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U.N. Demands Syria Destroy Chemical Weapons; Iran & U.S. Break 34 Years of Silence; Al Shabaab may be Planning Attacks; From British Schoolgirl to Terrorist; House Taking Up Budget Today; Obama Phones President Of Iran; Obamacare's Impact On Business; Gridlock Worries Investors; Suspended Football Team Returns; U.N.: Blame Humans For Climate Change

Aired September 28, 2013 - 11:00   ET

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

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go ahead and start with what's happening now.

The terror group that attacked a mall in Kenya may be planning new attacks. We're going to tell you what U.S. officials are finding out.

A diplomatic deep freeze thaws out after 34 years. President Obama and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani talk on the phone, and Rouhani is already feeling the heat back at home.

Plus a high school football team suspended for disciplinary issues gets back on the field, but not without learning a major life lesson.

All those stories are coming up, but first, Syria is now officially on notice. Last night the U.N. Security Council approving a resolution demanding Syria eliminate its entire arsenal of chemical weapons.

The resolution warns there will be consequences if Damascus doesn't comply, but it does not authorize automatic use of force. The resolution was hammered out by Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart.

Kerry talked about the diplomatic breakthrough last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Tonight with a strong and forcible precedent setting resolution requiring Syria to give up its chemical weapons the United Nations Security Council has demonstrated that diplomacy can be so powerful, it can peacefully defuse the worst weapons of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Ok now Elise Labott joins us live from the United Nations. Elise let me ask you this first of all, what is Syria's reaction to this vote?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, Alison, it hailed the resolution, it said that it satisfied all of Syria's concerns and it also said that Syria is fully on board as it agreed upon to dismantle all of its chemical weapons. But it said now it's up to members of the Security Council, particularly France and some others to make sure that no arms get to the rebels.

And they have to do their part. Because as you know, the Syrians government has complained that other countries are arming the rebels. And they say that terrorists are involved in this civil war. And as we do know, there are some extremists that are -- that are armed in Syria of fighting the regime as well.

KOSIK: All right so we know the chemical weapons inspection they begin in Syria Tuesday. Tell me what -- what have you learned about how -- how all of that is going to really play out?

LABOTT: Well this is an organization that's involved in dismantling the weapons. It's called "The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons." It's a very small organization based out of the Netherland out of The Hague and it doesn't have a lot of resources. So it's going to have to tap into other world bodies, but they have about 50 sites that they need to take a look at and see how they're going to go about this else (ph). And this kind of stuff could take years and they only have a year according to this agreement to dismantle all the weapons.

So that's a very short timeline so what we understand is what they might is have a little quick-and-dirty way of putting these weapons out of use, so to speak, not really destroying them completely initially to make sure that Syria can't use them.

But one of the problems also is that this is -- some of these sites are in rebel-held areas. The opposition is not party to this agreement and as we said we also have extremists in some of these areas so it remains to be seen how easy it's going to be for this group to get a-hold of all of these sites. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

KOSIK: Ok Elise Labott from the United Nations thanks.

And a diplomatic breakthrough between the U.S. and Iranian not sitting well with some hardliners back in Iran; an Iranian news agency says a protester threw a shoe in the direction of President Hassan Rouhani when he arrived home in Tehran today. That's considered an extremely offensive act in the Middle East. The report says there were several protesters there, but also supporters who welcomed Rouhani's new dialogue with the U.S.

A dialogue that included a phone chat, a phone conversation with President Obama -- it's the first direct contact between the country's leaders in more than 30 years. National security advisor Susan Rice explained how the phone call happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Somewhat surprisingly we were contacted by them to say that President Rouhani would like to speak to President Obama by telephone on his way out of town and we were able to make that call come together and -- and it did and it was a constructive discussion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And that discussion focused on Iran's new offer to compromise on its nuclear program. CNN's Jim Sciutto has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was just a 15-minute phone call, but one that was 34 years in the making.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The very fact that this was the first communications between an American and an Iranian President since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries, but it also indicates the prospect of moving beyond that difficult history.

SCIUTTO: The prospect of reaching an agreement on Iran's nuclear program seemed out of reach just weeks ago.

OBAMA: While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution.

