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Less than 16 Hours from Government Shutdown; Reacting to the Shutdown; Interview with Congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas; Israel Reacts To U.S.-Iran Talks

Aired September 30, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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


BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Chris. The Senate is expected to take up the bill the House passed and then promptly dismantle it.

And here's the issue -- barring some unexpected agreement here, we are on a fast track to a government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the old football strategy.

KEILAR (voice-over): House Republicans rallied on the steps of the Capitol, calling on the Senate to come back to work.

Inside: a ghost town. Not long after the House GOP passed a bill in the early morning hours on Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

KEILAR: It funds the government, but delays Obamacare for one year. Now, just hours to go before a deadline for a deal, the first government shutdown in 17 years seems all but certain. The blame game in full swing, with Republicans on preemptive damage control.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: So far, Majority Leader Harry Reid has essentially told the House of Representatives and the American people go jump in the lake.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: He is saying 100 percent of Obamacare or the highway. The president is the one saying, I will shut down the government if you don't give me everything I want on Obamacare.

KEILAR: They argued, they budged, demanding the president's health care program be delayed after initially voting to defund it altogether.

But Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid won't put this latest House passed bill up for a vote and President Obama, who met Sunday afternoon with his economic team at the White House, has threatened to veto of any measure that delays or defunds Obamacare.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me repeat it. That's not going to happen. KEILAR: The Senate is expected to strip out the Obamacare delay today and send it right back to the House. There was one area of possible agreement, however. A repeal of attacks on medical devices that was included in the bill Republicans passed this weekend.

A top Democrat said he was open to the measure, but not with a shutdown looming.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I'm willing to look at that, but not with a gun to my head, not with the prospect of shutting down the government.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: There are two chances for President Obama at least so far in his public schedule today to perhaps make some comments about the shutdown. He will be meeting with president or I should say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also has a cabinet meeting, there will be cameras at both events if he wants to say something. But he's made it very clear when it comes to tinkering with Obamacare and really any significant way, that it's a non-starter for him -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We'll see where things go today. Brianna, thank you so much.

Let's turn now to brand new CNN/ORC polls that break down the way Americans think about this funding fight.

CNN's chief national correspondent John King here to walk us through the findings -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, the American people are sending an unmistakable message, they do not want this to happen. Good thing or a bad thing to shut the federal government down for a few days, seven in 10 Americans say a bad thing to shut it down for a few days.

What about the prospect of a shutdown that could go on for a few weeks? Well, look at this -- eight in 10 Americans say that would be a horrible thing to happen, a bad thing to shut the government down for a few weeks.

But these are national numbers. Very important to remember that old adage, all politics are local. This strategy is being driven by 40 to 50 of the most conservative members of the House, four or five of the most conservative members of the Senate. They think they're on safe ground with the voters back home.

Look at this -- your views on the Tea Party. If you support the Tea Party, nearly six in 10 Tea Party supporters say it's a good thing to shut down the government. That is what is driving the conservative Republicans saying, it's OK, we want to defund or change the health care law, we're willing to shut down the government. That is what is driving their politics, the local numbers support of the Tea Party. But, nationally, who would be held responsible if the clock ticks down to zero? Thirty-six percent of Americans say the president would responsible, nearly half say Republicans in Congress, 13 percent say both.

So, if you just look at these numbers, Republicans obviously at the moment would get more of the blame if the government does shut down. More responsible.

Again, though, if you break this down by party, big differences. Democrats, eight in 10 Democrats almost blame the Republicans in Congress, nearly seven in 10 Republicans would blame the president. So, again how you vote impacts what you think about this.

And here's why some Republicans say we're on safe ground, we want to defund or significantly change the president's health care plan. They say, well, look, almost six in 10 Americans oppose the health care law but that number can be misleading.

It is important to break it down and look at this, some of the opposition, 11 percent of that opposition is from people who think the health care law didn't go far enough, maybe they wanted a single payer or more liberal health care policy.

So, remember that number, 11 percent say the president's health care plan was not liberal enough. Which brings you to the defining question in this debate, what's more important -- to avoid a government shutdown or block parts of the president's health care law? Six in 10 Americans say avoid a government shutdown.

