captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: aid is urgently needed in the typhoon ravaged philippines amid rising despair over the slow pace of relief. good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. also ahead this tuesday: the first of four personal stories highlighting setbacks and successes of the affordable care act. tonight, one woman who's losing her current insurance. >> no one told me, you know, purchase at your risk, because this policy does not comply with the aca and it may be canceled.

>> ifill: and we sit down with former vice president dick cheney. his new memoir details his decades-long battle with heart disease. >> i was able to live for 35 years and slowly reacted and very normal. some people say abnormal but able to function at a high level inspite of the disease. >> ifill: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the president of the philippines announced today the typhoon death toll may end up between 2,000 and 2,500, far below earlier estimates. but it was little comfort to thousands of survivors, especially in tacloban, the city virtually destroyed by the storm. they grew ever more desperate, mobbing relief planes and pleading for help.

we have two reports from independent television news, beginning with angus walker, who's in tacloban. >> reporter: in the ruins and the rain, survivors are now trying to rebuild their lives, but the misery goes on. "what's happening to my country? we have no food. help is not coming," she says. in the search for food and water, looting is often the only option. he peeks over the wall of a warehouse, wary of the guards. even the youngest are snatching what they can; others are able to take more. heavy downpours today, raising the risk of waterborne disease. >> my heart is broken, teared

apart. >> reporter: in his makeshift shelter, 61-year-old edgaro belo is sick from drinking contaminated water and still traumatized. >> i have not seen people like that. children. i was surrounded by bugs. decaying bugs. i was surrounded by bodies. decaying bodies. i don't know how i have survived. >> reporter: it's called bliss, the name of a housing project built for people who'd lost their homes in past typhoons. this time, it was no safe haven. >> bliss is made up of a maze of narrow alleyways, and when the typhoon struck, they filled with water within seconds to above- roof height. and yet most survived, quickly climbing high enough to escape,

clearly still happy to be alive. but living is hard-- long queues for empty shelves, medicines are rationed. so, as evening approaches, barricades are manned, warnings to looters. the army patrols while the people of tacloban fend for themselves. >> woodruff: john sparks of independent television news joined anxious ferry passengers travelling to another hard-hit area today. their five-hour journey began in cebu city. >> reporter: there wasn't much interest today in the boat to ormoc city, although several dozen climbed on board with bundles of food or clothing. they weren't commuters or traders, and this wasn't a routine trip. for many, the 11:45 ferry was a voyage made in hope. they were looking for loved ones in a region decimated by last

friday's typhoon. still, the ferry captain told me that ormoc city was in a terrible state. >> ( translated ): they are in a really bad situation. there's no food, no water, no electricity. it is really terrible there. >> reporter: for relatives desperate for news, the ferry is their only option, but it is an anxious journey. what's going through your mind right now? >> my family. they are near cataloban. my one and only sister is living there. and i cannot even sleep for a few days in manila, thinking that my sister is one of the victims. >> reporter: have you been able to speak with her? >> i haven't been able to communicate with her. >> reporter: one group had a

different purpose: to provide aid and assistance to a badly affected community called tacloban, but they were worried. >> we've heard that vehicles coming from-- any vehicles going into tacloban are being... there are road blocks. people are hijacking the vehicles and getting the relief goods. >> reporter: but you're still going to go anyway? >> yes, but we're going to go anyway. >> we need to go. >> we need to go. >> reporter: after five hours at sea, ormoc came into view. we could see and smell the city. acrid smoke filled the air as residents burnt piles of debris. the storm had ripped off roofs from buildings in the port. while further inland, entire communities had been demolished. the first food aid arrived today, five days after the typhoon. we haven't got very far.

the road into the city is blocked. but what we have seen has shocked us. this city of 250,000, a community of churches and homes and businesses, has clearly been brought to its knees. there are few if any basic services here. there's no electricity. residents live in the dark; some do their washing now by candlelight. in the darkness over there, there's a long queue of people waiting for bread. presently, there are only two places to buy bread in this city of a quarter-million, and this is one of them. tonight, they were selling rolls. customers queued up for hours to get some. in this time of need, some have stepped forward. a hotel owner with access to a generator is offering this

