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House Divided Over Spending Plan; Obama Digs In On Budget Standoff; House GOP Will Vote Today On Plan; U.N. To Syria: Destroy Chemical Weapons; Iran And U.S. Break 34 Years Of Silence; Spreading The Word About Obamacare; Rapist Teacher Leaves Jail After One Month; Majority Want Compromise On Shutdown; U.N.: Blame Humans For Climate Change; Jackson Case: Jury Deciding On Blame; Yarnell Fire Report Being Released; SNL Says Goodbye to Big Names

Aired September 28, 2013 - 12:00   ET

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

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, there. I'm Alison Kosik in for Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories we're following in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Right now on Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner huddling with GOP leaders, deliberating their next move as the clock tick toward a government shutdown.

A former teacher convicted of raping his teenage student is now a free man. His controversial sentence and prosecutors plans to get him back in jail.

Plus, a TV show with lasting power, "Saturday Night Live" turning 39 years old this and experiencing a positive mid-life crisis?

And right now, House Republicans are meeting on Capitol Hill as the clock ticks closer to a government shutdown. Congress has a little over two days to figure something out and the ball is in the House's court. Speaker John Boehner arrived this morning, smiling, before his meeting with Republicans. Meantime, representatives are already discussing this on the House floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN (R), TENNESSEE: One of the things we continue to hear from this White House in this administration is that they want a government shutdown. Now they try to blame us. We've realized that, but I got to tell you, I've got a titanium backbone. Let them blame.

REPRESENTATIVE AMI BERA (D), CALIFORNIA: Let's start talking and let's start listening to one another. That's what the American public wants. They want Democrats and Republicans to bring their best ideas forward, put those ideas on the table and put the people first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And we've got live team coverage with all angles of this shutdown. Dana Bash live on Capitol Hill and Jim Acosta live at the White House. Let's go ahead and start on Capitol Hill with Dana Bash. Dana, you know, a lot of this really boiling down to will they take away the funding for Obamacare or not? And we've heard there have been some changes already to what House Republicans are considering. Tell me what you're hearing.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, we just apologize in advance, I might have to move aside because we are waiting for John Boehner to walk by exactly where I am. But the news that I'm hearing at this hour as they walk into this very important meeting is that House Republicans will present a plan that will likely vote on today as soon as today, which will not only fund the government, but will do some things that Democrats simply will hat like delaying Obamacare for a year and appealing attacks on medical crisis. This will increase the likelihood of a government shutdown for sure. I'll get back while I catch my breath.

KOSIK: Yes, I'm going to go ahead and let you catch your breath. Let's move on to Jim Acosta if we can. Can we do that?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm here. Yes, I'm with you, Alison.

KOSIK: Let me ask you this. What do you think, Jim, are the chances at this for a shutdown?

ACOSTA: Well, they are getting -- they are getting better by the minute. If what Dana Bash just talking about just now becomes reality later on this evening, meaning if the House Republicans decide to pass a continuing resolution temporary spending bill that keeps the government open, but also delays or defunds Obamacare or tinkers with Obamacare, not only will Senate Democrats not go forth. President Obama has said repeatedly and White House officials have said repeatedly, he will not sign that.

And so this government will shut down and so at this point, you know, this maybe some last minute attempts for leverage by House Republicans by putting this out there. But I mean, I don't want to say I can guarantee you, Alison, but it's almost a 100 percent guarantee take it to the bank that this government is going to shutdown if House Republicans move forward with that kind of legislation later on this evening. This White House is just not going to go for it.

KOSIK: Dana, what do you think, it's that dire?

BASH: It could be. Forgive me, it's amazing what a glass of water will do. But it certainly could be. Now the one option that is still on the table I'm told is for -- if they get down to wire as Jim was talking about for House Republicans to pass a stop gap measure a couple of days maybe a week I'm just told that is still on the table, but they are not even going there now before they go through these machinations that they are going to go through today.

If they do that, Senate Democratic source told me yesterday, they, of course, will pass it in order to keep the government open. But I just want to also -- excuse me, the speaker is coming behind me so we're going to try to get him. I will let you know when he comes. Actually, you know what? Hang one second, Alison. KOSIK: That's OK, go ahead and we'll come back to you.

