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New Day Saturday
Martin MacNeill Found Guilty; Typhoon Haiyan Hits the Philippians; Typhoon Haiyan moves to Vietnam; Incognito Flies to L.A.; Bleacher Report; How to Avoid Trans fats in Your Diet: Tips by Dr. Mark MacDonald; Ted Cruz Appears on Saturday Night Live; Nuclear Deal with Iranians Is About to Be Reached; New Accusations in the Arafat's Death Investigation; Polio Outbreak in Syria Can Pose a Threat to Europe; Olympic Torch is To Take a Spacewalk
Aired November 09, 2013 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, having reviewed the evidence and testimony in the case, find the defendant as to count one murder, guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, breaking news. Dr. Martin MacNeill has been found guilty in the drugging and murder of his wife back in 2007.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: A jury of eight deliberating overnight before reaching a verdict just a few hours ago. We're going to go straight to our own Jean Casarez at the courthouse in just a moment.
Your NEW DAY starts right now.
Good morning to you. Thank you for being with us.
Boy, what a night overnight between this and what's going on in Philippines. A super typhoon. We're going to tell you everything that's going on with that as well. But we're so glad to have your company. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. A lot going on. It's 6:00 a.m. Eastern on this Saturday, November 9th. Welcome to NEW DAY Saturday."
And again, some stunning developments out of Utah while were you sleeping.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
PAUL: Dr. Martin MacNeill stared apparently stone-faced at the clerk as she read the verdict in his murder trial just three hours ago.
BLACKWELL: Yes, a jury of eight found him guilty of killing his wife in 2007. The trial saw MacNeill's own daughters turn against him, while jurors heard details of his tawdry affair with his mistress Gypsy Willis. CNN's Jean Casarez has been following the case. She joins us live from Provo, Utah.
Was this is a surprise, Jean?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Victor, I think the surprise was the verdict came in at 1:10 this morning in the courthouse behind me. It was so intense in there. And throughout the evening, the jury actually had four questions, including they wanted latex gloves to be able to open up the evidence package so they could handle the last piece of clothing that Michele was wearing when she was found dead in the bathtub. That was a dark shirt. And we knew the verdict was coming because the last question was, before we make the determination, we want to listen to the 911 call. And shortly after that, we learned there was a verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, having reviewed the evidence and the testimony in the case, find the defendant as to count one murder, guilty. As to count two, obstruction of justice, guilty.
CASAREZ: Screams of emotion echoed through the tense courtroom as Martin MacNeill heard his fate sealed, seven long years after the drowning death of his wife Michele in their family bathtub. Her daughters and sisters shaking and sobbing uncontrollably as they shed bittersweet tears.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When it happened, we kind of were like, did -- did we hear that right? Because it's so surreal. We've been waiting for this for so long.
CASAREZ: After 14 days of testimony, it took the eight person jury nearly 11 hours to come to a verdict. Despite relying on circumstantial evidence, Prosecutor Chad Grunander had told the jury to do the right thing.
CHAD GRUNANDER, PROSECUTOR: It is time for the truth to have its day. It's been almost seven years since Michele's death. It is time for the truth to come out. Do the right thing. Do the right thing and convict Martin MacNeill of murder and obstructing justice.
CASAREZ: MacNeill's daughter Alexis was the impetus behind the case and pursued her father's prosecution with a vengeance. The verdict was her victory.
ALEXIS SOMERS, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: We're just so happy he can't hurt anyone else. We miss our mom. We'll never get her back. But that courtroom was full of so many people who loved -- loved her. I looked around and it was full of everyone who loved my mom. I can't believe this has finally happened. We're so -- we're so grateful.
CASAREZ: Friday's closing argument by Prosecutor Chad Grunander convinced the jury that as a doctor and a lawyer, MacNeill had the motive, means and opportunity to kill his wife. It was planned all along, he said, and MacNeill left plenty of clues along the way. Prosecutors prove MacNeill plied his wife with a deadly dose of drugs after insisting she have a face-lift, then held her head underwater in the bathtub until she drowned, all so he could marry his mistress Gypsy Willis.
DISPATCH: Who's in the bathtub?
MARTIN MACNEILL: My wife.
GRUNANDER: There's about an hour and a half period of time where no one really knows where Martin is. Rush home. Take care of your business. Give Michele the drugs, fix her up a bath, get her in the tub, hold her head down for a little while and help her out.
CASAREZ: Defense Attorney Randy Spencer spent a year preparing for the trial, devastated by the outcome.
RANDY SPENCER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Of course I'm disappointed, but I don't have any comments right now.
