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Health Care Town Halls; North American Summit; Crash in the Hudson; Professor: Health Care Reform Must Cover All, Reduce Cost Increases

Aired August 10, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Monday, August 10th, and here are the top stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on!

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HARRIS: My. Those rowdy health care shouting matches -- what's fact, what's trumped up?

A weekend collision between a small plane and helicopter. Divers look for two more victims in the Hudson River today.

The drug pipeline from Latin America, how it's feeding a growing appetite in small-town America.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

August is a make-or-break month in the debate over health care reform, and it is shaping up to be a long, hot month for lawmakers. Tempers reaching a fever pitch in town hall meetings across the country. The chanting, the yelling, the shouting -- it is hard to hear the debate through all the noise.

Wow. OK.

What lawmakers are hearing back home will, to some extent, determine what happens with health care reform. So, we're going to try to cut through all of that noise and get to the issues and the real concerns.

We are hearing some of those concerns and questions at a town hall meeting that is wrapping up right now in Missouri. It is sponsored by Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill. And our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, is covering the town hall in Kennett, Missouri, and she joins us live.

Brianna, you know, as you just heard moments ago, and the folks at home heard as well, there's been so much noise with some of these town halls, particularly for the House members. We're talking about a senator here. What's been the tone of this town hall event? BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tony, this event has been very civil. In fact, I have to watch my voice, because Senator McCaskill is really about 30 feet away from me and it's quiet enough that I don't want them to hear me in there. But certainly Senator McCaskill knew this event here had the potential to become unruly. She's a Democrat who supports that public option, that government-run insurance plan.

And this area, Kennett, in southeastern Missouri, this is a rural conservative stronghold. So, knowing that, Senator McCaskill came in here, really right off the bat, empathizing with a lot of her critics in the audience in trying to disarm them.

HARRIS: And Brianna, let me follow up with a quick question here. I thought maybe we had some sound from the town hall, but it's still going on right now. But I'm wondering how much time Senator McCaskill is actually spending trying to address maybe misconceptions, maybe some flat-out falsehoods about the bills that are taking shape right now.

Oh, did we lose her?

OK. We'll try to get back to Brianna in just a moment, but we want to give you a bit of the flavor of the town hall meeting that is going on right now in Missouri. Let's listen in to a bit of the town hall meeting from just moments ago.

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SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: We're a long way from there, so I want everyone to take a deep breath and realize that, I mean, this horse is not out of the barn and galloping towards the finish.

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HARRIS: And once again, live pictures now from the town hall meeting. We will be dropping in to give you a sense of that meeting from time to time throughout the hour.

I believe Brianna Keilar is back with us.

Brianna, are you there?

KEILAR: I am here, Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Just working out a few bugs here. Just wanted to follow up with you on the question of how much time -- you know, this is a town hall meeting where people have a number of concerns, not just about health care. But I'm wondering how much time the senator is spending on that particular topic.

KEILAR: Yes, she's really trying to hit a lot of points, Tony. Obviously, what she's trying to do here, as we listen to her, is debunk some of the concerns and address some of these concerns head on. She has been asked, you know, is this going to be socialized medicine, is this going to be a single payer system? And she is adamant, no, it is not. She actually said to people here, if you have friends who say it's going to be, you should bet the money it's not going to be, because it's a bet that you will win.

She was asked if there's going to be money for abortion. She said she is reading the bill page by page, and there is no money in the bill, at least the Senate side bill from the HELP Committee there that is going to have money for abortion.

She said that she addressed this issue of end of life care, Tony, because one of the things we've been hearing a lot about, especially on conservative talk radio, is this idea and this charge that there will essentially be forced euthanasia. And she said that is an absolute lie. She said her 81-year-old mother asked her to look in the bill and see if it was there, and she said she checked the bill and there's nothing about that in the bill.

So, she's really trying to debunk some of these charges head on.

HARRIS: Yes.

And Brianna, just for a moment of clarity here, when we talk about the bill that the senator has read, or is in the process of reading, we're talking about a bill that is taking shape, that hasn't been passed out of a committee yet, and still has to be merged with other bills on the Senate side, much less what's going on, on the House side?

KEILAR: Yes. And she said she's not addressing the House bill, because what she's taking a look at -- and Tony, I want you to know that we are breaking up right here. The meeting up.

