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Cost of Health Reform; Huge Challenge in Afghanistan; Disabled Man Fighting for Health Coverage

Aired October 21, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time for your top-of-the-hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is noon on Capitol Hill, where the Congressional Budget Office estimates a House health care bill would cost $871 billion and still reduce the federal deficit? Really? Is it fuzzy math?

Plus, at the White House, President Obama being briefed by Senator John Kerry about his trip to Afghanistan. Kerry urged the Afghan leader to agree to a runoff election. A little arm-twisting there?

And it is high time to examine the impact of Latinos in America. Nothing's too sacred for us. We focus this hour on churches. Are Latinos causing a divide?

Let's get started.

The cost of health care reform. A new preliminary estimate puts the price tag for the House Democrats' plan at $871 billion over 10 years. Two Democratic sources quote those numbers from the Congressional Budget Office. The plan includes a public option.

Bob Costanini of CNN Radio joining us now to crunch the numbers.

Bob, good to see you.

Now, look, given these numbers from House Dems, is it public option or bust for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Is she going to bring a health care bill with a public option to the floor for a vote?

BOB COSTANTINI, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, there seems almost no doubt that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wants to bring a bill to the House floor that has a public option in it. She has made it very clear, almost to the point of insistence, that it be in a bill. And, of course, now she comes armed with this new Congressional Budget Office report that sources are telling us is $871 billion, well below the $900 billion that President Obama has indicated would be his threshold.

HARRIS: Got you.

And Bob, if you would, explain to us, because we've been spending a lot of time on the Senate Finance Committee bill and the Senate HELP bill, but explain to us the House's version of the public option. It sounds like it's expanded Medicare. COSTANTINI: Well, it's all part of what Speaker of the House Pelosi says she wants to be a robust public option to take to the negotiating table eventually with the -- you know, with the House and Senate negotiators that will eventually try to iron out their differences into one bill, with the expectation that the Senate will not have a public option in it. So, it's called Medicare Plus 5.

And what that means is that health care providers, doctors, hospitals, et cetera, who take part in the public option will get five percent over the going rate of Medicare. And that's considered a key selling point to doctors whom the Obama administration, especially, has been trying to court to get on board with the health care reform.

But it's also likely to meet some resistance from rural Democrats, who already believe that Medicare reimbursement rates for rural areas are way too low, and that prevents those rural areas from getting better health care. And in the Senate, it's worth pointing out, the deficit worries are so strong right now, that negotiations to raise Medicare rates are stuck at just .5 percent, one half of one percent -- Tony.

HARRIS: Wow.

So, getting back to what the House is working on right now, with a public option attached to it, does the Speaker have the 218 votes to guarantee passage of a bill with a public option included? Or would the Blue Dogs simply jump ship?

COSTANTINI: Well, some Blue Dogs may very well jump ship if a public option is included in this, some of them have indicated. But they're taking the count over there.

They're actually calling members individually, from what we understand, and they have what they believe are about 200 House Democrats on board. That's, of course, with the assumption that no Republicans will go along with the House bill, especially if it contains a public option. But they take some hope and some countenance out of the idea that the new opinion polls are showing the public growing in favor of the public option.

HARRIS: Yes.

COSTANTINI: So, that's what they're going to bring. Speaker Pelosi said last week that she wants muscle when they go into those House and Senate negotiations -- Tony.

HARRIS: Exactly. And Bob, we're going to get to that polling in just a few moments.

Bob Costantini from CNN Radio for us.

Bob, appreciate it. Thank you.

And as Bob just mentioned, this bill does include a government- run public option. So, what do you think? Should the final health care reform bill include a public option? Just go to our blog, CNN.com/Tony, leave us a comment, or two. Tell us what you're thinking. We will share some of them, those thoughts, those comments, a little later in this hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

The nation is running behind on supplies of the H1N1 vaccine. Today, top health officials are on Capitol Hill explaining why at a Senate hearing.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talked to CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," promising there will be enough vaccine for everyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This is a delay. It's not a shortage. There ultimately is going to be vaccine for everyone who wants to be vaccinated, and we think we'll be caught up, or the manufacturers will be caught up, somewhere around December.

