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Movie Theater Shooter Hearing; Martin Luther King Jr.'s Children in Another Dispute; Coke In A K-Cup; Olympic Hotel Nightmare

Aired February 6, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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


MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: They surgically integrated the device into the existing nerves in the remains of his upper arms. The result -- not only can he grasp things, but he actually could feel them and get sensory feedback. Like he could tell how tightly he was holding the mug or how heavy it was. He would feel it. And he said it was the most extraordinary thing.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Fascinating.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: He get to keep it?

PEREIRA: I think they're working him to -- yes, I don't think it was there you go, bye.

CUOMO: I don't understand how they do it.

PEREIRA: I don't either.

BOLDUAN: That's why they are doing what they do and we are doing what we do.

CUOMO: Right, but I just think it's amazing. That's something I never thought would have been possible.

PEREIRA: Me neither.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: You might want to drop a "science!" on that one.

CUMO: Science! changing the way we live for the better. That was a good one.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Also this morning, we're learning more about the retired police captain charged with shooting and killing a man inside a Florida movie theater over a dispute about texting. Seventy-one-year-old Curtis Reeves broke down during an emotional bond hearing Wednesday. Martin Savidge is at the CNN center with more. Good morning, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. This was kind of a technical hearing to discuss possible evidence that could be introduced at a bond hearing. Normally that stuff is very dry. That was not the case yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Retired Tampa police captain Curtis Reeves shed tears in court Wednesday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has high blood pressure.

SAVIDGE: His family and friends came to the 71-year-old's defense in a bond reduction hearing that felt more like a murder trial with more than eight hours of emotional testimony.

Reeves pleaded not guilty to second degree murder and aggravated battery charges stemming from a shooting inside the central Florida movie theater January 13th. He's accused of shooting and killing Chad Oulson who had been texting with his two-year-old daughter's baby- sitter during the movie's previews.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said, 'I can't believe he shot me.' He took another step and a half and then he collapsed on my son.

SAVIDGE: Reeves said he acted in self defense after being hit in the face with an unknown object in the dark. But witnesses inside the Florida movie theater say the only thing thrown was popcorn. And then Reeves fired a shot killing Oulson and wounding his wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I checked his pupils to see if they would react to light and they did not.

SAVIDGE: Oulson's widow went in the front row, as Reeves sat in court in civilian clothes and no handcuffs. Reeves' daughter asked that her elderly father be released.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know he has arthritis in his hands. He kept all of his tools because he just knew that -- that his hands would get better and he'd be able to do it again. But it hasn't happened.

SAVIDGE: An off duty deputy, attending the movie with his son, said he heard Reeves talking to his wife about the shooting after the gunshot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She postured and she said that was no cause to shoot anyone. And then he leaned back around, stuck his finger out as to scold her and said, you shut your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) mouth and don't say another word.

SAVIDGE: The judge in the case granting a big win for the prosecution, allowing them to play infrared surveillance video of the shooting in an open court when the hearing continues Friday morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And that was the real question at this particular point, could that video be used because the defense in this case is asking for bond. Curtis Reeves currently doesn't have bond. They want to get him out on bail. The judge says he'll take up that issue tomorrow. Chris and Kate? BOLDUAN: Just an unbelievably sad story, especially to see the pain it has caused now both families, two families, and even beyond in that courtroom. Martin, thank you very much.

CUOMO: Sizes up as a case that's going to come down to sentencing.

BOLDUAN: I guess so.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, Martin Luther King's children are fighting over the civil rights leader's bible and his Nobel peace prize. We're going to take you inside the King family feud, ahead.

CUOMO: Plus we've been focusing on security when it comes to the Olympics in Sochi, but wait until you hear what's going on inside the hotels. Really is worth a lot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Let's go around the world now. Shock and outrage in Japan as a renowned deaf musician admits nearly two decades worth of music wasn't really his work. Vlad Duthiers has more from Tokyo.

VLAD DUTHIERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Across Japan, music shops like this one are yanking copies of every CD released by Mamoru Samuragoch, the deaf composer who has been dubbed Japan's Beethoven, is now admitting that he is a fraud and that for nearly 18 years he's been paying someone else to write the music that made him famous.

Now, this news is sending shockwaves across Japan; even Japanese Olympic figure skater Daisuke Takahashi has been caught up in the scandal. He's competing in the upcoming games in Sochi and is planning to skate to a piece called Sonatina for Violin, one also not written by Samuragoch. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. Thank you so much.

