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State of Emergency in Georgia; President Obama Hosts Israeli/Palestinian Talks; Senate Finance Committee Takes up Baucus Health Plan

Aired September 22, 2009 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Pretty amazing stuff, huh?

All right, time for your midday reset.

I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is noon in Atlanta, where Georgia's governor is asking President Obama to declare flood disasters. Not one, not two, but 17 counties.

Twelve o'clock in Washington, where the full Senate Finance Committee begins grappling with its version of a health care overhaul. Some 500 amendments await.

In New York, President Obama makes his debut at the United Nations and brings the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians together for talks.

Let's get started.

Misery across the South this morning as storms rob people of their homes, highways and, in some cases, their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the highest water that I've seen. And I've been living around here all my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it's really set in that this is real. This is -- we're flooded out. We don't have a home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Boy, we are covering it all day with Chad Myers in CNN's Severe Weather Center, and Rob Marciano is on the ground in Georgia.

The Senate Finance Committee is taking up the health care reform plan put forward by its chairman, Max Baucus. Live pictures now from Capitol Hill. Senators will debate more than 500 amendments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D), CHAIRMAN, FINANCE COMMITTEE: My colleagues, this is our opportunity to make history. Our actions here, this week, will determine whether we are courageous and skillful enough to seize the opportunity to change things for the better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right. Even Senator Baucus is offering to change his plan to attract support. We will outline those changes and talk to CNN's Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill.

Also, I will speak with Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, a medical doctor and critic of the Democrats' plans on health care reform.

President Obama brings the Israeli and Palestinian leaders together. The trilateral talks taking place right now in New York. The aim is to rekindle Mideast peace talks, but no breakthrough is expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not going to get a grand gesture from the Israeli side. He's not going to get a grand gesture from the Palestinian side. The president's goal is to show that he cares, he's working on it, he's trying to move it forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: That's our look at the day's big stories. Now let's go in-depth in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. Georgia's drought is over, but that's about the only silver lining after days of torrential rains leave major areas of metropolitan Atlanta underwater. At least seven people are dead. And Georgia's governor has asked the president to declare a state of emergency.

Look at this. You'd never know it, but that was a major highway in Atlanta. Some people still can't get near their flooded homes and businesses.

And this is pretty mind-boggling, what you're about to see here. Six Flags amusement park looking like something -- do we have it? There it is, like something out of the movie "Water World." Remember that one?

OK. We have team coverage on this story.

Chad Myers is in the CNN Severe Weather Center and Rob Marciano is in Austell, Georgia. That's one of the areas hardest hit by the flooding.

Let's quickly get you to Rob now.

Rob, if you would, give us a look around.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Tony.

Well, good news, obviously the sun out today. That doesn't guarantee it will be dry, but it does mean that the water here at least is receding.

When we went on the air earlier this morning, the water was up to the top of this mailbox right here. It has since come down.

At one point last night, up and over my head. So, you can just imagine what these folks went through.

This is just a small creek that meanders around the back side of this subdivision, usually around one or two feet high. The rain gauge before it went out of business yesterday was up around 14 feet.

Thirty to 40 homes around this corner submerged in water. We're not just talking about plain basement flooding. Submerged and major, major flood damage. Not many folks here have flood insurance.

And this scene echoed throughout much of Georgia. Take a look at some of these aerials coming in now that we have, some good visibility today. Choppers up in the air give you the idea of the extent of this flooding. Several -- many streets like this one, swollen, over- flooding their banks, and taking over entire neighborhoods, not to mention the major rivers that are in major and historic, in some cases, flood stage.

There are, as you can imagine, a number of personal stories coming out of this event where the water came up so quickly yesterday morning. I talked to a gentleman who lives around the corner. His house is buried in water. And he gave us an idea what he went through the morning this river started to rise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday we were stranded here. The fire department showed up and told us that we needed to walk out. And we couldn't get out.

We got cars out of the cul-de-sac and we made a road by the pool to get out. We got eight vehicles, and the women and children come out, and we started getting people out. And the fire department wouldn't help. They wouldn't cut the guardrail for us to get us out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: Yes. That's one story. Another story, that garage door you see open right there, a woman was just lifting the garage door like she's going to work any other day. Had no clue.

