400,000 must reapply for health coverage

BOSTON — The state is launching a major effort to reach out to almost 400,000 Massachusetts residents who must reapply for health insurance because they were enrolled in temporary plans after the state's health care marketplace website crashed last year.

State officials fear that many of those people, who don't get health insurance through an employer, don't know they need to reapply.

The Massachusetts Health Connector, the agency that provides an online place to shop for insurance, plans to place 2 million automated phone calls and knock on 200,000 doors, make personal phone calls, send mail, buy print and broadcast advertisements, and hold community meetings and enrollment fairs, according to The Boston Globe (http://bit.ly/1pQPnMu ).

Now that state and federal officials have said that Massachusetts has software that will work, Connector leaders want to get people to log on and choose a plan, starting Nov. 15.

"We know who they are," said Robin Callahan, deputy Medicaid director, referring to the people in the temporary program. "We generally know where they are. We have to move them through a new application process."

The campaign could cost up to $19 million, money the state will seek from the federal government.

The Connector also hopes to reach out to about 50,000 people who did not sign up last year but might qualify, for a total outreach goal of 450,000.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com

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Chuck Todd taking over NBC's 'Meet the Press'

NEW YORK — Embattled "Meet the Press" moderator David Gregory is leaving NBC News and Chuck Todd will replace him on the venerable Sunday morning public affairs program, NBC said Thursday.

Todd begins his new role on Sept. 7. He remains as NBC News' political director, but will relinquish his duties as Chief White House correspondent and anchor of MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown." He has been a frequent guest on "Meet the Press" as a political analyst.

The 42-year-old Todd came to NBC in 2007 after working for National Journal's "The Hotline," where he was editor-in-chief.

He becomes only the 11th permanent host of "Meet the Press," which premiered in 1947 and bills itself as "the world's longest-running television program."

Gregory had been moderator since 2008. Before that, he was NBC's Chief White House Correspondent for the eight years of George W. Bush's presidency. He had been with NBC News since 1995.

The announcement by NBC News president Deborah Turness ended months of speculation that Gregory's time was running out on the program, which during his tenure has fallen from first to third place, ranking behind CBS' "Face the Nation" and ABC's "This Week."

Its ratings erosion felt even more pronounced since Gregory had followed the late Tim Russert, a popular, larger-than-life figure who became almost as much an institution as the program over which he presided for 16 years. He was its longest-serving moderator until his sudden death in June 2008. Under Russert, the show was by far the dominant program in its category.

"I'm not Tim," Gregory told viewers when his "Meet the Press" appointment was declared. "But I can just work real hard to make him proud."

In February 2013, the network signed Gregory to a new contract it described as "a long-term commitment."

But one published report in recent months stated that Gregory would be replaced after the midterm elections. And a story published in April by The Washington Post said that NBC commissioned a "psychological consultant" to interview Gregory's wife and friends. NBC responded that it had simply worked with a brand consultant probing perceptions of Gregory's strengths and weaknesses to develop a marketing campaign.

At the time, Turness was moved to defend Gregory with a memo to the "Meet the Press" staff expressing support "for the show and for David, now and into the future...."

In Thursday's memo, Turness offered her "sincerest thanks" to Gregory, while declaring that Todd "will ensure that 'Meet the Press' is the beating heart of politics, the place where newsmakers come to make news, where the agenda is set."

This official word followed by a couple of hours a Twitter post by Gregory himself that he was departing: "I leave NBC as I came — humbled and grateful," he said.

NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell will serve as moderator this weekend, Turness said in her statement, adding that Mitchell will "continue to be a central figure of the broadcast, along with some new names that we will announce in the coming days."

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EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier. Past stories are available at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore

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Online:

http://www.nbcnews.com

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Gore sues Al Jazeera America for unpaid millions

LOS ANGELES — Former Vice President Al Gore is suing Al Jazeera America, saying the news network is withholding tens of millions of dollars that it owes for buying Current TV from him and other shareholders for $500 million last year.

David Boies, Gore's attorney, said in a statement that Al Jazeera America "wants to give itself a discount on the purchase price that was agreed to nearly two years ago."

Al Jazeera America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Boies says the suit was filed in Delaware Court of Chancery on Friday.

The Qatar-owned news channel began sending out its signal to more than 45 million homes last August after hiring a slew of U.S. TV news veterans like Soledad O'Brien and John Seigenthaler.