And celebrations in Poland where rare healthy white lion triplets were born in a private zoo there. Rosie Thompkins has more.

ROSIE THOMPKINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They say good things come in threes. That's certainly the case at Borysew Zoo in Poland where the arrival of three white lions has delighted the owners. The first offspring of two and a half-year-old Azira and three and a half-year- old Sahim, white lions often have defects and are rejected by the mother. The triplets are indeed rare.

Now, the cubs are clearly doing well under the care of their mother. If you'd like to follow their progress, though, you can go to the zoo's website where a special camera will soon be providing live feed from the lions' room. Back to you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Like the panda cam!

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: This is the part of the show where the lions are mistaken for ordinary kittens. They're so cute.

BOLDUAN: They are for like a month.

PEREIRA: Then they eat your face.

BOLDUAN: Then they eat your face.

CUOMO: It's one of the built-in defects we know they're going to have.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: All right, a story we want to tell you about this morning. New developments in a family feud. Family feuds are not uncommon, but with this family, it's worth talking about. Why? It surrounds the great Martin Luther King Jr. That's why.

His heirs are going to battle over his Nobel peace prize and a bible that was used at President Obama's second swearing in. King's sons are suing their sister for the items, but Bernice King says she's just trying to save them from being sold. CNN's Victor Blackwell is at historic Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta, victor?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Dr. King preached at this church, as you know, and his message was one of peace. However, in just a few hours, his daughter, Bernice King, will return to this church to throw the latest punch in a legal fight with her brothers to stop a sale that she says would be spiritually violent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Their father was an icon of a movement of nonviolence, but the king children are fighting each other, again. This time brothers Dexter and Martin Luther King III are suing their younger sister Bernice demanding she hand over Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1964 Nobel peace prize and Dr. King's traveling bible.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear --

BLACKWELL: The same bible used during President Obama's 2013 inauguration. The complaint, filed on behalf of the estate of Martin Luther King, Jr. Incorporated, alleges Bernice is hiding their father's bible and medal in an undisclosed location, and if something were to happen to them, they could be lost forever.

In a statement, Bernice fought back admitting she has them and refuses to hand them over to the estate, she says, because her brothers want to sell them. Bernice calls that plan spiritually violent, unconscionable, historically negligent, and outright morally reprehensible. She writes, "our father must be turning in his grave."

This is not the first time the King children have thrown legal punches at one another. In 2008, Martin III and Bernice teamed up to sue Dexter, alleging he was diverting funds from the King Center to another account for personal use. The siblings settled before Dexter's day in court. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love each other. We'll always love each other and we're going to move forward and do what's best for the legacy overall.

BLACKWELL: In 2006 it was Martin III and Bernice threatening legal action when Dexter and late sister Yolanda King reportedly wanted to sell the King Center to the National Park Service, a change in leadership at the King Center ended that dispute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bernice and I understand to differ with those who would sell our father's legacy and barter our mother's vision, whether it is for 30 pieces of silver or $30 million.

BLACKWELL: Representatives for Dexter and Martin III have not returned calls for comment. This is the latest tussle amongst siblings, fighting over money and their father's legacy of peace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Now, there is no specific mention of selling the medal or the bible in the lawsuit filed. However, it's important to note that if that allegation is true, that when King won the Nobel prize, he donated the $54,000 in prize money. So not even Dr. King himself profited financially from winning that award. Back to you.

BOLDUAN: I think we can all agree, you can sure hope that they can work this out. Because that it one family that you do not want to see in-fighting.

CUOMO: Well, it just shows that no family is immune from these types of emotional battles. Obviously we're going to pay attention to this one because the legacy is so important.

BOLDUAN: Let's take another break, but coming up next on NEW DAY, we're going to talk about some hotel horror stories, folks, from Sochi. Wait until you see what some reporters and visitors are finding as they arrive for the Olympics.

PEREIRA: Plus, this very well may be the most awesome mother-son wedding dance ever. It might even fall under the category of "epic." You be the judge. It's our must-see moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: It's "Money Time," as in your money. Chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, in our money center with the latest. What do you have for us, Ms. Romans?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I've got mortgage rates at a three-month low, you guys. You can think all that stock market turmoil and global worries for that. It's driving rates down, I mean, at least for now, a three-month low. The Mortgage Bankers Association says the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, 4.47 percent last week.

