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American Morning
Obama Willing to Drop Public Option Insurance for Health Care?; Season's First Atlantic Hurricane Heads West; What Military Vets Want to Hear From President Obama; Flight Attendant Claims Toxic Airplane Cabin Fumes Made Her Sick; Homeless Veterans; Digital Security Threat?; Sour Times for Dairy Farms
Aired August 17, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and thanks very much for joining us on this Monday. It's the 17th of August. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We start off following several developing stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
First, is the White House giving ground on health care reform? Administration officials say that a controversial government-run public insurance option is not make or break for the president. We're going to look at how and why President Obama is keeping his options open on health care.
ROBERTS: Tropical storm Claudette raining down on Florida's Gulf Coast this morning. It's the first tropical storm to hit the U.S. mainland this year and forecasters are keeping a close eye on the season's first hurricane, which is just forming out of the Atlantic. Rob Marciano is tracking it all for us this morning.
CHETRY: And Michael Vick back on the field and trying to get back into America's good graces. We're going to hear what the disgraced quarterback is now saying about getting involved with dog fighting as well as what he learned in his life behind bars.
ROBERTS: We begin this morning, though, with signs of a compromise in the heated health care debate. The White House signaling President Obama may be ready to drop his insistence on a government-run public insurance option, something critics had said is a deal breaker. What could it mean for the president in this make or break month for health care reform?
Our Jim Acosta is following developments for us. He's in Washington this morning. Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. You know the president is only halfway through a brutal August, of boisterous town hall meetings. But he may be willing to give some ground on one of the most contentious issues in the fight over health care reform, the public option. This week the White House seems to be saying there may be other options.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Now wait a minute. Now wait a minute.
ACOSTA (voice-over): After weeks of congressional town halls gone wild, the Obama administration is now keeping its options open on health care reform, specifically on the crucial question of whether Americans should have the option of joining a government-run plan, the so-called public option.
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: What I take it what's important is choice and competition. And I'm convinced at the end of the day the plan will have both of those. But that is not the essential element.
ACOSTA: And there were no lines in the sand drawn by the president himself at his own town hall in Colorado.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a legitimate debate to have. All I'm -- all I'm saying is, though, that the public option whether we have it or we don't have it is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it.
ACOSTA: The White House is spending less time pushing the public option and more time talking about injecting competition into the health care marketplace, costs to drive down costs and give Americans more choices.
SEN. KENT CONRAD (D), NORTH DAKOTA: the fact of the matter is not enough votes in the United States Senate before the public auction. There never have been. So to continue to chase that rabbit I think is just a wasted effort.
ACOSTA: North Dakota Democratic Senator Kent Conrad is offering one compromise that would establish nonprofit health care operatives, like the rural electric co-ops that have existed in the U.S for decades.
CONRAD: Land O'Lakes is a cooperative. Ace Hardware is a cooperative. So, this is a model that works. It's not government-run and government controlled. It's membership-run and membership- controlled.
ACOSTA: The president is stuck. Keeping the public option would anger Republicans and some Democrats in Congress who insist a government-run plan which drive (ph) private insurers out of business.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: I still think we should have a bipartisan solution, but what I can't tolerate is a government plan.
ACOSTA: Dumping it would disappoint liberals who see a surrender on a public option as defeat.
If he backs away from the public option, is that health care reform?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's absolutely not health care reform. No. We need the kind of reform that's going to improve the lives of families and communities everywhere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: But this is not the last of the public option debate. Supporters and opponents of health care reform are spending tens of millions of dollars on commercials that are slated here well into the fall. A campaign-style overdose of political advertising not seen since the election -- John.
ROBERTS: There's a lot of talk about this. Jim, thanks so much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
ROBERTS: As always, we want to know what you think if the White House gives or granted a public option for health insurance. Will it help get the health care reform they'll pass?
Go to our Web site at CNN.com/amFIX and send us an e-mail or you can tweet us as well on Twitter.
And at the bottom of the hour, PolitiFact's Bill Adair will be with us to fact-check some of the claims being made on both sides of the health care debate.
CHETRY: After months of relative calm, the storm season in the Atlantic is suddenly in full swing this morning. Tropical Storm Claudette making landfall overnight in the Florida Panhandle near Fort Walton Beach. And also, it's the first storm to hit the U.S. mainland this year.
There are two other storms though out in the Atlantic that we need to watch including one that's now the first hurricane of the season, Hurricane Bill.
Rob Marciano is here in New York for us this Monday morning. He's tracking it all for us. Hey, good to see you.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good to see you, guys.
CHETRY: So, first two and a half months pretty much nothing.
MARCIANO: Pretty much nothing, and, you know, we were talking this time on Friday and we're still waiting for Ana to form.
CHETRY: Right.
