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Rick's List
Democrats Pass Health Care Reform; Interview With Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey; Tiger Woods Speaks Out
Aired March 22, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Guess what time it is, boys and girls? It's time for Poppy's list. She's joining us now from New York.
It's Poppy Harlow time.
(LAUGHTER)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: I knew you were going to -- going to do that, Rick.
(LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: I knew it.
SANCHEZ: Because you know me too well.
HARLOW: I do. I do.
SANCHEZ: Hey, listen. You know what I have been noticing? In the last week or so, I have been seeing insurance stocks kind of trending up, certainly not down.
HARLOW: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Now, wouldn't --
HARLOW: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- you think, if this was such a huge government takeover, that they would all be going down? What gives, Poppy?
HARLOW: Sure. But it's that old Wall Street adage, buy on the rumor, sell on the news, Rick.
And that's what we saw. The health care, health insurance companies, stocks were climbing about 8 percent over the last week. And then we have seen sort of them flattening out, as we saw health care reform pass in the House last night.
What this could be good for health insurance companies, you would have more people enrolling for their coverage, because coverage is going to be mandatory.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Yes.
HARLOW: However, you do see them generally mixed across the board right now.
Also want to look at the closing numbers. We're in the green across all the major U.S. averages right now, the Dow, Nasdaq, S&P also higher. What you have, Rick -- and you're seeing that green pretty much for all of the trading day -- is you have the uncertainty of whether or not health care reform would pass being taken away and the market likes kind of certainty it can get.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HARLOW: You're looking at the closing bell right now -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: These are live pictures. These are live pictures we're looking at right now of the closing bell. And there it is.
(BELL RINGING)
SANCHEZ: The bell closes at what, Poppy?
HARLOW: That is exactly right, the bell closing right now.
The Dow looks like it's going to end up about 42 points.
But, Rick, if you have time, let's show our winners and losers of the day. Can we do that, Rick?
SANCHEZ: Yes, you got a list. You know what? How can I deny you, if you have a list?
HARLOW: I do.
SANCHEZ: Poppy's lists says --
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: You love lists.
SANCHEZ: These are the winners and losers.
HARLOW: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Go.
HARLOW: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Go. Hit us with it.
HARLOW: Let's look at Humana and UnitedHealth Group. These are actually losers of the day, big insurance companies. You may get their coverage. They are down today. Humana is down about 1 percent. UnitedHealth is down about 3 percent, because you have the fear that this new reform is going to weigh on their profitability, and that's why you saw a lot of lobbyists from the insurance companies against this health care reform bill.
Let's take a look at the winners, the hospital management companies --
SANCHEZ: Huh.
HARLOW: -- Tenet Healthcare, Health Management, because, Rick, more people are going to be going into the hospital getting more coverage now. That's what you're seeing today, big gains for those hospital companies, Rick.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting. That's interesting.
HARLOW: But the market likes what it's seeing. We're up across the board.
SANCHEZ: All right. We're going to be talking to Republicans and Democrat about what happened yesterday.
HARLOW: Right.
SANCHEZ: In fact, when I come back, Phil Gingrey, a congressman from Georgia, is going to be joining me here with the Republican take.
Here is what we have got coming your way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here is what is making the LIST.
REP. RANDY NEUGEBAUER (R), TEXAS: -- baby killer.
SANCHEZ: Who said that? Who called Congressman Stupak a baby killer? And what are the repercussions of such incivility for the GOP?
It was not the only act of incivility. Some Tea Party protesters over the weekend spit, call out the N-word and the F-word against these congressmen. What does health care reform really mean for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people are telling me this decision could cost me my job.
SANCHEZ: And who wins politically?
And who asked all the blacks to leave a Wal-Mart?
The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list, pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: It is the day after on Capitol Hill. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your LIST. I'm so glad that you're here. It's been a dramatic Sunday on the Capitol. It's ended with the House passing two versions of the health care bill.
President Obama, we have learned, says he will sign the first version of the bill tomorrow in a ceremony at the White House. Now, a short time ago, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders held a signing ceremony of their own for the legislation. There it is. Safe to say no Republicans were there.
Today, as the Senate prepares to take up the challenges on the bill, House Republicans are talking about why the bill is a mistake.
And one of those Republicans who's joining me now from Capitol Hill is Congressman Phil Gingrey. He's a Republican from suburban Atlanta. And he was a doctor before becoming a politician. So, obviously, this is something that's been very close to his heart.
What -- what is your reaction to -- I guess I have to ask you this, first of all, because there's a lot of talk about this. You know that there was a congressman from Texas, Congressman Neugebauer, who has now come forward and said that he's the one who screamed out baby killer. And now some of the -- some of the Democrats, not of all of the Democrats, Congressman, are saying that he should go on the floor and apologize.
What's your take?
REP. PHIL GINGREY (R), GEORGIA: Well, Rick, Randy Neugebauer is a very good friend of mine. And I'm sure -- and, in fact, I read his response and his apology. And he didn't say that -- that he felt like that Bart Stupak was a baby killer. He said, "It's a baby killer," the process, the president's executive statement.
