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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
"The Damage Is Almost Complete"; Deadly Flooding In Colorado; Patriots Top Jets In Sloppy Game
Aired September 13, 2013 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A New Jersey land mark destroyed in a massive blaze. Residents and tourists watching in horror as part of the Seaside Boardwalk burns to the ground. We are live with the very latest there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How high the creek was. How fast was, how muddy it was. How dangerous it was. It freaked us out.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Flash floods wiping out towns in Colorado. Several people dead. Thousands evacuated this morning. Indra Petersons is tracking the devastating storm for us. The National Weather Service has called this biblical.
PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: Katherine and I have recently become proud parents of a baby who has a voice match any lion's roar.
SAMBOLIN: If we gathered, we gathered. Prince William and Duchess Kate back in the spotlight. This is their first night out together, you remember that folks, since their baby boy was born. Do you remember what that felt like?
BERMAN: It's hard to find a babysitter.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: I wonder if they had the problems that I have --
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP
BERMAN (on-camera): Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
SAMBOLIN (on-camera): And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.
BERMAN: More now on our top story. The devastating fire that's ripped through two iconic towns on the Jersey Shore. The flames consuming block after block of Boardwalk and Seaside Park in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Parts of the same boardwalk that was torn to shreds by superstorm Sandy. Dozens of businesses were destroyed. They amazingly had survived the storm, but now, fire. Look at that. The fire has taken what Sandy could not. Don Lemon live in Seaside Park this morning. Don, give us a sense of the latest from the ground there.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You wonder? I have to be quite honest, if Mother Nature has it out for the Jersey Shore. You know, the quote of the day is what Sandy didn't destroy, this fire certainly did. We had initial reports of up to 30 businesses that were lost, 32. Now, we're hearing possibly 50 businesses. And that's probably every single business in this park behind me on the Boardwalk.
And as you look, you can still see that firefighters -- firefighters from 35 neighboring towns, John, came out to help fight this particular fire that started about 2:15 in the afternoon yesterday at Kohr Brothers Frozen Custard shop which is really just over my right shoulder here. What you're looking at now if you're live. You've been seeing live pictures. You're seeing hook and ladder trucks, as I said, from about 35 different towns around Seaside Park here.
And that's the epicenter that they're pouring on -- that they're shooting water onto now. We're told that were embers that were as big as my fist, your fist, that were shooting up into the sky when this fire was at its height. And right now, firefighters are telling us that the fire is still going, but it is contained and it is under control.
But they're saying that it was so big at one point they thought it was going to take the entire boardwalk with it as far as the eye could see. So, they had to start by building a fire trench like they do with wildfires. The first one didn't hold. So, they built a second one. That second one held.
So, now four to six blocks of businesses, and there are reports of up to 50 of those businesses completely destroyed, gone. There are injuries for firefighters, smoke inhalation, but luckily, no deaths -- John.
BERMAN: You know, Don, as we're looking at the pictures of that fire from yesterday afternoon into the evening, I think the sense that everyone around here had was, no, not there, not them. Governor Chris Christie, who was on the scene there, he did make the case, he said, look, you know, this is us. We will recover it. And Don, you know --
SAMBOLIN: Look at that black smoke. I mean, it's just really -- it was just an impressive fire.
BERMAN: But we certainly hope that everyone there --
LEMON: You know what, guys, if I can just say this. The governor said yesterday, and I think it's apropos here. He said when he came out, he was sick to his stomach, he just wanted to cry. And you can imagine why. They've gone through so much in less than a year. They rushed to reopen this Boardwalk on the Jersey Shore. And as you guys know, you live in the area. The Jersey Shore didn't do so well this summer season. This only adds insult to injury. BERMAN: You know what, they're fighters. They fought through the storm. They fought through the summer. They will fight through this. Don Lemon on the ground for us in Seaside Park. Thanks for being with there for us.
SAMBOLIN: Thirty-five minutes past the hour. Colorado is still on edge this morning with floodwaters in that area continuing to wreak havoc. This is north of Denver.
