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No Talks, No Debt Deal; Investors Rattled by D.C. Stalemate; Suspected Al Qaeda Operative Captures; Franchitti's Horrifying Crash; Child Sneaks on a Plane; Two More Charged in Bike Swarm Case
Aired October 07, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I certainly will. Have a great day. Thank you so much.
NEWSROOM starts now.
Happening now in THE NEWSROOM, terror on the track.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIELS: -- confetti, pelting all of us, pieces of it were all around of us. I was literally, literally thinking that my life is over.
COSTELLO: Fans run for cover as pieces of Dario Franchitti's car rained down on them.
Also --
LEW: Congress is playing with fire. If they don't extend the debt limit --
COSTELLO: Shutdown showdown, day seven.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: My goal here is not to have the United States default on their debt and the president is risking default by not having the conversation with us.
COSTELLO: Investors now edgy as the D word gets thrown around.
Plus Vegas, baby? No ticket? No problem for a 9-year-old who sneaked on board a Delta flight to Sin City.
TERRY TRIPPLER, AIR TRAVEL EXPERT, THEPLANERULES.COM: I cannot understand the Delta gate agent.
COSTELLO: And -- Miley Cyrus, "SNL."
MILEY CYRUS, SINGER: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut it down.
COSTELLO: Wow.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: All things Miley in a moment but first good morning to you, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me. The clock is ticking. Six plus days of the partial government shutdown and one day closer to the brink of an even bigger economic disaster. The deadline to raise the nation's debt ceiling is now just 10 days away, but with the clock ticking and anxiety building the White House and House Republicans can't even agree on whether they should talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: The American people expect in Washington when we have a crisis like this, that the leaders will sit down and have a conversation. And I told my members the other day that there may be a back room somewhere, but there's nobody in it. We're interested in having a conversation about how we open the government and how we begin to pay our bills, but it begins with a simple conversation.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST, ABC "THIS WEEK": Even some of your own members are saying this is not your strategy. One of your colleagues, Republican Congressman Devin Nunes of California was asked what is the House strategy right now? And he said listen, you really have to call Cruz, Senator Ted Cruz. I'm not even joking about that.
He is the one that set up the strategy. Even one of your own colleagues is saying this is not your strategy, Speaker Boehner. It's the strategy of Senator Ted Cruz and other House --
BOEHNER: I thought -- I thought the fight would be over the debt ceiling but, you know, work with my members, they decided, well, let's do it now and the fact is this fight was going to come one way or the other. We're in the fight, we don't want to shut the government down, we've passed bills to pay the troops, we've passed bills to make sure the federal employees know that they're going to be paid throughout this. We've passed other bills.
STEPHANOPOULOS: They're saying it's a risk because of your refusal to pass a clean debt limit that there have been some reports --
BOEHNER: We are not going to pass a clean debt limit increase.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Under no circumstances?
BOEHNER: I told the president there's no way we're going to pass one. The votes are not in the House to pass a clean debt limit and the president is risking default by not having the conversation with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: President Obama says he will talk only after the shutdown is lifted. In a tweet aimed at Boehner the president says, quote, "There are enough votes in the House to end the shutdown," #justvote.
CNN's Brianna Keilar is at the White House this morning.
Good morning, Brianna. I don't even know what to ask you anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was almost like you didn't want to say good morning to me. I sort of noticed that in your voice there, Carol.
Yes, there's no progress here. There are no discussions. That really is the truth here, and now what we're seeing is the effects of this partial shutdown currently underway are starting to pale in comparison to the projected effects of a default.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): Ten days away from a possible economic disaster, the White House and House Republicans are as far apart as they've been.
BOEHNER: We are not going to pass a clean debt limit increase.
KEILAR: House Republicans continue to demand concessions as President Obama still refuses to negotiate on the nation's borrowing limit. The United States is set to default on October 17th if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling.
LEW: I'm telling you that on the 17th, we run out of our ability to borrow and Congress is playing with fire.
