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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Govt. Shutdown: Ripple Effect; Woman Killed After Car Chase from White House to Capitol; Tropical Storm Karen
Aired October 04, 2013 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: There are some signs that the House Speaker John Boehner may be beginning to crack under some pressure of a party fractured over whether to attack changes to Obamacare to any government funding and debt ceiling increase. The speaker now says he will not let the country default. He may be willing to pass a debt ceiling increase with some Democratic votes. This could be a major development and major concession.
Meantime, while that's happening, there is a ripple effect from the government's shutdown. As CNN's Tom Foreman tells us, companies, large and small, all across the country are starting to feel it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have liftoff.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lockheed Martin is one of the world's top aerospace corporations, employing 116,000 people, many on government projects. So the company is scrambling, telling those who normally work it now closed government offices to go to other Lockheed buildings or work from home while the company braces for whatever is coming next. In a written statement saying, "Any effect on Lockheed Martin and its employees depend on individual contract terms and, of course, on the length of the shutdown."
Far beyond Washington and dozens of states with significant numbers of federal offices, the ripples are hitting not just furloughed civil servants but also private companies that rely on trade with the government.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A terrible thing. It's a terrible situation.
FOREMAN: Colorado, for example, is home to a large number of federal research labs studying energy, climate, wildlife and more. They directly employ nearly 9,000 people. The University of Colorado study found that pours $1.2 billion a year into the state's economy, money that is not flowing now.
BRIAN LEWANDOWSKI: They spend their paychecks in their communities. They spend money at restaurants. They're spending money on their rents and car payments and entertainment.
FOREMAN: Some companies with longer term business cycles say they can wait to see what happens. But at City View Bar and Grill in Baltimore, the impact has been immediate. This place is closed to a huge Social Security office and the lunch crowd has been hijacked.
NAPOLEON ZAHADOPOULOS: The business in the last three, four days, it's very difficult. If you continue, I'm not going to be able to open up.
FOREMAN (on camera): It is difficult to calculate how many jobs in the private sector may be affected if this goes on, but just to make it a little bit harder, people in government charged with counting such things, they are not working either.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Tom.
Authorities are searching the home of a Stamford, Connecticut, woman, for clues as to why she rammed her car into a White House security barrier on Thursday afternoon and then led police on a chase toward the U.S. Capitol that end it with her being shot and killed. The suspect has been identified as 34 Miriam Carey.
You know what was inside that car? Police found a 1-year-old girl. Luckily, she was unharmed.
BERMAN: Very lucky.
SAMBOLIN: Law enforcement sources telling CNN Carey's boyfriend told police last year that she was delusional and that he was feared for his daughter's safety. He says she claimed President Obama had Stamford on lockdown and her house under electronic surveillance. Carey was said to be suffering from postpartum depression.
BERMAN: Tropical storm and hurricane watches are now up along the Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to Florida, with tropical storm Karen churning and gaining strength out in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, forecasters do expect this to come ashore possibly as a hurricane as soon as this weekend.
SAMBOLIN: Indra Petersons is watching this for us. We'll have her a little bit later in the show.
But, right now, Chad Myers now with an early look at our weather.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And good morning.
Another problem with Karen is where it's going to make landfall has been very wet all summer long. A 60-mile-per-hour storm will knock down trees left and right. There will be major power problems across the Southeast for the weekend.
Severe storms across parts of the Midwest. A snow event for the upper Midwest into Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota. It's still going on there. There will be feet of snow in the higher elevations of Wyoming, all the way up into South Dakota, the Black Hills -- all of those areas will see a lot of snow. Eighty-nine in Memphis today, 86 in Atlanta, 87 in New Orleans. A couple of airport delays, New York city will have low clouds and a couple of showers, Minneapolis, a thunderstorm or two. Denver, there is that rain, light snow in the mountains and also some wind.
Back to you, guys.
BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Chad.
Thirteen members of Anonymous, a group of hackers, indicted by a federal grand jury. They are charged for a series of cyber attacks back in 2010. Hackers crashed servers of Visa, MasterCard and PayPal. Those companies had cut off payments to WikiLeaks at the time and the attacks were paybacks. Other sites were targeted as well, like Bank of America, even the motion picture and recording industry associations.
SAMBOLIN: A breach of security at Adobe. Hackers hacked into their computer system and gaining access personal information from 2.9 million customers. Hackers also got copies of the source code of some of Adobe's products. The company called it a sophisticated attack and much of the stolen data was encrypted, but they reset passwords as a precaution, they said.
