these three young men vanished back on June 12? I know that there has been tremendous support. Tell me about what you experienced and what you heard about from your family.
HALBERSTAM: It's just very tough for, you know, our - my - Naftali's extended family here in the U.S. You know, we're always sort of waiting anxiously to hear good news and we -- at first we were very sort of disturbed by what was happening. But then when we - when we watched Raheli (ph), Naftali's mother, when we watched her speak and express such a spirit of positivity and hope about the situation, it kind of got us to be a lot more hopeful about the situation. And, of course, that sense of hope, it completely sort of collapsed when we heard the news yesterday. And it's been - it's been very tough and we're trying to do all we can to support Naftali's family right now.
BALDWIN: Talk about support, we're looking at pictures from Washington on Monday. And I believe you were there attending this vigil. You are headed to New York for a rally tonight. Another vigil in Georgetown, in Washington tomorrow. What do you want the world to know about your cousin?
HALBERSTAM: Well, again, such a great kid, so filled with joy, so filled with positivity. And I think the best - most appropriate way to respond to this is to kind of continue where, you know, where -- pick up where he left off and be a force of good and a force of positivity here. And one other point I want to make is that, over the past few months, you see so many Americans and people around the world with a strong sense - with a strong moral conscious protesting the kidnapping of these boys, as well as the kidnapping of the Nigerian girls. And I think, unfortunately, we might feel that because the boys did not come home and because the girls have not come home, that our campaign failed. And I just want to send the world a message that by no means was the time and energy that we invested in these campaigns a waste because through our efforts we strengthened our sense of community and we've deepened our ties with each other. And in that sense, I think we've moved the world a little bit closer to the type of world where these types of incidents occur less frequently.
BALDWIN: Let's hope so. Manny Halberstam, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your thoughts in such a tough time. And again, I'm so sorry for you and your family.
HALBERSTAM: Thank you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
HALBERSTAM: Appreciate it.
BALDWIN: Coming up, a chilling video of a young father, too poor to care for his baby, trying to drop off the infant at an orphanage. He is not allowed to do so. And when CNN gets him to tell his story, our reporter met this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not touch - touch the camera. Don't touch the camera. Don't touch the camera.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: It's hard to imagine this level of just desperation, to having a child who is dangerously ill or disabled and there is zero money for care. In China, some helpless parents decide the only choice left is to hand over their children to the state permanently. CNN's Anna Coren tells the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the side of a road, an hour's drive from the nearest city, a young father is making the hardest decision of his life. Wrapped in his arm, a baby boy with fluid on the brain, a condition that without surgery causes brain damage and can lead to death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry. Sorry. Stop. Stop.
COREN: The 21-year-old migrant worker wants to leave his son at a baby hatch (ph), a drop-off center attached to an orphanage. But the staff here won't let him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.
COREN (on camera): We're allowed to. We're allowed to do this. We're allowed to speak to him and -
COREN (voice-over): He walks away defeated and distraught. As we begin talking to him, security intervened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn it off.
COREN (on camera): (INAUDIBLE). Who are you? Who are you?
COREN (voice-over): The guards try to stop us filming.
COREN (on camera): Don't touch -- touch the camera. Don't touch the camera. Don't touch the camera.
COREN (voice-over): As the father walks away, he breaks down in tears. Eventually he stops, sobbing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) because with the state, there's still hope. His home doesn't have any money.
COREN: As the guards continue to harass us, our producer asks why he's being turned away. One of them yells, "we have rules. He's not from the city, so he can't leave his baby here."
Unable to get help, he leaves, cradling his disabled son and a bag filled with baby clothes.
Since this baby hatch (ph) opened in Jinan (ph) eastern China a month ago, it's been inundated with abandoned children. According to state media, in the first 11 days, 106 children were dropped off, all of them suffering a medical condition or disability. Many of the dropoffs are happening at night. And when a six-year-old girl was dumped from a moving car, social media erupted, increasing scrutiny of the 32 hatches (ph) operating across China.
COREN (on camera): When this program was launched back in 2011, the government was happy to talk about it, believing it was addressing the problem of child welfare in this country. Well, now it appears there is a gag order in place as everyone that we've approached to speak to about this subject has refused saying they're not allowed.
COREN (voice-over): But one of the founders of China's child welfare policy strongly defends the program.
"We had to work out a more humane way to accept these orphans," explains Professor Wang. "Babies were being thrown into trash cans on the side of the road and in front of hospitals because parents are too poor to care for them. That's why we built the hatches (ph)."
The government claims there are 500,000 orphans, but experts believe the real figure is in the millions. And while there are plans to build more orphanages and foster care homes, critics say that's not the solution. Instead, they want China to improve its social safety net so parents with disabled children are given medical, educational, and financial support so they don't have to resort to this level of desperation.
Anna Coren, CNN, Jinan, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Heart wrenching. Anna Coren, thank you so much for sharing that story.
Just ahead, back here at home, a stunning development in the case of the cannibal cop. Remember this? A judge now scrapping the conviction of this police officer who plotted to kidnap, kill and eat women. Why? Because those were just fantasies. We'll debate.
Plus, Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend says her version of events about the murder of her roommate is, quote, "imagination and hallucination." And he doesn't stop there. That's coming up. You're watching CNN.
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