5 Things to Know for Your New Day – Thursday, August 29
August 29th, 2013
05:05 AM ET
Comments (6 comments)

5 Things to Know for Your New Day – Thursday, August 29

The battle lines over Syria are being drawn figuratively and literally, a court has a unique ruling on texting TO the driver, and you may have to wait a while longer to get a burger today.

It’s Thursday, and here are “5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

Every weekday morning around 6, we’ll hit the top five stories of the day, clue you in on a few other buzzy items, and let you know about some of the must-watch stories coming up on CNN’s new morning show, “New Day.”

1. SYRIA CIVIL WAR

The lines are being drawn: On one side Syria, China, Iran, Russia. "The West handles the Islamic world the way a monkey handles a grenade," the Russian deputy prime minister tweeted. On the other side, France, Germany, Great Britain, the United States. “We do not believe that, given the delivery systems, using rockets, that the opposition could have carried out these attacks. We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out,“ President Barack Obama said of the chemical weapons attacks last week. In the middle, the United Nations, which wants a diplomatic solution - but there seems to be little chance of that. Still, Obama told PBS he’s not made a final decision to use force. And in an early morning development, Great Britain said it was going to release some of the evidence about the chemical weapons attack.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia will join us at 7. Barbara Starr is live from the Pentagon and Frederik Pleitgen will be with us from Beirut.

2. MONTANA RAPE CASE

“It didn’t come out correct:” The judge who sentenced a rapist to one month (with 179 months suspended) tells CNN affiliate KTVQ that he shouldn’t have said the 14-year-old victim "seemed older than her chronological age" and was "as much in control of the situation." G. Todd Baugh tells KTVQ that he’s not exactly sure what he was trying to say but it just didn’t come out right. The mother of the victim – who killed herself – says she doesn’t understand how the rapist could confess and basically get to walk away. Today, when Baugh gets to work, he may want to use a side entrance; protestors plan to stand outside the Yellowstone County courthouse in Billings and call for his resignation.

Auliea Hanlon, the mother of the victim, will be our guest at 7.

3. TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

It takes two to text: We've all heard the dictum: Don't text and drive. Now, a New Jersey state appeals court has an addendum: Don't text a driver - or you could be held liable if he causes a crash.

At 6, HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson will explain what this means for people who want to send a text.

4. FAST FOOD WORKERS STRIKE

Time to pack a lunch: Gonna grab a quick burger for lunch today? It might take longer than usual. Many fast food workers are feeling under the weather, and need the day off. As it just so happens, there are also a bunch of protests demanding higher pay for fast food employees going on around the country. For the first time, workers in some Southern states will join in. It seems these protests – which call for a $15-an-hour starting wage – are gathering momentum.

”Your Money” host Christine Romans will have more on the planned strikes this morning.

5. CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE

Dad, can you pick me and the llamas up?: David Hermanson and his friends were being one with nature when they saw what they thought was a group of thunderheads rolling in through the California countryside. They weren’t rain clouds, though. It was smoke, from a growing wildfire. The flames were never a problem for him, his friends and their six llamas, he says. It was the blinding and choking smoke. It made it hard for everyone to breathe. And the flames did bite – the fire burnt their truck to a crisp.

The Rim Fire has now consumed nearly 200,000 acres but the percentage of acres contained has grown to 30%.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

–“They are running the streets:” Tens of thousands of dogs. We repeat, tens of thousands. Incredibly, that’s how many homeless dogs there are in Detroit. And folks there say this has been going on for years, not just since the city’s bankruptcy problems.

- Don’t drink the water: The people of Colcord, Oklahoma, might need something a little stronger than Brita filters to remove the disgusting stuff from their drinking water. Blood worms - small, red insect larvae - have been appearing in water glasses and filters in the rural town. Schools are closed and town officials are trying to figure out where the little buggers are coming from and how to get rid of them.

- And now, more about twerking: Hey, wouldn't it be better if your twerking news were brought to you by Morgan “the Voice of God” Freeman?

