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NEW DAY

Violent Protests in Egypt; Zimmerman Defense to Present Its Case; Where is the Safest Seat on a Plane?; Distracted Walking Causing Rising Injuries; "The Hoff" is a Web Hit

Aired July 8, 2013 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is NEW DAY on this Monday, July 8th. I'm Chris Cuomo.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Kate Bolduan. We're joined by news anchor Michaela Pereira, who has the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: I do, I do. All right, let's take a look. Good morning, everyone.

Number one, investigators are looking into the crash of Flight 214 at San Francisco Airport and want to interview the pilots. It was apparent the first time the pilot -- apparently the first time the pilot had landed a 777 at that airport.

Number two, in Cairo, at least 40 people killed, 300 wounded, when the Egyptian military opened fire during morning prayers. That violence came just hours after Egypt's interim president nominated a vice president and a prime minister.

The defense will begin presenting its case this morning in the court- martial of Bradley Manning. The Army private is accused of providing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks.

American-European officials are in Washington to work on a free trade agreement but revelations the U.S. spied on its European allies has cast a shadow over those talks.

And at number five, Governor Rick Perry is expected to reveal today if he'll seek a fourth term as Texas governor. If not, it could mean he plans to run for president in 2016.

We're always updating our five things to know. So go to CNNnewday.com for the very latest.

CUOMO: You know what we need on this type of tough morning. We need a dose of "The Good Stuff," everybody, and here it is. In today's edition, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. It's why I'm quiet so often on the show.

You're looking at one of the most unique answers to school bullying we've seen so far. Truly good stuff. Kids have a way of saying what things really mean, especially to each other. What if there's an easy way to say something nice instead of just the mean stuff. Well, a high schooler in Nevada invented just that, a Facebook page for the school body to share nice things about each other. Anonymously.

The page was a huge hit, catching dozens and dozens of compliments, everything from "He's a good friend" to "She's a beautiful person." The page was started by a senior, Wilson To. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILSON TO, FIGHTING BULLYING WITH ONLINE KINDNESS: I wanted to make a page like that just so people could communicate that extra nice thing to one another, give compliments to thank people for just being who they are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: We always think of put downs, but we try to teach our kids put ups. And that's what Wilson, that's the lesson he takes to heart. The page was done anonymously for more than a year but he was forced to come forward by his graduation. You see, he didn't want the page to end just because he was leaving so he handed it off so the love could continue.

BOLDUAN: How beautiful. Especially because all we ever heard is online anonymously is always mean stuff and it's always brutal. People can be so mean online.

CUOMO: And it's culture. You know, we talk to you about bullying all the time, we spend too much time dwelling in the facts of the horrible parts and not enough to fix it. One of the big problems we have.

The good stuff today is a lesson that we can change culture, make it good as easily as we can make it bad. Thank you, Wilson. And thanks to all of you for sending in good stuff. Let us know, how is your community helping one another? Where is the good story so that we can tell it to you. Go to Twitter, Facebook, #newday. What'is our website? CNNnewday.

BOLDUAN: NewdayCNN.com.

CUOMO: Oh, so close.

BOLDUAN: I love you, Cuomo, despite the fact you can never get it right.

All right, let's get back to our big story. Terrifying images of the crash are flooding in this morning, that crash at San Francisco airport overnight. One thing to keep in mind, the vast majority of passengers survived, which is one of the most amazing things about this when you see these pictures. And if you're ever in a similar situation, there are steps that you can take to improve your chance of survival.

CNN's Pamela Brown is joining us now with more on that. Unfortunately, you do have to talk about this. No one wants to think about it, but there it is.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Especially nervous fliers like myself. You know, many of us have been there. We've booking a flight and then we look at a seating chart to pick out where we want to sit on the plane. But what you choose could be the difference of whether or not you survive a plane crash.

As we learned in Saturday's crash in San Francisco, what many of us believe to be the safest seat in the house may not always be. But research does show your odds are higher depending on where you sit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): After seeing this shocking video of Asiana Flight 214 crash landing, it's remarkable how many passengers exited the aircraft unharmed.

But did the location of passenger seats onboard the airplane leave some safer than others? In an analysis done on 20 crashes between 1971 and 2007, data showed those sitting closest to the cockpit are the least safe with a survival rate of 49 percent. 56 percent in the middle section of the plane survived, and the rear cabin had a 69 percent survival rate.

