Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Opening Bell Rings on Wall Street; President Obama Caught in a Selfie?; Bipartisan Budget Agreement in Washington; Marine Catches Great White Shark; CEO Pay 874 Times Higher than Workers; Nick Saban Texas Rumors Heat Up

Aired December 11, 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: Checking other top stories at 31 minutes past the hour.

New information from the NTSB says pilots in the deadly Asiana Airlines plane crash may have relied too much on the plane's automated systems and its final approach to San Francisco International Airport. The NTSB is holding a hearing right now to figure out what else might have gone wrong. Representatives from the airlines and first responders are expected to testify.

Three people were killed and more than 180 injured when the plane clipped a seawall and skidded across the runway at San Francisco's international airport.

Opening Bell just rang on Wall Street, the CEO from Auto Home Inc rang the -- rang this morning's bell as the company celebrates its first day of trading. Stock futures were a little lower this morning as talk of a budget deal in Washington increased the odds the Fed might scale back on its support for the economy.

Alison Kosik is in New York with more.

Good morning, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol. Guess what, Congress actually did something and Wall Street is reacting.

That bipartisan budget compromise late yesterday looking to avoid another government shutdown is pushing investors to be a little bit more cautious, not because they're unhappy about the deal but because it means one more risk is removed from upending the economy which means the Fed is more and more likely to start trimming the amount of stimulus money that it's been pumping into the financial system.

So you're seeing investors basically getting ready for that. Try to pricing it in, as they say on Wall Street. It's the reason we saw stocks end lower yesterday and seeing some caution now at the Opening Bell. You are seeing the Dow below that 16,000 level at the moment.

One stock we are watching very quickly, Twitter shares hitting $52.58 yesterday during the session. That's an all time high. Investors seem to like Twitter's new messaging service that allows you to send pictures privately. But I would suggest maybe making sure they are private -- Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Good advice. Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

Before we get to that -- to the miracle of that bipartisan budget agreement, a look at how silly our -- our politics have become.

This selfie has taken by President Obama at Nelson Mandela's memorial service has taken social media by storm. It includes Britain's David Cameron and the Danish prime minister. Tea Party supporter Erik Erickson tweeted, "Did the president really take a selfie at a funeral? It appears the First Lady did not approve."

The "National Post" tweeted, "Barack Obama's selfie and chatter with Danish PM has critics including Michelle unimpressed."

And then there was Craig Ferguson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG FERGUSON, HOST, "THE LATE, LATE SHOW": President Obama is in South Africa for the Mandela tribute and he got caught taking a selfie. Look at this. Look. Yes, look at that.

(LAUGHTER)

Yes, doesn't that make you proud? Michelle looks really happy about it as well. Look at that.

(LAUGHTER)

Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Most comments were funny and meant to be and as the former Russian ambassador told the BBC it is not uncommon for world leaders to use such events to strengthen relations. There is, he said, in diplomacy a concept of a working funeral.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm serious. He was really quoted that way in the BBC.

Now let's talk about the real story of the selfie seen around the world. CNN political analyst and the "Daily Beast" executive editor John Avlon joins me along with CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen.

Thanks to both of you for being here this morning.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So the photographer, his name is Roberto Schmidt. He took the photo of the selfie. He's a photographer for the AFP. He said Obama and his British and Danish counterparts were just acting like human beings and that, quote, "It makes me a little sad we are obsessed with day-to-day trivialities instead of things of true importance."

In other words, he said he can't believe that everybody is making such a big deal of this selfie. Is he right, John?

AVLON: Yes. I mean, how dare our politicians act like human beings. I mean, the photographer really did sort of lay it on the line that this, A, is a distraction and B, you know, the moment he caught Michelle didn't seem to actually indicate deep disapproval.

Look, funeral selfies generally bad form. But what I think that memorial service really was a four-hour celebration. And that was certainly the tone of it. So this fixation for sometimes narrow partisan reasons that feeds into some narrative about ego run amuck is off the mark and the photograph who took it said so himself.