Opened the garage door, water comes pouring into her garage. She and her brother have to retreat to the upstairs of their home and then eventually get rescued by boat.

Amazing, amazing stories.

Amazing amount of moisture, Chad, as you know. For this to happen in a non-tropical system, no tropical storm, no hurricane, to get this amount of rain in this short a period of time is truly remarkable. And it's I guess is the main reason that we've seen rivers surpass the flooding that they saw during Hurricane Francis and Ivan back in 2004.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama hosts trilateral talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The meeting in New York aims at rekindling peace talks.

Live now to CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, traveling with the president in New York City.

And Suzanne, I posed this to you last hour. Let's get an answer from you on this. Is there any risk of the president losing any credibility on the world stage if he comes out of this trilateral meeting empty-handed?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Very little risk, Tony, because one of the things that the White House has done, and it's done it so well, before this meeting has even begun, is to lower the bar so much that the expectations are so low. They don't expect that a lot is going to come out of this, and so you don't have that sense of disappointment of really telling everybody that this is going to be something where they'll get the leaders together. They're not going to come out with specifics dealing with the Israeli settlements or Palestinian security.

But the other thing that they are doing as well is that they are using some of his political clout, if you will, to show, to demonstrate to other world leaders that he is able to get these two together in one room and to start talking. And sometimes that's more than what previous administrations have been able to do and previous presidents have been able to do.

So, he is, in some ways, demonstrating that as the president of the United States, it comes with the job that there's a certain gravitas and a certain credibility that he can get these two in the room, and that he's engaged in the process. So, I think when you talk to White House aides, they don't really get a sense that this is a risky move per se, but they do have to deliver eventually, and that's why you have got his special envoy, George Mitchell, working so hard behind the scenes to try to work out some of those negotiating points, those sticking points that they just have not been able to break through on.

The other thing, Tony, is that many leaders before President Obama have tried this and they failed. They figure they do have some time, some wiggle room, at least, to work on this and work this out. As we know, it was former President Bill Clinton who came very close, just that close, to a deal and didn't get it.

HARRIS: I can't wait for this tape of this meeting, the body language. We will all be paying close attention to the body language, what is and what isn't said. And I know you'll be watching it as well.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. OK.

HARRIS: Suzanne Malveaux in New York for us.

Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks.

HARRIS: President Obama has a jam-packed schedule for the rest of the day.

At 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, he meets with China's president, Hu Jintao. Later, President Obama delivers remarks at the opening of the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting. And this evening the president returns to the United Nations for the climate change summit dinner.

The full Senate Finance Committee began haggling over its version of health care today. The plan spearheaded by finance Chairman Max Baucus is widely seen as a middle-of-the-road compromise. Already, Baucus is offering to make changes to attract support.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is watching the maneuvering at the Capitol today.

I like that new perch where you can watch what's going on there, Brianna.

What changes -- let's start with this -- is Senator Baucus talking about making?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator Baucus is trying to address a concern that he's heard a lot about from Democrats, Tony, and also a key Republican, Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine. We're expecting that he's going to detail these changes after this group returns from lunch. They're breaking right now for their recess. But the main concern is affordability.

They have said, these Democrats and Olympia Snowe, how do you force Americans to buy health insurance if it's not affordable for them? They feel like maybe Americans' hands are tied and more needs to be done to make health insurance more affordable.

So, the changes we're expecting to hear after lunch, Tony, include increasing those subsidies to low-income and middle-class Americans to help them pay for health insurance. Also, reducing the penalty for Americans who don't buy health insurance, who choose not to. Because, remember, under the plan, the draft plan as it stands now, that penalty could be up to $3,800 a year for a family of four.

We're also expecting there will be an announcement that this committee is going to tax fewer of those Cadillac plans, those high- end health insurance plans. We're expecting the announcement from Senator Baucus that they're essentially raising the cap and it has to be really the high end of those high-end plans that will get the tax -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. So, we're talking also about amendments. Can you give us an example? Do you have that stack of papers there?

KEILAR: Yes.

HARRIS: All the amendments, 564 of them?

