Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Shutdown Ends; Deal Pays Off For Senators?; Tigers Pounce On Sox

Aired October 17, 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)

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): You were probably sleeping when all of this happened overnight. Crisis averted. A deal raising a debt ceiling and re-opening the government signed by President Obama, but the special favors hidden inside that bill may surprise you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please welcome New Jersey's next senator, Mayor Cory Booker.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A rising star winning a contentious New Jersey Senate race that brought in the heavy hitters from both political parties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a lot of kids in this neighborhood, so it is a little scary.

BERMAN: That's a lot of bears.

SAMBOLIN: Come over to your TV. Look at this. What would you do if you saw this? A town on edge when a family of bears decide to move on in.

BERMAN: That's a big family of bears! That's a big family of bears!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN (on-camera): All right. Welcome back to EARLY START. You're going to want to stick around for that one. I'm John Berman.

SAMBOLIN (on-camera): Wow. I'm Zoraida Sambolin. Thirty-one minutes past the hour. Clearly, we did not see that video ahead of time.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: No, that is impressive.

SAMBOLIN: We're as shocked as you are.

BERMAN: Also impressed, you know, Congress did something and we can all exhale this morning. The government once again open for business this morning. Yey! After 16 days, a deal is done. Congress passed it and the president signed it into law at about 12:30 a.m., a plan to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling at least temporarily. These are the details of this compromise.

It will fund the government through mid-January. It will extend the debt ceiling into early February. Federal workers will receive pay dating back to the start of the shutdown, and negotiations will begin between the House and the Senate on a longer term budget deal. In the end, 27 Republicans in the Senate, that's a majority of Republicans in the Senate, and 87 in the House, that is a minority in the House, joined with Democrats to get the plan through.

It was not without a lot of hand wringing and a lot of anger from those who really were responsible for starting the standoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: This is a terrible deal. This deal embodies everything about the Washington establishment that frustrates the American people.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I think it was a shameful chapter that what we did to the American people. I mean, we put people out of work. We disrupted their lives.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's no reason why we can't work on the issues at hand, why we can't disagree between the parties while still being agreeable, and make sure that we're not inflicting harm on the American people when we do have disagreements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The first day of the rest of everyone's lives begin this morning. House Budget Committee chair, Paul Ryan, will meet with his Senate counterpart, Patty Murray. That happens this morning to talk about the next steps in picking a committee that will talk about the future of federal spending and debt, and hopefully, hopefully crafting a plan to take the government through the next fiscal year.

SAMBOLIN: And for more on what's in that bill, let's turn to CNN's Athena Jones. She is live in Washington this morning. I know you've been pouring over this bill. I think earlier you said about 30 pages worth. There's some pork in there. So, let's talk about the extra. Some people say a necessary other folks think differently.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I have the deal right here, 35 pages, and there's a lot in here that doesn't have to do with re-opening the government or raising debt ceiling, Zoraida. I'll tell you, a few of them, I think we can put them up on the screen. One is $2.2 billion dollars for an Ohio River dam project between Kentucky and Illinois.

Now, there was some talk that Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, did he push for this? His aides say no. It was other senators who did so. Also, 636 million for firefighting for the interior department and the forest service, 450 million for flood damaged roads in Colorado. You'll remember those flood earlier this year, and $294 million for the VA to reduce veterans benefits claims backlogs. We've been hearing a lot about those backlogs. So, those are just some of the examples of what's been attached to this bill. So, it's re-opening the government, but it's also doing a few other things -- Zoraida.

SAMBOLIN: Let's talk about all of the government workers that were furloughed, because we know that they actually were not receiving paychecks, and eventually, I guess the government is going to get back on track with that, but when are they actually going to get back to their jobs?

JONES: Well, they are supposed to get back today. The order went out last night that because both Houses passed this bill, the president signed it, the government is open for business, normal operations starting today again. And so, some of these workers may not get the message. Are they watching TV late at night to see what happens?

