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Supporting the Troops; So Many Missions for President Obama; Health Care Reform Showdown
Aired September 29, 2009 - 13:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Pushing forward now on a war that turns eight years old eight days from now. President Obama sat down today with the secretary-general of NATO and plans to meet tomorrow with his full national security team on the next step in Afghanistan.
Well, the top U.S. commander there is warning all that, well, everything could be lost if the allies skimp on resources, chief among them troops. But in light of the troop buildup he's already ordered, a buildup that's still under way, the president is rethinking all his options.
Well, for every GI in Afghanistan, there is a parent or a spouse or even siblings, all of those people actually, fighting every day to hold their families together.
Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence filed this report from the front.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard to tell who's got the tougher job, the Marines fighting in Afghanistan, or the families left behind.
GIA ELLIS, WIFE OF U.S. MARINE IN AFGHANISTAN: Welcome to reality.
LAWRENCE: It's the second deployment for Lt. Jason Ellis, and for his wife, Gia, things are going better than his last tour in Iraq.
ELLIS: I mean, last year, I just felt so alone, and I just -- I didn't have a good support system. I didn't have any resources.
LAWRENCE: Now the mother of two lives on base at Camp Lejeune, surrounded by other military wives and family readiness officers who help out when troops are deployed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something always breaks as soon as they leave.
(LAUGHTER)
LAWRENCE: There is an intense pride in marrying a Marine.
ELLIS: They're giving everything. We're the land of the free because of the brave. LAWRENCE: But the toughest part of her husband's deployment?
ELLIS: Being mom and dad, being the disciplinarian all the time. Never getting a break.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want her on my (INAUDIBLE).
ELLIS: She can ride your red stick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, she can't!
ELLIS: Do you want to ride it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ELLIS: OK, let me see you ride it. Let him ride it, Ava.
LAWRENCE: And when a deployment ends, there are moments we don't see, after the celebration, when a husband and wife readjust to being partners.
ELLIS: Because now we're used to do everything, you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now to let it go is very difficult.
ELLIS: Yes. Very difficult to then again share the responsibility.
LAWRENCE: Every time there's a casualty on the battlefield, she cringes.
Ten years ago, Gia had no idea Afghanistan would be such a big part of her life.
ELLIS: If you were to tell me, you're going to marry this wonderful guy, he's going to protect our country, but you're going to be a single mom for the majority of the time, I don't know if I would have jumped for that. But would I change anything? No. Could I see him doing anything else other than this? Absolutely not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Yes, Gia's husband is in a weapons company down in Helmand Province, one of the most violent areas of Afghanistan. She hopes that he will be home before Thanksgiving, but the way these things work, they never give them an exact date. So, she told me today she doesn't want to get too excited until she's absolutely sure -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I don't blame her.
Well, what about communication, Chris? How often can she and other families speak with their Marines? LAWRENCE: She was lucky enough. She spoke with him just today. In fact, a few hours before I spoke with her. But that's pretty unusual. She's told me when he first got there, it was a month before she heard from him for the first time.
The family readiness officers really have to prepare these Marine families for this deployment in Afghanistan. When a lot of them were deployed in Iraq, they had regular contact. They had cameras mounted on computers, they would see their families every few days, talk to them constantly. Here, they are in these rugged, remote areas of Afghanistan. They are living in these villages as part of the new strategy, so it is a lot less contact with the families.
PHILLIPS: Chris Lawrence, thanks so much.
Not guilty. That's the plea today by the man accused of plotting to attack New York City with homemade bombs.
Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi was held without bail at his hearing in a Brooklyn court. Now, as we've told you, the feds say that Zazi planned to make the bombs with beauty supply chemicals that he bought in Denver. They also allege they got training from al Qaeda in Pakistan.
His attorney calls it a rush to judgment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. MICHAEL DOWNING, ZAZI'S ATTORNEY: Now, I'm not saying that I've seen all the evidence in this case produced by the government, but what I've seen so far is that Mr. Zazi traveled to Pakistan, which is not illegal, that Mr. Zazi purchased certain products that contain chemicals that allegedly could be used to make a bomb.
That -- those acts were not illegal. And I have not seen any evidence whatsoever of an agreement between Mr. Zazi and anyone else, which is the essence of a conspiracy charge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Two other men, Zazi's father and a New York Muslim cleric, have been charged with lying the feds in that case. They're free on bond. Zazi's next court date is set for December 3rd.
Now a NEWSROOM follow-up from Chicago.