BASH: Let's step aside. Hi, Mr. Speaker. We're live. Would you like to tell us what your plans are? There you go. Not very talkative because they don't like to talk -- but if what if his aides just joke, victory, Dana, victory. But in all seriousness, I think that this is an important point to make, what the House Speaker is doing walking into the meeting, you saw him go by me to get into, is to negotiate with his fellow Republicans and that's really what this is all about.

That's why they are taking it down to the wire that they are making it even more likely that the government does shutdown because John Boehner -- let's just be blunt John Boehner doesn't want a government shutdown. He didn't want to go into this crisis mode to begin with. He was forced into this by a very strong, very vocal, very important in terms of raw numbers part of his caucus that simply wants to keep fighting and they are for sure being egged on by Ted Cruz in the Senate and his grassroots campaign.

And they are saying again, still even though they lost the first round, the Senate defeated the whole idea of defunding Obamacare on the spending bill, they still want to keep fighting and that's why they are going to go ahead, it looks like according to the sources I'm talking to and present this idea in the caucus meaning that it's just getting underway right now to fund the government, but also tinker with Obamacare in a few ways that is again, a non-starter for Democrats.

KOSIK: All right, Dana Bash, Jim Acosta, thanks so much. We're going to stay all over the story and keep on checking with both of you.

And the affordable care act commonly known as Obamacare is going to impact almost everybody in the U.S. in some way and you could find out more at cnn.com/healthcare. If you don't currently have health insurance, we do want to hear your story. Log on to cnnireport.com and go ahead and share your photo or share your video describing your experiences.

Syria now officially on notice, last night the U.N. Security Council unanimously 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 diffuse the worst weapons of war.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KOSIK: And chemical weapons inspections in Syria are scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

The diplomatic breakthrough between the U.S and Iran isn't 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 there were 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. This message was posted on Rouhani's Twitter account today. President Rouhani has landed in Tehran after a super busy week in New York, #unga.

National security adviser, Susan Rice, says Rouhani initiated the phone call with President Obama.

(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 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.

A convicted rapist walks out of jail after serving a one month sentence. He raped his 14-year-old student. She later killed herself. People are furious and they're taking action.

Tuesday, you can start to signing up for Obamacare, but do most Americans really know what it is? We're going door to door to find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: The affordable care act, also known as Obamacare, kicks in on Tuesday. As we found out, a lot of people don't know anything about it. That has health insurance workers going door to door to spread the word. Our Zain Asher went along with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will start at the top of the hill and around, but we'll start at the top of the hill.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With just a few days to go before the new health insurance exchanges go live, an army of Obamacare experts are going door to door. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning. Is Christopher home? We're not selling anything. Do you currently have insurance?

ASHER: Trying to explain Obamacare to Americans who don't have health insurance.

MAHER HAMOUI, UNINSURED: I don't know if it has something to do with caring for people, Obamacare, basically that's all I know.

ASHER: According to Kaiser Family Foundation, 43 percent of uninsured Americans still have no idea about the new exchanges.

JOSE MENENDEZ: I have a question. Who created this affordable health care plan?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was passed by Congress, yes, the affordable care act.

MENENDEZ: I was just wondering as a citizen of America, how come I did not hear of this?

ASHER: Health care reform is a source of contention in Congress. Many of the people we spoke to here in New Jersey were hearing details of Obamacare for the first time just this week.

JUSTIN MEDINE, UNINSURED: I'm definitely going to read into it.

MENENDEZ: Is Obama forcing Americans to get health insurance? It sounds that way.

ASHER: Enroll America, a non-profit group funded mainly by insurance companies, health care groups and charities is working to spread the word, dispatching 130 field workers in ten states.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can follow up with you.

ASHER: On October 1st, 48 million uninsured Americans will be able to purchase health coverage through federal and state exchanges. Coverage starts January 1st, and they must enrol before March 31st.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They're going to be able to shop like you shop for an airline ticket or flat- screen TV and see what's the best price for you --

UNIDENTIIFIED MALE: This is all new to me. I never know about any of this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Whether you know about it or not, it is still the law of the land. If you don't sign up in the next six months, you may face a penalty of $95 or 1 percent of your household income. Zain Asher, CNN, New York.

KOSIK: And if you have question about the affordable health care act, you can find all the answers on cnn.com/healthcare. A troubling new report suggest in the next 30 years, parts of the east coast are going to need to be evacuated because of global warming, and the report says guess who is to blame, you and me.

