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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Jackson's Former Wife Testifies; Tropical Threats; The Way Forward; Bleacher Report
Aired August 16, 2013 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. It's great to see you.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Nobody is eating dog or cat food this morning.
BERMAN: But dogs and cats are. They're some of our - our most loyal viewers.
SAMBOLIN: But don't - don't feed it to them. But don't feed it to them until we tell you about this pet recall.
Nice to have you with us this morning. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It's great to see you. It is 5:30 in the East.
Egypt is bracing for more violence today. The Muslim Brotherhood calling for a Friday of anger to begin within the next few hours, potentially drawing tens of thousands of people to the street. The military, we understand, has now blocked off the entrances to Tahrir Square using armored vehicles and barbed wire.
This just days after the bloody crackdown on supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy. The death toll from that crackdown stands at 580, with thousands injured. And there are reports this morning that dozens of Christian churches have been attacked, some burned. It's not clear who is behind these attacks.
Meantime, President Obama is condemning the violence, including against the churches. He has called off joint military exercises with Egypt that had been planned for next month. And the State Department now reviewing its aid to the Egyptian government.
SAMBOLIN: In other news this morning, Hannah Anderson, the 16-year-old kidnapped by a family friend, has made her first public appearance. It happened at a fund-raiser in San Diego. There's a picture. She hurried past reporters outside a restaurant. The media were invited, but they were not allowed inside. Dozens of neighbors and friends were there to help raise money for the funerals for Anderson's mother and for her little brother. And her father, Brett, told reporters that his daughter is recovering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT ANDERSON, HANNAH'S FATHER: It's a small community that we're a part of and the community came together putting on this great fund- raiser for Hannah and hopefully her future and healing. Hannah sends her love. She's doing good day by day. And we'll just keep moving forward from here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Meantime, a search warrant obtained by CNN affiliate KFMB shows that police discovered a handwritten note and other letters written by Hannah inside her captor's burned out home. Along with incendiary devices, that leads them to believe the house fire was caused by human actions.
BERMAN: We've heard a lot the last few months about Michael Jackson's life and who was responsible for his death as his family pursues a wrongful death case against a concert promoter. But now his former wife is shedding some light on what it was like to live with Jackson and what it was like for his kids after he died. Here's Ted Rowlands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a second day of testimony, Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, mesmerized jurors, talking about her life with the king of pop, including his journey into addiction, which she said started after this horrific accident in 1984 that burned Michael Jackson's scalp.
But Rowe also talked about the good times. "He wanted to be the best parent he could be," Rowe said, as photos of her, Jackson and their children were shown in court. This photo, she said, was taken when she picked Jackson up on her motorcycle from a movie set. He stayed in costume while she gave him a ride. And Rowe broke down in tears while this concert video was played from 1996 in Munich, Germany. Munich is where Rowe testified she saw doctors administer doses of Propofol to induce Jackson's sleep, the drug that eventually killed him. She said she told her boss, Jackson's dermatologist, Arnie Klein, that she was worried that Jackson was addicted to Propofol. AEG lawyers say that's why they called her as a witness.
MARVIN PUTNAM, AEG (ph) ATTORNEY: I don't know how she couldn't do anything but help our case. She just let everyone know that the people in Michael's life were worried about his Propofol use as early as the late '80s, early '90s.
ROWLANDS: The most dramatic moment came when she was asked about how Jackson's death affected the children. She referred to Paris Jackson's recent suicide attempt saying, quote, "she's devastated. She tried to kill herself. She doesn't feel like she has a life anymore."
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: Well, some good news this morning on the fire lines in Utah. A wildfire burning near Park City is now 50 percent contained. And officials say the Rockport Fire only burned eight homes. Originally they thought it was 14 homes that were burned out there. Some residents may be allowed to return to their homes today. That's also a bit of good news.
BERMAN: A little bit of a different story in Idaho, though. A series of massive wildfires there continues to burn east of Boise, destroying dozens of homes, threatening others. The latest is the Beaver Creek Fire. It's at 68 square miles now. Only 9 percent contained. The Elk Fire is up to 116,000 acres. It's said to have destroyed at least 38 homes. But, with that one, there are some reports of success. The Elk Fire now said to be 40 percent contained.