essential service: a mobile phone charge. why is it so important to have a working phone? >> yes, because some of our phones have access to television. because our tv sets are all wet and destroyed. so, we need this kind of phone where we can watch national news. because there's no relief goods yet coming, so we're looking for some information from the national government. >> reporter: ormoc is one of hundreds of communities that's been left to cope on its own. but for the moment, people here are making the best of a bad hand. >> woodruff: we'll have more after the news summary. u.s. airways and american airlines have cleared the last major hurdle to merging into a single carrier. the justice department approved the deal today. it calls for the two airlines to eliminate 56 flights a day out of washington and new york. they will also transfer some

gates at other major airports to low-cost carriers. the moves are meant to prevent the merger from stifling competition. heart experts are calling for twice as many americans to consider taking statin drugs that cut cholesterol. the american heart association and the american college of cardiology issued new guidelines today on heart attacks and strokes. using a new formula, some 33 million americans-- one-third of all adults-- meet the threshold to consider taking a statin. president obama faced new pressure today over cancellations of millions of health insurance policies. former president bill clinton told the web site ozzy.com that mr. obama needs to keep his promise not to let that happen. >> i personally believe even if it takes it to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people.

>> woodruff: mr. obama has apologized for the problem but has not said he's willing to amend the law. as for the clinton comments, white house spokesman jay carney had this response. >> i think it's important to note that president clinton in that interview also said, and i quote, the big lesson is that we are better off with this law than without it. the president, as you know, has pledged to ask his team to look at potential actions that could be taken to address this problem. because his focus is on making sure the people get quality and affordable health insurance. >> woodruff: the number two democrat in the u.s. house, maryland congressman steny hoyer, also joined the call today to let people keep their existing policies. meanwhile, the "new york times" reported that major insurance companies are asking to sign people up directly and bypass the troubled healthcare.gov web site. hawaii is about to become the 16th state to legalize gay marriage.

the state senate moved today to give final approval to same-sex unions. the governor indicated he'd sign the bill into law. a similar measure won approval last week in the illinois legislature. the u.n. human rights council added new members today, and human rights activists were not happy about the results. china, russia, saudi arabia and cuba all won seats despite protests that they routinely abuse human rights and restrict basic freedoms. the u.n. general assembly voted on the new members. an international committee of architects has confirmed it: one world trade center in new york will be the tallest building in the u.s. when it's completed next year. it's being built at the site of the 9/11 attacks and will top out at 1,776 feet. but a dispute arose over the needle on top of the building and whether it's to be counted toward that height. the announcement came today in chicago.

>> in the end we reached a consensus. it was close to unanimous. it was not a hundred percent unanimous but it was close to unanimous. and so the debate, and this was a five-hour meeting. so the debate was pretty heated. >> woodruff: chicago's willis tower, formerly known as the sears tower, had been the country's tallest building at 1,451 feet. violence erupted in two developing countries today as garment workers pressed for better pay and working conditions. in cambodia, one woman was shot dead when riot police used tear gas and water cannon along with live ammunition. demonstrators threw rocks and set some cars on fire. in bangladesh, thousands of protesters battled police in two industrial towns, leaving dozens of people injured. more than 200 factories were closed. in china, leaders of the ruling communist party vowed to let markets play a "decisive role" in allocating resources.

the policy statement was announced at the end of a four- day summit in beijing. the gathering focused on reforms to drive economic growth for the next decade. the leaders stopped short of ordering dramatic reforms that would end the dominance of state-controlled industries. president obama nominated a top treasury department official, timothy massad, to run the commodity futures trading commission today. the c.f.t.c. regulates the futures and options market, but it's one of the smallest and most thinly funded u.s. agencies. the president urged congress today to fully fund the commission. on wall street, the dow jones industrial average lost 32 points today to close at 15,750. the nasdaq rose a fraction to close just short of 3,920. >> woodruff: still ahead on the newshour: the science behind superstorms; personal stories from health care reform; "60 minutes'" case of mistaken reporting; and former vice president cheney speaks about

his heart. >> ifill: so, is there a connection between the nearly 200 mile an hour winds that flattened so many filipino communities and the warming planet? that's the subject of our first feature segment tonight. the sheer deadly power of the philippines typhoon has cast a fresh spotlight on the question: are storms getting stronger as the planet gets warmer? at its peak, typhoon haiyan was hundreds of miles wide, with sustained winds of 190 to 195 miles an hour. that rivaled the strongest storm on record, hurricane camille, which struck the u.s. gulf coast in 1969. in the philippines, the typhoon's winds drove an ocean surge two stories high, destroying nearly everything in its path.

