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Shutdown Countdown; Hollywood Couple Stopped and Cuffed; Arizona Firefighters' Deaths; Shutdown Uncertainty Affects Wall Street; Interview With Rep. James Lankford Of Oklahoma

Aired September 30, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour, I'm Brooke Baldwin.

If there's no agreement when 12:01 a.m. Eastern time strikes, Social Security checks, the mail, national security, that all continues on, but your national parks, museums, Yosemite, the Smithsonian, they will close.

Also, visas, passports, gun permits, they will all be on hold.

Small-business loans delayed, and even more crucial, 783,000 federal workers face furloughs, and active duty military will not be getting their next paycheck on time. Instead, they'll be getting IOUs.

No question many family budgets will be in crisis, along with the government's if this shutdown happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELVERA GLEATON, AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE: I just think that congress is only thinking about themselves and not thinking about the everyday workers who come to work and give all we've got.

We haven't gotten pay raises in the last three, four years, and we come to work and we're dedicated to the public. I work for agriculture and we're critical.

Our department is the first always to get cut because they want defense money or they want money for wars and everything, but you can't eat without agriculture. I mean, you know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So what is the president saying, at least thus far today?

Jim Acosta, our senior White House correspondent joining us now. We know President Obama, he spoke on this. What specifically did he say today, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting that you said, Brooke, that the president, this is what he said so far today. The president indicated when he was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today that he's not only going to have comments at that moment earlier today.

But as the day goes on, I think we'll hear from the president again before the day is out, before the government shuts down, if it does shutdown.

But what he did say in the brief remarks is he's still not resigned to the fact there will be a government shutdown. He's still holding out hope something will get worked out in Capitol Hill over the next nine hours or so.

But one thing we heard from the White House, after the president spoke, the White House press briefing happened. Jay Carney knocked down the proposals floating around Capitol Hill that would attach anti-Obama care programs, and he started to tick off the programs that would be affected by this.

You mentioned a few of those a moment ago, but Jay Carney also mentioned the Meals on Wheels programs for senior citizens and veteran call-ins, where they call in to ask about their benefits.

It was at this -- I guess at this meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this afternoon that the president did say that he will be talking to congressional leaders as the day goes on.

He's been asked about this because of the fact that he has not been in touch with John Boehner, the speaker of the House, in the last week or so, at least not that the White House is willing to say publicly.

But the president sort of put all that to the side in making some comments to the press that it's really up to the Congress at this point to avert a shutdown, not him.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The bottom line is that the Senate has passed a bill that keeps the government open, does not have a lot of extraneous issues to it, that allows us then to negotiate a longer term budget and address a range of other issues, but that ensures that we're not shutting down the government and we're not shutting down the economy at a time when a lot of families out there are just getting some traction and digging themselves out of the hole we had as a consequence of the financial crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, one interesting thing that did pop up in the last few hours, Brooke, we asked about this in the press briefing. Jay Carney was asked whether or not the White House might be open to some sort of one-week short-term continuing resolution to keep the government running for one week, as absurd as it sounds, and he did not knock down that as a possibility. We do understand from Dana Bash and Ted Barrett, our folks on Capitol Hill, that Harry Reid, the leader, has said no to that. That is not acceptable to him, but interesting to note that the White House did not knock that down.

Went back to talk to White House officials about that. They said, don't read anything into that. They just can't respond to every idea coming out of Capitol Hill right now, because there could be a lot as the hours come near to a government shutdown.

BALDWIN: The hours draw near, midnight tonight deadline.

Jim Acosta, thank you.

Coming up on the other side of the break, we know the House Republicans are now emerging from the closed-door meeting.

What is their strategy now that the Senate has kicked back the bill to them and is continuing back and forth, ping-ponging on the Hill? What are they thinking next as their vote looms?

I'll talk to one House Republican, coming up next.

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BALDWIN: We will take you back to Capitol Hill in a minute, but this pair of Hollywood actors is speaking out about their treatment by a South Carolina sheriff's deputy.

Cherie Johnson and Dennis White said they were stopped by police, put in handcuffs while driving through Marion County, South Carolina.

The Marion County sheriff issued a statement to CNN promising to investigate the couple's allegations of racial profiling.

Let me back up because their story, which was posted to CNN's iReport early Saturday by a friend of theirs now has garnered more than 730,000 views, making it one of the most viewed iReports.

Nischelle Turner just spoke with the actress here. Nischelle?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, Hollywood couple Cherie Johnson and Dennis White said they were improperly stopped by police, put in handcuffs and harshly questioned about drugs and money in a recent getaway in South Carolina.

They claim it took place because of their race. Both are black. Cherie Johnson is best known for her role in "Punky Brewster."

They're talking about their treatment from a Marion County's sheriff's deputy. I spoke with Johnson and here's what she told me happened.

