center in new york. he joins us on the show. >> good to be here. >> the numbers went up a little bit. they say it wasn't statistically that significant. does it surprise you it didn't go down or this is where it's at? >> it's where it's at until 2014 assuming the health care reform legislation becomes intact, when people will be able to get insurance who don't have it today. sanj sanjay, think of it this way. while it only went up 1 million people, which is lower than expected, think of 12 football stadiums filled with people that lost their health insurance last year. the unemployment rate between 2009 to 2010 was already pretty bad, so it didn't grow as much. >> if you have a job and you have cobra, it lasts for 18 months afterwards. you find another job, you can get health insurance there. what if you don't have cobra or you can't afford the premium? >> that's a big problem. most employer health insurance is substance d is subsidized by the employer. if you're unemployed, you lose that subsidy. so a lot of people just don't have insurance. what they should do -- because they can't afford it. what they should do is go into the insurance markets, assuming they don't have a preexisting condition -- and a lot of people do. but if you're one of the lucky people who don't, you can find a less expensive policy, one with a higher deductible, higher copays. the key is you can get it. if you're one of the unlucky people who has a preexisting condition, the options are much, much more narrow. >> along those lines, i want you to take a quick listen to something that everyone seemed to agree on at the republican debate this past week in tampa. >> we want to repeal obama care. >> we cannot go forward with obama care. >> i will use an executive order to get rid of as much of obama care as i can on day one. >> first repeal obama care in its entirety. >> and a waiver for obama care to all 50 states. >> you get the point they were trying to make there, andrew, by showing this clip. they all want to repeal what they're calling obama care. but what is the alternative that you know of? what happens to all these uninsured americans if the republicans are successful in overturning president obama's health care reform? >> hey, listen, it makes for great politics, right? the fact of the matter is the country without heat calth care reform, whether you like it or not, we need to revise the system. you can't have this many americans without insurance. it's dangerous for the economy, and it's dangerous for the individuals who need health care in this country. we must get more specific and concrete answers out of these republican candidates to tell us what they're going to do. consumers need that level of protection. americans need that level of protection and understanding, and we're not getting it. as a health care executive, hospitals, doctors, we need to plan for the future. we need to know what health care in this country is going to look like. right now we don't have any answers. >> there's tough questions that need to be asked. certainly a lot of those folks talking about health care are going to get those questions. andrew, thanks so much. hope to have you back. while health care was front and center at the debate, the biggest headline came after the debate was over. congresswoman michelle bachmann went on the "today" show the next morning and shared this story about the hpv vaccine. >> i'll tell you, i had a mother come up to me here in tampa, florida, after the debate. she told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. >> representative bachmann went on to say she didn't know the woman and offered no scientific evidence connecting mental retardation to the vaccine. we decided this was a good opportunity to give you some facts. the cdc, the american academy of pediatrics, the american academy of family physicians do all recommend the use of the vaccine for 11 and 12-year-old girls to protect them against forms of hpv that can develop into cervical cancer. so far scientific studies haven't found serious side effects from the vaccine. obviously a contentious issue for some time. coming up, we just marked the tenth anniversary of 9/11, but the somber truth is this. a lot of folks are dealing with ptsd. want to show you how to dial back that anxiety. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." 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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. the tragedy of september 11 united our country. this year, as we open the 9/11 memorial in new york city, we ask that you join us to honor, remember, and reunite. you can help right now by texting the word "hope" to 80088 to give $10. i said to myself i've got it. i have it in my spirit. i have it in my body. this summer i'm swimming from cuba to florida. >> get ready to be inspired. we set goals for ourselves every year, resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, be nicer to our family members. few people set goals like diana nyad does. on her 60th birthday, she decided she was going to start training for that swim again from cuba to florida. over 100 miles of open ocean stretch between cuba and florida. these are waters surging with currents and teeming with sharks. it's so far, it would take a swimmer 2 1/2 days to cross. if you think that sounds too crazy to even consider, then you've never met diana nyad. >> i feel very centered about it. it's going to be difficult. it could be close to impossible. it's going to be a lot, a lot of long hours. >> just look at that ocean and imagine swimming in it for so far and so long. it would be a challenge for anyone, even a 20-year-old. diana is three times that age. she's going to have to train harder. she's going to have to train better to even have a chance. >> when diana enters the water, she's entering a very hostile environment. >> dr. ken kamler is a surgeon who specializes in extreme medicine. he knows exactly what diana's body will go through. >> she's swimming alone, but she's actually in a race. she has to swim to florida before her body deteriorates to the point where she can no longer swim at all. >> to prepare, she pushes herself further and longer, and by july 2010 diana is ready for her first true test, a 24-hour training swim. her longest swim in 30 years. if she fails, it means the end of her extreme dream. >> have you met heidi? >> i'm heidi. >> now the team gathers. >> my buddy. >> to meet and to plan, with diana leading the charge. >> tomorrow is a tremendous important test of me and my confidence. i want to get out saying, you know what, yeah, i'm tired, and i'm a little woozy, and i need some whatever, but i feel okay. so we're going to start the swim. >> next morning she plunges into the ocean. with diana in the water, bonnie stoll assumes command. >> don't worry about it at all. >> one hour. >> best