A fourth teen held, in charge with murder in the brutal death of a 16-year-old honor student, Derrion Albert. Police say they're still looking for more suspects, and with the help of a horrific cell phone video of Derrion's attack last Thursday, he was caught between two warring groups, though he was apparently not a part of either and beaten with wooden railroad ties.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CMDR. EDDIE WELCH, CHICAGO POLICE: Right now, we're not saying that this is a gang-related incident. Right now, this appears to have -- you had a young man that's making attempts to go home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Chicago lost more than 30 young people to street violence last school year. So far this month, three Chicago teens have been killed. At least seven others have been shot.
Now, if the president and first lady have their way, Chicago would be on top of the world, athletically speaking. Both are flying off to Denmark this week to try to bring home the 2016 Olympic summer games.
It will be the first time that a U.S. president has lobbied the IOC in person, and it's not like this person doesn't have plenty of other things to do. He's actually running a political decathlon of sorts with health care, Afghanistan, the economy, Iran, climate change. Competing for his attention, all of that.
Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley watching from the sidelines.
In addition to that, he's got two young girls he's trying to raise as well, along with his wife, Candy. My gosh, is Copenhagen just one mission too many now?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think we'll look back and think it was brilliant if somehow Chicago gets these Olympic games. So, it just doesn't -- you know, Air Force One does have a bed, it does have a phone. If something should come up, presidents generally can call whoever they would like.
This doesn't seem to me -- I mean, certainly, I have heard some Democrats complain privately, wait a second, he doesn't have time for this. And I have seen Republicans complain publicly.
Nonetheless, this is a 24-hour trip. I don't think he loses capital if he doesn't get it. It's not political capital. And it's 24 hours.
And, you know, he's from Chicago. So, it's certainly something -- I think what happened was they also looked around and saw that other heads of state were coming to lobby the IOC. And so he decided to it.
I think part of his problem was that two weeks ago, he said I can't do this, I can't go to Copenhagen myself, because I've got to stay here and deal with health care because it's so important. So that was a problem, I think, that was his biggest problem.
PHILLIPS: And Senate leadership is asking him to weigh in on health care. Is he?
CROWLEY: Certainly, they are behind the scenes, if not the president personally all the time. Trust me, he has a staff that is monitoring this and putting input in. But what the Senate leadership wants at this point -- I mean, what they have, or are going to have, are two very different health care bills. They're only allowed to have one. So, somewhere between now and the time this all goes to a conference committee, they're going to have to come up with one bill.
And what the Senate leadership thinks they need is a president to say, here's what I would like, here's what I think can be tossed, here's what I think has to stay, all the time holding on to enough votes to pass it. So, yes, the Senate leadership in particular would like the president to be hands on. This will be something that will be waiting for him when he gets home from Copenhagen.
PHILLIPS: He's going to have a lot waiting for him, including Afghanistan and Iran. Let's add two more things into the mix.
CROWLEY: And those are must-dos. I mean, those are the kinds of things that come on your plate that you didn't have on your to-do list maybe six months ago. But absolutely, he has to take care of Iran. Part of that will start this week.
But Afghanistan is so tough. And what's interesting to me is that this president faces a couple of things.
First of all, what is the mission in Afghanistan, and should he send more troops, as his military will suggests and will recommend that he do? Who does that make uneasy? Who is opposed to that?
Well, a lot of people. I think the last time we looked, about a third of Americans supported the war in Afghanistan, so many of those are Democrats.
Then you look at health care. The president has signaled that he might be ready to deep-six the public option. Who does that anger? The Democrats, particularly the left of the party.
So, he has two very big things that are coming up, with one eye certainly on 2010. He'd like to keep a very healthy majority in the House and the Senate.
So, these are tough, substantive questions that he's going to have to deal with. But they are also tough political questions. And I can tell you that the president and the White House has let it be known on Capitol Hill that he has two priorities this year.
I mean, you know, there's a lot of things they could do, but the president wants health care and he wants financial reform. So, those are the two things. Immigration, energy may have to go to next year. But this year, the president is intent on getting something about health care and financial reform.
PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, great to see you. Thanks so much.
CROWLEY: Good to see you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Health care reform, it's triggered passionate response from people all across the country, especially the idea of a government-run alternative to private insurance. Right now, the showdown is in the Senate Finance Committee, and you're looking live at that meeting right there. And for a change, Democrats are fighting each other.
CNN's Jim Acosta reports from ringside.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D), CHAIRMAN, FINANCE COMMITTEE: There are a couple of public option amendments.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pressure building on the Senate Finance Committee. Not only has the debate over health care reform gotten testy...
BAUCUS: You're delaying, Senator, and we just...
