Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Carnival Triumph Cruise Ship Passengers Make Their Way Home; L.A. Cop Killer Chris Dorner Killed by Self-Inflicted Gunshot; Jesse Jackson Jr. Charged With Misusing $750,000 in Campaign Funds; Hackers Attack Facebook; Meteor Strike in Russia Hurts Almost 1,000 People; Horse Meat Scandal Slams the U.K.
Aired February 16, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, great to see you. I'm Susan Hendricks in for Randi Kaye and Victor Blackwell today. It is 9:00 in the East Coast, 6 a.m. out west. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
We begin now with the investigation into what went wrong on that Carnival Triumph cruise ship. Passengers are finally waking up at home this morning after spending days adrift at sea with no working toilets, pitch black cabins, and hallways awash in sewage.
CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti joins me now from Mobile, Alabama. And Susan, the investigation began even before the ship docked late Thursday and it could take a while to complete.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, the ship was still out at sea, the coast guard already was looking at schematics of the ship, to take a look at it, to be prepared for when it got into shore.
Now that it is in a boat yard, the investigation already has begun. They're taking a look, for example, at the engine to make sure that they try to figure out whether that was working properly, get to the source of the fire.
Joining us now, Susan, is Captain Don Rose, who is the head of the sector here for the U.S. Coast Guard. What can you tell us about what might be happening on the ship this day?
DON ROSE, COAST GUARD, UNITED STATES: Susan, the ship is getting -- going into the engine room and trying to start figuring out what the damage is, assess it and they'll start repairing it.
And our coast guard inspectors will be involved before the ship gets to leave to make sure it's safe to depart.
And the investigation teams will be working with the crew and with the Carnival Corporation to take a look at the ship and the type of actions the ship took, how the emergency systems functioned and what could be done better.
CANDIOTTI: And what do you know about what will happen with the crew? We know a lot of the crew has been staying at local hotels here. Of course, they're getting their full pay according to Carnival Cruise Lines. But what happens to them next as far as you know?
ROSE: Yes, my understanding, working with our local customs, agents, partners here is that, there're about 700 hotel staff on the ship that spent the night in Mobile hotels.
And the intention was to try to get them back aboard the ship here soon, to get the basic services restored and then to start processing those persons for departure to various other ships or back home.
CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much for joining us, Captain Rose. So, they're saying that this investigation, Susan, could take up to a year to complete.
Also working on it is the National Transportation Safety Board. But the final report will come out of the Bahamas because the ship is flagged there. Back to you.
HENDRICKS: All right, Susan Candiotti, live in Alabama, I appreciate it, thanks. New this morning, we can now tell you how cop killer Christopher Dorner died.
Initial autopsy report say he died from a single gunshot wound to the head that was likely self inflicted after Tuesday's standoff with police.
Nick Valencia was in L.A. as the saga unfolded. He joins me now, we have since learned that Dorner was hiding out near police for days, Nick, and they didn't even know that he was right under their nose.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NEWS EDITOR: In one word, they have to be embarrassed about this. They were so embarrassed they even avoided the question from reporters during a media briefing.
And we've asked them, I'm sure I'm not the only reporter that wants to know or a person that wants to know how they could have missed Chris Dorner.
He was less than 100 yards away from the command center. And if you consider the resources, Susan, that they used, 125 officers from throughout Southern California to canvas this area.
There are even reports this morning that officers knocked on the door and Dorner may have been inside that home for days.
So, how extensive really was their search of these cabins that they appear to be -- that they thought were abandoned?
And it also seemed to be a very calculated move on his part. He said in his manifesto, the command centers are target-rich environments.
Also I went there to this cabin where he was and I walked the grounds. The cabin leads right back into the woods, so, it seemed to be a very calculated move.
And in his manifesto, we talked about this, so, he kept through to his word, Susan.
HENDRICKS: And we don't know exactly what he was watching the entire time, they'll be slipping out of the cabin at times. You were there, how did the locals feel?
They, of course, must have felt on edge like the police did.
