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CNN Saturday Morning News
Terminal Evacuated at New York's LaGuardia Airport; Evaluating Obama's Second 100 Days in Office; Cash-for-Clunkers Needs More Funding
Aired August 01, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for the first day of August here. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Brooke Baldwin sitting in for Betty once again this weekend.
Thank you for starting with us. We are working this story. Want to get you up on this happening at LaGuardia Airport up in New York City. Take a look at this, live pictures coming in -- or pictures coming in I should say from WABC. A lot of people just hanging out and waiting because the central terminal at LaGuardia was evacuated -- what, just about an hour-and-a-half ago?
HOLMES: Not too long ago and we are just finding out that yes in fact, one person is in custody now and that person's bag is being looked at by authorities. The New York police, the Port Authority, also the bomb squad involved here, but don't know exactly what sparked the suspicion of this person or this bag, but one person is in custody.
This is the central terminal, this is the primary terminal at LaGuardia airport, a very busy place day in, day out, certainly on a weekend, certainly on a Saturday morning like we are right now. But this is again, up to some 72 gates, at least 40 of the gates at this entire airport at this particular terminal.
So everybody is having to get out. There are several concourses in this particular terminal as well, but all of them, everything, the entire central terminal being evacuated at this point, a very busy airport. This picture you are seeing, see people just outside collecting, they're being kept away, a certain number of feet away from the particular terminal just for their own safety.
We see how this goes, but again, this could be a situation where it might turn out to be nothing, but they take these things seriously. You know they had to take it seriously to a point that it was important enough for them to evacuate this entire terminal.
Waiting to get more information, don't know again anything about this man that we're told is in custody. Some word that he was possibly uncooperative with TSA once. In fact he did arouse some suspicion. He was at that point not cooperative and that is when he was taken into custody and his bag being taken into place (ph). Again no word of anybody necessarily being injured, certainly inconvenience to this morning, but no injuries and no word of anything other than this man just being suspicious, a suspect bag and now, we are waiting to hear when these people might be let back in.
So if you are flying into, out of New York anytime today, you need to call ahead and you need to look online because that entire terminal that services most of the airlines there, this is a separate terminal, a Delta terminal there as well at the airport, but this is the central terminal that carries Air Tran, Continental, Northwest, all those main airlines operate out of there.
So you need to check ahead. We are working this story trying to get more, but that is the news right now and a mess of the morning to start the Saturday in New York today.
We're also taking a look this morning, President Obama, can you believe? It's been a second set of 100 days now, first six months in office for the president. His cabinet meeting today to take stock of their first half year in office. The president's agenda has been dominated by the economy of course with a healthy dose of health care thrown in.
Our Elaine Quijano joins us now live from the White House. Elaine, good morning to you, having a Saturday morning meeting?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well T.J., it is day two of the Obama administration's six month retreat. It's a chance really for officials to assess how they feel they have done so far. Now all 22 cabinet ranking members have been invited and they are attending and it's really going to be an opportunity for them to discuss their goals and their priorities moving forward.
Now today's session is happening here at the White House. We should tell you that yesterday's took place just across the street at the presidential guest house, Blair House. Vice President Joe Biden for today is going to be kicking off the sessions by delivering remarks and as you might expect T.J., health care and the economy are going to be, are expected to be items of discussion at today's session -- T.J.
HOLMES: Well, certainly, health care is on the mind of everybody right about now. We'll be talking about it plenty more this morning as well. In our 9:00 hour, we're dedicating our half hour to it here. We appreciate you Elaine. We'll be checking in with you again.
BALDWIN: There has certainly been some movement by Congress on health care, but there is still a long way to go before here a reform bill even comes to a vote.
HOLMES: But big step late yesterday, key House committee passed their version of the reform bill. It included major concessions for conservative Democrats. That version will be combined with two other versions to produce the final version of the House bill, which won't be voted on until at least September. Congress on recess right now. Then, there's the Senate version of this health care bill to talk about. They don't have one that's come out of committee just yet. They'll get back to work on that after the recess.
BALDWIN: So it's Saturday, August 1st. What's on tap for the president? He is taking a bit of a break today heading to Camp David, but it will be a short bit of rest because coming up Monday, President Obama will be attending an event celebrating the new GI bill.
What does that do? It gives major new incentives to our active duty troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan and then on Wednesday, the president will be heading to the Midwest where he's expected to talk economy. He'll be in Elkhart, Indiana. It is his second trip there as president.
Have the president's second 100 days been better than the first? It is your chance to weigh in here. Starting tomorrow, you can vote, cnn.com and make sure to tune in Thursday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern time to see the president's final grades, you being the grader. It is part of CNN's national report card, the second 100 days.
HOLMES: Of course, we've been talking a bit this morning about the popular cash for clunkers program and how it's actually running out of money. The House has stepped in with $2 billion in new stimulus funds, but they still need the Senate to step up.
Here's Kate Bolduan with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Auto dealers thought (ph) as the deal they couldn't and wouldn't pass up. What was the reaction amongst you and your employees when this program really started moving?
ALEX PERDIKIS, VICE PRESIDENT, KOONS AUTOMOTIVE: When we saw the influx of business, the people coming in, they were actually ready to buy, it was very exciting. I mean, we had a huge weekend.
BOLDUAN: Alex Perdikis of Koons Automotive says they have sold 290 cars at their 16 locations thanks to the cash for clunkers program. And they've seen a 40 percent jump in sales compared to the same time last year. But then reports the $1 billion program was already running out of cash, leaving dealers as well as members of Congress scrambling.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: To help our auto industry, to help consumers to grow our economy, to do it in an environmentally sound way, I think it's the perfect message for us to take home for August.
REP. DAN MAFFEI, (D) NEW YORK: This is a Godsend for the auto dealers in my district. Don't stall what's working. Give it a fill up and let's get cash for clunkers back on the road.
BOLDUAN: The House quickly passed a $2 billion extension of the clunkers program. Happy with its success, the White House is also piling on the pressure. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So we're now working with Congress on a bipartisan solution to ensure that the program can continue for everyone out there who's still looking to make a trade.
BOLDUAN: But the back and forth, the threats of stop and go, have some dealers nervous and searching for direction.
BILL ASCHENBACH, KING PONTIAC BUICK GMC: It affects us right now because you're still so scared. You're not sure what exactly to do or what's going to happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: So Kate Bolduan joins us now from a dealership in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Kate, you talked there at the end of your piece about a lot of these dealerships now being hold hostage.
BOLDUAN: They're kind of nervous I have to tell you, some of the dealerships. They really didn't know what was going to be coming with this program T.J. They were all hearing reports of they're running out of money. But now, they are at least assured from the White House and the Obama administration that they will process the certificates, push out this money, accept those -- offer the rebates through this weekend.
So we're going to see. We're here at Fitzgerald auto mall. It's in Maryland and we'll see exactly how much activity they have today. It's a beautiful day here, so if it's any day to go car shopping, today seems like it would be the day so we'll see how many people come out.
HOLMES: So are they receptive to it and excited about it? Like you said, it could be a busy weekend, at least this weekend for a lot of car dealerships. So the ones you're talking to, are they looking forward to it?
BOLDUAN: We're waiting to talk to the general manager right now, but the dealership that I have spoken to, that I spoke to just yesterday, T.J., he said you know what, there are a few frustrations with this program, paperwork being one but as you might know, surprise, surprise.
When you're working with the government, (INAUDIBLE) very often, but there's a lot of paperwork. He said you know what, we'll take that headache compared to the alternative, which is not a lot of business. He said, we are, we welcome this business, this bump, even if it's short term.
HOLMES: All right, Kate Bolduan for us at the dealership. Thank you so much. Good luck finding you a new car. We cut her off.
BALDWIN: She's maybe car shopping today. We'll check back in with her to find out.
