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On the Fence on Health Care; Rising Water, Rising Concerns; 9/11 Settlement Hearing; Irish Catholic Church Scandal; Dow Rides 8- Session Winning Streak; Health Care Reform Showdown; Making Their Mark; Iran's "Persian Cats"

Aired March 19, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime, the news continues. Here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips.

Hi, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The penguin? What's the penguin, John? Kiran, help him out, please.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It's a Michael Jackson thing that he's going to do for the last tour.

PHILLIPS: OK.

CHETRY: There's nothing I can do with this right now.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: I got to hand it off to you.

PHILLIPS: OK. Not unconstitutional. Illegal is what that should be. All right, thanks, guys.

ROBERTS: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: Good morning and TGIF, everyone.

Unless you're on Capitol Hill where it's more like a Manic Monday. Lots of counting, lots of whipping, Washington style going on with the health care plan. We're all over it, too.

We're going to tell you who's in, who's out, and who's on the fence and it's a pretty big fence.

Suicides at an Ivy League school. So many it's being called a public health crisis. What is driving young people with such promising lives ahead of them to end it all?

And what's it like to have zero conscience? Well, these guys might be able to tell us. If they really did roam a hospital and steal from dying patients, they are a different kind of thief.

And we begin this morning with intense and nail biting. That's how we all feel right now as we wonder and wait for the votes. In less than 72 hours, we will finally know where we stand on health care.

As of right now, here is where we do stand. It will take 216 votes to pass or kill this plan and today we expect to watch a flood of Democrats come out and vote yes. Right now, 206 House members say they'll vote no. As for the undeclared, 35 members of Congress.

Why? Well, one reason is the price tag is $940 billion. Second concern, the abortion language. And get this, many of them haven't even finished reading the bill.

You know this is serious business when the president cancels a big trip overseas. He says that he just wants to see his health care plan to the end. Will it make a difference?

Well, Jill Dougherty is standing by at the White House but first, congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar tells us about those who are still on the fence.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, let's first take a look at Congressman Tom Perriello. He's a freshman. He's only been in Congress for a little over a year. And he was one of the major underdogs into 2008. And now he's facing a very tough reelection campaign in his district in southern and central Virginia.

He has had concerns about the abortion language in this bill, making sure that federal dollars don't go to pay for abortions. However, in recent day his office has made it clear that those concerns have been somewhat assuaged, but at the same time this very vulnerable Democrat is an undecided.

And then there's Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur who represents a district in northern Ohio. She's actually been in Congress since 1983, but abortion is also a major issue for her.

She, like Perriello, voted yes on the health care bill in November. That bill had more stringent language on the issue of abortion than this Senate bill that the House could consider as soon as this weekend.

And at this point, she is an undecided, still worried that the abortion language just doesn't go far enough.

Then you have, yes, a Republican. So interesting. This is Congressman Joseph Cao. He is a Republican who represents the Democratic stronghold of New Orleans. And his issues really have to do with the abortion language.

We actually thought that he was going to be a no on this but President Obama reached out to him, asked him to take another look at this Senate bill and he has agreed to, so there's a bit of a question mark there.

What you're seeing here today and moving forward today is Democratic leaders will be able to say to their rank and file members, all of these undecideds, you have had time to read the bill because going into this afternoon, they will have had a full day. So Democrats are going to say you know what's in it, are you in or are you out -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks so much, Brianna.

Now let's get Jill Dougherty at the White House. Still, the president canceled trips to see this to the end.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he did and you know that deadline, that Sunday vote, is looming ever closer, ever closer. And the question is, what kind of a strategy do you use to get those?

You'd have to say they're not really, necessarily undecided. They're more like undeclared people, members of Congress. And so the strategy today that we understand from White House officials is that the president is going to put in the crosshairs two convenient groups.

That would be the insurance industry and also gridlock, Washington. He, the president, will be saying that in a speech at George Mason University this morning in Virginia, it's the message and they say he will be framing it as a choice between victory for the insurance companies or victory for the American people.

Of course, that reduced to its common element, the closest element that he can try to bring those undeclared over. The other part will be the inability, they say, of Washington to get anything done in Washington.

He's been reaching out. Certainly, three dozen members of Congress so far this week. Expect to get at a couple dozen more by phone and in person today, and -- they say they have a feeling of momentum. We'll have to see how that pans out by Sunday.

