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CNN Saturday Morning News
Commuter Trains Collide; Report: North Korea Fires 3 Missiles; Texas Devastated by Tornadoes; Today's Powerball Jackpot Hits $600 Million; Boston Suspect Outlined Motive in Note; Interview with NTSB Chairman
Aired May 18, 2013 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Ahead this hour --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden we just hear, boom, and then we saw, like, smoke everywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Two trains collide on one of the most travelled routes in the Northeast. Seventy people injured. Some in critical condition. Now, a major investigation.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And what would you do with $600 million? That's the Powerball jackpot right now. We're getting some answers on Twitter, tweet me, @VictorCNN.
But that's not compare to what it will be if no one wins tonight.
HARLOW: And no pictures, please. That is the new message from Beyonce's team when it comes to her latest world tour. We're going to tell you why and what some media are doing to fight back.
(MUSIC)
BLACKWELL: Hey, good morning. It's Saturday, May 18th. I'm Victor Blackwell.
HARLOW: I'm Poppy Harlow. Thanks so much for starting your Saturday with us.
We begin this morning with that train collision we have been telling you about in Connecticut and what could be a long delay for commuters next and, of course, a lot of focus on the victims right now.
BLACKWELL: Yes, the accident happened on the main line linking the Bridgeport area to New York City. Officials there say that tracks could be closed for weeks, and, you know, that is a popular, popular route.
HARLOW: Very.
BLACKWELL: And that's just part of the story, though.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHIEF GARY MACNAMARA, FAIRFIELD POLICE: I just describe it as a commuter's worse nightmare.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): It happened during rush hour near Bridgeport, Connecticut. Two passenger trains headed in opposite directions collided, hundreds of passengers ran for the exits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, we just hear, boom! And then we saw, like, smoke everywhere. I was just focusing in on my two kids and just hugging them and embracing them.
HECTOR NAVARRO, PASSENGER: I've seen people flew over places. I almost flew over the seat but I held on, but I'm OK. Dozens of people hurt, though.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all went to the front of the train and kicked out windows and got off the train.
BLACKWELL: This morning, the National Transportation Safety Board will be on the scene to determine what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the second car of the northbound train. We derailed and there was rocks and stuff flying up on the side of the window and it was bumpy. And as soon as everything stopped, and then, we were hit by the southbound train.
BLACKWELL: This morning, as investigators for a cause, the attention is also focused on those injured passengers.
GOV. DANNEL MALLOY (D), CONNECTICUT: Sixty people were transported to different hospitals. Most of those with injuries that are not -- don't fall into the serious or critical area, we have five people who are critically injured, and one in a very critical condition.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Now, we know the number of those who are in critical condition, that's been dropped to three. So, of course, good news there.
CNN's Susan Candiotti, and a crew, they're headed to the scene in Connecticut. We're going to check in with her later this morning.
HARLOW: Also new this morning, North Korea has fired three short-range missiles. But there is no damage. According to South Korea, the missiles landed in the sea, off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. It is expected there was a test firing of the missiles, though there was no warning that any launch of that sort was coming. And tension in the Korean peninsula had cooled a bit since the threats and rhetoric from North Korea just a short while ago. BLACKWELL: North Texas now, families there are wondering, what do we do next? That's because their neighborhoods are gone. They were leveled by tornados, as many as 16 of them. The National Weather Service could increase that number as they continue their investigation.
Our Nick Valencia is there live this morning in Granbury, Texas.
Nick, I was there for the past few days. And when you go into the area of Ranchos Brazos, there is nothing that is around salvageable. But there are some areas that aren't as bad.
Give us an idea about how widespread the damage is.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's some great context, Victor. When you think about, let's say a tornado like Joplin, Missouri, where a tornado went through the center, or Greensburg, Kansas, that was a few years ago, wiped the map. The devastation here in Granbury, here in that community, in Rancho Brazos, it looks like that. But there is an end point. This storm hovered over that community, that small community, it just wiped it off the map.
But Granbury as a whole, this town of about 8,000 people, it's very much so intact and still functioning.
BLACKWELL: Nick, the people there, understandably in this neighborhood, just have no idea what is coming next. How are they coping? How are they getting some help?
