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American Morning
Automaker Claims Car Software is Bug Free; Obama and Netanyahu Meet at the White House; Stocks Hit 18-Month High; New Gift Card Rules; Retaliation In China; Republicans Health Care Fight; America's Big Weight Problem; Health Care Bill Q&A
Aired March 24, 2010 - 6:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thanks so much for joining us on Most News in the Morning on this Wednesday, the 24th of March. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Here's a look at the big stories we'll be breaking down in the next 15 minutes.
Toyota firing back denying it conspired with the government to keep critical safety information from the car buying public. The automaker now offering up a new claim about the computers that run their cars, a claim one engineering expert is already calling into question.
ROBERTS: No public handshakes. No photo ops. All business as President Obama met with his Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting closed to the media. Mending fences was on the agenda first between Israel and the United States before they even got to the Middle East. We're live at the White House this morning.
CHETRY: And prestigious universities now accepting YouTube videos from students as part of the application process, but is that really an effective way to gauge someone's potential? Part 3 of our special series, "Are you smart?" Straight ahead.
We begin, though, this morning with health care. You can join the conversation on the a.m. fix blog. It's up and running, and we want to hear from you. Send us your thoughts. CNN.com/amlive. We'll be reading some of your comments in a just a moment.
ROBERTS: We do begin this morning with a burning question that Toyota cannot seem to escape. Is it an electronic problem that is causing their cars to accelerate out of control? The automaker denies it, of course. If electronics are to blame it, it could cost Toyota billions of dollars to repair every recall vehicle.
Deb Feyerick is with us this morning, she has been looking into all of this for a number of weeks. I think, it's quite a challenge get in the bottom of this acceleration problem. And you've got a little...
(CROSSTALK)
DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A little gadget. This is the engine control module, we're going to talk about this in just a minute. What is important right now is what is going on Capitol Hill is that a team of British electronic experts are in Washington, D.C. They're meeting with federal regulators and congressional investigators.
Toyota continues to say it is confident that electronics are not causing cars to accelerate suddenly. Keep in mind, this is not just Toyota, this is many automakers experiencing this problem, including Ford for example. Now, the British experts say that yes they do believe it's the electronics. One of them Keith Armstrong is considered a leading expert in the area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH ARMSTRONG, ELECTRONIC EXPERT: Automakers claim because they can find no defect after sudden acceleration incident, then the sudden acceleration could not have been caused by design fault, so it must have been in the driver. In fact, this argument uses false logic, this argument is a form of logic. And most electronic faults don't leave any evidence, especially after you switched the ignition off which is the same as rebooting your computer at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now, Armstrong says that despite Toyota's claims, Electronic systems are bug free, he says, well, that's impossible. And he points to the space shuttle saying that engineers found one laden bug for 10,000 lines of code. And you can imagine just how many lines of code are in the space shuttle. Well, cars with 20 million lines of code now would estimate about 2,000 laden bugs in every model. Now, Toyota says, many backup systems and safety features though, even something where to happen, the car should really function properly.
ROBERTS: OK. So, you know, cars are -- you can imagine the computing power in a car right now is probably more than there was in the "Apollo" module. But did this problem occur when they replaced the accelerator with the hired wire accelerator with this electronic control module?
FEYERICK: They noticed a real spike in incidents with the electronic control system. That's when basically you got rid of the wire connecting everything. This is the module that we were talking about earlier, it's like virtual driving. Computers talking to each other. The driver is no longer directly in control -- this is not entirely, this is what I mean -- this engine control model is the brains of the car. You step on the gas pedals, it sends signals to the computer, the computer sends signals to the throttle. So, technically, it's the computer operating this throttle, not your foot.
CHETRY: Yes. And so, what's to say that these wires can't get crossed or you can't pick up signals from other sources, electromagnetic interference because something that you showed us yesterday we're doing testing on.
FEYERICK: Well, that's exactly right. Toyota has consistently said, you know, they put their electronic through millions of hours of rigorous testing. This week, the company released a video showing that the car being blasted by electromagnetic waves. Toyota says that they have never been able to reproduce sudden acceleration. But the British experts say that considering how random it is, it would really take testing 36 vehicles 24/7 for ten years to actually replicate the problem.
ROBERTS: All right. So, I mean, anybody who's got a computer at home knows that it can function just fine and all of a sudden through, you got a Mac, you got the spinning color wheel of death, you get the interminable hourglass, if you got windows or so. Why could the car go wrong?
FEYERICK: Well, and that's exactly what this British engineers are saying, they are saying that it is like a home computer that the only way you can get it to turn back on is to turn it off first. Kristen Tabar, we spoke to, she's with Toyota, she says that, no it's just not possible that the computers are much more sophisticated with many more safety features and we spoke to her extensively about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN TABAR, TOYOTA U.S. ELECTRONICS MANAGER: The electronics that are in vehicle are completely different than the electronics that you use in your home or your mobile devices. These are automotive grade equipment. We test this equipment completely different standard. We have to make our reliability such that it can operate under the vehicle conditions such as all kinds of environmental temperature, vibration, humidity, long-term exposure.
