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Congress Tackle Debt Ceiling, Government Spending; Muslim Clock Teen Meets Obama; The Political Comedy of "SNL" A Double-Edged Sword; Pats Beat Colts to Remain Undefeated. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 19, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: While that's still going on?

REP. MIKE TURNER (R), OHIO: Well, there can be agreement. You know, the White House has not even appointed negotiators with a Congress. As the president said, he's not even going to negotiate. So it doesn't really matter what condition Congress is in or what our internal --

COSTELLO: Are Republicans willing to negotiate with the president?

TURNER: Well, I --

COSTELLO: Are you?

TURNER: We have to. I mean there is -- in order for the system to work, all three parties have to come together. But when the president says he's not going to negotiate it, he means that. He means that he's not going to do anything. And in order for us to come to a deal, in order for us to fund the troops that he's going to keep in Afghanistan and fund national defense, we're going to have to have negotiations. We're going to have to conclude (ph) a deal.

COSTELLO: See, it's difficult to believe that anybody is willing to negotiate with anybody. It's just become such a big game right now and it's sad because, you're right, we have men and women fighting overseas that we need to pay attention to.

TURNER: Well, people need to come to the table. And when the president openly says, I won't negotiate, I mean that -- he's basically saying, I'm not going to get the work done. I mean the work has to be done. We have to have bill that --

COSTELLO: But aren't some Republicans saying the same thing?

TURNER: Absolutely not. The -- you know, with the National Defense Authorization Act being headed to his desk, it's a bipartisan bill where there's already been negotiations. The number in that bill is the number the White House requested. It's a bipartisan bill, so all of the amendments and debate have occurred both in the Senate and in the House. The president should sign that bill and support our troops that he's going to keep in Afghanistan. That would be a great start for the White House to show that the president's willing to do the work to fund the government, to do the rest of the negotiations to fund the government for 2016. COSTELLO: OK, can we focus just a little bit on the speaker and who

that new speaker might be? Do you have any guesses?

TURNER: No. As you know, right now, John Boehner is the speaker of the House and will remain until a new speaker is chosen. You know, obviously, Paul Ryan is, you know, undertaking his consideration. I think he'd be an excellent candidate, as do many.

COSTELLO: But, you know, Mitt Romney just came out and said Paul Ryan should stay away from the speakership if he wants to be president of the United States.

TURNER: Well, I'm certain that will be part of the considerations that Paul Ryan makes, but I do think that there are a number of people who are in leadership position in the House that could lead the House if Paul says no. But I think right now all the focus really is on Paul Ryan.

COSTELLO: These forty very conservative Republicans in the House that are sort of throwing a wrench into things, are you frustrated with them?

TURNER: Wherever you have, you know, a body that's meant to be governed by the majority, and you have a minority seeking to govern and to affect the ability for the body to come to conclusion, yes, obviously that is frustrating and I think it's certainly going to be something that as we look to the next speaker is going to have to be dealt with as to how we get a governing majority to make decisions and do the work for the people of the United States.

COSTELLO: How do you do that?

TURNER: Well, I think you have to have a firm agenda. But part of the problem is, is that the White House, because of their -- you know, the president openly saying that he will not negotiate with Congress on what is the important work that needs to be done, you know, leaves the House sort of debating itself.

COSTELLO: Yes, but that doesn't have anything to do --

TURNER: It does because if we don't -- if we're not sitting across from the president, we're sort of debating ourselves and people wonder, you know, are they undertaking meaningless tasks? If the president comes to the table in a meaningful way, signs the bill that we're sending to him next week, the National Defense Authorization Act, that supports our men and women in uniform, we'll have a signal that the White House is a meaningful partner and I think Congress will get back to work.

COSTELLO: Are you going to be watching the Benghazi hearings?

TURNER: Well, I think, you know, Trey Gowdy is doing an excellent job and I think his words are very important. He's the right guy to do this investigation. It's an important investigation. And I think his investigation will be judged by the work product he delivers. COSTELLO: So some say that the hearings have already been tainted

because three Republicans have come out and said this is just -- this is just a partisan exercise to bring Hillary Clinton's poll numbers down. So what does Trey Gowdy have to do in that committee to make sure that people don't think that?

