From the tisch studios at Lincoln Center in new york, hari sreenivasan. Good evening, thanks for joining us. The central philippines have been devastated by whats being described as one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall. Red cross officials estimate 1,200 people have been killed. Typhoon hayian ripped through the Eastern Islands of the philippines. Meteorologist said the storm had winds of 200 Miles Per Hour when it came ashore. It crushed buildings, brought down power lines and left roads impassable. Widespread flooding after a powerful storm surge. Devastation is i dont have the words for it. Its really horrific. Its great human tragedy. Theres no power. By the time the sunsets its dark and, you know, youre just going to have to make your way to where you can find some shelter. Filipino officials reported widespread looting in the aftermath of the storm. Hayian is now heading towards vietnam where emergency preparations are being made and several hundred,000 people have been evacuated. For an eyewitness account we spoke earlier with a freelance journalist. The vast majority of the casualties occurred there. We asked him what to describe what we saw. Reporter i grew up here in the philippines and i know what typhoons were like. This didnt feel like a typhoon. This was a tornado. But a tornado that lasted for three, four hours. The wind was swirling and there was debris flying from all directions. We went up to the second floor to try to escape the storm surge, obviously. But debris from the hotels hallway was flying over our heads and so when he to go back down the ground floor but then water was rising really quick. So we went back up to the second floor and we were there for a good probably 20, 30 minutes before the ceiling started falling off and the roof started flying and it did feel like it was going crumble. It was honestly the scariest four hours of my life. We all thought that we were going to die there. Because it was possible. The storm passed. And when we thought it was safe for us to venture out, we did, it was complete devastation and destruction as far as the eye could see. The typhoon spared nothing in its path. The houses were destroyed, buildings were destroyed, there were bodies every where. There was a lot of panic. A lot of people had gone into the supermarkets and even the Appliance Stores and the malls and they were looting not just food, they were looting not just the water, but they were looting computers, television sets, anything that they could get. It was complete mayhem. It was just complete mayhem. There was no one to police the people because local police themselves were victims of the typhoon. And the military could not even get through to the city. There was loss of lives. We walked along the highway and there were dead bodies along the highway. We looked into the debris of the houses that had collapsed and there were bodies justing out of doors. There were bodies that were stuck in the debris, and there were families that were looking for their loved ones. It was a very heartbreaking devastating scene there. In switzerland today high level negotiations ended cushing Irans Nuclear program hit a snag after the french minister warned that United States and other major powers were being drawn into what he called a fools game that could work to irans advantage. The foreign minister said france had rejected an earlier draft agreement. Secretary of state john kerry is in geneva for the talks along with the Foreign Ministers of iran, britain, france, germany, russia and champion. Yesterday israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu sharply criticized the deal being discussed then calling it the deal of the century in irans future. Of course whenever theres any discussion about Irans Nuclear program how close are the iranians to developing a Nuclear Weapon. We are joined by david albright. Hes a leading expert on Irans Nuclear program. I think in the background of all these talks, all these delegates and diplomats have to wonder how close is iran and will these sanctions work iran has been greatly increasing its Nuclear Capability over the last two years, and you dont think iran has made a decision to build Nuclear Weapons. But if they did, and they use their current stockpiles of low enriched uranium, and the number of centrifuges they have installed at their two enrichment sites then they could break out in as little breck out and have enough weapon grade uranium for a bomb in as little to one and one and a half months. It could take them longer if things went wrong. It would take them longer to build the bomb itself. Estimates vary. Its a murky area to make estimates in. It vary from a couple of months to a year. Do that he want crude device they can test underground or do they want a war head for a Ballistic Missile and the latter would take more than a year to accomplish. Without getting into a physics lessons theres different gradations of uranium, how its processed and whether its for Nuclear Power or Nuclear Weapon thats right. But the problem is that the same 3. 5 enriched uranium produced for a Nuclear Power reactor can be enriched up to 90 , the enrichment level you use in a Nuclear Weapon. 3. 