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House to Vote Tonight on Spending Plan; Presidents Obama, Rouhani Spoke by Phone; House to Vote on New Spending Bill; Arizona Fire Findings Released; Humans as Factors to Climate Change; Icon Mann in L.A.

Aired September 28, 2013 - 19:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: OK, we are watching Washington. We are watching the clock. We are just every second, really, we are getting closer and closer to a government shutdown here. This could happen at midnight Monday.

Before I continue to read this, we are expecting a vote to happen in Washington at the House at any moment on this spending plan and we are going to bring that to you live as soon as we get it. So, make sure you stay tuned.

So, this could happen midnight Monday unless a sharply divided Congress can cut a budget deal soon. Right now, the ball is in the House. As I said, it is to vote this evening on a Republican spending plan that would undermine Obamacare.

The plan includes a one year delay on implementing the president's health care plan and repeal of a new tax of medical devices that would help fund it. Any House GOP plan faces almost certain death in the Senate. President Obama said, his statement saying he is going to veto it.

Complete coverage, every angle of this story for you. In Washington, our chief political analyst Gloria Borger is here. At the Capitol, chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash. And at the White House, our senior correspondent Jim Acosta.

Let's -- Dana, let's talk about this. The White House and the Senate would reject any GOP House plan that changes Obamacare. Does this mean the government shutdown is likely going to happen? Is it imminent?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is much more likely. And, of course, it's imminent since it's two days away. But much, much more likely, Don, because House Republicans are dug in. They are determined to go ahead and make the point -- you and I talked last hour to Congressman Jeb Hensarling, who is representative of many in the Republican Caucus who are saying that they believe that spending, they are talking government spending is very much linked to Obamacare because the government is spending money on that, just like many other issues. That is why they say they are continuing to keep up the fight even though they are up against raw math. That raw math is Democrats run the Senate down there behind me. There's a Democrat in the White House. And they say, at least in the Senate, that they feel confident -- sources there tell me they feel confident they will be able to defeat everything the House brings over there, specifically we are talking about delaying Obamacare for a year and repealing a tax on medical devices that Republicans thought was a gotcha for Democrats since many of them have voted for that repeal in the past because of interest in their states.

They say they're going to hold firm -- the long way of saying, yes, it does bring us much more possible to a shutdown.

LEMON: OK. All right, Dana.

Gloria Borger, are you there? I have a question for you, Gloria. It just came across my desk. House Republicans have added a measure aimed at limiting contraceptive coverage to the spending bill coming up for a vote tonight. The so-called conscious clause would allow employers and insurers to opt out of preventative care for women which they find objectionable on moral or religious grounds.

More, they're adding --

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Why not? You know, this is an opportunity for Republicans politically, look at this politically because it is politics here. It's an opportunity for Republicans to unite on things they all agree on and take back to constituents and say even if we fail, we tried. They tried to repeal Obamacare but never passed it to a must pass piece of legislation such as keeping the government running.

So, if you are doing the medical advice, if you're doing -- if you are doing the Affordable Care Act. Many Republicans feel very strongly on the contraception issue, why not attach it to this, because you know it's going to the not and not going anywhere. But, again, you can say look, we did this, we took a stand. We were almost unanimous on it, whatever the bill turns out to be and hand it over to the Senate.

LEMON: All right. Jim Acosta -- Jim is standing by at the White House.

The president's reaction -- reaction from the White House today. And the president actauly issued a statement or a statement came from the White House.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, a couple things came out of the White House. Not that it really matters, Don, because as Gloria and Dana mentioned, this is not going to get out of the Senate. But if it were, if something were to magically happen and get that House bill out of the Senate, the president issued a veto threat, this veto threat coming from the White House just in the last couple of hours. We've got a portion of that to put on the screen, Don.

It says, "The Senate acted in a responsible manner to maintain on a short term funding measure to maintain government functions and avoid a damaging government shutdown. Rather than taking up the legislation, the House proposes amendments that threaten the nation's economy by including extraneous measures that have no place in the government funding bill and that the president and Senate have already made clear are unacceptable. House Republicans are pushing the government toward a shutdown."

