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Biker in Court; No Compromises Discussed; Ripple Effect of Shutdown; Ripple Effect of the Shutdown; Eight People Dead in Tennessee Crash; Academy Football Games to go on Despite Shutdown
Aired October 03, 2013 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Show Alexian Lien, the driver of the SUV, on the ground, allegedly beaten and slashed by the bikers. Police released these two pictures of one of the suspects who they believe was banging on Lien's SUV with his helmet. But some are calling for Lien to face charges.
LEXI FILPO, SUPPORTER OF EDWIN MIESES: There could have been other things that could have been happened, could have done, instead of running somebody over.
BROWN: One of the bikers the video shows the SUV running over is Edwin Jay Mieses, who is now seriously injured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a family, not a gang.
BROWN: His heartbroken and outraged friends and family held a vigil for him last night. New York Police say they're still investigating how the violent clash all started, but a witness to the incident told "New Day's" Chris Cuomo he believed Lien was afraid.
JEROME DAVIS, WITNESS TO WEST SIDE HIGHWAY ATTACK: Two wrongs don't make a right. The gentleman was scared. If I was in his shoes, I'd be scared.
BROWN: Charges were dropped Wednesday against Allen Edwards, the other man pounding on the SUV. A law enforcement source telling CNN, Edwards may have actually been trying to protect Lien. In a statement, the Manhattan D.A.'s office says, "prematurely charging individuals with low-level crimes does not further the goals of the investigation and could weaken the cases we expect to bring."
One biker, Christopher Cruz, was in court Wednesday facing reckless driving charges for what happened before the assault. You can see him in this video slowing down right in front of the SUV, causing Lien to bump into him, the incident that apparently sparked the confrontation, according to police. Cruz's attorney says he did nothing wrong.
H. BENJAMIN PEREZ, LAWYER FOR CHRISTOPHER CRUZ: His motorcycle was struck and he stood right there. He never assaulted this man.
BROWN: This video from 2011 shows a separate case of alleged biker violence. Riders appear to surround and antagonize a motorist and now law enforcement sources tell CNN they're examining the footage frame by frame looking for possible patterns in what they call biker gang activity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And authorities are hoping to make more arrests in connection with the attack on Lien. Investigators are still digging for information, talking with witnesses, analyzing the video and listening to 911 calls Lien made during the chase. Police were not able to tell me this morning whether the pictures they released of one of the suspects have led to any credible tips. Certainly a lot of unanswered questions here, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You're right. The story goes on. And I'm sure you'll be following it for us. Pamela Brown live in New York, thanks so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, no results, no signs of hope. Jason Johnson and Amy Kremer join me to talk about the big shutdown after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The stalemate in Washington drags on as the government shutdown enters a third day. A White House meeting between President Obama and top congressional leaders failed to produce any results last night. In fact, it may have made things worse. A GOP source telling CNN that neither side discussed any kind of compromise.
And the bickering in the nation's capital comes as millions of Americans deal with the fallout. Among them, clinical trial patients at the National Institutes of Health, who now must wait until the shutdown ends to receive care. And that includes about 30 children. And when CNN's Dana Bash asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about Congress' ability to at least find common ground for them, she got this fiery response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You all talked about children with cancer unable to go to clinical trials. The House is presumably going to pass a bill that funds at least the NIH. Given what you've said, will you at least pass that? And if not, aren't you playing the same political games that Republicans are?
SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: What right do they have to pick and choose what part of government is going to be funded? It's obvious what's going on here. You talk about reckless and irresponsible, wow.
BASH: But if you can help one child who has cancer, why wouldn't do you it?
REID: Listen -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
REID: Why -
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Why put one against the other.
REID: What - why would we want to do that?: I have 1,100 people at Nellis Air Force Base that are sitting home. They have a few problems of their own. This is -- to have someone of your intelligence suggest such a thing -
BASH: I'm just asking a question.
REID: Maybe (INAUDIBLE) irresponsible and reckless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Reid.
REID: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So Jason Johnson is an HLN contributor and political science professor at Hiram College. Amy Kremer is chairwoman of the Tea Party Express.
Good morning to both of you.
AMY KREMER, CHAIRWOMAN, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: Good morning.
JASON JOHNSON, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
COSTELLO: OK, so, Jason, I'll start with you.
So the Democrats, aren't they being a little hypocritical here, because they passed that resolution to pay service members.
JOHNSON: I don't think so. Look, the whole point is that the entire --
COSTELLO: Well, what Harry Reid said was awful.
