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Southwest Plane Lands at Wrong Airport; Negotiations Continue Over Iran's Nuclear Program; Russia Prepares for Winter Olympics; Alex Rodriguez Suspended for 162 games; Interview with Joe Tacopina

Aired January 13, 2014 - 07:00   ET




UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A local airport official told me "You almost went over that cliff."


CUOMO: Breaking overnight, mistake in the air. A Southwest jet lands at the wrong airport, the runway half the size of what's expected. And 100 passengers wind up just feet from a highway. We hear from those on board.

BOLDUAN: A NEW DAY exclusive, A-Rod's historic suspension. New allegations from the man saying he injected Rodriguez directly. But the slugger is swinging back and his lawyer joins us exclusively.

CUOMO: Golden moments. The brash and boozy award show did not disappoint. We have the Golden Globe winners, Leo, Jennifer, Matthew, and more, plus all the moments you just can't miss.

Your NEW DAY starts right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY, with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It's Monday, January 13, 7:00 in the east. Breaking overnight, a Southwest flight to Missouri missed by a mile. Actually, it was nearly 10 miles. More than 100 passengers landed safely only to be told they were at the wrong airport. The plane was supposed to land at Branson and wound up in Taney County Airport, again, miles away, startling residents not used to hearing a 737 above, startling the passengers on board as well.

The problem goes further because the runway is shorter. It's less than 4,000 feet long. That's about half the length of the airport where the flight was supposed to land. The NTSB is now investigating. Rene Marsh has more.

RENE MARSH: That's right, Chris. We just got that information that the NTSB is investigating why these pilots flying the plane got it so wrong. As you mentioned, the passengers did make it off safely, but now the task is getting that plane out there. And it involves a lot of math. At this hour teams from Boeing, Southwest, and that airport in Missouri are crunching the numbers, considering the weight of the plane and the length of the runway to determine if this plane can safely take off.


MARSH: A hard landing and the smell of burning rubber, two indications to passengers on southwest flight 4013 that something was wrong after their plane landed at the wrong airport, coming within 300 feet of a steep embankment at the end of the runway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had a rough landing because the runway I guess was too short for the plane.

MARSH: The plane, carrying more than 100 passengers, was scheduled to land at Missouri's Branson's Airport Sunday night but instead showed up at Taney County Airport, about seven miles from the intended destination.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the planes ended up landing at point lookout airport and needed aid.

MARSH: The runway at Taney County Airport is about half the length of the runway at Branson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a call saying the plane has landed at an airport nearby. We're thinking surely not a jet plane could land there.

MARSH: Officials say if the pilot didn't brake when he did, the plane could have overshot the runway and tumbled on to a highway. Passenger Scott Schieffer captured the aftermath on video. It shows passengers evacuating the plane before being bussed to the larger airport. In November, a Boeing 747 cargo plane also landed at the wrong airport, this time in Kansas, on a runway half a mile shorter than it usually uses. Despite fears the dream lifter would be stuck indefinitely, it eventually took off without incident. Southwest is hoping for a similarly successful outcome for their Boeins 737.


MARSH: At this point no timetable on when we may see take-off. Sources close to the situation say they want to get this done as soon as possible. Now, investigators say they don't have enough information yet to say why the plane landed in the wrong location, but we should mention Southwest does have a good reputation. But this comes on the heels of that hard landing right there at LaGuardia this summer where about 10 people were injured in that incident. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Rene, thank you for that.

We have new developments to tell you about this morning. A big step forward in a deal brokered to limit Iran's nuclear program. The White House just announcing Iran has pledged to begin eliminating some of their uranium stockpile starting January 20th. That date is significant. Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta joins us live with the very latest. So we finally now have the start date of this six-month deal.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You'll recall last November the United States and five other world powers brokered this deal with Iran. Now as you said over the weekend they started to set some of the key details of carrying this out. As you mentioned, on January 20th Iran agreed to start eliminating its stockpile of higher levels enriched uranium. That will begin on January 20th, one week from today. In exchange the U.S. and its allies will start loosening some of those sanctions, about $7 billion worth, on Iran.

