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216 Votes; The Wait for Reform to Kick In; CBO Weighs in on Health Care Costs; Jihad Against America; Jobless Claims Dip; Fedex Sees Continued Recovery; Blockbuster Warns of Bankruptcy

Aired March 18, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, deem and pass through Thursday. On to Friday. I know you can't wait.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: There you go.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. You all have a great day.

All right, good morning, everyone. Here's a quick look at what we're bringing to you over the next couple of hours.

As far as terrorists go, she's not the usual suspect. Justice removes the veil and starts to digest the Pennsylvania woman called Jihad Jane.

And a sex abuse scandal that's shaken the Catholic Church in one of its historic strongholds. The Pope getting ready to weigh in.

And push the lever, shock a stranger? At least that's what the players and the audience of this game show thought was happening. The real shocker here? These people were so willing to torture someone.

Also we're talking about the health care bill. Everyone in D.C. is waiting, waiting, waiting on a key report before the next big step. Dan Lothian is covering that for us.

And if the bill becomes law, uninsured Americans get covered right away? Not so fast. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is telling us about that.

And Rob Marciano is watching some serious flood threats for us. He's in the Severe Weather Center.

But first, a make-or-break vote is nearing on health care reform and a key plank of President Obama's legacy. Here's what we know.

Democratic leaders are waiting on a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate to be released. If the numbers come out today, the vote on the bill already passed by the Senate could take place Sunday.

If it passes, the House would immediately vote on some changes to the bill. If that passes, the Senate would vote to approve those changes by a simple majority vote, clearing the way for the president's signature. Two hundred and 16 votes are needed to pass that first hurdle in the House. And by our latest count, supporters are 12 votes short. They'll get no help from the GOP. Republicans are united against the bill. So for supporters, it's critical to keep Democrats in line.

President Obama has been working on that. Our Dan Lothian joins us from the White House to talk about the president's progress.

So, Dan, he has received at least one more Democrat on board. We saw that yesterday, right?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We did. And that's the progress we're talking about as the president really has been pushing very hard behind the scenes to try to get those critical votes to pass health care reform and woe over with those undecided Democrats at this point.

And as you pointed out, the president did make some progress yesterday when Dennis Kucinich -- Representative Kucinich -- did decide to vote yes. He said he will vote yes for this. This is someone who had voted no on the earlier House bill. But he said he's going to support this even though he doesn't like it.

He had several conversations with the president, and, in fact, flew with the president to his home district in Ohio earlier this week. And what we're being told by aides here at the White House is that in these conversations with these lawmakers who are undecided, the president really is making a case for health care reform.

What it will mean to millions of Americans if they get health care reform and then what it will mean if Congress does nothing.

The president also reaching out to Americans on FOX News yesterday and sounding very optimistic about the ultimate outcome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Do you think this is going to pass?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do. I'm confident it will pass. And the reason I'm confident that it's going to pass is because it's the right thing to do.

Look, on a whole host of these measures, whether it's health care, whether it was fixing the financial system, whether it was making sure that we passed the Recovery Act, I knew these things might not be popular.

But I was absolutely positive that they were the right thing to do and that over time we would be vindicated in having made those tough decisions.

I think health care is exactly the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LOTHIAN: And again, Congress is expected to vote on the bill at the earliest on Sunday. And then, of course, we're waiting for the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to come out with the ultimate cost of this bill -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Dan, we know the president had already postponed, delayed his trip to Asia. Any plans now for the president to delay his trip again or perhaps even cancel it altogether?

LOTHIAN: Right. Well, you know, as I speak to you, no. The president is still planning to depart here, to go overseas on Sunday. And I did talk to Robert Gibbs and asked him if there's any chance at all that this trip will be canceled. Then he said that the trip is still on. So as of now, he's still going.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thanks so much from the White House. Appreciate it.

LOTHIAN: OK.

WHITFIELD: All right. So let's say health care reform passes. And you're one of the millions of Americans needing insurance. Think you'll be covered immediately? Well, think again.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to break it all down for us.

So, Sanjay, if the bill were to pass, when would we actually see any changes?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, some of those changes are going to come about pretty quickly. It's important to sort of keep a couple of things in mind.

First, we don't know what the final shape of this thing ultimately is going to be. And two is that not everything is going to happen at once. So it's not going to be a magic wand being waved and all of a sudden the system completely changing.

