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And a Lady Shall Lead Them; A Woman's Work, A Woman's Worth; America's Latino Astronauts
Aired October 20, 2009 - 13:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Quick look at the top stories making headlines right now. New Haven, Connecticut, Raymond Clark, III's expected to plead not guilty any minute now. He's the former lab tech charged with killing Yale grad student Annie Le.
Can't get your hands on an H1N1 vaccine? Be patient. Wash your hands. The CDC is saying the vaccine should be easier to find within the next two or three weeks.
And President Obama, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki together in the Oval Office. One issue they're talking about, a possible new surge in violence. The U.S. is worried that could happen if Iraq's January parliamentary elections are delayed.
Whoever said it's a man's world doesn't say it anymore. Politics, economics, demographics, all have shifted women into roles that many have never held and numbers that we have never seen. And this week, former newscaster and current California first lady Maria Shriver unveils a groundbreaking report where the Center for American Progress. It's a snapshot that will really open your eyes.
Consider this: By the end of this year, women are expected to outnumber men in the U.S. labor force. Mothers are the primary breadwinners in one out of four American families. Sixty percent of the college degrees earned each year in America go to women. And 500,000 women work for our nation's defense, making the Pentagon this country's largest employer of women.
Nearly 200,000 of those DOD women are active duty military, but only one gets paid to whip drill sergeants into shape, to mold them in her image, and maybe even make grown men cry.
CNN's Jason Carroll almost one of them.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kyra, she is tough, no doubt about that. The person in charge of overseeing drill sergeant training for the entire Army is no longer a "he." It's a "she," and in this new role, she will have a say in the training of every enlisted soldier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Historically, this is the image of the military drill sergeant: a tough guy, immortalized in movies like "Full Metal Jacket."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FULL METAL JACKET")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will not laugh! You will not cry!
(END VIDEO CLIP, "FULL METAL JACKET")
CARROLL: That was then.
COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR TERESA KING, U.S. ARMY: Let's go!
CARROLL: This is now.
KING: I'm getting (INAUDIBLE).
CARROLL: At 48, Command Sergeant Major Teresa king is the first woman to lead the Army's drill sergeant training school.
CARROLL (on camera): What are you looking for? I mean, because it all pretty much looks like everyone's exercising to me.
KING: I'm looking for attention to detail, conformance.
CARROLL (voice-over): Before sunrise at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, King readies her drill instructor candidates for a rigorous run.
CARROLL (on camera): And what - what's wrong with that?
KING: That's too big, top (ph). You need to break it up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fall out (ph)!
CARROLL (voice-over): She leads by example. King runs the five- mile course from the front of the pack, outperforming men half her age.
STAFF SGT. LERON DELANEY, U.S. ARMY: She's older than me, so if I fall in line and she's still running, I'll feel bad, so yes.
CARROLL: Extinguishing those who think a woman can't be commandant.
SGT. FIRST CLASS MICHAEL CHILDS, U.S. ARMY: We've got to stay on top of our game even more than we used to with her because she's that sharp.
CARROLL: King says she wakes up some mornings still shocked she is commandant.
KING: I had never considered it, although I've been in training for about seven years. But I never considered to just run the school (ph).
CARROLL: King's first Army job some 30 years ago was postal clerk, but her hero, General George Patton, inspired her.
KING: I saw that he had the respect of his men, and I saw he was resolute.
CARROLL: King eventually rose through the ranks, excelling at training infantrymen and paratroopers alike.
KING: I'm doing what I've always done. It's just now people are paying attention to it.
CARROLL: And to her opinions. The military prohibits women from serving in front-line combat roles. King trains men for combat and thinks it's time to train qualified women.
KING: I think if they can do it, they should be allowed to do it.
CARROLL: The reality, women make up 14 percent of active soldiers in the army. Some women question how many others will follow in King's footsteps.
OPERATIONS SGT. ANGELA ANDREWS, U.S. ARMY: I wouldn't say it opens the door, but it -- it may, you know, crack it somewhat.
CARROLL: King says she will continue to lead by example.
KING: I have vision, and I believe I can cause people do some things that they thought they never could do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: You know, Kyra, at one point in her 30s, King was married to another soldier. The marriage failed and King turned to the bible for inspiration. She considered joining the ministry as early as this year, but then, of course, this promotion came up -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll.
Thank you so much.
Well, the sergeant major there, such an incredible example of how far women can go. Hopefully she inspires a lot of us to bust through that glass ceiling and anything else we need to bust through, for that matter.