MARCIANO: Then all of a sudden over the weekend, boom, boom, boom, we've got three happening and one making landfall. So certainly impressive.
Let's take a look at some other video coming into us from Florida. Certainly the Panama City area and the rest of the Florida panhandle now getting hit with a lot of rain. Typically, your week and moderate tropical storms like this one will be the most heavy rain producers. You will get wind gusts that will take down power lines at times but not a whole lot of reports at the moment of seeing power lines down.
All right. Some cool video I want to show you also of some time lapse. You've got the storm watchers go out here. Not (INAUDIBLE) not a storm surging either with this but certainly the wind is blowing and the waves are rolling in there, and the clouds rolling in as well.
This thing pretty much popped up within a few hours. Just a little disturbance over the weekend. It really developed. You know, when the waters of this tossed into the Gulf of Mexico at this time of the year and we get into this prime time, they can develop in a hurry.
All right. Here we go. It's made landfall about four or five hours ago, around Fort Walton Beach and now heading across I-1o about 40 miles inland at the moment. Still, winds are at tropical storm strength, will likely be downgraded as we go on through time. But again, more rain especially center and east towards Mobile and then heading up into Alabama as it continues its northwesterly track.
On the satellite, the picture doesn't look all that impressive. But certainly if you live in the Florida panhandle and then southern Georgia and Alabama, you're thinking otherwise. There's the forecast track getting into parts of northern Mississippi and eventually towards Memphis.
All right. A quick check on some of the other storms that are happening. Bill, as Kiran mentioned, we have a first hurricane of the season, 75 mile-an-hour winds. Still about 1,000 miles from the Leeward Islands. We'll watch this very, very carefully.
It is forecast to become a major hurricane, a category three status. Getting to close to the U.S. but notice the recurvature here. At this point, a lot of our forecast miles are saying it will likely stay out of sea. But we can't say that with 100 percent confidence just yet.
And then this is what is now tropical depression Ana. We can't seem to make up our mind with this. She was dead and then came back to life, and now kind of dying again. But the track of Ana, if it holds together and right now odds of that happening are unlikely, it will head towards the Gulf of Mexico. And as what we saw over the weekend, you get anything in the Gulf especially at this time of the year, it can pop up in a hurry. So we have to watch that as well.
CHETRY: All right. Well, glad we have you with us here...
MARCIANO: Nice to be here.
CHETRY: ... to keep an eye on all that for us. Thanks, Rob.
ROBERTS: Good to see you this morning, Rob.
MARCIANO: My pleasure, John.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning. As schools across the country prepare to open, many are getting high marks for advance planning to fight a renewed outbreak of swine flu An Associated Press review found schools are preparing for the most widespread vaccinations since the days of polio. The goal is to keep the schools open. The first H1N1 vaccines may not be ready until October.
CHETRY: Also, disgraced quarterback Michael Vick is saying he's a changed man and taking responsibility for his involvement in a dog fighting ring that landed him in prison for 18 months. Vick is now back in the NFL. He was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles. And he told CBS' "60 Minutes" what it was like behind bars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL VICK, SIGNED WITH PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: First I walked into prison and he slammed the door, I knew, you know, the magnitude of the decisions that I made and the poor judgment and what I, you know, allowed to happen to the animals. And, you know, there's no way of, you know, explaining, you know, the hurt and the guilt that I felt. And that was the reason I crashed so many nights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, we want to know what you think about the Michael Vick story. Call our show hotline, 1-877-MY-AMFIX. Fire away there.
Also stick around because John and I will be talking to the man who did the interview with Michael Vick, James Brown of CBS Sports. We're going to hear what he thought of it and also hear more from Michael Vick. That's at 7:30 Eastern Time.
ROBERTS: And a major upset in the golf season's final major. YE Yang became the first Korean man to win the PGA championship, and he took down the mighty Tiger Woods to do it. It's the first time that Woods has lost in a major tournament when he was ahead going into the final round. Thirty-seven-year-old Yang won by three shots.
CHETRY: We have President Obama speaking to veterans in just a few hours. He's also going to be talking about some very important issues in terms of educating young veterans coming back from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fire season certainly in full swing in California this morning. It's 10 minutes after the hour.
And new this morning, at least 11 wildfires burning right now in the state. Firefighters are dealing with hot, dry winds and temperatures.
Crews say that they are gaining some ground on a fire burning near the Santa Cruz mountains. People from one town were able to return home yesterday, but there are thousands of more around the state still waiting for their evacuation orders to be lifted. Police say a fire that burned more than 87,000 acres in Santa Barbara County was started by an illegal marijuana operation.
ROBERTS: The mayor of Milwaukee waking up in the hospital this morning after his family says he stepped up and did the right thing. Tom Barrett was trying to help a grandmother screaming for help by the Wisconsin state fair when a man attacked him with a metal pipe. Police have a suspect in custody. The mayor is in stable condition. He fractured his hand and needed some stitches on his head and the lip.
