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Schools May Not Open in Chicago; Obama Courts Votes in Florida; Sifting Through Political Speak; Schools May Not Open in Chicago; Congress Returns to Work; NFL and MLB are Back

Aired September 09, 2012 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON. CNN ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon. You're in THE CNN NEWSROOM. We're going to get you up to speed on the headlines, OK?

We're going to do the President Obama story. She just did it. We're going to start with Shell.

Shell has begun drilling off the coast of Alaska in preparation for an offshore oil well. It's happening here in the Chukchi Sea, about 90 miles off Alaska's northwest coast. Native Americans who live along the shorelines are worried about a spill similar to the one two years ago in the Gulf of Mexico. Critics, including Greenpeace, say shell has only done the bare minimum of equipment testing.

At least 79 people were killed in Iraq today in a wave of attacks targeting Iraqi military and police. Six car bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing 33 people. In Kirkuk, car bombs targeted police recruitment centers, intelligence headquarters and Iraqi security forces. Two more bombs exploded in a commercial district in Amara. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad condemned the attacks targeting innocent civilians.

In Syria, opposition forces say a bomb landed on a kindergarten -- in a kindergarten in Aleppo today. The bomb leveled an entire residential block reportedly causing many casualties. They claim at least 117 people were killed across the country today. They also claim the government is targeting their water supply.

Investigators are desperate for clues in a gruesome shooting near a mountain resort in France. Police found the bodies of four people at a rural rest stop Wednesday. Each shot twice in the head. There were two survivors, a 4-year-old girl who was not hurt and a 7-year-old girl who has shot and came out of a coma today. Speculation about the shooting has ranged from a family feud to a robbery gone bad.

Some 400,000 kids may not go to school tomorrow -- 400,000! And I'm talking about Chicago. It's not the kids' decision. We know what they would rather do. It's the teachers. They say they won't show up for class tomorrow if they dispute -- if their dispute with the city school system is not resolved.

Ted Rowlands is in Chicago right now.

Ted, the clock is ticking. I never really wanted to go to school. I wanted to stay home. They may think it is good for them, but it is not so good for them, nor their parents.

It's after 5:00 p.m. in Chicago right now. Yes or no, will there be school tomorrow?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, doesn't look like it, Don, although they are continuing to talk. They've been at it about six hours and they are vowing that they will talk until the 11th hour. They have until midnight to come to an agreement. But as you say, the clock is ticking and they are running out of time and at issue is money and some job security issues. But at this point there hasn't been an agreement.

So people are being told come up with plan B, find a place for your kids if you work. The schools will be open, 144 of the schools will be open. There won't be any learning going on but kids are free to go there and they'll be fed as well. They'll be there for about half a day.

Bottom line, though, you talk about 400,000 kids. It is going to be a nightmare on Monday morning. It looks as though that is going to happen unless something comes up in the next few hours to avert the strike.

LEMON: Behemoth of a city. CPS has a lot to do with. It's so weird, Ted, I want to say what's Mayor Daley is saying. But it's not. It's Mayor Emanuel.

What is mayor saying?

ROWLANDS: Well, he is -- the teachers accuse him of aligning himself too closely to the CPS, Chicago public schools, and they feel like they've been thrown under the bus.

He, however, says this is not true. He wants this thing to come to an end. He did release a statement to us talking about the kids specifically and it says in part, "Every day they're not there is a day taken away from them and they just can't -- that they just can't afford. Leaders on both sides need to stay at the negotiating table and finish their job, finding a solution that is fair for our teachers and keeps our students in school."

Whether or not they're going to come to an agreement we don't know. The good thing here though, Don, is that they are still talking and unless something dramatic happens today, it is expected that they'll continue to talk each day.

There isn't a huge divide here, so if there is a strike, maybe it will just be a day or two. The worst case scenario of course is if somebody walks away from the negotiations.

LEMON: Yes. You know, school systems around the country are facing issues and the whole nation is watching. That's the national implications.