CASAREZ: MacNeill faces 15 years to life for the murder of his wife of 30 years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CASAREZ: And the prosecutor asked that the bail of Martin MacNeill be revoked. The defense said, your honor, his bail is already set at $1 million. He cannot make that bail. The bail remains $1 million. And, Christi and Victor, sentencing is set for January 7, 2014, right here in Provo.
BLACKWELL: So, Jean, should we expect to hear from the MacNeill's daughters during that sentencing period?
CASAREZ: Victor, it will be very, very emotional because there will be, just as you say, victim impact statements. The family will speak. But also this will be the chance for Martin MacNeill to allocute, as the court, beg the court for leniency. It is 15 years to life the potential sentence.
BLACKWELL: All right, Jean Casarez, thank you.
And for more on the MacNeill verdict, including testimony from the riveting trial, head to cnn.com.
We now turn to the other developing story. This unbelievable storm, Typhoon Haiyan. We're getting new images and new reporting on the ground in the Philippines. More than - look at this, more than 100 people are confirmed dead, all in one city alone. At least 100 more are injured. And the numbers are expected to soar.
Now, to put this monster storm into perspective, Haiyan covered an area that would stretch from south Florida to upstate New York. It's not over yet. CNN's Paula Hancocks was one of the first western journalists on the ground in the hard-hit city of Tacloban City. Now, she filed this report just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Loretta Isanan (ph) lost three of her daughters in a matter of seconds. The storm surge from Typhoon Haiyan tore them from her husband's arms. Age 15, 13 and eight. Only two bodies have been found.
MARVIN ISANAN, BEREAVED FATHER: Only ones missing is my eldest daughter. I hope she's alive. And we're hoping that she's alive. And she was only - she was in (INAUDIBLE) somewhere but just alive.
HANCOCKS: Bas Ramos (ph) became emotional as she remembers seeing bodies float past her home. She says she was on the roof to avoid the water.
They are just some of the victims congregating at the Tacloban air strip. Many have walked for hours to get their first food since the storm. It's become the military's staging area. A first aid center here set up for cuts and bruises, but they can do little for a serious gash to the head. One of the first priorities, restoring communications.
PETER GALVET (ph): From today, within 48 hour hopefully, the -- we're now relying on satellite phones.
HANCOCKS (on camera): As we move further inland, we come across more bodies. This is the local chapel here which is effectively being turned into a morgue. Inside, there are nine bodies, five of them are children.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): The military planes that bring life essentials in take the body bags out, as well as the injured that need to keep their hope for the future.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Tacloban in the Philippines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: It is a scramble of search and rescue there this morning and certainly our thoughts and prayers with all of the people there that have been hit by this and the people that are doing everything they can to try to take care of those people and what needs to be done now.
But this monster typhoon, and this is what's part of what's so frightening, isn't even over yet. Look at the ferocious storm surge. Look at this. This is from Haiyan in the Philippines. And now it's heading straight towards Vietnam. Alexandra Steele joining us now in the CNN Weather Center.
So when is Haiyan expected to hit Vietnam?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Tomorrow. I mean this is historic on so many fronts. The longevity of these winds. The intensity of it. So here's this super typhoon breaking over the Philippines. The third in three weeks. So this area has just been devastated. Now it is in the South China Sea.
Now, it is not a super typhoon anymore. A super typhoon is 150 miles per hour winds. It's down to 120. But just to show you the perspective, you know, you heard Victor say from Canada all the way south to south Florida, that's the scale and the massiveness of this thing.
So here's a look at what it is. Now its gusts are 150. When it came ashore in the Philippines, it was 230-mile-per-hour wind gusts, sustained winds of 150. I mean unheard of. Certainly historic.
So here's a look. Tomorrow, it will get into Da Nang, a major port city, and then move to Hanoi, of course, the capital. We're talking 15 to 20 million people. Very low-lying area. And here's the wind forecast. You can see it move tropical storm force winds. The winds do abate some, but the wind and the water, guys, really phenomenal on this thing.
PAUL: Good heavens. All right, Alexandra Steele, thank you so much.
STEELE: Yes.
PAUL: You know, thank goodness for our technology because these people at least usually have heads up.
BLACKWELL: Yes. And we know that the Filipino government there now sending in 12,000 pounds of communication supplies and relief supplies and medical supplies to Tacloban City. So hopefully it gets to them soon. And we're going to get, of course, the updated numbers.
But in Washington, subpoenas now starting to fly.
PAUL: A Republican congressman shows he's serious about getting answers on the Obamacare website debacle.
