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NEW DAY SATURDAY
Refugees Greeted With Cheers At Austrian Border; Attorney: Kim Davis Will Not Resign; Clinton: Didn't Stop And Think About Email System; Are Police Officers Facing More Threat?; Europe Accepting Syrian Refugees; Tim Tebow's Further Career. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired September 5, 2015 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:31:30] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, busloads of migrants in the thousands arrive in Austria. The pictures and the stories we have of their emotional journey into Western Europe, escaping conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and what a way for the rest of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is our position and the position of the clerk of Rowan County, Kim Davis, that those licenses are void.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: A defiant, determined, Kentucky court clerk, Kim Davis not backing down after being jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and it is happening as a presidential candidate is coming to her defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you sorry? Do you want to apologize to the American people for the choice you made?
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it wasn't the best choice and I certainly have said that. I will continue to say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: A contrite Hillary Clinton apologizing over e-mails. It's not the apology her critics were looking for, though.
Good morning to you. It's Saturday. I hope you had a little R&R on the calendar. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. I want you to start by looking at these images. Look at these pictures and the video we have coming in, thousands of refugees arriving in Austria this morning. They are tired, they are hungry, but as you saw in that little girl's face, there was a smile there.
They are greeted by cheers, people just cheering on the side of the road there in Austria, a far cry from their desperate situation over the past few days, waiting for days and days at a Budapest train station. Hungarian authorities refused to let them go without the proper documents.
But finally, trying to walk to Germany because they had no other options, some buses picked them up. CNN' Arwa Damon has been on this journey with them and listen to her experience here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Hungarian government, the Hungarian security forces have been very hostile toward these refuges and a lot of them had horrific situations inside one of the camps and one of the main reasons they didn't want to go into the camps.
Along this trek, they have managed to get real exposure to the kindness of some portions of the population of the Hungarian population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: The refuges are some of the thousands streaming into Europe from the conflict zones every day. Let's go to Fred Pleitgen now, he is at the Austria/Hungary border. Fred, what's the scene like there now? I see that the crowds there behind you?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a remarkable scene, Victor, because what just happened is that several busloads of these people just made it across the border from Hungary. You can see how many people are still marching towards this location here. I'm on the Austrian side right now.
The people you're seeing streaming in here, they are all coming off buses on the Hungarian side of the border. The Hungarians have picked up several thousand of them with buses and brought them to their side of the border and dropped them off here and they walk to the Austrian side.
We have seen remarkable scenes because they are exhausted and many traveling for months and a horrible time going through Hungary and many were camped out there in front of the Budapest train station where they barely had any food or water and they certainly had no shelter.
And they were just camping out there on the ground until they got so frustrated that they started just walking towards Austria, which is a more than a hundred miles away. They said we are going to walk there and that would have taken a long time.
Finally, the Hungarian government relented and they are arriving here and getting ready to go on the buses you see over there and the buses will take them from a train station from there on, they will choose whether to stay in Austria or go to Germany, which is a place many of them want to go to.
Certainly very emotional scenes as even people who are so exhausted that they almost fell asleep standing, just had smiles on their faces as they walked over that border -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: Good to see that after what we have seen over the past week or so. Fred, any indication of what is to come, beyond the immediate triage, what Austria, what Germany, the other countries hosting these refuges, what they have in store for them.
PLEITGEN: First of all, they will bring them to temporary shelters. They will go to the next rail station and either going to a shelter around here or they are going to go on to Vienna and Munich and when they go on to Munich they get processed there immediately at the railway station and brought to another temporary shelter.
[06:05:04] And then the German government will find places for them in Germany in various locations, both in the southeast which is the main entry point into Germany, but also in other places around the country.
And then they enter into a process where their asylum applications is checked by the authorities and depending on whether or not that is successful, then, at some point, they will be recognized as asylum seekers and be allowed to move around and get work in Germany and basically start a new life there.
It is quite a long process, bureaucratic process, but certainly one that, for them at least now, is somewhat predictable -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: At least there is now a process through which they are going through after days, some waiting on trains, some waiting at the train station, now this process has begun. Fred Pleitgen there for us at the Austria/Hungary border, thank you so much.
Later this hour, we will be joined by Bob Kitchen from the International Rescue Committee. He is going to talk more about the refuge crisis and what else is in store for them.
