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Snowstorm Slamming Northeast; Big Drop in Home Sales; Health Care in New Orleans for the Uninsured
Aired February 26, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for your top-of-the-hour reset.
I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is noon in the Northeast, where the third big snowstorm of February buries the region in knee-deep misery.
They talked but couldn't agree. The president vows to go forward with health care reform even without Republican support.
And in Orlando, new home video shows the scene just before a killer whale snatches a trainer into the water, killing her.
Let's get started.
Let's do what we should here, which is to get to Chad Myers in the Severe Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: A developing story for you now out of Tacoma, Washington. Officials say a teacher has been shot at an elementary school.
It happened before students arrived for classes this morning. No students were injured. A school district spokeswoman says the teacher is receiving medical treatment right now. We do not know her condition. Local news reports say a suspect may also have been shot by police and that the victim and the suspect know one another.
And checking our other big stories right now.
Federal investigators are now looking into the death of a whale trainer. Her name, Dawn Brancheau. She died of multiple injuries and drowning Wednesday when a killer whale grabbed her ponytail in its mouth and pulled her into the water.
Officials are trying to determine if workplace standards were violated at the Orlando theme park. A news conference is scheduled there next hour. SeaWorld has said it will keep the killer whale. Its president read a statement from Brancheau's family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAN BROWN, SEAWORLD PRESIDENT: "She was the best. It came naturally to her. Being a trainer was a lifelong dream that she achieved. She loved her job. She loved her animals."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Days after kicking off his campaign for a full term, New York Governor David Paterson changes his mind. A Democratic Party source tells CNN that Paterson will not seek a new term. Right now, Paterson is mired in a controversy. Investigators are looking into reports that one of his top aides hit a woman, and state police pressured her to keep quiet.
The Girl Scouts are recalling some of their famous cookies. The recall only applies to Lemon Chalet Creams made at a Kentucky bakery. The Girl Scouts organization says the cookies aren't a health hazard, they just smell and they taste bad because of foul cooking oil. The recall is limited to lemon cookies shipped out of Louisville.
OK. So, it's been a difficult three weeks for the Northeast. The third major snowstorm of the season is leaving a nasty mark on the region.
Let's check the scene in Philadelphia right now. Our Reynolds Wolf is on Philly's south side, all bundled up.
All right, Reynolds. If you would, walk us through it, talk us through it. What's it like there in Philly?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: OK. Let's set the scene for you, Tony, for you and our friends across America.
This is South Street here in Philadelphia. You've got 2nd Street going this way, and the road conditions, for the most part, are actually pretty good.
They've done a great job treating the roads. Snowflakes, well, we haven't really seen any in the last, I'd say, 20, 30 minutes or so. But the problem is not the stuff that's on the ground or on the streets, but rather what you have up in the trees.
You've got some snow there that is -- well, in some places frozen solid. And it's really going to weigh down these trees quite a bit.
And although the snow is no longer flying here, the winds are beginning to pick up at times. So, when you have the wind pushing against these heavy trees, as Chad was talking about earlier, we can see some of these limbs break, hit power lines, and that means you could see some widespread power outages.
Now, keep this in mind, though. Although we've had thousands of power outages in places like the Empire State up in New York, here we've only had 99 people, at least homes, without power. But we could see those numbers jump considerably as those winds begin to pick up. We could see some gusts topping 40, 45 miles an hour. If that happens, then we're going to have some problems, no question. As I mentioned, the roads are doing pretty well. Air travel, not so much.
We still have those cancellations out at the airport. Anyone hoping to get on a flight on Southwest, that's not going to happen for you today.
And I'll tell you one thing else you're going to be dealing with -- possibly more delays not just in Philadelphia, but up and down the region. And really, the winds could be one of the biggest culprits.
Then the problem is you're going to see more people really have delays in days to come, because you've got all these folks that are trying to catch up on those flights tomorrow, the day after. So it could be a really rough time for people at the airport. So you've got to be patient.
I will tell you, the people here have really been handling things in strides. Really doing a pretty nice way. A lot of smiles out here despite this being the third big snowstorm they've had in less than a month's time. Spring for these folks cannot get here soon enough, Tony, believe me.
Let's send it back to you.
HARRIS: Oh boy. Can we get some spring here? Come on.