In this case, the plane landed short of the runway, ripping off the tail. Authorities say te two Chinese teens killed in the crash were sitting in the back half of the plane.

KEVIN HIATT, CEO, FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION: I would love to say that you can sit in the tail of the aircraft and you might be safer, but we've seen now in this particular event the tail struck on the arrival. We've seen the first class section of aircraft get hit. We've seen fire erupt in the middle part of the cabin. Really, there's no specific safest place to sit in the aircraft.

BROWN: Your best bet, according to aviation experts, sit as close to the exit row as possible. Last year, the Discovery Channel crashed a jetliner in a remote area on purpose, rigging it with cameras so that scientists can learn how to improve flight safety even further.

One big improvement over the last decade, stronger seats.

HIATT: The seats have gone from a 9G to 16G rating, which means 16 times the strength of gravity. When the seats don't move around the inside the aircraft when it comes upon an impact, the survivability is much greater.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And worth mentioning, it appears the passengers on the Asiana flight did not get a warning to brace for impact upon the crash landing. Now, typically that helps reduce head and lower back injuries.

Now, while the latest incident may make some of us more fearful of flying, it should serve as a lesson that even a horrible plane crash can be survivable. In fact, according to NTSB statistics, the survival rate for serious crashes is more than 50 percent. The overall survival rate for plane crashes, 96 percent. Flight experts say it's never been safer to fly.

BOLDUAN: And one thing that you pointed out in the piece and Mary has pointed out to us is that it's the seats, they've improved how strong the seats are and you see that in the pictures from the NTSB. There are a lot of seats that are still up. They were able to handle that impact.

BROWN: They were secure, they were anchored. Before, before these upgrades and improvements, they would actually become unhinged and fly around. So, it is safer and also the planes are safer. The building, the engineering, there's flame proof materials in the cabin. All these things help.

CUOMO: We dwell on the crashes when they happen but, again, we said it earlier this morning. It bears repeating. One in 45 million chance of getting into a plane crash. Lightning -- 1 in 750,000. That's not going to happen either, but it just goes to show how safe air travel is.

BOLDUAN: That's true. Good to know.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, we all know distracted driving is dangerous. There are many laws telling definitely us that. But what about walking and texting? Why emergency rooms are filling up now with people who can't put their cell phones down even when they're walking down the street.

CUOMO: Social Darwinism.

And the original "Bay Watch" hunk, David Hasselhoff, he's done it again. An awesome commercial really captures the essence of the Hoff as we Hoff aficionados say. And we're going to talk to the man himself.

BOLDUAN: I sense some envy there.

CUOMO: I would love to be the Hoff. Look at his hair.

PEREIRA: It is good hair.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Something might slow you down; it's called falling in a fountain. Welcome back to NEW DAY, everybody. You've heard of distracted driving and how dangerous it is, but what about distracted walking? Are you a victim of this? A new study shows just how serious actually a problem it actually is and how it could become a lot worse.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live in Atlanta, not texting while reporting. That's also very dangerous, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, I try not to do that ever. But, Kate, so many people walk and text. But after you see this, you may never do it again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): You're walking, you're walking and, bam, you're hurting. That's the danger of talking or texting on your cell phone while walking.

DR. RAHUL SHARMA, NYU MEDICAL CTR. EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: It's an epidemic.

COHEN: Watch as this lady is so focused on her phone she stumbles into a fountain. This woman falls 20 feet into a sinkhole. This man is so distracted on his cell, he doesn't see a bear coming at him. This woman fell off this pier. The Coast Guard had to rescue her.

BONNIE MILLER, FELL OFF PIER WHILE TEXTING: I feel really embarrassed and I'm just so grateful to be alive.

COHEN: Now, a new study of emergency rooms says distracted walking injuries increased nearly 600 percent from 2005 to 2010. People dislocated shoulders, broke arms and legs, got concussions and worse.

A patient at this New York City hospital ended up in a coma.

SHARMA: There was a young lady who was texting while she was crossing the street and got hit by a car.

COHEN: In just minutes, our cameras caught dozens of distracted walkers. This guy was so absorbed by his text, we followed him for a half a block before he noticed us.

(on-camera): We're doing a story about distracted walking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I guess I'm doing that right now.

