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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Dolphins Bullying Controversy; Walmart Technical Glitch; Twitter's Impending IPO; More Information on New Jersey Shooting
Aired November 07, 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)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Steamy sex scandal. A female police officer's affair with a drug dealer that she was investigating uncovered. How she jeopardized other officers and ruined the investigation with her tricks?
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Maybe a little too steamy for 5:30 in the morning, don't you think?
MARQUEZ: I know.
SAMBOLIN: I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN (on-camera): Welcome back to EARLY START. Glad you're with us this morning. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
LEMON (on-camera): And I'm Don Lemon in for John Berman. And this is a reunion of sorts, right?
SAMBOLIN: It is.
LEMON: We will tell people later about the last time we anchor together.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, really great. It was in Chicago. Really --
LEMON: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: We're trying to find video for you.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: No. I hope that is never found.
Thirty-one past the hour. I'm Don Lemon again in for John Berman.
The Obamacare debacle creating a whole lot of job in security among Democrats. More than a dozen Senate Democrats meeting with the president to get the health care exchanges up and running once and for all. They're fearing political fallout, and Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, isn't helping matters, telling a Senate committee the healthcare.gov website needs hundreds of fixes
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMANS SERVICES SECRETARY: I'm the first to admit that the rollout has been excruciatingly awful for way too many people. We are adding hardware and software to fix the functionality and getting people from place-to-place. There have been significant improvements. We are not satisfied at all where we are now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Sebelius told senators when Obamacare enrollment figures are released for the first time this month, the numbers will be, quote, "very low."
SAMBOLIN: In no time like now to start the mudslinging for the 2016 presidential race.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Top Republicans, Rand Paul and Chris Christie, exchanging jabs. The New Jersey governor has already called the Kentucky senator juvenile, and Paul has referred to Christie in the past as the king of bacon. Paul taking another swipe at Christie at a Senate hearing yesterday, blasting him for appearing in all those hurricane Sandy ads without actually mentioning the governor by name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) KENTUCKY: Some of these ads, people running for office, put their mug all over the ads while they're in the middle of political campaign. In New Jersey, 25 million was spent on ads that included somebody running for political office. You think there might be a conflict of interest there?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Paul also blasted Christie for repeatedly calling Washington dysfunctional. He says the federal government isn't as bad as Christie suggests.
LEMON (voice-over): All right. Well, the Massachusetts state trooper who got suspended for releasing photos of a bloodied Boston marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has decided to retire. Sergeant Sean Murphy insisting he was not forced out, that it was just time to move on. He will receive a full pension. Murphy's decision coming just days after internal charges against him for violating departmental rules were upheld.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN (on-camera): The NFL is trying to get the full story of what actually happened between Miami Dolphins lineman, Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito. Martin abruptly left, as you know, the team after alleged bullying by Incognito who has been suspended by the team. So now, the league has hired a prominent attorney to lead their investigation while teammates and coaches address the issue. We get more from CNN's John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With scandal swirling around Richie Incognito, his football career with the Miami Dolphins in jeopardy, the muscled teddy bear as a friend described him looked thrilled to have a slick brand-new Ferrari delivered to his Ft. Lauderdale home.
While inside the Miami Dolphins training facility, Incognito's teammates and coaches faced a barrage of questions over allegations of bullying. Head coach, Joe Philbin, refused to answer questions about news reports saying Incognito was told by the team's coaches to toughen up Jonathan Martin.
JOE PHILBIN, MIAMI DOLPHINS HEAD COACH: The type of culture that I've championed since the day that I walked through these doors has been one of honesty, respect, and accountability to one another.
LAVANDERA: The National Football League is investigating Incognito's reported profanity laced messages with racial slurs allegedly left for teammate, Jonathan Martin. "Hey, wassup. You half "N" word piece of blank and you're still a rookie. I'll kill you," some of them read. Incognito has been suspended from the team indefinitely and isn't talking about the scandal.
RICHIE INCOGNITO, MIAMI DOLPHINS LINEMAN: You know what? I'm just trying to weather the storm right now and this will pass.
LAVANDERA: Martin left the team last week and hasn't commented publicly either about what some described as professional athlete hazing gone too far. Others say it's inexcusable bullying. Inside the Dolphins locker room, many players say they were surprised by Martin's allegations and even though Incognito considered Martin his little brother.
RYAN TANNEHILL, MIAMI DOLPHINS QUARTERBACK: You now, I think if you would ask Jonathan Martin a week before, you know, who his best friend on the team was, he would said Richie Incognito. The first guy to stand up for Jonathan when anything went down on the field, any kind of tussle, Richie was the first guy there.
