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Obama Urges Congress To End Shutdown; White House signals Possible Flexibility; Debt Ceiling Deadline 10 Days Away; Obama Says Happy To Talk To Republicans; Clean Spending Bill; White House Briefing

Aired October 07, 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 the House is in session, but the government is still in a partial shutdown. We're in day six of the showdown. And the House speaker, John Boehner, is focused in on spending cuts instead of Obamacare. Stand by, new information coming in.

Also right now, we're watching the president of the United States. He's getting ready to speak. We'll have more on that.

And a suspects al Qaeda terrorist is in U.S. military custody after a lightning fast raid by commandos, but another special force operations in Somalia unclear how much of its objective was achieved. We'll debrief the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. He's been briefed on Libya and Somalia.

Also, we're watching all the day's important news.

Hello to our viewers. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We're -- we are a full week into the partial government shutdown and just moments ago, President Obama urged Congress to end it.

Jim Acosta is our Senior White House Correspondent. He's standing by. Jim, the president making something comments during a visit to FEMA headquarters --

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

BLITZER: -- near Washington. What did he say?

ACOSTA: Well, Wolf, as you mentioned, President Obama made the surprise trip over to FEMA just about an hour ago to talk to federal employees over there. He lamented the fact that the shutdown is continuing. Said it's impacting the work over at FEMA.

Interesting to note, Wolf, that the director of FEMA, Craig Fugate said at this event that 86 percent of the employees at that agency have been furloughed as a result of the government shutdown. He's brought some of them back to deal with Tropical Storm Karen. But now that Karen has passed, he now having to re-furlough those workers. So, that just gives you a window into the world of some federal workers right now. Sometimes they're on. Sometimes they're off. They're furloughed. They're re-furloughed. And that sort of thing. The president went back again to the comments he's been making the last several days that it's up to House Republicans to pass a clean continuing resolution to get the government back open again. A clean increase to the debt ceiling, he made those comments again. And basically said if those things are not done, we are still heading towards -- perilously towards a potential default on October 17th.

But, Wolf, one thing I want to point out is that there is perhaps, and I want to say perhaps, some conciliatory language coming out of this White House this morning.

BLITZER: OK, hang on a second. Hold on a second. The president -- we got the tape now of his comments at FEMA headquarters.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First of all, I want to thank Craig Fugate, his entire team and the incredible workers who are here at FEMA. They are having to, under less than optimal situations, still respond to Mother Nature which doesn't stop just because the government has shut down. I want to get, initially, a briefing on what had happened with Hurricane Karen became Tropical Storm Karen. And then fortunately dissipated so we dodged a bullet there.

In the meantime, we're on tornado watch here in the Mid-Atlantic States because of severe weather patterns. And we've got blizzards up north. We've got some weather patterns in the middle of the country that we're still monitoring. And so, I just want to say thank you to all of you for the incredible work that you're doing.

I think it's important to understand that the people here at FEMA have been doing everything they can to respond to potential events. Here at FEMA, they're in touch with their state and local partners in case resources are needed. FEMA remains prepared for natural disasters year-round with supplies prepositioned in distribution centers across the country. But their job has been made more difficult.

Thanks to the folks at FEMA, we were prepared for what might have happened down in Florida. Nevertheless, the government is still shut down. Services are still interrupted. And hundreds of thousands of hard working public servants, including many FEMA professionals, are still furloughed without pay or they're not allowed to work at all.

So, Craig was just explaining to me here at FEMA, about 86 percent of the FEMA workforce is furloughed. In response to the potential event that might have happened down in Florida, and along the coast, Craig called back 200 of those workers. Keep in mind, calling them back doesn't mean they're getting paid. It just means they had the privilege of working without pay to make sure that they were doing everything they can to respond to the potential needs of their fellow citizens.

Now that this particular storm has dissipated. Craig is going to have to re-furlough at least 100 of those folks who were called back. So, think about that, here you are somebody who is a FEMA professional dedicated to doing your job. At a moment's notice, you're willing to show up here in case people got in trouble and respond to them, even though that you're not getting paid, even though you don't have certainty. And now, you're being put back on furlough because the government is shut down.

That's no way of doing business. That, by the way, just speaks to the day-to-day emergencies that may come up and that is FEMA's job to respond to. Craig was also explaining the fact that when it comes to training first responders, for example, we have, on a weekly basis, already scheduled training for first responders that now have to be rescheduled. It will probably end up ultimately costing the government more money for us to put those things back together again. And so, not only the shutdown hurting FEMA workers, not only is it making it more difficult for us to respond to potential natural disasters, but it may actually be costing taxpayers more than it should.

