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Campbell Brown
Health Care Final Showdown; Child's Play in Control Tower
Aired March 03, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: CNN Primetime begins right now.
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everybody. President Obama says the time for talk is over. He wants an up or down vote on health care reform, and he wants it soon.
That story topping "The Mash-Up" tonight. We are watching it all so you don't have to.
Republicans calling it a partisan scheme, but President Obama today gave the green light to passing health care reform with a purely party line vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every argument has been made. Everything there is to say about health care has been said. And just about everybody has said it.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The president said it deserves a fair up or down majority vote, and if Republican lawmakers don't like the bill, the president says they should vote no, but not hold up a vote.
JACK TAPPER, ABC NEWS: Planked by medical professionals in TV- friendly hospital clothes, the president said the legislation will cover the uninsured, bring down health care costs, and end the worst practices of insurance companies.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This isn't the first time Mr. Obama has tried to end the debate on health care.
OBAMA: I'm not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But Republicans say Democrats are digging their own political grave if they pass a bill that raises taxes, cuts Medicare and could add to the crushing national debt.
SEN. MITCH MCCONELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Every election in America this fall will be a referendum on this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: We're going to have a whole lot more on the Republican strategy. Tonight Senator John Thune is joining me in just a little bit.
On Capitol Hill, a major shake-up in the House. Charlie Rangel is temporarily giving up his leadership of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. The congressman now the target of an array of ethics inquiries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The House Ethics Committee said that Rangel broke the gift rule by going on a trip that was paid for, in part, by a corporate sponsor. He went to Antigua in 2007, to St. Maarten in 2008 for a business summit.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The Ethics Committee is still investigating allegations against Chairman Rangel. Like his failure to report income and pay taxes on a villa in the Dominican Republic.
KEILAR: And this is actually a photo -- a really unflattering photo at that -- of him that was then there in Punta Cana.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: His use of not one but four rent- controlled apartments in Harlem and his failure to report more than half a million in assets.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But Republicans are not satisfied.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: There is nothing in the rules of the House that refers to temporarily stepping aside. Either you're the chairman or you're not.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS "WORLD NEWS": What does this mean? It means a lot. That is the tax rating committee of the House. Health care goes through that committee. He's a 40-year veteran, powerful member of the House, and this is a real blow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Now Rangel says he is stepping aside so that he doesn't become an election year albatross for his fellow Democrats.
In Iraq, the deadliest day in more than a month. A suicide bomber struck three times in the city of Baqubah. This as the country prepares for elections this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Three blasts triggered by three suicide bombers shattered an Iraqi city today. They targeted a government office building, a political headquarters and a hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Then authorities say a third bomber rode in an ambulance to the hospital, and waited until he was surrounded by the wounded before blowing himself up.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, NBC NEWS: In all, more than 30 dead, dozens more injured, all days before the national elections in Iraq this Sunday. ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are groups currently who are not a part of the political process that have already said that if the government that emerges is more sectarian than this one there will be more violence.
And that will have a direct impact on whether or not America can draw down to the 50,000 troops that it wants to see here by the end of August.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Early voting has already begun there for members of Iraq's security forces and medical workers and absentee voters.
Tonight the FAA is investigating what seems to be a case of take- your-child-to-workday getting out of hand. A veteran air traffic controller at New York's JFK airport not only brought his young son into the tower, but allowed him to clear jets for takeoff. And not just once.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, CNN has learned this happened not once but twice. The same veteran air traffic controller, according to the FAA, brought his son to the tower one evening and another child the very next day.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Jet Blue 57 contact New York departure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jet Blue 57, thank you, good day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the next generation of air traffic controllers going here.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Contact departure, adios, amigo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adios, amigo. Over to departure. Jet Blue 195.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: While the pilot might have been amused, the FAA clearly is not. In a statement, it said, "Pending our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic. This behavior is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees."
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The transportation secretary called the incident outrageous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This, in my opinion, is just a lack of common sense and total disregard for the safety of the people on the airplane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: We're going to have a whole lot more on this story coming later in the hour as well.
Onto late-night news where it is deja vu all over again with Jay Leno and David Letterman going head to head. But the ying and yang of late night did have something in common.
Tuesday they each had Republican luminaries in their guest chairs. Leno welcomed Sarah Palin while Letterman sat done with Mitt Romney. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": I'm going to ask you about the whole writing on your hand thing. How did you feel when you get busted?
SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Yes.
LENO: That was pretty funny.
PALIN: Yes, the poor boy's version of the teleprompter.