>> climate justice now. >> ifill: the scope of the devastation was becoming clear as international climate talks opened in poland yesterday. the filipino representative delivered an emotional appeal. >> i speak for my delegation, but i... i speak for the countless people who will no longer be able to speak for themselves after perishing from the storm. i speak also for those who have been orphaned by the storm. i speak for those, the people now racing against time to save survivors and alleviate the suffering of the people affected. we can take drastic action now to ensure that we prevent a future where super typhoons become a way of life. >> ifill: the official said he will fast until the conference reaches a "meaningful outcome." the philippines is no stranger to powerful storms; the archipelago of more than 7,000 islands sees some 20 typhoons a

year. scientists hesitate to pin any single event-- from storms to droughts-- on global warming, but they warn greenhouse gas emissions could cause extreme weather-- like typhoon haiyan, superstorm sandy in 2012 and hurricane katrina in 2005-- to become more intense. for more on what we learned about this typhoon and concerns heard in warsaw and elsewhere, we turn to two who watch this closely. kevin trenberth is a climate scientist at the government's national center for atmospheric research. and jeff masters is director of meteorology at weather underground, a commercial online weather service. welcome to you both. i want to start with you kevin trenberth. maybe you can help people understand the basics. cyclone, hurricane, typhoon. what's the difference if any. >> just the region they occur. they're really the same phenomenon. the typhoon is in the pacific

northwest, the cyclone is sort of australia and india, the bay of bengal and hurricanes are in the atlantic. >> ifill: think of this one, haiyan, what how is it worse and what causes it to be this intense? >> we don't often see storms get this strong. i mean the top winds of 190-195 miles per hour have only been four or five storms over the ocean reach that intensity. when it hit land at 190-195 we never seen that before. they extreak the energy out of the ocean. they convert the heat to the energy of their winds. the waters to the east of the philippines have the largest area of deep warm waters than any place on the planet. >> ifill: so kevin trenberth this is unique, this kind of force, this kind of impact to this area of the world. >> that's certainly the warmest

area in the global ocean. and al so it's been warming up at the greatest rate in the global ocean in recent times. >> ifill: so why if this is true and the philippines have sustained several of these every year a few every year at least why didn't they see this coming, why was this such a surprise? >> well, there have certainly been other big storms this year. there was one in japan in mid october and also in the bay of bengal that went into india. they were also category five storms. and this one is one of several that have occurred this year. this one just happened to make land fall at full intensity. >> ifill: jeff masters, how do we track them, how do we see them coming? >> we track them via satellites in the pacific ocean. unfortunately we don't have hurricane hunter aircraft anymore in the pacific so we have to rely on kind of lower quality sorts of satellite

estimates. but these estimates are pretty universal in showing that this storm was one of the strongest of all time. >> ifill: i want to ask you both this and it's a question everybody's asking today, which is what is driving this? is climate change as we saw the philippino representative talk in warsaw is this being driven by climate change by warming of the planet starting with you jeff masters. >> we don't have good enough observations. they don't go back in time far enough to tell to typhoons and hurricanes. these storms have a lot of natural ups and downs and we haven't been observing them very well to be able to tell for sure and they've been changing or not. the predictions for the future are pretty solid. as you warm up the oceans you will tend to make the strongest storms stronger. >> ifill: how about that kevin, the oceans are warming up and making this happen. >> well firstly, the global

ocean, we've had measurements of al tim teres from space making measurements of the global ocean since late 1992. since then the global ocean sea level has gone up by two and-a-half inches. in the vicinity of the philippines, it's gone up by about eight inches just to the east of there. part of that is because of changes in the winds in that area which has piled the water up in that region. but it also means that the warm water is exceptionally deep. so the sea temperatures are higher by over degree fahrenheit on a global basis because of global warming, because of human influences. going along with that the air and atmosphere is warmer and moister and that's what fuels these storms. the environment that all of these storms are occurring in is simply different than it used to be because of human activities. >> ifill: jeff masters is a human activities in that region or is it human activities

