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Houston Texans Coach Collapses During Game; New Information Emerges about LAX Shooter; Interview with Tom Ridge; Schumer Endorses Hillary Clinton; Student Trapped

Aired November 4, 2013 - 07:00   ET


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you just have to see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His phone was off and he checked into an NYU building in the last couple days.

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It's Monday, November 4, 7:00 in the east. And are we seeing political moves for 2016?


CUOMO: Yes, we are. New York's Republican senator making the strongest, loudest push for Hillary Clinton to run so far, saying it is time for a woman to be president. A live report just ahead.

BOLDUAN: Plus, a Miami Dolphins player is suspended indefinitely. Could it have something to do with allegations of bullying from another teammate who left the team last week? We are digging deeper into this case and what it means, this case that has stunned the NFL.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And everything was going according to plan before the Denver Nuggets home opener. But things certainly took a turn when this happened. The team's mascot, Rocky the mountain lion, lowered from the rafters. But look, he is motionless. He had passed out. We will tell you exactly what happened here, frightening moments.

CUOMO: First, Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak said to be alert and in stable condition this morning. Kubiak is just 52-years-old but he collapsed at the first half of last night's game against the Colts. The team says he did not suffer a heart attack, but it's still unclear this morning exactly what happened to him. CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest from Houston.


ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can see Texans head coach Gary Kubiak on the 24 yard line when he suddenly falls to his knees during Sunday night's game. Long time colleagues rushed to his side. Teams were walking off the field for halftime during the game between Texans and the Colts when the 52-year-old coach fell ill. This was the scene at Reliant stadium in Houston as he was rushed off the field on a gurney, concerned NFL fans watching from the stands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went down to his knee. He couldn't get back up. He looked like he was having trouble breathing.

LAVANDERA: The ambulance rushed Kubiak to a hospital with his family by his side.

WADE PHILLIPS, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR, HOUSTON TEXANS: All his vital signs are good. He did not have a heart attack. But they're still checking on everything with him.

LAVANDERA: And after the game, a rival player took a moment to say their pulling for the coach.

ANDREW LUCK, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS QUARTERBACK: Hopefully, he is going to be all right. I know he's a great football man, a great person. I think a great win, but all our thoughts and prayers are with him.

LAVANDERA: Kubiak's health scare comes a day after Denver Bronco's head coach John Fox was hospitalized following complications from a pre-existing heart condition. Foc felt dizzy playing golf near his North Carolina home on Saturday. The 58-year-old coach is now in the hospital awaiting surgery to replace an aortic valve and faces weeks of recovery.


LAVANDERA: And a team executive with the Houston Texans says that the head coach Gary Kubiak was undergoing a series of tests and evaluations throughout the fight and he was hopeful that coach Kubiak would rejoin the team at some point today. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right, Ed, thank you so much for that.

Now to a CNN exclusive. We are learning more about the suspect in the deadly LAX shooting from someone that knew him well. Paul Ciancia is in critical condition this morning. It turns out police came within minutes of possibly stopping the attack, arriving at his apartment just after he left for the airport. CNN's Miguel Marquez has the very latest from Los Angeles this morning. Good morning, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. This is a fascinating story of an ordinary woman who finds herself in an extraordinary circumstance. She wants to remain anonymous. She doesn't want her life or her name associated with Paul Ciancia.


MARQUEZ: Days before Paul Ciancia's murderous rampage, this woman, who knows the alleged gunman and his three roommates, says Ciancia was already plotting his crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He asked one of the roommates if he could get a ride to the airport.

MARQUEZ: Why did he need a ride?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was going back home either his dad was sick and he had family issues.

MARQUEZ: Did anyone ever see a ticket?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. He also didn't mention what day he had to leave.

MARQUEZ: She says Ciancia rarely left his San Fernando Valley apartment since moving here in January, describing him as socially awkward and a heavy smoker. The day he put this alleged plan into action, she says, it took his roommates by surprise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That morning, he doesn't knock, just opens the door and says "I need to leave. Can you take me now?"

MARQUEZ: Ciancia's roommates believe this was the moment he texted family members in New Jersey telling them he was going to commit suicide. That prompted frantic calls between police and New Jersey and L.A. Police came to Ciancia's home.

He has a bag, gets in the car, off they go and a short time later, a knock at the door?


MARQUEZ: Police?


MARQUEZ: Why are police there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They heard Paul was suicidal and they needed to do a welfare check on him.

MARQUEZ: She says the two other roommates were woken up and handcuffed as police searched the premises, Paul already gone, no sign of a gun. Police say Ciancia took his military style weapon, a legally purchased Smith and Wesson .223 rifle, hopped out of his roommate's car at LAX, and began seeking out agents to kill.

Did he ever express any hatred toward the government or toward the TSA?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He thought that TSA abused their power.

