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New Day Saturday

Jahi McMath Death Certificate Issued; New Details on Paul Walker's Death; The Human Face of Big Data; Blizzard Makes Way For Arctic Blast; New York Launches Blizzard Clean Up; Boston Feels Like Negative 14 Degrees Right Now; Twenty Five States Reporting Widespread Flu; Clay Aiken Considering Run For Congress; Senator Paul To Sue White House Over NSA; Religious Coalition Fights Obamacare Rule; Historic Cold Expected For Playoff Game

Aired January 04, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. DANNELL MALLOY, D-CT: We'll have wind chills as low as 25 below, it is anticipated.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The governor of Connecticut is sounding the alarm about the deep freeze on the way and if you think you might avoid it, consider this: 140 million Americans are facing temperatures of zero or below.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): New developments in the case of Jahi McMath. A court has paved the way to move her body, despite a death certificate being issued.

BLACKWELL: Target, Skype, Snapchat, iPhone. If you have a credit card or computer, it seems impossible to avoid being hacked or at least spied on.

One expert explains whether there is any hope we can protect ourselves or if privacy is just a thing of the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

KOSIK: And good morning to you. I'm Alison Kosik.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. One hundred forty million Americans are going to feel these sub-zero temperatures. If you are in that half, stay in and stay warm. If you are in the other half of the country, you are lucky. It's 8:00 on the east coast, NEW DAY SATURDAY.

KOSIK: And everybody digging out this morning, that really is the story for tens of millions of people who got walloped by that deadly winter storm from the Midwest to New York and beyond it's going on.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the monster had dumped as much as 2 feet of snow and bitter temperatures as cold as 23 below in New Hampshire.

KOSIK: The storm also being blamed for seven deaths including an elderly woman in Pennsylvania who wandered away from home.

BLACKWELL: Now for travellers major headaches. Cars frozen in their tracks and thousands of flights cancelled including more than now 700 so far today.

KOSIK: And just when you thought it could be, no, no, it's not over yet. In the next few day, almost half the country is expected to plunge into bone-chilling cold like we have not seen in more than a decade.

BLACKWELL: Pedram Javaheri is here. He is watching this arctic blast in the Severe Weather Center. Margaret Conley is in Boston. I want to go first to Alexandra Field out on Long Island. The sun is coming up so that's good. Is it really changing the feel out there though?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not soon enough, Victor. Right now, it is 2 degrees here in Sayville. It feels like 2 degrees. This is what happened overnight. This is an icicle that we tore off a store front. I'll give you an idea of the icy conditions that have been brought on, very cold temperatures. The sun is coming up though. We are expecting a bit of a warm up today, but don't be fooled, very cold temperatures are just behind that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): The massive storm that pummelled New York is followed now by a massive response, but plummeting temperatures have officials warning that some of the most dangerous conditions are still ahead of us.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK: The best option today is to stay close to home. Best option is not to be outside too long.

FIELD: New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio shovelled his own driveway despite the bitter windchill that prompted city leaders to keep schools closed Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is nasty out here, very nasty. If I could have stayed home, I would have stayed home. If you don't have to go out, stay home.

FIELD: New York City saw almost 8 inches of snow. A foot of snow fell on Long Island. During the worst of the storm Thursday night and Friday morning, a driving ban kept cars off New York's busiest interstates. The Long Island Expressway shutdown for eight hours because of blizzard conditions. Holiday travellers were stopped in their tracks. Passengers were grounded in New York City airports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said it will be a couple of days before the next flight to Toronto. I booked myself a bus ticket.

FIELD: That might be one option for people fighting to get out. What to do if you are stuck at home waiting for that snow to clear?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My plan is to wake up early tomorrow and look out the window. See what it looks like. Get the snow blower out. FIELD: If that is the case, Connecticut's governor has some advice for you, too.

GOVERNOR DANNIEL MALLOY, CONNECTICUT: If you want some tips on how to deal with the cold, first of all, I'll give you mine. Don't put your tongue on a flag pole.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Always useful advice. You can see the crews were out at work overnight trying to get this snow up and out of the way. It was a very cold night to be at work. In New York City, the mercury fell to almost zero. That is the first time since January of 1994. That should tell you exactly how cold it is out here -- Alison and Victor.

KOSIK: Brrr! Alexandra Field, thank you.

