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NEW DAY
Clay Aiken's Congressional Opponent Dies; Deadly Virus Spreads to U.S.; Beyonce's Sister Allegedly Attacks Jay-Z; LeBron James Ties Playoff High 49 Points; New Doubts Raised About Flight 370 Pings
Aired May 13, 2014 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN FRANK, THE RALEIGH NEWS AND OBSERVER: It shocked the North Carolina political world for sure. He's being remembered as a dedicated public servant, served four years at the height of the economic downturn and ran a solid campaign for Congress.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A well-known man in the region, well- respected businessman, as you pointed out. This was a razor thin or more -- I guess we should say a neck and neck primary race right up to the moment that this news was announced. Where does this leave the race?
FRANK: The race -- the two candidates were separated by 369 votes. The official vote canvassing is today that would certify those results. Crisco would have needed to pick about 90-some votes in order to force a recount. There weren't enough out standing to put him over the top. The race finished about 41 percent to 40 percent.
So, this is one of the closest races in North Carolina in the primary. And it wasn't expected to be this way. Clay Aiken was his name and obviously some money that will follow his candidacy, was expected to show quite well.
But Crisco ran a great campaign. He put nearly a half million dollars of his own money into it, and forged relationships across the spectrum. He's very well known in North Carolina. There are as many Republicans as Democrats coming out and mourning his death.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And Clay Aiken has responded. He said he's putting -- he's suspending his campaign at least for today. But what does that mean in the immediate future going forward? There's a tweet that Clay Aiken sent out yesterday that he's suspending all campaign activities as we pray for his family and friends.
What does that mean then? The campaign is -- as raw as it seems, the campaign must go on at some point.
FRANK: It will. The main impact here is that there won't be a recount, regardless of how the tally turns out the state board elections officials say they're not going to go ahead with the recount given that Crisco was going to concede and, obviously, given his untimely death. But his death does leave a void in this race. By not being able to concede, get out there publicly, support Clay Aiken, stand next to him in some cases, his supporters are left knowing whether Crisco supported Aiken.
This race got nasty at points with both sides attacking each other and Democrats will need to coalesce behind one candidate in order to win in the fall.
BOLDUAN: And this was the Democratic primary for this congressional seat. Renee Ellmers who held it for two terms now and Mitt Romney won North Carolina in 2012. It's a likely Republican -- likely to remain a Republican seat. But what are Clay Aiken's chances, do you think?
FRANK: This is a sprawling nine-county district that was drawn this way to benefit Republicans. Mitt Romney took 60 percent well ahead of how he finished in North Carolina. And incumbent Renee Ellmers took 56 percent. It definitely leans Republicans.
Aiken has a hope in that he's well-known. It's a name that many people know and that's the first obstacle for a politics to overcome. He's also expected to be quite well funded and can probably put up a good fight against Renee Ellmers. Will it be enough? That's the question. It could be closer than previous races but it still leans Republican.
BOLDUAN: All right. John Frank, thanks so much for coming in. We appreciate the perspective. Not the way anyone wants to win any kind of political race. That's for sure.
Chris?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kate.
Coming up on NEW DAY, this is something to pay attention to, a real health scare going on. A second case of a virus that's killed dozens in the Middle East now reported here in the U.S. There is no vaccine or treatment for this virus. So, how worried should we be? What can we do?
Plus, stunning new surveillance video may be lifting the veil on the seemingly perfect lives of Jay-Z and Beyonce seems to be Jay-Z fighting with his sister-in-law Solange. The details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Welcome back.
So, it is a killer new virus with no vaccine or specific treatment. Now there are two confirmed cases in the U.S.
Middle East respiratory syndrome, MERS, that's what it's being called, don't confuse it with MRSA. That's not what it is, and we'll explain in a second.
This was first reported in Saudi Arabia. It's now popped up in Indiana and Florida. Officials are rushing to test some 500 people. Why? Because they came in contact with one of the patients.
