takeoff. that means really seconds away from a collision. it's at least the third near collision that we're hearing about just this week, and it's news that could make anyone traveling this memorial day weekend nervous. aviation correspondent renee marsh is following all the latest developments. what do we know about this one, renee? >> reporter: we're still getting the details but the faa telling us here at kr cnn these two planes came with within a mile of each other and they were about 400 feet apart vertically. if you were a passenger on this plane, you do not want to be in that situation. we are hearing about another situation of two passenger planes getting too close for comfort. >> 601 turn right turn. >> reporter: two more passenger planes get too close in the sky. on may 9, united flight 601 and united 437 took off from bush intercontinental air 30 poporta. shortly after takeoff flight 601 is told to turn right putting it

in the path of the other plane. moments later the controller seems to realize the mistake. >> 601, stop the turn right there, sir the. stop your turn. stop your climb and stop your turn. >> reporter: the two planes came within nearly a mile of each other. the roughly 300 passengers on both flights may not have been aware of the close call, but the pilots were left with questions as to what went wrong. >> 601, you know what happened there? >> basely over the top of each other. >> that's what it looked like from my perspective. i have no idea what was going on up there in the tower. >> reporter: this was the third incident with where where passenger planes got too close for comfort. a similar incident over newark airport and another over the pacific ocean near hawaii all involving passenger planes. all right, well, again the faa

is investigating. for some perspective, the big picture here how often this happens in the skies, we know from faa numbers from 2012 that about 4,400 close -- or too close for comfort situations in the case involving passenger planes per year, about -- if you look at that and really crunch down the numbers, that works out to be more than 12 times a day we have a situation planes are getting closer than they should be in the skies. back to you, john. >> and only once could be enough for a disaster. thanks to rene amarsh covering from washington. two high-profile democrats are calling for eric shinseki to resign. the outrage by the scandal that has rocked the department. shinseki for his part the is trying to reassure veterans. he says he has no plans to leave. as one republican lawmaker told us allegations of delayed care and cover-ups where cnn has been reporting on closely for months now may just be the tip of the

iceberg. cnn's michelle kosinski is live at the white house. good morning, michelle. >> reporter: cnn broke the story, trade for six months to get an interview with secretary shinseki. now he did answer one press question to say he has not offered his resignation and now has addressed veterans across mek but in writing. while the tough talk comes from capitol hill. >> men who served our country and we haven't just let them down. we've let them die. this is awful stuff and someone ought to be held accountable for it. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner in his strongest statement speaks on beof half of the veterans affected by the scandal. 23 of whom the v.a. said died because they were on waiting lists for medical care. >> i have not called for general

shinseki to resign. i have to admit i'm getting a little closer. but here's the point. this isn't about one person. this isn't about the secretary. it's about the entire system underneath him. >> reporter: and while the president's deputy chief of staff arrived at the phoenix v.a. are where the scandal broke to broaden the investigation, shinseki was summoned to the hill for a private meeting with the number two democrat dick durbin and then posted an online letter to veterans everywhere. but the strongest quotes in it were him quoting president obama the other day and shinseki saying he agrees. for himself shinseki writes he takes the allegations seriously, that they're of great personal concern. you and your families deserve to have full faith in your v.a. and we intend to deserve it. it includes all kinds of statistics. shinseki adding that if any

allegations under review are substantiated, we will act. well, congress has wanted to act now. we've been mentioning this bill that passed the house that would make it easier for the v.a. to fire managers brought up yesterday in the senate. but the chairman of the v.a. committee objected saying let's not politicize this. the white house says it agrees with this bill and its call for accountability although it does worry it could lead to lawsuits if some of the process of firings is removed. bottom line, take care of our veterans. >> let's take a look at more of your headlines. president obama is expected to officially tap rising democratic star and san antonio mayor julian castro as housing secretary. castro will replace shaun donovan who will take on the role of budget director. castro would become one of the highest ranking hispanic officials in the obama administration. the house approved a bill to end the nsa's bulk collection of americans' phone data. it would leave the records in the hands of phone companies and

require the nsa to get a court order. the vote is the first legislative effort at surveillance reforms since nsa leaker edward snowden went public and marks a rare moment of consensus between the obama administration and the republican-led house. the senate has yet to act on its version of the bill. the u.n. security council approving sanctions against the nigerian militant group boko haram after they kidnapped more than 200 school girls. they will be added to a list of al qaeda-linked ogss subject to arms embar goes, travel bans and asset freezes. nigeria had asked the u.n. to make the move because attacks appear to be escalating and spreading. all right. those are your headlines this hour. let's talk weather, don't you think? you know, you have to go. everyone cares about weather on the weekend. this is an important weekend for weather. it has been a mess. >> it's been raining an awful lot, indra petersons.

>> we're not assigning blame. >> i'm smiling because i know he'll give me praise for the weekend when it is nice. large hail, tennis ball, baseball sized hail. all of this winding down just in time. that's what the smile is for, right? >> got you. >> take a look at the map. you're not looking at much out there. maybe some tiny scattered showers here and there and that will continue to be the story as we go through the weekend. each day is going to get better and better in the northeast because the low will be making its way offshore, high pressure building in. that means it's good news. we'll be warming up. by saturday we're not saying you can't get one spotty shower over your house. a chance each day. monday will look amazing through the midwest. light, scattered showers as well. no one will get completely rained out except for in the southern plains and out to the pacific northwest. severe weather, yes. so minimal. we're talking about wilmington and columbia today in the

afternoon and isolated parts of new mexico and texas today but, again, conditions he so much better for travel unlike yesterday. speaking of travel, you want to go somewhere? i know i do. cape cod getting better each day. the jersey shore you see rain clouds there but 10%. temperatures are climbing. they are going up. outer banks looking at the 70s. chicago finally into the 80s. a chance of showers monday. maybe you want to go even further 0 out to the west, seattle, that's where it's rainy. again, even us a it continue only about a 10% chance. most people are staying pretty dry. a tiny scattered shower. >> we do not want to be under the -- eh. questionable, though. >> we're sort of used to it. it is a good day. >> too wet to notice. next up on "new day" immigration confrontation. house speaker john boehner squares off with a univision anchor on the subject of immigration reform. what set off this exchange? >> plus, the shocking story of a california woman who says she

was abducted as a teenager and held for ten years, forced to marry her captor and have his child. why, then, are some questioning if it is all true? what the suspect's attorney is now saying. ♪

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welcome back. a fiery exchange on capitol hill thursday. univision anchor ramos faced off with house speak her john boehner accusing him of blocking immigration reform saying the house could get it done if law make ers really wanted to. listen to it. >> so, speaker, we came here to ask you why are you blocking immigration reform? it's been almost a year since -- >> me? >> yes. >> block iing? >> you could bring it to a vote and you haven't. it's been almost a year. >> well, actually immigration reform is an issue i've talked about for 18 months starting the day after the 2012 election, and the fact that congress needs to deal with this. and i made it clear we're not going to deal with the senate about bill. a 1,300-page bill no one has read. we're not the going to do it. i think that moving in a piece

by piece fashion on this in a common sense way is the way to do this this. but a president -- the president has a responsibility here as well. and when he continues to ignore obamacare, his own law, 38 unilateral delays he reduces the confidence of the american people in his willingness to implement an immigration law the way we would pass it. so the president has to rebuild this trust and we'll be able to do this. >> and what does obamacare have to do with immigration reform? the senate passed it almost a year ago. i question your leadership and vision. >> i gave you an answer. no one is more interested in fixing the problem than i am. >> but you can do it. you can do it, mr. speaker. you can do it and you really haven't done it. >> i appreciate your opinion, thank you. let's bring in ben ferguson, the host of "the ben ferguson show" and mark is host of "mark

huff live. request" immigration reform in an election year? no way this is possible. why not now? to jorge ramos' point, why not now? boehner himself said he wants to get it done. >> a lot of republicans want to get it done. they don't want a bill no one has read. find me one u.s. senator that voted in favor of the 1,300-plus-page bill that has read it or knows what's in it. this is obamacare 2.0 as nancy pelosi put it. we don't know what's in it until weigh pass it and i think that's the concern. of the republicans said let's deal with this piece by piece. there's no sense in reforming the entire system and immigration laws if we don't secure our borders. it has to be together. and democrats say we don't want to deal with the border. we don't want to do anything with the border. we want to give a big chunk of amnesty and that's where the problem is. >> why do a bunch of senate republicans vote for it in the senator? they're not reading the bills

they're passing? >> i think a lot of them had things in there they personally liked and looked at it quickly and decided they were just going to pass it so they could be on the record for the re-election saying we did something in the senate on immigration reform. most you knew the house wasn't go going to touch a 1,300-page bill. for their own political reasons, they did it because they said, hey, i've done my job. now it's on those guys on the house side. >> does he have a point? >> he has a point there. everything about immigration reform and the debate is about political posturing. there's no way any meaningful advance is going to be made on immigration during an election year. we all know -- this isn't going to happen. the other thing here is that it's not that democrats don't care about the border. that's a political talking point. democrats care about the border like everyone else. they don't want to militarize the border. the idea of providing amnesty is not just an idea. republicans were behind it when george bush was doing it.