So let's take a look at a couple of the important things that might make a difference earlier on. First of all, I don't know if you have -- if you can see those or not, but this idea that there won't be any annual caps anymore.

So, say you've had some sort of illness. Sometimes the insurance company will say there's a yearly cap or a lifetime cap. Those are going to disappear so insurance companies will continue to pay the medical expenses for people who have that.

Pre-existing conditions. Something we've been talking about for more than a year. If you've had some sort of pre-existing condition, it can be very difficult to get health insurance.

They're going to set up these high risk insurance pools around the country so that people who have some sort of pre-existing illness can get insurance through those pools and those are going to be subsidized.

Young adults covered to age 26. That's exactly what it means. If you have -- after college but before your first job, you can still get health care insurance. Drug discounts for seniors as well. This idea of the doughnut hole.

Fred, we've talked a lot about this. Think of a doughnut. It's got a hole in the middle. The way that these insurance works, these drugs is that they pay as you eat through the first part of the doughnut, but there's no coverage in the middle of that doughnut.

And you don't start getting -- as far as coverage goes until you get to the other part of the doughnut. Shrinking that doughnut hole so that you have a shorter period of time where you're not covered. That's sort of the goal there.

So those are some of the things, if this passes, within 2010 we'll probably see.

WHITFIELD: And if you're uninsured and you just really want to be covered will you be covered immediately if this bill were to pass?

GUPTA: It depends who you are and exactly why you're not covered. So some people who have simply not bought health care insurance because they can't afford it, there may be some benefits here.

People who have not bought health insurance because it's been too expensive, because they've had some sort of pre-existing condition, they may get some benefit. But take a look at sort of what 2014 would look like. That's an important year as far as when this gets more widely implemented.

First of all there would be mandates. People are going to have to buy health care insurance or by fines. The way that they're going to do this is through a health insurance exchange. Think about those as supermarkets. So private plans that you can select from. If you can't afford it, you get tax credits to help defray some of those costs.

Again, no discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. Those tax credits to help pay for it. And finally this idea that, you know, expand Medicaid. Part of this bill as well. So for childless adults living near poverty, they would qualify for Medicaid expansion and possibly get some health savings as well.

But, again, that's four years down the line, Fred, for -- you know a vast majority of Americans who are waiting for this to happen.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So in some cases immediately, almost immediately, in other cases you've got to wait at least four years. All this predicated on whether it passes at all.

GUPTA: That's right. Lots of layers. And we don't know how it's all going to look. WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Of course, we want to know what you think about the health care reform roller coaster. Go to CNN.com/fredricka and post your comments. I'll read some of those comments on the air next hour.

OK. It's a race against the river in North Dakota. The Red River and its tributaries have been rising steadily. And it's already more than 14 feet above flood stage. And it's expected to crest on Sunday.

Volunteers have filled one million sandbags to protect Fargo and its neighborhoods. They hope that's enough to prevent major flooding. But officials aren't taking any chances.

The Associated Press reports at least nine airboats and two helicopters are on the way to the area for possible emergency rescues. Fargo's mayor talked about the situation less than an hour ago on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DENNIS WALAKER, FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA: If the forecast stays where they're projected to be, we're in good shape. We finished the sandbagging yesterday, all the sandbags are placed.

Our earthen dikes should be finished sometime today. So then we get into the -- what we call maintenance mode. And until the river gets back down to, oh, say, 30 feet, it's still -- we still have some problems, but they're not insurmountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Still have some problems, but this is going to be really dicey next 72 or so hours.

Meteorologist Rob Marciano in the Severe Weather Center.

We're talking about cresting on Sunday. They have a long way to go.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We do. And then like the mayor said, beyond that they have to pretty much get it below 30 feet before they have any sort of calm or relaxation to go on.

Right now they're at 33 feet. They're expected to get to 38 feet on Sunday. And then really not go below major flood stage or 30 feet until the end of next week. So that's a good, you know, week, seven, eight days where they're above major flood stage. And they have to maintain those levees, those sandbags and those dikes, and just try to keep things the way they are. So any sort of weakness is going to affect it, obviously.

Also the -- the main thing with the Red River, it actually flows to the north. So -- and it does so very gradually. So up in Canada, you know, it's colder, obviously. So ice jams become more of an issue. So when the ice floats jam up and create kind of a random dam that will create a rising river beyond the forecast.

