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American Morning
Senate to Vote on Jobs Bill; The Politics of Romney's Religion; Dexia Bank Secures $121 Billion Bailout; Netflix Scrapping 'Qwikster' Rebranding; Veteran Successfully Sues Health Care Company for Medicaid Fraud; Author Discusses Book about Bullying; "I Have It in the Blood"
Aired October 10, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A crucial week for the president's jobs bill. I'm Christine Romans. The Senate expected to vote tomorrow on the measure. But with serious Republican opposition, can any part of this plan pass?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello. Will Mitt Romney's faith be his political downfall? A prominent pastor in Texas calling it a cult, and some analyst say a Mormon cannot win the White House. Religion mixing with politics on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Happy Monday. It is October 10. Actually, happy Columbus Day.
ROMANS: That means the kids are home from school, but you still have to work.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: That's right.
Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.
ROMANS: All right, for weeks now, President Obama has turned up the heat on lawmakers, pressing them to pass this $447 billion jobs plan. So far, that measure has gone nowhere. But soon, that could all change. The Senate is expected to vote on the president's plan this week.
Our Brianna Keilar is live at the White House.
Good morning, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol and Christine. Good morning.
You know, this is a big week, politically more than anything for the president's jobs plan. And that's because while there is expected to be a vote in the Senate tomorrow, tomorrow in the evening, I'm told, it seems unlikely at this point that the jobs plan -- the president's jobs plan would pass. But you still hear him very much pushing Congress, urging Congress to pass his bill in its entirety.
Here's what he said over the weekend in his address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some see this as class warfare. I see it as a simple choice. We can either keep taxes exactly as they are for millionaires and billionaires, or we can ask them to pay at least the same rate as a plumber or a bus driver. And in the process, we can put teachers and construction workers and veterans back on the job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So, just a reminder for everyone out there of what the president is proposing in his plan, which is just under about $500 billion. It would include a cut to payroll taxes for employees so that they would have more money in their pocket, but also for employers. The idea being here -- put more money in the pockets of employers in the hopes to create jobs. Also extending unemployment benefits, and there would also be tax credits for increasing the wages or hiring unemployed vets or the long-term unemployed, folks who have been unemployed for some time.
And, of course, Carol and Christine, you know, there's also infrastructure spending in this package. And we'll be seeing President Obama on the road again tomorrow in Pittsburgh touting this plan.
ROMANS: Right. And, Brianna, also provisions in there to make it illegal to discriminate against people who don't have a job. Right now, you can put out an ad saying, you know, we only want to consider people for this job who currently have a job.
And let me -- let me ask you this. You used to work on Capitol Hill. How do you see this vote playing out tomorrow, if indeed already people are saying it won't pass?
KEILAR: Yes. The expectation is that it's not going to, because we always talk about that 60-vote threshold in the Senate. The expectation is that Senate Democrats, most of them, will be on board, maybe not all of them. And then, Republicans -- Senate Republicans for the most part will not be onboard.
And this is very much a political strategy because you have seen congressional Democrats in the White House, what they want to do is they want to say Republicans are for protecting the wealthy, they're for protecting millionaires, because there's a provision in this bill that would pay for this big jobs plan by taxing -- increasing taxes on people who earn in total $1 million or more per year. You have Republicans saying this is bad for the economy right now. But this is the message that is being set up ahead of this vote.
And then the bottom line after that, after this vote is expected to fail, is then Congress, the idea would be they'd have to -- Democrats and Republicans find the areas that they can find the areas that they can compromise on and pass the president's plan in a piecemeal fashion, just parts of it. But you're going to hear President Obama saying he's not satisfied with that, he wants the whole thing. And this is going to be a big political fight.
ROMANS: All right. Brianna Keilar in Washington -- thank you, Brianna.
COSTELLO: It is day 24 of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, and the anger is not letting up. Protests spreading across the country, demonstrations breaking out this weekend in well within a dozen cities, including Chicago, Austin, Philadelphia, and Chapel Hill.
In Washington, about 100 protesters marched outside of the White House. A number of groups have been demonstrating in D.C. over the past week. A group arrived at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum over the weekend to protest a drone exhibit. Some of the demonstrator had an anti-war message. Others were affiliated with "Occupy D.C.," a group modeled on the "Occupy Wall Street" protests. Police used pepper spray to stop demonstrators from storming the lobby.
On Capitol Hill, battle lines are being drawn. Democrats are embracing the movement, while Republicans are rejecting it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's class warfare. Some of them are there because they don't have a job. Yes. But the fact of the matter is, why aren't there jobs? Go and picket the White House. Demonstrate in front of the White House.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: When we said everyone should pay their fair share, the other side said that's class warfare. No, it's not. It's the most endearing American value, fairness. It's about everyone paying their fair share.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
COSTELLO: More demonstrations are being planned today on Wall Street.
