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The House Set to Vote on Health Care Reform Bill Tomorrow; Midwest Braces Itself for Possible Floodwaters from Red River; Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal in Ireland

Aired March 20, 2010 - 12:00   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, well it's a very busy Saturday. Flooding, snow storms and some last-minute vote wrangling on Capitol Hill. That's where we are going to begin. The president's push to overhaul health care intensifies this weekend. Right now, all the action is on Capitol Hill, particularly in the House and it focuses on the Senate bill passed back in December.

The House Rules Committee is meeting today to decide on the terms for both the debate and the vote -- 216 votes are need to either pass or defeat the bill. And a handful of lawmakers are still undeclared, so the president is actually going to Capitol Hill in about three hours to give Democrats a pep talk.

Debate is set for tomorrow and then your representatives may be voting on it tomorrow. Our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, has her running shows on.

So, Brianna, any word from the Rules Committee?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And actually we should say the Rules Committee is taking a break right now. While there are some votes on the floor, but they have been working now for a few hours and they will continue to do so today, laying out the blueprint for how this expected vote tomorrow is going to go.

Fredricka, this is something we normally don't pay a whole lot of attention to, the Rules Committee meetings ahead of votes, but it's very significant on the bill, because the way that we expect them to structure the vote tomorrow is something that's been very controversial between Democrats and Republicans.

This is what the House has to pass. They have to pass this Senate bill, which is what passed the Senate on Christmas Eve. You remember, we were there, we were covering it. but, in addition this, what's new is this much smaller bill which is called the reconciliation bill. This is the bill of changes and so the Rules Committee is going to basically slap these together in what's called deem and pass.

That means that once this bigger bill -- or pardon me, once they pass this smaller bill of changes the Senate bill passes at the same time, they are all kind of together in a package and this allows House Democrats who are vulnerable to avoid voting separately on this larger Senate bill. It has a lot of stuff that's really unpopular and a lot of stuff that gets changed through the smaller bill.

You know, we have kind of been covering everyone on all sides of the equation, here. So, let's take a listen right now to the debate that's going on. We've got a Republican voting against this. One of those all important undeclared Democrats and also a Democrat who decided that he's going to go ahead and vote for this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: I want to arrive at an America some day that will have single payer and not for profit system. That's not what this bill is about. But one thing for sure, if this bill goes down there will be no opportunity to have any discussion about any kind of health care options in the immediate future in this country.

REP. PARKER GRIFFITH (R), ALABAMA: I think Congressman Kucinich is a brilliant man, but I think he's had a lapse. I don't think that's a reason to vote for the bill so you can keep the conversation going. You can keep the conversation going without making this bill law.

REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D), TEXAS: It might be a manager's amendment. So, there might be a couple more amendments that might come out and I want to make sure that I'm aware of other changes they might add at the last minute.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Sounds like you're leaning yes. I don't want to put those words in your mouth. Is that fair to say? Would you say you're leaning yes?

CUELLAR: I would be fair that I'm leaning that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The all important number here is 216 votes. That is what Democratic leaders need in order to pass this. We have been asking them how close are you, are you there? They're not being very clear on that. We know from leadership sources that they are over the 200 mark, but this is going to be really tough going and we expect that certainly they are not going to hit the votes they need if they need them, until tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: All right, Brianna Keilar, thanks so much. We'll be checking with you throughout the day.

Of course a lot at stake for the White House, in particular. President Obama is putting his powers of persuasion to the test later on this afternoon. Let's get to our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, who is at the White House.

This is a very huge deal. We have seen the president working on the weekends, going to Capitol Hill before, but today it's got a different tone, doesn't it?

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh that's right, Fred. And it's very rare. I mean, I remember early on in the stimulus debate, the first 100 days the president went to Capitol Hill. They save this kind of a, you know, sort of rally the troops event for when they really need it. and what they are trying to do, basically, is build momentum going into tomorrow's event.

And the president's not brow-beating anyone, really, at this point. If you saw the rally yesterday, but then also I'm told by his aide that he plans to tell these House Democrats is try to put politics aside and let's try to the right thing, what he believes the right thing for the country, by passing this. But as you know, for some of these Democrats on the fence, staring at a re-election in November, that's easier said than done -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, and so, Ed, are there any plans that the White House is willing to speak of after a vote if it does, indeed, happen tomorrow, what the president plans to do?

