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NEW DAY

Syria Chemical Weapons Snag; Putin Says Gay Athletes Have Nothing Fear at Games; Could You Be Taxed Per Mile? Boston One Win Away; Historic Night For St. Louis Teams

Aired October 29, 2013 - 06:30   ET

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


MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: In Syria, security concerns are preventing inspectors from reaching the last two of 23 declared chemical weapons sites. The international agency overseeing their destruction warning they may not be able to reach the area safely before Friday's deadline. They say getting to them might require a cease-fire.

The Syrian electronic army claiming responsibility for hacking some tweets sent from President Obama's official account. For a short time Monday, users who clicked on links in pair of tweets were redirected to a video montage of terror attacks. The Twitter account itself was not hacked.

Penn State will spend nearly $60 million to settle cases with 26 child sex abuse victims, a former football coach Jerry Sandusky. The universal says several more claims remain unresolved. The officials say the cost of the settlement will be covered by liability insurance policies and not from student tuition or donations. The 69-year-old Sandusky is now serving a min 30-year prison term.

A Florida store clerk, boy, is he lucky to be alive this morning, thanks his cell phone. The clerk happened to have that phone in his shirt pocket when an armed robber fired a gun right at his chest. The screen of the phone is totally shattered. There's a big bump on the back of the phone from the bullet in the back of the case. The clerk apparently fine, he didn't even know he'd been hit until he pulled out his phone from his pocket inside.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: He didn't even know he had been hit.

PEREIRA: You could imagine -- I don't know. The adrenaline and everything is happening so quickly. You hear a shot fired. You maybe think you got missed, you don't feel any pain.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: I know it wasn't a design element of the phone but HTC, the company that made it, I'd be all over this if I were they. Not that this is what it's designed for.

Just when you're thinking iPhone, Galaxy or HTC, we save your life.

BOLDUAN: Dodged bullet, when I drop it on the floor, it shatters into a million pieces. CUOMO: It's pretty cool. A lot of big questions for that kid, though, whenever you survive something like that. Questions what did it --

PEREIRA: What am I supposed to be doing with my life?

CUOMO: What am I supposed to do now? But the good questions to ask. Much better than the alternative.

Coming up on NEW DAY: what if your state stops taxing gas lean. That's good, right? Gas would be cheaper. What if they then start taxing you on how many miles you drive? That may not be so good. We'll tell you why.

BOLDUAN: And there's no doubt he's had a legendary football career but should O.J. Simpson now be considered for a big honor from the Rose Bowl? The controversy when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Hope your morning is going OK so far. There is a cold wind blowing. Let's get to Indra Petersons with a check of your forecast. She is in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, this morning.

Hey, Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, Chris.

You know, just driving in towards Seaside Heights, there's a community just north of here, Ortley Beach, where you can really see that reminder of what happened here a year ago. Many homes there, still, a lot of slow progress. We're talking about red tags and empty lots.

But here, you can actually tell on the pier, things are very different here on the boardwalk. It has been rebuilt, 90 percent of the businesses are open. So, a sideline of the progress that is slowly making way.

I do want to talk about another storm making its way across the country. And that's the storm system that brought the heavy snow in through Montana. This morning, we have winter storm warnings in through Wyoming and through portions like Colorado. We're looking for another 10 inches of snow possible, especially if you're talking about Telluride or Veil, good news for them. But, of course, definitely, some difficult conditions, with strong winds and heavy snow, through portions of those stats.

Now, that same system, of course, bringing very cool air with it, temperatures got 20, 25 degrees below normal. We're combining that with above normal temperatures into the South. Also, we had that system sliding to the east and the jet going over Texas. So, we are going to be talking about the threat for severe weather.

So, that's the big concern. As we go on through tomorrow, we're talking about severe weather throughout from Nebraska down through Texas and it continues to slowly progress to the east. So, by Halloween evening, people need to be paying attention to the storm system from the Ohio Valley, all the way into the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, it progresses overnight, definitely a lot to be concerned about as we take a look at this storm -- Chris and Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, Indra, thanks so much.

