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Public Option May Not Be Deal Breaker For President Obama In Health Care Reform Deal; Health Care Reform Town Halls Continue; Taiwan Devastated By Typhoon; American Prison In Myanmar Released To Senator Webb Upon A Visit To The Country; North Carolina Serial Killer Suspected; Claudette and Ana and Bill Head for Landfall; Canadian Woman Back From Kenya After Passport Hold-Up; Some Tweeting May Be Too Much Information

Aired August 16, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

(WEATHER BREAK)

MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: In this make or break month for health care reform we're hearing that a government alternative to private coverage might not be a make or break part of the White House's push.

The head of the Senate Budget Committee, Democrat Kent Conrad, says nonprofit insurance cooperatives might be a good alternative to actually compete with the insurance companies, and the Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is not exactly pushing hard for the public option.

Here is what the secretary had to say this morning to John King on our program, "CNN's State of the Union."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: I think the president is just continuing to say let's not have this be the only focus of the conversation.

Coverage for all Americans, lowering the crushing cost for everyone, making sure that we have new rules for insurance companies, that they can't dump people out of the marketplace if they get sick, that they can't drop your coverage based on a preexisting condition, that you can't be priced out because you're a woman instead of a man and gender discrimination won't be allowed to continue anymore, those are really essential parts of new program, along with choice and competition, which I think we'll have at the end of the day.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Let me just quite simply -- so the public option is not a deal breaker from the president's standpoint?

SEBELIUS: I think there will be a competitor to private insurers. That's really the essential part is you don't turn over the whole new market place to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing. We need some choices, we need some competition.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LONG: Secretary Sebelius this morning on "State of the Union." Now, if this public option is off the table, could that be a game changer when it comes to the debate? Let's discuss that with CNN's Elaine Quijano. She joins us live from the White House.

And as you listen to what the secretary is saying this morning and what President Obama said yesterday in the town hall forum. it sounds like the administration is backing off that public option, but ever so slightly backing off.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, ever so slightly, Melissa, you're absolutely right. It does sound that way. What Secretary Sebelius says pretty much does line up from what we heard from President Obama at the town hall meeting in Colorado.

The president basically acknowledged that a final deal would not necessarily include a public option. And the president, again, saying this in Grand Junction, Colorado, at that town hall. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The public option, whether we have it or don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it.

And by the way, it's both the right and left that have become so fixated on this that they forget everything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: So the president there suggesting it is possible that a final deal might not include the public option, but also seeming to suggest that is not necessary ail make or break point -- Melissa?

LONG: Mentioned a moment ago that Kent Conrad, a Democrat with the Senate Budget Committee has talked about the concept of a health insurance cooperative, or co-op. Can you explain what that is, and how the administration feels about that concept?

QUIJANO: Yes, that's right. The White House has basically cautiously signaled that it is open to this idea of health co-ops.

This is something that is gaining traction on the Senate side. Democratic Senator Kent Conrad, who heads up the budget committee, first of all, envisions it this way.

These co-ops would get federal startup money, not all of it, but some of it. They would be run by their members, not the government. So we're not talking about government controlled entities here.

Also, these co-ops would compete with for-profit insurers.

And Senator Conrad thinks that for all of those reasons this idea is going to appeal to people on both sides of the debate -- Melissa? LONG: All right, from the capital, Elaine Quijano. Elaine, thank you.

Competition in health insurance sparked a healthy debate between the president and a college student at a town hall in Colorado yesterday. President Obama also addressing the notion of those so- called death panels. With more, here is CNN Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Family time at Yellowstone national park, the first family expressing joy at the sight of Old Faithful.

But a sharply different emotion from the president at a health care event in Colorado. For the first time, he evoked last year's death of his own grandmother to slam conservatives like Sarah Palin, who have accused him of promoting euthanasia.

OBAMA: I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it's like to lose somebody you love who is aging, deteriorate. So the notion that I somehow ran for public office or members of Congress are in this so they can go around pulling the plug on grandma? I mean, when you start making arguments like that, that's simply dishonest.