That number, Chris, speaks for itself.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. John, appreciate the breakdown. So, we know when it will happen and we know what people think about it. But what will a shutdown mean for you?

Christine Romans is here to lay out exactly what will happen if the government goes dark -- Chris.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPODENT: Chris, this is no way to run a country. It's no way to run a business. No way to run a government.

And would you feel the shutdown -- right away you would notice this: national parks, zoos, museums would close. You have many federal offices and programs will go dark, probably about 825,000 federal workers will be sent home with no pay. Numerous government projects would be delay due extensive furloughs. You'll feel it on Main Street and anybody doing business with the government.

What will remain open? Federal courts, resources for 10 days, passport offices, visa issuing, that will still go forward, air traffic control, border protection, Department of Defense, even the power grid and central banking system functions stay open. But there are regulators, sorry, who will be sent home. Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits -- all of these things will still be paid out. Food stamp and debit cards will also see -- those will be automatically reloaded. You're going to have mail, mail will still continue.

The bad news, you still have to pay your taxes, even if the government shuts down, you pay your taxes even though your government isn't going to be there for you in some cases.

Through all of this also really important to note, members of Congress will get paid through the shutdown. Let me say that again -- members of Congress whose job it is to run the country and run the government will shut down the government and still get paid. In case, you're wondering they make about $174,000 a year -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Christine Romans, thanks so much.

Joining me to talk more about where things go from here in this fight, House Republican who voted for the budget resolution over the weekend that would delay Obamacare for a year, Congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas.

Congressman, it's great to see you. Thank you so much.

REP. MIKE POMPEO (R), KANSAS: It's great to be with you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

You heard what Christine was laying what this government shutdown would mean for the average American. So, the question to you is, what are you going to do -- because it seems it's every man for himself at this point -- what are you going to do to avoid the government from shutting down, avoid all of that from happening because you know you're a smart man. The Senate is going to strip out all of the health care elements and send it back to you clean.

POMPEO: Well, I appreciate the question because it's an incredibly important one. The House of Representatives worked all weekend and passed a couple amendments to the continuing resolution, one of which would delay the health care bill for just a year and the other which would get rid of a medical device tax, 79 Democrat senators, 79, excuse me, 79 senators, many Democrats, said they opposed. These are common sense, reasonable things that we can do.

And I have to tell you, Kate, you know, the Senate didn't work this weekend, they went home. It was shocking. We finished 1:00 on the Sunday morning and the Senate slept. I find that arrogant beyond all possible imagination that you wouldn't come back and deal with the looming government shutdown on a day when the American people need you to be here working.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk where the poll numbers are and what the poll numbers say. All the new poll that we have out this morning and I think they're very telling. And I want to get your take.

There is plenty of blame to go around in Washington. We all acknowledge that, but this morning, CNN/ORC poll says more Americans would blame Republicans in Congress than the president if the government shuts down. I know that you know that.

So what do you say to them?

POMPEO: You know, I've seen data that's all over the place, I heard some of the polling you all presented a few minutes ago. What I hear from folks in my district is we've already made enormous changes to the Affordable Care Act.

The president treats this today as a sacred text. He says we can't change a thing. I'm not even going to talk to you. I'll talk to a terrorist nation in Iran but I'm not going to talk too duly elected officials in the House of Representatives.

We know this -- there have been enormous changes. This president's already delayed big pieces of Affordable Care Act for his friends, big business, his cronies. All we're asking is to delay other pieces, like the individual mandate that will affect low income people in Kansas, delay it for a year.

We're going to try to get the folks enrolled tomorrow morning, Kate. In fact, I'm going to try and enroll tomorrow morning, October 1st. I'm going to go online and try to get enrolled online.

I wish every one of them good luck. It's going to be chaos, the president knows that and he needs to talk to us to avoid the shutdown and avoid the chaos that the Affordable Care Act starting tomorrow will create.

BOLDUAN: You say that you're listening to constituents at home. We do often hear, we want our lawmakers to listen to our constituents. We often hear lawmakers that they are just responding to the demands of their constituents and their voters are telling them.

But then take a look at this number and John King says this is a defining number in this fight, six in 10 Americans say it's more important for Congress to avoid a shutdown than to make major changes to the health care law. Your constituents may not like the president's health care law but there are many people, a majority of Americans, six in 10 are saying this is not the time to have that fight.