Let's go around the world now starting in Russia where President Vladimir Putin is now saying publicly that gay and lesbian athletes have nothing to fear as they head to Sochi for the Olympics.

Phil Black is there with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Putin's comments is clearly an attempt to cool some of the international anger over Russia's anti-gay propaganda law, which makes it illegal to tell children here that gay and straight relationships are equal. It's been branded discriminatory.

His words are unlikely to satisfy. Gay and human rights activists around the world are just worried about what this law means during the Olympics. They're angry about its very existence and what it will mean for gay people in this country, before, during and after the games.

Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Phil, thank you.

And now to the trial in Italy for the captain of the doomed cruise liner the "Costa Concordia." His girlfriend is expected to take the stand.

Erin McLaughlin is covering that from London.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She's the Moldovan dancer who has defended the disgraced captain from the moment the ship went down. Now, Domnica Cemortan is set to take the stand in the trial of Captain Francesco Schettino. He's charged with manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster, and abandoning ships.

The two were very friendly. They were having dinner that night. He even invited her on to the bridge of the ship before everything went horribly wrong. Her testimony is part of the prosecutor's attempt to establish what exactly happened that tragic night.

Back to you, Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Erin, thank you for that.

And in Iran, it's an American soccer coach who's helping to make the national team better and he's building bridges in the process.

Reza Sayah has that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, an American citizen is making headlines with his decision to help Iran's national soccer team qualify for the World Cup in Brazil next year. His name is Dan Gaspar, born in Connecticut. He was coaching the University of Hartford when Iran's coach, an old friend and colleague, called him and said, why don't you move here and help me move this team?

His wife and friends and family said don't do it. He ignored the warnings and came here. He says he's had an incredible time. He's even met former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

His mission is to bring the World Cup back to Iran. After that he says he plans to come back to America after a remarkable journey -- Kate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Talk about a remarkable journey. That's pretty impressive. Thanks, Reza.

PEREIRA: All right. Folks, it's "Money Time".

A pilot plan in Oregon to raise taxes for roads certainly raising eyebrows. It would replace a tax on gas with a tax on every mile you drive. The idea has some people concerned about their privacy. We'll talk about that portion of it as well.

Christine Romans is here to explain.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

PEREIRA: Good morning. How would this work?

ROMANS: Would you pay a penny and a half a mile or 30 cents a gallon?

BOLDUAN: Depends on what kind of car you drive.

ROMANS: Exactly. Depends on what you drive.

And this is something that Oregon will be pilot -- it's a pilot program starting in two years. It will be voluntary. A lot of people are saying, wait, they're going to make me do this.

They want to test to see if this is a way for the state to raise more money for tax revenue to fix bridges, roads and the like. It's how it would work out. So, 30 cents gas tax. It would work out if you use a mileage tax of 49.2 cents a gallon. A typical driver would be paying more. CUOMO: I'm totally confused. I don't get it. They're trying to raise money. That means more taxes.

So, fundamentally this has to be worse for, right?

ROMANS: Well, it depends on who you are -- if you're a gas guzzler, if you drive a gas guzzling car, actually it helps you a little bit. If you drive a lot of miles, it's not good for you. But if you're a middle of the road driver, maybe you'd pay a little bit more.

But the point here --

CUOMO: So, everybody is going to pay more. Nobody is going to pay less.

ROMANS: Some people could pay less. It will depend on your behavior. It's going to depend on your situation.

But here's the thing. They haven't been raising these gas taxes. It's hard to get it past voters. We haven't raised them, haven't keep up with inflation.

If you look at consumption, and I've got a chart to show, consumption has leveled off here. The states have to look for ways to find money.

PEREIRA: There's so many more people driving hybrids.

ROMANS: And fuel efficient cars and the president and White House pushing for more fuel efficiency. Unless you raise tax revenue some way, you're not going to have the money for roads and highways.