HOLMES: We got another story we're keeping an eye on. BALDWIN: Latest development of that awful killing, that couple, the murders of the Florida couple last month might have been contract killings. A source familiar with the investigation say that the state attorney's office thinks most of those suspects were only there to rob this couple, to rob Burt and Melanie Gillings (ph), but the alleged organizer, Leonard Gonzalez Jr. and other suspects might have been planning this hit all along. The state attorney's office says he can't comment on that point specifically.
Also, some new information for you this morning. Evidence in the Michael Jackson case that suggests the pop star shopped around for a doctor, a doctor who would give him a powerful anesthetic called Propofol. The brand name of this drug is Diprivan (ph). You've heard us talking about this in recent weeks.
That is the drug a source close to the investigation says Dr. Conrad Murray is suspected of giving Jackson hours before he died. This latest piece of information coming from a search warrant which names another doctor here who says he previously denied Jackson's request for the drug.
HOLMES: We have a happy ending to a story we were following here that really didn't start the right way. It was the saddest thing to see these kids out of Philadelphia, went to a swim club, predominantly African-American students. There they are. That's the group and you see those faces there.
Those faces were turned away from a country club, a swimming pool that they thought they could go swim at, told they couldn't swim there and some of the kids say they overheard people making comments and racist comments about the students, black students not being able to swim there. Well, the kids got to play somewhere else.
BALDWIN: They did. They got to meet Mickey, Minnie Mouse and the guy there in the white hat, that's Tyler Perry. You heard of him? He's here in Atlanta, massive producer, director, actor and he's...
HOLMES: Rich guy.
BALDWIN: Rich guy overall and he decided you know what, I think I can help these kids. So he heard their story how they were turned down from swimming in this south Philadelphia country club, took them down to Disney world, so he did a pretty nice favor for these kids. Looks like they had a ton of fun.
HOLMES: Found a better place to play than that swimming pool.
We're keeping an eye on LaGuardia out of New York right now. As we said, the central terminal there, the main terminal has been evacuated. These are new pictures coming in to us, but a mess on a Saturday morning at the airport. Some people are probably taking off for just weekend trips, but also vacations probably this morning.
Well, people aren't going anywhere right now because this central terminal has been shut down because of a suspicious bag that was carried by a man who is now in custody. We're keeping an eye on that story for us this morning.
BALDWIN: And we are still going ahead, we're devoting an entire half hour here to break down health care reform. What's really on the table, who's paying for it. We're talking about potential changes affecting you and your insurance.
HOLMES: That's coming up in our 9:00 hour. Don't miss that.
Also, rev up (ph) your search engines, what the Yahoo! Microsoft merger means for the online giant Google.
BALDWIN: And you can stay connected with us each and every weekend, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail us, weekend@cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Iranian news agencies are reporting trials again today for about 100 protesters detained after the disputed presidential elections in June. Charges include attacking military and government buildings and destruction of public property.
BALDWIN: In the meantime, some 17,000 additional prisoners were either pardoned or had their sentences commuted by Iran's supreme leader (INAUDIBLE) .
Turning to our forces I should say this morning, from the front lines to the need for care.
HOLMES: Right now, a major upgrade for the military, not on the battlefield, but in the classroom. Talking about the new GI bill which goes into affect today. And as CNN's Heidi Collins explains, it will give veterans new opportunities for better lives after the military.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An historic change in the GI bill now gives new incentives for troops serving on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. After they're done serving our country, their opportunities for education will be completely different. Millions of veterans have used the GI bill to help pay for college since it was first introduced back in World War II.
But a lot has changed since then, so the GI bill is adapting for today's military.
KEITH WILSON, VETERAN AFFAIRS EDUCATION DIRECTOR: You could have two individuals for example, patrolling the streets of Baghdad, one individual being on active duty, another individual being a guard reserve member that was called up. When they return, they would have received very different benefits. Now under this program, because it's based on active service, those individuals can end up receiving the same benefits.
COLLINS: The new bill will allow veterans who served at least 10 years to pass unused benefits onto their families. MAJ. RON LEE, U.S. ARMY: My daughter now who is 16, will get her first two years of college paid by this GI bill program. My daughter who's 10, Veronica, she will receive the second two years.
SGT. NATHAN O'DONNELL, U.S. ARMY: When I have kids and it comes their time to go to school, I'll be able to let them use the GI bill and have them paid for education, using the benefits from when I served.
COLLINS: Then there's Joe Gittings. He served in the army in World War II and used the benefits to learn a lifelong trade, which he's still using now at age 82.
JOE GITTINGS, WW II VETERAN: A lot of veterans, in all fields of endeavor benefited from the GI bill.
COLLINS: Back then, veterans got only $500 a year at the most to further their education via college or apprenticeships. Today, the bill has a cap of about $16,000 a year.
The new bill can only be used toward a college or university education, but it kicks the amount of money way up, matching the costs of some of the most expensive state schools in the country. Overall, the director of the program says the major changes will make it easier to get new recruits and keep the more experienced troops longer.
Heidi Collins, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: We're talking weather a little bit this morning. We've been talking severe weather, but I still can't get over Reynolds the numbers in the Pacific northwest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: If you're headed to Miami and you're trying to get a great weekend get away, go a little bit farther into the Florida keys, travel down parts of A1A. It's going to take you to Islamorada. That is this weekend's get away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice-over): A unique destination in Florida's upper keys is Islamorada. The waters in Islamorada are home to some of the world's most coveted sports fish.
RICHARD STANCZYK, BUD N' MARY'S MARINA: It's unusual because of our location, every fish that actually swims in this hemisphere can be caught from these shores.
WOLF: Guided boat tours of the Indian Key State historic site are a chance to catch a glimpse of the past.
CAPTAIN CHRIS, TOUR OPERATOR, ? MARINA: This is the last known resting place of the founder of Indian Key. SARAH KANTROWITZ, TRAVEL + LEISURE: Indian key is a very interesting place to visit. What's interesting about it is that there are these old European ruins.
WOLF: Or rent a kayak or canoe and explore on your own. Islamorada's accommodations range from old Florida style with budget- friendly prices.
JIM BERNARDIN, PINES & PALMS RESORT: Pines and palms is what we call one of the destination resorts here in the Florida keys.
WOLF: ... to secluded luxury.
HUBERT BAUDOIN, THE MOORINGS VILLAGE: (INAUDIBLE) keys, the heyday of the keys and it's a great place.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Still ahead, Honda is expanding a recall of vehicles with a potentially faulty air bag.
HOLMES: And Josh Levs joining us to talk about Google might be getting some competition. Good morning again Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you guys. You've probably heard of Bing. It's this new search engine from Microsoft. Now Yahoo! has joined this project and Google is fighting back the way you search online, may be about to change.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Quick heads-up for you if you're driving a Honda. The car company Honda is recalling 440,000 more of its vehicles, why, because of a potential problem with the driver's side air bags. This is in addition to a recall that was announced back in November.
Take a look here. The cars suspected are 2001 and 2002 model Accords, 2001 Civics and Acura TL's made in 2002 and 2003. Honda says in rare cases, the air bag inflators ruptured when the air bag was deployed, causing as you imagine injuries and at least one death.
Microsoft and Yahoo! joining forces here to create a bigger and what they're hoping is a better search engine, but will it change the way you surf the net?
HOLMES: Our Josh Levs has details on what this means for Google.
LEVS: Some are calling this micro-hoo, this combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! getting together to try to challenge the dominance of Google. Will this change the way you search online? We're going to get some answers now. Steven Levy is joining us from "Wired" magazine. Steven, thank you.
STEVEN LEVY, WIRED MAGAZINE: Thank you.
LEVS: All right, so talk to us, the big picture here. Do Microsoft and Yahoo! really have a shot as challenging the dominance of Google as the ultimate way to search online?