But, no, I mean, the House floor is not -- is not --
SANCHEZ: By the way, I should probably -- I need to challenge you on that a little bit, because we had just talked to our correspondents there who were in the House when it was said. And they said it really did sound much more like "baby killer" than it did, "It's a baby killer."
So, he -- he may -- he --
GINGREY: Well -- well, Rick -- yes.
SANCHEZ: I mean, look, we're parsing words.
GINGREY: Sure.
SANCHEZ: And we don't need to get into that.
GINGREY: Sure. Sure.
SANCHEZ: But I'm just giving you the other side.
GINGREY: Right. Sure. Sure. But, anyway, he did apologize. And Randy's a good man and -- and a good, strong pro-life -- certainly, I think what Bart Stupak did was somewhat of an insult to people like Chris Smith and -- and Joe Pitts, who had worked out that language with him very carefully when that amendment was made to the original House bill.
So, I know they probably had a pretty sick feeling in the pits of their stomach last night.
SANCHEZ: But why? But why, Congressman? This is what I don't understand.
I -- I have read the legislation as well as I can. And, you know, I'm not the smartest guy in the room, but I can read pretty well.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: It did not seem to me like this legislation, even before the president's executive order, was saying that the government, with my money, would pay for abortions.
In fact, the thing we have now, if we don't do this Obamacare, or whatever it's being called, does pay for abortions. Most insurance companies in the United States are paying for abortions now. So, I'm not understanding --
GINGREY: Well -- well, that's -- we're --
SANCHEZ: I'm not sure I understand the big problem here.
GINGREY: Well -- well, let me try to explain it to you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Please.
GINGREY: That's -- that's -- that's with private dollars. That's not people getting their insurance through an exchange and being subsidized with my dollars and your dollars and other taxpayers' dollars. So, that's the difference.
And, so, I -- I beg to differ with you on that. And so do the American Council of Catholic Bishops and every pro-life organization in this country feels that this Senate language allows taxpayer dollars to be spent on --
SANCHEZ: So --
GINGREY: -- on legal abortions, elective abortions.
SANCHEZ: So, that's what -- no. And -- no. And that's why I'm glad we're having this conversation. In fact, I think this is the best way to do something like this.
GINGREY: Of course.
SANCHEZ: You're not saying the money was going to directly pay for an abortion as a quid pro quo? In other words, I get an abortion, I get it paid for by the government.
You're saying money from me and you and others going into the system would have been somehow used to pay for other people's abortions? That was the argument, right?
GINGREY: Yes, exactly, Rick. That money is fungible. It's all sort of lumped in together and commingled. So, that was the argument, yes.
SANCHEZ: I get it.
And do you -- and you're not confident that this president -- that Mr. Obama's executive order will relinquish that or take care of that?
GINGREY: Well, Rick, he may be very sincere in -- in -- in issuing that executive order and make -- and -- and hope that it sticks, but I don't -- I'm not sure that an executive order can trump law, something that actually is in law.
Usually, executive orders are issued when there's some ambiguity in the law and to clarify. But, even if -- even if it sticks, what's to say that -- that he might change his mind a year from now, when he gets a lot of pressure from the pro-choice organizations? A lot of these people, of course, supported him --
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
GINGREY: -- very heavily during his election, and will be needed there to support him during his attempt at reelect. So, how long does the executive order last?
SANCHEZ: Do you -- I mean, I'm hearing some -- some Republicans saying -- Steve King, for example -- that they want to repeal some of this. Are you comfortable going and trying to repeal something?
Because that would almost put you into a situation where you would be going to like somebody who has a 22-year-old kid and saying, look, I know you've now been able to insure your 22-year-old kid, even after he wasn't able to get a job out of college, but I'm taking that away from you.
GINGREY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Do you want to do that?
GINGREY: Rick, I don't want to repeal everything in -- in HR-3590. In fact, you know, there are things like what you just mentioned allowing a young -- early -- young adults, I should say --
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
GINGREY: -- who are maybe still in college or graduate school, up to age 26, to stay on their parents' policy. And -- and, you know, I'm not opposed to the exchanges for people who are low-income and cannot -- or they are not eligible for Medicaid or -- or even at a 133 percent level, for them to buy in the exchange and be qualified on a sliding scale for subsidies. So, there are a lot of things in the bill that -- that I'm in favor with -- of, and, indeed, my Republican colleagues and my Republican leadership both in the House and the Senate. So, when we say start over, we don't mean throw everything out, throw out the baby with the bath water, but we mean take the best of this bill and combine it with our ideas, like buying insurance across state lines, and equalizing the tax treatment, and creating high-risk pools.
And -- and, of course, all of the language in there regarding electronic medical records, I'm in favor of. So, I might not fully agree with completely repealing and starting over.
SANCHEZ: He's one of our guys here in Georgia, Phil Gingrey, Republican.
We thank you, sir, for taking the time to take us through this.
