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New Day Saturday

House Republican Meet At 9AM ET; Senate Plan On Fiscal Crisis Gains Momentum; California Man Charged With Terrorism; Powerful Cyclone Bears Down On India; Three Bikers Indicted In SUV Attack; Get Your Coffee, Sign A Petition; Interview With Rep. Robert Pittenger Of North Carolina; The Bravest Girl in the World; Diet Pill Linked to Liver Failure

Aired October 12, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): New this morning, three people have been indicted in that violent clash between bikers and an SUV driver. And wait until you hear who one police officer really is.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This weekend, Starbucks is serving up more than coffee. They have a petition to reopen the government, and send a message to Washington.

MALALA YOUSAFZAI, ACTIVIST: They only can shoot a body. They cannot shoot my dreams.

BLACKWELL: She refused to die. And in doing so, became a hero. Christiane Amanpour sat down with the teenager, the student, the inspiration, Malala Yousafzai.

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CABRERA: Lots to talk about on this Saturday. Thanks for being here. I'm Ana Cabrera.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell: So let's get started, 8:00 here on the east coast. This is NEW DAY SATURDAY and we starting this hour in Washington. We are just about an hour away from a meeting of House Republicans.

CABRERA: Speaker John Boehner meeting with members of his party, trying to work out a deal that can please his party and make it past the president.

BLACKWELL: But one plan that will not work, pushing the debt debate back instead of solving it.

CABRERA: And Brianna Keilar is at the White House. Brianna, the president seems pretty adamant about not delaying this fight. Could that complicate negotiations?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sorry, Ana. I didn't hear you. Can you repeat the question?

CABRERA: Yes, you know, the president has obviously said he doesn't want to push back getting the government up and running. But there's the debt ceiling that's also becoming front and center. Are the negotiations getting a little more complicated because of the two issues, and trying to bring them together?

KEILAR: You know, I think they are getting a little complicated, or maybe they're sort of simple and they're just sort of staying where they were. It's really unclear at this point, but President Obama talked to the speaker yesterday on the phone. He spoke with business leaders. He talked to governors on the phone. He had Senate Republicans over here. And the mood had really shifted from Thursday into Friday, as you'll recall, after he'd met with House Republicans.

It seemed like, you know, he talked over the last couple days about being open to a short-term debt ceiling increase of six weeks. That they really needed to kind of sort out some of the details and how to reopen the government, but now it sort of feels like they're not making any progress. They're very careful to make it seem like they are certainly still talking.

But it's unclear if they're talking in a real substantive way. Case in point, yesterday we saw Jay Carney delay the White House briefing past when the markets closed. On Thursday, amid that news that at least both sides were talking, we saw 323-point jump in the Dow, a sign of encouragement, the markets were encouraged, they obviously responded very emotionally to this kind of thing.

And it appeared, although the White House didn't say it, that they were afraid as Jay Carney came out and he was saying that they want to push kind of beyond this six-week extension, they don't love the idea of having this debt ceiling battle all over again right before Thanksgiving and the holiday retail shopping time.

That there was some concern that the markets would pick up this sort of -- I don't know if it's a major slow down, or we become calm here, but certainly that's definitely the feeling here -- Ana and Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, they were patting themselves on the back yesterday for talking to one another. Brianna, I want to ask you about the president saying over and over, not going negotiate, I'm not going to negotiate. But is there any room here, now that they're having conversations, any room to negotiate or give on anything in Obamacare?

KEILAR: You know, on Obamacare, no. I mean, think of it like this. Obamacare is the president's sort of crowning jewel legislatively, a hard-fought battle in Congress. It could have been gutted by the Supreme Court, but instead he had a victory. He doesn't want to touch Obamacare. He said he's open to improvements to Obamacare, but really, when you talk to Republicans, the only improvement they really see is killing the entire thing. So that's not something that he is going to agree with.

And it's interesting, Victor, you picked up on that idea of negotiating. They say they're talking. They're not saying they're negotiating and that's because the White House has been very clear, they didn't want to negotiate on the debt ceiling. So it's sort of -- they're trying to figure out a way, I think, to scoot past each other where Republicans feel like at least they have some sort of fig leaf, some sort of modicum of a condition or a concession they get here.

