this was really deep between the progressives and that side of the conservatives and it was too deep maybe even for teddy to handle. >> doris kearns goodwin, thank you so much. >> you're welcome. >> that's it for "the lead." i turn you over to wolf blitzer, he is in the situation room, right next door. mr. blitzer? >> jake, thanks very much. happening now, we're following breaking news, dismal numbers, the administration finally reveals just how many people have signed up for obama care. the figures raising the question, can the program survive such a poor initial response? i'll ask one of the architects who helped design the affordable care act. plus, a growing number of senate democrats are calling for a rewrite of the law. senator mary landrieu joins me live this hour to talk about her new plan. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> we're following the breaking

news this hour. the new obama care numbers. administration officials say just over 106,000 people have enrolled since the program's controversial debut on october 1st. that's just 10% of what was projected through the end of november. and most of them signed up through state exchanges. fewer than 27,000 enrolled through the troubled national obama care website. let's go to our senior white house correspondent brianna keilar. what's the reaction over there at the white house? >> reporter: well, wolf, those 106,000 enrollees in both the state and federal exchanges compare that to the 500,000 which is a number, a target, that was circulated internally based on numbers that came from the congressional budget office. so far short of that. but ahead of these numbers being released, white house press secretary jay carney really downplayed what we were expecting saying that the white house expected those numbers would be low, not just because of the website, but also because they expected that many people would wait for deadlines before

they signed up for insurance. >> my point, brianna, is i promise you, that no one will be satisfied with the numbers because they will be below what we sought prior to the launch and while it is fully expected and was fully expected that enrollment would be low in the first month because that is the historic experience here with massachusetts being the best example to look to, the lowness will be exacerbated because of the significant problems with the website and the website, obviously, was a major avenue through which people would be able to enroll. >> now the administration is expecting peaks in interest and enrollment to come in december and also in march. in december, ahead of that january 1st deadline to get insurance for folks who don't have insurance for the new year who may be losing their insurance and then also in march

because that is the end of the enrollment period for obama care. that is why, that peak in december is why it's so important that healthcare.gov the federal website for getting insurance that services 36 states is so important. you look at the numbers today, wolf, and what they show you is that there are 3 million, about 3 million calls to obama care call centers, there were 27 million unique visits to the website. you're really seeing a preference there for a lot of folks to do this on-line rather than through the call centers. >> which is understandable. let's talk about i understand you had a chance to speak with the health an human services secretary kathleen sebelius about the website. what did she say? >> this was during a conference call where she and hhs official were announcing the enrollment numbers and i asked her if she could stand by that promise by the obama administration that the website would be operational by the end of the month.

she did say essentially that the website is operational, that it is open for business, and she said it's operational for a vast majority of americans who need to use it. now, that is the line we're hearing from the administration, wolf, that it will be operational by the end of the month for the vast majority of americans who need to use it. what does that mean? she sidestepped that and wouldn't define that. i've spoken with a number of industry sources who are familiar with technical experts on the ground and what they're trying to do and they don't actually have a very firm grip on exactly what that metric of the vast majority means. >> pbrianna keilar at the white house, the definition to be determined. there was bitter partisanship on capitol hill as lawmakers grilled administration tech officials about the troubled obama care website and the witnesses cast fresh doubt on when the problems playing it will be -- plaguing it will be fixed. dana bash is here in the situation room with details. how did that hearing go?

>> it was extremely intense because what they were talking about were all of the issues that led to the bad numbers that brie yap na was talking about and one of the main problems is th that these website issues are something the administration understands are bad but republicans are tripping over themselves to say that they believe that this is something that they should have known better about and democrats are saying come on, republicanps are crying crocodile tears because the obama administration -- excuse me, republicans never liked this plan. >> reporter: a month and a after half after its troubled launch, the website is running at barely half its intended capacity from the white house lead tech official. >> we have much work still do do, we are making progress at a growing rate. >> reporter: todd park, forced to testify by gop subpoena, said he cannot guarantee the website will be fully functional by the end of this month.

the white house goal. republicans were eager to illustrate problems persist. >> i went on my ipad and got to healthcare.gov and i hit this but than says create account and it doesn't go anywhere. and it just changes colors and does nothing. >> sir, i respectfully am just a technology guy trying to -- >> don't short -- don't short yourself. you're the smartest one in the room. >> that's not true, sir. >> trust me. i've been in this room for a while. it is true. >> reporter: a rare lighthearted moment during a hearing marked by intense partisanship. >> this was a monumental mistake to go live and effectively explode on the launch pad. >> nobody in this room, nobody in this country, believes that republicans want to fix the website. >> reporter: and then there was this. >> the maerp people do not want to see a kangaroo court here. >> no witness here today has been cut off.

>> mr. chairman -- >> every witness has been allowed to complete their entire answer. >> reporter: outside this hearing frustration is bipartisan. democrat jose serrano is a loyal obama supporter. >> we've got people, you know, who got kids in college dorms that can invent yahoo!. they couldn't have helped with this? >> reporter: he was coming out of a closed-door meeting, one i was told was pretty contentious between house democrats and administration officials this morning, mostly focused on a different obama care problem which is people getting dropped from their health care plans they like. democratic sources i talked to say that anxious house democrats in that meeting demanded that the white house come up with a way for americans who want to keep their health plans to go ahead and do that, just as the president promised. otherwise, wolf, democrats in the house say i'm told by many sources they may be forced to vote for a republican bill which they don't want to do because this is -- the political pressure on them is so great and i should tell you that in the

