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New Day
Picking up the Pieces; Rob Ford Stripped of Powers; Mortgage Settlement; Kennedy In Japan
Aired November 19, 2013 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Very conflicting priorities that we're seeing playing out right now. John, great to see you. Thank you.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's what makes it fun.
BOLDUAN: I guess so. That's one way to describe it. Thanks, John.
Let's get back over to Michaela for more of the top stories.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good morning to you guys once again.
We want to bring you up to date on the latest news. The death toll from rising to eight from Sunday's onslaught of tornadoes in the Midwest. Hundreds of thousands of people are without power from Wisconsin to Missouri. In hard-hit Illinois, state of emergency has been declared in seven counties.
With seven confirmed cases of meningitis B on campus this year, Princeton University will make a vaccine available to students and staff that is not yet approved in the U.S. It's the only vaccine for the potentially deadly strain of the disease. It is already approved for use in Europe and Australia. So far, the FDA has improved importing the meningitis B vaccine.
The spying can go on for now. The Supreme Court ruling the NSA can continue its controversial domestic phone surveillance operations, rejecting an appeal from a privacy rights groups to stop the program. They argued a secret federal court improperly authorized the surveillance program that mines data from personal phone calls made by every day Americans.
Two-time Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards going back to his roots practicing law once again with his former partner. They'll be joined by Edwards daughter, Kate, in a statement. Edwards said he wants to take cases that change social inequities in favor of the greater good. It's his first time in the spotlight since his acquittal last year on campaign finance fraud charges.
The University of Texas condemning a conservative student group's plan tomorrow, saying it contributes to the degradation of campus culture. The game's premise to catch up to five student volunteers wearing illegal immigrant name tags, and yell border patrol. The reward: a $25 gift card. Little digging on this. They said the purpose of doing this event was to generate discussion about the issue of illegal immigration. And they said --
BOLDUAN: That it did.
PEREIRA: They said if they held a forum or some sort of public debate, no one would come. They said we're not afraid of controversy. We'll do this.
One might argue there was better ways to do this.
BOLDUAN: But mission accomplished.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Never heard of them before. Got attention now.
BOLDUAN: My goodness.
PEREIRA: But at the cost of demeaning other students. That's the concern the university has.
BOLDUAN: Exactly.
CUOMO: Immigration, people care, they don't. PC, oh, they care.
BOLDUAN: People care.
CUOMO: They'll come out and pay attention.
Coming up on "NEW DAY", history unfolding in Tokyo. Decades after her father fought the Japanese war in World War II, Caroline Kennedy becomes America's new ambassador to Japan. How the Japanese people are responding to her first official visit.
BOLDUAN: Then, from dancing to knocking into people, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's behavior gets more out of control during a fiery meeting with city council. Why he's now declaring outright and promising revenge in next year's election. We have his one -on-one interview.
CUOMO: That was compelling, though, the show and tell he did there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: I mean, it's almost a laugh or cry moment. The guy is in such distress. Who are we talking about? Big shocker. Toronto mayor, Mr. Ford, now mayor in name only. However, the Toronto City Council voted to strip him of any meaningful powers in a wild city hall meeting.
Ford accused council members of a coup d'etat, declaring war on his political enemies. This video of him, that's -- he's mocking one of the counselors there. During this heated session he had to make another apology for knocking an elderly councilwoman to the ground. He did help her up. That's nice.
Meanwhile, in a one-on-one interview with CNN's Bill Weir, Ford remained defiant as he talked about the controversy surrounding him.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rob, from the outside, it seems like you are a man under tremendous burdens this week. How has this been -- how has this week been for you?
ROB FORD, TORONTO MAYOR: It's all self-inflicted, you know? It's my fault. I made mistakes. You own up to it and move on.
WEIR (voice-over): And so, in his very next breath, Rob Ford moves on.
