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Health Care Push and Pushback; Captured by the Enemy; 'Mail to the Chief'; Earthquake Moves New Zealand 30 Centimeters; "Harry and Louise" Are Back; New Details Emerge About Murdered Florida Couple; Monkey Robs Garden Center; Preview of "Black in America 2"
Aired July 22, 2009 - 13:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're pushing forward now on the issue of a lifetime, all of our lifetimes. Health care, is it a right, a responsibility, a privilege, a choice? Who pays and how much? Well, those are some of the questions that are keeping members of Congress from meeting the president's deadlines for reform. Though, he'll keep push for action in a prime-time news conference six hours from now.
Well, joining me this hour to peel away the politics and show us what reform really means are senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and in Washington, senior political analyst Gloria Borger.
Let's go ahead and start with Elizabeth because last hour she showed us how life might change according to what your situation is, insurance wise.
So, where do you want to begin?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. Let's talk about the 60 percent of Americans who have insurance through their employer. That's a lot of people. All right? These are people who have insurance.
So, I'm going to introduce you to somebody named Suzy. Look at her. Look at that big smile on her face, Kyra. Do you see that? I'm going to put a little arrow just to make it clear.
PHILLIPS: She obviously has a good deal. She's got good insurance.
COHEN: And she's got a nifty clipboard. I mean, she is doing great. She is really happy with her insurance.
So, the big question is, will health care reform change things for her? Will she stay happy after health care reform?
The Democrats say, oh, yes, absolutely. She's going to be happy after health care reform. It won't change a thing for her.
The Republicans say, oh, no, Suzy -- who represents a huge chunk of America, I might add -- she's going to be very unhappy. She is not going to be happy with what health care reform offers her.
PHILLIPS: So, why is there a disagreement then on this point? COHEN: Because the Democrats say, look, we're only changing things for people who are in trouble, people who don't have insurance, people who can't get insurance. But people who have insurance, things won't change for them. They will stick with their plan. The president has been very clear on that.
But Republicans say, well, hold on a minute there. The Democrats plan on having this public option, a government-sponsored health insurance plan that people could opt to join. And here is the sort of scenario they paint, Kyra.
The Republicans say, look, if an employer sees that there is this public option that's, let's say, 10, 20 percent cheaper, then the private option, they're going to tell Mary -- or Suzy -- I'm sorry. I made her up. I should know her name.
PHILLIPS: We're going to talk about all kinds of characters, though. It's OK.
COHEN: Exactly. We're going to tell Suzy, oh, Suzy, we know we have been giving you a private health insurance plan all these years, but we are going to switch you to the government-sponsored one because it's 20 percent cheaper. So we're going to do that.
PHILLIPS: OK. So let's talk about that. If she did go with that public option, is there anything wrong with that?
COHEN: Well, see, this is the interesting question, because a lot of people will say, well, yes, anything done by the government has got to be worse than what the private sector has to offer. But, you know, people have to think about this for a minute.
A lot of employees complain about their insurance. They're not so happy. It's expensive, it doesn't cover what it says it will cover. You know, people complain all the time about their insurance.
It's possible that a public option could give as good or even better service for less money. That is a possibility. It's a little bit in the eyes of the beholder.
PHILLIPS: Got it.
All right. Waiting for that prime-time speech tonight.
COHEN: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth, thank you so much.
Well, before we get back to the politics, I would like to share what may be the quote of the week. Democratic Senator Kent Conrad, referring to the Finance Committee's efforts to work out a bipartisan compromise, says, and I quote, "This is hard."
Gloria Borger, I don't think anybody would take issue with that comment.
Am I correct?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you are right.
I mean, look, we haven't done this in 16 years. And we failed the last time we try to do it. So, if it were easy, it would be done. Right, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: That is true. You're right. And this is politics. And this is our health care.
So, as you can imagine, we've gotten phone calls, e-mails, tweets. So I'm going to get right to it, Gloria, because we've got a lot of questions for you.
Linda Finchz says, "May I point out that people are fools to spend the same amount of time typing out a blog as it takes to call their representative?"
Basically saying, why not just call your congressman, your congresswoman, whoever it is that represents you, and give your opinion?
Will they really listen to the constituents or is this too political at this point?
BORGER: Well, I think they will listen to their constituents. This is an issue that has been around, as we were saying, for a very long time. This was a huge issue in the presidential campaign.
