Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Baltimore Ravens Win Super Bowl; Revered Sniper Killed on the Homefront; Warmer Weather on the Way; Deadly Bus Crash Kills Eight, Dozens Injured; Big Ad Buzz

Aired February 04, 2013 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What the heck was up with the lights? What caused the power outage at the Super Bowl last night and how did it influence the game?

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we find out today if the remains of a king were found in a parking lot in England? King Richard III ruled more than 600 years ago.

BERMAN: A really, really old king.

SAMBOLIN: Yes.

All right. Thirty minutes past the hour. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. About 30 minutes after the hour right now.

Super Bowl XLVII was memorable for a lot of reasons.

The nail-biting finish with the Ravens coming this close to blowing a 22-point to 49ers. The 49ers came up just five yards short of the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. I mean, they were down 22 points.

And then the bizarre 34-minute delay when the lights went out. And it just went out inside the Superdome. They Ravens were on a verge of a blowout before the blackout and it really seemed to throw the Ravens for a loop. It was all enough to distract a little bit for the Super Bowl commercials.

I mean, it was that big of a deal that some people stop paying attention to the commercials.

CNN's Carlos Diaz was at the game. Hey, Carlos.

CARLOS DIAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How you doing?

Yes, basically, CBS missed a gold mine. They could just run commercials for the entire 34--minute delay and made millions of dollars. But what happened last night here at the Superdome was what Intercom, the power company that supplies power to the Superdome, said was basically an abnormality, a power surge, if you will, through a breaker and that's why half of the power went out in the Superdome last night. They are still investigating the cause of the abnormality.

But in all honesty, if we're being honest about this, it really wasn't that big of a deal inside the Superdome. Fans said it didn't really throw them off their game it allowed them to actually take a restroom break and refill their beers if they needed to after Beyonce's halftime show. So, there wasn't too much alarm inside the stadium and, of course, people watching at home, although confused really took that 34-minute break as a chance to kind of, you know, get the chips and dips going again.

But when you go to the game, it a situation where MVP Joe Flacco, the quarterback for the Ravens, said the blackout is something that will be talked about for years to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE FLACCO, SUPER BOWL XLVII MVP: Unbelievable. Just one of the things you have to deal with. You know, I'm sure down the road, it will just make for a little bit better story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: All right. So, basically, you have that, you know, bizarre blackout. But it did affect the game in a small way, because the San Francisco 49ers did make a valiant comeback after that, and the momentum did definitely shift. But it was not enough for the Ravens to lose the game.

If they did lose the game, people in Baltimore would be screaming conspiracy theory this morning. But the Ravens came out on top with the final score of 34-32. Joe Flacco, your game MVP.

BERMAN: I would have been screaming theory. It felt like a huge momentum shift to me.

Let's talk about Ray Lewis, the future Hall of Fame linebacker of the Baltimore Ravens. It will be his last game. It wasn't a great game for him. But he certainly goes out on top. But how does this affect his legacy?

DIAZ: Yes. John, that's a great comment. You know, he didn't have this amazing game, but he was the center of attention for the Super Bowl, announcing before the Super Bowl that he'd be retiring.

There is controversy surrounding Ray Lewis. Thirteen years ago, he was involved in a murder where he pled down to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice. That has basically haunted him for 13 years. But he's done a lot in the NFL to kind of revamp his image and, you know, come out on top of this. After the game, he said it was a storybook ending to a storybook career. BERMAN: All right, Carlos. Great to see you. Thank you for braving New Orleans for us. For surviving the game and all the festivities surrounding it. Great to see you.

DIAZ: Thank you.

SAMBOLIN: It is 34 minutes past the hour.

It's hard to wrap your head around the death of Chris Kyle. The most lethal sniper in U.S. history shot and killed far away from the battlefield, at a gun range south of Ft. Worth, Texas. His alleged killer is said to be one of the fellow veterans that Kyle was trying to help adjust to civilian life.

Eddie Routh is charged of killing Kyle and another man Chad Littlefield on Saturday. The motive is unknown.