PHILLIPS: All right. And we are, of course, watching it to the bitter end. Thanks so much, Jill.

All right. Here's one more refresher on this compromise health care plan. Insurance coverage would be extended to an additional 32 million Americans. They would expand Medicare prescription drug coverage and increase tax credits. Insurance companies would not be able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions and your out-of- pocket expenses would be limited.

Now small businesses, the self-employed and the unemployed could purchase coverage through health insurance exchanges and states would be able to choose whether to ban abortion coverage. The plan scales back and delays attacks on high-cost insurance plans also.

Now Republicans say the Democratic plan won't do much to stop rising medical costs. They also say it will lead to higher premiums and taxes for middle class families and big Medicare cuts.

We're going to keep on top of the health care issue today and throughout the weekend, of course. We're going to go to Capitol Hill for an update next hour and then at 11:35 Eastern, we're going to bring you live coverage of the president's remarks. As the Red River is rising, so are the concerns. And Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota in particular. All people can do now is just wait and hope that the million sandbags filled will hold back that flooding.

CNN all-platform journalist Chris Welch is actually in Moorhead.

So, Chris, when is the river actually expected to crest?

CHRIS WELCH, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Well, it's looking like right now that will happen on Sunday. And as you mentioned, people here are ready and just weight, at this point. Most of them feel relatively confident that they filled the sandbags, over one million of them.

They put them in place and they are ready. You know there is a -- relatively speaking it's calm this year. You know you can compare that to last year when they had the record flood. That may be the reason. In fact, that probably is the reason that a lot of people are taking it relatively easily right now.

They went through a pretty big deal last year with a crest of 41 feet. Now a crest of 38 feet is what they're expecting this year.

For them, you know, they've been here. They've done that. I wouldn't say it's a cake walk but they're -- they don't have the sense of urgency. I'm not feeling that urgency that there was last year.

You know some reasons for that, obviously, is the 38 feet lower, but then these people have had floods -- not 38 feet lower, excuse me, three feet lower, 38 from crest. These people have been dealing with floods, though, for the past 15 years pretty regularly. They know what they're doing when it comes to this stuff.

PHILLIPS: All right, Chris, we'll watch it.

Bonnie Schneider, you're watching it, too. What do you think?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I think, Kyra, we're in a much better position this year than last year for a number of reasons. Last year, we had blizzard conditions and more rain coming in on top of the snowmelt that was already melting and causing the river to rise.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: OK. Bonnie Schneider, appreciate it.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

PHILLIPS: $657 million. Is that a fair, appropriate and just amount of money for people who worked hard in the ruins of Ground Zero and sacrificed their health? The settlement coming long after the dust settled.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: That's a pressure cooker of a day on Capitol Hill as we wait and wonder how this vote for health care plays out. The final vote is expected Sunday and Democratic House leaders are trying to convince undeclared members to vote yes.

Two hundred and 16 votes are needed to either pass the vote or kill it. Right now, 206 House members say they will vote no. Of those who say that they're against the bill, well, 178 are Republicans, 28 are Democrats, 35 right now undeclared.

They say they worked hard in the ruins of Ground Zero and 9/11 and sacrificed their health, but is a $657 million settlement enough?

In about five hours, those workers will have their say with the judge.

CNN's Mary Snow has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On September 11th, former New York City Police Officer Frank Maisano was among the first responders rushing to the scene. He stayed at Ground Zero for a week and then worked at Fresh Kills landfill where debris was taken.

FRANK MAISANO, 9/11 LAWSUIT PLAINTIFF: I felt that the dust -- had an intimate cough, you know, but that all came to a head when I chased a suspect later on.

SNOW: In January of 2004, he collapsed. Maisano had to leave the police department and now may face a lung transplant. He blames the toxic air he inhaled at Ground Zero and faults the city for a lack of protective gear.

MAISANO: We didn't have no protective gear. We just went down there to work to retrieve body parts. That is what we did.

SNOW: Maisano was among 10,000 plaintiffs who sued and is happy lawyers reached a settlement with the city. We asked New York City's chief attorney, Michael Cardozo, about the workers who say the city didn't do enough to provide protective gear.

