neighbor more than 40 years ago. will he walk free? your "new day" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. good morning. welcome to "new day," it's thursday, october 24th, 6:00 in the east. a lot going on this morning, including the mystery in massachusetts. why did a 14-year-old student kill a popular young teacher? we have new video this morning of that teacher and new information on the investigation. the entire city of boston rocked by the turn of events here, even a moment of silence at last night's world series game. plus, a powerful interview in our next hour, the story of matthew cordle in an online video confession he admitted to killing a man while driving drunk. in a jailhouse interview, cordle is talking to us on the first day of his 6 1/2-year sentence.

does he regret his confession? does he feel his sentence is fair? all of that coming up. we have to show you this picture. it is not photo shop. it is a real play during a college football game. notre dame running back's helmet gets knocked off. it's not hard to see why this picture is going viral. i've lived the words smoldering eyes have been used on twitter. >> if you watch the rest of the hit it may have been shock by the way. first up we want to talk about the capitol hill hot seat. today the private contractors who built the botched obama care website will answer tough questions from congress. but before members can fire off the first question we already know the answer. don't blame us. let's bring in jim acosta. he's live at the white house. the hearing is already making headlines because of who won't be showing up, right? >> that's right, chris. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius won't be at today's hearing on capitol hill, instead, it will be the private contractors that

helped build the obama care website that will be on the hot seat as you just mentioned. meanwhile, according to an insurance industry insider, some of the nation's top health insurers knew about the techniqcal issues but failed to tell the white house the full scope of the problems. with the obama care finger pointing shifting into high gear, the private contractors that built the troubled healthcare.gov website are already saying don't blame us. still, they're offering conflicting stories of what went wrong and prepare testimony before today's hearing at the house energy and commerce committee. while one executive is expected to say the site passed eight required technical reviews prior to going live on october 1st, another contractor says a late decision requiring consumers to register for an account before they could browse for insurance products is behind some of the problems. not only do house republicans want answers -- >> it's our job to hold them

accountable. when it comes to obama care, clearly there's an awful lot that has to be held accountable. >> reporter: it's inexcusable. somebody ought to get fired. >> kathleen sebelius? >> no. they should wait and get the thing up and running and then determine and let somebody be accountable. >> reporter: a health insurance industry insider tells cnn contractor officials at the department of health and human services knew about the problems. that insider says no one wanted to go to the white house and say to the president that your signature legislative achievement may not go so well. but white house officials insist the president wasn't intentionally kept in the dark. >> we did not know until the problems manifested themselves after the launch that they would be as significant as they have turned out to be. >> reporter: hhs secretary kathleen sebelius told cnn the president did not know about the problems until after the site was fully launched.

>> well, i think it became clear fairly early on, the first couple of days. >> not before that, though? >> no, sir. >> reporter: all the more reason, republicans say, for the president to hold somebody accountable. >> the president himself seems embarrassed by it. if he's not going to resign over this mess, he ought to decide who should. >> reporter: later today the administration is trying something new, holding daily briefings on the progress in terms of fixing the obama care website. one thing we should also point out, the department of health and human services is trying to clear up some of the confusion as to when americans have to sign up for insurance in order to avoid that penalty from the irs, hhs says that deadline is march 31st. circle that on your calendar, kate, march 31st. >> showing how tough this whole situation is, it's even confusing if that's a change of the previous stance of the administration or how the law prescribed it. we'll talk more about that one later. >> sounds good. >> thanks so much, jim.

tough questions surrounding obama care. here's another tough question for you. where did fall go? the very real possibility of snow this morning, people from the plains all the way down the east coast are dealing with lower than normal temperatures. george howell is in a chilly chicago this morning. >> reporter: kate, good morning. i guess you have to get past the denial, accept the fact that it is cold here, a chilly 37 degrees here in the windy city and from midwest to the northeast and even parts of the south, chances are you'll see it change as well. grab the winter coats, shovels and ice scrapers, the season's first deep freeze is on its way. a blast of brisk winter-like temperatures swept over boston's fenway park just in time for game one of the world series. the opening pitch, slicing through 48 degree air, making it the third coldest start to the fall classic, a surge of cold air from canada will sweep

across the great lakes region, triggering lake-effect snow and frigid temperatures just in time for the weekend. as much as a foot of snow could fall in new york state, just east of lake ontario. charleston, west virginia is gearing up for the impending snowfall. while residents in ohio and shoppers in wisconsin fled from the flurries. mean while, residents down south are keeping their eye on the first hard freeze of the season. bad news for farmers and their crops. frigid temperatures are expected to coat several states with frost from missouri across to the carolinas, as this system moves east, a taste of winter before trick or treaters even hit the streets. so here in the city of chicago, we saw traceable snow just a few days ago, last year, it wasn't until november that we saw snow. so colder temperatures, snow, scarves, you know, this just may be the new normal. we have to get used to it,

chris. >> a new normal. what an odd application. i never thought it would go to snow, george. i guess that's where we are today. a different story, danvers high school in massachusetts is open only for grief counseling as teachers and students deal with the murder of a teacher. the suspect, a 14-year-old student, the new kid few people knew. cnn's pamela brown is in danvers with the latest. what do we know so far. >> reporter: good morning to you, chris. i've been speaking with colleen ritzer's childhood best friend and have spoken to her long-time teacher and it's clear they are just devastated by her loss and say it just does not make sense. right now we have more questions than answers, mainly why a 24-year-old math teacher would be killed. allegedly at the hands of one of her own students.

>> i'm colleen ritzer. >> reporter: known for her infectious smile and bubbly personality, this exclusive archive video shows colleen ritzer as a tv production student in high school. >> the entire room would light up. >> reporter: her best friend since kindergarten was living her childhood dream of being a math teacher. >> she was talking about how this year was such a good year. she was teaching freshmen. they seemed enthusiastic and she was happy. >> reporter: her life cut short, her body left outside the school where she loved to teach. >> i don't know what the world is like without her. it's a scary, scary thought. >> reporter: the loss felt by an entire community. students and colleagues at danvers high school says her enthusiasm was limitless, spilling over on to her twitter, facebook and blog. >> she was always the teacher to go the extra mile. >> reporter: why would one the her own students, 14-year-old

phillip chism alleged lly assau her to death. chism went missing after school on wednesday. the teen was found in a nearby town, the teacher's body discovered sometime later in the woods behind our school. >> she's the last person to hurt anybody. obviously she was defenseless. >> reporter: investigators allege chism incriminated himself on videos. there was blood found in a second floor bathroom. a source close to the investigation says chism went to the movies after allegedly killing ritzer. as a new student chism was making strides as a soccer player. >> nothing out of the ordinary. just quiet, normal kid. >> reporter: ritzer's best friend still coming to grips with this tragedy. >> something like this doesn't happen to someone like colleen. someone who is so good and so pure. you know?

it's not fair. >> and back live here you can see the candles lining up on the sidewalk. this was from a vigil last night. there were crowds of students, faculty, friends of colleen coming here to grieve and to show their support. you know, this is certainly a community going through a very, very tough time right now. in fact, danvers high school will be closed today but there will beography counselors on hand to talk with any parents or students that would need some extra help in the wake of this tragedy. also, the prosecutor's office has indicated that it wants to try chism as an adult. at this point that decision will be up to the grand jury. we will keep you updated on any new developments. chris and kate. >> all right, pamela, thank you so much. the few details coming out making it all the more

confounding how this happened to this wonderful teacher. let's go to michaela for the headlines. making news, the obama administration saying the u.s. did not monitor german chancellor merkel's cell phone. merkel called president obama wednesday saying it would be a serious breach of trust but a white house spokesperson says the president assured her it was not true. germany has summoned the u.s. ambassador to discuss these allegations. first reported by a magazine. major flight delay hitting passengers of spirit airlines. customers at ft. lauderdale international saying they've been told the faa deemed several spirit airlines jets unsafe for flight and are doing some sudden inspections. we're told some passengers have been waiting for hours to get on their planes. the airline only saying there are maintenance delays but not confirming the reason. the bernie madoff fraud case could be coming back to bite jp morgan chase.

prosecutors think the company was aware of the ponzi scheme but looked the other way. "the new york times" reporting the feds are ready to make a deal, slapping the bank with fines and other concessions but backing off federal charges. jp morgan claims its staff acteded in good faith in the madoff case. cordle now knows his fate, a judge sentencing cordle to 6 1/2 years in prison with no early release and his license was suspended for life. prosecutors pushed for the maximum eight-year sentence and then backed off. chris cuomo will spec with matthew cordle in our next hour. a medical first in mississippi, a 3-year-old little girl born with the hiv virus, she appears to be in remission and may be cured. at first doctors were skeptical that the girl was even infected in the womb but a new report confirms she was. because of unusually aggressive treatments she received, she is no longer showing signs of

infections and has been off hiv mcs for 18 months. this is obviously a story they'll watch and a case they'll watch and see if there's something they can do to make this more than one child. >> absolutely. >> really interesting development. >> thanks, michaela. >> you're welcome. we've been talking about the cool temperatures in part of the country this morning. karen mcginnis is in for indra petersons. how's it looking everywhere? >> the deep freeze, a continuation of that over the next several days, we see very little in the way of moderation, even by the weekend. take, for instance, cleveland, the temperatures should be typically around 60 degrees this time of year. only in the 40s now. 40s in chicago. a little bit of snow, a couple of days ago. by saturday, it should be 50 degrees but even then the temperatures close to 10 degrees below where it should be for this time of year. and new york city, temperatures running a good 10 to 15 degrees below normal there as well. bessemer, michigan, in the past 24 hours we saw 6 inches of

snowfall. lesser amounts wrapped around the great lakes. we have an area of low pressure moving through the great lakes. that kicks up the wind. some of the wind may gust as high as 40 miles an hour later on today. cleveland, 14 degrees below normal. new york city, only 54 degrees for this afternoon but with the brisk wind, it's going to make it feel a whole lot colder we'll be back with another look at your weather coming up in about 20 minutes from now. chris, kate, back to you. >> thank you so much. coming up on "new day," a murder mystery 38 years in the making. it was halloween in 1975 that martha moxley was killed. you're looking at michael skakel, the kennedy cousin. he's been in jail for a decade. a judge just said he deserves a new trial. we'll tell you why and tell you the chances, if it sticks or not. and oh, what a photograph. a notre dame running back getting quite a lot of attention for this amazing picture. we'll have the story behind that face, coming up.