All right, Reynolds. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Struggling to save their homes, why mortgage help from the government isn't really working. We're pointing out the problems and possible solutions.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Look, you ready for our "Random Moment?"
OK. Never leave your keys in the car. That's the "Random Moment of the Day." Watch.
A burglary suspect jumps out of the back seat of a police cruiser and takes off! He's -- you hear the cop? You hear the cop?
Hey, he's able to drive even though he's wearing handcuffs. He'd been tasered, too.
Police say the suspect apparently slipped the handcuffs from back to front. Twice. The 10-minute getaway ended when the suspect crashed the car into a tree.
There you go, your "Random Moment of the Day."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey. Want to give you a bit of breaking news here. And I'll just read it to you.
Oklahoma City Community College is on lockdown after getting reports of a possible gunman on campus. The school is being evacuated.
Police are on the campus searching for the possible gunman. There was a message on the school's Web site that reads, "There has been an incident on the OCCC campus. Oklahoma City Police are investigating. The campus is on lockdown. Employees and students should not come to the campus at this time."
We will continue to work the story and get you some more information. But that's the news out of Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City Community College on lockdown right now after reports of a possible gunman on campus.
We'll get you some more information.
You know, our commitment to you this week is to focus on broken government. Right now, your views.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll asks, "Is federal government so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights of Americans?" Fifty-six percent of those polled say yes, 44 percent say no.
Unexpected news from the housing market. The National Association of Realtors reports a 7.2 percent drop in home resales for January. Analysts had expected an increase in sales.
Real estate broker John Adams -- my man -- joining me here in Atlanta. And from New York, CNN Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis.
Gerri, good to see you again. Thanks for doing this.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good to see you.
HARRIS: Can I ask a real basic, straightforward question here? What is the truth -- and John, the same question is coming to you. What is the truth about the housing market right now? I'm talking about existing home sales, new home sales, foreclosures.
WILLIS: Well, you know, Tony, it's really, really tough out there.
You know, we got that tax credit which has been a real break to the housing market, but that effect is going to be limited. We may get some help in the spring, but the big fear out there, whether you're talking about experts in the industry, whether you're talking to folks at Treasury, everybody is worried out that there that's going to be a second hit on housing, because now people are worried about prime borrowers defaulting on adjustable rate mortgages.
People are afraid that in six months, in 12 months, you're going to start seeing more default, more people losing their homes. And this time it's not going to be people who were forced into subprime loans. This time around it's going to be people who are paying their mortgage and have jobs and, unfortunately, are on the wrong side of an adjustable rate mortgage -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right.
John, what's your assessment of this?
JOHN ADAMS, REAL ESTATE BROKER: Well, the market is -- the real estate market is hurt real bad right now. It needs some help. And the biggest threat to a recovery in housing that I see, I agree with Gerri, the second wave of foreclosures would be deadly. We would see prices plummeting.
HARRIS: Are you convinced it's going to happen, or can it be stalled somewhere?
ADAMS: No, it could happen.
HARRIS: It could happen. OK.
ADAMS: And the way to stop it is to encourage these lenders to do the modifications that they should be doing. The White House has tried to do this. They haven't tried forcefully enough. We need federal legislation to allow these lenders to go ahead and modify these loans.
HARRIS: What's the incentive for the banks, for the lenders?
ADAMS: Well, they'd much rather not get the house back. If they take the house back, on average they lose $30,000 to $40,000.
HARRIS: Yes. But aren't the trends indicating that while the banks may be putting you into the foreclosure process, they're not assuming the homes right now? They are allowing you more and more to stay in those homes because they don't want the homes.
ADAMS: Well, that's because they are a lot better off. And my point is, if they would enter into a modification, most of these people can afford to pay some level. Maybe not what the adjustable rate would like --
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
ADAMS: --- but some level. So, my point is, leave them there. They're much better off.
The other part of this is that the vacant houses are poisoning the neighborhoods --
HARRIS: No question.
ADAMS: -- where they are. And by leaving the owners in them, they're much less likely to be a problem.
HARRIS: Hey, Gerri, what's your take on the Making Home Affordable program from the government? Is it working? WILLIS: Wow. Well, you know, not like they want it. I've got to tell you, they're not getting as many people as they wanted to successfully modify their loans in that program.
And Tony, as long as you're asking that question, let me just take you on a little tour of these programs and where we've been --
HARRIS: OK.
