obama's federal -- obama care federal and state marketplaces. you can fit every one of them into the michigan wolverine stadium and it still wouldn't be a sellout. in terms of breaking down these numbers, 106,185, 26,794 are through healthcare.gov. very small. 79,391 through the state exchanges in 14 states. what are your -- >> it's embarrassing for the administration. they clearly need more, wanted more. they were lowballing had this. let me take you back, the congressional budget office, which is the nonpartisan budget office, early on, estimated that 7 million people would need to be enrolled by march 31 to make this work. >> mr. gingrich? >> i think three numbers that put gruber's comments in perspective. he said at the end of the first year, 36,000 signed up in massachusetts. we've had 37,000 sign up in california already. and the fact is, yesterday the insurance commissioner announced

a million californians were losing their insurance. this is a massively bigger problem than romney care and any comparison to it is i think almost silly. >> republicans are tripping over themselves to come out and talk about what gloria said, that this is embarrassing. one line from speaker john boehner's statement, above all this report is a symbol the failure of the president's health care law. it is a rolling calamity that must be scrapped. the loudest criticism is what we're not hearing from democrats so far, the sound of silence, tells you everything you need to know. >> to be completely honest, difficult time booking democrats to come on after those numbers were released, to have them come on and talk about fixing the problem. speaker gingrich, gloria, dana, thank you so much. house majority leader eric cantor will join me live on set in a few minutes. first let's go to the world lead in that hovg out of the philippines, tireless search for missing family members, lack of basic necessities like food and water and the stench of death,

the brutal reality for survivors of the typhoon in the philippines. the conditions have only heightened the sense of panic and desperation in the aftermath. eight people died in a stampede at a rice house where people were climbing over each other to get their hands on sacks of food. police and security on the scene could only stand by helplessly as the chaos unfolded. aid has started flowing into military airports it is not reaching the hardest hit areas because of blocked roads and frankly unorganized relief efforts. five days after the storm, 2 million people waiting for food and medical supplies to reach their towns and to compounds the problem, armed rebels are said to be looting supplies and shooting at sur voivers of the storm. the philippines government now puts the death toll at 2,275, but that number could still climb to twice that amount or more. the government estimates half a million are homeless. live to cnn's anderson cooper, in tacloban, a town left flattened by the storm surge.

we hear the mayor is urging people there to get out of town as quickly as possible. >> and people are certainly heeding that warning. they've been trying to get out, frankly, for five, now moving into the sixth day since the storm. i can tell you about 300 feet, 400 feet from where i'm standing there is already a line of people and they have been standing all night, many of them standing all day yesterday, just waiting residents here just waiting for philippine military aircraft to come. they come about once or twice a day and get some people on those c-130 planes, get them to manila, to cebo or get them anywhere but here. people just are desperate to get out. there is really in the direction all behind me, jake, there is really nothing, i mean the houses are gone, the shacks are gone, people are still looking for food, still desperate for water. even the people standing in line here at the airport, will come

up to you with an empty water bottle and, you know, ask you if you have any water. supplies are running low for everybody. you talk about the aid coming in. it is coming in in the last 24 hours, the last 12 hours in particular, there has been a big uptick on it. brigadier general kennedy in charge of this operation here at the airport, promised to get the airport up an running on a 24-hour basis. he has done that. planes have been coming in. there's aid stacked up. i walked by pellets and tarps, thousands of tarps that could be used for shelter under the rain that comes in. the problem as you say is getting it out from this airfield now to the communities, even communities a half a mile away from here, there aren't trucks, there aren't fuel. we're running to broadcast, it is a very dicey situation here

and the bottom line is, more needs to come, more logistics, more trucks, more fuel in order to actual get this aid to the people that need it most. >> anderson, is there any indication that the philippines' government knows that the problem is getting all the aid and the tarps that you are talking about, that are right near you, that they know they need to be able to provide soldiers or police or whomever to provide that to the survivors who need it and that those reinforcements are coming to do that job or is everybody just sitting around waiting and wondering when help like that will arrive? >> you know, there are hundreds of philippine police and military here at the airport and elsewhere at road blocks and such, but you don't see them out going block by block searching for bodies, searching, you know -- i haven't seen any search and rescue operations, even in the immediate days after the storm. you think back to the tsunami in

