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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  December 13, 2013 6:00am-8:01am PST

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>> "newsroom" starts now. >> that's it? -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com happening now in "the newsroom" shocker in north korea calling him a despicable traitor and scum, kim jong-un executes his powerful uncle but what does it mean? also -- peyton manning goes down as chaos rapes outside at mile high stadium. three people stabbed. are you safe? plus -- >> it's been one storm after another. frigid windchills were as low as 31 below in parts of the area last night. >> winter's come early. >> ray seep, 1 teeing outside, windchill below zero. i don't care if you're years old or 27 i'm going to listen to my mother. >> we never compromise safety and well-being of animals.
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and the fight is on over your right to gab. >> being stuck next to a gabber on a six-hour flight to san francisco, i fear what i'd do. >> reporter: even if if the fcc says yes the department of transportation may say no. ♪ you're live in the "cnn newsroom." yes, they'll to it in by keepie. i'm carol costello, thanks so much for joining me. new report about an american who has been missing in iran for nearly seven years, the associated press and "the washington post" say bob levinson worked for the cia and was trying to tig up information when he disappeared. that's something both the agency and levenson's family have denied for years. jim sciutto is in washington with more for you. good morning, jim.
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>> reporter: good morning, carol. sensitive, sad story for the family, as you say nearly seven years held in captivity. the iranian government never acknowledged that, although u.s. officials have repeatedly raised his case including secretary kerry recently in his contacts with eye rainian officials. he went to apparently according to the reporting of the ap and "the washington post" to an iranian-controlled island of kish, working as a contractor for the cia, they say, exploring corruption at the highest levels of the iranian government. now, the ap says that it had confirmed these details three years ago back in 2010, and had accepted u.s. government requests three times not to report the story out of sensitivity, but they say they're reporting it now pause nearly, this is quoting from an ap statement "nearly seven years after his disappearance, u.s. government efforts have repeatedly come up empty to free him" but still a great deal of sensitivity including from his family. >> and jim it makes you wonder
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now that this information is out how does that affect levinson's safety within iran? do we even know if he's still alive? >> well we don't know, as the ap noted there has not been any sign of life, any proof of life as they say for nearly three years. we don't know. the u.s. government very strong on this, though, they came out yesterday saying the u.s. government strongly urged the ap "not to run this story out of concern for mr. levinson's life" and his family been in cup of with our own susan candiotti are "deeply concerned over the risk created by this story." so you do have those fears. personally i've spoken to a number of relatives of other americans held in iran, there is an american former marine, amir hekmati held there now and the sensitivity is that there are often charges made without base by the iranian government that the americans are spying for the cia, for others, hekmati has been charged with that. the american hikers you may
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remember, carol, released three years ago, they were charged with spying for the u.s. government, roxanna siberi, journalist iran, charged to spying, sentenced for eight years although released after a month. the concern is, the fear is that a report like this could be used as ammunition by the iranian government, when cases like this come up, and that's certainly a concern that the u.s. government has. >> all right, jim sciutto reporting live for us from washington. now some surprising news out of washington, compromise is apparently not dead after all. 169 republicans voted for it yesterday along with 163 democrats. the measure is expected to face more hurdles in the senate though. republicans ted cruz, marco rubio and others have said they will not support it, but that bill still is expected to pass the senate. terrifying moments in utah overnight when a sudden rockslide crushed a home, killing two people inside.
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police tell kutv the falling boulder sounded like an earthquake and the two bodies were found close to one another underneath the rubble. rockslides are common in areas this time of year because of snow and freezing temperatures. dreaming of a white christmas, lots of people will have their wish early. massive thousand-mile-long winter storm expected this weekend across the south, the midwest, the east coast, meaning tens of millions need to brace for more freezing temperatures, snow and ice and brutal wins, especially bad for buffalo, people are still trying to dig themselves out from yesterday's storm. indra petersons is live in new york with the frigid, frigid news. good morning. >> i like how everyone pauses before they toss to me today with the eh. we're talking about that, the cold arctic air and another storm is going to be impacting so many people, about 1,000 miles wide from the northeast back to the midwest, this storm coming our way.
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it's the third round of wintry weather for the midwest and northeast this month. >> it's been one storm after another. >> frigid windchills as low as 31 below in parts of the area last night. >> reporter: another blast of biting cold and lake-effect snow on the way. >> this has been constant all day. >> reporter: hamburg, new york, multiple trucks overturned on this puff low, new york highway. the icy roads causing a 40-car pile-up in michigan. take a look at this police dash cam video, a semi hitting the cruiser, another suv nearly colliding. developing storm will bring freezing rain and sleet across the mississippi valley to the east coast. as it moves into the ohio valley and great lakes region it will change over to snow. cities like pittsburgh, new york and boston anticipated more snow this weekend. in milwaukee it's so frigid kids are, believe it or not, running into school to beat the chill. reporters following their lead. >> kids about to arrive here at ray seep, one degree outside
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windchill below zero. if you're 7-year-old or 27 i'm still going to listen to my mother. >> we're already starting to see some wintry mix around kansas and missouri, overnight tonight this spreads into the ohio valley by saturday starting to affect the mid-atlantic and the northeast and by sunday it exits off. remember there are two systems xwe combining there so strong winds can be factored in, look for flight delays on top of the visibility issues. heavier amounts up there, six inches in the ohio valley, half a foot around new york city the farther north you if, potential for a foot of snow around boston. i think the only upside here, carol, is hopefully people can stay home and stay off the roads. >> it's happening over the weekend which is actually a good thing. safety wise i mean. thanks, indra. a chaotic scene at mile high stadium in depper have. huge fight broke out in the parking lot after the broncos game. when it was over, at least three
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people ended up stabbed. police say one of the victims is now in critical condition. they also think a fourth person was stabbed but left the scene and has not been found yet. colleen ferreira is a reporter with kusa and joins us live with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. we are standing in the parking lot where police say the stabbings happened yesterday evening. if you can imagine after a broncos game any nfl game people are trying to leave the parking lot and head home. with all of the stabbings it was chaotic, out of control. the stabbings happened after the broncos and chargers game yesterday evening around 10:00 outside the stadium parking lot. we do know three men were stabbed, two are stable right now, one is in critical condition. there is a possible fourth victim, police say that person missing at this time. right now police don't know what led up to these stabbings. they don't know how or why they happened. there were several witnesses in the parking lot. they have interviewing witnesses overnight. they're still talking to them right now hoping those witnesses can weigh in on the moments
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leading up to the stabbing. carol? >> so we don't know whether this fight had anything to do with the actual game. >> reporter: we don't know this information at this time. we asked police yesterday evening, they stood here and said "we don't know, we have no information leading up to the stabbings." they are interviewing witnesses that saw the stabbings take place firsthand >> what about security at the stadium? this is really disturbing. >> reporter: of course. the stadium did release a statement saying they understand what's happening. they are letting police handle the situation at this time, so no comment from anyone else this morning. we are waiting to hear from police. they said the next comment would come in the next hour. >> colleen if he ree rferreira. a judge's lenient sentence for a wealthy teenager who drove drank and ran over four people. >> now he's going to a swanky rehab in california which is going to cost about half a
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million dollars. his father is picking up the tab, but still folks are angry. i'll have the story coming up. what ya looking for? well, you've found delicious! ♪ ♪ must be the honey! ♪ it is so honey swagalish ♪ so much crunch, can you handle this? ♪ ♪ the party in the bowl don't stop! ♪ ♪ must be the honey! ♪ the party in the bowl don't stop! ♪ stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare. waiting for your wrinkle cream to work? clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it targets fine lines and wrinkles with the fastest retinol formula available. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week.
