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DOD Workers Back to Work Next Week; Bill Pass to Pay Furloughed Employees; Karen Swirling over the Gulf Coast

Aired October 05, 2013 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing, Foxy?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm on camera one. Sorry.

You stole the words right out of my mouth. I was going to say speaking of foxy, Fred. Vava-voom. You're looking great today. (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: You're funny.

LEMON: Am I embarrassing you?

WHITFIELD: Foxy fits you much better, Don Lemon.

LEMON: Thank you. It takes one to know one to say that.

You as well, Fred.

Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. It is the top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon. Of course, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

We're following two big stories right now. First, mother nature on a tear. Tropical storm Karen has, well, it has stopped. Just spinning in place. Deciding where it wants to go next. We'll go live to the Gulf Coast just ahead here on CNN.

Meantime, in California fires are now being fueled by 50-mile-an-hour Santa Ana winds in the mid west.

In the Midwest - at least 18 tornadoes ripped through Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota, and there's a threat of more to come.

And look at this. One South Dakota weatherman says he hasn't seen anything like this in his 30 years of broadcasting. That is amazing. At least not in early October. One place had nearly four feet of snow. We hope to talk with one couple. We're trying to get them on the phone. They have been trapped in their car for 20 hours. Twenty hours. We'll update you on the weather situation around the country.

But, first - we want to get to Washington, of course. And Congress. Working today, but a shutdown solution not on the horizon. Here's what lawmakers got done so far. The number of furloughed workers just got cut in half. About 400,000 furloughed employees will be asked to return to work next week. We'll explain - we'll explain Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's maneuver to get workers back on the job. Plus this, the House unanimously passed a bill to give back pay to all furloughed government employees and the agreement ended there. Political head butting began right after the vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE ISRAEL (D), NEW YORK: In this game of ping-pong that John Boehner is playing, his side of the ping-pong table is getting smaller and smaller and smaller.

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), MAJORITY LEADER: What we are looking at here, again, is an administration, a president, that seems to be unwilling to sit down and talk with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, President Obama took a fresh jab at House Speaker John Boehner today in an interview with the Associated Press, the president blamed Boehner for not ending the shutdown saying there are enough votes in the House. Republicans and Democrats to end the showdown - or the shutdown if the Speaker would allow a vote. It's a showdown as well, as a matter of fact. You'll hear how Republicans are responding to President Obama's remark.

But, first, let's get to the Pentagon. Up to 400,000 furloughed Defense Department workers may return next week thanks to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. I want to bring in now our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. Barbara, how did Hagel maneuver to get so many defense employees back to work?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, he is working on it, Don, and the secretary making it pretty clear he's just about over and done with the whole shutdown showdown as you put it. Here's how it sorts out. There's about 800,000 federal workers furloughed, about half of them work at the Defense department, about 400,000.

When Congress passed the law last week allowing the troops to be paid there was a little language in there that said civilians could be paid if they were in a job that supported the troops, so behind the scenes for the last several days DOD lawyers have been taking that language, working on it and trying to figure out supporting the troops, how many people can they bring back.

Hagel's position is if you work at the Defense Department, you support the troops, he wants them all back. But lawyers say, not quite. He can bring back most of them. His announcement today will allow most to them to start coming back next week specifically in jobs that either are in direct support of the troops or if the job didn't get done would hurt the troops down the road or hurt their families.

So supporting the troops, commissary workers, that's where military troops and their families shop for groceries and goods, that is considered vital now. Production lines for weapons, acquisition officials who work on buying the weapons for the future. If that doesn't get done, troops in the future are hurt. That's Hagel's position. So, they're working on it. They're going to start making phone calls as soon as today or tomorrow to the employees and try and get as much of the Defense Department as they can back on the job as early as they can. Don?

LEMON: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks, as always.

And next up, the White House. President Obama took aim at House Speaker John Boehner today saying Boehner could end this shutdown right now.

CNN's Jill Dougherty has the very latest from the White House for us. Hi, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don. Well, this morning the president had his radio address, weekly radio address, and he started reading letters from Americans who had been hurt by this shutdown and then he let loose aiming at the Republicans. Here's what he said --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... extract concessions out of each other, they just try to make sure that everybody's doing their job and that we're doing what's best for country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: And also the president had an interview with Associated Press, and in that - that interview, he specifically went after Boehner, Speaker Boehner. He said that "We can vote to open the government today, and he also said that there are enough members in the Congress," he would argue, Democrats and Republicans, who would vote to do that. But he said the only thing that's keeping that from happening is Speaker Boehner has made a decision that he's going to hold out to see if he can get additional concessions from us."

