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CBO Health Care Numbers; Unhappy Reunion in Haiti; President to Sign Jobs Bill

Aired March 18, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We heard from our reporting from our Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill there. According to our Democratic sources that the cost of this reform plan is estimated to be at $940 billion over the next 10 years and already we're starting to hear from various congressional leaders as we await the official word on those numbers.

Meantime, we have new developments this hour on the road to health care reform. Let's give you the latest on all that we know right now. Democrats are telling us details of that CBO, that Congressional Budget Office report. On the cost, the CBO price tag, as I just mentioned, $940 billion. The full report is due to be published today, starting a 72-hour clock for studying it and that would set up a vote on the bill perhaps by Sunday.

CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar has been working her sources to get more on this report. Brianna joining us live now. Democrats are feeling rather energized as a result of learning more details about this CBO report. Why?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, Fred, what we've been waiting for really for days now is this price tag which is what the estimate from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is and Democrats have been waiting for this and what we heard today was them getting out ahead of the CBO, which is a non-partisan group, making their announcement and telling us that the price tag is going to be $940 billion over 10 years, that it would reduce the deficit over the first 10 years by $130 billion and that it would reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the second 10 years.

So here's how this breakdown. I know those are a whole lot of numbers, but President Obama has said all along that he wants the goal to be $900 billion or less. So the overall price tag which Democrats say is out here 940 is obviously over that, but what they're pointing to is the deficit reduction numbers, that this is not deficit spending. In fact, it's going to reduce the deficit and it's going to reduce it more than, say, the Senate passed bill did, more than the House passed bill.

But what you need to keep in mind of the numbers is we're getting them from Democrats. We haven't seen the official numbers from the Congressional Budget Office. Do we expect those numbers to be very different when they do come out presumably here in the next couple of hours? Not necessarily. But what we do expect the Democrats will be highlighting all of the positives right now without talking about the negatives.

So keep that in mind as we tell you these numbers, but bottom line, they say that they are very giddy about these numbers because they're trying to win over some of those moderate Democrats who are deficit hawks, who have major concerns about deficit spending and they think that this is going to help win them over so you see democrats here putting a positive spin on what's going on.

WHITFIELD: OK. Brianna Keilar, thanks so much. We're highlighting the negatives of some of the Republican leadership. House Minority Leader John Boehner had this to say a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: It's not about the speaker. This is about the American people and the health care system that they want for our country. We've made clear that it's time to scrap this bill and then start over on common sense reforms to make our current health care system better, but no. They will 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.

We're going have an opportunity for the members today to vote on a straight up or down resolution about requiring a straight up or down vote 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 Senate have worked closer together over the last year and we're going to continue to work closer together and to do everything that we can do to make sure that this bill never, ever, ever passes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Strong words there from John Boehner. President Obama, by the way, has delayed his overseas trip and he's keeping watch on the Democratic House leaders as well as the Republican House and Senate leaders as they all talk about whether this health care reform plan will indeed pass.

CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian is live for us now from the White House. Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And he's not just keeping watch on what's going on up there on Capitol Hill but he's deeply involved according to White House aides in working on those undecided Democrats, some of whom have big concerns about the cost of this health care bill.

No official reaction yet from the White House on those numbers that we've been reporting because, of course, those numbers have not been officially released yet by CBO, but the president does continue to work to try to get the votes from those Democrats in order to pass health care reform and we saw yesterday some progress on that front where Dennis Kucinich who had previously voted no on this House health care bill now saying he will vote yes. The White House very encouraged by that and hoping that this is sort of the beginning of a trend and that others will also be moving. I'm told by a White House aide that the president in talking to some of these Democratic members has been pushing them on what this health care bill will mean for the American people if passed and what will happen if they do nothing, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thanks so much. And so far as we understand, the president is still expected to depart perhaps Sunday?

LOTHIAN: That's right. That's still the plan. He's still expected to depart on Sunday, and I did ask Robert Gibbs if there was any indication at all that perhaps the trip could be canceled. He said no, the trip's still on.