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the death of a college student who died after a hazing ritual at this house in the poconos. his frat brothers at baruch college in new york waited at least two hours before taking deng to the hospital after he lost consciousness. "the toronto star" is accusing rob ford of libel claiming he made false statements about him during a tv appearance. he wants him to "retract the false insinuation i am a pedophile." ford has not responded. today is friday the 13th but could be lucky if you pick the winning numbers in tonight's mega millions drawing. the jackpot has grown to an estimated $400 million after no one won the last 19 games. raking in all that cash is a long shot. the odds of winning, one in $259
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million. affluenza, the outrageous diagnosis lawyers used to keep a wealthy teenager out of prison. he was the victim of his family's money and privilege and never learned about consequences. there is outrage over his sentence, ten years' probation and rehab at a fancy facility with a half million-dollar price tag that his parents will pay for. cnn's randi kaye uncovered stunning new details that will make you even angrier about this story. she joins me now from new york. hi, randi. >> reporter: good morning, carol. this kid has a very troubled past, which is why the judge's ruling has so many baffled. this teenager, ethan couch we're talking about, started drinking at a very early aiming. he drove himself to school at 13 when he was only in the seventh grade and his parents allowed it. he's been arrested before, too, for drinking yet now his punishment is time at that swanky rehab center where he can ride horses, do yoga and even go
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to the beach. it's two minutes 'til midnight on june 15th, when a terrified teenager calls 911. >> we need some ambulances. it's bad. we flipped and, oh god >> okay, were you involved? >> i was in the truck. >> reporter: the truck was being driven by 16-year-old ethan couch, and the 911 caller is his friend, one of seven friends in the pickup. the group had been drinking heavily before couch plowed down four people on the side of the road. multiple 911 calls captured the chaos. >> listen to me, is it just one vehicle? >> no ma'am, there's four or five. there's another child in the ditch. they're gone! >> and how many people need ems? >> ma'am, i'm telling you, it's dark. there's four or five kids, there's kids laying in ditches and street.
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>> come here, come here. come here. come here. >> oh, my god. >> come here. come here. i need you guys to sit here and pray, okay? >> reporter: in the end four people were dead and two of couch's friends thrown from the bed of the pickup, including sergio molina, who is now paralyzed and had been in a coma. his parents, we've learned are suing ethan couch, couch's parents and the family business, cleiburne metal works. the sergio's parents are seeking as much as $20 million to care for their son in the future. the complaint points out couch had a history of arrests including one where he pleaded to contest to charges of possessing and drinking alcohol. that court date was just three months before the fatal wreck. we also got our hands on notes taken during couch's manslaughter trial.
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they belong to the attorney for eric boyles who lost his wife and daughter in the crash. according to that attorney, witnesses testified that ethan couch was caught fleeing on foot about a quarter mile from the accident scene. he could be heard at the scene, the attorneys notes say, yelling to one of his paepgssengers "i' ethan couch. i'll get you out of this." at the end with four people dead all ethan couch got was a slap on the list, judge jeanne boyd sentencing him to rehab and ten years' probation. they say if prosecutors got their way which they wanted 20 years ethan couch would have ended up serving two years likely so this way with probation for ten years he's actually under supervision and in the system for ten years, carol, versus just the two years that he might have served in prison. >> is this an unusual sentence for this judge to pass down?
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>> well it's hard to say because she's a juvenile judge. we can only look at a snapshot of her record. one case that stands out because it's been brought to our attention by lots of folks. this is the case that happened last year, it was the story of a 14-year-old boy who the judge sentenced to ten years in a juvenile detention center after he punched one man and that man fell to the ground, hit his head on the pavement and died. this boy admitted to the crime like ethan couch admitted to it. he's 14 years old. in that case he's african-american, don't know if he comes from a wealthy family. this is just a snapshot but here you have a boy who killed one person getting ten years behind bars and another boy who killed four people going to a swanky rehab center and ten years' probation so it's hard to figure out. >> it really is, and caused another boy to be paralyzed for the rest of his life. >> that's right. unbelievable. >> randi kaye, thanks so much. still to come in "the newsroom," all eyes on this year's heisman ceremony, mired
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in controversy after allegations of sexual assault against the leading candidate, jameis winston. rachel nichols has the story from new york. >> jameis winston about as sure a thing as you can get for tomorrow night's heisman trophy ceremony but coming up in the next hour, the accuser in his sexual assault case, her lawyer is going to speak. we'll have the whole story for you. there's a saying around here,
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all eyes will be on this weekend's heisman ceremony which has been mired in controversy.