Are you listening to that?

POMPEO: I am. I see that and I hear from constituents that have different views. But I will tell you -- in Kansas' fourth congressional district, I bet that data does not reflect the will of the folks that I represent. But more important than some polling data or something that we can all debate how the question was asked, what's really important is that we engage in a reasonable conversation how to move forward.

The president said he didn't like the idea of defunding the Affordable Care Act for a year. We want back and change that. Now, we're asking for a delay of a single year, the same thing he's done for major provisions and he says he won't talk to us. He won't engage in a conversation.

He called John Boehner on Friday. I thought that was great news. He called John Boehner on Friday to say, "I'm not going to talk to you."

This is how you end up in a place where government is going to potentially shut down. I've not talked to a single Republican that is advocating on behalf of a government shutdown. We are here all weekend working to avoid it. I hope the Senate and the president today will work with us to make sure that does not happen.

BOLDUAN: It wouldn't be smart politics or policy to be advocating a government shutdown, that's for sure. Are you confident, you, Congressman Pompeo, are you confident that an 11th hour deal will be made and you will -- I will be talking to you tomorrow about how Congress pulled it together and avoided a government shutdown?

POMPEO: I hope we are. I hope tomorrow morning we're talking about how we were able to delay the Affordable Care Act and keep government running for all over the country. That would be the best outcome.

BOLDUAN: Real quick --

POMPEO: I can't tell you how the next 16 hours are going to unfold. I hope we'll see at least the Senate go to the floor and do a little bit of work. That would be a really, really good scenario.

BOLDUAN: Well, they come in at 2:00. So, we'll definitely see about that.

Really quick, though, I do want to ask you. Would you support a short term stopgap measure to allow for negotiations to continue just to get you through tonight?

POMPEO: No, it's impossible. I voted for things like that before, if I thought there was a good outcome. We just have to see how things unfold this afternoon.

BOLDUAN: All right. Congressman, thank you so much. We'll be watching and everyone's hoping Congress can come together and get this done.

POMPEO: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: I know you know that. Thank you.

POMPEO: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: All right. We want to hear from you. We hear a lot from lawmakers. We want to hear from you. Tweet us @newday and let us know what you think about all of the news of the day. It's important stuff.

And there is a lot of news developing at this very hour. Let's get straight to Michaela for the latest headlines -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kate. Thanks so much. Making news: a fatal plane crash in Santa Monica, California. A small business jet skidded off the runway, crashed into a hangar and burst into flames. Unclear how many people were on board, but officials say no one could have survived. The fire damaged three buildings. No word yet if anyone on the ground was injured. The plane had taken off from a resort town in Idaho.

New information this morning about what the NSA does with e-mail and phone data it's been sifting through. "The New York Times" says the agency has been tracking the social connections of some citizens and even knows where they are and whom they're traveling with at certain times. The social mapping reportedly has been going on since 2010.

No evidence of negligence or violations of protocol. Those findings from an investigative report into the Yarnell Fire in Arizona that killed 19 firefighters this past June. The report concludes the blaze was simply not survivable. It does not address why the Granite Mountain Hot Shots left the safety of a previously burned ridge to rush into a bowl where they were ultimately trapped and killed.

Health officials from the central Florida coast are warning people of a sea water bacteria already linked to nine deaths. The warning covers Volusia and Flagler Counties. Health officials say beachgoers with open wounds or broken skin should avoid swimming in warm saltwater. They also say people who handle raw shellfish should wear gloves and wash their hands.

We want to show you a piece of video that has many of us grinning today. This woman said peace out to her boss. She posted a video on YouTube spelling out exactly why she was quitting. And to do it, she added her own little interpretive dance with Kanye West in the background.

It is not a joke or bank. We actually spoke to her. Apparently, it's all legit.

We also spoke to her employer who happens to be a Taiwanese animation company. You've seen those animated news stories they produce. They told us she did in fact quit today.

I'm guessing she's probably not getting a good-bye cake.

BOLDUAN: She earned one. With those kind of moves?

CUOMO: I like the moves.

PEREIRA: I kind of love the moves.

CUOMO: I'm just telling you.

