Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Diplomat's Arrest Strains U.S.-India Ties; Fed to Announce Stimulus Decision Today; Obama to Meet with NSA Review Group; Two Big Storms to Cross U.S. This Week

Aired December 18, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

This morning tensions are rising between the United States and India. In New Delhi, Indian security officials ordered the removal of security barricades around the U.S. embassy. It's the latest in a series of reprisals after the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York.

Now this Indian diplomat, you see her here she is accused of falsifying documents for her housekeeper's work visa and paying the woman a fraction of what she claimed. The diplomat's treatment which included a strip search and handcuff has triggered that angry backlash in India.

CNN's Mallika Kapoor is in New Delhi with reaction there. But first let's head to New York and Pamela Brown with the latest on this international dust-up. Good morning, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. Indian officials making their fury known in several different ways; in fact we're just learning they have asked U.S. consulate staff members in several cities in India to hand over their IDs.

It seems that officials are more outraged over how the female diplomat was arrested and why. And American officials are also addressing the matter saying it is a very delicate situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN (voice over): Watch as police remove the concrete security barriers in front of the U.S. embassy in New Delhi. Newspapers in India reporting that the government is behind the anti-U.S. protest. Why? Retaliation sparked by an arrest of this Indian diplomat in New York City, Devyani Khobragade.

According to this criminal complaint Khobragade a Deputy Consul General severely underpaid her babysitter only paying her $3.31 an hour far less than minimum wage. The complaint also alleges the diplomat worked her babysitter far more than the 40 hours per week allegedly without overtime pay and then lied about all of this on visa documents, a violation of U.S. laws. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter has nothing to done any all, she had nothing to do with the visa process.

BROWN: State Department diplomatic security arrested Khobragade last Thursday after she dropped her daughter off at school. She was later strip searched and put in a holding cell with other defendants. Her lawyer says she pleaded not guilty.

DANIEL ARSHACK, DR. KHOBRAGADES'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I have every expectation that she'll be completely vindicated.

BROWN: Her arrest sparked outrage among Indian officials, some calling her treatment barbaric. One even calling for the partners of gay U.S. diplomats in India to be arrested. The country recently banned gay sex.

VASHWANT SINHA, FORMER INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: What does in India can do immediately is to cancel those visas, arrest all of these companions, put them behind bars.

BROWN: Indian officials also snubbed U.S. delegates visiting India. One tweeting, "Refuse to meet the visiting USA delegation in solidarity with our nation.

KAMAL NATH, INDIA'S PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS MINISTER: More steps should be taken against the United States until they've given an unconditional apology.

BROWN: U.S. Marshal Service officials stand by their strip search procedures saying they treated the diplomat the same way they treat everyone else.

MARIE HARF, STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESWOMAN: Thus far, all indication are that appropriate procedures were followed. But nonetheless we understand this is a very sensitive issue and we're continuing to review exactly what transpired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And Khobragade's lawyer Daniel Arshack told CNN his client is protected from the charges by diplomatic immunity and that he expects a quote, "Prompt resolution." But I spoke with a State Department source this morning and my source tells me that she has consulate immunity under the Vienna Convention.

But that only covers her activities and her official duties, she does not have diplomatic immunity and she was breaking the law so her limited immunity does not apply, according to the State Department source. Carol of course we'll be keeping an eye on this developing story.

COSTELLO: Yes I was just going to say somehow I don't think what you just said Pamela is resonating in India so let's head there now and talk to Mallika Kapoor. What's the reaction there? We heard a little bit of it from Pamela story. But I'm sure it's much more intense because you're there. Mallika can you hear me? I don't think Mallika can hear me. So we'll -- all right we're going to step away. And we'll get our technical issues fixed.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the fed is just a few hours away from its big reveal. We'll tell you how a huge decision by the Central Bank will be felt far away from Wall Street.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Before the break we told you the story of an Indian diplomat that was placed under arrest in New York City and strip searched for underpaying her baby sitter. Well that's fitting will in India so let's head there now and check in with Mallika Kapoor. What's the reaction to this?

MALLIKA KAPOOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, people here are very, very angry at the treatment meted out to one of the diplomats in New York and earlier today the prime minister of the Dr. Manmohan Singh, he said that the incident was deplorable.

So India is still really upset with that treatment. What they really want to do is to bring that diplomat home. But as a first step what they've done is they've moved her to the permanent mission of India, the United Nation in New York where they are hoping she'll get full immunity because she only had limited immunity, consulate immunity where she worked before.

