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Erin Burnett Outfront
Finger-Pointing In Atlanta After Storm Chaos; Interview with Mayor Kasim Reed; Sickness on a Royal Caribbean Ship; Interview with Reince Priebus; Justin Bieber Turns Himself into Toronto Police; Interview with Jim Cramer
Aired January 29, 2014 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHANIE CUTTER, CNN ANCHOR: From the left, I'm Stephanie Cutter.
Join us tomorrow for another edition of CROSSFIRE.
And let's give a warm welcome back to Erin Burnett. She's back from maternity leave. I hope she has some tips for me.
Erin, welcome back.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: I know your turn is coming. I can just tell you it will be wonderful.
S.E. CUPP, CNN: Erin, are you there?
BURNETT: I'm here, you guys. Got me? Well, anyway, obviously that didn't work out perfectly, but it's great to be back, everyone. And of course, Stephanie's turn is coming soon.
We begin OUTFRONT tonight with breaking news, the fed making a big announcement and sending stocks falling. Stocks in America are now down about 800 points for the year and a very special guest, my friend, Jim Cramer, is going to be OUTFRONT tonight.
Plus, children stuck sleeping in schools, cars abandoned in dozens on highways, and this in the United States of America. How is one of the biggest cities in the nation blindsided by winter weather?
And more on breaking news, a new legal crisis for Justin Bieber, you're looking at a live picture of the police station in Toronto where the pop star is expected to turn himself in on it seems maybe new assault charges. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett. It is great to be back with you tonight. We are following several major breaking news stories tonight, and we want to begin with this. Take a look at this image. This image is in the United States of America. A live picture of Atlanta, one of the biggest cities in the country, home to the busiest airport in the nation, a city crippled by a few inches of snow, less than three to be exact.
The situation is frankly shocking, because when you look at that road, thousands of people trapped in their cars for more than 24 hours. Hundreds of students stranded on buses, forced to spend the night overnight in their school. Here are the images. I mean, miles and miles, when you look at this, it's incredible. Major interstate outside of downtown Atlanta is what you're looking at.
Lots of these cars are now abandoned. People gave up and walked for miles. The stories are hard to imagine happening, again, in America. Mothers stranded in cars with children that are very small, nothing to eat. Shoppers actually forced to spend the night in stores. And as I said, people leaving their cars and walking miles and miles to get home in arctic-level temperatures.
It's the ice paralyzing not just Atlanta, but much of the south. And tonight that major city deserted a ghost town and residents are outraged by the government response that came up way too short. Martin Savidge begins our coverage from Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Commuters trapped for more than 24 hours. Dozens of children stuck on school buses for hours. Shoppers spending the night on the floor of a home depot because they couldn't make it home. The city of Atlanta in a state of chaos after a mass exodus of more than a million people turning the roads and highways into a parking lot.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I was super scared. I was like, if I don't get home to my parents, I'm like, I'm going to freak out.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I was scared I wouldn't see my mom until 7:00 a.m.
SAVIDGE: But could the chaos have all been prevented? Last night, the governor of Georgia said the state was caught by surprise.
GOVERNOR NATHAN DEAL (R), GEORGIA: We have been confronted with an unexpected storm that has hit the metropolitan Atlanta area.
SAVIDGE: But today Governor Nathan Deal clarified that statement saying no one could have predicted the magnitude of the storm.
DEAL: The National Weather Service continually had their modelling showing that the city of Atlanta would not be the primary area of where the storm would hit.
SAVIDGE: But, in fact, at 4:53 Monday morning, the National Weather Service forecasted between a half inch and two inches of snow across the entire Atlanta metro area. Then at 3:22 that afternoon, a winter storm warning was issued, and yesterday CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers predicted a couple of inches of snow in Atlanta as early as 9:00 a.m.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: But for Atlanta, it is a devastating two inches of snow. That will literally shut down the city.
SAVIDGE: By 10:00 a.m. yesterday, state employees were told they could go home early, but still, the governor says some things were simply out of his hands. DEAL: We don't have control over what private businesses do. We don't have control over what school systems do. Those are independent calls on their part.
SAVIDGE: By midday yesterday snow was falling and so was the temperature. Ice was forming quickly. At 1:45 p.m., Atlanta schools announced they were closing. By then, the roads were already in gridlock. The Atlanta mayor admits the city's response could have been better, but he refused today to accept full responsibility.
MAYOR KASIM REED (D), ATLANTA: Do you know looking at that interstate that's not the responsibility of the city? And you know it. What you're trying to do is to bait me and upset me. You're not going to do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Erin, this is a perfect example of what a difference one day can make because this time yesterday traffic bumper to bumper behind us here on this community located right next to the busy airport. Now, as we pointed out, it's a ghost town. And speaking of the airport, flights are coming and going, but it's being operated on a skeleton staff, even finding somebody to operate the jet way to get it to the plane or TSA officials are hard to come by. It has slowed some things down -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Martin Savidge. Kasim Reed, you just saw him there in Martin's piece, is the mayor of Atlanta. He is OUTFRONT tonight. Mayor Reed, thank you for joining us. I know obviously it's been a busy time for you. You have your coat on from being outside. But let me ask you, sir, do you have any idea at this point how many people are still trying to get home, stuck on the roads or anything like that, do you know?
