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Public Hospitals on Life Support; Year-Long Rally for Stocks: What's Next Step for Investors?; Study: Ethnicity Affects Sleeping Patterns; Oscars Recap; The Dangers and Triumphs of Voting in Iraq; Superintendent vs. Union: Standoff Continues in Central Falls School District; Catholic Charities Sidesteps Giving Benefits To Same-Sex Couples With New Cuts

Aired March 08, 2010 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: ... course you can weigh in. Just do that by going to my blog page at CNN.com/Tony.

Let's take it to the next level. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.

ALI VELSHI, HOST: Tony, thanks so much.

We're going to continue the conversation on education, public education, what's going on in schools. I'm Ali Velshi, and I'm going to be with you for the next two hours today and every weekday. I'm going to take every important topic that we cover, and I'm going to try to break it down for you. I'll give you a level of detail that's going to help you make important decisions about your voting, spending, your safety, your security, where you go to the hospital and where you send your kids to school.

Here's what I've got on the rundown today. It's health care. The president is out stumping for health care again. This time he's citing a report by Goldman Sachs that says insurance companies have the power to drop you, boost your rates or flat-out ignore you even if you're employed. And it might not matter how secure you think your coverage is.

Also on the rundown, who is responsible for the failures in public education that Tony was just talking about? Is it broken unions with ridiculous demands, broken homes that offer no support for their kids' education, or a broken economy with budget cuts? Not going to just ask the questions. I'm going to try and find some answers for you.

Plus, did you watch the Oscars last night? Millions of people missed the first 15 minutes. That's often the best part. It all boils down to a cable dispute that has the potential to spread to your town.

Well, here's how he's putting it: if not now, then when. It's a four-word argument from President Obama aimed at winning hearts and minds and especially votes for a fundamental overhaul of health care in America. As you probably know by now, health-care reform now depends on a very complicated plan to win simple majorities in both houses of Congress. And while the House and Senate leaders scramble for those votes, the president is traveling: Philadelphia today, St. Louis on Wednesday.

Here's a bit of what he said at Arcadia College in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There have been plenty of folks in Washington who have said that the politics is just too hard. They've warned us, "We may not win." They've argued, "Now is not the time for reform. It's going to hurt your poll numbers. How's it going to affect Democrats in November? Don't do it now."

My question to them is, when's the right time? If not now, when? If not us, who?

Think about it. We've been talking about health care for nearly a century. I'm reading a biography of Teddy Roosevelt right now. He was talking about it. Teddy Roosevelt. We have failed to meet this challenge during periods of prosperity and also during periods of decline. Some people say, "Well, don't do it right now, because the economy's weak." When the economy was strong, we didn't do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: All right, right now somewhere around one in five Americans don't have health insurance. Those who don't very often depend on public hospitals for even routine care. And the cost of that care to the system is staggering.

Now we've got word from Miami that two of the city's five public hospitals may be closing. The main hospital may cut 1,000 jobs, but it could be more than 4,000 jobs cut in the end. And that could have consequences that are far beyond patients, laid off workers and even the Miami taxpayer.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come down [SIC], we're going to break that down for you and tell you how the loss of public hospitals could affect you, even if you've never been in one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I looked at my body floating in the water and imagined I was a beautiful nurse. But I knew this was wrong. I was a boy, not a girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: A private choice with a very public consequences. CNN's broadcast premiere of "Her Name was Steven," Saturday and Sunday night at 8 Eastern. All right. I was telling you a few moments ago about the plight of public hospitals. It's brought to us live by something that's going on in Miami.

Linda Quick joins me now. She's the president of the South Florida Health Care and Hospital Association.

Linda, this story was fascinating to us. Out of the five public hospitals in the Miami area, two of them are shutting down. Not because they're falling out of use but, in fact, perhaps because they're getting too much use. They're becoming too expensive to -- to keep open because of the number of people who are uninsured and using those hospitals. Tell us a bit about the situation.

LINDA QUICK, PRESIDENT, SOUTH FLORIDA HEALTH CARE AND HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: Certainly. One of the major issues is when you mention five public hospitals, they're really all part of the Jackson Health System.

VELSHI: Yes.

QUICK: Which is the county-owned hospital system. And they have principal responsibility for and the only tax resources intended for uninsured and indigent patients that are ineligible for the Medicaid program. And what with the recession, we have more and more people who fall into that category and therefore, more and more people who come to those institutions and cannot afford to pay.