Right now, Congress should do what's in the best interest of the economy and the American people and that's move beyond this manufactured crisis and work together to focus on growth, jobs and providing the vital services that Americans all across the country depend on, including the services that FEMA provides.

I heard a lot of talk over the weekend that the real problem is that the president will not negotiate. Well, let me tell you something, I have said from the start of the year that I'm happy to talk to Republicans about anything related to the budget. There's not a subject that I am not willing to engage in, work on, negotiate and come up with common sense compromises on.

What I've said is that I cannot do that under the threat that if Republicans don't get 100 percent of their way, they're going to either shut down the government or they are going to default on America's debt so that America, for the first time in history, does not pay its bills. That is not something I will do. We're not going to establish that pattern. We're not going to negotiate under the threat of further harm to our economy and build class families. We're not going to negotiate under the threat of a prolonged shutdown until Republicans get 100 percent of what they want. We're not going to negotiate under the threat of economic catastrophe that economists and CEOs increasingly warned would result if Congress chose to default on America's obligations.

Now, the other thing I heard over the weekend was this notion that Congress doesn't have the capacity to end this shutdown. The truth of the matter is there are enough Republican and Democratic votes in the House of Representatives right now to end this shutdown immediately with no partisan strings attached. The House should hold that vote today. If Republicans and Speaker Boehner are saying there are not enough votes, then they should prove it. Let the bill go to the floor and let's see what happens. Just vote. Let every member of Congress vote their conscience and they can determine whether or not they want to shut the government down.

My suspicion, my very strong suspicion is that there are enough votes there. And the reason that Speaker Boehner hasn't called a vote on it is because he doesn't apparently want to see the government shutdown end at the moment unless he's able to extract concessions that don't have anything to do with the budget. Well, you know, I think the American people simply want government to work. And there's no reason that there has to be a shutdown in order for the kinds of negotiations Speaker Boehner says he wants to proceed. Hold a vote. Call a vote right now and let's see what happens.

The second is thing Congress needs to do is raise the debt ceiling next week so the treasury can pay the bills that Congress has already spent. That's what most Americans do if they buy something. They buy a car, if they buy a house. If they put something on a credit card, they understand they got to pay the bills. This is something routine. It's been done more than 40 times since Ronald Reagan was president. It has never before been used in the kind of ways that the Republicans are talking about using it right now. We can't threat an economic catastrophe in the midst of budget negotiations. So, authorize the treasury to pay America's bills. Pass the budget, end the government shutdown, pay our bills, and prevent an economic shutdown.

And as soon as that happens, I am eager and ready to sit down and negotiate with Republicans on a whole range of issues. How do we create more jobs? How do we grow the economy? How do we boost manufacturing? How do we make sure our kid are getting a first-class education? All of those things will be on the table. I'm happy to talk about health care. I'll be happy to talk about energy policy. How do we deal with our long-term fiscal situation? All of those things I've been eager and anxious to talk to Republicans about for the last seven months, and I've put out a budget that specifically lays out my vision for how we're going to grow this economy. And I expect the Republicans should do the same and we can negotiate it. But we shouldn't hurt a whole bunch of people in order for one side to think that it -- they are going to have a little more leverage in those negotiations.

The last point I'm going to make. The bill that is being presented to end the government shutdown reflects Republican priorities. It's the Republican budget. The funding levels of this short-term funding bill called the C.R. is far lower than what Democrats think it should be. Nevertheless, Democrats are prepared to put the majority of votes on to reopen the government. So, when you hear this notion that Democrats aren't compromising, we're compromising so much we're willing to reopen the government at funding levels that reflect Republican wishes, don't at all reflect our wishes.

For example, here at FEMA, they're still subject to the sequester, so even before the shutdown, they were having trouble making sure that everybody was staying on the job and fulfilling all of their various functions. We need to get that sequester lifted that's been hanging over the head of the economy and federal agencies during the course of this entire year. This short-term legislation to reopen the government doesn't even address that. That has to be done in a broader budget framework.

So, Democrats have said, we are willing to pass a bill that reflects the Republicans' priorities in terms of funding levels. That's a pretty significant compromise. What we're not willing to do is to create a permanent pattern in which unless you get your way the government is shut down or America defaults. That's not how we do business in this country and we're not going to start now.

So, again, I want to thank everybody at FEMA here for the extraordinary work that we're -- that you're doing. You show each and every day that you take your responsibility seriously. You do your jobs with consummate professionalism, and, hopefully, you're setting a good example for members of Congress. They need to be doing the same thing. And if they do, then there's no reason why we all can't move forward and make sure we're taking care of America's business.

All right? Thank you very much, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, everybody.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.

