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CNN NEWSROOM

Bombing at U.S. Embassy in Turkey; NFL Commissioner Talks Player Safety; Clinton's Last Day; Protesters Attack Egypt's Presidential Palace; New Beatles Photos Uncovered

Aired February 1, 2013 - 12:30   ET

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


SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL, where we take you around the world in 60 minutes. Here's what is going on now.

In Germany, Vice President Biden begins an overseas trip focusing on trade, terrorism and Syria.

First stop, Berlin, and a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They talked about the U.S. embassy attack in Turkey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I also really appreciate your expression of sympathy for the -- what has been -- I don't have much detail -- but was characterized (INAUDIBLE) as a terrorist attack on our embassy in Ankara. And to the best of our knowledge, there have been some injured. We don't have the details yet. But it reinforces what has been the case since I have been in public life, particularly the last 15 years, the very close counter- terrorism cooperation that exists between Germany and the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: During his visit to Germany, the vice president holds talks on Syria and the terrorist threat in North Africa. Now, from Germany, it is on to France and then the U.K.

In Mexico, crews are searching for people that might be trapped after an explosion at a state oil company. The blast at Pemex's offices killed at least 32 people, injured more than 100. No word on the cause yet. The attorney general's office is still investigating.

Ten years ago, we lost the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. These are the seven men and women who took off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a launch that investigators say damaged the shuttle's left wing.

Sixteen days later, February 1st, Columbia broke up when it re-entered the atmosphere at the end of the mission. Pieces scattered over Texas and Louisiana and seven crew members died.

Today, NASA paid tribute to the 17 men and women killed in all three of the space agency's fatal accidents. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The intensity of a good football game, when can it be too much?

DR. ARSHED QUYYUMI, CARDIOLOGIST, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Not just physical stress, but emotional stress can lead to cardiovascular disease.

COHEN: Emotional stress from disasters like earthquakes or floods can trigger heart attacks, even death, but the Super Bowl?

Los Angeles researchers studied football fans there in the 1980s. They found a Super Bowl loss by the L.A. Rams was associated with more cardiac deaths than the win by the L.A. Raiders four years later and the difference was more dramatic among women than men.

They also found intensity of the game mattered. The Rams' 1980 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was a nail-biter.

Super Bowl party rituals like overeating, drinking and smoking may be part of the problem.

QUYYUMI: All of these things lead to disturbances in your blood pressure, heart rate and how the blood vessels are working.

COHEN: There's no one-size-fits-all guide for prevention, but Quyyumi has some advice with people with heart disease.

QUYYUMI: You need to pay particular attention to not getting carried away.

COHEN: This precaution applies to all smokers and anyone with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, is delivering his Super Bowl week conference. Our Mark McKay, he's in New Orleans with a little bit of a preview there.

What do we expect, the kinds of questions he's going to get. I imagine a lot is going to be about player safety?

MARK MCKAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL WORLD SPORT: Player safety, Suzanne, certainly. You know he is on New Orleans' soil. He is in the city and, I tell you what, it should be very spicy, if you want to pardon the New Orleans-related pun.

This session could be -- considering how many Saints reporters or reporters that cover the Saints are able to ask questions of the commissioner.

Many people not necessarily are fans of Commissioner Roger Goodell here in New Orleans, dating back to the "bounty-gate" scandal, of course, and the punishment that resulted from that.

Saints head coach Sean Payton, he was suspended for the entire season, but Payton, along with New Orleans mayor, Mitch Landrieu, have urged Saints fans to give Commissioner Roger Goodell a warm welcome while he's here during Super Bowl weekend.

You know, it has been a tough year for the commissioner, a tough of couple years if you look back to what began with the players' lockout and the subsequent agreement to a new collective bargaining agreement.

Then that was followed by a referee lockout and then, of course, the debacle that we saw last year, involving the replacement referees.

Those topics will come up. You mentioned player safety, 4,000, some 4,000 lawsuits that are out there among former players concerning player safety, the concussion issue, so there's a lot on the commissioner's plate.

But he must be doing something right, Suzanne. The NFL owners gave the commissioner, last year, a 10-year contract extension, and this is what he is paid to do, to go out there in front of the media and talk to the good and the bad when it comes to the National Football League.

MALVEAUX: All right, Mark, let's listen in and see some of those questions that he's taking.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: We want to pioneer new approaches to player health and safety that emphasize prevention as well as treatment, and this will include the commitment to supporting our retired players. Those are some of the priorities.

From the quality of our game, to growing fan interest and engagement, to our commitment to evolve and innovate, we have many reasons to be optimistic about the future. I could not be more optimistic or ready to go.

It's also terrific for us to be back here in New Orleans, our tenth Super Bowl here, the first since Katrina. And it's clear this city is back bigger and better than ever.

Our very heartfelt thanks to the Mayor Mitch Landrieu, James Carville and Mary Matalin, the host committee, the 7,000 local volunteers for being truly, truly great hosts this week.

Also, to Tom and Gayle Benson, and Rita LeBlanc for all you have done for this community.