VELSHI: What's the impact on an area, on a major urban area if these two hospitals are going to close? What does that mean to the other hospitals? What does that mean to the indigent people who were getting care at those hospitals?

QUICK: Well, first and foremost, we don't want to frighten people. The existing hospitals and their emergency rooms will be available.

However, it is a stressful situation for some of those hospitals who are already taxed, if you will, to the -- sometimes to the limits, depending on the time of the day or the day of the week.

So people will have to wait longer. People will have to drive a little bit farther. But they will get served. The state of Florida and the federal government and our local community hospitals see to it that people get treated, irrespective of their ability to pay.

VELSHI: Although we were -- we were reading something from the head of Miami-Dade's largest private hospital, saying that these cuts are a disaster. I suppose the fear is that everybody's going to have to pick up the slack for the people who can't get that care.

QUICK: Well, certainly there's some proportion of uncompensated care that currently goes on at all of our hospitals. Because of the -- the legislation that -- and regulation I mentioned. Every hospital emergency room is a safety net to some extent for its population. But the public hospital had the responsibility for doing the follow-up care for these people. And if they close their doors, the other hospitals will have to take up that slack.

VELSHI: And at this point, is that looking likely that, these -- these -- some, I saw an estimate here of about 500 plus beds being closed, maybe 4,000 people losing their jobs as a result, is that what seems likely to happen?

QUICK: Well, what seems unlikely to happen is that there isn't any silver bullet or solution to this problem and no pot of gold waiting there that somebody has forgotten to ask for.

The truth is that the state of Florida has a deficit budget. The county government has a deficit budget. And the public hospital has a deficit budget. So -- and, of course, the federal government has a deficit budget.

So I think there's going to be some combination needed of either fewer employees or the employees may have to decide that they're willing to accept a decrease in salary and benefits. Or there will be fewer jobs and, therefore, fewer staffed beds.

VELSHI: Linda, thanks for joining us. We appreciate that.

Linda Quick is the president of the South Florida Health Care and Hospital Association, joining us from Tallahassee, telling us about this development in -- in the Miami area.

All right. Take a quick look at the markets right now. Take a look at the big board. The Dow is down about seven points. Not much. We call that in the in our world.

But boy, if you look at that market, compared to where it was a year ago, big, big changes. In fact, tomorrow marks a major anniversary for the stock market. It hit a 12-year low on March 9, 2009. What a difference a day makes.

What do you do with your money now, now that the market's up? I'm going to give you very specific advice when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. It is something you might want to look at if you're looking for companies that are growing jobs. You can find this on CNNmoney.com.

The top job growth big companies out there: Scooter Store, Brocade Communications, and Scottrade. There's a whole list of them.

That might be something that's interesting. If you're out of work or you're thinking about resettling, moving somewhere else, or going to a company that might have some growth, take a look at that. I found that article pretty interesting.

And people are thinking a little more positively today than they were, let's say, a year ago. In fact, it's March 8 today. March 9, which was a year ago tomorrow, was the day when -- that a lot of people called the bottom of the stock market. It was a 12-year low that had hit a year ago.

Boy, things have really changed in the last year. Take a look at this. The Dow, which is what we often think about -- it's only 30 stocks but it represents a lot of business in America -- is up 61 percent in the last year. Sixty-one percent. So if you were invested in the Dow a year ago, you'd be up 61 percent.

The S&P 500, which is broader than the Dow -- it's 500 stocks -- 68 percent growth.

And the NASDAQ, which is a lot of technology stocks and some smaller companies, look at that: up 83 percent from where it was a year ago. This was, of course, when people didn't want to invest. Nobody wanted to get into the stock market. Everybody was scared of what was going on. But some people dipped their feet in, and this is emblematic of what happens if you have a strategy.

So I want to talk to good friend of mine, Ryan Mack. He's a financial planner, and he's the president of Optimum Capital Management. An old friend of mine. He joins me now.

Ryan, I remember a year ago, you were even talking to people about what they should be doing. Because your general view is that regular folk should not be having -- should not be trying to play the market. They shouldn't be trying to game it or time the market. They should have a strategy, and that strategy should last you 15, 20, 30 years or more.

RYAN MACK, FINANCIAL PLANNER: Exactly right. I mean, the bottom line is you need to have a strategy. You know, as we look at all the times since back in 2000, we've had many cycles just in the past ten years, up and down, left and right. So why are you trying to game the strategy?

