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Two Bikers Accused In West Side Highway Attack Turn Themselves Into Police; Tropical Storm Karen Spinning In The Gulf of Mexico; Casey Kasem's Family Not Allowed To See Him; Defense Department Employees To Return To Work Next Week; Exclusive Interview With Martina Navratilova; Woman Behind Siri's Voice Revealed; Affordable Health Still Out Of Reach For Many

Aired October 05, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Fredericka Whitfield looking at our top stories we're following for you. New developments in that biker attack investigation. Two of the bikers are now in custody. And we've learned one member of the group might have been an undercover police officer. If that was the case, why didn't that person do something?

Plus, the Gulf coast bracing for impact. Tropical storm Karen is expected to strike this weekend. And we're talking with Martina, the tennis legend has taken up a new cause.

Let's get started. In Washington the House unanimously approves a bill today to give back pay to furloughed federal workers. Athena Jones is joining me live now from Capitol Hill. So Athena, this was a bipartisan effort. It was unanimous, right? But is there any hope that there might be some momentum into something bigger and broader?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. I wish I could say so. You know, this vote cleared the House several hours ago. Now the House has adjourned. The Senate is in session right now, but only for an hour or so more, and there are not any votes scheduled. It's unclear when that bill will head over to Senate. We know it's something the president has said he supports.

But really it's the only small positive development we've seen in the last couple of days in terms of something getting lots of bipartisan support. I'll show you what House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said after this vote. He is urging if there's a support by Democrats why isn't there support from the other smaller spending bills. House Republicans have passed in the last week. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANTOR: What about the vets? Do the Democrats not feel it's important to make sure the pain is eased on them? What about the sick children that need access to clinical trials? Is it not as important to ease the pain of the shutdown for them? Or is it just the federal employees that the Democratic minority thinks is important?

(END VIDEO CLIP) JONES: And so leader Cantor there is talking about smaller funding bills to fund the Veterans Administration, national parks, and for instance the national institutes of health so that people can have access to clinical trials if they're sick.

Now, Democrats would say we do support those things. We just want to fund the government all at once. We want the house and Republicans, the House of Representatives to pass -- to bring to the floor of the house this spending bill that would reopen the doors of the government with no strings attached.

Listen to minority leader Nancy Pelosi and what she had to say after the vote today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: Right now enough Republicans have publicly stated their support for a bill that could pass and be on the president's desk today. We are asking the speaker in our letter to bring up the vote to the floor for those Republicans and more to show that there is a bipartisan what majority to end the government, Republican government shutdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there you heard her call this the Republican government shutdown. That's part of the messaging battle that both sides are playing here.

But I should mention that this is no change, no difference from what we've been hearing for the last several days. The House Democrats today sent a letter, 200 of them signed a letter to Speaker Boehner asking for a vote on this broader spending bill. So, it's really just about where things stood three or four days ago, Fredricka, and really before that.

One bit of news we could see developing here and this is according to CNN's Gloria Borger who spoke with the senior House Republican who said one idea being floated is an idea of passing a six-week spending bill, a bill that would reopen the doors of the government for six weeks along with raising the debt ceiling at the same time. That would give both sides some room to then sit down and negotiate. That's just an idea right now. No real sense of how much traction it's going to get -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones, thanks so much.

JONES: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, you talk about Nancy Pelosi's point of view. Well, apparently the president agrees. He says this could all be over right now in an interview with the Associated Press, he blamed House Speaker John Boehner for not ending the shutdown, saying this. Quote, "we can vote to open the government today. The only thing that is keeping that from happening is Speaker Boehner has made a decision that he is going to hold out to see if he can get additional concessions from us." end quote. That's from the president in his conversation with the "Associated Press," AP.

All right, New York City police are searching for this man. He is wanted for questioning in connection with that clash between a group of bikers and that SUV. Two bikers also accused of being involved in that violent incident, turned themselves into police.

I want to go straight to CNN's Margaret Conley in New York.

So Margaret, what more do we know about the direction of this investigation?

MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the two men that were caught on video making contact with the SUV, well, they turned themselves in.

The first man is Reginald Chance. He was the one seen in that video using his helmet to smash open that window of the SUV. He turned himself in. He is still being questioned and his charges are still pending.

The second man, Robert Simms. He was the one that was caught on video trying to open up the door of the SUV before it sped away. He has been charged. He has been charged with attempted assault in the first degree, attempted gang assault in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon.

There's one more man that we should talk about here. He was also right here around 178th street but he is a man who intervened. He's a witness who stepped in harm's way to help the SUV driver and his family and that was Sergio Consuegra.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGIO CONSUEGRA, BYSTANDERS AT SUV-DRIVER: I approached the man because I saw him almost dead on the floor. So what I did was I confronted tea these people and I stood between them and the man lying on the floor. And I say to them, that's it, let it go. Let it go, man. That's it. It's done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONLEY: Fred, that was incredible bravery and he is considered a hero for helping out.

WHITFIELD: And then, Margaret, what can you tell us about this possible undercover police officer that was among the group of bikers?

CONLEY: Right.

The NYPD, they are not talking. They say this is still under investigation. But we do have sources telling CNN that there was one off-duty police officer that was riding his bike among the group. He also worked as an undercover cop.

Now, we don't know yet what took him so long to come forward. We heard, of course, the incident happened on Sunday and he didn't talk to police until Wednesday. So there is an ongoing investigation with internal affairs to figure out what happened.

WHITFIELD: All right. Margaret Conley, thanks so much in New York.

All right, storm hitting parts of the plains states over night. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: The sound of tornado sirens there and there are reports of as many as 18 tornadoes that touched down in three states. Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska.

In Wayne, Nebraska, as many as a dozen homes were destroyed in that storm and fortunately, no one was killed.

Tropical storm Karen is in the Gulf of Mexico right now and is headed towards the gulf coast. The hurricane warning has been called off but residents along the coast are still being warned a brace themselves. So where might Karen make landfall?

Let's check in with CNN's Chad Myers and talk about the possibilities of Karen.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, this thing has been a long tease storm and it's been teased by the wind, by dry air, and what we call sheer. So, there's the center of Karen. And you think no, the center must be here somewhere. No, it's not. In fact, it's far away from what is the center because the wind is blowing the storms away from the center of circulation. And that does not allow the storm to develop. And that's great news because this could have been a much bigger storm. No question in my mind that this could have been certainly a cat one or cat two hurricanes by now if we didn't have the sheer because the water is warm enough. No question about that.

There is the center of circulation. You can see it better on the visible picture right there. And all the storms are far away from it. But it still will make 40 to 50-mile-per-hour winds as it comes across the southern parishes of Louisiana, across maybe New Orleans, (INAUDIBLE), then on up towards Pensacola. And the problem is, Fred, it's been very, very wet here.

Across the southeast, this has been the wettest summer in a very, very long time and now these trees sitting in mud could decide to fall over with a 34 or 50 m-mile-per-hour wind gusts. So, we will watch that for down power lines coming up Tuesday, maybe even Wednesday as far north, as the Carolina have to keep going.

There's a nice shot from Pensacola, although, getting cloudy. It was sunnier earlier. Maybe, this still clouds there on the horizon.

WHITFIELD: God. But isn't it beautiful?

MYERS: True.

WHITFIELD: I mean, even as we know it's potentially dangerous, we know it's got a threatening, you know, there's a threat out there, the threatening storm. But seeing the surf like that, gorgeous.

All right, just are careful people.

MYERS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Don't go surfing and, you know, boogie boarding and all that, right?

MYERS: Right. Red flag warnings for sure at a lot of beaches.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. All right, thanks so much, Chad.

All right, coming up later on in the NEWSROOM, the drama surrounding a beloved and ailing radio personality, Casey Kasem, you know his name. Well, his family is claiming his wife won't let the kids see him. His brother will tell us what he thinks is going on.