BLACKWELL: Plus, new twists in the Miami Dolphins bullying investigation.
Nick.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good morning, Victor. I'm Nick Valencia.
A lawyer says the harassment included threats against Jonathan Martin's family and a physical assault. You're up early with NEW DAY on Saturday on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Fourteen minutes after the hour now. Thanks for watching NEW DAY SATURDAY.
If you were hoping to sign up for health care this weekend, wait a couple of days because parts of healthcare.gov are down this weekend for upgrades. Now, you can set up an Obamacare account and log on, but it will probably be Tuesday before you can complete your health insurance purchase. Now, officials are pointing to the websites improvements though. They say the average page load time has been cut from eight seconds to less than one and the page error rate is down from 6 percent on launch day to 2 percent now.
But Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, he's going to force the chief White House technology officer to testify before his committee. That's on Wednesday. Issa had asked Todd Park to testify about healthcare.gov's problem voluntarily. Park declined saying he's too busy with website fixes. Well now Issa has issued a subpoena. It requires that Park appear before the House Oversight Committee or face contempt charges.
Christi, over to you.
PAUL: Well, this morning, Richie Incognito is waking up in Los Angeles after flying out to the West Coast on Friday, Victor. Not clear what the suspended Dolphins linebacker is doing out there, but this story is continuing this morning and our Nick Valencia is covering it for us.
So what have you found out this morning, Nick?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this story just keeps on getting -
PAUL: Oh, my gosh.
VALENCIA: Keeps on getting stranger and stranger. It's the weekend, Christi, so a lot of people are going to be talking about the NFL. But it's the situation in the Dolphins' locker room that's really casting a shadow over the games.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA (voice-over): Vulgar comments, racially charged language and a physical attack. From Miami Dolphins linemen Jonathan Martin, the threats crossed a line. So last week, he left the team. This according to a statement released from his attorney. "Jonathan endured harassment that went far beyond traditional locker room hazing," his lawyer said. "These facts are not in dispute." But what is in dispute is the relationship between Martin and teammate Richie Incognito, the man suspended by the Dolphins for detrimental conduct.
KYLE MILLER, MIAMI DOLPHINS TIGHT END: It gets to the point where you can't differentiate between what's fact and what's opinions.
VALENCIA: The question, were Martin and Incognito really best friends, despite what's being alleged. Some players say yes.
TYSON CLABO, MIAMI DOLPHINS, OFFENSIVE TACKLE: What's perceived is that Richie's this psychopath, racist maniac, right? And the reality is that Richie was a pretty good teammate and that Richie and Jonathan Martin were friends.
VALENCIA: Some say they hung out together on the field and off. For one full season, they played next to each other on Miami offensive line. A position where both Martin and Incognito were expected to be tough. Something Martin's lawyer addressed in his statement. "Jonathan Martin's toughness is not an issue," he said. "The issue is Jonathan's treatment by his teammates."
In the fallout, Martin's decision to leave the team has been widely scrutinized, while Incognito's behavior has been sharply criticized. And each day there seems to be a new twist in the story. The latest, a woman who said Incognito touch her inappropriately with a golf club. Details from a 2012 police report. CNN affiliate WPLG reports Incognito was never charged. As for his future with the team, for now the Dolphins aren't talking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any comments that we would make at this time would be, you know, a disservice to the process that's about to take place.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA: And I've spoken to a lot of NFL players about this. And while they done condone bullying or those racist language - that racist language that Incognito was alleged to have used, they do think that this thing has sort of gotten way blown out of proportion, Christi.
PAUL: Really?
VALENCIA: And that worse has happened in the locker rooms.
PAUL: I - people - I think people are so -- we know - I guess maybe - you know, I'm never in a locker room - NFL locker room so I don't know -
VALENCIA: Right.
PAUL: But people think, you know, when he mentioned the -- allegedly mentioned gang raping his sister or something -
VALENCIA: Right.
PAUL: You think, whose mind even goes there?
VALENCIA: Who talks like that?
And then now Jonathan Martin, we hear, checked himself into a hotel - into a hospital in California for mental distress. But also some people are criticizing that, and his reaction, saying, if he had this mental distress, it should have been diagnosed years ago. So both players are seemingly, you know, having their reputation tarnished because of what happened.
PAUL: Did you say that people are coming to the defense of Incognito?
VALENCIA: A lot of NFL players, a lot of media analysts saying this is a warriors game. How do you expect them to act civilized in a game that's so brutal?
PAUL: Oh.
VALENCIA: Yes.
