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American Morning
What Christian Right Expects Bush to Deliver in Second Term; Discussion With Senator Barbara Boxer
Aired February 03, 2005 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien at the Cannon House office building in Washington, D.C.
President Bush is attending the national prayer breakfast this morning. We're going to hear more about what the Christian right expects him to deliver in his second term.
Good morning, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning to you.
Back here in New York, also watching the president from last night praising the elections in -- the Palestinian elections -- and also severe comments, too, about Iran and Syria.
We'll find out what the Arab states are saying about that address from last night. We'll check in and do a little listening post in the Arab world.
Carol Costello with me here in New York. Good morning to you -- in the headlines?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news, a Vatican source saying Pope John Paul II is still expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice next week. The pope's condition is said to be improving as he continues to rest at a hospital in Rome.
He's undergoing treatment for problems brought on by the flu. The 84-year-old pope also suffers from some other ailments.
It's not clear when the pontiff will return to the Vatican.
Here in the United States, federal officials are reviewing a cockpit voice recorder for clues about why a small plane crashed in Teterboro, New Jersey. The jet failed to take off yesterday, smashing into two cars and a warehouse.
More than 20 people were taken to hospitals for medical treatment after the crash. At least one of the injured is listed in critical condition this morning.
And in the world of sports, doesn't this sound strange? Sammy Sosa is officially an Oriole. Sounds strange to everybody but Chicago fans, I'll bet.
Baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, has approved the deal sending Sosa from Chicago to Baltimore. The outfielder will get more than $16 million still owed to him under an agreement with the Cubs.
Sosa telling reporters he had a great time in Chicago, but, hey...
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... it's time to move on.
No love lost any more between Sammy Sosa and the fans of Chicago.
HEMMER: Does he do this town, now, or what?
COSTELLO: I don't know.
HEMMER: Is he going to shake (ph) Baltimore?
COSTELLO: He's got to do something to bring on the love again.
HEMMER: That's right. Well, thank you, Carol.
Back to Soledad, again, in D.C..
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.
Well, President Bush has made clear the issues that his administration are going to try to tackle in his second term: social security, gay marriage, terror in Iraq, Iran.
What do Democrats think about the president's agenda? Senator Barbara Boxer of California joins us this morning. Nice to see you.
Obviously, you've been a very outspoken critic and very busy over the last few days and weeks. What did you think of the speech?
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, first I give the president credit. He's getting really good at delivering these speeches. I mean, you compare this one to his first one.
You know, I've seen more than 20 of these state of the union addresses, either from the House, when I was a House member, or Senate. And he did very well.
There were a couple of things in there that I could go along with. He wants to raise the Pell grants. He wants to help our veterans when they come home. And I hope he'll do it as much as we need to do it.
He talked about fully funding Ryan White, which is to help people with AIDS.
O'BRIEN: But these are very minor...
BOXER: They are minor compared...
O'BRIEN: ... because social security in polls out there...
BOXER: Well, let me just get to this...
O'BRIEN: You're giving us the other, other, other.
BOXER: Television loves the conflict, though I will definitely tell you. You had a -- silence fell over the Democratic side when he brought up the social security issue.
O'BRIEN: We have a clip of that.
BOXER: Yes. Yes.
O'BRIEN: Let's play a little bit of it first, since you referenced it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt if steps are not taken to avert that outcome. The only solutions would be dramatically higher taxes, massive new borrowing or sudden and severe cuts in social security benefits or other government programs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: No, really, silence. I mean, it sounded a little more like groaning or booing from the crowd.
BOXER: Well, we turned a little bit into the British parliament, at that point, which is always going, no.
But first of all, it is not true that social security is going to be bankrupt in 2042. Even his own administration says if we do nothing, which of course, we will do something just as we did when Ronald Reagan was president. And we fixed it in a bipartisan way very easily.
But even if we did nothing, it would still have enough money in there to pay everyone 70 to 80 percent of benefits.
So the president is really using a playbook that was written in the '80s. I actually have copies of it -- it's very interesting -- from right-wing think tanks who wanted to end social security back then.
O'BRIEN: President Clinton...
BOXER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... in his 1999 state of the union address said that social security was going to fall apart, I think it was by 2013. So, I mean, obviously, it's been an issue that's come up again and again.
Clearly it sounds like the president is saying, this is the year to do something. What's wrong with that thinking?
BOXER: I'm sure President Clinton did not say social security is going to fall apart by 2013.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, I've got to tell you...
BOXER: I'm sure what he did say, Soledad, was that we, of course, have to keep making adjustments to social security just as we do in our own homes as we have more bills to pay.
We have to just make some adjustments in how we spend our money. So this is something that we knew.
Now, in 1978, when George Bush, candidate for congress, ran for congress, he predicted -- and we have the quotes from all the newspapers -- that social security would go broke in 1988 if it wasn't privatized.
So this is something he's wanted to do for a very long time. And the truth of the matter is, if you look at social security, it has been so successful. And without it, 50 percent -- 50 percent of our seniors -- would be living in poverty.