the key is to come you up with something sensible and comprehensive and no one wants to do that. it's to the republicans' own peril. they're not going to win many elections. >> what about that? >> i want to ask you this -- >> go ahead, ben. >> one of the big issues, and mark just said it, that democrats do care, they just don't want to militarize it. tell me one man the democrats have to fix the issue with an open border where millions of illegals have been able to come across the border and leave as much as they want to? last year the number one stimulant of mexico's economy for the first time ever was illegal immigrants sending cash back to mexico. it beat their exports with oil. that's how open the border is. so what do defensemmocrats want to fix it? they don't have a plan. >> we could spend another half an hour talking about the different aspects and throwing out statistics of why either side is stuck where they are. i think we can all -- you can both agree that the elements are there for both sides for a

majority, a bipartisan majority to come together. it's just the political had will that i think, at least from the outside perfespective, seems toe the biggest point, right, ben? >> yeah, there's a political issue. what they should do is take basic steps on things that they can agree on. and democrats and republicans -- >> what can we agree on? >> on a piece by piece basis. >> why not do piecemeal if you have a guarantee from republicans they go for it? >> i'm not convinced we have as much consensus as you are suggesting. i would be fine with piecemeal, with a few small things. we have to tackle the big issue. we may lose the political muscle to be able to do it in two or three years and certain things have to be nonstarters like militarizing the border. >> we cannot the let this moment go without bringing back the sound bite that really -- it's just memorable. everyone will remember this

moment when john boehner was publicly mocking some in his party for saying they didn't want to deal with this in an election year. it's just too hard. let's listen to it. >> here is the argument. oh, don't make me do this. oh, this is too hard. you should hear them. >> and boehner has said, that is very classic boehner and how he will rib his parties and members in the house. >> wreyeah. >> but, ben, leaving isn't always easy. boehner has been through many a debate leading isn't easy. why not lead on it, go forward? you may not get the majority of the majority. you will have to get a lot of democratic votes. why not? >> because i think there's a basic idea from some that are saying no, and they're saying it because every time the government has acted recently in a big way with massive, big bills, without fixing the basic problem and the basic problem still goes to the principle of right now in america you can walk across the border from

multiple different states and no one is stopping you. so until you fix that, why would you pass a massive bill to fix everything else if you're going to deal with the same problem another five years. remember, ronald reagan did a form of amnesty and we didn't fix the border then when he was president and you now we're dealing with the same issue, what, 25 years later? >> the same nonstarter. you don't want to fix trade policy, piece families back together, sensible guest worker programs and strengthen the economy here, you'll never get reform. they start with this idea of putting an electric fence over the border, a moat. they know it's a ridiculous nonstarter. >> i'm still stuck with,s and i thought ramos asked the question, an important basic question, at some point is it an okay excuse to say we can't do it in an election year? i understand covering capitol hill that is the reality. they're not -- you cannot take these controversial things up because you're going to face a tougher are problem in the

general but when does it become that's not an okay excuse? we are not going to settle l that today. sorry, america. we tried. >> we did our best. >> and we continue. ben, always great to see you. see you later, buddy. >> we appreciate the effort on "new day." next up for us, the story of a california kidnap victim who says she was held captive for ten years. the story is now being called into question. hear why her alleged abductor claims this girl is making the whole thing up. plus, recall has become a four-letter word for general moto motors. word is there's still more to come. what gm's new ceo is doing about this and what it could mean for you and your car.

good to have you back with us on this friday. a look at your headlines. two airplanes mere seconds away from a collision. no one onboard either united airlines flight knew how close they came to hitting each other earlier this month. they were about a mile from each other. given their speed they were seconds from pact. this is at least the third near collection we've been hearing about in the last week. the odds seem to be stacked against hundreds of firefighters trying to gain ground on the raging wildfires in northern arizona. officials say they only have the flames 5% contained at this point as it broke out earlier this week. it's expected the fire will jump to at least 7,500 acres today. i want to show you some terrifying video, check this out. a man takes dramatic rescue and is being hailed a hero after

catching that 1-year-old baby falling two stories out of a window in china during a thunderstorm. witnesses say the baby climbed on to a ledge during that thunderstorm, was teetering near the edge. the baby was uninjured and safely returned to his mother. you could see other people in the street trying to bring anything they could to maybe cushion the baby. my goodness, especially when it's raining. that's a great photo. slippery. >> that's a big kid but that's cra crazy. >> trying 0 to say go back in. oh, my god, he's a good man. >> thank goodness he had backup. >> a good catch. >> new request questions this morning about the california woman's claims she was kidnapped at the age of 15, abused and force forced to marry her abductor and have his child. the suspect has been charge d with numerous felonies but now his attorney says that she, the woman, the person who was kidnapped, that she is making it all up because she wanted a

divorce. that's difficult to hear for many people when we have not yet heard her story. what are you hearing, sarah? >> reporter: if you talk to the neighbors and the friends of the family who have known them for years, they don't believe what they're hearing either because they say isidro garcia who is being charged with five felony counts, very serious counts including forcible rape and kidnapping, the neighbors and friends don't believe it because they said what they saw was a doting husband and a loving father, very different from what they're hearing from police. >> bail in your case is set at $1 million. >> reporter: 42-year-old isidro garcia faces 14 years to life charged with kidnapping, rape, and lewd act on a minor. garcia initially arrested for allegedly holding this california woman in captivity for a decade until she walked into a police station monday.

>> i'm so happy and god blessed to be with my family. >> reporter: she tells kabc she didn't have a life. >> i was very afraid about everything because i was alone. >> reporter: the 25-year-old woman says garcia kidnapped her in santa ana when she was 15 years old. at the time he was her mother's boyfriend. the alleged victim said throughout the next ten years he raped her, changed her identity to marry her and they had a child together. >> she was told her family wasn't looking for her, that he was her only ally. >> reporter: but these photos from the alleged victim's face back page show a normal couple, a husband who neighbors say treatied his wife like a queen, a couple that rejoiced at news she was having a baby. >> she was really happy. she was really happy with the news she was pregnant. >> reporter: this is the family neighbors say they knew not believing what they're hearing now. now gave you indication there was something really wrong going

on and she had been kidnapped? >> no, never. that's why we're in shock. she had her own are cacar. she could stop by the police station and say i feel threatened. >> reporter: garcia's defense attorney argues the alleged victim had certain motives for reporting her husband. >> like all marriages and all couples, people have problems, people break up. people say things that aren't true. and in this case, that's probably what happened. >> reporter: now we know that she was on the phone with her mother when she walked into the police station. her mother providing her with the case number from the initial missing person's report back in 2004. that was put into the santa ana police department. but i do want to mention this, you have to remember, and according to the complaint, that she was 15 years old and she ended up going away with this man who was 16 years her senior. if you listen to the district

attorney's office and police, they are absolutely certain that something was amiss here and, of course, the neighbors say something completely different. john? >> that's a key point that we want to talk about. sara sidner, our thanks to you. let's discuss the ins and outs of the case. you have worked as a prosecutor on domestic violence issues and the d.a.'s office in boston. mel, the attorney for the accused, isidro garcia says, among other things, this was a willing relationship. this was a married couple, happily at sometimes. unhappily in others. is it even possible that as you look back on this relationship legally speaking it was consensual if it began when she was 15 and he was 16 years older? >> no, absolutely not because in california, the age of consent is not 15. i think the other thing that is really important here, john, unlike most happily married

couples, there isn't a complaint, a missing person's complaint that starts off the relationship. so there's so much that's amiss here and the other thing that re really bothers me about this we're taking the neighbor's account, john, of what they saw in public as an indication of what was going on in private and what we know about domestic violence, about abusers, and what we know about people that commit pure evil is that in many cases what neighbors, what relatives and what friends say is, hey, this is a nice guy. hey, he's a normal neighbor. in fact the neighbor in the cleveland house of horrors, john, said, hey, we used to barbecue with this guy. i had no eidea what was going o in this house. >> something seems off in this case argument. people say they seemed like a happy couple. why didn't she run away during that ten-year period. what you know from your experience is this is quite possible. >> not only is it possible, it's

actually the norm. there's a jekyll and hyde situation where the abuser on the outside seems like a loving 0 person but behind doors there's pure evil. something else people need to understand. when this 15-year-old was kidnapped, she had only been in the united states, john, for six months. she didn't speak english. she didn't go to school. she didn't have a huge network of friends. she didn't have a smartphone. so we're not talking about the typical american teenager like my 15-year-old who you start to think, wait a minute, would she actually believe that her family wasn't going to look for her? this guy was able to isolate her immediately because she was new to the country, she didn't speak the language, she didn't have a network and of course, john, i think a big part of the story she was undocumented. so you have the fear of going to the police to report anything is wrong because you might get deported. >> let's explore that more.

that's another issue here confusing to some people. this all started ten years ago. do you think her immigration status somehow slowed up or 0 got in the way of a more effective investigation? there was a missing person's report filed but, gosh, they sort of suspected who took this it girl or who was with her at least, the undocumented immigrant, did that keep police from finding her? >> it certainly could have. if you look at, like elizabeth smart, for example, who came out and said she is so happy to hear this young gal has been found, that she had the courage to walk into a police station and no one should be judging why it took her ten years to do this because the emotional chains that somebody has over you when you're terrified for your life, she also told the police, john, she was beaten the two times she tried to escape. those sort of emotional fears can be stronger than any sort of physical restraint.

but think about elizabeth smart. the night before she was found her kidnapping was featured on "america's most wanted" and a biker saw that and saw her out in public with the sketchy kidnappers that had her in a wig and veil and sunglasses and called police. this is a case, i've heard lots of immigration experts talk about how folks undocumented live in the schhadows in our society. we are looking at a woman not only in the shadows because she was undocumented, she didn't speak the language, she didn't have the network the. she had only been here for six months but also in the shadows of her alleged captor's mental, physical cand sexual abuse. >> a lot of questions asked what was missed over this ten-year period. mel robbins, thank you for your expertise on the subject. really appreciate it. >> hey, great talking to you, john. >> kate, back to you. coming up next on "new day" this kidnapping case john and mel were just talking about

really hits home really close to home for michelle knight. you remember she was held for more than a decade herself in that cleveland house of horrors. she was a very emotional response to the suggestion that woman in california might be lyi lying. it's part of our exclusive interview and you'll want to hear michelle's very unique perspective on this. also ahead, when you're recalling more cars than you're selling, that cannot be a good thing, right? maybe it is. gm may be getting an unexpected bonus from all the recalls it's putting out. word is there's more on the way.

