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House Approves Federal Worker Back Pay; Two Bikers in SUV Clash in Custody; Interview with Representative Scott Garrett; Pentagon Bringing Workers Back; Chaotic Moments as Bikers, SUV Clash; Bono Shows Lighter Side; Who's Ronan Farrow's Real Dad?
Aired October 05, 2013 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. I am Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories we're following in the CNN NEWSROOM. It may not be a hurricane, but Tropical Storm Karen could still be a huge problem for the Gulf Coast, a live report straight ahead.
The cleanup is under way as storms slam the Midwest. We have a report that twisters touched down in three states. Homes are destroyed and power is out.
And two bikers allegedly linked to a clash between bikers and an SUV driver are now in police custody. They turned themselves in. And we've learned that there was also an off-duty undercover police officer riding with the group during that attack.
Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. We start in Washington. The House unanimously approves a bill today to give back pay to furloughed federal workers. It's the latest move to ease some of the effects of the government shutdown.
Athena Jones joining us live now from Capitol Hill.
So, Athena, we heard from lawmakers on both sides after that vote. What was said overall?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Well, you -- just as you mentioned just a couple of hours ago, the House passed this bill that would pay these hundreds of thousands of federal workers who right now are being ordered to stay home from the job. They wouldn't get paid, of course, until the whole government reopens.
And Majority Leader Eric Cantor made a special point about the fact that it was a unanimous vote, and a special challenge to Democrats. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), MAJORITY LEADER: What about the vets? Do the Democrats not feel it's important to make sure the pain is eased on them? What about the sick children that need access to clinical trials? Is it not as important to ease the pain of the shutdown for them or is it just the federal employees that the Democratic minority thinks is important? (END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Now Leader Cantor is talking about some of these smaller spending bills that the House passed in the last few days, funding things like the National Institutes of Health to make sure people get access to clinical trials and veteran -- the Veterans Administration and national parks. That would -- that's what he is arguing.
Now on the Democratic side they -- they're saying that they believe that everyone in the government should be put back to work. They are pushing for the House to bring to a vote a spending bill that would open everything all at once and leave the larger budgetary discussions until later.
Let's listen to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: Right now enough Republicans have publicly stated their support for a bill that could pass and be on the president's desk today. We're asking the speaker in our letter to bring up the vote to the floor for those Republicans and more to show that there is a bipartisan majority to end the government -- Republican government shutdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: So there you heard that, Minority Leader Pelosi named this the Republican government shutdown, this is part of the blame game going on. She was also announcing a letter that 200 Democrats, House Democrats, has sent to Boehner, reaffirming their position, asking him to bring the spending bill with no strings attached to a vote. And she argues that there are enough House Republicans that would support that, it would pass, get it to the president's desk, end this shutdown.
But, Fred, I got to tell you. These are the same positions we've been hearing all week. So while there's some action today, not a lot of shifting in where each side stands.
WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones, thanks so much for that update.
JONES: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: All right. We're also hearing from the president today. He says this could all be over right now. In an interview with the Associated Press, he blamed House Speaker John Boehner directly for not ending the shutdown, saying this, quote, "We can vote to open the government today. The only thing that is keeping that from happening is Speaker Boehner has made a decision that he is going to hold out to see if he can get additional concessions from us." End quote, from the president from an Associated Press interview.
And this programming note, Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who is either getting credit or blame for all of this, talks exclusively about the government shutdown Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley, 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern Time.
I'm going to shift gears quite a bit now. Tropical storm Karen headed for the Gulf Coast. It is no longer expected to grow into a hurricane, but residents along the coast are still being warned about storm surge. Karen could hit southeast Louisiana as early as tonight.
Are the Gulf states ready for this storm? CNN's Indra Peterson is in the Gulf, along the Gulf at Pensacola Beach, Florida.
So, Indra, it looks rather beautiful there on the beach, but you've still got threats of a storm out there. What's the expectation?
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I mean, that's absolutely right. We know the storm is still getting closer and closer, even though it looks nice now, things will slowly start to deteriorate as we go through the overnight hours. The reason for that, yes, the tropical storm Karen is still there.