But the White House wants to make it clear that they didn't negotiate. So you can see how difficult it is in a way for them to kind of find the middle ground here, even though they are making sort of positive noises about talking.

CABRERA: A lot of frustration, though, until people are done talking, to talk the talk and walk the walk. Brianna Keillar at the White House, thanks for that. Now just one hour from now, House Republicans getting ready to plot their next move.

BLACKWELL: Yes, their plan is to raise the debt ceiling for just a few weeks. It seems to be losing ground to a Senate proposal.

CABRERA: CNN's Athena Jones is at the capitol this morning. Athena, tell us what you know about this GOP meeting.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana and Victor. Well, the plan, as you mentioned, is for Speaker Boehner to meet with his caucus and talk about a way forward. This plan of theirs would simply lift the debt limit until November 22nd, doesn't have a lot of support from the White House. The president is cool to the idea of just touching the debt limit, just raising it for a short time, and also not also reopening the government.

So there had been some talk about a vote on this GOP plan as early as today. But it's looking pretty clear that even if that bill were to pass the House, it doesn't look like it has much of a future. At the same time, on the Senate side, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is planning a vote today on a clean -- so-called clean extension of the debt limit for a year. That's with no strings attached and that's not looking like it has a lot of support.

My colleague, Dana Bash, spoke with folks on both sides of the aisle in the Senate and it looked like that would fail. I spoke to a Republican senator who says holding this vote, even, is a political stunt that's going to get in the way of both sides coming together on a deal that could pass both the House and the Senate and make it to the president's desk.

BLACKWELL: It's getting in the way of that? Holding this vote? Is a stunt getting in the way as if there was a clear path before that is the question? All right, Athena Jones at the capitol, thank you.

Orange County, California, a man is facing a terrorism charge this morning. A federal grand jury indicted Sin Vingo Win on one count of attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda.

CABRERA: The FBI says Win was arrested while boarding a bus to Mexico. Now the indictment did not spell out any specifics of his alleged criminal activity.

The other big story we're following, a potentially deadly tropical cyclone is bearing down on North Eastern India. This is a big mama.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's Phailin, more than 1,500 miles wide, roughly the distance from Maine to Miami. You know, we have been following this as it approaches the shore here, so many millions of people in the way. They're now taking a zero casualty approach, which means even if you don't want to leave you've got to get out of the way. They're taking shuttle buses, right?

CABRERA: Yes, they are taking shuttle buses through the neighborhoods to kind of clear out the path of this storm following very deadly storm many, many years ago.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We were going to get to meteorologist Karen Maginnis in just a moment. But I want to go to Lonzo Cook there at the coast. What are the conditions like there?

LONZO COOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, the conditions, pretty awful, Victor. We've just spent the last four hours driving across -- driving right next to the bay here, in the coastal resort town, and we went right up to the beach area where we saw already the storm surge lashing the coast. That town, normally a buzzing resort town with tourists, is basically empty.

A few locals are still there. Those who happen to live in concrete structures, but essentially what we have seen is darkening skies and higher and higher rains as people wait for the cyclone to hit -- Victor.

CABRERA: Lonzo, we know there are some 440,000 people that are already evacuated, those numbers still growing as the cyclone moves closer. How else are people preparing for what could be a very dangerous condition?

COOK: Well, at the resort town where we were just, people were talking about the provision for their safety. Some had gone to official cyclone centers. And some others, about 300 to 500 people from that town, had decided to go to the local high school, which is on high ground. They felt that would give them the sort of security they needed with the strong concrete basement and first floor to protect them. Now, what they are worried about is not the water. They think that on the high land, they are -- they're fairly safe, but it's the wind that really keeps them worried.

BLACKWELL: All right, Lonzo Cook, our New Delhi bureau chief on the north eastern coast of India. Thank you for that. Now let's go to Karen Maginnis. Because Karen, I want to know from you. It surprised me there are so many people who are still there, even with concrete structures, having worked in Florida and you live there for a while, a Category 4, which is this is much like, is still a strong storm. How bad could this be?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It could be devastating. And the comparison, as I mentioned earlier, they haven't seen anything like this for the past 14 years, but this is peak tropical cyclone season. This is within hours of making landfall, and, yes, still thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people lining the coast, which is very low-lying, and they are very vulnerable.