HENRY: The only really pointed exchange?

ZACHARY LAHN, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDENT: I would love to have a debate, just all-out, any time, Oxford style, if you'd like.

HENRY: College student Zach Lahn pressing on whether a public option would wipe out insurance companies.

LAHN: How in the world can a private corporation providing insurance compete with an entity that does not have to worry about making a profit, doesn't have to pay local property taxes? They do not have to -- they are not subject to local regulations. How can a company compete with that?

OBAMA: It's good to see a young person who is very engaged and confident challenging the president to an Oxford-style debate. I think this is good. You know, this is good. I like that. You got to have to have a little chutzpah.

HENRY: The president says the details are not final, but broadly speaking, the charges are not true.

OBAMA: And in fact right now you have a lot of private companies who do very well competing against the government. UPS and FedEx are doing a lot better than the Post Office.

HENRY: In a sign of just how engaged the public is right now, Lahn told me he drove four hours to get here. He expressed disappointment the president did not have more details, but was satisfied in one way. LAHN: I've learned that these town halls are genuine, and that's something I was very happy with.

HENRY: Really?

LAHN: I was very concerned when I came up here -- I was talking to my friends -- I was afraid the people who would be called on for questions would be plants. And I'm not saying none of them were, but I'm saying I came here with a genuine question.

And if he knew my question, he might not have wanted to call on me. But he called on me not knowing anything about me, and that is one thing I do respect.

HENRY (on camera): The first family's summer tour of national parks continues Sunday at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Then the president wraps his western swing Monday in Phoenix with a speech to the VFW's annual convention before heading back to Washington as his fight for health care reform reaches a critical stage.

Ed Henry, CNN, Grand Junction, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: Health care isn't the only item on the president's agenda when he gets back home to Washington on Tuesday. There are talks scheduled with Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. They are expected to discuss a range of issues including efforts to restart the Middle East process.

And then fast-forward to Wednesday. The president is honoring 2008 NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson at the White House. Just a couple of events we wanted to highlight you coming up this week in Washington.

Firefighters are busy battling about a dozen wildfires burning across California. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is urging some 2,000 residents to please heed the mandatory evacuation orders.

The largest fire is burning in the Santa Cruz mountains. That's south of San Francisco. And then near Santa Barbara investigators are blaming another wildfire on drug traffickers. They say the flames were sparked by a cooking fire at an illegal marijuana camp.

The suspects are still on the loose today.

And there is anguish and there is anger in Taiwan. Relief for the typhoon ravaged country is pouring in, but is it too little too late? Why the country's president is now in the hot seat for his response to this disaster.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: Good afternoon, good morning, depending where are you watching right now. It's Sunday afternoon. The Taliban is now threatening to attack polling stations in southern Afghanistan when voters are going to the polls Thursday for a presidential election.

Today's warning coincides with a rocket attack which wounded two children in southern Kandahar. No one has claimed responsibility.

And this attack follows yesterday's car bombing in Kabul that killed seven. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for that attack.

News out of Iran today -- another mass trial of people detained in the aftermath of the country's disputed presidential election, this, in fact, the third round of the mass trials.

Among the defendants today, an Iranian/Canadian reporter for "Newsweek" magazine, employees of the British and French embassies, and an Iranian-American scholar. They are among more than 1,000 people arrested following the disputed presidential election back in June.

Also from Iran, an unexpected move by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He's appointing three women, three women to his cabinet, an unprecedented number for the Islamic republic.

Ahmadinejad is naming a 50-year-old gynecologist as health minister, also a 43 year old lawmaker as minister of Welfare and Social Security, and he says he'll be appointing a third woman to the cabinet soon but did not say whom or which position. Now, the nominees must be approved by parliament.

From Kuwait, fire erupted during a wedding celebration killing 41 women and children. It happened in a tribal area west of Kuwait City yesterday. Officials say it only took three minutes for the fire to consume the wedding tent.