And next, is the government shutdown a threat to national security? Why some analysts are worried about a cyber attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. One of the consequences of the government shutdown is reduced cyber security staff across federal agencies. The CIA and other likely targets such as the defense department has fewer eyes on their computer networks. As Jim Sciutto explains, that means more vulnerabilities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The government may be shut down for you and me but for cyber attackers it is open, even more open for business. Adversaries from foreign governments to terror groups as the former head of the CIA are almost certainly looking to take advantage.

MICHAEL HAYDEN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I would have been anticipating this. And I would have been saying what is it that we want to do against this adversary that's against us now? What is it that would be helped by doing it while they're shorthanded? What gives us a higher probability of success?

SCIUTTO: Many government agencies cyber teams are relying on skeleton crews to police attacks in cyberspace. And a successful attack now could do damage even after full staffs return to work.

Tim Erlin, a cyber security expert who advices agencies across the government, explained how.

TIM ERLIN, TRIPWIRE: What may happen as a result of the shutdown is that first incident which may have been detected previously with a full staff might be missed allowing a compromise to go deeper into an organization to get it more critical assets critical data.

SCIUTTO: Another risk, while staffs that monitor computer networks are still on the job, many staff who maintains them are not. Being those networks are not being updated to resist new kinds of cyber attacks which can change by the second. The shutdown comes as cyber attacks are transforming from spying on computer networks to destroying them.

The chairman of the house intelligence committee says it's a serious concern across the intelligence community.

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN: It's very concerning to me that we would allow any part of our national security structure, knowing what's coming at us every day, not just from cyber, none of that is going away. And you can manage that our adversaries are trying to fill the hole.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, that was Jim Sciutto reporting.

So, one of the men worried about the potential national security threats because of the shutdown is America's top intelligence officer James Clapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I have been in the intelligence business for about 50 years. I have never seen anything like this. From my view, I think this on top of the sequestration cuts that we already take that this seriously damages our ability to protect the safety and security of this nation and citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining us live from Washington, Clark Kent Irvin, the former inspector general at the department of homeland security, now director s Aspen institute homeland security program.

All right, good to see you.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT: God to see you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, the defense secretary just announcing that he is recalling about 400,000 defense employees, civilians, to return to work starting next week. How has this government shutdown in the reduction of personnel put the nation at a risk, national security?

ERVIN: Well, it certainly has done that, Fredricka. The defense secretary's announcement is a step in the right direction. But you know, terrorists watch CNN and other cable networks. They read our newspapers. They know that we are distracted by these budget crises and it's a self-inflicted wound. And as secretary Rumsfeld used to say, weakness is provocative. And I would add to that, the perception of weaknesses provocative. And because we have skeleton crews manning our national security apparatus, there's no question, but that we are at a greater risk today of attack than we otherwise would be.

WHITFIELD: How concerned are you about that? ERVIN: Well, I am concerned. I want to stress, of course, there are people working very, very hard despite these difficulties to protect us. They are doing everything possible. But, you know, only one mistake on the part of our national security apparatus could result in catastrophe whereas, you know, terrorists are at it 24/7 and they are bringing their full team to the field. So, we need to get this budget crisis resolved just as quickly as possible, particularly concerned that the department of homeland security. Know out TSA screeners who are working, CDP inspectors who are working, border patrol agents are working, secret service is working. But they are working without pay now. They are going to get be paid once the shutdown is over.

The House passed that bill. I'm sure the Senate will do likewise. And the president has already said that he is going to signed it into law. But for now, they are not being paid. That has got to be cause for concern for them. Morale is already low. The department of homeland security in a number of critical positions about 15 or so including cyber positions, most importantly, the position of secretary and deputy secretary. So, this is no time to have a b-team on the national security field.

WHITFIELD: And you know, you mentioned terrorists, you know, terrorists, potential terrorists are watching, paying attention. They are watching this network and any other news outlets to learn of, you know, the state of affairs as it pertains to our government.

How concerned are you or what do you suppose the message is being sent on that world platform about this nation's readiness, its vulnerabilities?

