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New Day

Just A Handshake?; Mike Tyson Banned in Britain; Nick Saban Rumors Heat Up; Mary Barra Named CEO of GM; Bipartisan Budget Deal Voted Today

Aired December 11, 2013 - 06:30   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama, Raul Castro shaking hands on the stage at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela. It seems to me this is a bit of a script that the world is following here. Before the event, everyone was asking, will they shake hands?

Then the minute they shake hands everyone is, look, they're shaking hands. Then there's the predictable outrage, talking about could it have been avoided.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Could it have been avoided? Well, look, he's right there. He's part of the official guests. This is a Mandela event, not an Obama event. He could have walked right by him, we'd be talking about that, the snub, not the handshake.

The president decided to show good manners, to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela. This was a source of tension between American presidents and Mr. Mandela, he had relationships with Fidel Castro, then Raul Castro, relationships with Gadhafi, relationships with Mugabe. So, it was always a source of tension.

The president decided this is not my event. This is not a big deal, I'm going to shake hands. You see largely Republicans from Florida who have to deal with the Cuban-American population saying this is a propaganda prop for the dictator in Cuba.

I would actually say, though, that we're talking this a lot because it's interesting.

Look, Barack Obama is the 11th American president to have to deal with the Castro dance. Fidel Castro came to power during the Eisenhower administration.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly.

KING: This is a debate that's gone on past any of our lifetimes. You can add up our lifetimes get to this. Look, in today's world, anything you do is going to cause a controversy. I think the president was showing good manners here.

BOLDUAN: And it should also being taken into context that when he took to the podium and making his speech, he did say very clearly those who want to honor Mandela should honor him and follow his struggle and work towards, you know, better human rights records. I mean, he said it more eloquently than me.

KING: If he hadn't said that, we have more of a debate today.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks, John. Great to see you.

KING: Take care, guys.

BOLDUAN: All right. Let's get to the other headlines this morning. Pamela Brown in for Michaela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Great to be here with you.

Making news on this Wednesday morning, they're calling it the miracle in the mountains. A Nevada family of six found alive and well after spending two days stranded in a rugged mountain range in subzero temperatures. Their Jeep overturned during a family outing. James Glanton is credited with saving his girlfriend, their two kids and his niece and nephew by heating rocks and burning a spare tire to keep everyone warm.

Today is the first of three days, the body of Nelson Mandela will be lying in state in South Africa today. Thousands line the route this morning as his body was moved to the main government building in Pretoria.

Another memorial service is being held for Mandela at the National Cathedral in Washington. Speakers include Vice President Joe Biden.

And it appears that terrorist assault on a mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that left 67 people dead, and 200 wounded was far from a sophisticated attack authorities believed it to be. An NYPD report says it's likely just four gunmen carried it all and they all escaped. The report debunks claims by Kenyan authorities that said more than 15 al Shabaab terrorists were involved and were holding hostages.

And check out these incredible video of a chain reaction crash in Wisconsin. It happened on Sunday. Menomonee Falls police were responding to emergency calls as their dash cams rolled, Sunday's snowfall is being blamed for dozens of crashes in southeast Wisconsin in which three people died.

And a follow-up to a story we've been following, a college basketball player can keep the $20,000 he won for a half-court shot to use as scholarship money. Cameron Rodriguez sank the shot at an Oklahoma City Thunder Game. Well, the NIAI initially said Rodriguez would forfeit his ability to play at Southwestern College if he kept his winnings. The school appealed and he was able to keep the money to put towards his education.

BERMAN: We spoke to him last week.

BROWN: We did on Thanksgiving.

BERMAN: He is the nicest guy ever. He wasn't sure. BROWN: No, he wasn't sure, but very humble, and just said, you know, whatever happens is fine. I'm so glad to see this is a happy ending.

BOLDUAN: That would have been such a letdown.

BERMAN: College ain't cheap either. Twenty grand will help out to be sure.

BROWN: Yes, so great.

BERMAN: Thanks, Pamela.

All right. Next up on "NEW DAY", a story that is really honestly way too bizarre to believe. A man leaping to his death at a mall because he couldn't shop for another minute with his girlfriend. For real? You have to hear this.

BOLDUAN: Also ahead, a major first for the auto industry. We'll tell you how General Motors new CEO is breaking the glass ceiling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to "NEW DAY".

Let's go around the world now starting in Argentina. Another night of looting and deadly violence as mobs take advantage of a police strike.

