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Obama Approval Sinks to New Low; Obamacare's "Mona Lisa" Revealed; Toronto Council Debates Crack Smoking Mayor; Typhoon Survivors Lack Necessities; 70 Million Americans Soon Could Take Statins
Aired November 13, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also the top White House tech guy, Todd Park, front and center, forced to testify before yet another hearing on Obamacare.
Plus Incognito.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we just ask you how your trip to L.A. went? Like see anything?
RICHIE INCOGNITO, MIAMI DOLPHINS GUARD: At this point, making no further comment.
COSTELLO: The suspended Dolphin back in Miami waiting to find out what the NFL is going to do with him.
Also --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's be very honest, airlines or companies in any industry don't merge for consumer benefit.
COSTELLO: Mega merger. What the American-U.S. Airways deal means for your next flight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a win for the low cost carriers.
COSTELLO: Health alert. Why your bad cholesterol number may not matter anymore.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin in Washington with an event one White House official calls unfortunate and unnecessary.
I'm talking about the latest Obamacare hearing and its star witness, Todd Park. He's the administration's chief technology officer, the man charged with fixing the problem plagued Obamacare Web site. But instead of working out the glitches this morning Park will be talking to the House Oversight Committee and the latest congressional hearing on the health care law.
Since the Web site launched on October 1st, there have been five hearings, two more including today, are scheduled for this week.
And the controversy around Obamacare seems to be seems to be having an impact on support of the president. A new Quinnipiac poll shows just 39 percent of Americans approve of how the president is doing his job. That's the lowest point ever for this survey. That's compared with 54 percent who disapprove.
Our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is at the White House this morning with more.
Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Senior administration official tells CNN that those long-awaited Obamacare sign-up numbers could be out as soon as today. Meanwhile, White House officials can no longer say it's the Republicans who are the main critics of Obamacare. Democrats are joining forces up on Capitol Hill to hold the president to his promise, if you like your insurance plan, you can keep it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): When it comes to Obamacare, it's not just the president versus Republicans anymore. Even his most loyal Democrats in Congress say it's time to fix it.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: We need to look at the political reality. We need to be open to constructive changes to make this law work better.
ACOSTA: One leading proposal from Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu would make the president keep his promise if you like your insurance plan, you could keep it. Four fellow Democrat including vulnerable incumbents up for re-election next year have signed on.
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: It is very upsetting to someone who supported this bill to have this gummed up. But I think it can be fixed.
ACOSTA: The Democratic defections picked up steam. Former president Bill Clinton urged President Obama to stick to his pledge.
BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I personally believe even if it takes changing the law, the president should honor the commitment to federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got.
ACOSTA: White House officials saying President Obama agrees but they won't say what changes he will support.
(On camera): So the president agrees even if it takes changing the law?
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And when I -- what I just said, Jim, is that the president has instructed his team to look at a range of options.
ACOSTA: The Obamacare fiasco has damaged the president's imagine. A new Quinnipiac poll finds just 39 percent of Americans approve of the job he's doing. What's worse, 52 percent say they don't think the president is honest and trustworthy. His lowest numbers ever in that poll in both categories.
LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC INVESTOR: He is angry. He is right to be angry. He was not well served by his colleagues in the administration.
ACOSTA: Former administration official Larry Summers told CNN's Erin Burnett the president and White House have learned some important Obamacare lessons the hard way.
SUMMERS: You need experts. You need to trust. But even more, you need to verify. You can't go rushing the schedule when you get behind or you end up making more errors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: On another front, the White House had been resisting allowing its chief technology officer Todd Park to appear at a congressional hearing, that House Oversight Committee hearing that you mentioned, Carol. Later on this morning. But last night the White House decided not to defy that subpoena coming from that committee's chairman, Darrell Issa. So they are going to allow him to testify.
And you're right, he is going to be asked about the state of the Web site. Perhaps those Obamacare signup numbers. And speaking of the Web site, Carol, we should also point out that administration officials from the president on down for the last several days have been cautioning Americans that that Web site will not be fully operational, will not be functional for the majority of consumers or all of them that need to get on the Web site and buy insurance.
What they're saying at this point is that it's the vast majority of consumers will be able to use that Web site. Not everybody who is trying to get on at any given moment in the words of a spokesman for the Department of Health and Services. She told earlier this morning that a snapshot of that Web site today, is not the snapshot of the Web site as it will be on November 30th -- So they are scrambling to get it fixed -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Jim Acosta reporting live from the White House this morning.
