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Frist a Shutdown, Next a Default;: One in 10 Admit to Sexual Violence; Bill Gates in Austin Powers Spoof; "South Park" to Tackle Zimmerman Case; Jets Last-Second Win on Monday Night

Aired October 08, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello.

For all of the concerns over the partial government shutdown, many say the real test comes in about nine days. I'm talking about the debt ceiling, which is like the nation's credit card limit. Congress spends the money while the Treasury Department pays the bills. But Congress spends more than the country gets in, in tax revenues and that's why fights over raising the debt ceiling happen. The latest standoff catching the eyes of some of the biggest names on Wall Street who are urging Washington not to play politics here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD BLANKFEIN, CEO, GOLDMAN SACHS: There's precedent for a government shutdown. There's no precedent for default. We're the most important economy in the world. We're the reserve currency of the world. Payments have to go out to people. If money doesn't flow in, then money doesn't flow out. So we really haven't seen this before and I'm not anxious to be a part of the process that witnesses it.

JACK WELCH, FORMER CEO, GENERAL ELECTRIC: Both sides deserve a spanking for this. I mean the fact that they're not talking, haven't been talking for the last six months, it's (ph) terrible.

WARREN BUFFETT, INVESTOR: So a debt ceiling really doesn't make any sense. It makes absolutely no sense to let it be used as a lever for other things. I mean if you want to change laws on abortion or immigration or you name it, tax laws, whether, let that be a piece of legislation that people hammer out. But to tie it to something about whether you break the promises of the United States government to people all over the world, as well as its own citizens, just makes no sense. So it ought to be banned as a weapon. I mean it should be like -- it shouldn't be like nuclear bombs, I mean, basically, too horrible to use.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Too horrible to use. Joining me now, Christine Romans, host of CNN's "Your Money," and Donald Ratajczak, an economics professor at Georgia State University.

Welcome to you both.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi.

So, Christine, I just want to start with this, because we heard what all of those high-powered brokered on Wall Street talked about, this would be catastrophic if Congress didn't raise the debt ceiling, yet we hear from some Republicans that this is nothing but scare tactics. And I'm going to read you a quote from Republican Congressman Ted Yoho. He said, "I think personally it would bring stability to the world markets since they would be assured that the United States had moved decisively to curb its debt." Does he have a point?

ROMANS: No. No. He doesn't have a point. I mean they think they're having some kind of intervention with the excess spending in Washington. That's something that's usually handled in a budget, not in a debit -- look, you -- say you and your husband are fighting about your household budget. You can't decide and he's spending more than you want him to or on things that you don't want him to. You don't then not pay your credit card bill because you can't decide on spending discipline in your own household. If you do that, your credit score will get dinged, your interest rates will go up and it will cause more financial havoc in your household. That's what this is.

We have -- look, there -- some of the people, like Mr. Yoho, are talking about scare tactics. Let's not talk about scare tactics. Let's just talk about accounting. Simple accounting. There's $30 billion in the U.S. Treasury as of October 17th. Come November 1st, I'm looking at a whole bunch of payments that come out on the very same day. Let me show you what the Treasury Department, the checks they have to cut for Social Security, for Medicare, for payments for veterans. Look at -- on one day, Social Security supplemental income benefits, Carol. That's one day. There's not enough money in the bank to pay everything that's coming due.

You hear people like Congressman Yoho and others talking about, you know, oh, well they'll just have to prioritize. You can't. There's not enough money that we finance the operations of the government. It would be instant austerity that many economists say could send us into a recession if they don't work this out.

COSTELLO: OK. So, Donald, I'm just throw another thing, that we often hear, by you. Some Republican congressmen said that if you raise the debt ceiling, you'll add to the deficit. The deficit will become larger. Is that true?

DONALD RATAJCZAK, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY: Well, actually, if we don't raise the debt ceiling, we may find that our interest burdens go up, so our deficits may rise. That's one of the funny things about this, that we're arguing about controlling government spending, but creating a problem that could dramatically raise our interest costs for years to come.

COSTELLO: So just to make this clear, because I think the debt ceiling is really hard for people to understand. So this is money that -- these are the bills we need to pay because Congress has already approved this spending. Am I right, Christine? ROMANS: Yes, that's -

COSTELLO: Congress has already approved this, now they've got to pay the bills, right?

ROMANS: That's absolutely right. And here's the thing, they're using the debt ceiling. And, you know, this has happened before in the past where you use the debt ceiling to try to get other spending initiatives along the way. But the fact is, there's no budget. The problem is, there's no budget. The United States Congress has not passed a budget since 2009. The problem is not the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is the symptom. The disease is the lack of a budget. And they're fighting on this -- over this thing that could send some very bad signals to the world. I mean, you know, China overnight, its foreign ministry, making some comments about how they hope the United States will raise the debt ceiling after all.

You know, you talk about our foreign bankers, you know, the Chinese, the Japanese and, you know, lots of entities in the Caribbean Islands, but we are our biggest banker. The Social Security trust fund is invested in Treasury bonds. If we don't pay the interest on our Treasury bonds or we do just pay only the interest on our Treasury bonds but start to default on other obligations, like obligations to seniors, it sends a very destabilizing signal to the rest of the world.