globally that you see that are driving the sea levels up in that area? >> it's human activities globally. unfortunately the people who are least to blame for emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere are the ones that are suffering the worst. it's the people in africa, the philippines and poorer countries are really feeling the impacts on these sorts of extreme events we've seen lately. >> ifill: let me ask you both for hopefully a hopeful way of butting this up starting with you kevin, what could path should we be taking. >> this is on the cards. the projections we will have bigger more storm although there may be fewer storms overall. but then it's very haphazard as to just which area experiences these in any particular year or

in any particular location. but then you need to be prepared. in the u.s., one of the things that happens is improving building codes, and this has been a problem in the developing countries in particular like the philippines. there are certain things that you can do in that regard but the philippines is certainly in an area where they always have experienced typhoons. and you know the infrastructure has not been there. >> ifill: jeff masters. >> kevin covered half the story. we need to adapt to these changes. do smart things about building on coasts. but the other part of the coin is we need to put less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. we need to stop putting these heat trapping gases in that are increasing the temperature of the planet and contributing to these sort of violent changes to our weather we've seen in recent yaryts. >> ifill: jeff masters of weather underground and kevin

trenberth for atmospheric research. thanks so much. >> woodruff: now, part two in our series featuring reactions to the affordable care act as the details are slowly registering with people. today's remarks by former president clinton underscored his concern about the potential political fallout. some americans are angry about receiving cancellation notices from their current insurance companies. case in point: deborah persico, a self-employed criminal defense lawyer in washington, d.c., who frequently defends the indigent. here is some of what she told us. >> beginning some time in october, i actually had just gotten my rate renewal for my current plan. my premiums had gone up to $297 a month. the deductible of $2,700 was still the same, the out-of- pocket maximum expenses of

$3,200 was still the same, but my premium had just gone up a little bit. and a couple weeks later, i got another letter from care first telling me that that policy did not qualify under the affordable care act and that by next october at the time of my renewal, that policy was going to be canceled. i nearly fell off the chair because for years all i had heard from president obama: "if you like your policy, you can keep your policy; if you like your doctors, you can keep your doctors." i have excellent coverage with the plan i now have. i have hospitalization, doctor care, and labs, and blood tests, physical therapy, ambulance, hospitalization. i mean, everything is included in this plan that i feel i would need. it is a p.p.o., which i really wanted to be in, and i'm

perfectly satisfied with this plan. so, once i received this letter from care first, i was completely shocked. i could not figure out what was happening, and then i started the process of trying to find out what the new available policies were. what at i found was that getting a p.p.o. h.s.a. policy with care first on the bronze level-- which is not even close to platinum-- on the bronze level is going to cost me about $5,000 a year more than what i'm already paying for health insurance. it's been a total sticker shock. i've had some health issues this year, and i've had to reduce some of my workload. it's a real hardship right now. my husband is 67 years old, i'm

58; we are desperately trying to save for retirement. as i said, we are both self- employed, so we don't have a pension from some company. and $5,000 more a year is not pocket change. you know, it's really going to affect us. and now, it makes no difference that we tried to cut back on other expenses because it's all going to be absorbed by the new health care policy. the representative told me to look in the booklet that they had sent me, and i looked in the booklet. and in that booklet is a list of services that the a.c.a. covers. well, i have every one of those services except maternity coverage and pediatric care. now, i am 58 years old. the chance of me having a child at this age is zero, so, you know, i ask the president why do i have to pay an additional

$5,000 a year for maternity coverage that i will never ever need? i voted for president obama twice and i was totally supportive of the idea that every person should have access to affordable healthcare, but i'd like to know why 5% of the population are having their policies canceled and having to pay exorbitant rates for a new policy. no one told me. in none of the documents that they sent to me was there any notation in there. you know, "purchase at your own risk because this policy does not comply with the a.c.a. and it may be canceled." so, as far as i'm concerned, the insurance companies, the president and congress are all complicit in this dishonesty. >> woodruff: for the record, we've repeatedly invited top obama administration officials on the program to discuss these issues, but so far they have declined.