Reminder, yes, it is not as strong as it was yesterday where we were borderline tropical storm or weak category one hurricane with winds about 65 miles per hour. Today we're at 40 miles per hour winds. That's borderline tropical depression or -- tropical pressure or tropical storm. And that's where we lay right now. It continues to kind of tear apart.
What you're actually watching is like the center of the low going straight north towards Louisiana. And meanwhile, you have everything on the radar being ripped apart, heading to the east. It's almost like they are going opposite directions. What we were looking at the last several days, we knew that one area that the storm was hanging in right now was going to do this, it would make the storm deteriorate.
We thought it was going to go through the area faster and then make that curve to the east, northeast and potentially gain strength again. Well, since it has slowed down to seven miles per hour this morning, it's just getting ripped apart even more. Great news for residents along the Gulf. But it does not mean they're out of the woods.
I mean, keep in mind, there's still a tropical storm warning. That means it is imminent within the next 36 hours right around Morgan City, Louisiana. So by all means we're still looking at strong rip tides. We're talking about the storm surge in a very low elevation location. We're talking high amounts of rainfall in a short period of time.
Talking about as much as six inches of rain in a location that is well over the amount of rainfall for the season. Never a good thing. Another thing to keep in mind when you talk about this much rainfall this season so far, and you talk about that saturated ground, boy, you're going to talk about those winds coming in overnight that could still rip those trees right out of the ground and take people by surprise.
You never want to underestimate the power of a storm, no matter what the strength. But then really with that ground saturated --
WHITFIELD: Yes, so true.
PETERSONS: -- we're talking about it feeling a little bit stronger than when it's actually coming in.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
PETERSONS: So we're going to be monitoring that. Eventually could be a depression by tomorrow afternoon as it kind of makes it through the Gulf and over here through Pensacola.
WHITFIELD: All right. Great warning. Thanks so much, Indra Petersons.
So storms in another fashion hit the plain states pretty hard overnight.
You're hearing the tornado sirens there, reports of as many as 18 tornadoes touching down in three states, Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska. In Wayne, Nebraska, a tornado destroyed as many as a dozen homes. Fortunately, no one was killed. The storm also knocked out power to half the residents of Rapid City, South Dakota.
WHITFIELD: All right. If hurricanes and tornadoes weren't enough, guess what, some states got a dumping of snow, too. What? Before Halloween? In South Dakota, parts of the state saw more than 3 inches of snow making a mess in Rapid City. Things weren't much better in parts of Wyoming where blowing snow created blizzard conditions. Blizzard conditions for the drivers. Boy, that is a nasty scene right there.
So from California to the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico, rough weather in all fashions, all extremes.
Alexandra Steele in the CNN severe weather center. So how unusual are we talking snow before Halloween?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, that's not so unusual, Fred.
WHITFIELD: No?
STEELE: As the aggregate, I think it may be one of the first times in modern history that we have a landfalling tropical storm, the incredible amount of snow and blizzard conditions, the tornadoes that we witnessed last night, plus extreme fire danger in southern California. So it's really an incredible scenario.
So let's kind of break it down. Now Indra took care of the tropical storm. But I want to show you here's the radar picture. And of course this is really one massive storm system. On the back side, it's cold enough, you can see where that snow is through the Dakotas. It's really western South Dakota that's kind of a bull's eye around Rapid City.
But ahead of that from Minneapolis south to Omaha, you those lightning strikes. That's where the potential for severe weather could be today. So winter threat, blizzard conditions and snow, again, Rapid City points east through Pierre. South of Bismarck. That's where we do some images in terms of the amount of snow we can see today.
Up to an additional 10 inches in Rapid City. That area already had between 15 and 20 inches. So there's more to come today. That will come to an end, though. But in addition to that, here's the severe weather. Of course at least 16 reports of tornadoes yesterday. Six have been confirmed. And that was in three states.
Here's where the threat is today. Now the threat for tornado certainly not as strong as today, the system not as intense, but hail and also damaging winds certainly part of the picture. Madison, Chicago, Indie down to St. Louis, the system we can see even further as head toward tomorrow. But guess that's far east as Detroit, even Buffalo could see strong winds tomorrow.