BOLDUAN: So, you have to, instead of taxing someone at the pump you need to track the miles someone drives.

ROMANS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: That, of course, is raising privacy concerns.

ROMANS: That's the other part of the story. How are they going to track where you're going, how many miles you're driving. It's got the big brother police going crazy, civil libertarian groups are upset. The state says they're going to have different ways to do this. They're either using the odometer. Some of these plans have talked about using GPS --

What if you go out of state, then you wouldn't be paying the state tax if you go out of state. So, how would that all workout? That's what the pilot program is for? To figure out -- there have been academic studies showing this could work, but practically would it really work? That's what they want to --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: What's the incentive? I know it's a voluntary plan. But that's the incentive to try it out? Because essentially you could be paying more. ROMANS: You could be paying more. You absolutely could be paying more, or you could be paying a little bit less. The states have to raise the money somehow.

CUOMO: It's not voluntarily to you. It's voluntary to the state. Eventually they'll say you have to do it, you know?

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: The highway trust fund is completely depleted. They never put money into it. So, states need to figure out some way to raise money to fix the roads you drive.

ROMANS: We haven't raised the federal gas tax in 20 years. There are 16 states who haven't raised their state gas tax in 20 years. So they've got to come up with the money. But they've got to come up with money somehow. But when you ask the public, would you like to raise your gas taxes? They say no.

CUOMO: You know what? That's one of the unspoken pains in our country is that the infrastructure stinks, and nobody wants to put money into roads and bridges. It's politically unpopular. You don't vote for somebody because they tell you they're going to fix the bridges. Then you have a disaster, God for forbid. And then they start rebuilding that they talk about.

ROMANS: Then, you think of new ways to do the gas taxes that are on the miles driven, and not on the gallons purchased, and maybe that's the way to come up with revenue.

CUOMO: All right. What do you think? Tweet us with the #newday. Are you worried about your privacy? Do you really think the government doesn't know right now where you go, with all the technological advances?

BOLDUAN: You want to think past through knee jerk reaction. You know, immediately, you're like, what? This can work.

But think about it.

CUOMO: Take a little break. We'll give you a little break. Jerk your knee. And then you can come --

PEREIRA: Jerk your knee.

CUOMO: Don't go where it wasn't intended. Tweet us #newday.

When we come back after the break, we're going to be talking about the Red Sox. The World Series is a big deal. People are watching it like they haven't for years. They're a game away.

We'll bring in a man who has all the answers, if he is also incredibly bias in the outcome.

BOLDUAN: And hasn't slept in weeks. PEREIRA: Just looking at this piece of video gives me ice in my belly. Look at this monster wave, more than 100 feet tall. You know what? A surfer got on his board to take a ride. It may be a new record. It is our must-see moment.

CUOMO: Holy cow.

PEREIRA: Yeah, holy something.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Dirty water.

(LAUGHTER)

It's great song.

The World Series is doing the best rating since when the Yankees were in it. And if you're one of the 16 million people watching, you know why. The baseball games have just been really good. Let's bring in John Berman. Not only is he the "Early Start" anchor, but he is a devoted and dedicated sports fan, especially of the Boston variety.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is an affliction. It is an affliction. And this World Series has been incredible and dramatic. And I got to say, last night was the first game, game five was the first game that wasn't wacky.

PEREIRA: It was kind of a normal game, right?

BERMAN: It was just good baseball. There were no bizarre errors, no epic, unprecedented things. It was a 3-1 game with great pitching. Jon Lester out-dueled Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals. Lester had seven strikes out over seven in two-thirds. Adam Wainwright had 10.

And the Red Sox ended up winning 3-1, largely behind the bat of David Ortiz who reached base nine straight times, which is a World Series tying a World Series record.

BOLDUAN: Really?

BERMAN: It is.

CUOMO: In October, what is he batting?

