Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
House Passes Health Reform; Army Investigator: Accused Ft. Hood Shooter Acted Alone
Aired November 08, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is November 8th. Hopefully, it's a great morning where you are. Thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Eight a.m., where we sit here in Atlanta, Georgia; 7:00 a.m. in the Chi-town; 5:00 a.m. out in San Diego. Thanks for being here.
And it was a party last night...
NGUYEN: Oh, yes, a House party.
HOLMES: ... in Washington -- literally, a House party. Democrats, they invited the Republicans, but the Republicans didn't really want to party with them last night. The health care reform bill passed, 220-215 was the vote. This is how it went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: The yeas are 220, the nays are 215. The bill is passed.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yay! However, there's still a lot more work that needs to be done. The Senate has to consider its own health care legislation, which is not looking as good as it does over in the House, as far as the votes go. This hour, we'll hear from House Democrats who voted for that bill, and also, Betty's going to be talking this morning to the lone Republican who voted for that bill last night.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, though, we want to give you a look at some of the other stories that we are following for you.
First up, police in Pakistan say a local politician who fought against the Taliban was the target of a deadly suicide bombing this morning. He was one of 12 killed near Peshawar. The Taliban is claiming responsibility.
HOLMES: Well, doctors who are treating the Fort Hood shooting victims say many of them are doing OK, expected to pull through. Also improving in condition is the accused gunman, Major Nidal Hasan. He was taken off a ventilator yesterday. He is still in the ICU, along with many of the victims.
An Army investigator says evidence shows Hasan was the lone gunman, and also, that there are no signs that any of the wounded were hit by friendly fire.
NGUYEN: The Dalai Lama has begun a five-day visit to a town near the disputed India/China border. The Tibetan spiritual leader held a prayer service this morning with Buddhist monks. The Dalai Lama's visit has angered Beijing because of its claim to that area.
HOLMES: We want to turn now to that big House vote and that big House party last night. Health care reform legislation passed narrowly, 220-215, but hey, a win's a win. And that's at least what Democrats are saying.
I want to head now live to our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, who is in Washington for us.
Dana, Democrats are going to soak this one up, I assume, because who knows if and when they might get another victory like this one.
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a very good point. And it is a victory.
And let me just give you a little bit of context and illustration of how big a victory it is. Democrat John Dingell from Michigan, he's been introducing a national health insurance bill every year since 1955, every year for more than half a century, and this is the first thing anything close has passed the House. This bill, 96 percent of Americans would be estimated to have health insurance coverage, which Democrats spent all day long yesterday calling an overdue right in this country and Republicans retorted, blasted this as nothing more than a budget-busting government takeover.
Here's a little example of that -- of that debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELOSI: This legislation is founded on key principles for a healthier America, innovation, competition, and prevention. It improves quality, lowers cost, expands coverage to 36 million more people and retains choices.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), VIRGINIA: The Democrats' solution is a 1,990-page, $1 trillion overhaul of the health care system we know. A sweeping new entitlement that raises taxes, cuts benefits to seniors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Democrats have a huge majority in the House, but this health care bill passed by a very narrow margin. Why? Because 39 Democrats -- 39 -- mostly from conservative districts, agreed with Republicans that their leadership's prescription for transforming the health care system was too costly and they voted no. Now, you mentioned this, T.J., despite last night's victory, the president's top priority has a long way to go still in Congress. The Senate hasn't even started debate. Democrats there are still trying to bridge deep differences with within their party.
HOLMES: Yes. And if it does get a little further, that it's probably going to look a whole lot different than it does now.
BASH: Yes.
HOLMES: But let's at least take this 1,990-page bill and I want you to pull out about five pages for me and give us - tell us what's actually in this one, some of the highlights.
BASH: The cliff note's version.
HOLMES: Yes, please.
BASH: This bill would ban insurance companies from denying insurance because of pre-existing conditions. That probably will happen in the Senate. It also makes sure that people can't be dropped if they're ill.
It would also require every American to get health care. And for those who can't afford it, most would get subsidies by expanding the Medicaid system in this country.
It would also require most businesses to offer employees health insurance and fine those businesses -- most or at least -- who don't.
It also creates that controversial government-run health insurance option. That's what it creates.
And how would this be paid for? Well, mostly by taxing the wealthiest Americans and also with pretty severe cuts in Medicare -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And one more thing here, and people might be wondering why this was so close. I mean, Democrats have a pretty good majority over there in the House. Shouldn't they be able to get this thing through? Well, as you mentioned, 39 Democrats voted against it, but it was -- for a lot of Democrats -- on the fence. A lot of deals had to be made, including on a big issue of abortion...
