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House GOP Leaders Delay Vote on Spending; More Surprises from New Pope; Jury Tampering Starring Tom Hanks?!; Rpt: Mark Sanchez Considering Surgery

Aired September 12, 2013 - 06:30   ET

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


KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly. I think this is a pretty strange tactic of appealing directly to the American people. I mean, does this change on the very day that Secretary Kerry is meeting with the Russian foreign minister? Has this changed the White House's approach or calculation in how this is all playing out? Or do you think the president is kind of like, par for the course?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Really, at the White House, what they're doing is biting their tongue. We tried to get them to comment. They're saying, essentially, look at the parts of it where he says we're going to try to advance this proposal. We're going to try to get this done in nobody wants the war in the Middle East.

We're going to forget the criticism and the snarkiness -- what they view as the snarkiness of it, and focus on the fact that Putin is now trying to help the president broker this deal. And the substance of that meeting today in Geneva is what matters more than that.

But the politics of it are just delicious. It will be interesting to see, you know, people at the White House have pride. They're politicians. They're campaigners. We'll see if they can keep their mouth shut.

BOLDUAN: Yes, everyone's trying to work on their statement that they're putting out and biting their criticism in response.

So, while all of this is obviously continuing to percolate, if you look back on Capitol Hill, the old fights seem to be picking back up once again. We're starting to hear conversations about a government shutdown and the debt ceiling fights that we've kind of not paid attention to because the Syrian issue has been so front and center. The issue of some House Republicans wanting to tie funding for the government to defunding the president's health care law, also back to the forefront.

What's happening with all of this?

KING: There is a huge struggle, part of the civil war, the soul- searching within the Republican Party, has been on this question. We talked about this before.

Should at every opportunity, Republicans in Congress and both the House and Senate try to kill the president's health care plan. They're using any maneuver they can. And some Tea Parties and other consumer activists are saying, yes, they so dislike this law, they want to try every possible vehicle.

The leadership tends to say, no, we can't do this all the time. We have to pick our fights.

And now, the Republicans -- forgive me -- they're in essentially a circular firing squad over this question. The House leadership thought it had a proposal, a continuing resolution. You know what that means, Kate, from your days on the Hill. We're not going to pass a big budget but we're going to keep the government running.

The House Republican leadership thought they could do this. But now, they have a conservative revolt saying we want to use that piece of legislation, that vehicle to defund the president's health care plan. So, you have the prospect -- most don't think it will happen but you have a fight again.

Here's one of the reasons the Republican leadership does not want to do this: who would get blamed if the government shuts down? Look at our latest poll, 51 percent of Americans say they would blame the Republicans, 33 percent say they would blame the president and 12 percent say they would blame both.

So, 63 percent would blame the Republicans, 51 percent of them would blame the Republicans solely. So, if you look at this politically, the leadership thinks we don't want to do this heading into an election year. But this is fun drama.

BOLDUAN: Fund drama. And, I mean, they're really up against a serious deadline here. They would have come back from August recess and this would have been the fight we would have been talking about. But, obviously, for good reason, the Syria issue has been the focus. So, we'll see if they can get anything done, as we know. That's always the big question.

KING: Congress, day care.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, John. Talk to you soon.

CUOMO: All right. Coming up on NEW DAY: the people's pontiff shaking up things at the Vatican again. Pope Francis embracing atheists earlier this week and now reported he might be prepared to open the debate on priestly celibacy. Details ahead.

BOLDUAN: Plus, Tom Hanks serving on a jury in a criminal case that suddenly came to an unexpected halt. Did the actor's presence, just his mere presence in the courtroom, influence the outcome?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back.

Let's go around the world now, starting in Israel -- where a senior government official has come out in favor of a proposal that would force Syria to give up its chemical weapons. Jim Clancy has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Uncertainty and doubt across the Middle East and especially here in Israel. Chemical weapons experts wondered aloud about the technical obstacles that remain. All sides need to stop shooting and rebels have already rejected that outright.

Syria says it's going to provide a complete list of its chemical arsenal but who will verify it? Now, the weapons are believed scattered in dozens of sites. It will have to be verified. And what if Syria tries to transfer some of those to groups like Hezbollah? It's a mission impossible.

Kate, back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right. Jim, thank you so much.

Now, supporters of Catalonia's independence from Spain, forming a 250- mile human chain to bring attention to their cause.

Here's Al Goodman on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPODENT: Holding hands for independence from Spain. Hundreds of thousands of people in Spain's northeast region of Catalonia whose capital is Barcelona formed a human chain for 250 miles, from the French border in the north to the southern part of Catalonia, hoping to increase pressure on Madrid to allow a referendum on self-determination next year.