VALENCIA: I have spoken to many of the residents and many are still trying to make sense of what happened. Those I've spoken to are thankful to be alive. Yesterday, we were driving and ran into about a dozen residents of Rancho Brazos on the side of the road, they were receiving food from a voluntary organization. A lot of them still sort of just had that blank stare. They are still in shock.
Last night, I spoke to another resident whose neighbors were killed in a storm. His family is OK. They rode out the storm. But he is annoyed of the inconvenience of having to deal all day, with spending time on the phone with the insurance companies. He was one of 80 people in line to get a rental car. So, even those that survived the storm are having to deal with putting their lives back together again -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: There are volunteers and neighbors helping neighbors, but when does the big money come in, the infrastructure, the federal assistance come in?
VALENCIA: Well, Hood County first responders will tell you they are doing as much as they can. Yesterday, at a press conference, Governor Rick Perry, Texas governor, came to town and we asked him that actually.
One of our CNN producers asked him about federal assistance, he says it's too early and he hasn't reached out yet to the federal government, but he is certain that President Barack Obama is watching the developments here and what happened and what unfolded, and as the community is beginning to put its life back together again.
We understood from the Hood County sheriff that the plan is to let residents back in at about 8:00 this morning. This road behind me is one of the two ways in and out of the Ranchos Brazos community. So, as residents begin to trickle back in, we'll ill bring more to you -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right. Nick Valencia, thank you so much, in Granbury, Texas, this morning.
HARLOW: It looks like investors are sort of ignoring the old adage, "Sell in May and go away." The stock market is on this rally again, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 all finishing the week higher for fourth straight week. The Dow and S&P 500 finishing at record levels. Investors are pretty happy to see reports suggesting the U.S. economy continues to improve. Also, news that consumer sentiment hit a six- year high.
Though, not good news all across the board. Shares of JCPenney slid after that retailer reported another massive quarterly loss.
And maybe it's you. Almost half of Americans are not invested in the stock market at all, and so if you are not benefiting from those stock market gains, maybe you are trying your luck on the Powerball, maybe, even though your odds are not very good.
The jackpot in the multi-state lottery has climbed to $600 million. It is the biggest jackpot for Powerball.
So, what would you do with all of that money?
Let's bring in our personal finance and business correspondent, Zain Asher.
She has been camped out at a Powerball counter in Passaic, New Jersey -- Zain.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Poppy. It is Powerball mania over here in Passaic, New Jersey, where people are literally lining up to throw their hat in the ring and have a chance at winning tonight's jackpot prize.
But I do have to mention that the chances of actually winning are pretty dismal, 1 in 175 million. Those are your chances of winning the jackpot prize. That is not stopping people, though.
I actually spoke to one woman, I sat her down and I asked her, what would you do if you won this kind of cash? Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would pay off my mortgage. I'd pay off my parents' house, their mortgage down the shore. I would buy a shore house myself, right on the beach, and definitely donate to the Cancer Society. My mother is cancer survivor two times already. So, we'll donate to that charity, and probably another charity, and set up a college fund for my children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: OK. And she's obviously thought about this in quite some detail. Obviously, best of luck to her and, of course, to anyone else playing as well. I do also want to mention, Poppy, that if nobody wins tonight's jackpot, it could actually grow by Wednesday next week. It could actually grow to almost a billion dollars -- Poppy.
HARLOW: A billion bucks? What do you do with that, Victor? What do you with $600 million, $60 million?
BLACKWELL: I've got some great answers from Twitter. My favorite all morning is from Elise. It just came in. "If I won $600 million in Powerball, I would pass out from the shock, I would definitely take the phone off the hook."
HARLOW: That's for sure. I never understand why people come out and announce it.
BLACKWELL: Some of these lotteries, you have to.
HARLOW: Oh, you do?
BLACKWELL: Yes, like you get something above whatever amount you have to.
What would you do with it?
HARLOW: Not have a press conference.
BLACKWELL: Oh, yes, that's a start. That's a start.
HARLOW: You know, I think -- I think -- someone said, yesterday, pay off the debt of everyone I know. I think that's the good thing.
You know, travel. And give a whole lot of it away.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Here's a question. When you go out, do you have to buy dinner every time with your friends? I mean, do they expect you just to buy dinner because you hit it?
