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Hundred Converge on Michigan Capitol; Protests in Egypt Turn Violent; SEAL Killed in Afghanistan Identified; No Deal, No Check for Long-Term Unemployed; Hundreds Converge on Michigan Capitol

Aired December 11, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And author Deepak Chopra is going to join us Former Florida governor, Charlie Crist, Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings, and actor Aidan Quinn, all sitting down with us on STARTING POINT. Another star-studded day.

"CNN NEWSROOM" with Ted Rowlands begins right now. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning.

Hey, Ted, good morning.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad.

Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM, hundreds of union workers and supporters are protesting a so-called right-to-work bill in Michigan that threatens organized labor in the state. We're live in Lansing.

A decorated combat veteran, a young man excited about joining the military. We're remembering the Navy SEAL killed while trying to fellow -- rescue a fellow American in Afghanistan.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your roof just collapsed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just collapsed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: A family is cleaning up after their ceiling collapses following a severe storm and it's all caught on camera. We'll show you more of that dramatic video.

Plus guns and football. After the shooting death involving a Kansas City linebacker some NFL players are turning in their firearms.

NEWSROOM starts right now.

Hey, good morning, everybody. I'm Ted Rowlands in for Carol Costello.

Today we begin in Michigan where the state capital in Lansing is the target of a growing labor protest. The Republican-controlled legislature is pushing through a highly contentious right-to-work bill that could severely hurt organized labor in the state.

Republican Governor Rick Snyder who had previously said right-to-work was not on his agenda, promises to sign the bill as soon as it hits his desk, which could be within hours.

The new legislation bars requiring union dues as a condition of employment. It's already on the books in 23 other states. Police and firefighters would be exempt, however.

Here's a look at the right-to-work nation states. If Governor Snyder signs this bill in Michigan as expected, Michigan would be the most heavily unionized right-to-work state in the country.

Alison Kosik joins us live from Michigan.

Alison, describe what's happening now. I know demonstrators are starting to gather outside the capitol. Are they going to be allowed inside as this historic legislation is passed?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They are inside right now as well as outside, so behind me you've got several hundred protesters that began arriving even before daylight, with their signs, some inflatable rafts, often a symbol of union protests, sitting on the lawn right outside here and inside, yes, there are protesters inside, especially right where the gallery is, right where the House floor is, because they want to watch the House in action when it begins in session at 10:00 a.m., in about an hour. So they'll be able to watch the legislative process at work.

But there's a huge spill-over crowd inside the capitol building, a huge crowd, a couple hundred, in each rotunda, on three floors, they're chanting. You can hear their voices inside the capitol, once you walk in, you can hear their voices reverberate. They're pounding their fists and they're chanting and they are -- they are certainly unified in what they are here for, and they are here to protest that right-to-work law that looks like it is expected to be passed through the House and is expected to land on Governor Rick Snyder's desk at some point expected today -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: All right. Alison Kosik for us on the ground there in Michigan. We'll have much more as this unfolds over the next two hours.

At the bottom of the hour we'll speak with two Michigan state Democrats, first Democrat Gretchen Whitmer and then Republican Tanya Schuitmaker. Both of those interviews coming up in about 30 minutes.

Well, happening now in Egypt, a new eruption of violence. Gunmen opened fire on anti-government protesters camped out in Tahrir Square. But also amassing in Cairo this hour, supporters of President Mohamed Morsi, and a controversial vote this weekend on a new constitution. Today, as you might imagine, tensions are very high as the political crisis threatens to ignite new street fighting.

CNN's Reza Sayah is live for us this morning in Cairo.

Reza, what's happening now?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ted, I don't think too many people want a repeat performance of what we saw last week where we are at the presidential palace. That's where the two sides of this conflict met here and they came to blows, nearly 700 people injured in clashes, several people killed.

Today the stage is set for another potentially violent and explosive day, because both these sides again have called for mass demonstrations within the next hour. Opposition factions, critics of the president, have set out on marches that are going to culminate here at the presidential palace. In about 15, 20 minutes away from this location, that's where the Muslim Brotherhood, the supporters of the president, have called for their own demonstrations.