At least 76 others injured, some of them seriously. Officials say faulty electrical wiring may have sparked that fire.

Taiwan's typhoon disaster is shifting into a political one. The country's president is accepting blame for the slow response to help all of the survivors.

The U.S. is sending food and portable shelters and other aid in the meantime. John Vause is monitoring the rescues and the political fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The military helicopters are bringing in the last of the stranded villagers now, as some of their relatives and friends who have been waiting today, there is relief.

For others, there is the anguish of not knowing.

"Help us, please save my children. I've been waiting four days already," says this woman.

And at times, anger, especially as local officials.

"They said it was safe and we didn't need to evacuate. No there's not even a road to get back," he says.

And the man who is the focus of much of the national blame is the President Ma Ying-Jeou, often confronted by angry survivors as he toured the disaster zone.

VAUSE (on camera): How do you respond to people who blame you and you your government and saying this was all too slow to begin with, and then when it did get under way, it just wasn't enough.

PRESIDENT MA YING-JEOU, TAIWAN: We, certainly, I will take full responsibility, whatever the blame is, because, after all, I'm the president of this country.

VAUSE (voice-over): But the President Ma says the slow start was because of bad weather. Heavy rain left helicopters grounded.

YING-JEOU: Once the weather is good on one day, that's the 14th of August, we were able to evacuate 2,518 people. That's a record.

VAUSE: But there was outrage when he blamed local officials.

YING-JEOU: They were not fully prepared.

VAUSE: So now he's seen comforting the grieving, apologizing, promising to do better.

But as he opened the weekend baseball game, he was booed and jeered. Protesters demanded his resignation.

YING-JEOU: We will find out not only to correct the mistakes, but also try to punish the people who are responsible.

VAUSE (on camera): As the rescue operations slowly wind down, the focus will soon shift to rebuilding lives and community. Taiwan's embattled president told me that simply repairing all of the damage for the typhoon Mara could take up to a year.

John Vause CNN, Chi-Shan, Taiwan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: The Atlantic hurricane season has been calm up until now. We have tropical storm Claudette that is churning toward the Florida panhandle right now. This storm could bring significant amounts of rain to north Florida.

(WEATHER BREAK)

LONG: Also, a gesture perhaps to build upon? That's what a U.S. senator is now calling Myanmar's release of an American-held prison.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: Could the release of an American from a prison in Myanmar signal a thaw in U.S. relations with that military government that's accused of human rights violations? Dan Rivers reports the U.S. senator from Virginia who won John Yettaw's freedom is hopeful.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a mission to free an imprisoned American, but also an attempt to kick-start U.S.- Myanmar relations. Senator Jim Webb managed not only to meet the junta's top general Tan Shui, but he also was granted rare access to detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, something that not even U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon managed.

And, crucially, Senator Webb arrived back in Thailand with American John Yettaw, that man who swim across a lake to Suu Kyi's compound resulted in her further house arrest.

"John Yettaw's actions were regrettable," the senator said, but he stressed Yettaw is ill of and troubled mind.

SEN. JIM WEBB, (D) VIRGINIA: They honored my question to allow him to come back here to Thailand with me. The most parent of this, I believe, is that this was a gesture from the government of Myanmar that we should be grateful for and hopefully build upon.

RIVERS: Until now, Myanmar has been isolated and virtually cut off from the world. Sanctions were imposed after the army refused to allow Aung San Suu Kyi's party to take power when it won the 1990 election. She's been under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years, consistently asking for tougher sanctions until democracy is restored.

But Senator Webb favors engagement and humanitarian aid to help the impoverished people of Myanmar and effect change.

WEBB: What we want is relations and to work toward good relations as long as certain guarantees are met. The last administration was not of that mindset, whether it was Myanmar or Iran or other places.

RIVERS: China and Russia continue to trade with Myanmar despite sanctions by the EU and U.S. The U.S. policy is being reviewed.