PAUL: Turning to the U.S., controversial Kentucky clerk, Kim Davis, is going to be meeting with the presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee. Tuesday he will visit the woman who was jailed and still in jail, in fact, after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
This is, of course, in defiance of the law. Meanwhile, Davis says any marriage license issued in her absence is invalid and that did not stop these couples celebrating. CNN's Alexandra Field in Grayson, Kentucky with that story.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, Victor, Kim Davis' attorney says her conscience is clear. She is willing to wait it out in jail. She has no plans to resign from her position as the Rowan County clerk and she is ready to fight her fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD (voice-over): The six times the charm for William Smith and James Yates, partners for ten years. They were cheered by their supporters after finally getting their marriage license following five other tries in Rowan County, Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each time, we were rejected and each time we were told it was Kim Davis' decision. The last time we came, it was really, really hard because we had protesters outside and as soon as we rejected, we had our hearts broken.
FIELD: Kim Davis couldn't reject the couple this time. The Rowand County clerk was sent to jail after a federal judge in Kentucky held her in contempt of court for refusing to issue licenses to same-sex couples, despite a court order to do so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She can't violate her conscience so if that means she's going to be here for a longer period of time, she's prepared to be here.
FIELD: Davis remains defiantly opposed to authorizing same-sex marriages even as she sits behind bars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If our government can bully you then they are going to make everybody bow down to what they want to do. If we don't take our country back, we are the one who puts them in there. They work for us.
FIELD: Davis rejected an offer from the judge to get out of jail if she agreed to authorize her deputies to issue the licenses or not interfere with the process. Five of those deputies are now giving out licenses that don't bear her name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She needs to have her name and her authority off of the license. It could be issued under the authority of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
FIELD: Davis' attorney says a marriage license without her name on it is not valid, but lawyers for the couples disagree, which means everything to William Smith and James Yates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are very happy. We are elated, actually, that we got our license this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: Davis had ordered her six deputy clerks not to issue any marriage licenses after the Supreme Court made its historic ruling earlier this summer allowing same-sex couples to marry nationwide. Those six clerks were all called into a courtroom.
The judge asked if they could accept his orders to issue those marriage licenses. Five of the six clerks agreed. The lone hold-out was Kim Davis' son -- Christi, Victor.
PAUL: Thank you very much, Alexandra. We appreciate it. Let's bring in CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Danny Cevallos now. Danny, good to see you. Davis' attorney says those licenses are invalid without her signature, any concern that she is right? DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's an interesting issue and probably a case of first impression, but the arguments by the clerk here is that she is the elected county clerk and that these licenses must bear her name, in addition to the county seal.
But I think that a court would ultimately determine that the Office of the Clerk is who is issuing the license, not necessarily the actual clerk, that is, the human, whose name is on the license.
And just looking at my own cases and dealings with clerks of court, clerks of court routinely have deputy clerks who issue documents and they may bear a signature, but that significant is often just a stamp or some other facsimile.
The reality is the actual person who occupies that office doesn't personally stamp and review every single document that goes through the office. It is a government office and that government office issues the licenses.
[06:10:08] So it is an interesting legal argument by Miss Davis. I don't know that it is one that will ultimately prevail.
PAUL: In an interview after she was elected back in November, she told a "Moorhead News," I'm quoting here, "I promise to follow the statues of this office to the letter."
And we know -- well, I guess, first of all, you have to wonder if she is going against her own pledge at this particular time, but we know her attorney and court papers argued that issuing same-sex marriage licenses irreparably violates her conscience.
Help us understand here. What are her rights when it pertains to her religious liberties and freedoms, compared to federal law?
CEVALLOS: Miss Davis occupies two positions when it comes to speech. One is as a citizen of the United States, but the other is also in her position as clerk, where she essentially speakers for the government. So her argument is that she, as a person, cannot execute her duties because of her personal beliefs.
But her opponents say, it's a pretty strong argument, once you are an elected official, you are, in many ways, an arm of the government and you are there to perform official government duties and I've reviewed the Kentucky statutes.
And it appears that the country clerk is responsible for issuing marriage licenses. There doesn't appear to be anything in there that that disagrees with their personal views and there are many, many government jobs that if we had people refusing to do them because of whatever their personal beliefs were, then the offense result could be chaos.