I think a lot of people are relieved that these demonstrations aren't going to be at the same location but certainly the potential for protesters to cross paths, opposition factions, demonstrating again because their demands have not been met, they still don't like the way this constitution was drafted. They don't want this vote on Saturday to take place.

The supporters of the president, the president himself believes this is the best way to move forward for democracy. They say if the opposition doesn't like this constitution, they can go out on Saturday and vote no, Ted, and we should point out that a new layer has been added to this conflict and that's the military. The president has given the military the power to arrest citizens in an effort, the president says, to protect the state institutions and citizens.

Behind us, at least six tanks, if things get out of hand. We're going to keep a close eye to see what role the military plays in this political crisis -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: All right. Reza Sayah, obviously a potentially violent situation going on in Egypt if those two groups do in fact cross paths.

Reza, thank you.

This morning some calming words on Syria amid fears the crumbling regime there could unleash chemical weapons on its own people. Just days after the U.S. and other countries warned embattled President Bashar al-Assad against such action, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Syria may be backing away from that threat.

Here is what Panetta said earlier this morning aboard on a flight to Kuwait City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We haven't seen anything new indicating, you know, any aggressive steps to move forward in that way, but we continue to monitor it very closely and we continue to make clear to them that they should not under any means make use of these chemical weapons against their own population.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: And here's an example of how just murky the divisions are in Syria. Later today Washington will declare one of the group of rebels a foreign terrorist organization. According to federal documents the group is merely another alias for al Qaeda in Iraq.

Well, this morning we know the name of the Navy SEAL killed during a raid to rescue a kidnapped American doctor in Afghanistan. The SEAL is identified as Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas Checque. The 28- year-old Pennsylvania native died over the weekend.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now from the Pentagon with more on Petty Officer Checque. He was a member of SEAL Team Six, the same elite unit that, of course, took out Osama bin Laden -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ted.

Well, the military is confirming now that the body of 28-year-old Nicolas Checque has been returned to the United States, back to his family. No announcement about burial services for this young man, a native of Pennsylvania, a Navy SEAL, who is remembered by those who knew him in -- at his high school. His principal, his wrestling coach, talking about the young man they knew when he was a boy back in school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICH GINTHER, WRESTLING COACH: Worked hard every day, never complained. Those are the things I remember. I remember his senior year, him basically telling us what he was training for and it was going to get into the Special Forces.

MICHAEL CHOBY, ASSISTANT VICE PRINCIPAL, NORWIN HIGH SCHOOL: You know it's scary to hear these kind of stories that comes out but what a testament to the kind of man Nic built himself into be for these kids who are here, aspiring to be in the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And by all accounts, Nicolas Checque, of course, did achieve those goals, serving with the Navy SEALs for 10 years as -- 10 years as a Navy veteran, giving his life for a man he did not know, Dr. Dilip Joseph, the American hostage that was taken by the Taliban and rescued by the SEALs of course, over the weekend.

Dilip Joseph, an aid worker in Afghanistan, captured by the Taliban, and the rescue was ordered when there was information, we are told, that his life was in immediate danger. The SEALs were ordered in. Dilip Joseph, they're not saying where he is right now but they are saying he's expected also to return home to his family -- Ted.

ROWLANDS: All right. Barbara Starr for us this morning, at the Pentagon. Well, severe storms are expected to hit south Florida later today. Other southern states are cleaning up from yesterday's storms and many people are still talking about a dramatic moment caught on camera in Birmingham, Alabama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINT THORNTON, HOMEOWNER: We had dogs, he was in the age, and -- oh my god, oh my god. You OK? You OK? You all right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: The ceiling of Clint Thornton's home collapsed from heavy rains during that interview with CNN affiliate WIAT. Everyone is OK but clearly they have a big mess to clean up. Very dramatic.