BASH: That's right.
HOLMES: ... which really didn't sit right with some Democrats who ended up voting for this anyway.
BASH: Right. This was a huge divide and a really wrenching issue that they were negotiating until the very last minute. It's actually hard to believe that this was the last issue to deal with on this health care issue -- health care bill. But the only way House Democratic leaders could pass this was by reluctantly allowing anti- abortion lawmakers in their own party to offer an amendment that effectively bans abortion coverage in the public option and for the private companies that are part of what would be a new exchange, insurance company exchange.
Now, someone can buy supplemental insurance if they pay for it with their own money that includes abortion coverage, but look, this whole idea infuriated abortion rights supporters, including the speaker herself. But, T.J., she conceded that after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops actually demanded it, that she had no choice because several anti-abortion Democrats said that they couldn't support this without the blessing of their bishops, essentially.
HOLMES: I know you were trying to keep from saying blessing when it comes to bishops. Again, weren't you, Dana? That's all right. You got to get the blessing from the bishops.
BASH: You know what? That's what it was.
HOLMES: All right. Dana Bash for us -- we appreciate you so much this morning.
Meanwhile, what about the president? He did issue a statement talking about this legislation. Here's what he says. Quote, "It will provide stability and security for Americans who have insurance, quality affordable options for those who don't, and bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the government while strengthening the financial health of Medicare. And it is legislation that is fully paid for and will reduce our long-term federal deficit."
He goes on to say, "Thanks to the hard work of the House, we are just two steps away from achieving health insurance reform in America."
NGUYEN: We do have some new information in Thursday's mass shooting at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead.
CNN's Sean Callebs joins me now live from Fort Hood, Texas.
And, Sean, what do we know about the circumstances surrounding that shooting? What new information do you have?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know the Army Criminal Investigation Division came out last night and talked about the latest information they have. Perhaps the most significant is still down the road.
We do know that Major Hasan is no longer on a ventilator. Apparently his condition is improving. We do not know, however, if he is still in a coma or coma-like state, or if investigators have had a chance to speak with him.
However, some of the significant developments: 46 people were hit by gunfire, those either killed or wounded, but the Army is sure none of them were hit by friendly fire. That is, fire coming from first responders trying to stop Hasan. Also, they are confident that he acted alone.
Army CID briefed reporters last night on their latest information. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS GREY, SPOKESMAN U.S. ARMY CID: All evidence, at this point, indicates that there was only one shooter who allegedly acted alone in the actual shooting. If any new evidence comes to light that contradicts that, we'll pursue it aggressively and immediately. We have not established a motive for the shootings at this time. I'll repeat that -- we have not established a motive for the shootings at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Yes, people clearly want to know a lot about that, Betty. We do know that the next news conference here at Fort Hood is going to take place today at 1:00 Eastern Time, noon here, Central Time.
NGUYEN: All right. Is there being, I guess I should say, a call for calm from a source that many would say that during this time of tragedy, it's an unlikely source?
CALLEBS: Yes, exactly. Well, of the 13 people who were killed on Thursday, one was a civilian -- 62-year-old Michael Cahill. He had been at Fort Hood for six years. He was someone who was dedicated to providing medical health treatment, medical health care to all soldiers, those who are going overseas, those coming back.
Well, we had a chance to speak with his family last night. His family members say, of course, they understand how people are frustrated, they're angry, and they want answers, but they said, "Please, don't unleash that anger on people who practice the Muslim faith."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEELY VANACKER, FORT HOOD VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: There are people who have problems and who will do crazy things like this, Muslim or not Muslim. And we can't look at this guy who killed my dad and blame him because he was a Muslim. He was a man who had some serious issues. And whether they could have picked up on that early enough, I don't know. But I know that this is just a man, an American man, who had issues and problems and did a horrible, unspeakable act.
But being so angry at one group of people because of this, that's not going to bring my dad back. And how can you live your life full of anger?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Yes, it's a very thoughtful, thought-provoking comments coming from that family.
Betty, quickly, Kimberly Munley, of course, the hero in all this, we know her condition is improving as well. Her family is with her. They issued a statement last night saying that she's doing better and she thanks everybody for the prayers and words of support from, really, all over the country.
NGUYEN: That is so wonderful that she is doing better, and a lot of people hailing her a hero.
Sean Callebs -- joining us live -- thank you.