Kyle is a former Navy SEAL who served four combat tours in Iraq. He had 160 confirmed kills. After retiring, Kyle wrote a best-selling memoir called "American Sniper."

In 2011, he created a foundation to council other veterans. He described his frustration with the treatment of the veterans in a web series, "Inside the Team Room". This was last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS KYLE, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Instead of just going to the airport and saying thank you and shaking a hand -- take a step farther, why don't you go up, and random act of kindness, show your thanks. You know, you don't have to spend a dime, you can just spend your time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: Pat Kilbane is the host and producer of that series for SOFREP TV. And you might recognize him from Mad TV or one of his many other TV and movie credits.

Thank you for being with us this morning. We really appreciate it.

So, exactly how did you meet Chris? And what went through your mind when you found out he had been killed?

PAT KILBANE, HOST, SOFREP.COM'S "INSIDE THE TEAM ROOM": Well, I met Chris in April of last year. Brandon Webb, the creator and editor of SOFREP.com wanted to do a roundtable series, a roundtable discussion with Navy SEALs and he wanted to bring in Chris and he needed help, he needed a moderator and technical help. And so, he invited me to be part of it, and I was very proud to.

So it was during that day, a four-hour long conversation that I got to know Chris. We spent the rest of that evening together as well, hanging out. But I asked him some pretty probing questions, and he answered very candidly, which was exactly what Brandon was looking for out of the program.

SAMBOLIN: And --

KILBANE: It was quite an experience.

SAMBOLIN: As we listen to his story, we know that he was very committed to service men and women and the system failing them. What can you tell us about that?

KILBANE: Well, you know, when he was in Iraq, a lot of the work he did was called overwatch. As a sniper, he had the high ground, and he had a whole view of the battlefield so he could protect the Marines, who were moving below.

And I -- I feel like a guardian is a good way to describe Chris. He was a guardian of the Marines, when he was deployed.

And when he came home, he remained a guardian. He was very concerned about the way that veterans and service members were portrayed in the media. He felt like they need a fair shake. He understood the fog of war and the ambiguities of combat, and he wanted to make sure not only that we gave them the benefit of the doubt, but that we gave them the proper support when they came home.

He was very concerned that service members felt discarded when they returned home, and he wanted to facilitate -- help facilitate their transition from war to productive civilian life. And he knew first hand just how difficult that transition could be.

SAMBOLIN: I want to play a moment of that. It was a moment in your interview when Chris talked about Robert Bales. He's an American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in March of 2012. And what he urged was do not rush to judgment. Let's watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYLE: Don't be judging our boys over there unless you walked a mile in their shoes and you know what happened to 'em a week before, an hour before.

KILBANE: Yes.

KYLE: What put him in that mindset? Did we fail him, or did he fail us?

KILBANE: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: Is that something he shared with you?

KILBANE: Yes. And I think it's very poignant, given the circumstances, that this was a -- a former marine, that he had decided to help. He was picking up the slack where somebody else had dropped the ball in terms of helping this person transition from a wartime mentality to a civilian mentality.

And, yes, I think a lot of people have already rushed to judgment. I think the question: did we fail him or did he fail us, is an important question Chris would want that asked any time --

SAMBOLIN: That's interesting.

KILBANE: -- a veteran or service member is accused of doing something terrible.

When we put people in a situation where they have to see and experience really horrible things, it's very difficult to know what part that had in their behavior. And I think too that Chris encouraged that we recognize the depth of sacrifice that going into combat represents, and that we have -- that we give help at the other end of the agreement when they get out of the service that is commensurate with the depth of that sacrifice.

SAMBOLIN: Pat, I have to tell you -- you are keeping his memory alive. I would imagine that's precisely what he would be saying right now.

I just have one final question for you, and that is -- did you know if he struggled himself with adjusting back to civilian life?