KEILAR: Five hundred sixty-four amendments, and we are expecting them to start getting to these today, Tony, where they go through the bill, really line by line, and there have been all of these proposed changes, 564. The senators will discuss them, and then ultimately they will vote on them.

And just to give you an example of one and to show you this is going to be -- you know, this is going to be a partisan issue. And certainly Republicans are going to force Democrats to take some tricky votes here. But one of these amendments from John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, says that every time in this bill that it says "fee," using that word "fee," he wants it changed to "tax."

And here is an example. This is the part of the bill that deals with this. I've highlighted every point where the word "fee" comes out. He wants this to say "tax" instead.

And specifically, Tony, this is definitely with about $100 billion in fees that are going towards insurance companies, clinical laboratories, medical device manufacturers. This is going to help pay for the bill. But Republicans say, ultimately, it will trickle down to consumers and they don't want this -- essentially the tax hiding behind the word "fee," because they say it's a tax.

HARRIS: And that's political as well...

KEILAR: It is.

HARRIS: ... the idea of, look, they're tax-and-spend Democrats, and look at how often they're raising your taxes. It's not a fee, it's not a penalty, it's a tax. Call it what it is. And then that can be used politically. I mean, that's true as well.

KEILAR: Exactly. And Republicans have said that -- you know, one of the things we've heard over and over this morning through these opening statements is Republicans say, look, it's a tough economy.

HARRIS: Yes. Absolutely.

KEILAR: And one of the areas they say they disagree with is they think that there are -- this is essentially going to be a burden on American taxpayers. Certainly, that wouldn't be popular with American taxpayers, Tony, so, yes, it is political.

HARRIS: All right.

Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar for us.

Brianna, thank you.

In the CNN NEWSROOM in the next half-hour, I'll be speaking with Wyoming Senator John Barrasso. He is a Republican, a medical doctor, and a critic of the various health reform plans.

Digging out of an $80,000 debt. Can you imagine that?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were about 17 credit cards at that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Oh, man! How one phone call helped her cut that debt in half. It might just help you, too.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

Investigators say they're looking for about a dozen more people tied to an alleged terror plot against a transportation hub, and they expect to make more arrests. Three men are in jail now, charged with lying to investigators.

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, says he agrees that more U.S. troops should be sent to his country. An assessment from the top U.S. general in Afghanistan says the president should send more troops within the next year or the war against the Taliban could fail.

The Massachusetts Senate is set to debate a bill today to allow the governor to name a temporary replacement for the late Senator Ted Kennedy. The House gave the bill initial approval last week. Voters will pick a permanent replacement in a January special election.

We will get another check of our top stories in 20 minutes.

Eighty thousand dollars in the hole -- $80,000. One woman's quest to dig herself out.

The story now from our Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two years ago, Dawn Warfield was drowning in credit card debt to the tune of $80,000, nearly 10 times the $8,300 the average American family owes on their cards.

DAWN WARFIELD, RAN UP $80,000 IN DEBT: There was about 17 credit cards at that time.

CHERNOFF: Dawn was dealing with several factors against her -- high credit card interest rates, a divorce, and using her personal cards for the high expenses of opening up a second location of her video store. WARFIELD: Every month, I was writing out 17 checks. And the interest rates, they ranged from, like, six percent to 33 percent. Quite honestly, living beyond my means is another part of it. I'll own up to that.

And just, you know, there's always unforeseen expenses. And when you're making the minimum payments on these credit cards when you can't afford to make more than that, they just -- they don't go down.

CHERNOFF: So, Dawn took matters into her own hands. She sold the second store location, stopped using her cards, and called for help.

WARFIELD: I sat down one day and I called each credit card one by one. And I asked all of them to work with me to lower my interest rate.

CHERNOFF: But that didn't go anywhere. Instead, she was directed to the debt management program of the not-for-profit Consumer Credit Counseling service.

Counselor Eric Jackson helped Dawn analyze her bills and expenses and created a plan to help her get lower interest rates. Now she makes a single monthly payment.

WARFIELD: I don't even have to think about it, which makes it a lot easier for me, because when you have a lot of debt, it's not just financial, but it's emotional, you know, even physical. You just think about it all the time.