And here's something else to watch out for today -- Anonymous, a collection of online hackers, promising a coordinated Internet attack on the New York stock exchange Web site, threatening to crash it this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
ROMANS: All right. Mitt Romney's religion is becoming a hot topic on the campaign trail. The former Massachusetts governor is Mormon, and he's not about to apologize for it. But some political analysts believe it may prove to be a big obstacle in his quest for the White House.
Here's "STATE OF THE UNION" host and chief political correspondent Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thomas Jefferson talked about the wall of separation between church and state. Nobody said anything about separating church and politics, but everybody knows it's a sticky wicket.
(on camera): Is Mitt Romney a non-Christian?
CAIN: I'm not running for theologian-in-chief. I'm a lifelong Christian, and what that means is one of my guiding principles for the decisions I made is I start with do the right thing. I'm not getting into that controversy.
CROWLEY (voice-over): The question arises because Dr. Robert Jeffress, a Southern Baptist minister, introduced Texas Governor Rick Perry at a Values Voters Summit the other day, calling Perry a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, as opposed to another candidate Jeffress could and did mention in a later interview.
DR. ROBERT JEFFRESS, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF DALLAS: I think Mitt Romney is a good, moral man, but I think those of us who are born-again followers of Christ should always prefer a competent Christian to a competent non-Christian like Mitt Romney.
CROWLEY: Mitt Romney is a Mormon and he has passed this way before, four years ago, the first time he ran for president, when he addressed concerns, rumors, and political analysis of his religion.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they're right, so be it.
CROWLEY: Many things sank Romney's candidacy in '08. Religion may have been one of them.
RON BROWNSTEIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, NATIONAL JOURNAL: You look at the results from 2008, he ran poorly among evangelical Christians, especially in the South. In all the Southern states, he never topped out above 20 percent of the votes among Evangelical Christians; only 11 percent in the critical state of South Carolina.
CROWLEY: In all, 45 percent of Republicans who vote in primaries are conservative Evangelical Christians. They are far less a factor in a general election. For Romney's GOP rivals, this requires a straddle. You don't want to alienate a huge part of the primary vote, nor do you want to look intolerant.
(on camera): The pastor who was introducing and supporting Governor Perry in Texas, who said that Governor Romney, who is a Mormon, is not a Christian; I want to know if you agree with that statement?
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, this is so inconsequential as far as this campaign is concerned.
CROWLEY: Do you leave open the possibility that people are going to say that you dodged the question, the direct question?
BACHMANN: I think, again, to make this a big issue is just ridiculous right now, because every day I'm on the street talking to people. This is not what people are talking about.
CROWLEY: It will look like you're dodging it.
CAIN: If that's what it looks like, I'm dodging it, because it's not going to help us boost this economy, and you know that that's my number one priority.
CROWLEY (voice-over): And that's how you navigate around a sticky wicket.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: An uneasy calm this morning in Cairo, after deadly violence erupted there yesterday. At least 23 were killed in clashes that pitted Christian protesters against Muslims and the military in Cairo. It is the worst violence since the revolution that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak back in February.
In Libya, fighters loyal to the transitional government are said to be close to taking control of Sirte, that's Moammar Gadhafi's hometown and it's one of the last remaining Gadhafi strongholds. The transitional fighters attacked Gadhafi's security headquarters in the heart of Sirte. They're hoping ones the buildings are captured, the fight for the city will finally be won.
COSTELLO: The NBA season is in serious jeopardy. League officials and union leaders met for six hours last night trying to end a lockout that now threatens to cancel the first two weeks of the regular season. The two sides reportedly agreed to meet again this morning.
ROMANS: The Milwaukee Brewers strike first, taking game one of the National League Championship series. The Brewers erupted for six runs in the fifth inning en route to a 9-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Game two is tonight in Milwaukee.
COSTELLO: In the ALCS, there's been more rain than runs, hits, or errors. Game two of the Texas Rangers-Detroit Tigers series scheduled for this afternoon, 4:00 p.m. Eastern if you're wondering. That's after a washout last night. That followed two long rain delays during game one on Saturday.
All that rain, though, is actually good for Texas, which has experienced the worst drought the state has ever seen.
ROMANS: That's right.
It's nine minutes after the hour.
Rob Marciano is here for us.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
Yes. The rain in Texas is definitely welcome. In some cases, they got over five inches of it. So, clearly, God wants to bring rain to that area. And not very --
COSTELLO: Actually, you know, Rob, what's bringing rain to Texas, it's Justin Verlander. Because every time he pitches, it rains.