And that echoes what White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a separate statement that came out just shortly before this veto threat.

And that statement, Don, says, quote, "The president has shown he's willing to improve the health care law and meet Republicans more than half way to deal with our fiscal challenges. He will not do so under a government shutdown that will hurt our economy. Any member of the Republican Party," listen to this, this is from Jay Carney, "who votes for the bill is voting for a shutdown. It's time for the House to listen to the American people and act as the Senate has in a reasonable way to pass a bill that keeps the government running and move on."

Both of those equal one thing, Don, and that is the president, I said it once, we'll say it again. The White House has said it once, they'll say it again -- this president will not sign anything into law that delays or defunds Obamacare, and they're not going to do anything that tinkers with Obamacare under the threat of a government shutdown or debt default.

They have said that they are happy to listen to a discussion where they talk about changing the health care law. There might be some ways to change it that might appeal to Republicans, but they're not going to do it in this context. And so, the White House message is essentially to Congress, knock it off.

Obviously, a lot of Republicans up on Capitol Hill are saying, hey, why doesn't the president negotiate with us? You heard Jeb Hensarling say that in the last hour. He will negotiate with Iran and other countries, but he won't negotiate with House Speaker, John Boehner.

And the White House has said to that is that they are will be to negotiate on some things, but not this. Not in this environment. They don't want to set a precedent for future presidencies.

Imagine a Chris Christie who's in the White House in 2017, and there's a debt ceiling that he wants to get passed and Democrats, the White House, would say that at that point, could come back to a President Christie and say, "Well, we're not going to give you that unless you raise corporate taxes." The president made that analogy yesterday.

They also are concerned about setting a precedent for future presidencies. That's another reason President Obama says this is not going to happen -- Don.

LEMON: And I'm going to play this back for you if there is indeed a Chris Christie in the White House and say, you know what, Jim Acosta, had it right. Yes, I know you were saying imagine, if you will. So, I get that.

Dana, you know, I had a question and maybe too in the weeds. We talked about the medical device thing the Republicans put in there. Most Democrats voted, they were in agreement with it, they should get rid of it, right?

So, they said we want to keep Democrats to their words, so let's put it in there and maybe they'll support. That's not going to happen.

But I want to -- listen, you are there. Practical question -- what's going on there now? As you were in the halls of Congress, like what is the mood? Are they working? What's happening?

BASH: Not a lot. We are waiting. We're in major waiting mode. The way that the House works is that before legislation goes to the floor, it goes to what's called the rules committee. They have to finalize legislation and figure out how it's going to look on the House floor. And that's what's happening right now.

So, earlier today, the hope was that maybe there would be votes in this hour, even or the next hour. It looks like it's going to be much later than that. So, we're in hurry up and wait mode. That's effectively what's happening now, and I think in about an hour, House Republicans are going to meet once again for maybe kind of a pre-vote rally and maybe just a chance to get fed, and then we'll see where it goes from there.

LEMON: OK. Gloria, let's look at some of the numbers. We talked about this, "The New York Times"/CBS poll shows 87 percent of those surveyed, Americans would be frustrated if the government shuts down, 87 percent surveyed would be frustrated, 10 percent would be satisfied.

Let's -- if you break it down by parties -- 87 percent of Republicans, 92 percent of Democrats would be frustrated if the government does shutdown. I mean, do politicians understand the outrage that they may be facing here?

BORGER: Well, I think they do. I think that's why you see this sort of blame shifting going on between the Democrats and the Republicans and why you would honestly, Don, see such open warfare within the Republican Party on this. Because there are an awful lot of Republicans and House Speaker John Boehner was one of them, I might add, who initially said we should not be making this fight on shutting down the government. Many of them recall what happened in the mid-'90s when Newt Gingrich did it, did not turn out well.

But they are looking at the polls. They understand how the public feels, but they are also saying, OK, the president's health care plan is not exactly popular out there. This is an opportunity for us to make a very loud stand on it because, honestly, Don, what Republicans are afraid of is not Democrats. What Republicans are afraid of more conservative Republicans who could give them difficult primaries as they run for re-election in the House. So, they are being, you know, a very cautious on this question of Obamacare.