But here in Madrid, the Spanish government says quite simply, no.

Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right, Al, thanks so much.

And the 2014 edition of Guinness World Records comes out today.

Erin McLaughlin has more on some of the newest inductees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Guinness World Records 2014 is out today. The book is packed with incredible and sometimes zany achievement. This is the duchess, the world record holder for the longest nails. Is that comfortable?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not for a baseball game but for me it's good. MCLAUGHLIN: Well, there's also the world's smallest dog at 3.8 inches tall. And who can resist happy skateboarding into the world record at 118 feet in 25 seconds.

Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I'm sorry, I can't focus on the goat. Did you see the fingernails?

CUOMO: Holy cow, I've never seen anything like that before.

BOLDUAN: Hopefully, she does not have contacts.

CUOMO: She has to live -- how do you live?

BOLDUAN: I don't know. I don't know.

CUOMO: She's worth an entire story.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

CUOMO: Wow.

Anyway, all right, from that sign of the times to another possible sign of the times from the Vatican. The emphasis is on possible here, but a top aide to Pope Francis did hint that the church could re- evaluate its policy on priestly celibacy. It's just the latest in a string of unconventional ideas from the office of the new pope.

So, let's bring in CNN's Miguel Marquez who tells the story behind it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We knew Pope Francis was different. He drew millions to his final mass on the beaches of Rio, solidifying his rock star status around the world.

This morning, we're seeing just how different he is. The pope's recently handpicked secretary of state not even in the job yet has discussed the role of priestly celibacy, a practice dating back to the Middle Ages.

FATHER EDWARD BECK, HOST, "THE SUNDAY MASS": But we're hearing now that maybe it's on the table for at least discussion, and that's all really people are asking.

MARQUEZ: In an interview with Venezuela's "El Universal" newspaper, Archbishop Pietro Parolin said, "Efforts the church made to keep ecclesiastical celibacy to impose ecclesiastical celibacy have to be taken into consideration.

BECK: I think perception is everything. And the perception of the papacy has changed with Francis. MARQUEZ: The trend is clear, there was the 76-year-old pontiff taking on the equally sensitive subject of gays in the church by saying. "Whom am I to judge?" He even used the word "gay", another first.

In a newly published letter, the Pope once again called for dialogue between the church and nonbelievers.

The Pope is extending his man-of-the-people touch by making cold calls to several who have written him, including an Italian woman pressured by her boyfriend to have an abortion.

We know the Pope has a love of small cars and he's throwing his security team another curveball. Francis has accepted the gift of a 1984 Renault, with nearly 200,000 on it from a priest in northern Italy. The pope says he used to have one just like it. It's a new pope mobile for a new kind of pope.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: So much to discuss.

CUOMO: If there are security concerns, they could pick up the car and carry the pope away.

BOLDUAN: I guess so.

I mean, looking at the celibacy issue kind of, into larger context of Pope Francis, he really just continues to break the mold. And has since the moment he began.

CUOMO: This was the fascination with him as a candidate.

BOLDUAN: Was it even a fascination when he was a candidate? I can't remember that.

CUOMO: The celibacy issue, no, but it was that he's a common man, he thinks about things in a very plain way. And celibacy is a huge issue in the United States. It's not as big an issue that the church confronts around the world. They have bigger issues like poverty and genocide.

But, you know, Father Beck was in there saying, it's just on the table. That's probably the best way to put it. That even allowing a discussion of it means something in the Vatican. Does it mean a change? According to Cardinal Dolan here, probably not.

BOLDUAN: Same thing with homosexuality.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Even the fact that it's on the table is a far cry from where the church has stood forever.

CUOMO: You've got to take baby steps. This is an organization that doesn't usually talk about anything.

BOLDUAN: And he's very -- he knows what he's doing. He's trying to broaden the conversation.

CUOMO: The common touch is great, the letter writing. I mean, it gives, as Father Beck again said, it gives a different perception to the papacy.

PERIERA: Can we go back to the car? Is that a gift from Mr. Bean?

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: That was adorable. What a sweet gesture.

CUOMO: I thought it was a la car at first. What would that (INAUDIBLE)

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: It's good looking.

All right. Coming up next on NEW DAY: he was just doing his civic duty, but Tom Hanks' star power inadvertently affected the outcome of a case. We're going to tell you how that happened.

