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Veterans Allowed Into WWII Memorial; Obama Invites Leaders To White House; Workers Cope With Furloughs; Americans Weigh In On Debt Ceiling; Obama to Meet With Congressional Leaders; Interest in Affordable Care Act High; Shutdown Meeting

Aired October 02, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now at the World War II memorial here in Washington, representatives from the national park service have opened the barricades. So visiting veterans can pass through. This is the second straight day veterans have tried to visit what's supposed to be the closed memorial.

Also right now, over at the White House, President Obama extends an invitation to Congressional leaders. We're expecting to hear more about that at today's White House briefing. That's scheduled to start within moments.

Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington. We start with President Obama. He's getting more involved in the shutdown right now. It's day two, 37 hours in. And the president has asked the leaders of both parties in the House and the Senate to come over to the White House later today for a sit-down on the shutdown.

Our chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash is up on Capitol Hill. Over at the White House, our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is standing by.

Jim, let's start with you. The president says he won't negotiate on some of these critical issues so this potentially could be a pretty short meeting.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Potentially it could, Wolf. We'll have to see what happens at 5:30 this afternoon when the speaker of the House, John Boehner, the minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader over in the Senate, Mitch McConnell and the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, are all scheduled to come over to the White House to talk with the president and sit down with him about the shutdown and the debt ceiling. Remember, that is coming up in just a little more than two weeks.

And according to White House officials, the president is going to hold his ground when it comes to a continuing resolution. The president still insisting that it be a clean, temporary spending bill without these add-ons dealing with Obamacare.

And, Wolf, keep in mind, this is a very disciplined White House right now when it comes to its message on the standoff, on this shutdown. The White House saying earlier this morning that the president would veto any of these piecemeal spending bills that may be coming out of the Congress. Obviously, they probably wouldn't get out of the Senate. But at least saying to the House that, no, we would veto that, the president would veto that word to come out of here.

And then the president is also meeting, Wolf, keep in mind, with CEOs from various big financial institutions around the world, around the United States. They are coming to the White House. They'll be here -- they're here right now, as a matter of fact. They'll be coming out of the White House shortly and perhaps we'll get a read on what the president had to say.

But the president was also expected to talk about the shutdown, the effects on the country and this prospect that the nation could go into default. Other things that have happened at the White House today. The White House announced earlier this morning that the president has had to shorten his trip to Asia that's coming up next week. He's got a couple of summits in Asia in Bali and Brunei. He's going to attend those but he was scheduled to go on to Malaysia and the Philippines after that. Those visits were canceled or postponed, at least right now, as a result of the shutdown.

So, the White House very much sticking to its position, at this point. The president sticking to that position that the shutdown can only be cleared up, can only end if the House does it his way and passes a clean spending bill to get the government back open again -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we're hoping to speak with one of those CEOs with whom the president is meeting right now. As soon as he emerges from the White House, we'll get a readout what happened inside the meeting with the president. Stand by for a moment.

Dana Bash is up on Capitol Hill. So, I take it that Boehner, McConnell, the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate, they have all accepted the president's invitation to come over 5:30 p.m. Eastern for this potentially significant meeting with the president. What's the latest, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They've accepted the invitation but what they're going to achieve is still very, very questionable.

One thing that did occur is the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, released a letter, this letter, that he said he sent to John Boehner today. The idea that the two of them are sending letters and even speaking, they did speak, is news which in that -- is that should sort of tell you everything you need to know that they -- the fact that they're communicating is a new phenomenon. But in it, Harry Reid talks about the fact that he was very much against the Iraq War, but he didn't -- as it went on, but he didn't hold up the entire government to make a point that the Iraq War should end and he gave the analogy to Republicans and how they feel about Obamacare.

Listen to what Harry Reid said about his conversation this morning with John Boehner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: I just finished a telephonic conversation with Speaker Boehner. My message to him was very simple. We have to stop playing these foolish games that keep coming to us from the other side of the Capitol. This is not about him or me, about scoring points for one side or the other or name causing, like the villain of villains. It's about doing the right thing for the American people. They expect us to act like adults.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, in this letter, he proposes that the speaker allow a bill to open the government, to fund all aspects of the government, at least temporarily. And then Senator Reid said he promises he will give the speaker his wish to sit down and have what is called a conference committee to negotiate all aspects of the fiscal issues from tax reform to -- you know, to you name it. Unclear if -- we haven't heard anything back from the speaker on this, but this is not much different from what we have heard when it comes to overtures from the Democrats.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens at that critical meeting at 5:30 p.m. Eastern over at the White House. Lots at stake, obviously. Guys, thanks very much.