LEMON: OK. It's 7:11, just thought I would mention that. It's supposedly a lucky or spiritual number. However you want to see it. So, maybe we'll have some luck coming up in the halls of Congress. But I don't know, I wouldn't bet on it.

Thank you, guys.

And, Dana, I understand you are going to have an interesting interview coming up. You don't want to miss that.

BASH: It's always interesting.

LEMON: Always interesting. You better believe.

Dana, in just a little bit, we'll get him miked up. We'll get back to Dana Bash. Thanks to both of you.

Stand by Jim. Stand by Gloria as well.

You know, it hasn't happened in a generation. The leaders of the U.S. and Iran actually spoke to one another in a phone call on Friday. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani even tweeted about it.

But how -- he tweeted about it. Imagine that -- President Rouhani.

How do ordinary Iranians feel about America? We asked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American people are good people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want the same thing as Americans want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): America is a great country and we want to have good relations with America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We Iranian people don't have a problem with America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Our problem is with American politicians, those who are after war and bloodshed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are not fair. Be fair to the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Your behavior is not very good. Your politics is about war and it's terrifying.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEVIN HERMENING, TAKEN HOSTAGE IN IRAN FROM 1979 TO 1981: The Iranian people certainly are very much interested in a thawing of relations between the two countries as I think many Americans are. But, as always, any type of negotiation requires a discussion and dialogue between two honest brokers. And the United States gave up an awful lot to retrieve the 52 Americans, including my 51 colleagues and I from Iran more than 30 years ago. And Iranians really never paid any type of price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was a voice of an American who was held hostage in Iran from November 1979 to January 1981, for those of you old enough to remember. It was 444 days. What he has to say is important today because that was a time when relations between Iran and the United States froze solid and have not thawed much in the years since.

Fast forward to yesterday evening, the president of Iran dialed President Obama's number. And the two men spoke for 15 minutes -- President Obama in the Oval Office, President Rouhani in a car to his way to the airport. It's not a thaw, it is a phone call. But it's the first time the presidents of those countries have spoken since the Carter administration.

Fouad Ajami is with me now. He used to be the director of Middle East studies at John Hopkins and he wrote a stack of books on U.N. foreign policy about the Arab world.

Let's talk about the phone call. Are we making too much out of this moment?

FOUAD AJAMI, THE HOOVER INSTITUTION: Well, we are bound too. I mean, we have to excuse ourselves for making too much out of this.

LEMON: Right.

AJAMI: We can't say, all right, it's just a phone call or nothing happened. The first phone call, the first communication between the heads of state in 34 years, it was bound to be in many ways given hype (ph) visibility.

LEMON: Remember the Iranian hostage situation? My gosh, the television carried it for days. They were there for 444 days.

Just a minute ago, I played the voice of an American held hostage for 444 days. That incident shaped America's current policy I would say on Iran. And now, three Americans are in jail or either missing from Iran. How much does their fate, you think, play into the future and to future relations? How important is that?

AJAMI: I like the clip you played. One thing that was on it, which basically said Iran never paid a price.

If you go back and look at Iranian behavior in the region, from 1979 to holding of the hostages forward, these last 34 years, Iran never paid, Iran has never paid a price for what it did to the hostages. Iran never paid a price for the war, the covert war it waged against us in Lebanon through Hezbollah. Iran never paid a price for what it did to our soldiers in Iraq.

So, in fact, the Iranians have always been fighting the United States in a proxy war in the region, and a price was never paid. The question, by the way, about Rouhani is, is this man the Gorbachev of Iran? Is he ready to make the great accommodation? Does he have the license to make the great accommodation? Or will we regret this opening and look back on it with disappointment?

LEMON: Let's dig into that a little deeper because President Rouhani made a big splash in the U.N. and he blew a lot of people's minds, so to speak.

AJAMI: Yes.

LEMON: All his comments about the Holocaust, his friendship to the American people, that call -- Are all of these really the first days of a new relationship with Iran?