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zillow. welcome back. a new report says general motors could could continue their vehicle recall rally all the way into midsummer on top of the vehicles already recalled worldwide. this is gm's ceo making multiple visits to capitol hill to update lawmakers on an internal investigation into faulty ignition switches. so is this gm's way of rebranding itself to be the safety first company? let's explore this with christine romans. good morning. is this enough? is she going about this in the right direction? >> congressional aides are saying they are impressed, their

bosses are impressed by what they're seeing. a the lot of communication, conversations on the hill. she is going to come back, testify again in july and is just trying to really put forward the safety first image of this company even as these committees are pouring through thousands of pages of documents, internal gm documents about these recalls. now, remember, since 2006 the ignition switch recall started it all. gm has been really aggressive on recalls, more recalls than cars sold in the last five years. >> it can't be good but you're about to tell me that it might be. >> all of these recalls, it's not good -- it's not good to make a product and have to make the product back. that's basically a failure of someone making a product. however, you're hearing from dealers that traffic is up. you're hearing they're getting more people in. the people who are going to be having a recalled car fix are getting a loner. they're going to drive a loner a late model car and morgan stanley says if even 1% of that new traffic turns into a new car

sale, gm comes out ahead. gm sales and profits come out ahead. >> you were explaining to me these recalls, there are so many of them, they can't keep up with it in terms of parts. they don't have a business model to support this many cars. >> you are supposed to make a car and sell it, you've sold it and there are he occasional maintenance issues but you don't have to rae do a part of the car or the wiring and the tail end. they actually don't have the parts they need yet to do some of these repairs and we're hearing from the dealers that, in fact, some people are coming in with cars and they have to tell them we can't actually help you right now. the stock is down 6%. the big recall in february, it's down 6% since that february recall. they had to take a $1.7 billion in the first quarter to pay for all of this stuff.

that's going to basically wipe out -- >> consumer confidence you always talk about? it's a reputation question. >> it is a big reputation question and here is what is so interesting as a business reporter to watch in the story. the bad pr, the reputation ib you for gm is just so vivid, right? but what's happening here is that when you talk to the dealers someone who likes the gm car still is going to get a gm car, looking for a gmc terrain will still get a terrain even though that has had a recall, too. people feel better about their jobs. that's what's driving sales less the recall stuff. we'll have to see if that changes. that could change. >> confidence in the brand p. always a pleasure. coming up next on "new days" our exclusive interview with michelle knight. her very emotional response to the california kidding napping case and questions about whether the victim in the case is lying about her years in captivity. i want to let her know that

i care, i understand, and don't let anybody break you down. don't let what people are saying about you hurt you or make you feel ashamed. >> you can even see her strength in her tears. the full, powerful interview coming up. can't wait to see that. a quick programming note. next thursday on cnn premiering a new series from tom hanks and gary getsman, the "sixties" from the space race to the cold war it to free love. the civil rights and so much more. batman and robin. that's the reason to watch. be sure to watch. set your dvr, also, for the premiere next thursday night at 9:00 eastern and pacific right here on cnn.

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welcome back to "new day. "we've been following the story of the california woman freed after allegedly being held captive for ten years by her mother's ex-boyfriend. now the suspect's attorney says that she, the victim, is making it all up. earlier i spoke with someone who can relate. the michelle knight. she survived more than ten years inside that cleveland house of horrors and is now the author of "finding me -- a decade of darkness, a life reclaimed." michelle had a lot shea wanted to say about this story in california. this topic still very important to get her message out. michelle, it is so great to see you. >> hello. i'm glad to be here. thank you. >> it must be hard, i've been thinking, for you to retell your

story over and over again especially on your book tour. has it been difficult for you? >> it's been difficult but, like i said, i'm trying to help other people and if i can help just one person buy my story or more than one person, i'm welcome to do it. >> you hear of this story, the possibility of another woman being held, abused for ten years, she was taken when she was 15 years old. what went through your mind? what goes through your mind when you hear about this? >> well, right now what's going through my mind is people shouldn't judge people by what they see and what they hear because there's a lot of people out there that go through pain and they can't stop it. they don't know how to cope with it. they don't know exactly how to go through it. people shouldn't say anything about what they can't explain

because it may be difficult for that woman. that woman that went through this and is very hard for her when people are saying bad things about her and saying that she's lying. you don't know what went through her head. you don't know what that was doing to her. you have absolutely no clue what she went through to say things and say that she was lying or she's doing this. you're making her not able to function or heal properly when you do these things to people. you're making people not want to say anything. you're making people want to sit there and keep it to them self and go through the abuse when you say stupid crap like that. i need a break! >> so obviously michelle needed some time. it was a very difficult subject for her. we gave her a few minutes, said

take as much time as you need. she wanted herself, she wanted to keep talking about this. she had a lot more she want ed o say to those people who don't believe a victim's story. this really hit her and hit very close to home for her and she especially wanted to speak to that woman inc california. this hits so close to home. this is so hard. >> yes, it does. it hits really close to home and i want to let her know that i care, i understand, and don't let anybody break you down. don't let what people are saying about you hurt you or make you feel ashamed. push through it. ignore them because they're just ignorant. and understand that there are people out there that are going through the same pain you are and going through the same struggle regardless if they're a man or woman. come forward. don't be ashamed because you did

nothing wrong. you did nothing. >> you talk about ignoring them, push through, that ability to keep faith and have strength through the storm that i think people really are amazed, one of the reasons people are really amazed with you. where do you find your strength? where do you find -- where did you find your ability to cope through that darkness? >> at first i didn't believe in god but now i do. i got the strength, i was born with it by him. i just had to believe in myself that i can make it through anything. and that's exactly what i it. i looked for the beauty in life. there's so much goodness in life and less evil. we just have to believe in hope. it is within ourselves, the strength and the courage to make

it through anything. >> even if, as prosecutors have said in this case with this woman, they said there may have been no physical chains that she was being held by, but the emotional chains, that emotional abuse is what kept that woman tied to her captor. can you describe that because that is something that i think people from the outside looking in don't understand is that psychological threat that is so strong. >> there's a lot of people that go through tremendous pain, and just because you're not chained up and you're not locked in the basement doesn't mean you ain't trapped. i know exactly what it feels like to be trapped in your own mind, in your emotional mind.

and told that you can't do anything about it. nobody will care about what you say. i had that happen to me and this is the worse feeling to feel like nobody cares. nobody understands. >> some neighbors say that woman had to have had a chance to escape. they must have had a chance to escape. why didn't they try to do that? what do you say to those people? >> for a girl like her, the emotional torture is so painful because he may have threatened to hurt her. and to have that a person is not able to break the chain of

cycle, not unless they were really strong. they knew nothing would happen bad because that's what happened to me. i was threatened to be killed. i was threatened nobody cared about me. i was told nobody in the world would understand or care if i kill you today, nobody will look for you tomorrow. that's what you have to think about, that's how she felt. she was there. nobody else in the world was there. they don't know exactly what she went through. you have no reason to talk. no reason at all. she did did get away and is out now. let's look back.

what will the next weeks be like for her? >> she will go through emotions and will feel hopeless right now. our chance is to build her up, don't break her down. that's not what she needs. she needs to know that somebody cares, that she will relate to somebody. she needs somebody as a friend and i'm here for you if you need anyone to talk to i will talk to you. and i'm proud to know that she is home. she is safe. she is alive. she's breathing. be and i see the best for her. i see the beauty for her. she is going to see so much in this world and she is going to help so many other people through the way she went through and what she went through.

and let her tell her story in her own way. >> if you could speak directly to her, what would you like to tell her? >> i love her and i care for her even though i don't know who she is. i never met her. i'm there 100% and every judgment she makes make it a beautiful judgment. make your life beautiful now. don't dwell in the past. >> it was -- she wanted to speak out and you can see and feel her strength through her tears. you really could see the memories flooding back. >> i have to say, wow. and what an important message, a few of them there. you don't know, she says. we don't know.

we have to be careful judging. chains don't have to be physical. >> she is choosinging to tell her story her own way which must be isolating but she is doing it because she wants to heal. >> a day does not go by and who knows if a day goes by that she doesn't think about that. i think it is so good to see her able to be angry and to speak in her own way. she said she is doing it to help one person. >> i'm thrilled for her and thrilled for that 25 year year woman in california who ho hopefully will see this intervi interview. >> she said to call me. >> elizabeth smart, too. >> and isn't that just a horrible state of affairs? we have three women who can tell

that story -- >> who can relate. >> those are the ones we know about. that's even more distressing. >> she is so strong and so unbelievable and want ed to continue on and speak directly to that woman in california. you can probably tell she is in paris. she is telling her story to the world. michelle knight's time in captivity and how she learned to cope and survive and is able to find happiness today. "finding me." thank you, michelle. we do have a lot of other big stories we're following. we'll talk about michelle and a lot more. let's get to it. >> united 601 stop your turn. >> already admitted there are 23 recent deaths. >> we've let them die. >> security personnel at a nuclear missile silo failed a kr critical exercise. >> missing required action by a

second. >> good morning. welcome back to "new day" friday, may 23. it's 7:00 in the east and we do begin with a near disaster in the skies over houston. two united airlines flights coming within a mile of one another right after takeoff. that is really, really close in aviation terms. air traffic controller guiding one plane to the right, then correcting himself telling the pilot to separate with mere seconds to spare. rene marsh following all the developments here. what happened here? >> reporter: right, john, it happened again. that's the problem. we're talking about two passenger jets getting too close in the skies. this time it happened over houston's george bush intercontinental airport. now you have two united airlines flights. they took off from the airport at roughly the same time and

shortly after takeoff one plane was told to turn right, putting it in the path of the other plane the. we know at their closest point the two planes were nearly a mile apart laterally and 400 feet apart vertically. moments later we know that the controller seems to realize the mistake and scrambles to get both planes clear of each other. take a listen to the instruction from air traffic control and to the pilots just seconds after they were in the clear. >> 601 just stop your heading, stop the push right there, sir. united 601 stop your turn, stop your claim and stop your turn united 601. >> united 60 is 1, do you know what happened there? >> you all basically crossed directly over the top of each other. that's what it looked like from my perspective. i have no idea what's going on over there in the tower. it was pretty gnarly looking. >> i'm guessing he was supposed to give us a left turn. >> reporter: so clearly they are listening to the audio, even the

pilots weren't clear exactly how they got themselves in that position. we can tell you this is the fourth incident in recent weeks you have passenger planes getting too close in the skies. just to give you a little bit of perspective here, the latest numbers from the faa from 2012 show planes got too close nearly 4,400 times a year more than 12 times a day. kate? >> that is a sobering number. rene, thank you very much. let's discuss this further. cnn's safety analyst and former faa inspector and the author of "why planes crash." apublicab you've heard rene, the fourth incident in recent weeks. why are we hearing about this it seems so much more often? >> it's happening more often. the airspace is getting more and more crowded, more and more difficult to maintain separation. it's a complex system how much space there needs to be between

aircraft at varying times, various stages of the flight. then you add amore airplanes to it. >> you have two planes, both of them taking off, and this is where it all went wrong right around hughes top's intercontinental airport. you have 400 feet of altitude between them and the closest is less than a mile. that's a problem. this is scary for someone who has no idea how to fly a plane. how close is this? >> within 15 to 30 seconds from an impact if this happens. >> can i ask a dumb question, where would it happen? >> at this point it's hard to see from this graphic because they're not going up and down this way. you can see here at this point when he was told to make a right turn, i think there's an animation here. >> let's go here. there you go.