CHETRY: Well, the City of Chicago is trying to save some money and may see other cities follow suit. And most city offices, public libraries and health clinics are closed today for what's called a reduced service day. It's an effort to balance the 2009 budget. Workers have the day off but they don't get paid for it either. The reduced staffing will not apply to police and fire departments. Two more reduced-service days are going to be held on a Friday after Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve. The city expects to save more than $8 million.
ROBERTS: Well, President Obama starts his day in Arizona this morning, where he'll address as many as 13,000 war veterans at the Phoenix Convention Center. Could be a tough crowd too. Our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, sat down with four veterans to find out what they want to hear today.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, most of the president's focus so far has been in domestic issues. But today, he will highlight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And veterans here tell me they have high expectations for both the president and the American public too.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): Four American vets, two voted for the president, two for John McCain, but they share a brotherhood and a feeling that many Americans do not appreciate the sacrifice of U.S. troops dying in two wars. A feeling so painful it brings one of these men to tears.
ROLAND ROCHESTER, VETERAN: I know that they are tough. I know they're strong. I have a hard feeling for those that are over there. But I'm a Marine and I will stand up for our chief of staff and our soldiers everywhere they go.
HENRY: All four said they want to hear more specifics from the president about the days ahead in Afghanistan in particular. What's interesting is Gary Malone, an Obama voter from Arkansas, is deeply concerned the president is sending more troops into a quagmire.
GARY MALONE, VETERAN: We lost 58,000 -- over 58,000 in Vietnam, unless this would not turn into another Vietnam. It's turning in to another Vietnam.
HENRY: But a different view from Buck Cowley of Arkansas.
BUCK COWLEY, VETERAN: I was then in World War II, Korea. I served in Vietnam.
HENRY: Cowley is a McCain voter but gives Mr. Obama high marks for sending more troops to Afghanistan.
COWLEY: We never got anybody anyone.
HENRY: The talk of another Vietnam stars Lewis Wood, a McCain voter from Arizona, who thinks Mr. Obama has been weak.
LEWIS WOOD, VETERAN: I also don't want to see it turn into a situation where they just head up and pull the troops out. We were winning in Vietnam when I left there. The politicians lost that war.
HENRY: But Wood says he will support the president now, and is inspired that for the first time ever, an African-American commander in chief will address the VFW (ph).
WOOD: I'm proud of the United States, you bet you.
HENRY: And so is Roland Rochester of North Carolina, whose heart aches for the men and women dying overseas. He voted for Mr. Obama and is confident he will handle both wars well.
ROCHESTER: He's my chief, commander-in-chief and I'm proud of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says while the president will thank U.S. troops, he's not planning to get into specifics about the war in Afghanistan because the commanding general is conducting a review. That may disappoint some of these veterans. But even the McCain voters told me they respect the commander-in-chief and they will give him more time to get it right -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Ed reporting for us this morning. Ed, thanks so much.
Coming up in about 25 minutes' time, we're going to have the first installment of our weeklong series that we're debuting today called "The War at Home." We're looking at what soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are coping with here in the United States. Our Barbara Starr takes us to a recovery center for addicted and homeless veterans.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll have a CNN special investigation coming up. We know that there's recycled air that's supposed to be filtered when you're on an airplane. Now, there's one woman who's a flight attendant claiming that she's actually quite ill and she believes it's because of the air coming into the plane.
Our Allan Chernoff did an investigation into this and he's going to join us with more.
It's 15 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 18 1/2 minutes past the hour. Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this Monday morning.
A lot of people are asking, do you feel the stimulus working for you? Do you think it has helped?
Economists say maybe, you know, it helps at least put a floor on what we're going through.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
CHETRY: But the majority of people say I don't know if it's working.
ROMANS: You know, Americans are skeptical. They're skeptical about the bank bailout. They're skeptical about the stimulus. And it might be wise some of them are skeptical about health reform. They just -- everything that's happened over the past year or so has made people think that we don't know that it's working.
A new poll in "USA Today" found 57 percent of people don't think that the stimulus is working currently right now, either hasn't done anything or it's made the economy worse. Long term, they think 60 percent -- 60 percent think there would be no effect or worse on the economy from the stimulus.
Digging into these numbers a little bit, what about the effect of the stimulus on your personal finances? A majority say no effect. Eighteen percent think that their personal finances in the short term will be better because the stimulus 68 percent say no effect, worse, 13 percent, no opinion at all, one percent.
So, these are the kind of numbers that show that six months into the stimulus spending, people are still pretty skeptical about what it's going to mean for them. We can tell you that about -- of that $787 billion in the stimulus, about $200 billion of it has been allocated and is actually moving out the door.
