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Senate Rejects House Spending Bill 54-46; Reid: "Fate Of The Country" At Stake; Netanyahu To Obama: Don't Be Naive; "There Is No Civil War In Syria"; Rocker Gives Back To Teens With Cancer

Aired September 30, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour, I'm Brooke Baldwin. When we talk about a government shutdown, it's so easy to get caught up in the politics, the facts, the numbers, the figures here, but in reality, we're talking about real people affected by this if in fact this happens.

People like Betsy Burton, co-owner of the King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City. So Betsy, welcome. I read a little bit about your business. I know you have had it for, you know, three decades. You are frightened that the shutdown might happen because it might cause some serious troubles, right, for your store? Tell me why this might be, to use your word, disastrous for you.

BETSY BURTON, CO-OWNER, THE KING'S ENGLISH BOOKSHOP: Well, because the last quarter of the year, as I think most people know for retail, especially, is do or die. You know, you sort of maintain all year long and then suddenly in the last quarter, it's really up to a half of your business for the year. And you've gotten in all this inventory to accommodate that, and now you have to pay for it. You have to pay for it, really before the holidays come and the money starts to flow in, so we're very dependent on loans that time of year. And of course, if consumer confidence tanks, that is absolute disaster for us.

BALDWIN: You say it's disastrous. I think a lot of people agree with you. I read this poll out of the Pepperdine University this morning where some disagree. They conducted the survey, 48 percent of business owners support at least, they call it a temporary -- so they see it as possibly finite, right? Hopefully finite temporary government shutdown, compared to 42 percent who say hurry up, strike a deal. Betsy, what would you say if you were to talk to members of Congress on either side, who are clearly in the thick of this game fight?

BURTON: Right. Well, I do believe in a sense this is nonpartisan because I think a lot of Republicans now are saying it's time enough. Let's stop. So this isn't for me a partisan issue. But I want people not just to think about federal agencies shutting down, but also to think about their friends and neighbors who own businesses all around this country, on their main streets and in their neighborhoods, who this really will affect in a significant way. When you mentioned that survey, I think if you asked retailers per se, and people dependent, for instance, on government contracts, I think those figures would be very different.

BALDWIN: Betsy Burton, I know you're watching this closely, as we all are. Thank you so much for joining me today.

And starting tomorrow, our very own Dr. Sanjay Gupta hitting the road with the CNN Express, he will be traveling the country to see how Obamacare, how the sign-up process really works, what problems might crop up. Sanjay will answer your questions and make sure you understand what is really going on with your health care. So look out for the good doctor on the road.

Coming up, a big moment at the White House today, this is days after President Obama talked to Iran's president over the phone, here is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning the U.S. not to be naive.

Plus, this is a story that has a lot of you talking. You heard about this? Two actors pulled over in South Carolina. What they say happened next is prompting police to investigate their own for alleged racial profiling. This actor joins me live. Stay tuned.

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BALDWIN: Want to take you back to Washington as we have been reporting, we watched live here the U.S. Senate stripped the continuing resolution of its Republican amendment, so they tabled the amendments. That now goes back to the House, and here he is, this is Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, speaking post vote. Let's listen.

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: There we go again. I got it. I got it. I got it. Let a clean C.R. pass and we'll do it with bipartisan support, or there's going to be a shutdown of the government, caused by them, the Republicans. Really, without being too dramatic about this, the feat of the country depends on the house being able to vote, the House, all members of the House of Representatives. I hope John Boehner makes a good decision, one that's good for the country. Job protection time is over with. It's time to start protecting the American people.

BALDWIN: OK, so I want to bring in our chief congressional correspondent who has been in the weeds in all of this. Dana, we keep hearing this talk about a clean C.R., a clean continuing resolution, right? So that is what is now headed back to the House. But you're getting some intel because you know there are these closed-door meetings happening among House Republicans. Because the question is, you know, would they be willing to take this clean C.R. for an up/down vote. You're hearing about some things are going to try to put in there.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The answer is no, and we have been reporting since this morning that House Republicans were planning on adding a delay to the individual mandate as part of their changes or their determination not to give in and to keep fighting on chipping away at Obamacare. Well, Deirdre Walsh, our congressional producer, and I, were getting e-mails from inside the room of the House Republican meeting that's going on as we speak. They're doing something additional. That is to eliminate subsidies for lawmakers and members of the executive branch for their health care.

