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President Pressured on Health Care, Examining the Public Option; Voting Violence in Afghanistan; Targeting the Taliban; Eye on the Tropics, Banks Still Reluctant to Lend; Cubans Brace for Hurricane Season; Inside a Health Care Cooperative; Gastric Bypass Surgery and Insurance; Painting for Health Care Change
Aired August 18, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, John.
Your future health care is on our minds right now. We're going to tell you what's going on at the White House to try and reach a consensus with Congress.
Listen to this. A 600-pound teenager is seeking donations for surgery. Here's the question that we're asking you -- should gastric bypass be paid for him by his insurance company if he wants this? Interesting story.
Also violence aimed at voters. New Afghan attacks two days before the presidential elections.
Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. I'm sitting in for Heidi Collins.
It's Tuesday, August 18th, and you are now officially in the CNN NEWSROOM.
All right, here's what we're going to be focusing on. Two major stories this hour, health care and hurricane season. Our Suzanne Malveaux, she's at the White House where officials are clarifying comments, keyword here is "clarifying comments" on the public option.
Our Elizabeth Cohen is going to break down the health care debate and try and get to what's critical for you. We're going to be talking about co-ops today, by the way.
And then we're also watching what's going on in the Atlantic. The hurricane season is well into it. Could Bill make a beeline for the Atlantic coast? Bill or Anna, which is it?
Let's start with this. It's make-or-break month for health care reform and a lot of supporters of the public option are wondering if that element of health care reform is even going to happen now. Given what the president's been saying for the last couple of days.
I mean there's been hint the administration over the weekend could just totally drop the option just to get something passed. But now there's a different signal. This morning. It's coming out of the White House. White House aide Linda Douglass has released a statement. I want to read it to you. Listen to this. What's your take on this? "The president has always said that what is essential is that health insurance reform must lower costs, ensure that there are affordable options for all Americans and it must increase choice and competition in the health insurance market. He believes the public option is the best way to achieve those goals."
"The public option is the best way to achieve those goals." This is interesting. Almost like parsing words over the last 72 hours. So the president is responding to pressure, it seems, from both sides now of the health care debate.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House this morning. Suzanne? I think most Americans would want to know from you, what gives? Is public option in? Is public option out? What's going on?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Rick, you know, this can best really be summarized by what was happening last week when the president didn't have anything on his public schedule. He was quietly meeting with his senior staff at a health care reform staff, trying to figure out what's on the table here. What can possibly pass?
They knew they did not have the votes necessary in the Senate on the Senate side for the public option. So what are we seeing happen here essentially is that they are de-emphasizing the public option saying it is not the only option, it's the best option, it's the one the president really likes, but in the absence of really pushing it forward, what seems to be bubbling up to the surface? What's percolating?
They are trying to show some flexibility here because they are trying to attract some Republicans, the moderate, the fiscally conservative Democrats, and they're also trying to reassure those who are very concerned that those private insurance companies are going to go out of business.
So de-emphasizing one thing, this public option, seeing what comes to the surface, that is this co-op idea that you're going to talk about a little bit later. It is all a part of the process because they are very clear about this one thing, Rick. That whatever the president signs, if he signs something later in the year, it's not going to look like the legislation, the ideas that we see on the table today, or even yesterday.
So they are trying to get a sense of what's out there and what sticks.
SANCHEZ: Well, yes, speaking of sticks. If this thing is such a big sticking point, look at this way. If the Republicans say we're not going to vote for this thing if it has a public option and you have most of the Democrats, at least the non-Blue Dog Democrats saying we're not going to vote this thing if there isn't a public option.
Is there a possibility that nobody's going to vote on anything then and there's not going to be health care reform?
MALVEAUX: Well, that certainly is the risk. That's the political risk that you take, that's the reason why you hear people like Linda Douglass emphasizing those two points. Really, you know, they don't have to put a label on any of this stuff right now.
There are labels, of course, but this could be kind of potpourri of a lot of different things, as long as they feel like on the end, they come away with something that is slowing down the cost of health care as well as providing some sort of competition for these private insurance companies.
If they can say yes, we've done that in the end, they can say, hey, you know, we won here, victory, we got something on the table, we've got health care reform. There's a reason why they're being deliberately fuzzy in all of this, Rick. Ultimately, when it's all said and done, they want to say, you know, we came out on the winning side of this thing.
SANCHEZ: Or it could end up like Hillary Care take two when we're all done with this, as well. We'll be watching and I'm glad we've got you to do that for us. Suzanne Malveaux, good reporting. We thank you.
Also, this is what else we're going to do. We're going to take the public option into the examination room, so to speak. This is a new segment that we're going to be calling health care right now.
Let's go over to our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, try and break this one down for us.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Rick. Some people love the public option, others hate it. But you know what I think a lot of people don't even really know what it is. So that's what we're going to do today.