We're going to push forward now and bust through a few windows about women in the workplace.
Joining us from San Francisco, Marianne Williamson, author of bestsellers "The Age of Miracles," "Return to Love," and "A Woman's Worth," among many others.
Marianne, great to see you.
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON, AUTHOR, LECTURER: Thank you. Great to see you.
PHILLIPS: You know, so we talk about this change of image, this change of face. But you say all the time that's great, but we have got to have a change of heart as well.
Explain to our viewers what you mean by that.
WILLIAMSON: Well, we are told by reports like Maria Shriver's that we've changed the face of the workplace. We will have more women than men in the workforce. But we need to do more than change the face of the workplace.
We need to change the heart. We need to change the thinking.
You know, once we have burst through that glass ceiling, now we have to have a conversation about, what are we going to do now that we've burst through it in those situations that we have? There's a bigger question, a more conscious conversation than just getting power.
The conscious woman now says, OK, what am I going to do with power? What happens now that we're here?
Are we just going to think the same way men have been thinking? I mean, part of what we bring to the table is a different view of things. Sometimes a different world view. Sometimes more of a relational type of world view.
So, if we have power, for instance, in the military, the question is not just, do we have the first woman drill sergeant? That's great, but I want to hear more of a conversation about what American women have to say about the uses of military.
These are the kinds of things we want to ask. You know, we celebrate that some woman is vice president of a major corporation. Great, that's well and good. But what we want to know now is, will that woman be a voice that says that we are going to question an economic bottom line when the economic bottom line is in conflict with the humanitarian bottom line, with the health and welfare of our children, with continuance and survival of the human race?
So, that's what I want to see now, is the real conversation -- OK, girls, now we have power. What are we going to do with it?
PHILLIPS: You know, it's interesting. You mentioned children. You know, the role of the homemaker has certainly changed, hasn't it?
WILLIAMSON: Well, yes. You know, In I grew up in a generation where I'm almost ashamed to say it but, during the '70s, et cetera. It was like, I thought I could do something more meaningful with my life than my mother did.
She took care of a home and she took care of children. And it took me decades to realize that there is nothing more important than that, number one. And number two, when a woman goes out in the world, she's still on this Earth to be a homemaker. The issue is that this Earth is our home.
We're still on this Earth whether we're in the boardroom, or positions outside the home or inside the home to take care of the children. And we realize now that every child, those are our children. So, the feminine archetype, as it were, the role of the feminine on this Earth, is to nourish and to nurture future generations, take care of the home, and now we realize that means this entire Earth and every child on it.
PHILLIPS: So, what exactly does it mean to have it all? Because I would look at someone like, say, the drill sergeant, Teresa King, and go, boy, wow, she has it all. She's operating in a high-powered position, in a man's world. She's got family, she's a female. But does it -- is that how you define having it all nowadays?
WILLIAMSON: Well, I think a woman can have whatever she can be. I think it's very important, and what we have done in the last few decades is establish that every woman should make whatever choice she wants to make it, and that's a large part of having it all. And making it easier to have it all is whether you are in relationship with a man, or as mother, or another woman, by the way, or a boardroom or some external place.
Having it all, in large part, has to do with how much people will allow you to have, how much the cultural norms and the relational situations are such that you are invited to be empowered. However, I think we need to self-correct as women.
This notion that somehow raising children is not as important, so much of the studies that are now coming out, particularly about brain chemistry, we are realizing more and more that, particularly between birth and 5 years old, these are the most important years in the development of a child's brain and so much of what will be the foundation for their life. So, this idea of women staying home to be with their children, this is not a regressive thing, this is an evolutionary thing.
And what we need to see is more and more corporations and more and more businesses who honor that. I would like to see the Family Leave Act be more than just six weeks of unpaid time for the mother to be with the child like other western industrialized nations, some of whom give six months for the mother and the father, paid to stay home with that child. Then the society pays less later in delinquency crime, et cetera.
What we have now is a situation where American business would say we can't afford it. And I think women are the ones who are going to say we can't afford not to.
We could have in more situations than we do, corporations that have not only daycare situations in the business, not only preschool situations in the business, but more and more allowance for women to spend time, to go downstairs to be with the baby. That's the power that women now have. If it's going to be more of us than men in the workplace, we have the power to change the conversation, to use the power of healthy shame, to say to a corporation, you're not going to get good women to work for you unless those women know, I can also be a mother, and be a good mother, and be with my children here.
