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Will Dems Include GOP in Health-Care Reform?; Some Turn to Co- Ops for Health Care; Barney Frank Takes on Protestors; Deadly Bombings in Iraq; Hurricane Bill Expected to Pass U.S.; Hong Kong Property Prices Rebounding; Coverage of Gibbs' White House Press Conference on Health Care
Aired August 19, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to turn it over now to Kyra Phillips, who's beginning the rest of the news here at CNN. You know, the news never stops here, and Kyra Phillips going to take it over for the next couple hours, as she always does -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Drew, thanks so much.
Some lawmakers call them listening sessions. Barney Frank prefers to fire back. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Table the health-care debate? No chance. Wait until you hear what may be on the table right now.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm meteorologist Chad Myers, taking a look at Hurricane Bill: Category 4, 135 miles per hour. Going to turn right eventually, we hope.
PHILLIPS: And nothing says marry me like a police helicopter and a phony raid. The uproar is real, and a Maryland lawmaker and husband-to-be is paying the price.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Go it alone or risk not going at all? An emerging, potentially explosive scenario for Democrats in a make-or-break month for health care. We're pushing forward now on the prospect of partisan reform as rock-solid Republican opposition shows no signs of cracking. The White House briefing comes up at the bottom of the hour. You'll see it live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And later, if you think reform doesn't have a prayer, well, you may be wrong. President Obama is joining hands by phone with religious leaders in a group called Faith in Public Life.
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins me live from the White House now.
Elaine, a top adviser there told CNN, and I quote, "A win is a win. No one is going to remember how messy it was."
On the other hand, you know, there's this poll by Quinnipiac University showing almost 6 in 10 Americans don't support health-care reform that doesn't have some type of Republican support. So, where does that leave the president?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, it's interesting, Kyra, the comment to a top adviser was to our own Ed Henry, my colleague. And it was put in the context of, if we have to go ahead and try this without Republicans, then essentially people aren't going to remember how messy the process was. What they'll remember is the substance of it, that health-care reform got done.
That said, no final decisions have been made on this. However, top Democrats that are close to the White House are saying, look, officials are actively considering this possibility, because of the fact that, obviously, Republicans have been -- most Republicans -- have been really resistant to this point.
Now, on the record, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in the off-camera gaggle this morning that the White House has not given up on this idea of bipartisan reform, that, in fact, the White House remains hopeful that it can still work with some Republicans, it feels, are trying to be constructive in this process. And Gibbs mentioned specifically on the Senate Finance Committee.
At the same time, he also noted that there are also other Republicans who aren't being so constructive. And some of the comments that they are making are leading them to believe that -- that those Republicans don't have any interest in being a part of health- care reform -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, so what about this evening's conference call with the faith groups.
QUIJANO: Robert Gibbs said yesterday, don't expect to hear anything new necessarily from the president on this, but obviously this is part of his push to try and garner support.
It's not just Republican resistance that they're encountering, keep in mind. There are, of course, some skeptics on the Democratic side, as well. We know this, that some conservative Democrats in particular are a little bit wary. They're asking the same kinds of questions about how this is going to be paid for. And in the end, is this really going to be the best way to go about health-care reform? Namely, the public option.
The president's message is going to be consistent, according to Robert Gibbs, that he's going to talk about the need to make sure that millions of Americans who don't have health insurance, that they get health insurance -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Elaine Quijano from the White House. Thanks, Elaine. Health care isn't a religious issue, or at least it doesn't have to be, but faith can play a role, and not only by preaching for or against reform. The health insurance co-ops that you've heard about take many different forms and serve many different groups.
CNN's Kate Bolduan met with some true believers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the health-care debate rages on in Washington, we decided to get outside the beltway. We're heading to Philadelphia to take a look at one alternative people are turning to.
(voice-over) It's called bill sharing. In this case, a large group of Christians pool their money to cover each others' medical costs. It's not conventional insurance, and it's not regulated.
Christian activist Shane Claiborne is a member of one: Ohio-based Christian Health-Care Ministries.
SHANE CLAIBORNE, CHRISTIAN CO-OP MEMBER: One of the things I like about it is it's relational, and I can see exactly where my money's going.
BOLDUAN: Last time we saw Claiborne he was touring the country promoting his book, "Jesus for President." He moved into this rough Philadelphia neighborhood to help clean it up, like this former drug den he took us to.
CLAIBORNE: We talk a lot about practicing the resurrection. So for us, this is part of it. We bring abandoned spaces to life and try to make ugly things beautiful.
BOLDUAN: It is rough work. Claiborne was jumped a few years ago and landed in the hospital with a concussion and broken jaw. That's when his health care stepped in.
CLAIBORNE: You get this bill for $10,000 or $12,000 and, you know, we ended up paying, like, $6,000 of it. And because I had, you know, thousands and thousands of people carrying that bill with me, I was -- I was able to just write -- you know, we just wrote a check for it.
BOLDUAN: The ministry negotiated directly with his doctors to lower the bill. Executive director Howard Russell says the core of their success is the 20,000 members who've met conditions that include not smoking and being a practicing Christian.
HOWARD RUSSELL, CHRISTIAN HEALTHCARE MINISTRIES: If everybody in America had the provisions that our members have, there wouldn't be a health-care crisis.
