Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Saturday

Four Dead, 172 Unaccounted For in Colorado; "There's Nothing Left"; U.S./Russia Reach Deal on Syria; 34 Taken to Hospital After Bus Flips; Newlywed Murder Suspect Released; Kanye West Charged with Battery; U.S./Russia Reach Deal on Syria

Aired September 14, 2013 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It felt like I was in a literally a horror movie.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Entire roads washed away. Towns evacuated. And the death toll is climbing. We'll take you live to Colorado where debris-filled floodwaters are being called liquid cement.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: It was thought to be eradicated. And now measles are back. And the outbreak is set to be the worst in more than a decade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It felt like I was in a literally a horror movie.

BLACKWELL: Entire roads washed away. Towns evacuated. And the death toll is climbing. We'll take you live to Colorado where debris-filled floodwaters are being called liquid cement.

PAUL: It was thought to be eradicated. And now, measles are back. And the outbreak is set to be the worst in more than a decade.

(MUSIC)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: New low or new heights? She's naked wearing boots on a wrecking ball. Is Miley's new video destroying her career or launching it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Welcome to Saturday. Hope you're able to just wake up and relax a little bit. We're glad to have your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 7:00 here at CNN world headquarter. This is NEW DAY SATURDAY.

PAUL: Yes. And more rain is what is on the agenda is northern Colorado, which obviously could add to the misery of people devastated by the massive flooding in the new pictures.

BLACKWELL: Yes, there's a flood warning. It's now in effect for the entire Denver area, north of Ft. Collins. More storms are predicted all weekend. They need a break there.

This raging water already is blamed for at least four deaths and more than 170 people are still unaccounted for.

PAUL: In two towns cut off by swollen waterways and debris, we know that National Guard troops used helicopters and high water trucks to evacuate more than 800 people. A lot of them have gone days without power or running water.

Thousands of people have heeded calls for evacuation as well, we should point out.

BLACKWELL: President Obama has declared an emergency for three counties around Boulder. And that's allowed FEMA to launch its largest rescue deployment in Colorado history.

PAUL: It was a brief break in the rain yesterday. And that's what helped crews kind of pluck stranded residents from their ruined homes at this point, gave weary families a chance to tally their losses.

BLACKWELL: Our Nick Valencia is in Longmont, Colorado, right outside of Boulder.

Nick, what are we seeing this morning, because some of the videos we've seen over the past day or so gave them just that break to save people. Are they able to get to people even at this early hour?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's just miserable here. The conditions are awful, especially for those emergency crews. We've learned just a short time ago that 162 people were rescued in neighboring Jamestown. That's just west of where I'm standing here in Longmont. And as you mentioned, just terrible situation for those first responders trying to access these mountainside hamlets. Roads are impassible for these first responders so they had to take out 152 people by air.

We also understand there are ongoing evacuations in Lyon. That's another mountainside hamlet that's been made news over the past couple of days from being completely really cut off from the rest of the world. The National Guard had to burrow their way through here.

Here in Longmont, Victor and Christi, 7,000 people evacuated. Homes just completely demolished and destroyed, 2,000 people are still without power.

The National Weather Service tells us that there is a flood warning still in effect in very same area where I'm standing. In fact, just off to the side of me here is the St. Vrain River, completely swollen with water.

Yesterday, officials spoke to residents and the media, and they talk about really the dangers that are still ongoing and how the trouble is not yet over yet..

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MARK BECKNER, BOULDER POLICE: We're asking people to avoid driving in Boulder. Avoid being out in areas where waters are rising.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: So the concern really is that rain, that rain that will come throughout the afternoon and possibly into the night. We had very little rain that created a direct impact on Boulder County. That's the hardest of the four counties that have been affected by the flooding but that's not really helping the anxiety of the residents that have dealt with this flooding over the past couple of days -- Victor and Christi.

PAUL: So, Nick, just to clarify, you said 162 people were rescued. Were those part of the 170-plus unaccounted for still this morning?

VALENCIA: That's unclear. That's 172 just to give some context, to our viewers, that 172, it's a very large number. But officials do tell us they expect that number possibly to go down. As cell phone towers are restored. And people get their power back. It could very well be that these residents just can't get in touch with their loved ones at this hour -- Christie.

PAUL: All right. Nick Valencia, thank you so much. We're keeping you up to date on what's going on there. Stay safe to you and the crew, too.

