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House Eyes Health Care Reform Passage; More Info on Ft. Hood Shooter
Aired November 07, 2009 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, everybody. From the CNN center, you are now in the CNN NEWSROOM for this Saturday, November 7th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. It's 11:00 a.m. here in the East, 8:00 a.m. out on the West Coast. Thanks for being here with us.
HOLMES: Up front this hour, debate over the proposed health care overhaul is under way in the House. Yes, they're working on a Saturday. They could have a vote as early as today, possibly tomorrow even, but not without some last-minute maneuvering.
We have some team coverage this weekend. Elaine Quijano is live for us at the White House. And Brianna Keilar live at Capitol Hill. Elaine is at the spot where the president is going from one spot over to where Brianna is. Taking a bit a field trip, as we talked about this morning. He's coming over there, Brianna, to try to get Democrats in line.
So do they have what they need? Do they have enough votes to push this thing through?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., Democrats are hopeful that they're going to have the votes they need to pass their health care reform bill. And it's really all about getting all the Democrats on board, because they're not expecting to get any Republican support.
We just bumped into Steny Hoyer, the number two Democrat in the House, and he told us that they are still counting votes at this point. But another aide told me that bringing President Obama over here to Capitol Hill, which we're expecting to happen here in this hour, they're really bringing him in essentially as the closer. And they're really trying to make it so that he can kind of solidify as many Democratic votes as they can get.
But take a listen to some of what's been going on the House floor. Already the back and forth between Democrats and Republicans has begun.
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REP. VIRGINIA FOXX (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Not only does the Pelosi health care plan raise taxes and increase spending, it will vastly grow the size and power of the federal government, taking more and more of our freedoms away. The Pelosi health care plan proposes the creation of more than 110 new bureaucracies, boards, commissions or program. More taxes, more spending, and more government is not the plan for reform that people support.
REP. DONALD PAYNE (D), NEW JERSEY: We simply cannot afford to maintain the status quo. Those who continue to resist a much-needed change in our health care system are refusing to deal with the problems. And they won't go away if we ignore them.
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KEILAR: We're expecting this vote to happen today, T.J. That is still the plan. But I got to tell you, we are in this for the long haul. We are expecting to be here all day. All we know is that the vote will happen sometime today. We're not exactly sure when. This could of late into the night.
HOLMES: Could be a late night. But it's still fairly early in the morning. They've been at it for a couple hours now. And they were at it last night as well over the issue of abortion. Did they get that worked out.
KEILAR: At least there appears to be a deal between some anti- abortion Democrats -- you may think about Democrats and think they're for abortion rights. But there are dozens in the House of Representatives who are anti-abortion. And they basically said to Democratic leaders, look, if we don't get some really strong language in here that guarantees federal dollars will not go to pay for abortions, we are going to vote no.
So it created this last-minute impasse and a deal was struck, where actually -- if you can imagine this, Democratic leaders were on the phone working out the details of this with high-level Catholic officials, bishops who are telling their members of Congress, you know, you can't vote for this unless it says this, unless it says that.
Here's basically what they worked out. And I have to explain how the health care reform plan works so you can understand it. But basically if you were someone who gets your insurance through an employer, this isn't something that will affect you. If you are someone who maybe you can't afford insurance through your employer, you would go into what's being called the exchange. It's something created in the bill. It's a clearinghouse for health insurance, kind of the way you might buy an airline ticket online.
Maybe you could go and get your insurance on this exchange, even if you were using all of your money, all of your own money to pay for your health insurance plan. What this agreement says is that any insurance plan, T.J., offered on that exchange could not include abortion coverage, as right now a lot of insurance plans do offer it. Under this agreement, any of those insurance plans on this exchange would not be able to offer abortion coverage.
HOLMES: All right. Well, whatever deal they work out, are they going to add some pages to the 1,990 they already have, Brianna? We certainly hope not. Thank you. We know you are keeping an eye on this thing. We'll be checking in with you again plenty today.
NGUYEN: Definitely a lot to sport out.
In just a few minutes, President Obama is set to hold a closed- door session with House Democrats on the impending health care vote. Our Elaine Quijano is live at the White House. She is standing by waiting as we all are. So, Elaine, do we have any idea as to what the president is going to say?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, we have some sense, Betty. You heard from Brianna there. Lawmakers here are really looking at the president as the closer. That just underscores how high the political stakes really are for President Obama. Health care, as we know, is the president's number-one domestic priority. And he's going on a Saturday to make this rare push in person with lawmaker,s to try and get a health care bill passed in the House.