The enigmatic Mona Lisa of healthcare.gov has been revealed. Her name is Adriana and she told "Good Morning America" her life has been forever changed by that Web site and not for the better. Adriana said that since her face appeared on the Web site, she has been the victim of cyber bullies. She did not share her last name but said she decided to come forward to defend herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADRIANA, MODEL FOR HEALTHCARE.GOV: And I deserve a chance to tell people who I am and just let everybody else say whatever they want. I'm a mother and I'm a wife. And I'm not a professional model.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Adriana says she was told that her images could be used for the Obamacare rollout but she never expected her image would inspire so much hate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST, "DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": Gone. Get out. Whoever is that smiling lady. Although I'm not sure the new home page is an improvement. I think that's --
(LAUGHTER)
ADRIANA: This is actually the reason why I wanted to be here. Because as I kid, I never went through that. But now I am. You know. It's some sort of bullying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is bullying.
ADRIANA: But at the same time, you know, I thought I had to do this for my child. I'm here to stand up for myself and defend myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Adding insult to injury, Adriana says she was never paid for those photos.
While the heat may be turned up on Obamacare, a big chill fell over the eastern half of the country overnight. Did you like that segue? Gusty winds, record cold temperatures and freeze warnings all the way from Texas to Georgia. You're looking at live pictures of New York City. That city getting another early dose of winter after yesterday's snow.
Here down south, in Atlanta, it's even colder this morning. The windchill made it feel like it was in the teens.
Meteorologist Indra Petersons is in New York.
Please tell me it's going to get warm.
(LAUGHTER)
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It actually is. For once you may like me today, Carol. I have good news for you. That cold front, the one that brought the snow, look where it is. It's so far offshore. Yes, we have cold air behind it, but by tomorrow this will all change. First let's talk about what we have to deal with, though, today. These are the current temperatures. Notice where you are. Thirty- three degrees in Atlanta right now, Carol. New York City below freezing at 30. And 20s in Chicago. But this is without the winds that we have. We add in the windchill and it drops. You go down to 27 there in Atlanta. Chicago feels like 14. Boston right now feels like 17.
So this cold air went all the way down even into the south. And that's what we're going to be dealing with as we go through the afternoon. Yes, we're warming up, but not really when you talk about highs only in the 30s for Boston and New York City. Atlanta in the 40s.
I mean, many places here just 15, 20 degrees below normal for even this time of year. But here's the good news. It is the change. This high pressure that's bringing all this cold air in from Canada is going to be moving east. And that is key. Because once it moves east, we get on the back side of this high and we see the winds coming out of the south. That means we actually warm up.
So here is the good stuff you were waiting for. Temperatures, bam, right back to normal or close enough by tomorrow, Carol. You will feel so much better, and so will I, by the way.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: You've already made me feel better. Thank you, Indra Petersons. I appreciate it.
Let's talk about the Miami Dolphins and Richie Incognito because he is back in Miami, although he's not with the Dolphins. Incognito was seen arriving at the Miami International Airport yesterday. His suspension in the alleged bullying of teammate Jonathan Martin is still in place. The Dolphins have to decide by December 2nd whether to put Incognito back on the roster or cut him.
In the meantime the Dolphins' owner Stephen Ross -- Stephen Ross says they'll wait to talk with Martin until after the Dolphins lineman meets with an NFL investigator. That meeting reportedly will happen on Friday in New York City. Ross had planned to meet face-to-face with Martin today.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, thousands of pounds of aid now arriving in the Philippines. But some of the hungriest typhoon survivors still are not getting the help they need.
Andrew Stevens is live in the Philippines this morning.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: That's right. Certainly the aid project is ramping up sharply. We'll be back in just a moment.
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COSTELLO: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford gearing up for a rumble of a jumble. Those were his words. In just about 30 minutes, Ford, along with his brother, will fight to keep Ford's job before the Toronto City Council. It will be a tough fight after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ROB FORD, TORONTO: Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. But no --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When, sir?
FORD: Do I? Am I an addict? No.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When have you --
FORD: Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors. Probably approximately about a year ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Then there was this video where the mayor threatened to kill someone. On city council's agenda today a motion asking the mayor to apologize for misleading people, to cooperate with police and to take a leave of absence. And if he won't agree the council may try to force him out. Rob Ford isn't giving up, though. He says he's making some changes in his personal life and he's defending his political record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORD: Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How are you trying to convince them that you don't need a leave of absence when you misled Toronto --
FORD: I was elected. I was elected to come down here and save taxpayer's money. And I can come up. And I will give you every single dollar that I've saved. I've saved more money than any mayor in Toronto's history. And that's what I'll continue to do tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Toronto City Councilor Jaye Robinson joins us now.