WILLIS: -- and how unsuccessful they've been all along.
If you remember, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said late in 2007 that the market was going to self-correct and we'd get out of this problem. Not true. Right?
Then we had Hope for Homeowners, and that was a Bush initiative with the lenders. Not so much again.
Then we had Help for Homeowners, and that was a Barney Frank bill that, again, didn't do a whole heck of a lot.
Finally, we had Making Home Affordable. That came from this current president. And I have to tell you, whether you're talking about modifications for people who are having trouble making their payments or help for folks who just have a mortgage reset, these programs have just not taken off, and for lots and lots and lots of reasons.
HARRIS: Yes.
WILLIS: It's -- you know, I think this is one of the biggest threats to the economy out there, that we can't get housing restarted, because, as you know, housing is a big part of the average American's wallet. You know, like, this is one of your biggest assets. That and the Toyota parked in front of the house, right?
HARRIS: Right. Right.
WILLIS: It hasn't been going well lately if you're a consumer.
HARRIS: Well, John, part of getting housing moving again is getting some inventory off the market, right?
ADAMS: Exactly.
HARRIS: And is the tax credit -- is it working?
ADAMS: Well, the tax credit is only directed at first-time homebuyers.
HARRIS: I thought it was expanded. I thought it was expanded.
ADAMS: Well, they're move-up buyers. But those are not the people that are going to buy these rundown houses. Investors are going to buy them, then fix them up, then put them back on the market. There's no financing for these people. There's no tax incentives for these people. They are taking a tremendous risk with their own money and they're just not going to do it.
HARRIS: Yes.
And Gerri, is the other reality here is if you're going to get some sales here, home prices are going to have to come down even more from where they are right now because renting is still a better deal right now in this economy?
WILLIS: Well, not everybody's making that comparison. I mean, that's not the basis of that -- of the decision for absolutely everybody out there.
HARRIS: Yes.
WILLIS: People come to the table for different reasons. But if you're so worried about the market that you can't bring yourself to come to the table, well, that's a whole different kettle of fish, and I think people have a bad feeling in their gut about housing. Only three years ago, four years ago, people were so excited to buy a house, they stretched themselves to the limit --
HARRIS: Yes.
WILLIS: -- to do it. Now the feeling about housing as an investment is that it is a poor one. And guess what? This year will probably have another three million people go into foreclosure. And what does that mean? That means more trouble for neighborhoods all over the country.
HARRIS: That's a seismic shift in the psyche, that housing could be a poor investment.
ADAMS: Well, I think that's more a Northeastern idea than a national idea.
HARRIS: OK.
ADAMS: National polls of young people particularly say that --
HARRIS: They still want a home?
ADAMS: -- they still want to see homeownership as a major life achievement.
HARRIS: Yes.
ADAMS: So, I don't see that changing. The problem is that we've got this instability in pricing, and the way we solve that problem is to get the foreclosures off the market.
HARRIS: Nice. Nice.
Gerri, good to see you. Thank you. Thanks for your help with the segment.
HARRIS: Good to see you, Tony.
HARRIS: John, as always, good to have you here.
ADAMS: Thank you, sir.
HARRIS: America's working class and their search for affordable health care. But until they can find it, one Louisiana clinic is offering an affordable option.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. I haven't had an opportunity to sort of go through the latest information. I'll try to pull it together for you as we go here.
We told you a couple of minutes ago about the breaking news out of Oklahoma City, that Oklahoma City Community College is in lockdown right now after reports of a possible gunman on the campus.
I guess we received a call here at CNN from a security officer that works at the college. And the reporting there is that they have a suspect with a gun in the library.
All right. Let me fast forward here.
There was a message on the school's Web site that reads, "There has been an incident on the campus, and the police are investigating. The campus is on lockdown, and employees and students are being told not to come to the campus at this time."
Once again, a call from a security officer indicating that there is a suspect with a gun in the library. Officers are on the scene.
That's the latest information that we have. We are going to try to get Captain Stewart (ph) on the phone with us. He's with the Oklahoma City Police Department.
The president -- other top stories now -- and his advisers are considering their next moves in the health care reform battle. A daylong summit between Democrats and Republicans gave the issues a good airing, but at the end of the day, no one seemed willing to bend.