BOLDUAN (on camera): It's like a health-care cooperative, a community-based, nonprofit organization owned by its members; a group that uses its strength in numbers to negotiate competitive rates with health-care providers. And that's an idea gaining traction on Capitol Hill.
(voice-over) Robert Burns, a professor of health-care management at the University of Pennsylvania, says the key to co-ops is size: 20,000 to 50,000 enrollees minimum needed.
ROBERT BURNS, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: If they're not big enough, then they won't be able to do either of those two things: hold down their administrative costs internally or negotiate good rates with the providers externally.
BOLDUAN: And even then it may not be enough.
(on camera) Do you see health care co-ops as the silver bullet to this debate?
BURNS: No. As I told my class last night, it's part of the silver buckshot.
BOLDUAN: So, one of many...
BURNS: One of many. That's right.
BOLDUAN: ... that needs to be done for health-care reform.
(voice-over) Claiborne agrees his co-op may not suit everyone's health-care needs, but he's hoping it at least forces Americans to think outside the box.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Once again, that was our Kate Bolduan.
Now, on the town hall front, lawmakers are still going wall to wall and sometimes head to head with angry voters. Now, voters in the 4th District of Massachusetts, well, if you come after Barney Frank, you'd better come prepared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you continue to support a Nazi (ph) policy, as Obama has, expressly supported this policy? Why are you supporting it?
FRANK: Let me -- let me -- all right, I will...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A real solution?
FRANK: When you ask me that question, I am going to revert to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question. On what planet do you spend most of your time?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, do you want to hear more? CNN's Jim Acosta was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congressman Barney Frank.
FRANK: Thank you.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It didn't take long for the shouting to start.
FRANK: Somebody said I'm a liar. What's the lie?
Hey, hey, enough.
Which one of you wants to yell first?
ACOSTA: And before the first question was asked, Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank was swinging back at opponents of health-care reform.
FRANK: Disruption never helped your cause. It makes it look like you're afraid to have rational discussion. You just drive people away. I'm not here -- this is the Council on Aging, not kindergarten.
ACOSTA: Frank tried to dispel some of the bogus claims about the bill in the House.
FRANK: Illegal aliens are specifically excluded from getting any assistance in the bill. Section...
ACOSTA: To that, some in the crowd shouted, "Read the bill." So he did and found the section where illegal immigrants are excluded.
FRANK: It's right in the bill. I will be glad to show it to you.
ACOSTA: But even that didn't satisfy everyone.
FRANK: It is a little odd to be accused of not having read the bill by people who object when I do.
ACOSTA: Several audience members insisted reform would bust the budget.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to pay more taxes because of you, sir!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This bill would practically bankrupt the economy of the United States government.
ACOSTA: Time and again, Frank took that grenade and threw it back.
FRANK: And I do worry about the deficit. That's one of the reasons, not the only one, that I voted against the single most wasteful expenditure in the history of America: the Iraq war.
ACOSTA: The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee took only a few questions on reforming Wall Street. Instead, Frank talked at length about his support for the public option.
FRANK: I am not voting for any bill that forces anybody into anything. It will have a public option.
ACOSTA: And tried to reassure seniors there were no death panels in the bill.
FRANK: This notion that something in this bill would require people who are elderly or sick to be denied medical care and killed is the single stupidest argument I have ever heard in all my years in politics.
ACOSTA: It was that absurdity of the health-care debate that retiree and Medicare recipient Mary Casento (ph) was happy to see put to rest.
(on camera) Can I tell you, though, that I know for a fact that they are not going to pull the plug on Grandma?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not going to pull it on me, I tell you, because I'll fight to the death.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: That was our Jim Acosta.
Now, if you want to know more about the health-care debate and how reform could affect you and your family, check out the special "Health Care in America" Web site on CNN.com. You can get the latest from town-hall debates, fact checks, iReports. You can even read the bills. Just go to CNN.com/healthcare.
Man's best friend? Not this time. A pack of wild dogs meets a Georgia husband and wife, with gruesome consequences.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hurricane Bill's now a very powerful storm. Where is it heading and will the U.S. get hit? Let's check in with Chad Myers. He's tracking it all for us -- Chad.
MYERS: It's going to be a storm, I think, that probably misses all landmasses except maybe for Atlantic Canada. That will be the big story: does it really brush Atlantic Canada, with 100-mile-per-hour storm? How close does it get to Bermuda, and how close does it get to New England, as well? All those coming up. I'll answer all those questions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A giant among the pioneers of broadcast news, that was Don Hewitt, the creator of CBS' "60 Minutes." He died today of cancer at his home in Bridgehampton, New York.
He joined CBS News in television's early days, in 1948, and then in 1960 he produced the first TV presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon.
His crowning achievement came when CBS agreed to try Hewitt's idea of a one-hour broadcast mixed with hard stories and feature stories. The television news magazine was born in 1968 when the "60 Minutes" stopwatch began ticking.
CNN president Jon Klein worked with Hewitt and remembers him as a brilliant innovator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON KLEIN, CNN PRESIDENT: The influence that Don has, if you look on the bottom third of the screen, all those graphics, the thing that says my name or the subject matter, and that Don Hewitt, you know, has died, those are called supers, right? Don invented supers.
He said, "Do you know what? On the screen we need another way to convey information to viewers. Maybe we can superimpose them." And he figured out technically a way to do it. He was a director, which is a technical job, in television, and he figured that out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Don Hewitt died at the age of 86.
