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Health Care Scramble; Prisoners With Access; CNN Hero of the Week
Aired March 19, 2010 - 14:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New hour, new "Rundown." Here's what I've got.
Call them the undeclared, the Democratic members of Congress who can't seem to make up their mind as the health care battle heads for the weekend. We're tracking each and every one of them, including Congressman Joe Courtney.
Guess what? He's not undeclared anymore. At least he is just for the next few minutes. He will declare his position on the health care bill live on this show, in just a minute.
Plus, you wouldn't want strangers to know your Social Security number, right? You might not even want your spouse to know. So why are prisoners getting access to your personal information? That's right, prisoners. And, by the way, it is all legal.
Also on the "Rundown," can you take a day off from your BlackBerry, your cell phone, your Facebook page? Perhaps I shouldn't be the one asking. After all, I've got two BlackBerrys and a telephone, and my executive producer claims I text her 24/7.
I'm going to have a talk with her in my "XYZ."
But here is the big story that we are covering in the health care reform debate. The pros and the cons in health care have given way to the pluses and the minuses. I am talking old-school math.
Of the 431 current members of the House of Representatives, 253 of them are Democrats. The rest are Republicans. But at the very most, only one of those Republicans is even considering voting yes. He voted yes last time, and he says he still hasn't decided.
So, let's just talk for sake of argument about the Democrats.
Twenty-nine Democrats are on record as planning to vote no. That leaves 224 behind who either plan to vote yes or who are undeclared. It takes 216 votes to pass or defeat the bill. Supporters can afford to lose eight more votes at the most.
OK. And I've got a chart next to me that I just want to show you. We are keeping track of this.
So, there are 33 people in play, shall we say? The magic number's eight. They can lose eight of these. Every time somebody says they are voting yes or no, we're going to cross out their name on this board. And the numbers that are -- the names that are left are those people who are in play.
You can imagine that the administration is going to be paying very close attention to them. Nancy Pelosi and her team are paying very close attention to them. And we have heard that the president is meeting with the Democratic Congress at the White House tomorrow, Saturday, ahead of what is planned to be a Sunday vote.
Connecticut Representative Joe Courtney is a two-term Democrat. He has been and is on our board in the undecided column. He's been there for weeks now.
He joins me from Capitol Hill. And I understand that he is no longer undecided.
Congressman, tell us your decision.
REP. JOE COURTNEY (D), : Sure. Thanks, Ali.
When the time comes for this vote to be held in the House, I will be a yes vote. We've spent the last 24 hours reviewing the package which was finally released yesterday afternoon, as well as the CBO's score, and I'm satisfied that there are adequate changes made to the Senate bill, the base bill, that address the issues that kept me in the undeclared column.
VELSHI: OK. You mentioned two things. One is you mentioned the CBO score. That's the Congressional Budget Office estimate of the cost of this program over the course of the next 10 years and beyond, and you mentioned other changes.
What tipped you over?
COURTNEY: Well, when the Senate passed its bill on December 24th, they, in my opinion, did not do a good job in fixing the Part D prescription drug benefit. They left a doughnut hole for seniors, which is something that I have worked on for 20 years as both a state legislator and a member of Congress.
They have the special deals under the Medicaid program which were unacceptable. And they also had a pay-for, which was the excise tax on so-called high-cost health plans, which I've led the charge in the House over the last six months.
I organized a letter with 192 other members of the House opposing this plan, which we did not adopt when we passed our bill last November. And the changes that then were made, after months of negotiation, pushing the tax out to 2018, deleting vision and dental coverage from being exposed to the tax, as well as providing people a safe harbor by allowing access to purchasing exchanges in 2017, so people would have a way -- a fair way -- of avoiding the tax, in my opinion, was a fair compromise and was sufficient to sort of tip the -- my vote in the "yes" column.
VELSHI: And Congressman, are you comfortably in the "yes" column now? You've decided this is where you're going to go?
COURTNEY: Absolutely. I mean, there's no question this is a milestone moment in our country's history.
I do believe, as someone, again, who worked on health issues at the state level, you've got to get the right balance. And when we saw the language yesterday, I think we've struck that balance. And it's time now to move forward.
And there will be years of opportunities to tweak and fix, just like we have with Medicare. It's been amended over 30 times since it was passed in 1965. But you've got to take that first milestone step. And I think we're going to do it on Sunday.
VELSHI: You're a two-term congressman. Are you a little concerned that you are now voting yes in a state that is heavily influenced by health insurers who are not happy with the way this bill is looking right now?
