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Erin Burnett Outfront
Plane Lands At LaGuardia Airport Without Landing Gear; Eyewitness Recounts Faulty Landing; George Zimmerman To The Rescue?; Britain's Royal Baby Born
Aired July 22, 2013 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, breaking news, a plane has had an emergency landing in New York City. We are going to be going there live in just a moment.
And a 51-year-old mother flies out of her seat and dies riding a roller coaster at a Texas amusement park. Tonight, we're getting the first clues as to exactly what happened and how common it might be.
It is a boy. Yes, the royal baby is here. So what's his name? Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. We have two big stories today. Prince William and Duchess Catherine welcomed a baby boy this afternoon. If you were anywhere, you saw this, the newest member of the royal family. We're going to have more on that in just a moment.
But we want to begin with the breaking news tonight, a very scary situation in New York City at LaGuardia Airport. Southwest Flight 345 from Nashville was forced to make a faulty landing. The plane had problems with its front landing gear, as you can see there. Look at the angle, the nose completely flat on the ground there on the tarmac.
This is a live picture of the Boeing 737. This is from our affiliate WABC and the plane, leaning not only precipitously forward. It's also surrounded by emergency vehicles. There on the back of the plane if you just look carefully there, bear with me you can see the emergency chute. Passengers were evacuated from the plane via those chutes in the back of the plane shortly after it landed at 5:45 Eastern Time.
According to the FAA, there have been no reports of injuries, but this is still developing. We don't have formal word on that yet and they have said that there were many ambulances around. So that could have been out of precaution. We're not sure at this moment.
OUTFRONT tonight, Mary Snow, who has been following the story for us and has the latest. Mary, obviously still a lot of questions, but what can you tell us about this Southwest flight?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We can tell you, Erin, although the FAA is saying there are no reported injuries. A source knowledgeable about the incident did tell CNN that three people were injured on this Southwest flight. That landed at LaGuardia Airport just about an hour and 15 minutes ago. This was on runway four at LaGuardia.
What the FAA is telling us is that Flight 345 reported possible front landing gear issues before landing and that the plane's nose gear collapsed as the -- as the aircraft landed on runway four. Again the FAA is saying the plane safely came to a stop, that no injuries were reported.
But we are hearing from a source, knowledgeable about the incident, saying there were three people injured. As we mentioned, the passengers have been removed from the plane. And according to the source, speaking to CNN saying the plane landed, the nose gear collapsed after the landing.
Southwest did come out with a very short statement saying that this was Flight 345 and expected to come out with more details. We are waiting to hear more from Southwest Airlines -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much. Mary Snow, with the latest. As Mary was telling you obviously this is a developing story with still a lot of questions. I want to bring in Wyndham Manning. He was at the airport who witnessed the landing gear collapse as the Southwest jet touched down for landing.
And Wyndham joins me on the phone now. Windham, you saw this happen. We are still very unclear at this point what kind of warning the pilot may have had. What kind of landing it was? What did you see?
WYNDHAM MANNING, EYEWITNESS (via telephone): Hi, Erin, you know we saw it right after it touched down. So we are not sure whether the landing gear collapsed after they landed or whether it never came down in the first place. All we saw was a shower of sparks, basically and the two back wheels, the two back landing gears were in fine shape. But we did see wheels from the back landing gear roll down the runway. They detached from the landing gear after the plane had touched down.
BURNETT: All right, so after the plane had touched down, which is obviously very important, we have a pilot who is going to come on after you to see the significance of that particular detail, Wyndham. I know you also saw the evacuation. After you saw the plane land, how far down the runway did it get and then once you saw it stop, how long till those chutes came out and passengers start getting off?
MANNING: You know, it made it fairly far down the runway. It seemed like a very well-controlled landing considering the circumstances, but they did land, it looked like they landed on the grass right next to the runway or stopped on the grass. It took a while after the plane stopped at the end. It was a good a minute and a half, 2 minutes before the chutes were evacuated.
It sounded, sounds like there are still people on the airplane right now for whatever reason that are waiting to get off. There are plenty of NYPD, police cars in the area on the tarmac. They were the first responders to the incident and then we saw plenty of fire trucks and other ambulances and NYPD cars that followed after that.
BURNETT: And you did see -- do you have any sense, would have been hard from where you are, we're trying to ascertain how many injuries there were. You just saw a lot of ambulances along with other emergency vehicles going to the scene, right?
MANNING: Yes, we only saw one slide come out of the rear at first. It seemed like a very, whether they were taking their time to get out or whether they were trying to ascertain what was going on inside the plane. We have no idea, but there was a large group of people that came out first. Then it seems like there was a slower evacuation after that. So, whether they were just trying to figure out what the extent of the injuries were or whether there was something else going on, we don't really know.