We can have it. That's what it will be for a woman to feel that we can have it all. That's the next step.
PHILLIPS: I love that phrase, "healthy shame."
Marianne Williamson, it's always great to have a conversation with you, that's for sure. Thank you so much.
WILLIAMSON: You too, Kyra. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: OK.
Well, straight ahead, the death toll climbing in that Taliban suicide attack in Pakistan today. Two bombers blew themselves up in an Islamic university in the capital of Islamabad. The target, a women's cafeteria and a factuality building. Five people killed, including two women students. Twenty-two were wounded.
It's believed to be the first time the Taliban has attacked the university. That attack apparently is revenge for the military's massive new offensive against a Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border.
He's an accused spy and a former U.S. government scientist, and he had a date with a Washington courtroom today. FBI agents arrested Stuart David Nozette (ph) yesterday, accusing him of trying to deliver aerospace secrets.
He thought that he was dealing with an Israeli intelligence official. It was actually an FBI undercover agent. Nozette (ph) could face up to life in prison. He did not enter a plea in his initial court appearance (AUDIO GAP) does not allege that Israel or anyone acting on its behalf violated U.S. law.
We would like to extend a warm welcome and a hearty handshake to all the new planets out there. Welcome to the universe. We think you'll really like it here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: America's Latinos and the rest of us really look up to this guy. Danny Olivas, the third Mexican-American astronaut to travel into space. Just last month, he returned home from his second space shuttle mission.
He joins us now live from Houston.
And we're talking to you for a number of reasons. Of course, we're working on our special this month, "Latino in America." Also today, you heard the news, all these new planets being welcomed into the universe.
Is that exciting news?
DANNY OLIVAS, NASA ASTRONAUT: Absolutely. The exploration of space, in my opinion, is one of the greatest ventures that human beings can participate in. And every day there's an opportunity to learn more about the universe around us, as well as the world around us.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's pretty fascinating stuff. And we're going to talk more about that with our Chad Myers in just a little bit, ,but I wanted to get your first reaction since it was coming out today, Danny.
But, really, you know, you have been featured, and we're going to talk a lot more about you in our "Latino in America," a comprehensive look about Latinos changing America coming up this month, even this week. Actually, on Wednesday and Thursday.
But give us a little background, you know, about the Latino culture. And historically, how much influence was there to actually get involved in the field of science? And how did it happen for you?
OLIVAS: You know, I think every child has an opportunity to get exposed to things as they're growing up that ultimately cultivate who they will become when they get older. For me, growing up, my father was very influential to me because he constantly exposed me to machines and mechanisms. And as I grew older, I had an affinity toward those devices.
Ultimately, I went off and got my degrees in mechanical engineering and, ultimately, material science. And so I think it's -- it's a part of the -- I guess the role that parents play, and really being role models for their children. Their children are very influential, and people that they see day in and day out are far more influential to them than a person they might see once in their lifetime. And that's one of the things we try to encourage the people that we talk to, especially the parents of children, to say that, hey, here's an opportunity for you to really set an example for your children as to how you want them to become by taking an active role in their development, in their education.
PHILLIPS: Well, you're describing your dad. You're describing your dad, who took you to Johnson Space Center. How old were you, like, 7 or 8?
OLIVAS: Right. Yes, I was pretty young, and that was the beginning -- the source of the inspiration. But, of course, there's a lot of work that came after that.
You know, I had the opportunity to see my mother graduate from college. She went back to get her associate's degree and then ultimately her bachelor's degree.
And my wife and I, we're obviously very supportive of each other throughout our career and our marriage. And we both got our masters degrees together. So I think it's that constant support that you're looking for in the family that helps you succeed.
PHILLIPS: Tell me about that first space flight. It must have been the most amazing experience of your life, to kiss the heavens.
OLIVAS: Oh, absolutely. This is the end of -- I shouldn't say the end, but this is a path, a milestone along our career that we have been pursuing for a number of years. And so, to finally get the space flight in 2007 was phenomenal. The experience that I had was just beyond words.
The opportunity to do a spacewalk just added on top of that. It was a very unique experience, and I'm very honored and privileged to have been given that opportunity. And certainly I walked away with many, many memories.
PHILLIPS: You know, I'm thinking of that phrase in Spanish, "Estas en la luna." And you literally have added new meaning about -- people say that that's a phrase for daydreaming or not thinking clearly, but you actually were up there in the moon and the stars and the sky, but in a beautiful way, and you were very focused.