>> as that turn happens, they're on a colliding trajectory, they're coming to each other. when he says stop your turn, stop your climb, he was either climbing up towards the aircraft but in this case climbing up toward the aircraft and on an intersecting path at the same time. the pilots are the ones who report reported it. a loss of separation is where hard data says the aircraft is that close. the pilots reporting it saying we're too close. what happened up there? and then you have a lot of separation, the faa verified they were within the laws of separation area. >> how much space should be between the planes? everyone understands there are more planes, airspace is crowded especially around the huge airports, but what is -- how far apart are they supposed to be? >> the bubble should be around five miles. nothing closer than five miles and as far as the altitude above each other there should be -- it depends.

there's a lot of different things. if you're in a reduced vertical separation minimum, that area is going to be different. it's going to get you a lot closer. >> regardless, they were way within that bubble. >> absolutely. they invaded each other's space. >> you heard him. he said that looked pretty gnarly is the way one pilot described it. they did not collide. they made the turn, the correction. what we hear and we hear this very often, there was some kind of miscommunication oregon problem coming from air traffic control. is that the main reason behind these problems? >> well, we have to balance this a little bit, kate. what happens now, what used to happen you used to get free deals. if you you have this on your watch and you're an air traffic controller you get three and then you're fired. >> they have a three strikes and you're out rule? >> absolutely. it made people want to hide it and not say anything about it. what may not have been discovered until pilots called and made a big deal. >> is there punishment, discipline, fallout?

>> there isn't now and that's a good thing because now they're being reported. they're free to say, hey, i was in a tough situation. i messed up so i'm reporting it now. partly this amount of new reports is partly due to that. however, i wouldn't say that it's entirely due to that. there are problems with our airspace, with how things happen around airports particularly. >> let's be honest, david, it's not like there will be less planes in the air as time goes by. that's something you focus on a lot and how to make this a better system. real quick i want the to ask you, you had an exclusive meeting with iko, the international governing body we've talked about so much having to do with the missing malaysian airlines 370 flight. you had a meeting with them talking about really what's going on, what has happened in the search. what's the big headline out of that meeting? >> the president of the united nations aviation branch, which

is iko, what he had to say to me that was most striking, really, the fact by september they will have flight tracking systems but he also said in the next 20 years this airspace will double. the number of airplanes will double. so this problem is not going to go away unless we do something. >> that would be great news for people who want to see what's happened ever happen again. >> that satellite tracking and control. that is the only thing to prevent these kinds of things. >> they've been talking with about it for years the maybe, finally, we'll see progress. he would be able to push it. thank you, david. thank you, as always. john? >> thanks, kate. now to the scandal that has rocked the veteran affairs department. cnn broke the story, investigating frequent delays at v.a. hospitals for months now that may have led to patient deaths. there are new calls this morning from two high-profile democrats from v.a. secretary eric

shinseki to resign. the secretary says he has no plans to do that. he's reaching out to veterans in an effort to regain their trust now. cnn's michelle kosinski live at the white house. what's the latest? >> reporter: tough talks flow from capitol hill. house speaker john boehner saying we haven't just let these veterans down. we have let them die saying the allegations are appalling, that they point to the systemic failure of the agency and that somebody needs to be held accountable. he hasn't called for the resignation of eric shinseki. he says he's getting a little clo closer. others 0, as you mentioned on capitol hill, have called for that. are for the last six months he has declined to give an interview that broke the story. he has answered one question saying he has not offered his resignation and now he has addressed veterans across america although he did that in writing in an online letter that, in fact, listed a long

string of accomplishments of the v.a. but shinseki says he does take the allegations seriously and if they are proven to be true then the v.a. will act. john? >> such a serious issue affect ing so many people's lives. joining us now to talk about this is army veteran barry coates. after asking a v.a. clinic for a colonoscopy, he found out he has late stage colon cancer and is now fighting for change at the v.a. while fighting to get healthy. he and his wife donna join us now. how are you feeling today? >> a little tired. just had a chemo treatment just monday. >> when you first started noticing symptoms, you went to the v.a. how long did it take you to get an appointment?

>> when i first started noticing these incidents, it occurring and having pain, it took from january of 2011 to december of 2011 to the colonoscopy. >> that's 11 months, barry, more than the 14 days that we're constant constantly told you're supposed to get in to be tested or see someone, isn't that true? >> yes, that is true. >> and what reason did they give you for this wait? >> they said the standard wait time -- originally started in january, like i said, of 2011, complaining with the complaints i had and i was recently going through outpatient clinic in rock hill and i went there in various stages in january, march, and then in may and all

three occasions the doctor referred to her notes and said may need colonoscopy. i transferred to a florence outpatient clinic that june and upon seeing him the first time he immediately set me up a consult to see a gi surgeon at the v.a. upon that i seen her on the eighth month and she also seen me and delayed me two more months, and on the tenth month returning to see her again she met with me and she initially set me up for a consult for a gastroologist department to have a colonoscopy done. i waited to receive the form in the saw her on the tenth month, it was scheduled for april the following year, which is six months out from the

date that i had seen her. and i knew i couldn't go that long, i had already been suffering to that point up to about six months. and so the best thing i could do was call the department that schedules that and ask them whether any earlier appointments, no, this is the standard wait period right now is six months out for veterans. >> that is a long, long time, and your life is on the line while you're waiting here. based on your experience with the v.a. over the years, is it a problem with bureaucracy? is it the problem of oversight or is it a problem of not enough doctors or quality of doctors? >> i think it's a little of both. it's a little bit of both oversight, quality of care for veterans to receive and, also, it's not the problem they don't have enough staff, it's just they have too many people

funneling into one area to have treatment and outpour to overcome the backlog of what they had which would probably have benefited a lot during my time of 2011 if they had outsourced and had that taken care of. >> donna, we look at this and we know it's not just barry going through this. it's you. this is a family issue as you're dealing with this health issue. you've heard the secretary of veterans affairs eric shinseki say he's not going to resign right now. do you think he should? >> i definitely think that he should resign. when you have committed yourself to be an overseer of the veterans and you failed the veterans, then i think that he should go ahead and step down. to give someone else an opportunity because apparently

it's not working with him in charge. >> donna coates, barry coates, thanks so much for being with us. wish you both the best of luck as you move forward in the best of health. thanks so much. mi michaela? the president is expected to nominate julian castro to become housing secretary. president obama will then tap donovan to run the budget office. castro has been touted as a rising star among the democrats, a potential candidate for vice president in 2016. for a consensus between the white house and congress the republican-led house passing a bill to end the nsa collection of americans' phone data would keep records in the hands of phone companies and require the court 0 order to gain access to them. the reform since nsa leaker

edward snowden came forward last year. the senate is working on its own reform bill. well, looking at the calendar memorial day weekend is upon us. 36 million americans will be traveling for the unofficial start of summer. many certainly are keeping a wary eye on the prices at the pu pump. miguel marquez is breaking it all down for us, taking a little road trip. he's singing the blues. >> 36.1 million people will be on the roads and about a third of them are right in front of me. that's a little bit above where it was last year at 35.5 million but way below where it was before the recession, about 44 million travelers at its lowest point in '09. gas prices just a hair above where they were last year about $3.65 a gallon but they were at $2.42. when times are tough, gas is cheap. aaa saying 88% of travelers will

be traveling by car. the rest other, ship, boat, i will be on a imagimagical flyin carpet. or towel, beach towel, at the ocean if we can ever get there. back to you. >> all right. i love it. i like that he's going on a magic carpet/beach towel. >> i would expect nothing less. >> i know john wanted to see this video again. all caught on tape. it's very scary. a man makes a dramatic rescue catching a 1-year-old baby that fell two stories out of a window, that man is hailed a hero after witnesses say the baby apparently, i don't know how this happened, climbed onto a window ledge. you can see torrential downpours. the baby was teetering to the edge. to the end of the video the baby is put into the arms of a woman who seems very, very great ifful. >> an amazing catch.

presence of mind. we say a 1-year-old. that's a big kid. >> the video shows the man comes from across the street. >> it would be worrisome. >> thank goodness for him. coming up next, a failed test highlights a major flaw in securing our nation. our officials prepare for af attack on a nuclear missile asylum. plus, an american climber falls 70 feet on a himalayan mountain, in the himalayan mountain and this entire ordeal was caught on tape. that i believe is called a crevice. how did he survive? that is coming up. ♪

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welcome back to "new day" everyone. a report about a doomsday scenario by the associated press saying the united states is woefully unprepared in the event of an attack on a nuclear missile silo. a training lab for the u.s. nuclear arsenal. pentagon correspondent barbara starr is joining us live from the pentagon to break down this report. what does it say? >> reporter: the majority of air force does their job very well. this report brings to light another shocking failure.

at a nuclear missile sight terrorists infiltrate, security forces struggle to respond and fail. it was all a it test last summer here at malmstrom air force base in montana. they failed a crucial exercise in keeping control of their silo and the simulated capture of a nuclear weapon. the cover of this 17-page report doesn't even begin to tell of what's inside. it sounds like a shocking failure in military security. >> two, one, turn. >> reporter: the finding? security personnel failed to take all lawful actions necessary to immediately regain control of nuclear weapons. the results, the air force team may not have been able to prevent theft, damage, sabotage, destruction, or detonation of a nuclear weapon. former air force missileer says

it's likely someone didn't follow procedures. >> what it doesn't mean there was any physical loss of control or threat of physical control of a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: the air force will say nothing. the report only came to light because the associated press obtained it through a freedom of information act request. the air force security group commander was replaced, went through retraining and passed the exercise several weeks later. green says standards remain high because there's just no room for failure with the nation's nuclear weapons. >> failure can mean missing required action by a second. it can mean responding to something, a moment or two late. >> reporter: now the air force, the nuclear forces have had clearly some disciplinary, some morale problems in some of their units. but this is a part of the military like no other in the nuclear force there's nothing

you can do except add perfection. >> thanks so much for that. want to show you some incredible video. an american professor is recovering after this. he fell from 70 feet into an icy crevasse. he suffered a broken arm, several broken ribs but managed to claw his way out. his ordeal is far from over. this morning he's sharing that incredible story. >> i fell in a hole. thankfully i didn't keep falling that way. >> reporter: trapped alone 70 feet below the ice. the professor was broken, bruised, and fighting for his life. >> my right arm is seizing up. i can't use it anymore. >> reporter: he was hiking alone on a himalayan mountain when he plunged into an icy crevasse and probably landed on a ledge three

feet wide, his face bloody. all suffered several broken ribs and a fractured arm. from the terrifying fall. but like the survival drama 127 hours the professor made a lifesaving decision to climb out. >> that hurt bad but i got out. it's the amount of damage the body can take and still function well. >> reporter: it took around five agonizing hours all making his way to the top with an ice ax reaching his camp, he was later rescued. >> it happened so quickly. thank god i stopped and that i'm still alive because i didn't -- i expect ed to keep going. and to hit the ledge saved my hive. >> reporter: all's family still

can't believe he made it out alive. >> he could have been a goner for sure if you look at it from the video, he could have kept on going down. i don't see how you get out of that. you look up, you see the sky. i don't know how you get up there if you don't have one of your arms functioning. >> that is the grissliest selfie video. >> and the desperation to survive. that just shows you. >> he makes the point when he looks down, thank god he stopped. that he did not go any further. the fact that he could also get out and then get to help. >> broken arm, the arm hanging there. that guy is hard. >> much more hard core than us three. >> you saw my stand-up. they don't look like that. >> glad he's on the road to recovery now. up next, cheating death.

