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New Day Saturday

Police: Injured Girl In Critical Condition; Police: Suspect Turned Gun On Himself; Colorado Student Describes Shooting; Northeast Braces For Harsh Winter Weather; One Million Plus Americans Losing Benefits; Mega Fail, No Jackpot Winner; Missing American was Working for CIA; Kanye: Rapping is like Police Work; CNN Film Stirs Outrage at SeaWorld; Djokovic Wins Big after Disappointing Loss

Aired December 14, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for starting your morning with us.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we're so glad to have you. The next hour of your NEW DAY starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was kind of running side to side military style. When I saw that, I double looked to see if there was a gun. There was a shotgun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Just one year after the Sandy Hook school shooting, a student targeting a faculty member opens fire in a Colorado high school. The suspect, the motive and investigation ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know how many days now. In fact, the fellow that plowed our driveway, he said I have never seen this much snow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: If your teeth are chattering in the northeast, brace yourself. It is about to get colder. A snowstorm is coming in parts of New York and New England could get up to 10 inches.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to cancel. I don't agree with the way they treat their animals. It wasn't that hard for me to cancel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Willie Nelson, Bare Naked Ladies, and Oreo Speed Wagon, that's was the few of the act who canceled their performances at SeaWorld in protest of how the theme park treats its whales. So is the brand too damaged to be saved? Your NEW DAY continues right now. PAUL: One of those lazy Saturday mornings for you. I'm Christi Paul. We are glad to have you.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 8:00 on the east coast, 5:00 out west. This is NEW DAY SATURDAY. This morning, the nation is marking the one-year anniversary of that tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, at Sandy Hook and now dealing with the aftermath of another school shooting in Colorado in the city of Centennial. Police and parents and students, all asking the one question that people ask after each these shooting, why.

PAUL: Why? Police say this is what we do know. We do know who was the suspect now, 18-year-old Karl Pierson, police say, opened fire at his high school, this was in a Denver suburb yesterday. They say that he sought to confront a faculty member. That may be part of that why.

BALDWIN: A 15-year-old girl was shot, critically injured. Minutes later when police got to the school, they found Pierson dead in the classroom there on the ground.

PAUL: CNN's Casey Wian is joining us now from Centennial, Colorado. So Casey, I know police said Pierson -- he wanted to confront a librarian. Do we know what that was about?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we do have some information, Christi and Victor, about that according to sheriff's investigators. This librarian is also the coach of the school debate team. Pierson was a member of that team. Apparently there had been some sort of a disagreement or dispute between the two. That's why he came to the campus armed with a shotgun and two Molotov cocktails.

What investigators don't know now is why that 15-year-old girl who remains in critical condition in the hospital was shot. There were initial reports, they say, that she confronted the shooter. They are not sure that those reports are accurate. They are still investigating that.

There are four separate crime scenes that investigators are looking at. This high school behind me, Arapahoe High School, also they are looking at the shooter's car and the house where he lived with his mother and his father's house. This investigation is going to continue at least throughout the weekend -- Christi and Victor.

BLACKWELL: We are expecting, of course, over the next few days, to hear more about what happened inside the school while this was going on. But already we've heard from some of the students standing outside of the school and crying, reliving what happened, what are they telling you?

WIAN: Terrifying experience that these students recount. They talk about hearing the gun shots. They talk about the smoke that they endured from the one Molotov cocktail that was ignited. The other one did not ignite. Let's listen to what one of them had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was scary. There were two shots by my classroom. We heard the screaming. We dove for cover and our teacher locked the door and sat in the middle of my two best friends. We tried to stay calm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: And of course, something that came quickly to mind of the students, the parents, the faculty members, the Columbine shooting that happened back in 1999 not too far from here.

PAUL: Casey Wian, we appreciate your efforts today. Thank you so much for the insight.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in Ninth Grader Whitney Riley. She was at the school at Arapahoe High yesterday. Whitney, thanks for taking time to speak with us this morning after an understandably difficult and horrible experience. Before we get to questions about what happened, how are you this morning?