We want to give you a look at what's happening this week, in fact, at Fort Hood. Officials are expected to hold a news conference at 1:00 p.m. Eastern to talk more about the investigation. Tonight at 6:00 Eastern, Texas Governor Rick Perry will be among the speakers at First Baptist Church in Killeen for a live prayer service. Then on Tuesday, the president and first lady are expected to attend a memorial service for the victims.
HOLMES: Well, we were expecting to be talking to you this weekend about the results of the Afghanistan runoff election. Well, that runoff did not happen, of course. One of the candidates dropped out. Hamid Karzai was then declared the official winner, so he will be the president there for the United States to deal with for years to come.
Let's bring in our national security analyst, Peter Bergen.
Peter, good to see you again. We were talking about this last week, wondering what all the options were and what was going to happen, and now, we know.
So, there were a couple of ways this could have worked out. Abdullah Abdullah could have stayed in and lost, he could have dropped out but the runoff still happened, but instead he dropped out and the runoff didn't happen. So, how does this outcome work compared to those others I just mentioned? What -- I guess, what are the ramifications of this outcome?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think, everybody knew, as you pointed out, that Karzai was going to win whether the runoff happened or not. He did get 49 percent of the vote for real, once they counted up the fraudulent votes and dropped him from 55 percent. He is still a very popular figure. He's obviously -- the election was flawed, but Dr. Abdullah, the challenger, will go forward with his own political future and didn't have to go through a runoff that he knew he was going to lose.
So, you know, it's not, I guess, a terrible outcome. Afghans weren't going to vote in great number in this election anyway, because I think they're sort of fed up with the electoral process at this moment. And now, it's just time for everybody to move on.
HOLMES: Will Abdullah, will he -- you talked about moving on there -- what will he move on to? Could he be a thorn in the side down the road, talking about some kind of a reform movement and fraud and corruption in the government?
BERGEN: Well, yes. I mean, those would be good things -- I'm sure he will talk about them. I mean, he's interested in setting up more of a parliamentary system that isn't so much governed by, you know, the president and setting up other political parties. And, you know, this is all good for Afghanistan.
And Dr. Abdullah is a very bright guy, an eye surgeon, not a fighter. He's not going to send people out into the streets to protest. He's good for the future of Afghanistan.
HOLMES: Let's listen right quick. We talk about that corruption in the government and also how President Obama would play this whole thing out. Let's take a listen to what President Obama had to say about Karzai and I'll ask you about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He assured me that he understand the importance of this moment, but as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words, it's going to be in deeds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Proof will be in deeds.
Will the Obama administration and should the Obama administration, also, how does the Obama administration hold Karzai's feet to the fire to clean up this government?
BERGEN: Well, T.J., that's a very good question. This guy just got another five-year term.
HOLMES: Yes.
BERGEN: So, you know -- but, yes, the United States has a lot of leverage. I mean, the United States gives a lot of money. But Karzai, you know, it's a difficult position. Every time we sort of publicly tell Karzai that he's got to do certain things, he can play kind of the anti-American card and get more political applaud that way.
So, persuading him, you know, to do the right thing, it's probably better done in private than publicly berating him.
HOLMES: One last thing I want to ask you about quickly here, we've got to go, just Fort Hood, I have to get this in. Just what were your thoughts when you -- when you see this? And, you know, American soldiers -- they have to worry about going overseas and so many things and the dangers there, but to now -- I mean, how does this change our psyche? Do we have to worry about our own now at these military posts around the country?
BERGEN: Well, T.J., it's not the only incident. I mean, we saw in Iraq a similar kind of incident where somebody killed a lot of American soldiers, who himself was a soldier. You know, Hasan's motivations are becoming, I think, clearer -- a mix of some kind of crisis about being deployed to Afghanistan, some kind of trauma from dealing with all these victims, and also, a highly observant Muslim who was opposed to both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And it seemed to be sort of a toxic brew. There doesn't seem to be any indication, as the Army investigator earlier said in this program, that anybody else is really involved.
HOLMES: Yes.
BERGEN: He's kind of a lone gunman, but certainly somebody who was, you know, a very observant Muslim. So, those are the things you sort of have to take together.
HOLMES: All right. National security analyst, Peter Bergen -- Peter, it's always good to have you and your insights on. We appreciate you and enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
BERGEN: Thank you very much.
HOLMES: All right -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Well -- excuse me, fighting off a cold.
Congress approves its health care bill, speaking of health care. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those in favor say "aye."
CROWD: Aye!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those opposed say "no."
CROWD: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes appeared to have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Only one Republican voted yes for reform and we have him. Hear yourself why Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao broke ranks with his party. He's going to join me live in about five minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back to CNN, your hurricane headquarters. That's what we call ourselves and here's the reason why. We're going to be talking about this hurricane.