HARLOW: You're buying tonight for us.
BLACKWELL: Yes, right.
HARLOW: I think if you have that much, yes. You have to.
BLACKWELL: All right.
HARLOW: Regrets from the big house. A CNN exclusive with Bernie Madoff. So, what does the master swindler have to say about his accommodations now?
BLACKWELL: Plus, Beyonce is in a feud with photographers. You've seen the pictures. They accuse her of being too controller. What's the big fuss? What's it all about?
We'll tell you, coming up.
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HARLOW: All right. Well, while the stock market hits a record high, not every share -- every one is sharing in the good fortune.
BLACKWELL: Yes, take Facebook. It's still way down from its super hype IPO.
HARLOW: That took place one year ago today.
And the company is still searching for a way to make investors not just like it, some really like it, but love it.
BLACKWELL: Alison Kosik explains how the future could still be bright for Facebook.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): First came the excitement. Then came the waiting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're still waiting for the indications over the NASDAQ where it could be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Facebook was to begin its trading about 25 minutes ago, and now finally, the moment has arrived.
KOSIK: The size of the public debut, 400 million shares overwhelmed computer systems at the NASDAQ, delaying orders. It cost the exchange up to $62 million to compensate firms involved. After the share price peaked at $45 on IPO day, the price plummeted. By the end of the summer, it was under $18.
But new products like Graph Search and the Facebook Home mobile platform helped the price recover and stabilize around $27 a share.
But the key to recovery has been meeting the biggest challenge dogging Facebook since it went public, how to make money from mobile? In the last year, Facebook has worked to move ads from the side of the page and into the newsfeed, making them more mobile friendly.
DAVE KERPEN, CEO, LIKEABLE MEDIA: So, people are seeing the ads the same way they are seeing updates. And that's what's gotten a lot of great responses for advertisers.
KOSIK: How effective the ads are depends on Facebook's 1.1 billion users, 750 million of whom now use the mobile app each month. Users can see which friends like the brand or products being advertised, an extra enticement to click and buy.
KERPEN: Right here, my friend Victor is recommending MasterCard to me right on my phone. And that's really powerful. KOSIK: And lucrative. At the time of the IPO, Facebook was getting less than 15 percent of its ad revenue from mobile. Today, it's 30 percent. That helped Facebook shares to a 20 percent gain over the last six months.
But there are plenty of challenges ahead, as Facebook's user base has gotten older, it risks losing younger ones.
KERPEN: For the short and medium term, the fact that your mom is on Facebook and your kids are not on Facebook it's a good thing for advertisers and a good thing for investors. But over the long term, it's dangerous to see younger people leaving Facebook.
KOSIK: Still, as it enters year two as a public company, more and more young people see Facebook as an essential part of their lives, whether they like it or not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with my phone plastered to my face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if it's cool but I think it's the standard.
KERPEN: Facebook has become a utility. It's no longer what people like or want, but it's something that people need.
KOSIK: Alison Kosik, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: He stole billions, but now, he's making just 40 bucks a month. CNN gets an exclusive prison interview with Bernie Madoff. What does the master swindler have to say now?
Our reporter who spoke who exclusively with him joins me next.
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HARLOW: Bernie Madoff has a lot of time to think -- to think about his mistakes, his victims, his family. He is at the beginning of 150-year- sentence for running a massive Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of billions of dollars.
CNNMoney.com's Aaron Smith was able to get a jailhouse exclusive, speaking on the phone with Madoff who is currently at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.
And I want to read a quote, Aaron, from your interview. First of all, congrats on the exclusive.
AARON SMITH, CNNMONEY.COM: Thank you.
HARLOW: Big accomplishment there. I want to read this quote. Madoff saying, "I live with the remorse and the pain I caused everybody, certainly my family and victims."
And you talked to him three separate times over a number of days. What sense did you get from him about his biggest regret?
SMITH: His biggest regret is most definitely the death of his son, Mark. Mark actually committed suicide on December 11, 2010. That is the second anniversary of his father's arrest.
The first thing Madoff said to me is that he feels terrible about his son's death and feels responsible for it, and he also said that it bothers him a great deal that he is disconnected from his family. He mentioned that he was married for 50 years to his wife, Ruth, and he doesn't seem to have any contact with his surviving son, Andrew.