A former high school teacher served just one month in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl. Today he is a free man. But state prosecutors are trying to do something about that. Our legal guys are coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: A former high school teacher who served just one month in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl is a free man today. People are furious about this lenient sentence and the judge's comments about the victim as well. Prosecutors in Billings, Montana are appealing the sentence to the State Supreme Court, and reporters including our own, Kyung Lah, are trying to talk to the man at the center of the controversial case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stacy Rambold sped out of state prison a free man, checking in with his parole officer.

(on camera): Hi, Stacey. Hi. I'm Kyung Lah from CNN. Can I ask you a few questions? Are you checking in with the parole officer?

(voice-over): He dashed out, his head down. A short time, later --

(on camera): Can we talk about your one month sentence?

(voice-over): Left for home. The former teacher is not answering any questions from CNN about his one month jail sentence for raping his 14-year-old student. Rambold was arrested in 2008 and as he awaited trial, his young victim was tormented by other students who bullied her for being a rape victim.

Before Rambold's case was heard, Cherice Moralez took her life. To add insult to injury, the man that was supposed to represent justice, Judge Todd Baugh, then sentenced Rambold to just one month behind bars, saying the teenage victim seemed older than her chronological age and was as much in control as the then 49-year-old Rambold.

The judge who has also repeatedly ducked CNN's questions has since admitted the sentence may have been illegal. State laws mandate a two-year minimum for this crime. Rambold is now a registered sex offender and he faces a long list of probation and parole conditions, 59 of them to be exact.

He can't be around children, go to a bar, get on the internet or even open a checking account. What's more, this may not be the end of his legal story. Prosecutors filed appeal with the State Supreme court, and hope to put him back behind bars.

MARIAN BRADLEY, NOW MONTANA: I see hope on the horizon. I think as long as we know that it's happening, we can acknowledge it and do something to change it. LAH: Hoping to finally find justice that has so far failed Cherice Moralez. Kyung Lah, Billings, Montana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right, so let's go ahead and talk about this story with our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor, he is in Cleveland, and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor. You are joining us from Las Vegas.

Guys, you know, I don't know where to begin with this, so many outrageous aspects to the story. First of all, as Kyung just mentioned in her report, state laws mandate just a two-year minimum for this crime. Avery, just two years for rape, are you kidding?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, that's the mandatory minimum, Alison. What's involved here is something much greater than this, and that is what the judge did was try to equate blame between a 51-year-old high school teacher and a 14-year-old student, and that is so far removed from reality.

And then to make it worse, the judge appeals his own order if you will, and the appeals court said there's nothing you can do about it. So the last resort is going to by prosecutors to try to convince Montana Supreme Court to take this case to undo what is malignant, just an appalling result, and that's the last legal hope here.

KOSIK: Richard, your thoughts?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The judge was going to resentence him to two years. Just before he did that, the prosecution filed appeal and stopped him from doing it. Eventually on appeal, he probably will get sentenced to the two years, but understand something. We have to analyze this, not emotionally but legally and intellectually.

This situation would have been a very difficult case to prove because she took her own life. If you don't have the victim, it is very hard, almost impossible, to get a rape conviction without her. Having said that, they cut a deal, they took away the three felony charges. He pled to one on a deferred prosecution.

But he got deemed a level one sex offender, and you heard in that previous package, 59 conditions he has to live by. Now granted, because of a violation of those conditions, he was brought back before the judge for resentencing. And the violation was he attended another location and he got into a relationship with an older woman of age. That was the violation. So the bottom line is this --

FRIEDMAN: Terrible.

HERMAN: There's probably a two-year sentence handed down.

FRIEDMAN: I don't agree. If that prosecution to the Supreme Court is going to be successful, that trial court has to have discretion for a just result. It is appalling, malignant. It's removed from the reality of what girls and women face it every day. So that's the last hope. I don't agree with that analysis. I genuinely believe this is an appalling abuse of discretion by the trial court and we're hoping Montana Supreme Court will do something about it.

KOSIK: Let me go ahead and ask about the judge. You know, people are trying to get the judge kicked out of office with that petition. But if that doesn't work, voters I understand can kick him out of office. Isn't that the case, Richard?

HERMAN: Yes, he is up for re-election next year, but right now he is before a disciplinary committee based on alleged bias of his ruling here. Whatever you want to talk about, the legislature makes the rule and set the sentencing here. The sentencing like Avery said, two year mandatory minimum, and he sentenced the person to 15 years, but put him on a 30-day deferred.

