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New Day

CNN Hero Patricia Kelly; Mystery Illness Paralyzes Children; HLN Show Brings Together Students and Business Owners

Aired November 14, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with the Friday edition of the five things you need to know for your new day.

At number one, President Obama is set to take action on immigration reform laws potentially allowing millions of undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. Republican leaders say the president is ignoring the will of voters.

A Homeland Security review found a series of Secret Service blunders allowed for fence jumper Omar Gonzalez to access the White House. The review revealed organizational confusion, gaps in training and communication failures.

Israeli police are easing restrictions at the Temple Mount, allowing Muslims to -- of all ages to pray. Following a meeting with regional leaders, Secretary of State John Kerry said Israel and the Palestinians agreed to de-escalate tensions over that holy site.

Ebola coming back to the U.S. A surgeon infected with the virus in Sierra Leone will be flown to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment over the weekend, likely tomorrow.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver coming out in favor of legalizing sports gambling as long as regulations are in place to keep it safe and legal.

We do update those five things to know, so be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

All right, let's talk your weekend forecast. Indra Petersons is here.

And I'm looking at your map. It's either Billings or Miami for me this weekend.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well -

PEREIRA: Two or 71, which way do I go?

PETERSONS: Tough choice there, Michaela, right?

Definitely, we're talking about cold air. Look how far south. I mean just look at the map. You don't even need to look at the numbers. You're talking about blue all the way down in the southeast. So much cold air that whether you're on the West Coast or the East Coast, we are talking about freezing conditions, even icing this morning out toward places like Portland. Snow. A lot of you actually getting your first flurry this morning.

Take a look around Boston. You may actually see about an inch of snow on the ground. Farther down to the south, sorry, this time it is rain. But, don't worry, another shot of cold air and even another chance for some snow is actually on the way for the northeast before the weekend is over. Why? Because you have not one but two domes of high pressure out there. Here they come. Probably not good news. But that means this reinforcing shot of cold air is here for the entire weekend, guys. We're talking about these temperatures a good 15, 20 degrees below normal in through the northeast and it is staying that way, and a good 30 degrees below normal if you're anywhere pretty much in the middle of the country. So there we go.

Here's the first of high pressure. It is exiting out of here. We are still talking about some lake-effect snow today. But watch the next system. This is the bad news. More snow today coming in through the Rockies then bringing some snow showers in through the Midwest as you go through the weekend. And by the time you get through Sunday and Monday, that is your chance for more flurries possible in through the northeast. I'm not going to say I'm excited. I got in trouble for saying that last time, so -

PEREIRA: No.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Own it.

PETERSONS: (INAUDIBLE) bummer (ph). Snow showers on the way, guys.

CUOMO: Own it.

PEREIRA: We're just shocked by the transformation, no?

CUOMO: Own it.

PETERSONS: Yes, I just want to feel for the team. So I'm going with the team. Bummer, guys. (INAUDIBLE).

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, every hour switch your feeling about it. I like (INAUDIBLE).

PETERSONS: I'm going to. Yes, that's a good idea.

CUOMO: No, no, no, you -- don't fake the fun. Just own it. Own it. You're looking forward to snow. Good for you.

PETERSONS: He can't' decide.

CUOMO: Here's something to look forward to. Each week we're going to shine the spotlight on the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2014. But, remember, it is you who will decide which one inspires you the most. This week's honoree is providing a safe haven for inner city kids in Hartford, Connecticut. Meet Patricia Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tough. It's tough growing up here. It is just so easy to take the wrong path. I was walking around with a lot on my shoulders. I didn't really care about life anymore. When I met Miss Kelly, everything changed.

PATRICIA KELLY, CNN 2014 HERO: Our program provides a year-round urban oasis for children five to 19 years old. We use horses to create pride, esteem, and healing. The children take care of animals, take care of the farm. When they get to a certain riding level, young men become mounted park rangers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell you where I would be without this program. It changed my life. It's helped me set goals for myself. I'm a part of something.

KELLY: All right, don't cut off the arena. Make sure -

When you teach a child how to ride a horse, they learn that they are the center of their environment. Once they make that connection, they can change what happens in school, at home, and the community. It's through their minds, and through their hearts. They have ability, they just have to unlock it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: That is so great.