COSTELLO: OK. And so - and it's not like we haven't grappled with this before. Remember just a couple of years ago Congress like grappled with raising the debt ceiling. And just the debate over that caused these things to happen. And we'll just review this.

OK, in 2011, during the last debt ceiling fight, consumer confidence tumbled, the S&P lost nearly 20 percent, small businesses cut back on hiring and our credit rating got cut for the first time ever. Why wouldn't Republicans think that would happen again if they didn't raise the debt ceiling? And they raised it the last time.

RATAJCZAK: Well, they did. And that didn't give us enough relief. In fact, prior to that battle, the U.S. Treasury had the lowest interest rate yields of all the major currencies in the world. Today it's the German Bund that has the lowest interest rates. We pay 0.8 percent higher than the Germans do.

Now, remember, we paid lower two years ago. That alone adds almost $100 billion a year in interest payments.

COSTELLO: So - OK, so I'm getting the message from both of you, we shouldn't fool around with the debt ceiling, correct? Yes, Christine? Yes, Donald.

ROMANS: That's right.

RATAJCZAK: Yes.

ROMANS: You know, I understand the intervention. I understand trying to intervene in too much spending -- what they see is too much spending, but it could end up costing us more for this intervention than if we would just pass a budget.

COSTELLO: All right, Christine Romans, Donald Ratajczak, thanks so much for - to both of you for being with me this morning to talk about a very complicated topic. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, sexual assault could happen to anybody. Now a new study suggests it's much more common among teenagers than you think. Up next, the surprising number of teens who say they committed an offense at a very early age.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A Georgia Tech fraternity is under investigation this morning after one of its members sent an explicit e-mail with instructions on luring rape bait with alcohol. It was penned by a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity as a social guide for how to succeed for girls at a party. In one excerpt the social chair writes, quote, "if they are hammered at any point before midnight, just skip the chitchat and go dance. If you see an untalked to group or a solo girl, go up to her and ask if she wants anything to drink. If she says yes, get her a drink and ask her if she wants to dance. If she says no, ask her to dance. Dancing is fun." He goes on to tell members how to get girls to drink more alcohol in an effort to get things more heated up. The university, Georgia Tech, says it's aware of the letter and it's now conducting an investigation.

That Georgia Tech incident comes on the heels of a brand new study suggesting that sexual violence is quite common among young people. According to a new study released on Monday, one in 10 people under the age of 21 admit to being a perpetrator of sexual violence and half of them blame their victims. Here to discuss these findings is Katie Hanna, she's the executive director of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

Katie, good morning.

KATIE HANNA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OHIO ALLIANCE TO END SEXUAL VIOLENCE: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, when I saw this study, I was shocked. Are you?

HANNA: No, I'm actually not shocked. You know, rape crisis center advocates have known that about one in four girls and one in six boys will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. So this is something that we've known and that it's truly a public health epidemic that we need to address.

COSTELLO: Well, that one in 10 would admit that they perpetrated some sort of sexual violence on another person, that probably means those numbers are low?

HANNA: Right. Well, we certainly know that there are a lot of victims and survivors out there. And this study talks about how frequently victims are blamed for crimes that are committed against them and also that there's often a lack of consequences for perpetrators. And so we really need to have that cultural shift. I mean I can tell you from having been in Steubenville that we had a lot of survivors that came forward after that that said, when they first told somebody about what happened, they weren't believed. And we really need to provide that support to survivors and make sure we have prevention education in place to address these issues.

COSTELLO: Well, it's also important we understand where this kind of violent behavior is coming from. This study also suggests there's connection to exposure of violent x-rated material, and that causes some people, both young boys and girls in some cases, to act out. Do you think that's really true, just watching violent x-rated material? Because there's a lot of that on the Internet.

HANNA: Well, I mean, rape is certainly about power and control. And so we really need to educate our youth about having healthy relationships, what consent means and that relationships are really built upon equality and it's not about having power or control over any other person.

COSTELLO: And the other disturbing thing about this study, the individuals most likely to have their first offense, as far as committing violence -- sexual violence on another person happens as early as 15. Old enough to know better, but young enough where you say, seriously?

HANNA: Right. And that's --

COSTELLO: So what do parents need to be doing?

HANNA: So I really encourage parents to talk to their teens about having healthy relationships, about seeking support with rape crisis centers when something happens. But we really need to have that prevention education in schools and also teaching our employers, teaching, you know, how we do by certain (ph) intervention. So we know that, you know, if a teen can intervene, we can actually stop sexual violence before it happens.

COSTELLO: Katie Hanna, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

HANNA: Thanks so much, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, "South Park" does not shy away from controversy. Now the popular comedy show is ready to tackle one of the year's biggest controversies, the George Zimmerman case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT: Oh, behave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That is not Mike Meyers, it's actually Bill Gates playing Austin Powers in a Microsoft video now surfacing online. Current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appears as Dr. Evil. This is one of a number of videos that the two appeared in during their time.

Well, his famous sense of humor, right?