Let's take a look at what exactly is the public option is in both the Senate and the House plans as it stands. The premiums for it would be 10 to 20 percent lower than private insurance and basically it would -- the government would pay for -- would fund most of this program, the government would administer it, which is why people have problems.
It's similar in many ways, Rick, to Medicare. Everyone's familiar with Medicare. It's government-paid, government-sponsored health insurance for everyone 65 and older. In many ways the public option would be Medicare for younger people, Rick?
SANCHEZ: You know, when you look at the plan, though, you can't help but wonder if it's like Medicare and if it's like, in many regards, Social Security, for example, is there a place for the government to step in and either boost or compete with some of the folks out there in the health care industry? The private health care industry? COHEN: Right, Rick, that's exactly the concern. The concern is when you have premiums that are 10 to 20 percent lower that private industry could have a hard time competing.
That's the concern. Now the authors of these bills, and I've talked to their spoke people, they say look, that's crazy. Insurance companies make a ton of money. They're going to be able to compete, plus there are provisions in the bill that say, hey, big companies, big employers, you can't put your employees on the public plan.
It's hands off for you, at least for a certain period of time. So big companies would still pretty much by definition have to use private insurance, at least for a number of years.
SANCHEZ: And then there's something else that we're going to be considering today. This is going to be an interesting conversation. I think we're all going to be ending up learning a lot about what's going on.
Elizabeth, thanks so much. We'll be getting back to you in just a little bit.
We're going to hear more questions and opinions on health care reform at town hall meetings across the country today. And you know those have always been extremely interesting.
Also Congressman Barney Frank's session in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, we'll have some of that. And Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is going to hold a town hall today in Chicago. Other congressmen are going to also hold town hall meetings, we understand, in Florida, in Oklahoma, and in Texas.
If you want to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms could affect you and your family, check out the special "Health Care in America" section. It's on CNN.com. You can get the latest from the town hall debates, fact checks, iReports, and other health care news. Just go to CNN.com/healthcare.
All right. Two days before historic elections in Afghanistan, there's something I need to share with you. There have been a round of fresh attacks that have rocked the capital. Two developments, first of all, a rocket strikes the presidential palace in Kabul, and a suicide bomber has targeted a military convoy.
I want to take you through some of these. This is the latest violence since the Taliban insurgents vowed to disrupt Thursday's historic elections. CNN's Atia Abawi is in Kabul.
Atia, what do we know at this point about these attacks? Can you take us through them as best you can?
ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what I can tell you, Rick, that it is intimidation. It's an intimidation from the insurgency here in Afghanistan. Targeting internationals, coalition troops as well as Afghans. And today's car bomb in the capital city of Kabul, we have at least seven Afghans killed and 53 injured. Among those killed were two U.N. employees, U.N. local nationals. We are also hearing from the coalition troops that they had deaths, as well. We still don't know the nationalities or just how many troops were killed. And that is -- just coming, like you said, just two days before the second ever Afghan presidential election.
It's a form of intimidation. We saw another car bomb here in the capital city on Saturday, killing seven Afghans, as well, and injuring more than 90. And when I spoke to a 21-year-old girl who told me she had a voting card, she wanted to go out and vote in Thursday's election, but that blast made up her mind for her and she will not go out and vote. Rick?
SANCHEZ: You know, any time you have these elections, we saw the same thing in Iraq and we've seen it also in different parts of the world, including Latin America, there are forces that will come together to stop the election from happening. And that may very well be what we're seeing there in Afghanistan right now.
I understand, and I want to ask you about this, I understand that yesterday you went to one of these election rallies. We've seen in the past where these things can get very dangerous, they can turn on a dime.
What was it like for you being in that crowd? How worried were you? And what did you do to protect yourself?
ABAWI: When you go to these crowds in Afghanistan, whether it's Afghanistan or Iraq, any war zone, like you've mentioned, you do have a sense of intimidation because there are crowds. You have a presidential candidate coming. There could be forms of attempted assassination for these presidential candidates.
And when we were there, you also have the spirit and the energy of the crowds. We had gentlemen climbing on fences, ripping the fences down just to get a closer look at one of -- Dr. Abdullah, the presidential candidates.
We saw a stand carrying dozens of journalists just fall. Later on I saw a journalist with a bloody hat. And his head kept bleeding but yet he still kept shooting the event. As a journalist, you go to these stories, you know you have to go to these stories to get it out to the world.
But what's amazing is watching these Afghan people knowing that they're at a risk still have the spirit to come out, the spirit to actually go to a political rally and a place where the average Afghan says that they're disenchanted by the government and the political process.
SANCHEZ: And I bet any time you hear any kind of noise in the background, a cheer or fall or anything else, you end up ducking and who's to blame you?