BLACKWELL: And it's not just Colorado, because there's flooding in New Mexico. The waters in three counties has forward the governor to declare a state of emergency. The floodwaters caused evacuations in Eddy, Sierra and San Miguel counties.

Hundreds of people have been moved from their homes. They've been plucked out by air and ground crews and after bridges were washed out there. The governor's order provides state funds to help local officials and for the National Guard to help as well.

PAUL: You know where else they're wrestling with floods is Texas this morning. They already forced at least one national park to close for visitors there.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Alexandra Steele is here with more.

So, we've got Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, heading south there. When's the break coming?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, the worst is over for the most part in terms of the amount of rain, but we still are going to see some. You know, so mentioned Colorado and also New Mexico. Let me take you farther east now to Texas, to Guadalupe Mountain National Park where we've seen such an inundation of flooding as well. You see the pictures here, the swollen rivers. You know, it only takes six inches of water to sweep you off your feet. So, the power of this, you know, the National Weather Service talked about this as being biblical. So, it is historic. I mean, we've never seen some of these water levels quite so high.

So, let me show exactly why it's happening. This is the water vapor satellite. This is what meteorologists use kind of to look at the atmosphere. We don't usually show you but it's illustrative in one point. You see where it's brown. That's where it's very dry air.

But look where the bright white colors and the purple. Those are the high cloud tops. Where there's the most moisture in the atmosphere. So, synoptically, where you see the H's and L's on the map, this is what's happening. There's the area of low pressure. But, usually, kind of like a car stuck one behind each other. They all move each other forward.

But in this case, this low is cut off, and the last couple of years, with kind of our changing climate, we've seen a lot of that, this cut off low, because the jet stream that would move this is well to the north. So, it's now pushing it out of the way.

But, finally, now, we're going to see a little bit of movement. It's going to move to the north and to the east. So the worst of it is over in terms of amount of saturation and inches of flooding. We've seen a foot of flooding, but scattered storms in the forecast another inch or two. And look how much we've seen. No wonder why there's flooding, in Colorado, in Boulder, 14 inches.

Now, on the average, guys, 1.6 inches of rain average for the month of September. So, the flooding has been incredible, and the pattern weather-wise has allowed for this but it is going to improve.

BLACKWELL: Well, that's the good news. Clear skies are on the way.

Alexandra Steele, thank you.

STEELE: Sure.

BLACKWELL: We've been look at pictures of the horrific fire in New Jersey. Investigators think the flames started in a custard shop. By the time they were out, dozens of businesses were burned to the ground.

PAUL: Look at that fire that hit the New Jersey boardwalk there. That happened, of course, as we know, just 10 months after Superstorm Sandy devastated that very same area.

Reporter Margaret Conley is live in Seaside Heights.

So, help us out here. Can these business owners even afford to rebuild a second time at this point?

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi and Victor, the people here are just in disbelief that this is happening to them again. They rely on these businesses for their income. They're spending tens of thousands of dollars to rebuild, and they're going to have to do that all over again. Some are saying it's actually going to take longer to rebuild from this fire than from Sandy.

Now, Governor Christie, he was here on the scene Thursday night when the fire broke out. Here's more of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: And I said to my staff, I really thought I was go throwing up. I mean, just -- you know, how much more are people going to be expected to take. It's an emotional toll that it puts on everyone. The people who live here, the business owners, the local officials, and those of us in the state government who have dedicated most of our lives over the last 10 months to the rebuilding of the Jersey Shore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONLEY: Now, Governor Christie was also a little more optimistic later on. He said this town is resilient. And he has confidence that they will be able to rebuild.

PAUL: All right. We certainly hope so. Margaret Conley, thank you so much.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLACKWELL: Breaking news on Syria this morning. It's from Geneva. Three days of talks between the U.S. and Russia over Syria's chemical weapons, well, they're over. And there is a deal.

PAUL: Yes. In fact, just in the last hour, Secretary of State John Kerry announced Syria has one week to submit a complete inventory of its chemical weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: The world will now expect the Assad regime to live up to its public commitments. And as I said at the outset of these negotiations, there can be no games, no room for avoidance, or anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto. He's in Geneva.