5 in which enrichment is quite a ways, 70 of the way to 90 isnt linear and a lot of work goes into that. Its one of the dilemmas of this. Theres no clear benchmark or action one can take that would provide a guarantee that it wouldnt later use the enriched uranium to further enrich it up to weapon grade. What about the delivery capabilities . Thats primarily why the reason so many people in the neighborhood, so to speak is concerned. Likelihood if iran breaks out, if it decided to do that, it would be seeking at least in my view probably just a crude Nuclear Explosive. Thats what north korea did. Thats what other countries did. South africa. They just try to get one that isnt that deliverable, certainly not deliverable by missiles. And that they would be looking to just get across the threshold and establish that. It could be through leaking it has Nuclear Weapons, it could be conducting a full scale underground test. Thats the priority. More than likely they wouldnt need a full year to have a Nuclear Explosive device they could test underground or claim they have that they are now a Nuclear Power. How much does that change their negotiating posture or the posture of the world negotiating with them if they move to get Nuclear Weapons, theres a very good chance that there would be a war. President obama has made it clear that he would prevent iran from getting a Nuclear Weapon, israels threshold for attack is much lower than iran moving to get a Nuclear Weapon. So i think if iran did that, its going to either have to do it in a way it was not detected before they succeed. And particularly produce the weapon grade uranium for a bomb. I mean thats really their long pole the intent. Once they have that they can move it and its almost impossible to find it and the options to stop iran at that point will become much more complicated. Before they have the weapon grade uranium for a bomb, sites can be enriched for a bomb. If you do it in time you can stop iran from succeeding. Iran may be trying to develop the capability where it could break out and produce enough weapon grade uranium for a bomb before they are detected and thats one of the clocks ticking in this negotiation. Our assessment they can reach that point as soon as mid2014. David albright for institute of science and international security. Thanks so much. Thank you. Elsewhere overseas germany marked the 75th anniversary of the night of broken glass when nazis and sympathizers killed jews and deported more to concentration camps. German chancellor Angela Merkel said today the event marked what she called a real low point in german history and urged her countrymen never to forget the past. According to a new poll more than three quarters of jews living in germany today believe antisemitism is on the rise. In the number of people being treated for lung cancer in beijing. City Health Officials didnt say what caused the increase but World Health Organization believe the increase is closely linked to the citys well documented struggles with air pollution. Here in the u. S. Two admirals have been placed on leave and their access to classified suspended for their alleged role in a bribery scandal. The two are being investigated for their links to a singapore based defense contractor who provide cash and prostitutes to u. S. Navy personnel. Two Navy Commanders were arrested earlier in connection with the case. The navy says other naval officers are likely to imply indicated. New jersey has become third state in the nation to allow poker gambling online. It granted lessons yesterday to several International Gaming companies. Bills to legalize Online Gambling is pending in massachusetts, pennsylvania and california. Thousands are gathering at the National Museum of the u. S. Air force in dayton, ohio to honor members of the doolittle raiders. The group of pilots who bombed japan in response to the japanese attack on pearl harbor. Their attack is credited with turning the tide in the pacific. Theres the three surviving members of the group. They will be toasting comrades with cognac from 1896 the year doolittle was born. Now to our signature segment. In depth reports from around the nation and the world. Tonight we return to a topic we focused on last weekend the high cost of Prescription Drugs. Something Many Americans have been complaining about for years. One state has recently passed legislation designed to bring down drug costs. Residents of maine can order drugs from maine and from overseas. This has prompted a lawsuit. Reporter the battle between the state of maine and the pharmaceutical industry started in portland when the city found a way to cut its health care costs. By the time the battle ends the whole country might feel the effects. If maine wins it could get a lot easier for americans time port cheaper Prescription Drugs. If the pharmaceutical companies wins importing drugs could be harder than ever. One side in the battle is made up of employers and employees. They say they are fighting for the right to spend less on health care. How much money does this save the Company Every year about 400,000. Thats our savings per year. Reporter the other side includes maines farm sichts and retailers and the pharmaceutical industry. They say they are fighting to protect the safety of consumers who might be tempted to try imported Prescription Drugs. The problem is that these medicines arent safe. Reporter the battle started in 2004 when portland offered its 1400 employees the option avenue Prescription Drug plan. Instead of going throw cal pharmacies to get their prescriptions filled and paying a share of the cost they could get the drugs by mail from licensed pharmacies in australia, new zealand, canada and the uk without paying a penny. City employee jeff signed his 7yearold son up to get asthma meds. Im saving money. Its hundred bucks