So they are moving her to the permanent mission. They are hoping she gets greater immunity which means she can't be arrested again preventing her any further embarrassment.

But over here in India, you know India is retaliating. They have asked all the staff at U.S. consulate in major cities across India to hand in their identity passes which basically means they are stripping them of certain diplomatic privileges, such as access to airport lounges, for example.

And over here in New Delhi, the local police have also removed these large barricades, these concrete barricades which were placed outside the U.S. embassy saying that you know they had been placed there just as a courtesy by the New Delhi police. It wasn't -- it hadn't been a diplomatic requirement but it does insist that it has not scaled back security for any U.S. diplomats anywhere in the country. That is not being affected at all.

But overall here there's still a lot of anger at the way this diplomat was treated in New York.

COSTELLO: All right. Mallika Kapoor from New Delhi this morning -- thanks so very much.

We are just about three hours away from a major decision out of Washington. The fed is expected to announce whether or not it will pull back on that massive stimulus program that sent stocks to record highs this year. Will it really change anything? Joining us now CNNMoney assistant managing editor Paul R. La Monica. Good morning, Paul.

PAUL R. LA MONICA, CNNMONEY, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Good morning, Carol. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Oh glad you're here. So on its face, this decision seems like something only investors will watch. Why should the rest of us care?

LA MONICA: There are several reasons. Even if you may not be like a passionate market junkie, you probably have a 401(k), maybe a 529 for your kids, other retirement or long-term investment plans.

So if the fed doesn't pull back on its bond-buying program just yet, that probably will give the market another nice boost and obviously everyone loves to check their balances and see that they are higher than they were. So that's one reason.

But the real important thing for the average person in you know in terms of an economic reason is that what the fed is trying to do is keep interest rates low and they have been successful for the past few years. That's one reason why the mortgage rate has been so low and the housing market has come back.

So I think there are some people that are a little worried that if the fed does stop you know or slow the pace of its bond buys, then rates might head higher and that could be a problem for an economy that's -- let's be honest, is still fragile.

COSTELLO: Yes it's still fragile but the economy is improving and some economists say yes it's time to end the stimulus. What's your best guess at what will happen later this afternoon?

LA MONICA: I am of the opinion that they are not going to pull back just yet and probably because, you know, the Fed might want to still be a little cautious and wait for a couple more months of data to confirm that the job market really is getting better, that retail sales are going to improve, that we have a good holiday shopping season.

But then there's also the big reason, which is that current fed chair Ben Bernanke is going to be ending his term at the end of next January. So he probably might not be interested in making this move right now when he can just hand it off to his successor, current vice chair Janet Yellen who is just waiting for senate confirmation.

COSTELLO: Got you. Paul La Monica thanks so much for joining me this morning. I'm sure you'll keep your eye on that.

LA MONICA: Thank you.

COSTELLO: It will be on CNNmoney.com. Thanks so much.

Of course, CNN will have complete coverage of the Fed meeting also. That starts at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. And as I said CNN Money will take a closer look at market reaction and what it all means for the economy and you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. This news just in to CNN.

We understand President Obama will be meeting with the NSA review board in just about ten minutes. Now this is the board that's reviewing how the U.S. spy service is monitoring its citizens and all of the other things the NSA is accused of doing, you know, some of the stuff was revealed by Edward Snowden.

Now the president will be sitting down and talking with this review board. It's closed to the press, but of course, our White House correspondent Jim Acosta is working his sources. If he finds out anything about this meeting, of course, he'll check in with us.

In other news this morning, two big storm systems are brewing and will soon start marching across the United States. The Northeast is still clearing out from yesterday's storm up to ten inches of snow that dumped from Pennsylvania to Maine. Boston got more than six inches and now the northeast is going to get hit with rain. Because why not?

Jennifer Gray is in the CNN Weather Center. That's just cruel.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. It seems like it will never end. But you're right -- right around Boston yesterday got more than six inches of snow. And this fell in only a couple of hours. So it made rush hour yesterday just a pain. Bridgeport, Connecticut about three inches; Newark, New Jersey about two.

Now this next system is mainly going to be rain. And the reason for that we're going to have a shift in the jet stream. We've had very cold air up to the north. But now it's going to shift. It's going to bring a lot of warmer air, not only to the southeast but that's going to climb up the Eastern Seaboard. And so as we track this next system, you'll notice that the snow is going to stay very far to the north.

Minneapolis, you are going to get snow today and that's going to push into the Great Lakes region as we see by Friday morning, though, that snow in extreme portions of northern Maine and Canada and mainly rain to the south. And so what we'll be dealing with, mainly, possible severe threat on Saturday and Sunday for the Gulf Coast and then mainly rain up the Eastern Seaboard, Mid-Atlantic, and to the northeast.