BURNETT: All right, well, Wyndham, thank you very much. We appreciate it. As we said, Wyndham actually saw the plane as it landed without that front landing gear. I want to bring in Mark Weiss, a former pilot with American Airlines. He's actually experienced faulty landing gear while trying to land the plane.
Mark, thank you for taking the time. First, just when you heard what Wyndham said that it looked like that gear collapsed after landing what does that tell you?
MARK WEISS, FORMER PILOT WITH AMERICAN AIRLINES (via telephone): Well, it seems to indicate that the pilot had no prior indication that there was any, any malfunction or anything that would give them word that there was going to be a problem on touchdown or on the rollout portion of the landing.
BURNETT: So they wouldn't have had a warning. Then what does that mean -- does that surprise you? We always hear about Southwest that they -- that they fly a fleet with one kind of plane, the 737s. They should know that plane inside and out. Shouldn't they have had some kind of warning or --
WEISS: Well, you know, every crew knows their airplane inside and out, and believe it or not, we actually train in simulators for situations like this. For the nose gear collapsing on landing, for it not coming down, for a main landing gear not coming down or collapsing, these are scenarios we run through on a regular basis in the simulators.
What it also tells you -- there are a few clues here -- the fact that there were no fire trucks at the end of the runway, which would have said that the pilot had enough time to say I need to declare an emergency, and have emergency equipment standing by or because LaGuardia has short runways it probably would have been in the pilot's thinking to say what are my options? What airports are nearby?
Where I can burn some fuel so the airplane will be lighter and potentially less flammable if there is a -- if there is a wing that breaks or fuel tank that is ruptured? Where else can I go? Kennedy? Newark that have long run ways that would give you an indication that they had enough time to think about this, to get the passengers ready for emergency evacuation, to get the flight attendants prepared to have the passengers in a brace position.
BURNETT: Obviously, they didn't have all that, at least from what we understand. Mark, when you see the picture we have up here, and the plane at the sharp angle, the jet with the front, with the lack of nose landing gear, you know, there's no evidence that they knew, right at this point anything was going to happen. How dangerous could the landing have been, given something that you just mentioned? It landed at LaGuardia that has some of the shortest runways in this country.
WEISS: Well that is a potential problem, I mean, obviously. You have to keep in mind, that the pilot never stops flying the airplane. You are flying the airplane right through touchdown and rollout, and that portion of the flight would have been the rollout. So somebody kept it on the runway. You want to land on the center of the runway because if you do have a problem, you want to have enough distance on either side to maneuver the aircraft.
This looks like the pilot did a very good job getting the airplane stopped and getting the people evacuated. With the evacuation it is very common -- you want to make sure that you assess the situation because typically when you evacuate an airplane, somebody is going to get hurt, sprained ankles, broken bones, that is very common.
So you want to get -- the fire -- fire people on the ground, next to you, air traffic control, in the control tower, can see any fire or anything, before you put people out of the airplane. You want to make sure that it is safe to do that, flight attendants, it looks like they did a good job on this one as they did on the Asiana crash.
BURNETT: All right, Mark Weiss, thank you very much. We appreciate your time on this and of course on that story. We later have some new developments in the Asiana crash investigation.
Also OUTFRONT, a grisly discovery in Cleveland has police tonight wondering if they're dealing with a serial killer.
And then the first medical reports on the woman who died after falling out of the roller coaster in Texas. What did she tell other people on the ride right before it started?
Later, the royal baby, you couldn't miss this story tonight. We will share it with you because now there is a big question. The baby is here -- what is its name?
Our first look inside the 777 that crashed in San Francisco, we have the pictures. They're going to make you ask -- how could anyone have survived?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Our second story, OUTFRONT, a suspected serial killer in Ohio. For the second time, in three months, there is a horrifying story in Cleveland. The 35-year-old Michael Madison was charged today with three counts of aggravated murder and kidnapping after three women were found wrapped in plastic in East Cleveland.
One victim was found Friday in a garage that Madison leased. Two others found nearby on Saturday. Police say Madison actually may have been influenced by a serial killer and that there could be other victims. OUTFRONT tonight, Martin Savidge OUTFRONT in East Cleveland.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 35-year-old suspected killer, Michael Madison stood before a judge.