HENRY: Well, it's still a work in progress because, first of all, they could vote as early as 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, but on the other hand, because of what kind of roadblocks Republicans could throw up, I've talked to Democrats who say this vote could happen late in the evening Sunday, as late as midnight. So, nobody knows for sure. So, they're waiting, just like the rest of us.

But, I have been told by top aides that the president is saying privately he doesn't want some big pep rally or celebration tomorrow, he wants to send the signal immediately that they need to go to work in the Senate if this is done in the House, if it's done. They have still got more steps to go.

It's sort of like that "Mission Accomplished" banner that the Bush administration put up about the war in Iraq and here we are years later and the war is going on. In fact, just across from me in Lafayette Park, there is an anti-war rally going on right now over Iraq and Afghanistan. A reminder you have to be real careful about celebrating early the ends of various battles -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right, being a premature in that celebration could come back to haunt you. All right, Ed Henry thanks so much from the White House, appreciate that.

HENRY: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, well the members of Congress who are still undeclared are the ones who could determine the future of your health care. So, let's talk about them. Here's a look. Right now there are 29 undeclared lawmakers, to be exact; this is all part of an interesting numbers game. It will take 38 Democrats to kill the bill. Right now there are 29 "no" votes.

And if health care passes and you need insurance when would you get coverage? Some answers in our next half hour from Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And we are continuing the votes. Follow our special live coverage as the decision comes down, right down to the wire all day tomorrow, right here on CNN. It's a nervous waiting game along the Red River, as well. The floodwaters are still rising. We'll get the latest on when the river is expected to crest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk weather now. Along the Red River they are watching and waiting as the water simply keeps rising. The river is expected to crest tomorrow in Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. And if luck holds out it is not expected to reach last year's record level. CNN's Reynolds Wolf joins us now live from Moorhead.

How are people coping there -- Reynolds.

REYNOLDS, WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, they're doing really well. I mean, these are really hearty people they have both in Minnesota and then back across the way over in North Dakota. They have dealt with this. They have had roughly four major floods, four major floods in the past decade and this certainly has been a big one.

I mean, you have to remember Fredricka that flood stage, the major flood stage is right at 18 feet. We expect the floodwaters to rise to about 37.5 feet by late tonight and into tomorrow. That just blows me away how amazing that is in terms of how high the water is going to be. But as you mentioned, it should not reach the record that we had last year, 2009 going up to 40.8 feet.

Right behind me, though, you can see the Red River. It starts right here. At one point we were told by some of the locals you look off there, just kind of not way, way back there, but right on the -- you see the iron railway trestle, you see some trees there, that's where the water used to be the Red River, but now, obviously it's escaped its banks.

The reason why is because we had the heavy snowfall, the snow of course melted very quickly and with this particular river that runs 550 miles from her all the way up to Canada, empties into Lake Winnipeg, it is obviously swollen past the banks and will slowly recede as we make our way into next week, but not before coming up just a bit.

Now one thing that's interesting Fredricka is about a year ago when I was in this area, we had water that was actually up near my waist. That certainly isn't the case now. Also, you look over here at this particular bridge, this -- let's see, that's Main Avenue -- I'm sorry, the main bridge. That one is actually open whereas a year ago they weren't permitting traffic to go across other than just some guys who were working with the USGS to monitor the stream flow and certainly it's a busy time today.

If you look down a little bit, we got CNN photojournalist Chris Davis with us, you can see some ice at the base of the bridge. That's one of the big dangers when these things, when those big clumps of ice come up straight after they hit the bridges. That's a thing that really, they're a bit cautious about. If you look over here on this side -- Chris, I'm going to have you pan back over here. You can see the railway trestle where it says 14 feet, three inches, that is actually the clearance marker for high profile (INAUDIBLE) vehicles, they actually go on a road, or actually can travel on a road that goes right underneath that bridge which is obviously covered with water.

This railway trestle, actually been fairly busy. Trains can only go across at 35 miles per hour. In any normal circumstance they would be allowed to go faster a bit faster, but with the flood waters they are dropping quite a bit in terms of speed.

In terms of the levees they have, they have nearly, literally hundreds of miles of levees up and down the river. They have guide -- people from the National Guard that are going out and inspecting these, not only from the sky above, but also on foot to check the fortitude, strength of these.