ERVIN: Well, the message is we're distracted. The message is that we are dysfunctional. There's a tendency on our part, the part of Americans to compartmentalize and say this is a political matter. It's just an economic matter. But politics and economics in our military strength and perception of military strength are intertwined.

You know, I think it's very notable that the president had to cancel his Asia trip, for example, at a time when the new President of China is courting and trying to win friends and influence people in that part of the world. We have crises where Iran. We have crises in Syria and we talked about the terrorist threats. So, for all of these reasons it's absolutely essential that Democrats and Republicans come together, solve this particular budget crisis, the debt ceiling and sequestration so that we can put the full American sources to bear on the national security threats that we face.

WHITFIELD: All right, Clark Kent Irvin, thank you so much. Always good to see you. Appreciate it from Washington.

ERVIN: You, too, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, the Kasem family drama, as in Casey Kasem, his children, siblings and friends claiming that his wife has shut them out of his life. And they are demanding to see him. The radio legend's brother will join us to talk about the situation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The children of legendary radio personality and long time American top 40 host Casey Kasem, say they are being barred from seeing their father who is suffering from Parkinson's disease.

"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" A.J. Hammer has more on this troubling family drama.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Well, this is sad story anyway you look at it, Fred. Oldest daughter of 81-year-old Casey Kasem is claiming that her stepmother, Jean Kasem, is banning her and her siblings, her uncle and Casey's closest friends from seeing him.

Kerri Kasem tells CNN that she used to visit her dad once a week until about three months ago when she was suddenly no longer allowed visitation. Well, this week the family decided to go public with their concerns.

On Tuesday, Kerri and the others they held a protest at Kasem's home in Holmby Hills, California. They taped it and they released the footage to get the word out. There have been some accusations that Casey's children want access to him because they're after his estate. That's something Kerri strongly denies.

Here's what she told CNN about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRI KASEM, CASEY KASEM'S DAUGHTER: My dad told us a long time ago we were not in the will and we're OK with that. We have known that for years. I don't want any of his money. Our father taught us to stand on our own two feet and I'm proud of that. It's not about the money. We love our father and he has been ripped from us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Now, so far, Casey's wife, Jean, hasn't commented on the claims from Casey's children and family, but Casey's long-time agent, Don Pitts, says the veteran deejay is still of sound mind.

Hers what he tells CNN in a statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON PITTS, CASEY KASEM'S AGENT: He has Parkinson's. Has it very bad. It took his speech. And for somebody who made millions of dollars using his voice, for him to lose that gift, that beautiful instrument, it must be frustrating. But he's handling it very well. His mind is very sharp. His brain works well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: So a really sad story, Fred, particularly hearing that this man whose voice so many of us grew up with, is no longer able to speak. He was a huge influence in my career and I think we can all hope that the family will be able to work this out peacefully -- Fred. WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, A.J.

So, Casey Kasem's younger brother, Mouner, joining us from Flint, Michigan. They grew up in Detroit.

Good to see you.

MOUNER KASEM, CASEY KASEM'S BROTHER: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: So this has to be fairly, in fact, very humiliating and just saddening for the entire family that this would be played out and then played out publicly. What is the situation with your brother? Is he of sound mind? Is he able to articulate that he does want to see his family members, including yourself and his kids or not?

KASEM: Well, I come every year and we get together. His youngest daughter Julie's house. And we sit and eat, talk, and he really can't answer us the way he would like. But by the expressions on his face, you can talk to him and you know that he knows what you're saying because he's trying to answer you and it's very hard for him.

WHITFIELD: Is there a feeling right now that his wife, Jean, is keeping you and others from him?

KASEM: She -- well, that's -- she is. Where our problem is, is there's no communication between Jean and us, and his daughters. And we have no knowledge of how he is, what he's doing, if he's better, if he's worse, if -- and we're scared that we'll never see him again. And I can't do anything about it because a brother has no rights. And his girls can.

WHITFIELD: And you said you do try to see him, family gets together every year. When was the last time that you got a chance to be in his company and at the same time in the company of Jean, his wife?