It was clearly one of now President Obama's priorities. The fact that we are doing health care in the Congress means that President Obama has listened to the voters, who said that they wanted health care.
Now, having said that, it's a very complex issue. Voters are all over the lot on these kinds of things. And most voters are asking, as you and Elizabeth just pointed out, how will this affect me?
Am I going to have to pay higher taxes when I already have insurance? Am I going to pay for the uninsured? Why should I have to do that? What about the quality of my health care? Will that change?
So, these are questions that are really personal to all of us, and we want to make sure it comes out right. So I would say, call your representative.
PHILLIPS: All right.
And DBRO113 says, "Why the August deadline? I understand a deadline, but a few weeks isn't enough time to work everything out."
BORGER: Well, I think, from watching Congress for a really long time, Kyra, I can tell you that deadlines matter because it's the only way they get things done around there. If you give them a deadline -- and usually it's right before they go home for a recess -- they want to get their work done. Now, having said that, there are five congressional committees working this through. Three of them have reported measures, two have not.
I think that the president -- we're seeing a little crack in the cement here. The president beginning to say that I'm not going to let a week or so stand in the way of getting some health care legislation.
I can tell you what the White House wants -- and I just got off the phone with a senior adviser -- what they want are those bills out of committee, and at least out of committee so that at some point soon, something can get passed on the floor of each House, and then those two bills can be reconciled. And that is when they say the president is going to get very involved in telling people what he will accept and what he won't accept.
PHILLIPS: All right. Something I want to ask you about, because there was a news conference this morning held by a couple of Republican congressmen talking about that this -- one of the versions of the health care reform bill will mean that taxpayer dollars will be paying for abortions.
Can you set the story straight on that? Because we keep getting conflicting comments on this.
BORGER: Well, the truth of the matter is, we don't know the answer to that question. There is no mention of taxpayer funding of abortion in any of these House bills. And these advocates are saying the fact that it's not mentioned, means that it will be paid for. And so what they are asking for is a specific exclusion in legislation.
Now, I asked the White House about that this morning. And someone over there said to me, look, this is an issue that we understand we are going to have to take up down the road. But right now, it's not something they are focusing on, because they want to just get this legislation through.
PHILLIPS: Gloria Borger, well be talking a lot tomorrow, I bet.
BORGER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
So much has changed in 15 years. Cell phones are smaller, the Internet is everywhere, Starbucks, too, and Harry and Louise have done a 180 on health care. Remember those two, the happy health care couple from the TV ads that helped defeat reform in 1984?
Yes, they're back. Same faces, same voices, totally different pitches. That's coming up a little bit later.
Busted for aiding the enemy. CNN has now confirmed that American Bryant Neal Vinas has been charged with receiving training from al Qaeda and providing the terrorist organization with information about the New York transit system. According to court papers, Vinas also conspired to kill one or more American military personnel serving abroad. He's also accused of trying to fire rockets on a U.S. base in Afghanistan last year.
It's a story that's still developing. We'll stay on top of it.
And President Obama meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki behind closed doors this hour. The top issue, what the U.S. sees as the slow pace in stemming ethnic and sectarian violence in Iraq. Administration officials believe the key is for al-Maliki and his Shiite allies to give a bigger political role to minority Sunnis.
The two leaders are to speak to reporters at the top of the hour, and we will bring you that live when it happens.
Army Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl remains a POW still in the hands of the Taliban. That's about all we know right now since he went missing three weeks ago.
One thing you can bet on, though, his family and friends back in his hometown of Hailey, Idaho, aren't giving up hope. Far from it. They describe Bowe as a caring kid who would do anything to help others, and that he's tough and he loves adventure, and he worked on a fishing boat and dreamed of riding his motorcycle around the world.
It's one of the worst fears of combat soldiers, getting captured by the enemy. Are they all trained to survive? It depends on their job. Some receive more than others, and that's where CNN's Barbara Starr comes in to explain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: No one knows how much duress Private First Class Bowe Bergdal was under when he spoke.
PFC. BOWE BERGDAHL, U.S. ARMY: My fellow soldiers and my friends that I fight with, they all agree when I say this is a waste. We should not be here.
STARR: When a U.S. soldier is captured, the Army Code of Conduct is blunt. It states: "... I am required to give only my name, rank, service number and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country."
Bergdahl, like all soldiers, is taught the code. But how prepared would he have really been for captivity?
Robert Bevelacqua conducts military security training. Bergdahl, he believes, is doing the best he can.
