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Continued Coverage Barack Obama Town Hall Meeting; Who's Flying the Planes?

Aired May 14, 2009 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm sorry, can you repeat -- I missed just part of it. No, not the whole thing. You're a small business owner. You were saying that you've seen something happen to your revenues, but I couldn't hear you.

QUESTION: We've noticed a decrease --

OBAMA: A decrease.

QUESTION: Right.

OBAMA: Well, look, this is part of why we passed the Recovery Act. We passed a package of $787 billion over two years -- this is the largest economic recovery package ever been passed -- and it includes tax cuts. So everybody should be seeing a slight increase in your paycheck. It's not in a lump sum, it's spread out -- each paycheck you're getting a little bit money back that you weren't getting before. So that's putting money in people's pockets.

We are rebuilding our infrastructure all across the country. So Governor Richardson, I know he's put in a whole bunch of proposals to rebuild roads and bridges and infrastructure.

(APPLAUSE)

The Mayor of Albuquerque is here, I know that he's working on it.

The nice thing about infrastructure projects, it's a two-fer -- not only does it put to work -- people to work right now, especially a lot of folks who have been laid off from the construction industry, which has been weakened, but what it's also done is it creates the framework for long-term economic growth, because if we've got better mass transit, if we've got high-speed rail, if we are rebuilding our electricity grid to get clean energy from the places that produce it to the places that need it, all that will generate economic growth above and beyond the short term. So that's another element of it.

Part of what we've done in the Recovery Act is just make sure that the economic damage is not worse. So we've provided states additional resources to retain teachers and retain police officers -- (applause) -- and to make sure that if you do lose your job, you can keep your health care through COBRA, which prior to this bill was really hard for most folks to afford because you had to pay the full cost of your health care without employer subsidy, but now the government has picked up the subsidy and that allows a lot more people to keep health care.

So we've been doing a lot of things through the Recovery Act. The other thing we're trying to do is to stabilize the housing market. And so we have programs now in place that have helped boost refinancings, making millions of people who weren't eligible to get their homes refinanced, refinanced at lower rates. That's like a tax cut. That's like money in people's pockets because your monthly rate will be lower. And if you have not recently refinanced, you should take a look at what banks are now offering because interest rates have gone down significantly and the programs that we've put in place have helped to spur on some of those refinancings.

We're also trying to stop the rate of foreclosure. Now, this is hard to do because housing prices have gone down so far that some people, they're just, unfortunately, not going to be able to stay in their home -- they bought too much home given their incomes. But people who are at the margins, what we've done is we've said to the banks, negotiate -- the banks will be better off and the consumer will be better off if you avoid foreclosure, and everybody takes a haircut.

The bank has to lose a little bit of money on what they were expecting on principal and interest. On the other hand, the homeowner, if they make this agreement with the bank, they've got to agree that when prices start going up again they give up a little bit of equity to repay the bank. But either way, everybody is better off, including the community, if people stay in their homes.

(APPLAUSE)

So there are a whole bunch of steps that we've been taking, and we're starting to see improvements in the housing market, we're starting to see slight improvements in some of these other areas. But I have to tell you, this was a big, big, big economic problem that we had. This is like nothing that we've seen since the Great Depression. And as I said, New Mexico has been fortunate, partly because of some good administration from the New Mexican government -- (applause) -- but also because New Mexico wasn't overbuilt at the same pace, it did not have some of the same problems as some other states.

But for the country as a whole, we took a big hit. Wall Street just was gambling with a lot of people's money and they were taking risks they should have never taken. So we've seen trillions of dollars of wealth removed and it's going to take some time to catch up. And a lot of people are still paying off their credit cards and a lot of people are trying to get out from under the debts that they had accumulated when times were better.

And so we're going to have to set what I'm calling a new foundation for growth, where people are less reliant on debt, they're living more within their means; businesses are engaging in more sensible business practices, they're investing in the future and the long term and not short-term profits; we are focusing on clean energy; we're reforming our health care system; we are boosting our education system to produce more engineers and more scientists; and retraining our workers so that we've got the most productive workers in the world.

