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Massive Storm Hitting Northeast; NSA Leaker Wants to Testify in U.S.; CIA Ops to Testify on Benghazi Attack; FBI Investigates Teen's Mysterious Death; Cuts to Food Stamps Kick in Today

Aired November 01, 2013 - 09:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also food cut.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just learn how to survive.

COSTELLO: Millions of Americans who use food stamps on notice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No matter how people look at you, just keep your head up.

COSTELLO: A hit to an already stretched budget. One in seven of us desperately depending on this program to put food on the table.

Plus --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome aboard. And thanks for flying with Delta.

COSTELLO: Fire up that iPod, Kindle or computer. Starting today, Delta becomes the first airline to let you use your gadgets below 10,000 feet but there's still one thing you cannot do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Smoking is not allowed on any Delta flight.

COSTELLO: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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COSTELLO: Good morning, everyone. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. November is coming in like a lion. Sorry to mix up weather cliches, but a massive storm hammered millions from Maine to Texas and today that same storm will make life miserable for the northeast.

Perhaps the scariest incident so far happened in Douglas, Kansas. A school bus drove through deep water on the road and then plunged off a bridge into a swollen creek. Look at that. Ten children and the driver managed to climb through the roof hatch before rescue crews got them to dry land.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We climbed out and got on top of the bus. I thought I was going to die.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bus fell over, off the bridge into the river, and then we climbed out the window.

SHERIFF KELLEY HERZET, BUTLER COUNTY, KANSAS: All of this could have ended worse, and it didn't. That bus could have washed on down and been trapped and taken longer for rescue to get to, the bus could have filled up with water a lot quicker, it could have went completely maybe underwater, kids might have washed downstream. Just from the high water we've had the last couple of days so we're very lucky it ended like it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You're not kidding. Heavy winds from that same nasty storm system ripped through a trailer park in Ohio damaging nearly 80 homes and moving some completely off their foundation. One man said he just held onto his wife until it was all over.

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TERRY AGIN, STORM VICTIM: My wife and I were in bed when something came through the wall and glass everywhere. I grabbed my wife and held her until it calmed down and we both jumped up and put clothes on.

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COSTELLO: That happened near Columbus, Ohio, and in central Texas, more than 1,000 homes had to be evacuated after a foot of rain caused creeks and rivers to overflow. Some people had to cut through their roofs to escape the rising water. Storm also blamed for at least two deaths in the state.

CNN's Indra Petersons is in New York to tell us where the storm is heading now.

Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Good morning, Carol. Yes, the storm is definitely now making its way into the northeast and mid- Atlantic. But I wanted to show you, just to emphasize, 173 reports of wind damage and even five tornadoes are reported yesterday in Louisiana and even in Illinois.

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PETERSONS (voice-over): A massive storm moved through the Midwest overnight wreaking havoc on Halloween for millions and leaving at least two people dead in its path. Heavy rain and strong winds as high as 40 miles per hour toppled tree after tree, even flipping these semis on their side in Missouri, at least 10 structures destroyed in northern Arkansas.

In central Texas more than 1,000 homes were evacuated as rivers and creeks overran their banks. The National Weather Service reported more than a foot of rain across the area. Emergency lifeboats and helicopters rescued dozens stranded on rooftops.

ARMANDO ZAMARRIPA, FLOOD VICTIM: Water came too fast. There wouldn't have been time to get the people out of the houses.

PETERSONS: Hundreds of homes and cars left partially submerged.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they don't know how to cross that water it will get you in the ditch.

PETERSONS: In Austin, rushing waters flooded the roadways. Most drivers played it safe while others dangerously navigated through streets overtaken by floodwaters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. We're getting -- we're pushing him out.

PETERSONS: Even pushing vehicles stalled by the rapid currents. The city's iconic downtown statue up to its waist in water, symbolizes the immense power of this Halloween storm, as this large cold front moves east today packing winds as high as 60 miles per hour it may snarl air travel and cause commuter headaches in major cities up and down the I- 95 corridor.

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PETERSONS: That's exactly what we're seeing right now, Carol, even three-hour delays at LaGuardia, also around Philly, about two-hour delays.

