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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Shutdown Showdown; Historic Colorado Flooding; Tour Championship
Aired September 19, 2013 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The new twists in budget brinksmanship that might turn your stomach this morning.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): That doesn't sound good.
All right. Colorado on the long, long road to recovery. Rebuilding after the floods expected to take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars as well. We're going to show you how residents are coping while they wait.
BERMAN: And a high-speed chase comes to a crashing conclusion on a South Florida highway. And I got to tell you, the drama does not end there.
SAMBOLIN: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN (on-camera): All right. Welcome back to EARLY START. We're happy you're with us this morning. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
BERMAN (on-camera): And I'm John Berman. Great to see you. About 31 minutes after the hour.
SAMBOLIN: All right. So, this morning, we are watching the markets after a powerful -- can you do that again? -- yes -- on Wall Street. It's fair done with the Federal Reserve actually did not do. The Dow and S&P 500 hitting new all-time high. The Dow reaching 15,676, the S&P now at 1,725. Why you ask? Investors were cheered by the Federal Reserve's decision not to end its stimulus.
Most expected the fed to say now is the time to slow down the program that's pumped billions of dollars into the mortgage and bond markets, but the fed said not so fast. The economy is still a little too weak, and while we think it is getting better, let's take some more time just to be sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The intention is to wait a bit longer and to try to get confirming evidence to whether or not the economy is, in fact, conforming to this general outlook that we have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: So, what does this mean for your wallet? Well, mortgage rates are likely to come down, meaning it could be a little cheaper if you're buying or maybe even refinancing a home. And if stocks keep rising today, it should really help your retirement plan.
BERMAN: Of course, the fed's warning points to just how precarious the economic recovery is and the fed chairman made clear that one of his biggest concerns is the bickering in Washington. And this morning, it really does seem we are on the edge of a budget battle poised to shut the government down in just days. Here's Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The way the House speaker tells it, this is not about shutting down the government.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: Our goal here is to cut spending and to protect the American people from Obamacare. It's as simple as that.
BASH: Except there is nothing simple about it. The government is said to run out of money in less than two weeks, September 30th. A House GOP bill to keep the government funded would also defund Obamacare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even one penny of Obamacare.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BASH: It's a strategy GOP grassroots groups spent all summer pounding rank-and-file Republicans to support.
REP. LEE TERRY, (R) NEBRASKA: Absolutely heard from a lot of our conservative groups over the break about defunding Obamacare.
BASH: The pressure was there. You felt it?
TERRY: Oh, the pressure was absolutely there, but none of us like Obamacare --
BASH: But the Senate is run by Democrats who do like Obamacare. That's why GOP leaders privately resisted defunding it on a must pass spending bill, risking a government shutdown. But thanks to conservative pressure, Boehner could not find votes to keep the government running without also stripping out health care money.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know it's not been easy to be the speaker over this caucus, but at this point, have you just kind of lost control over the caucus?
BOEHNER: We've got a lot of divergent opinions in the caucus and the key to any leadership job is to listen. We listen to our colleagues over the course of the last week, whatever (ph) plan that you're happy with, we're going forward. BASH: Not all Republicans seem happy.
Do you think it's a good idea?
REP. PETER KING, (R) NEW YORK: We see how it goes. We can't (ph) with the government shutdown. We can't be kamikazes. We can't be General Custer.
BASH: Senate Democrats argue if the government shuts down over trying to dismantle Obamacare, Republicans will get the blame.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: If they think we're going to back off, they're wrong. They're on a different planning.
BASH: And they may have unlikely allies, some conservative senators.
SEN. TOM COBURN, (R) OKLAHOMA: So, the only effective way to truly stop Obamacare and I think we ought to do it to stop it would to be totally reverse it. We don't have the votes to do that.
BASH (on-camera): The House will vote this week and then it's on to the Senate where even the primary Republican backers of this idea, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, have already released the statement admitting they don't have the votes. So, what is unclear is when and how the Senate will pass a bill to keep the government running and what the House will do then?
What is clear by all accounts is that this is going to go right down to the wire right after the September 30 deadline for the government to shut down.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: Our thanks to Dana.
And also in Washington, investigators this morning are trying to make sense of new evidence found in the deadly shooting at the Navy Yard.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): A Federal law enforcement source tells CNN the shooter, Aaron Alexis, made unexplained etchings into the shotgun that he used in the attack. The etchings reading, quote, "better off this way," and "my else weapon." It is not clear yet what those etchings might mean. And, we're hearing from the mother of the gunman who's apologizing to the families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF CATHLEEN ALEXIS, MOTHER OF AARON ALEXIS: 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 victim, I am so, so very sorry that this has happened. My heart is broken. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: My goodness. The secretary of the navy is now ordering a detailed review of the security clearance process asking why Alexis was granted access to secure facilities despite a very long history of violent behavior.
