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Health Care Reform Signing Ceremony; What Happens Next?; U.S./Israeli Leaders Talk Settlements
Aired March 23, 2010 - 11:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So the president will sit down. He's got 20 pens there. He'll use each pen for a little piece of an initial -- of a letter that he will write. And with that signature, this legislation, 2,000-plus pages, the Senate version of health care reform which passed Christmas Eve, which the House of Representatives passed with 219 votes Sunday night, will become the law of the land.
Irrespective of what the Senate winds up doing in the coming days on the accompanying reconciliation bill, as it's called, the fix it bill, if they pass that, if they don't pass it, if they make changes, this will now be the law. Health care reform will be the law of the land, and the president of the United States will wrap this up. He'll give those 20 pens, by the way, to some of the folks who have surrounded him there, who have this special honor to be present as history is being made right now.
The president has been trying since the day he took office to get this done. It is now done, but so many of his predecessors tried and failed to do so. But it is now about to become the law of the land once he finishes up his final signature and gives -- and the applause will be very, very intense at that moment. Clearly, he's wrapping up right now.
Ed Henry is watching this. Our senior correspondent as well.
I don't remember a time, Ed, when I've seen a smile on the part of the president as wide and as broad and as happy as it is on this day.
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think it's true. And I think our own John King was noting on Sunday night there was a bounce to his step in the East Room on Sunday even as well after that House vote.
Look, he's been taking his lumps. And I thought it was interesting that when he used that word "lumps" about members of Congress, and saying he had taken some lumps in this debate, it was sort of unscripted moment where one member -- I couldn't make it out -- shouted, "Yes, we did!"
In another unscripted moment at the beginning when members were shouting, you know, basically, "Fired up, ready to go!" Some of that old campaign rhetoric.
BLITZER: There it is. It is now the law of the land, Ed.
The president of the United States has completed a relatively long signature. Let's listen in.
(APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: John Dingell, the elderly member of Congress right there, he's got one of those pens. He's pretty happy about it.
The crowd there enthusiastic. These are all Democrats. No Republicans voted for the Senate bill, no Republicans voted for the House bill.
And that's Vicki Kennedy, the widow of the late Senator Ted Kennedy. He would have loved to have been there, but unfortunately he passed away. He had tried for decades to get this passed, failed, together with so many others. But now it has been passed.
Brianna Keilar has been watching all of this, our congressional correspondent as well.
Brianna, the Democrats will now have, I believe, a new sort of bounce in their step as they go forward.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and they're going to need it. They're going to need the energy, certainly, because they've got a difficult road ahead of them towards the midterm elections.
And it seemed like a lot of the message that we heard President Obama talking about was, here are the things that go into effect now. Because, Wolf, as you know, a lot of this bill, we're not going to really see it take effect until 2014, obviously very much too late for the November election.
But he was highlighting the different things that really Democrats will be able to campaign on. And he also said something that really struck me.
He said the overheated rhetoric over health care reform will now confront the reality of reform. He was talking about this year, you're going to see -- you know, some key things that I think parents certainly will care about, for children, you can't say insurance companies can't deny them coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions. And now you have young people who can stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26.
These are the things the Democrats are going try to run on as Republicans really harness some of this fervor from the electorate from a lot of voters who have been very much opposed and vocally opposed to this health care reform package, Wolf.
BLITZER: Brianna Keilar will continue to watch what's happening on Capitol Hill.
That's Congressman Patrick Kennedy, the son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who's very, very happy on this moment, getting a hug from the president of the United States.
All right. So health care reform is now the law of the United States, it's the law of the land.
The president will leave the East Room of the White House, head over to the Interior Department to have some more remarks. A bigger crowd is gathering over there. An exciting moment for this president, for these Democrats.
Ed Henry will continue to watch what's going on. Brianna will as well.
Let me throw it back to Tony.
Tony, I can't overemphasize how excited these Democrats are right now.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that's -- what a scene to watch. And, Wolf, if you will, you've agreed to join us in this next hour. I want you to take off your anchor, your host hat, and put on your analyst hat. And I want you to talk through what is transpiring here on this day for us a little later in the noon hour if you would.
BLITZER: Sure.
HARRIS: I'll see you then, Wolf. Appreciate it.
We will talk about this historic health care reform bill with our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. That is next.
But first, some thoughts from other doctors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have an office of approximately seven people. I pay close to $4,000 a month for health insurance. Hopefully, now that this has passed, our premiums will be lower for small businesses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a law that says if you become ill, you won't lose your insurance. It's phenomenal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Signed, sealed, but not quite delivered. President Obama signs the sweeping health care reform bill into law, but the fight is not over. And many of the provisions won't take effect immediately.
To talk about what happens next and what's in it for you, let's bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Sanjay, it's great to see you. Thanks for sticking around.
I think the place to start is where the president started. What happens next?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, some of the things that he's talking about -- and he outlined it himself --
HARRIS: He did, yes.