KASEM: Now, you hit me with a question that's going to be a little hard. That's been -- I can't recall. It would be very hard. I need some people to tell me, some dates and things. Well, we -- he invited us to California for an event, and she was with him, and this was many years ago. But for the last five years or so I have been unable to go over my niece's house, on a Sunday, and we would visit. We were here for his birthday, 75th, we were here. We were here every year, it's just at different times.

WHITFIELD: So clearly you miss your brother. And certainly you want to see him. What are the chances -- do you feel like it's going to take a court ruling to intervene for you to see your brother?

KASEM: You know, I have talked to some lawyers and, like I said, I have -- nothing I can do. The girls do but that's kind of hard to do. Jean's either going to have to, you know, finally, you know, let us see him. I don't know what's going to be able to change her mind. Going to court is a rough thing to do. It's just too hard to do that.

WHITFIELD: Well, Mauner, as you're talking, sorry, I don't want to interrupt you. But we were seeing some beautiful black and white pictures of you and your brother Casey Kasem, just gorgeous pictures of the two of you. And one really gets a sense that you all were very close brothers and clearly it must be just very heartbreaking right now that you're not able to be with your brother, get together with him.

Mauner, thank you so much. Sorry we're out of time.

We did, however, try to reach Jean Kasem to get her side of the story. But so far, she has not responded to our request.

And, of course, all the best. Nobody likes to see a family feud.

Mauner, thank you.

And we will be right back.

All right, people are asking a whole lot of questions these days about affordable care law. Dr. Sanjay Gupta with answers.

But first, unprecedented number of U.S. troops are surviving serious wounds and returning home from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. This week's CNN hero has stepped in to help these wounded vets with housing, education, job replacement. Meet Michael Conklin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL CONKLIN, CNN HERO (voice-over): The first trip to Walter Reed was one of my toughest trips when I saw the amount of wounded, it was shocking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both my legs are amputated above the knee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost he right eye. And I have a titanium rod in my leg.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was on my fifth deployment, brain injury.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I gave up the idea of having a wife and even a family.

CONKLIN: I wanted to take them all home.

I'm Mike Conklin. My organization helps our severely wounded members of the armed forces reach their full potential. My oldest son was wounded in Tikrit, Iraq. His whole group was wounded. We have a very tight cohesive family and not all of them do. Some of them don't have anybody to come home to. We just can't forget them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike, good to see you.

CONKLIN: When Ryan moved into this unit we did some things very simple. We put in these poles to assist him.

Each case is different.

Good job. Some will need service dogs, housing assistance, mentors, getting an education. It's a comprehensive package.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He talked to me every day. He put me back to work. He helped set up where I wanted to go. Today I'm a husband, a father, I have my own company now.

CONKLIN: We don't call this a charity. We really look at it as an investment. These were at one time children who grew up on our baseball fields went to our grade schools, and then left our community to serve us. And eventually they come back. It's a full circle of service.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Some Department of Defense workers who have been furloughed since the government shutdown will be back at work next week. U.S. defense secretary Chuck Hagel announced it today.

Barbara Starr is live for us right now from the Pentagon.

So Barbara, what gives?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, what gives is defense secretary Chuck Hagel wants his people back at work. That's what he is saying and in fact, issuing a statement today saying most of them will be coming back next week. Here's how it breaks down.

Government wide, about 800,000 civilians furloughed. About half of those, 400,000, work for the department of defense. But last week when Congress passed a law allowing the troops to be paid, it opened the door to the civilians also being paid. So they've been working on that behind the scenes for the last few days.

Now, all the lawyering is done, all the paperwork, all the legalities are done. And what they are doing is they can't bring back everybody, but the law now they believe will allow them to bring back people directly involved in helping military families and helping the troops in doing things that would hurt the troops in the future if they weren't done right now.