You were in the room for these remarks. Tell us what you witnessed. What happened there?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi and Victor, this is a fairly dramatic agreement. Remember, just a few days ago, a diplomatic solution wasn't even on the table. Then, it was something of a surprise on Tuesday, Kerry mentions the words in public. Before you know it, we have talks here in Syria, here in Geneva about Syria. And now, in three days, you have an agreement. As you mentioned in the lead-in, inspectors are -- Syria's going to have to submit a full accounting of its chemical weapons within one week. They asked for 30 days. Secretary of State John Kerry said that's too long. And the aim is to have you all the chemical weapons either collected or destroyed inside Syria or outside the country by the middle of next year.

So, a fairly dramatic move forward after a short amount of time and difficult talks here in Geneva.

PAUL: All right, Jim, what else has to happen for the Syria to avoid a U.S. military attack? What was discussed?

SCIUTTO: This is a very important here, because they've come to something of a fudge on the use of military force. They say that noncompliance will be dealt with Chapter 7 resolution at the U.N. Chapter 7 is key because among the options to respond under a Chapter 7 resolution is military action.

However, they have not agreed here in Geneva that military action will follow noncompliance by Syria, just that they will debate that option if and when Syria fails to comply. Secretary Kerry said just a short time ago, they can't make an agreement now for circumstances that they don't even know yet. So, there is agreement that noncompliance will be taken care of under Chapter 7. But what the remedy is, he says, is still not allowed to be decided.

So, that allows Secretary Kerry to say, as he did shortly after those words that President Obama reserves the rights to use military action, and it allows Foreign Minister Lavrov to say that we do not support the use of military action. In fact, he used the word that would be catastrophic if it were to come.

BLACKWELL: Our international correspondent well, rather, our national security correspondent Jim Sciutto, thank you so much for joining from Geneva.

Still to come on NEW DAY, more than 150 cases of measles popping up in the U.S.

PAUL: Why experts say this year could be the worst for the contagious disease in nearly two decades.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Quarter after the hour now. A rare amoeba blamed for the death last month of a 4-year-old boy has been detected in a Louisiana community's water supply. State officials say the amoeba which can cause a fatal brain infection was found in tests of water from St. Bernard Parish, just outside New Orleans.

They say the water is safe to drink but they warn people not to get it into their nose.

And in just an hour on NEW DAY, we'll talk with Louisiana state epidemiologist, Dr. Raul Ritard (ph) about the quality of water in St. Bernard Parish.

PAUL: And in addition of that, experts say this could be the worst year for measles in two decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more than 150 cases already reported in the U.S. this year. So, why is measles making a dangerous comeback?

Well, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, clues us in here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, you know, as a starting point, 159 cases may not sound like a lot. Keep in mind, back in 2000, we thought that we may have eradicated measles, essentially stopped the transmission of measles from person to person. So, this is obviously a step very much in the wrong direction. Since, you know, 2000, you've had 50 or 60 cases a year. If it keeps on par with this number of cases, this is going to be the worst measles sort of number of cases in two decades.

So, again, this is sort of heading in the wrong direction. And also keep in mind that, you know, the vast majority of people that we're talking about who are getting the infections are people who have not been vaccinated. And we know that the number of people who aren't getting vaccines is increasing as well. So, these numbers could be getting worse and I think that's the real concern.

We know that if a child is exposed to measles who has not been vaccinated it's almost a sure chance they're actually going to get measles. It's that contagious. So, the concern is not only for people in these communities but people who start to live outside of these communities extended family. And while we're seeing the vast majority of people who get measles now still located in these cluster, could it spread even further? That's what people are trying to prevent.

Measles is potentially a deadly disease, one or two or three or so out of 1,000 children who get measles will die from it. People can develop significant pneumonia and encephalitis and other sorts of problems. So, the news is not good on this front but a potentially very addressable problem.

Christi, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: All righty. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much for clueing us in there.

Coming up, why investors should be smiling in September, but apparently not too widely.

BLACKWELL: Just a little bit (ph) of happiness.

And Apple stockholders, they were not smiling after Tuesday's iPhone announcement. We'll tell you how big a bite investors took out of that of Apple.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All righty. It is "Money Time" on NEW DAY.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: It sounds good, doesn't it?

For headlines, let's talk about September, because, whoo, has it been sweet so far to investors.

BLACKWELL: Indeed, the Dow, S&P, NASDAQ, all posted gains, modest gains Friday for the week. And for the month, all three indices are up more than 3 percent. Some companies catching investors' eyes, Dunkin and makeup seller Ulta.