And then finally, just a quick one, Secretary of State John Kerry abroad filling in for the president in Bali at that APEC summit saying that this is having an effect on the United States foreign policy. He also said, people who are holding this up should think long and hard, as he put it, about what kind of effect this is having and why America can't get its act together. So, from around the world you'd have to say that's the message that this administration is trying to present.

LEMON: All right. Jill Dougherty at the White House, Jill, thank you, appreciate your reporting as well.

You know, we've heard the bickering all week, but we're no closer to a solution, so let's hear what two congressmen have to say right now. Steve Cohen is a Democrat from Tennessee and Jeff Denham is a Republican from California. Representative Cohen, I want to start with you, your party said that they won't negotiate, that they won't compromise, but that's what politics is all about, right? Why can't we find a middle ground with Republicans here?

REP. STEVE COHEN (D), TENNESSEE: We've found a middle ground. In fact, we found the Republican ground. The proposal on the budget, the Republicans made, was a $988 billion or $986 billion budget. The Senate wanted $1.02 trillion and the president wanted a little more. The president and the Senate Democrats and the House Democrats agreed to go with the Republican number. We compromised and gave them what they want. They can't accept yes for an answer.

Then they threw in not only now do we want our budget numbers on the continuing resolution but we want to take the most prized political accomplishment of the last 40 years from this president and this Congress and abrogate it, nullify it, without a vote in the Senate, without a presidential endorsement. That's not the way democracy is supposed to work.

LEMON: Representative Denham, do you want to respond to that?

REP. JEFF DENHAM (R), CALIFORNIA: Well, I certainly have a different perspective, yes, and Steve and I are good friends. We work on a lot of issues together, but certainly when it comes to funding, this is a big issue. This precedes my time in Congress. Five years since we've had a budget. That's what puts us into this position. We've passed a number of appropriation bills that continue to sit in the Senate and so now we're in a situation where the Senate and the president are asking just give us over - hand us over the checkbook and then, by the way, give us an unlimited credit card.

And now this president is one who campaigned and said $9 trillion was unpatriotic but yet he's doubled that and wants an endless credit card and we're saying enough is enough. Show us a plan. Let's work together. In the meantime we all want to keep government funded which is why we've done bipartisan bills to fund the military this morning, to fund all federal workers that are furloughed. We want to keep the government open -

LEMON: Right, right, Representative -

DENHAM: - that aren't open today.

LEMON: Representative, but the fact of the matter is the government is still shut down for all intents and purposes. Right. And you heard what Representative Cohen said, he said we have - we're on Republican ground here. So, if they have compromised -

DENHAM: That's just not true either.

LEMON: OK. So, then, listen, you guys are standing next to each other and you're smiling and you're saying you are really good friends, then why the hell can't you work it out?

COHEN: John and Nancy aren't as close as Jeff and I are.

DENHAM: That is true. I mean there's certainly a lack of trust I think between I think party leaders in both Houses as well as the president. The president, I believe, needs to get seriously engaged in this. You know, we ended up with this funding level that Steve is talking about, this funding level was sequestration that I don't think either party wanted - LEMON: I understand!

DENHAM: That's what we got stuck with.

LEMON: You guys, you're talking about funding now, you're talking about spending and all these things but that's not really what the fight is over. The fight is over Obamacare, it's over health care. That's the reason that you shut the government down. So, when you come on television, you come on CNN and other networks you talk about other things rather than what you're shutting the government down for.

The president has said (you're not going to get it with health care, it's not going to happen, so why not present a clean bill and then work on the other things -

DENHAM: Now --

LEMON: Go ahead.

DENHAM: And let me correct it for the record. What we are holding on to right now under this current funding level, under this short-term bill, we're not just going to hand over the checkbook. What we've asked for is an issue of fairness. The president said that Congress and congressional staff should not get special treatment, so we said here's the bill. We don't want special treatment and we sent that over to the Senate.

We also said an individual mandate, why are you going to mandate to individuals when you are making special deals for Wall Street and your other friends?

LEMON: But you're not hearing me! I feel like - I feel like sometimes I'm talking to a brick wall when I speak because you guys are giving talking points.

The issue is health care. That's why the government is shut down and you keep bringing other things in. The president and the Senate leader, they have said, it's not going to happen. The Supreme Court has said Obamacare is constitutional. It has been voted on by the House and the Senate. It is the law now. What -

DENHAM: Sure.

LEMON: - are you not understanding here?