So think of it this way. A company that is making the Blackhawk helicopter, for example, Sikorsky, a major defense contractor, they were going to lay off 3,000 assembly line workers because they couldn't continue the work because of the shutdown. That would hurt the troops and not have the Blackhawk helicopter. That's the kind of thing here looking at, now bringing back the civilians and some of the contractors that work on these programs.

So, it's a lot of good news. But for people still who don't fall into this category, very tough days ahead until Congress and White House sort this out, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Barbara Starr, thank so much at the Pentagon.

STARR: Sure. WHITFIELD: All right, Washington is in shutdown mode. Just about everyone has an opinion on the politicians' inability to get things running again. And we can count tennis superstar Martina Navratilova among them. Straight ahead, she will sound off on gay rights, women tennis and the U.S. government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA, TENNIS PLAYER: We are actually striking down the government because we don't want the people to be healthy, we don't want people to be taken care of? It's crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Martina Navratilova is one of the greatest female athletes of all time. No one argues that. She's also a barrier breaker. In her career she took women's tennis to a whole new level winning grand slams right up until the age of 50. She's won 59 grand slam titles and a record nine Wimbledon championships. She's been a passionate advocates for gay rights and now she's taken on get a new cause.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: Well, fitness has always been her thing but guess what, she's leading a class there, exercise class. Looks like she is still using some of her "Dancing With The Stars" moves and now she's a fitness ambassador for AARP which is holding an expo right here in Atlanta.

That may make some of us who remember her tennis glory days feel a little old. Well, I recently sat down with her to talk about this new role. Her disgust with the government shutdown and why she's disappoint we'd the international Olympic committee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, Martina, thanks so much. Great to see you.

NAVRATILOVA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So, what an incredible invitation one gets when they turn 50, AARP starts calling. But when they called upon you it was for something very different. What was the invitation?

NAVRATILOVA: Well, it was to speak about growing up in Czechoslovakia and how the diet affected me. And how did I grew with this position with AARP to be a health and fitness ambassador. I have been very fit and very much into health and prevention of injuries since I was a professional tennis player, since my early 20s.

So, I kind of live it and AARP really believes in prevention rather than cure. We try and concentrate on that. And also as we age, our population ages, we live longer but we want to live younger. And so I think I've been living there and I'm kind of trying to get people to kind of learn from what I learn and help them get more out of their life as they age.

WHITFIELD: So for a lot of folks you epitomize fitness. And they think to themselves, well, I don't know if I can get moving now, I might get injured. How do you coach people, how do you encourage people that, you know, it's never too late?

NAVRATILOVA: Well, you need to make concessions to age as I have. I don't train the same way I used to. But I really try to encourage people to do less but more often. It's really important to do something every day, whether it is just walking around the block for five minutes or get to the gym. I also try to help people to do things they love to do when they were young, whether it was running or maybe playing soccer or anything active with a friend to get to doing that rather than go to the gym or do nothing. Take that first step. Do something. And if you do it with a friend, do something that you really love doing, you're more likely to do it.

WHITFIELD: As you are helping a lot of older people, you know, get fit, stay moving. What are you hearing from them particularly as it pertains to now, this government shutdown. There are a lot of elderly people, there are a lot of young people, a lot of families who are concerned about the services they are not going to be getting while this government shutdown is in place.

NAVRATILOVA: Well, I think for so many people now it's just about survival. So trying to think about actually going to the gym and do something for yourself, that's on the back burner. So it's a survival. Hopefully, people will get through it and the government will come to their senses and, you know, people can get on with their lives again.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like it's personally very disconcerting and frustrating? You've tweeted about it. Your disappointments in this government. You defected at a young age. You felt like this American, good fit and very proud to be an American and now you're feeling a great disappointment, like many?

NAVRATILOVA: Proud to be American, but I really can't figure out why this is going on in that growing up in a communist country, one good thing about it was that we had government health care. And certainly, we're not trying to go that way here, but to have that security, to know that you're going to be able to get health care and access to it and we're actually striking down the government because we don't want the people to be healthy? We don't want people to be taken care of? It's crazy. So, I just hope that we will figure it out soon and we can get back to solving actual problems rather than creating them.