(APPLAUSE)

That's the strategy that we're going to be pursuing in the months and years to come.

All right. It must be -- it's a guy's turn. It's a guy's turn. Let me go up here, because I don't want to feel -- I don't want folks up here feeling neglected. That gentleman way up there right in the corner, way up there. Look at that guy. He's all standing right in front of him. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. And I'm just asking that -- you're saying all these wonderful things and it's really good to hear this, but whenever you say that we've got to get laws passed or the help to the people that we need, we chuckle about it having to go through Congress.

Well, can you break those lines of bipartisanship, and get these laws and this help that we need to us, the people?

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Well, first of all -- first of all, I think it's very important to understand that since I came into office, I have said to my Republican friends in Congress, I want to work with you. I've had them over to the White House more than they were over in the White House during the Bush administration. (Laughter.) That's true.

(APPLAUSE)

We have consulted with them extensively.

Now, there have been on two big issues some very fundamental disagreements with the Republican Party. And I don't doubt their sincerity -- they just have a different view. One is on the stimulus package, on the Recovery Act. There were people who said we should not have government spend that much, especially when we're inheriting a $1.3 trillion deficit from the previous administration and we've already spent money on the TARP program and shoring up the banks, et cetera -- we shouldn't do this. There are some people who made that argument.

Now, I will tell you that every serious Democratic and Republican, conservative and liberal economist that I spoke to believe very strongly that we needed a recovery package because what was happening was consumers, they had pulled back. People weren't shopping as much, because they were worried about the state of the economy, and their debts had gotten too high. Businesses were pulling back.

And so what you had was a crisis in demand where if everybody pulls back at the same time, nobody is going shopping. If nobody is going shopping, then this young lady with her store, she doesn't have money. She may have to lay off a worker, which means that worker is now spending less -- which means they're not buying groceries. And now somebody else's store shuts down. You start getting into a vicious cycle where everybody is pulling back all at the same time.

In that circumstance, the only person -- or the only entity that can fill the gap is the government. And so that's why we passed the Recovery Act. It's not because we're not worried about deficits; it's because if we didn't do anything, this economy could have really gone into a tailspin.

But I make that point only to say there's some Republicans who just philosophically were opposed to the idea of this recovery package. I have to say they weren't as worried when the previous administration was running up and doubling our national debt, but -- (applause) -- but having said that, having said that, it's entirely legitimate for -- that's part of what our democracy is about, to disagree with us on this.

They also disagreed on our budget because they don't believe that we should, for example, reform our health care system in a way that includes more people. They think that the free market can solve the problem. Now, I'm a strong believer in the free market, but I think that when it comes to health care, the free market only takes you so far. If your child is sick and you don't have health insurance, in a country this wealthy, we should be able to make sure that your child is cared for.

(APPLAUSE)

And I actually think -- I actually think that long term we'll spend less money when we do that. Because other countries like France and Japan and a whole host of other countries, they spend less a percentage of their GDP on health care than we do. We spend more per capita than any nation on Earth, but we still have 45 million uninsured, and in some cases we've got worse outcomes. We've got higher infant mortality rates; we've got higher rates of some deadly diseases. That doesn't make sense.

But, again, there's a philosophical difference. Having said all that, this credit card bill, when it passed in the House, we actually got 100 Republican votes.

(APPLAUSE)

On our children's health insurance bill, we got some Republican votes. So the media likes to focus on where we disagree; they don't tend to focus on the areas where we are actually working together. And I think that we'll see more and more agreement over time as the Republican Party starts to realize that the American people want results right now; they don't want bickering.

(APPLAUSE)

And when they realize that, they'll have an open, outstretched hand from me.

