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House to Vote Today on Spending Plan; Bitter Baseball Rivalry Turns Deadly; Iran's Rouhani Makes Splash at U.N.; House to Vote Today on Spending Plan; Arsenio Hall's New Show

Aired September 28, 2013 - 17:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone, to our live coverage. I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

There is the building behind me. The clock is ticking. We're inching closer and closer to a government shutdown at the capital, this could happen midnight on Monday unless a sharply divided Congress can cut a budget deal soon. Right now the ball is in the House's court. The House is set to vote later today on a republican spending bill that would add controversial measures to undermine Obamacare. The plan includes a one-year delay on fully implementing Obamacare and the repeal of a new tax on medical devices that would help fund Obamacare.

Any House GOP plan faces almost certain death in the Senate. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has said any bill that would change Obamacare is absolutely unacceptable. We have got this story covered from every angle. We have complete coverage for you on this shutdown struggle.

Chief Congressional correspondent Dana Bash is in Washington. Our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is in Washington. Our chief political analyst Gloria Borger is in Washington as well. We've got you covered here.

Dana, we'll talk to you first. So, we expect this to pass the House tonight, but the big question is, what will the Senate do and when? What are your sources telling you about this?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released a statement just a couple hours ago saying that he is confident that the Senate will reject what the House does and I'm told by a senior democratic leadership source they'll not even going to come back and take this up to reject it until Monday. They're not scheduled to come back until Monday. They won't, you know, change that schedule to come back on Sunday, tomorrow.

So, we're talking about really hours before the end of the fiscal year, hours before the government is technically set to shutdown that the Senate will even come back. Now, let me read you some of what of Harry Reid said in his statements. Senate Democrats have shown that they are willing to debate and vote on a wide range of issues including efforts to improve the Affordable Care Act. We continue to be willing to debate these issues in a calm and rational atmosphere, but the American people will not be extorted by Tea Party anarchists -- Don.

LEMON: Very interesting. And you now, explain to us. I had John Boehner's letter here. So, explain to us really what is behind this new plan. They want to delay the healthcare for one year, right? And other things.

BASH: The idea is this, John Boehner had to attach something or things to this spending bill in order to make sure that he had the votes within his republican caucus because they wanted to keep fighting. The fact that they didn't get the full defunding of Obamacare didn't stop them, so they picked these issues because on delaying Obamacare they say that the President himself has already delayed some things. But on the medical device tax repeal, they specifically picked that, Do, because it's something that got very broad democratic support earlier this year on a nonbinding vote.

So they're trying for lack of a better way to say it put Democrats in a box and in a bind in the Senate because they say that they voted on this before and many senators have some important interests in their states that make these medical devices so they think it will be hard for them to vote no but I'm told by a democratic source that they have counted the votes, they've talked to some of those sort of squishy democratic senators and they feel confident that they're going to be able to reject this.

LEMON: So, they're trying to co-opt them to win them over to their side, put them in a box you said.

BASH: Exactly.

LEMON: Dana, stand by. We'll be getting back to you. We want to go to the White House quickly here, President Obama has promised not to sign any legislation that would defund Obamacare. Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is standing by now. Now, Jim, what is the President's strategy at this point?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, I think the White House strategy at this point is to keep the president away, far, far away from what is happening up on Capitol Hill, that's why you saw the President out playing golf in Northern Virginia earlier today. And as you said, Don, the President has said time and again, administration officials have said time and again he's not going to sign anything that delays or defunds Obamacare. He is not going to allow anything that tinkers with the healthcare law under the threat of a government shutdown or default on the nation's debt and he's said this twice in the last 24 hours. Let's see if you see a pattern here. Here's what he had to say in the last 24 hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: As I said before, if Republicans have specific ideas on how to genuinely improve the law rather than gut it, rather than delay it, rather than repeal it, I'm happy to work with them on that through the normal democratic processes, but that will not happen under the threat of a shutdown. I will work with anyone who wants to have a serious conversation about our economic future, but I will not negotiate over Congress' responsibility to pay the bills it has already racked up. I don't know how to be more clear about this. No one gets to threaten the full faith and credit of the United States of America just to extract ideological concessions.