GINGREY: Rick, thank you
SANCHEZ: We appreciate it.
(CROSSTALK)
GINGREY: Always glad to be with you. Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right, appreciate it. We will get you back.
All right, let's talk about Elizabeth Cohen, because she's going to be coming up here in a little bit. Now, what she's going to do is, you know, I just mentioned to the congressman that one process, the one that allows, if you're -- if you're a mom or dad and you have got a kid who's 22 years old, and he hasn't been able to get a job out of college, for example, well, this is going to allow you to do that, get insurance for him in case something happens to him that you don't want to have happen.
But that's not the only part of this measure. You're going to be taking us through what not only is going to happen in a couple of months, but what's going to happen in 2014, right?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: The whole chute and caboodle, as they say.
COHEN: The whole thing.
SANCHEZ: Elizabeth, thanks so much.
We will be back with her in just a moment.
And, by the way, did I tell you Tiger had his first interview? I'm going to show you that as well. It's part of the LIST. And wait until you see it. It's very honest.
We will be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ESPN)
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I quit meditating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right.
Elizabeth Cohen is joining us now. And she's going to be taking us through the list of changes that are going to affect many of us, now, six months from now, and in 2014.
Let's begin with now. What do you got?
COHEN: All right, let's begin.
In the next 90 days, there's going to be a huge -- part of this bill is going to be implemented. And that is that, if you have a high-risk problem -- I'm sorry. If you have a preexisting condition, like -- it can be anything from a bad back to cancer -- you know that you can't get affordable insurance or insurance at all.
In 90 days, there's going to be high-risk pools that most of these folks can join in order to get some kind of insurance.
SANCHEZ: That's --
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Now, that's not the permanent solution, but that's the temporary solution.
SANCHEZ: So, that's the first thing that kicks in.
COHEN: That's -- that is the first thing that kicks in.
SANCHEZ: What kicks in a little bit later on?
COHEN: All right. In six months, you have a couple of things going on here. One is, is that insurance companies, private insurance companies, that have said no to kids because they have a preexisting condition --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Is it true you can actually be born with a preexisting condition?
COHEN: Sure, if you're born -- I was just talking to someone who has a child born with preexisting -- with sickle-cell anemia. That's a genetic condition. That child was born with it.
SANCHEZ: And the moment you're born, you can't get insurance.
COHEN: There are some children who are denied insurance -- SANCHEZ: Oh, my God.
COHEN: -- because of conditions they're born with, yes. That is --
SANCHEZ: That just doesn't seem fair.
COHEN: Isn't that terrible?
SANCHEZ: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you. Go on.
COHEN: No, no, no. I mean, that's -- that's an excellent point.
And, so, in six months, private companies, you know, the Uniteds and the Aetnas and the Blue Crosses, are not going to be allowed to say no to those kids. Another thing that is going to happen in six months -- and you were just talking about this -- is that if you have a dependent who is in their early 20s, up to age 26, insurance has to let them stay on.
SANCHEZ: They get out of college. They can't get a job.
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Or they decide they want to join the Peace Corps or go overseas --
COHEN: Right, or grad school, or whatever, right.
SANCHEZ: -- or, you know what? I want to -- I want to coach my high school football team, like my son is thinking about doing.
I -- you know, this is great news to guys like me who have overbred and have four kids.
COHEN: Right. Right.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: You know --
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: Well, I have four, too, so I wouldn't say overbred.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: But, no, it's true.
For example, a lot of people are really happy with their insurance and think, well, this bill doesn't affect me. I'm perfectly happy. Well, wait until your kid graduates from college, and then, all of a sudden, you're going to be like, whoa, wait a minute.
SANCHEZ: Yes. COHEN: My kid doesn't have insurance. So, this would keep your kid on your insurance as long, as they're a dependent, until age 26.
SANCHEZ: That -- that's important.
What else you got?
COHEN: It is important.
All right, let's talk about what happens by 2014.
SANCHEZ: OK.
COHEN: OK. I got a list here.
All right, one of the things, one of the things that's going to happen by 2014, if you don't get health insurance, because you just don't want it, you don't want to spend the money, you are going to get a fine. And those fines can run into the thousands of dollars for families. So, these are some pretty serious fines.
SANCHEZ: That's communism.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: How can they force you to have insurance?
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: Well, that's --
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: How are they going to pay for all those people with preexisting conditions?
SANCHEZ: Yes. No, I -- yes, I get it.
COHEN: That's how they fund it. And -- and there are a lot of people who aren't so crazy about this.
SANCHEZ: And that's -- that's part of -- yes, that's -- exactly. That's what many of the Republicans have been saying.
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Why are we forcing Americans to do something like that?
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Although we force Americans to have auto insurance.
COHEN: Right. We force people to do a lot of things, actually.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
COHEN: So, you know, not so strange.
And here's another one is that there are going to be subsidies for folks to buy insurance if you make approximately between $30,000 and $88,000 a year. Those sort of moderate-income folks get stuck. They make too much for Medicaid, but they don't make enough money to buy it on their own.