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: You're coming back from the Vancouver Olympics and a guy beat you up on the plane to it. Do I have this right?
MITT ROMNEY, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: He became somewhat agitated, and they removed him from the airplane. And he didn't like that, by the way, and gave me a good swat, and he broke my hair.
LENO: Do you think you'll ever give up politics to do a talk show? That seems to be the thing -- you're going to move in to the talk show now (ph)?
PALIN: I hear once in a while this comes open.
LENO: Really? Well, it does. It does come open once in a while.
LETTERMAN: And what about that Sarah Palin. She's not really to be president, is she?
ROMNEY: She's terrific. She really is.
LETTERMAN: She's terrific?
ROMNEY: She's got energy. She's got energy, passion -- and by the way, you know, be careful what you say about her, by the way. I mean --
LETTERMAN: I've had my --
ROMNEY: No, she --
(LAUGHTER)
PALIN: The truth is so I'm glad that I'm not vice president. I'm glad because I would not know what to do with all that free time.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Leno does seem to have picked up where he left off, solidly beating Letterman in the ratings.
And that brings us to "The Punch Line" which we will award to Letterman tonight. Here he is cracking wise on President Obama's recent physical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETTERMAN: But Obama's physical turned out great. Doctors said -- a couple of things, try to avoid cigarettes. He's still trying to quit the cigarettes because, as you know, they're deadly, they're bad for you. He said cut out the cigarettes. He said also try to stay out of Toyotas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: David Letterman, everybody. That is "The Mash-Up."
Republicans are blasting President Obama's demand for an immediate vote on health care. One GOP senator here to tell me why when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight what could be the final showdown between the White House and Republicans over health care is on. President Obama's new message that the talking is now over.
Today he demanded a straight up-or-down vote in Congress on his version of the reform bill and he wants it ASAP, rejecting GOP calls to start from scratch. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The American people want to know if it's still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future. They are waiting for us to act. They're waiting for us to lead. And as long as I hold this office, I intend to provide that leadership.
I do not know how this plays politically, but I know it's right. And so I ask Congress to finish its work, and I look forward to signing this reform into law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: There is outrage tonight among Republicans, including Senator John Thune of South Dakota. Some are calling the president's reconciliation move a partisan scheme that sends Democrats run Congress -- I asked him if the president's move really is all that radical. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: Reconciliation has been used in the past. This isn't a new thing. Democrats have used it. Republicans have used it. However using it in the context of trying to restructure 1/6 of the American economy without any bipartisan support is pretty unprecedented.
If you look at any time in the past, whether it's Medicare or welfare reform, or even the tax cuts in 2001, there was bipartisan support for that. This is really pretty unprecedented.
BROWN: But you did say this has been used before, but you implied that this is somehow different. It has been used on major legislation, on welfare reform, on the Bush tax cuts. And Associated Press is reporting that the Republicans have actually used the tactic far more frequently than Democrats.
The Bush tax cuts, obviously, being a prime example. So don't -- I mean I hear your argument, but it sounds a little hypocritical.
THUNE: Well, I don't think it is. I think what -- with the tax cuts, of course, that is what reconciliation was designed for. Reconciliation, I think, since 1980 -- I've seen the numbers, it's been used something like 19 times, and yes, Republicans have used it as much or more than Democrats.
But generally to do something that reconciles taxes, and revenues and spending, or in the case of welfare reform when you had brought bipartisan support.
I guess my point is, Campbell, that major social policy change, whether it's Medicare, Social Security, over the years -- civil rights for that matter -- has been done with broad, bipartisan support, and what you're getting here is one party saying we're are going to go it alone.
We are not going to get buy-in from Republicans. That has -- that's been the case since the beginning of this. If the president had wanted a bipartisan product a year ago he should have come to Republicans in Congress and said what can we do to find common ground.
BROWN: But he --
THUNE: This is a partisan product and now they're going to try and pass it through a partisan process.
BROWN: Well, the president, though, has said today, in fact, that he incorporated Republican ideas from last week's summit on malpractice reform, for example, on curbing waste. Those are certainly themes that Republicans have hit again and again.
Do you give him any credit there?
THUNE: Well, what he's saying is I want you -- I'm going to take a few things, a few other crumbs of thing that you have proposed and add it on to my really bad bill. The basic contours of this bill have not changed. The core elements and the core features are the same.
It has massive tax increases, massive cuts to Medicare, and, for most Americans, higher premiums. That hasn't changed. And so now saying well, we'll throw in a few things in that Republicans have proposed to make it a little bit less bad just doesn't satisfy those of us who see this as a dramatic expansion of government in Washington, D.C. with higher taxes, Medicare cuts and premium increases for more Americans.
