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Congressional Chaos Over Spending Bill; Romney, Bush, Carson Make 2016 Moves; Children Talk About Race In America; The Year's Most Insane Ski Run

Aired December 12, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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


JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": So we're not going to shut down the government. As always, we went up to the deadline -- actually, past the deadline, because we're not done yet. But the House has passed a new spending bill. The Senate will take it up eventually, maybe today, maybe over the weekend.

Juana, that's the big question, you need to get an agreement to bring it up under the Senate rules. If they get unanimous consent, meaning nobody objects, they could do it as early today.

But if anybody objects, it could go until Monday morning sometime. That's the clock runs out, they have to do it by Monday.

The question after it passed in the House, Tea Party forces were mad. Liberals were mad, in the Senate, will a Ted Cruz stand up and say -- no I'm not going to give you unanimous consent. We're going to run the clock to the end or we don't know?

JUANA SUMMERS, NPR: John, that's one of the things that's been fascinating. I've been watching the bill through Capitol Hill. You hear a lot of things from Ted Cruz this week and in the past couple of weeks, he's given a ton of foreign policy speeches, spoken on a number of issues.

But he hasn't said what he's going to do on this bill. I think it makes it interesting. Also as you mentioned, the political forces are really split. You see in Tea Party Republicans, upset aligned with liberal Democrats over Wall Street provisions encased in this massive $1.1 trillion bill.

So it will be interesting to watch how the bill passes ultimately we do think that it will. But the optics and the politics of it will be the things to watch into the new year of Congress.

KING: One of the striking things is the split in Congress. The administration came out with saying there are things we don't like in here, the changes to Dodd-Frank or potential changes to Michelle Obama's school lunch program and yet, they said support this bill. Listen to Nancy Pelosi, normally a good ally of the president, here's a break for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: So here we are in the House, being blackmailed, being blackmailed to vote for an appropriations bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The president had to send his chief of staff up. Dennis McDonough, he went into a meeting with Democrats where it got a little bit bruising. What does it tell us not just about the bill, but about the next two years that Nancy Pelosi is on the floor saying we're being blackmailed.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLTICAL REPORTER: I think it shows the limitations of the White House and of Pelosi and others. I mean it's just -- it was an amazing moment where you were just thinking -- okay, the election is over. And everybody is going to say whatever they want.

What I think will be really interesting, over the weekend is if you have or even today, people like Cruz and Warren both coming out, opposing this bill and you're going to have those figures in the spotlight. Particularly it will be warren's moment opposing some of the Wall Street measures.

KING: She doesn't like the fact that they eased some restrictions on how banks, big banks could handle derivatives and whether or not they get bailed out by taxpayers if those investments fail.

Here's the great irony, Jamie Dimon, the poster child of Wall Street is making a phone calls saying support this bill, when Elizabeth Warren and Nancy Pelosi are saying it's a horrible change in the bill.

What does it tell us going forward? Does it tell us liberals were screaming loudly, but they lost? Tea Party was screaming loudly, but it lost. Is this just about the bill or proof of what's going to happen in the new Washington as we go forward?

SUMMERS: I think that's exactly right. I think this is proof of what's going to happen in the new Washington and certainly was a great test case of what power congressional Republicans now have and what divisions they're under in the Democratic Party.

I spoke with Maxine Waters, congresswoman last evening. We asked her about the calls from Jamie Dimon and I think that's kind of very odd to me, I think that moving forward it will be a lot America skepticism of what happened.

KING: I'm caught up with in the dynamic is this a new center emerging or a new deal-making between the president and the new, Speaker Boehner has been there. But Majority Leader McConnell will be coming in soon and we're going to see, I remember the end of the Bush administration, where the Democrats, the Republicans then like the Democrats now were in open revolt against the White House.

RESTON: It's so ironic that you have the White House and John Boehner leaning on one another you know over the last week. And so maybe there is sort of a moment here where everything is so divided you'll have those bipartisan alliances that the public has been looking for.

It's amazing things went as late as they did last night, considering we just had an election where the voters said -- we hate this gridlock, do something, come together and you had all of this brinksmanship up to the last minute.