BERMAN (voice-over): Police in Wisconsin questioning two teenagers (INAUDIBLE) armed robbery near the University of Wisconsin Madison campus led to a chase and gunfire. This happened on fraternity row (ph) Wednesday evening. Police say two suspects robbed a 19-year-old of his backpack wallet and keys.
One of the victim's friends tried to chase the suspects down. Police say at least one shot was fired but it's unclear if the shot was fired at someone or in the air. The university has now issued an all clear.
SAMBOLIN: The police chief of Lake Mary, Florida now downplaying e- mails suggesting George Zimmerman is a ticking time bomb. Chief Steve Bracknell (ph) had responded to an e-mail from a man who said Zimmerman was another Sandy Hook waiting to happen. The chief writing, quote, "I agree." But Bracknell now says he was referring to the fact that Zimmerman seems to be involved in incidents involving firearms.
BERMAN: The man who confessed in an online video that killing someone while driving drunk has now pleaded guilty in court. Twenty-two-year- old Matthew Cordle telling an Ohio judge that he wanted to change his original please which was not guilty. Now, he pleaded guilty. The 22-year-old faces up to eight and a half years in prison. He will be sentenced on October 10th.
SAMBOLIN: Officials in Boulder County, Colorado say just a handful of people are still unaccounted for in a devastating flood there. And that's down from hundreds, only a couple of days ago if you recall. Meantime, residents of Colorado's mountain communities are now trying to recover after critical infrastructure all around them was just simply washed away. You can see in that picture there. We're going to more from CNN's Kyung Lah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the flood as it roared passed Jonathan Machen's home, captured it on a cell phone last week, ignoring warnings to evacuate. It was so forceful it swallowed the road pounding everything in its path. Today, that same road is caved in. This road leading to Machen's house can no longer support cars, only his bike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Empty fuel for our generator making a trade-off here to full fuel.
LAH: A friend drives fuel to meet Machen, then he makes the long bike ride back into his canyon home where his family waits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go. LAH: The gas runs a generator. His wife (ph), Paige, collects water from the overflowing creek for their toilets. Welcome to their new normal after Colorado's historic floods.
JONATHAN MACHEN, FLOOD VICTIM: As long as the generator keeps working, we're doing great.
LAH: The massive flood ripped apart Northern Colorado's infrastructure, but officials say hundreds of miles of highway and more than 30 bridges are destroyed or impassable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) all the way to the end where --
LAH: Police had roadblocks after reroute traffic around an entire mountain community for fear of more injuries and deaths. FEMA says it will take years to rebuild at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. And then, there are the structures. Across these canyons, churches sit underwater and homes on their sides.
(on-camera) How forceful was this flood? It actually broke to the wall of this building. This is the weight (ph) of the flood. This was (ph) actually having to clean up. The water filled this business all the way up to our waist and this is just one of some 7,000 homes and businesses in just two counties that (INAUDIBLE).
(voice-over) For four days, Ann Haviland has been digging through the mud -- it never stops being hard.
What does it like to see this place like this?
ANN HAVILAND, FLOOD VICTIM: It's devastating. Sorry. You just see it like this as just sometimes hopeless, but it's not really but it is.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Loveland, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: Those are some really tough images to look at. Indra Petersons is watching the forecast for us this morning. What's going on, Indra?
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. This is what they've been waiting for, a break. And it looks like the next several days, they're finally going to be getting the break that they've been looking for and waiting for for so long around the Denver in Boulder area. Notice temperatures actually going up.
And just a minimal chance of rain in the next five days, it looks like by Sunday or so, but either way, we're really going to be getting that time that they need to heal and make that progress. The other thing we're going to be watching today is the Midwest. We're watching a cold front make its way. Not a warm front went through yesterday. So with that, we're looking at temperatures into the 90 today.
Well above normal temperatures are expected. St. Louis 91, Kansas City today looking for 90, but notice the big difference in temperatures behind it. So, as that cold air pushes through again overnight tonight and through tomorrow, we're going to go from above normal temperatures in the Midwest to well below normal.
So, we feel (ph) a lot better out there in about 24 hours. Of course, that doesn't mean that cold front does have to make its way through overnight tonight. So, another shot of rain. In fact, even a threat for severe weather is possible. So, we're looking for damaging winds, large hails, even a possible tornado could possibly happen as that cold front does make its way through tonight.