PAUL: All right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much.
VALENCIA: You bet. PAUL: It's something else.
Victor, let's get back to you.
BLACKWELL: All right, Christi, Nick.
You know the NFL is taking hits this week for more than the bullying controversy. Retired Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett is showing signs of a serious brain disease. You'll want to watch this. And he's blaming the NFL for letting this happen. That's next on NEW DAY SATURDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: Well, it may be America's most popular game, but the NFL taking some serious hits themselves from retired players. This morning, ESPN reporting former Miami Dolphins all-pro wide receiver Mark Cooper is the latest player to be diagnosed with signs of the brain disease CTE because of all the hits that he took to the head.
BLACKWELL: Yes, Joe Carter has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report."
Joe, we heard about Tony Dorsett. Tell us -
JOE CARTER, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, that was the big word this week.
BLACKWELL: Tell us what - what is CTE?
CARTER: Well, CTE is chronic traumatic encephalopathy. And it's basically a degenerate brain disease that's linked to or caused by head trauma. And the symptoms to CTE are depression and memory loss. And you hear these stories over and over again from these former NFLers that say, well, I forget my car keys. I don't know where I'm going. I get in the car and I don't know what destination I'm headed to. Simple tasks. Then you hear about their mood. You know, Tony Dorsett said that his kids are kind of scared of him this week. That when he gets mad, he gets really mad.
You know, Tony Dorsett is by far one of the most popular players that took part in this recent study at UCLA. Four guys went out there for three months, took part in this new brain study where they were able to determine signs of CTE. You can't actually detect CTE until the person has passed, until an autopsy is performed. So these guys were determined and diagnosed with signs of CTE and they all had the similar signs, you know, the depression, the memory loss. And Tony Dorsett said that, you know, he knew he had several concussions over his career. Didn't know how many. But he said, you know what, the owners knew what were going on but they decided that they wanted to look the other way. And I think what he said earlier this week was really poignant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY DORSETT, FORMER NFL PLAYER: The owners knew this for years. And they looked the other way. And they kept putting us players out in harm's way. That in itself right there really, really was hard for me to understand why one human being would do that to another human being.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER: Now, there is no cure for CTE, guys, but they say this new testing, this new brain study, obviously, puts them -- it's a game- changer. It puts them in the right direction of be able to study it more and be able to determine when people have signs of CTE and you get proper treatment.
PAUL: Wow. All right.
BLACKWELL: Thank you, Joe.
CARTER: Yes, you bet.
PAUL: Yes, we appreciate it.
Hey, still to come on NEW DAY, a Florida couple is taking on Hollywood heavyweight Spike Lee. The mistake he made -- whoo -- that now has the company receiving hate mail and death threats.
BLACKWELL: Plus, overnight, jurors reached a verdict against a doctor accused of drugging and drowning his wife. This is the MacNeill trial so many people have been following. The latest from a Utah courtroom. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: All right. If you're just waking up, it's bottom of the hour now. We're so glad to see you on this Saturday. Take a nice deep breath.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: You've made it to Saturday. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: Celebrate, it's the weekend.
PAUL: Yes.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz is in the hot seat. It was last night with Jay Leno. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": I've been reading a lot about you lately and they describe you as aggressive, arrogant and abrasive. Accurate?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Right out of the gate, man!
BLACKWELL: Wow! PAUL: He did not waste time. We're going to have more on Ted Cruz's appearance on Leno coming up in a few moments.
First, though, here are five things you need to know for your new day.
BLACKWELL: Number one, stunning developments overnight. A jury finding Dr. Martin MacNeill guilty of drugging and murdering his wife back in 2007. Now, one of MacNeill's daughters says her mother finally has justice. And during the trial, a prosecution witness admitted she had an affair with MacNeill before and after his wife's death. He will be sentenced on January 7th.
PAUL: More than 100 bodies were found in just one city after what's likely the strongest storm ever recorded. Devastated the Philippines. Just take a look at that storm surge there. Typhoon Haiyan hit the islands with winds of up to 235 miles per hour. Catastrophic damage to areas with hundreds of thousands of people. It is now set to hit Vietnam as a category three later today.
BLACKWELL: Diplomats are inching closer to a breakthrough deal on Iran's nuclear program. Secretary of State John Kerry is expecting to take part in today's talks in Geneva. And Britain's envoy says there's been, quote, "very good progress." But several issues still need to be resolved. Israel's prime minister says the proposed deal is very dangerous.