MICHAEL CARDOZO, CORPORATION COUNSEL, CITY OF NEW YORK: The city's response and the contractor's response is we did a heroic effort in responding and supplying respirators and that kind of issue. And each plaintiff, depending where that plaintiff worked, would have to prove the contrary.

SNOW: The settlement ranges between $575 and $657 million, depending on how many of the plaintiffs accept it. Ninety-five percent must agree to it or there is no deal, and they have 90 days to decide.

Plaintiffs would receive between a few thousand dollars and more than a million, depending on the severity of their illness and Maisano, a father of three, is expected to be at the high end of the range.

MAISANO: Hopefully with this money, I'm able to put aside for my kid's future. Secure my family's future. That's most important to me right now.

SNOW: Former New York City Police Officer Glenn Klein has reservations.

(On camera): What do you think of the settlement?

GLEN KLEIN, 9/11 LAWSUIT PLAINTIFF: It's not for me. I'm not happy it.

SNOW: Why?

KLEIN: It may be for other people. Well, I put to you like this. Once you take the settlement, you're done. That's all you have. If you get sick down the road with a more serious illness and you settle for, let's say, $40, $50,000, what's that going to do for you four, five years from now? So that's going to be gone.

SNOW (voice-over): Klein takes medications for a series of ailments from gastrointestinal problems to post-traumatic stress disorder after working for months at Ground Zero. He wants to see long-term health care benefits included and says a policy to provide up to $100,000 if you develop certain kinds of cancer isn't enough.

KLEIN: $100,000 when you have cancer is nothing.

SNOW (on camera): The city says workers won't lose any health benefit they currently have. Now one other factor being considered, the fees for the attorneys since they are part of the settlement. They could be as high as 30 percent based on convention. The judge in the case stressed last week that he wants to make sure those fees are fair and reasonable.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: What is going on at Cornell University? So many suicides this school year it's being called a public health crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Spring break starts tomorrow at Cornell University and it's supposed to be an anxious time in a good way but not this year. Guards are keeping an eye on the bridges. Suicide prevention hotline stickers are all over the place and the school president is telling students to ask for help after a wave of student suicides.

At least six this school year and police are looking for the body of a possible seventh. Is it the Ivy League stress earthquake the harsh winter? No one can say for sure why this is happening right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILLIAN LYLES, CORNELL FRESHMAN: The stress of classes and whatnot, it can get to you that point and Cornell has -- it's so big and you really have to push yourself to go out there and get to know people. You just get lost and you get lonely and I can see why people would want to jump.

THOMAS BRUCE, V.P. OF COMMUNICATIONS: We have been knocking -- since Friday been knocking on every residential door, reaching out to -- individual -- to our students, individually and in groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Cornell's mental health director calls it a public health crisis. The school is now talking about a mandatory mental health event for new student orientation.

Top stories now, an effort to kick start the peace process. Leaders of the Middle East quarter including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met in Moscow today. They disapprove Israel's plan to build new housing units in largely Arab east Jerusalem.

Envoy Tony Blair says Israel is still refusing to back away from that plan. They're urging Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations.

Remember all the attention given to that Toyota Prius that slammed into a wall just north of New York City? Well, the driver told police the accelerator got stuck. Federal investigators say early evidence points to driver error. But the Associated Press says the local police chief is upset with that earlier assessment and he says hold on, the investigation is not over yet.

The scandal that has shaken the Catholic Church and one of the historic strongholds, are we about to see the end of Irish Catholicism as we know it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the letter is written and ready. Tomorrow we find out what exactly is in it. Pope Benedict XVI will release his official statement on the sex abuse scandal in Ireland.

One report found the archdiocese of Dublin and other Catholic Church authorities covered up child abuse by priests from 1975 all the way to 2004.

And you can imagine how the scandal has shaken Ireland.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson takes us to the church's Irish heart, a heart that's breaking.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): For the next few days, the eyes of many Catholics will be on this tiny market city, Armagh, in Northern Ireland.

It is the spiritual heart of the Catholic Church in Ireland and home to the church's Irish leader, Cardinal Brady. Some of the faithful are demanding his resignation, claiming he has failed to stop the abuse of children by priests.

(On camera): Here, the future of the church hangs in the balance. Will the allegations of sexual abuse and cover-up by priests propel the church towards a course correction, accept responsibility and change?