GUPTA: -- in pretty great detail start this year, some of the things that take a more immediate effect.
And one is this idea that the people we've been hearing about so much, some of the people he pointed out in the room today, are people who have gone without insurance and have had some sort of medical problem. And they just have had a difficult time finding health care insurance.
These high-risk pools which would start within 90 days, a lot of people know what that is. But just really quickly, Tony, this is a pool that allows people to get health insurance that otherwise wouldn't by pooling them with lots of other people, and giving it some money as well.
The estimates I've heard are around $5 billion to try and fund these high-risk pools to give people health care insurance with a problem who didn't otherwise have it. People who are waiting right now and watching and need an operation, need some sort of therapy, need medications, have been unable to do that --
HARRIS: That's short term. That's happening soon.
GUPTA: That's within 90 days.
HARRIS: That's within 90 days.
GUPTA: That is very quickly. And that's something that he's really been focused on, I think, as you pointed out here.
Also this idea -- he really made a big point that you have people who have insurance right now, but then they get sick. After all, any of us are a potential patient. Right?
You get sick and you're in a hospital, you have an ICU stay, you need some sort of chronic therapy. Your money could dry up either over a year, annually, or over your lifetime. So he's putting some very restrictive limits on annual caps, so the insurance companies not capping you, and banning lifetime caps when it comes to paying bills.
And also this idea that, you know, you get sick and maybe you get dropped, or your insurance company decides you're not longer going to be part of the plan. That's called the rescission. He wants to end them.
By the way, insurance companies say we don't practice rescissions. My sense is from reading the bill, this is going to give that practice more teeth by really not being able to allow people to do that. You know the young kid in the room, as you saw, Tony. He obviously had written a letter on behalf of his mother. But he, as a child, is going to affected by this because no discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. So a child who's had some sort of lifelong problem in their short life, who cannot get health care insurance or adequate health care insurance, they cannot be banned -- they cannot be discriminated against anymore.
He started off, interestingly, talking about tax credits for --
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Yes, small businesses. Yes.
GUPTA: And allowing small businesses to insure their employees. That's a system that obviously is going to stay in this country, an employer-based system. Thirty-five percent tax credit immediately. That will go up to 50 percent within four years.
So, incentives for employers to provide health care.
HARRIS: Let's look a little longer term here -- three, five, seven years down the road and beyond. We're talking about folding in $25 million, $30 million, maybe $32 million more people into this system.
GUPTA: Correct.
HARRIS: Will you talk to us about the stressors that come with folding that many people into our system?
GUPTA: That's a great question, a very important question.
The way that they're going to do that, incidentally, as you know and a lot of people do now, first of all, they're going to mandate that everyone have coverage in this country. So, if you can afford it, you buy it. If you can't afford it, you get help.
That's basically the mantra. The mechanism by which they do that is to create these health exchanges. Think of them kind of like supermarkets. You can go and buy your health care coverage. The hope is that those insurance companies will start to compete for your business, Tony, everyone else's business, as opposed to you trying to find a single or a couple of insurance companies to join.
The point you raise is an interesting one. This isn't about putting insurance cards in people's wallets.
HARRIS: It's access.
GUPTA: It is access to doctors, of which there are too few. We know that there's a 16,000 primary care doctor shortage in this country right now. That number is expected to grow. There's simply still not enough primary care doctors.
HARRIS: How do we incentivize that side of the business so that we're not producing so many doctors who take care of us when we're chronically ill, but more doctors who are meeting us at the beginning stages of our lives and taking us through life healthier?
GUPTA: Well, it's a vexing problem. And if you really separate primary care doctors and specialists, you're simply not getting enough people going into primary care.
In 2008, Tony, consider this -- 1,200 medical students graduated medical school, two percent went into primary care. A lot of people think the number should be higher, to 30 percent or 40 percent. So, part of these incentives, getting rid of some of the paperwork, incentivizing in terms of reimbursements to doctors who are primary care doctors, would probably help.
HARRIS: So, in the short term, as we see the president continuing to work the East Room of the White House -- and we saw him just a moment ago with Congressman John Lewis, and he's continuing to shake hands there -- you mentioned that there will be some stressors in the short term to the system. Does it even out over the long term? We get more clinics involved in providing care? Does it start to even out?
GUPTA: You know, I think so. You know, these things are impossible to predict. And I'll tell you two things.
One is that I do think that, ultimately, if more people are insured, that the data seems to show that we may become better at preventive services, for example. So, finding a lot of these illnesses and potential sicknesses before they occur or before they become problematic.
HARRIS: Hey, I haven't been insured, I haven't had access, I haven't even thought about going in to see a doctor in years.
GUPTA: Right. Haven't had my blood pressure checked, never got a blood sugar -- right, mammograms, colonoscopies, you name it, in terms of finding diseases before they occur.
But the flip side of this, that is this, Tony -- that it is hard to draw a straight line between coverage, between having a health insurance card in your pocket and becoming healthier. You'd love to say that it does, but I know a lot of people, as do you, Tony, who have these health insurance cards in their pocket right now and still aren't leading the healthy lives that we hope they would -- seeing their doctors, promising healthy behavior.