Makes sure that you have certain things set up. Make sure you have a budget. Make sure your Fico score is good. Make sure you have adequate insurance coverage. Make sure you have adequate liquidity reserves, in terms of emergency funds: six to nine months of living expenses. Make sure that you're eliminating all your credit card debt and trying to pay down your debt as fast as possible, because cash is -- and cash is king in this economy, as well.

So all these things should be done before trying to jump into the market.

VELSHI: Yes. Right. And that's key. So you deal with all those other things. If you've got credit cards that are 10, or 15, or 18 percent, don't put your money in the stock market.

MACK: Right.

VELSHI: Pay that down. That's a -- that's a free investment. You get 18 percent for free if you pay it down. But if you are ready to invest, you've got three very important tips.

MACK: Yes.

VELSHI: I want to -- I want to talk to you about the first one. You're talking about guarding against inflation. That means interest rates going up, things becoming more expensive, demand coming back to the market. And you've got some specific tips about how someone can guard against inflation. Tell me -- walk me through these -- these ideas you've got.

MACK: Well, essentially, you know, inflation right now, I almost feel it's inevitable. I do feel that the economy, while it is growing -- I'm so happy, I'm thankful that we're growing, but we're not really growing up on anything. So we have to look at the amount of money that -- and the debt. The Congressional Budget Office came out. They have a high amount of debt we're going to be adding on. So inflation is almost inevitable. So we want to guard against that.

So gold, you know, Barrick Mining is a great investment for individuals, a mining company. We have GLD, which is an exchange traded fund -- gold market.

VELSHI: Just tell me very quickly, because you've got three -- you've got three exchange traded funds.

MACK: Yes.

VELSHI: These are things that you buy. You buy them the same way you buy a stock.

MACK: Yes.

VELSHI: You go on your trading account or something and buy a stock. But it's actually like a basket -- of stocks.

MACK: Exactly, exactly. It pretty much represents the entire market. So as the dollar starts to decrease, which I do think the dollar is going to have some problems over the next few years, then gold is actually going to increase, because they're dollar-denominated investments. The gold is going to start increasing. So I think it's a great hedge against inflation -- inflation and the decrease in value of the dollar.

VELSHI: All right. So let's just bring that chart back. What you've got there is you've got ABX. That's the ticket symbol for Barrick. Then you've got GLD. That's the ticker symbol for the gold ETF. SLV for silver, and DBC, which is an exchanged traded fund for commodities. These are ways to -- to hedge against inflation.

Now, you said something earlier. Cash is king. So you -- one of your tips is to increase your cash.

MACK: I think now is actually time to start taking a little bit off the table. I'm a long-term bull, but intermediate term, the next two or three years, I do think we're going to have some rough times in the market. We haven't gone up on anything.

So I think it's time to take a little bit off the table, make sure you have six to nine months of liquidity. If you have some great profits, take some off the table and start increasing your cash reserves to see exactly where this economy is going to go. Unless you're a high risk investor, I really don't think there's a whole lot of need to be too highly invested in this market right now.

VELSHI: All right.

MACK: ... months in the emergency fund should be there.

VELSHI: There is a company that you like, that you think is going to grow, despite all of these issues, and that is Coke.

MACK: Yes, and I love Coca-Cola. Because if you're going to invest in stocks, you want to invest in those companies that have great earnings potential, have been growing.

Coke has 70 percent of its operations outside of the U.S. So as the dollar does decline, a lot of their profits that are attributable to currency exchange risk is actually going to start increasing. They've had great -- great yields. So these solid blue-chip companies that have great yields, even if the stock market declines, you're still going to have a good yield in this economy moving forward.

But again, just make sure you set yourself up before you start putting your money in these securities.

VELSHI: Ryan, always good to see you. Thank you for joining us. Ryan Mac is a financial planner. He's the president of Optimum Capital Management, talking to us what to do with your money now, even with this market where it is.

You can catch "YOUR $$$$$," by the way, every weekend: Saturdays at 1 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3 p.m. Eastern.

I'll give you a check of the top stories right now.

President Obama says insurance companies are placing profits before people. He spoke a little while ago just outside Philly, trying to rally support for his latest health-care overall.

The president is citing a Goldman Sachs report that says. because of extremely limited competition, insurers have the power to drop you or raise your rates when they feel like it.