(Voice-over): At a service here Wednesday, Cardinal Brady gave the first hint yet of change, that he may stepped down.

"I have listened to reaction from people to my role and event 35 years ago," he said. "The Lord is calling us to a new beginning."

But the cardinal went on to ask, "Does that new beginning allow wounded healers, those who have made mistakes in their past, to have a part in shaping the future?"

A rhetorical question maybe, but one that's getting a lot of debate since Brady admitted he knew of the abuse of two children but did not report it to the police. Instead, he had them signed an oath of secrecy.

PATSY MCGARRY, JOURNALIST, IRISH TIMES: Reform is on the agenda. It has to be in Ireland. I think such is the degree of an antipathy out there towards what's happened.

ROBERTSON: The Pope is sending a letter to Irish bishops outlining his views about the abuse and cover-up scandals embroiling the church. It will become public Saturday. In Ireland, the question is not whether there will be change, but how much.

MCGARRY: If you're asking me, is it the end of Roman Catholicism in Ireland, it is not. What it is end of, though, is a form of the Roman Catholic Church?

ROBERTSON: Cardinal Brady says he wants two months to think things through.

(On camera): The coming days will be to the toughed Cardinal Brady has ever faced. His own faith will be tested to its limits. He will weigh papal directive and popular demand. And ultimately the decision he takes will show whether the Catholic Church really is ready to reform.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Armagh, Northern Ireland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So how could this have been prevented? Maybe with more women in the clergy? We're going to talk about that next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: On Wall Street, the Dow is riding an eight-session winning streak right now.

Let's see if stocks can make today number nine.

What do you think, Stephanie Elam?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, you can't rule it out completely, Kyra Phillips. You know --

(CROSSTALK)

ELAM: We're keeping our eyes on it. But I will tell you this. The eight session winning streak that we're on is the longest since last summer so it's a nice little ride we are on, but today it's just too close to call.

Stocks are probably going to be slightly open to the higher side but not really anything major. The major averages are at 18-month highs so it's really going to take a big headline to move stocks higher again. And lately, we've been getting some relatively benign economic reports.

Now the outlook for the auto sector, it's actually getting brighter. JD Power and Associates expects auto sales to hit an annualized pace of 12 million cars this month. That will be the highest level in 18 months. Not counting the government's Cash for Clunkers program.

And another good sign for the economy. Boeing is speeding up production of its 777 and 747 planes because the company expects demand to pick up. Boeing anticipates the entire airline industry to recover this year.

And over at Toyota, its executives must be a little shaken up by last month's recall of eight million vehicles. Because now the automaker is recalling two individual Tundra pickup trucks.

Five hundred trucks with faulty parts rolled off the line last fall but the problem was discovered and fixed almost. Two trucks, just two, did make it all the way to customers' driveways and they are now being notified about that. So that has to be a little troubling for them to be dealing with that.

So, there we go. That's a bell ringing on this Friday here. Stanley Black & Decker ringing the bell, and the early numbers coming in, and it looks like we are going to be on the upside, but ever so slightly right now. So, we are 10,779 to start off the day and S&P 500 on the higher side as well.

And before I go, Kyra, one thing I'm sure you're going to really like, Warren Buffet, he has his hand in a lot of different industries, and now he is dipping into the music business.

PHILLIPS: I saw this last night.

ELAM: You saw this?

PHILLIPS: Yes. Now, he doesn't really sing, right? Isn't he lip-synching or is he really singing?

ELAM: Yes. I think he is lip-synching, but it's pretty darn hilarious when you look at it, that -- he is actually singing I'm hearing.

PHILLIPS: Oh, he is actually singing.

ELAM: Yes, and the billionaire investor does his best Axl Rose imitation in this new GEICO video. You know, his company, Berkshire Hathaway. GEICO is one of their companies, but that's pretty darn cool. I like the tattooed arm.

PHILLIPS: My guess is he hasn't had as much experience with sex and drugs as Axl Rose has. That's just my guess.

(LAUGHING)

ELAM: I'm going to not speculate on the oracle's sex and life right now, but I do think it's a pretty darn funny commercial.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's pretty creative. You got to love Warren Buffett. He got quite a sense of humor. Step, thanks.

ELAM: Yes, he does. Sure.

