"Piers Morgan Live, Rewind": Montel Williams gets emotional over the government showdown, Congressmen debate delayed benefits to families of fallen soldiers

Whether you fell asleep early, stayed out too late, or simply want to watch it again, we realize it's not always possible to get your entire "Piers Morgan Live" fix from television. As an answer to this, we offer the below labor of love – "Piers Morgan Live, Rewind" – dedicated and designed to getting you caught up and connected to the conversation.

• Montel Williams: "How Dare They!"

As part of a program largely dedicated to the government shutdown and debt ceailing deadline, on Wednesday evening Piers Morgan invited former talk show host and actor Montel Williams to join him for a live, face to face interview.

A passionate supporter of veteran's rights, Williams enlisted in the Marine Corp following high school, and was then accepted to the prestigious US Naval Academy at Annapolis.

After graduation, he joined the Navy, ascending to the rank of Naval Commander, before retiring after 22 years of service. He now serves on the board of the Fisher House Foundation, a charity that has stepped in to pay survivor benefits to families of fallen troops during the shutdown.

Visibly upset, and fighting back tears, an angered Williams expressed horror at the prospect of Americans being denied military benefits following the loss of a family member:

“Your mom gets a call...somebody gets a call. Their son just died. They go to the bank. First, they don't make enough money to get on an airplane to fly to Dover, Delaware. They go to the bank, they have it," he detailed. "They look at the news and somebody says, 'you're not even going to get the money we owe you for your loved one putting their life on the line to protect our democracy'...I'm sorry. How dare they!”

Incensed and outraged over the government’s treatment of those who have given their lives to their country, the motivational speaker and activist beseeched Morgan's viewers for help in the wake of a continuing stalemate in Washington:

“Why don't we do something today? Your show reaches so many people, maybe we can get Americans out there who can jump on the devices and start tweeting and e-mailing their congressmen and senate...and say 'Look: while you clowns act stupid right now over all other issues...let's sequester and pull out the military and say anything they need, we fund. Start there right now. Play your silly games with everything else.”

With 26 soldiers dead since the shutdown started, and undoubtedly more to come in the days ahead as the shutdown continues, the guest questioned why Congress has allowed this serious a lapse in dignity and judgment.

“You know, why” he asked rhetorically. “Because less than 20 percent of them ever put on a uniform, they have the audacity to send our children off to die and none of them put on the uniform. There's now talking about how American they are, how much they respect this constitution and not one of them was willing to step up to the plate, and put on a uniform. Oh, I'm sorry: 20 percent were....20 percent? Go back 15 years and we had about 45 percent. Go back 30 years we had about 60 percent. I would bet you they would not leave a man behind the way these guys have.”

Watch the clip for the rest of Williams impassioned response to the government shutdown, and for the next edition of "Piers Morgan Live," watch CNN at 9p.

• Congressmen on delayed survival benefits to families of fallen soldiers

The government shutdown has created turmoil for families of fallen soldiers, as since the shutdown 26 military personnel have died, and their families are not receiving survival benefits.

On Wednesday night, Piers Morgan welcomed Republican James Lankford and Democrat Jim Himes to offer their respective opinions and analysis.

In the eyes of Lankford, the problem has already been addressed:

“We still believe that the original bill that we passed two weeks ago took care of all the issues about this reimbursement to all of these families," said the Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee. "These payments to these families and for the loss of a loved one. But we passed another bill today reinforcing again to say we felt like that this is already been taken care of two weeks ago. If somehow this was missed, let's make it clear again. This should be paid for.”

Himes, meanwhile, felt that Speaker John Boehner’s broken promise to Harry Reid for a clean CR led to the shutdown in the first place:

“So we find ourselves in this world where the next step became, wait a minute, instead of just passing a clean CR we need a repeal of ObamaCare. And oh, by the way, if you want to raise the debt ceiling we need the excel pipeline passed, we need EPA regulations removed,” said the Financial Services Committee member.

According to the Connecticut politician, the nation needs to take the debt ceiling off the table and have a “six or seven to eight 10-week negotiation which allows to deal with the long term stability of this country.”

For the next edition of "Piers Morgan Live" watch CNN every night at 9.
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