So, what is the sales pitch here for the president? How does he hope to get through to some of these Democrats who, frankly, have their own political fortunes to think about here, when it comes to moving ahead or not moving ahead on a health care vote?
Well, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked about this. What is the president's sales pitch going to be? And he said, quite simply, it's that lawmakers need to do this for the country, that this is for their constituents, and people who are losing health insurance every day, and people who currently have health insurance but want to have it be more affordable.
Whether or not, though, that's going to be enough to assuage some of the concerns that we heard Brianna lay out there on the part of some of these Democrats, that's very much an open question.
We should tell you, Betty, that we're going to hear from President Obama himself in the Rose Garden this afternoon. He's scheduled to make some remarks before he heads to Camp David later this afternoon. Betty?
NGUYEN: All right. We'll be waiting and watching. Elaine Quijano joining us live. Thank you so much for that.
HOLMES: Well, it's not health care, it's the economy. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is saying as much as in today's Republican response to the president's weekly address. He connects today's scheduled health care vote, Tuesday election wins by the GOP, and growing unemployment.
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GOV. HALEY BARBOUR (R), MISSISSIPPI: America's concerns have been greatly increased because Washington hasn't been focused on economic growth or creating jobs. Instead, all the talk and attention has been on health care reform.
And now that the Democrat lead has settled on a health care bill, what have Americans learned? This health care bill will cost another trillion-plus dollars. The bill will increase your health insurance premiums. It will cut Medicare and Medicaid spending for seniors by five hundred billion dollars. And it will clobber small businesses, which creates most new jobs.
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HOLMES: Governor Barbour says the Democrats' health care proposal should be withdrawn and reworked.
NGUYEN: Well, President Obama plans to attend a memorial service for Ft. Hood victim once it is scheduled. Today, though, he pressed Americans not to blame the situation on the alleged gunman's faith, Islam. The military and the president says it is made up of people as diverse as this country itself.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are Americans of every race, faith and station. There are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. There are descendants of immigrants and immigrants themselves.
They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other. What they share is a commitment to country that has been tested and proved worthy.
What they share is the same unflinching courage, unblinking compassion, and uncommon camaraderie that soldiers and civilians of Ft. Hood showed America and showed the world.
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NGUYEN: The governor of Texas is visiting shooting victims today. We're going to get an update from doctors there at Scott and White Memorial Hospital at the top of the hour. For now, though, CNN's Sean Callebs is at Ft. Hood with more about the victims and the heroes who helped them.
We're hearing so much about those who really went above and beyond to save many people on that fateful day, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Without question, Betty. I think a lot of people are eagerly awaiting this news conference coming up at the hospital at the top of the hour. There are still two dozen of the shooting victims in the hospital, and about a half of those so, a dozen or so, remain in intensive care. So a lot of people are keeping their thoughts and prayers with those who were wounded during the shooting.
Also, just a little bit after that news conference, we expect Governor Rick Perry to come out and talk about the way Texas is reacting to this horrific shooting. He's just the very latest. There have been a whole string of politicians, as well as leaders among Army brass, coming out, talking about the events that unfolded here, and certainly the heroic way the soldiers and the civilian police officers on this base reacted to that.
One of those, of course, is Kimberly Munley. She is the individual who is credited with shooting the suspect, Major Hasan, and stopping him. We know that she's already had a couple of surgeries. She was shot three times, once in the wrist and once in each thigh. We talked to one of her friends just a short while ago. And she is expected to go in for her third surgery later on this morning.
Also, we had a chance to speak with a Muslim serviceman, a sergeant here. He's been in the service for four years. He's done time. He's been in Afghanistan. He speaks Urdu, the language there. He said the Army has been taking advantage of his faith, his background, as well. He said he was just horrified when he found out that a Muslim was accused of this massacre.
Listen to what he had to say.
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SGT. FAHAD KAMAL, COMBAT MEDIC: I was more angry and shocked at the same time. It's actually because my worries were -- because I did not want a stereotype being brought upon because he was Muslim. I felt it was only his character and his own inner issues that he had that made him do what he did. I know for a fact that Islam does not teach that.
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CALLEBS: And Major Hasan, also members of his family telling people that he was basically harassed by other soldiers, members of the military, that he clearly did not want to be rotated overseas to Afghanistan, concerned that he would be involved in the fighting against other Muslims.
Well, in talking to that sergeant, he said he never received any kind of harassment in his four years in the service. And he really says he finds it hard to believe that the major would have had that kind of harassment.