friend. drill sergeant. bonnie will lead an army of handlers that will follow bonnie's every stroke to nourish, encourage, and protect her. >> fabulous. >> one of their biggest concerns, sharks. >> these are great waters for sharks. >> luke tipple is the team's lead shark diver. he knows just how dangerous these waters can be. >> you're watching this chum box that's hanging off the back of the boat. in these particular waters, we're looking for oceanic white tips, hammer heads, tiger sharks, caribbean reef sharks. this animal has evolved to dominate the ocean. they have a sixth sense. they can feel the electricity in the water. they know that we're there. >> and that's why in 1978 diana swam in a shark cage. today she just uses this. >> sharks are tremendously sensitive to this. this is actually in the kayak. >> it's called a shark shield. off the coast of the bahamas, tipple shows us how it works. it's a shark feeding frenzy at this block of chum until tipple approaches and turns on the shark shield that hangs right above it. now the device emits a strong but harmless signal that overwhelms the shark's senses and forces them to the ocean floor. we are now >> reporter: diana is swimming in circles. >> you veer off a little, a little more and you veer off a little more and you end up in jamaica. >> after a while, every stroke i look at that boat for hours and say, stay closer, stay closer, stay here, stay here. so i drift. every time i swim 30, 40, 50 yards that way and back, we're going to add in miles and miles. >> reporter: and that could mean the difference between success and failure. this woman literally just exudes inspiration. we spent the past year-and-a-half following diana as she prepared to do something no human has ever done before. see how it all went down. last, but not least for thus morning, here on "sgmd," a real thrill for me. i got to try my hand at acting in the new movie "contagion." i was myself, of course. and right after the break, the candid conversation with my co-star, kate winslet. also a virus expert lori garrett who consulted on the film joins us as well. could an outbreak like the one depicted in this movie actually happen? almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. 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>> they are extraordinarily brave people and highly skilled, highly intelligent and somewhat intimidating, i found them to be, just simply because they have so much knowledge and they care so much about the job that they do and they operate in kind of isolated little bubbles really. it is just them, their backpack and their dell computer. they just have to get on with it and work tirelessly around the clock to find that index patient. i just really admire them. no airs or graces, no hair, make makeup. >> when you look at the world from washing your own hands to worrying about your own safety, your own health, do you look at things differently as a result of your work on this film. >> yes, i definitely do look at things differently because having been involved in "contagion." i certainly wash my hand a little bit more than i need to these days and obsess about taking shoes on and off before going into people's houses and having people come into our home. it does make you much more germ-conscience, for sure. >> you have children. you're doing a movie about a pandemic where people will die, including children. was it something you were immediately sort of drawn to or how did you go through that process for yourself? >> i just did find the story incredibly compelling and also i think very timely as well. i mean we do exist in a world now where we are seeing a lot of these super bugs and i mean, in "contagion," obviously it goes one, two, maybe even ten steps further than your common super bug but it is something that is in people's minds. you know, we are growing more accustomed to sudden panic. so i'm just like anybody else. i responded to the material that came in in the same way that any human being would. i'm just like, god, that would happen, my gosh. >> real pleasure, kate. thanks so much. >> thank you. you're welcome. thank you. >> so the question i think a lot of people are asking themselves is could this actually happen? lori garrett is the author of the new book "i heard the siren scream." i got a chance to sit down with her earlier from new york. lori, were you a scientific consultant on the movie "contagion." you spent a lot of time with the writers and researchers. the question a lot of people are asking me, i'm sure they're asking you, did they get it right? is this a realistic scenario? >> i think it is as realistic as we can be about something that hasn't actually happened. we're trying to come up with a whole set of facts, statistics, character portrayals, what happens to society, how the virusby havz, all based on a hypothetical but well grounded in experiences that i had with sars, with the early days of hiv, with plague in india, with at least 25, 30 epidemics i've been in. >> you communicate these types of issues to the public a lot. this is your area of expertise. do you think a movie like this is helpful in terms of your mission? i know that's not what they specifically set out to do, but does it help you or hurt you? >> i think it helps a great deal. i think people will watch it and realize there is a lot more at stake here than a virus, than wlur y whether or not you get sick which is bad enough. you'll see societies fall apart and the deterioration of the entire infrastructure and at a time when the budget axis are falling squarely on public health and hospitals all over america, i hope this is a wake-up call. preparedness means keeping that infrastructure sound and functional. >> final question -- is there a message for the layperson out there? aside from hospitals, aside from doctors who work in this area or scientists, just for the average person, what should they learn from this? >> i think the most important thing i come away with after eight years of scrutinizing every single detail of 9/11, of anthrax, and then reflecting on other epidemics i've been in, on the impact of katrina and so on, is that we have to get much better at understanding what community means and how individuals know their neighbors, care for their neighbors, and recognize the importance of government in their lives. there is a tendency in america today to be very anti-government. whether it's anti-city council, anti-governor, or anti-congress, anti-president. but in a crisis, it's government that must correctly lead the response. >> thanks so much for joining us. i feel like i always learn something from you and i always consider it a real privilege to be able to spend some time with you. laurie garrett, thanks so much. >> my honor back at you. >> that's going to do it for "sgmd" this morning. thanks for being with us