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Team USA Set To Take on Germany; New Flight 370 Search Area Shifts South; Father Told Boy Found on Live TV

Aired June 26, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Team USA's roster stacked with five German-Americans including star players, Fabian Johnson and Jermaine Jones, now going head-to-head against the very same players they grew up with.

That said, Johnson isn't sweating it.

FABIAN JOHNSON, TEAM USA ATHLETE: I played them already in the leagues. I think it's nothing special anymore.

CUOMO: And the intensity of the rivalry doesn't end there. Team USA Coach Jurgen Klinsmann faces off against his former assistant and close friend Joachim Low who now leads the German team. The two quickly dismissing any rumors of conspiring to tie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now going to this World Cup, obviously everybody is doing the best he can do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: All right. So that is the situation with the game.

Let's get some good analysis here. Let's bring in CNN's Lara Baldesarra from Recife, Brazil. And Kate is going to take that for us right now.

Let's get to Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Kate, thanks.

Let's bring in Lara and let's bring Cobi Jones, three-time U.S. World Cup soccer player, to look at it all. What does it mean? What's going to happen? They call it the biggest game of their lives.

Let's start on the ground in Recife, Brazil.

We can hear the rain behind, Lara. What is the expectation of what the weather is going to be like and how might it impact the field?

LARA BALDESARRA, CNN SPORTS: Kate, it is getting a lot worse here. The rain now is now blowing in across things. There's no end in sight with this rain. You can't even see the stadium which is behind me in this shot. Now, this pitch could be a concern, if it does not hold up well it

could benefit the Americans though because it would mean for the Germans they wouldn't want to take those risks because players don't want to lose their footing, so they don't want to take risk, they don't want to risk injuries. Of course, the goal of the world cup is to win the World Cup. It's not to win a match.

In order to win the World Cup, you need to progress from the group stage so both of these teams, like Chris said, they just need a draw.

Now I will point out, though, in the past nine encounters between the USA and Germany, there has not been a match that's finished in a draw. And, in fact, Germany leads the head-to-head record between the Germany and the USA, 6-3, but no draws on record so far. But I really want this rain to stop because this is not that comfortable for me.

BOLDUAN: And probably not comfortable for the team. Real quick before I bring in Cobi, has the team been asked about the weather? Have they said anything about the conditions?

BALDESARRA: No, nothing at all yesterday at the press conference. Yesterday at the press conference, Kyle Beckerman and Jurgen Klinsmann, they were speaking, but it was actually sunny at the time. Now, there was rain throughout the day but during that time it was sunny. They were out during their open training, it was sunny.

This was not really in the forecast. I didn't even bring a raincoat so I don't think any of the players knew what they were waking up to this morning with the howling winds and this rain that keeps on coming down.

BOLDUAN: Well, let's find out from someone who would know better than most, Cobi Jones, an amazing player in your own right.

Cobi, what is the impact of such rain an play? How would it have affected you in one of the World Cup games?

COBI JONES, THREE-TIME WORLD CUP SOCCER PLAYER: I think the players are going to be looking at this weather, and especially the offensive players, knowing that when it's raining like this, it does affect the pitch, it could get heavier, there's -- players are more prone to slip.

And offensively that's an advantage. Defensively they're going to have to be clear a ball, you could slip, the ball could skip. So, offensively, I think this will allow more opportunities actually going to goal because those offensive players that have talent on boast sides are going to try to take advantage of that and go direct to goal to get the shots off.

BOLDUAN: That really is an interesting take on the weather, Cobi.

And also, Greg Wallace was telling us a little earlier in the show, when it really comes down to it, going into this game, the Americans are out-skilled by the Germans. Do you believe that? And if so, how so? JONES: Well, I think it's a little bit of that natural bias that we

have towards players out of Europe and I will give a lot of credit to the German team. There's a lot of big names that have a lot of talent that play at some big clubs.

But when I look at this U.S. team, I look at the talent that's there and look at what they've done over the past few games, even before the World Cup started with the send-off matches, they've gotten better and better with each game and if they play like they did, those 80-plus minutes in the Portugal game, I think they can go out and challenge any team in the world.

BOLDUAN: Cobi, do you give any credence as a former player who has played in the big matches to the theory that these teams are going to collude, that they're going to, they want to accept a draw, a tie, so they can both move on?

JONES: I don't give any credence to that. When it comes out to it, it's all about professional athletes when they get on the field it's about the competitive nature that drive from within.

And one thing that I always say when I'm asked this, if Clint Dempsey is up front and inside the 18 with a one on one with the goalie, is he just going to stop and pull up and go no, I'm not going to take the shot? Of course he isn't. He's not going to play it safe.