FRIEDMAN: Deferred.

HERMAN: Because they couldn't prove the case. That was the plea bargain. They could have gone to trial and he could have got acquitted, too, then what would people have said?

FRIEDMAN: He had discretion not to accept that. The court had discretion not to accept that plea bargain clearly unacceptable.

HERMAN: If the prosecution said this is our deal, judge, you better take it. The judge has to take it. Otherwise there will be no deals in that jurisdiction and everybody will go to trial.

KOSIK: All right, I would have to leave it there. We're going to be back with you in about 20 minutes. We're going to talk about something different, the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial. You know, after 21 weeks of testimony, it is now in the hands of the jury. We're going to come back to you with that, OK.

HERMAN: Yes.

KOSIK: OK, 19 firefighters died in a wildfire in Arizona in June. And now, we're learning what went wrong and how it all happened, and what can be done to prevent it from ever happening again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: With the government shutdown just days away, what do most Americans think of political gridlock going on right now? As CNN's political editor, Paul Steinhauser shows us, they seemed to want to a little more flexibility from our politicians.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: In the showdown between Democrats and Republicans over a government shutdown, public opinion seems to be clear. You want Congress to compromise. A majority in two polls, including this one from Pew Research says Congress needs to work it out, with the minority saying lawmakers should stick to their principles, even if it leads to government shutdown. Also clear, most of you don't want a shutdown. According to CBS News, "The New York Times" poll, 8 in 10 say that threatening a government shutdown isn't an acceptable way to negotiate. Now, if the government runs out of money starting Tuesday, whom would you blame?

In two new polls, more point fingers at congressional Republicans than at the president. In two others, the public is divided. The health care law is front and center in this political game of chicken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Health care costs overall are rising much more slowly than they did before we signed the law, so far so good. So what's all the fuss about?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obamacare fails, it is an example of why big government fails, and it is not fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Our CNN/ORC poll from earlier this month found that support for the measure is dropping, 39 percent said they favor most or all provisions in the law, down 12 points from the beginning of the year. And two other new surveys find only a minority supporting the measure. With polls bolstering each side's arguments, there may be even less incentive to compromise.

KOSIK: Paul Steinhauser in Washington, thank you.

So yes, we are just a little more than two days from shutdown of the U.S. government, but what does it mean for you? Two million civilian employees are going to be furloughed, causing scores of backups and slow downs of services at agencies across the country. If you were planning a trip to a national park, better forget it because parks are going to be closed, so are all museums and zoos.

And federally backed loans are frozen and that means home buyers, students, and business owners, depending on a loan, are going to have to wait. CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger is on shutdown watch for us this weekend.

Gloria, let me play a short clip of the president after the Senate voted to keep the government open without gutting Obamacare. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: The House Republicans are so concerned with appeasing the Tea Party that they have threatened government shutdown or worse unless I gut or repeal the affordable care act. I said this yesterday. Let me repeat it. That's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: All right, Gloria, so right now at this very moment, we have the White House digging its heels in. We have the Senate digging its heels in, you know, as we wait to see what the House Republicans plan to do.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALSYST: Dig in their heels.

BORGER: Yes, exactly. You know, how much of a political box is House Speaker John Boehner in at this point?

BORGER: Well, you know, he is in a hugely tough position. I don't think we can overstate the importance of this to his speakership. This is a defining moment for him because he has a very unruly group in his caucus who are saying, look, we are willing to shut down the government because we want to defund Obamacare. We want to at the very least delay Obamacare, which the president says amounts to trying to kill the bill.

And he has to figure out a way, he understands how unpopular shutting down the government is. He saw the polls that Paul Steinhauser just pointed out, which shows that in many polls Republicans would be blamed for it, so he's got to figure out a way to keep his Republicans happy, particularly that group, and make it look like he's not abandoning them, while trying to thread the needle and actually get to some resolution that would not shut the government down.

And I honestly think that's very, very difficult, if not impossible for him to do. So it looks more and more likely that you'd end up with some kind of a shutdown, then maybe some procedural loops to kick the can down the road, which as you know members of Congress have been known to do before.

KOSIK: That's a good point. You know, Americans, we're growing weary of kicking the can down the road. At what point do both sides realize they're not wing points with Americans, not gaining ground in the popularity department.