It's the biggest storm in the planet. This happens to be Ida. It's category one storm, winds of 90 miles per hour, gusting to 115. And the latest forecast we have from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm is expected to actually intensify as it moves north of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Here's a view of the latest path we have from the National Hurricane Center. Notice, the storm is expected to make its way to the north and then veer off to the east, just south of the Florida Panhandle and the I-10 corridor and then just to the west of Tampa as we get into Thursday. Now, the reason why we're going to see it move like that is pretty interesting. We're going to have an area of high pressure set up over the Carolinas. At the same time, this area of low pressure in parts of the Gulf of Mexico is going to create some strong upper level steering winds that are going to push this towards the Louisiana coast, bringing heavy rainfall to parts of Alabama, even into Mississippi and Louisiana. But it's going to be this low that's going to develop that should push Ida a little bit more to the east and that is the reason why we don't expect this storm to make landfall, although a lot can change. We're certainly going to watch that for you very carefully.
Before we wrap things up, high pressure, again, give you a lot of sunshine along the eastern seaboard and the Deep South, rain in the western Great Lakes, and snow continues for the Pacific Northwest.
That is a wrap on your forecast. We got more coming up right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, all right. All the talk, all the rhetoric finally came down to this. Congress approves its health care bill. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those in favor say "aye."
CROWD: Aye!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those opposed say "no."
CROWD: No!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes appeared to have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes, they did, but by a very narrow vote. In fact, only one Republican voted yes for reform and we have him. That person is Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao. He broke ranks with his party and he joins me now live.
Representative, I really appreciate your time this morning. A lot of people do want to hear from you today, since you are the only Republican who voted for this.
First of all, tell why did you vote for it, because in the days leading up to it, all indications were that you were pretty skeptical about this bill?
REP. ANH "JOSEPH" CAO (R), LOUISIANA: I was skeptical of the bill, particularly with the pro-abortion language. And I have stated previously that I could not support a bill unless it has strong language prohibiting the federal funding of abortion. And when that has -- when that was worked out at the late hours of the night on Friday night, then I was contacted by the White House -- or actually, I called the White House and said I could possibly support the bill because I have a constitutional duty to make the right decisions for my district, whether or not the decision was popular.
NGUYEN: Was that your only sticking point? Because the amendment to that, essentially says that it would eliminate abortion coverage, except in the cases of rape, incest, or if a woman's life is in danger. Was that really the only sticking point for you?
CAO: No, there were other issues that I was concerned with in regards to the bill. For example, the Medicare cuts, how it will affect small businesses. But in Congress, as you know, we will never get a perfect bill. And I had to make a decision and I felt that last night's decision was the right decision for my district, even though it was not the popular decision for my party.
NGUYEN: No, it was not. In fact, Republicans are criticizing this bill. And I want you to take just a listen right now what Representative Tom Price of Georgia, in fact, had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TOM PRICE (R), GEORGIA: This bill is an affront on the moral -- morality of the provision of American health care. As a physician, when patients and their families and their doctors are not allowed to independently decide what care should be provided, we lose more than our health care system. We lose our morality and we lose our freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Also, the GOP national chairman says that this health care bill is an experiment that is going to increase health care costs for families, increase the deficit, increase taxes and cut Medicare.
I want to get your reaction to that in consideration of the fact that you voted for this.
CAO: Well, obviously, this is a very complicated bill and there are a lot of uncertainty with respect to the bill. But at the end of the day, like I said before, I had to make a decision of conscience based on the needs of the people of my district. So, I made the vote to support the health care reform bill because a lot of my constituents are uninsured, a lot of them are poor, and it was the right decision for the people of my district.
NGUYEN: OK. With that being said, you are a Republican in a heavily Democratic district. Was this vote as much about your political future as it was about your interest in health care reform?
CAO: Betty, I -- since the very first day I've been on the Hill, my decisions have never been based on my political future or the popularity of my vote. I have always emphasized the need to achieve the right solution, to reach the right solutions, and to make the right decisions. I've made some very unpopular decisions in my district before -- for example, the stimulus vote and the cap-and- trade vote. Even though those decisions were unpopular in my district, it was the right decision for the district.
And for this decision, even though it was unpopular for my own party, but it was the right decision for my district.
So, I've always been focusing on making the right decisions for the people of my district, whether or not it will cost me my political future.
NGUYEN: Yes. No doubt that it was a difficult decision. I want to get your reaction, though, or find out what kind of reaction you, in fact, got from some of your Republican colleagues? Have you heard from them? What are they saying about your vote?