They're not necessarily checking their Blackberries if they've been ordered not to do so. So, we'll see how many come back to work and how quickly all of those hundreds of thousands of folks are back on the job -- Zoraida.

SAMBOLIN: All right. Athena Jones live in Washington for us. We're so happy to have you with us this morning. Thank you.

JONES: Thanks.

BERMAN: Texas senator, Ted Cruz, is pledging to keep on fighting despite this deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (voice-over): And his actions are drawing the ire of the "Houston Chronicle." That's his hometown paper. "The Chronicle" endorsed Cruz for Senate last year but is now publishing editorial saying that it wishes his predecessor, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, was still serving saying that Cruz has put himself to be part of the problem in Washington.

SAMBOLIN (voice-over): And Cory Booker has held off a Tea Party challenger winning a special election to be the next senator from New Jersey. His margin of victory, ten points, despite a big push from his opponent and big names like Sarah Palin stomping for the Republicans. Booker is closely allied with President Obama and he has pledged he will work to bridge the divide between the right and the left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORY BOOKER, (D) NEW JERSEY SENATOR-ELECT: We must do better because when better is possible, even good is not enough. We are America! We are founded to be great, not good. To be great. And that is why I'm going to Washington.

STEVE LONEGAN, (R) SENATE CANDIDATE: It's time for others now to step up. Step up to the plate to run for office in your local communities, become activists, not to be afraid to run for Congress. Who would expect a small town mayor to come this close from upsetting the U.S. Senate seat?

SAMBOLIN: Booker will finish out the term of the late senator, Frank Lautenberg, who died in June. He is expected to be sworn in after all of the results are certified and that should be sometime in early November.

BERMAN: South Dakota ranchers are still reeling from a devastating snowstorm that left entire herds devastated. What they're asking for, they're saying don't send us blankets or food. They want you to send them pregnant cows. They need the heifers help to replenish their herds.

So far, 20 cattlemen from nearby states have pledged to help. It could take another two weeks to nail down just how many cows were killed by the storm, but it was a lot.

SAMBOLIN: No. Yes. They were reporting thousands upon thousands killed.

So, it was one of the deadliest listeria outbreak in the United States that killed 33 people. Now, two Colorado farmers have worked out a deal with federal prosecutors to enter a guilty plea in that case. The brothers, Eric and Ryan Jensen (ph) were facing six counts of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce tied to shipping tainted cantaloupes in 2011. Details of the agreement have not yet been released.

BERMAN: The fate of a ban on gay marriage in Michigan is set to be decided at trial. Gay activists hope U.S. district court judge, Bernard Friedman, would make an immediate decision on a lawsuit filed by a gay couple seeking the right to wed. Instead, he said on Wednesday, the issue merits a trial. It scheduled for February 25th.

SAMBOLIN: All right. So, the sale of pot for recreational use is almost a reality in the state of Washington. Rules for production and the retail sales approved by the state authorities on Wednesday. So, beginning next year, anyone 21 and over can buy one ounce of marijuana at over 300 state licensed stores. Washington is the second state to make it legal, following Colorado's lead.

BERMAN: Some frightening moments aboard in Alaska Airline's flight heading to Hawaii. Pilots forced to make an emergency landing in Oakland after what may have been a bird strike. The Boeing 737 had just taken off from San Jose in California when pilots reported a bird may have flown into one of the engines. The plane did land safely and the passengers were put on another flight. Luckily, there were no injuries.

SAMBOLIN: Let's continue talking about airplanes here. An investigation is now underway into that real scary engine fire on a Spirit Airline's jet that was flying from Dallas to Atlanta. We brought you this story yesterday. An engine burst into flames just minutes after takeoff. And as you saw in the cabin, it filled up with smoke. The NTSB says it recalled workers furloughed by the government shutdown and urged to begin looking into just what happened. So, no answers just yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (on-camera): All right. Thirty-nine minutes after the hour. It is Thursday. What will the weather be like for us all outside?