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welcome back to "new day," everyone. let's get to new developments in a high-profile murder case involving a legendary political family. a judge ordering a new trial for kennedy cousin michael skakel. his attorney says he'll try to get him released from prison on bond in the meantime. deborah feyerick is covering the developments. you covered the trial the first time around. amazing turn of events. >> the judge who tossed aside the conviction said that skakel's lawyer at the time failed to create any reasonable doubt that someone else who had been wandering the neighborhood actually killed martha moxley, somebody that perhaps had greater motive, somebody in fact

related to michael skakel. >> let's go. >> reporter: convicted murderer michael skakel, nephew to ethel and robert kennedy has been granted a stunning new trial. >> i think everybody who knows michael is overjoyed with it. we actually, my family, prays every night for michael skakel. >> reporter: skakel's attorneys argued that his original defense lawyer, mickey sherman failed to adequately represent him in court during the 2002 murder trial. >> i felt that one of the main things we needed was a professional. >> reporter: the kennedy cousin was found guilty of killing his friend, martha moxley in 1975, when both were 15 years old. her mother dorothy doesn't believe there's any new evidence. >> once we knew who it was, once we had the proof, i have not had one bit of doubt, no. >> reporter: moxley's body was found in her yard in greenwich, connecticut, bludgeon and

stabbed to death by a broken golf club found near her body. that club was traced back to the skakel home. but no fingerprints were found. >> they hit her so hard the golf club broke and then they took the shaft and stabbed her with it. >> reporter: for two decades, the case languished. >> everyone assumes he's guilty. he's been arrested, he's this kennedy cousin, there's books, movies, a lot of spin, a lot of disinformation and no one really knows the story. >> reporter: prosecutors claim skakel was jealous of his brother tommy's relationship with moxley and killed her in a jealous rage, a charge michael denied. at trial, skakel's lawyer failed to lay out the case against tommy or other potential suspects. michael was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years to life. >> i do believe michael skakel kill my daughter. i don't believe there's any doubt in that. >> reporter: i covered the trial in 2002. the closing argument by prosecutors was powerful, using michael skakel's own words from

a book proposal, actually placed him at every point at the murder scene and the crime route. still, the judge says skakel's lawyers had a chance to ban that from being introduced into evidence yet failed to do so. the brothers that night had actually gone to a club and had been drinking heavily. chris. >> thank you so much. now, one of the parts of the intrigue is a lot of the information in this decision has been around. so why now and what will it mean going forward? let's bring in legal analyst paul kallen, a former new york city homicide prosecutor, knows these situations very well. glad to have you with us. >> nice being with you, chris. >> why is this happening now? do you believe it sticks and there is a retrial? >> everybody about this case is unusual. the trial occurs in 2002 but the murder was in 1975. this case has gone up on appeal a number of times and a number of connecticut courts, including the connecticut supreme court,

has upheld the conviction in the past and now out left field, we've got a new decision by another appellate court saying an unfair trial occurred and michael skakel deserves a new trial. it's really a shocker in a lot of ways. >> you think it winds up in a retrial? >> hard to say. this case was razor thin in terms of the strength of the evidence at the original trial. very, very hard to prove a case that's 25, 27 years old which is what it was at the time of the first trial. will prosecutors be able to put it back together for a retrial? i think it will be tough. one of the key witnesses, a guy named coleman is already dead. that's one of the reasons the judge reversed it. his testimony that skakel admitted to the murder in a rehab program was a key piece of evidence in the case. and the judge said, hey, it was unfair to use that evidence. >> one of the interesting things as a twist here to keep in mind, it's not about new evidence. it's about infective counsel. that is one of the few things that will overcome prejudice and

expense to the prosecution. it's an interesting basis for retrial. when we look at basis, one of the things this judge says is, you know, all through the appeals when you follow the record of this, the judge says they could have looked at this through due diligence. this isn't new evidence. why wasn't infective counsel brought up then? were they saving this? what is your thought? >> it's a strange situation. this say lesson for attorneys who think they want to handle a high profile case. mickey sherman, one of the most famous attorneys in connecticut, highly respected by members of the bar, not only in connecticut but across the country, at the end of this case, mickey sherman winds up in jail on tax charges. he was suspended from the bar. he was largely destroyed professionally. as a result of it. now, of course, this decision rips mickey sherman apart, says he's a totally incompetent attorney. yes, why is this being brought up now for the first time? why wasn't it brought up in the original appeals?

everybody knew what the defense was. it's really kind of late in the game to be bringing this up. but that happens frequently in what we call habeas corpus petitions which is what this is. >> you have the body, let's present the body. there were two levels after pale to come. the big factors, though, that i think we'll hear from and i want to get your approval on this is, one, there was a cop on that jury who knew the investigators. why would you do that? that's beginning to be an issue to review that hasn't really been vetted by the courts yet. the second will be that it does point finger at his cousin a lot of the things in this decision. what will that mean to the family? we've seen that the kennedys don't want this to keep extending into their own family. it's a balancing test. michael skakel gets a new trial, maybe another skakel winds up being in the crosshairs. we can't forget, a big part of the prosecution is that michael skakel said he did it. >> they say he said he did it.

michael skakel was taken to a rehab program in maine, a really tough boot camp kind of programs where they yell and scream at you in therapy sessions. he was frequently accused of the murder in therapy sessions. and many times said i blacked -- i was drinking that night, i don't know if i did it. then finally they got a witness, this guy coleman who said i heard him say and admit that he was the murderer. that's what finally break the case in favor of the prosecution. >> you also said he was an heroin when he relayed that testimony about skakel but later on said even though i was on heroin, i still stand to it. >> what's interesting is that mickey sherman was so confident effectively discredited this guy when he cross-examined him at a preliminary hearing, he chose not to go into it in more detail at the trial. that was criticized by the judge here. the over thing you raise is critical. that is, there's a claim in this decision that mickey sherman, the attorney should have blamed

thomas skakel for the murder. >> yes. >> another family member. now, a lot of attorneys would think blaming another family member, another skakel for the murder as your defense might turn on the defendant and make him look bad. i'd like to know why sherman decided not to go with that strategy. it's not clear in the decision. >> highly unusual. we'll follow it going forward. >> pleasure, chris. >> kate, over to you. >> thanks so much. coming up next on "new day," in the hot seat, questions today for the considerers who worked on the obama care website. the first of what could be many capitol hill hearings set to begin in just hours. john king will be here with our political gut check. and also breaking his silence, we talk with an ohio man set to spend the next 6 1/2 years of his life in prison after admitted to driving drunk in an online video confession, coming up.

welcome back. it's thursday, october 24th. time now for our political gut check of the morning. congressional republicans today leading the hearings on the troubled obama care rollout. contractors who worked on the site are expected to testify. what answers will we get on what went wrong and what they're going to do to fix it now? that's a good question. let's go to cnn's chief national correspondent john king for answers, joining us from boston today. these hearings, this is what will be a series of hearings in both the house and senate trying to look at the problems of the obama care rollout. what are you expecting that we will actually learn from the hearings? they threaten to be more political theater than

substance. >> you just hit the nail on the head. in terms of consumers, kate, they want to know when will the problems be fixed? when will it be easier to find out what the changes are in the health care laws and what they'll do to consumers and families. the question is how political does this become? you see in the leadup to this hearing, a lot of republicans when they bring in the contractors, the people hired to build the website, they want to know how much did the white house know about the problems? some republicans are suggesting it was somehow white house meddling that caused the problems, that the white house was trying to hide the price tag or other issues about obama care and somehow told them to redesign the website at the last minute. the white house says that's flatly not true. that will be one of the lines of questioning. when you watch the republicans questioning the contractors, how much is what went wrong and how much is trying to trace it back to the white house somehow. >> exactly. as this is happening there's a growing list of democrats who are coming out to publicly call for either a delay in that penalty that some americans will

feel if they don't get insurance or an extension of the enrollment period. the white house, the administration, hasn't given any indication they're ready to go that route yet if they would at all. is that a growing problem then for the white house that their own democrats are coming out saying this? >> it's absolutely a growing problem. you already have republicans saying let's add further delays or let's add -- extend deadlines or waive when the penalty would take effect or push it down the road. the republicans expect it. you have joe manchin, gene shaheen, democrat of new hampshire, mark pryor of arkansas, what do they have in common? they're on the ballot in 2014. if the administration starts losing more democrats, we'll watch out this plays out. we started talking about the debt ceiling and the government shutdown. they cut that deal. they have to come back. remember in two or three months as they negotiate the budget and debt ceiling once again, there will be a vehicle for republicans could come back with

their grievances. if they have enough democrats, watch out. >> as all of this is happening the president is come out to turn attention back to immigration reform. i mean, when you think about how it seems the political environment has only gotten worse in the past month since we've been talking about the shutdown and the debt ceiling, when you look at that political environment, do you think there is any chance that the congress and the president can come together to agree on immigration bill by the end of the year as they want? >> it is so hard to see them getting to something that the president would actually sign. speaker john boehner said yet again he's willing to bring an immigration bill to the floor. the question is what would be in a republican immigration bill in the house of representatives? how close would it get to what the president wants in terms of a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million or so illegal immigrants in the united states? after watching what we just went through with the tea party, et cetera, the conservative house of representatives passed something that goes far enough for the president to sign. very hard to see that road map today.

however, remember, it is in the republican party's self-interest to try to deal with their problem with latino voters. that is the only thing the president has in his favor, leaders want to do something in the republican party. given the politics we've seen in recent weeks can they do enough that the president will sign something or will the president in the end say that's not enough and carry the issue into 2014 and beyond? >> that's a good question. i have to rib you, though. you couldn't join us in new york again, oh, of course you had to be in boston. congratulations on the wig bin last night. >> that's one. we need four. october baseball is alive and well in the greatest city on earth. >> you look happier than i've seen you in a while. >> only one. need four. >> thank you, john. love it. the man loves his baseball as you love your football. let's get over to michaela for some of the other big stories today. it will be cold much of everywhere. a cold snap is gripping much of the nation from the plans to the east coast, frost and snow in

some places. snowing in columbus, ohio overnight. wisconsin as much as 3 inches on the ground. more could be on the way. meanwhile, west virginia received its first significant snowfall of the season. forecasters say temperatures are 10 to 15 degrees colder than normal. they are mourning in massachusetts after a 24-year-old math teacher was found debt in the woods near her high school. a 14-year-old student is charged with her murder. friends and former students say colleen ritzer was a dedicated teacher and those who knew the suspect philip chism says he was a nice person, quiet and shy. dozens of brush fires in new south wales still raging this morning. so far more than 200 homes have been destroyed in australia. officials now confirming a water bombing plane has crashed south of sydney, killing the pilot and igniting a new fire. australian officials are also investigating the military. it's believed one of their exercises using live ammunition

ignited the destructive state mine fire that's still burning this morning. and the murder trial a utah doctor accused of killing his wife, the youngest daughter of martin macneill may testify against her father as early as today. on wednesday, a doctor testified that macneill offered him $10,000 to keep trying to resuscitate his wife. michele macneill was already dead, the doctor said. more and more americans could be entering their retirement years in the red. a study from a firm called hello wallet looked at people who have accounts like 401(k)s. it found a majority in their 40s and 50s are still racking up debt when they should be more focused on saving money and retirement. the end result could be a much lower standard of living. things to be mindful of on this thursday, michaela tells herself as she reads this story. >> tricky analysis, though. the reason a lot of those people are still racking up debt is

because they're living on credit. they still have mortgages, still paying off credit cards. you know, that's part of the financial reality for a lot of people. it's not like you could stop if you wanted to. >> in this latest downturn has forced people to have to rely on that. >> that's what happened in the recession. everybody got blamed. you live on credit too much. it's easy for some banker to say. but when you're on margins that's what credit is about. >> you do what you have to do to survive. >> we're seeing the savings rate going down, seeing the amount people hold on cards going down. let's take a break on "new day." when we come back, remember the girl in ireland taken from her fami family, dna testing shows the authorities were wrong. the question is, were they also prejudice? we'll look into it. a new cnn film blackfish premieres tonight. has a lot of people talking. we'll take a closer look at one

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let's go around the world where a 7-year-old girl is back with her family after being taken away by police. erin mclaughlin is in dublin. >> over a dozen police turn up on your door step and take you away from your parents. that's exactly what happened after an anonymous tip that a blond haired blue eyed girl was living with a roma family on the outskirts of dublin. dna tests later showed they took her away from her biological family. she's since been returned. questions persist as to whether or not the roma are being

unfairly targeted in ireland. back to you, kate. >> erin, thank you. to rome now where silvio berlusconi is in legal trouble yet again. he's now accused of bribery. ben wedeman reports from rome. >> reporter: silvio berlusconi is going back to court again, this time charged with corruption. specifically for paying an italian senator 3 million euro, more than $4 million, to switch sides and thus bring down the government of his opponents back in 2008. berlusconi has been sentenced and convicted for tax fraud and is separately appealing convictions for paying for sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of power. he's also the subject of an investigation involving prostitutes, government contracts and tampering with the course of justice and for all of the above, mr. berlusconi insists he's completely innocent. back to you, kate.