COSTELLO: And, Hilary -- according to the photographer Michele Obama was actually joking around with people just before he snapped that photo. She just happened to have that bad look on her face when the photo was snapped. And he said what John said. He said, you know, this was a celebration. People were singing and dancing. The crowd was alight with laughter. This was a celebration of Mandela's life, not exactly a funeral procession.

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And, you know, people have been putting their own views on to -- into Michelle Obama's mind for over five years. I mean this is a woman who actually appreciates a light moment, loves her husband, and is, you know, happy to support him doing what he's doing.

The fact that she might have not been paying attention or might have been listening to a speaker or do something is probably what was going on in that picture. But, you know, disapproval from the First Lady, I think, is well of an over reach and I think that John is right. The whole of this memorial service was a celebration.

We could all learn something from the South Africans in how they treated this event over the last several days which really was much more about his life than his death.

COSTELLO: All right. I think we've exhausted that topic because --

(LAUGHTER)

ROSEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: I don't know. The whole thing is kind of silly to me.

We're going to talk about the budget, though, and the miracle of this bipartisan agreement but we have to take a break first. We'll be right back with much more in the NEWSROOM.

ROSEN: OK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now to the miracle of bipartisanship. Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Patty Murray sat down, worked together and came up with a budget deal. If you're counting it sets the government spending level at more than a trillion dollars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: This agreement makes sure that we don't have a government shutdown scenario in January. It makes sure that we don't have another government shutdown scenario in October. It makes sure that we don't lurch from crisis to crisis.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D), WASHINGTON: We made a conscious decision as Chairman Ryan said in the -- in the few short weeks we have had to focus on where we can agree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Wow. This budget includes spending levels that would eliminate a big chunk of those forced budget cuts, you know, sequestration. It does not, I repeat does not extend unemployment benefits. And it raises revenue in part through airline security fees.

So let's talk about this budget and this spirit of bipartisanship.

John Avlon and Hilary Rosen are back.

So I don't know. Is there really that much to celebrate, John?

AVLON: Yes. Look it's a step in the right direction. We've got the potential for a budget for the first time in years. And there's at least some reasoning together in Washington. This isn't a grand bargain, it's a modest step in the right direction. But some progress is better than none. I'm on the perfect -- don't make the perfect enemy of the good school. While there are a lot of outstanding issues here and there are going to be a lot of folks on the far right and far left who are complaining and trying to block it, it is a small victory for sanity on Capitol Hill and that's a rare thing and it's worth celebrating.

COSTELLO: Yes, but, Hilary, isn't it sad we're so like jazzed about a small victory on Capitol Hill?

ROSEN: It's a little sad that we couldn't go bigger and that we couldn't have a better revenue deal and that we couldn't agree on some bigger, long-term budget problems. But the point is that, you know, we had a tumultuous year last year that served nobody's interest, that rocked the markets, that stalled employment growth, and I think when we look at this from -- at least from a Democrat's perspective there's things in there I don't like. I don't like the airline fee increase. I don't like the fact that unemployment insurance won't be extended. But, you know, we were screaming for a year that the Republicans refused to be reasonable and here, you know, now that we see some reasonableness I think it's going to be hard for Democrats to say, sorry, not reasonable enough. And so I think this is going to pass.

You know, one extra point here. The country knows who Paul Ryan is, of course, because he ran for vice president with Mitt Romney last year, but Patty Murray is less well-known publicly and she really deserves an enormous amount of credit. She's a member of the, you know, progressives in the Senate and the fact that she was able to get to this point really is a huge amount of credit to Patty Murray and I think her star rises today.

COSTELLO: I know. Progressive like sitting down and negotiating with -- well, I guess, a one-time Tea Party favorites because Tea Party conservatives are angry at Paul Ryan. They say he and other Republicans caved and are now traitors. Marco Rubio says this budget plan, quote, "Washington's irresponsible budget decisions."

And I know both of you guys think it might pass but this will cause problems for Paul Ryan, won't it, John?