WHITNEY RILEY, ARAPAHOE HIGH SCHOOL 9TH GRADER: I'm doing great. Thank you. How are you?

BLACKWELL: Doing well. You are surprisingly smiling after what happened yesterday. Tell us where you were and when you first heard these gunshots. Just describe what was going on.

RILEY: I was just coming back from my locker. I grabbed my computer case from there. I was just about to grab a chair when I heard something go off. It was just like a big bang. We didn't know what it was. We definitely paused for a second and asked what it was and then we heard two more bangs and we freaked out.

PAUL: When you say freaked out, what did you mean? What was your protocol? What did you all do?

RILEY: Well, this girl screamed and we all ran to a small room that was in the room we were in. We kind of just hid in there and locked the door and stuffed ourselves in a small corner.

BLACKWELL: So was this a closet you were in or how many of you were in there?

RILEY: There were six to eight of us in that little closet. We were just crammed in one corner. There was a lot of stuff in that closet.

PAUL: What kind of conversations were you having in there and how did you know it was safe to come out?

RILEY: We were having conversations like some people were doubting if it was something and we were going to be OK and others were wondering what would happen. Some of us were crying. The thing that noted us that we could get out is we heard screams outside of our door. We heard teachers saying get out. We need to go to King Super across the street. Run as fast as you can. We heard more screams.

BLACKWELL: Were you just in the closet for a couple of minutes?

RILEY: One more time?

BLACKWELL: You were in the closet for just a couple of minutes then?

RILEY: It was more like 10 or 15 minutes. We had stayed in there for a really long time. We heard the fire alarm go off. We heard someone say over the intercom it was not a drill. We heard police cars for a while. Then we heard screaming of kids and they were all running out. We were hesitant to run out at first. We had run out by that time.

PAUL: Whitney, can I ask you, did you know Karl Pierson, the suspect in this case?

RILEY: I did not know him. I didn't.

PAUL: OK.

BLACKWELL: So, you are what, 15, Ninth grade, 15 years old?

RILEY: Yes, sir.

BLACKWELL: So you are not old enough to remember Columbine, but when we heard a shooting at a high school in Colorado, a lot of us immediately thought of 1999 and the shooting at Columbine. Have you been told about that and how much of a role does that play in everyday life in high schools there? Do they use it to help you prepare for something like what happened yesterday?

RILEY: Well, for me, I was told when I was younger when I went to Deer Creek Middle School. I was told about the Columbine shooting. We had done drills and we made sure it didn't happen again. We had a shooting at the middle school. I had been well trained of what to do during a shooting. It made a big impact on us because we were quiet and we knew what to do and we had the procedures down.

PAUL: Whitney, quickly, I understand you know the victim in this case. What can you tell us that you know today and about her so we know a bit about her?

RILEY: I don't know the victim too well. I just know that there were two kids shot and I was really scared.

BLACKWELL: OK. Whitney, thank you, a ninth grader at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado. Surprisingly smiling and we thank you for taking time to speak with us.

PAUL: OK, Whitney, glad that you're all doing OK.

BLACKWELL: We do want to say that there was one student who was shot in critical condition. She went through surgery overnight. There were reports early on there were two students shot. It was without being too graphic -- there were stains on the other girl. They thought she had been shot. She was nearby the one girl who we now know is in critical condition this morning. And of course, the only person killed was the suspected shooter himself, Karl Pierson. We will get more on that throughout the morning as we learn this continuing searches of those houses, his home and his father's home, two separate --

PAUL: A lot of things, a lot of work that investigators have to do there.

Let's talk about one of the other big stories that maybe affecting you this morning, the weather.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: First of all, it is brutally cold for such a huge swath of the country. This is in Chicago and New York and Boston. Buffalo has 2 feet to 3 feet on the ground. That weather can be dangerous. Springfield, Missouri has had several accidents. Safety crews are watching power lines to make sure they don't collect too much ice. Then we have an interruption of power.