(END LIVE FEED)

BLITZER: All right. So, there is the president of the United States responding, in effect, to the House Speaker John Boehner, saying Boehner suggesting yesterday there aren't enough votes in the House of Representatives to go ahead and pass what's calling a clean continuing resolution, a clean spending bill without any strings, conditions attached. The president saying prove it to the speaker of the House. There are enough votes with 435 members. Two vacancies. You need 217 votes to pass. The president says there are 217 if you add the Democrats and those willing Republicans. The speaker says, not so fast.

Jim Acosta was listening to the president. I did hear a little, as you've been pointing out, Jim, a little greater flexibility on the part of the president at least willing to say he's ready to negotiate some of the long-term debt release spending, if you will. He's not willing to renegotiate over Obama care but maybe there's an opening that we're all hearing right now. Is that too optimistic?

ACOSTA: Well, I think we're going to have to wait and see if it's too optimistic, Wolf. But White House officials are saying that the president is open to, I guess, a negotiable length when it comes to how much this debt ceiling is raised. And there was some rumblings of this late last week.

Gene Sperling, a top economic advisor to the president, talked about it a little bit this morning that, yes, while the president is not willing to negotiate a trade, perhaps concessions, in exchange for the debt ceiling or an exchange for a continuing resolution. He's not going to toy with the Obamacare. He's not going to talk about the budget or future budget deals with the threat of the government shutdown or with the government being shut down or a threat of a debt default ongoing. But they are willing to look at just how much you raise that debt ceiling.

And, Wolf, that could potentially give all sides some breathing room to deal with a longer term budget, if it not a grand bargain, perhaps a little bargain, sometime in the next few months. And so, we're going to have to see.

White House press secretary, Jay Carney, is scheduled to hold that briefing here at the White House in this room within the hour. We'll have to test Carney and just see how far he's willing to go. How much he's willing to say in terms of what that debt ceiling deal could look like, Wolf. But perhaps an opening, a small opening, but perhaps an opening.

BLITZER: And when the President said, I'm happy to talk to Republicans about anything, suggesting, well, maybe there are some areas where they can talk and get over this shutdown and avoid any default when that debt ceiling needs to be raised by October 17th.

Stand by, Jim. Gloria Borger standing by. Dana bash up on Capitol Hill. Much more assess when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's assess what we just heard from President Obama. Dana Bash is our chief congressional correspondent. She's joining us. Gloria Borger is our chief political analyst.

Dana, the president said, basically responding to the House speaker, prove it, when Speaker Boehner says there aren't enough votes to pass what's called a clean CR or a clean continuing resolution, a funding bill, Democrats and Republicans. As you've been pointing out, you need 217 affirmative votes. If - if that were allowed to come up for a vote, so far it's not been allowed to come up for a vote, here's the question, is it guaranteed that if Boehner were to relent and say, go ahead, members of the House, vote, would it pass?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Almost certainly guaranteed. You never want to say for sure in this business of watching Congress work its will, but it is very hard to see a clean bill, keeping the government running, or reopening the government, I should say, not passing at this point. There are so many Republicans who have said, you know, at least a dozen, probably twice that, who have said that they would vote for it if it were on the floor.

Of course, the issue still goes back to what you and I talked about all week last week and even the week before, Wolf, is those Republicans who have said that have not been willing to put their vote where their mouth is. They have not been willing to do whatever it takes to reopen the government, defy John Boehner, defy the Republican leadership, and go ahead and, for example, there's something called a motion that there's -- excuse me, there's a motion that they can work on with Democrats to get 217 votes, to force this bill on the floor, and they haven't been willing to do that. So that's the reason why the president said what he said, put it on the floor and prove it, because it's hard to see it not passing at this point.

BLITZER: One way it wouldn't pass, and, Gloria, let me let you weigh in, I suspect that Dana is right, but one way if it wouldn't pass, if enough Democrats didn't vote in favor.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. BLITZER: There are 200 Democrats who vote on - 200 Democrats, 233 Republicans.

BORGER: Uh-huh.

BLITZER: Over the weekend, 195 voting members.

BORGER: Right. Right.

BLITZER: They did sign a letter suggesting they would vote that way, but maybe all of them would. There are some Democrats who ideologically don't like that Republican number --

BORGER: Look, they don't -

BLITZER: For the funding number. And so if you get 185 or 190, then you need close to 30 Republicans.

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: And right now if there's a dozen or two dozen, it would still be tenuous.