a florida woman narrowly escapes a fatal crash in her brand-new car. the video you're going to want to see and it's hard to believe. on inside politics in mississippi, a political blogger accused of sneaking into a hospital and taking pictures of a senator's ailing wife. was the opposing campaign in on this plot? we'll discuss. predibut, manufacturings a prettin the united states do. means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job. there's no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs. siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done.

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usaa. we know what it means to serve. ♪ ♪ ♪ woooooah. ♪ [ male announcer ] you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen. zillow. welcome back to "new day." a look at your headlines. two planes avoiding disaster with seconds to spare. the near collision over houston's george bush intercontinental airport. no one on either plane knew they

were coming so disastrously close. they were within a mile from each other, second away from crashing. the third near collision we've heard about in the last week. food that could make you sick. the can cdc is investigating an outbreak of e. coli, this one linked to raw clover sprouts. there are listeria worries connected with walnuts and some hummus sold at trader joe's and target. a wm narrowly missing death and it's all caught on video. you can see taylor's car stalled on the tracks as a commuter train barrels towards her. the train does everything he can to stop in time. too late, though. luckily taylor jumps out of her car just seconds before the train slams into it. the car totaled.

fortunately she was able to walk away unharmed. that puts ice in my belly. >> that's crazy video. >> you see the door open just in the nick of time. thank goodness. to washington. another train wreck. just kidding. inside politics. i was searching for a transition and fell back on being insulting. >> if she didn't jump up super berman was going to come to the rescue. >> you know, my fallback position is to fight. i got aggressive. love you. >> i got it. see you in a few minutes. inside politics this morning, with me to share their reporting and inside maggie hagerman, let's start with the big question today. should eric shinseki survive? let's start first on that context with the republicans. speaker john boehner was asked about this yesterday and he is not calling for the resignation

but look how far forward he's leaning. >> i have not called for general shinseki to resign, although i have to admit i'm getting a little closer. the reports that continue to come are appalling. these are men and women who served our country and we've not just let they will down, we've let them die. >> strong words from the speaker there. aga again, he said i'm getting closer. he's number three. mccarthy actually did issue a statement, the first in the republican leadership to say shinseki should go. you saw the speaker getting choked up there. it's a pretty powerful line in an election year. we didn't just let they will down, we let them die. >> in any year and certainly an election year. it's hard to see shinseki lasts very long. going into memorial day, the timing is really terrible for this administration and does have the feeling of either stay or go but you're going to have

to rip the band-aid off. obama has straddled the line. now you have democrats calling for him to go as well. >> tepid at best. to maggie's point a couple of democrats, grimes tweets out, today i call on the resignation of vflt a. secretary eric shinseki. we owe a solemn obligation to our veterans. i appreciate secretary shinseki's service. while we don't foe what happened, there must be accountability. the secretary should step down. when you have democrats in prominent races in a public feud with the white house. they disagree with the president. number two, if you get the debate among democrats, one of the potential impacts is turnout. how long can the president let it go on and do they have the d discipline to get to these campaigns? >> do they have the discipline? do they have the sort of

closeness to a lot of these campaigns? the leverage. we always talk about how often the white house is isolated not only from folks in the senate. i mean, folks like grimes who want separation from this president. and that's another issue. all those running in red states want to be on the stump talking about the president and getting separation. durbin who has been, you know, very much the president's wing man on this, he also sounded very, very tepid when it comes to shinseki staying on. >> if you feel you have to run from your white house in a campaign year, you might have to do it. >> it can help you but it is easier to run, obamacare is a lot harder. >> we will see some changes this afternoon. housing secretary shaun donovan will move to office of budget.

san antonio mayor mr. castro moves into hud. do we expect shinseki news or the president has to let this go? >> it would not surprise me by 5:00 p.m. >> a friday news day. >> monday everyone is off. >> the administration has been in a lot of focus. the ranking republican, senate foreign relations said senators are having meetings to try to convince the senators, lack, the president understands what's happening with foreign policy. don't be so critical. try to explain their position. number one, one of the most bizarre meatings i've ever attended. number two the senators were called down with the expectation the president would come in and personally explain his decision. he never shows up. he uses the word bizarre. the expectation the president is coming, i would say amateur. >> bizarre is an odd word to

use. this goes to the feeling that a lot of democrats have and republicans have that the president is not engaging with them and is not engaged. to have a meeting saying he will be there to talk you through things and you want to have access and he's not there will not go well. >> they have to know better. this stops me in my tracks whether you agree or disagree. they have a lot of smart people around the president. most of them have worked in washington a long time. the chief of staff, susan rice. they are not n he ewbies who forgot. >> this is a white house that from time to time goes on what we call a charm offensive. it began, you know, in 2009. he'd have people over to the super bowl, had republicans out for dinner. it's sort of a one-off. this wasn't even a charmer. there's no charm. >> a number of senators actually left during the meal. now they have to do hyper charm.

>> that bizarre story to an even more bizarre story, this is the tea party's last and best shot. thad cochrane is running against a state lawmaker, a tea party backed candidate. what has turned this so bizarre it was about you've been in w h washington too long. you're not the a conservative. you're a moderate. now this blogger went into a nursing home who took a picture of his wife who has been in a nursing home receiving care. three are more arrests including a local tea party leader close to the mcdaniel campaign. now he says i had nothing to do with this and anyone involved should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. the d.a. is not ruling out this could get even closer to the campaign. the election is june 3. >> good luck, mcdaniel, trying to separate yourself from this

thing that is so upsetting to people. hospitals are a sacred place. i think it will be tough to separate himself. i think he wants this to be a fight about cochrane and his tenure so far. now it's about mcdaniel and he has surrounded himself with people who are up to dirty tricks. this is how politics is often played. >> there's dirty tricks and shenanigans. going into a nursing home. >> this is different. a real ugly factor. mcdaniel is not a known commodity. much more easily defined by something like this. he continues to say he had nothing to do with this, didn't know about it. the closer it gets to the campaign and all the drag of the story over several days, more mug shots, it can't be a help. >> 30-plus years in washington. thanks for getting up on a friday morning. i promise i'll speak as close to english as i can go this morning.

listen to stephen colbert talk i talking about the president, veterans affairs and who i call the beard ed one. >> the obama people now say the president first learned of these new allegations from cnn. he had no clue what's going on in his own administration. here is an idea. get the nsa to start spying on wolf blitzer. >> wow. that's like a month's worth of data. the things we can learn. >> the things we can learn from a wolf blitzer fight. >> he has 73 blackberries. >> he still has a blackberry, everyone. he has an iphone. i'm not sure what he uses it for but we're still working on it. morning, wolf. checking esp in is exactly

right. have a great weekend. >> take care. coming up next on "new day" three children shocked whale swa while swimming in a condo pool. a father who has an important message and warning this morning.

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yesterday on "new day" we showed you terrifying surve surveillance video. three children shocked while swimming in a condominium community pool in florida. thankfully they all survived. this, however, was not a random or freak accident. last month an electrical shock killed this little fellow in a backyard pool just a few miles from where the other incident occurred. joining us now is calder's father, chris sloan. good morning, mr. sloan. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm to go well. you have a very, very important

message. how are you doing today? >> you know, as we keep saying it's hour by hour, day by day. you don't ever get over this type of thing. >> you really don't. i don't want to open a wound that has barely had time to heal. your message is so important. can you talk to us about what happened to your son? >> my son was an amazing swimmer. we always joked he would teach fish how to swim. in florida we live on the water and we have the backyard pool which we swim in over and over again throughout the year and we stop swimming around september, the first swim of the year in april, april 13. and we weren't home. our nanny was home with her son who was 18. calder said i can race you.

18 years old and they're together and calder swims across to the other side. as soon as he makes contact with the pool light the nanny's son feels an electric jolt. calder screams, flies out of the pool. very violent and the nanny's son cannot get to him. while his arm is getting shocked has to extricate him from the pool. commences cpr. neighbors show up who are experienced. they work on him and calder fought for an hour and did not survive.