(APPLAUSE)

All right? Okay. Guys, I hate to do this, but I've only got time for one question. One more question. It's got to be a young lady. All the guys, sit down. Why is everybody pointing at this young lady? All right, go ahead. Everybody was advocating for you.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. Thank you, President Obama. I work for Congressman Ben Lujan. The limits on earnings for people on Social Security disability are so low that it discourages people from working. For those who are hoping to be self-supporting and get off Social Security disability, like myself, would you consider raising the earning limit?

OBAMA: You know, I think it's something that we should look at carefully. We've got a wonderful advisory group relating to people with disabilities and how we expand opportunity, and let's examine what we can do.

Now, I will tell you that Social Security disability has gone up significantly during this recession. Some of you may have read in the last couple of days that Social Security -- the Social Security trust fund is worse off now because of the recession than it was. We were already having some issues with Social Security, and so we're going to have to do some significant reforms of Social Security.

So, in principle, the answer is, I would like to raise the income limits to encourage people to become more self-sufficient. In practice, it costs money on the front end, even though long term it may save money. And what I'd like to do is examine this in the broader context of Social Security reform and Medicare/Medicaid reform.

What I'd like to do is just shift off -- pivot off your question to talk about this issue of debt and deficits one more time. During a recession of this severity it is important, as I explained, for the government to step in and fill the hole in demand that was created by consumers and by businesses, to get the economy kick-started.

But the long-term deficit and debt that we have accumulated is unsustainable. We can't keep on just borrowing from China , or borrowing from other countries -- (applause) -- because part of it is, we have to pay for -- we have to pay interest on that debt. And that means that we're mortgaging our children's future with more and more debt, but what's also true is that at some point they're just going to get tired of buying our debt. And when that happens, we will really have to raise interest rates to be able to borrow, and that will raise interest rates for everybody -- on your auto loan, on your mortgage, on -- so it will have a dampening effect on the economy.

So we are going to have to deal with our long-term debt. As I said before, the biggest thing that we can do on that front is to deal with entitlements. We are going through the budget, line by line, page by page, rooting out waste and abuse. We've already found $40 billion in procurement practices and no-bid contracts on the defense side that we are going to eliminate.

(APPLAUSE)

We found $17 billion in programs that don't work and we're going to stop those programs so that -- 120 programs so that we can put the money into programs that do work.

We are going to go through -- and by the way, I just want to make a little commentary about the media here, if you don't mind. When Congress included in last year's budget a whole bunch of earmarks, you remember there was a week worth of stories about how terrible these earmarks were. You remember this, Chip -- a week worth of stories -- "oh, these earmarks, this is what's blowing up the deficit, this is terrible," blah, blah, blah.

And yet, as I said before, that was less than 1 percent of that entire budget that had been signed. When we find $17 billion worth of cuts in programs, what do the same folks say? They say, "Oh, that's nothing." (Laughter.) "Now, that's not even -- that's not even -- that's not significant. That's not important." Well, you can't have it both ways. If those earmarks were important, then this money is important, too.

But what is true about the budget -- is absolutely true -- is that we can cut programs, we can eliminate waste, we can eliminate abuse, we can eliminate earmarks; we could do all that stuff, and we're still going to have a major problem, because Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on the national debt.

And so I have said before and I will repeat again that my administration is going to seek to work with Congress to execute serious entitlement reform that preserves a safety net for our seniors, for people with disabilities, but also puts it on a firmer, stable footing so that people's retirements are going to be secure not just for this generation, but also for the next generation.

And that's going to be hard work.

(APPLAUSE)

It's going to require some tough choices, but I'm going to need support of the American people to get that done. That's part of what this administration is about: Let's make the tough choices now, so that we've got a better future for America .

Thank you everybody. God bless you. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The president of the United States in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So if you had the president's ear, what would you tell him about your credit card company? What needs to be changed? Was there a nasty "got'cha" that you didn't see coming that you never want to see again? E-mail us right now, mailtothechief@cnn.com. We'll run some of the questions by a White House economic adviser next hour.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, the other big story, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasting her Republican critics, the Bush administration, even the CIA. She is still disputing claims that she knew for years that waterboarding was being used on terror suspects, but did nothing to stop it.