They were on their way to Myrtle Beach. They saw cotton fields when they were driving there. She grew up in California, had never seen them in person, so she asked if they could stop and take pictures. When they were done, they walked back and noticed a sheriff's patrol car was pulled up behind them. She said she had been stopped by the police before, but she had never been afraid for her life until then.

The officer not only handcuffed them, searched the car, questioned them about cash they had on hand and also a tea bag they found, he was questioning if it was marijuana.

He also told her she had a warrant for her arrest which she says the deputy later recanted.

She said she's telling this story and Dennis is telling his story because she wants to make sure that something like this never happens again.

Of course, we reached out to the Marion County, South Carolina, sheriff's department, and Sheriff Mark Richardson did issue us a statement today to address this issue.

He said in part, "Discrimination is in any form, including racial profiling, is strictly prohibited by this department, and as sheriff of this county, I can assure you I will take immediate and appropriate action to investigate the allegations of racial profiling."

The sheriff's department added they would conduct an internal investigation into the matter and also ask the South Carolina law enforcement division to review the allegation against the deputy in question

We did reach out to him for further comment, and he did tell us because this is an ongoing investigation, he would not have any further comment at this time.

Back to you.

BALDWIN: OK, Nischelle, thank you very much.

Up next, a new report is out today on exactly what happened to those 19 Hot Shot firefighters. Remember this? They lost their lives in that Arizona wildfire.

The question has been, why? What happened? What went so wrong and what could be done to prevent tragedies like this in the future?

Some answers, next.

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BALDWIN: Listening to some Republican leaders, here is Eric Cantor.

REP.ERIC CANTOR (R), MAJORITY WHIP: As the speaker indicated, this administration, this president, has provided special treatment and carve-outs and exceptions under Obamacare for big business, for special interests, and yes, it has provided a carve-out for members of Congress.

Our position is very clear, no special treatment for anyone. We all live under the laws equally applied.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), CALIFORNIA: It's very short and simple today. We'll pass a bill that funds government, so the question will rest with Harry Reid, just two questions.

Will we treat individual Americans the same as he wants to treat big business? And, secondly, does he want special treatment?

We say no. We have to live within the law.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Each of the --

BALDWIN: So Kevin McCarthy, you heard from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and before him spoke was John Boehner, House speaker.

So, they're all speaking because we now know that they have -- or they will be receiving and, thus, then voting on the version of this government-funding bill that the Senate then passed to them, this clean resolution, aka, this bill without any kind of provisions involving Obamacare.

But as we have learned from Deirdre Walsh and Dana Bash, our folks on Capitol Hill, they still plan to add in other provisions, one of which is adding a delay of a year to the individual mandate which was a crucial part of Obamacare, so now again in the hands of the House of Representatives.

Moving on, a critical report details what could have been done to save 19 Hot Shot firefighters who were overcome by massive flames in Arizona.

This report out, it is dramatic, it is heart breaking, and as state officials admit, it's lacking in clear answers.

Apparent radio communications issued played a role in what happened that fateful day.

Casey Wian takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the last known image of the 19 experienced Hot Shot firefighters known as the Granite Mountain Team on June 30th, heading to battle the Yarnell Fire in Arizona.

How did they end up like this, 19 flags and helmets in memorial?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Granite Mountain worked their way down the slope, through the boulders and brush until the flaming front cut them off from their escape route to the ranch.

WIAN: The state's official investigation is at best inconclusive. The crew had four options to escape the rapidly approaching wildfire.

The one they chose proved deadly. Why they chose it remains a mystery.

JIM KARELS, SERIOUS ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION TEAM LEADER: That information is with them. It's not with us.

We don't have, and everybody we interviewed and the information we gathered, it says exactly why they made that move.

That decision-making process went with those 19 men.

WIAN: The report blames an unexpected shift in winds and unusually combustible fuel in an area that hadn't burned in nearly half a century.

Once they were trapped in this brush-filled valley, the men had two minutes to deploy their fire shelters as the flames approached at 10- to-12-miles-an-hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Temperatures exceeded 2,000-degrees Fahrenheit as the fire swept through the site.

WIAN: Another factor, radio communications challenges. Incident commanders lost contact with the crew for about 30 minutes, leading to confusion about their location.

Investigators describe sharing their findings with the firefighters' families.

MIKE DUDLEY, CO-LEAD FOR SERIOUS ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION TEAM: It is everything you would have expected, anger, frustration, and just an overcoming sense of loss. It was a very emotional meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our brothers, sons, dads, they're gone. The current generation of firefighters has never experienced the tragedy such as Yarnell Hill and the loss of the Granite Mountain Crew.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: It's pretty incredible to think that experts are saying now that one of the things that could have prevented this disaster, this tragedy from happening, had these wildland firefighters all had GPS devices on their persons, then the instant commanders would have known exactly where they were, perhaps could have given them clearing instructions on how the best way to get out of danger was at that time.

