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House Speaker Comments On Shutdown; Cantor: Americans Deserve Obamacare Delay; Enough Votes, But Not Will To End Shutdown; Boehner: "There's Nothing Off The Table"; Libya: Terror Capture Was Abduction; Safety Of Suspect Ended SEALs' Raid; Boy Who Sneaked Onto Plane Has A Past; Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Raw Chicken; Another Arrest In Steubenville Rape Case; Interview with Rep. Sander Levin

Aired October 08, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello.

All new in the second hour of NEWSROOM, the Washington Redskins battling a big controversy not about their starting quarterback. It's the team name that has a lot of people offended. Now even the president is stepping into the debate.

Plus --

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole crew is like, what? Because everybody has been shocked.

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COSTELLO: Onscreen and off-screen drama. The movie "Captain Phillips" expected to be a big hit in theaters, but the real life crew says the man painted by a hero by Hollywood actually steered them into danger. And this --

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On my right is the new Dodge Durango with up to 360 horsepower. On my left is one horse with one horsepower.

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COSTELLO: Meet Ron Burgundy, anchor man and car salesman, using a official character to promote a very real product. We've seen it before, but never quite like this. The second hour of NEWSROOM starts right now.

OK, let's head right over to Capitol Hill because the Republican House Speaker John Boehner is now holding a news conference on the government shutdown. Let's listen.

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: -- to negotiate. Harry Reid and the president are putting our country on a pretty dangerous path. Listen, there's never been a president in our history that did not negotiate over the debt limit, never. Not once. As a matter of fact, president Obama negotiated with me over the debt limit in 2011. He also negotiated with the blue dog Democrats to raise the debt ceiling in 2010. So the way to resolve this is to sit down and have a conversation to resolve our differences.

REPRESENTATIVE ERIC CANTOR (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Good morning. In our last effort to fully fund the government, we asked for an end to special treatment for Congress, simple. And we said if you're having a hard time using Obamacare's broken web site, you shouldn't be penalized for not signing up this year, very simple. That's all we're asking for. A one-year delay of that tax is more than fair given how poorly the roll out of Obamacare has been.

But the president and Senator Reid wanted to protect that tax. So we asked to sit down and talk, and they said no. In a divided government, the American people expect us to work together. Whether it's on the government's funding or the debt limit, people expect to have negotiations when there are two differing sides.

In 1995, both sides sat down together under the same type of circumstances and they ended up balancing the budget. In 2011, as the speaker just said, we all sat down together and now we have two consecutive years of reduced spending as a result. Never negotiating a position of not negotiating is not a sustainable option and we ask this president and Harry Reid to sit down and let's iron out our differences.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to hear a similar tone from everybody that's up here because it's very simple. Get into a room and solve our problems. The president made a decision not to go to Asia. We stayed in Washington, a perfect opportunity.

COSTELLO: We're going to jump out of this because you've heard this before from both sides of the aisle as a matter of fact. Let's check in with Brianna Keilar. We heard what they said. Why not just sit down and talk out our differences? Why doesn't the president want to do that?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president, Carol, feels like what House Republicans want to do when it comes certainly to government funding is to fund pieces of the government that don't have to do with Obamacare. So the piecemeal issue, I think they feel like there's no point in talking about it and there's no point in moving forward with some of the more popular areas of government and reinstating that, because then you're going to end up with Obama care defunded in a piecemeal sort of way.

So I think the -- what you have right now, is you kind of have both sides, really, coming at this from very far apart. And also what's interesting, they're talking about different things. You're hearing house republican leaders here talking about the shutdown issues and the bills that we've so far going back and forth between the House and Senate.

Well, the Senate is taking a turn today. They will be introducing, Senate Democrats, introducing a bill focused on the debt ceiling, which obviously economists as well as I think there's bipartisan agreement and that's really more of a pressing issue. We could see the senate take that up. We could see a first vote on Friday. But really the final volt could drag out as late as Wednesday.

As you know, Thursday is the big day for the debt ceiling. It's looking like this could be a cliff hanger. Maybe we'll learn as we get some of the X and A during this how receptive House Republicans may be to that. I think maybe we will find out that they aren't.

COSTELLO: We're going to stick with this and see if John Boehner comes back and takes questions. Let me ask you another question, Americans are frustrated and they're angry. A new CNN/ORC poll out shows that the anchor is pretty much spread out among Republicans, Democrats and the president, and it's only rising. Would that push all sides to finally come together? Is that what it's going to take?

