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Stocks Sag Despite Debt Deal; Beating on the Bus
Aired October 17, 2013 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The same stuff that we've been watching happen on Capitol Hill, we're going to see it happen again. China is even chiming in. They're one of our biggest foreign debt holders. A Chinese ratings agency is already saying, even with the Band-Aids in place, "the government is still approaching the verge of a default crisis."
Want a silver lining? The Dow gained about 600 points over the past six sessions. Look at the S&P 500. It's up 20 percent this year. Usually it's up only 8 percent. So if you've got a 401(k), it's probably not looking too bad right now, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That is good news. Alison Kosik reporting live from the New York Stock Exchange.
A bitter and divisive battle that's cast a cloud over Congress. Now I'm not talking about the partial government shutdown. I'm talking about the growing rift in the Republican Party displayed -- put on display by the shutdown. That's pitting establishment members against their Tea Party colleagues. And when you ask some Republicans what they think of the Tea Party movement, the response is surprising. A new Pew poll is out and it shows that more than half -- half of Republicans view the Tea Party as a separate and independent group. One that is not part of the Republican Party. Just 32 percent say the Tea Party is part of the GOP. CNN political commentator and "New York Times" op-ed columnist Ross Douthat is in Washington this morning.
Good morning, Ross.
ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: Oh, thanks for being here. So let's talk a little bit about that Pew poll. Does it surprise you?
DOUTHAT: Well, I -- what's interesting is, is that number probably includes two groups of people, right? It includes maybe moderate Republicans, who are angry at the Tea Party right now over the government shutdown and would like to sort of push Tea Partiers out of the GOP tent, and it also includes a lot of conservatives who identify with the Tea Party more than with the Republican Party itself and who would probably hear that question and say, you know, darn straight the Tea Party isn't part of the Republican Party and that's why I'm a proud Tea Partier. So you're getting - it's a sign of sort of, in a way, the divisions in the party that both factions can answer the question the same way and mean completely different things by it.
COSTELLO: But I think what's also -- the Pew poll also points this out, that members of the Tea Party, a majority of them, do associate themselves with the Republican Party.
DOUTHAT: Right. And this is -- the deep reality for the Republicans right now is that what they need, somehow, is a kind of synthesis, right? You cannot have a Republican Party without the base of the party. And the base of the party is mostly the kind of people who identify as Tea Partiers.
But at the same time, as I think the shutdown has fairly conclusively demonstrated, this style of right wing populism isn't necessarily very good at strategic thinking right now. And so in the end, the Tea Partiers needed, in a way, the sort of D.C. establishment to bail them out of the shutdown that they created. So looking ahead for the party, what you're looking for is a leader, perhaps a presidential candidate, who can somehow knit this coalition back together. And that's obviously going to be a difficult thing to do.
COSTELLO: That will be a very difficult thing to do.
Speaking of the shutdown, you write about the shutdown. You said, "it was an irresponsible, dysfunctional and deeply pointless act carried out by a party that on the evidence of the last few weeks shouldn't be trusted with the management of a banana stand, let alone the House of Representatives."
DOUTHAT: Yes, those are strong - strong words when you read them back to me like that.
COSTELLO: They're really strong words. So should someone be punished for this? And, if so, how?
DOUTHAT: Well, I don't -- as I - as I suggested, I think the - the goal for the party is not punishment, it is learning, right? I mean, I think, again, you can't have a situation where the party leadership in D.C. just says, we're going to declare war on the Tea Party. We're going to declare war on the populous, because you wouldn't have a political party. And, frankly, there are a lot of specific issues and areas where the populous have a lot to offer. They make good points. They have interesting policy ideas.
But on the particular strategic question of whether it made sense to shut down the government in pursuit of basically unattainable goals, they made a big mistake. And so what -- I mean I -- the title of the post that you just quoted was "A Teachable Moment." And I think that that -- for Republicans, that's the goal right now, to actually draw the right lessons from this and not come away from it thinking, well, if only we had, you know, fought harder and, you know, if only Ted Cruz had given a few more speeches everything would have turned out differently.