You know, when they wanted to hang out outside of football, who was together? Richie and Jonathan. So, I can't -- you know, I'm not in those guys' shoes. I can't explain what's going on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
LAVANDERA: This is video of Incognito erupting in a bizarre rage in a South Florida bar earlier this year. Incognito has a checkered reputation. He was released by the St. Louis Rams for arguing with the team's head coach. And in a poll of NFL players by the "Sporting News" magazine, he was once voted the dirtiest player in the league, but on the Dolphins team, several players seem frustrated with Jonathan Martin.
TYSON CLABO, MIAMI DOLPHINS LINEMAN: Off the field, those two guys -- and that they went out together and they hung out together. They did a lot of stuff together. So, if he had a problem with the way the guy was treating him, he had a funny way of showing it.
LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: I want to tell you about shocking never before seen video this morning from inside of Washington State jail where a 22-year-old man died from severe foot allergies. The camera captures Michael Safioti (ph) at the guard desk with his inhaler asking for the nurse. There, you see him there. He was sent to his cell where he can be seen jumping up and down pleading for help.
After a half hour of being ignored, a guard found him unresponsive. Safioti had turned himself in on a misdemeanor marijuana charge. His mother has filed notice of a $10 million wrongful death suit.
SAMBOLIN: We're actually following the story for "NEW DAY." We'll have much more a little later today.
And a sex scandal is unfolding in the Tempe, Arizona Police Department this morning. Police say undercover detective, Jessica Jakusz, blew her cover along with two fellow officers when she began flipping with the ecstasy drug dealer they were actually investigating. When higher-ups were tipped off, the 13-year veteran officer suddenly resigned. She may now face charges of hindering prosecution. And because of the scandal, the case against the dealer has crumbled.
LEMON: She's undercover.
SAMBOLIN: I don't know if that's a good defense.
LEMON: Checking the forecast now. Karen Maginnis is live --
SAMBOLIN: Poor Karen.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: We always toss it to you with some doozie, don't we?
(LAUGHTER)
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That is the truth.
(LAUGHTER)
MAGINNIS: Good morning, Zoraida and Don. I hope you're having a good morning. The wet weather is expected to move on through. We've been talking about this, because primarily, the weather has been fairly quiet for the last several days, but here comes the rain all the way from Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, just past Akron, and into Pittsburgh, but eventually making its way across that I-95 corridor.
And just in time for late week disruption as far as your airline traffic is concerned. It definitely looks like it could impact the region. Not just with the wet weather and the reduced visibility, but we're expecting some pretty gusty winds right behind this system. And yes, a fairly mild morning, but by the afternoon, those temperatures are really going to swing around quite a bit with wind gusts possibly as high as 30, possibly 35 miles an hour.
Well, here is the water vapor imagery. Frontal system makes its way towards the east, so it isn't just that I-95 corridor. It extends all the way down to Charlotte and for Atlanta, but we've got got another weather system moving into the northwest with plenty of mountain snow. Zoraida, Don, back to you.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you, Karen.
LEMON: Thank you, Karen.
SAMBOLIN: Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: A 13-year-old eighth grader from Kansas says he was suspended from school Wednesday for refusing to take off his Vera Bradley purse. Skyler Davis (ph) says he has been carrying the colorful bag over his shoulder since August and there have been no issues. Now, he has been told the suspension won't be lifted until he gives up the purse which he says he is not going to do.
Skyler's mother supports his decision. There's no comment yet from school officials on this one.
LEMON: All right. Well, coming up, $9 computer monitors, treadmills for 30 bucks. Why doesn't this ever happen to me? A technical glitch at Wal-Mart trending an online buying frenzy, but will the retail giant honor all those orders and is it too late for --
SAMBOLIN: -- for you to join in.
All right. And listen to this. You're going to meet a remarkable one-year-old boy who cannot be stopped --
LEMON: Look at those cheeks!
SAMBOLIN: -- even though that little one is paralyzed.
LEMON: He's so cute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: And we're getting old. I'm like why?
SAMBOLIN: I'm kind of sad about this.
LEMON: Blockbuster one time king of the video rental business closing its remaining 300 U.S. stores and shutting down its DVD mail operation in January. Less than ten years ago, Blockbuster had 9,000 stores.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
LEMON: The company will continue as a streaming service available to customers of its parent company Dish network. I still have my blockbuster card.
SAMBOLIN: So do I. Things change so quickly, though. I mean, I guess that makes sense.
LEMON: Do you still have VHS?
SAMBOLIN: Of course, I do.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: All right. It was a buyer's market on Wal-Mart.com Wednesday. Were you a part of this? After a technical glitch slashed prices on a range of products. High-def computer monitors listed $9! Treadmills reduced from 600 down to 30 bucks! So, word in the wild prices spread really quickly online, but we didn't hear about it. There is bad news for virtual shoppers, Wal-Mart will not honor the orders.
LEMON: What?
SAMBOLIN: Instead, you know what they're doing? They're going to give you a $10 gift card if you are affected by this.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: I know.