OLIVAS: Oh, absolutely. But I think that's a big part of it.
You know, we have to be dreamers. We have to be not so constrained about the world around us, and be willing to dream and to go beyond what we currently know. I mean, that's what exploration is about, that's what pushing the envelope of technology is all about, is not working within the realm of today, but thinking about tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: Danny Olivas, NASA astronaut and also featured in our series coming up.
What a pleasure to talk to you. Congratulations.
OLIVAS: Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: And we are just one day away from "Latino in America," a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America forever. CNN's two-night event takes place Wednesday and Thursday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, and it will also be simulcast in Spanish on CNN en Espanol.
It's getting crowded way too much out there in space. Thirty-two new planets outside our solar system.
Chad, you know, you think it's cool, I think it's cool, Danny thinks it's cool. He gets to get a lot closer than we do though.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but relatively, no. You know?
I mean, from here to here, as far as we actually can fly these spaceships, not to an exoplanet at this point in time. Thirty-two more planets outside our solar system. So, not, like, beyond Pluto, but connected to other suns.
Go to CNN.com/technology. This is all coming out of an observatory out of Chile, and they are seeing these planets out there making the suns wobble back and forth because of the gravity that they're pulling on the sun.
Literally, it only could be only one or two miles per hour, but these observatories are able to see it. Way down here in Chile, all the way on, obviously, the south end. To get way up here in the Andes here in Chile, you get some very good visibility because of a lack of atmosphere above where you are. So, that's what we're talking about there and that's what we'll be seeing here.
I think from what I can tell from CNN.com/technology -- and I read the article -- they said there are tons -- I don't know what that means -- tons more planets that they haven't even documented yet, but they know that they are out there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, how about a quick look at the top stories right now?
Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay will get an audience with the Supreme Court. Well, their lawyers will, anyway. The high court has agreed to hear their appeal. The Chinese Muslims, called Uighurs, had asked to be released into the United States.
A day of silence at the University of Connecticut and students wearing black in honor of football star Jasper Howard. He was stabbed to death over the weekend. One man is charged with interfering with police, but he's not accused in Howard's death.
Meantime, UConn plans a vigil for Howard tomorrow. Thursday and Friday will be days of reflection on campus where people can write condolence notes to the Howard family. And on Saturday, the UConn football game will be televised in the Student Union Theater.
Where is Somer Thompson. There's an Amber Alert and an intense search going on right now for the 7-year-old girl. She vanished yesterday on her way home from school in Orange Park in north Florida. She was walking with her sister and some friends and disappeared when she ran ahead.
How is it that the world seems like it could go to heck in a hand basket, but Apple just keeps on trucking?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Pressure from a powerful Taliban insurgency. Pressure from U.N.-backed fraud investigators. Pressure from the White House. All on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who's now agreed to a runoff election in two weeks.
No one has a better grip on this story than our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson. He's joining us live from London.
So, Nic, did Karzai really did have no other choice?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's the way that it looks, Kyra. I mean, it looks like the international community has gotten together and told him, you have to hold a runoff or we can't support you and your country. He didn't want to do it, and now he's caved.
PHILLIPS: So, considering all the corruption that took place, all the allegations of corruption, how do you know that you can even have a legit election another time around?
ROBERTSON: I don't think anyone can say that with certainty. Two weeks to pull it off, that's barely enough time to organize security, never mind get additional monitors, change some of those electoral officials who were at the polling stations where there was massive fraud committed, or even get some of the balloting papers and boxes out of some of the polling stations. It took weeks and months last time.
The snows are falling. The time to do this is really way, way short of making it a perfect election -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, and how about security, Nic? I mean, the last time around we were hearing about people getting their fingers cut off because of the way they voted. I mean, you've got the Taliban, too, that can disrupt a runoff election.
ROBERTSON: Yes, don't expect any of those people to be coming out again. Anyone that went to a polling station and got away without any intimidation, you can expect them to turn up. But people who were intimidated, saw violence, forget it.
And look, sometimes it's taken over a year to put in place a security structure -- multiple layers around a village, around a polling place, carefully choosing who goes in, where, and comes out of the polling station where. You can't replicate that in two weeks. And if you do, then you're playing into the Taliban's hands, because they've seen you use this same security mechanism before, and they'll know how to try and defeat it.
So, there are huge risks by pushing this through in the space of two weeks. But clearly, it's seen as the lesser of all the possible evils right now.
