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Combat Stress Following Troops Home; Dems Hit Back, Hit the Road; Robert Novak Dies at 78; Artist Has Message about Health Care Reform; White House Press Conference on President's Remarks about Health Care
Aired August 18, 2009 - 13:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're pushing forward on policy battles, personal battles and the issues that tie them together. It's a make or break month for health care in America. And while we follow the politics, we're also looking at the critical needs of men and women in uniform.
Many returning soldiers carry life-threatening traumas that are finally getting the attention they deserve. What do I mean by many? Well, one study finds a third of the Iraq and Afghanistan vets at V.A. hospitals have mental health problems arising from their service. And more than that, 37 percent of patients treated at V.A. hospitals for the first time are there because of mental, not physical issues.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at how devastating those issues can be.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW BROWN, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: There's blood everywhere. A little difficult to talk about sometimes.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a tough transition from Fallujah back to Small town America for Marine veteran Matthew Brown.
BROWN: I'm constantly on alert, looking around, is that McDonald's bag on the side of the road a bomb, or just a bag? Is someone trying to get me? It's just different paranoia factors that wear on you after a while.
GUPTA: Just 24 years old, he joins the one in five Iraq war veterans returning from combat with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD.
BROWN: People knew I wasn't right in the head anymore, I wasn't the same person. And then I couldn't explain to them that there's no way I can be the same person after things I've done and seen what's happened to me.
GUPTA: His escape? Abusing prescription painkillers and alcohol. At his worst, Brown says he was drinking a fifth of liquor a day.
BROWN: The pain is always there. The pain will never go away. But I was using way more than I was prescribed to, and then drinking on top of it. I was just, I guess, indirectly trying to end it and the pain for a brief moment or forever.
GUPTA: Brown is not alone. Alcohol is easily accessible and expensive and quickly becoming the drug of choice for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict. In fact, the study published last year in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" found combat soldiers under the age of 30 were nearly seven times more likely to binge-drink.
TOM TARANTINO, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: Nobody comes home from war unchanged. So, it's going to take some time to come back into normal society to deal with the sort of media onslaught that we have in this country, the sort of sensory overload, and that the support systems that we have set up from the military in the V.A. are stressed to capacity that veterans are falling through the cracks.
GUPTA: Groups like Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America are pressing Congress to devote more resources to the psychological injuries of this war. They also launched a free online community for veterans, like Brown, to get help.
BROWN: Really, the only people that understand PTSD are the people that have it.
Life is still a constant battle with PTSD. But it's a lot better now, I try to live for the people who can. I'm trying to live up to what the people that died could have been.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Loysville, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now some first-of-its-kind U.S. training for soldiers. "The New York Times" reports the Army will soon require active duty soldiers, reservists and National Guard troops to undergo intensive training and emotional resiliency. The course is due to start in October and is reportedly designed to help improve combat performance and ward off mental health problems such as depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and suicide. Troops' families will also be allowed to participate.
A lot of needy American veterans and their families aren't getting the help that they need. And maybe they are dealing with stress or mental help issues. But now help is just a mouse click away, and we're going to take you on an online tour of some pretty great Web sites.
Be sure to join John Roberts and Kiran Chetry all this week on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," as veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan come back from the battlefields only to fight the war at home.
All this week on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
On the health care reform front, more lawmakers making the rounds of town halls in Florida. So-called Blue Dog Democrat Allen Boyd is telling critics of the Democratic blueprints that he's with them. Boyd's holding two more forums today in the Florida Panhandle.
Barney Frank, another Democrat but no Blue Dog, is meeting his constituents tonight in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. You can see that in "THE SITUATION ROOM," right here on CNN.
And if you plan to make one of Texas Congressman Gene Green's town halls today, be sure to bring your ID. Citing a "coordinated effort to disrupt previous meetings," Green wants to hear from his constituents, and his constituents only, from here on out.
Preferable, not essential, the bottom line from the White House on a so-called public option, the government-run health care that would compete with private plans and supposedly drive down costs. At least for today, President Obama is letting others do his public pitching. Among them, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who, on Sunday, seemed to make a big concession to conservatives who reject what they called a government takeover of health care.