So, whether or not we become a healthier nation as a result of this, we have to wait and see. And that would take some time.
HARRIS: Sanjay, I know you have to run here soon. I'm going to hopefully get you -- if I could hold you to stick around a little bit.
GUPTA: Yes.
HARRIS: I just want to do a bit of a reset for folks. In case you missed the historic event that just took place, President Obama's signature, domestic issue gets his signature and becomes law. Just moments ago, the president signed the most sweeping health care legislation in four decades. It will overhaul the nation's medical care system and extend coverage to an estimated 32 million Americans.
We will hear from the president again shortly at the historic signing ceremony. He said the legislation will mean immediate help for many Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The bill I'm signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see. It will take four years to implement fully many of these reforms because we need to implement them responsibly, we need to get this right. But a host of desperately needed reforms will take effect right away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You know what? Let me do this -- I want to get to Dr. Brian Hill and Kathie McClure in just a moment.
But, you know, there is a question, Sanjay, that keeps coming up. It is the doctor's fix.
GUPTA: Right.
HARRIS: Can you explain what the issue is and if there is a fix in this bill, in this law?
GUPTA: I will try and be as brief as possible, because it is somewhat complicated but important.
The way doctors get reimbursed from Medicare is based on a formula called sustainable growth rate. You don't need to remember that name. All it means is that the way they get reimbursed is more attached to the economy and how the economy is doing rather than inflation.
A lot of their expenditures in Medicare are adjusted for inflation. What happened in 1997, when this growth rate was implemented, the economy was doing pretty good at that time, Tony. In 2001, 2002, we know what happened. The economy started to do poorly, and doctors' reimbursements were cut in 2002 for the first time.
They should have been cut almost every year since then, but at the last minute, Congress comes in and waives off those cuts. That's what's been happening for the last several years, so the reimbursements have not been getting slashed. What the Senate bill has in it is this SGR, this potential based on how the economy is doing for doctors' reimbursements to get cut.
HARRIS: And SGR stands for? GUPTA: Sustainable growth rate.
HARRIS: Yes.
GUPTA: Now, it is in the bill, and if it wasn't in the bill, the thought is that it would cost about $200 billion over 10 years to make up for those reimbursements to doctors that they won't get right now.
HARRIS: And it's key because we have to have doctors who are taking care of old folks, and we have to have doctors who are taking care of the poor. And it has to make sense to them, business sense, for them to do it.
GUPTA: Right. And if you talk to some doctors, they'll say, look -- you know, I work at a county hospital, as you know, Tony. So I told you earlier, I'm a bit disconnected from that. But I will say that there are doctors who come up to me, and I know to you as well, who say we don't take Medicare patients anymore because we lose money on every Medicare patient we see.
HARRIS: Right.
GUPTA: So if the reimbursements go down, would it be even more likely that there would be fewer doctors for these Medicare patients to access?
HARRIS: But aren't doctors going to need to take a look at how they structure their businesses now? I mean, moving forward with this legislation. I mean, fundamentally, you can't just take Medicare and Medicaid patients -- and you never would -- but you really need to take look as a doctor, it seems to me, at the provisions in this and figure out if there is a way to be more efficient about your business.
GUPTA: I think it's going to require everyone to become more efficient, including doctors' offices. If you look at Medicare as a whole, part of how this thing is getting paid for is by "reducing inefficiencies in Medicare."
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
GUPTA: What exactly that means is something we're going to see. But I think it's safe to say, and I think most people would agree with exactly what you're saying, that the system is not as efficient as it could be. And that's at all levels, really.
HARRIS: Right. And it's something that we really need to talk about, because I want you to play with our guests. And feel free to ask any question you want, obviously. How do we get to a better delivery system? And is there a way to looking at sort of a minimum coverage model, right, that allows for savings in the system, as we improve the delivery system?
But let's bring in our guests here.
How will health care reform impact you? Lawyer and health care reform advocate -- she's been with us so many times now -- Kathie McClure says it means her two children with pre-existing medical conditions can now get insurance. And Dr. Brian Hill says the bad news is, while you will get, may get insurance, you may not be able to get a doctor to treat you.
And I know you've got some points to make on this as well, Sanjay.
We've talked to both of you, of course, throughout this process. And I want to get your thoughts today.
Kathie, let me start with you. You took time off from your job obviously as an attorney to push voters to get involved in this process.
What do you think is the most important thing this law does for America's health care system?
KATHIE MCCLURE, LAWYER AND HEALTH CARE REFORM ADVOCATE: Well, I think we can't underestimate the impact of bringing 32 million people into the fold, 32 million people who, as of today, are still at risk for medical bankruptcy if they break their arm or even just have a stomach ache that lands them in a hospital. And we're also moving ahead with consumer protections that Dr. Gupta has already addressed, such as not allowing insurance companies to turn people away once they get sick; eliminating lifetime and annual caps; and also, the most critical thing for so many people that I've heard from including my family, is the problem with insurance companies excluding people for their pre-existing conditions.
