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What is John Boehner's End Game?; Debt Ceiling Deadline's Effects; 911 Calls In Drawbridge Incident; One Swing Lifts Red Sox Past Tigers

Aired October 16, 2013 - 06:30   ET

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


RON BROWNSTEIN, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Good morning.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Great to see you, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: Good to see you again.

BOLDUAN: It's almost like you need to look back, to look forward, to find out how we got here, which is almost, it's just amazing. We started with a fight to delay or defund or dismantle Obamacare and we are here today.

How did we get here?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, this feels at once irrational and inexorable. In some way, we've been getting here since the 2010 election. These Republicans who were swept in in 2010 believe they were sent here with a mandate to resist Obama and his agenda by any means necessary.

What we're seeing is this extraordinary escalation of political conflict first using the government shutdown and then the debt ceiling, initially as you point out, not to even debate issues about the budget but this other question about the Obama health care plan.

And, you know, that has kind of taken us step by step toward -- through all these plate glass windows people thought we would never break.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. And time is a real issue. We can't overestimate that. Is there enough time do you think to strike a deal at this point?

BROWNSTEIN: There can be a deal. It's hard to imagine how the deal would cross all the procedural hurdles before we would hit the announced debt ceiling limit. So, I think a lot of the discussion today is going to be asking the White House, asking the Treasury, is there any wiggle room?

Because when you look at the time line, even under the best case scenario, it's hard to see this getting done before Friday or even Saturday.

BOLDUAN: Yesterday, there were a lot of proposals, conversations, a lot of meetings, conservatives being pulled into John Boehner's office and things fell apart. They were going to have a vote and they ended up pulling the vote. They didn't have it.

Leaving many people to wonder this morning, what does this mean for John Boehner?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, most people looking from the outside have had two impressions of what John Boehner is doing. The uncharitable one has been that basically he's improvising from day to day, just trying to get through each day, hold together his caucus with the goal really of protecting Republican unity rather than even putting something forward that could pass.

The other point of view is there's a method to his madness. That, in effect, he was giving conservatives enough leash, enough rope to get it out of their system.

To get these votes out of their system, and to see that they could ultimately achieve what they were going to do --

BOLDUAN: But he did not want to be here.

BROWNSTEIN: Exactly. That strategy of allowing them to repeatedly vote on provisions that had no chance of passing the Senate or being signed by the president has seemed to backfire, because it has ceded unrealistic expectations on the right on what could be achieved, making them reluctant to make the compromise that in the end are required to avoid going over the debt ceiling cliff.

And the best example of that yesterday were the conservative groups coming out against this proposal saying it was inadequate because it didn't go far enough when it already went too far to have any chance in the Senate much less presidential approval.

BOLDUAN: What is the role of these conservative groups? These are not just conservative groups. These are conservative groups with deep pockets who can't get involved in primaries.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: We're talking Heritage Action. We're talking Club for Growth. What do you think their role in this?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, this is the flip side. The Republicans have essentially through redistricting and general distribution of the population, the Republicans are the vast majority that are essentially barricaded into very conservative districts, in which the politics often may be positive about pursuing a confrontation.

And it does strengthen their hold on the House, makes it harder for the Democrats to take it back even if there was a national wave of backlash against their behavior in this episode.

The flip side of that is that because these districts are reliably Republican, there's enormous leverage for any group that can mobilize the base. You get kind of the saying that is widely believed, that many of the House Republicans are more concerned about a primary than the general election. That does give leverage to groups like Heritage Action.

BOLDUAN: Look, you need to get re-elected if you're in politics. That's for sure. It's one thing to be looking to a primary but another thing to be in the middle of this mess, at the 11th hour and be looking towards a primary.

BROWNSTEIN: And, by the way, true of the speaker as well. What is the point of being speaker if you cannot exert your will on something as important as avoiding the first ever default?

BOLDUAN: Regardless, John Boehner in a tough spot this morning. We'll see if he can get them out of it today.

Ron, great to see you. Thanks so much for being here.

We're going to be covering the angles from Washington, Michaela, but first, let's send it back to you.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Great conversation with Ron Brownstein there, Kate. Thanks so much for that.

Let's look at the headline this hour.

More devastation this morning as the death toll continues to rise following that massive earthquake that hit the central Philippines, nearly 130 people are dead, many more injured. Millions are still recovering. Officials say more than 20 people are reported missing and fear some people may still be trapped in collapsed buildings. That 7.1 earthquake was centered around 400 miles southeast of Manila.

Abu Anas al Libi has pled not guilty to terrorism charges brought against him in New York federal court. Al Libi is one of the alleged plotters of two U.S. embassy bombings in Africa back in 1998. He is currently being held without bail after posing as a flight risk and danger to the community. He was seized earlier this month by U.S. Army Delta Forces in Libya.