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: Mr. Chairman, I am not delaying. I'm making an extremely important point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last June, I collapsed because of congenital heart problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Even the committee's chairman, Max Baucus, has become the target of an ad sponsored by liberal reform supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to ask, whose side are you on?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now, two key members of that committee, Jay Rockefeller and Chuck Schumer, plan to put their Democratic colleagues on the spot, offering amendments on whether to give the uninsured the choice of joining a government insurance program -- the public option.
SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Something to keep competition real in the marketplace. Otherwise the insurance companies will have you for lunch.
ACOSTA: The showdown pitting liberal versus centrist Democrats was put off last week.
BAUCUS: I want to take that up soon. It's an extremely important amendment.
ACOSTA: But the focus on the public option has irked some Democrats who don't like the way the health care sausage is being made. SEN. JIM WEBB (D), VIRGINIA: This is the problem with this entire process. The administration did not come down with a specific proposal so instead legislation boiled up through five different congressional committees and now they're trying to be resolved.
ACOSTA: Don't tell that to the White House. Remember when the president said he would pass on making a trip to Denmark to sell Chicago's bid for the Olympics?
OBAMA: I would make the case in Copenhagen personally if I weren't so firmly committed to making real the promise of quality affordable health care for every American.
ACOSTA: He's opting to go now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does it look like it's in better shape or is it...
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the president believes health care is in better shape. I'll go on background as a senior administration official with intimate knowledge of the press secretary's thinking and say yes, we think health care is in a better place.
ACOSTA (on camera): It's still unclear whether the public option has the votes to pass the Senate Finance Committee. Either way, public option supporters will keep on fighting. There's still the option of putting the amendment up for a vote in front of the full Senate.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And to find out more about health care reform and how it affects you where you live, just go to our Web site, CNNHealth.com.
An accessory to diplomacy. They adorned her tenure as secretary of state. Now Madeleine Albright is telling the story behind the pins to our John Roberts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, some people just wear their hearts on their sleeves. Madeleine Albright wears hers on her collar. The former secretary of state, well known for her pin collection, used not just for decoration, but some very pointed diplomacy. Some of the jewelry is now on exhibit in conjunction with Madame Secretary's new book.
CNN's John Roberts gets a personal tour. And I do mean personal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Madam Secretary, this penchant for wearing pins, particularly pins that have some sort of meaning and wearing them with a little bit of attitude. Where did that whole idea come from?
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it almost kind of an accident, actually. And none of this would have happened if it hadn't been for Saddam Hussein.
He called me a serpent. And there was this horrible poem about that I was a terrible serpent. And so I decided I had a snake pin that I had bought earlier sometime. So I thought I will wear it when we do Iraq.
So I, in fact, did wear it. President Bush had said "read my lips." So I said "Read my pins."
ROBERTS: This is a great pin here with a fabulous story, this missile pin.
ALBRIGHT: Well, this is a -- it is a great pin. And this was actually made for me by the wife of our NATO ambassador, Lisa Vershbow.
ROBERTS: Great job.
ALBRIGHT: And it's terrific. And I just loved it.
And so I wore it when Foreign Minister of Russia Ygor Ivanov were negotiating the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. And he looked over at me and he said, "Is that one of your interceptor missiles?" And I said, "Yes, and we know how to make them very small, and so you better negotiate."
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: I love this American flag pin. This is very ornate.
ALBRIGHT: Isn't that a great pin? And I just thought it was really beautiful. And I wore it in this -- when I went to North Korea and met Kim Jong-il. Now, if you notice, that is exactly the same background that when President Clinton was just there.
ROBERTS: When he went to get the journalists.
ALBRIGHT: When he went -- I mean, this is their favorite scene. And so, I wanted to have it be absolutely clear who I represented, and it was...
ROBERTS: No mistaking that.
ALBRIGHT: No mistaking it.
ROBERTS: I love this line here. You say Kim Jong-Il, you wore high heels and so did he.
ALBRIGHT: Right. I mean, you know, we were having our first press conference. And I looked over, we were at the same height. And I thought, well, I know I have on heels. And then I looked over at him, and his hair is a lot puffier than mine. ROBERTS: You wore the dove when you were involved in the Middle East peace, but you also on occasion wore this wasp, this bee.
ALBRIGHT: This bee. I wore that.
This is one of those pictures where if looks could kill. So I wore a bee. Arafat is sitting next to me., and I was planning to be pretty tough. And I was. He then gave me a butterfly.
ROBERTS: So what was the bee to symbolize?
ALBRIGHT: It symbolized that there needed to be some tough action, and that I would tell the truth with little sting.