AVLON: Yes, it may cause some political problems but that's the cost of a profile in courage when you're trying to do the right thing for your country instead of simply pandering the outer reaches of your own party.

Look, there are activist groups that had their finger hovering over the send button within moments of the press conference waiting to denounce it, because they're playing a different game. They're not interested in governing. They're not thinking about the national interest. They're playing a divide-and-conquer game. That's all about agitating the base.

They're not interested in governor. They really should get out of the way. I'm surprised that somebody like Senator Marco Rubio did, you know, denounce this -- vote after he voted against sequester in the first place. That's about politics. That's about playing to the base. That's about larger aspirations. It's not about governing in the national interest. That's the standard by which we should be judged. People who are playing that game really are part of the problem in Washington.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: OK. So let's -- go ahead, Hilary.

ROSEN: Well, I was going to say, and I think particularly for some of those Republican senators who want to be in the 2016 presidential primary, if they become the loudest voices over the next couple of days that means it's probably a pretty good deal.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: John Avlon, Hilary Rosen, thanks so much for your insight this morning. I appreciate it.

AVLON: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, CEOs make much more money than hourly workers but you'll never guess exactly how much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our "Top Stories" at 48 minutes past the hour.

Police have arrested a second man for stealing wreckage from the California crash site where "Fast and Furious" star Paul Walker died. They say 25-year-old Anthony Janow stole a roof panel from the charred Porsche after it was being towed away; 18-year-old Jamison Witty has also been charged in the crime. If convicted the men could face more that four years in prison.

The National Security Agency is taking a cue from Madison Avenue that's according to "The Washington Post". The paper says spy agency uses Internet tracking files called "cookies" to pinpoint potential targets for government hacking. Cookies make it easier for the NSA to zero in on someone already under suspicion.

A fishing trip with his wife turned into a reel adventure. And you can see why. Jeff Fangman a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton caught a great white shark on this California beach and lived to tell the tale. His wife captured it all on video. She said she was more than a little nervous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF FANGMAN, MARINE: You got it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Oh. Oh, my God. Look at it, oh, Oh, my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Why are you touching its mouth? It is illegal to catch a great white shark so Fangman quickly set the shark free. He says it took him about 25 minutes to reel it into shore.

And a follow up to a story we've been following. A college basketball player can keep the $20,000 he won for a half-court shot during an NBA game. The NAIA initially said Cameron Rodriguez would forfeit his eligibility at Southwestern College if he kept the winning. But the school appeals and the officials rule he could keep the money to put toward his education.

CEOs make hundreds of times more per hour than their employees but up until now it hasn't been quantified very much. But there's a new study from NerdWallet.com that analyzed pay data from -- from ten of the country's top retail and fast food companies.

CNN's business correspondent Alison Kosik is following the story. She has answers good morning. ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Carol. So Nerd Wallet is actually a financial information company and that company used GlassDoor.com as well as publicly available proxy statement to come up with this information.

And what they essentially found in their sample of ten retail and fast food chains paying the highest CEO compensation is that the CEO earns 874 times more per hour than a sales associate at the same company.

Then what they did, they went a little bit deeper with this example using McDonald's. Nerd Wallet used hourly compensation for McDonald's -- for McDonald]s and Nerd Wallet also used hourly compensation for McDonald's and that figure is $9,247. Now Nerd Wallet then took the average of McDonald's nonexecutive wage as obtained through Glass Door which was $7.73.

Now Nerd Wallet calculated that it would take a non-managerial average worker 3.86 months of over time, that's by the way one and a half times the base wage, to equal one hour of pay for the CEO, that's 3.8 -- 3.68 months or should we try that again, 3.86 months of work just to get one hour -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well and that's assuming the worker gets overtime right?

KOSIK: Exactly and that's what's interesting because if you look at what Nerd Wallet found is just that many companies actually schedule shifts to avoid paying overtime. In fact Nerd Wallet says that the companies in their study have faced lawsuit accusing them of failing to pay overtime or not correctly classifying employed job titles and responsibility just to avoid paying overtime.