The fallout from the government shutdown is becoming very clear. The national park service has closed all of its parks, including national memorials. But for the second straight day, war veterans were allowed past barricades over at the World War II memorial here in Washington. And as Rene Marsh shows us, as legislatures play politics, families are dealing with the shock and the consequences of their new furloughed status.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWD: We all are essential.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Day two of the government shutdown.

CROWD: Fire all Congress.

MARSH: Outrage across the country already reaching a fever pitch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone is angry, I mean angry.

LINDA LAUGHLIN: I came here to work today, and I'm not allowed to. I'm not essential. None of us are. So -- and I'm doing the walk of shame.

MARSH: More than 800,000 federal employees likely taking that same walk or drive.

NATASHA ROZIER, BUREAU OF THE CENSUS: This in my hand is the notice of furlough that all employees were given this morning. MARSH: Natasha Rozier is now a furloughed Census Bureau employee, supporting a five-year-old daughter.

(on camera): I mean, what do you tell your daughter, I guess at this point?

ROZIER: She's too young to understand what's going on and I try not to -- if (INAUDIBLE) you don't understand that finances is going to be a little difficult for mom and dad.

MARSH (voice-over): Also in jeopardy, hundreds of patients including children with cancer who will have to wait until after the shutdown to start clinical trials with the National Institutes of Health. Our nation's capitol looking more like a ghost town.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Here at the Pentagon, a lot of empty hallways. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he's got the authority to bring back thousands of furloughed civilian workers who support the troops doing everything from purchasing the weapons to helping them with housing and key House Republicans agree. Now the question, will the White House sign off?

MARSH (voice-over): A question these World War II veterans aren't waiting to be answered. Despite the government shutdown, these veterans didn't let their patriotism get shutout. Moving past the barricades to their marching song, these vets, some in wheelchairs, kept their plans of visiting the World War II memorial on Tuesday. Meanwhile, thousands of preschoolers are at home instead of in classrooms.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm in a classroom at the Head Start center in Brooksville, Florida where 135 children from low- income families are provided with education, nutrition and even health care. Well, their families got this notification today that because of the government shutdown, this facility is going to be closed as of Friday.

MARSH: Doors are potentially closing at service academy stadium, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard suspending their football games this weekend if the government is still shut down. An extended shutdown could jeopardize two Notre Dame football games and affect the team's chances of making it to a bowl game.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And Rene Marsh is joining me now. These clinical trials, lots of these young kids, they have cancer. They were going to go in for clinical trials at NIH. And I know you're heading up there. This sounds crazy to me that life and death situations like this are being put on hold.

MARSH (live): Yes, you know, the case of the National Institutes of Health, 75 percent of their staff furloughed. So, what does that mean? It means the hundreds of patients that come and apply for these clinical trials every week, they have to put them on hold. They're not able to take in any new patients. And, as you mentioned, that includes children with cancer. However, they say in cases of medical emergencies, some exceptions will be made. But, again, with 75 percent of their staff furloughed, they can only do but so much.

We do know on Capitol Hill House Republicans do plan on introducing a bill that would fund NIH. But, of course, once it passes the House, it has to move on to the Senate, so --

BLITZER: Yes, they've got to do something. By definition, if a child has cancer, that's a medical emergency and they've got to deal with that right away. Rene, I know you're heading to NIH. We'll have more in the "SITUATION ROOM" later. Thanks very much.

It's only October 2nd. Even if the shutdown is resolved today, we're still need -- we still need to look forward to mid-October when the government hits what's called the debt ceiling. And on that note, a new CNN poll indicates most Americans believe it would be a bad thing for the country if the ceiling is not raised, 56 percent think it would be a bad thing, 38 percent think it would be a good thing.

We also asked if the debt ceiling is not raised, who would be responsible? 53 percent would blame Republicans and Congress, 31 percent point the finger at President Obama, 10 percent say both would be responsible.

