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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

GOP Leading The Charge; Killer Bacteria In Florida River?; Peyton & Broncos' Record-Setting Day

Aired September 30, 2013 - 05:30   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The U.S. government just hours from shutting down. Congress doing nothing except blaming each other.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a strong person, and whatever came his way, he still stood on the word of God. He never wavered.

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A Louisiana pastor shot and killed while delivering a sermon in front of his congregation. Who police have arrested for the crime now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's like, "she's having a baby!" And I'm like, "I need gloves!"

BERMAN: And a police officer springing into action when one baby could not wait for the hospital. I need gloves!

(LAUGHTER)

SAMBOLIN: I know. The baby is coming. You're not going to have time to put on those gloves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

SAMBOLIN (on-camera): Welcome back to EARLY START. Thanks for being with us. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.

BERMAN (on-camera): And I'm John Berman. Thirty-one minutes after the hour right now.

SAMBOLIN: Do I take a live look?

BERMAN: What's going on inside there?

SAMBOLIN: Nothing. This is the capitol in Washington. It's quiet there, because it's early and because nobody is working. Let's just say it will be anything but quiet very soon. Lawmakers gather once again with the government shutdown less than 19 hours away now. There is no sign, so far, of the Democrats in the Senate or Republicans in the House coming to any sort of agreement on any way out of this mess.

The latest developments here, the Senate today is expected to take up a spending bill passed by the House over the weekend. It was passed with House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, not present for that vote because she was out of town celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary. the bill would keep the government running but delay the implementation of the health care reforms better known as Obamacare for one year.

Democrats already saying they'll strip out the Obamacare delay and send it back to the House where it is not likely to be approved. So, it looks this morning more and more like a shutdown is inevitable, and the blame is already flying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAVID SCOTT, (D) GEORGIA: you have been hijacked by a small group of extreme folks who simply hate this president.

REP. JOHN CULBERSON, (R) TEXAS: The president of the United States will talk to the dictator of Tehran, but he won't even negotiate with the House of Representatives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: For many Republicans, this fight about funding the government is all about stopping, defunding, delaying Obamacare. Nevertheless, a big part of the health reform plan takes effect tomorrow really no matter what happens in Congress. Insurance exchanges that will let you shop for coverage for you and your family, they begin opening up.

Vice President Biden is defending the law writing in the "Des Moines Register" that it will finally give all Americans access to health care and it will make finding coverage so much easier, he says. The vice president writes, "Companies will not be able to use your medical history to determine how much to charge you. They won't be able to charge you more just because you're a woman. They'll have to be transparent about what they're offering and compete against each other."

He says it's going to make a world of difference. Now, I should say it's not lost on some people that that was being published in Iowa amid rumors that Vice President Biden is considering a possible presidential run someday, eventually.

SAMBOLIN: And of course, Republicans have a very different take on the health reform plan and one of them is leading the charge against it, saying the potential for a shutdown is actually worth it because the American people want Obamacare gone. Here's Erin McPike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After stints as a staffer at the Bush White House and on Capitol Hill, Tim Griffin ran for Congress in 2010 promising he'd end Obamacare.

As a political guy, are you worried about how House Republicans are going to look to the public in a month? REP. TIM GRIFFIN, (R) ARKANSAS: Well, the president has a bully pulpit certainly. And, he's going to do everything he can to make us look bad.

MCPIKE: Like many of his House GOP colleagues, he's insisting on tying funding the government to defunding Obamacare.

Why the brinksmanship and why the insistence on health care?

GRIFFIN: Well, I will say that in a lot of our districts, the voices are quite strong in favor of that. You know, some districts stronger than others. But there is a loud cry out there on Obamacare to -- to do whatever we can do to delay it, to defund it, to whatever it.

MCPIKE: Especially in the Little Rock district he represents back in Arkansas. But is it realistic?

GRIFFIN: It's a false choice to say it's Obamacare or nothing. It's Obamacare or the old way.

MCPIKE: What about this?

GRIFFIN: There are a hundred different ways --

MCPIKE: Is there a way to keep Obamacare and amend it greatly to your liking?

GRIFFIN: No, because the entire structure, the entire structure is built on Washington making central decisions in an industrial factory age-type mentality and telling everybody out in the states, thousands of miles away, this is the way it has to work.

MCPIKE: He admits the stakes are high.

GRIFFIN: I don't want the government to shut down. I don't think it's good policy. I don't think it's good politics.

MCPIKE: Erin McPike, CNN, Capitol Hill.

SAMBOLIN: Our thanks to Erin. Thirty-six minutes past the hour.