BURNETT: So, this is all about him. But what about all of the lives that he really -- really, really harmed, the victims? I mean, I remember when the story broke, talking to one in Minnesota who had just tons and tons, and a victim that will be on next said he was decimated by it.
Did he talk about that?
SMITH: He did. He mentioned that he feels bad about the victims. And as you know, he has victimized thousands of people, is believed to have stolen $17.5 billion, though, he did dispute that number when he spoke to me. He said that it was actually more like $9 billion. He said that he feels bad about the fact that he victimized all of the people.
But at the same time he said that, he also sort of shifted the blame to three investors who he said should have helped him out more back in 1987 when there was the stock market crash that he basically blames for being the impetus for the Ponzi scheme.
One of these people, by the way, Jeffrey Picower. He said that he feels responsible for his fatal heart attack in 2009.
HARLOW: You know, one of the very interesting things that only you got to hear is how does he sound?
SMITH: He sounded very calm and collected. He is quite obviously an intelligent man with a lot of knowledge in Wall Street, and he basically sounded very reassuring, and I could easily see how people would get taken in by him --
HARLOW: Wow.
SMITH: -- because he basically is very convincing, and he -- to tell you the truth, he comes across as kind of a nice guy. And he also uses a lot of Wall Street jargon, and I could see how people would be convinced that this is the man. You know, you give your money to him and he will take care of it.
HARLOW: Well, he's certainly doing nothing Wall Street or investment related. In prison, I know he makes $40 a month. What does he do?
SMITH: He has basically a menial job. He works, it sounds like a part time job a few hours a day. He said that he makes sure the phones and computers are kept clean and that they are working. When I asked him for more detail, he just basically dismissed it as a nontechnical job, and he emphasized it requires no skill whatsoever. It's a menial job. That's how it described it.
HARLOW: Well, I know, interesting tidbit here, that he had to call you collect. Of course, CNN doesn't pay for interviews, but I guess you had to pay for that one to take that phone call.
SMITH: When I mailed him a letter, I gave him my phone call and invited him to call me collect. The prison officials have told that that's how you do it, and he has to call me collect. And then I put $30 in his account and he actually called me at least five times, and he got through three times and we had conversations and eventually we were cut off because his account ran out of money.
HARLOW: Run out of money. All right. Well, Aaron Smith --
SMITH: Exactly.
HARLOW: Again, congratulations on the exclusive. I appreciate you sharing that with us. Just fascinating. Thank you.
SMITH: Thank you, Poppy.
HARLOW: Well, more than 2,000 people fell victim to Bernie Madoff's schemes. And joining me on the phone now is one of them, Mike De Vita. He is the co-author of the book, "The Club Nobody Wanted to Join: Madoff Victims in Their Words." He also teaches a class on Madoff AT Delaware Valley College, and, of course, he along with some of the family victims to Madoff.
Thank you for joining us this morning. Appreciate it, Mike.
MIKE DE VITA, AUTHOR (via telephone): You're quite welcome. I'm glad to be here.
HARLOW: You and your 84-year-old mother lost most of your life savings you say. And you're on this crusade now to protect others. What's your reaction of what Erin just said and what you read of this jail house interview?
DE VITA: Well, when it first broke down about (ph) this, I guess my initial question was why would Bernie continue to call the press? Why is he at a point in his life where he just can't be quiet? The thing that Aaron talked about that bothered me he continues to blame others for what happened here.
Certainly, I guess my perspective on this is that Bernie Madoff was not more than a name on a sheet of paper for me, and I never met with any of the Madoff, never spoken to one. It was purely by representation, and I saw what he was doing.
My preference I guess at this point is that Bernie remain quiet until 2139 when he was released from prison. I guess he has an ego which was so large at this point that he simply has to stay in the news, he has to continue to talk about this, but he continues to blame other people for something that from my perspective, he did this and he's the only one that did it.
HARLOW: And, you know, Mike, how are you do -- how are you and your family doing? You have been able to recoup any of your losses from this?