Massachusetts also saw some of the heaviest snowfall. People are trying to dig out there. More than 23 inches of snow fell north of Boston. Now comes the bitter cold. It is about zero Fahrenheit right in Beantown. It feels like negative 14 with the wind chill. CNN's Margaret Conley is live. Margaret, how are you holding up out there?

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison, I'm hanging in. There was snow up to 2 feet in some parts of Massachusetts last night. The temperatures were nearly at record lows. If you take a look at the streets in South Boston right now, you don't see many people walking around. If people are braving the streets, we are seeing them walk right in the middle of the road because it is the safest area. There is a lot of ice and it can be slippery.

There is a wind chill advisory in effect until 9:00 a.m. this morning. They issue those when temperatures are down to minus 15 to minus 24 degrees below zero over a three-hour period. So that gives you a sense of what we are dealing with here. The concern is frost bite. A lot of advisories telling people to stay inside and wear gloves and pay attention to warning signs in your body. If you are having to shovel snow or work, make sure you don't tough it out and get inside and warm up if you really need to.

Also, there are flight delays. There are a lot of cancellations yesterday. My flight got delayed. We can see Logan Airport from here. We see planes taking off and landing. So hopefully they'll be back up and running on schedule -- Alison and Victor.

KOSIK: The sledding looks like fun though. I love that.

BLACKWELL: We have video up now showing folks sledding while we're talking to you. Margaret, thank you. We just said that 700, more than 700 flights cancelled.

KOSIK: That is fun, though. I love that.

BLACKWELL: That's the fun part. You know, there is some fun.

KOSIK: But it can get dangerous. Dangerous winter weather is being blamed for another death. Yesterday, a 66-year-old Wisconsin man died from hypothermia.

BLACKWELL: Residents are urged to stay indoors this weekend as the frigid arctic blast pushes through. Officials say rapid frost bite can happen in just 5 minutes. How cold will it get? Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is here in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Five minutes, I mean, what is the temperature for that to be accurate?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: About 60 below for the wind chill. Minneapolis has that in the forecast in the early morning hours of Monday morning. That is why schools are cancelled across Minneapolis and Madison, across Milwaukee for Monday. It's the first time in 17 years, the hardy folks across Minnesota cancelling classes because of air temperatures. I want to show you the air temperatures. A 10-mile- an-hour wind when the temperature is zero to 10 below.

Over 100 million can experience that, about 30 minutes can get frostbite, 20 to 30 below and now we are talking the Upper Midwest, winds around 20 miles an hour. Wind chills of about 48 to 61 below zero, 10 minutes or less is what frost bite is a concern. The CDC saying some 1,300 people every year lose their lives across the U.S. because of hypothermia.

We know that happens between December, January and February, a three- month period where 1,300 people lose their lives every single year, 70 percent of them are men. Keep that in mind over the next couple of days as we deal with these cold temperatures. Before we get there, the second storm system so far in the first four days of 2014 will push in from the central plains.

Behind it, significant amount of snow showers across portions of the Ohio Valley. This includes areas around Indianapolis where you know upwards of a foot of snow are expected by Sunday afternoon into Monday morning. Chicago and also St. Louis, you could see about 10 inches of snow. You could keep in mind with snow, white in color, high reflectivity. Any solar radiation, any sun we get, gets reflected.

The air temperature is up and you bring in another reinforcing air mass and you are talking about historic temperatures. You're talking about historic temperatures, the coldest in the 21st Century and coldest since the mid-1990s. High temperatures in Minneapolis, 7 below, that is your high on Sunday. It cools off to 13 below zero.

I notice Chicago goes below zero. Minneapolis, something to point out here, the forecast has Minneapolis upwards of 80 consecutive hours below zero degrees up until about Wednesday afternoon before we see temperatures climb out of that trend guys. In the northeast, we drop from around 50 to 14 come Tuesday afternoon. One of the rarest cold spells in a very long time.

KOSIK: OK, so this makes me long for summer. Pedram Javaheri, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, as if air travellers did not have a hard enough time getting to where they were going, now around 700 more flights have been cancelled today that's on top of more than 3,000 flights cancelled yesterday. Airlines are adjusting policies to help people get moving. If you are flying today, definitely plan on checking with your airline before you head to the airport.

KOSIK: The CDC says the number of states reporting widespread flu activity jumped from 10 to 25 last week. In that means more than half of the regions and counties are reporting activity. The most common strain has been H1N1, formerly known as swine flu. The CDC says six children have died since the end of September. Some states reported adult deaths.