"South Park" is no stranger to controversy now is about to tackle one of the year's biggest and most controversial stories, the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman case. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, come on where is it? Where is it? Clear the streets, everyone clear the streets. We got the get the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does that little boy have a gun?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: HLN's "Showbiz Tonight" host A.J. Hammer joins us from New York to talk more about this episode. Hi.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes hello Carol.

You know "South Park" loves making comedy from stories that have been ripped from the headlines and they love taking on controversial topics. So it's really not a surprise that they're taking on George Zimmerman and the death of Trayvon Martin. This after all is the show that has tackled virtually every controversial topics that's coming along in it's over 16 years. And they just kicked off the 17th season and they did that by taking on the NSA and spying on Americans.

So keep in mind, "South Park" actually originated as a show as a short film featuring Jesus and Santa in a battle royale over Christmas so it's like comfortable with controversy.

The show was on a very long sabbatical between seasons otherwise I'm sure the Zimmerman frontline would have happened a lot sooner. But tomorrow's night episode is called "World War Zimmerman." Comedy Central says that the world faces death, destruction, chaos and Erik Cartman. And it describes the plot as Cartman being deeply disturbed by a single person who he sees as a threat to all of humanity.

So he races around the country to put an end to Patient Zero which they describe as the ticking time bomb that is Token. Now Token is the show's character who's full name is Token Black and he's the only black child in the school with the "South Park" gang. So yes there does seem to be kind of a stand your ground element going on in this story.

But knowing Carol of what we know about "South Park," the only real prediction I can make about this episode is it's not going to unfold the way we think it will right now. That will be something completely different than what we could possibly imagine which is indeed the show's (inaudible) --

COSTELLO: And unbelievably offensive at the same time.

HAMMER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: A.J. Hammer many thanks.

HAMMER: You bet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Here's what's all new in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You come with us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want $10 million.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't get in there. You got to get him off this ship.

COSTELLO: It opens Friday with rave reviews. But crew members say Hollywood version gets it all wrong, that their captain is no hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hear this PR stuff coming out about him giving himself up. And he's still on -- he's still hostage. The whole crew is like, what?

COSTELLO: The Captain says that the story is fuelled by the press.

CAPT. RICHARD PHILLIPS, MAERSK ALABAMA: The media got everything wrong. I don't know how I can control this when I'm in a lifeboat and the media is saying that I gave myself up for it.

COSTELLO: The on screen and off-screen drama over one of Hollywood's biggest fall movies. That's all new in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: I bet you didn't see that one coming. The New York Jets are off to a 3-2 start after another thrilling last-second win over the Falcons. Andy Scholes is here. That's just awful.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Oh, man, Carol, you know before this season, the Jets, no one saw this coming.

COSTELLO: No.

SCHOLES: Right. They had all kinds of issues at quarterback and they picked last to finish in the division. But hey look at them now they are taking on the Falcons last on Monday night football. Geno Smith is becoming known as captain comeback.

Under two minutes to go Jets down by two, Smith completes four straight passes to get New York into field goal range. And Nick folk connects on the game winner. Jets win 30-28. They're surprising 3-2 on the season. The Falcons meanwhile, they drop to a disappointing 1- 4. So the Braves, they were looking to salvage the night for sports fans in Atlanta. They led the Dodgers 3-2 in the eighth. Juan Uribe -- all he was trying to do was lay down the sack but he failed twice and two strikes, he's swinging away, and there it goes. Two-run home run gives the Dodgers the lead. They win 4-3 to eliminate the Braves and move on to the NLCS.

Number on in the line up section on BleacherReport.com the Rays needing a win to stay alive in their series with the Red Sox. Bottom of the ninth, tied at 4, Jose Lobaton pinch-hitting and he sends one into the Rays' tank in center field. Carol this is the first time a Rays player has ever hit one into the 10,000-gallon tank. He wins on the walk-off homer, 5-4.

And the other one AL divisional series things got --

COSTELLO: Oh come on. Don't talk about this.

SCHOLES: Sorry, Carol -- we've got to. Game three between the Tigers and A's ninth inning Victor Martinez and Grant Balfour exchange words, they nearly come to blows. Both benches clear. All this because Balfour didn't like the way Martinez was looking at him.

COSTELLO: He does have a horrible stare.

SCHOLES: Pretty intimidating. And you know what; the A's they like the way this series is looking. They won game three 6-3. And Carol your Tigers need a win today if they're going to stay alive in this series. First pitch for game four set at 5:00 Eastern on TBS. That game followed by the Rays and Red Sox at 8:30.

COSTELLO: I'm telling you that game yesterday put me in such a bad mood.

SCHOLES: Bad mood?

COSTELLO: Yes.

SCHOLES: Right.

COSTELLO: Thanks for reminding.

SCHOLES: Hopefully today will --

COSTELLO: We'll pick up my (inaudible)

Miguel Cabrera will be able to use his legs and everything. It will be great.

Thank you, Andy.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. All new in the second hour of NEWSROOM, the Washington Redskins battling a big controversy, not about their starting quarterback. It's the team name that has a lot of people offended. Now even the President is stepping into the debate.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole crew is like, what?