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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Searching For Survivors; Toronto Mayor Fallout; Elvis Presley Inc. Has A New Owner
Aired November 20, 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): Breaking news out of Florida, a jet crashing into the ocean. Two people confirmed dead. Two still missing. The frantic search for the survivors, hopefully, survivors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in three weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A drop?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE A drop. I'll take a urine test right now.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Toronto's crack-smoking mayor who says he likes to drink promises that he has cleaned up his act. But, he has lost something new this morning. We'll tell you what coming up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I dropped my clip board and everything. I just ran to the car because I saw it was on its side.
SAMBOLIN: A life-saving move when one man witnesses a terrible accident and knows he has to jump in and help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN (on-camera): Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. Great to see you this morning. I'm John Berman.
SAMBOLIN (on-camera): And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. It is 31 minutes past the hour.
This morning, we've been covering this breaking news off the coast of Florida where the search is on for any survivors of a frightening plane crash. A Learjet plunged into the ocean just minutes after taking off from Ft. Lauderdale International Airport. The wreckage brought to shore on a coast guard boat.
On the flight were two pilot and two passengers said to be a doctor and a nurse. The plane was owned by a company that moved sick patients around the world. Two bodies, a male and a female have been recovered. There are two others missing. It appears that something went wrong just after the plane departed. The pilot radioed air traffic controllers that he wanted to return to the airport. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going back to Ft. Lauderdale.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have engine failure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maintain 4,000 and turn left heading 330.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not possible. We're going to do 180. Mayday. Mayday. Mayday.
Daniel Figueroa, witness: That was flying really low over the water. You know, not very much attention. I was like, you know, it's really strange for a plane flying so low.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're continuing our search efforts with surface assets and aviation assets. We'll continue those until midmorning. We'll switch out crews and we'll definitely go throughout the day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Chilling to hear that mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday call.
SAMBOLIN: That's right.
BERMAN: The plane was apparently on its way back to Mexico after dropping off a patient at a Florida hospital. We heard from the coast guard just a little while ago. They said the search conditions are optimal. The sun will come up soon. They will keep the search on. Again, they say it is an active search possibly for two survivors of that plane crash.
SAMBOLIN: Let's hope so, right? All right.
A first term Republican congressman is apologizing after being charged with cocaine possession. Trey Radel was arrested on October 29th, but the details are only becoming known now. In a written statement, Radel, excuse me, said he struggles with alcoholism and made an irresponsible choice. He plans to seek counseling. He is due in court today.
BERMAN: Toronto's crack-smoking mayor, just kind of a theme here on the show this morning. Rob Ford is finding himself a man no longer in control of his city. Senior aids, including his chief of staff and policy director are now working for the deputy mayor who took over many of Ford's duties after the city council stripped Ford of most of his powers.
His key card no longer gives him access to some of their offices. His TV show has been canceled.
SAMBOLIN: Didn't that just debut?
BERMAN: Debuted Monday night, canceled on Tuesday. It was canceled despite record-breaking ratings, because it apparently took too many hours to shoot and edit. A lot of bleeping, I imagine. And TV station executive says it was just too expensive.
Also, there's this news that winds up the infamous video of Ford smoking crack may have been recorded just last February, not more than a year ago as Ford had earlier stated. This is according to police documents cited by Canadian media. They have not been independently confirmed, we should tell you, by CNN. But Ford is now insisting that he is starting to turn his life around. He says he's giving up the bottle. Here's Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROB FORD, TORONTO MAYOR: I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in three weeks.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cold turkey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're done with alcohol?
FORD: Finished.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll never drink again?
FORD: Finished.
(CROSSTALK)
FORD: -- moment if you want to call that.
ROBERTSON: Mayor Ford talking on TV, promising his boozy days are done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You haven't been drinking at all?
FORD: I haven't touched a drop of alcohol in three weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A drop
FORD: A drop. I'll take a urine test right now.
ROBERTSON: But don't expect details.
Mr. Mayor, tell us about giving up the booze.
The man given Ford's mayoral powers not so sure.
DEPUTY MAYOR NORM KELLY, TORONTO: It's easy to go cold turkey. It's hard to stay that way. So, that's the only comment I can make on that.
ROBERTSON: But if it works, maybe just maybe there'll be less of this.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTSON: And this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no --
FORD: I didn't push her!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right in there?
MICHELLE SIU, STILL PHOTOGRAPHY: Right in the belly
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you thinking at that moment?
SIU: Don't fall on me. Yes, it's not my (ph) first time I've ever gotten an elbow to the rib by Ford before.