MAJ. ROBERT BEVELACQUA, U.S. ARMY (RET.): The evidence that I see that he is resisting is the fact that he will not directly engage the camera with his eyes, that he tends to look down and look away.
STARR: Every since POWs were tortured in Vietnam, the military has improved survival training. The most intensive is reserved for troops at the highest risk, air crews and Special Operations units. They learn to survive interrogation and even torture. Junior troops like Bergdahl, who are at minimal risk of capture because they operate in large groups, get lectures on the code of conduct but little other training.
BEVELACQUA: He truly does not know how to survive outside of his own wits, and he is very familiar with what he shouldn't do as far as the code of conduct goes. Outside of that, he's pretty much -- he's on his own.
STARR (on camera): Statements made under the duress of captivity are usually forgiven, ,but the question still remains, how is it that Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl came to be on his own and was captured in the first place?
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, you have been sending us your questions about health care reform. You've been e-mailing us at "Mail to the Chief" and tweeting at KyraCNN. So we're about to go to the people who have some answers for you -- Linda Douglass from the White House and Republican Congressman Phil Gingrey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Competing plans, dozens of proposals, and a lot of politics. The head-spinning prospect of health care reform leaves us with a lot of questions today, and you've been e-mailing us at "Mail to the Chief," along with tweeting and phoning in your questions all day. You've told us what you want answers for, not a political debate. So we have picked four of your questions to ask someone from the White House and a congressional Republican.
Republican Representative Phil Gingrey's turn to answer some of those questions as we wait for Linda Douglass at the White House.
Congressman Gingrey is from Georgia. He's also a medical doctor, so we've got a twofer here. He joins me live from Capitol Hill.
Congressman, good to see you. If you don't mind, I want to get right to our questions from viewers. OK?
REP. PHIL GINGREY (R), GEORGIA: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Terrific.
This one is a tweet from Maureen Mower. "Why not combine Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and even veterans' care into the public option? There is the one-third savings that we need to get it done."
GINGREY: Well, the reason not to do that is because that's exactly what we are opposed to, those of us on the Republican side of the aisle, conservatives across this country, people that fear a one- size-fits-all government program that is essentially, as you point out, in doing that cradle to grave Medicare, Medicare for all. When you include Medicaid and SCHIP and veteran's benefits and Medicare for the seniors and the disabled, that's the last thing we want.
And, of course, the Democratic majority is saying they don't want that either. But we fear that this plan that they have with the government option is taking two steps to get to that point. And that's what we fear so much.
PHILLIPS: Congressman, let's get straight to a caller, David Cross, right here.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DAVID CROSS, NEW JERSEY: This is David Cross from Blacksburg, Virginia.
They say they don't want to ruin the private sector, so there must be something in these proposals that block employers from switching to the public option. So, what are those blocks? Are those fines, tax hikes? They must be doing something.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Congressman?
GINGREY: David, thank you for that question. It's a good one, there's no question about it.
And I guess you are a small employer. You employ people. You would like to continue to offer your employees a health insurance plan if you can, if you can afford to do that.
But yet, if this bill passes in its present form, by the year 2013 you will no longer be able to do that. You will no longer be able to do that. They will have to end up going into the exchange and getting their plan from either the government plan or a private insurance plan.
But the government plan is also the referee. They're going to set all the prices, they're going to set the mandates. They are going to say maybe you even have to include coverage for abortion. You may have an employee group that is totally pro-life.
I mean, these are the kind of things that are totally burdensome on the American people. And they don't want it. And they are speaking out loud and clear that they don't want that.
PHILLIPS: And this e-mail coming from Brian. "What will you do to ensure that all Americans with pre-existing illnesses are able to obtain health care insurance for medical treatment and prescription drugs at reasonable rates?"
And as we know, that is a tremendous part of this. You know, folks want to know, how is it going to all break down when it comes to cost?
GINGREY: Brian, that's the whole point of this thing, of course. I mean, the idea of trying to make health insurance more affordable, more accessible, more available to all of our citizens.
And if you've got 47 million, I don't think there is that many that are without health insurance. Many of those actually are eligible for one of our safety net programs.
But even if there are 10 million that don't have it, and they don't have it because of what you point out, pre-existing conditions and uninsurability and being denied coverage, we can correct that. We absolutely are for -- the members of my side of the aisle and those who are speaking out against this one-size-fits-all government plan, we want to help those folks as well.