So, it's really a different kind of an electronics qualification for the parts that are in your car compared to the normal parts you interface within a daily basis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That is far more sophisticated. That's her claim, but what about the brake override? Because there have been a lot of questions about this so. If you push the gas and push the brake at the same time, the brake is supposed to win?
FEYERICK: That's exactly right. Well, that's interesting because a lot of people are saying, this is the answer. Well, the British experts say, the risk is that the brake override system is on the same system that's causing the malfunction to begin with so in order for it to work, it really has to be independent. Like elevators that have a big red stop button, it's wired separately from all the other controls.
To be clear, these men are not involved in any lawsuits that are being brought against Toyota. However, they were brought to the United States by people who in fact are part of the lawsuits. So, while they were independent, they were brought by people who technically have a vested interest in this.
CHETRY: That's true. Deb Feyerick for us this morning, thank you.
FEYERICK: Of course.
CHETRY: Well, it's being called a moment of truth for Middle East peace, a meeting that could set the tone for next three years or more. President Obama sitting down for a long talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister ignoring reporters as he walked into the White House. And that, as closest cameras were able to actually get to that meeting.
Our Jill Dougherty is live at the white house this morning. And Jill, this comes at one of the most tense times between the two allies, did anything of substance come out of the meeting?
JILL DOUGHERTY, FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, substance is one thing that the way this all transpired is really pretty interesting. Ed Henry talking to a White House official this morning and getting some very interesting details. That meeting last night started the president and prime minister sit down, they talked for 90 minutes. Then Mr. Obama were told, goes back to his residents and Netanyahu, the Prime Minister continues to talk with his staff in the Roosevelt room.
Then Mr. Netanyahu says, can I have another meeting with the president? The president comes back and they have another 30 minutes. So, it is a very intriguing and you have to read kind of the body language here. But look what happened. After all of that, no readout, no statement. Almost no information. And that's an indication I think Kiran of how tense a lot of this is. And the key point is settlements, settlements in East Jerusalem. And Mr. Netanyahu is making it clear, he's digging in his heels and he's really not compromising.
CHETRY: The White House certainly juggles so many elements of the president's schedule. Yesterday he was a huge state for health care, I mean he was signing the health care overhaul into law. Did he not want this situation to sort of overshadow that?
DOUGHERTY: Well, they are really very different. I mean, health care, I would think he would have to say is so huge that was the big day. But this relationship with Israel is really an intense territory and it's been going on for two weeks. And the whole idea of the visit by the Prime Minister was to try to pull it back on track and look where we are right now. Really no progress. The defiant statement by him when he gave the big speech here in Washington. And the meetings that he had with Vice President Biden and with Hillary Clinton also were kind of below the radar screen. So, not much is resolved you'd have to say.
CHETRY: Yes. Jill Dougherty for us this morning at the White House. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Seven minutes after the hour. And also new this morning, today without the flash of cameras President Obama will privately sign an executive order that prevents federal money from paying for abortions. Before anti-abortion democrats, namely Congressman Bart Stupak would sign off in the health care bill on Sunday. The president had to agree to take the abortion funding out of the insurance plan.
CHETRY: California Attorney General Jerry Brown is asking a court to bar Dr. Conrad Murray from practicing medicine while he's being prosecuted in connection with Michael Jackson's death. The State Medical Board will make a formal request to a hearing next month to suspend Murray's license. He has pleaded not guilty to involuntary man slaughter in Jackson's death.
ROBERTS: Bill Gates may try his hand at making an advanced nuclear reactor. The head of Microsoft wants to partner with the Japanese Electronic maker Toshiba to develop a traveling wave reactor which designed to run for 100 years without refueling compared to less fuel efficient reactors. Gates may put several billion dollars of his own money into the project which could take a decade to finish.
CHETRY: Lawyers for suspended NBA Star Gilbert Arenas arguing that he should not go to jail despite having gun in a locker room because he isn't aggressive or confrontation went anyway. A judge will sentence Washington Wizards player on Friday. Prosecutors were asking that Arenas spend three months in prison.
ROBERTS: And the TSA is considering installing devices in airports that can track your smart phones and PDA. TSA officials say the devices could tell them how long people are stuck at security check points and that information can be posted on line to help passengers avoid long lines. Civil Liberty Groups are already calling the idea an invasion of privacy.
CHETRY: And is it really almost April? Doesn't look or feel like in Denver. A storm that blow in last night could dump more than a foot of snow in Colorado before all is said and done.
ROBERTS: Let's get a quick check this morning's weather headlines. Reynolds Wolf is in Atlanta this morning. So, Colorado getting socked. What about the rest country?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I mean, it's mostly going to be limited to parts of the Rocky Mountains, the same to the Crystal Mountains and into the Center Plains. Everyone else should have a fairly easy day of it.