The president says his blueprint would insure 30 million Americans who don't have coverage now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The truth of the matter, John, is they're not premiers of anyplace. They're not sultans from wherever. They don't fly in to Mayo and suddenly, you know, decide they're going to spend a couple million dollars on the absolute best health care. They're folks who are left out. And this notion somehow that for them the system was working, and that if they just ate a little better and were better health care consumers they could manage, is just not the case.
The vast majority of these 27 million people -- or 30 million people that we're talking about, they work every day. Some of them work two jobs.
But if they're working for a small business, they can't get health care. If they are self-employed, they can't get health care. And you know what? It is a scary proposition for them.
And so we can debate whether or not we can afford to help them, but we shouldn't pretend somehow that they don't need help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The Democrats may consider a parliamentary maneuver known as reconciliation to get a health care bill passed.
We will talk about that with our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, in the next half hour.
And what do you do if you make too much money to get government assistance, but too little to pay for health insurance yourself? Our David Mattingly tells us about a program in New Orleans that is filling a critical need for a growing number of the uninsured.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Finding cheap and easy health care is something uninsured workers dream about, but here in New Orleans, thousands may actually be getting that chance.
MARCEL RIVERA, HAD TO DROP HEALTH INSURANCE: I'm out of work.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Marcel Rivera had to drop his health insurance about seven years ago. At $500 a month, he says it got too expensive when he had other bills to pay.
(on camera): What sort of choices would you have to make if you had health insurance? What would you be giving up?
RIVERA: My daughter Kayla's (ph) tuition in college.
MATTINGLY: You couldn't pay your daughter's tuition if you paid for your health care?
RIVERA: I could not. It's either one or the other.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Rivera is one of an estimated 80,000 people living uninsured in New Orleans. He's among the working uninsured, stuck making too much money to qualify for government assistance, but not enough to afford health insurance.
(on camera): But while the health care debate rages in Washington, Rivera and others like him are finding another option.
Down here on Canal Street, there's a clinic that's quietly giving these uninsured workers something they haven't seen in years -- affordable health care.
It's upstairs, this way.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): It's a short climb up an empty stairwell to what used to be Sunday School classrooms at a Methodist church, and this is where we find a clinic preparing for explosive growth.
(on camera): How many patients do you expect to have here?
LUANNE FRANCIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW ORLEANS FAITH HEALTH ALLIANCE: Oh, we expect to see, first year, about a thousand patients, and then growing that exponentially.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Luanne Francis is the executive director of the private donation-driven New Orleans Faith Health Alliance, which charges working uninsured families a small fee to join, then just $20 a visit for the same basic care they would get at almost any doctor's office -- no tax dollars involved.
HERBERT SANCHEZ: Oh, yes. I've been going (ph) every day, you know? But --
MATTINGLY: Uninsured welder Herbert Sanchez says he's already more than $30,000 in debt after emergency gallstone surgery. The clinic offers care his family would otherwise have to do without.
OBAMA: I know -- I know Senator --
MATTINGLY: Surprisingly, clinic administrators do not believe whatever reform is passed in Congress will make health care affordable for many of the working uninsured any time soon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it's going to take a while -- if they enacted it tomorrow, it's going to take a while for all of this to roll out. What do you do?
MATTINGLY (on camera): I'm not hearing a lot of optimism at this table.
(voice-over): But Marcel Rivera, who is on the clinic's board of directors, hopes that affordable insurance is on the way. If not, he has to find a way to stay healthy for four more years when he qualifies for Medicare.
(on camera): But there are limitations to what this clinic can do. It provides primary care and wellness care. If someone is seriously injured or has a serious illness and needs to go to the hospital, they still do not have a safety net.
David Mattingly, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: SeaWorld says it will keep the killer whale that drowned its trainer earlier this week. A news conference to speak about the tragic incident is scheduled to begin in about an hour's time.
We want to know what you think. What do you think should happen to the killer whale?
Just go to our blog, CNN.com/Tony, and leave us a comment, if you would. And we will share some of your thoughts a little later in the newscast.
And the snow just keeps coming. Old Man Winter strikes again in the Northeast. We are tracking it all for you from our Severe Weather Center.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Got to tell you, he is breaking through Hollywood's color barrier. Lee Daniels is the first African-American to be nominated for the Directors Guild of America's Best Director Award, and he is up for two Academy Awards -- best director and best picture -- for his movie "Precious." The critically acclaimed film tells the story of an illiterate, obese African-American girl who is abused by her parents.