We had said last spring that we thought vaccine could be made available as early as October. Those deadlines are being met. They're not being met obviously as quickly as we all would like to see, but recognize, this is a -- it's a vaccine. We want to be safe, that producers want to be safe, and it is beginning to roll out, and roll out as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right.

First lady Michelle Obama focusing on children's health today. She is hosting a Healthy Kids Fair at the White House this hour. The event is for local public school students and their families, promoting children's health and fighting childhood obesity, important issues for the first lady.

A Massachusetts man charged with lying to the FBI in a terror probe is now charged with much more serious crimes. Prosecutors say 27-year-old Tarek Mehanna conspired to kill two prominent U.S. politicians and American troops in Iraq. Investigators won't name the politicians, but they say they are no longer in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL K. LOUCKS, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY: It is alleged that following the events of September 11, 2001, this group believed that carrying out attacks in areas like Pakistan was not feasible for them, as travel there had become more difficult. And it is alleged that Mehanna was involved in discussions about exploring other options, such as shooting and killing one or two specific members of the executive branch of the United States government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mehanna has been in custody for a year now. He is also accused of plotting to attack U.S. shopping malls. Preparations are under way for a runoff election in Afghanistan. The vote set to take place two and a half weeks from now. The U.N. wants to make sure there is no repeat of the voter fraud seen in the first election, so around 200 election officials are being dismissed after being implicated in that fraud. Still, huge challenges exist in trying to pull off the election.

Our Anderson Cooper discussed them with CNN's Michael Ware.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a huge ask. And, in fact, as the secretary-general of the United Nations said, it's a huge challenge. Just logistically.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": Right.

WARE: I mean, the last election, there were 7,000 Afghan and international observers. You know, they're now saying maybe we can get 5,000 together.

And the actual election workers, you have to gather them back together. The U.N. and others have to pay for it. You've got to get rid of those who were involved in the fraud in the past. There's supposed to be investigations into that. You've got to bring in new people, retrain them.

COOPER: But they're saying if it doesn't happen by two weeks from now, then the snows are going to come and bad weather is going to come into large parts of the country.

WARE: You've got the snow. That's right. So, there is an imperative.

I mean, timing is very important here, as with the conflict, as with the war itself. The snow in Afghanistan has to be seen to be believed. And, you know, even the war itself grinds to a virtual halt. Holding an election in that kind of period is impossible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow.

Senator John Kerry is just back from Afghanistan. He will be at the White House, briefing President Obama about the trip in about 30 minutes.

Let's go there live now to CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

And Suzanne, what do we know about Kerry's meetings with President Karzai in Afghanistan?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We know quite a bit, Tony. Actually, there was some good reporting, at least on the state side for CNN, reporting for us that there was quite a bit of back-and-forth here.

You had Senator Kerry, who was actually in the region at the time on a separate mission. He was with U.S. troops, visiting there. And the U.S. ambassador in that region essentially told him that it was necessary that he come, that he helps out.

He has a relationship with Hamid Karzai. He's the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Lots of experience here.

He went over. In the course of about five days, 20 hours or so of meetings with Karzai, sometimes literally just walking in the garden of his -- of his palace, if you will, the presidential palace, to say, hey, look, this is really important. Let's stop and think about what is happening here. This election is not considered legitimate by several international bodies, you need to consider doing this runoff here.

And that is so critical, Tony, to this administration, because they have said time and time again, including the president just yesterday, that they've got to work with a credible Afghan government, a credible partner, essentially to justify bringing in more U.S. troops, more NATO forces, to take on the Taliban and al Qaeda. They've got to believe they have a government that they can work with. And up until yesterday, when he signed off and said, OK, we'll do -- we'll do this runoff, they just didn't have that.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

And Suzanne, I've got another "What do we know" question.

What do we know at this point? Because you dropped an interesting little tidbit with us last hour. What do we know at this point on the timing of the president's troops decisions?

MALVEAUX: Well, sure. In a briefing with Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, he said that it was possible that the president would make a decision regarding U.S. troop levels before this runoff election, which is on November 7th, about two weeks away. That seems highly unlikely, Tony, that that would happen, because they want to see who's in office, who's in place, who are we dealing with?