Let me see if I can get her.

HARRIS: Can we grab the senator?

KEILAR: Senator McCaskill, can I ask you one question for CNN? We're live right now.

HARRIS: Yes, let's have a moment. Yes.

MCCASKILL: OK.

KEILAR: What did you think about how this meeting went? It was pretty civil.

MCCASKILL: This is Missouri manners at its best. People had really strong opinions in there, but I think we had a good, full discussion. I think I was able to hopefully correct some really bad misinformation that's out there. People are just getting information that is just flat wrong, and...

KEILAR: It seemed that was one of the things you were really doing, was confronting some of these charges head on. We were just talking about that live.

What did you think that was really important to say, this is true, this is not true, et cetera?

MCCASKILL: The most important thing, I have an 81-year-old mother that is incredibly important to me. And the notion that I would ever, or our government would ever do anything to cut short or dismiss the quality of life for our seniors, it's so offensive to me as an American. And I think it's -- as the AARP said, it's just a flat lie.

There's no rationing of health care that's being proposed for our elderly. There's no, you know, just notion that people are batting about, that somehow elderly people are going to be dismissed and going to be told, you can't get health care. Hopefully, I was able to reassure people that, not in America, that's not going to happen.

KEILAR: And thank you very much, Senator. I know you have a couple of other events.

MCCASKILL: Thank you. OK. Thank you.

KEILAR: So, Tony, there you have it.

HARRIS: That's terrific.

KEILAR: We were talking about she was trying to debunk charges, and she just put it to you right there. That's exactly what she was trying to do here.

And you know, Tony, one of the big questions about these events have been, who all is coming to these events? Are they people from out of town? You've heard these charges about grassroots versus AstroTurf.

I actually put that question to someone inside. Actually, two people, two acquaintances right from in town here, in Kennett, and one of them is for this federal health care reform push, the other one is against it. And both of them said they looked around the room and they told me, "You know what? I recognize about two-thirds of the faces in here really from the very immediate local community."

So, I thought that was pretty interesting.

HARRIS: No, that's good. And a great get. How about that timing working out so that we could grab the senator on the air live with us?

Brianna, great work on this topic for weeks and weeks now. We appreciate it. Thank you.

So, why don't we do this -- let's take a look at where health care reform stands right now in Congress.

Three House committees are working on separate versions of the legislation. Those three versions will have to be merged into one bill for the House to vote on.

This is very important. On the Senate side, two committees are working on reform plans. Those would also have to be merged into a bill to go before the full Senate.

Then negotiators work out differences between the House and Senate versions. If the final bill passes, it goes to President Obama for his signature.

So, while this is really an important month for public comment on what is being debated on Capitol Hill, there is still a lot of hard legislative work to be done. We just want you to keep that in mind as you follow the debate and the reporting this month.

As we try to cut through the noise over health reform, we want to address your real questions and concerns we've been hearing from you on our blog. And our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here to answer some of your questions.

I've got two quick ones.

Good to see you.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Are you ready to take this on?

COHEN: I am.

HARRIS: The first comes from Jake, who writes, "I am retired and have Blue Cross insurance, along with Medicare. Will I lose my Medicare with the new plan? Will I still have to pay $200 and $167 for Medicare per month? Can I cancel my BC?"

COHEN: Blue Cross.

HARRIS: My Blue Cross, yes.

COHEN: Blue Cross. You know what? If there's one good of people who needs to worry the least about health care reform, it's probably the elderly. And the reason for that is that the elderly already have Medicare. They already have government-sponsored health insurance.

Reform is about helping people who are under the age of 65. So, he really doesn't have to worry about his Medicare.

And as I understand this question from Jake, what he's saying is that he has chosen -- on top of Medicare, he decides he needs a private plan as well to supplement Medicare, which a lot of seniors do. And so, he's asking us, should he cancel it?

I would say no. Whatever he feels he needs now to supplement his Medicare, he's going to feel he needs after health care reform. So, he should just sit tight and not make any changes. HARRIS: Nice. Time for one more?

COHEN: Sure.

HARRIS: From Lydia from Pittsburgh, who writes, "Will current access to specialists, tests and doctor choice available through PPO plans be reduced or eliminated under the proposed plan?