So we're seeing it all, no question about that. And also to the west, with fire threat from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, Palm Springs down to San Diego. So some incredibly strong and very hot dry winds could flare off today and because it's so windy, any small fire could really kind of blow up --
WHITFIELD: Sure.
STEELE: -- because of the amount of winds here -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Yes. The Santa Ana winds, fierce.
STEELE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Alexandra Steele, appreciate it.
STEELE: Sure.
WHITFIELD: All right. Everybody has seen it by now, that shocking video of a group of bikers up against an SUV. The outcome bloody and violent on both sides. Now arrests made and the hunt for one biker now intensifying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: New York City Police desperately searching for this man. Wanted for questioning in regards to that clash between a group of bikers and the driver of an SUV. Two bikers also accused of being involved in that violent incident turned themselves into police. One of them charged, the other is the man seen -- one of the people seen using a helmet against that SUV.
So that was right before some bikers dragged the driver from the SUV and then allegedly beat him.
I want to go now straight to CNN's Margaret Conley in New York.
So, Margaret, what more do we know about those who've turned themselves in versus those that police are looking for for questioning?
MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, this is where it happened, this is where the SUV driver pulled off the West Side Highway. He was trying to get away from those bikers. But it's also here right on this corner of West 178th Street where most of the violence took place.
Reginald Chance, he was the one seen in that video using his helmet to smash the window of that SUV, that happened right here. He turned himself in, he is still being questioned, and he is in custody. We don't have charges on him yet.
The other man that turned himself in, Robert Simms, he was caught on video also approaching the SUV and trying to open the door before the SUV was able to escape. He has been charged. He is facing attempted assault in the first degree, attempted gang assault in the second degree, and he's also charged criminal -- with criminal possession of a weapon that we don't know what that weapon is.
WHITFIELD: All right. And then so attempted gang assault and attempted assault. And then we've got the issue of is it an off-duty or is it an undercover police officer that may have been riding with the bikers.
CONLEY: Yes, Fred, we called the NYPD, they're not talking. They are saying that this is still under investigation. But our CNN Susan Candiotti, she found out from her sources that there was one police officer on the scene, he was off duty, and he also works as an undercover cop. Now he happened to be there riding his bike, but there are a lot of questions arising right now about why it took him four days to come forward. The incident happened on Sunday. He didn't go to police until Wednesday.
We do know that this is right now under investigation with Internal Affairs.
WHITFIELD: All right. Still a very complicated case, even a week after it being caught on videotape there.
Thank you so much, Margaret Conley.
All right, the sisters of the victim in that fatal D.C. police chase say she was treated for postpartum depression with psychosis. But the sisters also say that Miriam Carey was not delusional.
Amy Carey-Jones and Valerie Carey say they're still trying to figure out exactly what happened. Miriam Carey drove her car into a White House barricade before leading police on a chase to the U.S. capitol. She was shot and killed. But her 1-year-old who was in the car was not injured. She's said to be OK.
The sisters of the victim talked to Anderson Cooper last night about her initial diagnosis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, AC 360: Amy, some -- there are sources say in the last year the police have been called by your sister's boyfriend who reported that she was acting irrationally or delusionally. Is that something you knew about? Is that something you were concerned about?
AMY CAREY-JONES, MIRIAM CAREY'S SISTER: I'm not going to feed into things that he reported to the press. I just know that my sister did experience postpartum depression with psychosis. They labeled it, which came along with treatment of medication and counseling which she did. And she had her challenges with that. And that's what she was being treated for.
COOPER: So as far as you know, she wasn't bipolar, she wasn't schizophrenic, you believe it was postpartum depression.
CAREY-JONES: It was postpartum depression with psychosis. That's what her diagnosis was. And she worked very closely with her doctor they -- to taper off the medication and just get the counseling she needed so she can deal with that diagnosis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Carey's family says they want to know if D.C. Police followed protocol when shooting Miriam. They say they're going to conduct their own investigation into exactly what happened.