COHEN: Are you guilty as charged?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COHEN (voice-over): The solution, of course, is stand still while you text, preferably off to the side. Easier said than done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to stop and text and walk again. You'll never get anywhere that way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (on-camera): Now, it's not just texting. People are using all sorts of apps. I stopped one woman and I said, "Are you texting while walking?" And she said, "Oh no, I wasn't texting. I was using Instagram." As if that made it all better.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. There are levels of distraction. Chris, of course, thinks that he is a more evolved human being.

CUOMO: I'm taking the other side on this one. BOLDUAN: What is it?

CUOMO: You know texting and driving, I get it. We got to be hard on it.

BOLDUAN: On texting and driving, yes.

CUOMO: Walking and texting, I'm going, no, no.

BOLDUAN: Are you going Switzerland on this. Are you going --

CUOMO: I'm saying the PC police took place.

BOLDUAN: Oh the PC police.

CUOMO: I'm going to text and I'm going to walk.

COHEN: All right, I hope you don't trip, Chris.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

COHEN: I'll be there to catch you.

CUOMO: My --

BOLDUAN: I'll be following him with a camera and I'll bring it to you.

COHEN: Right.

BOLDUAN: It's very important to know, though, Elizabeth. Thank you so much 600 percent increase that they saw.

CUOMO: That's because they started measuring it.

BOLDUAN: Oh I actually think it's significant though. Thank you for diminishing what I had to say.

CUOMO: Listen I don't want anybody get hurt but if you can't text and walk you've got to consider some larger questions. Like one, you'll never be David Hasselhoff. Ok there you go.

Coming up on NEW DAY, David Hasselhoff and all of his hoffiness, we're going to talk to the man, the myth, the legend, the walking texter. He can text and do anything, you know why? He's the Hoff -- when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: The Hoff will be proud of me. I'm texting and walking.

BOLDUAN: Yes texting and walking, texting and walking.

CUOMO: And texting.

BOLDUAN: Texting and walking. Oh look at me running into you because we're texting and walking exactly.

CUOMO: Watch it there's a platform.

BOLDUAN: He almost got it.

CUOMO: Who put that thing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN.

CUOMO: The "Award of the Day", you know what that means John Berman is here in all his glory and splendor.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, EARLY START: Do you know who wins today? Do you know who wins today?

BOLDUAN: Who wins?

BERMAN: We all do. Humanity wins why because David Hasselhoff is thirsty for your love.

PEREIRA: Oh, oh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID HASSELHOFF, ACTOR: I'm so thirsty for your love I can't hide it. I'm so crazy for your teasing, I just can't deny it --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Let's just soak in for a minute. This is a new ad for Cumberland Farms Ice House Farm Blend. This is coffee -- it has spawned huge excitement online, and just a touch of outrage.

One person tweeted, "My eyes can't un-see that." Another person wrote, "Was that commercial with David Hasselhoff riding a dolphin singing about ice coffee necessary?"

Necessary? So, was it necessary to have a talking Trans Am driven by a guy who wore a lot of leather?

CUOMO: Yes.

HERMAN: Was it necessary to see this man run half naked down a beach.

BOLDUAN: Totally yes.

HERMAN: Slowly a lot? Is it necessary to have David Hasselhoff hand gliding while wearing flowing, yet revealing clothing? I mean, is it necessary? No. But is it awesome? Absolutely. You know when something like this comes down the pike, maybe we should spend less time asking why and more time saying thank you.

So, today's award to Mr. David Hasselhoff is the "When you wish upon a star", award. PEREIRA: Nice.

CUOMO: Well done.

BERMAN: Because sometimes, folks, your dreams do come true.

BOLDUAN: Berman this is one of his the other one being carried by Fabio which someday we will actually have.

CUOMO: Thelma and Greg. So come on give him a surprise.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE) are you ready for the surprise?

BERMAN: Let's go.

BOLDUAN: We have the man, the myth, the legend on the phone with us right now. The Hoff himself joining us live.

PEREIRA: No.

BOLDUAN: Mr. Hasselhoff, thank you for waking up with us.

HASSELHOFF (via telephone): Well yes good morning with a show like that you know I really just don't have to go on with life.

BERMAN: But thank goodness you are, that's all I can say.