Get ready for more ads to start popping up on your Twitter feed, of course, once the popular social media site goes public, it will be likely be under pressure to make more money from its 200 million-plus users -- meaning, yes, more advertising. You know what always surprises me?

PAUL: Yes?

BLACKWELL: Which of my friends follows the company. Like, why is he following Spanx, you know when it say so-and-so is following this company?

Research firm E-marketer already estimates that Twitter's ad revenue will more than double this year alone to nearly $583 million.

PAUL: I admit, I don't follow Spanx, but I wear 'em. If that's the same thing as supporting, all righty.

BLACKWELL: Thank you for that, Christi.

PAUL: Well, you know.

Investors took a look at last week's iPhone and it basically said, well, that's all you got? Come on.

The stock slumped 5 percent Wednesday and the net drop combined with Tuesday's 2 percent dip erased $35 billion in market value. Not everyone is hating on Apple. Investor Carl Icahn said that he bought more stock, calling it extremely cheap.

BLACKWELL: Extremely cheap.

All right. In this morning's biz blog talker, we start with Best Buy. All right. This could help a lot of invests.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: $16 million of stock dumped by the CEO of Best Buy. Why? Because he had to pay for his divorce. PAUL: Ouch!

BLACKWELL: That's about 20 percent of the total stake in the consumer electronics exchange. When the people see that the CEO is selling off $16 million worth of his stock, after the fees, he got $10 million.

Of course, they're afraid, but Best Buy says everything is fine. He's just dealing with the divorce. The shares have tripled in value this year. So, good news for the company.

PAUL: Yes, he has done very well for the company since he took over.

Let me -- you're a fan of big Slurpee?

BLACKWELL: I do like a large Slurpee once in a while.

PAUL: Well, you know, you can have something healthy, apparently.

You guys, go for it. Just go for it, he's saying basically. But listen, according to the convenience store and "USA Today," you're going to be able to find some healthy snacks by organic trail mix and veggie chips and dry roasted edamame.

BLACKWELL: Fancy.

PAUL: Not only is this a move to attract millennials. Some think though the chain is going to be hard pressed to change its junk food image, even though it's going to be right there in the front door when you walk in.

BLACKWELL: Those big cookies that you get like three for $1.29, they always catch me. The M&M's are like calling out to me. All right.

So, let's talk about these cookies. If you want cookies but not too many, here's a solution for you. You can always buy a locking cookie jar.

PAUL: I don't get this.

BLACKWELL: You can lock cookie jar.

PAUL: I don't get this.

BLACKWELL: It's called the kitchen safe, $40. It has a time locked container on it. It keeps snacks in is there. Video games if you don't want the kids playing before you get home.

It seems interesting anyone with a sweet tooth or kids.

PAUL: OK, but did you notice, it's clear so you can see what you're not allowed to touch.

BLACKWELL: It's $40 torture is what it is.

PAUL: Yes!

BLACKWELL: Here's the thing, once that goes off and I get into it, I'm taking out three cookies and I'll save that for when I get hunger.

PAUL: It's torture for kids, too. Now, you're walking around, mom, can I have it yet? Mom, can I have it yet? No!

BLACKWELL: It's plastic, because you then crack it. People are going to crack that thing.

PAUL: Yes, they will, yes.

BLACKWELL: All right. Still to come on NEW DAY, we're following breaking news. The U.S. and Russia, they reach a groundbreaking deal to force Syria to eliminate its chemical weapons. We've got the latest on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Mortgage rates held steady this week. Have a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Half past the hour right now. You're up early but we're glad to see you. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: We're up early, too. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here are five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

Up first -- a flood warning now in effect in Colorado. Of course, we've seen these pictures where raging waters are blamed or at least four deaths now. More than 170 people still unaccounted for.

National Guard troops and helicopters and those high water trucks, they've evacuated some communities, taken out more than 800 people from those towns. And FEMA has launched its largest rescue deployment in Colorado history.

PAUL: Number two, 34 people have been taken to a hospital after a Greyhound bus flipped in southwestern Ohio a couple hours ago. The crash happened near the town of Hamilton. We do know that 52 people were on board when it overturned. The bus route begun in Cincinnati was bound for Detroit at the time.