Of course, it's that same cold front we're going to be watching as it makes its way east. I don't know how this (ph) happens on the weekend, but Saturday, a little rain for you, guys.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Thank you, Indra. Forewarned (ph), right?
BERMAN: All right. We have some good news after that bad news about the weekend weather. Someone in South Carolina is $400 million richer this morning. They have the one winning ticket from last night's Powerball drawing. One winning ticket.
It was sold in Lexington, South Carolina, just outside of Columbia. Eight other ticket holders will get at least a million dollar prize. It's not bad either, right? At $400 million, the drawing was the fifth largest in U.S. history.
SAMBOLIN: Only the fifth?
BERMAN: $400 million is not bad, right? Gosh, I wish I had gone to South Carolina in the last few days.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: I almost win to South Carolina and bought a Powerball ticket.
SAMBOLIN: But can you imagine being one of the million dollar winners? I'd be OK with that, too.
BERMAN: Totally fine.
All right. Coming up next for us, a high-speed police chase caught on camera. A killer on the run, weaving through traffic. We will have the dramatic conclusion to this story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. It's simply awful story this morning from South Florida ending with a deadly crash, and the entire thing was caught on camera. Police say that this man, Antonio Fellut, killed two women inside a home. One of those women was his ex-girlfriend, the other, that woman's daughter.
Then this man took off leading to a high-speed chase that ended with an awful, awful crash. The driver of the other car, that's just awful. An innocent driver, that's the driver of the other car is dead. But Fellut (ph), apparently survived the crash initially and was still giving the police trouble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF SCOTT ISRAEL, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: A group of deputies approached the vehicle and they immediately retreated. We believe that was probably from a gunshot. Eventually, we -- our S.W.A.T. operators entered the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was deceased. It appeared to be from a gunshot wound.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Authorities there are not saying if the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. They're still trying to piece together what was behind this horrible chain of events. Just awful. Our heart goes out to the people who were affected.
SAMBOLIN: Absolutely.
BERMAN: All right. Let's take a look what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan join us now. Hey, guys.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. Hope you're having a good morning, so far.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. We're going to stay on the Washington Navy Yard story just as you are on EARLY START. We have the details about what was etched in the shooter's rifle -- shotgun. What were the words? What do they mean? We have another investigative detail about whether or not this tactical team was pulled back from the scene. If so, why? And did that wind up impacting in the situation?
But then, we're really going to attack a larger question after the event which is the clearance that this man had and the clearance that's given in general and whether or not these rumors about audits and changes and risks to security are real. We're going to bring in a rear admiral and we're going to ask him these questions about whether this was wrong and if it were, what could be done to correct the situation? So, we'll take that one this morning.
BOLDUAN: And we're also watching a very different story, about "Wheel of Fortune." Why are we talking about "Wheel of Fortune?" Well, imagine being this close to winning a million dollars or at least putting that in your little money bank while you're playing the game, and then losing it all because of no other reason than a slight mispronunciation. It happened on "Wheel of Fortune." It happened this week. Sparking outrage. Was the show being unfair or was the show just following the rules? You decide.
SAMBOLIN: See, you can't mispronounce anything?
BERMAN: If I can mispronounce anything like I would never be on TV. It's all I do. Every word I say is mispronounced (ph). That's my job.
BOLDUAN: I mean, I didn't even mispronounce. I called you the entirely wrong name the other day.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: But that's OK, because i know where your heart is
BOLDUAN: Thank you, John Berman.
(CROSSTALK)
SAMBOLIN: All right. Coming up, the pressure is on for Tiger Woods. Ten million and one reason that he will want to be at his best today in today's PGA tournament. That is next in the "Bleacher Report."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: All right. So, this weekend, golf will crown a champion for the 2013 season. The winner's prize? A cool $10 million.
BERMAN: A lot of catch. Andy Scholes joins us now with the "Bleacher Report." Good morning, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, guys. Well, big bucks are on line this weekend for the 30 golfers competing in this year's tour championship. Five players can win the FedEx Cup title and its $10 million prize by just winning this weekend's tournament in Atlanta. Those five golfers are Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, Zach Johnson, and Matt Kuchar. The other 25 golfers can win the big money as well, but they would need some help from the players at the top of the standings.
Also up for grab this weekend is the coveted player of the year award voted on by the PGA pros themselves, and Tiger is hoping to bring home the award for the first time since 2009.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLF PLAYER: Having a year where they think that we're deserving of the player of the year, that's pretty special. I've had my years over the course of my career, and hopefully, this will be another one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: The tournament begins this this morning at 11:40 eastern. Tiger is the last one to tee off. He gets started at 2:00 eastern this afternoon.