BROWN: But --
THUNE: So --
BROWN: I guess the bottom line, though, I think why it just sounds like it's falling on deaf ears, I guess, your complaints a little bit, because he is the president and Democrats do have a majority, and so, you know, aren't you -- sort of, in a sense, lucky to get anything you want in this bill? And shouldn't you be a little bit grateful that he's at least listening and trying to put some of your ideas in?
THUNE: Well -- and if you look at what he's trying to put in, it's window dressing. This proposal on medical malpractice reform is meaningless. I mean it doesn't do anything.
BROWN: But I guess what I'm getting at, though, is would it be any different --
THUNE: OK.
BROWN: -- if it was Republican president and Republicans controlling Congress? I mean let's be honest about how Washington works and how Congress works, that when you're in the majority --
THUNE: Well --
BROWN: You have the power to do these things and generally you do take advantage of that majority.
THUNE: Well -- and they have the majority and they won those majorities fairly and squarely, but there have been elections since they won that majority and in every case it was about this health care reform bill. And the American people said we don't want this. We believe that the American people have rejected this.
BROWN: Senator Thune, it is not a done deal yet. How do you honestly, realistically, see this playing out?
THUNE: Well, I think that there -- there is a legitimate chance that in the House of Representatives where this will have to now originate, because they're going to take the Senate bill up in the House, marry it up with a reconciliation vehicle that addresses the concerns that some of the House Democrats have, and pass both.
Send the reconciliation bill back to the Senate where they will be able to try and pass it with 51 points. So -- and there will be points of order that will lie against that in the Senate.
So it's not a done deal. And we're not conceding that at all. We believe that the American people are going to weigh in again on this. And we hope that there are reasonable Democrats in the House and in the Senate who will reject the way this is being done, and allow us to go back to the drawing board and start in a step-by-step way, which is what we've been advocating all along and come up with a bipartisan product that actually drives health care costs down, not up, which is what this bill does.
BROWN: Well, we will all be watching, certainly. Senator John Thune, really appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.
THUNE: Thanks, Campbell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Just how big a gamble is the president taking on health care? Well, our political panel going to break that down next.
And then a little later, new developments on the air traffic controller at Kennedy Airport who let his kids give directions to airline pilots. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Jet Blue 171 cleared for take-off.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Cleared for take-off, Jet Blue 171.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Harmless fun there or playing with fire? When we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: President Obama says now is the time for action on health care reform. In his speech today, the president insisted that every argument has now been made. There is no need to start over. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Both during and after last week's summit, Republicans in Congress insisted that the only acceptable course on health care reform is to start over. But given these honest and substantial differences between the parties about the need to regulate the insurance industry and the need to help millions of middle-class families get insurance, I don't see how another year of negotiations would help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Republicans, though, warning that Democrat who'll sign off on the Obama bill are doing so at their own peril. With me now to talk about all this CNN senior political analyst, Gloria Borger, and "Politico" correspondent Eamon Javers, joining us tonight as well.
So Gloria, the White House has spent a year, really, tied up in knots, I guess, over health care. At this point do they just want to get this thing off their plate and move on?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You think? Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
BORGER: They really -- they really want to get this done, Campbell. Look, I spoke with a couple of senior White House aides today who made it very clear that the only political choice they felt they had was to move forward on this and get something done, as you say, because they have to prove that they're governing majority.
You know? They control the White House, they control the Congress, this has been the president's major issue. They could not leave it hanging out there. And they believe that in the end, when and if this thing gets passed and it becomes law, that people pretty soon will begin to see some of the effects of it, for example, right away.
You won't be able to deny children insurance because of preexisting conditions, seniors will get some better drug benefits. That kind of thing. Once that kicks in, they believe, then the Republican political argument will being to turn.
But we're a long way from getting this passed, Campbell.
BROWN: And Eamon, after a year of basically sitting on the sidelines, I mean, the president has now gone all in, taken full ownership of this thing. How big a risk is that for him?
EAMON JAVERS, POLITICO CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, it's a huge risk, but risk of doing the opposite is even worse. I mean pick your metaphor here. The president has already bet the farm. He's also double down. He has all in this debate at this point.
He has no choice but to push forward because he's already taken the political damage that the health care reform debate is going to do on him and his Democratic majority in Congress. Now he's got to really see if he can salvage some kind of political benefit from here.