In Iraq, it's the day after election day, and early estimates predict a coalition led by the prime minister, the existing prime minister, will take the lead in the parliamentary race. But Iraq's election commission says it will be days until the winners are officially announces. Officials are aiming for a result by Thursday.

In Pakistan, it's not clear if American-born al Qaeda spokesman is in custody. There are mixed reports about whether Adam Gadahn, known as Azzam the American, has been arrested. Two senior Pakistan sources say yes, but a U.S. intelligence source says those reports aren't valid. Gadahn was decided for treason and providing support to terrorists in 2006.

And developing now in Dallas, a gunman has been critically wounded after targeting a father and a son at an office building. The two victims are in stable condition. Dallas police believe they own a financial company in the building and had dealings with the suspect in the past. It's not clear if the suspect shot himself or was wounded by police.

All right. When we come back, we are going to talk about sleep, and a new study involves ethnic groups. No matter where you're from, it looks like everybody's losing sleep. But depending on your ethnicity, you might be losing sleep differently from other people. Stay with us. I'll tell you what that's about when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. Anybody who knows me knows I'm not a very good sleeper. So I'm always pleased when there are studies and advances in sleep. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins me now. She is looking at one of these studies. This one fascinates me: differences in sleep patterns and sleep behavior based on people's ethnicity. That's fascinating.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. It seems kind of odd.

VELSHI: Yes.

COHEN: Why would there be a difference? But when you actually hear this you'll start to understand it.

What the study by the National Sleep Foundation found was that whites sleep, on average, six hours and 52 minutes on a -- on a weeknight.

VELSHI: Right.

COHEN: But when you look at African-Americans, that number goes down to six hours and 14 minutes. That's -- that's a 38-minute difference, which night after night really could add up.

VELSHI: Attributable to anything in particular?

COHEN: You know, they don't think it has anything to do with genetics...

VELSHI: Right.

COHEN: ... or anything like that. They think it's really economics.

VELSHI: Right.

COHEN: Take a look at this. When you talk about losing sleep over money...

VELSHI: Right.

COHEN: ... African-Americans are much, much more likely to do that.

VELSHI: And our own economic studies indicate that they've been a little bit harder hit by this recession than the general population. So that might make more sense. People who are harder hit, more to worry about at night.

COHEN: Right, exactly. It completely makes sense.

VELSHI: Right.

COHEN: And also, when you look at the number of African- Americans who lose sleep over their jobs...

VELSHI: Right.

COHEN: ... those numbers are quite different. So for example, African-Americans, 10 percent lose sleep over jobs, whites 7 percent.

VELSHI: All right. So that's -- and that's those numbers.

COHEN: That's those numbers right there.

VELSHI: So again, same thing: African-Americans feeling this harder than whites are.

OK, here's the thing. Some tips on sleeping properly. What are you supposed to do? Because I'm paying close attention to this.

COHEN: OK. No matter what race you are...

VELSHI: Yes, right.

COHEN: ... here are some tips if you're trying to get a good night's sleep. Have a consistent bedtime. In other words, always -- if you go to bed at 10, always go to bed at 10.

VELSHI: Right.

COHEN: Your body will get used to it. Sleep in a cool, dark, quiet bedroom.

VELSHI: Right.

COHEN: And also, write a worry list.

VELSHI: This one fascinates me. The first two I totally get.

COHEN: Right.

VELSHI: It's makes a lot of sense. What's a worry list? COHEN: OK. The theory here is that, before you go to sleep, if you write, "Oh, I'm worried about getting this done, I'm worried about money, I'm worried about whatever," leave it aside and know that you will tackle that in the morning.

VELSHI: Oh, what a great idea.

COHEN: Sleep is not a great time to tackle these things.

VELSHI: Because I get up all through the night and put on my Blackberry and then start making notes about things that I'm supposed to do. So it all starts to hit me.

COHEN: Right. Do it before you go to bed.

VELSHI: What a great idea.

COHEN: There you go.

VELSHI: The worry list.

COHEN: Tell me how it works tomorrow. OK?

VELSHI: I'm going to tell you. I've actually -- I've -- it's kind of weird, but I've had a week of good sleep, and that often doesn't happen. I'm settling in here.

COHEN: Good for you. And it shows. You look fabulous.

VELSHI: Oh, stop. Go on.

All right. Great stuff. Elizabeth Cohen, great to see you as always.

