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New Day

New Pope, New Path?; 13 Shot In Chicago Violence; Ten Days Until Government Shutdown; Lightning Blamed For Two Deaths In Indiana; Blockbuster Game Spoofs Facebook; School Bus Driver Caught Texting; Wedding Bell Blues

Aired September 20, 2013 - 07:30   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: So you're blaming these people.

BILL DONOHUE, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: If I mention that the Chinese live in Chinatown, am I considered a bigot to point out the obvious?

CUOMO: No. But if a Chinese person makes something you don't like and you then decide to blame them because they're Chinese. I get blamed for this. One of the things I get blamed for --

DONOHUE: Why would you get blamed?

CUOMO: The Catholic League matters, it's relevant. Right or wrong, it is.

DONOHUE: Maybe I get blame for what Andrew Cuomo does because he's Catholic.

CUOMO: That would be a good switch for you. Listen, the point is what are you going to do with this message from the pope?

DONOHUE: We have different interpretations, obviously. I love the pope and I do think there are single issue Catholics on the left and right who need to get out of their micro-turf battles and look at the macro issue. It should be about salvation. I will grant you that. I am so happy he said it.

He also said he has a problem with the rigorous priest, the right wing authoritarians. If people read what he said in his interview, he's against those priests that are too lax. He said -- and by that he meant those who deny the existence of sin. There's a problem on the left with that just as the problem on the right.

CUOMO: He identifies himself as a sinner first when they asked him about the man Bergoglio.

DONOHUE: I know and everybody think this is breaking news. Every single pope throughout all of history went to confession. Why did he go to confession, because he's a sinner. There's no breaking news there.

CUOMO: I guess, I think that his hope is that the people who call themselves devout Catholics get back to the main mission of the church, which is not division. It is love and understanding there is good in all.

DONOHUE: So you think the nuns on the bus then are bringing everybody together by going out there in favor of Obamacare against what the bishops want? They're the ones who are divisive.

CUOMO: I'm speaking --

DONOHUE: Typically on the left but not exclusively.

CUOMO: I'm thinking what he wants is for you to spend less time bashing nuns.

DONOHUE: I don't bash nuns. I'm just simply pointing out that some of the polyesters have lost their mission. They should not be social workers. They should be nuns tending to the poor.

CUOMO: I think the one thing we agree on for sure is that we hope that the pope's message is understood.

DONOHUE: Yes, I do.

CUOMO: Mr. Donohue, thank you for taking the opportunity. I appreciate it. Kate, over to you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Chris.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, texting and driving is dangerous, but this is downright outrageous. A school bus driver caught texting behind the wheel. What parents should know, coming up in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. It is Friday, September 20th. Let's get straight to Michaela for the top news happening right now.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go. A 3-year-old boy in critical condition this morning after a mass shooting in Chicago that left 13 people injured. This happened at a park on the city's south side. The victims apparently were on a basketball court. Police say the 3-year-old was shot in the ear. There is no motive, no suspect in custody, but they do believe that the incident was gang related.

Ten days and counting until the government shuts down. Later this morning, the House is expected to pass a temporary spending bill that keeps the government funded while gutting Obamacare. The Senate appears to have enough votes to then strip the Obamacare provisions out of the bill, all this while a civil war erupts within the Republican Party over the effort to kill the president's health care overall.

Lightning now being blamed for at least two deaths in Gary, Indiana, strong storms swept through the area Thursday. Authorities say one man died after an apparent strike on his house, set it afire. A 9- month-old child inside was critically injured as well. Another victim was working on a billboard when he was struck.

Are you not a fan of Facebook? The blockbuster video game "Grand Theft Auto V" lets you take out some of your frustrations on a Mark Zuckerberg-like character. The game featuring a character named Jane Norris who founded a social network called "Life Invader." In the game, players can place a bomb in one of Norris's prototype phones and detonate it. I'm expecting there will be backlash to that.

CUOMO: You hope so anyway. One of my proudest moments recently as a dad, there are not that many -- is Mario, my son, 7 years old. He was going to get a new video game because he was good at school. We reward that in the Cuomo family, so rare an occurrence. There were a couple of shooting games. He said I don't want to do that. I want a sports game. I said, why? He said, I don't want to hurt anybody.

PEREIRA: Good for him. He's a kiddo.

CUOMO: We need to do thinking about that, too.

PEREIRA: They're impressionable.

CUOMO: Anyway, coming up on NEW DAY, texting and driving, speaking of bad influence. It's very dangerous, often illegal, not supposed to do it. How about when a school bus driver does it? Parents outraged about how this could happen to them and could be happening on your kid's bus?