BLACKWELL: Some Obamacare plans are about a week old, but it is facing another big test with the Supreme Court. Up next, the key provision that stoked a big controversy among religious groups.

KOSIK: Could a dramatic political transformation get one former Republican governor his old job back? You are watching NEW DAY SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: It's 13 after the hour now, singer, Clay Aiken is reportedly considering trading his place on stage for a seat on Congress.

KOSIK: The "Washington Blade" is reporting that the "American Idol" competitor has talked to D.C. political operatives about running in his home state of North Carolina. Aiken became a bestselling artist after finishing second place in "American Idol" back in 2003. Aiken himself hasn't commented on the possibility of running. I liked him.

BLACKWELL: You liked him.

KOSIK: I liked his singing -- when I used to watch "American Idol."

BLACKWELL: Republican Senator Rand Paul is now leading a class action lawsuit against the Obama administration for the NSA's policies. He claims it violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable search and seizure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: We now have several hundred thousand people who want to be part of the suit to say to the government and NSA, no, you cannot have our records without our permission or warrant to a specific individual. It is an unusual class action suit in the sense that we think everybody in America who has a cell phone would be eligible for the class action suit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Paul has a page on his web site for people to sign up to join the lawsuit. It asks for $25. One federal judge said that last week, he said it last week rather, the NSA's program is valid under the Patriot Act, which was approved by Congress.

KOSIK: So, you think the fight over Obamacare is so 2013? Think again.

BLACKWELL: Yes, coalition of religious non-profits asking the Supreme Court to block a key provision in health care reform.

KOSIK: It would force them to offer birth control to their workers. They want to be included in an exception for religious groups. Sunlen Serfaty joins us now from Washington with more. Sunlen, tell me this, how long will it take to get the court to make a decision on this?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are standing by. It could come at any time throughout the weekend or into early next week. There is no specific deadline for the decision, but these usually move pretty quickly. The issue here is one of the major sticking points of Obamacare over access to birth control.

Now under the law, churches and houses of worship are exempt from the mandate for non-profit religious organizations to provide birth control to their workers. Now this week, a home for the elderly, which is run by Catholic nuns has asked the Supreme Court to block the enforcement of this. Now these nuns at Little Sisters of the Poor, they say providing birth control to their employees violates religious beliefs. Here is what their lawyer argues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL BLOMBERG, COUNSEL, LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR: All the Little Sisters are saying is that's not a solution to our religious problem. In our faith, we can't do it ourselves and we can't order somebody else to do something we can't do ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now the administration on Friday asked the court to keep these requirements in place. The ball now is in Justice Sotomayor's court. She could handle this matter unilaterally or she could also ask the broader court to weigh in too. This, Alison and Victor, could impact dozens of religious groups who have already mounted their own legal challenges.

BLACKWELL: When this decision comes down, we know about the emergency injunction that came down this week, but when her decision comes, will this change the law permanently or will it have to go to the broader group to change the law at some point anyway?

SERFATY: That's a great question, Victor. Now this would not be the final word on this matter. It will not have an overall impact on the overall health care law. Any decision we get would be limited in nature and that means it would only deal with blocking the enforcement temporarily. Then, Victor and Alison, the federal courts as you said would potentially take up the larger constitutional argument. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: All right, Sunlen Serfaty for us in Washington, thanks.

Time to do "Politicians Say What," it is the weekly look at weird and wild comments and statements from politicians.

KOSIK: There is never a shortage. There are those that flip flop and flip flop a lot and then Charlie Crist. The former Republican governor of Florida wants to be the future Democratic governor of Florida. So to do that, he had to make a very awkward apology saying he was wrong to back a state-wide ban on same-sex marriage, even although as recently as 2010, he said marriage is a quote, "sacred institution" between a man and a woman.

BLACKWELL: That was odd. Crist is a distant second for wackiest moments of politics this week. We got the winner. His name is David Waddell. He is a city councilman in Indian Trail, North Carolina. OK, so he quits his job, all right, fine. He submitted his resignation letter in Klingon. He did provide an English translation. I don't know what he tried to prove. Perhaps today is a good day to resign. A twist on a classic Klingon proverb or at least that's what they tell me.