HARRIS: OK.
Let me get Brian to weigh in here.
And Dr. Hill, you say you're pretty saddened by this plan. What's so bad about it?
DR. BRIAN HILL, MEMBER, AMERICAN UROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION: Oh, I think this is an awful -- this is a destructive plan. This plan does not fix our health care delivery system one iota.
This plan is going to raise costs. As Dr. Gupta was just talking about, it's going to affect access to health care for our seniors.
Those 32 million people, I'd love to get 32 million people into the health care system. I think there's a way we can make that happen. But this does it through the expansion of Medicaid, one of the worst health care insurances out there. Only 50 percent of doctors take it.
You know, this will is going to stamp down, in effect, the costs for the states. Why do you think 36 states are trying to line up against fighting this? That's because our states are going to have to pay for Medicaid expansion. Our state is currently going bankrupt. We're furloughing teachers, we're laying off firemen and policemen. You know, our legal system is being bankrupted as well from within the state.
Where are we going to get this money from the states? We are raising costs and creating a system that's unsustainable.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Well, Sanjay, any thoughts on this, doctor to doctor here?
GUPTA: Yes. And I'll point out, I read some of Dr. Hill's letters as well that you sent out. Very well written.
You makes some important points, but one of the arguments that keeps coming up, Dr. Hill, is this idea, something I think you believe in, which is that too many people have simply gone without health care insurance for too long.
HILL: Yes, I do.
GUPTA: And obviously costs are something that, frankly, aren't controlled well by anybody.
HILL: Right.
GUPTA: Republicans, Democrats, Switzerland, France, Canada, the United States, you name it, no one controls costs well.
So, the real question becomes, do you think that this is a good first step, like some people do, or do you think that, really, in this case, we should have simply done nothing with so many people, I'm sure patients of yours as well, like mine, clamoring for something?
HILL: No, we need to do something. And that's what I'm saying.
And you're right. You know, every state, every country you point out there is not following a plan that we discussed. And we have not followed an evidence-based approach towards fixing the health care system in those countries.
We have data and evidence of better ways to create and fix this health care system that's actually going to, exactly like you were talking about before, increase the efficiency within the system. Look at the state of Indiana. They brought about a high-deductible health care plan with HSAs (ph), and they found an 11 percent cost savings in that state of Indiana in their health care expenditures.
Health savings, 11 percent.. Tell me where one part in this bill shows that kind of cost savings?
MCCLURE: Can I weigh in on this issue?
HILL: No, I'm going to finish. Seventy percent of public employees in Indiana are currently on that plan. They have a 97 percent retention on that plan. They means they like the plan. And it saved money, it saved costs.
HARRIS: All right.
HILL: And now we have that money that we can now flip into using, again, with the efficiency in the system, for those that need health insurance, ,as opposed to raising up the costs of our national health care expenditures to the point where we can't afford this anymore and all those people that need that money, it's not going to be there.
HARRIS: Got you.
Kathie, and then Sanjay.
MCCLURE: Yes. What I'd like to say about that is, let's incorporate some of Dr. Hill's concepts and ideas about use of HSAs (ph).
But let's begin by extending health care to all of these people, 30-some-odd million people in our country who don't have access. How are we going to begin to really grapple with the lack of health, the unhealthy people we have in our country if they can't afford to go to the doctor?
We have to start with access, with coverage, and then we can move -- and I believe we have to move, I agree with him. We have to move toward bringing down costs.
HARRIS: Got you. All right, Kathie, let me turn it over to Sanjay.
GUPTA: Well, I mean, obviously, these are important points. But let me just ask Dr. Hill again, based on your comments, this whole idea of sort of trying to root out some of the inefficiencies that are in the bill, are you saying that they don't go far enough or there's different ideas?
Again, I'm just trying to get a sense of -- are you saying the whole thing, 2,700 pages, simply shouldn't have been done, or there are certain things that you would have done differently, including this addressing of the inefficiencies?
HILL: This is a plan that all it does is throw gasoline on the fire. If we have a system and a structure that's set up as driving these costs through the roof like they are right now, all this plan does is accelerating it.
I see this as a bus that's heading over a cliff, and I'm sitting here screaming and hollering through the data and evidence of everything that's written out there, not as a politician, but as a physician who practices evidence-based medicine. And the evidence shows us that we're putting the accelerator down and flying our bus over that cliff. And what upsets me is that I'm on that bus, my kids are on that bus, my patients are on that bus. And we're not fixing this the right way.
So we start going down the wrong way, we just keep on accelerating towards that cliff, eventually there's going to be a no- go-back point where we can't turn that bus around and get it back in the correct direction. So, no, I think this is done in an awful way, and I think there's a better way to get this done, no doubt.
HARRIS: Kathie, let me give you the last word before we go on this.