Quickly, Betty, the investigation continues going on. We know more about the weapons. The suspect did have what's known as an FM 5.7. This is a semi-automatic, basically semi-assault handgun. It has a clip of 20 bullets.
We know that Hasan allegedly fired 100 rounds during just a few minutes. So, clearly that is the kind of gun that can do a great deal of damage.
Also Hasan had a .357 Magnum. We know that one of the pistols was purchased at a shop called Guns Galore. It's outside this base -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Two guns, over a hundred rounds fired in just a matter of minutes. Sean Callebs, thank you so much.
HOLMES: And the dead -- and there are 13 -- they range from a teenager to a grandmother of six. One is 62-year-old Michael Cahill of Spokane, Washington. Cahill served in the Army Reserves and worked as a physician's assistant. He was back on the job Thursday when the gunfire just a week after heart surgery.
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MARILYN ATTERBERY, SISTER OF FT. HOOD VICTIM: I got the call that he was dead, but they didn't know any particulars. And then about 40 minutes later, my little sister, Becky, called from Oregon and said he had been shot and he is gone.
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HOLMES: We'll be telling you more about those victims throughout the hour, also the entire day on CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, it's no doubt that the shootings at Ft. Hood have changed the lives of dozens of families. Tonight, a CNN prime time special continues with the search for answers. The post, the suspect, the wounded; a CNN Special Investigation, "Inside the Ft. Hood Shootings." That's tonight at 8:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: The latest now on Friday's deadly shooting in Orlando, Florida. The suspected triggerman, Jason Rodriguez, appeared in court this morning. There he is. The 40-year-old faces one count of first- degree murder and other charges that police say are pending against him.
He was ordered held without bond. Rodriguez is accused in yesterday's shooting spree at his former workplace. Witnesses say he walked into the office, drew a weapon, began firing on former co- workers.
Again, one person killed, five others wounded. Those five are expected to survive.
NGUYEN: All right. So there is a very special event going on in New York City right now. We're going to take you live there. It is the commissioning ceremony for the USS New York. Live picture of that event.
And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is delivering the address today.
Now let's give you a little background. The USS New York honors all those who lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center. The Navy used seven and a half tons of steel from Ground Zero debris in the construction of that warship. It passed by Ground Zero earlier this week.
Here's a shot of that, during its maiden voyage into New York harbor. Now the New York is a San Antonio Class Amphibious Transport Dock Ship. And the motto: "never forget."
Last hour we talked with Scott Koen, who is a volunteer firefighter, who actually came up with the idea to use debris to build the ship.
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SEAN KOEN, FIRE FIGHTER: As I was driving through Northrop Grummon's Yard, we were going to go to the commissioning. And the hair was up on the back of my head and I was shaking. Just to actually see that ship and know how much it meant not only to me, but to the nation. It's finally some of what we lost returned.
It' very -- hopefully for the family members of everybody that lost and the rescue crews down there, it's a healing. Finally some of what we lost returned. I hope they all feel the same way I do.
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HOLMES: Also a day to remember in Pennsylvania. Today in Shanksville, they're breaking ground finally on the permanent memorial for the victims of United Flight 93. On September 11th, it was United Flight 93 that crashed there in the field there in Shanksville. Now, 130,000 people visit the site every year.
Of course, there's no permanent memorial there just yet. Organizers planning to officially open that memorial on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 in 2011.
NGUYEN: Health care history in the making at the Capitol today. We're going to see what Americans are saying about reform, as the House heads toward a big vote.
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NGUYEN: All right. So, with the White House headed for a vote on the health care bill -- not the White House, the House, I should say -- perhaps this weekend, though, a new sampling of Americans and their view points.
A CNN Opinion Research Poll asked what should Congress do with the health care bills. Well, pretty much it's a four-way split. Check it out: 26 percent say pass reform with few change; a third say pass it, but with major changes; a quarter of those surveyed say start all over from scratch -- wow, OK -- 15 percent say stop working on health care.
All right, very varied there. We also asked about the public option and a government-run health care plan; 55 percent say they favor such an alternative to traditional insurance, and 44 percent say they oppose it. So, clearly health care reform means different things to different people. And some people just want it over with. They want you to throw it out and start all over from scratch.
HOLMES: And some want us to stop talking about it. No. We have to cover this thing, keep people informed about what's happening. Let's bring in our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, trying to break these numbers down.
A lot of numbers kind of all over the place. But still, health care seems to be the second most important thing to Americans right now.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. Besides the economy, which has been number one for about two years. And why? Well, here's one reason. Take a look at this number from that same poll you guys were showing. It's a national survey we did.