We also have some incredible video of what appears to be a tornado touching down in central Florida yesterday. Volusia County officials say dozens of homes were damaged, roofs torn off, trees and power lines knocked down. Fortunately no serious injuries were reported. Incredible.

And the fiscal cliff, its effect on real people. For some it means losing their only source of income. You'll meet one of them coming up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: Checking top stories.

In Sanford, Florida, George Zimmerman is back in court for another hearing in the Trayvon Martin case. Zimmerman's attorneys want a list of people who can allegedly I.D. Zimmerman and Martin on the 911 call from that night. Zimmerman also wants off electronic monitoring and would like more travel freedoms. He maintains he killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense.

New details on the health of former South African president, Nelson Mandela. Four days after checking into a hospital the government says the 94-year-old is battling a lung infection. The civil rights icon has not appeared in public in more than two years.

Here is a story to stir some taxpayer outrage. A government watchdog says mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac doled out some huge paychecks despite being propped up with your tax money. The payout -- get ready for this -- $92 million for the top 90 employees and that does not include the CEOs.

Not much time left and still no deal. The White House and Congress had three weeks to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff. As President Obama, House Speaker Boehner and their aides hold private talks, Americans wait to see if their tax rate will go up by January 1st. For some without a job, they face losing their federal unemployment benefits if the two sides can't come to an agreement.

Kyung Lah brings us the story of a woman who has been out of work for almost a year while trying to raise two children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lis De Bats doesn't call it a fiscal cliff. What she could be facing at year's end is a financial freefall.

LIS DE BATS, UNEMPLOYED WORKER: I just wish I wasn't in this situation but it is what it is, and I could just do what I can.

LAH: De Bats lost her job as a new home sales manager last January.

On an old laptop with a broken cord, she applies for job after job, keeping track in a packed notebook -- averaging 15 applications a day. At age 54, this is the first time she's ever been on unemployment. She's emptied out her 401(k), her savings and now the last resort, the Emergency Federal Jobless Program has kept De Bats in her townhome, giving her $450 a week. But on December 29th, unless the Congress acts, the money stops.

DE BATS: We're not living off the system. We're trying to survive. It's not a luxury to be on unemployment. It's a means to keep us going.

LAH (on camera): The fear of the fiscal cliff isn't just here in De Bats' suburban neighborhood. In the states with the highest unemployment from the West to the North to the South, they will be hit the hardest. Some 2 million Americans will see those federal unemployment benefits disappear all at once.

(voice-over): Economists Chris Thornberg says these Americans are the unfortunate pawns in the tough game of politics and budget balancing.

CHRIS THORNBERG, BEACON ECONOMICS: So, ultimately, this is a tradeoff, the tradeoff of course has to be that in some ways, some people are going to be hit painfully by a reduction in federal benefits. At the same time, we have to appreciate this deficit has to be closed.

LAH: But at what human cost, asked De Bats.

DE BATS: Here's my refrigerator.

LAH: She's down to condiments until the next unemployment check arrives. But while we're talking to her about the fiscal cliff, she gets an e-mail.

DE BATS: Yes! My first review. OK, great. Whoa, OK, that was good news.

LAH: A third interview for a sales job. If Washington can't do it, maybe this job will pull her back from the cliff.

DE BATS: Oh, my God. You can't believe how excited I am right now.

LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: It's a record fine for one of the world's largest banks. What it's accused of doing with drug cartels and terror groups, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: A record fine, $1.9 billion. That's how much global banking giant HSBC is paying the United States government to resolve accusations of money laundering for Mexican drug cartels and terror- linked groups in Saudi Arabia.

Business correspondent Christine Romans joins us now from New York.

And it's a serious allegation here.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It really is. And, you know, the group HSBC, the U.K.'s largest bank wants to put this behind it, trying to settle these serious allegations, very serious allegations, $1.92 billion will be what they will pay the U.S. government. There will be a press conference later today, the Justice Department, the Manhattan D.A. and others to put this to rest.