Pelosi met with reporters this morning apparently appearing a bit uncomfortable. Our Dana Bash challenged her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the end of April, you had the press conference with us and you said very clearly, "We were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used."

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: That's right. We in that meeting. Everything that I received, we were not told that -- in fact, we were told that waterboarding was not being used, because that's sort of one that stood out.

BASH: So in that press conference, we were all clearly trying to get at the broader question of whether you knew about waterboarding at all. And the idea that we got from you was that you were never told that waterboarding was being used. But now we know that later, in February, you were told. It wasn't in that briefing, but you were told. So...

PELOSI: No. By the time we were told, we were finding out that it's been used before. You know, in other words, that was beyond the point.

BASH: But why didn't you tell us at that press conference...

(CROSSTALK)

PELOSI: But I told you what my briefing was. My briefing was...

BASH: At the press conference, that you had been told, just not at that particular briefing. You were very adamant that you didn't know that waterboarding was used.

PELOSI: No. That is right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, so did that confuse you as much as it did us? I'm going to talk more about this next hour with our Candy Crowley who has interviewed the House speaker several times.

Well, so many planes, so many people, so much responsibility on so many pilots, so what's up with pilot pay?

Take a look at this map right here next to us. This is flight tracker. All the little green planes, this is every single flight that is airborne right now. And can you believe that a number of these pilots right here only make $23,000 a year and in conditions, high threat conditions that you probably wouldn't want to fly in.

We see this in a whole different light now as hearings into February's Colgan Air disaster uncover details that most of us never even imagined. For instance, the 24-year-old co-pilot of Flight 3407, she earned less than $24,000 a year. Far less than the average airline flight attendant. Apparently she lived with her parents in Seattle as well and commuted to New Jersey because she couldn't afford to move.

Colgan says that captains earn on average about $67,000 a year.

Well, this is the third and final day of hearings that are being held a mere three months after the crash. One investor calls low pilot pay and fatigue from cross-country commutes a recipe for an accident, but training is also an issue, not to mention talent.

More now from Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happens after every airline crash, the investigation. What went wrong? Who was at fault?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we ready to begin?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, sir.

CARROLL: Hearings into the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 raised more questions. Should industry training and standards be upgraded?

Margie Brandquist says, yes. Sister Mary Petis (ph) was killed in the crash.

MARGIE BRANDQUIST, SISTER OF CRASH VICTIM: I think this was a perfect storm accident. And so until we know, we want to make sure that the FAA is held absolutely accountable.

CARROLL: The Federal Aviation Administration says the Colgan Air captain, Marvin Renslow, met federal guidelines, which include being licensed and trained on the Dash-8/Q400 Bombardier.

HARRY MITCHEL, VICE PRESIDENT OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS, COLGAN AIR: All I can say is Captain Renslow was fully qualified.

CARROLL: Renslow failed test flights, called check rides, five times before passing, but there are no FAA regulations on how many times a pilot can retake these tests.

One former NTSB investigator and current commercial pilot, Ben Berman, says that should have been a warning.

BERN BERMAN, COMMERCIAL PILOT: So if a pilot has a pattern of failing multiple check rides over their careers, it should and usually does raise a red flag for the airline.

CARROLL: Renslow ended up meeting FAA-mandated experience in a flight simulator, but that did not include flight simulator training with a stall warning called a stick pusher. He only had classroom training.

Why? Again, not required by the FAA so Colgan Air didn't require it either.

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Number of proposals in the works.

CARROLL: Mary Schiavo is the former inspector general of the Department of Transportation.

SCHIAVO: It's a co-dependent relationship. The airline did only what the FAA required even though going above and beyond would have been prudent.

CARROLL: The investigation shows Renslow pulled up on the control column when he should have done the opposite.

The airline says it could not speculate why. Since the accident, quote, "Colgan has instituted stick pusher demonstrations in a flight simulator, even though it is not required by the FAA and is not the standard in the airline industry."

Families of the victims still have doubts the airlines and the FAA will take responsibility and make needed changes.