KOSIK: So the mayor of Indian Trail was less than thrilled about this. He called the letter an embarrassment. You know it's interesting that these politicians do. We are sitting here casting judgment. We get stuck in certain things we say.

BLACKWELL: I'm not judging. I usually do it in English. When I screw up, it is not in Klingon.

KOSIK: Still to come on NEW DAY, this weekend's NFL playoff games haven't even began yet, but the big game in Green Bay is on its way to make history for record setting cold. We are going to tell you just how cold and freezing it's going to get and what the teams will do to keep the fans warm. That is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Tomorrow's Packers/49ers game, it could go down as the coldest game in football history.

KOSIK: Jared Greenberg is here with more in this morning's "Bleacher Report." Tell me more.

BLACKWELL: Why is that the first question?

KOSIK: It is fun. They streak and it is fun to watch.

JARED GREENBERG, "BLEACHER REPORT": Might risk losing a body part. Temperatures in Green Bay could be near minus 20. Wind chill around 40 below. Don't be naked, people. The cheese heads, the hardy bunch. Hundreds of fans at Lambeau Field yesterday to shovel out the stands ahead of tomorrow's game. Fans braving the bitter cold in Lambeau, they will get something extra to stay warm. The team is planning to provide free coffee and hot chocolate during the game.

A local store will give away 70,000 hand warmers. The game could even be colder than the infamous Ice Bowl back in 1967. The wind chill was estimated at 48 degrees below zero. It was so cold that day -- not the start of a punch line. The referees could not blow their whistles and the trumpets got stuck to band members' lips like "A Christmas Story."

Fans should be courteous to the New Orleans Saints fans tonight. Security guards are getting dressed up in Saints gear. Unruly, rude and threatening behavior will not be tolerated. The last Eagles home game featured 15 fans arrested and 68 ejected. Free football for military members in Cincinnati in an effort to avoid the Bengals game being blacked out in the Cinci television market.

Local companies bought up tickets and donate them to local service members. Good job by the businesses. Businesses in Indianapolis and Green Bay stepped up their game. No NFL games this weekend are scheduled to be blacked out, every game sold out.

BLACKWELL: It is terrible when the trumpet gets stuck to your lips.

KOSIK: OK. I'm sorry I said it.

GREENBERG: That's my cue.

KOSIK: Thanks, a lot.

BLACKWELL: Thanks, Jared. We have a serious story. This is a story people have been following really around the world. Now a coroner has issued a death certificate for a young California girl who was declared brain dead, but Jahi McMath's family is working to have her transferred to a new hospital and they don't have much time.

KOSIK: Plus, this man spent 19 years in a vegetative state and one day, Terry Wallace spoke again. His daughter joins us to talk about why it is so important to have hope.

But first, Christine Romans has a preview of "YOUR MONEY" coming up in an hour from now. Good morning, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, CNN'S "YOUR MONEY": Hi, there. New York billionaire mayor is now a billionaire. What is next for Michael Bloomberg?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: I'll apply to teach Spanish at a couple of universities. I'm told my Spanish is not bueno.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That is coming up on 9:30 Eastern on an all new "YOUR MONEY."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Bottom of the hour. Welcome back. I'm Alison Kosik.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. We've got five things you need to know for your NEW DAY. Up first, number one, bitter cold and ice, that's the story across the eastern half of the country. More than 100 million people are feeling the effects of the blizzard that dumped 2 feet of snow in places, pushed temperatures in New England to more than 20 below. The storm is being blamed for seven deaths including a man in Wisconsin who succumbed to hypothermia.

KOSIK: Number two, deadly fighting under way in Iraq. This is near Fallujah. The fighting is between al Qaeda-backed militants and the Iraqi government security forces, but in an unusual partnership, Sunni tribesmen are fighting the militants, many of whom are Sunnis. Officials say at least 80 people have been killed and 60 were part of al Qaeda.

BLACKWELL: Three now, tens of thousands of union workers at Boeing can expect a pension freeze and higher health care costs after members narrowly approve a contract to build a new generation commercial jet. Boeing threatened to have the jet built by a non-union company if workers in Washington State did not approve that deal.

KOSIK: Number four, rock and roll legend, Phil Everly has passed away. He and his brother hit the charts in the '60s. His wife said he died Friday in California due to complications from chronic obstruction pulmonary disease. He was 74 years old.