KEILAR: You know, Carol, I tell you that those numbers don't come as a surprise to the Democrats or to the White House. When you look back at on shutdowns of 1995 and 1996, even though now we look back with a long view and say President Clinton won that battle, at the time, everyone took a hit. And that was the expectation here.

I think at this point, really one of the only things that I've ever really, really efficiently seen move politicians is the market. And we're not seeing a tremendous amount of disruption there. That's really the area if you're going to see a lot of pressure if you're not going to have phone ringing off the hook on Capitol Hill. If you look back to the debt ceiling battle --

COSTELLO: Let me just interrupt you because John Boehner is back. So let's listen for a time.

BOEHNER: The last time the president and I sat down it was actually $2.4 trillion worth of reductions over the years. I want to have a conversation. I'm not drawing lines in the sand. It's time for us to sit down and resolve our differences. I'm not going to get into a whole lot of the speculation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not the central argument.

BOEHNER: No, it isn't. The central argument is this. Are we going to sit down and have a conversation or aren't we?

BOEHNER: About what possible debt ceiling package might look like coming from the house Republicans. I know you want to have a conversation with the president, but are we not hearing the details because -- related to the C.R. that you guys had to pull off -- are they concerned about that getting out there?

Well, all we're asking for is to sit down and have this conversation. There's no rope to make it more difficult to bring people to the table and so there's no -- there's no boundaries here. There's nothing on the table. Nothing off the table, I'm trying to do everything I can to bring people together and have a conversation. Yes, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible). BOEHNER: That's -- that's a decision tore the president to make.

COSTELLO: All right, Brianna, I'm going to pose this question for you. Because John Boehner just said I'm not drawing any lines in the sand, it's time to resolve our differences, no reason to make it more difficult, there's nothing on the table, there's nothing off the table, I just want to have a conversation. Is this different language from the House speaker?

KEILAR: I'm not really seeing any different language. I did miss some of the top of that press conference there, but what we're seeing to me seems to be a whole lot of posturing. House Republicans saying the White House isn't talking to us. The White House and president Obama saying we're not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling and not going to negotiate on Obamacare when it comes to a shutdown.

We're willing to talk about some of these things to do improvements to Obama care to discuss budgetary issues, but not under threat. I think you have still a lot of posturing at this point. I don't really see anything particularly new. And as far as we know, Carol, there really are no -- I think you look back at these and realize there are back room negotiations going on. As far as we know, nothing.

COSTELLO: Nothing. OK, Athena Jones, she was in that press conference that John Boehner just held. So Athena, did you hear anything new?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, I didn't, Carol. It's more of the same. It's what we've been hearing for the past week or more. Both sides are still standing by their positions. The position here on the House Republican side is that they want the president to come to the table, the president and Senate Democrats to sit down and negotiate. That's a word we heard over and over again.

They said refusing to negotiate is not leadership. So they place the game fully in the president and Senate Democrats' court. Now I tried to ask Speaker Boehner about the ongoing tally of votes that CNN has been conducting that shows that there are in fact enough votes to pass a spending bill with no strings attached to re-open the government on the House floor if it were brought to a vote.

That tally shows 200 Democrats would vote for this bill as would 17 Republicans. Of course, this is ongoing. But I asked Speaker Boehner, and he left the room humming to himself. He did not answer that. So it doesn't look like there's going to be any sort of vote on the floor any time soon.

In fact, there are discussions right now on voting of a couple of other measures that would put together a committee of Democrats and Republicans to start talking about this. And also another measure that would make sure that people working right now, people like capitol police, essential employees, get their paychecks on time. That's some of the current discussion. But none of this is dealing, of course, with actually ending this shutdown -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Athena Jones, Brianna Keilar, thanks so much. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back with more on Obamacare because the demand for Obamacare is so high, supposedly a crashed web site. That's what the supporters of the affordable care act are saying. So why doesn't the government tell us exactly how many people have enrolled?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 14 minutes past the hour. This morning, there are new tensions between the United States and Libya over the special ops mission. Short time ago Libya's government called the capture an abduction and it's demanding answers from Debra Jones the U.S. Embassy to Libya. She met with them after being formally summoned.