R. FORD: I went down to city hall. I've cleaned it out. These people just aren't happy. These counselors want me out, the media wants me out. I told the chief of police I want efficiencies. You know, he wants me out. I'm not going anywhere.
WEIR: The setting for this interview is more than a little surreal. This is the rec room of a suburban Toronto housing project and it is filled with loyal and vocal members of Ford Nation. Things start relatively sedate. When I ask why he decided to admit his crack use after months of denial, he gets so angry he forgets who's in the room.
R. FORD: I had enough. I was sick and tired of the allegations and all of this (EXPLETIVE DELETED), excuse my words. Sorry, kids -- I shouldn't have swore in front of the kids.
But after a while, I know what I'm doing is right. I'm serving the people. I'm saving taxpayers money. And you know what? I make mistakes. I drank too much. I smoked some crack sometime. What can I say? I made a mistake. I'm human.
WEIR: How we find ourselves in a middle of a Rob Ford rant, in the middle of the project?
Interesting story, actually started on "AC360" Friday night after give and take with the mayor's counselor brother Doug, we were about to say good-bye.
DOUG FORD, MAYOR FORD'S BROTHER: We look forward to having you by Toronto one day.
WEIR (on camera): I'll take you up on that.
(voice-over): And 18 hours later, I found myself unloading toys from Doug Ford's SUV, outside the Queens plate housing project in the heart of their ward.
While we wait for the mayor, Doug's unscripted style of public relation takes a turn, when a long-time resident named Ken wonders over the complain, about a threatened eviction and a run-in with the cops.
And as the counselor politely tries to nudge him to the door, he says that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know a lot of friends that bought hash from you, actually.
D. FORD: Yes, that's good, that's good.
WEIR: Awkward because he's been fighting those allegations since May. When the "Toronto Globe and Mail" dug into the Ford family checkered past and reported that Doug spent much of the '80s as a mid-level hashish dealer.
(on camera): That's not the first time I've heard the allegations that your youth, you're slinging a little hash.
D. FORD: No, I wasn't slinging hash. I said it very clearly. Thirty years ago or 31 years ago, I smoked marijuana. I didn't deal marijuana.
WEIR (voice-over): In downtown Toronto, Mayor Rob Ford is the target of almost daily protests.
PROTESTERS: Ford has to go!
WEIR: On the council floor of city hall, he's a political pariah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be careful.
R. FORD: Yes, I have.
I stick up for the poor people. And that's the bottom line.
WEIR: His brother invited us here to witness this love, a counterweight to the gauntlet of political foes downtown, doing all they can to strip away his power lead.
(on camera): I'm interested in what happened this week about the vote. It was 41-2 to strip you from your emergency powers. From the outside, that seems like you guys are political outcasts.
R. FORD: OK, sure. You know how you want to make friends at city hall? Just keep spending their money, spend taxpayers money, let them go on their free trips, hand them out their free food, let them do whatever they want. Do what you want with your money, not with taxpayers money and turn around and cry poor.
WEIR: Do you have any political allies left?
D. FORD: Well --
WEIR: Did you ever have any?
D. FORD: We never had any in the beginning. We are the power of the people. I'll tell you one thing, I'll workday in and day out to knock these counselors off. I'll target these areas and work day in and day out to knock them off.
WEIR: Really?
D. FORD: Yes, I'm going to bring Ford Nation live all across the city.
WEIR: So, you have other candidates that you are going to foster in these wards to repeat what you have done?
D. FORD: One hundred percent.
WEIR: Really?
D. FORD: We're going to hit them hard, everything we got. We make Chicago politics look like a Tea Party. We do. It's vicious.
R. FORD: Bill, you show me one other major city that has saved $1 billion that has turned it around like I have. Bill, our roads are getting done now. It's clean, it's safe. The crime is down. Things are happening. We have more jobs, creating over 50,000 jobs in one year last year.
WEIR: But take all of that, given all of that, couldn't you be more effective if you were healthier? In your lifestyle?
