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CNN NEWSROOM

Delta Bumps Passengers; New York Train Crash; Detroit Bankruptcy; First Major Snow; Innocent Man Imprisoned 25 Years; Farrah Fawcett Portrait

Aired December 3, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Brooke Baldwin. Great to be with you from New York today. Thank you so much for being with me here on this Tuesday.

I have to tell you about this shocking case on a Delta plane bound for Atlanta on one of, really, what's determined as the busiest flying days of year. This is what we are learning today from the "Gainesville Sun," that on Thanksgiving Day, passengers departing Gainesville Regional Airport in Florida were told they had been bumped off the plane. But here's the kicker. This is why -- to make room for the University of Florida men's basketball team. This entire flight -- this is a Delta flight -- canceled so that this sports team could use the plane.

This story was first reported by Morgan Watkins, a staff writer at the "Gainesville Sun." She is joining me now.

And, Morgan, you heard about this whole thing because a passenger tipped you off. What was it she told you? I mean from reading your piece, one of these passengers missed a funeral because of this.

MORGAN WATKINS, STAFF WRITER, "GAINESVILLE SUN": I mean she e-mailed us about it Sunday night, letting us know she was clearly very upset about what happened to her. So she was pretty much just up there talking, you know, while she's waiting to find out what flight she's going to get or where she has to go to get a flight. She's talking to these folks and just finding out, you know, this one missed a funeral, this one had to have her dad drive her all the way to Atlanta so she wouldn't miss something. And I talked to her later that night once she finally did got off the plane. She wasn't done traveling until later Monday night.

BALDWIN: Hang on. Back up. So how did this whole thing unfold? How did she explain? What did Delta tell them?

WATKINS: According to her, what happened was Delta, they were supposed to fly out around 3:30 p.m. and Delta told them that there was a mechanical delay, so they were just waiting around figuring they'd fix whatever the problem was and they'd still, you know, get out at a decent hour. And she said that about a few hours into it, they went from a delay to being totally canceled. But during that discussion, I guess, some of the passengers, herself included, looked out the window and saw the basketball players walking onto the plane that was supposed to be theirs. BALDWIN: These basketball players getting on to the plane instead of --

WATKINS: Yes, this whole team.

BALDWIN: Instead of them. What -- then, Morgan, what is --

WATKINS: That didn't go over too well.

BALDWIN: I imagine it did not at all. What did Delta explain to these people or what has Delta said to you as far as defending what they did?

WATKINS: When I talked to Delta, I talked to them via e-mail. They got in touch with me towards the end of the day yesterday and they said that it was a case of -- there was maintenance difficulties with the charter plane UF is supposed to fly their team in and so they ended up deciding -- and in a new statement that they just released today, they said that it was a case where they thought that the maintenance difficulties on the UF flight would be fixed relatively quickly so that's why they switched the flights or switched the planes. And Delta just said that, you know, they apologized and gave them vouchers and made sure that they found other accommodations and, you know, that they apologized for the inconvenience basically.

BALDWIN: So with this inconvenience and this one woman you spoke with, obviously she's irked, but is she irked enough to do something beyond simply complain?

WATKINS: I mean she said -- from talking to her, she said that for her it was mostly just an inconvenience. It wasn't something that -- like the person who missed a funeral. That's, obviously, a much bigger and more unfortunate inconvenience.

BALDWIN: Yes.

WATKINS: So for her she was more upset by the idea that the reason that they got bumped in the first place was because of this basketball team needing to make a game that was not until Monday evening.

But I didn't get the sense from her that she was looking to -- it looked like for he she just wanted to tell us so that we could kind of let everyone know in the community and I guess on the country --

BALDWIN: Get her story out there.

WATKINS: Yes, that this is what happened and that these things happen on Delta. And for her she said that I know that they gave vouchers and she said that she thought the vouchers that Delta handed out would probably be enough to make the passengers feel --

BALDWIN: Hopefully these things do not happen on Delta.

WATKINS: A little bit better about it.