And I used to be a stock broker. So I just want to say to your viewers right now, I've seen the markets go up, I've seen them go down. One thing you know you don't get with the stock market is security.
Another point I think is interesting. Remember when the president looked out at the crowd, he said, now you people have personal accounts. So if you people, meaning the senators and congress people have personal accounts, why shouldn't everybody?
The truth is, we do have personal accounts. But guess what? That's on top of social security. We have social security. That's on top of a defined benefit pension plan. It's just one of these things, it's an add-on. It's not the basic foundation of retirement.
O'BRIEN: Here is what Clinton said, "By 2013, payroll taxes will no longer be sufficient to cover monthly payments." It goes on and on. That's from the 1999 state of the union.
BOXER: Thank you. And that's why we fixed it, and now -- we fixed it then. And it's going to be fine until 2052, according to most experts.
O'BRIEN: When it's completely not fine. I mean, it falls apart.
BOXER: Not completely, it doesn't fall apart, Soledad.
You see, here's your point that you're missing, I think. And I have to make a point. Social security is not falling apart unless you decide you don't want it anymore, like George Bush decided.
And how he's going to ruin it is, he's going to borrow $2 trillion so that we can afford not to move to personal accounts... O'BRIEN: If you do not do anything by 2052, there's no more money in the fund, is that correct?
BOXER: No, there will be enough money in the fund in 2052...
O'BRIEN: To fund 70 percent is what people are putting out.
BOXER: Yes, but of course we're not going to do -- of course we're going do something just as we did with Ronald Reagan.
Now Ronald Reagan was a strong, conservative Republican. I was in the congress at that time. We all got together, and we fixed social security.
O'BRIEN: So you're taking issue with the way the president wants to fix it, not the fixing of it at all?
BOXER: No, he wants to destroy it. He wants to change it. He wants to borrow $2 trillion -- and that's a fortune for us; we can't afford that -- and put it into these transition costs so that we can now have no social security at the end of the day for the young people, and they will invest in the stock market.
And what I'm saying is that's a dangerous deal.
O'BRIEN: Democrats have said, no way. I mean, we heard Harry Reid say, this is just not going to happen. Democrats aren't going to play.
Republicans have also said this is going to be a very, very, very, very, very tough sell.
I guess my question would be, if you look at the polls, people say -- 74 percent say -- he made a convincing case in the speech last night for social security change.
In Iraq, did he move the country in the right direction?
On social security, yes, 66 percent. Those are very solid numbers. He has obviously connected with the American people. So are the Democrats and the Republicans who are on the fence out of touch?
BOXER: Well, I think these polls are interesting. Was this a poll of the whole country or the people who watched the speech?
O'BRIEN: The people who watched the speech.
BOXER: Yes, so you need to understand who watched the speech.
Be that as it may, that's fine. He gave a good speech. I could give a good speech. And once I tell people, as a former stock broker, that what the president is trying to do is to walk away from a program that has been secure, that has worked, that he predicted in 1978 it would be gone in 1988, that in fact if you rely on the market --
we have seen people in my office after the Enron scandal who lost every, single penny. They put all their money in Enron.
So what we need to do is come together, as we did under Ronald Reagan, we need to say, yes, our young people can have personal accounts. We can make that happen.
That should be an add-on, just like all the senators and all the congressmen have, basic social security that is always going to be there and an add-on if you want to do it.
And I think that will be the great solution to this issue.
O'BRIEN: Senator Barbara Boxer, nice to see you, as always. We only got to social security. You had so much more to talk about on this speech.
BOXER: Yes, I he also had an open checkbook for Iraq, but that's a whole other program.
O'BRIEN: Well, we have no time.
BOXER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Nice to see you, as always.
BOXER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
And of course, we've been watching this picture from the national prayer breakfast under way in Washington, D.C. this morning. It's the keynote speaker this morning addressing the crowd.
We're expecting to hear from President Bush in just a few minutes. And, of course, we're going to bring that to you live when it happens.
First, though, let's take you right to CNN's national correspondent, Bob Franken. He's in Washington as well, this morning.
Hey, Bob, good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad, outside the hotel where the president is going to appear.
And to the evangelicals, it's much more than appearances at a national breakfast. Many presidents have done that. Most, of course, have done that. But to the evangelicals, George W. Bush is one of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): Among those who identified themselves as born again Christians, two-thirds approve of how he's doing. And the reelection of President Bush was helped mightily by their turnout.
LOIS ROMBERGER, WORD OF GRACE CHURCHGOER: God told us in Exodus, choose from amongst you to rule over you, your tens, your hundreds, your thousands, which to me says your local, your state, your federal government.
FRANKEN: Evangelicals consider the president amongst them, even when he addresses a Colorado convention from the White House.
BUSH: All of you know the power of faith to transform lives. You're answering the call to love and to serve your neighbor.
FRANKEN: But now it's time for deliverance.
WENDY WRIGHT, CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA: We hope that the president can be encouraged by the last election to see that people really do want strong stands on issues of virtue, or better known as value.