Well, a huge trade went down in the NFL yesterday and this one was absolute blockbuster. The Cleveland Browns sent running back, Trent Richardson, to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round pick in next year's draft. Browns fans, they're not very happy about this one. They drafted Richardson third overall just last year.
Now, they got to start over once again. The Colts, meanwhile, they now have a combination of Richardson and quarterback, Andrew Luck, to build on for a very long time.
Week three of the NFL season kicks off tonight with Andy Reid's highly anticipated return to Philadelphia after coaching the Eagles for 14 years. Reid returns to Philly tonight as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. You'd expect Reid to get a pretty big ovation from the Eagles fans after leading into five conference championship games, but, who knows?
They once booed Santa Claus (ph) in Philly. Reid's Chiefs, they're 2- 0, thus far. While the Eagles led by new head coach, Chip Kelly, are 1-1. Kickoff tonight is at 8:25 eastern.
Well, on the lineup section of BleacherReport.com, today, you can check out beard night at Fenway Park. Fans with a real or fake beard were given dollars ticket to last night's game against the Orioles. More than 4,000 fans took advantage of the deal. Now, they held this promotion because the majority of the Red Sox players are rocking beards right now.
You can actually go to RedSox.com and see what you look like with one of the player's beards. John, I know you would want to take in this promotion. I actually went on to RedSox.com and made you. It's not bad. The Jarrod Saltalamacchia beard. This one's called "The Saltine."
BERMAN: That's good.
SAMBOLIN: That was much better than Berman actually trying to grow up.
BERMAN: That's not true.
SAMBOLIN: Have you seen pictures --
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: I grew up beard every vacation. I have a whopping beard.
SAMBOLIN: Really?
BERMAN: I do. I have a little salt and pepper action (ph) going on there. It looks like Dave Ross, Andy. You know, Dave Ross on the Red Sox, the backup catcher. He's got a certain beard. That's more I would look.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: Jarrod Saltalamacchia looks pretty good. I don't mind that one bit.
SAMBOLIN: All right.
BERMAN: I don't mind that one bit. We're going to talk our bosses and see if I can --
SCHOLES: You should try. BERMAN: -- grow that beard during the playoffs at the Red Sox and make it there (ph). Andy Scholes, thanks you for that. really appreciate it.
SAMBOLIN: I would not endorse that.
(CROSSTALK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: We are completely out of time, folks.
SAMBOLIN: Boohoo.
BERMAN: That is all for EARLY START.
SAMBOLIN: Take it away.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Yes. Take it away, Chris and Kate.
BOLDUAN: We will take it away. We'll see you, guys, in a bit. Have a good morning.
CUOMO: All right. it is time for "NEW DAY."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: Record highs. The stock market surges. Your 401(k) and mortgage rates are looking good, but is it real?
BOLDUAN: Mysterious message. The final words of the Navy Yard shooter etched into his gun. What do they mean? And, we're also learning more about missed warning signs. Could they have stopped him earlier?
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Jackpot. There is one lucky winner on last night's Powerball drawing. The prize, a whopping $400 million. We're live where the ticket was sold.
CUOMO: Your "NEW DAY" starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to "NEW DAY." It's Thursday, September 19th, six o'clock in the east. How about some good news?
BOLDUAN: Yes, please.
CUOMO: Let's start off that way. The 14-year-old girl so violently taken from her home in Georgia, guess what, she is back and she is OK. We have new details this morning on how she was saved. But also, new questions, specifically, was her mother's criminal past somehow to blame?
BOLDUAN: We're also have some stunning video to show you. This is a Mexican resort town of Acapulco, if you can believe it, beaten by two storms. Now, thousands of tourists are trapped, unable to get out, including many Americans. The government there now trying to airlift them out and it's no easy task. So, you can probably imagine. We're going to take you there live.
PEREIRA: And you may have seen this clip going viral. The contestant on "Wheel of Fortune" could have won a million dollars, a million bucks. He thought he had it and then he mispronounced it slightly. Here's a question, was he robbed or are rules rule? He will join us live right here and we'll talk.
CUOMO: Got to be able to pronounce things. I say it all the time.
(LAUGHTER)
CUOMO: We're going to begin this morning with important news about your money and your future. Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, was expected to taper or slow down all the feds buying up of securities to effectively juice the market. But guess what? He didn't. And news like this was -- this artificial boost continuing and played like free candy (ph).
Do the kids on Wall Street sending the stock market to an all-time high? Overseas financial markets also reacting positively to the news. So, it's all good? Why the doubt? Christine Romans is here to break it down for us.