PAUL: Number four, a Florida couple is suing filmmaker Spike Lee for retweeting their home address, believing it to be George Zimmerman's. Lee sent the tweet a month after the controversial shooting of Trayvon Martin back in 2012. Well, the couple says they still are receiving death threats and hate mail as a result of that. Both sides had previously agreed to a $10,000 settlement.
BLACKWELL: Number five now. The FDA is moving to take trans fats out of the food you eat. And it's in a lot of processed foods. A lot of us eat these foods because we're rushed. Frozen pizzas, desserts, microwave popcorn, even coffee creamer. Think of how often you use that. The major source of trans fats, partially hydrogenated oils. It increases the shelf life of foods, enhances the flavor, but the FDA says it's no longer generally recognized as safe. Now, one huge reason trans fats are being eliminated is because of the health risks.
PAUL: Here to talk about that this morning health and fitness expert Mark MacDonald is with - author of "Body Confidence", just so you know. So, glad to have you here.
MARK MACDONALD: Thanks for having me, Christi and Victor.
PAUL: So, is it true that at one point they thought trans fats was better than --
MACDONALD: Yes, that's the funny thing. People used to think they were better.
PAUL: It's healthy. MACDONALD: Yeah, because people were scared about saturated fats. And that's what clogged your arteries. So people say, oh, listen to me, trans fats, which is liquid fat made solid. And now what we're seeing is it's worse than saturated fat. It actually clogs your arteries and lowers your good cholesterol. It causes greater inflammation in your body and increases the risk of diabetes. So, it's much worse than what we originally thought.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, that is pretty bad. So, we know where some of this is physically, I think people understand where the trans fats are, however there are some surprises.
MACDONALD: There's surprises and is also just getting more educated on how to read a food label.
BLACKWELL: Yeah.
MACDONALD: So like what I - what I really didn't understand is like it's in pancake mix.
PAUL: I know.
MACDONALD: So you had - so some pancake mix now doesn't have trans fats. So, what you have to do is you have to look at the label. It's in almost all bake mix?
PAUL: OK. But is it labeled trans fats? What is it - what are the labels we need to look for?
MACDONALD: So, would start in 2006 that you actually have to say trans fats.
BLACKWELL: Yeah.
MACDONALD: So, it says the amount of fats, it says the amount of saturated fat and it says transfat. So, we just have to understand that we used to think that butter was worse.
PAUL: Right.
MACDONALD: But margarine is liquid fat form into solid, and it's loaded in trans fats. And it's much - margarine is much worse for you than the butter is.
PAUL: And I defy you to find a cracker on the shelf half the time. Because you would not think a cracker has trans fats.
MACDONALD: Yeah, the real cool thing is this, is that people are getting like educated about it. And because the consumers, because us, we're demanding it. A lot of the crackers now are zero transfat. But baked goods, they're found in it. You have to just look at the label and find more healthier options in that. And, you know, simple things like chili. And like when we look at like corned beef hash. Things like this are loaded in trans fats as well.
PAUL: And the kids meals, too. MACDONALD: That's the big scary thing for me, is that chocolate pudding, a lot of it, like when you look at this, you think you're doing well, but this meal for kids has over 500 calories, 24 grams of fat. Has 3 grams of trans fats. It has five grams of saturated fat. It's not the best. So you just have to get educated. And, you know, obviously, Victor, as you said --
BLACKWELL: Yes.
MACDONALD: Like a cupcake.
BLACKWELL: We know.
MACDONALD: We know this stuff. But the thing is this, there's a lot of desserts that don't have trans fats. And you just want to more educated and look at the label and simply see you want a zero by it. And you have a zero by it, that's something you want to do.
PAUL: So, what are other options? I mean what - what do we --
BLACKWELL: Because there are some good fats?
PAUL: Yes, there are good fats. So.
MACDONALD: The great fats are like your almonds, your avocados. And you want to eat healthier. So, basically I know --
BLACKWELL: Come on, Mark -- let me just put it out there --
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: -- between almonds and this --
PAUL: I know. I made cupcakes and he pulls this out over here.
MACDONALD: This is the deal. It's not like occasional transfat, it's OK. But what's fun, is that there's a lot of desserts, Victor, I know you love this.
BLACKWELL: Oh, I do.
MACDONALD: There's a lot of desserts that are zero trans fats. So, you want to first look at the ones that don't have them. Now, the more natural you eat, and the more in its natural state, you're not going to get any trans fats. Remember, this is made food. It's made because they're taking liquid fats. And they are making into solids. So, it's a better shelf life, tastes better.
PAUL: If I have one of those once a week, how dangerous is it for me.