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fsu's freshman quarterback jameis winston is favored to win but his reputation tarnished by sexual assault charges even though he's been cleared of all of those charges. rachel nichols joins me live from new york to talk more about this. good morning. >> good morning. carol, it's interesting. i know on cnn we don't call elections until the day of the election, but i can pretty much do this early for you. gannett surveyed the voter, found out 45% of them plan to vote for jaime us winston. the next player down, a.j. mccarron from alabama, he only had 15% of the vote so that's pretty much as sure a thing as we can get but this situation is still developing. within the next hour, we expect to hear a news conference from the lawyer of the accuser in that sexual assault case you referenced. we have to stress, the district attorney in that case said there was not enough evidence to charge winston, but we are going to hear the lawyer speak today and while that is not going to change tomorrow's voting and that tomorrow's results the
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voting is closed, the polls are closed, nothing anybody can to it may change the demeanor of the ceremony, it may change how fans think about winston when he grabs that trophy. we'll keep track of it here for you on cnn. >> you know, one part, a big part of me says this is so unfair to this young man because he was cleared of all charges and he's going to be one of the greatest days of his life, and it, too, will be tainted by this news conference that's coming up. >> it is what is so difficult in these cases, when the district attorney comes forth and says there is some evidence but not enough evidence to charge and we basically have a he said/she said in this case. it comes down to the court of public opinion who you believe. there are a lot of people who believe winston. there a lot of people who stand behind the accuser and it is going to change how people feel tomorrow and some people think that's unjust and some people think maybe he shouldn't be picking up the trophy at all. it's complicated and i think
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this will follow him as we go forward. >> further complications the press conference from local authorities laughing about the case, it's ugly all the way around. this week on "unguarded" you talk to charles barkley about the quality of today's national basketball association. what did he say? >> you know charles barkley, he does not hold back. we talked a little bit about his open style how funny and sometimes critical he is has had a backlash against him. he told me in his close friend hip wi ship with michael jordan it drove a wedge between them and he said he's sad. it hasn't stopped charles. when i asked him. the nba he wasn't timid. >> i'm embarrassed. you know, ravechel, i'm a fapn. i have to watch the games. it's just bad basketball. it's bad basketball. it's ridiculous and they're in
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major markets. >> miami, indiana. >> there's no third. there's no third. >> you can hear charles talk about pretty much every topic under the sun tonight on our show at 10:30 eastern and pacific time. he's entertaining, carol. >> to say the least. rachel nichols, thank you for being with us this morning. i appreciate it. still to come in "the newsroom," don't mess with kim jong-un, he ordered the execution of his own uncle. what does this stunning move mean for the stability of that region? [ male announcer ] this store knows how to handle a saturday crowd. ♪ [ male announcer ] the parking lot helps by letting us know who's coming. the carts keep everyone on the right track. the power tools introduce themselves. all the bits and bulbs keep themselves stocked. and the doors even handle the checkout
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and if you have any medical conditions. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, and headache. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you the control you need ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza®. it's covered by most health plans. good morning. i'm carol costello, thanks so much for joining me. north korea called him despicable human scum, a traitor for all the ages, and worse than a dog. in a very public execution, north korean leader kim jong-un sentenced his own uncle to death. he even had him erased from a documentary. you can see him in one picture with his uncle and another, the uncle's gone. one big question this morning,
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if if kim can do this to his own family, what else is he capable of? here's cnn's paula hancocks. >> reporter: the message could not be more clear, showed disloyalty to kim jong-un and this, too, could be your fate, the very public humiliation and execution of his umncle by marriage is unprecedented. jang was considered the second most powerful figure in the nation is found filthy of trying to form a power base. skou squandering power, women, drug abuse. he was branded a traitor and "despicable human scum." experts believe it was a power struggle that jang lost all know it's not clear if the struggle was with the leader himself or the military who did not approve of his attempts to introduce reform.
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one south korean lawmaker who sits on the intelligence committee says this shows kim jong-un to be weaker than previously thought as he felt the need to punish jang so publicly and brutally. south korea's president park geun-hye called the kim regime a reign of terror and the u.s. state department says this is just another example of the extreme brutality of the north korean regime. paula hancocks, cnn, seoul. transparency, it was supposed to be an obama trademark, in fact the president pledged to hold himself to a new standard of openness, except when it comes to taking pictures of him. this pc tour on air force one was taken not by the press but by white house photographers, and then released to the public, and this is not unusual. the "new york times" put it this way, "here's how it's done these days. an event involving the president discharging his official duties is arbitrarily labeled private with media access prohibited." a little while later an official photo was released on the flickr
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page. private, hardly. the white house press corps is up in arms. including brianna keilar. >> reporter: anyone here can tell you there's less access than under the bush administration and it was president obama who talked about transparency being a hallmark of his administration. >> sure. >> reporter: isn't it the problem he has set up a standard himself he's not met? >> what i can tell you, brianna, every white house, every president has had meetingings that the press didn't cover. every white house has released photographs of, if they had children, presidents and first ladies with their children that obviously the press didn't cover, but i understand that also the press corps has always sought and sometimes demanded more access, and i want to work with and we want to work with the photographers and others to see how we can be more responsive. >> journalists everywhere are
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going, yeah, right. let's talk more with cnn political commentator and columnist will cain and john avalon. will, first question. i'm painfully people think we're whiny journalists but why should we care about this? >> because it's image control. i agree with the premise of your question. i don't have a lotd of outraget the outset. the outrage well only runs so deep in the whole messing up the health care economy has commandeered most of my outrage. the "new york times" calls this orwellian or the ap who compares it to a soviet union like propaganda. that's the pount. you're controlling the image. this is not the only thing that has exposed the hypocrisy on the transparency process. we have leaks, going after fox's james rosen, we have the ap
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scandal, we have a long track record of the obama administration being very,er have very serious controlling their message and anyone that intrudes upon that, that draws their attention. >> controlling the mess annual is one thing. maybe controlling your image is another, john. what politician wouldn't want to control his image. >> this has been true throughout the modern presidency, certainly jfk and ronald reagan were masters at controlling their image and what they presented to the country and the world, but i think the point will makes is this is right and is this, hypocrisy is the unforgivable sin in politics. when this president campaigned on being the most transparent administration ever, and then fell short of that, for whatever reason, it draws people's eyire and frustration. talk about orwellian or stalin or soviet is stupid, a ridiculous comparison. the segment on north korea people photo shopped out who were executed. we're not heading down that slippery slope folks. >> thank god. >> the white house photographer