BERMAN: All right. A big development in the case we've been following. Police have arrested a 22-year-old Montana newlywed Thursday. They say she now confessed to pushing her husband off a cliff just eight days after their wedding. Jordan Graham is charged with first and second degree murder and making a false statement to police. The arrest comes a full three months after the alleged murder at Glacier National Park. Graham is due in court for an arraignment later today.
SAMBOLIN: And we have a new consequence here for teen bullies. Cut it out or face arrest. Police in Connecticut collared a 12-year-old for repeatedly bullying a former friend. The girl was charged with disorderly conduct and released to her parents. Police say the alleged victim's parents came to them after their daughter talked of suicide.
The only way to prevent further problems was to step in. They say the alleged bully is more likely to face anti-bullying classes than to see any jail time.
BERMAN: So, a big relief for a Kansas woman who has her mother's ashes back after they were left in a liquor shop. Kathleen Leonard can thank Charlie Win (ph), storeowner who was determined to return them. He put up posters, posted an ad on Craigslist and called the local media in Wichita. Leonard saw the news report and got the back of the ashes back.
SAMBOLIN: That was nice.
BERMAN: That's got to be incredibly heart-wrenching.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. All right. So, listen to this story. It's a new pair of prosthetic legs for a little Ireland Nugent. The 3-year-old Tampa girl lost both legs last April when her father accidentally backed over her with a riding lawn mower. Her first pair of prosthetics had to be removed because of bone spurs but now little Miss Ireland is back on her feet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLE NUGENT, IRELAND'S MOTHER: She doesn't know the difference or that anything is out of the ordinary. It's like a new toy for her. She doesn't realize how important it is. We are trying to take it day-by-day and get her walking and as long as she is happy, I'm happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Ireland wants to be a ballerina when she grows up and I would not bet against that little girl. Is she adorable or what?
BERMAN: Look at her walk on those legs. Good for her.
SAMBOLIN: Here I come, world! Try to stop me! Love that.
BERMAN: Thirty-seven minutes after the hour.
And he is the first pope ever to take the name of St. Francis of Assisi. Now, the new pontiff will visit the birth place of his name sake. The 13th century saint is known for renouncing his health and embracing poverty. Speaking in Assisi today, Pope Francis is expected to take up theme of helping the poor. It's so important for this pope.
He is a so-called people's pope, he is trying to change the Catholic Church and really reshape the entire Vatican.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, some say, you know, that he is, you know, kind of channeling Francis of Assisi in his effort.
BERMAN: He has made a big impact in a very short time.
SAMBOLIN: All right. I'm not sure how the pope is going to feel about this next story. I don't know. Let's see if he tweets out about this.
The Kuma's Corner Restaurant in Chicago has a burger topped with a communion wafer as its burger of the month for October. So, the owners say the ghost burger as they're calling it is actually an homage to a heavy metal Swedish ban called Ghosts that performs satanic songs while wearing clerical garb.
BERMAN: I'm not sure that makes it any better.
SAMBOLIN: A bizarre story or what?
BERMAN: Yes. I'm not sure it's a good burger.
SAMBOLIN: Here's a deal -- that wafers really don't have taste to them, so they are sending a message there I think, I don't know. It seems odd to me.
BERMAN: We're going to change gears now and talk about kittens like this one that was hiding inside an engine of a car parked inside a shopping mall in Florida. Not a great place for a cat to hide. But thank goodness, there is a Good Samaritan. He managed to catch the kitten and hand him over to police. He will now try to find a new home.
Wow, that is actually a genuinely cute cat. I'm glad it didn't get die. Can you imagine what can happen to a cat in an engine? Just saying. Good thing that cat was saved. >
SAMBOLIN: They're playing hide and seek inside the engine of a car. How did they find him? How did they know he was there? Was it purring?
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: I never heard of a cat.
SAMBOLIN: I'm just glad they found him before it became a real --
BERMAN: That's what I'm saying. Imagine what could have happened.
SAMBOLIN: Ah!
Coming up --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM PENDERS, FURLOUGHED GOVERNMENT WORKER: I think they are behaving like a bunch of spoiled children, like a bunch of 5-year-olds throwing tantrums, especially the Republicans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: The government shutdown enters days four. There is the clock on the right-hand side. Furloughed workers are saying enough is enough already. That's ahead in "Primetime Pop."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: I want to stay up all night. Good morning to you. We want you to get up. Don't go to bed I guess if you're in the West Coast --
BERMAN: Look at that beautiful shot of Manhattan. What would you say it looks like?
SAMBOLIN: It looks like black velvet diamonds. Do you agree with me? That was Kerry (ph), our producer, who said that's what it looks like, and it does. It's beautiful.
BERMAN: Or the kinky version, diamonds on black leather, either way.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: The kinky version. Leave it up to John Berman!