BLACKWELL: Number five, a 3-year-old girl has massive permanent brain damage after a dental procedure. Well, now Finley Boyle's parents are suing her dentist. They say their daughter got incorrect dosages and improper medications. Neither the dentist nor her lawyer has responded to our request for comment, but the dental practices web site says it's now closed.

KOSIK: A coroner has released a death certificate for a young California girl declared brain dead. A court hearing Friday ended with Jahi McMath's family agreeing with the hospital on a protocol to move her to another. Jahi McMath had surgery last month to remove her tonsils, adenoids and extra sinus tissue in order to treat her pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. Her family says she went to cardiac arrest after massive blood loss following the surgery.

BLACKWELL: Well, Jahi McMath's case has stirred controversy around the country, around the world over the rights of family members to keep brain dead loved ones alive.

KOSIK: But what does it actually mean when a person is declared brain dead? CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta explains.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Alison, this is obviously a very sad story, a heart breaking story. And it's confusing for a lot of people as well.

So let's start off with some terms. You need to understand the difference between brain death and other things. Brain death is not the same as being in a coma or a vegetative state. By definition, brain death is irreversible.

Now in the United States and most places it is legally synonymous with death -- the same as if your heart stops. A brain death -- what it specifically means the total loss of brain activity.

Now, for us doctors -- I'm a neurosurgeon -- other doctors to determine, you know sometimes we do a physical exam. For example you shine light in the pupils and see if the pupils react. You can gently rub the eyeball with some cotton to see if there's a reaction there. Put ice water in the ears to see if the eyes move. You're checking to see what's happening with the brain stem.

Doctors will often do what's known as an apnea test. That's when they turn off the ventilator for several minutes and see if the person shows any signs of breathing on their own. And also as confirmation they'll often do scans to check to see if there is blood flow to the brain. And if there's any electrical activity as well but again it's that clinical exam, that detailed clinical exam that becomes so important.

Now coma if it goes on for an extended time can be called a vegetative state. And there's been a lot of interesting research in that particular area. You may have heard for example on a rare handful of cases, people who have been in a vegetative state for years could return to some level of consciousness. This is a rare situation but it can happen.

Brain death is something else entirely it means there is no activity, there is no blood flow. It is a grim situation but again something that a trained doctor is able to diagnose pretty easily -- Alison back to you.

KOSIK: Ok, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right here is one example about what Sanjay mentioned. Terry Wallis he spent 19 years in a vegetative state. He was not brain dead, a vegetative state. We want to make sure that that's clear. Now that happened after he was paralyzed in a car crash and fell into a coma in 1984. Again, important to note, we're going to stress this throughout that he was not brain dead.

But one day, in 2003, his mother walked into his room and he uttered "Mom." And then the next day, he said, "Pepsi." Remember this story? And the day before Father's Day, he said, "Dad." And he kept speaking more and more.

KOSIK: Yes amazing and now some consider Wallis a scientific legend and have studied his brain to see how it repaired itself.

His daughter Amber Hunter and his mother Angilee Wallis join us now via Skype from Mountain View, Arkansas. Good morning to both of you. Let me ask you first, Amber, how is your father doing now?

AMBER HUNTER, DAUGHTER OF TERRY WALLIS: He is good. He is doing awesome. He's been really, really good.

BLACKWELL: Can you tell me, Angilee, about the decision to continue for 19 years as he was in this coma, to continue to hold on to hope that one day he would come out of it.

ANGILEE WALLIS, MOTHER OF TERRY WALLIS: There is no other choice. You just got to keep hoping.

BLACKWELL: And what were you told by doctors that there was a potential that he would come out?

WALLIS: They did not give me much hope that he would come out. They didn't know. They just -- not much hope.

KOSIK: And you said he is doing great now. Can you -- can you tell us is he talking now? What is sort of -- how is he doing day-to-day?

HUNTER: He does talk. If there's something on his mind, he tells us. I mean there's not much he holds in these days.

BLACKWELL: It is now sentences that are put together or is it still the single words that we heard about in 2003?

HUNTER: Oh, no. He has a full vocabulary. And he -- he communicates very well. And he talks in full sentences, full paragraphs. He -- he vocalizes.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you Angilee about one word and your reaction the day that he first said, "Mom."

WALLIS: There is no -- there's no way to explain that. I had waited so long to hear him say anything. For him to say "mom," I was so happy.

KOSIK: You know, although the Jahi McMath situation is different, Angilee, how do you feel about it?