HARRIS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: But the reason that the White House is saying that is because they are trying to reiterate what President Obama said yesterday, is that it doesn't matter who wins, they will work with an Afghan government as long as it's considered a legitimate government. They're trying to create a little bit of distance, saying, look, we're not interfering with the election process here, as Hamid Karzai was concerned about before, so they're trying to create that distance.

They're also trying to say, Tony, that there is not this rift between what we heard from Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, saying let's wait for a credible partner, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who had said previously there's a sense of urgency here...

HARRIS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: ... we've got to make this decision either way. They're saying that the president is willing to take a look at this, but he's going to make a decision, whatever the government ends up being.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

MALVEAUX: Because as long as it's legitimate, then that's good enough.

HARRIS: All right.

At the White House, Suzanne Malveaux for us.

Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.

A man in need of life-sustaining health care has his insurance canceled. On top of that, someone at the company labels his case "a dog." Can anything be done?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Twelve minutes after the hour. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Tony Harris.

Animal abuse, you know it happens just about everywhere. We will give you an exclusive looks at what animal control agents find when t hey go on a dog raid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A disabled man is fighting for his right for insurance coverage after being written out of his policy. How does that happen?

CNN's Jim Acosta has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ian Pearl lives with muscular dystrophy, but only because of the round-the-clock nursing care he gets in his home. Confined to a wheelchair, he needs a ventilator to survive, but it comes at a high price.

IAN PEARL, MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY PATIENT: My expenses are $1 million a year to keep me alive.

ACOSTA: Last year, his family got this letter from their insurance company, stating their policy was being discontinued. A new policy was available, but with limited in-home nursing care.

So when you got this letter from Guardian, you said what?

SUSAN PEARL, IAN PEARL'S MOTHER: We said immediately that this was related somehow to Ann's (ph) claims.

ACOSTA: Their insurance carrier, Guardian, which made $386 million in profits last year, wasn't just dropping Pearl's policy. Guardian was pulling some of its policies out of entire states -- policies that included Ian's plan.

S. PEARL: The insurance industry has evolved from risk management to risk elimination.

ACOSTA: So they sued, claiming discrimination. Their lawyer discovered this e-mail from a Guardian employee, an e-mail that company acknowledges. In it, a Guardian employee brings up the line of policies covering the Pearl family and asks what the financial upside might be, quote, "if we eliminate this entire block to get rid of the few dogs."

I. PEARL: I want to know why myself and others like me who depended on this policy and are paying premiums, did nothing wrong, and we're suddenly targeted as dogs because we're disabled? Disabled people are not dogs.

ACOSTA: As for that e-mail, a Guardian spokesman tells CNN, "It's an unfortunate choice of words. We certainly don't condone it, and it certainly doesn't represent this company. In a statement, the company adds, "Guardian acted legally, appropriately and in full compliance of state laws."

The judge handling Pearl's case sided with Guardian, saying the law permits an insurer to terminate a particular type of coverage. This congresswoman wants the Obama administration to step in.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: We're going to take this all the way to the top because it's just outrageous and it's another example of why we need health care reform so badly.

ACOSTA (on camera): So this is your study?

I. PEARL: Yes. This is it.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But Ian doesn't have much time. His policy is set to expire on December 1st.

I. PEARL: People may ask why, why do I need this sort of coverage? Why do I need this sort of assistance? They do for me what I cannot do for myself, which is everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Boy, oh, boy.

Reaching across barriers of language and culture, it isn't any easier in a religious setting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories now. A terrorism suspect already in custody in the United States is now accused of a plot to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Prosecutors say Tarek Mehanna, who lives in Massachusetts, sought training from the Taliban overseas to carry out his plan. And they say he also hoped to kill a couple U.S. politicians.

A jury is expected to begin deliberations today in the John Travolta extortion trial. A paramedic and a former Bahamian senator are accused of attempting to extort $25 million from the actor after his son's death in the Bahamas.

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

First lady Michelle Obama focusing on children's health today. She is hosting a Healthy Kids Fair at the White House right now. There she is. The event is for local public school students and their families. Promoting children's health and fighting obesity, important issues for the first lady, as you know.