REED: Well, we know that it's more than 2,000 and they were on the interstates. And candidly, I'm really shocked that Martin didn't show you the fact that 80 percent of the streets in the city of Atlanta have been cleared. And the point that I was making in the segment was that the interstates that you have been showing all day are the responsibility of the state, not the city of Atlanta.
So I wasn't trying to duck responsibility, but I was pointing out that the images that you have been showing are of the interstates, which are not the responsibility of the city of Atlanta. And then if you were to use CNN cameras, which are available right now, you would see that 80 percent of the streets in our city are clear, and the city is functioning. That's the image right there.
BURNETT: So you're saying that the city of Atlanta did its job.
REED: No, I'm saying that we could always get better, but the presentation that was made leading into this interview was grossly misleading and mischaracterized the work that we have been doing over the last 24 hours, it mischaracterizes the fact that we mobilized at 9:00 a.m. on yesterday, and that as of today we had 80 percent of the streets in the city cleared. And the only name you've ever used is in the city. When in fact, you have been showing photographs of the region, and I think that's unfair.
BURNETT: All right, OK, I hear your point on that, but Mayor, let me ask you this, were you coordinating with the governor, with others? We spoke to someone on the bus depot in Atlanta today who said she has been stuck there for 24 hours. So there were people right there in the heart of your city who are experiencing something frankly pretty shocking.
REED: Yes, we definitely have been coordinating with the governor, but the fact of the matter is we moved 1 million people out of the city in one day. We had zero fatalities. We kept all of our hospitals open and clear. We handled 797 automobile accidents. We only had 14 major accidents. And we sheltered 400 kids and got them back to their family today. And none of that was reported.
And Hartsfield/Jackson Airport is continuing to operate. Now, it's fair to talk about what's on the interstate. And when I leave here, I'm going to help the folks stuck in those cars on the interstate. But I think it would be fair for CNN to point out that I do not have jurisdiction over the highways in the city of Atlanta, and I never have.
BURNETT: I'm happy to point that out, but obviously the problem seemed to we are talking to people at bus depots, et cetera, schools in Atlanta, children had to spend the night, this was something that extended within the city limits and outside of them. And you tweeted yesterday morning, quote, "Atlanta, we are ready for the snow. For useful numbers and information, make sure you read our press release."
REED: That's right. And 24 hours later, if you put up the images of the city right now, the city after a severe storm weather event is functioning, and 80 percent of our streets are clear and zero fatalities occurred. And we handled 797 incidents and got all of the children in the APS school home. So the answer is we can always get better.
I certainly want the people who are stranded on the highways and interstates to get home to their families. And that's why I have on my coat because that's where I've been. I'm going back there when I'm done, but I've sat and watched all day long you all show image after images of interstates that aren't in the city limits.
And aren't the responsibility of the city. And the only name that you all have used all day long is the city of Atlanta. When you could have easily put up your cameras and shown the images of our city, with the streets being improved and the city moving.
BURNETT: And let me ask you, just a question then before we go on that front because a lot of people who live in your city and use your city use the interstates. So to them, all those things are tied together, right? You don't know when you cross the city line, so is it the governor's fault that the interstates have created this horrible image and horrible experience?
REED: Erin, rather than playing the blame game, we have shared responsibility. But I want to state clearly, I don't have jurisdiction to clear interstate highways in the city of Atlanta. I'm responsible for the streets that are in the city of Atlanta. And as of today, one day in to a severe weather event, we got our streets cleaned, we kept our hospitals open, we kept our people safe, and the city of Atlanta is running again.
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, Mayor Reed, we appreciate you coming on to give your side of that story. We appreciate your time.
REED: Thank you for having me, Erin. Welcome back.
BURNETT: Thank you.
Well, next, several Republicans had a lot to say after President Obama's state of the union address. If you watched, you had to stay up for a while because it was Republican after Republican after Republican after Republican, whoa, what's wrong? The head of the Republican National Committee is OUTFRONT next.
And then we're going to talk to a man who was one of nearly 700 people who was violently sick. He describes it on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship "Explorer of the Seas."
And then a New York congressman forced to apologize for threatening a reporter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again, I'll throw you off this -- balcony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Today, President Obama kept his controversial state of the union promise. And if you weren't watching, the promise was that he's going to bypass Congress because they couldn't get anything done and he would sign executive orders. So today he signed one allowing workers to start their own retirement savings plans.