The deadliest day in Iraq since U.S. combat troops pulled out of cities and towns nearly two months ago. A wave of bombings in Baghdad killed at least 95 people today, wounding more than 500. The horrendous noise and destruction was also caught on tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (speaking foreign language)
(BOMB BLAST)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Among the half dozen targets of the coordinated attacks, the Rashid Hotel, which you see right here. Also targeted, the foreign ministry building and the finance ministry.
CNN's Arwa Damon has been at the scene of some of these attacks. She joins us live now.
You know, Arwa, you watch that clip of when the explosion took place, and it's so typical to see an Iraqi barely react and keep on going with the news conference. How many times have we witnessed that?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we've unfortunately witnessed it countless times. This is a country that is very used to violence.
But today's attacks and the fact that it is the deadliest day since the Iraqis took over, really resonates with the people. Because even though many of them would say that they hope that the worst was over, they all knew and had this fear in the back of their heads that it wasn't.
And we saw that today, where in the span of just an hour, six bombings, two of them truck bombings, one, as you saying earlier, targeting the ministry of finance, and the other in front of the ministry of foreign affairs, which is just outside of the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is meant to be one of the safer areas in the capital.
The blast there, to give you an idea, was so powerful that it not just blew through the ministry facade, breaking its windows; it also sent a number of vehicles flying into the air and reduced others to burnt hulks of metal. And it demolished a number of residential homes in this area.
One Iraqi who we spoke to is saying how is it that, if such an explosion can take place in an area that's teeming with Iraqi security forces, how are they going to secure the rest of the country? When they can't even secure a place like this -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Which is exactly the remaining question, as if the Iraqis can -- can actually take over and keep Iraq secure. Arwa Damon, live from Baghdad. Thanks.
Well, it may not make a direct hit, but Hurricane Bill's got a lot of folks on the U.S. East Coast pretty worried. Chad Myers tracking the big storm for us.
Chad, how's it looking right now?
MYERS: Kyra, it looks big. I mean, literally, no kidding. A hundred and thirty-five miles an hour, gusting to 160. Here are the islands. You would know this as the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla, and Antigua, and also back out towards the Spanish Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico.
The storm will miss the islands. It will still put some big waves down through the Anegada Passage and like.
But then we move you back up here. Where is it now? It is not moving to Miami. It is not moving to North Carolina. It will skirt in between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast. How close does it get to the left or how far does it move to the right, that's still a few days out. One, two, three, four days out, even before it gets to Bermuda. So, there are still some unanswered questions.
What I think we need to learn about here is that the models that try to tell us where it's going to go still don't have it hitting the East Coast, thank goodness, because this would still be a very big storm, if it would. A hundred and ten miles per hour here.
Right there, that's Cape Cod. You see how close this one model gets. And I'm not saying that that one model has any more importance than all of the rest of them that are out here to the east that are not taking it to the U.S. East Coast, but it just doesn't have any -- really any sign of losing any strength. And why is that?
Well, here's a map of the U.S. I'm going to try to draw where we are. The storm is right about here somewhere. There's Puerto Rico. There are the rest of the islands and such. And there -- here's North Carolina. Here's Florida. The storm is going to travel up on here and on to around here.
So, if you notice, this is still about 83, 84 miles -- or degrees, the cold water doesn't even happen until it gets way up here into Canada. So, this is a map of the water temperatures across the Atlantic. And then you see how warm it is here in the Gulf. Temperatures here are just another 3 to 4 degrees warmer than here.
That's why I was so worried about what could happen to Ana, but Ana just never really developed. It didn't do anything in the overnight hours. So, at least that's some of the good news.
We will continue to watch what is Bill. Bill is a very large and intense hurricane. It will make large waves along the East Coast. Not yet today, but I suspect we will have significant -- I know this is going to be the last couple weeks, weekends before school's out, for some of the kids in the northeast, even though here in the southeast, in some spots, we've already gone back to school.
If you are on the Florida beaches, the Carolina beaches, the rip currents with this storm, even though it doesn't get close to the U.S., the rip currents will be deadly. You need to keep those kids out of the water when you see that, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Chad.
The sounds of a police chopper and armed cops on a raid, just what every girl dreams of for her marriage proposal, right? Well, it actually happened. And the guy who popped the question, he's in some deep trouble.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Our top stories now.
They're getting ready to mark their ballots in Kabul, Kandahar, and a lot of places in between. Afghanistan's second ever presidential election hours away. The incumbent, Hamid Karzai, faces 40 challengers, including two women. And there's a lesson here for Americans who don't vote: Afghans will be going to the polls in spite of huge security concerns.
Now, remember this awful crash? In New York, a woman killed herself and seven other people. But how do you charge a dead woman? Prosecutors now say they won't file charges in the Diane Schuler case. She was drunk and high on marijuana when she drove the wrong way on a New York parkway, killing herself, her daughter, three nieces, and three men, all in that SUV.
Nothing to really brag about in the latest American college test scores. Average scores held steady for this year's graduating high school seniors. That's a sign of modest progress, since more of them took the ACT. In the words of one of the testers, "We've got more in the pool. Now we need to get better swimmers."