KING: It's 219-206 in the House. We'll see what happens when the Senate gets to it. Keep watching.

My favorite read this morning, is a pretty meaningless when it comes to what's going to happen in Washington and the country. But my favorite read is Michele Bachmann is at the White House holiday reception, and she pulls the president aside for a little one-on-one. She said, Mr. President, you have to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities because this has gone on too long and they're progressing too fast.

And she says, quote, "He got this condescending smile on his face and said, well, Michele, it's just not that easy."

RESTON: It's great that she's going out with a bang. If you're going to have a conversation with the president, why not drop something like that in the final moments.

KING: Let's quickly do a little 2016 business, a lot of 2016 news playing out as we end the year and these candidates have to make their decision, am I going to run.

Dr. Ben Carson is off to Israel. One of the lists you check if you're running for president, you go over to Israel and say I'm a firm friend.

Dr. Ben Carson, a conservative exploring a run for the Republican nomination. Jeb Bush facing questions, "Bloomberg reports about his personal work a in venture capital including some overseas funds which are tax shelters for the rich. Is he going to gear up and run for the president?

Our "Inside Politics" friend, Maggie Haberman, reporting at "Politico" that people close to Mitt Romney say his body language is starting to change as we get closer to the holidays, and his no, no, no, about 2016 might be becoming a maybe because he's looking at the field and he's not all that impressed, really?

RESTON: I think we're going to have these stories for as many months into next year over and over again. It is true that he is intrigued by the idea of the presidency. There are people around him who keep encouraging him to get in. It's true that he, you know has some real reservations about the field.

But we're a long way from that moment and I think he could wait a long time before he makes a decision. I mean he's got that option whereas others don't.

KING: He would hold up just like Hillary Clinton, we assume she's running, but if she didn't, what a domino effect you would have on the Democratic side, all of the money and strategists camped in and out fort Hillary.

If Mitt Romney were do hold out and not give a firm no, but to call his donors and say support Jeb or support Christie or support Governor Kasich or support governor walker. He has the biggest infrastructure at the moment in place.

SUMMERS: He does. If you're in Mitt Romney's camp or Mitt Romney, you have to feel some vindication after looking at how the last couple of years have gone. I think there's probably some reason why he could hold out. Wield some power, play a king-maker role even if he does ultimately decide not to run. Carve out a new place within the Republican Party for relevancy purposes.

KING: I guess my question is, is it real or is it just, you know, look if you're a politician, especially if you think Mitt Romney thinks I told you so on a number of issues and you ran a campaign. Is this just ego-feeding or is he sitting around saying whoa, I might do this again.

RESTON: I keep asking this question and it's really true that he is thinking about it revisiting the issue. I just think that there are a lot of reasons for him to decide not to run and so he could speculate as late as you know, next fall.

KING: To your point especially once, and they will get to this. They will not shut the government down. They've passed a temporary thing for a couple of days. They'll get to in the Senate Saturday or Monday morning, once the government sup and running we'll have an immigrate debate in February 2016, 2016, Maeve, Juana, we've been talking about the CIA torture report.

Seth Myers noticed that Dick Cheney had stepped in, he saidthe report was full of. I won't say that on a family friendly morning show. Dick Cheney said the report was full of this. Seth Myers says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH MYERS: Cheney attacked critics of the CIA's interrogation techniques saying what are we supposed to do? Kiss him on both cheeks and say, please, please, tell us what you know? Though, to be fair, getting kissed by Dick Cheney is also banned by the Geneva Convention, it's very clear. It is very clear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: A tough week, a little humor doesn't hurt at all on a Friday.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Chris doesn't give that one a thumb's up.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: I think he could have done better.

KING: Could have done better.

CAMEROTA: That was like a four or five.

KING: Always next week.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, John. Make sure that you watch John King and his "Inside Politics" panel break down the biggest political news of the week every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. We'll be tuning in.