LEMON: Sad trombone. Yes.
After almost five decades, a treasured stolen motorcycle has been returned to its owner in Nebraska. (INAUDIBLE) black and blue 1953 Triumph Tiger was taken in 1967, and he never thought he would see it again! But last week, it was recovered in California as it was about to be shipped to Japan. He thought he would never see it.
The 73-year-old brought it back -- he bought it for $300. He says it is worth $9,000 today and he can't wait to take it out on the road again.
SAMBOLIN: That's a nice reunion.
LEMON: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Let's take a look what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, good morning to you.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning you all.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, good morning. CUOMO: We have new, we have more. We have new issues with Obamacare. Security concerns. Kathleen Sebelius back on Capitol Hill. Another grilling. New information that really makes the specter of whether or not the problems can be fixed to the satisfaction of everybody involved. We will get there. So, we'll take you through that.
There's also more. The Dolphins bullying allegations. Right up to now, it's been a debate. Is this bullying? Is it not? Are they big boys now? Should they be treated the way we want to treat any other victim (ph)? How about whether or not there was a premise for the behavior to begin with? There's another layer to the controversy that goes to the side of the perceived bully, Mr. Incognito, number 68, from the pictures that you see of the story all the time. So, we'll take you through that as well.
BOLDUAN: Also, we have a shocking case out of Washington State. A 22-year-old turns himself in to police on a minor marijuana charge and he winds up dead in his cell. His family says surveillance video shows him pleading for help but getting none. We're going to bring you that story, obviously, high emotions on that case and all of that coming up.
SAMBOLIN: I will be joining you for that shortly.
LEMON: Can I tell you funny little story, guys? You guys can relate to this. The last time that Zoraida and I anchored together, it was a debacle.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
LEMON: We were starting the late news in Chicago and the entire studio board went down and we had to go on another studio. That was the last time we were on the air together and now here. I hope this has been a little bit better.
BOLDUAN: It's been very smooth.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: I know.
(CROSSTALK)
SAMBOLIN: Watch what's going to happen next. We'll see you guys in a little bit.
LEMON: See you guys.
SAMBOLIN: Forty-six minutes past the hour here. A one-year-old boy battling paralysis from a rare nerve disorder isn't letting the disease keep him down. Look at this, folks. This is Wyatt Banks (ph). The little guy from South Carolina was diagnosed with transverse myelitis when he was only six months old. He lost the use of both of his legs.
So, his mom tried putting him in a custom wheelchair. And guess what happened? Right there. Off he went. Doctors say they have never seen such a young child use a wheelchair so effectively. Why his mom says her son is happy today and she's letting tomorrow take care of itself.
LEMON: Go Wyatt! Go Wyatt!
SAMBOLIN: Yes. Exactly! We're rooting you on.
LEMON: Yes. We certainly are.
Time now for the "Morning Rhyme." Our first tweet of the day from Julie Benet (ph) who writes "Roll out of bed, turn EARLY START, what a surprise to see the Don." Oh! Nice!
SAMBOLIN: I like this.
And this one comes from the Don!
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: "Roses are red. Violets are blue. It's really freaking early. John Berman, I'm hating on you!"
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: That was me.
SAMBOLIN: I love that. Nicely done. Nicely done.
All right. you can come up with your own. Tweet us with the hash tags morning rhyme and EARLY START. We love to hear from you in the morning.
LEMON: We certainly do. Good morning, everyone. Tweet us here.
Coming up, all eyes on Wall Street.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
LEMON: Investors waiting for the big debut of Twitter. Everyone is a twitterist. It's going to be a publicly traded company. If you're trying to get in on the IPO this morning, better check in with Christine Romans next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: I was waiting for you to sing. Welcome back to EARLY START.
(CROSSTALK)
SAMBOLIN: So, we couldn't had it all else. Can we have it all with the Twitter IPO?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I guess, if you keep dreaming, maybe you can but good luck with that. You know, yes, we are all at Twitter today, aren't we? You know, Twitter is about to leave the nest today and by the look of things it may have a rocket strapped to its back. Demand is strong for Twitter. In fact, the company raised the final price of the stock to $26 a share. The low end range had been $17 just a few days ago.
Now, Twitter announced this move, where do you think? Right on Twitter. A nice tweet there. You see it there. Now, the final price, what it means is that the company is planning to raise $1.8 billion with today's initial public offering. It also means that the total value of the company is $14.2 billion. It's pretty significant when you consider that it has yet to turn a profit.
This company hasn't turned a profit yet. As for today, Twitter executives, they're going to be ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. That's where Twitter can be listed. They're laying out not the red carpet but the blue carpet but don't expect the stock to start trading at 9:30 when the opening bell rings because what's going to happen is it's going to take time for the NYC market maker to actually find the right price at which the stock should begin trading.