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used to release the photos to the newspapers which decide what to precipitate. now they're going out directly to the public via social media. that change is driving this frustration. >> somehow the obama administration says the internet does this, anybody can put it on the internet and say anything they want so might that be part of the problem the administration is having with just anyone taking pictures of the president and his family? will? >> no, i think what it reveals it this, that the politicians no longer need the media in the same way they did. first of all i have to respond to john saying we haven't reached the point of kim jong-un photo shopping out his arrested uncle. that's a fairly low bar. i'm glad we haven't reached that point. what we're talking about right now is the president not allowing free press to come in and take their pictures rather tis seminating his own and what i'd say to your question, carol, is get useded to it. we can condemn the obama administration and we should but i suggest get used to it. as we've seen in the
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presidential campaigns they don't need cnn, the "new york times," the ap. now they have their own access to the public, they have facebook, they have twitter, they have the white house website. they can put out whatever message they need and reach their audiences directly. this is iffing to be a trend, this is going to be a problematic trend. >> i actually agree with will, john, because it is a slippery slope. i don't want my president, any u.s. president strictly controlling his image. i like transparency. isn't that what we're all about in this country as far as the press is concerned? >> that's absolutely what we should be about, and it's always attention to get there, and no president opened the doors to the white house in the modern era for the press to wander through. we need to get that right balance but i think here is the larger point. you need to sense intperspectiv. names like stalin has real meaning. it is the impact the way the media is changing because of the internet, because of the tis semination of photographs. there is a larger trend with
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politicians, folks running for governor and the president pulling back, not going to newspaper editorial boards that's concerning. the fact is this white house has done more one on one interviews. that seems to be what this president likes to do. that larger trend of people trying to her mmedically sealin themselves when runningor office this is troubling. this is inside baseball, because it is ultimately access and a free press and that's the guarantee of democracy. >> john avalon, will cain thanks for the interesting discussion. >> thanks, carol. a secret beyonce album released this morning, that's right, no promotions, no ads, no nothing, until it hit the web last night. more details for you next.
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celebrity feuds are not anything new but a feud between a police chief and kanye west. in an interview on online.com west said "being a rapper performer is like being a police officer. you're going out to do your job every day knowing something could happen to you." brimfield, ohio, police chief david oliver had a few words for kanye. >> that's just as misguided as you can get in my opinion. this i felt was worthy of at least a response from somebody in the field. >> yes, maybe like kanye should
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try being a police officer one day to see what it's really like. chief oliver says he respects kanye's right to his opinion but he's got a right to his as well. christmas came early for beyonce fans, just after midnight the 17-time dwramy award winner released a secret album, broke the news on instagram with this video tease and one word "surprise scram" here's a taste of track number one, it's called "pretty hurts." ♪ someone's gonna take the crown without fallen down, down, down ♪ ♪ pritty hurts >> cnn entertainment correspondent nischelle turner is with me now, an unusual way to release an album but i bet it will work for beyonce. >> exactly. people are calling this one of the best kept secrets in music history. it's a self-titled album
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"beyonce" calling this a visual album. every song comes with a music video. when you download it you get three additional videos, 14 songs, 17 videos. for now you can only get this on itunes, and you can only buy it as a whole album. you can't just download singles from the album legally yet. she's been teasing this for almost a year, she's been giving out little bitty hints and snippets of songs an tour or in commercials. remember that -- ♪ i'm a grown woman that's one of the sopgz op. tng album. >> is this a sign of things to come? >> you know that's a good question. i don't think we've seen anything like this from an artist the scale of beyonce to this point. radiohead did something like this years ago, where they released an album with no promotion and they gave it away for free. remember they told their fans just pay us what you think this is worth, and then they came back and released it, the
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complete way, but i don't think anyone has ever done something like this as well but remember, her husband, jay-z earlier this year did something new with music as well. he dropped his last album for free exclusively on samsung to samsung users, that was the magna carta holy grail. the music industry is changing. artists say you can't just drop a cd, you can't to that anymore because people aren't buying music that way, so they have to find more creative ways to still get their music out there, and you know, she says she's doing it with no promotion but there's a lot of promotion. we're talking about it now. this is all the promotion she needs. >> an unknown group would not have as much success, right? >> no. it just wouldn't happen. it definitely wouldn't happen like that. beyonce has the name recognition, she's got the
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credibility, she's got other studio albums that are bona fide hits and i don't think anyone ever really heard her sing a bad note. remember the year she's had, performing halftime at the super bowl, singing at the inauguration although there was controversy around that, her and jay-z were named "forbes" most profitable celebrities, made $95 million last year and she's on the mrs. carter world tour right now. this has been a banner year for her. >> to be beyonce. >> makes you tired. i need a break. >> makes me feel really envious actually. nischelle turner thanks so much >> all right. >> we'll be right back. ♪ morning, turtle. ♪ my friends are all around me ♪ my friends, they do surround me ♪
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checking our top stories at 50 minutes past the hour. having a mid-air cell phone chat is one stepper closer to reality. they voted yesterday to consider its ban on inflight cell phone use. but the department of
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transportation is pushing back saying that inflight conversations could be unfair to consumers. lawmakers have three bills banning cell phone use in the skies. >> this ladies husband is back home from afghanistan. she wiped around tears of joy. he returned along with 40 fellow members of the south carolina aeshl national guard. prince harry has reached the south pole. it's putting continue -- took his team more than three weeks to reach his destination. other participants came from the united states, canada, and australia. the national zoo in washington is under fire this morning. several afternoon malls have died there recently. and there's an internal report