DE VITA: Well, two points. One of them is that I was fortunately enough not to be retired when Bernie Madoff was arrested. My real requirement date was scheduled for January of 2010. I'm a statistician by training. And with the 20 years we were invested with Madoff, I had plotted out about (INAUDIBLE) to replace the bulk of my income.
I mean, the people that really have trouble, all of their victims that have trouble with the whole Madoff scenario is those that were retired and they were living on this. Again, all of a sudden, their income has been -- in my mother's case, cut by 72 percent. And that's a problem for these folks, because at 85 years old, she has no way to replace that income.
Fortunately, I still do.
HARLOW: Yes.
DE VITA: You have other victims that have gone further than that. They not only lost the income from what they were taking out of the Madoff account, but they are being sued by the trustee at the same time for something called drawback, which means talking money back, taking -- being sued from money they took out of the Madoff account. (INAUDIBLE) an awful lot of damage and I don't think he completely grasps exactly the impact he's had on so many people.
HARLOW: No, absolutely not. We are sorry for the loss you and so many have suffered but the fact you are getting out there and on this crusade to help others and make sure they don't get bilked is an admirable thing. Mike, thank you and our thanks to CNN.com's Aaron Smith. Be sure to check out his article. It's on CNNmoney.com.
BLACKWELL: We got more about those terrible storms. A puppy -- this is a good story. A puppy ripped from his owner's arms during the killer tornados in Texas reunited with his owner, and we caught the emotional reunion between one survivor and his best friend.
Also, we're going to Boston for more on a note scribbled by the surviving bombing suspect. He talks about the motives and calls his victims collateral damage. Stay with us for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Mortgage rates inch up again this week. Take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: The bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thanks for starting your morning with us. Five stories we are watching this morning.
Number one is the commuter train collision in Connecticut. Investors are expected to be here a little later this morning. They're going to try to determine what caused the train to jump the tracks into the path of another train.
As many as 70 people sent to the hospital. Most were treated and released, but three people are still in critical condition this morning.
HARLOW: Number two, according to South Korea's news agency, Yonhap, North Korea launched three short-range guided missiles today. South Korea's ministry of defense said all three ended up in the sea off the Korean's peninsula's east coast. The ministry also said the country has beefed monitoring on North Korea and maintains a high level of readiness to act.
BLACKWELL: Number three -- or shall I say 600 million? $600 million, that's how much the jackpot is worth. It's the second largest lotto jackpot ever in the U.S. But you might not want to spend your winnings yet, because the odds of hitting all six numbers and the Powerball number are 175 million or 1 in 175 million. If nobody pulls it off, next Wednesday's jackpot could jump to $925 million.
HARLOW: Number four, starting today same-sex couples in France can marry and adopt children, and that's after President Francois Hollande signed a controversial bill into law. Conservative opponents filed the last ditch legal challenge, but the country's top court ruled the bill is constitutional. France is now the ninth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriage.
BLACKWELL: And, five, a CIA operative was thrown out of Russia in January, for trying to recruit a Russian agent. A representative of the Russian federal security service says the agency is talking about the incident because it's just fed up with the U.S. ignoring its warnings about spy activity. This week, Moscow detained a U.S. diplomat Brian Fogle. The Russian authorities say he's a spy. The U.S. has only acknowledged that Fogle worked at the U.S. embassy in Moscow.
HARLOW: Now to the Boston marathon bombing. We have learned the sole surviving suspect scribbled out his motive on this boat while bleeding out, hiding from police in that vote who were closing in on his location. A law enforcement source tells CNN Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote that the attack was payback for U.S. attacks on Muslim areas during wars in Muslim lands, proclaiming an attack on one Muslim is an attack on all.
The source also says Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also wrote that the three people killed and hundreds more wounded at the marathon finished line were, quote, collateral damage. Infuriating of course to see anything like that.
Our national security analyst Juliette Kayyem joins us live from Boston. She's in Boston this morning. Thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it. I am very interested in what you think this new information does. Does it change the theory that some have floated that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a follower of his brother, somebody that was brainwashed of a sort? Do you think this changes that?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Actually, I think it may be consistent with that notion.
HARLOW: OK.
KAYYEM: I mean, you look at Dzhokhar, he is being shot at, that he thinks he is going to die, and he writes something on a boat. He writes his message on a boat, which is sort, I have to say, sort of mimics the language of jihad, the collateral damage language comes from a lot of materials out of terrorists organizations.
