joining me now is the man who's challenging issa, congressman elijah cummings, the ranking democrat on house oversight committee. congressman, first of all, thanks for being here tonight. >> it's good to be with you. >> you're calling his behavior, quote, reckless. tell us why? >> first of all, reverend, it's reckless because what chairman issa has done as he's done in the past is he has presented certain testimony, cherry picked testimony that makes it look as if a lady named teresa frier who is the chief information officer at the center for medicaid and medicare, he claims that she had significant security concerns with regard prior to the website being put forth. and basically implying that those problems still exist. now, that's what issa put out. but he left out some key information. first of all, he left out the fact that she has said that there has been no successful breaches. she also said when she had those concerns, the response was that they were put in mitigation measures in case there was a problem. once those measures were put in -- keep in mind, this is information he d

congressman elijah cummings joins us with the inside story. i'm wolf blitzer.room." >>> breaking news right now. crucial vote under way in at the house of representatives on a new budget deal, a deal that would prevent another government shutdown before the 2014 congressional midterm elections. will we see a rare break in partisanship and gridlock? we're watching the vote as it happens right now. we'll bring you the results as soon as we get them. stand by. important voting going on in washington. but first, we're also learns that two federal agencies now are at odds whether to allow passengers to talk on their cell phones in flight. it's a controversial idea that would affect millions of flyers all around the country. our correspond rene marsh is following these developments for us. what's the latest? >> on the one hand you have the fcc, which just voted to consider ending the ban. on the other hand you have the department of transportation considering blacking in-flight calls what does it mean for you, the passenger? well, don't start dialing just yet. talkin

elijah cummings, the number two on the committee, says this is all much ado about nothing. tell us about it. >> right. jon, these guys don't exchange christmas cards. this is the most partisan committee in congress. actually the relationship has at times been good between issa and cummings but not so much now with obamacare. they have different agendas here. issa is looking into the problems of obamacare. democrats say he is cherry-picking this evidence. cummings is defending the white house and saying, wait a minute, he is going way too far and exaggerating. he and other democrats written to john boehner. so that is an unusual move. i don't think john boehner will be agreeing with elijah cummings on any of this of the this partisanship, jon, will continue into 2014. obamacare implementation going forward, it is going to be a nasty battle, especially on this committee. jon: one of the things darrell issa has been saying as you point out the information people submit is not secure. there was this response and it was quoted in your article from the health and human services s

joining me now, democratic congressman from maryland, elijah cummings.thank you for being with me. >> good to be with you, karen. >> i want to start with speaker boehner good to see him pushing back and sort of felt like where has he been the last months over the summer in particular when i think you could have predicted that, you know, the childish behavior was going to bring us to this kind of point? >> he could have predicted it and should have predicted it. karen, sad part is so much damage has been done. he comes out yesterday and basically and says, look, ted cruz, your way doesn't work. we can't be shutting down the government. he says to the pea party, your way doesn't work and now i think it's an opportunity for the president to work his magic. and the president has a duty. i look back at the speech that he just made with regard to inequality in our nation. it's a brilliant speech, karen. but now we have to act on it. a lot of people are running around celebrating what we were able to accomplish in this compromise. but let me say this, karen. yo

progressives are cheering on the president's economic populism, and congressman elijah cummings is ast. congressman, i'm looking at this and thinking the president is going further in terms of offering now a more philosophical difference between he and the right wing of this country. i'm looking for, i guess the old phrase was in the mondale campaign, "where's the beef?" what's he going to try to get through congress that's going to establish a better agenda for people who are not doing well in this economy? >> well, first of all, i think he's going to definitely be pushing for this minimum wage but has to push for jobs. if you don't have a job, you don't have to worry about minimum wage because you don't have any wages. and i think there is a good sign that came yesterday. we finally got to some kind of reasonable compromise, chris, and i think it showed -- and i keep thinking about that picture of boehner in his press conference when he basically is saying, tea party, we tried it your way, it didn't work. ted cruz, we tried it your way, shutting down the government, it didn't work.

