health care reform. but whi all the talk, what's really in it for you? this week, the president hit the road making his case in virginia and north carolina and next week, indiana. the message, the same, he's trying to offer reassurance just like he tried to do in raleigh. >> nobody it talking about some if government takeover of health care. i'm tired of hearing that. i have been as clear as i can be under the reform i proposes. if you like your doctor, you keep your doctor. if you like your health care plan, you keep your health care plan. these folks need to stop scaring everybody. >> so here's just a sample of what the white house wants to do. i know the print is very fine, but follow along with me. no discrimination for pre-existing conditions. no high you've pocket caps. no capps on coverage and if you get seriously ill, your coverage

cannot be dropped. at least that's what the white house wants. so how does the country feel about how the president is handling health care reform? this topic. well, it's split. if you look at the numbers. 43% approve. 45% disapprove. all right, david gergen joins me now to talk about the politics of the health care debate. if you look at the numbers which seem split across the country about how people like the way the president is handling health care, the numbers are dismal for this popularity. just as he started talking about health care, it seems that his p popularity points dropped about seven points just over a two-month period. so is the president tackling this the wrong way? >> well, you have to give him point points for trying very hard. we've had presidents going the way back to franklin roosevelt and harry trum ton reform health care and no one has succeeded. barack obama has come closer

than any president has. here's the issue. most americans agree to the current system unsustainable t costs way too much for what we get. most americans would like the insurance companies to no longer say to them, if you have a pre-existing condition, you can't get insurance. too many americans feel locked in jobs, they can't move. there are different rates dmarchd you're a woman or old or infirm all the other things. so all of those are positive. but what they fear is that this plan is inevitably going to because it's led by democrats, it's not going to be something which is maintained in a private system but it's going to be the government taking over and more and more and government will start rationing and the government will start poouf pushing people into systems they don't like. >> so am i hearing you say that overall, it seems as though americans embrace the idea of something's got to give. they've got 46 million americans who are uninshurnd the president thinking be a these american americans may have the right idea but perhaps what's

different is unlike other presidents who have tried to push through some sort of health reform, he has instead of crafting the legislation, he is asking congress to do that. that's where we've got this fighting now because you've got republicans and even among democrat democrats are split on exactly what to agree on. >> well, president obama and his team took a lesson out of the clinton experience with the failed health care effort as you'll recall and in that situation, at the request of congress, the white house wrote the legislation and it was very much, hillary clinton headed up the special task force that came up with a bill 1300 pages long. people couldn't understand it because it was so complex. this time around, this white house decided well, we'll let congress write it and that has many plaus pluses it, it has gotten through the committee system, something senator clinton was not able do.

but it also produced a chaotic scene. americans look at this and say mr. president, i have no idea what you're trying to to anymore. it's so complex and i'm just worried that at the end of the day, not only people in congress aren't going to understand and we're going to wind up with the short end of the stick. that's why you see the fear going out. >> you know, because you twoerkd clinton white house, you know exactly what might be taking place this weekend. the president at camp david. he's also got a number of aides meeting at the blair mouse and have been for quite some time trying to figure out how do we tackle this? they have to take care of this in a month now. congress in recess. the white house already in recess. how might they take advantage of this time to get white house message out so people can feel like they're getting some clarity on what this plan is? >> well, what the white house knows full well is that august can be a very cruel month for presidents. because when members of congress go home, they can often get an earful from constituents and this case, the republicans and

againers, very many special interests not happy with the direction the health care bill is taking are owl in full force, the conservative radio talk show hosts drumming up problems they see and creating a sense of anxiety if not fear. until the white house has to lead a very concerted effort to help persuade people why it's moving in the right direction. it's handicap is not only is this complex but it does not have a coherent plan to take to the country and sell it. that's problem the president had with this press conference the other night. not this past week the week before. when he drew a small audience, the smallest audience of all of his press conferences and clearly he was having a hard time explaining this. this is complex stuff. >> are you worried about the recovery time then, the recovery time for the white house? >> well, you know, i think that