SCIUTTO: A sentiment echoed by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who tweeted word of his call with Obama before the President confirmed it. Rouhani ended a week-long charm offensive in New York with a promise to submit a plan on Iran's nuclear program by next month.

PRESIDENT HASSAN ROUHANI, IRAN (through translator): I assure you that on the Iranian side, this will is there fully 100 percent that in a very short period of time there will be a settlement on the nuclear issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: As for that historic call between the presidents, a senior administration official said it was cordial in tone and both leaders expressed a determination to resolve the nuclear issue, quote, "peacefully and expeditiously". Though they spoke through an interpreter, at the end Rouhani did say "have a nice day" in English, and Obama said good-bye or "Hodafez" (ph) in Farsi -- Alison.

KOSIK: All right. Thank you Jim Sciutto.

Tick tock -- in one hour the clock is ticking House Speaker John Boehner expected to meet with Republicans, as they prepare to vote on a plan to avoid a government shutdown. We just caught a glimpse of him as he arrived on Capitol Hill. The House is getting ready to take up the spending plan the Senate passed yesterday, which will restore funding for Obamacare.

President Obama insisted the House pass it as well. But listen to what Boehner's spokesman said -- "The House will take action that reflects the fundamental fact that Americans don't want a government shutdown and they don't want the train wreck that is Obamacare. Grandstanding from the President who refuses to even be part of the process, won't bring Congress any closer to a resolution."

Dana Bash is live on Capitol Hill. Dana, I don't know, does that sound positive? That's not sounding very positive. What are the House Republicans discussing today?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Positive is definitely not a word I would even come close to using these days, particularly not at this hour.

Let me just set the scene for you Alison. Right down the hall behind me is House Speaker John Boehner's office. He's huddling with his fellow leaders trying to finalize a plan that they're going to present at the top of the hour in about 15 minutes to the rest of the rank and file Republicans.

This is not a time you want to be John Boehner. Because he is having the trouble now that we've seen him having all along, and frankly the whole reason why we got into this -- this showdown right now, which is he has a number of people in his caucus, who are demanding they, quote/unquote, "fight."

Initially it was to completely defund Obamacare. we saw what happened with that. It passed the House, it went to the Senate and they shifted out yesterday. Now the ball is back in the House's court and there still are enough Republicans who want them to go ahead and vote again on a spending bill, which does some things to Obamacare.

Maybe they'll -- and I'll give you some of the options I'm told they're discussing -- maybe delay Obamacare for a year, maybe get rid of the IPAB board -- or as Sarah Palin lovingly called them, the death panels and then also the medical device tax that helps pay for Obamacare. There's a discussion about maybe repealing that.

You see the list of three, by the way it could be one, it could be all, it could be different, they're trying to figure that out now. Those are just some of the options, but no matter what if they make changes to the bill that the Senate sent over yesterday, which is clean or no strings attached to just basically funds the government, the Senate has already said no way. Democrats who run the body over there, the Senate saying we're not going to do anything that is not clean.

But Speaker Boehner has to go through these machinations for political reasons and also for raw numbers. He is determined, I am told by Republican sources that at least at the outset he is not going to take up the Senate bill, which maybe he could pass with the help of Democrats, because he wants to just kind of help Republicans again get the need to make some changes, the need to fight out of their system. And what that means is we're going to be probably close to Monday night and not have a clear path on whether or how the government is going to stay open.

KOSIK: All right. And the drama continues. Dana Bash, we'll keep checking in with you throughout the day to hear the update. And the Affordable Care Act commonly known as Obamacare will impact almost everybody in the U.S. in some way. And you can find out more at CNN.com/healthcare.

And if you currently don't have health insurance and we want to hear your story, log-on to CNNiReport.com, share your photo or video describing your experiences.

Remember the Arizona wildfire that killed 19 firefighters in June? Today a report will reveal why those deaths happened and provide recommendations for avoiding similar tragedies in the future.

And are more terror attacks planned for east Africa? We're going to get the latest on the investigation into the deadly mall attack in Kenya.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: The terror group that's taken responsibility for a brutal massacre at a mall in Kenya could be planning more attacks. That's according to two U.S. officials who say the U.S. intelligence community is monitoring a stream of classified information and it suggests al-Shabaab may be planning other attacks in east Africa likely in Kenya.

