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New GOP Speaker To Need Dem Votes To Pass Funding Plan; Indonesian Leader To Pres. Biden For Ceasefire In Gaza; Cutting Teaspoon Of Salt May Work As Well As Blood Pressure Meds; Iceland's Wave Of Earthquakes Linked To Volcano Threat. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 13, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Democratic leadership of the House and the Senate have yet to take an official position as they watch for this this to continue to play out, and Brianna, key thing to watch here will be the first procedural vote to set the parameters for the floor debate. That is typically voted along party lines. But there are some Republicans who are threatening to vote against it. Johnson on the floor can only afford to lose three Republican votes. If they vote against that, to scuttle this on its first procedural vote, then Democrats will have to come to try to push it over the finish line. But what do Democresponse.in response? What concessions do they ask for? Will they simply go along for it? All questions here, as they race to avoid a government shutdown by weeks end -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: An interesting week ahead here. Manu, thank you for that.

Coming up, amid international outcry over Gaza, President Biden is set to host the leader of the world's largest Muslim majority country. We have a live report from the White House next.

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[15:35:48]

KEILAR: In minutes, we will see President Biden with the leader of Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim majority nation. And Indonesia's president will pass on a message from Arab and Muslim leaders worldwide for the U.S. to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. President Biden has refused to do so, instead pushing Israel to issue, quote humanitarian pauses.

Let's get to CNN's Arlette Saenz. She is at the White House for us. Arlette, what more are you learning about these important meetings with Indonesia's leader?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, President Biden invited Indonesian President Widodo here to the White House as he seeks to try to strengthen alliances in the Indo-Pacific region as China's influence has been increasing. But the meeting is also playing out against the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. And the Indonesian President had -- has been quite vocal in calling for a ceasefire.

Now he is coming here to the White House after meeting with Arab and Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia. And he has told reporters that he is here to convey their belief that this war needs to stop and that a ceasefire must be conducted.

Now, President Biden notably has refrained from calling for a ceasefire. They've simply been calling for humanitarian pauses. And national security adviser Jake Sullivan just moments ago acknowledged that there are quite a few differences in -- specifically when it relates to the Israel and Hamas conflict between the President and Indonesia. But Sullivan also stressed that they will also be working towards moments of progress.

Now one of the goals as President Biden invited Widodo here to the White House, is trying to launch this comprehensive strategic partnership. That is elevating the status of relations between the U.S. and Indonesia. It's actually putting it on par with the same tier that Indonesian holds its relations with Beijing.

And all of this comes at a critical time, as President Biden is about to head out West to the APEC leaders Summit, which will include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Now in this meeting here at the White House today, they're expected to also talk about improving ties between the U.S. and Indonesia when it comes to critical minerals and climates. But those differences about the approach to the conflict between Hamas and Israel are expected to come up with national security adviser Jake Sullivan saying that they will respectfully exchange their views.

KEILAR: This is a meeting to watch. Arlette Saenz at the White House. Not the lighthouse. You knew what I meant. All right, thanks Arlette.

Here up next, a simple and inexpensive way to lower your blood pressure. What a new study found right after the break.

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[15:43:01]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Turning now to some other headlines we're watching today. A Secret Service agent on security detail for President Biden's granddaughter Naomi fired a weapon while trying to stop some people from breaking into a government vehicle. It happened last night in the Georgetown neighborhood here in Washington, DC. The Secret Service says it believes no one was hit. Both the agency and DC police are now investigating.

Also, the Trump International Hotel in Waikiki is ditching the former presidents name and will debut a new name next year. This comes after the Trump Organization announced it reached a buyout of the hotel management and licensing agreement with the hotel's owner. With the departure of the Hawaiian Hotel, the number of Trump. Hotels and resorts is down to eight across the world. And today in Atlanta, police used tear gas to confront dozens of

protesters who were marching to stop the construction of a controversial police training facility dubbed, "Cop City." Video shows demonstrators blocking the roads as officers tried to stop that crowd from moving forward. No one was injured or arrested. The project has faced strong opposition over environmental and social justice concerns -- Brianna.

KEILAR: A new study finding that cutting back on salt in your diet can help lower your blood pressure the same amount as some common medications in just one week. CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard joins us now. I think that was the line there in just one week, Jacqueline. How much salt did people need to see -- to reduce -- to how much do they need to reduce to see that benefit?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That's right, Brianna. And we're talking about just one teaspoon of salt. That's equivalent to about 2300 milligrams of sodium. And that's actually the recommended daily limit of salt that we should be consuming each day. And to think about what that means in real world terms, it's about four of those snack sized bags of chips or about one really large pickle. So that's a way to kind of illustrate what I'm talking about here.

[15:45:00]

Now what researchers did in this new study, they did look at people who were consuming a low sodium diet. These people were consuming less than 500 milligrams of salt each day. And researchers compared them with those who are consuming a high sodium diet. In just one week, Brianna, researchers found that the low sodium diet resulted in an average eight millimeters of mercury. Those are eight digits. And the people's systolic blood pressure -- these are the people who are taking the low sodium diet. So that was in comparison with those taking a high sodium diet. Think about it. Low sodium, you can lower your systolic blood pressure, that top number and your blood pressure reading by eight digits. That was a pretty major finding -- Brianna.