Let's go right to the maps. We'll show you what's happening out there, beginning with some of the snowfall totals yesterday. Take a look at these numbers, many places over a foot of snowfall. You're seeing on the map there, a bit of a bull's-eye right there in the dead center of the map. That is the area of low pressure that is going to bring strong thunderstorms to parts of the Dallas Ft. Worth area.
But back into the fourth quarters, pretty good in some places but of course in parts of New Mexico and into Colorado could see some heavy snowfall. Then they slope into the panhandle of Texas and maybe even to panhandle of Oklahoma. More on that coming up and the travel delays that we can expect. That's all straight ahead. Back to you. CHETRY: Reynolds, thanks. And also up ahead, surprising requirements that are very deep in the health care reform law. At 7:14 Eastern, we'll tell you the changes that you and your family will notice next time you visit a restaurant.
ROBERTS: At 7:41, retaliation from China after Google detoured users to air to an uncensored Web sites. Will things escalate even more or has the Chinese government won this fight. We'll have the latest for you.
CHETRY: And at 7 a.m. Eastern, America's growing weight problems. The numbers are staggering, more American teens are at risk now than ever. We'll going to look at the problem and how one 14- year-old is trying to turn her life around. It's ten minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: With the stroke of a few pens, 22 of them, President Obama signed into law a sweeping health care reform that will impact every man, woman and child in America.
CHETRY: And there are two provisions that are tucked deep in the legislation that you'll noticed almost immediately restaurants with 20 or more locations have to post calorie counts on their menus. Also, by 2013, the amount of money you can contribute tax free to flexible spending accounts for medical expenses will be limited to $2500 a year. Also next year, you'll no longer be able to use your flexible spending account to buy over the counter drugs.
During the crusade to pass health care reform, President Obama said and republicans, at some point in this whole thing tried to hash out their differences.
ROBERTS: And in the end, not one republican voted for health care reform. Last night on "LARRY KING LIVE," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney were asked why the two sides remain miles apart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Were you surprised that they couldn't get one republican vote?
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Well, I'm frankly disappointed because there are lots of republican ideas in the bill. Unfortunately, this conversation got very partisan from the outset and I am disappointed that not a single republican voted for the bill, even though their ideas are part of the law of the land now.
KING: I think that the decision to take the nuclear option as the president did to not secure a single republican vote in contravention of his promise during the campaign, that he would reach across party lines, it's working by bipartisan basis, that was very, very disappointing. MITT ROMNEY, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: If they were not going to vote, what was he supposed to do, scratch it if he liked the plan, he ran on it?
KING: Well, what he's supposed to do is to have a plan which is bipartisan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So, we're getting more comments from you this morning. Let's check out the live conversation happening right now on the blog from Tim.
"As much as I believe in health care reform, I believe that the economy and job creation are much more important as of now. If you don't have a job, you cannot afford health insurance. Even if you have health insurance without a job who pays the co-pay? To the unemployed, $35 is a lot of money."
ROBERTS: From Scott, "I'm in favor of the health care bill because it provides health care insurance to everyone and stops the abuses of insurance companies. Now, everyone can finally be healthy. The abortion restrictions are great as well, because we need to have restrictions and abortion included in the health care bill. I only believe abortion is right if you are raped or if the pregnancy was by incest. Great job, President Obama."
So, keep the comments coming this morning.
CHETRY: Yes. We want to know what you think about health care reform. Join the live blog on our website, cnn.com/am fix, and we'll read some of your comments on the air later this morning.
ROBERTS: Stay with us because coming up in just a little less than ten minutes now, we're going to break down what Republicans are doing right and wrong when it comes to their health care strategy when we talk to Former President Bush's speechwriter David Frum and Republican strategist, Leslie Sanchez. Sixteen minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's been a week since the world war.
ROBERTS: Yes, I think. Was that last week or the week before?
CHETRY: I don't know. You're too tired, you can't think.
ROBERTS: I can't remember anything that I did two days ago, so you know, it doesn't --
CHETRY: It's scary, isn't it? Nineteen minutes past the hour. It's time for Minding Your Business this morning.
A bull run on Wall Street. The Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all reaching 18-month highs. The stock surge followed an encouraging report on home sales that experts say is the latest evidence that the economy is slowly improving.
ROBERTS: Ever try to use a gift card only to find out that it's expired. Under new rules issued by the Federal Reserve, you will have five years to use those gift cards before they expire. They also ban hidden fees and limit other charges. Those rules go to effect in August.
CHETRY: I always lose mine before they can expire.
ROBERTS: So, you never find them two years later and say, I wonder if this still works.
CHETRY: Yes, sometimes.
ROBERTS: They are just gone.
CHETRY: Sometimes, unfortunately.