JUDGE WILLIAM DAWSON, EAST CLEVELAND MUNICIPAL COURT: They are punishable by possible death or life in prison and $100,000 fine. Do you understand that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SAVIDGE: His bond set at $6 million, $2 million for each of the three women he is accused of killing. Authorities also released the I.D. of one of his alleged victims, 38-year-old Angela Deskins of Cleveland. The grisly discoveries have shocked many including the mayor of East Cleveland.
GARY NORTON, MAYOR OF EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO: Three individuals who were just minding their own business and being good human beings that they are and were killed senselessly by an individual who has no regard for human life.
SAVIDGE: And there are fears more bodies may be found.
PIA HOFFMAN: We don't know how many more in the community that is missing because again, you don't hear about it until something such as this.
SAVIDGE: The Madison case is the latest a in a series of high- profile crimes involving women who have disappeared in the Cleveland area. In May, three young women missing for around a decade, were rescued from this home on the city's west side.
AMANDA BERRY, KIDNAPPING VICTIM: Help me, I am Amanda Berry.
SAVIDGE: In 2011, Anthony Sowell was sentenced to death after police found the bodies of 11 women in his home on the city's East Side, leaving many to wonder what is going on in and around Cleveland? East Cleveland mayor Gary Norton says monsters can be found anywhere.
NORTON: Violence knows no boundaries. Violence occurs in California, it occurs in Iowa, it occurs in Florida, it occurs in Texas, it occurs in Ohio.
SAVIDGE: But professor Daniel Flannery says factors like the economy may play a role.
DANIEL FLANNERY, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: I think there are neighborhood conditions, disorganization, abandoned properties, people that sort of minding their own business. I mean, these are factors that are worth looking into about whether they create an environment where individuals that are looking to perpetrate these kinds of violent crimes may choose to live.
SAVIDGE: Northeast Ohio has been learning from its tragedies. After the Sowell case, a city task force came up with 26 recommendations, including a police unit dedicated to missing persons along with a city Web site and specializing training for police officers and dispatchers.
And that heightened awareness may have paid off. Madison was in custody within hours of the discovery of the first body. Authorities say possibly preventing an alleged killer from striking again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Getting back to the idea of how kind of an urban blight can provide a sort of camouflage to these criminal predators, the mayor of East Cleveland told me that in his community alone - and it's only three square miles, Erin -- he has more than 2,500 abandoned and vacant homes. Erin.
BURNETT: Martin Savidge, thank you very much. Reporting from East Cleveland.
Now to Texas and that deadly roller coaster ride. The medical examiner in Texas has now confirmed that the 51-year-old mother who flew out of her seat literally just moments after the roller coaster she was on had began its ride died from multiple traumatic injuries. The accident happened Friday evening at Six Flags over Texas in Arlington. You can look at the height of that roller coaster.
Tonight, it may surprise you that it is up to Six Flags, not federal investigators, to actually determine what went wrong. Yes, that's what happens in this country right now when things like this happen. Ed Lavandera is OUTFRONT. Ed, what are you learning about what actually did happen in the moments before the Rosie Esparza died?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what is interesting in all of this, Erin, Six Flags Over Texas officials are refusing to provide any details as to what they have been able to learn so far in the last few days since the tragedy happened. Much of what we've learned is coming from the witness whose saw it firsthand, who described Rosie Esparza as voicing some concern about the lap restraint that was on her seat, that she wasn't convinced it was secured properly. And then there were the graphic explanations of how she tumbled out of the roller coaster ride and fell to her death.
You know, Six Flags officials say they vow to continue their investigation, but so far, providing, not providing a lot of details to what they learned so far, Erin.
BURNETT: And Eddie, what have you learned about the safety record of this ride? Especially given what we just said, that it's actually the theme parks themselves that investigate when something goes wrong?
LAVANDERA: Yes, that's one of the things feel will find rather interesting or kind of shocking in all of this. This is a loosely regulated industry. Here in Texas, it is Six Flags that will conduct its own investigation as to what happened. No outside police agency or state agency.
The amusement park is required to report injuries with the Texas Department of Insurance. We've learned in the last five years they reported 12 injuries. A lot of those included things like ankle sprains, neck sprains, back sprains, concussions, sore ribs, injuries kind of consistent with obviously getting jostled around inside of a roller coaster. But nothing as catastrophic as what we saw Friday night.
BURNETT: Ed Lavandera, thank you very much. And please let us know what you think about that industry which is so widespread around the country. People are on theme park rides all the time right now this time of year. It is self-regulated.
OUTFRONT next, George Zimmerman reappears out of hiding and involved in another incident.
And then, this man leaked a photo of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect. So, should he be fired for doing it?