WHITFIELD: OK. He's feeling confident. Thanks so much. Dan Lothian, appreciate it, from the White House.

All right. Well, this brings us to today's blog question. We asked for your thoughts on health care reform, the process, the package, all of that. This from Carmen, "As an RN, a registered nurse, I feel very disappointed at the lack of value being placed on a human life. Stop worrying about what costs for who. These are actual people dying every day for lack of health insurance! Stop putting a monetary value on life."

And this from Richard saying "The current health care reform bill is an absolute fiscal horror. The bill should be thrown out in total, with the project started over."

And this from Ann. "None of us hardworking Americans are going to be able to make it with all the new taxes. It will not be better health care." So remember, we want to hear from you. Just logon to CNN.com/Fredricka to share your comments and we'll get them on the air just as we have done.

Haitian children reuniting with their parents that should be a happy occasion, right? With tears of joy? Well, there are tears, all right, but not of joy. Sara Sidner joins us now from Port-au-Prince.

So, Sara, another heartbreaking story here. Why is it everyone is not happy to be reunited?

OK. We'll try to work on that audio. Perhaps we can still at least see her piece.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Daphnis Adrien waits to see his family after being separated for six weeks. It should be a happy moment, but it doesn't turn out the way you might think. Daphnis does not want to go home.

DAPHNIS ADRIEN, 12 YEARS OLD (through translator): I am leaving my mom, he says, but the mom he's talking about isn't his mom at all. It's the caretaker he's been with from a child protection group. He knows his biological mother gave him away after the earthquake and still today she makes no apologies.

ELVITA DORLIS, MOTHER (through translator): Life was so bad he was leaving with foreigners to go to Santo Domingo to look for a better life and things went wrong, she says.

SIDNER: Daphnis is one of the 33 children taken by American Baptist Missionary Laura Silsby and her crew who had claimed the children were all orphans in desperate need of help after Haiti's earthquake killed so many parents. It turns out none are orphans and under Haitian law they must now be reunited with their families.

For little Jenny, the reunion is also a birthday present. She just turned one.

ROSE RAMPI, MOTHER (through translator): I am happy I have found her, her mother says.

SIDNER: But why did parents who say they loved their children deeply give them away?

LINA WOLF NIELSEN, SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE: These families lost hope after the earthquake that they would ever be able to provide for these children in the way they wanted to. They saw this opportunity to give the children a better opportunity abroad, and took it, and now they've been sensitized and better informed about the risks that this might entail for the children.

SIDNER: As the children begin to leave, SOS house mother (INAUDIBLE) cries, sad to see them go, knowing what probably awaits them.

If the parents could not take care of them in the first place, the kids wouldn't be here with me, she says. A fear confirmed by 12- year-old Daphnis' mother.

DORLIS (through translator): He's crying right now because he knows we don't have a place to live.

SIDNER: No place to live or even transportation to take them from the children's village. More than two months after the earthquake, homes, families and an entire country still shaken to the core.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: The Adrien family tells us that they are actually living on the street, but we should mention this, that the SOS Children's Village did give all of the parent some sort of training. They had them watch videos of what could happen to their children such things as having them go and for example, have their kidneys sold, some very scary things and the families seemed to respond to that.

The police also told them that they could have been arrested for what they did, so a warning to the parents, which they seemed to respond to, but still the situation is very difficult here.

WHITFIELD: So terribly sad. So, Sara, there were 32 out of 33 children who actually went home. What happened to the last child?

SIDNER: Well, there was a little girl who is still there and is still at the SOS Children's Village that is because the parents have come forward, but they still have to verify, trying to verify, trying to make absolutely sure that the parents actually are who they say they are through some paperwork. So they have to get that sorted out, but they do believe she will also go home very soon. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sara Sidner, thanks so much. Appreciate that update. Sad story.

And the American missionary that you saw in Sara Sidner's story, Laura Silsby, well she is still in jail accused of kidnapping and faces even more charges. Silsby and the other Americans deny they did anything wrong.

