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House To Vote Today On Obamacare Fix; Insurance Execs To Meet With Obama Today; Toronto Council Votes For Mayor To Resign; Chilling Surveillance Video Inside Mall Shooting; Passenger False 1,800 Feet From Plane; Florida Sinkhole Grows To 90-Feet Wide; Fact Versus Fiction On Obamacare "Fix"; Should Obama Fire Sebelius?; Dow Closes In On 16,000; China To Ease One Child Policy; Typhoon Haiyan Death Toll Rises To 3,621

Aired November 15, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: But let's go back to Mr. Obama and his extraordinary mea culpa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: That's on me. We fumbled the rollout on this health care law. There are a whole bunch of things about it that are working really well, which people didn't notice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us now. I don't think anybody is going to notice in the House of Representatives either if anything good about Obamacare.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Democrats certainly are, as you can imagine, talking about how important it is not to gut this law because of the benefits that it has for so many who don't have health insurance or have bad plans. That really is the heart of why Democrats are hoping -- are trying to stop the defections of their fellow Democrats to vote for this Republican bill.

Because as you said, it not only would, as the president is proposing, allow people to keep their canceled plans, but it would allow people who don't have the plans to get the policies that don't have the benefits that Obamacare has. I just want you to listen to some of the debate on the House floor about this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE TOM MCCLINTOCK (R), CALIFORNIA: Yesterday we heard yet another empty promise from the president. That by fiat he can delay provisions of law under Obamacare that have already cost a staggering 5 million Americans their health insurance. Now notice that he has not changed the law. He has simply said that he will ignore the law and he invites health insurers to do the same. This is a constitutional abomination.

REPRESENTATIVE FRANK PALLONE (D), NEW JERSEY: Don't buy into the GOP spin that they're offering a solution to address the insurance policies that have not been renewed by the insurance companies. They can paint this in a different color and dress it up any way they like, but don't be fooled. This is just the 46th Republican attempt to strip Americans of their access to affordable health insurance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, whether or not that's true, the question at this point is going to be how many Democrats do defy that and defect. And that is really the whole issue and whole challenge that was driving the president's timing of his announcement yesterday.

And that's also why, Carol, we expect to see a Democratic alternative to give the Democrats cover in the hopes that they don't vote for this the Republican plan and show a real split, a real divide in the Democratic Party, illustrate one that we know really exist.

COSTELLO: Well, going back to that constitutional question. The president also delayed the employer mandate and he did with without Congress's approval, but nobody is complaining about that.

BASH: That's a great point. They're not complaining about that. At least the Republicans are saying we think it's great that you did that and you should do it for the individual mandate as well. It won't be the first time that people here in Congress in both parties pick and chose where they think the constitution is being ripped apart and whether it's not. That's a great point.

COSTELLO: All right, Dana Bash reporting live. We'll check back with you. Thanks so much.

The Toronto city council has introduced a petition demanding the immediate resignation of its embattled mayor. Councilors are now meeting to come up with a plan to deal with Rob Ford. As you know, he's refusing to step down despite the laundry list of allegations against him, including abuse and prostitutes, admission of crack cocaine use, and topping it all off yesterday, he used a sexually graphic comment for which he later apologized.

Nic Robertson has been in that city council meeting in Toronto. So what's happening, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, they're trying to do by other means what they couldn't do a couple of days ago, which was get him to step down. Now they're trying to strip his powers. What they are trying to do is take away in this session his power to appoint senior staff position. But you know what? Mayor Ford isn't going down without a fight.

His lawyer has issued a statement saying that the council cannot interfere or reduce with the statutory responsibilities of the mayor. And inside that chamber, we've seen Mayor Ford stand up and almost question job by job by job with the clock in the council who has responsibility for each of those positions that they want to take the power away from him. He's not going down without a fight, Carol. It's getting quite dramatic in there. COSTELLO: So this could -- this council meeting could be quite lengthy. It's not as simple as just passing a bill and stripping the mayor of his powers. Why can't they just do that?

