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Erin Burnett Outfront
Stocks Surge On Fed Announcement; New Details In Navy Yard Shooting; 14-Year Old Abducted Girl Found Alive; Interview with Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah; Interview with Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri
Aired September 18, 2013 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: "OUTFRONT" next, breaking news. The Dow surges to a record high, but Washington may bring it crashing down.
And then the man responsible for 12 murders. You know he heard voices, thought he was being followed, reportedly suffered from PTSD but he still got security checks. Was it an oversensitivity to mental issues that did that? Plus his mother today spoke out for the first time. You're going to hear what she had to say. And police find two cars in a muddy lake, with bodies inside. A lot of bodies inside. And these cars, you won't believe it, have they just solved a 40-year- old mystery? Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT, tonight, we begin with the breaking news, a record high stock surge today, the Dow jumping 147 points. Now, the Dow and the S&P closed at new highs. You know, I just think this is so significant. Nearly five years to the day after the financial crash and crisis when this country is still facing an unemployment crisis, a major milestone and a good one for the markets.
Well, the reason for the record, the fed announced it would not stop the flow of easy money, and it is that easy money that's been keeping interest rates at rock bottom levels for the past five years. So what does it mean?
Brent Wilsey of Wilsey Asset Management is OUTFRONT. Brent, it's great to talk to you again. I know you know this better than anyone. First of all, do you believe in this rally? Would you actually buy into it?
BRENT WILSEY, PRESIDENT, WILSEY ASSET MANAGEMENT: Erin, I've got to say I'm happy about the rally, but we've got to be cautious here. When I look at things right now, we have to realize we're at lofty levels, and today just gave us another push above that. If you ask if I believe in the rally, I'm about 30 percent or so in cash, not because I'm trying to time the market.
But because I started selling companies because they hit their target sale prices and I can't find anything to buy to replace those companies. Erin, you've known me for a long time. I'm usually optimistic. I'm not so optimistic this time. I'm a little cautious. BURNETT: You're cautious about buying in. What about the fed? The reason this happened today is everybody thought the fed was going to say, look, enough. We're not going to give you this Krispy Kreme donut every single day. We're going to pull back. We're putting you on a diet.
But then when the fed said, no, we're going to let those donuts keep flowing, people thought markets would surge, interest rates will stay low. Does this mean that people shouldn't worry about rising rates? Shouldn't worry, for example, about things like trying to refinance a mortgage or buy some sort of a big ticket item now because interest rates are sure to go higher and quickly?
WILSEY: I would say that they have a little bit of reprieve here, not to worry for a little bit longer, but maybe a couple more months. They said today they're going to watch it and so forth. There's no set date, but what this should do is keep rates low. The auto sales are on fire. Autos, I talked to a guy today and he goes I couldn't resist buying a car because my payments are so low.
The housing market is continuing to do well. So we've got good things but it's not going last too long. Eventually we'll take away those donuts and people will have to go back on that diet so take advantage of that now because it's not going to last that long.
BURNETT: I like calling a Ford pickup truck a donut. It sort of is in a lot of ways. All right, thanks, Brent Wilsey. Appreciate it. It's good to talk to you again, sir.
Our second story, OUTFRONT, we have breaking news also in the investigation of the Washington Navy Yard shooting today. It's a horrific scene inside Building 197. According to our Barbara Starr just reporting in the past few minutes, we can tell you what it looks like in that building.
At this moment officials are telling Barbara there's still blood everywhere, extensive damage, bullet holes, broken doors and broken windows. And they are now telling Barbara it could be several weeks before that build is even able to reopen.
There are also more stunning details tonight on how a local Navy base failed to report disturbing behavior by the gunman, Aaron Alexis, just weeks before he shot and killed 12 people, reports that could have saved those lives.
OUTFRONT tonight, Jim Sciutto, he is outside the Navy Yard with the latest. Jim, what are you learning tonight?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we learned today is when Alexis went to the Rhode Island Police with this disturbing delusional story of being followed, of being controlled with a microwave machine, hearing voices, that while as you say the Rhode Island Police reported that to the Rhode Island Naval Station, that account went no further than there. It did not come to the navy here in Washington. So still very serious questions as to how this was allowed to happen and at the same time still this overriding question as to why this happened. Why did he do this?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO (voice-over): With Aaron Alexis' motive still unclear, two mysterious clues. Newly discovered etchings on the shotgun he used, "better off this way and my elf weapon." Information investigators are still deciphering. Today Secretary Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dempsey detailed the first new measures to prevent a shooting like this from happening again, two department- wide reviews of security at military installations and the granting and renewal of security clearances.
CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, obviously there were a lot of red flags, as you noted. Why they didn't get picked up? Why they didn't get incorporated into the clearance process? What he was doing? Those are all legitimate questions that we're going to be dealing with. How do we fix it?
SCIUTTO: For Aaron Alexis, the list of missed red flags is alarmingly long. From two arrests to reports to police that he was hearing voices, to two recent self admissions to Veterans Affairs Hospitals for insomnia. Despite this record Alexis' Navy security clearance granted in 2008 was valid for 10 years without review.
HAGEL: Where there are gaps, we will close them. Where there are inadequacies, we will address them, and where there are failures, we will correct them.
SCIUTTO: One change the Defense Department is not considering so far is making mental health counseling an automatic disqualifier on security clearance applications, in large part, to avoid stigmatizing posttraumatic stress disorder.
GENERAL MARTIN DEMPSEY, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I still remain in that camp, that a man or woman should have the ability with treatment to overcome them and then to have a fruitful life and gain employment including inside of the military.
SCIUTTO: Today as co-workers were allowed back into the scene of Monday's horrific shooting, Aaron Alexis' mother spoke publicly for the first time about her son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know why he did what he did, and I'll never be able to ask him why. Aaron is now in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone, and for that I am glad. To the families of the victims, I am so, so very sorry that this has happened. My heart is broken.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Obviously that coming from the mother. I know, Jim, sort of capturing everybody to imagine what she's thinking and to imagine how the families may respond to that. I know that you're also learning something very important tonight about this whole question of not just about security access, but whether anything could have been done to make this less horrific than it was. There are reports capitol police responded to the scene, but were then called back. Obviously if true, could be crucial. What do you know?
SCIUTTO: No question this was particularly a Capitol Hill tactical team, so kind of like a SWAT team trained specifically to respond to these kinds of events, attempting to come here to the Navy Yard as the shots were still being fired, called back by a commander. Now, this may have been protective at the time, they didn't know if there were other shooters and they were called back because there were other units responding here. Still we learned today that the capitol police are launching an investigation to see why that happened and also could that team have prevented some of the violence that took place here -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Jim Sciutto, thank you very much. We appreciate that reporting.
Still OUTFRONT, the GOP. Does the GOP have plans to be, quote, "kamikazes" and shut down the government over Obamacare? We're going to ask an extremely prominent member in Congress who has taken a major stand on this issue, an issue which could cause this country to completely shut down at the end of next week.
And then a 14-year-old kidnapped from her home. People feared the worst, but today she was rescued and we now know what happened.
Plus as Colorado battles rising waters, stranded victims are getting help from canines, dogs at work. We'll show you that part of the story.
And then the centennial state, it's not the only place underwater.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Our third story tonight, OUTFRONT, found alive, a 14- year-old Georgia girl safe after she was abducted from her home on Tuesday. Police say Ayvani Perez was taken by two men. They had broken into her mother's home. They demanded money and jewelry. Perez's mother told them she didn't have anything and then police say the men shot the family dog and kidnapped the teenage girl.
Martin Savidge has been following the story. He is OUTFRONT in Clayton County, which is southeast of Atlanta. I know, Martin, you know, over the past couple of days a lot of people have said these stories don't end well. This is going to have a horrific ending, obviously not the case, a miraculous one. But now that she is rescued, what do police think happened in this kidnapping?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is a very good question, Erin. Good evening to you. I should point out that Ayvani Perez is back home tonight. We know by a couple of ways, the police cars that are still blocking her street and still guarding her home and also because neighbors that have seen her say she looked remarkably good considering the ordeal she's been through, and then that there was a big huge bouquet of welcome back balloons all of which to this community and to much of the nation actually came as a welcome relief. So much bad news this week, but this was a glimmer of good news and delivered at a very hastily called news conference this afternoon. Here is the chief of the Clayton County Police Department talking about what went down and how this girl was returned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF GREGORY PORTER, CLINTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: She's been reunified with her family. We currently have two suspects in custody. We're looking at some other suspects, and I'll let the FBI talk about that later. She was recovered at a location in Conyers, Georgia. The investigation is still active and still -- we're still receiving phone calls as we speak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: OK, so the two important answers there are she's found and she's safe. The rest of it is still pretty vague even though we had that lengthy press conference that was given by both the federal and local authorities. Two suspects in custody, but not the two suspects whose image had been put out there and widely distributed, so they're considered to be still on the loose.
And how was she recovered? In other words, was she found at the home wherever she was being held or was it that she was dropped off by somebody? There are just so many questions here. And the real question that still haunts this neighborhood was, was this really a random act or was somehow the victim and the suspects connected in this case?
The FBI said that was something that they were still investigating, but the way they answered that implied there is still a lot more to be found out here. So those are the serious questions, but right now the celebration is simple. She's safe, she's home, and let's be happy with that -- Erin.