Here she is speaking to a Medicare conference followed by her comments Sunday on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: All I can tell you is that Sunday must have been a very slow news day, because here's the bottom line: absolutely nothing has changed. We continue to support the public options that will help lower costs, give American consumers more choice, and keep private insurers honest.
If people have other ideas about how to accomplish these goals, we'll look at those, too. But the public option is a very good way to do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEBELIUS: And I think what's important is choice and competition. And I'm convinced that at the end of the day, the plan will have both of those, but that is not the essential element.
JOHN KING, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": But let me just -- quite simply, so the public option is not a deal-breaker from the president's standpoint?
SEBELIUS: Well, 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 marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing. We need some choices. We need some competition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, one thing that has changed as we get deeper into this make-or-break month, supporters of health care reform are starting to organize and open their mouths, hitting the road to mount their own town hall demos.
Here is our Carol Costello.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was like a good old-fashioned duel. On one side, those opposed, armed with sharp words...
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Stop Obama now! Stop Obama now!
COSTELLO: ... and signs that cut right to the chase. But this time, Obama supporters roused themselves and fought back, but they didn't exactly throw stones. And at this protest, they didn't carry signs calling the other side controversial names.
SARA EL-AMINE, ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA: They're staying respectful. We are, you know, out for the first time I feel like it's a real turning point for us. Folks have really been focusing on the other side, and we've outnumbered them at least three to one today, if not more.
COSTELLO: The pro-Obama crowd is part of the president's organizing for America Grassroots Network, the same network that worked so hard for him during the 2008 campaign. It's just one weapon the Democrats have been using lately to combat combative town hall meetings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Why is Congressman Boehner taking the side of the insurance companies and the health care debate?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: These ads are part of the strategy too, paid in part by pro-Obama union groups. Some analysts say it all comes way too late.
LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: A lot of Democrats would say it's about time or it's past time. The administration lost control of the message on health care. And once a president loses control of the agenda, it is very difficult to get it back.
COSTELLO: Sabato says the president never did control the message because he didn't come up with his own plan, leaving that to lawmakers who crafted several plans, all open to interpretation and rumor. Like the death panel -- want something like they want to kill grandma -- is out there -- it's tough to fight even though the president has tried.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For all the scare tactics out there, what is truly scary, what is truly risky is if we do nothing.
COSTELLO: Well, his supporters are now trying to do something more...
SUPPORTERS: Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
COSTELLO: ... even if they only succeed in drowning out the competing noise.
(on camera): But analysts like Larry Sabato say scary seems to be working right now. A major health care plan was not passed by the Senate before the August break, and although the president denies it, his administration left some wiggle room in the favored public health insurance option. Sabato says if that goes by the wayside, expect the president to pass a plan, but one that has been seriously scaled back.
Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, the health care debate, it's really stirring a lot of emotions across America. Our Tom Foreman has done some checking, and he says if you want to know what's really happening with reform efforts, think about the insurance industry as one big shopping mall. We'll find out why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: You probably saw his face here a lot on CNN. Journalist Robert Novak, who once co-hosted our long-running political program "CROSSFIRE," has died after a yearlong battle with cancer.
CNN's Tom Foreman looks back at his distinguished career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bob Novak was in high school when he got his first reporting job. He worked his way through several Midwest newspapers and eventually landed in Washington, D.C., where his dogged pursuit of leads and rapidly expanding list of contacts led to an early break from a competitor -- Rowland Evans.
ROBERT NOVAK, JOURNALIST: There was a news column six days a week, and he couldn't do it himself. They told him to get a partner. I was then 31 years old, and that was the birth of the "Evans/Novak" column.
FOREMAN: Rowland "Rowly" Evans and Robert Novak wrote "Inside Report" for 30 years. On everything from Watergate to Iran Contra, the pair earned respect and fear from official Washington.
TED TURNER, FOUNDER, CNN: We should be on the air at 6:00 as predicted.
FOREMAN: So, in 1980, when Ted Turner had this idea for a 24- hour news network, Evans and Novak were there.
