President Obama Talks About the 'Myth' About His Health Care Plan; Hurricane Bill Causing Dangerous Rip Currents
NGUYEN: Hello everybody.</s>HOLMES: Hello there. It's 9:00 half hour we're talking health care.</s>NGUYEN: And health care alone. It's a really important issue, we've heard the debates, we've heard the town hall meetings, seen the scuffles. A lot of people want answers.</s>HOLMES: Yes, a make or break month this is for the Obama administration when it comes to health care. We're going to be bringing that to you this half hour here from the CNN Center on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes.</s>NGUYEN: Yes, good morning everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for starting your day with us. And as we mentioned we have dedicated this entire half hour to the health care debate. So here's what you can expect. What would health care reform be without the public option? Also, health care co- ops. What are they? How would they work and who benefits the most from them?</s>HOLMES: Then of course our truth squad will be along at work on a question about eye care. Do you really have to go blind, at least in one eye, to get health care? Those are some of the questions that are out there. We're going to try to get you some answers to that this morning. We do at least, because it's an important story, we have to get in a little weather here because hurricane Bill still causing some issues. Rip currents in particular. It's not going to hit the U.S., hurricane Bill, could have been a lot worse here, but still causing some issues. Reynolds Wolf, go ahead and give us the update, what people need to keep an eye on this weekend.</s>WOLF: Well for that we're going to turn to CNN's weather wall that you can only see here obviously on CNN which shows a great shot of Bill. Hard to miss it even if you're up in space in orbit, you can see this thing unmistakably moving right past Bermuda still moving to the north and the latest we have on the storm, winds of 105, gusting to 125. So this is still just a powerhouse. You'll notice the eye wall actually collapsing now in the process of reforming and the storm may actually strengthen as it makes its way to the north. Although the latest we have from the National Hurricane Center keeps it as a category 2. Still a strong storm, moving a bit more to the north and the forecast path as we get into 2:00 A.M. on Sunday brings it more to the northeast at a northeast jog and very rapid pace, 2:00 P.M. Sunday and then by Monday moving way up and farther to the north right near the Canadian maritime, but away from the United States. Certainly some good news, but we've been talking all day about the rip currents and the effects we're going to see along parts of the eastern seaboard. Case in point what you're going to see on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This live imaging you see, compliments of hurricane track and our friend</s>NGUYEN: Yes, when in doubt, stay out.</s>WOLF: There you go.</s>NGUYEN: OK. Thank you, Reynolds. Back to this, President Obama begins a 10-day vacation at Camp David, but with just 10 days left in this make or break month for health care reform, it isn't all rest and relaxation on that trip. He took time off, in fact, this morning to explain some of the biggest concerns about his reform proposals.</s>HOLMES: And Elaine Quijano is with us this morning again from Washington. So, where does the president go from here?</s>QUIJANO: Well, T.J. and Betty, the president is pushing back, trying again to debunk what the administration says are myths about health care reform. In his weekly radio and internet address, the president stressed illegal immigrants would not be covered under a health care bill. Also, taxpayer dollars would not go to fund abortion. And he addressed this fear echoed at town hall meetings across the country saying his administration is not planning a government takeover of the health care system.</s>OBAMA: This is an issue of vital concern to every American and I'm glad that so many are engaged, but it also should be an honest debate, not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortions spread by the very folks who would benefit the most by keeping things exactly as they are.</s>QUIJANO: Now, the president also pushed back against the notion of so-called death panels, an idea that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin mentioned on her Facebook page weeks ago. President Obama called that notion offensive to him and the American people -- Betty and T.J..</s>NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Elaine Quijano joining us live today. Thank you, Elaine.</s>QUIJANO: Sure.</s>HOLMES: From conservative talk radio "The New York Times" editorial page, if there's a venue, there's President Obama talking health care reform. Is he making headway in this make or break month for health care. Paul Steinhauser, CNN's deputy political director and a friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING, joins us now from Washington. Paul, hello to you, kind sir. I know you've been looking at a lot of these polls and they have been kind of trending a certain way, if you will, over the past several days and weeks. Where are we now?