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Interpreter at Mandela Memorial Speaking Out; Boehner Calls Out Conservative Groups; Retail Sales, Jobless Claims Rise; House Hearing on U.S. Pastor Jailed in Iran; House Hearing on U.S. Pastor Jailed in Iran; RGIII Takes a Seat on the Bench; GOP Forces Senate to Pull All- Nighter

Aired December 12, 2013 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Interpreter from the Nelson Mandela memorial is fighting back after he's been called a fake and sparking outrage in the deaf community. He says he's more than qualified and has appeared at many high profile events in the past.

CNN's David McKenzie just spoke with him one-on-one.

What did he tell you, David?

DAVID MACKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, he told me that he was doing his job during that memorial service of Mandela through those several hours interpreting for world leaders including President Barack Obama. One disturbing development he says to me that he suffers from schizophrenia and also said he's not a security issue for that event.

So the question remains, how did he get in if it is true in fact that the deaf association in South Africa is saying he was signing rubbish, not making any sense with the world leaders at this incredibly important event in South Africa.

Take a listen to what he said to me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THAMSANQA JANTJIE, ALLEGED FAKE INTERPRETER: For the deaf association, if they think that I've done a wrong interpretation, I ask forgiveness. But for deaf South African it will tell me that I was doing a wrong interpretation, then they should answer me why they were silent all the time.

MCKENZIE: All these years.

JANTJIE: All these years why they were silent.

MCKENZIE: People have complained before when you interpreted for President Zuma before.

JANTJIE: Listen, listen. I've never, ever, ever in my life have anything that said I've interpreted wrong. You can go through all the medias of South Africa. Been interpreting through all the medias of South Africa. Even if you can see my portfolio, I've been in papers for a very long time. No single one said I'm interpreting the wrong interpretation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Well, at times, he was combative. At times, he seemed nervous. He said initially to me that he's in fact received threats from the government and then pulled back a little bit from those -- statements, Carol.

Certainly, he said that he's been doing this with leaders here in South Africa. I asked him well, why now are they bringing up these questions. The one interesting thing that happened is, I specifically asked him to give me some sign language. Tell me what the sign for Mandela is, which here in South Africa is a sign like this, and then that like that because of Mandela's old distinctive haircut in the '60s.

He would not give me any indication of any sign, so it appears, at least based on the evidence, that he didn't know what he was doing -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, in other interviews, he claimed he's suffering from schizophrenia. Did he tell you anything about that?

MCKENZIE: Yes. He said that he does have schizophrenia, that he's on medication for that. He claimed to me that wasn't what the issue was here. He says if he has some issue, then why didn't they bring it up through the years that he was interpreting for leaders like President Jacob Zuma. But certainly at time he was rambling, at times he was defensive. He definitely seems very nervous about this issue.

He told us the company that he works for, but we can find no evidence of that company, in fact, existing in the kind of bricks and mortar way. The government saying that they are investigating the matter, but deny that there's any wrongdoing at this stage.

This is a very fishy story. But one really important factor to take note of, of course, is this man had very close proximity access to some of the top leaders, including President Barack Obama during those hours and the other thing is it's deeply embarrassing for South Africa because this was all meant to be a celebration of Nelson Mandela's life.

COSTELLO: David McKenzie, reporting live for us this morning, thanks so much.

You may just be waking up, but some of your senators never went to sleep. Republicans forced the entire Senate to take part in an all- night talk-a-thon. It's happening now. This is a live look at the Senate floor. That's Tom Coburn. You can see. My monitor's out here, so I'm having a little trouble but I believe that's Tom Coburn from Oklahoma.

The all-nighter is payback for the Democratic majority using the so- called nuclear option. Democrats pushed the button so Democrats could approve President Obama's nominees by a simple majority. Just look at how the night unfolded. So far, Democrats approved one nominee. Republicans want to, at the very least, slow things down so this talk-a-thon will continue into the weekend.

But some of the debate isn't really about the nominees. Senators on both sides are talking about things like the American dream. And Obamacare. And climate change. And even volunteer firefighters.

We'll go live to the hill at the bottom of the hour.