Here in the U.S., a family hit by a powerful storm living without water or electricity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had never been in a situation like this. I wouldn't want this on nobody. Sometimes you have to do what you've got to do if you don't get or receive the help that you're supposed to be receiving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Falling through the cracks now tied up in red tape. Did FEMA forget this family?

(VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And what in the world, push the lever, shock a stranger? At least that's what the players and the audience of this game show thought was happening.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Record-breaking high temperatures are expected in spots again today and tomorrow, a snowstorm. Winter is not over yet. Weather is coming up when the CNN NEWSROOM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A lot of anxious people along the Red River right now. The river is more than 14 feet above flood stage and it's expected to crest on Sunday. Rob Marciano is watching this for us in the severe weather center. Rob? It is expected to crest a couple of feet below the record which was set last year, but that was, you know, a historic record.

So just to have it crest two feet below that stage isn't really making these folks rest easier. They are confident in Fargo because when they got to 40.8 inches, feet, last year they were able to hold the river back, for the most part. There was damage to about 100 homes and structures, but for the most part they were able to ballot it back.

This year's flood expected up to 38 feet. Now this forecast will change over the next couple of days for sure. Right now Sunday afternoon is the crest time, but notice it stays above major flood stage right on through the end of next week. So those levies and sandbag and dikes are going to be under constant pressure and there will be leaks and there will be in some case, breaches.

So that's what they're going to be battling over long term. Battling over some nice weather, right now, ironically. No rain in the forecast for the northern plains, but warm temperatures certainly cranking things up as far as snow melt is concerned. Check out some of these numbers and that includes the west coast. Boy, SoCal got it yesterday, 91 degrees at the Wild Animal Park South in east of San Diego, Los Angeles, UCLA, 85 degrees. That's good stuff. Billings, Montana, the city getting into the lower 70s and even Caribou, Maine, 54 degrees.

So a lot of folks seeing some warm temperatures and that will be the case again today and again, the flood warnings are in effect for this area and it will be ongoing. Minneapolis, St. Paul also, Mississippi will be cresting in that area next week and that's going to lead to some flooding and then the major river systems as we go through the next several weeks and we'll have some issues.

A little bit of rain across parts of the Carolinas and that's about it as far as the sore spots of today is concerned. 63 in Atlanta. It will be 65 in Chicago. 64 in Denver. I think in the mid-60s. You know, that's amazing considering they're in a winter storm warning and tonight the snow is expected to come down. Five to 10 inches of snow expected to fall during the day tomorrow across the (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: Yes, the temperature and that snowfall doesn't seem to match.

MARCIANO: Well, tomorrow's high is expected to be 33. So that's that.

WHITFIELD: That's a big top.

MARCIANO: You get that wild swings across Colorado.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's true. Wacky weather sometimes. All right. Thanks so much, Rob.

WHITFIELD: Who cares about graduation?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: NCAA isn't concerned about graduation rates. They're concerned about basketball programs and they're concerned about the billion dollars that they bring in from this three-week tournament that everybody plays in their office pools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. Well, education secretary Arne Duncan has some ideas. How to make the NCAA care.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Obama is getting ready to sign a jobs bill, but is the bill realistically going to encourage new hiring? We'll check it out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton is in Russia today. She is in talks over a new nuclear treaty between Moscow and Washington. Tomorrow she and other Russian officials meet with representatives from the United Nations and the European Union. They'll try to find a way to re-start the stalled Middle East peace process.

And it just doesn't seem like Toyota can gain traction out of its troubles. The carmaker is now investigating reports of faulty electronics in more than a million Corolla and Matrix models. According to complaints, the engine can suddenly stall. Toyota has not issued a recall and says it is not a safety concern.

