Return to Transcripts main page


Propane Shortage as Chill Sets In; Interview with Richard Sherman of Seattle Seahawks; Marissa Mayer Speaks Out at Davos; Warren Buffet's $1 Billion Offer

Aired January 22, 2014 - 06:30   ET


KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Another cold front is moving into the Northwest today. This, while much of the country is in the grip of a heating crisis. Propane gas, which fuels the furnaces of more than 12 million Americans, now in short supply. And up to 25 states have declared energy emergencies.

CNN's George Howell is in Chicago, we're it's not expected to rise above freezing for the rest of the month, George. That is the last thing residents there need to hear.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, absolutely. And that is putting a much greater demand on propane needs. People want it, the supply is short. And as prices continue to shoot through the roof, we're finding propane dealers, large and small, are worried.


JERRY DAUPARAS, ASHLAND PROPANE: I've been doing this -- it's a family business. They've trusted us to take care of them. And sure I'm getting them gas, but how they going to afford to pay for this.

HOWELL (voice-over): Concern about supplying his customers the propane they need to stay warm in this bitter cold snap. Jerry Dauparas is caught in the middle. His company struggling to get enough supply to meet daily demands.

And as the price continues to go up, Dauparas knows many of the people who count on him can't afford it.

DAUPARAS: And I have to pay the bill too. So, yes, it's emotional. I mean, it's not easy telling somebody to -- it's expensive.

HOWELL: Weather is only part of the reason for the shortage. Last year's corn crop is partially to blame. The robust fall meant producers needed more propane to fuel heaters to dry the crop.

Then, there's the issue of greater exports. Some say that's also cramping propane supplies. As a result, prices have all but doubled. More than two dozen states have issued emergency declarations to ease restrictions on propane drivers to get more of it on the roads to places that need it.

Industry leaders are looking for more solutions.

JEFF PETRASH, NATIONAL PROPANE GAS ASSOCIATION: We have reached out to the pipeline association here in Washington to bring to their attention the severity of the situation to try to expedite the shipment. We've also reached out to the railroad association to urge them to expedite rail delivers.

HOWELL: But with winter in full effect, this propane retailer knows the dynamics of supply and demand don't make that much of a difference when the people he knows are just trying to keep their homes warm.

So, he explains it as best he can.

DAUPARAS: We're going our best to get them product. I mean, and -- I mean we're doing our best.


HOWELL: So with so much demand, we got some tips from industry leaders about what you can do at home to help. One is to take shorter showers if you're a household that relies on propane. Another is to dial the thermostat back just five degrees.

Michaela, these are tips -- these are extra things you can do to help out to conserve and preserve until more supply can get online -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that five degrees can make a difference. You put a sweater on and economize a little bit.

All right, George. Thank you so much. Please put a hat on. We know it's awfully cold where you are.

Much more ahead on that storm that is affecting much of the nation. But let's get you up to date right now on the very latest headlines.

Russian authorities are desperately hunting down so-called black widow terror suspects who they accuse of planning attacks on the Sochi Olympic Games. One is thought to be in the area already near Sochi. U.S. officials say President Obama called Russian President Putin to discuss security concerns for the Olympics and offer full U.S. assistance.

Back here at home, a friendly fire death in California. Bay Area Rapid Transit officer accidentally fired on a colleague during a probation search Tuesday. That officer was transferred to a hospital where he died. Officials say this is the first on-duty fatality in the department's 42-year history. The identities of the officers have not been released.

And a heart breaking and tragic end to the search for a missing New York City teenager remains found in the east river are those of Avonte Oquendo. The autistic 14-year-old had gone missing when he left his Queen school more than three months ago. The lawyer for the boy's mother says she was hopeful to the very end but blames the boy's school for errors that led to his death. Roughed up in China. Our own David McKenzie and his crew, CNN crew in Beijing, accosted as they try to report on a trial of a prominent human rights attorney who is fighting corruption charges. Police first try to block his progress. Then people in plain clothes join in, physically subduing David and blocking our cameras.


DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a public place. This is a public space. This is a public space. Excuse me. Don't push me. Do not push me.

This is a public space. Public -- they are physically manhandling us. They are physically manhandling me. This is a public space. I'm allowed to report. I'm allowed to report.