Look, you know, banks operating in the U.S. have an obligation to know their customer and to abide by U.S. laws and U.S. sanctions against some pretty bad characters and HSBC apparently didn't do that. That's the allegation of the United States government, in fact, helping transfer money for drug cartels, for terrorist groups, for countries that we're not supposed to be doing business with overall -- these sanctions around Libya, Myanmar, Syria and Mexican cartels.

This is what HSBC says, really wants to put the whole matter behind it. "We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we're profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again. The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organization from the one that made those mistakes."

Well, the one that made those mistakes was an organization that was rubber-stamping transfers around the world and even one executive in an e-mail that was unearthed as part of this investigation at one point said, "What is this, the school of low expectations banking?" This executive was appalled by some of the practices of a Mexican affiliate of HSBC.

So, let me tell you about the fine here, Ted, $1.92 billion. Standard Chartered, it had a fine of $667 million. That was for some similar charges of violating U.S. sanctions on transactions with Iran, Burma, Libya, Sudan.

ING Bank had a $619 million fine in June of this year for covering up fund transfers in violation of U.S. sanctions against Cuba and Iran.

You know, again, the banking industry has to know its customer. In this case, it looks as though this bank was looking the other way and a lot of this money around the world -- Ted. ROWLANDS: You look at the $1.9 billion fine, I think, well, it's going to take a long time to pay the back but they'll make the money back in just about a month and a half. Is that accurate?

ROMANS: Yes. I mean, $1.9 billion -- I mean, banks can be a profitable business. You're right. It will hurt, though. It will hurt. Month and a half of profit hurts.

ROWLANDS: All right. Christine Romans, thank you, from New York.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

ROWLANDS: Well, unions in Michigan are fighting mad over controversial right-to-work legislation. Two state senators share their thoughts on what it means for the future of organized labor in their state, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROWLANDS: Good morning. I'm Ted Rowlands, in for Carol Costello.

Stories we're watching in THE NEWSROOM:

We're a couple of minutes away from the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stock futures are up slightly today. Investors are keeping a close watch on fiscal negotiations and the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day meetings. Executives from Coca-Cola are ringing the opening bell today.

In New York, Naeem Davis, who is charged with the murder of a man he allegedly pushed onto the subway tracks is expected back in court this hour. The man on the track died after being hit by a subway train.

A federal judge says North Carolina's "choose life" license plates are unconstitutional because the state does not offer plates with a different viewpoint. Lawmaker who sponsored a bill for the new plates reportedly plans to push for an appeal of the judge's ruling.

Well, we're keeping a close tab on Michigan this morning, and the capitol. The legislature there is about to pass an historic bill that could drastically curb the power of organized labor in that state. Hundreds of pro-union protesters and supporters have turned out to voice their disapproval

President Obama slammed the so-called right-to-work legislation during a visit there yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we shouldn't be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions.

(APPLAUSE)

We shouldn't be doing that. You know, you know, these so-called right-to-work laws, they don't have to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: With me now to weigh in with her perspective on this issue is Democratic State Senator Gretchen Whitmer.

Senator, congressional delegation met yesterday with the governor, asking him not to sign this legislation. I understand you've appealed directly to President Obama. But, really, is there anything you can do at this point to stop it?

GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN STATE SENATE: Well, I got to tell you the people are outraged. Not only is this anti-worker and anti- family, the way these Republicans are going about it is anti-American -- introducing it in a lame duck session at the 11th hour, curtailing any public input or public hearings, locking people out of the capitol, literally. That's what they did last week and they even tried to shut off my microphone.

You know, it is anti-American the way they're going about this and the reason there are so many people at the capitol today is because they're mad at heck and not going to take it anymore. There were 8,000 people at the capitol before I even got my kids off to school this morning.

ROWLANDS: The legislation doesn't prevent anybody from joining a union. So, they would argue, what's the problem? If unions are strong people will join them and it will work out.

WHITMER: Well, of course, they're saying this is more freedom for union members to have a choice. Well, that's just bologna. If they believe this, you know, if they really believed in that, that it was good public policy, why are trying not to have any hearings?