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CNN Saturday Morning News
Afghan National Admits Ties to al Qaeda; Values Voter Summit Underway in Washington; President Obama Continues His Push for Health Care Reform
Aired September 19, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, everybody, from the CNN center on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING, for September the 19th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, how are you doing?
HOLMES: I got my rest, I'm feeling good.
NGUYEN: I like it. I like it. It's hard on a show like this when you get up so early. So did I. Good morning everybody. Hopefully you got some rest and happy Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the new year for those in the Jewish community. I do want to thank all of you for joining us today. Let's get to some of our top stories today that we're going to be talking about.
A 24-year-old Afghan national -- I'm sure you've been following this story out of Denver, he has admitted ties to al Qaeda. Why are we talking about him? There is an investigation into a terror plot. Major U.S. transportation systems may have been targeted. In fact there's been increased security this morning. We're going to delve into this investigation and why there's still not been arrest yet in it.
HOLMES: All right and also this morning talking about education or the lack thereof and maybe you would say some simple questions here maybe you all can answer. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? Sounds pretty simple. How many justices on the Supreme Court?
NGUYEN: Nine.
HOLMES: Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? These simple questions are questions that America's schoolchildren could not answer. You will be really scratching your heads and alarmed at this new survey, just how few high school students can answer the simplest questions we're talking about.
NGUYEN: But at the same time we're not sure they all took it very seriously because in some parts they said Barack Obama was the first president of the U.S.
HOLMES: They didn't hear the question right.
NGUYEN: Maybe they didn't read it right. Who knows? But we'll talk about that. It's definitely a talker, let us know what you think on Facebook and Twitter. Also, join us today as we ask you not only about this story but other stories including our top stories which we're going to get to right now. You can weigh in on any issue that we talk about right here on CNN, Facebook, Twitter, our blog site, plenty of ways to reach out to us and we'll read your responses on the air.
Let's get to some of those top stories shall we? There is a major conservative political convention under way in Washington right now. It is called the Values Voter Summit. There's debate over President Obama's health care plan. That is on the agenda today. Well, we'll have more on the summit in just a few minutes.
HOLMES: I'm going to walk you through some video here that was really alarming to us here in the newsroom. This is of a subway attack in Mexico City. See kind of a scuffle break out there on your left side. It's a man with a gun who just went at it with a police officer, shot the officer, you see people being filed out here but that is him. He actually got on the subway, again this is in Mexico and continues to shoot. People kind of scattered.
Two officers we understand are dead. The gunman was finally taken down. He is now facing some homicide charges but you see that scuffle. You see the officer there. We actually do cut this video because you can clearly see that man there a little later in the video, we're not going to show it to you but you clearly see him get shot and just fall down motionless on the ground.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's talk about the president and his plans today. He is talking with CNN's chief national correspondent in fact, John King. You see part of that interview right there. You're going to watch it tomorrow at 9:00 Eastern and here is what the president is saying.
In fact he's going on the offensive and trying to get health care reform legislation passed and he appears on five different television talk shows tomorrow. Of course CNN will be showing its interview with the president on "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King at 9:00 a.m.
HOLMES: We got some new developments in this alleged terror plot, a plot that authorities at least believe was being put together by someone they say was ties to al Qaeda and a plot that's not targeting somewhere overseas, a plot targeting us, right here, in the U.S., specifically New York.
NGUYEN: It's pretty frightening for a lot of folks. Federal intelligence officials say that their main suspect had video of New York's Grand Central terminal. Our homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve, she's going to take a closer look right now at this investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: T.J. and Betty, Najibulah Zazi (ph) and his attorney denied for days that he has had any links with al Qaeda but an administration official familiar with the matter says that Zazi he now admitted having ties to al Qaeda.
The officials says that the government right now is exploring what kind of charges it might be able to bring against him and that down the road, there is the possibility of some kind of plea agreement. Zazi has been undergoing questioning for three days by the FBI and we do not know what kind of information he has shared with them.
But on Friday night a homeland security note went out to transit officials and also to state and local law enforcement. A DHS statement about that says in part, while DHS and the FBI have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to remind transit authorities to remain vigilant.
Now law enforcement authorities have been saying since last weekend that they believe this case was the real deal, a real terrorist threat. The fact that Zazi has now admitted ties to al Qaeda would seem to substantiate that claim.
T.J. and Betty, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The big question here, is this terror threat real? Of course, New Yorkers have seen a few false alarms in the past. Of course they've gotten used to this in a lot of ways. But national security analyst Peter Bergen tells our Anderson Cooper why this time this could be much more serious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Peter, how significant do you think this is, because I got to say, I am -- and I think there's a lot of people who are very skeptical when they hear about these kind of raids or arrests, oftentimes kind of on further inspection, it turns out to be just a couple guys sitting around talking who never had any access to any weaponry or anything.
PETER BERGEN, NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: We've seen a lot of parts (ph), Anderson, which have been really aspirational, not operational, where people are talking about doing things and never really actually implementing anything. This case may be different. One thing is we haven't, it doesn't seem to be informant-driven. It seems to have been driven more by telephone intercepts. That may make this case more real.
Another unusual thing is the allegation of a direct tie to al Qaeda. Many of the cases in the United States we've seen don't have that tie. And finally another thing that is kind of unusual about this case, this is an Afghan. Actually there are very few Afghan members of al Qaeda and I think this is the first Afghan national who is accused of this kind of tie in the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Najibulah Zazi, the suspect is scheduled to sit down with police later this morning for a fourth day of questioning.
NGUYEN: Let's get more on President Obama's push for health care reform. Among the five television talk shows that he's appearing on tomorrow, of course CNN and "STATE OF THE UNION" is one of them.
I want to take you live now to our Dan Lothian who is at the White House. Dan, polls show a lot of America is very skeptical about reform, so does the president think that he can really reverse that attitude?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well the White House certainly thinks so. That is why you're seeing the president go out there on these Sunday morning talk shows, why even the first lady has now jumped into this battle for health care reform.
They believe there is a lot of misinformation out there and that there are a lot of minds that still need to be changed not only across the country but up on Capitol Hill and so, at least from the perspective of the White House, they believe that the president and to some extent the first lady are the best spokespeople to get out there, to spread the message to try to convince some of these skeptical Americans.
So that's why the president is sitting down as you pointed out with these Sunday morning shows, including "STATE OF THE UNION." John King interviewed the president yesterday and he touched on a number of issues, health care, H1N1 virus as well, but also on this controversy about the tenor and the tone lately here in Washington. Some people, including former President Jimmy Carter, believe that what's behind all of this is racism.