So that's kind of the wild card that these guys are dealing with. And they dealt with it last year. A 100-year flood. They're getting it again this year, which really just means a 1 percent chance of getting that flood. If you get it two years in a row that's certainly some serious bad luck.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: I know. Come on, spring. Thanks so much, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, al Qaeda reportedly begs Osama bin Laden to step up and show some leadership? Another radical fugitive is more than willing to put his message out there. A Muslim cleric born in the United States preaching jihad against America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We want to go straight to our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, with some information on this Congressional Budget Office report.

What do you know, Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): You know officially, Fredricka, the report is not out. When it is we'll be able to see it online. But right now what we have is Democratic sources telling us that these are really good numbers, a really good price tag that they're going to get, that they're very confident about.

So we want to be cautious again because we're not seeing the numbers for ourselves. We're just being told by Democrats. But we've heard from Democratic sources -- sources the price tag on this health care package is $940 billion, which is roughly within the parameters the Democrats were aiming for.

And I actually just spoke with a Democratic leader, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, who told me that the deficit reduction numbers are really good. He told me that over the first 10 years, the deficit would actually be reduced by $130 billion which is more than the Senate and more than the bill that was passed in the House did.

And over the second 10 years it would reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion. Again, it's better than both of those bills.

So this is the price tag, Fred, that we've been waiting for. This has been pushing back for days now. And it appears that we're finally going to be seeing the official numbers around midday today that we can sort of compare against (INAUDIBLE) what we're being told about.

And we need to be cautious, but what we're hearing from Democrats is they say these numbers are good and that this could help them win over some of the people within their own party who really wanted to make sure that this was a good price tag and that it'll reduce the deficit by a degree.

WHITFIELD: And, so, Brianna, how would this potentially set the stage for this point forward for health care for the vote? Meaning this would be appealing to some people who are particularly on the fence on health care reform?

KEILAR: Right now what you have is a lot of -- it's moderate Democrats, really those folks in the middle of the spectrum who are fiscal conservatives and some who have issues with abortion language. But a lot of fiscal conservatives who are sitting on the fence.

And so this is why Democratic leaders are emphasizing this and why they say they're happy because they're trying to win over some of those votes. The way this sets the stage for the process to play out now is that once the official CBO numbers come out, which we're now assuming they'll come out here in the next couple hours, the bill language will also come out for what will be the health care package that Democrats are going to hold a vote on.

The clock will start ticking. They said they're going to post this bill for 72 hours. That's three days. And that would mean, Fred, that once this bill is posted and the clock is ticking, we're looking at -- it appears to be -- a Sunday vote.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brianna Keilar, thanks so much from Capitol Hill. Appreciate that. We'll be checking back with you throughout the morning.

All right. The Pennsylvania woman who calls herself Jihad Jane will face a judge later on this morning. Colleen LaRose is said to be arraigned in a Philadelphia federal court. She's accused of conspiring to kill a Swedish cartoonist whose drawings offended Muslims. LaRose could face a possible life sentence and $1 million fine if convicted.

A new audio message service is calling for, quote, "jihad against America." The tape is reportedly from a U.S.-born Muslim cleric, Anwr al-Awlaki.

Our Paula Newton has more on the man and the latest recording obtained exclusively by CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Somewhere in southern Yemen, probably hiding out in the hills of Shebwa, his ancestral home, Anwr al-Awlaki is still reaching out, still preaching, still eager to be heard.

ANWR AL-AWLAKI, U.S.-BORN MUSLIM CLERIC: America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil.

NEWTON: CNN has obtained a new audio message from the American born fugitive in which he urges all Muslims to wage jihad against America.

AWLAKI: With the American invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. aggression against Muslims, I could not reconcile between living in the U.S. and being a Muslim. And I eventually came to the conclusion that jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other able Muslim.

NEWTON: Sources have told CNN they are confident the voice on the recording is Awlaki. And the recording that runs for more than 12 minutes long, his voice is measured and clear. He takes on the cadence of a preacher. Telling Muslims America is evil, and delivering this provocative message to Muslim Americans.

AWLAKI: To the Muslims in America I have this to say. How can you conscience allow you to live in peaceful co-existence with a nation that is responsible for the tyranny and crimes committed against your own brothers and sisters? How can you have your loyalty to a government that is leading the war against Islam and Muslims.