AJAMI: To be honest with you, Don, we don't know. I mean, in fact, we just have to wait. We have to go through this whole exercise and even when we say we are now engaged in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear weapons, we have been engaged in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear weapons.

We have negotiated with them in Turkey. We have negotiated with them in Geneva. We've negotiated with them in Kazakhstan and on and on. We have negotiated with them in Baghdad and we have never gotten anywhere with them because the Iranians are hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons.

LEMON: Yes.

AJAMI: And guess who was the man in charge of the nuclear negotiations and the nuclear file as it were from 2003 to 2005. None other than Hassan Rouhani.

LEMON: Hassan Rouhani. You know, are you as surprised as it has rest of us? When I heard about the phone and when I heard what was happening at U.N., I was just like I took the remote and I was like, wait a minute, what did I just hear?

Are you as surprised as most people?

AJAMI: I'm ready to -- I'm ready to watch the whole show.

LEMON: Fouad Ajami, always a pleasure, sir. Appreciate it.

Just ahead here on CNN, this may shock you, CNN went door-to-door to ask people what they thought of Obamacare. And many people never heard of it. The story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, when Obamacare takes effect on Tuesday, 48 million Americans who don't have insurance will get the chance to buy it through health care exchanges. The problem is, a lot of people are in the dark about jus how this works.

CNN's Zain Asher that story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll go up the hill and around, but we'll start at the top of the hill.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An army of ObamaCare experts are going door to door.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is Christopher home?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not selling anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you currently have insurance?

ASHER: Trying to explain ObamaCare to Americans who don't have health insurance.

MAHER HAMOUI, UNINSURED: I know it has something to do with caring about people, you, ObamaCare, so basically, that's all I know.

ASHER: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 43 percent of uninsured Americans still have no idea about the new exchanges.

JOSE MENENDEZ: I have a question. Who created this affordable health care plan that you're speaking of?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was passed by Congress.

MENENDEZ: Oh, Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes. The Affordable Care Act, yes.

MENENDEZ: And I'm just wondering, as a citizen of America, how come I did not hear of this?

ASHER: While healthcare reform is a frequent source of contention in Congress, many of the people we spoke to here in North Bergen, New Jersey, were hearing details of ObamaCare for the very first time just this week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm definitely going to read into it.

MENENDEZ: Is Obama forcing Americans to get health insurance? It sounds that way.

ASHER: Enroll America, a non-profit group funded mainly by insurance companies, healthcare groups and charities, is working to spread the word, dispatching 130 field workers in 10 states.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can follow up with you.

ASHER: On October 1st, 48 million uninsured Americans will be able to purchase health coverage through federal and state exchanges.

Coverage starts January 1st and they must enroll before March 31st.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are going to be able to shop just like you shop for an airline ticket or a flat-screen TV and see what's the best price for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is all new to me. I never knew about any of this.

ASHER (on camera): Whether you know about it or not, it is still the law of the land.

If you don't sign up in the next six months, you may face a penalty of $95 or one percent of your household income.

Zain Asher, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Hmmm, very interesting.

Despite the government's best efforts, Obamacare remains a mystery to many, even though its health insurance exchanges could transform the industry.

Here to help us understand them is Peter Lee. He's executive director of Cover California, and oversaw the state's development of its insurance exchanges. So, he knows a lot about this. He joins us via Skype from Sacramento.

Is there an easier way to explain what an exchange is?

PETER LEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COVER CALIFORNIA: Absolutely, Don, there is an easy way. What they are -- it's a marketplace where consumers can go. There's going to be one in every state in the nation and find out online quickly and easily, first, if it's right for them. If Americans have workplace coverage, Medicare, they don't need to shop.

But if they want coverage and they don't have it, they will be able to find out, if they get premium assistance and pick a private plan that's right for them. It's a marketplace. They'll be able to use it starting October 1.

LEMON: OK. A poll this month showed that three out of four uninsured people don't know when Obamacare starts. I mean, how did the government fail to get the word out? Did the government fail at getting the word out, do you think?