In the meantime, the House of Representatives is facing its own problems. Today, lawmakers vote on the bipartisan budget deal introduced by Republican Paul Ryan and Senate Democrat Patty Murray. But here's the catch. Some conservative groups are pushing back, calling it a terrible deal and some Democrats are upset it doesn't extend federal unemployment benefits. So the deal could possibly collapse.

CNN's Joe Johns is live in Washington.

It was just yesterday we were celebrating bipartisanship.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's true and a lot of people think this is actually going to go through any way, but it's supposed to stop the government from lurching from crisis to crisis every few months, but it's also a public battle over the heart and soul of the Republican Party that's gotten much uglier recently and the speaker of the House has been caught in the middle. Now he's throwing punches, too.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Before the big vote, a family feud over the federal budget between establishment Republicans and the forces trying to steer the party further to the right.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: They're using our members and they're using the American people for their own goals.

JOHNS: The House speaker himself with unusually personal pushback against conservative critics of the bipartisan budget deal.

BOEHNER: This is ridiculous. Listen, if you're for more deficit reduction, you're for this agreement.

JOHNS: Boehner was talking about groups like Heritage Action, Americans for Prosperity, the Club for Growth and others denouncing the plan because they say it increases spending $63 billion over the next two years, does an end-run around the Budget Control Act and uses gimmicks to raise revenue.

Heritage Action responding to Boehner said, "Lawmakers will have to explain to their constituents, many of whom are our members, what they've achieved by increasing spending, increasing taxes, and offering up another round of promises waiting to be broken.

That will be a really tough sell back home. A difficult spot for some Republican street fighters defending it while holding their noses.

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: It's the best compromise you can get in divided government. It's that simple. It's nowhere close to what Republicans like to have.

JOHNS: Tough even for the congressional golden boy and former vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, who co-authored the deal knowing his base will be watching if he ever runs for higher office again.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: If I could my judgment by what is good for me politically or not, or how does this help juxtapose against somebody else, that's not right in my opinion.

JOHNS: But the conservative groups have their defenders on Capitol Hill.

REP. RAUL LABRADOR (R), IDAHO: Anybody who thinks that my vote is for sale through Heritage Action is sadly mistaken. I would ask anybody who is attacking these outside groups what is it that these outside groups said yesterday about this deal that is false today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So Republicans have their issues with this deal, but so do many Democrats as well who wanted to see much more, Carol, as you mentioned at the top including an extension of unemployment benefits, so there's something in here for everybody to hate.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: OK. We'll see what happens. Joe Johns reporting live from Washington this morning.

In just the past hour, we've gotten two new snapshots of the American economy and they're really telling.

Christine Romans is in New York to tell us how telling they are.

Good morning, Christine.

(LAUGHTER)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. What they're telling is they're telling us a little bit more about the economy. We all want to know just how well this recovery is going as we head into the end of the year. Let me start with jobless claims. They jumped -- they jumped to 368,000.

That's the jobless claim increase about 68,000 increase. That's how many people lined up for the first time for unemployment benefits in the last week. It's higher than you want to see, but government accountants and economists are saying it's likely because of the way the Thanksgiving holiday fell. They dropped substantially last week, then they rose the next week, so that's what you're seeing there.

The trend is still good there. If you've been newly unemployed, you have a better chance of getting a job right now than you have in some time. Long-term unemployed, still having a problem.

The next number I want to -- show you is retail sales, Carol. This is a story about cars, my friend. You saw good car sales in November. Look, people came in for Black Friday. They came in to buy cars. Good incentives, but also a recovering economy. More confidence. People were out there with discounts and auto deals and they were buying both cars and other merchandise as well.

So you saw a .07 of a percent increase overall. When you strip out auto sales, you saw an increase that was still (INAUDIBLE) that economists had expected.

A little soft in a couple of categories like gasoline, no surprise because gas prices are falling. And also a paralyzing clothing and apparel was a little soft. People waiting for better deals, Carol, in the year and there will be very good deals on clothing I think late in the year and early next year -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm going to be looking for them. Christine Romans --

(LAUGHTER)

Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a U.S. pastor jailed in Iran. Today, his family takes their fight to free him to Washington.