Imagine if all kinds of different elected official decided, well, these some of the duties I feel like I can perform and these are the duties against my personal beliefs. It would create chaos, I think, if this were county officials could just stop doing their job. PAUL: You wonder where the balance is then, I suppose. Danny Cevallos, don't go too far. Stick around here. Just to let you know, later this morning, Davis' attorney is going to be joining us coming up and we have some questions for him as well.
BLACKWELL: We will have Danny come up in the next segment to talk about these new reports this morning that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a State Department staffer to maintain a private e-mail server at her home.
Well, now that former staffer is planning to invoke the Fifth Amendment when he is questioned by a congressional committee. Why? We will have that discussion in just a moment.
Plus, police across the nation are on edge after a spike in recent cop killings. We have got a live report on speculation, at least, about what is behind the attacks, and the challenges that law enforcement officers are facing.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some real challenges out there in this country right now. It is a very tough time to be a police officer at this moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:16:26]
BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the race for the White House now. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton heads to the primary state of New Hampshire. Now, there are new details being revealed about her e- mail controversy.
An official from Clinton's campaign confirms to "The Washington Post" that the Clinton family personally paid a State Department staffer to maintain her private server at her home. The arrangement reportedly ensured the taxpayer dollars were not spent on the server.
Meanwhile, that staffer, Brian Pagialliano is expected to appear on a hearing next week on the issue, but he will not answer questions and Pagialliano's attorney says he will invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
Joining us now to talk about this, we've got CNN legal analyst, Danny Cevallos sticking around for a question and we've got political analyst, Jason Johnson.
Danny, first out to you, just this one, this spokeswoman for the Senate Judiciary Committee confirms that Pagialliano, this staffer will not answer question and invoke the Fifth Amendment. Members of Congress say there is no evidence of criminal activity. Why then invoke the fifth? What goes into that decision for Pagialliano? CEVALLOS: If there is a potential that he may be incriminating himself, his lawyers will advise him to invoke the fifth amendment, which is the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination, which many would be surprised to learn that it wasn't until the 1950s that Supreme Court held that you could invoke your fifth amendment privilege, not only in a criminal trial court, but also in congressional hearings.
That was not an automatic right and it is different from what you would see in a criminal trial because, in a criminal trial, a witness can refuse to take the stand altogether. When it comes to congressional hearings, if you are subpoenaed, you will attend.
You may choose to invoke the Fifth Amendment as to parts of your testimony, but when Congress wants you, Congress can put you on the stand irrespective of that Fifth Amendment privilege.
BLACKWELL: We can expect the members of Congress will continue with their questioning and understanding that every answer will be the same that he will invoke the fifth. Danny, thank you for clearing that up.
Let's get to Jason now. Jason, I want to start what we heard from Secretary Clinton last night in her interview with MSNBC. Let's listen and watch.
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CLINTON: I was not thinking a lot. When I got in, there were was so much work to be done. We had so many problems around the world. I didn't really stop and think.
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BLACKWELL: She said, I really didn't stop and think and what comes after that is I didn't think and stop and think what kind of e-mail system there would be. The campaign confirms that she hired someone back in 2009 to maintain a server at her home at least an inconsistency there.
JASON JOHNSON, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, HIRAM COLLEGE: There is a clear inconsistency. Here is a bigger issue. What did she do is wrong and should we actually care, right? Clearly, she was maintaining multiple e-mail servers and that is wrong and that is an issue and that is something that is legitimate to investigate.
But whether or not the use of different e-mails ever actually endangered U.S. soldiers, U.S. foreign policy, or U.S. foreign affairs, that is really the question.
BLACKWELL: But if that is the bigger question, why try to convince people that she didn't even think about it when not 12 hours later, her campaign confirms that, yes, she hired someone back in 2009 to maintain it at her home.
JOHNSON: Why did Tom Brady get rid of his cell phone? Because when you think you're in trouble you come up with all sorts of different excuses for doing things. The Clinton campaign has handled this terribly and to be perfectly honest with you, the more she tries to explain as opposed to just giving a clear answer.
[06:20:03] And saying, look, this isn't a big deal, I did my job and no one was harmed when I was doing my job, she continues to explain, which really just drags up a story.