I'm joined now by CNN law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes, he's the former assistant director of the FBI's office of international at operations. Good morning to you Tom.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Hi Alison.

KOSIK: How concerned are you with this new information?

FUENTES: Well actually it's not new information. The authorities particularly in Kenya and the U.S. as well have been aware of al- Shabaab planning attacks outside of Somalia on neighboring countries for the last three or four years. They attacked the World Cup soccer venue that people were watching in Kampala, Uganda in July of 2010, killing 74 people.

Since then, in 2011, the Kenyan authorities raided a safe house in Kenya and found explosives, firearms and a false passport that belonged to Samantha Lewthwaite, the so-called "White Widow".

So the planning, conspiracies, attacks, this has all been ongoing for a couple of years. Now recently the leader of al Shabaab is believed to have sent a tweet. His name is Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr he's believed to have tweeted that he warns Kenya, this is just act one, the Westgate Mall attack, so -- but it's really not act one. It's a continuation of a number of planned attacks that have been going on there.

KOSIK: All right well that's a little startling that this is just continuing and continuing. So let me ask you this. Officials say you know there aren't any details about targets, but you know what chances are there that these terrorists could go for something high profile again like the mall and maybe not just in east Africa? FUENTES: The chances are great. That's exactly what they could do. And the other concern here for U.S. authorities is that we don't just need young men to travel from Minneapolis or from Toronto, Canada to go to Somalia and train how to be terrorists and shoot guns and do bad things. Those kids were radicalized at home, here in the U.S. and Canada, they met directly with recruiters from al Shabaab and then made the choice to go there.

But they wouldn't have to go there. They could become radicalized here and of course as we well know, no problem obtaining the weapons they would need in the U.S. to carry out any number of attacks if they chose to do it, without ever going to Somalia, without ever coming up on the radar of law enforcement or intelligence agencies.

KOSIK: Right exactly. I mean how much are authorities here in the U.S. on alert for a -- for a possible attack here.

FUENTES: Well, they're very much on alert, but as I said if somebody radicalizes on the Internet, all they have to do is go to one of our big cities, and they would have no trouble gaining automatic weapons to carry out an attack. And it wouldn't take much for them to learn how to fire those weapons and walk into a mall or walk into a grocery store or a movie theater, or anywhere else. That's no big mystery that that's a big possibility.

KOSIK: All right. Tom Fuentes, thanks for your time.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

KOSIK: A lot of the talk about al Shabaab has focused on one woman known as the "White Widow". Interpol issued a red notice for her this week. And officials say it's for an incident from back in 2011. But there's been it speculation she may have been in that mall in Kenya.

Brian Todd has more on who she is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's been photographed as a British school girl with a soft-faced innocent smile. She is now called the White Widow, is believed to be a committed jihadist, and Interpol has just issued a worldwide red notice trying to track down Samantha Lewthwaite.

That's at the request of Kenyan authorities who've implied but presented no evidence that she may have been involved in the Nairobi mall attack.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Al Shabaab, the terrorist group on a Twitter handle which appears to belong to them, have denied that any women were involved in this attack.

TODD: But a senior Kenyan official says a woman was there and Kenyan leaders clearly believe Samantha Lewthwaite has had bad intentions. Born in Buckinghamshire, England she had by all accounts a normal, even innocent upbringing. As a teenager, she married Jermaine Lindsey (ph). She was pregnant when Lindsey blew himself up in the 2005 London bus and train attacks that killed more than 50 people. It's not clear if that event radicalized her. She initially condemned those bombings.

CRUICKSHANK: Subsequently, she's thought to have traveled to East Africa and connected with militants linked to the group al Shabaab.

TODD: Authorities say Lewthwaite has raised money and run logistics for terrorist cells. She's also been elusive, known to travel on a fake South African passport under the name Natalie Webb. In 2011, Kenyan authorities raided three homes in Mombasa, including one allegedly used by Lewthwaite.

There, they found similar bomb making materials to those used in the London bombings. They arrested people for plotting to bomb tourist areas but they were too late to catch Samantha Lewthwaite. Do those pieces add up to her potential involvement in the Westgate Mall attack with al Shabaab?