JOHNSON: I will never defend Harry Reid for anything. I mean that's clear. But the idea is, we need to fund the entire government. The idea here is that this started because the Republicans want to defund or repeal Obamacare. If they would just get off of that right now and make that an issue in 2014 instead of holding the entire government and the entire world economy hostage, we wouldn't have this problem. So pitting kids against veterans, all that's unnecessary. The Republican Party needs to accept what's going on in this country and move forward.
COSTELLO: But, Amy, we know that a lot of conservative Republicans kind of like that approach right now and think - and they think that that's compromising.
KREMER: Well, I mean, actually, I have to disagree with you, because Congress has gotten used to passing these huge budgets or omnibus (ph) bills and that's not the way it was intended. They should be passing 13 appropriation bills. Harry Reid says, what gives them the right to do this. I'll tell you what gives them the right to do it, the Constitution. Our founding fathers set it up so that the House controls the purse strings. And - because it's -- JOHNSON: (INAUDIBLE) history lesson -- it's a history lesson when you guys don't get your way.
KREMER: It's -- no, it's not.
JOHNSON: But you just - you just did this a couple weeks ago.
KREMER: It - even did (ph) what a couple weeks ago, the Constitution or the founding fathers gave the House the control of the purse strings?
JOHNSON: No, the Constitution also shows that when a presidential election occurs and something has been ruled to be Constitutional by the Supreme Court, you allow the law to go through, and that would solve the problem.
KREMER: And, Jason, also - also, the American -- the real problem is Obamacare. The American people don't like it. And I'm tired of hearing that, oh, he was reelected. Well, guess what, had all this bad information come out last year, before November, I think we might have had a very different result.
JOHNSON: You couldn't make your point in a two year presidential election. I think it's about time to give it up.
KREMER: No. No, he - he -
JOHNSON: And like I said, the best way to operate, is to let this bill go out. And if it fails, then you go on (ph) to 2014.
KREMER: He delayed it. He delayed it to win (ph) it.
COSTELLO: Let's pause on this argument because we've been hearing this argument for a couple days now, right? And even some Republicans are tired of this same argument, saying it's time to move on and open up the government. In fact, here's what one House Republican had to say about the influence of the Tea Party on the House over the last couple of months. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEVIN NUNES (R), CALIFORNIA: As part of this problem in this whole group that I refer to, this has been ongoing for three years, where they've continued to block our leadership for three years to get 218 votes.
JAKE TAPPER, HOST, CNN'S "THE LEAD": It's a lemon (ph) caucus. You're talking about - you're talking about the Tea Party caucus?
NUNES: Well, it's not Tea Party caucus, not at all.
TAPPER: No.
NUNES: It's a lemming (ph) caucus. It's guys who meet privately, they're always conspiring. It's mostly just about power. And it's just gotten us nowhere. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK, so, Amy, your Tea Party, so you're on the hot seat. I mean --
KREMER: These people were elected by their constituents to go to Washington and do exactly what they're doing. They want to shrink the size of government. We want to shrink the size of government, rein in the out of control spending and the regulations. And it's Republicans that have contributed, these moderate Republicans have contributed to the out of control spending and regulations just like the Democrats have. You can't blame it all on the Democrats. Republicans have done it, too. So we have elected fiscal conservatives. That's what we're focused on and they're doing exactly what they were elected to do.
COSTELLO: OK, so, Jason, I'm going to ask you about the president. He calls this meeting, congressional leaders come on to the White House, we're going to talk and nothing happens. In fact, he says, I'm not going to negotiate. Why bother to have that meeting? Why bother to talk later this morning? It's not helping.
JOHNSON: Think of it - think of this particular point, everyone's saying, this is now part of the debt ceiling fight. We need to work out all these issues.
KREMER: It's not though.
JOHNSON: And I think the bigger problem that we're looking at here, all you have to do is just fund the government. It's not that complicated. They knew this was going to happen. They waited months because they thought the president, like he did in 2011, was going to blink. And when the president actually said, no, I got elected on this, this is a policy that I'm going to put forward -
KREMER: He's not a dictator.
JOHNSON: They decided that they were going to hold the entire nation hostage. And they don't want to admit that. And that's why we keep spinning around in circles.
KREMER: But, wait, we're not holding them hostage.
COSTELLO: And that probably will continue (ph).