Two different models we're looking at for the weekend so a little bit of discrepancy. We could possibly see snow as far south as the Texas panhandle. However if you look at one of the other models it looks like the snow is going to stay a little bit farther to the north. So still a little bit uncertainty as we go to the weekend but we do know that there will be a severe threat for the south that will be quite of bit of rain for the East Coast. Carol?

COSTELLO: Christmas is coming. You know what next week is. So --

GRAY: Busy travel week.

COSTELLO: I know. Let's hope all of that stuff gets out of there by then. Jennifer Gray, thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Taking a look at our top stories at 55 minutes past, members of the Russian punk protest band Pussy Riot may be released from jail early. That's because Russian lawmakers have passed a sweeping amnesty law that could affect thousands of prisoners. The law, expected to go into effect tomorrow, could also lead to freedom for 30 Green Peace activists. They were arrested in September but have not yet gone to trial. The Pussy Riot members are serving a two- year term for hooliganism.

This morning two people are dead, two others in critical condition after a shooting at a medical center in Reno Nevada. Police say, the gunman killed himself and say this was not a random act of violence. Police arrived on the scene just five minutes after the shooting and they searched room by room.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are all detained here. (inaudible) job as soon as we can. If you can just stay in this room and let me know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you guys.

TOM ROBINSON, RENO DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: As far as the suspect goes, we still don't have a solid identity on him yet but we are working several leads on who he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now Reno police say they are interviewing at least two dozen witnesses to try to figure out a motive.

We have a dramatic rescue to share from Canada. Perched high above that raging fire in Kingston, Ontario, a crane operator who has nowhere to go. Then, in the nick of time, there it is, that military helicopter from a nearby base swoops in and plucks that crane operator to safety. All is well this morning.

Just in to the CNN NEWSROOM, at the top of the hour the President will meet with the NSA review group looking at data collection and privacy to discuss the new report they just submitted. Our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta joins us now with more. Good morning.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right. Not a whole lot to tell you here, only that this was added to the president's schedule within the last hour of the White House alerting us in the White House press that the president will be meeting with this review group that has been looking at surveillance activity over at the NSA.

This review group has been working president has been looking at this for the last few months. And it has some pretty big names on it, Carol. Names you recognize: one being Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism official during the Bush administration. He is on this review group.

And they did release a report to the president late last week. The president has been looking at this, the White House has been looking at this, and he's been planning to release some recommendations as to what should be done at the NSA to sort of reform what the surveillance activities should be like moving forward and the report that this review group put together, that was expected to be released next month but we're waiting to find out if that might change at all and whether or not the president might have more to say about all of this.

It is worthwhile to report Carol that in an interview with MSNBC a couple of weeks ago, the president said he'll be talking about perhaps some, quote, "self-restraint" over at the NSA but no really -- no further details at this point as to what he might be doing with the NSA but interesting that he is meeting with them this morning, especially after that meeting yesterday here at the White House when the president sat down with the executives from those big, big technology firms, carol.

COSTELLO: And especially since the federal court ruled that the NSA -- unconstitutional. I'd love to be a fly on the wall. You'll have more from us later, Jim Acosta, reporting live from the White House.

Finally this hour Toronto's crack-smoking mayor tried and then tried again to apologize to Toronto city council accusing some of its members of corruption. Here's Rob Ford's tortured attempt to say he's sorry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB FORD, MAYOR OF TORONTO: I said I withdraw the comments that I've made to say if there were any corrupt counselors. Just say it. That's the word. I'm not quite sure what I said but that's something like that, so I withdraw that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So --

FORD: So I don't understand --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a sec. Just a sec. What the record is, is that you need to say "I apologize".

FORD: How about, I am so sorry. Is that as good as I apologize or so sorry. Which one do you want, Madam Speaker? Like super, super, super, super, super, super, supper sorry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mayor Ford, please. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I'm sure it was all very, very sincere. That does it for me. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me today.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts now.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: So sorry to say it, but if you hit the numbers for the mega millions last night, you're going to have to share the $648 million jackpot because two people -- two beat the astronomical odds. One on the East Coast, one on the West Coast -- could they come forward and announce themselves this hour?

Also ahead, did a 16-year-old drunk driver who killed four people and got off pretty darn easy because he was wealthy -- did he do something wrong in his case? And ultimately could he end back behind bars? A new twist-- we'll explain in just a moment.