BURNETT: And obviously that is what matters the most. As you say, a week of such horrific news that you want to have that positive news, but as you said, two in custody, not the ones whose pictures were up. Obviously that begs a lot of questions, but they said they're looking into others. I mean, do you know anything about the people that have been either taken into custody or that they're looking for or is that still a huge question mark?
SAVIDGE: There are some little things that have been dropped out there, but they planted some pretty big seeds. For instance, one of them is a Mexican national, OK, that brings up an international connection. Another one here is what they call a long-term professional criminal. So there are long criminal histories here. The connection, we're still waiting to see that.
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Martin Savidge.
Many questions to be answered on that.
And now our fourth story OUTFRONT, Colorado's deadly floods. The raging waters that we have been showing you over the past days have killed six, left nearly 450 stranded and still at this point not having food and water. Help, though, is on the way because there has been this. One of the nation's largest air operations in nearly a decade since hurricane Katrina. Eleven hundred people have been rescued thanks to these crews.
Ana Cabrera is OUTFRONT in Longmont, Colorado, with another part of the story.
An unbelievable part we are so excited to share. Because teams on believable dogs are now digging through the rubble and mud. The horrific situation in Colorado and saving lives tonight. Here they are.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is go time for Nebraska task force one. Eighty members of an urban search and rescue team dispatched by FEMA.
ANDREW PITCHER, SEARCH AND RESCUE DOG HANDLER: We are going to a trailer park to check out if anybody is still there.
CABRERA: Today's mission includes chief, a 4-year-old golden retriever from the search dog foundation.
PITCHER: Come on, chief.
CABRERA: He is one of four dogs help outing in the Colorado floods.
Chief is very highly trained. He's evaluated on his intelligence, his drive, adaptability and, of course, his nose.
PITCHER: This way, chief.
CABRERA: This is job is to find people who may be trapped, especially in places with rubble and debris.
PITCHER: Go through.
CABRERA: Places like this mobile home park in Evans, where flood waters buckled roads, splintered wood and moved homes off foundations.
The whole team moves methodically through each property going door to door, front to back, making sure nobody is inside.
How often does chief find somebody?
PITCHER: Very rarely will a dog ever find somebody. That would be a big, big deal. But we have to know 100 percent sure.
CABRERA: The benefit of having chief is his quickness and agility as he works his way over large piles and through knee-deep water. PITCHER: This way, chief.
CABRERA: Canine search specialist Andrew Pitcher listens closely to chief's bark, which could signify a human that needs help.
PITCHER: There will be a difference in the bark. Focused, alert, he would stay there. So, this is just pure adrenaline rush right now.
CABRERA: Since their arrival in Colorado, this team has covered more than 100 miles on foot. So far, they haven't found anyone buried, but they have helped track down some of the missing.
PITCHER: If there's a dog that's going to find somebody, it's going to be chief.
CABRERA: Today more buildings cleared, a success in its own right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: And more good news, the number of people who are unaccounted for continues to drop. In fact here in Boulder County, we're down to just four people unaccounted for. That's down from 109 yesterday. Mother nature certainly helping the search and rescue crews now as they do their work. A little cloudy now. We had a pretty good rain shower just a few minutes ago, but the forecast tomorrow calls for mostly sun.
I'm Ana Cabrera. Back to you, Erin.
BURNETT: All right, thanks very much to you, Ana, reporting, as we said, live from Colorado tonight.
And south of the border, Mexico getting hammered by serious deadly storms at the same time. Eighty people have died so far and the hardest hit is a city many of you no doubt are familiar with. The resort city of Acapulco.
Tropical storm Manuel triggering landslides and floods that are ripping apart roads, collapsing bridges, swallowing homes and cars, making the airport utterly inaccessible. At this hour relief supplies are running low and nearly 40,000 tourists are there stranded. Right now at this hour, relief supplies are written running low and nearly 40,000 tourists are there stranded.
The terminal at the city's airport, as you can see, is totally under water. Some of that water is going up to the barriers, which is about at your waist level or higher. So, you can see complete devastation there.
Still OUTFRONT, police pull two muddy cars from a lake in Oklahoma. Inside the bodies of six people. These people, though, have been missing for a long time. A major cold case break. We are going to be live at the lake. Plus, a newly crowned Miss America will be with me live tonight. She was called a terrorist by some when she won. She responds, OUTFRONT.
Our shout out tonight, a man flirts with certain death.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Our fifth story OUTFRONT, could two cold cases from decades ago finally be solved? So, sort of out of the blue, I mean this is like what you read in one of those Scandinavian murder mysteries. Officials say two muddy cars were pulled from the bottom of a lake in western Oklahoma, and they contain the remains of six bodies.