BLACKWELL: Number three, firefighters are now working to find the cause of a monster fire that destroyed dozens of businesses at the Jersey shore. Owners had just recovered from Superstorm Sandy. That was in October. The flames burned four blocks along the board way in Seaside Park. It took about 400 firefighters nine hours to get these flames under control on Thursday.

PAUL: Number four, that newlywed accused of pushing her husband off a cliff has been released on bond. She's now waiting for her murder trial to start. Judge ruled Jordan Linn Graham is not a flight risk. The couple had been married for just over a week, when Cody Johnson fell to his death. If convicted, Graham can be sentenced to life in prison. BLACKWELL: Five now, rapper Kanye West, he didn't like the paparazzi. He doesn't mind telling you that. But now, he could face jail after a scuffle in July with a photographer happened in Los Angeles International Airport.

Police say West attacked that photographer after he tried to take pictures of the singer leaving the airport. West who is set to kick off the tour next month could face at least six months in jail if he's convicted.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

PAUL: All right. Let's talk about Syria and breaking news from Geneva this morning. The U.S. and Russia have reached an agreement after three days of talks.

BLACKWELL: Secretary of State John Kerry says this groundbreaking deal gives Syria one week to submit a complete inventory of its chemical weapons. Now, if Syria fails to comply, Kerry says the threat of force will be included in a draft to the U.N. Security Council resolution.

PAUL: But this leaves a lot of people wondering how would the logistics play out, and how difficult to even track down all of Syria's stockpiles?

International security analyst Jim Walsh is joining us now.

Jim, thanks so much for being here.

So, first of all, we want your response to what happened this morning and, also, what is the likelihood that the Assad regime is going to comply.

JIM WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. So, first, this big news. I mean, it's sort of breath taking that in three days, that they've been able to handle -- hammer out an agreement. You know, both sides gave something up, I think when you look at the fine print.

Russia wanted a prohibition on any use of force, including this agreement. They wanted to say, we'll have this council resolution but everyone has promised to not hit Syria. Well, they didn't get that.

And the U.S. by contrast wanted a clause in the U.N. Security Council resolution saying well, we get to use force, if they don't comply. And the U.S. didn't get that.

So, both things were taken off the table. But they got an agreement. And at the end of the day, if the U.S. wants to use force it can, whether it's in that final resolution or not. So, I think you have to square this as a victory for the Obama administration.

BLACKWELL: Jim, let's talk about resources and what it will take to collect and destroy these chemical weapons. Former chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, David Kay, he estimates that it could take close to 2,000 inspectors to disarm Syria's stockpiles. We've got a map we put together, estimates that at least 300 inspectors from the U.S., 500 from China and Russia.

First, is that enough people to do the job? Second, are we anticipating that Syria will say no one from the U.S., we're only trusting the Russians and the Chinese?

WALSH: You know, those are great questions. First, on the scope of the thing, you know, is it enough? We won't know until we -- until folks are on the ground. But it could easily be more than that.

You know, there are dozens of facilities. There are manufacturing facilities, research facilities, places where they put the chemical weapons and make them into munition storage facilities. And, you know, for all of those places, there are going to have to be inspectors, as well as people to guard the inspectors. Remember, is this a civil war.

So it's a huge task, a huge administrative task that's going to take years. Now, as to the composition of that inspector -- you know, from what countries they're going to come, I can definitely see Syria objecting to the U.S. inspectors. You know, first of all, they say we're funding the rebels and we want Assad to leave so that would give them pause.

But I just don't think it's just going to be Russia and China. I don't think that's acceptable to the U.S.

I think at the end of the day, it's the international agency, the OPCW, that is in charge of he chemical weapons prohibition, that's going to put the international team and that's probably going to come from all over.

PAUL: All righty. Well, how -- people looking at this probably think, too -- how do inspectors determine whether Assad has handed over all those stockpiles?

WALSH: You know, it's a great question. What's the baseline, how do we know when we have everything? I think the answer is, we won't know. But the hope -- I think there are two things going on here, one, if we take out a big chunk of it, that's a win, because, remember, the alternative was military action which I was in favor of, by the way.

But the military action was not going to hit the chemical weapons themselves. We were afraid if we struck those with bombs that would disperse the chemical into the air and kill a lot of civilians. So, the original plan was to go after the military units associated with the chemical weapons and go after the delivery systems but leave the agent aside.

Under this plan, we're actually going to try to remove the agent, which is a big deal because that means neither the rebels nor the government will have it. Now, will we get it all? Probably not. But we'll get more than we got during a military attack.