We know that they're paving roads. We know that they're doing some surface work on bridges. We know they put a lot of money into unemployment benefits extensions and things like that. But $200 billion of that money is out the door. And some of it is time- released to start working in the next couple of years.
But you're right, Kiran, about what the economists say. Many of the economists say there has been some effect, an economic growth, but they disagree on how much -- on how much of effect, actually.
ROBERTS: Well, perception versus reality can be different things.
ROMANS: That's absolutely right.
ROBERTS: Got a numeral for us this morning? ROMANS: I do, and the numeral digs into that perception versus reality. How much is $787 billion? So many people getting their head around it.
$787 billion is $4,520,390 homes. Think of that? The government could buy that many homes outright for $787 billion. And a lot of people have been e-mailing me for months saying, why are they spending all of these diverse projects? If the problem is the home, the housing market, why don't they just buy up all those bad homes and we'll be done with it. Economists say that...
CHETRY: And then you walk (ph) with them.
ROMANS: Right. Well, the economists say that's simply just too simple. That's just simply wouldn't work and the problems are much deeper now because of that. But it gives you a sense -- that number gives you a sense just how big $787 billion is. And if people don't feel like it's helping them, and you see that number how many homes that represents, that puts in perspective.
CHETRY: I mean, it's an interesting number. But it's funny because, I mean, people are saying they want the government to stay out of things yet you want them to buy all these homes. I mean...
ROMANS: Well, unless the same people want them to buy all these homes. It's simply a way to -- it's simply a way to illustrate how big that much money is.
CHETRY: Got you. All right.
ROMANS: All right.
CHETRY: "Romans' Numeral" next hour. You'll put it on Twitter, and we'll see you.
ROMANS: I will. Yes.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning.
So, we hear a lot about air in aircraft and is it stale or might it even be downright toxic? Well, we're going to talk to a woman coming up next who says she is suffering severe health effects because of bad air in an aircraft. Our Allan Chernoff continues his investigation into the airline industry this morning.
Stay with us. Twenty-two minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 24 minutes past the hour right now. Something you'll see only on CNN. And if you're a frequent flyer, you know the air on a plane can at times get pretty foul. But can it actually be toxic? ROBERTS: A flight attendant claims that a cabin fume event on an aircraft left her chronically ill. Our Allan Chernoff has been doing some digging on this and he's here with the results, with a CNN special investigation this morning.
Hi, Al.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. Normally we would think the biggest threat on an airplane might be somebody sneezing on you or somebody sitting near you sneezing. But the fact is some of the air we breathe inside of an air cabin can actually be toxic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Former flight attendant Terry Williams says she can barely care for her son because she suffers from a series of mysterious ailments. She complains of debilitating migraine headaches and tremors.
TERRY WILLIAMS, FORMER FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It just feels uncontrollable. I can't stop it from twitching or trembling.
CHERNOFF: And blind spots in her field of vision.
(on camera): Can you see my hand right now?
WILLIAMS: No.
CHERNOFF: You can't see my hand right now?
WILLIAMS: No.
CHERNOFF: What do you see?
WILLIAMS: A black spot.
CHERNOFF: The symptoms, Williams says, began near the end of a flight more than two years ago when she says she saw smoke flowing through a vent. In a lawsuit against Boeing, owner, McDonnell Douglas, which made the MD-82 aircraft in which she was working, Williams claims her disability resulted from inhaling poisonous fumes.
Boeing told CNN, "It is our belief that air quality on airplanes is healthy and safe."
(on camera): Half of what we breathe onboard a jetliner is filtered, re-circulated air. The other half comes through the jet engines. It's pressurized, cool and then mixed with the re-circulated air.
(voice-over): In some cases, that air, called bleed air, which bleeds off jet engines can be toxic. If an engine oil seal leaks, aviation engineers and scientists say the fumes can enter the cabin. Boeing says in its response to Williams' suit, "The potential for bleed air contamination has been known through the aviation industry for many years," though the company denies any responsibility for Terry Williams' illness.
A National Academy of Sciences study in 2002 found contaminant exposures do occur, resulting from the intake of chemical contaminants like engine lubricating oils into the environmental control system and then into the cabin.
A neuropsychologist recently studied more than two dozen British pilots who claim they have inhaled contaminated air.
DR. SARAH MACKENZIE ROSS, NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST, UNIV. COLLEGE LONDON: It did appear to underperform on talks that requires attention, processing speeds, reaction time.
CHERNOFF: Angie Estees (ph) who suffers tremor attacks believes she inhaled such toxins as an airline passenger.
PROF. CLEMENT FURLONG, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: Does the danger of inhaling compounds coming out of the engine if the engine seals fail, and there is very potent toxins that can come onboard when the engine seals fail?