ACOSTA: So, there's the pattern there, in three words, no, no, no. Now in the last few seconds, Don, we received a statement from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, I'm going to read it to you because we don't have time to really put it in a graphic. I'll read a portion of it to you because it's quite lengthy. But at the top it says, today Republicans and the House of Representatives moved to shutdown the government. Congress has two jobs to do, pass budgets and pay bills it has racked up.

Republicans in Congress had the opportunity to pass a routine, simple continuing resolution that keeps the government running for a few more weeks but instead Republicans decided they would rather make an ideological point by demanding the sabotage of the healthcare law, it goes on longer than that, Don, and certainly we put that in graphic form and present it to you later. But that gives you the White House point of view at this point. Whatever comes out of the House, if it's not a clean as they say here in Washington, clean cr, clean continuing resolution, without all these other Obamacare provisions attached to it, it's a nonstarter. It's not happening here -- Don.

LEMON: Oh, boy. Oh, boy. We're in for it. Thank you, Jim. We'll get back to you. Thanks Dana, as well.

You know, a lot of Americans have very strong opinions about Obamacare including CNN iReporters, one of them is Drew Winter, he lives in Delaware. He says he's hopeful the law will take effect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW WINTER, IREPORTER: We've been very hopeful that Obamacare will be implemented and give us the opportunity not to get a free ride or free insurance or have everything paid for, you know, but healthcare costs are astronomical. They are financially out of reach for most hard working Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. Well, William Bernstein says not so fast. He also sent us a video explaining why he's against the new healthcare law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BERNSTEIN, JR., IREPORTER: Number one, I'm William, and so here's the deal. I've not had health insurance since 2007. That's when I stopped working at -- full time, now since then I've had many part-time jobs. Right now I do piano playing for churches and events part time. I work at the shipping company right here part time and I do freelance news reporting and storm chasing part time, that's the key word or words, part time equals no health insurance, and comes January me and millions of other Americans are going to be forced to do and to pay for Obamacare? I don't think so. Obamacare is unconstitutional and needs to be overturned. And maybe it's going to take my voice and millions of others to do that and if that's what it's going to take, then so be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, there you go. If you don't currently have health insurance, so we want to hear your story. Logon to cnnireport.com and share your photo or your video describing your experiences to us in the meantime though. The Affordable Care Act commonly known as Obamacare will impact nearly everyone in the U.S. in some way. You can find out more about it at cnn.com/healthcare.

So, the government shutdown isn't lawmakers' only worry. That's not what they're worried about. At least it's not the only thing they're worried about I should say. Come mid-October, the U.S. will hit the debt ceiling. What happens then? We'll explain the possibilities to you.

And it's considered one of the biggest insults in the Middle East. A shoe thrown at the President of Iran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Another Washington shutdown or showdown I should say waiting in the wings. The need to raise the nation's debt ceiling so the government can pay all of its bills. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said, this week, the limit on how much the government can barrow must be increased by October 17th or the nation could be technically in default. Severe economic impact would occur if the United States fails to meet the debt obligations.

I want to go now to our chief political analyst Gloria Borger, she joins me now from Washington. Gloria, is it shaping up to be an even bigger battle?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it is. And it's sort of hard to imagine that we're having these two battles almost at the same time. First of all the notion that the government could well and now looks likely to shutdown. And secondly, that in a few weeks in mid-October there's also the distinct possibility that the credit card's going to run out and that we won't be able to pay our bills and what that really means to Americans is not federal workers being furloughed which is bad enough on the government shutdown, but actually your Social Security checks, your Medicare payments not going to happen. And so -- and also some economists say you could sink into a recession not unlike the one we had in 2008-2009. Globally this would have a huge impact. So, I think the question that the debt ceiling is such a large problem looming over all of this and how it turns out really depends on how they resolve this issue over the government shutdown.

LEMON: Yes. We were having this conversation, very similar conversation, not so long ago about the debt ceiling.

BORGER: Right.

LEMON: And then the severity of it, so how serious is it for the country if there is a default?