This is a hefty chunk of change that people in the federal government get to help them pay for their health care, just like people who worked for private companies like we do, big companies. Get some subsidy said and ass assistance to pay for their health care.

This would eliminate this for members of Congress and the executive branch. This is something a senior House Republican source told me over the weekend was their nuclear option that this is their final option, because this, of course, hits members of Congress where they hurt and that is their pocketbook, personally.

So this is the plan. That House Republicans to have go forward, this is their next move in this very high-stakes game of ping-pong and we're probably going to see that on the house floor, I'm told, maybe late afternoon, early evening.

Based on what we just saw in the Senate at the top of the hour, Brooke, it's very likely that the Senate is going to do pretty much what they did before. It just will make it perhaps a lot more difficult because they're going to be voting on their own pocketbook, which of course, is the whole point.

BALDWIN: And ultimately, the question is, you know, who blinks? Who stops the pinging and ponging back and forth and says, OK, we give in? Let's continue the government funding after, you know, the midnight tonight deadline. So Dana Bash will be watching every little step and iteration from Capitol Hill right along with you. Dana, thank you.

Coming up, what about these members of Congress, Republicans, Democrats, if we end up, you know, government is not funded after midnight, who are you going to blame? Who do you think is acting like spoiled children? We'll share this CNN poll with you next.

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BALDWIN: You know this, that a government shutdown would be risky territory for members of Congress and President Obama. So if Washington goes dark, figuratively speaking, who would you the American people hold responsible? Our chief national correspondent John King has exclusive new poll numbers -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First and foremost, there is no question the American people think this is a bad idea to have that shutdown clock run to zero. Look, seven in 10 Americans, 68 percent say it would be a bad thing to shut the government down for a few days. What about the prospect of a shutdown that ran on longer, for a few weeks, hard to get eight in 10 Americans to agree on any political question, but they agree on this, a bad thing to shut the government down for more than a few weeks. However, we should note, these are national numbers. Remember that old adage, all politics are local? Forty to 50 of the most conservative House members, four of five of the most conservative senators are pushing this strategy for the Republican Party. They think they're on safe ground back home.

Fifty six percent of Tea Party supporters say it's a good thing to shut down the government. That's why some of those conservatives are not afraid to go to the brink right here. However, if we come back to the national numbers, if this happens, who would the American people think is most responsible? Well, 36 percent say the president would be responsible.

But nearly half say Republicans would be responsible and 13 percent say both so the president on safer ground at the moment on the question of responsibility, this is interesting, though, again, how you vote impacts what you think of the political brinkmanship. If you're a Democrat, you overwhelmingly blame Republicans in Congress.

If you're a Republican, you overwhelmingly blame the president. But independent voters equally divided on the question of who is responsible. That tells you the president has a sales case to make to the middle of the electorate. Some Republicans say we're on safe ground because the American people don't like the president's health care law. It's true. Our new poll shows 57 percent, nearly six in 10 Americans, oppose Obamacare.

However, this is a critical distinction. Break that number down, 11 percent of those who oppose the president's health care law oppose it because they don't think it didn't go far enough. They wanted a single payer system or more government involvement. That's a critical point as Republicans say, the American people oppose the law. Some oppose it not for the reason the Republicans s cite.

What's the most important question, what's most critical to do, avoid a government shutdown or block the health care law? Six in 10 Americans say it's more important to avoid the government shutdown. That number speaks for itself.

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BALDWIN: I want to come up on this live picture. This is just outside of the White House. You see this limo as we're awaiting the departure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was meeting with President Barack Obama today, tense talks with the Middle East's most powerful leaders here.