WALLIS: That is just really sad. It is different. I really, really don't know. I mean I just feel so sad for the family.

BLACKWELL: And Amber, what about you? I mean your father was in a vegetative state, but we know that Jahi McMath is brain dead, meaning no activity in the brain and no blood to the brain. What are your thoughts about this family and their decision?

HUNTER: I think it's tragic that a little girl would go in for an outpatient surgery and then the consequences be so dire. To put any mother in a situation to have to let go of her child or to hold on to something that doctors say is nonexistent. It's terrible. You know, I wouldn't want to ever be in that situation.

KOSIK: What would you want to say to Jahi's family about having hope?

HUNTER: You don't lose it. I mean every situation is different. I would say keep praying. It is not superficial. It's the only thing that gets you through sometimes, you know.

BLACKWELL: Angilee, let me ask you. You were -- you made the decision to hold on to hope, as you said, for 19 years. But again, your son was in a vegetative state. If you had to make this decision based on the diagnosis of being brain dead, would you be making the same choice?

WALLIS: I can't say that. I don't know. You just -- you can't give up your child.

20 years ago, they did not have the technology that they have today to determine brain dead. She would not know if he were brain dead or not. You know it was almost 30 years ago. So you know, it's a little different circumstances there. But --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: And you said -- you said something just a second ago, Angilee that you can never give up your child. How much of the decision do you think it is not just medically, but just the difficulty to saying good-bye to a child, especially a 13-year-old?

WALLIS: That -- that is so bad. Terry was 20. I couldn't -- I couldn't not hang on.

BLACKWELL: All right. Amber Hunter and Angilee Wallis, I thank you so much for talking with us about this. This was back in 2003 when he woke up. And a lot of people remember that word that he said "Pepsi." And I think that's what kind of jogged memories from folks. But I thank you so much. And your little baby there, thank you too.

HUNTER: Thanks. He's cranky this morning. But thanks.

BLACKWELL: Well it's 7:30 in Arkansas. You can get back to bed. Thank you all.

WALLIS: Thanks.

KOSIK: New details in the fatal crash that killed "Fast & Furious" star Paul Walker. Coming up we're going to tell you how fast his car was going before it burst into flames.

BLACKWELL: Plus after firing off the controversy, the cast of "Duck Dynasty" well they're firing off something else -- a new line of guns. Up next how fans can get their hands on a piece of the hit series.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Nineteen until the top of the hour now.

Paul Walker and his friend they were traveling faster than 100 miles per hour before their Porsche crashed.

KOSIK: That new info coming from the final coroner's report that was just released. And it describes in detail how the "Fast & Furious" star and his friend died. Here is CNN's Alan Duke with more -- Alan.

ALAN DUKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Alison this autopsy report answers several key questions about how "Fast & Furious" star Paul Walker died. First of all we find it was a quick death. Soon after the Porsche slammed into a light post and then a tree, bursting into flames, Walker and the driver, his friend, Roger Rodas were dead. The autopsy revealed that because there were, as they say, scant traces of soot in their trachea.

Also these men suffered severe injuries that killed them. In fact Rodas' head injury was very severe so graphically described in the autopsy that I won't repeat it. As far as Walker, he died in a defensive position -- a pugilistic stance as if he were bracing for a crash which suggested that it wasn't long after that crash that he was dead. Paul Walker and Roger Rodas they were traveling in a car going over 100 miles per hour. That is another key question that we ask. Was it speed that caused it? Obviously it was, but they don't know why Rodas lost control of this Porsche. It was a car he was familiar with driving as a race team member along with Walker. But for some reason, it spun out of control and crashed. They don't really know why that happened -- Alison, Victor.

KOSIK: Ok Alan, thanks.

The cast of "Duck Dynasty" is expanding their empire. The famous family has teamed up with gun maker Mossberg to launch their very own line of products. The new gun collection is going to include nine different shotguns as well as two semiautomatic pistols.

BLACKWELL: The guns will come with an American flag bandana it's just like the one worn by Willy on the show. Last month, cast member Phil Robertson was temporarily suspended you remember after he made anti- gay and racially charge comments to "GQ" magazine.

KOSIK: Another celebrity wardrobe malfunction. This time it was Britney Spears. But the 32-year old singer oh, she handled it like pro. She kept right on performing as her costume zipper opened up and exposing her back during her Las Vegas show at Planet Hollywood. Luckily two quick-thinking back up dancers jumped into action managed to get Britney zipped back into her corset. Spears kicked off her two- year "Piece of Me" Vegas show last week.