SAMBOLIN: And while there are fires out west, there is a storm brewing that could bring rain and lots of it to the Gulf Coast, an already waterlogged southeast. Indra Petersons is tracking that for us.
I am never going to complain about rain again.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, seriously.
SAMBOLIN: (INAUDIBLE) after these folks have been drenched.
PETERSONS: I mean everyone in the northeast has kind of been complaining this summer of so much rain, but it's nothing like the southeast.
SAMBOLIN: No, nothing.
PETERSON: Yes. And, unfortunately, of course, the tropics now also becoming more active.
We're going to start with Tropical Storm Erin because, yes, this name is getting a lot of attention. But keep in mind, it is way out there. Here's the coast of Africa. It's actually only one-mile-per-hour over tropical storm strength. So, actually pretty weak. It's expected to strengthen for the next day or so, but quickly weaken thereafter into a depression. Now, notice, even as we go a week out, we're still talking about it being in the middle of the ocean. So still a long ways to go before we start tracking that.
The immediate concern today is really going to be for the moisture here that's hanging out in the Caribbean, right over the Yucatan Peninsula. We're looking at this development. Now, where this moisture goes, you can actually see some of it already impacting Florida. So that's key.
But there's a little bit of change from yesterday and today. Right now it looks like if it does develop into anything, it will actually go into Texas by the beginning of next week. We'll be monitoring that.
But for the current impact, we already have a stationary front here in the southeast. So that alone produces heavy rainfall. Then we bring in all this tropical moisture and this upper low right here will actually back track the stationary front just a hint that is going to allow this moisture to really start to creep up and bring very heavy rainfall really as it goes through the week. I mean look at these numbers, anywhere from two to four, even three to five inches of rain impacting the entire southeast. Here's Friday. You can see the moisture already going into Florida and Georgia. By Saturday -- I'll step out of the way - we'll start to see it impact a little bit more of Louisiana and Mississippi. And notice, starting to go into the Mid-Atlantic. And by Sunday, we're going to pull it all the way up to the northeast here and also start seeing some of that remnant there, a little bit of that moisture going in through Texas.
So, rain, we're already talking about how bad it is right now but we're not even there yet. Saturday and Sunday, a lot more headed our way.
BERMAN: You look at the panhandle there and that cloud just stays over it the whole entire time.
PETERSONS: Why not just keep a stationary front all year long at this point, right, it just stays. Yes.
BERMAN: OK. All right, Indra, thanks so much.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you.
All right, 37 minutes past the hour.
Another woman has now come forward accusing San Diego's mayor of sexual harassment. This time it's 67-year-old Peggy Shannon who works part time helping senior citizens at San Diego City Hall. The great grandmother says Filner would routinely stop by her desk and make inappropriate comments about asking her out and more she says. She and her attorney, Gloria Allred, talked about it with Piers Morgan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEGGY SHANNON, FILNER ACCUSER: He came up to me without any warning when I was outside going home and hugged me and kissed me. And I was appalled. I was shocked. And it's not something that I thought that the mayor would ever do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Shannon is the 16th woman to accuse Filner of sexual harassment. Filner maintains his innocence and has so far refused to resign.
BERMAN: It does seem Anthony Weiner continues to pay the price for the latest episode in his sexting escapades. A new poll puts him at the bottom of the pack in the New York City mayor's race. The NBC/"Wall Street Journal"/Marist poll shows Weiner at 11 percent going into the Democratic primary. He was once the front-runner in this race. He lead in at least a few polls. But Weiner's numbers have plummeted since admitting that he continued his sexting habit after leaving Congress.
SAMBOLIN: And with the next presidential election some three years away, Republicans are making their plans to get back to the White House and they're asking one of their party's biggest stars to help actually chart that course forward. Jim Acosta has that. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside the hotel right next to the Boston Convention Center --
MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory.
ACOSTA: Where Mitt Romney gave his concession speech last November, top Republican Party leaders are meeting in search of ways to break their losing streak. So they huddled behind closed doors to hear how New Jersey Governor Chris Christie takes care of business back in his state. Christie talked tough about his dealings with the New Jersey teacher's union.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY (voice-over): You can sidle up next to them, whisper sweet nothings in their ear, you know, trying to hope they just don't punch you. A second alternative is, you punch them first. You punch them first.