- Jurassic office park: You’re headed to work when you are stunned to see people scurrying and screaming. What could it be? Well, it might be a T-Rex!! Ok, it's not real, it’s just a Japanese hidden camera show. Looks like someone probably needs new pants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZGNk8pUj4Y

–Some people need to get out more: As they say on the Internet, this short film hits you “right in the feels.” There will be tears for Desmondo Ray, aged 33 and 3/4, who is sad and sweet, and looking for love. Or there will just be three minutes of bewilderment.

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.

Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at NewDayCNN.com and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY!

 Posted by
Filed under: 5 Things To Know For Your New Day • Headlines • News
August 22nd, 2013
05:16 AM ET
Comments (2 comments)

5 Things to Know for Your New Day - Thursday, August 22

A school worker with a calm and loving voice gets a man with a gun to surrender. The White House has some thinking to do on how to handle two huge crises in the Middle East. And we're learning more about the suspects in the killing of an exchange student from Australia.

It’s Thursday, and here are “5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

Every weekday morning around 6, we’ll hit the top five stories of the day, clue you in on a few other buzzy items, and let you know about some of the must-watch stories coming up on CNN’s new morning show, “New Day.”

1. SCHOOL SHOOTING HERO

Armed with compassion and kindness: She’s never been so scared in all her life. We don’t blame her. Faced with a gunman who had an AK-47 and told her he had mental issues, Antoinette Tuff acted calm and is the reason no one was killed this week at an Atlanta area elementary school. As we learn more about the man with the gun, we are in awe of Tuff, who acted as a go-between on the phone for the shooter and police. “We not going to hate you, baby,” she tells the suspect near the end of the call. “It’s a good thing that you’re not giving up, so we’re not going to hate you.” We do love you, Antoinette.

Martin Savidge has more on the 911 call from Antoinette Tuff.

2. MIDDLE EAST

Major decisions ahead: The deadly violence in Egypt and Syria puts the White House under pressure. What should it do with aid to the Egyptian military, which has continued to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood and protesters in the streets. And what about help for the Syrians fighting to overthrow the al-Assad government, where accusations are flying after social media was flooded with reports of a chemical attack? A chief problem has been identifying those rebels the United States would happily deal with versus elements said to be militants, including some with ties to al Qaeda. “We've got some work to do in both of these areas, and this is something that we're actively working on,” a White House spokesman says.

Sen. John McCain will join us to talk about Egypt, Syria and other topics.

3. SAN DIEGO MAYOR

Will he stay or will he go?: On Friday afternoon, the city council meets in private and top on the agenda will be a discussion of a settlement reached between Mayor Bob Filner and San Diego. A lawyer for the city says the two sides have reached a deal, but if the mayor is out, Jan Goldsmith isn’t saying. Neither is Filner’s attorney. And since it was a new day, yet another woman – No. 18 – accused the mayor of bad behavior.

Casey Wian has the latest details on the newest accuser at 6 and 8.

4. EXCHANGE STUDENT KILLED

It could have been anyone: Sarah Harper and Chris Lane had only been back in the United States for a couple of days from his homeland of Australia when her boyfriend was shot and killed. She told Anderson Cooper that Lane, whom she had dated for four years, loved to travel and he had big dreams of living in a foreign land after he graduated. She is still stunned by his death. “You can’t make sense of it,” she said. “It just is so surreal that anybody could do something like this.” Police say one of the three teens arrested in the case told them the boys picked the victim at random.

At 7, Randi Kaye is in Oklahoma and has shocking new details on what the suspects said on social media before the killing.

5. SHARK VICTIM DIES

She “fought hard to stay alive:” She was celebrating with a vacation in Hawaii after a year working as an au pair. Her family remembered her as strong and forever laughing. Jana Lutteropp died yesterday, a week after a shark tore her right arm off. The company the 20-year-old worked for said her family had come from Germany and was with her when she passed. Shark experts are saying attacks are up across the world this year, and this was the fourth near Maui since February, but for someone to die is very rare.

Tory Dunnan will join us at 6 and 8 with more on this tragic story.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

–Watch out for the giraffe, Mr. President!: We’ve seen all sorts of images of commanders-in-chief playing golf, but here’s a new one from President Clinton, in what seems to be a decidedly less competitive round than the former leader of the free world is used to.