BORGER: Look, as Nancy Pelosi said last week, she said, look, our folks don't like this number. We're already giving on this number because it keeps in place many of the cuts that they didn't like. And she says, so we've already negotiated effectively and we have said yes. Now, if it's a matter -- they don't like it, particularly the left wing of the party, they don't like it, Nancy Pelosi doesn't like it, but they've already committed. They've said 195 of them signed this letter.

BLITZER: They signed the letter but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll vote that way.

BORGER: No, but if push came to shove and they needed the votes and they thought that Republicans would provide those 20 to 25, whatever they need, then I think you'd have to say they would do it because they're whole thing is, we don't want the government to shut down. So they could always argue, we're going to come back and deal with those issues, those budget issues again, at some later date.

BLITZER: Is it for sure, Dana, and I know you've been counting these Democrats. One hundred and ninety-five Democrats would vote in - at least would vote in favor of a -- what we're calling this clean bill?

BASH: Well, they signed a letter suggesting that that's exactly what they would do. And the Democratic leadership forced that. I mean they got this letter going and they -- to pass it around to prove that very thing. So, presumably, they would vote the way they said they would in this letter that they released over the weekend.

But one thing I think is also important to point out, Wolf, is that, obviously, the government is shut down. It has been for about a week now. But the president also made a very big deal out of the next important fight, which is already ongoing, and I think a lot of people here on Capitol Hill have already turned to this, and that is the debt ceiling. And I can report to you that Senate Democrats are, we are told, are now getting ready to move the very first vote on raising the debt ceiling. I'm told that it is likely to be for about a year through the 2014 election, and we're likely to see that vote as soon as the end of this week.

So, you know, all of these things are kind of being melded together and it is - it is entirely possible that we could get to next week, dealing with the debt ceiling, and the shutdown would be completely combined into any kind of talks on the debt ceiling because, of course, the debt ceiling, when you talk about the economy, as we've said so many times, would be so much more catastrophic than this shutdown has been to the economy.

BORGER: And, you know, you heard - you heard Speaker Boehner, over the weekend, talk about some kind of discussions on budget issues. He clearly -- he took a little shift, I think, Dana, right, to start talking about budget issues in regard to the debt ceiling. Of course the problem is, they have to get beyond the shutting down the government. Then they can sit down and talk. And then the president's Democrats, as Wolf was talking about it earlier, then they can get really update because they don't want any more cuts in Medicare, for example.

BLITZER: Yes, my own sense is, the president, he needs to call up John Boehner and the two of them, without anybody else, they just have to start talking and talking and talking and see what can be achieved.

Dana, don't go too far away. I know Gloria's here with us as well.

There's a lot more news coming up here in the NEWSROOM as well, including two U.S. commando raids overseas signaling just how important American special forces have become in battling terrorism. A ranking member - the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee is standing by to join us live. Dutch Ruppersberger will talk about the latest blow to global terrorism.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We heard the president make a statement. Now Jay Carney, the press secretary, answering reporters' questions. Let's listen in.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Now to insure that it would reopen and allow time for further negotiations is not some sort of, you know, fulfillment of Democratic priorities. You know that. Everybody here who covers the budgets knows that. Democrats and the president have asked for, and believe it's necessary to have additional funding beyond the level set by the CR, but have made no demands associated with that. None whatsoever. Zero.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys have been saying that now we're going into the second week, as you said, you were making these points before the government shutdown and it doesn't seem to be having a lot of impact on Speaker Boehner. And I - I understand, you know, all the points that you're making, but given that the politics in the House seem to be making it difficult for him to put a clean CR on the floor, does the president feel like there is anything he can do to lay out something specific, make some kind of promise to Boehner and House Republicans of negotiations afterwards, something specific that they what that would give Boehner the political cover to take this step?

CARNEY: Your question contains within it, I think, the essence of why Americans hate the dysfunction here. Because the suggestion is that the speaker of the House can't do the obvious and right thing because of his internal party politics. That this has to do -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

CARNEY: That this has to do with, you know, his job as opposed to the jobs of those who have been furloughed, or the jobs of those Americans who would be out of work if we were to allow the House Republicans and the Republicans in Congress were to allow the unthinkable, which is a default on our obligations. And I -and I - and I hope and, you know, don't want to believe that that's the case. That, you know, the Republicans and the speaker have said, you know, they've staked out their position that they insist on getting something out of this. Some -- extracting some political concession in return for opening the people's government, in return for paying the bills they racked up. And what the president is saying is, we can't do that because that would be putting in jeopardy the stability of our economy for the long term. And it would do great harm to our democratic system if every time it was necessary for the United States to take action to pay its obligations, a minority in Congress, a faction of one party, in one house, of one branch of government, could make a series of ideological demands and refuse to pay our bills if they didn't get it.