KEILAR: In a rare Sunday show interview, House Speaker John Boehner shifted, backing away from defunding or delaying Obamacare as an add- on to increasing the debt ceiling or funding the government. Instead he wants entitlement reform.
BOEHNER: My goal here is to have a serious conversation about those things that are driving the deficit and driving the debt up.
KEILAR: As the government remains partially shut down for a seventh day, the White House wants a vote to fund the government, no strings attached. Again, rebuffed by Republicans.
BOEHNER: There are not the votes in the House to pass a clean CR.
KEILAR: But President Obama, bolstered by many objective observers, questioned that assertion in an interview with the Associated Press saying, quote, "We know that there are enough members in the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans, who are prepared to vote to reopen 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."
The stalemate in Washington becoming good fodder for late night. "Saturday Night Live" featured guest host Miley Cyrus as Michele Bachmann celebrating the shutdown with Speaker Boehner in this risque parody.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KEILAR: Now White House officials have started to become -- concern, I should say, that the president's tack that we are not negotiating tact may make him looks somewhat intransigent which of course, Carol, he accuses Republicans of being often, so it's no coincidence that in that 12-minute interview which you played quite a bit of, House Speaker John Boehner used the word "conversation" I think 21 times was what we counted.
But the thought here, the strategy behind that for the president is that I think the White House thinks if they can sort of run out the clock, it is Speaker Boehner who has the divisions in his conference and ultimately that will work in the favor of the president.
COSTELLO: Well, I guess we have no choice. We'll have to sit by and see what happens.
Brianna Keilar, live at the White House this morning.
With the mood on Capitol Hill so toxic and even talk of a compromise so readily dismissed I wanted to tell you about one rare example of bipartisanship agreement. Over the weekend, lawmakers in the House voted 407-0 to promise furloughed federal workers they will eventually be paid for the time they're kept off the job.
The White House has said it supports the back pay for 800,000 employees. The bill now goes to the Democratically controlled Senate.
The stalemate over the partial government shutdown and the approaching deadline over the debt limit is rumbling far outside the beltway. Today on Wall Street investors are rattled and markets are poised for a big hit.
Alison Kosik is in New York.
Tell us about it, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wall Street, Carol, starting to sweat. It looks like the Dow is going to open in the triple digits lower when the Opening Bell rings in about 20 minutes.
You know what, Wall Street thought that this shutdown would be over long before, now it's dragging on longer than everybody expected so, you know, it's interesting to see what the reaction has been the day after the shutdown the market was higher, now you're seeing reality setting in as we get into week number two. Now we've got Boehner, you know, ending the shutdown to negotiations over the bigger worry the debt ceiling, and you know what, investors aren't too sweet on his idea.
Because the debt ceiling issue is a bigger deal than the shutdown because if the U.S. can't pay its bills, that could cause interest rates to skyrocket, the market could tank. New York Senator Chuck Schumer who is just on "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo says the markets will not react very well even before the actual debt ceiling date. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLE SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: If the markets think we haven't solved this problem, any day, on a given day and the market's are sort of mystical thing in a certain way, if those securities, those government securities start being undervalued?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN'S NEW DAY: Right.
SCHUMER: The thing could collapse even before we reach the debt ceiling so if they think we're at an impasse it makes it worse. Answer here. Do a clean debt ceiling. It's too dangerous not to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: And what you're seeing is investors react early today, Carol. They are hitting the sell button even before the Opening Bell rings so fasten your seat belts and get ready.
COSTELLO: OK. We'll check back with you at 9:30 Eastern Time. Alison Kosik, thanks so much.
It is a big, big win, 15 years on the run, a $5 million bounty on his head and this morning one of the world's most wanted terrorists is in U.S. custody. His name is Abu Anas al-Libi. U.S. forces captured him in Libya. He's a suspected al Qaeda operative accused of taking part in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. Two hundred, twenty people died.
He is now being held on a U.S. Navy ship and will be interrogated before being sent to New York City for his alleged crimes.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has more for you now.
Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, by the account of his wife, who witnessed his takedown, it was a clean sweep, a fast sweep. He was on his way back from morning prayers Saturday about 6:00, 6:30 a.m. in the morning. In his car, in his vehicle, pulls up on the side of the road, 10 men rush in, before he can reach his pistol in the glove box of his vehicle, he is pulled out of the car, overpowered, taken away in three vehicles. All taking place in less than a minute.
How valuable is he? Alleged to have played a role in the 1998 attack on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. What does he know about al Qaeda in North Africa? Since the overthrow of Gadhafi in Libya, the former dictator there, the country has been awash with jihadists, al Qaeda has been trying to establish camps there.
Does he have information about that? Clearly that will be on those list of questions that he'll be facing right now -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And I know he's being questioned on U.S. Navy ship right now. I would assume the questions are being asked by who, like the CIA? And then he'll be sent to New York for a civilian trial? Is that how it will work?
ROBERTSON: That's how we understand that it's going to work. It's a high-valued detention team that will be questioning him so they have a lot of expertise in this area, but -- this is a man who has probably a lot to say, has been on the run for 15 years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): It's a big deal, 15 years on the run, a $5 million bounty on his head. Abu Anas al-Libi captured in less than a minute. The former senior al Qaeda operative picked up in a dawn raid by U.S. authorities in his native Libya.
Believed to be a mastermind of the al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998, he is accused of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. Murder, destruction of American buildings, and government destruction of national defense utilities of the United States.
(On camera): According to al-Libi's wife, who saw the takedown outside their house in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, he was on his way back from prayers early Saturday morning when 10 men rushed his car. And before he could snatch his pistol from the glove box, he was overpowered. It was all over in seconds, driven away in three cars.
(Voice-over): U.S. officials describe it as a lawful arrest under the terms of war.
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States of America will never stop in its effort to hold those accountable to conduct acts of terror. And those members of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. You can literally run, but you cannot hide.
ROBERTSON: But it may not be so simple. The Libyan government is demanding answers, calling al-Libi's capture a kidnapping. Questions also about al-Libi's current al Qaeda credentials believed by this former colleague to be retired from terrorism.
NOMAN BENOTMAN, QUILLIAM FOUNDATION: I don't think in Libya he's a valuable source of information because until now I still believe he was a very low profile.
ROBERTSON: Benotman, himself a former jihadist, says al-Libi returned to Tripoli two years ago. Living in plain sight of the weak Libyan authorities. At a time when al Qaeda was setting up training camps ramping up operations in the aftermath of the overthrow of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
According to Benotman, there is no known ties between al-Libi and the 2012 U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi that killed four U.S. officials, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Nevertheless, he says a warning for al Qaeda. The U.S. now on the offensive in Libya. BENOTMAN: It goes against, you know, a kind of narrative, you know. They're trying to convince people, Muslims and the youth, America is soft. Americans did not want war. Americans, they are cowards. That's exactly what they are teaching them the last 20 years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: So the question right now, is al Qaeda going to try to hit back in some way? The assessment is right now they might be looking out to see that they're not going to be targeted themselves. But some social media messages allegedly coming from this organization, or those affiliated with it, seem to indicate they do want to take some kind of action because of his capture -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Nic Robertson reporting live for us this morning.
A horrifying crash at the Grand Prix of Houston sends a driver to the hospital and injures 13 fans. Watch this.
Oh, that was Dario Franchitti's car. He suffered a concussion and fractured spine and ankle. His car was bumped and that's how it went into that protective fencing. Shards of debris from the car flew into the stands.
Mark Boyle with Houston affiliate KPRC joins us live from the track. Good morning.
MARK BOYLE, KPRC REPORTER: Good morning.
COSTELLO: So tell us --
(CROSSTALK)
BOYLE: This morning Dario Franchitti is still in the hospital recovering after a severe injuries here at the track in Houston. It all happened yesterday in the very final stretches of this race. Witnesses say Franchitti was coming in the final lap. He somehow lost control and hit another car.