How about this, try to do a Google search in China, it's complicated to say the least this morning. China has retaliated against the decision to reroute users to an uncensored site, having its mainland users are now block from looking at controversial content, and the service is reportedly right now spotty at best.
ROBERTS: The censorship war has reached a boiling point. A Chinese communist party newspaper has even accused Google of conspiring with American spies and dismissed the company's complaints saying quite, "for Chinese people, Google is not God, and even if it puts on a full on show about politics and values, it is still not God.
CHETRY: Earlier, we did talk to Nick Thompson from "Wired" magazine. He says that Google's push back is more than warranted. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLAS THOMPSON, SENIOR EDITOR, "WIRED" MAGAZINE: Google has always been uncomfortable in China. They've always said, we don't like censoring. It's against the ecos (ph) of the company, but we'll do it because this is such a big market, and we're bringing information to the people. Then, two months ago - actually, probably, nine months ago, China started blocking YouTube. That frustrated Google.
Two months ago, we learned the last night, China hacked. We didn't know what the hack was about. Now, we know that the hack was trying to get into the gmail accounts of political dissidents in Mainland China and Abroad, and that to Google was just outrageous. So, then Google started to fight back, and say, all right, we're not going to censo results, can we find a compromise? China said, no. If you're here you have to censor. So, Google said, we're out of here. And Google is doing this, I think they just got fed up, and in particular, I think, Sergei Brin, that's everybody's reporting, got very fed up.
CHETRY: Sergei Brin? THOMPSON: Sergei Brin, sorry, is one of founders of Google, and he grew up in Soviet Russia where, of course, there was lots of censorship as a young child, and he said that had a big effect on him. Of course, there are some benefits to Google. It makes the company look good. It makes look like an attractive place to work, to young Silicon Valley coders. You know, this is the company that stood up to China.
CHETRY: Right.
THOMPSON: It also probably has some benefits with the antitrust cops in the United States who are looking to see how Google is behaving, and Google is saying, we are a public trust. Just China get the most information to the most people, but it has huge business consequences. So, I think Google is doing this mostly because they believe it's part of their job to make the world a better place, and they don't want to cooperate any more with china censorship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. So, here's a look at what's blocking with it. G-mail and news is fine, but start to look for Google groups, there's trouble, and if you try to go on YouTube or sites that the government might have a problem with, they are blocked.
ROBERTS: In fact, this video is just in from our Beijing office. You can see that when you try to initiate a Google search for the Dalai Lama, it's not going to get you anywhere. You can actually pull up results, but you can't click through to those results. And the searching something seemingly innocuous to us like human rights for deliver a list, eventually, that leads to a dead end as well.
CHETRY: Are you smart? Alina Cho has been doing a week long series in our AM Original. This is creative intelligence. Some colleges are actually accepting YouTube videos, but are YouTube videos any sense of a person's potential? We're going to find out and talk to Alina coming up. Twenty-two minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REESE WITHERSPOON, ENTERTAINER: Hi, my name is Elle Woods, and from my admission as say, I'm going to tell all of you at Harvard why I'm going to make an amazing lawyer. I feel comfortable using weekly jargon in every day life. I object. --
ROBERTS: Life for college using a videotape is not just for the legally blond any more. In fact, at least one respected university is welcoming the practice.
CHETRY: That's right, but is a video really the best way to judge in applicant's intelligence? This week in our special series, "Are You Smart?" Alina Cho takes in-depth look at aspects of intelligence, and she joins us to examine the kind of smarts that the student needs to get into college. Elle Woods aside.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elle Woods aside -- CHETRY: What are the points of that video?
CHO: You know, emotional intelligence, creative intelligence. There's more to life than cognitive smarts, right,guys? You know, we all know that the college admissions process is competitive, over competitive. Good grades, high SATs. All of that matters, but if you're applying to Tufts University in Massachusetts, a personal video can actually help, too. It's part of the application. So, does a YouTube video measure a different kind of smart. You'll be the judge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): What does this, this and this have to do with getting into college?
EVAN RENAUD, TUFTS APPLICANT: I hope the admissions officers will notice it and be like, hey, this guy is really cool.
CHO: Tufts University near Boston is now accepting personal videos as part of the application process, among the first in the nation to do so. Not to replace essays, grades, or SATs, but as a supplement. The videos are not required, but students are getting into it.
UNKNOWN MALE: Do the right thing and accept this as reality. I'll bring the goods like Barnum and Bailey.
CHO: Already, almost 1,000 students are taking parts out of the 15,000 applications they received. Some of on YouTube have been viewed by thousands. Demonstrating creativity in animation, wilderness survival skills --
And in Rhaina Cohen's case, a twist on a familiar phrase, walk a mile in my shoes. In her case, literally.
RHAINA COHEN, TUFTS APPLICANT: I wasn't trying took, you know, Imelda Marcos and say I have 3,000 shoes, but I just wanted to show a bit of who I am. I think the goal is with applications in general, that these are humans looking at files, fill with somebody papers, and they're trying to discern who are you, what I want to, and would I be intrigued by you.