japan two years ago or three years ago, within a day, there were japanese defense forces out with -- they didn't have earth moving equipment, they were just out on foot walking, block by block. they divided up communities. that has not happened here. people are left to their own devices. i was with a mother who was searching for her six dead children. she found three of them. she had to carry their bodies, place them under sacks but she was still looking for her three other children. her husband she had found his body and there's no one to help these people. you know, people here are very resilient, used to being abandoned by their government for generations, for decades certainly, and, you know, there's not a high expectation on the part of a lot of people here of outside help or governmental help and that is certainly their expectations have certainly been met. i think, you know, the government must know what's going on. it's just a question of ability and logistics. they don't -- there are to the the trucks available to get aid

out here. that's something certainly the marines are hoping to work on in the next couple days. it's still a very desperate situation. >> so heartbreaking. i know you did an aerial tour of the damage today and showing that on your show later this evening. what did you see out there? give us perspective of how bad had things are in some of these towns? >> yeah. we went out with the marines and their osprey aircraft which have now started to fly which allow them to get into some places others have not been able to get into. we went to a nearby island about a 30-minute flight from here called samar. it's devastation, it's up with island after another all along the south that's just destroyed. we landed with a member of a captain from the philippines' special forces from the navy, and, you know, he was talking to the people, he was trying to get an assessment of the damage and the bottom line, the message is more supplies, we need food, we need water, and in these small communities there's only about

according to this captain about 15 or 20% of these communities that have actually been assessed. there's still a lot we don't know about what's going on in the outlying places. >> anderson cooper in tacloban, stay safe, my friend. >> coming up next on "ed lead" one of the leading voices in the push to get the numbers behind the obama care enrollment. what does eric cantor think now? he'll join me next. the mayor of toronto admits he smoked crack in a drunken stupor but believe it or not he was apparently sober when he told his political opponents he's a, quote, positive role model for kids unquote. the latest in the toronto mayor's fight to keep his job coming up. keeping up with these two is more than a full time job and i don't have time for unreliable companies. angie's list definitely saves me time and money. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today.

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through obama care's federal and state marketplaces. in the breakdown only 26,9794 were able to enroll through the troubled federal exchange healthcare.gov during the initial period. that's 36 states and the district of columbia. 79,391 signed up through state exchanges in the 14 states that have their own exchanges and washington, d.c., i'm sorry, that's -- they have their own exchange, well below the pace needed to meet the 800,000 who are projected to enroll in obama care through november. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius revealed figures on a conference call with reporters moments ago a call that came two hours after president obama's top i.t. guy finished testifying on capitol hill about what went so wrong. >> the white house had originally claimed that its chief technology officer was too busy to testify about the it continued failings of healthcare.gov so the chairman of the house oversight committee thoughtfully had helped him clear his schedule with a subpoena. >> this was a monumental mistake

to go live and effectively explode on the launch pad. >> reporter: todd park, appearing today with other government technology experts at the hearing which more than once devolved into partisan sniping. >> i wasn't insulting your -- >> i take it as an insult. >> park, while taking his lobs for the website's poor performance revealed the number of users it can currently take on at once. >> the system has been comfortably handling at present about 20 to 25,000 current users. >> reporter: great, except that's only about half its intended capacity. a month and a half after the launch, after all the assurances that the white house's top people working on it right now, how can they ever meet the self-imposed deadline which president obama restated just a week ago? >> we are working overtime to get this fixed and the website is already better than it was at the beginning of october and by the end of this month, we anticipate that it is going to be working the way it is

supposed to. >> reporter: now it's sounding increasingly unlikely the website will meet that november 30th deadline. >> mr. park, will it work on november 30th. >> the team is working hard to meet that goal. >> reporter: that's not a yes. park is still working on fixes but tony trankle the chief information officer for the centers for medicare and medicaid running the site resigned. the website does have some satisfied customers such as flroa of texas who found coverage for what she has now but for a lower price. >> i'm happy with this coverage. they said oh, yes, we've got your application. we've got you -- you're enrolled. >> reporter: only after brewer gave the system repeated chances, of course. many others don't have as much pay chens after learning their current insurance plans are being canceled such as a supporter of obama care, whom i spoke with so you. >> note coverage under your current plan will end december 31st, 2013.