ERIC JACKSON, CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELOR: She's making her payments on time. They're posting to her creditor accounts. You know, she was very low interest rates. That was one of the benefits. And she's definitely doing well. So she is on track to get her debts paid off in full within the five years.

CHERNOFF: Today, Dawn is less than $40,000 in debt.

WARFIELD: I'm about halfway. Yes. It hasn't been easy, but we're getting there.

CHERNOFF: Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: For more economic stories affecting you, check out our special "Money & Main Street," Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m. and Thursday evening at 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

He is a senator and a surgeon. Senator John Barrasso joins me live to break down health care reform, what he wants and how he thinks it should be paid for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. We would love to direct you to our -- oh, no, no, no. I thought we were going to go to CNNMoney.com. Well, we'd love to send you there as well for the latest financial news and analysis, CNNMoney.com.

Now let's switch to the Big Board. We're having an up day for stocks just about three hours into the trading day. As you can see, stocks are up 55 points. The Nasdaq up 10.

We are following these numbers throughout the day with Susan Lisovicz for you, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

President Obama, on Letterman, looking for a little common sense when it comes to the health care debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the things you sign up for in politics is folks yell at you. But I think that what has been missing from the conversation is that the overwhelming majority of people, Republican or Democrat, I think they just want to see some common sense. They want to see some honesty and integrity in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. One of the president's critics in this make-or- break health care debate, Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso, who is also a medical doctor.

Senator, thanks for your time.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: Thanks for having me.

HARRIS: Hey, talk to us about your town hall meetings. Was there a lot of yelling? The president talked about when you sign up for this job, a lot of people yell at you. Was there a lot of back and forth, some high-pitched debate at your town halls in August?

BARRASSO: Well, people turned out in force. They're very active. And a lot of it is along the lines of what John King's first question to the president was Sunday morning on CNN, when he said -- John said, "As I travel around and ask people what they want to talk about, it's the economy."

The first thing is, what's happening with the economy, with jobs, with unemployment? You know, people in Wyoming are telling me that we're spending too much, we're borrowing too much, and there are too many government takeovers. And then they get to health care.

HARRIS: Hey, Senator, you don't see the linkage? You don't see the linkage with the economy and health care, your job, your ability to have health insurance, your lack of a job, and your ability to afford health care? You don't see the linkage there?

BARRASSO: There is absolutely a linkage, but it's not -- it's not dollar for dollar. I think there are other things going on in the economy in addition to health care. But the number one question in John King's mind Sunday and in the people of Wyoming is just how much debt and what are we looking at in terms of unsustainable debt and what are we passing on to our kids. So health care is a key component of that, but it's not the only component.

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely. Senator, Republicans have said consistently that they want a patient's first approach to health care reform. I assume you agree with that. So let's talk about health insurance reform. What does it look like to you? It looks like we're going to end up with non-profit co-ops and not a government insurance plan, the so-called public option. What do you want out of insurance reform?

BARRASSO: Yes, I want to make sure that people that have pre- existing conditions are able to get insurance. My wife is a breast cancer survivor.

HARRIS: That's right.

BARRASSO: She's had three operations, chemotherapy, the whole thing. So we've seen it both from the standpoint of me being a surgeon, but also with her illness. So I want that.

I want portability. I want people to be able to shop across state lines. I want . . .

HARRIS: Yes.

BARRASSO: An individual buys their own health insurance, they should get the same tax advantages as corporations. People shouldn't be penalized for buying their own insurance. And we see that in Wyoming with ranchers and with farmers. So that's a concern.

I think we have personal responsibility and involvement. That, you know, according to the Baucus bill, it -- regardless of what kind of lifestyle you lead, you're going to pay the same thing based on your age. And I think that people that get their diet under control, that, you know, through proper diet and exercise, get blood pressure under control, get their weight down, get their cholesterol down, that they ought to benefit from that. So there ought to be an individual linkage to personal responsibility.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes, yes.

BARRASSO: And the other thing is, I think people have to have an involvement with their own dollars. And we call it skin in the game. As a physician, people would come in and the first question they'd ask if I said, you know, we'd probably ought to do this x-ray or this study, they would say, does my insurance cover it? And only if you'd say, no, it doesn't, then they'd say, well what does it cost. But as long as insurance is paying so much of the cost and the individuals aren't focused on their out-of-dollar cost, that, I think, that drives the demand.