senate, there are alternatives already as you mentioned. senator mary landrieu is one of the democrats who came up with her own plan. it's a more narrow plan but her own plan to try to make sure people who like their plans, health care plans, can keep them. >> i'm going to speak with her in a few minutes live in the situation room. but the reaction on the hill to these dismal numbers released, these initial numbers, a lot of republicans i'm sure were saying i told you so. the democrats were pretty disappointed too. >> absolutely, they were disappointed. i just sort of give you an illustration of how much they're disappointed. the chair of the congressional black caucus, marcia fudge told deadria walsh and other reporters the numbers are low and disappointing and then just said flatly, it's bad. tells you. >> first thing they have to do is fix the website and other problems to deal with. that's a first. all right. thanks very much. up next, the democratic senator mary landrieu standing by live, we'll discuss what's going on. she wants to rewrite parts of

the affordable care act. is a trap for some republicans as some are claiming. one of the maker architects of obama care joins us as well. how disappointed is he? sque zeke emanuel about the dismal enrollment numbers. sfx: birds chirping sfx: birds chirping

see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

customer erin swenson ordebut they didn't fit.line customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer. easy returns, i'm happy. repeat customers, i'm happy. sales go up, i'm happy. i ordered another pair. i'm happy. (both) i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. happy happy. i love logistics.

sfx: oil gushing out of pipe. .

the troubled obama care website running at only half capacity according to administration officials, and other administration tech officials told a house hearing today it won't necrily be completely fixed by the end of the month as the white house had earlier incated. let's talk about that and more with democratic senator mary landrieu of louisiana. thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. >> i know you've been meeting with administration officials, white house officials. have you learned anything n. >> i don't think anyone is satisfied including the president of the united states and i have met with him and many members have met with him expressing our concern about the difficulty of this rollout and the disappoint and i know the he and his team are working as hard as they can, they need to work harder. the promise of the affordable care act is worth fighting for. that promise where every american, every worker, every small business, every wealthy

middle or low income person can have health care they can never lose or outlive, that will always be there when they need it is worth fighting for. that's why i've introduced legislation to fix some things, wolf, that are broken and what i think we need to do. roll up our sleeves and fix it, not defund it. >> what's the most important thing in your legislation that you think you can fix? as you know, millions of people are losing their policies despite the president's pledge that if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. in california alone, a million people have been -- have received letters saying you have to find a new plan. >> first of all, you know, california has 50 million people, not that 1 million is not a lot, but keep this in perspective and the bigger picture is, is that millions, hundreds of millions of people, will be able to kp the insurance they have because they ha it through large groups and they have good insurance through large groups. this small group of people, which is, you know, a significant number, but relativerelative

ly small have individual plans. some of the individual plans aren't very good. what i've said to the president is, you told them they could keep it. they may not be good but they're their plans. we need to keep that promise. i think we can do this, which is what my bill does, allow people that have individual plans, a very small group of people in the country, to keep their plans and not undermine the basis of the affordable care act or the great promise that will bring to our country. so there are other bills that have. filed. i think mine does a couple things well. it keeps the promise and also makes the insurance companies give some information to consumers about how the plan that they have now, which they should be allowed to keep, differs from the plans that will be available on the market. >> you clearly do not regret your yea vote in favor of the affordable care act but the republicans are going to go after you in your re-election bid, you're up for re-election next year, and they're already making it clear all of the democratic senators who they think are vulnerable they're

going to point to statements they made in favor of obama care including this one that you made back in 2009. i'll play the clip. >> individuals who like the coverage they already have, will be able to keep their current plan. this is a very accurate description of this bill. >> basically you said what the president said. any regrets? >> no, wolf, whatsoever because i meant it when i said it and i found out that wasn't exactly the way it was, i'm fixing it. and that's what my bill does. i've urged the president to fix it. this is a major change for america. we've struggled for over 200 years to try to find a way for our middle-class families to have access to good health insurance or health care that they can never lose. if this were easy it would have been done before. not only is this part of the bill something that needs to be changed, we've already changed a couple other smaller things that needed to be fixed and we'll continue to work on it. what i resent from the republican party is their never

being willing to put anything else on the table that could work to meet the needs of this country, to small businesses that were being priced out, to skyrocketing costs of the whole system, and so let's fix it, let's, you know, mend it, let's not start over again, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work and work together to do that. >> like the president you want to apologize to the people of louisiana? >> they -- listen, they know that i'm going to fight hard for them. this has been something that i've been working on for years, giving them better health insurance, providing opportunities for jobs and for education. they know that i am willing to fix this bill. i've always said that. so i have absolutely nothing to be defensive about. a lot to be proud, to fight for them, for the things that they want. and willing to say, let's fix what's broken. but let's not undermine the great promise of the affordable care act. >> a lot of people in louisiana noticed that you flew with the president on air force one when he was there the other day in new orleans. but you really didn't spend the day with him, didn't go around

with him when he spoke about obama care, as if supposedly you were trying to distance yourself from the president. you've seen those stories. i want you to react to it. >> i don't pay any attention to those stories. if they had looked at my calendar they would see i was hosting a lunch in lake charles for 300 women and i wasn't going to stand them up. i'm sorry i couldn't be with the president. i flew down with him, put out a strong statement, he acknowledged me. i'm proud of what this president has done in many ways and many issues. we don't agree on everything. i didn't agree with george bush on everything, i didn't agree with president clinton. i've been serbing in congress now almost 20 years. he won't be the first president i disagree with on some issues but this issue health care for middle-class families that they can never lose, can never be taken away from you when you have cancer, your child gets into a terrible accident or your child gets a horrible diagnosis that could put your family in bankruptcy, is worth fighting for. i intend to do it.