- If a tree sinks in a forest: You hope there’s a man with a video camera to record it. A parish official in Louisiana captured this amazing video of cypress trees being swallowed by a sinkhole. According to the Advocate, the hole has been growing since early this month.

- The only good hangover is a movie: Oh, the morning after a few too many beers. Sucks to be you. But what if hangovers were a thing of the past? Fret not, researchers in Australia are hard at work on a solution. Electrolytes are the key, says researcher Ben Desbrow.

- It’s amazing what you’ll find in a beard: Newspaper photographer Ben Garvin has had photos included in Pulitzer Prize-winning work. We feel somewhat safe in saying this next piece from his catalog of images will not win anything as prestigious. But give it time and it will make you laugh, maybe even snort.

If I ever lose my phone, I hope these kids find it. See skateboarders aren’t the punks they are often made out to be. So says Kim Ho, who thinks the boys who found her friend’s phone and posted a video to his Instagram account are “brilliant.” We do too.

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.

Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at NewDayCNN.com and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY!

 Posted by
Filed under: 5 Things To Know For Your New Day • Headlines • News
August 21st, 2013
05:11 AM ET
Comments (3 comments)

5 Things to Know for Your New Day - Wednesday, August 21

Syrian rebels accuse the government of fresh gas attacks. The odd case of Hannah Anderson’s abduction gets even stranger. And Mark Zuckerberg sits down with Chris Cuomo and shares his dream of connecting the whole world to the Internet.

It’s Wednesday, and here are the “5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

Every weekday morning around 6, we’ll hit the top five stories of the day, clue you in on a few other buzzy items, and let you know about some of the must-watch stories coming up on CNN’s new morning show, “New Day.”

1. MARK ZUCKERBERG

A truly worldwide web: You’re connected. It’s a seamless part of your life, but you do realize you’re in the small minority, right? Most of the world doesn’t have access to the Internet. Facebook’s billionaire founder Mark Zuckerberg wants to change that. Five billion more people will have access to the Web and e-mail, he says. Zuckerberg imagines a world in which everyone has the "same ability to share their opinions and speak freely - I think that would be a much better place." (It might also mean a billion more pictures of cats and status updates about dinner). Can he do it? Well, he certainly has used his clout for good before.

We’ll air Chris’s exclusive broadcast interview with the Facebook founder at 6 and 8.

2. HANNAH ANDERSON

A new twist: There was a time when the Hannah Anderson abduction case seemed clear-cut. But every day seems to bring a new revelation. This morning, we learned that James DiMaggio’s family wants a sample of her DNA and her brother’s. Why? They want to know if DiMaggio fathered them! We also learned that Hannah was seen sitting in DiMaggio’s car 20 hours before he went on his alleged criminal spree. Then there’s the $110,000 insurance policy he left – naming Hanna’s grandma as beneficiary.

Zoraida Sambolin will have more this morning on this fascinating set of developments.

3. SYRIA CIVIL WAR

Odd timing: U.N. investigators just arrived in Syria a few days ago and it looks like they have a brand new claim of chemical weapon use to look into this morning. Opposition activists are saying hundreds were killed today in the Damascus countryside and that chemical agents are to blame. They posted some very disturbing videos. And a doctor told CNN many of the unconscious victims were convulsing when they were brought in. Lies, countered the Syrian government. It’s all an attempt to steer the UN inspectors from their jobs, it said.

Arwa Damon in the Middle East and Dan Lothian at the White House will have the latest on the deadly violence.

4. NSA LEAK FALLOUT

Were Miranda’s rights violated?: British officials justify the nine-hour detention of the boyfriend of a prominent journalist, saying they have the right to act when they think someone has “highly sensitive stolen information” related to terrorism. But David Miranda, the partner of Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald, says police never, not once, asked him about terrorism. He also says he wasn’t allowed to talk to his lawyer. Greenwald told CNN’s Anderson Cooper last night the incident makes the British government look “thuggish.” He and Miranda are suing to get back a computer, some memory sticks and a cell phone.