BERMAN: In the World Series he's batting over 450 for the three World Series he's been in, which is presumably (ph) with over 50 at bats, it's the best ever. I mean, he is, with all apologies to Reggie Jackson, the new Mr. October. There, I said it right there. Now, it comes back to Boston for the final two games. You know, two years ago, the Cardinals came back from 3-2 and they won the World Series. It can be done. Lot harder due on the road. The last team to do that was the Pirates in '79.

PEREIRA: It is all game seven on Halloween. There would be MLB, NHL, NBA -- CUOMO: And Berman would be BOA.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Or MIA.

CUOMO: I'd been hearing his screams from up there where he lives --

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Berman goes out and buys seven more TVs.

CUOMO: So, let's talk a little controversy.

BERMAN: Yes.

CUOMO: OK? How we separate sports and life. The perfect phase for this, O.J. Simpson. All right. A phenomenal college football player for USC, had two huge Rose Bowl games, one won, lost one, but great performances. They want to now give him an honor for the Rose Bowl, O.J. Simpson. Can you separate football and the man? JB, what do you think?

BERMAN: What they're trying to do is they're putting together an all- Rose Bowl team and take one representative from every decade.

CUOMO: Yes.

BERMAN: And he's been nominated to be one of the three -- they're going to pick one out of three from the 1960s. O.J. was in two Rose Bowls, rushed for 100 yards both times. Hard to argue that he wasn't the best player on the field in the 1960s. But, it is a controversy with a lot of people saying you shouldn't honor O.J.

I should say, he's in the college football hall of fame and the pro- football hall of fame and the Rose Bowl hall of fame, but he was inducted to all of those before all the controversy.

BOLDUAN: Why was the Rose Bowl wants this controversy?

BERMAN: It was football writers who made the decision and they're making their judgment based on just what happens on the field. There's a little bit of a precedent to this, vastly different, I appreciate it. But Pete Rose from Major League Baseball, not in baseball's hall of fame, however, when they put together their all- century team for 2000, he made it, because the guy is their all-time hit leader.

It's hard to argue. So, I think in a lot of people's minds, you can create a distinction if you separate the two. People don't think --

PEREIRA: Do you think there's going to be a disconnect between fans and sports writers on this one? BERMAN: You know, it's hard to know. I don't know how fans really feel. I think a lot of fans are mixed. And I think sports writers are probably mixed also. The one thing I will say, he's not in. There are two other players, there's a coach and another player who could get, you know, elected.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Well, John -- is the USC coach, a great USC coach you could get in. And I wrote this down because -- Vander Kelen, the great university of Wisconsin quarterback. Apologies to badgers. I don't know who he is, but I'm not sure he had the impact --

CUOMO: He had 120 and 170 yards. He scored both touchdowns in the Rose Bowl that they won. The football stats are overwhelming, but the question is how much does character count? Before we move on, make sure you tweet us about it. The hash tag is NEW DAY, obviously. What do you think?

BOLDUAN: Well, even just right here, you notice that -- do you know, what was his name?

BERMAN: Vander Kelen.

BOLDUAN: Do you know stats on Vander Kelen.

CUOMO: Yes. I have two of his jerseys.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: But you know the stats from O.J. Simpson.

CUOMO: Yes.

BOLDUAN: You know, so there's that.

CUOMO: O.J. was a great football player.

BERMAN: You know what, if he does get the honor, he's not going to get to go to the ceremony.

PEREIRA: No. I feel like --

BERMAN: That's not going to happen no matter what.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: I'm moving on to our "Must-See Moment."

CUOMO: Please.

PEREIRA: What do you think? Shall we? Because I want to talk about this big wave.

CUOMO: Let's do it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA (voice-over): Not everyone is complaining about the hurricane force wind battering large parts of Europe this week. Take a look at a group of surfers in Portugal (ph) which is off the central coast of Portugal.

CUOMO (voice-over): Holy cow.