Atia Abawi, one tough cookie, my thanks to you for bringing us that information from that area. Meanwhile, President Obama is urging patience with the Afghanistan war now. His message is aimed at those who know the difficulties of battle. In fact, those who know it all too well. They are the Veterans of Foreign Wars. So yesterday, at their annual convention in Phoenix, the president called for patience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There will be more difficult days ahead. The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight, and we won't defeat it overnight. This will not be quick nor easy. But we must never forget.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The president also stressed, by the way, this is not a war of choice. He says if the United States ignores the Taliban, it's going to provide an even greater safe haven for al Qaeda, its cousin.
Also this morning, Afghanistan says it has taken two terrorists off the streets. They say one is a Taliban commander who was injured in an attack from a drone. One of those small planes. It's pilotless. The other is a spokesperson for the militant group.
Now one would think that a militant group would possibly not be able to have a spokesperson. They do. There you go.
The bank bailout funds were supposed to keep money flowing to some of the borrowers, so why is it now that we're learning in some recent reports that bankers are still reluctant to lend and to whom? Our money team is going to have the answer on that one for you.
Here's Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.
Hurricane Bill getting stronger, packing winds around 100 miles per hour now and will likely become the first major hurricane of the season. The latest on where it's headed coming up in your forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, your hurricane headquarters.
SANCHEZ: Growing up in south Florida, I can tell you this. Three tropical systems, three tropical weather systems all at once in the Atlantic or parts of the gulf makes you look up and pay attention. We've got you covered on all things, Anna, Claudette, and Bill or what's left of them.
Speaking of what's left. Let's talk about Claudette first. She soaked parts of the southeast after blowing ashore. Really somewhat unexpectedly, I mean no one expected this thing was going to form as quickly as it did, then suddenly hit a part of the United States. But there it was. The Florida panhandle got as much as 4 1/2 inches of rain from it.
Then there's Anna. It's bringing a lot of wind and some minor flooding to the Virgin Islands in Puerto Rico. Yes, it's weakened because hurricanes weaken when they go over land. Duh? But guess what? This thing could still re-strengthen and it could continue to not only hit parts of Florida, but then even move into the gulf.
Jacqui Jeras is watching all of this for us. She's watching Claudette, Bill, and Anna. What a threesome.
JERAS: It's been a busy couple of days.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Yes, exactly.
JERAS: Hasn't it? Yes. You know, let's start out with the big one and that's Bill, because this is a very powerful hurricane as we speak. And it's been getting stronger. And now it's going through what we call an eye wall replacement cycle. It's something common, happens all the time, very strong storms, and you can kind of see here that the eye used to look like a nice little pinpoint. Well, it's becoming a little bit wider.
In the coming hours, we'll watch that to start to close up a little bit and we think that Bill will intensify then and become the first major hurricane of the Atlantic season. Right now those max winds at 100 miles per hour has to be 111 for this to be considered a major hurricane. That's category three, four, or five.
All right. This is the latest on the forecast track. This is going much further north than what Anna did and that means it's moving over the warmer waters and will have that chance to get stronger.
Bermuda still in the cone right now, but look at how in time as we head towards the weekend it curves on up to the north and that's because we have this cold front coming in across the U.S. which hopefully is going to help kick that thing out and keep it away from us.
It's still not a sure thing. So we certainly need to keep a very close eye on what Bill is going to do. Right now the computer model forecast are bringing this all towards the west and then curving to the north. Every single one of them, look at that, all lining up together. So we like it when we see that. It gives us more confidence. And of course, we like it when it's away from the U.S.
Anna is really no longer, by the way. It's just an area of disturbed weather right here around Cuba. This is going to be moving in across south Florida through the Keys bringing in some really, really heavy rainfall here tonight.
Now our concern is that if this kind of holds together and moves into the Gulf of Mexico, we could see some regeneration. We don't think that's going to happen for at least 24 hours, but just something to keep our heads up on and continue to watch, especially as quickly as Claudette's developed. You know things could get going once again.
SANCHEZ: Yes, just because it looks like it's dissipating over one area doesn't mean it can't suddenly come back to life and hit another area.
JERAS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: We've seen it happen before. Good news on Bill, though, bye-bye, Bill. Although, hey...
JERAS: So...
SANCHEZ: Folks in Bermuda, we feel your pain, just in case.
All right, it gets people out of harm's way when storms hit, it feeds them and it gives them shelter until they can go back home. And no, we're not talking about FEMA here. We're talking about the storm response system in Cuba. We'll talk about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And welcome back to the world headquarters here in Atlanta. I'm Rick Sanchez.
It's being called one of the largest cases of credit and debit card data theft ever in the -- you're not going to believe the numbers that I'm about to share with you on this story.
