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Senate Health Care Bill; Mammogram Confusion; Karzai Begins Second Term in Office
Aired November 19, 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: That's what I'm talking about. Good to see you, Fred.
Here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Thursday, November 19th.
Senate Democrats finally wrote out a health care reform bill. Today, wheeling and dealing for the 60 votes it will take to open debate.
Paying for a new American health care system. Some slap a sin tax on sugary sodas.
Congress tracking taxpayer stimulus dollars today. Questions about spending your money in places that don't exist?
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Senate showdown over health care reform. The stage is now set. Well, now that Democrats have unveiled their massive reform bill, the price tag, $848 billion over 10 years. Majority Leader Harry Reid says it covers more Americans in a fiscally responsible way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Ninety-eight percent of the American people, those who have Medicare and will be included in that number, will have health insurance. And we'll make sure that 30 million more Americans who don't have health insurance today will soon have it.
I want to repeat, we not only protect Medicare, we're making it stronger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash live from Capitol Hill.
Dana, great to see you.
OK. We've got a Senate bill, finally. What's in it?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's more than 2,000 pages, so we'll give you just a glimpse of some of the provisions.
First, you said the cost. This is according to the Congressional Budget Office for this bill, which doesn't really kick in until 2014, $848 billion.
It would cover, according to the Congressional Budget Office, 31 million people who are uninsured. However, even by 2019, 24 million people even under this bill would still be uninsured. Many of them would be illegal immigrants.
And most people would have to buy coverage. It would be a mandate for coverage for most people, or they would have to pay a fine.
And when it comes to businesses, there's no actual mandate for coverage. However, if your business has 50 or more employees, you have to offer coverage, for the most part, or, again, pay a fine for an employee who you're not covering -- Tony.
HARRIS: Got you. And Dana, what are Republicans saying about all of this?
BASH: Well, as you can imagine, they are saying that this is incredibly costly, that it will not do what Democrats and even the Congressional Budget Office are suggesting it will do. For example, we've already gotten some talking points and e-mails from Senate Republican leadership aides suggesting that they believe that the real cost of this is $2.5 trillion because of what they claim is Democrats' fuzzy math.
And Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, was on the Senate floor today. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: You see this massive bill to rewrite one-sixth of our economy with stunning unintended consequences for ourselves and for our children and for our grandchildren.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: That pretty much gives you a good glimpse of what their talking points, and certainly what their visual is.
Before, they had the House bill, and now the new prop is to put House bill and Senate bill on top of each other. Four thousand pages. That certainly does give an image of a very, very large piece of legislation. Two of them.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
Dana, a couple of quick ones here. Can the majority leader get the votes to even open debate on this bill?
BASH: That is a question that the Democratic leadership says that they feel cautiously optimistic about. The answer being yes to that question. But I want to put up on the screen three Democrats that we've been talking about.
Oh, sorry. We don't have the pictures, but I'll mention them to you anyway. I'm sure our viewers have heard a lot about these Democrats: Ben Nelson of Nebraska; Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; and Mary Landrieu from Louisiana.
We've been talking about these three Democrats. They met with the Senate majority leader yesterday afternoon. They kind of got a sneak preview of this bill, because all of them have been reluctant to say that they will even give the Democratic leader the votes to start debate.
That vote is likely to happen either tomorrow or probably more likely on Saturday. Our Ted Barrett talked to both Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu, who seemed to indicate that maybe they would be OK with voting for that, at least to start debate. But Blanche Lincoln, she is not saying a word right now. She's got a tough re-election ahead of her next year, and she's really holding her cards close to her vest.
HARRIS: Well, Dana, let's do this -- let's talk more about this next hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash for us.
Dana, thanks.
BASH: Thank you.
HARRIS: We are going to break down the numbers and key components in the Senate health reform bill with Christine Romans, with our CNN Money team. She joins us later this hour.
Let's quickly check the day's other big stories on the CNN wire.
A computer glitch put a real kink in air travel this morning. Flight plans had to be entered into the FAA system manually due to the malfunction. The scope of delays and cancellations isn't clear, but the computer system is now back to normal.
A key ruling in New Orleans could pave the way for thousands of lawsuits related to Hurricane Katrina. A federal judge says Army Corps of Engineers' negligence in maintaining a key shipping channel led to catastrophic flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG P. TAFFARD JR., PRESIDENT, ST. BERNARD PARISH: It's a major, major win, a vindication for St. Bernard Parish and our residents, and so many of the people who for the last 40 years have really fought to make this known, that the MRGO was continuing to be a threat and was going to eventually result in the devastation of St. Bernard Parish. So, we're pleased in that sense, but it's very hard to celebrate that the destruction was something that had to take place to get to this point made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin released a statement saying, "The judge's ruling today validates the feelings and beliefs that many citizens have held for four years."
We will hear from Mayor Nagin next hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The technology is absolutely amazing here. How about this -- we can get you live pictures from 220 miles above Earth.
Look at what you're watching here, two astronauts on a spacewalk right now. They are literally -- and you can see it here -- hooking up spare parts to the International Space Station for use once the shuttle fleet is retired next year. This is the first of three spacewalks for Atlantis.
Live pictures again from 220 miles above Earth.
The unrelenting wave of terror rolled on today in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the gates of a courthouse. At least 19 people were killed. This is the seventh deadly attack in the city in the last two weeks.
Got to tell you, there is still a lot of confusion about when women should get mammograms. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, answers your questions.
And Rob is back in just a minute with travel delays and stormy weather moving into the Northeast.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Do you think insurance companies are now going to say we won't pay for this for 43?
SHERYL CROW, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I think they have a strong ground to say that. And my concern with that is that you have women who don't have the luxury of going in and having a conversation with their doctors. Many women in this country are not insured and they don't have the luxury of setting up an appointment and saying, "Do I get a mammogram or do I not?"