Now, investigators say one car may belong to a teenager who disappeared with friends in 1970 and the other car could be linked to a case before those teens went missing. Authorities are on the scene in Foss Lake, Oklahoma, trying to gather additional evidence, trying to find out if this is related.
Ed Lavandera is OUTFRONT with this bizarre story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These cars have spent more than 40 years submerged at the bottom of Foss Lake in western Oklahoma. Investigators can peel apart the metal and hardware with their bare hands as they look for clues.
Two corroded rifles, a muddied wallet and purse, and the remains of six people, three in each car. It's one fluke discovery that might have solved two long-forgotten mysteries. In 1970, three teenagers in a 1969 Camaro disappeared. The mystery of what happened to Jimmy Williams, Michael Rios and Leah Johnson made headlines in the local newspapers. And the year before in April of 1969, John Alva Porter and two friends were driving around in a 1950s Chevy and never seen again.
More than 40 years later, two cars matching those same descriptions were found sitting right next to each other in this lake.
DEBBIE MCMANAMAN, MISSING MAN'S GRANDDAUGHTER: It's been so long. It's been 44 years, you know. There's a lot of things in between there that we can't answer because we don't know. It's like through the years, what happened, what happened? It's just a mystery, we don't know.
LAVANDERA: Debbie McManaman was 13-years-old when her grandpa Porter vanished.
MCMANAMAN: He was here one day and the next day he was gone. I mean no trace. No, you know, clue at all. I mean his bank account was there, his house was locked up, utilities were on. You know, he just walked away. LAVANDERA: Alvie Porter, as he was known, performed in Wild, Wild West shows riding bulls around Oklahoma. Porter's oldest son, Erbie Porter, is now 85 and suffering from dementia. After investigators stopped looking for his father, he acted as his own detective, hunting down every clue he could.
You spent a lot of time looking for him?
ERBIE PORTER, MISSING MAN'S SON: You bet, still looking for him. This is going to help me a whole lot.
LAVANDERA: Last week, Oklahoma highway patrol divers were testing new underwater sonar equipment when they discovered the two cars. It wasn't until the cars were pulled out of the water that the bones were found inside. Divers went back in the water and found even more remains.
The Oklahoma medical examiner will use DNA to identify the bodies. It could take days, maybe even years to positively do that. Alexia White's mother was John Porter's sister. She hopes they can finally find the answers that have eluded their family for four decades.
ALEXIA WHITE, MISSING MAN'S GRANDDAUGHTER: It has been difficult not knowing what did happen to her father. She never had that closure or the peace of mind or comfort. Always that uncertainty, and why did it happen, what did happen, why can't we find what happened. And I'm hoping that this will bring closure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And Erin, now investigators are having the corroded cars pulled away. But what is fascinating about this story and eerie to think about, really, you heard from Debbie McManaman there in the piece. She told me that as used to bring her young children out here to that marina you see in the distance. The cars were found just there at the end of that boat ramp. She said she used to bring her kids out here to skip rocks on the lake. She had no idea that the answer and the clues to her grandfather's disappearance was literally just feet away under water -- Erin.
BURNETT: It is incredible and this story just so riveting. It must be amazing to stand there and see those cars right behind you.
Thanks to our Ed Lavandera who, as we said, live there at Oklahoma at that scene.
Still OUTFRONT, our top story with the Dow today at a record high, but gridlock in Washington may bring it crashing down. The battle between Potus and the GOP.
Plus, an armed man shot and killed by police. The officer very quickly charged with a felony. Was the Trayvon Martin case the reason?
And then, police say a man murdered his wife and then posted a picture of her body on facebook. But now, new video released showing the moment, the moment of confrontation.
Plus why the (INAUDIBLE) about zombies.
And also tonight, Miss America live OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Welcome back to the second half of OUTFRONT.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaking tonight in an interview with FOX News. He says Syria does in fact have chemical weapons. Dennis Kucinich asked Assad whether he's willing to open chemical weapons sites to international inspectors and here's the reply.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIA: We didn't say that we are joining partially that agreement or that organization. We joined fully. We sent the letter, we sent the documents, and we are committed to the full requirements of this agreement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Assad says it will take a year to destroy the stockpiles and cost a billion dollars, which is optimistic. It's just a fraction of what experts have told us it would cost.
Back in the U.S., former Secretaries of Defense Leon Panetta and Robert Gates criticized the way the Syrian conflict has been handled by the president of the United States. Both said they would not have drawn a line in the first place, a red line. Gates, who served under Presidents Bush and Obama, also said the Middle East is a powder keg and to use force is throwing gasoline on the fire.