So, there's going to be a subsidy. And those of hefty, hefty subsidies. It's, in most cases, a lot of money.
SANCHEZ: What about -- I have had a lot of small-business owners where I live say, you know, I got 10 employees or 11 employees and, all of a sudden, one of them has diabetes. The pool that I have to pay for all other 10 or 11 on my team gets so high --
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: -- I can't do it.
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Is -- is there something for those small-business employers?
COHEN: What's going to happen there is that insurance companies won't be able to jack up the rates as much as they do now --
SANCHEZ: For small-business owners?
COHEN: -- for that one diabetic -- really for anyone. You can't charge -- it's going to depend upon how large the group is and all of that, but there are going to be rules that will try to prevent that from happening.
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Because you're right, a pool of 10, one diabetic can -- can really get you.
SANCHEZ: That's it.
COHEN: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: And, all of a sudden, you've got nine really healthy people who are going to asked to pay a lot of money.
COHEN: And they're not going to like that diabetic.
SANCHEZ: They're not allowed to tell you who it is.
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Right. Well, but everyone knows.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes, unless -- COHEN: Right. No, I know companies where that's been a real problem.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Good stuff.
COHEN: OK.
SANCHEZ: We will keep drilling down on this every day.
COHEN: Sounds good.
SANCHEZ: And whatever else we learn about this, we will probably -- we could do it together.
COHEN: Sounds good.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: OK.
SANCHEZ: Take a look at this, folks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is what change looks like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Change looks like this? The White House reacts to health care reform.
Linda Douglass from the White House is going to be joining me in just a little bit to take my and your questions.
And making the list you don't want to be on is next. Who is it this time? It's someone who's gotten in a lot of trouble. We know his name. We told you the story last week. And he's on the list. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
You know, the methods that kids will conceive to get themselves in trouble are truly mind-boggling. I can say that with some authority, because, A, I'm a dad, and, B, I'm a former teenager.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: One of the dumbest pranks of my youth involved my pals Donny Davis (ph) and Charlie Meredith (ph), buddies of mine from the old Hialeah High School football team in Hialeah.
We were bumming around after practice one day and became collectively seized beyond all reason with the notion of taking the tires off of a certain Chevy Camaro we came across, all four tires. Don't ask me why, because I can't even tell you today.
For whatever reason, it seemed like just the perfect thing for us to do. So, we did it. There were we, me, Donny and Charlie, celebrating our genius --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: -- when along came Charlie's dad. That's old Timer (ph), Timer Meredith (ph). He literally kicked our rear ends up and down the street. I mean, I'm not kidding, literally kicked our rear ends, and made us put the tires back on and apologize to whoever's car it may have been, and made us find them.
So, we weren't exactly geniuses, after all, were we? You think? Well, what the three of us did was stupid.
Thank God it wasn't malicious or offensive or criminal. Today, we have got this. It's a kid in New Jersey. There's a kid in New Jersey, he's 16 years old, who is now facing charges because police say that he walked into this Wal-Mart and then got on the store's public address and said -- quote -- "All black people, leave the store now."
Plenty of witnesses heard it, including some African-Americans. They caught the kid Friday. And they charged him with now, Saturday, with bias and intimidation and harassment. This kid could do a year in confinement.
The most salient part of the case is what we still don't know, by the way. Did he think it was a joke? Do he do it on a dare? Did he somehow think that he was being funny? By now, he probably knows not even a little bit funny.
That's why this kid that we don't know his name -- he's a juvenile -- that's why he is today at the very top of the list that you don't want to be on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did things get so out of control?
WOODS: Going against your core values, losing sight of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Tiger opens up and talks to the media, and he's asked some very difficult questions, like: Why did you get married? They actually asked him that. ESPN did.
Also, the most intriguing person making the LIST is next. Hint: He's a friend of President Obama's, but had to apologize for something he recently did. Who could we possibly be talking about?
We will be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is the list many of you wait for. He is the head of state in a country that is America's BFF in a very, very troubled part of world. He's also the most intriguing person in the news today.
He's a former military officer. He's held a long list of positions in his country's Cabinet, including his current title, prime minister. He's currently in a stare-down with the United States over the construction project that will push into a disputed piece of land. It's something the U.S. says will hurt any chances for peace in the region.
American diplomats want him to stop. He says, no. He's going to meet with the president, Obama, in Washington tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what becomes of that. And we're going to cover it carefully for you.
Reveal. He is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And that construction project is planned for mostly Arab East Jerusalem. Depending on who you listen to, our relations with Israel are either historically strained from this dispute or historically strong despite it.
Benjamin Netanyahu is on the list as today's most intriguing person in the news.
SANCHEZ: When we come back, we're going to be talking to the White House. Linda Douglass is going to be joining us to answer questions about what the plan is now for health care and whether this means that this president will not be electable, nor will any of the Democrats who voted for it.