MARCIANO: That's true. And it may be one reason that, you know, somebody doesn't want the tigers in the ALCS.
ROMANS: Somebody.
MARCIANO: And I have no control over the weather. So that somebody could be much larger than any of us.
Hey, check out what's going on across parts of Florida. This is an area that you needed the rain, but I tell you what, not this much. We saw a lot of flash flooding across parts of central Florida earlier this weekend.
And the center of this low now is right over Gainesville. It tried to become a tropical system. It hasn't -- there's no chance of doing that anymore. But it's got some characters, including some spin in the atmosphere, which warrants the issuance of a tropical storm watch until 1:00 this afternoon. And that is just a bit of a glitch there, but you get the idea.
There's a threat for seeing that as a rotation continues to work its way in with some moisture. And that moisture going all the way into the Carolinas.
Here are some of the wind reports from yesterday. Over 50 miles an hour in some spots, including Ormond Beach, the place of NASCAR, 46-mile-an-hour w. And spotty power outages because of that and beach erosion.
Here are some of the numbers from Texas, in Possum Kingdom Lake, one of the spots that saw the wildfires the past few weeks, 4.46 inches of rainfall just in a couple of days. Come on. A lot of these totals are more than they have seen all year. So, they'll certainly take it. Obviously, in some spots, a little too much of a good thing in too short a time.
The other big story this weekend, I'll have to tell you about this if you leave in the Northeast, it was summertime, 88 degrees in Newark, 87 degrees for record high in Boston. It was 86 in Providence, and down the line we go Hartford and even up as far north as Maine. The warmth continues today. A weak cool front will bring less of a chance of rain across parts of Texas, including Arlington.
High temperature in Chicago, 77. Another warm day in New York City. While all of this record-breaking temperatures were occurring across the Northeast, there was snow in the mountains of Colorado. Some of the earliest openings in their history in parts of Colorado and Vegas.
And then this thing, hurricane Jova, category 3 storm. And it will make landfall in Mexico over the next 48 hours, potentially as a category 3, maybe even a 4 storm. Puerto Vallarta, that area, tomorrow night into early Wednesday.
Guys, that's the latest from here. I think they'll get the game off in Texas later on this afternoon.
ROMANS: I hope so.
COSTELLO: I do.
MARCIANO: I bet you do.
COSTELLO: I do. I'm ready for the Tigers to win.
ROMANS: Because you're a baseball nut -- baseball nuts. You guys love this time of year.
All right, guys, thanks.
Still to come this morning, Afghanistan, 10 years after. We'll talk with the Army chief of staff, General Ray Odierno, about where we go from here.
COSTELLO: Also ahead, CNN goes in depth to explore the topic of bullying. We'll speak to one author who recently reconnected with the boy who bullied her back in school.
ROMANS: Plus, Chanel designer Carl Lagerfeld -- Lagerfeld no stranger to high fashion. But he's now bringing his hot couture to soft drinks. And that's not it. Oh, our Alina Cho goes behind the scenes for a one-on-one interview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The U.S. presence in Afghanistan now into its second decade. That war has lasted locker than World II and the Civil War combined. President Obama has ordered all combat troops out by 2014, but polls suggest most Americans want out now. What does all this mean for the men and women of the U.S. Army?
Joining us now from Washington, Army chief of staff, General Ray Odierno. He's at the Association of the U.S. Army's Annual Meeting and Exposition where he'll be speaking today on a panel, talking about the strength of the U.S. Army and the future.
Welcome to the program, sir.
GEN. RAY ODIERNO, U.S. ARMY: Well, thank you, Christine. Thanks for having me.
ROMANS: We have just a slight delay, so, hopefully, people can bear with us a little bit.
I want to ask you about the theme for this year's annual meeting. It's Army's -- "America's Army: Strength of the Nation," 10 years now -- 10 years after the start of the war in Afghanistan, eight years since we went to war in Iraq.
What has the Army learned at this time? How are we conducting ourselves in the army? How is the military conducting itself differently today than it did a decade ago?
ODIERNO: Well, the great thing about what we've learned is the adaptability, capability, and resilience of our soldiers across the world, whether it'd be in Iraq or Afghanistan, how they've been able to adapt to the situations, continue to fight hard to achieve our nation's objectives doing a variety of things from helping governments be formed to defeating the enemy.
And it's really about how great our young leaders are of today, and how they've been able to develop and continue to move forward in both of these missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
ROMANS: In terms of Afghanistan, Gen. McChrystal, the former commander of the coalition force within Afghanistan have said just this week that he, by his estimate, we're only 50% done in our mission there. And that the main thing missing is a legitimate government in Afghanistan.