All right. When we come back, we're going to go and check what the weather situation is. Jacqui Jeras is in the severe weather center for us. There she is; she's standing by. We are going to do -- we going to do this now or you want to do this afterwards?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm ready when you're ready.

VELSHI: All right, let's do -- you look ready.

JERAS: I'm ready.

VELSHI: So why don't we talk about the weather right now, Jacqui?

JERAS: All right. Let's do that, because it's starting to get pretty intense, actually, at this hour, Ali, especially across the southern plain states. You can see this line of pretty wicked thunderstorms straddling across I-20 at this time.

We're seeing those intense thunderstorms pushing into Oklahoma. Storm Prediction Center is discussing whether or not they're going to issue a severe weather watch in this area. So when and if that happens, of course, we'll bring that information along to you.

This is the first slight risk day we've seen in quite some time. And there you can see the highlighted area of concern. As we head throughout the rest of the afternoon and even into tonight, we'll see that risk sticking with us.

The greatest potential, we think, for widespread severe weather would be hail-producing type of thunderstorms. But we can't rule out an isolated tornado or two.

And if you're thinking to yourself, man, when was the last time we were talking about tornadoes? Oh, it's been a while. You know, February we had one tornado report across the entire United States.

VELSHI: Wow.

JERAS: Yes. Isn't that a wow factor? I mean, normally you would see a lot more than that.

VELSHI: You know why? Because all that snow was so crazy it even scared the tornadoes away.

JERAS: You know, it does have an impact when you've got snow cover on the ground. It keeps your temperatures down, and you don't have some of those great differences...

VELSHI: Right.

JERAS: ... between temperatures, as well.

So I put up a little map here to give you an idea of what we typically should have. And in the month of February, we usually should have about 20 tornadoes. As we head into March, that number doubles; doubles again for April and then doubles again for May. So May is our peak month. So we're getting in that time of year, where we start to see these things twist.

And weather just great across the Eastern Seaboard. Temperatures way above average. Allergy sufferers starting to have some problems with that, though. And for those of you who are trying to travel today, we've got some clouds in Vegas as well as San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Just looking at some volume delays -- Ali.

VELSHI: Well, it's been awhile since I've heard anyone in your department to say...

JERAS: Say "tornado."

VELSHI: ... temperatures above average. That I'll take, too, for a little while.

All right, Jacqui. Great to see you. Thanks so much. Jacqui Jeras in the severe weather center. We'll stay on top of that.

What we're going to stay on top of when we come back, the Oscars last night. There were some big moments there last night. If you didn't watch it, we'll tell you about them. If you did watch it, we'll bring them back to you. Stay with us. Kareen Wynter standing by in L.A. We're going in to tell us what's going on. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

VELSH: All right. The show almost everybody watches. Some of you may have missed it. If you didn't, we're going to tell you the best parts of it.

Let's go to L.A. Kareen Wynter was covering the Oscars for it and covering it today. I don't know if you've got new information, Kareen. We're still trying to find out how many people watched last night. But either way, it was quite a show. Tell us what you thought.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It was quite a show. I can't wait to talk to you about it.

But first of all, the ratings not exactly in yet, Ali. The reviews we've been seeing it seems the show fell a little flat. It was a bit lackluster. But listen to this. Those early numbers are in and it seems as if this year the Academy Awards the telecast actually did better than last year when host Hugh Jackson steered the ship. Again, we're waiting for the numbers to come in, but there's apparently about a 14 percent increase.

The Academy wanted to do something a little different this year to increase viewership and brought in funnymen Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to play off each other. The problem is, you didn't see them much during the show and kind of forgot they were there.

There were some memorable moments. Let's start with Ben Stiller, shall we? He is just amazing. Incredible. Got quite a rouse from the crowd when he did the parody of "Avatar." He was announcing the Best Makeup category; he came out in the blue face. Look at that, the eyes. It was such a big hit with the audience.

Also, Martin and Baldwin, I think they were best. Remember the hit "Thriller"?

VELSHI: Yes.

WYNTER: Paranormal activity, small-budget film that did just crazy at the box office? They did a little skit on that rolling around in bed. Martin and Baldwin and again, a little bit of a rouse from the crowd. Many people saying not as good as last year but hey, the numbers are saying it all if it went up this year --

VELSHI: Right, that's interesting.

So, the show may not have been as great, but more people watched it. Here's something interesting. There was what a lot of people are referring to as a Kanye West moment. Didn't have anything to do with Kayne West. But the Kayne moment. Tell us about this. WYNTER: Huh-uh. Ali, I was watching the show in the room filled with people. Let me tell you when this happened, you're about to see it, jaws dropped. We thought was that really supposed to happen?