We will drill down. We will drill down.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: We will be right back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: For those of you joining us just in the last 15 minutes or so, I know we haven't mentioned this story that we have been following for you, but we now know who screamed out "baby killer" during Bart Stupak's speech last night on the House.
It's Republican Texas Congressman Randy Neugebauer. He has come forward and said, "Yes, it was me." He diminishes it somewhat by saying, "I really meant to say, it's" -- he really meant to say, "it's," instead of -- "it's a baby killer," referring to the bill, "rather than "baby killer" referring to Bart Stupak.
So, a lot of conversation going on about that, and the possibility even that there might have to be a formal apology in the House. Democrats are arguing between themselves as to whether or not they want that, all of that breaking during our hour, about a half-hour ago or so.
And as we get more information on that, we're going to be sharing it with you.
But it's time for the Brooke block.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: And Brooke joins us now with her list of information.
Tiger Woods does an interview.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. I was about to segue with some guy who's definitely had to apologize, right --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Right. That's --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: -- once or twice, a guy you probably heard of, Tiger Woods.
And we're hearing from him. And this is a big deal today, because this is the first time that he's actually responded to questions from interviewers, OK? So, this happened yesterday. He granted these two interviews. It was the first time he had talked to reporters since the big, you know, car crash in front of his home in Florida back in November unleashed that massive media frenzy, talking affairs, et cetera.
And, in this interview, he talked a lot about -- you know, he said, yes, I was living a lie, he still loves his wife, and just because he's going back to golf next month doesn't mean he is done with therapy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ESPN)
WOODS: I saw person that I never thought I would ever become.
TOM RINALDI, ESPN CORRESPONDENT: Who was that?
WOODS: Well, I had gotten away from my core values, as I said earlier. I had gotten away from my Buddhism. And I quit meditating. I quit doing all the things that my mom and dad had taught me.
And, as I said earlier in my statement, I felt entitled, and that is not how I was raised.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not seek treatment before all of this came out?
WOODS: Well, I didn't know I was that bad. I didn't know I was that bad. I was living a lie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did you learn that? How did you learn? WOODS: Stripping away denial, rationalization. You strip all that away and you find the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He's got all the words down from his treatment.
BALDWIN: That's what Dave, my producer, was kind of saying to me before the segment.
Two things he didn't detail, though, why specifically he crashed his car and what type of therapy he's seeking. There's been speculation. He didn't confirm. Again, he returns to golf next month, the Masters, Augusta, Georgia.
On my list number two, we chatted about it Friday. Just slightly staged by a little thing called health care over the weekend, but also in D.C., on Sunday, tens of thousands of these pro-immigration reformists in Washington, covering blocks and blocks there on the National Mall and up to the Capitol.
They're organizers and supporters for this March for America campaign. They want this comprehension reform to be next on the president's agenda. So, right out of the frying pan and into the -- how does that saying go, Sanchez?
SANCHEZ: The fire.
BALDWIN: The fire.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
Senator Schumer, Senator Graham proposing bipartisan legislation earlier in the month, been endorsed by the president. We haven't heard specifics.
So a lot of people out and about in Washington talking reform.
And number three, this is a story that's affecting a lot of us here at CNN. I didn't know her. Did you know Margaret Moth?
SANCHEZ: Worked with her many years.
BALDWIN: You did?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SANCHEZ: I mean, she's legendary here. Apparently she had a camera at age 8.
This famous female photographer, she basically asked to be sent to incredibly dangerous parts of the world to cover these major stories. War zones, you name it, she was there. She's been described as brave, kind, determined. She was always there getting the best pictures she could. And apparently back in 1992, she was in Sarajevo and there was a sniper. And the sniper shot her face.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: So it was described as, like, her face falling off.
Just recently, someone did a documentary on her at CNN International. I want to play you her reaction when -- by the way, she went back to Bosnia a year later, and someone asked her, "What would you say to that sniper today?"
Here is her response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARET MOTH, PHOTOJOURNALIST: I would say, I'd be more curious, I guess. I'd be curious, did they see me in the van? Or did he just shoot randomly into the van? I would not feel any anger or anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: She would not feel any anger, is what she was saying. She was diagnosed three years ago with cancer. She died Sunday. She was 59.
What a woman.
SANCHEZ: They're a different breed, these folks.
BALDWIN: Tough cookie.
SANCHEZ: War correspondents and war photographers, they're just a different breed, all apart.
Thank you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: You're welcome.
SANCHEZ: And that's "The Brooke Block."
BALDWIN: And that's "The Brooke Block."
That's good punctuation.
The Linda Douglass block is coming up in just a little bit. She speaks for the president of the United States. We'll ask her some tough questions and hope we learn more about what the Democrats hope to do -- what the White House wants to do, I should say, with the passage of the health care reform bill.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I'd like to introduce Linda Douglass, President Obama's health care spokeswoman. And she's trying to keep from smiling too broadly, I imagine.
You must be feeling pretty good today. Huh?