COURTNEY: It's -- you know, obviously you've got an important job to listen to your constituents. Again, as somebody who's worked on this issue at the state level for many years, I have worked with insurance companies.
On balance, I think these purchasing exchanges are going to provide them with an opportunity to sell their product. It's going to be a more stable market, just like it is for the federal employees that members of Congress use that plan. And I think this is going to allow coexistence for private health insurers in a system where people, I think, have basic access to quality health care.
VELSHI: Not sure if you've received the information or the invitation yet, but we understand the president is inviting you and your colleagues, the Democratic Caucus, to the White House tomorrow for a last-ditch effort. It looks like -- I'm not going to guess.
What do you think this looks like? Do you think this bill is going to get passed on Sunday?
COURTNEY: I mean, we've still got some work to do, and I think it's good that the president is getting people together for a final push. And at the end of the day, we've been told we're not going home until we get this done. I personally feel that for the sake of the country and people who are suffering out there, that failure's not an option, and we've just got to keep working at this until we hit the magic number of 216.
VELSHI: Representative Courtney, are you one of these guys who, because you were a late add into the "yes" column, are you getting some invitations, pressure, whatever you want to call it, to start making calls to other people, or tell people why you are comfortable with this and maybe bringing them over with you into the "yes" column?
COURTNEY: That certainly has not been a request, but, you know, the conversation is nonstop on the floor, as you can imagine. And certainly I -- as somebody who led the charge on the excise tax issue, I feel that sharing my perspective, which, again, many members kind of joined on to over time --
VELSHI: Yes.
COURTNEY: -- I think is going to help give people more of a comfort level about whether or not that is going to translate into a middle class tax, which I believe at this point it will not.
VELSHI: Because after you, there are 32 more who are sort of in that category. And some of them may share your particular concerns. There are others who were just concerned about the CBO number, others had yet other concerns, but some might be swayed by the information that swayed you.
COURTNEY: Absolutely. Now, let's get out there and make sure they know my perspective on this important issue, which was really -- you know, it wasn't always the front -- you know, top-the-fold story about health care. But the pay-for I think was a profoundly significant issue that, you know, there was a tug-of-war between the Senate, the White House and the House for months over this issue. And again, I think we've struck a good balance to resolve that issue.
VELSHI: Well, whatever your decision is, whatever people think about it, Congressman, I think they'll appreciate the thought that you put into such a major and important and historic piece of legislation.
COURTNEY: Thanks a lot.
VELSHI: Congressman Joe Courtney is a Democrat of Connecticut, has just declared that he will, in fact, be supporting health care reform on Saturday.
Thank you, Congressman.
COURTNEY: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: Good luck with the rest of the weekend.
I want to show you -- this is our list. These are the Democrats and one Republican who are now in question.
I want to take Representative Courtney and put a line through his name, because he is no longer undecided. And we're going to change this 33 over here to 32.
There are 32 representatives in the House of Representatives who we know to be in play right now. They have not declared for sure whether they are in the "yes" or the "no" column. We will keep that going and keep looking at this to tell you exactly how this develops over the course of the next few hours.
OK. Imagine your Social Security number, your health records, your tax forms, your student transcripts all in the hands of prisoners -- when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
VELSHI: A little Johnny Cash in prison, singing, performing at Folsom Prison.
Let's talk a bit about prisoners. We all know that they work. It's a good thing. When you're in prison, you want to get back into the workforce afterwards, hopefully.
A little work experience and low wages, but wages, nonetheless, are paid for work in prison. But if you think that they are just sitting around making license plates, well, you're a little out of date.
Let me just tell you about some of the stuff that prisoners do.
Inmates in a number of states have access to very, very sensitive information that you might not think that they would have. Let me show you some of the information that they are involved in, particularly in data entry jobs in some states.
Information having to do with your Social Security number, your tax data, your tax forms, your health information and your student transcripts, these are just some examples of things that prisoners have access to in eight states. Let me show you the eight states that are affected by this that we're going to talk about in just a second -- Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia. These are the states where they allow prisoners to engage in data entry and other forms of work where they have access to people's critical, personal information and financial information.
I want to bring in Peter Eisler. You know him. He's an investigative reporter with "USA Today," and his investigations have led to new laws in areas like nuclear weapons, nursing homes and school lunches.
In fact, that was the last time we talked to you, Peter.
Good to see you. Thank you for being here.