ROBERTSON: They have to follow procedure. They've allowed an hour and a half for this point on procedure then there will be another vote on another power that they want to strip away from him, responsibilities during an emergency situation. So he's lengthening the process by debating and asking questions, but the vote will come. And I think it's pretty clear which way the vote will go.

You know what's really interesting this morning is that his older brother Doug -- Councilman Doug Ford, he is not inside the session when we were in there a few minutes ago. That's interesting because he's been the biggest advocate for Mayor Ford. He's not there. We heard yesterday from sources here that his brother is telling him you need to step aside. Interesting he is not in there to support Mayor Ford's younger brother right now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nic Robertson, you'll continue to monitor. We'll get back to you. Thanks so much.

In other news this morning at six minutes past, chilling new surveillance video showing what it was like to be in inside that New Jersey mall with a shooter on the loose. WNBC first obtained this footage that show sheer panic on shoppers' faces earlier this month. They are scared and running for their lives from this gun man. You'll also see Richard Shoop. He's dressed in black eerily making his way around the mall before he eventually killed himself. Amazingly, no one injured in this shooting.

Also this morning, the Coast Guard desperately searching the waters off Miami for a person they believe fell from a small plane without a parachute.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Mayday, mayday, mayday! I have a door ajar. And I'm heading to Tamiami.

UNIDENTIFIED CONTROLLER: OK, do you want to go to Tamiami and land. You have a door open, is that what you say?

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: I have a door ajar and a passenger that fell down.

UNIDENTIFIED CONTROLLER: You said you had a passenger that fell out of your plane?

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: That's correct, sir. He opened the back door and he just fall down the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED CONTROLLER: OK. I got your spot marked where a passenger fell out then you want to go, you want to go land at Tamiami now?

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: That's correct, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Authorities are investigating if that passenger accidentally fell, deliberately jumped or was pushed. They also say they're treating this as a recovery mission because it's unlikely that anyone could have survived that fall.

The sinkhole that's already swallowed up parts of two homes in Florida continues to grow. That's according to the last reports. It's upwards of 90 feet wide and 60 feet deep. This morning dump trucks loaded with dirt will try to fill up the hole in an effort to stabilize it and of course, prevent it from getting any bigger.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM", as if Obamacare wasn't confusing enough, now we're adding extensions and fixes. But maybe the politicians really don't want you to understand what's going on. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now, a little bit of perspective. I know you've heard the president's insurance fix may drive up premiums. But keep in mind we're talking about something like 12 million to 14 million Americans who have policies on the individual markets, some of which may not need the Obamacare requirements. Eighty five percent of you already have insurance, mostly through your employers and for those people, all of you, nothing will change because the rates have been locked in this year. You won't hear much of that in the debate to come. It will all be about politics.

John Avlon and Will Cain are here to talk about that. Welcome to you both.

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning to you.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you, Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, in watching President Obama yesterday, it was extraordinary to hear him admit to so many failures, to hear him say I'm a human being. I made mistakes, I'm sorry. I didn't know the rollout was going to be as bad because nobody told me. All of those are disturbing things for Americans to hear so you have to wonder, Will, how damaged the president is over this.

CAIN: He's completely damaged, Carol, because his credibility has been shot and I have to say it's not true that he didn't know these things were going to happen. That it's a fumbled rollout. Of course, when it comes to the website, it is. But the current controversy at least the focus of much of the current controversy, the people losing their plans, they knew that was going to happen. It was by design.

The plan was for those people to like the offerings on Obamacare so much that they would forget about the fact he said if you like your plan, you can keep it. There was never an intention for that statement to be true.

COSTELLO: Do you believe that, John?

AVLON: No. I mean, what happened was the law got changed. Originally there was a grandfather clause in place and then the devil being in the details, especially when lobbyist start writing regulations, these things have a magical way of disappearing. But you said let's start this with perspective. I think that's important. Perspective is the only thing we had at least had in politics, Carol.