CNN national security analyst, Peter Bergen, doesn't think so.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It doesn't fit with how these groups operate. They're real misogynists. They think that women should be at home, you know, in a body veil.

TODD: But Samantha Lewthwaite wouldn't be the first western woman to be involved in a well-known terrorist plot. In November 2005, Muriel Degauque, a Belgian who would join al Qaeda blew herself up and injured a U.S. soldier in a suicide bombing in Iraq. And in 2011, Colleen Larose from Pennsylvania, who had called herself Jihad Jane pleaded guilty to plotting the murder of a Swedish cartoonist who had drawn an insulting image of the prophet Muhammad.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Later, several major U.S. cities are at risk of going under water because of climate change. We're going to show you why.

But first, is either side going to blink or is there really going to be a government shutdown? That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: See that clock? It's ticking down and your government could be shut down in days. Right now the GOP-controlled house is considering a spending plan in what's become a congressional version of hot potato.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A reminder that expressions of approval or disapproval are not permitted in the Senate. On this vote the yeas are 79, the nays are 19. Three-fifths of the Senate --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: The Democratic-controlled senate voted to keep the government open, but only after striking the house GOP's language that gutted the President's new health care program. And both sides, as you can imagine, are digging in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: It is unfortunate that there has been Republican division on this issue. When it comes back to the Senate after the House stands their ground yet again, we will have an opportunity for Republicans to come home, for Republicans to stand together.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: If they want to deal with all these many issues, let's do it without a gun to the head of the American people. If they want to look at the device tax, let's do it in the context of a separate piece of legislation. We are not going to play games with the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: This is exhausting. Joining us to talk about it is Crystal Wright, a conservative blogger; and Maria Cardona, CNN political analyst and a democratic strategist.

Crystal, let me go to you first. You know, the ball is back in Speaker Boehner's court. You know, this has to be a nightmare scenario. He's facing a showdown with the Tea Party Caucus in the House. How does he come out of this without shutting down the government and without alienating that powerful group that could control whether he stays on as Speaker?

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: Well, Alison there's not many times you're going to hear me say this, about the House Republicans just look stupid right now, along with Senator Ted Cruz.

I mean, what Speaker Boehner needs to do is get his caucus together and say, "Look, guys, we are losing the PR battle here when it comes to funding the government, the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling." I think they need a singular message. The message should be pass the Senate bill. I think that they have a lot of merit in arguing for delaying the individual mandate a year and attachment to the debt ceiling.

But they need to make their case to the American people because let's remember Alison, the President himself has delayed the employer mandate a year. So that's a rational argument and we do have a problem with spending.

So bottom line, House Republicans need to compromise, the President needs to compromise, but at the end of the day, President Obama has done a masterful job of messaging his agenda. He always does. But he too has said Obama care is full of glitches. It's glitches galore.

So I think that's the track that the House Republicans need to get on, and I think that they can make a lot of headway that way with the American people who, you know a lot of the American people don't want Obama care. 70 percent of them say they don't even understand the law.

KOSIK: And that's a good point. Maria Cardona, let me ask you, you know, we can kind of tell. You know, we've been out there sort of talking with people in our sort of armchair investigation.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

KOSIK: Most people don't understand the difference between the spending bill and the debt ceiling debate coming up. And here you have these lawmakers in Congress going head to head and the Americans on the whole really don't get what's going on. Is it really worth it?

CARDONA: It's ridiculous what's going on, Alison. And you won't hear me saying this very often but my friend Crystal Wright is mostly right because this is going to be a very bad omen for the GOP. They do not have a good image right now in terms of a party that understands what the American people are going through, what middle-class families are going through.

And I think what is going on here, Alison, is you're right, a lot of people don't understand the Affordable Care Act, but also what we see is that the majority of people want to give it a chance to work. That's why it's laughable to me when the House Republicans say they're listening to the American people because they're not.

The American people don't want a shutdown. The American people may not understand the Affordable Care Act but they love the benefits that they have already gotten from it and they want to see it implemented. If there are changes that need to be made, and I agree with Crystal and the President agrees with Crystal, come to the table with those changes, with their ideas and the President and the democrats would be willing to listen.

But do not attach it to a government shutdown. Do not attach it to America going into default. All of which would be very harmful to average American families, the very people that the GOP need if they want to ever become a majority party again in the Senate.