It's about the U.S. trying to get points no matter what. Don't worry about the Germany and draw. Play to win and get some points out of this match.

BOLDUAN: All right. Prediction time, my favorite time because I'm not the one being put on the spot.

Cobi, first to you, what is your prediction? Who are the players to watch and how do you think the game is going to turn out?

JONES: My prediction in this game and I know I'm going to take a lot of heat but I think the USA is going to win this match. I think they have a good shot and opportunity because this really is a one-off game.

Players that we have to watch, Clint Dempsey, once again, he's on fire right now, he's getting better and better and once he heats up, the passion that he shows, the team gets better.

Another player is Michael Bradley, not the best tournament so far, but if he starts playing well, I think this team can go up another notch and another level.

BOLDUAN: All right, Cobi, we're going to hold you to it. Just kidding.

All right. Lara, you're on the ground. What's your prediction? What are you hearing and what are you feeling?

BALDESARRA: I am going with a 2-2 draw. I think it's going to end up that way.

I think the two players you really need to keep your eye on are Kyle Beckerman, he's just proved to be the utility man and if this is a game that might get a little bit more slippery and physical, he's the guy that you want to keep your eye on because he's been defensively a wonder as he plays midfield.

The other guy I want you to keep your eye on is Tim Howard in goal for the USA. I think he'll come under a lot of fire today but he's a wall. He's a brick wall, so those two guys, 2-2 draw, that's what I'm putting up there, Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, also, the other key player in this game will be the weather so everyone's going to not just keep an eye on the players but eye in the sky as we will as well, all happening in a few hours. Lara, Cobi, it's great to see you. Thanks, Cobi.

JONES: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

Chris?

CUOMO: You're totally right, as if there weren't enough reason to watch we have the weather a factor that makes it more exciting.

Let's take a quick break now. When we come back, a boy missing for days is located. That's the good news. Where he's found makes it so confusing, a father gets the news during a live interview with our "Nancy Grace". You can watch and judge his reaction for yourself. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HLN: We are getting reports that your son has been found alive in your basement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Even Nancy seemed shocked. We're going to have Nancy Grace on to talk about this unbelievable moment and what she thinks about the situation now. Does she believe the father?

We also have new details in the search for Flight 370. Investigators now say they believe the plane was on autopilot when it crashed, why did they believe that, what would it mean? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Breaking overnight, more than 100 days since Flight 370 vanished, officials are refining the search, shifting it south and Australia's deputy prime minister announces this morning, saying it's highly likely the flight was on autopilot until it ran out of fuel. Now what would that mean?

We have Saima Mohsin. She's following these latest developments from Bangkok, Thailand.

Saima, what do we think?

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Chris, this was additional detail that we simply weren't expecting to hear today. We thought they were going to talk about the search, well, they were. Now, this is all coming out because they're trying to make complex calculations as to the flight path of MH370 and where to seven they decided to look at the cruising altitude, just how fast the plane was going and whether there was any major movement in the plane.

Well, they said there wasn't any major maneuvering. There was a loss of communications between the pilot, co-pilot, and any kind of control trial or nearby air traffic control. It was going very smoothly at a certain altitude.

Now, looking at that and comparing it with three prior air accidents, they came to the conclusion that the plane must have been: (a), on autopilot for the last few hours of its flight path, and (b), that the people in the cockpit may well have been out cold, unable to communicate with anyone.

So, that's one factor that came out today. Now of course, the major announcement they were trying to make is that they have refined the search zone, staying in the southern arc, Chris, but further down, 800 to 1,200 kilometers way.

Let's remind everyone, we're talking about 60,000 square kilometers to search, 3,000 to 4,000 meters deep. It's going to take some time. They're saying maybe we'll find it on the first day, but it could take up to 12 months.

Back to you, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Saima, thanks.

And, of course, that means it's an area that hasn't been previously mapped. Very difficult and rough terrain underneath the ocean.

Let's give a look at more headlines right now.

Breaking overnight, dozens of people, many of them teenagers, taken to the hospital from an Avicii concert in Boston. Local media put the number of patients up and around 80. Authorities told CNN affiliate WHDH, most of the patients were being treated for a combination of dehydration and being under the influence of drugs and alcohol. No word yet on the conditions of those who were hospitalized.

House Speaker John Boehner says he really means it. He is moving ahead with plans to sue President Obama for misusing his executive power. Boehner circulated the memo to the House Republicans accusing the president of using "king-like authority." The GOP says the president has basically cut them out by issuing a slew of executive orders. Boehner says he will begin action on a lawsuit in July.