MCCLURE: Well, I think there's a lot of ways that we can improve on this bill. Obviously, ,it's not where it needs to be.
This is sausage-making, we all know this. It's imperfect. But I would say is that there are 32 million people going over the brink right now.
And I think this is such an important, historic turning point in our country where we're saying to everyone we're not going to allow that to happen anymore. And now let us begin to really grapple with bringing down costs.
HARRIS: All right. Kathie, appreciate it.
Brian, thanks. Thanks for your help and your point of view on all of this.
HILL: I tell you guys, this is a bad plan, this is a destructive plan. This is just sad. And if I were treating a patient this way with this data, it would be malpractice.
HARRIS: Brian, do you feel like you've been heard?
HILL: I do. I'm just hoping that people are actually listening.
HARRIS: OK. All right.
And Sanjay, thank you.
GUPTA: Thank you.
HARRIS: You know, we've asked you to comment on the new health care law, and boy you have been responding. You've been calling us in big numbers.
Here are a few of your comments.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm quite pleased that, finally, the Democratic Party, the Obama administration has gotten a health care reform bill passed. This is just the beginning. By no means is this the end all/be all answer to all of the problems that we have in the health care system, but at least it's a start.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any time that government gets involved in stuff, it's just nothing but chaos. I can't see this being a good thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people don't realize that we're actually already paying for it. A lot of people are complaining about the fact that it really is so expensive. But I am an ER nurse, and I already know the patients who come in for treatment, you can never turn them down. We always pay for it because they don't pay anything.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: No cameras or reporters allowed for a late-afternoon meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two leaders not expected to mince any words over settlements in eastern Jerusalem.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer is with us. He h as covered the Middle East since 1972.
A couple of questions for you, Wolf.
Before we get to exactly what's being talked about in today's meeting, let's talk about what's leading up to it. Earlier this month, as you know, there was a diplomatic dustup when Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel. While he was there, Israel announced and approved new housing units for Jewish settlers in eastern Jerusalem in direct defiance of the Obama administration's request that Israel not do that in order to move the peace process forward.
So, where are we now, Wolf? What do you make of these tensions in this long-standing relationship?
BLITZER: I think it's clear, Tony, there are serious tensions in the relationship. And it's been obvious over the past few weeks.
The Israelis apologized for embarrassing Vice President Joe Biden. He had just come to Israel. He was trying to patch up the relationship.
They were really pleased that the special U.S. Middle East envoy, former senator George Mitchell, had finally, after all these months, convinced the Israelis and the Palestinians to begin what were called these proximity talks, not direct negotiations, but he would shuttle between Ramallah and the West Bank and Jerusalem and Israel, and he would try to get some sort of diplomatic dialogue going. So things were moving in the right direction.
Then, within a few hours after the vice president arrived in Israel, getting ready for dinner with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, they announced these new 1,600 housing units in this disputed part of Jerusalem. And that caused a huge, huge uproar.
It was a huge embarrassment and a major strain in the relationship. And the president, the vice president of the United States, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, they were all very upset.
They still are upset at the Israelis, but they have calmed things down to a certain degree. But, Tony, there's no doubt the tensions are still there. And I'm sure it will be reflected when Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with President Obama at the White House in the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour.
HARRIS: And let's do that. Let's fast forward to today's meeting. And it is behind closed doors, certainly not open to the press.
What do you expect in that meeting? If you were in the room, what would you expect?
BLITZER: I would expect a rather blunt conversation. Look, they will reaffirm the close strategic relationship between the United States and Israel. They will agree basically on what needs to be done to try to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, or whatever.
But on the whole issue of the peace process, the settlements, the housing units, they will strongly disagree. And that disagreement will be evident in the course of that conversation in the Oval Office.
HARRIS: Wolf Blitzer for us.
Wolf, appreciate it. Thank you so much.
You know, we are waiting for President Obama to speak more about health care from the Interior Department. When the president gets there and begins his remarks, we will take you there live.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. More heavy rain and just what the Northeast really doesn't need right now. And even more snow in Denver. Chad Myers is tracking the early spring storms in the CNN weather center.
And, Chad, at some point, are you going to pivot to this scene out of Hong Kong?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Look at this.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: Let's just go right to it because
HARRIS: OK.
MYERS: You know, people in New York love it when they can see the air because they know it's there. But, oh, on Monday, Hong Kong -- this is China. There is smoke in the air. There's dust in the air. There's humidity causing all of this.
Now let's go side-by-side. That's what the pictures should look like on the left when there wasn't the dust storm off of China and off of the areas just to the west of China.
HARRIS: Wow. Look at that.
MYERS: Spinning around across the ocean, picking up humidity. The particulate matter was very high. People -- and they do this a lot in China anyway, the walking around literally with those 95 masks that we were all told to buy to not get the H1N1.
HARRIS: Right.
MYERS: You know, I probably have about 10 of them at my house. I just use them to spray my car off (ph). You can use them as a respirator now.
HARRIS: Right.