CUOMO: Oh, it's a great story. You know, it really helps these kids and it makes it so hard once again to pick just one of these people, but you have to. And this is your last weekend to help your hero become the CNN Hero of the Year.

Here's how you do it. You go to cnnheroes.com to vote once a day. And you can do it every day. It's right there on the bottom of your screen. That's where you go. The hero who inspires you the most and then we'll see what happens at the big awards show.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, I can't wait to see who gets that.

Also, this story. A mystery illness is leaving children paralyzed. Doctors are scrambling to find answers. So how can you be sure your child is safe? Our medical expert joins us next.

CUOMO: Plus, guess who we have, Ty Pennington, you know him, of "Extreme Home Makeover."

CAMEROTA: Of course.

CUOMO: He is now here. He has a new makeover to the way America does business. He's helping students transform small businesses all the way from idea to reality. We've got Ty Pennington coming up next with a good idea for a show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: All right, I want to talk about this medical mystery that has doctors perplexed, parents really frightened. It's an illness that seems to be causing paralysis in children. It's now impacted 75 children across 29 states. However, the Centers for Disease Control, they still don't know what the problem is. So, parents, how can you protect your children? We're going to turn to our CNN medical analyst Dr. Seema Yasmin, also a former disease detective for the Centers for Disease Control.

So we need you to use your detective skills here for us. Dr. Yasmin, I understand you've spoken to the CDC and have the latest information about the number of children that are affected. Are we up to date on the numbers?

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: That's right, we've seen the numbers steadily increasing since we first heard about this medical mystery in September. And as of yesterday, it's now 75 children across 29 states who have become mysteriously paralyzed overnight. These are normally healthy kids, but they have noticed one thing here, and that's that in, you know, the few days prior to them becoming paralyzed, or maybe two weeks before they become paralyzed, they've had some kind of respiratory illness, some kind of fever illness, so there may be a link between that and between them becoming paralyzed.

PEREIRA: Is there a -- look, we've been hearing so much about this Enterovirus. Is there a connection to that?

YASMIN: So the CDC said there could be a connection, but right now they haven't proven that, and they're doing their best to keep a really open mind so that they can cast a wide net in trying to figure out what exactly is causing this. They said it probably is an infectious cause, probably most likely a virus, but as I said, they're keeping an open mind just because at this point it could be anything.

PEREIRA: So if you don't know what it is, how do you work then on treating these really sick kiddos?

YASMIN: You stay really, really vigilant and you make sure that you get the message out there to health care providers across the states, let parents know as well, as we're doing right now, that if your child suddenly becomes weak, you notice their arms or their legs are not working as they normally do or their facial muscles are drooping, their eyelids are drooping, for example, get them to a doctor. The other thing that we can do is, because we're in flu season now, it's that time of year when lots of bugs are going around, especially among children, make sure they stay home from school if they have any respiratory illness. Keep them away from other sick children and make sure they learn to wash their hands really well.

PEREIRA: Really good points for parents and any caregivers of children to know and understand and practice. Here's the question, once those children are taken to the hospital, how are doctors treating them? How do they -- are they able to recover from their symptoms? What kind of care are they getting? YASMIN: Sadly, the kids who were first diagnosed at the beginning of

this outbreak around early September, none of them have made a full recovery yet.

PEREIRA: Oh, goodness.

YASMIN: I've heard that some of them are making some improvements, but none are back to their usual selves, so really what they are doing right now is they're deep into this investigation, working with doctors across the country, trying to find out what exactly is causing this. Once they know that, they can try and stop it in its tracks.

PEREIRA: Why is this such a mystery to us? You'd think with all of the accomplishments that we have made, and the success, and the breakthroughs that we've made in medical investigation, and you know this very well, we would be much more able to figure out what this is and get to the heart of it.

YASMIN: Sometimes diseases are just a lot quicker than we are, sadly. And also, you have to realize that nowadays we seem better at joining the dots, so maybe this outbreak could have happened a few years ago, but we may not have been as good at recognizing that all these cases were linked. There could have been one case in Colorado, one case in California, a few in New York state and we wouldn't have pieced all those puzzles together. So now we're better at detecting outbreaks, but still it takes a lot of work to find out what's the actual cause.