BORGER: Oh, you know, it's usually serious. I mean, Social Security checks, Medicare, recession, you know, you talk to economists about this and they sort of shake their heads. And, you know, don't forget, and you remember this, because you were there covering it alongside me, that we went through this a couple of years ago. With the debt ceiling. We got downgraded, our credit rating in this country, because of the debt ceiling issue. And here we are back at it again. You know, coming on the heels of a government shutdown.

So, you know, this really isn't any way to do business and what you have is the President of the United States basically saying that paying America's bills is not a concession to him. Paying America's bills is actually what America ought to be doing. So, he's saying to Republicans if you think it's a concession to me, you know, you're barking up the wrong tree here. That he's not going to negotiate over Obamacare when it comes to the debt ceiling either just like he's not going to do it in regards to the government shutdown.

LEMON: All right. Gloria Borger will be with us throughout the evening. Gloria, lots questions for you and you'll answer them as best as possible I'm sure. Some of them you won't know the answers to because this is pretty unprecedented, right?

BORGER: It is. It is.

LEMON: We'll see you in a bit, Gloria, thank you. We'll going to bring you more on the government shutdown a little bit later on in the show.

But just ahead, fan rivalries can be intense, but this went to in extreme. The story is out of California. We have it for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Updating a story that we have been following for you. A former high school teacher is free after serving just one month in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl who later committed suicide, Stacey Dean Rambold was released on probation Thursday from a Montana jail. People are furious about the lenient sentence and the judge's comments that the victim was older than her chronological age and as much in control of the situation as was the defendant. A prosecutors in Billings, Montana, are appealing the sentence to the state Supreme Court. We'll continue to update you on that story.

It's a rivalry as old as baseball itself but this week the century- long tension between the Dodgers and the Giants turned violent leading a 24-year-old fan dead. CNN's Dan Simon has more on the attack and how the rivalry between the two teams has routinely spilled off the field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fan rivalries can be intense, leading to all-out brawls like this one at a San Francisco 49ers/Oakland Raiders game. And men aren't the only ones fighting. This happened at an L.A. Clippers/Utah Jazz basketball game. The latest violence centers around the storied baseball rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. And this time, it turned deadly.

DENNIS CLARK, WITNESS: I just saw the swinging and the yelling. And just like arms flying everywhere. The police started showing up. And I looked and I saw a person laying on the ground.

SIMON: Police say it happened a few hours after Wednesday night's game a few blocks from the ballpark. A 24-year-old, Jonathan Denver, was stabbed and killed wearing Dodgers clothes. This picture taken at the game with his father, a Dodgers security guard.

CHIEF GREG SUHR, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT: The fact that anybody got in any sort of a beef over the Giants and Dodgers and somebody lost their life, it's just senseless.

SIMON: A 21-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with homicide. Investigators say he was part of a group that wasn't even at the game. It's not clear yet how the fight started.

Two years ago, the rivalry led to the beating of a 42-year-old paramedic and father. Giants fan Bryan Stowe was critically injured when he was attacked by two Dodgers fans. He suffered brain damage and will never fully recover.

Experts say fights like this are usually fueled by alcohol.

DR. RAMANI DURVASULA, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: When you combine passion for your sports team, too much to drink and too many people, you've got a recipe for disaster.

SIMON: San Francisco's police chief has a message for fans everywhere.

SUHR: Just be respectful of each other when you go to these games. And remember, it's a game.

SIMON: Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We are not finished with this story yet. Just ahead, we'll going to look at the legalities of this case and what drives this type of behavior. Two experts join us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Investigators in San Francisco asking for help from anybody who witnessed a recent fatal stabbing on a Dodgers fan. Now, the man once suspected in the case has now been released as prosecutors seek more evidence before deciding whether to file charges. It happened Wednesday night and some have said it stemmed from the long-standing baseball rivalry between fans of the Dodgers and the Giants.

I want to bring in criminal defense Attorney Holy Hughes now and also human behavior expert Wendy Walsh. First to you, Holly, is self- defense a good argument in this case?

HOLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It is if that's how it went down, Don. What they are trying to determine now is who was the initial aggressor who started the fight. We know that the young man who has been released told people I was hit in the head with a chair first and then and only then did I defend myself. A chair can be a deadly weapon if it's break a part, if it's, you know, he can be stabbed with it. He can receive grave bodily injury, so that's why the police and the prosecutor's office to date have said, look, we need to interview more people, we need to get independent witnesses because obviously he's going to say self-defense and obviously the victim's friends are going to say, no, our friend didn't start it, he did.

LEMON: Let's say, it is self-defense, does it mean now he's completely off the hook?

HUGHES: No. That means it will go to a trial and if they determine ahead of time that there's absolutely no probable cause there's no real issue of fact for a jury to decide on, he may not be charged.

LEMON: Yes.

HUGHES: But typically in these cases what we'll see a charge will be brought and the defense at that trial will raise self-defense and let the members of the jury decide just like we saw in the Zimmerman case not long ago.

LEMON: OK. Got you. Got you. Wendy, as you saw there in Dan Simon's story, this isn't the first time something like this has happened and sadly it probably won't be the last time. What influences this type of altercation, most, alcohol has a lot to do it, right?

WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Alcohol has a big piece. But you know, Holly gave you the legal lesson, let me tell you the anthropological lesson that, you know, what is the modern day football game, it is the hunt from our hunter gatherer past. Today or yesterday's Willy Mammoth is today's Super Bowl ring. So, men, of course, don't have to go out and protect women and children and fight with marauding males to protect their resources, instead they live vicariously in the stands. So in some ways they are wired, remember when the police officer said, they have to remember, it's a game, you have to intellectually process that you are not in that hunt at that moment.

Then you add alcohol on top of it, it makes it harder to separate from the vicarious nature of the game you've just been through and secondly when you have groups of men, you know, I'd rather be accosted by one man than one man in front of another if he's his buddy because he's going to try to impress the more men around, you know, they'll going to align themselves in a hierarchy. So, it seems like all -- it was a perfect storm of negative things to happen to this terrible, terrible story for this young man.

LEMON: Gosh, men, men --

WALSH: Oh, but we love them, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Let's move on to the case, though, of a 16-year-old in Nevada who's been charged as an adult with two counts of murder. The victim his own mother. And brother. Holly, a manhunt is under way to find the teen who was initially thought to be a victim of this gruesome crime. He was apprehended on Wednesday. Is that going to play a part in this case, Holly?

HUGHES: Well, yes, it's what we call indicia of guilt. OK? When you flee a scene, when you runaway a crime --

LEMON: Say that again. A what?

HUGHES: It's called the indicia of guilt, like, an indicator of guilt, OK?

LEMON: OK.

HUGHES: If you flee the prosecutor is able to argue to the jury that that indicates that you were guilty and that's why you were running away. We know from the police reports that have been released, that not only was this mother viciously stabbed, multiple stabbed wounds and then a big -- knife left in her chest but the little brother was also stabbed and left in the bathtub. There is evidence that this young man stayed in the apartment with the bodies for anywhere from one to two or three days and then they just caught him and when they caught him, Don, he was out at a food court just having a snack. Not running away. Not hiding just like nothing had gone wrong, so, yes, this is absolutely going to be argued at trial that his fleeing the scene, not reporting the crime, and the callousness of it, they are going to say that indicates he is guilty of this crime.

LEMON: He is guilty. Wendy, police believe the teen continued living in the unit with the bodies as Holly said for days. What does that tell you?

WALSH: Well, Holly can comment certainly from a legal stand point because he didn't actually, you know, murder and then flee at that moment saying, oh, my goodness, I've done something terrible. He hung out there and it tells me that he probably had an emerging mental illness, a teenage time is the time when onset of things like schizophrenia can take over, so I would definitely want to see a full psych work-up on this young man before the legal proceedings happen.

LEMON: Wendy, Holly, thanks as always.

HUGHES: Thanks, Don.

WALSH: Thanks.

LEMON: Republicans set to vote on a new spending bill but it has virtually no chance on passing the Senate. So what's the reason behind today's vote? We'll going what they're thinking, we're going to try at least.

Plus, we'll put politics aside and head to Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. Could you get off your phone?