In our "What Matters" segment today, Daniels shares his feelings about the positive response to the movie and how his childhood mirrored the main characters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, " MONSTER'S BALL")
HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: My name is Leticia Musgrove and me and Hank is friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?
BERRY: I met your daddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, just get out and talk to me.
BERRY: Get your hands off me, Hank.
(END VIDEO CLIP, "MONSTER'S BALL")
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE WOODSMAN")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, man, if you ever touch my daughter, I'll kill you.
(END VIDEO CLIP, "THE WOODSMAN")
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SHADOWBOXER")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should have let me finish the job we were paid to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP, "SHADOWBOXER")
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "PRECIOUS")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something you do well?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who was going to love me?
(END VIDEO CLIP, "PRECIOUS")
HARRIS: Congratulations on your success, the success with the film and "Monster's Ball," and everything that you've done.
How does this moment feel to you?
LEE DANIELS, DIRECTOR: It feels surreal. I'm humbled and I'm honored. It's a good time right now, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes.
Have you been taken by surprise at all by the acclaim this film has received?
DANIELS: The overwhelming response from overseas and from -- you know, from my peers has been what's been so shocking. I knew it was going to do well in the black community. I didn't know that it would do -- I didn't know whether it would cross over.
And I'm very excited. I mean, it's great that people are embracing "Precious."
HARRIS: The movie has performed well overseas? That's surprising. How do you explain that?
DANIELS: I think that her story is universal. I think, you know, yes, I'm a black director. It's a black film. So many of us are precious, and it is a universal story.
HARRIS: Did you think from day one, look, the source material on this is awesome, we've got a great story here for a film, as long as we don't mess it up in the storytelling?
DANIELS: Yes, because it's the truth. You know? The truth will always knock you out. But I couldn't tell the book, because the book --
HARRIS: Yes.
DANIELS: -- if I told the book the way it was, it would be X- rated. And so I had to bring in an element of fantasy, and to also let the audience breathe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "PRECIOUS")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So first I want to be in one of them BET videos.
(END VIDEO CLIP, "PRECIOUS")
DANIELS: I just brought my world into the film, into the book. And I made the book the film.
HARRIS: You talked a bit about -- in other interviews -- about some abuse in your own upbringing at the hands of your father, as I recall. How did you overcome?
DANIELS: Abuse is a very confusing thing, you know? Does it mean that someone doesn't love you? I think that learning to understand the abuser and learning to forgive is how I overcame.
HARRIS: And your dad is, as I recall, is no longer with us, correct?
DANIELS: No, he's not. He was killed. He was killed in the line of duty. He was a police officer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love Precious. And you need to know that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Hey, Lee, if you would, contextualize (ph) for us Monique's performance in this film.
DANIELS: She just put magic in it. And if I told her to jump, she'd say, how high would you like me to? We trusted each other so much, and that there was a genuine love and a bond that's there. And I hope to have that kind of magic with other actors. HARRIS: Explain as best you can what you have described as this crazy experience of being nominated for the film and for best director.
DANIELS: I think the DGA thing is the nomination is what really blew my mind. The Directors Guild of America. I'm very honored to have been nominated, because there hadn't been any other director of color nominated. So this was a first. And it was very important to me and my family. And the same with the Oscars. It really is an honor just to be nominated, to be accepted into the party by -- by your peers.
HARRIS: Have you started to work on an acceptance speech?
DANIELS: No, I haven't. But my mom says I should.
HARRIS: I can't wait to see what's next from you. And how your world changes after the Oscar telecast. Lee, appreciate the time. Thank you, sir.
DANIELS: Thank you, Tony. HARRIS: And to read more stories that matter to all of us, just pick up the latest issue of "Essence" magazine on newsstands now or go online to CNN.com/whatmatters.
What the heck is reconciliation, and how could it help Democrat pass a health care reform bill? We will try to explain it all to you next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. We're just past three hours into the trading day. And before we get to the stocks and Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, we love to tell you at this point in the day to take a trip over to CNNmoney.com. Our Money team, as you know, I say it every day at this time here, they're doing a terrific job of bringing you the latest financial news and analysis. It's what they're best at, and they do a terrific job.