And its one of the most valuable web domains out there and today you can own it if you have the cash. Sex.com is being auctioned off in New York. Starting bid $1 million. Here's a little history on the site. According to reports, it was first registered by the founder of match.com back in 1994 and at one point the web site made $15,000 a day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Tough new off-court rules for on-court play. Education secretary Arne Duncan wants to impose a 40 percent graduation rate for colleges in the NCAA basketball tournament. He says it's a case of raising an already, "low bar." CNN's Kate Bolduan reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama like millions of sports fans across the country made his NCAA picks announcing his bracket on ESPN.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And here, what I think may end up being the best game of the tournament, Kentucky, West Virginia, and I think Kentucky pulls it in.

BOLDUAN: But the presidential choice for the championship game, Kentucky versus Kansas wouldn't be possible if his own secretary of education had his way. ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY: I want to reiterate my proposal to the NCAA that teams that fail to graduate 40 percent of their players should be ineligible for post-season competition. Frankly, that's a low bar and not that many teams would be ineligible. Over time, I think we should set a higher bar, but it is a minimum, a bright line which every program should meet to vie for post-season honors.

BOLDUAN: Secretary Arne Duncan wants any school graduating less than 40 percent of its athletes banned from post-season play, citing a new study by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. It shows 12 teams in this year's tournament graduated less than 40 percent of their players, including Kentucky at 31 percent, Maryland at eight percent and Louisville at 38 percent.

The study examined NCAA statistics of four recent graduating classes, the last in 2009.

BRUCE PEARL, HEAD COACH, UNIV. OF TENNESSEE: We are very disappointed and apologetic in many, many ways to be on that list.

BOLDUAN: Tennessee also falls below the line, but men's head coach Bruce Pearl defends his program saying the problem starts far before students hit the college court.

PEARL: If he wants to fix it, fix it at the high school level, at the middle school level and at the elementary school level. His problems in this country and our educational system lie elsewhere.

BOLDUAN: And sports reporters like Andy Pollin say educators may not like it, but it's the reality of college sports today.

ANDY POLLIN, SPORTS REPORTER: If the NCAA was actually concerned about graduation rates they wouldn't schedule weeknight games that start at 9:00. The NCAA isn't concerned about graduation rates. They're concerned about basketball programs and they're concerned about the billion dollars that they bring in from this three-week tournament that everybody plays in their office pools.

BOLDUAN (on camera): The NCAA says it shares the concern over low graduation rates but also said in a statement that imposing a ban on teams for the academic performance of student athletes who entered as freshmen eight to 11 years ago is probably not the best course of action. When I asked Secretary Duncan about how exactly the Department of Education can implement and enforce his proposal, he said they can't.

This isn't going to be a federal mandate of any kind. His goal is to raise awareness on the issue.

Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. President Obama is getting ready to sign a jobs bill, but is the bill realistically going to encourage new hiring? We'll check on that.

And Craigslist has a lot to offer, but some things just go too far perhaps? And now a Minnesota man is in trouble for allegedly selling his wife?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In about an hour President Obama is expected to sign a new jobs bill. If it all works as planned, the bill would give businesses a reason to hire new workers. Alison Kosik joins me now from New York with more on this. Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN Hi, Fred. You know, the centerpiece of this $18 billion bill would temporarily exempt employers from paying their share of the social security payroll tax and that tax is about six percent of a worker's wages.

Now here's the kicker in all this, companies would only get that tax break if they hire someone who has been unemployed for at least two months and then if that new hire is still working there a year later, the employer gets an additional $1,000 credit.

And one more thing that this bill does, it also allows small business to write off capital spending for things like buying machinery and vehicles. Fred, it's all about getting those incentives, getting these businesses to spend and hire more and kind of increase the wheels of the economy again.

WHITFIELD: Will this bill really do the trick or are the tax breaks going to those companies that were probably going to be hiring workers anyway?

KOSIK: That's really the question here. If companies don't have the money to hire a 6 percent tax break isn't going to be big enough to make a difference. They're not going to just say, oh, you know, I think we need a tax break, let's go ahead and just hire people.

Some small business owners say they've been so devastated by the recession that they need to rebuild and see that demand pick up even before they consider hiring again. And because of that, some republicans say this $18 billion bill is a waste of spending.