we realize all of the people we're profiling are single anecdotes, so we try to fill out the broader picture on all this with mary agnes carey of kaiser health news. it's an editorially independent news organization, and it originally broke some of the stories on cancelled policies. mary agnus carey, welcome back to the newshour. why are people having their policies canceled. >> the problem is some of these plans don't meet the standards of the affordable care act. she mentioned two coverages she wanted part of the essential felt benefits, maternity and pediatric care. there's a standard list of essential health benefits that must be covered in these plans. they have to meet certain co-pays and deductibles and if they don't they won't be offered by the insurer. >> woodruff: when she bought the policy there was an awareness what was going to happen to the law. why is she told this policy. >> there's something called grandfather status that many of

these policies have lost when the law was signed in march 2010. as long as plans didn't change significantly and what they covered or co-pays out of pocket deductibles and so on they could keep their gram father status. some people have bought those plans since march of 2010. some of these plans have lost their grandfathering status and some insurers have decided they don't want to sell these policies anymore. insurers have frequently made decisions one policy isn't sold from one year to the next so it's a combined set of factors why some people aren't getting to hold their policies. >> woodruff: who dropped the ball here. do we know for a fact whether it was the insurance company, whether it was the government not disclosing more about the law? what happened. >> it's a real messaging problem in the party administration. we have heard repeatedly if you like your plan you can keep it, if you like your doctor you can keep it. when the law said plans could stay in place as long as significant changes weren't made maybe that message was too complex to relate to people but it created a problem and a misunderstanding. the president himself has

apologized for this. that the administration's feeling is that for the individual market a lot of these policies are skimpy, they don't provide good coverage. she is obviously happy with her coverage and she wants to keep it. >> woodruff: she described it as a plan that covers everything she needs and even more. how wide spread is this problem. >> there's 14 million in the valid market, 5,000 who buy insurance. we don't know exactly how many people are losing their policies but the estimates vary from 2-4 million. as more people get these notices copy pull begin to track these statistics this number could increase. >> woodruff: 2-4 million. what are the administration's options. we reported earlier former president clinton is now saying the law needs to be changed, are amended. you have democratic members of congress calling on the administration to do something. what are their options at this point. >> i doubt very much there will be any bipartisan consensus on capitol hill to change any facet of the affordable care act. the president has asked his staff to look for ways to help

these folks in particular someone who has an individual health policy, individual market policy who might be losing it because they don't qualify for the subsidies. perhaps they could work out an agreement with the health insurance industry to provide some relief. you have to remember people in the individual markets have already passed the medical under would iting that caused some problems before. this tends to be healthier people, they're getting health insurance now, you need them as health insurance exmands to balance out the risk of the six people. >> woodruff: if you find yourself in this fix, what can you do? what are your options? >> in the notice your insurer sends to you they need to tell you what they might qualify for different policies for that insurer. that's one route. on healthcare.gov there's still a browsing function that does work where you can type in your zip code and get different find out different plans that might work for you. you can certainly look to those plans to see if you can get a better deal. >> woodruff: she clearly identified one she says is going to cost her $a 5,000 more a

year. >> this is frustrating and clearly not the intent. you have to remember a lot of people couldn't get coverage if they had been sick or their coverage was canceled or they were charged higher risks if they had been sick. it's to spread the risk out and make it better from people but as we found out from debra some people are having a hard time. >> woodruff: we're hearing a lot about problems with the aca, the affordable care act, mary agnus. is there a part of it that's going well we can tell the public about. >> well there are millions of kids for example, they're adult children up to 26 who stayed on their parents health plan, there are preventive services have been offered without co-pays or deductibles. seniors have gotten health with their prescription drugs and looking forward there are subsidies to help people provide coverage. there's expansion of medicaid to help people up to $16,000 a year qualify and there are no more lifetime limits or annual caps. >> woodruff: in fact in medicaid lots more people are

signing up. >> that's been the case so far exactly. >> mary agnus carey with kaiser health news. thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: now, a media giant apologizes for getting its facts wrong. jeffrey brown has that story. >> tonight, you will hear for the first time from a security officer who witnessed the attack. >> brown: that's how "60 minutes" correspondent lara logan introduced her october 27th report about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. the assault on september 11, 2012, left ambassador christopher stevens and three other americans dead. the white house initially portrayed it as a protest gone bad, but it turned out to be an organized attack by militants tied to al qaeda. >> our goal in this investigation is to get answers. >> brown: from the start, republicans charged cover-up, and the administration denied it.