HARRIS: Yes.

BARRASSO: So I think there's more we can do to get costs under control. And, you know, I think that when the president speaks of having an honest debate on this, I think we have to avoid some of these financing gimmicks that are in the bill. I mean, the Baucus bill, they want to start it right away because they want to start collecting the money right away.

HARRIS: Right.

BARRASSO: But they're not going to start giving the care until four years from now. So you're going to take 10 years of income for only six years of health care. That's the way they can get the number down.

HARRIS: OK. Let me stop you there for a moment because there are a couple of issues I want to tackle there and I want to get to a basic one.

BARRASSO: Sure.

HARRIS: Do you want everyone covered essentially from cradle to grave?

BARRASSO: Well, I want everybody to have a basic level of coverage to help them. Then the question is, how much is that basic level and how much more can you go with new advances and new technology and new drugs and the new technology becomes very, very expensive. And then the defensive medicine is very expensive, too, as doctors try to avoid the lawsuit abuse that's out there.

HARRIS: Got you.

One more point here. I'm just curious if you think progress is being made as you watch what's going on in the Senate Finance Committee now in the right direction. First of all, you know that Chairman Baucus is talking about his own changes to his own plan, reducing the penalty levied on middle class families that don't buy health insurance.

Also increasing financial assistance to moderate income families to help them pay for insurance. And reducing the impact of an excise tax on so-called Cadillac plans. Is that moving in a direction that you could see yourself potentially supporting?

BARRASSO: There are 564 amendments that are going to be offered. So there's a lot of things that are going to happen over the next week or two in the Senate to see how this -- how this bill changes. But initially there was a penalty on families of about $3,800 if they didn't buy insurance.

You know, Senator Grassley, I think, has an amendment to say, hey, why don't you try to fund this out of some of the stimulus money that hasn't been spent yet, because such a small percentage of that money has actually been spent. So there are a lot of ideas that are going to be brought forth. But I want to actually see some real tort reform, some real efforts to address junk lawsuits because I don't think that the little bit of lip service that's been paid for this is really going to do what we need to do to get those costs under control.

HARRIS: Well . . .

BARRASSO: Plus, you have to be honest with this. There's no way they're going to cut $420 billion out of Medicare, the program for our seniors. With the baby boom generation coming, that's not going to happen. So I think you need some honesty in the accounting.

HARRIS: And maybe you don't have to if you can realize some savings in some of the other areas, including tort reform, as you mentioned, in the liability area.

Senator, let's leave it there for now and let's have you back on often throughout this debate.

BARRASSO: Love to do it. Thank you.

HARRIS: All right, Senator Barrasso.

And let's get to our Chad Myers now in the severe weather -- oh, we don't need to hear big voice announcer. We need to see Chad Myers. And there he is.

What are you working on, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Tony, I wanted to show you what flash flooding is.

HARRIS: OK. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

MYERS: Yes. OK. Remember we talked about this a minute ago.

HARRIS: That's right. That's right.

MYERS: Here's 1:00 a.m. on Monday of a river or creek called Peachtree Creek in Atlanta, Georgia. That's 1:00 a.m., the level was six feet. I'm going to take you to -- this is 7:00 a.m., when people are waking up. All of a sudden that line right there, that is 20 feet -- 20 feet. So this water went up 14 feet in six hours when people were sleeping.

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: They woke up and they didn't even realize that their cars were under water and basically their houses were under water. And they couldn't get out.

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: They were already there. They were in it! And it's like, oh, my gosh, now what do I do? And that's when they had to call out all of those boats. They had to get people out of there because it came up when people are sleeping. And it's one of the most dangerous times for flooding. If it occurs when it's raining at night -- and that's happened, the rain started about 6:00 the night before. It rained all night long and the water just went up and up and up. And that's what a flash flood was.

Oh, and I wanted to show you -- one more thing I wanted to show you about this, too. Look, here is where it crested.

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: Right there at 24 feet. Here's where it is right now. Two days later, it's down to . . .

HARRIS: That's crazy.

