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House to Vote on Budget Deal; MLB to Ban on Home Plate Collisions; Police Investigating Frat Hazing Death

Aired December 12, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. Checking our top stories at 30 minutes past.

The interpreter in the middle of that sign language controversy is defending his work and dismissing critics who say he's a fake. In an interview with CNN the interpreter says this is the first time anyone has ever questioned his abilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THAMSANQA JANTJIE, MANDELA INTERPRETER: Never, ever, ever in my life have anything that said I've interpreted wrong. You can go through all the media of South Africa. I've 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)

COSTELLO: The interpreter went on to apologize to those who were angered by his performance and said he is getting treatment for schizophrenia, which he says may have impacted his appearance.

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

We got mixed reports this morning on the state of the U.S. economy. Retail sales rose seven-tenth of 1 percent in November on the strength of holiday discounts in auto sales. It was the steepest climb since June. But weekly jobless claims also jumped to a two-month high. Numbers for the previous week had been at their lowest in almost three months.

Today, the House of Representatives will vote on a bipartisan budget deal. Many say it is expected to pass, but conservative groups are slamming the plan, calling it a bad deal that doesn't do enough to cut spending. And that outraged Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: You mean the groups that came out and opposed it before they ever saw it?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes, those groups. Are you worried that --

BOEHNER: They're using our members and they're using the American people for their own goals. This is ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Co-author of that plan, Republican Paul Ryan, echoed Boehner's feelings. He responded to criticism from GOP senator, Marco Rubio, on MSNBC this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST, MSNBC'S "MORNING JOE": Said that this budget, quote, "advances our principles." Marco Rubio said this, though, last night. Quote, "Your deal is going make it harder for Americans to achieve the American dream."

What would you say to Marco?

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: Read the deal and get back to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: "Read the deal and get back to me." OK. So this budget includes spending levels that would eliminate a big chunk of those forced budget cuts, you know, sequestration. It does not, repeat, does not extend unemployment benefits and it raises revenue, in part, through airline security fees.

CNN political commentator and columnist for "The Blaze," Will Cain, joins us now, as well as CNN political analyst and executive director for "The Daily Beast," John Avlon.

Welcome to you both.

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. OK. So, John, you were celebrating this budget deal just yesterday as a bipartisan ray of sunshine. And today it's -- well, I guess the twist is the conservative Republicans are fighting the budget. Republicans are fighting among themselves. Will this thing pass? John, oh, John?

AVLON: Yes, yes, yes. It probably will pass. But it'll will pass over the objection of folks on the far right. And that's what's so interesting right now. I mean, when you've got John Boehner, slamming the conservative activist groups that are essentially just a racket at this point, trying to raise money and inflame fury with no interest in governing, when Paul Ryan is being called insufficiently conservative on the budget, what you have is governing conservatives realizing they've created a monster, and a monster that is not actually interesting in governing in the national interest. That's the fascinating fight beneath this vote.

COSTELLO: Yes. And Will, do you agree with that? Because that's exactly what John Boehner said. He said this isn't about anything but politics. Read the deal and then get back to me.

CAIN: I definitely agree this is about nothing more than politics, but that coming from both sides. I mean, both sides of this conservative food fight. Look, substantively, this deal doesn't have much to say for itself, it's got what? $23 -- net $23 billion in savings over 10 years on an annual, what, trillion dollar plus budget?

This thing doesn't have much to say for itself again substantively. It's a political document. So those criticizing it like Marco Rubio are positioning themselves in kind of a cost-free manner to hold fast the principles and then look good perhaps in a presidential election.

But there is a principle involved and that -- on the flip side, by the way, the primary goal of Paul Ryan and John Boehner is also political, to get the concept of government shutdowns behind you and focus on a true issue that you could run on, like Obamacare. Let's focus back on Obamacare.

AVLON: No --

CAIN: Not have government shutdowns get in the way of that focus.

COSTELLO: John?

AVLON: Yes, but, Carol, I mean, the point -- my friend, Will, is confusing politics with governing. The two are related but they are not in fact the same thing. Yes, I think they realized that another government shutdown would be disastrous for the GOP politically, but there's also the principle of actually having government run.

When Paul Ryan was running for vice president, you heard over and over again, how come we haven't had a budget in so long? Well, guess what, we had a budget conference in effect and we have a deal. Is it a moderate deal? Yes. Would I prefer the grand bargain? Yes. But guess what? Folks on the far right would never have allowed loopholes to be closed to raise revenues.