And as part of the deal U.N. nuclear weapon inspectors will be allowed into key Iranian sites to make sure the Iranians are holding up their end of the bargain.

Now, there are some critics in Congress who are not satisfied. There is a bill in the Senate now that has attracted widespread bipartisan support for new economic sanctions despite the fact that Secretary of State John Kerry says this is the first time in more than a decade that you're seeing parts of the Iran nuclear program starting to roll back.

Now the president did say in a statement yesterday that he would veto any new sanctions legislation, so that is something to watch right now. He says that legislation would threaten this diplomatic process, which all sides sort of agree is a very delicate process at this point, even something the Iranians echoed yesterday.

CUOMO: Jim, thank you very much.

Also new this morning, a warning from the State Department. Americans traveling to the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia need to stay alert to terror acts and kidnappings, this as Russian officials nab several terror suspects just over the weekend. They were carrying weapons and TNT. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Moscow. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris, the State Department is saying there isn't a specific terror threat at the moment, but they are warning any Americans traveling to Sochi for the Olympics of the threats that are in the region, of the past terror attacks that have taken place not so far from Sochi. Also at this time, the FBI teaming up with Russian security to monitor the whole region there.


ROBERTSON: Just three weeks before the Olympic Games kick off in Sochi, security remains a paramount concern after a string of attacks and terror arrests. The U.S. State Department issuing a travel alert over the weekend warning U.S. citizens planning to attend the games that they should remain attentive at all times, warning of possible acts of terrorism, including bombings and hostage-takings.

On Saturday five suspects possessing nearly five pounds of TNT in a homemade explosive device were detained and arraigned in southern Russia, less than 200 miles from Sochi.

RAY MEY, FORMER FBI AGENT: This event in particular is going to be very difficult because it's taking place in an area that we know to be a hotbed for terrorism.

ROBERTSON: Terror concerns are real. Just last month surveillance cameras captured this powerful explosion inside the train station in nearby Volgagrad. Islamist insurgents blamed for at least 34 deaths. The FBI and other federal security personnel are now on the ground assisting Russia's security force, more than 37,000 strong.

MEY: They've asked for specific assistance in regard to most likely intelligence sharing, cyber threats, forensic evaluation as it relates to weapons of mass destruction.

ROBERTSON: The State Department is also alerting Americans about Russia' declared ban on any promotion of gay relationships to minors. Those traveling to the games found in violation of the law could face a fine of more than $3,000, up to 14 days in jail, and deportation.


ROBERTSON: So the State Department is also warning about medical issues. They say that the health services in Sochi aren't tested yet for a large number of people, so they perhaps don't offer the same standard of facility you might expect in west and are therefore advising they may want people to get not only medical insurance but evacuation insurance as well in case they need to be medically evacuated out of the area. And this while we've heard just in the last few hours while some of the arrested over the weekend were for past actions, one of the groups arrested, six men arrested over the weekend told authorities that they were noting anything bigger attack. Back to you, Kate and Chris.

BOLDUAN: All of this, and the games are just months away at this point. Thank you Nic, for the update.

Let's get over to John Berman once again in for Michaela for some of today's other big stories.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kate. Let's take a look at the headlines right now. The NSA's bulk collection of domestic phone records has had no impact on preventing terrorism. That is a new finding this morning from the Washington based nonprofit group New America Foundation. They studied 225 terrorism cases inside the U.S. since 2001 and found that traditional law enforcement and investigative techniques initiated most of those cases, concluding that the NSA's phone surveillance operation is not essential in preventing attacks.

Secretary of State John Kerry attending a key meeting in Paris today prepares for peace talks over Syria. Kerry says that he is confident the Syrian opposition will attend the talks in Switzerland later this month. He added that attending them is the only way to a political solution for the conflict which has ripped Syria apart for four years. Developing this morning, residents and businesses in some parts of West Virginia will likely regain access to their tap water today. Officials will begin to issue zones where people can safely drink and clean with that water. Customers will need to flush their plumbing systems and run that water before using it. And 300,000 resident across nine counties have been without tap water since that chemical leak on Thursday.

