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CNN Live At Daybreak

Interview With Dr. Bernadine Healy

Aired November 07, 2001 - 08:05   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Charities sprang into action after September 11, raising hundreds of millions of dollars. The American Red Cross leads the way in donations.

On Capitol Hill yesterday, the outgoing Red Cross president fielded some very tough questions about money raising and money distribution. More from CNN's Peter Viles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The soon-to-be ex- president of the American Red Cross comforting a September 11 widow on Capitol Hill. But soon, she faced a barrage of criticism that the 9/11 charities are a mass of red tape and confusion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why then haven't these charities been able to get together and agree on one uniform application? Why haven't they been able to get together and develop a quicker way for families to receive these funds? We all have the missing persons reports, death certificates, and any other proof needed to avoid fraud, but the charities are not sharing these documents and information with each other.

VILES: Healy was hammered for the Red Cross' decision to put aside nearly half the money it has raised for future needs, perhaps for future terrorist attacks.

ELIOT SPITZER, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: I see the Red Cross, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars that was intended by the donating public to be used for the victims of September 11. I see those funds being sequestered into long-term plans for an organization.

REP BILLY TAUZIN (R), LOUISIANA: What's at issue here is that a special fund was established for these families. It was specially funded for this event, September 11. And it is being closed now because we're told enough money's been raised in it. But we're also being told, parenthetically, by the way, we're going to give two- thirds of it away to other important Red Cross needs.

VILES: Healy, who has announced her resignation effective at year's end, defended the decision.

BERNADINE HEALY, PRESIDENT, RED CROSS: The liberty fund is a war fund. It has evolved into a war fund. We must have blood readiness. We must have the ability to help our troops if we go into a ground war. We must have the ability to be there for the victims of tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And now, it's time to hear directly from Dr. Healy herself. She joins us from Washington this morning -- thank you very much for being with us.

Boy, did you get skewered yesterday. What was it like to be on the receiving end of that?

BERNADINE HEALY, PRESIDENT, RED CROSS: Well, you know, I think that it is inevitable, and we welcome public scrutiny of the expenditures of the Red Cross on this event of 9/11 and its aftermath. And, Paula, we, from the beginning, stressed that this is about the range of Red Cross activities. The first and foremost effort is for those people, who were victimized at three different sites: New York, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon. And actually, we helped 25,000 people, not just 5,000 people.

I think where there is confusion is that the Red Cross has a broad range of responsibilities, even to those victims on the site. And we're not just funneling money to one group, the 5,000 who died, but we're there for them too, and we need to get that message out. We have tried very hard. Perhaps these hearings will help us get it out further.

ZAHN: OK, Dr. Healy, though, try to put yourself in the position that that young widow was in yesterday. She hears these numbers. You say, in all, $300 million will be doled out to families. So far -- and correct me if these numbers are incorrect, I think this came out of the testimony yesterday -- 120 million have -- 121 million have been paid out so far. So that leaves $179 million for disbursement. Why hasn't that reached young families like this widow who testified yesterday?

HEALY: Of course, this young widow applied with our one-page sheet of paper without requirements (UNINTELLIGIBLE). She applied, and within two days, she got a check for almost $30,000, I think it was $27,000, within two days. And that was brought out at the hearing.

So I think the Red Cross was there for her, and was there for her without red tape and very quickly. But I think...

ZAHN: Yes, but you no doubt have heard some of these stories about a woman...

HEALY: Oh, I know.

ZAHN: ... who had 18-page spreadsheets, trying to justify why she...

HEALY: But that was not the Red Cross. But that was not the Red Cross. I think in fairness -- and she acknowledged that in that hearing. But she's a desperate woman. She needs help. There are so many different charities.

But one of the great things about the American Red Cross, Paula, is what we do is very clear, and we have obligations to the federal government, under our congressional charter, to be sure that we help the victims at the site. And this is the largest expenditure of resources that we have ever spent for victims. Actually, in total, it will exceed $200 million. We've spent close to $150 million of it already.

We are committed to them. But, Paula, we have the commitment of the whole country for the threats that are out there now. We have an obligation to make sure there isn't a shortage of blood, like we're hearing vaccines and antibiotics. We cannot forget the victims of today and tomorrow.

The anthrax victims, we are there for them. And it's almost as if, you know, World War II was just about Pearl Harbor. Of course, you worry about Pearl Harbor. You respond to it. But we're in a new kind of war. The president has told us that. We see it every day, through your reporting and others. And the Red Cross, in the beginning, has said this is for the threatening time we're in, not just for New York or Pennsylvania or the Pentagon. And we need to get that message out.

I believe that when people give to us, a large number of them give to us, because of that broad readiness mission, and I think that may be why we have raised $500 million.

ZAHN: All right. But that, of course, is where the conflict is, because you had some esteemed representatives saying that is not what people bargained for when they wrote their checks out. They assumed that it was going to go directly to these families in need, and not be used down the road.

HEALY: Well, down the road is only for this new kind of war we're in. Do you know within the first 24 hours, the biggest check we got was $3 million for the strategic blood reserve? People gave. We have international contributions, which were for the international people, who were stranded or who lost loved ones or who were in a hospital.

So, we have this broad range of obligations. They're the obligations we had in World War I and World War II. The obligations we always have to respond across the lines of our services. We are doing exactly what we're programmed to do. It just happens that this particular terrorist threat is calling on so many lines of service.