and when i can spend time with the president, i most certainly will. i wasn't going to hold up 400 women in lake charles because i promised i would be there and i keep my promises. >> are you and your staff doing the regular federal health care program or have you signed up for obama care? >> i am signing up to the exchange as required by law which all members of congress i believe are. at least the ones that i know that have said so. i'm looking forward to being on the exchange. and so, you know, there's a lot of scare tactics out there and i know you're the kind of reporter that wants to tell the truth to people and if people would just understand that this is really -- if we could -- should have been broken the website, et cetera, lots of problems for the start-up but it gives great promise for people to be able to work and live in america and have health care they can depend on in a public/private partnership. >> have you enrolled personally? have you gone on the website? >> i will be in the next few days and enrolling in the

exchange as required by the law. >> you'll let us know about how that works out, hopefully you will be able to get on. >> hopefully i can get on. i can tell you one thing i'm not going to panic and i'm not going to be, you know, discouraged. i'm going to continue to be optimistic and fight to fix what we can. these small groups of individual plans, the promise we made to them, we should keep and that is what we're going to do. i hope we'll find a way to do it. >> you keep saying small. these are millions of people. they're relatively maybe 5% of the population. >> it's a small -- >> 10 or 15 million people. >> it is a small group relative, a very important population in our country, that we need to address. but it is important to keep that in scale because most people, 85% of people that have insurance, are through a large group. those plans are not threatened. it's this individual market, many of these are substandard plans, but as you said, they're their substandard plans, they should keep them if they want

to. that's what the president said, i said and this promise should be kept. no bill is passed when it's perfect. no bill. not social security, not medicaid part d, not medicaid. and so why are we so fighting about not being able to fix this when we've had to fix almost everything that we've done. nothing is perfect on its first try. so we're going to keep working at it and let's hope if we have to push back the time, we should, to make it work for everyone in america. >> senator mary landrieu of louisiana, thanks so much for joining us. good luck. >> thanks. >> when we come back, up with of the architects who helped design obama care responds to the enrollment numbers just coming in. zeke emanuel is here "the situation room" and i will ask him if this program will survive these figures. deadly typhoon, that's coming up at the top of the hour. we're going live to the philippines where cnn reporters are fanned out across the disaster zone and to find out how you can help the victims go to cnn/impact.

i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time.

where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. healthcare starting under $40 a month. i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce. i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart. [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 70% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus wi investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired.

i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there. does your dog food have? 18 percent? 20? new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learn more at purinaone.com

let's get more now on t disl numbers, the people signing up for the obama care benefits if you will. let's discuss with our chief political analyst gloria borger, cnn commentator david frum. 106,000 people have signed up most through the state, through the states that do it, but only, what, under 27,000 who ask it through healthcare.gov, the federal program, in 36 states. what's your reaction?

>>s first let's also count the 400,000 additional people on medicaid. one of the real sources of pressure behind this project has -- is the massive increase in eligibility without any serious program of cost control. 400,000 additional people. >> who don't have to pay. they're going to get insurance through medicaid. >> we have a dramatically expanded eligibility and that is expensive. at first it is going to be cut -- the state's costs will be covered by federal subsidies but no guarantee that will continue forever. that will fall on state budgets. >> younger healthier people were supposed to sign up to help subsidize to help those -- >> the question is whether a lot of those end up in medicaid because they don't have the income. >> there's a tendency to assume none of this affects the group market where most americans still are. but exaktctly the same pressure so visible on the exchanges are also there, less visibly, in employer covered areas.

employers will have to pay more for their policies an those employers who have workers are less valuable will be tempted to shrink coverage to compensate for rising costs. >> some are suggesting this is president obama's katrina moment, referring to the blunders that president bush made immediately after katrina. >> this is the president's responsibility, the chief executive, to make sure that his affordable care act gets impleme implemented. you can say the failure of the website is not the failure of the affordable care act, but it's the portal to which you get to the affordable care act. so the president has lost, i would argue, he's lost a lot of credibility. the polls show that. and i think there's a question of managerial competence here. how is it the president didn't know, why wasn't he told, how did the white house operate in a way in which everybody knew a piece of this, but the big picture somehow seemed to go unnoticed or unremarked upon.

>> president bush didn't design and enact hurricane katrina. any mistakes he made were reactive mistakes made within 24 to 48 hours and within -- it was not true that months and years after katrina struck, that they had -- that the bush administration had no idea what had gone wrong. it's not an analogy at all because this is a completely self-inflected, self-designed problem. >> the irony in all of this to me, wolf, what you saw in the numbers that kathleen sebelius put out today, is that there are like 27 million visits, not sure if they're unique visits, people coming back perhaps, but that's a lot of interest. there's a lot of interest in this country. >> it's not so much -- >> in the affordable care act. >> not so much the confidence level in the president resulting from the failed website, it's from the pledge that he made repeatedly look at these numbers, a new quinnipiac university poll, the president it's job approval number is now down to 39% approve of the job as handling his job as president.