OK. Let's look at the big board now. Flat. It's just a flat day. That's, you know, that's what it is. The Dow is up, positive territory, but barely, you know. And the Nasdaq, flat as well.
You know, the president is signaling he'll go forward with health care reform, with or without Republicans. That may mean a procedural maneuver known as reconciliation. What the heck is that? Let's bring in senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash.
And, Dana, first of all, good to see you. You're hearing Democrats are moving forward with this tentative plan to work around Republicans.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does look that way from talking to Democratic sources and from hearing the House speaker just a short while ago. They are trying to figure out, again tentatively, how they can do this technically and whether they have the votes to do it. Those are two very important issues. But as I said, the House speaker actually went further than I've heard any Democrat leaders go in confirming that this is what they're looking at. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: What you call a complicated process is called a simple majority. And that's what we're asking the Senate to act upon. But I believe that we have good prospects for passing legislation in light of the recognition the president gave to the concerns of the House members.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now here's what they're talking about specifically, Tony. They are talking about bringing together all of the changes that especially House Democrats want to the Senate health care bill and putting that in a package and passing that through this process known as reconciliation. So, as we speak, what they're trying to do is figure out what are those changes. What is acceptable in order to get this bill to the president's desk. And so they're trying to figure that out. The speaker actually said that they could incorporate some Republican ideas based on the summit yesterday.
HARRIS: Got you. OK. So, reconciliation, my understanding is, it's been used in the past, correct?
BASH: It has been used in the past. But let me give you a sense of what it is.
HARRIS: Yes.
BASH: You know, you and I talk about -- talk about complicated things all the time. This is just about as complicated as it gets. So, essentially what the reconciliation process is, Tony, is, it is a process that protects the legislation from a filibuster. It would be voted on with 51 votes in the Senate. A simple majority. But it also technically must have to do with reducing the deficit. So that is why Democrats are struggling with what exactly can be in this legislation.
Let me just give you two quick examples. One change that House Democrats are talking about to the health care bill that they want is a change in the way people are -- plans are taxed. Well, that has to do with taxes, so it has to do, likely, with the deficit, so that probably could go in. But there are other changes that have to do with waste, fraud, and abuse. Could that go in? They don't know. They're actually talking to the Senate parliamentarian, the House parliamentarian to try to figure out exactly what is technically possible.
HARRIS: Wow. All right. That did just get complicated.
BASH: Exactly.
HARRIS: All right, we've heard Republicans complain that reconciliation -- we've heard them complain about it and we've heard Senator Reid defending it. Maybe you can sort out the back-and-forth here.
BASH: Yes, absolutely. And I'll just tell you, you talked about it being complicated. The parliamentarians are even having trouble trying to figure this out. So we're trying to put it into English if not so we see if they can even figure it out.
But to answer your question, yes. The Republicans, you've heard them all day for seven hours, you know, warn about using the reconciliation process. And the Senate majority leader, uh, uh, uh, you know, let's be real. We've all used this in the past. The Senate majority leader is right on that. Let me just give you a few examples.
HARRIS: Great.
BASH: Back in 1989, the Medicare overhaul for physician payments, that was done through the reconciliation process. It was protected from a filibuster, able to be passed by 51 votes.
HARRIS: Yes.
BASH: The welfare overhaul. We remember that.
HARRIS: Yes.
BASH: That was when President Clinton was in office, but it was definitely bipartisan in 1996. And probably the best example that Democrats like to use was the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. Those were done through the reconciliation process, protected from the Democrats' filibuster back then. And over $1 trillion in tax cuts got to the president's desk, President Bush's desk.
HARRIS: Well, that's tricky stuff. If anybody's going to explain it well, it's going to be you. Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us. Dana, appreciate it. Good to see you. Have a great weekend.
BASH: Thanks, Tony. You too.
HARRIS: Thank you.
Checking our top stories now. Two federal agencies are investigating the death of Dawn Brancheau, the Sea World trainer killed Wednesday by a killer whale. This I-Report shows Brancheau was taken actually moments before the attack. Officials at Sea World plan to hold a news conference in the next hour.
U.S. Representative Charles Rangel of New York is being reprimanded today for an ethics violation. The House Ethics Committee will, quote, "publicly admonish" Rangel for accepting Caribbean trips from private corporations in 2007 and 2008. The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee will have to pay back the costs of those trips.