>> you are looking at your pool, the maintenance. to what you knew the pool was properly being maintained. >> we put chemicals in. we believe they would tell us, you need your fountain fixed or we hired contractors that are professionals and licensed and what we found here was a number of cases of really bad workmanship and negligence that, you know all conspired together to take our some. that's difficult to deal with. the small eest pool light desig an aspect of it, that we found

out our house wasn't physically grounded, our ground routes were cut, another major danger. the third is the pool light. we had service, the transformer, the switch, when police opened up with a number of factors looked at literally three minutes to screw in a grounding cable that would have hopefully contributed to our son living another 70 years. >> you're pushing for regulat n regulations on this, aren't you regulations for pool safety. >> well, absolutely. i mean a number of really alarming things, "a," this is not so random and not only what happened ten days after our son but we head of people at golf courses sticking their hand to retrieve a ball out of a put-put golf course being electrocuted.

we had low voltage lights in our pool but high voltage lights are legal in single family but not in big, commercial pools. and then a big issue is that home pools don't have to be inspected and yet large ones do. a number of regulations and laws. >> before i leave you, it's early for you to be talking and particularly difficult topic, you knew him and you called him mr. awesome. why is that? why was your son so awesome? >> calder was awesome and is awesome. no one in our family has his athletics. he had amazing athletic ability. he was insanely creative and

artistic. what made him so special we were told twice that he would change the world and that he had an unbelievable empathy and compassion and he was a champ wron of kids getting picked on. he would stand up for his little brother. he had an absolute zest and gusto to live but also just absolutely not to cannonize him but he was so beautiful to other people and to he me he was -- this is not just a tragedy for us but for the world to lose such a very special boy. so this is not the way any of us would have chosen it but i suppose he's changing the world. mr. awesome is the best. >> i know because of that you're being as brave as you can be to sit here and talk to us about something so very, very raw and painful. chris sloan, we salute you, embrace you, hope you and your family continue to heal now that we send our support and love and prayers to your family.

weigh want to point out for anybody at home they have a great website that tells you what yo. >> sounds like an amazing guy. wish i got to know him. next up on "new day," an inspiring story decades in the making. a cuban refugee who fought for america finally gets what he thought he had already, u.s. citizenship. he joins us live, new american citizen again, next.

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welcome back everyone. we have a great story for you

right now. an amazing update on a story we brought you earlier this week, appropriate for memorial day. mario hernandez came to the united states as a refugee from cuba when he was nine years old, later he joined the army, served during vietnam, raised a family here in the united states, worked at a federal prison. the entire time hernandez believed he was a u.s. citizen, but it turned out he was not. finally, that has all changed on wednesday when he was finally granted u.s. citizenship. mario hernandez joins us along with his attorney, elizabeth ricci. mario, how does it feel to be an american again? >> it feels great. it's undescribable. my wife and i are both elated. we're so happy. i have so much to be thankful for. it's fallen into place. i really appreciate the people that supported us, the media,

friends, prayers from friends. we feel great. i feel great. i was reborn. >> i can say we're happy to have you back. just give us the 15-second recap of what happened and how it felt to have something you thought you had had for 50 years all of a sudden taken away from you. >> it was like i was punched in the stomach. i've said that before. it's like the worst feeling there is. it's like you lived your whole life and it's like -- it's almost a lie. we have always held ourselves to be -- tried to be upstanding citizens. i felt like i was just lying to my friends and lying throughout my life. when we discovered that we didn't, we tried to correct it. thank god everything is over for now. >> thank god for sure. of course, there had to have been moments when you thought there was a real possibility that this was not going to turn

out the way you wanted it to, after all of this time thinking you were a u.s. citizen. there's nothing else you should have believed, and then the moment, if you could describe it, the moment you became a citizen once again, if you will. what was that like? you get the certificate. can you describe it? >> yes, ma'am. my heart, my wife and i -- my heart was about to pound -- i wanted to jump, i wanted to shout. in fact, it is such a happiness and such -- not so much a relief, but it's a proud -- i've always held myself to be a proud american citizen. now officially has been recognized. >> you're such a reminder -- you make us all proud, i think, to be americans heading into this memorial day weekend. >> absolutely. >> we should say there are procedures i now know people want to change to make sure this doesn't happen again for other

people. mario, i know that voting -- you voted for years and years because you thought you were an american citizen and everyone else did, too, you turned over -- handed over, gave up your right to vote. are you going to get that back again? are you going to register and when? >> yes, sir, this morning as soon as this interview is over, i am going, my wife and i, we're going to register again. and then after that i will go across the courtyard and apply for my passport which is something that i've always wanted to do again. my voters registration is very important, because we have a -- i think a civic duty to tell our elected officials how we feel. we take those freedoms for granted. they're very important. >> you've had a chance to realize how important they are. that's really incredible. you and your wife have set up a scholarship fund as well. you have a lot of to-do items on

your list. we'll let you get to all of that mario. congratulations from all of us. >> thank you very much. it's also memorial day, and we must remember that men and women have served in the armed services that have died for me to be able to sit here and be given this honor. i want to thank them. >> and you have served as well. we tip our hats and thank you as well. what a great example of what all of us should be like. it is our civic duty to get out there. mario, so great to see you again. thank you so much. up next on "new day," it has happened once again. two huge passenger jets barely miss, this time over houston. what's being done to prevent what seems like a looming disaster we hear too often. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com in the face of danger, and under the most demanding circumstances. experience builds character. experience builds confidence.

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good morning and welcome once grown "new day." it's friday, may 23rd, just past 8:00234 the east. we're beginning this hour with a terrifying scenario in the skies over houston. two american airlines flights coming close to colliding,

separating just in time. aviation correspondent rene marsh has the latest. >> reporter: kate, it has happened again. two planes with passengers on board get too close in the skies. now this morning the faa is investigating. two more passenger planes get too close in the skies. >> pilot 601, thank you, turn right, right turn. >> reporter: on may 9, united flights 601 and 437 took off from bush enter continental airport in houston at roughly the same time. shortly after takeoff flight 601 is told to turn right, putting it in the path of the other plane. moments later, the controller seems to realize the mistake. 601, stop your turn right there, sir. united 601 stop your turn, stop your climb and stop your turn united 601. >> reporter: the two planes came within nearly a mile of each other laterally and 400 feet vertically. one aviation analyst says at takeoff speed they were seconds

away from a possible impact. the passengers on both flights may not have been aware of the close call, but the pilots were left with questions as to what went wrong. >> 601, you know what happened there? >> you basically crossed directly over the top of each other. that's what it looked like from my perspective. i have no idea what was going on in the tower. it was gnarly looking. >> reporter: this is the third incident in recent weeks where passenger planes got too close for comfort. the similar incident over newark airport and another over the pacific ocean near hawaii, all involving passenger planes. >> the latest faa numbers from 2012 show planes got too close nearly 4400 times a year. that's more than 12 times a day. we should point out 41 of those were considered high risk. back to you, john. >> thanks so much, rene marsh. those were very, very close in aviation terms.

want to shift gears and talk about another major story the whole country is focused on. the firestorm over va secretary eric shinseki. he says he's not resigning and promises to regain the trust of veterans. this is amid allegations of coverups that cnn has been investigating for months. president obama is standing by shinseki. some high-profile democrats are saying the secretary has to go. a lot of questions about the va itself. how does the quality of care at these hospitals, how does it compare to treatment the patients receive at other hospitals. cnn's tom foreman is taking a look at that. >> since the 1990s real strides have been made to address many of these complaints. so much so that some studies have shown in many areas va hospitals compare favorably to

the hospitals the rest of us use. for example, a 2010 peer-reviewed study found that when it came to general surgery, chances of survival and successful recovery were about even in va hospitals and the university hospitals that were considered. in the area of or gan transplants, the study found very little indication of difference between the va and non-va hospitals in terms of success. cardiac surgery, the va did not do as well in this area as the non-va hospitals according to the study, but in vascular surgery, surgeries involving arteries, veins, blood flow, the study found that the va hospitals generally out performed the non-va facilities. the va hospitals are a different ball game than they were in the early 1990s. there had been real improvements in the hallmark areas. still problems, but real improvements. >> as we look at this issue at

large, tom, it seems like there are some things getting conflated here. is this more about the time it takes to get care as opposed to the quality of actual care? >> yes, yes. this is about access. that's really the issue here. there can be some quality questions still. but it's about access. the va's goal according to some of these whistle blowers was to get patients to see doctors in 14 days or so, get them in the door. the allegations have been made that officials were cooking the books to make it look like this was happening, but in reality, in phoenix, for example, some of those patients were allegedly actually six, nine, sometimes up to 21 months. how does this compare to what the rest of us get. let's look at a study from 2013. if you needed a cardiologist in seattle? average wait, nine days. orthopedic surgery in los angeles, average wait, seven days. how about a dermatologist in dallas, average wait, 17 days.

obgyn in washington, d.c., average wait, 15 days. so on this front, if these allegations are true, some of these vets were absolutely getting terrible treatment. it's this gap that people are going wild about right now. it's not just the care. they have issues about the care, but the care is not the core issue. the core issue is why were veterans dealing with this while the rest of us were dealing with this. >> that is a stark, stark comparison. i haven't seen it laid out like that. thank you so much, tom foreman. also the issue of a coverup which is aside from even the waiting time and the question of care. that's what they're looking at as well. let's take a look at more headlines. new comments by russian president vladimir putin saying there's a state coup in ukraine resulting in the danger of a civil war. this as concern gross about the future of ukraine and the days leading up to a pif vol presidential election.

eastern ukraine in the surge of deadly violence. militants say they'll resort to more violence if they don't like the results. this afternoon president obama is expected to formally nominate san antonio mayor julian castro as secretary of housing. the rising democratic star will replace sean donovan who will go on to become the budget director. he was a key player in tackling the u.s. housing crisis. the republican-led house has approved a bill to end the nsa's bulk collection of american's phone data. it will leave the records in the hands of phone companies. it's the first piece of legislation to address reforms following the revelations of nsa leaker edward snowden last year. the senate is working on a similar measure. ten past the hour. next up on "new day," shocking new developments in the california kidnapping case.

the suspect's attorney will join us live to tell us why he says the woman behind the alleged or deal is making the entire story up. >> that is one interpretation of the story. plus we have cleveland kidnapping survivor michelle knight sharing her reaction to those accusations in an exclusive "new day" interview. her powerful and emotional response is ahead. >> our chance is right now to build her up, don't break her down. that's not what she needs. imagine if everything you learned led to the one job you always wanted. at university of phoenix, we believe every education- not just ours- should be built around the career that you want. imagine that.

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a strange twist, an interesting twist in the case of a california woman who says she was kidnapped at age 15 and forced to marry her alleged

abductor and have his baby. the suspect, 41-year-old isidro garcia is charged with several felonies. now his attorney says the woman is making it up because the couple is calling it quits. that attorney, charles frisco is joining us from california. your client is charged with one felly count of forcible rape, three felony counts of lewd acts on a minor, one felony count of kidnapping to commit a sexual offense. what does your client say about these charges and what do you and your client say about the nature of their relationship? >> well, at this time -- thank you for having me on and giving me the opportunity to express our feelings and sentiments. i haven't had a lot of time to talk to my client and i don't have anything from the district attorney other than the charges in terms of trying to explain to him what the accusations are. the district attorney is already

talking about the case, talking about what this woman is to have said, parroting what she has to say, taking choice parts out of the police report that favor them. i haven't received anything in terms of any police reports. it's hard to explain to my client what he's up against until i have that. the district attorney of orange county is legally obligated to give me those reports. yesterday was the day for the arraignment. even though they're legally and morally bound to give me that, they didn't give that to me. it's very difficult to explain to my client what he's up against. we do have the witnesses, the neighbors, the nanny, the employees, the employers that knew my client that said that this was something that is absolutely unbelievable. they knew him. they can talk, they have been talking. that's what's been ill listed so far. if you listen to what they have to say, it sounds like this is all fabricated.