WHITFIELD: You've been very outspoken for a long time human rights as a gay woman. We are leading into Sochi and all that's taken place in terms of Russia not embracing gay rights in that country. You know, what are your thoughts on how an athlete, American athlete, proceeds and focuses on their event and not be distracted by the politics or the cultural differences in Russia as it pertains to that? NAVRATILOVA: Sure. Well, I'm a bit disappointed with the IOC with the standard they have taken because I think if we are talking about Jewish athlete or black athlete there would be a lot more outrage about this than a gay athlete. But overall, we need to clean up our house before we start complaining about what Russia is doing because we still don't have full equal rights here in this country.

So, until I have it here, until I can get married in Florida, not just New York State, we don't really have any right to be telling the Russians what to do because we're not living it in this country, not yet. Hopefully we'll get there one day.

WHITFIELD: The tennis landscape, let's look at it right now. What do you like about where women's tennis is going?

NAVRATILOVA: Well, tennis particularly, but of course women's tennis as well is just so much more international than it was in my day, which is great because it's really -- it's so much bigger around the world. China now is huge in it thanks to Lina. And of course Serena Williams is close to passing me and Chris Evert. We have 18 grand slams. She's at 17. I'm sure she's going to pass that mark and who knows where she's going the end. She may rewrite the record books.

But overall, women's tennis is in very good health. We have stars from all around the world and the women are holding their own. It is great to see.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Martina Navratilova.

NAVRATILOVA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Always good to see you. Thanks so much.

NAVRATILOVA: Thank you, Fredricka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And always holding her own, Martina Navratilova, you know she has won 18 grand slam single titles. She talked about Serena Williams, right on her heels, 17 grand slams. So we're going to see what's going to happen in the next few months. Australia open right around the corner.

All right, if you think iphone Siri is a computer, well, you would be mistaken. That voice you hear is actually a real person talking to you. You will meet her, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Millions of people have heard the voice of Siri on the iphone. Well, did you think it was a computer generated voice? Most people do so, don't feel bad.

But believe it or not it's actually a human being, the voice of Siri introduced herself to the world in this red chair interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN BENNETT, SIRI'S VOICE OVER: Hello. I am Susan Bennett. You probably know me. I'm the voice actor who provided the voice for Siri. The first time I actually heard my voice as Siri was when my friend e-mailed me and said, isn't this you?

Not bad. Only two meetings today.

BENNETT: And because I didn't have the newest version of the iphone, I went to the apple site and that's where I heard the voice. And I just went, oh. That is me.

Siri, would you like to be interviewed by CNN?

This is about you, Susan, not me.

I started my life as a machine quite young. I was the voice of Tili the all-time teller, the first ATM machine. I'm Tilly the all-time teller. I work for first national bank.

The Siri voices were recorded in 2005 in the month of July, four hours a day for the whole month. So when I recorded those voices I had absolutely no idea where they would end up. My voice can be heard on many GPS systems, many telephone systems.

Siri, who is the real voice of Siri?

When I first discovered that that was my voice, to be honest, it was a little creepy.

Yes. It appears to be raining.

I'm used to hearing my voice maybe in the airport. Thank you for using Delta Air Lines.

But this real thing that you can interact with on -- in your hand was a little -- it took some time for me to get used to it. But she and I are friends now.

I'm leaving now, Siri. Have a nice day.

Thank you, Susan. I hope you have a nice day, as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you, Susan Bennett. Now we know.

All right, after a few glitches, the new health care system is online or people are bound to have a lot of question or already do. So, Dr. Sanjay Gupta hit the road to see how things are going and he will give us an update, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Americans started signing up for that new health care system this week. And there are bound to be tons of questions. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta hit the road to try and answer some of them.

DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Fred, I think one of the best ways to actually learn about what's happening with health care in the country is to get out in the country and that's what we decided to do in the CNN express and our first stop is Greenville, South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to know if a person's age was going to impact the premiums whether it's going to be higher for older people or lower.