CAO: Within the leadership, obviously, they respect my decisions and I respect theirs, because we are in a very tough environment. And to tell you the truth, neither one of us really knows what is the -- ultimately, the right decision. There are mixed reports out there, mixed studies. And oftentimes, we just have to ultimately make that leap of faith.
And for me, I made the leap and it was to support the health care reform bill.
NGUYEN: How much of a role did the president play in your decision? Because in your written statement last night, you said that you obtain a commitment from President Obama to address the critical health care issues of Louisiana.
Did the president really weigh heavily on you? And was this an issue of, where, "Look, I'll give you some funding, some of the things you need if you give me the vote that I need"?
CAO: Betty, the president and I, we have had a very good relationship. And I thank him and his administration for their hard work in helping me to rebuild my district after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. And I'm pretty sure that if I were to vote no against the bill, the president would still continue to work with me, to address the needs of the district.
But I felt that it was important for me to support the president in this matter, because -- because like I said before, based on my own conscience, that it was the right decision for my district. And I just want to, again, to convey to the president of my support and request that we continue to work with one another to address the needs of my district, as well as some of the other needs of the Vietnamese- American community in the United States.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao, thanks so much for your time today and providing us some insight on why you placed that lone vote. Thank you.
CAO: Thank you, Betty.
HOLMES: And during House vote on health care, members of Congress, of course, were making their point on the House floor. They were also busy making their points online. They're up there tweeting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right.
Big victory for Democrats backing health care reform legislation; here is the closing gavel on the vote to approve it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: The yeas are 220, the nays are 215. The bill is passed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: But not everybody is smiling this morning. Here's some of the back and forth debate between supporters and opponents of the legislation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JACK KINGSTON (R), GEORGIA: If your kitchen sink is leaking, you fix the sink. You don't take a wrecking ball to the entire kitchen. This bill is a wrecking ball to the entire economy.
REP. SUE MYRICK (R), NORTH CALORINA: Americans are struggling with health care costs. We all know that. Too many families can't afford coverage and small businesses are struggling to find coverage for their employees.
However, this bill does not fix the underlying problem, the cost of health insurance. It's an unprecedented expansion of federal government spending that will only dig a deeper hole of debt for generations to come.
REP. G.K. BUTTERFIELD (D), NORTH CAROLINA: We have an obligation, constitutional and moral, to provide for the general welfare of every American citizen. Allowing a broken health care system to continue to bankrupt families, businesses and hospitals and deny coverage to millions is a failure of duty. We must act now.
REP. BRUCE BRALEY (D), IOWA: If you want to talk about real meaningful health care reform, it's important to talk about the most critical aspect of true meaningful health care reform, standing up for patients. Patient safety -- who -- who will speak for the patients?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman will suspend.
BRALEY: Who will speak for the patients?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman will suspend. The House will be in order. We will just wait -- we will just wait until all members are willing to respect the House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Ok.
So there will be lots more debating on health care coming up next hour in CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," not only that, but in the Senate as well.
HOLMES: John King -- we can bring him in -- John we were debating about whether or not to keep this (INAUDIBLE) in our show, since it was such a quiet night in Washington this weekend and didn't know what to talk to you about. Of course, that was not the case. That was extraordinary what we saw last night. Who wins?
JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Well, the Democrats win for now, but the closeness of the vote, the Democrats have an 80- seat majority in the House and the Speaker won this by the narrowest of the margins. She lost 39 of her own members. So it's a victory for the Democrats.
But there's a message in the victory, not only is the House closely divided, but the country is closely divided on this question.
So this is a critical first step. Make no mistake about it, the House passage of legislation dramatically increases the likelihood that Congress will pass significant health care reform and increases the likelihood -- I won't use the word dramatically there -- that it will pass it this year.
But there's a long way to go. They have to pass a bill in the Senate. Then you have to come back to the House and try to have some sort of compromise negotiations.
And all those issues you just heard, that feisty debate on the floor of the House, those will come back up again when you negotiate with the Senate.
You're likely to get what I will call a more conservative or a less liberal bill out of the Senate. Can you sell that back in the House? It's a long way to go, it will be a messy process, but this is a big first step for the president and the Democratic Party without a doubt.
NGUYEN: It was also a big step for Representative Anh Joseph Cao, we just interviewed him...
KING: Yes.
NGUYEN: ... and the lone Republican who voted in favor of this, how is he going to be received after this? I mean, was that something that was a win for him or possibly political suicide?