NEWTON (on camera): Al-Awlaki is still believed to be under the protection of this very powerful family tribe in southern Yemen. And according to U.S. intelligence officials, his influence and his reach, especially with English speaking Muslims on the Internet and through his DVDs, is still quite potent.

(Voice-over): Just last week, Yemeni authorities subdued a New Jersey man, Sharif Mobley, as he tried to shoot his way out of a local hospital. He had been captured days before in an al Qaeda raid.

Senior U.S. security officials confirm to CNN that Mobley left his home in New Jersey in 2008 to seek out al-Awlaki. The alleged he made contact with him and was eager to eventually meet up with al-Awlaki, a person he believed could become his al Qaeda mentor.

Al-Awlaki's sermons and recordings have been found on the computers of at least a dozen terror suspects in both the U.S. and Britain. Now even on the run and a hunted man, U.S. authorities say he is still proving capable of recruiting terrorists.

Paula Newton, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And is Osama bin Laden an absentee jihadist these days? CIA chief Leon Panetta says attacks inside Pakistan have driven bin Laden and his deputies deeper into hiding and that al Qaeda terrorists along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan are so desperate they're begging bin Laden for leadership.

This information comes from an intercepted message. Another CIA official tells CNN the terror group is, quote, "on the run, but still coming after us."

And you expect some wild and crazy behavior over spring break. But the line has really been crossed at one beach destination where police are now warning young women not to walk around alone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Police in Daytona Beach, Florida are telling women not to walk around alone. That's because there have been six reported rapes there in one week. Police say five alleged victims were young spring breakers and that alcohol and drugs were involved. The police chief says that's no excuse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MICHAEL CHITWOOD, DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA POLICE: It's a sad commentary that we have young men that feel that because of a woman being all liquored up, it's OK to take advantage of her.

Well, I got news for you. You're going to think twice if we find out who you are and lock you up and your whole life now is thrown away because you're labeled and convicted as a rapist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was personally grabbed in the club. So I'm appalled by it. The minute it happened I wanted to go home. I was done with spring break from the minute it happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police say one rape victim wasn't a spring breaker at all and wasn't out partying at all. They say a man pulled a 37-year-old woman into the convention center bathroom during an event and raped her. So far one person has been arrested.

A Cornell University official says the school is dealing with a public health crisis. Student suicides. At least six this school year. Police in Ithaca, New York are looking for the body of a seventh. There were no student suicides at Cornell from 2005 to 2008, and it's not clear why there have been so many recently.

The Ivy League school is actually known for its counseling and prevention programs. They came about after a rash of suicides back in the late 1990s.

When the bell rang yesterday, stocks were at an 18-month high. It's about to ring again in a few minutes. We'll take you to New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Today Wall Street gets new unemployment numbers. Alison Kosik is in New York with details on this.

Hello to you, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Exactly. The latest figures we're getting are showing that layoffs are slowing. That's sort of the nugget of good news. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time fell by 5,000 to 457,000 last week. There's the opening bell. All of this news, of course, could affect trading today. By the way, this is the third straight week we've seen a decline in those initial jobless claims. You know, you think about it, 457,000, it really is too high. It shows that we're really not seeing job creation yet and that's really what we need, but a separate report shows that consumer prices were unchanged last month, and that means that inflation is in check, it's holding its own and gives the Federal Reserve room to keep interest rates at a record low.

It's a move that will hopefully spur growth, but with all that to worry about plus debt problems in Greece, we're not expecting any huge moves on Wall Street today. On the earnings front, Fedex says its third quarter profit more than doubled. The second largest package delivery company also raised its full year earnings outlook, because it expects the economy to continue improving at a modest pace, but I'll tell you what, it's still not enough for Wall Street. Fedex shares right now are down about 2%. We're also keeping an eye on blockbuster shares today. They tumbled 30 percent yesterday, because the company said in a regulatory filing that it may file for bankruptcy.

Blockbuster is struggling with high debt and heavy competition from Netflix and Coinstar video vending machines. All right. Let's take a check on early numbers right now. We're seeing some green on the screen. The Dow right now up about four points, the Nasdaq and S&P 500, they're down a bit right now, Fred. We'll keep an eye on it for you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alison, thanks so much for that.