And the other thing is with, those inspectors on the ground, and with the U.N. Security Resolution approved, that should, you know, rein in Assad from using them a second time, because if he does use them a second time, that's a clear violation both of treaty they just signed and the U.N. resolution, neither of which we had two weeks ago.

So I share with you skepticism, whether we're going to get 100 percent. But I think if you weigh the options, this is probably a pretty good outcome.

BLACKWELL: Hey, Jim, you bring up a good point, that if inspectors go in, there will be people who have to protect them. Will that mean U.S. boots on the ground?

WALSH: No, there's no way Assad or Russia wants U.S. troops on the ground. And, frankly, we don't want U.S. troops on the ground. So, there's going to have to be -- there are two possibilities here. Either the Iraqis provide troops to secure -- right. There are three things here -- find, secure, destroy. It's going to take forever to destroy the stuff so it has to be secured.

So that requires troops to guard the facilities and to protect the inspectors. They may be Iraqi troops but that's -- you know, that doesn't sound very good. I think there somebody some mix of Syrian and international folks who go in to protect them but it's not going to be U.S. people.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jim Walsh, thank you very much.

WALSH: Thank you. Good morning.

PAUL: Good morning to you, too. Thank you for being here, Jim. We appreciate it.

All righty. Coming up on NEW DAY: two big Hollywood revelations. First of all, Lady Gaga is opening up about her drug-filled past. What she had to say.

BLACKWELL: And then, more on Julie Chen's plastic surgery. Chinese- American television host admits to going under the knife to widen her eyes and advance her career. More after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All righty. Forty-one minutes past the hour. I hope you're on time this morning if you're running around all over the place. But we're in the E-block which means entertainment time.

BLACKWELL: Entertainment, yes. Let's start with Miley Cyrus.

PAUL: Oh, boy.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the new music video is getting attention for choice of attire. Or maybe should we say lack thereof.

Look at this.

(MUSIC VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

PAUL: I like the song.

BLACKWELL: I love the song. Yes.

PAUL: It's good. Now, she was on Elvis Durant's morning show, radio show. And the 20-year-old pop star says, you know, we need to look past the fact that she's nude.

BLACKWELL: It's us.

PAUL: It's us. It's our issues. She said, quote, "If people can take their minds off the obvious and go into their imagination and see what the video really means, it's so vulnerable. If you look at my eyes, I look more sad than actually my voice sounds on the record.

BLACKWELL: Look at my eyes?

PAUL: You get naked, you know nobody's looking at your eyes, girl.

BLACKWELL: Look at my eyes, but you put everything else on camera for us.

All right. V103 entertainment correspondent Kendra G. joins us now.

I mean, is this just Miley being Miley?

KENDRA G., V103 ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: First of all, only person that can look past that video and not see her naked is Stevie Wonder, serious. I like the song, I agree with you, guys.

You know what, I'm over Miley Cyrus. It's our fault. We keep talking about her. We keep breaking the records for her. Also in an interview with Elvis Durant. She says that she is trying to break her own record which she did. Over 77 million have watched this video so far.

It's not her clicking on. It's us clicking on. So, we want her to change. We have to stop paying her attention.

BLACKWELL: I love the song. I just don't understand how licking a sledgehammer has anything to do with the lyrics.

KENDRA G: You know how people get freaky at times.

PAUL: It's her strategy, though.

KENDRA G: Unfortunately, it's working for us, because us we watch it.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about Lady Gaga. I watched this. It was on "Watch What Happens Live", Gaga told Bravo's Andy Cohen that she's tried molly. This is that drug that Kanye West and Miley Cyrus has sung about. It's kind of like ecstasy and MDMA type drug. It's dangerous for a lot of reasons.

PAUL: It's deadly. Four people died. Four people died.

KENDRA G: Well, here's the thing, I don't condone Miley at all. But I'm not surprised. I mean, like you said, you hear about it in songs that are on the radio, on my radio all the time, and Miley Cyrus is -- excuse me, Lady Gaga is a rock star. You want to roll me, tell me Joel Osteen tried Molly. You know what I'm saying?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

KENDRA G: That would be a talking point. But rock stars, they do things like this all the time.

BLACKWELL: And she says be careful if you use it.

PAUL: That's kind of passive, isn't it?

KENDRA G: I don't condone it at all. It is a rock star drug.