Jennifer Gray is keeping an eye on all that snow from Chicago's Grant Park this morning. I know Chicago we have to ask how cold is it first of all?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is cold, Christi. It is about 30 degrees in Chicago. We have a little bit of a wind. It does make it feel a little colder. The snow is coming down this morning. The wee hours of the morning, we had the fine snow. Then we started getting these fat big snowflakes and so it has really been coming down.

We picked up about 1.5 inches of snow here in Chicago. There is winter weather advisory in effect possible 2 inches to 4 inches in the city. Outside of the city, we could see anywhere from 4 inches to 6 inches. You mentioned the cold. It has been cold. Temperatures at or below freezing here in Chicago since December 7th and are expected to stay that way until Thursday.

So what you see on the ground is going to stay. There's your radar. You can see Chicago is just the beginning. We are going to see this stretch about 1,000 miles. This is going to affect tens of thousands of people as we go through the next 24 to 48 hours. Winter weather advisories and winter storm watches and warnings in effect all across the Ohio Valley and to the northeast.

This is going to stick around throughout the day today and as we go through Sunday as well. Here is your hour-by-hour forecast. You can see the southeast is mainly going to get rain. From the Washington, D.C. area all the way up to the northeast, this afternoon and into tonight, we will see snow. That's going to continue up through Boston and then up into Maine as we go through Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Snowfall amounts, guys, could be 3 inches to 5 inches, maybe up to 7 around New York City and up to 8 inches of snow around Boston and we're also talking about winds, Christi and Victor. We could see 30 to 40-mile-an-hour winds with the storm system as well. PAUL: All right, well, stay warm up there. I bet it is beautiful with all the Christmas lights. Go to Michigan Avenue, Jennifer. I'm not going to tell you to spend anything.

GRAY: It is wonderful.

BLACKWELL: A lot of people are getting into the spirit with the music and is snow. A little more than ten days from Christmas, but not everybody is feeling the spirit. It can be stressful this time of the year.

PAUL: More so for Americans about to lose their unemployment benefits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ready to see me on the street begging for food? I'm not ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Who would be? We are going to take a look at the crisis that's coming unless Congress does something to stop it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: The recession may be over, but it doesn't feel like that for anybody who is out of work out there.

BLACKWELL: It sure doesn't. More than 1 million Americans face a huge crisis when emergency unemployment benefits expire at the end of the month. CNN's Tory Dunnan spoke with one woman facing that nightmare.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Mary Cary, this is home sweet home. At 53, she lost her job in June after 20 years as a medical biller. Now she is desperate.

(on camera): How many have you sent out?

MARY CARY, FACES LOSING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: Between 300 and 400.

DUNNAN (voice-over): She is one of more than one million Americans receiving long-term emergency unemployment up to 99 weeks instead of 26.

CARY: We are asking for a helping hand so that we can get a job.

DUNNAN (on camera): And you actively are trying to?

CARY: Every day. Probably 12 hours a day.

DUNNAN (voice-over): President Obama wanted lawmakers to extend them. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If members of Congress don't act before they leave on their vacations, 1.3 million Americans will lose this lifeline.

DUNNAN: They are set to expire December 28th.

CARY: I know I will survive. My son will survive. I won't have this home I worked hard for, for eight years, but I worry more about my animals. They did not have a choice.

DUNNAN: In true Washington form, it has become a political debate.

REPRESENTATIVE NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: It is at the level of immoral of the people who work hard and play by the rules and lose their job through no fault of their own.

SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I do support the unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they are paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers.

DUNNAN: Michael Strain is an economist at the conservative leaning American Enterprise Institute.

MICHAEL STRAIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: The problem with that logic is that while it may apply pretty well in a healthy economy, it doesn't apply as well in an economy that is still very weak.

DUNNAN: Strain says people on unemployment benefits generally stay unemployed longer, but in a recession, it's different.

STRAIN: If their benefits expire, they may conclude that their job search is hopeless. They may just leave the labor force, which means that they, you know, some of them may end up on public assistance rolls.

DUNNAN: Something Mary Cary says she will be forced to turn to.