That's how communicable, that's how easily spread this disease can be. Here to walk us through the information is Dr. John Boockvar. He's a professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Doc, it's good to have you with us.
DR. JOHN BOOCKVAR, WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE: Good morning.
CUOMO: Not MRSA, right, the resistant bacteria we're all so worried about, MERS, what is it?
BOOCKVAR: It's called Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome. It's a virus in the same family of the common cold and SARS, which you remember in the 2000s. It's a virus that causes regular respiratory symptoms like cough and fever. Unfortunately in 30 percent of these patients, we've seen death from this virus.
CUOMO: All right. So let's go to the next thing here, what it does. You're talking about the symptoms.
Why would I care? If I hear that while it's just like a cold and then I hear 30 percent mortality rate, how does it go from a cold to a mortality rate?
BOOCKVAR: Well, the thing that's put this on the radar is this is a new virus that we don't know about. It's just described in 2012. And it's been brought to us from a place from the Arabian Peninsula. So, none of us have been exposed to this virus.
So, when you have a virus like this exposed to a new herd, as we say, this can cause serious problems. And it presents much like a common cold.
CUOMO: Or more like a flu looking at these symptoms, right?
BOOCKVAR: Correct, and it can progress from something like the common cold to flu to pneumonia and ultimately death.
CUOMO: So, it gets worse, and the whole phenomenon is that as the virus multiplies, if your body doesn't have the immuno response setup, the antibody response, it's going to over take. It's just a question of how long.
BOOCKVAR: That's exactly right. So, if you're elderly or if you're immunocompromised, if you're taking chemotherapy, these are particular symptoms that you want to be aware of and tell your doctor.
CUOMO: So, these are the two known cases right now, self-explanatory, Indiana and Florida. The concern is that these people who came in contact with others, it starts to spread.
What will you do for me if I come down with this?
BOOCKVAR: Well, the first thing that we do is to isolate you and quarantine you because the ability to spread, particularly when we don't know enough about virus, we can spread it by either (INAUDIBLE) which is by mouth, or by finger to nose, finger to mouth, and finger to eye. So, we got to get these patients quarantined and separate from the rest of the population.
CUOMO: It spreads like normal virus spread.
BOOCKVAR: Right.
CUOMO: But, so, what do you do? Give me an IV and hope to deep fever down and hope for the best?
BOOCKVAR: Right. There are symptomatic treatments. Once we quarantine you, we put some mask on all the health care providers. You make sure that you fever is well-controlled, stay hydrated, stay well-nourished and that's how we get through these events.
CUOMO: All right. So, two cases, that's not a big deal, but here's the context. These cases come from flights where, obviously, look through yourself on the television screen, they went a lot of different places. And now, what does that mean? That's where we get this 500 number of people they want to test, and the amount of time since they found out about this suggest they should be showing symptom.
BOOCKVAR: That's exactly right. Every virus has an incubation period. So, by the time he left from the Arabian Peninsula, went to London, went to here in Boston, Atlanta, now he's in Orlando, the incubation period is usually two weeks. So, those patients who have been exposed on airplane, in a tight quarter, you should be showing these signs.
So, if you are one of these 500 people and you've been notified and you're having these symptoms, you want to make sure you tell your doctor.
CUOMO: How long before you come up with an antivirus in a situation like this?
BOOCKVAR: Well, the CDC is working with companies to develop a vaccine. Remember when we went through these with other viruses in the past. There are vaccines that can help. But ultimately, viruses mutate and they change, and they can avoid this vaccination programs. So, again, just notification and appropriate preventive measures would be helpful.
CUOMO: Now, hopefully, the CDC has reached out to people here. They had the flight manifests of the different flights. But just look at the legs and if you know anybody going in these areas recently, this is about awareness and awareness to what you feel in yourself if you're sick, right? Maybe it isn't just a typical summer cold as we move into the season, spring cold, summer cold. Pay attention to these symptoms, right?