PAM MCCONNELL, TORONTO CITY COUNCIL: I felt like I was being hit by a crazy train, quite honestly. But certainly, the impact made me go into slow motion. I couldn't think about what was happening. I was kind of looking at him. You can see me sort of going get off me, get off me. I was afraid he was going to fall on top of me.
ROBERTSON: Apparently, no alcohol involved. Even so, forgiveness from Ford not happening for now.
MCCONNELL: It will take more than that to have me sit down. You don't know me very well, but I can tell you, nobody knocks me down like that.
ROBERTSON: And, it will take more than a few dry weeks to convince Pam McConnell and the council Ford is winning his battle with booze.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Toronto.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: You know, I feel like I've been hit by a crazy train every once in a while.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: An insane story.
BERMAN: Crazy train.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. Thirty-six minutes past the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): A prominent Virginia politician, a one-time gubernatorial candidate is in the hospital this morning. He's recovering after apparently being stabbed by his son. State senator, Creigh Deeds, was found walking down a road right outside his home with wounds to his head and his chest.
His 24-year-old son was found dead inside the house. State police are investigating the incident as an attempted murder/suicide. His son had apparently recently withdrawn from college and underwent a mental evaluation earlier this week as well. BERMAN (voice-over): This is such a sad, sad story. You know, there are reports that they are trying to admit him to psychiatric facilities, but there were not enough beds, which could be the only reason he was out.
Thirty-seven minutes after the hour.
A sharply divided Supreme Court has turned down an emergency stay that would have blocked part of a controversial abortion law in Texas. The decision was effectively split along ideological lines with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia joined by Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito writing that.
Opponents had not met the burden (ph) of asking the high courts to intervene before an appeal was filed. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the liberal wing that the decision may reduce access to safe abortions in Texas.
SAMBOLIN: Recovery continues this morning in the Midwest towns hit by deadly tornadoes earlier this week. And we are hearing some amazing stories of just how strong the storm was. We told you yesterday about Kris Lancaster. He shot this video of a tornado hitting his home in Washington, Illinois.
Well, it winds up he's also a musician. And the tornado picked up about 25 years' worth of sheet music. Music that has now been found 100 miles away in Joliet. Ashley Shell (ph) found it inside her yard and is now trying to get the music back to its owner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really heartwarming, you know, to know that we can make a difference even 100 miles away. You know, something that simply just blew on in and gets it back to him and help him rebuild his life.
KRIS LANCASTER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I'll cherish that for the rest of my life that someone returned something that I would never see again, that would be something very special to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN (on-camera): That is very nice to see.
SAMBOLIN (on-camera): That is great. Yes.
BERMAN: All right. Indra Petersons who did some terrific reporting down in the tornado zone is back in the studio with us. the question this morning, Indra, how does the weather look for them today?
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. And this is what we were so concerned about the last several days. They had these clear blue skies. It was cold, but we all knew the storm was coming. They're just looking at a little bit of light rain, but as we get in through the end of the week, they're going to be talking about some heavier in the region. So, unfortunately, not a good situation for them.
And then as we turn towards the weekend, we'll be seeing some very cold temperatures out there. Now, what is going on across the country? Very mild for the eastern half of the country. But a big change lies ahead for a bulk of us and that is all things to a couple system making their way down to the south. Notice this one bringing all this cool into the Midwest.
And of course, we're looking at some heavy rain and heavy snow even through the sierras and then also into Wyoming and Colorado. So, what are we going to do? We're going to tract systems that make their way across. First, notice, a lot of snow really going to be kind of picking up out of that system, but as it makes its way across, we're going to be talking about some heavier rain by the middle of the week, especially into the Midwest.
That's the concern that we were talking about. The other side of this are these temperatures, and we are talking about a good 20 degrees below normal. Now, today, you're not looking at it being too bad. But this cold air will spread all the way to the east. So, it's going to take its time, but by Saturday and through Sunday, we are going to be talking in the northeast, temperatures 20 degrees below normal highs into --
SAMBOLIN: Wow!
BERMAN: Happy weekend.
SAMBOLIN: At least we are prepared. Indra, thank you.
PETERSONS: You're welcome.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: Forty minutes after the hour. Former president, George W. Bush, speaking out about his legacy and recent health problems. He appeared on NBCs "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno about what history will make of his presidency. He says he did the best he could. It may take a while, he says, for his decisions to be properly judged.
And as you can see, he also -- well, he joked about his blocked artery, the one in his heart, the stent procedure, that he had to have done to prevent a heart attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wasn't that scared.