BORGER: One would think pretty soon, particularly since the really big fight, and you know this from what you cover, Alison, the big fight and the more important fight and the more long lasting fight is the one over the debt ceiling, which is coming mid-October. At that point, Social Security checks, if you did not raise the debt ceiling, which is effectively saying we're not paying our credit card bills.

Then at that point you're going to lose your Social Security and at that point our troops won't be paid, and then people are really going to start to get upset about it. So you know at that point, sometime between then and now, presidential leadership has to be exerted because people believe that the energy for solutions in the country really has to come from the White House.

At this point the president is going to let it play out, Alison, but at a certain point I do think he is going to have to stand up and say all right, enough of this, I cannot let this happen on my watch and kind of start knocking heads together and see where he gets.

KOSIK: All right, Gloria Borger. I am going to Dana Bash. She is on Capitol Hill. She has some new details on what's in the Republicans' plan. Dana, what do you have for us? BASH: Well, we reported at the top of the hour that we were told by Republican sources that what they're going to do is not only fund the government, but deal with Obamacare in that they're going to delay it for a year. They are going to repeal a tax on medical devices, which helps pay for Obamacare.

I am now told by Republican sources who are by the way inside the room right now getting briefed on their plan that there are two other things that are in it. One is to make sure that members of the military would still get paid if there is a shutdown. That's a huge, huge issue because as we have been reporting about the consequences of a shutdown, one of the biggest is that men and women who are on the frontlines, their paychecks would stop.

And that's something that's a political and every other way a nonstarter, even for people who are in the Republican Party who say if the government shuts down, so what, so that's very interesting that that at least politically is in this measure it seems. And the other thing is that with the Senate passed, would keep the government running just for a month and a half until middle of November, this would take it all the way to the middle of December.

But this is a really important point for people to remember. Once you started talking about adding anything to this, according to Senate Democrats, it would be a nonstarter. So whether it is delaying Obamacare, whether it is medical device tax, anything that changes the funding bill, which is now clean or has no strings attach is a nonstarter. So anything that's added really does increase the likelihood of a shutdown in a big, big way.

KOSIK: OK, so they're muddying the waters even more. Dana Bash, thanks so much.

CNN's "CROSSFIRE" is going to have the latest on the possible government shutdown, Ralph Nader, Carly Fiorina, they are the guests. Tune in tonight at 7:30 Eastern for special coverage.

And just ahead, we're going to find out how climate change is endangering South Florida.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I am meteorologist Chad Meyers at the National Hurricane Center. It has been a quiet season so far. Only takes one big storm to make a difference. We'll talk to the foremost expert about storm surge coming up in just a bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, HOST, CNN'S "THE NEXT LIST": This week on "THE NEXT LIST," Dr. Miguel Nicolales in the cutting edge of neuroprosthetics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person wears the robotic vest and he or she would use his or her brain activity to control the movements directly of this vest. And the vest will provide some sort of tactile feedback to the person, like temperature, fine touch. The concept to get the signals translated into language, electrical signals that the brain can interpret. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It went from an idea that was impossible when I was first injured 10 years ago to probable to inevitable.

GUPTA: Designer Diana Ang melts high tech with high fashion using laser cutters and conductive threads. Ang lights up the showroom with her interactive designs. Those stories on "THE NEXT LIST," this Saturday at 2:30 Eastern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

One of the biggest dangers from rising sea levels comes from storm surge. One of the most vulnerable places is South Florida. That's where we find CNN meteorologist, Chad Myers. He is in Islamorada in the Florida Keys. Chad, an area like that I know is in real danger from a storm surge. Why is that?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, because when I arrived in Miami Beach on Wednesday, it hadn't rained, there was nothing in the streets except water. And I looked down, I said there must be a water main break because that's the only possible reason there would be water in the streets.

When I talked to the experts, they said no, that's the tide. The tide is so high, water levels coming up so much that you can actually get water in the streets in high tide and it is saltwater, and it is everywhere, up and down Alton, not Miami Beach proper, but the rising warm water, potential for bigger hurricanes. Well, the hurricane experts say this is just the beginning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE RHOME, STORM SURGE LEAD, NATIONAL HURRICAN CENTER: What you're seeing is a microcosm of what's happening all across the U.S., you see it in Norfolk, sea level rise is causing areas to flood under unusually high tides. Our building, we put things where we thought the water would never go. Now because of sea level rise, the water is going there. As we advance this out in time that means storm surges which come on top of sea level and any sea level rise is only going to get worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MYERS: There are so many cities that are already in the way of a big storm surge with a big hurricane including Galveston in New Orleans obviously. But from Tampa down into Fort Myers up through South Florida and obviously up the east coast, big weather coming, obviously the first hurricane of the season hitting the U.S. not here yet. We hope it doesn't happen at all because I am not sure we're that prepared. We will have to keep watching it -- Alison.