PHILLIPS: The clock is ticking, and we are about 72 hours away from a showdown vote on health care, and just to let you know, here is where he we stand right now, 216 votes are needed to kill that plan. As of right now, 206 house members plan to vote no. Those no votes include all 178 republicans along with 28 democrats, but here's the interesting number, 35 members still undeclared right now. So, obviously, that could sway the outcome.

Let's say health care reform passes and you're one of the millions of people who need insurance. Are your problems solved in a snap? We're going to ask chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta now.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The caveat you have to tough talk about is that no one knows exactly what this health care bill is going to look like, if it passes, what the final form will actually be, but it's worth talking about the various layers to this bill to some extent and how these layers will go into effect, because if you're the average consumer, you're thinking how might this affect me and when will that happen?

So, let me talk about some the immediate changes first, some of the things that are going to happen sooner rather than later is that there no longer be any annual caps. So, let's say you have some sort of health care problem, but the insurance company says we have a yearly limit in terms of how much we will pay or lifetime limit, those sorts of caps will go away. Also, this pre-existing conditions, which we've been talking about for more than a year, people not able to be discriminated against based on pre-existing conditions when they go to buy health care insurance. Now, what they're going to do that interestingly is that they're going to create these high-risk pools around the country and subsidize those high risk pools so they can pay for the insurance for people who have some sort of pre-existing condition.

Young adults covered to the age of 26, again, pretty obvious there, but really those kids who may just graduated from college, haven't got a job that provides health care insurance or simply don't have health care insurance. Up until age 26, they can continue to get that coverage and drug discounts for seniors. We spend a lot of time talking about, this the doughnut hole, but basically what that means, imagine a doughnut, your health care insurance sort of kicks in as you eat through the first part of the doughnut. If you don't have any coverage as you're going through the hole, but doesn't kick in again until you start eating through the other part of the doughnut. That hole is what they want to shrink, that what so many people are sort of talking about here.

You know, if you're really thinking about this, you think when does the vast majority of health care reform, as we have been hearing about it kick in? A lot of it really is four years from now, 2014 lots of things happen at that point. First of all, mandated coverage, you are going to have to have health care insurance or pay a fine. How do you get there specifically? These health insurance exchanges which are set up around the country, think of them as supermarkets were you can go and find a private plan that might work four. If it's still too expensive, keep in mind that there is going to be no discrimination there. So, even if you have some sort of medical condition, they can't discriminate against you based on that. And there will be tax credits for consumers.

If the price of the health care insurance has been the issue all along, getting those tax credits will certainly help there, and finally, this idea of Medicaid expansion, this idea that childless adults living near poverty may also be qualifying for Medicaid to help get them on some sort of health insurance plan as well. But again, if you are at home, you're thinking, you know, I really need an operation the next couple of weeks, I'm uninsured. I don't know how this is going to happen. You know, pay attention to this. It's unclear exactly how that will affect you, but some of these plans again is going to take time before they go into effect.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: A woman allegedly high on drugs takes her two children on a terrifying ride, but the trip is cut short when a good Samaritan gets involved.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Making their mark this week. Woman in Dallas who took action to help two kids in trouble even if it meant putting herself in a potentially dangerous situation. Carla Davis says that her motherly instinct kicked in when she spotted a woman allegedly high on drugs driving erratically. Get this -- she had her two young children unbuckled in the back seat. Davis says the children were terrified and screaming. She called police and followed the car, then she saw the woman's 8-year-old boy jumped out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLA DAVIS, GOOD SAMARITAN: Half his body was still in the car, the other half was out of the car, and she took off at a 25 to 30-mile speed. He was trying to run after the car. He was screaming "mama, mama, don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Davis picked the boy up, continued to follow the car. The suspect eventually stopped long enough for bystanders to grab her keys and pull her 6-year-old daughter out to safety. Police arrested this woman, and family members picked up her children. It caused a lot of people, a lot of pain but Bernie Madoff may have felt some serious pain of his own in prison. "The Wall Street Journal" reports that he was beaten up by a fellow prison inmate back in December. The guy is described as a beefy drug offender and reportedly he was pretty angry about money that he thought Madoff owed him. The paper says Madoff was treated for a broken nose, fractured ribs and cuts to his face and his head. We are told the prison is denying the report.