All right. Think twice before you hit redial from a strange number. There's a missed call scam going around. The Better Business Bureau warns that if an unknown number rings you once or twice, don't just redial, you can be directed to an adult entertainment or a chat line and you automatically get these big charges. These calls typically come from Caribbean area codes.

(LAUGHTER)

Dispute the charges, Cuomo. All right. Coca-Cola and Green Mountain Coffees. Big deal here to tell you about. They will soon make Coke products in those little single serving plastic pods. Keurig, the maker of the K-cup expects to release a cold system within a year to dispense carbonated drinks. What does it mean for Green Mountain? That stock, you guys, exploding up 43 percent in pre-market trading. Coke is up right now as well. Would you drink your Coke out of a, you know, K-cup?

CUOMO: We've been discussing it.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CUOMO: I think that they're probably going to have an earner on their hands there, Christine. People love this soda.

ROMANS: I want to know if it's going to be more green. Think about not having to transport all of these bottles around the world, maybe we use less gas. Maybe less push (ph). That's what I want to know.

BOLDUAN: An interesting concept.

CUOMO: First thing that comes to mind with soda.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Yes, definitely. I'm wondering about taste. Does it stay true to the original taste of the soda?

CUOMO: So, you were a new Coke hate? You were one those? They lost you with new Coke? Remember new Coke?

BOLDUAN: No.

CUOMO: Are you kidding me?

BOLDUAN: What are you talking about

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: You don't remember new Coke? Remember Coke -- with new Coke. Everybody was like, I don't like new coke. I want the old Coke.

BOLDUAN: Is this before I was born?

CUOMO: I guess so.

ROMANS: What?

BOLDUAN: Did I fall asleep for like a couple decades or something?

CUOMO: It like hits me -- hits me here every time.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Look, even Mickey agrees with me. It's happened three time --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: We're going to go on a little outing today.

BOLDUAN: OK. We're going to go on an outing. First, let's get back to the news.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: All right. Let's talk about disturbing new details coming out of Sochi. Newly arriving visitors describe pretty appalling conditions. Water, if it's drinkable, if it's running, I mean, isn't drinkable, heat, you may or may not have it in your room, stray dogs wandering in and out of rooms, and hotels still under construction as events are already getting underway in Sochi.

The astonishing reports are flooding social media. CNN's Amanda Davies is live in Sochi with much more. So, tell us, how's it looking from your vantage point?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, from standing here on this balcony, overlooking the Olympic park, Kate, it looks pretty spectacular. I have to say, organizers couldn't have wished for better conditions for the first day of competition. It's officially day minus one here in Sochi. About 40 kilometers inland and up in the mountains. The snowboard slope-style qualification is underway.

That sees 28 riders down to 12 ahead of the finals, but, more and more people continue to arrive here ahead of the opening ceremony which takes place on Friday evening. And as you said, there are still some problems with the hotels.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIES (voice-over): Welcome to Sochi, the first Olympic event, sharing hotel horror stories.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's definitely quirks. We didn't have light bulbs in our lamp. You know, you use it and -- isn't really there. It will probably fall apart.

DAVIES: And that's not the only thing falling apart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My hotel room, as a matter of fact, the window fell out on my head and I couldn't get it back in and had to sleep the first night in about 35 to 40-degree temperatures with the window sort of half open.

DAVIES: It seems like there's major last-minute construction going on at a lot of hotels. Journalists and athletes are taking to Twitter to complain, including our own CNN sports team who books 11 rooms months ago. This is the one hotel room at Sochi 24 have given us so far. Shambles. Guests are being greeted by small beds in tight quarters, open doors ,and barren spaces.

One tweeter wrote that his hotel's lobby has no floor but does have a nice headshots of Vladimir Putin. Another wrote, "OK! So, my hotel doesn't have a lobby yet, but for those of you asking, when there is no lobby in your hotel, you go to the owner's bedroom to check in." Then there's this, a sign in the bathroom imploring people, "please do not flush toilet paper down the toilet. Put it in the bin provided."