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suggesting that other animals could be at risk. here is more on this story. >> reporter: this has gotten so bad now that the congressional committee that oversees the zoo's activities is now going to take a look at whether or not budget cuts have compromised its ability to take care of these animal. remember, this isn't just any zoo, it's your zoo. it's mostly funded by taxpayers and part of the smithsonian. an internal investigation is revealing big problems at the national zoo. >> we never compromise safety and well-being of animals. >> reporter: and yet, animals are dying. on wednesday it was an endangered horse which rammed into a fence inside its barn. both a gazelle and antelope type animal broke their necks the
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same way. >> you don't hear this happening across the country, it certainly shouldn't be happening here at our national zoo. >> reporter: last month a see bra severely injured an animal keeper. and rusty the red panda got out this year. an internal investigation count that animal care, in overall organization, are severely lacking. zoo officials say the budget is partly to blame. it does not charge admission. and congress has cut $2 million over the past few years. >> this is where we look at ourselves very carefully and we have to review what resources are available. >> reporter: some animal welfare advocates don't buy it. >> we can tell how beloved the panda really is. >> reporter: pointing out there have been no problems with the zoo's star attractions. the panda cubs get naming ceremonies. the newest tigers, around the
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clock attention. >> the lesser known species, aernlt getting the attention they clearly need. >> reporter: and they're giving the national zoo attention it clearly doesn't want. this critics say that they simply have too many animals. but some are pushing back on that and saying they've implemented a lot of the recommendations. they also passed an inspection by the department of agriculture. >> still to come in the "newsroom", see how russell wilson drafted to play baseball? will he leave football and play baseball? we'll talk about that ahead in "bleacher report." ♪ [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight,
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the san diego chargers winning in denver and shocked peyton manning and the broncos. >> they didn't look like super bowl favorites last night. the chargers were able to shut down their high scoring offense and they did it by keeping him on the sideline. they went on a bunch of long drives last night. at the end of one of those drives, it ended up being the
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play of the night. keenen allen makes the catch. he's going to jump over one and barrel through another defender for the touchdown. great score there. now broncos had a chance to take the lead in this game, but manning throws the interception. chargers get the win, 27-20. the nfl was buzzing yesterday because russell wilson was selected by the texas rangerness a supplemental draft. prior to playing professional football, he played minor league baseball for two seasons. he was flattered that the ranger would try to pick him up, but he wasn't going to try to play both sports. >> i love baseball. but football is where my first love is. it's a blessing to about able to have the experience of playing in professional baseball before and now playing in the national
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football long. >> this went as you probably expect. charles barkley and shaq had no chance. weber dashes across the finish line. kenny smith cried foul and says he actually won. he was so mad he didn't participate in the medal ceremony at the end. >> oh, come on. thank you. the next hour of "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for being with me. we begin with a shocking new report about an american who has been missing in iran for nearly seven years. bob levin son actually worked for the cia. his own family and the u.s.
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government denied he worked for the government when he disappeared. here is more. >> reporter: i've confirmed with a source that's been deeply involved in this matter that there is proof that he was allegedly working for the cia undercover or under contract for years while at the same time working as a private investigator. obviously, there is a lot of concern about revealing this very sensitive information will mean for his safety. the ap says the reason it moved forward with the story is this. thetds after documenting the information long ago in 2010, they agreed to hold back three times at the government's request because the u.s. government said it had promising leads to bring him home, yet nothing has happened for six and a half years. and it's ex-strikely likely that by now the people know of his ties of the cia.
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now the source involved in the matter agree that after so long of being in captivitity, that his captures more than likely he no that he was working undercover. in an exclusive interview with cnn's christiane amanpour in september, here is what was said about him and two others held in ir ir iran. >> translator: is he an american who has disappeared. we have no news of him. we do not know where he is. we are willing to help. and all the intelligence serves in the region can gather together to find his wear about about thes and we're willing to cooperate on that. >> this is the same thing they've been saying since the beginning about this. a levinson family spokesman tells me about the risk created by the story and praying for his safety. all they say, is they want us to
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bring bob home. in a written statement, they added that the u.s. government in their view has failed to make saving, as they put it, levin n levinson's life, as they put it. and they said, it's time for the u.s. government to step up and take care of one of its own. after nearly seven years, thetds our family should not be struggling to get through each without this wonderful, caring man that we love so much. the cia has been pushing back saying it has no comment on what calls -- any proported affiliation between levinson and the cia. >> thanks so much. we want to talk more about this now with bob bauer.
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well. >> hi. >> your feelings on this being made public. >> i don't like it. it was in some doubt -- i've known about this case for several years via lawyers looking for him. i didn't say anything. i'm not sure the ap should have come out with the story now. it doesn't move it forward. so what he was on a cia contract, if indeed he was. right now, whoever has him, and it may be a rogue element, it's going to make this case much worse. >> when the iranian president says, we don't know where he is, obviously we're skeptical of that statement. what do you suppose iran is doing with mr. levinson? >> reporter: that's a good question. i think it's a mystery in washington. where he was taken is run by iranian intelligence. in fact, the hotel he stayed in backs up against one. they knew exactly what they were
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doing and who took him. what happened to him afterwards, whether they pushed him off to some radical group, i can't tell you. have they lost track of him? i can't tell you that either. >> you're a former cia operative and this is so chilling where you're working for your country and they can't seem to save you. >> we should go to the iranians and say, this is out, let's sit down and find this guy. tell us who grabbed him. if we want this deal to go through with iran, we don't want this as an obstacle. >> thanks so much for your insight this morning. a chaotic scene at mile high stadium in denver. at least three people ended up stabbed after the game. one of the victims is now in critical condition. they also think a fourth person was stabbed but left the scene and has not been found yet. three suspects are in custody.
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the last now from colleen fer rarera. >> reporter: two men were stabbed. there is a possible fourth victim, police say that victim missing at this time. the police say they don't know how or what happened. they have been interviewing witnesses overnight. they're stel still talking to them right now and hoping they can weigh in on the moments leading up to the stabbing. >> the denver broncos referred all questions to stadium management who say they are fully cooperating with authorities. newly we had jordan graham admits she pushed her husband off the cliff to kill him. she's constructed an elaborate coverup at first. but on thursday she finally broke down and agreed to a plea deal. cnn has more for you.