One cautionary tale is what happened with Facebook last year, the biggest tech IPO ever quickly became one of the biggest flops. The stocks debuted at $38 a share, but three months later, you can get it for half that price. Today, Facebook is trading for three times its low. And right now, actually, it close at $49 a share at the close of yesterday.
LEMON: So -- buy those now?
KOSIK: Many people think it is just because it's showing growth in that mobile ad revenue and that's really where it's add for social media. So, Facebook is making strides there. You know, I'm not one to give investment advice. You know, these are really risky stocks.
LEMON: Yes. All right.
KOSIK: Let's move on to something else interesting about Twitter. You know, Twitter may be the most hyped IPO of the year, but U.S. lawmakers were banned from trying to get in early. The House Committee on Ethics sent a letter Tuesday reminding members that they're not allowed to buy shares of Twitter until they begin trading and are widely available to the public.
Shares of IPOs are usually distributed first to institutional investors, mutual funds, pension funds, and insiders. Insiders can stand to make huge gains, but Congress passed an act last year that actually stopped its members from taking advantage of insider pricing through political connections. And the letter sent out this week was the nice gentle reminder to members that the rule was the first of its kind.
LEMON: Gentle reminder.
KOSIK: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
SAMBOLIN: I was worried about monetizing. And you know, how do you make money off of these, right?
KOSIK: Well, that's what people are skeptical about, especially with Twitter. I mean, you see that it's yet to turn a profit, and although, it is making strides with its use of ads -- with its use of ads, you know, you sort of see them embedded. You know, you want to start seeing this company turn a profit. So, the average investor, I'd say, beware.
(CROSSTALK)
KOSIK: I do actually --
(CROSSTALK)
You've clicked on.
KOSIK: Yes. Perfectly. And it actually turns into one thing and you go into another story and it's amazing. You just keep on clicking.
LEMON: I know. And they kind of know what you like, right?
KOSIK: Yes.
LEMON: Because those ads -- yes.
SAMBOLIN: They haven't captured what I like --
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Thank you so much, Alison. Appreciate it.
LEMON: Up next, a sound of terror. New 911 calls from a New Jersey mall moments after a gunman dressed in black opened fire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Fifty-seven minutes past the hour.
Shoppers and store employees pleading with 911 dispatchers to send police to Garden State Plaza Mall ASAP. We are now hearing some of the frantic emergency calls from the night a gunman went inside and started shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody is shooting up Garden State Plaza right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is somebody shooting
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something is shooting up Garden State Plaza right now. I'm in the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Stay on the phone. How many people in the bathroom with you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they in your store?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I'm at the Garden State Plaza Mall where there has been a shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I work here and I'm inside the store in the office with a girl not by myself but I'm scared and I want to get out of the mall.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: So, thankfully, everyone did make it out OK physically, at least. The only casualty, the gunman. Authorities say Richard Shoop had plenty of chances to shoot people, but he didn't. He eventually shot himself in the head. His hometown held a vigil for him Tuesday night.
LEMON: More on this story throughout the day here on CNN.
That is it for EARLY START. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can tell you, our early enrollment numbers are going to be very low.
CUOMO: The first casualty. Of one of the leaders behind the Obamacare website resigns as Kathleen Sebelius admits the site may pose a security risk as well. Can these problems be fixed?
BOLDUAN: Happening now. Twitter goes public this morning, minting new millionaires and making some wealthy investors even richer, but is it a good buy for you?
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Shopping frenzy. Wal-Mart's website accidentally set some of its prices absurdly low. A treadmill worth hundreds of dollars for just 33 bucks. The question now, will Wal-Mart honor those deals?
CUOMO: Your "NEW DAY" starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to "NEW DAY." It's Thursday, November 7th, six o'clock in the east.
First up, President Obama insists the patient is getting better. And they're working overtime to help healthcare.gov running smoothly by the end of the month. That would be the headline today except a new problem seem to come up as Kathleen Sebelius returned to Capitol Hill for yet another grilling, this time, a security risk to users. Brianna Keilar is following developments live at the White House this morning. What do we know, Brianna? Good morning.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Chris, good morning to you. It was another damaging appearance on the Hill for HHS secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. As President Obama headed to the Lone Star State, that's right, but not a coincidence that he was in Texas where a Republican governor has blocked the expansion of Medicaid under the Obamacare law.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, it is wonderful to see all of you.
KEILAR (voice-over): Texas, not exactly friendly territory for Obamacare, but that's where President Obama went to criticize Republican opposition to his signature health care reform program and promised its faulty website will soon be up and running.
OBAMA: We are working overtime to get this fixed. And, the website is already better than it was at the beginning of October. And by the end of this month, we anticipate that it is going to be working the way it is supposed to.