And believe me, we have taken out full-page ads, we've done PSAs of talking about healing and grieving in every community in America. We talk about the work that we have to do, in terms of blood readiness. We talk about the work that we're doing with our military.

ZAHN: Come back, though, to the issue of the $179 million that still hasn't paid out. When can some of these family members expect some of that money, if they qualify? How quickly can that happen?

HEALY: We issue checks to the families. Remember, we do the first three months. Get people on their feet with dignity, give them a check as quickly as we can. Usually 24-48 hours is our goals. And

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: And you might extend that, right? You might extend that beyond six months?

HEALY: We're talking about extending it to six months. But that money, I think, 150 out of the 200 that we knew we would need to help the victims directly. And remember, it's 25,000 victims. It's not just a cash program. It's people stranded in airports. It's helping our recovery workers, feeding them. It's shelters for people who are displaced from their homes. Our work even with the victims. It's 25,000 victims so far. It's not just 5,000.

But the cash program to families, which is one part of what we did, is the largest. We've never done this large. And I think over 50 million of the 100 million we thought we'd need are already in the hands of people. And, you know, 25,000 people, I mean 2,500 people roughly have applied for that, and have gotten their money, including this young widow, who got $27,000 tax-free. That is a lot of money to help her get through just the first three months. And it's what she asked us for, by the way.

So, you know, we're trying so hard to help these desperate people, but also to help you, to help communities across this country, who see this threat, and also, to make sure we are not short of blood tomorrow, which we would be if we aren't scaling up to a wartime level.

ZAHN: All right. You've brought up the issue of blood. And you know, the list is so long of the amount of, you know, criticism you're taking right now. But people have been highly critical of the fact that you ran a blood drive, when it seemed so apparent to city officials here that you weren't going to need this blood. And in fact, it went bad.

Do you have any regrets about calling for people to donate blood at that time?

HEALY: Well, first of all, New York did not need blood, tragically, but our nation needs blood. We need to be ready with blood. Our inventories are generally too low to handle threats of this kind of an attack. With regards...

ZAHN: But didn't a lot of this blood go bad?

HEALY: No. All of the blood is collected, you use the plasma. The red cells, at 42 days, will outdate. We always have outdating at 42 days, but we are freezing -- we have scaled up a freezing program, so that the important blood, the O blood, was frozen, so that we have a reserve of blood for tomorrow's terrorist attack. And the blood collections are critical. In fact, the White House told us, keep collecting blood. We drove our inventories up from a very, very low level, you know, three days to 10 days, and we're going to try and maintain them at 10 days. We might need blood for the ground troops, to help the military. We could suddenly be faced with the need for 100,000 units of blood tomorrow, Paula.

If we don't have it, the public is going to look at the Red Cross and say, you have failed your obligations under your congressional charter to have blood there for us. Now, when all of these threats go away, that's a different thing, but we are...

ZAHN: All right.

HEALY: ... under this terrible threat now.

ZAHN: Final question for you this morning.

HEALY: Yes.

ZAHN: We talked a little bit the last time we spoke, you know, you have been criticized for having the Red Cross join this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to help, you know, track donations. You've been criticized for being too aggressive for fund raising. You were criticized for your decision to withhold American Red Cross funds from an international group that won't allow Israel into overarching group of -- I guess what would you call them -- a group of Red Cross services.

In the end, why are you being forced out of the Red Cross? And we'll leave up on the screen what "The Washington Post" has said about it. Which of those reasons is the reason why you're being forced to get out?

HEALY: Oh, you know, there were some differences of opinion. You know, you have a strong CEO and a strong board. You know, that happens in many places. You replace baseball managers, you know. You replace coaches. I think the biggest issue is this is a great organization. I think it needs strong leadership, and I have no doubt that there will be strong leadership in the future.

ZAHN: So you can't...

HEALY: But let me tell you...

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: ... one thing for us this morning...

HEALY: No, there are...

ZAHN: ... your single biggest mistake here?

HEALY: Well, I mean, I think that I am strong. I am a change agent, and many of those issues were about principle. For example, confidentiality of the patients we serve, of the people we serve -- you see, I'm a doctor. That's a critical issue. And it's a policy of the Red Cross, and as soon as we get over making sure that confidentiality won't be violated, and people will provide waivers of confidentiality, then we'll put names in that New York database.

But until that is dealt with, it is a principle. There is a principle about the fact that the Israeli Red Cross is not part of the family of Red Cross, and Red Crescent societies. And, you know, when you're strong, and you feel strongly about those issues, you know, not everybody always agrees with it. I honor that. I respect it.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: Does being a woman have anything...

HEALY: Well...

ZAHN: I need a brief answer. Does being a woman have anything to do with this, Dr. Healy? You have been controversial...

HEALY: Well...

ZAHN: ... throughout your career, because you took on many jobs for the first time by a woman.

(CROSSTALK)

HEALY: Well, that's right. And I'm not a Mary Poppins. You're right. I'm no Mary Poppins. And what can I say? I mean, other people have said that. I have never used that as an issue, but you know, you'll have to decide that, Paula.

ZAHN: And we will let our viewers decide. Thank you so much, Dr. Healy. We will like to check in with you in a couple of weeks ago, and see -- weeks from now to see how the disbursement of funds continues -- appreciate your time this morning.

HEALY: Thank you, Paula.

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