And later, even the word selfie sounds inappropriate. But you know what? I was actually totally fine with this picture of Geraldo Rivera. But a lot of you were not.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Our third story OUTFRONT. He's been painted as a racist and a murder. Today, though, George Zimmerman can be called a good Samaritan apparently because last week, four days after being found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman came to the rescue of a family trapped in an overturned car. The former neighborhood watchman has been in hiding since the trial ended, but apparently that doesn't mean he is staying indoors.
I want to bring in Victor Blackwell, who's OUTFRONT in Sanford, Florida. And Victor, can you say -- what exactly happened here?
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First, Erin, no one was sure George Zimmerman was even in the state of Florida, much less roughly a mile from where he shot and killed Trayvon Martin in February of last year. But we now know from the Seminole County sheriff's office that it was Wednesday night, about 5:45, when there was a car crash going onto Interstate 4. Listen to one of those 911 calls.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Are the vehicles still there? Or did they keep going?
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: The vehicle is still there. It is on its side. There is people on there. It's not on fire or anything.
(END AUDIO CLIP) BLACKWELL: There were two parents in there and their two children. George Zimmerman and another person helped to pull out those people. There were no injuries. Actually, the attorneys for George Zimmerman -- he met with them after the crash and he didn't even mention it to them. So, why we are getting this now several days after the crash, no one knows. Erin?
BURNETT: Yes, it's pretty amazing, Victor, that he wouldn't have mentioned it to his lawyers. Now, but the thing about this accident is you know, you are in Sanford. Obviously, it was very close, the accident itself to where Trayvon Martin was killed. That would mean at least at that moment, Zimmerman was nearby. Everyone thought, my gosh, this guy would get as far away from Sanford, Florida, as he could as quickly as possible.
BLACKWELL: Yes, and I'm sure most people were surprised he was so close. The question is, is he in the area now? Right behind me, there is a church full of people who are holding a town meeting organized by the NAACP. It's entitled, "George Zimmerman, this ain't over." They're calling for those federal charges, civil rights violation and they want him to lose his concealed carry permit. This organization is planning another march in this community in August. So we will see when they say this ain't over exactly what that means to move this community forward. Erin?
BURNETT: Victor Blackwell, thank you very much.
And still OUTFRONT, the royal baby. Yes, we have the details. Weight, time of birth, all except for a really big one. And we will answer the question as to why people care so much about this story.
And then, some one, -- did someone try to kill the pope on his first foreign trip? We have a report from Brazil on late-breaking news there tonight.
And incredible pictures from inside - inside the 777 that crash landed in San Francisco that will make you wonder and realize what a miracle it was that more people were not killed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: And welcome back to the second half of OUTFRONT, where we start with stories were we focus on our reporting from the front lines.
And I want to begin with these incredible images we have obtained from the aftermath of the Asiana Airlines plane crash in San Francisco.
We showed these pictures to forensics expert Joe Reynolds of the RTI Group who tells us that these first picture that you're looking at right now. You can see these are plane seats, shows unusual nature of the crash. Seats usually collapsed forward not backward. The flight was carrying 291 passengers, just look at this, everybody. That's what it looked like. That looks to me like business class or first- class. It is completely destroyed. As we reported, you may remember, people were initially told not to evacuate this plane. The entire evacuation process, though, once it started because the flight attendants saw flames, took about 90 seconds. Reynolds says that's what saved so many lives.
When flames start, obviously, exiting the plane is difficult or, not impossible as Reynolds emphasized. When you see the inside of that plane, you realize what a few seconds more could have meant.
Well, more than 52,000 people on Facebook want Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Sean Murphy to keep his job. You may remember, he is the trooper who was relieved of his duties on Friday after releasing crime scene photos of alleged bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to "Boston Magazine" without getting police department approval. Murphy says he released the photos in response to a controversial "Rolling Stone" cover image of Tsarnaev.
Now, we have learned Sergeant Murphy will face a closed hearing tomorrow to determine his fate as a trooper. Should he keep his job? Let us know what you think, please, on Twitter here @OutFrontCNN.
Well, in Cairo, supporters and opponents of ousted President Morsy clashed near Tahrir Square today. At least some of the violence occurred when Morsy supporters marched towards the United States embassy and moved towards opponents that were in the square. So, then, they were face to face. We know at least one person was killed, 26 were injured.
European Union is now reportedly calling for Morsy's release. You know, he's basically on house arrest.
Expert (INAUDIBLE) tells us the idea that Morsy who a year ago was elected to the presidency with 13 million votes in a democratic election is now being held in detention is outrageous.
It has been 716 days since the U.S. lost its top credit rating, what are we doing? Well, a report says existing home sales fell in June, but they have hit 3 1/2 month high the month before. Home prices, when you look at the median, were up 13.5 percent from a year ago. That is a real housing recovery.