But you can imagine that the agriculture, the cattle, the livestock they have there, they want to protect all of that because they are quite vulnerable. This is within hours of making landfall. We go back to 1999 that had over 10,000 people that were killed with that tropical cyclone. This one isn't as strong. I say that with a lot of caution, because that had 155-mile-an-hour winds associated with this. This is at 150. Rainfall could add up to about a foot.

And we will see that wind field carry on into the next 24 and 48 hours. It will gradual weaken. So that will be the good news, but it looks like we're going to have to estimate the damage from this for days. Rainfall across mid-Atlantic, I want to show you one of the casualties from the rainfall, this is a sinkhole, this in Pennsylvania, one of seven states that are very prone to sinkholes.

Take a look at that. No one injured, but they had to evacuate about a block's worth of people who were living in that vicinity. Back to you, Ana, Victor.

CABRERA: Wet weather there. Thank you, Karen Maginnis in the CNN Severe Weather Center. We appreciate it.

Still to come on NEW DAY another New York police officer now investigated in connection to that violent clash involving bikers and an SUV driver. Wait until you hear what job he has at this department.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And the American people have a message for Congress. Get your act together and they're sending it courtesy of Starbucks.

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CABRERA: Three bikers have now been indicted in connection with that violent clash involving an SUV driver in New York.

BLACKWELL: Yes, they are Craig Wright, Reginald Chance and Robert Sims, all of them they are accused of attacking Alexian Lien right in front of his wife and child. CNN's Margaret Conley is live in New York with more on this. Margaret, what's the latest now on this investigation?

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, seven bikers have now been arrested in the SUV driver's assault part of a high speed chase with motorcyclists here in New York that was captured on video and went viral. Alex Lien, the driver of the SUV, he was seen for the first time in public on Friday afternoon. You can see him here in video shot by CNN affiliate, WABC, leaving his apartment building.

Lien was treated at a hospital after he was attacked and beaten by bikers two weeks ago. The incident also left one biker seriously injured after his SUV ran over him. Now on to the bikers arrested. Three of the bikers have been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. They have been individually accused of either striking the SUV driver, using their helmet to smash on the window or drag him out of his vehicle. Their next court appearance will be their arraignment scheduled for October 30th that's about two-and-a-half weeks away and that's when their charger will be made public. The police are still looking for at least four other bikers who may have attacked the SUV driver.

CABRERA: Margaret, we understand there's another officer who may be involved in all of this. What can you tell us about this now third officer that's coming to light in this case?

CONLEY: Ana, one has been arrested, one police officer, and we have photos of him. Let's start with him. He's the one that's blurred out right here. His name is Wojciech Braszczok. He is 32 years old and has worked as an undercover detective. We've now know that he was involved in infiltrating organizations including "The Occupy Wall Street Movement."

We still don't know why it took him three days to report to his superiors that he was here. Also, CNN has now learned that a third officer could have been on the scene, and this one worked for Internal Affairs. That's the same department that's investigating this very case. Here's more from CNN's legal analyst, Paul Callan.

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PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's hugely significant. IAD officers are supposed to be the guys who really enforce the law. They enforce the law, even against fellow police officers, the letter of the law, and to think that an IAD officer might, in fact, be involved in this incident, I think the public will be very upset and disturbed about this.

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CONLEY: Now, the officer's lawyer told our Susan Candiotti that his client has worked with Internal Affairs for five years. He didn't see any part of the assault take place and says the officer didn't do anything wrong. But we do know it still took him a few days to come forward with what he saw. All of this continues to be investigated.

BLACKWELL: Yes, there's a new development in this. It seems like every day. Margaret Conley, thanks for staying on top of it for us.

CABRERA: Starbucks wants you to send a message to Washington when you get your coffee today. In fact, it's asking you to sign on to the come together petition. And a lot of folks already have. Find out just how many, next.