BRANDQUIST: I'm not confident at all. So you may see all these family members canvassing Capitol Hill until we get some responses.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, well we all want dirt cheap airfares, but poorly paid pilots may be a safety risk. Even more to the point, how much pilot training is enough?

Scott Shankland is a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association representing pilots of American Airlines. He joins me now live from Dallas.

You know, Scott, I was reading, you know, average pilot and co- pilots they make about a hundred to $130,000 a year, but obviously not everyone is making that kind of money. We saw here, that co-pilot only made $23,000.

Is it typical that crews or pilots, co-pilots, on these commuter planes make such low pay?

SCOTT SHANKLAND, ALLIED PILOTS ASSOCIATION: Hi, Kyra. It's a pleasure to be here.

And yes, that is typical. The concerns that we're finding being raised out of this NTSB hearing this week are not surprising to me. They're not surprising, I'd venture to say, they're not surprising to all airline pilots, because this profession, this airline pilot profession, has seen a deterioration over this past decade. And that deterioration has resulted in a serious reduction in the margin of safety in many areas.

PHILLIPS: All right. So let me follow-up and ask you this question then: Would an airline or putting I guess a low-paid, inexperienced pilot on a hop that's known for bad weather, is that typical as well?

SHANKLAND: Well, the problem really stems from -- getting a job at a major airline is the aspiration of every pilot. But because the profession has been depressed both in pay and work rules, you're seeing this deterioration in this margin of safety. So airlines are having trouble hiring experienced pilots because it's no longer worth the investment and time and money that it takes to become a pilot.

So as the hiring standards go down, the level of experience go down and at a lot of regional carriers that deal with kind of more new hire pilots, the level of experience has dropped considerably.

PHILLIPS: But doesn't that make you wonder then, why do these airlines even want to keep going if they can't hire quality pilots and pay what they should be paid? Because we're talking about innocent lives in their hands. I mean, is the risk worth it to try to make money as a company?

SHANKLAND: Well, aviation and airline industry is safe and it is the goal of unions like ours to set a high standard of experience and safety. And it was even in years past airlines often prided themselves in setting standards that far exceed the FAA minimums. Unfortunately in a push to reduce costs and a zealous approach by airline management to reduce costs, they reduced that margin of safety in many areas including pilot hiring standards, flight time restrictions, duty time restrictions, rest requirements...

PHILLIPS: Well, Scott, are you saying those standards are there then? Are you saying - that the standards are there, we fight to put standards there, you there and the association, but it's the airlines that are not adhering to those standards? Is that what you're saying?

SHANKLAND: Well, they're adhering to FAA minimums. But what happened in the wake of 9/11 and the economic downturn, cost cutting, zealous airline managements use the threat of financial distress and bankruptcy to gut airline pilot contracts and they slashed pay and they changed work rules to the extent where we've seen that margin between the standard that used to exist and FAA minimums be diminished.

PHILLIPS: Well it sounds like the FAA has to step up to the plate. SHANKLAND: Well, certainly, the FAA minimums in many areas are not adequate and we're starting to see that come to light in some of these instances.

PHILLIPS: Yes, and we'll follow those hearings as well.

Scott Shankland with the Applied Pilots Association, appreciate your time, Scott.

SHANKLAND: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Now before we move on, a strong defense of Colgan Air Co-Pilot Rebecca Shaw from her mother. Lynn Morris tells our affiliate KAIRO (ph) that Shaw never would have sat down in that cockpit of Flight 3407 if she had been exhausted, nor would she have taken her mind off of the controls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNN MORRIS, REBECCA SHAW'S MOTHER: I think I walked out of the hearings in shock because I truly felt that both she and the captain had been used as a scapegoat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, cockpit transcripts show and Colgan Air acknowledges that both pilots engaged in in-proper chitchat on their ill-fated approach to Buffalo.