KILBANE: You know, I read his book before the interview and all I learned about Chris and his own combat stress was from the book. When we sat down in the interview, I really wanted to get to that, because he mentioned in the book that he felt electrical buzzing feelings in his body, that he was having trouble sleeping, that he stayed home a lot, he did a lot of drinking. And when I asked him about those things in the interview, he -- he didn't answer. He didn't seem reticent about answering, but he did change the subject quickly to combat stress in general, and what we should be doing to help our veterans.

So, I don't know if he was shy about it. From what I understand, he's not shy at all about talking about it with other veterans. Maybe it was because I'm a civilian that he didn't want to share.

SAMBOLIN: All right. Pat Kilbane, I so appreciate you joining us this morning, host of SOFREP.com's "Inside the Team Room" with U.S. Navy SEALs. Thank you very much.

KILBANE: You're welcome.

BERMAN: All right. So, 41 minutes after the hour right now, and 600 years later, now -- now may actually be the winter of our discontent. Scientists think they found King Richard buried in a parking lot.

Stay with us.

SAMBOLIN: Clever, Berman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So we have some good news -- no, let's call it great news in the world of weather today. Meteorologist Indra Petersons joins us now live from the weather center.

Indra, what's up?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So much better, right? Finally, we're getting a break from this cold, arctic air. We're going to see temperatures start to rebound. Now, it might be slow throughout the Northeast. We're going to take what we can get, right?

Out towards New York right now, you're below freezing at 30. But just a couple of days, by Wednesday, you're getting close to the average at 38. Now, this is all going to be part of a pattern change that we've been waiting for, right? That cold, arctic air finally lifting out of the jet stream list off to the north. That being the eastern half of the country, and of course, on the West Coast, we know what that means. We're going to see that cold air die down, bringing them cool air on their side.

So, all of this kind of translates into some warmer temperatures in the south. We're going to see warm up there first. Notice, with well above normal, even some 70s toward Texas, but that doesn't mean we're not going to get any chance for showers. We're going to start to see some showers in the Mississippi Valley and also in Ohio Valley.

We're going to see couple of these clippers kind of kick on through for a few chances of snow. But overall, take a look at that picture already. I like the shadings of the whole story. Notice the blue and purple and finally the warmer temperatures on our side, right?

BERMAN: All right. We'll take what we can get. Indra Petersons, thanks very much.

SAMBOLIN: It is 45 minutes past the hour. Let's get you up to date on this morning's top stories.

Rescue workers are still on the scene of a deadly bus crash that happened on a narrow mountain highway. This is in Southern California. At least eight people are dead, dozens more injured after a tour bus rear ended a sedan, then crashed with a pickup truck and rolled over. This happened in the San Bernardino County about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. There were some children involved also in that crash.

BERMAN: The president travels to Minneapolis today, promoting his 35- point plan to battle gun violence. He'll meet with local law enforcement and political leaders before speaking this afternoon. That's scheduled for 2:30 eastern time.

SAMBOLIN: The vice president's European tour is in full swing today. Joe Biden will meet with French President Hollande in Paris to discuss the French deployment in Mali. Later this morning, he will be in London where a meeting with British prime minister, David Cameron, is planned as well.

BERMAN: So, dead men tell no tales or do they? Take a look at this. Scientists are expected to announce today that they have, quote, "highly convincing case," "a highly convincing case," that this battle-scarred skull found under a parking lot in Central England belongs to a lost British king, Richard III. SAMBOLIN: No.

BERMAN: That's what they say. I wouldn't lie to you about something this serious. Richard III is known as the last English monarch who was killed in battle way back in 1485. You remember that?

SAMBOLIN: Of course, I remember. And we're going to find out today. I can't wait.

ll right. Soledad O'Brien is joining us now with a look at what is ahead on "STARTING POINT". Good morning.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, "STARTING POINT": Good morning, too. Ahead this morning, Super Bowl XLVII finds a way to be electric while in the dark. The Ravens barely hold back to 49ers after that 34- minute power outage stalled the game. We got the highlights. A

little bit of a chat about Beyonce's halftime show, some will talk about the ads this morning.

We're going to talk with Mike & Mike, Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic from ESPAN's "Mike & Mike In The Morning."