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CABRERA: It's 21 minutes after the top of the hour. All across the country, a lot of people have a message for Washington. Get the government back up and running now.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and Starbucks is helping deliver that message. Let's get more now from CNN's Nick Valencia. He is at a Starbucks coffee house right here in Atlanta. Nick, tell us, what is this plan? What's this program from Starbucks?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana and Victor. This is their part of the conversation. A lot of people are sending messages to Washington, and star bucks is asking every one of their customers that walks into one of their more than 11,000 locations around the United States this weekend to sign this petition. They're asking the politicians in Washington to end this bipartisan gridlock.

Already here at this Starbucks behind me, more than 120 people have signed this petition. Starbucks says more than 1 million people have signed it, since Friday. And earlier, Victor and Ana, I spoke to some of those people in support and have already signed this petition.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a great idea, because Starbucks is everywhere. And those people in Washington, our representatives and our congressmen, they need to know that we need a responsible government, probably a symbolic message to Washington. But I think it might get through.

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VALENCIA: And, of course, you know, some people just think that it's symbolic message and won't lead to any tangible results. Earlier I talked to a couple people who said they aren't going to sign it. They just don't think it will make a difference -- Ana, Victor.

CABRERA: People already giving up. That's not a good sign. Nick Valencia, thank you for that.

BLACKWELL: Congress knows that a lot of people out there really don't like them and that sentiment led one politician to say, what?

CABRERA: Florida Republican Allen Grayson took to the House floor to note some despicable things that are more popular than Congress. Listen to this.

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REPRESENTATIVE ALAN GRAYSON (R), FLORIDA: What do you have a higher opinion of? Congress or witches? Congress, 32 percent, witches, 46 percent. What do you have a higher opinion of, Congress or hemorrhoids? Congress, 31 percent, hemorrhoids, 53 percent. What do you have a higher opinion of, Congress or dog poop? Congress 40 percent, dog poop, 47 percent.

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BLACKWELL: When you lose to hemorrhoids and dog poop, times are tough.

CABRERA: You have really failed.

BLACKWELL: As you heard, that was enough for the man with the gavel to shut Grayson down. CABRERA: Another congressman used the House hearing to mock Republicans over the IRS scandal. You might remember we found out back in May, the IRS had targeted conservative groups.

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REPRESENTATIVE GERALD CONNOLY (D), VIRGINIA: Have you been consorting with the devil?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not to my knowledge, sir.

CONNOLY: Are reports that you can fly accurate?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Greatly exaggerated, sir.

CONNOLY: Have you been involved in any way in trying to pervert our youth in Salem or anywhere else?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I certainly hope not, sir.

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BLACKWELL: Clearly hear the comparison of a witch hunt there and witches and hemorrhoids and toe nail fungus.

CABRERA: Well, that's a wrap on another edition of politicians say what?

BLACKWELL: A lot of government offices are closed for the shutdown but not this one. We'll talk live with Congressman Robert Pittinger about his open for business strategy.

CABRERA: But first, Christine Romans has preview of "YOUR MONEY" coming up in an hour from now. Good morning, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ana and Victor. Washington's short-term thinking is causing long-term economic harm, but world's financial system is based on trust. And trust in the U.S. is eroding quickly. If it's not fixed and fast, you will be stuck with a massive bill. That's all coming up at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on an emergency edition of "YOUR MONEY."

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CABRERA: Bottom of the hour now. Great to have you with us on this Saturday. I'm Ana Cabrera.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Let's start with five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

CABRERA: Number one, Republican lawmakers in the House gather in 30 minutes to discuss a way forward. Their proposal to raise the debt ceiling for just a few weeks seems to have been overtaken by a new Senate plan. That proposal would increase the government's borrowing authority until at least January, and reopen the government. Also on this shutdown, we've been talking about different things happening inside. We do want to make a quick correction. We talked about Alan Grayson. He is a Democrat from Florida not a Republican from Florida so important to note that.

BLACKWELL: Number two, the president and Michelle Obama welcomed Malala Yousafzai to the White House. Their daughter, Malia, you see her there on the left of the screen, she was there too. The Pakistani teen survived being shot by the Taliban for saying that girls have as much right to be in the classroom as boys.

