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John Kerry Asks for No New Iran Sanctions; Obamacare Enrollment Numbers Coming; Philippines Relief Effort

Aired November 13, 2013 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB FORD, MAYOR OF TORONTO, CANADA: Yes, I have. I have saved more taxpayers' money than any mayor in Toronto's history.

I was elected to come down here and clean up the mess. And I know I have done that. Have I made mistakes, Councillor Thompson? You're absolutely right I made mistakes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And yet you fail to appreciate that perhaps there is a problem there.

FORD: Councillor, I have admitted to my mistakes and I Have said it would not happen again, and it has never happened again at the Air Canada Centre.

(LAUGHTER)

FORD: I can assure you, I am not an alcoholic. I am not a drug addict. Have I drank? Have I done drugs? Yes, I have. But it's self-inflicted, and I hope, Councillor Manleedy (ph), I hope that nobody, but nobody goes through what I have gone through in the last few months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Mayor, do you understand there are some people on this council floor that really want to give you an opportunity (AUDIO GAP) and with addictions, possible addictions, points to particular behavior.

Mr. Mayor, do you recognize there are a few of us who really do want to help you?

FORD: Councillor, it was not -- the reason I drank or did drugs was not because of stress. It was out of sheer stupidity. That's all it was. I'm not going to blame something. I'm not going to use an excuse or a cop-out.

I take full responsibility for my mistakes. I don't know what else I can say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: So with us now is our Ashleigh Banfield and senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. If this were happening in the United States, would a city council have any problem removing a mayor like this?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Almost certainly not. Almost every city council that I'm aware of has some sort of provision like impeachment, where you can remove people who have behaved in such a way that makes it impossible for them to serve.

The Toronto City Council, for some bizarre reason, does not have any such provision, so he can only be removed if he's criminally convicted, and he hasn't even been charged yet. So, as far as I can tell, he can just stay there indefinitely as long as he's not charged.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we spoke to the mayor's brother, who is also on the city council there, his brother. His name is Doug Ford. Doug Ford said his brother's not going anywhere. He really turned around. He was speaking on the floor of the city council and said the same thing to us. He really turned around and went after the other city council members. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG FORD, TORONTO CITY COUNCILLOR: I think everyone should stand up. Anyone who has tried marijuana, has tried illicit drugs, should stand up and admit it. Unfortunately, they're deciding not to do that down there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, he says he's calling on the city council members in Toronto to admit any past transgressions.

Ashleigh Banfield, you are from the great nation of Canada.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that why you invited me here today?

BERMAN: I'm not asking you to answer for your people here, but perhaps just some translations here.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: His approval rating has not slipped. Mayor Rob Ford seems to be doing fine in the polls here. Is his brother, is this just a diversion here? Is he trying to take the focus off the issue? Will that sell?

BANFIELD: I don't think so. I will be honest with you. The approval ratings aren't very current. They're about a week or so ago. As you have seen in this story, there's a development in the story every five minutes that's more unbelievable than the last.

About two-thirds of the people -- and this is pretty unofficial -- actually don't like what they're seeing. But there's a very weird thing that's been playing out there. The city of Toronto was fairly small until it incorporated all those the big suburbs. All those big suburbs felt like they had been left out a lot. Then along comes Rob and it's the man. They like what he did for them. He took away the whole liberal, central downtown politics and gave it back to them. I'm not so sure they're willing to part with that so quickly. But, look, you can't have a guy standing up combative saying, yes, I purchased illegal drugs, yes, I smoked crack cocaine, yes, I have done these things, but I was just loaded, for very long before that starts to bleed through the community enough where maybe it's not appropriate that I have to explain this to my child what crack cocaine is and why the mayor is doing it.

SAMBOLIN: But what about the circus that is happening there? To us, we're looking at it and we're just shocked by that. Is that common?

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: We drink a lot of beer up there, but come on. Honestly, this is such a shock to -- I'm not going to speak for all of Canada. There's a good 30-plus million people up there who have their own minds, and I think people are pretty astounded and very embarrassed that CNN covers the story on a regular basis and it really does besmirch their great character.

Canadians are awesome.