Would you agree with that analysis? And if so, what does that mean for the next few years of what we must try to do there?
ODIERNO: I would put it in a little different context. I would say that we are continuing to make progress across the board with the government, most importantly, with the Afghan security forces. So, they'll be able to take over responsibility and continue to allow the government to move forward.
And I think our focus for the next two years is continuing to bring better security, continuing to train the Afghan security forces, and continue to help the government continue to grow as they get ready to move forward on their own in a few years.
ROMANS: I want to talk a little bit about the shape of the army for the future. No doubt that's what you'll be talking about at this event here. Erin Burnett, our Erin Burnett recently asked defense secretary, Leon Panetta, how we would respond to another terrorist attack, and this is what he said.
LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I don't know that we're going to deploy 150,000 troops the way we did in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think the chances for that, frankly, are small. The main lesson is that you can target these guys, as we did in Yemen, as we did in Fattah, we can target these guys in a very effective way using a smaller and more effective force.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: What does that mean for the shape and the skill set of your U.S. army, sir? ODIERNO: Well, first, we know that we have to be part of the solution here as we look at the new austere times that we're going to be in. And obviously, throughout all the military, we have to find some savings in order to help with the debt, but what we do know is we have to have quality forces that can operate across a wide spectrum of operations they might ask to do.
Our biggest concern is about uncertainty. How do we respond to uncertainties, things we don't know about today? We have to make sure we have an army that is capable of responding anywhere in the world, capable of doing it quickly, and capable of solving the problem as quickly as possible. And that's what we're focused on as we move forward.
ROMANS: You mentioned new austere times which bring me perfectly to my next question. I mean, you've talked about the hollow force you experienced when you first entered the army after the Vietnam War. You know, super committee and budget debates aside, you want to make sure that this is done smartly.
What kind of advice are you giving about where to cut and how to look at the future in these new austere times for the army and for the new American military?
ODIERNO: Well, and you've hit on the question. Again, it's not that we are going to get smaller cut. It's about how we do it. And we have to do it in a rational way. We have to do it slowly over time so we can sustain the quality, sustain the capabilities that we need. We have to be careful about cutting too deeply.
I'm extremely concerned about if we go to sequester, because I believe that would devastate the army, devastate all of our military. And could actually cause us to fundamentally change how we do national security. And I think the world today is much too uncertain.
So, I'm certainly hoping that we can come to an agreement, find cuts that are across the board, and that does not dig too much deeper into the military so we can maintain our capabilities to provide security for this country.
ROMANS: Right. These are fighting forces, and there are two million men and women who have served in the past 10 years on the battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those people come home with significant challenges. Their families have challenges. It's been widely reported.
We also have to make sure that any kind of new austere reality that we still are taking care of America's military.
ODIERNO: It's absolutely critical that we remember the soldiers and families who've sacrificed so much, those who have deployed two, three, four, five times. You know, over the last 10 years, the army has given 14,000 valorous awards. We have over 1,200 amputees. We've lost over 4,000 soldiers.
We can't forget about these people, their families, and what they've given for our country. And this doesn't even get into those who we know will be potentially involved with post traumatic stress and what that means in the future. So, we've got to stay focused on this. We've got to take care of them.
And we've got to make sure that we keep an army that allows us to continue to respond and not put too much pressure on those who remain in the army as we meet our future challenges.
ROMANS: All right. Gen. Ray Odierno, U.S. army chief of staff. Thank you, sir, for joining us today.
If you're not in D.C., but want to catch some of the topnotch panelists the next edition at this year's expo -- exhibitions, rather, you can download the army virtual exhibit app at army.mil/mobil.
COSTELLO: Now is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, why is Herman Cain surging in the polls?
Imagine, a 2012 presidential race that pits Barack Obama against Herman Cain. Wow! Hey, anything is possible. Many political talking heads are pooh-poohing the polls, though, saying Cain is the flavor of the week, but something about Cain resonates. He's a self-made man who had this to say about the high Black unemployment rate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't believe racism in this country today holds anybody back in a big way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And Herman Cain, boy, does he like the work the room?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: I would bring a sense of humor to the White House because America is too uptight.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now, that's true. Herman Cain has been on TV saying among other things, quote, "I can eat black walnut all the time. It's not a flavor of the week." And then there's this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: I don't mind if he calls me crazy.
If we are not in it to win it, we will not be in it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney.
CAIN: Good hair. (LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? That's the first thing you can say about him?
CAIN: You're welcome. You can tell I don't have an opinion on very much, right?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Cain also has what sounds like a simple solution to our economic woes. Nine-nine-nine, anyone?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: Nine-nine-nine plan.