>> all right, ben, thank you so much for that. another day, another accusation against the former prime minister. let's tell you a story about a killer whale. in 2010, a veteran sea world trainer was pulled into the water and drowned by a killer whale she had worked with for years. the death wasn't the first connected with this orca, or the second, it was the third. it was the trigger for a new cnn film black fish that premieres tonight on cnn. martin savage went to western canada to understand the history of a killer whale that lived up to its name. >> reporter: colin baird grew up on the southern tip where he worked at sealand of the pacific. >> i would go after school and weekends growing up. and just thought that's how everybody grew up. >> reporter: sealand of the pacific used to be here where this marina is now. there's nothing left of the old place. it was an oceanarium, an

aquarium that was built in the ocean, nets separated the animals, the seals, the sea lions and the stars, the killer whales. baird eventually became a trainer working with the three killer whales, his favorite, a small male named tillikum. >> was easy to work with and easy going. he learned quickly and well. >> reporter: among the other trainers, 20-year-old marine biology student kielty burn. she had just finished a show with the killer whales when she slipped and fell into their enclose your, baird arrived minutes later. >> the three orcas were surprised that one of their trainers seemingly jumped into the pool, although fallen and they were sort of excited about that. it was something completely out of the norm. >> reporter: witnesses say the whales, including tillikum kept burn from reaching the sides, repeatedly pulling her under the frigid water. >> they couldn't get her and

finally she didn't come up anymore. >> reporter: baird, a trained diver, volunteered to go and retrieve burns body. >> the co-workers suffered drown in some way related to the animals that are now in the tank that you are about to go in with. >> yes. this wasn't a malicious attack. it was an accident. >> reporter: the coroner's inquest listing burns death as drowning due to or a consequence of the forced emersion by orca or killer whales. she was the first trainer ever killed. >> oh, my goodness. it was awful. it was awful for everybody. people in general just couldn't believe what had happened right here in our own backyard. >> reporter: not long after sealand shut down. tillikum wald sold to sea world in orlando. >> a 27-year-old man found dead in a killer whale's tank. >> reporter: a man's body was found draped naked on tillikum's

back one morning. how the man got there sea world couldn't say. then in 2010 he pulled brancho into the water to her death. now three decades and three deaths later, he definitely does. >> do you blame him? >> i don't blame him, no. these would never have happened if he had been left in the north atlantic. >> reporter: martin savage, cnn, victoria, british columbia. >> cnn's film "black phish" premieres tonight, 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. we'll take a break on "new day." the boston red sox getting it done in game one of the world series. the highlights, coming up. got to show you a piece of video i -- it's not the same video. can we look at this guy for a second? is he not the most photogenic

football player you've ever seen? >> when does football become a sport that mainly women like. it's when a guy looks like this. >> great picture. we'll tell you all about it. >> it's good for the game. >> we have a special guest telling us about this, live in studio. not this guy, though, but almost as good looking. >> that's a good tease.

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fenway park rocking last night. the red sox came out on fire. crushed the cardinals in game one of the world series. andy scholes joins us with more in this morning's bleacher report. if you win game one, favorite? >> yes, you're definitely the favorite. you have the 1-0 lead.

if you win big time like the red sox did in game one, even more of a favorite. seems like that team always goes on to win the world series. definitely was cold last night in boston but the red sox bats were red hot. >> did the red sox play better or did the cards lose the game. >> it looked like the cardinals were sleepwalking, fly ball dropped in between the pitcher and catcher. the red sox were definitely the better team last night. >> boston strong. >> boston strong, they had that going for them. it started off with a controversy. this double play that the cardinals were going for, they called it an out at second base. take another look. red sox manager comes out and argued it. the umpires did huddle and got it right. >> that's all you can ask for. >> they'll have instant replay next year. they don't have to worry about if they get it right or not. this happens on the very next play to the cardinals, a double into the gap. all three runs come in to score.

the bad night got even worse. it could have been much, much worse, guys. 4-0 in the second inning. could have been 8-0. big papi gets ahold of this one. beltran reaches over into the bull pen, catches it. good news there. beltran, see him there, holding the ribs. bruised ribs. had to leave the game. >> he got the catch. >> big papi gets his revenge. look at this. >> true or false, andy, there they're only playing better because of the beards? >> you have to go true. there's a lot of factors. hey, the beards. >> the red sox get game one, 8-1. game two tonight, cardinals, you have to think they have to win this one if they want to have a chance of winning the series. >> they're fighting against a city with so much momentum. even people who don't root for the red sox you have to root for boston right now. >> sentimental favorites right now. >> you just want a good series, isn't that what you're supposed

to say? >> no. tell us about the hampton guy. >> check it it out. this is from the usc/notre dame game this weekend. cam mcdaniel gets his helmet ripped off midplay and a photographer grabs this picture. i thought it was photo shopped when i first saw it. >> it looks photo shopped. he has the bicep going. >> smoldering eyes. >> there's literally a twinkle in his eye. >> the man says he has the bicep going. the women say smoldering eyes. >> you have to see twitter with flames on this. this is fantastic. >> a 300-pound lineman taking you down, look at his face, stone cold. looks like he's posing for "gq." once the helmet comes off, the play is supposed to end. maybe he knew that. >> can we say andy scholes first time on the "new day" set. >> it's great to have him in person. >> better looking in person. >> you make me blush so much. i'm all leaving --

>> i'll make you feel better. want to stay around for a must-see moment? >> yes. >> check this out. look at this video. ♪ ghost busters >> terrifying. >> 22-month-old zoe showing off her awesome new stick figure halloween stick costume. he made it himself use be led lights and velcro. this is the best costume ever. upload a tutorial on how parents can do this. >> the poor thing is why is everyone running away from me. >> give mom the shoutout. the things we do. mom there is all in the dark, running forward. watch mom. she has the key light. she runs down. >> the kid is like, mom.

>> probably scared. he's in a dark alley. >> why is everybody running away from me. >> there's a dark side to this tale. this child is now terrified of the dark. >> our must-see moment with andy scholes. >> good stuff, my friend. coming up on "new day," the battle over the obama care website fiasco. it's heating up. contractors on capitol hill today, they're saying it's not their fault that the site isn't working. if that's true, whose fault is it? we're live in washington, looking for ans. the other big story we're following with, a high school teacher murdered, a student accused of the crime. we go to massachusetts for the latest on that investigation, coming up. (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life.

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\s it's our job to hold them accountable. when it comes to obama care. >> the investigation begins, congressional hearings start today into what went wrong with the affordable care act rollout. private contractors involved with the launch tell cnn officials knew just how problematic it was. >> spy games, germany's chancellor calls out president obama after claims the u.s. tapped her personal cell phone. the tense conversation between the two leaders, just the latest fallout among reports the u.s. is spying on its allies. breaking his silence, the young man who made that dramatic online confession of killing a man while driving drunk has been sentenced. he talks to "new day" this morning. your "new day" starts right now. >> announcer: what you need to know -- >> the united states is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor. >> announcer: what you just have

to see. this is "new day" with chris cuomo, kate bolduan and michaela pereira. >> good morning, welcome to "new day," it's thursday, october 24th. 7:00 in the east. coming up this hour, matthew cordle. the man who killed someone in a dui and confessed in a video, he got more than six years in prison. he could have gotten eight. question is what is fair here? and does cordle now regret making that viral video confessing to the crime? he's going to break his silence and we'll ask him these questions right ahead. plus, a scandal surrounding a kennedy cousin resurfacing. michael skakel has been locked away for more than ten years for killing a friend, martha moxley, back then they were just teenagers. now he's getting a new trial and he might get out of prison. a justice bombshell here. did anyone see this coming? it would appear winter has leap frogged over fall in some

parts of the nation. many americans barely having time for their pumpkin spice lattes when this freezing temperatures, even snow barged in. we'll show you where they're getting out the winter clothes early. >> don't blame us. this is coming from politicians. this is coming from private contractors who built the botched obama care website. they're going to be on capitol hill today. they're going to be part of the congressional hearings into what's going on down there. let's bring in senior white house correspondent jim acosta. the woman at the center of the healthcare.gov debacle, sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, not there today. what does that mean. >> she'll be in arizona later today tour an obama care call center, so she won't be on capitol hill testifying, chris, instead it will be the private contractors that helped build the obama care website that willing on the hot seat up on capitol hill. meanwhile, an insurance industry

insider tells cnn that the nation's toll health insurers knew about the obama care website's issues before they emerged but that officials at the department of health and human services failed to tell the white house about the full scope of the problems. with the obama care finger pointing shifting into high gear, the private contractors that built the troubled healthcare.gov website are already saying don't blame us. still, they're offering conflicting stories of what went wrong and prepare testimony before today's hearing at the house energy and commerce committee. while one executive is expected to say the site passed eight required technical reviews prior to going live on october 1st, another contractor says a late decision requiring consumers to register for an account before they could browse for insurance products is behind some of the problems. not only do house republicans want answers -- >> it's our job to hold them accountable. when it comes to obama care, clearly there's an awful lot that has to be held accountable.

>> reporter: some of president obama's fellow democrats want heads to roll. >> it's inexcusable. somebody ought to get fired. >> kathleen sebelius? >> no. they should wait and get the thing up and running and then determine and let somebody be accountable. >> reporter: a health insurance industry insider tells cnn contractors and officials at the department of health and human services knew about the site's problems but gave a far rosier picture to the white house. that insider says no one wanted to go to the white house and say to the president that your legislative -- signature legislative achievement may not go so well. but white house officials insist the president wasn't intentionally kept in the dark. >> we did not know until the problems manifested themselves after the launch that they would be as significant as they have turned out to be. >> reporter: hhs secretary kathleen sebelius told cnn the president did not know about the problems until after the site was fully launched. >> well, i think it became clear fairly early on, the first couple of days. >> not before that, though? >> no, sir.