CNN has learned exclusively that Governor Chris Christie is facing a federal investigation for using millions of dollars from a hurricane Sandy relief fund for a television ad campaign. The commercials featured the New Jersey governor and his family promoting tourism. This happened during an election year. This as Christie faces an investigation into his former aides orchestrating a scheme to snarl traffic on the George Washington Bridge to punish a Democratic politician.

And a California nurse credited for saving the life of a United airlines pilot, Linda Elways, was doing a puzzle while flying home last month when the crew asked if anyone could provide medical assistance. So Linda found the pilot slumped over in the cockpit suffering a potentially heart arrhythmia. She hooked up a diagnostic defibrillator and started an IV while the copilot landed the plane. The pilot survived and is recovering. Wow.

BOLDUAN: That is amazing that she could pull that off.

CUOMO: Having the skills is one thing. Having the poise in that situation, impressive.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, John.

We're going to check in with Indra, now. A lot changed over the weekend and into the week, right?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a lot changed. Temperatures last week were 60 below in some places across the country. Even in the northeast they were 20 below. All of this kind of seems like no big deal but, yes, we will start to see some changes.

It was a good weekend. Temperatures in the northeast were a good 15 to 20 degrees above normal. New York City still seeing that trend with temperatures a good 15 degrees above normal. We're loving this. You're talking about 50s and 60s in comparison to the temperatures we saw just last week. The temperatures look pretty good.

Keep in mind they will change. We are going to see the jet stream tip down again and bring some more cold air into the east. However, that arctic air, the one that was responsible for those chilly temperatures, that is staying north. So don't worry about this. The timing for this for the northeast is really kind of in through tomorrow as the low starts to form and cruises up the eastern seaboard, the bulk of the rain staying off the coast line. Behind it looks like you get a break, and behind that another one. A series of these guys are going to be bringing these temperatures down just a little bit. None of them huge rainmakers on their own, altogether several inches of rain, the bulk of it staying down to the south and get some snow around the lakes. Either way temperatures kind of cooling off, but even as they cool off we're still talking about a lot of them being a little built below normal.

CUOMO: Indra, thank you very much.

We now have a new exclusive. A-Rod's suspension was shortened to 162 games, but that still makes it the longest ban for performance enhancing drugs in baseball history. However A-Rod plans to keep fighting, and he insists he is innocent.

Last night in an explosive reports, last night "60 Minutes" interviewed Anthony Bosch, the clinic director who says he personally injected A-Rod with banned substances. Alex Rodriguez's attorney Joe Tacopina joins us this morning. Joe, we appreciate you taking the opportunity.


CUOMO: We're going to get into the interview and in what Bosch said. But first, let's take a step back and look at this. I'm hearing rumors there may be a federal case. That is very different than baseball arbitration. Given everything that has been said about A-Rod and what he's said himself in the past, what is the overall strategy to resist what seems somewhat inevitable?

TACOPINA: I don't know about it being inevitable. I mean, 162 games is inexplicable. It's not based on the law. It's not based on the collective bargaining agreement that's laid out between the union and Major League Baseball. There's no basis for it. Everyone else got 50 games. Somehow 162 is what was levied to Alex for no reason. I mean, Ryan Braun, who actually tested positive, unlike Alex, and went on a campaign to besmirch the test collector and called him an anti-Semite, wound up with 65 games.

So that, in and of itself, is a basis to get us to federal court.

CUOMO: But you gotta unpack the two different things. What's A-Rod's problem? A-Rod's problem is he doesn't seem to want to come clean and say what he had said in the past, which is "I did the drugs. I did the PEDs."

How long the suspension is, that's a secondary issue. You're right. It could be litigable. But that basic proposition, why doesn't he just come clean and say like I said in 2009, yes, I took them but it's bigger than me. Why doesn't he make a statement like that?