A lot of women, if they get mammograms, will go to a free mammogram clinic, and that is -- we don't want to discourage women getting mammograms just because they can't go and have a conversation with their doctors. And we're talking about tests that were -- they took 1,900 women and decided, over 50, that one woman was diagnosed, and 1,300 women under 49. And what we're talking about here are...
KING: Is not a balanced...
CROW: ... was not a balanced study.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Smart, smart, smart. That is singer, songwriter and breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow voicing one of many concerns women and doctors have over new guidelines for breast cancer screenings.
A government task force recommends women start having mammograms at age 50, not 40, and that the procedures be done every other year instead of yearly. That's prompting, as you can imagine, many questions.
Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, answered some earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Sanjay, the first question comes from Twitter. And here's the question -- "Are the new mammography guidelines a cost-cutting measure?"
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of people have brought this particular issue up, no question about it. And when we ask people on the task force, when we ask the Department of Health and Human Services, they say, no, this wasn't about cost. This was more about looking at the evidence and trying to come up with the best guidelines.
But here's one way to sort of think about it. On average, a mammogram costs somewhere between $100 and $150 and what they say is for women between the ages of 40 and 49, you would have to do 1,900 mammograms to save one life. So if you do the math, quickly which we did, it's around $190,000 spent to save one life.
Now, you know, people will analyze that sort of data and interpret that in all sorts of different ways, but that's sort of what it comes down to.
With regard to insurance coverage, which comes up a lot, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, came out yesterday and said she does not think that this is going to influence policy or insurance coverage for these mammograms in the first place.
CHETRY: Also, Kim writes on our blog, "Does this also mean screening for prostate cancer is not recommended?"
GUPTA: Oh, that's a great question. And you know, for most organizations, including the task force, as well as a lot of other cancer organizations, they do not routinely recommend prostate cancer screening. Here's the difference between the two things, though. With regard to prostate cancer screening, it has not definitively been shown to save lives. With breast cancer screening, it has been shown to save lives. But as far as the task force recommendations go, not enough lives for women between the ages of 40 and 49.
These are sort of apples and oranges as far as what's being recommended. The task force, incidentally, doesn't just do cancer screening recommendations. They also look at things like heart disease, so should people taken aspirin at a certain age. They have all sorts of different recommendations.
ROBERTS: And Sanjay also from the blog, Linda asks today, "I would like to know how many women served on this government panel that came up with the mammogram decision?"
GUPTA: That's a good question, a fair question. It was half. Half the people on the panel were women. Again, a wide sort of breadth of experiences and expertise. No member of the panel, though, was an oncologist, which is another issue that a lot of people brought up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK.
In other health news, swine flu fears prompting Santas to put the H1N1 vaccine at the top of their holiday wish lists. Department store Santas are reportedly lobbying for special priority for the shots. You know store Santas love to give, but they would rather not get the flu in return from runny-nosed, sneezy, wheezy kids.
Bah, humbug.
We are breaking down the health care bill. Just what will the price tag be?
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Look, big promises coming today from Afghanistan's president. Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second term in office. He is pledging to tackle security, corruption and drug trafficking.
CNN's Sara Sidner joining us live from Kabul.
And Sara, stay with me for a second here. President Karzai says he hopes his country will control its own security within five years.
Got to tell you, that sounds like the articulation of a possible end game for Afghanistan for coalition forces. That sounds similar to the Iraq end game surge, and then set a timeline to leave.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it should be said, too, that he says he wishes to have Afghanistan in the hands of Afghans in the next five years, but then there was a caveat there saying that right now, he needs plenty of international help from the international community, and particularly pointed to the U.S., saying that he would like more help from the U.S. in trying to train security forces, to train Afghan security forces so that that might happen.
But again, the word "wishes" was used there. So you can see where this might go. He's not putting himself in a box saying we will, but simply saying we wish to -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes.
And Sara, how is the president's message, his speech today being received by the United States and NATO allies?
SIDNER: Certainly what he said is exactly what the U.S. and NATO allies wanted to hear. He talked about different things, saying, first of all, he wants to create peace in this country. Security- wise, he wants to make it more secure.
And then he touched on the hot-button issues, which you know is corruption. His administration has been mired in corruption for years, and it's been getting worse and worse, and you're hearing more and more stories about corruption within his administration.
He says he will tackle that with an anti-corruption task force, so to speak, and that he will pick ministers who are very, as he put, competent and have expertise. But there are a lot of questions, ,because you can talk and talk and talk and talk and say you're going to do something. Everyone is waiting to see if he puts in concrete measures so that you can actually see this stuff getting done -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right.
Sara Sidner for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Sara, appreciate it. Thank you.
And let's do this -- let's check our top stories now.
It's only about 90 miles south of Key West, but you can't get there from here. At least not now. The House Foreign Affairs Committee is hearing testimony this morning on whether to lift the ban on travel to Cuba.
A Chicago area cemetery where hundreds of graves were dug reopens today. Four former cemetery workers face charges in an alleged scheme to resell burial plots at Burr Cemetery. The historic African- American cemetery has been closed for four months.
We do indeed need change. That is the message today from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He is testifying this morning before a congressional joint economic committee. Geithner says the nation needs comprehensive regulatory reform to stabilize the economy.
Senate Democrats unveil their long-awaited health care reform bill. Now we want to break it down for you.
Joining us to talk about what's in the bill and how much it costs, Christine Romans of our CNN Money team.
Christine, good to see you.
Walk us through, if you would, some of the key components here.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. Big winners, first off, just like in the House bill, big winners, first off, are anyone who doesn't have insurance and has a pre-existing condition. First off.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: That's the biggest winner, really.
There's a public option, but states may opt out. Pre-existing conditions, an insurance company will no longer be able to tell you that they won't cover you.
It expands Medicaid. OK? So, listen up. If you are a family of four and you earn less than $29,000 a year, you will now be covered by Medicaid. So, it expands it up to 133 percent of the poverty line.
Higher Medicare payroll tax on the wealthy. So, if you make $200,000 or more, you're an individual, or $250,000 or more and you're a couple, you're going to see those taxes taken out of your -- your paycheck will go up a little bit.