BOOCKVAR: Correct. And this is the time of year we're showing signs of a cold and just be aware of these symptoms and tell your doctor.
CUOMO: Dr. Boockvar, thank you very much. I'm going to call you first.
Kate?
BOLDUAN: All right. Chris, thanks so much.
It's a story rocking the music world and obviously demanding the headlines today.
Power couple Jay-Z and Beyonce are normally the image of cool perfection, but the public got a wildly different glimpse of the duo after TMZ posted this video reportedly of Beyonce's sister Solange attacking Jay-Z in the elevator. And Beyonce is in there as well.
CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the video, but it surely is bringing some unwanted scrutiny to the couple.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick is joining us now with more of the details, with little details that we're learning about this.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, you have to wonder exactly what set Beyonce's sister off. One thing we do know is that she had to be restrained in what she thought was the privacy of a hotel elevator.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little chat with Jay-Z and Beyonce.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Beyonce and Jay-Z all smiles at the Nets game Monday night, hours after TMZ posted this security video recorded after the Met Gala which paints a different picture.
The shocking video purportedly captures Beyonce's younger sister Solange attacking Jay-Z while instead the Standard Hotel elevator, even kicking him multiple times. Jay-Z at one time holding her foot but never retaliating. Beyonce staying out of the fray.
Solange leaving the New York City venue tight-lipped. Jay-Z opting for a separate vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were actually getting along great at the Met Bowl where they were before this and Beyonce and Solange were dancing together.
FEYERICK: The video, a huge departure from the superstar couple's carefully protected, some would say untouchable image -- from the secretive yet glamorous birth of their daughter Blue Ivy, to their frequent visits with the president and first lady. With their extensive business and sports interests, they remained above the normal tabloid fray. She's considered so untouchable "SNL" poked fun of her with this sketch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not a huge fan of this one drunken love song though.
FEYERICK: If anyone speaks ill of Beyonce they get hunted down. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jay-Z and Beyonce truly control their image and they control it well. Their private moments are just that. They put up a very large powerful wall between public and private. And that wall was broken down.
FEYERICK: Last week Beyonce posted this message on Instagram, now attracting renewed attention. She asks God, quote, "Help me to choose my friends wisely so I won't be led astray. Give me discernment and strength to separate myself from anyone who is not a good influence."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: The Standard Hotel is an incredibly chic, hip hotel that caters to celebrities. They say this is a breach of security. They are launching an investigation with the possibility that they will press criminal charges.
As for Beyonce and Jay-Z, even Solange, none of them are commenting on this incident -- Kate, Chris.
BOLDUAN: You do raise an interesting point for the hotel specifically, if people think that everything on their security cameras are going to be released to TMZ if you stay there.
FEYERICK: This could be so bad for business because when you go to a hotel like this, there is an expectation of privacy. Maybe not on the hallways, not in the public places, but in an elevator?
BOLDUAN: Yes.
FEYERICK: It's going to be a problem.
BOLDUAN: A problem in that family for sure.
CUOMO: It's a problem everywhere.
FEYERICK: That's right.
CUOMO: Everywhere. Nothing is private anymore. There are cameras everywhere. Everybody is taking pictures. Everybody talks.
FEYERICK: Right. There is no discretion. There is no privacy.
CUOMO: And it also it goes hand in hand with the other part, which is there is no discretion. Nobody is looking protect these people, you know, anymore. Everybody wants the negative out there as fast as possible. If they saw him giving someone 20 bucks you would not hear about it. A fight with his sister-in-law, you're going to hear about it guaranteed.
FEYERICK: It's unfortunate.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Deborah.
FEYERICK: Of course. CUOMO: All right, let's take a little break here on NEW DAY. When we come back the underwater search for Flight 370 set to resume. But, there are new questions about two of the electronic signals thought to be coming from the plane's black box recorders. Were they pings for real? That's the question. Our experts weigh in.