Senator Webb was not in Myanmar in an official State Department visit but rather as an independent senator, but he clearly has the ear of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He'll be reporting directly to her on his rare encounter with Myanmar's generals.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: Billboards are asking the question, what happened to these women? But the bigger question, are they the missing victims of a serial killer? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: About 20 past the hour. Actually, I apologize, it's 30 past the hour, half past the hour. Let's check on the stories happening for you at this hour.

Tropical storm Claudette is closing in on the Florida panhandle, and it's getting stronger with winds now reaching 50 miles an hour. This is a storm that is expected to make landfall tonight and bringing with it heavy rain.

Forecasters are keeping an eye on two potentially dangerous storms as well that are looming out in the Atlantic. We have tropical storms Anna and Bill. We have alive weather report for you in just about 10 minutes.

More than a thousand people are still stranded in parts of Taiwan after a powerful typhoon hit the island a week ago now. Rescuers can't reach the areas that have been isolated by washed-out roads and the rugged terrain. At least 123 people were killed. Taiwan's president says the death toll could soar in coming days, and today the president apologized for his government's slow response to this disaster.

No support for the president's health care reform plan at a weekend event in Atlanta. It seems the heat couldn't keep opponents out of Centennial Olympic Park downtown. It was a conservative group that organized this rally. Speakers included former Republican House majority leader Dick Armey and also conservative radio talk show hosts.

But some of the people that our Don Lemon spoke with yesterday say this debate is more than just about Republicans versus Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNY CAMPER, AGAINST HEALTH CARE REFORM: It started with all the bail-out money. You know, it's just -- it's just ballooned from there. You know, they keep spending money and spending money and spending money. It's going to come to an end. You know, the best thing to do is to nip it right now and let's go back to the Constitution and let's think America first.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So you said it started with the bail-out money. So for you, it's not partisan because that was introduced by -- during the Bush administration.

SARA CAMPER, AGAINST HEALTH CARE REFORM: It's not partisan, no.

DONNY CAMPER: It's not partisan. I wasn't -- I did not agree with George Bush on all the bail-outs. It's not partisan at all.

SARA CAMPER: That's what capitalism is all about! You know, let's let the market, let's let free market take care of it. If we keep bailing out and bailing out and bailing out, how are we ever -- where does it end? It just keeps going on and on. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LONG: And most Americans are trying to watch these health care town halls, forums and rallies, even if they aren't able to attend in person. Our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, checked out some of the latest polls.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Melissa, we've seen a lot of coverage in the media of these protests at these town halls across the country the lawmakers are holding. And I guess the big question is, Are Americans paying attention?

Take a look at these numbers from Gallup, conducted a couple days ago, and you can see right here that nearly 7 in 10 people, according to this Gallup/"USA Today" poll, say that they are very or somewhat closely following the coverage of these town hall protests, 18 percent say they're not following them very closely, and you can see at the bottom there, 13 percent say they're not following them at all.

The next question that comes to mind is, well, are these protests having any impact on the vast number of Americans out there? Take a look at some more numbers from that same survey, and you can see 34 percent of those questioned said that the protests -- the views of these protesters -- and of course, a lot of these demonstrators are mostly against the president and the Democrats' health care proposals -- 34 percent say they're more sympathetic to those views now, 21 percent, only about 1 in 5, say that they're less sympathetic to those views of the protesters, and you can see at the bottom, 36 percent say the demonstrations are really making no difference on their opinion when it comes to health care.

Another question is, what about the president's poll numbers? Are these protests having any impact? As of now, it seems, not really so much. Two polls this week, Gallup and Marist, show the president still in the mid-50s when it comes to his overall approval rating. That was his rating before the demonstrations at these town halls.

And specifically, on health care, it seems Americans continue to be split on how President Obama is handling health care. It was that same way before the town halls started. Of course, we're only two weeks into a five-week recess for lawmaker, so we're going to keep an eye on these town halls if there are more protests, and more polls later this month -- Melissa.

LONG: Paul Steinhauser, our deputy political director -- Paul, thank you.