COHEN: All right. This is the mother of all health care reform questions. When you see people going ballistic at these meetings, which is, you know, not at the one we just saw, but sort of at earlier ones, this is really what they are saying. They're saying, look, I have private health care, I'm happy. I don't want anyone to make any changes that are going to take away my choice of doctors, my choice of hospitals, my ability to get treatments.

There are two sides to this. What President Obama and the Democrats who are behind him would say, look, if you're happy, health care reform is not going to change anything for you. If you like the way things are now, nothing is going to change.

Now, some Republicans and some Democrats would say, look, the minute you put out a public policy -- in other words, a government- sponsored health insurance like Medicare, sort of for the rest of us, private health care companies are not going to be able to compete. Employers will go with the government-sponsored insurance and things will change.

HARRIS: Exactly.

COHEN: You know, none of us has a crystal ball. You don't know what is going to happen. Now, it is also possible -- let's say that did happen. Let's say all of a sudden, all of us had government- sponsored insurance. Well, maybe you'd have just as many choices and doctor options as you do now.

You don't hear people in Medicare screaming about that. People in Medicare seem, for the most part, pretty happy with the choices they have. So I think that's important to keep in mind.

HARRIS: Awesome. And again, thanks for your help...

COHEN: Thanks.

HARRIS: ... the continuing discussion on this debate.

All right. Elizabeth Cohen, our senior medical correspondent.

And later this hour, we will talk live with former labor secretary Robert Reich about this being a leadership moment for Congress and the president and what needs to be in the final bill. He joins me at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time, only on CNN.

You know, it is being called the "Summit of the Three Amigos." Some of the topics -- the economy, the H1N1 flu virus, and drug cartels. A notorious drug pipeline stretches from Mexico, all the way to Maine and beyond.

But first, here are the latest numbers. Let's take you to the New York Stock Exchange and take a look at the Big Board. The Dow, as you can see, down nine, almost 10 points.

We're following the numbers throughout the day for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: Seventeen hours in Guadalajara. The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States are holding a quickie summit.

White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is in Mexico. She joins us now.

Suzanne, great to see you.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

HARRIS: What's the big focus of these talks?

MALVEAUX: Well, Tony, all three leaders are actually meeting at this hour, and it's going to be followed by a press conference. We are told, don't expect any grand, new announcements from this very brief summit, less than 20 hours on the ground, President Obama. But rather, it really is about setting the agenda, because these neighbors, so, so close, that it relates to everything, from whether it is drugs, whether it's the swine flu, or even murder across the border.

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MALVEAUX (voice-over): Dubbed the "Summit of the Three Amigos," President Barack Obama, with Mexico's Felipe Calderon and Canada's Stephen Harper. All smiles in front of the cameras, but it in the space of 20 hours, it is serious business, starting with the swine flu, which originated here in Mexico and since has spread throughout the world.

With the fall flu season expected to be even more deadly, a senior administration official says the leaders talked about the needs to coordinate their efforts to contain it.

ANDREW SELEE, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: We want to keep this cooperation going. We want to keep our borders open. But we also want to make sure our medical establishments are working with each other to prevent this.

MALVEAUX: Trade is another key issue. The U.S.'s crumbling economy has meant job losses in Canada and Mexico. How President Obama steers Americans out of the devastating recession will impact our neighbors.

SELEE: It may be the most important relationship we have. Mexico is our second largest commercial partner -- second largest destination for exports, third largest commercial partner.

MALVEAUX: Mexico is also a partner in the war against drugs -- a war Mexico's president is far from winning as the drug cartels gain strength. President Obama says the U.S. shares responsibility. It provides the market for Mexico's drugs and is the source of many of the guns that have made the cartels so powerful.

But the U.S. Congress is holding off on sending $100 million in aid to help fight the drug battle until it's reassured the Mexican military is not involved in violating human rights.

A senior administration official said Mr. Obama addressed this with Mr. Calderon, emphasizing that defeating the cartels in the long run would require the commitment and confidence of all the countries affected.

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MALVEAUX: Now, Tony, despite these difficult issues, a senior administration official says the conversation between Presidents Obama and Calderon, it was friendly, it was warm conversation, cordial, because of the relationship these two have had developed over the last eight months or so ago. And this three-way meeting that is taking place right now, they are expected to address climate change, as well as energy -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. And if you would, Suzanne, maybe give us a bit of a deeper context on the conversation these men will have, have had on the issue of drugs.