LEVY: I think it's a real, real long shot to think that even in long-term, this Microsoft Yahoo! combination. It's more like Ying because it's Microsoft's search engine Bing which Yahoo! is going to use. They really can't supplant Google in the medium or even long- term because Google has a lock on web search. Seventy five percent in the U.S., even more, up to 92 percent in western Europe. Microsoft is now a strong number two.
LEVS: If they don't have a shot at becoming number one, why even go for it? What are they going to get out of it?
LEVY: Well, first of all, there's money to be made by being a strong number two and they can inch up their share, particularly if they buy their way into it by buying placement on browsers. The second thing is that Google doesn't have permanence everywhere.
There's different ways that search is going to go into peoples' lives. There's going to be mobile search, video search, all kinds of other searches. So I think Microsoft puts itself in a strong position now to be a competitor in these future areas of search.
LEVS: Is there a place, a lot of people out there saying, you know what, I like Google, except it keeps doing this thing wrong. Where is Google weak?
LEVY: Well, it's interesting. Microsoft tried to identify a few places so they concentrated on a few areas like health and travel. But it's very difficult to scale these things when you kind of pinpoint with a rifle shot in search there. I think right now, the difficulty is going to be delivering much more varied multimedia results and keeping the simplicity.
LEVS: In reality, for most people out there who sit down at their computers and search for information, are they likely to see any kind of sea change in the next couple of years?
LEVY: I think they're going to see improvement. This is good for the consumer. It's good that Google has a lot of competition now and the competition's going to be focused really to where it belongs and the company which is most competitive with Google in other areas.
And then we'll see search companies like Facebook and Twitter, in terms of real time search and what people are doing now and to search their social graphs. So I think the consumers, they may not see like a big sea change, a big bang, but they're going to see improvements coming from all directions.
LEVS: Steven Levy, "Wired" magazine, thank you so much.
LEVY: Thank you.
LEVS: All right guys, back to you.
HOLMES: This is not the way to start a Saturday morning for a lot of folks. We've been telling you about LaGuardia. A central terminal has been shut down, the central terminal there shut down, but listen to this now. There is not a flight taking off or landing at this time at LaGuardia airport. That is the information we have now, that no flight is being allowed to land or take off.
This is going to cause not just a headache for the people there, but it will reverberate across this country because that is such a hub, such a busy airport, New York's LaGuardia airport now. You can't get in there and if you're there, you can't get out. You need to make sure you make some adjustments this morning. This is because of a suspicious bag that they found and now, a man in custody.
BALDWIN: Now we are hearing from the Port Authority this man's in custody. They're looking into his bags, but beyond that, we are starting to see some video come into to CNN, in particular, want to show you some video from an I-reporter. Apparently this I-reporter came into LaGuardia about 6:00 a.m. and police, what did they do? They turned him right back around, said that he called the airport, got no information.
The information we're giving you now is that if you are headed on a flight out of LaGuardia this morning, definitely call ahead because as T.J. said, we're now hearing from the Port Authority that they are basically putting a hold on every single flight coming and going. What a mess. Take a look at all the people.
Imagine, this is your Saturday morning, just sort of milling about outside of LaGuardia, not sure what's happening. We don't know how long this thing is going to continue at LaGuardia, but a lot of people just sitting and waiting with bags in hand, not sure of the next step.
HOLMES: If anybody knows this airport, a lot of people do, it is one of the most delayed airports year after year in the world anyway, but this is on another level here. Again, more new video we can show you, but LaGuardia, again, this all started earlier this morning, sounds like from one man and one bag has really caused a mess across this country today. We don't know what this man's situation is.
BALDWIN: May turn out to be nothing.
HOLMES: It absolutely may and we hope it does, but the police took it seriously enough that they had to take this action. Again this is the central terminal. There are several terminals there, But this is essentially the main one where the most airlines fly out of. It has the most gates for the airplanes to park, so this is the one that is most used. Certainly a busy airport for business travelers day in and day out. There are so many shuttles that go in and out of there from certainly a major hub, Atlanta to New York, DC to New York.
A lot of people use this airport business travelers, but on the weekend, you know, as well and a lot of these people, it's summertime. They are taking vacations. This is a major airport if you're trying to get down to the islands, if you're trying to get all over the place for vacations, you're leaving so you know that's the situation for a lot of these people today. They are stuck here, folks. This is not just some delay. This is going to cause a problem for people all over this country today.
BALDWIN: My heart goes out to them.
HOLMES: It does.
BALDWIN: That is not fun.
HOLMES: At this point, shutdown nothing landing, nothing taking off. We're keeping an eye on that story. We'll continue to update you but here's to see what comes of this man and that bag.
BALDWIN: And when it will end.
HOLMES: Yes.
BALDWIN: We got a billion dollars in stimulus money to put more police officers on the streets. Some cities got it, some didn't get it. So coming up, we'll be talking -- you'll be talking to a mayor of one town who's receiving funds and what she says the money means more than just safety for them.
HOLMES: But also some are saying that their city can't afford to accept money. That sounds crazy, but they can't afford to accept it. We'll get into it with her in just a second. Also, ahead, you are taking a look at his. Interesting story here, find out what it's like to be in the gang.
BALDWIN: Yes, I was just in Chicago this week and we are talking, digging deeper into the violence in Chicago. So I managed to get this interview with a current gang member. We will ride along some pretty scary streets in Chicago and we'll talk about what it's like being in a gang and why he has a very strong message for kids.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: $1 billion of your stimulus money put to work. This time to make sure enough police officers are paid to maintain order. It's called a community oriented policing services program or COPS. But while some small city police departments enjoy the new cash flow, some big city cops and lawmakers are feeling a little shortchanged here. Cities like Pittsburgh, Houston, Phoenix, Seattle, they all got rejected.
Vice president Joe Biden says the fund went to cities with the highest crime rates or budget problems. Everybody could argue they have budget problems these days, one city that is getting stimulus money, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Joining us this morning, the mayor of Tulsa, Mayor Kathy Taylor. Madame Mayor, thank you so much for being here.
MAYOR KATHY TAYLOR, TULSA, OKLAHOMA: You're welcome.
HOLMES: Congratulations. You're getting some money, but it's not that easy. First of all, let's just get into what you're going to do with this money. TAYLOR: Well, $3.5 million will allow us to hire 18 police officers and we currently have all of our city employees, all 4,000, taking eight furlough days this year. That's taking more than 18 police officers off the streets for us. So it will barely, even without retirement, enable us to stay even, but public safety's a core service and it's important for us.
HOLMES: And there's a bit of a catch here and it's counterintuitive for people to hear this, but you might not be able to afford, some are saying, to accept the money. This is $3.5 million you're getting but it comes with a few catches, including after the money runs for these officers in three years, you have to fund them for the fourth year and also you have to pay for equipment for these 18 new officers out of your own budgets. Some are saying you can't afford to do that, mayor.
TAYLOR: Well, I just don't agree. We would hire 18 officers over the next several years if we had the money to do it. We'll lose over, between 24 and 30 every year just to retirement alone. We have a staffing study that says, in fact, we need 67 additional officers. We can't afford not to take this money.
And the one-time money needed for capital, which is about $840,000, we have a trust authority that deals with ref(ph) in our city. We have a trust authority that deals with refues(ph) in our city, we gave them $10 million about 20 years ago and are asking for a little less than $1 million of that back to pay for these capital expenses.
HOLMES: So, you have, you do have a bit of a challenge here and some of the city -- the city council does have to say, to give the OK. You've been given the grant essentially, given the OK for the grant but still the city council has to approve it. And some of those council members don't think you can pay for it. Are you sure you have the votes? Do you still have some negotiating to do to make sure the city council OKs this money?
TAYLOR: Well, we certainly want to make sure the city council is fully informed, but I think a few councils are playing politics with this money and I think public safety is no place to play politics.