(CROSSTALK)

TOOBIN: I think part of what makes this story frankly so appealing in the United States is it seems so out of character, given our stereotypes about Canada, which is that it's a very law-abiding, very nice country. And you have this wacky mayor. It's just bizarre.

BERMAN: Well, the other thing is, we have a script for this in the United States, which is we have had politicians that had have transgressions of one kind or another, including with substances. They go to rehab. They go to rehab. They come out.

TOOBIN: And then Oprah and Dr. Phil. You have to follow...

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: No, but that's not what's happening in Canada. This guy is saying, sure, I did it. I'm staying.

TOOBIN: Well, and you can see in a kind of perverse way the appeal of a guy who is, as you say, representing not the downtown, not the elite, not the Canadian yuppies, but the more blue-collar parts of Toronto, saying to hell with all the rest of you.

I don't think that lasts a long time. I think ultimately, cooler heads prevail, especially in such a cold place. But it's just -- it can't last forever. You can't have a crack...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: You can't have him stand up today after all of this and say these words and say these words, and I will quote directly. "I'm a positive role model for down-and-out kids."

By this point, people are going to start getting mad. Before, it was a diversion, before, it was funny.

(CROSSTALK)

TOOBIN: And he's the supervisor of the police. And he says he's not cooperating with the police in this investigation. That can't be good.

BANFIELD: He's the chief magistrate.

(CROSSTALK)

SAMBOLIN: I was surprised early on when his approval ratings went up right after he admitted to smoking crack. I thought that was really bizarre.

But you're saying that was long removed and that that should change.

BANFIELD: As this ridiculously quick saga that has really unfolded over the course of number of months, but very intensely in the last two weeks, yes, that poll, so to speak, was right afterwards, and maybe not that many people knew the extent of this or knew the intransigence of this mayor to face reality and at least suggest, perhaps I do need help.

And you know what? He's got two kids. Even if you don't care about your constituents at this point, your kids are going through this every day. I think a lot of people are going to see that.

TOOBIN: Can you say about again?

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: What is this all about, anyway?

(CROSSTALK)

SAMBOLIN: Jeffrey Toobin and Ashleigh Banfield, thank you very much.

BERMAN: We are going to move on right now because we have some breaking news here coming into CNN. Secretary of State John Kerry asking Congress to hold off on any new sanctions against Iran, this as the U.S. and other countries continue negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.

Kerry says -- quote -- "Our hope is that no new sanctions would be put in place for the simple reason that if they are, it could be viewed as bad faith by the people we are negotiating with." He says, "It could destroy the ability to be able to get an agreement, setting us back in dialogue that has taken 30 years to be able to achieve." Kerry is, of course, fresh off a sort of failed round of negotiations, at least one that did not succeed in reaching a deal. He's now reaching with senators behind closed doors on the status of the Iran negotiations, again calling on the U.S. Congress to pass no new sanctions because he wants to keep on negotiating. We will have more on the breaking news coming up.

SAMBOLIN: Meantime, in just minutes, the numbers everyone has been waiting for. The White House will be releasing enrollment numbers for Obamacare, this as we learn just how many Californians are getting health care cancellation letters as a result of Obamacare.

Joining me now is our investigations correspondent, Chris Frates.

Chris, what's happening in California? You have some big numbers to report.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Zoraida.

We just learned that about a million people in the state of California got cancellation letters. California is a big state with 38 million residents, but this is getting a lot of attention. Who are these one million people?

Well, these are people who had private health insurance. Here's why they had Obamacare canceled. Under Obamacare, all insurance policies must include 10 essential benefits. These are things like maternity care and prescription drug coverage.

If your plan doesn't meet the criteria, the insurance company send cancellation notices. So, some private insurers will offer new plans, but for some, that could increase their premiums. For other people who might qualify for a subsidy under Obamacare, it could be cheaper.

SAMBOLIN: And what are the options for all of these people?

FRATES: Well, that's the big dilemma here, Zoraida. The reason they're doing this is because the Obama administration want to get rid of what they call junk plans. They want to make sure everyone has quality coverage.

Fortunately, for people in California, they have the state exchange. It's working better than healthcare.gov, but there's still been reports of problems there.

SAMBOLIN: All right, so this one million number is really big. But is this happening across the country as well?

