Furloughed Federal Workers Speak Out.
CAMEROTA: Eight hundred thousand federal workers will not get their paychecks tomorrow. To bring a little levity to this very serious situation, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is giving one federal worker a job every night. On Tuesday that worker was Fire Captain Mark Munoz of the U.S. Forest Service.</s>FIRE CPT. MARC MUNOZ, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: All right.</s>KIMMEL: Just hold still for a second. Now, I've got a little mustache here.</s>MUNOZ: OK.</s>KIMMEL: Now, I'm going to put that on you. All right. Now, if you -- Guillermo, you can take the rest of the night off.</s>GUILLERMO RODRIGUEZ, SECURITY GUARD: Oh, yes?</s>KIMMEL: Mark is going to do security.</s>RODRIGUEZ: I can go drink?</s>KIMMEL: Yes. You hit the road. Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: OK. Mark Munoz joins us now along with EPA program support assistant Lisa Honan. Both Lisa and Mark are currently on furlough and not working because of the government shutdown. Mark, I want to start with you. What was that experience like, first, being on Jimmy Kimmel?</s>MUNOZ: It was an awesome experience. It was really humbling, at the same time exciting. And it was good that he actually gave us a chance to put our agency out there and let folks know that we want to go back to work and just give the opportunity to kind of lift the spirits of our family. It's been a hard two weeks. So that kind of lifted up the spirits somewhat.</s>CAMEROTA: I bet it has. And we'll get to that, all of your particular situation. But did he pay you?</s>MUNOZ: There was pay involved, not sure yet. I guess the check's supposed to come in the mail, so we'll see how that goes.</s>CAMEROTA: OK. I hope that check does come in the mail. Meanwhile, of course your situation is quite serious, Mark. You have seven daughters. Your wife --</s>MUNOZ: Yes, seven daughters.</s>CAMEROTA: -- is recovering from cancer.</s>MUNOZ: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: If you don't get paid tomorrow, what happens?</s>MUNOZ: It's going to be a struggle. I mean, day one when the -- we heard, got word of the shutdown, we already knew it was going to be a struggle. Anytime you hear "shutdown," you already have to start preparing your landlord and utility companies of extensions or whatnot, because there is a possibility you may not get paid. So with knowing we're not going to get paid, it's just going to add onto the stress.</s>CAMEROTA: You fought the fire -- the wildfires in California. I mean, you're out there saving people's homes and their lives. And so you've had to, as you say, alert your utility companies, alert the bill collectors who are coming to you. What's your plan if you don't get paid tomorrow and this stretches on?</s>MUNOZ: Just continue to maybe do some side work, look for side work out there. File for unemployment. And maybe, if I have to, even possibly look for other employment.</s>CAMEROTA: Lisa, both you and your husband are furloughed. Both of you --</s>LISA HONAN, EPA PROGRAM SUPPORT ASSISTANT: Yes. That's right.</s>CAMEROTA: -- might not get paid tomorrow or for a while. You have a 1-year-old. You have a 5-year-old, and a month ago exactly, you bought a new home.</s>HONAN: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: Will you be able to pay your mortgage?</s>HONAN: Hopefully. We -- we were fortunate enough to have a little bit in savings, but once we bought the house, we pretty much drained that. And now, with -- with the two of us not getting a paycheck, you know, we both filed for unemployment. So that will -- that will help a little bit. But, you know, it's not just -- it's not just the mortgage. It's, you know, utilities and our children's daycare and dance and before school care. It's -- there's a lot.</s>CAMEROTA: And I know it wasn't even easy to file for unemployment. There were challenges.</s>HONAN: Yes. I called many, many times over the past -- the past week. I finally just tried to do it online. And yes, I need to give a year and a half worth of pay stubs, because I'm a federal employee. So it's going to be a little bit of a process before I'll actually see any compensation from unemployment.</s>CAMEROTA: And, Lisa, what's the plan? I mean, if this -- you know, at the moment this morning they're at an impasse, and there's no movement in sight. And so for your life, what's the plan?</s>HONAN: Well, we're going to cut back as much as we can with, you know, with food, with gas. And some of our -- some of our bills, we've been able to talk with them and ask for an extension. And we do have some family and friends who have offered -- offered to help. So if it comes down to that, you know, once we drain our savings, then we will have to ask family and friends for some help. And then just hopefully, the unemployment will make up the rest of that. But, I mean, overall, I just want -- I just want this to end. I want the government to reopen.