when i g all these recognitions, all these awds, they represe puerto rico, really. [applause] i don't know. >> ahora viene la mesa. [cheerin >> despu de la silla viene laesa! [laughter] i got the national endowment of the arts from theresident of the united stat. i wanna t mething here in puer rico from the senate. >> de miorazon que ahora voy a llevar esto mundialmte cuta entrevista que me hagan. y si no saben leer espan, y bueno,asalo a japones. [risas] gracias. [aplausos] where do you gfrom here?

after e symphony orchestra, o do you play for, you know? i mean, this is the biggest, e symphony or philarmonica orchestr you're playing our music athe highest level of reprentation of our music. the on place i gotta go after this is to the moon and play the music uthere. ha ha ha! >> el sueno del maestro, tito puenty la orquesta nfonica de puerto rico. [aplausoy vitoreos] >> this wahis last performance onhis planet.

>> i've never sn him that pumped up. and he was eltrified. >> what they say in spanish, "incansable." he was tiress. and i will forever miss ing in sob's, or one of tse clubs, and hearing the murmu of "he tito just got here. tito'here." >> he eclipsed everying, as far as i'm concerne i realize it more now th he's not arnd, but you stop back and thinkbout it, whenever my father wasn a room, at ahow, or even at my own home having dinne he eclipsed everything. he was bigger th life. it just didn't matt. he walked in, tha's it. he took over >>hen it came to the music, heas on top of it. and even with his recordin.

i meanif he had to go into the studior something, he washe was ready. ti was known as "one take tito." he would do certa things in...in one te. >> inevitably they would askim if hwould play, and i never heard him say . >> in his later years inife, i don't ink he did it for money or fame or recogtion, becaushe was already considered an ic even in the 70's. i thi that he did it more f the love of performing and making people ile and makinghem dance, which he always wanted to do. >> tito puente has left legacy, like dizzy gillespie or duke elngton. thatusic will live forever among us. >> his work had such an mense,

profound effect on so ny latin tists in the world and artists general. >> he was a perfectionist. tito liked thingto be correct. >> when he hits it, 's there. and that's whatrt is about. >> he loved it. he lov it right until e end. >> i thinkum, being the best at what do is how he influenced me. um, si'd like to take awayhat spirit and apply that to whater i choose to din life, whether it's working in schools or an education, or en when i'm

playing. i givit a hundred percent. >>hat's longevity. i believe it'just a tribute-- a tribute to h...his innotiveness. he's a very innovative person.e...as tradional as he was in his beliefs about music, setimes you have to make t changes to adapt tthe music. maybe he didn't wanto, but he did. >> his music. tito lefa legacy likeach, like beethoven, like ellington, like bas. composed over 400 hundretunes, close to 500 tunes. i just finished upting his discography. recorded with h and his orchestra 135 albums and that's not incling the ones titpuente did as a guest artistith other artists. >> i love listening tohe jam sessions that would occur ten there, not on . they were in

s private collection. and u could just hear him having fun. [crowd chantin"tito!"] >> ♪ acumba, cumba cumba, cumbachera ♪ the are my boys. agotada en econtrato. [audience laughing] >> so he d live a full life. he did what wanted to do. t many people do that. he did what heanted to do.

anas i tell people who are in their 50's,0's, or 70's who i run to, and they'll say, "gee, whateverappened to your dad? he was great in th 50's, you know, thearly 60's." and i say, you know, i thi the queson is whatever happened to you? because you stoppe dancg and you stopped going to clubs and youtopped buying records don't mean that my ther stopped working. ite frankly, he's been wking ever sin 1950 until the day he died. he's still beenround, he's stl playing his music all e way around the world. >> whoo! >> tito's albu"dance mania" was one of t top 25 albums of the last ceury. you know, you me not julio iglesias, nothing. i mea tito was the oy hispanic. i think that's importan that's a legacy for generations to come. and i tnk the generations of today shod not foet of tito puente, should

noforget of tito rodriguez, or machito, anso forth. anthis is something that we should teachur children. >> hey! whoo! [singing in spanis