Now, as you would expect, Republicans are really angry about this. Senator Ted Cruz, for example, wrote an op-ed entitled the imperial presidency of Barack Obama which reads, "Of all the troubling aspects of the Obama presidency, none is more dangerous than the president's persistent pattern of lawlessness, his willingness to disregard the written law and instead enforce his own policies via executive fiat." Imperial? Lawless? Fiat?
OUTFRONT tonight is Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee. All right, well, great to have you with us, Reince. Imperial, is that fair or way too strong hyperbole?
REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: First of all, welcome back and blessings on the new baby boy. That's exciting. Having two of my own, I know how great it is to be a parent, so congratulations.
BURNETT: Well, thanks.
PRIEBUS: I think Ted Cruz has got a point. Here's the thing, this president last night really offered nothing up other than old crumbs and old silver ware and old dishes. I mean, it was just the same old thing. But here's what I take on this sort of go-it-alone strategy. If you really peel back the onion, he made two big promises in regard to this new strategy.
The first one was, he was going to cut the red tape on bridges and waterways. Red tape is not the problem, Erin. The problem is there's no money. The next thing he said he's going to increase the wages of federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. Almost all of them make more than $10.10 an hour.
But number two, his program wouldn't take effect until 2015. And it wouldn't apply to any current contracts. It's just all -- it's a nothing burger. This whole thing is nothing. And actually, it's pretty sad because the state of the union should be a big day, but it was a big nothing.
BURNETT: That's interesting, so you're making the case that the things that he's doing aren't really that important. It doesn't -- you're not actually picking a fight with him for doing it, which is actually pretty smart of you because I'm sure you looked at the stats, too.
The president signed 167 executive orders, far fewer than any other two-term president at this point. President George W. Bush, 197, President Ronald Reagan, 256. So, if he's imperial --
PRIEBUS: But to Ted Cruz's point, I support what Ted Cruz is saying. I mean, to his point, he has done things in the past that have fundamentally altered bills, like look at the Obamacare bill. I mean, the fact that he and his administration gave a waiver to employers has created complete catastrophe on just the way that Obamacare can be enforced and the way the act wares thought it would work.
And so, he's not just doing little thing that is are meaningless and trying to tell the American people that they are really important. He is also doing big things that he shouldn't be able to do that I think are problematic. So I think you get both.
BURNETT: So I was watching last night, and it's interesting what you say, I know you're job as head of the RNC is to not say anything bad about anybody, in particular, in your party. But after the speech I have to admit I got a little confused. And I was like, maybe it's because I've been away. But the GOP rebuttals, I use the plurals, of course Reince, there were four. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, of course, gave the official response. Then there was Spanish language response, the tea party response and then there was the Rand Paul response. I'm just going to call it Rand Paul response. All right, that does not seem like a big time party. That seems like a party that doesn't know who in the heck is in charge, it seems leaderless.
PRIEBUS: I think that's a pretty silly comment. And I know it's your first day back.
BURNETT: All right. Tell me why I'm silly, Reince.
PRIEBUS: Because there were probably 300 responses yesterday. Every member of Congress, when you say Rand Paul gave a response, I would imagine almost every senator gave some kind of response yesterday. I gave a response yesterday. You didn't put my name in there. I know that our studio where I'm talking to you was busy all day yesterday with different members and senators giving responses to the state of the union address.
So, I mean, look, the tea party express running their Web site gave a response, and mike lee was gracious enough to give that response. My guess is that you have all kinds of groups on both sides of the aisle that have guessed responders on their show as part of their production. You have responses on CNN after the show. I mean, this is just -- it's ridiculous.
BURNETT: But doesn't a party usually come up with one --
PRIEBUS: Cathy McMorris Rodgers was the responder, and she gave the official response.
BURNETT: But official response and then there's all the other splinters. I mean, I'm not the only one -- I'm not alone.
PRIEBUS: Every member of Congress is in the studio giving a response. Rand Paul was not the only senator giving a response.
BURNETT: I hear your point, but (INAUDIBLE) of BuzzFeed framed it this way. He said conservatives are competing for air time.
PRIEBUS: I don't care how he framed it. I'm just telling you what the truth is.
BURNETT: All right, and I hear your point. But what he said was the latest flare-up of the latest GOP civil war was not about ideology, it was about publicity. It does fan the flame of a party though, Reince, that doesn't have a voice. I mean, you're saying there is one person, she put out the official response. But clearly, you don't have a lot of people behind her. There's a lot of people fighting to say the GOP is this or it's that. And if you have a fight on, how do you win the white House?
PRIEBUS: I don't think there's a whole lot of people that are tuned in to anything to that magnitude. I think what you have in politics and in this country are people that are tuning in to different channels and different voices that they want to hear. I think it's great that Mike Lee did the response on the tea party express Web site. I know what he talked about. He talked about Republican ideas and how this president wasn't fulfilling the promises that he made to the American people. That's a net win for the Republican party.