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Clergy to urge Demoulas family to resolve crisis

As Merrimack Valley religious leaders plan an appeal to the warring Demoulas family to resolve the crisis engulfing Market Basket, protesting workers vowed to defy a deadline to return to their jobs today and criticized an order to remove store signs promoting a workers' fund.

Nearly 40 clergy have signed a statement for release this morning at the site of the first Market Basket in Lowell, as sale negotiations between the grocery chain's founding family continued.

"There are thousands of people being affected by this, especially the elderly and the lower-income families," said the Rev. Rafael Najem of Lowell's Community Christian Fellowship. "We are really using the old Kenyan proverb, 'When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.' With the current crisis...the grass in our cities and towns is being uprooted.."

Workers supporting the return of ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas — who's trying to buy Market Basket — said some 200 headquarters employees would remain picketing despite today's "final" deadline to return to work or be fired.

"We are still here and plan on being here tomorrow," said Tom Trainor, a fired senior employee who's helped organize the now-four-week workers' revolt that's deprived the chain's 71 stores of products and customers.

On the potential for workers to cross the picket line, deli manager Jon Dixon said, "You got to do what you got to do."

But some protesting workers shouted obscenities as fellow employees left the company's Tewksbury headquarters yesterday, and told them to "get a real job" and "bad move."

In an attempt to start getting stores back in order, Market Basket's new CEOs yesterday told store directors to maintain full-time employees' schedules and have them remove all signs, posters and other material not related to regular store operations — including boycott signs, pictures of Arthur T. Demoulas and signs promoting a fund benefiting warehouse workers and drivers that eclipsed $101,000 yesterday.

"It's one thing to pull down the signs," Trainor said. "It's another thing to pull down the references for the fund for the people out of work. That's pretty tacky."

Meanwhile, experts were split on Gov. Deval Patrick's decision last week to intervene in the dispute by offering mediation help.

Brian Jerome, of Massachusetts Dispute Resolution Services, questioned Patrick's call on Wednesday for workers to return to their jobs. "It's a little unusual for someone who's going to mediate the case to make recommendations in public," Jerome said.

But MIT professor Thomas Kochan said Patrick is right to get involved because it goes way beyond a family feud. "This is affecting a whole bunch of communities in the state and in New England," he said. "As the governor, he has a responsibility to protect the interests of the state."

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Boston docs look to help with Ebola

Boston-area researchers, responding to ambassadors from Ebola-stricken nations who are frustrated with a slow international response, are looking for ways they can help West Africa as the region grapples with the deadly outbreak.

"Organizations like CDC and WHO have come late into the process and have not helped them build their own capacity," Dr. Michael VanRooyan, director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, said after a meeting yesterday with current and former ambassadors from countries including Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Zambia and local researchers. They discussed having local experts train health care workers in Africa in both basic care and crisis management.

VanRooyan said there is frustration with the speed and scope of the world's response to the disease, adding that it took WHO far too long to declare the Ebola outbreak an international crisis.

"Moving forward, they need more than just a Band-Aid solution," VanRooyan said.

"Harvard is prepared to provide support to African countries through things like health care training, and to help overcome barriers in treating patients," said Mustapha S. Fofana of the Harvard-affiliated Fellowship in Disaster Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who reached out to the ambassadors and helped organize the meeting.

The World Bank has pledged up to $200 million in emergency assistance to help Liberia. WHO launched late last month a $100 million plan, which includes hundreds of health workers being dispatched to the infected areas.

But Sierra Leone Ambassador Bockari Stevens told the researchers the region is still desperately short of equipment, training and isolation units. The ambassadors could not be reached for comment after yesterday's meeting.

"Beyond dealing with just Ebola, there's an urgent need to support the organization of health care services," said Barry Bloom of the Harvard School of Public Health. "The international community is largely focused on diseases, but the real weakness is in the whole health systems themselves."

Bloom said the meeting focused on practical solutions, rather than vaccines and serums that "are not yet available, and will not be available anytime soon." The Canadian firm NewLink Genetics said Wednesday it will have enough doses of an Ebola vaccine to begin its human trials this summer.

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Experts: GE Healthcare move will be healthy for Mass.