MYERS: Three. Three. It's down to three feet. It went from 23 feet to three feet. That's what flash flooding is now. If your house is right there, and your water was only in the hours for six hours, like I said, it doesn't matter to your couch and your rug and your drywall how many minutes or how many hours that water is in your house, that damage is already done.

I believe that the damage, or if there will be future damage, may shift a little bit farther to the west because that's where the focal point of the heavy rain will be for the next few days. It will be Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, back into Mississippi and Alabama. Also back up a couple showers into the Carolinas.

But here's Atlanta, right through here, for the next 48 hours. Not expecting really any significant rainfall. A couple of showers popping up here and there, but those scattered showers shouldn't be widespread enough to make significant flooding.

And I know, Tony, we have -- we have some people out in the field in places where you and I go to all the time. We see all the time with dry land. But not really realizing what it looks like (INAUDIBLE) wet water.

HARRIS: Yes, is that Susan? Is that Susan Hendricks?

MYERS: Susan Hendricks is out there, yes.

Susan, are you out there? You're at a restaurant called Canoe or very close to it?

SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I've been there several times. It's right down the road. Completely submerged in water, Chad. And as you said, a couple inches of rain in a very short amount of time, this is the aftermath. The Chattahoochee River reaching record highs. A complete neighborhood behind me.

HARRIS: Wow.

HENDRICKS: What was a neighborhood is now submerged in water. And really this canoe next to me is the new means of transportation. David, if you pan behind me really quickly, you see a gentleman there getting off of a canoe right behind you. That is the new means of transportation. There he is right there. That is the normal scene. We've seen that all day today. We've been here for several hours. And, you know, Chad, I spoke to a young man, 26 years old, coming back to Georgia, visiting his family from California. He says he didn't know he was coming home to this. Those wires right there, it was a very close call for him. He heard a popping sound. He tried to get out of the way with his buddy to reach his mom. That was the goal. Let's take a listen to him. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We kind of cruised in, got about waist high, and got into my mom's house. She was trapped upstairs and the dogs had already taken the first floor of our house. And then from that point on, we just started moving, you know, any valuables we had, you know, grandmother's old paintings, furniture, pictures and stuff like that and then up to the top floor.

And as we're moving, the water was rising at a very fast pace. A lot of the stuff that my parents had already moved up to stay above where they think the water would reach, it was going to reach it regardless. So we were hustling. And by the time we actually left the house, we were actually -- we actually had to swim out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Yes, a close call for him and many other people. And you mentioned, Chad, the Canoe restaurant. Shopping malls completely underwater here. So a real mess.

Back to you.

MYERS: Yes, the owners of that place cleanup of a flood about three or four years ago and, boy, I really hope that they have the insurance to reopen that place because it's right along the river. It's beautiful. People have weddings out there right along the banks of the Chattahoochee.

Susan, stay safe out there. That water has a lot of bad things in it. Make sure you stay healthy out there. It's ugly.

Tony, something else going on. Gwinnett County, flood waters all around this home. And you know what happened?

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: I bet money that water got into the electrical system somewhere.

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: There was a spark in the electrical system and that's what you have right there, the house on fire there in Gwinnett County. Maybe it's a condo -- maybe seemingly unit. I'm not sure. It seems a little bit long. Let's hope it's not connected to other buildings because firefighters are going to, for one, have a very hard time getting there.

HARRIS: Yes.

MYERS: I mean, what do you do?

HARRIS: Look at that. Look at that.

MYERS: Maybe it's a mobile home. OK, there we go. That's a little bit of a better shot. You can see the single wide through there, and then this is, obviously, maybe had a roof over it or something here. A nicer unit here. But the water got into something, shorted something out, made fires and that's what we're going to see. And you have to be super careful because, you know, that if the spark can start the fire, the spark can actually hurt you. Although, obviously, of course, even without the fire, water and electricity don't go well together.

HARRIS: Exactly. And I know that the sun may not be out for very long, but it is going to improve some moods in this place!

MYERS: Yes. It will. Except it also will evaporate some of that water. And you'd think that's a good thing. The water, that evaporation will get into the sky and want to fall again as rain.

HARRIS: And here we go again.

All right, Chad, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

MYERS: You bet.