>> rey. >> mr.oking. >> i would call him a generouserson. >> his part of who we are as a peopl >> he's going to be one of the latinos that htory's always goingo remember. he did live a full life. >> titwas the best. thbest as a friend and as ausician. >> he was one ofhe fellows. >> this is amerin music. it's also music othe caribbean. it'also music of africa, and these people absolutely le it. >> hhad a kind soul. he had a kind heart. he wasown to earth. >> excellentusician d a great human being. a very funny guy

>>hew. verdad... good times. >> major funding for "vos" was ovided by... additional fundi was provided by... additional funding was proded promotional support r voces is provided by hispac commications network, a leadineducational media to learnore about thiscs. episode ofvoces," please visit...

captiong sponsored by rose communications fromur studios in new york city, this is charlirose.

>> rose: welme to the broadct. we are live th evening from washingtonnd new york for coverage of president oba's spee to the nation on health care. the presidt addressed a joint session ofongress earlier this eveninat a crucial mome for his top domest priority. after weekof decling public supporfor democratic reform ans, the president outlined his own proposal and called on congre toct. >> the are those on the left whbelieve that the only way to fix the systems through a sile payer system like canadas where we wldeverely restric the prive insurance market and have the gernment provi coverage for everybody. on the rht, there are those whargue that we should end employer-basedystems and leave inviduals to buy heah insurance on their own. i've said... iave to say that there are arments to be made for beth tse approaches. but eitherne would represent a radical shift that would disrupt

the health care most people cuently have. i derstand how difficult this health care debate has been i know that man in this country are deeply skeptil that government is lookg out for them. i understand that th politically safe move could be to kick the canurther down the road, to defer reform one mor ye or one more election or one more term. but that is n whatthis moment casor. that's nothat we came her to do. we did notcome to fear the future we came here tohape it. >> rose: thepeech is perhaps the mostmportant moment thus fain the presidency. joining now, anthonyeiner democratic congresswoman fr new york. aemocrat pennsylvania p.a. and a member of the centrist blue d coalitio also congrsman thadus mccotter of michan, theourth ranking memb of the house republican leadehip. lar in the program we'll be joinedy a group familiar with the issue of health care and th program, joseph califano,

former secretary of hlth, ucation and welfa during the cart administration, david brooks of e "new york times," al hunt of bloombergnews, and rich lry of the national revi. i pleased to have all ofthem onhis live broadcast tonight from washingtonnd new york. i begin wh peoplewho were there in the hall listening to this spee and ask ts basic question: what did the speech change? >> i hope what it chaed was tually informg the people of this country rlly what this bill, whathis leglation as we go forward entails. as i did my town halls, 19 of them throughou northwester pennsylvania, i foundhat there wasust a lot of confusi and a lot of peopl who were very frighten sod i think the president kind of laid out what this plan is and i hope that he took a lot of the misrresentations and a lot of the fears of the people have had. >> re: do you think touched the bases that he d to do?

>> oh, i do. believe he certainly took on all e mispresentations right away. almost scoldg those w really have been out ther spreading these really lies and misrepresentatns. >> rose: you'refor public option but you are a blueog democrat, ashey say, which is a group of docratsho very very song o fiscal restraint and economic issues. >> yes. you know, actuay... when i left f the august break i was leaning towards th public option but really wasn't sure. and honest as i got to understand the legislaon even better ovethat period of ti and talk to my constituents, i really belied the public option ishe fiscal responsible thing to do. >> re: allight. because it createscompetition? and therefore. >> exact. >> rose: iurance companie will have to meet a competition from a public option? >> we cannot contie. i thought the presidt saying that heah care is theeficit issue, you kno, when we look at the defic... if we d't reign