LEE: I don't think there's failure at all. What we've seen instead of three years of disinformation and misinformation. And what we're moving into on October 1 is concrete, real information about the health plans available, what they cost, what the benefits are. That's what consumers want to see, is not theory, not bombast, but concrete real health plans, real prices and real savings to make health care affordable.

OBAMA: Does this -- does Obamacare do that?

LEE: Absolutely. Here in California, again, there's exchanges in every state. Cover California is in California. We have a dozen health plans across the state. We were able to negotiate very competitive rates.

And again, in California, 4 million Californians are going to get a big financial lift to help make health care affordable, about 2.6 million of them, with federal support they can apply every month to lower their premium costs. And here in California, about 1.4 million are going to get access to Medicaid program, which is expanding, which is provided under the Affordable Care Act.

LEMON: So then, if you say that, many in the health care industry say that. When you take the politicians out of this, then what's the issue then of shutting down the government? Why don't Republicans like this? Why don't -- why do the polls show many Americans don't like it either?

LEE: I think that -- I'm not going to talk about Washington. The good news is, what's going to be happening on October 1st has nothing to do with Washington anymore. It has nothing to do with Sacramento.

What it has to do is local community across the nation, where we have millions of Americans that want the peace of mind that they can only get by having health insurance. And they want to know concretely which we can provide them in concrete terms, what are the benefits, what's it going to cost.

We are moving out of theory. We're moving out of punditry, and into the reality of implementing the law of the land, the Affordable Care Act.

LEMON: Are you worried about problems, glitches on Tuesday since you oversaw California?

LEE: Yes, actually, we have been working on this for over two years. And we're going to be ready, lights on October 1. We are going to have an enrollment system that's going to be easy to use.

And let's compare it to what it means today. Today, if you want individual health insurance, you don't just fill out a long, hard application. You've got to talk about have you had cancer, have you had diabetes, have you had asthma?

Those are questions are the thing of the past, because in the new world that we're all going to have starting January 1, no one can be denied. And the application is going to be clean, simple and we are going to have people help you with applications. So, you know, there are going to be glitches. There's going to be bumps in the road. But compare that to the glitches that face Americans today of trying to jump through the hoops of insurers that in essence today would rather not have sick people. You know, that's a new world.

Come January 1, health insurance is about providing better care to all Americans.

LEMON: Peter Lee, you are a great guest, at least when it comes to informing the public about the benefits and, you know, the drawbacks as well. Thank you. I appreciate you coming to CNN. We'll have you back, OK?

LEE: My pleasure, Don. I would be happy to have you back. It's important to know the reality out there.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir.

Just ahead, the House is expected to vote tonight on a spending bill that would delay Obamacare for a year. Republican Darrell Issa will join us live to talk about the proceedings. You don't want to miss that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back. I want to get you up to speed from Washington. A busy Saturday on Capitol Hill. The House is expected to vote on a new spending bill that delays the rollout of Obamacare by one year. In addition to the delay, it repeals a new tax on medical devices that is a major funding vehicle for Obamacare.

The problem for Republicans here is that the Democrats control the Senate and they say there's no way they would pass this bill. And the White House issued a statement saying that the president would veto the bill, even if it did pass Congress. That's where we stand right now.

California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa is one of the most outspoken opponents of the new healthcare law. He said no one should assume the latest House bill is doomed to failure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it fails will you go -

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: How dare you presume a failure! How dare you? How dare you? How dare you presume a failure. The fact is -- the fact is this country is based on people saying they won't do things. At the end of the day, coming together for compromise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. Everyone, sit down for a moment and watch this interview because Congressman Issa is standing by at the Capitol with our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash. Dana, take it away. DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don. Thank you. Thank you for joining us. Are you going to yell at me?

ISSA: Well, only if you presume that somehow a Senate that says they won't compromise means that anything we offer -- we haven't even offered anything yet, is dead on arrival. That's not just the American way.

BASH: Well, since you made that statement earlier today, the president of the United States who does have a say in this issued a veto threat.

ISSA: The president will talk to and compromise that a dictator of a terrorist state like Iran, but he won't talk to John Boehner and reach a reasonable compromise on a bill that he himself has delayed more than eight times. You have to understand the president has unilaterally delayed all kinds of things in this bill that isn't ready.