So, all he wants is closure. The father of a man stabbed to death near San Francisco's AT&T Park.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Jonathan Denver was killed last week a few blocks from that park after police say the Dodgers fan got into an altercation with the group of Giants fans. Denver's father says he just wants to know what happened.

ROBERT PREECE, FATHER OF JONATHAN DENVER: You almost understand how incredibly difficult this is and has been for me and my family. Losing a child is a heartache no parent should have to endure. Today, I'm making a plea to the public, asking that anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward so that both families can have some measure of closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: The suspect, Michael Montgomery (ph), claims self-defense and was released from jail over the weekend. The district attorney is asking police to investigate this case further.

BERMAN (voice-over): Simply unimaginable murder in Louisiana. A pastor shot to death in church. Police say Ronald Harris (ph) was gunned down during services with over 65 worshipers looking on in horror. Among them, his daughter, Talisha Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TALISHA HARRIS, DAUGHTER OF RONALD HARRIS: In any situation, he will make sure everybody laughs no matter what the situation is. He always (INAUDIBLE). He was a strong person. And whatever came his way, he still stood on the word of God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: She went on to describe a scene just chaos. The man bursting into the service and shooting her father twice, a close range with a shotgun. Police say the 53-year-old shooter, Woodrow Kerry (ph) surrendered minutes later. He's charged with second-degree murder. No word yet of a motive, but he is believed to have once attended that church.

SAMBOLIN: Officials are calling last night's horrific crash to the California airport unsurvivable. The small jet attempted to land at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, but it skidded off the runway, crashing into a hangar, and igniting a massive fire. First responders say they don't know if anyone on the ground was hit.

And there's no word yet on how many passengers were on board. The corporate-owned plane which had departed from Idaho.

BERMAN: Parts of Oregon cleaning up this morning after really some wild weather over the weekend. Two storm systems rolled through and dropping a ton of rain. Nearly five inches in some area. Five inches. And that accompanied by hurricane force winds 75-mile-an-hour wind gusts were reported. They took down trees, power lines. What a mess. Thousands of customers remain without power this morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAMBOLIN (on-camera): Indra is covering all of this for us this morning. What can Oregon expect today?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I wish I could say no more rain but, unfortunately, we're looking at more rain in the forecast for them and even more wind expected in the forecast. You can actually look at what it looked like from the weekend. This is starting on Saturday, and notice, it literally does not even let up. The rain is continued one after the next, the next band after another. All things to a couple of fronts that kind of moved through the region. What we're looking at are some record rainfall. I mean, Portland now has set the record for September at 4.83 inches. The last one, if you're curious, was 4.3. That was back in 1986. They are not alone. Portland and Seattle set daily records on Saturday. And notice, not yet a monthly record for Seattle, but either way, still a good five inches of rain already for Seattle there.

So, what are we looking at? A big low hanging off the coastline. The reason we follow that rain, we're really kind of funneled that moisture and off the ocean. So, that's what they're dealing with. And of course, they're also talking about more rain. This is what I just mentioned here and not small amounts. Still another two to four inches possible. They're right around that border between Portland and Seattle.

So, some heavy rain still expected and when you have that big temperature difference, you're going to be talking about winds as well and you can actually tell how cool it is in the Pacific Northwest and that will only drive those wind gusts up 40 to 50-mile-per-hour again today.

BERMAN: All right.

SAMBOLIN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Thanks, Indra.

PETERSONS: Sure.

SAMBOLIN: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMBOLIN (voice-over): New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie, is pledging to appeal a state court rule legalizing gay marriage there. Christie has not spoken publicly yet, but his spokesman says the governor will take that decision to the state Supreme Court. The judge ruled New Jersey was depriving same-sex couples of access to federal right now available in the wake of the overturning of the Defensive Marriage Act.

BERMAN (voice-over): A challenge to a ban on gay marriage in Illinois is moving forward this morning now that a state judge has said two lawsuits can proceed. The judge ruling the group of same-sex couples should be allowed to present their arguments that they're being discriminated against. An effort to legalize marriage through the Illinois legislature is currently stalled.

SAMBOLIN: All right. Let's head over to Wisconsin, shall we? And the story of a pair of sisters who answered the call to help someone in some serious need. So, this happened in Marshall. That's not far from Madison. Workers there heard someone pounding on the doors of town offices really early Thursday morning. It was a father-to-be. His wife was in labor. So, that police officer right there jumped into action along with her sister standing beside her who works there as well and they helped deliver that little bundle of joy, a healthy, happy baby girl right in the parking lot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANNA CHADWICK, OFFICE ASSISTANT (ph): The mom and dad was standing there. You know, it was so much fun to hear that baby cry in the front seat of a car!