Reporting, solid, old-fashioned reporting, was the core of all of his programs. And there were many.
ANNOUNCER: "CROSSFIRE."
FOREMAN: He was at the conventions, digging up stories...
NOVAK: I've been told by the Reagan people that both Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford will come to the hall tonight.
FOREMAN: ... confronting the powerful...
GEORGE W. BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a litany of questions.
NOVAK: Yes, but that was one of them.
BUSH: I understand, but it was one of three or four, and I had about 30 seconds to answer. So give me -- the answer is I want to keep the platform the same.
FOREMAN: ... and taking no prisoners on the political battlefield.
NOVAK: Why did you laugh over the death of an American service member...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, don't be a demagogue. I did not laugh.
NOVAK: Tell me why you did.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goodnight from CROSSFIRE.
NOVAK: On the tape you laughed.
FOREMAN: But those who worked with him give a very different picture of the off-screen Bob Novak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a really warmhearted guy, a neat guy, who cared a lot about the people that worked with him, cared a lot about the people who worked for him. And if you were a friend of Bob Novak's, you couldn't have a better friend.
FOREMAN: In 2005, Bob Novak left the channel he'd helped to build.
NOVAK: I want to thank CNN for making this network available to me for 25 years. Never censored me once, ever.
FOREMAN: Bob Novak was a man who fiercely enjoyed life. His nickname, "The Prince of Darkness," was not invented by his enemies, but by his friends, of which there were many. They knew that his pessimism about politicians never clouded an unbounded optimism about his country and his profession.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, nerves are on edge across the Caribbean as Hurricane Bill churns toward the region. And after getting slammed last year with three big storms, the people of Cuba have reason to be concerned.
CNN's Shasta Darlington reports from San Cristobal, a town that's still trying to recover from last year's devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Irida Mercederes (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 have anything left to fix," she says.
First, Gustav, then Ike, and then 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, Ana and Hurricane Bill, set nerves on edge. "We don't have very much left, but if that gets destroyed, just imagine," she 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 Irida (ph) worry they won't be so lucky next time.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, San Cristobal, Cuba.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, if you would like to help victims of hurricanes and other natural disasters, log on to our Web site, CNN.com/impact. (WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: There are no photographs of little green men, but there is a report of a flying saucer that morphed into a star shape before disappearing. It's all on the latest batch of UFO files released by Britain and reported by our Zain Verjee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A spaceship load of stories documenting close encounters and mysterious incidents. The U.K. National Archives has released another batch of the government's X-files, thousands of pages listing more than 800 UFO sightings reported between 1993 and 1996.
1996 was the bumper alien year -- 609 sightings, up fivefold from the year before. 1996 was also the year the TV show "X-Files" was at its peak. That same year, Will Smith battled aliens in "Independence Day." Coincidence?
The report's grabbing headlines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Aliens exist. I can't prove that they don't exist, so, therefore, they probably do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the government has got enough problems already without having to worry about aliens or UFOs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't believe they exist.
VERJEE (on camera): If you look up in the sky and see anything strange, you can report it at the British Ministry of Defense Web site. This person saw a formation of 18 lights. They appeared like a flock of helicopters with lights on. Look at this entry: a flying saucer with lights on it. It changed from a saucer shape to a star shape and then just disappeared.
(voice-over): A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman tells CNN it looks at reports only to see if U.K. airspace may have been compromised by hostile or unauthorized military activity. The new files also reveal that a U.S. spy plane called Aurora could be behind a slew of reported sightings in 1993. One official briefing note says there were "unusual UFO sightings over Britain that match some of the reported characteristics of the so-called Aurora."
The 14 new files debunk some other incidents, but they also show some sightings are just plain strange and unexplained.
DAVID CLARKE, UFO HISTORIAN: Something's going on. I don't know what the answer is. But the truth really is in these files, whatever the truth is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, the latest release is the fourth time Britain has gone public with UFO files. President Obama and his counterpart from Egypt meeting in the White House and making news. We're monitoring it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, some news coming out of today's White House meeting between President Obama and the Egyptian president. Hosni Mubarak dropped a big hint that he'll run for re-election two years from now. He also says that President Obama expressed U.S. concerns about needed reform in Egypt's political system. Mubarak's response, he's implemented some reforms and will continue to do so over the next two years.