FRANKEN: Evangelicals are impatient with political accommodation. They want to see abortion outlawed as well as gay marriage, the barriers between church and state pulled down by a Bush presidency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can look at his values, and he's very -- his values are family oriented. He's for the protection of America.
BUSH: I don't expect to you agree with me, necessarily, on religion. As a matter of fact, no president should ever try to impose religion on our society.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: But this is a man who proudly claims to have been a hard drinking, fallen man until he was born again. And the evangelicals can relate to that. So they want him to aggressively pursue their agenda -- Soledad?
O'BRIEN: And Bob Franken for us. Bob, we're going to ask you to stick around while we wait to hear from the president. Obviously, we're going to take those remarks live, when they happen.
Let's check in with Jeff Greenfield, once again, though.
Jeff, give me a sense of how important it is. And I think the timing of this national prayer breakfast is sort of interesting, as well, coming right on the heels of the state of the union address.
But how important is it for the president to, what he says to this particular crowd this morning?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think you have to make a distinction. The national prayer breakfast, which has been around for a half a century is actually an annual, nonpartisan, very significant event.
A lot of important people from both sides of the isles and all denominations come. Now this is not an, particularly an evangelical, Christian group. But what is significant is that in over the last 20 years, religion, which used to really tell you very little about how Americans would vote with the singular exception probably of American Jews, heavily democratic.
Religion has become - faith -- has become one of the most significant determinants of how you vote. Observant, churchgoers and, in fact, even observant Jews vote much more Republican than less observant Christians, Jews, whatever.
In addition to which, there in the traditional Democratic communities, Hispanic and black, Republicans see, as I mentioned a few moments ago, an opportunity to win over some of those voters by stressing culturally conservative themes, like opposition to gay marriage.
So in a broader sense, the president's identification as a born again Christian, someone who turned his own life around, resonates with particular power in a group that is increasingly active at the polls. Used to -- the evangelical group used to see religion -- politics -- as none of their concern. This world, not the other world.
And then after the Supreme Court vote on abortion and school prayer, they began to get more and more involved to the extent -- and now, the fact that the president is seen by this group as one of them, as Bob Franken said, was one of the reasons why the turnout last Fall was the way it is, why the Republicans managed to out dual the Democrats on getting their base vote out.
The president's been very careful, and you heard that clip a minute ago, to say look, I'm not looking to impose my view on anyone. You can have any faith or no faith and be a good, moral upright citizen.
But there's no question within that constituency, George W. Bush is probably as admired a president as any, even more than Ronald Reagan was. So that one -- that's where I think the significance lies.
O'BRIEN: Jeff, while you're talking, we've been also looking a shot of Tony Hull. He's the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. He's talking about some of his experiences in Ethiopia. He's a former congressman from Ohio.
I think, though, we should talk a little bit more about the breakfast, as well. It's expensive, $400. $425, I think, was the cost last year. Ninety minutes of prayer and a breakfast of granola, and fruit, and bagels, and pastries, coffee and juice.
Obviously, the money is not going to the breakfast, per se. To a large degree it's going to access, isn't it, Jeff?
GREENFIELD: Well, as I said, the prayer breakfast has become an event as much where people render unto Caesar as to God. That is, it is a place where movers and shakers of all denominations, all faiths and all parties do tend to come. So, you know, I think look, in Washington, it's hard to find any event that sooner or later doesn't become also a politically significant event. But I don't think that what you're going to hear tonight -- this morning, rather -- from the president is any kind of specific agenda. It's a much broader message about the power of faith and its importance in individual lives.
And I also think, by the way, that it is one of those political developments that people on the left have been very slow to understand. I think they tend to see talk of faith as somehow bound up with a particular political view, with a Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson view.
And one of the prominent conservatives I spoke to some months ago said the biggest misunderstanding that people on the left have about this is that people of faith are not, they're not undereducated. They're not impoverished, dirt farmers.
They are across the country. They're in fast growing, exorbitant communities. They take an active role in their public life. They don't necessarily have to be conservatives, but they do tend to respond to someone like George W. Bush, who reflects their view of the role of faith in life.
And I think traditionally, as you saw with John Kerry, who comes from a different tradition in New England, also a Catholic, much more reticent about speaking openly about the role of faith in his life.
And I think Democrats are now, and more broadly more liberal folks, are now beginning to see, you know what, this has been something that we need to understand. When you realize that the civil rights movement was born in the black, Southern churches almost half a century ago, that much of the anti-war movement was rooted in religious objections to war.
And the idea that religion has now become a determinant of how people vote is something that has really both confused and hurt people on the more liberal side of the equation.
O'BRIEN: No question about that.
Tony Hull, again, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. talking a little bit about his experiences in the third world at the national prayer breakfast. He's a former congressman from Ohio.
Some 3,000 people in the audience, we're told. Something like 160 of them are representing -- 160, rather, foreign countries, dignitaries from around the world invited, as well.
We're going to continue to monitor this. Tony Hull is the keynote speaker. We're expecting to hear from President Bush in just a few minutes.
Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: We're at about nine minutes, now, before the hour.