Now, President Obama says that Malala is helping the dream of girls around the world come true by speaking out so courageously. Malala sat down with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, and we'll give you a sneak peek of that amazing interview, just ahead.

CABRERA: Such an inspirational young girl. Number three, three bikers have now been indicted in the violent crash involving the SUV driver in New York. Craig Wright, Reginald Chance and Robert Sims are accused of attacking Alexian Lien in front of his wife and child. Now four other people have been arrested including at least one New York police officer who was riding with that group.

BLACKWELL: Number four, staying in New York City, parents there are desperately searching for their son, who has autism. The 14-year-old Avante Oquendo has been missing for about a week after running off from his school. His parents say he cannot take care of himself and someone needs to find him. A $70,000 reward is being offered for his safe return.

CABRERA: Number five, evacuations under way in India as a potentially catastrophic tropical cyclone turns toward shore there. Nearly half a million people have fled. This is cyclone Phailin -- about 1,500 miles wide, huge, roughly the distance from Maine to Miami. This storm is as strong as a Category 4 hurricane with winds as strong as 150 miles per hour. They're already whipping the coastal areas. Landfall is expected in about three-and-a-half hours.

BLACKWELL: You know plenty of government offices have had a "closed" sign hanging on that door for 12 days now. But not the front door of one congressman's office.

CABRERA: That's Representative Robert Pittenger, a North Carolina Republican. He's keeping his offices in Washington and Charlotte open during the shutdown.

BLACKWELL: Congressman Pittenger thanks for talking with us this morning. Good to have you here.

REP. ROBERT PITTENGER (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Good morning, Ana and Victor.

BLACKWELL: Here is my question why did you decide to keep your offices up and running?

PITTENGER: Well you know part of my job is public policy, to deal with the great issues of this country, but the other part is meeting the needs of my constituents. We have a very dedicated staff. They love people. They love to serve. And we just really felt that with the inception of the new health care plan, the rollout, that a lot of people have concerns. As well, we recognize that there are other needs out there too.

Now we had a rancher who was going to lose his ranch, because he couldn't get something processed through the USDA. We've had people with visa issues that were stuck in countries. We've helped over 100 people just in the last week or so. So we just felt it was important. To be there to meet those needs.

CABRERA: Well, we know you're still getting paid through all of this. You mentioned your staff members. Are they getting paid right now?

PITTENGER: No, I'm not getting paid. Number one, I donated my salary a long time ago. But I signed a bill that said that we shouldn't receive pay. I don't accept pay during this time. And I don't accept the pay at any time. But no, the staff don't get paid. They're out there. Hopefully some time that they will get paid. But they're -- they're doing their work in good faith.

CABRERA: So you are asking them to work for free right now.

PITTENGER: Well, they're there. And they're committed. They are very dedicated people. Some of them are deacons in their church. I mean they love people. They want to be there. They don't want to just abandon their job.

BLACKWELL: Well, I'm sure that hundreds of thousands of people who have been sent home for the furlough, they love people and the love serving people, as well. But let me ask you about something you said in the "Charlotte Observer". You said that this debate now has gone beyond Obamacare and you're looking forward at the argument over the debt ceiling. And you want to talk about spending and cutting back on the budget.

PITTENGER: Yes it is.

BLACKWELL: My question is, are you willing to blow by the October 17th deadline, unless you get some commitment from the White House on cutting spending?

PITTENGER: I think spending is the biggest crisis we have. No matter what thoughtful person you talk to. You could talk to Peter Orszag, who's the budget writer for Mr. Obama or Erskine Bowles, who was the same for Mr. Clinton or Paul Ryan. Look I tell you this unless we address spending in this country we're headed for a financial collapse no different that Greece.

So I think we have to get a-hold of that. I know this crisis is coming up. I heard today that Mr. Obama does not want to extend beyond six weeks. I'm really not as concerned about the timetable as I am concerned about constructively what's being done to address the excessive spending. If you're taking $2.5 trillion and you're spending $3.5 trillion, you've got a problem. And this country has a problem. And the reason why we have to increase the debt ceiling is because we have out of control spending. That's the issue right now. And we have to do that.

