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Optional Public Option?; President Karzai Defends Elections; 'Top Tips' With Gerri Willis

Aired October 23, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Friday, October 23rd, and here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Distracted by a heated discussion or asleep in the cockpit? Federal officials try to figure out how two pilots missed their destination by 150 miles.

Lining up for a shot in the arm. L.A. County is giving out free H1N1 vaccinations. We will tell you who is eligible.

And using music to keep kids off the street and away from violence. Grammy winner Wyclef Jean introduces us to his CNN Hero.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Yet another twist in talks over the future of your health care. The final Senate bill may include a public option after all. Senate Democrats are looking at adding government-backed insurance to their bill and allowing states to opt out.

Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is following developments for us on Capitol Hill.

Dana, great to see you.

The recent polling that we've been following, you've been following it as well, indicates Americans want a public option. Is that behind the renewed push for that option in the final Senate bill?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're told that that has had an impact on what they have been talking about behind closed doors on the kind of bill that they can actually bring to the Senate floor, and it has had an impact on the pressure Democratic leaders are feeling to put a public option in. CNN's poll and others as well.

But the reality still stays as it was before. And that is that Harry Reid still does not know how he can get to 60 votes to pass his health care plan with a public option.

And what he is hoping at this point is that perhaps this idea of having a public option but allowing states to opt out would be enough to lure some of the conservative Democrats who may bolt if there is a full force or robust public option, because people back home in some of these conservative senators' districts say we don't want anything that has to do with a government-run health care option. So, that's the hope. But here's a big problem with this for the Democrats.

And that is that Olympia Snowe, the one Republican senator who has supported a Democratic plan, she says no way. She is absolutely opposed to this idea.

The meeting yesterday at the White House, I'm told that the president made pretty clear that perhaps he thinks the best way to approach this Senate bill is to have her idea only for a public option, and that is to not have a public option until it would be triggered down the road, and only if other reforms don't make health care costs come down. So, that is the pickle that they're in. We're told no decisions have been made, but it certainly is an interesting development.

HARRIS: Yes, it really is.

And Dana, that's the Senate story. What's happening on the House side?

BASH: Very interesting. On the House side, there isn't a debate about whether to include the public option, it's what kind of public option to include. And it is a very, very vigorous debate going on right now.

In fact, we are told that the Democratic leadership in the House, they are furiously counting votes, even as we speak, to try to figure out whether or not they can have the most "robust" kind of public option that progressives really want, or whether they want something that has to do with negotiated rates for this government-run plan that some of the Blue Dogs want. And I just came from the basement of the Capitol, where House Democrats were meeting, and it didn't seem to be a very productive meeting.

They apparently took kind of an informal vote on where the caucus stood on this, and it seems as though -- it wasn't full attendance, so it's hard to tell what exactly went on. But I can tell you that my colleague, Lisa Desjardins, she spoke to one of the conservative Democrats, Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth, and she was very candid. She called the meeting confusing and she said it was unproductive.

So, they're trying to figure out exactly where things stand. The majority whip, James Clyburn, told me that he hopes to figure out where the votes are by noon today, because on the House side, the Democrats want to have some kind of idea of what their bill will look like by next week.

HARRIS: You know what, Dana? I'm reading accounts that they may be as many as 46 votes short of the 218 number that they need in the House.

BASH: Perhaps for this idea, the concept of a public option that some of the conservative Democrats don't like. And not to get too far into the weeds, but the basic gist of that option -- and this is an option that the Speaker herself does want -- is the idea of tying the public option to Medicare rates and adding five percent to that.

HARRIS: Right.

BASH: That is something that the progressives want wholeheartedly. They say that is the best way to have the best competition, which is their goal here, have the most competition, the strongest competition, with the goal of bringing rates across the board down. But conservative Democrats say that's just too much competition, if you will, from the government.

HARRIS: I am totally into this story. Dana, I appreciate it. Thanks for the update.

BASH: Thanks.

HARRIS: Checking the wire now and some of the other big stories of this day.

New protection for gays heading now to President Obama's desk for his signature. Senate lawmakers yesterday passed the groundbreaking hate crimes bill. It would make it a federal crime to assault someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT), JUDICIARY CHAIRMAN: Violence against members of any group because of who they are is not going to be tolerated in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: The idea that we're going to pass a law that is going to add further charges to someone based on what they may have been thinking I think is wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Religious groups have argued the law could criminalize conservative speech, but the attorney general says it will be used only to prosecute violence.