There is a second term curse in presidencies. Inevitably they are hobbled. There are people asking whether this Obama is Katrina. The parallel doesn't really work. But the idea that his credibility is completely shot over what is a screwed up rollout of the signature plan, doesn't really hold water. What matters is how he pivots the facts on the ground.

Changes facts on the ground require a new strategy and that's why the president went out yesterday. It's necessary politically, it's necessary in practical terms, and people are saying it's all over and let's call the Obama administration over. I mean, I think frankly they're projecting their own partisan and philosophical desires on the conversation, a lot more in dealing with reality.

COSTELLO: But wouldn't it send a message to the American people if he -- I mean, I always harp on this. Why doesn't he fire someone over this? Taking all the blame is great, but don't you have to find someone who is responsible for this mess and fire them? Wouldn't that give the president more credibility, Will?

CAIN: That would require firing himself.

COSTELLO: Come on, it would not.

CAIN: We keep granting the assumption that it was a mistake. When it comes to the web site, there were mistakes made and Major Garrett asked him the question the other day. When did you know? Did you not know? He said two weeks ahead of time, 'I didn't'. That's very, very implausible, very difficult to believe.

But if you understand the policy of this program, you understand that it was intended for people to be kicked off their current insurance so they would go into the exchanges. Carol, for context, you started out by suggesting for 85 percent of the people they continue their employer-based plans. Shall we not forget that less than a year from now, the employer mandate kicks in?

And you don't think the plans are going to change? You don't think that people that were told if you like your plan you can keep it will not see them change? Get ready for this all to happen again on a larger scale one year from now.

COSTELLO: That's the things because so many things we don't and frankly the politicians and political analysts aren't making things any clearer for people.

CAIN: Yes, we are.

COSTELLO: No, you're not.

CAIN: You're not listening.

AVLON: Hopefully we're helping cut through some of this. You're not going to get a lot of truth out of Washington because everyone has their own agenda. Will told the truth a second ago, when he fantasized that his perfect world President Obama who would fire himself over this screw up. A lot of Republicans are not interested in solving the problem of the Obamacare rollout.

What they're pretending in a cure is a thinly veiled attempt to kill it. They want it to be ended and they want the president to no longer to be president. And when that's the agenda that you enter the conversation with, you're not actually invested in solving the problem.

COSTELLO: Will, House Speaker John Boehner said as much yesterday that Obamacare should go away. Also, if the insurance industry says that the president's fix will raise premiums. You would have to assume that the bill that's now on the floor of the House will also raise premiums. Why don't anyone care about that?

CAIN: The Republican plan, I will be clear with you, is not a fix to Obamacare. John is correct. It undercuts Obamacare. By the way, so does the president's. This fake fix we heard about yesterday would also raise premiums. They're both trying to disavow themselves of this political grenade that I had that is if you like your plan you can keep it.

The truth is this Obamacare was a house built upon sand. Republicans said it was for years. And now, and now that the sand is melting away from underneath this thing, it's amazing how many times we have to hear, why don't you help fix it? We told you this was flawed. It's beginning to fail and --

COSTELLO: There are still 40 million people without insurance.

CAIN: You know what's funny, we're adding to those rolls.

AVLON: Let's not -- Will, I mean, first of all, let's not live in a fantasy land. You talk about Republicans warning about Obamacare. No doubt they've been unified in opposition. But let's not forget this was a Republican plan. It was going back to the Republican alternative to Hillarycare and implemented by Mitt Romney. The idea behind it was there should have been buy partisan support from the beginning.

And if there wasn't, there should be in terms of fixing it. If they're going to get serious, they have an obligation to propose something different to solve a problem. They never get to replace. And until they do that, they're not going to be taken seriously on this issue. They can't say they care about people more than the politics of it.

COSTELLO: And may I just end this debate by saying the president's approval rating is 39 percent and Congress' is 9 percent.