But on the other side of the coin, one entrepreneur is telling us that this tax credit is going to make a difference for him. He says he's trying to grow without tapping into a line of credit so the tax break in the bill will help him.

On Wall Street, debt problems in Greece and high unemployment here are worrying investors. A new report shows another 457,000 people filed for unemployment benefits last week and those are just first-timers. Millions have been collecting unemployment over the long term, so we're still deep in the rough for jobs.

But Wall Street taking it pretty well. The Dow up about 18 points, the Nasdaq down just a bit -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Alison, thanks so much.

Just to remind you, President Obama signs that jobs bill at 11:20 Eastern time. Just about 50 minutes from now. CNN will bring that to you live.

Three professionals who have something in common, they're out of work and want a job and they're here to make a 30-second pitch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A family hit by a powerful storm living without water or electricity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never been in a situation like this, and I'm quite sure I wouldn't want this on nobody. Sometimes you have to do what you've got to do if you don't get nor receive the help that you're supposed to have been receiving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Falling through the cracks now tied up in red tape. So did FEMA forget about them?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We've been checking on flooding along the Red River. Let's get more on that and the rest of the nation's weather from Rob Marciano in the Severe Weather Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Out of work and looking for a job in Vegas, Atlanta, Philadelphia. Three professionals, there they are, hoping to land a job and they're all standing by to make their 30-second pitch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.

Democrats are floating numbers this morning on the cost of a health care reform bill. The bill would cost $940 billion over the next decade, cutting the deficit by $130 billion for the same period. Over the following 10 years, the deficit reduction would be close to $1.2 trillion. The numbers, as told us to by democratic sources, will appear in the Congressional Budget Office report due out today and after the report is released democratic leaders will start a 72-hour clock leading to an expected vote on health care on this bill Sunday. House republicans, meantime, are gearing up for a fight saying they are going to make sure the bill never passes. Right now, the Senate Arms Services Committee is hearing testimony into the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen is backing repeal of the policy regarding gays and lesbians in the military. President Obama called for dropping the policy adopted in 1993 under President Clinton.

An announcement over a public address system at a New Jersey Wal- Mart has some people shaking their heads. On Sunday, someone got on the store speaker at the Turnersville store and said, quote, "All blacks need to leave the store." Wal-Mart is apologizing and is reviewing security videos in an effort to find out who that voice was; police are investigating the incident as well.

All right, let's dive right into our "30-Second Pitch." It's when we connect people looking for jobs with employers, hopefully. And we have three people ready to make their pitches this morning. James Hartman is an unemployed real estate agent in Las Vegas, Brooke Davis is an administrative professional who joins us from Philadelphia, and Terry McGreevy is right here in Atlanta and he has lots of experience in the food and beverage packaging industry.

Hello to all of you. James, let me begin with you. Before we get your 30-second pitches, what has the job search been like?

JAMES HARTMAN, JOB SEEKER, JAMESHARTMAN702@YAHOO.COM: It's been tough. With the economy right now, resumes are going out, but no response from potential employers. So I'm just out there every day knocking on the doors just like when I was in the real estate business.

WHITFIELD: And, Brooke, you were unemployed. You got a job just this past January. You got let go of that one. It's been a pretty tricky rollercoaster ride. What has been the biggest challenge for you?

BROOKE DAVIS, JOB SEEKER, BROOKE.DAVIS820@GMAIL.COM: The biggest challenge has just been finding something that's stable and that's recession-proof, and marketing myself the best way possible.

WHITFIELD: And, Terry, you've worked three months out of the last 15 months. It's been tough trying to find something with some permanency for you as well. Why? What's going on out there?

TERRY MCGREEVY, JOB SEEKER, TERRENCE.MCGREEVY@GMAIL.COM: Absolutely. It's been a tough market, but I'm encouraged that there's more activity out there now. So I'm encouraged something will happen soon.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good. We hope so, too, for everybody.

So, James, let's begin with you with your 30-second pitch.

HARTMAN: OK.

