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Interview with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers; Police Search for Shooting Suspects; House Passes Spending Bill, Votes to Defund Obamacare; Reid Says Bill Won't Pass Senate; House Urges Senate to Act; Stocks Lose Steam

Aired September 20, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, House Republicans are celebrating passage of a bill that defunds Obamacare, but it doesn't really stand much of a chance in the U.S. Senate. It could set the stage for government shutdown.

Also, right now, President Obama visiting an auto parts plant in Missouri, speaks later this hour. He's expected to warn Republicans once again about the budget battle and the debt ceiling. We'll have live coverage for you this hour.

Also, right now, Chicago Police are searching for suspects in a shooting at a park. Thirteen people were wounded, including a three- year-old boy. Authorities say the weapon was an assault-style rifle with a high capacity magazine.

We want to welcome our viewers. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. The first domino has fallen in the fight over the possible shutdown of the federal government. Here is the calendar. We're only 10 days from the deadline. It's the end of the fiscal year and could be the last day of work. And last paycheck for millions of federal employees including some members of the military.

A short time ago, the House approved a spending bill to kick the can down the road a few months. It would fully fund the government until mid-December but would eliminate funding for the Affordable Care Act known as Obama care. With as passage of the partisan bill, House Republicans took a victory lap while sending a direct message to the Senate.

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REP. CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R), WASHINGTON: Today, we urge the Senate to take action. We urge our colleagues in the Senate, our allies on the outside and the American people to push the Senate to have this important debate on the floor of the Senate because if we are going to take action on behalf of the American people, we need the Senate to have this debate on the floor of the Senate.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), MAJORITY SHIP: -- why today when we acted it wasn't just a group of Republicans but it was a bipartisan vote. Let me state that again because I want to make sure you write it correctly. It was a bipartisan vote because we're Americans first. REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), MAJORITY LEADER: That's why we are doing our job and now it is up to Senate Democrats to show some responsibility and follow the House's lead. Now -- you know, many Senate Republicans have promised to leave no stone unturned fighting this bill and all of us here support that effort.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: You've got businesses all over the country who are not hiring because of the impact of this law. You've got other businesses that are reducing the hours for their employees because of this law. And so, our message to the United States Senate is real simple. The American people don't want the government shut down and they don't want Obama care. The House has listened to the American people. Now it's time for the United States Senate to listen to them as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Today's vote is just the beginning of this fight which needs to end by the end of the month or else the government will shut down. Erin McPike is joining us from Capitol Hill right now. Erin, we just heard the majority whip, Kevin McCarthy emphasize, this was in his words, a bipartisan vote. Technically, he may be correct but not really all that bipartisan.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. That's because just two Democrats sided with the Republicans to get those 230 votes. But if you want to call it a bipartisan bill, or a bipartisan vote rather, that's true. There was also one Republican who sided with the Democrats who voted against it.

Now, I will tell you just next week it will be moving into the Senate. But what Eric Cantor said today at this rally of House Republicans after the vote was essentially calling out Democrats. They want to get Democrats on the record about the health care bill. They specifically mentioned Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mark Begich of Alaska, and Mark Pryor of Arkansas and those are Democrats who are essentially in red states. They're up for re- election next year and they want to get those Democrats on the record about health care. This was very much a political statement today -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So, it goes to the Senate now. And assuming the Senate does not pass the same legislation that the House has just passed, and we all assume that will be the case, what's Boehner going to do at the end of next week into the weekend?

MCPIKE: Well, it's going to go back to the House and Eric Cantor just announced that the House will also likely be in session next weekend. Of course, House Speaker John Boehner also said much the same thing as he was leaving his press conference yesterday. He was asked, are we going to be working next Saturday and next Sunday? And he said, yes, and Sunday and so I assume, Wolf, that means that you and I will -- now, as far as whether the House will is pass a clean CR, as we've been talking about this continuing resolution with funding restored for Obama care, it seems that the Democrats are likely to pass a sort of clean bill. Nancy Pelosi did say just yesterday that the mood is not favorable for the current level of funding that the bill that was just passed had. But it seems that Democrats will likely pass a version sometime next weekend.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens next weekend. That's going to be critical just days before the government runs out of money. All right, thanks very much, Erin McPike.

With today's vote, House Republicans clearly have drawn a line in the sand. Let's speak with one of the top leaders inside the Republican caucus in the House. Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers is the chair of the House Republican conference. The number four in the Republican hierarchy.