HARRIS: Hot tempers over health care may be cooling down. Discussions over climate change legislation. We're back with that story in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right, let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

President Obama brings the Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for talks in New York. We may be getting that tape shortly. Expectations of a breakthrough, slim to none. The president's goal, simply to get the two sides talking again.

The Justice Department's inspector general says he will investigate whether ACORN applied for or received any grant funds from the department. The community organizing group has been under fire after the release of secretly taped videos. They showed a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute receiving advice on getting housing assistance.

Bank of America is going to trial over billions of bonuses paid to executive of Merrill Lynch. The bonuses were paid after the investment firm had lost $27 million and after the bank acquired them. Bank of America had already agreed to a $33 million settlement, but a judge rejected it.

With world leaders gathering in New York to address climate change, American policy is under the international microscope, to be sure. Will there be a climate change bill this year? Stephanie Elam has our "Energy Fix" from New York.

Good to see you, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you too, Tony.

Yes, the House passed a climate bill in June, but whether it will become law this year is really an open question at this point. The Senate could unveil its version of the bill next week. But here's the catch. Majority Leader Harry Reid has hinted that health care could push the climate debate into next year.

Now, like the House version, the Senate plan will likely include a cap and trade proposal aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under cap and trade, companies could only emit a certain amount of pollution. If they exceed the limit, they have to buy permits.

But the idea is very controversial. Opponents say it will raise electric bills as companies pass the higher costs on to you and me, of course.

Tony.

HARRIS: Well, health care and cap and trade this year? I don't see it. But why do environmentalists say a bill needs to pass this year?

ELAM: Right. They're not looking at the other big topics on the table.

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: For them it's all about Copenhagen, which is in December. That's when nearly 200 countries, including the United States, will try to hammer out a global climate change pact. But even if President Obama signs a bill here, there's no guarantee of a global agreement. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As we head towards Copenhagen, there should be no illusions that the hardest part of our journey is in front of us. We seek sweeping but necessary change in the midst of a global recession, where every nation's most immediate priority is revving their economy and putting their people back to work. And so all of us will face doubts and difficulties in our own capitals as we try to reach a lasting solution to the climate challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: Now, environmentalists say passing a climate bill here at home could show China and other developing nations that the United States is serious about you cutting emissions. No doubt about it, Tony, with all the things that are on the plates of those making these decisions, it's not going to be a quick change.

HARRIS: Yes, I think you're absolutely right about that.

Stephanie, appreciate it. Thank you.

ELAM: Sure.

HARRIS: Got some new pictures we want to show you now of the flooding in north Georgia. Take a look at this. That's the ACORN video. There we go. Clarkdale Elementary School. That's in Austell. That is, let's see, north and west -- north and west of downtown Atlanta. Four hundred and fifty students enrolled there.

This is in Cobb County, Georgia. Look, the school was closed today. All the schools in Cobb closed today. A number of other school districts have shut down for the day, just too much water. Just wanted to give you a look at how -- how high. I mean, that is ridiculous. Just one of the many buildings underwater in north Georgia.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. We've been promising the tape and here it is, President Obama after his meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And productive bilateral meetings with both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas. I want to thank them both for appearing here today. I'm now looking forward to this opportunity to hold the first meeting among the three of us since we took office.

As I said throughout my campaign and at the beginning of my administration, the United States is committed to a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. That includes a settlement of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that results in two states, Israel and Palestinian, in which both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people can live in peace and security and realize their aspirations for a better life for their children.

That is why my secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and my special envoy, George Mitchell, have worked tirelessly to create the context for permanent status negotiations. And we have made progress since I took office in January and since Israelis -- Israel's government took office in April. But we still have much further to go.

Palestinians have strengthened their efforts on security, but they need to do more to stop incitement and to move forward with negotiations. Israelis have facilitated greater freedom of movement for the Palestinians and have discussed important steps to restrain settlement activity. But they need to translate these discussions into real action on this and other issues. And it remains important for the Arab states to take concrete steps to promote peace.

Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward. It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that's necessary to achieve our goals. Permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon. And, more importantly, we must give those negotiations the opportunity to succeed.