More help for Afghanistan could be in the works. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says NATO allies are indicating a willingness to add either more troops or increase their civilian contributions. Gates and the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan are at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Slovakia this hour. As you know, President Obama is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's president is insisting his country's summer elections were -- quoting now "clean." That's despite accusations of widespread fraud. President Karzai initially dug in his heels on a runoff, but bowed to international pressure. A runoff, as you know, is now set for November 7th.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria sat down for an exclusive interview with the Afghan leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Mr. President, you were quite critical of the Election Complaint Commission's report. You then changed your mind.

What made you change your mind?

HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT: The Afghan election, unfortunately, was not treated as it should have been treated. The Afghan people voted under extremely difficult conditions, where we lost so many lives of our election people, of our troops, of our security forces, of our people.

Millions turned out against odds, and then our election was defamed, was called a fraud. Both the Election Commission and the Complaints Commission did their work, and the news items about the fraud in the election were so many and so widely distributed and so repeated, that even I began to believe that indeed that much fraud was there and began to doubt the elections.

But three days before I made the decision to call for a runoff, I got convinced that all that was said was mostly wrong. Mostly wrong.

There were some mistakes. There were some instances of fraud. But the election as a whole was clean and the result was clear.

I decided for peace, for stability, and for the future of democracy in Afghanistan, and for the future of institutional order in Afghanistan, to call for a runoff. And I find that in the interest of the Afghan people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And you can catch all of Fareed's exclusive interview with the Afghan leader Sunday afternoon at 1:00 and 5:00 Eastern Time.

The cockpit voice recorder from a Northwest jet could reveal why pilots flew 150 miles past their destination before finally responding to ground controllers. The voice and flight data recorders have been sent to Washington for analysis and the pilots are grounded. They say they were distracted during a heated discussion and lost track of location.

The suspicion is the pilots simply fell asleep. It happened Wednesday night on Flight 188 from San Diego to Minneapolis. They turned around, landing safely more than an hour late.

Countdown to elections in Afghanistan. A public awareness campaign being launched and the possibility of more NATO troops being discussed.

Our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence, is in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Chris, good to see you.

As you were talking about yesterday, there really is a tight window here for the candidates to campaign for this runoff. What are you learning?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Twelve days, Tony. That's it.

They can start campaigning tomorrow at noon. They have got to stop two days before the actual election. So, it is a very tight schedule.

In fact, senior military officials tell me securing this election on short notice will be very, very tough. They also say it is now the highest priority for U.S. and allied troops here in Afghanistan, securing that election, which means they're not going to be launching any major offensives until after this election is over.

Now, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been talking with other NATO defense ministers. He didn't ask for any specific number commitments. And he wasn't given any. But he seemed to indicate a willingness among some of the partner nations to contribute more to the effort here in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY : There were a number of allies who indicated they were thinking about or were moving toward increasing either their military or their civilian contributions or both. And I found that very heartening. I think we lose sight of the fact that just as we have doubled the number of Americans in Afghanistan over the last 15 months or so, the reality is the number of our partner nations, the number of their troops, has doubled as well to almost 38,000 at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: Now, all that said, Italy's defense minister has said while he agrees with General Stanley McChrystal's assessment that more troops are needed for Afghanistan, he doesn't feel there necessarily need to be Italian troops. And both the Dutch and Danish defense ministers have both said they will not send any more troops unless this runoff election produces a legitimate Afghan government and President Obama comes out with his new overall strategy for Afghanistan -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Chris Lawrence for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Chris, appreciate it. Thank you.

Confused by the ever-changing health care bills? Our medical correspondent breaks down the options for us.

But first, the latest numbers from Wall Street. Let's look at the Big Board, New York Stock Exchange now.

Wait for it. Wait for it. Oh, we're selling today. The Dow down 56 points.

We're following the numbers throughout the day with Susan Lisovicz, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Rob Marciano up next with the weekend forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We have a lot to get to. Choosing a debt management company, paying to see your credit scores, and getting that tax credit if you're a first-time homebuyer. You ask the questions on Fridays, and CNN Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joining from us our D.C. bureau today.

Gerri is on the road with your "Top Tips."

Gerri, good to see you.