Getting Americans back to work. Later this morning, President Barack Obama plans to sign the first of what he hopes is many packages into law. The $17.6 billion bill will exempt employers from social security payroll taxes on new hires who were unemployed. It will fund highway and transit programs through the end of the year and extend a tax break for businesses that spend money on capital investments. It will also expand a program that helps fund state and local construction projects. CNN will have live coverage of the president's remarks at the signing. That's 11:20 a.m. eastern time.

It seems -- it seems every day we're hearing about another public school district in this country taking drastic steps to stay afloat in this economy. It's about to get worse. Our Josh Levs is here to show us what happens after the stimulus money actually runs out. Josh, what's it about?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is so ugly, Fred. There's this thing called the cliff and that's what education officials are talking about when the stimulus money starts to run out. What I'm going to do here is I'm going to show you what's happening in three states that we keep talking about. Let's start off in Michigan. Michigan from the stimulus has gotten over $1 billion just for its education system. Guess what. Already, the majority of it is gone, so now they're trying to figure out what steps to take next.

California, more than $6 billion from the stimulus, Fred, and most of that has already been spent and distributed to schools out there. Now, one more I wanted to show you. New York. Take a look at what they're saying here. They're expecting a $2 billion shortfall in New York after the stimulus money runs out at the end of 2012, and I want you to see how huge this amount of money is. I'm going to go for a little walk here, because when we take a look at the stimulus and what's been happening with education in America, it is a giant sum of money that we don't have. It's borrowed money.

Take a look here. $98.3 billion. We're basically talking about $100 billion, Fred, in stimulus money that has gone to the states or has been prepared for the states, anyway. $71 billion has already gone there. These states are using this money. We're paying interest on it, they're using this to try and shore up their schools in the meantime, but now that money's running out. So, If things aren't bad enough now, look at what happens, Fred, over the next six months, the next year when this stimulus money runs out, too. That is one of the big reasons we're seeing so many drastic steps at schools trying to save money right now.

WHITFIELD: Okay. So, what does this do to schools and the country? I mean, if they're receiving stimulus money, but it's really not helping enough so that, you know, certain school districts are not in a deficit, then what's going on?

LEVS: And here's the thing. Exactly. Like it's definitely done some help, right? It's added 300,000 jobs out there, but the fact is, it hasn't done enough to shore up the education system, and now, you do have a lot more problems. The associated press did a really good story where they have a bunch of experts tracing through in a few points what it will do to schools in this country.

Look at this. These are some basics that you can expect in the public education system all over the country. Teacher layoffs, lower pay, which means unhappy teachers who are there. Larger classes. Fewer electives. Fewer opportunities to have some of those art courses, the music courses, and the things that become electives in these economies, and also fewer extracurricular activities. Then, take a look at what it does to our entire country which we have over here. So, If that's not bad enough for the schools, look at this, the effect on the country.

We have weaker public schools. That always leads to higher unemployment when you have weaker public schools. It's harder to keep people in schools, and it's rough for the president's education goals, and finally, it widens that achievement gap between those families that can pay for their young people to go to private schools, right, and the other young people out there who are in public schools. These are the stakes that we're facing as a country. This is why it's so important, so critical that our public school system finds some solutions right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes. To say very least. Josh Levs, thanks so much for a very sobering look on stimulus and the education system.

All right. Sex abuse claims sweep the catholic church in Europe as childhood -- or as -- rather, as people who have been abused are now speaking out about it. We'll talk about the church, the priesthood, and celibacy when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: One scandalous story after another looms over the Catholic Church. Allegations of child sex abuse by priests spreading around Europe. Pope Benedict will soon release an official statement about a scandal in Ireland. The deeply catholic country has been shaken by a government-backed report that found shocking cases of child abuse and cover-ups dating back decades. Yesterday, the head of the Irish Catholic Church apologized for his role in the 1970s investigation of Reverend Brendan Smythe. He is considered one of the countries most notorious pedophile priests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARDINAL SEAN BRADY, HEAD OF IRELAND CATHOLIC CHURCH: I want to say anyone who has been hurt by any failure on part that I apologize to you with all my heart. I also apologize to all those who feel that I've let them down. Looking back, I am ashamed that I haven't always upheld the values that I profess and believe in.

(ENDVIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Allegations of sexual or physical abuse have also come to light in Germany, the Pope's homeland. Some 300 former catholic students have come forward with claims of abuse, and in brazil, meanwhile, the allegations of abuse surfaced after a television report showed a video purportedly showing an 82-year-old priest having sex with a 19-year-old alter boy. Some critics of the Catholic Church say things won't change as long as there is a policy of celibacy for priests.

Let's talk about this with our CNN senior Vatican analyst, John Allen. He is also a senior correspondent for the national catholic reporter, an independent newspaper, not associated with the Catholic Church. Good to see you, John.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Same to you.

WHITFIELD: Before I ask you about the connections that some are making between celibacy and the child sexual abuse cases, let me ask you about the Pope and whether there is greater pressure on the Pope now to be issuing a letter to the Irish bishops, but is there greater pressure on the Pope to make a stronger stand as it pertains to the Catholic Church and these ongoing charges of child sexual abuse?

ALLEN: Of course, there is. I think any time one of these scandals erupts anywhere in the world, but particularly when it erupts in Europe which, you know, historically for centuries has been the center of the Catholic Church. I think there's tremendous pressure immediately to see some leadership from the Vatican and from the Pope himself. I think particularly in Germany now, because the Pope has not yet said anything about it, and because, of course, he is himself a German, there is an intense expectation there that there will be some kind of signal from Benedict XVI.

I mean, it should be said that many people would say that -- that the Pope has done a relatively good job so far in terms of an aggressive response to this crisis. Of course, he is the first pope to meet with sex abuse victims which he did first in the United States and then in Australia. He is the first one to sort of break the public wall of silence about the crisis, but, you know, all of that, I think, is in the past. Today, Catholics in Ireland, in Germany, and all over the world want something fresh from the Pope, some new signal that the Vatican and he, himself, is on top of this.

WHITFIELD: And now, is there a fervent argument being made that there is some connection between the cases of children being abused by priests or men of the cloth and a connection between a full life of celibacy?

ALLEN: That has been floated as one of the theories in this discussion. Although, most of the people who have studied the problem of sexual abuse in the church carefully have drawn the conclusion that celibacy in and of itself isn't the cause. I mean, for one thing, there are plenty of celibate priests who are perfectly healthy and who have never abused anyone, and the other point is that if we broadened the focus outside the church, you know, in the world, we know that a substantial proportion of child sexual abuse occurs in the family which means that it is committed often by married males.

And so, I think most people would say that there may be good reasons for reopening the debate over priestly celibacy, but suggesting that the problem of sexual abuse is caused by it probably isn't one of them.

WHITFIELD: Is there a concerted effort to change the teachings in the seminaries for young priests as they prepare for priesthood? Is there anything different about the teaching of a newer generation of a priest that perhaps was absent when you look at these cases that are now dating back to the 1970s, 1980s, and even early 1990s.

ALLEN: Oh absolutely, Fredricka. There's been a real sea change. I mean, in the old days, by that I mean really all the way up until, say, the 1980s, sex was the great taboo in priestly formation. The one thing you never really talked about, but today that has -- it's utterly different. I mean, today every seminary in the world, certainly in the United States, is going to have core courses on -- on sexual development, on emotional development, and I can also tell you that one of the first things that happens when somebody shows up and says I want to be a catholic priest is that guy is going to be sent out for an assessment by a psychiatrist, and a huge component of that is going to be his sexual maturity.

Also, candidates for the priesthood today are encouraged to talk openly with the veteran priests who have been in the field a long time about the joys, but also, obviously, the struggles of trying to live a celibate life. So, I think it is a much more open atmosphere in terms of talking about what this means. One other point is that in the old days, guys would often go into the seminary when they were very young, 12, 13, 14 years old before they had any real experience of dating or girlfriends or anything like that. I mean, today, it's much more common for guys to go in their mid to late 20s which means that they've already had a taste of all of that. They have a much healthier understanding of what they're being asked to give up. WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. John Allen, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

ALLEN: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right. All eyes are on Capitol Hill right now as we await developments on the health care reform bill. We'll bring you all the latest.

And they were just trying to find their way home. They found themselves trapped in the flood. The water coming in, and the SUV teetering on the edge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk nasty weather right now; River Street in Newmarket, New Hampshire, more like raging River Street. An elderly couple found themselves trapped in their SUV. Floodwaters started seeping in. And of course, the vehicle started teetering on the edge of a drainage ditch.