And we're looking at these strong winds, really anywhere from the northeast now right through the mid-Atlantic again, winds as high as 50, even 60 miles per hour and there's another story, cold front's moving through for the weekend. We're talking about temperatures dropping with highs only in the 40s in many northeastern locations by Sunday.

Keep in mind today, they're in the 70s. That is a big drop -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It would be November, though, so it can't go by too much.

(LAUGHTER)

PETERSONS: Hey.

COSTELLO: I know. Indra Petersons, thanks so much.

New this morning, a bombshell out of Germany. Edward Snowden, America's most wanted document leaker, wants to testify before Congress, the American Congress. Snowden, whose NSA leaks are still rattling cages, met with a German lawmaker in Moscow after sending that lawmaker a letter offering his testimony.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin with more on this.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, and I have the letter right here. It's actually quite interesting because it doesn't actually mentioned Germany by name. And the operative part of this letter, I want to read to you, it says, "I hope that when the difficulties of this humanitarian situation," he of course means this limbo that he's in, in Russia right now, "have been resolved, I will be able to cooperate in the responsible finding of fact regarding reports in the media."

That of course pertains to the documents that are apparently behind a lot of the media reports regarding the NSA, for instance, spying on the German chancellor but also a lot of the other things that have been disclosed recently and from that, and from his talks with Edward Snowden, this German lawmaker discerns that Snowden would be able to travel here to Germany to testify in front of German parliament about all these leaks that have been coming out or perhaps stay in Russia and have members of German parliament come there.

Of course, there are a lot of hurdles. One of the things that Snowden apparently also wants is to be assured that he will not be deported back to the United States if, in fact, he were to come here to America but you state absolutely correctly, apparently he told this lawmaker that his goal in the end is to try and testify in front of Congress and to bring everything to light.

But before that of course he would want some sort of assurance that he would not be sent to jail for a very long time for doing so -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And that's a tall order. Frederick Pleitgen, reporting live from Berlin this morning.

PLEITGEN: Certainly is.

COSTELLO: Yes.

Consider this bumper sticker that never was, "Elect Obama/Clinton for 2012." It could have happened. Turns out the Obama campaign considered bumping Joe Biden from the ticket last year and replacing him with Hillary Clinton. Obama's former chief of staff Bill Daley confirms that a switch was discussed as were many options but he says it was never considered seriously.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president dismissed the idea out of hand.

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JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I know for a fact that President Obama never considered this, never thought about it, never entertained it. The vice president has been a partner of his from the 2008 campaign on. He's been an excellent governing partner and an excellent campaign partner. So, you know, again, campaigns test everything but as the book itself says this was never considered by the president.

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COSTELLO: Obama's former senior adviser, David Plouffe, also denies any serious intent. Plouffe tweeted, "Never any, any consideration of Vice President Hillary Rodham Clinton switch." Behind closed doors, CNN has learned this morning that Congress is ramping up its investigation into the terror attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. As you'll recall, four Americans including the U.S. ambassador to Libya died in that ferocious attack.

And Republicans critical of the White House response on the night of September 11th have demanded access to witnesses.

Well now they'll get their chance. In just a couple of weeks, we've learned CIA operatives who were on the ground that night will share new details of the siege and a failed attempt to rescue those trapped Americans.

Drew Griffin of the CNN Investigations Unit is pushing forward on this story. He has this exclusive report.

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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN has learned a House Intelligence subcommittee is scheduled to hear from CIA security officers in Benghazi, who are expected to tell a much more detailed story on what went on the night Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others were killed in a terrorist attack.

The men described by sources to CNN as former Navy SEALs, former Army Special Forces and former Marines were under contract to guard CIA agents on the ground. The security officers were among those who responded when Ambassador Stevens' compound was attacked on the night of September 11th.

Sources tell CNN they will appear behind closed doors in a classified congressional hearing the week of November 11th. Members of Congress have been trying to get access to them and to other actual CIA agents, but as CNN has been reporting, those attempts, at least to date, have failed. Sources tell CNN only one CIA operative who was in Benghazi during the attacks has gone before the House Intelligence Committee.

A frustrated congressman have told CNN they have been unsatisfied with the investigation so far conducted by House Intelligence Committee chairman, Republican Mike Rogers. But Rogers' staff defends the work of the committee previously telling CNN the exhaustive review has included nine full committee hearings, roundtable discussions with some administration officials and interim report and a vow that the investigation continues.