ACOSTA: Christie also delivered what some in the room considered a veiled jab in his recent war of words with Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul.
CHRISTIE: I think we have some folks who believe that our job is to be college professors.
ACOSTA: The governor argued the GOP's job should be to win.
CHRISTIE: For our ideas to matter, we have to win. Because if we don't win, we don't govern. And if we don't govern, all we do is shout into the wind. And so I am going to do anything I need to do to win.
CHRISTIE (on camera): Got to come back to winning.
ACOSTA: Christie's comments were obtained by CNN and "Time" magazine as the speech was closed to the press.
ACOSTA (on camera): Who made the request for this to be closed, the governor or the RNC?
SEAN SPICER, RNC SPOKESMAN: There's no request. It was a closed pressed event. We put the scheduled out saying it was closed. A lot of what happens here is closed because it's a business meeting of the party.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Other events were open to the media, like this panel discussion featuring women and minority Republicans who said the party is becoming more inclusive.
T.W. SHANNON (R), OKLAHOMA STATE HOUSE SPEAKER: The liberal media would have you believe that there's nobody that looks like the people on this stage that have an "r" behind their name. And that's just not the case.
ACOSTA: Jim Acosta, CNN, Boston. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Some customers of Time Warner Cable are now suing to get money back for the loss of CBS programming. They say they never would have signed up for the cable service if they had known the channels were about to be cut off. Time Warner Cable dropped CBS' local stations and Showtime in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas nearly two weeks ago in a fee dispute. Time Warner Cable, we should note, is a separate company from Time Warner, which owns CNN.
SAMBOLIN: Forty minutes past the hour. Seattle police officers will be on patrol at this year's Hemp Fest. They're going to be handing out munchies. Officers will distribute 1,000 bags of Doritos as part of Operation Orange Fingers. And attached to the bags will be a label directing marijuana fans to a webpage set up by the Seattle Police Department. The site clarifies what is and isn't legal under Washington state's new marijuana law allowing adults 21 and over to legally possess up to an ounce of pot.
BERMAN: Yes, the key to marketing is know your audience, you know?
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BERMAN: I think it's kind of ingenious.
SAMBOLIN: Munchies. Orange fingers. I do like it.
BERMAN: No further comments at this time.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, right.
BERMAN: Coming up, a pet food recall this morning for dogs and cats. Why some products are being pulled from store shelves. I hope it's for their owners, too, actually.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Listen up, Berman, this is very important. It's a major pet recall, food recall to tell you about this morning. It involves Iams and Eukanuba products for dogs and for cats. There are fears that a few batches of the food may have been contaminated with salmonella, folks. The manufacturer has said so far there are no reports of illness and the recall is simply precautionary right now. The food in question has best buy dates in November of 2014. And we have a link to the full list of the products on our website. Go to cnn.com/earlystart. So be very carefully. Salmonella is very dangerous.
BERMAN: Oh, yes, no, that's serious.
All right, brace yourself now for some unnecessary cuteness. It is, in fact, a brand-new species.
SAMBOLIN: Unnecessary? Oh.
BERMAN: A new species of mammal. It is -- SAMBOLIN: Does he bite?
BERMAN: Actually, no. He has claws, though.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, my gosh, he's so cute.
BERMAN: He's the olinguito. He is found in the trees of the Andean cloud forests. Smithsonian researchers, they were searching for a similar animal called the olingo, but -- which is part of the raccoon family, of course, when they discovered this guy. The olinguito had been misidentified for years and years and years. It's its own species. We only just discovered it now. It weighs two pounds.
SAMBOLIN: We?
BERMAN: I say "we," I'm a member of the human race, aren't I?
SAMBOLIN: OK.
BERMAN: We. It's a success. But do not fear the olinguito.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF CORWIN, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST: It is not dangerous. This creature, the olinguito, belongs to a group of mammals that we call the carnivores, but the carnivore group is very diverse. It ranges from bears to cats and felines and canines. It's primarily a fruit eater or eating nectar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Do -- do not fear.