the white house is going to have to very focused, this is going to be an important month because let's be very clear about this. the white house is moving toward a vote and we've never had in 60 years on this issue, we've never had a chamber of congress actually pass a comprehensive health care reform bill. the house is probably going to do that in september. so the president has made progress. he's got the legislature generally moving in the right direction, of course with a lot of tension. but it could get washed away, that progress could get washed away, those public opinion polls you have just showed, they have been moving south for the president. if they continue to move sourngs it could hill health care. >> david gergen, thanks so much. senior political analyst for cnn, thank you for your time joining us from boston. let's talk about where the house and senate might be leaving us in the month of august. that's where josh levs steps in. give us a better idea. we know this one committee of

the house voted for the bill but then it's going to be left up to the rest the house but the senate is adjourning without a vote like that. >> i'm going to do it in the order you just talk achbltd we'll start off talking about the house right here. i want everyone to understand what has happened and that has not happened because as you know, our government can be incredibly complicated. the founding fathers wanted it to be hard to make big things happen. they got their wish. this is what's happening in the house right now, you have three separate committees. all need to come up with their own versions of the health care bill. you've got a bill from this committee, this committee and this committee. now, fred, they have to come together and merge into one bill and that needs to go before the house. we know for a fact that will happen after the recess. but that's just the house. let's go over to the senate. let's get rid of this one. how do you do it this again? i got it. i love this board. all right, so the health care bill, we're looking at the house.

but i want to go over here now to the senate because this gets a little bit more complicated. you've been talking about this bipartisan group of six. that's them right here. you've got this committee called the health committee that came up with the health care bill. that's one committee. but now the finance committee, right now, this is a sticking point in the senate. this bipartisan group of six senators needs to come up with a bill, right? because it needs to go before the committee an then you have to merge this and this in order to get one bill before the sena senate. >> the clock is ticking. >> so let's stop and look at that you've got all these committee notice house, the senate, then before the whole house and whole senate. then if the house pass it, right, and the senate passes it they have to get together and find a way to merge those. which is why i'm going to show you my favorite point right here from our own ed henry. it's like covering jell-o. it has no form, it keeps on moving.

when you are taking a look at where the health care is, it's like covering form because it has no form. it keeps changing as you move it down the table through all these different committees. so people can be hopeful something can happen, we have all these steps. i love ed. >> i love that, too. >> we note president wanted something by august. not going to happen. earliest house vote, september. once you go through your formula with the senate, i don't know, maybe a christmas present if the president is lucky. >> i mean this is the idea. all the committees i was talking about here, all the committees i was talking about here, in every case, you have to get every one to come together and then you've pretty much got jell-o. >> very g i don't know if that's good, actually. jell-o is scary as it pertains to legislation. gearing to sit on it. we've got much more straight ahead. you're fielding lots of questions and comments from people sending us so many interesting thoughts about health care reform, covering america. we're also going to be joined right after the break by two law makers, two members of congress, we're going find out from them what about this jell-o?

all right. covering america what's in it for you? we're devoting this entire hour to health care reform. we already know that the house committee has voted on a bill before this august recess and the senate will be adjourning in about a week with no vote as far as we know. so we are joined right now by two lawmakers who can give us an idea of what should this reform package actually look like in the end.

georgia representative republican phil gingrey and elliott engle is joining us as well. you were, mr. engle, on this energy and commerce committee, right? did you vote in favor of this bill or not? >> yes, i am on the committee and i voted in favor of the bill and i think the american people need know that health care reform is on the way and it's going to be good for all segments of the american public. >> so if you could, congressman engle, in about 45 seconds give me your best sell about the kind of health reform package that you're hoping congress will pass that uninsured americans will be able to enjoy. >> first of all, as we know, there are 47 million americans uninsured and that continues to grow. of those 47 million americans 80% of them are working people and their families so it's a national skanlt that we have smm people uninsured.

our plan would insure virtually everyone in the country. it would say that doctors and hospitals couldn't reject you because of pre-existing condition and it it will also move health care into the 21st century. the current situation with health care is unsustainable. the costs for health care have been growing much higher than everything else. and so we cannot just sit back and do nothing. there are lots of people with lots of different ideas. as it's pointed out there are three committees and those bills will all have to be merged but i am confident with president obama leading the way the american people will have a rehaul of health care and as the president has said if you like your current doctor and health care, you can keep it, we just want to make sure that the 47 million americans doesn't continue to grow and grow and that people are pushed out of the health care system. >> okay. and republican congressman gi r