HOLMES: All right. Last thing, quickly, do you find that there are, does it tie your hands a bit at least? You're making some adjustments, but do you find some of the stimulus money does come with some restrictions that does put some kind of a strain sometimes on the municipalities like yours?
TAYLOR: Actually, I find it comes with much fewer (inaudible) than other federal money. We're getting the design programs like summer youth employment programs that fit the specific needs of our city much better than former federal programs that we've had to deal with.
HOLMES: Well, Mayor Kathy Taylor, we are going to be keeping an eye on it. Again, it's counterintuitive to hear that a city can't afford to take the money but it sounds like you have a plan, at least, and we'll see if you can get some of those council members to come around to what you're saying.
TAYLOR: Thank you.
HOLMES: Good luck to you there. We'll be following up with you, mayor.
TAYLOR: Thank you.
HOLMES: We're going to be talking some health care coming up here in just a moment. What it means for you? You want to stick around for this. We're going to take a half hour to break this all down for you. We're not going to be breaking down Michael Vick and health care, just yet. We're going to be talking about health care. What's on the table. What's in it for you? We're going to simplify these things, simplify, simplify at 9:00 Eastern hour. You want to stick around for that. And then ...
BALDWIN: Also ahead, we'll talk Vick. Pro-football, Michael Vick. Is he good for a second chance and if so, which team? What are his prospects.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Keeping an eye on our breaking news and a situation in New York. That situation being the central shutdown of New York's LaGuardia airport, busy airport any day of the week, especially on a Saturday morning. But the shutdown has started. These are some of the pictures.
You can just see how this thing is going, but it had to be evacuated. The central terminal, the main terminal because authorities found what they deemed a suspect package and now they have a suspect in custody, a man in custody. They are checking out that bag. We have no idea what's in it, what initially sparked this, why we're suspicious in the first place.
But no planes are landing. No planes are taking off right now from LaGuardia Airport. This has been going on for the past, at least, hour hours, an hour and a half, maybe two plus hours that we've been watching this thing. But it is essentially shut down. The terminal was evacuated.
BALDWIN: We've got a couple of folks on the phone. First one, we got to Ross Levitt. He is one of our producers in CNN in New York. Ross, are you with me?
ROSS LEVITT, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): Good morning, Brooke. How are you doing?
BALDWIN: Good morning. I don't know if you are driving or if you already at LaGuardia but tell me where you are and what you see?
LEVITT: I'm standing outside of the terminal here and it's a seen straight out of New York City with people with bags in hands literally standing on the overpass. Some of them have been here for as many as two hours waiting to get back into the terminal. A representative from the Port Authority recently pulled up and using a bullhorn told these people they would be back in the terminal within a half hour.
Meanwhile, I've been watching employees stream back into the building, which tells me that whatever situation it was here is starting to clear up and so we've seen a steady stream of those airport employees heading back into the main terminal here, the American Airlines terminal, and -- but folks who have been waiting all morning, still are out in the hot sun watching and waiting and all with cell phones up to their ears and bags at their feet and just waiting to get back into this terminal and get on with their trips.
BALDWIN: Yes, telling their loved ones to hang on, they'll be heading home late. Let me ask you, Ross, since this is live TV, I'm just going to put you on the spot and see if you have anyone on next to you, any of these passengers who have been delayed that we could talk to. We want to know where they're headed, how long they've been waiting outside. What the deal is? Is there anyone around we can chat with?
LEVITT: Yes, I do. I have Christina right here. Christina (ph), could you just tell us how long have you been waiting and Where you're heading?
CHRISTINA: I'm heading to Cleveland Hopkins Airport. I've been waiting since about 7:00 this morning.
LEVITT: OK. And you've been here since 7:00, what time is your flight supposed to leave?
CHRISTINA: My flight is scheduled to leave at 10:15 and arrive at Chicago and then I'm supposed to fly from Chicago to Cleveland. So -
LEVITT: And how long have you be out here in the hot sun?
CHRISTINA: Almost an hour and 45 minutes. It's pretty warm out here.
LEVITT: What's going through your mind right now?
CHRISTINA: Well, I'm pretty calm, actually, but I just kind of want to get home. My flight was delayed last night so I just want to be home already.
LEVITT: Were you inside the terminal when it was evacuated?
CHRISTINA: No, I was not. I actually -- the cab driver had to drop me off seven blocks because all the roads are closed and all the exits on the freeway are closed. So I had to walk quite a bit to get to where I'm standing right outside.
LEVITT: So there you have it, Brooke. Just people waiting, and hoping to get back in at the terminals and get on with their trip.
BALDWIN: What a mess over this bag that who knows what may or may not be inside and this individual who's been detained by authorities there. Ross, we appreciate it. Thank Christina for us as well. Safe travels to her. We also have another gentleman on the line.
HOLMES: Yes and she did sounded like she was in good spirits and she has taken all these in stride. Let's see how Jose Ojeda is doing. From the Bronx, Jose is -- we'll get him on the line here for just a second, another passenger, one of our i-reporters as well, who has been sending us information and pictures and things these morning. But these are some of the pictures this morning. You see that overpass there.
Again, people don't have anywhere to go. They're essentially stuck at the airport. They've been dropped off and so on and so forth. I mean, where do you go at this point and a lot of people, they just, essentially, their travel day is done. It's not going to happen. A lot of them have already missed flights. And again even once everybody is allowed to get back in, you still, it's not like planes are going to be back on schedule and start taking off immediately.
So this is just going to be an entire mess. And like you were saying, Brooke, this is a good point. Over a bag which may or may not have anything in it. May have something suspect in it or this just could have been just a misunderstanding and just a mess is just going to mess up people's travel plans, people's vacations in some cases as well.
Jose Ojeda, you're telling me -- I have him on the line now, guys. He is on the line with me. Jose, we're looking at some of your pictures. Were you in the central terminal when it was evacuated initially?
JOSE OJEDA, CNN I-REPORTER (via telephone): Hi, T.J.. I was actually on the plane when the evacuation happened. Yes. We were all ready to go.
HOLMES: What word did you get? What announcement did they make to you on that plane?
OJEDA: They didn't make any announcement other than you need to evacuate. You know, I thought it was a standard procedure, but then once we got out of the plane, they kept pushing us back and back, you know, out of the terminal, out of the actual airport, past the actual parking garages and then there's a whole mass of people here restless.
HOLMES: Oh, well, I have to ask you this question, just out of curiosity, how close were you to actually taking off? Was the door to the plane closed?
OJEDA: I was mere minutes away, T.J..
HOLMES: Oh, Jose. I hate to hear that, my man. Tell me where you are physically now and what you see around you at this point?
OJEDA: I'm at Terminal B LaGuardia Airport. The police are holding us back. They have let a few people in already. But you know, once we get in, we probably have to wait another few hours until they figure this whole mess up.
HOLMES: And Jose, you brought up something there. We're trying to figure this out. You said they're starting to let people in. We had one report that they were just letting some employees of the airport in, but do you see them letting general population, general public back into the airport?
OJEDA: They let an upper tier of people go to the departing. So a few people are trickling in but they're starting to -- you know, they're controlling the flow.
HOLMES: OK.
OJEDA: We're still stranded down here.
HOLMES: Have they made an announcement? Have you heard any announcement, we understand some bull horns were going around? But did anybody made an announcement, did you hear what's happening now?
OJEDA: No, no announcement. They're not telling us anything. They say you'll find out later. We can't tell you anything.
HOLMES: Jose, was it fairly orderly for the most part, and them shuffling people out? A lot of people confused and probably angry but for the most part, did you? Was it a fairly orderly process?
OJEDA: Yes, it's pretty orderly. I mean, on my plane, at least, we were issued a gray boarding passes. We were told to leave our stuff on-board and then come back to get it later. So, you know, I left all my stuff there. I hope it's going to be there when I get there.