Congresswoman, thanks very much for coming in.

REP. CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R), WASHINGTON: Good to be with you.

BLITZER: Let's talk about next weekend. Let's say the Senate passes a continuing resolution but does not defund Obama care. What are you going to do? Will you allow the government to shut down or will you accept a stopgap measure that at least allows the government to continue operating after October 1st?

MCMORRIS RODGERS: House Republicans do not want to shut down the government. But the American people don't want the government shut down. They also don't want Obama care. And the important news today is it that the House has acted. That the House took action to keep the government open and to defund Obama care. And what we need is for the Senate to have this debate. And so, we're not going to presume what the Senate will do. We'll let the Senate over the next few days have that debate.

BLITZER: Well, But let's assume though that Harry Reid and the Democrats who have the majority in the Senate reject what the House has just done. What you do then?

MCMORRIS RODGERS: I don't -- I don't think that we can presume what the Senate will or will not do. It's most important to note that the House has done its job. And just because the Senate hasn't been doing its job doesn't mean that we shouldn't be doing our job.

And you know, we just spent several weeks home in our districts. And members all across this country heard stories from individuals, from families as to how the president's law is making it worse. It's making it harder on them to afford their premiums. People are almost panicked over how they're going to afford their premiums.

I've talked with seniors that are seeing it -- Medicare increases. They want can't find a doctor. I have -- I represent counties where you might have an insurance card but then the local hospital or doctor don't -- won't take that insurance card. The health care system, lots of questions. So, it is clear that the American people would like to see this law defunded, delayed. They see it as being unworkable. And the Senate needs to have that debate. BLITZER: You know, he we took a closer look at the polls because you're right when you say the majority of Americans don't like Obama care, but when you take a closer look at the numbers, Congressman, look at this, do you support Obama care? 43 percent say they favor it. But on the opposition, it's 51 percent, according to the CNN poll we did in May, but 35 percent say they oppose it because it's too liberal. That's like you from the Republican side. 16 percent say they oppose it from the left because it's not liberal enough. They might want universal health care. They might want greater socialized medicine some would argue.

So, it's not just they oppose it from the -- from the right. Some people oppose it from the left. They want to go further and they want to do more government involvement in the health care operation as you can see from those poll numbers. Do you want to react to that?

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Well, I -- bottom line, people see it as unworkable. And we've even seen the president clearly agreeing that portions of this law are unworkable when he says he's going to delay the employer mandate. We've taken many votes to repeal and defund Obama care. Seven pieces of legislation have actually gotten through the Senate onto the president's desk. A recognition bipartisan that portions of this law are not workable. So, I think that people are seeing that. There's growing concerns.

Just yesterday, Home Depot announced 20,000 employees that used to be on their health insurance plan no longer health insurance plan no longer will be. We have other major companies making similar announcements. People that thought that they were going to have health insurance and the president said -- he said, if you like your health insurance, you can keep it. All these promises, although they sound good, are not being able -- they -- he can't follow through on it. And people are growing in their concerns. They see it as unworkable. And I believe when you look at the polls, when you ask the American people, they would like to see this law --

BLITZER: All right.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: -- delayed, defunded. And they applaud the action that we're taking in the House.

BLITZER: Yes, those 20,000 people at home depot and others will be eligible under the new system to get health insurance from the -- from the -- through the federal government, if you will.

But one final question. This is the 41st vote in the House of Representatives to defund Obama care. Forty-one times you've passed this legislation. You have the majority in the House. It has never gone anywhere in the Senate. What are you just hoping and praying it does this time? Is that your hope?

MCMORRIS RODGERS: There -- actually, several of those votes, seven of those votes have actually gotten through the Senate and onto the president's desk. The repeal of the Class Act, the repeal of the 1099 provision. BLITZER: But not the repeal of the whole -- not the repeal of the entire piece of law which was passed by the Congress, signed into law by the president of the United States, and approved as constitutional by the United States Supreme Court.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Right. You said that we had voted 41 times though and that includes -- that 41 includes the seven votes that we're taking to repeal portions of the law. We've taken six votes to repeal the entire law. And then, we've taken other votes that we believe that the Senate will -- should consider, like the delay of the employer mandate, the delay of the individual mandate that if it's OK for -- if it -- if it's not ready for employers, then it's not ready for individuals. Like the vote that we took to say that the IRS could not move forward in hiring the 17,000 employees that they're going to need to implement this law and create the data hub.