Now, a Wisconsin mayor is being hailed a hero. He came to the aid of a woman being attacked near a state fair. Police say the mayor of Milwaukee, Tom Barrett, and his family -- they were leaving the fair last night when he heard a woman crying out for someone to dial 911. Well, as Barrett started dialing the number, police say a man accused of attacking the woman allegedly turned on the mayor with a metal pipe and started hitting him. The suspect fled the scene. Barrett is in the hospital today in stable condition. A massive search for a missing Georgia woman has turned up her cell phone but little else. Thirty-eight-year-old Kristi Cornwell disappeared on Tuesday while talking with her boyfriend on the phone. Authorities believe she has been abducted. A man mowing his lawn found the phone late Friday about three-and-a-half miles from where Cornwell was last seen.

Five African-American women in the same town with similar lives and similar deaths, possibly with something else in common. They may all be the victims of the same killer. CNN's David Mattingly now takes us to a lonesome road in eastern North Carolina that might be the haunt of a serial killer. This is a story you'll only see here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If someone were looking for a place to get away with murder in North Carolina, Edgecombe County's Seven Bridges Road might be the place to go.

(on camera) Nothing. Nothing but trees and pastures.

(voice-over): Since 2005, the remains of five women, all African-American and suspected prostitutes, have been found here among miles of woods and crops.

(on camera): There are any number of places you can pull off here, like this spot right here. You could just drive off and disappear into the woods in a matter of seconds. Sadly, that's what's been happening to these women. They disappear, never to be seen alive again.

Is this the work of a serial killer?

MICHAEL TEAGUE, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, I believe it is. Yes, I think the fact that the bodies have been found close together really would argue for a serial killer.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Michael Teague was once the state's top forensic psychologist and believes the killer is someone who could have a lot in common with his victims.

TEAGUE: Their economic level, their background, again, the same race. So I think it's a person that would fit very easily within the environment.

MATTINGLY: All of the victims were last seen in the town of Rocky Mount. We went to where they came from, an area where prostitutes work neighborhood streets.

ANDRE KNIGHT, ROCKY MOUNT CITY COUNCIL: Typically, this is the area.

MATTINGLY: But we found the streets deserted, cleared by fear. Prostitutes are easy targets for killers, living fragile lives on society's fringes. Still, Councilman Andre Knight says it shouldn't have taken years for the town to take notice.

(on camera): Is it just a matter of race, or is it possibly because of what they do for a living?

KNIGHT: I think it's a combination of both because even what a person does, they still have human rights.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): A turning point in public awareness and the investigation itself was the fifth victim, Charnise Hargrove (ph), known to her friends as "Sunshine." Friends and family publicly demanded justice. Local authorities asked the FBI to assist. Like the other victims, Hargrove disappeared from Rocky Mount. Her body was found in June off Seven Bridges Road.

(on camera): From the streets of Rocky Mount, it's only about a 15-minute drive to get to places just like this. For all practical purposes, it's the middle of nowhere, and this is where investigators say that the victims are being killed. They won't give us a lot of detail about what they are finding, but they do tell us that two of the victims were strangled, one was stabbed and beaten.

(voice-over): Three other Rocky Mount women who police say are not prostitutes are currently missing. The sheriff of Edgecombe County calls this a critical time in the investigation, leading many to hope that this lonely country road will soon lead to a killer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: ... North Carolina. That was CNN's David Mattingly with that exclusive story. A group of community organizers there now hoping some national attention will help get a break in this case.

There are some new developments this hour about a story we were talking about yesterday at this time, the looming transit workers strike in the San Francisco Bay area. Representatives of the California's BART rail system -- that's the Bay Area Rapid Transit -- they're trying to hammer out a new contract with one of the unions today because if they don't get one, BART operators are threatening to go on strike tomorrow morning for the morning commute. Union workers oppose new working terms which they say amounts to a pay cut. Two other BART unions have approved new contracts. Some 340,000 riders rely on BART every day.

