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EARLY START WITH JOHN BERMAN AND ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN

UK Celebrates Royal Baby Birth; Questions Remain Around Landing Gear Mishap; Breakfast: Good For The Heart!; Ryan Bruan Suspended

Aired July 23, 2013 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Runway emergency. A jetliner landing nose first at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Several passengers hospitalized. What caused this plane problem?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Deadly summer heat. The death toll rising from record temperatures across the nation. What you can expect today.

ROMANS: But first, hometown pride as the world waits for its first glimpse of the royal baby. We are live where Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, grew up.

PEREIRA: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Michaela Pereira.

ROMANS: Christine Romans. It is 29 minutes past the hour on this rainy Tuesday morning in the Northeast.

PEREIRA: Well, I think maybe it's sort of trying to be like London because we're - in celebration of the big question being asked across the United Kingdom and the world: What will be the name of the royal baby? The new prince, the future king, he was Monday in London weighing in at 8 lbs 6oz. He will be a prince, the Prince the Cambridge, in fact. His parents, William and Kate, may leave the hospital today with their new little boy, the much anticipated baby, and that led to all sorts of celebrations in London.

This was the scene in Niagra Falls, where lights turned the water blue in honor of the new royal baby. There are celebrations around the world, but there are also celebrations in the duchess's home village of Bucklebury about 50 miles west of London. That's where we find Dan Rivers this morning.

It sounds so much nicer with English accent. Bucklebury instead of the way we say it here. Bucklebury.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: Hi, Dan.

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bucklebury.

PEREIRA: Yes, exactly.

(LAUGHTER) RIVERS: That's right. Welcome to Bucklebury. This is the local pub behind me, the Cottage Inn. It's one of two pubs, the quintessential British pubs, and there you can see they've got a sign out congratulating Will and Kate on the birth of their baby son. They've got the union flags, the bunting out.

They're planning a huge party tonight with fireworks, with children's entertainment, lots of food, raising money for charity, and also, raising glasses to the new boy whose name we still don't know. It's a pretty quiet place. There's a little bit of traffic on the main road here, but otherwise, it's pretty deserted. I mean, to give you an idea, this is pretty much a quintessential English village, as you said. About 50 miles west of London.

There's actually a number of villages that were included in Bucklebury. So, the three strong -- along the road. There are also royal connections here going way back to Elizabeth I back in the 16th century. She came here. There's a line of trees planted in her memory. The current queen has also been here with a line of trees planted for her.

So, a suggestion, perhaps, they're going to plant more trees for the new prince, William and Kate, and eventually, of course, the baby and the happy couple will be back here to be welcomed by Kate's parents, Carol and Michael.

PEREIRA: How wonderful. I imagine there's great pride and ownership, but I also imagine there's a fair amount of feeling protective over the Middletons and trying to shield them from some of the media scrutiny.

RIVERS: I think there is a real sense of protectiveness, yes. I mean, believe it or not, although, they're worldwide celebrities and royals, they do still go about normal life here relatively undisturbed. They go and have a point in the pub scale (ph). There's another down the road they go too as well. They go into the butcher's shop to order their sausages, apparently. They've been in the corner store up the road.

So, they are able to live a relatively normal life here. Of course, at the moment, the entire village is full of people like me, waffling on about the baby. But, hopefully, in a week or so, things will calm down. Things are get back to normal, and they'll be able to enjoy a bit of privacy here.

PEREIRA: But Dan, we do still love when you waffle on about things. Go have a pint yourself, maybe some chips, something like that. We'll be back with you again. Thanks so much.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: All right. Still developing this morning, many questions about what caused the landing gear to collapse on a Southwest Airlines 737 jet landing in New York's LaGuardia Airport. It was on its way from Nashville to New York with 150 people on board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL RADFORD, PASSENGER: Strong boom. You could tell something hit very, very hard, was sitting right over the wings, didn't realize that the front of the wheels had come down at that point until we came to a stop, and then you realized we were tilted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any warning at all?

RADFORD: No. None what so ever. I did talk to somebody that said he felt like we were coming in a little bit hard, but from where I was sitting, you couldn't tell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Ten people suffered injuries. Some had to be taken to the hospital for observation, but none of those injuries said to be serious. And investigators say the pilots didn't report any problems before that very rough landing.

PEREIRA: The owners of a train that derailed and incinerated much of a small Quebec town, killing dozens, are now facing a lawsuit in this country. The estate of one of the victims is suing Rail World Incorporated and its chairman, Edward Burkhardt, for negligence, leading to the man's death. That suit was filed in Illinois where the rail mine is based. A separate class action suit by the survivors is pending in Quebec.