MYERS: We don't even need them at this point in time. I guess. I hope. I hope H1N1's over.
Here's the rainfall across parts of the Northeast. It is still coming down. All those dark blue areas and the dark green areas there, that's all heavy rainfall and flood watches or warnings depending on where you are. It is still rotating around.
And there's some snow. I still got to talk about it. And there still will be a lot of snow farther back out to the west here into Colorado, although not very impressive on the radar right there, and snow usually isn't. Look at that number for impressive.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: Anywhere here south of Denver, I'd say from Castle Rock, right on back down toward Colorado Springs, this warning area here across I-70, from Deliman (ph). This upslope. This is a lower elevation. This here is a higher elevation. When the wind comes in this direction, it's just like a cold front pushing the air into the sky. It pushes the air up higher and higher. Higher and higher you go, the colder it is. Cold air can't hold as much moisture and it falls out as snow.
And this is not a typical for a spring-type storm, Tony. Many times, the fall, late fall, and also early spring get the heaviest snowfalls across parts of Colorado and the plains because now you can tap the Gulf of Mexico and you get that Gulf of Mexico air in here and then it really starts to snow as you get up above, you know, that 4,000, 5,000 feet. It's cold enough to make snow.
HARRIS: Terrific stuff, as always, Chad, appreciate it. Thank you, sir. We are waiting for President Obama to speak again about health care reform from the Interior Department. Let's sneak in a quick break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Once again, let's just show the shot, if we could, of the Interior Department. Just again, just to remind everyone that the president is going to be making remarks again about health care reform. Landmark legislation signed into law last hour here in the CNN NEWSROOM from the East Room of the White House. When the president begins his remarks from the Interior Department, we will take you there live.
NATO beginning its next big offensive in Afghanistan. The operation is gearing up in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Our Phil Black reports on the mood there among locals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The Afghan army and police are tightening security around Kandahar. International forces are becoming more visible. And the atmosphere is increasingly intense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's getting hot. It's getting real hot right now.
BLACK: The next NATO and Afghan offensive is building momentum, but it won't be as swift as the recent push to take back ground in Helmand province.
SGT. AARON THOMAS, U.S. ARMY: (INAUDIBLE) slow. We get to (INAUDIBLE) slow. It's always going to be slow. But once we get it built up and keep it stable, we'll be good to go.
BLACK: The plan is to copy other features in the Helmand operation here in Kandahar, the Taliban's founding city, especially the focus of winning early support from the population. They've got some work to do there.
"We've been hearing for eight years that the Americans are bringing security," says this man, "but we haven't seen it."
Backing from tribal elders is considered crucial. And some are skeptical. But this elder support is already in the bag. His name is Ahmed Wali Karzai (ph).
AHMED WALI KARZAI: It's very difficult to be the president's brother.
BLACK: He's the half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the elected leader of Kandahar's provincial council. He's a big fan of the new strategy's emphasis of holding ground and quickly setting up strong, local government.
KARZAI: This is the type of program that we've been requesting for the last eight years. And finally it arrive. This is the way to win this war.
BLACK: This Karzai is also a controversial figure. He's frequently accused of corrupt and criminal behavior.
KARZAI: These are all absolutely false accusations.
BLACK: On the streets, people talk about corruption and roadside bombs killing innocent civilians, but they're most worried about being caught in the middle of a bloody battle for the control of Kandahar.
This man says he fears women, children, homes, and businesses will be lost. He wants everyone to sit together and make peace.
BLACK (on camera): The people here are reluctant to openly blame the Taliban for the bomb attacks that are killing the innocent. It could be fear some actually believe that it's international forces that could be responsible. They tell us the police and government are weak and they would welcome a greater military presence to come here and bring greater security. But overwhelmingly, they believed that fighting is not the only way to beat the Taliban. They say that alone won't work. Ultimately all sides have to get together and talk.
Phil Black, CNN, Kandahar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And, once again, we are waiting for President Obama to speak about health care reform from the Interior Department. Last hour, the president signed the historic legislation into law and later this week he takes it on the road promoting the benefits. First stop, Iowa. The president from the Interior Department in just minutes right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Quickly now to the Interior Department and Vice President Joe Biden.
CROWD: Yes we can! Yes we can!
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, he did.
Thank you all for being here, ladies and gentlemen. Please be seated.
Ladies and gentlemen, to state the obvious, this is truly an historic day. But as all of you know, history is not merely what's printed in our textbooks. It doesn't begin or end with the stroke of a pen. History is made.
History is made when men and women decide that there's a greater risk in accepting the situation we cannot bear that in stealing our spines and embracing the promise of change. History is made when a leader's passion is matched with his principle in service of his country.
Mr. President, your passion to make the lives of ordinary Americans better has been on display. And the principles that guided your public service, beginning when you were a community organizers, have led this nation to this moment.
Mr. President, 30 minutes ago, by the stroke of your pen, you began the process of making life better for tens of millions of Americans today and forever more. For much too long -- for much too long, Americans have been denied what every human being is entitled to, decent, affordable health care.