KREMER: We passed continuing resolutions. That means completely funding the government. Harry Reid is holding us hostage. Harry Reid and Barack Obama. What kind of leadership is that?
COSTELLO: OK.
JOHNSON: It is lack of leadership on John Boehner's behalf.
COSTELLO: I've got to leave it here.
KREMER: No, it's not, it's the president and Harry Reid.
COSTELLO: I've got to leave it here.
Thank you both for being with me, for fighting the fight. Amy Kremer, Jason Johnson.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, they are responsible for the safety of the nation's food, but right now many of those inspectors can't do their jobs because of the government shutdown. We'll dig deeper into the real world impact after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: From the Centers for Disease Control to national monuments to local restaurants, the ripple effect of a government shutdown extends far beyond Washington. Rene Marsh is at the Lincoln Memorial this morning. She joins me now with a closer look at who's being affected.
Good morning, Rene.
RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
You know this morning these federal workers and their families, they're waking up with two critical questions unanswered, how long will this last and will they get retroactive pay. We can also tell you that as a result of this shutdown, states are now trying to keep pace with a spike in unemployment benefit filings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARSH (voice over): Instead of starting their day at the office.
PEOPLE: Let's do our work.
MARSH: These furloughed workers are manning the picket lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are being placed in furlough status.
MARSH: For the narrowly 800,000 federal civil service workers their now nonessential status is a slap in the face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think? Yes I'm upset.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still have to put food on the table. I still got to pay my bills.
MARSH: People living on this military base in Hawaii stocking up before their commissary closes down.
CHERI COPELAND, COMMISSARY CUSTOMER: I came just to grab a couple of things but then I started getting a little panicked by when I saw how empty all the shelves were.
MARSH: The shutdown could also affect food safety.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at FDA headquarters in Maryland they've been hit very hard by the shutdown. Several hundred food safety inspectors have been furloughed, that means people who watch out for the safety of our eggs, produce and seafood, several hundred of them furloughed. It does increase the risk of food-borne illness and some kind of an outbreak.
MARSH: Empty hallways at the Centers for Disease Control as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are out of the office (inaudible) and not able to take your call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm concerned for the experts we have here, what is it that might be happening that we're just not going to catch as soon as we normally would.
MARSH: Even more painful, Reynolds says, because of the shutdown the CDC can't support its annual flu program just as the season is arriving and the impact is being felt beyond the CDC's walls.
(on camera): Here at this sandwich shop in Atlanta the manager tells us sales are down and they even had to cut back on employee hours. He says most of the people who typically fill up these tables during the busy lunch hour actually work across the street at the CDC.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've actually cut back my staff significantly. A lot of my staff have young children as well so it's making an immediate impact.
MARSH (voice over): The shutdown also complicating the search for a missing woman in Idaho.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at this Idaho National Monument which as you can see is very rugged terrain, park rangers even in the face of this government shutdown are continuing their search for a missing woman and that's whether they get paid or not.
The National Park Service gave them the green light to continue their search for a missing 63-year-old doctor. The expectation is that they'll eventually get paid for their hours but there's no guarantee.
MARSH: Meanwhile the majority of national parks and monument remain closed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARSH: Now they remain closed so you're looking right now live at what it looks like outside the Lincoln Memorial. This is as close as people can get here, because the barriers are still up and the signs say that this site is closed. According to one consulting firm, Carol, the estimated economic cost per day -- $300 million in unpaid wages and lost economic activity. So it's not a good deal at all; not for people visiting, not for those federal employees.
COSTELLO: I know what you're seeing it's so beautiful to sit on the step of the Lincoln Memorial and look at the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument that is pretty sad.
Rene Marsh thanks so much. We have new information for you this morning about a church bus crash in Tennessee that killed eight people. The bus was carrying a group of seniors back to North Carolina from a conference when the tire malfunctioned. The bus crossed a median and struck a big rig truck. A news conference last hour revealed that some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition.
CNN's Nick Valencia is here with more for you. Good morning Nick.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a terrible crash in Tennessee. We -- you know our hearts and prayers definitely go out to the victims. And some new information this morning, Carol, 12 people remain hospitalized, that coming to us from the University of Tennessee Medical Center, three in stable condition, two in critical, seven in serious. And as you mentioned, some of those bodies so badly burned officials will have to use dental records to ID some of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA (voice-over): The wreckage scattered along both sides of Interstate 40, east of Knoxville. An adult church group from Statesville, North Carolina, was on its way home from a Christian festival in Gatlinburg. That's when the unthinkable happened.