(APPLAUSE)
CAIN: Nine-nine-nine.
Nine-nine-nine.
My nine-nine-nine plan.
Nine-nine-nine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: As in nine percent income flat tax, nine percent sales tax, and a nine percent business flat tax. Many economists say nine- nine-nine would hurt poor people and retailers. Still, nine-nine-nine is catchy, as is Herman Cain.
So, the "Talk Back" question for you this morning, why is Herman Cain surging in the polls? Facebook.com/americanmorning. Facebook.com/americanmorning. I'll read your comments later this hour.
ROMANS: All right. Still to come this morning, blowing the whistle on Medicaid fraud. We're going to tell you what one man did to expose it and how doing so nearly killed him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
It's Columbus Day here in the U.S., but markets and most banks, they're still open for business today. The focus, though, remains on Europe's banking crisis, an effort by France and Germany to contain it. Right now, U.S. futures are pointing to a higher open this morning.
European markets are leading the way after German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and French president, Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday that they have come to an agreement to fix the Euro zone. Parts of that plan include recapitalization of some of the EU's biggest banks. More details about the plan will be available later this morning.
We were wondering if maybe nationalization could be part of the answers of the banking crisis, especially after the bank, Dexia, secured a bailout this morning from the French, Belgian, and Luxembourg governments. The bailout was a total of about $121 billion. This is significant to the U.S. because Dexia is a big backer of many local U.S. government bonds and loans.
And Netflix caving to pressure from customers this morning. The company says it's scrapping plans to rebrand its DVDs by mail service under the new name, Qwikster. A spokesman told the "New York Times" that the company, quote, "greatly underestimated the value of having everything under one website in a single service."
The company has been struggling with the public message since summer when it got a huge pushback for jacking up its prices.
Don't forget, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all new CNNMoney.com. We're right back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Your top stories at 30 minutes past the hour.
At least 23 people have died in clashes pitting Christians against Muslims and the military in Cairo, Egypt. It began as a protest over the burning of a Christian church last week. The bloodshed is the worst since the revolution that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak back in February.
ROMANS: The Occupy Wall Street movement is spreading quickly across the, demonstrations breaking out in well over a dozen cities. In Washington, one person was arrested during a protest outside the White House for throwing a shoe at a police officer.
COSTELLO: The Senate expected to hold a critical vote this week on the president's jobs bill. It's expected to get fierce opposition from Republicans. The House budget committee chairman Paul Ryan says the president knows his Bill is doomed.
ROMANS: Federal prosecutors are cracking down on what it calls a culture of corruption in the health care industry, Medicare or Medicaid patients being overbilled or billed for treatment they never received.
COSTELLO: CNN's Deb Feyerick has the story of a whistle blower, a Vietnam veteran, who exposed a major case of health care fraud.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Going through his Medicaid statements one day, Richard West realized he was being billed for nursing care he wasn't getting.
(on camera): You weren't even here on some of the days that the company alleged they provided service for you.
RICHARD WEST, ABLE WEST, INC.: I wasn't here. I had no service.
FEYERICK: And yet here it is, billed.
(voice-over) The 63-year-old Vietnam veteran suffers from muscular dystrophy, and requires nurses seven days a week just to shower, dress, and replace the oxygen tank he needs to breathe. Yet when he called the Medicaid hotline to report Maxim Health Care Services and complain that his nurses were either leaving early or not showing up at all, he was told he was wrong.
WEST: They were getting paid for eight hours, and I was just getting sicker and sicker, and they did nothing.
FEYERICK: His spirit intact, the former U.S. infantryman hired a lawyer and filed a whistleblower lawsuit in 2004, triggering a six- year criminal investigation.
(on camera) Are you surprised at what people will try to do to rip off the Medicaid system?
TOM O'DONNELL, OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS, HHS: Yes, I'm surprised every day.
FEYERICK: Tom O'Donnell heads New York's office of investigations for Health and Human Services. It turns out maxim, with hundreds of offices, wasn't just overbilling Richard west, but Medicaid recipients across the country.
O'DONNELL: Probably the most egregious thing they did is they were overbilling and fraudulently altering the time cards.
FEYERICK: How much money were they essentially ripping off?
O'DONNELL: I think that the actual amount was about $61 million.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors reached a deal with Maxim Health Care Services, which cooperated with investigators and has new restructured under new management.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of us can afford our government's coffers to be bled by fraud.