And now, our fourth story OUTFRONT. It's a boy. Highly anticipated arrival of the newest member of the royal family arrived at 4:24 p.m. local time in London.
It was 14 hours of labor, shy of that for Catherine, the duchess of Cambridge and she delivered a healthy boy weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces, which, by way, way, pretty incredible. Because she was so thin it looked like the baby could be a lot less than that. So, she was just in incredible shape all the way through.
The official announcement was posted outside Buckingham Palace where Queen Elizabeth II was the first to learn the news. According to the statement, quote, "Her royal highness and her child are both doing well." Hundreds of people are still gathered outside the gates to revel in the moment. Eight, nine, 12, it would be 12:33:44, they're still there. The world will have to wait, though, until Prince William and Kate leave the hospital. At that point that's the first time we might hear the name of the child. Their son is now third in line to the throne.
OUTFRONT tonight, Max Foster, who's at St. Mary's Hospital in London with the latest.
Obviously, that baby, well, I don't know -- a newborn, right. It is probably awake right now in the hospital behind you, its parents desperately needing some sleep.
But tell us about the birth and what you know. It was certainly a rather long labor for her.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she came in in the very early hours of the morning at dawn, sort of 6:00-ish local time. Ands it was just Kate and William that came off to the hospital. He was there throughout the labor.
As you say, 4:00 in the afternoon local time. The baby finally came. But about a four-hour gap between them and the announcement, because they wanted to spend time with the baby alone I was told.
So, this was a very hands-on, very modern father if you compare him to previous royals. And they tend not to be so involved. And I can tell you, Erin, that he's actually staying overnight in the hospital as well.
So, our reckoning is, tomorrow, possibly in the morning, they'll come out on the steps with the baby for the first time. And I do think we'll get the name then. That was the indication, I was given today, assuming they've chosen a name. I am sure they have.
We will probably get it all tomorrow. It will be quite an iconic moment in British history when you see them on the step, because Diana did exactly the same with William, 31 years ago now.
BURNETT: And as you say, kind of that picture, that will stand for this moment, to so many. Right now, it's a headline. But we don't have any images yet, right? No one has seen the baby. No one has seen the parents.
But, you think we will get the game tomorrow? I have been hearing sometimes it takes weeks before we find out the name of the baby. But you think this time we'll get it.
FOSTER: Well, I was talking to one of the royal aide. They were talking how when William was born, it took a few days to announce the name. But when Harry was born, they announced it on the way out of the hospital. They said probably think more about Harry in terms of the announcement.
So, that's pretty clear that they -- they are considering releasing it earlier. Also if you keep, if there is a name, they have decided on a name, you are keeping the story going a lot, lot longer. I actually think there has been such a spectacular media coverage of this story. They wouldn't mind if it died down sooner rather than later. There's certainly no need to extend it.
In terms of pictures, family pictures -- in the next few weeks, there will be a stills photographer invited to take shots which will be shared. But they're going to be very, very private family, Erin. They're already private as a couple. I do think this is going to make them more protective seeing the way William has been over today. I think it's going to be as private as he can until he feels comfortable about all of this.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, to Max Foster, who's put in a long day of labor himself.
By the way, we talked about the spectacular, obsessed media coverage. Yes, you are either one of those people who care a lot about this story. Or say, "What are they talking about all day?"
And you know what? We're going to have more on that in a moment. But I want to bring in our royal commentators now, Victoria Arbiter, who spent her teen years living at Kensington Palace and Katie Nicholl, a royal correspondent and columnist for "The Mail on Sunday", who joins us from London.
Great to see both of you. And you are obviously the two people know the most about this.
Victoria, let me start with you, because -- you know, when people have a baby now you get an e-mail with a picture. You know, you might call the parents first, or whatever. But that's not how this works, right? Queen Elizabeth II gets the news first and then who?
VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, and then it would have been the Middletons, Charles and Camilla, the government ministers. There is a hierarchy of people that get to find out first. I think what was quite interesting was that the palace aides were talking about the spectacle and theater, this announcement coming out, being police escorted to Buckingham Palace and being on the easel, and that being the first we knew.
But they changed their minds before that happened and sent out an e-mail blast. On the one hand, it was a little bit disappointing because we've been building up to all this drama. But at the same time, it prevents a stampede. It was simpler. It was more efficient. So, the decision was made.
BURNETT: There might have been a death in the stampede to the easel. Given the coverage, I would not be surprised if that have happened, people.