Look at this, guys: 55 percent said that their health insurance costs, like deductibles, rates or co-pays, have gone up within the last year. So people are feeling it. Remember, this is just over the last year. A lot of people now are learning that their deductibles, their rates are going to go up again next year.
So it is on the minds of Americans because they're seeing that there's more money coming out of pocketbooks and wallets. That's why they say Congress gets something done. They may not agree on what they want to get done, but they say get something done.
NGUYEN: Also, a lot of people don't expect any House Republicans to vote for the bill. Do Americans think the GOP is doing enough work with the Democrats to actually find some kind of solution here?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, this is interesting, too, because while they may not be crazy about what the Democrats are doing, not crazy at all, they definitely think the Republicans are trying to hold things up or being obstructionist. Because our survey suggests that only about a third think the Republicans in Congress are doing enough to work out and cooperate with the Democrats and President Obama, when it comes to health care reform.
Now if you turn that question around and we ask is President Obama and the Democrats doing enough to reach out to Republicans, Americans are split. So they definitely think the Republicans more than Democrats are trying to maybe hold things up.
HOLMES: Now everybody has something on the line here. Americans do when it comes to health care. Certainly Congress wants to do the right thing by the American people. But all these Congressmen and women have something on the line, too. That's 2010 in November. So what's at stake there for everybody politically?
STEINHAUSER: A lot. You called it right there. Next year, you have the whole House, all 435 members, plus more than a third of the Senate is up for grabs. So health care and what happens with this bill, whether something gets done or not, is on the minds of a lot of people, especially the Democrats who feel they need to get something done, because it's the Democrats next year who will be defending big majorities in the House and the Senate.
And they've got memories of 1994, when the Democrats ran the shop, as well. President Clinton trying to push through health care reform. Remember, it didn't happen. That was maybe one of the reasons why the Republicans in 1994 stormed back and took control of Congress. Democrats I don't think want that to happen again, guys.
HOLMES: I would imagine. Everybody remembers that, '94, in a major way. Some say we could be headed for something similar next year. Paul, we appreciate you as always. Talk to you again here soon. All of you folks out there, you can keep up with this health care reform stuff in both the House and the Senate -- you can do this all online. You can click on CNN.com/HealthCare. Read in depth about the wheeling and the dealing and learn about the costs that are likely to affect your health care.
NGUYEN: Well, heavy rains are forcing thousands to flee from their homes in Mexico. Take a look at this. It's taking place in the Tabasco State. The flooding there has killed three people so far. More than 200,000 homes are flooded and many people are simply refusing to leave for shelters because they're afraid of looters.
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HOLMES: We'll take another lovely shot now, a beauty shot. Live out of New York, Pier 88. The commissioning ceremony right now is going on for the USS New York. It's sitting right in the middle of your screen there. The USS New York.
NGUYEN: There it is.
HOLMES: There it is. It was made, the bow, out of melted steel from the 9/11 tragedy. We will be dipping into that ceremony. Stay with us.
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NGUYEN: OK. You got to check it out. Built from the rubble of the World Trade Center, we're talking about the USS New York, folks, in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, now on the left-hand side of your screen. There, we're watching the commission ceremony taking place on the right-hand side of your screen. It is at Pier 88 next to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
CNN's Heidi Collins had a chance to talk to some of the victims' families to see what they think of this floating memorial.
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HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's more than 25,000 tons, as long as two football fields and will eventually carry hundreds of U.S. Sailors and Marines into battle across the globe. But it's the bow of this new ship that sets her apart.
ENSIGN TIMOTHY GORMAN, US NAVY: Out of any ship in the Navy, this is one ship where you can really be proud of your mission and remember on a daily basis of why we're here and why the ship is so special. The steel in the bow, we're very mindful that we're representing the families of victims of 9/11 and the people who died that day.
COLLINS: Beam by beam, they sifted through this pile of wreckage and twisted metal, the devastated debris from the towering World Trade Center, to salvage seven and a half tons of workable steel. More than a thousand workers then melted, poured, and reshaped that steel into what would become a bow of the USS New York.
Now a mighty symbol of all that was lost on that day more than eight years ago.
HOWARD LUTNICK, LOST BROTHER ON 9/11: We lost 658 employees, my brother, my best friend, All my co-workers.
COLLINS: Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, is adamant the memories of those he lost never be forgotten, and their survivors always be protected. LUTNICK: I really like the idea of people going out and avenging what happened to us, and protecting us so that it should never happen again, because the pain that we went through we would want no other family to ever have to go through.