It's only August, but the holidays are looking a little brighter for some GM workers. The company is recalling more than 1,300 to help boost production by 60,000 vehicles for the rest of the year. Another 10,000 will be eligible for extra hours or overtime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm excited!
BRAD GLENDE, GM EMPLOYEE: It shows that, you know, people are out there buying our product, and the economy's picking up.
MEGAN GEORGE, GM EMPLOYEE: Well, it's good news for us, that we're working overtime. And cars are starting to come in, and people are getting -- buying cars again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: GM's increased production is the result of the cash for clunkers program that has reduced inventories at dealerships across the country.
Now, all this week our Richard Quest has been filling us in on the economic recovery that's beginning to sweep through Asia. He's back with us today from Hong Kong, a place that in better times had some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Well, guess what? Hong Kong's property market is making a comeback.
Richard, we know that prices nearly reached rock bottom last year. Why the rebound -- why the rebound right now?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you may well ask. For anyone coming from Europe or the United States, where we are still seeing prices going down, or maybe not as fast, actually, I was gobsmacked, as they say, to discover that at all levels, both at the -- what they call the mass market, the sort of place that I'd be getting, right the way up to the luxury levels, maybe more in your category, left, right, and center, property prices, yes, they did take a slight downturn earlier this year. But they're back where they were.
Have a watch. Have a listen. Would you pay this much for this apartment?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): The towers of Hong Kong, from the crowded blocks just feet from each other, to the high point of the luxury peak district. After September last year, prices dropped by around 25 percent across the board. Buying and selling slowed to a crawl.
Now deals are being done again. And at the luxury end, agents say prices are back to where they were. RICKY POON, COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL: This -- actually, this apartment is actually on the market for sale at 8 million U.S. dollars.
QUEST (on camera): Eight million?
POON: Yes, that's right.
QUEST (voice-over): Two years ago this two-bedroom apartment was sold for a similar amount. It's back on the market after a brief decline in value. The price, fully restored.
(on camera) If I wanted to rent this place, how much would it cost me to rent it? Per month.
POON: Per month? Well, I would say between 18,000 U.S. to about 20,000 U.S. dollars.
QUEST: A month?
POON: A month.
QUEST: Are you mad?
(voice-over) Ricky Poon has been selling property for 15 years. Even he's surprised that property rebounded so fast.
POON: Considering this one actually the location in the Peak, and also supply are very thin, very limited, and also we have fantastic view.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now, I know $18,000 U.S. a month is an extraordinary amount of money, $8 million is a lot. Kyra, it was a nice apartment. It had a great view. But it was only two bedrooms, and, frankly, seemed a lot of money. But what I'm hearing is right across this city, prices are virtually back at the top end where they were.
PHILLIPS: When you mentioned $18,000, I thought you were talking about that new suit that you're wearing, Mr. Quest.
QUEST: Ah. Hong Kong, the city of the day's suit, and I mean by that, they make it in a day.
Yesterday, as you may see, I was fitted for this suit. We taught them measurements. They even cut the suit. I went and had a look at it. And this, indeed, so it was quite a rare event to actually get, as opposed to the sweat rooms where they make these things.
But now look at it. What do you think? And just when you were waiting for a little surprise, you know, show a bit of -- show a, you know...
PHILLIPS: Show me a little lining. Show me a little lining, Mr. Quest. Ha! QUEST: Show you a little lining. You know, women -- women always love the fact that a man's suit has a colorful ling. I always think it's a bit of a cheap option!
PHILLIPS: Actually, you're colorful enough. We really don't need a lovely lavender lining.
Now, what's the deal with all the lights behind you?
QUEST: Yes. Talking about colorful. Talking about colorful. We all know -- last night it was quite dark back here, so we got one of our assistant producers on the phone to beg, borrow, and steal so they'd leave some lights on for you. You wouldn't have thought we were offering virtual free advertising.
One person -- one company actually wanted us to pay to have -- come along to switch the light on so we could advertise their product!
PHILLIPS: You're so clever. I just hope you're not getting any profit from that, Richard Quest.
QUEST: No. Absolutely not. And by tomorrow, I'm going to try -- no promises here, with my new suit looking -- my new threads looking so sharp, I'm going to have a few more lights up.
PHILLIPS: Fabulous. Richard Quest, it's always a pleasure.
From one humble man to another, Milwaukee's mayor proves to be a pretty humble hero, in his first appearance since a violent weekend assault. What he remembers and how he's doing after that beating. Pretty amazing story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We're waiting for the president's press secretary to come out and talk about health care, specifically the prospect of Democrats giving up on attempts to win Republican support for reform. That briefing due to start any minute now. You'll see it live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Creative marriage proposals can be fun or romantic or wacky, even embarrassing. Or you can punk your intended by scaring the bejesus out of her and commandeering the resources of a major U.S. city. That's exactly what a Maryland state lawmaker opted for and now he's in trouble.
Terry Owens of our affiliate WMAR has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERRY OWENS, WMAR REPORTER: State delegate John Cardin says he wanted to make his fiancee's night perfect -- his plan to propose to her on a boat August 7th. But that proposal apparently involved having a Baltimore City Police Department helicopter hover overhead as city Marine Police pretended to search the boat. No one is saying how that was arranged, but Police Commissioner Bealefeld has ordered an investigation. He wants to know if it was more than a case of bad judgment.