We're also learning more about the raid in Somalia where the legendary Navy SEAL Team 6 abandoned its mission empty handed. A senior U.S. official tells CNN that the commander made the decision to withdrawal after the team came under heavy fire and it became unlikely that the target could be taken alive. Another official says that children were also spotted in the compound and at risk in becoming caught in the crossfire.

New details about the 9-year-old boy who sneaked on to a plane to Las Vegas without a ticket, it turns out he's been in trouble before. The "Minneapolis Star Tribune" reports are that the boy recently stole a car and on numerous occasions has taken mass transit to a water park and sneaked in without a ticket. The boy remains in Las Vegas. There is a court hearing later today to discuss his case. The boy's parents are reportedly cooperating in the investigation.

A California chicken producer may be the source of a salmonella outbreak that sickened nearly 300 people in 18 states. Foster Farms are working to identify the raw chicken products in question. They're mainly distributed in stores in California, Oregon, and Washington.

The fallout from a rape case that shocked the town of Steubenville, Ohio, isn't over yet. Back in March, jurors convicted two high school football players of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party in 2012. Photos and video of the victim were splattered all across social media. Now a school employee, an adult, is facing charges. CNN's Poppy Harlow is here with more. Good morning, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, this is a school employee, 53-year-old William Rhinaman. He has been indicted and arrested without bail there for being suspected of tampering with evidence and lying all involving the investigation around this rape case of a 16-year-old girl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (voice-over): When these two Steubenville high school football players were found guilty in march of raping a 16-year-old girl in August 2012, emotions ran high. The victim's mother saying --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This does not define who my daughter is. She will persevere, grow and move on. HARLOW: The rapist reacted in court after being convicted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing. I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would like to apologize --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We sweep the filth --

HARLOW: But some in this Ohio town suspected an attempted cover up. Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine promised a thorough investigation.

MIKE DEWINE, OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: This community needs assurance that no stone has been left unturned in our search for the truth.

HARLOW: On Monday, the first arrest and indictment from the ongoing investigation. The 53-year-old William Rhinaman, Steubenville's school's director of technology faces four counts including perjury and obstruction. He is being held without bail and could not be reached for comment. Details of his indictment were not immediately available.

Social media brought the case national attention. Song of the night is definitely "Rape Me" by Nirvana said one and this shocking video, mocking the victim. Since the trial, investigators have conducted searches at the high school, school district's office and the technology company.

They told CNN this considers the importance of those responsible for those reporting and or preserving evidence after a crime is committed involving a child.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And Carol, a horrific crime for her to go through and her entire family. William Rhinaman, the 53-year-old school employee, he is expected to make his first court appearance tomorrow afternoon. We, of course, will be following that and we asked the school for reaction. The superintendent told us late yesterday that he did not want to comment, but they would be issuing a press release today. I called again, have not heard back. We want reaction from the school in all of this -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Should be interesting. I just wondered if this guy is convicted, the school employee, what kind of time does he face?

HARLOW: So if he's convicted on all four counts, he faces just a little over four years in prison as a maximum sentence. That's because he would be tried as an adult. What a lot of people are pointing out is that the two convicted rapists were tried as juveniles. But you know what's very important when this verdict came down in March.

The attorney general, Mike Dewine of Ohio said that 16 people refused to talk to investigators as part of their initial investigation. That was a large part of why they are holding and continue to hold this grand jury which is meeting again at the end of month. There could be more indictments. We'll follow it very closely.

COSTELLO: Poppy Harlow reporting live this morning. Thanks so much. When we come back, we're going to talk to Congressman Sander Levin and ask him why the Obama administration is not releasing numbers attached to Obamacare. Why can't we know how many people have signed up? We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: All this week, CNN crews have traveled the country asking Americans what they think about the partial government shutdown and the inability of Washington to hammer out an agreement. One thing is clear, there's plenty of blame to go around. According to a new CNN/ORC poll, 63 percent of Americans are angry with Republicans and Democrats at 57 percent and President Obama, 53 percent are angry at him.