Federal prosecutors in New Jersey are saying one man was a ring leader. Who is he? He's 28-year-old Albert Gonzalez. He was indicted for allegedly stealing data involving more than -- are you ready for this number -- 130 million credit card accounts. 130 million credit cards that he tapped into.
That's on top of the 40 million prosecutors say that he stole previously. Gonzalez is already in jail, he's awaiting trial on similar charges in another case. We've got more details on this whole alleged scheme. It's coming up in the next hour of the NEWSROOM. We're going to drill down on this and let you know how he possibly could've done this.
Now if you've applied for a consumer or a small business loan lately and been turned down, you are not alone. There is a new survey by the Federal Reserve that finds fewer loan applications and approvals. Now this is somewhat surprising.
CNN's Christine Romans is joining us now from New York -- you know, what's interesting about this, you talk to a lot of people, at least I do in my circle of friends, who say, you know what? Finally the banks are starting to give a lot of loans out there. So this must be refined to a certain demographic, I bet, am I wrong?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They are giving loans, Rick, to people who have collateral, cash flow, perfect credit, that's the kind of situation we're in here now. The risk is not -- there's not an appetite for risk. And that's no surprise. This is a survey of senior loan officers. It's done every quarter by the Federal Reserve, the central bank of this country. And this is what they found. They found that demand for loans, according to these loan officers, were declining and the credit worthiness of the potential loan applicants had worsened, meaning the people who were coming to get loans, their credit worthiness had worsened from this quarter from the quarter before.
The credit limits were being lowered, half of the banks surveyed said they were lowering the credit limits for the people who were doing business with them. And lending standards were tighter, meaning that they were raising requirements on borrowing money.
And frankly the banks -- the loan officers said they expected that to continue into the first half of next year. So if it feels like banks are reluctant to lend...
SANCHEZ: But wait...
ROMANS: ... this loan survey is reflecting that.
SANCHEZ: Wait a minute, that's -- isn't that a good thing? Am I crazy? Or you know what? We got into a big problem in this country because too many people who shouldn't be getting loans were getting loans. Now here we are on CNN doing a report about the fact that the banks are saying, hey, you know what? If you don't pay your bills, we're not going to give you a loan.
I would say, and I think most reasonable people would say, hallelujah, right?
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Well, here's the position of the banks, sir, and when you make a good point. The banks are in a position where on the one hand the public is screaming, lend more money, lend more money, why aren't you getting money to people who want to borrow it. And on the other hand you have the federal government which is scrutinizing the books of the banks saying make sure you're not lending money without the adequate capital reserves, without the adequate kind of, you know, safeguards in place to make sure if you're not paid back you're not going to take...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
ROMANS: .... the whole banking system down. So it's this funny little line here and according to the senior loan officers, this kind of condition could persist into next year. But you're absolutely right. And what I really caught my attention on this, this is the credit worthiness factor. I've talked to a lot who do small business lending, I've talked to a lot of different banks over the past weeks and months, frankly, and they have told me again and again, we have money for people to borrow, but we want to have a reasonable (INAUDIBLE) that we're going to get it paid back.
SANCHEZ: Yes. ROMANS: You don't have good credit, you're going to have some trouble.
SANCHEZ: And they're right. Who's to blame them? By the way, here's my favorite segment of the day. Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please. Today's "Romans Numbers" is...
ROMANS: It's 133. And you know, Rick, this has to do -- this has to do, this is the number that tells you people are getting some money out there. And it's not a lot. It's $35,000 emergency stabilization loan about 133 of these are being issued every single week.
This is a small business administration -- a taxpayer-backed loan that was in the stimulus. And about 133 a week are being given out for small business owners who can prove that they made money one of the last two years, got a decent business plan, but they just need emergency cash.
There is some emergency cash going out the door. And the critics will say it's not enough, taking too long to get it, but there are some emergency loans out there available for people. It's called ARC loans. I encourage your to check out the SPA Web site to see more about it if you need one.
SANCHEZ: Do you like my circus barker voice for you there?
ROMANS: I really do like it, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Drum roll tomorrow.
ROMANS: We will get a drum roll.
(LAUGHTER)
And cymbals, crashing cymbals.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Don't remind me of that. I've got a son with a new drum set.
ROMANS: And a top hat for you.
SANCHEZ: Thanks -- thank you, Miss Roman Numeral.
One woman who lost the battle with our current health care system is now using art with hopes of drawing attention to health care reform. Wow. We'll share.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Rick Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: Here's an interesting point. This is interesting and it goes back to the conversation we had yesterday as we watch the stocks getting ready for what could be a busy day. Hopefully a recovery day.