Here's what the president had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In recent weeks, people have raised some pretty serious questions, the big rally in town, signs talking about Afro socialism, swastikas with your name and your picture on them, "you lie" shouted out at you during a nationally televised address and former President Carter says he sees racism in some of this. Do you?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, as I've said in the past, are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are. That's not the overriding issue here. I think there are people who are anti-government.
I think there's been a longstanding debate in this country that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition, where when presidents are trying to bring about big changes. I mean the things that were said about FDR pretty similar to the things that were said about me, that he was a communist, he was a socialist. Things that were said about Ronald Reagan when he was trying to reverse some of the new deal programs, you know, were pretty vicious as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LOTHIAN: Even so, though, there are those who believe that this time it's a little different, that tenor, that tone, a little deeper, a little darker than it has been in the past but the president, again, not willing to go down that road, that racism road, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, Dan, we do appreciate that. We'll be checking in with you a little bit later today and just a reminder though for our viewers, President Obama appears tomorrow morning on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King. That airs at 9:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: As we told you at the top of the show, a major conservative conference going on in Washington this weekend, actually got under way on Friday, the values voter summit. CNN deputy political director and friend of our show here on CNN Saturday and Sunday morning, joins us now live I guess, I'm checking you out there on the screen.
Are you at the conference? Where are you, exactly?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: We are at the conference, T.J.. This is the media room right behind us here and across the hall is the big conference room, where the speakers will be starting about an hour from now.
As you mentioned this is a conference of social conservatives from across the country. This is their fourth annual meeting. Social issues are a big topic here, but as you can imagine with what's going on in the country today, health care another big topic here among the crowd meeting here in Washington this weekend.
And as you also can imagine, a lot of them not so happy with the reforms that Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress are proposing. They take issue and they worry about whether this will lead to government control of health care and they're also worried that some government funding subsidies could go towards providing abortions another big issue.
Tony Perkins, he's the head of the Family Research Council, it's a social conservative organization and he's one of the organizers of this event. He says people here Tony, T.J. are fired up this year. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY PERKINS, PRES., FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: These are Americans who are very concerned about the future of this country. It's interesting here, a year ago, we were here in a presidential election here, we have more people here this year. The enthusiasm level is three or four times greater than it was last year.
What's happened is Americans have seen liberalism uncensored. They've seen what the policies that this administration has put forth. Congress going wild and they're ready to take back the country and they're enthused about doing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) STEINHAUSER: And again, about one hour from now is when we have more speakers coming in and day two begins, T.J.
HOLMES: Now we just heard him in that sound bite there mentioned about a presidential election year and about how they're having so much energy and excitement this time around, even though it's not a presidential election year. It's never too early to look out. What are they, any implications there at this conference, even though we're a couple of years from election year, any implications there?
STEINHAUSER: T.J. you're absolutely right. It never is too early especially for newcomers to presidential politics and they're having a presidential straw poll here of who they like for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and for the people on that straw poll ballot are actually here and speaking.
Yesterday we heard Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota. You heard Mike Pence, the congressman from Indiana and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas. Today you've got Mitt Romney here as well who will be speaking in front of the crowd. They're all possible, possible contenders in 2012 and we'll get the results of that straw poll later today T.J..
HOLMES: All right, Paul Steinhauser, as always good to see you. Thank you so much, buddy.
NGUYEN: All right, a lot of people are going to be talking about this today, those torrential rains, the flash floods, the dangerous rivers. All in all it has been pretty much a miserable week for much of the south. The weekend forecast, that is coming right up. Maybe you'll see a little sunshine, hopefully so.
HOLMES: Also we're going to be going inside an investigation into the murder of that Yale grad student. Police taking us inside to show us how they actually landed the suspect.
NGUYEN: And "The Lost Symbol," the hottest book right now, in fact hot enough to turn an unlikely building in D.C. into the newest tourist attraction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody. Welcome back. This is no laughing matter. It has been raining and raining and raining for days in the southeast. Meteorologist Karen Magginis is in today for Reynolds Wolf. Please tell me it's going to stop sometime soon.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Thank you, Karen. We do appreciate it.
We appreciate Karen being here. Reynolds Wolf off this weekend, taking a little vacation.
HOLMES: Is he really?
NGUYEN: He's at a game I'm sure.
HOLMES: If you all don't know Reynolds Wolf, huge Auburn fan so he has to go to the game today, but before he took off, he filed this report for us about Palm Springs, which he says is a great place for a little weekend getaway.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Digging the style of the desert in Palm Springs, California.
MARK ORWOLL, TRAVEL + LEISURE: There's this '60s cool vibe in Palm Springs that's almost indescribable but it's certainly there and you'll feel it when you arrive.
WOLF: Architecture buffs can take a self-guided tour of the city's hip buildings by picking up a map for $5 at the historical society or visitor's center.
JERI VOLELSANG, PALM SPRINGS HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Desert modernism is an architectural style that evolved here in Palm Springs in the mid 20th century, architects who either were born and raised here or moved here, they adapted their designs to these conditions.
WOLF: But there's another slice of history at the Palm Springs air museum.
SHARON MAGUIRE, PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM: The air museum has three hangars full of World War II flyable war birds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you walk around this place, you're going to feel like you're in a John Wayne movie from 1944.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: Well there is an al Qaeda connection in the heart of this country. Late last night the suspect in a terror probe reportedly made a disturbing admission. We've got those details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Federal investigators say the Colorado man that they are questioning in an alleged terror plot had video of New York's Grand Central terminal. They also say Afghan national right there Najibulah Zazi has admitted to having ties to al Qaeda. He's not been arrested, but is expected to speak with investigators a little bit later this morning.
HOLMES: President Obama says there has been real progress in dealing with the worldwide recession, but he adds in his weekly address that is out today, further steps need to be taken.
(BEGIN VIDEOT CLIP)
OBAMA: All of us need to act more responsibly on behalf of a better economic future. That's why at next week's G-20 summit, we'll discuss some of the steps that are required to safeguard our global financial system and close gaps and regulation around the world, gaps that permitted the kinds of reckless risk-taking and irresponsibility that led to the crisis.
And that's why I've called on Congress to put in place a series of tough common sense rules of the road that will protect consumers from abuse, let markets function fairly and freely and help prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Republicans meanwhile used their weekly address to attack Democratic plans to overhaul health care. Congresswoman Sue Myrick spoke for the GOP.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SUE MYRICK, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: These so-called health care reforms have different names, a public option, a co-op, a trigger. Make no mistake, these are all gateways to government-run health care. For small business owners, these proposals mean higher taxes at a time when unemployment is nearing 10 percent and analysts are predicting that any kind of recovery will be a jobless one.