All right. Katie, let me ask you, Prince William, as Max Foster just reported, he is there in the hospital. Obviously, they will have their private place. But he is there tonight. Max was saying, look they expect them to come out and give the iconic photo in front of the hospital tomorrow morning.
So when do you think we might hear from them? At that point, you know, will they say the name right then? Or do you think we might have to wait? How does that work?
KATIE NICHOLL, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think Max is probably right. We know there will be a few words from the proud father. I don't know whether Catherine will say anything. It's going to be interesting, won't it? Who will be holding the baby? If William is going to say a few words, possibly, it will be Kate holding the baby.
I would imagine if they decided on the name they will probably say it there and then. I do think they will want to bring this media circus, which is what it has become. I'm sure you can see behind me, there are still people camped at the palace. My bet they'll be here all night. And I think they will want to bring it to a close.
They're going to want to go back to Kensington Palace and just enjoy this very special time with their baby, and just take a step now back out of the media limelight. This has been the most anticipated royal baby in many, many, many decades. As you say, that picture tomorrow will be incredibly iconic of them on the steps of the Lindo Wing. It will bring back many memories.
BURNETT: Certainly will. And, Victoria, I have to say, there were a lot of Americans outside of that palace. I think maybe more than British people, which is a separate with our conflict that we seem to have with -- you know, there is this whole revolution, now we're obsessed with the monarchy.
But before we go, what do you think the name will be?
ARBITER: I think, I've said from day one, I thought it would be George Arthur Phillip. George simply because it was the queen's beloved father, it goes back centuries, the name. It would be George VII. But William can be quite stubborn and if he knows, if his own favorite, I think he'll do away with it. Long shot, Arthur or Albert.
BURNETT: Albert would be good.
All right. Thanks very much to both of you. We appreciate it.
And now as you may have noticed, because it's been unavoidable, for weeks the world has been obsessed with the news of the royal baby. It is an obsession, though, that is not new. It's actually more than a century, royal fanatics have awaited the news of the royal birth here in America. Yes, here in America. The fascination has reached new heights.
We take a look at some of the media frenzy that -- covered this over the past -- well, many, many years. And here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The one job Kate has to do immediately after the wedding was get pregnant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The duke and duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, are expecting a baby.
(CHEERS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pictures of her, baby bump and all, on display on a tropical vacation have been published.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're here in the Lindo Wing, (INAUDIBLE) where she to give birth any day now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Lindo Win is the most exclusive wing of St. Mary's Paddington Hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Already, media from across the world are camped out and ready to go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have got tripod after tripod. And it stretches all the way down the street. Quite a heat wave in the U.K., of course, (INAUDIBLE) degrees, and everyone goes into meltdown. Things are getting dense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prime minister, possibly the archbishop of Canterbury, as well, are all waiting by their phones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kensington Palace say that the duchess of Cambridge has been delivered of a son.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, plenty more to come from here of course, none of it news, because that will come from Buckingham Palace. But that won't stop us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT tonight, Joe Concha, a television critic for Mediaite.
Now, we do this in the spirit of the moment. It's a fun moment. It's a fun story.
The people are really twisted in a sense in their obsession over the story too. So, can you just tell me -- why people care so much?
JOE CONCHA, TELEVISION CRITIC, MEDIAITE: Well, you say people, when we are talking, you're talking about men and women. Women care a lot. Men can care less. I'm telling you. You have a Facebook page, go visit.
BURNETT: I am not on Facebook. Anecdotally I can tell you that I believe what you're saying.
CONCHA: This is a female story. And I think it's become so big because people are looking for something uplifting out there. The Zimmerman trial is just -- racism, racism, it's not exactly a happy story. Yesterday, you get Phil Mickelson winning the British Open. He's the ultimate family guy. Kate Middleton, you can't find anybody on earth who doesn't like her. So, who better from central casting, than her, and we're looking for something positive. And what better than a royal baby.
BURNETT: Than a royal baby.
Now, even, President Obama issued a statement. Now, that shouldn't surprise, they're, obviously, most important ally, "Michelle and I are pleased to congratulate the duke and duchess of Cambridge on the joyous occasion of the birth of their first child. We wish them all the happiness and blessings that parenthood brings."
I merely mention that because any time I see someone getting a sound bite outside Buckingham Palace, they were American. Americans care a lot about this.
CONCHA: Sure.
BURNETT: For a country that says we don't want a monarchy.
CONCHA: Amazing, right?
BURNETT: Yes, pretty amazing.
CONCHA: Well, it's a big story. You know, you worked in finance at one point, you know, follow the money. The ratings on this have been incredible. In this case, we're talking about media.