then came the "60 minutes" broadcast that focused on warnings that went unheeded and the sequence of events that night. former security contractor dylan davies, using the pseudonym "morgan jones," told logan he was there, fighting the attackers. >> one guy saw me. he just shouted. i couldn't believe that he'd seen me because it was so dark. he started walking towards me. >> and as he was coming closer? >> as i got closer, i just hit him with the butt of the rifle in the face. >> and? >> oh, he went down, yeah. >> brown: but within days, the "washington post" reported that davies told his employer at the time that he hadn't been at the compound the night of the attack, and the "new york times" later reported davies had told the f.b.i. the same thing. cbs and logan initially defended the story, but, on sunday, they apologized. >> on thursday night, when we discovered the account he gave the f.b.i. was different than

what he told us, we realized we had been misled, and it was a mistake to include him in our report. for that, we are very sorry. >> brown: the initial report also never mentioned that davies' book on benghazi was published by an imprint of simon & schuster, a subsidiary of cbs. the publisher has now withdrawn the book. and joining me to discuss the many criticisms surrounding the reporting and the response are: kelly mcbride, a media ethicist from the poynter institute; and tom rosenstiel, executive director of the american press institute. they are co-authors of "the new ethics of journalism: principles for the 21st century," a collection of essays out this summer. kelly mcbride let me start with you. putting it altogether, where did cbs report go wrong in your estimation? what were the main criticisms? >> so they didn't -- there was a

report to his employer that suggested that there was%hz/ soe discup see about his whereabouts on that night of the attack. and they didn't resolve those discrepancies to any satisfaction. >> brown: tom what would you add. >> well there were doubts about this. there were conflicting documents about this. and you don't know what pressures are inside a company when one side of the company is publishing the book. you've got to be extra vigilant under those circumstances so you don't put yourself in this kind of situation. >> brown: explain that a little bit, the book part of it. >> simon & schuster and cbs owned by the same company, when you're in that situation, it's difficult because you can't not accept books that your parent company is publishing but you got to be extra careful because you know that someone's going to raise the possibility that there's a conneck that you're promoting this book for

commercial reasons. so your alarm system has to be even higher. also, this is a story that you know is going to be politicized, they will seize on this and then you've got to mind your p's and q's particularly well. >> brown: kelly mcbride to pick up on those things the book and lack of vetting, do we know or what do we know a few days after the fact here about how it could have happened? >> that's what we don't know anything about. cbs really hasn't said specifically what went wrong. is it because simon & schuster is part of the same company, did they assume that simon & schuster had vetted this author and therefore they didn't need to do the vetting. that would be a mistake but it's conceivable. does they not do the vetting because they really believed that this story was true, that it was too good to be true. and so they just didn't do the vetting because they really wanted it to be true.

or did they try and vet it, come up with enough reassurance that they felt like this story was okay, and then get caught with their facts not straight after publication. >> brown: just to stay with you, what would you add or how concerned are you about the potential for conflict when you've got this reporting and a book at the same time. >> well obviously the report was timed to come out with the publication of the book. and so you know that this source has a motivation to make the story as sensational as possible. he wants to sell books. i would think that that alone would inspire you a as a producer or reporter to make sure that any discrepancies were resolved. >> brown: there's been the response up to the report and

then what happened after things started to come out. >> now cbs deserves credit for admitting they made a mistake. that's unusual in broadcast. we don't see corrections on television in the course of normal activity and mistakes are made all the time. but they claim even in their own correction acknowledgment that their imis to the truth. what the truth means is clarity, understanding, what does the public need to know. they didn't make clear in that correction what they had done that created the misimpression. what information conveyed that confused people or fed conservative critics of this. so all you know what the correction is we did something wrong, we made a mistake we're not going to tell you anything more about it. they also didn't acknowledge the conflict of interest with the book nor did they acknowledge that in the initial. so there isn't really transparency here. and the problem for cbs is when

you make a mistake like this, you need to get out in front of it. you need to be your harshest critic or people will keep pecking away at awe. and there will be segments like this. >> brown: you're giving some credit for the apology but it didn't go nearly far enough. >> the irony, the reason i don't want to pounce on cbs, it's not unusual for people to say we're not going to acknowledge anything and let it just go away. once you acknowledge the mistake, you are inviting the scrutiny. i don't think it's right for people to just denounce organizations that acknowledge they made a mistakes because the acknowledgment is inadequate. too many news organizations will try to bury the mistake gut it out and say we did the best we could with the information we had at the time and we're not going to admit anything. >> brown: kelly mcbride, what do you think about the response