SAMBOLIN (on-camera): I know who knows. Indra Petersons.

BERMAN: Indra Petersons.

(LAUGHTER)

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're definitely talking about mild temperatures this morning. It feels good. Look at all the 50s, especially in the northeast. Looks like New York right now even 62, Philly you're actually 63 degrees this morning. The reason for that is what we're in. We call the warm sector. I know, too dorky for you, but there's a warm front.

We're getting all this warm air still kind of coming in from the south, but we know it's going to change, because here comes the cold front. That changes everything. That means we start to get that cold, dry air in from Canada instead. It also means some light rain. You can actually see that front making its way across currently with light rain already in the vicinity.

Looks like if you're into the New York area or kind of like the mid- Atlantic northeast, look for the showers overnight tonight and through tomorrow, but very light from the -- we're talking about really only about an inch of rain. No matter what whether Ohio Valley into the northeast and really all the way even into the gulf on the tail end of that system.

So, it's not a major system. The big thing, really, is that there's two out there. So, we're going to start to see cool air once we get that cold air and place (ph) is going to stay because another one is going to whip through --

BERMAN: You know, we talk about media bias. You have such an aversion to cold. I think it affects your job.

PETERSONS: I think so. But you know, for everyone out there like me, a total plus.

(LAUGHTER)

SAMBOLIN: You should go back and take a look when you say cold, dry air.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

SAMBOLIN: Thanks, Indra.

BERMAN: So, we've all heard, you know, certain ways that airports get shut down, bad weather, there've been bomb threats.

SAMBOLIN: I love this story.

BERMAN: This one is highly unusual. Take a look what shut down an airport in Melbourne, Australia. It just bounced across the screen there. That's a kangaroo, folks. It wandered into the Qantus terminal and it went into the pharmacy there.

SAMBOLIN: Why did it go into the pharmacy?

BERMAN: Well, the kangaroo apparently had some injuries to his feet and teeth. Unclear if he had it before or after going into the airport, but maybe he just wanted some meds, right?

SAMBOLIN: He specifically went into the pharmacy --

BERMAN: Just for some meds.

SAMBOLIN: Yes.

BERMAN: It shut down the airport temporarily.

SAMBOLIN: How cute.

BERMAN: They were able to catch the kangaroo. He is now resting in the care of a veterinarian. Convalescing, the kangaroo right now.

SAMBOLIN: They're going to make him much better.

BERMAN: Officials say it's not unusual to see these marsupials outside the airport but inside, apparently, that's totally different story. Well --

SAMBOLIN: Gingerly removing the kangaroo. That's really nice. Happy ending.

BERMAN: Happy ending. All right. Coming up for us next, residents shaken when they meet their newest neighbors. Forget the kangaroo. Check out this family of bears!

SAMBOLIN: Hey, mom -- can you imagine the kids? Hey, mom, look out the window!

BERMAN: There goes the neighborhood.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Quite a surprise for residents of one Georgia subdivision. Look who moved in. Bears. A family of bears. A female and her cubs just running down the street in the Atlanta suburbs. The residents came out, wanting to see the family for themselves. People came out and started taking pictures right there, apparently. There were some worries. There were kids playing nearby. It is not something people who live in that community. They say they've never seen anything like this before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MORAVER (PH), WITNESS: I'm not sure if they were searching for food or what they were doing, but, you know, they could have just been trying to find a way out of the subdivision. There are a lot of kids in this neighborhood, so it is a little scary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Look, I mean, the suburbs are great.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: I mean, I moved out to the suburbs also. Maybe that's what bears wanted.

SAMBOLIN: The bears moved in --

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: The bears left the area without incidence. They went back to the woods there.

SAMBOLIN: Now, I would be scared about the kids playing outside. What do you do? What do you do?

BERMAN: I don't know.

SAMBOLIN: I don't know either. All right.