5. GRADE SCHOOL GUNMAN

Cue the gun debate: Hundreds of little school kids in the Atlanta area run for cover as a gunman fires his AK-47. They all make it safely while the shooter tells workers to call a TV station with a chilling message: Watch as I kill lots of cops. Thankfully, he can’t follow through because the police close in. The shooting is sure to reignite the debate on armed guards at schools.

CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson and Kim Russell of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America will join us to discuss whether schools should have armed guards.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

–We should talk. Wait! Never mind.: The Internet is howling after Dr. Phil posted a tweet asking whether having sex with a drunk girl is OK. The tweet was soon taken down. But the damage was done. We have a nice little Storify on the tweets calling him out for creepiness and insensitivity.

- Marty, that was very interesting: Ric Flair would be proud, Nick Selby. The only thing you forgot in your enthusiastic speech was a “Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” It’s kinda funny how no one knows how to respond to this part of this sophomore’s welcome speech to the freshman class at Georgia Tech. Except with expressions of incredulity and prayers they aren't sharing a dorm room with him.

- That better be some mighty fine H20: When the downfall of American society is eventually documented, we’re willing to bet the phrase “certified water sommelier” will be included. As Eatocracy reports, Ray’s and Stark bar in (brace yourself) Los Angeles has a water sommelier named Martin Riese, a man who literally wrote the book on water (in German). Their water tasting menu has obnoxious phrases like “pairs well with sweet wine and cheese” and “pleasantly soft and velvety.” Some of us still drink out of the faucet, dude.

- Awww, cute and furry - and KILLERS!!!: There just aren’t enough movies about killer squirrels. Actually, there are. Zero is fine, but it looks like there will be one. We’re still a little skeptical if it is real but several blogs, including Bleeding Cool, say it is in the works. Paging Mr. Ziering, Mr. Ian Ziering!

–That’s how the cookie stumbles: Oreos are great. Loved ‘em since we were kids. Double Stuf would be twice as good, right? Oh, how wrong we were. Seems a math professor and his students used actual class time taking apart Oreos and weighing them (We hope they properly discarded the remnants). Turns out they aren't all they're stuffed up to be. The folks at Oreo take issue with the results of the test and assure us there really is two times the creme in the Double Stuf. Perhaps we should do our own tests.

Oh, and one more! While we’re talking about things kids love, how about a good game of Hide and Seek. If only this girl were good at it.

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.

Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at NewDayCNN.com and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY!

 Posted by
Filed under: 5 Things To Know For Your New Day • Headlines • News
5 Things to Know For Your New Day - Tuesday, August 20
August 20th, 2013
05:39 AM ET
Comments (2 comments)

5 Things to Know For Your New Day - Tuesday, August 20

The heat is on. For the 35 residents in an Idaho town battling a wildfire. For a 19-year-old Florida woman accused of having sex with a minor. And for San Diego’s mayor, accused of bad behavior by 16 women.

It’s Tuesday, and here are the “5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

Every weekday morning around 6, we’ll hit the top five stories of the day, clue you in on a few other buzzy items, and let you know about some of the must-watch stories coming up on CNN’s new morning show, “New Day.”

1. WILDFIRES

Stand up and fight: Like the much, much larger city in the South, the Idaho town of Atlanta has risen from the ashes before. It’s hoping there won’t be a repeat. A blaze dubbed the Little Queens Fire has quadrupled in size - but about two dozen or so residents are ignoring a mandatory evacuation to fight the fiery fury. The historic mountain town, about 135 miles northeast of Boise, has burned to the ground twice before - once in the 1800s and once in the 1900s. These days, only 35 people live there all the time in small wooden cabins. Fires in Idaho have devoured more than 112,000 acres, and there’s still a lot of work for firefighters ahead.

Dan Simon is in Hailey, Idaho, and will have more on the latest status of the fires threatening thousands of homes.

2. EGYPT

Raising the stakes: The Egyptian military upped the ante in its showdown with the Muslim Brotherhood, arresting the group’s spiritual leader, 70-year-old Mohamed Badie. They say he’s an agitator in the violence. The Muslim Brotherhood says the charges are bogus. The U.S.  made its voice a little louder too, temporarily cutting off some of the military aid it sends to Egypt. If the bloodshed ends, the U.S. can restart the funds, which have been “reprogrammed” for now, a source tells CNN. Things are upside down in Egypt. Officials say the democratically elected-and-then-deposed President Mohamed Morsy will be detained for 15 more days (we assume it’ll actually be longer than that). But former President Hosni Mubarak, who’s serving a life sentence for his role in killing protesters, has been acquitted in the less serious of two legal cases against him.