FOX and MSNBC, they're kind of doing the political stuff. They're covering the story, of course.
BURNETT: Right.
CONCHA: CNN going all in on it. Last week they did a show, 10:00 p.m., they preempted Anderson and they put on "Will and Kate Plus One", you double your ratings. "NEW DAY", it's been on for like five minutes. It won in the demo last week, one day last week. Why? Because CNN is going all in on the story like they did with our human interest stories.
So, that steams to be the trend right now. MSNBC and FOX are doing the political stuff. CNN is saying let's find human interest stuff, and nothing better than the story here.
BURNETT: Well, thank you for being part of our coverage. Our show has not gone all in, although we like the story just fine, but we haven't.
CONCHA: You got a name? You're going to guess one?
BURNETT: I guess I'll go with Albert.
CONCHA: I'm going North.
BURNETT: You're going with North.
CONCHA: Was North taken? Is North still out there?
BURNETT: South is available.
CONCHA: South is available. OK, very good. That or Seven. I go with that one.
BURNETT: All right. By the way, "Will and Kate Plus One", you can watch it tonight.
CONCHA: Outstanding, 10:00 p.m.?
BURNETT: Ten p.m.
CONCHA: Yes, that's a plug. Very good.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you.
CONCHA: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: We appreciate your time.
All right. Still OUTFRONT, the pope has made his first foreign trip. Security officials discover a bomb, an important story after this.
And Geraldo set Twitter afire this weekend. There wasn't -- just had much going on. So, then he tweeted a picture of himself barely wearing a towel. And you know what? I'm defending Geraldo.
And later, the U.S. military bombs the Great Barrier Reef. And that is not a joke.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: And we're back with tonight's outer circle, where we reach out to sources around the world. And tonight, we go to Brazil, where police have found an explosive device near a sanctuary the pope is scheduled to visit this week. The pope arrived in Brazil this afternoon.
I asked Shasta Darlington about the device.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, an historic day in Rio de Janeiro, Latin America's first pope landed for what's really turning into a joyous homecoming. Pope Francis refused to use the bulletproof vehicles. Instead, he took a tour around the center in an open-backed pope mobile where thousand of pilgrims were waiting for him waving flags.
There will be some security concerns, however, after a small home made explosive device was discovered in the bathroom in the parking lot outside the shrine that the pope will visit on Wednesday. We're still looking into that, for more details.
This is just the beginning of World Youth Day -- a week-long celebration to really energize the church and especially young people. Erin, if there is one man who can do it it's Pope Francis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Thanks, Shasta.
And now our fifth story OUTFRONT, TMI. So, if you happen to see Geraldo's picture over the weekend, you probably did a double take. If you didn't, I will make or ruin your day.
FOX News contributor tweeted the following picture, earlier yesterday morning. That's right. Take that down so you can see it. See the towel was inappropriately low. It was a nude selfie, as it's called, when you take a picture of yourself, Geraldo did cover himself with a perfectly placed towel. (INAUDIBLE) in a line of work altogether.
But along with the picture, he tweeted the following picture, "70 is the new 50. Erica and family are going to be PO'ed, but at my age." Now, Erica is his wife, apparently took all in good humor.
It begs the question, though, is this over-sharing? Which is a much broader question, by the way, for social media and Twitter.
OUTFRONT tonight, Stephanie Miller, Dean Obeidallah and Michael Medved.
Stephanie, I want to go on the record and say, OK, yes it is oversharing. Yes, I wish he hadn't sent it. However, he is not incorrect in his statement that he was pretty amazing. The man is 70 years old.
STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO HOST: I actually wished he had been dressed like a thug or anything else, just dressed in some way. As you remember he said about Trayvon Martin, when you dress like a thug, you get treated look one, which is kind of like one of the more egregious things he said.
However, I have just said on this show previously, Erin, that I'm gay. I have to be honest that I was actually questioning until I saw this photo. Now, I'm really, really gay.
BURNETT: I thought you were going to say something about Geraldo and I didn't know where you were going for just one brief, horrifying second. OK.
MILLER: No, not question anymore. Totally gay.
(LAUGHTER)
MICHAEL MEDVED, RADIO HOST: Stephanie, are you trying to make sure that Geraldo wins the GLAAD man of the year award for confirming you in your orientation? (INAUDIBLE) that would be necessary. My reaction -- my reaction is Geral-don't. Really, he tweeted 70 is the new 50. Actually, it's more like 70 is the new 15. What kind of mature journalist or serious journalist has a need to take a picture of himself when he comes out of the shower. He looks great. Congratulations on working out, Geraldo. But, come on, really?