Busy day in the weather department. We have Tropical Storm Claudette that's turning towards the Florida panhandle this evening. It could bring significant amounts of rain to north Florida. And then we have two other tropical storms that Jacqui Jeras is keeping an eye on. We have Ana and Bill. But I guess Ana's not causing as much concern as it was even a day ago.

JERAS: Yes, Ana is much more disorganized right now, so we're not as worried about that storm yet. But it could always regenerate. It already did that once. Of immediate concern, certainly, is Tropical Storm Claudette and that's because of its proximity to the coast, and we're going to be looking at landfall with this thing just a couple of hours away. In fact, this could happen as early as 4:00 o'clock.

Maximum sustained winds right now are at 50 miles per hour. We're seeing some gusts a little bit stronger than that. And we're going to feel those tropical storm-force winds here coming in very shortly. And there you can see the heavy bands of rainfall already moving in. We could see isolated tornadoes, along with flash flooding. Three to five inches of rainfall can be expected with Claudette, and we'll watch this move inland then overnight tonight through the day tomorrow. By the time you wake up, it's already going to be in Alabama, but we'll still feel some of those impacts. It just won't be as strong in terms of the windfall (ph).

All right, now, as for Ana and Bill, as well, we mentioned that Ana has been weakening very significantly. There you can see just a little bit of a disorganized storm. And then here's Bill, and Bill we're a lot more concerned about because it has the potential of becoming a stronger storm, likely a hurricane, possibly even being a major hurricane before all is said and done.

But best forecast track brings it away from land for a couple of days, so it won't be threatening anybody, but that also gives it time certainly to strengthen.

Back at home for today, in terms of shower and thunderstorms, a threat of severe weather. We've got a nasty line of storms which is just west of Chicago, north of the St. Louis area, and back south at Kansas City. We could see some damaging wins, as well as large hail associated with these thunderstorms.

The rest of the country overall, Melissa, relatively quiet, but we continue to monitor that fire danger across parts of southern California. Temperatures still warming a little bit over the next couple of days, so it's still very hot and dry conditions. The winds a little bit calmer. We're looking at around 10 to 14 miles per hour.

LONG: They need that rain that's east of Kansas City, out to south of San Francisco.

JERAS: Not out west.

LONG: Jacqui Jeras, thank you.

JERAS: Sure.

LONG: Well, her lips -- her lips -- smiling now. Brilliant smile, in fact, and hugs and tears there. They're tears of joy. A Canadian woman is finally home after being stranded in Kenya for three months. The lips in her passport photo got her into trouble. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: A Canadian woman is so delighted to be back at home. She was stranded in Kenya for three months. Her ordeal started when Canadian consular officials in Kenya voided her passport and they accused her of fraud. The reason, they said, her lips didn't match her 4-year-old passport photo. Reporter Chris Eby of CTV has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS EBY, CTV (voice-over): She arrived to a hero's welcome, cheering supporters can and a crush of cameras. But Suaad Mohamud's only thought was finding her son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

SUAAD MOHAMUD, ACCUSED OF BEING AN IMPOSTOR: I'm really happy to come home. I'm really, really happy to come back. I'm glad my whole nightmare is over.

EBY: The nightmare was the three grueling months Mohamud spent detained in Kenya, part of it in jail, her Canadian passport seized, an impostor according to her own country. Consular officials in Kenya said Mohamud's lips did not match her 4-year-old passport photo. She was stripped of her travel documents and turned over to Kenyan authorities for prosecution.

ABDI WARSAM, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: She is still more Canadian today than ever before. She is Canadian. She's been Canadian from day one. She feels Canadian now.

EBY: Mohamud never wavered, providing documents, even fingerprints, but Canadian authorities wouldn't budge. It took a DNA sample from Mohamud's son to prove her identity and get her on a plane.

(on camera): Now that Mohamud has arrived home, Canadian Muslim groups are asking the government to take immediate disciplinary action against the consular officials who branded her an impostor, saying the decision has the hallmarks of a, quote, "racist attitude."

SOHAIL RAZA, CANADIAN MUSLIM CONGRESS: If Suaad Mohamud was a white Canadian named Jane Doe, you would not have gone after her the way the High Commission and this lady, Lillian (ph), did.