BLACKWELL: So you've written a book about campaigning and the right way to do this, why not at that first news conference when it was addressed say all of this?
JOHNSON: Because the Clinton campaign is not very smart. This is something they should anticipated and seen. She should have said I'm talking about this one, one last time, that's it. And we're moving on, and instead she is babbling. We are talking about a story going into October when it started in March.
BLACKWELL: We know that Clinton campaign will spend $4 million on ads in Iowa and in New Hampshire. What does the message need to be?
JOHNSON: The message needs to be to Democratic voters, I'm the best person to get things done and I'm the person who should be president of the United States of America. Look, 77 percent of Democratic voters don't care about this e-mail scandal so this is not something she has to worry about in the primary.
BLACKWELL: But then why are her numbers low and her trust numbers are lower?
JOHNSON: Her trustworthy numbers were never great. Her favorability has gone down because nobody has really liked Hillary Clinton.
BLACKWELL: OK.
JOHNSON: She has never been that popular and the more people get to know her, they like her less. It's not whether or not you like Hillary Clinton. It's whether you like her versus whoever she might face for the White House.
BLACKWELL: All right, Jason Johnson, thank you as always -- Christi.
PAUL: All righty, a 500,000-pound rock, we understand, is loose in Arizona and it could be threatening some tourists who are there, especially on this holiday weekend. What authorities are doing to try to fix that? And more coming up in a moment.
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[06:25:16]
PAUL: It's 25 minutes past the hour. In Florida this morning, this man, Caleb Jackson, one day closer to being free after being sentenced to 48 months for his role in the hazing death of Florida A&M University Drum Major Robert Champion.
Jackson there, a former band member, will be out in less than a year after he was given more than three years for credit for time served. Champion collapsed and died in Orlando back in November of 2011 after being beaten during a hazing ritual.
BLACKWELL: In Missouri this morning, police are investigating the shooting death of a 16-year-old boy by his 11-year-old neighbor. Now the 11-year-old boy says his neighbor was breaking into the home, but some neighbors in the community say that is not true. We'll have more on our investigation in the next hour.
PAUL: In Arizona, access to the river raft launched near Grand Canyon Dam closed today. Authorities say an estimated 500,000-pound rock slab is loose. It could fall from the Canyon wall into the river below. Geologists are working with scaling crews trying to install some bolts and secure it.
BLACKWELL: Do police officers have targets on their backs now? A live report on why a recent wave of officer killings has left some officers feeling under sieged.
Plus, an eight-foot snake in Florida is on the loose. Not just any state. Look at this one! It's causing a lot of concern and panic understandably. We will talk more about it in a moment.
PAUL: First, though, this week's culinary journeys, taking us to Bangkok, Thailand, to meet Indian chef, whose restaurant won the top award for Asia's 50 best restaurants. Take a look at what separates his cooking style from other top chefs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bangkok, Thailand, a glamorous clash of urban modernity and ancient traditions. Soaring sky escapers above stores offering delicious food, boiled and tossed, fried and served to order.
Foods dominate the streets of this city. For those with a taste for fine food, the recently crowned number one restaurant in Asian Gaggan can be found in this district and it has a boisterous creativity and passion of Indian chef, Gaggan Anand.
GAGGAN ANAND, CHEF: When you put something on the plate, put your heart on the plate, you don't do it just for the sake of serving. I want it to be done properly! All leafs like leafs. A beautiful one.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gaggan says his perception is aggressive. He hopes to change the perception of Indian food.
ANAND: You take bread and eat it when you're drunk and it's comfort sole food. I push it to a boundary where people with hundreds and thousands of chefs have never taught could happen and that gave me a platform to do what I'm doing now. One, two, three, push it up, please.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The dishes served reflect Gaggan's taste, colorful, eccentric and a little mischievous.
GAGGAN: Let's elevate our standards! Thank you. I love stories. Stories that make you more excited. You're to build up the story.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Watch the full show at CNN.com/journey. We will be right back.
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[06:32:50] CMDR. GEORGE FILENKO, LAKE COUNTY MAJOR CRIMES TASK FORCE: I can confirm today that it was the officer's weapon that was recovered at the scene. We received confirmation yesterday when we were following up on some forensics from that weapon as we speak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: 32 minutes past -- 33 minutes past the hour right now. New this morning, police in Fox Lake, Illinois, say they have new surveillance images of people they believe are connected to the shooting of Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz. They are looking for three men, two white, one black. We know a weapon was also recovered, and there is now a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those who killed him.