ROBERTS: Tell me the story of the pin that nearly ignited an international diplomatic incident.
ALBRIGHT: Well, I'll tell you. What happened was I perfected the art of diplomatic kissing. That was not something that had been done a lot before.
So, I would arrive somewhere and I'd get a hug and a kiss. And so I was in South Korea. And the minister there, after I had left -- he was out with a friendly dinner with some journalists, and he said, "I'm about the same age as Secretary Albright. But I just love it when she comes here because she makes me feel so young. And when I hug her she has very firm breasts."
ROBERTS: Oh, no.
ALBRIGHT: And so, all of a sudden, there is this whole thing about, how could he have said something like that? Should he be fired or whatever? And I thought, well, this is a silly thing, and I said, "Well, what do you expect me to put those pins on?"
ROBERTS: I'm blushing just listening to you tell the story.
ALBRIGHT: But then what happened was the next time we met, we shook hands at a very proper distance.
ROBERTS: So what was the South Korean kiss then?
ALBRIGHT: Do you want to do?
ROBERTS: Sure.
ALBRIGHT: Closer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: So how was the diplomatic kissing there, Mr. Roberts? And did she make you feel younger?
ROBERTS: It was very diplomatic. She made me feel very red, is what she -- I mean, I've never heard a secretary of state talk about the things that she was talking about. PHILLIPS: I think it made us all a little bit uncomfortable, but you handled it very well.
No, but you -- I guess -- before I talk about some of the pins that we didn't see, I am curious about her and Arafat. OK, she wore the bee, we understand the whole sting. But he wanted to give her a butterfly. I was hearing Muhammad Ali for some reason.
ROBERTS: Well, she told me that she wore -- and this is also in her book -- that she wore the bee pin because she wanted to let them know that she could, as Muhammad Ali did, float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Now, she doesn't know for sure whether Arafat picked up on that or not. She never, ever got it confirmed, if he was giving her the butterfly, hoping that she would float a little more than sting. But she surmises that that might have been the case.
PHILLIPS: Well, you definitely got to know her on a totally different level.
ROBERTS: There's no question about that.
PHILLIPS: Yes, no question about that.
ROBERTS: Never hugged a secretary of state before.
PHILLIPS: Or talked about other things.
But she talked about wearing turtles and snails because people would get frustrated, or she would get frustrated with the pace of things. But she also got pretty emotional with you about one specific pin that was her favorite, and it had to do with Katrina, right?
ROBERTS: Exactly. She was at the D-Day Memorial Museum in New Orleans, the one, Kyra, that you know so much about, in 2006, giving a speech. It was an event that was actually put off for a year because of Hurricane Katrina.
And a young man came up to her with a box and said, "This was my mother's. My father gave this to my mother for their 50th wedding anniversary."
And it's interesting to note that you see this -- it's a combination of -- there's a couple of purple amethysts in the middle. There's also metal that makes a flower embedded with diamonds. It was a beautiful pin that was the given by his father to his mother for the 50th anniversary.
The two amethysts are significant because, in World War II, his father was a double Purple Heart awardee. And their mother died unfortunately during Hurricane Katrina.
And the son came up to the secretary of state and said -- or the former secretary of state -- and said, "My mother would really love you to have this." Madeleine Albright was taken aback by this whole thing, saying, "I can't accept that. I can't accept it." And he said, "Our mother would really want you to have it." And she said, you know, what's really important when you look at these pins is not their intrinsic value in terms of what they're made out of. And many of them are costume jewelry. That one's obviously valuable because of the diamonds and the amethysts.
But she says it's not the intrinsic value of the material that makes it important, it's the emotional investment. And there's a tremendous amount of emotional investment in that particular pin, and so that's why it's one of her favorites.
PHILLIPS: And incredible stories behind all of them as well.
Thanks, John.
Well, millions of people out of their homes and no place to go, no homes to go back to. We're talking about the Philippines, and this is the aftermath of the storm.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS:
PHILLIPS: By the time you're elected president, you're used to opinion polls, but nothing, nothing like this one -- a poll up on Facebook asking if President Obama should be assassinated.
The Web site removed the poll, thank goodness, which was created by a third-party program. But that's not the end of it.
Josh Levs is here with the latest -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's amazing, Kyra, isn't it, what people will do?
PHILLIPS: Not just amazing. It's idiotic, Josh, is what it is.
LEVS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: These people, you know, do it anonymously, and they're just cowards. It's ridiculous.
LEVS: That there's anyone that stupid. And I'll tell you something. This person actually, in the end, was not anonymous. They did track down who it is.