COLLINS: The ship will be a memorial for Lee Lelpi, too. His firefighter son, Jonathan, bravely went into the towers on 9/11 but never made it out.
LEE LELPI, LOST SON ON 9/11: What better way for our young men and women that are on the USS New York to feel that spirit of our country than to have this ship have that steel in the bow, and represent not the bad, the good of our country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, the crew's motto is "Never Forget." Again, you're looking live at today's ceremony, there a shot of the warship. This is actually the sixth USS New York. The fifth was a battleship, which was dropped in the water on September 11th, 1911.
HOLMES: Well, we are also trying to sort out the story of the man accused of the Ft. Hood massacre. Why would an Army psychiatrist about to be deployed to a war zone allegedly turn on his own fellow soldiers?
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HOLMES: All right. A live picture here of the Capitol. A lot of activity up in Washington, D.C., today. And the president is on his way. This is what we saw moments ago. You can see the presidential motorcade is going from the White House, up Pennsylvania, heading over to the Capitol. The president going, as we've been hearing from our correspondents, Brianna Keilar up on Capitol Hill, saying essentially the president being brought in to be a closer.
That's an awful big motorcade just to go up the street, but, hey, that's how the president rolls. But he is going to meet with the Democrats, trying to get them all to essentially come to an agreement, to try to possibly get the health care legislation passed in the House. A vote expected possibly today, maybe late into the tonight. That could happen maybe even tomorrow.
But the president going, as you see there, in the motorcade, to close the deal.
NGUYEN: When it does, you know we will have it for you right here on CNN.
In the meantime, Ft. Hood is a community in mourning today. Thirteen people were killed and more than two dozen at the military post shooting rampage. Most of the surviving victims, they are in the hospital still at this hour. Even as investigators try to learn more about the alleged gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, by scouring through his apartment. Our Ted Rowlands looks through his background.
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TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there's one thing we know for you are in about Nidal Hasan, it is this -- he spent the days before the shootings saying good-bye. Patricia Villa says she didn't think anything of it when Nidal gave her his furniture, telling her he was going overseas.
PATRICIA VILLA, HASAN'S NEIGHBOR: When he gave me all those things, I said, wow, he should be real, like, into god.
ROWLANDS: Hasan gave several other neighbors a copy of the Koran. Lenna Brown says when she got her book, Hasan said something she'll never forget.
LENNA BROWN, HASAN'S NEIGHBOR: We do things to please god. It's a challenge.
ROWLANDS: Investigators pored over Hasan's apartment for the hours after the rampage, then this morning searched and hauled away a dumpster. They also spent more than four hours interviewing this man. Willie Bell lives next door to Hasan. He allowed Hasan to use his computer from time to time.
Why an Army major with his own computer would need to use a neighbor's is unclear. Bell says investigators took his.
WILLIE BELL, HASAN'S NEIGHBOR: I didn't think he was doing nothing bad. I hope those people don't think, you know, I'm involved with something like that.
ROWLANDS: Born in the United States to Palestinian parents, Hasan grew up in Roanoke, Virginia. He spent the bulk of his military career as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. Friends there say he seemed happy, even if he was having trouble on the job.
DR. ASIF DADRI, MUSLIM COMMUNITY CENTER: I got the impression he was very happy what he was doing, you know. And I hear that he had some problems there. I don't know what kind of problems he had.
ROWLANDS: Hasan received a poor performance review at Walter Reed, according to an Associated Press story quoting an unnamed Army official. In July, he was transferred to Ft. Hood.
Did that transfer trigger something in Hasan? Investigators are keying on two details. When he rented this apartment near Ft. Hood, he paid six months' rent up front, something the manager says no tenant of his has ever done.
The manager also said Hasan insisted that nobody enter his apartment unless he was home.
Also, the only time he's known to have a visitor was the day before the shooting. Witnesses say the visitor was dark skinned, had bushy eyebrows, and dressed in Islamic clothing. JOHN THOMPSON, APARTMENT MANAGER: They went upstairs. I guess they were up there about five minutes, then came back downstairs and left. That's the first time I've ever seen anybody go into his apartment.
ROWLANDS: Tenants say investigators want to know who that visitor was as they try to piece together who Nidal Hasan really is.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Killeen, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We are learning more about the victims of the Ft. Hood massacre. One of them we want the tell you about now is 22-year-old Army Specialist Jason Dean Hunt. He was known as J.D. to his friends. The Oklahoma native joined up in the Army right after graduating high school, served in Iraq during his three and a half years in the Army.