And the truth is, I mean, he didn't try to save himself and he didn't try to commit suicide. You could imagine a scenario in which he wants to go down with his brother and he comes running out of the boat. He didn't do that.
So, look, I think his lawyers are going to use this to argue, as they already are hinting at, that not only was he brainwashed by the brother, but that anything he did while in the boat was so -- he was so under stress, he was so beaten up by the guns and the run and everything else that happened that night that we have to take everything that we did in those last couple of hours with a grain of salt.
There's a story in the "Boston Globe" today that says that's going to be their theory of the case, we can't believe a word he said in the last 24 hours.
HARLOW: That's fascinating. How do you think the existence of the note that we now know about changes the investigation? Does it?
KAYYEM: I think it will. Look, so the prosecution is -- was just allowed late last night was allowed by the judge to take pictures of Dzhokhar while he is in the hospital during this recovery period. You have to wonder, why are they doing that?
One of the reason is, if they want to show essentially what bad shape Dzhokhar was in Thursday night or actually Friday night when he was captured, and what his recovery was like, and their theory being essentially anything he did on that Friday night with the cops, including confessions, including what he wrote on the boat, were done under, you know, sort of duress, and he was beaten up.
So, that seems to be the theory of the case as we understand it now, to at least keep Dzhokhar away from the death penalty. I don't think there's any question that, you know, at least there's strong that he will be found guilty.
HARLOW: What's interesting about those photos, is it -- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's attorneys wanted to take those privately, not share them with the government, and the judge said, no, no, you can't do that. If prisoners can take the photos in front of you, but all sides get to see them.
Looking at this and the big question that still remains, there are a lot of questions, but given what we know now, what do you think, Juliette, that's the biggest questions are still out there that they want Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to answer?
KAYYEM: Well, it's Dzhokhar may know something about this travel's travels to Russia. That is still sort of the big question. Although I have to say, more and more evidence is suggesting that his brother went to Chechnya, went to Russia, tried to join terrorists organizations but couldn't. The reason why he couldn't is because these organizations tend to be very insular. They don't just allow anybody in.
As you reported, the Chechen leader of the terrorist organizations said they had nothing to do with the brothers or the attack. So there are still questions about that.
And, of course, the big is, did they get lucky on marathon Monday in terms of the bombs, or did they test them? We still don't seem to have any proof that they were tested, which means they were either very good at bomb-making or they got very, very lucky. And I think people just want to know how did that happen?
HARLOW: A lot of questions, those are big ones.
Julia Kayyem, reporting through all of this, thank you so much.
KAYYEM: Thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: In Cleveland, the man accused of kidnapping and raping three women apparently also had some pets, three dogs. And now, the FBI is asking Cleveland officials to hang to those dogs so that women could claim those pets if they want them. Two terrier poodle mixes were found inside Ariel Castro's house. Reportedly, a Chihuahua was found inside his car on the night he was arrested. The dogs have been since cleaned up and neutered.
Jerry Shaddlesworth, he lost his home, and just about everything he owns during this week's deadly tornadoes in Texas. But thanks to a bit of luck, he was reunited with his 6-year-old pit bull, Junior. That's his baby. The full story is ahead.
And the press says Sasha Fierce is being a diva over some photographs. You've probably seen them on Twitter or on Facebook. So, Beyonce and the team banned those photographers. And we want to know what you think. We'll ask our guests what they think. That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: A live look at the sun rising over Granbury, Texas. A beautiful shot. But there is a lot of destruction thereafter those 16 tornados touched down in north Texas on Wednesday night. People are waking up. This is the third sunrise, and they are trying to sift through what's left. Our best to the people in north Texas. And, unfortunately, there is a chance of some rough weather up in the Plain States this weekend. We'll talk about that in a moment.
Sixteen minutes, coming up on -- 16 minutes to the top of the hour, and we're in the E-block. That means we are talking entertainment.
And a lot of people angry with Mrs. Shawn Carter, Sasha Fierce as she's known, Beyonce. So here's the controversy. She and her team are tired of some media organizations publishing what they deem unflattering photographs from her performances. That's their opinion. Specifically, the pictures we are showing you right now is an example of what they do not like.