KOSIK: Ok. So let me ask you both very quickly, what do you think are the chances that we're going to have a shutdown come Monday at midnight?

WRIGHT: Well, yes, I think we're going to have a shutdown because remember, whatever the House Republicans decide to do with the bill this weekend, it's going to make the Senate Democrats happy. Harry Reid has already said -- Senator Reid has already said that. So I don't know how they meet the timeline. Remember the Senate has already gone home. So they have to come back Tuesday -- they could come back Monday. That's not enough time, so I think the government will shut down temporarily. I don't really see, you know, how we're going to get past that.

KOSIK: Maria, what do you think? CARDONA: I think that there's a very, very slim chance that John Boehner will today -- again very slim chance -- but he has a chance to cut the stranglehold that the crazy Tea Party Caucus has on him today at his meeting at noon in half an hour and say, "Look, guys, this is not working for us," because it's not. "Let's take our fight to the President and to the democrats. Let's try to negotiate with that on what it is that we want on the Affordable Care Act, but let's not put a gun to the American families in this country with the threat of a government shutdown, or even worse, with the threat of defaulting on our debt." Let's see if that happens.

KOSIK: All right. Maria Cardona -- Maria Cardona, Crystal Wright, thanks so much for your time. We'll talk more, I'm sure.

CARDONA: Thanks, Alison. Great to be with you.

WRIGHT: Thanks.

KOSIK: CNN's "CROSSFIRE" is going to have the latest on the possible shutdown -- government shutdown. Ralph Nader and Carly Fiorina, they are the guests. So watch tonight, 7:30 Eastern for a very special coverage.

Just days after suspending the entire football team for bad behavior off the field, a Utah high school team returns on homecoming night. The outcome, players say they won't forget.

A New Jersey judge has ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, but if Governor Christie gets his way, that decision will never go into effect. We're going to tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Alison Kosik in for Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the five things crossing the CNN news desk right now.

Number one, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani having a groundbreaking conversation with President Obama, apparently, though, not being welcomed by everybody in Iran. A news agency reports a protester threw a shoe toward Rouhani when he arrived back at Iran's airport today. That's deeply offensive in the Mid-East. The news agency reports Rouhani was also greeted by supporters who backed his efforts to end the country's nuclear standoff with the west.

Number two, the U.N. Security Council has unanimously approve a resolution demanding Syria eliminate all its chemical weapons. The resolution warns of consequences if Syria doesn't fully comply, but it does not authorize automatic use of force. Chemical weapons inspections in Syria are scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Number three, House Speaker John Boehner arriving on Capitol Hill about an hour ago ahead of a meeting with House Republicans, a spending plan to avoid a government shutdown is now in the hands of the House. The Senate passed it yesterday with one key addition. It now restores funding to Obamacare. That's a big, big hang up for Republicans.

An amazingly strong decision, that's what a gay rights group says about a state judge's ruling allowing New Jersey to allow same-sex marriage. The garden state has allowed civil unions since 2007, but the judge said they aren't sufficient because they deprive couples of federal benefits. Governor Chris Christie indicated he plans to appeal to State Supreme Court.

And number five, investigators are releasing a report on the Yarnell Hill fire that killed 19 Hotshots in Arizona in June. It's expected to provide details of what happened and give recommendations to avoid future incidents. The death toll was one of the highest from a U.S. wildfire in at least half a century.

President Obama's conversation with Iranian President Rouhani definitely making history, Friday's call was the first direct contact between the country's leaders in more than 30 years. The move could be a huge step in resolving concerns over Iran's nuclear program.

Joining me now to talk about this, Trita Parsi, he is the president of the National Iranian American Council. Good morning to you.

TRITA PARSI, THE NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: Good morning.

KOSIK: So what's your reaction to this shoe-gate that happened today?

PARSI: Shoe-gate. It already has a name. Remember this. In a city of about 10 million people, 60 people showed up to protest Rouhani's diplomacy, while a much, much larger number of people showed out to support it. At the end of the day, this was a move that revealed the weakness of this hard line conservatives rather than their strength.

KOSIK: What do you think of the phone call?