SGT. BILL MILLER, TENNESSEE HIGHWAY PATROL: The bus had a blowout on one of its tires. We believe it to be the front steer axle or steering axle and it caused the bus to lose control.
VALENCIA: It careened across the median into the westbound lane, clipped an SUV and smashed into a tractor trailer -- the big rig bursting into flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first ambulances and fire apparatus were on the scene within less than five minutes.
VALENCIA: But it was too late. At least eight people killed, six from the bus, one from the SUV and the driver of the tractor trailer. The injured rushed by ambulance and life flight helicopters to hospitals.
At the front Street Baptist Church in Statesville, the news spread along with the pain -- members comforting each other, the pastor speaking briefly last night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we do know that there were several that went on to be with the Lord.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: They had a press conference a short time ago, Carol officials backed off from definitively saying that the blown-out tire was the reason that that car crashed but they said if, in fact, that did happen, it would have been impossible to make sure that they kept control of that bus considering the weight of that bus.
COSTELLO: So the investigation into what caused that tire to blow goes on?
VALENCIA: Service records, driver's history, all of that is under investigation right now.
COSTELLO: Nick Valencia thanks so much.
VALENCIA: You bet.
COSTELLO: still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Tampa Bay Rays survive they advance in the baseball playoffs. How they won -- why did the Cleveland Indians lose? We'll take a look at today's games too.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Well here's the good news this morning. The government shutdown will not be messing up your football this weekend. All three service academies will play their games as scheduled. Andy Scholes is here to tell us more.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hi Carol you know Air Force, Navy and Army in Boston College, those are the two games that were in jeopardy because of the shutdown but after outlining a plan of how they weren't going to use any government funds to travel to the games, they've gotten the go ahead to go ahead and play which is a good thing definitely right.
You know the Navy, Air Force, a great rivalry matchup. Navy's athletic director says this weekend's game with Air Force is going to bring in about $4 million. They're not playing the game would have obviously been very devastating for the program especially since the revenue from football also funds Navy's 32 other sports teams.
Air Force and Navy they played every year since 1972. This year's game is going to be another sellout and it will be televised nationally on TBS.
The Rays and Indians squaring off in the one game, winner take all AL wild card matchup. Delmon Young got the scoring started for Tampa in the third inning with a towering solo home run. And hey, that's all the Rays would need. Alex Cobb and a trio of relievers shut down the Indians. Tampa Bay went 4-0. They now advance to play the Boston Red Sox in the divisional series.
The playoffs roll on tonight on TBS. The St. Louis Cardinals host the Pittsburgh Pirates in game one of their five-game series -- first pitch at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
That one is followed by game one between the Dodgers and the Braves at 8:30. Now Dodgers part owner Magic Johnson has been a big part of the team's turnaround over the last couple of years and he has agreed to basically bare it all if his team wins it all. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: I have a present for you.
MAGIC JOHNSON, PART OWNER, DODGERS: Oh, wow.
This is what's going to happen. If we win the World Series, I'm putting them on and getting here --
LENO: All right, yes, yes. Yes.
JOHNSON: yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: According to Vegas --
COSTELLO: Yes.
SCHOLES: According to Vegas, the Dodgers are the favorites to win the World Series, Carol, so.
COSTELLO: I don't think so.
SCHOLES: Of course not. There's a chance we see that happen.
One of the stop stories on BleacherReport.com, today about 49ers safety, Donte Whitner. He wants to legally change his name Hitner.
COSTELLO: Oh come on.
SCHOLES: Now Whitner got permission from his mom. Of course, you have to ask mom for these kinds of things. His lawyer filed the paperwork in Ohio to formally remove the "W" from his last name. Whitner -- he's known as a big hitter -- he was fined just last week $21,000 for leveling a Rams wide receiver.
And Carol, the kicker in this whole thing is that there's an NFL rule that if you change your name midseason, you have to buy all the merchandise with your old name on it. So if he wants to change his name, it will be pretty costly for Whitner. He's going to have to go into the 49ers gift shop and get a big basket and put all his jerseys and T-shirts in there.
COSTELLO: I don't think he thought this through Andy. Thank you, Andy. That was fun.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me.
It is day three of the government shutdown and the stalemate drags on and party leaders continue to dig in. At any moment, we'll hear from top Republicans in the House. Their topic: funding pediatric cancer research, one of the many emotional offshoots of this shutdown. And later this hour, President Obama will speak to the nation.