BLACKWELL: I get that. But the question still stands, unless you get a commitment from the White House on cutting spending, are you willing to allow the country to go by the October 17th deadline without raising the debt ceiling?

PITTENGER: I think that would be really in poor judgment. But that's uncharted waters. I don't -- I would hate to see that happen. Moody's has come out and said yes, that's achievable. You could do that. You could make your interest payments. You could pay Social Security. You could prioritize your funding. I would rather not do that. I would rather see responsible, competent, capable people in that room addressing the real fiscal crisis that we have in this country.

And unfortunately, in the last five years, Mr. Obama hasn't chosen to do that. He never mentioned it in his inauguration, not in the state of the union, when he came and met with House Republicans. He never brought it up. Frankly, he never -- he said the deficits weren't a big problem to him. That's really not accurate.

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CABRERA: Mr. Pittenger.

PITTENGER: We have to be serious about this.

CABRERA: Mr. Pittenger, I want to ask you about a new poll, a new NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" poll this week asked if you could vote to defeat and replace every member of Congress, would you. And a whopping 60 percent said yes. That's the highest ever recorded in that poll. What are your thoughts on that?

PITTENGER: Well, I understand the frustrations of the American people. And frankly, that poll is really pretty typical through the years. Most people really don't have much appreciation for Congress in itself. Hopefully they like their congressman.

But yes, we have to be accountable. We have to do our job. We haven't done our job. And we're trying to put out the reasonable offers to try to address this shutdown, but more importantly, to address the fiscal crisis in this country. That's the big issue out there. That's the elephant in the room. We can't get our focus off of that. And until we do that --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: And you mentioned -- you mentioned doing your job. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

PITTENGER: It's all right. CABRERA: But you know let's talk a little bit more about doing your job. And what are you doing, actively right now, to get the government back up and running? Right now?

PITTENGER: Well, that's very good. Well we've made four proposals to the Senate. They've been laid on the table. The last one was, this "Hey, we shouldn't receive a subsidy." Members of Congress, White House people, why should we get a privileged subsidy that ordinary Americans don't get.

As well, we said this was the only two requirements in this last effort. Why should 1,100 corporations receive a delay and yet ordinary Americans can't. Ordinary Americans have to pay a penalty if they're not there and they don't sign up; 1,100 corporations don't have to do that.

Those are the only two qualifications we had to keep from shutting down the government. Apparently that wasn't acceptable. I think that's indefensible. But nonetheless, that's where we are.

We are willing to do anything. That's why we went to the White House and said, "Mr. President, we're here. We want to be responsible. We're here to go the extra mile, to go halfway. What can we do to bridge this gap and come together and unite this country?"

BLACKWELL: All right, Congressman Robert Pittenger, Republican from North Carolina, thank you for joining us. Coming up at 9:00 --

(CROSSTALK)

PITTENGER: Well thank you.

BLACKWELL: Certainly. We will be talking live with former Speaker Newt Gingrich, about what he would do in relation to the shutdown if he were House Speaker today.

CABRERA: She was 16 when she was shot by the Taliban for speaking up about women's rights. But she has not backed down from her message. CNN's Christiane Amanpour has her powerful interview, next.

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CABRERA: America's top diplomat is in Afghanistan. Secretary of State John Kerry plans to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the second straight day today. Topping their agenda, a security agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan -- it would allow U.S. troops to remain in the country of the NATO-led mission wraps up next year.

BLACKWELL: 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, the brave Pakistani advocate for girls' education. She was shot by the Taliban a year ago for promoting women's rights and nearly killed. But she never backed down from her message.

CABRERA: Incredible. Just 16 years old. CNN chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, interviewed Malala for her upcoming special and here's a preview.

CHRISTINE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana and Victor.

It is an extraordinary thing to be able to talk to Malala. She is a prodigy and really appears so much older than her young years. Now even though she didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize, when I asked her about it, she said, "In any event, I was way too young, I haven't done enough." And she says that despite the continued threats against her life, she will keep raising her voice for peace through children's and girls' education.

I asked her when we were on stage, what she remembered of the man, the Taliban who came to her bus and fired that gun at her.