COSTELLO: Ross Douthat, thanks so much for your insight this morning.
DOUTHAT: Thanks so much for having me, Carol. COSTELLO: You're welcome.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, despite the loss and all the Republican infighting, John Boehner got a standing ovation last night. So what's next for the House speaker?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: There are plenty of Americans still angry about the dysfunction in our government, but sometimes you just got to laugh or you cry. We choose laughter this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": And we should be in a good mood. Ladies and gentlemen, as of what, Andy, like two hours ago, three hours ago?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something like that it's - yes.
O'BRIEN: It looks like Congress has finally made a deal to reopen the government. Now, if you want to know how this affects you, tomorrow the Washington Zoo panda cam is coming back online. That's what we're going to notice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And, man, those pandas got fat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": For the last week, guess what? In New York City, no murders. Oh, no murders. I think it's the government shutdown, but I'm not sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: If you're wondering about the panda cam, we just checked, it's still down. Give it a few hours, though. This afternoon, you can see if the pandas really did get fatter.
Back to business, though, and serious stuff.
House Speaker John Boehner admits he lost the fight. Many people say he also lost control of House Republicans. But despite speculation, Republicans are saying he probably will not lose his job. CNN's Joe Johns has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the end, Republicans came away with almost nothing. Yet behind closed doors, Speaker John Boehner got a standing ovation from colleagues and spoke to a hometown radio station.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER (voice-over): We fought the good fight. We just didn't win. JOHNS: It was hard to find anyone in the GOP ranks with a harsh word to say about the man who had led them to defeat.
REP. RAUL LABRADOR (R), IDAHO: I've actually been really proud of Speaker Boehner the last two and a half weeks. I don't think that he should be ashamed of anything that he has done.
JOHNS: Public polling shows that Boehner and the Republican Party suffered the most damage. But the early line is that this disaster isn't the speaker's fault.
REP. GREGG HARPER (R), MISSISSIPPI: I don't think we could have a better speaker under more difficult circumstances than we have here. He's not in an enviable position.
JOHNS: While no one in power is suggesting Boehner's role as speaker is now in jeopardy, the political reality is that it's an enormous loss for him and for his party.
REP. JOE BARTON (R), TEXAS: I don't think it's a good thing for the Republicans in the House when we basically recede to the Democrat Senate and to the president, who want to spend money and borrow more money with no structural reforms. I don't - I don't think you can call that a victory.
JOHNS: Congressman Joe Barton voted no on the bill, but still supports the speaker.
BARTON: You never are in as good of shape as you could have been when you lose as opposed to winning, but, you know, I voted for him for speaker back in January. I would vote for him again.
JOHNS: But when this issue comes up again early next year, it could be tougher sledding for Boehner because the conservative Republicans who picked this fight are not going away.
REP. TED POE (R), TEXAS: We should be talking about cutting spending before we start raising America's debt ceiling.
JOHNS: Looking ahead, one question will be, who's really running the House? Whether the speaker can ever assert real control, or if factions inside his party can keep calling the shots.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And we are waiting to hear more from President Obama this morning as the government reopens today for the first time in more than two weeks. The president is expected to begin speaking less than an hour from now. Now, the president has already said last night this won't happen again. But the reality is, we're now faced with a new deadline. A team of correspondents and analysts join us to break it all down in the next hour of NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 44 minutes past the hour.
The long-time woman's basketball coach at Holy Cross College is accused of abuse. Former player Ashley Cooper is suing Bill Gibbons. Listen to what Cooper's attorney said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH EILENDER, ATTORNEY FOR FORMER PLAYER: He would yell and scream at her. He would grab her by her jersey and pull her over and grab her from the back of the neck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The lawsuit also claims Holy Cross officials knew about the abuse but did nothing. A spokesperson says the college is reviewing the claims. Gibbons is on paid administrative leave.
The hunt is on for two convicted killers after they were mistakenly released from a Florida prison. Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker were released about two weeks apart from one another. Authorities blame forged documents that said the men's sentences had been reduced.
