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New Day

Shutdown Countdown: Less Than 18 Hours; Reacting To The Shutdown; What Remains Open; Shutdown On Main Street?; Small Plane Slams Into Hangar; Obama, Netanyahu Meeting; Hersh: Bin Laden Raid "One Big Lie"; "Breaking" Heart; New NSA Privacy Concerns

Aired September 30, 2013 - 06:00   ET

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


(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.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: 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.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: 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 ANCHOR: 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.

We know the House has sent a bill to the Senate over the weekend. It's one that the Senate is almost certain to reject. So Brianna, what do we know now?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate. The Senate is expected to take that bill the House passed and dismantle it in barring some unexpected breakthrough. We are on the fast track to a government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the old football strategy.

KEILAR (voice-over): House Republicans rallied on the steps of the capitol, calling on the Senate to come back to work, inside, a ghost town. Not long after the House GOP passed a bill in the early morning hours Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

KEILAR: It funds the government, but delays Obamacare for one year, now just hours to go before a deadline for a deal, the first government shutdown in 17 years seems all but certain. The blame game is in full swing, with Republicans on pre-emptive damage control.

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: So far, Majority Leader Harry Reid has essentially told the House of Representatives and the American people, go jump in a lake.

SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: He is saying 100 percent Obamacare or the highway. The president is the one saying, I will shutdown government if you don't give me everything I want on Obamacare.

KEILAR: They argued, they budged, demanding the president's health care program be delayed after initially voting to defund it altogether. But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid won't put this latest House bill up for a vote and President Obama, who met Sunday afternoon with his economic team at the White House, has threatened to veto of any measure that delays or defunds Obamacare.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Let me repeat it, it's not going to happen.

KEILAR: The Senate is expected to strip out the Obamacare delayed today and send it right back to the House. Meanwhile, the clock is clicking towards midnight when a government shutdown would close national parks, furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers and stall new passport applications.

There was one area of possible agreement, however, a repeal of a tax on medical devices that was included in the bill Republicans passed this weekend. A top Democrat said he was opened to the measure, but not with a shutdown looming.

SENATOR RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I am willing to look at that, but not with a gun to my head, not with the prospect of shutting down the government.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Now, we have a couple chances to hear from President Obama. Today, he will be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also has a cabinet meeting and there will be cameras there in case he does want to say anything. But Chris, he has made it pretty clear when tinkering with Obamacare in any major way. It is a non-starter for him.

CUOMO: The only thing that's clear about this situation, Brianna, is that it's bad for people. That's all we know for sure. Everything else is a mystery. We are going to hopefully unravel for everybody this morning. Thank you for the reporting to start us off.

We do have brand new CNN polls this morning that breakdown the way you think about the shutdown. Let's bring in CNN's chief national correspondent, John King. Narrowly, John, we want to show the polls to the people, said they understand the situation. Here I think people get it. We are actually going to do these polls this morning for the politicians. So what do they need to see in the numbers?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they need to see that the American people, Chris, don't like this idea, but they also will see, and this is one of the reasons we are where we are, polarized America. Your views on politics affect your views on the shutdown.

Look at this, seven in 10 Americans say it's a bad thing to shutdown the government even for a few days. Seven in 10 Americans say a bad thing for just a few days. Look at this, it jumps to eight in 10 Americans, 79 percent if that shutdown were to last a few weeks. So by and large, don't even think about it. The American people think this is a bad idea.

However, when you break it down by party, you do see polarized America. Almost nine in 10 Democrats say a bad idea to shut the government down a few days. Republicans are more divided. Four in 10 say it's a good thing. Independents six in 10 say it's a bad thing. So obviously, if you are a Democrat horrible, if you're an independent bad, Republicans much more divided on this, your views of the Tea Party affect your views of the shutdown.

If you support the Tea Party, look at this, 56 percent of Tea Party supporters say it's a good thing to make the point, shut the government down for a few days. Nine in ten people who oppose the Tea Party say, no, that's a horrible thing. Here, of course, is the defining question, if we come to it, if that countdown clock ticks down to zero and the government shuts down, who is more responsible?