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AMANPOUR: Let me take you back to that incredible day a year ago. Do you remember, Malala, what happened to you on that bus when somebody asked your friends, "Who is Malala?"

MALALA YOUSAFZAI, SHOT FOR PROMOTING WOMEN'S RIGHTS: He asked, "Who is Malala?" He did not give me time to answer his question. And my friend told me, best friend Moniba at that time you just squeezed my hand, you just pushed it with force. And you do not say anything.

And then in the next few seconds, he fired three bullets. One bullet hit me on the left side of my forehead, just above here. And it went down through my neck and into my shoulder. And I think I was hit by only one bullet. And it also affected my ear drum, so now I have problem in listening, as well. It also cut down my facial nerve.

But still, if I look at it, it's a miracle. My brain is saved, my spinal cord is saved. Everything is fine. I am alive. And I still can talk. I can smile. So I thank God for that.

AMANPOUR: You still have huge dreams. They didn't take that away from you.

YOUSAFZAI: They only can shoot a body. They cannot shoot my dreams. And I think my dreams are living.

The important thing -- the important thing is that they shot me. Because they wanted to tell me that we want to kill you and if -- stop your campaign. But they made a mistake, the biggest mistake. They ensured me and they told me (inaudible) that even death is supporting me. That even death does not want to kill me.

And now I'm not afraid of death. First, I might have been. But now I am totally not afraid of death. And when I look at the support of people, then I'm sure that this cause is never going to die. And we will see that a day will come, every child, whether a girl or boy, whether black or white, whether Christian or Muslim, he or she will be going to school. Inch'Allah.

(END VIDEO CLIP) AMANPOUR: Now, as I say, she is an extraordinary girl, as you can see, from just that short clip. And we are having the whole interview on Sunday, of course, as you know at 7:00 p.m. on CNN. But Malala who had started out wanting to be a doctor now in fact says that she wants to be a politician, and even a prime minister of Pakistan. Her hero was the late Benazhir Bhutto who was Pakistan's first prime minister, first female prime minister, and she was gunned down by the Taliban -- Ana and Victor?

BLACKWELL: Not too lofty a goal for this young woman. Christiane Amanpour, thank you. I don't know if I've ever heard her tell that story about when she was shot on that bus.

CABRERA: So brave. And to think she is just 16 years old.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CABRERA: Mature beyond her years, for sure.

BLACKWELL: Listen, you can see more of Christiane's interview with Malala when CNN airs "THE BRAVEST GIRL IN THE WORLD". That's tomorrow night as Christiane said at 7:00, right here on CNN.

CABRERA: And Malala's story has inspired people all around the world to want to help the cause of girls' education. To find out more about her new nonprofit organization, the Malala Fund, and for other ways you can help girls everywhere, go to CNN.com/impact.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

Hey, you've probably heard of people who wish for that magic pill, just pop the pill and it will help you lose weight.

CABRERA: Wouldn't be that nice?

BLACKWELL: Yes. Well, one pill that is supposed to help you drop pounds could end up causing liver failure -- something serious here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: This morning Minnesota Vikings' star Adrian Peterson is mourning the death of his two-year-old son, an apparent victim of child abuse. The boyfriend of that infant's mother has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault, also battery of an infant. Now if he is convicted he faces up to 40 years in prison. Peterson says that despite the tragedy, he will suit up and be ready to play football tomorrow.

CABRERA: 317 people have now been sickened in an ongoing salmonella outbreak. It's been reported in 20 states and Puerto Rico now. Federal investigators link that salmonella strain to raw chicken from Foster Farms processing plant in California. Most of the victims are in California.

BLACKWELL: A diet pill is being linked to two dozen cases of liver failure. CABRERA: And health officials are warning people, do not take it. CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, has more -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ana, Victor, the supplement is called Oxyelite Pro. And back in September health authorities in Hawaii noticed that there were seven people who had been previously perfectly healthy who all of a sudden were having liver problems and they couldn't figure it out and then more cases started popping up. Now they found that 24 people with liver problems were using this supplement. Now two of them have had to have transplants and another person has died. Her name was Sonnette Marras.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss her beautiful smile. I miss her everything-- everything about her. She was such a beautiful woman with seven children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: The Centers for Disease Control is now looking at other cases of liver problems in other states to see if they too are linked to Oxyelite Pro. We reached out to the company that makes Oxyelite Pro, and this is what they had to say. "The cluster of liver issues in Hawaii is a complete mystery, and nothing like this has ever been associated with Oxyelite Pro in all of the years our products have been on the market. We know of no credible evidence linking Oxyelite Proto to liver issues."