54% disapprove. that's another low for the -- for this president. >> let me give you ather number, the questn whether you trust the president, consider him is down 10 pointsince october. andha is as a direct result of saying to people, you can keep your -- you can keep your health care if you like. >> it's because of the -- if you like your plan you can keep your plan. >> and that goes to the -- a design. the administration said we are going to have a program to bring coverage to more people, many of whom will be poor and sicker and that's a noble, laudable goal. but if you don't want costs to rise you have to have a cost control concept that starts at the same time as your extended coverage did. the administration's attitude was we're going to get everybody into the system first and worry about cost control five years, eight years, ten years down the road. it was completely predictable there would be a rising average cost level. >> the biggest political problem the president may have is democrats beginning to abandon

him. >> you heard mary landrieu. >> you just spoke with mary landrieu who said we have to get this fixed. i mean look, you look after the shutdown, okay, the democrats moved the needle, they had an advantage. now, the needle has swung back. and thins is a problem for thes democrats like mary landrieu who will up for re-election and have to go back to their constituents who said i bought this but didn't know what was in it. i believe the president, too, but he lied to all of us. none of those are good answers. all she can do is say i'm trying to fix it but even fixes it is very difficult. >> they have no idea how to fix it. to fix it means you have to implement cost controls at the same time and in the same proportion as you have an expansion of the coverage. and if they had an idea how to do that they would have done that back in 2010. they don't know how to do that. it's a hard problem. >> another poll number from the quinnipiac university poll, congressional elections held today for whom would you vote? october 1st, 43% said democrats,

now it's 39, 39. >> that's what i was saying, this pendulum has been swinging back and forth. the problem that the democrats have is that the shutdown is over, which gave them the advantage, but the implementation of obama care is not over. and the fallout from obama care is not over. generically people don't trust republicans as much to deal with their personal issues and their income and all the rest, but this does give them somewhat of an advantage. >> i feel sorry for the people that get asked this question, which is the least dirty shirt in the bag of laundry. >> right. >> david, gloria -- >> the least dirty shirt in the bag of laundry. >> the one i'm wearing now. >> good to know. >> thanks for coming in here. >> up next, i'll speak with one of the architects of obama care about the very low enrollment numbers reported today in the president's pledge that americans can keep their insurance plans if they want to. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪

♪ hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪

i started part-time, now i'm a manager.n. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. healthcare starting under $40 a month. i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce. i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart. she loves a lot of it's what you love about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right.

you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial.

we're following the breaking news here in "the situation room" stunningly low enrollment numbers for obama care released. only 106,000 people have signed up, fewer than 27,000 of them on the troubled obama care website. joining us now is ezekiel emanuel, vice provost at the university of pennsylvania an also formerly worked for the president, one of the architects of the affordable care act. thanks very much for coming in. >> no problem. >> let's talk about these numbers. everyone assumes these are pretty dismal numbers on the federal level. how disappointed are you? >> well, they're low, but what do you expect when the website doesn't work and there hasn't been any publicity around it. these are low, because you have a website that wasn't working

and you have -- you haven't informed the public about the availability. >> you were in the white house working on this. did you ever imagine that the website october 1st, 2013, would be such a disaster? >> no. >> how did that happen? it's mind boggling when you think they had three years to get it ready, some of the smartest people working for the president, you were directly involved, what happened? >> well, i don't know exactly what happened. i wasn't -- i left in -- at the end of 2010, january 2011, and i don't know exactly how the contracting went, how the oversight went. i do think one of the problems which we now have discovered is that there was no ceo in charge who had the requisite experience of management, knew something about health insurance worked with the industry and knew enough about e-commerce to get this -- >> who's to blame for the blunder? >> i'm not about blame. we've got to get it fixed for the american public's good. a lot of people will get insurance herep. it is going to work.

this suspect complex computer science. lots of people can put up a website as i suggested, value pegman can do it, three guys working in a room. >> these numbers remain this dismal, 26,000, the model, it's not going to work. you need healthy young people enrolling to get the system to work. >> correct. you need a wide swath of the population to create a pool. absolutely agreed. but this is not a technical problem that is in sur mounsupe. it will work at some point. the numbers of people who want insurance is high and i do thing this is going to be a sol vable problem. i think the bigger issue it has sort of tainted the whole process and made people negative and that's i think -- >> they're so worried about not only, you know, getting on-line, but the security, they think if you give your private information, social security number, date of birth, all that kind of sensitive information, they don't know if they're going to get, you know, if they're going to be in trouble.

>> of course. but i think that part of it is overblown. the fact that it's not -- doesn't work easily and well, has led to the problem of not a lot of people enrolling, a lot of people who got cancellations being mad because they have no alternative and it's snowballing. >> they've acknowledged even the facilitators, people to help individuals sign up, they have no background checks, could be criminal felons, could steal your identity. people are nervous. >> we need a ceo to run this whole operation. >> jeffrey zion is trying -- >> i think he's terrific. i think he has a job to do come january 1st with the national economic council. you need someone who is going to be persmanently there to the en of the administration and run this thing. >> which they should have done from the beginning as you point out. when the president kept saying if you like your health insurance plan you can keep it, if you like your doctor you can keep it. did you know that was wrong? >> i don't think it's wrong. no one is forcing the insurance companies to cancel. >> the president says it's

wrong. >> the president of the united states says it's wrong there's nothing in the bill that requires insurance companies to change the plan and knock people off. first, they always change these plans. let's remember, in the pre-affordable care act days, they changed the plans a lot, knocked people off, they canceled people, wait a second. wolf. >> california right now, a million people in california alone, have been told they have -- they have to get new insurance because of obama care. >> the -- nothing in obama care requires them to knock them off. insurance companies always change their plans. they have been doing it in the past. it's their business decision. that's the first point. >> obama care mandates all these policies have -- >> no -- >> mandatory things, like maternity, even if you're a guy. >> that's anyone who was in the plan at 2010 when the bill was passed could have been grandfathered in. the insurance companies want to change their plans, second of all, they see this as a dying