>>60 minutes is the gold standard. i think they expect more. they are accustomed to getting good journalism out of "60 minutes." to the extent that tom said it's unusual in broadcast television to offer up a correction or an apology, sure. but once you've done it, yes, you need to say exactly what went wrong, and i think you also need to tell people how you're going to fix the problem. how you're going to not let whatever it was went wrong happen again. >> brown: kelly, there have been calls of course for further investigations either internal or independent. what do you think should happen? >> well whether they do an internal investigation or an independent investigation, like tom said, transparency is really important here. you have to tell the public what specifically you find in your

investigation. was it one individual who maybe wasn't doing his or her job at a certain point in the reporting process. or was it accumulation of small errors that led to this one big oversight that you didn't vet your source. >> brown: tom in the larger picture -- you two both live in this world of media criticism, right. an oversight. this world has changed fantastically in the last decade or so. >> right. and you have an old media organization, cbs, 20th century news organization that aspires to these old standards of truthfulness and responsibility. and they're caught here because now everybody can look at them, criticize them and they're not used to the openness of the new environment. so they've got to be more open. they've got to be more transparent and they've got -- >> brown: the world they're

living in -- >> they do today. the other problem is what they owe us, what they owe the public is assurances that there isn't something in their processes that will allow this to happen again. they need to reassure the public look we understand what we did wrong and it's not, and we've learned from this and it's not going to happen again. you can trust us in the future. and that's the test that they haven't met yet. >> brown: tom rosenstiel, kelly mcbride, thank you both very much. >> you're welcome. >> ifill: dick cheney was 37 years old when he suffered his first heart attack. by the time he was sworn in as vice president in 2001, he'd survived four. and there would be one more. he's received stents, defibrillators, an external battery-powered heart pump, a quadruple bypass, and, now, at the age of 72, he is living with a transplanted heart. the former vice president and

his longtime cardiologist, dr. jonathan reiner, have written a book about this journey, "heart: an american medical odyssey." i spoke with him earlier today. vice president cheney, welcome back to the newshour. >> it's good to be back. >> in reading your book it becomes clear in many points during your public life and your private life you've come much closer to death than anyone. >> well, i was certainly sick for a long period of time. but that's one of the thing that we hope to achieve in the book, i was able to live with chronic heart disease for 35 years and reacted during a normal and some would say abnormal career and able to function at a high level inmight of the disease and that's because of all the developments that are now available in terms of medicine that made that possible. >> ifill: you knew however how serious it was certainly by the time you became vice president enough that you thought that it was prudent to write a letter of resignation in

advance. >> yes, i did. >> ifill: why. >> one of the first things i did when i took over as vice president i asked dave addington my attorney who had been with me a long time, to, i said i want absolutely to know everything there is to know about the transition. if something happens to the president, i don't want to be surprised. i want to have given it a lot of thought in advance, review the constitution, review the substitutes and so forth. he came back and highlighted a problem which i never really thought of which is there's provision for removing a president who is incapacitated. the vice president by cabinet and major vote they could temporarily make the vice president the president. but there's no way to deal with an incapacitated vice presiden. you could make it difficult. it's in the 25th amendment. given my history of heart disease and the possibility of heart disease or stroke maybe something such that happened to woodrow wilson 17 months before the end of his term, that i

didn't want to have that be a problem in my case. we came up with the idea that i would formally sign a letter of resignation that david david wd hold it and keep it and if circumstances arose where it was appropriate he would present it to the president and the president would decide whether or not to submit it to the secretary. >> ifill: the president was the only other person who knew this letter existed. >> that's right. >> ifill: how long did you know you had serious heart disease over the span of your life. >> i first learned of it my first heart attack when i was 37 years old. >> ifill: was that family history. >> my grandfather died at hard disease. on dad's side of the family i was always asked about family history and always said no. no indication. i found out after my third heart attack getting ready to this go bypass, mom got him to go see the doctors one day. they took one look at him and

did an emergency surgery of a six-way bypass and saw evidence of two prior heart attacks he never told anybody about. i had strong family history on both sides but for ten years i didn't know about it with dad because he didn't talk about it. >> ifill: yet every time you had one of these episodes your response was just to step on the gas. you never said well maybe i won't run for congress or maybe i won't be vice president. >> i got a piece of advice when i had that very first one back in 1978 i was in the middle of my first campaign for congress. i asked the doctor still a good friend to this day, an internist. i said does this mean i have to give up my campaign. and he said hard work never killed anybody. >> ifill: isn't that what you wanted to hear. >> that's what i wanted to take away from the conversation. but he said stress, if you feel up to it go for it. >> ifill: as a young man you