BLACKWELL: Well, this wave of high profile law enforcement killings has left some officers across the country feeling under siege, vulnerable on the job. We have got with us CNN's Nick Valencia with more on this. How is this being received throughout the law enforcement community?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is something we have talked a lot about, specifically on this program. Officers gunned down in the line of duty. And it prompted us to look into the numbers. And believe it or not, according to the officer down memorial page, 2015 is on pace to be one of the lowest totals of officers gunned down in the line of duty in the last 25 years. Even still with those numbers down, it seems as though fear among officers across the country is at an all-time high.
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VALENCIA: A manhunt in Illinois for three wanted in connection with the killing of a veteran police officer. A sheriff's deputy gunned down at a gas station near Houston, Texas. A Memphis policeman shot and killed during a traffic stop in Tennessee. And that is just in the last five weeks. Already this year, at least 24 officers in the United States have been shot and killed in the line of duty. By comparison, it's still less than the number of officers shot and killed all of last year, when 47 were victim to gunfire according to the nonprofit Officer Down memorial page. While the numbers may be down, it's a sentiment of vulnerability among officers in 2015 that is caused for concern says CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander.
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: There is some real challenges out there in this country right now. It is a very tough time to be a police officer at this moment. DERAY MCKESSON, BLACK LIVES MATTER ORGANIZATION: The only charged
rhetoric of the movement has been about I'm holding officers accountable. Has it been about fair police contracts and independent investigators and body cameras?
ALEXANDER: Activist and organizer D. Ray McKesson says the Black Lives Matter movement is not to blame for the recent violent attacks on police.
MCKESSON: It has been specifically about ending violence.
ALEXANDER: Even though, a chance like this from a Black Lives Matter march this month in Minnesota, an ominous graffiti like this in Texas had made more and more cops on edge.
MCKESSON: This rhetoric has gotten out of control. We have heard Black Lives Matter. All lives matter. Well, cops lives matter too so why don't we just drop the qualifier and just say lives matter.
VALENCIA: The rhetoric from the Black Lives Matter movement may not be to blame for the recent wave of police killings as some might suggest, but certainly all across the country, police officers have taken notice of the current climate. Victor?
BLACKWELL: All right, Nick Valencia for us this morning. Nick, thank you so much. Christi.
PAUL: We want to get back into the Illinois officer shooting investigation because there are a lot of questions this morning and let's bring in former FBI assistant director and CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes who is with us now. Tom, good to see you this morning. So, we know that the FBI is reviewing several surveillance videos and police say they have images of these subjects that they are looking for. Why would they not release that to the public? Would that not be helpful?
TOM FUENTES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, the only thing that I can think of for not releasing that, if they have specific identification made then they would have specific locations that they are waiting for them to show up at and don't want to disturb that. So, that could be the reason that they have got locations in mind that they might arrive at and they may be trying to watch those places for their return so they can apprehend them and not want to alert them any further to go into a different direction to escape.
PAUL: Try not to compromise the investigation, obviously, of the investigation. What kind of details are they looking for specifically in these videos?
FUENTES: Well, they are looking for as much as possible. Obviously, a complete clothing description and in videos, you see the manner in which someone stands, the way they walk, their physical presence, their height to a certain extent, their weight, their choice of clothing. Are they wearing baseball hats, physical features, long hair, facial hair, complexion. There's so many different things that you want in a specific description, but particularly in video, when an individual sees someone, even if it's a silhouette and they see the way they walk, sometimes a friend or family member or classmate or someone, will recognize the person just by that. So the more that you have captured on video, the better it would be for someone to recognize them by that.
PAUL: Sure. Here is the thing. Police say that they can't release any forensic information in terms of where the officer's gun was found. We know that they have - they do have his gun, how many times it was fired, whether it was, indeed, the murder weapon. There is this video that could help find the suspects that is not released even though you just talked to that, that law enforcement authorities on the ground can't answer whether he was killed with his own gun. We know that authorities there are adroit and they know what they are doing, but is there anything about this that makes you uncomfortable in any way that may be - brings up some questions as to what really happened here?