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. >> joining me now is democratic congressman elijah cummings ranking member of the government reform for joining me. >> good to be with you. >> here's a question. did you and your colleagues exhaust every opportunity to extend these benefits? >> no, we should have done it alex. we should have extended benefits. you're talking about 1.3 million people as of the 2th who will not have the benefits and won't be able to do for their families and provide for them. then come the beginning of the year, another 2 million people who would have qualified for benefits had we done what we were supposed to do. so the president's absolutely right. that's got to be our first priority when we get back and because this divide that's happening in our country is unsustainable. we can't keep going like this. the rich are getting richer. middle class is disappearing and the poor are getting poorer. we can do better. >> and your constituents, how concerned are you about the impact on them? >> i'm extremely concerned because a lot of areas in my community you mate have unemployment rates up to 25 30%. in ce

. >> and congressman elijah cummings, democrat from maryland, represents what many democrats here onng that after a rough start of healthcare.gov and obama care that ultimately this will be a popular program with millions of americans, shep. >> mike emanuel on the hill, thank you, sir. most young adults say they are not happy with president obama. lots of different reasons of course. poll from harvard university's institute of politics and they find 54% of 18 to 29-year-olds say they disapprove of the president's job performance so far in his second term. and 41% say they approve. that's down 11 points since april. most of those young adults in this survey said that the economy is the most important issue, as it always seems to be. but they do say they have some concerns about the president's health care overhaul as well. john roberts has these details. he's live in atlanta. hello, john. >> good afternoon to you, shep. there's no way to sugar coat it. this is not good for the president. in fact, harvard's director of the institute of politics told me that when he saw these numbers co

here's elijah cummings take on it today. >> people want us to applaud when we do what we're supposed to do, compromise. i mean that's become the standard. ryan said we've got to move to common ground. no, no, no, no, no. we've got to move to higher ground. >> joy-ann, everybody gets hopped up. we've got a budget deal. >> it's the soft bigotry of low expectations. everyone is cheering they did the minimum possible job they could have done. they're raising some fees. if you look at the details of the budget, there's nothing dramatic here. it's a tiny bargain but at least it's moving forward and avoiding a government shutdown so unfortunately they are getting allowance for cleaning their room. >> i want to switch gears now and there's another topic. we've been talking about this pretty seriously for a year, but again another story. arapahoe high school, the school is closed today. there was a 17-year-old victim. claire davis is in a coma in critical condition. the shooter, karl pierson, killed himself. he was armed with a shotgun, molotov cocktails and machete. it's like here we go agai

there's usually other planes that are flying over there, but elijah cummings, one of the democratic membersho went over to south africa, he told "the baltimore sun" it's clear to me senator cruz is running for president. i don't have any doubts about it. i know he got an earful for 20 hours, and he's just going to get another earful for 20 hours on the way back. i just reminded him i'm concerned about the many people in my state and his state who have no health insurance. traveling in those close quarters, you can get an earful unless you put on a headset, close your eyes and -- >> that's your graceful seg ways to the not so pleasant conversation, i to spoke a top aide for ted cruz, it was a spirited and fruitful dialogue, so he -- but look, there's no doubt ted cruz is preparing to run for president, and there's no doubt that democrats like eye lininga cummins have policy -- everyone you talk bo about these long trips, they learn something about each other that helps out down the road. >> it's a good idea. maybe they'll be a little more compromise and cooperation. >> or at least understand

. >> well said, representative elijah cummings of maryland.'s bring in our chief international correspondent christiane amanpour along with our former cnn anchor bernie shaw. christiane, i want to show view thors a picture of nelson mandela's prison cell back in 1977. this is video of that prison cell where he spent on robben island what about 17 years, spent what 27 years in prison all together. and he came out amazingly without bitterness, without anger. he wanted to build a new south africa. it's pretty amazing when you think about it, christiane. >> it is. and like many of you, we've all paid our pilgrimage to robben island and be to that prison cell. it does concentrate your mind. look at that picture of him with his glasses on. he was said to have really injured his eyes with the glare of that rock quarry work that he had to do out there. and of course, his lungs were devastated, too. and hence his lengthy illnesses. what people have said he didn't not have bitterness or hate, he simply decided that he wasn't going to give into it. of co

elijah cummings serves as the ranking member. the hearing is about three and half hours. >> [inaudible conversations] could i ask you to please take your seats and ask you to come to order. [inaudible conversations] >> the committee will come to order. the oversight committee exists for key from the principles. first, americans have a right to know that the money washington takes from them is well spent. and second, americans deserve an efficient effective government that works for them. our duty on oversight and government reform committee to protect these rights. our solemn responsibility is to hold government accountable to taxpayers because taxpayers have a right to know what they get from the government. it's our job to work tirelessly in partnership with citizen watchdogs to deliver the facts get american people and bring genuine reform to the federal bureaucracy. today, as we view the continued rollout of the affordable care act, we deal with the administration's selling technique, the administrations sold the health law t