TACOPINA: He doesn't make a statement like that because he doesn't accept it; it's not true. And based on the evidence -- and Chris, look, this is not like hide the ball for us. You know, I saw this "60 Minutes" piece where MLB picked and choosed little snippets of things and said things that were, quite frankly, laughable and inconsistent with the under oath testimony of the arbitration.

We would call on MLB to release all of the transcripts from that arbitration. We would agree to release every single sword of testimony from that arbitration. Because any unbiased reasonable fact finder would look at it and say, "There's no way there's a finding of guilt based on that type of evidence."

CUOMO: What about Bosch? Let me play some of the bits from "60 Minutes." You react to them. Let's go to the first clip. This is Anthony Bosch. He says that he gave drugs to A-Rod. Here's one of the clips from "60 Minutes".


REPORTER: Once Alex Rodriguez was fully into your protocol, what were the various banned substances that he was taking?

ANTHONY BOSCH, FOUNDER OF BIOGENESIS: Testosterone, insulin growth factor one, human growth hormone and some different forms of peptides.

REPORTER: All of them bad?

BOSCH: All of them bad. Alex is scared of needles. So at times he would ask me to inject.

REPORTER: You've injected him?



CUOMO: I mean, Joe, what's your reaction to that? You know, he obviously ran the lab. He said he did it. He says he has all these electronic messages between him and A-Rod about giving him the drugs.

TACOPINA: Yes, I know the evidence in this case. There is not one stitch of evidence that this guy actually even possessed a controlled substance or a PED, not one stitch of evidence, not one prescription from a pharmacy, nothing. There's not a record in his clinic that says Alex Rodriguez received a PED. There's not one word in those VBM (ph) messages back and forth that allude or reference a PED.

And as far as his testimony regarding Alex receiving testosterone, it's only his word and his uncorroborated word alone. And this guy's a proven. He's an admitted liar, and he's someone who has all the motive in the world to testify against Alex because MLB's giving him a sweetheart deal, which includes millions of dollars to his lawyers his bodyguards, his press agents, and most importantly, aside from the book deal they've agreed to let him have, most importantly they've agreed toward a federal prosecutors to make sure that they do what they can to get him out of a prosecution for pedaling controlled substances to minors in Miami, which is unconscionable that major league baseball would put the prosecution of Alex Rodriguez above the interests of the youths in our society.

Lastly, regarding that statement, it is defined by science. Forget about what I say. It's defied by science. Bosch said in October of 2012 before games three and four of the playoff series between the Tigers and Yankees in Detroit that he was there and he injected Alex with testosterone -- before games three and four. Alex was randomly tested before game four and turned up negative. It would be scientifically impossible for those two facts to be consistent.

CUOMO: Why is A-Rod be hanging out with a guy like this if he wasn't involved --

TACOPINA: He was not hanging out with him. Chris --

CUOMO: He has all those messages with him?

TACOPINA: He wasn't hanging out with him. Because Bosch, as he presented himself, said was some sort of a -- presented himself as a nutritional guru, someone who really had cutting edge, you know, advice for nutrition.

It wasn't just Alex. It was a host of major leaguers, not just the ones suspended, others who were not suspended, a bunch of top level NCAA athletes. This guy was a fraud, but he presented himself as someone who was on the cutting edge of nutrition when it came to recovery for athletes.

CUOMO: Clay's (ph) other major allegation, from "60".


BOSCH: So we ended up drawing the blood in the bathroom of this one restaurant/bar/club in the bathroom stall at 8:00 p.m.

REPORTER: With the crowd there?

BOSCH: With the crowd right there.

REPORTER: People coming in and out of the men's room, I take it, and you're in a stall with Alex Rodriguez drawing his blood.

BOSCH: Yes, as crazy as that sounds.


CUOMO: You're saying there's just nothing to it. Because it's a pretty wild lie.