market. they don't want to participate. that's why they're issuing -- >> you disagree with president clinton when he said they have to do something to honor the commitment that president of the united states made to all those millions of people? >> i think -- no, i do think -- i do think that they've got to make restitution because a lot of people feel as it they were -- as if they were not told the truth and they don't have an alternative place to go like the exchange. that combination, if they had the exchange, i think this wouldn't be be a big problem. >> is there anything the president can do realistically now without legislation to honor the commitment to tell the people if you like your plan you can keep your plan, like your doctor you can keep your doctor? >> i think the main thing that probably can be done is adjusting the regplation glas around grandfathering and to make those more flexible. that will apply to 30% of the people. >> executive order the president might be able to do. >> it's a change in the regulations. >> here was a memo that was written to larry summers, who

was -- adviser to the president on economic affairs back in 2010 from your colleague david cutler. do you know david cutler. >> yeah. >> he's a smart guy. he wrote a memo suggesting i'll read it a line to you from that memo, may 11th, 2010, i do not believe the relevant members of the administration understand the president's vision or have the capability to carry it out. he told larry summers in effect, you got to come up with a better way of implementing obama care, otherwise this is going to be a disaster. did you know -- did you see that memo at the time? >> i can't honestly row call having seen it but many of us inside were arguing and advocating for a ceo kind of person who primarily responsibility would be implementation of the policies and i think that is -- that was, you know -- it's not david cutler who only had that view. you know, seeing it from the outside, david wasn't involved in things on a day-to-day basis. >> what was the biggest blunder

made, with hindsight, all of us are smarter with hindsight, looking back it was passed, signed into law, the biggest blunder after that some. >> look, again, i've said you needed a management -- person at the top responsible for managing it who reported to the president who had the requisite management experience and was really dedicated every morning getting up, the number one thing -- >> maybe that should have been you. >> it wasn't me. >> why wasn't it you? >> i don't know. >> did you want to -- >> first of all, i'm a policy guy. there are other people who are managers, who have much more experience in insurance working with the insurance industry, much more experience in getting an e-commerce site up. that i think is the characteristic of the person you need. >> to button it up when the president said if you like your plan you can keep your plan, at that time you didn't have a problem, you didn't say mr. president, maybe you should tweak those words a little bit? >> i believed that the -- that the aca, does not require

cancellation of those policies. it does not require changing of those policies. insurance companies have done that on their own for their own business reasons. that's my view of it. i thought the grandfathering clause we had if you have something on the day the law is passed and they don't change it radically, y can still work even though it doesn't meet the minimum standards i thought that satisfied his pledge and i still do. >> you're in a minority. >> i know i'm in the minority. >> even the president and former president and -- >> i don't mind having a view different from the majority. i've had that many of my years into zeke emanuel, thanks for coming in? >> no problem. >> when we come back, millions of dollars spent by the tsa to keep you safe. has it worked. details of a disturbing new report that has been released. plus, the mystery face of the botched obama care site no longer a mystery. the so-called obama care girl is speaking out and isn't happy about all the attention she has received. we asked people, "if you could get paid to do something you really love, what would you do?" ♪

[ woman ] i'd be a writer. [ man ] i'd be a baker. [ woman ] i wanna be a pie maker. [ man ] i wanna be a pilot. [ woman ] i'd be an architect. what if i told you someone could pay you and what if that person were you? ♪ when you think about it, isn't that what retirement should be, paying ourselves to do what we love? ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] more room in economy plus. more comfort, more of what you need.

♪ that's... built around you friendly. ♪ jim, i adore the pool at your hotel.ver had to make.ndly.

anna, your hotels have wondrous waffle bars. ryan, your hotels' robes are fabulous. i have twelve of them. twelve? shhhh, i'm worth it& what i'm trying to say is, it's so hard to pick just one of you, so i'm choosing all of you with hotels.com. >> when we come back, millions about all the attention she has night every day e only at hotels.com

.

three or four hours after next of kin are notified. almost $1 billion spent on the tsa program to spot terrorists, now a government report is slamming it, saying it could be a giant waste of money. cnn's renay marsh is here in the "the situation room." what are you finding out? >> exactly that. this is what the report says, the government could be truly wasting money. they're slamming this program. the report says the agency has spent about $9 hundred million taxpayer on a program without any scientific proof it actually works. we're talking about behavior detection officers. if you've been to an airport you may have seen them. there are about 3,000 of them at

airportses across the country. here's how they work. they spend about 30 seconds summing up an individual. there's a checklist of behaviors that they're looking for that indicate either stress, fear or deception. if you exhibit enough of those indicators, you sent to secondary screening. but this report says decades of scientific research for the ability for a trained individual to detect deception is the same or slightly better than chance. essentially they're saying if congress continues to fund this program, wolf, they could continue to waste millions and millions of tax declares. >> a billion, that's a lot of money. what kind of behaviors are t system a supposedly looking for? >> well, they have a long list. there are about 70 indicators that we're talking about here. of course, the tsa, they don't want to give out too much information about what these indicators are, simply because they don't want to tip off the

terrorists. however, we have had a chance to look at that list. it would be some of the things you would expect, you know, someone is nervous, possibly sweating, and many of the other things that appear on the list, it's anything that you or i may observe and think is odd. >> what does the tsa say about it? >> they're defending the program. they're say this is a technique used across the country at different law enforcement agencies. they also say that it's substantially better to use this sort of technique to find high-risk passengers rather than random screening. so they are standing behind this program. >> thanks, renee. we're see if it continueses in face of this criticism. up at the top of the hour, a special report from the typhoon disaster report. the pleas for help are only getting louder. see the mystery face, now

the so-called obama care girl, she has surfaced and is not very happy about the buzz. jeanne moos is next. i'm a careful investor. when you do what i do, you think about risk. i don't like the ups and downs of the market, but i can't just sit on my cash.