FEYERICK: The company will pay $150 million, half of it to reimburse 41 states that were overcharged. Nine Maxim executives and employees have pleaded guilty to various charges. Others were fired for misconduct. In a statement to CNN, Maxim's new CEO praises Richard West for uncovering the fraud, saying the company takes full responsibility, and has established a new infrastructure, quote, "including an entirely new senior management team and an unrelenting commitment to strict compliance with all laws." Although prosecutors did not accuse Maxim of compromising patient care, West says he almost died twice because of life threatening infections he got when nurses failed to show.
WEST: There were nights I didn't know if I would wake up. And that's the reality.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: The reality for lots of people. Because West did expose the scheme, he is now set to get about $15 million under the whistleblowers act, that's 10 percent of the $150 million settlement. That means he could end up paying for his own health care, and that's care that he was essentially fighting for to begin with. But of course, now it's going to cost him x-number of hundreds of thousands a year, of course, and in order to get Medicaid or Medicare again, he'll have to go bankrupt. So it's kind of a vicious cycle here.
COSTELLO: So this company that ripped off all those people, including him, is still in business. And they can still make a profit. And this poor guy might be losing money.
FEYERICK: That's exactly right. And one of the reasons is because Maxim Health Care Services took what's called a deferred prosecution. That means if they abide by the terms of the deal -- the terms of the deal are very strict, they got rid of all of their upper management, nine people did go to jail. Again, they are trying to change the culture, the culture of corruption. And if the company does do that, then they will be allowed to stay in business, because, you have to remember, they do serve a lot of people. People can't be without services, even for a small window. So better to try to fix the system in place, OK, as opposed to destroy a company only to come back.
COSTELLO: It's just that one company. How many other companies and different companies like that?
FEYERICK: That's exactly right. And there are many more companies. So think about it -- $61 million, one company alone.
COSTELLO: Unbelievable. Deb Feyerick, thanks very much.
Coming up next, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. This morning we are taking an in depth look at bullying. For victims, even decades don't heal the wounds. Our next guest, Janni Lee Simner, was the target of a bully during her childhood. She's written about her experience in the book "Dear Bully -- 70 Authors Tell Their Stories." And she's good enough to join us live this morning from Tucson, Arizona. Good morning.
JANNI LEE SIMNER, CONTRIBUTOR, "DEAR BULLY: 70 AUTHORS TELL THEIR STORIES": Good morning, Carol. Thank you for having me here. COSTELLO: I'm so glad you're here this morning. You wrote in your blog about the many years were bullied. Your essay was later published into that book. So why do you feel the need to revisit these terrible experiences you had?
SIMNER: I think it's for the kids who are there now. You know, I feel like I came -- I was lucky, and I came out the other side just fine. But I know there are children in school now going through the same things that many of us were when we were children.
COSTELLO: Sadly, that is true. Tell us about the bullying you experienced in middle school and in high school.
SIMNER: For me, it was mostly elementary and middle school. And I should say there wasn't any one specific bully in my case. It was more that I was the kid who was kind of the safest to pick on. I was a little bit awkward and a little bit sensitive and cried a little bit easily. So beginning in elementary school, early elementary school, there was a lot of verbal teasing. And then by later elementary school and early middle school, it was a little more physical, things being thrown that, sort of thing.
COSTELLO: But these experiences stuck with you, and affected your life. And even at some point, you felt was I imaging that, did it really happen to me, do I deserve to feel this way?
SIMNER: You know, I always knew it happened and was real. Partly because I was very lucky in having supportive adults, even if I didn't have any supportive classmates who kind of validated that this was really going on.
But then as I said in the "Salon" article, there was this strange experience where my classmates began getting in touch online, and they wouldn't talk about what had happened as if either they didn't remember it or to them this thing that kind of defined my school experience was just a minor thing that wasn't worth mentioning.
COSTELLO: So they didn't even realize how much their behavior affected you. But there was one bully who admitted to bullying you. And tell us about conversing with him online.
SIMNER: That was really startling. I got an email from him saying, you know, I was in fourth grade. I was in so-and-so's class. And I remember a Janni Simner. Is that you? And I thought, OK, it's someone else trying to get in touch and we'll ex exchange a few niceties and then move on. So we compared notes and confirmed that we had been in this class together.
And then he actually said, which completely surprised me, that he remembered that he had teased me. And like I said, he wasn't among the worst or the only one doing it, but that he did remember the teasing, and that he thought about it through the years and he just wanted to touch base and see if I was OK.
COSTELLO: Did he say he was sorry?
SIMNER: Pretty much. I can't remember if those were the exact words, but that was definitely the content.
COSTELLO: But, you know, that's always a fantasy that people have when they were bullied in school, and they'll run into their bully and they'll give them a talking to, and that bully will have remorse, and they'll say I'm sorry. Was that yours?