FUENTES: Not necessarily uncomfortable. I mean obviously, I wish that as much as possible would have been released from video descriptions earlier in the week. And even though they wanted the videos enhanced especially when they said the very first day that they had a significant home security video which they gave to homeland security and no one's ever heard anything since then. Originally, they said that video showed three individuals walking past the camera, in front of a home that that video was taken from. We've not heard any more about that. And anything, especially earlier, would be helpful - what they are wearing, are they in long pants, are they in swim suits, are they wearing tank tops, work jackets, baseball hats, you know, other things besides just two whites and one black. So, that - that part I wish had been. As far as the forensics, they may not have all the answers to that. If the mortal wound was completely through the body, they may not have a bullet to examine the cause of the fatal wound and match it to any gun, including the officer's own gun. So that could be. Sometimes bullets hit bone and, you know, a shot to the center of the chest hitting the sternum might deform the lead to such an extent that it can't be matched in a ballistic test to a particular gun, so that can happen also.
So, there are reasons that the forensic examination conducted at the crime scene and the autopsy itself didn't reveal all of the facts that they would like, even from those forms of investigation.
[20:40:08]
PAUL: All right. Tom Fuentes, always appreciate your insight. Thank you, sir.
FUENTES: You're welcome.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk about this migrant crisis that is happening across Europe now. You know, thousands of refugees are streaming into European countries every day. The question here, how are these countries preparing, are they prepared to take them in? We will ask an expert.
Also in Florida, this poisonous snake, it's poisonous enough to kill an elephant! It's on the loose. We'll have details on the search and relatively where they are searching next.
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PAUL: In Orlando, Florida, this morning. More than Disney World happening there. Authorities and a reality star still searching for this deadly, oh, good heavens! Eight foot long king cobra. Oh, no, no, no!
BLACKWELL: Strong storms here. The flooding. That is what allowed this snake to escape. Elina Machado is following the hunt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's eight feet long, the size of most doorways, not too big as far as king cobras are concerned, but this missing reptile which vanished from an Orlando, Florida animal farm, has venom powerful enough to kill an elephant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are scary. I understand they are very poison and they will attack.
MACHADO: Neighbors on edge and on alert as teams of snake handlers scour the ten-acre property belonging to the cobra's owner, Mike Kennedy.
[20:45:04]
MIKE KENNEDY: There you go. Look at that.
MACHADO: This YouTube video is one of many online showing Kennedy handling snakes, crocodiles and other wild animals. Kennedy, a pilot and host of "Discovery's airplane repo" is also passionate about rescuing exotic pets, telling CNN that he is licensed to own the deadly creatures. Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say the cobra slithered out of its cage following recent strong storms, which Kennedy tells us damaged the building where the reptile was housed. He reported the snake missing on Wednesday, and since then it's been all hands on deck. On Friday, searchers posted this picture on Twitter showing box traps they hope will help capture the cobra which experts say won't be easy.
JEFF CORWIN, HOST, ABC'S "OCEAN MYSTERIES": King cobras have very large home ranges and in this case, this creature despite being very large in size, can quickly disappear in the undergrowth. It literally is trying to find a cobra in a haystack.
MACHADO: Then there is the possibility it will never be found. The thought of that? Unnerving to those who live nearby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That worries me that they will give up and we will never hear any more about it and then what? We just have to like watch every step?
KENNEDY: A severe situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kennedy did not want to talk to CNN on camera, but told us he hasn't had the animal for very long, adding that the cobra is afraid of humans and is more likely to shy away from us than attack. Alina Machado, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Well, that is reassuring.
(L)
BLACKWELL: It's more likely to shy away than to attack.
PAUL: Just watch where you step.
BLACKWELL: This from the guy who lost a snake.
PAUL: Yeah, I know. That is reassuring for sure. All right, still to come, controversial Kentucky clerk Kim Davis waking up in jail this morning as the six couples who got their licenses are celebrating their new lives.
BLACKWELL: While she claims those vows are not valid.