Look at this tweet I just got moments ago. This is about my conversation with Christine Romans. Now we're talking about the fact that there are some people out there who are not going to get loans if their credit is not good. Well, this person writes, "The problem is how credit worthiness is determined. People are reduced to a score rather than real people with real needs."
You see that one right there at the top? Semper Saint (ph) was the person writing that. Point well taken and we thank you for your comment.
All right, stocks on Wall Street. Let's go back to the big pick. And there's the bell, and they're off. It's a big selloff day yesterday as most of you know. It's just kind of strange considering that it was such a promising day on the east, Japan is what I'm talking about.
Believe it or not, there were a few standout winners and maybe this should come as no surprise, right? So we've been telling you -- let's mix the politics with business now, are you ready? Yesterday we reported that it looked like the Obama administration was getting rid of the public option, which means that the private health care companies would be in the kefford (ph) seat, right? No government to compete with, they've got it all to themselves.
Susan Lisovicz is joining us now at the New York Stock Exchange with some of the details on this because I did a little research and I look and I found that, let's see, United Health Care System, Aetna, Well Point, and several others had pretty big days yesterday. Oh, my goodness, what a coincidence.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and you know, it's very telling because if this were, say, a football game, you would have to say it was a route. For every stock it advanced yesterday here at the NYSD, Rick, there were nine that declined.
So when you see big gain, the market is telling you when you're seeing such a lopsided kind of performance. And what the market was telling us is that managed health care, the market believes that the managed health care companies may have dodged a very big bullet. WellPoint, UnitedHealth jumped more than two percent. Cigna jumped four percent. Aetna and Coventry surged five percent.
Just remember, when the three major averages were down, at least two percent, the moves coming after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius telling CNN over the weekend that creating a public health plan is not essential to a health care overhaul, instead, non-profit co-ops may be used. And that could give a boost to private insurers, and thus --
SANCHEZ: But wait...
LISOVICZ: Yes?
SANCHEZ: But wait a minute, Suzanne Malveaux just reported about 29 minutes ago here on CNN that now it's looking like Linda Douglas at the White House is saying, hold on a minute, we're not going to cancel out the public option. There's still a possibility we could bring it back. So it'll be interesting for you, here's your assignment, check and see if today it starts to go back the other way if that's the read from these companies.
Well, I mean --
LISOVICZ: Well, I'm looking -- I'm looking right now, Rick, and we're seeing a mixed bag. UnitedHealth care is off 1.5 percent. Aetna's down one percent, but WellPoint is up 50 percent. So it's -- it's pretty early in the session, two minutes, but you're seeing giveback. That's not completely surprising. We're also seeing the markets higher after the losses we saw yesterday. But yes, I think that their fate is going to very much depend on what we hear out of Washington and it's still not decided.
SANCHEZ: It's the politics of business and the business of politics. And nobody better than you. Thanks so much.
LISOVICZ: They're intertwined very much so these days, Rick.
SANCHEZ: You go, Lisovicz. You keep an eye on that for us.
LISOVICZ: I'll be back.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Jacqui Jeras is going to be joining us now.
First, let's get through this wonderful animation. That is a cool-looking animation.
JERAS: It is. Not quite as cool as the magic wall, but --
SANCHEZ: You know, I was born in Cuba.
JERAS: Yes?
SANCHEZ: I was raised in Miami. So I mean, I pretty much spent my entire life around hurricanes.
JERAS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And Cuba gets hit an awful lot. There's not a lot of infrastructure there. I guess it's a good and bad. I understand that Cuba is going to be effected possibly by Anna, is that right? What's going to happen there? Can you show us?
JERAS: Yes, the remnants of Anna. Actually, we'll go ahead and start there and show that to you. You know, it's not even a tropical depression anymore. It's basically a cluster of showers and thundershowers, and there you see it moving over Cuba right now, and just really bringing some torrential downpours.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
JERAS: In fact, you could easily get 3 to 6 inches of rainfall out of that. You know Cuba because you grew up there, but, you know, a little bit more mountainous than the United States is, and so that enhances the rainfall and you have more risk for flooding and things like mud slides, as well, and we're certainly going to be watching this storm or this system because it's going to be bringing in some heavy rainfall across parts of South Florida. And if this gets into the Gulf of Mexico, we could be having some issues with regeneration.
So, it's certainly something we're going to keep an eye on. Of course, Bill, this is a big concern, as well, a very strong hurricane. A 100-mile-per-hour maximum sustained winds. Bill moving westward, but hopefully curving up to the north is our best track now, hopefully, keeping it away from the U.S. We'll be watching that one throughout the weekend.
SANCHEZ: All right. As promised, let's take you now to Cuba.
Thanks.
Hey, Jacqui, stick around, in case we need one of those super duper meteorological terms that can't be defined by anyone but you for us.
JERAS: OK.