LINDA DOUGLASS, WHITE HOUSE HEALTH CARE SPOKESWOMAN: Well, you know, we're feeling terrific, obviously, about the great benefits that are going to go to the American people. There is no question, Rick, this is a great day.
SANCHEZ: And it's a great day not politically, or is it a great day politically as well? Because I'm hearing the conventional wisdom out there is that, you know, if the Democrats and this White House passes this, no one will ever vote for them again.
DOUGLASS: Well, you know, when the American people, you know, finally get the truth about what is in the health insurance reform legislation, they will understand that starting this year, for example, if you have a child with a pre-existing condition, that child can get insurance coverage. Small businesses will start to be able to calculate the tax credit that they're going to get to help them afford health insurance for their workers. People with pre-existing conditions will be able to find coverage.
There will be, you know -- this is going to develop into the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history. Seniors this year are going to start to see benefits of reducing the costs of prescription drugs when they fall into that gap in coverage called the doughnut hole. So, there are going to benefits right away. And every family and every business is going to find that there are benefits for them from this legislation.
SANCHEZ: But what do you say to Americans who say I know those are all wonderful things, but you know what, it's just too damn expensive and I don't want to pay taxes up the wazoo for something like that?
DOUGLASS: Well, first of all, Americans are not going to be paying taxes. I mean, this is, as I said, the largest tax cut for health care in history.
There's going to be $400 million in tax credits going out to the American people. There are going to be huge savings that will be used to shore up Medicare, among other things.
You know, the only kinds of tax increases that we'll even be talking about are for the very, very wealthiest of Americans. The majority of people who will be participating in this program will be getting a great tax cut.
And in addition, Rick, it's very important to remember that this is a big deficit reducer. In the first decade, it reduces the deficit by more than $100 billion. In the second decade, by more than $1 trillion. This lowers costs, it lowers premium costs, and it lowers the deficit. SANCHEZ: You know there's a lot of folks who argue with that, right? You've been hearing, I'm sure, the other side saying that when you throw in doc fees, for example, and when you throw in some of the other examples that they've listed, this thing really isn't quite exactly at the same numbers that the White House is talking about.
What do you say to them?
DOUGLASS: Well, you know -- yes. Well, first of all, the Congressional Budget Office, which does the analysis, that is the source of the numbers that I just said, $100 billion and $1 trillion.
You know, we did have certainly a government run for eight years with massive deficit spending, with a prescription drug program and a couple of wars and big tax cuts that were not paid for, that rose the deficits in this country. There is no question. That is not how this administration operates, though.
SANCHEZ: So you're saying --
DOUGLASS: This administration is paid for.
SANCHEZ: OK. Well, listen, I respect that. Basically, you're saying, yes, we're going to pay a lot for it, but we're paying for it, as opposed to just borrowing for it.
Is that your point?
DOUGLASS: Absolutely. This is paid for and it reduces the deficit, and it reduces premiums for millions of Americans.
The Congressional Budget Office found that for millions of Americans, they'll see their premiums go down 14 percent to 20 percent from what they would be if we had done absolutely nothing. So this is going to lower personal costs for people, costs for businesses, and costs for the country.
SANCHEZ: Were you guys at the White House yesterday with the president while watching this whole thing in the House?
DOUGLASS: I was one of the many lucky staff people, absolutely. It was a very, very exciting moment, to see this history being made.
SANCHEZ: What did the president -- here, let me play this moment again for viewers, because now we know who did it. It was Representative Randy Neugebauer. He's come forward and said, yes, I was the one who screamed "baby killer."
Let our viewers watch this one more time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BART STUPAK (D), MICHIGAN: It is the Democrat whose have stood up --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those who are shouting out are out of order.
REP. RANDY NEUGEBAUER (R), TEXAS: -- baby killer.
STUPAK: Mr. Speaker --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: What's the White House's position on that kind of inflammatory language, that kind of slur being thrown out in this body? And it wasn't the only place we saw that kind of thing over the weekend. There was also the incident on Saturday with some members of the Tea Party yelling at the congressmen.
What does the White House make of that?
DOUGLASS: Well, you know, it just -- you know, speaking just as a citizen here, I mean, it's all been terribly unfortunate, to listen to the angry words, the insults, the epithets that have been hurled around in this process. You know, this is -- when you think about it, this is a measure that is going to benefit families and businesses and children with pre-existing conditions, and seniors with high prescription drug prices.
SANCHEZ: So where does it come from? Why would somebody, Linda, say something like that then? I mean, if this is so good for --
DOUGLASS: You know, I can't speculate for the gentleman who said that. I can't speculate for any of the people who have uttered very angry words.
You know, civility is certainly is something that we hope top see in our political discourse, and hope to see that moving forward, because this is a great moment. It's a moment that should bring the country together, and that's what we're hoping for.
SANCHEZ: Linda Douglass, my thanks to you for coming on and sharing your perspective on this from the White House lawn.
DOUGLASS: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right.
A robbery at an ATM is caught on tape. And we're going to show it to you next.
And then Representative Alan Grayson from Florida, he has some kind of personality. Does he not? He's going to share some of that with us here.