And the "Chicago Tribune" reporter quickly learned to avoid water in her hotel. @StaceyStClair tweets "My hotel has no water. If restored, the front desk says do not use on you face because it contains something very dangerous."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAVIES (on-camera): Well, I put it to the head of the 24 team organizing committee, (INAUDIBLE). And he said these are just minor problems when you consider the massive scale of everything they've built here in the seven years since the games were awarded. They are working 24 hours a day, I can tell you, to right the wrongs. It actually makes it quite exciting. Yesterday, I got back into my hotel room and I had a new shower curtain. The big question is, what is going to be there to greet me when I go back today -- Michaela.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: I like the fact that you're making lemonade out of lemons, really. This is the probably the best attitude to have.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

PEREIRA: You're there for an adventure and you're there for a job. Thanks so much for that. Very interesting to see. I mean, some of them are having to really deal with some unusual conditions. Shall we do our "Must-See Moment?"

CUOMO: Please.

BOLDUAN: Please.

PEREIRA: I would love to show you this. The two people that are redefining the often boring mother-son wedding dance. You've seen a few in your time. Kathy Bunker (ph) and her son, Blake, pretend not to know what's going on when suddenly the music stopped. Oh, my goodness. Then this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Oh, yes. They kind of danced through the years breaking into choreographed dance routines to a music mash-ups, Jackson Five, ATC, MC Hammer "Can't Touch This," and current hits, et cetera. I think a lot of folks are surprised that mom can get down like that. But no, no, no, no. She runs a dance academy.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Oh, there you go.

PEREIRA: But still to be dressed as mother of the groom and to get down with a good foot.

BOLDUAN: This looks like a 20-minute performance.

PEREIRA: Probably.

CUOMO: Look at that white boy dance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: You know he had some special grooming.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN (on-camera): I would love to see you try that.

CUOMO: MC Hammer back in the 1980s.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: You (ph) had beautiful pants, Kate. and I had this pants. They were called zumesh (ph) pants! They made my legs go crazy.

BOLDUAN: I wore hammer pants for Halloween once. I think I was in third grade.

PEREIRA (on-camera): -- because, you know --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: MC Hammer was a tragic story, Kate.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: OK. Pops, we're going to take a break.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Don't align against me.

PEREIRA: You're a whole six months older than me.

BOLDUAN: Exactly and you always will be.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, the powerful snowstorm leaves hundreds of thousands of people around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the dark and they may not get relief any time soon. We're going to have the latest for you. CUOMO: Plus, big changes for the world's largest sandwich chain. Why is Subway removing an ingredient in their bread and what is it? We have the details behind the company's scary admission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It is Thursday, February 6th, seven o'clock in the east. And we're going to start out with our news blast, the most news you can get anywhere. Let's get after --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all know there have been some threats of late.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Explosives can be put in toothpaste containers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ongoing power outages are occurring.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you going to cope with that three days without power?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three people were indicted on drug possession charges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My client is not responsible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing thrown was popcorn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was no cause to shoot anyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The smell of weed so overwhelming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything he does is a textbook how to kill your career.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: All right. We begin with the competition in Sochi because it has just begun. Snowboarding to be exact, and it's happening under a cloud of terror. The U.S. warning airlines flying to Russia for the games that terrorists could try to smuggle explosives on board concealed in tubes of toothpaste or other cosmetics containers. Homeland security officials tells CNN that the threat is tied to the official start of the Sochi games. The opening ceremonies, remember, just a day away.

BOLDUAN: And breaking overnight, the Federal Aviation Administration will inspect lightning protection systems at more than 400 air traffic control towers nationwide. That's according to the "Associated Press." This comes after a lightning strike injured an air traffic controller, Baltimore's main airport in September. The FAA says that incident was the very first of its kind.

PEREIRA: So, is there a deal with Iran or not? Iran's foreign minister says the U.S. is unlikely to get what it wants in discussions over Iran's nuclear program. Those comments seen an attempt to please Iranian hardliners who don't want to get anything up. U.S. and the European Union lifted some sanctions after an interim deal was reached in November. Talks at a permanent agreement resume later this month.

BOLDUAN: Happening today, Senate Democrats set for a test vote later in the morning to extend the long-term unemployment benefits for more than a million Americans. You know, this is going to heat a political battle. Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, moving forward with the vote with or without Republicans who are trying to amend the bill. It's not clear yet if Reid has the 60 votes that he needs to move this measure forward.

CUOMO: One million customers across the northeast lost power after the latest winter storm, and it could be days before hundreds of thousands of people in Pennsylvania get the lights back on.