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Thousands Pay Tribute To Brazil's Soccer Legend Pele At Wake; Bills Player Damar Hamlin In Critical Condition After Collapse; Arkansas Town Hit By Storms, Possible Tornado. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 03, 2023 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:31:52]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Right now in Brazil, thousands of people are filing past the coffin of soccer icon Pele, bidding an emotional goodbye. This is a live look for you. Later today, his casket will be carried through the streets of his hometown of Santos where his 100-year-old mother still lives.

Stefano Pozzebon is live in Santos. This is a farewell fit for the king that Pele was. Tell us what is planned for today. When does the funeral begin?

STEFANO POZZEBON, REPORTER: Yes, indeed, this is Santos. It is the hometown of the king of soccer. And you can see just how important Pele was for the city. Here is his statute, Christine. And I will show you also another -- here is his favorite bakery.

The plans for today is that Pele's casket will do a cortege around the city and it will pass onto these streets toward -- on its way to the cemetery.

But this city has been really grieving this atmosphere for the past few days. And yesterday was such an emotional rollercoaster. We brought it up altogether for you to have a listen to and to see how his hometown is saying farewell to the greatest of them all. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POZZEBON (voice-over): When Pele's body arrived in Santos, he received a homecoming worthy of a true legend. His fans were already standing in line outside his old football ground; some of them waiting overnight just to see him one last time.

Inside the Vila Belmiro stadium, he was treated like a Brazilian head of state. An open casket, the body exposed, and a somber samba song sung by Pele himself to mark the historic moment.

In the waiting line, emotions run high.

VINICIUS FERNANDES DE CARDOSO, SANTOS FC SUPPORTER (through translator): It's a mixture of feelings. On one side, sadness, at least for me, but also a lot of emotions because -- well, it's Pele, the biggest player in the world and especially, my club, Santos. I'm actually a bit emotional. I don't know how to explain it. I think I'm going to cry.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Pele was an icon for all generations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): For me, he was a human being that became great by staying humble.

ROMILDO PERONI, SANTOS FC SUPPORTER (through translator): He's a distinguished person -- an example. An example for his effort -- for his professionalism in football that people nowadays seldom see.

People think a lot about money. That was the times when there wasn't money. He earned money after years of working.

He's an example to be followed. The youth should follow him.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Santos, the club that launched his career, said about 17,000 people paid their respects in a mere question of hours, and the line reached several blocks. But on the main stage, no moment was more touching than Pele's own wife giving him one last gift.

POZZEBON (on camera): Standing in this stadium you really feel the two sides of Pele's legend. Under the tent, the official Pele -- the football star with his casket draped in the Brazilian flag and escorted by a Guard of Honor. Outside, the average fan saying the last goodbye to a man who always stayed true to his humble roots and loyal to the city of Santos.

[05:35:00]

POZZEBON (voice-over): And for those who shared decades of memories with him, even this farewell will not be forever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

POZZEBON (voice-over): "Pele will never die. Pele -- will always be with us."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

POZZEBON: And Christine, of course, emotions will run even higher today when the casket of Pele will pass in front of the house of his own mother who is 100 years old and will have one last moment to say farewell to her son.

So, just as in the piece, these two souls of this story. On one side, the greatest football player -- soccer player of all time being laid to rest. And on the other, a family man with his family and his very close friends just saying goodbye -- Christine.

ROMANS: Yes. Whether you call it football or soccer, there was no one ever like him. All right, Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much.

POZZEBON: Yes.

ROMANS: All right, quick hits around the globe right now.

A tragic mid-air crash between two helicopters on Australia's Gold Coast has killed four people and left three others critically injured, including two young children. The incident is under investigation.

The U.S. has returned a 1,100 pound ancient sarcophagus lid, known as the "Green Coffin," back to Egypt. Officials say it was looted and smuggled out of the country and found at a Houston museum exhibit.

Two major retail companies say Dubai's 30 percent alcohol tax has been scrapped for non-Muslims under a trial period for the next two years. The move expected to decrease prices for tourists and ex-pats living there.

Just ahead, shock and sorrow after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapses on the field in Cincinnati. More on his condition right now.

And a possible tornado in Arkansas causing extensive damage there.

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[05:40:48]

ROMANS: Welcome back.

Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin is listed now in critical condition this morning after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field during Monday night's game in Cincinnati.

Andy Scholes joins us with more from Atlanta. It was -- it was hard to watch. In the end, they postponed this game.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine.

You know, we've seen many serious injuries on the football field but nothing quite like this. You knew immediately how serious this was by the reaction of all the players out there on the field.