The centerpiece of Obamacare is up and running after an initial rocky debut. Heavy online traffic caused some overwhelmed to -- overwhelmed the Web -- the signup Web site. So, how are the health exchange Web sites performing on this be? Day two. Get ready. We'll tell you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: So, President Obama will not, repeat, not be traveling to Malaysia and the Philippines next week after all. Because of the government shutdown, the White House announced today, the president informed the leaders of both countries he won't be coming for now. He's got to reschedule a personal visit there. Secretary of state John Kerry will go in his place. The president says he will attend a separate summit in Indonesia. He's still committed to visiting Malaysia and the Philippines, as I said, at later date.

Just hours from now, the president will hold a White House meeting with the Congressional leadership to seek a way out of the funding impasse up on Capitol Hill.

Let's bring in Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. He is joining us now. What's taking so long? Why hasn't the president invited these Republican and Democratic House and Senate leaders over before to shake things up and say, I'm the president? We've got to fix this. You're not leaning the room until we resolve this.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, I think the White House believes correctly that this is a critical moment to try to break this cycle of confrontation and crisis. Look, if you go back through American history at any given moment, the two parties disagreed about dozens of issues. And the idea that you would defund the government to try to leverage a resolution of one of those issues is, you know, a very kind of confrontational motion. And I think they feel that if they allow -- in effect, give anything on this, you're basically inviting the behavior again.

So, while the president, I think, has an obligation to try to signal that he's willing to open to a broader negotiations on the budget and other issues, not necessarily in the context of this standoff.

BLITZER: So, I mean, if he's not willing to make any concessions whether to keep the government -- make sure the government reopens or to raise the debt ceiling, you know, the --

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

BLITZER: -- he's got to the give the Republicans at least something symbolic to back down. Don't you think?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I - well, I -- you know, I think they view it very much the opposite, that if you give any - and I think the Senate Democrats view this the same way -- if you give anything that the Republicans are talking about, extending the debt ceiling or government funding only for relatively short periods. So if you give anything, you increase the odds that you will be doing this again either next month or next year.

Now, separate from that, I mean clearly there is a desire in the country to see the two parties find some long-term fiscal solution. The kind of grand bargain that we talked about in the past seems very remote right now. It would seem appropriate for the president to argue for reopening conversations on that front. But in the context of negotiating while the government is shutdown or you have the prospect of a default, giving anything might increase the odds that we're doing this again, Wolf, in a matter of weeks or months.

BLITZER: Can't they come up with a formula - it's a little creative diplomacy if you will, no negotiations, no concessions on the part of the president. You have to reopen the government. You have to raise the debt ceiling. There's no concessions I'm making. But separately, you come up with some language, some agreements, if you will, that they will take up some of these measures maybe to delay some aspects of the tax part of Obamacare or the Keystone Pipeline?

BROWNSTEIN: You know it - right.

BLITZER: Stuff like that, that the Republicans want.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

BLITZER: You come up with a separate venue -

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

BLITZER: Whereby both sides say they didn't budge.

BROWNSTEIN: It would seem that would be one potential way out, particularly on the budget, which is the most relevant here, to have -- to restart negotiations, which the White House certainly I think would not object to. I mean that would seem to me a logical way, you know, kind of think about the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis where, you know, the missiles came out of Turkey at the end. It was not part of the direct negotiation, but it was parallel and kind of precipitated by it.

BLITZER: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: So you could imagine something like that. But I think this is a critical moment within - you know, we have been through these confrontations before. All indications are that we'll be through this confrontations again partly because more Republicans are in safe districts than they were in '*95, '96, or more insulated against any electoral backlash. So I think the White House and Senate Democrats correctly believe that unless they break this cycle, they are going to be doing this again.

BLITZER: Ron Brownstein, thanks very much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

BLITZER: We're standing by to see what happens at that 5:30 meeting today. I'm an optimist, as you know -

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BLITZER: So I'm hoping they work something out. Some sort of creative diplomacy, as I said.