TURNER: Well, when anything is ongoing, you always have people who would speculate or who are pundits, but the real, you know, judgment, I think, comes to what the work product is --

COSTELLO: Two of them (ph) came from lawmakers, Republican lawmakers.

TURNER: I think the real judgment is on the work product and Trey Gowdy is the right guy to deliver a work product. And that's what we all have to judge. And I think there is a number of questions that are very important that need to be answered and his work will be important.

COSTELLO: Congressman Mike Turner, thanks for coming in.

TURNER: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, from handcuffs to the White House, Muslim clock teen Ahmed Mohamed is expected to meet with President Obama tonight. His whirlwind month of fame, including a few controversial headlines, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:38] COSTELLO: The Muslim teenager whose arrest sparked a national debate about racial profiling is expected to meet with President Obama tonight. Fourteen-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was handcuffed at this Texas high school last month after the digital clock he made was mistaken for a bomb. Since then, Mohamed has become either a star or a bratty kid. Listen to HBO's Bill Mahr.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MAHR, HBO HOST: So the teacher is supposed to see something that looks like a bomb and go, oh, wait, this just might be my white privilege talking.

You know when we arrest -- we put a kid after school for a couple of hours. This is not the end of the world. But you know what, the end of the world does happen all over the world for millions of Muslims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he survived --

MAHR: So are the victims of other Muslims of their religion. Where are the liberals on this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, but Mohamed has left Mahr and other critics in the dust. He's met with Queen Rania of Jordan, among other famous people. He's traveled to Mecca, posting this picture to his wildly popular Twitter account. #istandwithahmed. Suzanne Malveaux live at the White House with more.

Good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol.

Well, of course, he is making waves around the world. I mean you're absolutely right, he's been meeting with world leaders. He is in the Washington, D.C., area. It is expected that he's going to meet with the president. There's no official confirmation but he is in the region.

We just saw him, he was last night at a banquet being honored, the American Islamic Relations, the council there. Good company, Carol, with a Nobel Prize Peace winner, as well as somebody we know well, comedian Dean Obeidallah. It is all a part of this Champions for Justice type of dinner that they had last night. He is expected to be here.

[09:40:16] Now, something that has raised some eyebrows, Carol, is the fact that he was recently in Sudan, and he met with the Sudanese president, Bashir. And this is a man who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. It makes sense, however, to Ahmed Mohamed and his family because his father is from Sudan and, strangely enough, Carol, ran against Bashir twice and lost for the presidency there. All three of them got together, the current president, his father, as well as Ahmed, for pictures, for a good time. They put their differences aside. There was some comments before that his father had criticized Bashir in the past. They put that aside. They had a good time. So now we expect that, of course, he is going to be here.

He has expressed a deal of pride, tweeting this out, saying, I am coming home. Tell the world I am coming home #sudan. So he is feeling very good about his Sudanese visit. He's also feeling very good about the White House visit, as well.

This was the invitation that came by the president after the controversy, after he was handcuffed, when they thought that that clock was some sort of hoax, some sort of bomb. The president tweeting, "cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great." And that is what the White House, the president is thinking here, that this has opened up a national dialogue, a national conversation, about Islam-aphobia, about stereotyping, and also about just encouraging kids to pursue their dreams, and if that's engineering or science, and let people get in the way of their own ambitions.

The police and the teacher involved in that incident, Carol, as you know, said they did not do this because he was Muslim. There are other people who certainly believe that that was a part of the equation. Certainly the White House weighing in on this. And the event itself tonight, Carol, it is called the White House Astronomy Night. It is the second annual event. It's going to be on the South Lawn. And we'll see. We'll see if he brings the clock. But certainly a lot of discussion about -- about how he's treated, how others are treated, and just, you know, supporting the kids, supporting engineers, would- be engineers.

COSTELLO: All right, Suzanne Malveaux reporting live for us from the White House.

Taking a look at some other top stories at 42 minutes past.

Baltimore City Council is expected to approve Kevin Davis as police chief today. He took the helm on an interim basis in July. Davis replaced Anthony Batts. Batts was fired amid a spike in violence and unrest following Freddie Gray's death back in April. The 25-year-old Gray died of a spinal injury while in police custody.