There will be fines for not buying insurance. No mandate for employers. And illegal immigrants will not be covered. They will not be allowed to go to that health care exchange to buy insurance.
So, those are sort of the key points.
HARRIS: Yes, the big highlights there.
Any other numbers here that we should maybe crunch, break down a bit?
ROMANS: The cost overall is $848 billion over 10 years. It would cut the deficit by $130 billion. And the goal here is insuring an additional 30 million people. Anywhere from 94 percent to 96 percent of American citizens and legal residents of the United States would be covered -- Tony.
HARRIS: Got you. All right.
Now, this is a question we get often. It was voiced a couple times in our meeting this morning. How can a plan that costs $848 billion over 10 years also reduce the deficit?
ROMANS: Because this plan is replacing basically the status quo.
HARRIS: There you go. ROMANS: If it's enacted; right? The status quo is, we are already spending hundreds of billions of dollars of your taxpayer money on health care.
So, for example, the CBO says this is going to cut the growth of Medicare's payment rates. There will be new taxes, excise taxes on those Cadillac plans, those big, expensive corporate insurance plans.
There are going to be new taxes on things like cosmetic surgery, Tony. A five percent tax if you want to get a little nip and tuck. Also, some other things there are going to be taxes on.
So, in the end, they're going to be saving money in some places. They hope that means that they will overall be cutting the deficit a little bit.
HARRIS: Good stuff.
ROMANS: The only real number we know for sure -- the only number I can tell you that is for sure, 100 percent, is that this bill is 2,074 pages long.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: Everything after that is all estimates. You know, health care, economists' estimates, and the CBO estimates.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And folks will remind us quickly that the Clinton health care reform package was over 10,000 pages long, so some might see this as a bit...
ROMANS: Was it really?
HARRIS: Yes, like 13,000 pages or something.
ROMANS: Well, once you put the Senate and the House together, we're already up to 3,000 or 4,000 pages. So, I have no doubt that our lawmakers will be able to pile on a few more thousands pages before it's all said and done.
HARRIS: And that's hefty, heavy lifting.
All right, Christine. Good to see you. See you next hour. Thanks.
ROMANS: Bye, Tony.
HARRIS: And we are not done following the money. Your money spent on stimulus projects in districts that don't exist.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Congress is taking a look at the Fort Hood shooting spree today and how to stop a similar attack from happening again. A live look now at the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Chairman Joe Lieberman is -- that is your ranking member right now, Susan Collins. But the committee is moving ahead with hearings despite President Obama's call for Congress to hold off on its investigation.
According to a senior Pentagon official, Defense Secretary Robert Gates apparently plans a systemwide review of military procedures, particularly how to identify military personnel who may be dealing with mental health issues.
Do you think federal law enforcement agencies or the Army could have headed off the Fort Hood attacks? Sixty-four percent of those asked that question in a new CNN/Opinion Research poll say yes, about a third of those polled say no. There was really no way of stopping the attack based on what they know about it -- or even knew about it.
The people who run Recovery.gov say they're cleaning up their act. The Web site that tracks stimulus spending is riddled with embarrassing errors and phantom congressional districts.
To break this down, Congress is taking a look right now, and CNN's Kate Bolduan is on the story.
Kate, we've got districts that don't exist but projects that do? Kate, what's going on here?
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: That's what I'm talking about. Good to see you, Fred.
Here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Thursday, November 19th.
Senate Democrats finally wrote out a health care reform bill. Today, wheeling and dealing for the 60 votes it will take to open debate.
Paying for a new American health care system. Some slap a sin tax on sugary sodas.
Congress tracking taxpayer stimulus dollars today. Questions about spending your money in places that don't exist?
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Senate showdown over health care reform. The stage is now set. Well, now that Democrats have unveiled their massive reform bill, the price tag, $848 billion over 10 years. Majority Leader Harry Reid says it covers more Americans in a fiscally responsible way. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Ninety-eight percent of the American people, those who have Medicare and will be included in that number, will have health insurance. And we'll make sure that 30 million more Americans who don't have health insurance today will soon have it.
I want to repeat, we not only protect Medicare, we're making it stronger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash live from Capitol Hill.
Dana, great to see you.
OK. We've got a Senate bill, finally. What's in it?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's more than 2,000 pages, so we'll give you just a glimpse of some of the provisions.
First, you said the cost. This is according to the Congressional Budget Office for this bill, which doesn't really kick in until 2014, $848 billion.
It would cover, according to the Congressional Budget Office, 31 million people who are uninsured. However, even by 2019, 24 million people even under this bill would still be uninsured. Many of them would be illegal immigrants.
And most people would have to buy coverage. It would be a mandate for coverage for most people, or they would have to pay a fine.
And when it comes to businesses, there's no actual mandate for coverage. However, if your business has 50 or more employees, you have to offer coverage, for the most part, or, again, pay a fine for an employee who you're not covering -- Tony.
HARRIS: Got you. And Dana, what are Republicans saying about all of this?
BASH: Well, as you can imagine, they are saying that this is incredibly costly, that it will not do what Democrats and even the Congressional Budget Office are suggesting it will do. For example, we've already gotten some talking points and e-mails from Senate Republican leadership aides suggesting that they believe that the real cost of this is $2.5 trillion because of what they claim is Democrats' fuzzy math.
And Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, was on the Senate floor today. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: You see this massive bill to rewrite one-sixth of our economy with stunning unintended consequences for ourselves and for our children and for our grandchildren.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: That pretty much gives you a good glimpse of what their talking points, and certainly what their visual is.
Before, they had the House bill, and now the new prop is to put House bill and Senate bill on top of each other. Four thousand pages. That certainly does give an image of a very, very large piece of legislation. Two of them.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
Dana, a couple of quick ones here. Can the majority leader get the votes to even open debate on this bill?