And imagine if he walked away from this debate and left all those Democrats on Capitol Hill who voted for this thing standing on the edge of a cliff. They would never trust him again and he really would have a hard time getting anything done for the rest of his presidency.
He didn't have a choice here.
BROWN: Gloria, this does set up this showdown, you know, with Republicans --
BORGER: Yes.
BROWN: -- who are already claiming that Democrats are just abusing their power. How ugly do you really expect it to get over the next few weeks?
BORGER: Well, I heard what Senator Thune was saying to you earlier, Campbell. Look, Republicans -- it's interesting. In the Senate they can amend this thing in unlimited ways. They can force Democrats to vote time and time again, and you know, my bet is they'll take a lot of time, kind of putting Democrats on the spot on this.
The other really interesting aspect to all of this, Campbell, is that the House Democrats and the Senate Democrats don't trust each other. So in order to get the Senate Democrats who -- I mean, the House Democrats to approve a bill, they have to trust the Senate Democrats to then go along with their changes in it that they're going to want to make.
So there's a lot of mistrust even on the -- even on the Democratic side before you even begin to consider Republicans. It's a mess.
BROWN: So do they, Eamon -- I mean do they have the votes? Can Nancy Pelosi deliver here? I mean I -- you know -- read the crystal the ball, I guess, but what's your thinking?
JAVERS: Well, look, it's going to come down to the wire, but what the White House is telling us over at "Politico" is that they're arguing to Democrats on Capitol Hill, look, you've already voted yes for this package. Remember they've already passed it in the House, they've already passed it in the Senate, so you're on the record voting yes.
You might as well keep voting yes and get some political benefit out of actually passing this thing. If you go into reelection campaigns this fall without anything, a big nothing-burger, that's going to be much worse for you than actually passing something and having some accomplishment to actually stand on.
BROWN: Do you agree with that, Gloria? Because there are -- got to be a lot of nervous Democrats.
BORGER: Yes, there --
BROWN: Wondering about how are they going to pay for this, you know, for better or worse, in November?
BORGER: Absolutely. There are a lot of nervous Democrats. And I think that it's going to be each person for himself here. I mean think every member of Congress has to make a decision about whether the social issues are with them on this, about whether they're fiscal conservatives and they believe that this actually is not going to reduce the deficit over the next 10 years.
And they're going to have to play it district by district. And Nancy Pelosi over the weekend said, you know, we have to stand for something greater than ourselves, but in my experience that's not the way that Congress works. Or that members of Congress work.
So they're going to have to decide it district by district. And in the end I think Nancy Pelosi is not going to have as much sway as she would like over some members.
BROWN: We will see what happens in the weeks ahead. Gloria Borger and "Politico's" Eamon Javers, joining us as well, thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
BORGER: Sure.
JAVERS: Thank you.
BROWN: Still ahead, a grade schooler directing air traffic at one of the country's busiest airports. It's all caught on tape. We have some new details to share with you just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We've got some new developments tonight in the story of the air traffic controller who allowed his young son to give directions to planes at JFK airport here in New York. That apparently happened last month. And from what we're learning it was not an isolated incident.
Susan Candiotti has been covering the story for us today.
What did you find out?
CANDIOTTI: Campbell, first of all, this is one of those things that makes you want to say, oh come on. This couldn't possibly happen. But in fact, the FAA says that a JFK controller brought his son into work one day and then next day -- according to a source -- brought in his daughter to give directions from the control tower to planes.
This while passengers on these planes, of course, were absolutely clueless, but you have to hear it for yourself. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Jet Blue 171 cleared for take-off.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Cleared for take-off, Jet Blue 171.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see, AeroMexico 403, Kennedy position hold?
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Position hold, AeroMexico 403.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what you get, guys, when your kids are out of school.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tried to bring my kid to work. UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Jet Blue 171, contact departure.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Over to departure Jet Blue 171, awesome job.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Zero, three, cleared for take-off.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: 403, cleared for take-off. Thank you very much, you have a great day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jet Blue 195, Kennedy Tower, 31-left, position and hold.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: 31-left position hold, Jet Blue 195.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: MX403, contact departure. Adios.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Contact departure, AeroMexico 403. Adios.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jet Blue 195, 31-013 cleared for take-off.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Cleared for take-off, 31-left, Jet Blue 195.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delta 2 -- I'm sorry, Delta 216 Kennedy runway 31-left, position and hold.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Position hold 31-left, Delta 216.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Contact departure, adios, amigo.
UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Adios, amigo. Over to departure Jet Blue 195.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now the FAA -- not amused by this. The controller and the supervisor in charge at the time have both been put on administrative leave with pay, and the FAA put out this statement about what happened.