Ted Rowlands on top of it -- Ted, we appreciate it. We're not finished with this story on CNN. In just a few minutes, I'm going to get a Chicago parents' side of this union dispute, a very concerned parent who's also acted in helping shape school policy in Chicago. We're going to want to hear our conversation, what's happening in Chicago could easily happen where you live, coming up.

Oh, counting down -- 58 days until the election. You're going to hear that. Tomorrow you'll hear 57, then you'll hear 56. Then it will be Election Day.

President Obama keeping his focus on the battleground of Florida for a second day. Last hour, we -- he spoke, I should say. I was going to say we spoke but he spoke in West Palm Beach.

CNN's chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin is there.

I almost said we spoke to him. Maybe you did. But I know he spoke to some people on the phone. It was really funny. We're going to play it later.

But what was the president's message today?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. He has been hitting hard on two themes -- maybe three. I'll give you three.

One, this contrast he is drawing with Romney on the economy, saying he's going to deliver more for the middle class than Romney would.

Second, he's opened up a new broad side on Medicare, insisting that the Romney-Ryan plan would increase costs for both current and future seniors on Medicare and he's also been delivering a lot on education, a lot of messaging on education, saying that he has done more not just for making college more affordable but also hitting on some of his education reforms while in office. It gives you a sense of some of the different groups he's targeting in this battleground state, Don.

LEMON: There was an interesting moment I was shocked that the Secret Service didn't go whoa, whoa, what are you doing? Because they want to prevent this stuff. It was at a pizza shop in Ft. Pierce, Florida, earlier this afternoon. The owner literally lifted the president off the ground, Jess.

YELLIN: Yes, he got a Sunday afternoon pick-me-up, literally. The guy's name was Scott Van Duzer. He -- president walked into his pizza place and -- the guy's a big, big guy. He's got guns. I mean like that. The president said if I eat your pizza, will I get guns like that.

LEMON: Show your guns now. There are the guns. The gun show's that way.

YELLIN: So, the guy lifted up the president. He said he gave him a hug, and then lifted him up. And the president was game. He's been in a very good mood this weekend and he's been sort of palling around wherever he goes. The Secret Service were asked afterwards was he going to get in trouble. And they said, no, as long as he didn't walk away with him. He's fine. I should add, Don, the pizza, the president went there because this guy is very generous as a blood donor and they wanted to call attention to that.

LEMON: All right. Did you get your tickets?

YELLIN: Yes. My ticket --

LEMON: To the gun show. You've heard that before.

YELLIN: I have not.

LEMON: Jess, stand by. Let's listen in for a second.

YELLIN: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everybody, look at these guns. If I eat your pizza, will I look like that?

SCOTT VAN DUZER, PIZZA SHOP OWNER: Come on here.

OBAMA: Come on, man.

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Look at that.

VAN DUZER: Man, I'm so excited!

OBAMA: Man, are you a power lifter or what?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We've got to move on. Thanks, Jess, we appreciate you showing your guns. Nice moment, Jessica Yellin, our chief White House correspondent.

All right. Let's talk about Mitt Romney now.

Mitt Romney attended church this morning in Belmont, Massachusetts. His wife, Ann, accompanied him. In a taped interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Romney said he would not dump all of Obamacare if elected. He'd keep certain ideas from the controversial health care law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm not getting rid of all of health care reform. Of course there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place. One is to make sure that those are pre-existing conditions can get coverage. Two is to assure the marketplace allows for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like. I also want individuals to be able to buy insurance, health insurance, on their own as opposed to only being able to get it on a tax advantage basis through their company.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Keep in mind, the president's health care legislation was partially modeled on a law Romney signed as Massachusetts governor in 2006. Romney has been deeply immersed in debate preparations in the past week. The presidential candidates will square off in three debates next month. You know we'll have them here, coverage at least.

OK. The head of the Democratic National Committee accuses a reporter of misquoting her. Did he? He's here to tell his side of the story.