CARY: Are you ready to see me on the street begging for food? I know I'm not ready. My life's not over. I might have slowed down a bit, but I can be a contributing member of society.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: All right, CNN's Tory Dunnan joining us now from Washington. That tears you up seeing this woman who wants to get out there and work hard. We watch that. We put ourselves in her shoes and we feel for her. We see others and watch how this has an impact on the wider economy -- Tory.

DUNNAN: Christi, those are definitely hard stories to hear. The economists we talk to says extending benefits costs $25 billion. He says people do spend unemployment benefits. The money ultimately gets put back out in the economy. Really they serve an effective anti- recession measure. The president said allowing the benefits to expire would be a drag on the country's economic growth. Victor and Christi, there are arguments for both sides. Hearing stories like that tears you up.

BLACKWELL: Tory Dunnan for us in Washington. Tory, thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Yes, "cold as ice." Detroit, this morning, brutally cold there, 18 degrees right now. You can see -- I don't know if you can see it under the graphic. I can tell you the Detroit River, there it is, broken ice, chunks of it are flowing over the water covering the width of the river. Today's high is going to be 25 degrees. So it's not like they are on their way anywhere warmer, 25 is the high.

PAUL: You know, no one, no one won last night's Mega Millions. That means when it comes to Tuesday, you have another chance. You have a chance to win more.

BLACKWELL: It is going up. A lot of people tried to win. We have the winning numbers, 19, 24, 26, 27, 70 and 12. No one matched all of them.

PAUL: Isn't that surprising? I mean, when you think of all the people that bought tickets not one ticket matched that. Well, Jennifer Mayerle is with us. She is with Mega Millions. So you bought a ticket.

JENNIFER MAYERLE: I did buy a ticket. I felt like I did not want to be one of the ones that did not buy and not have a shot at winning. No one won. This rolls over.

PAUL: How much do you think?

MAYERLE: At $550 million. It was at 425. Now we're talking $550 million. That is a cool chunk of change. We are looking toward next Tuesday. That is when the next drawing is. This is the 21st time it rolled over from 425 and up to 550. It is the second largest Mega Millions jackpot in history. It is now the fourth largest jackpot in U.S. history. We're talking about a lot of money. The cash options on that. If you go on the $550 million and win it, the Megaball, $295 million --

PAUL: You walk away with.

MAYERLE: With that cash option. If you reverse the numbers, those are your odds. The chance of winning are 159 million, 1 in 259 million. You have a chance of doing a lot of other things versus winning the Mega Millions. For instance, a hole in one, odds of 1 in 12,500, a shark attack, 1 in 11.5 million. Christi and victor, don't get discouraged because there is a second price, the odds are better, $1 million is the second prize. Your chance is 1 in 18.5 million. You know, your chances of winning something are 1 in 15. It makes you feel better when you hear about it like that.

BLACKWELL: Good luck to you if you are playing in Tuesday's drawing too. PAUL: No doubt. Think about this. Missing for seven years, a new report claims that American Bob Levinson was actually working on a rogue mission for the CIA when he went missing in Iran.

BLACKWELL: Coming up, we will talk with a former CIA officer about the information that could damage one of the government's most secret and well respected agencies. But first, Christine Romans has a preview of "YOUR MONEY" coming in about an hour from now. Good morning, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, CNN'S "YOUR MONEY": Hi, Victor and Christi. Pull up a chair, You are invited this Saturday with Candy Crowley and Christiane Amanpour and me with frank conversations with me. Coming up at 9:30 Eastern on an all new "YOUR MONEY."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Hey if you're running around this Saturday morning, I want to let you know it is 8:30, bottom of the hour. We're so grateful for your company. I'm Christi Paul. I hope that you're running on time today.

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

First of all police are trying to figure out why an 18-year-old high school student opened fire with a shotgun at a school in a Denver suburb. They believe Karl Pierson may have wanted revenge on a faculty member who is a coach on Pierson's debate team.

Investigators plan to comb through the high school, the shooter's car and his home as they search for evidence to try to get some answers there.