MACDONALD: Once a week is not dangerous at all. Just eat some protein with it. So it doesn't spike your blood sugar.
BLACKWELL: OK.
MACDONALD: That's the biggest thing. Just get educated. BLACKWELL: Have a cupcake and a chicken breast.
(LAUGHTER)
MACDONALD: That's better than you are having a cupcake, man. Just make sure you find kids meals that are not - that are zero transfat. That's big.
BLACKWELL: All right. Mark MacDonald.
PAUL: Thank you, Mark MacDonald.
MACDONALD: Good stuff.
PAUL: So good.
MACDONALD: Cupcake and chicken breast. I love it.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKWELL: I don't know if it's going to go over well. But we'll try to cut out that cupcake as often as possible.
A Washington joke magnate makes his late-night debut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO: In the state of Texas, they don't want Obamacare.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): We don't want Obamacare because it's taking away their health care. What we want --
LENO: But 25 percent of the state doesn't any health care anyway, so Obama care would help them, wouldn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Jay leno challenges Senator Ted Cruz. Obamacare does that. Next on "NEW DAY SATURDAY"
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: And you don't have to do anything. Just stay in bed, stay with us. Live look at New York City this morning. The charging bull right in the middle of the Big Apple. Good week for Wall Street. Mostly cloudy there in New York, with a high of only about 50 degrees. So, they have to bundle up. Good news for Titter this week.
PAUL: Oh, boy, yeah.
BLACKWELL: Yeah. After the company's IPO hit the market. Better news for Twitter than it was for Facebook when it happened for them. PAUL: By all means.
BLACKWELL: Twitter shares soared Thursday, in their first day on Wall Street.
PAUL: Yeah, but you know, is the jobs report, Friday jobs report, that really got investors' attention. So, let's take a look at that with Alison Kosik.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Victor and Christi. This past week on Wall Street brought some good news on the economy. The U.S. added 204,000 jobs in October. Wall Street expected fewer because of Washington's shutdown and fears about the debt ceiling. But October was actually the third best month for job gains this year. But unemployment rate rose to 7.3 percent, but analysts say it's a temporary blitz because of the shutdown. Still unemployment is high, and we haven't gained back all the jobs lost during the recession. Despite the upbeat report, stocks ended mixed for the week. Twitter's little bluebird finally landed at the NYSE. The social media company went public with the biggest IPO of the year. Traders cheered when the ticker symbol TWTR moved for the first time. And it eventually closed 70 percent higher. Still, Twitter had yet to turn a profit.
Another bad omen for BlackBerry is abandoning plans to put itself up for sale. And its CEO is stepping down. Fairfax Financial was expected to buy BlackBerry outright and Wall Street saw Fairfax as a white knight for the struggling company. But now that isn't happening, and BlackBerry's future is uncertain.
Blockbuster video as we know it is dead. The store is closing the last of its 300 company owned stores. Just a few years ago, Blockbuster had 9,000 locations, but it couldn't keep up with Netflix and Red Box and eventually went bankrupt. A handful of franchised independently owned places will survive. That's a wrap of the week on the Wall Street. Victor and Christi, back to you.
PAUL: Alison Kosik, thanks so much. Alison, good to see you.
BLACKWELL: And so, this was a risk. And I don't know if anybody would do this.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKWELL: If you were at Washington's favorite "Late Night" punch line, I mean would you go on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno?
PAUL: It takes a lot of guts.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: Guts is the word I'm going to use this morning.
BLACKWELL: Guts. You use guts.
(LAUGHTER) BLACKWELL: Senator Ted Cruz, you know, a driving force behind last month's partial government shutdown. Well, he did it at - in "Saturday Night Live" route and that kind of treatment, Leno kept things pretty serious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LENO: I've been reading a lot about you lately. And they describe you as aggressive, arrogant and abrasive. Accurate?
CRUZ: Well, I don't know that you can believe everything you read.
LENO: All right. Any one of those? Can you believe any one of those?
CRUZ: You know what I'm trying to do is do my job. And occasionally, people don't like it.
LENO: I know you're a man of principles. You have your principles. Does that prevent compromise when you're so set on what you do?
CRUZ: Of course not. Of course not. Look, my view on compromise is actually exactly the same as what Ronald Reagan's is. Reagan said, what do you do if they offer you half a loaf, the answer is, you take it. And then you come back for more.
LENO: Well, congressional approval is at what - 12 percent?
CRUZ: I'm amazed it's that high.
LENO: Are you amazed it's that high?
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: I mean Americans are sick of brinksmanship, don't you think?