it's available but not affo affordab affordab affordable. >> reporter: a common story for americans who believe that pledge if they like their health care they can keep it. president obama has been trying to amend for weeks now. >> what we said was, you could keep it. if it hasn't changed since the laws passed. >> reporter: that's not sitting well, even with the man who president obama once described as his secretary of explaining stuff, former president bill clinton. who undercut the president with this. >> i personally believe even if it takes a change in the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got. >> reporter: president obama will award mr. clinton the med dal of freedom next week, potentially awkward. it isn't just bubba. many others are growing impatient. senator mary landrieu has six of her fellow democrats backing a bill to let people keep plans that have been canceled on them according to the "washington post." house republicans have a similar

measure and if the white house does not announce fixes by friday a senior democratic source tells cnn house democrats may start defecting and backing the gop plan. joining me is the house majority leader cantor. let me get your reaction to these enrollment numbers? >> pretty stunning. just another day in a series of mess ups in obama care. you really can't even tell what's going on here. they say 25,000 names and people who have apparently gone to the healthcare.gov website but don't know whether they purchased insurance or just in the shopping cart and the same for the state exchanges. we don't really know. this is the problem, i mean, any of these numbers pale in comparison with the millions of americans who are receiving these cancellation notices. i mean, jake, this is what the problem is right now, is millions of americans are being told by their insurance companies they can no longer have the health care they need

because of obama care. that they like. >> somebody from richmond, virginia. these plans are being canceled because they don't meet the standards of obama care, the standards that would allow quality care, higher quality care, the obama administration says, better care covering more things. is that not a good goal to have fewer what the obama administration calls junk plans? >> this has been the problem all along, when the president obama thinks he knows better for families what they need, what they can afford, that's when things go awry. again, millions of americans who have actually chosen the plans that fit their budget and fit their health care needs are being told that you can't have those. >> surely you acknowledge some of these plans are judge plans, some don't actually cover health insurance when families need them, some of these plans take advantage of individuals? >> well -- >> i'm not saying all of them, some of them. >> but we're hearing from millions of americans who say i like my health care and, in fact, if you look at any of the public polling most americans who have health care insurance

right now, like their health care. these are the ones that we're talking about, frankly, in trying to help. this is what the fred upton bill on the floor of the house this week will try to address and it's not a total fix. listen, the only way you're going to stop these cancellation notices, the edge way you'll fix this is to repeal obama care. we've been there. the president says he won't do that. so this is one step towards trying to help people who are getting hurt right now. >> let's talk about fixing and want to play sound from former president clinton and dick durbin the number two senate democrat. >> so i personally believe even if it takes a change in the law, the president should honor the commitment that the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got. >> i would say to president clinton if we can bring that group together we can start to solve some of the problems we're facing. >> there's a bill in the house that would let insurance companies keep offering these plans that don't meet obama care standards for another year but health care expert says this

will be an administrative nightmare. are house republicans willing to work with dick durbin and senate democrats to fix these problems in a bipartisan way? >> what we have said all along is we want what's best for people's health care right now. we've never believed that obama care and its mandates and washington knows best is what's good for people's health care. if the democrats are now saying, we ought to let people choose, we ought not be imposing higher prices on people, and yes, we certainly want to work with them. this is bruno gora as you suggest, richmond constituent of mine who says now he's not only can no longer have his health care coverage that he likes, he will be charged up to $3400 more just because president obama and washington say that he should have the health care coverage that they say is appropriate, not for him. >> that is a story we've been covering in the media for weeks but there are other stories, positive ones, people who are benefiting from obama care, one