Number two, a Wichita, Kansas man is jailed this morning on terror charges. The feds say this guy Terry Loewen planned a suicide attack Wichita Airport. That's where he works as a technician by the way. Little did Loewen know however that his partners were undercover FBI agents and they say he planned to detonate a car bomb in the name of Jihad.

Number three South Africa preparing for tomorrow's state funeral of its former President and revered statesman Nelson Mandela. These are some of the latest pictures we're getting in of the plane carrying the Nobel Laureate's body. He arrived in South Africa's Eastern Cape province today. Mr. Mandela will be buried at the village where he spent much of his childhood.

And number four Iran's next astronaut is a monkey. Iran's President says this is the second monkey it's sent into space on a rocket and returned safely back to earth. We should point out his name is Fargam which means apparently "auspicious" and "luck". The country's state news agency says the mission lasted just 15 minutes and represents the latest step towards sending humans into space. The U.S. State Department said it cannot confirm that report by the way.

And number five. Breaking news right now China's newest spacecraft has landed on the moon. And there they are cheering it on. This makes China only the third country to make a soft landing there. The rover that's going to be doing the work is called "Jade Rabbit". People in China got to vote on that name. It's going to be on the moon for three months studying the lunar crust.

BLACKWELL: A bombshell revelation in the intelligence community. An American man who vanished in Iran seven years ago -- he was working for the CIA. And that's according to reports by the Associated Press and the "Washington Post." His name is Bob Levinson -- this is Bob here -- the longest American hostage in U.S. history. He disappeared in 2007 during a trip to Iran.

Now for years, the U.S. government has described Levinson as a private citizen on private business. But according to the reports, Levinson was working for a group of analysts who breached protocol and weren't authorized to conduct spy operations.

I want to bring in former CIA officer Mike Baker. He is joining us via Skype from Boise, Idaho. Mike, good to have you.

MIKE BAKER, FORMER CIA COVERT OPERATIONS OFFICER: Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: So here is the first question a lawyer for the Levinson family tells CNN that Levinson was working undercover for the CIA in order to dig up information on Iran's nuclear program and on Hezbollah. Is that something the family would know?

BAKER: Well, this story has got I suspect, a lot of layers at the end of the day. And -- and there's a lot of -- there's definitions here I think that are important to point out. Any Intel service, any organization -- whether it's ours or any others around the world -- will occasionally come across private citizens who travel (AUDIO GAP) because of their jobs or whatever it may be.

So naturally if you are an Intel organization, you're going to think that's pretty interesting. And would that person do want to have a conversation with you about their travels? Maybe. Who knows? You know, I'm speculating on this because you know frankly there's a lot of detail here that is just not released and a lot of the news that's coming out about this is kind of reaching speculative point.

So, I suspect that, you know, what we may have is a private citizen who after he retired from the government, which makes him not a good candidate for being a CIA agent by the way.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BAKER: And the agency doesn't hire former retired 30 year government officials as covert officers. It just doesn't happen.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: So you discount this story from the beginning because they would not hire a former FBI agent? BAKER: Right exactly. So you had a person who is working as a private investigator traveling around the world. And you know, it appears as if maybe he -- you know and the indications are that he you know was following some leads from his own business. Offered up the idea that he was going over there and, you know, if there was something off the tracks here --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BAKER: -- it was a process. It was a process of saying, ok, we are or we aren't interested in talking with you after the course of this trip. Again I'm speculating here because we want to be very careful how we discuss this. It's decidedly unhelpful anyway for the story to have gotten out even at this point even at this late date -- seven years from his capture.

BLACKWELL: Let me read something about that. Because the Associated Press says that they confirmed these details three years ago back in 2010.

BAKER: Right.

BLACKWELL: Here is what they wrote about why they published it after being asked several times not to and they held it for many years. The AP is reporting the story now because nearly seven years after his disappearance, those efforts have repeatedly come up empty. The government has not received any sign of life in nearly three years. Top U.S. officials, meanwhile, say his captors almost certainly already know about his CIA association.