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SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Sirens sounded overnight and some residents were ordered out of their homes in parts of Boulder County. A surge of water is simply inundating homes and businesses in that area.
So far, the flooding has left three people dead. One person remains missing. And President Obama has declared that part of Colorado a disaster area. Take a look at these images.
BERMAN (voice-over): They're astounding. Just astounding. The power and the force of that water flowing. The dramatic rescue that you're looking at right here was happening southeast of Boulder. A man was trapped in a submerged flipped over car, but rescuers did get him out OK. The raging water is taking down this woman in Boulder and onlooker luckily came to her rescue, pulling her out of the water and to safety. Just amazing stuff.
SAMBOLIN: And on the streets, just a few cars out there out there, hopefully, just parked and not clear if anyone is inside, but those cars are nearly covered in water. Residents who don't have to leave are being told stay home, stay off the roads. That is what Indra is constantly telling people to do.
You saw how that woman was pulled in that raging water. CNN iReporter sending in this picture of a car stuck off the road. Muddy water seemingly pushing that SUV right there into a ditch. And this dog looks very happy. He's rescued now. People and pets had to be freed from their homes when the water got too high to drive many of those folks out. Unbelievable.
BERMAN: We're hearing about new evacuation this morning. More rain fell last night.
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BERMAN (on-camera): Even more rain is set to fall in Colorado today. Indra Petersons is watching all of this for us. Indra, give us the latest.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I mean, what I keep talking about is how much rain they've been receiving. I said it before, but I'm going to say it again. They see normally about 15 to 20 inches in an entire year. And take a look at how much the rain the area has seen since just Monday.
Notice, Colorado Springs, they took in about 20 inches near, almost 15 inches of rain already going down through Jamestown, over seven inches of rain, and yes, more rain is on the way. Now, there's a little bit of a difference today. In fact, the watches are really going to be primarily focused around New Mexico. We still have warnings because, yes, the flooding is already occurring. We're going to be watching this area in particular there's a hint of a change today and that is between yesterday all that moisture was coming out of the south.
The winds are really coming out of the south. Still going to be seeing that in the morning hours, but eventually, we'll see that low shift to the east and the winds will come from the west. So, with that, the moisture will be streaming as high, which is a good thing for Denver, but unfortunately, there's so much moisture already in the area. We're still going to have thunderstorms, it just won't be as bad as we saw yesterday.
But down through New Mexico, we could see still see another two to four inches. But again, another one to three inches in possible in an area that's well-inundated with rain already. Not a good thing.
SAMBOLIN: What did you call it earlier? Biblical proportions, right?
BERMAN: That's what the National Weather Service was calling it. It's going biblical.
PETERSONS: There's no other word.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you, Indra. Appreciate it.
Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
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SAMBOLIN (voice-over): In Louisville, rejoicing this morning after a man and a child rescued from a sinkhole. Have you seen this? The hole in a football field at a public park. Witnesses say a two-year- old playing fell right into that huge hole. Terrence Washington (ph), a football coach, practicing nearby, jumped in to try to rescue, her but he couldn't get out either. So, he and the youngster were stuck for about an hour until they both could be set free.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's when the coach jumped in right behind her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Coach Terrence was the superhero today who just decided to jump in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It happened before his eye (ph).
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SAMBOLIN: Isn't that great? Residents say they've been complaining to the city about the holes in the park, but the city hasn't done anything to fix them. Both the girl and the coach, as you saw there, said to be OK. BERMAN (voice-over): That's fantastic.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BERMAN: A rare brain eating ameba has been found in the water in a Louisiana parish, the same parish where a 12-year-old boy died after being infected with the ameba last month. Authorities insist the water is safe to drink but cautioned residents should be careful to not get it in their noses. They've been flushing the water lines with chlorine to hopefully kill off the deadly bug.