SANCHEZ: We're going to take you to Cuba right now. This is always iffy, because, you know, we are one of the few worldwide news networks that actually has maintains a bureau in Havana. So when there's a story like this we like to take you there and find out what's going on.
Shasta Darlington is in Havana for us now. She's going to check with us to see exactly what's going on there, and what it is that the Cuban government is doing to prepare the island. So let's start with that question.
What is the government doing at this point to prepare its people?
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, none of these storms has gotten bad enough for anybody to think about evacuations. But there has been a bit of rain, and that's what we're expecting is a lot more rain. And a lot of the Cuban people we talked to, especially on the country side are really glued to their TVs and radios listening for news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
DARLINGTON (voice-over): Irayda Mercaderez (ph) didn't have much even before Hurricane Gustav destroyed half her tiny home last year. The kitchen and another small room are all that's left for her to share with her husband, son, and daughter-in-law. When I asked her if that made her among the hardest hit in this town an hour and a half drive outside Havana, she said no.
"There are people who didn't even have anything left to fix," she says.
First Gustav, then Ike and finally, Paloma. Three powerful hurricanes hit Cuba last year damaging half a million homes and causing what the government says was $10 billion in losses. Fruit and vegetables disappeared from the shelves. But only seven people died, thanks to the country's well-oiled evacuation plan. They get residents out of their homes early and give them food and shelter until it's safe to return. But the first named storms of the season, Anna and Hurricane Bill set nerves on edge.
"We don't have very much left, but if that gets destroyed, just imagine," he says.
With state aid, Rolando only recently replaced his roof blown off last season.
"Hurricanes never bring anything good, he says."
(on camera): Thousands of people were left homeless just in San Cristobal alone. And if you look behind me, these are some of the new houses they're building. But then just across the street right over here, you have one of the houses that was completely destroyed, and right now, an entire family is living in that small room right there.
(voice-over): The timing couldn't be worse for Cuba. Many crops have only just recovered from last year's destruction. The global financial crisis has further crippled the economy, making it hard for the government to guarantee basic supplies like gasoline and even toilet paper. And people like Irayda (ph) worry they won't be so lucky next time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DARLINGTON: The problem is, even a year later, many people are still living in damaged homes or even shelters. And the government has fewer resources to cope with it. So simply put, a new hurricane would be devastating.
Rick?
SANCHEZ: All right. Thanks so much, Shasta. We're going to let you go because we see the signals breaking up a little bit. Not to mention the fact that it's pretty long delay.
If anything happens, we'll get back to her to let us know how things are progressing there as the storm, Anna heads toward not only Cuba, but possibly parts of Florida, as well. And then maybe the Gulf of Mexico. So it's a long road ahead.
All right. Here's a question. This is interesting. For anybody who is following this health care debate and is serious about it. All right. Let's suppose the public option is dead. I know it's not, but let's just suppose given the reports that we're seeing yesterday it is.
Can something else substitute for it like this? Health care coops, cooperatives. Can they be just as good? What is it? Well, it's where Americans ban together and buy insurance as a group. In other words, me and you and a bunch of other people, the more people in the plan, the cheaper the rate is for all of us. Can that work? I'm going to bring an expert in and you're going to find out what this is all about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And welcome back. Talking about health care, but I've got to share this tweet with you because it's kind of funny. This one from Karen. She just wrote to me on the Twitter. That's twitter.com/ricksanchezcnn, by the way.
"Imagine my surprise when I turned on and saw you. Thought I way overslept," because I'm usually on at 3:00. She thought she was just getting up. And Don Thompson, by the way, has an interesting tweet here. He says, "If health insurers dodged a bullet," which is what Susan just reported to us, Lisovicz, "we know who will get hit, don't we? Another loss for "we," the people."
Interesting points, both. We thank you.
With the public health option now looking like it's all but bye- bye, at least the reports that we were getting for the most part yesterday. What if Americans pooled their health care needs together and created health care coops -- cooperatives? In other words, you and I and Mary and Fred, and 20 other people here in the NEWSROOM got together and said, hey, let's buy insurance as a group, because the more of us that can get together and buy it, the cheaper the rate will be. Makes sense, right?
Bill Oemichen is the CEO of a Cooperative Network Trade Group, which includes some 600 businesses.
Hi, Bill.
BILL OEMICHEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, COOPERATIVE NETWORK: Good morning, Rick.
SANCHEZ: This is serious stuff. I mean, there are people now in Congress who are saying we're going to push for this. We're going to make sure it gets through. I think it'll be a viable option. Let me start by understanding. This is non-profit, right?
That's correct. Not for profit businesses owned by consumers.
SANCHEZ: So it's owned by the consumers and they're competing against the big dudes out there who made all that money on Wall Street yesterday. That's pretty much the way it would work?