I don't see it as a loss at all. I think that we need to build our party by promoting different voices in our party so that we can come together and win. And you know what? With all these red states coming up in the Senate race where is at about 30 percent approval rating, we are going to have an incredible year this year.
BURNETT: All right. Well, we will be talking to you throughout.
Thank you very much, Reince, as always.
PRIEBUS: OK, Erin. Welcome back. It's two tough interviews in a row. Got to keep this up.
BURNETT: All right, good to see you.
OUTFRONT next, a cruise ship full of incredibly sick passengers finally returns to port, actually got in very late this afternoon. We are going to talk to one of the passengers who was violently ill.
And we are following breaking news about Justin Bieber tonight. A live picture from Toronto. This is where -- you can see the stakeout, because he is, after all, Justin Bieber, moments away from surrendering to police to face possible assault charges.
Plus, of course, Jim Cramer. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: A record-breaking cruise ship returned home, but it is not what Royal Caribbean wanted. Nearly 700 crew and passengers got sick, aboard the explorer of the sea. It is the highest number of sick reported on a cruise, get this, in two decades. They fell ill with a really ugly stomach bug. And one of the passengers who got ill just got to dry land and joins me now.
And Louis, thanks for taking the time, I know you had to go through a lot today with hundreds of people getting off the ship and getting your luggage, and that takes hours and hours. You have been sick. And I know you are a little bit better, which is great to hear. But can you tell me what it was like when you got sick and how it actually went down?
LOUIS STENDER, GOT SICK ON CRUISE SHIP: Well, it's -- Erin, it's a very violent bug. I don't know if I've ever been sicker. It hits hard, it hits very quickly, and it lasted really intensely for a couple of days. And it leaves you a little weak after the fact. It drains you.
BURNETT: And I think people might think oh it's just like getting the throw-ups or something like that. But it is a lot more severe than that. I mean how did they handle this on the ship when you had so many people getting suck, hundreds?
STENDER: Yeah, it -you know, it started rather slowly and then the numbers started to grow exponentially. The first day that I got really sick and I went down to sick call (ph), there was 50-60 people waiting. I was given a number and number was number 139. So I went back to my room and that's when the numbers were really starting to escalate pretty dramatically.
And a lot of people on the ship got sick. You know, the other thing that occurred was that a number of people got ill, but they self- medicated with imodium, those kinds of things, and really didn't go to sick call (ph) and we heard a lot of those kinds of stories as well.
BURNETT: Now, Louis, I'm just wondering, I mean you're going on this cruise, you're looking for a kind of a creak, right? Royal Caribbean is saying they're going to make this up to you, and I'm just curious about what you think about what they said. They're going to give you a 50 percent refund, not 100 percent, and then the other 50 percent is going to be in the form of a credit for a future cruise. So you have to go on another cruise to get it. Are you satisfied with that? I mean are you ever going to go on another cruise?
STENDER: Well, to be fair, we've gone with Royal Caribbean on four other occasions, and this has been our first really bad experience. I think they did what they could. To the captain's credit, he stood up in front of everybody in an auditorium when we canceled the last stop at St. Martin's, and for two hours he listened to what people had to say. And quite frankly, a lot of people, understandably, were very, very ornery, and you can appreciate that they would be.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Louis thank you very much. We appreciate it, and of course enjoy getting home where it's warm and you can feel better.
STENDER: We'll do that. Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: And that does bring me to tonight's out-take, because here's the thing - this incident is the worst in decades, but there have been 33 verified norovirus outbreaks, like this one, on cruise ships in the past three years. Look, the CDC manual for keeping cruise ships clean - this is just printer paper, but it's 267 pages long. That is that many pages. If you need that many pages to keep your ship clean? Well look, it could've been worse. Remember what everyone now calls the poop cruise? I sure do.
Doodle oo, doodle oo, doodle oo...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are the red bags, and those were for using the bathroom, doing number two.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We couldn't flush toilets, the hallways were toxic, full of urine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The smell was unbelievable.
BURNETT: I have to admit, you can smell it. You can smell it. I know a lot of you are wondering if we can, and yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Doodle oo, doodle oo, doodle oo...
Ah, what a memory. At least the Explorer of the Seas had power. And if you're feeling a bit, well, sick to your stomach, imagining going on a cruise now, just think of the people booked on the Explorer of the Seas' next voyage. Royal Caribbean promises it'll be clean, and if not, there's always a red bag.
Well, stocks took a major dive after an announcement from the Fed. My buddy Jim Cramer of "Mad Money," a very special guest, good friend, here to talk markets, investments, and this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM CRAMER, AUTHOR: It's a bear!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you jealous?