We're talking about the Documentary Short category. We're setting this up for you. It involves the music by Prudence that won. And the director, Roger Ross Williams - you see him on stage there with producer Elinor Burkett. There was a little bit of bad blood between them. Take a look what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELINOR BURKETT, FILM PRODUCER: We honor the band behind this film -- teaches us that we're wrong against all odds. They did, so we can. So the bottom line is, to me, my role models and my heroes marvelous and energy. (INAUDIBLE) Good will, the whole Western band --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Let me tell you, Kareen, we actually -- we've sort of missed the beginning of it. That woman -- she wasn't talking. The other guy was talking. And she will, now you can see it. She just sort of walks in and takes over.

WYNTER: Yes, look at that. His stare says it all. There's some bad blood.

This woman was part of the production making. One of the producers on the film. There were some creative differences. She parted ways with the studio but was invited back for the ceremony. So, she bolted on stage. There's some reports that the director, Roger Williams, his mom tried to tripping her with her cane.

So much drama but awkward, awkward, awkward. I'm going to put it out there. You have to have a Kanye West moment.

VELSHI: That's the thing we look for now at award shows.

WYNTER: Absolutely. Otherwise it's boring. It's stuffy. So this makes for great TV.

VELSHI: Kareen great to see you. You always make for great TV for us. I hope you'll join us more often. Kareen Wynter joining us from L.A.

Okay, we want to talk what's going on in Iraq. First, there were deadly threats. Then bombs and rocket attacks.

But that did not stop the Iraqis. Millions voted in the first election for a new government in five years. The key question, will the result keep the U.S. troop withdrawal on track or are U.S. troops going to be stuck in Iraq for longer than they planned? We'll look into that when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. As you know, this weekend, Iraq held parliamentary elections. The first elections they've had since 2005, and Iraq is a very different place today than it was in 2005.

Now, we don't have results yet. It's going to take awhile to get those results, but let's go to Baghdad and talk to our Arwa Damon, who's there following the results. Tricky election to say the least, as they would all be in Iraq. There were threats, there was intimitdation. A lot of political parties, a lot of seats up for grab. What's your take on it so far, Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali. One really does have to recognize the determination and the courage of the Iraqis just in the fact that they took on the risk of going out to cast their vote. According to the independent high electoral commission, 62 Iraqis -- 62 percent of Iraqis voted countrywide.

What we did see this year different than what we saw in 2005 was Iraq's Sunni population headed the out en masse. And all of this despite the violence and despite the threat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): Little 5-year-old Youssif may not be eligible to vote, but he's certainly practicing for that day.

"After we heard the explosion this morning we decided not to come," his mother Dianna (ph) says, "but he insisted and said no, we have to vote."

Despite the violence, despite the insurgent threats, Iraqis came to the polls. Families with children dressed in their best outfits, more excited than their parents for a special day out. But no one is expecting immediate change, as (INAUDIBLE), one of the volunteers here tells us.

"We've had such a hard time. We just want something better for our children."

(On camera): Among the many Iraqis we've been talking to there is a sense of defiance, and there is also hope or, as Iraqis say, (speaking in foreign language), god willing, the risk that they just took in coming here is going to be worth it. That the next government that comes into power will provide them the things they so desperately need.

(Voice-over): At this polling center, some like these two women were unable to vote, told their names were not on the voters' list.

What most Iraqis want out of this election is the same thing they wanted when they voted five years ago. What the current government failed to deliver -- basic services, jobs and most of all, still, security. This time, though, political blocs are all trying to appear to cross sectarian lines and people are quickly realizing the power of their vote. The next lesson of democracy however will be for the politicians themselves.

AD MELKERT, U.N. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE: I think the most important thing after these elections is that the results will be accepted, that winners and losers understand and acknowledge mutual responsibilities as government party, as opposition party. They're all essential for a true Democratic process.

DAMON: All indications point to a close race. Preliminary results won't be available for days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: And Ali, we are now hearing certain provinces that in fact complete 30 percent of their tally may be announcing their results as early as tomorrow.

VELSHI: Arwa, the gentleman you had in your story said what's important is results be accepted, but what may be important very much to our viewers is you know, do we care if results are accepted? What we care if the results are not accepted, that could mean a delay in getting U.S. troops out of Iraq.