of the tv stations in richmond, wtvr, did a story of how obama care is affecting people in the community. there were some negative stories like the one you shared and also some positive ones. they talked to two women, one signing up who doesn't have insurance and a mother with special needs child. take a listen. >> his monthly medication bills, if i didn't have health insurance, would be over a thousand dollars. it certainly gives me a level of comfort i didn't have before. >> you actually have the opportunity to get affordable health care because i currently don't have a job that offers health care. >> so that's from richmond tv station wtvr, i'm sure you're familiar with that, in addition a kaiser family foundation study found more than half of virginians will be el vible for these tax credits to help them. what do you say to the people benefiting from obama care? >> there is a better way for them to benefit and to have health care insurance that fits

their needs. republicans have always said in the house when obama care debate was ongoing in '09 is that there is a more efficient way to help those with preexisting conditions. we don't feel they ought to be denied coverage but we ought not be raising prices on people like mr. gora to say you have to pay $3400 more. >> how do you do it? how do you bring in the special needs kid who would normally be denied coverage because it's so expensive without asking other individuals to pay a little bit more? >> what we have said is, that we would believe in the creation of high risk pools at the state level properly and adequately fund them and then insure that the rates and premiums they're charged don't exceed at least 100, 150% of the market rate for insurance. absolutely there are ways to do this. the problem now is as we know, there's very little option for mr. gora if he's in the individual market now to buy a

plan that best meets his needs. you're having 65-year-old -- 61-year-old men say we have to have maternity coverage in a policy that i have to buy. that's exactly the point. mr. gora knows what's best for him, not mr. obama. >> we only have about a minute and a half left and you want to talk about iran, a very important issue going on, weary of these negotiations going on between the white house, western powers and iran. i want to play something of what jay carney said in response to opposition to these negotiations. >> the american people justifiably and understandably prefer a peaceful solution that prevents iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. and this agreement, if it's achieved, has the potential to do that. the american people do not want a march to war. >> a march to war, majority leader cantor, is turning away from negotiations potentially leading to a march to war? >> i find that astounding. the white house would say that a

deal that would allow enrichment of uranium and building a plutonium reactor, something that is not a march to war, that's the march to war. the deal that was in the works, frankly, would allow iran to continue its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. in fact, what we're trying to do in the congress as we already have done in the house is to pass additional sanctions and it's up to the senate because the house has passed the sanctions and i think, you know, what is very odd right now in the middle east, is you have the arabs and the israelis join together in their sense that american foreign policy as it's played out in that potential interim agreement, is something that is not helpful to the stability of the region and, in fact, those allies of ours are telling us to allow iran the ability to continue to enrich or build a plutonium factor is a sure way to spawn nuclear proliferation and god forbid face a nuclear iran. >> you're saying that the obama

administration has been able to unite the israelis and the arabs? >> in an odd way all of a sudden they're united against what our white house is pursuing in terms of policy. >> eric cantor we always appreciate when you come by. thank you for sharing your thoughts. another democratic senator joins the call to let americans keep the hea americans keep the health care plans being canceled under the affordable care act after a dismal rollout. will the white house listen. >> stay with us. how much protein does your dog food have? 18 percent? 20? new purina one true instinct has 30. active dogs crave nutrient-dense food. so we made purina one true instinct. learn more at purinaone.com

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welcome back to "the lead." it's a numbers game. the white house is in a deep hole. a month and a half after healthcare.gov's rollout only about 106,000 americans have selected plans enrolled from the state and federal marketplace, only 26,000 or so through healthcare.gov through the federal website 36 states are using. that's just shy of the population of billings, montana, 106,000. for more perspective, bring in phil musser, president of solis

strategies and former campaign manager for then senator hilliry chinpton and correspondent for "the new york times" mark lander. thank you for being here. patty, if you were in the white house right now, what is president obama's number one job? what did they need to be doing right now? >> fix the website. >> fix the website. >> fix the website. from all accounts they're putting resources, man power into fixing the website. i think we knehe numbers weren't going to be great given the problems with the bse. but it's still really early. we'vot more, you know, four plus months left for enrollment and i think once the website is fixed, i think a relaunch needs to be put out there to really engage the american people, get them to sign up, and let's see where the numbers are two or three months from now. >> phil, i know you're on the other side of the aisle, but you're an american. >> sure. >> you want people to be insured. this is the law. land. what would you be telling the white house right now if they somehow turned you into a