HOLMES: All right. Are you also being told that your plane is still going to take off?
OJEDA: I have no idea. Honestly, right now ...
HOLMES: Go ahead.
OJEDA: I was going to Chicago.
HOLMES: Going to Chicago. What time was that supposed to take off?
OJEDA: It was supposed to take off at 6:10 a.m., T.J..
HOLMES: Jose, our hearts go out to you and all the folks at that airport, my goodness. We thank you. We appreciate you sending in those pictures in but apparently like you said, your flight is supposedly to take off at 6:00. So this situation apparently started before the 6:00 a.m. hour.
BALDWIN: Yes ...
OJEDA: Of course.
BALDWIN: I think the perfect word he used was restless. I mean, a lot of people just sitting and waiting and wondering and the problem is maybe Jose's final destination is Chicago, but think of the people who are connecting. Christina was connecting. And that's just bad, bad domino effect for those folks.
Ross Levitt, still on the phone with us. New York producer, Ross, what do you have now? Who do you have for us? Ross, are you with me?
LEVITT: Yes. Hey, Brooke. I'm back with you. So a large crowd of people now streaming into the terminal. They have been given the all clear and that big crowd of passengers that I was staring out and they were all just sort of standing around, now just streamed past me. And we still have a few more heading all the way back in the terminal.
So just a large crowd of people all with bags behind them, all descending on the terminal. And I'm sure there's going to be a big back-up at the gates and all that kind of thing, and security, but for now, at least they are out of the hot sun and heading back into the terminal.
So whatever it was, clearly, authorities have determined that it's safe enough for not just the airport employees to head back in, but for all the passengers to head back in now as well.
BALDWIN: We saw some video of folks heading back into the airport. My question is, if you were right there with the crowd heading back in to the airport, what kind of guidance did they receive from authorities? What were they ...
LEVITT: They didn't receive any. They were just told, hey, it's clear now, you can go back in. And for most of these people, they went ahead out to wherever they were planning to go this morning, they really didn't have too many questions. They just wanted to get back into that terminal and back on their way.
BALDWIN: Following the orders, whatever they may be I guess at this point in time.
LEVITT: Exactly.
BALDWIN: What a frustrating Saturday morning for all these folks. Ross Levitt, great job. Thank you.
LEVITT: Thank you.
HOLMES: We also have another person on line who is heading to Chicago. But if you're just joining us, we want to keep you updated. What we've been watching since at least 6:00 this morning, as we heard from another passenger a short time ago said that was on a plane at 6:00 that was supposed to take off.
Yes, he was all set. They were all set to take off when they were told to evacuate that plane and that's when the entire terminal was being evacuated because of the suspicious bag and now, a man is in custody. This is at LaGuardia Airport.
So this has been going on for several hours. That main terminal there at LaGuardia had to be evacuated. Planes were not landing, were not taking off for a short time this morning, probably for a couple of hours.
Now, we're getting word from our people there, from our passengers there, from our producer on the ground, that in fact, people are starting to flow back into the main terminal. So maybe this situation has been resolved, but still is going to be a big mess for the rest of the day. We do have another passenger on the line with us here though.
BALDWIN: Right. We have Siri-Hari on the line. Siri-Hari was headed to Chicago this morning and Siri-Hari, I don't know if you are part, hopefully, you are of this massive group heading back into LaGuardia and toward your flight, Siri-Hari, are you walking and talking with me this morning?
SIRI-HARI SUNDARARAJAN, CNN I-REPORTER: Yes, I am and who am I talking to actually?
BALDWIN: My name is Brooke.
SUNDARARAJAN: Oh, hi, Brooke. Yes, like everyone is slowly going back into the airport. I'm at the tail of the file pretty much.
BALDWIN: And we've been asking -- there seems to be this frustration over lack of information. What are police or what are some of the airport personnel telling you as far as what's happening?
SUNDARARAJAN: Honestly, Brooke, I have not been told anything about what's been happening. I've been finding out from other people who have been going online and getting it from other news sources. But my story is, I had a 7:00 a.m. flight, so I tried getting into the airport by 6:00 a.m.. At around like 5:55, my taxi was about to enter into the entrance of the airport, it was already sealed up by police cars. I thought, OK, maybe there's just some construction stuff going on.
So I asked the cabbie to take the next exit and backtrack to the airport but then that entrance was also, and it looked like blocked. And so I saw a couple of people walking in. So I'm like all right, maybe the roads are just still under construction. I wasn't sure what's going on. I just followed a bunch of people
And as I was about to enter into the terminal fees like main departure gates, a police officer stepped out and said nobody is allowed into the airport, you have to step outside into the curb. I asked him what the problem here and he really didn't really give me an answer, he just said just go there now. And so I've been out here ever since 6:00 a.m.
I tried calling the New York City police department. They declined to give me any information. They just told me to just literally just sit tight and wait until anything happens. They didn't give any reason why I was outside or how long this will take, I even tried calling the 311. Metropolitan Transport Agency.
BALDWIN: Right.
SUNDARARAJAN: And yes -- so nobody bottom line is nobody told me what was going on. I was out here for two hours and roughly 40 minutes and now we want to get back in.
BALDWIN: Well, sure, I bet you are not the only one who was dialing 311 and dialing the New York Police Department trying to get some answers, perhaps all of this was simply precautionary because they have detained someone in custody. Encountered apparently some bag that that person have. We don't even know what was in the bag ...
SUNDARARAJAN: Yes.
BALDWIN: If there's anything, even possibly dangerous in the bag. So you're supposed to head to Chicago early this morning, where are you being told as far as your flight status now?
SUNDARARAJAN: I am actually still outside, like walking in. I still have to go inside and I should look at the monitor to see what my flight status is but I can hopefully tell you in like another 30 seconds while I'm actually entering the airport now. So I'll take a look at the screen and see what it says but ...
BALDWIN: So actually, as you're entering the airport, are people rushing in? What's the sense you get from folks wanting to get on their flight?
SUNDARARAJAN: People are just concerned. Everyone's like mass crowd is I think the first thing they're headed to are the booths and right up the stairs to go and check out the screens. So I'm still behind a huge mass of people right now. It's not panicking or anything but everyone does seemed concerned and a little irritated that they been our here.
Some people have apparently been out here much longer than I have. Other people just came in recently. I'm not even sure how the other people who are coming in we're coming in but the numbers kept piling up and up.
BALDWIN: Sure.
SUNDARARAJAN: I mean from when I was there like from around 100 people were outside. It's probably almost like 300 or 400 people outside by the time they let us in. So ...
BALDWIN: That's amazing but at least the tone, it sounds like it's not fearful, it's just frustration.
SUNDARARAJAN: Yes.
BALDWIN: Siri-hiri, Thank you. Thank you for calling us and safe travels whenever you are able to finally get on that flight and head on out to Chicago.
SUNDARARAJAN: Yes, definitely. Thank you for calling me, Brooke, and take care.
BALDWIN: Sure.
HOLMES: You know, every passenger we talked to this morning has amazing has been in pretty good spirits and sometimes, air travel is not fun and sometimes you just know that you deal with things. But this something beyond just a flight delay. Every flight essentially is delayed at that airport this morning.
A lot of flights were not landing at the airport as scheduled because it was essentially closed down for a time, but it sounds like at least passengers are being let back in. So that means that the situation has been taken cared off. At least to the authorities liking.
Elise Miller is one of our associate producers from "AC 360," on the phone with us here as well. Elise, I'm not sure where you are. So you tell me where you are and what you know?
ELISE MILLER, CNN ASSOCIATE PRODUCER "AC 360": Hi, T.J. Yes, I'm actually inside LaGuardia right now. They let me come in, but my driver had to drop me off probably about a mile away from the airport. I had to walk with all my stuff. But I was able to come in and actually go through security and everything and I'm just sitting at my gate, just waiting. I mean, nobody really looking to have answers right now?