CRAMER: I'm speaking in your mike, I'm not trying to do more than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And more on the Justin Bieber breaking news. Toronto, we're told the pop star is moments away from surrendering to police to face possible assault charges. We are monitoring that action right now happening. We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news on a story that everyone has been watching, whether they admit it or not, Justin Bieber just turned himself into Toronto police to face a possible assault charge in connection with an encounter with a limousine driver. This may be new to some of you, you know, you've been following several recent stories. But this was about a month ago, an alleged assault again of a limousine driver and now he's apparently voluntary come to Toronto to turn himself into police there.
Susan Candiotti is following the latest on Justin Bieber.
Susan, what do you know about this latest incident, and I say latest because obviously there have been several, even just in the past couple of weeks?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He appears to be in trouble yet again, Erin. Hi. Welcome back.
So, moments ago, Justin Bieber, we saw in video and hopefully we can re-rack that just as soon as possible. We see him getting out of the SUV. He arrived with an entourage. As you can see -- a ton of people on site. The police and many fans and of course the news media, they're all there to see himself turn himself in.
A law enforcement source tells me that this is in connection with an investigation of an assault of a limo driver that happened just last month. The CBC said it happened outside a Maple Leafs game when this attack occurred. But I'm told that this was all prearranged. His lawyer had been in touch with the Toronto police, and they made the arrangement to come in and to turn himself in -- for Justin Bieber to turn himself in. And I'm also told that this could very well result in an arrest charge involving this incident. So, it was just last week, you will remember, in Miami Beach, when Justin Bieber was charged with driving under the influence.
There's the video now, you can see all kinds of cameras flashing and video cameras as well. Fans trying to get a look at him as well, a heavy police presence on site. As you can see, he's got on a blue hat, looks like a baseball cap turned backwards if you can sort of make him out in the crowd there, but that's him entering the police department. No telling how long he'll be in there.
But again, just last week in Miami, more troubles on top of this one. Tonight, he entered a not guilty plea in writing via his lawyer in Miami Beach to a charge, remember, he was said to be drag racing on Miami Beach in a residential area, charged with driving under the influence. He told police, they said, that he had been drinking beer and that he had been taking prescription medications. He told police given to him by his mother as well as driving without a license.
So, he will have an appearance on Valentine's Day, but he does not have to be there in person for it for an arraignment there in Miami- Dade County, Florida. And now, that was last week, this week we see this.
Erin, earlier in the week, we saw him on video in Panama walking on the beach with his friends and bodyguards and the like. And now, he's in Toronto tonight.
Busy time for the Biebster -- Erin.
BURNETT: I mean, it is amazing. And as I said, whether people want to admit it or not, they are following this. I mean, it's sort of a -- it's a tragic tale in many ways, of the creation of a child star and how far people can fall. We're going to have much more on this in a few moments as we continue to cover this with someone else, by the way, a very famous person who had some problems with substance abuse and had a very public fall. It's coming up in just a couple of moments.
But I want to talk about the markets plunge, because this is something that affects all of us. Stocks plunged today, down nearly 200 points. Basically what happened is the Fed did something that it -- well, maybe I'm editorializing -- should have done, but at least was expected to do, which was reduce how much money it's been pumping into the economy, into the stock market.
And now to break this down, joining me now is my friend and former colleague, Jim Cramer, author of the new book "Jim Cramer's Get Rich Carefully."
All right, Jim, it is wonderful to have you with us. So special.
JIM CRAMER, AUTHOR, "GET RICH CAREFULLY": Congratulations.
BURNETT: I come back. I have you. It is -- it's just a dream come true.
All right, so tell me what you think about the Fed. Before we get to your expertise on the fed, just today, are they doing the right thing by saying we are not going to keep throwing free money at the U.S. economy?
CRAMER: Yes, I think things are better, Erin. They are slightly better, they are not fantastic, but they are cutting back on the program because the patient was on life support. So why continue to keep that person on life support?
The economy is getting moving here. So I think the Fed is doing the right thing.
BURNETT: And you believe the economy is getting moving? Last night you heard the president say, corporate profits are rising but no wages. I mean, it was kind of negative view of the situation.
CRAMER: More negative than I -- yes, to editorialize -- more negative than it should be because there's lots of things going right. He did mention energy something that's good, but the industries that I talk to and you know the work we did together when you were at CNBC, the industries I talk to are all feeling better, they are all saying things are growing overseas, getting better in the United States, not a time to be downbeat.
BURNETT: All right. So, speaking of our time together, you write about this in the book, and if you out there don't know this, there's an infamous moment of Jim Cramer, it's an incredible moment of August 2007. Now, everyone, this is right before the proverbial brown stuff hit the fan.
And at that time, a lot of people didn't think it was going to. And people said things are going to be fine, but not Jim. Here's the moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAMER: He has no idea!
BURNETT: Cramer --
CRAMER: I've talked to the heads of almost every single one of these firms in the last 72 hours and he has no idea what it's like out there! None!