Hello, everyone. My name is James Hartman. I'm located here out of fabulous Las Vegas. I've been in the real estate industry for over 10 years now. I'm looking for real estate-related jobs in consulting, public relations and marketing. Also, I'm open into opportunities into the entertainment industry such as actor, manager, producer, voiceover. I'm honest, loyal and a dependable person to add to your team. So if I look like a potential employee, give me a call. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good.

Brooke, your turn -- Brooke Davis.

DAVIS: Hi, my name is Brooke Davis. I'm a recently certified paralegal. I have eight years of administrative experience. I have a bachelors in political science from American University and I've worked on several campaigns. I've worked in administration on various levels. I'm honest, hardworking, reliable, passionate and would be a tremendous asset to any law firm or company. Please contact me at brooke.davis 820@gmail.com. Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: Terry McGreevy, 30-second pitch.

MCGREEVY: My name is Terry McGreevy, I've spent 25 years in the food and packaging industry in Atlanta. I've got a very broad and diverse skill set that ranges from sales and marketing, sales management, project management, package and product development. In addition to those skills, I've got Six Sigma training and I've got procurement experience, logistics, supply chain and quality assurance. I would like to bring my energy and enthusiasm to your organization. I deliver maximum value and make a significant contribution on day one. Thank you. Again, it's Terry McGreevy, look forward to hearing from you.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic and good luck to all of you. Terry McGreevy, Brooke Davis and James Hartman, we wish you all of the best and hopefully your future employer was paying attention this hour.

MCGREEVY: Thank you so much.

DAVIS: Thank you, Fredricka.

HARTMAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And of course, if you are out of work and want to sell yourself to prospective employers, let us know. Send us your resume and a letter to 30secondpitch@CNN.com.

All right. Also, breaking news now about the woman known as Jihad Jane when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Would you, could you inflict pain on a complete stranger if you were told to? What in the world? A French television show that's raising shockwaves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right, this just in. The Pennsylvania woman who dubbed herself Jihad Jane has pleaded not guilty. Colleen LaRose is accused of conspiring to support terrorists and kill a Swedish cartoonist who offended some Muslims.

CNN's Susan Candiotti has been following the case and joins us now live from Philadelphia -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredericka.

It was a very, very short hearing. Very brief, lasted maybe two minutes, at best. The woman known as Colleen LaRose, also known as Jihad Jane, this is a nickname that she gave to herself allegedly on the Internet according to authorities, she pleaded not guilty. Her attorneys waived the reading of this four-count indictment. An indictment that if she is found guilty of these charges could face up to life in prison.

You'll remember that when she was -- when this indictment was revealed just last week, there was a flurry of activity to try to find out more information about this woman. We've known very little except that she moved to Philadelphia about five or six years ago, moved in with a man who owns his own business. And this is a man who said he had no idea of the charges that she is now accused of.

According to the government, this is a woman who was taking care of this man's elderly father, but in the meantime, says the indictment, she was using his home computer to meet with other like- minded people on the Internet to, in fact, engage in alleged terrorist activities overseas. So everything she is charged with involved activities that allegedly happened overseas.

Again, she has pleaded not guilty. They actually set a trial date for May the third, coming up very quickly. It is rare when they hold on to those court dates, but we'll, of course, see what happens next.

She's a very diminutive woman. She had her hair pulled back in braids and into a ponytail down the back of her head. She smiled, was very engaging with her lawyers, but the hearing was over with very, very quickly -- Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan Candiotti, thanks so much, out of Philadelphia.

And in Chicago, a Minnesota man is accused of selling his wife for prostitution on the website Craigslist. The Cook County sheriff says Clinton Danner of Rockford, Minnesota was arrested after his wife told police she was tired of being used by her husband. The sheriff said the man threatened his wife and their child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF TOM DART, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS: We have a husband who is prostituting his wife out around the country while holding their 3- year-old child threatening the wife that if she doesn't go forward with this, then he will take the child away from her and harm her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. The CEO of Craigslist says the company works with authorities when they ask for help in solving and prosecuting crimes.