Rescuers had to stabilize the vehicle before they could get the couple out. Both are ok. All the detours posted because of the flooding apparently confused them and they simply drove off the road.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICK MALASKY, NEWMARKET, NEW HAMPSHIRE FIRE DEPARTMENT: We have road closure signs up and high water signs. But people are desperate to find their way around. At nighttime it increases your odds of driving off the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That happened near the Lamprey River. The fire chief says it's crested but the floodwaters have not gone down. Lots of flood issues out there and not just in New Hampshire.

Rob Marciano is in the Severe Weather Center. It is a tough prelude to spring.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is and you know, just getting around those, those flood zones, especially at night. I mean, that can easily happen where you just drive off the road or you miss a sign that says road blocked by water. And it's dark and the water looks dark and boom. You're in it.

So dangerous situations still across the Northeast where we've got flood warnings out including eastern parts of New Hampshire in the national river, the Merrimac River still on a flood state. They're all receding now. But still in some spots very dangerous situation and that water continues to try to get to the Atlantic Ocean.

And we've got still some snow melt that's coming out of the New England. And that's kind of making it a slow go as far as getting those rivers to simmer down. Rivers are rising across parts of the upper Midwest. The Northern Plains -- we've been talking about this -- the Red River flowing north into Canada. At times you get ice jams because it's blowing into colder air and colder spots. And those ice jams make the river a little bit less predictable.

And right now they're forecasting to go to about 38 feet, which is absurdly high but not quite where it was last year. And that crest is supposed to happen Sunday.

But they'll stay at major flood status stage until the end of next week. So it's going to be a treacherous time for those folks for sure. And we're watching that situation very carefully.

This storm, not a big deal, although it's kind of sitting and spinning off the Carolina coastline. So they'll get some showers and some of that will wrap around into parts of Eastern Georgia.

But the main story today is the warm air that continues to filter in from the south. How warm? Well, everywhere from Maine to California getting into the act with record highs yesterday; 91 at Wild Animal Park just east of San Diego; 85 degrees in UCLA. It's 73 in Billings, Montana; 71, Mile City. And Caribou, Maine, getting into it with 54 degrees.

And we're going to continue to see, I think, some record breaking highs today and then tomorrow also. But ironically after those record shattering highs we do expect to see a bit of a snowstorm developing across parts of the Rockies.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Rob. We'll keep tabs with you.

Meantime in -- all right. All right.

Meantime, in Washington right now on Capitol Hill, Republican leadership, many have already met behind closed doors talking about health -- the health care reform. Let's listen right now to John Boehner of Ohio.

SEN. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: -- is to make the point that his presidency is on the line. I'm sorry, Mr. President. This isn't about you. It's not about the office you hold. And it's not about the Speaker.

This is about the American people and the health care system that they want for our country.

Now, we've made clear that it's time to scrap this bill and to start over on common sense reforms to make our current health care system better. But, no, they're going to continue to ram, ram, ram this bill through the Congress. Every kind of scheme known to man to try to get it through the Congress without a vote.

Well, we're going to have an opportunity for the members today to vote on a straight up or down resolution about requiring a straight up or down vote on this bill. It will be part of our previous question when we get a rule bill up. And members have a chance to vote on that.

But I can tell you this. That Republicans in the House and the Senate have worked closely together over the last year, and we're going to continue to work closely together and to do everything that we can do to make sure that this bill never, ever, ever passes.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Thank you, John. It's pretty clear now that this is no longer an argument between Republicans and Democrats. It's an argument between Democrats and their own constituents.

My suspicion is that there is no a single Congressional District where there's an undecided Congressman where this measure is popular.

I know the White House believes and the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate believe that they're smarter than everybody else, that they figured this out, that the American people are just mistaken. That kind of arrogance usually precedes a big fall.

The American people have followed this issue like no other in the time that I've been here in Congress. They're familiar with the policy. They know it involves cutting Medicare about half a trillion dollars, raising taxes by half a trillion dollars.

They know it'll send individual market insurance premium rates up and they are appalled as John Boehner indicated by the process. Where in the senate, we saw the Cornhusker kickback, the Louisiana Purchase and the Gator Aid and we know most of those special deals are still going to be in the bill.