Now, let me track you through one step at a time. We'll start off with the poll itself which showed up on Facebook, and you can see here, the question, "Should Obama be killed?"
"Yes, maybe, if he cuts my health care." And, "No." Like she was saying, idiot just going crazy. Hundreds of people responded, which isn't that much in the Facebook world. But I want you all to understand how this works.
There are these external group outs there, various people who like to create applications, tools that you can use on Facebook to do some fun things. There are lots of them out there that have created ways that you can make up a poll. Right?
So, someone out there used a third-party program to created that poll. Facebook then pulled it, and here's their response we have for you in a graphic. They put this out as soon as they saw it.
They said, "This application" -- this person had used -- "was immediately suspended while the inappropriate content could be removed by the developer and until such time as the developer institutes better procedures to monitor their user-generated content."
The message from Facebook there to the person who created this application: "You need to watch out for how people are using this tool you created."
I spoke with him, and he agrees. This is his Twitter page right here. Jesse Farmer, here's the guy that created this tool that this person out there managed to use, and he's tweeted about this. He's talked about how on his list of to-do things today is to talk with the Secret Service. He tells me he has spoken with them.
If you zoom down here, he says "Thousands of polls are created per day. I rely on automated systems and user reports to filter." So, what had happened in this case was he had heard about it from a blogger out there who had posted it - that's how I was able to show to you, from PoliticalCarnival, a blog that showed up there.
And now, Kyra, you'll take an interest in this -- the current number one poll on all of Facebook right here, "Should the creator of "Should Obama Be Killed' poll be arrested?"
PHILLIPS: I love it.
LEVS: That's the most popular poll of the day there.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Everybody should say "yes." And a swift kick in the arse. All right. So, what does the law say about this?
LEVS: Yes, you know, let me show this to you. This is from US Legal Coda. I pulled this up from Cornell University Web site. Threats against the president and successors to the presidency -- we have (ph) specific laws about this as a nation. I called our Jeffery Toobin today just to make sure I'm reading it right.
Basically what has to be done, there has to be an investigation to determine whether this poll constituted a threat. But I will tell you this, the Secret Service has spoken with the men who created that application, and he knows who it is that created this poll in the first place. We don't, but he knows who it is. So, we can expect some conversations there between the Secret Service and whoever that, as you said, idiot is who went and did this disgusting thing.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Josh.
PHILLIPS: You got it.
PHILLIPS: We'll definitely follow up.
All right. One minute you're a law abiding citizen, and the next you're branded a criminal. Think it can't happen to you? Well, think again. It can happen in the blink of an eye. That's because your personal info is for sale to cops, to employers, who knows who else. And here's what's worse. The people who sell that stuff can get it all wrong.
CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis show us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the good stuff.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): A job offer with good benefits. A dream for this woman's husband that suddenly turned into a nightmare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, he did the drug test and, of course, that was fine. And all we needed was the background check and that was supposed to turn out fine.
WILLIS: But his background check revealed two felony convictions. And like that, the job offer was gone. She wants her identity hidden to avoid further problems for her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we just were in shock.
WILLIS: In shock because the records belonged to another man with the same name and same birthday as her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did they put these two together? You know, how could they miss this?
WILLIS: The report came from ChoicePoint, one of the nation's largest commercial data brokers. Part of a multibillion dollar industry that sells your personal information obtained from public and private records to employers and law enforcement.
Privacy advocate Lillie Coney says most people have no clue what's in these databases. They can include incorrect or outdated information.
LILLIE CONEY, ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER: And let's say it was an arrest that was based on faulty information and it was resolved and there was no trial, no conviction. They still have that original arrest record that may be in the database somewhere that is being passed along repeatedly to people outside of your knowledge.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: I think most of us don't know how exposed we are.
WILLIS: Senator Patrick Leahy has introduced legislation to make those databases more accessible and more secure.
LEAHY: I want to know what's in my records and I want to know how to stop misinformation in my records and today people cannot do that with surety.
WILLIS: For its part, ChoicePoint says that under the Fair Credit Reporting Act individuals may obtain copies of previously prepared reports about them, as well as public record information used for such reports and correct such information as appropriate. The company says those corrections typically take two weeks. Time -- this woman says her husband didn't have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I called the Department of Justice and the FBI.
WILLIS: And her congressman, who was able to get ChoicePoint to quickly correct the mistake. Her husband got the job but she's still concerned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because this will happen again. If my husband ever has to have a background check or maybe if he ever changes jobs, that record is out there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right, Gerri Willis joining us from New York once again. Gerri, what can you do to make sure that this doesn't happen to you? Can you do anything?