PAUL: All righty. Let's talk about Julie Chen.

BLACKWELL: We've been talking about this all morning.

PAUL: A lot of people have been talking about Julie Chen making these headlines.

She's, of course, the Chinese-American host of "The Talk" and "Big Brother." And she dropped this bombshell this week, revealing that she had plastic surgery to make her eyes look bigger because a news director told her you're never going to be a news anchor because you look like you're disinterested because of her eyes. And there's an incredible before and after picture. But listen to this.

KENDRA G: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIE CHEN, TV HOST: I cannot represent you unless you get plastic surgery to make your eyes look bigger. I will say, when I -- after I had that done, everything kind of -- the ball did roll for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What do you make of this?

KENDRA G: Well, you know what, first of all, I commend her for being so honest on television. She's not alone on this. I mean, here I am sitting on this seat right now with fake hair on my hair. You know, we all are kind of a victim to this in a certain degree. And she even said that it has helped career.

So, in the perfect world I would say, of course, just be who you are, the world is going to accept you. I'm going to be honest. That's a lie. That did help her career, whether it be right or wrong.

BLACKWELL: This is a visual media.

KENDRA G: Yes.

BLACKWELL: We know every morning, we go to the makeup chair. PAUL: And thank goodness to the makeup people.

(CROSSTALK)

KENDRA G: We're standing in front of the camera, we're all kind of a victim what she went through.

BLACKWELL: But do you think it's getting credit simple specifically because she tried to westernize her look? Would she get the same criticism if she were talking about weight or she was talking about something else?

KENDRA G: Well, I think the criticism is because she tried to westernize her look. And, you know, like they said, also her former boss said that people can't relate to you. How many people in the Asian community are watching our channel?

And like I said, it's a harsh reality. But it is reality. And I don't make the rules of the game.

But, you know, consumers are tuning in, they want to see relatable faces.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

All right. V103's Kendra G., it always good to have you here.

KENDRA G: We went far today.

BLACKWELL: I know, we don't typically do this.

KENDRA G: I'm going to get up and give you a hug.

BLACKWELL: You know, I can't touch her before the segment.

KENDRA G: I know, my dad's watching. My dad's watching.

BLACKWELL: Your dad's said also --

KENDRA G: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- don't touch him so much.

PAUL: We love having you here. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Hey. Later this morning in Alabama, TV icon Bill Cosby, he's going to chair the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham civil rights movement. Cosby spoke to CNN's Don Lemon about the importance of remembering what took place in 1963. It was more than a speech, which we celebrated a few weeks ago. Also, the horrific moments, that fire hoses and dogs were unleashed on innocent black men, women and children.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL COSBY, ENTERTAINER: There are people who don't want to see these scenes talked about again. They weren't there. I didn't do it. Yes, I'm white, but, please, it's not -- do we have to talk -- it's painful, but we have to really get to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And this weekend, also, the anniversary of the bombing of that Birmingham Church that killed four little girls. You can catch the full interview with Cosby. It's later today, right here on CNN, 5:00 p.m. eastern.

PAUL: And also coming up in the free ride, where were we? Where were we? Not on the Internet obviously.

BLACKWELL: One airline is keeping up its word on a deal that looked like it was just really too good to be true. We'll tell you about it after the break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This week on "THE NEXT LIST," we talked to two remarkable innovators, Saul Griffith.

SAUL GRIFFITH, CO-FOUNDER, OTHERLAB: If you think about everything, all the consumer products, every machine that humanity's ever made, it's stiff and rigid. There's a completely green space of soft machine.

Here is a way that we can really transform the cost of robotics. We'll eliminate all the server moders, we'll eliminate the pins and bearings and joints, and we will sew you a robot out of fabric and use pressurized fluids to make it work, and it will reduce the cost of robots 100 fold and it will make them 10 or 100 times more comfortable.

GUPTA: And, Ben Kaufman, the founder and CEO of Quirky.com. Kaufman is passionate about giving would-be inventors the ways to get their product ideas to market.

BEN KAUFMAN, QUIRKY.COM: What really gets me excited is when I -- literally when I hand an inventor their product for the first time, a product that they conceived on a napkin and posted on the Internet. And here I am, some random dude, handing it to them and it's a real life physical thing that they're going to buy at Target next week.