He's not out of the woods yet, but former NBA star Lamar Odom continues to make slow progress after waking up from a coma. The 35- year-old Odom was found unconscious at a Nevada brothel last week. He's now able to breathe without a ventilator and is said to be using hand signals to communicate.

In Hawaii, a popular beach has been closed after a shark attack critically injured a swimmer over the weekend. He was about 100 yards from the beach when the shark bit his feet. It's the sixth shark attack in Hawaii this year.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, there's a brand new addition to "Saturday Night Live's" political impression hall of fame. Do these punch lines help candidates or make them punching bags?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:47:58] COSTELLO: It's not what Bernie Sanders said over the weekend that's getting the buzz, it's what Larry David said as Bernie Sanders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY DAVID, COMEDIAN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": You know what? Can I -- can I just jump in here? This may not be great politics, but I think the American people are sick and tired about hearing about your damn e-mails.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Me, too. Me, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I would say that's pretty dead on by Larry David, right? Bernie Sanders, well, he took on the impression with what else? A joke to prove he does have a sense of humor. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: I am told that I don't have a sense of humor. So I'm going to start off with a joke. You all ready for a joke? Here is the joke. My name is Larry David and Bernie asked me to do this for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Although it all sounds fantastic, sometimes an appearance on "Saturday Night Live" is a double edged sword. Hillary was a hit in this recent sketch, but the last were not without controversial.

So let's talk about that. With me now, senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES". And you're more than a political comedian, Dean Obeidallah.

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Thank you, Carol. Finally.

COSTELLO: Please fill in your resume for me.

OBEIDALLAH: I write for "The Daily Beast" and I have an article for CNN Opnion about this very sketch going up right now.

COSTELLO: And he's an all around great guy.

OBEIDALLAH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: I want to start with you, though, Brian, because Larry Lessig, that Harvard professor who says he's running for president, but I really don't know if he is, he wants equal time.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: He does. He saw Hillary Clinton's sketch two weeks ago and he sent a letter to NBC. There is this rule a lot of people don't even know that exist in the government regulations that says if Hillary got 3:12 on SNL, then he might get 12 seconds and 3 minutes on SNL.

Now, it's complicated, it involves certain states. He has to prove he's a real candidate. He has to prove Hillary is a real candidate. It's going to go back and forth.

But this is big deal because, you know, Donald Trump is going to host in a couple weeks. And these same laws, these same rules, could also help GOP candidates.

[09:50:00] Basically, Lessig is not trying to get on SNL, but he is trying to get his ads onto NBC stations. And he just might succeed because Clinton was on.

COSTELLO: So in other words, if Donald Trump is going to host SNL, then why not Jeb Bush? Or Ben Carson?

OBEIDALLAH: Ben Carson can't stay awake until 11:30. He can barely stay awake at 3:00 in the afternoon.

In reality though, the letters go to the affiliates that air the show. There's about 200 NBC affiliates. So it has to be -- really in states where Trump is actually campaigning, like Iowa and New Hampshire, the main ones, they could say I want to be on. Because in 2003, Al Sharpton was running for president in the 2004 race, and they had to put Joe Lieberman's town hall things in local affiliates. Only affiliates in jurisdictions where they actually are running for office and they're really a candidate.

STELTER: But it's fascinating, you know, this law is barely ever applied. For Lessig, it could be a big deal. Lessig is not really polling well. He's a scratch in CNN's poll that came out this morning. He doesn't even have 1 percent. A lot of people don't know he's running for president. So if he can get ads on a few stations, I'm just guessing here, it could make the difference between 0 percent and 1 percent.

COSTELLO: So interesting. OK, so let's talk about the double-edged sword that these appearances can sometimes become. Because we all remember Tina Fey and Sarah Palin, right? So when Tina Fey said, I "I can see Russia from my house," Sarah Palin actually never said that.

STELTER: Never said that, that's right.

OBEIDALLAH: That's absolutely right. And that's actually a point that my article -- if people don't understand the power of political comedy, that term, that line, was quoted by people and it added to the sense that she was a lightweight on foreign policy. It actually hurt her in the election.

While the Bernie Sanders, the Larry David was perfect. It not only was funny, it talked about Bernie Sanders' policy, it talked about breaking up the banks, which is really what Larry -- what Bernie Sanders is for. It gives you a sense of the frugality of Bernie Sanders through the comedy of Larry David.