WILLIS: Yes, well, you can, Kyra. So, if you're in the job market, you should go out and get that ChoicePoint report, which you can order for free at their Web site, that's just choicepoint.com. Now, it usually takes a couple of weeks to get your hands on the report. Scan it for errors, contact the company if you have problems. And while you're at it, contact annualcreditreport.com to get a free copy of your credit report.
Look, not all employers are allowed to look at your credit report, but more and more of them do. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: How often does that happen?
WILLIS: I think it's happening more and more often, especially with big companies, Fortune 500 companies who have the money to spend on this kind of thing. Sensitive industries, like finance and securities, so look -- if you're a bank teller or a security guard out there, you may be more scrutinized that you know. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Gerri, thanks.
Will there be enough swine flu vaccine for you and your kids? You're actually looking at live pictures right now of a House oversight hearing as they're getting the lowdown on the numbers. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says there's going to be more than enough doses for everyone in the U.S., millions of people should be ready by the first week -- or millions of doses, rather, should be ready by the first week of October.
But world leaders are a bit worried about a global shortage. So, the U.S. is offering to donate H1N1 vaccines to other countries. And just here as we have been watching these live pictures coming across the wires, apparently the first shipment of the H1N1 flu vaccine has already left the factory. The vaccine maker has come forward now, saying it's off. The first shipment is off.
It left the plant in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, and apparently further shipments will be ongoing on a regular basis, a total of 75.3 million doses. We didn't have an exact number, but now the vaccine maker is coming forward with the expected number. 75.3 million, and that will be through December, apparently.
Also, there's already been security concerns. The company is coming forward and saying they don't want to divulge which of the distribution centers set up by the Department of Health and Human Services will get the first doses just as the first batch has been sent.
Interesting. OK, we'll continue to follow that.
Now, maybe the wildlife didn't want them living nearby either, but sex offenders actually kicked out of the woods. Talk about roughing it. Now where do they go?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: He says he wasn't trying to blow up anything, but a federal court judge didn't buy it and denied bail to terror suspect Najibullah Zazi today. Zazi has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to target New York with a homemade bomb.
Roman Polanski's lawyers are trying to get the Swiss courts to release him. The Oscar-winning director remains behind bars in Zurich, awaiting extradition to the U.S. to face statutory rape charges dating back to 1977. But first, the Swiss courts have to decide the legality of the U.S. apprehension request that could take weeks. Fighting extradition is a whole separate battle for Polanski.
Public versus private health care insurance stoking passionate debate among Democrats. You're looking now at live video of the showdown in the Senate Finance Committee. Moderates and liberals clashing over the only compromise health care reform plan that doesn't include a government-run insurance option. The other four proposals before Congress include one.
Okay, I don't have an iPhone, but as you can see here, half of my team and millions of you guys do. This is live from our control room, constantly on the app, and now all of you can actually do this. You can get on to CNN and do it via brand-new iPhone app.
So, what does it do? Well, time to bring in our Internet correspondent, Abbi Tatton.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Kyra, with this new iPhone out, you now have live, streaming video that you can take wherever you go. I'm showing you how this works here on a simulator. It's going to be slightly different experience on your iPhone. A little bit smaller, but this gives you a much better picture of what you're talking about.
You can watch top videos on CNN. CNN.com live will be streaming in your iPhone. Breaking news events. Live news. It's all going to be here on this new app that launched today, and it's divided up into four sections.
One is the video that I just showed you, now we're in the headline section. Let me take you through that. Here's where you can choose from World, U.S. Politics, Crime, scroll through and choose the stories that you're most interested in.
Then the iReport features here. We understand that -- this is -- the iPhone is a place where you want to get news, but it's also a newsgathering device. So, this is a way you can submit your own content to us here in CNN, instantaneously as you are out on the road.
Then there's a segment here that I want to show you, myCNN right here, if I click on that. There are two ways to personalize myCNN section right here. One, we're looking at the stories that I'm following right now. I picked certain topics and now this iPhone app is going to populate with stories when CNN covers them. I'm going to receive information on topics I'm most interested in.
Then, there's the localization. It's going to know where you are, give you information, weather, traffic, local news about the area that you are, the areas that are most important to you because they're the things that are happening all around you. This is a new app that launched today, it's available at the app store for $1.99. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: And when a bank goes bust, the FDIC makes sure your money is protected. But what if the FDIC needs help making ends meet? Uh-oh. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow in New York. Poppy, what's being done to ensure that our savings are safe?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Exactly, exactly. Good way to put it. First things first, your money's safe if it's at an FDIC-insured bank. However, you're right. That fund is quickly running out.