CHERNOFF: Does that happen?
FURLONG: It does happen.
CHERNOFF: How often? A British study for the House of Lords found fume events in one of every 2,000 flights. In the U.S., airlines are required to report fume events to the Federal Aviation Administration. There were 108 such reports last year.
So, why wouldn't more flight attendants, pilots and passengers suffer symptoms? Furlong explains relatively few people will react to the most toxic chemicals.
High levels of enzymes in their bodies which for some people can be triggered by prescription drugs will act on the inhaled chemicals to magnify their toxicity.
FURLONG: If you happen to be taking a medication that turns on the protein that converts the pre-toxin into very potent toxin, you've got an issue.
CHERNOFF (on camera): So one person could be sitting in a seat and the person next to them could be the one who has these horrific symptoms.
FURLONG: And has a huge response to it -- tremors and loss of memory, and so forth.
CHERNOFF: And the other person could have no effect?
FURLONG: Could have no noticeable effect at all.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Terry Williams says she wasn't taking prescription drugs during the fume event. But Professor Furlong says enzyme levels can vary greatly between people, even resulting from the foods they eat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Furlong has blood samples from 92 people claiming to suffer from similar ailments, mostly pilots and flight attendants. He says he's close to finalizing a test that would confirm whether engine oil toxins indeed are in their blood.
ROBERTS: Are MD (ph) manufacturers doing anything to try to deal with the situation?
CHERNOFF: Well, Boeing actually -- the new jetliner they have, the Dreamliner 787, that jetliner will not use bleed air. But the company says that's not because of any concern about the air inside the cabin. They say it's just more fuel efficient for that design.
CHETRY: All right. And then, also, how do you know if you've been exposed to that. I mean, would you be able to tell immediately?
CHERNOFF: The way that you can tell you may be exposed to toxins, that in the cabin you'll actually have a smelly sock smell. That is one of the elements of engine oil fumes. The chemical that's actually creating that smell is not toxic, but it comes along with toxins.
CHETRY: You're going to smell socks one way or the other.
CHERNOFF: Well, I mean, this is a serious smell. If you smell it, you need to tell the cabin crew let's get this plane down. And you should also put something over your nose and try to filter it out.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Great reporting, Allan. Thank you so much.
CHERNOFF: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Well done.
Just about half past the hour now, about 15 seconds away from the hour. Checking our top stories now.
After weeks of relative calm, the storm season now kicking into high gear. Tropical Storm Claudette making landfall overnight in Florida, pounding the panhandle with heavy rain and forecasters are keeping an eye on two other storms gaining strength in the Atlantic including the season's first hurricane.
CHETRY: Well, we have some positive news to report about the global financial crisis. Japan's economy showing some signs of improvement. The world's second largest economy expanded last quarter after a year-long recession. Thanks to a booming export business and they say a government stimulus helped. The country's employment is rising and incomes are falling. Economists and politicians say recent gains may actually not last.
ROBERTS: And gasoline prices are slightly lower this morning. AAA reporting the national average of unleaded regular is $2.64 a gallon. That's down just a hair from yesterday. The price of gas has dropped four cents in the past week, but it's still 17 cents higher than it was a month ago.
CHETRY: Well, the make or break debate over health care. We've been hearing a lot of claims out there coming from all sides. And this morning, we're putting three of them to the Truth-O-Meter test. Bill Adair is our man to help sort fact from fiction. He's the founder and editor of PolitiFact.com, and Bill Adair joins us from Washington this Monday morning.
Hey, Bill. Good to see you.
BILL ADAIR, EDITOR, POLITIFACT.COM: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, one of the things that a lot of people are concerned about is that one way the administration is going to pay for universal health care is to cut benefits for people on Medicare.
So, let's listen to how President Obama addressed this issue during a town hall last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I just want to assure we're not talking about cutting Medicare benefits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. Well, there he said that we're not planning on cutting Medicare benefits. That's a claim from the president. How did you rate that on the Truth-O-Meter?
ADAIR: We give that one a "Half True" on the Truth-O-Meter. And the reason is that he is right that indeed they are not planning to cut the core Medicare benefits. The standard Medicare, they very much want to keep it the same.
But Obama has talked a lot about a program of Medicare called Medicare Advantage that about one in five Medicare patients are enrolled in. And talking about some pretty substantial cuts there in terms of the amounts they pay, the companies that provide Medicare Advantage.
That's likely the lead to some cuts in services, according to the experts we talked to, because the Medicare Advantage plans to offer some very generous benefits.
So, overall, we decided to give this one a "Half True" on our Truth-O-Meter.
CHETRY: All right. Well, perhaps one of the most controversial claims that's been out there comes from Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor. The week before last, she said that this proposed health care reform bill would create so-called death panels, and that claim was widely denounced. But now Palin says, and here's what it is, she says, "A provision in the health care reform bill for end-of-life counseling for seniors is not entirely voluntary."