>> reporter: all the more reason, republicans say, for the president to hold somebody accountable. >> the president himself seems embarrassed by it. if he's not going to resign over this mess, he ought to decide who should. >> reporter: later today the administration is trying something new, holding briefings on the progress in terms of fixing the obama care website. meanwhile, the department of health and human services is trying to clear up confusion about the deadline for americans to buy insurance so they don't have to pay a penalty to the irs. that deadline initially was thought by some people to be february 15th. they say, no, its march 31st. circumstance that'll date on your calendar, kate. it is march 31st. that's what the administration is saying. >> seems like this may not be the end of the confusion we'll be discussing in the coming weeks. chances are you'll want to wear an extra layer or two this morning when you head out. it is chilly and brisk in the

northeast. george howell is trying to stay warm in chicago. you've got to love these assignments, george. how's it going. >> hard to stay warm, kate. chilly 37 degrees here in the windy city. i can tell you, it feels like it here. and from the midwest to the northeast and parts of the south, chances are you'll see a change, too. grab the winter coats, shovels and ice scrapers. the season's first deep freeze is on its way. a blast of brisk winter-like temperatures swept over boston's fenway park just in time for game one of the world series. the opening pitch, slicing through 48 degree air, making it the third coldest start to the fall classic. a surge of cold air from canada will sweep across the great lakes region, triggering lake-effect snow and frigid temperatures, just in time for the weekend. as much as a foot of snow could fall in new york state. just east of lake ontario. charleston, west virginia, is gearing up for the impending

snowfall. while residents in ohio and shoppers in wisconsin fled from the flurries. meanwhile, residents down south are keeping their eye on the first hard freeze of season. bad news for farmers and their crops. frigid temperatures are expected to coat several states with frost from missouri across to the carolinas. as this system moves east, a taste of winter before trick or treaters even hit the streets. so just a few days ago here in chicago, we saw traceable snow on the ground, just last year, it wasn't until november until that happened. so look, you have the cold temperatures, you've got snow, scarfs are back. it's time to get ready for this, the cold weather seems to be back. >> and a nice scarf that is that you got this morning, george. >> thanks, chris. >> hold it tight. stay warm, stay inside until the next hit. appreciate reporting this morning. >> i'll do it. there was a moment of silence at fenway park for

colleen ritzer, too many questions surround the young math teacher's violent death. her body was found tuesday in the woods near danvers high school. the suspect, a 14-year-old student who just moved to the area. cnn's pamela brown is in danvers with the latest. good morning, pamela. >> reporter: good morning to you, chris. as this investigation continues, there are more questions than answers. mainly why ritzer, a beloved 24-year-old math teacher was killed allegedly at the hands of one of her own students. her best friend since childhood spoke to us and says that she's devastated by this and says that none of this makes sense. >> i'm colleen ritzer. >> reporter: known for her infectious smile and bubbly personality, this exclusive archive video shows colleen rittri ritzer as a production student.

>> her smile, the entire room would light up. >> reporter: her best friend since kindergarten was living her childhood dream of being a math teacher. >> she was talking about how this year was such a good year. she was teaching freshmen. they seemed enthusiastic and she was happy. >> reporter: her life cut short, her body left outside the school where she loved to teach. >> i don't know what the world is like without her. it's a scary, scary thought. >> reporter: the loss felt by an entire community. students and colleagues at danvers high school say her enthusiasm was limitless, spilling over on to her twitter, facebook and her blog. >> she was always the teacher to go the extra mile for students. >> reporter: why would one the her own students, 14-year-old philip chism allegedly assault and beat her to death. >> the defendant wish to have services to evaluate him. >> reporter: chism went missing after school tuesday. adding to the mystery, ritzer's family reported she hadn't returned home that night. the teen was found in a nearby town, the teacher's body discovered sometime later in the

woods behind her school. >> she's the last person to hurt anybody. obviously she was defenseless. >> reporter: investigators allege chism incriminated himself in police interviews. and there was evidence on video cameras from danvers high school as well as blood found in a second floor bathroom. a source close to the investigation says chism went to the movies after allegedly killing ritzer. as a new student at danvers, chism was making strides as a soccer player. >> nothing out of the ordinary. just quiet, normal kid. >> reporter: ritzer's best friend still coming to grips with this tragedy. >> something like this doesn't happen to someone like colleen. someone who is so good and so pure. you know? it's not fair. >> reporter: back live here, you can see this memorial left here for colleen ritzer. there was a vigil last night. you see candles and ribbons and people have been coming out here ever since the news of her death, trying to pay their respects. meantime, as for chism, the prosecution indicates that it

intends to try him as an adult but that decision is ultimately up to the grand jury. chris and kate. >> all right. pamela, thanks so much. it's clear that her friends and that community still in just complete shock over what's happened there. thank you so much for that. let's go over to michaela for more of the morning's headlines. >> good morning to you. making news, huge delays for hundreds of passengers at ft. lauderdale international airport. spirit airlines says it is conducting a voluntary maintenance check on its planes, following an engine failure on one of its aircraft last week. those who were supposed to be on flights were stuck for hours. we're toll the last flight taking off a little while ago, more than eight hours late. a california sheriff's deputy shoots and kills a 13-year-old boy thinking he was carrying an assault rifle. turns out he had two weapons but they were both fake. deputies in santa rosa say andy lopez cruz was carrying a replica ak-47 and fake handgun. the boy's family and friends are

calling it unnecessary violence by jumpy cops. police are now investigating. a judge in could kol ordering the release of the 1999 grand jury indictment in the death of 6-year-old jonbenet ramsey. it could shed new light on the decision not to charge her parents, john and patsy ramsey. major win for the government. bank of america found liable for fraud. the verdict is over shoddy home mortgages sold by the countrywide unit and turned around and sold to fannie mae and freddie mac. a former countrywide executive was also found liable on one fraud charge. publishing giant conde nast is eliminating its intern program next year. this comes on the heels of two lawsuits claiming the company

failed to pay minimum wage. all current interns will be allowed to finish their terms. conde nast publishes magazines like "vogue" as well as others. karen mcginnis is in for indra petersons this morning. >> i can understand that, a lot of folks across the midwest and northeast, where temperatures are exceptionally low for this time of year, you'll not get much of a break over the next several days. i think that air is thoroughly entrenched. the cold air swirling around chicago with temperatures 10 degrees below where they should be for this time of year. in some cases we've seen temperatures as much as 20 degrees below where they should be. bessemer, michigan, six edges of snowfall. other representatives snow totals between 1 and 2. >>s. nothing dramatic but some of these are fairly early. typically we would see them another week or so before you

see any trace amounts of snow. well, for chicago, temperatures running about 14 degrees below where they should be. new york city, only in the 50s today. but winds coming from the west to the east, blowing at times as much as 40 miles an hour. is going to make it feel a whole lot colder. haven't mentioned the ball game, game two tonight, boston, partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the 40s. kate, chris? >> good night for some baseball. thanks so much, karen. coming up on "new day," did you tap my cell phone? that's what the chancellor of germany is asking president obama directly. angela merkel is demanding answers, going straight to the top. we'll tell you how the answer she got was received. and a stunning development in the case of the convicted killer, michael skakel. why a connecticut judge has ordered a new trial for the nephew of robert and ethel kennedy decades later. but they didn't fit. customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy.

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no. he went out for milk last week and came back with a puppy. hold it. hold it. hold it. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with late payment forgiveness. welcome back to "new day." was the u.s. tapping a very important friend's cell phone? the american ambassador to germany summoned by that country's foreign minister over allegations that the u.s. tapped german chancellor angela merkel's cell phone. chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is following developments. it sounds wild but could be true. what do we know, jim? >> it is getting bigger every day. you have the u.s. ambassador summoned. the u.s. defense minister in public saying there could be consequences to the relationship. what was a quiet diplomatic dispute becoming more public.

president obama making difficult phone calls and unable to give them answers. >> reporter: this time germany said it received information the nsa monstered the personal cell phone of german leader angela merkel, signaling the seriousness of the charge, chancellor merkel and president obama personally spoke about the issue on the telephone. >> i can tell you the president assured the chancellor that the united states is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of chancellor. the united states greatly values our close cooperation with germany on a broad range of shared security challenges. >> reporter: the white house did not specify, however, if such monitoring had taken place in the past. on monday, it was france revealed to be in the crosshairs of the nsa. the french newspaper "la monde" reporting from december 10th, 2012 to january 8, 2013, the nsa allegedly intercepted 70 million

phone calls in france, an average of 3 million calls per day. in a statement it was said that report was false, though it did not specify how. by then, the foreign minister already blasted the american policy of widespread surveillance. documents released by edward snowden now revealed communications of a long list of u.s. allies including germany, england, brazil, mexico and the european union. >> when you look at america's soft power, its message and its relationships with these countries, how embarrassing is this? >> it's always awkward. i mean, what you have here is a situation where either someone sees the hand in the cookie jar or strong evidence the hand has been in the cookie jar. every time this happens there's going to be awkward conversations. >> reporter: now with each of these cases, the u.s. officials will say two things, one, every country spies on every other country and also that the u.s. is conducting a review of this surveillance. it gets a better balance between

security concerns and privacy concerns. it still hasn't given details to what this review has found, what changes it may bring. as to the first argument that everybody spies on everyone, it seems to be the scale of the nsa surveillance and the level to which it goes to senior leaders now of several of our closest allies, that that has not been a satisfying answer, kate, to those questions. it's sparking real anger here. >> all right, jim, thank you very much for that. let's talk more about the spying allegations with peter byner, a senior political writer at the daily beast. i want to ask you what jim was talking about there, everybody spies on everybody. that seems to go without saying. not everyone gets called out for it. but also how high it reaches. is that where the outrage is coming from? >> i think we've entered the world in different i was. we now live in a world where huge amounts of this information can be made secret as through the edward snowden leak. it's much harder to keep this stuff secret than it was in the past. we also live in a world where

other countries are more willing to retaliate against the united states because they feel like they have more relative power vis-a-vis us. they don't feel like they have to accept this as they might have in the past. >> it's one thing to have an awkward conversation or one thing to say it's building tension in a relationship. we are talking about some of the country's closest allies, france, germany, the latest in the spying allegations. could there be real long-term damage in terms of the trust here? >> possibly. you know, these are democracies that have to be responsive to their own public opinion. it could be that they are situations where we ask the leaders of those countries to go out on a limb and do something for the united states that's difficult for them politically and in this kind of environment, that can be harder. >> how is the white house han e handling it? do you think there's criticism for the administration on how they've dealt with this? they don't know exactly what edward snowden has. they know there seems to be a slow drip of details that continue to come out. >> they say they're conduct something kind of review about this. and the question that i think is

really interesting for journalists to look at is, did president obama really know everything that was going on? there has been in a whole series of ways, especially since 9/11, a massive expansion of the kind of national security apparatus of the united states. we know from the cold war when this happened there were often times when the president of the united states didn't know everything was happening. he might have known vaguely but not the level of detail. i hope the while will get control over this and make hard decisions about whether the information they're getting is worth this kind of cost to relationships with allies. >> you have that issue here and another relationship on the rocks, u.s. and saudi arabia. saudi arabia's angry pretty much on almost all u.s. foreign policy positions right now. u.s. policy on egypt, u.s. policy on iran and u.s. policy in syria. what is behind this? >> what's behind it is that saudis see what's happening in the middle east very differently than the united states. they were on opposite sides of the u.s. on egypt where they

very strongly backed the military coup, didn't want the muslim brotherhood in power. they wanted the u.s. to push harder. they're very, very worried that the u.s. will cut a deal with iran that will mean that iran is giving the u.s. blessing to kind of become a regional hegge many. 0. n in the region. >> a problem in that relationship could cause serious repercussions. david ignatius makes an interesting point, the only strange thing about this, this problem seems to be two years in the making. >> it does seem like the obama administration has not managed this relationship well. it's also important to remember if the u.s. does have a different kind of relationship with iran, although that frightens the saudis, it puts the u.s. in a much stronger

position. you go back to the time when the shaw was in power. it's much better if we can be on a better diplomatic footing, have better relations with both of these important countries. >> peter, always great to see you. >> thank you. >> chris, back to you. kennedy cousin michael skakel deserves a new trial in the murder of martha moxley. we'll tell you why the judge said this, that it needs a second look. decide for yourself. the man behind a youtube confession opens up. matthew cordle begins his 6 1/2-year sentence for killing a man while driving drunk today. he talks with us, ahead.