So we've got this information out there. Do you think that he, after it has been reported? Do you think he's still alive?

BAKER: Yes, I think he's alive. I think it's interesting that the AP would decide that, you know, now is the time for them to jump into the foreign policy realm and release this information. I'm not sure I follow their logic train.

And look the government has been working extensively for seven years despite the frustration. Obviously the family is incredibly frustrated -- who wouldn't be at this point? But it doesn't mean that the government hasn't been working. And the real story here is that the Iranian authorities, you know the previous -- you know Ahmadinejad regime and now, you know, Rouhani who is supposedly you know, I guess, according to the administration, is a very modern individual and wants change -- the real story is the Iranians have held this guy for seven years.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

BAKER: That's where the focus should be.

BLACKWELL: The longest-held American hostage in history. And Christiane Amanpour had a conversation with President Rouhani back in September. Rouhani said that he doesn't know his name and he has no idea about his whereabouts. Former CIA officer Mike Baker, thanks for talking with us about this.

And he also talked Christi about the family and understandably being upset.

PAUL: Oh sure.

BLACKWELL: A source tells CNN that the CIA has apologized to the family and paid out a $2.5 million settlement to avoid -- to avoid a lawsuit. But that's coming from a source to CNN who has some information about the investigation.

PAUL: All right.

Well this story has a lot of people talking online: the story of Kanye and the police chief. The rapper spouts off about the perils of his job and the small town chief says hold on just a minute.

We've got the dust up on NEW DAY SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All right. The police chief of Brimfield, Ohio, is calling out Kanye West.

BLACKWELL: Yes and that's after Kanye told an interviewer he puts his life on the line for his shows -- his shows on stage just like a police officer or a soldier does in their jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KANYE WEST, RAPPER: Just you know giving my body on the stage and putting my life at risk. That mountain goes really, really high. And if I slipped and my leg happens -- like you never know. I think about -- I think about my family. And I'm like, wow, this is like you know, this is like being a police officer or something or like war or something. Like you literally going out to do your job every day you know and knowing that something happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: On a motorized mountain. Here it is. This is from his "Yeezus" tour. He referred to this in that clip. But Chief David Oliver though posted an open letter to Kanye on Facebook and encouraged the rapper to go ahead join the military. He wrote "When the Taliban start shooting at you -- perhaps you could stand up and just let words flow."

Well he went on with the line a lot of people know "Check yourself before you wreck yourself."

PAUL: Well we talked with the chief earlier this morning and asked him what he found most offensive about Kanye's comments. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHIEF DAVID OLIVER, BRIMFIELD, OHIO POLICE (via telephone): To me, the most offensive comments were directed toward the military. You know I love my chosen profession, but I also understand that our military personnel are in far more on harm's way that -- than a lot of us are on a regular basis.

So I was just more offended for our military. I mean obviously, I was as a professional police officer, too, but the military thing just hit home with me.

BLACKWELL: And what has been the response to your -- your letter, Chief? Because as I went on Facebook and I saw all of the responses to what Kanye said and then responses to you, what have you been hearing?

OLIVER: Oh we've -- we've been pretty busy answering the phone and e- mails and messages. I mean this wasn't the first time. We've had a pretty active Facebook page for the last two or three years. But this one I think just struck a nerve, particularly because I don't -- I don't believe that anyone thinks you can compare being a famous entertainer to being a military person who is deployed in a war.

PAUL: Would it make a difference to you if Kanye apologized? Would you believe it if he did?

OLIVER: You know, I don't -- no, I don't think it would make any difference. I think what's -- I think most people understand what's in your heart is usually what comes out of your mouth. You know it's ok to walk things back later and admit a mistake. But you know, I don't know how genuine it would be and I don't -- at this point, I mean I understand where, I understand his opinion where he is coming from and I'll just leave it alone after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Wow. Chief David Oliver, Brimfield, Ohio, calling out Kanye and sharing his thoughts with CNN's NEW DAY.