</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, T.J., I guess in this debate, the big question is does the president have the clout to get this done, to pass health care reform through Congress. The best way, I think, to gauge the president's clout, is to take a look at his approval rating. So check it out. These are the four most recent national polls on the president's approval rating and actually this is not that poll. But that's OK. You can see right there that a lot of people are saying that these health care debates are not making a difference. But when it comes to the president's approval rating, T.J., it's in the low to mid 50s right now. That is a little bit lower than what we saw in June. It has dropped over the last two months, specifically on health care. Well, specifically on health care, because that's what we're talking about, slightly more people disapproved of how the president is handling health care than approved of how the president is handling health care. But T.J. that does not mean that people are putting more faith in the republicans. Still by a two to one margin in most polls, the suggestion is that they think the president would do a better job on health care than the Republicans, T.J..</s>HOLMES: And those numbers you just mentioned, even though we couldn't put up that graphic, but still we get it, has certainly this month and a lot of the coverage of a lot of these town halls and the debate just ratcheting up, has that been hurting the president? Do we see a trending downward still?</s>STEINHAUSER: You know what, there has -- some polls indicate that his numbers have dropped a little bit on health care and also support for the public option stuff like that, we've seen a little bit of a drop in the numbers over the last couple of weeks. But you saw that poll number I just gave you there.. Six in 10 said that they say, at least according to that one NBC poll, that it is not making a difference what they're seeing, that they're still -- their minds are still pretty made up on health care, T.J..</s>HOLMES: And some, this is a question, there will be some debate about this, and some say, you know what, Mr. President, you got the White House and the people voted in Democrats and they voted you in because they want Democrats to push forward with their agenda and the president said he doesn't want to just have an all-Democratic bill. If he had to, he could get it that way because he has the numbers in Congress, but he wants Republican support. What happens then if he does go ahead and just say, I'm going to just do this thing my way, republicans be dammed.</s>STEINHAUSER: Good question. Check out this number. This is from Quinnipiac University. This is also a national survey earlier this month, and it suggested Americans aren't crazy about that idea about of the Democrats going it alone. About six in 10, six in 10, according to this national survey, said that no, the Democrats shouldn't push their own bill through Congress when it comes to health care. They want to see a bipartisan bill. I don't know if we're going to get that, but that's what Americans are suggesting.</s>HOLMES: All right. I'm going to ask you one question that we do not need a graphic for, and that question is, when do they get back to work? When do they -- I know the work never really stops, if you're a member of Congress. But they're on vacation, on recess, I should say but they still have been working on this debate. When do we actually see the work start back up in trying to come up with a bill and get one out of Congress?</s>STEINHAUSER: We got two weeks left of this summer recess for Congress and then right after Labor Day, both the Senate and the House are back in session. And the work will continue even though you've said it is kind of continuing right now, but it will really continue in earnest both in the House and the Senate, especially the Senate, because the Senate finance committee, that's where there's the effort towards the bipartisan bill. So the idea is that the House and Senate work together to try to come up with two bills and then try, try to reconcile and come up with one bill that maybe the president could sign by the end of the year. T.J., that is going to be a tall order.</s>HOLMES: All right. Paul Steinhauser, we're going to -- our graphic person was on break. We'll get those graphics for you next time around, buddy. Thanks so much. We'll talk to you again soon.</s>STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J..</s>NGUYEN: Yes, we're a little short staffed this morning. Truth here. OK. So things got pretty hot at a town hall meeting up north this week. Really hot, actually.</s>HOLMES: Hot in a lot of places. This one kind of stands out in a lot of ways. Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank firing back at the crowd at Dartmouth. Take a look.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you continue to support a policy as Obama has, expressly supported this policy, why are you supporting it?</s>REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Let me -- I will ...</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A real solution.