MARQUEZ: CNN has confirmed this picture making the rounds online is legitimate. Paul Anthony Ciancia shot at least twice, his face and neck hit. He is wearing chinos and a polo shirt, no ballistic vest, no special clothing. He looks like any other traveler.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At that moment they're seeing this on the TV their third roommate comes back and said, oh, I just dropped off Paul at lax. They just knew. I think you just dropped off Paul to a shooting.


MARQUEZ: Now, we know about one of those TSA agents were killed. Two other TSA agents have now been released from the hospital after being shot allegedly by Mr. Ciancia, and a traveler who was shot in the leg remains in fair condition. The grand irony of all of this, Ciancia's, whose injuries are very, very serious, if he survives it, he may face the death penalty, Chris.

CUOMO: Miguel, thank you very much.

So the big questions raised by this situation, was it preventable, what do we do differently going forward, was this man connected to somebody? Let's get some perspective. I'm going to bring in former homeland secretary and former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, Mr. Tom Ridge. Governor, thank you for joining us.

FMR. GOV. TOM RIDGE, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: Good morning, Chris.

CUOMO: So what is your basic assessment of the response of the situation?

RIDGE: First I think it's interesting the previous speaker spoke to the legal police being informed, acting prudently and quickly, unfortunately too late. You see a normal civilian traveling. You don't realize he's got a firearm in his bag. The mayhem commences and the response within the airport I think was very, very appropriate.

Unfortunately, this is a circumstance where I'm not sure anything other than the apprehension the individual before he left the apartment avoided the tragedy thereafter.

CUOMO: Let's unpack it. Does the response in your opinion show vulnerabilities or show why this is the first attack of its kind?

RIDGE: First, I think it's important to put it into perspective, Chris. Unfortunately, over this weekend, we probably had 25 or 30 other deaths by firearms and you and I aren't talking about them. This is an instance where we had one in a public place, a federal officer in an airport. And yet there will be family and friends going to funeral homes over the next couple of days that people were killed with firearms and we're not -- they're not a part of the public discussion.

So I think frankly it goes a little bit deeper than the horrible tragedy associated with the LAX incident. It goes to a deeper problem of just violence. And does this young man have a mental health problem? As we take a look at the 11,000 or 12,000 murders that occurred last year with fire arms, it's probably about the turf, gangs. There will be a predictable response. I know there are some conversations about let's arm the TSA, which I think would be a horrible, horrible mistake.

So I think while we have a tendency to focus on tragedies like this, unfortunately we don't spend enough time looking deeper, at the more considerable implications of this culture of violence that results in 11,000 or 12,000 people killed by firearms every single year.

CUOMO: It's interesting you say that, governor. We see these same three elements in the random mass shootings. You have someone destabilized and is not being properly monitored even in this situation. Access to a gun, which a long going debate, but then there's a third component which you outlined which we don't talk about and seemingly don't want to fix, which is why do people seek glory in death in our culture so often?

RIDGE: It's very troubling. In this instance, we have what appears to be a troubled young man with an anti-government point of view here. That's the motive here. But what is the motive in the other 11,000 or 12,000 homicides that occur every year? Was it a gang war? Was it about turf?

The deeper tragedy that is reflected in this instance is we have social and economic and culture problems that lead people to take firearms and in order to address and redress grievances. Unfortunately, this story will die down. We won't have any public discussion until another tragedy occurs. And I think it's about time we try to wrestle this to the ground.

And what I'm more concerned about right now is a predictable response. I was on the Virginia Tech panel, and right after the Virginia Tech tragedy, people thought, well, maybe we should arm students. Then we have schoolroom tragedies, and then they want to arm teachers. And now there are conversations about arming the TSA. We don't need to arm America. We don't need to arm the unarmed. We really need to figure out why so people go to violence to solve their problems or express their grievances.

CUOMO: Certainly a big and deep discussion. I remember you on the panel at Virginia Tech. It was a story I covered very closely. One of the things that came out of it was the shooter in that story had been adjudicated mentally ill and yet there was no word to the parents, and it got to privacy rights. But it also spoke to an issue that we are seeing on this as well, and I would like your take on it, the idea of needing better systems in place, better infrastructure to monitor people who could be destabilized, early intervention. Here you had the LAPD contacted, but it seems like there may have been warnings earlier. What can we do?

RIDGE: Well, I think it's a very important discussion to have, Chris. I think there are probably -- listen, you and I both reel realize and understand there are several million people in America that have some form of mental health challenge. And we also have the notion of privacy, and the public revelation of those mental health challenges is not something that anybody is comfortable with.

So at some point in time, we got to discuss whether or not there is a threshold beyond which the authorities need to be made aware. Now, under these circumstances, I don't know, apparently he bought the gun lawfully. By the way, in a state that has background checks and ban on assault weapons, I believe. So I think the discussion is at what point in time does somebody's mental health records become part of the public domain in terms of your access to either firearms and/or at what point in time would police have known this is an urgent matter. He has been under treatment. We don't have any information about that now. So you and I could have this discussion later when we find out more about the assailant.