i want to be prepared for the long haul. ishares minimum volatility etfs. investments designed for a smoother ride. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. so, if you're sleeping in your contact lenses, what you wear to bed is your business. ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com for safety information and a free one-month trial.

finding the right job is never with so much easy.tition, but with the nation's largest alumni network, including those in key hiring positions, university of phoenix can help connect you to a world of opportunity. let's get to work. ♪ hooking up the country whelping business run ♪ ♪ build! we're investing big to keep our country in the lead. ♪ load! we keep moving to deliver what you need. and that means growth, lots of cargo going all around the globe. cars and parts, fuel and steel, peas and rice, hey that's nice! ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪

more shopping. more dining out. more traveling. and along with it, more identity theft. every time you pull out your credit card, shop online, or hit the road, you give thieves a chance to ruin your holiday. you can't be on the lookout 24/7. but lifelock can. protecting your identity, your bank accounts, even the equity in your home. when lifelock detects a threat to your identity within their network, they'll alert you by text, phone, or e-mail, protecting you before the damage can be done. act now and we'll protect you 60 days risk free. no one protects you better than lifelock. try lifelock protection 60 days risk free and get a special holiday gift -- a document shredder. a $29 value free. ♪

♪ the so-called obama care girl has been found, about is not happy about the publicity. >> reporter: we called her the enig mattic mona lisa of health care. the actual mona lisa remains mysterious 500 years later, while the answer to "who is that girl" is known after a month and a half. >> i have made a composite sketch, okay? if anyone sees this woman diismgts for week the face of the dysfunctional website. suddenly she vanished. >> notice anything missing? >> she's no longer the missing mug on the milk carton. abc news managed to track her down. >> i'm a mother and i'm a wife. i'm not a professional model.

>> they identified her by first name only. adriana said in order to get free family photos, she signed a release to allow the pictures to be used. she was not paid. >> reporter: though she is from colombia, living in maryland married to an american. the target of scathing comments. >> cyberbullying, which made her come forward. >> i have to do this. for my child. i'm here to say enough and defend myself. >> while she's eligible for obama care, she hasn't signed up, and said she neither favors nor opposes it. she said she's able to find humano. nest thing you know, she's an

action figure, even though healthcare.gov is better known for inaction. >> she sells for 30 bucks, find her at heroes dr they're trying to sell a series. along can kathleen sebelius, and a talking version of president obama. >> if you like your doctor or health care plan, you can keep it. >> now you can keep obama care girl on the website. the real one said she was relieved to be off of it. she sounds like a woman with heart, if she ever decides to sign up on healthcare.gov, good luck trying to get on it. inie moos, cnn, new york. happening now a "the situation room" deadly typhoon.

relief teams, storm survivors, of the most desperate are taking the law into their own hands right now. and we're taking you inside u.s. military's recovery operations in the philippines. stand by for my exclusive interview. it's been less than a week since disaster struck the philippines, but for storm survivors, it feels like a lifetime. relief organizations say they've been able to deliver limited amounts of aid, but our crews on the ground have only seen a trickle of help in the hardest-hit areas. we have a huge team of correspondents across the disaster zone. they're talking to desperate

people and authorities and they're bringing us some remarkable pick stuart. anna coren is in the isolated town of cebu. anna, what's the latest? >> reporter: relief efforts are certainly ramping up, but the crisis enters the sixth day. there's a military presence here in the cebu airport, which is the staging ground. but some are saying it's taking way too long for the world to react as people on the ground, wolf, continue to suffering. she walks through the ruins, pointing to the boldies of her dead loved ones, looking for others who are missing. many typhoon survivors are forced to live in the rubble, filth and stench. they have nowhere else to go.

>> reporter: as the desperation grows worse, so does the violence. army forces patrol the streets. eight people were killed when a wall collapsed during a stampede at a government food warehouse. people stood by as people stormed in, taking 100,000 sacks of rice. even children see it all around them. everyone kept on stealing food and furniture, something like that. >> reporter: the u.n. emergency aid chief acknowledges relief efforts have been far too slow, but that's beginning to change. the relief operations has certainly stepped up with the arrival of u.s. marines here at the cebu air base. they flew in, and they're here to coordinate the massive task of getting aid and supplies to the people who so desperately need it. as more supplies are sent into the disaster zone, survivors are

reliving the terror of when i typhoon hit. this 53-year-old woman huddled with her 16-year-old daughter and elderly father, but when the storm surge hit, she couldn't save them. >> i lost my daughter, my 16-year-old daughter. i told her during the evacuation, go, go, continue tin-tin, go, leave me, but my daughter said, no, mama, i can't leave you. >> reporter: there are so many stories like them you can see a hercules has landed. there's a stream of survivors. they're coming from tacloban, a hard-hit town. these people have an enormous task ahead of them. they have been through such horrors, and now they have the enormous task of rebuilding

their lives. >> a lot of these people just want to get you've there because of what's going on, the potential for disease. how are they coping? >> reporter: that's absolutely right. the people on these planes, the sick, the injured, the pregnant mothers and their children, the elderly, these are people who want to get out of these hard-hit areas whose homes have been completely destroyed. these cargo planes, they're bearing aid to the area and bringing back survivors. the red cross and other international agencies are helping whether they need to get shelter, whether they need to go to hospitals, that it really is such a mammoth task ahead of them, wolf, as they try to pick up the pieces with what they have left. they're absolutely homeless. many have lost their loved ones implts our hearts go out to these wonderful people in desperate need. anna coren, thank you.