And we can do it through insurance reform. We can do it through guaranteed -- that there's equal treatment under the tax law. That people who are buying insurance either individually or a small group employer can take the same tax deduction as those people who are working for a large employer.
And we can also create high-risk pools in each state, help them both federally and with state funds, subsidize those who cannot afford, make sure that the premiums that insurance companies charge in this high-risk pool are, let's say, no more than 150 percent to 200 percent of the standard rate. So, many things that we can do.
But this bill, listen, it will cost too much, $1.5 trillion. It's not paid for. It's going to increase the deficit by at least $250 billion.
It does not improve the quality of care. It leads to rationing. It leads to tax increases not just for those making more than $250,000, but for all Americans.
What about that formula can anybody find to like?
PHILLIPS: Do me a favor. Give me that number again. You said it's going to increase the deficit by how much, Congressman?
GINGREY: Well, it will increase the deficit at this point -- as the Democrats search desperately for pay-fors, they're about $250 billion to $300 billion of paying for that $1.5 trillion cost over 10 years. Of course, that doesn't say anything about what the cost will be in the out years. It just grows and grows and grows. And right now, we have a $35 trillion unfunded liability for Medicare as we go out to the year 2075.
PHILLIPS: All right. I want to make sure I get the White House to respond to those numbers.
If you don't mind, one more phone call. This one coming from New Jersey.
GINGREY: Gladly.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TERRY PARIS, NEW JERSEY: Why can't we get the same health care as our congressmen, our senators, our municipal workers, our state workers, our city employees? Everyone that works for the government gets it free. Why can't I?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Congressman?
GINGREY: New Jersey, you are absolutely right. If you ask my good friend from New Jersey, Scott Garrett, or Leonard Lance, or Frank Lo Biondo, or guys on our side of the aisle, they will tell you that we all agree that you should be able to get the same thing that any member of Congress -- indeed, even the leadership, the speaker of the House, the chairman of these three committees in the House that have jurisdiction over this government-run health plan -- and finally, last but not least, the president of the United States. They ought to be willing, as every member of Congress should be willing, to sign up.
If the government default plan is so darn good, let's all get all of them in the plan as well. And, yes, let's let you sign up for the federal health employee benefit plan that every person that works for the federal government has, and the same benefit package, and basically at the same cost. You deserve that. All American citizens do.
PHILLIPS: Georgia Representative Phil Gingrey, appreciate your time.
GINGREY: Thank you very much. I'm glad to be with you.
PHILLIPS: Time now to take it to the White House. We're joined by Linda Douglass. She's the director of communications for health care reform.
Like we said, we didn't want to turn this into a debate. We just want to take viewers' calls, questions, e-mails, tweets, and put them to both of you.
And if you don't mind, Linda, I just want to get you to respond since the congressman threw out some pretty big numbers.
We had this e-mail from Brian saying, "What will you do to ensure that all Americans with pre-existing illnesses are able to obtain health care insurance for medical treatment and prescription drugs at reasonable costs?"
The congressman went on to say this bill's going to cost too much money, it's going to increase the deficit by billions of dollars.
I want to get your reaction to that right off the bat.
LINDA DOUGLASS, WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF HEALTH REFORM: Well, the president has made it very clear that the health care -- the health reform legislation that he signs, which will do everything that the caller wants done -- it will lower costs, it will make affordable options for health insurance now that are not available to tens of millions of Americans, and it will be deficit-neutral. He has been absolutely clear that he will not sign legislation, he said, that is not deficit-neutral.
It has to lower costs. It cannot add a penny to the deficit.
By the way, you know, for the last many years, the Congress has been passing health reform plans such as the Medicare prescription drug plan and other proposals which were not funded, not paid for. This president is insisting that it be paid for.
PHILLIPS: OK. So deficit-neutral. The definition of that is this will by no way, shape or form increase the deficit. Is that what that deficit-neutral means?
DOUGLASS: Yes. Over a 10-year period -- this is a 10-year plan -- this will not add to the deficit.
You know, one of the most important points to make here is that what the president is calling for is funding health reform, most of the money coming from money that is already in the system. It is saving through getting waste and fraud out of Medicare and Medicaid. He has proposed that more than two-thirds of this come from savings of health care money that is already in the system, reallocating that money to lower costs and improve quality.
PHILLIPS: All right, Linda. Let's get to this tweet from Maureen Mower again.
"Why not combine Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP" -- which is the Children's Health Insurance Program" -- and even veterans' care into the public option? There is the one-third savings that we need to get it done."