GE Healthcare's decision to move potentially hundreds of jobs to Massachusetts — and the already-existing cluster of major life sciences companies — could help reduce health care costs and create greater access to cutting-edge medical technology in the Bay State, an expert told the Herald.

"Having these companies close by where research staff are studying these diseases, it probably means our hospitals remain on the cutting edge of medicine," said Barry Bluestone of Northeastern University. "So when a breakthrough comes and it's FDA approved, the first who get to use it are probably patients in the Boston area. We probably do benefit — by being the first adopters of new medical breakthroughs."

The Herald reported yesterday that GE Healthcare is relocating its U.S. headquarters for its life sciences division from New Jersey, where it employs about 400 people, to Massachusetts. It already has an office in Westboro.

Cambridge officials plan to meet with GE Healthcare execs about possibly locating there, said Brian Murphy, the city's assistant manager for community development. He added the company hadn't found a permanent location yet.

GE Healthcare spokesman Benjamin Fox did not return messages yesterday.

Analyst Ross Muken of ISI International Strategy & Investment called the Massachusetts relocation "a fairly sensible move."

"Clearly they want to draw on the great biology talent, the chemistry talent in the region," said Muken. "I think given where the customer base is, it's a natural fit. ... In general, it solidifies the state as a hub of biomedical research and cutting-edge scientific talent."

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David Gregory wasn't the real problem with NBC's 'Meet the Press'

To the surprise of no one, Chuck Todd was tapped Thursday to replace David Gregory in the anchor chair at NBC's struggling "Meet the Press." Rumors of his demise had been rampant for so long that his removal was a foregone conclusion.

Even Gregory's harshest critics should have some sympathy for the guy. He had some bumps in the road but for the most part proved himself just as tough an interviewer as his peerless predecessor, Tim Russert. Perhaps Russert was really the problem here: When a legend casts a shadow that long, no one underneath it really has a shot at shining through.

NBC threw out the baby instead of the bathwater that is the show's real problem: its format. Terrific an interviewer as Gregory is, there was too much airtime devoted to overheated, predictable rhetoric from both sides of the aisle. What few light tweaks that were made to the format, like Jim Miklaszewski's bland dispatches, weren't nearly enough to fix Gregory's problems.

Had NBC News chief Deborah Turness, who is now suggesting that significant format changes are ahead with Todd in place, experimented meaningfully with the "Meet the Press" format while Gregory was still in the anchor chair, perhaps he would still be there.

Then there was the sight of Gregory twisting in the wind for as long as he had while NBC futilely tinkered on the show. Not a month seemingly went by without some press report on his imminent ouster, followed by strenuous denials from NBC. If Turness was going to stick so firmly by Gregory's side, perhaps she owed him more time to make the kind of substantive changes to his show that never really materialized.

Given the sideshow Gregory's fate became, no wonder he's out of a job. Which isn't to say that NBC can be blamed for making the tough choice to drop Gregory given the reality of the show's ratings. At some point, there's no distinction to be made between baby and bathwater-the latter taints the former if they've been in the tub together for too long.

As successors go, Todd is certainly worthy. He has years of practice under his belt on "Press" and MSNBC, building up a reputation as an insider with a keen eye for poll numbers.

It will be interesting to see what's next for Gregory. The year-long vulture-pecking that preceded his ouster may make him damaged goods for competitors that might otherwise tap someone with his level of talent. Surely a CNN or CBS isn't going to put him in the game on Sunday mornings, but there's got to be other venues for Gregory to do his thing.

But thinking about his possibilities elsewhere on the dial may be an anachronistic way of thinking in an era when a veteran like Katie Couric now calls Yahoo home. For instance, what about Netflix?

The streaming VOD service stunned the industry recently by announcing its entry into the talk show genre, with Chelsea Handler. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Netflix has contemplated getting into the news business as well in some limited fashion, and someone with Gregory's bona fides might represent just the opportunity.

No matter where Gregory goes next, it's in his best interest in the short term to just lay low and let the memory of the last six months fade. In time, the industry and viewers will remember the talent that brought him to "Press' in the first place.

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Natalie Morales, Al Roker on the modern morning show: 'We have become very interactive'

For many people, "Today" wouldn't be "Today" without Natalie Morales and Al Roker.