SIMNER: Well, it was wonderful -- sort of. It was very validating. And what I realized is that he had actually had that moment years before. And by middle school, and we were in middle school, he was standing up for bullied kids. So he had that realization years ago, and we had pretty much been on the same side for years, and we were both concerned about the kids who are in school now.
COSTELLO: You know, I have often wondered whether it's a good idea for those bullied years ago to get in touch with their bullies. I mean, to make the effort, to get in touch, and to talk with these people to tell them, look, you were wrong. You hurt me. And this is what I have to say to you now.
SIMNER: You know, I don't know if he hadn't gotten in touch, I wouldn't have gone around emailing people who bullied me. I think the best way of sort of confronting the past is living well in the present. And I think I have been doing that, you know, through my writing and through my life.
COSTELLO: So, lastly, what advice would you give parents who have a child in school who's being bullied?
SIMNER: For parents, the first thing I would say is never tell your child that it's in some way their fault, because I have talked to friends who have grown up believing something was wrong with them, and that made it a lot harder to move past it.
And just be supportive. Let them know that you actually do care. I think for both kids and adults even small acts of kindness can make a huge difference. Even if it doesn't seem like they're changing the big picture, they show at least you care enough to be trying. And I think that's hugely important.
COSTELLO: Advice taken. Janni Lee Simner, thank you so much for joining us.
SIMNER: Thank you for inviting me.
COSTELLO: We enjoyed it and learned a lot too. We'll be right back.
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ROMANS: It's 47 minutes after the hour. Here are your "Morning Headlines".
Markets open in about 45 minutes. Right now, stocks are poised to open sharply higher. The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 are up by more than one percent each after European leaders move closer to a plan to solve the European debt crisis by the end of the month.
This morning, Egypt is on edge. Demonstrations by Christians over a recent church attack got out of hand in Cairo, and they clashed with Muslims and security forces. At least 23 people have died since the violence began yesterday.
Occupy Wall Street protests breaking out this weekend in Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Denver, San Diego, Sacramento and many other locations too, including Washington, where one demonstrator was arrested outside the White House for assaulting an officer by throwing a shoe at the officer.
California teenagers will have to find another way to get that all-over tan. A new law in the Golden State bans ultraviolet tanning for those between the ages of 14 and 18 because of concerns that it increases the risk of cancer.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, New York City. A nice look at Central Park. It's a little hazy this morning, but it is 63 degrees. And later today, 84 degrees. Much of the country is experiencing these fabulous temperatures. Oh Indian summer is here.
ROMANS: I love Labor Day.
All right, welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
The white hair, the dark sunglasses, the big high-collared shirts.
COSTELLO: Oh for nearly three decades, the iconic Karl Lagerfeld has been the creative force behind Chanel. But designing Coke bottles and hocking home appliances? You won't believe what else he's doing.
Our Alina Cho joins us now with the "Facts: Fashion Backstage Pass".
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes, I am just back from Paris. I was there for a couple of weeks shooting this half-hour special. And Karl Lagerfeld, you know, when you think about those iconic brands, Chanel really is the most famous brand in the world, if you think about it.
And as you mentioned, Karl Lagerfeld is iconic. But designing Coke bottles and hocking those home appliances -- just watch what else he's up to.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Not just in France -- but around the world, Karl Lagerfeld is mobbed wherever he goes. He's not just a celebrity designer. He's a celebrity. (on camera): What do you think it is that people are so fascinated by?
KARL LAGERFELD, DESIGNER: That's a very good question. I don't know what it is. It's a strange scene. I think it's flattering. I don't sing. I'm not an actor. I have no scandals.
CHO (voice-over): He does do this. Lagerfeld's Chanel show is arguably the most anticipated fashion spectacle of the Paris collections. Something he's been doing at Chanel since 1983 when he was hired as artistic director.
(on camera): It's so much work. It's so many collections. How do you -- and you're so involved.
LAGERFELD: I have it in the blood. You know, when I was asked to do it, Chanel wasn't trendy at all. The owner said, I'm not proud of the business. If you can make something, OK. If not, I'll sell it. And we made something out of it because he gave me total freedom.
CHO (voice-over): Lagerfeld answers to no one, rare for a company the size of Chanel, a nearly $2 billion privately-owned business that sells not just those iconic quilted handbags and ballerina flats but clothes, jewelry, makeup, and perfume. You know, Chanel Number 5.
The one Marilyn Monroe famously said she went to bed with. An icon, just like the company's founder, Coco Chanel.
LAGERFELD: The label has an image. It's up to me to update it. What I did, she never did, she would have hated.
CHO: Lagerfeld made Chanel cool again.