PARSI: I think this was historic and I think the most important aspect is this -- now diplomatic efforts between the United States and Iran has a direct involvement of both presidents from both countries, which means that they now have ownership of it. When they have ownership of it, the cost of failure rises, and as a result, they will be far more committed to making sure that it succeeds. That makes this so much different than all of the past efforts that have been made that unfortunately have failed to break the deadlock between the two.

KOSIK: But is it more PR, smoke and mirrors than substantive kind of conversation happening here?

PARSI: It seems already that there's more substance behind the scenes that we may know of, but I think the important thing, of course, is that in the beginning there is going to be a lot of PR. We will know about the substance as the negotiations proceed, but frankly we've never gotten this farther in the past.

KOSIK: What do you think from the U.S. point of view, can Iran be trusted? PARSI: It's not about whether it can be trusted or not. It's about how we use diplomacy to build the trust that is needed and to make sure we have the verification and transparency measures in order to make sure that we don't have to trust. But we have our own ability to verify that they're doing that they're claiming what they're doing, they're living up to the agreements.

KOSIK: All right, thanks so much for your time, Trita Parsi.

PARSI: Thank you for having me.

KOSIK: Sure.

And as the clock winds down and brings the U.S. government closer to a shutdown, Obamacare has ended up in the spotlight. Will it be defended or not? That question is at the forefront of the whole debate right before parts of Obamacare are about to go into effect.

Margaret Conley talks to one business owner who was so outspoken against it, he says he would have to stop all hiring.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZANE TANKEL, OWNER, APPPLEBEE'S: That's a virtual reality.

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Zane Tankel, owner of all New York area Applebee's restaurants sparked controversy last year when he threatened to stop hiring because of affordable care act cost.

TANKEL: We won't build more restaurants. We won't hire more people.

CONLEY: A year later from his newest restaurant in East Harlem.

TANKEL: This wall is all living.

CONLEY: Zane says he'll find a way to continue with business and his best people are his full-time people.

TANKEL: Am I going to penalize my best people because the president has put into place something that penalizes me? No, I've got too much at stake.

CONLEY: These crucial decisions facing business owners like Zane have desire economic consequences according to John Goodman from the National Center for Policy Analysis.

JOHN GOODMAN, NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS: Small businesses are being forced to provide a very expensive package of health benefits for their employees and the new law gives some no additional help. There is no subsidy.

CONLEY: Cost is the single biggest concern for companies according to human resources consultant, Julie Stone.

(on camera): What kind of impact does that going to have in this country?

JULIE STONE, CONSULTANT, TOWERS WARSON: I think it has seismic proportions long term for our country. It's going to change the fabric of who we are and how we go about our daily lives ultimately.

CONLEY: For Zane, he's taking each phase of reform at a time.

TANKEL: I don't think it is going to be so terrible. I think that people are not going to opt, at least for the first year, for 10 percent of their gross income going to Obamacare.

CONLEY: Margaret Conley, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: There are a lot of claims about the president's new health care plan coming from both sides. This is just one from the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We will keep this promise to the American people. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: So is that true? The short answer -- maybe. It's probably true that the majority of people who have insurance will not be affected by the new law, but clearly some will. The White House says the president stands by the claim, declaring on its web site nothing in the proposal forces anyone to change the insurance they have, period. Want to find out all the answers? Go to cnn.com/healthcare.

Now take a look at this. It may look like a concert crowd, but these folks are flocking to a field in Nebraska for something much older and much more nostalgic in classic rock. But first, as Season 2 of CNN'S "PARTS UNKNOWN" rolls out, Anthony Bourdain is headed to New Mexico and he drives Route 66 to Santa Fe in a classic convertible, hoping to find the perfect taco and more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, CNN'S "PARTS UNKNOWN": So what have we learned in the wide opening spaces in the great American Southwest, New Mexico. We learned that after you've had a couple margaritas, that when you move on to shots, that's when things go seriously wrong. I made a mistake, and I'm paying for it. Don't do as I do, kids. Get off my lawn, you kids. My face is burning off. This is what America really is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just going to get prettier.