MALVEAUX: This is a very big problem. And as you know, Calderon, it was three years ago when he made the pledge he was going to take on these drug cartels.

There was a lot of progress that has been made, but since then, about more than 11,000 or so people have been killed in this drug war. And what we're seeing, Tony, is an alarming situation where now the violence has spiked again.

It's increased. It's on the rise. And that is very, very troubling to both sides, both Americans, as well as Mexicans. And so that is why this is being pressed, and this is one of the major issues here, is that the Mexican government is asking for and needs more help from the United States.

We have heard from President Obama, ,we've heard from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both taking partial responsibility, saying the U.S. provides this appetite for drugs, there's an illegal flow. You've got cash and guns that are being provided to Mexico. But the Mexican government says, we need your help, we want your help, it's getting ready -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right.

Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux traveling with the president as what's being billed as "The Three Amigos Summit" -- OK -- in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States will hold a joint news conference next hour, and you will, of course, see it live, here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is scheduled for 12:30 Eastern. That is 9:30 a.m. Pacific.

The drug pipeline out of Mexico feeds a big demand in small towns across the United States.

CNN's Alina Cho looks at the growing problem in Maine.

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ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Picture perfect Maine, home to lighthouses, lobsters...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heroin, heroin, more heroin.

CHO: ... and heroin?

LEANNE LARIVIERE, RECOVERING DRUG ADDICT: It's very available out here. It's scary.

CHO: Thousands of miles from the drug cartels of Mexico, Kittery, Maine in bucolic New England is a new mecca for heroin use. Detective Steve Hamel has been working narcotics for two decades. He says he's seen it all but never this.

DET. STEVE HAMEL, KITTERY, MAINE POLICE DEPARTMENT: My case let alone for heroin and OxyContin has tripled over the past three years.

CHO: That's incredible.

HAMEL: Yes, it is.

CHO: Detectives are working around the clock. Dealers are making a killing.

CHO: This is fast cash.

HAMEL: Exactly.

CHO: And the addicts are some of Maine's youngest getting high on $5 a hit.

HAMEL: Cheaper than a six-pack of beer for most high school kids.

CHO: And highly addictive.

CAROL LARSON, DRUG COUNSELOR: We're tended to think a drug is a drug is a drug. One of the things that is happening with heroin is that the craving for the drug happens months and months and months after they put it down.

CHO: Treatment for heroin addiction in Maine was up 40 percent last year. Some are not able to kick the habit like 17-year-old Bethany Fritz (ph) who died of a heroin overdose in 2004. Since then, Kittery police say another four from the area have died, all in their 20s. Why Maine?

HAMEL: Little Kittery, Maine, people think, wow, nothing goes on up there. Law enforcement is way behind the times. It's just a relaxed -- you know, I can blend in better up there.

CHO: And it never ends. The day of our visit, a heroin arrest is front page news.

(on camera): How hopeful are you that you can fight this and win?

HAMEL: We're never going to win. I really don't think we're ever going to win. But if we weren't there, just think how bad it would be if we weren't up there doing what we do. For every one we get, maybe ten get away but we're still going to stay in the fight.

CHO (on camera): Drug counselors say heroin addiction often begins with a simple prescription for OxyContin, a painkiller and, like heroin, also an opiate. The patient gets addicted to OxyContin, needs more and more, begins to doctor-shop, then realizes you can get the same high on heroin for a tenth of the cost. You do the math -- $50 a pill, versus $5 a hit.

Heroin is cheap. It's available. And detectives say the demand has never been higher.

I'm Alina Cho.

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HARRIS: Alina, appreciate it. Thank you.

Nine people killed in a collision between a helicopter and a small plane. Live pictures now of recovery teams back on the Hudson River, focusing on finding two more bodies and the small plane.

We are following developments right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: Let's do this, a look now once again at the Hudson River, where right now divers are searching for that small plane that collided with a tourist helicopter over the weekend. It happened between New York and Hoboken, New Jersey. The search extremely difficult in the murky water.

Let's see where things stand right now in the search, in the investigation. Our Susan Candiotti is in Hoboken, where that tangled chopper wreckage was brought up.