And this developing story. The campus at Oklahoma City Community College is locked down right now. Police are trying to find a person believed to have a gun. A security guard reported he saw a person with a gun in the school library. A message on the school's website tells students not to come to campus.
An Italian cook in hot water and out of a job for telling viewers how to cook cat.
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HARRIS: An Italian chef's menu surprise is stirring up a lot of buzz on the web. CNN's Ines Ferre live from New why are you there? Get back down here. Live from New York
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really, I know, it's snowing.
HARRIS: Come on back, it's snowing and yucky up there. We've got bright sunshine down here on the ATL.
All right, what's hot? What are folks talking about? FERRE: OK, Tony, well, let's start with a big trending topic on Twitter. Canadian Joannie Rochette won the bronze medal in the women's figure skating final, just four days after her mother died suddenly of a hard attack. Rochette smiled as she held up her medal. She said that as a younger skater, she wanted to make her mother proud.
HARRIS: Nice.
FERRE: Also, on CNN.com's Quick Vote question, how did you view the White House health care summit? Well, 26 percent said it was productive. Seventy-four percent said it was a waste of time.
And this, Tony, was the most e-mailed story on CNN.com.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
FERRE: Italian -- yes, I know, it's unbelievable. Italian state TV dropped a celebrity chef after he shared a recipe to cook a cat. During a live broadcast, Beppe Bigazzi said, in past decades, Italians in Tuscany ate cat meat. Now he described how to tenderize the meat and went on and on about how it tasted better than chicken or rabbit. His co-host looked aghast during all of this. Animal rights activists were livid. Bigazzi refuses to apologize for his cat comment.
HARRIS: You can't say cat tastes better than -- you can't say that! Oh, boy. All right, Ines, you have a great weekend. We'll see you next week.
FERRE: You too, Tony. OK.
HARRIS: All right. Take care.
Buying insurance across state lines. It was one of the few issues both sides agreed on at the president's health care summit that most of you thought was a waste of time. Can it work? We are digging deeper in today's "Breakdown."
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HARRIS: OK. So you live in New York, but health insurance is cheaper in Iowa. So why can't you buy a policy from there? Maybe you will be able to if health care reform goes through. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in New York.
Poppy, good to see you. Is this a possible area of compromise we're talking about here?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Can you believe it, Tony? It might be.
HARRIS: Barely.
HARLOW: It might be a place where Democrats and Republicans are coming together. This is a Republican idea that they've been pushing for. And what we saw yesterday at that health care summit is that the president got on board and said, I'd be willing to consider this and sort of threw some support behind this.
So let's talk about what exactly this is. Right now when you see the difference in price there between health insurance premiums, insurers can only offer their policies in states where they are licensed.
Now, the difference can be huge. An example from a 2009 study here in New York, $6,600 over that was the average annual premium for someone getting their own health insurance. In Iowa, just over $2,600. A $4,000 difference just because you're talking about insurance being sold in different states. Part of that is cost of living. Part of that is competition. But a big part of that is also the mandates that those states have for what the insurance has to cover.
In New York, we have 51 different things that insurance policies are mandated to cover. In Iowa they have about half of that, 26. So, obviously, the insurance policies are going to cost less.
Here's an example. In New York, it's mandated that a lot of things are covered, including drug and alcohol abuse, chemotherapy, prostate cancer screenings. In Iowa, it is not mandated that their health insurance policies cover those, Tony. So that's the divide. But Republicans and Democrats it seems are trying to come together on this one so that you could buy your health insurance policy across state lines. If you don't need as much coverage, you could buy it somewhere else where you're going to get a little less, Tony.
HARRIS: Nice. We've got a good breakdown working here. OK. So assuming this idea of buying insurance across state lines goes through, how much could it save people here, Poppy?
HARLOW: We wish it was more, but it's not. Look at this. Latest numbers we have are from the CBO in 2005. But what they said is you could only save about 5 percent. That's not a lot. Talk about people here in New York that are paying on average over $6,000. It's only going to save them about $300 a year.
HARRIS: I thought it would be more.
HARLOW: And it's not a lot when you look at the everyone did. I did, too. The latest numbers we have, though, say 5 percent. And then you've got some people arguing that actually being able to buy insurance across state lines would actually increase your premium and that's another argument that's getting a lot of attention. But we could see Washington come together on this one, Tony.