Shasta Darlington is following the developments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, at least ten people have been killed and hundreds injured amid widespread looting in northern Argentina. The violence erupted last week when the police went on strike to demand higher pay. With fewer police on the street, the looting spread with people running not only stores but homes in the run-up to Christmas. Now, shop keepers have started taking up arms.

Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Shasta, thank you so much for that.

Banned in Britain, the British government refusing to let former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson into the country.

Erin McLaughlin explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mike Tyson once said everybody has plans until they get punched. It looks like Tyson's plans to enter the U.K. to promote his new book have taken a hit. New immigration rules say that anyone sentenced to more than four years in jail is barred from entering Britain. In a 1992, Tyson was sentenced to six years for rape. He ended up serving three. Tyson tweeted a thank you to the British press for agreeing to meet with him in Paris instead.

Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Erin, thank you for that.

Now to China where a man apparently fed up with Christmas shopping jumped to his death at a mall.

Ivan Watson is picking up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This appears to be the case of holiday shopping that pushed one Chinese man tragically over the edge. China state news agency reports a man jumped over the seventh floor balcony of a shopping mall in the eastern city of Xuzhou on Sunday. He was reportedly heard arguing with his girlfriend over shopping expenses before making the fatal leap.

Now, Christmas is not traditionally an important holiday in China but as you can see, some shopping centers have embraced its colors, sales and marketing pressure which is may have contributed to this man's act of suicide.

Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right, Ivan, thank you so much. That is horrific.

BERMAN: A strange, strange story.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: I feel for that family. Thanks, Kate.

Let's get a sense of what is going on with the weather. It's been a messy few days.

Jennifer Gray at the weather center in Atlanta.

What's going on, Jennifer?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we're really right in between two systems. The big story this morning, very, very cold temperatures. Nineteen degrees in Chicago, that's about 15 degrees below normal. Cleveland at 14 degrees below normal.

And things really don't change, guys, over the next couple days. Cleveland will stay at 20 degrees below normal by tomorrow. New York City, 17 degrees below normal and the same goes for Friday. Temperatures try to relax a little bit, but still, about 10 to 15 degrees below normal across all of the North.

We'll have another round of lake-effect snow today about a foot, foot and a half of snow for Buffalo, New York, Grand Rapids could pick up three to five inches and if that's not enough for you, we set some records yesterday around New York City, as far as daily snowfall amounts. We had Newark right around two inches of snow, Kennedy, two inches as well. Central Park about an inch and a half of snow yesterday.

And that arctic air is going to make its way to the northeast by the weekend. It looks like we could see heavy snow, maybe an icy mix even. And also rain for much of the Northeast, just in time for the weekend -- guys.

BOLDUAN: It has been one thing after another for the past few weeks.

BERMAN: Not even Christmas. Jennifer Gray, thanks so much.

GRAY: All right.

BOLDUAN: All right. We're going to take a break.

Coming you next on "NEW DAY", you do not want to miss our must-see moment. Did a high school hoops star actually sink the behind the back shot?

BERMAN: Oh my goodness I'm coming back for that.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

BERMAN: Plus, a history-making announcement at General Motors. The new CEO is a woman. So, what does Mary Barra's appointment mean for the auto industry? That's coming up next.

BOLDUAN: That cars are going to be cooler now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back to "NEW DAY", everyone. The biggest name in college football may soon be changing his address. This is a big deal, folks. The Nick Saban to Texas rumors are heating up. This was all over social media.

BOLDUAN: Which means it must be true.

BERMAN: If it's on the internet, it must be true.

Andy Scholes joins us with this morning's Bleacher Report. Andy, for real?

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yeah, you know people are saying a lot of things and they're hoping they're true. There are reports that Mack Brown will step down as the head coach of the Longhorns on Friday and Texas is preparing to do whatever it takes to get Nick Saban.

Now, Twitter's been going nuts over this whole thing. There are reports that Texas is ready to offer Saban as much as $10 million a year to leave Alabama for Texas. Everyone in Austin is definitely on the lookout for Saban. As a joke, someone at the Austin airport yesterday got on the p.a. and said, Nick Saban, your car is waiting for you. Pretty funny stuff.

One of the stop stories in the lineup section on Bleacherreport.com today: imagine this, American football in the summer Olympics. This is actually a possibility now because the International Olympic Committee has recognized football as an international sport. It's still far off from happening. If it is added one day to the summer Olympics, it's likely going to be in a seven-on-seven format, where it's just the quarterback and receivers.