DAMON: That's right, Ali. It very much could because if these results are in any way deemed illegitimate, if the government is not able to form all of that, that would impact the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

And here's why, to simplify it. Various political blocs that come out on top will begin jockeying for power. Alliances will fall apart. New ones will form. Back-door deals will happen. All of this takes place and there are some -- takes time. And there are some experts who estimating that this new government may not form until August. So at this point, what do U.S. troops do?

Plus, you also have the added threat from groups that are currently outside of the political process, saying that if the government that emerges is in their perspective as sectarian as this one, there will be even more violence. What is critical is that the government that emerges be nationalistic, that no group feel, disenchanted, disenfranchised. Because remember, that fueled a lot of the fighting back in 2005, Ali.

VELSHI: Arwa, we'll stay in touch with you and what you're covering down there. Arwa Damon joining from us Baghdad.

Let me check the Top Stories right now. Today is International Women's Day. The U.N. says it's time to pay tribute to ordinary women and their economic, political and social achievements and the struggles that many face every day. Various rallies are being held in capitals around the globe.

The Supreme Court will decide whether drugmakers can be sued by parents who claim their children suffered serious health issues from vaccine. The case involved parents from Pittsburgh who want to sue Wyeth over serious side effects their daughter allegedly suffered from taking one of the company's medicines.

And Annie, get your gun. You too, Johnny. It's Burmese python hunting season in Florida. The state just opened more than 700,000 prime snake hunting acres to any Floridaian way hunting license. The reptiles which can grow up to 12 feet or more have established a breeding population in the Everglades, and that population threatens the local ecosystem.

All right. One of the stories we've been covering for you very closely here is this dispute going on in Rhode Island where one district fired all of its teachers and staff at a particular school. We're going to hear from the president of those teachers' union coming up next.

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VELSHI: A Kansas City public school district was once a model for urban districts trying to show they're just as good as suburban districts. Now the KC district may close 29 of its 61 schools because of budget shortfalls and the threat of bankruptcy. In Des Moines, the school district is faced with budget problems, too, and is now looking to eliminate close to 350 teaching jobs. These are just two examples of the extreme measures that school districts across the nation are taking just to stay afloat.

And in Rhode Island, the superintendent of the Central Falls School District went to the extreme of firing 93 people including the principal, assistant principal, 77 teachers and support staff at an underperforming high school. Here's the back story on that. Superintendent Frances Gallo asked teachers to work a longer seven- hour school day and tutor students weekly for one hour outside of school time. She proposed teachers have lunch with students, meet for 90 minutes every week to discuss education and set aside two weeks during summer break for paid professional development.

The union says the teachers had accepted most of the changes but wanted to work out compensation for the extra hours of work. The superintendent says the two the sides could not agree on a pay rate.

So, where are we on this battle? Jane Sessums is the president of the Central Falls Teachers' Union. She joins us live via Skype from Providence, Rhode Island.

Jane, thanks very much for being with us. Where are we right now in terms of these 93 people, the 77 teachers and other staff who have been fired from the high school or told that they're fired after the end of the school year? Has that situation changed?

JANE SESSUMS, PRESIDENT, CENTRAL FALLS TEACHERS UNION: No, it has not. All of the teachers that received termination notices are still terminated as of today. Of course, they will be allowed to finish out the school year, but their termination notices have not been rescinded. VELSHI: What's standing between the union and the superintendent? What needs to be settled still?

SESSUMS: This past week, we put out a proposal in the press. We did a press release, and then we brought the details to our members who approved of that proposal. I sent the superintendent two different e-mails this week asking that she return to negotiations because she says she was pleased by our proposal in the press. And she has declined to return to negotiations.

VELSHI: All right. We tried to get her to join us today. Let me just play a bite from something she said. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCES GALLO, SUPERINTENDENT, CENTRAL FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT: I just think this is -- continues to be a sad situatioin. We talk about collaboration, but then we hold a rally like this, and in front of the board of regents. I don't know what they -- what anyone really wants to gain at this point in time.

As we go forward when we bump into something that is a contractual obligation, well then, we move away from the stakeholder planning table and we move to the negotiating table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: That's Gallo. She's the superintendent.

Let's talk about this for a second, Jane. I want to talk about the school in question. A lot of the families whose children attend that school are very, very poor. I've got some statistics I can show you here. Median family income is $22,000. Fifty percent of the students are failing every subject, and only seven percent of the students at the school are proficient in math. Whose problem is this to solve?