So we asked for your tweets. And they came flooding in. We've got a few of them here. This one from Steve DiGregorio, "Can you say arrogant and irrelevant, pitiful?

PAUL: And check out this tweet from Charles Allen. He says "I have made an official request to Webster's dictionary to replace the word moron with Kanye."

And Buckeye Willie wrote to us saying, "Kanye is an idiot. On stage equals going to war? Disrespects those who did do fight this country."

I did have one guy who said, you know what "Kanye is just going to be will be Kanye so we have get over it. He's going to say what he's going to say."

BLACKWELL: Yes and there's another person who tweeted me. Who said you know "I understand what he was saying, but nobody really took him literally."

PAUL: Right.

BLACKWELL: Maybe Kanye took himself literally.

PAUL: Literally.

BLACKWELL: We don't know. But keep them coming @NEWDAY or #NEWDAY.

Up next on CNN a lot of people took the kids, took the family to Orlando to SeaWorld, but the squeaky clean image is taking a hit.

PAUL: Yes we're talking live with a brand expert on the damage done to this popular marine park. You are up early and we are glad to see you with NEW DAY SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: I hear you singing along. You know the song -- 80s rockers REO Speedwagon. They are the latest band to bail out on SeaWorld -- you know that marine park happy family image -- taking a hit.

PAUL: Oh, is it ever. REO is one of several groups that have canceled concerts at SeaWorld after CNN aired the film "BLACKFISH".

BLACKWELL: Now, the documentary's focus is on a SeaWorld trainer who was killed by a killer whale in 2010. Critics say the film demonstrates the stress and the cruelty of keeping marine mammals in captivity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not killing because he is crazy. He is not killing because he doesn't know what he is doing. He is killing because he is frustrated and he just got aggravations and he doesn't know how to -- he has no outlet for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Joey Reiman is a brand and marketing expert and CEO of BrightHouse Consulting in Atlanta. Joey, good to have you back.

JOEY REIMAN, CEO, BRIGHTHOUSE CONSULTING: Good to be here.

BLACKWELL: So when brands take these hits you're the person to speak with. So we've got Cheap Trick, Willie Nelson, Heart, Trisha Yearwood, BareNaked Ladies, REO Speedwagon all canceling. Joan Jett she sent this out and I want to read this. "A cease and desist to SeaWorld asking them to stop playing "I Love Rock 'n' Roll".

I mean how bad is it for SeaWorld?

REIMAN: Well, Victor, in marketing, the one with the best story wins. And "BLACKFISH" has got some story. But it's a shockcumentary. It is well done but it fails to explain the other side -- the side where SeaWorld is actually inspiring millions of kids every year and saving -- rescuing, saving thousands upon thousands of animals every year.

PAUL: Now look, I mean SeaWorld tells "Time" magazine in fact that "BLACKFISH" is inaccurate, that it's misleading and regrettably exploits a tragedy which, of course, was the death of that trainer that we had covered as well.

But I mean I don't know that there is anything that it says that is inaccurate. I mean there is nothing that we have found that will say that. And does that -- do they need to prove that inaccuracy to make their point?

REIMAN: They need to do more than that to emerge and seize the day. What they really need to do is find their purpose -- a purpose that serves society and themselves. For instance it could be something like protecting and celebrating the SeaWorld. So that protects them. But it also suggests that maybe the animals they are featuring should be the ones they had rehabilitated. Then everyone wins. Then they can invite Willie Nelson back and have a free concert, a "Free Willie" concert.

BLACKWELL: Let me -- "Free Willie" concert -- that works.

PAUL: "Free Willie" -- good. That was smart.

BLACKWELL: That was good.

PAUL: He is a brand expert.

BLACKWELL: I want to switch to Beyonce -- what a lot of people are talking about. She dropped a surprise album Thursday into Friday -- huge sales. Is this a genius move is it just a gimmick that they thought of?

REIMAN: No, this is a genius move. No less via Instagram. Instantly, the Queen B has created this buzz around the world. She's brilliant -- a genius.