VALENCIA: Well, you would think so. And I talked to some, a handful of residents and some were completely oblivious to the fact that everything, this media circus and this Dorner manhunt was going on around them, but some were quite concern.
We had breakfast at a local cabin and I talked to one of the cooks in the kitchen. He was saying, you know, I was very concerned once I realized Dorner was just a mile away from here.
I have kids at the local schools, you know, he was a renegade cop with a vengeance and a vendetta.
And there were targets, he was targeting police officers, but there were citizens as well that were concerned that they might have been caught up in the cross fire. So, it was a concern and very unnerving moment for everybody.
HENDRICKS: I know you were there reporting on this, we appreciate it.
VALENCIA: Thank you --
HENDRICKS: Great job, thanks so much, Nick. Tonight CNN takes an in depth look at the manhunt and a special report called Killer Cop: Inside the Hunt for Christopher Dorner. That's at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
To politics now, we're getting new details about Jesse Jackson Junior, and his plea deal. The former congressman is admitting to misusing campaign contributions for his personal use.
In all, prosecutors say he took as much as $750,000 out of his war chest. Here are some of the items on that list.
A $43,000 Rolex, more than $5,000 for furs bought in Beverly Hills, a couple of Michael Jackson hats for around $4,000 each, and more than $10,000 in Martin Luther King Junior memorabilia.
Facebook is saying it is the latest company to be the victim of an internet hacking attack. The social media giant says that some of its computers were infected by malware in January.
But that no user information was compromised. In the last month, hackers have also gone after Twitter, the "New York Times" and the "Wall Street Journal" too.
To space now, and the 2012 DA14 asteroid is long gone by now. This is what it looked like though, through a high-powered telescope.
The asteroid past relatively close to the earth yesterday afternoon. When I say close, I mean around 17,000 miles away. But that is closer than some of the TV and weather satellites up in space.
There were lots of reasons to look up in the sky this week, the asteroid being one of them, lightning strikes at the Vatican, those came just after Pope Benedict announced his resignation.
Coincidence? I don't know.
And then there is the meteor in Russia. It came in a flash and a big bang. But as our Mary Snow reports, maybe we shouldn't have been all that surprised.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It came out of nowhere, the bright streak in the sky was long enough for people to capture it on camera, as it lurched toward earth and exploded.
(METEOR-STRIKE)
A deafening boom followed as fragments rain down over Russia's Urals region. The sonic boom shattered glass, at least 1,000 people in the bull's-eye of the falling meteor were injured.
It's a bombing, says this man. People didn't know what to make of it. Meteorites are reported to have scattered across three regions of Russia and there's one report of a chunk smashing a hole in a frozen lake.
As frightening as it was, scientist say it's not all that rare to have meteors falling out of the sky. What's not common is when they hit largely populated areas.
DENTON EBEL, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: Small bodies like that hit the earth regularly. Every year, there's probably several, mostly over oceans, a bit of half can go over the Pacific Ocean somewhere, maybe a ship might have seen it.
SNOW: Denton Ebel is the curator of meteorites at the American Museum of Natural History. He says the fact that this meteors struck the same day as an asteroid had a close encounter with the earth is not related and only a cosmic coincidence.
While the asteroid was closely tracked, he says the meteor in Russia was too small to be detected and has left him a bit unnerved.
EBEL: Yes, we can predict things. We know the laws of gravity, we know the masses of the planets and so forth. We can predict what's going to happen down the road.
But the interplay of all these celestial bodies together and the ones we don't know about is such to make it kind of scary in a way.
SNOW (on camera): The last time something of this size occurred that we know about was more than a 100 years ago. And it also happened in Russia.
Back in 1908, an asteroid exploded over remote area of Siberia, leveling roughly 80 million trees. Susan?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: All right, Mary Snow, appreciate that report, thank you. After a day of hearing the news about that blast over Russia, imagine what people were thinking in California when they saw this last night.
A fireball going across the sky. Area astronomers say they think it was a meteor, they also said they don't think it has any connection to the asteroid, just another coincidence.
He once was the darling of couture. Then came a controversial outburst and a conviction, now a new controversy. Can John Galliano remake his image?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: He's been called the wild child of fashion. Now designer John Galliano, who is trying to get back into fashion's good great suits.