EBY (voice-over): Lillian is Lillian Kadur (ph), the Canadian official in Kenya who decided Mohamud was lying about her identity. But she alone is not to blame, say this community leader. The problem is systemic.

KHALED MOUAMMAR, CANADIAN ARAB FEDERATION: In the end, you know, the buck stops at the minister's office. The minister's accountable.

EBY: The prime minister said he wants a full accounting for what happened. In the meantime, there is talk of lawsuits. But for Mohamud, that's for another day. All she wants now is to feel her son's embrace. Chris Eby, CTV News, Toronto.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LONG: As you know, it's a make-or-break month when it comes to health care reform, as lawmakers are meeting with constituents across the country. Are there any points in which Democrats and Republican agree? There are. Josh Levs is going to walk us through them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: The last couple of weeks, we have heard a lot of the rancor, the fighting, the pointed comments about health care reform. But are there actually points of agreement? Our Josh Levs talked with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH LEVS, CNN: So we've been hearing this cacophony of disagreement from the health (ph) in Washington and echoing across the country. And what we want to do now for a couple of minutes is focus in on where many Democrats and Republicans agree across the aisle on health care. And to help us do that, we have two lawmakers joining us, actually from the same state. I'm really glad we're doing it this way. Representative Marsha Blackburn is joining us, as well as Representative Steve Cohen, both from Tennessee. Thanks to both of you for being here.

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R), TENNESSEE: Thank you.

REP. STEVE COHEN (D), TENNESSEE: You're very welcome.

LEVS: There's this interesting article I saw in "USA Today" that lists some places where there's a lot of agreement, Democrats and Republicans. Does each of you -- and Representative Blackburn, to you first -- agree that there should be government subsidies to help low- income Americans buy health insurance?

BLACKBURN: I think that there is a way that government subsidies can be done. And certainly, many of us who have served in state legislatures have looked for ways to voucher people into a private system.

LEVS: Representative Cohen, what about you? Do you see government subsidies to help low-income Americans buy health insurance?

COHEN: Unquestionably, and we do that now with Medicaid, a great program, started in 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed it into law about 44 years ago, Medicare and Medicaid, that are great programs, referred to as socialism at the time, that are as American as apple pie today.

LEVS: One of the things they point out here is that lawmakers pretty much across the board want to see increased competition, including something like a marketplace in which people would be able to compare and contrast the different insurance plans and have more options. Is that a principle you both want to see?

BLACKBURN: There is a concept that Newt Gingrich has pushed forward with -- like a Travelocity-type concept, where you could go in and compare rates and compare what is offered in insurance plans. That greater transparency will help lead to greater competition, and that is something that is badly needed in the health insurance market.

LONG: Representative Cohen, are you pretty close on that one?

COHEN: Well, I think so. The exchange would be an opportunity at a national level for people to compare the different insurance policies or offerings. And the public plan would keep them honest.

LEVS: I think you both agree with this -- preventing insurance companies from refusing to cover preexisting conditions.

BLACKBURN: Yes, I think that what we have to look at here is that for those who have preexisting conditions, as they go into the insurance market, there needs to be some kind of risk pooling that they can move into for a period of time with those preexisting conditions.

COHEN: I agree with Congresswoman Blackburn, but she said that, you know, for a while and go into a pool. Preexisting conditions are generally with you until your death, and people -- it's going to cost more to have people in insurance pools with preexisting conditions, and that's going to cost some money, whatever it is. And if it's in the private sector, there needs to be countervailing force to keep those private sector forces from getting up too high.

LONG: How far apart, honestly, do you think your parties really are in coming to a resolution?

COHEN: Probably as far apart as the two sides of the Grand Canyon.

BLACKBURN: I think what we have is not so much a partisan divide as it is a philosophical divide.