gingrey also with us. i want to give you an opportunity to give us about in about 45 second what are you hoping a health care reform package would look for the roughly 46 million, 47 million uninsured americans? >> well look at the 47 million, you have to peel back the layers of onion, in fact, 10 million are eligible already for a safety net program such as medicaid or a chip program, they just don't know t we need an ombudsman to help them know that. some people making $50,000 a year or $75,000 a year, they have decided they don't want to be forced to purge health insurance so there are 10 or 15 million who truly through no fault of their own, pre-existing conditions don't have health insurance. we want to make sure they get that. the republican of the aisle wants health care reform, we can effect that by equal iizing the

tax treatment, help them get same discount that are employees of a large kpaend they can create these state-wide in every state of the nation. 50 states have a high-risk pools where the federal government and the states are willing to put in money and supplement so these people can afford health insurance and nobody is denied because of pre-existing condition. i think an insurance company has already essentially agreed to do. >> that well it sounds like some of the things you just spelled out are some of the very things the white house said it wants. no one would on, who has pre-existing situations, would be denied and congressman, you also mention though, however, a lot of people don't want to be forced to purchase health care. but talk to me more about that because it's a bit confusing when you've got a public health care plan that might be extonight uninsured americans. what do we mean by it would be force and people don't like the idea of being covered. >> let's get into the part about if you like what you've got, you can keep it, the pledge from the president.

certainly that's not true for the 10 million or 11 million who currently like medicare advantage under the medicare program. where things are covered like hearing aids and dental care. and people have wellness opportunities, callbacks from a nurse practitioner that you don't get under traditional fee for service medicare. that program is going to be cut by $175 billion. so those 10 million people certainly are not going to get to keep what they like. >> congressman engel, i'm going to let you respond to that quickly, because this is the kind of thing that starts to confuse people. i'll give you about 10 seconds to respond to that comment. >> well, if anybody is going to have cutbacks in their insurance, we will make sure that these things are added to. so nobody is really going to suffer. the question is do we just sit and do nothing as my republican

friends seem to want to do or trust the insurance companies as my republican friends want to do or do we see that we need to get involved now because before we turn around we'll have 60 million and 70 million americans uninsured and people will be afraid of lose iing their jobs their insurance. the system is about to break and we need to fix. >> i have some very specific questions here in atlanta, a woman who is currently unemployed, she has a p presituation. she's a breast cancer survivor. hooray on that but at the same time, you are covered by cobra, it's very expensive. >> it is. >> and laura walker is also with us, she recently lost her job, sun employed doesn't have insurance. and she has given up the horse riding which she loves to do, she doesn't want catastrophic care to kick in. so lady, i'll allow you to talk

to the congress will congressmen here to express your concerns about health care reform. what do you want to see in a package? what confuses you about what we're hearing from lawmakers. >> bottom line for me, i support the president and health care reform. i do know something needs to half. when i was knsd with breast can sex i had insurance. but just because i work and had insurance it didn't cover everything. there were medications i was still responsible for. there were surgeries i still had to be responsible for. so for me and people like me, whatever this new plan is, is there such a thing as the kind of insurance that covers everything where you're not responsible for paying thousands of dollars when you already feel like you're covered? so either one of you. >> congressman gingrey, you talk and not being denied insurance when you have a pre-existing condition, perhaps you can respond. >> ms. william, absolutely. in your situation, of course, after that cobra runs out in 18

months, under current are situation, it might be awfully hard for you to get any kind of health insurance at off. exactly. >> that you can afford even if they would even let you have any coverage. under the republican plan, the insurance companies would absolutely have to give you a policy that was virtually standard rate, maybe 10% more, that you could get that would cover those things, cover those cancer drugs that you so desperately need and that's part of insurance reform that we would insist on. and i think the insurance companies would be willing to do that. the reason so many young people don't sign up for health insurance because if they've been in a program or a company for 25 years and all of a sudden, they develop breast cancer or alzheimers disease or some chronic illness and they change job, they can't change their insurance policy, they can't get coverage, they should absolutely be able to get credible coverage because the insurance companies have done quite well on them over many

years. so this is again refworm of the insurance company, i think insurance company is ready to do that. we can do that without turning everything over lock, stock and barrel to the federal government. you know, in great britain the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is much less than in this country because they dee best cancer drug therapies. you don't want to be in that situation. we're going to take a. >> we're going to take a short break. because i know, congressman engel, you have a plan 245 means no turning down people with pre-existing conditions. so where do we find common ground here? right after this.