(LAUGHTER)
JAY LENO, HOST: -- you had Obamacare?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: That was soft ball (ph) right there.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BERMAN: We saw before some video over the president holding up some artwork. George W. Bush loves to paint now. And he was joking with Jay Leno about that. He gave him a portrait. He said --
SAMBOLIN: It's a nice portrait, right?
BERMAN: You know, he paints all the time. And he said it's his new profession and he doesn't miss the spotlight at all.
SAMBOLIN: Well, he's doing a nice job.
All right. So, coming up, he says he is no hero, just doing what had to be done. A young man who saved a life and then went back to work. We're going to have his story coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Forty-four minutes past the hour. Welcome back to EARLY START. Pay attention to this one, John Berman. This is good. It was a real mystery in Phoenix. A Good Samaritan who helped save a life but disappeared before he could be thanked. Well, now, we know his name, Lucas Robinson (ph) and guess what, he is 19 years old. Police took to Facebook to find him and say he was the one who ran towards a car crash just last week after a 73-year-old woman's vehicle flipped pinning her arm.
She would have bled to death, but Robinson took off his belt, wrapped it around her arm and saved her life. Staying with her until the paramedics arrived then he went back to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went back to work because I did my part. And, I just figured that I did everything I could. And the paramedics could take over from there. I wasn't looking for any attention. I saw somebody that needed help, and I would hope somebody do the same for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: He's awesome.
SAMBOLIN: Isn't it? Clearly, he was not looking for attention. Robinson has now met the woman's husband who called the 19-year-old a good man. And he said his wife wants to give Robinson the belt back.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Incredible!
BERMAN: And he went back to work because that's what you do. You help people because you're supposed to, then you go about your day. SAMBOLIN: Isn't that great? He was raised right? Those are folks that I really want to talk to just kind of understand where does that come from, right? We need to encourage and nurture more of that. It's great.
BERMAN: All right. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan here with us now. Hey, guys.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're dealing with a desperate search for two missing people. We're still reading reporting now. They're looking -- medical flight that crashed. Two already have been found, dead, unfortunately. They're still searching for survivors. We have the mayday calls on this live situation right now.
The mayday calls, that's the plane started to go down. There was engine failure. We could hear what the pilots were talking about. Details are still light. It's an ongoing situation, and we're going to be tracking it for you this morning.
BOLDUAN: And we're also following a shocking story out of Virginia. A prominent state politician, state senator stabbed. His son found dead apparently of a suicide. Now questions really surrounding his son's mental health. What was going on and the days before this altercation? Authorities called it there. We're going to be looking at that. We're going to talk more about that ahead.
BERMAN: All right. Look forward to that, guys. Thanks so much.
SAMBOLIN: Thanks, guys.
BERMAN: Forty-six minutes after the hour right now. It is time for our "Morning Rhyme." These are the best tweets of the day. Today is from an old friend, Julia Greenberg. She writes, "Is it early or is it late, I guess it depends on when you last ate?"
Now, we picked this one today because Julia is an alum of EARLY START. She used to work here. And now, I think she's in charge of like Google or something. She's really wanting (ph) --
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: -- some kind of thing in Silicon Valley. We will all work for her one day.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: Exactly. Make no mistake. You can come up with your own morning rhymes. Tweet us. The hash tags are morning rhyme and EARLY START.
SAMBOLIN: And coming up, Ben Bernanke giving one of his last speeches as a fed chairman. What he said had a big impact on the market. "Money Time" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: All right. Welcome back to EARLY START. It is "Money Time." Christine Romans is here.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Middle of the week, you guys, and Ben Bernanke, the fed chief, gave one of his final speeches last night as fed chairman. And the market, they liked what he said. Stock futures have been up much of the morning. It looks like Ben Bernanke is in no rush to cut back on that $85 million a month bond-buying spree.
He went a step further signaling that the fed will keep rates low even after the job's picture noticeably improves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Even after unemployment drops below 6.5 percent, as long as inflation remains well behaved, the committee can be patient in seeking assurance that the labor market is sufficiently strong before considering any increase in the target for the federal funds rate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: He's still as rousing as a speaker as ever.
ROMANS: I know. I love talking about well-behaved inflation like a little children --
BERMAN: Bringing the house down, Ben Bernanke right there.
ROMANS: We love it, right? OK. One thing -- market cheered his approach. For the year, the Dow is up 22 percent, the NASDAQ up 30 percent, the S&P 500 up 25 percent. That's great 401(K) news. So, why are shoppers so cautious right before the retailers big shopping season?