rein in our health ce costs we won rein in our deficit. and so i think the plic option needs be a component. >> rose: anony, wherere we today? >> i think the preside did a great job oflaying out why the status quo is unsustainable. one of t first questions i got in my town hall meetingss from people who hadealth care they thout they liked and s fine and was wdering why we're doing anything that impacted them. i think made a gooargument that it's a national imperative that we act. i was one of the peoe that got a little finger in e eye when he said he di't support single player plans that iupport. i thinfrankly we know for example the that hureds of billions of dollars e taken ouof the heah care system anput into profitsand overheads by insurance companies that want to bring in as much as theyan and pay outas little as they can. he made a good argument for why yoneed at the very least a puic option. ifou take a public option out, take it off the table o out of the plan, then there is nothing in the bill that contains costs effectively. and that, think, is a very important thing to keep mind. he made a prty good argume

thatou can't pubc option at this point. and that'sgood. but to some degree the speak was a rorschach test for members o coress who wanted to see in it whatever ty thought was the most important thingut if all amerans tuned in even f a moment and said,you know what this doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world, in fact we have to do it if wewant to accomplish the obctives of getting our economy going, it's ultimately goingo be a very good thing. >> rose: some are arguing tt he was prepared t.. well, he laid out the se for public opon he also basically said was not essential. >> well, he's been... in fairne, he's beenll over the map on the public option. he said at e point it was just a sliver of the pl. inact, to someone who is on the committ that helped write h. 3200, ian tell you if you don't have competition, there's nothing in the planthat makes surance companies anyore likely to low their sts. it's jusnot there. the only thing that innts them to do it is they're gointo have to keep up with the lower cost governmt option. it's a realroblem. and it's not just me saying

this. the c.b.o. also said the same thing, that we have ed the hands of the public option so tightly bend their own backs that you're not tting the sangs you really need . you need some form of competition. wee seen now 44 yearshat we've d medicare, erating, giving good coverage to pple but having obviously financing problems. the insurance companies far outspending them in terms of health care a inflation that we have >> rose: what do you say to those who argue th the president has bically said that what'scoming out of th nance committee his proposal? >> well, if that' the case he didn't say that. there are thosef us who believe in a vigorous public option that that might be the end game here. but i don't kn. you know to some degree, t month of august we ha been kind of flling around each in ourndividual districts trying to explain our potions individually. no one can do what the esident did tonight, which is sayin fr that bullyest of bully puits that these are the things we need to do and he's why. in all fairness, there's no president's bill rightow. heept referring to his plan,

including some languagebout tort reform, there's no bill for any of us to look a sooner or later pen has to hit paper anwe have to see what the oba plan lookslike. >> rose: before i turn to republicanit is also argued that this president has to have reform because i he doe't, if there's t a bill that gets through congre and you go to thelections in 2010, democrat will be in trouble. >> came to washington partly to do health ca refm. and when the president talked about we've been kicking thi can do the road for a very long time, i agree. and i've talked abo that a lot during my town hall meetings. at we have been kicking thi, along with man other issues, down theoad. can no longer do that. ielieve less about the elections t really for the future of our country i'm a new mber of congress. i came down here to do the people's work and peopl asked us, small businesses askeds, indiduals asked us, provider asd us to do something about this health car system.

we have got tomove forward on th. >> ros congressman thaddeu cotter of michigan, the reblican with us, tell me how you think e played with republican members? >> well, charlie, i think we felt le guests at a thanksgiving diner whe the family was fighting. as you know, we are a distinct minority in the house, we're a distinct mority in the sate, and yet to be portrayed as the reason the bill wasn' passed before our aust recess as the president originally asked is little bit disingenuous. the fact remains the democrat rty has to determine wheer they want e public option or not, whether they lieve the 0th century model of gornment, centralizationnd bureaucracy placed o a 21st censure consumer empowered economy is the ly way to fix thisand they don't really ne ournput this, although we're ppy to help if they me tt determination. from our point of view was really directed largely at blue dogs who, unlike my cleague on the show, have not made the determination that the public opon is the only try go.