COMMISSIONER FRED BEALEFELD, BALTIMORE POLICE: I don't know, though, that this is much beyond the scope of a couple officers who used poor judgment. And I'm going to reserve much more comment until I know more of the facts.
OWENS: The commissioner also wants to know why he's only hearing about it now. Even though state employees have been talking about it for a while. Apparently it was the talk of last week's MACo convention in Ocean City. The commish obviously frustrated that this is happening at a time when budget cuts threaten the mounted and marine units. Bealefeld is hopeful that people know that the police department is doing everything they can to stop waste.
BEALEFELD: Because I think that people will put it in context, and I think that they -- I think they will understand bad judgment or human error differently than they would understand systemic waste.
OWENS: Delegate Cardin has already contacted the department about reimbursing the city for its cost.
BEALEFELD: He has contacted me and he offered an apology for putting the Baltimore Police Department in, you know, this kind of predicament and spotlight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, the controversy's actually spotlighted on Cardin's state web site, right there on the home page, a big banner on my marriage proposal. Then underneath some of an explanation of the raid or what he calls the fuss. Cardin admits that he should have used better judgment. Oh, and by the way, you're probably all wondering, she did say yes.
Man's best friend? Not this time. A pack of wild dogs meets a Georgia husband and wife with pretty gruesome consequences.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hands and home, kind of the mantra of today's multi- agency agency news conference on swine flu. The secretaries of Commerce, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services teamed up with guidelines from employers on handling H1N1 this flu season.
For bosses, it boils down to this. Number one, clean hands at work and sick workers at home. Have your sanitizer available. Make sure that employees wash hands frequently and don't give them a hard time if they need to call out sick. Number two, have a plan for the sick-outs. Know what you'll do if a bunch of people get hit at once. And, number three, encourage e employees to get the regular fall flu shot and the swine flu vaccine once it's available.
Top stories now. A big reminder of the dangers of Iraq. Even as America starts to draw down its troop strength, half a dozen bombings within an hour today in Baghdad. Almost 100 people killed. It's the deadliest day since U.S. troops pulled out of Iraqi cities and towns June 30th. And just yesterday the top commander in Iraq, suggested that U.S. troops might need to be in some of the country's hot spots once again.
Killer dogs, put to death, part of an attack that killed an elderly couple in Georgia. The woman was killed first while she was walking on a country road near her home. Her husband was attacked when he went looking for her.
And Swiss bank accounts just aren't what they used to be. If you're an American trying to evade taxes by hiding some assets in Switzerland, you better look out. The IRS could soon be on your tail. Swiss banking giant UBSAG now says it will give the IRS information how about 5,000 accounts. They're believed to hold undeclared assets by American customers.
We're going to take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Beauty of the deep blue sea. It's hard to capture in photos. Most of the time you've just got to be there. But not anymore,
CNN's Gary Tuchman shows us a camera combination of camera and Scuba diving mask on our Edge of Discovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The images you see here didn't come from a bulky, underwater camera. They came from this.
KENT PEARSON, LIQUID IMAGE: The camera has the picture-taking ability as well as video-taking ability.
TUCHMAN: Just strap on this $250 liquid image Scuba mask and what you see is what you shoot. Users can toggle between still camera and high-definition video camera and film up to two hours worth of footage from a single charge. It even has lights to illuminate murky waters and can go as deep as 115 feet. With this mask, anyone can feel like Jacques Cousteau.
PEARSON: We have children who love it in the pool. And we have professional divers who love to go down there and just capture experience of being underwater.
TUCHMAN: And Pearson said the mask is also being used by the Military and scientists.
PEARSON: In Thailand they're using the camera mask to do research on a reef.
TUCHMAN: There is one catch, however, for fishermen who like to embellish tales of hooking the big one. PEARSON: It's going to make it a little bit more difficult for people to say it was that big. But you can always put a wide angle on it to make the fish look bigger.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: One minute he's enjoying the state fair with his family. The next he's getting his head bashed in. Milwaukee's hero mayor speaking out for the first time today about a weekend bating that left him hospitalized. Mayor Tom Barrett says he heard a woman screaming, saw a baby in trouble and just reacted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR TOM BARRETT, MILWAUKEE: Overall, I think, what I want to stress is how I've been in situations in this community my whole life and I can't think of a situation like this where people would not have responded the way I did. When someone says call 911, you call 911. It's that straight-forward. And that's exactly what happened here. It was only at that point where the response was so bizarre that things took off in the wrong direction.
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PHILLIPS: Meantime, the guy arrested for attacking Mayor Barrett is getting some free defense from his mom.
We'll take you to the White House now. Robert Gibbs about to begin and take questions from reporters there.
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ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Shoddy one at best, Chuck. Don't go changing for me.
Yes, sir? Take us away.
QUESTION: Ooh. Valerie Jarrett on the weekend was talking to liberal bloggers, and she said about the administration's overall, I believe, legislative agenda, it's an uphill battle, and it won't happen unless we energize our base.
What are you folks doing right now to energize that base which seems fairly quiet in relation to what one hears daily from those who are opposed, for example, to health care?