President Obama sent a letter to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, that according to the White House says, and I'll quote, "The U.S. is ready to resolve the nuclear issue in a way that allows Iran to demonstrate its nuclear program is for exclusively peaceful purposes."
Now, this is a dream come true for Iran which has insisted the United States allow a nuclear program. In an interview tonight with Ann Curry of "NBC Nightly News", Rouhani said Iran would, quote, "never develop nuclear weapons under any circumstances", and that he has, quote, "full authority to make a nuclear deal with the West."
He also said -- that sounds pretty definitive, but Iran has said this again and again. And some remain dubious. For example, expert Kenneth Katzman tells us Iran's supreme leader will almost certainly veto any deal if he thinks it rules out the option of Iran developing a nuclear weapon in the future.
Well, CNN has obtained diary excerpts belonging to Jennifer Alfonso. She's the woman whose death was posted on Facebook by her husband, Derek Medina. In the diary entitled "The Mind of an Insane Woman", Alfonso writes about zombies and bath salts. She depicts a troubled marriage. During one shopping trip she says his eyes wandered which made her blood boil.
She wrote, "I find myself uncontrollably jealous, like want a murder type deal."
This comes a day after "The Miami Herald" obtained this surveillance video purportedly showing the final confrontation between the two.
In our sixth story OUTFRONT, the United States facing a government shutdown again. This is just 12 days away and the biggest story in this country and, frankly, the biggest national security threat it faces.
Congress has to reach a deal. If they can't, it's embarrassing, it's unavoidable and it will ensure that our count to get back America's AAA debt rating -- it has been, by the way, 774 days we lost it -- doesn't even worth keeping count of anymore, because Washington is too dysfunctional to govern.
Today, both Speaker Boehner and President Obama said they want to avoid a shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: There should be no conversation about shutting the government down. That's not the goal here.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I will not do is to create a habit, a pattern whereby the full faith and credit of the United States ends up being a bargaining chip to set policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The truth is, though, both sides are OK with the shutdown if they don't get their way. Boehner says the House will pass a budget bill this week that defunds the president's health care law. That's obviously a nonstarter and won't go anywhere in the Senate, and the president is making political hay out of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Imagine a situation in which a Democratic speaker said to a Republican president, I'm not going to increase the debt ceiling unless you increase corporate taxes by 20 percent. And if you don't do it, we'll default on the debt and cause a worldwide financial crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So is a shutdown inevitable?
OUTFRONT tonight, Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz.
And good to talk to you, sir. I know you have very strong opinions on what needs to be done to prevent a shutdown and what the country should do. But passing a government funding bill that does not fund Obamacare, as I know a lot of people want to do, you're included on that, is a nonstarter. Obviously, it can't pass the Senate. We all know that. It's even dividing Republicans in the House.
So, why do you think that's the way to go?
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R). UTAH: Well, I don't think it necessarily divides the Republicans in the House. Look, I was elected too, just like the president was. We're talking about fully funding the government at its current levels with the exception of Obamacare.
Now, we're not here to just gravitate to what Harry Reid wants to do. The United States senate will have to have this debate. But in the House, we're poised to pass this on Friday and then the Senate should then take this up and begin their deliberations.
BURNETT: Now, let me ask you about, because, you know, "The Wall Street Journal", I don't know if you saw this, but they sort of likened you and others like you to kamikazes, that you were going to blow yourselves up as the torpedo striking the giant U.S. aircraft carrier, which is Obamacare.
Love it or loathe it, it is big, it's three years old, it's passed. It's passed again. It's passed the Supreme Court. It's there.
And "The Wall Street Journal" wrote about this, this way, in terms of your taking on the president. "If this works, it would be the first time. The evidence going back to the Newt Gingrich Congress is that no party can govern from the house and the Republican Party can't abide the outcry when flights are delayed, national parks close and direct deposits for military spouses stop. Sooner or later, the GOP breaks. The kamikazes could end up ensuring the return of an all- Democratic rule."
Is that a risk you're willing to take?
CHAFFETZ: That's awfully dramatic. And nobody is talking about killing each other on doing those types of things.
We're talking about fully funding the government. Nobody is talking -- nobody is talking about a government shutdown. What we're talking about is not funding Obamacare, which we believe is an absolute disaster.
The Democrats themselves, the chief sponsor of it, called it an absolute train wreck. It's not ready for primetime and it would be disingenuous to fund something that is not ready for primetime at this point. It's just not a responsible thing to do.
BURNETT: And, look, a lot of people agree with you. But the truth is, is that if you don't fund Obamacare and you go ahead and fund everything else, you are going to cause a government shutdown. That is the truth.