KING: Well, you were talking to him, Betty and you asked him the right question. When you said, look, you've got a very Democratic district and here you have this man who has a significantly predominantly African-American district, he's a Republican in a Democratic district. He won of course because of some political scandal down in that district of the Democratic predecessor. So he's facing a tough year anyway. But if it is a Republican year next year, can he go home and maybe squeak by because of that vote, it's obviously part his calculation. But as you look at that one Republican vote, the president would like 15 or 20 Republican votes in the House and four or five in the senate.
As of now, it looks like he may have that one Republican vote only as this goes forward. So the Congressman made a calculation; he says it's because of the insured in his district and you can bet it's also a bit because of the politics in his district.
Is it enough for that one member of Congress, Republican in a Democratic district to survive? You know, we'll watch that next November and we'll also watch how he votes between now and then because he understands the calculus back home.
NGUYEN: Yes, no doubt.
And you talked about that one vote, though. We've seen Nancy Pelosi, also Steny Hoyer, jokingly say, look, this was bipartisan, we had a Republican voting for this.
HOLMES: Right, no.
NGUYEN: Yes.
KING: She lost a lot of conservative Democrats on that vote.
And that's one of the issues we'll explore in the next hour, we've got two of the best pollsters in the business, Democrat Peter Hart, Republican Bill McInturff to appear to talk about the mood in the country right now and how the health care debate fits in and what we're seeing in last Tuesday's elections in that very close vote last night in the president's political standing right now.
What are we seeing right now that tells us about the mood of the country at the moment and how that could play out in the months and heading into the election year ahead.
HOLMES: All right, John, we appreciate you. We of course, we'll see you in 25 minutes, as always.
KING: Thanks guys.
HOLMES: "STATE OF THE UNION," you have a good show, John. And for our viewers, you know where to find him. In just a few minutes, we'll be handing it over to "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING."
Also stay with us; we'll be back with our lawmakers who were tweeting during the vote last night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, since the late-night health care vote a lot of lawmakers haven't gone to sleep, in fact. They've been up, tweeting, hoping to fire up constituents on both sides of this. HOLMES: Yes, they're battling on the floor of the House, they're battling on the floor of the Senate and they're battling on Twitter.com.
All right, our Josh Levs keeping an eye on this stuff for us. Hello again.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey how are you there guys?
They are battling on Twitter.com. You're absolutely, it's kind of amazing.
Let's zoom in here, I want everyone to see this. There's a Web site called "Talking Points Memo." And they did was they compiled this list of lawmakers, Dems and Republicans, who were up tweeting and are still up tweeting. And you can see throughout the night, you can start to see some of the time codes, 3:06 a.m., 2:43 a.m. They just kept going throughout the night.
Let's take a look at some of -- this is Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota who wrote, "The House passage of health care reform is huge for 'D' momentum. Senate can't do less. I'm sure Obama is happy, puts wind at his back."
Earl Blumenauer here of Oregon "At 18 seconds left in the vote, I started to count down like it was New Year's Eve."
But there are also attacks on here as well, here's another one from Earl Blumenauer, "Trial lawyers are the only group the Republicans dislike more than immigrants," he says.
Let's jump over to the GOP, I want you to see some coming in on this side.
Dana Rohrabacher from California, take a look here: "When the Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago, we made the mistake, thinking that socialism was defeated."
Rob Whitman over here: "I've heard you all clearly, we need reform, but not in this matter. I will continue to work for positive solutions on this issue."
And Virginia Foxx, a woman who got some attention, including here on CNN recently for comments she made about the health care bill being scarier than terrorism. She was, "Very sad for our country, but close vote will spook senate. That is next challenge. Keep praying. God has a plan," she writes.
I put up links for you at our blog and also Facebook and Twitter let's show them from the graphics so you can visit yourself CNN.com/Josh or Facebook, Twitter, JoshLevsCNN.
Betty and T.J. we are keeping an eye here. It's the new media and as you can see a lot of lawmakers rushing to use it today.
NGUYEN: Yes but it seems like we're all on it, T.J. and I included.
LEVS: Yes, why not.
NGUYEN: Ok, thank you.
LEVS: Thanks.
HOLMES: Well, oftentimes when people lose family members, they often ask the question of God, they often ask, why did this happen to me or they often times question their faith.
NGUYEN: No doubt, coming up in just ten minutes, we'll talk to a chaplain at Fort Hood who is helping soldiers there as their families deal with grief.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, where was the open? Such a cool open. That's all right. We're tight on time today.
Carl Azuz, you've been checking the pulse of our students with CNN Student News.
CARL AZUZ, CNNSTUDENTNEWS.COM: I have.