That caused his car to go airborne, crashing into a fence here, when that happened, debris went in all directions, part of the fence actually crushed a woman we're told. She suffered severe injuries. Some of the other debris went in other areas of the bleachers here, a 16-year-old passed out, we're told, because of what hit him.
Now Franchitti, as you mentioned, suffered a concussion, spine and ankle injuries, he was rushed to Memorial (INAUDIBLE), a local hospital here in Houston. He was there overnight. He did not have to go through any surgery. That is the good news. He was talking and alert.
We're also told when he went into that surgery what a very frightening situation for a lot of fans here in Houston, as all of this was caught on camera yesterday.
Back to you. COSTELLO: I just wanted to ask you one more question if you don't mind. When the fans that were injured, did they put up protective barriers? It was lucky no one was more seriously hurt, fan-wise I'm talking about.
BOYLE: Absolutely. There's the fencing right there mind me. You can see it.
These fences have steel cables that run through them. All of the fences are hooked into each other making it one large piece. But a lot of folks say maybe this is all something that should be under review as going down into the future, we've always reported on these crashes at different races over the past several years.
Lot of fans close up there but the fences are in place to protect people. But clearly from the video, you can see the debris goes in all directions.
COSTELLO: Really frightening. Thanks so much, Mark Boyle, from our affiliate KPRC, this morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM: a 9-year-old boy sneaks onto a plane without a ticket and manages to fly to Las Vegas.
George Howell is in Minneapolis this morning.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, he gets past security. How did he do that? It's got a lot of people scratching their heads out here. We'll break down all the details for you, walk you through it, live here from Minneapolis, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Anyone who has ever taken off their shoes and suffered through a pat-down to aboard a plane is still steaming over this one. A 9-year-old boy gets through airport security without a ticket or parents with tickets or IDs. He sailed through security and managed to get on a plane and fly to the land of what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
George Howell is at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to tell us how this happened.
Good morning.
HOWELL: Carol, that's the question. How did it happen?
You know the routine out here you get to the airport, take off your belt, take your shoes off. You show your ID. It's what you have to do out here and there are three different levels of security that prove to be nothing to a 9-year-old boy, Carol, who seem to outsmart the system.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL (voice-over): This is where it all started. The 9-year-old boy walked off a light railcar Thursday and into the Minneapolis airport with plans to travel but no ticket. He passed through the security checkpoint at TSA screening. No problem.
(on camera): Then he continued onto the G Concourse, specifically here at gate G4. It's still unclear exactly how he got past the ticket agent collecting tickets here.
(voice-over): What we do know is this minor did board Flight 1615 and traveled some 1,300 miles to Las Vegas. Officials say it wasn't until the flight crew became suspicious because he was traveling alone and contacted Las Vegas Metropolitan police and took the child into custody upon landing.
TERRY TRIPPLER, THEPLANERULES.COM: I think they should take him to table to let him play a little because his luck was doing well once he got to Vegas.
HOWELL: Air transportation expert Terry Trippler says the whole thing highlights big gaps in security, especially when it comes to children.
TRIPPLER: If that 9-year-old child was not needed identification, anyone under 18. So, I can understand standing behind a family or whatever, family is checking, and they're not aware he is standing behind them, I can understand that.
I cannot understand the Delta gate agents. This is where I put the major problem. It happens there.
HOWELL: While no one would talk on camera, we did get a lot of statements, first from the TSA essentially saying they did their jobs. Quote, "The child was screened along with all other passengers to insure he was not a threat to the aircraft."
And then Delta, quote, "Delta is taking this incident very seriously and working with authorities in the investigation due to the fact that it involves a minor, we are not commenting further at this time."
For the traveling public, who know the rigorous routines and airport screening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to go through taking our shoes, go through the belt, go through the thing.
HOWELL: It's a mystery how a child could have slipped through cracks.