They called it totally unacceptable and then added, quote, "This lapse in judgment not only violated FAA's own policies, but common- sense standards for professional conduct. The behavior does not reflect the true caliber of our workforce."
And of course, the Air Traffic Controllers Association, Campbell, saying the same thing. Pilots' Web sites tonight, interestingly enough, are on both sides. Some say they're absolutely outraged, and others are saying being blown out of proportion.
BROWN: All right, Susan Candiotti for us. Susan, thanks.
Joining me right now is Peter Goelz, who is a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, and CNN legal analyst with us here as well, Lisa Bloom.
Peter, just how often does something like this happen? Is it, you know, kind of common that a controller might bring in their child to work one day, that kind of let him see what it's like?
PETER GOELZ, FMR. NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR: Well, it's probably common that controllers bring their kids into the tower to have them kind of look at it. But it is absolutely not common that they get on the tower radio and try to control aircraft. It really is unheard of, and it's pretty outrageous.
BROWN: So what are the rules about who can communicate with the pilots? They're all supposed to be licensed, right?
GOELTZ: Exactly. The licensed controllers or controllers in training. And it really reflects on two things in the tower. One is what kind of supervision is going on? If this has happened more than once, what are the supervisors doing? And then secondly, the FAA and NTSB talk about cultures of safety. That's how you really improve safety, that's why we have a very safe system. If they're letting this slide, it raises a flag, what else is going on?
BROWN: Lisa, you heard the tape there. None of the adults involved, even the pilots who were communicating with the kid, you know, they were laughing. They didn't seem to think that there was a serious safety issue here. What's your take?
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right, apparently the pilots were aware that this was happening and they were going along for the joke. Frankly, I think this whole story is so overheated I fail to see what the problem is. There was no harm, there was no foul. Apparently the father had his headsets on and was in control the entire time. He told his little boy exactly what to say and the little boy just repeated it in air traffic controller lingo.
No planes were put in jeopardy. It wasn't a bad weather day. It wasn't a crisis. It simply said to land the plane or it was OK to take off. The pilots had a little laugh. And that was it. I mean, I fail to see really what the issue is here.
BROWN: So to that point, Peter, I mean, the dad was standing right there. I mean, what could have possibly happened that, you know, that was unforeseeable in that moment? I mean, obviously nothing did, but wouldn't the father have stepped in right away if there was an issue?
GOELZ: Listen, 99.99 percent of the time it would be perfectly fine, you'd get away with it. But the reality is that one time things happen in seconds in aviation, and if you're in any way distracted from making the right call, the right decision, people's lives are in jeopardy. And I think the flying public has the expectation that there are professionals doing their job by the book every day, and there are ways in which you can introduce the children to the workplace without having them actually pretending or actually controlling aircraft.
I mean, I know it sounds like, you know, it's a harsh thing, but there was an accident in Siberia in which a pilot put his son into the cockpit of an Aeroflot airplane. The son inadvertently clicked off the autopilot, everybody was killed in that accident. BROWN: Right. Well, this isn't quite -- I don't think that's a fair comparison.
BLOOM: That isn't this situation.
BROWN: Well, let me just say, though. What would you like to have happen to this guy, Peter? Do you think he should be fired?
GOELZ: I think he should be disciplined. I'm not sure --
BROWN: Well, did that fire? Or he already has been disciplined, I think. He's been suspended.
GOELZ: Well, I don't think -- I don't think being suspended with pay is particularly a disciplinary action. I think that's pending to see what happens.
No, I'm not sure he should be fired but I think he should be disciplined.
BROWN: Lisa, would we even be talking about this if we weren't in this age and in fairness, where airline security is such a dominant thing in our lives now given obviously what happened, post 9/11, the environment? I mean, it's just something that everybody is a little hypersensitive about?
BLOOM: Exactly. I mean, this is like Joan Rivers being considered a security risk, because her passport isn't a real name and not her stage name. I mean, come on, let's just use a little common sense here.
The actual air traffic controller, the father, was in control the whole time. It's not as if all the traffic controllers left the building in the sole care of a 7-year-old who then was landing planes on his own. This was simply a father telling a son to say something into the microphone. The son said it. Everybody had a little chuckle. And at the end of the day, is this really worth an investigation by the FAA, suspending employees and the supervisors? I mean, come on, I think a little common sense is still in order.
BROWN: Peter, I'll give you the last word. Go ahead.