The company says they're taking the product off the market out of an abundance of caution -- Victor, Ana?

BLACKWELL: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for that.

CABRERA: Coming up on NEW DAY, don't believe everything your Smartphones and GPS mapping systems tell you, right?

One guy was nearly hit by a train thanks to a glitch in his GPS. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: According to new research, elephants can understand the communicative intent of human pointing. Like if a human points at something, an elephant can turn and instantly understand what you want. Isn't that amazing?

In fact, the only elephants that don't understand what people want are the Republicans in Congress. Those are the only ones. The rest -- all the others seem to get it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Not everybody liked that one, jay.

CABRERA: No.

BLACKWELL: Technology is not always perfect, although we love it. You've got your phone up here.

CABRERA: I know, reading this morning.

BLACKWELL: I usually have mine but they're in my bag over there. So this weekend we are telling you and every weekend, how tech can also ruin our lives.

CABRERA: We start with an issue so many of us have, right. You're constantly checking your smartphone. You're really not alone if you're guilty of this.

BLACKWELL: According to Buzz Feed, this is a study by the App Lock It. The average android user checks their phone 110 times a day. Some users -- and this is for real -- unlock their phones more than 900 times a day, 900 times in one day.

CABRERA: They need to change their setting so they don't have to keep unlocking.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Let it stay open for maybe three minutes or so. Maybe our producer Nora does that because Nora is always on her phone.

CABRERA: She's always informed, bringing you the very latest.

BLACKWELL: That was a nice spin on that. That was nice. Good job.

CABRERA: Have you seen skateboarders, bikers, surfers, wearing those Go Pro cameras?

BLACKWELL: Yes, right on the helmet.

CABRERA: Don't you wish you had invented that?

BLACKWELL: Yes, I wish I had. I wish I had one for like real life.

Police officers often wear similar devices, but recording the world around us could soon go to a whole new level.

CABRERA: Meet the Narrative Clip. While you wear it the tiny device takes two photos every minute of the world around you. Oh, it's also got a GPS, meaning you can use an app to find out where you were at an exact time, which, of course, could be pretty cool. But I guess kind of creepy too.

BLACKWELL: Yes, a little bit. A lot of people seem to like it, though. Last year, the device raised a half million dollars on Kickstarter. They start shipping it out next month so get ready to say cheese for that. My question is, can other people access where I've been?

CABRERA: That's what's scary, right.

BLACKWELL: I don't want other people to see the two shots of where I am at all times of the day.

CABRERA: No, I don't think we want to see where you are.

BLACKWELL: Wait a minute, what are you saying? Wait a minute.

CABRERA: All right. Moving on.

BLACKWELL: All right.

CABRERA: All right. It seems as if we're covering a lot of stories like this next one again. A GPS mapping device led someone into trouble. In fact, this one was a near-death experience.

BLACKWELL: What are you trying to say? No, I'm kidding.

In San Diego, a tourist says he was nearly hit by a train. It's because a glitch led him right on to railroad tracks in the dark.

CABRERA: Just two weeks ago, we told you about an Apple Mac glitch that led multiple people on to the runway on an airport in Alaska. Thankfully, no one has been injured in any of these incidents, but I think we're all guilty of kind of using this as your crutch wherever you go and it's not that difficult to go astray.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I find myself in the car white knuckling the steering wheel screaming at the phone, I can't make a left because I'm at the end of a dead end road. I mean it happens so often. I've actually used mine to walk places.

CABRERA: And we know how that can end too.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CABRERA: For many people. You take it out and you go.

BLACKWELL: Thanks for starting your morning with us.

CABRERA: We've got much more ahead on "NEW DAY SATURDAY" which continues right now.