And for seniors, expect massive cuts to Medicare, which is unacceptable under any circumstances. Doing this now without implementing significant reforms to make the program more efficient would leave seniors susceptible to the rationing of care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Myrick also spoke about her battle with cancer saying her diagnosis alone took six doctors, three mammograms, one ultrasound before being located. Myrick said the process took a few weeks but would have taken far longer in a country with government-run health care.
NGUYEN: Rosh Hashanah is under way. In fact it marks the start of the Jewish new year.
HOLMES: And CNN's Josh Levs tells us now it's time for family prayer and reflection.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is fun, a little Rosh Hashanah 101. Let's go to this first of all, you can see the words right there Rosh Hashanah or Rosh Hashanah, that's how you pronounce it. It means the beginning of the year. This is the date on which in the Jewish lunar calendar you advance to the next year.
In fact, check out the website right here, jewfaq.org. It points out to you what year it is. This will begin 5770, 5770. A couple more facts for you here, it's also known as the day of judgment and this begins the 10 days of penitence, which then end as what you've heard, Yom Kippur or Yom Kippur.
Around the world there are 13 million Jews according to the latest estimates, doesn't mean all are celebrating Rosh Hashanah, but that's the latest estimate and according to the CIA world fact book that's actually just under a quarter of 1 percent of the world's population. You can say happy new year.
It is a happy holiday or if you want to try it in Hebrew, you can say it shanah tovah (ph). One of the traditions is dipping apples in honey. We have some video of a family doin that for you there, celebrating Rosh Hashanah. A lot more information here, jewfaq.org. Back to you.
HOLMES: Stay with us here, a lot more news ahead including a revealing look at just how police were able to catch the prime suspect in that Yale murder case.
NGUYEN: Yes and later, a soldier's sacrifice earns the thanks of a grateful nation and some soul-searching among military leaders about the way we honor our heroes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody and welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you to start your day here with us. Ray Clark, he's being held on $3 million bond. He's charged with the murder of that Yale grad student. Her name is Annie Le (ph).
CNN's Randi Kaye tells us, days before his arrest, Clark had been under police surveillance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ray Clark knew he was in trouble. He knew he was being followed by more than half a dozen police investigators. He likely also knew where the investigation into Annie Le's death was heading.
New Haven Police Chief James Lewis told me he had his narcotics unit which specializes in surveillance track Clark's every move. Even before they found Annie Le's body, Chief Lewis says he knew Clark was their prime suspect. The head of the unit, Lieutenant John Velleca, began following Clark Saturday night -- the day before Le's body was found, strangled and hidden inside a basement wall at the lab building where she worked alongside the man now accused of killing her.
At first, narcotics officers didn't want Clark to know they were on his trail. That first night, they camped outside his parent's house in Cromwell, Connecticut, about 24 miles from Yale's campus. The day Le's body was found, Clark played softball. Detectives were in the crowd.
By Monday, the day after Le's body was discovered, investigators changed their tactics. They wanted Clark to know they were tailing him. They parked right in front of his apartment, and let their badges show while they walked around -- mind games they were hoping would lead Clark to talk to them, and maybe even confess. It didn't happen. Tuesday morning, investigators went to him. Armed with search warrants, they wanted hair and fingernail DNA samples.
Investigators focused on Clark in part because of what they saw on the more than 700 hours of videotape from the lab building security cameras. On that tape, Ray Clark stood out. A source with knowledge of the investigation told me Clark was seen leaving the building after someone, possibly him, pulled the fire alarm. He had his head in his hands and looked distraught.
After Clark gave a DNA sample on Wednesday, he got a room at this Super8 motel in his family's hometown. He stayed there with his parents, hiding from the media, likely knowing it wouldn't be long before officers came knocking again.
By this time, investigators had interviewed about 150 people and had collected 300 pieces of evidence. Then came the DNA match our source says clearly connects Clark to the murder, indicating the victim's DNA was found on Ray Clark.
Early Thursday morning, Clark was arrested and charged with killing Yale medical student Annie Le. He's being held on $3 million bond. He hasn't entered a plea. His lawyers aren't talking, and neither is he.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New Haven, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. We'll keep following that investigation. Right now we want to follow the weather outside. In some places it's been a little nasty for days.
HOLMES: Yes. Karen McGinnis keeping an eye on things. A busy map you got going over there, Karen.
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Most of it has been centered across the southeast. Just kind of our big view of the Deep South -- this is what we're focused on at least for the next several days because we've got an area of low pressure that situated back here, and this low is allowing a lot of that moisture just to kind of spread more towards the north.
Also a little bit of moisture coming in from off the Atlantic, but this has really inundated many portions of the south with two, three times the normal rainfall amounts that we would typically see for the month of September.
Let's go ahead and show you what's happening in Memphis now. Take a look at this. That doesn't look so bad, but in just a second there you'll see it -- a couple of feet of rainfall. Now it didn't rain that much, but when you get some of those low-lying areas, that's the problem. They had some evacuations, one at a day care center. No injuries, but the water was coming into the building so they were definitely paying attention to that. We want to show you what's happening as far as temperatures go. Temperatures in the Deep South, below normal. Temperatures across the northern tier, running 7 to 12 degrees above where it should be for this time of year, and tomorrow we're going to see an offshore flow across the west and, as a result, we could see that fire danger really start to increase.
And as far as our forecast goes, a heavy rain still continues across the Deep South and I'm afraid for Reynolds, Auburn, SEC -- you know, you got to root for them. It just looks like it's going to be sloppy tossing the football out there, but continued warm in the northern tier again -- T.J.
HOLMES: OK. We got a big new proposal on health care this week, and our Gerri Willis helping us break down some of the specifics, and it's a lot to break down, specifically talking about co-ops are playing a big part of the bill that was submitted by Max Baucus.
Help us here. We're hearing public option, co-ops -- not everybody really understands what that means anyway -- co-op.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Oh, well let's break it down and just look at the co-ops. Now you probably heard of co-ops before -- agricultural co-ops, even credit unions or financial co-ops, and there are already co-ops -- medical ones in existence today in places like Seattle and Minneapolis.
They're just non-profit organizations that say they can provide better coverage at a lower cost for members. Profits are put back into the system so any money that's earned is used on patients and other costs. The patients run these things, they elect boards, they take votes, so at the end of the day it's a non-profit doing the same things as your HMO.
HOLMES: OK. We get an idea of how it kind of works, but still, for someone in one, how does life change for somebody who is in one of these things?
WILLIS: It wouldn't be that different all together. For patients, co-ops work just like private insurance, their premiums, co- pays and -- like an HMO -- most enrollees see doctors within a network. Health care in a co-op could be cheaper than private insurance, but, you know what, T.J., it's not necessarily so. Some of them also see increases year to year, so I think at the end of the day you'd see some increased costs but maybe not as much as the private carriers.