As for the Middle East peace process, Mr. Obama thanked Mubarak for helping in bringing Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
And a wave of violence swept Afghanistan just two days before presidential elections. Two U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb blast in the eastern part of that country. Then in the capital of Kabul, a suicide bombing killed seven civilians there and two U.N. staff members. Those attacks were carried out by Taliban fighters, as was a rocket attack against the presidential palace.
The Taliban has warned voters to stay away from the polls on Thursday. U.S. and NATO forces will hold off an offensive mission unless absolutely necessary and they'll focus instead on protecting the voters.
Assassination attempts, kidnapped from a hotel room in Japan, beaten by South Korean police. All of that and more happened to the former South Korean president, but he never surrendered, he never gave up the fight to bring democracy to his country. And today, his remarkable life came to an end.
He died at a hospital in Seoul after a battle with pneumonia. He was 85. Perhaps his greatest achievement, winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to foster reconciliation with communist North Korea.
Well, you have the right to bear arms and to raise eyebrows if you bear those arms just outside a building where the president is giving a speech.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Keep your eye on the man with the gun. You can bet the cops in Phoenix did, not to mention the Secret Service, during President Obama's visit yesterday to the VFW convention in Phoenix. A health care protest drew several protesters with guns and one with a semi-automatic rifle. Police say no laws were broken and no threat was posed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. ANDY HILL, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: That person didn't belong to any group. He was just exercising his constitutional right, posed no threat and was constantly monitored by either officers that were in uniform or plainclothes officers.
MAYOR PHIL GORDON, PHOENIX: We showed the world that not only do we have those rights, we use them correctly and peacefully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the rifleman tells our affiliate, KNXV, quote, "I'm exercising my rights as an American in Arizona." Now, you may recall a man with a gun showed up at a presidential event last week in New Hampshire, too, but there, too, it was legal.
In our "Health Care Focus" segment today, we meet a woman whose husband could not save potentially lifesaving medical tests and treatment. He passed away. And now, she's using art to draw attention to health reform. This story now brought to us by photojournalist Floyd Yarmuth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REGINA HOLLIDAY, ARTIST: Well, my name's Regina Holliday, and I'm doing something called the 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'll have to go get more 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 that I felt we had to do something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you're doing a wonderful thing.
HOLLIDAY: Well, thank you. 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.
SUBRENA ALFORD, OBSERVER: What's with the lady being bound? Ah, the medical person is bound.
HOLLIDAY: The concept with her -- yes, because of the waste in the system, she's got her hands tied behind her back.
ALFORD: 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 give more if I could. Be brave.
HOLLIDAY: Oh, thank you so much.
A lot of people are like, oh, if we get universal health care, it's all fixed. And I'm like, no. No it's not fixed. It's -- the system's got major, major problems throughout.
Would it be great to have universal health care? Yes. But if we fund universal health care but the health care we have is abysmal, what are we doing? If a year ago or two years ago or three years ago we had passed health reform, if people like myself who suffered and saw what was happening had come forward, we 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)
PHILLIPS: As you know, we've been talking about health care on all levels, in particular the military. Remember, the president spoke to the VFW yesterday. So, we focus on health care for our military and their families. And once again, we just want to show you a number of Web sites that we've sort of followed and monitored for you.
In particular, issues of mental health like suicide rates that have gone up among our military, PTSD and a lot of families wondering where they can help, how they can get support and finally, the military actually coming forward and talking about how new programs are going to be implemented now within the Army in particular.
But these are three Web sites that we're fond of: realwarriors here is one Web site that actually has a live chat that goes on on a regular basis, no matter what time or day or night. And they've got these outreach centers that you can actually dial into here, and also a suicide prevention hotline.
Another one that we have admired next to realwarriors is newdirectionsinc.org. This one actually has two really great programs. One Operation Welcome Home, also another one for supporting housing for our veterans coming back from Iraq and Aghanistan. The Operation Welcome home talking in particular about assistance in obtaining benefits, housing and employment for our vets.