Welcome, Councilor.
JAYE ROBINSON, TORONTO CITY COUNCIL: Hello, Carol.
COSTELLO: Hi. So you have a busy morning. What do you expect the mayor and his brother to say before city council today?
ROBINSON: Well, Carol, clearly in Toronto we have an unfit mayor at this time for the mayor's chair. And many of us have been asking him, pleading with him to take a leave of absence. We now have a poll in Toronto indicating 76 percent of Torontonians want the mayor to step aside and take a leave of absence to address his health issues. People feel he can't do it while he's in office. So today at Toronto City Council, we're going to be debating. A couple of issues are coming forward. One is to ask him to take that leave of absence formally. And the other is to direct this whole issue to the -- our integrity commissioner at city hall.
COSTELLO: Well, the mayor says it's going to be a rumble in a jungle. He's not going to go down without a fight. Will city council try to thwart his remarks in any way?
ROBINSON: Well, he's proven to be a defiant leader. He's steadfast leader. You know, he has been taunting council. He's also been taunting the police to say, come and arrest me. This is really very indicative of his behavior.
And I don't think he's going to get the fight he's looking for. City council are tired of this and we want to move on with the city's business. We have a wonderful city here in Toronto. It's all about arts and culture, tourism, beautiful culinary experiences you're going to have here in Toronto. We celebrate our diversity.
And we just want to move ahead with the pressing issues that face our city on a day-to-day basis.
COSTELLO: Toronto is a beautiful city. I've been there many times.
You were talking about the mayor taunting. Just yesterday, the mayor was signing his official Mayor Ford bobbleheads, raising money for charity. Those bobbleheads sold out and now some of them are going for more than $300 on eBay.
What does that say to you? I mean, he's doing this the day before he's set to appear before city council.
ROBINSON: Well, I think some people are buying them because their part of Ford nation. Some people are buying them I think to mock the mayor. But it is a little unsettling. He is becoming notorious as a mayor in Toronto. We're getting international headlines, Carol, which is a bit upsetting for the residents. We feel it's starting to harm our international reputation as a city, our brand as a city, and possibly even business activities.
So, we don't want that to happen. We want Toronto to be stable. As I said, it's a dynamic city. And our focus as a city council is moving the agenda ahead and putting this side show to the side, literally.
COSTELLO: So, if city council isn't successful in its efforts today, will it help if the police released video of the mayor actually smoking that crack?
ROBINSON: Well, there is more information coming out. We understand there's more videos to come out. We understand that transcripts may be released, therefore disclosing more information. But the truth is no matter what city council does today, it's up to the mayor.
City council can't dictate it. We can only encourage and urge him to do it, to take a leave of absence, and address his percentage issues. So, unfortunately, it's really at the end of the day, it's autopsy to the mayor. But all we can do is give him a slight slap on the wrist.
COSTELLO: Councilor Jaye Robinson, thank you so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
ROBINSON: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
More food, water and other aid is arriving in the Philippines. But many victims of the typhoon are having trouble getting to it. This morning, four more Osprey aircraft left Japan to help the marines in the Philippines. And you can see here, more help is landing in Cebu.
Thousands of pounds of supplies have arrived so far. But more than 2 million people are in need of food. And with power outages and blocked roads, people suffering in the hardest hit areas are not getting the help they need.
CNN's Andrew Stevens is in Tacloban this morning.
Good morning, Andrew.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Certainly, the aid effort has ramped up significantly here. Planes coming in all night now. But the positives are still being outweighed by huge negatives. There is still no relief in this city for most the people. The situation is increasingly desperate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVENS (voice-over): For the first time in six days, small signs of relief.
MARLON OBANDO, PHILIPPINES DEPT. OF SOCIAL WELFARE ND DEVELOPMENT: We need more people to help the current situation.
STEVENS: Desperately needed food, water and medical supplies are finally getting to some of the hard-hit areas of the Philippines, but much more needs to be done. The U.S. military has two Navy ships heading for the region and at least 250 service members on the ground. The extent of the devastation becomes more real by the day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything is gone, our houses, everything. There's nothing to eat. There's nothing to drink.
STEVENS: This first wave of recovery isn't enough to help the thousands who have lost everything.
Filipinos like Jovelyn Taniaga (ph) aren't searching for hope. She's desperately looking for the rest of her family; her husband and three of her six children found among the dead.