CUOMO: I have to thank you, governor, thank you for coming on this morning. I hope people watching will put a link to the interview up online because you are raising issues that usually get passed over quickly. We want to fight about guns when these things happen. But the idea of infrastructure for mental health, the idea of the culture of violence, they are just as important, maybe more so than the issues that get more attention. Thank you very much, Governor Ridge, appreciate having you on.

RIDGE: Thank you, Chris, thank you very much.

CUOMO: Michaela, over to you.

PEREIRA: All right, Chris, let's take a look at our headlines right now. And outburst at the trial of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi forcing the judge to adjourn the session. State run TV says the defendants began chanting, calling the court invalid, and Morsi refused to wear the white clothing. Morsi could face the death penalty if found guilty of inciting violence during clashes last year.

The NSA leaker Edward Snowden telling the U.S. to stop treating him like a criminal. A German magazine published Snowden's manifesto of truth in which he claims he has gotten praise for spilling classified information and calls for Washington to overhaul it's surveillance program. White House officials for their part say there is no plan to offer Snowden clemency.

Prosecutor's in Utah hoping for a big finish when the murder trial on Dr. MacNeill continues tomorrow. The state will wrap its case by calling four prison inmates who claim MacNeill confessed to them about murdering his wife. Prosecutors allege MacNeill drugged his wife and drowned her in the bathtub so he could be with his mistress.

A Cirque Du Soleil performer in stable condition after a fall during a show in Las Vegas. The company says the veteran acrobat slipped and fell from the so-called wheel of death. He is expected to be out of the hospital soon. But this incident comes just days after government officials fined Cirque Du Soleil for a performers death over the summer.

A newlywed couple in Boston got a surprise ovation from a few special guests. They were trying to get to their ceremony on time but got caught up in the Red Sox World Series parade. A police officer apparently opened a barricade for the couple who happened to be Sox fans. And as they walked through the parade route, they received shout-out itself and handshakes from some of their favorite players. How about that for memories?

BOLDUAN: I was wondering, the only thing that could be a problem if they turned out to be Yankees fans.

CUOMO: There is no problem being a Yankee fan. PEREIRA: Except being at a Sox parade.

BOLDUAN: Congratulations. Let's get back to Karen Maginnis in for Indra Petersons with the chilly forecast today. Hey, Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kate, Chris. Yes, it is a very chilly forecast. Those temperatures are way below normal. Now, in New York, typically you would see this time of year temperatures hovering around 60 degrees for the afternoon. It is only going to be in the mid- to upper-40s for this afternoon. But there is a slight warming trend taking place, more than 10 degrees below where it should be this time of year. That's fairly substantial.

But in the long haul we're looking at temperatures that moderate a bit before the next weather system moves on in.

We have a weather system moving across the mid-west. Windy conditions behind it. Portions of Minnesota, also the Dakotas, could see between 4 and 8 inches of snowfall before it's all said and done, this weather system is going to march towards the east.

So at least in the short term, you are looking at pretty nice weather. Until then, you wake up to these pretty frosty mornings. Temperatures only in the 20s across the interior northeast New England. Syracuse 23, Buffalo 26. Montpelier is only 16 degrees right now. New York City is 35. Should feel around 45 degrees. It's not making it there just yet. Temperatures into the northeast as I mentioned going to be running just about near normal as we go into the next several days. Right now in Atlanta, 42, Shreveport 53, and New Orleans 61. Chris, Kate, back to you.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Karen. That chill definitely wakes you up when you walk out the door.


I know 2016 is three years away, I basically can add. We have to start talking about the presidential election. Now why? These are the moves. They set up the game we are all following so closely. It will matter so much. Hillary Clinton. You are seeing New York Senior Senator Chuck Schumer. He says it is time for a woman to be president. He is pushing Hillary out now. What does this mean?

BOLDUAN: And coming up later, trapped in a very tight spot: a college student spends nearly two terrifying days wedged between two walls. How does he get there? How does he get out?


CUOMO: Run, Hillary, run! That was the message in New York Senator Chuck Schumer, endorsing Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. I wonder how Veep Joe Biden feels about this. How about this, last week, all of the sitting female Democratic senators reportedly sent Hillary Clinton the same message. They've made up their minds. But the big question, has Hillary? CNN's Brianna Keilar is live at the White House. Do you have any scoop for is on this? How do we read the situation?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: She still hasn't declared, but there are certainly a lot of Democrats that wish she would, Chris. This weekend, just yesterday, President Obama was campaigning for the favored Democrat in the Virginia gubernatorial race. That's a race that culminates tomorrow, but today, just about a year after President Obama was re-elected, focus is now switching to who will replace him in 2016.


SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: Run, Hillary, run! If you run, you'll win, and we'll all win.

KEILAR: An enthusiastic, high profile endorsement from Senator Chuck Schumer at the Iowa Democratic party's annual Jefferson Jackson dinner, he pressed Hillary Clinton to run in 2016.

SCHUMER: It's time for a woman to be president. And so, tonight, here in Iowa, I won't get this opportunity again, I am urging Hillary Clinton to run for president.

KEILAR: He's not alone. A group of 16 Democratic women in the Senate feel the same way. All of them signed a letter encouraging her to run. According to a Democratic source who said Kay Hagan talked about the still to be released letter at a fundraising event last week.

The most recent CNN/ORC poll of likely Democratic presidential contenders shows Clinton with a huge lead; 65 percent of Democrats polled chose her with Vice President Biden a very distant second. The Republican field is a little more crowded; Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz among the favorites of Republican voters.

But it's the New Jersey governor, just one day out from his likely re- election, getting all the buzz, especially since his campaign seems to be as much about 2016 as The Garden State.

It sound like you are planning for a message beyond New Jersey. Is that a fair assessment?

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: I'm not planning for it, I just think it's inevitable.

KEILAR: It certainly is with comments like this one:

CHRISTIE: I can walk and chew gum at the same time, Christine. I can do this job and also deal with my future. That's exactly what I will do.

KEILAR: But a new book on the 2012 election out this week claims Mitt Romney crossed Christie off his of potential running mates for failing to disclose information about a number of issues, including his health, though Romney, himself, dismissed those concerns.

FMR. GOV. MITT ROMNEY, (R) MASSACHUSETTS: With regards to his health, he provided his health records to us. His health is very solid, very good. There is not an issue there. Chris could easily become our nominee and save our party and help get this nation on the right track again. They don't come better than Chris Christie.


KEILAR: Christie has been answering questions about his health as well, with a 90-stop, rather grueling, campaign swing in the days leading up to tomorrow's election, as well as his steady weight loss. You will recall he had lap-band surgery back in February. He did it in secret. We learned about it later.

CUOMO: That was also about health, Brianna, you know all of these things, you have to look at them because that's where the surprises wind up coming in, when you didn't read the tea leaves early enough. Thank you for the reporting this morning. And what do you think about the intrigue? Tweet us with the hashtag, # newday.

PEREIRA: This morning we are learning more about a scary ordeal for a college student in New York City. He was stuck in a really tight space for days.


PEREIRA: A mysterious accident at New York University. A young student trapped for nearly two days. In this tiny 2-foot space between an 18-story apartment building and a parking garage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His legs were crossed. He was on his side, he was moving his right arm.

PEREIRA: Firefighters had to bust through a cinderblock wall in order to save 19-year-old Asher Vongtau. Not only was he alive, but he was conscious, talking to rescue workers as they wheeled him to the ambulance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started IVs on him. A heart monitor was hooked up to him, it looks like he's in pretty good health.

PEREIRA: According to CNN affiliate, WABC, Vongtau vanished Saturday morning after someone pulled a fire alarm at the NYU dorm. Witnesses say as other students were running out of the building, he was running back in. That was the last time anyone saw him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His phone was off and he hadn't checked into an NYU building in the last couple days.

PEREIRA: Desperate to find their friend, they pleaded with NYU security to check the area. It was only then that a security worker finally discovered Vongtau moaning, helplessly crammed between two buildings.

MICHAEL YABLOM, FRIEND OF VICTIM: They would not have found him for who knows how long. He would probably be dead right now.

PEREIRA: Though Vongtau is said to be in stable condition, just how he got stuck remains a mystery.


PEREIRA: And again, trapped for two days. Police and fire crews, once they located him, they responded to the scene immediately. It took about an hour-and-a-half to rescue him. They are now trying to figure out how he got stuck in that space. One theory is that he might have fallen from the roof or maybe through a window. So there is still a lot of questions. The good thing, he is going to survive. He'll be okay.

CUOMO: Nobody found him for a day-and-a-half? I guess not, obviously --

PEREIRA: Did you look at that spot where he was found? That's not an easily found location.

BOLDUAN: In a strange situation, everyone running out after a fire alarm is pulled, he's running in.

CUOMO: A lucky young man, once again, first responders doing what few can do.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, an amazing phenomenon caught on camera. Check out this fireball traveling down a suburban power line. We will tell you all about it.

CUOMO: And we want to talk to you about the case that may be changing our perceptions about bullying. On the playground, sure, kids, we have to work on that, but the NFL? That's what's being alleged. We'll tell you about it.


BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. It is Monday, November 4. Coming up in the show, so often when we hear about bullying stories, they involve teens or kids. But an NFL player claims he was targeted.