Is this guy an African-American? His skin is white, but his background is colorful. He's sure of his identity, but others don't identify with him. Who's suffering the identity crisis here?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hundreds of car dealers across the nation could soon be out of business. Chrysler has told a bankruptcy court that it plans to shut down 25 percent of its dealerships while it reconstructs. The dealers can appeal but the move will likely mean loss jobs and loss tax revenues from Florida to California and lots of spots in between. Chrysler plans to shut 789 dealers it currently has about 3,200. They're not the only ones facing the ax. GM plans to shut down more than 40 percent of its dealerships, about 2600 by the end of next year. The National Automobile Dealership Association is asking the Obama administration to slow down the closings which it says will end up hurting the economy.

One job seeker faces 50,000 potential employers every day from 20 feet above a West Austin, Texas road. Laid off IT professional Eric Jacobsen is really thinking big with his billboard. That's why we booked him for our 30-second pitch. Eric joins me live from Austin, Texas. Eric, did you even see it coming that you were going to lose your job?

ERIC JACOBSEN, JOB SEEKER: Actually no not this time. It was definitely a surprise, but that's what happens sometimes. PHILLIPS: What was the reason that they told you?

JACOBSEN: You know, our company suffered some loss as far as the members and because of that they had to reduce overhead.

PHILLIPS: So how have you been getting by day by day? Had you saved enough? Did have money put away in any type of investments?

JACOBSEN: Luckily I have a wife that's fully employed so that's definitely helped. From there we're just kind of cutting back and making the best of the situation.

PHILLIPS: Are you ready for the 30-second pitch?

JACOBSEN: Sure.

PHILLIPS: We'll have your e-mail on the screen. You have 30 seconds. Let's go ahead and start the clock. Eric, go ahead.

JACOBSEN: At my core I'm someone who really loves to solve tough business problems. I have over 20 years experience coming up with ideas and concepts and turning those ideas into reality. My eric4hire.com campaign is just one example of using innovative strategies to solve problems. In summary, I'm an out of the box thinker, a problem solver and I get results.

PHILLIPS: You have even 11 seconds left. Final thought?

JACOBSEN: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: It's our pleasure, Eric. Eric4hire, all one word, dot com. Keep us updated and tell us what happens, ok Eric?

JACOBSEN: I'll do that. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Appreciate it. Eric's story actually reminded us of our first pitch Mark Foyer. Do you remember him? He put up a billboard in Wisconsin. Mark says that the head of a startup company saw him on CNN in March and offered him a job but the company is waiting for financing so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

And Pasha Sockey, she did a pitch on CNN also after she put up a billboard in Connecticut. She says she's in serious negotiations right now with a potential employer. We found out that her billboard came down today and was replaced with a beer ad. You can get updates on our pitches at our blog, cnn.com/newsroom just click on Kyra.

There's no honor among thieves but there is one in Texas who has no honor, no conscience and no heart. What he or she swiped isn't worth much money but if love, joy and pride were currency, the stuff would belong in Ft. Knox.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: White, African, American. Paulo Serodio says he's all three but he says he's not the one suffering an identity crisis. Serodio is suing a New Jersey medical school claiming that he was harassed and eventually suspended for repeatedly identifying himself in class and elsewhere as a white African-American. He was born in Mozambique and is now a U.S. citizen. He says he's self-proclaimed identity that it offended some classmates and staff members. So here's what he told our Lou Dobbs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULO SERODIO, FORMER STUDENT: I believe people were really offended were not people of color as I spoke to many of them and many of them were my friends and defensive of my definition. But there was a group among them who was offended perhaps politically. I don't know. I wanted to raise a discussion. I raised a discussion among my class of 2009 and happily it got out of control. I got a lot of support. I myself learned as an author that people had opposite views and what failed in this whole process was the administration in my opinion giving into people who really did not want to debate. I offered to debate. I offered to apologize if necessary. I apologize for any offense but I cannot back down from being what I am. I was instructed to take a cultural diversity addition course in order to understand other people's views which I thought should be done during the process of debate.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey says it hasn't seen Serodio's lawsuit and won't comment. But you know this debate won't go away any time soon. So we want to hear what you think. Just logon to cnn.com/newsroom and click Kyra to share your views.