R. FORD: I'm trying to lose some weight. I'm working out. I'm not perfect.
WEIR: But why not see some addiction specialist just to make sure?
R. FORD: I'm not an addict.
WEIR: Bill Weir, CNN, Toronto.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: I mean, it is a bit of a laugh or cry moment, I think you have to say. You don't know what to make of it. But the only good thing for the city is that his term ends next year and they've stripped him of all of his power.
PEREIRA: It will be a long year, though. I mean, think about it. The thing I do wonder is what changes will be made, if they can or if they will implement any changes the way the structure of city council and mayoral --
BOLDUAN: So they could be like a recall or anything.
PEREIRA: Or going forward., they don't want to have this kind of situation happened to them again. I wonder if they'll be any changes in the laws.
CUOMO: I mean, the problem is the guy is in public office. To me, it's never been a story about politics, it's so obvious that this guy is in distress and the problem is he in all likelihood can't keep going the way he's going right now. PEREIRA: Of course, he can't.
CUOMO: It's no surprise that he pops off when you ask him about his addiction. He's in denial of it. You know, no wonderment to that. He doesn't care if the kids are around.
He's not -- you know, he's bursting out. That's what he's going to do right now when he's in a manic phase of behavior. It's unfortunate that it has to play out in a public forum, is that he needs real help and services.
BOLDUAN: And that's the thing he doesn't understand. He said at one point in the interview, I don't think -- I think of myself as a normal person. I don't think of myself as a politician or mayor.
That's wrong. You are the mayor, you are a politician, you are in public life.
CUOMO: But at the same time, he's also a great demonstration of humanity. These issues affect every family, either directly or by extension.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
CUOMO: And that's why it's so compelling on so many different levels.
I just hope that it doesn't end in a very horrible way.
BOLDUAN: Right.
PEREIRA: Ditto.
BOLDUAN: Worse than it already has.
All right. Let's get back to Indra with a look at the national forecast. She was in Washington, Illinois for us.
Still looking at the devastation behind you, Indra. How is the weather looking today?
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know what a different picture for the eastern half of the country now in comparison to all that severe weather we did see on the weekend. Now, a dome of high pressure is in place, we're talking about temperatures. Very mild and generally just about 5 or 8 degrees or so below normal. That will be the trend for the next several days staying dry and a little bit on the cool side.
So, we turn to the next system affecting all of us as it makes its way across the country. Currently, that system in the Pacific Northwest still dumping large amounts of snow. We're talking about pretty much today the Cascades in Washington, Montana and Idaho, but by tomorrow, we'll start to see that really push into Wyoming where we could see over a foot of snow, even portions of Colorado will start to see that snow. Now, remember, this is a cold system eventually making its way across the country. By Wednesday, through tomorrow, we'll be talking especially into Thursday, the Midwest starting to see some of that rainfall.
The reason I before I that up again, where we are standing right now today, it is chilly, it is cold, temperatures really just feeling like they're in the 30s. But conditions will only worsen when you add in the factor of rain by tomorrow. So, by tomorrow, looking at rain and extending into heavy rain as we go through Thursday and Friday and then by Saturday, right here, we're going to be talking about some snow. So, again, very, very tough situation for residents here, still trying to pick up the pieces.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Indra. We'll get back to you shortly.
CUOMO: All right. Coming up on "NEW DAY": Why is Caroline Kennedy in a horse drawn carriage? This is her entrance as U.S. ambassador to Japan. We'll go there live and give you a report on it.
PEREIRA: And there is more than one way to get past the defense? I guarantee you never thought of this one or maybe you have. It's our "Must-See Moment" today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: I love Pink Floyd. Welcome to "NEW DAY". It is "Money Time." JPMorgan was in a jam, right, blamed by the government in part for the mortgage mess leading up to the financial crisis. Now, there's a settlement. But, before you say, oh, they got off easy. Wait until you hear the terms. Chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, is here.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is big.