that im saving monthly through this program. Reporter karen gets drugs that control pain and adhd. Every three months a fresh supply lands on her door step. It shows up in a box like that. Reporter the program is managed by a Canadian Company. It tracks the prices of Prescription Drugs in four countries. Whichever country has the lowest price on a drug supplies it from licensed brickandmortar pharmacies. Take the example of a three month supply of the asthma drug advair. Under the stipulates regular health plan it costs just under 600. The canadian plan imports it for over 100, shipping include. With discounts like that the city of portland saves 200,000 a year on health care and theres no copay for employees. Two years after the city launched its program the largest employer in one of maines poorest counties followed suit. Hardwood products makes food sticks, the wooden handles that go into popsicles, corn dogs and so on. Chief Financial Officer says the Family Owned Company can do a lot the 400,000 a year it saves on the plan. That money can be used for employee raises. That money can be used to offset the cost of their health care. It can be used to invest in equipment so we can produce new products. Reporter the state of maines hearth plan decided to offer the canadian option. Overnight the number of people eligible for the plan went from 3,200 to more than 33,000. Thats when maines pharmacists decided they had to do something stop it. When we found out that the Maine State Employees Union was going contracting with this organization we realized it was against both state and federal law. Reporter maine pharmacists and other opponents of mail order drugs say the imports violate the federal food drug and cosmetic act. And that they ran afoul of state law because maines pharmacy board hadnt licensed the foreign pharmacies to practice in the state. Arnold admits maine residents have been crossing the border into canada for years to get cheaper drugs from retail pharmacies like the seniors did in the early 2000s. But she says mail order pharmacies in canada may operate with no oversight and low standards. Who is going police that . Those companies can participate in what we call parallel importation. They can get their drugs from other countries. Because its coming into the u. S. From canada doesnt mean it started in canada. Reporter the medicines might be old, ineffective or counterfeit. In september of last year maines then attorney general agreed the pharmacists that importing drugs violated state law. So the program was suspended in maine. We were very angry would be the best way of putting it. Reporter scott says the ruling inflict ad lot of pain on the lose of hardwood products. They had to make decisions okay do i turn the heat do in winter. I talked to an employee yesterday that told me they are glad the program is back because now they are taking their medication because they stopped take one while the program was suspended. Reporter he decided it was time to push back. So he reached out to a local firewood dealer. You dont get to take advantage of people. I have this drug, this pill and it will save your life. What will we give you for it . Is that the way we do business in the United States . And, of course, youre going to pay whatever you have to the save your life and thats notoriety. Its real close to holding a gun to peoples head. Reporter doug thomas doesnt sell just firewood hes a republican state senator. He calls himself a conservative. Says he hates unions and believes in Free Enterprise and competition and thinks the pharmaceutical Industry Needs more regulation. The Drug Companies have done a very good job at telling people that they need all this money for research and development and if we dont give them everything they want then were not going to have these new drugs. And i just absolutely dont believe it. The canadian system works. The australian system works. The Drug Delivery system in new zealand works and it can work better here. Reporter he introduced a bill that legalized pharmaceutical imports so did one of his democratic colleagues. They rolled their bills into one and joined force and both sides of the issue sent their lobbyists to work. There were four of us that were lobbying on behalf of the bill. There were at least 12 lobbyists from representing pharmacies. Reporter the pharmacists and Drug Companies argued the bill would endang terrify people of maine. But in june the bill passed both houses with bipartisan majorities. Maine became the first state in the nation to legalize mail order drug imports. In. September a month before imports could resume the pharmaceutical industry and its allies filed a federal lawsuit to strike down the law. Theres several things wrong with the maine law not least of which is the fact that it violates the federal food and Drug Administration, laws prohibiting the importation of Prescription Medication outside of the fdas regulatory construct. Reporter he says federal law gives the food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate drug imports and that authority is illegally undercut by the maine law. Effectively it permits patients to go on the internet which is unregulated and bring Prescription Drugs into the United States outside of teen fdas large federal purview. Its very concerning. Reporter like maine pharmacists amelia who is one of the lead plaintiffs, murphy says stopping mail order imports is all about safety. They say most drugs have cheaper generic equivalent so theres no need to take a cha