And so far, they've been in pretty good shape, but you know, Fredricka, the scary thing is even if one those breaks it's a total game-changer. It really can be. We can have serious issues. Thankfully though, there has not been a single home flooded in Moorhead or over in Fargo, but again, if you have one kind of break in a levee, it changes the whole outlook on things.

Let's send it back to you in the studio.

WHITFIELD: Wow, yeah, that's pretty extraordinary. We'll, fingers are crossed for all the folks there in Moorhead, as well as Fargo. Thanks so much. Reynolds Wolf, there from Moorhead.

WOLF: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: All right, an Obama doll hung by its feet in effigy in a classroom, by a teacher. Oh, yeah, our legal guys want to discuss this one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A celebration of life on this planet. We take you inside an extraordinary television series that takes us places we have never been before, all to see critters like this -- beautiful animals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A lot of people are talking today about what they saw on videotape. Allegedly a nanny -- a 53-year-old nanny was taking care of an 11-month-old child and got more than just rough with this child, so much so that the family caught the nanny in action allegedly on nanny cam. We're going to turn to our legal guys now to find out the road ahead, legally, for all parties involved.

Hello, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and professor and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor. Good to see you both or you on this lovely spring day.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good to see you , Fredricka, on the first day of spring, that's right.

WHITFIELD: I know, it's so great. Well, let's talk about this that is not so great. This nanny cam allegedly catching this woman in action. But, wait a minute, Richard, particularly in the state of Florida there are certain restrictions in place about videotaping somebody without them knowing. So, will this family be able to pursue this nanny for these alleged atrocities without her knowing she was being videotaped?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, there was no audio on the tape there and so it's just images that were captured. Those are absolutely going to be used to prosecute this nanny for battery of a child. The nanny is toast here. How could the parents who discovered their child with a black eye leave the child again with the same person? I don't know.

WHITFIELD: Well, they weren't sure, right? Accidents can happen and they thought, wait a minute, you know, toddlers or pre-toddler, they fall, things happen and that's where the nanny cam steps in.

HERMAN: The nanny has no defense here. There's going to have to be a quick plea bargain, because there's no defense in this case. Can't cross examine the tape.

WHITFIELD: Avery, how do you see this playing out?

FRIEDMAN: I wish I was prosecuting it, Fredricka. The tape shows roughly 11 separate aggravated batteries on this 11-month-old and Janine Campbell, who is 53 years old, is probably looking at a minimum of 58 years which I think is absolutely warranted. You cannot look at this video for one or two seconds and not turn away. This is outrageous. Richard's probably right, but how in the world this woman is going to avoid jail time is beyond me. That's where she belongs.

WHITFIELD: So, it doesn't matter what state you're in, you're able to have a camera in your home, videotape someone's activity and if they are doing something that they shouldn't be doing, no matter what state you're in, you could probably take them to court on it, if it's an issue like this -- a crime committed?

FRIEDMAN: No. No. Some states -- Massachusetts and others -- actually require consent. Generally, in most states doing, however, and in Florida in particular, this is absolutely admissible. The prosecution's going to use it and, frankly, without it would have been very difficult for the family to prove that Miss Campbell did what she did. I mean, I'm glad that Florida permits it.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, OK, let's talk about the...

HERMAN: Fred, you can't cross examine the tape, Fred. But she's going to get less than 10 years, Avery, definitely less than 10 years.

FRIEDMAN: Put money on that one, pal.

WHITFIELD: OK, very strong. I have a feeling we'll be talking about it again as soon as that case were to go to court. Let's talk about this in New Jersey, now, we're talking about state appeals court, ruling petitions must be accepted from two groups that say they want their senator recalled, Robert Menendez and these two groups, by the way, have ties with the Tea Party movement. So Avery, what are we talking about here? Is it this simple where a large number of people can simply petition and say, we don't like this lawmaker and we want this person thrown out?

FRIEDMAN: Well, that's what the Tea Party argued and you know what, they have the ACLU backing them up. And indeed the state court of appeals said that they could. The problem is that it's going nowhere. The fact that New Jersey, trying to remove a federal elected official through recall will never work. In fact, there's an opinion written by the Supreme Court 15 years ago that is the precedent. It will never happen. The case is going nowhere.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's interesting, because first the secretary of state actually said, I'm not accepting these petitions, but the then the courts stepped in and say, no, you must.