Well, Republicans in Congress are more responsible if you ask in our poll? But the president, 36 percent of Americans say the president is more responsible for the government shutdown, 13 percent of Americans blame both. Again, Chris, let me show you this as we continue the conversation, your views on politics, your partisan views affect your views of the shutdown.

The 77 percent of Democrats blame Republicans in Congress and 66 percent of Republicans blame the president. Here's an interesting number for the president, the middle of America independence, pretty evenly divided on who is more responsible. So the president has the upper hand politically right now. Not by any great margin as that clock techs down.

CUOMO: Figure that those in Congress recognize that they can't lose much more credibility with the people, right? They are probably accepting that they are not liked right now and they are probably also accepting that they can fix the shutdown.

The big concern, John, I believe, you tell me that this momentum carries us right up to October 16th when they start playing with something they can't fix, the debt ceiling. Because once that's broken, the country has unfixable problems. The question becomes, where does the momentum take us between now and then, right?

KING: Exactly right on the debt ceiling. Let me take these numbers up and there is another question as well. You used the word "broken." People believe our system is broken. When you look at these polling numbers, the disgusts for this town are striking. I want to show just among independents, right? Has the president acted like a spoiled child?

This is among independents, 53 percent of independents say the president has acted like a spoiled child. How about how about Congress? Look at this number here, 69 percent of independents, again, people who tend to go both ways in politics. Those in the middle of the country are disgusted with everybody in Washington.

The Democrats in Congress don't fair all that well either. You mentioned, Chris, where are we going here as we get -- if we don't have a shutdown or where we go from here? Here's one of the reasons Republicans feel like they have some moral standing in this debate, 57 percent of American do oppose the health care law.

But let's be careful about that because a slice of Americans oppose it 11 percent because they don't think it is liberal enough. On the defining question, should you shut the government down to get your way on health care? Six in 10 Americans say it's more important to keep the government open than to shut it down on the health care fight.

COUMO: John, appreciate you going through the numbers, the mis- spoiled children. You know as a parent, the way you get kids to do what you want them to do, consequences if they do the wrong thing and reward them for doing the good thing. I wonder if that is what will happen here.

BOLDUAN: Unfortunately, analysts say the consequence that might actually impact change, in terms of will do their job is if the markets react and if the economy takes ahead and that is a huge problem. So we do know when it could happen, what people think about it. What will a shutdown really mean for you?

Christine Romans is here to explain to layout exactly will happen if the government starts going dark so what it's looking like, Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's not just theatrics in Washington, Kate. This is how you would feel a shutdown, no question. A few things you will notice immediately. All national parks, zoos, museums will close. That means no visits to, you know, venues like the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, the Washington Monument.

Many federal offices and programs will go dark. Interesting, when you talk about some of those going dark, it could very well be the jobs report on Friday. Maybe we won't get it because some of those non- essential workers will be sent home with no pay. Numerous government projects will be delayed due to those extensive furloughs.

Remember, you got an economy right now that is very tied to government spending and government contracts, so that could have a ripple effect all across Main Street. So what will remain opened? Federal courts we're told have enough resources for about 10 days. Passport offices will remain open and this is really important. Passport offices closed in the last shutdown. They will remain open, but not passport offices in federal buildings.

So be careful where you go to get your passport or get it renewed. Air Traffic Control stays open, Border Protection, Department of Defense is open, power grid maintenance, essential banking functions, all of that stays open. Social Security, Medicare and jobless checks, those will be paid, mandatory spending. You will get your direct deposit on your Social Security.

By the way, mail stays open, neither rain, or sleet, or your own government can shut down apparently the mail system. It doesn't rely on tax dollars for day-to-day service. Food stamps, debit cards, your food stamp will still refilled. The bad news, you still have to pay your taxes, right?