All right. Politicians are doing a lot of talking in Washington about the government shutdown these days. But in a moment, breaking news from the Pentagon about furloughed workers. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I think we've got a story for you about this Montana newlywed facing new charges now in a case involving an alleged murder that she's involved in. Is that where we're going right now?
All right. Looks like we're having a problem. All right. Instead we're going to Washington.
The House unanimously passing back pay for furloughed workers today but they have not voted to reopen government all together. The standoff means 800,000 federal employees will likely start next week like they ended this past week, no paycheck, no end in sight of going back to work.
Republican Congressman Scott Garrett is on the House Financial Services Committee and he joins me now from Washington.
Good to see you, Congressman.
REP. SCOTT GARRETT (R), NEW JERSEY: Good to be with you, thank you.
WHITFIELD: OK. So a small step this morning, approval in the House for back pay for those furloughed federal workers. How does this lay the ground work in your view to perhaps get government operating again, getting people back to their jobs just like we heard Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying hey, why not pay people for actually doing the work. Let's get government working again. What's the forecast in your view?
GARRETT: Well, this bill I think bodes well for that. As you know, the Republicans have been saying that all along. We said we did -- never wanted to shut down the government. And we have proven it by sending a number of bills from the House over to the Senate. Unfortunately they have all either died in the Senate or never gotten any real support, much support from the Democrats in the House, although about 25 or 30 Democrats have come over and agreed with us on, for example, making sure that the military should be paid, that the veterans should be paid, that we should have research for cancer, should be continuing on. That schools or what have you here in D.C. should be open and running.
So we've sent those bills over to the Senate. And as I would say, the Senate is where all good bills go to die. This is the correct approach. This is the approach that's always been used to fund the government. We do it in a piecemeal manner, we do it in about a dozen different appropriation bills. That's how we normally do it and that's the way we want to do it now. If the Senate would take up these bills and move it, we'll see the government open more and more and more.
WHITFIELD: Well, you said this is the way we always do it, this piecemeal kind of legislation or measures. But then you heard the president say no, we're not going to do piecemeal. Just give me a clean budget. Except that he said he would give a thumbs up and sign this bill if passed by the House and the Senate on the back pay.
So if this is the way the House and Senate usually do it, then why is it not working this go around?
GARRETT: Right. Well, I guess it goes -- your statement answers, you know, the question, I guess, is because the president doesn't want to do it the way things are normally done. Unfortunately it seems and a number of people are reporting this that the administration has begun to play politics with this very unfortunate circumstance of the government being shut down.
You heard someone from -- a senior administration official say the last couple of days -- say, we're winning so we don't care how long the government is shut down. That is a terrible thing to hear from the administration, from a senior administration official, that they see it as politics, they're winning, it's some game. We don't -- we don't see it that way. We see the people are hurting --
WHITFIELD: Well --
GARRETT: -- because the government is shutdown. We see that the things are not going the right way.
(CROSSTALK) WHITFIELD: Well, that was Mitch McConnell. That's what Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul talking about that, you know, we're winning moment. It was kind of caught with an open mike on.
GARRETT: No, that was from --
WHITFIELD: And it really did reveal in large part that While House Speaker, you know, John Boehner is saying this is not a game, when you hear this kind of dialogue between Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell say, you know, we're winning, we're winning, it really does seem tantamount to this being a game.
GARRETT: I think --
WHITFIELD: In fact here's the moment. Let's listen to this moment.
GARRETT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And then we'll talk again about it.
GARRETT: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Do you -- do you have a second?
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: I'm all wired up here.
PAUL: I just did CNN, I just go over and over again, we're willing to compromise. We're willing to negotiate. I think -- I don't think they poll tested, we won't negotiate. I think it's awful for them to say that over and over again.
MCCONNELL: Yes, I do, too. And I just came back from that two-hour meeting with him and that was -- that was basically the same view privately as it was publicly.
PAUL: I think if we keep saying we wanted to defund it, we fought for that, but now we're willing to compromise on this, I think they can't -- and we're going to -- I think -- I know we don't want to be here, but we're going to win this, I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So does it not exemplify that perhaps being redundant about a message and coming up with a winning strategy is what this game is all about?