BASH: That is a question that the Democratic leadership says that they feel cautiously optimistic about. The answer being yes to that question. But I want to put up on the screen three Democrats that we've been talking about.
Oh, sorry. We don't have the pictures, but I'll mention them to you anyway. I'm sure our viewers have heard a lot about these Democrats: Ben Nelson of Nebraska; Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; and Mary Landrieu from Louisiana.
We've been talking about these three Democrats. They met with the Senate majority leader yesterday afternoon. They kind of got a sneak preview of this bill, because all of them have been reluctant to say that they will even give the Democratic leader the votes to start debate.
That vote is likely to happen either tomorrow or probably more likely on Saturday. Our Ted Barrett talked to both Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu, who seemed to indicate that maybe they would be OK with voting for that, at least to start debate. But Blanche Lincoln, she is not saying a word right now. She's got a tough re-election ahead of her next year, and she's really holding her cards close to her vest.
HARRIS: Well, Dana, let's do this -- let's talk more about this next hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash for us.
Dana, thanks.
BASH: Thank you.
HARRIS: We are going to break down the numbers and key components in the Senate health reform bill with Christine Romans, with our CNN Money team. She joins us later this hour.
Let's quickly check the day's other big stories on the CNN wire.
A computer glitch put a real kink in air travel this morning. Flight plans had to be entered into the FAA system manually due to the malfunction. The scope of delays and cancellations isn't clear, but the computer system is now back to normal.
A key ruling in New Orleans could pave the way for thousands of lawsuits related to Hurricane Katrina. A federal judge says Army Corps of Engineers' negligence in maintaining a key shipping channel led to catastrophic flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG P. TAFFARD JR., PRESIDENT, ST. BERNARD PARISH: It's a major, major win, a vindication for St. Bernard Parish and our residents, and so many of the people who for the last 40 years have really fought to make this known, that the MRGO was continuing to be a threat and was going to eventually result in the devastation of St. Bernard Parish. So, we're pleased in that sense, but it's very hard to celebrate that the destruction was something that had to take place to get to this point made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin released a statement saying, "The judge's ruling today validates the feelings and beliefs that many citizens have held for four years."
We will hear from Mayor Nagin next hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The technology is absolutely amazing here. How about this -- we can get you live pictures from 220 miles above Earth.
Look at what you're watching here, two astronauts on a spacewalk right now. They are literally -- and you can see it here -- hooking up spare parts to the International Space Station for use once the shuttle fleet is retired next year. This is the first of three spacewalks for Atlantis.
Live pictures again from 220 miles above Earth.
The unrelenting wave of terror rolled on today in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the gates of a courthouse. At least 19 people were killed. This is the seventh deadly attack in the city in the last two weeks.
Got to tell you, there is still a lot of confusion about when women should get mammograms. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, answers your questions.
And Rob is back in just a minute with travel delays and stormy weather moving into the Northeast. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Do you think insurance companies are now going to say we won't pay for this for 43?
SHERYL CROW, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I think they have a strong ground to say that. And my concern with that is that you have women who don't have the luxury of going in and having a conversation with their doctors. Many women in this country are not insured and they don't have the luxury of setting up an appointment and saying, "Do I get a mammogram or do I not?"
A lot of women, if they get mammograms, will go to a free mammogram clinic, and that is -- we don't want to discourage women getting mammograms just because they can't go and have a conversation with their doctors. And we're talking about tests that were -- they took 1,900 women and decided, over 50, that one woman was diagnosed, and 1,300 women under 49. And what we're talking about here are...
KING: Is not a balanced...
CROW: ... was not a balanced study.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Smart, smart, smart. That is singer, songwriter and breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow voicing one of many concerns women and doctors have over new guidelines for breast cancer screenings.
A government task force recommends women start having mammograms at age 50, not 40, and that the procedures be done every other year instead of yearly. That's prompting, as you can imagine, many questions.
Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, answered some earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Sanjay, the first question comes from Twitter. And here's the question -- "Are the new mammography guidelines a cost-cutting measure?"
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of people have brought this particular issue up, no question about it. And when we ask people on the task force, when we ask the Department of Health and Human Services, they say, no, this wasn't about cost. This was more about looking at the evidence and trying to come up with the best guidelines.
But here's one way to sort of think about it. On average, a mammogram costs somewhere between $100 and $150 and what they say is for women between the ages of 40 and 49, you would have to do 1,900 mammograms to save one life. So if you do the math, quickly which we did, it's around $190,000 spent to save one life.
Now, you know, people will analyze that sort of data and interpret that in all sorts of different ways, but that's sort of what it comes down to.
With regard to insurance coverage, which comes up a lot, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, came out yesterday and said she does not think that this is going to influence policy or insurance coverage for these mammograms in the first place.
CHETRY: Also, Kim writes on our blog, "Does this also mean screening for prostate cancer is not recommended?"
GUPTA: Oh, that's a great question. And you know, for most organizations, including the task force, as well as a lot of other cancer organizations, they do not routinely recommend prostate cancer screening.
Here's the difference between the two things, though. With regard to prostate cancer screening, it has not definitively been shown to save lives. With breast cancer screening, it has been shown to save lives. But as far as the task force recommendations go, not enough lives for women between the ages of 40 and 49.
These are sort of apples and oranges as far as what's being recommended. The task force, incidentally, doesn't just do cancer screening recommendations. They also look at things like heart disease, so should people taken aspirin at a certain age. They have all sorts of different recommendations.
ROBERTS: And Sanjay also from the blog, Linda asks today, "I would like to know how many women served on this government panel that came up with the mammogram decision?"
GUPTA: That's a good question, a fair question. It was half. Half the people on the panel were women. Again, a wide sort of breadth of experiences and expertise. No member of the panel, though, was an oncologist, which is another issue that a lot of people brought up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK.
In other health news, swine flu fears prompting Santas to put the H1N1 vaccine at the top of their holiday wish lists. Department store Santas are reportedly lobbying for special priority for the shots. You know store Santas love to give, but they would rather not get the flu in return from runny-nosed, sneezy, wheezy kids.