No-hit history being made in San Francisco last night. Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. Near after he had a no-hitter against him the first time, the only other time a major league pitcher did that was more than 100 years ago.

Check out how he celebrated in the locker room. Notice what he's wearing. That is a Team USA soccer jersey with his number 55 and the addition of a gladiator helmet. Why not?

A bit of a scary scene for actor Rob Lowe and his family. They were involved in a dramatic issue after their vacation home in the south of France was flooded in a torrential downpour. The family shared the chaos of their rescue on Instagram. His son Johnny posted video of the raging water there, the heavy downpour completely submerged the first floor of their home. Luckily, the family was able to get out safely.

My goodness, that would be a frightening thing to witness.

BOLDUAN: That is terrifying. My goodness!

CUOMO: Yes, our thoughts go out to the Lowe family. Rob is a friend of the show, always good to have him here and good to hear they made it out OK.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely right.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, strange moment, so bizarre, caught on live television. Our Nancy Grace telling a father his 12-year-old son had been found alive in his own basement. Nancy is going to be joining us to discuss the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Here is a moment that I've certainly never seen and you've probably never seen before either, played out live on our Nancy Grace's HLN show last night.

Nancy Grace was interviewing a father whose 12-year-old son had been missing almost two weeks -- I should say had been missing because Nancy tells him live on air that his son has actually been found alive in his basement.

The exchange that followed can only be described as bizarre. We're going to talk to Nancy in a moment. But first, watch it for yourself. This is how it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HLN: Charlie, we are getting reports that your son has been found in your basement.

Sir? Mr. Bothuell, are you --

CHARLIE BOTHUELL, MISSING SON FOUND IN BASEMENT: What? GRACE: Yes, we are getting reports that your son has been found alive

in your basement.

BOTHUELL: What?

GRACE: Yes, if you can hand me that wire very quickly.

Yes, we're getting that right now from -- yes, how could your son be alive in your basement?

BOTHUELL: Oh (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I -- I have no idea. I --

GRACE: Now, this is just a report that we are hearing out of Detroit that we're trying to confirm. Sir, did you check your basement?

BOTHUELL: I checked my basement, the FBI checked my basement, the Detroit police checked my basement, my wife checked my basement, I've been down there several times. We've all been checking. How --

GRACE: OK, this is what we are hearing that the missing 12-year-old boy has been found alive and well in his father's basement. Now, this is what I don't understand why you guys would have reported he's missing and all our viewers have been on the lookout for him.

BOTHUELL: We've been on the lookout for him. We searched that entire house repeatedly. The FBI searched. Detroit police searched. We've all searched. God, they brought dogs, everything, everybody has searched. What -- oh, God, my son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: All right, we have Nancy Grace on the phone.

Nancy, thank you for joining us in sort notice.

Do me a favor, can you take us a step backwards and explain how this story got to this point, because you've been on it?

GRACE (via telephone): Oh, yes, I can. Number one, thank you for having me.

And number two, all I can say is, it is a miracle, regardless of how this thing plays out, Chris. I have covered so many missing children and usually they don't have a happy outcome. So, the first thing is this is a miracle. That's the headline.

But I'll take it back a notch. I got wind that this father, Charles Bothuell IV, was running from door to door, running and begging people, banging on doors and begging people to help him find his 12- year-old son.

And when I heard that, it broke my heart. It seemed as if no media, nobody would help him. He was upset with the police. He felt that he was being treated as a suspect, and let me just tell you something, Chris. Of course he's being treated as a suspect.

CUOMO: Right.

GRACE: All family members are treated as a suspect practically speaking when a child goes missing.

CUOMO: But what was the suspicion of what had happened, Nancy? What did they think had happened up to this point? Catch us up to date what were the circumstances and theories?

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: So I put him on the show, trying to help find the boy, and there were holes in his story, and I didn't like that. So, I took his story with a box of salt.

And -- but still the boy was missing. It was unresolved so I wanted him back on, because regardless of what happened to the boy I wanted to find the boy. In the middle, we were about to go to him, in the segment, and then I find out the boy has been found. We get a report. Then it's confirmed.

This is why I've learned overnight -- the boy has gone off for a day or two and come right back home. In this case, the FBI, the police, the parents searched the whole home. I confirmed that with Detroit police. There is a series of connecting hallways between the town home and they think the boy may have used that.

Now, here is the kicker. He was behind a barricade, boxes, and Detroit police say that this they do not believe a child could have built that barricade. Also, he was hungry, very, very hungry. Also, he was very happy to see police.