This money is of course backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. But the FDIC says unless it gets more money, it's insurance fund could be in the red by the end of this month, just a matter of days, and could be stuck there through 2013.
The chart you're looking at shows you what has happened. We've seen 95 bank failures so far this year, that has caused this fund to go from over $45 billion in insurance to pay for banks when they failed, deal with this process, down to just over $10 billion.
What's going to happen as a result of that? The FDIC is meeting right now in Washington to talk about that. And also, Kyra, some news on this today. They're estimating the losses from bank failure could climb to $100 billion through 2013. That means we have not seen the end of bank failures as they see it.
PHILLIPS: Ah, that's kind of scary. So, how will the FDIC replenish the insurance fund?
HARLOW: Sure. Here's what they're talking about in Washington today. What they're proposing is having banks pay for three years of those fees up front. That would give them a $45 billion cushion to shore up their coffers. The industry stamp softening a little bit on this.
Of course, banks doesn't love it, but the financial services roundtable is calling this a positive alternative to a one-time big charge on the banks. We have heard talk about that in recent weeks.
The FDIC has a few other options. They could draw on a $5 billion line of credit from the Treasury, essentially a bailout for the FDIC from the Treasury. They don't really want to do that. The banks put off a lend to the FDIC. But whatever happens, what people should know, is that their money is safe, their deposits are safe. Take a quick listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHEILA BAIR, FDIC CHAIRMAN: The FDIC's commitment to depositors is absolute. And we have more than enough resources at our disposal to make good on that commitment.
What this proposal is really about is how and when the industry fulfills its obligations to the insurance fund. With that said, let me explain why we're not going to Treasury to strengthen the cash reserves of the fund. I do think that the American people prefer to see an end to policies that look to the federal balance sheet the remedy to every problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So, what she's really saying there, Kyra, is she thinks people would like to see an end to bailouts, no matter who it's for. Now, what we're going to see after this, we'll see comments in the proposal, final decision in November or December. More details. Check out this story, "FDIC asks the banks for help." It's right on CNNmoney, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: Sure.
PHILLIPS: All right. I know you love your smart phone. It can do your taxes, make you dinner, take your dog for a walk. But could it put a half dozen kids through college?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: We have got people without jobs, without homes, without food. But we've also got people out there bedazzling their Blackberrys to the tune of $240,000. That's how much a self- proclaimed gadget bedazzler is selling his customized Crackberrys for.
You're seeing a video ad for it right here. Talk about pimping your cell phone. Each of his Clackberry Curve 8900s has more than 4,400 little diamonds all over it. That's 29 carats, folks, plus it's drenched in 18 karat gold.
Bedazzled? How about blinded by bling? The bedazzler says he's only selling three. Yes, that's right. Only three. How about three too many? Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?
Rick Sanchez, can you hear me now? Rick Sanchez, ha ha ha ha!
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: What did you just say? That they're evacuating what?
PHILLIPS: Rick. This is all part of the show here, he's going to pretend like...
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: ... start saying something. There we go. See, I'm going to narrate this. Producer jumps in, says, "Rick, we got something big," he's going to check out his mike, he's going to see if he's live on television.
SANCHEZ: Oh, she can't hear me? Is that it?
PHILLIPS: Oh, we can hear you, Rick Sanchez. Now he just turned his mike off. Perfect. That's how we like you. So I'll narrate.
SANCHEZ: Wait, no, I think it's on, it's on.
PHILLIPS: Okay, you're talking now, I hear you. Hi, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Listen...
PHILLIPS: Oh, we've been listening!
SANCHEZ: ... I was overreacting. I get passionate over this stuff, I just -- we're following this, I don't know if you are reported this. But apparently there's been an earthquake out in the Pacific, and you remember the last time there was an earthquake and it caused a tsunami and (INAUDIBLE) was all but destroyed, not to mention thousands of tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands of people who died.
So now every time we hear that there's a possible tsunami situation, that doesn't mean there is a deadly tsunami yet, but a possible situation, we get a little excited about that, so we're all over it. We're going to be checking in with Chad, we have got other sources that we might be doing some evacuations. That's what I was saying when you came to me. Now, this is what else we're going to do today. I have been following the situation in Honduras. I think it's very important because there could be a constitutional crisis there, because there are people taking to the streets.
We have asked the president to let us go into the Brazilian embassy and talk to the ousted president. And last night, finally, we got a call from the Tegucigalpa, the presidential palace where they told us that CNN's cameras are allowed in. So, John Zarrella went in and knocked on the door. And it becomes a bit of a Fellini movie past that. And we're going to share it with you when we start our show at 3:00.