It's the number one health issue you guys bring to our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. She's up next with the question and some answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A nation's health insurance industry could be the next big business that the federal government takes on. Senators are meeting behind closed doors today to consider whether to jump into the health insurance business. At issue is whether middle class workers and their families should be offered the choice of joining a government sponsored health insurance plan. Big insurance companies say that such a plan would put them out of business. Those big insurance companies happen to be at the heart of a huge issue. The number one issue that you guys write Elizabeth Cohen about, not weight or sex or drugs, it's how to get health insurance if you have a pre- existing condition. So try to put it into perspective for us about how big of a problem it is.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well as you said, we get more e-mails on this issue than any other. They're not just e-mails asking questions, they're emails actually begging for help. These are folks with pre-existing conditions who for some reason can't get insurance through an employer either because they're not employed or because their employer doesn't offer benefits or for whatever reason. And they have a tough time. This is a bear of a problem. And bear is my second choice of words. Millions of people cannot get health insurance because they have pre-existing conditions.

Now, I'll be honest, I won't sugar coat it. Sometimes it really is going to be impossible for these folks to get insurance but other times there are things that you can do. For example, in about a dozen states you can become a group of one. That's right, all by yourself you can qualify as a group. The reason why that's important is that when you're a group, you can get insurance and the insurance company can't discriminate against you because you have a pre-existing condition. In all other states, you can become a group of two, start a business and hire your brother-in-law. That's what one insurance advocate suggested to me. And here's another idea, a state high risk pool. Most states have these pools specifically for people with pre- existing conditions. Now the prices aren't necessarily cheap but it's certainly worth checking it out. You can find a link to a list of states that have high risk pools by going to my website or my article which is on cnn.com/health right now or cnnhealth.com that works too. Cnnhealth.com right now that's where it is.

PHILLIPS: All right, so tomorrow is empower me Friday. So how do people get their questions to you?

COHEN: They e-mail me.

PHILLIPS: It's that simple.

COHEN: That's right, empoweredpatient@cnn.com. That's where you can ask me questions. As a matter of fact this segment that we're doing right now is because somebody e-mailed a question to me. Empoweredpatient@cnn.com.

PHILLIPS: Thanks Elizabeth.

Two college students, one shoots and wounds the other. The shooter will graduate this weekend. His victim will not. How do you feel about that?

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PHILLIPS: Don't call it a movie, don't dare call it a flick, call it cinema. The red carpet is out at the Cannes Film Festival, global recession be darned. Three words make this year's event a real talker. Francis Ford Coppola. Here's CNN's Natasha Curry.

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NATASHA CURRY, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The excitement is building as thousands of people flock here to the French Riviera for the 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival.

(Voice-over): The festival got under way with the filmmakers of Disney walking the famed red carpet. It's making history becoming the first animated film ever to kick off the festival. And Disney is going all out with promotions with this giant balloon filled photo op. Didn't quite get off the ground though because of high winds. And Director Francis Ford Coppola, his latest film Tetro is all the buzz in Cannes. It was shot in Argentina, mostly in black and white and he told me that the film was very personal and an emotional film for him that draws on his own personal experience.

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, DIRECTOR, "TETRO": My own father was quite a wonderful man and my brother is great and I always idolized him and looked up to him, which is partly what the story is about. But none of the real particulars of the story are real. It's all fiction. But the feeling behind it is very personal. And partly I was writing it to understand myself how I felt about all those things.

CURRY: Some of the world's biggest stars will be here, including Brad Pitt. He stars in the latest Quentin Tarantino film "Inglorious Basterds."

BRAD PITT, ACTOR: I need me eight soldiers.

CURRY: And Penelope Cruz has a film here, too. She'll be walking up the steps of the Palaise. Reporting from the 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival, Natasha Curry, CNN.