BOLDUAN: Plus, much more of Donald Sterling in his own words. Does the disgraced Clippers owner think the NBA will force him out? You will be interested to hear what he has to say about that. Much more ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Boy, they call LeBron James "King James" for a reason. He showed up last night. The Miami heat continuing to roll through the playoffs. Another big win against the Brooklyn Nets. Of course, it was just the man leading the charge. Brian McFayden breaks it down for us this morning in the "Bleacher Report." It's very interesting you know how great LeBron James is when they say he was a point shy from 50 because 49 is not enough -- Brian.
BRIAN MCFAYDEN, "BLEACHER REPORT": He is the man. That's right. LeBron James, one point shy from scoring 50, Chris. I guess, the Nets last night tying his career high with 49. The game was close going back and forth. LeBron was unstoppable. He did stop and say what's up to Jay-z and Beyonce. Girl, sitting courtside. Heat go on to win, 102-96. They take a 3-1 series lead with the game five in Miami on Wednesday.
Trending on bleacherreport.com, the trail blazers keeping the playoff dreams live. Miller leading the way with no answer from the Spurs. Super Bowl winning coach, Pit Carol on hand, too. The guy lives the life. Rubbing elbows with Mr. Paul Allen. More NBA playoffs action on TNT tonight. Pacers have a chance to finish their series with a win over the Wizards. Clippers and Thunder get going at 9:30. Their series is tied at two games apiece.
The NFL's first openly gay player, Michael Sam pick 249th in the NFL draft has more jerseys sold than number one pick Clowney. This is according to the sales at nflshop.com. Important to know that fans won't get delivery of their jerseys until a number is assigned. Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Football, Johnny Manziel. Back to you, Kate.
BOLDUAN: All right, thank you so much. Let's move on to the search for Flight 370. Officials prepare to set an international standard for tracking flights. There are new doubts as to whether they're searching in the right place for missing Flight 370. Crews prepare to resume the underwater search for the plane in the area where those electronic signals, those pings were detected last month.
But were those pings really from the plane's flight data recorders? Do they have any clue where the plane is? Joining us this morning to discuss, Miles O'Brien, CNN aviation analyst and PBS science correspondent. Miles, we began this discussion yesterday. Now we're learning more about this. So let's talk more about this -- the pings and discrepancy here. First you have the "Wall Street Journal" talking to Australian officials who say they are casting doubt on the last two pings that were detected of the four pings.
Then you have the top Australian in charge of the search coming out to say, simply, they have the four pings. This area of all four of them together, is the area of highest probability and it is too early to discount any of them. What do you make of it?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: You know, I tend to go with Angus Houston on this because one of the key points here, Kate, is in the absence of other evidence, this is all they have. And so while you've got two pings that are closer to the frequency that you would expect from the flight data reporter or the cockpit voice recorder and two others that are much lower frequency and somewhat mysterious in that respect, taken together.
The fact they are found in this general vicinity which happens to match the arc which would be drawn on the planet by that last communication between the aircraft and the Inmarsat satellite. If you don't look there, where are you going to go?
BOLDUAN: That's a great question. One they don't seem to be to the place yet where they're ready to begin that question, begin having that conversation, right?
O'BRIEN: That's correct. They're looking at this -- they're investigating, I should say, this two-hour ping detection. That wasn't looked at first for a lot of reasons, but one of the things they're discovering -- of course, we know more about the surface of the moon than we do the bottom of that ocean there. And they're finding deep crevasses, finding all kinds of difficult terrain.
You have to wonder if that Bluefin device, the Bluefin-21, which is doing the sonar search of the seafloor bottom, you have to wonder if it is not the right piece of gear for this. And, you know, I've said this repeatedly. I always have the sense that there's not enough assets on station for this particular search given the magnitude and the consequences of all of this.
BOLDUAN: They're working to get more assets put in place and more crews put in place. We have been having -- that has been a conversation going on since the plane has gone missing though. Do they have enough assets in place and could still be additional weeks before there are the new assets coming in.