GOELZ: I do think a little common sense is in order and I wish the controller and the supervisor had used it.
BROWN: All right. Peter Goelz for us tonight. Our own Lisa bloom as well. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
BLOOM: Thank you.
BROWN: A breakthrough treatment giving new hope to patients with a deadly brain tumor. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been looking into this and has a really extraordinary story -- when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: Tonight's medical breakthrough could be a miracle for some patients with a brain tumor called glioblastoma. That's the cancer that killed Senator Edward Kennedy. It kills just about anybody who's diagnosed with it, most within a year. But for some patients a new treatment is being described as a smart bomb. It attacks the tumor without making the patient so sick. And Dr. Sanjay has been looking into this for us and has details. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. JOHN SAMPSON, PRESTON ROBERT TISCH BRAIN TUMOR CTR.: You also volunteered to do a spinal tap today for us?
KAREN VANEMAN, BRAIN CANCER PATIENT: Yes.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Karen Vaneman. She's bracing for another painful procedure. You see, she's got cancer, brain cancer, a killer tumor called glioblastoma.
(on camera): Glioblastoma, glioblastoma, a multi-form of GBM, this is typically thought of as the worst type of tumor. Why?
DR. ALLAN FRIEDMAN, PRESTON ROBERT TISCH BRAIN TUMOR CTR.: Oh, because left untreated, the patient's come to decease very quickly.
GUPTA (voice-over): Even with aggressive treatment, average survival is barely a year. Chemotherapy, radiation, all the usual treatments hardly slow it down.
(on camera): Good to see you.
VANEMAN: Oh, good to meet you.
GUPTA: How are you?
VANEMAN: I'm fine, thank you.
GUPTA (voice-over): But here at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, Karen found hope, an experimental vaccine.
(on camera): When people heard the word "vaccine," they think this is something to prevent disease.
SAMPSON: Right. Right.
GUPTA: But that's not what's happening here exactly.
SAMPSON: No, it's not.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. John Sampson helped develop the vaccine.
SAMPSON: Essentially all the cells in our body have a fingerprint. The fingerprint on your cells are different than the fingerprint on my cells, but the immune system can recognize differences than those fingerprints. GUPTA: The vaccine has a futuristic name. It's called CDX-110. It uses the body's own immune system to attack tumor cells. It won't work on every GBM patient, just the 40 percent or so whose tumors make one particular protein. In those patients, it goes off like a smart bomb.
SAMPSON: So unlike chemotherapy, which really hurts all dividing cells in the body, or radiation, the immune system can be absolutely precise, and so we get a very tumor-specific attack with very low toxicity.
GUPTA: Which means the patients don't get as sick. Now Karen gets a shot, a painful one every month, but look at the results. We were able to pay her another visit a full year later. Remember, most patients don't even live that long.
VANEMAN: It's been about a year and a half. As long as the vaccine works, then I'll be getting the monthly shots. And when it doesn't work, then I'm in trouble.
GUPTA (on camera): What can we say about this vaccine now in terms of educating a patient about it? What do you tell them in terms of what it promises?
SAMPSON: We're always careful not to over-promise what something can deliver. And this is still in an experimental stage. But patients are living two to three times longer with the vaccine than we would have expected.
GUPTA (voice-over): As much as six years in some cases, with no signs of returning cancer.
VANEMAN: What's changed in the last year has been mostly being more mindful of my priorities. My family and my granddaughter, my husband who's been like a rock through this whole thing.
GUPTA: The vaccine is now part of a multi-center study, with patients at dozens of hospitals around the country. Results expected to be announced later on this spring.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: So, Campbell, some potentially very exciting news there. People clearly can respond to this vaccine, as you saw with Karen. But the real question is, is that going to be something that can be replicated, duplicated across the board at many hospitals with many patients with this tumor?
Right now, there's a multi-center trial going on, fewer than 100 patients, but many more patients sort of looking at this as an option. But what's happening is that the specific protein the patient must have to be eligible to get the vaccine, at one particular hospital out of the 15 patients over there, only one patient actually had that protein. So it's really hard to say still how many patients are going to potentially benefit from this. At Duke, we know that 40 percent of the patients did derive some benefit from this, but whether or not that's going to be something felt all across the country in every patient with glioblastoma, that still remains to be seen.
Campbell, back to you.
BROWN: Sanjay Gupta for us tonight. Sanjay, thanks.
And now a look ahead to tomorrow night and our special report on the growing concern over taser stun guns. The company that makes them says more than 14,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide use tasers. They've been promoted as a non-lethal alternative to a firearm, but are they really?