But still, according to sources, only one of the estimated nearly two dozen CIA operatives on the ground has testified before members of Congress. Fred Burton, a former State Department diplomatic security agent, has written a book about the Benghazi attack, now bring turned into an HBO movie.

FRED BURTON, AUTHOR: Congress, as well as the agency are going out of their way to protect whatever it was that they were doing operationally in Libya.

GRIFFIN: And sources say the CIA has been trying to keep its employees quiet. CNN reported earlier that some operatives involved in the agency's missions in Libya complained they had been subjected to frequent, even monthly polygraph examinations to find out whether they've spoken to Congress or the media, according to sources with deep inside knowledge of the agency's workings.

The CIA says this is patently false, telling CNN, "Not a single CIA officer who was on the ground in Benghazi during the attacks has been subjected to any CIA polygraph intended to discourage them from speaking to Congress or as a retaliation," adding that, "to date, some of these officers have already spoken to the oversight committees on Benghazi.

CNN has heard from congressmen who are unconvinced they are getting the whole truth. One congressman tells CNN on condition of anonymity, "We know what the CIA tells us they were doing in Libya, but it is unclear if we really know what the agency was up to."

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COSTELLO: And Drew tells us the lawmakers want three main questions answered by the CIA operatives who will testify. First of all, what's the CIA doing in Libya? What happened during the failed rescue attempts? And finally did the administration know immediately that this was a planned terrorist attack? We may get the answers to those questions soon.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, police say Kendrick Johnson's death was a bizarre accident but his family insists it was murder. Now the FBI will reopen the investigation.

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COSTELLO: There is hope the family of Georgia teenager Kendrick Johnson will find justice. The FBI will look at their son's death with fresh eyes.

CNN aggressively pursued answers in Johnson's death after authorities ruled he died accidentally even though some parts of their investigation didn't add up.

CNN's Victor Blackwell is on the case.

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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After months of rallies and protests, an announcement that the family of Kendrick Johnson hopes will lead to what they consider to be justice.

MICHAEL MOORE, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA: At this time, however, I am of the opinion that a base exists for my office to conduct a formal review of the facts and investigation surrounding the death of Kendrick Johnson.

BLACKWELL: U.S. Attorney Michael Moore supported by the FBI will soon head to Valdosta, Georgia to conduct a federal investigation into the death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson. MOORE: I will follow the facts wherever -- wherever they lead. My objective is to discover the truth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hallelujah!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Jesus.

BLACKWELL: Kendrick's grandmother watched at announcement on a portable TV on the street corner where the family continues its eight- month sit-in, demanding answers.

BARBARA ENGLISH, KENDRICK JOHNSON'S GRANDMOTHER: I'm so happy and I know we trust in the Lord and we just had been down here rallying for 32 weeks for nothing.

BLACKWELL: The Johnson family never believed the local sheriff's explanation that Kendrick suffocated after squeezing his 19-inch shoulders into the 14 and 0.5 inch center of a rolled gym mat to reach for a shoe in the middle of a school day.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, JOHNSON FAMILY ATTORNEY: His parents have always maintained that their son was killed. The only question we want to know so why they are covering up for whoever killed their son.

KENNETH JOHNSON, KENDRICK JOHNSON'S FATHER: I believe, indeed, that he was murdered.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Do you have any idea who may have murdered him?

JOHNSON: No, I don't. That's what we wanted to get the truth.

BLACKWELL: CNN has been reporting on this case for months, uncovering details of the sheriff's investigation. Like why these shoes found yards from Kendrick's body were not collected as evidence and how this blood stain got on this wall in the gym and why investigators never found whose blood it was.

BLITZER: And you don't believe there was a thorough investigation by local authorities, Mr. Johnson?

JOHNSON: No, I don't.

BLACKWELL: In a statement to CNN the attorney for the Lawns County Sheriff's Office writes in part, "While Sheriff Prine has every confidence that his officer's investigation was handled with the necessary diligence to assure that all leaders were examined and exhausted, he welcomes the U.S. attorney's further review of the case. On Wednesday, a judge ordered Lowndes County Sheriff's Office to hand over its full investigative file including never before seen surveillance video from inside the gym where Kendrick died.