CUOMO: All right. Now we know that we have a problem with race in this country. And we know that we've been seeing it play out after these grand jury decisions in Ferguson and in New York and other situations. So what are we going to do about it? How do we get it straight? Do you know who's going to help us?

A bunch of kids, we have the Kiddie Cabinet coming your way. Wait until you hear what the youngest of us have to say about what matters most. You will learn, I promise from the Kiddie Cabinet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Kiddie Cabinet, a NEW DAY staple.

CAMEROTA: I can't wait to see it.

CUOMO: It never fails when we're faced with hard situations kids seem to get the situation better and what matters most before we do. So we brought them in to talk about race. How they see each other, how they treat each other.

What's going object with the cops in our society right now whether or not this tension makes sense and what to do about it? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO : Here's why I'm here. We have problems, we have problems going on. Today, are you aware of that? There's trouble? We have to figure it out. Will you help me figure out some trouble?

All right, good, so who knows about what's been happening around the country right now with the grand juries and the police and unarmed black men. You've all heard about this? William have you been hearing about it a lot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six months.

CUOMO: You've been hearing about it for six months. What do we know, Gabrielle, what's happened?

GABRIEL ADMOOLAH, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: People are fighting. They say the police aren't working hard enough to do stuff. Help me more, Adriana.

ADRIANNA DUGUILLARD, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: On the news there was a black guy and a policeman choked him.

CUOMO: And people are angry. Why are they angry, William?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: They're angry because not only was he selling illegal cigarettes, but they choked him out and when he went to court, the jury said, it was okay and they let him go.

CUOMO: And is that wrong? Why?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Because in case it happens again, then then they can't just let him go again. They have to make sure this it stops before it happens again.

CUOMO: When you see police, are you afraid?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: No. Anybody? Sometimes when you see police you're a little afraid?

CUOMO: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see a lot of bad things happening, not very good things.

CUOMO: So the police, when you see them usually something bad is going on?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.

CUOMO: And what do you think the police are doing there? Are they there to hurt people or are they there to help people? What are they doing there?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: They're there to help people.

CUOMO: Your parents ever talk to you about how to be around police?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.

CUOMO: Nolan, anybody ever tell you how to act around police?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.

CUOMO: What do they say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, they say to just like be nice and be calm and not do anything wrong.

CUOMO: Nicolette, anybody ever tell you anything like that?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: No.

CUOMO: Nicolette, describe her in three words.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: She has a sweater, he has a tie and he has a mike.

CUOMO: OK, Gabriel, take a look at Nicolette, describe her in three words.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: She has a little gown, a black vest and brown hair.

CUOMO: You did not refer to Nolan as being brown or black of skin. Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Because it's, it's like a bad thing to say.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: What wouldn't you say if you were going to say if you were going to help people find me? Wouldn't you say what color I was?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I would say he was a white male tall, brown hair, blue eyes.

CUOMO: Jacked.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Jacked.

CUOMO: Now is it bad if you describe me that way?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: If someone says you look black and they just say that, that should be OK. But if they're making fun of them for their color, that's when the problems start to happen when they say about the color.

CUOMO: So I don't judge you by how you look and you don't judge me by how I look. You're supposed to judge me by. What are you supposed to judge me by, William?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: How you act.

CUOMO: How I act. If I'm a police officer and I see you, am I supposed to, what if I say, I've arrested a lot of guys who look just like you. Is that the right thing for me to do?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: No, you have to at least give them a chance.

CUOMO: Give them a chance.

Now you're kids, right? You seem smarter than kids that I remember being your age. But if this is so simple for you, how come the adults aren't getting it right? Kiara?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Because the adult, some adults don't understand how to be kind to one another. Because they're going to think they're adults and since they're older, they don't have to listen to the kids. But it ends up somehow that the kids might be right.

CUOMO: The kids might be right. Do you remember in school when they had to teach you, Gabriel, your skin somebody kind of brown and Nicolette's is kind of white, but you should be same to each other. Do you remember anybody actually saying that to you?