LAGERFELD: I had to find my market and go from what it was, what it should be, what it could be, what it had been, to something else. It sounds very complicated but in fact it's not.
CHO (on camera): What makes do you that?
LAGERFELD: I don't know. I have a flash like this. I don't ask questions. Thank God I get answers I don't know from where.
Now, it's a very strange thing, you know. When I make big efforts, it's for the garbage can. When I make no effort, and suddenly, I don't know, it happens. It's much better. But you cannot count on it.
CHO: Right.
LAGERFELD: Because sometimes we work a lot for the garbage can for nothing. And then suddenly, a light goes on.
CHO (voice-over): And it can happen at any time. In addition to his duties at Chanel, he is the creative director of Fendi, has his own label, and this season launched a line at Macy's. He's an avid photographer, an author, and owns a bookstore.
Outside of fashion, Lagerfeld has designed bottles for Coca-Cola. And here he is in an ad for a washer and dryer.
LAGERFELD: I'm a working laborer. My name is Laborfeld, not Lagerfeld.
CHO: How did he do it all?
LAGERFELD: I have a kind of Alzheimer's for my own work.
CHO: Alzheimer's for your own work?
LAGERFELD: For my own work and I do that on purpose. I think it's a very good thing. Too many people remember what they did. Forget it all. And start again.
CHO: Even at twice the age of his competitors, it's an attitude that has served him well, made him rich and virtually irreplaceable at Chanel.
LAGERFELD: So in fact, it's a good thing for him. It's a good thing for me and it's not such a bad thing for fashion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: That's right. And from the man who calls himself Laborfeld, how about this? Karleidoscope. That's right it's the name of his new perfume out tomorrow and as with everything else, Lagerfeld was there every step of the way in the creative process.
And it is something you see a lot with designers who are successful, that they are very involved, detail-oriented. But for Karl Lagerfeld to have done it for so long and stay at the top of the game -- of his game for so long, that is rare. You don't see that very often.
COSTELLO: So the washing machine, I take it it's not a Kenmore?
CHO: It's not a Kenmore. No it isn't -- it's actually a Swiss company. But, you know, he's done a lot of ads. He lends his name.
COSTELLO: No, I want to go back to those washing machines. So he's designed this fancy washing machine. I mean, and it looked great. And it looked like a washing machine. But how much is the washing machine?
CHO: You know, it's -- I think it's safe to say that it's probably in the thousands, not the hundreds. But, you know, we'll get back to you on that. I think the important point here is that his iconic image sells.
And as I said, he really can't go anywhere anymore without being mobbed. And it goes beyond being a celebrity designer. I mean, he's a bona fide A-list celebrity everywhere he goes. You know, there are pictures taken. COSTELLO: Paparazzi.
CHO: And there's just like a -- paparazzi everywhere. But he could not have been nicer. And it was a thrill to get inside that studio and see him work.
ROMANS: All right.
CHO: Really the master.
COSTELLO: Did you see him without his glasses and gloves?
CHO: For just a moment.
COSTELLO: What's he look like?
CHO: I mean without the gloves, he looks pretty much the same.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks so much, Alina.
Don't miss Alina's special, "Fashion Backstage Pass" from Paris. It airs this Saturday, October 15, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
COSTELLO: And coming up next, our "Talk Back" question of the day. The question for you this morning, "Why is Herman Cain surging in the polls?" We'll read your responses when we comeback. Its five minutes until the top of the hour.
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COSTELLO: Our "Talk Back" question of the day, the question, "Why is Herman Cain surging in the polls?" This from Yolanda, "He's surging because he's the only one left to surge. Ron Paul is not mainstream enough to surge, Romney is a Mormon, Perry and Bachmann have chronic foot and mouth issues. It's a rough field."
This from Brian, "He has real plans, he can articulate his ideas, he's a self-made man and not a career politician. I'm loving this guy like he was on the dollar menu."
This from Kimberly, "Because he actually has given a plan, none of the others have presented their vision of fixing our current situation. Many are still waiting to hear what the Republican House plans -- plan is to create jobs. All you hear is what their blocking and what Obama proposes."
This from Rose. "Because everyone likes pizza." Just joking. Keep the comments coming; Facebook.com/Americanmorning and thanks as always for your comments.
ROMANS: And you know, first he climbed into double digits. And then he started getting more sort of good buzz after the -- after the debates. And we'll hear some more from him this week, won't we?
COSTELLO: We'll see. Like tomorrow is another Republican debate. We'll see if everyone begins attacking Herman Cain. That will be interesting.
ROMANS: It will show that he's moved into more -- more of a front-runner status if they start attacking him.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROMANS: All right, that's it for us. CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Good morning, Kyra.