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>> reporter: jordan graham, a former bride, now inmate with her sentencing only months away. in a last-minute deal, graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for dropping a first-degree murder charge. she came clean about what really happened the day her husband died at glakier national park. she and the man she married just eight days earlier, code johnson, got into a heated arguments. she told her new husband that she wasn't feeling like a happy newly we had. she said johnson grabbed her arm and she said, let go. then she pushed him. one hand on his shoerl one on his back face first off the cliff. i wasn't thinking of where we were, graham told the judge. it was a reckless act. i just pushtd. graham said she left him at the bottom of the cliff without telling anyone because, i was so scared. >> this is a young girl who made
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some poor choices. do you still hold that belief? >> i do. >> reporter: the defense said graham ask a young girl who made poor choices in the wake of her wedding. they believe his death was premed at a timed according to the prosecutor prosecution. and when graham uttered the word "guilty," her former mother-in-law wept. officers cuffed jordan graham in the court room while johnsons friends held hands and shook their heads in satisfaction. they left the federal courthouse saying few, but powerful words. >> god will take care of it. >> reporter: as will a judge when she is sentenced in march. >> talk a little politics now. the house of representatives passed a budget. amazing in itself. what's more amazing is what it exposed. open warfare between republicans and their conservative counterparts. john boehner made no bones about
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it. calling republicans who did not vote for this budget deal uninformed seems like just yesterday he was in it danger of losing hig speakership because he could not control the tea party republicans. but today it's a whole different story. boehner is victorious and not afraid to say it out loud. >> the american people have lost all credibility. they pushed us into a fight to defund obama care and shut down the government the day before the government re-opened, one of these groups said well, we never really thought it would work. are you kidding me? >> we'll talk more about the budget which has yet to pass the senate with cnn's candy crowley. also to come in the "newsroom", chatting on your cell phone in midair? it could be coming soon. i'll talk to someone who says it's a bad idea. it could put you in danger. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth. [ sniffles, coughs ]
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>> checking our top stories at 13 minutes past the hour. terrifying moments in utah overnight when a sudden rock slide crushed a home and killing two people inside. they say the falling boulder sounds like an earthquake and that the two bodies were found close to one another. rock slides are common in the area because of snow and freeze gds temperatures. a massive storm could blanket a 1,000 mile strip of the united states with more snow, ice, and freezing temperatures again in weekend. in michigan, snow just caused a
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40-car pile up. the woman who hit him said she couldn't avoid it. >> i lost control. i was thrown off and i hit the police officer who was in the ditch. there was nothing that we could do to stop. >> and in downtown milwaukee, the river is frozen. they could get up to 5 inches of snow by tomorrow. the high today is expected to be in the mid-20s. and more trouble for canada's skrak-smoking mayor. rob ford is being accused of libel. dale wants the mayor to retract the false insinuations that, i am a pedophile. ford has not responded. do you really want the guy next to you blabing away on his cell phone while on an airplane? it can happen. new technology they say now makes it safe, but they say it
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will be a bad call. >> i don't want someone sitting next to me saying, hi, i'm on the plane. >> adds more noise and stress to the flight. >> amen, brother. >> one person wrote, quote, it's bad enough being herded like cattle on these planes without listening to borish idiots have needless conversations on their cell phones. and another, i fear what i do with my cutlerry being stuck on a plane. and a third wrote simply, no! >> the department of transportation has jumped on the band wagon too. saying it could trample passengers rights. and joining me now is the
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president of the flight attendants. you hate this idea, why? >> this is a tear believe idea. you just heard from a very good cross-section. it's a dumb idea to start with. but beyond that, there's a lot of troubling aspects of it. from a pure nuisance factor, which i think was articulated that people don't want to be disturbed with calls occurring to them right next to them. two, you know, the ability that can could create zis turns in flight. my role is to make sure there's a calm, cool, collected atmosphere on the airplane. that's a metal tube, thousands of feet in the air, compressed air, no way out. what are we going to do? create another example where people could get mad add one another. we think it doesn't make any sense. >> i think a lot of people don't realize how difficult your job really is. you do have to keep people calm.
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and it is difficult. some people onboard planes are not only frustrated and tired, but some of them aren't in their right minds. >> we have seen that, that's right in. a post 9/11 world we've got security concerns. but there's passengers that might have had too much to drink or might have another kind of mental illness or something. my job is to make sure we're deescalating any situations. from a pure safety standpoint, this makes no sense. and you quoted one of the commissioners you showed earlier. another one said, this is going to mon any ties peace and quiet. there's a lot of hustle and buchl in the airport. you have to wait in lines. i want the aircraft to maintain an oasis-like atmosphere. if you're on a flight and
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there's an inflight movie, i don't broadcast that over for everyone to hear. there's an assumption there's going to be peace and quiet. if if you want to do it, you can put on your headphones. >> and the other concern is you don't know who that person on the plane is faulking to on the ground. the thought crossed through my mind that can could be somebody who means trouble. >> that's exactly right. i currently don't even have the ability to communicate with the flight deck wirelessly. i have to go to one of those princess phones at the front or back end of the cabin if i need to communicate with the flight deck. we have concerns that from a security standpoint that those that might wish to do harm could have voice calls amongst one another on a plane or across aircraft. >> we'll see what happens. everybody is jumping on the band wagon. >> i'm going to tell you, i have not heard from one single passenger or flight attendant that in any way thinks this is a
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good idea. the only person that i've spoken with is someone from the industry group that stands to make money by putting these devices onboard aircraft. it's about decisions for many handled by a few. >> thanks so much for joining me this morning. >> great. good to be with you. thank you. >> you're welcome. still to come in the "newsroom", authorities now saying the death of this college freshman during a fraternity outing may have been criminal. >> reporter: new details are emerging in all that. i'll have the latest for you when we come back. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab.
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a fraternity outing turned deadly for a 19-year-old college freshman. now new court records are shedding more light on the ritual that may have led to his death. and the district attorney says criminal charges are likely. >> reporter: and a lot of these details really started emerging late last night. two things started crystallizing, if if you will. there were 30 fraternity members on hand when this happened. it seems not all of them are really forth come to help clarify what really happened. but the main thing the authorities are focusing on is the time delay to when this thing happened and when his fraternity friends actually got help. it was a very long time. it happened at this house in eastern pennsylvania.