The show's news anchor and meteorologist have been with the program since 2006 and 1996, respectively. These days, when the show comes on the air, the camera is on four people - Morales and Roker as well as Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie - not just the two leads. It's all part of a new and broader focus on all the hosts of NBC's four hours of toast-and-orange-juice programming that comes as the Peacock works to revamp the program to make it more competitive in the intense morning-show wars.

Below, in a lightly edited interview held in Roker's dressing room at "Today," the two discuss the future of the format and offer some historical perspective behind one of TV's most competitive slugfests.

Variety: What do you think is the difference between "Today" and "Good Morning America"?

Morales: I think it's just the family atmosphere that we have here. We all know each other well, We all get along great and as the cast expands, we've added new members to the family and I think we've really come to be in the moment, and right now, I feel like the time is ours.

Roker: There's an authenticity here. It's not a forced atmosphere. What happens, happens. Some days it's a party. And we have a good time. Other days, look at the news....What really drives this is it's a news broadcast. As the day changes, as the hours change, our show evolves. What's on at 9 is different than what we are doing at 7. In a way, that gives us the luxury to focus more on what matters and the hard news early on, because we have 8 and 9 and 10 for lighter things.

Variety: Do you feel a pressure to get more 'personal' on air, given the interest accorded some of the "GMA" hosts who have done that?

Roker: Listen, what Robin [Roberts] went through could have been devastating. Obviously, it was life altering for her. But we've gone through that as well. Morning is a different broadcast, because you are in people's homes when they are most vulnerable, and so in a sense, you share that vulnerability. Katie [Couric]'s husband passed from colon cancer and she made it her mission to try to change that. We were sharing it. You could say that was the same thing. I think they handled it, they did it in remarkably good taste and probably saved a lot of lives, the same thing with Amy Robach. I think it's a teachable moment.

Morales: These are people who you become intimately connected with. Viewers would be wondering why Robin is not there...the same thing with Amy. Viewers want to know what is going on in your life, and when I was pregnant and having babies, they'd say, 'I'm pregnant and having babies as well, at the same you are.' People bonded when I was pregnant and they are doing it now with Savannah.

Roker: They celebrate with us. They mourn with us. I've lost both parents on the show. Matt lost his dad. It's just one of those natural sorts of things. I don't think anybody would hold it against you. We are all aging. We all have aging parents. The morning is probably the place where life happens...It's a different beast.

Variety: What do you think the future is of the morning show? Can it hold its own as more viewers tap digital outlets to get their news and information?

Morales: You worry about how is digital reshaping and changing the landscape and are we losing some viewers to people are only getting their news online? The morning shows, though, are part of their routine...It's hard to disconnect.

Roker: We reassure you that the world didn't go to hell in a handbag while you slept, and kind of prep you for your day ahead. Our mission is different, than say Brian [Williams]'s, who is like here is a quick recap of what happened during your day. We are prepping you for the day....We are giving you some talkable points, some trending stuff. And even in this age of social media, I think what always surprises me is and I almost sound like Paul Lynde here, I'm always kind of surprised when a young person comes and says, I watch you every morning.' I'm like, 'Wait you're on your phone. How can you be watching me?' But as these millennials start becoming more responsible, they are patterning what they see their parents do. I think that's the really exciting thing about it.

Morales: We are cool again.

Roker: I've got a teenager. I can guarantee you, I'm not that cool.

Variety: Do you think the morning show has more power than, say, a syndicated program or some repeats in a digital age?

Roker: These moments that happen with us, they aren't canned... People see this and they push it out to their friends and their family, and they take on a life of their own. What I always find interesting about new media, is that the stuff that is usually the most popular on new media is the stuff you see on old media.

Morales: We have become very interactive. We ask people to weigh in on stories and segments. People do feel there is more of that two-way connection going on, that we want to know how our viewers feel and what they are thinking..You want to open that floor up, to let everyone sort of weigh in and that does create an opportunity.

Roker: I know we're doing something right, because two or three months later, we'll see it on "GMA." We have our "Orange Room," and oh my gosh, look at that, they've got a "Social Square!" Why didn't we think of that? Oh, wait a minute. We did.

Variety: What do you think of GMA's decision to hire Michael Strahan?

Morales: He's super popular and he's already doing morning television.