BLITZER: All right.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Those are still under consideration in the Senate.

BLITZER: All right, well, you'll -- we'll see what happens. You're going to have your hands full towards the end of the week when the Senate sends something back to you. I assume they're not going to defund Obama care but let's see. Let's see what happens. Maybe the 42nd time will be the charm from your perspective. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, thanks very much for coming in.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Good to be with you.

BLITZER: At the bottom of the hour, we're going to get a very different perspective from the Democratic side of the aisle. The DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the Congresswoman from Florida, she'll will join us live. We'll ask her what's going on as well. Also coming up, Gloria Borger, she's going to help us break down the political fight. Right now, as the bill heads to the Senate, we head to a possible government shutdown. It wouldn't be the first time. Twice happened in the 1990s. But there are new members of Congress, some of whom are ignoring some of the lessons learned from the last time it happened. We're taking a closer look.

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BLITZER: President Obama getting ready to speak. You're looking at live pictures in Liberty, Missouri, right now. We expect him to react to the House vote. The House vote, continuing spending for the federal government but at the same time defunding Obama care. It passed the House of Representatives, 230-189. It now goes to the Senate where its fate will be presumably very, very different.

Let's get back to the countdown to a possible government shutdown, even as we wait for the president. We'll have live coverage of his remarks.

There are 10 days left until the deadline. Today, the House passed a partisan bill defunding Obamacare. Only two Democrats sided with the Republicans. Now it heads to the Senate, and it probably will face near certain death. CNN's chief political analyst Gloria Borger is joining us right now.

In the end, the Republicans came together virtually unanimously. I think one Republican voted with the Democrats on the House floor.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Right.

BLITZER: But this was an important vote for a lot of these Republicans.

BORGER: A lot of these Republicans are nervous. They went home over the summer. They got pounded in their districts by grassroots movement on ad and at town halls saying you've got to defund Obamacare. So they decided -- and again, Wolf, you know, they forced Speaker Boehner into this position. This was not his original position. They said to him, look, we have had lots of votes, as you pointed out earlier, to defund Obamacare, but they haven't attached it to kind of a must pass piece of legislation.

This was easy for them though because they know that in the Senate it's going to have a very different fate. So this united the Republicans to a great degree. They can take a stand in the house. They don't have to worry about getting primaried on the right by people who are campaigning on getting rid of Obamacare. They take this vote. They send it to the Senate. They push over the Senate and say, it's up to you guys, knowing full well that the Senate can't do what the House did.

BLITZER: You know, a lot of these Republicans though, they think they have a winning issue. But those of us who lived through '95 and '96 remember two government shutdowns, Newt Gingrich, who's now co-host of "Crossfire" here on CNN, he was a speaker. The Republicans suffered as a result of those two government shutdowns.

BORGER: They did.

BLITZER: It helped get Bill Clinton re-elected in '96.

BORGER: It did. I think Newt might argue the opposite. But, actually, if you shut down the government this time, I would argue that it would be worse because you haven't passed any spending bills in the Congress. In 1995, they passed six or seven of the spending bills, keeping the government running. Now, nothing has been passed. So if you actually shut the government down now, there would be more services that would be affected and the public would feel it sooner than they even did in 1995. But I agree with you, I think the ire of the public would be, I can't believe you guys are doing this again.

BLITZER: I don't know why Newt would take issue --

BORGER: Well, he would say they did -- their House seat loss wasn't as large as it could have been.

BLITZER: The did have a -- they retained the majority in the House of Representatives, the Republicans --

BORGER: They did. Right. BLITZER: But they lost - they lost seats and there was a rebellion against Newt Gingrich as a result of that -

BORGER: That's right, for lots of reasons.

BLITZER: And he was no longer the speaker.

BORGER: Right. And they also lost, I would point out, seven of 11 governor's races that year and 53 state legislatures went to the other party. So there was sort of a ripple effect.

BLITZER: I mean -- and Karl Rove, in yesterday's "Wall Street Journal," outlined all those points saying this is crazy -

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: For the Republicans now to be trying to link Obamacare with the government shutdown -

BORGER: That's right.

BLITZER: Because he remembers vividly what happened in '95 and '96.

BORGER: I should say it was 53 state legislative seats.

Yes, so it did have a ripple effect. And Karl Rove's point is, if you want to be a presidential party, you have to appeal to independent voters. This vote today appeals to conservatives, but not to independents. So they can continue perhaps to have a majority in the House. But he's saying, if you want to move beyond that to the White House, you have to think a little differently.