ARSENIO HALL, HOST, "THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW": I'm doing a selfie.

LEMON: Do you recognize this person? This is where I am. In the studios.

HALL: Do what you do. If you love it, and stop letting so many things and people in your head. Now we're in a twitter era.

LEMON: Right.

HALL: Oh, my God. I tweet. But I pretend like I can't read.

LEMON: The Arsenio Hall show!

HALL: Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

LEMON: I'm going to interview him hopefully on his set and then it will be the Don Lemon show.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Hey, hey, hey, hey. Security!

LEMON: Coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The House set to vote later today on a Republican spending plan that would add controversial measures to undermine Obamacare and the plan includes a one-year delay from implementing the president's health care plan and the repeal on a new tax on medical devises that would help fund it. Any House GOP plan faces almost certain death in the Senate. Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid, has said any bill that would change Obamacare is unacceptable. Unless there is a budget deal by midnight on Monday the government would shut down.

So, if that House bill passes, it will be dead on arrival in the Senate, so why are Republicans doing this?

Let's talk now to our CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona; and also there in D.C. is CNN political commentator, Ben Ferguson.

Ben, why? Why put the American people through all of this if it's all for naught?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Because we don't have a dictatorship in this country. Barack Obama said, when he ran for president the first and the second time, that his job was to find consensus and compromise. Then, this week, he says, I refuse to negotiate with the Republicans. And then to make sure that everyone knows he refuses to negotiate --

LEMON: Ben? Ben?

FERGUSON: -- he goes and plays golf --

LEMON: Ben? Ben?

FERGUSON: -- today while the government's about to shut down.

LEMON: Ben?

FERGUSON: Yes.

LEMON: Answer my question. Come on.

(LAUGHTER)

If it's all for naught why put the American people through this? Answer the question.

FERGUSON: Because, again, when you're the president of the United States of America, you're supposed to work with Congress. And when Harry Reid and when Dan Pfeiffer at the White House says that the Republicans are acting like terrorists that have bombs strapped to their bodies, like some sort of suicide bomber, that's not being in the spirit of compromise. And the majority of the American people --

LEMON: OK, Ben --

FERGUSON: Let me say this, though. The majority of the American people --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I get that. I get that. I'm talking about shutting down the government. Obamacare -- because you are attaching it to shutting down the government which does not make sense to most people, including most Republicans.

FERGUSON: Don? Don?

LEMON: Hear me out here. So then why not do -- listen, Ben, why not do what the president said. If you have issues with Obamacare, work with me, tell me what they are, I am more than willing to work with you, do not shut down the government.

FERGUSON: Don, give me one example of when Barack Obama in his last five years-plus in office has ever worked with Republicans about Obamacare.

LEMON: I'm not here to defend President Obama.

FERGUSON: There are zero --

(CROSSTALK)

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR & DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I can do it.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: There are zero times when he's done that. The Blair House is a great example. When he had a Republican at the table and he pretty much looked at him and said, I won, you lost, I got the House and the Senate, I don't have to play with you, I don't have to listen to any of your concerns. And he's continued to have that mindset ever since then.

LEMON: OK.

FERGUSON: So if you are a Republican, you don't have any other options right now.

LEMON: We're not going to continue to hog the conversation. But it sounds like mine, then yours. That's what that sounds like.

Go ahead, Maria.

CARDONA: So, here's where my friend, Ben, is completely wrong. The president has always been willing to negotiate with Republicans.

(LAUGHTER)

Let's remember he was the one --

FERGUSON: When?

CARDONA: -- who did not walk away three times from a grand bargain. It was John Boehner when he was slapped by the Tea Party Caucus because he was negotiating with President Obama. And then John Boehner said I will not negotiate with President Obama again.

On this specific point, the president has been very clear. If Republicans have good ideas about how to implement the Affordable Care Act better or if they have ideas on how to make it work better, I am open to listening and to working with them. But not if it is --

FERGUSON: No, he's not.

CARDONA: -- tied to a government shutdown that will hurt average American families, it will hurt our military, it will hurt our seniors, it will hurt our children --

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: -- and not as long as it is attached to a bill that will fund the government into a default.