BOLDUAN: And talk about awkward I dos. Checkout what happened when a minister goes off on some really innocent wedding photographers.

But also a programming note for all of you, Anthony Bourdain's "PARTS UNKNOWN" back this Sunday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. He hits Spain this time in his upcoming episode where he eats, explores and learns the three things Spaniards do very well. Here's a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grenada, the only place in the world where you get to see real flamingo in a cave.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, CNN'S "PARTS UNKNOWN": People are more embraced by the culture than most other places in Europe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have our own gypsy. Those are ours. I can tell you three things for sure we do here. We do flamingo, tapas and siesta.

BOURDAIN: You do them well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know how to live, don't we?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: This is video that should scare every parent, video out of Florida we want to show you, distracted driving, dangerous enough. But this school bus driver was caught texting behind the wheel with a bus, reportedly, full of kids. The video was shot by a 14-year-old student, if you can believe it. Unfortunately, incidents like this are becoming all too common.

CNN's Kelly Wallace is joining us now with more on this.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Can you imagine, Kate, how angry and alarmed you would feel if your child's school bus driver was caught texting on the job. I would be furious. That's how families in Tampa, Florida, are feeling today. After 14-year-old trying to catch her bus driver swearing apparently captured something much more dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): One hand on the wheel, the other on her cell phone, eyes drifting from the road. This alarming video of a school bus driver texting with students on board has parents in Hillsboro County, Florida, outraged.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she showed me the video, I just couldn't believe it. The scary part it, see how quickly she grabbed the wheel?

WALLACE: A 14-year-old student recorded the video with her cell phone and brought it to her mother. Watch as the driver seems to be drifting out of a lane then abruptly grabs the wheel.

VENUS COTTO-SILVA, PARENT: You're supposed to get them from point A to point A in a safe condition. That's not safe at all and then if they not only are they going to kill a driver, they're going to kill those children on that bus.

WALLACE: Currently, 41 states ban texting for all drivers and only three states specifically ban school bus drivers from texting. Check out this video of another Florida bus driver texting on his cell, minutes later, he was involved in a fender bender. He was suspended without pay for weeks.

Watch as this Florida driver fumbles with her phone using both hands, constantly glancing down at one time, for nearly 10 seconds. She was also suspended for one day. As for this latest incident, Hillsboro County School District issued this statement to CNN, saying in part, it is against school district policy for a bus driver to text while driving.

From the video, it appears the driver is certainly looking at her cell phone. That's a dangerous distraction for any driver, but the potential danger is greater when you have a bus full of children.

STEPHEN HEGARTY, SPOKESMAN, HILLSBORO COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT: If a bus driver was doing something that is against our policies then we're going to do something about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WALLACE: Scary indeed. As for the school bus driver in question, we should note she is not currently driving the bus. The district investigating determining what action to take.

BOLDUAN: And the important thing there is, I wonder if the school bus driver would still be driving the bus if this 14-year-old did not take the initiative to actually record this. I think probably the only good reason a 14-year-old is using their cell phone.

WALLACE: Right. But isn't it interesting. She wasn't expecting to catch her texting. She must have been swearing a lot and trying to capture that.

PEREIRA: It proves a point that our kids are paying attention and listening to the messages about not doing it themselves, right, especially these new drivers. It's interesting that the tables turn. She pointed out to the adult that they were misbehaving and doing something wrong.

WALLACE: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: Powerful.

WALLACE: Every time I see -- I don't know about you guys -- every time I see someone texting on the road, that crazy lady, no! But a bus driver, I mean, when you have the responsibility of all those kids.

BOLDUAN: It's the same problem police are dealing with and trying to get all of us to stop texting while we're driving. The school is dealing with this. What more can you do other than take away their phones while on the job? I'm not sure there's an answer.

WALLACE: I mean, it is the policy in the district, no texting and no use of cell phones. Obviously that's the policy.

BOLDUAN: Right.

WALLACE: Now they have to look and see what action to take here.

CUOMO: It gets a little tricky, right? Because sometimes as the bus driver you are allowed to use the cell phone, but the texting would be something different, and the impact is obvious. I think the big decider here is that you have the kids behind you. I know that was very sobering thing for me as a former rampant texter and driver. That you have your kids in the car, it makes a difference. When that was pointed out to me with certain intensity, I took the message. It's something that's unacceptable. We know that.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

CUOMO: The nice thing about the story, Kelly, is that it's not just Florida. People will be aware, start checking the bus driver, asking about it.

PEREIRA: See what the policy is in your district. BOLDUAN: Parents getting involved, too. Thanks, Kelly.