All those things put together indicate an adult was involved. I know the father took a polygraph, the result was inconclusive. The stepmother refused a polygraph, which concerns me, but after I saw the father's reaction, hugging everybody, crying tears of joy, apparently, you know what? I believe him. Maybe I'm crazy but I believe the father.

CUOMO: What do you think happened here, and are we safe in assuming that this 12-year-old kid is more than capable of explaining exactly what happened?

GRACE: No, I'm not really sure about that, because very often children won't tell the truth because they're afraid of repercussion in the home. So, no, and that is why police kept the child overnight. He has not been reunited with his family yet. They've kept him overnight for questioning.

And I also observed that they kept him from medical evaluation. Does that mean he was injured in some way? That would be bad news for the father.

On the other hand, very often even when you don't see obvious injuries, a child will be medically evaluated after an incident like this. To find out exactly what has happened. So I can't decipher anything from that fact yet. CUOMO: The local cops told Rosa Flores that they found bloody

clothing and PVC piping, I don't know what that means, but that obviously bloody clothing would be of concern. Does that mean anything to you?

GRACE: Yes, it does. I don't want to jump the gun on it. This is found in the basement where PVC piping would, naturally you would expect to find it there, bloody clothing has me disturbed.

From what police say at the get-go, the child did not look harmed yet again he's being medically evaluated. It also concerns me the stepmother could not be found last night, according to reports. Well, she should be right there in the home getting on top of the telephone, waiting for somebody to call her about her child. That concerns me.

So, it's a riddle. It's a puzzle we haven't worked out yet and I don't want to point the finger at the parents yet.

CUOMO: Right, but the authorities, because you suggested early on the kid had run away before for a day or so, which is longer than most kids would leave but some kids run away and come back home. Right now, do they believe it's more likely based on what you said about the barricade and the nature of its fabrication that the kid did this himself or that somebody did this to the kid?

GRACE: Well, right now I think cops are investigating if someone did it to him, and let me point out that from what I can interpret from this, the last time he disappeared, he was going to his mom's. He wanted to see his mother is what we are learning. It's not like he ran away as a delinquent. He went to try to go to his mother is what we are being told.

So, it's not like he's a bad kid and he runs away all the time and he's unruly. It's not like that at all. All our reports are, this is a very well-behaved, good boy. At the time he disappeared, we had reports that went from between a day to a few hours is the last time he disappeared, it was in his neighborhood and he was trying to get to his mom is what we were told.

So I didn't put a lot of stock in him having "runaway" before. I don't know that I'd really believe that. I think he was trying to get to his mom.

CUOMO: But I'll tell you what is so fascinating about this, you make the right point, unqualified, this is great news that the kid has been found because after 24 hours as we know, the percentages drop frighteningly in terms of whether you're recovered at all, let alone alive. So that's great.

But when the parents are involved, we're always so skeptical, we don't want to judge but they're usually the most direct connection to the disappearance and for the first time that I can remember, Nancy, maybe you've done it before, you have the parent finding out allegedly for the first time and you get to see that and judge that -- what did that mean for you? GRACE: Well, what meant a lot to me is that the boy was alive,

because so often children are dead, and we have a horrible outcome to report. It's very, very upsetting for me to report that.

In this case, I was overwhelmed that the boy was alive. I can tell you this, Chris -- regardless of what we find out, I don't understand why a boy, a young boy would hide from his parents for two weeks in the basement starving, he was hungry, why would he do that? It doesn't make sense to me.

And normally when something doesn't make sense, it's because it's not true. That's what I know from having done this since 1987. That's what I can tell you.

CUOMO: I got you. You're very savvy when it comes to this and also no dupe. So, you usually take the side of culpability in these situations, so for you to say you are somewhat pre-disposed to believe the father is unusual in and of itself, but we do know this, Nancy, if people search the basement and the kid wasn't there, something happened to make him be there later on. The question is what is it? Hopefully, he'll be able to communicate that.

Nancy Grace, thank you very much for creating the moment and for explaining it to us and let us know what happens next.

GRACE: Will do, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. We'll report it on our side and try to help you as well. Thank you very much.

Mick, over to you.

PEREIRA: All right. Chris, thank you so much for that.

Time now for the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

At number one, Team USA taking on Germany at the World Cup today, a win or draw and the U.S. moves on to the round of 16. They could advance still with a loss, though.

The Iraqi prime minister rejecting calls to form an interim government to quell sectarian tension. This as we learn that Iran is flying drones over Iraq and providing ammunition to the Iraqi military.