You pay your taxes and members of Congress who are apparently essential government employees they will be paid in the shutdown. So you have members of Congress who aren't doing their job are going to be paid for doing their job that they're not doing. How is that?

BOLDUAN: Talk about counterintuitive. So you laid it out really well. Mail is going to keep going, passport offices, though confusing, they are going to keep going.

ROMANS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Military is going to stay on the job though they could not be paid until later. Social security Checks are still going to go out. You could still feel this and quickly about right in your 401k.

ROMANS: I mean, this morning we have futures down about 120, 150 points right now. We'll be watching the markets. The markets, look, we're on the eve of something that hasn't happened in 17 years at a time when the economy isn't all that strong. It's bad news. It's a huge waste of time for all those people working in government, anybody who is working for the government or has contracts for the government or needs paperwork for the government.

Even home loans, FHA-backed home loans, those could stop. I think there are 60,000 of those a month that the government is signing. So it could hurt the housing market, a huge waste of time. Even if they're making a point, it hurts the economy, it hurts confidence.

BOLDUAN: All right, Christine, great laying it out, though. It's kind of depressing when you lay it out. We have to take it because that's where we are right now. Christine, thanks a lot.

There are a lot of other news developing at this hour so let's get straight to Michaela for the latest headlines.

PEREIRA: Yes, the shutdown is our focus today, but we want to make sure you're up to date on the rest of the headlines. No one survived when a business jet crashed at a Santa Monica Airport in California Sunday. The twin engine, Cessna went off the runway, slammed into that hangar, bursting into flames, the hangar then collapsed so firefighters weren't able to get inside. Right now, we do not know how many people were inside the jet or inside the hangar. We do know the plane carries anywhere between 7 and 9 passengers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will sit down with President Obama today, among the topics up for discussion, the situation with Iran. Netanyahu has pressed concern. The recent outreach for Iran's new president is just to stall for time while the country develops nuclear weapons. Netanyahu is also meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.

Amanda Knox back in the spotlight, her retrial is under way right now in Florence, Italy. She and her ex-boyfriend were convicted in 2009 of killing her roommate. Two years later, those convictions were overturned, but last year, Italy's Supreme Court ordered a retrial. Knox will not be in the courtroom, but we will have much more later on in our show.

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Hirsch claims the 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Ladin is one big lie. Hirsch drumming publicity for a new book that he's written on national security telling "The Guardian" newspaper not one word of the White House account of the Navy SEAL operation is true. Hirsch is hinting the Obama administration may be withholding information. Spoiler alert, the "Breaking Bad" finale aired last night, actually really do you a favor and not tell you how it ended, but the episode certainly has been a hot topic online, the hashtag "GoodbyeBreakingBad" trending on Twitter ahead of the finale. That finale received widespread praise from critics.

Don't worry we are going to let you see how it went on your DVR on your own because we want you to have that moment. Did you see it? Did you stay up late? You couldn't.

BOLDUAN: You know it was a big deal when I was seeing online where you can watch the "Breaking Bad" finale.

CUOMO: It was a balancing act for them. One of the reasons "Breaking Bad" is so huge is because it's non-traditional. It's a non- traditional network. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal. I wonder if the developer was like, my God, what do we do in Kansas?

BOLDUAN: I love within they go on top.

PEREIRA: There is rumor about a spinoff, right?

CUOMO: It's going to turn out that the new person who gets into like this really kind of shady business deal isn't going to be a teacher. It's going to be a meteorologist, which is an odd take on things.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'll having a total blond moment. It was only made as a spoiler.

CUOMO: You heard meteorologist.

PETERSONS: Then I'm look I got this. This is something that you see that often. Tacoma, Washington, they have so much rain about 3 to 5 inches over the weekend. They literally had the manholes exploding. Some were shooting as high as 20 feet in the air. So what happened? There was a huge storm in the Pacific Northwest. It pumped in all this moisture off the coast line and that's what they have been dealing with.