I know about wardrobe malfunction I had one this morning. It's a different kind.

BLACKWELL: Wait what was this?

KOSIK: I spilled something on this.

BLACKWELL: Oh yes, that one. You know when somebody says wardrobe malfunction.

KOSIK: Eyes pop -- wasn't that exciting?

BLACKWELL: Ok so I'm glad we worked it out.

KOSIK: No problem.

BLACKWELL: Still to come, what do you think about when you hear about the words big data? I'm saying d-a-t-a. Actually it's funny because when the producer came to me this morning he said let's talk big data -- I thought he said "big daddy" and I was like well that's inappropriate. But he said big data, b-i-g, d-a-t-a. Are you thinking the NSA, hacking? Well it's a lot more than that. And our next guest says it'll soon have a bigger impact on your life than you ever dreamed.

Stay with us for a glimpse of the future and the face of big data.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLACKWELL: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Facebook is a defendant in a class action lawsuit.

KOSIK: The plaintiffs say the social network has been intercepting private messages between friends and giving the information to advertisers. Two Facebook users filed the suit in California and the company says the allegations are not true and it will vigorously defend itself in court.

BLACKWELL: Like it or not, our lives are being affected by invisible revolution known as big data.

KOSIK: Think about it. Some of the major stories in the headlines lately -- Edward Snowden's leaks about the NSA. Their efforts to track cell phone calls and monitor the Internet traffic of virtually all Americans -- that's big data.

BLACKWELL: Or recent hacks of online apps like Snapchat or brick and mortar stores like Target -- again big data.

KOSIK: You know, every time you go online it seems, you know, you use your phone or you're hooking through sites like Amazon, you know, you are adding to this growing ocean of big data.

BOLDUAN: In 2013, big data made its mark on this world. But what will it bring to us in 2014 and beyond? Rick Smolan joins us live from San Francisco via Skype. He is the author of the book and award winning iPad app, "The Human Face of Big Data". Now we said the phrase five or six times -- what is big data?

RICK SMOLAN, AUTHOR, "THE HUMAN FACE OF BIG DATA": Well, you know, this is a question -- I'm a journalist so I started about a year ago trying to understand for myself what big data was. And I spoke to many different sort of experts in this area.

One of the most interesting quotes about this world of big data came from Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google. He said that all the information generated by the human race from the dawn of humanity to 2003 was five exabytes -- I have no idea what an exabyte is. Right now the human race is generating five exabytes every two days.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

SMOLAN: We're seeing a straight vertical line. Every -- they say every object on earth, including our bodies is now starting to generate data in a way that we've never seen before. And I think that, you know many of the stories that we see in the media tend to focus on the downside of it.

I'm very concerned about privacy. I'm very concerned about the revelations that Snowden has shared with us about what the NSA has been doing. But I also think this is a brand new tool that might offer tremendous abilities for humanity to sort of take control of some of the biggest problems that are facing us today. KOSIK: You know, you called the data the big data, sort of the new oil. How will big data change the world and you are saying that it will have even a bigger impact than the Internet?

SMOLAN: Well, I sort of say that after giving some examples of it because it sounds awfully grandiose. I think that you need to have computers -- you need to have micro processors to build computers. And you needed computer so build the Internet and I think that now this world of big data is sort of the middle layer on top of it.

If you think about it, every single one of us has now become a human sensor. We are almost like watching the planet develop a nervous system. It sounds like science fiction and you know Arnold Schwarzenegger and Skynet. But all of us are now throughout our days everything we're doing is now starting to feeding information back into this sort of large growing brain.

It sounds kind of creepy, but there is some really -- there's some tremendous benefits to it. I'll give you a few examples.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMOLAN: There is a gentleman in (inaudible) he's a MacArthur fellow. He's 29 years old so he's pretty young. He said imagine if you got your American Express card tomorrow and there's no itemization of your bill, would you -- either one of you pay your credit card bill if you couldn't see what you spent during the course of the month?

BLACKWELL: No. I mean if you just give me a total -- no.

KOSIK: No.

SMOLAN: Right nobody would do that, right. But every month we get an electrical bill and we pay it blindly. We have no idea what our toaster oven or our dishwasher or our hair dryer -- any appliance in our house is actually costing us.