we have brand-new numbers of the death and destruction. authorities now say 2,344 people are confirmed dead. more than 3800 are injured, 79 are officially listed as missing. at least 80,000 homes have destroyed. our senior international correspondent nick peyton walsh trying to get a better sense of the destruction. >>. >> reporter: we drive south away from the epicenter to answer the question how far had the destruction spread? it took about 40 kilometers better life breathed easier, but then the storm left other dangers. police warned us of bandits ahead. >> reporter: why are they doing this? >> maybe for food. >> reporter: we go towards the

heart of the chaos. the storm, signs of the devastation begin to grow. while many trees are left standing, you can seen telegraph poles bent over. they warned us again of bandits where the smallest are sick, and where the storm was so fantastical of its power, it came from hollywood's own apocalypse. >> just like a movie. super scary. trees are scattered like matchsticks. the two church spires standing defiantly, though 800 people died here in this town of 60,000. some here, where water surged,

the winds tearing the back off this house, and from their relatives across the river. we have an aunt from when it was flooded, so they're missing, and three -- three grandchildren, including her. >> reporter: death has been more dignified that is the bodies left on the streets of neighboring tacloban mass graves are dug fast now gives free calls to loved once, medicines even bure ocrazy. >> most of them died out of the waters. we have survived this far. i think we can rebuild it. >> the job of simply cleaning up it seems like a distant idea. wolf, i'm standing in tacloban city, you can see from the journey yesterday, it seems very

much the where storm yolanda hit the hardest. that's not comfort for anybody hear who boar of brunt of it. high profile -- plaming local government for the slow uptick in aid since the beginning, despite the warnings that the storm was coming. aircraft are arriving, we see seen ships out to sea, is there a sea change? no, and even yet night, late last night, we were hearing from one senior official excuses to why there are still dead bodies lining the streets in tacloban. five days from the storm, we drove through late yesterday afternoon, still seeing the same bodies laid out from that very morning. no attempt to move them. very oppressing communal hygiene issue, the stench and rick of disease quite remarkable. at this point i think people are beginning to wonder whether the choice is to leave, or --

constantly here when planes arrive or try to eke out a life, really very little to support life in tacloban. >> what excuses are authorities giving you for why the bodies are still lies in the streets? >> reporter: they blame their own bureaucracy, a suggestion that the local government itself was hit so hard it was in fact shattered. it took, it seems, by their reasoning, 24 hours for the broader national government to step in and begin kicking things in motion. frankly we've seen troops. we've seen a bits of rearranged trash, and to be fair at the city hall in tacloban, we saw a medical program and the beginnings of that machine to get into motion, but quite simply, their excuse is that it took so long for them to learn what had happened here, there's a backlag of delivering that aid on the ground. yet we're not seeing it in an

industrial scale. >> paton walsh, thank you, nic. is the u.s. military doing enough to help the survivors? i'll have an exclusive interview with the marine corps general in charge of the operation. cnn is there as food gets delivered to desperate filipinos. we're seeing the obstacles, though, along the way. i have low testosterone. there, i said it. see, i knew testosterone could affect sex drive, but not energy or even my mood. that's when i talked with my doctor. he gave me some blood tests... showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% testosterone gel. the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy increases testosterone when used daily. women and children should avoid contact with application sites.

discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or signs in a woman, which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are or may become pregnant or are breast-feeding, should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. in a clinical study, over 80% of treated men had their t levels restored to normal. talk to your doctor about all your symptoms. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. androgel 1.62%. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. i always wanted to design a bike that honored those who serve our country.

and geico gave me that opportunity. now naturally, we wanted it to be powerful, innovative and we built this bike as a tribute to those who are serving, those who have served and their families. and i think we nailed it. geico. proudly serving the military for over 75 years. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before.

was a truly amazing day.ey, today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers. you can find it all on angie's list. join today. does your dog food have? 18 percent? 20? new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learn more at purinaone.com store and essentially they just get sold something. we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. before you invest in a mattress, discover the bed clinically proven to

improve sleep quality. the sleep number bed. once you experience it, there's no going back. final days for our lowest price ever on c4 queen mattress sets-just $1299. plus special financing until 2015. only at one of our 425 sleep number stores nationwide. sleep number. comfort individualized we're back to our special report, the "uss george washington" is expected to arrive in the philippines. u.s. military officials say more than 30 land-based aircraft will be in place by sunday to shuttle relief supplies. that's just part of the

disastrous assistance. joining us is brigadier general john kennedy. there are so many people who are desperate right now. it looks like they're not getting what they need. what's going on, john? >> wolf, it's a serious situation down here. tacloban, as you know, has made the headlines. we are searching into the airport, moving through the neighborhoods. some of hose neighborhoods are inundated with water. some are almost inaccessible, because the roads are so bad. the philippine government is clearing that, they're getting aid out to their people. we have -- we have incredible surge of the united states aid coming into the area. it's an international effort,

but the u.s. sent two 747s full of humanitarian supplies. they've been off-loaded, we pushed them down to tacloban and they're being distributed. >> do you have confidence that the philippine government authorities know what they're doing? how to distribute all this aid? there are folks in desperate need right now. >> wolf, they're being given a lot of help across the international release organizations. the united states emergency international is linked at the hip with these folks. they've got advisers. we've got quartermaster assistance in distribution of aid, rapid distribution. we're building up stocks, passing it for them and they have a plan to distribute it. it's a matter of capacity at this point. so this is day 5 of the u.s. effort.