After being fired from Christian Dior, for an apparent drunken anti- Semitic ramp. But he may be stepping into a whole new controversy.
And yes, it has to do with what he's wearing. Here is CNN's Alina Cho.
ALINA CHO, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Susan, this fashion week ends in New York and ramps up in Europe. One of the biggest stories to come out of New York is John Galliano's return to fashion.
His brief residency at Oscar de la Renta made big headlines, but not everyone is happy about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): When this image appeared on the cover of the "New York Post" this week, fashion designer John Galliano dressed in garb that some believed mocked the Jewish faith.
Some members of the Jewish community were stunned.
DOV HIKIND, ASSEMBLYMAN, NEW YORK STATE: There was no doubt in my mind when I looked at the entire picture of what Galliano was wearing, that he looked like one of the Hasidic people I represent.
CHO: All the more stinging because Galliano, though allotted in fashion for being a true original is now equally known for this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love his clothes --
CHO: Cell phone video at a cafe in Paris that ultimately got him fired from his job as top designer at Christian Dior.
He was also found guilty of making anti-Semitic comments and given a suspended fine of $8,500 by a French court. That was 2011. Since then, Galliano largely has been out of the spotlight --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I see --
CHO: Until January, when Oscar de La Renta invited Galliano into his studio for a three-week residency. Seen in the fashion industry as a way to test the waters and ask the question, is the public ready to forgive?
At de la Renta's Show this week, the clothes on the runway clearly had Galliano's influence. What was not known until now is the disgraced designer has been on a path to redemption, meeting privately with top Jewish leaders.
ABRAHAM FOXMAN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: I think he's still on the pilgrimage.
CHO: Abe Foxman is the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, and says over the past year and a half, he has personally met with Galliano five times.
FOXMAN: I said do you know what to say to a Jew, my hero is Hitler, what it means? He says now I do. But when I was drunk, you know, it just came out.
CHO: Do you like him?
FOXMAN: I've grown to like him. I will tell you the first time he came to visit, the security was -- he was dressed in such a way that they -- you're not coming to see Abe Foxman.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: That's because Galliano was dressed like this. Look familiar? His spokeswoman says John has worn big hats and long coats for many years. I can assure you, there was no intent to insult Jewish culture.
FOXMAN: This is John Galliano being John Galliano. This is a fragile human being, why go after him? This will -- can destroy him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Foxman says Galliano once told him he wants to go to Israel, even Auschwitz meet with survivors and better understand how hurtful he was when his image was splashed across the cover of the "Tabloid".
Foxman says he e-mailed Galliano with a message, you are not alone. Whether he'll ever have a career again as a top designer for a big fashion house is not yet known.
Some in the industry say they're still not ready to forgive and, Susan, they say they will never forget. Susan?
HENDRICKS: Alina, thank you. New York fashion week has just wrapped up. But you can stay on top of the trends, "FASHION BACKSTAGE PASS" with Alina Cho, debuts today, 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN. Lady Gaga is headed to surgery, the Pope headed to retirement. And there is a big change in the air, in case you missed the headlines, to look back now at "THE WEEK THAT WAS".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Pope Benedict announces he is resigning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't have the vigor, he didn't have the energy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a moment.
JON STEWART, COMEDIAN & TELEVISION HOST: No!, oh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cruise ship from hell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's sewage sloshing in the hallways.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It smells horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A crippled cruise ship, a case of cotton mouth and a Pope calling it quit all made the headlines "THE WEEK THAT WAS".
Pope Benedict floored the faithful Monday after his bombshell resignation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he just wants to spend more time with his wife and kids.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, he says he's just too old, too tired to go on.
STEWART: Holy quit!
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really, though, a Pope resigning? That's like lightning striking the -- actually, lightning did strike the Vatican just hours after the announcement.
President Obama lit up the House floor Tuesday night with his State of the Union speech.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The families of Newtown deserve a vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it was this moment during the GOP response that everyone was talking about.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: False choices like the one the President laid out tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Rubio just couldn't spit it out so he gulped it down.