Are you ready to dive into the mailbag?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Let's do it, Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Our first question is from Zeb, who writes, "I'm trying to find a good debt management company to work with and I'm having difficulty choosing."

Help.

WILLIS: Well, Zeb, what you want is a qualified credit counselor, somebody that's going to charge you a low fee, somebody who's going to give you legitimate advice. That's the key.

You can get in trouble choosing the wrong kind of person. Get you in big trouble with your creditors.

Go to NFCC.org. There you can hook up with somebody who is good.

And, of courses, remember you can do this in person or you can do it over the telephone, too. It doesn't really matter -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. Very good.

Michael in South Carolina writes, "What is the best way to see your credit without having to sign up for something that wants to keep billing you?"

WILLIS: Well, the devil is in the details here. I can't tell you how many times I get e-mails from folks who say, "I thought I was getting a free credit report. And guess what? They're billing me for other services."

You have to be really careful here. Go to annualcreditreport.com. You can get your credit reports for free.

But it makes me wonder whether this viewer also wants to know how to get their credit score, because that can cost you money as well. You can get to MyFico.com, get the FICO credit score. It's going to cost you $14.95.

But there are a couple of other places to go for other credit scores like Credit Karma or Quizzle. Both Web sites, you can get free credit scores there. And, of course, the score is the thing that your creditors use to decide if you're worth giving a loan to and how much money they will actually lend you.

HARRIS: Yes. It's funny you mention that, because I read the question and I just assumed that he meant credit score. But you're very good to remind us of that.

WILLIS: Yes, you need both.

HARRIS: Yes, you do need both. Good point.

And from Ronald, "I just purchased a home as a first time buyer. What do I need to do to receive my tax credit, or do I have to wait until I file my taxes next year?"

WILLIS: All right. This is tricky.

OK. First of all, if you bought the house this year, you can amend your '08 return, change it. OK? And that means though you're going to have to wait probably 16 weeks, four months, to get that $8,000.

And a faster way to do it that you might want to do is file that '09 return early, as soon as you get those W-2s in January, and ask for direct deposit option. That way the money will go right to your checking account. Easy, much faster.

But I just want to remind people out there, that homebuyer's tax credit is going away very quickly at the end of November. So, if you are thinking you were trying to score that $8,000, you might want to get on it.

There is, of course, a possibility that this will be extended, that Congress will decide, hey, you know, we need to keep offering this perk to people who actually want to buy a house. But we don't know yet. So, better safe than sorry if you really want to score that $8,000 tax credit.

I'm all for getting free stuff, Tony. I don't know about you.

HARRIS: Yes. That's a lot of money. Right. If it's free, it's for me.

Hey, before I let you go from Washington, D.C., traveling, taking your show on the road, give us a bit of a heads-up as to what you have got planned for this weekend, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."

WILLIS: "YOUR BOTTOM LINE," 9:30 a.m., right here on CNN.

Hey, Tony, we've got a perfect segment for you. We're talking about men and women and the different ways they handle money.

HARRIS: Oh. You're trying to tee up the latest round in the battle of the sexes, aren't you here?

WILLIS: Well, you know, we're not doing it for fun. We're doing it to learn.

HARRIS: OK.

WILLIS: You know, there's stuff women can learn from men and stuff men can learn from women, believe it or not.

HARRIS: Something tells me I know how this is going to be weighted.

I can't wait. What are the times again, Gerri?

WILLIS: 9:30 a.m. Join us right here, CNN, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."

HARRIS: You have a great weekend. Thanks, Gerri.

WILLIS: Thank you.

HARRIS: The big telecom guys versus the little guys on the Web.

Nicole Lapin is following this high-tech story for us -- Nicole.

NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. The FCC made some major decisions yesterday about the future of the Internet.

We will break it down as the CNN NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

American authorities have asked Switzerland to hand over imprisoned director Roman Polanski to face the child sex charge he fled in 1978. His lawyers say Polanski plans to fight the extradition demand.

Pakistan rocked by several bomb blasts today. Dozens killed and wounded. Some of the latest targets, a restaurant, a military base, and a bus full of people headed for a wedding.

The United States has accepted a multinational draft proposal that calls for uranium produced in Iran to be enriched abroad for use in medical research. Rather than accepting the plan today, Iran suggested it would prefer buying the nuclear fuel it needs instead.

An update now on a story we brought you just a couple of days ago. The FCC looking to keep the Net neutral, the way it is now.