The president knows that that so-called medical tax actually will lose money, not make money. Because it jacks up the cost of everything that we use from stints to your replacement hip and so on, not that you have one. So you really look at this and realize there are things that should be negotiated. The president said give me everything, then we'll talk about it. This is the time to say there are things we know are not right in Obamacare and let's change them and delay in this case so that Americans are not forced to buy health care before they know what's it in. It's a good idea.

BASH: Now, this whole line that you used in your (INAUDIBLE) you're using is, you know, it's not a bad line saying that the president will negotiate with the president of Iran, but not you all. Let's cut through, I know it's hard --

ISSA: I can also use Putin as -

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Well, the air makes it hard to be candid. But I know that you are a candid guy. So the reality is that the speaker isn't somebody who he can negotiate with right now. Because he's too busy negotiating with you all, not necessarily you, but your Republican brethren to try to figure out what kind of combination, what kind of formula of attachments on the spending bill he can get votes on from you guys, never mind him negotiating with the president. There will be no point in negotiating with him over something he can't pass.

ISSA: But many Republicans like far more than we're going to vote on tonight. But the fact is, trying to protect the American people, trying to bring some certainty for the next year is something we believe very strongly. The speaker has 218 votes for that. He won't have a single Democrat, perhaps. But this is a compromise we are trying to do and when we keep hearing from the Senate and from the president that they just won't compromise, it's their way or no way, you know, the interesting thing is President Obama said elections have consequences. But it turns out they only have consequences when he wins. When the American people, the majority of American people are represented by Republicans now here in the House, somehow there's no consequences.

BASH: He's not the only person who has said that. John McCain was on the Senate floor just a day or two ago. HE knows something about running against the president. He did it himself, he said, himself, elections have consequences. We lost not once, but twice the White House. They didn't win, they control back of the Senate, not once but twice. You are a very successful businessman, you know simple math. And the simple math is you do have the votes over here to do what you want. But once it gets to the Senate which is run by Democrats and never mind the White House, which is the president is a Democrat.

ISSA: The president will shut down the government. The Senate will shut down the government if they won't negotiate any compromise. Now Speaker Boehner is having to compromise within our conference. He would love to be compromising between Democrats and Republicans. But former Speaker Pelosi didn't compromise when they created this flawed bill and she's not in the mood for compromising now.

You know, I put forward, I tweeted out today that we started off with wanting to do with health care was take care of some problems, like pre-existing conditions and portability. We said that in a sense, this has been said by Hillary Clinton, this has been said by John Kerry. It's been said by one after another famous politicians, Senator Kennedy, late Senator Kennedy said "The American people should have the same health care the president, the vice president, members of Congress and the senators and every federal employee has. Instead of giving them of what we have, we are telling them that they have to take a pig and the pope.

Right now, those exchanges are unknown. When people in the house, myself included feel very strongly they should know what they are getting before they are forced to get it, that's not unreasonable. In two days or three days Obama care takes effect. No one knows what the healthcare plans are going to be. They are not established. The president is behind it. He has scheduled implementation. All we are asking him to do is wait until he's ready before implementation.

The president is not willing to negotiate. That means he's willing to go forward to the risky program simply because he wants to do it.

BASH: Let's fast forward to a day or two to where we're actually at, the day perhaps the government shuts down. At the end of the day, will you be willing, you Darrell Issa, be willing to vote at any time for a spending bill that is clean, that has no strings attached?

ISSA: For one day, for two days, five days, sure. But this is the time to resolve some of these problems. You know, people are missing the point on the medical device tax. Simple math. You said I was a businessman? I did pretty well in business. If you tell me I'm going to have a four percent increase in the cost, I'm going to pass it on with a little premium.

So the idea that you are going to fund this bill with a tax that causes the very products we buy to be more expensive means that Medicare, Medicaid, all these things are going to be paying more. That means this is a tax that actually will reduce the availability of health care. The president knows it. At a minimum, the Senate should be saying, OK, we'll go with the medical device tax. Maybe a delay, a slight delay on the American people being forced to buy something before it's ready. But we are not getting negotiation and I think that what Speaker Boehner is doing in the House which is looking for negotiation here between moderates and conservatives, they should be doing that in the Senate.