democrat momentarily? your strategy, what would it be? >> be authentic and honest. if there's one thing that americans want to see from their political leadership it's honesty. this rollout today takes the net sum package of enrollees state and federal, to very small number through healthcare.gov and so i tell them just not try to be too cute with the figures. what will happen is this will ultimately be smelled the boy the american people, the late night shows will get ahold of it and it will be trouble. go to silicon valley, give them a $50 million rfp and say give me healthcare.gov in a month and the entrepreneurial spirits of the american enterprise would come up with a better solution than this government driven mistake. >> you sit in the roof room i used to sit in, what's the mood over there? are they worried? are they e two years we'll all

be talking about how great obama care is? >> no. they don't think it's a blip. i think they recognize the magnitude of the problem they have, but what's interesting and you probably remember this, from previous crises that you covered when you were over there, is this question of whether they panic enough at certain points. a colleague wrote a story over the weekend quoting a lot of democrats and others saying these people need to be in panic mode now and yet when you talk to them they're oddly not. the president takes the long view. he still thinks that in the long run this law will be a benefitp and will prove itself as a benefit but at the moment it's not and if they're not panicking, democrats are panicking on the hill and are worried they will have to run next year not with a well-functioning law that would be a great selling point for them, but with something republicans can hang around their neck. that panic may make its way down the hill to the white house. >> in fact, it's making its way to the white house because all these senate democrats who are running for re-election are now

introducing legislation, senator mary landrieu of louisiana, foremost among them, saying if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. we're going to put that into law. the white house is going to have to pay attention to that. >> absolutely. look -- >> and your former boss's husband also said if he were president he would change it. >> yes. before he said that, he said that the country is far better off with this law than without it and he's right. this is a good law. this gives, you know, people with preexisting conditions quality affordable health care. that's a big deal. that's a good thing. this gives the ability for young people to remain on their parents' insurance, that's a big deal. that's a big thing. so i do believe that the country is better off. i think and i can't even call them glitches because it's a much bigger deal, but the website needs to be fixed. again, it's still very early. there's several months left for people to enroll. i think we need to see what

happens on november 30th, once the website is working much better and see how enrollment goes after that. >> you worked for george w. bush, i recall. obama now has poll numbers similar to what bush had at this point in his presidency, the new pew poll has the lowest approval rating for president obama in that poll since he became president, 39% job approval, 54% disapproval and more american voters say obama is not honest and trust worthy, 52%, than honest and trust worthy, 44%. devastating numbers. how do you get out of doldrums like that? how do you turn it around? >> you know, that is a tough question. in the short term there's really not a problem that looms on the obama agenda that is anywhere close to being fixed or likely win. i mean on the foreign policy front, we've got questions and frankly challenges, the health care issue is not going to be fixed in the short term, the prospect for an immigration deal

wept down the tubes. there's really not an opportunity to lay out a big win. i think if you're making me play the role of giving advice to the democratic party, the president has got to own this issue, he's got to be honest and forthright about its shortcomings and take the long haul through implementation. there is no silver lining. as patty noted the 5% of americans getting these notices outweighs the number of people who have signed up on healthcare.gov. that 5% will be a critical voting block in the 2014 elections and 5% in american politics and narrowly divided swing states means a ton. he's going to lose a lot of democrats in the next couple days and once you've lost the bill clinton stamp of approval in this country, it's a really sticky situation for the president. >> mark, quickly, i know that one of the things that obama and his team are hoping for a victory is a deal with iranrs you just got back from geneva with secretary of state john kerry. >> they're very close, by john kerry's own assessment, but it's

interesting again on domestic politics, he's up at the senate today testifying behind closed doors to the senate banking committee trying to persuade skeptical democrats and republicans to hold off on new sanctions. we heard eric cantor make that case a few minutes ago on your show. they have to hold these guys off see if they can get a deal and sell it to a skeptical congress and overseas to the israelis and arabs. >> delay it for their own sake. thank you so much. appreciate it. coming up on "the lead" he's admitted to buying and smoking crack a few times out of stupidity and mayor ford doesn't think he deserves a public flogging for it but that's basically what he got when he faced his critics. that's coming up next. but they didn't fit. customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer.