>> kate bolduan had an interview with michelle knight, one of the survivors of the cleveland kidnapping. michelle knight bravely points out you don't know, we don't really know what went on inside that house. chains don't have to be made of iron. they can be emotional. they can be psychological. we've seen again and again, jaycee dugard, those three girls in cleveland, what this kind of emotional torture can do over the years. so just because a neighbor from the outside is saying it looked normal to me in the three or four times i saw them over ten years, that doesn't necessarily mean this girl wasn't kidnapped and held against her will. >> we're familiar with what happened in orange county, not too long ago, in 2013. remember the saudi american princess who was framed as a defendant. after investigation it was revealed that the charges couldn't stick, that she, like my client was in a situation where the purported victim was independent, was free to leave,

had her own cell phone, had access to the police, could have done a lot of things. the orange county district attorney evidently -- not evidently, they did end up dismissing the case. that very well could happen in this case. i'm looking forward to that. my understanding is the investigation is on going and that's why they haven't provided me with discovery. there's no orange county district attorney exception. they must provide me the discovery. if the asian is on going, why don't they give me what they have. it's unfair for me to be put on the spot and speak for my client when they have the police reports, they're doing opening statements, they're doing closing arguments and i don't have anything whatsoever in terms of police reports or discovery. that's absolutely unfair. >> there is a procedure that needs to take place here. we do expect that will happen. let's talk about the timeline here because this also is something that could be a problem for your client, even if, as you suggest, that this was a willing, happy marriage

for many years that has now split up, how do you explain the years from when she was 15 years old to 18 years old. you're a lawyer. legally speaking, is there any way there can be a consensual relationship there? my understanding is the answer to that is simply no. >> the range of these charges vary in terms of culpability. if you're talking about statutory rape which is completely different than kidnapping and completely different than forcible rape, and i assume that's what you're talking about. that was something that was supposed to have taken place over ten years ago. again, i don't know exactly what the district attorney is saying. until i have that, it's not fair for me to respond. i've spoken with my client, not at length, but because of the language barrier and because of the short amount of time i've had in terms of trying to address everything the district attorney has been saying. i can't provide you an answer. i wish i could.

>> but you are a lawyer. you understand the law better than i did. if they had sex between the ages of 15 and 18, there was a law broken there, correct? >> if that were the case, that absolutely would be a crime, yes. that would be considered statutory rape. i don't have any facts to support that other than what has been told to me by the district attorney and the media. i tried to pick up the discovery at 10:00 in the morning during the arraignment yesterday, said it wouldn't be available until 1:30. i went to the office at 1:30 to pick it up. they told me at 1:30 they can't give it to me because the investigation is on going. evidently, it's very possible that the investigation, like the saudi arabian princess case perhaps is going that way. perhaps it's taking a turn in terms of trying to exonerate my client. i don't know. you have the same questions that i do. >> mr. frisco, i appreciate you coming in and talking to us. we hope you get the questions

you're after. we understand you have a job to do. please come back and talk to us again after you have had a chance to speak to your client. there's a lot we'd like to understand about this as well. >> thank you very much. we'll continue to watch that. up next on "new day," michelle knight who survived the cleveland house of horrors. she's outraged by the claims that the california woman made up her ordeal. we'll hear her powerful response in a "new day" exclusive. >> just because you're not chained up and you're not locked in a basement doesn't mean you ain't trapped. captain: this is a tip. bellman: thanks, captain obvious.

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that the mime is talking? frrreeeeaky! [ male announcer ] bundle home and auto and you could save 760 bucks. alright, mama, let's get going. [ yawns ] naptime is calling my name. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. now to a "new day" exclusive. this morning we've been following the story of a california woman found alive after allegedly being held captive for ten years. the suspect's attorney just spoke with john berman. he suggested the victim may be making it up. the neighbors say they looked like a happy couple. earlier i spoke with someone who can relate, michelle nooilt. she survived more than ten years inside that cleveland house of horrors. she had a lot she wanted to say about this incredible story. >> michelle, it is so great to see you. >> hello. i'm glad to be here. thank you.

>> it must be hard, i've been thinking, for you to retell your story over and over again, especially on your book tour. has it been difficult for you? >> it's been difficult, but like i said, i'm trying to help other people. if i can help just one person by my story or more than one person, i'm welcome to do it. >> you hear of this story, the possibility of another woman being held, abused for ten years. she was taken when she was 15 years old. what went through your mind, what goes through your mind when you hear about this? >> well, right now what's going through my mind is people shouldn't judge people by what they see and what they hear because there's a lot of people out there that goes through pain and they can't stop it. they don't know how to cope with it. they don't know exactly how to go through it.

people shouldn't say anything about what they can't explain, because it may be difficult for that woman. that woman that went through this. and it's very hard for her, when people are saying bad things about her and saying that she's lying, you don't know what went through her head. you don't know what that dude was doing to her. you have absolutely no clue what she went through to say things and say that she was lying or she's doing this. you're making her life not able to function or heal properly when you do these things to people. you're making people not want to come out, not want to say anything. you're making people want to sit there and keep it to their self and go through the abuse when you say stupid crap like that. i need a break. >> i'm so sorry, michelle.

obviously so difficult. michelle did need some time. clearly so difficult to talk about this subject in particular. we took a break, but she did want to keep talking about this. she had a lot more she wanted to say to people who don't believe this victim's story. this speaks to a larger message that she has. she also wanted to speak to this woman in california herself. >> this hits so close to home. this is so hard. yes, it does. it hits really close to home. i want to let her know that i care, i understand. don't let anybody break you down. don't let what people are saying about you hurt you or make you feel ashamed. push through it. ignore them because they're just ignorant. understand that there are people out there that are going through the same pain you are and going through the same struggle, regardless if they're man or woman.

understand. come forward. don't be ashamed. you did nothing wrong. you did nothing. >> you talk about ignore it, ignore them, push through. is the ability to keep faith and have strength through that storm that i think people really are amazed, one of the reasons people really are amazed with you. where do you find your strength? where did you find your ability to cope through that darkness? >> at first i didn't believe in god, but now i do. and i got the strength -- i was born with it by him. i just had to believe in myself, that i can make it through anything. that's exactly what i did. i looked for the beauty in life, because there's so much goodness in life and less evil. we've just got to believe in hope. it's within ourself, the strength and the courage to make

it through anything. >> even if, as prosecutors have said in this case with this woman, they say there may have been no physical chains that she was being held by, but the emotional chains, that emotional abuse is what kept that woman tied to her captor, can you describe that? that is something that i think people from the outside looking in don't understand, is that psychological threat that is so stro strong. >> there's a lot of people that go through tremendous pain, and just because you're not chained up and you're not locked in a basement doesn't mean you ain't trapped. i know exactly what it feels like to be trapped in your own mind, in your emotional mind and

told that you can't do anything about it. nobody will care about what you say. i had that happen to me and it's the most worst feeling to feel like nobody cares, nobody understands. >> what then -- i want you to speak to those people, some neighbors who say that woman had to have had a chance to escape. they saw her out in public. she must have had a chance to escape. why didn't she try to do that? what do you say to those people? >> for a girl like her, the emotional torture is so painful that she chose not to hurt other people because he may have threatened to hurt her, may have threatened to hurt the people that she was talking to. and to have that, a person is not able to break the chain of

cycle, not unless they were really, really strong and they really, really knew that nothing would happen bad because that's what happened to me. i was threatened to be killed. i was threatened that nobody cared about me. i was told that nobody in the world would understand or care that, if i kill you today, nobody will look for you tomorrow. that's what you've got to think about, is how she felt. she was there. nobody else in the world was there. they don't know exactly what she went through, and not unless you were walking in your shoes, you have no reason to talk. none at all. >> so she did get away. she is out now. let's talk about -- let's look ahead. what are the next few weeks, what are the initial few weeks going to be like for her?

>> she's going to go through a train of emotions. she's going to feel hopeless right now. our chance is right now to build her up, don't break her down. that's not what she needs. she needs to know that somebody cares. she needs to know that she can relate to somebody. she needs somebody as a friend. i'm here for you. if you need anyone to talk to, i will talk to you. i will help you out because i know exactly what it feels like. and i'm proud to know that she is home. she's safe. she's alive. she's breathing. i see the best for her. i see the beauty for her. she's going to see so much in this world and she's going to help so many other people through what she went through and let her tell her story in her own way. >> if you could speak directly to her, what would you like to tell her?

>> i would like to tell her that i love her and i care for her even though i don't know who she is, i never met her. i'm there 100%. and every judgment she makes, make it a beautiful judgment. make your life beautiful now. don't dwell in the past. go for a future. your life will be so much better. >> you are the perfect example of that, michelle. michelle knight, rebuilding your life, telling your own story in your own words. thank you so much, michelle. i know it is difficult. we can see it, but you are so strong. thank you so much for speaking out. >> thank you. >> you just have to be struck by -- you can clearly see the pain. she's not just speaking the words. she'll feeling this as she is trying to get across this message. it shows -- it's difficult for

her, but she wants to get that message out. it's so strong. >> i think it's important for a lot of people to hear. so many people with this california case are saying something seems not right with it. look, we still have to learn a lot more. right now these are just allegations. however, one thing we know is not right is kidnapping, psychological imprisonment and torture. we do know these strange things can happen, that seem inexplicable to the rest of us. but unless you've walked in michelle knight's shoes, you can't know. >> no matter how this case in california turns out, michelle knight's message, she speaks to a larger message of people jumping to conclusions, revictimizing victims. unless you've been there, you don't know. >> a 15-year-old, that's the thing to keep in mind. she went missing when she was 15. very different story. >> exactly right. thank you again, michelle, for speaking to us. michelle knight's new book about

her time in captivity, she's telling her story and how she learned to cope with it all. the book is called "finding me: a decade of darkness reclaimed. also ahead on "new day," a surprised reunion 18 years in the making. a young woman abandoned as a baby in a cemetery finally gets the chance to meet the man who saved her life. we'll find out more about this incredible moment. became your business. at&t can help simplify how you manage it. so you can focus on what you love most. when everyone and everything works together, business just sings.