PEREIRA: At the end of the video, he and his cameramen were thrown into a van. They were driven away but released shortly after. And we should report that both our camera man and David are OK.

All right. Here's some shocking footage that we're seeing for the first time of a van barreling through the window of a fast food restaurant in Florida. Surveillance footage shows a woman and a child running from the window as the van comes crashing in to a Popeye's in Orlando in December. Five people were injured in that crash. The driver is facing numerous charges.


PEREIRA: So frightening.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Two frightening scenes.

PEREIRA: I know, it was really shocking to watch that scene play out with David and our cameraman. That was --

BOLDUAN: If I remember correctly, that's not the first time that David has been in that situation.

PEREIRA: I don't believe it is.

BOLDUAN: It's not his fault. I'm saying that he has been roughed up.

CUOMO: You know, just for you at home, because you probably never find yourself in that situation. I have.

For David to keep his composure that way in that kind of situation, when you don't know what's going to be done to you, is not easy. Sign of a true pro. All of your instincts that kick in are the ones going to get you in worst trouble.

Good. I'm glad he's OK.

BOLDUAN: It shows what he goes through to try to bring us the story. CUOMO: Yes, he's the real deal. He's a real deal.

BOLDUAN: Let's take a break.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, the two sides of Seattle Seahawks star Richard Sherman. Sherman both defending and apologizing for his angry comments in an exclusive sit-down interview with CNN's Rachel Nichols. So, what did he have to say?

CUOMO: And talk about March madness. Warren Buffett is offering $1 billion with a B for a perfect NCAA tournament bracket. Wait until you hear what he's offering to the runner up.

Bracket is not easy to get right, by the way. But for a billion?


CUOMO: Welcome back to you.

There is still a week and a half of Super Bowl hype before the horses and the hawks face off. So far, the spotlight has been squarely on Seahawks corner back Richard Sherman. Everyone still talking about his epic rant, the one that came just moment after winning the NFC title game when he was calling out 49er receiver Michael Crabtree. He has since apologized.

But now, in an exclusive interview with CNN's Rachel Nichols, Sherman talks more about what happened and what's followed. Take a listen.


RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: It was the moment on the field when you made the play. There's the choke sign. There's the interview on the field post-game. Then there's the press conference interview.

What do you regret about all of that? What do you not regret about all of that?

RICHARD SHERMAN, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS CORNERBACK: Well, there isn't much about it I regret. Mostly I regret the -- I guess the storm afterwards, the -- you know, the way it was covered, the way it was perceived, and the attention that it took away from the fantastic performances of my teammates, you know? And that would be the only part of it I regret. You know, the way it's covered.

You know, it is what it is. What I said is what I said. You know, I don't say -- I probably shouldn't have attacked another person. You know, I don't mean to attack him. That was immature. I probably shouldn't have done that and I regret going that.

But I just felt like my teammates deserved better and I have to apologize to them and I have.

NICHOLS: Your brother has said that Michael Crabtree was rude to you at an event this past summer charity event, that he said to you, he wouldn't talk to you and that you said at the time, all right, I'm going to show him on the field.

Is that the background of all of this?

SHERMAN: That's the --

NICHOLS: That's the clean version.

SHERMAN: We going to keep it clean.

NICHOLS: All right. Does it get nastier than that?

SHERMAN: We're going to keep it clean. And I told -- I said, I will keep on the field. You know, I will show you on the field and that's always been my thing. Everybody is like, oh, man, these guys pushing you in the face. You're doing this, doing that.

You know, I'm not going to fight anybody, embarrass my family and embarrass my, you know, my organization like that. There's no need for that. There's no need to be that kind of barbaric human being.

But on the field, we're playing a very barbaric sport, you can do as you please. And that's when I take all my animosity and all my anger and all my frustrations out on the field with football. You know, it takes a different kind of person to be able to turn that switch on and off, and be able to step on the field and be the intense, incredible focused and kind of -- kind of, you know, I guess angry human being that you have to be to be successful in those atmospheres.

NICHOLS: How do you do it?

SHERMAN: You just -- you have to have that switch. You take it off. You treat it totally different.

And that's why sometimes it -- crashes and doesn't go all so well because if you catch me in in a moment on the field when I'm still in that zone, when I'm still as competitive as I can be, in a place where I have to be on the football field and help my team win, then it's not going to come out as articulate, as smart, as charismatic because on the field, I'm not all those thing, everything I need to be, to be a winner.