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welcome back to "the lead." the buried lead, he smoked crack and now he's even admitting had he bought illegal drugs while in office, but in no uncertain

terms, mayor rob ford told the city of toronto today he isn't going anywhere. despite the fact that moments ago the city council just asked him to take a leave of absence. >> have you purchased illegal drugs in the last two years? >> yes, i have. >> i can assure you, i can assure you i am not an alcoholic, i am not a drug addict. have i drank? have i done drugs? yes, i have. >> have you admitted all of your problems? >> i have come -- i can't come out -- i don't know what else -- i don't know. i -- i don't know. there might be like a coat hanger left if my closet. i don't know. i am not leaving here -- >> cnn's paula newton has been sfol lo -- following the story for us in toronto, ontario. does the city's vote have any teeth? does she have to take a leave in is there anything more canadian than asking politely if your mayor would depart? >> well, it wasn't all that

polite. it actually did get very ugly in there. answer to your first question, no, it's completely toothless. talking to people they told me this is a moral stand. it's not going to do it in terms of trying to take the life out of this controversy. jake, he doesn't have to step down and he's telling everybody repeatedly he's not stepping down. i spoke to his brother this afternoon and had an interview with him and he said categorically his brother is not stepping down and he shouldn't, he's doing his job as mayor. what's going on now? the mayor is holed up in his office with his lawyer, just behind me. more information about his drug abuse and his alcohol abuse is coming out, being released in court documents, and this means, jake, that this story will just go on and on,s especially because the mayor says he's staying put. >> you referenced the mayor's chief defender his brother, toronto councilman doug ford. he today called the mayor's detractors hypocrites. take a listen. >> the question is, have you ever smoked marijuana?

have you ever smoked marijuana? >> hold it. have you ever smoked marijuana? it's a question. >> no, i have not -- >> a yes or no, have you smoked marijuana -- >> the privilege -- >> the answer i guess is yes. >> all right. well, how is the rest of the city of toronto that is not related to the mayor, how are they reacting? >> you know, obviously it depends on who you speak to. we had a protest of a few thousand people outside city hall. they're adamant the mayor needs to step down for the good of the city. there's a place not too far from here, the suburbs that skirt toronto, still solid support there. they're saying he didn't steal from us, didn't steal from taxpayers, this is a personal problem he needs to be left alone to deal with it. we wi'll see if his poll number remain that resilient. it's unbelievable to many here you have a man who says point blank today in council he is not

cooperating with the police investigation that involves him. that's the same police department, jake, that he leads. he's in charge of their budget. he's saying i'm not cooperating. stunning and it just keeps going. >> all right. thank you so much, paula newton in toronto, we appreciate it. >> coming up next on "the lead" he's covered the nfl more than 20 years and loves the game, would bob costas let his son suit up and take the field. devoted fans, bruce springsteens lyrics fall just short of scripture. now some will have a chance to actually bow down to the boss.

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welcome back to "the lead." the sports lead as the host of sunday night football he's had a bully pulpit to weigh in and a bird's eyeview on head rattling hits. in an interview with the slate.com podcast bob costas is saying he would prefer if his son stayed far away from the field. >> what would you say to a parent who asked your advice

about whether they should let their son play football? >> i would tell them no. i would tell them no. now that's -- i know that goes viral tomorrow. but let me put it this way, if it were my son, all right, and he was 13 years old, and had reasonable athletic ability, i would encourage him to play baseball or to play basketball or to play soccer, or something other than football. >> costas is not the only one wondering if football is worth it anymore because of things such as the dangers of repeated concussionings. some former and current nfl stars and even president obama have also echoed that statement. now for the pop culture lead, he wasn't born in a maker, baby he was born to run. springsteen fans make the pilgrimage and now rutgers has plans to offer a theology class focused on the bob's song writing. the freshman seminar will examine 40 years of his lyrics.

not the first time bruce has been on the crick plum. university of rochester once offered a curriculum on stories of working class americans. i can't resist the urge to leave well enough alone the ' 90s drama "ghost" it could soon be a tv show. paramount is apparently work on a pilot even though a network has yet to pick it up, written by the same team behind the super natural fox tv show "fridge." ghost not only inspired an interest in pottery making after its release but inspired a musical, one that had a short run. coming up, those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. i'll ask historian doris kearns good wynn what more president obama can learn from former presidents and residents of the white house. stay with us. mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971.