SAMBOLIN: Oh my goodness. Well, guess what, here's the girl who survived that ameba infection. She was welcomed home with a parade in Arkansas. Twelve-year-old Kali Hardig spent nearly two month in the hospital, but she's back now. And family and friends lined up outside her middle school Thursday to cheer her on. She actually may be back in school as soon as next week.
BERMAN: That is fantastic.
SAMBOLIN: She said her goal was to walk and she's walking. She's talking and she's doing so well.
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SAMBOLIN (voice-over): So happy for her.
BERMAN (on-camera): All right. Thirty-nine minutes after the hour right now. Measles is making a serious comeback in this country. New numbers from the CDC showed there've already been 159 reported cases this year. If that trend continues, the U.S. is likely to see the most reported cases of the disease since 1996.
Nearly two-thirds of the infections are happening to communities where vaccinations from measles did not take place. Measles can be deadly. And health officials say the only way to prevent it is to get your children vaccinated. You know, Elizabeth Cohen, our great medical reporter, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, you know, they tell us, this is preventable. Vaccinations will prevent measles.
SAMBOLIN: No. Absolutely. And your children get very sick and could potentially die.
BERMAN: A deadly, deadly disease.
SAMBOLIN: All right. So, now, to what's being called a historic moment in the breast cancer fight. An FDA panel clearing the way for a potentially groundbreaking treatment voting 13-0 with one extension to expand the use of the drug of Perjeta, including right after women are diagnosed in order to shrink tumors before the women go into surgery. The FDA still has to formally approve the new use of the drug, but it is very likely to do so. So, once it does, Perjeta would be the first drug approved to treat breast cancer before surgery.
It's just a remarkable drug. It really showed very well in the pre- trials with women who had a more advanced stage of cancer. So, they're hoping that this will help for the early stages. It could be a huge breakthrough if it works. Very exciting.
BERMAN: Fantastic news.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BERMAN: Forty-one 41 minutes after the hour. And look at that. There she is!
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: The duchess of Cambridge, we like to call her Kate, out on the red carpet for the first time since giving birth to Prince George less than two months ago.
SAMBOLIN: She looks amazing.
BERMAN: She looks pretty good. She and her husband, Prince William, were at an awards ceremony for conservation workers in Africa, but their son, Prince George, not far from their minds.
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PRINCE WILLIAM: As you might have gathered, Katherine and I have recently proud parents of a baby who has voice match any lion's roar.
(APPLAUSE)
PRINCE WILLIAM: This is actually our first evening out without him, so please excuse us if you see us nervously casting cheeky glances at our mobile phones to check all as well back home.
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BERMAN: They're just like the rest of us. They're just like all of us! Cheeky glances at their cell phone. The prince, he just announced, by the way, that he's giving up his military career and said he's now focused on his charity work. Of course, he will also work on raising the boy, George, who may one day be king.
SAMBOLIN: I'm sorry, but look at the picture of that woman.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: Not that woman. That's not, in fact, a woman right there.
SAMBOLIN: No --
BERMAN: But Kate. There she is.
SAMBOLIN: She has absolutely no tummy.
BERMAN: Yes. You know, well, everyone wants to know about the dress. That's what I was most interested in and what would she be wearing? The dress she was wearing was designed by Jenny Packham. Now, as we all know, Jenny Packham is a British fashion icon who's worked with a lot of celebrities. Absolutely, she's huge, this Jenny, in fact, in person. She even made stuff for the James Bond movies apparently.
SAMBOLIN: Look at her. That's simply amazing. You know, sometimes, as women, we look at that and we hate a little. But I'm happy for her.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
SAMBOLIN: A little bit.
BERMAN: You hate her a little bit.
SAMBOLIN: Two months after? Good gracious! We'll be right back.
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SAMBOLIN: Welcome back. Forty-six minutes past the hour.
Death, the sentence for four Indian men convicted of a brutal rape. It happened last December on a bus. The men attacking a 23-year-old student in New Delhi. She later died. Prosecutors pushed for the sentence. Lawyers for the men say that they do plan to appeal.