GARRETT: So you don't have the quote from the senior administration official saying that they're winning, you just have the quote from them. Is that case?
WHITFIELD: Well, that's what we have on tape.
GARRETT: OK. OK. So we'll have to go elsewhere to get the reports on that, but yes, the way this is normally done, the way that we have always handled appropriations in this -- in this country is that we pass them through the House, constitutionally we have to start them, as you know, in the House, then to the Senate. And one by one they go there.
Now the White House seems to be saying one thing and doing the other. They say they will not do a piecemeal approach, but on the other hand they did sign, they did accept the first bill that we sent over there, which is a good bill, and that says let's fund the troops. Now they're saying they will accept making sure that federal employees are paid.
WHITFIELD: So isn't this a -- does that not exemplify the concessions of a compromise that people want to see between the White House and Congress?
GARRETT: It does, it absolutely does, but they do that with one breath, but then as you said, you had the quote from the president, they say that with one breath, but then with the other breath they say they will not accept anything else, they will only accept a CR. So -- the White House, you can't have it both ways. If they want to do it the normal way, the way that actually gets this done, the way we've been throwing out here, Democrats have come on board --
WHITFIELD: But bottom line, Congressman.
GARRETT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: The American people, I think most people are just simply exhausted by this --
GARRETT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: You know, ping pong game. This going back and forth. All people want to know especially the 800,000 furloughed workers, they want to know when can they report back to work. Yes, it's great they're going to get back pay, but that doesn't come at the end of the week when they might expect their regular paycheck. They want to know when they can get back to work, when government can -- you know, get running again, when Head Start can pick up again.
GARRETT: Right.
WHITFIELD: When people can get their bank loans approved for those mortgages, and those refinancing.
GARRETT: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All of that. That's what they want to know.
GARRETT: Well, Eric Cantor has said on the floor that we have each -- I think just about each and every one of those items, I can't speak to all of them right now, each and -- issue that you just mentioned just about he has sort of laid out saying we're doing them in the House. We just did I think about nine, eight or nine of those issues -- total issues already. We're doing it in the House, we're sending them out. So I guess, I don't know when he's going to come on next with you, but if you have Harry Reid here, I guess, he'd be the appropriate person to say when are you taking each of those bills the House has sent over to you and pass them and then send them to the White House? And that would answer the question. One by one, we're sending them over there, one by one, Harry Reid could do it.
And -- just like that, the government would be opening up again and you would not see these terrible situations like we've seen this past week here in D.C. with, you know, the Honor Flights coming in and going to National Mall and war memorial.
WHITFIELD: Well, you can't have -- I mean, if you're going to close all parks, you can't have one park open and not others. So I don't think it's really a surprise --
GARRETT: Wait, wait, wait. Yes, you can because historically --
WHITFIELD: I don't think too many people are surprised that you're going to have one national monument closed when you've got others across the country closed.
GARRETT: Wait, wait, wait. Let's get what the facts are here. Every other time when the government has been slowed down or shut down, past presidents have not shut down the mall. No president has shut down visitors from going to Lincoln Memorial. No president has them this close down, the lawns, (INAUDIBLE) memorial. This is the first time that happened. This is the first time that a president during a slowdown or shutdown has actually shut off, totally blocked access.
WHITFIELD: And then people would say, why even let it get to this point?
GARRETT: No, the question --
WHITFIELD: Why even allow government to shut down?
GARRETT: No, no, no. The question -- no, the question is, why would a president when he should never shut down the war memorial shut it down? Why would a president when he never -- when it was never done before shut down the Lincoln Memorial? Why would a president shut down access to the Martin Luther King Memorial?
The question is why would he do this except it goes back to the earlier discussion we had was this administration sees this as a game, playing politics with it, and as I say, they don't care how long the government is shut down because they're winning.
WHITFIELD: All right.
GARRETT: So really questions have to go to Harry Reid, why won't he move these bills? We moved them, more than a half dozen, and the president, why was he actually trying to exert undue influence on World War II vets and anybody else in Washington. That's where I am now. I see people walking around, wanting to get there.
WHITFIELD: All right.