And over in the House they're suggesting they might somehow passing without anyone voting on it. Without anyone voting on it? Can you imagine the outrage the American people would feel if that happened?

It's not too late. And all we need is enough Democrats in the House of Representatives to do the right thing for the American people and they can be spared this big government takeover of one-sixth of our economy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Questions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel that this can still be won in the House side? What's and then and maybe what's the meeting with both -- the bicameral meeting this morning?

BOEHNER: It's pretty clear us to that if they had the votes they would have passed this bill in June or July last year when they wanted to. If they had the votes to pass this they would have passed it in September, October, November, December, January and February. And here we are in the middle of March with a bill that the American people all know about. All of the members know about and they don't have the votes.

It's not too late for the American people to continue to speak up and make it clear to their Members of Congress that they don't like this. I hear them yelling, and I'm sure my Congress -- or my colleagues hear them yelling as well and they need to yell a little louder and we can stop this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

BOEHNER: They're still going to spend $1 trillion to impose government-run health care on the American people. The American people want no part of it. And so they can -- they can tweak this thing and tweak it still, it's a trillion dollars they're going to spend and half a trillion dollars in tax increases and another half a trillion in Medicare cuts and not to extend the Medicare program, but to fund the brand new entitlement program.

The American people know that we're broke and the last thing we need to do is to add more debt on the backs of our kids and grandkids.

MCCONNELL: Let me just say one thing about the fix-it bill. I know they are trying to convince their members to vote for it based on a second sort of fix-it bill. If a fix-it bill somehow made it out of the Senate and by the way, if I were the House, I wouldn't depend on the Senate to solve the problem. It really doesn't solve the problem.

They would have voted for the kickback, the purchase and the Gator Aid before they voted against the kickback, the purchase, and the Gator Aid and by the way, I understand the fix-it bill, which we've not seen yet, isn't going to fix it.

We may or may not deal with the Cornhusker matter, but I hear it's not going to deal with any of the others. So they compound the political problem if they think they can get away with voting against these things after they voted for them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens when it comes over to the Senate? What are your plans?

MCCONNELL: Well, our plan is for it not to come to the Senate. Our plan is for it to be defeated here the House in the next few days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. You're listening to the Republican minority leadership of both the House and the Senate using words like fix-it bill and imposing government-run health care, reiterating why they don't like the process of this health care reform.

Meantime, Democratic leadership having a similar meeting behind closed doors and then emerging. We heard recently from Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee. I want to give you a quote right now until we're able to give you that sound bite, hearing it from her. She saying after leaving that meeting, quote, "It looks like the house bill is being passed." So, clearly, the Democratic and Republican leadership seeing this process very differently and what exactly will take place as it pertains to health care reform today and over the course of the next few days. We'll have much more straight ahead right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. When pressed, kids can be amazing.

A newborn boy is doing just fine this morning thanks to his brother and sister who helped deliver him. Alana Sanders went into labor in the wee hours of the morning when her husband was at work. Her baby boy came ten minutes later and the baby's umbilical cord had apparently snapped.

Luckily, mom's 9-year-old and 11-year-old children were quick on their feet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JABARI SANDERS, HELPED DELIVER BABY BROTHER: My mom said to call 911. So I did and then the phone operator started asking me a bunch of questions I didn't understand.

FAITH SANDERS, HELPED DELIVER BABY BROTHER: They just said tie a string around it, and I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. They handled it just great. Soon after little Jeffrey Sanders arrived the paramedics showed up and took mom and baby to the hospital.

All right. Back to Capitol Hill right now. You're looking at Congressman Henry Waxman, he's there talking about health care reform. Let's listen in.

REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: The private system all together with new, innovative ways to control costs. We have submitted to the Congressional Budget Office a proposal that they think will say far more than anybody imagined we would.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell be specific changes in some of the changes that were made in order to get to this point. I mean the whole exercise was about making changes to the Senate bill.

WAXMAN: Well, I'm going to leave that to others who are more expert on the budget. And I would think that we'll probably want to see the specifics from the Congressional Budget Office. They will state how they came to their conclusions, but their conclusions are very encouraging.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

WAXMAN: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the issue of --

WHITFIELD: All right. A few more comments on health care reform and the process as we go forward; this on the heels or maybe perhaps just prior to we officially hearing anything on the Congressional Budget Office number.