ENGLISH: We have to continue to fight on until justice is done for K.J.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BLACKWELL: The U.S. attorney says his office received hundreds of calls from around the country from people passionate about this case, but he said in his statement he reminded everyone that facts, not opinions, nor emotions, no matter how sincere, are the basis of a legal investigation.

Again, the FBI is now coming in to support his investigation to get answers to some very basic questions -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I note that there is surveillance tape from inside the school. Have the Johnsons received any of that tape?

BLACKWELL: Just the couple of clips we received and aired on CNN. They have not received it because there's so much, for tech savvy people it's about a terabyte of information. The attorney for the sheriff's office and tech expert are working to transfer that to something they can hand over to both the family and to CNN for the family's lawsuit and our joining of the lawsuit -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Victor Blackwell reporting live from Macon, Georgia, this morning.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: even less money for food. Payments being cut today to millions of people on food stamps, after the break what Washington plans to do with the $5 billion it says it will save.

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COSTELLO: Just as winter heating bills start barreling in, more people are forced to make tough choices when it comes to families. Starting today, payments get slashed for the 47 million people on food stamps, that's one in every seven Americans. The 5 percent cut means $5 billion in savings for the federal government but for a family of four, it's $36 less for groceries every month.

CNN correspondent Rosa Flores live in New York to tell us more.

Good morning, Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Carol.

You know, it's been dysfunction junction in Washington and with he know when decisions are made in Washington they impact real people around the country and in this case, the timing of the end of this temporary boost to food stamps couldn't come at a worse time. Think about it -- we're weeks away from Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas, and usually Republicans are blamed for these types of cuts. In this case, the finger is pointed at the White House.

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FLORES (voice-over): It sounded like a great idea when it was launched, a program aimed in part at making school lunches healthier.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: We're determined to finally take on one of the most serious threats to their future, and that's the epidemic of childhood obesity.

FLORES: But to fund that war on obesity, the White House borrowed money from the war on hunger.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some of the funding comes from rolling back a temporary increase in food stamp benefits or SNAP as it's now called, starting in the fall of 2013.

FLORES: That's now, when the SNAP program runs out of money from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

STACY DEAN, CENTER OF BUDGET AND POLICY AUTHORITIES: After these cuts, the average benefit per person per meal will be $1.40.

FLORES: The cuts impact 47 million Americans, including 22 million children on food stamps and 9 million elderly or seriously disabled people according to the center of budget and policy priorities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you have for lunch?

FLORES: Like Catherine McKinnon who went from grandma to a single mother of three when her daughter died.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's good for 5 cents.

FLORES: Each month, she gets $358 in food stamps to feed a family of four, about $4 a meal in a city where a box of cereal at her local store is $4.50. She sells cans to make ends meet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No matter how people look at, you keep your head up.

FLORES: The president said he'd negotiate more funding with Congress, but negotiating with congress right now seems unlikely.

BARACK OBAMA: I know a number of members of Congress have expressed concerns about this offset being included in the bill, and I'm committed to working with them to restore these funds in the future.

FLORES: His gamble even upset some congressional Democrats.

REP. ROSA DELAURO (D), CONNECTICUT: I did not want to do that. This was a bad, these were bad choices to make.

FLORES: McKinnon already supplements food stamps eating two meals a day at a soup kitchen. Senate version of the next farm bill which funds food stamps proposes cutting nearly $4 billion more over 10 years. The one in the house cuts $39 billion more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to reform the food stamp program with better policies. I'm not so much concerned about the planned spending reduced as is getting policies that promote work and dignity.

FLORES: For Catherine McKinnon, it's just about making ends meet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just learning how to survive. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: We talked to the food bank for New York City and the CEO tells us that this could be devastating not only for the food bank but for pantries all around the country and they feel they say that they have been the first line of defense for the war on hunger at a time when they say that they are seeing more and more clients like these, Carol, they say veterans, people who are unemployed who have never seek assistance before, and believe it or not, they also are seeing a lot of educated -- college educated people -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Rosa Flores reporting live for us this morning.

Still to come in CNN NEWSROOM: Remember this? The last U.S. bat troops to leave Iraq? Today there are new calls from Iraq for a return to the U.S. military. They need help. We'll tell you more, next.

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