He was also a newlywed. He had just gotten married two months ago.
His sister spoke to CNN's Larry King about her brother last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: You can expect someone who goes in the Army, goes to Iraq, OK, you're hardened for the worst. But you certainly never expect him to die at his base.
LEILA WILLINGHAM, SISTER OF JASON HUNT: I just want to say that, you know, because it didn't happen overseas or it didn't happen in a combat situation doesn't make him any less a hero. Because my brother was the kind of person to jump in front of a bullet for somebody. And I really feel like -- you know, I don't know the details, but I know my brother, and I know he was very brave in this situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Were it not for the quick response of a civilian police officer, the death toll at Ft. Hood might be a whole lot higher. Kimberly Munley is one of two officer who helped take down accused shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. She was shot in both thighs.
Now, Munley also sustained a gunshot wound to her wrist. Her partner, Mark Todd, was there, as well. And he explains how the suspect was subdued.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. MARK TODD, FT. HOOD POLICE DEPT: When I seen him, he was just standing there. When I ordered him to drop his weapon, identify myself. He raised his weapon and fired a couple rounds, and we both took cover. And then he went around one side of the building. And as I started to go after him, the bystanders say no, he came around, he came around. I came around the other side of the building. Then that's when I seen him again. I ordered him to drop his weapon. He raised and fired a few more rounds at me. Then I engaged him. He fell. I went up and secured his weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The shootings at Ft. Hood changed the lives of so many. Tonight, a CNN prime time special continues the search for answers. We'll be talking about the post, the suspect, the wounded. A CNN Special Investigation "Inside the Ft. Hood Shootings," tonight, 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
NGUYEN: Get you the latest on some top stories right now. The House is expected to vote on a historic overhaul of the nation's health care system. But debate and parliamentary maneuvering, well, that could push the vote into Sunday, maybe even Monday. But President Obama is on Capitol Hill today to help Democrats line up those votes.
HOLMES: We are also standing by for a live briefing next hour on the condition of those wounded at Ft. Hood, Texas. Doctors at Scott and White Hospital will speak. Texas Governor Rick Perry is at the hospital now visiting victims. Expected to hear some comments from him later as well.
NGUYEN: Iran has called off a deal to ship nuclear materials out of the country, according to a media report in Iran. Under a plan worked out by the UN, Tehran was supposed to send uranium to some place like Russia to be converted into fuel rods, and the rods would go back to Iran by the end of 2010. The move could have eased concerns that Iran is building a nuclear bomb.
But, again, that deal has been called off.
HOLMES: All right. Let's take you a live picture of a hallway with five guys and a closed door. Now there's a reason we are showing you this. It's important stuff happening at the Capitol. You can't see much of the action in the hallway. But the president, we're told, is at the Capitol now, has just arrived.
He is there, of course, to deal with Democrats, to try to get Democrats to come together on the health care legislation that they are trying to get passed in the House, at least. The president being called the closer in this whole deal. A special Saturday session going on right now, mainly for the Democrats to try to get everyone to coalesce around this plan, and now get the president involved in it.
We could see a vote on legislation finally after all this debate. We could see health care legislation actually voted on in the House sometime today. Our correspondent Brianna Keilar said this could possibly go late into the evening, could possibly see the vote tomorrow as well. But they are working through the weekend.
We are keeping an eye out for the president. When we see him, we'll show it to you. If he happens to have any comments, we'll certainly bring those to you as well. Our Josh Levs is keeping an eye on the Twitter board. Twitter plays a whole role in this thing.
NGUYEN: Even though a closed-door meeting, members of Congress, they are actually making their points heard on Twitter of all places. Josh, what are you seeing?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are a lot fewer truly closed doors in Washington these days, since the advent of Twitter, and since so many lawmakers have gotten excited about it, and have started Twittering away, even through the night.
I've been taking a look at some of the lawmakers and their Twitter feeds. You're seeing some from 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. In fact, TalkingPointsMemo.com, which is a website that tracks politics, they have assembled one place where you can follow Democratic lawmakers, one for GOP.
Let's zoom in here. I'll show you what we got. That's OK. You can keep the video going. This is from TalkingPointsMemo.com. We'll start off with their screen. This is Dems on Twitter. What they've done is they've put together this list that automatically updates, showing Democratic lawmakers' Twitter feeds.
Here's some of the latest. You've got Claire McCaskill right there. She talks about the Republicans, she says, objected to every Democratic statement. It just keeps going. Don't go exactly by the time codes, because, for some reason, the time codes make it look like they're happening an hour from now.