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more in politics, muck raker the term teddy roosevelt used for journalists in his day and in that tumultuous booming era the turn of the 20th century when the country was inundated with new technology and mass immigration, washington gridlock and a gap between rich and poor, sound familiar? teddy roosevelt called himself a progressive. how much has changed about the presidency, the country and journalism over the past 100 years? i'm joined by doris concerns goodwin, pulitzer prize winner and author of the book "the bully pulpit theodore roosevelt william howard taft and the golden age of journalism." thank you for being here. >> glad to be here. >> thanks for classing up the joint. president obama, a huge fan of your last book "team of rivals" obviously in the initial stages of his presidency. he had a lot of rivals, joe biden, hillary clinton, he tried

to get a republican senator judd gregg, et cetera, what lessons can he take from this book which is about how teddy roosevelt and william howard taft worked with journalists to create the progressive era? >> i think the most important thing is that what the term bully pulpit means, you've got the platform to mobilize the country, to put pressure on a congress. does he ever need to put pressure on a congress, but you have to have a good relationship with the press to do it. teddy had the most remarkable relationship. he let them in when he was having his shaving hour. the poor barber trying to talk to him when had he was shaving. they had lunch, dinner, breakfast with them. he was friends with the press. >> he was the first one to give the white house press a room in the white house. >> he saw they were standing ou in the rain so he thought it would be nice to give them a press room inside. >> where does politicians and journalists uniting to get rid of injustice end and a

politician using reporters begin? >> that's a good question. what made it work for him was that he was a fellow writer, so he really respected journalists. and they respected him. they could criticize one another, though. they kept their integrity. they would write things mean or bad about him, not sensational things, but could criticize his remedies and he could criticize them and that's what made it work. one journalists wrote about his rough rider memoir and they said he was so egotistical as if he put himself in the center of every action. it should have been called alone in cuba. he wrote i regret to tell you my family loved your review of the book. now you owe me. it's a thick skin. >> a lot of conservatives probably think president obama has a bunch of reporters in his pocket already. >> i don't think the country would feel his way of dealing with the country has been eased by the press. i think the press is much more complicated today. ever since watergate a more antagonistic view between the president and press. it's good to have the tension

but you need them as a channel. if you can make your peace with the fact that you're not going to be happy with everything they write he he should have press conferences a couple times a week. that's what fdr did. maybe you don't want to have them around all that time and they're into your private lives the way they weren't this time but in the end in a democracy you can't get by without the press. >> it's not an uncritical portrait of teddy roosevelt, but you love him, you loved writing about hill, learning about him, you have a great respect for him. >> i'll tell you what, the only reason i choose the subject in the first place, i'm going to live with him so long, seven years with him, ten years with lincoln, six years with fdr. i couldn't write about hitler or stalin. i start out with affection and liking. they disappoint you. you get ma mad at them but in the end i want to wake up with this guy every morning. >> up with of the things that the book does that other scholars haven't focused on as much houfts william howard taft, even though they had this huge

falling out, how much taft was a part of what ruse relts velt was trying to do. >> they were friends since their early 30s. they exchanged 400 letters between themselves. more importantly when he was in the white house with teddy he was acting president. teddy would go off for weeks at a time in a bear hunt. it's incredible to imagine. he was on train trips going around the country and taft was running things. he depended on him. he also believed that government had a role to deal with these social and economic problems of the industrial age which is what teddy was standing for. >> and yet when taft became president himself, he didn't really measure up. >> he didn't know how to deal with the public. he really always wanted to be a judge and luckily the last years of his life he becomes supreme court chief justice. when you're a judge you don't have to explain things. you make a decision and the public will understand. he didn't like dealing with the press. he fell short. the rupture in the republican party we think we've got a civil war now in the republican party,

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