And then finally, as you know, we talk a lot about this Web site, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, taps.org. A number of us here with in the CNN NEWSROOM team involved with this organization. And what I in particular love about this group is what they do for kids. They have a good grief camp and a suicide survivors seminar. They do wonderful things for the kids and families, in particular those kids that have lost a mom or dad to suicide when they come home from war.
Three Web sites we'd love for you to follow: realwarriors, newdirections and also taps.org.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Robert Gibbs taking questions from reporters at the White House briefing, talking health care. Let's listen in.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: When he talks about the essentials of health care reform, OK, let's understand the principles that he's put up there, right? We have to cut costs for families and small businesses. That's essential. It has to be deficit-neutral. That's essential. What's essential is ensuring that we provide accessibility in health care reform to millions of those that don't currently have it.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So, when you say a public option is now the president's preferred choice, has been and is his preferred choice...
GIBBS: I'm not just saying that now. I'm saying I said that repeatedly. The president has said that.
HENRY: OK. So, is the public option an essential part of health reform?
GIBBS: I think the president answered that on Saturday.
HENRY: Yes, so why did...
GIBBS: No, no, no, no, no. How many times...
HENRY: So, why did the health secretary say no on Sunday?
GIBBS: What did the president say on Saturday?
HENRY: So, it is essential. It is essential.
GIBBS: No, no, no, no, no, no. Ed, Ed, Ed...
HENRY: The secretary said Sunday it's not.
GIBBS: Ed, what did the president say on Sunday -- or Saturday?
HENRY: Saturday, he spoke positively about a public option but also said we could have it, we may have it, we may not have it.
GIBBS: I think he used the word "essential."
HENRY: I'll go back and see if he used the word "essential." But why...
GIBBS: You go back and look at the transcript and (INAUDIBLE).
HENRY: So, let's say, let's say -- I don't have the transcript, but if he did use the word "essential" on Saturday, why did his health secretary not use the word "essential" on Sunday?
GIBBS: They said the same thing on Saturday as they did on Sunday. Go back and look at the transcript, Ed. I think you'll...
HENRY: Just tell me, though, why did she say it's not? You can't answer that.
GIBBS: Go find the transcript, and I promise you, you'll answer your question and wonder why you were phrasing it the way you did because, no offense, Ed, you seem to have heard what the secretary said on Sunday but not what the president said on Saturday.
HENRY: I think I heard what he said.
GIBBS: Well, go back and take a gander at the transcript.
JAKE TAPPER, ABC NEWS: (INAUDIBLE) but understanding that the president believes the public option is the best way to force private insurance companies to bring down their prices, is the White House -- does the -- is the president convinced that co-ops, while not as strong a measure, wold be able -- are a viable alternative to the public option? Is he convinced that cost savings could come from co- ops?
GIBBS: Well, Jake, in all honesty, I don't think anybody has seen a level of detail thus far that would -- that you'd be able to make a completely educated assumption on what we've seen.
TAPPER: Conrad said on Sunday that the votes are not there in the Senate for the public option. Do you guys agree?
GIBBS: I'd have to talk to -- I haven't talked to leg affairs on that. I think that's simply what -- that's what a lot of people have said.
TAPPER: Right, but you guys count votes. You guys are involved in...
GIBBS: Yes, I haven't talked to them recently about the exact vote count.
TAPPER: OK, there's also a thing I wanted to read you in a letter sent last week to the White House from the National Association of Postal Supervisors. The president of that union, Ted Keating, said that his union had a, quote, "collective disappointment, that you," meaning the president, "chose the postal service as a scapegoat and an example of inefficiency."
Does the president -- has the president seen that letter? Has he responded? Does he regret using the post office as an example of inefficiency?
GIBBS: I doubt he's seen that letter, and I don't have any reason to believe he regrets it since he refuted (ph) it.