And then later this hour --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Hey, Barney, this is Barack Obama.

(CHEERS)

OBAMA: We're over here at the campaign office and everybody is saying what a great neighborhood team leader you are and we just want to say thank you for everything you do. I'm going to try you at the other number and hopefully, it will work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You have to hate it when the president calls you and you don't answer. Fortunately, he did answer the other number.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz came on CNN to set the record straight last night about some of her most recent controversial statements. One of which is accusing a writer of misquoting her comment about Republicans in Israel to an audience of Jewish Democrats.

Phillip Klein is that editorial writer for the "Washington Examiner". He saw my conversation with the DNC chair last night and he wanted to come on to respond to her accusations about his reporting. Of course we said, yes, come on.

Phillip is going to watch what she said in my interview along with you and me, and then he's going to respond. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: If you look at what "The Examiner," which is a conservative blog site. So, it's not surprising that they would deliberately misquote me. And I'll reiterate that they did deliberately misquote me. First, they took only the first line of what I said and then they cut it off. And so, you haven't played the rest of what I said. And what they did was they reported that I said that Republican policies were dangerous for Israel. And actually that's what Ambassador Oren commented on. I never said that Republican policies were dangerous for Israel. In fact, that's the opposite of what I always say. What I always say and what I said in that event -- and it is very important that we understand that Israel should not be a political football. What the Republicans are doing is they are suggesting that there is daylight between the parties on Israel.

LEMON: OK. Do you regret anything that you have said, and would you say anything differently?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I do not. No, I would not. I regret that "The Examiner" has repeatedly taken what I said out of context.

LEMON: All right. Let's move on.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: If they had printed the entire quote and if they had actually told Ambassador Oren what I actually said, I think -- I think his response would have been different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So was she misquoted? We're going to let you decide.

Philip Klein is here. He wrote the article the congresswoman was talking about. We're going to play her full remarks in their entirety like she said. My no talking point segment, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is going to be our no talking point segment for tonight. We just heard part of my interview with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She said Philip Klein of "The Washington Examiner" misquoted her remarks to a gathering of Jewish Democrats at last week's party convention. So, was the congresswoman taken out of context?

Well, we want to let you decide.

Philip Klein is here and we have the full recording that Congresswoman Schultz was talking about. So I want you to hear it and I want Philip to hear it, and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: We want you to be armed with the facts. So we are going to give you those facts. We have one-page document that succinctly describes President Obama's stellar record on Israel. We have a six-page document as well because, we're Jews and one page really isn't enough, and we have a myths versus facts document which addresses a lot of the typical baloney that is spewed by Republicans.

Let me just close by telling you this, and sharing this with you. We know and I heard no less than Ambassador Michael Oren say this, that what the Republicans are doing is dangerous for Israel. They are undermining Israel's security by suggesting that the United States and Israel don't have anything other than a unique and close and special relationship. It undermines Israel's security to its neighbors in the Arab world and to its enemies.

And we need to make sure that the fact that there has never been, and will never be daylight between the two parties or the support for Israel that we have in the United States, that that is conveyed to Jewish Americans across this country. That's our responsibility, and it's responsibility we're asking all of you to take on.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: So, Phil Klein, when you wrote that article did you misquote Debbie Wasserman Schultz?

PHILIP KLEIN, SR. EDITORIAL WRITER, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Absolutely not. I just want to say at the outset, I appreciate you having me on to respond.

Basically, in the -- on your show last night, Debbie Wasserman Schultz made two egregious, factually incorrect accusations about me.

The first was that I deliberately misquoted her. That's not true. If you look at my initial report, I not only quoted the part of what she said about the Israeli ambassador, I actually included an entire paragraph long quote in which she elaborated on that point that she was making.

The -- and not only that, I subsequently posted the audio which you just played. The reason why you have that is I played it and I purposely not only quoted the part about the ambassador, I left 30 seconds of audio on either side of it so that everyone could see what was leading up to that comment and what she said after it, so it's clear that I wasn't quoted her out of context.