So if nobody had to teach you that, what happens when you get older? Gabriel?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: They usually forget because they're getting older and stuff like that happens to them and they start to forget stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: If I went over to Nolan, I wouldn't just go over there and say, since he's black I don't like him. The color matters nothing to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Color matters nothing to me. Those are third and fourth graders at Immaculate Conception School in Queens, which is where I went.

CAMEROTA: First of all they're adorable. What they say is profound. It's nice that they have no bad connotations with the police, you asked them a couple of times, they know the police are there to protect them and they're helpful.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Several said they want to be cops. But also you know, they hear what we're saying. They hear what's going on.

PEREIRA: They're sponges, they're aware of what's going on.

CUOMO: They need to be reinforced and hear the right things. One of the things that's getting lost in the dialogue is it's not just about the politics of it bandying about how we feel about things, you've got a whole generation out there who is waiting to learn how to be and thank God it seems they're better than we are.

PEREIRA: And we've talked about it here about the important conversations to have with children, age-appropriate conversations about what's going on.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. So they are not just gleaning it from little snippets, from the news, but you're sitting down and having conversations, I've been doing that with my kids. It's hard for kids to understand why all of this is happening, but you have to have the conversations.

CUOMO: There's an innocence that might be an intelligence.

PEREIRA: We need the Kiddie Cabinet more, my friend.

CUOMO: We need to hear what they have to say about immigration and ISIS.

CAMEROTA: Wait until you see this -- a skier goes on a wild ride zooming down a narrow crevice with just inches to spare, his daring ride seen through the lens of his helmet cam. How did he do this?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: It's being called the year's most insane ski run, so steep through a crevice so narrow, the skier even won an award for it. It is certainly an adrenaline rush, even for all of us to watch it. This is through a helmet cam. CNN's Jeanne Moos takes us along on this harrowing ride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What you're about to see is no mere ski slope. This is a man-eating crevice -- and 31-year-old Cody Townsend is about to descend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no exit plan, no escape.

MOOS: The plunge down this Alaskan crevice lasted about 15 seconds. At its narrowest point, the walls were only 6 feet apart. Check out the helmet cam view. Top speed 65 to 70 miles per hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see that you're going really fast and you see that the walls are really close to you.

MOOS: But Cody says he was very zen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost as if time slows down.

MOOS: Cody's run makes James Bond's exploits on skis look almost wimpy. Child's play compared to this. So, a crevice like that must have a terrifying name, right?

CODY TOWNSEND, PROFESSIONAL SKIER: Yes, it does have nicknames, but I would blush if I had to tell you what the nicknames were.

MOOS: Cody's run won him "Powder" magazine's best line of 2014 award -- his fellow skiers gushed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That the sickest line I've ever seen!

MOOS: The trickiest part was at the end of the narrowest section. There was a slight turn.

TOWNSEND: Possibly the turn of my life to not hit the wall that was in front of you.

MOOS: So, what's he get? Great exposure in a Red Bull documentary, the kind of fame that leads to even more endorsements, but cash?

(on camera): I just assumed they gave you a chunk of money to do that.

TOWNSEND: That would be morally wrong to do that, I think. No. We do it because we love it.

MOOS: You think that's scary to watch? Imagine Cody's mother the first time she saw it.

TOWNSEND: She did cry, which I kind of felt bad about.

MOOS: Cody didn't celebrate by partying. He contemplated accomplishing a life goal while taking in an Alaskan blood moon.

TOWNSEND: So, I just kind of sat there and basked in it.

MOOS: Better a blood moon than a bloody wreck. Jeanne Moos, CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the scariest thing I've ever done!

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: You can barely even watch it. That's insane.

CAMEROTA: It is a rush.

CUOMO: I love that he's able to talk while going 60 miles an hour on skis.

CAMEROTA: Me, too.

CUOMO: Amazing.

CAMEROTA: When I ski, I ski on runs called apple straddle.

PEREIRA: They are green, aren't they? They're green.

CUOMO: Different strokes for different folks.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

CUOMO: The CIA chief is tackling torture, but he's not saying the word. How, do you how defend the agency and admit errors if you won't really describe what is going on? The question now, will John Brennan survive the drama, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)