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it is friday. that means the unofficial

kickoff to summer has arrived. this weekend a whopping 36 mill june people nationwide will be taking off. for the third year in a row the national average price of gas has remained stead different miguel marquez is live this morning. he's driving around new york city ready to break it down for us. what are you seeing, my dear? >> reporter: that's right, michaela. i can't drive 65 in the famous words of sammy hagar. 36.1 million drivers expected to take to the road over the holiday weekend, just a tick above last year. about 35.5. that is way below where it was pre recession. 44 million people on the roads for this holiday weekend at the lowest point, in '09, just 30.5 million. gas prices as you mentioned, just a hair above where they were last year at $3.65 a gallon. back in '09 at the depth of the

recession, it was $2.42. when times are tough, gas is cheap. about 88% of people will be getting to their destinations by car. about 7% by air, about 5% other says aaa. i suppose that is like a magic carpet or a boat perhaps or maybe a train. here we are, stuck in traffic again, getting back into new york city. i will send it back to you guys for now while we enjoy the traffic here in new york. back to you guys. >> difficulty level of 11 mentioning magic carpets and sammy hagar. >> i want to know what aaa stats are on the magic carpet, boat traffic as well. thanks, miguel. >> safe travels for everyone on the road. up next, mavericks owner mark cuban is giving his thoughts on bigotry. his words sparking a controversy of their own. what he said coming up.

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millionaire mark cuban is the latest nba owner finding himself in hot water over what some are calling racially charged comments. he was speaking with "inc." magazine this week about racism. >> we're all prejudice in one way or another. if i see a black kid in a hoodie and it's late at night, i'm walking to the other side of the

street. if on that side of the street there's a guy that has tattoos all over his face, white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere, i'm walking back to the other side of the street. >> cuban has since apologized to the parents of trayvon martin for that hoodie reference, but he is standing by the context of his word. is cuban just being honest or flat-out racist? let's bring back marc lamont hill and ben ferguson. good to have you with us. i'll start with you, marc since you're with us onset. fair? was he being honest or prejudiced and racist? >> they're not competing claims. you can be honest. just because you're honest doesn't mean you get absolved for what you said. do i think mark cuban is racist? no. to compare a kid wearing a hoodie because it might be cold outside to somebody who has made a decision to shave their head and cover them with tattoos is a very different thing. they make a decision to embody a

particular type of social narrative, whereas another kid is wearing a hoodie. the kids on college campuses wear hoodies on campus and they're not criminalized. using the word bigotry is a poor choice of words. >> bigoted is a very strong charge, to talk about this in the context of a question on bigotry maybe was a misapplied conversation. >> exactly. no, we're not all bigoted. we all have insecurities, all have prejudices. i think it was a poor choice of words and disrespectful to the martin family. >> ben, what do you think? >> i think the hoodie reference was a poor choice, reference point. i do think mark cuban was trying to bring up a bigger issue and i applaud him for that. it's real easy for us to condemn other people and say things that are inappropriate. what his point was, all of us should be honest and look at ourselves that we probably do have preconceived misconceptions

or things in our head that might not be accurate or true. when we have something like donald sterling come up, we should probably all internally look at ourselves because it's easy to jump on the bandwagon of, oh, he's a racist, he don't like him. every one of us that has thoughts in our head that maybe deals with bigotry or stereotypes or phobias of different people and we should check ourselves and maybe look at how we could improve ourselves. for that point, he should be applauded. there are so many people afraid to bring up the issues because if you say the wrong thing, people will say, oh, look at you. >> it is interesting. the context of what cuban was talking about is how we all need to talk about the feelings we have here. that was the larger 2:30 minute discussion he had than that one ten-second sound bite which mark cuban says he regrets. the mark cuban might suggest

that ten-second mark cuban was saying something unfortunate, also. in a sense we're now having a discussion that mark cuban is asking for here. >> if we're going to have that discussion with mark cuban, i'd say, mark, let'snk about social stereotypes, who is a criminal and who is not. mark, you wear a hoodie, your seven-foot players wear it and you're not afraid of them. what is it about a black body versus a white body or suburban kid? what is it that makes you compare a kid in a hoodie to a guy that completely changes their body. >> i have a toldly different take on this. i was robbed at gunpoint by someone in a hoodie who shot at me. i'm afraid of anybody in a hoodie. does that mean i'm racist? no. i'm afraid of anybody in a hoodie at night when it's dark. that conversation should be okay

for people to have and then look and see. >> ben, ben -- >> let me finish. let me finish. >> you were subjected to a trauma and you're afraid of everybody in a hood different he's afraid of block people in a hoodie. that's a very different thing. apples and oranges. >> his point was he is also afraid of white guys with shaved heads and tattoos. the issue was the stereo types and should we be able to have a conversation about it without people pointing the finger at you for being open and honest. that's a broader issue and people shouldn't be afraid of it. >> why do people think saying their thoughts and biases out loud means they don't have to be accountable for it. why are we always congratulations white men for being so brave for talking about it. >> how is the nba going to deal with this? will they address it? in light of what's goings-on with donald sterling and the owners being looked at in a

different way, what do you think is going to happen. let me start with ben. >> i don't think he should be punished for having this conversation, and i think the fact that he apologized to trayvon martin's family over the hoodie aspect of it was appropriate, but he shouldn't be punished for trying to move culture forward by having a conversation instead of taking the easy road out which is condemn the guy everybody wants to condemn in sterling, and everyone else don't say a word about anything else and be safe. that doesn't help anybody. >> part of this, what i'm hearing, there is nuance to the discussion of race that maybe was lost in his inartful way of discussing the issue. but does ben also have a point -- don lemon made this point last night as well, we keep saying -- society says we need to talk about race, we shouldn't be afraid of it, shouldn't hide about it. when people talk about it, ever wurn says stop, shut up. >> i thought donald was wrong last night.

i think the issue is not that we're saying stop, let's not talk about this. we're saying if you're brave enough to put this on the table, you have to be brave enough to take criticism. >> it's how you talk about it, right? >> we don't have to coddle people every time they say something inappropriate. as far as the nba goes, i don't think they should be punish him. i don't think he said anything that's punishable. they can't ignore it because of everything going on, but i think it's fine. let him talk. >> ben ferguson, mark lamb moc hi hill, thanks very much. a newborn baby abandoned in a cemetery, rescued by a volunteer firefighter. that was 18 years ago. now, amazingly, the pair have come together again, this in an emotional surprise reunion. we will speak with them here.

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welcome back to "new day." this is an incredible reunion 18 years in the making. in 1995 a baby was abandoned hours after being born. a woman anonymously called 911 to say she left the child in freezing temperatures. a fireman heard about it over the police scanner. he decided to search a different cemetery than where officials were searching. there he found the baby and rescued her. that little girl, skyler james is all grown up and just graduated high school. in a sr. touching surprise she was reunited with her rescuer for the very first time at her graduation party this weekend. we're lucky enough to be joined by both skyler james and charlie

heflin in indianapolis. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> 18 years in the making. skyler, not only are you dealing with a very exciting moment in your life, graduating high school, your whole future ahead of you and then this is the surprise you get at your graduation. can you even describe it? >> it's been an amazing week, just the thought that i graduated last friday and now my life has changed so much this week. >> charlie, what was it like for you? i can only imagine, and i know you do get choked up in telling the story of finding that baby girl in that cemetery, putting that shirt around her that you had that night. what was it like now after 18 years? you've wondered where she was, how she was doing and then meeting the beautiful girl. >> just exhilarating. a whirlwind of emotions.

i handed her off to the pair med i believes 18 years ago and haven't been able to see her since. just because she's so close to me, local, has done so much with her life, it's incredible. >> skyler, what did you want to tell skyler when you saw her for the first time? >> based on what her mother has told me over the phone, how she was an honor student and so involved with her church, i just wanted to tell her i'm so grateful that the good lord gave me the opportunity to let her get to this point in life. she's going to touch so many more people in her future. >> charlie, bring me back 18 years for a moment. you're in that cemetery, holding a baby in your arms. would you ever imagine that 18 years later, this would be the result, the amazing result of your work? >> no, no.

because at the time i was just doing what i was trained to do. i even went home and didn't even mention it when i went home to my family at the house. they didn't find out about it until the news trucks pulled up in the driveway several hours after the incident. to me it was just i was doing what i was trained to do and what i felt was right. >> skyler, we've seen video of charlie taking off a sweatshirt when you two were reunited. not to confuse viewers of what was going on. that was the shirt he wrapped you in and gave to you. >> that was actual lay different shirt. yes, i have it at home, the shirt he wore that morning and that he wrapped me in. >> now, i have to tell you, as an adopted kid, i know a lot of us feel big questions marks about our story and how we came into the world. this must give you a little more sense about your story, skyler.

>> yes. my parents never kept anything from me. i've known my story my whole life, but just to have someone tell me firsthand what happened and to meet charlie, it's been an amazing experience. >> i love seeing your smiles. you guys are just beaming. what are your plans from here? what's your plan going forward? >> we plan to keep communicating with each other and keep in touch. we don't want to lose connection again. >> how can you ever lose that connection? you have a connection i don't think any of us will ever understand. >> i know this message has become a bigger message for both of you, wanting to make sure that everyone knows about safe haven laws. that's become really kind of a cause for both of you. right, charlie? >> yes. i think skyler's story was the beginning of this safe haven movement. i don't know if all states have adopted a safe haven law.

i know illinois and indiana both have safe haven laws. if you state doesn't have a safe haven law, it really needs to, because it provides an opportunity for a scared parent to deal with a situation in a much better, much more controlled environment than how skyler was -- >> thank god for both of you. we lose their signal at that moment. they are very selfishly a perfect example of what indiana can produce, coming to us from indiana. what an amazing story to end on this memorial day friday. thanks you guys. it's been a great day. thanks for staying with us. a lot of news happening right now. let's get you straight over to the "newsroom" with carol costello. >> appreciate that. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i have no idea what was going on in the tower, but it was pretty gnarly looking. >> danger in the skies. >> i want to stop you