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particularly as it it pertains to a pre-existing condition, why won't democrats and pruchbs agree with that? we have a woman talking about her situation, she's a breast cancer survivor. she had a question for congressman gingrey, now to eliot engel joining us from new york. what do the democrats say about that? >> your case is precisely what president obama and the democrats weren't to do. and away we want to change health care. we believe very strongly that in any bill that comes out, no one will be denied any kind of help

because of a pre-existing condition. right now, insurance companies are denying people like crazy. the republicans seem to think that you can sort of leave the insurance company to their owned and somehow or other they're going to come up with something good. we have is a seen that unless there is pressure, unless the government changeses way shark done in this country, the insurance companies will never respond. so our bill will ensure that no one-denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. our bill will absolutely be if someone loses their health care coverage or job they should be able to get similar coverage or keep their coverage. that's precisely why we need health care row form in this country an for to you have to pay all these bills out of pocket when you thought you had good insurance that covered you, is a national disgrace. it's a national scandal. so i can assure you that any bill that comes out of the democratic house and senate and signed by president obama will take care of people just like

you. >> well, that's exactly what i want to hear. >> you'll hear it and thank you for having the courage to say what you're saying because we have heard this from thousands and thousands of people who are just like you and that's why the insurance companies and health coverage is broken in this country and we need to fix it. >> congressman, a good number of the 47 million, 46 million american americans are just like laura walk, she lost her job, she lost her insurance. she not covered at all right now. your question, perhaps to conman gingrey first? >>. >> well, i just talked to a friend of mine today who was diagnosed a year ago with cancer. she lost her job right along with me. she informed me her cobra didn't pick her up because it was considered a pre-existing condition. i think my biggest question of all to both of you and to the american government is if all these people have been putting their money into insurance

company and the insurance company takes the money, invest it, buy real estate, stocks, whatever, and that's supposed to make them money to pay the payments back for the treatment that you're getting, if they can't make it work and the government continues to put all of these regulations and stipulations into developing drugs and to how things are done medically, i don't understand how the government is going to pay for it to make it any better. >> congressman gingrey, why don't you respond to that? >> laura, i said on the previous clip that a situation like yours, you've been paying to that system all along and certainly you have made money for the insurance company because possibly you had very few claim, annual physical, that sort of thing, all of a sudden, you come down with heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer and you want to change your jobs or you lose your job through no fault of your own, that

insurance company that was covering you all those years should be obligated because you've got credible coverage, they should be obligated to continue to cover you at near standard rates. that's what republican party will insist on. >> i feel like both of you, congressman, are saying the same thing. >> we are, to some extent. >> why isn't it on the hill we're hearing there's dissension, we keep hearing democrats believing this and republicans believing this. you're both sayings same thing so what's the problem? >> we are saying the same thing, i'm sure eliot would agree me because he's my good friend, we could have gotten together on the house side like the senate finance committee work nag bipartisan way. but we have not worked in a bipartisan way and i'm a physician,ic add to this. >> if it sounds like there's there is a lot of harmony here, what's a time line? what can americans expect? >> i would hope by the end of the year, we have a health care bill ready to be passed and signed by the president.

phil is a good man. we work well together, but unfortunately his party when it comes to health care habit party of no. they didn't like medicare and medicaid back in the 1960s and they don't believe the government should play any role in health care. we know that before medicare and medicaid came through, 80% or 75% of american seniors were living in poverty and now with medicare and medicaid, that's all been turned around, we don't think we should be afraid of the government getting involved. we think that by the government getting involved it will force the insurance companies to keep their premiums down and to provide health care. the lady who lost her health coverage, that's the kind of person we weren't to help. >> laura. >> if you lose your job or if you change jobs, if you're a little bit older and you're fearful you're going to be find won't be able to find another job. we weren't to make sure you continue to keep your health care coverage. >> what's interesting is we are talking as if everybody does

want this kind of government plan to be passed, period, but we're also hearing from people and josh has been hearing from them, facebook and blog on my facebook page as well that not every american wants to see this kinds of ghost intervention. josh, if you can join the conversation real quick before we take a break. what is it people are expressing when they say i don't know if i like the democrats plan, i don't like the republican's plan. >> you can tell me after the break, but we're hearing from a lot of people making those same point, fred. it is those general things. well go to the board for some examples. some answer now? so after the break, we'll pose these exact kinds of questions that fred is talking about to our congressmen right here and have you answer them.