BOURDAIN: I regret that, you know, with all the UFO activity here, at no point was I probed, nor did anyone attempt to probe me. I'm a little hurt. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: And after a run to record highs, stocks have fallen back this week, as Washington gets mired in gridlock. It's not just those threats of the government shutdown, no. It's all that squabbling over raising the government's borrowing limit called the debt ceiling that has investors a bit concerned. Zain Asher is in New York to bring us up to speed.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alison. The September surge became the September (inaudible). The Dow posted its first weekly loss in August. Squabbling in Washington is creating uncertainty on Wall Street. Investors are worried about a government shutdown and another debt ceiling debacle. Analysts say investors aren't panicked yesterday because they still expect a last-minute deal.

A black week for Blackberry, the company reported a $965 million loss for its recent quarter. Shares are down more than 30 percent this year, but the stock may not trade much longer. On Monday, Canadian insurance company, Fairfax Financial offered $4.7 billion to take the company private.

More happy housing news, home prices jumped 12.4 percent in July from a year ago and even with rising mortgage rates, the new home sales climbed 8 percent in August. JPMorgan Chase is in talks with the government to settle federal and state mortgage probes. The agreement could cost the bank possibly $11 billion. JPMorgan has been accused of selling risky mortgage-backed securities while representing them as safe.

Want fries with that? You have really to think about that one. Starting next week McDonald's will offer a choice of sides in its value meals. Customers can have a salad, fruit or vegetables at no extra cost.

Don't forget to join Christine Romans at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on a brand-new "YOUR MONEY." Obamacare is here whether the government shuts down or not, forget the politics, she's got the facts -- Alison.

KOSIK: Zain Asher in New York, thank you.

All right, this is a car love's dream, almost 500 vintage Chevrolet cars and trucks on the auction block in Pierce, Nebraska. Some of the models date back to the 1930s. Many have been barely driven. It took a local dealer decades to acquire of car. He kept them after closing his business, but finally decided to auction them all at once to pay some bills.

One high school football coach made national headlines this week after he suspended his entire team for bad behavior off the field. Well, now the team is back, but the question is, have they all learned their lesson?

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KOSIK: Some tough love for a Utah high school football team. The Union Cougars were suspended by their coach this week for bad behavior off the field. In order to get their jerseys back, players had to take character building classes, even volunteer, and last night the team returned for their homecoming game. Carrying a lesson with them they say they'll never forget. Here's Christi Paul.

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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With this 90-yard kickoff return, the Union Cougars were back in the homecoming game after a week in the national spotlight and the lesson of a lifetime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's how you do that, Billy.

PAUL: Head coach, Matt Labrum fielded questions all week about his staff's decision to suspend every varsity and junior varsity player on the Utah high school football team.

MATT LABRUM, COUCH, UNION HIGH SCHOOL: I never expected it to go like it did.

PAUL: Holding the team accountable for off-field misconduct by a few players got reaction from across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you could tell the coach I think he is wonderful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want you to know that I give him an A double plus. That's awesome. We need more of that in this country.

PAUL: The coaches say the Cougars have had a few academic issues this season as well as some attitude problems. And last week the staff learned that a player or two may have been involved in a cyber bullying incident at the school.

LABRUM: Just felt like everything was going in a direction that we didn't want our young men going and so we felt like we needed to make a stand.

PAUL: So the team had to trade in their jerseys and perform community service, elect new team captains, and attend a character education class.

JORDAN GURR, JUNIOR, UNION HIGH SCHOOL: I figured we just been cutting down. I figured there was no more games.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pass interference, that's the worst call.

PAUL: Back under the Friday night lights, a capacity crowd turned out to support the team at their homecoming game, a game this team will never forget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it will affect us the rest of our lives, I don't think we'll ever forget it. PAUL: Christi Paul, CNN, Atlanta.

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KOSIK: Good for the coach.

Our legal guys are tackling the most intriguing cases next hour. Avery Friedman and Richard Herman, they join me for a quick look at what's on the docket. All right, a man sentenced to 30 days in jail for rape has served his sentence. Those that don't like the light penalty want him to serve more time. Will the court give them what they want, Avery?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, Allison, in Montana there's a mandatory minimum and the judge screwed up, but he entered a second order to make the punishment fit the crime. Did it work? We've got the answers for you and more coming up.

KOSIK: Richard?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And not only that, the judge commented that the woman who was 14 years old looked a lot older and you would say would you, statutory rape. But in Montana, that is a defense. More to come.