But you can see, even through the night, Jared Polis -- he's one of the lawmakers who is part of CNN.com's Freshman Year series.
Let's jump over to the GOP here. Similar idea. one list from TalkingPointsMemo.com, that tracks the Twitter feeds from lawmakers who are on Capitol Hill taking part in this right now.
You can see Tom Price right there. Some of them are posting links to videos. Others are posting links to updates, of the bills. They're posting their positions./ They're sometimes posting links to GOP.gov, press releases. And they are saying what's happening behind these closed doors, all here on twitter.
Taking Points Memo has done something else too. Democratic insiders and Republican insiders as well. They've put together these lists, not just of lawmakers, but also insiders from each camp who are getting a lot of information directly funneled to them, then Tweeting it out as well.
You can follow all of that on Twitter from Talking Points Memo. We're also posting links for you. I have my graphic here that will show you where we're going to put it up for you. We've got CNN.com/Josh. I'm also posting it at Facebook and Twitter, to my page, which is JoshLevsCNN. You can see, just squint your eyes and walk up to the TV. We're also going to -- just let you know while we're here. CNNpolitics.com throughout the day is following this, as well, guys. The folks at the CNN Political Ticker are really busy updating throughout the day. So we have our own feed, not just the Tweets that we're following as well -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, Josh, we appreciate it. Again, we are watching this, a live picture there on Capitol Hill as the president is going to be speaking to the Democrats, all of them working on a Saturday, all in the name of health care reform.
Want to bring in our Brianna Keilar, who has been covering this story from the very beginning, in fact. She is working on a Saturday, as well. Brianna, the president has been called the closer. He's coming in to speak with House Democrats today. Really, can he make that much of a difference at this hour?
KEILAR: What we've been told, and what I've been told by aides is they're hoping that he can give them a strong vote. Democrats are hopeful that they have enough votes from their own Democrats to move forward and pass this health care reform effort. But they say the more votes they can get, the better.
But there's also an issue kind of at this hour, Betty, just so we're aware of it, and that's the issue of abortion. There are many Democrats who are anti-abortion. And then, of course, there are many, many more Democrats who are for abortion rights. And there's a little bit of a showdown going on right now.
Last night, Democratic leaders struck a deal with some of those anti-abortion Democrats to strengthen the language in this bill to make sure that no federal dollars go to pay for abortions. But some of the -- some of what they struck a deal on, some of the more liberal Democrats say it's over-reaching. They're livid about it. And they're kind of rattling their sabers about not being on board.
So what we're watching is how that's all shaking out, as President Obama is here. We're kind of waiting for really a round of applause once the president goes inside of this room. And that's really -- you know, you want to be a fly on the wall in this room. But we're really just waiting to see if we can even see when things begin, and also what information we can get from people who are inside the room, to tell us what he's saying to them.
HOLMES: All right. We know you are keeping an eye on that. We are keeping a close eye on this video of an empty hall room and a couple double doors. Brianna, we appreciate you. But we're keeping an eye out for the president, essentially, who is on Capitol Hill meeting with Democrats, special Saturday session. Quick break for us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We're going to head to Capitol Hill. GOP leaders, they are getting together on their own as well, while the Democrats try to figure things out on the health care bill. Eric Cantor, Republican.
Let's take a listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-OH), MINORITY WHIP: ...which will put the government between patients and their doctors. The Republican version which won't. There's one version that will impose higher taxes on small businesses, while we're expecting them to create jobs. And there's a Republican version that won't.
There is one version that will be a massive overhaul and remake the health care that we know into a system that we don't. And there's another version that takes a much more reasoned and smart approach to preserving what works in the system, while trying to address what doesn't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All week long, the Republican women have been listening to women all across this country, regarding health care reform. Because in most American families, it is the woman that makes the health care decisions, whether she's a spouse, whether she's the mom, or whether she's a daughter. We spend two out of every three dollars.
Women are also the majority health care providers, the health care professionals in this country; 98 percent of home care aides, 90 percent of nurses and 50 percent of first year medical students are women. And the message we're hearing from women about this health care bill is that we need to slow down and get it right.
Like mom used to say, you rush and you make mistakes. We think Speaker Pelosi is rushing to pass this bill and it is the wrong legislation for women.
The cuts to Medicare are going to hurt women more than men. The cuts just in Medicare Advantage alone, 4.6 million women will lose their health insurance. The restrictions on treatment options are going to disproportionately impact women.