PEREIRA: And, look, the number's low, it's 75 kids. But to be honest, we all agree that 75 kids is 75 kids too many. Hopefully they can find out some more information. It's great to know that great minds like yours are trying to dig up some answers for all of us. Seema Yasmin, always a pleasure. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend, okay?

YASMIN: Thank you, you too. Thank you.

PEREIRA: Chris, Alisyn?

CUOMO: Alright, Mic, information we need to have and we need to keep learning about that. Too many kids at risk.

There's an interesting new TV show on our sister network, HLN.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (voice-over): You're going to look at a clip at it right now, that's where it is. It's called "Growing America: A Journey to Success." So, how can students help small business owners? We're going to be talking live to the guy with the answer.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (on camera): There he is, the new host, Ty Pennington. How are you doing, Ty? Give us a wave. Alright, maybe later.

(LAUGHTER) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: MBAs Across America is a movement of MBAs and entrepreneurs working together to revitalize America.

TY PENNINGTON, HOST, "GROWING AMERICA: A JOURNEY TO SUCCESS": Five days, three teams, and a massive goal to have entrepreneurs transform their businesses. The pressure is always on. And they learn more on the front lines than in any other classroom.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO: Value to themselves, the economy, and others. I love this. That's a clip from the new HLN original series, 'Growing America: A Journey to Success." It premieres on our sister network HLN Sunday night. So you have three teams of top business students challenged to help transform small businesses.

CAMEROTA: Good idea.

CUOMO: And help communities. What's better than that? Let's bring in the host, Ty Pennington joining us now from Miami. It's good to see you, Ty. Tell me everything. How did you think of this? How does it work? Come on, come on, come on.

PENNINGTON: Well, it's not really my idea, but I have to say, it's the kind of thing that I love to be involved in, you know. It's really a really cool coproduction between HLN and Holiday Inn, and as you guys probably saw on the clip, you know, Casey Gerald is a guy who really put together, you know, that went out with MBAs Across America. So instead of these really smart business students that are sort of the top in their field, instead of just keeping them in a classroom, you know, they go out and really help businesses in small towns that are really trying to do positive things in their community.

And, you know, what I love about it is there are so many small businesses out there that don't get the attention, that don't get the help, of let's say some of these big city corporations, and so when you see these business owners, you know, sort of working with old school meets new school on ways to really grow their business, you know, there's going to be some friction because not everybody wants to hear the truth. And not only that, but I love it that the students themselves I think also go through a change, because they're realizing, you know, what you may see on stats and in a book isn't the same as in real life.

So you really see it's several different journeys, you know. It's the students as well as the business owners, and in the end, who really wins is the community that these businesses are in, because that's their focus, is to not only make this business succeed and make money, but also to make a difference. And of course that's totally the kind of thing I love to be involved in, and I think it's brilliant. I think it's an awesome journey and I think it helps businesses in America. PEREIRA: But, wait, Ty - -

PENNINGTON: What's better than that?

PEREIRA: So, add to this the stress that they have to do it in like a week. They have to change the world in a week, right?

PENNINGTON: Right.

PEREIRA: Is that the time line?

PENNINGTON: Yes, exactly. Yes, exactly. You have basically one week to really pull this business together and so yes, it's a lot, and there's the pressure is always on.

CAMEROTA: So what kind of small businesses will we see being helped?

PENNINGTON: Well, in Detroit there's a barbershop called the Social Club which is really a gathering place for, you know, mentors in the community to try and figure out better ways to improve Detroit, which as you can imagine, you know, there's a lot there. There's a place called Sparkleaf (ph) in Denver, which is a tech company. There's the Root Cafe in Little Rock, which is really focusing on local produce. It's a six-part series starting Sunday, November 16th at 9:00 p.m. And, you know, what's really cool about this, too, is there are other stories that you can check out online if you go hlntv.com. And you can actually vote on your favorite business.

PEREIRA: That's very cool.

PENNINGTON: So, the viewer can get involved and make a difference as well. So, it's a really cool show, I love being part of it.