A disturbing number of infections, as many as two million every year, begin while patients are in the hospital. Sanjay is off today. Elizabeth Cohen doing the duties down there at the CNN Center with more on this, now.
Good morning.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Bill, when you have to go to the hospital, you have a reasonable expectation that you're going to get better. But the advocacy group Consumers Union says more people die of infections that they get in the hospital than die of homicides and auto accidents combined.
They're called hospital acquired infections, and the numbers are pretty dramatic.
According to the "New England Journal of Medicine," two million patients each year are infected in the hospital. That means 90,000 are dying each year. That cost, $5 billion a year in extra health care costs.
Now, why are people getting these infections, and why are these numbers on the rise? Well, people get them sometimes when they are having catheter procedures, procedures that involve a catheter because the catheter introduces a bacteria or a virus.
People get sick a lot in intensive care units. Of course, that's where the sicker patients are. Heart procedures are also a time when people get these infections, as are procedures where people are getting artificial body parts, a knee replacement, a hip replacement, procedures such as that.
Now that last one there, that's one of the reasons why these numbers are on the rise. As doctors invent more foreign parts to put in our bodies, that's a good thing. But it's also more opportunities to introduce infections.
Well, the Centers for Disease Control is having a meeting with the American Hospital Association and other groups next week to see what can be done.
Now, one problem is that there's a lot of fuzziness on the statistics. Only four states require reporting of hospital acquired infections. And there's no national standards for how to figure out when someone has an infection that they acquired in the hospital -- Bill?
HEMMER: And so in the meantime, how do you protect yourself if you're in the hospital and concerned about this?
COHEN: There are certain steps that you can take. The first one sounds kind of obvious, but you really need to do it. Make sure that your doctor is washing his or her hands. Unfortunately, studies have shown that doctors do not always wash their hands between patients.
Also, ask about the infection rate for your procedure. And if it's a high infection rate, ask if there are alternatives to that risky procedure.
Sometimes you can say, look, doctor, this procedure has a pretty high risk of infection, is there something else we can do instead?
HEMMER: Thanks, Elizabeth. Good to know.
COHEN: Thanks.
HEMMER: Back to Soledad in Washington again.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.
And of course, we're keeping a close watch on the national prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C., this morning. Any minute now, we're expecting to hear comments from President Bush.
Right now at the podium is Tony Hull. He is the keynote speaker.
We're going to bring the president's comments to you, though, live as soon as he starts talking.
AMERICAN MORNING is back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: If you're in the market to sell your home, this might be the best time to go about that. Tips on how to maximize your home's value -- Gerri Willis in for Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Jack.
Yes, it's time to start thinking about selling your house, particularly if you've had very big gains in it. Number one, think about selling now, don't wait for Spring.
You know, conventional wisdom is you've got to wait until Spring. But I'm telling you, people are out now because they're trying to beat interest rates.
Number two, re-evaluate your digs. If you've lived in your house a long time, you've kind of lost touch with the market. Maybe you've lost touch with the condition of your house. You might want to bring in an inspector -- Jack?
CAFFERTY: An Inspector Jack?
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIS: An inspector, Jack.
CAFFERTY: You know, the problem with selling your house is...
WILLIS: An inspector named, Jack.
CAFFERTY: The problem with selling your house is you have to go find some place to live after you sell it. So, it means you've got to go buy something else.
WILLIS: That's absolutely true.
CAFFERTY: Prices are way up there.
WILLIS: Well, you know, if you're going to sell that house, you've got to make sure that the sale of your house is contingent on getting the new house so you don't get in a situation where you have to have a bridge loan, which is really expensive. And you don't want to be in that situation.
CAFFERTY: You can learn more about all this stuff on a new show you've got starting this weekend.
WILLIS: That's right, 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning, join us on "OPEN HOUSE." If you're buying a new home or renovating an old one, we'll have tips to help you do it better.
And we're going to make sure that we pay attention to your bottom line for your biggest investment. On Saturday morning, we're doing a couple of exciting new stories, one on the boom. Is it over, and what should you do?
We've got "Weekend Project" coming up. It's an exciting segment. We'll show you how to renovate your bathroom.
CAFFERTY: Now there's a project.
WILLIS: It's a weekend project, so you can get it done in just two days.
CAFFERTY: Not for me, it's not. Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: You're not going to renovate?
CAFFERTY: I couldn't do it. I couldn't renovate a bathroom in two years let alone a weekend.
WILLIS: Jack, even you could do this, I'm telling you.
CAFFERTY: No, no.
HEMMER: Well, you've got "OPEN HOUSE" on the weekend. You've got "IN THE MONEY" on the weekend. CAFFERTY: There you go.
HEMMER: Never leave the house, right?
Thank you. And thank you, Inspector Jack.
We're waiting on the president down at the national prayer breakfast. We're going to get back down to Soledad watching things there.
Almost -- right, Soledad?
O'BRIEN: Yes, we're expecting him any minute now. Of course, there's been a keynote speaker, Tony Hull, a U.S. ambassador to the U.N., talking a little bit about his experiences in the third world. He's introducing the president.