And Bill Poole has no idea what it's like out there! My people have been in this game for 25 years! And they are losing their jobs, and these firms are going to go out of business and he's nuts! They are nuts! They know nothing!
BURNETT: Cramer --
CRAMER: This is a different kind of market. And the Fed is asleep.
BURNETT: OK. But here's the -- CRAMER: Bill Poole is a shame. He's shameful!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And we laugh that now. And then, you write in the book, you became the punch line. The Fed laughed at you, so much so you questioned yourself, but it turned out you were right.
CRAMER: Well, there was a meeting. First of all, you were the one who kept telling me about subprime, that the mortgages were going to roll over. You had such a --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: -- the people who didn't have good credit.
CRAMER: The only place I could be myself was when I was with you, and yes, that was myself. We were trying to warning people. The Fed did laugh. There was a laugh line about me in the minutes that came out, Bernanke and Bill Poole was one of the Fed heads were saying Cramer didn't know what he was doing, but --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: I was your biggest fan after that.
CRAMER: But Tim Geithner did say that we got it right, Erin. He said we got it right.
BURNETT: You got it right. And you have been vindicated over time. I want to get advice from you just because you're here.
Facebook came out with earnings today, a name you said you liked.
CRAMER: Yes.
BURNETT: But Apple, we talk about it a lot on the show. I want to get you view and what to do with it. They came out and things were not good for Apple. You write that Apple actually had a failure. Not a word usually associated with Apple, a failure, that they didn't get social media.
CRAMER: Right.
BURNETT: So, if you're watching and saying you're going to get into Jim's view and buy him something, what do you do with tech?
CRAMER: Well, I think social mobile in Cloud, which is Facebook, which is Google, those are the companies that have momentum, because that's the future. Apple, I think, is fine. It's come down so much. You know I would never tell people to sell something after it just shed 60 points.
BURNETT: But it's not the future in the way that you used to think of it. CRAMER: No, because younger people -- look, it's a different person's generation. And the generation that is on Instagram, Facebook, on Twitter, these are people who -- this is who the big CEOs want to reach.
I talked to Buffalo Wild Wings today, Erin, who they want to reach? They want to reach the Facebook and Twitter generation.
BURNETT: Yes.
CRAMER: They place ads there.
BURNETT: Right.
Now the president said something else last night and said minimum wage, $10.10. Now, Reince Priebus actually just pointed out something that's a fair point -- this executive order about raising it -- he's raising it for people who make more than that. But I don't think there's any question that the president believes that the minimum wage should go up, he does believe it.
CRAMER: Right.
BURNETT: So, here's a question to you, $10.10 an hour. If he got what he wanted, what would happen?
CRAMER: I don't think anyone would not start a business because of that, but I also think that there will be someone who might say, you know what, if I start building my business up, I see there's a pattern, the federal government is going to make me pay more for health care for these people, more salary. And that creates a bit of a cloud.
But I don't think that it's wrong to have a higher minimum wage because wage growth has been so stagnant for too many years in this country.
BURNETT: All right. Before we go, I just want to play for everyone, a couple -- I don't want to say this yet -- a couple of quick moments, here they are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
BURNETT: Cramer, Cramer, get back here.
CRAMER: It's a bear!
BURNETT: Are you jealous?
CRAMER: I'm speaking in your mike, I'm not trying to do more than that.
BURNETT: Are you jealous, Cramer?
CRAMER: No, yes! No! I don't know!
That's like genocide. It's camelcide. It's camelcide. Camelcide.
BURNETT: It is camelcide.
I think it's a disturbing story. Yes, that's pretty much what you do.
CRAMER: We are snapping our heads, what are we doing?
(CROSSTALK)
CRAMER: With like, you know, no country for old men.
BURNETT: Everyone here in Petra that we met today was looking for opportunity, so perhaps this should not surprise you that I ran into --
(LAUGHTER)
CRAMER: Hey, gorgeous. How you doing?
BURNETT: How are you?
CRAMER: Can you believe it?
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
BURNETT: Before we go, Jim, I must say, I haven't worn it since, the giraffe dress, everyone, possibly the most ugly dress worn in America or anyone around the world and unfortunately made infamous, here it is. I think it hit the dry cleaner but that's about it.
CRAMER: I love you. You know, I miss you so much, it's just terrible. I know we don't work -- we don't work at the same network anymore, and I was choked up when I saw you last good-bye, I have seen you since then, but I want to wish you the best wishes to your family, to your newborn, and to everything that you do in your life and to your husband. You're just fabulous.
BURNETT: Thank you. I feel the same way about you. We are so thrilled you could come here.
And, of course, Jim's book "Get Rich Carefully". Right now, number one in the management section on Amazon. Please go get your copy.