Moving forward -- or scrolling forward, we should say, on THE LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is THE LIST.
There's clever crime and then there's brute force. Let's do "Fotos."
"Fotos" means pictures, and these are the best of the day.
And we begin in Australia. This kind of looks like a scene from "Jaws," but it's not under water. It is street criminals ramming their way into a Melbourne cafe.
Their target, the ATM. The worst part, it's not the first time. This cafe has been targeted five times since December.
From dense down under to despicable in Detroit, a low-rent version of "Ocean's 11" in three parts.
Act one, a guy steals a donation board for leukemia victim. You know, the kind you put the quarters in.
Act two, two people enter the pizza joint and pay using, guess what? Quarters.
Act three, low-life numero uno returns for his grand finale. He swipes the donation jar.
Can you believe it?
Now let's go to England.
What's worse than being in a runaway Prius? This. The trucker doesn't even realize he's trapped this woman's car in front of him.
Oh, my God.
She tried everything she could to get his attention -- honking, flashing her lights, even calling the police. Finally, he realized what was happening and stopped. And amazingly, the blue car, it never flipped over and no one was hurt.
Talk about a wild ride.
Then there's Alan Grayson. He's going to be joining me in just a little bit. He is from the Sunshine State, like me. And he's going to be talking to us in just a little bit about everything that's going on and everything that he witnessed yesterday, as a matter of fact.
Also, tomorrow we're going to examine the Census count. Director of the U.S. Census Bureau Robert Groves is going to be joining me here on the show. And we'll take you through that.
Stay right there. THE LIST scrolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Joining us now, he's on THE LIST for the very first time after voting for the health care bill last night, is Florida Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson.
Congressman, good to see you, sir. REP. ALAN GRAYSON (D), FLORIDA: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Hey, what was it like yesterday? I just got to ask you, first of all, because there were times as I watched it I couldn't take my eyes off of it for seven hours. It was like watching a docudrama or something, what was going on in the House. It looked like the Taiwanese parliament for a while there.
What was your impression of everything going on?
GRAYSON: I had a different take than most people. I've heard those speeches over and over and over again.
I actually left around 8:00 and went down and hung out with the demonstrators for about an hour and a half and talked to them. There were plenty of people there on both sides of the argument. And I learned a lot from talking to them, and I heard some things I had not heard from my colleagues before.
SANCHEZ: You voted for this thing but you didn't like it. Right?
GRAYSON: No. I wouldn't say that at all.
I think it can be improved on. I've introduced a three-and-a-half page bill called Medicare -- the Medicare You Can Buy Into Act, HR 4789. And I think that that's the missing piece to this bill.
I think people should be able to buy into Medicare. If you want it and you pay for it, then you should have it. And I think that you're going to see movement in that direction after this bill. But I think it's a good bill. I'm glad I voted for it.
I mean, look, it saves lives.
SANCHEZ: I imagine the reason you want to do this, by the way, this Medicare thing that you're introducing, is because you want to create more competition. It doesn't seem like there's enough competition in this bill. Right?
GRAYSON: That's part of it. The other thing is that we -- the most difficult part of establishing competition is to establish a provider network.
And we've spent billions of dollars making sure that everybody from Nome, Alaska, to Key West Florida can actually go and see a Medicare doctor wherever they might need to be in the country, but it's available to only one-eighth of the public. It's like saying only seniors can drive on federal highways.
It just doesn't make any sense. It's this enormously valuable public resource that we own and we pay for and we have to use for the benefit of everyone.
SANCHEZ: The only thing about the Dems that I think they're being somewhat disingenuous on is I think you should just come clean, shouldn't you, and say, yes, this is very expensive? It takes a lot of money to do something historic like this. But I hear a lot of Democrats making it sound like this is the way to solve all of our economic problems.
Is that true? Is that genuine, when you hear people say that?
GRAYSON: Well, I think of it in terms of human beings. I know that there are so many people who don't have any coverage, and now 30 million more Americans will have it.
I know there's a lot of people who can't afford their coverage. Now it's going to be more affordable for them.
SANCHEZ: Right.
GRAYSON: I know that there's a lot of people who finally get all the health care they need until they actually need some. And then the insurance companies try to chintz them. That's not going to be possible anymore. So, ,in terms of actual individuals, those people are going to be better off, and seniors, too.
SANCHEZ: No, and I get that. And even Republicans that I talk to get that. But their concern is, it's too damn expensive.
Couldn't you have done it another way? Couldn't you have done it another time?
GRAYSON: But how can you say that when the Congressional Budget Office says it will reduce the federal deficit by $4,000 for every man, woman and child in this country? We're saving money, not wasting it.
SANCHEZ: Let ask you about something that just went on between you and Sarah Palin. You got into a little bit of a scuffle recently.
She said in a speech in Orlando, your district, your area, she said, "I can't even talk about this guy because there's kids in the room."
I mean, you've got to be a pretty awful guy for someone to say they can't even talk about you.