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PHILLIPS: Well, we're just getting started in the NEWSROOM. The house speaker a bit tongue tied today, the subject, torture. The question, what did she know and when. The accusations, many.

Plus a college student gets shot. His attacker gets a college degree. Where's the justice in this plea bargain? We're pushing forward, next hour.

For 51 weeks out of the year, police officers go about their risky business with little fanfare or recognition. But in the second week of May, the nation always takes time to honor them. And they honor the sacrifices of fellow officers. Here's a glimpse of the ceremonies at the national law enforcement officers memorial from John Gonzalez and our affiliate in Washington, WJLA.

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JOHN GONZALEZ, WJLA REPORTER (voice-over): Thousands of stories and millions of memories surround this memorial wall, but everyone here shares a similar pain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel a tremendous pride in -- you almost feel like you shouldn't be as happy for him as you are, yet it still hurts so bad.

GONZALEZ: Officers who tragically lost their lives doing what they love, doing what they were born to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost sickening sometimes how hard it is, but we'll get through it. GONZALEZ: Maryland transportation officer Courtney Brooks died after an accident on 95 in Baltimore on New Year's Day 2008. His fiancee and small children are seeing his name for the first time.

SUSAN GEISLER, CPL. COURTNEY BROOKS' FIANCEE: It's amazing. It's a very proud moment, even though it comes in such a tragic incident, it's very overwhelming.

GONZALEZ: Personnel from hundreds of jurisdictions from around the country escorted the families of fallen officers. As the names of the 387 being remembered were read aloud. Locally five police officers were killed in the line of duty last year. Maryland trooper Mickey Charles Lippi was killed in a Medevac accident and Sergeant Richard Finley was run over by a suspect in Prince George's county. Lieutenant Frank Stecco drowned last October during a training exercise with the Fairfax County Police force.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was just an all-around good guy, he'd give you the shirt off his back. A good hearted soul.

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PHILLIPS: In valor, there is hope. Those words inscribed on the law enforcement officers memorial and they're exactly why our team is doing this special coverage of national police week. There's more on our blog, cnn.com/newsroom, including profiles of some very special officers.

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PHILLIPS: Ok, I don't necessarily think that thieves have a moral compass, but this act of larceny is absolutely ludicrous, and it's downright wrong. First Sergeant David Cantu was coming home from war, and boy, was his family excited. As a matter of fact, his mother-in-law, Mary Valdez, placed a colorful welcome home sign and two American flags right in the middle of the front yard. Well, guess what happened? When mother Valdez, the loving ecstatic mother-in-law, got up the next morning to add balloons, gone, vanished, adios. The welcome home sign, American flags, all stolen. No ransom note, no explanation, just tears. It was sacred, Mrs. Valdez says. As for First Sergeant David Cantu, the 21-year-old humble vet, well, he said that sign was meant for the men and women that are there and the men and women that had just died. Just a hug and a thank you is good enough for me. Well, Sergeant Cantu, you're getting a welcome home live on CNN. And those lame jack ass thieves can't steal that.

Here's another one that had us saying "what the ... ?." A young lady pulled over by the Ohio highway patrol for speeding. She was on her way to a ceremony honoring her brother. He was a soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. He's about to posthumously awarded a purple heart and a bronze star, but she misses the ceremony because of her run-in with highway patrol. Just listen to the exchange.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry. I was speeding. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

[Inaudible]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're going to give me a ticket? I'm going to a funeral.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were doing 80. I'm sorry for your loss.

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PHILLIPS: Sorry for your loss, he says. By the way, police say the total duration of that traffic stop was nine minutes. Apparently the driver has a police officer in the family, and next thing you know, a lieutenant with the Ohio Highway Patrol shows up, takes back her ticket, and issues an apology instead.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, taking the offensive, fighting back against claims that she knew for years the U.S. was waterboarding terror suspects, but that she never tried to stop it. She's going after congressional republicans, the Bush administration, even the CIA. Today's meeting with reporters wasn't a smooth one, and CNN's Dana Bash challenged her about what she knew and when.