Countless images of desperation and intense human suffering, victims praying for help, looking to get out and waiting for answers on what to do next. People living and eating in makeshift homes alongside the remains of their children. Husbands and wives whose lives were cut short by this apocalyptic storm.
As survivors help in the cleanup effort, they make heartbreaking discoveries like this, a makeshift coffin along the side of the road, baby Marian Alcain, just 1 year and 3 months old. Lit just by candle light, the city of Tacloban makes their plea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't have home. We lost our homes. And we have nothing to eat. We really need help now. I hope you are there watching and you see in TV. We really need the help.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEVENS: Now, there's two and a half thousand son tons in aware house in this city which has been opened and is now being shipped out to some of the most desperately in need.
I mean, there is no doubt that this aid is going to make an enormous difference. But it is an enormous task to feed and particularly to water and get medical supplies to so many people who still need it.
COSTELLO: Andrew Stevens live in Tacloban, Philippines, this morning -- thank you.
STEVENS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM: should you be on drugs for your cholesterol? You might be surprised, 70 million Americans may soon find themselves in line for a prescription.
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COSTELLO: Pills. You might be advice to take more pills. The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology think a lot more of us can benefit from drugs that lower cholesterol. New guidelines could double the number of Americans eligible for those cholesterol medications. That would boost the number of people who takes statin for more than 30 million, to upward of 70 million.
Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us to explain this because, gains, it's just another confusing kind of thing you're trying to understand.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, look, you know, as far this issue goes, they call this a tectonic shift in how we're actually approaching heart disease for doctors and nurses that maybe prescribing these medications. But also, as you say, maybe 70 million people taking this one type of medication.
Here's a little bit of a back story.
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GUPTA (voice-over): If you've heard it once from your doctor, you've probably heard it a thousand times. Know your numbers, blood pressure should be 120/80 or less. Your BMI should be under 25. And how about your bad cholesterol level? That should be over 100.
But new guidelines released today by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology say that last number isn't so important any more. Why? They say regardless of what your numbers are in most cases, you might need to be on a cholesterol lowering statin drug.
DR. STEVEN NISSEN, CHAIR OF CARDIOLOGY, CLEVELAND CLINIC: The new guidelines greatly expand the number of Americans that would be eligible to receive statin drugs. We would estimate from about 36 million previously to as many as 72 million now.
GUPTA: So what are these new guidelines? The first two are simple. If you have heart disease you get a statin regardless of your cholesterol numbers. If you have diabetes, type 1 or type 2, you get a statin as well.
The other two, a little bit more complicated. If you have genetically high cholesterol and your bad cholesterol is over 190, you're likely to get a prescription. And if you're between 40 and 75 and your 10- year risk of heart disease is over 7.5 percent, you'll get one, too. Your doctors can help you figure out what your risk really is.
Now although statins do have some pretty significant side effects including muscle pain, weakness, soreness, Dr. Nissen says the benefits clearly outweighed the risks.
NISSEN: The most compelling evidence is that they prevent heart attack and probably stroke as well. The drugs that we use for treating cholesterol are safe. They do have adverse effects. But the serious adverse effects are uncommon.
GUPTA: Dr. Nissen's take is the new guidelines are finally catching up to the latest science on just how many lives could be impacted by these medications.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: OK.
GUPTA: More drugs.
COSTELLO: More drugs. So that's the concern. Some people simply don't like to take drugs. They figure they don't need them.
GUPTA: Yes.
COSTELLO: Pretty healthy right now. So, I'm borderline, but I'm feeling pretty good. I haven't had a heart attack. So, why do I have to take this drug?
GUPTA: I count myself on that list, by the way. I don't like to take medications either, and I'll preface by saying, I think -- I wonder if this is a little bit of white flag waving. I mean, we come on here and talk about diet and exercise all the time. And now, we're going in the other direction. We're saying, double the number of people taking the pills. Look, a lot of this data has been out in some time. In terms of actually reducing the number of heart attacks and strokes, there does seem to be increasing evidence that people on these medications have that benefit.
Whether it makes us live longer, which is another very important question, there's not as much evidence to show that. You know, that big number. They say hundreds of thousands of people dying from heart disease, those numbers may not make much of a movement.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.
GUPTA: You got it.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Toronto City council about to hear from a defiant Mayor Rob Ford.
And Obamacare, back on the hot seat today as the White House's tech chief prepares to face Congress. Live report from Washington, next.
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