CRUZ: Look, I think Americans are deeply frustrated.
LENO: Yeah.
CRUZ: That the Washington is broken. And I think it's a bipartisan problem. I mean I think the biggest divide we have is not between Republicans and Democrats, it is between entrenched politicians in both parties, in Washington and the American people. (APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Look, my focus has been jobs, economic growth and in particular Obamacare. Obamacare, it's the biggest job killer in this country. And, you know, it's interesting.
(APPLAUSE)
LENO: Let me ask you -- in state of Texas they don't want Obamacare?
CRUZ: We don't want Obamacare because it's taking away their health care. What we want -- LENO: But 25 percent of the state doesn't have any health care anyway, so Obamacare would help them? Wouldn't it?
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Well, if it wouldn't, number ones are because it's taking away a lot of people's health insurance.
LENO: OK. OK.
CRUZ: And number two, because it's killing jobs. And, look, I'm a big believer in health care reform. I think we ought to reform health care so that it's personal, it's portable, it's affordable. We ought to empower patients rather than government bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Wait a minute. You notice there were - there was a lot of applause on both sides of that.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, the audience seemed to be really engaged on that. I mean so not too many jokes, but substantive conversation.
PAUL: Yeah.
BLACKWELL: With Senator Ted Cruz. And he says he stands for marriage between a man and a woman but he says that same sex marriage is up to each state. He also says that different states make the different decisions based on people's values. So they talked about that last night, too.
PAUL: Already. Hey, have you heard about the Olympic torch? It's reached out of state.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, but that's not cool enough for the relay organizers. Hear what the torch is going to do later this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED: Good morning, London. Or I should say almost afternoon there. Good afternoon. Live look there at the city. The iconic Tower Bridge located next to the Tower of London. Happy Saturday to all of you. And so grateful to have you on board. Let's take a look at some of the headlines around the world. First, to Tehran, the capital of Iran, of course. People are waiting to hear if world diplomats are going to reach a nuclear deal with Iranian leaders. CNN's Reza Sayah is there. Hi, Reza.
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, like much of the world Iranians eager for an outcome to these talks in Geneva, the negations have made headlines for the past few days. If there is a deal, it's perhaps the Iranians who will gain the most. Remember, this is a very young sophisticated educated population. They've suffered through years of economic sanctions and economic isolation. They say if there's a fair deal on the table they want it to happen. The big issue remains uranium enrichment. Iranian leaders have signaled the possibility of halting 20 percent enrichment. If that happens, that would seemingly make it impossible for them to make a bomb. However they have made it clear that they're not going to stop enrichment entirely. And they want in return some of these sanctions to be eased. Christi.
PAUL: Reza Sayah. Thank you so much, Reza.
Israeli leaders now badly new accusations as the government assassinated Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat using radioactive polonium. CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance in Jerusalem for us. Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, the Palestinian committee set up to investigate the 2004 death of Yasser Arafat says that Israel is the only suspect. This was report published this week. Said that specimens from Arafat's remains contain unexpectedly high levels of the radioactive element polonium 210. Palestinian investigator said the report showed that Arafat did not die of old age, or ill health, but it was instead the victim of an assassination. Israel's government has dismissed any suggestion that it was involved. Christi.
PAUL: Matthew Chance, thank you, Matthew.
And the Middle East is re-infected with polio. This is according to experts at the World Health Organization. Now they're scrambling to get millions of children vaccinated before polio spreads through Europe. CNN's Erin McLaughlin is reporting on this from London. Erin.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, it's been a week since ten cases of polio were confirmed in Syria. The first down breaker of the disease there since 1999. Now as thousands of Syrians flee the civil war two German infectious diseases experts warn the outbreak could pose a threat to Europe. For many, polio is a disease of the past. A highly infectious virus that attacks the nervous system. The researchers are now warning it poses a very real danger to European countries with low vaccination coverage like Bosnia and the Ukraine. On Friday, officials announced a campaign to vaccinate more than 20 million children against polio across seven countries and territories in the Middle East. Christi.
PAUL: All right. Thank you so much, we appreciate it, Erin.
In about three hours, the Olympic torch is going to go on a spacewalk. This is a first. CNN's Phil Black is in Moscow. And he has details for us. Hi, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Russia Olympic organizers weren't just satisfied with sending the torch into space. That's been done before. They wanted to go further. So, two cosmonauts will carry the torch when they leave the International Space Station on a spacewalk. For one hour, they will float above the Earth in what organizers believe will be the most spectacular stage of any torch relay in Olympic history. Back to you, Christi.