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Aired February 3, 2005 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien at the Cannon House office building in Washington, D.C.
President Bush is attending the national prayer breakfast this morning. We're going to hear more about what the Christian right expects him to deliver in his second term.
Good morning, Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning to you.
Back here in New York, also watching the president from last night praising the elections in -- the Palestinian elections -- and also severe comments, too, about Iran and Syria.
We'll find out what the Arab states are saying about that address from last night. We'll check in and do a little listening post in the Arab world.
Carol Costello with me here in New York. Good morning to you -- in the headlines?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news, a Vatican source saying Pope John Paul II is still expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice next week. The pope's condition is said to be improving as he continues to rest at a hospital in Rome.
He's undergoing treatment for problems brought on by the flu. The 84-year-old pope also suffers from some other ailments.
It's not clear when the pontiff will return to the Vatican.
Here in the United States, federal officials are reviewing a cockpit voice recorder for clues about why a small plane crashed in Teterboro, New Jersey. The jet failed to take off yesterday, smashing into two cars and a warehouse.
More than 20 people were taken to hospitals for medical treatment after the crash. At least one of the injured is listed in critical condition this morning.
And in the world of sports, doesn't this sound strange? Sammy Sosa is officially an Oriole. Sounds strange to everybody but Chicago fans, I'll bet.
Baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, has approved the deal sending Sosa from Chicago to Baltimore. The outfielder will get more than $16 million still owed to him under an agreement with the Cubs.
Sosa telling reporters he had a great time in Chicago, but, hey...
HEMMER: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... it's time to move on.
No love lost any more between Sammy Sosa and the fans of Chicago.
HEMMER: Does he do this town, now, or what?
COSTELLO: I don't know.
HEMMER: Is he going to shake (ph) Baltimore?
COSTELLO: He's got to do something to bring on the love again.
HEMMER: That's right. Well, thank you, Carol.
Back to Soledad, again, in D.C..
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.
Well, President Bush has made clear the issues that his administration are going to try to tackle in his second term: social security, gay marriage, terror in Iraq, Iran.
What do Democrats think about the president's agenda? Senator Barbara Boxer of California joins us this morning. Nice to see you.
Obviously, you've been a very outspoken critic and very busy over the last few days and weeks. What did you think of the speech?
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, first I give the president credit. He's getting really good at delivering these speeches. I mean, you compare this one to his first one.
You know, I've seen more than 20 of these state of the union addresses, either from the House, when I was a House member, or Senate. And he did very well.
There were a couple of things in there that I could go along with. He wants to raise the Pell grants. He wants to help our veterans when they come home. And I hope he'll do it as much as we need to do it.
He talked about fully funding Ryan White, which is to help people with AIDS.
O'BRIEN: But these are very minor...
BOXER: They are minor compared...
O'BRIEN: ... because social security in polls out there...
BOXER: Well, let me just get to this...
O'BRIEN: You're giving us the other, other, other.
BOXER: Television loves the conflict, though I will definitely tell you. You had a -- silence fell over the Democratic side when he brought up the social security issue.
O'BRIEN: We have a clip of that.
BOXER: Yes. Yes.
O'BRIEN: Let's play a little bit of it first, since you referenced it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt if steps are not taken to avert that outcome. The only solutions would be dramatically higher taxes, massive new borrowing or sudden and severe cuts in social security benefits or other government programs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: No, really, silence. I mean, it sounded a little more like groaning or booing from the crowd.
BOXER: Well, we turned a little bit into the British parliament, at that point, which is always going, no.
But first of all, it is not true that social security is going to be bankrupt in 2042. Even his own administration says if we do nothing, which of course, we will do something just as we did when Ronald Reagan was president. And we fixed it in a bipartisan way very easily.
But even if we did nothing, it would still have enough money in there to pay everyone 70 to 80 percent of benefits.
So the president is really using a playbook that was written in the '80s. I actually have copies of it -- it's very interesting -- from right-wing think tanks who wanted to end social security back then.
O'BRIEN: President Clinton...
BOXER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... in his 1999 state of the union address said that social security was going to fall apart, I think it was by 2013. So, I mean, obviously, it's been an issue that's come up again and again.
Clearly it sounds like the president is saying, this is the year to do something. What's wrong with that thinking?
BOXER: I'm sure President Clinton did not say social security is going to fall apart by 2013.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, I've got to tell you...
BOXER: I'm sure what he did say, Soledad, was that we, of course, have to keep making adjustments to social security just as we do in our own homes as we have more bills to pay.
We have to just make some adjustments in how we spend our money. So this is something that we knew.
Now, in 1978, when George Bush, candidate for congress, ran for congress, he predicted -- and we have the quotes from all the newspapers -- that social security would go broke in 1988 if it wasn't privatized.
So this is something he's wanted to do for a very long time. And the truth of the matter is, if you look at social security, it has been so successful. And without it, 50 percent -- 50 percent of our seniors -- would be living in poverty.