BERMAN: Big deal.
SAMBOLIN: it is a big deal.
BERMAN: A deadly fire at a psychiatric facility in Central Russian. Authorities say at least six people were killed and 30 remain missing. The cause is not clear at this hour, but the building has apparently been completely destroyed.
SAMBOLIN: So, let's take a look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan joining us this morning. Good morning.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, you two. How are you doing so far?
SAMBOLIN: We're doing well.
BOLDUAN: Oh, two thumbs up --
BERMAN: Two thumbs up.
BOLDUAN: Two thumbs up. Good color choice this morning, Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: I know, right? You know, I thought you this morning and I decided it was a red day.
BOLDUAN: It's a red day.
SAMBOLIN: It's a happy Friday.
BOLDUAN: It's a happy Friday. Absolutely right. For at least some of us, it is, absolutely. CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I avoided the striped tie because John had one. See, guys do it, too.
BOLDUAN: You look at other?
CUOMO: Yes. We coordinate. We have our own language. None of that is true.
So, here's what we're doing this morning. Obviously, I hope you heard by now, you see these pictures in New Jersey. Unbelievable. Not even a year since Sandy. This is no mere fire, right? It went to ten alarms, six square blocks, 20 buildings, all in the same area that got hit by Sandy. They just finished rebuilding this Boardwalk.
We'll go down there. We'll show you the latest. The fires aren't completely out yet. We'll talk to the people who witnessed it and find out how they're going to find the resolve to rebuild.
BOLDUAN: You've got weather there and you've got weather in Colorado that we're watching. They're described the rain in Colorado as being a biblical proportion. You do not hear that very often and you really just need to see the video to see what people in Colorado are dealing with. It's not over yet. The rain is still coming and still soaking towns, even cut off.
We also have this coming up in "NEW DAY." A "NEW DAY" exclusive. A medical student who was found murdered in his fraternity house in Michigan. We've covered the story. Well, the police still don't have any leads on this case. We're going to talk to (INAUDIBLE), the boy that was murdered, (INAUDIBLE) parents live about the investigation and the message that they have for the public. An important story. Such a sad, sad tragedy. And they have no leads.
BERMAN: There are so many questions.
CUOMO: We want to keep it out there so that it keeps that vibrancy as an investigation and also stays in people's awareness. That's where the tip is going to come from.
SAMBOLIN: And the parents need answers. Thank you so much. We'll see you guys soon.
And coming up, it could have been the game winning touched for Texas Tech. A spectacular 48-yard run, but, something went terribly wrong.
BERMAN: Oh, no!
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BERMAN: Oh, no!
SAMBOLIN: Yes. This morning's "Bleacher Report" breaks it all down.
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SAMBOLIN: Fifty-two minutes past the hour. The Thursday night NFL game, the New England Patriots held off the New York Jets for the win. It was an otherwise sloppy game that turned ugly with a late fight. Joe Carter here with the "Bleacher Report." I got to tell you, John Berman stayed up late for this so he went to take a nap.
JOE CARTER, BLEACHER REPORT: And John Berman will tell you this is not a game Brady is going to be talking about when he receives that hall of fame induction. This was an ugly one. But hey, they scored early, the New England Patriots in the game, but then the Jets sort of controlled the tempo. They controlled the clock, but you can't beat the Patriots if you turn the ball over four different times.
Now, the Patriots may have won this game and John Berman will tell you, this was probably as ugly as we've ever seen Brady's offense play. The receivers totally out of sync. They dropped several passes. Total frustration. To sum it up, the Patriots offense had more punts than first downs. Now, Gino Smith did show some flashes of solid play, but in the fourth quarter, he threw three interceptions.
The last interception came during a potential comeback drive. You can see the frustration from both sides. It really boiled over at the end of the game. You see a big scrum there after a late hit. The Patriots would go on to win the game 13-10.