ROMANS: Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, wrapping up two days of emotions and confrontational testimony at the wrongful death trial in Los Angeles. The Jackson family matriarch bristles at questioning from AEG's lawyers about her son and drugs. She said she doesn't believe Michael abused them, but she admitted taking part in a family intervention at Jackson's Neverland ranch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARVIN PUTNAM, AEG LIVE ATTORNEY: She's now looking to blame someone else for the very things that she and her family knew. And that's why those questions were asked.

BRIAN HANISCH, JACKSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think she -- for being as old as she is, 83 years old, did a great job trying to answer the questions. She didn't remember everything, but I think it was clear what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Jacksons are suing AEG Live for billions of dollars claiming the concert promoter is liable for Michael Jackson's death.

PEREIRA: More drama and fireworks at the murder and racketeering trial of accused Boston mob boss, James Whitey Bulger. His alleged former partner, Stephen "The Rifle Man" Fleming was back on the stand and mistakenly called a man watching the trial a drug dealer. That led to an angry outburst with the man calling Fleming a liar, and the judge having to demand order. Fleming went on to testify about extortion, killings, and his meetings with the FBI agents with he said Bulger by his side.

ROMANS: San Diego's embattled mayor is pledging to defend himself against the sexual harassment lawsuit from a former employee. Irene McCormick Jackson (ph) was once a communications director for Bob Filner. She says she saw him place his hands on women inappropriately and even asked her to remove her underwear, demanded kisses from her, and whispered sexual advances.

In a statement, Filner said, "The people of San Diego shouldn't rush to judgment and that the situation will be better understood once due process moves forward."

PEREIRA: A federal judge is blocking North Dakota from enforcing its new abortion law, at least temporarily. The state law is one of the most restrictive in the country, banning abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected. Sometimes, as early as six weeks into pregnancy. This would ban 90 percent of procedures at North Dakota's only clinic that provides abortions. That law is scheduled to take effect August 1st.

ROMANS: The legal back and forth over Detroit's $18 billion bankruptcy filing not resolved yet. Another hearing set for Wednesday after a federal bankruptcy judge agreed to hear arguments from the city's emergency manager that this bankruptcy should move forward. A group of retired public employees trying to block it. And a state judge has already said the city can't file for chapter nine protection because that would violate the state constitution.

PEREIRA: Last week's brutal heat wave led to at least three deaths here in New York City. The medical examiners say all three people were in their 80s. One died Friday, two others Saturday as temperatures climbed into the mid-90s. It is not clear if any of those people had any underlying medical conditions. And that is just the concern when the heat gets to that extreme amount is that some people won't be able to find ways to keep cool and will suffer from being overcome by the heat.

ROMANS: And that's why the cities have those cooling centers --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: -- for elderly people, you know --

PEREIRA: The question of getting there and mobility, et cetera.

ROMANS: -- that they can handle -- and it gets so hot. Indra Petersons has an eye on the forecast for us now this morning. Now, that the heat has broken, all other different kinds of weather we're looking at now.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's always one or the other, right? I mean, today it's thunderstorms. We saw the lightning earlier. Here is a current look at our radar right now. You can actually see a nice line of storms kind of moving through the area. Little bit keep the energy that will remain with us that they triggering thunderstorms as we go through the afternoon.

But the upside, more cooling, actually below normal temperatures just to the west of New York. So, Pittsburgh right now, average 83, currently 72 degrees, and this is the cooler air that will be making its way through overnight tonight and through tomorrow. With that, we'll continue to see those thunderstorms.

Now, watch the cool front right here, right where this cool front is, that's where we'll have our threat for more severe weather as we go throughout the afternoon, so where is that? We're talking about here from Kansas kind of really through Kentucky, but they're not going to be the only ones looking at this threat for thunderstorms.

We're talking about all that warm, moist air continuing to stream up from the gulf. And the more we kind of see a little bit of a sea breeze, but once that switches to the south and we'll get the afternoon warming, we'll get the thunderstorms kind of triggering throughout the afternoon. The overnight hours again tonight. So, as far as the -- anywhere from one to two inches.

Heavier amounts are possible where we see those thunderstorms. Flooding can be a concern as this could be a pretty slow moving system out there. And again, I keep talking about how much rain we've had. Such a strange year for June and July. Anywhere from five to seven inches above normal from New York to D.C.

We go down to the south where they still have a threat for even more rain there as well. This is unbelievable year for them. We're talking from one to two inches of rain today with a good seven to eight inches above normal. So, I guess, it's a wet summer for all of us.