LEVS: Well, look, I'll tell you, we all obviously hope that if you're on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon, that these places in which you do agree on principle can start to serve as a bridge. Obviously, a lot of people counting on that ultimately happening. Thank you so much to both of you. Very good to have you with us today. We'll talk again.

BLACKBURN: Good to be with you. Thank you.

COHEN: Always nice to be with Congresswoman Blackburn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: And if you would like to get even more information on this health care debate, how reform could affect you and your loved ones, check out our special "Health Care in America" Web site on CNN.com. You'll get the latest from all the town hall debates. We have fact checks for you, iReports. You can even read the bills. They're lengthy, more than a thousand pages. Go to CNN.com/healthcare.

Now, how many chances of a lifetime do you get in your lifetime? That's pretty deep. Thousands of people in Atlanta, myself included, had one of those chances last night.

That is Sir Paul in Hotlanta, the songs, the cool guitar, it was kind of like the mid-1960s again.

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LONG: I think it's fair to say this is about as close to the real Beatle mania as many of us post-Baby Boomers are ever going to get. About 40,000 of my closest friends and I had a chance to see and hear Paul McCartney last night as he played Atlanta.

He played for two-and-a-half hours, two encores included, and a bunch of Beatles classics, Wings stuff, solo stuff, music from his new album also, on 40th anniversary, of course, of Woodstock also, a little bit of Jimi Hendrix for the crowd. Rain -- it was overwhelming at one point, but it didn't slow Paul McCartney down, nor the crowd. The show was a benefit for the Piedmont Park Conservancy, which is a park in downtown Atlanta.

Tweeting, texting, posting messages on Facebook -- for millions of people, it is now a daily routine. But some psychologists say your routine -- it's unhealthy. Here's CNN's Carol Costello.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Terra Carmichael is part of a growing trend, new moms tweeting their way through labor, sending out word of every contraction, every...

TERRA CARMICHAEL, MOTHER: My husband was laughing at me while I was I labor because I would -- I would reach over and say, Give me my iPhone. I got to tweet or I got to post a Facebook status.

COSTELLO: And Carmichael wasn't just tweeting to loved ones but to hundreds of people who paid rapt attention to tweets like, "On my way to the hospital. If they even try to send me back home, I just may punch them in the throat," and, "Six centimeters but with complications. C-section bound."

She isn't the only woman who's sharing the birth process. On YouTube, there are women showing off stages of pregnancy and giving birth to their babies -- some with dolphins. Just saying'. Have we crossed the line? Are we too wired?

JOHN ABELL, WIRED.COM: Well, there was a very famous Supreme Court decision that says, I know it when I see it, about pornography. I think we will collectively rise up and say, Enough is enough.

COSTELLO: John Abell, who writes for "Wired" magazine, says that hasn't happened yet, at least on line. But some psychologists see it differently, saying some things, like childbirth, ought to be sacred. Psychologist Jeff Gardere, who has used Facebook and Twitter, argues we share way too much on line. Facebook, he says, can become a marriage buster because couples share personal information with virtual friends instead of each other. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: The Internet, if you will, becomes an escape hatch, where they don't have to be intimate with one another. It's easier to be, in some ways, intimate with the world, but it's not a real intimacy. It's very superficial.

COSTELLO: But Carmichael disagrees, asserting she didn't share the most intimate details of childbirth via tweet, only the superficial. And it helped.

CARMICHAEL: People were writing, saying, Hope everything is OK. Sending you great wishes. You're doing a great job. And so just having that kind of interaction as a social person was really helpful. It was kind of like I had my own kind of cheerleading squad, a virtual cheerleading squad in my followers.

COSTELLO (on camera): There's a book out now on TMI on line. It's called "Peep (ph) Diaries," and in it, the author asserts if we don't participate in this sort of peep culture, we'll disappear. You'll be a living ghost, he says. You'll move amongst the rest of us, but if we can't access your profile, we won't notice or care about you. Carol Costello, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: ... story Carol. Again, a virtual cheerleading squad for that new mom and perhaps TMI for you.

I'm Melissa Long in the CNN NEWSROOM. "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.