TACOPINA: It's a wild lie. It's also ridiculous. This is a guy who, by the way, has been under the influence of cocaine over the last several years by his own admission. We have affidavits. We have pictures.

CUOMO: It doesn't mean he didn't stick A-Rod, though.

TACOPINA: Of course it doesn't mean that. But it means that someone who's recollection is affected as this guy's is -- I mean, I saw him yesterday on "60 Minutes" put forth some protocols that didn't have Alex's name on it. Under oath he said he didn't know if that was Alex's protocol. And yet, somehow it made it on "60 Minutes" presenting it as Alex's protocol.

But the allegation that this guy was in a men's room in -- with Alex Rodriguez in one of the busiest nightclubs in Miami at primetime, taking his blood with a tourniquet and a whole, you know, the blood collecting kit and everything else is ridiculous. It defies common sense; it defies reality. And if you think Alex Rodriguez would ever let somebody like Tony Bosch go into the bathroom of a night club, you know, talk about not sterile with people coming in and out, to take blood and put vials down, I mean, it's just ridiculous.

CUOMO: Yeah, the problem is if it's true. The problem is then you guys got trouble.

TACOPINA: If true, you'd probably have a witness to it.

CUOMO: Well, but also, then you look at it, why didn't he sit down, why didn't A-Rod sit down and testify at the arbitration if he's so righteous about his innocence?

TACOPINA: He was -- listen in, in a fair process, Alex is more than happy to sit down. As a matter of fact, in a real court, we're 2-0 against Major League Baseball in regards to this. Both issues that we had to take to federal court, we won both.

In this process, the sham of a process, which was not a judicial process, it became evident that this was a fait accompli. And Alex was scheduled to testify on Friday. Bud Selig was our witness on Thursday. We had a right to hold (ph) Bud Selig. Obviously, Bud Selig was the one who imposes (ph) unprecedented 211 game suspension, was the one who made the call on it. And we had a lot of questions for Bud Selig. He refused to testify.

CUOMO: Look, I get the argument of why you're singling out A-Rod, why such a big suspension, is this baseball scapegoating one guy for a practice that they've known about for a long time, I get all that.

But you have to unpack from whether or not this guy is willing to come clean about himself. He once did admit doing steroids.


CUOMO: He's backed off that. Why doesn't he --

TACOPINA: He hasn't backed off. He admitted it, and he admitted at a time when he didn't have to. He wasn't under any proceeding, under any sort of hearing. He did it because he wanted to come clean with himself and with the public. He didn't have to do that. A lot of players --

CUOMO: But it hurts your legitimacy, it hurts your credibility -- not yours, his, when he doesn't sit down and say, "Look, did I do them? Yes," -- you know, do the full Lance Armstrong interview where I did all of it --


CUOMO: You know, everybody does it.

TACOPINA: This is not Lance Armstrong where he went on this crusade to destroy people and threaten and hurt people who got in his way. CUOMO: But the admission of doing the drugs, be honest about that part and then it makes everything else more believable.

TACOPINA: Chris, you're presuming that it's true. Alex is on the record saying it's not true. And I gotta tell you, based on this evidence -- you and I were not there, but based on this evidence, I will tell you, scientifically it appears it cannot be true, scientifically.

CUOMO: So you're saying you believe A-Rod didn't do any performance- enhancing drugs in his time with the Yankees?

TACOPINA: That's -- there's absolutely no evidence to that effect, and I believe it. And the science --

CUOMO: There's no evidence or he didn't do it? They're different things, Joe. You're a savvy lawyer, but they're different things.

TACOPINA: I believe he didn't do it, OK? But there's no evidence and the science behind it supports the fact that he didn't do it. I mean, this guy's one of the most tested athletes in the history of Major League Baseball. He's setting all these, you know, offensive batting records, but he's also setting a heck of a lot of records for being tested and testing cleanly. He's --

CUOMO: A lot of the guys who accepted their suspensions didn't have negative tests either.

TACOPINA: Oh, and a lot of them did.