DOUGLASS: Look, what the president wants to do is build upon the system that we have now. Americans all around the country who have health insurance from their employers, nothing is going to change for you. You can keep what you have.
What we are talking about here is establishing an insurance exchange, a place where all those people who are trying to buy money on the individual market, 70 percent of those people said last year they couldn't find affordable insurance. So, people who are buying insurance as individuals, people who are frozen out of the system because the health insurance companies say you have a pre-existing medical condition, you're not allowed in, people who are in small businesses which are charged exorbitant rates right now to get health insurance, those people will get affordable options that they don't have today. That's one of the key goals of health reform.
PHILLIPS: One of our callers checking in from Virginia. Linda, please respond to this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DAVID CROSS, NEW JERSEY: This is David Cross from Blacksburg, Virginia.
They say they don't want to ruin the private sector, so there must be something in these proposals that block employers from switching to the public option. So, what are those blocks? Are those fines, tax hikes? They must be doing something.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And just in all fairness, I want you to be able to respond. The congressman did make mention that a version of this health care reform bill would mean that taxpayer dollars would be paying for abortions. So I want to give you a chance to respond to that as well, Linda.
DOUGLASS: Well, first of all, let me answer that question. You know, this is setting up another straw man.
Nothing is in any bill and no one is talking about mandating coverage for abortion. There is -- first of all, there is a federal law which prohibits the use of federal funds, the Hyde Amendment for abortion.
The administration believes that these kind of decisions, benefit packages, should be determined by those who are setting the benefits, independent medical experts. So, nobody is talking about mandating the coverage of abortion.
Now, with respect to the -- I'm trying to remember what the second question was.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
DOUGLASS: Employers, yes.
PHILLIPS: He was asking about there has got to be some blocks in there, whether it's fines, tax hikes, they'll be doing something, the caller said.
DOUGLASS: Right. And several of the bills look at this in a different way.
There are definitely incentives in each of the bills that are coming to the different committees which would discourage employers from dropping coverage for their employees. The goal here, again, is to build on the system that we have.
For people who like their employer-sponsored insurance, we want it to stay that way. And employers want it to stay that way. So, there will be disincentives for employers to drop coverage. That's the point, to bolster up the system we have now and lower costs and improve quality.
PHILLIPS: All right, Linda. Final phone call coming from New Jersey.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TERRY PARIS, NEW JERSEY: Why can't we get the same health care as our congressmen, our senators, our municipal workers, our state workers, our city employees? Everyone that works for the government gets it free. Why can't I?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That coming from Terry Paris.
Linda?
DOUGLASS: Well, I don't know that it's quite free if you're a government worker, but what you do have as a government worker is you have a menu of options. You can have a gold-plated option if you want to pay for it. You know, you can have a very generous series of benefits. You can have fewer benefits.
It depends on what you need for your family. It depends on what you want to pay out of pocket.
Now, what the insurance exchange is going to do is essentially replicate that concept. There will be a series of affordable options available to people who currently cannot find affordable health insurance anywhere in the individual market or the small group market. So, the concept of creating more choices is at the heart of health reform.
PHILLIPS: Linda Douglass from the White House.
Appreciate you and Representative Phil Gingrey, Republican from Georgia. Both of you joining us and answering our viewers' questions.
Appreciate it.
DOUGLASS: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: And don't forget, tonight, 8:00 Eastern, President Obama's news conference. Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and the best political team on television will be all over it. Inside analysis, right here on CNN.
Hey, Australia, don't look now but the kiwis are coming. Australia and New Zealand are closer to each other now, literally, and we're going to find out why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: You know, there's always been a lot of competition between the Aussies and the Kiwis, as you well know, especially over on the international desk.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Soccer, sailing and (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. And our correspondents, you know, like Michael Ware and Michael Holmes, they're always going at each other. OK, so now an earthquake, though, is attempting to bring them even closer.
MYERS: It did. A 7.7 earthquake here on the western tip of New Zealand, right there, brought it brought it 30 centimeters closer. PHILLIPS: OK, let's put that in perspective.
MYERS: OK, I'm going to try to do that. Let's put a 3 and a 0 right there.
PHILLIPS: Valerie Butler (ph), our producer, went down to the local antique store, she said, and got the ruler from back when she was in the second grade.
MYERS: Remember when you used to pull the little metal strip out of there and...
PHILLIPS: Actually, I remember this. A smack in the hand, that's what I got with the footlong ruler. So, really, put it in perspective.