CHAFFETZ: No, no. That's the Democrats choice. That's the president's choice.
BURNETT: Well, if he accepts not funding his signature achievement of his entire presidency.
CHAFFETZ: That's not -- I didn't come here to rubber stamp what the president was supposed to do.
Look, we're going to take a vote. There's 435 members of the House of Representatives. If the majority vote that way, it will be passed to the Senate. That's the constitutional role and responsibility and that's what we're poised to the in the House.
BURNETT: All right. Let me ask you about what Speaker Boehner said, though, Congressman Chaffetz, because I know you and he not always see eye to eye on this issue of funding Obamacare. He said in March, "Do you want to risk the full faith and credit of the United States government over Obamacare? That's a very tough argument to make."
He was basically saying we can't defund it. That would be a crazy thing to do at this point, even though he doesn't like it. But, now, of course, he's going along with that in part because of people like you and your strong views on this.
Did you force his hand?
CHAFFETZ: Well, look, if we were doing what we were supposed to be doing, the United States senate, for instance, would be passing appropriation bills. We'd be going through regular order. I wish the American public and the national media would be forcing the hands of likes of Harry Reid to say let's get back to regular order where we have debates and we actually have votes, not just wait until the last second and do a continuing resolution.
This is about a 75-day funding mechanism. It's hardly the end of the world. We're talking about fully funding all the rest of government. We're not talking about a shutdown.
To say otherwise would be irresponsible.
BURNETT: All right. Well, obviously a lot of people do, but this is going to be something that goes down to the wire. Congressman, I'll look forward to talking to you again as this happens the next 12 days. Thanks so much, Congressman Chaffetz.
And please give us your feedback on that interview and his views on Obamacare and funding it @ErinBurnett or @OutFrontCNN.
Well, our seventh story OUTFRONT is an unarmed man shot and killed by police. Now, the events surroundings 24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell's death and the reaction from the Charlotte Police Department are causing major controversy.
Alina Machado is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DISPATCHER: 911, hello?
CALLER: I need help.
DISPATCHER: Where are you at?
CALLER: There's a guy breaking in my front door.
DISPATCHER: There is a guy breaking in your front door?
CALLER: Yes, he's trying to kick it down.
ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was around 2:30 Saturday morning. Police say the man in question, Jonathan Ferrell, a motorist, apparently seeking help after a car crash, immediately approached the three responding officers. One used his taser to try to subdue the 24-year-old. Officer Randall Kerrick then allegedly shot Ferrell ten times, killing him. They later discovered he was unarmed. Less than a day later, Kerrick was behind bars, charged in Ferrell's death.
CHRIS CHESTNUT, FERRELL FAMILY ATTORNEY: He's a murderer with a badge and a gun. And the chief did the right thing.
MACHADO: But Kerrick's attorney says the use of force was justified. He did not elaborate.
SCOTT MACLATCHIE, POLICE DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's unheard of.
MACHADO: Another lawyer who frequently defends police officers says he can't remember a case where an officer was charged within 24 hours of an incident.
MACLATCHIE: I have spoken to officers who are saying things like, who's got our back? You know, did they charge too quickly without reviewing all the facts?
REV. DWAYNE WALKER, LITTLE ROCK AME ZION CHURCH: No justice.
CROWD: No peace!
MACHADO: Some in Charlotte are questioning the use of force in this case.
WALKER: Young black men are shot down in the streets, even by police officers, where it seems to be OK to shoot first and ask questions later.
MACHADO: Charlotte Police Chief Rodney Monroe declined our request for an interview, but Scott MacLatchie does not believe the actions the night of the shooting were racially motivated.
MACLATCHIE: It was a very panicked, frantic call that regardless of the race of the person trying from the woman's perspective to break in, I believe the police response would have been exactly the same.
MACHADO: The Ferrell family says they believe their son's case is a reflection of just how violent our society has become.
For OUTFRONT, Alina Machado, Charlotte, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: I want to bring in now Mark O'Mara, CNN analyst and defense attorney.
Of course, you know this face very well. He represented George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin murder trial earlier this year.
MARK O'MARA, CNN ANALYST: Hi, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Mark, good to talk to you.
So, let's just -- I mean, you heard, obviously, Alina there on the story, but the optics here, white police officer, young unarmed black man shot, killed. The white officer now charged with a felony of voluntary manslaughter.
Did the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case where it took almost two months for charges to be brought influence the decision to charge the white police officer so quickly in this case?
O'MARA: Well, it very well may have. What may have happened was the police officer or the department looked at it and said that we need to make a decision quickly for fear of what happened in the Zimmerman case, because obviously the delay in charging the Zimmerman case led to this groundswell of concern.