FERGUSON: I've got to go back to reality.

CARDONA: You know? That's just the way it is. LEMON: Go ahead, Ben.

FERGUSON: When Obamacare was being written, the Republicans were shut out of the meetings to write that bill. And the Democrats --

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: Oh, Ben, Ben.

FERGUSON: -- didn't let us in. That is a fact. And you know that's true.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: And Nancy Pelosi --

CARDONA: I have to clarify this.

FERGUSON: Hold on, hold on.

CARDONA: I have to clarify this.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Let him finish and I'll let you clarify and then we'll move on.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: The Affordable Care Act --

LEMON: No, no, no. Let him finish. Maria, let him finish and then I'll let you respond. Hold on.

Ben, go ahead and then Maria.

FERGUSON: Even Nancy Pelosi said, we won the election, they lost, we're in charge, we get to write the bill how we want to. Does that sound like compromise? The American people know it, too. They don't like Obamacare. The majority of Americans don't like it.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Ben, that is the truth. I mean, whether you agree with her or not, but they did win and they get to decide because they're the majority.

CARDONA: They did. But you know what else?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Go ahead.

CARDONA: But you know what else is the truth? You know what else is the truth? The health care exchanges and the individual mandate, two key parts of Obamacare, guess whose ideas they were? They were Republican ideas, hatched out of the Heritage Foundation. They just don't like it now because --

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: -- it's President Obama that's the one that is proposing them.

LEMON: All right, that's it.

CARDONA: In addition, the majority of Americans don't want Obamacare repealed. They want to give it a chance to work.

LEMON: We're going to put you both in your separate corners and we're going to have you back. You'll be back here just in a couple of minutes on CNN, so stand by, guys.

(LAUGHTER)

CARDONA: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

All right, up next --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: -- the president of Iran back home after making history at the U.N. but shoes are already flying at him in Tehran, figuratively and literally.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, at the United Nations today another full day of one world leader after another at the podium. It's called the general debate. Presidents, prime ministers and heads of state get a few minutes each to address the U.N. General Assembly. It's been going on all day every day since Tuesday.

And if no other world leader makes a splash in New York, this gathering will be known as the year of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: This is Rouhani's rather enthusiastic return home after a history making few days in New York. He said things about the Holocaust that his predecessor never would. He told the American people he was all about peace and friendship. And, oh, yeah, he and President Obama spoke on the telephone, first direct contact between Iran and the United States at that level in almost 35 years.

Nick Paton-Walsh is here right now.

Nick, you're getting to be a regular here. You've been on the U.N. beat all week. Iran's president, something of a rock star when he left here. So, what's -- what should we make of all this?

NICK PATON-WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's a sign that there's a need for some sort of change in Iran's policy. A lot of people inside Iran, you saw the reception he got there. There was a shoe thrown at him, but that was from the minority. In many ways, sanctions are making life there in Iran a misery.

LEMON: Is Tehran on board with what he said at the U.N.?

PATON-WALSH: It has to be. And the signs, even the fact that he said he's got the full backing of the Supreme Council of the Ayatollah Khomeini. He couldn't have made a move like that bringing Barack Obama without that kind of backing.

The real issue now then, we've had the positive messages and had him set a different tone on the Holocaust and he was toning down the usual rhetoric from Ahmadinejad last year when he gave his speech. But the question is what practically comes next. You're unlikely to have had a phone call between two presidents of that level if the White House didn't know there was something concrete on the table, but we don't know what it is, what they'll do about the nuclear program.

LEMON: That's what I'm asking. What happens when the celebrations are over, like, how do we measure whether there's any progress from these overtures and promises from Rouhani?

PATON-WALSH: Well, there are talks in the middle of October and talks at the end of October. That's about concretely working out what are they actually going to do about it. The West wants to see them have access to peaceful nuclear energy technology, but then you have to work out, does that mean they can still enrich uranium, which could be used to make a nuclear bomb, how much level of inspections are they going to commit inside. You have to bear in mind, though, the White House doesn't have many other choices with Iran. They are speeding to a nuclear weapon and they don't have a juice for another war in that region.