MYERS: They're not lowering the airfares, OK...
PHILLIPS: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: ... just because it's 30 centimeters closer. But there was that big quake right there, and thiss whole southern island shifted 30 centimeters -- that much -- closer to the big island.
PHILLIPS: That's pretty cool stuff.
MYERS: Yes, it is.
PHILLIPS: Yes. It only took, what, a few seconds for the island to move.
MYERS: Big shake.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
MYERS: Eight days ago.
PHILLIPS: Cool stuff.
MYERS: All right.
PHILLIPS: You want the ruler?
MYERS: Sure.
PHILLIPS: I think you might give that to your son.
MYERS: Careful.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Well, you had to see this one coming about a mile away. Yes, cemetery owners now defendants. What happens -- well, that's what happens when your graveyard is the scene of such a morbid and massive scandal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All eyes will be on the president when he steps up his p.r. blitz for health care reform. That's in a prime-time news conference that you'll see live on CNN. In the meantime, we're listening at keyholes in the offices and meeting rooms on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers from both parties and both houses are scrambling for votes and common ground.
CNN's Dana Bash joins me with the state of the debate. She's been looking in every keyhole possible. Dana, have you been able to get anything?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have to tell you something that just happened, actually, Kyra. We can't get into that room, obviously -- although it's not because we're not trying -- where the senators, bipartisan group of senators are meeting.
But sometimes when you stand here long enough, you do pick up a little nugget. And one more sort of interesting piece of color, when the Senate finance chairman, Max Baucus, was just walking by here, going back to his office, which is right there, I tried to talk to him. And his phone rang, and it was the House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, a fellow Democrat. He said, I can't talk to you, it's Steny Hoyer.
And he kept walking, and we heard him say, well, you know, praying might be helpful. That's what he said to his fellow Democrat. So, that gives you a sense of where they are right now, frankly. I mean, certainly, they are working incredibly hard behind those doors, both Democrats and Republicans. And you know, one of the questions that we have had all day is, considering the fact that the president, this is his top priority that they're working on and he's going prime time in this press conference to put pressure on them, well, is that having any effect on what's going on inside that room?
Well, I just talked to the lead Republican on this critical committee, Charles Grassley of Iowa. And here's his answer to that question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: The president can push all he wants to, but we're committed to doing it right because restructuring our health care system, restructuring one-sixth of the economy ought to be done right, and a date certain isn't going to help. And I hope the president tonight does not say a date certain.
I believe that he needs to be realistic. He was a member of the United States Senate. He knows nothing gets done in the United States Senate quickly. And in the case of the messages I'm getting from the grass roots of America, including my own state of Iowa, is that you need to do it right, and you shouldn't rush it just for the sake of rushing it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And I can tell you that really is a bipartisan sentiment, Kyra, in this room. Senator Kent Conrad, another lead Democratic negotiator, he said basically the same thing. He understands the president's doing what he's got to do, but the reason why it's taking so long for them to try to figure out the way to do health care reform, to craft this health care reform legislation, is because it is so complicated. It is so hard.
And at least the folks in hear say that they are determined to, quote, "do it right." And I can just tell you before we leave that they did lose a member of this negotiating team earlier today because of our intrepid reporting from our congressional producer, Ted Barrett.
He caught up with Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican from the state of Utah who had been working for a while with these senators, and he decided that he is not going to work anymore. He said that the way that they are crafting this health care bill, he said, it costs too much, and it just does too much that he doesn't agree with philosophically. So, they are bipartisan talks, but they lost one Republican today.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Dana Bash, thanks so much.
And if you're not having a healthy case of deja vu, well, this will help. A TV ad campaign that ran during the last health care brouhaha in '94 is back, and so are its players, Harry and Louise, not to be confused with Thelma and Louise, by the way. Just a little older, yes, and a little wiser? Well, you'll have to decide that for yourself.
Here's CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Obama is urging Americans to tune out the forces against health care reform.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that there are those in this town who openly declare their intention to block reform. It's a familiar Washington script that we've seen many times before.
HARRY JOHNSON, ACTOR PLAYING "HARRY": Well, the paper says Congress is moving ahead on health care.
ACOSTA: But one part of that script has changed as in the pages marked "Harry and Louise." In 1994, the fictional couple appeared in TV ads sponsored by the insurance industry famously opposing President Clinton's plan for health care reform.
JOHNSON: If they chose...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We lose. ACOSTA: Flash forward 15 years.