GARRETT: Any other time in the past, Carter didn't do it, Clinton didn't do it. You have to ask, why is this administration doing it? And I'll just turn it back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Congressman Scott Garrett, thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it. In Washington --
GARRETT: I appreciate the chance. Thanks a lot.
WHITFIELD: Get back to work. Get that government working.
GARRETT: You got it.
WHITFIELD: All right. Remember tomorrow there's more on this topic. Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz talking exclusively about the government shutdown Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern. We'll have much more in the NEWSROOM after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
WHITFIELD: All right. Some breaking news now from the Pentagon about furloughed workers.
Barbara Starr is live for us right now.
Barbara, what's the latest?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Fredricka. Well, this is the memo from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that thousands of civilians working for the Defense Department have been waiting for. Hagel now just this afternoon saying he is authorizing many, perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps as many as 400,000 furloughed workers to come back. They have been working on this idea for several days behind the scenes. Now the memo going out.
Here's what's happening. When Congress passed the law a few days ago saying that the troops could be paid, there was a freeze in there that said so could civilians be paid who support the troops. So now they're figuring out how do they bring back as many of those people as possible.
What Hagel is saying is, he's going to bring back two categories to begin with. People who help with the well-being, the morale, the welfare, the military capability of the troops and military families. So look to see things like commissaries may be reopening where so many military families do their shopping.
But he is also doing something else very interesting. He is going to bring back everybody who works on functions that would hurt the military in the future, hurt the troops if they're not carried out. So let me give you a real example here of what we're talking about, the Black Hawk helicopter, Sikorsky, one of the major Defense contractors that makes the Black Hawk was about to lay off thousands of workers because they couldn't continue if the government wasn't functioning.
Now that is likely perhaps not to happen, the Black Hawk, the backbone of the combat helicopter fleet gets troops in and out of the war zone safely, Med-evacs them when they are shot. Now what Hagel is saying systems like that have to be kept running, they need their maintenance, their spare parts, their logistics, their production line.
He doesn't want to see that stuff shut down. Black Hawk a real example of what we're talking about here. Could save thousands of workers' jobs and bring back thousands of civilians working for the Defense Department -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Fascinating stuff. All right. A couple of moving parts in this slow moving situation involving the government shutdown and furloughed workers.
Thanks so much, Barbara Starr, appreciate that.
STARR: Sure.
WHITFIELD: OK. Of course everyone has been looking to where is Anthony Bourdain going next? Well, guess what? He is going to Copenhagen this weekend on "PARTS UNKNOWN." Or Copenhagen depending on where you're from. He tries a local favorite on the streets but this isn't your average hotdog cart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go. What are you going? I'm hungry.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN'S PARTS UNKNOWN: There is a famous Danish national late night dish.
John's Hotdog?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BOURDAIN: I'll have the deluxe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BOURDAIN: Organic sausage?
(CROSSTALK)
BOURDAIN: Sounds good to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He made his own mustard.
BOURDAIN: Wow. Whoa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.
BOURDAIN: That's a classic one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, you can see "ANTHONY BOURDAIN, PARTS UNKNOWN", Sunday at 9:00, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A look at the top stories right now crossing the CNN news desk right now.
All right, the government shutdown Congress is working today, the Senate is in session at this hour. No votes are scheduled right now but this morning the House passed a bill that will give backpay to all furloughed government employees.
And tropical storm Karen, well, it's churning in the Gulf right now. The latest forecast shows the storm could hit southeast Louisiana tonight, not expected to become a hurricane, but it could still dump a lot of rain and cause a large storm surge.
A Montana woman entered a plea of not guilty in the death of her newlywed husband. Jordan Graham is accused of pushing her husband off a cliff on their honeymoon. Prosecutors originally charged her with second-degree murder but this week a grand jury also charged her with first-degree murder. If convicted she faces life in prison.
All week we've been hearing about the clash between an SUV driver and a crowd of motorcyclists. Well, now we're hearing from the man who helped stop the beating of the driver.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. I'm sure you've seen it by now, the video that has raised so many questions about what to do in a situation like this. Bikers around an SUV on a New York street. This happened last Sunday. Well, the driver, as you know by now, hit three bikers in a pursuit to get away. Different situations during that commute. But that's when the motorcyclists apparently then chased the driver.