And still to come, we have more on the breaking news we are covering as this is developing right now. You know, Justin Bieber just turning himself into Toronto police on assault charges with an encounter with a limo driver a month ago. We have the latest on that with another famous person with a big fall from grace.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, Justin Bieber now facing charges on both sides of the border. The pop star just turning himself moments ago to police in Toronto facing a charge he allegedly attacked a limo driver.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you attack the limo driver?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Justin! Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up! Back up!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The news coming as we are learning that Bieber just pleaded not guilty to last week's charges of driving drunk, resisting arrest and driving without a valid license in Miami, Florida.
OUTFRONT tonight, Jim Moret, the chief correspondent for "Inside Edition" and former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who's been vocal with his own struggles with substance abuse, obviously.
When you had problems, it's very public. You had to go through a lot of this knowing that everybody is talking about you.
But, Jim, let me start with you, how serious is the assault charge that Bieber is facing? Because when you add up all the things that have happened and we'll go through those, it is quite a long list. I mean, what specifically does this one carry with it?
JIM MORET, INSIDE EDITION: Well, wait, first of all, let me welcome you back, because this is your first day back.
BURNETT: Thank you.
MORET: I was happy to be on your show last week and sad you weren't here.
This is -- look, this particular limousine driver was not taken to the hospital, so you wonder how serious the assault was. But an assault is still a more serious charge, and you talked about both sides of the border, you talk about Toronto and Florida. He may also face charges in Los Angeles and those are felony vandalism charges.
When you add up all three and take into consideration there are over 100,000 signatures on a petition to deport him from the United States, you know, these in total, these are very serious for Justin Bieber because even on demeanor charges, they carry six or seven months, you add them all up and he's got three different jurisdictions going on here. So, it's a big deal.
BURNETT: And you're saying -- I mean, these signatures, 100,000 signatures, saying he should deport. And I don't -- gosh, I don't know what this moment, but it's 118,000 or something early when someone told me the latest.
MORET: Right.
BURNETT: I mean, that's a number that forces actually the White House to respond, which in and of itself, some may say is utterly ridiculous, and maybe it is, but the point is you're saying it's deadly serious. MORET: It is deadly serious. It's serious. Look, he apparently, for whatever reason, is looking at his reputation as being boosted in some form because he's got street cred. I don't know.
However, from a legal perspective and from overall perspective, he's hanging out with his dad who, by some account, was at the scene in Florida when he was allegedly driving without a license and under the influence. There are questions about where he got the prescription drugs. He doesn't have an influence in his life steering him in the right direction.
And what do we see? In three weeks, he could be facing three charges in three different jurisdictions all going down.
And we've seen this before, Erin, with other celebrities. And it's never a good ending.
BURNETT: Right. In fact, you have been through this, when it starts to spiral it spirals. Is that what you think you're seeing here?
PATRICK KENNEDY (D), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Well, what you're seeing is someone who's dealing with a negative effects of drug and alcohol use. And he's 19 years old. And he kind of feels immune from all of this because he has this cadre of people who are enabling him, in other words.
And just as you just heard, this is looked upon as a legal issue or a PR issue. Really, it's a physical health issue. I mean, just alluding to the fact that a number of celebrities, in fact, a number of Americans who die fatal deaths because of this use of drugs and alcohol, which leads to this kind of erratic behavior.
So, I'm very familiar with this. I lived that life. And the biggest challenge is that Justin Bieber is not going to be able to see what's really going on because there's going to be a lot of people couching.
And a lot of people out there say, well, who cares? He's wealthy. He's a celebrity and all the rest. But, really, he's like any other person suffering from this and that's the story that gets lost here.
BURNETT: But you're saying that the people surrounding him, that no one is probably at this point telling him the truth?
KENNEDY: Well, they're all getting a lot of money.
BURNETT: His father certainly seems to be saying, hey, all you people are a bunch of jerks. Don't listen to them, right? I mean, it does seem that way.
KENNEY: You know, he's no -- he's like any other 19-year-old. But what's happening to him now is he's really being protected from himself. So the opportunity for him to progress in a potential addiction, which is certainly the case if he's exposed to this many drugs and the excitement and this kind of life, and without any kind of sanction.
In other words, he gets more publicity, this reinforces the behavior. And, of course, he'll keep doing it.
BURNETT: You look like the cool bad kid. Go from being the kid to the cool kid.
(CROSSTALK)
KENNEDY: The problem is, is that you don't know when that fatal overdose is going to happen or that tragedy that is really irrevocable. So, you're not just a PR story anymore, or a legal issue, it's a life and death issue.
BURNETT: And Steven D'Souza joins the conversation now from CBC News in Toronto.
Steven, you were just there from that complete fracas of all those people. What was that like? I mean, that looked actually kind of violent to be there.
STEVEN D'SOUZA, CBC NEWS TORONTO REPORTER: Well, actually, Erin, I can tell you -- here in Toronto, I've covered a lot of stories involving our Mayor Rob Ford who's had a lot of media surrounding him. And I can tell you that the scrum around Justin Bieber as he pulled up to the side of the police station here was 10 times crazier than anything I've been involved in, and what happened was police brought him to the side door of the station, basically locked arms and basically created a path for him to come in the door.