Soledad O'Brien hosts a CNN special, "Latino in America," tonight and tomorrow night, as she joins me from New York.

Soledad, good to see you again.

Look, your reporting looks at how America is changing Latinos, and then in turn how they are shaping America. One place this is clearly happening is the Catholic Church.

What did you find?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, the demographic changes in the nation are being clearly reflected in all churches around the country, and you see that in the Catholic Church. Now, the number of Latinos continue to grow in the Catholic Church. Parrishes that were shrinking are now growing because of Latinos, but sometimes there are growing pains.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This has been going on long enough. You know? When is it going to change?

O'BRIEN (voice-over): A typical council meeting is under way at Holy Trinity. The hot topic? Latinos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the attitude here that they are minorities, and they're lower than we are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any way to fix the problem of trying to get some communication, like them understanding our language, our understanding theirs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buenas Noches. O'BRIEN: That rift has Pedro Morena Garcia worried. A Puerto Rican from New York, he leads the Hispanic ministry for the Catholic church in St. Louis.

PEDRO MORENA GARCIA, CATHOLIC LAY MINISTER: Instead of screaming out, "The British are coming!" some people would be, "Hispanics are coming! Hispanics are coming! Run! Run!" You know?

O'BRIEN: Pedro goes from one church to another, trying to bridge the divide between his English-and-Spanish-speaking parishioners.

GARCIA: So, what can you all tell me about the Hispanic community up here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's growing.

GARCIA: It's growing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They make great food.

GARCIA: They make great food.

It's not an easy thing to do. It's like a wedding, and you have two families coming together. Let's learn to be a bigger family.

O'BRIEN: That bigger family has been a struggle at Holy Trinity.

In 2002, three area churches were forced to merge due to declining membership. A year later, the parish added mass in Spanish. Today, hundreds of Latinos fill the pews.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

O'BRIEN: And as their numbers grow, some, like Jody Tedeschi, fear the parish is growing apart.

JODY TEDESCHI, HOLY TRINITY PARISHIONER: We have two separate parishes up there. We have Holy Trinity Catholic Church and we have Holy Trinity Hispanic Church.

O'BRIEN (on camera): And why is that a bad thing?

TEDESCHI: It's not a bad thing, but we're -- you know, we should come together. We should be as one.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Separate masses. Separate activities. And separate parish councils.

Latinos at Holy Trinity say the tense climate is fueled by fear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why we sometimes don't socialize with Americans, because beyond hello, sometimes we don't know what to say. And if they want to have a conversation, I get scared because of the language barrier.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many people tell me they don't want to come to this church because of the police. The police see people with a Hispanic face and automatically pull them over and check them.

O'BRIEN (on camera): Why is it so hard?

TEDESCHI: When you want something so bad...

O'BRIEN: Unity? And you don't think you're going to get it?

TEDESCHI: Right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: You can see, Tony, a rift there in that community. Obviously, we will take a look tonight about whether or not that church is able to pull itself together. Remember, there are big stakes on both sides, because it is Latinos who are filling those pews.

HARRIS: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And that's a church that is combined from a bunch of other churches that had to close because they didn't have the population. What happens to churches like Holy Trinity? We'll take a look at that tonight.

HARRIS: Boy, that's tough.

Soledad, let me ask you a question here. This is a question I get from a lot of people who are going to be watching your work tonight.

In your piece we heard "Latino" and "Hispanic" used interchangeably. What is the difference? And when do we use one or the other?

O'BRIEN: We used them interchangeably, but, actually, "Hispanic" is an English term and used to really refer to people from Spain, and then it kind of expanded to refer to people in Spanish colonies.

And then "Latino" came in. Really, it came out of the census, how you want to classify people.

We found that in our travels, that depending on where you were geographically, the kind of word you wanted to use was more considered. For example, "Latino" maybe on the West Coast. "Hispanic" on the East Coast.

But I tell you, in my experience, the short answer is, kind of interchangeable.

HARRIS: Got you. All right, Soledad. Can't wait. Thank you. Thank you for that.

O'BRIEN: Thanks.