GRAYSON: I want to know why her kid was in the room. My kid was in school that day.
SANCHEZ: Well, you came back and you called her a "Alaskan dingbat." Did you really say that?
GRAYSON: What I said was that scientists were studying very carefully her trips between Florida and Alaska to learn more about the migratory patterns of the wild Alaskan dingbat.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: My goodness. Now --
GRAYSON: And I also told her that I'd welcome the opportunity to debate her on the issues as soon as she learns anything about them. SANCHEZ: Oh my goodness. So you don't think that Sarah Palin's all that qualified, then, from what I hear you saying, huh?
GRAYSON: You know, I think that she's an inspiration to quitters all over the country.
SANCHEZ: Whoa.
GRAYSON: I think that she's an inspiration to every student in school who cheats. That handwriting business, that was really original.
SANCHEZ: Palin recently said that she'd got some treatment. She was giving a speech in Calgary, I believe, and she said that she got treatment with her parents and would go down to Canada for -- to use their single payer system.
Now, that was weird, because she's been a real fighter against the system. Were you taken aback when she said that?
GRAYSON: Oh, look, you know, she's not even a political figure anymore. She's just a reality show personality. That's where all of this is heading. She just want to make money. That's it.
SANCHEZ: When you --
GRAYSON: It's all about -- go ahead.
SANCHEZ: Sorry about that. We've got a little bit of a satellite delay and it looks like we're stepping on each other just a little bit.
You're the kind of guy who says what he thinks. And when recently you were in the news for coming out and turning things around, as you tried to do with Republicans, and saying, no, they're the ones who are creating a situation where they'll kill old people, did you say that --
GRAYSON: No, no. Look, I mocked the absence of their health care plan.
There is no Republican health care plan that would actually give insurance to the people who don't have it. There is no Republican health care plan that will give you cheaper insurance. So what I said is, the Republican health care plan is, don't get sick.
But they understand that people are going to get sick anyway from time to time. So their backup plan is, if you do get sick, then die quickly. That's what I said.
SANCHEZ: Final question -- when you say things like that, which you know are going to -- I mean, Congressman, you know that they're going to get a lot of attention. Are you playing to the audience? Are you trying to get folks to say, hey, you know what, look at that guy down there in Florida, he's interesting? I want to see him -- are you making a lot of noise for the purposes of making noise?
GRAYSON: Look, you know, what it really comes down to is what the other side is saying. The truth hurts. And truth is very powerful.
SANCHEZ: And you believe that you were telling the truth?
GRAYSON: Oh, no question about it. No question about it.
SANCHEZ: Alan Grayson, congressman --
GRAYSON: Truth to power.
SANCHEZ: --- from Florida, is Alan Grayson. He's good enough to come and join us to have this discussion.
I'm glad you came on, sir. This is your first go-around, but we'll get you back. OK?
GRAYSON: I'll love it. Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
Health care is the topic. We're talking about it today. A lot of tweets coming in. And we'll show you some of them from our list as RICK'S LIST scrolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
As you can imagine, there's a lot of interest on the vote on Twitter. We called RICK'S LIST of Democrats and Republicans to bring you some of the most informative and the most interesting tweets that we can find.
Let's do it -- highlights. Ready?
Democratic Representative Frank Pallone from New Jersey writes, "Receiving very positive public response to House passage of HCR. The more people learn about it, the more that they like it."
Representative Pallone is chairman of the subcommittee that drafted most of the bill, by the way.
All right. Here's another tweet. This is from a Democrat. This time from Congressman Kendrick Meek of Florida.
He and I grew up together, by the way. Just as an aside.
He tweets, "It's morning in America and America is still shining bright. This is about people over the powerful, and policy over politics."
That's what Kendrick had to say.
Meek footnote -- he's running for the Florida Senate seat. It's the same one that House Speaker Mark Rubio and former Governor Charlie Crist are battling for.
Now, let's look at the other side of the aisle.
Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry from North Carolina has tweeted this: "Dems sealed their fate last night with HCR. America just witnessed Washington at its worst. The fight to replace and repeal Obamacare is on."
McHenry recently proposed that Ronald Reagan replace Ulysses S. Grant on the $50.
And this from a Republican colleague. Mike Rogers of Alabama: "Yesterday was further proof that the Democratic leadership thinks they know better than most Americans."
And on that, we get ready to close things out. We've got a guest in the studio today.
But where did your husband go? Is he afraid of you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. He's afraid of you.
SANCHEZ: He's afraid of me. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's afraid of you.
SANCHEZ: Thank you. Thank you. Just wanted to make sure.
And guess what day this is? This is the day when after working one of the hardest shifts that he's ever worked, Wolf Blitzer put in the kind of day yesterday that maybe only sailors not on leave put in. And today, we're happy to say, Happy Birthday, Wolf Blitzer!
You didn't know I knew, huh?
There it is. We'll drop the balloons. We were going to have Shakira do it. Couldn't get her. Too much money.
Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts your next hour.
Wolf, take it away.