So what that essentially means it would take even longer than that 3.86 months to get what the CEO gets per hour, which is just astonishing -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It is astonishing Alison Kosik thanks so much.

A six-year-old boy from Colorado has been suspended from school for sexual harassment. The problem -- he kissed a female classmate on the hand. District says it violated their policy against unwanted touching. But the boy's mother said the girl had no problem with it and the real issue is with the district calling it sexual harassment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER YELTON, FIRST GRADER: We were doing reading group and I leaned over and kissed her on the hand. And that's what happened.

JENNIFER SAUNDERS, MOTHER OF HUNTER: This is taking it to an extreme that doesn't need to be met with a six-year-old. Now my son is asking questions, "What is sex, mommy?" It should not ever be said sex in a sentence with a six-year-old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The boy's mother want the sexual harassment note removed from his school record. The school says the unwanted advances were not the boy's first offense.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM Mike Tyson was nicknamed baddest man on the planet, but there's one place on the globe he's now allowed -- England. We'll tell you why Iron Mike can't travel to the U.K.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Oh the rumors are flying about Nick Saban. Andy Scholes joins us now with "Bleacher Report." So is he going to Texas?

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Well we'll have to see Carol. But you know Alabama's fan base right now is on crisis lockdown mode. Because reports are that Mack Brown is going to step down as the head coach for the Longhorns on Friday and Texas is going to do whatever it takes to get Nick Saban.

COSTELLO: Million and millions and millions --

SCHOLES: That's right and you know what, this story has been all over Twitter the last few days. And there are -- there are reports that Texas who has the highest revenue of any college football team is ready to offer Saban as much as $10 million a year to leave Alabama.

Now everyone in Austin, very excited about all of these rumors and they are on the lookout for Saban. It has a joke Carol someone at the Austin Airport got on the PA system and said, Nick Saban your car is waiting for you at curve side check in. And everyone freaked and started looking for him. Of course he wasn't there.

All right. One of the top stories in the live section of BleacherReport.com today, imagine this Carol, American football in the summer Olympics.

COSTELLO: Baseball's not even in the summer Olympics.

SCHOLES: But this is a possibility now because the International Olympic Committee has recognized football as an international sport. This is, of course, still very far from happening. And if it is eventually added to the summer Olympics one day, it would likely be in the seven on seven format. Of course, there's the quarterback, the receiver, the defense.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHOLES: It would be big offensive linemen or stuff like that. Who could compete with the United States?

COSTELLO: No one.

SCHOLES: Right. It would be three gold medals.

COSTELLO: Like basketball -- right.

SCHOLES: Almost.

All right. Mike Tyson is currently touring the world, promoting his new autobiography, "The Undisputed Truth". But he can't go to Great Britain, because get this, he's now banned from entering the United Kingdom. Tyson served a three-year -- he served three years of a six- year sentence for a rape conviction in the 90s. And under new immigration laws in the U.K., anyone sentenced to more than four years in prison is barred from entering the country.

And this is my favorite story of the day, Carol. Houston, Texas all- pro receiver Andre Johnson spent over $17,000 on toys for a dozen underprivileged kids and their siblings. The kids were allowed to grab as many toys as they could in 80 seconds at a Houston area Toys "r" Us.

ANDRE JOHNSON, FOOTBALL PLAYER: They don't have to ask nobody for it. You know they don't -- I mean whatever they have on their Christmas list, they can pick up. So that's really why I did it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's awesome for doing this. I like toys and shopping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The Johnsons have done this for about seven years. Can you imagine, Carol, it's every kid's dream to just go to a toy store before Christmas and run through and grab everything they can off the shelves. I would have gone straight for the electronics and the Xbox One. That's what I would have done.

COSTELLO: I don't know what I would have chosen. It would have been so hard for me I would have just been standing there going, I don't know what to get.

SCHOLES: Only 80 seconds.

COSTELLO: I know. Well, good for him.

SCHOLES: Yes.

COSTELLO: That's awesome. Thank you -- Andy.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.