Sixty-three Cleveland police officers will be suspended for their role in this high-speed chase that left two unarmed suspects dead last November. Thirteen other officers are still facing disciplinary action for collectively firing 137 shots at Timothy Russell and Melissa Williams near an East Cleveland Middle School.

The city's police chief says all the officers violated protocol, merely by participating in that chase.

Missouri's lieutenant governor calling for a grand jury to revisit a rape case involving a teenage girl that was dropped last year. Fourteen-year-old Daisy Coleman reported being raped by an older boy. Charges were filed and then dropped weeks later, reportedly for lack of evidence.

The lieutenant governor says the facts of the case are appalling and cry out for another look. We'll have much more on this later on in our show.

And finally, I want to show this. A picture of a wounded army ranger salute and it is inspiring millions.

Twenty-four-year-old Corporal Josh Hargis was seriously injured some 10 days ago in an IED attack in Afghanistan. Four soldiers were killed, 14 others, including Hargis. In this picture, he was saluting his commander who just placed the Purple Heart on his blanket. Hargis' wife posted the picture online. His commander called it the single greatest event he had witnessed in the Army.

CUOMO: Bravery knows no bounds. Obviously thoughts and prayers to him and his family for a quick recovery.

PEREIRA: Very moving picture, had to share it with you today.

CUOMO: It is. One more family that's given way too much.

PEREIRA: Way too much for all of us.

CUOMO: But important for us to remember.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: Coming up on NEW DAY, the debt limit deadline. You're going to be hearing a lot. There will be a lot of fear in the air.

We're going to tell you what may happen, what may not happen. There is a chance that already you're starting to experience what this type of distraction can do. So, we'll take you through it.

PEREIRA: And if you were with us yesterday on NEW DAY, we told you the story of this woman, stuck in a precarious position on a draw bridge for a horrifying 20 minutes. We may know how she ended up there. We're going to tell you her story when we come back.

Would you save me if I were on a bridge like that?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. It is "Money Time".

The debt ceiling deadline, we don't know what it will mean for the markets yet but guess what, it could already be having an effect on your spending right now.

Alison Kosik is here to explain what is going on, what else we could see ahead.

So, Alison, take us through it.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's interesting when you think about it. The deadline is not even here yet, hours away, of course, but we are feeling the impact before the deadline even hits.

You see that consumer confidence, how people are feeling about the economy. It's dropped sharply, actually, he worst drop since the period right after Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2011. You know what that means? People are spending less on buying ticket items like cars, TV sets, appliances, they're just not charging as much as they did on credit cards because they're not feeling good about the economy.

But there are things that could possibly happen ahead. Home sales could drop because real estate buyers and sellers, they would be afraid of quickly rising mortgage rates. It is possible that banks could severely slow down lending, including to small businesses. That's not a good thing for the economy.

And keep in mind this could happen even if we reached that last-minute deal, because they're kind of kicking the can down the road, the next deadline could be in January.

Now, the wild card, the wild card is America's credit rating because what happened two years ago, a ratings agency, Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. after that debt ceiling battle in August 2011. Fitch and Moody's, they say not going to downgrade us just yet but we have been put on notice.

Fitch even spoke out to say they're keeping an eye on us and they're ready to downgrade if necessary. And if downgraded it would cost more for the U.S. to borrow money from other countries, which could ultimately affect you and me. It could raise your borrowing costs long term. That's not a good thing. If you have a mortgage, a car payment, you've got a student loan, those interest rates could rise -- Chris.

CUOMO: A lot of bad what ifs there.

KOSIK: Yes.

CUOMO: It's important to go through. Thank you very much, Alison.

PEREIRA: You don't want to be caught by surprise.

CUOMO: You don't. You want to prepare. Unfortunately, the politicians put us in this position. You have to protect yourself.

PEREIRA: No wonder folks are angry.

Let's talk weather. Maybe there's more togetherness? Can we all be in this together weather-wise?

CUOMO: Indra Petersons means togetherness.

PEREIRA: Or is there division even in the weather?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It does. Just love all around, right? Yes, if we all want to be cold, if we want a little rain, Michaela, on the money, right there. See how she did that? There you go. Thank Michaela, guys.

We're definitely talking about -- look at this storm system, you can see it making its way across the entire country. It is slow moving, hanging around today. More rain spreads into the Ohio Valley, still watching the same tail in through Texas. What are we talking about, light rain for most of us. Not really big system. Very dry as it came out of Canada. About an inch of rain on the northern side of it, Ohio Valley, through the Midwest.

Go down to the southern portion of it, though, there's a difference solely because of the remnants of Octave, that storm, that tropical storm that was in the pacific. All that moisture is streaming in through Texas. Today, it's going into Arkansas and Louisiana. So, some heavier rains in your region today, some isolated amounts could go up to 5 inches of rain.