covering america, what's in it for you. our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen has been doing a great job answering a lot of questions about what does this public health care plan mean if it's passed by both houses on the hill? i asked her earlier about a question that many of you have been asking. is this socialize medicine? wilt government getting involved? so many questions coming from you the viewer. so we've asked elizabeth cohen to answer them. it's an advisable course of action but having it mandated is taking away a choice and therefore by taking away my freedom to make the choice. is it true? is it being limited? >> there are some plans where every american will be man ditd

have health care insurance. so zarv saying, i want to make the choice not to have insurance. it's my choice as an american. it might not be his choice for much longer. so if he's asking is a mandate limiting my options, yes, it would. you can't go without health snurns there's a mandate. but a lot of people would say zarv selfish to not have health insurance because if he gets into a car accident or cancer, guess who's going to have to pay to have him treated. >> so maybe he won't make a preventive care type of appointment with a doctor. still no good. >> but a lot of people say we shouldn't let people have that choice. when you don't have health insurance it costs everybody more. >> maria has a question we've heard over and over again. she says is this socialized medicine? >> president obama has answered that over and over again. let's take a listen to what he has to say. >> opponents of health reform warn this is all some big plot for socialized medicine or

government-run health care with long lines and rationed care. that's not true either. the reason this has been controversial a lot of people have heard this phrase socialized medicine and they say we don't want government-run health care dwoerngts want a canadian-style plan. nobody is talking about that. >> all right, he says it is not socialized medicine. how do we know the difference? >> people think of socialize medicine as a medical system there's one payer, that is not what this is at off. it would be a government option. there would be an option to get into a plan that's sort of like medicare for everyone. you could think of it is that way. but wouldn't have to have that plan. now having said that, there are some republicans and democrats who say they fear the government plan will become over time the only plan, that private insurers won't be able to compete with it.

so -- >> a lot of employers will say it's cheaper for me to allow my employee to go for the public care. why should i pay for it? >> right. that's the fair, that employees will drop their plan. >> how does that concern get eliminated? >> the people who wrote the bills have tried various ways to make sure that isn't going to happen. however, there are some concerns that no matter how you write it, just the way economics are going to work, employers are going to want to go with that public plan. the way they paint is years down the road, they're going to end up as the government being the only person insuring people, but that's really looking into a crystal ball. there's nothing that says we're going to a single payer system. would it create a situation where we end up there years down the road? who knows, nobody can predict the future but there's nothing about these bills that sets up a single payer system on purpose. >> okay. all right. and elizabeth cohen is going to

be back with us to talk what about imigrants? who takes care of them? josh levs has been taking questions from you. we've got one question going to new york congressman elliott engel who's got to run but time for one question. >> all right, congressman, thank you for sticking around for this. the i-report are system that's about president obama. take a look. >> when he was a candidate, he routinely blasted the federal government for being inefficient. here he thinks the federal government is k provide an option to maintain competition in the health insurance industry. give me one example where the federal government has ever operate more efficiently? >> even if you're not talking socialized medicine, lot of 350e78 are saying why trust government to create a system that is less bureaucratic and more efficient than we have now? >> what we have now are essentially insurance companies competing with themselves so

they have no incentive to keep the premiums down. they keep having the premiums rise. if the government and secretary in this bill can negotiate with the insurance companies lower costs so consumers can pay less it will force the insurance companies to keep their premiums lower to compete with the federal government option. that's all we're saying, we're not talking about socialized medicine or a takeover of medicine. we are saying that the insurance companies have shown in all the problems i've talked about where we have people being denied insurance because of pre-existing condition, we have people losing their jobs and never being able to get back their insurance. we have 47 million american, 80% are working families denied health care, the government will continue to pressure under the new plan the insurance companies to keep the premiums down, make sure that everyone is cover and no one is denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition. >> i appreciate your response to that. i know you need to do go. i appreciate that while we have congressman gingrey as well, i want to get to your side as well.