KOSIK: All right, it's crazy. All right, we are going to have more on that just ahead plus the jury is deliberating in the lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson's family against the concert promoter. We are going to breakdown the case for you. That's all ahead in our next hour of the NEWSROOM.

A blockbuster report from the U.N. says humans have caused the vast majority of climate change whether it is our fault or not, the change is happening. So in a minute, I am taking you to Miami and see if the city is getting ready for rising waters.

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KOSIK: So this is disturbing. The U.N., a blockbuster report on global warming released by the U.N. this week, it says that the world is getting hotter and sea levels are rising and humans, yes, us, we're mainly to blame. Scientists say they are 95 percent sure that we and our activities have contributed to a jump in temperatures across the globe during the last six decades.

Now in a separate report recently, the World Bank says climate change is creating a flood threat for some of the biggest cities around the world and it could end up costing us trillions of dollars in damage. Cities in China and Japan are particularly vulnerable, but look at that New York, Boston, Tampa, New Orleans, they'll make the list too and the cost of the U.S. economy could be in the tens of billions in damage as flood waters inundate the cities.

Also on the list, my hometown, Miami, located right in South Florida. CNN meteorologist, Chad Myers is there, which is just -- Islamorada, which is just south of Miami in the Florida Keys. Chad, gosh, you know, what kind of danger is there to a city like Miami?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, Alison, I drove into Miami Beach, not the beach itself, but kind of this bay side over on Alton on Wednesday, there's water in the street and I thought there must a water main break because that's what I would assume in Atlanta. But not here, in fact, that was sea water that had come up from the sewers because it was high tide. So part of Miami Beach is already flooding every big high tide and it's about to get worse because the waters are still going up.

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MYERS (voice-over): The ocean is rising quicker than in decades past and predictions made by some research scientists make the situation sound pretty dire.

HAROLD R. WANLESS, DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: By the mid-part of the century, 2050, 2060, most of the barrier islands in the world are going to have to be evacuated.

MYERS: And that includes Miami. It's hard to imagine, iconic Miami Beach deserted, but it is obvious that rising water is already a common problem here. On a sunny day, a high tide is enough to flood some streets.

JAMES MURLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SOUTH FLORIDA, REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL: We live on lime stone. It's like a porous sponge. We really can't use levees to hold back the water.

MYERS: While the city continues to find ways to deal with the excess water, many experts say there's no way to stop it.

(on camera): We saw barricades and sandbags all along Alton because the water sits there during high tide. Let's put one more foot of water on top of this for just a one-foot sea level rise from here from Miami Beach. Every single street that's blue will have water in it if we get a one-foot rise in sea level?

PETER HARLEM, GEOGRAPHIC INFO SYSTEMS CENTER, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Yes.

MYERS: That's a problem.

HARLEM: The king tides, it will be higher than this, but this is essentially showing you the places that are going to be affected first.

MURLEY: The important thing is, is to keep observing what's happening, to look at all the ranges and projections and then come back to the policymakers and say here's the actions you have to take.

MYERS (voice-over): The Southeast Florida climate change compact has been created to monitor and mitigate the harsh consequences of climate change.

MURLEY: They're not sticking their heads in the sand. They know this is a real problem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: So Alison, here is the deal as liquids expand because they get hotter, just like a thermometer. You put your hand on the thermometer, what's going to happen? The top of the thermometer is going to go up. It's going to show your temperature. So the ocean is warming up too. So 6 to 7-mile Deep Ocean beginning to be a thermometer as it goes up. It's the warming of the water. Not even the glacier melts talk about 3 feet in the next maybe 75 or 100 years, obviously, Miami Beach in a lot of trouble. But so many cities, New York and into D.C., all those low-lying areas from Fort Myers to Naples to Tampa and New Orleans, of course, the water keeps going up. A lot of cities are in big trouble.

KOSIK: Yes, it's really, really distressing to hear, but I must say Islamorada looks absolutely beautiful today and I hear the music playing in the background. You go have some fun.

MYERS: You know, it's only 3 feet about sea level here so that's why we're here. There's not a high spot in the Keys if the water keeps going up.

KOSIK: I understand. All right, Chad Myers, thanks so much. We have much more just ahead in the NEWSROOM and it starts right now.