CHO: What does the YouTube video provide for an admissions officer that the application doesn't?
MARILEE JONES, FORMER M.I.T. DEAN OF ADMISSIONS: You really get to see these applicants in their adolescent best. You see the cleverness, and you see the goofiness and you see who they are as human beings, this is the point.
CHO: Marilee Jones, former Dean of Admissions at M.I.T. calls the personal videos refreshing.
JONES: It's very easy to fall in love with someone in one minute. It's also very easy to get turned off. So, what these students are doing by providing this video this year is a very high wire act. They're taking huge risk, which is why I love them.
CHO: Showing a kind of intellectual hootsba (ph) to go along with other credentials.
Can you tell me a range what you got on the SAT?
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Out of 2,400, I got a 2,300.
CHO: You got 2,300 out of 2,400 on your SAT? Oh my gosh. You didn't need that video.
For others, a place where playing with fire can be a ticket to college.
RENAUD: Everyone else probably talks about community service or being a varsity athlete. So, I thought fire play really the only thing I know that I do that nobody else does.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (on-camera): He may be right, and it is called fire ploy, guys, by the way. Tufts University says it is still committed to the essay writing portion of the application. No matter what they say, it is important to be able to express yourself elegantly in writing. So, then the videos, really, are way to show that the university is media savvy, too. So, much so, guys, that the Dean of Admissions says that he plans to put the best very videos into a Tufts idol contest once the admissions process is over.
But you know, as one Dean of Admissions told me, you start to look at these applications, 30, 40 cases a day, the students all do begin to look the same and start to get cross eyed, right? And so these videos. If they're looking for people who they can imagine walking the halls, walking the campus, these videos do help.
CHETRY: Maybe people who don't do them at a disadvantage in a way.
CHO: It could be. It could train to that. Listen, right now, it's about 1,000 out of the 15,000 applications. I think, they accept about just under 1300 people, but it definitely is the way of the future, I think. A lot of the people we talk to say it's -- you know, you're going to see colleges across America do this. Tufts is the first.
CHETRY: Wow. Alina Cho, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Thank you very much.
Crossing the half hour now. That means it's time for this morning's top stories. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton visiting Mexico and saying the U.S. must and is doing its part to help fight a bloody drug war. She also repeated that illegal drugs bought here and guns sold here are helping fuel the violence. CHETRY: President Obama's pick to lead the TSA says Israel gets it. Robert Harding told Congress that he wants U.S. airport security to more closely resemble security in Israeli airports. He says he would push for screeners to engage passengers in conversations, to try to identify terrorists. Israeli security though had been criticized for passenger profiling.
ROBERTS: And a developing story this morning, a Somali pirate shot dead off the coast of East Africa. Officials say it happened during a shootout with private security guards hired to protect a Panamanian cargo ship. The remaining pirates took off after a second try but were chased down by a Spanish navy vessel.
CHETRY: President Obama in the midst of a victory lap on health care. Tomorrow, he heads to Iowa City to convince Americans that this is the best medicine for our struggling health care system. But Republicans, of course, as you know, feel very differently. They stood united in opposition to this legislation, not a single Republican vote. They are now promising to vote to repeal the law.
So how well is this strategy working for the GOP? Joining me, former Bush speechwriter David Frum and also Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez. Good to see both of you this morning.
DAVID FRUM, FORMER BUSH SPEECHWRITER: Thank you.
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.
CHETRY: We brought you both on because you have different points of view on this. David, you recently wrote a very interesting column called "Waterloo" and you suggest that it's actually the Republican's waterloo, not the Democrats, talking about missed opportunities by stonewalling healthcare and you say that it's back fired. We understand this article is causing a little bit of a stir in Washington. Explain why you feel that the Republicans missed an opportunity and actually botched the health care debate?
FRUM: Well, it should cause a stir. We need to make an accountability moment inside the Republican party. We gambled on a political approach to health care. With the top priority became defeating the president so that we can pick up seats in November. Now if that had worked, maybe it would have been justifiable. It didn't work.
And as a result, we have a bill that doesn't have Republican values in it. The bill will raise taxes more than it otherwise would. We know that Max Baucus at Finance and the president badly wanted the Republican buy-in. I think it was worth crying whether that could have succeeded as is we have a policy failure, we have a political failure and I think Republicans are deluding themselves about the prospects of repealing this bill and about their prospects in November.
CHETRY: And what do you think, Leslie, do you think to repeal this bill is the route that Republicans should go? Is this where the energy should be channeled right now? SANCHEZ: Well, Kiran, there are two parts to that. I think to answer your question, I think repeal would be overreaching, a full repeal is not going to happen. I think that's the political reality of this. And more so, there was not a discussion about the need for health care reform. Republicans and Democrats agree, it was this bill was overreaching. It was too expensive. It put a lot of burden on small business. And we can go on and on.