BALDWIN: Hopefully they don't. Hopefully this is not typical Delta procedure. And we'll reach out to Delta. Obviously we're reaching out to try to get our own statements and our own reporting on this as well. But Morgan Watkins, "Gainesville Sun," thank you so much for sharing this story. We'll follow it definitely with you. Thank you.

And now an update here on what we've been following out of New York, word of an admission by the engineer at the controls of this speeding train that jumped the tracks in the Bronx. Two senior law enforcement sources tell CNN the engineer -- and here he is -- said that he was, quote, "in a daze." This was revealed to investigators moments after the derailment that killed four and injured more than 60 others. Investigators now say this train carrying 150 passengers approached the sharp curve, here's the map, approached this curve doing 82 miles per hour. Keep in mind, this is a bend with a speed limit of 30 miles per hour. Eighty-two. That is too fast even for the straightaway, which has a 70-mile-per-hour limit. Nic Robertson has been at the crash scene. He joins me here in the New York studio.

So, wow. So now we're hearing about dazed. What do we know from this operator, what he reportedly told investigators? What led to this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what he describes as going along in a daze, those were his exact words, going along in a daze.

BALDWIN: Not asleep, in a daze.

ROBERTSON: Not in a sleep. And then he says, I don't know what happened. Now, this is what he told investigators right after that accident.

What we do know is that five seconds before the train actually physically came to a rest, that's when the brakes were applied. Pretty --

BALDWIN: Five seconds before?

ROBERTSON: Before it came to rest. And that's pretty much when the train is actually, investigators say, when it's actually coming off the rail itself. So what -- it's building this picture and he's already said, I applied the brakes and nothing happened, but it's building this picture of him being surprised about what happened, about being in shock.

So now investigators are really going to want to know, what was happening in the minutes prior, because we know he stopped perfectly well. He controlled the train and he stopped it perfectly well at nine stations before. This is where they're going to be focusing.

BALDWIN: Something changed.

ROBERTSON: But there's something else going on here as well.

BALDWIN: What else?

ROBERTSON: Yesterday afternoon, the engineer stopped talking to the investigators. He was in an emotional state. They said yesterday that they would be picking up with him again today and would probably go on again tomorrow. So there's clearly a lot that they still want to get out of him. And there they're probably --

BALDWIN: Define emotional state, Nic Robertson.

ROBERTSON: He's a man whose been driving a train and has come to realize that four people have died, 67 people have been injured. He said, I was in a daze. I don't know what happened. This is a man who will be coming to realize the enormity --

BALDWIN: Yes.

ROBERTSON: Of what he must sense some responsibility for. That's enormous. So one can imagine, all these things have happened so fast, he's been trying to help the investigators, telling them everything he can, coming out of the train, giving his first explanations. And now it's becoming very real and the emotions are going to start to sink in.

BALDWIN: Four lives lost. Anderson Cooper did an incredibly compelling interview with the family of one of the men who was killed. And to hear the son sitting, holding his mother's hand saying, I want everyone to know my father was not a victim. We're going to play part of that just gut-wrenching interview for you. But Nic Robertson, thank you very much, with the latest there on what's happening with that deadly train derailment.

BALDWIN: Heavy snow is just one problem for search teams looking for a plane that's lost somewhere in the Idaho wilderness. Pilot Dale Smith reported engine trouble, asked air traffic controllers to help him find a back country airstrip. But he eventually lost radio contact with them. Four family members were reportedly on board with him. Friends are surprised Smith would run into anything he couldn't handle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if there is anyone who is able to survive a difficult situation, it would be Dale.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a really good pilot, so I would be real surprised if anything happened. You know, maybe he ran into some bad weather.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Authorities are trying to remain hopeful. They say they may have landed somewhere safely. The plane's built in emergency locator is designed to activate in crashes, but has yet to go off.

Current and retired city workers in Detroit got the news they had just been dreading today. A judge ruled that Detroit now qualifies for bankruptcy protection. And what that means is that people's pensions could be slashed. The judge calls the bankruptcy a chance for a fresh start. But people who counted on the city to keep its promises on the pensions, they are calling this today a betrayal and their lawyers plan to appeal. Poppy Harlow joins me now from New Jersey on the phone with more on this.