And we've talked a lot about health care reform, the bill, the last couple of hours. We're actually getting your comments on our blog. We'll share those with you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're roughly at 20 minutes away or so from the president signing the jobs bill. We'll carry that live for you as you see him sign the dotted lines.

All right, let's also talk weather right now. Check in again with our Rob Marciano.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here's a strange question for you -- would you inflict pain on a complete stranger you were told to? It's an unusual experiment by a French television show and it's taking a look at how willing human beings are to hurt others.

CNN's Randi Kaye explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called the "Game of Death" and it's torture to play. On this French game show, contestants pose a question, but here's the catch, if their fellow player gets the answer wrong, he's zapped with increasing amounts of electricity, as much as 460 volts. The more wrong answers, the more voltage, the more pain.

The audience shouts for more punishment. Some contestants are reluctant, but are swayed by the audience demanding higher voltage.

(on camera): But here's what the audience and contestants don't know, there is no electricity, no pain inflicted. The players tortured for their wrong answers are really actors hired to play the part. Their screams of agony, fake. In fact, this really wasn't a game show at all but an experiment about how far some people are willing to go to inflict pain on a complete stranger.

(voice-over): Amazingly, only 16 out of 80 refused to inflict pain on the others.

DR. JERRY BURGER, SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY: They're in a situation where they have to act quickly. They can't stop and think about what is the right thing to do, they have to act right now. All of those things lead people to respond to the situational cues. KAYE: The show is part of a documentary airing on French TV, which examines what its creators called TV's mind-numbing power to suspend morality and the striking human willingness to obey orders.

When it was over and contestants were told it was just an experiment, some said they didn't even think about it, they just followed orders. Others said they were worried, but did not want to spoil the show, so they acted against their own principles when ordered to do something extreme.

BURGER: Everybody is torn. Nobody thought that this was a lot of fun or something they enjoyed doing, but they could not find a way to stop themselves from going along with it.

KAYE (on camera): The blind obedience in this case is being compared to the behavior of German soldiers ordered to commit atrocities inside the Nazi concentration camps. In fact, the show's whole premise is based on an experiment from Yale back in the 1960s which uses similar method.

(voice-over): In the Yale experiment, the people inflicting the painful shocks thought the electricity was real too. That didn't stop two-thirds of them from giving the maximum shock available, 400 volts.

BURGER: Most people will in fact act in this horrendous way and press the shock levers that they think are delivering very dangerous if not lethal electric shocks to another person. The moral there is not that people are horrible or that were brutal or sadistic individuals, the lesson is really that in certain circumstances, in the right situation, the average typical well-adjusted person will act in these horrendous ways.

KAYE: One added element in the French game showcase, contestants had to sign a contract agreeing to obey orders, for them there was no turning back.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow! That is frightening stuff. Maybe we should have asked you about that. Instead, we've been asking you about health care in this rollercoaster ride as we move to votes on health care reform, the bills that are in place.

This is from Stuart, this is what you had to say, "I've been without health insurance for seven years, but do I want the government to issue my health insurance and my health care? No way."

From Harold, "Will it be costly? Yes. Will it be worth it? Also yes, but more importantly, if it is not done now it will never be done."

"We have to do what other countries have done. Pass the bill that is lacking in some ways now. If we don't, then there will be nothing to fine-tune." That was a comment from somebody else. This from Lou -- should I go on? All right, well, just listen to me. This is what Lou is writing on my blog page. "We've got over 30 million Americans with no health insurance, but when they get sick we all pay whether we realize it or not. They get sicker, they lose their jobs, they get care and the cost of, rather, finds its way into insurance premiums. Everyone else pays." Hope you get the drift on that one.

So remember, we want to hear from you. We have been all morning long, we've been sharing your comments as it pertains to health care reform. If you have any other comments, you can still send them. Just log onto CNN.com/Fredricka and we'll try to get them on the air as best we can.

Tony Harris is up next with much more in the NEWSROOM.