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he ran a gauntlet blindfolded with a heavy weight on his back while other fraternity mechls tried to tackle him. it's a ritual known as glass ceiling. he suffered a se voor head injury during the ordeal and became unresponsive. but his would be brothers never called an ambulance. >> there was a delay of some of his fraternity brothers taking him to the hospital, which was another 40 minutes away. so we can say a minimum of at least two hours went by before he actually received any type of medical care. >> reporter: he later died. those allegedly involved were members of the maternity at this college in new york city. authorities say more than 30 members are traveled to the mountains for a weekend fraternity trip. students say they're shocked. >> i've heard good things about them. i'm surprised one of their members got hurt -- i mean killed. >> it's terrible to get into
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something that means brotherhood resulted in that. why do you have to prove yourself to call someone your friend or your brother. >> reporter: the college says it has a zero tolerance policy for hazing rituals. and in a statement their leadership says, this occurred at an unsanctioned event that was strictly prohibited by our organization of the we are immediately suspending all new member education nationwide until further notice. both the college and fraternity say they're cooperating with the authorities. >> prior to us getting to that location, there were people who left the scene. and we are asking them to come forward to provide us with the information, you know, to help us figure out exactly what happened. >> reporter: the district attorney tells cnn he believes criminal charges will likely be pressed in the case. and, you know, carol, i want to
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give you more details as to what exactly happened after this incident and why it took so long for them to actually get this young manny sort of help. it appears after the incident happened, they brought him inside, put dry clothes on him. instead of calling an ambulance, they started googling his symptoms. it took a very, very long time and they drove him to the hospital in one of their own cars. and further time elapsed because he could have gotten treatment in a ambulance and not so in a private car. these are all things that law enforcement are looking into. >> many thanks to you. still to come in the "newsroom", the bipartisan budget deal sails through john boehner's house of representatives. but he's also using his victory to tell his critics to back off and leave his party alone. we'll talk about that coming up. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion,
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but shaving without proglide... what are we, animals? gillette fusion proglide, for unrivaled comfort even on sensitive skin. gillette -- the best a man can get. you will lose three sets of keys, four cell phones, seven socks, and six weeks of sleep. but one thing you don't want to lose is any more teeth. if you wear a partial, you are almost twice as likely to lose your supporting teeth. poligrip and polident for partials seal & protect helps minimize stress, which may damage supporting teeth by stabilizing your partial. and clean & protect kills odor-causing bacteria. care for your partial. help protect your natural teeth. good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for joining me. a look at our top stories. the associated press and the
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"washington post" both reporting an american in iran missing that worked for the cia. his family and the state department has spent years denying that. but there is proof that he worked for the cia undercover while also works as a private investigator. nothing alleged about that. susan canned dee yachty did confirm that. in denver, a huge fight after the broncos game. three people ended up stabbed, possibly a fourth that police have not been able to find. three people under arrest in connection with those stabbings. the bride accused of push be her husband over a cliff pled to second-degree murder. she told the judge, i just pushed cody johnson during an
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argument. shocking news out of north korea. kim jong-un ordering his own uncle's execution. they say this is a dramatic and ruthless statement that's sending shock waves through the country's leadership. if he can do this to his own family, what else is he capable of? here is more from cnn's paula hancock. >> reporter: being part of the family was not enough to save the second most powerful man in north korea. he was executed on thursday even though he was a part of the family. what does that tell us about the leader? a young man in mourning walks alongside a awe fin. two years later, four of the five men have been executed on
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the words of. >> his yaudance are basically 60 or 70-year-old males with a military background that he has to earn his respect. >> reporter: little was known of the man that was introduced to the world in 2010. partly educated in switzerland, many dared to hope he would drive change this the isolated nation. but then came the rocket launchers and nuclear test. he proofed impervious to international criticism. the top military man was fired last year. and the top political man, thaek, executed this year. >> it's more of the product of -- with the north korean
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quote. >> reporter: kim jong-un has -- he showed a more personable side to his father, often smiling on camera. and then there's don nis rodman. an unlikely friendship between dictator and basketball star. >> he has to do his job, but he's a very good guy. >> reporter: tell that to the two american citizens arrested recently. merrill was released last week and kenneth bae still held after more than one year. he is a leader who has grown in confidence but not in the way the west was hoping. the u.s. state department says that this is just another example of the extreme brutality of the north korean regime.
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>> let's talk a little u.s. politics now. the house of representatives passed a budget. amazing in itself. what's more amazing is what it exposed. open warfare between republicans and their counterparts. john boehner called republicans who did not vote for this budget deal uninformed. it seems like he was just in danger of losing his leadership because he could not control his tea party counterparts. >> when you criticize something and you have no idea what you're criticizing, it undermines your credibility. >> the party is dominated by people who do not believe in government. those people have hi-jacked the name "republican" who have made such a valuable contribution to our government, republican. >> they appear to be agreeing
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with each other. that was weird, wasn't it? >> it was weird. but there is a little more here than meets the ear. for one thing, democrats have a vested interest in making the republican party look way off the cliff or in danger of going off the cliff. because it is a part of their pitch for mid-term election, which is these people don't want to do anything for you. they block everything, they're crazy. there's a vested interest for democrats. john boehner is saying what many people thought he was thinking all this time. for him it has to be strategic, it cannot be open warfare. we didn't hear any names of people. there was not a lot of specificity to it. the truth is that republicans need the energy of the tea party
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for the mid terms and beyond. and they need to keep them in their rapings. they don't want a third party candidate come 2016. there's a lot going on here even as we see this great bipartisan season of good will which is really more about the next election season. >> i'm sure many democrats are hoping that this is really a sign that the tea party has lost its luster among republicans and that they're now fighting back and that the tea party will disappear very soon. what's your take? >> first of all there is no tea party per se as we know. this is a lot of people who joined various groups. but they are more cover ter. they're rinos. republican in name only. boehner a great deal on this particular budgetnd onhat he said. but in the end, it is still the -- in the interest of the
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republican party, including john boehner, to keep tea party types in the fold for two reasons. first, so that there are fewer primary challenges than -- i mean keep down the challenges. there already are some. but in order to keep the majority, certainly the boehner types, the more moderate wing of the party, want to make sure that there are not people that are given the nomination for a particular district and then lose because they're too far right for the general population. so they're trying to sort of head that off at the pass. and they also need them to come out. these are eager voters that need to come out in november of next year. so again, i don't think he's looking for a fight. i do believe he said what he meant. and in the end, by the way, more republicans voted for this than democrats which supervised even the leader. >> we should talk about the
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democratic party on monday. still to come in the "newsroom", have you heard of a dangerous trend of people pointing lasers at planes? it's putting passengers' lives at risk. renee marsh following this story for us. >> reporter: hi. you know not only passengers' lives at risk. but pilots say the blinding light in the cockpit has caused injury. we're digging more into this growing problem on the other side of the break. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare.