The other big story, yes, the cold air, temperatures 5 to 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. Yesterday was cold enough. That is into the Midwest and Great Lakes today. If you want to see the temperatures across the country. Not too bad. Chicago 57.

I take that back. That's bad. We're talking about 70s D.C., Philly. Not too bad here. According to Berman he thought 68 was hot.

PEREIRA: Hot for October, question mark?

PETERSONS: I have a lot of question marks.

PEREIRA: Hot for Berman? It's Berman, we have to take that into consideration.

CUOMO: As soon as you say Berman I pot down.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: What does he know?

PETERSONS: That's what I said.

CUOMO: Enjoy it all. Enjoy it all. That's the only way to get through it.

PEREIRA: It's been a nice autumn so far.

PETERSONS: Actually, it is.

CUOMO: Wait till the leaves really pop, then you guys will start enjoying.

PEREIRA: I can't wait.

CUOMO: We'll take a break as we wait for the leaves to pop. Coming up on NEW DAY: new insight into this drama we watched on a Florida draw bridge. When you hear the 911 calls, you'll realize how terrifying this actually was. We'll take you through it.

PEREIRA: And a vicious no-holds-barred tae kwon do match to the death. Well, not exactly. But it is our must-see moment, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

We'll be back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Dramatic 911 calls from that really unusual and bizarre draw bridge incident we showed you in Florida where a 55-year-old woman was suspended some 22 feet in the air. New emergency calls are giving us a clearer picture of what really happened here. CNN's Pamela Brown joins us with the very latest. Too quick to judge, perhaps.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, perhaps. You know, you listen to these calls, a seemingly life or death drama playing out right in front of these terrified onlookers. These 911 calls show just how frightening the situation was as they watched a woman dangled from a raised drawbridge for harrowing 20 minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the bridges is going out and a woman is standing at it.

BROWN (voice-over): Days after dangling perilously from a remote control drawbridge, we are now hearing the frantic 911 calls made from terrified onlookers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's on the bridge. The bridge is open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bridge is open and she's on there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's on it. Yes. She couldn't get off.

BROWN: Fifty-five-year-old Wanda McGowan (ph) had been walking on the bridge after completing a breast cancer awareness walk Saturday morning. It suddenly raised and she became trapped. She found herself clinging for life more than 20 feet in the air. Witnesses capturing these frightening images, feared she might fall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need like a big ladder or something like that so you can get her down. I don't know how long she's going to last.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's holding on tight, on to the beam. We need to get somebody out here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're getting them over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody should contact them and say bring the bridge down now. I don't know how much longer she's going to be able to hold on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold on.

BROWN: For about 20 heart-stopping minutes, she couldn't move until firefighters hoisted a ladder to bring her down safely rather than risking time to lower the bridge.

MICHAEL HUGHES, FORT LAUDERDALE FIREFIGHTER: I said, OK, this is we're going to do, we're going to climb down the ladder together. I have you. Don't worry about it. I put my arms around her. She turned around and we proceeded down the ladder together.

BROWN: This railroad bridge is marked with no trespassing signs. McGowan claimed she didn't see the signs. Her friends tell authorities she is legally blind. Officials plan to speak with McGowan to confirm her disability, but now, it's up to the railroad company to decide whether or not to press charges against her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (on-camera): And a spokesperson for the railroad company told us that there is another person believed to be her friend who ran across the bridge as well but did not get stuck. Now, as soon as they interview McGowan and that person, they will determine whether any charges will be filed. Of course, we'll keep an eye on this story for you.

PEREIRA: All right. Pamela Brown with the latest on that story. Thank you so much for that.

Let us know what you have and to think about all that. Tweet us with the #NEWDAY. You ready for the "Must-See Moment" today?

CUOMO: Please.

PEREIRA: He said please, then I must comply. Here we go. It's a clip that's been around for some time now, but you need to see it again. Adorable pair of Taiwanese toddlers face off in their first tae kwon do match. Check out the fancy footwork, the brutal kick, the ruthless body jab. But at the end of the day, they're all smiles.

Look it. And the little socks (ph), then looks a little -- body jab. Now, if only our elected members of Congress could emerge from them ongoing dispute as amicably as these two competitive warriors.

CUOMO: Or, if they would take their helmets off in D.C. and just bash into each other's heads.

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: Look at the giggle.

CUOMO: Ball up their hands into fists and punch themselves in the face.

PEREIRA: Let's see if we can get somewhere in the gentle way and then maybe we'll send you into --

CUOMO: It should have never gotten to this point, but I love those kids having fun.

PEREIRA: Was that cute?

CUOMO: Yes. I like it. Good for exercise also.