Bah, humbug.
We are breaking down the health care bill. Just what will the price tag be?
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Look, big promises coming today from Afghanistan's president. Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second term in office. He is pledging to tackle security, corruption and drug trafficking.
CNN's Sara Sidner joining us live from Kabul.
And Sara, stay with me for a second here. President Karzai says he hopes his country will control its own security within five years.
Got to tell you, that sounds like the articulation of a possible end game for Afghanistan for coalition forces. That sounds similar to the Iraq end game surge, and then set a timeline to leave.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it should be said, too, that he says he wishes to have Afghanistan in the hands of Afghans in the next five years, but then there was a caveat there saying that right now, he needs plenty of international help from the international community, and particularly pointed to the U.S., saying that he would like more help from the U.S. in trying to train security forces, to train Afghan security forces so that that might happen.
But again, the word "wishes" was used there. So you can see where this might go. He's not putting himself in a box saying we will, but simply saying we wish to -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes.
And Sara, how is the president's message, his speech today being received by the United States and NATO allies?
SIDNER: Certainly what he said is exactly what the U.S. and NATO allies wanted to hear. He talked about different things, saying, first of all, he wants to create peace in this country. Security- wise, he wants to make it more secure.
And then he touched on the hot-button issues, which you know is corruption. His administration has been mired in corruption for years, and it's been getting worse and worse, and you're hearing more and more stories about corruption within his administration.
He says he will tackle that with an anti-corruption task force, so to speak, and that he will pick ministers who are very, as he put, competent and have expertise. But there are a lot of questions, ,because you can talk and talk and talk and talk and say you're going to do something. Everyone is waiting to see if he puts in concrete measures so that you can actually see this stuff getting done -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right.
Sara Sidner for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Sara, appreciate it. Thank you.
And let's do this -- let's check our top stories now.
It's only about 90 miles south of Key West, but you can't get there from here. At least not now. The House Foreign Affairs Committee is hearing testimony this morning on whether to lift the ban on travel to Cuba.
A Chicago area cemetery where hundreds of graves were dug reopens today. Four former cemetery workers face charges in an alleged scheme to resell burial plots at Burr Cemetery. The historic African- American cemetery has been closed for four months.
We do indeed need change. That is the message today from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He is testifying this morning before a congressional joint economic committee. Geithner says the nation needs comprehensive regulatory reform to stabilize the economy.
Senate Democrats unveil their long-awaited health care reform bill. Now we want to break it down for you.
Joining us to talk about what's in the bill and how much it costs, Christine Romans of our CNN Money team.
Christine, good to see you.
Walk us through, if you would, some of the key components here.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. Big winners, first off, just like in the House bill, big winners, first off, are anyone who doesn't have insurance and has a pre-existing condition. First off.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: That's the biggest winner, really.
There's a public option, but states may opt out. Pre-existing conditions, an insurance company will no longer be able to tell you that they won't cover you.
It expands Medicaid. OK? So, listen up. If you are a family of four and you earn less than $29,000 a year, you will now be covered by Medicaid. So, it expands it up to 133 percent of the poverty line.
Higher Medicare payroll tax on the wealthy. So, if you make $200,000 or more, you're an individual, or $250,000 or more and you're a couple, you're going to see those taxes taken out of your -- your paycheck will go up a little bit.
There will be fines for not buying insurance. No mandate for employers. And illegal immigrants will not be covered. They will not be allowed to go to that health care exchange to buy insurance.
So, those are sort of the key points.
HARRIS: Yes, the big highlights there.
Any other numbers here that we should maybe crunch, break down a bit?
ROMANS: The cost overall is $848 billion over 10 years. It would cut the deficit by $130 billion. And the goal here is insuring an additional 30 million people. Anywhere from 94 percent to 96 percent of American citizens and legal residents of the United States would be covered -- Tony.
HARRIS: Got you. All right.
Now, this is a question we get often. It was voiced a couple times in our meeting this morning. How can a plan that costs $848 billion over 10 years also reduce the deficit?
ROMANS: Because this plan is replacing basically the status quo.
HARRIS: There you go.
ROMANS: If it's enacted; right? The status quo is, we are already spending hundreds of billions of dollars of your taxpayer money on health care.
So, for example, the CBO says this is going to cut the growth of Medicare's payment rates. There will be new taxes, excise taxes on those Cadillac plans, those big, expensive corporate insurance plans.
There are going to be new taxes on things like cosmetic surgery, Tony. A five percent tax if you want to get a little nip and tuck. Also, some other things there are going to be taxes on.
So, in the end, they're going to be saving money in some places. They hope that means that they will overall be cutting the deficit a little bit.
HARRIS: Good stuff.
ROMANS: The only real number we know for sure -- the only number I can tell you that is for sure, 100 percent, is that this bill is 2,074 pages long.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: Everything after that is all estimates. You know, health care, economists' estimates, and the CBO estimates.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And folks will remind us quickly that the Clinton health care reform package was over 10,000 pages long, so some might see this as a bit... ROMANS: Was it really?
HARRIS: Yes, like 13,000 pages or something.
ROMANS: Well, once you put the Senate and the House together, we're already up to 3,000 or 4,000 pages. So, I have no doubt that our lawmakers will be able to pile on a few more thousands pages before it's all said and done.
HARRIS: And that's hefty, heavy lifting.
All right, Christine. Good to see you. See you next hour. Thanks.
ROMANS: Bye, Tony.
HARRIS: And we are not done following the money. Your money spent on stimulus projects in districts that don't exist.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Congress is taking a look at the Fort Hood shooting spree today and how to stop a similar attack from happening again.
A live look now at the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Chairman Joe Lieberman is -- that is your ranking member right now, Susan Collins. But the committee is moving ahead with hearings despite President Obama's call for Congress to hold off on its investigation.
According to a senior Pentagon official, Defense Secretary Robert Gates apparently plans a systemwide review of military procedures, particularly how to identify military personnel who may be dealing with mental health issues.