HOLMES: So, wait, Elise, you're telling me you have made it through your gate and through security already?
MILLER: I have. I'm in here. That's a good sign.
HOLMES: How were you able to do that because we've been watching these pictures of people standing around on the streets essentially or just all around the airport and it sounds like they had to get everybody back in to the airport. I assume a lot of those people had to be screened, re-screened. So, again, how is this working inside when you got back in there?
MILLER: You know, I just walked in and security was really quick, actually. Everything seemed somewhat normal. But you know, really, more of the chaos is at the actual gate. People are just waiting ion line, trying to figure out what's going on. So many people are delayed. A lot of people are just sitting on top of the baggage claim areas, trying to say, when is our bag going to come in that kind of thing. So it's nuts. The news follows me wherever I go, T.J.
HOLMES: Elise. Where were you trying to go? Were are you headed, I guess? And is your flight on time? What do you know about your flight?
MILLER: I'm headed to D.C., actually. So it's going to be a quick flight, but you know, at this point, I don't know. It says on my, you know, at the terminal, it says it's on time, but we all know that's probably going to change. So I'm sorry if it's loud, I'm hearing some stuff over the intercom right now.
HOLMES: Are they making announcements to the passengers about what's happening there? Have you heard anything? Anything official?
MILLER: Honestly, I haven't heard anything official. I've asked probably five people, just because I wanted to know what's going on and trying to see when everything is going to be back to normal, when flights start taking off again and when the planes would come back in to the airport. But nobody seems to have any answers right now.
HOLMES: Well, Elise. It's just to D.C., you know, you should have taken the train.
MILLER: I know.
HOLMES: You should have taken the train.
MILLER: The flight was cheaper than the train.
HOLMES: Yes, what do you think about that now? Elise, one of our friends here and one of our associate producers of "AC 360." Elise, good luck getting to where you're going, but thank you for checking in with us here. All right.
BALDWIN: So, could we talk to Reynolds. Let's talk to Reynolds Wolf. Reynolds, are you tracking some of these delays?
WOLF: Absolutely. Let's also share with the rest of America, I mean, for us, I mean there are a lot of people on the eastern seaboard who really know why this is such a big deal, but if you're tuning in from Dallas, or maybe out in L.A. or maybe Denver, you're wondering what's the big deal about LaGuardia? Trust me, LaGuardia is a tremendous deal.
Take a look at this what we have. These is our flight explorer. You'll see three of the big major airports you have in the New York area. And if you're flying into New York, you're going to go one of three spots. You're either going to go to JFK, going over to Newark over at New Jersey or you're going to go to LaGuardia.
At this time in the morning, you would see a lot of activity at all these airports. There are some planes about to land, and actually taking off JFK, same deal over at Newark. But it is a standstill at this time at LaGuardia. It is a very popular airport because it's the easiest way to get into downtown Manhattan. I mean, it's a quick drive across the East River and you're in good shape.
This morning, as Elise has been telling you, it is just been a standstill. What's interesting we're seeing right now from the FAA is only one big delay. That big delay, of course, LaGuardia. They need to update the ground stop, But obviously 8:45 is the last release they gave us. But 8:50 is when this was updated.
So again, we're going to be seeing this delay. And what's interesting, this is going to spring board to more delays coast to coast. This is just one small clog in a huge wheel that's going to cause a lot of delays, a lot of issues, a lot of frustration for many people. We're going to have more coming up in the next hour. You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Be patient.
HOLMES: All right. Well, hello. Yes, you are on the CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We're coming up on the top of the hour. 9:00 here in s the East where we are. Welcome to you all and welcome back. I'm T.J. Holmes ...
BALDWIN: Good morning.
HOLMES: ...along with Brooke Baldwin, sitting in. We appreciate you being here.
BALDWIN: Hey, thanks for having me. Yes, I know, busy, busy first day of August. We thank you for staying with us. We're going to continue to follow the story and let you know what's shaking out at LaGuardia. But at least the good news is that people are back inside the terminal, the central terminal had shut.
They had to evacuate a lot of people out because of a suspicious package because of this person who's been detained. We don't know who he is, what's going on but as soon as we get more information, we'll pass it along to you.
HOLMES: We absolutely will. That story wont' be far from us but again, the key there, even though it's been shut down for a few hours, no flight taking off, no flight landing. It's going to cause a mess for flight schedules today across the country, not just the people there.
But yes, the key there is that people are being let back in, so who knows how long it takes before they get back to normal. But don't worry, we'll go over that story. We'll continue to update you on that breaking news, but we still want to tell you about this morning as promised, about health care.
We're dedicating this half hour to healthcare. You've been hearing about this for weeks. You've seen the president talk about it for weeks, but when it comes to how and how much, do you really know the details of President Obama's plan to fix the health care system that's on the brink?
Over the next half hour, we're going to lay this all out for you. You'll also get some answers about if and when you can expect any changes, whether your health benefits through work could end up being taxed.
Also, how thousands of desperate and ailing Americans aren't waiting for reform. They're getting help now and they're getting it for free. Let's start though with exactly what the president wants. Here is what the president wants. Three scenarios really on the table here. One of those is a Medicare-like plan, in which the government oversees premiums and services. This is the old, the government option, the old public plan that you've been hearing so much about.
Another something that the president wants. He wants to impose rules on insurance companies to make health care available to everybody. He wants to expand that coverage. Also, this is something else that has been put on the table at least.
We'll have to see if the president's going to go along with it, but some in the Senate, some Senate democrats say this may be a only way to get it done, possibly create various regional non profit insurance cooperatives. Co-ops, you've been hearing that, to compete with private companies.
BALDWIN: And as president, Mr. Obama has focused more on health care goals and said little about how the actual overhaul will work, but that has changed this week. He decided to promote his plan by dispelling people's worst fears and what better way to do that than town hall meetings in die-hard republican strongholds like Bristol, Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I'll be specific. We will stop insurance companies from denying you coverage because of your medical history, because you got a preexisting condition. I'll never forget watching my mother on her hospital bed dealing with cancer, trying to argue with health insurance companies, even though she had been paying her premiums, saying her cancer was a pre-existing condition even though it hadn't been diagnosed when she first got her insurance. And I said then and I continue to believe that that's not right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Hours earlier, President Obama reassured a crowd in Raleigh, North Carolina, that he is not interested in a government takeover.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: First of all, nobody is talking about some government takeover in health care. I'm tired of hearing that. I have been as clear as I can be under the reform I've proposed, if you like your doctor, you keep your doctor. These folks need to stop scaring everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: They are tele-town town meeting, the president reminded seniors that the U.S. already has the equivalent of a government-run plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: That's what Medicare is. It's a government-run health care plan that people are happy with, but I think that we've been so accustomed to hearing those phrases that sometimes we can't sort out the myth from the reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: The president isn't the only one making some contradictory statements some would say. After two weeks of haggling and delay, the blue dog democrats came to an agreement late last night. Key House committee approved it's version of a health care plan. The vote was 31-28 in committee. It was the last piece of business representatives took before leaving on their month-long August recess.
The vote is much needed for the president, a much needed win, a much needed step forward. This was the energy and commerce committee. They were the last holdout of the committees. Two other house committees had already approved their own versions of a bill. You can look for a vote in September, October.
So you hear about three different committees, three different bills there in the House. They're going to have to bring those together in some way and then the House would then vote on it. Now over to the Senate. Well, got a bill in committee there as well. It's not likely to move that quickly. The Senate breaks next week, begging the question of just how many proposals are on the table.
Well, according to Kaiser Foundation, the answer is 11. Four of the 11 plans including the president's prohibits someone from being turned down for coverage due to preexisting conditions. The president could use some good news right about now. He took a hit in the polls this week.