Remember those two Northwest Airline pilots who overshot their landing by more than 100 miles?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: Northwest one eight ah do you have time to give a brief explanation on what happened?

NW 188: Ah cockpit distractions that's all I can say.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Northwest flight 188 was headed to Minneapolis, but the plane had to do an about face after overshooting the airport there. The NTSB now says the two did not fall asleep but quote, "became distracted by a conversation." The report also says the two were using their laptop computers in violation of Northwest policy. The pilots' licenses were taken away, but they can reapply in August.

All right. Let's check out CNN.com, go to news pulse part of our webpage. If you click on, you go to the top left. You can hit News Pulse, and these are the most popular stories right now that you are logging onto.

Number one story right now, Natalee Holloway, remember that story? Boy, did we cover that for months. Apparently, a Pennsylvania couple who went snorkeling in Aruba have an underwater photo that they say they believe may be a skeleton. Are they the bones of Natalee Holloway? The number one most clicked on story right now on CNN.com.

And the story that has so many of us for Sandra Bullock fans pretty upset. Jesse James broke his silence. Apparently, he cheated on his wife. Can you say jerk? J-e-r-k. And you should see the woman that he cheated with. Gross.

All right. Two most popular stories right now on CNN.com. We are following them all for you. Every 15 minutes it is updated, CNN.com News Pulse.

So what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Unless, of course, the wind grabs it and blows out of town. Nothing like lousy weather to make you feel kind of deflated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: It was secretly shot in Iran more than 18 days. A look at the film that exposes Tehran's underground music scene and the director who went to tremendous lengths to make it.

And I know you are sitting there wondering, what happened today in history. Here we go, March 19, 1918, the day America kissed an hour of sleep good-bye. Congress established daylight savings time.

And 1931, Nevada legalized gambling. Hmm. How did that work out? Anyone know?

And 33 years ago tonight, wow, was it -- has it really been that long? The last episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" aired. Tears were all around. No need to fake it. You know you cried during that group hug. Just admit it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: OK, I think you are going to agree with me that there is a basement apartment in hell for these guys if they are caught and convicted, of course. Check out this hospital security video from Toronto.

The men you see roamed around, allegedly looking for stuff to steal from the sickest patients. Talk about sick. They supposedly stole seven grand in jewelry from a woman in her bed, dying. The thieves have not been caught yet, but we need your help. Look at them and report them.

There's a similar story out of Florida. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was like the nicest old man that you'd ever want to meet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This girl was, they are dirt bags and they do something. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. Never let dirt bags into your house. A South Florida man is in jail accused of stealing from his neighbor. The neighbor couldn't do anything about it either. Why? Well, he was dead, decomposing on the floor. Police say a young man found the body and thought it was a good time to call his friends over to help steal some weapons, a safe and, oh, a pickup truck. The alleged thief's in jail. Police are still looking for his primo buddies.

And if there were a body under your bed for nearly two months, don't you think you might notice? The way this missing person case ended is just unreal.

Memphis, Tennessee, Room 222 at the Budget Lodge, workers found a woman's body under the bed. The mother of five had been staying in that had been staying in that room and was last seen alive January 26. Well, apparently the staff thought that she had left. They cleaned the room and rented it out five times. Yes, the body was under the bed the whole time. Police consider her boyfriend the person of interest right now in the case.

Ahead next hour we've seen it over and over. People desperately trying to hang on to their homes but just can't, foreclosures on the rise again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, rolling on here. We've got a lot more ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in with our reporters.

Jill, let's start with you.

DOUGHERTY: Well, a final public push, a strategy and an enemy. President Obama takes aim at the insurance industry. More at the top of the hour.

SCHNEIDER: I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider tracking the flood threat at the Red River in Fargo. I'll have a look at that, plus the winter storm hitting the plains at the top of the hour.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks guys.

And an American locked up. Retired businessman Reza Taghavi is sitting in an Iranian prison. At first the family didn't even tell the State Department which is why we haven't heard a lot about this case.

But now their lawyer, Pierre Prosper is talking. He's been secretly negotiating with Iran for his release. He says, Taghavi who is 71 was arrested after giving a friend of an acquaintance, money and still hasn't been charged with a crime.