PETER EISLER, "USA TODAY" INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Thanks for having me.
VELSHI: This sort of boggles the mind. Give me the straight-up explanation of this. Prisoners are doing data entry with sensitive information.
EISLER: Yes. You know, as you mentioned, states are always looking for ways to employ prisoners. And these programs where they, you know, process license forms, they process unemployment applications, student transcripts and that sort of thing, is a way to give prisoners some real-world experience. And it also has this sort of additional effect of saving the states an awful lot of money, because these are jobs that the state needs to get done.
There are a tremendous amount of records. For example, old records on microfilm that need to be scanned in to computers and digitized. And they need to get all that done, and they can do it -- with these prisoners doing it, it only costs them a few dollars a day.
VELSHI: Wow. I have to tell you, Peter, I'm definitely one of these people who thinks it's great if when people are incarcerated, they can get some experience that can help them reintegrate after their release. I can't be the only one scratching my head about why prisoners would be given sensitive information that could lead to identity theft or credit theft.
EISLER: No, there are certainly people out there who are concerned about it. You know, this information was brought to light initially by the inspector general for the Social Security Administration, and, you know, when they first pointed it out back in 2006, there were 13 states that allowed prisoners to hold these sorts of jobs.
VELSHI: Oh, so we're getting better?
EISLER: Yes. Now five states since then have stopped doing this, including Connecticut, which stopped after they caught a prisoner stealing this information.
VELSHI: I assume that prisons and states will say that they have mechanisms in place to ensure that this data isn't lost, but, I mean, that doesn't even bother me. The fact that that data is there, I'm not sure I want people whom I trust who work around me having access to that sort of personal information, like my transcripts or my tax forms.
EISLER: Yes. I mean, there are definitely people who are concerned. Even if somebody couldn't make off with a huge pile of this information, even if they just memorized one person's information --
VELSHI: Yes.
EISLER: -- as it passed by them, and they used that to assume a new identity, then that would be a problem obviously.
VELSHI: Any sense that there is a move underfoot? You said the Social Security Administration, their audit discovered this. Did they come out with something that says you can't have prisoners looking at Social Security numbers?
EISLER: Well, the Social Security Administration actually has no power to tell states what sorts of jobs they can allow prisoners to have. There is legislation in Congress right now, in both the House and the Senate, that would bar states from allowing prisoners to work in jobs where they would have access to this sort of information.
VELSHI: Peter, you do fascinating work and you bring things to light that we did not know about. This one certainly is a bit of a mystery. Let's keep in touch on this one, as we have on the other stories that you follow, to see how it develops. I'm hoping that a few more states might see the light on this one.
Peter Eisler is an investigative reporter for "USA Today."
Thanks for joining us again, Peter. EISLER: Thanks very much.
VELSHI: OK. Heading deep into the Amazon jungle, one woman is on a mission to bring medical help to some desperate people. You'll meet her. She's our CNN Hero.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Well, for many people the Peruvian Amazon might sound exotic, but nearly half the residents of this rain forest region live in poverty, and a third lack access to basic medical care.
This week's CNN Hero is a one-time adventure tour guide who decided to go the extra mile in helicopters, on foot and in dug-out canoes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY WEBSTER, CNN HERO: For someone that goes to the Amazon on a vacation, you see the beauty. It's easy to overlook the realities of what people are living there.
I was a guide leading adventure tourists around. As time went on, I just saw real suffering going on.
People were very sick. People would actually sit around my mosquito net waiting for me to wake up so that I could help them with a sick child. It was frightening to me, because if they're depending on me for their health care, we're all going to die, because I certainly had no medical training at all.
I had to involve myself more. It was either stay and do something or leave.
My name is Patty Webster, and I bring down medical teams into the Amazon jungle. We work in so many diverse areas where the Ministry of Health doesn't get to. So, we often take extreme measures to get out to places.
In some of these areas, many of them would never see a doctor. We work mornings and nights, and you have so many people. You want to make sure everybody gets treated.
This is our 17th year. We are seeing more patients, providing more services.
Anything I can offer them that is going to help them, that's just a real gift. It certainly wasn't what I had planned for my life, but you can't go against these forces of nature.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: All right.
Since 1993, Patty Webster and her volunteers have provided medical aid and education to more than 55,000 people. To see her work and some of Peru's poorest urban areas, or to nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/heroes.
All right, checking some of our top stories for you.