BLITZER: No. My suspicion is they'll find a way to keep the government running October 1st. They'll work out some last minute -- they might not, but they probably will.

BORGER: But the debt ceiling -

BLITZER: But the debt ceiling battle -

BORGER: Debt ceiling -

BLITZER: In mid-October -

BORGER: Exactly.

BLITZER: Is going to be probably more brutal.

BORGER: I agree. I think so too.

BLITZER: All right, Gloria, thanks very much.

We're standing by waiting to hear from the president of the United States, get his reaction to what just happened in the House of Representatives. Stand by, we'll have live coverage of the president in Missouri. Meanwhile, it's been a wild week on Wall Street with stocks hitting record highs, but now that rally losing some steam. We're going to tell you what's going on. Stay with us.

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BLITZER: President of the United States, he's in Liberty, Missouri, at an auto parts plant. He's getting ready to speak. We expect he will be speaking out on the House vote. The House passed legislation just a little while ago, 230-189, that would continue funding the federal government but would defund Obamacare. The legislation goes to the Senate where it's unlikely to pass. The president will be speaking out. We'll have live coverage. Stand by momentarily for that.

Meanwhile, stocks started out the day climbing a bit, but it didn't take very long before all that changed. The Dow lost more than 50 points this morning. Let's take a look right now at where things stand on the big board. Down almost 100 points. Look at that right now. Alison Kosik is joining us from the New York Stock Exchange.

What's driving these losses, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what's driving the losses, Wolf? That word. That word is back on Wall Street. Uncertainty. Uncertainty when the Fed is going to go ahead and taper back the stimulus that we thought it would taper back earlier this week and uncertainty whether or not the government is going to shut down on October 1st and default on its debt.

But also you have to look at how stocks have been performing. It's been a big week and it's been a big month too. The Dow and the S&P 500, they shot to record highs this week. You look at how high. These are big gains for the month. The major averages are up 5 percent just for the month. We're only halfway through with September.

So you're seeing the market basically taking a break today. The belief from some is that stocks at this point are overbought because you look at the health of the U.S. economy, many are saying it just doesn't warrant these record highs that we're seeing in the stock market.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Any reaction - how's Wall Street reacting to the vote in the House of Representatives, for example, to continue funding the government but defunding Obamacare?

KOSIK: Well, Wall Street -- the way Wall Street looks at this is it knows that Washington still has - still has a ways to go. You know, the bill to take away funding for Obamacare, as you said, it passed the House. It now goes onto the Senate. So the way Wall Street sees it is, they're going to wait to see how things shake out. But no doubt about it, there are big implications for this and big business isn't waiting on Congress.

You look at UPS, it recently said it would stop covering workers' spouses if they have health care from their own employer. IBM, Time Warner, which is CNN's parent company, they're moving retirees into private exchanges. And then Walgreen's even said the same thing this week.

But you look at how Washington handles this. Lately, what it's been doing is it's been pushing these big issues, you know, like this, right up until the deadline and businesses can't afford to wait for - you know, for Capitol Hill to act. They're trying to get a handle on it now and get control of it ahead of time.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Alison, thanks very much. Alison's watching the stocks in New York.

TV's biggest stars go head to head Sunday night in the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. But some already have that coveted statue in hands. Dozens of Emmys were handed out at the Creative Arts ceremony earlier this week. And Bob Newhart, he got one as well. You might think the 84-year-old veteran actor would have entire shelves of Emmys. He's been acting for six decades and has starred in two hit shows, "The Bob Newhart Show" and "Newhart." But the Emmy he won this week for a guest appearance on "The Big Bang Theory" was actually, believe it or not, his first. It was a victory that brought him to tears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB NEWHART, EMMY-AWARD WINNING ACTOR: Well, what happened was, I got - I got up to - I heard my name and I turned to my wife and gave her a kiss. And then I walked up and then I saw this and I suddenly realized that it was going to be in my house. And then as I looked at the audience and they gave me a standing ovation and then that -- that just destroyed me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: It was a really nice interview that Bob Newhart gave with -- had with Piers Morgan and it's a well, well-deserved win for Bob Newhart.

When we come back, we'll get back to our top story. Only 10 days to go to dodge the bullet of a government shutdown. Republicans spoke out today with their House vote. But what about Democrats? What are they doing to fight back? The chair of the DNC, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, she's standing by live. We'll discuss with her.

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