We have taken the idea from sketch submitted to our site to every store of Bed, Bath and Beyond around the country in 39 days. No other company in the world can do that.

GUPTA: This Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Eastern, on "THE NEXT LIST."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All right. So, I'm wondering if you got in on this.

United Airlines had a little snafu this week, just a little one. But it was lucky for travelers, because the airline says it's going to honor the free fare tickets they got. A rep says human error led to United selling tickets for as much as 5 bucks, charging airport and security fees. The mistake lasted on its Web site, about two hours. The error lasted two hours on the web site, only applied to domestic flight, by the way. I feel sorry for the human error.

BLACKWELL: You call it a tiny snafu? I doubt that's what they call it.

PAUL: I know, I know.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

And JetBlue, they had some problems of their own this morning. "The Buffalo News" reports that computer glitch led to some brief delays at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Flights were grounded for about 90 minutes after this glitch disrupted communication between the pilots and the gates.

PAUL: Now, I know you are waking up to cooler weather, maybe you don't know it yet because you just look outside. But just walk out there, just give a nice little whiff of fall.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it started to feel a little more like fall driving this morning. Now, granted, here is a live look at Atlanta. My drive this morning, it was 71 degrees.

PAUL: Beautiful.

BLACKWELL: It was also 3:45. This is the live look at Atlanta as the sun comes up this morning. It's expected to be more fall-like, although yesterday was 91 degrees. I guess getting to 85 is more like fall.

PAUL: We'll take it.

BLACKWELL: Meteorologist Alexandra Steele, we're going to go to her in a moment with a look at the weather across the country.

And how about that rain is well for the folks there in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Let's start with the temperatures.

All right. Chicago this morning got to 48 degrees this morning. The coldest temperature there since June. So, a chilly start. In Atlanta, Georgia, first time below 60 since May.

So, much cooler temperatures we have seen in five or six months for many of us. And, of course, in the Northeast, the cold front moved through, dried out the atmosphere. Beautiful sunny weekend, but look at the temperatures. I mean, they're on average, a little bit lower perhaps. Boston should be at 73, and that's going to be this weekend; 76 in New York City, getting down to the 60s by Monday.

So, the front passed. Cooler temperatures. So, sunny and bright -- the Southeast as well. Sunny skies and a little bit cooler in the 90s.

Last week, much cooler than that. But, of course, here is the story. This flooding rain coming in to New Mexico and Colorado. And again, we're going to see more of that.

Here is the scenario. Synoptically, this area of low pressure has been ensconced in this area of the country, has not moved because of the terrain. You get the orographic lifting, so kind of clinging out and squeezing out from the sponge any potential moisture. On average, places like Boulder, again, about 1.6 inches of rain for the month. They had between 11 and 14.

More rain today, tomorrow. Again, the worst of it is over, guys, but still, because the ground is so saturated, even another inch leads to more flash flooding. And flash flooding, inland flooding, the number one weather killer here in the U.S. So, pretty serious.

BLACKWELL: It's going to take a while to clean up everything.

Alexandra Steele, thank you so much.

STEELE: Sure.

PAUL: And stay close. We're back with you in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: We got the "Must See Moments" for you right now.

First off, off the coast of Australia. This is pretty rare. A white humpback whale.

PAUL: Look at that thing. A boater captured the images.

BLACKWELL: His name is Migaloo. Now, who names the whale? I don't know who do that. He is off in the water. Someone gives him the name.

This is near the Great Barrier Reef, though.

PAUL: He said it is the most famous white humpback. So, apparently, they know his name and that's why he's having -- first, apparently, was spotted back in 1991 and one of only a handful that exist. I'm surprised they know it's the exact same one.

BLACKWELL: They probably don't. I'm sure, they probably don't.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Look at you calling them out.

Australia, we should say, has granted him extra protection under Aussie law. Apparently, no boats are allowed within 1,500 feet. Although that's pretty close.

BLACKWELL: Yes, he is closer than 1,500 feet.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Well, who needs a sweeper when you need these around?

PAUL: Oh, come on!

BLACKWELL: Yes, we've got the cats here, driving on to the floor sweeper, just riding along.

PAUL: The cats need a bath. You know they are notoriously finicky all you cat lovers out there. This -- they love having fun. In case anything goes awry, apparently, they have nine lives.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's happening and says, I want to join in.

Thanks for joining your morning with us.

PAUL: We are starting the next hour of NEW DAY right now.