We'll have to see if firefighters are equipped with this type of equipment in the future.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: So tragic. Casey Wian on that report. Casey, thank you very much.

And coming up, back to Washington, we go. We just were listening to some members, some House leaders there on the Hill.

And now we have House Congressman James Lankford, Republican, Oklahoma, on what is next when it comes to this government funding bill. We'll chat, next.

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BALDWIN: On Capitol Hill, House Republicans are just now walking out of this meeting, plotting the next move in this standoff. One of the Congressmen who was in that meeting joins me now there from the hill.

He is Congressman James Lankford from Oklahoma. Welcome. I know this meeting you have been part of lasted an hour and a half, it just ended. Tell me your party's strategy now that the U.S. Senate has rejected your plan.

REP. JAMES LANKFORD (R), OKLAHOMA: It's ironic is the U.S. Senate didn't actually reject it. They just tabled it. They said we're not going to vote on this, we're going to push it away.

There are two proposals. One is to protect the military to make sure they were fully funded, and they tabled the latest proposal on the funding.

What we will do is send a proposal back to fully fund the government, but eliminate the individual mandate. The president has already waived the businessman date.

We will waive the individual mandate for the next year and eliminate any kind of exemptions that members of Congress or members in the White House or political appointees would have in Obamacare.

That means the White House political appointees and all members of Congress would go directly into Obamacare as was originally intended in this law.

Those two things go back over to the Senate.

BALDWIN: When it comes to those two things, we heard from other House Republicans earlier on CNN, some of whom didn't necessarily agree with that, wanted to say enough is enough, let's go ahead and vote on this, this continuing resolution, and be done with it.

Did you need any convincing or are you on board from the get-go?

LANKFORD: No, I'm on board with this. We shouldn't have some sort of special exemption in the middle of all this with Obamacare.

The way the law was written, whether you like or don't like the law, the way the law was written is it made sure that members of Congress and their staff are fully into Obamacare.

The Office of Personnel Management shifted that language around and said, no, we're going to provide additional subsidies which is right to have employer provided health care, but the way the law is written doesn't allow for that.

We're pushing that back out and also coming back and saying it's only right that if you have a business exemption, you have an individual exemption.

Right now if you're an individual, you have to do all these different things or you'll be fined. A business does not.

BALDWIN: So this is this version that then presumably you all will kick back over to the Senate. You know the math.

You were exactly right in saying tabling amendments which is presuming that the Democrats and the Republicans on the Senate side vote as they did in the last hour.

They will then table those amendments you just discussed, it goes back to you all so really, the question is Congressman, would you be willing to vote for a clean bill at some point by midnight tonight?

LANKFORD: Yes. The challenge of that is first members of the Senate have to step in and say we're going to vote to make sure we have the special exemption the rest of the American people have and vote to say business should have an exemption but individuals should not have an exemption. That's where it stands right now.

We're trying to create a fair playing field for everyone. If we're in Obama care it needs to be fair for everyone. Right now there's a lot of exemptions and waivers out there and we will pull those out.

BALDWIN: So back to the question, would you ultimately vote for a clean continuing resolution in order to prevent this government, the funding to continue after midnight?

LANKFORD: No. I'm waiting on the Senate to be able to respond to this. We sent over two different proposals. This will be our third on it. They've got to be able to answer back.

BALDWIN: OK. Congressman, we will be watching. Thank you so much, sir.

And we are minutes, five minutes away from the closing bell. How is Wall Street reacting to this bickering, the impending shutdown? The Dow down 147 points now.

We'll take you live to the New York Stock Exchange in two minutes.

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BALDWIN: All right, all this uncertainty looming over Washington, you can see not surprisingly affecting the markets on Wall Street.

Let's go straight to Zain Asher with a look, as we are minutes away from the closing bell.

Not exactly in positive territory at the moment.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, exactly. We're down about 135 points.

You know, this is really more about uncertainty than anything else, Brooke. The market is used to stalemates in Washington. And, by the way, if the government actually does shut down for one week, it will only have a limited effect on economic growth.

However, the problem is that a shutdown this time around is actually only one piece of the puzzle. We've got the debt ceiling deadline on the horizon which will undeniably have a much bigger impact.

If the government defaults on its debt for the very first time in history, we will most likely see a huge tumble in the market. There'd be dramatic cuts in spending and it would put a dent in GDP and business confidence.

In terms of a shutdown, this is interesting. When the markets opened this morning, the traders I spoke to were surprisingly optimistic about a deal being reached by midnight tonight.

However, one trader just actually stopped by in here a second ago, and I asked him, so are you still optimistic given the back and forth?

And he hesitated, so I think that people are slowly starting to get nervous. I think it's going to be very interesting to see what happens when the markets open tomorrow.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: Zain, thank you. Let's go straight to where you are and just listen in.

And the bell, and what will the next few hours bring? We will watch and wait. Stay with us here on CNN. We're all over it.

I'm Brooke Baldwin.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.