FRATES: Absolutely. And, remember, the administration and the insurance industry knew this was going to happen.

There's been estimates from seven million to 12 million people nationwide who would be canceled. But the Obama administration has repeatedly said that many of these people are trading up to better plans.

SAMBOLIN: All right, Chris Frates, thank you very much for that. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: Yes. And this news for the White House could be very troubling coming at a tough, tough time for President Obama. His new poll numbers, they are plummeting. The health care Web site still very much broken. And now we're getting word that House Democrats just went to the White House and had some heated words for White House officials, demanding that the administration fix all this.

We will talk about this political mess coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: So you would have a tough time selecting the worst piece of news the president got today. But you might start here, his approval rating. Today, it has sunk to an all-time personal low, 39 percent. The poll is by Quinnipiac University. And take a look at this. More than half of Americans, 52 percent, to be exact, now think President Obama is untrustworthy.

BERMAN: And that is a brutal president for any president as soon as the voters no longer the candidate. It's long been one of this president's strongest suits.

And now the president's fellow Democrats, they seem to be getting the message from this poll, and they're getting increasingly worried, even angry, about the rollout.

We're joined now by Gloria Borger, CNN's chief political analyst.

Gloria, we heard from Dana Bash. The Democrats, House Democrats were at the White House expressing their frustration, really demanding that something be done about this. It does seem actually they have gone beyond frustration to almost an active split from the White House. They have made it clear they will vote for action.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, they're on the line.

Their credibility is on the line, as well as the White House's credibility. You see what's happened to the president. I mean, his honesty ratings have dropped 10 points just since earlier this fall. And that's due clearly to the rollout of Obamacare and the promise that you could keep your health care plan if you like your health care plan.

So they're talking to the White House and saying, you folks don't seem to understand how bad this is in our districts, and in our states. And we need to fix this.

And what the White House is saying up until recently, and we will see what they say later today, is, look, we would rather do this administratively, because if we do it through legislation, we open a whole Pandora's box.

By the way, I was speaking to somebody in the insurance industry earlier today who pointed out to me that if you actually delay enrollment legislatively, what's going to happen is premiums are going to go up for 2015 and guess when those increases in insurance premiums will be announced? Right around the 2014 midterm elections. And guess who will get blamed for that? Democrats. They're kind of facing a lose-lose situation right now.

BERMAN: And, of course, the secretary of explaining things, Bill Clinton, yesterday stepped out and said the president should do something to make sure that people can keep their insurance. But, as you said, what that something would be is very difficult.

There are people who have speculated right on this show, Amy Holmes, who works for The Blaze, that one of the reasons that Bill Clinton may have said what he said was to create some political cover for Hillary Clinton, to make it possible for her to create some space separate from the president on health care. Why am I bringing this up? Because there's a new poll out today from Quinnipiac University showing a number we haven't seen before, showing Hillary Clinton losing in a matchup for president, this time against Chris Christie, down by one point, statistically insignificant

But again in most of the polls we have seen over the last few months, these hypothetical tests of what an election might look like years down the line, she's been winning. This seems to be maybe even affecting her.

BORGER: Well, that poll is interesting. First of all, the caveat is, of course, we have a long way to go before the next election.

But if you dig deeper into that poll, what I was interested in was the question about how the independent voters broke down. And in that poll, independent voters favored Chris Christie by 16 points as opposed to Hillary Clinton.

I think what you're going to see is Hillary Clinton moving, you know, to the middle. That seems to be where the independent voters are, as you know. So I don't know whether Bill Clinton was trying to give her political cover or not. I presume that Bill Clinton is a really smart guy, and he's always working on behalf of his spouse, but I also think he probably thinks it's the right thing to do, if you can do it in a way that doesn't make all the dominoes fall.

And don't forget, one thing depends on another depends on another. You can't crash this risk pool here, or the whole paradigm collapses for the Affordable Care Act. So it's very complicated. Seems very simple. OK, let's just delay the enrollment deadline, but these things have consequences, and people could see their premiums go up right around the midterms.

BERMAN: Difficult times for the president. And they could continue today when we are expecting to get the actual enrollment numbers for the month of October.