CUOMO: Big, right?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: $13 billion. Jamie Dimon, this is his biggest deal ever, right? He's going to be able to put months and months of legal (INAUDIBLE) behind (ph) because the justice department agreeing with $13 billion settlement over these mortgage practices going into the financial crisis. The piece they're finishing up, a big chunk directly to home owners, Chris, four billion.
This is a really important part of it because about 1.5 billion is going to go to reduce loan payments for underwater homeowners. Really important -- 500 million, that's going to go to pay for partial loan forgiveness. Very important. Another 2 billion could be new loans for low-income buyers. Look, this is bigger than --
BOLDUAN: That's a lot of money there.
ROMANS: Look, this is bigger than the Deepwater Horizon settlement, bigger than the GlaxoSmithKline settlement for -- marketing some drugs, 13 billion is a lot of money.
CUOMO: And, it ain't the end, is it? ROMANS: No.
CUOMO: This is one set of penalties, but there's still -- there's a chance of prosecution.
ROMANS: There's a criminal investigation still ongoing in California. That continues under here. He couldn't get that, you know -- he couldn't get that wiped out under here. So, watch this base. But this puts to rest a slew of state and federal, civil investigations. It is a lot of money.
Now, what I'm going to be watching, you guys, is how much of that consumer portion really gets deployed to help people. And there's an independent overseer over that. JPMorgan will not be overseeing that four billion. It will be someone else making sure it gets done.
CUOMO: It's a lot of need, but people still say for all the trouble and all the shenanigans, nobody has gone to jail for what happened.
ROMANS: No.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
Now, almost 50 years to the day of JFK's assassination, his daughter, Caroline Kennedy, takes center stage in Tokyo. Just look at that. Following a traditional horse drawn carriage ride, she presented her credentials to Japan's emperor as new U.S. ambassador there. CNNs Kyung Lah is in Tokyo with all of the fanfare and there's quite a lot of it. Hey, Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A ton of it, Kate. And it was a ceremony with all the trappings of Japanese formality and all of it witnessed by an unprecedented crowd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): Clutching cameras and waving, thousands of Japanese lined the streets to watch a daughter fulfill her father's sojourn.
"She's completing the mission he couldn't fulfill," says Jugo Shibazaki (ph). "This is significant here." JFK was to be the first U.S. president to visit Japan, but he was assassinated. Fifty years later, nearly to the day of his death, his only surviving child made her way through the streets of Tokyo by horse drawn carriage to the emperor.
She passed by many in this crowd who witnessed the first ever live TV images broadcast out of the U.S. to Japan 50 years ago, news coverage of the assassination, images of the two young Kennedy children seared into the collective Japanese memory.
"Caroline is like my friend," she says. "Of course, we are in totally different worlds but to me, she is special." This is the sort of enthusiasm usually reserved for pop stars or the Japanese royal family.
Do you remember anyone ever getting this excited about a U.S. ambassador here in Japan? "Heck no" say the Watanabes (ph) who traveled 200 miles to be here. And ask anyone about job qualifications --
Caroline Kennedy doesn't have a lot of diplomatic experience. "That doesn't matter," she says emphatically, "she can do the job." "This is a country after all where blood lines trump all." Why American Nancy Nichols, who lives in Japan, says this child of Camelot is royalty here.
NANCY NICHOLS, SPECTATOR: Making a full circle and closing the bonds that we have and I think it's great.
LAH: After a brief ceremony with Emperor Akihito, Ambassador Kennedy returned to her carriage to begin her path in U.S.-Japan history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (on-camera): Now, the ambassador did say that she is looking forward to getting to work. As far as marking the significance of this week, she plans to do that privately and she will not be making any public statements, any paper statements no matter how many times we ask her to. Back to you guys in New York.
PEREIRA: All right. Kyung, thanks so much for that.