So you're constrained by that fact. The fact we have a budget is a good thing for the country as opposed to governing by -- and there are folks who are invested in inflaming the crisis. And that's what's going on, on the far, far right.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's talk about inflaming the crisis because I do think that Marco Rubio is sort of inflaming things. He wrote an op-ed on breitbart.com. He said this deal will actually kill the American dream because it's left us with a government too broken to function and families that are falling apart because our government undermines the values of hard work, discipline, honesty and self control.

Oh, come on, Will.

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: Well, look --

AVLON: For god's sakes, yes. I mean --

CAIN: Let me get -- are you all done with your come ons and god sakes?

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Yes. Yes, we're done. Go ahead.

CAIN: The thing is, Marco Rubio could have made that argument before the deal. This deal isn't the one that sends America spits spiraling around the drain. The lack of self dependency or depending upon the government, that existed before this deal. And if we have principles that we think we can get back to, less government entitlements, fixes to the -- to the tax code, those were good principles to fight for.

But I do think John makes a decent point. You aren't going to get it. And it's not just because Republicans weren't going to allow for tax loopholes to be closed, John, it's also because the left has zero interest in addressing the true driver of our deficits, and that is entitlement. Medicare and Social Security. Zero interest.

AVLON: That's not true, Will, because --

CAIN: So you can't get those.

AVLON: President Obama's budget put forward entitlement cuts on the table as part of a grand bargain. So that -- that doesn't fly.

CAIN: Where did that go?

AVLON: To get to your point which I think --

CAIN: Where did that go?

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: That went absolutely nowhere. Will is right, that went absolutely nowhere and he certainly hasn't talked about it since.

AVLON: Well, no, he -- look, he put it forward in a budget. Chained CPI. Angered folks on the far left. His party took that risk. So that needs to be acknowledged. That can't just be written off. That's an important fact. But Marco Rubio talk about a fact-free document. I mean, you've got a bunch of bumper stickers. Marco Rubio is better than an op-ed in Breitbart.

It's pathetic that you start talking about the American dream, to slam the deal before he's even read the details. It does speak about, again, the state of the GOP that he thinks if he wants to run for president, he's got to be as irresponsible as possible and that's sad.

CAIN: You know -- COSTELLO: I actually think it's interesting that John Boehner used read the deal. And so did Paul Ryan. Because it's sort of a play on --

AVLON: Yes.

CAIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Read the bill that they used to attack Democrats with. Now they're attacking their own party with the same thing.

AVLON: Yes.

CAIN: You know, I would say this, Carol, at the end. Look, Paul Ryan did say this in defense of his bill. He said, I'm a conservative. That means I recognize reality. So we can say we want all these principles but you also have to recognize the fact that there's a Democratic president, a Democratic Senate and ask yourself what you can get. Apparently this is all Paul Ryan thought he could get. But it's also I know serving a higher purpose, which is he wants to talk about Obamacare. He doesn't want to talk about government shutdowns.

COSTELLO: All right. Will Cain, John Avlon, thanks for the spirited discussion this morning. I appreciate it, as always.

CAIN: You bet.

AVLON: Take care, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come -- you, too.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Major League Baseball changing the rules around home plate. What? No more collisions at home plate? Andy Scholes is following that story for us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Major League Baseball planning a huge change in how the game is played. No more collisions at home plate? Really?

Andy Scholes is here to tell us more about this.

ANDY SCHOLES, THEBLEACHERREPORT.COM: Hey, you know, Carol, they're going to propose this for -- as soon as next season. The catchers are no longer going to be allowed to stand in front of home plate and block it and the runners are no longer able to be allowed to run into catchers.

They're basically trying to eliminate these horrific collisions we've seen at the plate over the last years and it's really -- this really became a hot topic for discussion in a couple of years ago when Buster Posey, you know, the 2012 MVP, in 2011 he missed a majority of the season because he got laid out at the plate and shattered his leg.

And you know, that really ruined the San Francisco Giants' season and their manager, Bruce Bochy, he's really been at the head of this, trying to get collisions eliminated from the game. Now originally execs of Major League of Baseball said, you know, this is -- this is a part of baseball, we're not taking this out of the game.