And the men, the driver, I should -- that the motorcyclists, then as you see in this videotape, getting out of the vehicle, smashing the helmets of that vehicle, and then apparently even allegedly two of the bikers are accused of actually taking the driver out of the vehicle. And inside this vehicle was a wife of the driver and a 2-year-old.
So what's taking place here? Now apparently a couple of the folks have turned themselves in, at least one person is facing charges. And now a man who helped stop the attack spoke exclusively to CNN's Anderson Cooper on his take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So you were actually standing between one of the people who's hitting the guy with the -- with his helmet and the man on the floor, the driver.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.
COOPER: You stood between them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Between them, yes, there was many.
COOPER: Were the motorcyclists saying anything back to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, one of them screaming say -- with the helmet on top of him, and he said, no, because -- because I told him please stop, don't -- let it go. And then one of them, a short guy, he said, no, because he run one of us. So I understood what he was saying because I didn't know what happened before. You know?
COOPER: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before anything else.
COOPER: He was saying that the driver ran over one of the motorcyclists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's what he said -- that's what I heard him saying.
COOPER: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But when I -- I -- I didn't want to talk to him, engage in any whatever situation that happened before. So I kept saying the same thing, you know, I stood my ground. And I look at them in my eyes and they look at me. So basically there was a little tense moment of maybe a couple of seconds. Looking at each other. And they somehow -- I don't know how they stopped. Somehow they stopped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The big question now, lots of questions, but one of the big ones is what was going through everyone's minds during all of that.
Joining me right now, forensic psychiatrist, Buzz Von Ornsteiner, and forensic psychiatrist Tracy Marks.
Good to see both of you. Tracey here with me here in Atlanta, Buzz, you're in New York.
So, Buzz, let me begin with you. You know, is this a case of a few, you know, bad seeds, I guess, or people making some bad decisions, you know, just in the heat of it all?
J. BUZZ VON ORNSTEINER, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, you know, we have to remember that no one's waking up wanting to do bad things. They're very excited about being together. They're forming this group. And unfortunately what happens in group dynamics, many oftentimes is you attack one member in the group and the -- all individuals feel like they've been attacked.
And it takes on rather a tribal form where, OK, you hurt one of us. Now we're going to have payback with you. And you see this kind of mob mentality. In addition to that, there is a lessening of individuality and a lessening of responsibility in such large groups. You see people who kind of have a bystanders' effect. They may want to intervene but they've lost their need to because there are so many other people present, or additionally to that, I call it in very layman terms, they are passing the buck.
There may be 50 people watching and someone may want to intervene but they figure someone else would. And thankfully there was the man on the street, a complete stranger, who stepped in and talked rationally and logically to individuals who were over reactive and were really letting their adrenaline and their emotions rule their behavior.
WHITFIELD: So, Buzz, except for the bystander you're talking about, you really are talking about the point of view from the bikers but then, Tracey, the point of view is very different if you are the driver or the passengers in that vehicle. And none of us knows what happened before that videotape, you know, started rolling and the videotape that the public has seen.
And the point of view of the driver, the feeling of intimidation clearly as to why he sped off, consequently ended up hitting one of the bikers. But what do you suppose is happening? What are some of the emotions going on from inside that vehicle, that SUV?
TRACY MARKS, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: Well, I think the fact that there is a 2-year-old on the backseat just ramps up the threat level exponentially. So it's one thing for a fight or flight to kick in and you want to save yourself. But the desire, the instinct to protect your child is even greater than that. So regardless of what -- how this started or what happened before we saw the video, the fact is, is that these people were swarming his car and there's a child in the back.
So this guy is just going to punch it just to save himself. And unfortunately a vehicle in this case is a deadly weapon and so we see what happens as a result of that.
WHITFIELD: Yes. OK. Well, everyone's instincts clearly going into high gear here. The result, not good no matter which way you look at it. You've got a threatened family. You've got bikers and, like you said, Buzz, you've got bikers who are trying to protect their own after someone has been injured. It's a real mess and now we know a really messy legal case.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Tracy Marks and Buzz Von Ornsteiner, thanks so much. Good to see both of you.