PEREIRA: Monday, they took full advantage of jaw-dropping ocean swells caused by the high wind gusts probably the coast there. Enormous waves prove no match for this pros, though. Preliminarily, estimates suggest that Brazilian surfer, Carlos Burle may have topped the record for biggest wave ever surf. They're doing that -- where the jet ski --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN (voice-over): There's no chance this is fake, right?

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: No, no, no, absolutely not.

CUOMO: Right now, Laird Hamilton is doing hand stand push-ups in --

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: -- getting ready to go on break this record.

PEREIRA: What's interesting, this guy that they're saying that may have broken the record did it right after he rescued another big wave surfer from drowning, because the guy almost drowned doing that. It's very, very dangerous as you can tell.

BERMAN: It's like mongo (ph) huge mega wave --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (on-camera): Holy cow.

BOLDUAN (on-camera): Ginormous.

CUOMO: Crazy. They go so fast at such an angle that they have to strap their feet onto the board, some of these guys.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: I took one surfing lesson and I fell off --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: And just like whitewash.

PEREIRA (on-camera): I'm telling you, it gives me ice in my belly. I'll say it again.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I want to hear what Laird Hamilton is going to say about this if the record was broken.

BOLDUAN: We'll see.

PEREIRA: We'll call him.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, the head of the NSA due for tough questioning over the latest revelations of spying on foreign leaders. And now, even Democrats are saying the White House may have gone too far. We're going to have the latest coming up.

CUOMO: We're following a manhunt in Oklahoma. Two men still at large, considered armed, dangerous. They escaped from an Oklahoma jail. How? They snuck out through a crawlway. Very "Shawshank Redemption" movie style escape. We'll tell you what the concerns are going forward. Could it happen again?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Did you know that sports history was made on Monday when for the first time ever, a World Series game and "Monday Night Football" were held in the same city at the same time?

BOLDUAN: Talk about traffic.

CUOMO: Kate Bolduan knew. Andy Scholes told me, so I know as well. Part of this morning's "Bleacher Report." Andy, history.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes. You know, it's a cool deal for St. Louis, got both the World Series and "Monday Night Football." But it's also a little -- it was unfortunate for the Rams, because arguably, their biggest game of the season came on the same night that the Cardinals were playing the Red Sox in game five. The Edward Jones Dome is only about 65 percent full for "Monday Night Football."

But in spite not having a great home field advantage, the Rams only down one in the third quarter. That's when Russell Wilson hooked up with Golden Tatum (ph). Check this out, guys. Hey, not very sportsman like here. He's going to wave goodbye to the defenders as he goes in for the 80-yard touchdown.

He received a taunting penalty for that. Now, the Rams had a chance to win this on the final play of the game, but that pass right there. It goes incomplete. Seahawks win 14-9, making it a really, really rough night for St. Louis fans.

All right. Lebron and the Heat will tip off the NBA season tonight with a doubleheader on TNT. Miami and Chicago get things started at 8:00 eastern. That's followed by the Clippers and Lakers at 10:30. And coming up in the eight o'clock hour, NBA analyst, Greg Anthony, will join NEW DAY for a complete preview of this upcoming NBA season. And guys, I got to tell you, this is my favorite time of year. BOLDUAN: When every season is happening at the same time?

SCHOLES: Every sport.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHOLES: Something to watch every night.

BOLDUAN: That's good. Me, too. Thanks, Andy.

CUOMO: Good to have you.

BOLDUAN: All right. We're close to the top of the hour which means it is time for your top news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're undergoing a complete review of how our intelligence operates outside of the country.

CUOMO: To know or not to know. The president responds. How could he not know about the U.S. spying on key allies? And will he stop it now? The president's intelligence chiefs to be grilled this morning by Congress. Who's making the decisions on surveillance?

BOLDUAN: Two down, two to go. A pair of escaped inmates in Oklahoma recaptured, but two others still on the loose as we get new details on the dramatic jail break.

PEREIRA: Bouncing back. One year after Sandy, the areas hardest hit are still on the mend. How far they come and how far they need to go? Our Indra Petersons live with the latest.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: What you need to know --

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That --

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)