PHILLIPS: It's so hard to understand why even go forward with it when it doesn't even sound like it can be legit.
ROBERTSON: Look, the European nations, many of those in NATO, are seeing huge pressure from their populations that they can't continue to support their troops, even those who are not in direct combat positions -- let's say the Italians, the Germans, who have suffered losses, but not the way Britain and the United States have. They can't politically continue to support an Afghan government that is seen as corrupt and came back into power on fraudulent elections. It has to happen to continue to get the full support of the full international community that's required to rapidly build up Afghan security forces, not just fight the battles with the Taliban on the ground.
PHILLIPS: We'll see if that election happens November 7th. If so, we'll be following it, for sure, and probably everything that you've been talking about. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.
Afghanistan, another Vietnam? Well, our new poll shows that's the last thing Americans want to see happen. Our Candy Crowley joins us shortly to break down the numbers.
And more potential bad news about the housing market. Home prices closer to the basement than the attic. Yet, in the face of bad news, Apple's doing well.
Take my house, but don't you touch my MacBook. I don't have any of that stuff.
Let's talk with Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi about that.
I don't even know what a MacBook is. Should I know?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I just got one. I just got one.
PHILLIPS: What the hell is a MacBook?
VELSHI: It's another incarnation of what -- of the Mac. A little -- a handy little laptop.
PHILLIPS: Computer?
VELSHI: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Oh, laptop. OK.
VELSHI: Fantastic. I love it. I love my laptop. And it's the easiest thing to use.
Listen, things are always a little bit brighter when you're around. I think property values in New York are probably a little bit better. It's such a pleasure to have you here.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Ali.
VELSHI: I hate being -- do we want to talk about Apple before we talk about -- because I see pictures up.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
VELSHI: All right.
PHILLIPS: We see the pictures there. Let's talk about it.
VELSHI: It's earnings seasons, which is the report card that comes out four times a year from America's companies.
PHILLIPS: Blowing through the roof.
VELSHI: Blowing through the roof. Apple is -- I mean, let's look at these numbers.
They've sold in the last quarter -- that's three months -- by the end of September, three months, 10 million iPods, 7.4 million iPhones, and 3 million Macs, including this MacBook and MacBook Pro. I mean, this company, what recession? People are buying the stuff.
Now, maybe it's because the stuff's good, they appeal to people. And in this frugality that we've had in this recession, some people are tired of not spending anything. So, when you spend on something like this, it gives you some sense of feeling good. You've got something that you're actually using.
Apple has just tapped into the consciousness. They have been doing so for years, but to make this kind of money, to have the most profitable quarter they have had ever is remarkable in a recession.
PHILLIPS: And why didn't we buy stock?
VELSHI: Yes, see, a lot of people -- they like the stuff. They'll buy the iPod, they'll buy the computer, they'll eat the sandwiches in the restaurant they like, but they won't buy the stock.
Listen, this is -- in a recession, think this way. When people ask me what stocks are going to do well in the future? Think about the stuff that you buy, think about health care that you use, think about the energy that you consume, whether it's oil, natural gas, alternative energy. Those are the things that will do well in the future. The basics that you use.
Apple has been brilliant. They've taken a thing that was never a necessity and made it into something that everybody thinks they need. They have made themselves into a utility. They've made themselves into something you have to have.
PHILLIPS: We should pay attention to the stories that we report on them...
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: ... into investment practices.
VELSHI: China will be a big country to invest in, India, places like that. Everything we report on, we talk about the growth in an industry or in a country -- that's the stuff that people will buy, that's the stuff that will do well in the stock market.
PHILLIPS: OK...
VELSHI: Housing.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Are you OK talking about housing? You don't always like to talk about housing.
VELSHI: No, I do want to talk about housing. Because there's another report that's come out that says that -- this is a financial company called FiServe (ph) and they say that between now and June 30th of 2010, the middle of 2010, you're going to see a further 11 percent drop in home prices nationwide.
Now, I have got a couple of things to say about this. Number one, at this point in an economy, watching these national trends when it comes to housing is not all that helpful. Because what you've got is places like Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Las Vegas -- those place will take very big hits. And then you have got other places that will see small increases.
But the reality is -- let's say home prices drop 10 percent. Mortgage rates right now are about 5 percent, the lowest they have been in a very, very long time. We have seen this a few years ago, but they have never really been lower than the mid-fours. Interest rates are likely to go up in the future. We're borrowing a lot of money, the dollar is low. If your interest rates go from 5 percent to, let's say, 7 percent in a year, and the house price come down by 10 percent, you're still going to pay more a year from now than you are now.