RUBIO: I needed water, what am I going to do, you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was hot, a little sweaty and downright parched.
Water is the last thing these guys wanted to see this week. Passengers aboard this Carnival cruise ship stranded for days on the filthy barge after an engine fire cut off power.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were just out there. And like I said, now that I realize it, it's like, Oh, my God, you know, I can't believe that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just been a horrible experience for us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some were so happy to be on land, they actually kissed the ground. We are sure many will just fly to their next vacation.
These guys would like that. American Airlines announcing this week they will tie the knot with US Airways.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is really about taking two airlines, putting them together and providing better service to customers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Post merger, American will be the world's biggest airline. Meantime, one of the world's biggest stars is down for the count.
It turns out Lady Gaga has got a bump hip. It's so bad, she will need surgery, and that means no more tour. We're guessing no more ten-inch heels either. And that's "THE WEEK THAT WAS".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Well, in the woods outside of Los Angeles, several Californians came face to face this week with a killer. The stories of ordinary people who crossed paths with Christopher Dorner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: During his ten-day reign of terror, ex-cop Christopher Dorner crossed paths with a few ordinary Californians.
Unlike the law enforcement officers he aimed to kill, Dorner mostly left those people in peace. CNN's Randi Kaye caught up with three ordinary folks who came face to face with a killer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN (voice-over): Not far from where Dorner had abandoned his burned-out truck, Jim and Karen Reynolds walked into their cabin and into Christopher Dorner's hideout. He tied them up.
JIM REYNOLDS, CHRIS DORNER'S VICTIM: Once he got us bound, then he went out to the bathroom real quick, which is real close, and came back with a couple of washed clothes, stuck one in each of our mouths.
KAYE: Dorner stole their vehicle and fled down highway 38. As he made his escape, Karen Reynolds, hands still tied, searched for her phone.
KAREN REYNOLDS, CHRIS DORNER'S VICTIM: And he left my cell phone right on the coffee table, right there. And I sat down, was able to scoot around and work with it, and called 911.
KAYE: Dorner didn't have time to get far. Two California Fish and Wildlife wardens spotted Dorner driving.
PATRICK FOY, SPOKESMAN, DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE: They were approaching two buses. They passed the two buses and they noticed tucked in behind the bus was the suspect vehicle.
KAYE: Dorner sped up, apparently lost control and crashed his car. Then fled on foot, escaping yet again. Camp ranger Rick Heltebrake was the next to encounter the elusive killer.
RICK HELTEBRAKE, CAMP RANGER: I was driving up the side road in my camp, and I was coming up to a right-hand curve, I noticed a movement over in the trees off to the left side.
And before I could even process that, I saw Mr. Dorner coming out of the snow at me with a rifle pointed at my head. I stopped, put my truck into park, put my hands up.
And he said, I don't want to hurt you, just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog. And I asked him if I could take my leash with me and he said no, just start walking and that's what I did.
KAYE: So, he told you to start walking, take your dog. What happened next?
HELTEBRAKE: That's exactly what I did. I started walking up the road, I got up the road a little ways, 10, 15 seconds later, and I heard a round of gunshots.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: Don't miss this. You can watch the rest of Randi Kaye's special report, Killer Cop: Inside the Hunt for Christopher Dorner, tonight, 8 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
Reports of horse meat in school dinners shakes the U.K. We're going to have the latest in the investigation that's already leading to arrests.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: The United Kingdom's meat industry is in disarray after horse meat was discovered in products intended for humans. Test show horse meat in 29 beef products including dinners supplied to schools in northern England.
Officials have raided five meat plants and arrested three workers so far. As many as 10,000 products still need to be tested.
Back in the U.S., the Obama administration says as of today they won't take any more applications for the pre-existing condition insurance plan because of limited funding.
It's a stop-gap program to help people with medical problems who cannot get private insurance right now.
New legal provision kick in on January 1st of next year. They will bar insurers from turning anyone away for poor health.
Thanks so much for watching this morning, I'll see you back here at the top of the hour, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" starts right now.