And all in good faith to answer, David, kind of what he's alluding to there was not a good faith effort to bring Republicans to the table. We can go on and on, in the political talking points, you'll hear about it especially on the campaign trail. But the reality was there were some really good ideas left on the cutting room floor.
If they ever made it, everything from portability, buying health insurance across state lines, tort reform, ending these medical malpractice. Republicans tried to put these efforts forward and the Democrats used very sharp elbows and very tough tactics to push through what they wanted.
CHETRY: And so, David, let me ask you about this, you said you think that it's not going to pay off come the mid-term elections. I mean, there's still a lot of anger out there. There are still a lot of rallying for the GOP. The TEA Party movement, I mean, they were sort of galvanized by this health care debate. You think that all of that could sort of start too dissipate by 2010 elections?
FRUM: Well, when people say this may pay off for the Republicans, I have two answers. The first is no, and the second is so what. Even supposing it does, even supposing that Republicans take a House of Congress, how often do majorities flip back and forth. This bill is forever. It's like Medicare back in 1965. How many times has Congress changed hands since then but Medicare is still here.
The important thing is to shape the once in a generation, once in a half a century pieces of legislation, your values. In this case, we have a bill that actually quite bears a family resemblance to what Mitt Romney did in Massachusetts. So it was something, it was something that we could have worked on. One last thing about the repeal point, the new formula -- Leslie is right, is not repeal, but repeal and replace.
That begs the question, with what? And unfortunately, I think that the Republicans are going to discover, they don't really have good answers to that question. And it's a little late in the game to be developing them.
CHETRY: And Leslie, I want to ask you about the TEA Party situation because they're among the loudest voices in the health care debate. And there's no link between the TEA Party and the GOP ostensibly but we had a Quinnipiac poll out today showing that 74 percent of tea partiers also call themselves either Republicans or independents who lean Republican. So, how do they woo the tea partiers for this year's elections, at the same time being careful about some of the fringe elements where we saw these hints at racism, talk of socialism, talk of, some of the flame throwing when it comes to Obama being a Nazi or a socialist?
SANCHEZ: Well, all of those tactics, all those messages are deplorable. I mean, everybody is going to agree. Let's start with some ground rules on that. The distinctive difference was this was a movement generated with a deep concern about freedom but also cost deficits and spending. There is a tremendous pull over the American electorate right now in concern about the economy. Is it moving? Is it strengthening? Is this president leading us in the direction that's going to provide an economic recovery and not burden the United States with more debt?
Those are still very real issues. I think that's what voters are going to be looking at. To the extent that it mobilizes tea partiers, independents, don't forget a lot of TEA Party folks said they voted for Obama. In a way, that's a good thing. You want individuals galvanized in your election come November. The reality is there's 25 to 30 seats very strongly in play. I think the Democrats, many of them in the swing districts held their nose, jumped over the cliff and they're hoping that there's water in the pond come November.
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CHETRY: And let me ask you -- and David, I want to ask you about that come November, I mean, in a lot of cases its the TEA Party folks that the TEA Party support that are helping these GOP candidates possibly take over these seats in November. So what's your message? What do you think the focus should be for these GOP candidates?
FRUM: Look, I want to see Republican gains in November. I'd like to see the Republicans take over the House. But if you, for example, defeat a candidate like John McCain and replace him with J.D. Hayworth, as the Republican nominee for the Senate in Arizona, Republicans will lose a seat that has been Republican forever.
So there could be a lot of dark energy in the TEA Party movement. A lot of even if they avoid the pitfalls you mentioned before, that just out of ideological extremism, you don't have to be full of extremist views to say I'm just going to try to push my own ideological conviction farther than the market will bear. And the McCain-Hayworth race is an example of this, at its worst.
SANCHEZ: You know, it's interesting, Kiran, I want to add -- to agree with David's point. The more that a movement like that is seen to be on the fringes or dominated by that type of language, the more it's going to diffuse internally. Because there's too many people that will step away. Say this is not what I signed up for.
CHETRY: Right.
SANCHEZ: And they'll look for other candidates, other messages, more reasonable approaches. That's the advantage Republicans have.
CHETRY: All right. David Frum and Leslie Sanchez, great conversation from both of you this morning. Thanks.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
CHETRY: Thirty-seven minutes past the hour. We're going to take a quick break. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
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ROBERTS: Now that President Obama has signed health insurance reform into law, one of the biggest problems facing America is our waistlines, our weight. The CDC painting a startling picture that we're going to show you this morning. Take a look at this.
In 1999, less than 20 percent of adults were obese. Highlighted in the blue states. The base states, it's 20 percent and higher. Fast forward nine years and the map looks really different. The orange states, at least 25 percent of adults are obese and the red states, it's 30 percent or higher. Add them up, that's 32 states. 32 states with an obesity problem. The obesity epidemic is hitting our nation's youth harder than ever.