BERMAN: Time now for our "Morning Rhyme." We have no answers for you, but we do have rhyming stuff. These are the best tweets of the day. The first is from Von Hep. He writes, "What I add to morning brews is CNN morning news. No more shutdown. I am happy. But still, it seems, like it's crappy."

(LAUGHTER)

SAMBOLIN: I love that.

BERMAN: Well done. That's a long morning rhyme.

SAMBOLIN: That was a good one.

BERMAN: Very good.

SAMBOLIN: All right. And this one comes from our friend, Rob Barnett (ph). Berman, where is the bobblehead today? I guess, after last night's loss, you put it away."

BERMAN: Take a lot of heat for the Red Sox. They're now tied 2-2 against the Tigers. The Big Papi --

SAMBOLIN: But you say you're not worried. You're not worried.

BERMAN: They're tied. There's a long way to go. There's a long way to go.

You can help us come up with your own tweets, the hash tag are morning rhyme or EARLY START. Send them our way. We read the best ones on the air. We'd love getting them. Thank you all so much for playing along.

SAMBOLIN: All right. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan join us this morning. Good morning.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, you guys. I hope you're having a happy morning. It is a very happy morning for thousands of federal workers who are going to be able to head back to work this morning. We are live again for you on Capitol Hill where just hours ago, Congress passed that deal to re-open the government, raise the debt limit and President Obama signed it just after the midnight deadline.

We're going to breakdown what's inside the deal, what it means for you, and we're going to talk to several lawmakers, including Senator John McCain, Senator Angus King, as well as Congressman Mick Mulvaney about their vote and what this means for battles going forward as well -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. And we're also going to be piecing together the story that really has shocked the country. Once again, we have a kid who took their own life because they were being bullied. This time, a sheriff has arrested two minors, 14 and 12-year-old girls. We're going to talk to the parents of one of those kids who've been accused of and see what they know, see what they say.

They're telling a different story. We're also going to have the sheriff who's piecing this together. We're trying to do our best to keep this story in the light to deal with the problem that troubles us too often as a country. So, we're going to take that on this morning on "NEW DAY."

BERMAN: An important discussion. Thanks so much, guys. See you in a little bit.

SAMBOLIN: And coming up, a big night for baseball. Four teams vying to play in the World Series but only two can come out victorious. So, who's pulling ahead? Andy Scholes is breaking it all down right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: I'm talked out on baseball, I got to tell you. We've been talking about it during the break non-stop.

BERMAN: Why? Because the Detroit Tigers, they got it all going on last night in game four of the ALCS. That series is now tied up. SAMBOLIN: Andy Scholes joins us now with more on this morning's "Bleacher Report." Break it all down because John Berman is dying to relive every moment.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Oh, I'm sure he doesn't want to relive any of this. You know, because the Tigers, they had a pretty much win last night's game if they wanted to get back in the series and that's just what they did. After not scoring at all in game three, the bats finally showed up for them. The Tigers came out roaring in the second inning, scoring five runs off Jake Peavy.

And that was plenty for starter, Doug Fister. Detroit wins the game 7-3. They even the series at two games apiece. Game five is tonight at 8:00 eastern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Batting six in right field, number 66, he said the Chupacabra is real. Yasiel Puig!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The Dodgers bringing in the star power to try to help them stay alive in the NLCS. Will Farrell pumping up the crowd with some creative introductions. And hey, it must have worked. The Dodgers hadn't hit a home run all series. They hit a team record four in game five as team playoff record. Two of them came off the bat of Adrian Gonzalez.

Check him out there, throwing up the Mickey Mouse ears. That was a clear jab at Cardinal's pitch, Adam Wainwright who said Gonzalez had done some Mickey Mouse stuff while celebrating Monday. Dodgers win the game 6-4. Game six is tomorrow night on TBS.