Do you think federal law enforcement agencies or the Army could have headed off the Fort Hood attacks? Sixty-four percent of those asked that question in a new CNN/Opinion Research poll say yes, about a third of those polled say no. There was really no way of stopping the attack based on what they know about it -- or even knew about it.
The people who run Recovery.gov say they're cleaning up their act. The Web site that tracks stimulus spending is riddled with embarrassing errors and phantom congressional districts.
To break this down, Congress is taking a look right now, and CNN's Kate Bolduan is on the story.
Kate, we've got districts that don't exist but projects that do? Kate, what's going on here?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that's a question that many are asking and they're talking about on Capitol Hill today, Tony.
This going on right now is the fourth in a series of House hearings. And I think you're looking at live pictures right there. This is a House hearing aimed at tracking the stimulus. Since the $787 billion program took effect back in February, nine months ago.
Lawmakers are asking simply, how well is the recovery act working? It's becoming very clear that it's not such an easy answer. Recent reports as you talk about of stimulus jobs being created in Congressional districts that don't even exist have fueled ongoing concerns over the reliability of stimulus data reported back to the federal government and reported by the federal government.
Listen here to California republican Darrell Issa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: The whole jobs saved created matrix is not only troubled, it is entirely deceitful. No government agency, private sector group or research economics has any idea what the reliability calculation track for these numbers would be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Now, here are some of the numbers that we're really talking about today.
According to recovery.gov, more than 640,000 jobs have been created or saved so far. But a new report by the Government Accountability Office say there are serious concerns with that reporting. The GAO finds more than 58,000 of that together jobs number comes from projects where no money has yet been spent. Additionally, $965 million has been spent on projects that have reported zero jobs created or saved, Tony. So, really there's a lot of concern over the quality of the data at this point.
HARRIS: All right, so I got a couple questions here. So checks are going out, and are these checks going out for projects to organizations doing real work or is this money that's just disappearing?
BOLDUAN: It's a couple things. I would say they definitely and they've already acknowledged in the hearing that's going on today, everyone involved says that the money is going out and there are -- appropriately in many cases -- and jobs are being created.
One of the questions is how many. And that's one of the standards that this administration has set, is they have a bar of being able to show how many jobs are created. Is the money going into thin air? They would say no, but that's what audits and IGs, that's what's their jobs are about, to make sure the money is going out appropriately. And that's an open ended question that they say they are investigating.
In terms of the Congressional districts, they say the money went to real people and organizations, but this reporting back is largely on the part of the people who receive the money. So they evidently didn't know what Congressional district they lived in. They put in a number of a congressional district that didn't exist and that's part of this transparency. Earl Devaney, the chairman of this board of recovery.gov, he says he knew there were going to be problems and he said it all along. They're putting all that information on the website and then we work it out as we go.
HARRIS: That sounds like a problem, this idea of I am in a district I don't really know and I'm putting down the wrong district, that sounds like a problem that may have been going on forever, but something it's certainly something that should be corrected.
So when will these problems be fixed on the website?
BOLDUAN: The Congressional district issue of these non-existing Congressional districts, recovery.gov said they have corrected that issue. That that is no longer -- they've gone back, they've fixed it and taken it so the zip code coordinates with the Congressional district. I know it's technical, but they say they've fixed it. They did indeed fix it.
But the big question of the reliability of the data is something that we're going to see ongoing and you can see it's now fueling some partisan fires here saying that now calling into question if one bit of data is wrong, some people say, it calls into question the reliability of the goal and it undermines the goal of being transparent and accountable. But they're working it out as they go, they say.
HARRIS: We may be learning some things through this system that we've needed to know for a long time.
Kate, good to see you. Thank you.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: President Obama is headed back from his eight-day trip to Asia. His last stop was Seoul, South Korea, for talks with that country's president and a thank you speech to U.S. troops.
White House correspondent Dan Lothian looks at what was and wasn't accomplished during the Asia trip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president didn't leave Asia with a lot of agreements, but Senior Adviser David Axelrod says they never expected a ticker tape parade and expectations were not set very high. But he believes the president's trip was a success, because they were able to move dialogue forward on a number of key issues.
(voice-over): Feeling good about his extended trip to Asia...
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Feels great. We had a wonderful time.
LOTHIAN: ... President Obama saluted about 1,500 of the U.S. troops based in South Korea.
OBAMA: We thank you for your service, we honor you for your sacrifices, and just as you fulfilled your responsibilities to your nations, your nation will fulfill its responsibilities to you.
LOTHIAN: But his upbeat message doesn't change the tough reality of nagging global challenges like the nuclear ambitions of South Korea's neighbor to the north and Iran, which continues to resist international pressure.
OBAMA: They have been unable to get to yes. And so as a consequence, we have begun discussions with our international partners about the importance of having consequences.
LOTHIAN: The president gave no specifics on potential sanctions that he says will be developed over the next several weeks and while he appeared frustrated by North Korea's cat-and-mouse game, there was a shade of optimism as Mr. Obama talked about the Ambassador Stephen Bosworth's visit next month to hold direct talks with the north.
OBAMA: The door is open to resolving these issues peacefully.
LOTHIAN: The Asia tour also took the president to Japan, Singapore and China, a heavy schedule of meeting on climate change, the economy, trade. But a few side trips to play tourist.
OBAMA: It's beautiful. What a magnificent place to visit.
LOTHIAN (on camera): As President Obama returns to business in Washington, a climate change agreement remains elusive and this new deeper friendship is still complicated. For example, China is emerging as a key partner but has a ways to go on human rights. One good sign, say White House aides, President Hu accepted an invitation to visit Washington sometime next year.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Seoul, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Saving $1 billion in electricity, California makes the move for green TVs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK, look, you got to play to win. Although, I'm not really sure what you win. But every Thursday, CNN Challenge comes out with the new questions for the week and today, we're focusing on health care. So take a look at the question.