Now, this happened in the first quarter of the game. Damar Hamlin making this tackle on Tee Higgins, taking a shot right to the chest. Now, he stood up initially but then immediately collapsed. Medical personnel rushing out onto the field and administered CPR. All of the players on the field surrounding Hamlin and as you can see, many of them were just visibly upset.

After 16 minutes, Hamlin was loaded onto an ambulance and taken off the field.

Just a few hours ago, the Bills tweeted, "Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest following a hit in our game versus the Bengals. His heartbeat was restored on the field and he was transferred to the UC Medical Center for further testing and treatment. He is currently sedated and listed in critical condition."

Now, after the ambulance left the field, Bengals coach Zac Taylor and Bills coach Sean McDermott -- they got together with game officials and decided to pause the game at that time. And then after about an hour, the NFL officially postponed the game.

Taylor and Bills receiver Stefon Diggs went to the hospital later to try to see him, according to ESPN, while the rest of the Bills team did fly back to Buffalo.

And quarterback Josh Allen tweeting "Please pray for our brother." Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt was one of the many others taking to social media, saying "The game is not important. Damar Hamlin's life is important. Please be OK. Please."

Now, LeBron James, meanwhile -- he praised the decision to postpone the game. He was one of the many NBA players who were thinking about Hamlin after their game last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, FORWARD, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: My thoughts and super prayers goes up to the skies above for that kid's family and for him. For that brotherhood of the NFL and everybody a part of the NFL family. It's definitely the right call by either -- whoever made that call. Roger Goodell or whoever had an opportunity or the authority to make that call to suspend that -- the safety of players in all sports is always the most important, so --

KLAY THOMPSON, GUARD, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: As athletes, sometimes the game can overshadow us as individuals or people. And just on behalf of the organization, we just wish him the best, keeping him in our prayers and hoping for the best possible outcome. And just a tremendous person. And it's bigger than sports.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: You know, back in 2020, Damar Hamlin set up a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help purchase toys for kids in need. And fans wanting to show support for Hamlin have made a ton of donations in the hours after his injury. The original goal of the GoFundMe was $2,500. It has now topped $3.1 million, and more than 122,000 people, Christine, have donated to it.

So obviously, just sports fans, just any -- everyone following this story around the country, just really pulling for Hamlin. And we are, of course, hoping for an update in the coming hours.

ROMANS: Yes, and we know you'll bring that to us. All right, Andy Scholes. Thank you so much, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: Coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING" we'll update Jeremy Renner's condition. The actor operated on again after a snow plowing accident.

And tennis great Martina Navratilova diagnosed with throat and breast cancer. An update on her condition ahead.

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[05:48:34]

ROMANS: All right. Looking at markets around the world, Asian stocks bouncing back from early losses to finish the day higher. China's factory activity shrank at its sharpest pace in three years. A silver lining -- it appears COVID-19 cases are finally starting to peak in China.

On Wall Street, stock index futures at this hour are moving up a little bit on the first day of trading for U.S. investors. It is opening day. Hello, 2023. Twenty-twenty-two, goodbye -- the worst year since 2008.

A big economic week is upon us to set the tone now. Job openings, job quits, the minutes from the last Fed meeting all lead up to Friday's critical jobs report.

On inflation watch, folks, gas prices ticked up slightly overnight, now at $3.23 a gallon.

All right, let's bring in Spencer Jakab, editor of the "Heard on the Street" column at The Wall Street Journal.

It was just a terrible year for markets, right? The worst trading year since 2018. The first down year in several. What I see when I look at those charts, though, is don't rely on the rearview mirror too much because we tend to bounce back after a big down year.

But we still have the Fed to contend with.

SPENCER JAKAB, EDITOR, "HEARD ON THE STREET," THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (via Webex by Cisco): Yes.

ROMANS: We still have inflation and geopolitical tensions -- a lot of stuff that has been troubling for investors.

What are you thinking here sitting on the first trading day of 2023?

JAKAB: Well, it was a lousy year and it's even worse than the numbers you cite -- suggest. Because what you're talking about is the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500. It's tracked by professional money managers.

[05:50:02]

A lot of individual investors were very heavily invested in the leading tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite dropped by a third, so a lot worse than the S&P 500.

But even worse than that, a typical investor portfolio has stocks and bonds. You're not 100 percent being on the stock market. And for 60/40 portfolios -- the typical sort of portfolio that people have -- it was the worst year, really on -- since the Great Depression by many measures, since 1937. So it was -- it was a bad year for the nest eggs that most of us have.

Now, does that mean that we'll have a better year? Well, I hate to sound glib --

ROMANS: Yes.