And this is something, of course, where the -- we've heard, "I'm not trying to kill grandma" from the president. So, you know that it's been out there. It's something that people are concerned about.
So what is the verdict on that statement?
ADAIR: We gave that one a "False" on our Truth-O-Meter on PolitiFact. And when you look at the language of the bill, I guess we step back and say, has there been an issue where there has been more silliness surrounding it? I don't -- I can't recall one.
Here's an aspect in the bill where they really are just trying to get seniors thinking a little earlier about some important end-of-life issues like living wills, something like that.
And so, when you look at the language of the bill, there's nothing in it that makes it mandatory. And so, in talking to the experts we talked to, we gave this one a "False" on the Truth-O-Meter.
CHETRY: You did note about the argument out there when you read a little bit more on your Web site that perhaps some people may feel subtle pressure from a doctor to get counseling, but, ultimately, it is up to the patient to decide whether they want to discuss it.
ADAIR: Yes. And this was -- and this was Palin's argument that somebody -- that a doctor might decide to sort of pressure a patient into doing this, because the doctor is going to be reimbursed for it.
But still, as we look at the language, it's still entirely voluntary and it's not that, you know, it's not that any patient is forced to do this. So, this one gets a "False."
CHETRY: All right. Well, let's get to the next one. This is an ad from the Chamber of Commerce coming out. Let's listen to what the ad says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Washington's latest health reform idea -- a $1 trillion health plan and a government-run "public option," with big tax increases even on health benefits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That ad goes on to say that the plan will mean, quote, "big tax increases." How do you rate that on the Truth-O-Meter?
ADAIR: We gave that one a "Half True" on the Truth-O-Meter. And the truth part is that indeed the House bill does have a provision for raising taxes on the very wealthy. And also the mechanism that forces companies to provide insurance is also tax increase, and also the mechanism that would require individuals to have their own health insurance would be a tax penalty.
But the vast majority of people are not going to see an increase under the House bill.
CHETRY: We actually made a little graphic for the proposal. It looks -- we'll put it up real quick.
If you're making $350, 000 - $500,000, that's a 1 percent increase according that tax proposal in the House. $500,000 - $1,000,000, 1.5 percent. And then for those making over a million, they would be hit with a 5.4 percent tax increase in addition to what you're paying.
So, there you see the breakdown a little bit, at least under that proposed bill.
ADAIR: Yes. And as that notes, you have to be making at least $350,000 as a family to have to pay this surtax. And it's important to emphasize here, we're still very early in the process and that's in the House bill. And the Senate bill, they've looked at another way that could increase taxes.
But also on people who are better off, it would tax health plans that provide more generous benefits. So, if you've got health insurance plans that have a lot of benefits, you would have to pay an extra tax on over a certain value for that plan. Now, that's in the Senate version. Still a lot to come.
But overall, we thought that what Chamber of Commerce said was half true. They're right. You know, there are some tax increases envisioned, but the vast majority of people would not have to pay them.
CHETRY: All right. Bill Adair, as always, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.
ADAIR: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: And if you want to check out more from Bill Adair's Truth-O-Meter, you head to our blog, cnn.com/amfix, and we have a link.
ROBERTS: Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan living under the LA freeway? What's that all about? We have the debut, the kick-off of our "War at Home" series focusing on homeless veterans. Coming up next.
It's 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
All this week, in a special series, we're looking at what soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan face once they're back on American soil back from the front lines and fighting the "War at Home."
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the first installment of our series, reporting on homeless vets. She's live in Philadelphia this morning.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. We're here at Drexel University in downtown Philadelphia.
In a little while here, there will be a town hall, if you will. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Eric Shinseki, the Veterans Affairs Secretary, will come here and answer questions from veterans.
You know, veterans coming back fr0m the wars are facing tough times, finding jobs, finding housing. And we are learning that some of the youngest veterans back from the war, indeed, sadly, are homeless.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERGIO ARIAS, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: You know, it kind of helps me forget about everything, you know, helps me stay calm.
STARR (voice over): A calm far from Sergio Arias's combat tour of duty in Iraq. He serves as a Marine during the 2003 invasion.
ARIAS: We have apricots up here.
Sergio, now 28, says he came home from war with post-traumatic stress. He wound up in jail for possession of drugs and when he was released, he had nowhere to go.
Sergio came here to New Directions, a recovery center for addicted and homeless veterans.
JOHN KEAVENEY, VIETNAM VETERAN: You did this one.
STARR: And he found John Keaveney, a Scottish-born Vietnam veteran who started the program after he served nine years in prison on a stabbing conviction.
KEAVENEY: He's going to get the honest truth from me.