Why did the Republican National Committee instruct its insurance company to change the committee's health insurance policy?
A, it provided funds for abortions; B, it excluded preexisting conditions; C, It didn't cover seasonal flu shots; D, it didn't cover same-sex partners.
Are you ready for the answer? Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it.
The answer is A, it provided funds for abortions. Yes. Do you want to play? Just go to CNNChallenge.com and take this week's full quiz.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Top stories now. Three of five teenagers accused of pouring alcohol over another teen last month and setting him on fire are being arraigned on charges of attempted murder. The three are being charged as adults.
Bringing in more shovels, Cleveland, Ohio police have again searched the property of where the bodies of ten women and the skull of an eleventh woman were found. They didn't find anything in the latest search. Convicted sex offender Anthony Sowell faces five murder charges so far.
A Louisiana school teacher on trial for what police say happened after she switched checkout lines at a Missouri Wal-Mart. There are a lot of angles to this story, CNN's Gary Tuchman sorts them out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some say it's a case of racial prejudice and degradation, others say it's the case of a rude, profane and violent women. Fourteen jurors, 12 Caucasians and two African- Americas -- ultimately there will be 12 jurors, but two are alternates, they won't know it till it's time for the jury deliberations -- they'll will decide what's what.
The case involves a 24-year-old Heather Ellis, she used to live here, now lives in Louisiana. Says she was in a Wal-Mart three years ago, her 15-year-old cousin was in one line and she was in the other. Her cousin's line was moving faster, says she got into the line and when she got into that line, people started screaming and yelling at her, being profane to her. Says the woman behind her elbowed her. Ultimately, there was a lot of arguing. She said police arrested her for disturbing the peace. She was then brought outside and she says was assaulted by the cop. And she says one cops said to her, quote, "go back to the ghetto."
Very different story from the prosecution. A customer testified and more customers, employees and police are expected to testify, that it was completely the opposite. That she cut into line, that she was profane. One of the customers testifying was behind her in the line, was actually in front of her, she says, but says that Heather Ellis cut in front of her. And this woman says that Heather Ellis said to her, quote, "I will kick your blanking blank."
There was a lot of profanity.
We talked to manager of the store that night who is supposed to testify later in the trial, but talked to us and said that when she went to diffuse the situation, she was called a, quote, "stupid, uneducated Wal-Mart employee" by Heather Ellis. She then said that Heather Ellis threw the F-bomb around. Things got very noisy and profane.
Ultimately, police say she went outside, she kicked one cop, according to police. She also hit another one in the lip, according to police. And she apparently went into a tirade when she was arrested.
Now, there is surveillance tape of the incident inside and outside of Wal-Mart. We haven't seen it yet. It will be played in court. But we're told by both sides, it doesn't show her hitting the cops or cops hitting her.
Now Heather Ellis has not talked to reporters until a few hours ago. She talked to us, although her comments were limited.
HEATHER ELLIS, DEFENDANT: I'm not at liberty to talk.
TUCHMAN: Could you tell us your feelings about the trial starting and just a general statement like that?
ELLIS: I can't. I've been instructed not to speak.
TUCHMAN: Now, here's one of the fascinating facts about the story. It happened three years ago, two years ago, she was offered a plea bargain. The state said, listen, you plead guilty, you won't go to jail, you'll just get probation. But she and her family did not accept it. They said she's innocent, they will continue to fight.
REV. NATHANIEL ELLIS, HEATHER ELLIS' FATHER: Heather is innocent and therefore we shall win.
TUCHMAN: Her father, who is a pastor at a local church, says this is a diabolical plot to ruin her life.
N. ELLIS: If my daughter was guilty, I would be the first one to tell her sign the plea bargain. But because I know she's not, she's standing for the truth and I will stand with her and before we take it back, the Bible that I preached over 33 years, I will eat it without no grease on it.
TUCHMAN: Testimony in this case started Wednesday afternoon. It could go to the jury as early as Thursday afternoon.
This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, Kenneth, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Let's take a little look at some business news here. California once again making real waves. It's the first state to pass new energy efficiency laws for your TV. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange right there on the floor of the stock exchange where all the energy is with details.
And Susan, you know, the potential here is for some pretty substantial energy savings.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No question about it. You might not have to buy a new TV, but for most of the men in America, at least the men I know, they never need an excuse to buy a new, fancier, flat screen, more LCD action...
HARRIS: Bigger.
LISOVICZ: Yes, Tony. And it could boost the economy, too.
But yes, TVs are going green in California and we're not talking color bars. Under California's new rules, TVs must use 33 percent less energy within two years; they must use 50 percent less energy within two years of that. This applies to any TVs smaller than 58 inches. It will certainly cut down on your electricity bills.
The fact is, is that many of these new fangled TVs, these plasmas and the LCDs, use a whole lot more energy. In fact, one study at UC- Berkeley says that this decade, that the sale of all these flat panels has more than tripled energy consumption just for that arena, for TVs in California. And that's just huge. That's wasteful. And that's why you see the most populous state attacking that problem -- Tony.
HARRIS: My understanding is when you turn them off, they're never really off so they're still draining electricity.
LISOVICZ: Yes, that's the phantom energy and that's also an issue.
HARRIS: So are the new regulations something, Susan, that could spread beyond California?
LISOVICZ: Well, we've seen it happen a number of times before. California is very influential. It's been a pioneer. All sorts of things, whether it's the automotive industry, whether it's appliances in general, and it typically catches on.
One of the reasons why, sometimes maybe the auto industry may not like it, but the bottom line is manufacturers don't want a crazy quilt work patch of regulations. They want a standard, and that is often times what happens. And the fact is, everyone wants to save on their energy, everybody wants to cut down on emissions and that's one of the things happening here. The FTC, by the way, is set to act on TV efficiency in the next few years.
And just one last -- one last little factoid here for you. The total number of TVs in the U.S. consume enough electricity each year to power all of the households in New York state for a year. That's a lot of TVs.