BERMAN: It's 4:43. It could go either way, right?
SAMBOLIN: Yes, it could go either way, Berman.
BERMAN: All right. Welcome back to EARLY START right now. It is time now for "Primetime Pop", which is the best of CNN's primetime interviews. They are focusing on Washington.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, from the government shutdown to the Capitol on lockdown.
Erin Burnett spoke with photojournalist Danny Farkas who caught the tense final moments of that police chase on tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY FARKAS, PHOTOJOURNALIST: I was shooting a B roll shot with a protestor walking towards me with a sign and behind her happened I thought was a motorcade which is approaching a little faster than usual and what happened unfolded there. So I was already shooting and it just was instinct to keep shooting, obviously.
I couldn't really tell how many people were in the car. There seemed to be two or three police cars and they were pinning the person, just like we see in the movie or a TV show where hitting her and stopping the car from moving. The police got out and drew their weapons and were shouting at her to get out, and like in the movies, she rammed them back and forth until she could get out and then she sped off, made a U-turn and sped past again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: More witnesses with Anderson Cooper. Patty bills watched as police desperately tried to pull the suspect's child to safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATTY BILLS, WITNESS: I couldn't actually see the driver for what she was doing but I could see someone in the car. I immediately saw the police enforcement, all of them, trying to pull the child from the car to safety. It was very obvious that they wanted to get the child out of there before something happened, which did, which was the gunfire, because she was very rummy in the car. The car was -- she had hit into a police car. She had hit into the little booth that had the police where they stand in it and clearly she -- was using the car as a weapon.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Could you see that there was -- had been a child in the car? I mean, before she was taken out, obviously?
BILLS: I could not see that there was a child before, so when I saw the police run over and open the door and was pulling a child out, then I knew that they were trying to get the child out to safety first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Wow.
On "PIERS MORGAN", a child safety endangered by the shutdown. Tom Penders is a furloughed worker struggling to care for his family, including a daughter who is blind and autistic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENDERS: It's going to be difficult to handle. There's no questioning that. You know, telling me they're going to pay me down the road doesn't help me today when I have to pay the power bill. I have to pay the water bill, you know. And I have to pay insurance. I have to go to the pharmacy and buy medications from my daughter.
Well, how am I supposed to pay for it when I have no money today or when I get paid on my next pay day? You know, promising me something down the road doesn't help me today.
PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: What do you think Mr. Penders of the way the politicians are behaving over this in Washington?
PENDERS: I think they're behaving like a bunch of spoiled children, like a bunch of five-year-olds throwing temper tantrums especially the Republicans.
Yes. They need to get over it. The Affordable Care Act is law. It was upheld by the Supreme Court. It's law. It went into effect October 1st. And the Republicans just need to deal with it, stop that point shoulder and get us back to work.
I feel like I'm being held a hostage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Real people with real problems trying to get on with their very real lives and Congress not helping right now.
Coming up tonight on "PIERS MORGAN", a one-on-one with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. It's an important interview. He weighs in on Iran. He also talked about Vladimir Putin. And he even has some advice about the government shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: We're in New York right now. The government in America has shut down. I don't think you've ever had to put up with this particular eventuality itself.
But what do you think of what is going on now? How does it impact Israel? Are you concerned if it goes on too long it will damage the global economy?
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: They'll work it out. You know, they'll work it out. Been there, done that. But I'll tell you -- you say we weren't there before. We actually were. So, some of us introduced a change in the Israel system which, by the way, I think is not as good of a political system as the one in the United States. I think with all of its flaws, the American political system has a lot riding for it. It's probably the best political system in the world.
But we improved on one thing. See, in our case, if you don't get a budget by December 31st, an automatic budget goes in 1/12 of last year's budget each month. And if you still don't get a budget six months later, we all go to elections.
You know what, Piers? We always get the budget passed!
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That was fascinating! I did not know that. That is interesting way to run a government.
It's also fascinating to hear the leader of another country saying he likes our political system better.
SAMBOLIN: That was really interesting.
BERMAN: I can't wait to watch that whole interview.
SAMBOLIN: Interesting solutions, too, right?
BERMAN: Absolutely.
You can watch that full interview and it sounds like a great one. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern on "PIERS MORGAN LIVE".
SAMBOLIN: And coming up, why some say the Dodgers have an advantage greater than home field. Pitcher Clayton Kershaw dominates the mound! That is straight ahead.
BERMAN: He was sick last night!
SAMBOLIN: Ah, sick?
BERMAN: He was sick last night.
SAMBOLIN: Andy Scholes will be with us to talk about those sick moments when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: All right. We have seen some ridiculous pitching so far in these playoffs.