Susan, do divers have a good idea about where in the water the plane actually is right now?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They tell us that they think they do, Tony. They've been back in the water for about four hours now, and they believe that they have pinpointed by using sonar and other means to try to find the exact location of where the wreckage is of that small plane.

Let's slide off me for a moment here and take a look at the motorized raft that is one of two that is out there at the present time. They always have a few dive teams working.

And we saw not long ago, a couple of divers go back into the water, down below. It's about anywhere from 30 to 50 to 60 feet out there. They think that this is the general area just east of where the helicopter was found, where that small plane may be located. Of course, two victims on that plane remain missing.

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CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Sunday be began with the recovery of four more victims, each painstakingly lifted from waters up to 50 feet deep. Divers worked in near zero visibility.

DEBORAH HERSMAN, CHAIRWOMAN, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: The divers had extremely challenging conditions with current visibility. At times, the visibility was no more than one foot in front of them. Our investigators have advised me that the helicopter sustained significant damage.

CANDIOTTI: Recovery teams transfer victims for motorized rafts to a police boat. The process of identification and autopsies is well under way.

By early afternoon, a crane using heavy chains pulled the sightseeing helicopter from the bottom of the Hudson River. Trapped inside the wreckage, two more victims.

Investigators will examine every bit of twisted debris from the Liberty Tours chopper. The sightseeing company, in business since 1986, has had several accidents in the last 14 years.

HERSMAN: The Safety Board has a record of eight accidents and one incident involving Liberty helicopters. The first accident was in 1995.

CANDIOTTI: In this July, 2007 incident, a chopper crash-landed in the water, ,but no one was hurt. In a statement, a spokesman for Liberty Tours told CNN the company "... is cooperating fully to get all the facts. At this time their priority is to help with the family of their pilot and, of course, the families that were involved in the accident." Pilot Jeremy Clark, reportedly engaged to be married, was killed. So were five Italian tourists, including two teenagers. On the small plane, 15-year-old Douglas Altman, his father, and uncle lost their lives. The teenager's friends put together a video tribute to him on YouTube.

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CANDIOTTI: Tony, a horrific accident.

We're coming back out live now to one of the dive platform boats operated by the New York Police Department. There's a small tent set up on the back of that boat, and occasionally it is one of the places where, if divers find small pieces of debris that is easily manageable, they can bring that up and transfer it over to that boat to be brought to a pier for investigators to take a closer look. It is also one of the boats where they bring some of the victims that they are able to recover from beneath the water's surface.

HARRIS: That's right. Boy, it sounds like some tough, tough work ahead.

Susan Candiotti for us in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Susan, thank you.

Let's bring our Rob Marciano here.

Boy, we're talking about parts of Iowa cleaning up this hour after a double dose of storms. A couple of waves of severe weather moved across the state. What was that? Yesterday, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We should have the video loaded because it matches exactly what you're describing here. And the key note is the 70-mile-an-hour winds that really peppered this house with a bunch of debris, including decades-old trees there, hardwoods. Those are tough to bring down, Tony, as you know. And this particular town, this is the worst storm they faced, certainly this summer, damagewise. And the National Weather Service said it was a doozy, with not only 70-mile-an-hour winds but big-time hail as well.

HARRIS: Well, luckily just minor injuries, I'm hearing?

MARCIANO: Yes, a couple of minor injuries, and you can see when those kind of trees come down, it could be a lot worse.

HARRIS: Yes. Good deal.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And when the economy is in turmoil, why not talk to someone who was working in Washington when times were better? Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich live next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: You know, if you're not quite sure what's in the health care reform plans and what's not, you're not alone. In an effort to combat some of the rumors and misconceptions circulating, the White House has launched a new "Reality Check" Web site. It tackles everything from rationing to euthanasia. The address, whitehouse.gov/realitycheck.

Raised and sometimes rude voices at health care town halls. What's the impact? Robert Reich is a professor at UC Berkeley and former labor secretary. His latest book is called "Supercapitalism." He's in Berkeley, California with us this morning.

And Mr. Secretary, thanks for your time again. It's good to see you in the NEWSROOM.

ROBERT REICH, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: Good morning to you, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, it's good to see you.