Starting with Teddy Roosevelt, straight through to you, Mr. President, everyone else tried. They were great men. They gave it their best, but they came up short. But you succeed, Mr. President, and we owe you for that.
As I said just before the president signed the health care bill, I quoted Virgil, the classic Greek poet, who once said, the greatest wealth is health. The greatest wealth is health. Mr. President, you've made us a nobler and wealthier nation by providing for the health of your fellow citizens.
Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Really nice to be here.
We wanted to do this twice because there's so many people we have to thank. And as I look around the room, we've got leaders of labor who helped to make this happen. We've got ordinary folks who've knocked on doors and made phone calls at the last minute to get this thing over the top. My extraordinary members of my cabinet. We've still got some additional members of Congress who helped lead the charge on this. There's my staff, who I see are still here. They -- at any given moment, I thought they were going to quit. But they just stuck it out with me.
So the main purpose here is to say thank you. And thank you on behalf of the American people. And after a century of striving, after a year of debate, after an historic vote, health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land. It is the law of the land.
And although it may be my signature that's affixed to the bottom of this bill, it was your work, your commitment, your unyielding hope that made this victory possible. When the special interests deployed an army of lobbyists, an onslaught of negative ads to preserve the status quo, you didn't give up. You hit the phones and you took to the streets. You mobilized and you organized. You turned up the pressure and you kept up the fight. When the pundits were obsessing over who was up and who was down, you never lost sight of what was right and what was wrong. You knew this wasn't about the fortunes of a party, this was about the future of our country.
When the opposition said this just wasn't the right time, you didn't want to wait another year or another decade or another generation for reform. You felt the fierce urgency of now. You me the lies with truth, you met cynicism with conviction. Most of all, you met fear with a force that's a lot more powerful -- that is faith in America. You met it with hope.
Despite decades in which Washington failed to tackle our toughest challenges, despite the smallness of so much of what passes for politics these days, despite those who said the progress was impossible, you made people believe that people who love this country can still change it. So this victory is not mine, this is your victory. It's a victory for the United States of America.
For two years on the campaign trail, and for the past year as we've worked to reform our system of health insurance. It's been folks like you who have propelled this movement and kept us fixed on what was at stake in this fight. And rarely has a day gone by that I haven't heard from somebody personally, whether in a letter, or an e- mail, or at a town hall, who's reminded me of why it was so important that we not give up. Who reminded me why we could not quit.
I heard from Ryan Smith, who's here today, and runs a small business with five employees. He is trying to do the right thing, paying for half of the costs of coverage for his workers. But as his premiums keep on going up and up and up, he's worried he's going to have to stop offering health care for his people. But because of this bill, he is now going to be getting tax credits that allow him to do what he knows is the right thing to do, and that's going to be true for millions of employers all across America.
I heard the story of 11-year-old Marcellus Owens (ph), who's right here, looking sharp in his he and I made sure to coordinate our ties today. Yes, it looks good. Marcellus is a wonderful young man. And he lost his mom to illness. And she didn't have insurance and couldn't afford the care that she needed. So, in her memory, Marcellus, 11 years old, has told her story across America so that no other children have to go through what his family has experienced. That's why we don't quit.
I heard from folks like Natoma Canfield, who had to give up her health coverage after her rates were jacked up by more than 40 percent. She was terrified that an illness would mean she'd lose the house that her parent built, but she also knew that if she was burdened by these huge premiums that she wouldn't be able to pay the mortgage. So she finally decided not to keep her health insurance. And she's now lying in a hospital bed, as we speak, faced with just such an illness and she's praying that she can somehow afford to get well. And her sister Connie's here today. And it's because of Natoma's family that we could not quit. I've met people like Ashley Bian (ph), who worked for my campaign. Where's Ashley? She's around here somewhere. I know she is. There she is right in front, she just doesn't like waving.
Ashley decided to get involved with our campaign a couple of years ago because her own mother lost her job, and with it her health insurance when she got sick. And they had to file bankruptcy. And so Ashley worked tirelessly, not to get me elected, but to solve a problem that millions of families across the country were facing.
Each of these Americans made their voices heard. It's because of them, so many others, so many of you, that real, meaningful change is coming to the United States of America. It is because of you that we did not quit. It's because of you that Congress did not quit. It's because of you that I did not quit. It's because of you.
Now, let me tell you what change looks like. Because those fighting change are still out there. Still making a lot of noise about what this reform means. So I want the American people to understand it and look it up for yourself. Go on our Web site, whitehouse.gov, or go to any credible news outlet's Web site and look in terms of what reform will mean for you.
I've said this once or twice, but it bears repeating, if you like your current insurance, you will keep your current insurance. No government takeover. Nobody's changing what we've got if you're happy with it. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. In fact, more people will keep their doctors because your coverage will be more secure and more stable than it was before I signed this legislation.