People think about prices a lot, but interest rates matter more...
PHILLIPS: So, buy now.
VELSHI: ... I think if you're in the market to buy, you want to be thinking about what you want, when you're ready to buy, get your financing in order. If you can refinance. These are rates that you're not going to see for a long time.
So, you're right. I don't tend to talk about housing a lot, but I feel very strongly that if you're in some parts of the country and you have cash or you have available credit, you could find this one of the best opportunities in a long time. Not everybody agrees with this; don't make financial decisions because I say so. I'm just sharing my opinion with you...
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: ... because I really just like talking to you. I want to talk to you longer.
PHILLIPS: Anything else you want to talk about?
VELSHI: I could be here all day.
PHILLIPS: Want to talk about your plans for the upcoming weekend?
VELSHI: Traveling.
PHILLIPS: OK, fabulous. I'll catch up with you in a you few minutes. Hopefully that helped you, the viewers.
The high cost of medical care; we're not just talking about money here. A Senate panel hears from survivors, including Elizabeth Edwards. Pretty powerful testimony. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Doctors want their money, but will they get it? it's the latest battle in the health care war that Medicare reimbursements. Under a decade-old formula, doctors face a 40 percent cut in reimbursements over the next six years. Top Democrats have introduced a bill to repeal the formula, and a Senate vote could come this week. Doctors say the formula needs to be scrapped to protect access to health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JAEMS ROHACK, PRESIDENT, AMA: Now, while short-term fixes, as Senator Stabenow had mentioned, have temporarily averted widespread access problems, they've grown the size of the problem. And the cost of reform. What this bill does is does away with these past budget gimmicks, and instead lays the foundation for fiscally honest and responsible repeal of this broken formula.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Conservatives say that Democrats are just pandering to doctors in a bid to win their support for the health care reform bill.
Buried under debt with no way out. Part of the push for health care reform is aimed to make medical care more affordable for more of us. Today, a Senate panel is hearing from people who lost their shirts because of a loved one's medical conditions, including a mother whose son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY BURNS, SON DIAGNOSED WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS: My husband and I stayed right by our son's side during every step of his fight. To do this, we both had to take leave from our jobs. We could not, however, have anticipated how long Finn's (ph) treatment would last or the ultimate ramifications of our decision to be with him.
During this period, we had only temporary disability incumbent on employment benefits, which were far less than we had earned before. We struggled to pay our monthly bills including our mortgage. As our money dwindled and the bills began to pile up, we did everything we could to keep our heads above water, including cashing in our retirement funds and selling belongings for extra money.
Once we were sent to Georgetown for care, we sold our second car. Family and friends were gracious and generous enough to donate money to help us. Eventually, the bills piled up beyond our ability to pay them. We were forced to default and despite our circumstances, creditors were unwilling and/or unable to help us. They wanted money, and we simply had none to give. The collection calls were unrelenting, upwards of 30 calls to each of our cell phones everyday. All while we were in an intensive care unit, willing our son back to health.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Also testifying today, breast cancer survivor Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former senator John Edwards.
More evidence the swine flu is not behaving like the seasonal flu. The CDC reporting today close to 90 percent of this fall's H1N1 deaths have been people under 65. In your typical flu season, most deaths are folks 80 and up.
All right. Let's check some more of your swine flu tweets.
Curious1966 says, "The stories of not having enough of the vaccine are as bad as the initial reports of H1N1 because it scares people."
Maureen Moore in Pennsylvania: "My 17-year-old was refused an H1N1 shot because I wasn't with him. Really? A kid can get an abortion on their own but not a flu shot?"
Bobby'sGirl1972 says, "We need it and we need it, like, yesterday. These health care worker who is don't want to take the shot. Are they serious? They should be the first to get it."
Thanks for the tweets, everyone. We love to hear what you're thinking.
For months we have been talking about veteran's issues and problems with veterans' care, like shoddy hospitals, slow delivery of benefits, post-traumatic stress disorder on the rise. Well, today, first lady Michelle Obama visited the Department of Veteran's Affairs, and she talked about the need to give America's fighting men and women the care that they deserve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Our veterans' unwavering belief in this country is what inspired them to serve in the first place. They deserve our unwavering support in return. It seems so simple.
(APPLAUSE)
They deserve the care that they were promised, and they deserve the benefits that they earned. And as long as my husband is commander in chief, that's what's going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: This is the latest in a series of visits by the first lady to various government agencies.