welcome back to "new day." time for your morning headlines. we are just hours away from the capitol hill hearings on the troubled rollout of the obama care website. but health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius will not be at today's hearings. she's in arizona touring an obama care call center. the original website developers will be there answering questions. they're expected to say it's not our fault. fall is getting put on ice. folks from the plains down the east coast, dealing with lower than normal temperatures. downright cold out there. some spots in and around chicago getting their first snowfall of the season. >> george zimmerman will not face charges for the fight last month with his estranged wife. that fight happening days after

shellie zimmerman filed for divorce. he was acquitted over the summer in the shooting death of trayvon martin. people working as contractors for the irs owe more than $5.4 million in back taxes. half of them aren't allowed to work for the irs because they haven't enrolled in an installment program to pay off their debt. the irs needs to do a better job of monitoring all employees who do work for them. heimlich on the highway. the family waved down a new jersey state trooper. the trooper performed the heimlich maneuver on the teen and likely saved his life. the 13-year-old is said to be doing okay. what a terrifying moment for that family. thank goodness the state trooper was there and able to perform the heimlich. >> yes, protect and serve. >> thank you for that. >> let's turn now to new developments in the murder case.

involving kennedy cousin michael skakel. the judge tossed out the verdict that has kept him behind bars for more than ten years. deborah feyerick is following the new developments here. you covered the trial the first time around. >> yes, i really did. this is a stunning decision by the judge. the judge who tossed aside the conviction essentially said that skakel's lawyers fail to create reasonable doubt that someone else wandering the neighborhood on mischief night actually killed martha moxley, somebody with greater motive, somebody in fact who was related to michael skakel. . convicted murderer michael skakel, nephew to ethel and robert kennedy has been granted a stunning new trial. >> i think everybody who knows michael is overjoyed with it. we actually, my family, prays every night for michael skakel. >> reporter: skakel's attorneys argued that his original defense lawyer, mickey sherman failed to

adequately represent him in court during the 2002 murder trial. >> i felt that one of the main things we needed was a professional. >> reporter: the kennedy cousin was found guilty of killing his friend, martha moxley, in 1975, when both were 15 years old. her mother dorothy doesn't believe there's any new evidence. >> once we knew who it was, once we had the proof, i have not had one bit of doubt, no. >> reporter: moxley's body was found in her yard in greenwich, connecticut, bludgeon and stabbed to death by a broken golf club found near her body. that club was traced back to the skakel home. but no fingerprints were found. >> they hit her so hard the golf club broke and then they took the shaft and stabbed her with it. >> reporter: for two decades, the case languished. >> everyone assumes he's guilty. he's been arrested, he's this kennedy cousin, there's books, movies, a lot of spin, a lot of disinformation and no one really knows the story. >> reporter: prosecutors claim skakel was jealous of his

brother tommy's relationship with moxley and killed her in a jealous rage, a charge michael denied. at trial, skakel's lawyer failed to lay out the case against tommy or other potential suspects. michael was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years to life. >> i do believe michael skakel killed my daughter. i don't believe there's any doubt in that. >> reporter: i covered the trial in 2002. the closing argument by prosecutors was incredibly powerful. using skakel's own words from a book proposal, actually placed him at every point at the murder crime scene. still, the judge says skakel's lawyers had a chance to ban that from being introduced into evidence yet failed to do so. the time, michael skakel 15 years old, his mother died, his father away on a hunting trip. the brothers had gone to a club, all had been drinking. if he had been tried as a

juvenile, he would have gotten four years in prison. >> that was about his age, not the level of culpability. joining us now, jeffrey toobin and from las vegas, mr. veto colucci, private investigator, worked on this case. vo vito, let me start with you. you've been trying for appeals forever. this was a last ditch effort, proved successful. your reaction? >> well, very happy, chris, you know, we've been waiting on this. i was always calling steven skakel and say how much more time do they have to make a decision? it we knew it was going to be sometime in november or october. we got -- i got the call today from steven skakel and i'm telling you, man, it's a long time coming, chris, 12 years. i've been on this case from the beginning. >> one of the decisions has not gone over is very important to you. on the jury was a police officer who you say knew the people

investigating the case, shouldn't have been put on the jury but he was. why? >> well, you know, when i heard that mickey picked a cop, a working cop to be on the jury, i called him that night late and i said, mick, what did you do today? what -- you picked a cop? he said, trust me on this one, vito, really. all the cops are talking about it. this guy rides a motorcycle, he's on the police department now as we speak. how can you do that? it's a horrible move. i mean, we have jeffrey on the phone. i remember jeff from the trial, very intelligent guy. if he was running the case, ask him if he would put a cop on a jury on the biggest case in the country at that time. >> all right, vito, i'll come back to you in a second. when we look at this legally, let's talk about how unusual, the strength of the basis and whether it results in a new trial. your take? >> incredibly unusual. this is a very common thing that defendants raise after the

trial. my lawyer did a bad job. it's almost always rejected. this was one circumstance where it was not rejected. unusual, extremely. is that a legitimate basis? i have to say, i have a lot of questions about this decision. mickey sherman made controversial calls in this decision, mostly he decided to blame the whole murder on -- >> the tutor. >> the tutor, ken littleton. a questionable decision. what the judge focused on so much in this opinion is that he should have put more of the blame on thomas skakel, michael's brother. that's a strategic choice. that's not usually a basis for a new trial. will it stand? probably it will stand. i think michael skakel will get out on bail shortly. and you know, i just don't see how you can retry this case at this point. 1975. it is simply too long ago to bring witnesses back and ask them what they remember.

>> why isn't that in favor of the appellate court in connecticut saying no, you don't get another trial. retrying it is a huge prejudice, we're not going to allow it. >> it is possible that the connecticut supreme court will reinstate the conviction but this is a very detailed decision. i have to say, the judge obviously put a tremendous amount of energy into it. under the subtext of this opinion is not about infectiveness of counsel. he thinks that michael skakel is innocent. if the judges up the chain believe that, i think it will stand. >> vito colucci, you worked this case, know it top to bottom. do you believe that there is a solid basis of argument to say that michael skakel did not commit this crime? not just that it was about mickey sherman, his lawyer, he didn't do it. do you believe that? >> i believe it with all my heart, chris. in a cop's life, private

detective's life, there's always that one case that you look back on as years go by and you say, that case didn't go right. that should have had a different ending. this was always that case for me, chris. but now we stopped it as of yesterday. >> can i jump in and ask vito a question. do you think tommy did it? that's very much what the judge seemed to imply. do you think he did it? thomas skakel killed martha moxley? >> jeff, i'm not going to answer that one right now. i'm going to let it play its course. we have a lot of evidence beginning into this new trial, which i don't believe they'll have a new trial. but if they do, we have stuff, we have the rochester, new york police officers that would have totally discredited greg coleman. okay? totally. and they were not brought in. there were many people like that that i want brought into this trial and they never were brought in. >> if michael skakel didn't do it, who did? >> that's the question. >> you know, i don't want to comment on that right now.

now would not be the right time, jeff, to give a name out there. >> why not? >> not with everything going on. >> vito wants to tie up one chapter before we open the next chapter. it compromises your intentions -- not yours, vito but the team in general behind skakel. the last thing they want, the kennedys and the skakels is to have another family member put on the spot to get another one off. >> i can understand their motivation. we're in the news business. we're trying to figure out what happened here. what was so striking about this opinion was that thomas skakel, who was a suspect at the very beginning, excluded by the police is very much brought back into the picture by the judge. i don't know what happened and i don't want to point a finger at thomas but this opinion certainly does. >> i hope you watched last night, "ac 360" where you were on with bobby kennedy jr. >> right. >> when you read the decision carefully, the judge is saying mickey should have -- the

lawyer, mr. sherman, should have argued this for reasonable doubt, not that he says tommy did it. he says this was your job to say this isn't beyond a reasonable doubt because it just as easily could have been someone else. it's different than saying the judge thinks tommy did it. >> that's true although the way he marshalls the evidence against thomas skakel was certainly very unusual in my experience of reading opinions. and, look, thomas skakel has never been charged with anything. we certainly shouldn't point finger at him. but here we have this almost 40-year-old mystery. >> yes. >> and you know, it still gets more and more complicated. >> the victim's family deserves answers. they think they have them. we'll leave it on this. if it's going to be hard to retry a michael skakel, it would be almost impossible to try anybody else. >> i don't think there will be another trial in this case. >> jeffrey toobin, mr. colucci, thank you. kate, over to you. coming up next on "new day,"

he's breaking his silence and opening up about a deadly drunk driving crash. matthew cordle is in prison, set to spend more than six years behind bars after admitting to killing a man in an online confession. we'll talk to him, coming up.

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welcome back to "new day." matthew cordle had got an way with murder essentially. he killed a man while driving drunk. police hadn't charged him yet. matthew had his guilt and he says that was his motivation for an idea to confess his crime in an online video which quickly went viral as i'm sure you know. he has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison, less than he could have gotten. could have been eight. the sentence starts today.

we'll talk to matthew in just a moment. we first want to give you a review of the latest on his case. >> my name is matthew cordle. on june 22nd, 2013, i hit and killed vincent canzani. >> reporter: his dramatic video confession went viral with more than 2 million hits on youtube. >> this video will act as my confession. >> reporter: now, matthew cordle has learn his punishment for killing 61-year-old vincent canzani while drinking and driving. a vuj in columbus, ohio, sentenced him to 6 1/2 years in prison. two years less than the maximum sentence and a lifetime suspension his driver's license. >> i'm begging you, please don't drink and drive. >> reporter: the judge said he watched cordle's confession three times before making his ruling and played it in the courtroom as a lesson. >> when i get charged i'd plead guilty and take full responsibility for everything i've done to vincent and his family. >> reporter: but the video did

little to convince his victim's daughter. >> i've heard time and time again about a message, but the message i do not want to send is if you hit and kill someone, all you have to do is admit to it later and get leniency. >> reporter: cordle directly addressed the victim's family in court, offering an apology. >> it should have been me that night, the guilty party. instead of an innocent man. i vow that i will do everything i can to prevent this senseless loss of life. i will not let vincent's memory fade. >> matthew cordle and his lawyers join us now from franklin county jail in ohio where he is preparing to begin his sentence. mr. cordle, thank you very much for taking the opportunity to join us on "new day." >> thank you for having me, chris. >> so did you know this day was always coming or did you hold out hope that leniency would mean no jail time. >> i 100% knew this day was coming. i accepted it a very long time ago and i'm relieved now that

it's over. >> relieved. what do you think of the sentence? 6 1/2 years, could have been about 8 or so. do you think it was fair? >> as i said in the courtroom, there is really no fair sentence when it comes to the loss of life. it's just time and time won't bring back the victim, unfortunately. so, you know, i'm just glad that the family can have some measure of close your and i hope they find peace throughout this. >> i'm sure you're reliving everything that happened all the time, something as horrible as this. that night, what is the main memory that you have? >> waking up in the hospital very delirious and in an uncontrollable state. >> what do you remember being the first wave of emotion you had when you realized that mr. canzani was dead as a result of the accident? >> denial and shock. i would say i just really didn't want to believe it. it's one of the worst things i can imagine happening and being responsible for.