(LAUGHTER)

OFFICER KRISTINE QUAM, MARSHALL, WISC. Police: For all the stuff that we do and all the things that we see, by far, her birth will be the best part of my career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: Oh, Wow! The best part of her career.

BERMAN: -- hard to top that. Would you deliver a kid like that?

SAMBOLIN: Kristine or Kristen and Deanna, I think it was. Congratulations to you, right, for springing into action.

BERMAN: Well --

SAMBOLIN: All right. And look at her. Mother and daughter are said to be doing really, really well. She's just a cutie pie.

BERMAN: Beautiful.

SAMBOLIN: She's oblivious.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN (on-camera): Whoever delivers me is fine with me.

SAMBOLIN (on-camera): Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: All right. Forty-one minutes after the hour. And coming up --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrifying. It's just totally horrifying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A new warning this morning about a silent killer lurking in the waters of Florida. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: Welcome back. Forty-five minutes past the hour.

In Florida this morning, it is a warning from the family of a man who got a very rare infection. His family says 49-year-old Butch Kanisky (ph) was fishing for crabs in the Halifax River in Volusia County when a wound on his ankle got infected. They thought initially that it was just a spider bite but a killer bacteria got into that wound. He was dead within hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE STACK, SISTER-IN-LAW: It's horrifying. It's just totally horrifying. They did everything. They tried multiple antibiotics, but nothing was touching it. Nothing even fazed it. It's dangerous for people to be in. It should be at least posted. You know, we were tempted to make our own signs into down there and post them on the trees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: So far, there have been 29 cases of the bacteria reported in the state. Nine of them have been fatal and one was near the same spot where this man was infected. Authorities say that you should protect yourself if you're going into warm sea water near shellfish.

BERMAN: Hopefully, they get that message out.

SAMBOLIN: No kidding. The big signs would be, you know, good idea.

BERMAN: All right. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan join us now. Good morning, guys.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Happy Monday, you guys.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Happy Monday.

BOLDUAN: It's a very unhappy Monday, I guess.

CUOMO: I'll tell you, it's bad enough with all the national disasters you have to deal with. You know, when they're man-made, it's that much painful to watch. You know, we're going to show you a clock here. It's about 19 hours from the government shutdown. Government running out of money.

One of the constitutional obligations, one of the only ones on Congress is that they pass the laws necessary to keep government functioning. They're going to boot that requirement because they can't agree on what to do about Obamacare, basically. So, we're going to be following that.

We're going to be asking some very tough questions of people who are in control and watch for you what happens as the hours took down, because as soon as the government has no money, people start feeling the pain. Not the Congress members because they're exempted because they're essential employees from the functioning of the government. So, they're exempted. But we'll take you through who is not seeing as essential.

BOLDUAN: Yes. The impact is going to be real.

We're also going to be talking about Amanda Knox. You remember Amanda Knox, of course. Well, she's now back on trial in Italy today for the murder of her British roommate. Her conviction was overturned two years ago, but an Italian court decided to retry her this year.

She said it's going to -- she said in the past, she even told Chris basically that she's not going back to Italy and she's not going to face prison again because it would be the ultimate nightmare. So, what does this all mean for her and her future? We'll see. We're going to talk about it.

BERMAN: All right. Fantastic. Can't wait to see you guys up in a little bit.

Coming up here next, it was a big day for truth justice in the American way.

SAMBOLIN: Oh, my goodness!

BERMAN: And Tom Brady.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: The Patriots won again undefeated. It was also a big day for another quarterback who's OK, Peyton Manning, threw 76 touchdown passes in one half. We'll show you the whole game and the highlight. Andy Scholes here with the "Bleacher Report" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: So, you know, every Monday, it seems like we talk about how awesome Peyton Manning is. Today, no different. Are we talking about your man crush also?

BERMAN: Yes, yes. I mean, he's pretty awesome. Tom Brady is awesome and handsome.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Andy Scholes joins us now this morning with the "Bleacher Report." Good to see you, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Good morning, guys. Well, what more can you say about Peyton Manning and the Broncos. They're simply unstoppable right now. Manning threw four more touchdowns in yesterday's blowout win over the Eagles. He now has 16 touchdowns this year, which is the most ever by a quarterback in the first month of the season. Denver, wow! They scored 52 points in the win. That's the most points they've ever scored in a game. Up next with the 4-0 Broncos, a trip to Dallas to take on the Cowboys.

Well, the Patriots trying to keep pace with the Broncos. They were in Atlanta taking on the Falcons last night. While Tom Brady and company aren't putting up record setting numbers, they continue to find ways to get it done. They held off a late Falcons rally on fourth down under a minute to go. Aqib Talib bats away this Matt Ryan's pass.

Patriots get the win. They improve to 4-0. The Falcons big disappointment so far, they are 1-3.