Artistic freedom, not really big in Iran but an Iranian film director laid it all on the line to shoot a movie about the underground music scene there. Our Ivan Watson spoke with him about the great lengths he went through just to make it happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The movie "No One Knows about Persian Cats" has no sex or drugs, just lots of Rock n Roll.

The film tells the story of two young lovers with an almost childish dream, to perform a rock concert in a country where art and music are strictly censored.

"Persian Cats" was shot in Tehran in just 18 days. The director had to make it quickly and quietly because he did not have government permission to shoot the film.

BAHMAN GHOBADI, DIRECTOR, "NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS": We were afraid. We went to the location. We couldn't come back for a second time because I was worried that the Ministry of Culture --

WATSON (on camera): About the police.

GHOBADI: -- yes the police and the Ministry of Culture.

WATSON (voice-over): The film focuses on Iran's struggling underground music scene. Director Bahman Ghobadi compares these musicians to Persian cats because he says they get more respect outside the country than at home.

(on camera): Is there any artistic freedom in Iran?

GHOBADI: No, no. Really it's not freedom. Look at the women and girls, they cannot sing. They cannot play the music. They cannot make a concert because the voice of woman is (INAUDIBLE) in Iran.

WATSON: Against God.

GHOBADI: Yes.

WATSON (voice-over): Since it's banned in Iran Ghobadi debuted the film at the Cannes Film Festival where it won a special jury prize.

Ghobadi now lives in exile after fleeing last year's the government crackdown in Iran. We met him at Istanbul's Independent Film Festival.

He told us this character is auto biographical. The fast-talking music and film producer Nahheder (ph) showed here hustling his way out of getting flogged by an angry judge.

Amid comic touches, there is also defiance.

The lyrics of a heavy metal band forced to rehearse in a cow shed echoed the frustration felt by many young Iranians. GHOBADI: This theatrical -- this is the real Iran.

WATSON: This underground film has at long last given some of these talented young Iranians a cinematic stage to perform on.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Almost at the top of the hour. Bonnie Schneider, let's check in with you and see how North Dakota and other parts of the country are doing. That Red River is about to crest, right?

SCHNEIDER: That's right, on Sunday Kyra. The weather finally is cooperating unlike last year where we had blizzard conditions that just brought more snow and frigid temperatures to all the hundreds of thousands of volunteers out there.

The weather is still cold, but the cold weather is a good thing for the Red River and for the flooding in general because it slows down the snow melt. And when you look at what's been happening over the past few days, you can actually see over the past three days we had a rapid rise in the river with the milder temperatures in the 30s, 40s and 50s allowing that snow to rapidly melt.

Now we're going to see a gradual move, almost lateral, over the next few days because it will slow down with the temperatures being colder. Now the river will crest at 38 feet. That is below the record stage of over 40 inches. So we'll be watching for that as well.

The good news is that eventually the river will start to recede and level off as temperatures start to warm up even later on into the week. So we are going to be seeing some improving conditions which, of course, is very good news.

However, just to let you know, the warnings will persist straight until we go into Monday. These advisories for Fargo specifically go until Monday at noon. So definitely not out of the woods yet, but things are looking better this year than last year and a lot of that is because of the weather.

Now one thing always affects the other when you're talking about weather. So low pressure that's bringing the colder air to the northern plains, behind it we're also getting a whipping wind and some very strong snow coming in to Denver.

The last day of the winter season, and boy, is Denver getting hit hard. We have a live picture to show you of Denver, Colorado, with snow that could total up to a foot before the storm system moves on out of here.

Check out these live pictures. Hard to believe we are in late march, but we are. A white-out happening in Denver right now and it's not just in Colorado where the temperatures are in the 20s, this winter weather sweeping across the plains into Kansas, into Oklahoma. We're looking for some heavy snow to accumulate there as well and it is very unusual to see this many winter weather advisories for so many areas, for Denver all way back out to Wichita, Kansas where it starts off today not too bad. Cloudy to rain changing rapidly to snow and that's really the name of the game with this weather.

It's extreme weather really classically so because you have one day where the weather is perfect and nice, and highs of like 60s and 70 degrees like in Oklahoma City, and then bam, tomorrow with that snow coming in here and that whipping wind, we're talking about a 30- degree temperature drop. It will feel even colder than that.

So have all elements in terms of what to wear this weekend because you'll need it.

PHILLIPS: All right. Be prepared. Thanks, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.