We're going to head now to our "Must-See Moment." You think, horse drawn carriage might be it, but no, we've got a football game. A football player, a senior who shows us if you can't get around a hurdle, go over it. Division 2 Lincoln University running back, Martee Tanner, doing an incredible --
(CROSSTALK)
PEREIRA: -- over a Southwestern Baptist defender Saturday. Not only does he manage to safe the landing, he runs several yards before being tackled. We should point out, not his first time doing this. He does the move during practice, but this is the first time he executed it during an actual game.
BOLDUAN: I think there's like holy system there (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Did you see the air he got?
(LAUGHTER)
PEREIRA: I know.
CUOMO: I think I saw a commercial like this once. I don't know if it was for Gatorade or something where this kid --
PEREIRA: I think I know the one you're talking about. Yes. CUOMO: And then like, he becomes a YouTube sensation.
BOLDUAN: It goes viral.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: But, yes.
CUOMO: Athleticism, creativity, presence of mind, genius.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Genius.
CUOMO: Ah, and a little segue to not so much genius on the football field. Coming up on "NEW DAY", what, I didn't win the game? Tom Brady honking that after the Patriots couldn't figure out how to win from so close. Was he robbed? That's what he says to the officials. Right now, he's saying I was robbed. I was robbed.
BOLDUAN: Is that what he said?
CUOMO: We'll let you decide. No, that's not what he's saying.
BOLDUAN: You can read lips.
CUOMO: Yes, I can.
(LAUGHTER)
CUOMO: Not on TV, though.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Football controversy, or no, the Patriots just couldn't get it done. You decide for yourself. We will be talking about the final play of the game against the Panthers, looming large, more for the reaction than the play itself. Andy Scholes joins us with this morning's "Bleacher Report." Also known as watch Cuomo gloat.
(LAUGHTER)
CUOMO: What did you make of this play last night?
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: You know what, Chris, I thought Tom Brady, he was right to be mad, because he should have got one more shot to win this game. Let's take a look. This is what happened on this controversial final play. Three was seconds left, Patriots were down by four. Brady goes for Rob Gronkowski in the end zone. The ball was intercepted, but a flag is thrown because Gronk was clearly interfered with. Take a look. But after the officials get together, they pick up the flag because they say the pass was uncatchable. Now, Brady was clearly not happy with the call. Watch him chase after the officials as they head to the tunnel. He couldn't do anything about, though, guys, because the Panthers won the game, 24-20.
But, if you look at the play, there's differing views. Is this interference or not? The ball was underthrown. But Gronkowski didn't have the chance to go back and get it.
BOLDUAN: The pass was uncatchable, I feel like that is not an area that the refs should weight into.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: That is a real call, whether it's catchable or not.
BOLDUAN: Yes, thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHOLES: The interference happens four yards into the end zone. And then, the ball was intercepted four yards into the end zone. So, to me, it should have been a penalty.
CUOMO: How about the fact of calling the interference, though, whether or not it's an interference, he doesn't even try to fight through the guy who's holding him. This is football, brother. This is football.
SCHOLES: Yes. Gronkowski did not sell it well. That was probably one of the reasons --
CUOMO: And is it because it's the Patriots? Is it -- they're not allowed to lose. They have to win in the final seconds of the game.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: I don't think the refs were thinking of that.
CUOMO: Happens every week. Just because it's the Patriots, Tom Brady. Scholes looks like him. He's biased.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHOLES: I'm a fan.
BOLDUAN: Exactly. All right. Andy, run. We'll talk to you later.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Thanks so much.
We're now at the top of the hour which means it's time for your top news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a huge disappointment and especially since I had, you know, my story had been shared by the president.
CUOMO: New this hour, a CNN exclusive, a woman used by the president as an Obamacare success story turns on the program. We'll tell you why. And we have new details about warnings months before the launch.
BOLDUAN: Also new this hour, terrifying video of a 737 jet crashing in Russia. More than 50 people killed, but why does it appear to plummet to the ground?