And I used to be a stock broker. So I just want to say to your viewers right now, I've seen the markets go up, I've seen them go down. One thing you know you don't get with the stock market is security.
Another point I think is interesting. Remember when the president looked out at the crowd, he said, now you people have personal accounts. So if you people, meaning the senators and congress people have personal accounts, why shouldn't everybody?
The truth is, we do have personal accounts. But guess what? That's on top of social security. We have social security. That's on top of a defined benefit pension plan. It's just one of these things, it's an add-on. It's not the basic foundation of retirement.
O'BRIEN: Here is what Clinton said, "By 2013, payroll taxes will no longer be sufficient to cover monthly payments." It goes on and on. That's from the 1999 state of the union.
BOXER: Thank you. And that's why we fixed it, and now -- we fixed it then. And it's going to be fine until 2052, according to most experts.
O'BRIEN: When it's completely not fine. I mean, it falls apart.
BOXER: Not completely, it doesn't fall apart, Soledad.
You see, here's your point that you're missing, I think. And I have to make a point. Social security is not falling apart unless you decide you don't want it anymore, like George Bush decided.
And how he's going to ruin it is, he's going to borrow $2 trillion so that we can afford not to move to personal accounts... O'BRIEN: If you do not do anything by 2052, there's no more money in the fund, is that correct?
BOXER: No, there will be enough money in the fund in 2052...
O'BRIEN: To fund 70 percent is what people are putting out.
BOXER: Yes, but of course we're not going to do -- of course we're going do something just as we did with Ronald Reagan.
Now Ronald Reagan was a strong, conservative Republican. I was in the congress at that time. We all got together, and we fixed social security.
O'BRIEN: So you're taking issue with the way the president wants to fix it, not the fixing of it at all?
BOXER: No, he wants to destroy it. He wants to change it. He wants to borrow $2 trillion -- and that's a fortune for us; we can't afford that -- and put it into these transition costs so that we can now have no social security at the end of the day for the young people, and they will invest in the stock market.
And what I'm saying is that's a dangerous deal.
O'BRIEN: Democrats have said, no way. I mean, we heard Harry Reid say, this is just not going to happen. Democrats aren't going to play.
Republicans have also said this is going to be a very, very, very, very, very tough sell.
I guess my question would be, if you look at the polls, people say -- 74 percent say -- he made a convincing case in the speech last night for social security change.
In Iraq, did he move the country in the right direction?
On social security, yes, 66 percent. Those are very solid numbers. He has obviously connected with the American people. So are the Democrats and the Republicans who are on the fence out of touch?
BOXER: Well, I think these polls are interesting. Was this a poll of the whole country or the people who watched the speech?
O'BRIEN: The people who watched the speech.
BOXER: Yes, so you need to understand who watched the speech.
Be that as it may, that's fine. He gave a good speech. I could give a good speech. And once I tell people, as a former stock broker, that what the president is trying to do is to walk away from a program that has been secure, that has worked, that he predicted in 1978 it would be gone in 1988, that in fact if you rely on the market --
we have seen people in my office after the Enron scandal who lost every, single penny. They put all their money in Enron.
So what we need to do is come together, as we did under Ronald Reagan, we need to say, yes, our young people can have personal accounts. We can make that happen.
That should be an add-on, just like all the senators and all the congressmen have, basic social security that is always going to be there and an add-on if you want to do it.
And I think that will be the great solution to this issue.
O'BRIEN: Senator Barbara Boxer, nice to see you, as always. We only got to social security. You had so much more to talk about on this speech.
BOXER: Yes, I he also had an open checkbook for Iraq, but that's a whole other program.
O'BRIEN: Well, we have no time.
BOXER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Nice to see you, as always.
BOXER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
And of course, we've been watching this picture from the national prayer breakfast under way in Washington, D.C. this morning. It's the keynote speaker this morning addressing the crowd.
We're expecting to hear from President Bush in just a few minutes. And, of course, we're going to bring that to you live when it happens.
First, though, let's take you right to CNN's national correspondent, Bob Franken. He's in Washington as well, this morning.
Hey, Bob, good morning.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad, outside the hotel where the president is going to appear.
And to the evangelicals, it's much more than appearances at a national breakfast. Many presidents have done that. Most, of course, have done that. But to the evangelicals, George W. Bush is one of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice-over): Among those who identified themselves as born again Christians, two-thirds approve of how he's doing. And the reelection of President Bush was helped mightily by their turnout.
LOIS ROMBERGER, WORD OF GRACE CHURCHGOER: God told us in Exodus, choose from amongst you to rule over you, your tens, your hundreds, your thousands, which to me says your local, your state, your federal government.
FRANKEN: Evangelicals consider the president amongst them, even when he addresses a Colorado convention from the White House.
BUSH: All of you know the power of faith to transform lives. You're answering the call to love and to serve your neighbor.
FRANKEN: But now it's time for deliverance.
WENDY WRIGHT, CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA: We hope that the president can be encouraged by the last election to see that people really do want strong stands on issues of virtue, or better known as value.