Ron, thanks very much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

BLITZER: So it's day two of the government shutdown. Obamacare enrollment. What's going on, on that front? Yesterday lots of people who wanted to sign up for the health care exchange were greeted with an error message. We're going to check to see how it's doing today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Americans who had initially had some trouble signing up for the health insurance under the Affordable Care Act will be trying again today. They already are. Computer problems prevented thousands of people from logging onto the health exchange websites when they first rolled out yesterday. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is traveling around the country on the CNN Express learning how these federal and state run health exchanges work. Sanjay is joining us today from Lexington, Kentucky.

Sanjay, have the initial computer problems been ironed out? Are people better able to log on today?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It seems so, Wolf. And I will point out that here in Kentucky, as compared to where we were in South Carolina yesterday, they had a better start to things, as well, just on day one. In South Carolina, we talked to hundreds of people and we could not find somebody who said they had successfully been able to sign on yesterday. Here in Kentucky, they had about 2,900 people sign on yesterday. And I just talked to the governor a well just a few minutes ago, the governor of the state, and he said that the problems have, quote/unquote, "been fixed." It was due to high volume, as a lot of people suspected. But that they've been fixed here in Kentucky. So it seems like it's -- the problem, at least in this state, is better.

And it's worth pointing out again, Wolf, something that you've been saying, it's day two. Open enrollment is six months long. So, you know, the people who have been having trouble still have a lot of shots of getting on within the next few months.

BLITZER: How does this program, the Affordable Care Act, affect people who already have health insurance through their employers?

GUPTA: Well, for the most part, I think what you would say is that people who already have their health care insurance, not a lot is going to change for them. There's probably going to be some premium increases for most people who already have their insurance. That was already expected. That was something that we'd been seeing over the last several years.

On one hand, you do have increased what you'd call insurance regulation. So your insurance plan, they must now spend close to 85 cents to 90 cents out of every dollar on health care. And also the caps, these annual caps in terms of what insurance can pay for a lifetime caps, those go away. So there's some benefits in there for everybody who has insurance.

On the other hand, there have been some large companies, including some like Delta, like Home Depot, like UPS, that have made some changes with regard to health care overall. You have some - UPS, for example, has a big distribution center here in Kentucky and they have made this decision to basically say if spouses have insurance that they can get elsewhere, they should go ahead and do that.

But let me point out something, Wolf. Kentucky is a divided state. You have a Democratic governor. You have two very high profile senators, as you well know, Senator Paul, Senator McConnell. They are the senators of this state. They don't agree on this. I sat down with the governor and asked him about that just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. STEVE BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: I'd say to them what I think every Kentuckian would say to them and what every American would say to their congressmen or their senators is, quit acting like a bunch of nine-year-olds in the cafeteria with a food fight going on. Act like adults.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Pretty strong words there, Wolf. I don't know if you've had a chance to interview Governor Beshear before, but he feels very strongly about this. He's been really pounding the pavement about getting people signed up for the Affordable Care Act. And again, he had more strong words than that even for Senators Paul and McConnell.

BLITZER: Yes, the two senators from his state of Kentucky.

Sanjay, thanks very much. Always -- we learn something from you reporting every single time you're here. Thank you.

Tomorrow, by the way, Sanjay will head to Baltimore, Maryland. He'll go inside an Affordable Care Act call center and hear the questions Americans are asking about insurance coverage and cost. You'll want to see that tomorrow here in the NEWSROOM.

Deciding which agencies are essential, Republicans offer an alternative, proposing to fund one agency at a time. But is that really the best plan of attack? I'll ask the Florida Republican congressman, Mario Diaz-Balart, about that and about the president' invitation on this, day two of the shutdown, come over to the White House, let's talk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's day two of the government shutdown. Now there's a little glimmer. A tiny glimmer of hope. Maybe they can work things out. President Obama has invited congressional leaders over to the White House later today, 5:30 p.m. Eastern, for a major meeting. Republicans John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, Democrats Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, they've all accepted his invitation. Senator Reid also says he spoke to the speaker, John Boehner, on the phone, sent him a letter about Republican tactics in this showdown standoff.

Let's not forget, though, day two of the shutdown means the economy of the United States has taken an estimated $400 million hit already. That's the cost in lost wages for all those furloughed federal workers and a lot of other related economic losses. That doesn't take into account lost productivity, lost investment. A billion dollar week manmade disaster. This is not a natural disaster like a hurricane, this is a manmade disaster. It could cost the U.S. economy a billion dollars a week at a minimum if it goes on.