HARRIS: And we are just hours away from "Latino in America," a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America. That' is tonight and tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern. It will also be simulcast in Spanish on CNN en Espanol.

What is the American public saying about the public option in health care reform? We have the latest numbers. That's next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Once again at this time we love to remind you of our great -- well, the great job that our Money Team is doing for you at cnnmoney.com. If you want the latest financial news and analysis, that's the place to go. There's no need to go anywhere else. Cnnmoney.com.

Three hours into the trading day. Let's take a look at the big board. New York Stock Exchange. As you can see, the Dow is up in positive territory. Up 39 points. The Nasdaq, at last check, is up nine. And we are following the numbers throughout the day for you right here in the NEWSROOM with Susan Lisovicz.

President Obama says the billions in taxpayer bailout dollars shouldn't just go to big banks. Next hour he unveils a plan to help get money to community banks and small businesses. The president is also putting Wall Street and financial firms on notice. At a fund- raiser last night he said it is time for them to stop fighting new regulations designed to prevent another meltdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there are members of the financial industry in the audience today, I would ask that you join us in passing what are necessary reforms. Don't fight them, join us on them. This is -- this is important for our country. And in the long run, it will be good for the financial industry to have a level playing field in which everybody knows the rules and everybody knows that the rules will be enforced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The $700 billion bank bailout may have rescued the economy, but it came at a cost. So says the man in charge of overseeing the TARP program. Stephanie Elam is in the cnnmoney.com newsroom in New York.

And, Stephanie, what are you hearing from Neil Barofsky?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, if you take a look at what -- I should point out what he is. The TARP inspector general, Neil Barofsky. He is out with his quarterly report to Congress today. And it's really quite critical. Barofsky does say TARP helped bring the financial system back from the brink of collapse, but he's also was saying that a lack of transparency has damaged the government's credibility. He's also pointing out that the bailout hasn't done anything to change the culture on Wall Street, so history could easily repeat itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL BAROFSKY, SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL, TARP: I think some of these entities have gotten even bigger and the consequences of their failure would be even greater. And some of them done through government intervention and support. Government supported mergers. So I think that's a problem.

And also before there was basically an implicit guarantee that the government would stand behind these institutions. But through the TARP, that implicit guarantee is now explicit. And that gives these institutions a tremendous advantage over smaller institutions, as well as raising risk for the entire system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: Now, another thing, Tony, to think about. Barofsky doesn't think we're going to get all of our money back. He cites a Congressional Budget Office estimate that says $159 billion of TARP funds will not be repaid.

Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Stephanie, you know, I'm wondering if it is too late to change Wall Street, the culture there. We were just talking a moment ago about how President Obama is scolding the financial industry for opposing reform. They haven't necessarily been shamed into behaving.

ELAM: I think there's a lot of people who feel that way, that is true, Tony. But critics do say that a giant opportunity was missed. That the best time to impose reforms was when the government gave the industry billions of dollars last year. We heard that this morning from former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. But Spitzer also said, it's not too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIOT SPITZER, FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR: We have to restructure banking, because they're making thousands -- millions and millions of dollars, billions of dollars, using our tax dollars to play with it in the marketplace, then taking those profits out in bonuses, instead of lending to the businesses that need the cash and capital to expand. The industry is opposing the fundamental reforms that are necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: Saying that the reforms the Obama administration is pushing do not go far enough. He says too big to fail, that whole idea is just simply -- means that those companies are just too big and the government needs to prohibit firms from ever getting to that point again, Tony. But, obviously, a lot of people feeling like it's a much harder road to deal with now because things are getting better in the economy.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes, no, I've heard that a lot.

All right, Stephanie, thank you.

You know, it is one of the major points of contention in the make-or-break battle over health care reform, the public option. And we have got some new poll numbers just out today. CNN's senior political analyst Gloria Borger on the big program, joining us from Washington.

Gloria, good to see you.

BORGER: Good to see you, Tony.

HARRIS: Well, first of all, Gloria, you know, if the president wants to get this done by year's end, we really are heading into the homestretch here. Where does the public stand on the president's vision of health care?