let's zoom in on the board for a second and take a look at what people have been writing here on our blog. cnn.com/fredericka. anthony said he's hearing republicans talk about cost and debt and say you know what? the iraq war soft several billion dollars. in that time period. do you know where health care would be? he goes on to say are republicans saying basically the cost of a war somewhere sells more important than taking care of the sick at home? your response to that congressman gingrey. >> in regard to the health care plan fail injure not an option but on the campaign trail he said failure was an option in iraq, but let me get back to what congressman engel was saying. he's saying we're not talking about a single payer system, but anybody watching on c-span or cnn or anybody present in the energy and commerce hearing room when we were mark up the bill last night for 12 hours. congressman engel himself, his

colleague anthony wiener from new york, president obama's colleague from chicago, j, so me no mistake about it -- >> congressman engel had to leave so he can't respond to that but we're going to take a short break and we'll talk about more questions the ladies have for you and others. >> really quickly. can i set this up? okay. very sorry. i do want to say, she's right. we don't have the other side here. towards the end of this hour, we're going to be showing you several reality check websites about what has or has not happened. but before we go do break, i want you to answer anthony's question. i hear republicans saying we're concerned about the cost of

health care but not the war. what is your response to that? >> the war is costly and it is still is and i commend the president for the surge in afghanistan. i think the president, you know, when you're campaigning and you say that i'm going to reform kafta, and then say no, i didn't mean that that's just campaign talk when you get under the awesome responsibility of the white house, especially as commander in chief, sometimes reality sinks in. i think he's doing a good job in conducting the war in afghanistan, but is very, very costly, no question about it. and reforming the health care system in the manner that the democrats want do it is way too costly. $1.5 trillion, we've got a $1.8 trillion deficit for the year 2009 and this bill beyond that, beyond the ten-year window it justs more and more expensive and we currently have an unfund mandate on medicare of $37

trillion over the next 50 years. >> so bottom line, republican, democrats, working on the hill, all want to come about some sort of health care reform, the difficulty is how do we get there. are you saying that perhaps by christmas, by mid fall. >> soon. >> that's our guest saying she wants something soon, americans can expect something. >> i don't believe that old adage, do something even if it's wrong. i'm glad we have not -- passed in the committees and house and one committee of the senate but neither floor of either chamber. so we've got six weeks to talk to oconstituents to make sure they understand it but that all members of congress have read these bills and understand so that when we do come back in september, we come together, maybe we rewrite this thing in a bipartisan way and we do have a market delivery reform, insurance reform, equalize the

tax treatments. make sure that we cover the uninsured, i hope we do get something done before the end of the year. >> congressman thanks so. and thanks again to congressman elliott engle. who had to leave earlier. congress people are going to be talking more about health care reform. guess what? you at home are going to be seeing a whole lot of ads throughout the month of august to help you make a dis. >> d it's the only credit card... that earns miles on delta. miles that take you... to more places than ever before. over 350 destinations worldwide. so switch today. get up to 25,000 bonus miles-- good for a free flight. call now to apply. there's no annual fee for the first year... and you can redeem... with no blackout dates or seat restrictions. these are just a few of the benefits... of carrying the official card of delta air lines.

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earlier in the week, president obama was in raleigh, north carolina. he said health care reform isn't about him, it's about you. f. you've got health insurance, then the reform are we're proposing will also help you. because it will provide you more stability and more security. because the truth is we have a system today that works well for the insurance industry but doesn't always work well for you. so what we need and what we will have when we pass these reforms

is are health insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and insurance companies are held accountable. let me specific. when he stop insurance companies from denying you coverage because of your medical history. i've told this story before. i'll never forget watching my own mother as she fought cancer in her final day, whether her insurer would claim her illness was a pre-existing condition so she could wiggle out of paying to her coverage. how many of you have worried about the same thing? a lot of people have gone through this. many of you have been denied insurance or heard someone was denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition. that will no longer be allowed. with reform. now, we won't allow that.