And now that this legislation is passed, you don't have to take my word for it. You'll be able to see it in your own lives. I heard one of the Republican leaders say this was going to be Armageddon. Well, you know, two months from now, six months from now, you can check it out. We'll look around and we'll see. You don't have to take my word for it.
So what works in our system won't change. And a lot of people are happy with the health care that they've got. And that won't change because of this legislation.
Here's what will change. And here's what will change right away. This year, we'll start offering tax credits to about 4 million small businesses to help them cover the cost of coverage. And that means that folks like Ryan will immediately get a tax break so that he can better afford the coverage he's already providing for his employees. And, who knows, because of that tax break, he may decide to hire a couple more folks in his small business because of this legislation.
This year, tens of thousands of uninsured Americans with a pre- existing condition and parents whose children have a pre-existing condition will finally be able to purchase the coverage they need. And that means folks like Natoma Canfield will have access to affordable insurance. That happens this year. This year, insurance companies will no longer be able to drop people's coverage when they get sick or place lifetime limits or restrictive annual limits on the amount of care they can receive. This year, all new insurance plans will be required to offer free preventive care. And this year, young adults will be able to stay on their parents' policies until they're 26 years old. That all happens this year.
This year, seniors who fall in the coverage gap, known as the doughnut hole, will get some help to help pay for prescription drugs. And I want seniors to know, despite what some have said, these reforms will not cut your guaranteed benefits. Let me repeat that. They will not cut your guaranteed benefits, period. I'd be wary of anybody who claimed otherwise.
So these are the reforms that take effect right away. These reforms won't give the government more control over your health care. They certainly won't give the insurance companies more control over your health care. These reforms give you more control over your health care. And that's only the beginning. That's only the beginning.
After more than a decade, we finally renewed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. And the other changes -- the other changes I'm signing into law will take several years to implement fully. But that's because this is a difficult, complex issue and we want to get it right.
One of these reforms is the creation of a health care insurance exchange. This is one of the most important reforms. And, by the way, originally, I should point out, a Republican idea. Imagine that. The idea is, is that right now there are a lot of people out there buying health insurance on their own or small businesses buying health insurance on their own. They don't work for a big company. They're not part of a big pool. So they have no leverage. They've got no bargaining power with insurance companies.
But now what we're going to do is create exchanges all across the country where uninsured people, small businesses, they're going to be able to purchase affordable, quality insurance. They will be part of a big pool. Just like federal employees are part of a big pool. They'll have the same choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves. That's going to happen as a consequence of this legislation.
And when this exchange is up and running -- when this exchange is up and running, not only because of better bargaining power will they see their premiums reduced, will people get a better deal, but millions of people who still can't afford it are going to get tax breaks so they can afford coverage. And this represents the largest middle class tax cut for health care in our history. And it's going to mean that millions of people can get health care that don't have it currently.
Now, for those of us who fought so hard for these reforms and believe in them so deeply, I have to remind you, our job is not finished. We're going to have to see to it that these reforms are administered fairly and responsibly. And this includes rooting out waste and fraud and abuse in the system. That's how we'll extend the life of Medicare and bring down health care costs for families, and businesses and governments.
And, in fact, it is through these reforms that we achieve the biggest reduction in our long-term deficits since the Balanced Budget Act of the 1990s. So for all those folks out there who are talking about being fiscal hawks and didn't do much when they were in power, let's just remind them that according to the Congressional Budget Office, this represents over a trillion dollars of deficit reduction, but it's being done in a smart way.
And for those who have been suspicious of reform -- and there are a lot of wonderful folks out there who, with all the noise got concerned, because of the miss information that has marred this debate, I just repeat, don't take my word for it. Go to our Web site, whitehouse.gov. Go to the Web sites of major news outlets out there. Find out how reform will affect you. And I'm confident that you will like what you see. A common sense approach that maintains the private insurance system but makes it work for everybody. Makes it work not just for the insurance companies but makes it work for you.
So that's what health reform is all about. Now, as long a road as this has been, we all know our journey is far from over. There's still the work to do to rebuild this economy. There's still work to do to spur on hiring. There's work to do to improve our schools and make sure every child has a decent education. There's still work to do to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. There's more work to do to provide greater economic security to a middle class that has been struggling for a decade.
So this victory does not erase the many serious challenges we face as a nation. Those challenges have been allowed to linger for years, even decades, and we're not going to solve them all overnight.
But as we tackle all these other challenges that we face, as we continue on this journey, we can take our next steps with new confidence, with a new wind at our backs -- because we know it's still possible to do big things in America -
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: -- because we know it's still possible to rise above the skepticism, to rise above the cynicism, to rise above the fear; because we know it's still possible to fulfill our duty to one another and to future generations.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: So, yes, this has been a difficult two years. There will be difficult days ahead. But let us always remember the lesson of this day-- and the lesson of history -- that we, as a people, do not shrink from a challenge. We overcome it.
(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: We don't shrink from our responsibilities. We embrace it. We don't fear the future. We shape the future. That's what we do. That's who we are. That makes us the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