We want everyone to let us know what they think about the summit and this idea on CNNmoney.com.
HARRIS: That is a solid "Breakdown." Poppy, have a great weekend. Good to see you. Thanks.
HARLOW: Well, thanks.
HARRIS: OK. Time to open the CNN Money "Help Desk." Our Stephanie Elam and her guests look at how to take on a mortgage even if you have some unpaid student loans.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Doug Flynn, a certified financier planner and founder of Flynn Zito Capital Management, and Donna Rosato, a senior writer at "Money."
All right. Here's our first question. It's from Keith. "I have unpaid student loans that are in default and have been for some time. Can I still qualify to buy a home?"
Donna, what do you think?
DONNA ROSATO, MONEY MAGAZINE WRITER: It's a good question. You know, student loan defaults are really soaring these days because of the tough job market. Defaulting on your student loan won't automatically disqualify you from buying a home, but it's going to have a major damaging effect on your credit score, so it's going to be difficult to qualify for a mortgage. So it's going to be really, really tough to do that.
And, of course, defaulting on your student loans has other consequences. The IRS can take any tax refunds that you have. The government can sue you. It can really haunt you. My advice really is, even if you've defaulted, go back to your lender to see if you can do something to straighten things out and start improving your credit score.
ELAM: All right, our next question comes from Alex. He asks, "where can a small business owner go to consolidate several business credit cards into one low-rate loan or credit card?"
Doug, what do you think?
DOUG FLYNN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: Well, there's actually three things you can do. The first thing you want to do is you can to get on bankrate.com. There's a drop down there for credit cards for business owners. There's a special section for that, as well as low- interest and other types of credit cards that you should search for.
The next thing you want to do is you want to talk to your financial advisors. A lot of CFP's that work with business owners that specialize in that have alliances with firms that do merchandise services and other types of loan services and can offer a way to connect you with people that can offer lending and other credit cards. And these types of services want financial adviser clients because these business owner clients are typically higher qualified and more responsible people.
And the third thing you want to do is you want to take a look at, if you haven't already, consolidating all your personal and business banking into one place. Maybe even have your employees do their banking at the same bank with free direct deposit. When you have a banking relationship all in one place, you get a business banker. That business banker can offer you things that even though it might seem more expensive in the beginning to go to a bank that specializes for businesses. In the long run, you get a lot of things waived and you now have a relationship with someone that can do things like search out lower interest rate loans and do things for you as a business owner that you wouldn't ordinarily be able to do just having one account there.
ELAM: So you get your needs answered through one person. That's good advice.
All right, "The Help Desk" is all about getting you answers. Send me an e-mail to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com. We might just answer it right here next week. You can also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine. It's on newsstands now.
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CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, how do you like your snow? Over easy, over medium, over hard, scrambled? Well, New York City, you are getting it! And the good news is, it's half over. Well, at least half over, I think. Storm's not moving, though. There's a low- pressure center that make the low. It's right there. You can see everything spinning around that low. And it's in no big hurry to leave.
So, Tony, that mean the snow's still going to be coming down for quite a few hours. And in some spots, maybe even another couple of days. How does that sound? Two more days worth of snow.
Central Park already has 16.9, Paramus has 15, and some cities out in Orange County, in New Jersey, and also in New York, over 25 to 30 inches. How about South Orange. We're going to have Allan Chernoff out there in the snow shoveling in the next hour.
HARRIS: How do you like your snow? Good stuff.
MYERS: Thirty inches already this month.
HARRIS: All right, Chad. You have a great weekend, sir. See you next week.
Sea World says it will keep the whale that killed its trainer. What do you think should happen to the whale? Your comments next.
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HARRIS: You know, we've been asking you to weigh in on the death of a whale trainer at Sea World. Sea World says it will not free or destroy the animal. We wanted to know what you thought of all of this. Here's what some of you are saying on our blog.
Robert says, "confining a huge animal in a small pool when they are used to hundreds of miles to play and live is inhumane abusive treatment."
Katrina said, "captivity is all this whale has ever known. It cannot survive in the wild. Keeping animals in captivity should be outlawed, but in this instance, setting it free would only kill it."
Let's take it to the next level now. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, good to see you.