SAMBOLIN: Have we really?
BERMAN: I like to call it sick. The latest example, the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw. My boys say dominating sick! That was sick! That pitching was sick!
SAMBOLIN: That explains it, Andy.
BERMAN: Andy Scholes with all of the highlights in "The Bleacher Report".
Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, THE BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, guys.
The Dodgers are the favorite to win the World Series this year. Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw is a big reason why. He is sick, as you say, John. The big lefty dominant last night in game one against the Braves. Kershaw struck out 12 batters in seven innings of work and Dodgers cruise to an easy 6-1 win to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Now, the Pirates, meanwhile, they wish they had Clayton Kershaw. A.J. Burnett got the ball game one in the Buccos and a meltdown of epic proportions. Burnett failed to record an out in the third inning!
Carlos Beltran hit a three-run upper deck home run in the Cardinals seven-run third and his 15th postseason dinger tying him for Babe Ruth for eighth all-time. St. Louis crushed the Pirates 9-1 in game one of that series.
Playoffs continue today on TBS with a triple-header. The Rays and Red Sox get things going at 3:00 Eastern. That game is followed by game 2 between the Dodgers and the Braves. And the nightcap is game one between the tigers and the A's.
The Cleveland Browns traded their best player, running back Trent Richardson, three weeks ago. Most people assumed they were mailing it in. Well, since the trade, the team has won three in the row. Brandon Weeden came in for an injured Brian Hoyer last night against the Bills. He found Josh Gordon has a 37-yard touchdown in the third quarter. That tied the game.
The Browns win 37-24. They are now on top of the AFC North Division at 3-2! Guys, it's their best start in 12 years! So break up the Browns. Who knows?
BERMAN: I did not see that one coming at all when they made that trade, Andy.
SAMBOLIN: I have to go back to baseball, because when you said a triple-header, Berman started twitching, he is so excited. I think you're calling in sick next week?
BERMAN: Today's great -- the Red Sox are on at 3:00 which is before I fall asleep, which is 4:30 in the afternoon. No, but it's fantastic. I'm very excited for this.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BERMAN: Thank you, Andy, for that, since you brought us the triple- headers, because of you.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Coming up -- sort of bromance going on here. Things are heating up between the wrecking ball singer and Sinead O'Connor. Seriously? Now, the war of words could end up in the courtroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Fifty-seven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to EARLY START.
We are taking a look at the top CNN trends on this morning.
We have one, big one. Outspoken Irish singer Sinead O'Connor tries again, writing her second open letter to Miley Cyrus after the pop star tweeted a response to O'Connor's first letter, comparing her to troubled actress Amanda Bynes.
Cyrus' response also included a screen grab of the bipolar singer's very public Twitter meltdown from January of last year. O'Connor shot back saying, quote, "Have you any idea how stupid and dangerous it is to mock people for suffering illness?"
Miley responded by saying, "Sinead, I don't have time to write you an open letter because I'm hosting and performing on 'SNL' this week."
BERMAN: Boom! That is like worse than the government shutdown. These people are like, woo!
SAMBOLIN: Ridiculous.
BERMAN: That is a real fight there.
SAMBOLIN: EARLY START continues right now.
(MUSIC)
BERMAN: Chaos at the Capitol. A woman smashes into a barrier at the White House and then takes police on a high-speed chase. Why police opened fire and new details on what may have sparked this deadly chain of events.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: I consider myself a solid conservative. But I think what's happened with the Ted Cruz Republicans is absolute insanity. We've allowed them to hijack our party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Republicans versus Republicans. Speaker Boehner in the middle of a party divided. He is ready to call a vote and get the government back to work? We have the latest in the shutdown/showdown.
BERMAN: All right. Churning and making her way to land. Get ready down South, folks. Tropical storm Karen is ready to strike. It could be a hurricane soon. What you need to know heading into the weekend.
SAMBOLIN: Indra Petersons is standing by with all the very latest on that. She is tracking this.
Good morning to you. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. It is Friday, October 4th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.
We're going to begin with Thursday's lockdown on Capitol Hill. A woman rammed her car through barriers in the White House and then the Capitol. She led police on a wild, wild chase that erupted in gunfire.
In the end the suspect was dead and two officers injured. Inside the car was a 1-year-old child. Investigators now have so many questions.
CNN's Joe Johns is in Washington with much more.
Joe, what are you learning?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Today, Washington, D.C. is recovering from more pandemonium as authorities try to figure out where 34-year-old Miriam Carey rammed that White House barricade and led police on a crazy chase up here to the United States Capitol, just two weeks after the Navy Yard shooting.