I think if I was Sanders, I would want Larry David on SNL weekly doing that impression. It helps him! I'm not kidding you.

COSTELLO: I have a feeling that he's going to be on weekly.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: I thought he might have been watching at home cringing. But I thought it was smart that he at least says he loved it. In the same way that Clinton tried to own the impersonation that's done of her that's so strong. I think that Clinton impersonation can be rather damaging --

OBEIDALLAH: I think --

STELTER: -- when wielded the wrong way. Clinton tried to own it two weeks ago. Now Sanders is trying to embrace Larry David's impersonation. It's a very smart tactic but these candidates. I do wonder --

COSTELLO: We have to play the Tina Fey thing. Because, OK, so here's Tina Fey. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy.

TINY FEY, COMEDIAN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": And I can see Russia from my house.

CHEVY CHASE, COMEDIAN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": No. 1, the possible default of New York City. And, No. 1, my stand on the Ronald Reagan announcement.

(PHONE RINGING)

CHASE: Hello? Hello? Hello?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, for those of us old enough to remember, that was Chevy Chase making fun of Gerald Ford. And Gerald -- I mean, did that affect Gerald Ford's candidacy? Because he ended up --

OBEIDALLAH: I mean, I think it painted a picture that Gerald Ford is a bumbling person that went on for years, and Gerald Ford did once fell down the steps coming out of Air Force 1. But I think the Sarah Palin one was much more cutting. It fed into a narrative that the narrative was using and comedically that she didn't understand the issues, and it made her a punch line. She went from a vice presidential candidate to a walking punch line. You don't want that if you're running for the highest office, or the second highest office.

STELTER: You often see the tendencies of the SNL writers coming through. At the end of the day, they also want to make people laugh regardless of the politics. And this election has a lot to laugh at.

COSTELLO: That's sadly true, Brian Stelter.

Dean Obeidallah, Brian Stelter, thanks to both of you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Pats on the attack. Did they just get their Deflategate revenge?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:57:51] COSTELLO: Another high school football player has died. It's not yet clear exactly what happened, but according to reports, Cam'ron Matthews complained of feeling dizzy before collapsing during Friday night's game in Texas. CNN's Coy Wire live in Atlanta with more for you.

Good morning, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Good morning, Carol. This is disheartening news of a young man who was described as being strong in his faith and a friend to many. Cam'ron Matthews is now the sixth high school football player to die since early September. He reportedly told his teammates he wasn't feeling right during a huddle shortly before halftime of this game while playing for Alto High School in Texas.

According to the school district, he came off the field and things got worse. He collapsed, was given CPR, and then was transported via helicopter to a hospital 50 miles away. Tests showed that he had minimal brain activity. Cam'ron passed away late yesterday afternoon.

Now there's a GoFundMe page set up to help ease the financial burden of his family. Here it is if you'd like to help. The district superintendent said this of Cam'ron: "When you have your own children, you want them to emulate someone. Cam'ron was a perfect example of that." Cam'ron Matthews was 16 years old.

Now, let's take a look at last night's primetime NFL game, which had a bit of a revenge game feel to it. The Patriots perhaps wanting to pummel the Colts for, in a way, starting a little thing called Deflategate in their playoff matchup nine months ago. And the Colts, well, they're seeking redemption for that 45-7 whooping they received inn that game. Colts fans were pumped for this one. Indy actually has a 21-20 lead at the half, but that didn't last. New England on their first drive of the second half, Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski for the touchdown. And Gronk says, check the air pressure in that.

Then down just six points, the Colts let the air out of their own building when they bust out the trickery, attempting what some fans are calling the worst designed play in NFL history. Instead of punting, they shift the entire line and then leave a receiver and a defense back to play snapper and QB? They fail miserably. New England gets the 34-27 win. And, Carol, they are now one of only five remaining undefeated NFL teams.

COSTELLO: Did you hear the Lions won?

[10:00:01] WIRES: I did hear the Lions won. We have no more teams in the NFL without a win. Congratulations.

COSTELLO: Yeah! Thanks, Coy. I appreciate it.

WIRE: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.