PHILLIPS: See you then, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ha, ha.
Who doesn't love to go camping? Pitching a tent in the great outdoors isn't so great when you don't have a home to go back to.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The sign says no trespassing, and the state means business. That means sex offenders who have served their sentences in Georgia but who can't find housing far enough away from schools or playgrounds can't live in these woods, either. This is just northwest of Atlanta, where probation officers were sending clients as a last resort until the state saw news reports and stepped in.
As you may have heard live last hour, the Southern Center for Human Rights is suing to overturn state restrictions. In the meantime, where the offenders will go is something all Georgians are keen to find out.
It's a black mark on the country, the huge number of homeless people. Well, at least they can get a bed in the shelter at night, right? Well, not all of them. There aren't enough beds, and so many are turning to another option, tents. CNN all-platform journalist Patrick Oppmann camped out at one Seattle tent city.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST (voice-over): About 70 people live in this homeless camp. Residents say city shelters too often don't have enough room, and city streets are too dangerous.
(on camera): This camp has existed in various locations for over a year. The last time I came and spoke with residents here, they invited me to come and actually live here and experience homelessness through their eyes.
(voice-over): So, I'm going back to live in the camp for two days. Resident Terry Bailey shows me around.
TERRY BAILEY, RESIDENT OF HOMELESS CAMP: This is our common area out here.
OPPMANN: After losing a job driving trucks, bailey came with his wife and two sons to find work in Seattle. Life is far from easy, he says, but as good as it gets when you don't have a home.
BAILEY: We can live in a community of people that are in the same situation as we are and still sleep at night. That's the biggest thing I tell you is safety at night. You just don't know what the street has to offer.
OPPMANN (on camera): Many people living here say they prefer life in this camp to a shelter because they can come and go as they please. They can look for work during the day and know that the things are safe here, which makes finding a job much easier.
I'm finding the most difficult thing in this camp right now is setting up my tent, actually. This is not as easy as it looks.
(voice-over): The camp has rules. No drugs or alcohol. But its future is in doubt. Signs posted around the camp tell residents they're trespassing. The constant moves, residents say, make a hard life even more so.
GREGORY LEWIS, HOMELESS CAMP RESIDENT: When you get something established and set up, you don't want to find out 30 days to 90 days later that you have to move. That's what we have to deal with.
OPPMANN: People say they ended up here because of the bad economy and bad luck. Joshua and Amanda Stanton hope to get a roof over their heads before their first baby is born.
AMANDA STANTON, HOMELESS CAMP RESIDENT: I'm five-and-a-half months. I'm due in January. I've got moments that I'm scared because I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't know if something will happen...
OPPMANN: At dark residents go back to their tents for the night.
(on camera): So, everyone in the camp is in bed. I'm in my tent. You can hear trains going by, cars going by. So, I just don't think I'll sleep that well tonight.
(voice-over): At dawn, the camp stirs. I prepare to leave. But it's been just a taste of what the residents face every day.
BAILEY: You know in the back of your mind you have a home to go to when you leave here. When I walk out that gate, this is the only place I have to come back to. And it makes a serious change in how you feel.
OPPMANN: As I go, I'm already thinking about the hot shower, real bed, and decent cup of coffee waiting for me. For the people here, there are none of those luxuries. Only another day of hoping for something better.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Now, Patrick joins me on the phone from Seattle. Patrick, I'm curious, how does a full-time resident feel about you staying at their camp?
OPPMANN (via telephone): You know, I was a little worried about that when I first came to the camp, but I had been invited there by some of the camp members. And all the people there were incredibly welcoming.
They invited me into the camp, they helped me set up a tent. There was a competition seemingly at every meal, the feed-me (ph). And the way this camp (INAUDIBLE) is -- I'm actually right by the camp, and it's being packed up. So, today this will be the last day this camp exists in this location. They're going to try to find a new location, but the police came this morning and told them they were trespassing, and I'm watching as people cart off their possessions and go back on the streets until they can find a new location for this camp.
PHILLIPS: Patrick, I tell you what. As you know, on Thursdays, we do something called the "30-Second Pitch." If you would do me a favor and get any kind of contact information for these folks of ones that you think would do well pitching their resume live on CNN, we would love to give them a shot at that. Every Thursday we do this, so we have plenty of room for all of them if they're ready to do that. Get their information, and we'll do that, starting this Thursday.
OPPMANN: Sounds great, I know they would love to have that opportunity. Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll do that for them. Patrick Oppmann, great reporting.
That does it for us, we'll be back tomorrow. Rick Sanchez takes it from here.