BORGER: Well, right now, Tony, I think not surprisingly, they're just split down the middle. Our new poll shows that 49 percent are in favor, 49 percent oppose. And so, as you see, a public that's sort of undecided. But what's really interesting, Tony, is when you look at what we call the internals in these polls.

HARRIS: Yes.

BORGER: And sort of do a little breakdown on who favors and who opposes, you see that it is really a very partisan divide. Where you have only 12 percent of Republicans, according to our numbers, favor some kind of health care reform, 74 percent of Democrats say, go right ahead with it. And those really important independent voters are kind of split, with only 47 percent saying let's do it.

HARRIS: I see.

BORGER: So very much a partisan issue, as we already know.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes, exactly.

What about the controversial -- can't wait to see the numbers on this -- on the public option, which, as you know, caused so much hand- wringing, arguing, fussing and fighting at the town halls this past summer?

BORGER: Oh, it sure did. And what's interesting, now that things have calmed down and the president has given a joint address to Congress, addressing the issue of the public option, we see that now 61 percent, according to our poll, favor it. Whereas back in August, only 55 percent favored it. So there's been a -- there's been a six- point gain. I think that's probably due to the president getting out there, campaigning for it.

But, you know, ironically, Tony, this is something that's very much on the bargaining table right now.

HARRIS: Yes.

BORGER: And you could very well end up with a health care bill without a public option, but with something that may trigger one if insurance companies don't (INAUDIBLE).

HARRIS: That's very good, Gloria.

And what about Republicans? Are they making headway on health care?

BORGER: Well, actually, they're not. Not according to our poll. When you -- when you ask the question about, who do you trust more on health care reform, President Obama or the Republicans, you can see there, there is a 16-point margin with Obama being trusted more. And that's, you know, not really good for the Republicans. I think the issue here is, Tony, is that people want a solution to this problem, whatever it is.

HARRIS: Yes.

BORGER: Unlike 16 years ago when Hillary Clinton was doing her health care plan, people didn't really see the need. Now, according to our polls, people see the need. The status quo is clearly unacceptable. When you ask people what's better for the country, an Obama plan or the current system, 53 percent say Obama, only 44 percent say the current system. So they want change.

HARRIS: Boy, those are fascinating numbers.

BORGER: Yes, they are very interesting.

HARRIS: Gloria, come on the program more often.

BORGER: Sure.

HARRIS: Our senior political analyst, Gloria Borger, from Washington for us.

And we've posted the question on our blog, the public option in health care reform, are you for it or against it? Overwhelmingly, the responses are in favor of a public option.

L.F. says, "of course we need a strong public option. Whether a person lives or dies must never be a "profit" decision."

Alice says, "It is stunningly simple. A public program does not have to make a profit. The private insurance companies must operate at a profit. So which one is less expensive? It's not rocket science."

While Kevin from Maryland says, "No public option just yet. The public option will have start-up costs and is not guaranteed to be cheaper or better than other health insurance plans offered."

Once again, there's the question, go to our blog, cnn.com/tony, and weigh in.

How fast are cases of H1N1 spreading? We're taking a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

A Massachusetts man has been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Prosecutors say Tarek Mehanna wanted to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq and two prominent U.S. politicians.

A movement on the Iranian nuclear dispute. After talks in Vienna, delegations from Iran, France, Russia, and the United States have a draft agreement. Under the proposal, Iran would send nuclear material out of the country for enrichment and it would be returned to Iran for medical research. Parties have until Friday to sign on.

Hundreds have joined the search for a missing seven-year-old Florida girl who failed to come home from school Monday. Police suspect they suspect foul play in Somer Thompson disappearances. Deputies were out all night using infrared cameras and dog teams searching wooded areas.

Just how fast is the H1N1 virus spreading? Our Josh Levs has a new way to track it nationwide and in your neighborhood.

Oh, show-and-tell, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, because, Tony, we've been talking about this a lot, right? There's a lot of fears out there. We want to know how present is it and is it really getting close to you. So what I'm going to do now, I'm going to show you a series of web pages you can use. You don't need to write anything down. At the very end, I'm going to show you one place where I've linked absolutely everything.

So let's zoom right in and I'm going to start you from the beginning.