Having said that, another issue to look at is the forensics that they may have had available, too. We don't know very much yet but I will tell you that a couple of relevant issues to look at and decide what happened that night is not just how many shots, although 10 certainly seems excessive, but if the shots happened at close range, suggesting that the victim, eventual victim of the shooting was very close and, even more importantly, if the trajectory of the shots were sort of perpendicular, suggesting that he was still advancing, that might lend some insight and credibility to why the officer shot.
On the other hand, if he was far away, 10, 15 feet away or, God forbid, if there were shots put into the victim when he was on the ground, that's certainly going to suggest why they may have charged him so quickly with the crime.
BURNETT: Right. So, obviously, some unknowns, at least to us at this point.
O'MARA: A lot.
BURNETT: You know, you just heard in that report, and something you're well aware of. Look, some are saying African-American men are unfairly profiled in America. This is something Charles Barkley has said to me. He agreed with the verdict in your case, but he also has experienced that himself. It's something the president has talked about. It's reality.
But do you think race played a role in Ferrell's death? I mean, when you think about this situation, if a white guy is running down the road at a white cop, would he have been so quick to shoot?
O'MARA: Well, we have to look at what the cops are thinking about to begin with. They had -- 2:30 in the morning, they had a woman who was screaming that there was a sort of home invasion, at least according to her, violently knocking on the door.
The other thing the woman told the police was that she was looking for a gun. Now, obviously that doesn't mean that Mr. Ferrell was armed, but when a gun enters the mix, the cops respond at a heightened level of concern or fear.
Now, when they look at it and when he was coming towards them, did they look at him and for a moment's notice say he's black, I'll act a certain different way? There's no evidence to support that. I certainly hope it didn't happen.
But we've talked many times, you and I, Erin, and other people that there is this concern about the way black males are identified in the system --
BURNETT: Right.
O'MARA: -- both from interaction with police and then arrest. So, we have to be very, very careful.
BURNETT: All right. Mark O'Mara, thank you very much for helping us cover this story as we're trying to get to the bottom of it.
And OUTFRONT next, the newly crowned Miss America, she's highlighted diversity has one of her greatest assets. There was yet major controversy just minutes after winning her crown, people calling her un-American, people calling her a terrorist. She is OUTFRONT live with me here on set next.
And a judge tells a couple that they can't name their child Messiah. Well, who's to say a higher power has intervened?
And the shout-out tonight, a near miss. This video out of Australia. A 20-year-old man disregarded warnings and proceed to walk across train tracks. He did not see the express train traveling at him, coming right at him. The train hit just enough of his leg to knock him to the ground.
Obviously, a miracle, he's lucky, he wasn't seriously injured. We don't know why he did such a stupid thing. Maybe he was texting.
But, anyway, the shout-out tonight goes to the police who charged him with entering a rail crossing when warning signals were operating and the bars were down. We're disappointed that the offense carried a fine of only $2,100. But you know what -- hopefully he and a lot of other people will learn one hell of a lesson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Our eight story OUTFRONT: controversy over the crown. For the first time in its 93-year history, Miss America is a woman of Indian heritage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Your new Miss America is -- Miss New York.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Nina Davuluri was crowned on Sunday night. And within minutes of that emotional win that you see there, she was greeted by something shocking -- a lot of hateful and racist tweets. Some people calling her a terrorist. Another person saying, "If you're Miss America, you should have to be American."
Well, tonight, Nina Davuluri is taking on her critics and she joins me OUTFRONT for coming in and talking.
NINA DAVULURI, MISS AMERICA 2014: Thank you for having me.
BURNETT: All right. Were you surprised when that happened? There's that moment. You're crying with joy and shock and I don't know. Watching your face, watching you is kind of an amazing thing.
DAVULURI: Yes.
BURNETT: But then those tweets happened. Did you expect it?
DAVULURI: I did expect it. It was something that I had experienced when I won miss New York, and I knew should I win Miss America, I was going to experience it on a larger level and scale.
It was an unfortunate situation. But for the negative tweets that I received, for one negative tweet, I received dozens of positive tweets and support from not only Indians but the American people across the country and from the world for that matter. It's been such an honor.
BURNETT: So, you didn't feel it was just Indian-Americans, for example --
DAVULURI: Right.
BURNETT: -- that were supportive of you.
DAVULURI: Absolutely.
BURNETT: I know obviously they were incredibly excited, right, as they should have been. But it wasn't just that group. DAVULURI: Right. And actually this morning, I saw a new video that was tweeted out by students of Duke University and they had tweeted a video about cultural competency and their hashtag was stand with Nina and how we support her. And that was incredible to have that.
BURNETT: Now, you met with Vanessa Williams today, right?