In the midst of that, of course, the news media, entertainment media, and then a lot of fans who have come down since this news first broke around 5:00 this afternoon. So, more than 100 people swarming around this car. It was just quite an incredible scene in the midst of that, Justin Bieber coming in to present himself to police here.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much to Steven D'Souza, Jim Moret, and Patrick Kennedy, of course. We are going to continue our look at kids in crisis and mental health in America as we go through this week.
And don't miss our special tonight, at 11:30. "Justin Bieber's Wild Ride".
Next, a New York congressman forced to apologize after threatening to throw a reporter off the balcony. Is it the worst thing we've ever heard on camera? Jeanne Moos is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Well, talk about a short temper. Republican Congressman Michael Grimm of New York is apologizing after he threatened to, quote, "break" a reporter and toss him off a balcony with some expletives thrown in. This happened when the topic turned to an issue he didn't want to talk about.
But as you can imagine, Grimm isn't the first person to lose his cool in a pretty epic manner. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Tony Soprano threatens, men tremble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better pay me the respect that I gave your brother or we're going to have a problem.
MOOS: When New York Congressman Michael Grimm uttered a Sopranos- worthy threat against a reporter who asked the wrong question at the wrong time, it was the congressman who took the hit in the press.
REP. MICHAEL GRIMM (R), NEW YORK: Let me be clear to you. If you ever do that to me again, I'll throw you off this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) balcony.
MOOS (on camera): Oh, come on. You know the guy's not really going to throw the reporter off the balcony. Most of these are just idle threats.
(voice-over): For instance, when Alec Baldwin gets tough.
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Get away from my kid with the camera. You know what's going to happen to you, don't you?
MOOS: It happens so often --
BALDWIN: When you're here when my wife and kid come out here, you've got a big problem. You know that, don't you?
MOOS: It doesn't have quite the same effect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have a problem.
MOOS: Even though he used the exact same threat as Tony.
And whoever Rob Ford was ranting about, probably won't lose much sleep.
ROB FORD, TORONTO MAYOR: But when he's down, I'll rip his (EXPLETIVE DELETED) throat out. I'll poke his eyes out.
I will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) when he's dead. I'll make sure that mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dead.
I need (EXPLETIVE DELETED) 10 minutes to make sure he's dead.
MOOS: And no heads rolled after this Tour de France cycling champ defended his dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't stand on my dog or I cut your head off.
MOOS: Aides had to separate these two, Carl Paladino, an unsuccessful candidate for New York governor, was yelling at a "New York Post" editor.
CARL PALADINO: You send another goon to my daughter's house and I'll take you out, buddy!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to take me out?
PALADINO: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you going to do that?
PALADINO: Watch!
MOOS: We watched as Representative Grimm later said he had apologized to a reporter he threatened to break.
REP. MICHAEL GRIMM (R), NEW YORK: I'll break you in half. Like a boy.
I'm sure my Italian mother is going to be yelling at me saying you weren't raised that way and she's right.
MOOS: It could have been worse. Reporters have been doused, and whacked, sprayed with bug spray, attacked with a hoe. Dogs have even been sicced on them.
(on camera): Sometimes when a reporter feels threatened he takes pre- emptive action. This is nuts.
(voice-over): Watch the wheeling (ph) knee deployed by Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore.
JIM CANTORE, WEATHER CHANNEL: The worse part of this storm yet. That is to come all of it later on tonight. So --
MOOS: Talk about threats. Not even a weatherman could predict the threat of high pressure moving in on the groin.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: I love it. And Jim Cantore just ousts them all. I think that's the headline there.
All right. Well, today is my first day OUTFRONT after maternity leave. And I want to comment on it since some of our guests were kind enough to say something and so many of you have kindly welcomed me back. And a lot of you have been through this, too.
Maternity leave was the most wonderful time of my life. As for the sleepless nights and feedings -- look, let's be honest, 5:00 p.m. rolls by on maternity leave and you realize you haven't even been able to change out of your pajamas. And people say, what do you do all the day? And you can't even answer the question.
There's no harder or better job. And every day something new happens. Like my son Niles first and now plentiful full-face smiles. His sweet times when he just wants to hang out. I'm not including any crying shots, everybody, just sweet once. And the budding explorer in him, because yes, it is hump day. Yes, he does have a stuffed camel in his nursery. And yes, he is getting a passport so he can ride a real one soon. He's an OUTFRONT baby.
Now I've got him to go home to and the best team ever to work with here on OUTFRONT. It is so great to be back. We have great plans on this show and we're going to see you back here tomorrow. Thank you as always for joining us. I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.
And "AC 360" starts right now.
Hey, Anderson, I've been watching you a lot lately, but I haven't got a chance to see you.