DENHAM: I understand it completely. I just ask you to look at the bills that we have passed and look at what we're actually fighting on. There is no bill that we're looking at right now to repeal Obamacare. I don't like it. I think it's bad for my district. But there is no bill. There is a bill, however, to make sure that Congress gets treated just as fair as the rest of the public. And there is a bill also on the individual mandate, if it's good enough for businesses -

LEMON: Why can't you guys work - why can't you guys work on that without shutting the government down? Why can't you present a clean bill that funds the government and then say - and then get together and work on something that you can come to some common ground on instead of having people working without being paid like those police officers who saved the lives I'm sure of a number of people when the woman in the car the other day? Why can't you do that? Go ahead, Representative Cohen.

COHEN: I think we could come together on the medical device tax. That's a bill where - a Republican point where I could work with them and I think if we had it on a separate bill which is the way it's supposed to be and I think it could pass the Senate and the president could sign it and we could have offsets which the Republicans generally want even they didn't want it in the bill that they presented to repeal the medical device taxes. (INAUDIBLE) medical device tax with offsets, we can come to common ground. But that should be a separate bill and the way the process works.

DENHAM: Exactly.

COHEN: The way it works the House passes a bill and the Senate passes a bill and the president signs or vetoes it. If not, one house and one part of one House that is really is a House divided dictates on hostage terms on what happens in the future of legislation in this nation. It's a constitutional issue.

LEMON: That's the thing, Representative. Listen, many people think, many Americans, obviously, you've seen the poll numbers when it comes to Obamacare, many Americans think that you have a point, but they don't think that you have a point in shutting the government down, and holding the American people hostage.

DENHAM: I agree.

LEMON: So, if you can work it out without doing that, it would be fine, but that's what you're doing. And guess what, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. So why do you keep doing it? Why do you keep going against a brick wall?

DENHAM: I would again ask you to take a look at your funding bills. Every night the president asks for new things and we give him those things. We wanted to make sure we pay the troops. It was done on a bipartisan level. The president wanted to keep the parks open. We passed a bill to keep the parks open. Cancer patients - he brought that up, we did (INAUDIBLE) --

LEMON: You are still not understanding me! Open the government. And stop holding the American people hostage, work on the other things outside of that.

DENHAM: Come on now.

LEMON: Present on clean - it's not going to happen.

DENHAM: We are not holding the government hostage.

LEMON: Yes, you are. OK. you are holding the American people hostage.

DENHAM: We continue to pass funding bills - LEMON: There is so much frustration from the American people about what you are doing and you don't seem to understand that.

DENHAM: We're frustrated. We're all frustrated.

LEMON: Yes, it's very frustrating. Thank you, guys. I appreciate it.

DENHAM: So tell me this, we've now passed a funding bill to pay all furloughed employees. Why won't they keep the parks open? Why won't they go to work?

LEMON: Pass a bill that keeps the government open and stop holding the American people hostage because you're not getting your way. OK?

DENHAM: We're not going to hand over a checkbook or give a blank credit card on the debt ceiling. There are real issues -

LEMON: We haven't gotten to the debt ceiling. That's October 17th. That's not even here yet. We haven't gotten to the debt ceiling.

COHEN: President Reagan said it would be reckless and irresponsible for any political group to try to interfere with us paying our debt. We'll see how President Reagan's philosophy will fare.

LEMON: This is a great conversation.

DENHAM: President Obama as a senator voted against it because he didn't think it was the right thing to do with that much debt.

LEMON: Thank you.

DENHAM: That was half as much debt as we have today.

COHEN: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Thank you. I'm only voicing the frustration of the American people here. Thank you. We appreciate both of you coming on to CNN.

In the meantime, the Gulf Coast bracing for tropical storm Karen right now. The storm now spinning in one spot as if it's deciding where it wants to strike. We're going to go live to the Gulf Coast and that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The government may be shut down but the emergencies of life don't care what's happening in Washington. I want you to look at this.

A big storm swirling in the Gulf of Mexico and it's headed to shore in Louisiana and Alabama, also Florida. People are bracing for tropical storm Karen. Of course, we're tracking it. And we're live in the CNN severe weather center in just moments for you.

At the same time what's on earth - what on earth is this? Winter comes stomping into the great plains very early. It's not a special effect. It's the real thing. This is today, folks. And this is more than 40 inches of snow piling up in parts of South Dakota. Not a big deal in January, but the check - but check your calendar. It's October. It's only October 5th. Power is out. Interstates are closed, and if this is a hint of the winter that's coming, you can have it. I don't want it. Buckle up. It's going to be a rough one.

Let's go straight to Pensacola, Florida, now CNN's Nick Valencia is there. Nick, we're tracking this storm on the radar but you're on the ground. What are the conditions right there right now?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, just take a look behind me. It's a gorgeous beach day out today, and it's a shame that the local officials here aren't letting people in the water. There's been a regular flag warning in place here on Pensacola Beach and the big concern for them are those rough rip currents you can see behind me.