>> re: so it didn't change any republican mds and you're ggesting this is not even about what republicans will becae that's not what's going to happen? >> well, weon't knowhat's ing to happen. think that's e of the things that did not happe tonight. while the presidt came down in favor of the public tion, it was more as ithis wasis perm proclivity to support th as opposed a ledgety necessity. think in manyays it was equivalent to havi the entire congress there a the nation watching whe he kind of voted "presenton this. and so the democratic party is going still continue their debate as to whetherhey go in this directi or not. republicans are going continue twait and say well, if you make yourind up that you don't think the public option isssential, com talk to us. d i think that's pretty much where we are. >>ose: the president also was a teacher tonight. he was sically saying there's a lot of munderstanding. you think he regained control the debate so that there is a broader derstanding now among those people w focusedn this debate, elinating some of the confusion? >> i believe he made the first

stone get to at point. but i think there's still more work to be done in terms of really educati the people about at we are trying to do in this legislation. you know, when i was at my tn halls i would ha a good hour and a half, twoours with people and there was still things i wast able to get to. so io think that was the first st, but we have to go further and i tnk administration has certaly a huge role in this. >> rose: the president is bk in control of thedebate? >> ihink so for a cple of days. and then it'sack to law making and that's somimes people making comomises. look, i do think the predent still needs to sharpen his decisionon a couple of the issues that are sll bouncing around in congss. the pubc option isust one of them. he made a had tip.. >> rose: wt more can he say about the public option? he's in favor of it, on chnological t only hd it is only part of thebill. that's what he sa tonight. >> in case, any other pt that coains costs he bter tell us what it is because it' not in the present bill. >> rose: tre are those o will argue-- as you well know-- that we're going to ha is

public oion in the house and senate i the senate,the senate will take the sate financ bill essentialland this will be decided in confence. and democratscan't afford to lose. >> well, perhaps that's right. i mean, you know,the senate has been referd to as the cooling sauc of democracy. recently it's been th icebox. it's the meat locker of decracy. those ofs in the house have been continually ming forwa tryingo get the ball moved downfiel putting aside the bank shot of legislation herehat's going to have to... it is absolutely essential that we solve this problem. for eight yearse had a house and a senate d a white house that was contrled by the republican they did absolutely nothing while th problem got worse. we're changinghat today. you know, democrats are committed to fixing this problem. and tha mccotter is rht. weave some intramuraloncerns t one thing is clear, we're not going toet a lot of republic votes on just abou anytng we try to do. rose: the ecomic sue the president aftegoing through what h thought was important to say and where the consensus was,

congressman mccotter, he basically ended by talkingbout first e cost element and tn nally about the letter... e eloquent lette from senator kennedy. on the fiscal issue d the deficit neutrality, will tt sell? do y have to buy into that? >> well, i think a lot of people were very concerned that supported the present's plan when he said he wouldn't sign thbill unless it was definite neutl because in eect that would kill t bill. the wa he's desned this strains credulity. for exple, there's two things in the speech when we talked aboudoes this control the debate, what is the fiscal impact. first, he didt answer the trillion-dollaquestion about thpublic option. secondly he talk about $600 billion inuts in medare that cabe done without hping seniors. well, we should have done that the minute wealked in the door. and the other par of it that i find ierestingspecially from a district obvusly coming tside detroit where we he a lot of employer-proded plans, is theresident said there's nothing in the bil that force

employers to p people into a public option. well my conrn and many americans' ccern is there' also nothing that in the current bill that prevents employer from dropping yo into the publicption for the very reason the president laid out. it's very costly for employers to provide them. >> well, look, the fact is it's always puzzlg to listen to my friend fiercely defen cuts in medicare and then go off and beat the druabout how they're against single payer government-run healtcare. thers a certain schizophrenia in the republicanarty and maybe whate've finally seen here is that people uerstand medicare a little better and understandow successful it's been in fact, between noand the year 2013, which is year on in ts bill, employers are going to be able to drop people or not drop people justthe same way that they cod any oth time. t i think that fundamentally thad mccote is right about e thing. we do nd to finis legislating some of these this. one thing we're not going to do is continue to have the stus quo in pla. d a lot of peoe that were disrupti the