Jim Sciutto is following that story -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: He's been jailed for eight years simply for his religion. His family says it amounts in effect because of his health problems to a death sentence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 13 minutes past.

NASA says it's too soon to tell if a space walk will be needed to fix a failing cooling pump on the International Space Station. One of the station's two pumps went out Wednesday after hitting a temperature limit. Teams had to shut down noncritical systems, but NASA says the space station and the crew are not in danger.

Looks like a scene right out of a movie but this is live action. It's newly released surveillance video of a fatal casino shooting spree in October. Police say a patron at Bali's Casino in Las Vegas killed a man and injured two security guards after getting upset about a cover charge. The man identified as Benjamin Frazier is behind bars facing murder charges.

Still not winter yet, but don't tell that to folks at the Great Lakes or the northeast where temperatures have dipped below 20 degrees.

In Chicago, it was a frigid minus 3 degrees this morning. Towns and cities in upstate New York got up to a foot of snow with more on the way this weekend. In just a few minutes from now, the wife of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran will make a desperate plea for his release on Capitol Hill. Pastor's name is Saeed Abedini. He is a U.S. citizen of Iranian decent and in January, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for what his family says are his Christian beliefs.

Now a House subcommittee will hear testimony from his concerned family.

Our chief national correspondent Jim Sciutto is here, and I know you spoke with this man's wife last night.

What is she saying?

SCIUTTO: I did. It's a really heartbreaking case, Carol. Saeed went there just to visit his relatives, but accused by the Iranian government of a national security crime, trying to overthrow the government in effect simply by being a Christian. They say he's trying to convert Muslims in Iran to Christianity.

He leaves behind his wife, Nagameh, who I met yesterday, and children, 5 and 7 years old, really difficult for them as they go through this. They have no idea how long he's going to be stuck there. Here's how she described what they're going through to me just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAGAMEH ABEDINI, WIFE OF U.S. PASTOR JAILED IN IRAN: Psychological tortures. They would, I know the first few months, they would say you're going to go free, pack your stuff and go and he would get everything ready and be excited to be able to come see the kids and I and the next day, they would say we're going the hang you today for your faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Incredible. Tough for him, for them as well. She talks about how much they dread spending another Christmas away from her husband, the father of their children.

He's one of three Americans held in Iran right now. There's another American, Amir Hekmati, who's a former Marine, who went there also to visit relatives, still held.

And then in the case of Robert Levinson, who's been held in Iran since 2007. His family believes he is there, so does the American government. When you speak to all these families, as I've been able to do, they really hope this new warming of relations between the U.S. and Iran will give them new hope that their family members will be released, but they haven't seen any change yet, Carol.

COSTELLO: I know you witnessed an American being released from prison in Iran. What was that process like?

SCIUTTO: Right. I went there a couple of years ago. This was another Iranian American, Mr. Tagabi (ph). And you see a certain pattern here. He went there to visit relatives. He was accused of supporting terrorism, put in prison and sentenced to very long-terms in prison -- national security crimes. Spying, trying to overthrow the government. Oftentimes, they may be sentenced for 8, 10, 15 years, even worse, oftentimes, to death and then those sentences are commuted and they're released.

But you never know when that's going to happen. In the case of Robert Levinson, it's been six years and running an the government hasn't even acknowledged he's in the country, so you can imagine for the families, they have no certainty and they're worried.

And, of course, in the case of Saeed Abedini, he has health problems, he's been beaten in prison and they're worried that the longer he's there, that his life may be in danger.

COSTELLO: You're going to be following that story today from Capitol Hill. Jim Sciutto, many thanks to you.

Still to come, we've got to talk some sports now. RG3 is about to take a seat on the bench.

Rachel Nichols is following that story.

Hi, Rachel.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: Well, we're used to power plays in Washington, right, Carol? But this one is on the football field. I'll have it for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: OK, let's talk RG3 now. Robert Griffin III, once rookie of the year and beloved in Washington now a part of the Redskins turn. The latest soap opera in the NFL. Yes, RG3 has been benched and Coach Shanahan survives despite rumors the coach is benching Griffin to force the team's owner to fire him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE SHANAHAN, REDSKINS COACH: Somebody said hey, the reason you're going with Kirk is you're trying get fired and get a year left on your contract. I don't. I'm not trying to get fired. I'm not going to call up Dan Snyder and ask his opinion on a player I don't have to and if he says no, I'm not going to go that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Yes, because Daniel Snyder doesn't control the team at all.