All right. Trending right now on BleacherReport.com is the drama surrounding Peyton Manning's homecoming to Indy this Sunday. Earlier in the week, Colts owner, Jim Irsay, told "USA Today," basically, it was great having Peyton Manning, but in the end, he only won one Super Bowl. The Broncos head coach, John Fox, called the comments disappointing and inappropriate. When asked about it yesterday, Peyton went with the no comment approach.

Now, Peyton's dad, Archie, one of 13 people, who've been selected to be on the new committee that will decide which four college football teams make the playoffs. The most surprising name on the committee is former secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. Despite never working directly in college athletics, Rice says she has what it takes to be part of the committee, because she is no stranger to analyzing data and making tough decisions.

SAMBOLIN: Good point.

SCHOLES: Yes. The committee will meet four times during the season starting in mid-October and they're going to release rankings every other week. And guys, Rice also said that to her strenghten schedule and head-to-head matchups are going to be a pretty big deal when they decide which of these teams going to go to playoffs. So, she hopes it's going to encourage big schools like Alabama to not play like North Texas --

BERMAN: No, look, Secretary Rice is a huge sports fan, a huge football fan. She was also (INAUDIBLE) Stanford university which is a great -- she knows college sports there. I think that her presence on that committee is a terrific thing. Andy Scholes --

SAMBOLIN: And there you have it.

BERMAN: -- great to have you. I have spoken!

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: And we'll be back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Ah. The soothing sounds of Van Halen in the morning!

(CROSSTALK)

SAMBOLIN: But, whatever.

BERMAN: So, when you say the name Van Halen, when you hear the music, this one thing comes to mind. It is the shredding rocking guitar. But, would you be confused by a design company with that name? The band is now suing Kelly Van Halen, the wife of former drummer, Alex Van Halen for using her last name as the name for her construction and interior design business. They do lovely reupholstering.

SAMBOLIN: What?

BERMAN: They want a judge to say that the band owns the right to Van Halen as a commercial enterprise, and her business, her interior design business, is infringing on their trademark. She does drapes, perhaps?

SAMBOLIN: Van Halen drapes?

BERMAN: What's wrong with Van Halen drapery?

SAMBOLIN: It's a last name.

BERMAN: We were showing David Lee Roth. Who do you like more, David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar?

SAMBOLIN: None of the above.

BERMAN: All right.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: On that note, that was all for EARLY START. SAMBOLIN: It is time for "NEW DAY." Take it away, Chris and Kate.

BOLDUAN: Let's start with Chris.

CUOMO: David Lee Roth, come on, it's a no brainer.

All right, everybody. It's time for your "NEW DAY." Here's the top news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: We fought a good fight. We just didn't win.

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight. The shutdown finally over. The debt ceiling raised. A possible crisis averted. The president signing the bill early this morning after a brutal Congressional battle.

CUOMO: We begin again. Government workers returning, national parks reopening, but the question this morning, lesson learned? How do we avoid going through this all over again just months from now?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN worldwide exclusive. The chilling surveillance tapes from inside the Kenyan mall during that terrorist attack last month. What the tape shows of the gunmen's brutal tactics.

CUOMO: Your "NEW DAY" starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Another beautiful sight this morning and a good morning to all of you. Welcome to "NEW DAY." It is Thursday, October 17th, six o'clock in the east. We are live in Washington again for you this morning. And to borrow a phrase from a past crisis, the long national nightmare is over if only just for a few months.

At 12:30 this morning, a half hour past the debt ceiling deadline, President Obama signed a bill that raised the debt ceiling and re- opened the government 16 days later -- 16 days after the government shut down, Chris.

CUOMO: We got to remember that. Two long weeks. Hundreds of thousands of government workers and their families forced to make it without pay. All that time, Congress fought with itself and with the president to no effect. Getting paid all the while, I might add. But today is a "NEW DAY."

Here's a live look at the capitol. That's where Kate is, looking great, re-opening to tourists today. Thousands of furloughed workers returning to their jobs. And look at this, this may be the first tweet from a previously shuttered government agency.