The family of a California man says he suffered permanent brain damage when he went into cardiac arrest after being tasered. His story from Dan Simon and the CNN special investigations unit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Steve Butler and his family filed a lawsuit not against the police, but against the maker of the weapon, Taser International. It's the first time the company has been listed as the sole defendant in an injury case.
Can a taser cause cardiac arrest?
JOHN BURTON, BUTLER FAMILY ATTORNEY: Oh, absolutely, no question about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Taser disputes that, saying its devices are, quote, "repeatedly proven safe." Join us tomorrow night. We'll have a special report on that.
Coming up, some real-life drama over the hit film "The Hurt Locker." Some veterans don't care if the Iraq war movie it's up for an Oscar. They say Hollywood got the story all wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Still ahead tonight, "The Hurt Locker," the makers of the movie expected to make a big hit at the Oscars, but have now been hit with a big lawsuit. We're going to get to that in a second. First, though, Mike Galanos here with tonight's "Download."
Hey, Mike.
MIKE GALANOS, HLN PRIME NEWS: Hey, Campbell. First off, in the past hour or so, Taiwan has been hit by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several big aftershocks. The first quake hit at 8:20 Wednesday morning in the southeastern part of the country. Early reports say there are cracks in some buildings and major bridges. Train service has been disrupted. So far there are no reports of injuries or deaths. We'll keep you posted on that.
Also coming up, we have this for you. A ship, it's like really a scene from the "Poseidon Adventure," but it turned deadly. This is a crew ship in the Mediterranean. It was hit by a wave, some estimated about 26 feet. Two passengers reported killed, six others injured. Again, this ship was hit by other waves as well, three abnormally high waves, but the big one estimated about 26 feet.
Also this, same-sex marriage is now legal in the nation's capital. Couples waited for hours to apply for marriage licenses on the first day same-sex unions became legal in the District of Columbia. And now Washington joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont in allowing same-sex marriage.
And "Miracle on the Hudson" pilot Captain Chesley Sullenberger has been cleared for his final approach. "Sully" who's now 59, he retired today. His final flight was from Fort Lauderdale to Charlotte. Sullenberger says he's going to spend some of his time pushing for better flight safety. We remember that flight. It was unbelievable. All 150 passengers survived that dramatic water landing last year in New York City after a bird strike disabled both engines. Right, Campbell?
BROWN: Who could forget?
GALANOS: And who could forget? I know it.
BROWN: I mean, boy, congratulations to him, though on his retirement. Well deserved.
Mike Galanos for us tonight. Mike, thanks.
GALANOS: Thanks.
BROWN: "LARRY KING LIVE" starting in just a few minutes. Larry, what do you have tonight?
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Campbell, outrage and anger growing tonight as the murder of Chelsea King has turned the spotlight once again on convicted sex offenders. The man charged in her death has a history. Will fury over this story spark some change?
Plus, we're going to debate health care and President Obama's call for a vote right now. And by the way, tomorrow night, Campbell, Charlie Rangel, who's asked for a leave of absence from Ways and Means as its chairman will be our special guest. We'll be in Washington for that.
All that ahead. Campbell, back to you.
BROWN: All right, Larry. We'll see you in a few minutes.
Still ahead, Oscar favorite "The Hurt Locker" under fire by some in the military. Some calling the film inauthentic and an insult to those who serve. The real story when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Back now with the firestorm over Oscar favorite "The Hurt Locker." Today, Army Master Sergeant Jeffrey Sarver announced he is suing producers for ripping off his life story after "The Hurt Locker" screenwriter imbedded with Sarver's unit in Iraq. Sarver says the main character is based on him, but he's not getting any money from the film. This comes as other veterans are crying foul over the film's depiction of soldiers as renegades and as cowboys. Tonight's CNN's Kareen Wynter separates fact from fiction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the small-budget sleeper that's become an explosive contender in this year's best picture Oscar race.
"The Hurt Locker" focuses on an Army bomb unit on patrol in Iraq.
Nail-biting scenes like this leave viewers on the edge. The delicate work of detonating bombs, think it's just the stuff of movies? Not for this elite group of airmen. It's real-life warfare as we quickly learned during a visit to Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base, where we caught members of the EOD team, the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit in action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll walk you down to where the IEDs at.
WYNTER: They've served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and know firsthand the dangers of disarming bombs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's an IED.
WYNTER: Master Sergeant Kieran Flynn has had his brush with death.