Coming up on NEW DAY, an arrest in the dry ice bomb case at LAX. We'll have the latest from Los Angeles. Who did it and what do we know about why?

BOLDUAN: Plus, we are talking to a Republican congressman who is not backing down on the government shutdown or the debt ceiling fight. Where do things go from here? We're going to talk to one key person in this negotiation, Congressman Steve King.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Nice day here in New York City. Seventy-one and bright. Seventy-one and bright. Unlike every member of Congress.

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Yesterday, President Obama helped make sandwiches at a soup kitchen for the homeless.

(APPLAUSE)

O'BRIEN: And by homeless, I mean people who work for the federal government.

(LAUGHTER)

CRAIG FERGUSON, HOST, "THE LATE, LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON: Because of the government shutdown, the White House is under attack by squirrels! Before the shutdown, it was a lovely vegetable garden. Michelle Obama planted the garden to show how easy it is to grow your own food. All you need is water, sunlight and 50 (INAUDIBLE) federal employees.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Ordinarily, I would say listen, let's respect the process. We need to respect the process. But right now, we can't --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: So, let them make their jokes. They are funny. Sports, something we can actually feel good about.

PEREIRA: A uniter.

CUOMO: St. Louis Cardinals just one win away from a trip to the world series. Andy Scholes with this morning's "Bleacher Report." Andy, looking dandy, what do we know?

(LAUGHTER)

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey. Good morning, guys. You know, 24 hours ago, we were talking about how the Dodgers, they had a big win. They're back in the series. Well, just one game for all of that to change. Cardinals slugger, Matt Holliday, he silenced the L.A. crowd last night with a two-run shot in the third inning. And the Dodgers had a great chance to get back in the game in the ninth, but rookie sensation, Yasiel Puig, rounds in to a double play. St. Louis wins 4-2. They now lead the series three games to one.

In the ALCS, the Tiger's Justin Verlander, was pitching lights out last night in game three. ATHE lights actually went out. It caused a 17-minute delay in the game. When they started playing again, one swing by Mike Napoli will decide this game. He homered off Verlander in the seventh inning.

The Tigers had their chances in the A's, but Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder both struck out.

Red Sox are pumped about it. They win 1-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Trending right now on BleacherReport.com, Will Ferrell back at his old stomping grounds at USC. He was there leading the band in a charity performance. Check him out, posing for the crowd, wielding a sword. Now, Ferrell, he got decked out and throws in gear for a really good cause. The event was to raise money so the kids with cancer can afford college.

They might need to keep Will Ferrell around for a little while, guys, because, as you know, the football team not doing so hot out there in SoCal.

CUOMO: They're struggling, but I'll tell you, I've never seen a man push a movie and a cause as well as the a.k.a. Ron Burgundy's -- in this round.

PEREIRA: Stay classy.

CUOMO: Andy Scholes, thank you, my friend, as always. All right.

PEREIRA: We're at the top of the hour.

CUOMO: What does that mean?

PEREIRA: It's time for top news.

CUOMO: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Extremist Republicans and the House of Representatives are attempting to torpedo the Senate's bipartisan progress.

BOLDUAN: Final countdown. Congress now left with just hours to strike a deal before the debt ceiling deadline. The Senate may be close, but will Ted Cruz or House Republicans try to stop it?

CUOMO: Bracing for impact. All eyes on the financial markets. Will they take a hit this morning? And what really happens if no deal is made by midnight. PEREIRA: Breaking overnight, an LAX baggage handler arrested, accused of planting those dry ice bombs at Los Angeles's Airport. Why police believe he did it?

Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: What you need to know --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isn't it time that we help to find a way out of this? The only people that are losing right now are the people of this country.

ANNOUNCER: What you just have to see --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can almost name "all is lost" with what's been going on in Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't get me started on that.

ANNOUNCER: This is "New Day" with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Good morning and welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. It is Wednesday, October 16th, seven o'clock in the east. I am live in the nation's capital this morning, just in front of the U.S. capitol building. And we are less than 17 hours away now from hitting the midnight deadline to avoid a potential debt ceiling disaster, Chris.

CUOMO: We do know that lawmakers are scrambling to make a deal, but it's not clear they can reach a compromise before -- well, what? Again, not clear what's going to happen when the clock strikes 12, but here's what we do know. The government is still in partial shutdown. Families are suffering. The treasury is at risk of running out of borrowing power. So, what will happen then?

We're going to lay out the dominos for you and show what could fall and on whom. What it could mean for the economy, and more importantly, what not paying obligations could mean to you and people like you. So, we're also going to talk about what every day Americans are doing to deal with the situation right now and we will do our best to hold feet to the fire and ask the questions we have to do. That will really be Kate's job down there in Washington, D.C.