HERMAN: Yeah, what's the ruling here. They didn't rule in the ultimate constitutionality of whether or not they can actually to remove the senator. All the court did was say the secretary of state must accept the position. They put a stay for 45 days so he could take an appeal of that decision, but they did not rule on the question, that's coming down the road.

WHITFIELD: Right, and just for the record, apparently, the two citizens groups that are linked to the Tea Party said that they wanted him, I guess, recalled because of his votes that they believe support for more government spending and that was something that they...

FRIEDMAN: Which is, by the way, what government does, so it's interesting.

HERMAN: Yeah, it's going nowhere.

WHITFIELD: OK, let's talk about Rhode Island. A lot of folks were kind of really caught off guard.

FRIEDMAN: Love this case.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, when so many teachers were given the pink slips because of low performances at the schools there, particularly a high school and so now, allegedly one of the teachers at Central Falls High School hangs in effigy, a one-foot effigy, of the president of the United States and now she is under disciplinary review. How far could this potentially go -- Richard.

HERMAN: Well, this is going to go -- I don't know how far it could go here, Fred. She was strongly reprimanded by the school district, here. This is a woman who parents entrust to educate their children who obviously has no sensitivity to the events that occurred in our country with the hangings of black individuals in the South over the years. So, it's just outrageous conduct by this particular teacher who apologized, but you know, that's not going to be enough, it's not going to hold water, here.

WHITFIELD: OK, I guess I wonder is this something that just the school district needs to manage and handle or this could potentially be a legal case -- Avery.

FRIEDMAN: I actually think it's a legal case.

WHITFIELD: In what way?

FRIEDMAN: Well, let me tell you why. I mean, this is protected speech. This is a teacher who felt that the speech of the president suggesting you fire all the teachers is inappropriate, so she took a 12-inch doll, flipped it upside down and the doll is holding a sign that says "fire all the teachers." it is protected speech. I think I was a little over the top, she apologized but if she's ever disciplined, she has a first amendment case against the school district.

WHITFIELD: OK, Avery, Richard ...

HERMAN: Fred, all these...

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

HERMAN: All these teacher have been terminated, the school district is one of the worst in Rhode Island. They're going to now qualify for over $12 million in stimulus money to turn it around. This teacher is gone. Good-bye.

FRIEDMAN: I disagree.

WHITFIELD: OK, you then you guys are not gone, good-bye yet, because we're going to talk to you again. We've go some other cases including ABC News apparently giving $250,000 to Casey Anthony. Oh, Richard, I know you can't wait to delve into this one. And we're also going to talk about Oprah going to court. Why?

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: We'll see you in a few.

HERMAN: The big "O."

WHITFIELD: All right, the pope speaking out about the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the church in Ireland. A live report from Rome, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Pope Benedict XVI is breaking his silence on the child sex abuse scandal that's hit the Catholic Church in Ireland. Today he released an 18-page pastoral letter apologizing to the victims. Joining us right now live from Rome, CNN's Diana Magnay.

And what does it say -- Diana. DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fredricka, well I have it here, and really for a man who normally speaks in very complicated theological prose this is very straight from the heart, very simple, very direct. He says, "To the victims of abuse and their families, you have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry." He acknowledges the mistakes that the church has made, A, in letting abuse happen and secondly, in not following cannon law by reporting it.

And he says, "I know some of you find it difficult even to enter the doors of a church after all that has occurred." And this letter really is a way of restoring people's faith in the church. He says he hopes for renewal. He says that those who abuse children in the church must face justice, must acknowledge what it is that they have done and he also calls for an investigation into seminaries and Catholic institutions across Ireland so that this can never happen again -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And how is the letter being received?

MAGNAY: Well, it was always going to have its critics and we've heard already from certainly victims in victim groups in Ireland, various criticisms. One that no resignations have been called for in the letter of Ireland's top cardinal, for example, who is known -- it was revealed, covered up cases of child abuse. Secondly that it hasn't addressed the wider issue of child abuse in the Catholic Church. In Germany and Switzerland and Austria where it's been appearing.

But in a press conference after this letter came out, we asked about that and we're told that really the pope is dealing with the Irish case and he will deal with other cases as of when he has summoned the information that each case, each instance has its own context and must be addressed in its own way -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Diana Magnay, thanks so much from Rome, appreciate that.