Randi Kaye has the story of one 14-year-old teen this morning.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her name is Maria Caprigno and if you're staring at her, she won't be surprised. Because of her weight, people have been doing so since she was a little girl.
Look at these family photos, they tell the story of Maria's ongoing battle with childhood obesity. At four, she weighed 79 pounds as much as a seven year old. By the time she was seven, 168 pounds, off the charts her doctors said. By nine, she weighed 250. Last month at 14, she topped out at 445 pounds.
(On camera): Does it hurt when people stare at you?
MARIA CAPRIGNO, 14-YEAR-OLD: Yes. The first thing that goes through their mind is why is she so fat? And like, oh my God, she's so fat, why isn't she on a treadmill?
KAYE (voice-over): Maria's parents are overweight too and admit they don't eat healthy foods. Maria's always been a junk food junkie. Dieting never worked. So a few years back Maria pleaded with her mother to find a doctor willing to do weight loss surgery on teenagers. Their search led them here to National Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Dr. Evan Nadler.
DR. EVAN NADLER, CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: I had to help her, because she was 440 pounds and going nowhere except for gaining more weight.
KAYE: Maria was 12 and already pre-diabetic. NADLER: Her BMI, which is a measurement we use to determine how obese someone is put her in the highest risk category, not just morbidly obese but actually two categories higher than that.
KAYE (on camera): Dr. Nadler says 25 percent of all high school aged children are either overweight or obese. And he believes that those most obese face health risks such as high blood pressure, diabetes and depression that far outweigh the risks of any weight loss surgery.
(voice-over): But some disagree like Dr. Edward Livingston who turns away most young patients.
DR. EDWARD LIVINGSTON, UNIV. OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CTR.: Kids don't know what they are getting into. So I think you have to be really careful with children.
KAYE: Before surgery, Maria had to meet with a nutritionist, pediatric cardiologist and psychologist for approval.
CAPRIGNO: My name is Maria Caprigno.
KAYE: She also wrote this letter to her insurance company seeking coverage.
(on camera): You told the insurance company you need this surgery to make it to your 15th birthday.
CAPRIGNO: Doctors have told me for years that if I keep gaining weight I'm not going to see 18. And that has terrified me. I want to live. I want to do so many things. And I knew that this was my only option, to do them.
KAYE: This is a life or death surgery for you, you felt?
CAPRIGNO: Yes.
KAYE (voice-over): Even so, some critics still argue not enough is known about possible long-term complications.
NADLER: I fully agree that we need to study this more. But I don't think it's fair to the Maria's of the world to keep them from having this procedure based on their age alone.
KAYE (on camera): In his own study the doctor followed 41 teenagers for two years after weight loss surgery. He says they lost half their excess body weight and their health had improved.
(voice-over): Last month Maria had an experimental procedure known as a gastrectomy. 80 percent of her stomach was removed, including the area that makes her appetite hormones.
CAPRIGNO: I wasn't hungry after surgery, like normally I would have been starving.
KAYE: Maria has already lost 45 pounds and trimmed two inches off her waist. She's off junk food, getting regular exercise. And eating a high protein diet.
(on camera): What is your goal weight?
CAPRIGNO: It's not about the numbers. I want to be at the healthy size. I want to be able to run. I haven't been able to run since I was five years old. I want to be able to wear a bathing suit without feeling embarrassed. I just want to be able to be normal.
KAYE: Normal and healthy.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Norwood, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It's really amazing, when you think that a decade ago, no state had a population of more than 24 percent of people who are obese. And now, all of these states with more than 30 percent. It's amazing.
The super sizing of America just continues.
CHETRY: I know. And for this little girl, I mean, you know, all the best. I mean, she had an experimental surgery, but similar to gastric bypass in some ways, and that it limits the amount that you can eat.
And she's making some healthy lifestyle choices, so hopefully things will continue for her.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, "A.M. House Call" 10 minutes away. Sanjay answers your questions about the health care bill.
It's 45 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
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CHETRY: Forty-eight minutes past the hour right now. Time to get a check of this morning's weather headlines, and for that we turn to Reynolds Wolf in Atlanta this morning, keeping an eye on things for us, including some snow totals in places where it certainly doesn't feel like spring.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, I'm telling you, boy, kind of hard to miss these spots, all in Colorado, from Jamestown to Pinecliffe, back to Aspen Springs, Genessee, even in Nederland, you got over a foot of snowfall, and, yes, even more is expected to fall today and possibly into early tomorrow as well.
Take a look. Here's what we have on the map. You see the areas shaded in green and even white and red. Those are spots we have the advisories, the watches, the warnings all along parts of the I-25 corridor and back towards I-35 from Oklahoma City southward to the Dallas Ft. Worth area. Not snow but heavy rain, possibly some thunderstorms in that area too. And in both of those spots, you could see a few backups, to say the least.