BORGER: They lowballed it for us, and we're just going to see if they were lowballing it enough.

BERMAN: We will wait and see. We will of course cover that here live. Gloria Borger, thanks so much.

SAMBOLIN: There was angry, emotional testimony today at the federal sentencing for the convicted mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger. About a dozen family members of his victims spoke directly to the 84-year-old. Some even called him a rat and Satan.

Bulger had a chance to address the court and families, but he declined without even looking at them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he was scared. I think he was afraid to turn around and see that mass of people and all those families he affected. I think he was scared. I think he was scared to face up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: Bulger will be sentenced for conspiracy and racketeering tomorrow morning. He faces life in prison.

BERMAN: Coming up for us, next, the disaster in the Philippines from Super Typhoon Haiyan. Rescuers and relief have begin the painstaking process. They're sorting through the rubble there, armed guards patrolling the streets.

Now, though, people getting crushed to death in stampedes for food. We will tell you everything that's happening there -- back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back, everyone.

In the Philippines, eight people were crushed to death in a stampede who were trying to get food. Police just stood by as the crowd mobbed a government warehouse yesterday and took about 100,000 sacks of rice. Grief and shock linger for typhoon survivors and young children grappling with the scenes of carnage there. Listen to this little girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have seen dead people on the streets and the sidewalk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: It's terrible. So many evacuees have lived through really horrific days. Millions of dollars in aid have been pledged to help all the people there, but there appears to be a bottleneck.

And a U.N. official says typhoon relief efforts are far too slow.

I would like to bring in correspondent Anna Coren. She's in the town of Cebu for us.

So, Anna, we're seeing all these images of hungry, very desperate people. What is taking so long for food and aid to reach them?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zoraida, to be quite frank, it's just a lack of planes, a lack of helicopters, a lack of resources.

We are here at the Cebu air base, which is the staging ground for this massive relief operation. And this is the first night that it's been running 24 hours. It's coming up to 4:30 a.m., and there's a lot more activity here than we have seen in the last six days, which really is frightening, considering the people on the ground so desperately need that aid.

But, certainly, in the last 12 hours, we have seen planes fly in from the United States, from Australia, from Taiwan, bringing in much- needed aid. These people need food, they need medical supplies, they need clean drinking water. You know, these people are homeless. They have lost absolutely everything.

So, basically, now that the international community is here on the ground, it's hoped that this aid, which is here, stacked up along the tarmac, will get to these people who so desperately need it.

SAMBOLIN: Well, we certainly hope so. We have seen all these incredible images. There was one mother who had covered her two children, two dead children, with some tarp and was looking for three that were still missing. How are they coping with this overwhelming grief and loss?

COREN: Yes, these people are traumatized. You know, they come off these planes. They're evacuated out of these hard-hit centers, and they are the walking wounded.

We came across one woman yesterday, a 53-year-old woman, Zoraida, who had been in the typhoon with her 16-year-old daughter and her elderly father. They were holding on to each other, and then the storm surge hit. And this is obviously what claimed so many lives. She said she couldn't hold on to them any longer. I think we have the sound for you that we would like to play. Let's take a listen to she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I lost my daughter, my 16-year-old daughter. I told her during the evacuation, go, go, go. Leave -- live me and your Lolo (ph) -- but my daughter said, no, mama, I can't leave you. I can't leave you and Lolo (ph). I can't leave you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Absolutely heartbreaking. And she is one of so many with similar stories. It is a dire situation, but, Zoraida, it is hoped that if that aid gets there, you know, very soon, that it may help ease some of the suffering.

SAMBOLIN: Well, it is certainly tragic and sad, but we're very grateful to have you there, Anna Coren. Thank you. Appreciate it. And you can go to CNN.com/Impact to see how you can help those affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan. There is a lot of information on there, if you're so inclined to give.

BERMAN: It's a great resource. And so many people do want to reach out and help. So, we encourage you to visit that site.

SAMBOLIN: Yes. Yes.

BERMAN: Coming up next for us here: Jake Tapper anchoring special coverage, as the White House gets ready to release the official Obamacare enrollment numbers. In a lot of ways, this is the number that everyone has been waiting for, and it is coming up next.

Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)