And, so, Poppy, are these pension cuts a sure thing?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Most likely, yes, Brooke. I mean the question is not if but I think how deep are these cuts going to be. You have to remember, this is the biggest municipal bankruptcy in the history of this country. The city of Detroit is $18 billion in debt. They filed for bankruptcy in July. When I was there talking on that day they filed bankruptcy with the emergency manager of Detroit, Kevin Orr, he told me they are going to have to be some cuts. He has to get rid of at least $9 billion in debt.

So how do you do that? Well, you don't pay back all of what you owe to Wall Street investors and other investors. But you also -- the city's argument is, and the one they won today, is that you don't have enough money to pay back the pension obligations that you promised your city workers or the full benefits that you promised them.

Now, the unions, the pension funds, they were in court fighting this. What the judge did today is he said, nope, we're going to allow this. We're going to allow Detroit to go forward with this bankruptcy.

But he, the judge, is going to have to determine how deep the cuts can be. The Public Pension Coalition, very upset, calling this a dark day for the people of Detroit who they say played by the rules, they say are now at risk of losing everything. It's not likely workers are going to lose everything, but they're likely going to see cuts.

Now, I just got off the phone with a man who was a city worker in Detroit for 29 years. He said to me, he has no idea how much his pension will be cut. He said he can't afford for it to be cut by even a dollar. And he said, I'm being robbed. This is highway robbery.

This is what happens in a bankruptcy, especially the biggest thing for -- in the history of this country.

BALDWIN: Yes.

HARLOW: What we're going to have to see now is just how much -- just to put this in perspective. I mean, Brooke, this is the motor city, once boomtown USA, but they have fallen into this bankruptcy --

BALDWIN: Times have changed.

HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE) declining population. Exactly.

BALDWIN: Times have changed. You've been reporting --

HARLOW: The fall of the auto industry (INAUDIBLE) politics, et cetera.

BALDWIN: Exactly. Poppy Harlow, you've seen it, I've seen it.

HARLOW: Yes.

BALDWIN: We'll see what happens and how much is cut from all these different people you've talked to. Poppy Harlow, thank you so much, on the phone with me on the latest there in Detroit.

Coming up, Andy Warhol fans anyone. Here's the question we're asking today. Who is entitled to this? This is Andy Warhol's portrait of Farrah Fawcett. This picture hangs over Ryan O'Neal's bed. But now the actor is being sued. Find out what he said in court.

Plus, a husband and father spends 25 years behind bars for the murder of his wife. But the thing is, he didn't kill her. I will speak live with a lawyer who helped expose the evidence that ultimately set this man free, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Great to be with you. I'm Brooke Baldwin, live from New York.

But let's talk, maybe, perhaps, no, Chad Myers, live in the CNN Weather Center with news of the first major Rocky Mountain snow.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Rocky Mountain high for the people out there. Nobody is complaining because when people in the Rockies get snow, Brooke, they go and play in it. And this is a big one. This is a big one for Aspen, for Veil, for Summit County, for Utah, for on up into Billings, in Montana, even into Idaho, big mountain snow is above 5,000 feet and that's where people go skiing.

Now, in the plains, a big snow for Bismarck and Duluth, where people really don't need it unless you're trying to cover up maybe some winter or some spring wheat ground there. But Denver, Aspen, seeing the snow.

Let me take you to Loveland. Here's a live shot from Loveland, Colorado, here. This isn't -- you can't see very much, unfortunately. There it is. That's what the Department of Transportation website look like. Cars moving, but not very quickly. Eisenhower Tunnel, both directions, very slow, trying to get up that hill, especially from Dylan (ph) on the west side. That's where the snow is coming from and the snow continues all night long tonight.