Nicole Lapin is back to fill us in on this David versus Goliath story -- Nicole.

LAPIN: It was, because in one corner you had the big telecoms that said we want to charge you more for the more Internet you use.

HARRIS: Yes. And in the other corner?

LAPIN: On the other corner, we had a small business owner who sold chili online. We introduced him to you a couple days ago saying this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY MARICLE, NEW MEXICO CHILI: We make money primarily because of new customers. Every day we're marketing on the Internet. If we couldn't market on the Internet any longer, that would really hurt us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAPIN: OK. So now chili man will not be hurt. Here's how the ruling went down yesterday.

The FCC has basically put Net neutrality on the books. It is the system we have now, where you can go to any Web site for the same amount of money.

It is now codified. It wasn't until now.

HARRIS: Nice.

LAPIN: These regulations basically prevent the phone and the cable companies from abusing control and pricing over the market for broadband access. It has not only, Tony, pitted the big guys -- we're talking the Comcasts, the AT&Ts, the Verizons of the world -- against those online small businesses, but also the Googles and the Skypes and the Facebooks of the Internet. They have argued that charging more for the so-called premium content would stifle their ability to innovate and create.

Look, this was a five-year battle, Tony, and now we are getting some strong opposition from Republicans on the Hill. We even had John McCain in the 11th hour trying to challenge this.

HARRIS: Against Net neutrality?

LAPIN: It's not over -- wireless regulations. I've got to tell you, those are next. It's how you use and how you pay for the content on your cell phone.

This is something I'm surprised you haven't gotten into. Look, it affects all of us...

HARRIS: I like it. Yes, I like it. Great.

LAPIN: ... the way we use the Net.

HARRIS: All right. Keep us posted, would you please? LAPIN: Will do. Absolutely.

HARRIS: Thank you, Nic.

Guess who is turning 40? Our good doctor. Does he pass the fitness test?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Once again, Pakistan is rocked by violence. A suicide bomber killed at least seven people and injured 24 others today just outside Islamabad. And once again, the Pakistani military was the target.

Live now to CNN's Reza Sayah in the capital.

And Reza, I know Islamabad and the surrounding area is huge, but when you track these attacks on the capital, as we have, you begin to wonder if targeting the capital itself is one of the principal goals of the militants.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. Well, if you look at the past three weeks, there's certainly plenty of evidence that shows Islamabad is under attack. During that span, we've had at least five militant attacks. Most of them targeting government and security facilities.

We had another one this morning just outside the federal capital. That's where police say a suicide bomber riding a bike went up to a check post outside an air force base when security personnel tried to check him. That's where he blew himself up, killing at least seven people.

The violence continues outside of the federal capital as well. Hours after that suicide attack, you had a car bomb, according to officials, exploding right near a banquet hall that was owned by the brother of the head of a popular secular political party in the Northwest Frontier province. This is a political party that has repeatedly spoken out against the Taliban and supported the recent military offensive in the Swat Valley targeting the Taliban.

Hours after that incident you had a bus, according to officials, that drove over a land mine in the tribal region along the Afghan border. Government officials maintain most of these attacks are launched by the Taliban from South Waziristan, and that's where today, Tony, the army continued its offensive against the Taliban in that region.

HARRIS: Any update on the offensive in that region in the south?

SAYAH: Well, the army says they're making progress, but the progress is slow. Their strategy, they say, is to encircle the Taliban in South Waziristan with about 28,000 soldiers and move in, and squeeze in on them. They say they're doing it, but because of a lack of access by journalists -- frankly, no access, it's very difficult to independently verify how the progress is going. They have released over the past couple of days some video from what they say is the battle zone. The video shows troop movements, captured weapons, captured hideouts and soldiers shooting their weapons, but again, without us being able to be there, we can't verify if they're actually engaging the militants in real battle and what, if anything, they're shooting at, Tony. So, it's very frustrating trying to cover this conflict in this manner.

HARRIS: Reza Sayah for us in Islamabad, Pakistan. Reza, thank you.

The president continues to listen to advisers and ambassadors about troop levels in Afghanistan, and we're listening to you.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Concerning Afghanistan, another Bush debacle that we have to go in and find out how bad it is, stabilize it, hope to clean it up. With this election -- runoff election on the 7th of November, that's a good step. Get through the winter, see what it looks like next year. But we have to try to give that government a chance, a fair government.