The push for health care reform has been going on for about a year. Now President Obama and House Democrats have about 48 hours left to try to twist some arms.
The president plans to address Democrats at the White House tomorrow, some of whom are still undeclared. The legislation set to come to the House floor Sunday. Right now, Dems don't have the numbers to pass it, but House leaders say they are confident about the votes that are still in play.
Thousands of travelers' plans will be disrupted this weekend after talks between British Airways and its cabin crew union broke down. The union said it will begin a three-day strike at midnight, with another walkout timed to hit Easter week flights.
And Pope Benedict XVI has formally signed a pastoral letter apologizing for sexual abuse in the Irish Catholic Church. The letter will be made public tomorrow. The pope still has not tackled an abuse scandal that's come to light in his native Germany. All right. If we ever send astronauts back to the moon, they can leave the Tang at home. We're going "Off the Radar" with Chad coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. We're at the Severe Weather Center. We do have -- well, it's severe because it's possible flooding. But the weather itself surrounding this doesn't feel as severe.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VELSHI: All right.
When you think of auctions, when you think of eBay, you think of a big online auction. But do you think of it as a way to pay your bills? Do you think about it as a way to chat? Do you think about it as a place to buy concert tickets or sports tickets? Well, maybe you should.
I'm chatting with eBay's boss when I come back. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: OK. This is just in. We are following the developments on Capitol Hill with respect to who has decided they are voting for or against health care.
We have just heard word that Tom Perriello, Democrat from the fifth district of Virginia, is moving from the undeclared Democrat category into a supporter of the president's health care initiative. Tom Perriello of Virginia has decided that he is supporting the president's vote. We're taking him off our list, and I'm changing the count here from 32 to 30. Let me explain this to you. Thirty are the number of names that are not crossed off on this board. Twenty-nine of them are Democrats. One is a Republican. That is the total number of people who have not yet declared one way or the other or communicated to us which way they're going. The Democrats need to get to 216 votes to -- I'm sorry, my producer, Kelly, is reminding me of the fact that I seem to have been a little remedial in math. We can't go from 32 to 30. We actually go from 32 to 31 if we lose one.
Thirty-one people -- those are the people that the Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, and her team, are actively looking at to see whether or not they can bring them over to try and convince them to support the bill. Those opposing the bill are also working on these 31 members.
We'll keep you posted, as we are at CNN, with all of these developments.
I'm just going to move my way over to the desk right now to talk to this gentleman who is sitting here. This is John Donahoe. He is the president and CEO of eBay.
Now, you may think you know a lot about eBay. I do. I buy things on it. I sell things on it. But at eBay, the company, is substantially bigger than eBay, the online auction site.
Let me just tell you about eBay. Ninety -- and I'm sure John's going to tell me what the newest figures are -- but 90 million active users globally. The number -- the amount of money value of goods sold in 2009, about $60 billion. $2,000 worth of transactions every second, but that's the eBay part of things.
Take a look at what eBay really is. How big this company is and the scope that it has. StubHub, Shopping.com, PayPal, and a share of Skype --all of these things are part of eBay.
So, I want to talk John Donahoe who joins us now -- thank you, and welcome to CNN.
JOHN DONAHOE, CEO AND PRESIDENT, EBAY: Glad to be here, Ali.
VELSHI: This is an interesting time to talk about eBay, because it was a growth company for a long time, and then we get into this recession. And I've got to think that that had to be good for eBay. There were more people looking to sell their goods, more people looking to start businesses, and more people looking to be more frugal about how they bought things.
What's the effect of this recession been on eBay, both the site and eBay the larger company?
DONAHOE: Well, we -- I think we've come through it very well. But there's no doubt there's two effects going on. Our sellers, who are many of the small entrepreneurs and small business people across the country, felt the same economic pressure everyone else did. But, as you said, eBay was a place where they could still sell, where people were looking for -- VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: -- lower-priced items. And so, we've come through it quite well. And our sellers are making a living selling on eBay. So, we grew last year, and we're off to a good start this year.
VELSHI: There have been some hiccups to your growth. There were issues when certain fees were put in or increased. There seems to be a great deal of sensitivity to how much you charge and how you make your money off of eBay. Tell me a little of that story and what you've evolved into.
DONAHOE: Sure. I took over eBay two years ago.
VELSHI: Yes.
DONAHOE: And we knew we needed to make some real changes to ensure eBay comes into today's e-commerce environment.