I've got to ask you right off the top here, how concerned are you that some of the noise from some of these town hall events -- certainly that wasn't the case just moments ago at Senator McCaskill's event in Missouri -- but that some of the noise from some of these town halls drowning out real concerns and questions about reform that really need to be discussed.

REICH: Well, Tony, I'm a little bit concerned. I mean, look, a good debate is what we need to have in this country about health care. But if there is a lot of rancor and a lot of disturbances that drown out voice, that's not a good debate.

HARRIS: Yes. What needs to be in the final bill? You've written about this on a couple of occasions. The bill that is reconciled by the House, the Senate, signed by the president, what needs to be in it?

REICH: Well, number one, you've got to find some way of insuring as many of the 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance as possible. And by the way, these days, because people lose their jobs so readily, almost anybody can be without health care.

Number two, there's got to be some way of reducing the increase over time in health care costs. They are increasing dramatically, not just for employers and for the government, but also for individuals in terms of co-payments and deductibles and premiums.

Thirdly, there has got to be some way to make sure that we get our, you know, good quality for our money. We know from a lot of studies that even though the amount of money varies dramatically across the country in terms of what we're paying for health care, the quality doesn't vary at all. So, there's a lot of waste in the system.

So, those are the three goals: Get rid of the waste, do something about capping the extraordinary growth of health care costs and also cover everybody.

HARRIS: You know, we've heard -- we've been really trying to focus and drill down on the particulars in this debate, and we've heard from a couple of quarters that the public option, as it's being called, is a nonstarter in this reform effort. What do you think of the idea of a public option? Is it absolutely necessary? And balance that out against what we're also hearing is that maybe a plan, including co-ops may be the way to go?

REICH: Well, I'm of the view, Tony, that a public option is critically important for getting costs under control because private insurers otherwise have no incentive to provide low costs and high quality. I mean, the fact that they are competing against a public option, and again, it's only an option. People can keep with private insurers if they want to. But the competition keeps them honest. It keeps their costs down. That public option would be not for profit. It would have low administrative costs. It's just a way of making sure the private insurers do their jobs.

HARRIS: As a representative on Capitol Hill, I'm just curious, can you leave Washington really believing health care reform is needed and then find yourself swayed by some of the tough town hall events? I guess I'm asking here, isn't this a real conviction, leadership moment for these representatives?

REICH: Oh, it certainly is, Tony. Look, we have been debating in this country some sort of universal health care for about 70 years, believe it or not. And the only two presidents who have actually got through the noise -- and there's been extraordinary noise -- are number one, Lyndon Johnson when he got Congress to pass Medicare in 1965 and believe it or not, George W. Bush with the Medicare drug benefit.

Now, those are the only major expansions. There has been a small expansion in terms of childhood health care, but those two presidents did it by leaving the details up to Congress, but also being willing to come in and knock heads and twist arms and make tough deals and intimidate and threaten. You know, you've got to play the game pretty roughly in Washington if you want to get anything done.

Washington is the kind of town where a friend is somebody who stabs you in the front.

HARRIS: Wow, OK. Now, that leads me perfectly to this last question. And I'm being screamed at by our control room, but I've got to sneak it in here. If you were leading the health care reform effort right now, would you be approaching it differently than what we've seen so far from the administration?

REICH: Well, I think President Obama is doing a wonderful job. And he correctly gave the details to Congress. I think right now, though, he and his team have got to go in and not only be very specific about what they want, and part of the problem with the supporters of Obama's health care is they don't know exactly what he want. But secondly, be pretty tough with members in Congress. You know, this is what I want. Here's a line in the sand. I am not going to sign any bill that doesn't have it, and if you're not with me, you pay a price.

HARRIS: Yes. Secretary Reich, thanks for your time. We appreciate it. Thank you.

REICH: Thanks, Tony. Bye-bye.

HARRIS: The CNN Express embarks today on a health reform trip. This is going to be fun. You know why? Because the man -- there he is -- on the bus leading the trip is Ali Velshi. He'll be traveling through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois and Iowa listening to your concerns about health care reform.

You know, he's in the studio with us right now before...

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm ready to go. I've got my sunglasses on, Tony.

HARRIS: You wear your sunglasses at night. You wear them in the studio.

VELSHI: You know, it's -- I don't have my real glasses. And I'm so ready to hit the bus, and I can't see. So, these ones have prescriptions in them. But we are ready to go. The bus is parked right outside, right downstairs.