My favorite story of the day, Houston Texans all-pro receiver Andre Johnson spent over $17,000 on toys for a dozen underprivileged kids and their siblings. The kids were allowed to grab as many toys as they could in 80 seconds at a Houston area Toys 'R' Us. It's the seventh year in a row Johnson has held the toy giveaway. And guys, all the kids, they were picked from Child Protective Services. Definitely an awesome thing for Andre to do, and it's got to be -- every kid's dream has got to be to go to a toy store right before Christmas and just grab everything they can.

BERMAN: Look at those smiles.

BOLDUAN: I'd be running. Shoving it into the cart. Andy, you'd be good at that. I bet Andy would be a good teammate.

SCHOLES: I'd go straight for the Xbox Ones and PS4s.

BERMAN: There's no teams in this, you know. No, no. When you're racing for the toys -

BOLDUAN: Every man-child for themselves?

BERMAN: -- every man for himself.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: We have history in the making this morning. A first for General Motors. Really a first for an entire industry. Mary Barra will become the company's first female CEO ever. And she is the first woman to run a major U.S. automaker. Experts say Barra could change the company's culture for the better. Leigh Gallagher is assistant managing editor of Fortune magazine. She's also the co-chair of the Fortune Most Powerful Woman summit, an appropriate thing to be talking about today because any way you cut this, this really is history.

LEIGH GALLAGHER, ASST. MANAGING EDITOR, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: It's absolutely historic. GM is now the largest company by revenue run by a woman. This is a huge deal. And not only that, the auto industry has - you know, it's sort of famously male dominated. It's sort of lagged behind other industries in the ability to advance women to the very top. This is historic on a number of levels.

BERMAN: Not only that, but -- I guess it wasn't a slam dunk. There were other people up for it, but she's eminently qualified. She's in the middle of this industry, has been for 33 years. People say she has gasoline running through her veins. That's one the things you say in Detroit. Will she change the culture? Will this be a change that somehow lasts in this traditionally male-dominated.

GALLAGHER: I think - well first of all, she was hired for her -- Dan Ackerson who put her in the position, the retiring CEO - said it's not about gender, it's about talent. I mean she has all of the characteristics you would want even 20, 30 years ago. She has everything you would need to be running this company.

Will she change the culture? I mean, yes. I do think women bring different things to the boardroom and the CEO spot. We've seen that time and time again. And she is also known for sort of this kind of no BS way. She doesn't like process. A famous anecdote about her is that when she ran HR, which actually is an area that has historically been run by women. She took a ten-page dress code and just sort of threw it out the door and said you know what, the code is dress appropriately. If you're running a team at General Motors, you probably know how to dress.

So, you know, it's that kind of things that she brings, that man or woman, those things are what people want and will be valued. And I think that's part of the reason why she's in the top spot.

BOLDUAN: This also comes just on the heels of the Treasury Department announcing they've sold the last of stock in GM from the auto bailout.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: What is the GM that Mary is taking over?

GALLAGHER: She's taking over a company that has come a long way, was saved by the government and has come out of bankruptcy and is a new GM.

That said, it still faces challenges. The auto industry is still, you know, has issues and she has to figure out what the company is doing in Europe where sales have been lagging. And you know, figure out what's happening in China, and bring new products to the table. That's what she did and she was the head of product. That's what she did. She's an engineer. She -- we had her at our women's conference a few months ago. She said no more crappy cars. That was the headline.

BOLDUAN: I like that.

(CROSSTALK)

GALLAGHER: This is the thing, some people sometimes say women bring empathy to the boardroom, they bring communication skills, and all that's true but she's also very competitive.

BOLDUAN: She wants to be judged on the same standard as Dan Ackerson had been judged, any other CEO.

GALLAGHER: And she should be.

BOLDUAN: She doesn't want to be judged on some different scale because she's a woman. She's said that before.

GALLAGHER: I think she will be. She says we don't want to enter a segment just to be in it, we want to enter it to win it. She's very competitive. She has a style that people seem to really like.

BERMAN: You say competitive, she loves being on the racetrack, apparently the test track trying out the vehicles.

GALLAGHER: Yes, she likes fast cars. This is great. We've seen so many women advance to top roles at such enormous companies.

BOLDUAN: Let's hope it stops becoming a headline.

GALLAGHER: Exactly. It shouldn't be. We're on our way to that point. We're not there yet but we're getting there.