BOLDUAN: I know. So, now when you start dancing we need to be nervous.

CUOMO: If I could dance like that I wouldn't be here anyway. I think she's probably taking her career in a different direction.

BOLDUAN: We'll see. That's a good one, though.

CUOMO: Yes. Let's get over to Indra Petersons, watching the forecast.

Any chance you come up with some type of storm that keeps the politicians in D.C. locked up so they have to work?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, not so much.

CUOMO: No?

PETERSONS: A little bit.

Pretty nice on the East Coast. West Coast is where the issue is. I thought you were going to say, can I dance, like no, we were not dancing right now. I was going to be don't even start with me right now.

(CROSSTALK)

PETERSONS: No, exactly.

Love this video I keep showing this. It's absolutely amazing. It shows how much rain was in the Pacific Northwest this weekend. We're talking about the manholes exploding, three to five inches of rain, we set daily records in both Seattle and Portland, all thanks to a storm that's hanging off the coastline there, this huge mind you, cold storm is bringing so much rain to the region.

Again, we talked about the records -- it looks like even in Portland, they set the record for September, already for the amount of rain they have seen. And more rain still on the way, another two to four inches right there between Oregon and Washington, still expected today.

And, of course, that's not the only side of this, it's cold temperatures and strong winds. I mean, look at the divide here, Portland 59 and just east of the area, we're talking about Denver at 82. You get those two air masses close to each other and you get those strong winds when they reported 75-mile-per-hour winds in the area, a lot of trees down, and of course, power lines as well with that. So, that storm is still in the area. The other thing across the country today, we're watching Ohio Valley down through about Texas.

It looks like this front continues to make its way to the east. Not a big, I can actually show it to you on the water vapors (INAUDIBLE) pretty much dissipating. So, maybe a couple light sprinkles as it makes its way through, but overall, really the story on the east coast is gorgeous and to answer your question, yes, everyone in Washington is enjoying about 83 degrees and sunshine. But hopefully, they're -- indoors and not outdoors.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. It's small --

PETERSONS: Right.

BOLDUAN: All right. Indra, thanks so much.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, President Obama set to meet with Israel's prime minister today. Benjamin Netanyahu saying he'll tell the truth in the face of all the sweet talk between the U.S. and Iran.

CUOMO: Plus put the clock up there, the shutdown clock, one of the ticker, gives you some urgency. That's what we need. Everybody's debating whose fault is it. We're going to be debating it right here. And remember, the lawmakers are listening to you. If you heard them on the show this morning, they're nervous. They're nervous in D.C. And we're going to show you a little bit of why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to tell Washington to listen to the public and do what they would like for them to do, to get our country moving, and to get our country back on track.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's nuts that our government can't just keep itself open. We have bills to pay. We've got a budget we've worked under and we should live up to that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Friday's groundbreaking phone call between President Obama and Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, lasted just 15 minutes, but it did mark the first direct communication between the leaders of the two nations since 1979. So, that's history. Now, today, President Obama meets face-to-face with one of the greatest skeptics of the melting ice, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Let's get some perspective. Joining us now from London is CNNs chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. She sat down for a direct conversation with President Rouhani just last week in his first interview on American soil. So, great, fresh reporting there. Christiane, thank you, as always.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to be with you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So, we have a poll here from CNN that says 76 percent of Americans favor direct diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Now, how do you take that message from the American people and kind of meld it with what Israel needs to hear for the relationship with the U.S.?

AMANPOUR: Well, I do think that those polls are consistent. The American people would obviously prefer a negotiated end to this rather than a military end to this, and it matches what the Iranian people also are saying that they also want to reach out to the United States. But on the issue of Israel, obviously, the Israelis are a lot more skeptical and they have been much more suspicious of Iran, like many have been suspicious of Iran's intentions.

But I think what's going to be very, very crucial in the conversations between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu is that, yes, as Prime Minister Netanyahu says, they can't just be smiling while spinning, spinning being the centrifuges in Iran. There has to be substance. And of course, to everybody's interest, there has to be substance.

So, the substance is, does Iran go through with what it's saying and that is that it really wants serious negotiations, that it wants -- and will it give more transparency and will it be prepared for more restrictions on its nuclear program, and by the same token, will the United States and the west be willing to lift some sanctions?