CUOMO: Some did; some didn't. Because they just wanted to just take it and move on.

TACOPINA: Well, look at Nelson Cruz has since said, Chris. Let's unpack that. Nelson Cruz took a 50-game suspension, and he said, "You know what? I wish I didn't take it, but I wanted to take it because I wanted to put it behind me because I was coming into a free agent. I didn't want that suspension hanging over my head." Alex was never afforded a 50-game suspension. He was never given that opportunity.

CUOMO: The higher the stakes go, is he -- are you guys getting concerned as a strategy, you go into federal court this time, if you really have a real trial there, you know, the penalties for what you say, if it becomes proven that you're lying -- we saw what happened with Clemens. Yes, he beat the case, but they didn't even charge him with using illicit drugs in that case. It was just obstruction of justice and perjury. Those are really high stakes, much more than just suspended games, could suspend your life. You can wind up behind bars. Is he concerned?

TACOPINA: Not at all. I mean, he'll never lie under oath. He never has lied under oath, and we'll be candid throughout. So that's not an issue at all.

Again, the challenge we're making in federal court is a little different than Clemens and Bosch (ph) where Congress was involved and they were being called under oath to testify in the judicial proceeding.

In this instance, what we're doing is looking to undo an unfair proceeding that was not one that was inclusive of due process and fundamental fairness and some of the standards that are required, even in labor arbitrations.

I mean, courts are loath to really get involved in private disputes like labor arbitrations, unless the law is not followed. The law wasn't followed here, even by their own standards, by their own agreement. Even the union is backing up Alex on this one. The law is not followed. Because 162 games is impossible under their agreement.

CUOMO: Would he have taken a lesser suspension?

TACOPINA: I don't think he should have taken an inning but --

CUOMO: Not an inning?

TACOPINA: I don't think so. I don't think so. Chris, listen, I mean, this was ridiculous; 90 percent of this evidence would never have made its way to a real courtroom. It was triple and quadruple hearsay, documents that were unauthenticated. I mean, I heard this thing about these documents that Rod Mafford (ph) said Bosch authenticated at the hearing. Bosch couldn't authenticate. I mean, he looked at seven pages of a 4,000 page set of documents.

CUOMO: Yeah, but this arbitrator, you know, he threw out other cases, he's been seen as a fair guy.

TACOPINA: Has he really?

CUOMO: He came in here.

TACOPINA: No, not in Major League Baseball he hasn't. This arbitrator is one who said let me look back a year and a half ago at the last arbitrator who sat in my seat and in one of the biggest high- profile cases for Major League Baseball, the Ryan Braun case, voted against Major League Baseball, and that arbitrator was jettisoned the next day. He was fired immediately.

CUOMO: So you think the arbitrator was unfair in this as well?

TACOPINA: Listen, when you have an arbitrator who's hired and has the ability to be fired by Major League Baseball if they're unhappy, and an arbitrator that doesn't want to be publicly fired, this is a big arbitration. And no arbitrator wants to sit in this case and then be fired.

That's what would have happened if he had voted against Major League Baseball, make no mistake about it. That's what they did to the last arbitrator who voted against this them. So I don't think this process is one that is encouraging of being impartial.

CUOMO: When does the next step happen?

TACOPINA: Today. CUOMO: You're going to file today?

TACOPINA: Yes, we will.

CUOMO: And what's the suit?

TACOPINA: It's basically requesting federal court intervention to undo what's been done in this labor arbitration.

CUOMO: All right, let's see what happens. Joe Tacopina, thank you for taking the opportunity. Appreciate it.


BOLDUAN: Thanks, Chris. Coming up next on NEW DAY, the country will be tuning into New Jersey tomorrow when Governor Chris Christie gives his state of the state address. But will he be able to put the political payback controversy behind him? We're gonna have the latest ahead in our political gut chuck.

Also ahead, the winners, the losers, the surprises, the fashion, and the cursing. It all added up to quite a night at the Golden Globes, a full recap straight ahead when NEW DAY returns.