But, really, into the afternoon is where things could get especially rough right in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. Severe storms certainly a possibility. We have a slight risk that's been posted by the Storm Prediction Center out of Norman, Oklahoma for this area, so that certainly could be an issue for you.
Now, issues for your travels, yes, you could have a few of those in Boston, on your New York metros due to the wind. You could see an hour delay in all your D.C. metros, also in Philadelphia and Cleveland. Fog might be a problem for you in Denver. Of course the snow and the wind is going to lower that visibility.
That is the latest on your forecast. More updates coming up. Back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: Looking forward it to, Reynolds. Thanks so much.
Sanjay Gupta just ahead with your "A.M. House Call" this morning, and further explanation of the new health care legislation and what it means for you.
Stay with us. Ten minutes now to the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning and it's time for your "A.M. House Call", stories about your health.
It's not just President Obama's big idea anymore, it is the law.
CHETRY: Yes. So, there are plenty of questions about health care reform and what it means for you, and we have some answers this morning with our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He joins us from Atlanta this morning.
Hey, Sanjay. Good to see you.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good morning.
CHETRY: So we have a lot of questions coming in from our viewers. This one comes from Virginia via Twitter. Virginia wants to know, "What will happen when there are not enough doctors to care for all the patients?"
GUPTA: Yes. This is -- this is a question we get a lot, and, you know, simply put, there's a predicted shortfall of primary care physicians of 40,000 short, is what the prediction is, and you add to that of course 32 million more people likely to be insured over the next several years, and you can sort of see the problem there.
Add to that this idea that these new insurance plans are going to offer free preventative care, so a lot more people are probably going to be seeking out doctors. Simply not enough. There -- there's a little bit of a model in Massachusetts to look at to see what happened there, and what we have found over the past couple of years, waiting times have gone up in Massachusetts, probably for this very same reason.
If you look through the bill, there are some incentives to try and create more primary care physicians, paying them more, helping pay off student loans. There's -- they're also really banking on these community health centers. They're not hospitals but they're sort of these clinics that might be able to take care of a lot of the -- the simpler, less urgent needs as well.
But, you know, it's a potential problem out there on the delivery side of things.
ROBERTS: Next question this morning, Sanjay, comes from Jones (ph) in New Jersey. Here's the question, "Does the elimination of lifetime caps under the new health care bill apply to existing policy holders as well as to new insurance sign-ups?"
GUPTA: The short answer is yes. We were looking at that the very carefully, and within six months that should -- that should happen. There should be no caps over a policy's lifetime.
Now, if you look at the language specifically, they'll say every year there can be caps as well, and those caps are going to become much more restrictive, although they still left some of the specific language and enforcement up to the Department of Health and Human Services.
So a little bit unclear on how it will play out yearly, but over someone's lifetime there should be a cap within six months on all policies.
CHETRY: All right.
Well, we also have another question from Twitter. "What happens if I can't afford health insurance and I don't qualify for Medicaid? What are my options?"
GUPTA: You know, there's a lot of people that fall into this group, and we get a lot of e-mails and tweets from -- from folks just like that. Their cost of living is simply too high to afford health care insurance but they're not qualifying for government assistance right now.
Ultimately, if they have a medical problem now, they may be qualifying for what's known as these high-risk pools so they can get insurance where they previously couldn't in the past. But eventually they're going to have these health exchanges, and that -- that's going to be the place where a lot of people, like this particular person, might be able to find their health care insurance.
You know, with these -- you know, in 2014, people are going to be required to have health care insurance or pay a fine, $695 or 2.5 percent of their income, whichever is greater. But if they simply can't pay -- you know, afford it, then they can get subsidies, and they have specific criteria for who's going to qualify for the subsidies.
It has to do with how much you're making and how big your family is.
ROBERTS: All right. One final question here this morning. Here it comes. "My dad owns a small business that doesn't offer his six employees health care. How will health care reform affect his business structure?"
GUPTA: Yes, you know, there's a lot of incentives, sort of, for small businesses exactly in this category to provide health care insurance. They're not required to do so, as you know, right now.
There's only three phases to this. Within this year, there will be a tax credit to small businesses that offer health care to their employees. Thirty-five percent is going to be the amount of that tax credit. And within a few years it's going to go up to 50 percent.
But, within time, they're going to -- they're going to create sort of these pools as well for small business owners. It's called SHOP. It's a Small Business Health Option Program, and that allows small businesses, you know, that don't have that many employees to pool together and try and become a little bit more competitive in negotiating rates.
So 35 percent now, 50 percent within a few years, and eventually these pools will be created for just this situation.
ROBERTS: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning with your "A.M. House Call". Doc, great to see you. Thanks so much.
CHETRY: Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thanks, John. Thanks, Kiran (Ph).
ROBERTS: Fifty-eight minutes after the hour. Your top stories coming your way in two minutes. Stay with us.
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