LEMON: And, Philip, I was going to make that point, that we actually got the link to the audio from your paper, from "The Washington Examiner," out on the Web site.

KLEIN: Yes.

LEMON: That's how we got it.

Listen, I have -- I have been, and many people have been, accused of being misquoted or taken out of context because people will run a snippet but you said you ran the entire thing and you left parts on both sides so that people could sort of get an idea. But she's talking about -- what she's talking about here, she says is context, is inference and what you're not getting -- "The Washington Examiner" is not getting what the inference is in there. What does this -- what is she talking about?

KLEIN: OK. Well, the thing is that she's trying to draw the distinction between -- she claims in the segment that you just played that when she was on your show last night, she claimed that what she was -- that I wrote and that I reported that she was criticizing Republican policies on Israel and saying those were dangerous for Israel and she's saying what she really meant was that when Republicans criticize President Obama's record on Israel, it turns Israel into a political football and that's what undermines Israeli security.

But the problem with that is I never used the word policies in my initial report. I never said policies. Not singular, not plural, not in any way, shape or form.

LEMON: OK.

KLEIN: And if I can just say, the reason the word "policies" got introduced to this at all is that Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador, used the word "policies" when he was responding to my report. I never used the word.

And, you know, she evidently thinks it is easier to attack a conservative journalist and smear me on TV and then go after the Israeli ambassador.

LEMON: What she's saying that you only play the first part. I mean, in her defense, maybe she saw it on another network, maybe a conservative network and they only played that part for television. But for you, you played the entire thing. I just -- and that's -- just want to make that clear.

KLEIN: Yes, but I want to make this clear -- that she didn't say, oh, well there's been some reports in the conservative universe and some blogs are reporting such and such. She specifically said " 'The Washington Examiner' deliberately misquoted me." That's a direct attack and a smear on my reputation as a reporter. And I resent that because I was meticulous in quoting that, particularly because I know it's easy for people to try to smear conservative journalists as somehow being sloppy and partisan.

LEMON: Right. OK. This isn't about right or left. This is about holding a lawmaker, a leader accountable for her words, her remarks, and her actions. That's what this is about.

KLEIN: Yes. Look, "The Washington Post" fact checker looked at it. They gave her four Pinocchios. PolitiFact looked at it, they said her pants were on fire. Both outlets said that I quoted her accurately. Neither one are partisan conservative outlets.

LEMON: OK. So, we saw the congresswoman just a few hours ago at the presidential rally but this isn't the first time she's been challenged about her remarks.

Are these incidents you think affecting her job as a DNC chair when you're there in Washington listening to people? Is she in danger of becoming an issue for the campaign, you think?

KLEIN: Look, I don't want to speculate beyond what my reporting was. You know, I'm here to talk about her accusations about me. I don't kind of want to get into the analysis of whether she's damaging Democrats or not.

LEMON: All right. Philip Klein, thank you. We appreciate you coming on.

If the congresswoman is not here to defend herself, she was on last night, if she'd like to come back on, we'll have her back on as well.

Again, Philip Klein, "Washington Examiner," thank you very much.

KLEIN: Thanks a lot.

LEMON: You know, I also close that same directly to the congresswoman. Is she a distraction to the president's re-election efforts? Her answer coming up at 7:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. So stay tuned.

And the whole reason we're devoting so much time to this story, do these accusations and misquotes make you doubt or lose faith in the men and women leading this country? And hold on. Did you hear that? It's the president calling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Hey, Barney, this is Barack Obama.

(CHEERS)

OBAMA: We're over here at the campaign office and everybody is saying what a great neighborhood team leader you are and we just want to say thank you for everything you do. I'm going to try you at the other number, and hopefully it will work.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Obama had an uplifting moment at a Florida pizza shop today. The owner bear-hugged him and lifted him about a foot off the ground. The president was courting Florida seniors, saying the Republican plan to reform Medicare would give money back to insurance companies and put them in charge of Medicare.