So, then singer decided to banned photo journalists for her world tour, the Mrs. Shawn Carter show world tour, and they'll release photos from her own private photographer. How fair is this ban?
So, we're going to ask attorney Mickey Osterreich of the National Press Photographers Association. He's joining us from New York via Skype. Marketing professional Joey Reiman is here with me in Atlanta.
I want to start with Mickey. You represent this court protesting Beyonce's photo ban. Why is the access so important to you guys?
MICKEY OSTERREICH, ATTORNEY, NATIONAL PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSN.: Well, we believe that the press should have independent access. Now, Beyonce is perfectly within her rights to set up whatever kind of thing she would like to do. And many other celebrities have done the same thing and said, look, we don't want the press there. This is just for our fans.
But it appears to us that she wants it both ways. She wants the coverage, she wants to put out her images, and she wants the press to use those. And that's the thing that we have the problem with.
And unfortunately as you just saw you putting up the pictures she objects to, it's having the reverse affect. Organizations have decided those are the pictures they're going to run with her concert review.
And what we would suggest is that if she wants press coverage, that she allows the press to cover her events.
BLACKWELL: Joey, Mickey says that this is going to create backlash and has created backlash. Does this hurt the Beyonce brand?
JOEY REIMAN, MARKETING PROFESSIONAL: No, the Beyonce brand is beyond reproach. I mean, you are talking about a superstar, you're talking about a super mom and now, we're talking about someone who is super real.
Fans don't like bans.
BLACKWELL: Yes. REIMAN: But the fact is, she stands for something much bigger. She's not even a brand, she is a stand. She stands for women's empowerment. She has been there and helping women sing their story and dance their story. I think this is a key moment for her, and actually sparks a bigger conversation about the media and a camera-ready world.
BLACKWELL: Well, let me ask you about this, because if she stands for something so great, and women's empowerment and women around the world, doesn't this just seem petty?
REIMAN: Absolutely petty. Actually, I asked the question, is this the publicist speaking or is it Beyonce?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
REIMAN: Because publicists love to handle their superstars.
I think there might be a good to look at the strategy, the public relations strategy and say, you know what? Those pictures are pretty good. I mean, everyone in my office wants to be a Beyonce.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
REIMAN: My assistant wants her hair. The strategist wants her legs. Some men want her muscles. I mean, everybody wants to be Beyonce.
BLACKWELL: Let's put up that picture. There is one picture where she is really muscular. And I was saying this morning that Tina Turner had that body during the '70s and never said please don't take a picture of my well-toned body onstage.
Mickey, let me ask you think, is she creating enemies where she otherwise would not have enemies? And is this really just bad advice from the publicist?
OSTERREICH: I don't know that she is creating enemies. She is not creating enemies with us, but we just are making that suggestion.
We are looking at the bigger picture. There are so many politicians and celebrities and everybody wants to control their message. And what we're seeing is, yes, you can do that, but you can't have it both ways.
You know, if we are going to end up with people just handing out press releases, handing out photographs in short order, we are going to see a press that's not very viable, and as you all can understand.
BLACKWELL: Absolutely. You never want to tell the press release story, that's the story behind it. Let me ask you this also, Mickey, you wrote a letter on behalf of the clients to the Mrs. Shawn Carter world tour, Mrs. Shawn Carter Show World Tour, what was the response, if any?
OSTERREICH: Well, two things. I wrote a letter on behalf of our members and 19 other organizations, including "The Los Angeles Times" and many others that signed on to it. So, I mean, we all feel strongly about it.
The only reaction that I have gotten so far is that I almost heard immediately after releasing the letter that the address that I had on the letter was an incorrect one and they asked me to correct it, which we did. And since then I followed up with an e-mail but heard nothing back.
BLACKWELL: No real response. Last word to you.
OSTERREICH: No.
REIMAN: Look, thanks to Beyonce -- girls rules the world. But Beyonce rules the girls.
BLACKWELL: All right. Well-said.
Mickey Osterreich in New York for us, Joey Reiman here with me -- thank you very much.
Poppy?