GIBBS: Well, again, I -- I think I would dispute the beginning characterization. I think, again, particularly at the events that you saw the president do, I don't think you noticed a lack of support for providing health care reform among those that were outside of the president's event. I think the president will just continue to do just as we promised to do in the campaign. I think that's what's important for the American people to know and that's what's important for the people that sent us to Washington for them. That we're committed to -- we're committed to getting our economy back on track, laying a foundation for long-term economic growth, addressing the urgent needs for energy independence, reforming our health care system, making our schools the very best, and making this country and our homeland safer by changing our foreign policy.
I think all of those things are exactly what the president promised to do and what he's busy doing in Washington.
QUESTION: Are you satisfied with what you're hearing from whatever the space is, especially on health care?
GIBBS: Yes. I think we're -- I think there are millions of people out there that know that are on -- that are (INAUDIBLE), quite frankly, part of our political base and others that are Independents or Republicans that believe it's time that the health care system changed. That we need reform and we can't continue to do what we're doing now. I think that's precisely it.
QUESTION: There are other inside and outside your base who think you've lost control of the argument and wonder whether the president has the political muscle to see through.
GIBBS: Stay tuned.
QUESTION: Well, what do you -- I mean, how do you respond to the suggestion that you've lost control of the argument?
GIBBS: The argument's not over. The discussion's not over. The debate's not over. The legislative process isn't over.
QUESTION: You don't expect to have this back and forth within the party about the public option.
GIBBS: Again, contrived almost entirely by you guys.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE).
GIBBS: Again because I said this this morning. That this notion of changing the position on the public health care plan with the public option was not something that any of you all picked up on Saturday when the president said it. We did it this morning. None of you did that story.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE).
GIBBS: Have your pen ready?
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) when the president for the first time in public said, we're not in a -- GIBBS: I missed yours.
I'll be happy to look that up. Nobody volunteered that this morning.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE).
GIBBS: I'm going to reiterate what the president has said all along, Helen. The president believes we have to have choice and competition. In a private insurance market where people are entering, they have to have the ability to choose among insurers. That will drive down their costs and improve their quality. His preference is for a public option. If there are others that have ideas about how we can institute choice and competition, he's happy to look at those.
QUESTION: Will he fight for a public option?
GIBBS: We will fight for whatever is best, that brings about (INAUDIBLE) choice and competition. That's what the president always maintained and that's what we've continued to say.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: Before we dig in any further on health care, just a quick question on Iraq. Nearly 100 people have died from the latest bombings in Iraq. It's the bloodies day in the year, it comes just weeks after U.S. troop combat troops pulled out of the urban centers.
What, if anything, does this say about the readiness of Iraqi security forces to take over responsibility and is there any concern that the U.S. pullout of those cities was premature?
GIBBS: No, I don't think that -- again, remember, that was -- this was determined by the Iraqis as part of agreements that were made.
Look, I think it shows you the degree to which extremists will always go to wreak havoc through senseless violence that harms innocent human lives. I think the president talked about this in his speech in Cairo, that not only is the violence, the shocking violence certainly different venues. Not only is that shocking. But when you factor in the fact that it's Muslim on Muslim violence, the degree to which that underscores the deplorable and shocking nature of it.
That I would point out that the number of attacks is at or near an all time low. There will always be those that believe they can or should be heard only through this type of violence. It's obvious that the vast number of Iraqis believe and want to live in peace and security. We will continue to assist the Iraqis in securing their country until the agreements denote that it's time for us to go.
QUESTION: Any concern that the Iraqis security forces are not up to the task?
GIBBS: No. I think the -- I think you've heard General Odierno talk about this in the past. And I don't believe it has changed. Yes, sir?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) President Obama said that health care legislation must include a health care exchange with a public plan as part of that exchange.
Are we all wrong in assuming that the word "must" also applies to public plan, or, did it only apply to the exchange?
GIBBS: I'd have to back and look at the exact phrasing.
QUESTION: I think you have looked at the exact phrasing of that phrase? I mean, it's one of the most cited quotes in terms of people saying, this is why people think that President Obama is backing off a public plan?
GIBBS: I haven't looked at it in the last few days.
QUESTION: We've all got it cued up and ready to go.
GIBBS: I will pop popcorn and watch your newscast.
Again, Jake, we can quibble about whether he phrased it one way that time. We can quibble about the way he phrased it when he stood here in front of you all in June and talked about not drawing lines in the sand. Again, I think the president has stated his position.
QUESTION: OK. And in terms of comments made recently by Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee whether -- or in over in negotiations, not necessarily in the Finance Committee. Whether Senator Enzi in "USA Today" talking about the public plan, Senator Grassley's recent comments.
Is it still the intention and hope of this White House to have a bipartisan bill in the Senate?
GIBBS: Absolutely.
The president believes strongly in working with Republicans and Democrats, Independents, any that seek to reform health care. They want to see costs cut, coverage increased, insurance reforms implemented that no longer discriminate against families and individuals.
The president strongly believes that we are making progress. Has had conversations with members of the Finance Committee, as I said in Friday, in Montana, and others. And our preference is to work through this process and hopefully come out with a bill that has agreement among both parties on that, too.
QUESTION: Are you expecting any Republican votes for this bill in the Senate or the next?
GIBBS: I think there are many that would like to see some health care reform. I trust that the three Republicans that are working in the Senate finance committee are doing so in good faith. I have no reason to believe they're not.
QUESTION: The question is, how is it that you think you can achieve a bipartisan bill when it seems you're having trouble achieving a partisan bill? The divisions between the Democratic party right now, between the Blue Dogs and the progressives in the House between the -- ?