Everybody here has done an outstanding job. You should be very proud and we are very grateful.

Now, we will get to your questions. I think we're going to start with Barry Wilner of the AP.

BARRY WILNER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: The president recently said he would think twice about having his son play football if he had a son. He also said the fans need to examine their conscience about football.

Is there a deeper-rooted problem with the game and its safety than the NFL might have realized? And how can the NFL deal effectively with such problems?

GOODELL: Well, the issue of player health and safety has always been a priority in the NFL. We will continue to make it a priority, and you have our commitment, the players have our commitment, that we will do that.

I started playing the game when I was in fourth grade, tackle football in Washington, D.C., and I love the game of football. And I started as a fan, but I wouldn't give back one day of playing tackle football.

The benefits of playing football, teaching you the values, teaching you character, teaching you how to get up when you are knocked down, how to work with teamwork, they're extraordinary lessons in life that I use to this day.

(END LIVE FEED)

MALVEAUX: The NFL commissioner addressing some of those questions about safety, the concerns of the sport and the future of where it goes. Even the president weighing in on that, as well.

We are two days away from the big game. CNN is live in New Orleans with our take on the biggest event in the country, what it means to New Orleans and how it became such a cultural phenom and much, much more.

Join us for the "Kickoff in New Orleans -- A CNN Bleacher Report Special." That is tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 Eastern.

And she traveled just shy of a million miles as Secretary of State, so what does the rest of the world think of the job that Hillary Clinton has been doing for the last four years? We're going to take you around the world to find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It's a rap for Hillary Clinton. She is making her farewell remarks at the State Department. That's about two hours from now.

Jill Dougherty, she's joining us from the State Department. And, Jill, so we're talking about former first lady, senator, presidential candidate, Secretary of State. Now she's going to become a private citizen. You and I have had a real opportunity to get to know her a little bit better than most folks, behind the scenes. Jill, I remember -- I just -- 1997, November, was the first time I met you and we went on one of these trips with the first lady, a very small group of journalists here, out to Russia, Uzbekistan. I got a chance to see some really interesting sites. You know, the tours, all that kind of this. But really a close-up look at Hillary Clinton.

And one of the things that stood out in my mind, not the temples and all of that, but this moment in Kazakhstan where she got one of these, Jill. And I know we all got one of these. She was presented with a whip, because they have this nomadic culture and usually it's just the men who carry these whips with them to --

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Right.

MALVEAUX: But she was considered so powerful as a first lady that she was actually presented with one of them. And she got -- she kind of got a little bit of a kick out of that as well. There were a lot of jokes, as you can imagine, that followed that.

DOUGHERTY: Right. You know those trips were really fabulous because, as you said, we used to call them, remember, "the Hillary trips." And they were kind of under the radar. There was some notice. You know, some, let's say, coverage, but not quite as much. So you could really get to know her. It was a small group. And there were some very interesting times. And then, of course, I've been following her for the past four years here at the State Department.

MALVEAUX: And, Jill, you actually said something that was pretty interesting earlier today. You wrote a whole article about it. Nobody ever saw her sleep. You never knew if she ever got any sleep at all during those trips because, I mean, she traveled the world and always, always on the go. And really somebody who, behind the facade, if you will, the mask, when it came off and there was down time and she wasn't in front of those cameras, very warm, very friendly, almost maternal in a way.

DOUGHERTY: She is. In fact, she has a very good sense of humor. And there's this kind of -- you're sitting on the plane, and if she was not too far away up in the front, you would hear this guffaw. I mean it was really like chortling comng. And that was usually Secretary Clinton laughing about something or another. But it's surprising because, you know, she has that image sometimes of being kind of serious and scholarly. But, actually, behind the scenes, as you and I know, she's a lot of fun.

MALVEAUX: Yes. I will never forget, we were exhausted from that trip to Russia and I hadn't celebrated my 30th birthday. I fell asleep. Told somebody I never had a chance to celebrate. Somebody tapped me on the shoulder, woke me up. It was the first lady with the birthday cake, you might remember. She led in a round of happy birthday, sang to all of us. I don't know where she even got the cake, but it was pretty resourceful I think. Yes, she was always like that.

DOUGHERTY: Yes. And, you know, I was thinking about some of the things that I've seen as she has been Secretary of State and a lot of people under in awe. You know, after all, Hillary Clinton really is historic.

But I've seen one case where Hillary Clinton was actually awed by another person, and that would have to be Burma with Aung San Suu Kyi, you know, the human rights supporter, who had been in the house that we visited for so many years under house arrest. And Hillary Clinton drove up and they embraced so warmly.

It was really -- it was an incredible time. A very, very moving thing. And Clinton herself just looked as if she had really seen, you know, a star, a historic person. And Hillary Clinton, as you know, is kind of a rock star anyway. It was an amazing moment.

MALVEAUX: All right, well, Jill, you've been covering her since 1993. Really an amazing job that you've done there at the State Department as well. So, thank you very much. Good to reminisce a little bit, see what her next moves are. Obviously we might find out if 2016 is in her future, in her sights. Would not be surprised if that was the case.