OEMICHEN: That's correct. For the most part we have three different types of health care cooperatives in the Midwest. One where the consumers band together, form a coop and employ the physicians and own the clinics. A second type is where they self-insure in a number of businesses in Wisconsin and Minnesota have done that. And a third type is where farmers, for example, banded together and buy insurance from one of the big insurance companies. So we really have those three different types in the Midwest.
SANCHEZ: Well, let me be real rudimentary about this. Pardon me. I'm just fixing the level on my microphone so I can hear you properly.
Let me be real rudimentary about this so we can all understand it, right?
OEMICHEN: Sure.
SANCHEZ: How do those people come together? Suppose me and Mary and Joe and Fred and 20 other people here in the NEWSROOM want to come together and do this, how -- where do I find the other people?
OEMICHEN: How's that happen? Well, in Wisconsin, we've had 13 health care cooperatives just created in the last three years. And whether it's physicians, school districts, farmers, they've just come together and chosen leaders to start organizing cooperatives. We assisted them in putting them together, and a number of them are up and running and doing very well.
SANCHEZ: What if -- I mentioned in my scenario here that I'm making up in my mind, it's me, and Mary, and Joe, and Fred. What if Joe and Fred have diabetes, and I know that by putting them in my plan my cost, and I'm perfect live healthy, will go up or vice versa? Take me through that.
OEMICHEN: Well, there is a law of numbers. And in the case of these health care cooperatives that have been created, we've worked very hard to get not only people who have pre-existing conditions, but also people who have no health conditions, get in together in a large pool, and in the large pool if you can get a balanced pool, you can do very well. And so far the health care cooperatives in Wisconsin are doing exactly that.
SANCHEZ: All right. Next question. When you have a coop like this, and supposing that I am a member, or people at home are watching right now and they are members, do they have to go to a specific clinic that the coop recommends or suggests or owns? Or can they go anywhere?
OEMICHEN: Well, there's different types of coops as I have mentioned a little bit earlier. There are some that have own the clinics, employ the physicians and you tend to go to those when you're a member of the cooperative unless you're outside the cooperative service territory. There are others that contract with insurance companies that allow you to basically see any physician within the state. And so there are different types and you can choose which type you want to belong to. Your rates are going to depend in part on which type of coop you choose, but you do have that flexibility of choice.
SANCHEZ: You are a wealth of knowledge. This is interesting. You think the guys in Congress are going to go along with this?
OEMICHEN: Well, it's hard for me to predict even as a former employee of the House of Representatives. But we do think cooperatives are a very viable alternative and where we exist, we've created very good competition with insurers and we think we conserve the public.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Well, it's kind of like people power. It would be hard for Republicans in particular who have been talking about this to oppose something like this. So, we'll watch it for you.
We thank you, sir, for taking time to talk to us.
OEMICHEN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: A young man wants you to help him lose weight. Should you? There he is. Six hundred pounds, he weighs. He's a college student. He's going online now to try and ask for donations. What he wants is a gastric bypass. You know what that is, right? Well, he says his insurance won't pay for it -- they say that. And he says that's not fair. You think it's fair? Tweet me right now. Twitter.com/...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
We asked the question just a little while ago, and we've got some people responding to it already. So, let's do that if we can. Going to this one right here.
You see Benjamin54? Benjamin says, in answer to the question about whether the insurance should pay for gastric bypass for that 600 pound college student. He says, "Two friends have had GB surgery with insurance help. It is a preventive measure and should be covered."
More to the story?
As a matter of fact, there is more to the story. We're going to have that one coming up here in just a little bit.
We're going to have that for you and a whole lot more. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the world headquarters of the CNN NEWSROOM.
You probably heard stories like this one that I'm about to share with you. People who have insurance are rejected by their provider for some type of treatment or some type of procedure. This time it's about a 22-year-old man who weighs more than 600 pounds. It's a unique story, we know. But he says that he could die if he doesn't get gastric bypass. He also says his insurance is not going to foot the bill for him. Should he get it?
Well, here's Elisa Jaffe from affiliate KOMO in Washington State.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's always been a chunky little monkey. He never had a chance. You know, it's like he never had a chance.
ELISA JAFFE, KOMO REPORTER (voice-over): Jake Paikai doesn't own a scale big enough to handle his weight. Best guess, he's 650 pounds. The 22-year-old can't reach his own shoes, sit in most chairs or fit behind a steering wheel.
JAKE PAIKAI, PROBLEMS WITH OBESITY: I can't drive. I can't go on planes. I can't step on a bus. There are very few cars I can ride in.
JAFFE: Jake's mom, Mimi, drives him to class at Pacific Lutheran University. She knows what it's like to be morbidly obese. She weighed more than 500 pounds before her stomach stapling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every night I go to sleep, and I wonder if he's gonna be there tomorrow.