CALLER: This is David calling from Idaho. I have a son in the Marines, son in the Air Force, son-in-law in the Army, daughter in the Air Force, three son-in-laws Air Force. I think we need to send more troops.

I don't think we need to make the same mistake we made in Vietnam by not finishing. We need to go finish. Our military leaders weren't allowed to. So far, they haven't been allowed to. We need to end it.

CALLER: I think the U.S. should pull out of Afghanistan immediately.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HARRIS: And we still want to hear your comments on this question. Just go to our phone line here, "talk to Tony" -- we may need to change that -- 1-877-742-5760. Let us know what you think the U.S. should do next in Afghanistan.

So, more critical talks today on health care reform. House Democrats are meeting to work on their final bill. That's expected to include a public option. Senators may also include a government- backed health option in their legislation. They're considering a public option that would allow states to opt out.

What does that mean? Lots of terms floating around in the health care debate. The public option, the health care exchange, the optional public option. What does it all mean?

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now for a little bit of health care 101. We hear all these terms all the time. Elizabeth, let's start -- what exactly is the public option that we're talking about now? ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, one way to think of it, to make it sort of simple, is think of it as Medicare for the rest of us, Medicare for people under age 65. So, let's take a look at sort of what makes the public option.

We have a nice little dictionary for you.

HARRIS: All right!

COHEN: So, the first sort of qualification for a public option is that the premiums are affordable. They will likely be lower than the premiums that you would get with United, Aetna, Kaiser, whatever. Also, it would be run by the government, similar to Medicare, and you would not be eligible if you get insurance at work. So, if you get insurance at work, you couldn't go join this pool, but other than that, you would be able to join this pool.

HARRIS: And what about the optional -- what is -- the...

COHEN: Opting out of the public option.

HARRIS: Yes.

COHEN: Right, I know. It gets confusing. All right, that's a term that's sort of been thrown out just recently in the past day or two, which is that some politicians want the governor of a given state to be able to opt out.

HARRIS: Yeah.

COHEN: So, in other words, a governor would say, you know what, I don't like this. I don't like the whole public option. And people have various reasons for not liking it.

HARRIS: The plan you just described.

COHEN: The plan I just described, right. And they're going to say, you know what, I'm not going let anyone in my state choose it. And that is just in the discussion phase. That's something that some politicians have kind of thrown out there. They're going to see if it sticks. But there's nothing even on paper to look at at this point.

HARRIS: Health care exchanges.

COHEN: Yes.

HARRIS: What is that?

COHEN: It sounds like people are trading health care, doesn't it?

HARRIS: Yes. And I know we've talked about...

COHEN: And that's...

HARRIS: ... this a couple times. But I don't think I can hear it enough.

COHEN: Well, have you ever gone to book a trip on a site like Travelocity or one of those travel sites...

HARRIS: Yes.

COHEN: ... and so you say, I want to go from Atlanta to San Francisco, and it gives you all of the options?

HARRIS: Oh, this is coming together for me.

COHEN: Right. So, this -- that's kind of what the exchange is. You say, I am a 35-year-old married woman with two kids. I live in Georgia. And it gives you the list of options of all the different insurances that you can have. And if this legislation passes, there would be some pretty strict rules about what kinds of things they would have to offer you, so that you would be able to see not plans that are very different compared to each other, but plans that are the same compared to each other so you can make a choice.

Because right now it's hard to issues a health insurance policy because they're all kind of different, and there's no one place where they all have to be. So, that's what the exchange would be.

HARRIS: You know, that's the best explainer yet.

COHEN: Really?

HARRIS: We've been doing this for -- it really is.

COHEN: I hope someone wrote down what I said.

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: It is the best explainer yet. We ought to put this on the blog page so folks can...

COHEN: There we go. Sounds like a good idea.

HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE).

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. That was good stuff.

COHEN: Good. Well, I'm glad. I'm glad.

HARRIS: Have a good weekend.

COHEN: You, too.

HARRIS: A health insurance company does an about-face. The company says it will continue the policy of a disabled man about to lose his coverage.

CNN's Jim Acosta first brought us the story. He now has this update. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Earlier this week, we introduced you to Ian Pearl, a disabled man with muscular dystrophy who was just weeks away from losing his health insurance. One day after our story aired on CNN, that insurance company, Guardian, announced it is reversing its decision.