BASH: Darrell Issa, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

ISSA: Thank you.

BASH: Don, back to you.

LEMON: All right. Dana Bash, thank you. We have to run. We have more questions for the congressman, but we won't get them in.

Listen, a court yesterday made it legal for gays to marry in New Jersey. But this battle may not be over yet. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In Prescott, Arizona, fire officials have released what they have learned after studying the fire that killed 19 firefighters this summer. Accident investigators concluded that nobody was reckless or negligent and nobody violated protocol on June 30th. That's when 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hot Spots were hit by a wall of flames and did not make it out. According to the report, a sudden wind storm pushed the wildfire into the men and they could not have survived. Officials did say that some radio equipment failed. That kept the team from staying in touch with other crews. It was one of the deadliest wildfire accidents in U.S. history.

Victory in the fight for same-sex marriage in New Jersey. A court yesterday made it legal for gays to marry in the state. Judge Mary Jacobson ruled that civil unions are insufficient because they hinder federal benefits. But the battle may not be over yet. Margaret Conley has the details.

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, same-sex couple will no longer be limited to civil unions. They will be able to tie the knot starting October 21st. It was a rally to celebrate the decision by a county superior court judge making New Jersey the 14th state to allow same-sex marriage. And this makes a big difference with regards to equality.

Before civil unions did not legally allow same-sex couples federal benefits like certain tax breaks and health care the same breaks heterosexual couples get. Now, this ruling changes that and it draws on the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause. We spoke about this with CNN legal analyst Paul Callan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: She used the Supreme Court decisions which were handed down earlier in the summer, very technical decisions which opened the door just a crack to gay marriage. And she has used the rational of those decisions to say the New Jersey Constitution requires gay marriage. Because equal protection of the law requires that all New Jersey citizens be treated the same.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CONLEY: This comes a year after Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. He plans to appeal this ruling. His press secretary said "Christie has always maintained held abide by the will of the voters on the issue of marriage equality. And since the legislature refused to allow the people to decide expeditiously, we will let the Supreme Court make this constitutional determination."

Governor Christie wants this issue to be on the ballot this election day. Now this will be looked at closely. New Jersey is seen as a bellwether state and this law could set a precedent for the rest of America. Don?

LEMON: Margaret Conley, thank you very much for that.

A new study confirms that most scientists have suspected for a long time, what most scientists have suspected for a long time. Humans are the cause of climate change.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Chad Myers at (INAUDIBLE) Florida where the people here understand the dangers of sea level rise. I'll talk to the nation's foremost expert on storm surge, coming right up.

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LEMON: All right. We told you we would carry it for you live. The House is beginning debate now on the new spending proposal. The House wants to delay the Obamacare, the implementation of it by one year rather than have it start on October 1st. They want to do it after a year. They also want to extend funding the government from past November 15th. They want to do it until December 15th. So they are starting their debate now. They are going to vote soon. We will have it for you here on CNN. You are not going to miss this. So make sure you stay tuned.

A new report says it's 95 percent certain humans are big contributors to climate change.

CNN's Chad Myers is in Miami, Florida, a state and (INAUDIBLE) there is a flood and rising sea levels. Chad.

MYERS: Don, I drove through Miami Beach this week on Wednesday and there was water in the streets. I assumed there was a water main break. No, it was high tide. High tide in the streets. The water keeps going up. We could be in trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MYERS (voice-over): The ocean is rising quicker than in decades past and predictions made by some research scientists make the situation sound pretty dire.

HAROLD WANLESS, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: by the mid part of the century, 2015, 2016, most of the Barrier Islands in the world are going to have to be evacuated.

MYERS: And that includes Miami. It's hard to imagine iconic Miami Beach deserted, but it is obvious that rising water is already a common problem here. On a sunny day, high tide is enough to flood some streets.