PEREIRA: Plus, smile, you're on YouTube. A rare, white hump back while spotted off the coast of Australia. It is our NEW DAY must-see moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Let's get look up (ph) in the Hollywood for a second. Welcome back to NEW DAY. A case of jury tampering question mark starring Tom Hanks. The actor was serving on a jury on a domestic violence case in Los Angeles when his role suddenly went from supporting to lead. "Early Start" lead anchorman, John Berman, joins us with the details. What happened?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's right here. The mustache wasn't the problem, although, it is a problem for a lot of us here.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: -- not just part of the jury, but inadvertently part of the settlement. Since last week, the two-time Oscar winner has been on a jury for a domestic assault case in Los Angeles. They were due for closing arguments yesterday, but they never happened. Why? Because on Tuesday, an employee for the L.A. City attorney's office apparently approached Hanks when they were out of court and thanked Hanks for his service on the jury.

Now, at first, that might sound innocuous enough, but you can't do that. Why not? There's a Latin term for that, Chris Cuomo.

CUOMO: Ex parte.

BERMAN: You can't have contact with the jurors even when the jury is --

PEREIRA: Tom Hanks.

BERMAN: Thank you. Fill in the blanks. I love this. It was the prosecutors in this case who actually brought it before the judge. They owned up for the fact that this happened. The defense apparently immediately asked for a mistrial that never happened. Instead, they reached a settlement.

They decided that the defendant would plead to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace. He agreed to a $150 fine. That's a lot less than what he could have gotten. He could have gotten a year in jail for the domestic assault charge. You know, Hanks, I should add, he's not commented publicly on all of this. But the defense attorney said that Hanks told him, "I was going to vote the way of justice." Didn't say which way that was.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Clever, clever, man.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: I'm voting for conspiracy.

BERMAN: Chris Cuomo, you were a lawyer. Would you ever put a celebrity --

CUOMO: I am a lawyer, John.

BERMAN: You are a lawyer.

BOLDUAN: No, he wasn't on TV.

CUOMO: They often make odd decisions, counterintuitive ones. You want the smartest, most engaged people you can get on the jury, even if they're somebodies. You just don't want them to be a distraction. You don't want them to have an agenda.

BERMAN: The distraction is the key. And the debate is that if you put a celebrity like a Tom Hanks on a jury, everyone is going to listen to what Tom Hanks says no matter what he says.

BOLDUAN: This is not the first time a celebrity has served on a jury.

BERMAN: Oprah. 2004. I covered, I'm ashamed (ph) to say, Oprah Winfrey when she sat on a murder trial in Chicago. They voted to convict and then Oprah brought the whole jury on the show to talk about it. But a lot of people thought, you know, hey, if Oprah is on a jury here, it's going to be all about what Oprah wants and not what happens in the courtroom.

CUOMO: That seemed to be the case there from what you described. I mean, with Hanks, to be fair, someone just thanked him. He didn't even weigh in on the merits --

BERMAN: But for those who say that celebrities can be a distraction on a jury. This is, you know --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: There are people who say they need to be treated just like everybody else. They put their pants on one leg at a time. Here is evidence that --

BERMAN: Both sides in this case that say up until the bad moment that happened here. He was a model juror, kept his mouth shut and did his job.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: He was just trying to --

CUOMO: Yes. He's basically an innocent from what we understand of the situation. And he'll do anything to encourage people to serve on juries.

PEREIRA: The defendant is like I'm going to watch every movie he ever made.

CUOMO: So, maybe media (ph) celeb, you should do your civic duty, maybe you get lucky to get an autograph.

BOLDUAN: No.

PEREIRA: No. Don't do it. John Berman, thank you very much. You want to stick around for a must-see moment.

BERMAN: I want to see it.

PEREIRA: It's find as the rare sight off the coast of Australia, a white Humpback whale. A white Humpback whale. A boater capturing the images of the whale which has been named Migaloo near the Great Barrier Reef. He is said to be the most famous white humpback having first been spotted back in 1991 and one of only a handful that exist.

Suspected to be albino, but they actually prefer to be called hyperpigmented. Australia has granted him extra protection, protected by Aussie law. Technically, no boats are allowed within 1,500 feet. But obviously, these guys got much, much, much closer. Migaloo. Apparently, there's a Migaloo Jr. Calf that was found a couple of years ago.

BOLDUAN: Oh, really?

PEREIRA: M.J. they called him.

CUOMO: Very --

BOLDUAN: That is beautiful.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I wonder if they're going to move away from humpback and go to many of the, you know, back to fishing.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: You know? To be correct about it. You think about it.

Coming up on NEW DAY, John Kerry arriving in Geneva overnight for talks with his Russian counterpart on Syria. A meeting now overshadowed here at home by Vladimir Putin making his case to the American people directly in a "New York Times" op-ed. We'll tell you all about it.

BOLDUAN: And there is flash flooding in Colorado. One person has been killed, so far. Homes and structures washed away. Just look at this water. We're tracking the severe weather, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: A rough day for some New York sports fans. First, the Yankees Derek Jeter says he's out for the season, and now, on a much lower level, Mark Sanchez, the Jets quarterback, could also be done for the season, possibly forever with the J-E-T-S. Let's bring you Joe Carter. He's got this morning's "Bleacher Report." You know, Derek Jeter is one thing, Mark Sanchez is another, but what do we know?