HOLMES: So much to work at, and we don't even know if a co-op's going to end up in a final bill. This is just something else now to consider here.
WILLIS: We've got lots of fun things we're talking about today. Winterizing your home -- you better believe it's not too early to get ready for the cold weather ahead. We're going to show you how to save money if you're a college student and when to financially bail out your college student -- when do you give them a little extra dough and when do you say no more beer and pizza for you.
So 9:30 AM, right here on CNN.
HOLMES: Oh, kids need to be bailed out sometimes as well.
WILLIS: That's right.
HOLMES: Gerri, good to see you, as always.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
NGUYEN: All right, take a look at these live pictures. On the left there you have Atlanta, the last American city to host a Summer Olympic games, and then on the right, possibly the next city to say, "Let the games begin!"
A look at Chicago's bid for Olympic glory. That's coming up next, and also ahead, why is President Obama doing a Luke Skywalker impression complete with light saber? And it is lights out for a classic television show -- "The Guiding Light" says good-bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Top stories right now for you. Federal investigators say the Colorado man at the center of an alleged terror plot had video of New York's Grand Central Terminal in his possession and also say Afghan national Najibullah Zazi -- which you just saw in that picture right there -- has admitted to having ties to al Qaeda. He has not been arrested but is expected to speak to investigators a little bit later this morning.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says it will be best for their troops to leave Afghanistan just as soon as possible, following the worst single death toll for Italy in the war. Six Italian troops were killed in a roadside bombing in Kabul. Ten Afghan civilians also died. Twenty one Italian troops had died there since the war began. There's no timeline yet for any Italian troops to withdraw.
And we just took in a press conference held just about 30 minutes ago in Baltimore regarding that massive water main break. You're looking at a video of it right. Well, the break flooded suburban streets and homes with dirty, brown water. Yuck! This morning officials say the water in the area is now safe to use -- that's good news -- and they're working to restore gas to homes that were affected.
The Red Cross is on the scene with clean supplies available to people who need it. The six foot main was shut about two hours after it broke yesterday and no injuries were reported. The water is down to four inches.
HOLMES: Well, Chicago -- is that going to be the home of the 2016 Summer Olympics? We'll have an answer to that on October 2nd. Until then, though, the US is mounting a huge PR campaign headed up by the president and first lady.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I've called Chicago home for nearly 25 years. It's a city of broad shoulders, big hearts, and bold dreams. A city of legendary sports figures, legendary sports venues and legendary sports fans. A city like America itself, where the world -- the world's races and religions and nationalities come together and reach for the dream that brought them here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: It's going to take a lot more than a White House ceremony to seal the deal, and Olympic supporters say the president needs to make a personal appeal when the vote is held in Copenhagen next month.
For more on this, we're joined by Rick Horrow, a sports business analyst and visiting expert of Sports Law at Harvard Law School, so he's not just a pretty face, Betty. Wow! Good morning to you once again, Rick.
Of course it sounds great to have the president pushing out there, campaigning for this but how stiff is the competition for Chicago?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, incredibly stiff. You look at the papers and Madrid and Rio and Tokyo are absolute locks to get the Olympics. The problem is you can only choose one. So the spirit of competition is even more so off the field than it is on.
HOLMES: OK. What's -- you know, what's playing against -- what's going against Chicago? What does it have in its favor and what's some things that might hurt it?
HORROW: Favor is bringing the Olympics to the North Americas. Again, the North American time zone, the tremendous impact that television has on the whole thing and the Chicago City Council just 49-0 did pass a resolution, took away any reservation about who pays for the guarantee. By the way, it costs $1.4 billion of private insurance to get that done, and some people say it's going to make $400,000, some say it will lose $800,000. The bottom line -- or $800 million. Excuse me.
Either way, the bottom line is that -- Chicago's put itself in a good financial position and look at all the advantages Chicago has. You know that, the president knows that. You know, the other side, it's incredibly stiff competition.
HOLMES: How much is this going to cost taxpayers? You mentioned some numbers there -- is that what they're going to be on the hook for? The $1 billion plus in insurance, is that going to be on the taxpayers or is it more than that even?
HORROW: Taxpayers are on the hook for everything. The question is does it look like the LA Olympics in '84, when the taxpayers actually made money or does it look like something that happened in Sydney or Athens where they lost? But loss, by the way, is all relative, T.J. You know that we have new facilities that are being done, infrastructure, the greening of Chicago -- a lot of that would happen as part of the Olympic effort. You got to factor that into the equation.
HOLMES: All right, and they have the -- the president being the cheerleader in chief here for Chicago, but he said he's not going to make the pitch in person. Let's take a quick listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I would make the case in Copenhagen personally if I weren't so firmly committed to making real the promise of quality, affordable health care for every American. But the good news is I'm sending a more compelling superstar to represent the city and country we love, and that is our first lady, Michelle Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now he's not going. OK. He's going to stay here and handle domestic business, but he might be sending somebody who -- who can seal the deal even better than he can.
HORROW: Well, wives always make more compelling presentations than husbands. Could everybody hear that? I've scored some points.
But, listen, on the other side of this, Tony Blair made the personal appeal to get the London Olympics when he went to Singapore. Vladimir Putin did the same thing in Guatemala to get the Olympics in 2014 for Russia for the winter. But Michelle Obama would make a strong case. He may drop in dramatically but nobody said that yet -- and by the way, Oprah Winfrey is on the committee, so the fact that she's there, who else is needed?
HOLMES: That's a good point. Sometimes cities getting ready for the Olympics, they can be a little behind, but how are things -- does everything seem to be on -- on pace over in London right now?
HORROW: No. No. There's a bottom line, $250 million shortfall. Construction's a little bit delayed. They're pointing fingers at each other about whether it's this much or that much and who's responsible. So they'll get through it, but there's a lot of drama in London between now and 2012, my friend.
HOLMES: It's always the case, always -- they're not going to be ready and last-minute this and that and they always -- every city seems to pull it off, so I'm sure they will as well.
Rick Horrow, always good to see you. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
HORROW: I can't wait for next week, my friend.
HOLMES: All right. We'll see you then.
NGUYEN: All right. We've been talking about this this morning. There's a new study out and it pretty much polled students -- high school students in Oklahoma and asked them a number of questions, questions that many people taking the citizenship test in the US -- you know, immigrants who've come here, they got to pass that test to get their citizenship.
Well, those folks passed it with like 92 percent, but when asking these high school students, they didn't do as great. For example, one of the questions was, "Who was the first US president?" Only 23 percent of those students got that answer right. And we've been asking you, what do you think about this this morning and people have been sounding off on it.