TAPPER: So far, I'm 0 for 3. Let me just try one more. The ACLU in April put in a Freedom of Information Act request for information about detainees at Bagram. The Pentagon responded to the ACLU, saying, we have information. We're not going to give it to you. Does that live up to the president's promises of transparency, given that the Pentagon has released that information about Gitmo detainees?
GIBBS: I saw your blog post on this, but I have not seen the letter and don't have any other information on it.
QUESTION: Setting aside the issue of whether or not what was said over the weekend at all is a different policy position, what your policy position is consistently is that the public option, while being the preferred method, is not a deal-breaker for the president. And I guess my question...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
GIBBS: Yes. That's...
QUESTION: Right? I mean, that's what we are understanding.
GIBBS: That is what we have said. That's what we said in June, that's what we said in July, that's what we said...
QUESTION: So, working from that premise, which we can all agree on is the stated position today...
GIBBS: We can.
QUESTION: That does not give much comfort to many?
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Before the AMA, the president never said it is not a deal breaker.
GIBBS: Just read that (ph).
QUESTION: Did the president ever tell these men in June that it was a deal breaker?
GIBBS: Just read that.
QUESTION: Just remember, consistency is (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
GIBBS: Thank you for that.
I'm not sure whether we should go on or not.
QUESTION: Okay. Consistency aside, I guess my question is, assuming this has been a consistent position, this is the position that really bothered Democratic members of Congress. We are seeing it probably expressed more virulently than we had in the past because maybe they were unclear that this has been the administration's position all along.
But what essentially the president is saying is that the public option, at the end of the day, is optional. I guess, my question is, what are you going to say to members of Congress who are threatening to walk out and say, if there is no public option, I'm not in this?
GIBBS: I would say it is the preferred option. QUESTION: Does that give them a lot of comfort?
GIBBS: I am not a Democratic member of Congress.
QUESTION: Yes, but you're the White House, in the position to lead on this issue. It's clearly something that's important.
GIBBS: Well, again, I would point you back to what the president said. Ed's got my transcript. On Saturday. The president strongly believes that we have to have, and I mentioned -- I walked through the notion of why choice and competition are so fundamentally important to this debate, right? That in a monopoly, without consumer choice, without competition among health insurance providers, you are certainly not likely to see cutting costs. You are certainly not likely to see a competition on quality. Those are the goals that the president has.
QUESTION: Is it inherent in the president's position, consistent or not, is that he could envision a scenario in which he is without a public option? Many members of your party cannot...
GIBBS: He cannot envision a scenario in which we live with anything that doesn't provide choice and competition in a private insurance market that allows people to get the best deal possible on both the price and quality if they enter a private health insurance market. That's what the president's bottom line is. Do we have a system that provides that choice for consumers and that competition among insurers on quality and cost.
QUESTION: It's acceptable to the president but not acceptable to members of Congress in the Democratic party -- that's okay with you?
GIBBS: Well, the president is focused on many different goals. Cutting costs, coverage for millions who don't have accessibility, making it deficit-neutral, which he reiterated at each of the town halls, and ensuring cost -- ensuring choice and competition. That's what's important to the president of the United States.
QUESTION: Real quickly, have there been any (INAUDIBLE) between the president or prehaps Rahm or David or any of these folks to members of Congress who are concerned about that?
GIBBS: No, not that I'm -- the president hasn't made any - Rahm's fishing out West. David is in Michigan. And I doubt they are...
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Have you seen this charge from Republicans on the Hill that they are asking, is he profiting from the payment he is getting from this firm? Is the firm involved in the Pharma advertisment deal...
GIBBS: That's ridiculous. David has left his firm to join public service.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) million-dollar payout?
GIBBS: That agreement that I think that was made because David started and owned the firm. He left the firm. If I'm not mistaken, he is being paid for the fact that he created it and sold it, which I think is somewhat based on the free market. Yes, ma'am.
QUESTION: What message will the president be delivering to religious groups on health care tomorrow?
GIBBS: He is going to talk about again, just the -- you are not going to see a difference in message. You are going to see the boring consistency of ensuring that we cut costs, ensuring that we take the steps that are necessary to relieve the burden on families and small business. Obviously, the president will talk about the importance of providing access to affordable health insurance for millions of those that currently don't have it. Boring consistency.