SESSUMS: Well, excuse me. First of all, not all the students are failing every subject. We actually broke those numbers down --

VELSHI: Okay.

SESSUMS: -- and a majority of the students are failing at least one subject. But we cannot make a blanket statement that all students are failing every subject.

VELSHI: No, no. Back up -- what we've got on the screen is 50 percent of students are failing every subject, seven percent of them are proficient in math. But regardless, whether it's all or 50 percent, how do you address this? Because there are some people who say, is that not, you know what, part of that responsibility falls on the teachers to fix, and how much of that is not your responsibility or you can't fix?

SESSUMS: Well, first of all, we don't make any excuses for the level of proficiency. We know we need to improve. That being said, we believe that this is a systems problem, not just about the teachers. There has been great instability among administrators. Five principals in the last six years. Approximately 14 assistant principals. There have been changes in central office, as well.

And more importantly, we need to really be able to sit down and talk about the programs that are needed. As well as having a change in administration, there's also been many changes in programs. There have been programs such as America's Choice that was research-based that was showing that it was making progress, the students were making gains. And as administration changed, they come in and change the programs as well.

VELSHI: So do you agree -- is your union largely agreed to the extra time that is required? I understand we are not settled on the money. But are we -- are you agreed on the extra time required to help the students get to a greater level of proficiency?

SESSUMS: Our union and our members have never been opposed to an increase in time. But we do need to be able to sit down and talk about what is needed, how much is needed, when it is needed.

VELSHI: Jane Sessums, thanks for joining us. Jane Sessums is the president of the Central Falls Teachers Union. We'll continue to keep a very close eye on this situation in Rhode Island and those situations at public schools across the country.

All right. When we come back, we'll talk about a controversial health care cut or cuts in health care for same-sex couples in D.C. Kate Bolduan will join us to explain.

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VELSHI: All right. Health care is a hot topic in the nation's capital, and not just in Congress. Catholic Charities in Washington is making a controversial benefits cut for employees just as a new same-sex marriage law takes effect. Kate Bolduan explains.

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Same-sex couples in Washington can legally marry in the district starting Tuesday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very excited.

BOLDUAN: But even before the first couple walks down the aisle, there's controversial fallout from the city's decision. Catholic Charities, the social services arm of the archdiocese of Washington, just announced it will no longer offer health benefits to spouses of any new employee or current employees who aren't already covered under its plan. As a result, the nonprofit is effectively avoiding having to give benefits to same-sex partners, keeping with the church's opposition to same-sex marriage.

(on camera): How long have you and your partner been together? CHRIS HINKLE, GAY, PRACTICING CATHOLIC: We've been together for 10 years.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Chris Hinkle is gay and a practicing Catholic. He lives in Virginia and worships in Washington. Hinkle views the developments in D.C. as two steps forward and quickly two steps back for the gay and lesbian community and its strained relationship with the Catholic church.

(on camera): Why is it disappointing to you?

HINKLE: It's a slap in the face. Yes. It's prejudice.

BOLDUAN: Catholic Charities declined to comment but the archdiocese of Washington made a point to say that less than 10 percent of Catholic Charities employees take part in its health insurance program, suggesting that a small portion of the staff will be affected by the change in policy.

(voice-over): And in a statement the archdiocese says "This approach allows Catholic Charities to continue to provide services to the 68,000 people it now cares for in the city. To comply with the city's new requirements and to remain faithful to our Catholic identity." A stance some Catholics say is damaging the church's public image.

CHRIS KORZEN, DIRECTOR, CATHOLICS UNITED: They're getting a view of the church that isn't necessarily consistent with our values. We don't say that people who -- don't deserve health insurance because they happen to be in a certain kind of marriage or a certain kind of relationship. That's just not what we teach.

BOLDUAN: The very same message Chris Hinkle is trying to send as he fights for acceptance.

HINKLE: I want people to treat others with justice. That is a message that I think Jesus Christ himself had exemplified.

BOLDUAN (on camera): And in today's world, you think that applies to health care as well as the right to marry?

HINKLE: Absolutely it does. Absolutely.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: All right. Pay up or we'll shut New York's ABC down. That was Disney's ultimatum to one cable giant. And yep, they made good on the threat. We'll tell you why it's a big deal beyond the Big Apple. Here's a hint: bigger bills might be coming your way.

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