And, of course, you can watch Hillary Clinton's final farewell to the folks she led at the State Department over the past four years. We're going to bring that speech to you live. That is happening at 2:30 Eastern here on CNN.

And, tonight, "OUTFRONT" is reviewing Hillary Clinton's successes, the failures as Secretary of State. Also assessing her chances of becoming the first female president. That is 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. You're not going to want to miss that.

We are also following a very important breaking news story. This is out of Cairo. These are the streets of Cairo. We have reports from our own Ben Wedeman and others that there are several thousand people now who are gathering outside the presidential palace in Cairo as they protest the government and the government fights back. We're going to have a live report up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Breaking news now we are following out of Egypt. Taking a look at live pictures. Several thousand people now have gathered outside the presidential palace. This is in Cairo. Want to go live to our own Ben Wedeman who is on the ground, who has been doing reporting out of there.

And, Ben, first of all, set the scene for us. What are you seeing on the streets?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We just got back, Suzanne, from the presidential palace, where we saw young men throwing Molotov cocktails over the walls of the palace, firing fireworks, throwing rocks. There was a large fire at the main gate of the palace. And, really, you need to put this in context. It's as if people, thousands of people have gathered outside the White House and are essentially trying to get in.

This -- now, the security forces did come in with tear gas, with large trucks, trying to clear them away, but it seems that that's attracting more and more people to this scene. Now, we were -- we spent a good deal of the afternoon in front of the palace, and it was by and large pretty quiet. There was a demonstration of several thousand people who were chanting against the regime, or rather the government of President Mohamed Morsi, but no -- they were on fairly good terms, if fact, with the riot police who were outside. But as the sun went down, the atmosphere completely changed. Molotov cocktails started being thrown over the walls.

In central Cairo, off of Tahrir Square, there's a large group of people who seem to be heading toward the Shura (ph) council. That's the upper house of the parliament or the senate. Clearly, the anger that we've seen growing against the Muslim Brotherhood led government of Mohamed Morsi is starting to simmer over. Now, President Morsi has put out a series of statement in all (ph) places, on Twitter, where he says that the security forces will act decisively to protect government institutions. He says that the government holds those political forces responsible who participated in this demonstration for the violence, and they call for those forces to withdrawal their members immediately from around the presidential palace and to call an immediate halt to the violence.

But its suddenly become very tense here in Cairo. In addition to that, of course, Suzanne, there have been demonstrations in Alexandria, some of the cities in the Delta, and along the Suez Canal. So a very turbulent evening in Egypt tonight.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Ben, we will get back to you as the evening develops there. I believe it is 7:54 p.m. there in Cairo. And please keep us posted about whether or not there are any injures, whether or not the streets quiet down and just how this turns out. Clearly a lot of people who are very angry with the government of President Morsi. And already we are seeing quite a bit of activity outside of the presidential palace. Thank you very much, Ben.

Going to take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right, talk about hitting a gold mine. We are talking about hundreds of rare photographs of the Beatles now discovered. Take a look at them. They're pretty cool. Informal pictures of the Fab Four meeting with their guru. Some behind the scenes photos of the Beatles shooting their filming "Help" in the Bahamas. And, of course, want to talk to the man who took the photos, who joins us from New York, Henry Grossman.

You took pictures of the Beatles since you were like 27 years old. Pretty awesome. And you became (ph) friends with these guys. Why did you hold on to these photos for so long?

HENRY GROSSMAN, BEATLES PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, I was a busy working photograph. And when I got the negatives back from "Life" magazine and the transparencies, I put them away after "Life" magazine had syndicated what they wanted, et cetera. And I put them away because I was going to the White House, shooting Broadway shows or shooting difficult personalities for "Time" magazine and "Life" magazine, et cetera.

MALVEAUX: Tell us about these pictures. They 're really, really special.

GROSSMAN: Well, what's special about them is I had wonderful access. I became friends with them. They were a marvelous group of guys. The strange thing to me was, I don't think I've ever met a group of four people as uniquely individual as they were and as unique as they were as a group. I loved it.

MALVEAUX: And what were they like? Tell me a little bit about what they were like when you were shooting them.

GROSSMAN: They were terrific. Always fun. I mean Ringo would walk up to me, say, Henry, look over there, and I'd look over there and he'd press the motorized button on my camera and shoot off a couple of frames. Having fun all the time. Paul was always making gestures and making fun and telling stories. Just incredible group of energy -- with energy and a lot of know-how.

MALVEAUX: Yes. And, Henry, I understand that Ringo's actually seen some of these photos. What does he think of them?

GROSSMAN: Ringo loved them. He saw them last night in L.A., as a matter of fact. And he loved them. He said he didn't realize that these pictures still -- would still exist. And what he'd admired most -- what he liked most was that they were candid and having such fun.

MALVEAUX: All right. Henry Grossman, thank you so much. What a great perspective there. Really appreciate it. Thanks again.

GROSSMAN: Thank you. Thank you very much.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you.

GROSSMAN: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: Five-year-old