But as we've seen over the last few months, concussions and injuries have become a serious issue in sports and they really -- now they've changed their minds on this and they're going to eliminate it from the game.

COSTELLO: Well, catchers have it tough anyway, right? Joe Mauer going to first base.

SCHOLES: Right.

COSTELLO: He can't catch anymore.

SCHOLES: Yes, and --

COSTELLO: It's a tough position.

SCHOLES: And that's another thing. The owners want to protect their investments. You know, they paid millions and millions in dollars for these players and the thought is, losing one of your star players for one run in one game in the span of 162-game season is really ludicrous. It's just not worth it.

So taking it out of the game, they think, is definitely a smart decision and it also lessens the concussion injuries we've been seeing. As we've seen, Mike Matheny, he's the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. He's been speaking a lot lately about how he deals with concussion-related symptoms right now in his life. So it's a thing that Major League Baseball would definitely like to avoid.

COSTELLO: We'll see what happens. What they have -- there's no final decision yet.

SCHOLES: No final -- the players and the owners still have to vote on it. Both of them have to agree on it. If they do it soon, they could have it place for next season. It's likely definitely going to be in place for 2015.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Andy.

Coming up, we have a very important story to tell you. "The Muppets" are going to grow bipartisanship on Capitol Hill.

SCHOLES: No way.

COSTELLO: I'm serious. Grover, the Muppet. I'm serious.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Police are trying to piece together what happened at this house over the weekend. According to authorities, some sort of fraternity ritual led to the death of a 19-year-old college freshman in what appears to be yet another case of hazing gone horribly wrong.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in New York with the latest on this story.

Hi, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol. Horribly wrong and a tragic case, and also with possible criminal implications.

Apparently this game that they were playing, this is according to various media outlets. The game they were playing is called the glass ceiling. And what happens there is that the person that's actually playing this game, a heavy object is placed on his back. He's blindfolded and then he has to try and make his way to someone who's calling. Who's making noises. And in that process, other people try to tackle that person.

Now it seems as though this would-be -- this new fraternity member who is called Michael Deng was playing this game. He suffered some sort of head injury as he was doing this. They brought him inside, laid him on the couch. He was unresponsive for a while. And then they drove him to the hospital.

But you're noticing there's one big thing missing in all of this. They never called an ambulance. And so they brought him to the hospital, substantial amount of time later there, the doctors diagnosed a severe brain trauma. They put him on life support. But in the end, he died.

And so therefore, there could be some serious implications for the other people who are involved in this as well. Certainly the district attorney in that district is investigating this matter. So a very, very serious and very tragic event -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It says it's Baruch College. And that didn't look like a fraternity house to me. So where was that?

PLEITGEN: No, see, this is the thing, is that Baruch really doesn't have much in the way of fraternities. Most of the people who go there are from the New York area. And the college itself said it's absolutely shocked. These people getting together and having this game was something that was not sanctioned by the college at all. They released a statement earlier today and I'll read it for you.

It said, "Baruch College has a zero tolerance policy regarding hazing. Michael's death is a deeply painful reminder that no individual should ever be put into a position where his or her personal safety is in jeopardy."

And they say they are fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities to try and come to the bottom of what exactly happened there and what implications all this could have -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much.

Checking other top stories this morning at 50 minutes past, the NTSB has released new video of that fatal Asiana Airlines crash in July. See that plane there? Officials say the pilot know that he was nervous about landing without the help of an airport navigation system. Investigators are looking into whether that pilot relied too much on automated system.

A Colorado school system says it lifted the suspension and sexual harassment citation for a 6-year-old boy who kissed a girl on her hand. Hunter Yelton's mother says it was just an innocent crush but admitted her son has been suspended previously for kissing that same little girl.

The foreclosure crisis may finally be ending. The number of new foreclosure filings dropped by 15 percent last month. That's according to the online marketer RealtyTrac. That's the biggest monthly decline since November of 2010. New foreclosure filings are now at their lowest level since December 2006. They're also down 37 percent compared to this time last year.

Looking to get rich? Well, today might be your day. The Mega Millions jackpot is $400 million. And tickets are being sold in 45 states across the country. If someone wins tomorrow, it would be the fifth largest jackpot in North American history. Good luck.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the deep freeze creeping across the country just won't let up. Indra Petersons is out in the cold this morning.

Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. You know, I have the dance going here. Definitely chilly. It feels like 13 degrees out here right now and I wish I had better news. But more arctic air and even another storm headed our way. Details up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Temperatures across the country are hovering around zero this morning. Parts of upstate New York could see up to four feet of snow by the end of the week. In Syracuse, the snow is already piling up, covering cars and bringing road travel to a crawl. In North Dakota, temperatures dropped to 18 degrees below zero and things aren't going to warm up there any time soon.

Indra Petersons is in New York City, where, compared to that, it's relatively warm.

PETERSONS: I was just going to say, you're actually 36 right now. You feel like 28. And I have zero sympathies for you, Carol, because here, it feels like 13. And you're right, no one should have sympathy for me either. Because take a look. We are talking about temperatures that are cool across the entire country.

More arctic air is expected to come our way. And another storm right behind it. Wow, it's going to be tough out here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Everybody throughout the area is at the freezing mark.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You thought today was cold?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The next few days are going to be very cold.

PETERSONS (voice-over): Frigid temps gripping the nation as another blast of arctic air has millions from the Great Lakes to the northeast waking up in a deep freeze.

City after city experiencing temperatures 20 degrees or more below average. The coldest it's gotten and a taste of winter.

Forecasters say the Windy City already feeling like it's earliest subzero temperatures since 1995. Earlier this week, morning temps plunged to 6 below zero. It's the same story in frozen Fargo. They've had single digit temps or below for a full week.

New Yorkers bundling up for their morning commute with brutal windchills that feel like the teens and 20s. Bitter cold temps made fighting this apartment fire in Wisconsin challenging for the firefighters. It's so cold in Wisconsin that a reporter for CNN affiliate WAOW left this banana outside in negative 2 degree air for just 30 minutes.

EMILY NEUBAUER, WAOW REPORTER: So when we come back, we find the banana completely frozen solid. So frozen, in fact, I could actually use it to hammer in this nail.

PETERSONS: And in Minnesota, walking in as one of the coldest spots in America. Hospitals there already preparing for an influx of hypothermia and frostbite cases. And doctors urging people to stay indoors.

DR. KAI TUOMINEN, ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL: As you get colder and colder, your decision making gets worse and worse. The longer you're out, the more damage is done and it can be fatal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PETERSONS: You know, and that's exactly the problem. You look at the huge chunk of the country right now that are seeing these temperatures at the below freezing mark. Really only in the south are we escaping from these chilly arctic air.

Now these are the temperatures right now. But talk about the windchill and you factor these places in. Like Chicago this morning, was in the negative teens with the windchill and it doesn't stop there.

Let's talk about what we're expecting today. Yes, we can see some lake-effect snow off Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Anywhere from one to two feet of snow. But here comes the next storm diving down from Montana. Here it goes. We have one low combining with another system. So any place in Kansas, Missouri, by tomorrow, you can be looking at another chance of that wintry mix. And then as we go into the weekend, look at the chances here. We're talking about snow from the northeast back down to the Midwest. From the mid-Atlantic, we're talking about especially New England, that wintry mix back through West Virginia and then rain in the southeast. So it's kind of that mixed bag.

Tough that's it's on the weekend for anyone who has to have plans but it also means maybe some safer conditions out there. Not as many people will be expected out on the roads. But as far as how long does this chill last? We're showing you those temperatures day by day. And notice, it is not changing. We're still talking about a good -- you know, in some ways, look at Bismarck, about 25 degrees below normal.

That's the kind of arctic air we're dealing with. We're all at least in it together. And we're going to get through it together -- Carol.

COSTELLO: That's true. That's true. We should all get in one big huddle, it'll be a lot warmer.

(LAUGHTER)

PETERSONS: That's so nice. Yes.

COSTELLO: Indra Petersons -- Indra, thank you.

Checking some top stories before we -- before we have to go. George Zimmerman will not face charges for a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, Samantha Schibe. And the news comes just days after Schibe said in a court document she did not want him to be charged. She says police misinterpreted her initial statements about the alleged assault and she may have misspoken.

Newly released surveillance video of a deadly casino shooting back in October. Police say a patron at Bali 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. He's facing murder charges.

Something happy now. The guys from "Duck Dynasty" are heading out of the back woods of the American heartland to the mountains of Afghanistan. They're traveling with the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey for his holiday USO tour. "Duck Dynasty" will duck the halls with U.S. contractors and service members and contractors stationed in Afghanistan.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts now.