First of all, cnn.com/h1n1. Very memorable. Lots of great stuff there.

I want to take you over here, though, for a second to healthmap.org. And what they do is they follow swine flu reports. As you can see here, from all over the world. You can kind of move the world around in your hands here, focus in on the U.S. or wherever you want to.

And one of the latest features lets you do this. You can click on "view progression" and you set the number of dates you want to go back. And what it does is it shows you the number of new reported cases over any block of time. So you can go back to earlier this month. You can go back to July or June or whatever you want to, and it should be able to show you from any amount of time you want, basically, up to today.

HARRIS: OK.

LEVS: You can go in all the way into your area. Let's also check out this, because this is new, too. Google has been updating what they do. Google.org. They have a special section focused on flu trends. And what they do here is you can basically click on any country in the world and they will show you in that part of the world, how many are people searching for information about the flu and specifically H1N1. And from that they assume that there's a lot of people searching, it must be because there's more and more of a breakout. A lot more concerns.

HARRIS: I see.

LEVS: And they use colors to make it really clear here.

Let's jump back to CNN, too. I want everyone to see this over here. We have a lot of resources here, including a map that we set you up with at cnn.com that tracks it in our own way, too, with our reporting and the latest information that we have. Click on your state and we can tell you, you've got here, you can see widespread. It tells you basically, using a series of factors, how much it's getting into your area.

And, Tony, everything I just showed you, all of it, is linked to this graphic. Let's show you the easy places to get to it. Cnn.com/josh. Also at Facebook and Twitter. And what we're also doing, Tony, is we're asking people, what's working for you? What's not working for you? Is this getting you the information about your area that's most helpful. Let us know. Some people might have found some other gems on the web. If so, we're going to share it right here.

HARRIS: Very good. Thanks, Josh.

LEVS: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: The swine flu is different from other flus in that it is hitting children and young adults harder than the elderly. That has many people worried about college students not having access to the H1N1 vaccine. CNN's Kitty Pilgrim reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than half the people who end up in the hospital with severe complications from swine flu are young people. Under the age of 25. Since the fall, college semester began in the beginning of September, the CDC has recorded 5,000 hospitalizations, 53 percent of them under the age of 25. And the nearly 300 confirmed deaths from swine flu under report the problem because the CDC only has reliable data from 27 states. Even so, most people still have no hope of getting a swine flu vaccine for days, or even weeks.

DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION: We know that people are interested in being vaccinated and can't find as much as they'd like near them. We're working closely with the states and cities to work out some of the bumps or hurdles that we're seeing. PILGRIM: Dr. James Turner of the University of Virginia is also head of an organization that represents 900 colleges and 3,000 health workers on college campuses. In tracking the flu over the last eight weeks, he estimates that nationally college campuses are seeing some 35,000 to 40,000 cases a week. But to his knowledge, very little swine flu vaccine has made its way to college campuses.

DR. JAMES TURNER, AMERICAN COLLEGE HEALTH ASSOCIATION: I have 21,000 students. It's really difficult to make those plans until you know when your vaccine is available.

PILGRIM: Of the estimated 250 million doses needed nationally, only 12.8 million doses are available so far.

TURNER: We don't have much H1N1 vaccine yet. Very little has actually reached college campuses. The college students are in that age group that is in the priority. However, they're the lowest in that priority group.

PILGRIM: Kitty Pilgrim, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: You know, there's some heavy rain and potential flooding we're tracking. Our Chad Myers is keeping an eye on things.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you travel different places in America, you feel a little discrimination sometimes, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just bad looks when you walk into somewhere where -- where you don't -- they feel you shouldn't belong. Like they clutch their purses. Walk by a car, they lock their doors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listening to things like wetback (ph), fruit picker, which I eat fruit, but I don't pick it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's the fear of people who are different. Fear of the unknown. Fear that someday English will not be the main language that will be spoken in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We are just hours away from "Latino in America," a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America. That is tonight and tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern. It will also be simulcast in Spanish on CNN en Espanol.

Chad Myers is joining us now.