JOHNSON: Well, looks like we may finally get health care reform.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's about time.
ACOSTA: Harry and Louise are back, this time in favor of Democratic proposals to overhaul the system. Turning the kitchen table on the issue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little more cooperation, a little less politics, and we can get the job done this time.
ACOSTA: So, you got the old band back together.
RON POLLACK, DIRECTOR, FAMILIES USA: We got the old band back together, happily.
ACOSTA: But they're singing a different tune this time.
POLLACK: And they're it's different lyrics. The lyrics now make it clear that it's very important for our nation to actually get health care reform and to get it this year.
ACOSTA: Health care reform advocate Ron Pollack with the group Families USA brought the actors back to the studio hoping for some Harry and Louise magic of his own. In the behind-the-scenes look at the making of one spot, the actor playing Harry, whose real name is Harry Johnson, gives his own take on health care.
HARRY JOHNSON, ACTOR: Hardly anyone can afford to have health care anymore. People are losing health care every day.
ACOSTA: The original "Harry and Louise" spots were so powerful, they were spoofed by the Clintons themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER FIRST LADY: It says that eventually, we are all going to die.
BILL CLINTON, FORTY-SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Under the Clinton health plan? I have never been so frightened in all my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: The actors just got a pat on the back from Republican Party chairman Michael Steele, who appeared unaware of the couple's recent role reversal.
MICHAEL STEELE, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Harry and Louise helped save us from Hillary Clinton's health care experiments in 1994. This year, Harry and Louise have been replaced by another couple, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. ACOSTA (on camera): But nowhere in the new Harry and Louise spot is there a mention of the Democratic proposal to give Americans the option of joining a government-run health care plan, the so-called public option. That's because a cosponsor of the new Harry and Louise ad, the phamaceutical lobby Pharma, says through a spokesperson, it is too early to tell whether it will support the public option.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A reminder about the presidential news conference at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Watch it right here on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and the best political team on television.
New developments in the Michael Jackson investigation. Ted Rowlands working that for us. Ted, what do you have?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, pretty dramatic change here, Kyra, in this investigation. You have seen the images of that Houston clinic being raided by the DEA agents exercising a search warrant. That's the clinic of Dr. Conrad Murray.
We just got a statement from Murray's lawyer and it says, talking about this search, it says that the Houston police department is conducting it along with the DEA. Law enforcement concluded their search at 12:30. They were looking for documents and other information that they believed, quote, "are evidence of the offense of manslaughter."
This is the first time we have heard the term manslaughter or a homicide investigation. Clearly, there has been a lot of speculation, is this just a death investigation or a homicide investigation? Clearly, this is a homicide investigation, and authorities are looking at the potential of manslaughter charges against Dr. Conrad Murray.
PHILLIPS: All right. We will continue to follow up with all the developments with you, Ted. Thanks so much. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Job frustration and stagnation know no racial boundaries. The same can't be said for corporate America, unfortunately. It's just one of the issues tackled in "Black in America 2," CNN's follow-up to last year's ground-breaking report. Soledad O'Brien leading the coverage once again. She's back with another sneak peak. Hey, Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. One of the focuses of people who want to make changes in the black community is to look at the corner office, specifically what's happening in corporate America. There have only been 13 black CEOs in the history of the Fortune 500. That's kind of dismal numbers.
So, how do you change that? Step one is to find smart, young, African-Americans, and then step two is to put them through a boot camp, challenge them, so they can be successful and take some big risks. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: By any measure, Mia Jackson is a success. At 26, she owns a home, a car, and earns $77,000 a year as an engineer.
MIA JACKSON, ENGINEER: I knew that an engineering degree was going to be financially stable when I got out of college. Typical (ph) engineering is the most versatile out of all the engineering disciplines...
O'BRIEN: She is a project manager exec at a chemical manufacturing company with over half a million dollars in revenue.
JACKSON: Stand back.
Working at Zep, I have had a lot of great opportunities.
O'BRIEN: But she's also experienced road blocks and frustration.
JACKSON: I couldn't see what my next step was. I had no one to help me see it.
O'BRIEN: Were you worried?
JACKSON: I didn't want to get pigeon holed as "that engineer."
O'BRIEN: In taking charge of her own career, she is about to walk away from everything that she has for an 18-month program created by this man, John Rice.
JOHN RICE, FOUNDER AND CEO, MLT: We have underrepresentation of minorities in corporate America, in the nonprofit world. Yes, we do -- we need to solve that.