JOE CARTER, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes. Two different playing fields, guys. Basically, what we know now is that Mark Sanchez has got a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, and reports are saying that it could require season-ending surgery. Now, Sanchez was recently in Florida where he was checked out by Dr. James Andrews. And after that visit, the quarterback's got a couple of options.

He can either have surgery now, call it a season or he can try to play at some point and then have surgery at the end of the season, but the feeling is whether he goes under the knife now or later, his days with the Jets are certainly numbered.

Now, Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter, is definitely done for the season. The team placed him on the D.L. yesterday for the same ankle injury he's been dealing with since last October. The 39-year-old says, though, he is not done with baseball. He expects to return next year for his 19th year with the New York Yankees.

And trending right now on BleacherReport.com, Lebron James and his high school girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, are finally going to say I do this weekend. It's going to be a three-day bash at the Grand Del Mar in San Diego. Travel and leisure called that place the number one resort in California.

Guys, Jay-Z and Beyonce are expected to be there among a long list of celebs. Guys, the two have two kids together and they were engaged -- surprised to find out -- on New Year's Eve just a couple of years ago.

CUOMO: But they've been together for a very long time.

CARTER: Yes, since high school.

CUOMO: James very much a family man.

BOLDUAN: Family man. Congratulations to them. Early congratulations to them.

You hear the music, you know what time it is. It's time for the "Rock Block," everyone. A quick roundup of the stories you will be talking about today. First up, Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Here we go, Kate. From the papers, "The New York Times," a study by the University of Pennsylvania finds the female sex hormone estrogen plays a much bigger role in middle-aged male weight gain than previously thought.

In the "Washington Post," Richmond, California becoming the first in the nation to help borrowers by seizing underwater mortgages to the power of eminent domain.

And, in the "New York Daily News," a Miss America first, a tattoo. Twenty-two-year-old Teresa Veil (ph) of Kansas became the first contest to show off a tattoo during a preliminary event in Atlantic City.

Business news time with Christine Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Call it the September surge. The Dow a winner in six of the September seven trading days in just the past three. The Dow soared 404 points.

Good news in housing, too. The fewest foreclosures since December 2005. Foreclosure still focused in the same old hot spot, Nevada, Florida, Ohio, Maryland, and Delaware.

The school's name is mud but the diplomas are gold. The (INAUDIBLE) are releasing its list of colleges with the highest paid graduates. Harvey Mudd College tops that list with graduates averaging $143,000 a year. The U.S. Naval Academy and the California Institute of Technology following close behind.

Let's get to Indra Petersons for the weather.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Big story today. Anywhere from the Midwest to the northeast, you're going to feel a huge change, especially as we go through the weekend. Notice the temperature drop, today looking at New York City about 85, Rochester, 75. As I take you in through tomorrow, woh! Look at that. Rochester down to 56 degrees.

So, the question is, what is that? Well, there you go. There's the cold front expected to slide through Ohio Valley today and then overnight tonight into the northeast and through tomorrow morning. So, keep in mind. Yes, it means rain is in the forecast. Look for several inches of rain, in fact, especially a chance for severe weather.

An isolated tornado, not out the question. That's from Maine all the way down through Pennsylvania today, but the big story is, it's going to cool down. We've got little rain to get there.

BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks so much, Indra.

We are now very close to the top of the hour, which means it's time for your top news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What we had not seen until this week was a willingness by the Russians to actually move forward and act.

CUOMO: Putin lashes out on 9/11/. He sends America a message not to spread terrorism, lecturing about God's will. Does it put the Syria deal at risk?

BOLDUAN: And breaking overnight, move to higher ground. Deadly flash flooding across Colorado. Residents told to prepare. Rescues are happening at this hour, and we're tracking it all.

PEREIRA: Horrible timing. The major U.S. airport that held a fire drill, complete with real flames on 9/11. Flyers terrified and upset. The fallout this morning.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: What you need to know --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought there was a tornado. Lightning was going crazy. I mean, it was like a movie.

ANNOUNCER: What you just have to see --

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to NEW DAY. It's Thursday, September 12th, seven o'clock in the east.

Coming up this hour, it sounds like it's made up, this headline, but Vladimir Putin writing an op-ed, speaking to the American people directly, scolding them about spreading terrorism, on 9/11, of all days. In this op-ed, he warns Washington, a military strike against Syria will only lead to trouble. Now the U.S. is firing back, putting the Russian president on the spot. We'll tell you about it.