>> now, was this just a bad night and a terrible, poor choice by you or is drinking something that you struggle with as a problem? >> drinking is something i've been struggling with my whole life. since i began, i've always drank heavily and drank often. the statistic is that first-time dui drink and drive 80 times before they get caught and that is definitely a category i fall under. it's just -- i can't believe i didn't see something like this coming. that was one of the biggest emotions i had throughout this is frustration with myself. >> we're going to talk about what made you popular, obviously, the video. in terms of raising awearness, did you raise your own? have you gotten help for the problem. >> yes. not as much as i wanted yet but as much as i could before this legal issue took place. after the fact that i got out of the hospital, i put myself into

a partial hospitalization program through dublin springs in dublin, ohio, and successfully completed that but my road is just beginning on recovery. >> now, the video, you waited a little period of time after this actual accident. how did you make the decision that i'm going to go this direction? this is how i'm going to handle this situation. i'm going to do a video. >> at the beginning, as you said, i waited a few months. i had a roller coaster of emotions. wasn't sure how, you know, wasn't sure how to bring some good out of this. i fell into a deep depression. initially contacted, because i said i would, to get some ideas for possibly speaking out against this and raising some awareness towards it. you know, we decided to make the video and put it on social media, because young drivers are the ones who mostly drink and

drive and young people are also the ones who mostly use social media. we thought that was the best platform to raise awareness. >> we know that it was unusual. that's why it had such effect, especially in such a situation where the punishment wasn't determined yet. we also know you reached out to the canzanis. you did that first. i want to talk to you about what that conversation was like and what you know about how they feel about your punishment. we'll take a break right now. i want to talk to you about those things when we come back. we'll have more with matthew cordle, right after the break. .

we're back with matthew

cord cordle. his confession to this act on youtube went viral and made this story something that everybody has talked about for a long time. now we know, mr. cordle, thank you for joining us again, we know now the sentence. you'll be serving 6 1/2 years. have your attorneys told you how much of that they expect you to serve? >> it's the full 6 1/2. in this crime it's mandatory jail time, mandatory prison time. every day i get sentenced to is every day i have to serve. >> you know that. what that does mean there will be no relief, the full time? >> as i stated again in court, you know, the punishment is going to stay with me forever. and that's going to stick around in my mind. as far as the prison time, i'm just going to take it as it comes and do everything i can to walk out of prison a better man than i walked in. >> the hardest punishment is living with the guilt that you took from the family up. reached out to them before the

video. where is the family in terms of reconciling what you did to their loved one and about their punishment? what do you know about their thoughts and feelings? >> at the beginning, the only member of the family that contacted us was angela, and that's vincent's daughter. i never spoke directly to her. he was open to that, but obviously she's entitled to feel the way she feels. she's going through a lot of grief and anger towards me. on the other side, sheryl oats, vincent's ex-wife reached out to some sxroert made a statement, and then got in contact with us. and said that, you know, she forgave me and supported the message i was trying to convey. that meant the world to me. you know, one day i hope to speak to angela in person and possibly -- hopefully she forgets those feelings of anger

and can forgive me one day. but right now it's fresh and she's entitled to feel the way she feels. >> how much of the video was about you and your cause and how much was about the message? >> my cause is a message. it was 100% about that. >> your cause is also what is going to happen to you for the act. there was absolutely no influence that i hope this helps? i hope people see it, i'm sorry, i hope people see i'm not like other drunk drivers who don't take responsibility? there was no part of that calculation? >> the video itself, i had no motives for using it in court. i didn't want to use it in court. the judge thought it ought to be played. i'm glad he did because it pushed the message as well. >> making the video definitely served a purpose and also came at a cost, especially the daughter, the daughter of the

man who died doesn't like it. she said every time she tries to forgive you, you do something else that upsets her. do have you any regret about making the video? >> i didn't want to cause her any pain. the video is a strong message and one that's necessary. the whole point is so people don't have to feel the pain she's feeling. and i hope to prevent that. >> you're a young man, 6 1/2 years is a long time. what are you going to do with that time? what do you hope to make of this? what's your biggest fear? >> you know, i'm not sure exactly what i'm going to do yet because i've never been to prison. i don't know exactly how the programs and all the things offered there, but i'm going to take advantage of every educational program i can, every recreational program and work program that i can. as i said, to walk out of prison a better man than the day i walked in. after, that only time will tell. >> there are many who feel the

strongest message sent by your message is the time, is the punishment, so that people realize no matter what the excuse, if you go down this road, the punishment is harsh. and we know it's going to be difficult for you. we appreciate you taking the opportunity to come forward. it's an important message for people to hear. >> thank you, chris. >> good luck to you, mr. cordle. kate, over to you. >> thank you. >> chris, thank you so much. coming up next on "new day" a massachusetts school in mourning after a popular math teacher is murdered and a student is charged with the crime. we'll have new details coming up next. ♪ [ male announcer ] staying warm and dry has never been our priority. our priority is, was and always will be serving you, the american people. so we improved priority mail flat rate to give you a more reliable way to ship. now with tracking up to eleven scans, specified delivery dates, and free insurance up to $50 all for the same low rate. [ woman ] we are the united states postal service.

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good morning once again. it is thursday, october 24th, 8:00 in the east. coming up on "new day" a utah doctor on trial, prosecutors say he drowned his wife so he could continue in an affair. will his daughters take the stand against him? holiday travel season is coming around. can you believe it? if you haven't nailed down your plans, you might want to think about driving instead of flying. it's not about safety. it's about airfare. interesting conversation with the good doctor, sugar or fat. one is really bad for you. the other may not be as bad as we thought. can you tell which is which? dr. sanjay gupta sets the record

straight about what you should or should not be eating. >> mixed messages cleared up. first off this hour, get ready for the obama care blame game. in less than an hour the private contractors who helped build the botched government health care website are already on capitol hill and we know they're prepared to say, it's not our fault. let's bring in senior correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: we can also report kathleen sebelius will not be testifying today. that's expected next week. as you mentioned, the private contractors that helped build the obama care website will be in the hot seat. in the meantime, an insurance industry insider tells cnn the nation's top health insurers, some were well aware of these obama care website issues before the entire website launched on october 1st. according to that industry insider, administration officials at hhs did not fully

inform the white house of what they knew. >> with the obama care finger-pointing shifting into high gear, the private contractors that built the troubled health care dot.gov website are saying, don't blame us. they're offering conflicting testifies and are testifying at house energy and commerce committee. one executive is expected to say the site passed eight required technical reviews prior to going live on october 1st, another is expected to say late decision requiring consumers to register for an account before they could browse for insurance products. >> when it comes to obama care, there's clearly a lot that needs to be held accountable. >> reporter: some of president obama's fellow democrats want heads to roll. >> it's inexcusable. someone ought to get fired. >> kathleen sebelius?

>> no. they should wait and get the thing up and running and then determine and let somebody be accountable. >> reporter: a health insurance industry insider tells cnn those at health and human services knew about the website but gave a far rosier picture to the white house. the insider says no one wanted to get to the white house and say your signature legislative achievement may not go so well. white house officials say the president wasn't intentionally kept in the dark. >> we did not know until the problems manifested themselves after the launch that they would be as significant as they have turned out to be. >> reporter: hhs secretary kathleen sebelius told cnn the president did not know about the problems until after the site was fully launched. >> well, i think it became clear fairly early on, the first couple of days, that -- >> not before that, though? >> no, sir. >> reporter: all the more reasons, republicans say, for the president to hold somebody accountable. >> the president himself seems

embarrassed by it. 23 he's not going to resign over this mess, he ought to decide who should. >> reporter: later today the administration will hold daily briefings on the progress being made to fix the obama care website. meanwhile, they should also report the department of health and human services is trying to clear up some of the confusion about the deadline for americans to buy insurance without paying a penalty to the irs. that deadline, chris, is march 31st. initially it was thought it was february 15th but hhs putting out guidance it's march 31st. circle that date on your calendar. >> march 31st for now. appreciate it. the website issues could be a breeze compared to the latest spying allegations leveled against the u.s. german ambassador. the white house insists it did not happen. chief national security

correspondent jim sciutto joins us from washington. >> reporter: this airing out in american. german defense minister saying there should be consequences to the relationship. president obama forced to make some very difficult phone calls to close allies and not necessarily give them satisfying answers, including answering whether this kind of monitoring took place in the past. one more day, one more revelation of alleged u.s. spying on a close ally. this time germany said it received information the nsa monitored the personal cell phone of german leader angela merkel. signaling the seriousness of the charge, chancellor merkel and president obama personally spoke about the issue on the telephone. >> i can tell you the president assured the chancellor the united states is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor. the united states greatly values our close cooperation with germany on a broad range of shared security challenges. >> reporter: the white house did not specify, however, if such monitoring had taken place in

the past. on monday it was france that revealed to be in the crosshairs of the nsa. the french newspaper reporting in 30 days from december 10th of 2012 to january 8th of 2013, the nsa allegedly intercepted over 70 million phone calls in france. an average of 3 million intercept per day. the director of national intelligence said in a statement, that report was false but it did not specify how. by then the french foreign minister blasted the american policy of widespread surveillance. documents released by edward snowden revealed nsa surveillance of communications of a long list of u.s. allies, including germany, england, brazil, mexico and the european union. >> when you look at america's soft power, its message and its relationships with these countries, how embarrassing is this? >> it's always awkward. i mean, what you have here is a

situation where either someone sees the hand in the cookie jar or strong evidence the hand has been in the cookie jar. every time this happens, there's going to be awkward conversations. >> reporter: when the surveillance has been exposed against allies, the administration has made a couple of points. they say they are reviewing this surveillance to get a better balance between security concerns and privacy. they frequently cited the statistic of 54 plots thwarted by nsa surveillance but patrick leahy, and turns out there may not have been as many plots. so that's a really a balance the administration has to look at as to whether its worth it, as you're angering allies and what you gain from it. that's something they're reviewing right now. >> absolutely. great to see you. now, there is an early taste of winter hitting nearly half of country today. from the plains to the east coast, folks are facing frigid

temperatures. and even snow in some places. george howell is braving the elements for us in chicago. george, i always feel like the first time it gets cold, your body is just not ready for it. >> reporter: you know, here in chicago i think people know the drill up. see people headed to work all bundled up. you understand why. it's a brisk 37, 37 degrees here in chicago this morning. from here in the midwest to the northeast and even parts of the south, chances are, you're seeing the difference as well. grab the winter coats, shovels and ice scrapers, the season's first deep freeze is on its way. a blast of brisk winter-like temperatures swept over boston's fenway park just in time for game one of the world series. the opening pitch, slicing through 48 -degree air, making it the third coldest start to the fall classic. a surge of cold air from canada will sweep across the great lakes region, triggering lake-effect snow and frigid

temperatures just in time for the weekend. as much of a foot of ul snow could fall in new york state, just east of lake ontario. charleston, west virginia, is gearing up for impending snowfall. while residents in ohio and shoppers in wisconsin fled from the flurries. meanwhile, residents down south are keeping their eye on the first hard freeze of the season. bad news for farmers and their crops. frigid temperatures are expected to coat several states with frost from missouri across to the carolinas. as this system moves east, a taste of winter before trick or treaters even hit the streets. so, here in chicago, we saw traceable snow just a few days ago. just last year, it wasn't until november that we saw any snow. so, definitely a sign that things are changing. here right now, 37 degrees. chris and kate. there in new york, looks like you guys have 43. enjoy that. you know, because these temperatures are dropping fast.