FRANKEN: Evangelicals are impatient with political accommodation. They want to see abortion outlawed as well as gay marriage, the barriers between church and state pulled down by a Bush presidency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can look at his values, and he's very -- his values are family oriented. He's for the protection of America.
BUSH: I don't expect to you agree with me, necessarily, on religion. As a matter of fact, no president should ever try to impose religion on our society.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: But this is a man who proudly claims to have been a hard drinking, fallen man until he was born again. And the evangelicals can relate to that. So they want him to aggressively pursue their agenda -- Soledad?
O'BRIEN: And Bob Franken for us. Bob, we're going to ask you to stick around while we wait to hear from the president. Obviously, we're going to take those remarks live, when they happen.
Let's check in with Jeff Greenfield, once again, though.
Jeff, give me a sense of how important it is. And I think the timing of this national prayer breakfast is sort of interesting, as well, coming right on the heels of the state of the union address.
But how important is it for the president to, what he says to this particular crowd this morning?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think you have to make a distinction. The national prayer breakfast, which has been around for a half a century is actually an annual, nonpartisan, very significant event.
A lot of important people from both sides of the isles and all denominations come. Now this is not an, particularly an evangelical, Christian group. But what is significant is that in over the last 20 years, religion, which used to really tell you very little about how Americans would vote with the singular exception probably of American Jews, heavily democratic.
Religion has become - faith -- has become one of the most significant determinants of how you vote. Observant, churchgoers and, in fact, even observant Jews vote much more Republican than less observant Christians, Jews, whatever.
In addition to which, there in the traditional Democratic communities, Hispanic and black, Republicans see, as I mentioned a few moments ago, an opportunity to win over some of those voters by stressing culturally conservative themes, like opposition to gay marriage.
So in a broader sense, the president's identification as a born again Christian, someone who turned his own life around, resonates with particular power in a group that is increasingly active at the polls. Used to -- the evangelical group used to see religion -- politics -- as none of their concern. This world, not the other world.
And then after the Supreme Court vote on abortion and school prayer, they began to get more and more involved to the extent -- and now, the fact that the president is seen by this group as one of them, as Bob Franken said, was one of the reasons why the turnout last Fall was the way it is, why the Republicans managed to out dual the Democrats on getting their base vote out.
The president's been very careful, and you heard that clip a minute ago, to say look, I'm not looking to impose my view on anyone. You can have any faith or no faith and be a good, moral upright citizen.
But there's no question within that constituency, George W. Bush is probably as admired a president as any, even more than Ronald Reagan was. So that one -- that's where I think the significance lies.
O'BRIEN: Jeff, while you're talking, we've been also looking a shot of Tony Hull. He's the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. He's talking about some of his experiences in Ethiopia. He's a former congressman from Ohio.
I think, though, we should talk a little bit more about the breakfast, as well. It's expensive, $400. $425, I think, was the cost last year. Ninety minutes of prayer and a breakfast of granola, and fruit, and bagels, and pastries, coffee and juice.
Obviously, the money is not going to the breakfast, per se. To a large degree it's going to access, isn't it, Jeff?
GREENFIELD: Well, as I said, the prayer breakfast has become an event as much where people render unto Caesar as to God. That is, it is a place where movers and shakers of all denominations, all faiths and all parties do tend to come. So, you know, I think look, in Washington, it's hard to find any event that sooner or later doesn't become also a politically significant event. But I don't think that what you're going to hear tonight -- this morning, rather -- from the president is any kind of specific agenda. It's a much broader message about the power of faith and its importance in individual lives.
And I also think, by the way, that it is one of those political developments that people on the left have been very slow to understand. I think they tend to see talk of faith as somehow bound up with a particular political view, with a Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson view.
And one of the prominent conservatives I spoke to some months ago said the biggest misunderstanding that people on the left have about this is that people of faith are not, they're not undereducated. They're not impoverished, dirt farmers.
They are across the country. They're in fast growing, exorbitant communities. They take an active role in their public life. They don't necessarily have to be conservatives, but they do tend to respond to someone like George W. Bush, who reflects their view of the role of faith in life.
And I think traditionally, as you saw with John Kerry, who comes from a different tradition in New England, also a Catholic, much more reticent about speaking openly about the role of faith in his life.
And I think Democrats are now, and more broadly more liberal folks, are now beginning to see, you know what, this has been something that we need to understand. When you realize that the civil rights movement was born in the black, Southern churches almost half a century ago, that much of the anti-war movement was rooted in religious objections to war.
And the idea that religion has now become a determinant of how people vote is something that has really both confused and hurt people on the more liberal side of the equation.
O'BRIEN: No question about that.
Tony Hull, again, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. talking a little bit about his experiences in the third world at the national prayer breakfast. He's a former congressman from Ohio.
Some 3,000 people in the audience, we're told. Something like 160 of them are representing -- 160, rather, foreign countries, dignitaries from around the world invited, as well.
We're going to continue to monitor this. Tony Hull is the keynote speaker. We're expecting to hear from President Bush in just a few minutes.
Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: We're at about nine minutes, now, before the hour.