</s>FRANK: When you ask me that question, I am going to revert to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question. On what planet do you spend most of your time? Do you want to answer the question? Yes, as you stand there with a picture of the president defaced to look like Hitler, and compare the effort to increase health care to the Nazis. My answer to you is, as I said before, it is a tribute to the first amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated. I'm trying to have a conversation with you, would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.</s>HOLMES: OK. There are, as we know, critics out there that weren't just critics at this particular event, he made a mention of her, plenty of critics out there, not all do the type of things -- I didn't get to see the picture but he said she had a picture in her hand of the president dressed up like Hitler. That I think most would agree is a little too far. There were some other things out there, some swastikas painted on congressmen's office doors.</s>NGUYEN: Her microphone was cut or we couldn't hear that.</s>HOLMES: We couldn't hear her after her initial question.</s>NGUYEN: Right.</s>HOLMES: Who knows what happened there. But he did say, he answered a lot of questions. He was there for a couple of hours, but that one particular person didn't rub him the right way.</s>NGUYEN: Yes.</s>HOLMES: As we know.</s>NGUYEN: Like arguing with his dining room table.</s>HOLMES: Yes.</s>NGUYEN: Wow.</s>HOLMES: All right. Well, the health care reform debate continues. Our conversation here continues as well. Talking about a public option.</s>NGUYEN: Yes. And what would that look like? CNN's Jim Acosta reports, the answer may be found in Massachusetts.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Washington wants to reform health care with bipartisan support, consider what former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney did as governor in Democratic Massachusetts.</s>MITT ROMNEY, FMR. MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: You don't have to have a public option. You don't have to have government get in the insurance business to make it work.</s>ACOSTA: Three years after enacting its own version of reform, Massachusetts now has near universal coverage. Taxpayer watchdogs say it's affordable.</s>MICHAEL WIDMER, MASS. TAXPAYERS FOUNDATION: There is this widespread assumption that has now created this fact that it's breaking the bank in Massachusetts.</s>ACOSTA (on camera): And is it?</s>WIDMER: It's not breaking the bank at all. It's not even costing much at all relative to what we were spending four years ago.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): And health care experts say it's popular.</s>ROBERT BLENDON, HARVARD UNIV. SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Seven in 10 people in the state support the program and no more than one in 10 would repeal it.</s>ACOSTA: Unlike Democratic proposals that would give Americans the choice of joining a government-run health care plan, Massachusetts has no public option. Instead, people in the state are mandated to buy private insurance. The poor gets subsidies, analysts say Romney care is basically Obama care minus the public option. (on camera): If the president drops the public option, will you come out and support him?</s>ROMNEY: Well, it depends on what's in the rest of the bill.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Romney says Democrats only have themselves to blame for those rowdy town hall meetings.</s>ROMNEY: I think any time you're dealing with people's health care and their ability to choose their doctor, their ability to decide what kind of health care plan they want, you're going to find people are going to respond very emotionally.</s>ACOSTA: As for that other former governor's debunked claim the reform would lead to death panels. (on camera): What did you think when you heard Governor Palin talking about death panels?</s>ROMNEY: You know, I had read that into the bill.</s>ACOSTA: You think it's OK for the governor of Alaska to be talking about death panels and pulling the plug on grandma.</s>ROMNEY: I'm not going to tell people what they can and cannot talk about.</s>ACOSTA  (voice-over): But Romney does warn the president, bipartisan is the only road to health care reform.</s>ROMNEY: I think the right process for the president to pursue on health care on an issue is that is so emotional and so important to all Americans is to go through the lengthy process of working at a bipartisan basis. He promised that.</s>ACOSTA (on camera): The Massachusetts model does have its problems. Experts say it does not control rising health care costs. Something Mitt Romney admits has to be tackled on a national level. Jim Acosta, CNN, Boston.</s>NGUYEN: Here's something that we want to tackle, those health care co-ops. What are they? You know, we've heard the term thrown around lately but again, what are they and how exactly are they is supposed to work?</s>HOLMES: Well, standing by to talk to us right now is someone who has been a member of one of the most successful co-ops in the country. Co-ops has been set up for about 60 plus years, we're talking to her after the break.