Reggie Tarleton (ph) -- let me get on my Facebook page -- says, "Sad. Very, very sad." And then let me see this, on Twitter, Don Glasso (ph) says, "College kids that work for me can't do simple math without a calculator, can't write a sentence in proper English."
And they're just really dogging these students, you know. But, we have to say that in some of the questions like, you know, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, they said Michael Jackson, so they may not have taken it as seriously as some have thought (ph).
HOLMES: You think?
NGUYEN: Yes. And in another question, though, when they said "Who is the first president?" some people said Barack Obama. I mean, it's obviously not the truth. So, you know.
HOLMES: And it was a phone survey as well. Maybe the kids didn't hear some of the questions right and certainly just sitting up on the phone, "Yes, whatever. Michael Jackson." You know?
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Kids can be that way sometimes.
NGUYEN: But it is -- it does sound quite alarming when you're hearing that they're not doing so well on these questions that many people would think that is and understood, you know?
HOLMES: Yes. But we will be talking about that a lot more this morning, getting into that, trying to get into the group that put it together, why they put the survey together -- but still, it's kind of alarming that some of the questions were answered...
NGUYEN: Twenty three percent got the answer right to that question, "Who was the first US president?"
HOLMES: All right. We'll be taking you inside the D.C. building that's making Dan Brown's book "The Lost Symbol" the season's hottest read.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: For all you readers out there, Dan Brown's newest thriller "The Lost Symbol" has just sky-rocketed to the top of Amazon's bestseller list. In fact, it sold over a million copies on its first day.
HOLMES: That's a big deal.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: His new book is set in the nation's capital, and as CNN's Elaine Quijano reports tourism officials in Washington are hoping to see the same travel boom experienced by Rome after "The Da Vinci Code."
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the actual room and the ceremonial altar where the startling ritual in the opening scene of Dan Brown's new book "The Lost Symbol" takes place. A secret initiation ceremony inside a building that Freemasons of the Scottish Rite call the House of the Temple.
But Grand Historian Arturo de Hoyos says in this case truth is definitely more boring than fiction.
ARTURO DE HOYOS, GRAND HISTORIAN, SCOTTISH RITE FREEMASONRY: He has his candidate drinking wine out of a human skull.
QUIJANO: That doesn't take place here?
DE HOYOS: I've never seen it.
QUIJANO: Any wine drinking at all?
DE HOYOS: Not that I'm familiar with.
QUIJANO: De Hoyos says this is a formal meeting room where ceremonies do take place, but he explained freemasonry is not a secret sinister society.
DE HOYOS: Freemasonry is simply the world's oldest and largest fraternity.
QUIJANO: After all, George Washington, the most famous freemason, was wearing the ceremonial apron when laying the cornerstone of the capital. Still, in a town where conspiracy theories flourish, even the book's arrival was shrouded in some mystery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty serious stuff -- state secrets.
QUIJANO: Washington's Tourism Bureau is fully embracing the novel and all the attention...
DOUBLEDAY PUBLICITY VIDEO: Right in Washington D.C...
QUIJANO: ... even partnering with the publisher to market the book and city with this video.
DOUBLEDAY PUBLICITY VIDEO: ... discover powerful connections as a D.C. insider, plan your trip to the nation's capitol at washington.org.
QUIJANO: Elliot Ferguson is president of Destination D.C.
ELLIOT FERGUSON, PRESIDENT, DESTINATION DC: I think the book exposes its readers to a different perspective of Washington, D.C., going into the -- into the neighborhoods itself, also exposing them to the US Botanical Gardens and the temple on 16th Street.
QUIJANO: As for the Scottish Rite, Arturo de Hoyos is still reading the novel but says so far, no harm, no foul.
DE HOYOS: As long as people understand that it's a work of fiction, I think everybody will enjoy it.
QUIJANO: As for tourism, a local trolley company is now considering a tour based on the book and officials here at the Masonic temple which gets thousands of visitors each year say they wouldn't be surprised if the number of tourists jump now that the book is out.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, the lights are going down on "Guiding Light." In fact, that soap opera -- are you a big soap opera fan? The look on your face is hilarious.
HOLMES: Yes. Why would I be a soap -- look at this...
NGUYEN: "Guiding Light" -- he's going to jump off the bridge like in the...
HOLMES: Look at this quality television. This is something.
NGUYEN: I -- I see why you don't watch. But anyway, it ended yesterday -- wow! The show is on the air -- on the air for 72 years. Now that means it was on radio before it was shot on television because it first began broadcasting -- the radio in 1937 and the TV episode was in 1952.
HOLMES: I'll take your word for it. Please, continue -- tell me more.
NGUYEN: All right. It recently became the least watched show -- soap opera on TV, that's why the lights are turning out on "The Guiding Light". And what will replace it? Well, the game show "Let's Make A Deal" is going to take that slot there. But "The Guiding Light" is gone, and I know you're really sad about it.
HOLMES: No -- I mean, you hate to see something go. It's been around for a long time -- 72 years. That's a big deal.
NGUYEN: Yes. That's a long time.
HOLMES: You wish it could hold on, but, again, people aren't just sitting around at home these days, watching... NGUYEN: I think TV habits are changing too. You know, back in the day, I mean, I used to watch soap operas.
HOLMES: Really? Which ones?
NGUYEN: Don't have time -- "Days of Our Lives." You don't connect with any of that, do you?
HOLMES: What was the one Victoria Raoul is on? What's the name of that one? "Days -- "Young and the Restless".
NGUYEN: "Young and the Restless." Yes. Exactly.
HOLMES: She's a friend of our show here and...
NGUYEN: Yes, she is.
HOLMES: She's not even on that show anymore, but -- OK.
NGUYEN: All right. Soap -- quizzes about soap operas. We're not so good in that category.
All right. So, selling health care reform from the heart -- First Lady Michelle Obama is pretty good at that category. Her personal appeal to make sure every American gets the medical treatment they need. We're going to talk about that, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The father of army sergeant Jared Monti says his son always has the instinct to help others, and that instinct led to Monti's ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr tells us his family cherishes his memory and the special honor recently received.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to the family of Sergeant First Class Jared Monti who died trying to save others in a brutal firefight in Afghanistan.
OBAMA: Jared said, "No. He is my soldier. I'm going to get him."
STARR: Monti is the sixth man to receive the medal for actions above and beyond the call of duty in today's wars, all of them awarded posthumously.