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BLACKWELL: Ten minutes till the top of the hour now. And this morning, thousands of refugees are at the border between Austria and Hungary after a long and desperate journey and they hope to be on their way to Germany, some of them sometime soon. Frankly, they are relieved to be in Austria after what they went through in Budapest. Every day, thousands of them are flooding into Europe from war zones. The E.U. has a pretty high rate of acceptance of asylum seekers. Germany is one of the countries that's welcoming them. Nearly 43,000 refuges have been accepted there so far, and they are now promising to take in more. Let's bring in Bob Kitchen, he is the director of Emergency Preparedness and response for the International Rescue Committee. And Bob, thank you for being with us. I understand you just returned from Greece. Question here. Tens of thousands of people being accepted by Germany and other countries as well. What is happening now? How can they prepare for them? Where are these tens of thousands of people going?
BOB KITCHEN, DIRECTOR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Well, as you said, I just got back from Greece where I saw thousands arriving every day in small rubber boats onto the Island of Lesbos. They are arriving straight from Syria where they have escaped from barrel bombs and chemical attacks and they want to have a better life and to stay free of violence. So they are moving towards these European countries to find that safety.
BLACKWELL: Hungary, which is one of the countries that we have seen has not been willing to accept these migrants who were at the border, we saw them at the station there in Budapest. Can you explain or characterize what these people were going through and why Hungary was not accepting?
KITCHEN: Well, these are people we would all recognize their lives. Previously, they were living in Syria. They had jobs, they owned houses, they rented apartments, they were saving to send their kids to college. They fled this horrible violence, and they are now going on this very, very long journey to seek safety. I'm as a European ashamed that European countries have forgotten where the termin (ph) legal status refuge was created. It was created after the Second World War when organizations like the IRC worked to protect and to help people flee from Nazi-occupied Europe. So, the fact that European countries are now struggling with this concept of welcoming people who are fleeing war is really sad.
BLACKWELL: Contrast the desperation we saw throughout the week. And for more than a week now at the border, at the train station with what we are seeing this morning as people are being applauded as they arrive in Austria. One criticism from authorities in Hungary is that Germany specifically, and other countries, are giving these refuges an unrealistic expectation of what is next. Is there any truth to that? And what should they expect?
KITCHEN: Well, I think, in contrast to that statement, I think that Germany is leading the way, it's showing exemplary leadership in making a decision that the law governing the E.U. around receipt of refugees is not fit for purpose in this huge wave of people fleeing this five-year old war. I think Germany and Austria should be applauded in the welcome they are showing refuges, and I think the other countries in Europe and also the U.S. should step up and accept a fair share. The IRC is advocating that the U.S. accept 65,000 refuges in the coming years to show that we understand that war is horrible and that people deserve and have a right to safety.
BLACKWELL: Yeah. And how tragic that it was a photograph of that young boy, dead on a beach, that some leaders and David Cameron there in the U.K. said it, that after looking at that, many of them had a change of heart. Bob Kitchen, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
KITCHEN: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: We will be right back.
[06:54:35]
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PAUL: Oh, well, Tim Tebow could land a spot on an NFL roster today. Yeah, the Philadelphia Eagles traded their backup quarterback Matt Barclay yesterday, possibly clearing a way for the franchise to sign a 28-year old who put on a solid performance, we are told, on Thursday's. 2007 Heisman trophy winner played briefly for the Denver Broncos and New York jets. The New England Patriots and the jets who released him in 2013. Coy wire, do you think he could be back on the field for NFL team?
COY WIRE: It's looking like that's the case. 4:00 today is the final cut. So we will know whether he's actually going to make it To Eagles, but it looks like he is going to do. Matt Barclay, the team's other third-string quarterback, he was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. So, here you have Tim Tebow, a guy who didn't want to give up his dream, he continues to pursue his passion and after two years being out of the league he has an opportunity to play. We want to know what you think about this. What is your take on this situation? Use #newdaycnn, go to our Facebook page at "New Day" and let us know your thoughts about this. How big of an impact can Tim Tebow have in the league? Do you guys think he can be a difference-maker? How is this story going to play out for Tim Tebow?
PAUL: Real quickly, do you think so?
WIRE: I think this guy can be a difference-maker. This new rule with the two-point conversions and Chip Kelly was known to go for two points in college after a touchdown, so I like what he can bring, and also he is a third-string quarterback who can maybe play special teams for you. I think it's a good keep.
PAUL: We will see. Thank Coy, thank you so much.
WIRE: You're welcome.
PAUL: So much to talk to you about this morning!
BLACKWELL: Yeah, next hour of your "NEW DAY" starts right now.
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