GUPTA: You can't be discriminated against based on preexisting conditions, you've heard that, so Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, they don't even ask you about those things.

Are you familiar with what this means for you particularly as a 23- year-old?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not. I'm not.

GUPTA: So, I think there's good news here for you which is that you can now stay on your parents' plan up until age 26.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're the bearer of good news.

GUPTA: It is now day two and we're in Lexington, Kentucky, one of the first things you'll notice this is a state divided. You have a democratic governor who is very much in favor of the affordable care act and two high profile senators who hate it. The end result? A lot of mixed messages for the residents here.

HOWARD STOVALL, BUSINESS OWNER: This year if we do nothing and keep the same plan it will be about a 30 percent increase. That's opposed to I think we generally in the 20 percent to 25 percent a year increase.

GOV. STEVE BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: We now have the opportunity for the first time in history to provide health insurance, affordable health insurance, for every single Kentuckian and that will be a transformative period for us.

GUPTA: Day three now and we're in Baltimore, Maryland. This is an example of a state where things seem to be going pretty well. In fact, they'll let us inside sort of the nerve center, the call center, to see how they're dealing with these problems.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Health care access, how may I help you?

GUPTA: So, I hear health insurance today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anyone enrolled in health coverage now?

GUPTA: The Web site is going to be -- very dynamic tool. KAMEAHLE CHRISTOPHER, CALL CENTER OPERATOR: And we can go through their options and tell them the different plans that they qualify for. We can't tell them, like, this is the best plan. But we tell people, you know, pick the best plan that's based on your need.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Fred, I hope you got a little bit more of a look at what's happening in these different States and how different they are. South Carolina, Kentucky, and Maryland. We're packing up now. And hopefully that will provide a little bit of light on what's happening with regard to health care.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Oh, fantastic, thanks, Sanjay. You offered a lot of clarity there.

And, of course, you can find out more from Sanjay Gupta's trip on his show, "SANJAY GUPTA MD." That's today at 4:30 eastern time, just about 35 minutes away.

All right, tropical storm Karen could make landfall later on tonight. We are going to be watching the storm's track throughout the evening.

And next an unlikely visitor on the golf course. He shows up every day. We'll show you how this fox, right there, plays the game.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, time now for the upbeat, stories that will hopefully make you feel good, maybe even put a smile on your face.

So, here we go, first up, a Texas high school cheerleader with down syndrome is back on the field. Brittany Deville (ph) was sidelines because her school feared she was a liability. But then after school officials talked with her parents this week, they were able to resolve that issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a little nervous when we were walking up here, but now that she's down there, you mean, you can see her, she's in her groove, I guess.

MATT LUCAS, DEER PART IDS SPOKESMAN: We admit there were some miscommunications, but the fact that when we were finally able to meet with the family, everything was resolved within five minutes. That really says a lot about how far apart we were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Glad they are together now. Brittany can participate in the cheers as you can see there, but she doesn't participate in the stunts. All right, the San Diego zoo has a new tenant. This is Zena, the sloth. She's 5-months-old, makes me want to talk even slower and zoo visitors got to vote on her name, but I won't do that to you. She's training right now to become an animal ambassador as slow or as fast she could be. Those claws, by the way, can get up to four inches long.

OK, so this one, moves a little faster! Not the golfer, but that one right there. He doesn't look like your average golfer, does he, out there? But this fox apparently is taking over the course in Switzerland. This fox cub shows up every day between 4:00 and 6:00 in the afternoon. And then he kind of swipes the balls, just takes them away and starts scurrying off. The owner of the course says that fox has actually been pretty good for business. His nickname, by the way, is -- wait for it -- foxy. That was very creative. OK.

All right, that's going to do it for me. Thanks so much, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Hey, a fox of our own, that Don Lemon. There he is. In New York, going to take it from here. How you doing, foxy?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm OK, everyone. Sorry. You stole the words right out of my mouth, speaking of foxy, Fred, Va-Va Voom, you are looking great today.

WHITFIELD: You are funny. OK.