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: And as you know, the Internet and e-commerce are changing at light warp speed. And so, on the fees' front, what we basically have done is taken our fees which used to be you pay to list something on eBay, and then if you sold it, you paid a little more.
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: To now where it costs very little to list on eBay -
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: -- and you only pay if you sell it.
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: But with a very engaged community -- we have 25 million active sellers on eBay -- a very engaged community, any change we make is -- has its fans and its detractors. And that's part of what makes eBay special, that engagement.
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: The fact that they care, because so many of them are making part of their -- part of their living on eBay.
VELSHI: What have you done? What has eBay done? I mean, there certainly have been other people who've tried to do it, it's existed -- this auction form exists in other places. What's been the real shift to the way that people can shop online that you can look at eBay and say, "We were responsible for that"?
DONAHOE: Yes. Well, I think what eBay did was bring together buyers and sellers. And in particular, eBay brought the small businessperson, the entrepreneur who is starting out of their garage.
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: There's a -- there's a small businessperson in Atlanta, he's been selling on eBay for 15 years, heavy equipment. He's got about a $15 million a year business. He employs --
VELSHI: Off of eBay?
DONAHOE: Yes.
VELSHI: Wow.
DONAHOE: Yes. And he employs, you know, 15, 20 people and has a very profitable business. He makes 90 percent of his living on eBay.
We've got 500 sellers here this week, all small entrepreneurs. In fact, there's a -- I just walked through the lobby and Dana Crawford, one of our sellers, is hosting a group of them, and they're coming together because eBay offers a platform --
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: -- for them to make a living. And on the Internet as more and more large retailers come on, it's harder for the small guy to stand out and compete. And that's what eBay stands for and that's what we're focused.
VELSHI: All right. Well, things that will help small businesses are going to be very interesting to our viewers. We're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about how the effect eBay's had on prices for things and the ability to find those prices on accurately and quickly when we come back.
John Donahoe is the president and CEO of eBay. We're going to continue our conversation with him on the other side.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. We're back with John Donahoe. He's the CEO of eBay.
I've also got Chad here, because this is a story -- all day I've been telling people that I'm going to be talking to you, and everybody's got their own story, but yours trumps everything else.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It does.
VELSHI: Yes. You just bought a car?
MYERS: I bought a car. I bought an Alfa Romero Spider Veloce convertible from Portland, Oregon, sight unseen -- had it delivered to my house, $12,000.
VELSHI: Wow. And you trusted that the prices are good? You knew the prices or you just figure that eBay was smart about it because so many people were on it that --
MYERS: I knew it wasn't a fake. You don't fake cars.
(CROSSTALK)
DONAHOE: Chad, I know, I've always liked you.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: So, I just wanted to -- yes, I just -- I mean, this is what I wanted to talk about. Clearly, if you're buying watches or rings, you have a different view of things, but cars are a big part of your business. This is the kind of story you're hearing a lot from. I bet you haven't bought a car online your life ever before this.
MYERS: Never. It's a car a minute or something you sell?
DONAHOE: Yes. We sell -- we've sold over 3 million vehicles on eBay.
VELSHI: Wow.
MYERS: Wow.
DONAHOE: Again, sight unseen.
MYERS: Yes.
DONAHOE: And what eBay is particularly good for in the cars' category are hard-to-find cars --
MYERS: -- or someone, an Alfa Alpha lover who's looking for something specific.
VELSHI: Right.
MYERS: I looked for that car for seven years.
DONAHOE: Yes.
MYERS: No kidding. It was a car that I owned before. I knew it. I wanted that white -- only white with a black interior and I found it on eBay.
VELSHI: All right. He's right that -- nobody's likely to be faking that car, right?
DONAHOE: Yes.
VELSHI: So, he's going to get it. And there's some protection --
DONAHOE: Yes.
VELSHI: -- when Chad buys a car like that?
DONAHOE: When you buy on eBay and you use PayPal to pay?
VELSHI: Yes.
DONAHOE: A hundred percent guaranteed.
VELSHI: OK.
There are some things that are difficult to guarantee, can you guarantee that if I buy a Rolex on eBay that it's a Rolex?
DONAHOE: If you pay with PayPal.
VELSHI: OK.
DONAHOE: If it is not what you want --
VELSHI: Yes.
DONAHOE: -- your have your money-back guarantee.
VELSHI: Very interesting.
DONAHOE: So PayPal's an important part of eBay's buying experience.
MYERS: Do you know what the most part is -- is that little rating you get.