It's the type of heroism these men know. Living recipients gathered this week as they do every year. But there's no one wearing the blue ribbon from Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact, there's been no living recipient for any military action since Vietnam. The defense secretary believes there are unrecognized acts of courage among the living. ROBERT GATES, US DEFENSE SECRETARY: This has been a source of real concern to me, and -- and I would tell you it was one of -- I think it was one of President Bush's real regrets, that he did not have the opportunity to honor a living Medal of Honor winner.
STARR: There are still 95 living recipients -- aging heroes from past battles, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
GARY LITTREL, MEDAL OF ARMY RECIPIENT: Before I was in the army I had no idea what the Medal of Honor was.
STARR: Gary Littrel was recognized for his actions against the North Vietnamese back in 1970. He wonders why so few of today's warriors have been recognized.
LITTREL: I've been asked this question numerous times. You know, there were 240 Medals of Honor in Vietnam, and there have been four in Iraq and two in Afghanistan, two in Somalia.
STARR: General James Conway, the nation's top marine, says one reason there may be fewer medal recipients these days, counter- insurgency wars don't have the big battles of the past. We asked this combat veteran if he wants a living service member to be honored.
GEN. JAMES CONWAY, USMC COMMANDANT: Well, I do and I don't. I mean, any time a soldier or marine wins the medal, his unit's in extremes and he's doing very heroic things to, you know, to make that situation better. I don't want to wish that on anybody.
STARR: Defense Secretary Gates says current files are being reviewed and the next ceremony may be for a living Medal of Honor recipient to join these men in history.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on this September 19th, I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes. Good morning, everyone. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for starting your day with us.
All right. We just heard from officials in Baltimore on this massive flooding. It's because of a six-foot water main break that happened yesterday. Well, the water's been restored. It is clean and safe, and gas lines -- still working on that. We'll get you the latest.
HOLMES: Also, some video to show you this morning. Amazing surveillance video here of a man who kills two people at a subway station. You see him? They see the cop, he's actually shooting that police office. We are editing this, not showing you all of it, then people trying to rush out. This is in Mexico. We'll tell you what this is all about. We'll show you some more of that video as well, but we do want to tell you about our top stories here first. Federal investigators say the Colorado man they've been questioning in an alleged terror plot had video of New York's Grand Central terminal. They also say the Afghan national Najibullah Zazi has admitted ties to Al Qaeda. He also, though, has yet to be arrested. He's expected to speak to investigators again later this morning.
Among the talk shows this weekend our own "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King, it will be on and John taped an interview with the president, the president, of course, is going to be doing pretty much a media blitz this weekend talking to I think at least five, six, seven possibly different interviews he's doing. It will be aired tomorrow in the Sunday morning roundup.
Well, in an interview with our John King he actually talked about racism and talked about whether or not it's playing a role in some of the criticism that's been leveled against him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: In recent weeks people have raised some pretty serious questions, the big rally in town, signs talking about Afro socialism, swastikas with your name and your picture on them, "you lie" shouting at you during a national televised address and former President Carter says he sees racism in some of this. Do you?
OBAMA: You know, as I've said in the past, are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are. That's not the overriding issue here. I think there are people who are anti- government. I think there's been a long standing debate in this country that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition, or when presidents are trying to bring about big changes.
I mean the things that were said about FDR are pretty similar to the things said about me. That he was a communist, he was a socialist. Things that were said about Ronald Reagan when he was trying to reverse some of the new deal programs, you know, were pretty vicious as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, John King's interview with President Obama airs tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN, on "STATE OF THE UNION."
NGUYEN: All right. So the coming week going to be a busy one for the president. Monday, he delivers a speech on the economy at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. After that, he goes to New York to tape Monday night's appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman."
Then, on Tuesday he speaks at the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki- moon's climate change summit, I should say, and then that afternoon he meets with the president of China before delivering remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative. Wednesday, he meets with Japan's prime minister before addressing the U.N. General Assembly and late Wednesday, the president meets with the president of Russia. Man, that's a full list.
Thursday, he'll chair a meeting with U.N. security council heads of state to discuss nuclear nonproliferation and then later that day he heads to Pittsburgh to host the G-20 summit of leaders of 20 major economies. All right. Finally then on Friday, he hosts a second G-20 session and follows that up with a news conference.
So over the next 48 hours President Obama will set a new precedent as he works to get out his message out to as many people as possible. But is that message changing? Let's find out. We're going to take to you the White House and correspondent Dan Lothian joining us now live from Washington.
Dan, what is the latest in the health care development? We're going to be hearing a lot from the president, is he changing his message any?
LOTHIAN: We really will be hearing a lot, you know, from the president on this and we have for the last few weeks and months as well, but, you know, the big development this week was when Senator Max Baucus came out with this proposal. It's the first time we've had something actually on paper now, the $774 billion over 10 years, is the price tag.
The big issue, though, is that it lacks a public option, while it has a lot of the details of what the president has really been looking for in health care reform bill, it does lack that public option, which so many Democrats really want, but that really was sort of the first movement, the big movement that we've seen in this whole health care debate, Betty.
NGUYEN: OK. Well, is the development with Senator Baucus, is that good news or bad news, since we heard his plan this week?
LOTHIAN: Right. Well, you know, some people see it as good news. Certainly the White House says there's good news in that something is actually on the table now because that's been the big criticism, when you go out there around the country, and a lot of people, when you talk to them about what they think about, you know, health care reform, they'll say we don't see anything.
We hear a lot of ideas but there's nothing on paper, so the White House thinks that it's good news. It's a good starting point, and Republicans look at it and say well, there will be a lot of amendments that need to be made, and so they're looking for something that will get both the support of Republicans and Democrats.
And you know, up to this point the Senate Finance Committee had this "gang of six," three Republican senators, three Democrats who really have been trying to hash out a compromise bill, a bipartisan bill, and they weren't able to do that. I mean, not one of those three Republicans on that, of the "gang of six" did support at this point, support the Baucus plan. So that's something that the White House really wants to see. This president came to Washington saying that he wanted to have bipartisan support on all of his issues that he put out there. This one is lacking that, but Republicans haven't walked away from it yet and they're hopeful that that can be achieved.
NGUYEN: All right. Dan Lothian joining us live. Thank you, Dan.
LOTHIAN: OK.
HOLMES: Of course, Senator Max Baucus, he unveiled that big health care reform plan and everybody had been waiting on, the bipartisan one. Finally, this week ...
NGUYEN: One of the most awaited documents in Washington as of late. And our Josh Levs takes us through some of the bill's specifics.
LEVS: Well, as soon as the Baucus health care plan was posted online this week we immediately started breaking it down for you right here. And right now, at cnn.com/healthcare, you can read it. You can also see what we hold out on some of the key points from the plan and we have some points for you right here on this screen.
Just take a look at this, it would cost about $856 billion over 10 years, and would establish mandatory coverage by 2013. Now there's no public plan as part of this but it does establish these non-profit cooperatives instead.