STARR: Blunt talk from John, still with a metal plate in his head from being shot in Vietnam. He mentors this Iraq vet 32 years younger.
KEAVENEY: He'll have to make a choice what he wants to do, you know. He's got all the potential in the world. He really does.
ARIAS: I look up to John, you know. Because, you know, he tells me that I shouldn't be ashamed of having been put here. I shouldn't be ashamed of having problems.
STARR: Sergio suddenly finds another mentor, 60-year-old Michael Anderson, a fellow Marine, who served during Vietnam. Michael started writing poetry while he was in jail
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the bell tolls, I offer salute to our fighting men in uniform, brave and resolute.
STARR: The vets decided to collaborate.
ARIAS: I already have a picture in my mind of what I want to paint for that home.
STARR: While this Iraq and this Vietnam vet are separated by generations, they are now joined by their arts and their battle against the demons of homelessness, addiction and combat duty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And, John, that's what we really found is that the generation of Vietnam veterans, who suffered when they came home with homelessness and addiction, reaching out across the years to these youngest new generation, wanting them not to suffer the same problems.
And it really come full circle because here at Drexel University, they're giving some money under the new GI bill, so more veterans can come home, go back to school, get their education and get jobs, so they don't end up on the streets - John.
ROBERTS: It's really shocking, though, isn't it, Barbara, that 40 years after those Vietnam vets came home and suffered from that, soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering the same problems. And what did we learn in 40 years?
STARR: Well, you know, that really -- it is just heartbreaking. When we let that man you saw, Michael Anderson, the poet. He has been back from Vietnam, 40 years suffered with homelessness, addiction, nowhere to go, if you will, and found himself doing time in jail.
You know, the hope is now the country has learned and that they will start with more benefits for education, more benefits for health care, and really training these young troops who come out of the war zone. That they have to make some plans when they come back home. That they have to get an education, get a job, so that they don't wind up on the streets, and that they don't wind up in jail -- John.
ROBERTS: Let's hope that those lessons sink in. Barbara Starr for us this morning. Great story, Barbara. Thanks so much for that.
And tomorrow, for the second past of our series, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to look at some behavioral changes like binge drinking and drug addiction, as Barbara was mentioning, exhibited by returning soldiers who are finding it difficult once they are home from the war - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, is America vulnerable to cyber warfare and how do you fight against it? We want to take a look.
Forty-four minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
A reminder of how vulnerable cyberspace is to an attack. A stunning new report says that Russian hackers used American identities and software to carry out cyberattacks on Georgian Web sites while the two countries were at war last year.
Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is live in Washington. She's been investigating the state of our country's cybersecurity, and the results of this report certainly cause for concern in some cases, Jeanne?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran.
You know, denial of service attacks against Twitter and government Web sites earlier this summer got a lot of publicity. But experts estimate hackers are successfully penetrating almost every U.S. government agencies, seven or eight times a month, and some experts are perplexed that the Obama administration isn't doing more to stop it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): In May, President Obama declared a new day in cybersecurity.
OBAMA: From now on, our digital infrastructure, the networks and computers we depend on every day will be treated as they should be, as a strategic national asset.
MESERVE: But two and a half months later, some cyber experts are asking where is the action to match those words.
TOM KELLERMANN, V.P. CORE SECURITY: It seems that he's only being lip service thus far. We really need real, tangible action.
MESERVE: Two high-profile cyber experts have announced plans to leave government in recent weeks, and the president has yet to appoint to cyber czar he promised to lead and coordinate government cyber security efforts. Word in the computer community is that well- qualified people don't want the job for one big reason.
ALAN PALLER, SANS INSTITUTE: Right now there's no indication that that person will have a great deal of power.
MESERVE: The White House vigorously denies that insisting cyber remains a top priority and a rigorous selection process is well under way.
JANET NAPOLITANO, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Those of you from the private sector, I hope to recruit some of your smartest people to join the government. So watch out.
MESERVE: Homeland Security is looking to double its cyber staff and has already brought in some well regarded experts from industry. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is starting up a new cyber command to secure military networks and develop offensive cyber capabilities. But some experts say with more leadership, there would be more progress, in the federal government and beyond.
KELLERMANN: In order to engage international actors, in order to engage the critical infrastructure of the community, globally, we have to have real leadership on the civilian side. Leadership from the White House, because there's too many turf battles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Meanwhile, the attacks continue largely unabated with cyber crime and cyber espionage, sucking valuable information and money out of the U.S. everyday.
Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: You know, it's -- one of the interesting thing was what Secretary Napolitano said that watch out, because we're going to try to recruit them. But isn't it hard to get some of the, you know, the brightest minds to leave private -- the private sector and come work for the government.