It's most definitely a two-way street and that is going to be the substance and if that substance is reached, then that would be a progress and of course, you know, President Obama is going to say, look, let's let this diplomacy at least have a try. Let's test the diplomacy before we try another route.

CUOMO: You know, it's the style versus substance comparison that you put up. It brings me to the Twitter back and forth between President Obama and President Rouhani. What do you make of that? There is no internet allowed in Iran except for this one day that may have been a glitch. And yet, now, you have the president. He's tweeting to the president of the United States. What do you make of that?

AMANPOUR: Well, President Rouhani came into office tweeting. And I particularly asked him how ironic is that, Mr. president, when your people cannot access social media, Twitter, Facebook, even the internet, they have to go around firewalls. They're incredibly sophisticated. I've been reporting on Iran for the last 20 plus years and people can get around these restrictions.

So, he said that "my campaign promise was to reduce censorship and increase freedom in that regard and I will do it." That was his categoric statement to me. Let's see what happens.

CUOMO: So, let me ask you this, what may be the formative question here is, what Israel's going to want is that you have to make sure that there's a back stop here, that if Iran doesn't do what it's supposed to do, that there is that threat maybe of military action. Do you believe that the U.S. has lost credibility with that because of our red line fiasco we just went through with Syria, that right now, the U.S. doesn't have the ability to point its finger and say you better do what we say or else?

AMANPOUR: Well, I think the whole military aspect of it has sort of taken a back seat. Obviously, everybody in the Obama administration keeps saying all options are available to us, but it's very clear where the American people stand and where the Obama administration stands politically. It doesn't want to go to any more military adventures, interventions or any of the like.

President Obama said over and over again that, you know, I'm the president who was elected to end wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Having said that, the threat of force on the table, I believe, did bring Russia and Syria much more rapidly to dealing with the chemical weapons issue in Syria. And you know, presumably all of this is going to stay on the table. But you know, it really is a matter of whether the two sides can move forward on substance.

The Iranians have said over and over again, you know, if you keep pointing a gun to our head, we're not going to play ball, but it really, you know, beyond that rhetoric, it is about whether they can move to do the things that are required, which is more transparency and some restrictions on their program.

And by the same token, and this is really important, that the west and the U.S. gives on sanctions, because if they're not going to go to war, negotiations are the only other option and for that as you know, negotiation requires compromise which is a two-way street.

CUOMO: AND that of course will be the big issue with Israel is that they have one position on sanctions and it is not about relaxing them. Thank you very much for the perspective this morning. We'll be following up on this reporting for sure. Kate, over to you.

BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks, Chris.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, Amanda Knox on trial again for murder, this time, not returning to Italy. Is her nightmare beginning once again or is it nearing an end? We're going to talk to Dr. Drew Pinsky about all of that.

Also ahead, Twitter and Facebook went wild last night with the series finale of "Breaking Bad." So, what happened in the last show? We will not spoil it for you quite yet, but how did it stack up against other memorable finales? We're going to take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: You're watching NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. It's Monday, September 30th. Put up the clock, 15 1/2 hours until the government shuts down. The only thing worse than the alarm clock is the shutdown clock. Some are calling this a travesty of a sham of a mockery or a --

(CHANTING) Traveshamockery.

CUOMO: Traveshamockery, ladies and gentlemen. Hash tag it. And that's why we're bringing on "Crossfire" host, Van Jones and White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, formerly, of course. They're both going to come in and debate what this could mean on the upside for anyone. How can this figure itself out? We'll get two good minds on the issue.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Plus, Amanda Knox, legal drama continues. She's back on trial again for the death of her roommate in Italy, but there's one noticeable difference, she won't be in court this time. What does this all mean? We'll be talking about it.

CUOMO: All right. Let's get right to Michaela for the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY -- Mick. PEREIRA: But we all know what number one. It's the darn clock. Number one, less than 16 hours to a government shutdown today, the Senate expected to reject the House spending bill that calls for a one year delay for Obamacare. Funding for the federal government dries up at midnight tonight.

President Obama sitting down with Benjamin Netanyahu today. Israeli prime minister is balking at the outreach from Iran. He perceives it as a stall tactic and is urging the U.S. not to take the bait.