In fact, it will still be in the forecast today. We are still talking about anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of rain in through Seattle even up to Portland about 1 to 3 inches of rain still possible out there today and this is a tough storm. Winds are gusting as high as 75 miles per hour so definitely still another day or so in the forecast. It should clear up by the second of the half of the week.

The other reason for that is a huge temperature contrast in the Pacific Northwest. For the rest of us, what are we looking at? We're looking at a front making its way through the Midwest down to the northeast today. Here's the upside this. I want to show what it's look like in the water vapor, the reason for that, you can tell it is breaking apart.

It is dissipating. It is not going to be a rain-maker. Temperatures will stay mild and beautiful. Northeast down to the southeast, we are still loving this, a lot of beautiful weather in the 70s and '80s. So thank you for not spoiling that for me. I might have had a heart attack.

BOLDUAN: It was a great weekend of weather. Thank you so much, Indra.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, we've heard about the mountains of e-mail and phone data being collected by the NSA, but new information today we have is coming out about what they're doing with it. How far has the tracking gone and why is the NSA looking into who you are connected to on Facebook? We will answer those questions ahead.

CUOMO: As we try to figure out what the shutdown will mean, are you looking at members of the military, their families back here. We had heard the House had passed 423 to nothing resolution. Is it going to work like that? We'll let you know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to tell the leaders in Washington to try to cooperate a little more and try to compromise. I think the country is tired of all the bickering, all of the GOP shutdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They all need to be booted out, put some new people in. Start all over again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

For the first time, we're getting a glimpse of what the agency actually does with the information it gathers through the NSA surveillance program. The new details were published in "The New York Times." They're adding fuel to growing concern over privacy.

CNN's Pamela Brown joins us with more with that information people need to know.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is new information, Chris.

As you pointed out, "The New York Times" saying since November 2010, the NSA has been collecting data to unlock as many secrets as possible about certain American citizens who officials believe may have a link to foreign intelligence interests. As one privacy expert put it, the way the information is being used is a digital equivalence of tailing the suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): The NSA isn't only tracking metadata from your phone calls and e-mail logs, it's using that information to create a sophisticated web of some U.S. citizens, according to documents leaked to "The New York Times."

KAREN GREENBERG, CENTER ON NAT. SEC., FORDHAM UNIV. LAW SCHOOL: We assume as Americans if somebody, if the government is locking at your information, it's because they have a reason because you are suspected of a crime.

BROWN: This slide from an NSA PowerPoint presentation shows how analysts use software to create diagrams to chart a person's social ties, locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, according to documents leaked by a former government contractor Edward Snowden.

The policy shift intended to help the agency discover and track when there is a link between an intelligence interest overseas and a U.S. citizen.

The NSA can also draw a material from Facebook profiles, GPS location information, insurance information, property records and other public and commercial sources to better analyze American's phone and e-mail logs.

GREENBERG: Now we know from these leaks that this is how the government is operating, that there is a much broader swath of people that Americans are included in this mix.

BROWN: In a statement, the agency says, "We know there is a false perception the NSA listens to the phone calls and reads the e-mails of every day Americans, aiming to unlawfully monitor or profile U.S. citizens. It's just not the case."

NSA Chief Keith Alexander has said a person's individual data is analyzed only when there is a foreign intelligence justification.

While some argued the NSA efforts are keeping Americans safer, critics say this latest disclosure is yet another example of how the NSA is infringing on American's privacy.

GREENBERG: Americans assume a right to a certain kind of privacy. That usually starts at the door to their home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The leak documents do not specify how many American citizens have been caught up in this effort and how many have actually been involved in wrongdoing according to "The New York Times." Now, in the wake of these recent disclosure, President Obama has ordered a review of the NSA's under surveillance policies.

BOLDUAN: More and more information coming out. All right, Pamela, thank you so much.

BROWN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: And we want to hear your thoughts on this and all the stories that we're talking about -- tweet #newday and let us know what you think, as you get your day going today.

CUOMO: If you're angry, make sure it's to @KateBolduan.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

Coming up next on NEW DAY: a near disaster on the River Thames. A duck tour boat filled with tourists bursting into flames. Just look at the video. Passengers leaping into the water to survive. Just how dangerous are these rides?