CAIN: And Rob Ford's is 48 percent.

COSTELLO: John Avlon, Will Cain, many thanks.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM", another day, another record on Wall Street, the Dow just a stone's throw away from 16,000. But is it real?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Dow is now within 100 points of a major milestone. I'm talking about it is going to hit 16,000 very soon. Let's head to New York and Christine Romans. If it hits 16,000, what does it mean? It means like people who already have investments on Wall Street are making money. But some people say it's a bubble, I guess. That's the best way to put it.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: There was a senator yesterday that called a sugar high when they were in the Janet Yellen confirmation hearing over at Senate Banking Committee because it's the fed that's been pumping all the money into the economy, buying bonds, a sugar high is what one senator called it. But if it's a sugar high, it still tastes good for now.

And it has been good for your 401(k), but you are right, Carol, a lot of discussion about when there will be some sort of a pull back. We haven't seen that and a lot of professional traders and professional investors who have been banking and selling some of their stocks, they've missed a lot of this move.

Let me show you what the move looks like so far this year, Carol. Dow is up 21 percent. That's pretty amazing for a one-year return, 11- month return. The Nasdaq is up 32 percent. The S&P 500 is up 26 percent. You point out psychological, yes, 16,000, would be a psychological number in the next couple of days. If you had a couple of good days, you could get there. It is a psychological number.

But why is -- what does that number mean? It means that the companies that are in that index have record profits, a lot of money in the bank, a slowly improving economy. They've been able to manage a slowly improving economy and make more money, and when they make more money, their stock goes up and that's why you have stocks moving higher.

About half of America, Carol, are invested in the market. A lot of you are saying, this has been a bad few years for me. People who are savers who don't have money in the stock market, just consider CDs or interest on bank savings, it's been hard for them.

COSTELLO: It's been really hard because you get nothing for your money anymore. It's terrible. It's a crime, actually in my book because the banks are making money, right? We could get into all of this. I know what you're going to say.

ROMANS: They are making money. COSTELLO: They are and the people who put their money in the banks are not. Thanks, Christine. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the "NEWSROOM", which fix will be the fix for Obamacare, the president has his plan. The House has its plan. We'll discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks for joining me. Let's check our top stories at 28 minutes past.

China is announcing major shifts to a decade's old policy. It's easing the rule that limits most families to one child. The system initially put into place to ease population growth, but widely criticized for resulting in forced abortions. Now couples will be allowed two children if one of the parents was an only child. China is also abolishing labor camps. Those labor camps used since the 1950s to deal with those who challenged the government.

To Toronto now where city council members have voted for the immediate resignation of embattled Mayor Rob Ford. They are also discussing stripping the mayor of his power. Of course, all of these actions come after a string of serious allegations, bizarre behavior, and crude comments. Ford is defiant. He still says he will not leave his job.

More than 3,000 people now reported dead in the Philippines following the super typhoon. Upwards a thousand still missing. For the survivors, sickness, hunger and thirsts are just some of the many problems they face and some towns remain totally cut off from the outside world. CNN's Ivan reports. It's also left a lot of families separated and desperate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a grueling 22-hour journey by boat, Adel Siguan has finally reached her home town and she only has one thing on her mind.

ADEL SIGUAN, MOTHER: I bring water for my friends.

WATSON: Adel wants to see her 8-year-old boy who she hasn't been able to talk to since the storm cut off ties to this remote fishing town nearly a week ago.

(on camera): Not knowing about your son, how has it felt for you?

SIGUAN: Of course, I can't sleep. I can't eat. I don't know what to do because I'm eager to know what's happening him.

WATSON (voice-over): Adel can't believe how the typhoon devastated her town. The storm crippled the local government.

(on camera): Any phones?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No communication whatever, whatsoever, outside.

WATSON (voice-over): But local officials are improvising. They've set up a service to fly handwritten messages to the outside world.

(on camera): Incredible, there's a note here for Cesaro Motancez (ph).