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, COMEDIAN: Medved and Miller, you guys are the more majority of radio --
MILLER: If Erin Burnett wanted to go this way. She could send hers out, and do a gangsta and go, bam, Geraldo! She has too much class.
(LAUGHTER)
OBEIDALLAH: Why are you guys hitting on Geraldo? You are puritanical odd couple. You two should not agree. An angel loses its wings every time you two agree.
BURNETT: No wings left.
OBEIDALLAH: This is ridiculous.
So, two quick things. One he is 70. He looks greats for the age. Let him enjoy himself.
BURNETT: OK. But why does he have to make other people look?
(CROSSTALK)
OBEIDALLAH: Medved, one thing, look, I love that he kept the glasses on. Look at the body. My pupils are still private. Appreciate that kind of thing, like certain parts of his body. You can't look at.
But I challenge, Medved and Miller, you are younger than him, you do the same thing. We should be thankful it wasn't Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio show host --
MEDVED: Promise you we won't. Promise you we won't. Look, in terms of Geraldo wearing the glasses --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Go ahead, Michael.
MEDVED: He wore the glasses so he could inspect every perfect inch of himself in the mirror, which is what this have to do with.
(CROSSTALK)
MEDVED: Support to be reporting stories.
OBEIDALLAH: He is enamored with himself a little bit.
(CROSSTALK) MILLER: Let me tell you one thing, Erin -- nothing comes from drinking games with brown liquor or nude photos after 1:00 a.m. It just doesn't.
OBEIDALLAH: He did admit today that he had a few drinks before he did this, which does explain the glasses and the fact that he's (INAUDIBLE)
BURNETT: And maybe the fact that he did it.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: But to the point, Michael, isn't this an oversharing? Fine, you look great. But why? Why?
(CROSSTALK)
OBEIDALLAH: He's going to run for Senate in New Jersey and sort of the Anthony Weiner, putting yourself back into politics perhaps. I mean, but the guy did it intentionally.
BURNETT: Weiner just would have sent the lower half of his body, selectively covering his head.
OBEIDALLAH: What is the problem with him doing this? He is not naked. There are women with more clothes off in a Victoria's Secret catalog.
(CROSSTALK)
MILLER: Can you imagine -- can you imagine Walter Cronkite going "I'm Walter Cronkite"?
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: We are going to have to take a break there. Thank you very much to all of you.
Every night we take a look outside the day's stories, and tonight the Great Barrier Reef is our story, the largest network of coral structures. It is 1,800 miles of Australia's Northeast Coast. And home to thousands of species. It endangered itself, a crucial, ecological and cultural feature, the only thing that that have been able to slow it down are humans. Pollution, shipping and fishing are the biggest threats to the reef's survival.
But despite man kind's disregard, the Great Barrier Reef has taken everything we have thrown at it and survived. So, we dropped a few bombs on it. Yes, because during a training exercise last week, two American fighter jets dropped four bombs on to the Great Barrier Reef marine park. The laser guided explosives, laser guided at fish or something, not sure.
Anyway, they weighed 2,000 pounds. They were released by the pilots when their exercise was scrubbed at the last minute. They weren't sure they would be able to make it back to base with that payload. Before you get too worked up, about the U.S. military bombing one of the national wonders, owned or whatever, part of the territory of one of our greatest allies, you should know the bombs weren't armed. According to the U.S. Navy, the environmental impact was, quote-unquote, "minimal". That's what they said.
Still, 2,000 pound dropped on to a national, natural wonder, of coral, full of great life from a great height, minimal seems a bit dense of a word to use. You know, environmentalists are often criticized, right, for being alarmists and sometimes sure, let's admit. Their constant warnings get a little old.
But if you've don't want to hear from environmentalists, maybe you should stop giving them ammunition like that.
OUTFRONT next: super human deeds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: An amazing story out of Japan. At a train station 15 miles northwest of Tokyo, a woman fell into the gap between the train and the platform, she had been a passenger on the train, she fell into the gap, and then, she was unable to move. In this life or death situation, the staff and passengers didn't panic.
Now, they actually worked together to lift a 32 ton carriage. And release the 30-year-old woman who, by the way, when they released her, incredibly was unharmed.
What's more, and we have to mention this, because this would probably only happen in Japan. Train service resumed as normal eight minutes later. It's easy to imagine people standing by at a loss of what to do or is a person is in dire need of help. We always study case studies in psychology, about groups of people group-thinking their way into doing nothing.
But this story was totally different. And it was a wonderful one. Hopefully, we'll start hearing a lot more like it.
Thanks for watching. "A.C. 360" starts right now.