DONAHOE: Yes.
VELSHI: The seller rating.
MYERS: And 99.7 percent of everybody that bought from you, 6,000 things, everybody's happy --
VELSHI: Yes.
DONAHOE: Yes.
MYERS: -- you know that that's a good seller.
DONAHOE: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Go ahead, John.
DONAHOE: And our sellers are responding to that. The reputation system, which is really where you -- we were talking about online shopping during the break. And what people are looking for, is how do I have a safe and reliable way --
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: -- to buy something.
VELSHI: Right.
DONAHOE: They know they can buy it from a big retailer, but in many cases, they want to find a better deal or find something they couldn't find from a big retailer.
VELSHI: See, this an issue -- this has been an issue for eBay in the past where you might have been the first place people spent real money buying something online, and in many cases, you were also the first place they ran into trouble, the first place they got cheated or the first place they didn't get what was delivered. And for a while, that was causing a real source of tension for eBay.
How have you largely dealt with that?
DONAHOE: Yes. We have made significant changes to the eBay experience over the last two years --
VELSHI: Yes.
DONAHOE: -- such that eBay today is as safe to buy as anywhere online. And that's because we've put in place incentives and requirements for our sellers to meet certain standards, and they've responded. So, the sellers that are selling on eBay today are the ones that have proven they will provide a safe and reliable experience, and by making it money-back guarantee, in essence, buyer protection, we've taken all the risk out of buying on eBay.
MYERS: And I'm going to tell you one secret, the people that look the shadiest, but they have a good rating like they're selling something from some city or town or country you've never heard of, you're going to get the best price on that watch or that Omega. You just make sure that everybody else that says great watch, great watch, great watch.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: When I was selling my car, it was an efficiency thing, because normally, if you needed to sell a car, you'd have to look up and sometimes you have to pay for services or get a bluebook, but you can actually just put in to eBay now and get a sense of it because you got so much stuff on there.
DONAHOE: Yes.
VELSHI: John, great conversation.
MYERS: You can do auto check. You can do all the things about the cars as well.
DONAHOE: Yes.
MYERS: You know where that car is coming.
VELSHI: See, I didn't plan this.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I was talking to you and he shows up. So, I figure that was good. Thank you for doing that and congratulations on the purchase of the car.
DONAHOE: Hey, Chad, thanks for buying the car.
VELSHI: Now, I just wish you once you get --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: That's the auto dealer I've interviewed so far on CNN.
John, great conversation. I want to talk to you very, very briefly, but I think I'm going to have to -- Kelly, am I out of time? I'm out of time. Am I going to have to do this on my commercial break? OK.
I want to -- I want to ask you one quick question. Social media or the ability -- the combination of social media and the fact that people do things on their mobile phones so much, what's the new experience with things like eBay?
DONAHOE: Well, it's been incredible, because we launched an iPhone experience 12 months ago.
VELSHI: Yes.
DONAHOE: It did $600 million of volume last year.
VELSHI: Wow.
DONAHOE: And will do well over 1 billion this year. We launched yesterday the new PayPal application. Have you seen the bump application where you bump to -- you bump two iPhones and you can exchange contact information? Well, now, you and I can bump our iPhones and I -- through PayPal, I can send you 10 bucks. I can literally exchange money, iPhone to iPhone, BlackBerry to BlackBerry.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: People bumping each other in the newsroom.
VELSHI: All right. John, good conversation. Thank you very much.
Listen, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, let me just tell you, it does not matter how much you bid for him on eBay, you can't get "The Ed Henry Segment" anywhere else than on this show, when we come back, in two minutes.
Don't worry. Don't try pitching yourself, Ed, your ours.
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Can we ask Mr. Donahoe whether we can sell your neckties on eBay?
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VELSHI: There he is, Ed Henry. He's our senior White House correspondent.
I'm telling you, you know his face because you see him on TV all the time, but you don't get elsewhere on CNN what you get here with your dish of "The Ed Henry Segment."
Hello, Ed. Welcome. It doesn't matter. You're not -- you can't sell the segment on eBay.
HENRY: I'm not selling the segment. But were you really thinking about selling a car on eBay? I want to know what kind of car you drive. It would just fascinate me.
VELSHI: I drive a Nissan Xterra.
HENRY: Really?
VELSHI: Yes. Why is it funny? A little manly for me?
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HENRY: No, I'm just thinking like you tootling around in a Nissan. I don't know. I never would have guessed it. I'm not disparaging the company, it's a great car but --
VELSHI: Or me.