DAVULURI: I did.
BURNETT: One of the most gorgeous women in the world. First black woman to ever win the title back in 1983. She received unbelievable backlash at that time. At one point she said, "There was an angry minority who felt that being black, I tarnished the Miss America crown. It rocked me to my core."
DAVULURI: Yes.
BURNETT: Did any of this rock you to your core? I mean, your parents were born, raised, grew up in India.
DAVULURI: Right.
BURNETT: You are first generation -- did anything make you think twice?
DAVULURI: About ever competing for Miss America? Or just about the situation?
BURNETT: No, just how people responded, about how you feel about your country.
DAVULURI: I have always -- it's something I've grown up with, with a stereotype, which is why I started my platform celebrating diversity for cultural competency. That's a cause I've been promoting for three years now.
BURNETT: Right.
DAVULURI: So, I have always viewed Miss America as the girl next door, but the girl next door is evolving as the diversity in the America evolves. She's not who she was 10 years ago and she's not going to be the same person come 10 years down the road.
So, now, going into this, I wanted to be the first Indian Miss America to be that symbol of a new face for the organization, and let the younger girls know that regardless of race, their economic socio economic status, their religion, that anyone can become, not only Miss America, but anything, because I am living my American dream right now.
BURNETT: So, let me ask you something about this, because beauty pageants are a complicated topic, all right?
DAVULURI: They are. BURNETT: A lot of women are watching and thinking she's so put together, so amazing, so poised. And some of them are probably thinking, but she did a beauty pageant. So let me just confirm this. First of all, you're using your winnings to try to pay for some of your medical school, right?
DAVULURI: Absolutely.
BURNETT: So, I want to get your reaction. I don't know if you saw this, there's a proposed law in France that would ban anybody participating in beauty pageants if you're under 16 years old. Parents could go to jail for two years and $40,000 fine. One of men who offered legislation said, "Let us not make our girls believe from a very young age that their worth is based only on their appearance."
Now, obviously, to get to Miss America, you participated in pageants all through your childhood.
DAVULURI: Correct.
BURNETT: Do you think that pageants should become a relic of the past?
DAVULURI: Well, first of all, I participated in the Miss America's Outstanding Teen Program when I was 16. And through that program, I gained $25,000 in scholarship money and because of that I was able to graduate debt free from the University of Michigan. And now that I'm applying to medical school, I just won a $50,000 scholarship from the Miss America organization and I won $10,000 from winning Miss New York.
So I have $60,000 to put towards medical school.
BURNETT: Right.
DAVULURI: And that's what I love about the Miss America organization is that it is so scholarship based. We provide $45 million of scholarships available to young women across the country.
BURNETT: So you're not ever feeling like, gosh, I'm judged too much by how pretty I looked and amazing I looked in that dress. That's why a lot of people watch Miss America, let's be honest.
DAVULURI: That's true. It's very true. Why we have a swimsuit competition, we're on TV. We cater to the media and that's the reality.
But what many people don't see is the 10-minute private interview we have with our panel of judges. And they ask us any kind of question is fair game. And that's where Miss America is won because you have to be well-spoken. You have to be able to talk about your platform and causes.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I wish you the best of luck and thank you so much.
DAVULURI: Thank you so much.
BURNETT: And by the way, thank you for bringing in your crown.
DAVULURI: Absolutely.
BURNETT: I was going to ask to put it on, but I can't, eight months pregnant, it would taint your crown.
Thank you very much, Nina. And appreciate it. Wish you so much luck.
All right. Still to come, a Tennessee judge has ruled a couple cannot name their child Messiah, but guess what? A higher power has intervened tonight. Oh, yes, church and state, there's Messiah.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: It's official, Messiah is allowed to keep his name. Not talking about that messiah, we're talking about this Messiah. The story we've been following for more than a month.
In August, a Tennessee magistrate ruled that Jaleesa and Jawaan, the parents of this little fella, Messiah DeShawn Martin, would have to change their son's first name because, quote, "Messiah is a title that is held only by Jesus Christ and that naming him this places an undue burden on him that as a human being he cannot fulfill."
First of all, who knows what this adorable Messiah really is, right? But seriously, as you can imagine, that didn't sit well with the parents. They challenged the decision and today a judge ruled forcing the parents to change the name of their child is unconstitutional and that this little guy is Messiah.
Now, some people might be offended by that decision, but we celebrate it because in America church and state are separate and parents should be allowed to pick their kids' names. There are some unusual ones out there that nobody wants out there, but do you really want the legal system to decide which names are OK and which aren't? And when it comes to the religious overtones in this case, consider this -- the most popular name on planet earth is Mohammed.
Anderson starts now.