Best Buy sees an unusually competitive holiday season that could hurt profits. Retailers have been battling even earlier this year for your shopping dollars. Now, they're making Thanksgiving Thursday the new Black Friday. All of these retailers scrambling, scrambling to try to get you to spend money earlier this year.
Also, I want to give you more on this landmark settlement between the government and JPMorgan Chase. One thing is clear, you guys. The government is not done. That $13 billion agreement may add headaches for this guy, JPMorgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, but U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, putting other banks on notice yesterday.
He said no firm, no matter how profitable, is above the law and the passage of time is no shield from accountability. The JPMorgan settlement breaks down like this. It's a billion to state government, two billion to the U.S. government, two billion to credit unions, four billion to consumers, homeowners, in particular, and four billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. All right. Berman, I need your best Elvis impersonation after this. The biggest Elvis Presley Inc. has a new owner. Authentic Brands Groups has purchased the intellectual properties associate with the king of rock 'n' roll. Vast library include thousands of photos, album covers, movie posters, video footage, even events.
It does not -- we don't know the purchase price of it, but Authentic Brands already controls the Marilyn Monroe brand. Don't worry, Berman, Graceland and its original items stay in the family and not part of the deal.
SAMBOLIN: -- something I don't know. You're a big Elvis fan?
BERMAN: She just knows because -- dance or move. You can't see underneath the desk is I'm moving right now.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: You can't see it because it's not there.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: It is not there.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Thank you, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Coming up, a few inches means a difference between life and death for a man in Washington, D.C.
BERMAN: Saved by his wallet.
SAMBOLIN: Saved by his wallet! Berman's falling apart here. Here, let me help you.
BERMAN: We'll have the story after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. It is being called divine intervention. You have to see this. A man in Washington, D.C. is lucky to be alive after being shot at over the weekend. Bryan Harris (ph), you can see him there, was outside his home when police say random gunfire started flying. He thought he'd been hit in the stomach, and he would have been, if it wasn't for his wallet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYAN HARRIS, SAVED BY WALLET: Once I went to my sweatshirt, I pulled out my wallet. And then the shell, the bullet and everything was still in my sweatshirt. If this wallet wasn't there, you know, I would have been shot in my stomach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Lucky he had a lot in his wallet.
SAMBOLIN: I'm wondering what was in his wallet to stop a bullet, right?
BERMAN: Police say it was just a matter of inches. They say if the bullet came in a little differently, he would probably be dead right now. They say it's just really amazing. Check that out. Harris says he realizes how lucky he is.
SAMBOLIN: His phone, too, was there it looks like.
BERMAN: Wow! Shot up wallet and a crashed phone, but he's alive.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: All right. So, that is it for EARLY START. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an engine failure. Mayday, mayday, mayday.
CUOMO: Breaking overnight, an emergency medical plane crashes off the coast of Florida. The search is on for those onboard. We have the mayday calls after engines fail.
BOLDUAN: Busted. A freshman congressman caught with cocaine. He is in court today. His apologies to constituents.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Served. George Zimmerman gets a surprise from his soon to-be ex-wife while in jail. He's free again this morning as we learn more about the desperate month since his high-profile trial.
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 Is Wednesday, November 20th, six o'clock in the east. And we do have breaks news for you this morning. People are missing after a medical transport plane went down near Ft. Lauderdale last night. Two bodies have already been recovered. Let get straight to John Zarrella. He's in Florida with the latest. John, what do we know?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, the coast guard just about 40 minutes ago holding a briefing saying they are still continuing their search for two other victims who are on board that air ambulance when it went down off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale about a mile out. The search area stretching 20 square miles from down south of where we are by Ft. Lauderdale International Airport to about out ten miles north of us and out 10 miles. So far, what they have record, about 1,000 pounds of debris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Disaster, moments after takeoff. A terrifying scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday, mayday.
ZARRELLA: A frantic call for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You going back to Ft. Lauderdale.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an engine failure.
ZARRELLA: Seconds before, this small medical aircraft plummeted into the sea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maintain 4,000 and turn left heading 330.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not possible. We're going to do 180.
ZARRELLA: The pilot made a last-ditch effort to turn back around towards the Ft. Lauderdale Airport only to crash a mile off the coast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday, mayday.
FIGUEROA: It was flying really low over the water. You know, not paying that much attention. I was like, you know, it's really strange for a plane to be flying so low. And then, a couple -- maybe about 30 minutes later, this coast guard --
ZARRELLA: In the pitch black of night, search and rescue crews struggled to find survivors. Helicopters and about a dozen boats scoured the area.