Remember this is just a couple days after President Obama spoke on the phone, really, an historic phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Attention is now turning to this man, Benjamin Netanyahu meeting today as you can see with Barack Obama, and the White House, the relationship between Obama and Netanyahu, one of the more strained in the history of the two nations, but in march of this year, President Obama made his first visit to Israel as president of the United States. A charm offensive to reassure Israelis that the U.S. is in fact committed to Israel's security, but chief on today's agenda was this, Iran. Netanyahu is not buying Iran's diplomatic sweet talk, saying its new leader cannot be trusted when it comes to Iran's nuclear intentions.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The most important challenge is preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. I appreciate deeply the fact that you have made clear that you remain committed to this goal. I also appreciate the statement you made that Iran's conciliatory words have to be matched by real actions, transparent, verifiable, meaningful actions. Iran is committed to Israel's destruction. So for Israel, the ultimate test of a future agreement with Iran is whether or not Iran dismantled its military nuclear program.

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BALDWIN: So that is his perspective. What do you -- what do Americans think? According to the latest CNN/ORC poll, three quarters of Americans, 76 percent, say they favor direct diplomatic negotiations with Iran in an effort to prevent that country from developing nuclear weapons.

And this is just the latest video here of Syrian fighting rebels from this trench, exchanging gunfire with Syria's government forces. So today's news out of the U.N. General Assembly might come as a surprise. There's no civil war going on in Syria at least, that's according to Syria's foreign minister.

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WALID AL-MOUALEM, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This is not a civil war. There is no civil war in Syria, but it is a war against terror that recognizes no values nor justice, nor equality, and disregards any rights or laws. So confronting this terror in my country requires the international community to act in accordance with relevant resolutions on counterterrorism.

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BALDWIN: The U.N. says the two-year-old civil war has killed over 100,000 Syrians.

Just a short time from now, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi along with Democratic leaders, we're watching and waiting for this news conference to happen as the clock ticks down. So we will soon find out what happens when the Senate, now that they have voted kicking this bill back to the House with hours to go, midnight tonight, until the shutdown deadline.

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BALDWIN: Legendary rocker, Roger Daltrey thrills audiences at the front man of "The Who." Offstage, he's dedicated to helping teenagers. Michaela Pereira has the story in today's "Impact Your World."

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MICHAELA PEREIRA, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY" (voice-over): Decades in the spotlight has given rocker, Roger Daultry, a lot of opportunities to work with charities, but after talking to his own doctor, Daultry, found a unique need.

ROGER DALTREY, LEGENDARY ROCKER: It was recognized that teenagers with cancer, there's kind of no provision for them. Not only to do with medicine, to do with the environment. Fabulous children's hospitals, there's fabulous, you know, things for adults. But when you actually look at what teenagers are, which is neither a child or an adult, there's nothing.

PEREIRA: Daltrey and bandmate Pete Townsend created "Team Cancer America," based on a program they both been involved with for years in the U.K. The charity creates teens-only cancer wards in the hospitals.

DALTREY: You have enough problems as it is just being a teenager without having that lumped on top of you, so we provide a specialized environment where they can be comfort being teenagers. I had a life of privilege, and it was supplied by teenagers supporting me.

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BALDWIN: Near the top of the hour, I'm Brooke Baldwin. It's not what you want to hear, but with a government shutdown now less than nine hours away, the only thing that seems to be in agreement at this moment is a shutdown is likely to happen. That likelihood just increased after we saw what the Senate did just this past hour there.

So with the vote strictly along party lines, 54-46, senators rejected the House funding bills that delayed the implementation of Obamacare for a year and repealed a tax on medical devices. Very soon, this is the next step in this ping-pong match, to quote my colleague, Dana Bash, now House Democrats have this new conference they'll be holding and the vote next goes to them.

We're going to bring that to you live, but House Republicans, as we have been reporting, they're also meeting behind closed doors. As the back and forth continues to play out, the American people not at all amused, but apparently more unhappy with Republicans, as you can see here, with this poll.

This new CNN research opinion poll, finds Republicans will take a bigger hit if, if the shutdown happens, 46 percent there to Barack Obama being blamed at 36 percent, and actually 13 percent of Americans polled say they're both to blame.