SAMBOLIN: Can I keep him as a - can I keep him as a pet at home?
BERMAN: Absolutely.
SAMBOLIN: Olinguito.
BERMAN: The olinguito. Do not fear the olinguito.
SAMBOLIN: (INAUDIBLE).
BERMAN: He's so very cute and cuddly, folks. Described, as you can tell, as a kind of a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear. It's like a mash-up there. And as we said, it's primary found in the high trees of Columbia and Ecuador. So if you want --
SAMBOLIN: But you'll miss him because he's really tiny, so you can barely see him.
BERMAN: At two pounds, yes.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BERMAN: He'll be up in the rafters. SAMBOLIN: How cute.
BERMAN: Really very cute.
SAMBOLIN: Olinguito.
All right, so let's take a look at -
BERMAN: You like correcting - you're like correcting my pronunciation for like hours.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. Yes. Olinguito.
BERMAN: It's new. How am I supposed to know how to say it?
SAMBOLIN: You know what, when I read it, I thought it was olinguito, not - so you - I thought you were right -
BERMAN: Thank you.
SAMBOLIN: But apparently you're wrong.
BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).
SAMBOLIN: Chris and Kate, what's coming up on NEW DAY.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I think this is a tomato/tomato situation. Let's not make this a wedge in the relationship, OK, guys?
SAMBOLIN: Oh, yes, no. Don't worry, we got plenty to wedge our relationship.
BOLDUAN: Right. There's plenty more than the olinguito, whatever you want to call it.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Didn't know that J.B. has zoology there on the old resume.
SAMBOLIN: He doesn't.
CUOMO: A mash-up between a house cat and a teddy bear.
BERMAN: What (INAUDIBLE).
BOLDUAN: He took it as like a freshman in college electable, you know?
CUOMO: What would its -- what would its Latin name be?
BERMAN: Olinguiteram (ph), as a matter of fact.
CUOMO: Thank you very much.
BOLDUAN: All right. We do have other news other than the olinguito coming up in the show.
CUOMO: All right, so Hannah Anderson, the 16-year-old, you know, we followed this entire story here, dramatic rescue last Saturday. She seems to be fine. Maybe even better than fine. She made her first public appearance. She's been online. She's been on Instagram. We're going to talk to two of her friends, know her very well, about what she knew about James DiMaggio, the man who took her, and how she's doing right now. And we're also going to talk to a therapist about what the best way is for someone to move forward in this kind of situation.
BOLDUAN: I think some people are surprised to hear from her and see her so quickly after such a traumatic experience.
Another story we're going to be talking about, we have, what -- I have how many cups of coffee a day?
CUOMO: Seventeen.
BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly. It's a morning staple. But, of course, we have to be bearers of bad news and ask this question, is coffee dangerous? A new study is looking at how much is too much and why that extra cup of joe could be harmful. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the man to explain it.
My litmus test is when my heart starts racing, I think it's time to stop.
SAMBOLIN: That could be one espresso, though, right? It depends on how strong the coffee is.
BERMAN: Yes, what are you going to do?
BOLDUAN: Exactly. Exactly. That's a very good point. So we'll talk to Sanjay about it. So caffeine up and then we'll have you guys --
BERMAN: Exactly.
SAMBOLIN: We are. I'm trying to figure out how many ounces are in this particular cup so that I can decide whether that's two already.
BERMAN: Not nearly enough. Never enough.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, guys.
BERMAN: All right, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Eighteen-year-old swimmer Victoria Arlen had her bags packed for the Paralympic world championships in Montreal this week, but she was told to stay home because her paralysis is not considered permanent.
SAMBOLIN: Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report."
Good morning. ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, good morning, guys. Well, basically what the International Paralympic Committee is saying is that since Victoria Arlen has a glimmer of hope to one day walk again, she is not allowed to compete in any Paralympic event.
Now, this is not the first time this has happened to Arlen. Right before the London Paralympic games, the IPC ruled her ineligible to compete but an arbitrator overruled them. Arlen went on to win four medals while setting a world record in the 100 meter freestyle. But now she has been banned again. And on her FaceBook page Arlen said that she is heartbroken by the ruling.