PEREIRA: It sure is.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: Thanks, Indra.

PEREIRA: All right. You know the saying, don't get between a momma bear and her cubs?

ROMANS: Yes.

PEREIRA: Well, it's true. We want to show you some incredible video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (voice-over): That's a mother bear on top of a dumpster just east (ph) of Los Angeles. She's trying to get in. She's trying to pull on it, wants to open the lid. The reason is because one of her cubs was inside. It turns out she needs a little human help to get the cub out.

ADAM SMITH, GAME WARDEN, CALIFORNIA FISH & WILDLIFE: I was able to open the lid quickly and back off and find out. And it's back with its parents. At least its mom.

PEREIRA: That's the key right there. The game warden saying back off, because once the hatch was open, the young bear did scamper out with a little something stuck to his ear. Probably a little smarter or maybe not, because you know, when you're a baby cub, you're just so curious and you need a snack.

ROMANS (voice-over): Oh, that is so cute. But you know, it is actually dangerous the way the scavenge in the garbage and human waste -- you know, the stuff that we throw out is what causes the bears to really --

PEREIRA: They've been seeing a lot of bears out there in California that lasted a while.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (on-camera): In Jersey, we have them in jersey, too.

PEREIRA (on-camera): You've been telling me about that.

ROMANS: We have bears in -- I'm telling you, we have bears in Jersey. All right. Among other things.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: Coming up, you know what I'm talking about the startling new evidence this morning on why the first meal of the day could really be the most important, and I'm hungry.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: This is kind of a problem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: A Texas roller coaster still off limits as investigators try to figure out how a woman fell to her death from it. Six Flags is keeping the Texas giant roller coaster, the park in Arlington closed until they're sure it is safe to ride once again. Witnesses say Rosy Esparza was concerned that she'd not been properly fastened into her and then she flew out during a ride.

ROMANS: Another reason to eat your breakfast this morning. It may protect your heart. Harvard researchers say skipping breakfast increases your chance of a heart attack, 27 percent in older men who regularly didn't have a morning meal. It's not clear why breakfast helps protect the heart, but there's some thought those who eat breakfast tend to consume smaller meals later in the day.

PEREIRA: Small issue, though, if you have bacon with the side of bacon --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: You see what I'm saying? That might not help your heart so much, but boy, that looks good. Why are we showing pictures of bacon when neither of us brought our breakfast today?

ROMANS: I know. I love bacon.

PEREIRA: I can almost smell it in the seal (ph). Let's take a look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY". You make the breakfast over there all by your lonesome?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: I'm finally with my favorite people.

PEREIRA: But she's right there. Look at, she's right above you. Don't misbehave.

CUOMO: Kate, forget about me. Kate is in the spot this morning. Front seat to history. How is it going over there, Katie? Tell them what you got?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: We are live in London, everyone. We took a quick flight over. We couldn't miss out on all the fun. You can see the rain that was really threatened to come through it is at least gone away for a moment, and the excitement is still building here. We're live outside Buckingham Palace.

And, the big question of the day, same ones you guys have, when will we see the royal couple bring the new prince out to introduce him to the world? What is the name? Some of the heavy betting right now is on James. Our senior executive producer, Jim Murphy, loves that idea. And we're going to be talking about all the joy, the celebrations. We've got some great headlines from some of the British newspapers to show you. A lot of fun and a lot of excitement still here in London.

CUOMO: And back here, we've got a lot of news. A lot of you guys have been talking about this morning, Michaela and Christine. We're talking about the plane that went down at LaGuardia.

We're talking about this latest 911 call involving George Zimmerman. Very different this time. Not about Trayvon Martin. We have an interview with his lawyer about what happened down there just four days after his acquittal.

And then, news crossing the wires right now, 500 prisoners that may have been, not released, but broke out of prisons in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib. What's going on there? So, we're following a lot of news as, you know, in addition to the obvious this morning, which is Kate, the great Kate, Kate Bolduan over in front of Buckingham Palace.

PEREIRA: Our team is pretty great, too. And look, this is the deal, Kate. I'm going to do you a solid. I'm going to go just to keep in pinching distance of him to make sure he behaves.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: Because I know you have reached, my dear, but not across the pond.

CUOMO: No, no. It's nice and quiet here. (CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: This is the first time he can hear himself think. Exactly.

PEREIRA: It won't last.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: All right, guys. Can't wait to see your report.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: And Chris, we'll see you in a minute.

Coming up, they're used to pop-ups, but this is one catch these baseball players weren't quite prepared to make.

PEREIRA: Oh my!