>> it's all relative. it always is when it comes to weather. thanks, george. >> awe balmy 68 right now, seeing as how we're in the studio. word of the cold snap kept angela under covers so we have karen mcginnis here to help us. >> yes, we have howling winds across the great lake region. it is throwing in lake-effect snow. this time of year, yes, that's when we typically talk about it. lewis county, new york, could see up to a foot of snowfall. quite a bit of snow for this time of year. in washington, d.c., the temperature at 44. those temperature staying suppressed. i told you about the clipper systems last week. we'll have back-to-back frontal systems that usher in very cold air. now the wind coming out of the west blowing to the east could gust up as high as 40 miles an

hour. not to despair. in boston for tonight, game two, looks like temperatures in the 40s at game time. so, enjoy that while it lasts under partly cloudy skies. back to you guys. >> i have a sneaking suspicion it could be 20 degrees in boston and still a packed house. >> if your team is winning, you don't feel the cold. >> that's right. >> it's science. >> science? >> all right. let's take a look at those headlines. in the news this morning, big delays for hundreds of passengers at ft. lauderdale international airline. spirit airline saying it's doing voluntary maintenance on its fleet after a plane had engine fail and catch fire last week. some passengers stuck for hours. the last flight took off this morning more than eight hours late. in australian a deadly setback fighting wildfires. the fires there have burned

through thousands of acres and already destroyed over 20 0 homes. australian officials are also investigating whether live ammunition from the military is one of the reasons. a disturbing report from san francisco where authorities are investigating whether a hospital employee stepped over the body of a missing patient days before she was found. 57-year-old lynn spalding disfrapd her hospital room. she was found dead more than two weeks later in a stairwell. another black eye for jpmorgan chase. taking action against them for turning a blind eye against the madoff ponzi scheme. jpmorgan just agreed to pay for questionable mortgage practices. two florida men being hailed as heroes after rescuing a mother and her two young daughters from a burning building in miami.

those men heard screams, saw the family at a second floor window, smoke billowing out of it. they told the mom, toss the kids. she did. thankfully, they caught them. all the children and mom got out safely. boy, that's a toss of faith. >> and what a decision to make if you're a mother, right? >> it's a tough one but they did it. >> and turned out okay. thank you. >> take a happy ending any way they come in those situations. coming up, a beloved math teacher is gone and a 14 -year-old student charged. why did dough this? we'll go to the school for the latest. a utah doctor on trial for murdering his wife. will his 12 -year-old daughter take the stand and testify against him? just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away.

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danvers high school near boston today, only grief counselors as students and staff cope with the death of teacher colleen ritzer. her body was found in the woods. the suspect, 14-year-old new kid few people knew. pamela brown is in danvers this morning with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, chris. we've been speaking with colleen ritzer's best friends since high school as well as long-time teachers. they are devastated by the loss and say this doesn't make any fence. it's still very much a mystery why ritzer, a beloved 24-year-old math teacher, would allegedly be killed at the hand of one of her own students. known for her infectious smile

and bubbly personality, this archive shows colleen ritzer as tv production student in high school. >> be sure to smile and entire room will light up. >> reporter: jen berger says her best friend since kindergarten was living her dream as a math teacher. >> she loved that they seemed so enthusiastic. she was just happy. >> reporter: her life cut short. her body left outside the school where she loved to teach. >> i don't know what the world's like without her. it's scary. scary thought. >> reporter: the loss felt by an entire community. students and colleagues at danvers high school say ritzer's enthusiasm as a teacher was limitless, spilling over to her twitter, facebook and her blog. >> she was always the teacher to go the extra mile for students. >> reporter: wyomihy would one her own students, philip chism

stab and kill her? chism went missing after school tuesday. adding to the mystery, ritzer's family reported she hadn't returned home that night. the teen was found in a nearby town. the teacher's body found some time later in the woods behind the school. >> she's the last person to hurt anybody. obviously, she was defenseless. >> reporter: investigators allege chism incriminated himself in police videos and and videos and blood by the bathroom. a source says chism went to the movies after allegedly killing ritzer. he was making strides as a soccer player. >> nothing out of the ordinary. a quiet, normal kid. >> reporter: ritzer's friends still coming to grips with this tragedy. >> she was the type of person that loved her family and her friends more than anything in the world. and i just hope that she knew how much she was loved by everyone else in her life because she really had an impact

on all of us. my life is so much better because she was my friend. >> so difficult. pamela, thank you so much for that. colleen ritzer is being remembered as a teach here loved her students and also inspired them to appreciate math. let's talk to two of those students. nicole white and riley doyle, two of ms. ritzer's students, joining us from danvers. i'm sorry that we have to talk about this. riley, let me ask you first, tell me about ms. ritzer. what will you remember about her? >> i think i'll remember just her smile and her positivity and the way that she really wanted students to learn and even love math. she was so excited about the things she was teaching. >> we keep hearing that over and over again, nicole. what about you, what will you remember? >> it's the same thing that

riley said. she always had a smile on her face, even if she didn't have you as a student. she would greet you all the time. she was always just positive about everything. >> i'm sure this is just a complete shock, not anything that any student, anyone should be dealing with. what are you hearing from other students? how is the school doing? >> the school is really taking it hard, i think. everybody is -- we all got together last night and everybody was really touched by what everyone did. we were all wearing pink last night because it's her favorite color. we lit the candles and everything and it's been hard for everybody, but coming together last night i think made things a lot better. >> it helps to be together. go ahead. >> there was -- i think a lot of people were shocked and were turning to each other for a lot of support because we're all feeling the same way. so it's been nice to really have classmates who are there for you. >> and, nicole, you also know

philip chism. you were in history class with him. how would you describe him? >> he was always a really, really quiet kid, but he was nice. we were together for a history assignment, and he seemed like a genuinely nice kid. and i saw no problems at all. >> yeah, i've heard -- we've heard that from other students, that he was a quiet, normal, nice kid. had you heard or gotten wind of any problems or any relationship between philip and ms. ritzer? >> i never saw anything wrong. he never talked about her, nothing ever happened. so, it came as a shock to all of us, i think. >> did he ever talk about any problems he was having? we know that he was relatively knew to the school, having moved from tennessee. did he ever talk about any problems? >> no, he never had any problems. he was just really quiet, sew didn't talk much.

didn't seem to have any problems when we were speaking. and his soccer team seemed to love him, too. and he used to love soccer practice, so nothing i could see. >> which is why there are so many unanswered questions this morning. i'm sure you have questions yourself. riley, what are some of the questions you have? >> i just want to know why anyone would do that, especially to someone who's such a nice and kind and good-hearted person. it doesn't make any sense. just why? >> nicole, when you do all head back to school, when classes begin once again, what's it going to be like? >> i think everybody is going to be really supportive of each other because that's -- we're pretty much a family at this school and everybody something everything together. it will be emotional, especially going back into that classroom. >> you'll need that family definitely going forward.

we're so sorry for your loss, the loss for the community, a loss of someone that you know but we are now learning is not only a good person but a good person. thank you for sharing your thoughts. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> chris, back to you. >> coming up on "new day" imagine hearing your own 12-year-old daughter tell the world you're a murderer. that could happen to a utah doctor named martin macneill, who's on trial for killing his wife. it seems his daughters are already convinced. it's a growing trend in business: do more with less with less energy. hp is helping ups do just that. soon, the world's most intelligent servers, designed by hp, will give ups over twice the performance, using forty percent less energy. multiply that across over a thousand locations, and they'll provide the same benefit to the environment as over 60,000 trees. that's a trend we can all get behind.

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five things to know for your new day. let's start at number one. half of america waking up in quite a deep freeze this morning. the mercury plummeting from the plains to east coast bringing with it frost, even snow across several states. obama care website developers in the hot seat today as hearings on capitol hill begin to explain what went wrong with the rollout. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius will not be there. she's in arizona touring an obama care center. a 14 -year-old student at danvers, massachusetts, now facing murder charges. police say he killed 24 -year-old math teacher colleen ritzer but they are not sure why. connecticut prosecutors say they'll appeal a ruling that ordered a new trial for kennedy cousin michael skakel. he has spent the past 11 years in prison for murdering teenager martha moxley. one down, three to go for the boston red sox.

mike napoli and big papi, david ortiz, each driving in three runs to lead them to an 8-1 victory over the cardinals. big game tonight. we're always updating five things to know so be sure to go to newday.cnn for the latest. breaking news from off the nigerian coast. americans on oil supply vessel have been kidnapped by pirates. barbara starr at the pentagon with all the latest. what do we know so far? >> reporter: the information is very sketchy but a british security firm called ake is now saying they have confirmed reports this vessel, this oil supply vessel, was attacked and these people were kidnapped off the vessel, off the coast of nigeria in a place called the gulf of guinea. the oil supply vessel is one that moves amongst oil platforms resupplying them. the reports now, which the u.s. military says is aware of and is

monitoring, are that the captain and chief engineer, both said to be american citizens, were taken off the ship. this is very rough territory out there off the coast of nigeria. there have been a number of pirate attacks. very violent area. so a matter of great concern. we know now that the u.s. military, the state department, the obama administration monitoring all of this, trying to determine exactly what has transpired. chris? >> very dicey situation. we know you'll stay on it. appreciate you being with here with us. a star witness for the prosecution could take the stand at the trial of utah doctor martin macneill, who's charged with murdering his wife to be with his mistress. the star witness today is macneill's 12-year-old daughter. miguel in provo, utah, with details. >> reporter: good morning. before she takes the stand, though, the judge set aside two

hours to argue this out. the prosecutors say she's a big piece of the circumstantial puzzle it's building against macneill. the defense wants to limit her testimony or keep it out all together. >> this is state's exhibit 34. >> reporter: this morning the legal fight full-on. will ada, the 12-year-old daughter of dr. martin macneill, testify against her father? it's the moment michele's family, the victim, have waited for. prosecutors say ada and her sisters will provide critical testimony against her father. >> ada was the first one to find her mother in the bathtub. she can talk about exactly what she observed. >> reporter: but putting a 12-year-old on the stand, ada was only 6 when she saw her mother die organize dea-- dyingl require sensitivity.