MASTER SGT. KIERAN FLYNN, U.S. AIRFORCE: It's 24/7. It doesn't stop. And these teams spread throughout the country who are actually doing this, living in the gutter for months in and months end. And sometimes you're living in some deplorable conditions.
WYNTER (on camera): Some would say you've got to be out of your mind to do it. Why do you do it?
FLYNN: Why do I do it? I enjoy the thrill. I enjoy the accomplishment of defeating an IED.
WYNTER (voice-over): In the movie, Jeremy Renner plays an IED team leader who loves to take risks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's he doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to die. I want to die comfortable.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WYNTER: Master Sgt. Flynn says in the real world, that wouldn't fly.
FLYNN: He's a cowboy. We don't try to operate like that.
WYNTER (on camera): What happens if you do?
FLYNN: Well, one of my team members is not going to let me.
WYNTER (voice-over): Teammates like Senior Airman Michael Buras.
SR. AIRMAN MICHAEL BURRIS, U.S. AIR FORCE: That's how we do what we do. We have each other. We use each other, we build off each other, we train together, we live together, we eat together. And when you're over there, you're together every day, every night.
WYNTER: We rode along for a practice drill on the base's desert range. The conditions are similar to the rugged terrains of Iraq and Afghanistan. And just like scenes in the movie where soldiers use robots to scour for bombs, this EOD team zeros in on a possible roadside explosive.
The team assesses the size and strength of the IED, then secures the surrounding area. In today's exercise, they decide to detonate the device from a distance. But sometimes they've got to go in with the suits on, the kind Renner wore in the movie, 80 pounds of protective gear. Renner's character gets pinned down on the number of bombs he's defused.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many bombs have you disarmed?
JEREMY RENNER, SSG WILLIAM JAMES: I'm not quite sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sergeant --
RENNER: Yes.
RENNER: I asked you a question.
RENNER: 873.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WYNTER: In real life for some, that subject is taboo.
(on camera): How many bombs have you detonated? Do you even keep track of this, or too many to count?
FLYNN: I could keep track, but I don't.
WYNTER: Why?
FLYNN: I just don't think it's a good omen to keep track and count of our IEDs. WYNTER (voice-over): Flynn has lost three of his own team members. An estimated 64 American EOD technicians have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, a reminder to these airmen that each call to disarm could be their last.
BURAS: You have to learn how to put that behind you, you know, and keep mission first.
FLYNN: There's a lot of experiences. And a lot of them are not happy, and you want to keep them to yourself. I mean, it's war, and it's war from a different perspective.
WYNTER: It's a sense of duty and danger that these airmen say keeps them on the battlefield.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Nellis Air Force Base.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Chile struggling to maintain order after Saturday's devastating earthquake. And Sara Sidner has more right now on the shaky security situation there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fast click of hooves on pavement, a sound that signals trouble on the streets of Concepcion. Just around the corner, the trouble comes into focus. Three young men facedown the pavement, their hands filled with packs of pills from a pharmacy that has been closed for days. Soldiers jammed guns in their backs and tell the suspected looters not to move. Suddenly another call to duty.
FELIPE RAMON, RESIDENT: The people is crazy. The people take everything, and things that don't need. Don't need plasma, don't need laboratories, only put by the people -- these other people. I don't know my people.
SIDNER: Felipe Ramon works in Concepcion's damaged downtown business direct. From what we can see, about 10 percent of the stores appear to have been looted. He is not alone and he says the military is here in force now, but did not arrive fast enough.
JOSU ORTISA, RESIDENT: Yesterday, it was kind of rough because there were riots in the streets. People journey to supermarkets taking things off. But today, we are -- they are more controlled because of the military forces.
SIDNER (on camera): The military isn't the only force trying to restore order in this earthquake-shaken town. Citizens are trying to protect their own property and their streets with whatever they have around. ANIBAL YANEZ, RESIDENT: We had to defend ourselves, and we had places barricaded here and started to control traffic and everything, just to protect ourselves.
SIDNER (voice-over): Besides the homemade blockades on their streets, citizen patrols are carrying handmade batons and other weapons. With no electricity for days, there's a growing fear of being robbed, or worse.
MARIANA ABUTER, RESIDENT (through translator): I'm afraid for my children. There was a moment when this was no-man's -land. This place was like the wild, wild west.
SIDNER: But on day four after the quake in their suburb, a promise from the military to take over securing the area. In the city center, soldiers have already calmed things down, especially since they cleared the streets with a curfew that begins at dusk and doesn't end until high noon the next day.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Concepcion, Chile.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And that's going to do it for us tonight. We will see you back here tomorrow night.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