In a statement to CNN, Guardian's president, Dennis Manning, said, quote, "Insurance companies are comprised of human beings, and sometimes we make mistakes. This was one of them, but we also learn from those mistakes and we seek to correct them. This is the right action to take because it is consistent with our values as individuals and as a company."

Guardian also apologized to Ian for an internal company e-mail that refer to the Pearl family's high-cost insurance policy as a, quote, "dog" that the company could get rid of. As for the Pearl family, Ian's mother told me over the phone that she was speechless.

Then she went on to say, "I am very encouraged that Guardian is releasing this statement and is acknowledging its misconduct." Guardian's reversal means Ian can keep his insurance policy, which pays for his in-home nursing care, care that he credits with saving his life. And we can also report in the state of New York, state lawmakers right now are drafting legislation they call Ian's law, which hey hope will prevent insurance companies from discriminating against high-cost insurance policies in the future.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Skip the workout for more sleep? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta on a mission to get fit by the time he hits 40. Can he do it? Can you do it? Today he talks with trainer Jillian Michaels about the importance of sleep.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories right now. An explosion at a gas refinery in Puerto Rico lights up the night sky. Take a look at this video here. These pictures are from -- OK, I thought we had video. These are pictures from iReporter Maria Marquez. At least one injury is reported. Authorities have evacuated about 350 people because of the smoke.

In Los Angeles, the county health department is rolling out a free H1N1 vaccine program. This is new video just into CNN coming to us of health care workers setting up the first round of shots going to those in high-risk groups and to folks without health insurance. And these folks in Indiana lining up outside a shopping mall at 3:00 in the morning to get their free H1N1 vaccinations. People are starting to get a bit nervous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a newborn, so I'm trying to make sure I stay healthy and stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have Type II diabetes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son has asthma. He's 12. And I think everybody's at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: By noon Thursday, 2,500 people had been vaccinated.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta marks a milestone. He turns 40 today. His birthday is also the culmination of his "four months to fitness" campaign. In today's "Fit Nation" report, the doctor checks in with diet and exercise expert Jillian Michaels for a progress report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Greetings from the Twin Cities Marathon. As you may know, over the last four months, I've been on a sort of campaign to get in the best shape of my life by the time I turn 40 years old.

It's been tough in many ways, but I decided to get a checkup on how I was doing from personal fitness trainer Jillian Michaels. Let's go talk to her.

For the first few days that I did this, and again, I don't count calories, but I was leaving food on the plate. I was definitely taking smaller portions, just really conscious -- I was hungry the first few days.

JILLIAN MICHAELS, PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINER: That's so hard.

GUPTA: I was hungry. But I knew once I got beyond that, and I had this whole...

MICHAELS: Did you get beyond the physical feeling of hunger? Because when that happens, I'll go with volume. So, I'll get, you know, the salad this big.

GUPTA: Water (INAUDIBLE).

MICHAELS: Yes. Fiber and water, nutrient-dense, low calorie when I struggle with that.

GUPTA: Well, you may have told me this. Somebody told me this, that, you know, thirst is often misperceived as hunger. So, you think you're hungry but in fact you're thirsty.

MICHAELS: And dehydrated.

GUPTA: So I -- yes, you're dehydrated. And I think we -- a lot of us walk around with chronic dehydration. So, now I just drink more water. And it's funny because I -- you know, Jillian, like you, I mean, I've studied this, like, to the core. You know, fitness, exercise, physiology of all this.

But some of the simplest things make the biggest difference. So, drinking water, pushing a plate away and exercising when I can.

MICHAELS: How are you doing with sleep, because sleep really affects my hunger levels?

GUPTA: I won't pass the Jillian test on sleep probably.

MICHAELS: I know because you, I mean, you've got three kids and you're all over the world. How much sleep are you getting, and how are you finding that affects you?

GUPTA: Well, it definitely affects me. And I feel like if I can start to get more sleep, I'm going to be even in a better groove. The thing I'm worried about the most now is that I've had this whole inspiring time over the last four months to do this because 40th birthday...

MICHAELS: Yes.

GUPTA: ... a milestone. An arbitrary milestone at that. How do I make this a habit?

MICHAELS: You're going to the gym every day after work. Are you finding that manageable? If that's not manageable, then it becomes, OK, if you can't get the fitness in, then you push the plate away and you eat less calories. You make the quality of your foods count as much as possible. You steal sleep on the plane if that's the only place that you can steal itm, and you got to make time.