At long last, getting the recognition they deserve. Eighty-eigh proud members of the Army's (INAUDIBLE) First Squadron, 11th armored Cavalry Regiment, receiving a presidential unit citation for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry. It happened during one of those forgotten battles nearly 40 years ago in the Vietnam War. A group of ordinary soldiers rescuing their buddies while surrounded by an overwhelming enemy force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They fought in what came to be called "the anonymous battle." Troopers, you are not anonymous anymore. With America's overdue recognition also comes our responsibility. Our responsibility as citizens and as a nation to always remain worthy of your service.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Soldier who led the rescue effort. Retired Captain John Poindexter (ph) worked seven hard years for this day of recognition. Says the citation is not just for them, but for all Vietnam War veterans.
Top stories; President Obama still vows to have all American combat troops out of Iraq by next August. That's the word as the president met with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al Maliki at the White House. Mr. Obama also says he'll be watching Iraq's January parliamentary elections closely, as well as the prep work for them.
The U.S. Navy no longer promising America's young people that enlisting will accelerate their lives. The new slogan, "America's Navy: A Global Force For Good." Recruiters says that appeals to a higher sense of service.
Lunch ladies, we're putting you on alert. Uncle Sam wants to change your kid's school lunch. What's he got cooking?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Only the most energy-efficient appliances are supposed to get the Energy Star label, but that's not always what happens. Alison Kostic here with our "Energy Fix." So, what's the deal?
ALISON KOSTIC, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know how when you go shop for appliances, you look for the brand, you look for the color and many people also look for that little Energy Star sticker because that shows it's going to be more energy efficient, right? Well, it turns out that the inspector general's office says there are problems with the program that consumers could actually wind up losing faith in this program.
The big issue here is that manufacturers wind up testing their own appliances. So, it's really subjective. Little objectivity. So, some companies just wind up slapping those stickers on without having that objective company or someone else saying those products should qualify.
And it's already happened. The report finds that one refrigerator company snitched to the Energy Department on a competitor, and independent testing confirmed that the model in question made by LG Electronics, Kyra, actually used double the amount of energy that it claimed. And to keep this from happening, of course, the inspector general wants more oversight. It wants a third party to step in and do that independent testing that's so needed here. PHILLIPS: Well, you bring up the label. Can you trust the label?
KOSTIC: Well, yes. The Energy Department says yes, you can definitely trust the label, and it plans to do more policing and more independent testing. It also says when companies misuse the logo, like the refrigerator example like we talked about, the department does take action. And it even stands by the program. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHY ZOI, ENERGY DEPARTMENT: There are 60 products that have the Energy Star logo. Now, when we have every bit of confidence that when consumers go shopping and buy an Energy Star product compared to one that doesn't have the logo, that it will save them money and help the environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSTIC: And the EPA says if you buy Energy Star appliances, they will pay for themselves within five years and save the average home $75 a year.
And we could wind up seeing a lot more people shopping for them in the coming months. Thanks to the stimulus bill, 300 million worth of federal rebates will be available for many of these Energy Star products. Some of these appliances you'll even be able to get up to 200 bucks back on them.
Kyra, I guess after this report, we'll see if the standards are maybe pumped up a bit or maybe people want to do their homework a little bit more to check on these appliances before they put their money on them.
PHILLIPS: Yes, I never thought about actually looking for those specifics. I mean, you can save money and help the environment at the same time.
KOSTIC: There's a lot of trust behind that little Energy Star sticker.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Alison.
KOSTIC:
PHILLIPS: Buffalo Bills fans, they're a subtle bunch. Here's an example of how they bottle up their feelings about the team.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLPS: Some of the same schools giving our kids a good education are teaching them bad nutrition. A report out today says the government school lunch guidelines don't match up with the government's own food pyramid. The docs behind the report want more fruit, veggies and whole grains.
On CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," John Roberts talked with the chair of the committee about another recommendation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": You also are suggesting putting caloric limits on school lunches, as well as breakfasts, and grading them on children's age and development. For example, K through 5, you're recommending that lunches be limited to 650 calories. Grades 6 through 8, 700 calories. Eight hundred calories for high school. And for breakfast, respectively for the same grade levels, 500, 550 and 600 calories.
How far can a school lunch program go -- excuse me -- in battling the obesity epidemic in this country?