JAKAB: -- but, I mean, it does help that you had a bad year last year because it makes things cheaper. It makes both stocks and bonds cheaper. It makes the yields and the potential future returns of those things higher.

And the bad news there is that it's not that cheap. I mean, if you look at the Shiller PE -- that's the kind of the -- kind of gold standard measure of how cheap or expensive --

ROMANS: Yes.

JAKAB: -- stocks are, we're basically where we were at the peak in 2007. We're higher than we were Black Monday. So we're a lot lower than we were a year ago but we're not historically cheap.

And then bonds, also, are not historically cheap. Bond yields are still less than inflation today. So bonds are losing you less money than they were a year ago. Bond yields have gone up a lot but they're not tantalizing.

ROMANS: Yes. You said PE. For anybody who doesn't know, that's a price-to-earnings ratio. It's what we look at to sort of measure what something -- you know, what something historically has been worth relative to how much money the company is making or the index is making.

And we still have a rate hike situation. And we knew last year that there was going to be a shift away from easy money -- easy money that was flowing into things. Like Bitcoin flowing into things that were higher risk. Like the stock market.

This year, we still have to kind of adjust to this new -- this new headspace, right, where we have higher rates for longer?

JAKAB: Absolutely. The Fed says that it's still in a hiking cycle and it probably will continue to hike. I mean, the -- what traders are doing, though, is trying to anticipate the Fed's move. So if it looks like the economic data will support because things are slowing down or whatever -- or inflation is easing, that the Fed will ease up on the cycle of rate hikes.

Then the market probably will rally. Any individual day when you get a data point like that -- let's say a weaker but not very weak jobs number -- sort of bad news but not too bad news, or the Consumer Price Index rising but not too much. A little bit less than expected. Then you'll have the market rally because that's what everyone is watching right now.

And so, the market will likely have a turn before the Fed is finished with this job -- ROMANS: Yes.

JAKAB: -- because the market will debate the Fed kind of being close to the end of the cycle.

In the longer run, though -- I mean, all these silly things that went up -- you know, from cryptocurrencies, the JPEGS, the monkeys, or whatever -- or very speculative SPACs and tech stocks -- those, the people widely agree, were fueled by money being so cheap -- and it no longer is so cheap. So we're at a -- sort of a more even-keeled moment than we were a year ago, for sure, in the markets.

ROMANS: Yes. Those of us who like plain vanilla mutual funds and just buying things we know, maybe we'll be back in favor again here in 2023.

Spencer Jakab, nice to see you, from The Wall Street Journal.

JAKAB: Nice seeing you.

ROMANS: All right, time running out for House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to win the support he needs to be speaker. What to expect from today's highly anticipated floor fight, ahead.

And Prince Harry explaining his decision to speak out about the rift in the British royal family. Why he says it needs to be addressed publicly coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING."

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[05:58:13]

ROMANS: Severe weather across parts of the south. A possible tornado in Arkansas Monday causing extensive damage to the high school in the town of Jessieville and to homes in that community. Storms also knocking out power in the area.

Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers. Chad, where is this storm's system headed next?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we have 500 miles of flash flood warnings from Kentucky to Arkansas. We have tornado watches in effect and even one tornado warning right now. And on the north side, it's snowing in Nebraska and icing in parts of Minnesota and Iowa. So, kind of, let's get right to it.

Here is the line of severe weather that we've seen today. That red marker -- that big red line is actually a series of flash flood warnings stretching for 500 miles. We've had a lot of rain overnight and tornadoes are possible as the storms push to the east.

Even for you, Memphis -- you are about to get rocked with a lot of lightning here with the next storm system coming in. And you're under a flash flood warning because it's already rained an inch and a half to 2 1/2 inches in your town. The only possible see -- I see right there, about Elkton, Kentucky.

That's the only tornado warning that we have going on right now. You should be talking shelter in that area. Now, Bowling Green and the like up to the north, keep an eye on this storm.

We move you ahead to later on today. We start to see that weather move toward Nashville. And then it even gets toward Atlanta for later on tonight. A very difficult rush hour today and tomorrow.

But we're watching these storms that could possibly be spinning. It's the ones that could put down a tornado. Now, there's been a lot of wind damage as well because a 60- or 70-mile-per-hour wind can do significant damage to homes and, especially, to mobile homes.

That's where most of the severe weather will be today. That's where it will be tomorrow.

And to the north, here is where the snow is. Snowing in Nebraska and parts of South Dakota. Sioux City seeing some -- Sioux Falls as well -- some snow on the ground for you as you wake up and try to drive to work.

So this is a big system. It runs all the way from basically, the Great Lakes all the way down to the Gulf Coast.

[06:00:00]