</s>CAMEROTA: Of course you do. How -- can you summarize how you and your husband are feeling today?</s>HONAN: Pretty stressed. Pretty anxious, you know. And it's tough. You know, our daughter is noticing in the mornings that, you know, normally we would be off to work when she goes to school. But she's starting to see, you know, Mommy and Daddy are still home in the morning, and she's starting to ask what's going on. And I don't know exactly how to explain it to a 5-year-old, so it's just a little difficult at home.</s>CAMEROTA: Mark, what's the mood in your house?</s>MUNOZ: The kids, as well, are starting to notice, you know, why's Dad home? Why is Dad, you know, out there doing landscaping jobs and whatnot? And they're starting to get a little nervous. You know, they're used to their dad going to the station every morning and coming home from work and talking about the day. So they're definitely seeing the change of pace in the home.</s>CAMEROTA: So, Mark, what is your message? We now that lawmakers and even the president watch our show. And so what is your message to the folks in Washington who are at an impasse?</s>MUNOZ: Well, my message is come to an agreement. Come to some kind of common ground. There's a lot of workers out there right now that are highly stressed-out. They want to get back to work. So if you guys can come to an agreement, that would be awesome, because a lot of your folks wanted to get back to work and provide what we provide to the community and to the country.</s>CAMEROTA: And, Mark, from where you sit, do you care about a border wall? Do you feel that they should be so dug in about border security? I mean, does that have relevance to your life today?</s>MUNOZ: You know, that seems to be the big focus, you know. Do you support the wall, do you not support the wall? Trump's supporter or not? Are you a supporter or are you not a supporter? I think the biggest focus is just, look at all the folks that are unemployed right now. Look at all the folks that are not working that want to go back to work. So I feel that -- that should be the main focus right now, that there's over 800,000 workers right now that are not working, that are furloughed that want to get back to work.</s>CAMEROTA: Lisa, what's your message to lawmakers and the president?</s>HONAN: I want the president and Congress to come together and work out an agreement to end this shutdown now. You know, I don't know how long, financially, that our family will be able to hang in there. And it's not just us, many families are also, outside of federal employees, are affected by this, as well. So just end this, you know, now. The sooner the better.</s>CAMEROTA: Yes. You know that the Coast Guard had put out tips to their employees that say things like have garage sales, take odd jobs, do some babysitting. Lisa, does that make sense to you, that this is what your life, these kinds of tips are where you and your husband are?</s>HONAN: I mean, a lot of that is easier said than done. You know, I mean, it probably will come down to it, to where you could drive -- drive for a, you know, ride sharing service or -- I don't know. I just hope that it doesn't drag on for much longer to where we will have to start selling our family's heirlooms, you know.</s>CAMEROTA: Mark, your thoughts?</s>MUNOZ: Yes, I agree. Easier said than done. You know, when you feel that you're into a professional career, the last thing you're thinking about is, you know, driving for Lyft or Uber or picking up side jobs doing landscaping when you're in a professional series. So it's definitely -- it brings a lot of stress, and a lot of the folks that look up to you in the community look at you like, "Wait, you're a firefighter. You work for the federal government. You're supposed to be in a secure job, a strong profession." And when they hear you're furloughed and you're not working and you're possibly asking for loans and extensions on utilities, it's unacceptable.</s>CAMEROTA: Well, we hear you. We hear you both this morning, and we hope that lawmakers do, as well. Lisa Honan, Mark Munoz, best of luck to you. We will continue to follow your families' story.</s>MUNOZ: Thank you.</s>CAMEROTA: Thank you very much.</s>HONAN: Thank you. Thank you.</s>CAMEROTA: John.</s>BERMAN: Worried that they might have to sell family heirlooms to pay the bills. A Republican congressman is crossing party lines, voting to reopen parts of the government. We're going to ask him if he expects more of his colleagues to do the same, next.