PAUL: Already, thank you so much, Phil. And Victor, I'm going to send it back to you.
BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you, Christi.
Hey, I know you've got some things planned this weekend. Don't cancel anything. But I just want to put something on your radar. A two-ton satellite is falling back to Earth this weekend. No one knows where or when it will land, seriously. Just want you to be aware. More on this in just a minute.
First, each week we're shining a spotlight on the top ten heroes. The CNN heroes of 2013. Of course, you have the chance to vote for the hero who inspires you the most. You can do that at cnn.heroes.com. Well, this week's honoree is a doctor who provides free medical care to poor communities. Meet Dr. George Bwelle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. GEORGE BWELLE: For a country like mine, people like to drink, to dance, to enjoy their life. But with poverty, they cannot enjoy their life. We go to the village. It's a pleasure if I can help two or three people that would be great.
(on camera): OK.
(voice over): I saw my father for 23 years, before he passed away, asked me, you see how people suffer to see a doctor? You should (INAUDIBLE) to be a doctor to help people.
My name is George Bwelle. I bring free surgery and health services to people of rural. They're beating the drums, to say thanks to come. They can live 60 kilometers around. And they are coming on foot.
(on camera) (Speaking French)
(voice over): We are (INAUDIBLE) by dream conversation.
(on camera) (Speaking French)
(voice over): And in afternoon, we have a list of patients that we are going to operate. We need our generator because in the village there's no light during operation. Till Sunday morning, we're doing around 40 surgical operation for free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (speaking French)
BWELLE: We leave our address to all the patient that if there is any problem, they can come back to us.
(APPLAUSE)
We help people to be healthy. I'm doing that to give the opportunity to restart.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: What a beautiful morning. 61 degrees today. And it says mostly cloudy, but it looks like some sun's peeking out to here in Atlanta. We're just trying to share some of that sunshine with you here this morning.
BLACKWELL: So, so nice.
PAUL: I'm glad that you're with us.
BLACKWELL: Hey, speaking of being blinded by science --
Forget about the threat of asteroid or space rock falling on us.
PAUL: Yeah. You know why? Because this 2,000-pound satellite ran out of fuel and it's going to fall back to Earth.
BLACKWELL: Now, there are two issues here. Just two. No one knows when or where this 17-foot instrument is going to fall. Too minor thing to..
PAUL: It's kind of big issues, though. But to the rescue, CNN's Chad Myers. He has more for this weekend's "The Science Behind."
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, we're talking about satellite called Gauche. It ran out of fuel and it's going to fall back to earth. It seems like a lot of things are falling back to Earth these days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYERS: Remember back in February, a meteor slammed into a small Russian town. We never saw it coming because it came from the direction of the sun and the telescopes were blinded by the light.
This is different, this is Gauche, a satellite launched by the European Space Agency in 2009. Its job was to map the Earth's gravitational field. Ironic, now Gauche at more than 2400 pounds is drifting back toward Earth. It's expected to come crashing down soon. But exactly where is much less clear. On timing of impact an official at the European Space Agency told the "New York Times" "Concretely our best engineering prediction is now for a re-entry on Sunday with a possibility for it slipping into early Monday. It's easy to track satellites because they're always closer to Earth. But asteroids are much harder to find and much more dangerous. So, the question is, do we know where they all are?
NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, ASTROPHYSICIST: If it's really big, we know where they are. We know where the big ones are. The ones that would render us extinct. Or possibly disrupt civilization as we know it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MYERS: As far as Gauche and all the other satellites, no reason to track. There is an app for that right there. Here are all the satellites that are still spinning around the Earth, and most of them will someday have a date with gravity.
Scientists say debris is falling to the Earth all the time. Most of it harmless, but at more than 17 feet long, three feet in diameter, Gauche has the potential to do damage. To what extent - depends on where it lands.
Victor, we don't know where it's going to fall, it will likely fall in the ocean because there's more ocean than land. But it could be quite spectacular, and a few pieces could make up all the way down to the ground and you wear a hard hat this weekend. No, no, I'm just kidding.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKWELL: And then at the end of it --
PAUL: Just a joke.
BLACKWELL: Chad Myers, thank you very much. But that is really concerning, that we don't know when, we don't know where, but it's coming.
PAUL: Well, it's like - I mean you would think most of it would burn up at its re-entry.
BLACKWELL: Yeah.
PAUL: We'll see, because it's now - we'll be talking about it tomorrow morning.
BLACKWELL: We sure will. Thanks for starting your morning with us.
PAUL: The next hour of your "NEW DAY" starts right now.