Today, CNN's Ted Rowlands is in Detroit, Michigan asking people what's your message to Washington? Good morning, Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, we've been on the road for a weekend. It's impossible to overstate how absolutely disgusted the majority of the people are with Washington. Last night, we were at a local cafe here in Detroit and asked them the same question. One guy said, you know what? American voters are also to blame because we let this happen Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don't participate in certain elections, it turns out that you will have -- I was about to use a bad word -- but you will have complete idiots elected that will do absolutely nothing, but hold our government hostage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they should all get a life and go out and do the job right. If you can't do it, you have to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's deplorable. I don't like it and I have a great issue with the idea of a career politician. It's the one thing that I think our forefathers never contemplated and it has what has brought our system down nick by nick, year by year, over the past 225 years to the point where we're at now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Disgusting, deplorable, embarrassing, we're hearing it all and will continue to hear it until something changes in Washington -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm sure. Ted Rowlands reporting live from Detroit, thanks so much.

So, after all you've heard about the government shutdown, what is your message to Washington? Make a video for us and send it to ireport.com. As this shutdown continues, we will share your views right here on CNN. As many of you know, it was the fight to defund Obamacare that helped spark this partial shutdown. While the Obama administration has been vocal about the number of people who want to take advantage of the new law, when it comes to specifics, officials are quite tight-lipped. Here is what two administration members had to say about how many Americans have actually enrolled so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: When it comes to enrolment data, I want to clear this up. We will release data on regular monthly intervals. What I can confirm right now, people are signing up through federal exchanges. But this is an aggregation process and we're not going to release data on hourly, daily or weekly basis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many have signed up thus far?

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Fully enrolled? I can't tell you because I don't know. We are taking applications on the web, on the phone. We'll be giving monthly reports. Can tell you we've had not only web hits but hundreds of thousands of accounts created.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Congressman Sander Levin is the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee. He joins me now from Capitol Hill. Welcome.

REPRESENTATIVE SANDER LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: Glad to you be with you.

COSTELLO: Glad you're here. So I'll pose that question to you. Why not release some numbers? Why not tell the American people how many people are actually signing up for Obamacare?

LEVIN: Because they're not available yet because there are both federal exchanges, there's a federal exchange, and then there are state exchanges. And the information is coming into various places. We do have some idea as to how many people access the internet. It was 5, 6 million people. So there's been a lot of activity. There's a lot of interest.

Also we've been told in Massachusetts, for most people who eventually signed up, they essentially went to the internet 18 times. You just don't go in once. Often you want to go and compare policies. That's really the genius of these exchanges. People have a choice. I think a lot of that is going on.

COSTELLO: Wait a minute. Did you say people have on average in Massachusetts had to go online 18 times?

LEVIN: No, no. I heard that often -- I don't know the exact numbers. This is the Massachusetts experiment that worked out very well. A lot of people went back time after time because they were comparing insurance policies. In Michigan, for example, there are 13 different carriers and you need to look at, there are four ranges of policies and 13 carriers.

So you're looking for the best policy that fits your needs. So often people will go back to the internet more than once to figure it out because there's comparison shopping. That's the genius of this and it's why in most states the insurance rates came down, came in lower than was projected.

COSTELLO: It all sounds -- this all sounds very, very complicated. I think that many Americans are frustrated because the Obama administration isn't releasing any numbers, not even an estimate. We, CNN, called individual states and asked how many actually applied for insurance and they were able to give us those numbers. We don't know if they were the right numbers because we can't check back with the Obama administration because it isn't talking.

LEVIN: There are states running their own programs. Unfortunately, a lot of states, like Michigan, decided not to do that. So there's a state federal partnership. So it differs from place to place. That has to be understood. We do know millions of people have accessed the internet, have gone to see what this is all about and we have confidence, the more people learn about this, we have now a number of months. Everybody doesn't have to sign up in October. It doesn't go into effect for a number of months, as you know. People are shopping, that's good.

COSTELLO: Just a few minutes ago, actually a half hour ago, Congressman Eric Cantor came out, John Boehner held this press conference and of course, Republicans said again that they want to sit down with the president and have a conversation, everything is on the table. I mean, that's what House Speaker John Boehner said. Why doesn't the president agree to that? Why not sit down and have a conversation and get this thing done?

LEVIN: Look, we need to get it done. It's well -- it's good that everything will be on the table. But what we need to do first is to end the -- the shutdown and that can be done by bringing up the Senate bill. The speaker said on Sunday there weren't enough votes to pass it and that's really not correct. Because we know 200 Democrats have said they will vote for it and now 25 or so Republicans have publicly said they will support. Bring up the bill and let's get the government moving again.

COSTELLO: Maybe the House speaker would more likely be willing to introduce that bill in the House of Representatives if he had a conversation with President Obama first.

LEVIN: Why does he have to have it first?