Well, soon, Major League Baseball teams won't have to worry about losing games because of bad calls by the umpires. Commissioner Bud Selig announced yesterday that baseball will have an expanded replay system in place next season. Managers will now be allowed to challenge plays, just like coaches do in football. They'll get one challenge in the first six innings and two more after the seventh inning.
All right, check out this next video. You see number 24? Well, that's not this little league team's coach. That's 12-year-old Chad Lorkowski. He's 6'3", 219 pounds. Lorkowski plays for Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He's taller than the team's head coach and his fastball is clocked at 75 miles per hour. He'll be on the mound today as Michigan takes on their first game in the Little League World Series. Good luck to those kids that have to face him.
Well, Los Angeles may not have an NFL team, but now they have the next best thing, an arena league team owned by the heavy metal band KISS. Yes, that's right, KISS members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are part of the new ownership group for the area league expansion team that will be called the L.A. Kiss. Simmons said attending an L.A. Kiss game in 2014 will be similar to a live KISS show with thrilling, heart pounding action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENE SIMMONS, KISS BAND FOUNDER: Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive. There's nothing like AFL. And that's what we're going to promote. We're part of this, but we want you to know that we're proud to be part of the entire AFL family, amen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Amen, guys. No word yet on if the players will be required to wear face paint or have spikes on their shoulder pads.
BERMAN: I think they should have to wear makeup. And I can say, if it's as exciting as a KISS show, it will be fantastic, because their shows are awesome.
SCHOLES: Should be exciting.
BERMAN: Totally cool.
SAMBOLIN: All right, thank you, Andy. BERMAN: I've been on tour with them.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, I'm sure.
BERMAN: I have. Look.
SAMBOLIN: I'm sure you have the picture.
BERMAN: Go to my FaceBook page. There's a picture of me with my friends and KISS.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, that's true.
BERMAN: We'll be right back.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: That is it for us on EARLY START. It is time for NEW DAY.
BERMAN: Yes, have a great weekend, but watch NEW DAY first. Chris and Kate, take it away.
BOLDUAN: Thank you. Such a team player. Thanks, guys, we'll see you in a bit.
SAMBOLIN: OK.
CUOMO: All right, you're getting your breakfast ready. You're going to peak up now and, you know what, this is the perfect time because here on NEW DAY, at the top of the hour, it's time for your top news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT ANDERSON, HANNAH ANDERSON'S FATHER: Hannah sends her love. She's doing good day by day. And we'll just keep moving forwards from here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Hannah strong. Hannah Anderson making her first public appearance, reuniting with friends and family. The latest on how she's doing.
BOLDUAN: Breaking the rules. A new report shows the NSA overstepped its authority thousands of times each year. Has the domestic spying program gone too far?
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Super soaker. The southeast set for a deluge this weekend. Fears of flash flooding as a tropical storm is brewing in the Atlantic and may take aim at the U.S. We're tracking it all.
CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.
CUOMO: Yes, I will say it every Friday because we want to. TGIF! Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It's August 16th, 6:00 in the East, I'm Chris Cuomo.
BOLDUAN: And I'm Kate Bolduan. We're here with news anchor Michaela Pereira.
PEREIRA: Good morning, everyone.
BOLDUAN: Good morning, everyone.
Coming up with morning, a debate CNN has been on the forefront of this whole week, the push for medical marijuana. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is now being pressured by the parents of this little girl. They say she'll die if she cannot have access to medical marijuana. And Christie said he would make a decision today on whether or not he would legalize the drug for severely sick children, the bill that's on his desk. The father's heartbreaking plea and the governor's choice coming up.
CUOMO: All right, plus, we all know Judge Judy, right? Tough, great TV.
BOLDUAN: Oh, yes.
CUOMO: She's even tougher when she's defending her family. Her son is a district attorney here in the New York area and he's caught up in a scandal involving his personal trainer. She is now speaking out about it and her son is here live to tell his side of the story.
BOLDUAN: It will be interesting.
PEREIRA: And, you know, we've seen those videos of crash test dummies, right? Check this out, dummies for pets. There's a new push to make car restraints safer for animals. We're going to introduce you to the researchers working with those dummy dogs.
CUOMO: Somehow it bothers you more