LEMON: Speaking of the White House, we talked about the big phone call between Rouhani and President Barack Obama. If that went so well, are we looking about a possible face-to-face meeting between them in the future?

PATON-WALSH: We had the face-to-face meeting between John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart. That was the highest-level meeting in 34 years, just like the phone call was deeply symbolic, too. And afterwards, Hassan Rouhani said, look, I didn't get a chance to do the handshake because things moved too fast. They wanted to be sure the results were there. But he said that could happen down the line. So this phone call is a precursor. But really, they are waiting to see what concrete results they'll get from Tehran.

LEMON: Nick, there are Americans who are detained right now in Iran. That is certainly to be a roadblock in this diplomatic process.

PATON-WALSH: Certainly. There's so many things Iran could do. We heard reports today that perhaps they've switched outside news media back on in Iran. The Internet under heavy censorship. There are hundreds of political prisoners. This isn't a country which is anything like in the condition like America would normally want to deal with it. But, as I say, the military option simply isn't there. They are speeding toward a nuclear weapon, say their hawks and you have to find way to engage with them. This level of diplomacy is working so far. People are waiting to see what is the concrete step they are willing to take.

LEMON: Can we talk about the shoe being thrown?

PATON-WALSH: Yeah.

LEMON: That is the height of -- one of the most disrespectful things you can do in that country, is that correct?

PATON-WALSH: Absolutely, along with showing your feet to somebody in that part of the world. It's generally --

LEMON: Thrown at Rouhani?

PATON-WALSH: Absolutely. Thrown at Rouhani. You see the picture there. Someone in the crowd of 60 anti protesters. One of them threw a shoe. It's because the shoe is connected to the ground and the lowest part of the body, and it's considered an insult. You are in effect throwing dirt at somebody. But this is basically showing there's not universal delight at what Rouhani did. Many, many more Iranians, it's fair to say, are pleased at the idea of sanctions being eased than they are upset at the idea that Rouhani rang Obama. It's as simple as that. But one of them had a shoe.

LEMON: All right. Always a pleasure. Thank you, sir.

The big dog -- you know who I'm talking about -- and his dog pound are back. Arsenio Hall returns to late-night television and he finally comes clean on why he left the first time. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Arsenio Hall -- that may be a name you haven't heard in a while but you're probably going to hear about it a lot more from now on. He's got a new late-night talk show and a lot of people are watching. The ratings are great.

I went out to his set and I talked to him about the new show and why he left his very popular show the last time around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARSENIO HALL, TALK SHOW HOST: You can't explain what's happening to me right now. There's no explanation. I don't deserve it. No one deserves the kind of life I've had. I'm not more talented than anybody else. But, yet, here I am with Don Lemon on CNN in my studio bringing back my talk show.

ANNOUNCER: Here's Arsenio Hall!

(APPLAUSE)

HALL: I obviously did this once, and now here I am again.

As a kid, I set up folding chairs in a basement in Cleveland, and did this. I don't know whether that's self-visualization but I've been allowed to live my dream. Other than my kid, this is the only thing I've ever loved.

LEMON: Well, there are a couple women right now who are --

HALL: But it's the only thing I've ever loved and I get to do it. That's the greatest thing in the world. I wake up every day without an alarm clock. I don't care whether I have 6:00 a.m. radio on the east coast or an 8:30 writers' meeting, my eyes open at the exact right time without an alarm clock because I love my life.

LEMON: There are few people who are in this business who I believe should be doing exactly what they are doing. You are one of those people, right? To get to that point, it takes a lot of struggle. It ain't easy.

HALL: Oh, yeah. I mean, wow, you know how this business is. It's a complicated, fickle business. You never please anybody. So that's why I try to please myself. The first time around, I was younger and I didn't know how to deal with some of that. But it's real hard to be --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you were young and didn't know how to deal with it? Talk about that. Like what?

HALL: Well, you know, gosh, I remember a game, a Trivial Pursuit game -- and I wasn't aware of this. Friends of mine were playing at a party and one of the questions was, who did Spike Lee call Uncle Tom? I had no idea I was the answer. That's a game that's there forever. That's a game one day my son might play somewhere. I also was --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Does that bother you to be called that?