GIBBS: I think that's sort of -- there are Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee that voted out a bill on the House side before we left for recess.
So, I think this notion that there -- it's impossible even to get agreement on our side on what a health care plan looks like belies the notion that this is a piece of legislation that went through not one, not two but three committees on the House side. I think the notion that we can't get something done like that just isn't true.
QUESTION: Well, I guess I mean more of the divisions between the House and the Senate.
What can make it through Senate according to some Senate Democrats -- ?
(CROSSTALK)
GIBBS: I think the president has talked about that's what we're going to spend the fall doing. That's what -- and look, I think part of that progress is going to be what progress the Senate Finance Committee itself can make. Working Democrats and Republicans working together to come up with what we hope is a bipartisan solution.
Yes, ma'am.
QUESTION: This morning, I just wanted to clarify something that you were asked, and again, in response to this question, have there been discussions here, strategically, about going all Democratic when it comes to health care? And you said no.
GIBBS: We're -- our -- we're focusing on how to get bipartisan support, on how to get members of both parties who want to work on comprehensive health care reform. That's what we are focused on.
QUESTION: Well, even given some of the comments from Republicans, who mean to say no one in the administration is looking at strategically the possibility of having those --
GIBBS: We are focused on a process that continues in the Senate with both parties. The president again met with Senator Baucus on Friday, in Montana. And they discussed the progress that was being made among Democrats and Republicans on the Finance Committee. That's our focus.
QUESTION: Senator Grassley, this morning, in respond to a question in CNN, talking about broad-based support for health care legislations that so far, no one has developed that kind of support, either in Congress or at White House. That doesn't mean you should quit. That means we should keep working so we can put something together that gets widespread support.
The White House failed to get widespread support?
GIBBS: No. The White House completely agrees with what Senator Grassley says there. I mean, that's why I said this morning that our preferred option is to go the route of getting all of those involved that are at the table to agree to something that can be supported by both parties.
I can't speak to what Republicans will ultimately end up doing. The president doesn't have control over every person's vote on this. He can and will continue to work to try to get agreement on both sides of the aisle on this. The president believes this issue is far too important to not try. To walk away from a perfect opportunity to bring both sides together in order to make progress on an issue that we've seen fail time after time after time.
That's why as I said today the president goes at this not wedded ideologically to different things, but, how do we get the best reform to people. And that's what his focus is.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: Robert, would you say you were just talking about lines in the sand that we all search for them. Would you say that $250,000, not raising taxes on anybody making $250,000 or less as far as health care is concerned is a line in the sand?
GIBBS: The president reiterated that just other day.
QUESTION: Is the administration's commitment on the public option as equally as strong as the commitment by the administration to sign a bill?
GIBBS: I think I've answered this like 12 times. I will restate it again.
QUESTION: For the 13th time. So the answer is, no?
GIBBS: Ready? Go get your pen out. The president -- I'll go slow -- the president believes we should have -- keep writing -- choice and competition -- good, choice and competition -- for people entering the private insurance market. In order to hold down costs, in order to provide quality of coverage, we have to have choice and competition. The president's preferred way is the public option. If there are others that have additional view points or other ideas in policy that institute that choice and competition, he is and we are ready to hear it.
QUESTION: So is it wrong or is it correct to say then that the president's commitment to not raising taxes on $250,000 or less in his health bill is equally as strong as having public health option?
GIBBS: I'm not going to get into ranking all those things.
QUESTIN: Well, that's a line in the sand you've drawn. The public option is not a line in the sand?
GIBBS: Chuck, I'm not going to get into -- the president addressed that in here I'm not going to get into ranking different priorities like the preseason college football.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Why don't you have him come down here and tell us again.
GIBBS: It didn't work the first time?
QUESTION: When you say preferred you're not saying he'll fight for it?
GIBBS: I'm saying that's his preferred option.
QUESTION: Preferred meaning?
GIBBS: His preference exceeds that of others.
QUESTION: Take it or leave it?
QUESTION: On the messaging front, do you guys accept any responsibility on the fact that you are having some of these other issues on health care that you've had to fight back again, whether it's on incorrect interpretations of the bill, other than -- you guys accept any of that responsibility or it is all just the media's fault?
GIBBS: No, no, no, no. I don't think anybody here believes we've pitched a no-hit game. Or a perfect game. I don't think that's the case.
QUESTION: What do you guys need to do better then?
GIBBS: I think we just have to continue to be out there. I mean look, I think in your poll, it's one of the biggest myths, two weeks ago, was this notion of the government making end of life decisions on behalf of seniors, right? Your poll shows that that myth is not actually believed by the American people. I think the president has had an impact on people's perception about what the health care bill means for those decisions. Obviously, we have --
QUESTION: Only at 45 percent is it a small victory?
GIBBS: Forty-five percent is not half the country. If you get 45 percent in an election, you don't generally get sworn in. But, I think we're hardened that a majority of the country and I think the same number of seniors believe that that is exactly a myth that the president has dealt with. Does that mean the president is going to have to deal with other misconceptions and myths? Sure. I don't think there is any doubt. That's why he is talking to faith leaders today. He will do a radio call-in show tomorrow and continue to try to make progress on this issue.
QUESTION: Do you expect the issue of abortion to come up?