NICHOLS: Yes, we've seen this. We've seen Dan Sanders and Terrell Owens and Bart Scott, and you can go much further back, Michael Jordan, Mohammed Ali. We've seen guys get excited in the moment, make big pronouncements.

What interested me so much about what happened to you was the reaction afterward, the way it mushroomed and the fact that race so quickly became involved.

SHERMAN: Yes, you know, it was -- it was really -- it was really mind-boggling. It was kind of sad that the way the world reacted. You know, I can't say the world, I don't want to generalize people like that because there are a lot of great people who did react that way. But for the people who did react that way and throw the racial slurs and things like that out there, it was really -- it was really sad, especially that close to Martin Luther King Day.

You're judging -- you're not the guy. I'm not out there beating on people or committing crimes or getting arrested, or doing anything. I'm playing a football game at high level and I got excited. But what I did was within the lines of a football field.

What they did was an actual reality. They showed their true character. Those were real comments. Not in a moment.

Not in a -- you know, they had time to think about it. They were sitting at a computer and they expressed themselves in a true way and I thought society had moved passed that.

NICHOLS: We have a black president. We like to think that as a country, things have changed and, of course, to some degree they have.

But what did you learn about the state of race in this country? Just from the few days after that game?

SHERMAN: Well, I've learned -- we haven't come as far as, you know, I thought we had come. And if that's all it took to bring that out of people, then it might have already been on the surface. You know, I didn't -- I didn't go out there and scream at anybody, anybody's family or attack anybody but Michael Crabtree, which was wrong, which was wrong. I understand that.

But these people are acting like I attacked them in some way, like I got went after them. I did my job effectively. And afterwards, they interviewed me and I had an interview. Regardless of how that interview goes, it doesn't give you the right to say the things they were saying and that's the part that's sad.


CUOMO: Boy, what an intelligent explanation of what went on and the difference between being a player on the field and being a human being off the field.


CUOMO: -- than what we saw in the field, obviously, the other night. And you can catch his full story on this Friday's "Unguarded with Rachel Nichols," 10:30 p.m. eastern only on CNN.

BOLDUAN: That is not to miss. That's for sure.

We're going to take a break. Coming up next on NEW DAY, (SINGING) do you want to win a billion dollars?


BOLDUAN: All right. A little play on the song.

PEREIRA: I love it.

BOLDUAN: All you have to do is pick every game correctly in this year's March madness bracket. Sounds easy right? Wait until you hear what the odds are of taking home the big prize.


BOLDUAN: It is "Money Time," folks. Chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, is in our money center. So, are car makers on notice this morning, Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They are. Many of the smallest cars sold in America did very poorly, Kate, in a crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Cars hit a barrier at 40 miles an hour. The impact occurs just in front of the driver's seat. Six of the cars earned the institute's lowest rating, poor, the Nissan Versa, the Toyota Prius C, the Hyundai Accent, also, the Mitsubishi Mirage, the Fiat 500, and the Honda Fit all did poorly.

Watching shares of IBM this morning, down about 3.4 percent at the pre-market. IBM reports its weaker sales and then its chief financial officer says that IBM is going to take a $1 billion charge to, quote, "rebalance its workforce." Translation, analysts say that could mean 10,000-15,000 job cuts this year.

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer wants more transparency from the NSA. She urged the U.S. to be more transparent about its data collections practices, and she wants international privacy guidelines. She said the revelations about government snooping have hurt her company and that she wants to rebuild trust with her users, you guys.

BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CUOMO: One thing they can do is be completely transparent on how they use all their customers' information.

$1 billion, that's how much Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest people on the planet, is offering to anyone who can do this, guess the perfect March madness bracket. Not to shabby a payoff, and you know, if you thought winning mega millions is tough, just wait until you hear the odds of winning this prize.

Let's bring in Jeffrey Bergen. He's a professor of mathematics at DePaul University who's figured out the likelihood of getting a perfect bracket. You know it's tough when we need a math professor to figure it out.