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it's stupid and dangerous and the fbi says it's putting
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the lives of anyplace who flies at risk. we're talking about people aiming lasers at planes that are taking off or landing. and it can tale blind pilots. renee marsh has more for you. >> reporter: in the latest incident a pilot of jet blue said he had to shield his eyes in order to land his plane monday. it's become such a problem, that doctors are kevined. >> it bothers me because of the safety factor to start with. that someone is doing this to a pilot and the potential for all of those people on the plane. it bothers me from a personal level because i know the guy. >> the pilot is suffering from severe eye damage and high grains. he believes the damage will not be permanent, but the pilot must still undergo more tests. >> i can tell you, the pilot wants to know exactly who did this. and there will be some
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investigating. >> reporter: it happened as this plight from new york was landing at west palm beach airport. someone on the ground tracked the aircraft with a laser for about 20 to 30 seconds. this video shows what it looks like from the cockpit. the faa says a lasers beam can initial instantly. >> it can blind the pilot, at least it can temporarily blind the pilot. and just the effect of the this startling burst of light into the care plane cockpit. >> reporter: nationwide, they're becoming increasingly common. the faa reported just 350 in 2006. but 3,400 in 2012. and in palm beach alone, there have been 32 laser attacks so far this year. 2012 law make it a federal offense to aim a laser at a plane. >> the word needs to get out
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that this isn't funny that this is potentially very serious and it is a fellow. >> well, because this is becoming such a common problem, the faa is getting special glasses like the military pilots already wear. now, investigate irs believe these are all isolated incidents. >> still to come in the "newsroom", did you get your ticket yet? the megamillions jackpot up to $400 million. but there's a reason it might be harder to win this time. we'll tell you why, next. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain... ♪ ready or not. [ female announcer ] ...so you can be up there. here i come! [ female announcer ] ...down there, around there... and under there for him. tylenol® provides strong pain relief and won't irritate your stomach
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works. he later admitted it was just a joke. he's been charged with using an electronic device to threaten or harass. prince harry's trekking team as reached the south pole. it's -- so prince harry's team more than three weeks to reach its destination. other participants came in from the united states, canada, and australia. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> christmas came early this morning for bee yaens fans. overnight, she released a brand new secret album online. she broke the news on instagram and this video tease and one word "surprise." each song comes with a music video and there's a duet with hez husband jay-z.
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it is friday 13th, but it might end up being your lucky day. today's megamillions jack pots is up to $400 million. but getting your hands on all that cash just got a little harder. here is the reason why. >> reporter: bottom line is that it is harder than ever to win the megamillions jackpot because of changes put into place in october. that's a big reason why this jackpot has rolled over 20 times and climbed to $400 million, the fifth largest jackpot in u.s. history. you still have a 1 in 15 chance of winning something. the frenzy is it reaching a fever pitch. $400 million at stake. the second largest jackpot in the game's history. it has players dreaming what they would do. >> i want to be a millionaire. >> partying like a rock star.
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>> early r50ir789. >> reporter: it's attracting more customers to pay, but the odds of winning are significantly lower after the revamp in october. that's because the five winning numbers increased to 75 while balls instead of 56. and the number of gold one decreases from 46 to only 15. the chances of winning went from 1 in $17500 million to 00 in 25900 million. >> being struck by lightning was more likely. but hopefully i can beat the odds. >> someone is going to be lucky. hopefully me. >> reporter: no one has won the big prize since the switch. the last jackpot winner was a maryland man who chose to remain
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anonymous. he matched all the numbers winning $186 million. since then, 20 drawings and no winner. now some good news. the minimum second prize won by hitting all the number but the megaball is $1 million. the minimum jackpot rose from $15 million to $12 million. guaranteed to increase by at least $5 million after each drawing without a winner. >> could see maybe in the next several years maybe an exclusive $1 billion jackpot. >> reporter: the drawing will be at 11:00 p.m. eastern time in atlanta. and it is friday the 13th. worth noting there. a lot of people superior tishs saying this is an unlucky day. but there have been winners on this day. one man won $27 million on friday the 13th. so you never know. carol. >> you never know.
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but, like we keep saying, it is a long shot. you might have better luck with a few of these. your odds of being crushed by a venting machine are 1 in 112 million. having identical quadruplets, odds of that are 1 in 15 million. and you have a 1 in 12,500 chance of dying in an asteroid apocalypse. scientists celebrated like rock stars. cnn was right there on the red carpet. that's next. [ female announcer ] thanks for financing my first car.
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awards honoring break-throughs in science were handed out last night in california. they honor excellence in research. and they are planted by the titans of tech world. including mark zuckerberg. he spoke with dan simon about the prizes and importance of science in our culture. >> the big goal here is to treat and honor scientists in the way that they should be recognized by society. >> reporter: mark zumerburg changed the world with facebook. now he wants to change out the world looks at scientists. >> you think that's an atanable goal to change the way people
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look at scientists? >> absolutely. it used to be case back in albert einstein's day that he was viewed as part of pop culture and a rock star in his time. it's a shame that we've lost that. >> reporter: with stars like kevin spacey. >> it's kind of cool to see the geeks and nerds get the upper hand. >> zuckerberg organized a star show complete with paparazzi and a red carpet. do you want this to be the most prestigious prize in science? >> we certainly want this to be both a meaningful reward for the scientists and something that's public so that way it can be an inspirational goal for children growing up. >> reporter: the idea came from
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this man, milliner. >> i used to be a physicist a long time ago. i think that i'm sort of -- had this idea to give back to the people that i belong one day to. >> reporter: he convinced his friends including zuckerberg and others to fund the event. each winner, serve of them in all, getting $3 million each. making it the most lucrative award of its kind. for the 29-year-old ceo, science is not that big of a departure from the world of tech. >> what would you be working on in your harvard dorm room today? >> i don't know. that's an interesting question. i think that for me my life mission is to help make the world more open and connected and give people the hour to share. if i were in college told i might get started doing something else connected to that mission but just at a point that makes more sense today, maybe
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with phones. >> reporter: taking advantage of your own platform? >> probably. >> reporter: one of the wineres was a doctor who helped treat cancer. and another one is a scientist who helped better understand parkinson's. >> that's terrific. dan simon reporting. thank you for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starts now. >> ma'am, i'm telling you it's dark. there are four or five kids -- there's kids laying in the ditches and in street. >> 911 tapes released in affluenza drunk driving case. and everybody is wondering, since when did being