BERMAN: That image also a metaphor for what's going on in our government. Now, we are showing you images of people we want to be hurt the least, members of the military and their family by this government shutdown. The House passed a resolution you family to protect them. But will it happen? We don't know and we'll tell you why.

Throughout the morning, you'll be hearing the voice of the American people on what might happen in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just completely amazed that it's come to this. They need to get together, the Republicans and Democrats and find a solution here before people like police officers, firefighters, are without a check.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop treating politics like a team sport, and try to solve problems for all of us than just pleasing the guys on your side and your party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: You're watching NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Great song will now be stained forever by the situation it's attached to. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It is Monday, September 30th.

Coming up in the show: the final countdown to a government shutdown. At midnight, funding stops, work furloughs begin for thousands of federal workers.

Note: members of Congress will still get paid being counted as essential workers, exempted from Obamacare, as well the law they are fighting about.

That said, we're going to break down how the shutdown will impact you.

BOLDUAN: We're also taking a look at this morning: dozens of tourists forced to jump overboard to escape a fire on a duck tour boat in London. Look at the flames there. Now, some critics are calling for all duck tours to be shut down. How dangerous are they? Why specifically duck tours? We're going to have a full report on that ahead.

CUOMO: A lot of news for you this morning. So, let's get to Michaela for the top stories. PEREIRA: Yes, let's take a look at the headlines here. There are no survivors after a twin engine plane crashed at Santa Monica airport in California. The plane was en route from Idaho when it went off the runway during landing, slamming into a hangar. The local fire department captain calls it an unsurvivable crash.

Authorities still do not know how many people were aboard. They can't get into the hangar because of damage.

A former military pilot with 50 years experience behind the controls killed after being hit by a helicopter spinning blades. Sixty-nine- year-old Carl Enlow (ph) was refueling after giving people rides at a Pennsylvania town fair Friday, left the chopper but re-entered to talk to his relief pilot when he was hit by the rotor.

Chicago police arresting a fifth suspect for a shooting at a park earlier this month that left 13 people wounded, including a 3-year-old boy. Twenty-two-year-old David Logan now faces charges of unlawful use of a weapon and obstructing justice. Police believe the shooting was gang-related.

The Navy ROTC back at Columbia University today after 44 years. It was banned from campus in 1969 during the Vietnam War. Columbia had a change of heart after "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed. School officials say more than 600 student veterans are enrolled this academic year.

And check this out, two motorists from Florida Keys getting up close and personal with waterspouts, five of them. Erin Osters (ph) and Kevin Jones (ph) are out fishing for lobster off the coast of Marathon when they came face-to-face with these twisters. They stared right into them.

They can be deadly. Hello. However, Johnson is a veteran charter boat captain. She says he's done it twice before, only when conditions were ripe. I'm sure their wives would argue these are not the right conditions, any time a waterspout is anywhere near, you should go the opposite way.

CUOMO: Honey, we're driving towards the waterspout again. Are you paying the insurance? Yes. Have fun, honey.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Awesome sight, but, man, oh, man. There you go.

You've had that conversation.

CUOMO: Ride faster, towards the waterspout.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: A little bit. Just kidding. Let's move now to our political gut check. An important one today, unless Congress reaches an 11th hour deal, the federal government will shut down in less than 18 hours. How could it impact your bottom line? How will that impact your bottom line? And what's the fallout for politician on both sides of the aisle?

Joining me to break it all down is CNN global economic analyst and assistant managing editor of "TIME" magazine, Rana Foroohar, and CNN political analyst and executive editor of "The Daily Beast", John Avlon. Two of my favorite people with the longest titles I have ever met.

Great to see you, guys.

So, John, first you. I think it's the question of the day, do you think there is still time for Congress to hammer out a dole before they hit?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, obviously, the clock is literally ticking, but there is a lack of urgency on Capitol Hill.