A frightening moment off the California coast. A shark swims up and passes under a paddle border. The guy who took this video says he actually went looking for great whites off Manhattan Beach. And guess what? He found one. Shark didn't seem to be too bothered, but the paddle border says the close encounter left him shaking like a leaf.
Remember this meteor caught on multiple cameras blazing through Russian skies back in February? Well, divers believe they have found a 1,200 pound chunk of that space rock in the bottom of a lake and they dragged it ashore. Scientists still need to examine the rock to confirm if it is indeed from space.
A ride on a school van turns violent. And a disturbing cell phone video goes viral. It is this clip that alerted police to the bloody beating last week of a 17-year-old student. Two of his classmates face assault charges and questions are being raised about how the bus driver handled the situation.
Pamela Brown is following the story for us from New York. Good morning, Pamela.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning to you, Carol.
Here we go again with yet another disturbing bullying story. In this case, had the students involved in the incident not filmed it and put it on Facebook, the full extent of what actually happened may never have come to light. In fact, police say they were alerted three days after the attack, but not by the bus driver. But by parents who saw the video on Facebook.
As of yesterday, two students have been charged as juveniles and the driver could face charges as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN (voice-over): It starts with these two students being relentlessly taunted onboard a van ride home from a Pennsylvania school last Wednesday. Things quickly escalate. Watch as one of the agitators suddenly punches a 17-year-old student in the face. The result: a bloody nose and three chipped teeth. The victim's friend claims he was also punched. Watch as the injured 17-year-old pleads with the driver to let him off the five-person van.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me off the bus.
BROWN: But the 34-year-old driver seemingly didn't intervene, call for help or pull over during the minute-long video posted to Facebook.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't understand how he could sit there and see this happening and not put a stop to it.
BROWN: And police apparently weren't notified about the incident until they were tipped off about the video going viral over the weekend.
JOSEPH BAIL, COMMISSIONER, CHESTER POLICE, PENNSYLVANIA POLICE: I have a problem with a grown adult not reporting it. He has a responsibility to inform his superiors and the police of a criminal act.
BROWN: Pennsylvania state law requires bus drivers to pull over and call 911 for help or report the incident to authorities in an expeditious time frame. On Tuesday, the district attorney charged two of the 16-year-old aggressors with aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats and related crimes. They will not be charged as adults.
This is just the latest school bus beating to go viral this year. Remember this vicious attack in Tampa, Florida where three teenage students beat this helpless 13-year-old? In that case, the bus driver came under fire when he called for help rather than intervene -- a choice he had under school policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And the mother of that 17-year-old victim told us that her son had been bullied by the students involved in the attack throughout the school year.
But she says she's more upset with the bus driver than the students for the fact that he didn't step in to help her son. We reached out to the school district and they told us they are reviewing the actions of staff members aware of the incident to determine if district procedures were followed -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's so hard to watch. It's just so sad. Pamela Brown, thank you so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, in a series that's been dominated by pitching, the bats wake up in Detroit. Jim Leland you are a genius. We'll be back with more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'REILLY: Jim Leland, genius. He changed the batting order. And guess what, Andy Scholes, the Tigers win.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes big win for your Tigers, Carol. Big difference between being tied 2-2 and being down 3-1.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
SCHOLES: Yes so, yes after not scoring at all in game three, the bats they finally came alive for the Tigers in game four, came out roaring in the second inning. Tigers scored five runs off Jake Peavy. Corey Hunter pumps after this RBI double with the bases loaded. Detroit, they scored seven runs in the game they win it 7-3. Series now --
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOLES: -- it's all tied up at two games apiece. Game five tonight, game five that kicks off at 8:00 Eastern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Batting 6th in right field, number 66. He says the chupacabra is real-- Yasiel Puig.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: The Dodgers is pulling out all the stuff to stay alive in the NLCS. Will Ferrell on hand to pump up the crowd with some creative player introductions. And hey Carol guess it works the Dodgers they hadn't hit a homerun all series and they explode for a team playoff record four in the game two of them came off the bat of Adrian Gonzalez. Check it out he throws up the Mickey Mouse ears after the first one. That was a jab at Cardinals Pitcher Adam Wainwright who said Gonzalez's celebrations look like Mickey Mouse stuff on Monday. So hey the Dodgers get the last laugh last night. They win 6-4. Game six is tomorrow night on TBS.