And, Chad, we mentioned a moment ago that you're tracking some heavy rain and the potential for some -- some flooding.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Tracking down those who abuse dogs. Our special investigation's unit takes you along on a raid.

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HARRIS: Animal cruelty happens all over the United States, in cities and rural areas, and dogs are the most common victims, according to the Humane Society. Our Brooke Baldwin recently rode along as authorities raided one man's rural Georgia property where dogs were allegedly bred to fight. A warning, some of the pictures are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's just around 8:00 in the morning and we're at the county sheriff's department right now. Our team is just inside, talking last-minute tactical decisions before this raid happens. Our CNN crew -- we haven't even been given the address as to where this raid will happen simply because the fear is that the information will leak.

Their biggest worry here? This raid has been a year in the making. Their biggest worry is that the dogs will just disappear.

CHUCK SIMMONS, NORRED & ASSOCIATES SPECIAL OPS.: There's a driveway here and it goes to the back house and there's a house in front.

BALDWIN (voice-over): This group of volunteers, covered in camouflage, is braced for battle. Only the war they're waging is on animal cruelty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's get them alive here.

BALDWIN: Today's mission, conduct a raid in the woods of east Dublin, Georgia, and rescue dozens of dogs the Humane Society says were allegedly bred to fight.

SIMMONS: Who has 40 to 60 pit bulls, chained up out in the woods, on chains, with barrels for houses, and calls it pets? Nobody.

BALDWIN: Chuck Simmons is leading this tactical team. He is a private investigator from Atlanta, working alongside the Laurens County Sheriff's Department.

SIMMONS: I want to thank everybody for coming. It's for a good thing. It's for the dogs.

BALDWIN (on camera): And now we're following a number of cars out to the location. How it will work is the sheriff and the sheriff's deputies will first arrive on the scene. They will be executing the search warrant. And then the private investigators, the volunteers with the Humane Society, they will be the ones who will then be called in to collect the dogs. They have no idea what they're about to see. BALDWIN (voice-over): This is video from inside the raid, provided exclusively to CNN. It shows the dogs, primarily pit bulls, cowering in cages or chained.

TERRY WOLF, DUBLIN-LAURENS COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: Beside one was the skull of a dog. And the dog that I was documenting, its number, it was trying to play with the skull. It's -- it's horrific. It's criminal.

BALDWIN: The water, filthy. Some of the dogs, scarred. Others, skin and bone. The most gruesome discovery of the day, a dead puppy, tossed in a trash bag.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wouldn't do that to anybody. How can they? What do you need 80 dogs plus -- 80-plus dogs for? There's no reason for it.

SIMMONS: If anything is going wrong, we want to go in and get it stopped and get it out of the way.

BALDWIN: As buzzards circled overhead, property owner Monty Loyd waited out front, furious. CNN tried to talk to him.

BALDWIN (on camera): I want to give you a fair chance to be able to explain.

MONTY LOYD: Ain't need to give me no (EXPLETIVE DELETED) fair chance. You need to go see my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) lawyer, that's what y'll need to go see.

BALDWIN (voice-over): We did reach out to Lloyd's attorney, who said, "despite a search warrant for evidence of dog fighting, my client has not participated in dog fighting and is not charged with dog fighting."

The sheriff's department says no evidence of dog fighting or training was found on the property, but veterinarians are examining these dogs for any physical signs of fighting. And those test results are still pending.

Since the story broke about Michael Vick's dogfighting ring two years ago, Greg Norred began donating his firm's time, money, and expertise rescuing dogs involved in covert and criminal fighting rings.

GREG NORRED, FOUNDER & CEO, NORRED & ASSOCIATES INC.: I'm an animal lover. And with the type of business that I'm in and the resources that I have, it seems like dog fighting is the best vehicle that I can use to do something about animal cruelty.

BALDWIN (on camera): The first group of dogs has been brought here. We can't actually tell you where "here" is. There's a true fear that these dogs could be stolen back. The next step? Feed these dogs, bathe these dogs, and then hold them here as part of live evidence, part of this criminal investigation.

BALDWIN (voice-over): So far, Norred's dog raids have put 20 people behind bars. Make that 21.

Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Dublin, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And we are pushing forward now with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips from New York City.