HARLOW: Federal investigators are expected to arrive in Connecticut any moment. That's the site of a devastating train collision that happened late yesterday. Up next, I'm going to talk to the chairman of the NTSB about the investigation and all the details on what happened.
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HARLOW: Now back to the story we have been watching all morning out of Connecticut, the derailment and crash of two commuter trains. As many as 70 people were sent to the hospital right now, but two dozen remain hospitalized with three in critical condition. Federal investigators are expected to arrive later this morning.
Joining us on the phone right now is Deborah Hersman. She is the chairman of the NTSB.
Thank you for joining us this morning. No doubt, you and your team are very busy.
First off, what can tell us? What do you know at this hour?
DEBORAH HERSMAN, NTSB CHAIRMAN (via telephone): Well, right now we've got one investigator who arrived on the scene last night, he's been working very closely with Metro North and with the federal railroad administration to document the scene, to assess the damages and we have a full go team en route, they've already departed from D.C., and they should be arriving this morning.
HARLOW: "The New York Times" is saying police were investigating as, quote, "as though it were a crime scene." That caught my attention, what does it mean?
HERSMAN: Well, at this point, we don't have any indication this is anything other than an accident, And so, we will certainly be working very closely with the officials if we identify anything that we think is a concern that raises any criminal concerns, of course, we'd turn that over to law enforcement.
But in many case, what we need is really good help from law enforcement while we're on scene to help us do the documentation and secure the site and make sure nobody tampers with any of the evidence so we very much appreciate law enforcement, state and federal, for all their help.
HARLOW: Tell me what you're looking for. What are the main things you look for, once you and your team are on scene, what are the main things you look for in an accident or in a situation like this?
HERSMAN: Well, I think first we're thankful that this accident wasn't worse. You have hundreds of passengers on each of these trains, these are high speed tracks and at the end of the day, we didn't have any fatalities. And so, we're grateful for that.
Once we get on scene, we're going to be looking at everything. We're going to be looking at operations. We're going to be looking at track and maintenance. We look at survival factors. So, it's very important for us to determine early the point of derailment, and that will help us walk the investigations back, to gather the facts and collect the evidence.
HARLOW: Do you have any update on the patients. We know about 70 people injured, about two dozen still in the hospital, three in critical condition. Do you have any updates on the types of injuries that have been sustained?
HERSMAN: I do not and, of course, our thoughts are with those folks who are hospitalized and hoping for a speedy recovery for them.
HARLOW: Of course.
You know, local authorities have said this investigation could take weeks. Is that the way you see it or is it just too early to tell?
HERSMAN: You know our investigations are very thorough, but I will tell you starting this morning and throughout the next couple of days, we would be providing factual information to the public and for any regular media briefings. So as we identify information it would be made available. If we identify any safety issues that need to be addressed immediately on this railroad or other railroads, we will get that information out ASAP.
HARLOW: You know, this is a main commuter line in and out of New York City and in that tri-state area. Is there any pressure to get this investigation done more quickly or is this just how long it takes and it will be done when it's done, and the lines will open back up when we're ready?
HERSMAN: No, we understand that this is a main artery in eastern corridor here. This is high traffic area, it's very important to the region and we want to get this line opened back up as expeditiously as possible.
We began the fact gathering last night, the documentation, the photographs. And we will continue that this morning, get it turned back over to Metro North as soon as possible so they can repair the track, get it inspected and get it back in service.
This is a bottleneck for the East Coast right now, we understand that, and we're trying to move as quickly as possible.
HARLOW: And, obviously, you and your team I assume have been able to talk to some of the people working on the train, some of the authorities there. But what about passengers and what they saw and their experience. Have you been talking to them as well?
HERSMAN: Well, we do have a survival factor team, and certainly, they'll be talking to passengers, to understand where they were sitting, where the damages to the train occurred, how we could understand what happens so that we can prevent injuries in the future. And so, if there are things we can identify from passengers and witness interviews and certainly it will be incredibly important to talk to the crew, the engineers and conductors operating these trains.
HARLOW: Right. Absolutely. Well, our hearts and thoughts are with the families of all of the victims and the victims this morning.
NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman, thank you so much.
HERSMAN: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: We'll, of course, stay on top of that. Thanks for starting your morning with us.
BLACKWELL: We've got much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING which starts after a quick break.
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