We're seeing a lot of energy on the downside on Wall Street quickly the Dow seeing triple digit declines, Nasdaq as well. We're seeing the dollar gaining strength, commodities are under pressure, and so you're seeing stocks as well translate there.
HARRIS: Susan, appreciate it. See you next hour. Only a handful of homeowners are receiving permanent loan modifications under the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention plan. Read about it at CNNmoney.com.
For some of you, it is lunchtime. Having a soda with your sandwich and chips. Well, the food and beverage industry is paying millions of dollars to make sure you don't pay more for that sugary drink.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A secret kept by a platoon of soldiers until one finally came forward. Four Iraqi detainees murdered at a Baghdad canal by three U.S. Army sergeants. In an exclusive investigation tonight on "AC360," the soldier talked about why he initially kept that secret.
Special Investigations Unit junior correspondent Abbie Boudreau with a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Former Army Sergeant Jeff Cunningham was at the canal when the Iraqis were murdered, but he didn't reveal what happened until nine months later. I asked him why he waited so long to break his silence.
BOUDREAU (on camera): Why didn't you report it right away?
JESS CUNNINGHAM, FMR. U.S. ARMY SERGEANT: Fear.
BOUDREAU: Fear of what?
CUNNINGHAM: Retaliation. Fear of being alone. Fear of being the only one that had a problem with it. Fear of so many things could have happened to me.
I don't really care what other people think about me. I don't worry. I'm not going to lose any sleep. I did the right thing. I did the right thing that day.
BOUDREAU: Sergeant Cunningham talks about breaking the band of brotherhood tonight on "AC 360." We've also obtained 23.5 hours of Army interrogation tapes in which you'll hear one of the soldiers confess to the crime.
Our investigation, "KILLINGS AT THE CANAL: THE ARMY TAPES," is tonight on "AC 360."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Now to Afghanistan. The president continues to listen to advisers and ambassadors about troop levels there. We are listening to you.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) CALLER: Hi, this is Dee Dee from Boston. I really think that the president needs to consider an exit strategy in anything that we do next, whether we send more troops or not, because we need to decide when we're going to get out of there and under what conditions.
CALLER: I'm Lisa from Sarasota, Florida. Well, I think President Obama should keep -- bring 40,000 troops into Afghanistan, because they'll help us beat the terrorists, and that's the only way to do it. And I think that's the only way we can do it.
CALLER: We should get out of Afghanistan, because we're asking ourselves at this point why we're there and what our strategy is. If we're asking ourselves that question after eight years, it's clear that we don't know the answer. And it's clear, then, that we're putting our troops at harm for no valid reason. We owe them better than that. We should get out. We should put our own interests first.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HARRIS: Boy, I got to tell you in all honesty, you guys have been terrific in phoning in your responses and we're starting to get more and more iReports on this, too. You can still voice your comments, just call us. There's the number, 1-877-742-5760. Let us know what you think the U.S. should do next in Afghanistan.
And here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Laying blame for Katrina's flooding. A federal court said the Army Corps of Engineers failed to do its job. We will talk to a plaintiff who lost almost everything in the flooding.
Also, if you depend on COBRA insurance coverage, get ready for change. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis talks us through those changes and what you can do to deal with them.
That and more in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Got a question for you -- does racism play a role in criticism of the president? It is a question that came up often during pretty raucous town hall meetings back in august? And it is still an unresolved question in many people's minds. It's the topic of my "Class in Session" series this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are examples of people behaving towards this president in ways that are unconscionable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you not see the protests during George W. Bush? And he was a white man and there were some violent protests against George W. Bush.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You can hear the rest of this vibrant, hot debate from this smart group of students at Georgia State. Tune in for my "Class in Session" series on racism and the president tomorrow, noon Eastern, 9:00 Pacific.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Paying for health care reform by taxing soft drinks. No one is formally proposing it, so why is the food and beverage industry spending millions fighting it?
Louise Schiavone reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirsty, have a soda. That's what your brain is telling you says former Food and Drug Commissioner David Kessler.
DAVID KESSLER, COMMISSIONER, FDA: The fact is, our brains, not only our brains but our children's brains, are being hijacked. Our behavior is becoming conditioned and driven by all the fat, sugar, and salt, that's been put on every corner and made available 24/7 by the food industry.
SCHIAVONE: And that's why there are growing calls for taxation on foods that lead to obesity starting with sweet drinks. There's currently no such provision in the House and Senate health care reform bills.
And at Yale University, Kelly Brownell says 33 states tax soft drinks with little impact on consumption. He recommends a federal tax on sugar-sweetened drinks of a penny an ounce to deliver $15 billion in the first year alone, which he says should be targeted to health programs.
KELLY BROWNELL, YALE UNIVERSITY RUDD CENTER: If there's any evidence to suggest that a tax would work, it's how hard the soft drink industry is fighting this. They're lobbying extremely hard.
SCHIAVONE: The food and beverage industry has spent $26.4 million on lobbying for the first three quarters of this year; the figures from the Center for Responsive Politics. It's a significant increase from the roughly $21 million in lobbying dollars spent last year and about $15 million spent in 2007.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS, AMERICANS AGAINST FOOD TAXES ADVERTISEMENT: And now we're hearing about a new tax on juice drinks and sodas. It's a tax that hurts families that can least afford it, and it comes at the worst possible time.
SCHIAVONE: This ad comes from a coalition of beverage, food, and agricultural industries, among others, who have tried to get ahead of the conversation before it becomes policy.
SUSAN NEELY, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN BEVERAGE ASSOCIATION: And people don't want to pay one penny more on anything right now, particularly what they put in their grocery carts, so we're for solutions that will really work.
SCHIAVONE: People who care about their health, says the coalition should understand that calories consumed and calories burned in exercise need to cancel each other out.
(on camera): It's a touchy subject, and although President Obama told one interviewer earlier this year that a sin tax on soda should be explored, the White House says it is not a notion the administration is currently pursuing.
Louise Schiavone for CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