HALL: Let me give you the full spectrum. It probably wouldn't bother me if I could look someplace and find some love. But then you sit in a demographer's meeting and they tell you that white people think you are too black. And they have a problem with you, too. There are points in the business when you feel, who am I doing it for? You don't like me, and you don't like me, I got paper, so I'm going home. And since I'm from Cleveland, I always planned on doing it like Jim Brown. I was going to try to leave when I was on top. So at that point, I left.

LEMON: Do you regret that ever?

HALL: No.

LEMON: Come on, tell the truth.

HALL: I don't regret it because what's going on right now is an unbelievable chapter to be able to write. To come back, and America allows me, that's amazing.

LEMON: It sounds to me like you were really hurt. You were wounded.

HALL: I just gotta have an audience. And I didn't know who it was anymore.

LEMON: You have so many "yes" people around.

HALL: Oh, god, "yes" people. And that's another great thing about leaving this business and coming back and getting in, as I have. You learn a lot about people who you know.

LEMON: Right.

HALL: It's a wonderful blessing. My absence is a wonderful blessing. I don't have to play with them now. I can just -- no, no, no, I know who you are. Go. Go.

(LAUGHTER)

I ain't heard from you. Like, there was a day when my phone rang, I picked it up and it was Mariah Carey. I didn't have a show. I said, hello, hi. She said I was just checking on you. I shook the phone.

LEMON: Right.

HALL: What? I don't have a show and you got more money than me. Because she can write.

LEMON: Yeah, but you were there for her. You brought her to the national audience.

HALL: But it shocked me because I'm in this town and I know this town. It shocked me that somebody called me and wanted to see how I was doing and didn't want nothing from me. Because your phone doesn't ring unless people need you most of the time in Hollywood.

LEMON: Yeah. It's like Billy Holiday who said, "Money, you've got lots of friends. When it's gone, the spending ends, they don't come around no more," right?

HALL: Absolutely. LEMON: Right?

HALL: I am more mature and able to understand this time around, if you are happy, just keep doing it until they shut the lights off.

LEMON: How long can you do it?

HALL: Wow. How long can I do it? This time, I'm doing it as long as Spike Lee wants me.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: You want to explain that?

HALL: Well, you know, he's -- how do you explain Spike Lee? One of those people you look at and say, brother! It's negativity. Let's not even give it a second.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Ahh. Very proud of you, Arsenio.

Next hour, Arsenio talks to me about growing up dirt poor and how that's affected him becoming the dad that he is today.

He is a 15-year-old who has helped more than --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's meet this week's "CNN Hero." He is a 15 year old who has helped more than 10,000 homeless children across the country by providing a basic necessity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICOLAS LOWINGER, CNN HERO: September is back to school, and for most kids, that means back to school shopping.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Can I try it on?

LOWINGER: I used to take those things for granted until I realized there were a lot of kids who didn't have those luxuries.

I remember my first shelter visit, seeing kids who were just like me. The only difference being they had footwear that was falling apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was nervous to go back to school. My shoes were old and too small for me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I lost my job, I had to decide either to spend money on the shoes or medicine or diapers.

LOWINGER: Kids get blisters on their feet because they have to wear whatever shoes they can get. It just wasn't right.

My name is Nicolas Lowinger. I'm 15, and I give new shoes to kids living in homeless shelters across the country.

My family's garage is filled to the brim with boxes full of new shoes. Shelters send us orders with the kid's name, gender, shoe size. I've donated new sneakers to over 10,000 kids in 21 states.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Thank you.

LOWINGER: Homeless children, they shouldn't have to worry about how they'll be accepted or how they'll fit in.

Tiana.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Wow! Shoes!

(LAUGHTER)

LOWINGER: It's more than just giving them a new pair of shoes.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Yay!

LOWINGER: I'm helping kids be kids.

(CROSSTALK)

LOWINGER: Their self-esteem goes up. Their whole attitude on life changes. That's really what makes it so special for me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We are closely watching the House. We are, in reality, hours away from a government shutdown. The House will vote sometime tonight. We are standing by for that. We have team coverage for you.