Roker: He's a natural fit. Look, the fact of the matter is at the end of the day, we weren't on our game. It's not the worst thing in the world - it wasn't the greatest thing that happened here, but it's not the worst thing in the world to get a kick in the slats. Because sometimes you need that to say, 'You know what, we need to rethink this and go back to where we were, to start from scratch.' Sometimes, you do it on your own and sometimes you are forced to do it, The real test is how do you respond. I think from management and from our family on air and our producers and our camera crew, everybody dug in. No one said, "This is it, Game over." We just worked that much harder.

Variety: You say things went adrift. To your mind, what happened?

Morales: I think we kind of forgot where we were for a time. We are a news program and I think there was a softening of that. We were doing a lot of stories that maybe none of us even cared a lot about. You want your anchors and people around you to be passionate about the stories they are doing, and we want to be passionate about it as well. We lost our way for a while. We lost our edge and now we are back. The first 20 minutes of the show? You know what is going on in the world.

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Market Basket workers ignore order to return to work

Protesting Market Basket employees flouted a "final" directive to return to their jobs today at the grocery chain's Tewksbury headquarters or be terminated, according to a fired employee who helped spearhead the job walk-offs.

"A whole picket line is going — not one person crossed the line and went in to work," said Tom Trainor, one of eight former Market Basket senior employees fired last month for helping organize the employee protests and bring to a halt most work at the company's corporate offices and warehouses. "People aren't changing anything. They're sticking by it."

A spokesman for the company's new co-CEOs could not be immediately reached for verification or comment.

The workers' month-long job action — intended to pressure Market Basket's board to reinstate former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas — has almost paralyzed the company's distribution system and 71 stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The employees have said they won't resume work unless it's with the return of Demoulas, who was fired last month by a board controlled by his rival cousin and since has offered to buy the 50.5 percent of the company that he doesn't already own.

Main office staff including about 200 administrative assistants, clerks, supervisors and managers got letters this week from new CEOs Felicia Thornton and James Gooch, inviting them for a "final" time to return to work without penalty.

"Should you choose to ignore either of these directives, the company will consider you to have abandoned your job, thereby ending your employment with the company," the letter said.
Market Basket didn't appear to have extra security this morning besides the normal police detail and private security workers hired by the company after the standoff started, according to Trainor, who said he has been stationed at the site since 5:30 a.m.

The risk of mass firings doesn't appear to have dampened the protestors' spirits, Trainor said. Workers were cooking a whole lamb on a spit at the site.

"The people here either don't believe (the new CEOs) or don't care," he said. "I don't think people want to work for those two."

Market Basket's warehouse workers and drivers have a Monday deadline to return to work.

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Lawyer: Chemical tea caused deep esophagus burns

SALT LAKE CITY — A woman who drank sweet tea that authorities say was mistakenly mixed with a highly toxic industrial cleaning solution at a Utah restaurant has deep, ulcerated burns in her upper esophagus, a family attorney said Friday.

Jan Harding, 67, remains in critical condition at the University of Utah hospital's burn unit in Salt Lake City, lawyer Paxton Guymon said.

Doctors determined the internal damage Thursday while doing an endoscopy, which involves inserting a tube with a light and camera into a person's digestive tract. She also has severe mouth burns.

"The news was very disappointing and disheartening for the family," Guymon said in a statement. "The burns were deeper and more extensive than we had hoped."

Investigators and the restaurant manager have told the Hardings that a worker mistook the cleaning product for sugar and mixed large quantities of it into the iced-tea dispenser. The cleaning product is meant for degreasing deep fryers and contains the odorless chemical lye, the active ingredient in drain cleaners.

When ingested, the chemical starts dissolving a person's insides, said Tom Richmond, professor of chemistry at the University of Utah.

South Jordan police are still investigating how it ended up in the sweet-tea container, but they think it was accidental, police Cpl. Sam Winkler said. South Jordan is a suburb of 60,000 about 15 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Investigators are reviewing video footage from inside the restaurant and interviewing staff. No arrests have been made.

They have determined Harding is the only victim, Winkler said. It appears she was the first to drink the tea that day, and restaurant employees disposed of it after she was burned, he said.

John Thomson, owner of the Dickey's Barbecue South Jordan franchise, said in a statement Thursday that he's praying for Harding and cooperating with investigators. His restaurant is one of 400 Dickey's around the country in the Dallas-based chain.

Guymon said he will wait for the police investigation to finish before determining what legal action to take.

The restaurant remains open after county health officials inspected the establishment and found all chemicals properly labeled and separated from food items.

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