ROMANS: Oh!

PEREIRA: Oh my!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START. Ryan Braun is the first big name baseball player punished for his connection to a Miami clinic accused of distributing performance enhancing drugs. The former MVP has been suspended the rest of the season without pay. Joe Carter has more on this morning's "Bleacher Report." Good morning, Joe.

JOE CARTER, BLEACHER REPORT: Hi. Good morning, Christine. Yes. This is a big hit for Major League Baseball and their pursuit to punish those connected to performance-enhancing drugs. Braun is a five-time all-star and the second biggest name connected to Tony Bos and his biogenesis clinic. That's now closed.

Now, yesterday, Braun did admit to wrongdoing and he apologized for his actions in a statement. Now, he's going to sit out the rest of this season, which is 65 games, which happens to be 15 games longer than the suspension he avoided last year when a positive drug test was overturned because a urine sample wasn't properly handled.

So, the big question moving forward, who's next? Will Alex Rodriguez, the highest paid player in baseball or any of the more than dozen other players tied to this biogenesis clinic get suspended? And if so, when?

Hey, check out this game winning catch by the Braves' Jason Heyward. It's bottom of the ninth, 2-1, braves. If this ball gets by Jason Heyward, that's tie and possibly win, but Heyward comes up with a snags, and the game winning catch. It extends the Braves lead to seven games in the national league east over the Philadelphia Phillies. And by the way, Heyward, not even a center fielder. Normally, he plays right field. I've got some more great video for you. Check out what happened during a college summer league game in Missouri. The parachuter misses his mark entirely and crashes into the back at a baseball player. His name is Mattingly Roman, the baseball player. And obviously, he had no idea this parachuter was falling out of the sky. He later tweeted, "I feel like I got kicked in the face. Oh, wait." Now, both guys, the parachuter and the baseball player, they're fine.

Now, on the heels of yesterday's royal baby announcement, baseball's Kansas City Royals put together an audition video to show off their skills at tasting baby food for the prince. Current players and even hall of famer, George Brett, tasted their taste goods at chicken and gravy, sweet peas and carrots, so squishy, so yummy, so good.

Guys, great idea for a royal baby that's pretty much got about everything coming to it. You got millionaires tasting food for a prince. Not bad.

ROMANS: And what about the bangers in mashed just ride in the blender. There you go. Nothing more British than some bangers and mash. All right. Thanks, Joe Carter. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: The world is abuzz from the news from London on the birth of the royal baby, but as Jeanne Moos tells us, getting the word out didn't always goes smoothly for the heralds of the modern age.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The duchess may have delivered the baby, but the news was delivered mostly via smartphone while listening, an anchor gasped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The royal highness, the Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4:24 p.m. local time.

MOOS: And prompting confusion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the presses, breaking news from London about the royal baby. Let's get right to NBC Jim Maceda (ph).

MOOS: The baby came, but not the reporter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The crowd surging forward. It's a boy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A big, bouncing boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: it's royal baby time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just got goose bumps.

MOOS: What must have been a labor of love for the royal couple was downright laborious for the press, days of waiting, and then finally --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kate's in labor. Kate's in labor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's in labor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning. She's in labor.

MOOS: Some thought the press belabored the story and critics hailed the BBC correspondent for his on-air candor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Plenty more to come from here, of course. None of it news because that will come from Buckingham Palace, but that won't stop us.

MOOS: The British paper, "The Guardian" allowed readers to get rid of all the royal baby news on the home page with merely a click of the mouse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's odd --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you know what's exciting, if the baby sees its shadow, it's six more weeks --

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kate did go into labor during a full moon.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking live at a door.

MOOS: Of course, there were fake Twitter accounts written in the voice of the royal baby, "my first crowning is not going as smoothly as I'd like." And there were jokes making fun of the jokes. I don't find these royal baby jokes very funny. Maybe it's just the delivery. Even photographers hung joke notes on their wall of ladders outside the hospital. Postpartum latter sale. Royal baby trivia was truly trivial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cloth diapers are disposable. Prince William was the first royal baby to use disposable diapers. (INAUDIBLE) How could you have lived without knowing this? And I have more.

MOOS: Forget having a boy or girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hoping like the show, "Game of Throne," that she have a dragon.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Now, the birth of a royal dragon would have been new.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Nothing cooler than bringing a new life into the world, royal or otherwise. Congratulations. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

CUOMO: All right. Christine, thank you very much. The power has shifted to me. I now have Michaela.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Kate is over in London. It's the top of the hour, just about, and that means you're on "NEW DAY," time for the top news.