NGUYEN: What's been going on?
AZUZ: Part of that pulse is trying to get across the importance to them of these local elections. You heard John King mention them earlier. It seems they're going to be asked -- we try to think like them. And they're going to be asking, why should we care about something that just happened in Virginia amid all the national and international stories that CNN Student News?
Here's how we handled that on our show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: State and local governments make a lot of the decisions that affect your daily life. Education policies, what it takes to get a driver's license, how much tax you pay when you buy something at the store.
And in terms of national importance, some observers think yesterday's results might offer some ideas about how Americans have responded to Barack Obama's presidency and how next year's Congressional elections might go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: So, you can see, you know, how we tried to drive those points home. How we tried to help them understand why so much coverage was being devoted to that story.
HOLMES: It's funny, you say you had to try to think like a child, think like a kid.
AZUZ: Student. Yes.
HOLMES: How difficult is that for you?
NGUYEN: It can't be that hard, right?
AZUZ: Oh, no. For me, I'm right up there with the eighth graders, emotionally, so we're all set.
HOLMES: Another story that actually got my attention and clearly it got students' attention as well -- a story about shoes. All about the shoes -- it's got to be the shoes.
NGUYEN: Yes, it's got my attention.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Ok. Listen to this. This is a fascinating story. But apparently kids were tapped into this.
AZUZ: They absolutely were. You've heard of Michael Jordan, some guy who played basketball.
NGUYEN: Some guy. Just do it.
AZUZ: Exactly right. His son, Marcus Jordan, plays for the University of Central Florida -- you see him right there. He wore his father's namesake Air Jordans.
The problem is, the University of Central Florida has an agreement with Adidas. Adidas gives the school free shoes, equipment, uniforms, you name it. And the contract is that the school's players wear exclusively Adidas. So Adidas pulled the contract, $3 million at stake.
And we asked our students audience, what would you do? What do you think about this? Would you choose your father's namesake shoes or would you choose the shoes the school you chose to go to?
And we've got a few comments from Facebook.com/cnnstudentnews. Steph saying, "He made a contract with his school when he agreed to play for them, he has two choices. Abide by that contract with Adidas or don't play."
On the other side, Dave saying, "No one can tell you what you have to wear unless you have signed an exclusive contract yourself stating that you have to wear particular clothing."
And my favorite comment from Jake, "I'd wear Skechers." Avoid it all together.
HOLMES: That's good stuff.
NGUYEN: Yes, the question is, does that mean Nike is going to step in and fill that contract that Adidas has pulled out of? AZUZ: Tongues are wagging. We'll have to see.
NGUYEN: All right.
HOLMES: Good stuff Carl. Appreciate it.
Good to see you after being off last weekend. Good to have you back.
AZUZ: My pleasure. Great to be back. Thank you, guys.
NGUYEN: So how do you attempt to console a community that is going through so much tragedy like the one in Fort Hood?
HOLMES: Ok. We're going to be talking to a chaplain from Fort Hood who's talking to the soldiers on the post and the families of those victims.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're getting word from the doctors who are treating the victims at Fort Hood that many of them, doing okay and are expected to pull through. Also expected to pull through is the accused gunman, Major Nidal Hasan.
NGUYEN: Yes. He was taken off a ventilator yesterday and remains in intensive care. An army investigator says evidence shows Hasan acted alone and that there are no signs that the wounded were hit by friendly fire.
HOLMES: Well, to so many of us who aren't right there in that Fort Hood community, we see these faces. They are the faces of America's soldiers, the soldiers who, of course, signed up to defend this country.
NGUYEN: No doubt. But to the community at Fort Hood, they are friends, family, the men and women trained to have your back and the loss at that post really was so tremendous this week. It left everyone just feeling a sense of shock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAPLAIN MICHAEL SPIKES, U.S. ARMY: It's kind of ironic that two tours in Iraq and then you come back and get hit here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Chaplain Michael Spike has been counseling soldiers who were wounded in that shooting and family members of those killed. He joins us this morning from Fort Hood.
And Chaplain, I thank you for your time here.
What's the biggest concern for these families right now? Is it trying to understand what has happened or to forgive the gunman here? What are their concerns? SPIKES: Well, the biggest concern that we have as chaplains is just making sure that people are getting the help that they need. Give them an opportunity to talk about what happened, what their experience was, and what they're feeling.
HOLMES: And Chaplain, also, you talk about those feelings and what not and there's certainly more to discuss there. But I also want to ask you, simply you're one of those who have been in there and seeing a lot of these soldiers.