DR. VIRGINIA STALLINGS, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, one of the important things the new recommendations address is that we want to keep enough calories and quality food in the program for children that may not have enough food, who come from families where food resources may be scarce. On the other hand, one of the things that's changed in the last 20 years is the obesity epidemic in pediatrics.
So, we will now have both a minimum and a maximum, so, a range. So, we'll be able to support the safety net, if you will, and continue to be watchful about not providing too many calories in the school setting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: As always, Team Sanchez back there working on -- he loves to eat, and I think that's why we segued from the school lunch program into your unhealthy diet. How's that workout going, by the way, Sanchez?
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Who -- who does -- well, I was in Miami Tuesday, back in Atlanta on Thursday, New York on Friday, back in Atlanta on Saturday, New York Sunday, and now I just flew in to be here with you so, you know. Delta Airlines food is fantastic, if that's what you're asking.
PHILLIPS: And you're looking so slim and trim. I know you've been working it there on the treadmill.
SANCHEZ: You always say the nicest things...
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: What are you talking about in the next hour?
SANCHEZ: Well, there's something really interesting that happened in Washington. Can you imagine a news conference is called, and reporters show up -- well, some reporters -- and then some news networks go on the air and say this very important development has just taken place that, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, a very, very influential organization, has made a major change in their policy toward climate change and global warming. And the cameras are there and they're rolling and there's breaking news banners and the whole nine yards, except, Kyra, it's not true. The people who held the news conference had fake names, fake podiums, fake logos, fake everything.
PHILLIPS: So, what was the point? What was the organization? Give me some scoop.
SANCHEZ: See, I got you -- I got you watching, don't I?
PHILLIPS: You've totally pulled me in. And I'm looking at this, this looks totally official.
SANCHEZ: It looks very official. That's why organizations as mighty as "The Washington Post" and Fox News Business Channel went on the air with it. I'm going to tell you what happened...
PHILLIPS: Howard Stern. Is this a Howard Stern move?
SANCHEZ: Nope! It had nothing to do with Howard Stern.
PHILLIPS: All right. I'm tuning in.
SANCHEZ: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: See ya.
Ah, Buffalo. Wings at the Anchor Bar, beef on wex (ph) sandwiches, lake-effect snow like nowhere else. And football fans who have had their hearts broken so many times they're just sick of it. A few of them bought some space on a Buffalo billboard where they basically asked team owner Ralph Wilson to clean house and fire the head coach. It flashes the message about 5,000 times a day, but what if Wilson doesn't drive this way?
Vietnam syndrome. We heard that a lot after Vietnam War. President Obama is hearing it a lot today, and it's got a lot of you pretty worried.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Afghanistan finally going ahead with a runoff presidential vote. The result could finally get the U.S. to make a decision on troop levels. Candy Crowley breaks it down for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president may be undecided on Afghanistan and his advisers seem divided, but Americans are decidedly not, with the latest polls showing just 39 percent of Americans favor sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Fifty-nine percent are opposed.
In general, the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows an America broadly skeptical that Afghanistan can pull itself together under a stable government and fearful of Vietnam syndrome, vaguely defined as fear of an unending, unwinnable war. Fifty-two percent think Afghanistan has turned into another Vietnam, 46 percent disagree with that. In the latter category, Senator John Kerry, a decorated war veteran who became known for his opposition to the Vietnam War upon his return home. Afghanistan, Kerry says emphatically, is not Vietnam.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We are here in Afghanistan because people attacked us here, in this most significant attack against the United States since Pearl Harbor. We are here because there are still people at large who are plotting against the United States of America. And we are here because the stability of this region is a critical, strategic interest to the United States.
CROWLEY: And that's one of the curious twists of the poll because most Americans agree with the senator. Sixty percent say it's necessary to keep troops in Afghanistan to prevent terrorism in the U.S., but at the same time, 57 percent of Americans say they oppose the war. CNN pollster Keating Holland thinks in part some Americans no longer believe terrorism should be fought at any cost.
KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: Americans don't feel the same personal jeopardy when it comes to terrorism that they felt in 2001 and 2002. Others may simply see the benefit of preventing a terrorist attack somewhere in the United States being outweighed by the costs associated with a long, ongoing war that involves a lot of troops and a lot of money.
CROWLEY: It's not known when and what the president will decide about Afghanistan, but it's pretty clear that should he send more troops, he'll have a big sales job ahead of him with the American people.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: That does it for me, I'll see you back here tomorrow. Rick Sanchez picks it up from here.