There will be spots, I'm not kidding you, Brooke, there will be spots with three feet of snow, even in the lowlands. Even the low areas, you know, Aspen, as you drive up toward Aspen Highlands (ph) and Snowmas (ph). Two feet of snow to plow and everybody is cheering because it has been a very big drought out to the west where we haven't seen a lot of snow. These people need a great ski season. And it's coming.

BALDWIN: Ski season. It's coming. Bring it on. Chad Myers, thank you very much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: We'll check back in with you next hour.

MYERS: All right.

BALDWIN: You know, truth matters. That is the phrase at the center, really, the crux of this CNN film entitled "An Unreal Dream." And it is one of the only things that helped Michael Morton not give up hope. Here's his story. Morton is a man who was convicted of this brutal killing of his young wife back in 1986. And he spent the next quarter century in the Texas prison system, totally cut off from his family, dealing with the harsh reality of life behind bars. So it took 25 years but DNA evidence finally reveals what Morton's defense attorneys always believed to be true, that Morton was innocent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't -- I don't keep the files of all the cases that I've tried. I kept Michael's file. Michael's case was different. And on almost every level, particularly an emotional level with me. And you can't afford to -- when you try criminal cases, you've got to leave a little bit of your own blood on the floor in front of the jury or they will see through you. But you can't afford to carry it around with you for very long. But I did with Michael. And it really got me down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With the help of the Innocence Project and a team of local pro bono lawyers, Michael Morton, look at that, was finally exonerated. Michael Morton's attorney and now good friend John Raley joins me here to talk about this incredible moment. We were just talking, listening to this piece of the film. So you met Michael Morton, this was back in 2005?

JOHN RALEY, MICHAEL MORTON'S ATTORNEY: Yes, ma'am.

BALDWIN: And you ultimately got the news you all wanted seven years later?

RALEY: In June of 2011. We filed our motion for DNA testing in February of 2005.

BALDWIN: It took that many years?

RALEY: I was really surprised by the degree of opposition we faced. We were talking about a simple test on a bloody bandana that was found near the murder scene that can only reveal the truth. And the test would have been free to the state because the Innocence Project, my co-council in the case, would have paid for the cost of the test. And yet for nearly seven years they fought us tooth and nail every step of the way in state courts, in federal court, in appellate courts. We did all we could do but they -- eventually the truth came out.

BALDWIN: Eventually the truth came out.

RALEY: Yes.

BALDWIN: And just, if you can, John, describe for me the moment when finally you said, yes, and head said, yes, and he could finally be free.

RALEY: It's indescribable. When -- Nina Morris (ph), my co-council and I, went to speak with Michael personally and tell him the news and we --

BALDWIN: You broke the news to him?

RALEY: We shared it with him personally. We didn't want to do that over the phone. And it was a special moment for all of us. But for me personally, the moment when we were able to walk out of the courtroom together for the first time, the first breath of freedom, and he turned his eyes up toward the sun and he inhaled and it was -- it was just such a precious, special moment for us. I'll always cherish it. I'll always remember it.

BALDWIN: From that moment, let's go back in time.

RALEY: Yes.

BALDWIN: I want to play a piece of this film. This is -- this is Michael describing what it was like going to prison. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MORTON (voice-over): When I first got to Texas Penitentiary, the first thing they do is they strip you naked and search you. You're given a pair of state boxers. I realized that the full gravity of the place because as I was standing in line to get my boots, I noticed the guy in front of me. I counted 13 stab wounds in his back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Thirteen stab wounds in his back. And here is a man who ultimately is exonerated. He did not do what he was sent to prison to do. What kind of man is he? How is he now?

RALEY: Michael Morton is one of the finest men I've ever known or ever will know.

BALDWIN: Wow.

RALEY: He's a brother to me. And he is an inspiration to all of us. I'll never forget the first time I met him in prison. I'd read the complete file. I realized there was no real evidence to convict him. But I wanted to meet him personally. And I met him and I remembered that I came home and I was incredibly moved by this experience and I -- I talked to my wife, Kelly, who I ask for advice about a lot of things, and I said, my God, he's innocent.