HENRY: Or you. Well, I'm disparaging you actually.
VELSHI: Listen, here's -- if you could sell something on eBay right now in Washington, selling your vote for supporting the health care bill would be a big one.
HENRY: Well, yes, some lawmakers have been accused of selling their votes in this debate, actually, and it's been sullied, and that's one of the problems the president's faced.
But we just got new information, as you mentioned last hour, the president tomorrow is going to be working through the weekend obviously. He's going to call the House Democrats over to the White House at 4:00 Eastern Time. We're told this is a sort of a final sell, final pitch, to try to bring them along.
But one intriguing aspect of it that I want to talk about is the fact it's not just House Democrats, they're bringing one senator over as well, it's going to be Harry Reid. And the reason is two-fold. Number one, they want to send the signal, I'm told by top aides here, that the bill is going to be passed, as soon as the House votes on Sunday. The Senate still has to finish the job next week.
VELSHI: Right.
HENRY: But secondly, they want to send a not-so-subtle signal to the House Democrats, which might put Senator Reid in an uncomfortable position, which is that some of these House Democrats don't believe yet, and that's why they're holding out their votes, that the Senate is going to follow through with the fix-it changes --
VELSHI: Right.
HENRY: -- and maybe the Senate will let the House slide through this old Senate bill that the House Democrats don't like.
And so, by bringing Senator Reid here, I'm told he had to cancel a fundraiser in Florida on Saturday --
VELSHI: Yes.
HENRY: -- to come all the way back to Washington, it might be a not- so-subtle signal to House Democrats that he's on the spot here.
VELSHI: Right.
HENRY: And he's going to make a promise by standing here with the president on Saturday afternoon.
VELSHI: Yes.
HENRY: He's following-through on that. That's a big signal.
VELSHI: Now, one of these, you were supposed to be in Asia with the president. You didn't go. The president's canceled his trip. I do understand, though, that in Indonesia, we have found an Ed Henry.
HENRY: We found -- so, this is the thing. We had all these great things planned for "The Ed Henry Segment" in Indonesia. We had toe cancel the plans because the president canceled the trip.
My colleague Suzanne Malveaux was already in transit to get there a little early. She's there on the ground, along with Xuan Thai, one of our producers. And one of the stories we have lined up was that we had found this guy named Ed Henry who lives in Indonesia. We wanted to ask him sort of the obvious question which is, how cool is it to have a segment named after you on the Ali Velshi show.
Xuan Thai found the Ed Henry in Indonesia. Take a look.
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XUAN THAI, CNN PRODUCER: Ed, Ali, I have a special friend here me with me today that I want you to meet. His name is Eddie Henry. Who knew that in Indonesia, we'd have our own Ed Henry?
So, Eddie, how do you feel about having your own segment named after you on CNN, "The Ed Henry Segment"?
EDDY HENRY, FUTURE SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's quite wild. I never thought that I would have somebody else with that name -- almost the same name as I've been given by my parents. So, yes, that's quite wild.
THAI: So, are you ready if you ever need to step in and maybe take the place of Ed Henry if he's ever away on vacation?
HENRY: No.
THAI: Could you be ready to be "The Eddie Henry Segment"?
HENRY: No, I don't think I'm as qualified as Ed Henry, but I'd love to see him.
THAI: Great. OK. Now, are you excited to meet Ed Henry?
HENRY: Oh, yes, definitely. I'd love to meet him.
THAI: OK. So, Ed, and Ali, you've now met Eddie Henry, who I think is prepared to fill in anytime Ed Henry is away. But in the meantime, I think he's got a pretty smart coat on and kind of beats you both in the fashion department. What do you think?
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VELSHI: Oh, zing from Indonesia! To both of us.
HENRY: Yes, to both of us. It's pretty cool. Xuan Thai jumping into the mix here, throwing some elbows all the way from Hakarta, and I think that's why your producers picked double vision on the way into the segment.
VELSHI: That's it.
HENRY: You know, two Ed Henrys.
VELSHI: Ed Henry featuring Eddie Henry.
Ed, good to see you, my friend. You're going to be busy over the next few days and we'll be checking in with you.
HENRY: We'd be working all weekend.
VELSHI: And you'll be -- we'll be seeing Ed all over TV, but you will not see "The Ed Henry Segment" anywhere but here. That's Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent.
All right. Going for the green with golf -- how to get millions of tourists to stop by and spend big money. One idea is really paying off.