All it's trending right now on BleacherReport.com, the drama surrounding Peyton Manning's homecoming to Indy this Sunday. Earlier in the week, owner -- Colts owner Jim Irsay told "USA Today" basically it was great having Peyton but in the end they only won one Super Bowl.
The Broncos head coach John Buck called the comments disappointing and inappropriate. And when asked about it yesterday Peyton had no comment.
COSTELLO: That's because he has class.
SCHOLES: Yes this game needed any more hype already right Carol.
COSTELLO: That's right. SCHOLES: All right Peyton's Dad, Archie, he's one of the 13 people who have been selected to be on the new committee that will decide which four college football teams make the playoffs. And the most surprising name on the committee is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Despite never working directly in college athletics, Rice says she has what it takes to be part of the committee because she's no stranger to analyzing data and making tough decisions.
Now the committee will meet four times during the season starting in mid-October and they're going to release rankings every other week. And Carol, Rice she also said head-to-head match-ups and strength schedule is going to be a big determining factor on who they she put in the playoffs. So she hopes teams like Alabama they're not going to play teams like North Texas.
COSTELLO: And it's just one more step on her road to NFL commissioner.
SCHOLES: Oh really.
COSTELLO: Yes go Condi.
SCHOLES: You heard it here first.
COSTELLO: You never know. Thanks, Andy Scholes.
I guess we're going to take a break now? Yes. Break we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The debt crisis and the shutdown made for some serious headaches but also created some hysterical moments even if we laughed to keep from crying.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Ted Cruz, poster boy for the shutdown, led the press pack, as he headed for -- wait a minute, the microphone is back there. About-face, but not much saving face, as Uncle Sam turned around the boat before it went over the falls. Say good-bye to all those shutdown jokes.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Our Congress today, in case you haven't heard, continued to play America's least favorite game show "No Deal or No Deal".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time for let's make a deal.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: There is a deal in the works.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a done deal.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: There's not a deal until there's a deal.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The mess and tenor of a deal.
LUKE RUSSERT, MSNBC CORRESPONDENT: Get this (INAUDIBLE) like Stevie Wonder once said, "Signed, sealed and delivered."
MOOS: Or as the Senate chaplain put it.
REV. BARRY BLACK, SENATE CHAPLAIN: Lord, we see a faint light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
MOOS: Amen.
(on camera): Now that the shutdown and possible default are behind us, in the rear-view mirror, so to speak, so are some of those special moments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to demonstrate if the Republican side will look at me. I will show you who's responsible. Right here. Here you are. Who is -- who's responsible for shutting down the national parks?
MOOS (voice-over): But what are we going to do without all those weird metaphors? Senator Cruz was compared to a rabbit by a Republican consultant.
ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: He's having bunny sex. The snowshoe hair every 10 years multiplies sixfold.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Are you high? What are you talking about?
CASTELLANOS: I'm high.
MOOS: Just hours before a deal was struck, a FOX News psychiatrist used President Obama's tough talk --
OBAMA: You do not hold people hostage --
MOOS: -- to psychoanalyze the president.
DR. KEITH ABLOW, PSYCHIATRIST: There's a real victim mentality here. I think the president going back to when his dad abandoned him, when his mother left him with his grandparents, the president sees himself as the victim-in-chief.
MOOS: It's enough to make your head explode.
Cartoonist Nate (inaudible) turned the movie "Gravity" into "Insanity", with the spaceship labeled shutdown exploding and the voters untethered, floating off into space.
he most succinct announcement of crisis averted was a tweet by Peewee Herman, "No government default, 15 more days until Halloween."
Maybe Congress deserves a prize for making a deal. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a trip to Puerto Rico.
MOOS: Make it one way. Why stop at finger pointing when you can point mirrors.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's responsible.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me. President Obama speaks later this hour. You will hear from him because your government is fully open again. These are new pictures from outside the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., one of the dozens of national museums opening their doors again for the first time in 16 days. These are live pictures.