Mitt Romney's campaign spokesman accused Obama of false attacks.

Romney attended church and spent a day -- a down day, I should say, excuse me, in Massachusetts. But his taped interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" has people talking. Romney said he favors some ideas from Obama's health care reform legislation.

Well, you know, it's hard enough to nail down our elected officials and those who hope to be elected to what they are steadfast for, or against. And as we close in on the most important election that this country has, it seems just simply getting the party faithful to explain their own plan is an exercise in futility. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Don't voters have a right to know which loopholes you're going to go after?

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So Mitt Romney and I, based on our experience, think the best way to do this is to show the framework, show the outlines of these plans, then to work with Congress to do this. That's how you get things done. The other thing --

STEPHANOPOULOS: Isn't that a secret plan?

RYAN: We don't want it -- no, no. No, no. What we don't want is a secret plan. What we don't want to do is cut some backroom deal like Obamacare and then hatch it to the country.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Then why not specify the loopholes now?

RYAN: We want to lose out in the open --

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why not say right now --

RYAN: Because we want to this -- we want to have this -- George, because we want to have this debate in the public. We want to have this debate with Congress and we want to do this with the consent of the elected representatives of the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: LZ Granderson and Will Cain are here. They're both CNN contributors. LZ is also a senior writer for ESPN.

I have no idea either, so you may have heard my back and forth, guys, earlier with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz just trying to find some common ground on what she herself said. And then you heard Paul Ryan a moment ago, which to me -- I'm just saying -- sounded like a bit of double-speak to me.

LZ, people say they want to lead the country but they don't want to tell us the plan. Should we accept this business as usual or do we do something else, do voters deserve more here?

LZ GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, voters deserve more. But this is what voters have allowed to happen. You know perhaps if we were a little bit more aggressive in terms of demanding the truth and not accepting, you know, people misspeaking or misremembering or however they want to characterize their lying, if we just start demanding and calling them out on their lies, then perhaps we would be getting more.

But what we've been doing is just trying to vilify the other side, not look at our side with scrutiny. And because of that we're stuck with things like the audio clip you just played with Paul Ryan.

LEMON: And this morning I was listening going, I have no idea what he said. He said he wants to work this out in Congress, Will, and Congress has the lowest approval rating and have been accused of not doing anything. It's like wait a minute, you want to be one of the leaders of the country, shouldn't you tell people what you're going to do?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, you should. I would change one word in LZ's analysis there. He said voters have allowed this to happen, I would say voters have actually demanded this to happen. Because the answer that Paul Ryan doesn't want to give you, the answer of what loopholes would be closed to somehow justify this 20 percent tax cut and yet remain revenue neutral, the answer to that is politically unpopular.

Now we all know we need tax reform, but nobody, not a viewer, not a voter, not a politician wants to talk about what that really means, Republican or Democrat. So Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are trying to walk out on a limb suggesting they're going to go for some kind of tax reform but not really talk about what that reform would be. Because the truth is, voters don't like the details.

LEMON: OK. So -- you know, we took -- we held Debbie Wasserman Schultz accountable earlier. So let's look at Paul Ryan again. Right? This is from the Republican National Convention when Mr. Ryan seemingly wanted to paint Obamacare as the boogieman to seniors. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly. They just took it all away from Medicare. $760 billion funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. So here are the facts. All right? Factcheck.org pointed this out. Here's what was what Medicare's chief actuary said this spring. The president's Affordable Care Act makes important changes to the Medicare program an substantially improves its financial outlook.

So LZ, when people talk about this and they point it out, no matters which side you are, they will say well, the fact -- someone needs to fact-check the fact checkers even when their math is fuzzy. What the heck is going on here? Who are we supposed to believe?