GUPTA: Getting the complement from you today inspires me.

MICHAELS: You -- I mean, like, I just was, like, wow, he looks great. Not that I didn't think you looked great before. Let me just clarify. You were hot before, and you're hot now. But you just -- yes, you look like you're just lean and mean.

GUPTA: Well, I feel great. And I really appreciate it.

MICHAELS: Thank you.

GUPTA: Thanks so much for your help.

Obviously, the key to all this is to maintain this for the rest of my life and hopefully the rest of yours as well. So, we've got lots of great tips, CNNhealth.com, also on Twitter @sanjayguptacnn.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Happy birthday, Sanjay. One of CNN's top ten heroes is providing the kids of New Orleans free music lessons. And the program has some big support from Grammy winner Wyclef Jean.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Home buyers turned out in droves last month, and that should help give the economy a bit of a kick here.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details. Good morning. Good to see you, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony. And it's signs of life. In fact, it was a virtual stampede into the housing market last month.

Home-buying activity at its highest level in two years. Existing home sales in September rose just about 9.5 percent. That was double what was expected. Sales rose in every region. Nearly half of all sales were first-time home buyers.

This is important because this is why there's the stampede. You and I know that that 8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers expires November 30. In fact, some buyers are even adding a clause into the contract that the deal must close by November 30th or they can back out.

Not a big reaction -- not a positive reaction here on the Street. And one reason why, Tony, is because analysts say that it's a safe bet if this credit wasn't there, the pace of home sales would be much different, and that even if this extension is added, sales would lose some of the surge because so many are trying to get in it at the last minute.

So, that's why we're seeing -- one of the reasons why we're seeing red arrows across the board. Of course, we're coming off some very nice gains on Thursday, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely. But here's the thing. Susan, with buying picking up, are we starting to see prices stabilize at all?

LISOVICZ: Well, it depends on what you mean by stabilize. Are they falling off a cliff? Not as much as what we've seen. The national median price now $174,900. That is down 8.5 percent from a year ago. Now, the National Association of Realtors calls it early indications of price stabilizations.

Perhaps what's maybe more important, Tony, is that inventories are falling steadily. Nine-month supply in August, less than an eight-month supply in September. If you remember, it's supply and demand, just like in commodities, with houses. And that will make a big difference on prices as well -- Tony.

HARRIS: And mostly foreclosures, at least right now, are being bought up?

LISOVICZ: Thirty percent of the sales in September...

HARRIS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: ... were foreclosures, so that's why a lot of the homes that move are at the low end.

HARRIS: We've got to get those out of the system.

All right, Susan, see you next hour. Thank you.

LISOVICZ: Got it.

HARRIS: And as always, we urge you to check out our special report, "AMERICA'S MONEY CRISIS." We update it daily, hourly in many cases, at CNNmoney.com.

While President Obama considers sending more troops to Afghanistan, Pakistan's former president says he has no doubt they are needed. CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with Pervez Musharraf about that as well as the growing Taliban threat in his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Do you think the U.S. should send in more troops to Afghanistan?

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FORMER PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: From the purely military point of view, I believe there's a military term when you apply force to an area. It has an optimum -- troop-to-space ratio is very important. At the moment, I think a purely military point of view, U.S. forces and coalitions forces are diluted in space.

COOPER: There's not enough of them...

MUSHARRAF: No.

COOPER: ... considering the large amount of area they need to cover.

MUSHARRAF: Yes. So, therefore, I agree with General McChrystal, that an increase is required, certainly.

COOPER: Let's talk about what's happening inside Pakistan right now. U.S. officials say the base of terror is in Afghanistan, that that's where the majority of al Qaeda leaders are.

MUSHARRAF: The base (ph) of terrorism is Afghanistan, where Mullah Omar and his Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan, 90 percent of Afghanistan, for six years, are there.

COOPER: But as you know, U.S. officials believe and have said repeated they believe Mullah Omar, who ruled the Taliban, is in Quetta, is in Pakistan. They say no doubt about it.

MUSHARRAF: That is a ridiculous idea, and I don't contribute at all. Anyone who thinks like that is absolutely and 100 percent wrong. He has never been there (ph).

COOPER: I've had numerous U.S. intelligence officials tell me that in Afghanistan, that they have no doubt he's in Pakistan.