said you got insurance even though you didn't feel like you were a sick person at all and that allowed you to be awe able to aforethe care you received. >> i got it when i went to work for the federal government i signed up for the regular blue cross blue shield policy available for all federal employees. by the time i did that, i was married and had kids and a family, i had obligations and an insurance policy was the right thing to do. >> ifill: had you watched this debate we're having now about healthcare and insurance and mandated insurance around the country, do you ever look at it through the experience that you had growing up as someone who needed it turns out extreme medical care. >> when the first time probably i was ever in the hospital i didn't have insurance. i was 23 years old u shortly before linda and i got married. i got sick, hospitalized, had no insurance and the money i saved for our honeymoon went to pay medical bills so i needed the

insurance when i needed healthcare. in he are cent years, in terms of how do we provide quality care to the maximum number of people. it's not an easy problem to solve you can tell from the current debate. what i worry in the rush to obamacare and the problems that are arising with the program and the website and so forth, that there's a real danger here that will do serious damage to what is the world's best healthcare system and i believe it is in sample things such as the device tax there's provision in the new bill new law for medical devices to be taxed. that raises serious questions about the ability to continue the pace of innovation and to save my life with stents and implantable stimulators and electrical devices. those things really came from the private sector people taking a chance, entrepreneurs and they began to tax that to generate revenue for the federal government. you worry about what it does to

that mechanism that's obviously reduced the incidence of definite from heart disease in this country by 50%. >> ifill: is that tax removed do you think that would be a reasonable solution to the standoff we're having to obamacare. >> no it's an important issue it needs to be addressed but i don't think it solves is bigger problem. >> ifill: what's the bigger problem. >> the bigger problem is that the complexity of the new program of obamacare generally, the difficulties that are involved the president having said repeatedly that you can keep your insurance if you want it, turns out not to have been true but that apparently was true from the get-go. and i wonder what other additional surprises are in there that they are only now being sorted out in terms of how we're going to accommodate all these people. for example it's only if we get health for the youngsters to sign up, people in their 20's, where we have the revenue to be able to fund the benefits that

have been promised to the elderly and sick. that strikes me as a potential problem of major significance. >> ifill: someone who has benefited from excellent care, do you think that you would have survived as well as you appear to be doing today had you not been the vice president, someone with access to that kind of care. >> well the care i had basically most of the time as i say it was blue cross blue shield paid the bills for that whole period. i would say when i got to be secretary of defense, shortly after i had bypass surgery and cholesterol lowering drugs came n i had basically a 12-year period where i was free of any difficulties. when i got to the whitehouse, are there's an advantage obviously in having a physician assigned to you 24 hours a day which i did in part because of my past health history. >> what about people with your health profile who don't have

those kinds of advantages? >> well, the care i got in terms of the procedures and. medications and so forth is available to anybody who is in the system. so i didn't get any extraordinary there. what happened to me, because as vice president obviously, the country has an interest in the health and capability of the president and vice president that's why there's a thing called the whitehouse medical unit just like secret service protection. it's partly that goes along with the job but it's not a perk. it's something the country has an interest to seeing the president and vice president as healthy as possible. >> ifill: the name of the book is heart a medical odyssey by former vice president dick cheney. thank you for sharing with us. >> thank you. >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. typhoon survivors in the philippines grew ever more desperate even as the government said the death toll may be much lower than first feared.

the first new heart guidelines in a decade recommended that one-third of all adults consider taking statins to cut cholesterol. that's double the current number. and former president clinton urged president obama to keep his promise that americans can keep existing health insurance, even if it means changing the new health care law. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, with several hundreds of thousands of displaced by typhoon haiyan, reaching loved ones in the philippines has been difficult. we put together a resource guide on contacting missing relatives overseas. find that list on our homepage. plus, want to conquer your job interview butterflies? we have some tips on "making sense." all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, the supreme court hears arguments over free speech, and the technology chief behind healthcare.gov takes questions on capitol hill. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff.

we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> my customers can shop around; see who does good work and compare costs. it can also work that way with healthcare. with united healthcare, i get information on quality ratings of doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me and my guys make informed decisions. i don't like guesses with my business and definitely not with our health. that's health in numbers. united healthcare. >> bnsf railway. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and

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