So he has a little gadget. He just sold the company to Belkin and you're going to be able to plug his own gadget at one place in your house and it recognizes the digital signature of every single appliance in your house. And it shows you on your iPad or in your computer what your hair dryer cost you during the course of the month.

And I said ok that's kind of cool. Now I just (inaudible) into how I'm using -- spending my money. I said did you learn anything that would surprise people that would change their behavior. He thought about it for a second. He said, you know, actually the most surprising thing we learn is that the average American spends 11 percent of their monthly electrical bill on the DVR, that little box, recording, you know CNN.

BLACKWELL: I certainly use mine.

SMOLAN: But when it is not recording, it is still sitting there spinning. So he said instead of drilling another oil well or building a nuclear power plant, we could just redesign the damn DVRs. That could have a huge impact.

I'll give you another example. You know, I tend to be a glass half empty kind of guy. So a lot of the things that kind of surprise me were -- went like wow, this is amazing. When the earthquake hit in Japan a few years ago, terrible devastation, there was a remarkable story that Steve (inaudible) marketplace did about how every bullet train and every factory in Japan, 15 seconds before the earthquake hit, was brought to a halt. The Japanese had spent half a billion dollars over 15 years putting this dedicated hardwired expensive sensors into place to sense the wave before the earthquake hit. So it worked. It all worked great.

But the big story, the big data story about this is that a group of entrepreneurs in Palo Alto, California said every laptop that we all have one today has a thing that's called accelerometer. If your kids are running through the kitchen and they trip over the cord on your computer and it's on and your laptop is on its way to the fall -- your computer knows it's falling. So that accelerometer actually can be used for other purposes.

They said what if we actually wrote some software that could sense the same vibration that these big dedicated systems sense. So all over the world, you have something called Quake Catcher. It is free ubiquitous software that you fire up on your laptop before you go to bed and we now have a global ubiquitous free earthquake early earthquake warning system using data -- reusing the sensors that are already built into the device.

KOSIK: So big data isn't all bad, onerous. It is also good. We see that and that's really interesting, Rick Smolan. Thank you so much.

SMOLAN: Sure.

BLACKWELL: The author of "The Human Face of Big Data". Good to have you with us. And we'll take a quick break.

SMOLAN: It's a free app. It's out there.

BLACKWELL: Free app. Big data -- Face of Big Data. Rick Smolan, thank you. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Now for your daily dose of cuteness. The Chicago Zoological Society announcing the birth of this adorable gray seal pup at the Brookfield Zoo. The little guy was born at 7:00 in the morning on New Year's Day.

He is not only the zoo's first animal birth of the year, but also the first of his species to be born there. The pup weighing in at just over 25 pounds at birth, but will likely triple his weight in the next month or so. Zoo officials say he will remain off exhibit for a few weeks to allow him to bond with his mama. Can you not say "ahh"?

BLACKWELL: I could find a way not to say "ahh". I can.

KOSIK: Simply cute.

BLACKWELL: We have a must see moment for today.

KOSIK: Oh, the perils of the UPS truck driver. A few hospital workers had quite a show when a wild turkey started stalking a UPS driver. I haven't seen this yet. The bird may have been venting about his Christmas gifts arriving late. The driver tried to get away from the turkey by hiding behind a FedEx truck -- of all things.

BLACKWELL: But that was not going to work because this bird is persistent -- did not let up easily. Another person walking by came to the driver's rescue, eventually chased this turkey away. Why is a turkey just in the middle of the street?

KOSIK: What a scene.

BLACKWELL: Where is this again?

KOSIK: It's totally funny.

And I like how he goes behind the rival truck to find comfort and escape.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes. At least they are working together. FedEx and UPS.

KOSIK: Playing nice in the sand box.

BLACKWELL: All together.

You know, I said that I couldn't find a way to say "ahh" because of the seal thing. Animal stories really aren't my deal. But I will tell you that I sat and watched "MARCH OF THE PENGUINS" and was fascinated by that.

KOSIK: See.

BLACKWELL: Have you seen that?

KOSIK: Of course I have.

BLACKWELL: Ok. Well, it's my first time.

KOSIK: First time for everything.

BLACKWELL: It will be on again tomorrow night at 9:00 on CNN.

Thanks for starting your morning with us.

KOSIK: We have much more ahead on the next hour of NEW DAY SATURDAY beginning right now.