GRANDERSON: I don't really know. You know, I think for the last 40, if not 50 years, the American people have been grappling with the reality that our politicians lie to us. They manipulate us and they tell us the things they want to hear for one thing only, to maintain their power. And what you're seeing with Paul Ryan -- first of all, his speech was filled with so many holes, I'm amazed he was able to string it all together. It was so tethered with lies and mistruths. Even his own marathon time was a tie. I mean it was ridiculous.

And so what's going on here? I think what's going on here is a simple manipulation. And whenever people don't get the answer that they want to hear they continue to push until they get the answer that they want regardless of if it's actually the truth or not.

LEMON: Yes. And you hear it -- the left is so mad at me right now, I can't believe you're just like, wait a minute -- and then -- anyway, whatever.

Will, I can't let you respond because I want you to -- because I want you guys to listen to this. We've been so gloomy for much of the day so let's end on a fun note. This is the president talking with supporters while in West Palm Beach. I want you both to listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hi, is this Barney? Barney, this is Barack Obama. It is. We're over at the campaign office and the folks -- and folks are telling me what unbelievable work you're doing as a neighborhood team leader and I just -- I'm making a few calls to say thank you and tell you how -- not only do I appreciate your service in our armed forces but I really appreciate all the help you're giving me.

You don't believe me, do you? He's being quiet like -- I'm not sure. No, it's true. It's me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Fellows, we have to run but it's nice to have a little fun, right? Don't you agree?

CAIN: I like the pizza parlor guy that gave him the bear hug. I mean where's like some presidential -- shouldn't he be intimidated by the president? I bet -- I'm saying what is he doing? Why are you lifting the president off his feet?

LEMON: He just loves him so much that he --

GRANDERSON: He likes the president.

LEMON: Yes.

CAIN: Look at that.

GRANDERSON: He likes the president. That's the reason why his approval ratings stay high, because he likes the president. People like this guy, he is a cool man.

LEMON: Yes.

CAIN: Where's --

LEMON: Yes, that's true. Hey, guys, I've got to run. But here's the thing. That's what they say, people like President Obama a lot personally but the people who like Mitt Romney, it's not as much because he doesn't have his approval rating for people -- likability factor. That's what my lips are trying to say. Likability factor is higher for President Obama.

Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.

GRANDERSON: Nobody's bear hugging him, though.

LEMON: Not yet.

All right. Moving on, teachers threaten to walk off the job in one of the largest school districts in the country. That may anger many parents who have to figure out what to do with their children. But some are showing their support for teachers. One of them joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Seven hundred schools, the third largest public education system in America. That's the city of Chicago, I'm talking about. And whether class will be in session tomorrow is a very good question. The teachers and the city have spent the weekend at the negotiating table and they're still there trying to avoid a city-wide teachers strike that would keep 400,000 kids home tomorrow.

Wendy Katten, she is a mom of a third-grader in Chicago but she's also part of the group Raise Your Hand. They're the parents' -- the parents' voices when it comes shaping the policy and deciding how Chicago spends its education funds.

So, Wendy, thank you so much for joining us, my former town of Chicago. First things first. How do you feel about your third-grader possibility of not going to school tomorrow?

WENDY KATTEN, PARENT AND CO-DIRECTOR, "RAISE YOUR HAND": Well, I have a fourth-grader but --

LEMON: Third -- it's fourth now. Sorry about that.

KATTEN: Yes. No, that's -- no, no problem. You know, I want my son to be in school but I want also a contract to, you know, be worked out that the teachers are happy with. I hope that if we have a strike, it's short. If we do have one, we're running a community strike camp so we have parents preparing. You know, we hope that they can reach an agreement tonight. We think it's important but --

LEMON: Are you nervous?

KATTEN: I'm nervous about the future of this district. I mean no matter what happens tomorrow, again, I hope if we have a strike, it's short. But I'm -- you know, my group has a ton of work to do no matter what. We have big problems and I have a group that's been going for two and a half years to advocate for things that, you know, are long-term issues.

So, yes, I mean I know some parents are nervous, but I think they also understand why this is happening right now.