KEILAR: That's huge. All right, so what should we be cutting out of our diet to reduce how much salt we eat? Except of course, you know these four bags of chips or this gigantic pickle that I guess some people are munching on every week.

HOWARD: Right, well according to the CDC, the top sources of salt in the average American diet are breads and rolls, pizzas, sandwiches, deli meats, cold cuts and soups. So some swaps we can make. If you like a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, maybe swap that out for oatmeal. Or if you like your salad tossed in dressing, sorry, but maybe ask for dressing on the side. You know, sauces and dressings are sometimes hidden sources of salt.

So these are just some small tweaks we can make on our daily diet that could actually yield major benefits for our health -- Brianna.

KEILAR: You're taking my pizza away, Jacqueline. I hear you. All right, Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much.

Still ahead, Iceland bracing for a volcanic eruption with a state of emergency declared. How global air travel could be affected next.

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[15:51:12]

DEAN: Iceland is on high alert as a volcanic eruption threat has the entire country under a state of emergency. This follows an intense wave of earthquakes that have shaken that region. Officials now say there's a significant likelihood of an eruption near the world-famous Blue Lagoon geothermal spa. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is joining us now. Fred, just how dangerous could this potential eruption be?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Icelanders say it could be extremely dangerous. That's why they have an evacuation order in place for the main sort of city down there called Grindavik. And the whole country is under a state of emergency. And when they're talking about a series of earthquakes, you know, we saw some of those pictures of that town of Grindavik where the streets are completely cracked there.

And the local authorities, Jessica, are saying that in a 12-hour period today where they were monitoring seismic activity, they registered 900 earthquakes in that area. Yesterday it was 1,000 earthquakes in that same area. So they are saying the seismic activity has decreased a little bit but they obviously say still the threat of a massive eruption is still very high.

Because under that town there's a huge river of magma that wants to make its way to the top. That's why we're seeing all those earthquakes there. And that's why an evacuation order for that place is still very much in affect. The residents of that area, they've been able to go back to their houses today, but only for a short period of time and only with the local police and with other first responders as well. Because they say that they have to get out of there as fast as possible because that massive eruption could happen at any time -- Jessica.

DEAN: That is so scary and I'm sure has everyone very nervous. So many flights from the U.S. to Europe or Europe to the U.S., fly over Iceland. Is there any potential that transatlantic flights could be disrupted if this eruption happens?

PLEITGEN: Yes, that's obviously something airlines are probably looking at. And a lot of business travelers are probably looking at it as well. As we think back to 2010 where transatlantic air travel was disrupted for such a long period of time because of a big volcanic eruption in Iceland. Of course, that spewed ash well high into the air and planes just simply couldn't fly past there.

Right now, the authorities in Iceland are saying they don't really see that as a scenario, but they're still not really sure where exactly this eruption is going to take place. If it's going to take place. And how strong it's going to be. But definitely, you know, when a lot of businesses around the world, when airlines around the world, when they hear volcanic eruption in Iceland, possibly very strong volcanic eruption. Obviously, there are a lot of questions right now. Doesn't necessarily seem that that's something that is likely to happen, but nevertheless, of course, a danger is always there -- Jessica.

DEAN: Sure, Fred Pleitgen for us. Thanks so much for that reporting, we appreciate it.

And still ahead here. A circus lion escapes in Italy and he roamed the streets for hours before being tracked down and captured. It is a wild story. We'll tell you about it when we come back.

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[15:58:32]

KEILAR: All right, this lion named Kimba is finally back in its cage after escaping from the circus. And I'm a little bittersweet on this one, I'll tell you. But he was roaming the heavily populated streets of a Rome suburb this weekend.

DEAN: Just trying to have a weekend.

KEILAR: That's right.

DEAN: The escaped lion was on loose for hours, putting the community a little on edge before finally being captured. CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: It may seem straight out of a Fellini film, but it happened in real life in the Italian seaside town of Ladispoli. An eight-year-old male lion named Kimba escaped a local travelling circus and roamed the town, which is about 20 miles west of Rome. A population of a little over 40,000 people. This lion roamed the town for about five hours.

A local mayor calling for people to stay inside. Make sure their domestic pets were inside. Their children were safe. While they tried to capture this male lion. Now they were finally able to shoot it with a dart which had a geolocator on it and they were able to sedate it while they captured it and returned it to the circus.

Now the use of live animals in traveling circuses, which are very, very popular across Italy, has been widely condemned by animal rights groups. Now they have even more reason. It's not just the welfare of the animals they can complain about. It's also a danger to the local community.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Wait, when you see. It walking through the streets, you must have deeply -- That's a muscular animal.

[16:00:02]

KEILAR: It's so powerful. DEAN: Yes.

KEILAR: To her point, that's what the mayor of that small town was saying. Which was, you know, on one end they're very glad the lion was caught.

DEAN: Sure.

KEILAR: But they're not really fans, a lot of them in that town, is the fact that they are there in circuses.

DEAN: I mean, you do kind of think, oh, maybe I just wanted to be free for a little bit.

KEILAR: Yes.

DEAN: I don't know.

KEILAR: He just wanted a break.

DEAN: Because he wanted to take a break from his job at the circus.

KEILAR: And you can take a break from us now with "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper, which starts right now.