You saw the map. You told people where we're going. We're hitting -- we're starting from Atlanta. We'll get to Chattanooga in a few hours -- Chattanooga. We'll get to Franklin, Tennessee. Probably spend the night there. We'll move into Kentucky. We'll get into southern Illinois into Missouri, and we'll end up probably Friday night, if all goes well, in Des Moines for the mother of all state fairs.

We're getting away from those town hall meetings. We're covering those well, but we want to know what everybody else who's not able to get to a town hall meeting, what they're thinking about health care. Are they confused? Do they have strong opinions? Which way do they want it to go?

And by the way, Tony, it's been a while since I've been out on a bus checking in on how people are doing economically. So, we're going to be asking them, what's on your mind? Are you hopeful? What's happening?

HARRIS: So, you're going to broaden the discussion from health care and talk about some of the issue number one topics, right?

VELSHI: Well, we -- that's, you know, this tour, this bus tour when I've done it before has been the number one place for us to really understand what people are doing. We have these great polls that we go out to people with, but there's nothing like talking to the people who never get a poll call, who live in towns that are too small for politicians to come and visit, towns too small sometimes for us to go to the news unless there's a tragedy.

We're deliberately going into those places, and, Tony, there's nothing like it. When the CNN Express pulls in -- I'm going to show it to you later, it's a 45-foot rock star bus -- when it pulls in, people come and talk to us and tell us what's on their mind.

So, we're going out there with the idea of collecting information about health care, but we want to know what's troubling people, what's on their mind, what message we can take from them, bring back to these shows on CNN and let people know, this is what America's thinking.

HARRIS: So, Ali, what are you -- are you on Facebook and Twitter and all that stuff?

VELSHI: Yes. Go on Facebook, Ali Velshi. They can put comments there. I hope people do. We're also on Twitter@AliVelshi and @CNN Express. I'll be tweeting about what we're doing, who we're meeting...

HARRIS: And where you are.

VELSHI: ... and most importantly, where we are...

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: ... and what we're eating, because we're going to be hitting some county fairs and state fairs.

HARRIS: That will be fun.

VELSHI: You know me, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.

VELSHI: It's food first, business later.

HARRIS: You are awesome. All right, have a great trip. I think we're going to try to follow you...

VELSHI: Yes.

HARRIS: ... all the way out of the newsroom, downstairs and into the bus. This will be fun. Ali, we will follow every step of this trip.

VELSHI: And we'll be -- you'll be following me through the week, and we'll be talking many times.

HARRIS: And if we can't get you up on the bus, we'll talk to you on the phone.

VELSHI: Good.

HARRIS: Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Tony. HARRIS: No doubt health care is on your mind. What if could you take your questions straight to the Obama administration, hmm? Well, you can. Communications director for the White House Office of Health Reform -- oh, she's been on this program -- Linda Douglass answering your tweets, your e-mails, all in the 1:00 hour with Kyra Phillips. Just tweet her at KyraCNN or send your question to MailToTheChief@CNN.com.

On Wall Street, stocks closed on Friday and the highest level in nine months, but today, investors don't seem to be in a buying mood. Felicia Taylor is at the New York Stock Exchange with a check on all the action. Felicia, good to see you.

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you too, Tony. That's right, we're seeing a little bit of a pullback today after that nice rally that we had on Friday. But that's no surprise. I mean, a little pullback in stocks today isn't a big deal, especially because there's no fresh economic news or earnings numbers to mull over ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting which begins on Tuesday. We're going to be looking to see if there's any change in interest rates. However, it's widely expected that interest rates will remain unchanged in that target range of zero to a quarter of a percent.

So, let's take a look at where stocks stand right now. The Dow industrials are off about a fifth of 1 percent. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P are down about a quarter of 1 percent. So, a pretty quiet Monday down here on Wall Street -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. OK, we'll check in again with you next hour. Felicia, good to see you. Thank you.

TAYLOR: Nice to see you.

HARRIS: Health care reform has our iReporters stirring the pot this week. Plus, take a look at this. An uninvited guest crashes a wedding. But that's just the beginning of the story. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, many of you are weighing in on the health care debate. Let's get to cnn.com's iReport desk. Tyson Wheatley is there, and he has some of your comments. Share, share, Tyson.

TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM PRODUCER: Hey, Tony. All right, so Congress is in recess. Many lawmakers of course using this opportunity to hold these town hall meetings. We've already been seeing a lot of passionate debate at these town hall meetings. There's no shortage of passion of course on iReport.com. Let's go ahead and take a look at what you are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANIE RUSH, CNN IREPORTER: And the reason we're having health care rallies is because our representatives aren't getting it. They're not listening to us. They're not hearing it. I don't think it matters whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. We do not -- or a liberal or an independent or a Martian. We do not want all these horrible extras thrown in when people can't even survive properly.

CLIFF OLNEY, CNN IREPORTER: Sometimes people need to do what's human, the human thing, to look after other people that are less fortunate than what they are. And when I see health care protesters commenting, screaming and yelling at these town meetings, it makes me think the same thing. It makes me feel sorry for them, sorry they are so concerned about themselves and not worried about what other people need or have or don't have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHEATLEY: All right, Tony, so here's what we want you to do. If health care reform is an issue that you are passionate about, we want you to go to ireport.com and we want you to weigh in. Also, if you're planning on attending one of the the many health care town halls around the country, we want you to grab your camera, take some photos, take some video and share with us at CNN. We've already been getting some great examples. Here's some video from a health care rally in Denver shot last week.

So, we definitely want to hear from you. Get involved. Go to ireport.com.

HARRIS: Terrific stuff. All right, Tyson, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

WHEATLEY: Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: And in case you missed it, the nation now officially has a new Supreme Court justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES: I, Sonia Sotomayor, do solemnly swear...

JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I, Sonia Sotomayor, do solemnly swear...

ROBERTS: ... that I will administer justice...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Judge Sonia Sotomayor begins her first week as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. Here she is taking the oath of office Saturday, in case you missed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: I, Sonia Sotomayor, do solemnly swear...

SOTOMAYOR: I, Sonia Sotomayor, do solemnly swear...

ROBERTS: ... that I will administer justice without respect to persons...

SOTOMAYOR: ... that I will administer justice without respect to persons...

ROBERTS: ... and do equal right to the poor and to the rich...

SOTOMAYOR: ... and do equal right to the poor and to the rich...

ROBERTS: ... and that I will faithfully and impartially...

SOTOMAYOR: ... and that I will faithfully and impartially...

ROBERTS: ... discharge and perform...

SOTOMAYOR: ... discharge and perform...

ROBERTS: ... all the duties incumbent upon me...

SOTOMAYOR: ... all of the duties incumbent upon me...

ROBERTS: ... as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States...

SOTOMAYOR: ... as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States...

ROBERTS: ... under the Constitution and laws of the United States...

SOTOMAYOR: ... under the Constitution and laws of the United States...

ROBERTS: ... so help me, God.

SOTOMAYOR: ... so help me, God.

ROBERTS: Congratulations and welcome to the court.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: By the way, that's Sotomayor's mother and brother by her side for the historic moment. Man, she becomes the third woman to serve on the nation's highest court.

You will hear from President Obama live next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM. He is scheduled to hold a joint news conference with the leaders of Mexico and Canada as they wrap up a quickie summit in Guadalajara. Plus, we will take you back to a town hall meeting in Missouri. Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill getting an earful amid fears over health care reform.

And the devastating toll of typhoons in Taiwan, China and Japan. Dozens of people are dead and missing, a million more forced to flee.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Ever crashed a wedding reception or know someone who has? Here's one with a twist. Take a look. Long Island Sound off Westbrook, Connecticut this weekend. Well, the pilot had to bring this -- did you see the plane? -- single-engine plane down about 100 yards from shore after his engine quit. Oh, there it is. There it is.

Guests at the wedding reception watched it all happen, and the bride said she promised guests an exciting time, and the pilot sure provided that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ALBERT SHEEHY, PILOT: My engine stopped. I lost all pressure all of a sudden, and there was a large bang, and the propeller wasn't going around any more. And I was about 4,000 feet, and that means I have, you know, four or five minutes before I've got to land somewhere.

SUSAN MCCAULSON, BRIDE: I was telling people, well, we said it wouldn't be boring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Yes. And after coming down, the pilot was taken to shore by someone riding a personal watercraft.