LEMON: Absolutely. OK, so, Wendy, the head of the school board says talks this weekend have been productive. Have they? I mean what did you heard from the negotiating room? Anything?

KATTEN: You know, we're not getting a ton of specifics. We know that CPS gave in on the merit pay issue, which we know the teachers did not want. I know there are still things that we haven't heard yet. I know that the union wants the district to enforce class size limits, which is something that's really important to parents. I don't -- I haven't heard anything about that.

Right now we don't -- we have class sizes of 40 in some kindergarten rooms. So there are things that, you know, are not about pay. I think there's this notion that this is all about pay and it's really not.

LEMON: Yes. So, you know, the country is watching because the -- you know, the school districts around the country are having issues and they're watching to see what happens with you guys. And a lot of parents are watching to see if a similar thing happens in their community, what they're going to do.

So what have you guys -- your fellow parents, teachers, or what have you, have you gotten like group daycare together, I stay home today, you stay home tomorrow? What are you doing?

KATTEN: Yes. Yes. There are different community groups. Our group Raise Your Hand is one group organizing things but there are other community organizations around the city that we meet with regularly so there are, you know, community schools that are being planned in all different neighborhoods from Bronzeville to Logan Square to up town. So people are organizing. And, you know, I think that -- you know, if it's a short strike, people will get through.

Again, we still hope that this can be worked out tonight. We think the best thing to happen is that they can reach a fair contract this evening and everyone will be in school tomorrow but in the event that that doesn't happen, there are many groups organizing to run schools or camps in their neighborhood.

LEMON: Wendy, good job. You did a great job.

KATTEN: Yes.

LEMON: I'm sure your fourth-grader will be proud -- what's your fourth-grader's name?

KATTEN: Eli.

LEMON: Eli. Say hi to Eli.

KATTEN: Shout out to Eli.

LEMON: And good luck to both of you, OK?

KATTEN: Thank you.

LEMON: And everybody in Chicago. We appreciate you coming on.

KATTEN: Thanks.

LEMON: All right. Back to work. Well, back to Washington, at least. Members of Congress return from a long vacation but can we expect them to get anything done? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Congress, it's time to get back to work. Lawmakers return from a five-week vacation tomorrow. Can you imagine? They have a long to-do list but they may just punt the tough stuff until after the election.

Athena Jones has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As election season enters the homestretch, lawmakers return to Capitol Hill this week facing big issues. But given their recent record of accomplishment, or lack thereof, the question is whether any of it will get done.

JENNIFER DUFFY, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT: The voters want to know when Congress is going to stop kicking the can down the road. I mean they're sort of out of -- out of rope.

JONES: The only must-pass item is a short-term measure to keep the government running and avoid the kind of costly shutdowns we saw twice in the 1990s. It's expected to pass. Congress could also pass measures to help people hit hard by the drought and by Hurricane Isaac. But perhaps the biggest challenge, the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax increases and spending cuts that experts warn taken together could plunge the economy back into recession.

JEANNE SAHADI, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY: They'll have about four weeks after the election to deal with some of the largest tax increases and spending cuts that the country has ever seen at one time.

JONES: $110 billion in cuts to everything from defense to education to food inspections next year alone will take effect in January unless lawmakers reach agreement on reducing the deficit. One problem -- Republicans and Democrats disagree on the Bush tax cuts due to expire at the end of this year. Republicans want them extended for everyone.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: Americans know what works. Low taxes, reasonable regulations, and living within our means.

JONES: Democrats led by President Obama support extending them just for people making less than $200,000 a year.

OBAMA: I don't believe and you don't believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires is going to bring good jobs back to our shores or pay down our deficit.

JONES: Uncertainty about just what Congress will do is already weighing on the economy.

SAHADI: It's just going to be a very bumpy ride. Businesses are slower to hire. Government agencies are slower to give out contracts. So it is sort of creeping into our economy now and that will just get worse the longer Congress waits to deal with it.