>> all right. among those covered under a government plan might be illegal immigrants. we asked our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. >> all right. here's another question that we've gotten from a lot of people. with the new plan provide for illegal immigrants? >> there's been a lot of talk on talk radio and other places that illegal immigrants could join this government-backed insurance. that's not true. that's not the case. illegal immigrants would not be able to get into these programs. >> isn't medicare already covering some? >> it's not supposed to cover illegal immigrants. it's not supposed to do that. >> very good. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen, thanks so much. >> all of congress may be soon be in recess but the talk of health care reform is just beginning on the air waves. here's candy crowley. >> you could end up with

government bureaucratics taking away your choices, getting between you and your doctor. >> republicans say congress should slow down. that's because if someone goes slow enough, it's easy to kill it. >> all right, much more straight ahead covering america.

chug lost his arms 28 years ago in an electrical accident. he hadn't used a drill since. now he can. and unlatch a doorjamb and play genga. thanks it a prosthesis created by the segway inventor. it all began when the military wanted new for troops who lost an arm on the battlefield. >> they met with them and they said we want about arm that can do this an this and this and we told them you're nuts. >> but he delivered. >> when we started this project, most people would have said this is the state-of-the-art,

basically a plastic tube with a hook on the end of it and our goal was to row place that with a full hand and apposed thumb and all the fingers. >> the design weighs the same as a human arm and can lift up to 20 pound, the wrist and fingers are controlled by electronic monitors and sene soursensors i shoes. he's only a few years away from delivering it. and his most valuable volunteer is chuck. gary tuchman, cnn. .. (voice 2) they're pinging more targets... (voice 3) isolate... prevent damage... (voice 2) got 'em.

(voice 3) great exercise guys. let's run it again. all right some final thoughts on covering america. what's in it for you. josh levs has some great resources where you can get clarity on what is at issue here. >> so many claim, right, so little time. i want to show you a series of websites where you can get the facts. you don't have to write it down because at the end end, i'll show where you i have listed all of them for you on line. first place is cnn money. i love what the team is doing. they are consistently updating this special page that focuses specific loin fixing health care. every blue line is a different story. sometimes five or six a day where the bill stands right then.

what does president obama actually say? his suspicion laid out at healthreform.gov. you can learn a lot there. and gop.gov is where the republicans stand. you can read the talking points. this is one of the most popular things where they're making fun of democrats, calling this organizational chart, saying it's ridiculous, bureaucracy. democrats struck back buy this say this is the republicans' plan, lots of question marks. two key reality checking webs e websites. poli politifacts.com, look at what's going on with the health bills. this is a chain e-mail going on. that says all non-u.s. citizens will be provide with free health care services. they give that a pants on fire rating. also true check at factscheck.org. everything i just showed you. let's go to the graphic. this is where it is. go to cnn.com/newsroom.

and also facebook or twitter. it will take you to every link i just showed you. hold on toichlt we want to make sure people are getting the facts. >> we're gaeg goeg hear some last thoughts from two ladies joining us this hour. had a chance to talk to two congressmen. laura, your final thoughts. did you anything from your congressmen that helped credit stallized whether you're going to be better off while you continue to be unemploy ed and uninsured. >> no, i didn't. all i heards were a lot of sugar coating and dancing around the questions with we had asked. we till don't get the point, i'm unemployed. i don't have aan income other than un. employment. i don't know how they expect me to pay for insurance that's affordable for me. i haven't figured that part out.

i'm realistic to the fact that with limited income, you get limited benefits. so i don't expect to have mris every time i twist an archgful i can't afford to pay for t i don't know who they expect to pay for this. >> pre-existing condition, you're a breast cancer survivor, right now, you're on cobra, i remember it was $600 or $700 for me on cobra per month. did you hear anything that helps you feel hopeful for your coverage? >> i'm going to remain optimistic. aye understand how laura feels but as a woman 36 years old, healthy diagnosed with breast cancer, my life changed forever. so hearing from the senators i know that president obama has said he has very good health insurance. i think all of us want the same thing. i don't want any person to have something like that happen to them and wonder what in the world am i going to do, i don't have health insurance, am i going to die? i don't mowatt situation is or the solution is, but bottom line they need to something and do

something quickly, because what's happening now doesn't work. >> you clearly both want that. thanks so much. and thanks again to congressman phil gingrey and eliot engel as well and josh levs for fielding so many questions and comments from our viewers. thanks so much for joining us. and david gergen at the top of the hour as well. much more straight ahead. don lemon coming up next. i'm fredricka whitfield. hi, may i help you?

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right now in the news, air travel disrupted nationwide, we're live at laguardia shut down for a time because of what one passenger tried to take through security. stuck in an enemy state. american tourists arrested in iran. we'll tell you if they're going to be the next political pawn for an anti-american go >> cash for clunkers. an auto expert answer your questions live. and reefer mad neness. california says if you got 'em smoke 'em but they want in on the deal. >> plus, cover you