HASSELHOFF: Yes. I will be flying out of the hang glider this morning through London.

BOLDUAN: You must tell us about the concept for this video. It's a whole lot of fun and you clearly are having a lot of fun with it. Did you ever think that it would take off like this though?

HASSELHOFF: No. No. No. We just had a lot of fun making the video. You know the Cumberland Farms guys came to me last year and we did a commercial on the beach and they had a poster of me saying "Thirsty" and they had 545 posters were stolen.

In fact, it even made Anderson Cooper -- I was watching the news going -- Anderson Cooper says, "Well, the Hoff is still popular." I'm going, "What's he talking about?"

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: That's how you know when you've made it.

HASSELHOFF: And that became such a successful campaign that came back and said, "Do you want to do a cheesy video?" I said "Cheesy video -- I'm in."

CUOMO: There's nothing -- there's nothing cheesy about it.

HASSELHOFF: And there we go, and so we had a lot of fun making it and it's a nice company and it was a gag, it was really funny. And I'm glad to see people are responding to it in a fun way. Because you're supposed to have fun in life, hello.

PEREIRA: Hello.

CUOMO: So, Mr. Hasselhoff, a quick tip for how people can up their own Hoffiness. How can they be more like you?

PEREIRA: Yes.

HASSELHOFF: How can they be more -- I don't know if you want to be like me. I just want to go and you get to smile, and wake up and have a cup of coffee and enjoy the day, you know. I think, after reality television has taken over the world, it's good to see someone out there having a little fun on himself and, you know and making life worthwhile, man. You know, it's like, it's what you make, really. And that's, that gag was hysterical. I mean, it was like -- it was really a throwback to the '90s.

PEREIRA: Yes.

HASSELHOFF: I think we're all going back to the '80s and '90s anyway.

BOLDUAN: Well that is awesome.

BERMAN: Jackpot.

BOLDUAN: Well also, next time you're going to have to teach us how you can hang glide with one hand with a coffee on one hand. That's kind of awesome. David Hasselhoff thank you so much for waking up with us this morning. It's great to see you congratulations.

HASSELHOFF: All right good morning America, have a great day guys.

BOLDUAN: We'll be back with NEW DAY right after this.

BERMAN: The Hoff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Throughout the day, CNN will be covering two -- two huge stories that we have been following all morning. One, of course, being that crash -- that Asiana Airlines crash. You are seeing CNN exclusive video right now. Only CNN has this as the crash is happening, investigation clearly continues. We are following this very closely. The big question not only how this happened, but why and that may take some time to figure out.

PEREIRA: It's so hard to watch that video.

BOLDUAN: It is.

CUOMO: It is.

PEREIRA: It's so hard.

CUOMO: And that's the important reason that we have it, so that the investigators can use it and we'll get the message out there and figure out how to do things going better.

Also the George Zimmerman trial will be starting very shortly just in a few minutes. We'll have complete coverage here. This could be the critical week. George Zimmerman's defense team has decided to make their own case. They didn't have to. The burden is on the prosecutor. They believe they can show that George Zimmerman was defending himself when Trayvon Martin was killed. It's very difficult but they believe we can do it, that's why we're watching it.

BOLDUAN: And we are watching it and that is it for NEW DAY today. CNN "NEWSROOM" with the favorite man in my life other than Chris --

CUOMO: Oh, that hurt.

BOLDUAN: -- Wolf Blitzer, beginning right now.

CUOMO: What about your husband?

BOLDUAN: Oh yes. And my husband.

PEREIRA: How about Dad?

BOLDUAN: I just really stepped in it. I love you Wolf. Take it away.

WOLF BLITZERS, CNN ANCHOR: I love you, too. I love all you guys. You're doing an amazing, amazing job. Chris, what is it like working with Kate? I'll give you some stories from my experience.

CUOMO: Please, please -- when my hearing comes back, Wolf, I look forward to the stories.

BLITZER: Michaela is doing an amazing job -- all of you. This is what, week four for the new show?

BOLDUAN: That's right. Week four, we're just starting. I watch you on my treadmill every single morning.

CUOMO: Very funny. With the sound off but it's still OK -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I'm running and I'm listening to you guys getting the news, which is what we're supposed to be doing. You're doing a terrific job, thanks very much.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: "NEWROOM" starts right now.