But a lot of locals that we talked to here say they aren't even that rough. Tropical storm Karen is currently stalled in the northern Gulf Coast and it's expected to make landfall in Louisiana before it makes any movement towards Pensacola Beach. They expect about one to three inches of rain here. That may not sound like much but for an area that's already been hammered and saturated by recent severe storms, any of that saturation could cause major problems when the tropical storm makes landfall here.

The good news though, Don, is that those at the National Hurricane Center, they say that this tropical storm, borderline tropical depression, no longer has potential of becoming a hurricane. Don?

LEMON: So, enjoy the sun, and get more of a tan. You look really tan there, Nick Valencia. Thank you, appreciate your reporting.

Let's go to CNN's Chad Myers now, he's in the CNN severe weather center. Chad, give us the big picture on Karen. Listen, it looks beautiful where Nick is.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure.

LEMON: But this isn't the only weird weather emergency in the United States.

MYERS: Oh, no, we had tornadoes on the ground yesterday a mile wide through northeastern Nebraska. I got places in Wyoming with almost 40 inches of snow on the ground and we have blizzard conditions throughout a lot of South Dakota and the black hills last night, where everybody says stay off the roads, it's just too dangerous.

Let's get to Karen. What happened to Karen? Why didn't it do anything? Because there was always wind and there was always shear taking what the storm wants to go all the way around, never got the storm to go all the way around. Never got that convection around the eye. That's great news. We don't want that anyway.

And we don't really expect it to do very much as you said. It is going to travel across south of New Orleans, probably over Plaquemines Parish and then in towards the Pensacola area later on this week. We will see some storms today. There will be some severe weather. There's still a lot of snow back out to the west and it's still piling up here in the Dakotas and we could see at least another foot of snow, snowstorms, tropical weather and floods and fires in Southern California. You have to watch those Santa Ana winds still blowing out there, Don.

LEMON: Amazing. It's just amazing to see the snow on the ground, right?

MYERS: Yes.

LEMON: And then you see Nick's shot. It's beautiful here in New York. I think it's beautiful here in Atlanta. And then lots, crazy, crazy stuff. Don't go anywhere, Chad, because I think we're going to need you.

MYERS: I'll be here.

LEMON: All right. In a few minutes I'm going to talk to a family in Sturgis, South Dakota. Look at this. This is their driveway today. Isn't that crazy? In 24 hours they got more than 30 inches of snow. They're digging out. And they're surviving the first ridiculous snowfall of the season. Already, October 5th. Man, oh, man.

This week millions of people logged in to websites to sign up for Obamacare. Some didn't actually logon to the right websites and that was on purpose. A warning about scammers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The Affordable Care Act or as it's known now Obamacare rolled out its new exchanges this week but beware. CNN's Zain Asher has a warning about the scams out there.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Affordable Care Act really does represent the opportunity of the decade for scam artists and there are a number of scams we do want to warn our viewers about.

So number one, watch out for fake health exchange sites. Now, these are sites that might look like state exchange sites. They might have the appearance of a state exchange site, but they are not real. You type in your city exchange website into your browser. You misspell it by one letter, by just one letter and you are redirected to a fake site. It's important that people be vigilant. To be on the safe side go to healthcare.gov and find the link to your state exchange.

You also want to watch out for people impersonating navigators. Now, navigators are certified professionals. Their job is to help you shop the health insurance, but an impersonator might say "Hey, pay us $300 and we'll help you sign up." Obviously watch out for anybody asking for money or anybody pressuring you to act now or saying things like limited time offer. That kind of thing. Sadly, and it really does break my heart is that seniors often do become targets in these sort of things. Someone might call up a senior and tell them that they'll lose coverage if they don't get a brand-new Medicare card and then they'll begin to press for their social security number. And bottom line, this is very important, you do not need a brand-new Medicare card with the Affordable Care Act. I cannot emphasize that enough. Lastly, watch out for companies offering a cheaper alternative as insurance on the exchanges. Now these so called medical discount plans are bogus. They falsely claim to exempt you from minimum insurance coverage requirements. If you're unsure, simply stick with the federal and state exchanges.

Zain Asher, CNN, New York.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Zain Asher.

Some amazing, crazy weather all across the country, tropical storms, tornadoes, massive snowfall. A quick update is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. At the top of the hour we're going to get a live update on tropical storm Karen and we hope to talk with one couple who have been trapped in their car for 20 hours in that North Dakota snow.

I'm Don Lemon, and right now a special edition of "SANJAY GUPTA M.D." I'll see you back at the top of the hour, live.