QUESTION: ... focusing on the uninsured rather than the public option?
GIBBS: Well, no. The president will continue to continue to talk about what he thinks is important in health care, and it will include all of those options. Mark?
QUESTION: Robert, is the White House taken aback by the $7 million pace authorized for the new CEO of AIG?
GIBBS: Well, I believe this is an agreement that we will go through the process of Ken Fineberg to ensure it is consistent with his principles. Obviously, the board wants to find a CEO that is knowledgeable about insurance companies and running an insurance company and hopefully getting an ailing company that was once a successful company that somebody had the bright idea of putting a hedge fund on top of.
QUESTION: AIG is the company that was 80 percent owned by taxpayers. Taxpayers who make $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 a year. So why isn't it -- why shouldn't taxpayers feel like suckers if they see the CEO of a government-owned company getting $7 million a year?
GIBBS: Well, look, Mark. The board is going to make a decision. We've talked about the president -- the president has talked about, we are not micromanaging these companies. Government is not making these decisions. The board wants an insurance company CEO who can help take a company that was once successful, as I said, somebody had the bright idea of putting a hedge fund on top of it. And it's now a royal mess. I think the board wants to see some good, competent leadership that can lead the company back towards profitability and hopefully the recoupment of some of the investment the taxpayers put out in order to prevent the calamity to our economy.
QUESTION: On another issue, does President Obama ever speak with either Bill or Hillary Clinton about health care and their experience? GIBBS: I don't -- obviously, the secretary of state is in the Oval Office today as part of the larger Mumbark (ph) delegation meeting. Obviously, President Clinton, as we've talked about, will be here later today. I don't know to what degree to which they've discussed health care.
QUESTION: question we've asked you a couple times. You said you were going to check on it. Have you actually asked, or...?
GIBBS: I haven't asked, and I will be honest with you, that I am not entirely sure that I'm not going to keep private conversations between somebody like the secretary of state or the former president between the current and former president. Yes, ma'am.
QUESTION: Can you talk about whether the administration will come back in (INAUDIBLE) will it be in December that it will come out?
GIBBS: Yes, I saw that right before I came out here. Obviously, I think the illusion is to have the U.N. General Assembly meeting which is -- I think it's that third week in September. I think it will be an important opportunity to continue to make progress on comprehensive Middle East peace. Obviously.
PHILLIPS: All right. Health care reform and the public option, this has been the talk of the town on the morning shows over the weekend. Of course, we have been talking about it all afternoon. Our Ed Henry just a few minutes ago, too, taking Robert Gibbs there to task about it. Take a listen at the exchange they had.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIBBS: The president, his position, the administration's position is unchanged, that we have a goal of fostering choice and competition in a private health insurance market. The president prefers the public option as a way of doing that. If others have ideas, we are open to those ideas and willing to listen to those details. That's what the president had said for months.
Coincidentally, that's what the secretary of health and human services has said for months. It's what I've said for months. I think the suggestion somehow that anything that was said Saturday or Sunday has been new administration policy is just not something that I would agree with.
QUESTION: There seem to be a lot of people who took it as kind of floating a trial (INAUDIBLE)...
GIBBS: Meaning the media?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOSUE CORRESPONDENT No. Your supporters. Supporters in Congress do read it as a change. If you look at what the president said to the AMA on June 15th, he said, quote, "the public option is not your enemy. It is your friend." He is not saying that anymore.
GIBBS: What do you mean?
HENRY: He is no longer proactively, forgetting about what he is leaving in or out, let's just say...
(CROSSTALK)
HENRY: Can I finish my question?
GIBBS: No. I will finish my answer.
HENRY: OK. Go ahead.
GIBBS: The president was clear in two questions that he received at the town hall meeting on Saturday about the public option. The second question, which is a man in the red shirt over on the right- hand side, asked about the public option. And then the second to last question, the guy about the debate in the second or third row right off the podium, had the same question.
Let me read this to you, Ed. This is -- you will notice -- let me just read. Secretary Sebelius, July 12th, 2009.