Also, we talk with Ruben Singer, he's celebrity designer and stylist about some of Beyonce's fashion.

Then, a former Navy SEAL and top American sniper gunned down by a young man at a shooting range. It happened over the weekend. Did PTSD play a role in their deaths? We'll be joined by two former Navy SEALs who knew the man who died.

And Harvard students caught up in a widespread cheating scandal. We'll talk about what happens to them and how far the scandal went in in-depth report right at the top of the hour when "STARTING POINT" gets underway. We'll see you then.

BERMAN: All right. Fantastic. We, of course, are talking all about the Super Bowl ads. So, did you see the one from Century 21, the mother-in-law themed Super Bowl ad? We're going to talk to the co- founder of the company that made this ad. Find out what goes into making these multimillion dollar commercials. That's coming up after this quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: Welcome back. Fifty-one minutes past the hour. In case you missed it, we have been highlighting some of the most memorable ads from the Super Bowl. One of the ads created lots of buzz with this one from Century 21. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to be one big happy family.

(CHANTING) oh!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there a century 21 agent in the house?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the Century 21 agent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think my fiance is looking forward to moving in with my mother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Steve Red is the co-founder of Red Tettemer and Partners which created that ad. He joins us here now live on the set. So, you know, $4 million or so for a 30-second spot, they better be good, right? What were you shooting for there?

STEVE RED, CO-CREATOR, CENTURY 21 SUPERBOWL AD: Well, this is our second year in the bowl, and, last year, we came out with celebrities. So, the first year -- the thing about the Super Bowl that I found is you kind of have to -- as a brand, you have to find your voice. And you want to make something that stands out, but you don't want to make something so unrecognizable that it doesn't feel like you.

So, the first year in we said we want to make the stamp, we want to say that we're here and we want to -- we're here to play hard, so we used celebrities, and the second year, I feel like we made something closer to the Century 21 brand voice, which is all about being there when people need them.

So, this is about life stages, so getting married, your kids are moving out, you're having a baby, and those times in your life when you really need a real estate agent to come through for you

SAMBOLIN: That's so funny, because the guy fell like that, oh, my gosh, he just died.

RED: Right.

SAMBOLIN: So, "The New York Times" blogger said that this was merely a mother-in-law joke. How do you respond to that kind of criticism?

RED: Well, mother-in-law, there's a reason -- there are so many mother-in-law jokes. There's some truth to that, you know? Kids moving out, they're going out on their own for the first time, there are mothering mother-in-laws. So, we just played off that.

BERMAN: How many chefs are behind something like this? Again, the stakes are so incredibly high here. The pressure is going to be immense. There's got to be everyone weighing in.

RED: Tons. Tons. I mean, it's -- especially from the brand side from the company side, the stakes are huge, as you said. And, there are a lot of voices, there are a lot of people, but in the end, we work with a marketing crew at Century 21, and there are three or four people that make the ultimate decisions and they're really great to work with.

SAMBOLIN: There was a major moment during the Super Bowl and it was the blackout moment. An Oreo jumped on it like that via Twitter. How difficult is it for a team to come up with that and that quickly?

RED: The thing about the game that's changed in commercials, it's really fascinating. It's no longer just about the spot in the game. You have to be on it for months ahead of time. You have to figure out your strategy for -- when you're going to will release the spot, how are you going to play in the game, and then how are you going to play out for the game.

SAMBOLIN: But you said there was a team standing by in this case.

RED: For that specific instance, they had a social media team. They call it a war room for whatever happened, they were going to be act on it and the spectacular happened. And they were right on it. It was great.

BERMAN: And it was free. So, one of the most memorable ads of the whole Super Bowl for them, totally free. All right. Steve Red of Red Tettemer, so great to see you here today. Thanks for coming in and congratulations on the Super Bowl spot.

RED: Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: That's all for EARLY START this morning. So glad you're here with us. I'm John Berman.

SAMBOLIN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. "STARTING POINT" with Soledad O'Brien starts right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)