KOSIK: You know, it is so hard, Chad, for people to really believe it. I mean, they see how beautiful it is out there. They hear the music playing. I am sure there are people enjoying themselves on Saturday afternoon there, but the signs are there, aren't they?

MYERS: You know, we are only 3 feet above sea level, if the water comes up, it will come over top of the island and out toward back bay so that's the issue. If you push water up and push storm surge on top of that, surges will get higher and higher.

KOSIK: OK, Chad Myers, thanks so much.

They've been at it for five months, now jurors in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial are trying to decide who is at fault and whether the singer's family should get a whole lot of money. Our legal guys are coming back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Jurors in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial are getting a long weekend off. They will be back though to their deliberations Tuesday. Our Casey Wian tells us what happened so far and the crucial question these jurors have to answer.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison, jurors in the case of Michael Jackson's family versus concert promoter, AEG Live spent their first full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict. It was very clear though right from the start they began to tackle the very first and most important question of the many questions they must answer on their verdict form, and that is did concert promoter AEG Live hire Conrad Murray, the doctor who was convicted of giving Michael Jackson that fatal dose of propofol. That despite the fact there was never a fully executed signed agreement between AED Live, Murray, and Jackson, and also Murray never actually received any money from the concert promoter. We know that they were talking about that first question because they asked for individual copies, one for each of the 12 jurors, of that contract agreement, that tentative deal. They also asked for benign things like office supplies and they wanted a DVD player and copy of "This Is It" the posthumous video released over the objections of Michael Jackson's family, after his death.

At stake, potentially more than a billion dollars in damages that the Jackson family lawyers say should be paid to his mother and his three surviving children. If in fact the jury finds AEG liable, those damages could be reduced by percentage of amount, depending how much responsibility they give to Michael Jackson for his own death.

Jurors do not have to reach a unanimous agreement on each of the 13 questions that they must answer. Nine jurors, because it is a civil case in California, have to answer in the affirmative on each of the questions. Court is dark on Monday. Deliberations will resume on Tuesday -- Alison.

KOSIK: All right, thanks, Casey Wian. We will be watching. Let's go ahead and bring back our legal guys to talk more about the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial. Avery Friedman, you're in Cleveland, hello, and Richard Rerman in Las Vegas.

Richard, I'm going to go ahead and start with you. The Jackson family conceded that Michael Jackson does bears some responsibility for his own death and what they're suggesting that it's about 20 percent. How surprised that they even admitted that, or were they basically forced to because of trial testimony about his drug use?

HERMAN: That's great, Alison, a great analysis. They actually stood up and said a, b, c, blame it on AEG. That's what they said. No, they didn't say that to the jury. They hope they get to the comparative negligence stage here because question number one is did AED hire Conrad Murray. If that answer is no, if 9 out of 12 say no, the case is over and over now.

Now the fact we are going into next weekend and next week would seem to indicate they're going to say yes, they did, or they had something to do with it. That they find Michael Jackson and AEG hired him, the jury gets to comparative analysis, and because of the devastating information brought out during trial that Michael was almost a half billion dollars in debt, we know he was a drug addict for the last 10, 15 years.

FRIEDMAN: It is more than that.

HERMAN: They say the reason --

FRIEDMAN: Much more than that.

HERMAN: The reason AEG should be held is they didn't do a financial investigation of Conrad Murray. What about of Michael Jackson? This guy, his mother's house was almost in foreclosure.

KOSIK: Let Avery get in here.

HERMAN: It was an absolute wreck -- the reality is that the plaintiff is asking for $1.5 billion. They had to concede they might be only partially responsible. At the end of the day, the jury is doing the wrong thing. We are not going to see a flash verdict. They have been there for five months, Alison, they have to look at all of the evidence.

In Los Angeles, nowhere else in America do you have orchestrated video at the end that, which brought some of the jurors to tears, but at the end of the day, that's the first question, Michael Jackson was the one who engaged the doctor, he insisted on having him there.

How in the world would AEG Live know what's going on in the bedroom, know about propofol, all of this surfaced at the end of the trial. I think this is a very, very close case.