GIBBS: I don't know if it did on one of the earlier calls. I don't know if it will or not. We'll see.
QUESTION: Robert, when you talk about not to belabor the point too much further but the president has said that anything that will do a number of things, including bring down costs. Has he seen anything outside of the public option that will do that?
GIBBS: We sort of had this question yesterday and I think most people have said that it's hard -- they have not yet seen full details of what a co-op would look like in terms of being able to fully evaluate its effectiveness. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Is the radio call-in that you just mentioned, is that the OFA call?
GIBBS: No, no, this is the Smerconish show.
QUESTION: OK. Second, Senate Democrats have been meeting for more than a month now, flying out, trying to figure out what can be done through reconciliation, what can't be done through reconciliation. They feel like they have made a lot of progress on gaming out the parliamentary options here. Are you saying that the White House is not participating in those conversations?
GIBBS: I can certainly check. Not that I'm aware of, no.
QUESTION: Would you check that? They certainly think you have been. They still call it plan B but they've been doing it.
GIBBS: Again, our focus is not on what happens if. Our focus is on the here and now.
QUESTION: And do you believe that you can do a significant health care bill with 51 votes?
GIBBS: That's not our focus. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: A couple of questions on Afghanistan, Robert. What's your sense of the security situation there just hours leading up to the vote and what are the stakes for the president's strategy in this election?
GIBBS: Well, I think as the president has long said, that this is the presidential and provincial elections are the most important event that will happen in Afghanistan this year. We wish the Afghans well in their election tomorrow. As I said, I think this is an important event in choosing their own leaders. In terms of the security situation, obviously, the president increased our troop commitment to Afghanistan based on a belief that the security situation for these elections was tremendously important.
We certainly continue to monitor that. I think this is an important event in that the president's policy is one that he is focused on getting right through a new and comprehensive strategy that he announced to defeat, dismantle -- I'm sorry, to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda and its extremist allies. This is important for our national security, our homeland security and for the security of the rest of the world.
QUESTION: What would you like to see changed in the way the Afghan government works no matter who wins?
GIBBS: I don't want to do that before tomorrow. We will have some comments about elections when they are completed.
QUESTION: Are you still confident that this could be a legitimate election tomorrow?
GIBBS: We look forward to observing what happens tomorrow and we hope that it is safe and secure. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Robert, could you talk a little more about the phone call the president will make this afternoon on health care? Is there some discreet message or more targeted message that he is trying to get across, or is it?
GIBBS: No, I think he already has completed a call this morning with rabbis that he was invited to join as they get ready for their important holidays and the messages that they and their congregates will have. The importance of for faith leaders, the importance of health care and health care coverage for millions of Americans.
But the message isn't any different to them than it is to those that go to a town hall meeting or listen in on a radio call-in show. His principles are the same. His desires to see comprehensive reform cut costs for families and small businesses to make it more manageable for budgets of the federal government, state and local governments and in the important insurance reform that he has discussed throughout the west over the past few days.
QUESTION: Robert, Rahm is quoted in the "New York Times" in saying that Republican leadership has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama's health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans fan every day. Is that Rahm's view only? Is that the White House view? Is it your view? Is it the president's view? Have you made a conclusion about the strategic decision the Republican leadership has made on this issue?
GIBBS: Well, I think there are many in the leadership that appear not to support reform that does the very things that I just talked to Ed about.
I'll go back to a number that's also in the NBC poll. They asked what the approval rating for Republicans in Congress on health care. I think it was 21 approved, 62 disapproved. It is very important. We've heard this from Democrats and Republicans that the American people know something has to be done. They can't continue to watch their premiums double. They can't continue to watch small businesses either have to go out of business or drop the coverage that they want to provide their employees. The federal government can't continue to watch health care costs skyrocket and hope to get on a path of fiscal responsibility. We can't have any more than we can have government bureaucrats in charge of health care. We shouldn't have insurance company bureaucrats in charge of health care. I think the vast number of people in America know that we have to do something to get out of this spiral of health care that we are in.
QUESTION: Does the president agree with his chief of staff that the Republican leadership has made this strategic decision to oppose that?
GIBBS: I think that I -- let's just say I haven't seen anything that would persuade me otherwise.
QUESTION: Then, if I may be allowed to follow up, what is the utility from the White House's perspective of continuing to pursue a bipartisan agreement?
GIBBS: Well, because we take very seriously the fact that there are Republicans, three of which are on the Finance Committee, that have said they are committed to and dedicated to health care. We'll believe that until we are told that's not the case.
QUESTION: So the assumption is they are defying their leadership?
GIBBS: Ii haven't read a lot of comments from Senator McConnell that would lead me to believe that he is supportive of their efforts.
QUESTION: You mentioned polls. Quinnipiac did a survey late in July, early August, asked should Congress approve a health care overall even if only Democrats support it. I know that's not your quote, but I just want to read you these numbers -- 59 percent said no, 36 percent said they agreed. Of those who said no, 63 percent were Independent. How did this factor in to the White House, this public opinion approach factor in the way you look at this issue and will deal with it going forward?
GIBBS: It factors in precisely as I have talked about today, that our preference is to move forward, working with Democrats and Republicans. We think that's important. We believe that those that are working to try to get that agreement are doing so because they think health care reform is supportive and will continue to try to make progress on those issues.
(END OF COVERAGE)