This is the wrong approach. Let's slow down and pass reforms that will actually help our families.
REP. KEVIN BRADY (R), RANKING MINORITY MEMBER: Good morning. Kevin Brady, ranking House member of the Joint Economic Committee. We developed this chart based on Nancy Pelosi's new health care plan. We developed the original chart that showed 31 new federal agencies, commissions and mandates in between you and your doctor.
The new chart shows more than 90 of this new agencies, commissions and agencies. The true number well over 100. We simply ran out of space.
In terms of sheer bureaucracy, if the IRS and Medicare had a baby, it would look like this. And the question is, how is that going to make our health care more affordable? The truth of the matter is, while we've read this bill, and we've identified all of these new pilot programs, new grants, new commissions, new financial entities, and new demonstration projects, all which are inside the boxes tied to the original chart -- the truth is, no one really understand how this health care bill will work, especially the doctors and the patients that are going to have to live under it.
REP. JUDY BIGGERT (R), ILLINOIS: Hello. I'm Judy Biggert from the great state of Illinois, and my phone has been ringing off the hook all week. Starting at 7:30 in the morning -- that means my constituents have been calling at 6:30 in the morning to voice concerns about this bill.
I -- I can't believe that we have gotten this far. What my constituents are saying, we want to keep our health care. And you know, the president promised that. If you like the health care plan you have, you can keep it. And that's not happening.
I had an amendment in one of the committees, Education Labor. It was soundly defeated by every Democrat there. So we're not going to be able to keep our plan, they say. I say that's right. We can't -- we won't be able to do that.
Why are we doing this when we can lower the cost, make it affordable for everybody? We could have accessibility for those that don't have health care now. And we can keep the quality of health care, if we look at the alternative GOP plan.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: The American people want health care reform, but the American people don't want that.
Republicans have been listening to the American people throughout this year. And we've heard the families, small businesses and family farms of this country want to see us take decisive action to lower the cost of health insurance and lower the cost of health care in the long term.
Astoundingly, Democrats are bringing to the bill -- to the floor, a bill today that will not reduce the cost of health insurance. It will grow the size of government.
And now we're going to see what their majority is made of. Particularly we're going to see what those who profess to be conservative Democrats are made of.
In a few moments, I'm going to jump in the car and drive down to the World War II Memorial. There's a group of Hoosiers that are making their way to that memorial as we speak, some of whom are making their first and probably only visit to a memorial that was built in their honor.
I will take all the time they need to shake every hand and thank every hero for what they did for freedom. They risked their lives for freedom. We will find out today if enough conservative Democrats are willing to vote no for freedom.
(INAUDIBLE) REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: Well, there are a lot of members who are having conversations with their friends across the aisle. And I don't -- we'll see what happens later on today.
(INAUDIBLE)
BOEHNER: We are for the Stupak amendment. We believe that taxpayer funding of abortion is wrong. And we'll do everything we can to stop that from happening by passing this amendment.
(INAUDIBLE)
BOEHNER: Not that I'm aware of. Our leadership stands in favor of the Stupak amendment and my leadership colleagues will vote in favor of the amendment.
(INAUDIBLE)
BOEHNER: The American people do not want this. And we are going to do everything we can to make sure this does not happen. We have more common sense ideas that can bring down the cost of health insurance and health care and expand access. It's a step-by-step approach that the American people support.
So as the days goes on, we're going to do everything we can to make sure this does not happen.
(INAUDIBLE)
BOEHNER: We're going to do everything we can to make sure this does not happen. Thanks.
(INAUDIBLE)
BOEHNER: We'll see.
HOLMES: Mr. Boehner, the Minority Leader, up on Capitol Hill. You see it there. We can leave it on that show, if we can, for a second. That is what he is describing, the Pelosi Plan. Republicans getting together, as Democrats are getting together today, a special session of Congress. Democrats trying to push through their version of the health care legislation, a 1,990-page bill that they're calling the Pelosi Plan.
And he's trying to illustrate here with this chart just how complicated it is. You heard several different Republicans get up and rail against it, comparing the Democrats' plan to what they call the Republican plan, which they say is much simpler and will not do what many say the Democrat plan will do, which is essentially make a mess of the health care in this country.
But that is the way he chose today to illustrate the Pelosi plan, a chart full of arrows and bars and boxes and colors that you certainly can't make sense of. But you get the idea. He's making the point there. Again, Fredricka, an interesting day on Capitol Hill. Just the fact that they are in session is interesting enough. But the president is there. Republicans, Democrats are there.