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VELSHI: Golf for one state, it's been a major moneymaker. Our Tom Foreman has been traveling on the CNN Express. He's got this story for us from Montgomery, Alabama.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali. I'm here in Birmingham, the biggest city in Alabama, and they've been struggling along with the economy, like so many others. But they have an advantage here. They are one of the premier stops on the Alabama Golf Trail, a unique vision by a man who's been leading investments here for ages and really building up this state.
(voice-over): Back in the late '80s, when the pension fund for Alabama's state employees was small and struggling --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!
FOREMAN: -- the head of the retirement systems teed up an idea about golf. And this is where he works today. One of the most stunning state office buildings you'll ever see, where David Bronner sits on an empire of pension money.
DAVID BRONNER, RETIREMENT SYSTEMS OF ALABAMA: Well, you got to keep in mind if you're near the bottom, you're not going to get out of the bottom unless you do something different. Or as I tell the people of Alabama, you have to take risks.
FOREMAN: Here's how it happened. Frustrated by tourists just passing through on the way to Florida, Bronner commissioned fame golf course architect Robert Trent Jones to design more than 20 courses all over Alabama, to attract tourists and business people.
BRONNER: And my theory there was, can I divert you? Can I stop you? Can I hold you over?
FOREMAN (on camera): And you knew if you could hold those people over, they would spend money in Alabama.
BRONNER: Absolutely, big money.
FOREMAN (voice-over): It worked. Before the Golf Trail, annual tourism was under $2 billion. Now, it is pushing $10 billion. And Bronner has remade Montgomery's skyline. That new construction and all those buildings with green tops, all built with retirement systems' cash.
BRONNER: Some people think it was the color of money. But it has nothing to do with that.
FOREMAN: He has invested Alabama's retirement funds in world-class hotels, spas, media, even a landmark office building in New York City.
BRONNER: And I guess what I was trying to do was to pick things that they could be proud of, because they're wonderful people in Alabama. They're hardworking people.
FOREMAN (on camera): This doesn't look like any government building that I've seen pretty much anywhere in a while.
BRONNER: Yes.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And the pension fund's success has helped draw more businesses and investors willing to consider Alabama as a home.
BRONNER: What we've tried to do is have something that would take the potential of the state, instead of talking about potential, turn it into a reality.
FOREMAN: And that has really put Alabama on the map.
(on camera): All of this really just can't do justice to the enormous impact that David Bronner has had on this state, as he has guided its investments and the Golf Trail and the property it owns. It's really huge. The simple measure of it, though, Ali, is this, ask any serious golfer you know, if they know about the Golf Trail, they'll all say they do, because it has had an enormous impact, not just on Alabama, but on the country and, to a degree, even the world.
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VELSHI: All right. Tom's doing a great job out there finding stories that actually make a difference, that maybe you can use in your community.
All right. We talk a lot about technology on this show. Can you go cold turkey on technology just for one day? There's a group out there that wants you to log off your BlackBerrys and your social networking sites. I wonder if I can do that, I'll check in with my favorite textee, my executive producer, and bring you the results in a minute.
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VELSHI: OK. Time now for the "XYZ" of it. There's this nonprofit group out there called Reboot. They want to bring back the biblical concept of a day of rest. They're not pushing religion on anyone, they want to us take a day off from our BlackBerrys, our cell phones, our social networking sites -- basically all of our technology. The national day of unplugging starts at sundown tonight and goes until sundown tomorrow. The typical Jewish Sabbath.
I can play that game. I'm plugged in. It's not like I'm addicted or --
KELLY FRANK, CNN PRODUCER: Time out. Time out, I'd like to remind you --
VELSHI: This is Kelly. This is my executive producer, Kelly Frank.
FRANK: Yes, I want to remind you of the time --
VELSHI: Yes.
FRANK: -- from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. No joke, 26 emails.
VELSHI: Me?
FRANK: From 10:00 p.m.
VELSHI: Or just all of them we got from CNN.
FRANK: No, just you. Just you.
VELSHI: Oh. Is that a record?
FRANK: Well, then there was the 43 on the weekend.
VELSHI: All right. Well, I'll text you about this later.
I do admire the concept, not because of what you don't do but because what Reboot is encouraging you to do with this newfound time, connect with your loved ones, give back to the community, get outside, exercise, or just light a candle and meditate.
Now, speaking about peaceful meditation, here's "RICK'S LIST."