"I think you are going to hear from senators about a variety of strategies to get to a public option. This isn't one-size, fits all. I think the president said we can have competition, the issues of competition and choice, and how to bring that into the private marketplace. There are probably a variety of strategies, all of which are on the table."
Any guess on what network that was on?
HENRY: It was on CNN. But on Sunday, she was also on CNN...
GIBBS: A very correct assumption.
HENRY: So on Sunday, she was also on CNN and said that the public option is not the essential part of health reform. She didn't say that on July 12th, or whenever you picked that out. On June 15th, to the AMA, repeatedly the president proactively said the public option was the way to go. He said --
GIBBS: I just said it was the preferred option. I just said it was the preferred option.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Why did he on Saturday say, if there is a public option or there's not. And then, the secretary on Sunday says, it's the essential part.
GIBBS: No. No. The president said that on Saturday.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: He said if there is one or not one. He hadn't said that before. Well, answer that one part before you get around and around. He had not said --
GIBBS: The president had said repeatedly that he's open to different ideas and discussions, that his preferred option was the public plan. He said that on Saturday. He said that on Saturday. I said that on Sunday.
(END OF COVERAGE)
PHILLIPS: All right, so bottom line, what does the public option really mean? It's obviously got a lot of Americans stirred up. You can see there in the White House briefing, it's got a lot of journalists there stirred up. The whole conversation in general, but focusing on the issue of the public option.
Tom Foreman tries to put it into perspective for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you want to understand what's really happened with this whole health reform debate, think of the insurance business as a big shopping mall. There are a bunch of private stores that sell insurance. The supporters of reform say they don't really compete a whole lot with each other. So they let the prices get higher and higher. And there are people like this who really don't go anywhere and they don't fit into insurance reform.
So, the goal of reformers, many of them, is to say, let's have a government insurance office in the middle of this mall. They will be heavily funded, they'll give a place for these people to go so they will have some kind of place where they can have insurance. And because they're offering a lower cost in alternative, because they're not out to make a profit, they will force the other places to lower their prices and effectively have a sale that will benefit everyone.
Now, critics of this program say that that's not what's going to happen. They say instead of having a sale, what you're actually going to have is people that are driven out of business. There will simply be not enough business once all these people start being attracted to the more cost -- less expensive government insurance.
So the bottom line is, this is the fear of those who say this is a bad idea. So if this does not happen, then what do you look at? Well, one other option is an insurance cooperative system. What is that? Well, an insurance cooperative basically would take people all across the country who can't afford insurance, no matter where they are, and it would connect all of these people to each other. By connecting them, it would make it possible for these people to share the cost of their medical expenses with each other.
They would essentially form a small, private insurance company that they would run with their own board of directors. It's a nonprofit so it would also create competition for existing insurance companies but possibly push the prices down. At least that's the theory. But, this is also very much up in the air as to exactly how it would work, who would be involved and what it would really cost and what the benefits might or might not be. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, shutting the door on a death row appeal. A Texas judge is quoted as saying, "We close at 5:00." Hours later, a man is executed. Now, this judge is on trial herself.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, deadlines are deadlines, even if you're on death row. We told you last hour about the judge in Texas, actually the Chief Justice of the state's highest criminal court who's on trial for alleged miscounduct.
It seems that Sharon Keller refused to even look at the last ditch appeal of an inmate who was about be executed because the paperwork arrived after 5:00 p.m. We close at 5:00. Well, she explained that at the time. The inmate was put to death at 8:00.
Some of you sent us strong opinions about this story.
Mikecooper rights, "So why was the petition for a stay not filed before 5:00 p.m. on the execution date. Seems like the counsel's fault, not the judges."
DPM wrote this, "The lawyers in the case had 20 years to file an appeal. So why wait until the last minute possible? Why were any others filed?"
Countrylady1 says this, "That's a sorry excuse when a man's life is the issue."
And finally, Dallee put it simply, but eloquently, "Justice shouldn't close at 5:00 p.m."
Thanks to all for your tweets. Appreciate it.
We'll be back here tomorrow. Rick Sanchez takes it from here.