Miles, let's bring in David Soucie, the author of "Why Planes Crash," former FAA inspector as well. David, one question I'm getting from folks. If these last two pings are not from the black boxes is anyone suggesting quite yet what they could be? I believe early on we had some conversation that what the pings -- what could sound like a ping, but do you have any guess?
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: I really don't. If you listen to what Angus Houston said though he said that they're not from machine made source. So, you know, there are some whales that, believe it or not, that make a frequency like that and they do tend to repeat about a second per time. It's some kind of communication that they do. Whether or not those whales are in that area and the fact they would have been able to put it out for that long at a second per pulse, it's unfeasible to me. But the fact that Angus Houston said it wasn't from a manmade source is very perplexing to me.
BOLDUAN: I think that comes from the captain of the ocean shield, the captain of the ship deploying the Bluefin. There seems to be -- there doesn't seem to be -- there is a discrepancy between the people in charge of the search.
SOUCIE: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Let me get your final take on a report out from "Atlantic" magazine. Miles, I'll start with you. They have a report out that really kind of calls into question the analysis of the Inmarsat data, which is important because this is what this entire search area has been based on is the analysis of the Inmarsat data. They question why the Inmarsat data led them to the southern arc. It could have led them to the northern arc they believe. Is there an easy way to explain that?
O'BRIEN: Well, here's what I want to say about this article. It is a very fine piece of journalism. A thorough analysis of an incomplete piece of data. They don't have the full picture because Inmarsat has not released it. So they've taken what is an incomplete body of data and some big holes in methodology and attempted to analyze that using some great experts.
Unfortunately, we don't know whether they found some bonafide holes in Inmarsat's logic and conclusions or they're just operating in the dark somewhat and we have to give Inmarsat the benefit of the doubt. At this point, until Inmarsat releases this data and that's up to the Malaysians, and they've said no so far, we're just going to have to keep groping around in the dark. And that's unfortunate.
BOLDUAN: David, final thought from you. Do you think if the Malaysian authorities would for some reason decide to release it, I would be inclined to think that they will not considering their track record to this point, do you think it could change the analysis?
SOUCIE: I think it could. At least it would refine it into a closer area. So I think that's a good thing. If they would get -- need to get it out, need to get it analyzed by a second set of eyes.
BOLDUAN: Well, that seems to be the call from outside of the inner circle making those decisions by and large. David Soucie, Miles O'Brien, thank you, Gentlemen. Great to see you -- Chris.
COUMO: All right, Kate, there is a lot going on to start your NEW DAY today. Donald Sterling insisting he's no racist and then proves to many that's exactly what he is in our CNN exclusive interview.
American planes now join the search for the missing Nigerian girls as the men holding them have new demands. Do we negotiate with them?
Red wine and chocolate. They're good for you, they're bad for you. There's an ingredient you have to hear about. What's the latest chapter? Let's get to all of it right now?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD STERLING: Some of the African-Americans -- maybe I'll get in trouble again -- they don't want to help anybody. Magic Johnson, what has he done? Did he help anybody in South L.A.? I think he should be ashamed of himself. Doesn't do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This groups and other groups in al Qaeda have made millions of dollars off of kidnapped ransom operations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Each bringing what they could, machetes, homemade bows and arrows.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made a sound of gunshot, explosions everywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, May 13th, now 7:00 in the east. Donald Sterling, he is a lot of problems with a lot of people. CNN exclusive interview with Anderson Cooper, the Clippers' owner lashes out at Magic Johnson. The media essentially blaming them for his predicament. He claims the public sentiment is against him and it's all hype that he's got plenty of supporters who just haven't spoken out yet. Here is sterling in his own words for you to judge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STERLING: I'm a good owner. I have a good team. There are people that want to buy my team. But because the media says that the owners want me out doesn't mean that they want me out.