JONES: But wait is what Congress is almost certain to do.

(On camera): Both parties are hoping the election in November will put them in a better negotiating position. Whether that will bring them closer to a deal is anybody's guest.

Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Athena.

The NFL back but the players on the field seem to be getting overshadowed by their boss. We're talking football and a little baseball if we have time in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, it's time for beer and chicken wings and dip and chips because football is back, right? And so is Peyton Manning, so let's talk about it.

Terence Moore is a contributor to CNN.com, also, he is a columnist for MLB.com.

It's the first Sunday of the NFL season, sir, so let's start with Manning. No longer a Colt. He's now in the Denver. Do you think he's going to be the same guy before he missed an entire season because of a neck injury?

TERENCE MOORE, CNN.COM SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, we all know that Peyton is super human because you turn on the TV right now and he's on some commercial somewhere, right?

LEMON: Right.

MOORE: Even Peyton Manning cannot go from four NFL MVP awards to four major neck surgeries then be effective. I talked to a doctor about this the other day. He was saying the absolutely worst situation for him is to be somewhere with high altitude and damp conditions. Guess where he's playing at?

LEMON: Where?

MOORE: Denver.

LEMON: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

MOORE: Not good.

LEMON: Yes. Listen, let's talk about the refs now and Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner. He's really playing hardball with the regular referees. Replacements are working in today's game ad you wrote about it for CNN.com on Friday and on Friday, the players, Goodell had suspended in that bounty scandal were reinstated. MOORE: Yes.

LEMON: Goodell's in the headlines as much as the players these days.

MOORE: Yes. And there's going to be even more so after this weekend because today was a very uneven day for the referees. And that has been -- that's an understatement. I mean you start with this game, this big game that's going on right now between the 49ers and the Packers. There are so many bad calls there in the first eight minutes that Jim Hardball who's the head coach of 49ers, I thought his head was going to explode all over Lambeau Field.

LEMON: Yes. Yes. I haven't had the chance to really sit down and watch, but as a fan, as someone who is watching, do you think it makes it frustrating, more interesting, less interesting, for the actual football fan?

MOORE: No, because I -- when it comes to the fans, let's be honest. They just want to see them play.

LEMON: Right.

MOORE: They want to see the spectacular plays. They want to see the offense do well, they want to see their defense do well. They want to see their team win. So the bottom line was that. Now if there's a controversial play that decides that.

LEMON: Yes.

MOORE: Then there's a problem.

LEMON: I was going to say, come -- you know, depending on how long this goes on, can -- well, can people go back and say hey, listen, that was a bad call. This team shouldn't have won this game, therefore -- you know what I mean?

MOORE: Which is a good question, and I talked to Dan Reeves about this for that CNN.com piece.

LEMON: Right.

MOORE: And he said that in 39 years in NFL and Dan Reeves have done everything. He cannot think of one play, well, maybe -- one game and one player that cost him a victory one way or the other so it doesn't happen very often.

LEMON: Stephen Strausburg of the Washington Nationals. Tell us about -- arguably, the best pitcher in the league. Right? What's going on with him?

MOORE: Sure. Well, you know, you've got the Washington Nationals setting him down because they want to protect his arm. He had this elbow surgery called Tommy Johns surgery, which is, as one of these injuries -- one of these surgeries that takes time to heal, so they want to protect him for the future, they say, as opposed to the short run. Problem with that is the Washington Nationals have a chance to go to the postseason, a Washington baseball team, for the first time since 1933 and they're about to do it without their best pitcher. This is not good.

LEMON: Not good at all.

Thank you, sir. I like having you in here. Man, that's a strong handshake.

(LAUGHTER)

MOORE: Well, we can continue.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

OK, listen. His family says he was kept from flying first class because of a disability? But American Airlines says a 16-year-old could have posed a threat to other passengers. Is this discrimination or a safety precaution? We'll hear from the family. That's next.

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