BERMAN: Leigh Gallagher, great to have you (INAUDIBLE)

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Let's shift our focus now to the must see moment today. This is really incredible, guys. A basketball play you have to see to believe. Take a look. This was a game between William Byrd and Cape Spring High School in Virginia. Watch this. Off the rebound, a William Byrd player passes the ball up court, he misses his target, but don't worry, he chases after it, gets to it and chucks it up behind his back. As you saw, it went in. What an incredible play. I just want to keep watching it over and over again.

BOLDUAN: What he needs to do right after this play is say, that was absolutely intentional.

BERMAN: What you do after that is retire.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: You walk off saying thank you. Like George Costanza. That's it! See you later!

(CROSSTALK

BOLDUAN: How do you let that one hang?

BERMAN: Run with your hand behind your back. They're going to practice that shot at high schools across America.

BOLDUAN: I would recommend just sticking to the lay-up. That's a once in a career probably kind of shot. That was fun. Thank you.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, stranded in rugged Nevada terrain in temperatures well below zero for two days. A couple and four children found safe and, amazingly, in good condition. The man who led the rescue will be joining us to talk about it.

BERMAN: An American citizen arrested in Dubai, his family renewing their appeal for help. Coming up, we'll hear from a man who is in prison with Kaseem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) WISCONSIN: I think this agreement is a clear improvement on the status quo. It makes sure we don't lurch from crisis to crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Crisis averted. Republicans and Democrats come together on a budget deal, likely eliminating the threat of a shutdown this time. What did each side get from the deal, and why will your airfare now be rising?

BERMAN: They're alive. Joy and relief as this family of six is found alive in the Nevada mountains, surviving days in below zero temperatures. How were they found? The lead rescuer joins us, live.

BROWN: Happening now, massive violent clashes between protesters and police in Ukraine. The country teetering on the brink. The United States weighing in strongly this morning.

BOLDUAN: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is new day with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

BOLDUAN: Good morning. Welcome to New Day. it's Wednesday, December 11th, 7:00 in the east. Chris and Michaela are off today, but I'm lucky enough to be joined by John Berman and Pamela Brown this morning.

Here is something you don't hear too often on Capitol Hill these days, believe me I've been there. It is "we have a deal." Republican Congressman Paul Ryan and Democrat Senator Patty Murray announcing a bipartisan agreement on a new two-year budget plan. The big question this morning though is of course, can it get through Congress?

Chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash is live from Capitol Hill this morning. What are you hearing this morning, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, even the people who negotiated this admit it's not a grand bargain, it's not perfect, but it is a start, they hope, to getting Congress and Washington back working the way they're supposed to.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: It's hard to believe this really happened -- the Republican and Democratic budget chairmen appearing together and announcing a compromise.

RYAN: This agreement makes sure we don't have a government shutdown scenario in January. It makes sure that we don't have another government shutdown scenario in October. It makes sure we don't lurch from crisis to crisis.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY, (D) WASHINGTON: We made a conscious decision, as Chairman Ryan said, in the few short weeks we've had to focus on where we can agree.

BASH: To be sure, where they can agree is a start but it's modest. It reduces the deficit by $23 billion, sets budget levels for the next two years, eliminating some arbitrary, unpopular spending cuts, and pays for the increased spending in part by hiking airline ticket fees and forcing federal workers and military personnel to contribute more to their pensions.

RYAN: In divided government you don't always get what you want. That said, we still can make progress toward our goals.

BASH: Sources in both parties say they hope a short-term reprieve from countdown clocks to economic crisis will allow negotiations to take root on the big problems ballooning America's debt and deficit, entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid.

Even this small deal is not going over well on the left or right. Before it was even announced, multiple conservative grass roots groups sent letters urging Republicans to vote "no" because it does increase spending levels. Ryan's response?

RYAN: As a conservative, I think this is a step in the right direction.

BASH: But Senator Marco Rubio, a potential opponent to Paul Ryan for 2016 presidential nomination was quick to trash his deal, saying it continues Washington's irresponsible budgeting decisions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Rubio's opposition is shared by some conservatives in the House. Whether or not that is going to pose a significant risk to this, meaning whether it will make clear that it will not pass the House, we'll find out later this morning, John, when House Republicans will meet to discuss this deal.

BERMAN: Dana Bash for us on Capitol Hill. From the miracle on The Hill to the miracle in the mountains.

A family of six survived two harrowing days in subzero temperatures in the Nevada wilderness. The family's car overturned after they went to play in the snow, and it took drastic measures to keep hope, and to keep the family alive. Stephanie Elam is in Nevada this morning. This is really an unbelievable story, Stephanie.