At 6, Reza Sayah will update us on the situation in Egypt, and Jill Dougherty will tell us about the U.S. response.

3. SAN DIEGO MAYOR SCANDAL

You just can’t look away: Bob Filner and his reps met with city officials behind closed doors yesterday. No one’s saying what the meeting was about. Words like “mediation” and “review of a potential resignation” are being whispered. The political sharks are circling the mayor, with a petition drive trying to get enough sigs to require a new election. Considering that a poll found 81% of the city wants him out, that shouldn’t be too hard to do. Filner, who says he’s not going anywhere even though 16 women accuse him of inappropriate behavior, will be back at work today.

4. FLORIDA GAY TEEN CASE

We told you not to: A judge tells an 18-year-old not to contact her 14-year-old schoolmate while lawyers work out a plea deal so the 18-year-old, Kaitlyn Hunt, can avoid the possibility of going to prison as a sex offender. Don’t go see her, don’t call, don’t text. Prosecutors say Hunt ignored the order and exchanged more than 20,000 texts and sent some nude pictures to the girl. And the two continued to sneak off and see each other, the state says. So the plea deal is off, and today Hunt, who just turned 19, will face a judge again.

5. NSA FALLOUT

Someone’s going to be sorry: Mess with my man, and you’ll pay the price. That’s the threat from Glenn Greenwald, the reporter who broke the news about secret U.S. surveillance programs. The gloves came off when British officials held his partner David Miranda for nearly nine hours as he was passing through London’s Heathrow Airport on the way back home to Brazil. Greenwald says he’s just going to be a lot more aggressive now. You’re not supposed to go after the loved ones, he says. “Even the Mafia had ethical rules against targeting the family members of people they felt threatened by."

CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin will join us at 7 as we discuss what will happen next.

BONUS BIGGIE: Aren't those just the most adorable baby photos of the Duke and Duchess with baby George? Tell that to the sourpuss British press, which is complaining that the snapshots, taken by Catherine's father, are out of focus and poorly lit.

And if you missed it, watch a snippet from Prince William’s first interview as a father.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

- Finding (a change in) Nemo: When last we saw Nemo and his pops, the famed animated fish were reunited and heading back home to the Great Barrier Reef. The future looks good for the duo. But Disney’s kind of swimming around one important fact about clownfish. You see, they can change sex. Uh huh. And a fish biologist says if the Disney folks would keep it real, they’d have Nemo’s dad morph into a female fish and she’d mate with Nemo when he grew up. Or maybe Nemo would become the lady fish. That would make for an, um, interesting sequel.

- That’s dedication: Paramedics have a stressful job. Take for instance, Joseph Hardman, who was giving a heart attack patient CPR when he had a heart attack himself. But Hardman was already in an ambulance, already on his way to the ER, so he made it, despite having a big blockage. One doc says the odds of patient and caregiver having cardiac events at the same time are “one in a million.”

- Today’s lesson in how to not use Instagram: Heavenly Haven Learning Center 2 is in trouble. Two of the Virginia day care’s workers have been fired after one of them supposedly posted pictures of two young kids that go there. That’s bad enough, but the two former employees added captions too. Nasty ones. One of the moms who came across the pics will be our guest at 8.

- Killed for kicks: Bizarre and sad story from Oklahoma. Three teens are in jail, charged with the killing of an Australian college baseball player. The motive? Just because. The shooting was random, police say. According to the local police chief, one suspect said, “We were going to kill somebody.”

- A sister for Bo: Alert the media! There’s a new resident at the White House, and she was born in the U.S. Oh, right, we are the media. First dog Bo has a new playmate named Sunny. Like Bo, she’s a Portuguese water dog, but you can tell her apart from Bo because she’s all black.

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.

Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at NewDayCNN.com and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY!

 Posted by
Filed under: 5 Things To Know For Your New Day • Headlines • News
« older posts