According to the latest CNN poll of polls, the president's approval rating is now at 54 percent. A month ago, the digits were seven point higher. Public support is also slipping for his healthcare plan. Almost half of the country right now is not on board. 43 percent are behind the plan.
BALDWIN: And the president has really pushed for this reform and he says he wants the bill on his desk when? Before year's end. But the question, is that actually realistic and if so, how far off are the actual changes.
Let's go to CNN's Elaine Quijano, live for us at the White House this morning. And Elaine, we're hearing about recess, which obviously pushes some of these back a little bit. If you can just break down for us what kind of timetable we're talking here.
QUIJANO: Yes, well, T.J. went through it a little bit there, Brooke, but we know, of course, this is President Obama's top domestic priority, and so he's really been trying to ratchet up the pressure on Congress. We've seen lawmakers keep this issue very much on the front burner. Now where do things stand right at this moment?
Well, as T.J. went through, last night, the House energy and commerce committee did pass its version which now has to be basically merged with two other versions of this legislation that are out there. And it's looking like it will be September or so before the whole House takes up this issue, but the problem is there are some deep divisions within the democratic party on this. So that is the house side of things. Over on the Senate side, T.J., also noted this as well, the finance committee put off a vote, this is a much anticipated vote on a bipartisan compromise plan now set to take place after the August recess. So big picture here, Brooke, what we're talking about, is this the time frame the White House originally wanted? No. We know that President Obama had said he wanted to have both, each House basically pass its own version before congress headed off to its August recess. That's not happened.
Now, does that mean though that there isn't progress? Well, certainly White House officials say, look, things are progressing along slowly but surely. But the big question, can this get done before the end of the year? Still very much an open question right now -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: All right. Elaine, thank you. I know the president taking a little trip to Camp David over the weekend and then he'll be talking economy, heading to Indiana this coming week. Elaine, thank you for that.
QUIJANO: Sure.
HOLMES: And like we told you we will continue to update you about what's happening in New York at LaGuardia Airport, where it was shut down for a time this morning because of a suspicious package there, suspicious bag that a passenger apparently was carrying and that person, that man now in custody.
The airport was shut down. No flights landing, none taking off, for a couple of hours, at least. Just a mess there in New York. But it appears now that people are being let back in and the terminal, the central terminal is reopening.
Our Ross Levitt, a producer of ours is on the ground there at LaGuardia. Go ahead and set that scene for us again. Does it look like everybody's pretty much getting back in that terminal, Ross?
LEVITT: Yes. Good morning, T.J., hopefully you can see my camera phone shot right now as I am inside the terminal and folks are starting to line up to head up a skinny escalator. And at one point, this room was completely packed with people, but in a sign of how things are returning to normal, just the line is getting shorter and shorter.
But plenty of people still trying to figure our where they're going, where their gates are and we'll they be able to get back through security. Now I'm going to back up and hopefully be able to show you ...
HOLMES: And yes, we are seeing your picture right now, Ross. By all means, use that camera again. This is a live picture inside the terminal from our Ross Levitt. You go ahead, you show us what you can show us, buddy.
LEVITT: Now here, I'm showing you the board here and as you can see, now it looks like a lot of the later flights are on time, but as I move over here, you can see that some of them are canceled and delayed and all that kind of thing. Hopefully you're seeing that right, T.J..
HOLMES: And yes, Ross, all these people that had to leave the airport, did they have to go back through security? I would assume so.
LEVITT: Absolutely. Everyone who has been on the outside and has to get back inside will have to go through the entire screening process once again. And a little later on, maybe I'll move over to that CSA terminal. But here you can see a guy giving a lot of the directions as people are just trying to figure out where they're going, how they're going to get there.
You know, some of them are even at the wrong terminal right now. They've got to figure out how to get around this large airport that was literally shut down completely and is now, only now, starting to return to normal.
BALDWIN: Hey, Ross. It's Brooke here. We're looking at these amazing pictures, live pictures from your camera phone. And you showed us that the board and a lot of those words, saying canceled. Do we have any idea what some of these airlines will be doing for folks whose flights have come and gone, have been canceled? What's next for them?
LEVITT: You know, we don't know that yet. And that's the question that a lot of these passengers are asking, too. Will I be on my original flight? But for the most part, because no one was on those flights, you can assume that those planes are going to have to get refilled and go to wherever their destination is.
But now at this point, it's still pretty chaotic down here and so folks are just starting to figure out where their gates are and whether their flight is actually going to leave and at what time and when they'll actually get to their destination.
BALDWIN: We're looking at this guy in a red jacket. Some sort of airport personnel, what guidance is he giving folks coming in the airport?
LEVITT: Pardon me, Brooke? One more time on that?
BALDWIN: The gentleman in the red jacket we're looking at who is looking at you. Who is he and what is he asking people to do?
LEVITT: He's an airport employee and he's doing a great job here of directing people to where they need to go and how they're going to get there. And all that kind of things, just really something, helping people out and pointing in different directions.
As you can see, a man here is here right now with his ticket out, trying to figure out where he's going. So a little bit of a chaotic scene but returning to normal. Actually If I swing back to that shot I had earlier, where there was that long line as you can see pretty much gone. BALDWIN: Great.
LEVITT: Hopefully, getting back to normal for many of these passengers.
BALDWIN: Finally. You've got to hand it to some of the people who are working at the airport. Got to have patience on a morning like this with all these frustrated and you know, justifiably so, frustrated passengers. Great pictures, Ross, with your camera phone, your cell phone, inside LaGuardia. Those lines start to diminish.
HOLMES: That is amazing. That picture. Like he said, things are starting to get back to normal. Amazing to think that you can empty out that terminal, one of the biggest airports in this country and then in a matter of minutes, get everybody back in and what he says appears to be getting back to normal. We've all been through that airport a lot and it is no pretty picnic on a normal day. But to think that it might be getting back to normal and people see that employee working hard?
BALDWIN: Helping them through.
HOLMES: So, wow, we are not going to be too far away from that story, we'll continue our coverage here of that breaking news. And also of the health care reform debate going on in this country. We'll leave you going into break here but that live picture from our producer inside LaGuardia airport as things are trying to get back to normal after the terminal had to be shut down this morning.
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BALDWIN: In case, you're just now joining us, what a mess this morning at LaGuardia airport in New York. Busy, busy as people were evacuated from the main terminal because of a gentleman who is still, from what I understand, detained because of a suspicious package. We don't know much more on that. But we're finding a little bit more about the evacuees -- they're now heading back inside the terminal, hoping to hop back to their flights.
I want to talk now to Ty Chandler. She is reporter with our affiliate New York One who is joining us live outside LaGuardia, where hopefully no one is right now. Everyone heading back inside. Ty, good morning.
TY CHANDLER, NEW YORK ONE REPORTER: Good morning, Brooke. You know, the airport has reopened, but you probably couldn't tell by looking out here. Because it still doesn't look much different. This is where cars have been detoured. Most of the morning, it's been the end of the rope. No cars allowed in or out of the airport.
And so, just imagine if you had to take your luggage out of the back of your car and then walk nearly a mile just to get to your plane, only to find out that it's not really going anywhere because of this evacuation. That has been the scene here all morning long. We've seen a lot of people struggling to carry their bags, a lot of luggage, to make it over this ramp to get to the airport. But now that the terminal has reopened, of course, a lot of people are hopeful that they will still manage to get to where they're going to go, but there has been a lot of chaos, a lot of frustration for travelers. Many of them are still saying it's better safe than sorry in this situation of this bomb scare. Brooke.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. Airport personnel exercising precaution. Any word on the man detained? Is he still in custody?
CHANDLER: From our understanding, he is still in custody. We have been told that security officials saw him this morning and they say that he was acting crazy and so that made them suspicious of him and that's what took him into custody and also sparked this evacuation here at this airport.