CUOMO: Professor, thank you for joining us this morning. So, break it down for us. We know we start with 64 teams. What are all the permutations and calculations? JEFFREY BERGEN, PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS, DEPAUL UNIVERSITY: Well, if someone is just guessing, you've got to pick 63 games correctly. That's basically like sitting down with a coin and flipping heads 63 times in a row. The chances of that happening is one in quintillion. That's a nine followed by 18 zeros.


CUOMO: Professor, that's a made up number. There is no such thing as quintillion.


CUOMO: So, let's try and keep it serious here.

BOLDUAN: We don't count as hundred --

CUOMO: My son made up that number a couple of years ago.


CUOMO: I don't know how you heard about it, but please continue.

BERGEN: Well, your son's quite bright. To put in perspective, you would be more likely to win both mega millions and power ball in the same week buying just one ticket.

BOLDUAN: Oh! So, it's easy. I get it.

BERGEN: For Mr. Buffett's competition, my understanding is that he's limiting it to 10 million entries. If all 10 million people are guessing going this, I like the school colors or the mascot, even with 10 million entries, there's only a one in 100 billion chance of anyone getting a perfect bracket.


CUOMO: Yes. Let's go to where I think you're going which is the alternative which is there isn't guessing exclusively in this. People take a lot of time, number crunching. There's a lot of calculation and analysis that goes into this.

BERGEN: If people know what they're doing, I would say -- this is a ball park figure -- I would say their chances of getting a perfect bracket for one individual is one in 128 billion. Now, if you then took that over 10 million entries, I would say the chance is of at least one out of the 10 million entries getting a perfect bracket is still less than one in 10,000. So, there's still a 99.99 percent chance that no one will get a perfect bracket. So, I don't think we need to worry too much about Mr. Buffett.

BOLDUAN: It sounds like not. Professor, one of the -- the fun things about this whole thing, I mean, all of this kind of hoopla is that you have made a YouTube video explaining these odds and it has gone completely -- absolutely viral yesterday. You've been, I'm sure, getting hit up by everybody to try to help improve their odds. So, do you have any mathematical tips to increase our chances?


BERGEN: Well, actually, it's kind of a tangential tip. I would say have fun with it. I mean, the odds of getting a perfect bracket are so slim, have fun with it. And the point is, if you're in a bracket, you just want to beat everybody else. You don't need to get a perfect bracket to win. So, have fun with it and do you best. And, I mean, this is becoming so big.

Next to the Super Bowl, it's the biggest thing we've got. So, enjoy it and have fun with Mr. Buffett's challenge. And we'll see where it goes.


CUOMO: What is the chance that if somebody wins and he has to give them a billion dollars, something extreme happens to Warren Buffett?


BERGEN: I think he'll be fine.


PEREIRA: He'll be fine.

BOLDUAN: I know you're going to be filling out a bracket, though.

CUOMO: Professor, thank you for making math fun.

PEREIRA: Quintillion --

BERGEN: I think it is. I hope I can make it sound that way.

CUOMO: Yes. Just stop making up those words like quintillion. That's --


CUOMO: People may use it now. It may affect our government.


BERGEN: I'll have to talk to your son. I'll have to talk to your son about it.


CUOMO: Good luck with that. Talk about long odds.


CUOMO: Take care professor, thank you.

PEREIRA: Shall we check out our "Must-See Moment" of the day involving our first lady showing up some hoop skills. Didn't know she had them, huh? Her video bomb with Lebron James in a slam dunk. Check it out.


DWYANE WADE, NBA PLAYER: Eating the right foods can help make you a better athlete.


PEREIRA (voice-over): In your face! In a dress. James was joined by his fellow Miami Heat stars, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, and their coach, Eric Spoelstra, to help promote Mrs. Obama's, our first lady's let's move anti-obesity campaign. You can see them in the background drinking water, eating apples, but that's the best moment.



BOLDUAN: And King James stays in character. He's like a real performer.

CUOMO: Rising and surprising. The first lady gets credit. And perfect mimicking of what happens after that kind of play.




CUOMO: Just to fully relate the shock and embarrassment, the shame has been -- to watch it.


BOLDUAN: I love it.

CUOMO: Very nice.

Coming up on NEW DAY, the family of Kenneth Bae, you know him, the American held in North Korea, they're speaking out in a NEW DAY exclusive interview. They've already apologized on his behalf. What more can be done to bring him home? They want your help. Please listen.