BLACKWELL: I have it. $16 -- more than I ever spent. I said it many times because it seems like a lot. Joey Reiman -- branding and marketing expert -- good to have you back.

REIMAN: Thanks.

PAUL: Thanks for being here.

All right. A lot of holiday shoppers may turn to social media -- right -- if they're unhappy with customer service you've been.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And it is changing the game of how customer service deals with you, too.

PAUL: First though -- commitment, determination, pure talent -- it's the recipe to become a sports legend -- right. Nobody knows that better than tennis star, Novak Djokovic. For the 26-year-old Serb, this season was full of highs and plenty of lows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Novak Djokovic, the 2013 season was one to remember. From the high of winning his sixth career major at the Australian Open to the low of losing in the finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC, TENNIS PLAYER: I really didn't expect myself to play as well as I did in last two and a half months after that painful loss in the U.S. Open final. Of course, next to that one, I think I would pick the match that I lost against Nadal also in the French Open that affected me also emotionally.

And you know, I did have my doubts after that. We had some ups and downs but you know, I managed to get stronger and I had that necessary experience that helped me to understand what I need to do to get better, to get stronger and to have this willpower that keeps me going. You know, I've ended up this season in the best possible way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Djokovic lost his number one ranking to Rafael Nadal. But the 26-year-old Serb had the last laugh with a win over Nadal in the prestigious and season ATP World Tour finals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right. Today's "Technology is Ruining my Life" looks at gamers, complainers and droolers.

PAUL: Droolers?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: That is never attractive first thing in the morning.

BLACKWELL: It is not.

PAUL: We start with the gamers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring it to the pools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Even warlords and warlocks weren't safe from government spies. According to the latest round of documents released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, agents from the CIA, FBI and even British intelligence would spy on virtual gamers. Agents said it's where terrorists could communicate with each other and hide in plain sight.

Now, there's that theory and there's this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JIMMY FALLON, TALK SHOW HOST: To me, that doesn't sound right. It sounds like some NSA agents had to think quickly when they got caught playing "World of Warcraft". That works fine. These people might be terrorists. I just have to beat this rebel. And then I have to save my game here. Hold on, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: It sounds sadly realistic.

PAUL: But it jives (ph), doesn't it?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Ok. So moving on to customer service which may be taking a turn for the better, I'm happy to tell you. A recent Nielsen survey found more than half of all customers now turn to social media to right a consumer wrong. Facebook is certainly one of those. On Twitter some 81 percent of Twitter users expect a same-day response to questions and complaints.

And this could really change customer service. Think about it, the social media shift could bring an end to those endless phone trees -- you know, press one for English --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: -- two for Spanish, blah, blah, blah, blah --

BLACKWELL: And then you end up just leaving a voicemail from someone anyway. I mean we could have done that from the beginning.

PAUL: Right. Or they say I have to transfer you to the other person.

BLACKWELL: And then you get -- you get hung up on.

You know there's also one for moms and dads.

PAUL: Yes, on your holiday list, of course. Behold the app-tivity seat. It's a bouncy seat for your baby -- look at this. This one let's you attach your iPad so your little one can watch videos.

BLACKWELL: Come on.

PAUL: Not everyone's thrilled by it. Clearly Victor is one of them. The campaign for a commercial free childhood is asking Fisher Price recall this thing. They called it quote, "the ultimate electronic baby sitter". Fisher Price says it is a niche product. They can only play for ten minutes at a time. It is not meant to be educational.

BLACKWELL: Yes, you know, there's so many complaints about kids when they get older spending too much time in front of the television. If you teach them then they're four, five, six months old, this is supposed to be fun --

PAUL: You know what, I'm sorry that was a turn I had to pay -- sometimes I just need some minutes to take a shower. Moms and dads out there, you're with me?

BLACKWELL: You have kids. I don't. So maybe it's just me venting about something.

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: Just saying.

BLACKWELL: Thanks for starting your morning with us.

PAUL: Yes, we've got so much more ahead for you on NEW DAY SATURDAY which continues right now.