There would be under this some new protections involving pre- existing conditions, and that is one of the biggest changes a lot of people have been looking for, in of itself, that could be a change in the way that health care operates in America if this law is changed, the way insurance companies have to handle pre-existing conditions.
Also two major points to take a look at, some of the most controversial issues involving health care reform, we'll go to this first, which is about using federal funds for abortion. What it says here is that there would be these funds available for abortions only in cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother is in danger. That's actually the way it is now.
So it remains in the current law. It does also says, some people point to this that qualified health plans that are able to participate in the system under this plan could still provide funds for other types of abortions. Abortions in other situations, but federal funds would not be used toward those.
Finally I want to go to this, illegal immigrants. A lot of people looking at that, and says that illegal immigrants would not be allowed to buy insurance, they may however buy insurance for their children if their children are here legally or in fact, could be U.S. citizens here. It also says that it will require verification of personal data. And that's something we hear debated a lot, will those rules be strict enough or not strict enough to keep illegal immigrants out of the system.
One thing that we're going to certain expect to hear a lot more about and it's all right here for to you take a look at, at cnn.com/healthcare. Back to you.
HOLMES: Well, did you get all that?
NGUYEN: There's a lot. The plan in a nutshell right there.
HOLMES: In a nutshell but yes, five plans out there, the Baucus bill is the fifth one out there we were waiting on. So a couple others have been voted out of committee in the House.
NGUYEN: It's hard to keep it all straight. It really is.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Oh yes. so up next, we are going to put all of this under a microscope with the Democrat's point man on health reform. How will it change your medical care.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: John King, certainly a star of Sunday morning talk. Move over this Sunday, though. President Obama is going to be the real star of Sunday morning talk shows because he's booked on five networks, folks, that's the most ever aired of a sitting president in a single day. Monday, then he becomes the first president to appear on "The Late Show with David Letterman." He appeared on that show as a candidate but this time around the questions will be a lot different.
Can the same be said for the president's message as well? Kenneth Thorpe, considered by many as one of the leading health care experts out there in the country. A trained economist here, but certainly helping Democrats and Republicans up on the hill as they try to put together some of these legislation.
Good to have you back with us.
KENNETH THORPE, NATIONAL EXPERT ON HEALTH CARE REFORM: Good to be here.
HOLMES: Last time you were here, you said we were closer than we're ever before. Because back when President Clinton was trying to put health care together, never got a bill out of anywhere. We have several bills now and we have another bill, the Baucus bill, you still think we are closer than ever before and how much closer are we than the last time we talked about this?
THORPE: Well, we're even closer because I think the main vehicle to push reform through I going to come through the Senate finance committee. That was introduced this week, amendments went through yesterday. Next week the committee will start marking it up, meaning working on the actual legislation. And so I think everybody remains hopeful. Everybody's still at the table working at this and I think as it goes through the process, there will be more and more support for it.
HOLMES: And you've been helping with this, and the one thing here everybody gets hung up on, it came in, the CBO, I believed said $774 billion. The Baucus, the committee said it will cost about $856 billion. All right. But still some saying it's going to go up once everybody gets their hands on it. Would you say that's going to be the case?
THORPE: Well, I mean, Senator Baucus is just trying to strike a middle ground here, sort of the Goldilocks strategy.
HOLMES: All right.
THORPE: It's a little bit too warm, a little bit too cold. I think he's trying to get it right in the middle. And there's going to be pushing and pulling on both sides of this. My sense is there will probably be more money put in to make sure that the middle class when they buy insurance that it really affordable but at the end of the day it's still going to be substantially below that $1 trillion figure that we've heard and seen before.
HOLMES: You would say substantially. A lot of people are saying to cover more of those middle class families and this has been and even on both sides, we heard this argument, not enough of the middle class is taken care of and they're going to be able to afford the health care and to get some more of those subsidies in there, to get more of the help for middle class you're going to have to substantially increase the cost of this bill.
THORPE: Well, that's going to be the tradeoff. I think to move more of the middle class to make it affordable, you're going to have to put more money in. On the other hand there are a lot of people concerned about the price tag as it stands. So balancing that is going to be Senator Baucus' main challenge next week.
HOLMES: I think we have a little graphic here to show, we talk about families, the middle class families and just what they are having to pay these days. We have a graphic that shows a family the coverage has been up five percent in 2009 and we see there with the employee and what employers are paying and the total, I mean, it just keeps going up.
Are we going to -- I mean, given what we have seen in some of these bills, will they cause that number to start going down any time soon? Get people out there listening to this, is this really going to help me out and stop these costs from going up?
THORPE: I think compared to doing nothing, there's no question that this is a dramatic improvement over the status quo. Let me just take a small business owner, where somebody is self employed. Today, you can have a 20, 30, 40 percent increase in your premiums, year to year. You never know how much those premium are going to increase. If you're a small business owner under this proposal, the premiums are going to grow up slower and there's going to be much more predictability in those premiums. That's one of the main issue that small business owners have is that there's no predictability year to year. So I think if you're a small business, self-employed, you're self employed, you're going to see a dramatic improvement in what you pay for health care in this proposal.
HOLMES: OK. The last thing here, you can't have health care conversation these days without mentioning the public option. Baucus bill does not have it in there, some in the House have said it's dead on arrival if it shows up without a public option. Will that continue to be a fight and I guess how much are we going to see added to the cost of the bill if it did have a public option?
THORPE: Well, I think we have to go back to the basics here. If you go back, last year during the campaign, then a candidate Obama talked about two goals, one was to control the growth in health care spending which I think this proposal does and two is a move to universal coverage. Those were the overarching goals.
The public option was a tactic or strategy to help achieve those goals, but I think at the end of the day we're going have to have some tradeoffs about what's the real goal here, is a public option going to drive the debate or ultimately are we going to get universal coverage and cost control and that's going to be the centerpiece of this debate going forward.
HOLMES: You made a good point. It seems like the public option has been that centerpiece of the debate and a hot potato that people are throwing back and forth. We will see what happens.
Ken Thorpe, so good to have you here in town, over at Emory, here in our neck of the woods and we told you we'll have you back in here and we'll have you again. Thanks so much.
THORPE: OK. Terrific, thanks for having me.
HOLMES: Betty.
NGUYEN: That was great information, and on our make or break coverage that will continue, because up next, the front lines of health care. When we talk to a doctor who left a comfortable college life to help treat uninsured patients. Find out why he has mixed feelings about Senator Baucus' reform plan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Pay now or pay later. We are seeing that message play out in various ways on the health care reform front and a report by the Treasury Department predicts that 50 percent of all working adults will lose health care coverage at least once over the next 10 years. Now, another report just discovered that 45,000 Americans die each year as a result of not having health insurance
Those are more than just numbers when it comes to Ross Isaacs. He is an internist and a kidney specialist who actually resigned from the University of Virginia last year to focus solely on helping people who can't afford health care. He joins us now live.