JAMES MULEY, SOUTH FLORIDA PLANNING COUNCIL: We live on limestone. Limestone is like porous sponge. So we really can't use levis to hold back the water.

MYERS: While the city continues to find ways to deal with the excess water, many experts say there's no way to stop.

PETER HARLEM, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: We saw barricades of sand bags all along (INAUDIBLE) because the water just sits there during high tide. Let's put one more foot of water on top of this, just s one foot sea level rise, from here, from Miami Beach. What does that look like?

MYERS (on camera): So, you're telling every single street here that is blue is going to have water on it if we get a one foot rise in sea level?

HARLEM: Yes. And the tides if we get king tides it will be a little bit higher than this, but this is essentially showing you the places that are going to be affected first.

MULEY: The important thing is to keep observing what's happening. To look at all arrangements and projections and then come back with the policymakers and say here's the actions you have to take.

MYERS (voice-over): The Southeast Florida Climate Change Compact has been made to monitor and help mitigate the harsh consequences of climate change.

MULEY: They're not sticking their heads in the sand. They know that this is a real problem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: And of course, that's not the only area that's in trouble or at least should be watching. Anywhere from Texas, all the way up to Maine, every coastal city needs to watch for this sea level rise. Don?

LEMON: Thank you, Chad Myers. We'll be right back.

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LEMON: About a week ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Icon Mann Dinner in Los Angeles. The event honor the contributions of black men in television, film and media. The founder of the event loosely defines an icon man as one who uses his power to create great and significant change.

David (INAUDIBLE) also at the dinner, he joins me now from Los Angeles. You may recognize him from that little movie called "The Butler." What did it mean to have the chance to attend that dinner?

DAVID OVELOWO, ACTOR "THE BUTLER": Well, it was incredible for me because I've been looking for something like this to come along for quite a while now. I think as black men in media whether it's in acting, fashion or in what you do, often, you find yourself being the one, the only one where ever you are. There are several films I've done where I'm the only person who looks like me around me. And I think that, you know, when you're a minority, it can sometimes engender a minority mentality, which you know, insecurity, fear, lack of confidence, so, you know, bringing people like you together to encourage each other to support each other, I think builds confidence and enables you to go out there and do a better job.

LEMON: When I walked into the room and I saw Richard Roundtree (ph) and all of you guys, what am I doing here? You said you deserve to be here, Don, as much as we are.

OVELOWO: Are you kidding? You're a trail blazer. I mean, you know, America gets to see you every night and you present something that is incredibly positive. Not just for black America, but for America generally. And I think that that's the thing I love about Icon Mann. That's what I love being able to bring all these brothers together, to celebrate that we are all individually trail blazers and unified, we can do something truly incredible.

I think, you know, we suffer in this country from the -- there can only be one mentality. You know, we have an incredible year, this year, where we have "The Butler," we have 12 years of slave, we have (INAUDIBLE) station. We have Mandela. We also have, you know, three black directors directing huge movies that you know, audiences are connecting with.

We have four films that have black protagonists, black men in the lead, (INAUDIBLE) Forest Whittaker, Michael B. Jordan, this illustrates that you know, there can be more than one. And that you know, what I love is that that is a truism and we've just got to celebrate it.

LEMON: Yes, hey, thank you and listen, because of what's happening in Washington, I'm sorry, I have to cut this short, but we will have you back. We'll do more on Icon Mann. It made me cry, the evening, it was so amazing and just to be in the room with you guys was indeed an honor. Thank you for coming on CNN.

OVELOWO: It was great to be there with you, Don. It was great to be there with you.

LEMON: Thank you, David. Best of luck. I'm Don Lemon in New York. We are not going anywhere. We're going to keep you posted throughout the evening on the vote that will happen tonight in the House of Representatives. It's a Republican spending bill that would undermine Obamacare and in the process could lead to a government shutdown at midnight on Monday.

Live pictures now from the House floor right now, where they are debating, they're debating ahead of this vote that will get underway shortly. Live updates throughout the evening here on CNN.

A full report when the vote is complete. Meantime, "CRIMES OF THE CENTURY," "The Unabomber" begins in three minutes here on CNN.

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