And we'll be right back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: U2 singer Bono is known for his music and activism but lately he's been making headlines for a more lighthearted moment.
He talked to our own Fareed Zakaria.
FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: Fredricka, as you would expect, Bono is a larger-than-life character with wide-ranging interests. We chatted about Africa, foreign aid, innovation. But I have to share one thing that everyone has been talking about. You remember that he imitated Bill Clinton last week at the CGI conference and then Bill returned the favor. Well, I asked him how that all came about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONO, SINGER: No, no, he was off doing some stuff. He lost his notes. And I -- Sheryl Sandberg actually, from Facebook, she said you have to do something. And performers don't like lulls. So I went up and pretended to be him.
When I first met Bono, he walked into the Oval Office and I -- actually I thought it was a member of his own road crew.
ZAKARIA: What did you think of his imitation of you?
BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'm Irish, you know. And we Irish we can imitate anybody.
BONO: He's a better president in the mimic. But I wanted to say one of the reasons why I admire him so, he's virtually a deity in Ireland because of the peace process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAKARIA: Bono wouldn't do anymore imitations of Clinton but I think I managed to get him to do one of Henry Kissinger. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONO: I saw a great cover of magazine, the picture of him on. They called him the horse whisperer. I sound like the guy in the "Godfather" when I do Henry Kissinger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAKARIA: From rock star to activist and now celebrity mimic. I should add, though, Bono might be having a bit of fun but he's very committed to the issues he cares about. He's passionate about development. He has a deep understanding about how to make that happen in places like Africa. Truly admirable -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Fareed. And of course you can catch the rest of that interview tomorrow, 10:00, 1:00 right here on CNN.
All right. Coming up in just minutes, "YOUR MONEY." Christine Romans has a preview for us.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Hi, Fredricka.
President Obama says the GOP is holding the country hostage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't get to demand ransom in exchange for keeping the economy running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We're calling a former hostage negotiator to broker a peaceful solution. That's all coming up at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on an all-new "YOUR MONEY".
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Christine.
And everyone has always thought Ronan Farrow's dad was Woody Allen but now her mom, Mia -- are you with me -- has made a shocking suggestion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Mia Farrow shocked everyone when she told "Vanity Fair" the father of her son Ronan might be Frank Sinatra, not Woody Allen.
Nischelle Turner has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Farrow reveals her relationship with Frank Sinatra, calling him, quote, "the great love of her life." Now when she was asked if Ronan, her biological son with Woody Allen, could actually be Sinatra's son, Farrow replied, possibly.
Now it's that possibility that's sparking the most interest here. Take a look at Ronan Farrow. Quite a handsome man. When you see side by side, a comparison of him with Frank Sinatra, yes, there are some similarities there, perhaps way more similarities than if you see a side by side of him and Woody Allen.
I don't know. Judge for yourself. That's all I'm going to say. Now adding further fuel to the fire, the author of the article approached Nancy Sinatra, Jr. to ask about Ronan being treated like a member of the family and Sinatra replies in an e-mail, quote, "He's a big part of us, and we are blessed to have him in our lives."
Now that doesn't exactly dispel any of the rumors or theories or say yay, nay or hey, but Ronan definitely has a sense of humor in all of this. He took the Twitter on Wednesday to answer or actually not answer the questions raised by his mother's cryptic interview. He tweeted, quote, "Listen, we're all possibly Frank Sinatra's son." That's a response that has a lot of people laughing today but not Woody Allen. We reached out to his camp for a response to all of this, all of these claims that have been made. And they said, quote, "The article is so fictitious and extravagantly absurd that he is not going to comment."
Now, according to "Vanity Fair" the DNA tests were never administered to determine the paternity of Ronan so it's just a mystery that seems to be remaining, one of the many in that blended family. Fourteen biological and adopted children, all of them who call Mia Farrow mother.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: Boy. All awkward. Thanks so much, Nischelle.
All right. We'll see you back here in 30 minutes. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. "YOUR MONEY" begins right now.