HERMAN: Except, Alison, they have an e-mail, the CEO of AEG was advised listen, Conrad Murray is keeping him under medication, not letting him come to rehearsal, he writes and says remind him who is paying him every week. That's a problem for AEG. That could come back and haunt them.

FRIEDMAN: That's only a piece of the puzzle.

HERMAN: Hire, supervise, maintain. That's a problem for AEG.

KOSIK: All right, the next burning question and the last one I can give you for today, how long do you think it will take for the jury to reach a verdict?

HERMAN: I think a couple more days it will be over. By Wednesday I think we will have a verdict.

FRIEDMAN: I disagree with that. Bottom line, if they're taking it responsibly, this cannot be a flash verdict, it has to take more than a couple days.

KOSIK: All right.

HERMAN: Over the weekend, not flash. Alison, you love Miami, go Canes. Happy birthday.

FRIEDMAN: This isn't a criminal case, it is a civil case.

KOSIK: We shall see. Deliberations continue again Tuesday. Thanks so much for your time. Thanks, legal guys. The legal guys are here every Saturday at this time to give us their take on the most intriguing legal cases of the day.

We are about to learn just what happened to the 19 firefighters who died in a wildfire in Arizona in June. Investigators are releasing their report. We're going to have more details in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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KOSIK: We are minutes away from learning about how 19 firefighters were killed in the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona in June. Investigators are releasing a report and scheduled to hold a briefing happening at 1:00 Eastern Time. The report is expected to provide more 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 a half century.

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

Hard to believe, "Saturday Night Live," almost 40 years old, but it's going strong. We're going to tell you what big changes you'll see this season.

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KOSIK: Let's take a live picture from Capitol Hill. You're looking at the microphones there. House Speaker John Boehner is expected to show up any time soon to talk about how the negotiations are going on for the spending bill that's on the table. We're looking to see what he says about the Republican Party's budget plan and the House is in session all this weekend.

And the hope everybody has at this point is to see the lawmakers come to some sort of compromise to avoid a government shutdown that would officially start Monday at midnight. We will keep an eye on that and go back to it if we see anybody start to walk up to them.

All right, want to feel old? "Saturday Night Live" turning 39 years old this year? That's right, almost middle age. But it isn't getting old, in fact, it is making some big changes. CNN's Nischelle Turner has a look.

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NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Saturday Night Live's" familiar opening includes some unfamiliar faces as it begins its 39th year.

BRIAN STELTER, MEDIA REPORTER, "NEW YORK TIMES": Well, there are six new cast members this season, the most in many seasons. But "Saturday Night Live" has shown an amazing ability to re-invent itself over the years.

TURNER: Established stars like Bill Hader, Jason Sudakis, and Fred Armisen said goodbye at the end of last season. In their place, a half dozen new faces --

FRED ARMISEN, FORMER SNL CAST MEMBER: I am so excited for them, and they're about to go on this really life changing journey, and I'm excited for them and I am excited to watch. I can't wait to watch the show.

TURNER (on camera): Do you have any advice when you come in to do a show like this for the new cast?

ARMISEN: Enjoy each other.

ANNOUNCER: Weekend update with Seth Meyers.

TURNER: The next big departure, the show's writer and long time "Weekend Update" host Seth Meyers. He leaves early next year to take over NBC's late night talk show.

STELTER: Losing so many cast members around the same time must make people at NBC a little nervous. They have gone through this before, so they know how to handle it. It is like the seniors graduating from a team or high school. When the freshmen come in, the school feels different.

TURNER: One recent graduate has some advice for the incoming class.

BILL HADER, FORMER SNL CAST MEMBER: I just remember my first two seasons like I just didn't sleep. I mean, starting Thursday night, I couldn't sleep, there's so much pressure of making it, am I doing OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just have fun. I will go into a big peel, but have as much fun as you can and it's going to be all right.

TURNER: Bill Hader is heading to Hollywood like so many SNL players of the past. The Legions are legends. Andy Samberg who spent seven sessions on the show has a few words of comfort for the newcomers who could be feeling the weight of TV history.

ANDY SAMBERG, FORMER SNL CAST MEMBER: You know, come in, everyone is comparing you to what it has been before. It has been on so long. Everyone always thinks it was better just before what it is now until you figure out what it is now and the audience gets used to who you are.

TURNER: Nischelle Turner, CNN.

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