Just how are they physically as well? What are the extent of a lot of injuries you're seeing among them? And for the most part, is everyone, at least the injured, expected to pull through?
SPIKES: That's my understanding. And I have to say, I'm amazed, you know, what we saw in the emergency the other day as opposed to what I'm seeing today. The resiliency, the way these soldiers are bouncing back.
And they're up and they're walking and they're receiving families and they're healing. And as a community, that's what we're doing. We're healing right now.
NGUYEN: That is so wonderful. And I want to get back to that original question though I had for you. As part of that healing process, what are their concerns? Those who have been wounded, injured in this? What are their major concerns and what are they coming to you, asking your advice with?
SPIKES: Well, as a chaplain, obviously, what we try to do is address the spiritual. As a hospital chaplain, we understand that healing is a multifaceted issue. There's physical healing, emotional healing, but there's also spiritual healing.
As a chaplain, that's what we try to address, the spiritual aspects of healing. Helping people get in touch with their faith. Encouraging people to seek out those houses of worship; making contact with those foundations of faith that they've grown up and letting people know that it's okay to ask questions, the spiritual questions. And they're hard questions to ask, but the chaplains are here to be able help them answer those questions or at least seek to find answers.
NGUYEN: But what are those questions? What are they coming to you with?
SPIKES: The biggest question we get as chaplains is "Why?" "How could God allow this to happen?" And we believe that it's ok to ask and take those kind of questions to God. We believe he could handle that.
And as chaplains, we don't pretend to know the answers to why things like this happen, but we're eager to help people journey through that process.
HOLMES: All right. Chaplain spikes, we appreciate you taking the time out and appreciate the work you're doing. We know it's been a tough time for a lot of folks in Fort Hood and the surrounding community. But thank you so much for taking the time and please give our best to everyone there at Fort Hood.
NGUYEN: Thank you so much.
SPIKES: We will. Thank you.
NGUYEN: And we are also keeping an eye today on Ida. It's been upgraded to hurricane status for the second time; expected to pass by Mexico and Cuba.
Cancun and (INAUDIBLE), folks be warned. Sorry. Reynolds has the latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING; CNN, your hurricane headquarters. Let's kick it old school and let's talk about a hurricane. We've got Ida right over here. That's the introduction.
Let's take a look and see what we've got. Winds are at 90 miles per hour, gusting to 115. This is the strongest storm on the planet. And for this thing to retain some power, get a bit stronger, it needs to stay away from land.
The latest path we have has this thing going right up into the Gulf of Mexico where warm water awaits. And it is forecast at least according to the National Hurricane Center of being a Category 2 storm as we get into Monday. A hurricane still as we get into Wednesday, early in the morning, around 1 a.m. with winds then dropping to 50 miles per hour and pulling just to the southeast of Pensacola and then just near Tampa as a depression.
Right now the forecast keeps this thing offshore but that doesn't mean you're not going to see some heavy rain and potential flooding through Florida, back into Alabama, even into Mississippi and Louisiana or Texas. And of course, the chance of this forecast could be wrong and it could come onshore. So we're going to watch that for you very carefully.
Meanwhile, the next 15 seconds, here's what I have for you. A lot of sunshine in the southeast, sunny for much of the Eastern Seaboard; look for scattered showers for the western half of the Great Lakes and into the Northern Plains. And the Pacific Northwest, highest elevations into the Cascades and in the northern Rockies could see 1 to 2 feet through the afternoon and into the evening.
That is a wrap on your forecast. Let's send it back to T.J. and Betty at the news desk with more.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you so much, Reynolds. And as you know, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING" that is next.
But first, here's a look at the morning headlines. HOLMES: And the big headline this morning: U.S. House narrowly passes a health care reform bill, 220-215 right along party lines. Only one Republican supported it.
Among its provisions, insurance companies can't drop you if you get sick. The $1 trillion plus bill calls for severe cuts in Medicaid and also raises taxes on American's wealthiest Americans.
The suspect in the Fort Hood massacre is doing better, we're told. Doctors have taken Major Nidal Hasan off a ventilator. Hasan was shot himself four times by a civilian officer during that attack that killed 13.
Also, a march and vigil are planned today in Cleveland, outside the home where the bodies of 11 women were found. The convicted sex offender who lives there is being held without bond -- Anthony Sowell, you see him there.
Also this morning, the Taliban claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 12 people in northwest Pakistan. One of the victims is a mayor who fought against the militant group.
Well, of course, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING" coming up next. A big topic of discussion in Washington today: that big health care reform bill that passed late last night along party lines.
But now I give you John King and "STATE OF THE UNION."