MESERVE: Well, it's certainly true that the private sector is paying a lot more money, and that does make it difficult to recruit some rank and file. However, I talked to a lot of expert who say for those positions at the very top, there are a lot of people in the cyber community who really want to do good, and who would be willing to walk away from those big pay checks that they thought they would really going to have the authority to make significant changes in the U.S. government approach to this issue.
CHETRY: Good to hear. All right, Jeanne Meserve for us this morning. Thanks.
MESERVE: You bet.
ROBERTS: So, Michael Vick was back on the field again, over the weekend, and he's back in the NFL. So what do you think about it. The calls that we're getting on both sides of the opinion. That's pretty interesting.
We're also going to be talking with James Brown from CBS Sports coming up on our next hour. He's the fellow who did the interview with Michael Vick for "60 Minutes" last evening, and he'll share his insights from that interview, whether he thinks Michael Vick truly is rehabilitated.
It's 51 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Michael Vick's return to the NFL has you fired up. Phone calls have been pouring into our AmFix hotline since you signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. And here are some of what you're saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: It's absolutely wrong and disgusting that Michael Vick is allowed to return to the NFL after what he did to all those poor innocent animals.
CALLER: We're a country of second chances. Michael Vick paid his price. He went to jail. He did his time for his crime. I believe he deserves a second chance in the NFL.
CALLER: I am so glad that Michael Vick is playing football again. He deserves it. Dog fighting is not the most horrible crime in the world.
CALLER: I told my husband I would divorce him if he turns on a Philadelphia Eagles game. I think it's atrocious that people can kill dogs and come out and get million-dollar deals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It's so unbelievable. It was the same thing last week. Such strong opinions, but such a varied opinions on both sides of this. Well, we want to hear from you. Call our show hotline. It's 877-myamfix. You can also send us a note on our Web site, cnn.com/amfix. And, of course, via Twitter as well.
ROBERTS: Yes. And as we were saying, we'll learn more from James Brown who did the interview with Michael Vick for "60 Minutes" coming up on our next hour here this morning.
We're also going to be talking with Virginia Senator Jim Webb who just came out of Myanmar. Other people call it Burma. He went in there. He met with the military leadership. He also got a chance to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi. And also that American who swam across the lakes to go visit with Aung San Suu Kyi in her home was released to Jim Webb for humanitarian reason. So he's going to join us to talk about all of that.
Does this represent a potential diplomatic opening between the United States and the military leadership there in Myanmar? We'll find out. It's 55 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Three minutes before the top of the hour. You know if you went grocery shopping this weekend, you probably noticed that you paid less for a gallon of milk. It certainly good for your family budget. But as our Deb Feyerick found out, it is hurting a lot of mom and pop dairy farmers out there. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every morning, bright and early, you'll find Allan Bourbeau and his two sons milking the cows at their farm in St. Albans, Vermont.
ALLAN BOURBEAU, DAIRY FARMER: The goal for 34 years is to be able to have a weekend off, a day off. But I cannot go afford to pay an extra man right now just to work through the extra mornings a week, just so I can have that luxury.
FEYERICK: And you're the chief executive officer.
BOURBEAU: Yes, yes, chief of everything. That's in all.
FEYERICK: And the debts right now are soaring.
BOURBEAU: For that I definitely went negative, yes. $4000, $5000, something like $6000 negative.
FEYERICK: Every month?
BOURBEAU: Every month.
FEYERICK: Why?
Last year, demand for U.S. dairy exports was high. And milk sold at a record $19 per 100 pounds, about two of these jars. That price has plunged to $11, less than what it actually cost dairy farmers to produce it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is certainly not overblown. This is the worst crisis that the dairy farmers probably have ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now farmers are in a position where they're paying to go to work everyday.
FEYERICK: Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture took the unusual step of raising support prices by about 15 percent for dairy products through October.
JOE GLAUBER, USDA CHIEF ECONOMIST: Hopefully, these actions will suffice and get a lot of dairy producers over, you know, this rough patch they're going through.
FEYERICK: Maybe, maybe not.
(on camera): While the cost of milk is going down, the cost of virtually everything else to run a farm is going up.
BOURBEAU: Actually, my fertilizer cost was roughly 20,000. This year my fertilizer is $25,000. I had done nothing different except now I got $5000 extra.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Like many farmers, Bourbeau has been borrowing from the bank and cutting corners. BOURBEAU: We're trying to cut the grain, cut every cut that we possibly can. But trying not to lose too much milk production.
FEYERICK: Sons, Justin and Eric, know every cow and every inch of land. What they don't know is whether there's a future here.
(on camera): Obviously, this is in your blood. Are there some days where you think about giving it up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, more often now than before.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Still, the Bourbeaus have faith things will turn around. And that they'll keep the farm for generations to come.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, St. Albans, Vermont.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