A disturbing number of infections, as many as two million every year, begin while patients are in the hospital. Sanjay is off today. Elizabeth Cohen doing the duties down there at the CNN Center with more on this, now.
Good morning.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Bill, when you have to go to the hospital, you have a reasonable expectation that you're going to get better. But the advocacy group Consumers Union says more people die of infections that they get in the hospital than die of homicides and auto accidents combined.
They're called hospital acquired infections, and the numbers are pretty dramatic.
According to the "New England Journal of Medicine," two million patients each year are infected in the hospital. That means 90,000 are dying each year. That cost, $5 billion a year in extra health care costs.
Now, why are people getting these infections, and why are these numbers on the rise? Well, people get them sometimes when they are having catheter procedures, procedures that involve a catheter because the catheter introduces a bacteria or a virus.
People get sick a lot in intensive care units. Of course, that's where the sicker patients are. Heart procedures are also a time when people get these infections, as are procedures where people are getting artificial body parts, a knee replacement, a hip replacement, procedures such as that.
Now that last one there, that's one of the reasons why these numbers are on the rise. As doctors invent more foreign parts to put in our bodies, that's a good thing. But it's also more opportunities to introduce infections.
Well, the Centers for Disease Control is having a meeting with the American Hospital Association and other groups next week to see what can be done.
Now, one problem is that there's a lot of fuzziness on the statistics. Only four states require reporting of hospital acquired infections. And there's no national standards for how to figure out when someone has an infection that they acquired in the hospital -- Bill?
HEMMER: And so in the meantime, how do you protect yourself if you're in the hospital and concerned about this?
COHEN: There are certain steps that you can take. The first one sounds kind of obvious, but you really need to do it. Make sure that your doctor is washing his or her hands. Unfortunately, studies have shown that doctors do not always wash their hands between patients.
Also, ask about the infection rate for your procedure. And if it's a high infection rate, ask if there are alternatives to that risky procedure.
Sometimes you can say, look, doctor, this procedure has a pretty high risk of infection, is there something else we can do instead?
HEMMER: Thanks, Elizabeth. Good to know.
COHEN: Thanks.
HEMMER: Back to Soledad in Washington again.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.
And of course, we're keeping a close watch on the national prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C., this morning. Any minute now, we're expecting to hear comments from President Bush.
Right now at the podium is Tony Hull. He is the keynote speaker.
We're going to bring the president's comments to you, though, live as soon as he starts talking.
AMERICAN MORNING is back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: If you're in the market to sell your home, this might be the best time to go about that. Tips on how to maximize your home's value -- Gerri Willis in for Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Jack.
Yes, it's time to start thinking about selling your house, particularly if you've had very big gains in it. Number one, think about selling now, don't wait for Spring.
You know, conventional wisdom is you've got to wait until Spring. But I'm telling you, people are out now because they're trying to beat interest rates.
Number two, re-evaluate your digs. If you've lived in your house a long time, you've kind of lost touch with the market. Maybe you've lost touch with the condition of your house. You might want to bring in an inspector -- Jack?
CAFFERTY: An Inspector Jack?
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIS: An inspector, Jack.
CAFFERTY: You know, the problem with selling your house is...
WILLIS: An inspector named, Jack.
CAFFERTY: The problem with selling your house is you have to go find some place to live after you sell it. So, it means you've got to go buy something else.
WILLIS: That's absolutely true.
CAFFERTY: Prices are way up there.
WILLIS: Well, you know, if you're going to sell that house, you've got to make sure that the sale of your house is contingent on getting the new house so you don't get in a situation where you have to have a bridge loan, which is really expensive. And you don't want to be in that situation.
CAFFERTY: You can learn more about all this stuff on a new show you've got starting this weekend.
WILLIS: That's right, 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning, join us on "OPEN HOUSE." If you're buying a new home or renovating an old one, we'll have tips to help you do it better.
And we're going to make sure that we pay attention to your bottom line for your biggest investment. On Saturday morning, we're doing a couple of exciting new stories, one on the boom. Is it over, and what should you do?
We've got "Weekend Project" coming up. It's an exciting segment. We'll show you how to renovate your bathroom.
CAFFERTY: Now there's a project.
WILLIS: It's a weekend project, so you can get it done in just two days.
CAFFERTY: Not for me, it's not. Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: You're not going to renovate?
CAFFERTY: I couldn't do it. I couldn't renovate a bathroom in two years let alone a weekend.
WILLIS: Jack, even you could do this, I'm telling you.
CAFFERTY: No, no.
HEMMER: Well, you've got "OPEN HOUSE" on the weekend. You've got "IN THE MONEY" on the weekend. CAFFERTY: There you go.
HEMMER: Never leave the house, right?
Thank you. And thank you, Inspector Jack.
We're waiting on the president down at the national prayer breakfast. We're going to get back down to Soledad watching things there.
Almost -- right, Soledad?
O'BRIEN: Yes, we're expecting him any minute now. Of course, there's been a keynote speaker, Tony Hull, a U.S. ambassador to the U.N., talking a little bit about his experiences in the third world. He's introducing the president.
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