JAFFE: Jake worries tomorrow might not come.
PAIKAI: You know, I really can only go about 20 feet before I'm completely winded.
JAFFE: And together with his friends, he's asking for the public's help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the homepage of mybypasssurgery.com.
JAFFE: They've launched a foundation called mybypasssurgery.
PAIKAI: I need help. And obese -- and other obese need help so let's do something about it. The goal they say is raising tens of thousands of dollars to cover gastric bypass for Jake, and eventually others who can't afford the pricy procedure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got great insurance and it's not covered.
JAFFE: At college, Jake has a 3.9 GPA. But weight stands in his way of bigger dreams. Jake doesn't just want to walk. He says he wants to run.
PAIKAI: Run through this life with the same kind of hopes and dreams that other folks have.
JAFFE: In Tacoma, Alisa Jaffe, KOMO 4 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Also, what do you think? Men, we're getting a ton of reaction on those.
Let me take you right to the Twitter board here.
"If he has a medical condition that makes him obese and has tried various diets and plans recommended by his doctor, then, yes."
But down here, look at Viking. I'll bring it right up. Viking21, "I think it's case-by-case. First 600 pounds guy needs to prove that he's tried reputable weight loss programs. Weight watcher."
And then JCSpears (ph) says, "Look, since his health is at risk, I think they should."
Now, Elizabeth is going to be joining us in just a little bit. She's going to be talking about this, and discussing with us what are some of the preventive measures that might help, might actually help the rest of us save money by covering someone like this because of what he would cost to all of us down the lines, speaking communally.
Also, we've got a lot going on in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM, including more on the gastric bypass discussion.
First, let's start with that as a matter of fact.
Elizabeth, you there?
COHEN: Hi, Rick. We'll be continuing discussion in this hour about gastric bypass surgery and whether insurance should pay for it. And also would health care reform change anything? Would it force insurance companies to pay for it? I'll have that at the top of the hour.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. If you're thinking about buying a foreclosed property, you got to move pretty quickly. People are snapping them up, sometimes in less than even a day. But, of course, there are a number of risks you have to look out for. We'll explain at the top of the hour.
LISOVICZ: And I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, where the Dow is trying to rally back from its biggest loss in nearly two months. I'll have the numbers on that and those connected to the biggest credit card breach in U.S. history. More on that, Rick, in the next hour.
SANCHEZ: All right. We'll look forward to it, and that's the web.
Thanks, everybody.
Two lawmakers who have a say in what type of health care plan if any passes Congress face off right here in the NEWSROOM. We're going to have one from the left and we're going to have one from the right. And they're going to talk about the public option up for debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Boy, it's amazing. Hundreds and hundreds of you from all over the country. I mean, by the minute, are twittering me on this 600-pound gastric bypass case and whether the insurance should cover it. So far pretty much split. Keep it up. I'll share. Since her husband died of cancer earlier this summer, Regina Holliday has been on a mission, she's painting a mural showing him on his death bed. She says it represents her family's struggle with our current health care system. Photojournalist Lloyd Yarrow (ph) shows us how this artist turned activist in Washington is using her art to try and draw attention to the health care reform.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REGINA HOLLIDAY, PAINTER: Well, my name is Regina Holliday. I'm doing something called Medical Advocacy Mural Project, where I'm going around Washington, D.C. painting giant murals about how we need health reform.
I'm starting to run low. I have to get my paint.
This one 73 cents is specifically about the case of my husband's hospitalization in a three-month period while he was suffering from kidney cancer before he passed away on June 17th. Our experience was so horrific and so many things happened, and I saw so many things happen to other people, I thought, we have to do something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you're doing a wonderful thing.
HOLLIDAY: Well, thank you. And I'm hopeful that we're going to get change. That it's going to change things doing this.
Anybody can do this, feel empowered, take control of your life, change things. You could paint a painting, you could do a demonstration, but talk about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's with the lady being bound? Oh, the medical person is bound.
HOLLIDAY: Yes.
Because of the waste from the system, she got her hands tied behind her back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. And there's a patient waiting for care. It's so accurate of what we have now, and it's really tragic. It's tragic that it had to be painted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd do more if I could. Be brave.
HOLLIDAY: I'm glad people are like, oh, your universal health care is all fixed. I'm like, no, no, it's not fixed. It's the system that has major, major problems throughout. Would it be great to have universal health care? Yes. But if we fund the universal health care for the health care we had is abysmal, what are we doing?
If a year ago or two years ago or three years ago, we passed health care reform. If people like myself who suffered and saw what was happening had come forward, it could have changed things. And it's too late for my husband, but it's not too late for hundreds of other people. All those people are waiting in the wings to live, and we've got to do everything we can to make sure they live.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