we've almost defied the laws of physics getting the "george washington" over here. almost 50 aircraft. heavy lifters, trucks. this stuff doesn't just come out of a box. it has to get moved down here. it's a remote location, but i think it's a confidence builder to see this sort of aid coming from the united states and the international community in their hour of need. >> we were told, general, that eight people were killed basically in a stampede at a warehouse, a government where you. police and security, we're told by eyewitnesses basically stood by as people stormed the buildings, took, what, 100 sacks of rice. unfortunately the united states military is there on the ground. are you authorized to deal with these kids of situations where you see riots unfolding and people getting killed?

farce i've seen in being down there several times now, flying over the area, i've not seen any evidence of that. >> u.s. brigadier general paul kennedy, thank you so much for that report. we'll check back with you tomorrow. very disturbing information, but fortunately the united states military is on the scene helping as best as it can. now another take on the relief operation in the philippines as hungry storm survivor grab for scarce sfp

food and supplies. paula hancock has been in the middle of it all. what's the latest. >> reporter: we are seeing some progress here, the fact the airport is now 24 hours, it means there's a lot more aid coming in. also, we have been seeing more aid trucks within the army trucks themselves up and down the road to tacloban. hungry hands reach out for food and water. in front of the gutted airport terminal, the world food program is loading up the latest shipment. so it's happening. we will see even more of this tomorrow, but it would have been better if this had happened three days ago, but the weather situation that we faced yesterday was difficult to get anything. >> reporter: through the dusty road of devastation to the city center, the army transports the supplies, to make sure they get to their destination cheered

along the way, wfp has so far delivered 75,000 family bags. the sight of these trucks driving down the road is certainly welcome. those along the sides of the road are shouting at the truck, and what's inside these is basically high-energy biscuits, something crucial for the early days of such a natural disaster. ten minutes down the road, the government warehouse filled with rice, bread and canned goods is largely undamaged. >> it's a bigger space. we can serve more and serve faster all the victims of the disaster. >> 50 volunteers work around the clock here. they're paid in food. >> this place is known locally as the golden warehouse, basically because it wasn't destroyed by the storm and also it hasn't been looted. it's the only one in the area. there's a reason it hasn't been looted. the security here is incredibly strong. around armed effort to provide

something as basic as food could well save lives here. >> the head of the wfp also told me that when it comes to the looting, she heard from her workers that people are taking from grocery stores not for themselves, about you to distribute among communities. wolf? >> paula hancocks, thank you. coming up. our own ark is also in the disaster zone. he's standing by. we'll discuss what he's seeing right after the break. my mantra? family first.

but with less energy, moodiness, and a low sex drive, i saw my doctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron. the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women especially those who are or who may become pregnant and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these symptoms to your doctor. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation

where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting and increase in psa. ask your doctor about axiron. you really love, what would you do?" ♪ [ woman ] i'd be a writer. [ man ] i'd be a baker. [ woman ] i wanna be a pie maker. [ man ] i wanna be a pilot. [ woman ] i'd be an architect. what if i told you someone could pay you and what if that person were you? ♪ when you think about it, isn't that what retirement should be, paying ourselves to do what we love? ♪

paying ourselves to do what we love? i want you to know stuff i want you to be kind.

i want you to be smart. super smart. i want one thing in a doctor. i want you to be handsome. i want you to be awesome. i don't want you to look at the chart before you say hi...david. i want you to return my emails. i want you to keep me doing this for another sixty years. at kaiser permanente, we want you to choose the doctor that's right for you. find your perfect match at kp.org and thrive. anderson cooper is joining us from the philippines. he's been doing an amazing job. i know it's already thursday morning, where you are. how's it going? >> with big developments overnight, the paul kennedy had promised he would get this airplane up and running.

last night was the first time u.s. air force personnel as well. the question, of course, is will the supplying that have been off-loaded now sitting on the roadway, how quickly will they be distributed by local authorities. to the areas that need it most. there are people still in this airplane who have been trying to get on flights out, who don't have water. there's a lot of resentment, saying, you know, why can't we get water at the airport. there's supplying coming in. you would think at the very least. people at the -- to stop

themselves from being dehydrated. there's a lot of need, but more and i said is coming in. >> why can't people just get water at the airport? >> there's a lot of finger pointing. local official say they've simply overwhelmed. they need help from the federal government. you know, it's -- there is a capacity problem. there is simply a lot of roads still are blocked, though main arteries have been opened, but there's a lack of vehicles to transport good. there's a lack of fuel. it's hard to find fuel. we're down to our last bit of fuel to run or generator to run this camera. so it's a very chaotic situation. that, you know, is slowly improving, but certainly not

past enough. >> we'll be watching later tonight. a lot more news coming up. thank the entire crew for all of us. that's it for me. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "crossfire" starts right now. tonight on "crossfire", the number everyone's been waiting for. >> we expect these numbers to rise. >> plus horror stories. was today's fair? on the left, stephanie cutters, on the right, newt gingrich. in the crossfire. two members of congress. what's flawed? tonight on "crossfire."

welcome to "crossfire." i'm newt gingrich on the right. i'm stephanie cutter on the left. two members of congress on opposite sides of the obama care debate. two things happened today. first secretary kathleen sebelius released enrollment figures. 106,000 picked a plan. the rest not facing a deadline until january 1st, are still choosing their plan. republicans still can't help themselves. from overreaches and over-politicizing. >> the witnesses are being badgered. >> this is not a partisan hearing.

i will not having it accused of being so. >> this is not a partisan hearings. today's hearing once approve that -- when you're the opposition party and the president of the united states gives you -- and the president of