BALDWIN: What a mess for people at LaGuardia. Ty Chandler from New York One, thank you for your reporting for us this morning. T.J., send it over to you.
HOLMES: All right. We're going to get back and talk about health care this morning. Affecting a lot of people, a lot of people can't get it. Millions of others who are insured, their coverage just too expensive to use in some cases. It's time to peel this back, talk with two small business owners struggling with different circumstances here.
Elaine Sterling is with us. She is a cancer survivor who says she can't get insurance. Companies have actually turned her down due to her pre-existing condition. And then also Eric Washington with us, a dentist, employs four people and it just gets little pricey to try to get the benefits for all your workers. Thank you, both of you, small business owners in two different situations here. I will start with you. Just how many companies have turned you down?
ELAINE STERLING, UNINSURED CANCER SURVIVOR: At least four.
HOLMES: At least four, what do they come back and tell you each time you try to get that coverage?
STERLING: That I don't meet their criteria to be able to have coverage. I think being a small business owner and also having a preexisting condition even though I've been five years in remission, they will not accept me.
HOLMES: What is it like to get that rejection time after time? It's been four now, you say. So ...
STERLING: It's tough because I have not had my checkups that I'm supposed to have with my oncologist and (INAUDIBLE) that I'm supposed to have every year. So I just kind (INAUDIBLE) hoping that a healthy lifestyle will keep me healthy. I'm sorry, what to do if something does arrived, where do I go, I'm not sure.
HOLMES: Eric, your situation is totally different from hers but you have a challenge as a small business owner. And you wanted to cover these costs. What is your challenge in covering these employees?
DR. ERIC WASHINGTON, DDS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: The biggest challenge is really, you know, trying to come up with an attractive place for them to work. So of course, you know, if you want to best people, you want to be able to offer them a competitive salary and benefits and so it's usually a choice between either/or.
HOLMES: Either or. So and I know you all have been watching this health care debate. What do you see out there? How hopeful are you with all this going back and forth, it's a long way to go but that could help you out? Do you have promise and hope in what you are seeing debated will help you out and which part are you looking forward to most, I guess.
WASHINGTON: I guess interestingly enough, I'm sort of hopeful in that things like Medicare have worked in the past and that's a government example of how health care is executed by them. And I feel like you know, if they can pull that off, it took a little while to do it, and you know, maybe they can pull this off as well.
HOLMES: I have to wrap this up with you, I have a little mic issue. But I wanted to get it in but you're here, you're a cancer survivor, you're such an example of what so many people are going through. Are you hopeful that something this time will happen in healthcare that can help our somebody like you.
STERLING: I'm excited we are talking about it. That we are raising questions. We are talking about the concern, so I'm very hopeful.
HOLMES: Very hopeful. All right. And again, very hopeful here. Elaine, Eric, I appreciate you. So many people are going through what you're going through. I'm glad you were here to put a face, in a lot of ways, on what's happening. Thank you both for being with us this morning.
They're certainly not alone. Almost 25 years ago, one man realized Americans needed health care options and he's come up with an answer that's absolutely free. You heard me right. It's free and it's working. Stay with us for that.
Also this morning, we're not going too far away from our breaking news this morning, out of LaGuardia. Good news at least now that the terminal has opened, but the central terminal, the main one there, LaGuardia international Airport in New York shut down for several hours because of a suspicious package. And one man is in custody. Stay with us.
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HOLMES: And keeping you updated on major breaking story out of New York LaGuardia Airport, one of the busiest in the country, shut down for a time this morning because of a suspicious bag carried by a passenger. That man is now in custody. We don't know what's coming of him or what might have been in the bag just yet but police for a time had to clear that entire terminal, the central terminal at LaGuardia Airport.
A busy place this morning, a busy place every single day. But everyone had to get out. Within the past 20 minutes or so, everybody was now allowed back in, but it's going to be a travel headache for those people and also for people across the country. Because it is such a hoe, we are on top of that breaking news story out of LaGuardia.
BALDWIN: And now continuing our health care coverage this morning. How does this sound? Free check up, dental care, eye care. Certainly got your attention, doesn't? Well, one group has been canvassing America's back roads for almost 25 years, helping people simply too poor to pay.
Stan Brock, founded Remote Area Medical back in 1985 and joins us live from Knoxville. And Stan, I know a lot of people recognize you from TV, from the movies. But I want to talk specifically about this organization. I said, you founded it in 1985. You and thousands of volunteers have been providing this free health care to folks who can't afford it. So when you sit and you hear this talk and action on Capitol Hill, when it comes to healthcare reform, is old news to you?
STAN BROCK, REMOTE AREA MEDICAL FOUNDER: Well, yes, I mean, this situation with the lack of accessible health care from an economic standpoint has been going on for decades, so it's no different today than it was 20, 30 years ago. And we have this program, Remote Area Medical, that provides the care absolutely free. And people come out here thousands and thousands. I mean, last weekend in two and a half days, we did 2,715 people giving them all the services that they needed I dentistry, removing bad teeth.
BALDWIN: Sure.
BROCK: And fixing their eyes and making eyeglasses and of course all the general medical stuff as well.
BALDWIN: And you were in Wise, a rural area of Virginia. If you will help me put a face on this story. I know you have met thousands of people in your lifetime, helping them medically, but did you meet any particular -- when you were in Virginia last weekend, who really stands out to you? Their story stands out?
BROCK: Well, you know, we have diagnosed people at all of our clinics that have serious ailments that they didn't know about. And the people that come to Wise, Virginia, which is not, by any means different from any other part of the country are people that come there every time we're there for their health care. So we're sort of once a year because we only go to Wise County. We're doing 40 or 50 of these a year in other parts of the country. So they're depending on us for their care.
But I want to say, the greatest impediment to providing this free care, which is at no cost to the government, is that for some extraordinary reason here in America, a doctor, dentist or nurse in one state doing the same exams, duly licensed, is not allowed to cross from one state to another to provide fee care except here in Tennessee where we changed the law in 1995.
BALDWIN: When -- have you had a chance to look at any of the plans that President Obama has talked about when it comes to this health care reform? Want to know if you're familiar with any of it and if there's anything in particular that you want to see pushed forward. I know you talk a lot about dentistry, as you mentioned, and vision.
BROCK: Well, you know, dentistry, before the age of antibiotics, penicillin, dental infections were one of the leading causes of death in the world. And so unless the program addresses dental care and vision care, and eyeglasses that people who simply can't afford it, then it's going to be very, very deficient in this program.
BALDWIN: Right. I know you have lived in the Amazon, you learned firsthand that getting medical care in parts of the world, let alone parts of our own country, is difficult and you know how true this battle is on Capitol Hill to get some of this health care reform passed. Stan Brock, we appreciate you being here with us this morning.
BROCK: We'll be in Los Angeles on August 11th to the 18th doing the same thing.
BALDWIN: There you go. Hopefully people heard and they can come find you and get some help. Again, thank you.
BROCK: Thank you.
HOLMES: That's a great service to provide there. A lot of people out there ...
BALDWIN: Thousands and thousands of people since 1985.
HOLMES: That is awesome. He's been doing it in a while. We will be talking, of course, about health care, a major story. But our other major story this morning out of New York, LaGuardia Airport. To give you the update now, it appears that the LaGuardia Central terminal, the airport essentially now has reopened. This happened within the past half hour after it had to be shut down because of a suspicious bag that was carried by a man who is now in custody.
Still waiting to hear about the circumstances surround that man being taken into custody and why this bag was seen as suspicious in the first place but it caused them to have to evacuate the entire central terminal. You're seeing the pictures. People just hanging around outside for hours, about from 6:00 a.m., we know of until about 8:39, before people started being let back in.
So this is going to cause travel delays throughout the day. Not just at LaGuardia, but across the country, anybody trying to fly into and certainly out of. We are on top of that breaking news story and much more. Stay with us.
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