BALDWIN: Yes.

RALEY: We have to get him out. And she looked right at me and she said, then do it.

BALDWIN: And so you did.

RALEY: And we assembled our team. And this has been a total team effort. I was honored to serve with many fine men and women that worked together on this.

BALDWIN: Congratulations.

RALEY: Thank you.

BALDWIN: I cannot wait to watch and for our viewers to watch. It's called "An Unreal Dream." It airs Thursday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

John Raley, thank you. A pleasure.

RALEY: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, the four year battle heats up over this Andy Warhol portrait of actress Farrah Fawcett. Ryan O'Neal tells a jury why the painting is his. We're on the case.

Plus, online stories that will definitely tug at your heart and your pocketbook. What happens to all of those donations when the stories are outed as fake? We'll find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: To politics now. The Obama administration is more than eager to shift this whole debate over health care, away from the insurance website, to the benefits of the law itself. So with that goal in mind, the president kicks off this three week PR blitz later this hour at the White House. Every day, between now and December 23rd, the administration plans to highlight a different aspect of the law. And earlier today, President Bill Clinton spoke with our colleagues at CNN Espanol and do you remember when Bill Clinton recently said that President Obama should honor his, if you like it you can keep it pledge? Do you remember this from the former president. Well, Clinton says those comments were not intended to distance his wife and her potential White House candidacy from any Obamacare headaches. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, I was trying to be supportive of it. I don't think you can find anybody in America who's worked harder for his re-election or support of this bill or went out of his way to explain the bill to the American people more than I did. So there's no politics there. I didn't say anything until he talked. And I'm trying to be supportive.

But I do think we've got to get the website up and we have to work. Is it confined to the website? That's the biggest problem because if the website is working and everybody can see what their options are, then in most states most people will have a good option, which will be the same or less costly than the one they had before that will cover the same or more conditions. So I think it will be all right. But know there was no politics involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: When asked if Hillary Clinton will run for president, because you know that is the question that Bill Clinton continues to get, his answer, three words, I don't know. But he did say, he likes Joe Biden and if Biden is the Democratic nominee, he would be glad to help him.

Question, do you watch the hit TV show, "Scandal"? You know with the lovely, gorgeous Kerry Washington? It is based on the life of Judy Smith, the high profile crisis manager in Washington, D.C. And she talked to Piers Morgan about how she would advise President Obama on this whole health care mess. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDY SMITH, CRISIS MANAGER: I don't think we've seen a disaster like this in a while. I think it is very problematic really because this was the administration's -- the president's -- it was his signature piece of legislation.

PIERS MORGAN, ANCHOR, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": Right.

SMITH: And I think everybody agrees that the initial rollout has been an absolute mess. The president has apologized for it. I think the question is going to be how he moves past this.

MORGAN: And the problem it seems to me is that he -- you know, it's all very well said and done. We got a few things wrong.

SMITH: Yes.

MORGAN: The real thing he got wrong is that he went out there front and center and repeatedly told a pack of horkies (ph), as we would say in England. Let's watch this little clip here showing him in action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You like your plan, keep your plan. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your private health insurance plan, you can keep it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN: See, this was Mr. Transparent. This was I'm going to change Washington. Look at me, you can trust me.

SMITH: Yes.

MORGAN: And, I mean, that, to me, is pretty damaging to the Obama brand, I think, coupled with the fact that this is all about new technology. He's supposed to be the geek president. The guy that wins elections with the most brilliant --

SMITH: Yes.

MORGAN: Underground, Internet campaign imaginable --

SMITH: That's right.

MORGAN: And he can't even rollout out his own flagship policy.

SMITH: Yes. Look, I think, with this, the president has lost a lot of trust with the American public and a lot of confidence, in particular in the business community. I think now he's got to make sure that he sets expectations and time lines that are actually realistic.

MORGAN: Is it too late? Is it terminally damaged, Obamacare?

SMITH: I don't think it's too late. I do think, from a legacy perspective, that I think the way that this was rolled out will probably have some effect on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)