deadly habit. reporter: this morning, a fresh attempt to snuff out tobacco. okay, some numbers here. 500,000 people die every year as a result of smoking-related illnesses. 3,300 kids pick up their first cigarette every day. so that s the fda s push. for its part, cvs also announcing it will stop a campaign to help people stop smoking. this morning, the white house, president obama, weighing in and applauding cvs for taking the initiative. chuck, back to you. thank you, tom. you heard him mention the president s statement praising cvs s decision. the ama has done that as well, and now the first lady has weigh the in. her office tweeted this out, thanks, cvs. now we can all breathe a little easier and our families can live healthier. as for how others will react. walgreens says this, we ve been balancing this for sometime. we will continue to evaluate the choice of products our customers want. the latest statistics show the rate of cigarette smoking is
running out of salt, running out of sand. running low on these issues. up next, smoke signals. the president and the first lady are already both applauding cvs s startling decision to stop selling cigarettes. we re going to take a deep dive into one of the biggest developments in decades in the anti-smoking campaign. meanwhile, sealing their fate once again, the republicans inability to unite around a plan is probably going to cost them again. this time, it s the divide they have over the debt. you re watchi ining the daily rundown only on msnbc. bonus c. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906-8500 now. [ dennis ] zach really loves his new camera. problem is.this isn t zach. it s a friend of a friend who was at zach s party and stole his camera. but zach s got it covered. with allstate renters
pharmacy, don t sell anything unhealthy, harmful, alcohol and sugar would be the next two, no? well, you know, food is different from tobacco. tobacco is the only product that when used as designed, kills you, or causes erectile dysfunction, or causes lung cancer at greater rates, even though people are smoking less, because of the 70 carcinogens that are in smoke. right. you know, tobacco really is a whole different thing. and clearly to get the number-one killer of americans, you know, out of pharmacies and, you know, if we could, out of society altogether, it would be better. you don t see it as that that s what s coming next for a cvs? i wouldn t think so. you know, healthy foods, of course, we, no question, support a healthy diet with the right nutrients and not too many calories for your no, i was going to say, one more, you talked about the cities some of these there s probably some people watching, well, they don t sell cigarettes in my cvs. right. there a
apithetical to helping people with their health care needs. reporter: it comes as the company transitions into a health care company, focusing on pharmacy services and minute clinics. the other big question, will other retailers feel pressured to ban tobacco? we re not talking about drugstores, but we re talking about some of the big-box retailers who also have pharmacies, as well. reporter: for years, pressure has been building on pharmacies to stop selling tobacco, from the american pharmacists, heart, medical lung associations, and the cancer society. the cvs announcement coming just as the fda unveils a new ad campaign aimed at teenage smokers. what s a pack of smokes cost? your teeth. most adult smokers take it up when they re younger than the age of 18. so we want to reach those kids who might be starting a lifelong
integrity won out over its bottom line. here s nbc s tom costello. reporter: chuck, yeah, this is very big news. cvs is making this decision, it says, because it simply can no longer reconcile the contradiction between trying to improve the health of people s lives while at the same time selling tobacco products. cigarettes and chewing tobacco. so the big question this morning, will other retailers pharmacy retailers feel compelled to do the same? the news this morning could be the start of something very big. one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country saying no to tobacco. by october 1st, all tobacco products will be off the shelves at cvs. cvs president says it simply make no, sir sense for cvs employees to be selling cigarettes and chewing tobacco. they re working with our patients and our customers who have chronic conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol and diabetes, and we know that smoking is extremely