WALLACE: OK, thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, a bizarre encounter between a priest and a photographer, providing the bride and groom at their wedding some forgettable -- or maybe unforgettable moments. Wait until you see this little altercation at the altar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back to NEW DAY. The day one gets married is supposed to be the day the most memorable day of your life, well, for one couple it was, but for all of the wrong reasons. Right in the middle of the ceremony, the priest stopped to yell at the photographers. The couple is talking about the bizarre wedding altar- cation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (voice-over): It was the beginning to a beautiful wedding. Rob and Noelle were in the middle of their vows when suddenly --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, sirs, leave. Please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where do we leave?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anywhere other than here.

PEREIRA: But it doesn't end here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a solemn assembly, not a photography session. Please move or I will stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want me to leave?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will stop the ceremony if you do not get out of the way.

PEREIRA: The expressions on their faces say it all.

NOELLE RUEHLE, BRIDE: I really wasn't upset. Actually I was more appalled and shocked.

ROB RUEHLE, GROOM: My biggest fear was we had to step in and say something.

PEREIRA: The photographers moved, the ceremony continues, but talk about an awkward moment.

NOELLE RUEHLE: We had a lot of reactions afterwards and it kind of made for laughter, but it also was kind of a damper on the day also.

ROB RUEHLE: I think the priest tried, you know, to justify it and apologized as best as he could, but at that point the damage was already done. PEREIRA: Noelle's brother posted the awkward moment online. The newlyweds left on their honeymoon and woke up internet sensations garnering over 250,000 views.

ROB RUEHLE: If nothing else we can say hey we had a one-of-a-kind wedding even though it's not the way we thought it would go.

PEREIRA: At least they can laugh about it now.

ROB RUEHLE: At first it was said "how about that priest? He was great!" It turned out to make funny video, which we hope everybody enjoys as much as we did.

PEREIRA: It certainly is a moment Rob and Noelle will never forget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not in the photography. This is about God.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Well, CNN reached out to the priest and the church. Weirdly we did not get a response. This will be one of the things that the couple will always have a great story from their wedding to tell. In the moment, but it's a great story.

CUOMO: As the pope says we're supposed to get back to what it's all about, the love and the spirituality.

BOLDUAN: You're not going to use that as your out all the time?

CUOMO: I'll use it on the shutdown stuff, as the pope said.

PEREIRA: Dinner was late.

CUOMO: I don't know what was going on there, but everybody know that a wedding is about capturing the moment.

PEREIRA: And the love.

BOLDUAN: As you said, that they got a good story now.

PEREIRA: They do.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, Republicans fighting the president and each other over a spending bill, an important spending bill. Are they really going to let the government shutdown? I'm talking about Congress, not just Republicans. Joining us ahead to talk about it all, "CROSSFIRE" co-host, Newt Gingrich, who was House speaker during a memorable government shutdown.

CUOMO: And bad news to report, a violent night in Chicago, 13 people shot, including a 3-year-old boy. Is anything being done about the city's gang warfare?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a lot of police, a lot of ambulance, just a lot of wreckage, a lot of people, everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Breaking overnight, a shoot-out in Chicago, 13 shot, a 3-year- old fighting for his life. The latest in the city's ongoing problem with violence, we're live at the scene.

BOLDUAN: Collision course, the president taking on Republicans in Congress as many in the GOP fight amongst themselves. Is the government headed to shut down? Key vote today that could set the course.

PEREIRA: Fighting back, the former NFL player whose house was trashed by partying teens now posting their pictures online trying to find them. Some of their parents are upset. He joins us live.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The video I thought demonstrated a little Putin envy on behalf of the speaker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Detective Loki, I'm going to find your daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me your hands! Where'd you put those girls?! Where are they!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Good morning, and welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. It's Friday, September 20th, 8:00 in the east. Coming up this hour, it could be a major shift in diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran. The country's new president is saying all the right things, claiming his country would never use nuclear technology to make weapons. He'll be in the U.S. next week so the big question this morning, will President Obama see him?

CUOMO: And as if it could not get any worse in Colorado, it has. Epic floods have forced officials to shut down hundreds of natural gas and oil wells. Why? The officials say they could be dealing with a major environmental disaster.

PEREIRA: Plus ladies, he may very well be the panacea to all that ails you. Jake Gyllenhaal is here. He's going to be talking about his tremendous performance in his new thriller called "Prisoners." His performance specifically is getting a whole lot of buzz, so is the film itself. What a treat. He will be live right here in our studio. We'll talk to him coming up this hour.

CUOMO: All right, we're going to start in Chicago.