All right. Number three in lineup section on BleacherReport.com, last day of the regular season for Major League Baseball, everybody is talking about the playoff possibilities not the Miami Marlins of all team, but they also told (ph) pitcher, Henderson Alvarez threw nine innings of no-hit baseball. The game was still tied at zero after Alvarez's pitch.

Bottom nine, this wild pitch with the bases loaded gives Alvarez his first career no-no. It was the third no-hitter of the major league season.

All right. Lane Kiffin, he's out as the head coach at USC. And boy, didn't see this one coming. The Trojans were blown out by Arizona State Saturday night. When they got back to LAX, USC athletic director, Pat Haden, pulled Kiffin off the bus to speak with him and right then and there, guys, he fired Kiffin.

And guys, poor Lane Kiffin. He told the bus drivers to wait and left his bags on the bus and while he was talking to Haden, one of the USC administrators, it's like said, "you can go ahead and go."

BERMAN: It's crazy, right? Lane Kiffin, though, into the Raiders. He was in Tennessee and now at USC. Not very long stays in any of the places, although, this termination unlike anything I've seen before.

SAMBOLIN: Oh my goodness! That's awful.

BERMAN: Pulled off the bus.

SCHOLES: Poor Lane Kiffin.

BERMAN: Yikes, Andy. Andy, appreciate it. Take care.

SCHOLES: All right.

SAMBOLIN: So, when I pull you off the bus, you know what to --

BERMAN: Exactly!

SAMBOLIN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: Madonna for you this morning. So, Madonna and Cher have had a crusty relationship for quite a while. Did you know that?

BERMAN: Big problem.

SAMBOLIN: All right. So, now, Cher is coming clean about her real feelings, telling the website, "Reddit," (ph) she doesn't hate Madonna, she just thinks the "Material Girl" lives difficult but using a different word, for that a word that begins with a "B."

BERMAN: Basketball?

SAMBOLIN: Yes. Something like that. Cher actually saying she respects Madonna's ability to get ahead as trend (ph), calling her one of the most amazing artists she's known. So, you call her a "B" and one of the most amazing artists you've ever known. Interesting.

BERMAN: Creative. Colorful. You have all of the realms (ph) as do I. My playlist is like full of Madonna and Cher.

SAMBOLIN: I'm a big Cher fan.

BERMAN: All right. That is all for this special extended wicked early beginning edition of EARLY START.

SAMBOLIN: Thanks for waking up.

BERMAN: I had a choice.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: It is time for "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan, it's all yours, guys.

BOLDUAN: The only thing that's better than one hour with you guys is two hours with you, guys. I'm just going to say. And I know our viewers agree. We'll see you guys in a little bit.

CUOMO: Especially now that John has cemented into my mind as the new Sonny Bono.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: It's time for "NEW DAY," everybody. Let's get it going.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Many Republican senators and Republican Governors have urged Republicans to knock it off, pass a budget, and move on.

CUOMO: Final countdown. Congress back in session within hours. If there's no deal, the government shuts down tonight. Neither side is budging. We're tracking all the developments.

BOLDUAN: The fallout. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers won't be paid some key government services set to shut down. Military families may be hit hard. What it means for you? MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Plus stunning new details on just how far the NSA surveillance program goes.

Amanda Knox back on trial in Italy at this hour.

And look at this, a duck boat tour gone terribly wrong.

CUOMO: Your "NEW DAY" starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: this is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to "NEW DAY." It's Monday, September 30th, six o'clock in the east. And this is a big day. See that? It's the countdown clock. We wish we didn't have to show it to you, but the reality is, 18 hours to make a deal to avert a shutdown when the government runs out of money.

At this hour, no deal looking likely. We're going to show you some images of just a fraction of what's going to be affected here, national parks, museums being prepared to shut down. That's unfortunate, but unacceptable is the toll on hundreds of thousands of families, including military who either won't be paid or will have their paychecks delayed. And so many in this country are living paycheck to paycheck already. We're going to hear from them coming up.

We're also going to be pressing Congressional leaders this morning on why they cannot reach a deal.

Now, we also want to show you something else. The Dow Jones futures are already diving this morning, down triple digits on fears of what a shutdown could bring, and Americans are sounding off, and probably no surprise they are not happy. In a brand-new CNN/ORC poll, 68 percent say a shutdown is a bad thing even if it's just for a few days.

And take a look at this poll result. Are these elected officials acting like spoiled children was one question? Well, the Republicans face most of the blame, but there is plenty of blame to go around in Washington right now for sure. We're going to break down these numbers in just a few minutes with John King. And we also have a team of reporters covering all of the angles. Let's begin this morning, though, with Brianna Keilar at White House.