>> it will put the young girl in a difficult place. >> reporter: nauls a difficult place, martin macneill, watching his own children try to put him in prison for life. >> it's difficult for him. notwithstanding all of the bad water that's gone under the bridge, he still loves his family. >> reporter: some of that bad water already in open court. the ex-girlfriend of macneill's son, damion, who killed himself in 2012, testifies macneill had him hire someone to be a nanny, which was anything but. >> they were in an intim mat relationship. >> reporter: a relationship macneill's children say were going on long before their mother's death. the er doctor that worked on michele macneill back in 2007 says that her husband offered him $10,000 to continue the cpr, to try to resuscitate her. the prosecution saying these are the sort of dramatic tactics he used to make it seem as though

he really cared about his wife. the defense saying this is a guy who really wanted to say his life. a lot of this very circumstantial case at the moment. chris, kate, back to you. >> miguel, thank you so much for that. coming up next on "new day" could fatty foods actually be good for your heart or maybe just not as bad as you might have thought before? a new report turns the tables on decades of conventional wisdom. we'll tell you about it. who should help us? dr. sanjay gupta next. [ man on radio ] there's an accident on the freeway that hasn't been cleared yet. ♪ uh! i just want to celebrate [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette you celebrate a little win. nicorette gum helps calm your cravings and makes you less irritable. double your chances of quitting.

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or fat? both, probably not an allowed answer, but could be the right one. fatty foods may not be so bad for you. it's really sugar you should be worried about. who told me? chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta here to make sense of it. >> giving me a lot of credit. >> what do we know? >> this is fascinating. about 40 years ago in this country we decided to make a decision to go low-fat, the new mantra, everything is low fat. what happened? you started taking fat out of the foods, they taste terrible, you put sugar back in. we know over the last 40 years obesity rates have gone up in adults and children. maybe it wasn't fat as much as we thought and maybe the sugar was causing much of these problems. that's really what people have been talking about. it's this new editorial in the british medical journal getting a lot of attention. that's sort of this idea, could sugar be doing the same things in our body that we typically attribute to fat?

raising our cholesterol, raising our risk of heart disease, raising our risk of diabetes. the answer seems to be yes. >> does that mean that fats are in the clear? that it -- fats are a good thing now? >> it's interesting. it's not as black and white as people would like. this doesn't give them free license -- >> make them good. >> is there a problem with the fat in your diet? >> i'm waiting to hear the rest of what you said. we might have to cut this interview short. >> we stayed about the same, so that's part of the reason fat doesn't get a free pass here, because fat was a problem. remains a problem. but this idea we have added more sugar has exacerbated this much more than anybody thought. the thing about sugar is we eat about 138 pounds of sugar a year. >> that sounds hoerrrible. we used to get sugar from the fruit of the trees once a year, that's how honey was protected

by bees. now we eat 138 pounds and it hits our liver. when it hits our liver it gets turned into bad cholesterol problems. sugar is doing this, in addition to fat sdmru know that, folks at home and even us are thinking, okay, what do i do with my diet now? obviously we know to cut down on sugar. there are good fats and bad fats. do we increase more good fats -- >> so, two things. first of all with regard to fats, the whole idea of the mediterranean there are good fats, fats in nuts, for example, i think that's a good approach. cut back on the additional fats. the thing about sugar that's so fascinating is that much of it comes in places we don't expect. sauces, prepackaged foods and that sort of thing. i asked a researcher about it. i said, what do we do if it's everywhere? he said, eat real food. i thought that was -- that's actually surprisingly good advice. if you're eating real food, as opposed to packaged food which

uses sugar to store it, you cut down on the sugar. >> they say shop on the outside of the grocery store. >> that's right. those are the three words, eat real food. if you do that, you'll cut bay whey back on things that we now have increased evidence -- >> you look at a package with reduced fat, low fat, there's a big amount of something else. either sugar or salt they use to substitute -- >> or high freak toes corn syrup. if you see it there, that means there's a lot there. >> we're making it more simple, eat more food. >> great. thank you. coming up next on "new day" exploring the treatment of killer whales. do they belong in captivity? that's the question of a new documentary. the director of the cnn film "blackfish" joins us tonight to discuss. plus, a new choice to play christian grey. the actor who will take on the role in a much anticipated film is her -- no.

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why are gas prices going down? >> they could be going toward a three-year low. if you believe gasbuddy. he says gas prices are drifting to nine-month low for gas prices. you can see the trend. there are three reasons why. syria is not that international con fli grags people worried about. iran, oil prices have been in check. oil prices $97 a barrel. the end of the hurricane season upon us and no real big major hurricanes that have shut down production refinery capacity. so all three of these things are why. oil prices are lower and gas prices are drifting down. >> i'm afried to ask because i know someone is with me who didn't book their airfare -- >> i toll you -- >> i know. >> it's going to cost you 9% to fly around the holidays than last year. the good news at christmas for your gas prices is bad news for airfare. fewer flights, smaller planes,

airlines are better at filling all those planes. don't wait until the last minute to book your thanksgiving travel. are you going to see higher prices. one interesting thing about thanksgiving, the best fares for thanksgiving are actually thanksgiving day. if you have flexibility on that, that's important. christmas is in the middle of the week, so it might be better for christmas air travel if you have more flexibility around that midday -- middle of the week christmas flight. you might have a better chance of getting a decent fare there. >> only santa flies on christmas. >> i don't know. maybe if you're a kid coming home from college or something. >> do you have anything on this spirit airlines that they have major flight delays? >> be aware today if you're flying spirit. they're doing engine checks of all the mraendz. last night people in ft. lauderdale ticked off. hundreds of people lounging around, angry because of their delayed flights. you're hearing about that this

morning. spirit checking all of these because of an engine fire last week. just a precaution, forced by the government, but checking all flights. check your spirit airways flight today. >> that's a delay you can deal with. >> yes. >> thank you. >> except for the bad new, thank you very much. let's check in with mckayla. >> thank you so much. cnn film's "blackfish" raises questions about how killer whales are captured, separated from their families and held in captivity. the director of the film joins us now. "blackfish" premiering tonight. congratulations on that. let's talk about the fact that you're a mom and you decided to make this film. why this film and why this topic? what drew you to it? >> i'm a documentary film maker by trade. yes, i'm a mom who actually took her kids to seaworld so i'm not an animal activist. i started making this film

because i heard about the death of a trainer who was killed by a killer whale in 2010 at seaworld orlando. and for me that was koun confusing. i heard she slipped and fell. it was her ponytail. it was question after question, and basically i thought to myself, i have this many questions, i'm sure everybody else will. >> at the time when you start delving into a topic, the trite cliche, there are more questions than answers. did you find that to be the case when you started to uncover more and more facts? >> no question at all. basically 40 years of secrecy, seaworld has gone on for 40 years or so, and none of this stuff has been unearthed. one question led to another. the first one being, oh, my gosh, he had killed two people before killing dawn. i didn't know that. i didn't know it was the same whale. the fact the whales fight each other constantly. there's tremendous social strife in captivity.

they have that in the while but in wild the subdominant animal can flee. they can't flee in captive. >> you have this question of orcas being kept in captivity. what's your determination? >> they fight constantly. they become bored. they aggress upon trainers. calves are stripped from mothers, animals that are supposed to be together and held in pods. >> social groups. >> incredibly. it's one disturbing fact upon another. they live she shortened lives in captivity as well. >> what is the time? >> teens and 20s. in wild, 60, 80, 100. >> film production release has not gone without controversy. seaworld said the film is misleading and ignores their benefits to conservation and research. how do you respond to that?

>> it's a tough one. what i've learned is they give about 1%, or it's in the single digitings, but roughly 1% they give to conservation. this is a $2 billion a year industry. they do rehabilitation and release, primarily for manatees and turtles. these have no entertainment value. there's no reason they couldn't do these wonderful things with rehab and release and not have killer whales in captivity at the same time. >> they are saying they are able to return hundreds of wild animals back to the wild working with state and local officials to do that. let's play devil's advocate. say they were to shut down all these facilities. what do you do with the animals that have been in captivity? you can't return them to the wild. >> very early on i was sure, if nothing else, seaworld could play a heroic role. we never intended to shut them down. we thought with these captive

animals, stop the world of animals for entertainment, which essentially the circus. focus on sea sanctuaries which is taking a net and closing a cove of ocean and returning the whales to the ocean and experience -- in essence, be killer whales for the physician time. >> you said you did not start out as an activist are you now? >> that's a good question. we are ages of change. >> blackfish" premieres here tonight at 9 p.m. kate? >> thank you so much. coming up on "new day," you are looking -- not him. wait foreit. that guy. you are looking at the who will play christian grey in the much anticipated film "50 shades of gray "but are you wondering, who is he? >> how old is he? ols... waffle bars...

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♪ i really want to know who are you who who who ♪ >> welcome back to "new day." women, get ready to swoon. you are about to see the man tapped to be christian grey in "the 50 shades of grey ". michelle turner is here -- i did not recognize this guy. >> yeah. jamie dornan. a lot of people are waking up going, like -- listen, i'm calling this 50 shades of fine because that man is fine. he really is. i know i'm partial to ian sum r somerhald somerhalder. charlie dunn dropped out saying he didn't have time to prepare while he was doing "sons of anarchy".

>> that's what he's saying? >> that's what he's saying and i'm going to report. jamie dornan is in talks to star as christian grey. he was a model for christian dior, calvin klein. it's a controversial choice because no one knows him. >> isn't that what we snpt. >> that's the thing, we don't to want come in as a preconceived notion who's going to play christian grey -- >> how old is christian grey? >> in the book late 20s, early 30s -- >> yeah, so a young guy. >> yeah. the knock i'm seeing on the internet about jamie dornan, people are saying, he's a little too short, he's a little too skinny. because christian grey is a strapping fellow. >> why isn't it the guy who plays thor. >> fabio. >> why isn't he doing it? >> that's a good question. we could ask -- >> this is the kind of movie that can make you. to show my age, mickey rourke in

"9 1/2 weeks," that made him a sex symbol. i don't know why people aren't coming after it. >> women or anybody that read this book have a hold on it. i have in my mind's eye how i feel this should go, so it's a real risk to play this role. >> and the actor needs to be prepared to play that role, and it's a little racy. >> that's reportedly the issue with charlie, he didn't want that robert pattinson twilight fame. >> why didn't they give it back to the people. >> no one's going to agree. like i said, i'm partial to ian somerhalder. so, some say matt baumer is christian grey. now we'll wait to see. i think he has the look

christian grey embodies. i don't know. what's the chemistry between him and dakota johnson. they're supposed to start shooting for this soon. >> could you give me my 50 shades, please? >> no. i feel like i talk about this a lot. >> me, too. you'll be talking about it for a while. if this first movie does well, there's reportedly a four-movie deal he'll sign. >> that's something to be excited about. >> i flex when i'm angry. >> you flex when you're angry? >> i'm uncomfortable. >> i think we need to give you a little love. >> tired of talking about hot guys. >> would you like for me to do j-e-t-s? >> yes. >> how are you doing with the cards? >> oh, bring that up. bring up the beatdown. >> i love you. >> my cardinals will come back. they will come back hard. john berman, i'm coming for you. >> he could be christian grey. >> on that, we'll be right back.

>> time for "newsroom" with carol costello. take it away. >> i will gladly. kate hudson, there's a hot chick for you. "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for being with me. right now as we speak on capitol hill, lawmakers are getting their first chance to grill the developers of obama care's botched website. the companies will be pressed to explain the crippling problems that plagued the enrollment process and overshadowed the role of obama's signature health care reform. expect it to ricochet in all different distribution. jim acosta is at the white house to start our coverage. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. health and human services secretary katrihleen sebelius wl not be at the white house. that will be next week. the