O'BRIEN: Rice was an executive with the NBA but left to serve others in his innovative organization, Management Leadership for Tomorrow. MLT teaches a series of prescribed steps.
Step one, know your story.
RICE: Introduce yourself, talk to us. Who are you? Convince this group that you have the juice.
O'BRIEN: Step two, articulate your goals and passions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am most passionate about empowering others.
O'BRIEN: And step three, build important relationships.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to get to know you.
O'BRIEN: That's what Mia Jackson has been doing for the past 18 months in MLTs MBA prep program. JACKSON: I didn't know the monthly assignments were going to be grueling and repetitive. It is definitely another full-time job.
O'BRIEN: One final challenge before Mia's MLT journey ends. Four rigorous days, in the rain, around-the-clock training, crash courses in consulting, entrepreneurship and investment banking, where Mia must quickly digest information she has never studied.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After market liquidity concerns...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...equity capital markets...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...priced on volume...
O'BRIEN: Can she prove she has the right stuff for corporate leadership?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Kyra, John Rice's theory is this. It's not just about making me Mia Jackson successful. That's fine. But that's not the goal. The goal is, if you can make Mia Jackson successful, if you can make all these young people very, very successful, what Mia Jackson does is put that back into her community. The charities she supports, the kids she supports, the libraries she supports, the events she supports all go to make a community successful. And that means you kind of raise things for everybody just by Mia Jackson being successful.
PHILLIPS: We look forward to the beginning of an extravaganza. We should point out, Soledad, Skip Gates going to be giving his first interview to us tonight since his arrest and the disorderly conduct situation that happened at Harvard University, correct?
O'BRIEN: Yes, 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. We will start with that. We are calling it "Moment of Truth" where he talked to Steve Harvey, Tom Joyner and Skip Gates will be there, Bev Smith as well, D.L. Hughley. All talking about their moment of truth. We are going to hear from him the first time on television that he is talking to professor Skip Gates, and then president speaks at 8:00 and at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, we will air "Black in America 2."
PHILLIPS: Sounds good. Thanks so much, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You bet.
PHILLIPS: And just to remind you once again, it all begins at 7:00 Eastern with the live show "Moment of Truth.
As you just heard, Soledad mentioned all the folks that'll be there, including that exclusive chat with Harvard Professor Henry Gates. It's his first TV interview since being arrested after forcing his way into this own house. And that's followed by President Obama's news conference at 8:00. And then you can join us at 9, 00 for the first night of a two-night, all new "Black in America" event.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hey, New York City, times are tight. We know. But, hey, they could be tighter. Take, for example, your potential new mayor's underwear.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hey, New York City. You've got a big decision to make. Bloomberg or briefs. Yes, the Fruit of the Loom party at its best now. If you've been in New York City, you might know his face, the Naked Cowboy, Joe, the Strummer as we know him, officially running for mayor. Yes.
Anyway, he and his trusted tighty whiteys are running against Mayor Bloomberg. And I can already see a few problems. Number one, he's not clearly naked. So, does he tell the truth? We'll probably have some trust issues. Number two, just because you got the hat and the boots, that doesn't necessarily make you a cowboy. So, we're not sure he is who he claims. And number three, if something happens, he will get caught with his pants down. I'm just saying.
The shadowy thief caught on camera in Texas, nope, not a cat burglar. This one is a very cheeky monkey with a very shady owner. They're the primary suspects in a string of robberies at a garden center. The critter seen handing off of plants, even concrete statues to someone across a fence. The owner of the garden center says, well, she can forgive the monkey business to a point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHELLY ROSENFELD, ROBBERY VICTIM: I don't want to hurt this monkey. I'd like to hurt the person that trained the monkey. But, I think that they could make this monkey do much worse than what he's doing now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, reports that a detective Ace Ventura broke the case is just simply untrue.
All right, let's get back to Florida, now, where it turns out that a group of attackers had the right house but the wrong safe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, CNN's learned that a murdered Florida couple had a second safe in their home. This one had a lot more inside than the safe a group of killers took out of Byrd and Melanie Billings' house.
The one they got had jewelry, prescription meds and family documents. The one they couldn't get, the one that you have to think they were after, well, it had $100,000 inside. The attackers couldn't get it for whatever reason. They were in the house for about four minutes and that's when they took the life of that couple.
Well, that does it for us. We will be back here tomorrow. Rick Sanchez picks it up from here.