MUSHARRAF: Your CIA and our ISI have been operating together in the tribe frontier, in the tribal (INAUDIBLE), elsewhere in Quetta. So, what are they doing? They don't know the place where Mullah Omar is?

And also purely from logic point of view, eastern Afghanistan, Kandahar region, the countryside, is mostly under the control of the Taliban. Is that right or not? Now, if that is right, if I'm Mullah Omar, why would I go to Pakistan to get caught or to get killed, when my own -- I'm controlling the countryside in my own area. Won't I stay there?

COOPER: There have been allegations that much of the money that the United States has given over the years to Pakistan, to your government, was not delivered to the areas that it was supposed to be. The U.S. now is proposing giving some $1.5 billion, $1.6 billion each year over the next five years, but they have put stipulations on where the money is to be spent, how it's to spent.

And that has angered many in the Pakistan military, who say this insulting that you're micromanaging. In fact, you have said don't micromanage.

MUSHARRAF: Yes, absolutely.

COOPER: Doesn't the U.S. government, though, have the right and the American taxpayer who's paying for this have the right to know that their money is not being spent on other things, it's being spent on fighting terror?

MUSHARRAF: You have -- yes, I'll agree that you ought to be knowing where it is being spent. But as I said, there's a huge amount of money which is being spent there. The money that you give will be a small part of that kitty. Now, there is no --

COOPER: Still a lot of money, $1.5 billion, huh?

MUSHARRAF: 1.5 billion, yes, 1.5 billion for Pakistan. Is it for the military? I don't think so. I don't think it's for the military. I don't think any part of it is for the military.

COOPER: It's for -- they want it in particular for a lot of economic, social issues.

MUSHARRAF: Yes, social, economic. Maybe 20 times that amount is spent on the social. Now, we are talking of health. We are talking of education, poverty alleviation, employment generation.

Now, why do we micromanage? We have to put force there to fight against Taliban and al Qaeda. And that force will be used as per the dictates of the situation and the environment and the threat. And the army is fully equipped to understand what the threat is, how much force is required, what equipment is required. Leave it at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Anderson Cooper is "Keeping Them Honest." "AC360" airs tonight at 10:00 Eastern, and don't miss it.

Here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

President Obama off to New England to deliver a speech on clean energy at the Massachusetts institute of technology. We will listen in when it happens.

Plus, a big man on campus, straight As and a gifted athlete as well. We will introduce you to a young man who wants to go from homeless to Harvard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You began telling us about your heroes back in January. We received more than 9,000 nominations from 100 countries. Recently, our distinguished blue ribbon panel selected the top ten CNN Heroes of 2009. And in just a few weeks, we will announce the CNN Hero of the year you have voted for.

But until then, we are asking friends of CNN Heroes to tell us more about the 10 extraordinary individuals who will be honored thanksgiving night. So here's Grammy winner Wyclef Jean introducing a musician from New Orleans who is turning kids away from violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WYCLEF JEAN, MUSICIAN: How you all doing? My name is Wyclef Jean. At the first annual CNN Heroes tribute show, I had the honor of performing and helping to recognize the great works of everyday citizens changing the world. As the founder of Yele Haiti, an organization which seeks to improve lives in my native country, I am thrilled to help CNN introduce one of this year's top 10 honorees. Now more than ever, the world needs heroes.

DERRICK TABB, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN (voice-over): Life after Katrina is really hard for a kid. You have violence, the drug life. I'm just tired of it. My aim is to get kids off the streets.

(on camera): My name is Derrick Tabb, and I started a free music education program for the kids of New Orleans.

Let's go. Horns up.

(voice-over): We do more than just teach music. We offer transportation. We offer instruments.

I feed you so you're not hungry, right? I give you tutoring.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; Which one, eight times three?

TABB (on camera): I call it the no-excuse policy. You don't have no excuse why you're not here. You don't have to have any experience.

Press down on it just like that.

(voice-over): We meet five days a week year-round. We're constantly learning something new, and that's what keeps the kids coming back every day.

(on camera): I don't want to say that I'm saving lives. I say I'm giving life, a whole different life of music.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And you can go to CNN.com/heroes right now to vote for the top ten CNN Hero that inspires you the most. They will all be honored at an all-star tribute hosted by our Anderson Cooper on Thanksgiving night. And you can see it here only on CNN.