Doctor, let me ask you this. What made you go from being a kidney specialist to working in a clinic right now where a lot of people cannot afford to pay?
DR. ROSS ISAACS, INTERNIST & NEPHROLOGIST: I think, first of all, I'm here to speak on behalf of those patients. You know, there's 80,000 people waiting for 10,000 kidney transplants. There are many ways around this mess but the other alternative is to prevent this. So I'm very fortunate to work with a lot of other doctors, nurses, health care providers that are dedicated to preventing this mess that are underserved and underprivileged.
NGUYEN: Yes, so you're pretty much on the front lines.
ISAACS: Um-hum.
NGUYEN: And you're dedicating your life and your work really to helping those who don't have the means to pay for a lot of the services that they absolutely need. So being there on those front lines, what do people want to see when it comes to health care reform?
ISAACS: I think what they want to see is first of all they want to know that there is something - that the patients do not act entitled. They feel that they're willing to do whatever it takes. These are working people. They're doing the best that they can. Most of these people do work but they lack the ability to do the co-pays for these.
So they come to places like where I work, community health center, where we can provide care in a fashion that gives them what they need. These people want to know that there are opportunities for them to get their care. The patients tell me things, for example, that if you've got access to care, the care that you can get is excellent. If you can't get into the system, though, for example, as a patient of mine told me last night, then you're doomed.
NGUYEN: So you're saying ...
ISAACS: It's two-tiered.
NGUYEN: And as we talk about health care reform what kind of access do you want to see?
ISAACS: I think this does not need to be a financial issue that's being discussed so much as a human rights issue. This is, if you think about from the patient's point of view, how can you enjoy any of the liberties in our constitution, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, how can you enjoy those if you do not have health and you can't have health if you don't have the access.
NGUYEN: If the patient can't pay for it, somebody has to. How do you remedy that? ISAACS: Well, I'm not the financial expert on this. Again, from the patient's perspective, when you're sick, and you go to the doctor, you don't - when you bring your child to the emergency room, when that, god forbid your child's sick you don't hear what is your insurance status first. You want to hear "please take care of my child."
So we have to look at this in the framework of what is medicine here to do? It is here to save lives, we're here to prevent disease, save lives, improve the quality of life, and nowhere in that is, should finances be the front line. We do manage to do this in a productive way. People talk about the cost, you know, but we're already spending $2.5 trillion a year on this process, so anything that we can do to lower, to improve what our primary mission is, which is to save lives, should be the front goal.
NGUYEN: Well and I know that people are working on it and we've got a lot of bills that are in the works right now. I wish we had a little more time to talk but Ross Isaacs, thanks so much for your insight today and your time.
ISAACS: Sure. Thank you.
NGUYEN: Appreciate it.
All right. So when does young man lost his legs he gained a whole new perspective on the health care system and now he's making sure that others like him aren't shut out of the reform process.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: On Wednesday this week, the big health care story on Capitol Hill was Senator Max Baucus releasing his compromise proposal.
NGUYEN: Yes, but on that same day there was another health care story happening on the hill of vital importance to two million Americans and that is a push for insurance companies to drop the caps on prosthetics.
CNN's Brooke Baldwin puts a face on the issue.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., Betty, good morning. We are talking about men and women, young and old, who have come here to Washington wanting change when it comes to our nation's health care and they say arms and legs are not a luxury.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you.
BALDWIN (voice-over): As the debate over health care reform rages on in Washington.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: College in Charleston, just let you off? JORDAN THOMAS, BILATERAL AMPUTEE: I did, I had to come up to Washington, you know.
BALDWIN: 20-year-old Jordan Thomas is fighting for a cause close to home. Jordan is a bilateral amputee, lost his legs in a boating accident when he was just 16.
THOMAS: My dad jumped in the water immediately and held me afloat and I remember looking at him and saying, dad, my feet are gone.
BALDWIN: During his recovery, Jordan met children whose parents unlike his couldn't afford expensive prosthetics.
THOMAS: My legs are $24,000, and a lot of companies will put caps, $5,000 cap for example and you have to pay the rest.
BALDWIN: So the then 16-year-old started the Jordan Thomas Foundation, raising money to help disadvantaged kids like Noah, get the prosthetics they need.
(on camera): You like the knee?
NOAH: Yes.
BALDWIN: How does it work? Just like that?
NOAH: Yes, and you can do this. Watch.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Taking Noah's story to the next level.
(on camera): So what are you doing, you're pounding down the doors?
THOMAS: Trying to get a hold of some of them, yes, and just raising awareness. That's the thing about the whole amputee deal is it's not kind of a red state or blue state deal. It's just kind of an ethical deal.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Jordan is taking his hard-hitting questions.
THOMAS: What do you do to ensure that amputees have access to the best possible people for them to provide prosthetics?
BALDWIN: Hoping lawmakers will listen and follow through.
SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: There's an awareness level that is hugely raised when someone like him is here.
BALDWIN: Joining Jordan, dozens of amputees, taking their message to the U.S. Senate, the same day that Senator Max Baucus released his road map to health care reform.
DAVE MCGILL, AMPUTEE COALITION OF AMERICA: We want legislation that will eliminate the caps so that amputees across the United States have access to the types of devices that allow them to function every day.
BALDWIN: There are two million amputees nationwide. Jordan is simply one of them. Taking on Congress, step by step.
THOMAS: It's just a no brainer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Amputees nationwide will really now just have to wait to see if there's any kind of language in the proposed health care bill that will include full coverage for people with prosthetics. In the meantime, they're just hoping that will raise awareness. T.J., Betty.
NGUYEN: And "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with CNN personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is coming right up.
HOLMES: I want to give you a few top stories there before we let you go.
Federal investigators say the Colorado man they have been questioning in an alleged terror plot had video of New York's Grand Central terminal and they also say Najibullah Zazi has admitted ties to Al Qaeda. However he is yet to be arrested. He is expected to speak to investigators again later this morning.
Also, new video this morning of a subway attack in Mexico City. Police stopped a man who was writing on the walls of the station. You see the commotion happening on the left. People start to spread. The crowd finally starts getting out of that, the start getting hustled out. Two officers ended up dead and the gunman was finally wrestled to the ground, now facing charges.
Betty and I will be at the back at the top of the hour with more live news. Right now, we'll hand it over to Gerri Willis and "Your Bottom Line."