And so my message to these two leaders is clear. Despite all the obstacles, despite all the history, despite all the mistrust, we have to find a way forward. We have to summon the will to break the deadlock that has trapped generations of Israelis and Palestinians in an endless cycle of conflict and suffering. We cannot continue the same pattern of taking tentative steps forward and then stepping back. Success depends on all sides acting with a sense of urgency. And that is why I've asked Secretary Clinton and Senator Mitchell to carry forward the work that we do here today.

Senator Mitchell will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators next week. I've asked the prime minister and the president to continue these intensive discussions by sending their teams back to Washington next week. And I've asked the secretary of state to report to me on the status of these negotiations in mid October.

All of us know this will not be easy. But we are here today because it is the right thing to do. I look forward to speaking with my colleagues. I'm committed to pressing ahead in the weeks and months and years to come because it is absolutely critical that we get this issue resolved.

It's not just critical for the Israelis and the Palestinians, it's critical for the world. It is in the interests of the United States. And we are going to work as hard as necessary to accomplish our goals.

Thanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. The president there. I guess we begin by the president clearly stating, again, for the record, his desire for a two-state solution in the Middle East. The president expressing his frustration. I think that's the tone that came through most clearly in his remarks, expressing his frustration with the pace of negotiations, or the out-and-out lack of negotiations at this point. The president saying, "it is past time to start talking about negotiations. It is time for permanent status negotiations to begin."

The president wants the Palestinian delegation and the Israeli delegation back in Washington posthaste to continue working to pave the way for negotiations on final status, permanent status. And also asking that the secretary of state and the special Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, continue their work to get the negotiations on track.

But, again, I think it would have to be said fairly that the president expressing his frustration with where things are in the negotiations at this point.

We're going to take quick break. We're back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Onetime presidential hopeful, John Edwards, facing new allegations. This time from former aide Andrew Young. According to sources, Young claims that Edwards fathered a baby last year with his mistress, Rielle Hunter, then asked Young to say he was the father. The damming allegations come as a grand jury investigates payments the Edwards' campaign made to Rielle Hunter.

So, what's the next move for the former senator? Does he address the accusations head-on? Are public apologies appropriate? CNN's national political correspondent Jessica Yellin takes a look at legislators and how successfully they've dealt with their sex scandals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Remember when John Edwards admitted to having an affair with Rielle Hunter? He did a mea culpa on ABC News.

JOHN EDWARDS: In 2006, two years ago, I made a very serious mistake. A mistake that I am responsible for and no one else.

YELLIN: But now he's getting front-page "New York Times" treatment. The paper cites a book proposal from former Edwards staffer Andrew Young, alleging that Edwards may not have told the full truth when asked if he fathered the mistress's new infant. Here again on "Nightline."

EDWARDS: That it's not possible that this child could be mine because of the timing of events. So I know it's not possible.

YELLIN: Whoops. The article alleges he's likely the dad. Another ugly charge that Edwards promised his mistress a wedding after Mrs. Edwards, who has cancer, passes.

LEONARD STEINHORN, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: I think the wife's forgiveness is very important.

YELLIN: Culture watchers say if the allegations are true, Edwards could redeem himself if he follows the accepted script.

STEINHORN: He has to apologize. He has to repent. That's this Calvinist framework our society works under when crises hit.

YELLIN: That worked for Louisiana Senator David Vitter, who's seeking re-election after a prostitute scandal, and for Nevada Senator John Ensign, who's still in office after an affair with a staffer/friend's wife. Another model? There's Newt Gingrich, who had an affair while impeaching a president for the same. Or the former president himself. Both men moved on only after enduring public punishment.

But then why do other politicians fail to win forgiveness? Like South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who has apologized endlessly.

GOV. MARK SANFORD, SOUTH CAROLINA: I want to apologize to good friends.

YELLIN: Or New York's Eliot Spitzer, who had to leave office, and John Edwards, who has all but disappeared from the public stage.

STEINHORN: There's an unseemly factor to what they did that sort of disgusts people, that makes people think that there's something fundamentally wrong with them. And I think that's why they may never recover fully the way, let's say, Bill Clinton did.

YELLIN (on camera): Representatives for both John and Elizabeth Edwards declined CNN's request for an interview and John Edwards' spokeswoman also said the former candidate does not plan to issue a statement responding to "The New York Times" article.

Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)