Now, in the college ranks, the TCU Texas Tech game, check this out. A huge mental mistake almost cost the Red Raiders the win. Running back, Deandre Washington celebrates too soon and dropped the ball before he crosses the goal line. This is no touchdown. He does not give touchdown for this. This happened, guys, two times in one week. First at the NFL level, the Denver Broncos --
(CROSSTALK)
CARTER: -- last Thursday against the ravens. You remember that? Yes. Now, Texas Tech does it. Both of those guys bailed out, thankfully, because their team would go on to win despite a bone- headed play. Remember, don't celebrate too soon.
SAMBOLIN: Wow.
CARTER: Yes. And trending this morning on BleacherReport.com, it's the most anticipated rematch of the college football season. Number one Alabama and number six Texas A&M. You remember last year, the legend of Johnny Football was born when the Aggies went into Tuscaloosa and shocked the sports world by beating the number one Alabama.
The challenge tomorrow, though, for Texas A&M has to be to prove that last year's win was not a fluke.
And believe it or not, Peyton and Eli Manning do more than just make hilarious TV commercials. Peyton's Broncos and Eli's Giants lock horns tomorrow in Sunday's Manning Bowl III.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is unique. You take a moment to realize that it is special, but, you know, once the game gets started and all week, I mean, the focus is on their defense and you can't go out there and just play.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is neat seeing your big brother there on the sideline or seeing him before the game. Those moments are the things you remember.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER: All right. So, these guys have played twice, Zoraida. And by the way, Peyton Manning, the older brother, has two wins against younger brother, Eli.
SAMBOLIN: There is the problem. So, we'll root for the other side. Joe Carter with the "Bleacher Report," thank you. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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SAMBOLIN: That's it for EARLY START. Have a good weekend, everyone. Time for "NEW DAY." Take it away, Chris and Kate.
BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Zoraida. Have a great weekend.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you.
CUOMO: All right. if you look at your clock, it's just about the top of the hour and that means it is time for us to give you your top news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: As soon as this over, we'll pick ourselves up, we'll dust ourselves off, we'll get back to work.
CUOMO: Not again. A massive out of control fire devastating the Jersey Shore. Not even a year after Sandy. Much of the iconic Boardwalk again destroyed. We have the latest pictures this morning.
BOLDUAN: State of emergency. The rain in Colorado not letting up. Thousands evacuated. Now, entire towns cut off. We're tracking it all.
CUOMO: Battle of the bros. It is manning versus manning. The most intense sibling rivalry ever. Eli Manning talks with us. Who does he think is the better QB?
Your "NEW DAY" starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.
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CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to "NEW DAY." It is Friday, September 13th. Friday 13th, still OK. BOLDUAN: It's still OK.
CUOMO: Still Friday. Six o'clock in the east. We're watching two major stories for you at this hour. Really natural disasters. We're going to take you live to the Jersey Shore which is once again being forced to rebuild. It seems like we were just there after hurricane Sandy, reporting on this iconic picture.
Remember it? Well, not even a year later, images there even worse. Much more in just a moment.
BOLDUAN: And in a very different part of the country, rescuers working around the clock, trying to save as many people as possible this morning from those flash floods, really just can't believe the video we've been watching for more than a day now. Just take a look at this man, trapped in his car. It took rescuers an hour to get him out.
Thankfully, he's OK as far as we know. Just one of the hundreds of people that had to be rescued because of all of that rain.
CUOMO: And then another amazing piece of video you're going to want to see, a girl is run over by an out-of-control SUV. But remember, when things are at their worst, people often at their best. Wait until you hear the amazing story of a group of people coming to their rescue. We're going to get some of those heroes for you this morning. You'll not believe the story.
BOLDUAN: Let's start off with this horrible, there's no other way to describe it. Less than a year after the devastation of hurricane Sandy, two towns struggling to recover alongside the Jersey Shore are hit by tragedy once again. A very big stretch of the iconic Boardwalk and dozens of businesses damaged and destroyed by flames in Seaside Heights and Seaside Park.