GORDON KELINGER, AIRPLANE PASSENGER: I'm quite surprised he got through the security, all the things we as adults have to go through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Carol, a lot of questions and some brazen actions, brazen actions by this 9-year-old boy, but you know to add a little insult to injury, airport officials confirmed that through surveillance video, they saw that the child was here the day before he traveled. He apparently went to a baggage carousel, picked up luggage, took the luggage up to a restaurant, got food, dined and dashed, left the luggage there, only to return the next day and travel more than 1,000 miles.
COSTELLO: Where are his parents?
HOWELL: That's the question, where are his parents? Where is he? His name not being released clearly because he's a minor. Agencies are not saying his name, of course, and it's still unclear, Carol, whether he is still in Nevada or if he's been transferred back here to Minneapolis.
But a lot of people are trying to get to the bottom of what happened here and certainly trying to figure out where he is right now.
COSTELLO: George Howell, I'm sure you'll remain on the story to answer those questions. Thanks so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM --
HOWELL: I'll do it.
COSTELLO: Thanks, George.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM: shock in the courtroom. A motorcycle rider accused of attacking an SUV driver uses his middle finger to tell us exactly what he thinks of the charges against him. Surprising new details for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)\
COSTELLO: It has been a week since the violent confrontation between an SUV driver and bikers. We're still talking about it. Investigators are still trying to figure out exactly what happened. New York police are looking for two people they still want to question after charging two more bikers.
Oh, but the story doesn't end with that this morning.
CNN's Margaret Conley is in New York to tell us more.
Good morning.
MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Investigators are trying to piece together who should be held accountable for the violence and as more bikers come forward and speak out, they tell their side of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CONLEY (voice-over): Reginald Chance seen her pounding his helmet on an SUV car window made his first appearance in court Monday, defiant as he flipped off reporters in court. He faces charges including gang assault and assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon.
His attorney says the charges are too severe. He says his client wasn't even there when Alexian Lien was pulled out of his car and beaten. And a witness says the bikers went after his wife as well.
GREGORY WATTS, ATTORNEY FOR REGINALD CHANCE: My client obviously over reacted in smashing the window. Beyond that, he was not a participant on any assault on that victim.
CONLEY: Another biker, Robert Simms, seen here trying to open the door as it drove away, appeared in court on Saturday and faces some of the same charges.
And we are now hearing about the biker, Christopher Cruz, who appears to be slowing down in front of the SUV when he was struck, allegedly triggering the mayhem. He defended himself to ABC News yesterday.
CHRISTOPHER CRUZ, BIKER: I think the media is being unfair with me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How so?
CRUZ: Because they don't know who I am. They don't know actually what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What should we know about you?
CRUZ: That I'm a family man of two kids, a 2-year-old and a 6-year- old. I try I to stay away from trouble as much as possible.
CONLEY: And his attorney told CNN Cruz wasn't slowing down, saying, quote, "There was no intention on Christopher's part to the slow this 3.5 ton vehicle with his motorcycle." He also said Cruz was injured by the SUV driver when he suddenly pulled away.
Edwin Mieses was critically injured. His family says he's paralyze.
Now, police are asking for the public's help to identify these two people who they believe were present at the assault -- all in an effort to further piece together this puzzle that's far from complete.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CONLEY: Another layer is that there was an off-duty police officer who also works undercover on the scene. And there are questions, Carol, about why he didn't report what he saw that assault until four days later. Now, the two bikers that were charged over the weekend, they'll be back in the courts at the end of this week.
COSTELLO: So the case goes on and on. You know, a lot of people have questions about this undercover officer, why wouldn't he come forward?
CONLEY: Well, we're hearing from sources that perhaps he didn't want to blow his cover so we're waiting for all of the details to come out but we know internal affairs, they are looking into that.
COSTELLO: All right, Margaret, thanks so much.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, federal officials pledge to get Obamacare up and running after a series of glitches. Have they done enough to fix the problem? We'll talk to one young woman who has tried to get insurance through the exchanges. We'll see if she was successful after oh a week of trying.
We'll be right back.
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