Rachel Nichols is the anchor of "UNGUARDED."

RG3 bench, Shanahan survives, it's just so unexpected.

NICHOLS: Yes, absolutely. But you have to remember that Mike Shanahan does have a contract. If Dan Snyder just fires him, he will owe him $7 million, so you can understand why he's taking a little bit of a pause before pulling the trigger.

Still, you've got to expect, Mike Shanahan does not have that much of a future left in Washington and it is hard not to see this as a power play. Shanahan has intimated pretty strongly that he thinks Dan Snyder is too close to the star quarterback. He thinks that star system has undermined the coaching staff and the way they can deal with RG3.

In fact, Shanahan went so far as to say quote, "Dan doesn't even care about the other positions". So, he is asserting himself by saying, "Hey, I'll show you I can bench this guy", and RG3 is unfortunately, he seems to be caught in the middle. Take a listen to what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GRIFFIN III, REDSKINS PLAYER: I expressed my desire to play. Of course I want to be out there and finish the season with my guys, see it through, and he explained to me his reasoning and at the end of the day, coach's decision is what we go with and that's what it's always been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLS: You can see how just thrilled and happy that he looks there and I think what's hard for him to swallow, at least from the outside, and certainly for a lot of us on the inside, this is about RG3's health. Mike Shanahan is the coach who left RG3 in a playoff game with a bum knee last season, just dangled him out there. He got a lot more hurt, then, Shanahan participated in rushing RG3 back this season when that wasn't the healthiest move, so to claim health now seems to be part of what makes this so hard to swallow.

COSTELLO: Poor Redskins fans, that's all I have to say.

Rachel Nichols, many thanks to you. And, by the way, you can see Rachel's show every Friday night, 10:30 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Still to come, a wealthy teenager who killed four people in a drunk driving crash will not even serve one day in prison and you won't believe why. Money and a condition called affluenza. I'm not making this up. The incredible story, next.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

The talkathon goes on. Yes, Senate Republicans have been talking since 2:00 yesterday afternoon and they're still talking. And Republicans plan to keep on talking to protest the nuclear option. They're upset Democrats pushed the button and allowed for a simple majority to approve President Obama's nominees.

While they chat on and on about stuff to kill time, they're killing our time by not addressing things like oh, cuts to our national defense, entitlement reform, the farm bill, unemployment benefits, the minimum wage. Oh, did I mention the budget?

Capitol Hill reporter Lisa Desjardins is on the Hill.

At least they're voting on something now, huh?

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: That's right. One thing senators know how to do is talk, Carol, that's for sure. And they just did take a vote moments ago. This was on a nominee for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC. That nominee has been waiting since the summer for that confirmation.

And that basically is what this is about for Democrats. They say these nominations have been in limbo, stuck nowhere because of interaction here in the Senate and as you said, they changed the rules. They changed the rules so that a filibuster would no longer require 60 votes for these nominees. Of course, Republicans decried that as a historic change that will forever mean the Senate is a different place, less deliberative. They say it's dangerous.

But what we see this morning is the direct result. We're seeing nominees getting through the Senate. I know folks are like, OK, great, whatever, why are they taking all night? That's because of the rules of the Senate when the filibuster is put in motion as Republicans have done here, objecting to these nominees.

There's a certain amount of time that senators get to debate that nominee and those clocks have to run. To speed that up, Democrats have set up these all night sessions so that those clocks will run continuously.

And, Carol, this isn't going to be the only one. We expect all night sessions tomorrow night and Friday night as well.

COSTELLO: Can't wait.

DESJARDINS: How about that?

COSTELLO: I know. Thanks so much, Lisa.

DESJARDINS: You got.

COSTELLO: In the meantime, Senator Lamar Alexander's office is dealing with an awful scandal.