CUOMO: It is good.

PENNINGTON: I really hope - -

CUOMO: What do you hope?

PENNINGTON: Yes, that hopefully the businesses themselves are going to do well.

CUOMO: Yes, I mean, look, I think what's nice about it is I hope it's successful so that it shows that reality TV doesn't have to be stupid.

PEREIRA: You mean it can be real?

CUOMO: It can be real, but there could be a virtue to it. I mean, what we all loved about your last show so much is that, you know, you were helping people who needed it.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: You still have all the drama of the process and the stakes.

PEREIRA: The excitement. CUOMO: And everything that drives the TV of it, but there's actually a good purpose behind it.

PEREIRA: We love that.

CUOMO: That's good stuff. Good stuff, Ty Pennington.

PENNINGTON: Yes, and I think - - well, thank you. Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you. "Growing America: A Journey to Success," it premieres on HLN this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

PEREIRA: We had a delay all the way to Miami.

CAMEROTA: Back from him we had a delay.

PEREIRA: That's what it was. Exactly.

CAMEROTA: Back here.

CUOMO: It was good. So, we have a nice little story coming up about a little boy in Florida who has a very special school bus. Take a look and a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (voice-over): Hey, Mr. Bus driver. How did he get to school the NASCAR way? There's a story and it is indeed the Good Stuff.

PEREIRA (voice-over): I'd be a bus driver if that's what I got to drive.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): I'd go back to school if that was my life.

PEREIRA: Awesome.

CUOMO: Wear a seatbelt.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA (on camera): This is cool stuff, I think it's safe to say. Don't you think?

CUOMO (on camera): It's a great song. It is very cool, and it's fast and cool, but we're going to call it the Good Stuff. Here's today's Friday edition. A little boy gets the ultimate ride to school, all for a good cause. His name, 7-year-old Cub Scout, key, remember that, Caleb Sowinski.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO (voice-over): Driven to school in this bad, bad machine.

PEREIRA (voice-over): Yes.

CUOMO: 700 hundred horsepower school bus. The driver, NASCAR driver Scott Lagassee Jr.

CALEB SOWINSKI, DRIVEN TO SCHOOL BY NASCAR DRIVER: I think I'm going to go 1,000 miles an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1,000 miles an hour?

SOWINSKI: Yes.

CUOMO: Well, he didn't go quite that fast, but listen to that roar. In fact, driver Scott Lagassee kept to the school zone speed limit.

PEREIRA: Goodness.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Good thinking.

CUOMO: Turns out Caleb was hand-picked to represent his troop in this scout's program for bicycle and pedestrian safety. Scouting is a pursuit that is very close to Scott's heart, it turns out. Take a listen to that.

SCOTT LAGASSEE JR., NASCAR DRIVER: Scouting was great for me as a kid, and teach you a lot of great values. I believe heavily in it and so to spend a few hours and do something fun with it is not a hard decision to make.

CUOMO: So Caleb was not only trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent, he was also the envy of all of his friends who cheered him on when he showed up to school. Even Caleb's dad said he was jealous.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA (on camera): You're a little green with envy.

CUOMO (on camera): So green, I'm as green as your sweater. It is a great thing for him.

CAMEROTA (on camera): And you know the motto by heart.

CUOMO: I was a Boy Scout, right here.

CAMEROTA: I can tell.

CUOMO: I was a Boy Scout, lefty hand shake.

PEREIRA: I was a girl guide in Canada.

CUOMO: Were you? Of course you were. Have any cookies?

PEREIRA: I have nothing.

CAMEROTA: Why is it a bad thing when I do it and you --

PEREIRA: I can't remember what's -- I don't know.

CAMEROTA: Have a great week, everyone. Time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

PEREIRA: Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Should I mention I was kicked out of the Brownies? I shouldn't.

PEREIRA: No. Wow.

CUOMO: Were you stealing cookies?

CAMEROTA: Breaking news.

COSTELLO: I was but I ain't telling you why.

CUOMO: Cookie thief.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Have a great weekend.

CUOMO: Cookie thief.

COSTELLO: "NEWSROOM" starts now.