So, while some are criticizing the pope's response as to too weak and too slow in coming, some Vatican experts say the pope has, as a whole, responded proactively to reports of abuse within the church.

Earlier this week I talked to CNN's senior Vatican analyst, John Allen and this was his take on the pope's record.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: It should be said that many people would say 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 the Australia.

He is the first 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 are on top of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A group representing church abuse victims in Ireland says it's deeply disappointed by the pope's letter. The organization, One in Four, says the pontiff failed to blame the Vatican for carrying out a "deliberate policy to protect sex offenders."

Back in this country, we are just hours away from the president of the United States heading to Capitol Hill. Right there as you look at live pictures, he's trying to convince certain Democrats in particular who are on the fence about health care reform.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Tea Party activists are at the U.S. Capitol right now to protest the health care bill and try to convince Democrats to vote no and kill the bill. As we've been telling you, the votes are very close right now.

Lisa Desjardins with CNN Radio is there and while the protesters are outside, I wonder while the majority of the activity is taking place inside Capitol Hill there, Lisa, do these lawmakers even know what's going on outside as it pertains to these protesters?

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: The Republicans do. I just ran back from that rally. It's a pretty vigorous crowd, a few thousand people to say the least and a lot of Republicans out there, they know right now, that's their crowd. They oppose health care, so does the Tea Party.

But I think Democrats honestly are paying much more attention to their own members and making sure they get enough of them on board to pass this health care vote tomorrow. And you know, in fact, Fred, we do have a look at some of the swing members. I know a lot of people want to know what is going to decide, who is going to decide this.

There's a couple of issues, so I pointed out some members that sort of symbolize the main issues. Let's look at this graphic. One member to watch, Michael McMahon of Staten Island, New York. He has got some survival concerns. His job is on the line. He barely won last time in a Republican district. He may vote against the health care bill as he did last time to try and survive.

Now, then you come to the issue of abortion. Someone to watch there is Kathy Dahlkemper. In fact, she just walked past me to Speaker Pelosi's office where she's having meetings right now to discuss abortion. She is a Catholic, anti-abortion and pro-gun, conservative Democrat whose vote Democrats may need right now.

And then lastly, there are some who have mixed concerns. In that category, Paul Kanjorski, long-time 25-year Congressman up here. Not only does he have survival concerns because he barely won his seat last time, Fred, but he also has student loan concerns. You know, his health bill also has the student loan bill attached. Well, student loan companies would lose a lot of money and Sallie Mae has a big office in Representative Kanjorski's direct. He may fight for them and vote no on the health bill because of it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Lisa. And the president just a few hours away from actually coming on Capitol Hill. Is there any feeling there that the president's visit could indeed make any difference?

DESJARDINS: Well, as you see, he's got a tempest of dynamics to try and control, but absolutely. Democrats are placing the bets that he is the one that will bring them home. We've seen in the last week he's been able to turn at least one or two votes and they're counting on him to do that again today -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Lisa Desjardins of CNN Radio, thanks so much there on Capitol Hill.

So, let's just say health care reform passes and you're one of the millions of Americans needing insurance. Think you could be covered immediately? Well, think again.

Earlier, I spoke with our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta to find out when we would see any changes, again, if it passes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Keep a couple 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 not going to be a magic wand being waved and all of the 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 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 be disappear. So, insurance companies will continue to pay the medical experiences 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's 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've after college, but before your first job, you can still get health care insurance. Drug discounts for seniors as well this idea of the donut hole.

Fred, we've talked a lot about this. Think of a donut. It's got a hole in the middle. The way that the insurance works these drugs is that they pay as you eat through the first part of the donut, but there's no coverage in the middle of that donut. And you don't start getting kicked as far as coverage goes until you get to the other part of the donut. Shrinking that donut 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, 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'd be mandates. People are going to have to buy health care insurance or buy fines. The way that they're going to this is through a health insurance exchange. Think about those as supermarkets of private plans that you can select from. If you can't afford it, you get tax credits to help defray some of those cost.

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much for that. So, for the latest on the health care debate and if you want to find out where every House member stands so far on the reform plan, just go to CNN.com/healthcare.

The price of infamy: ABC -- ABC News that is and Casey Anthony, a financial deal with the mom accused of killing her toddler daughter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our stop stories right now. A final push by President Obama to get Congress to pass health care reform. He's heading to Capitol Hill less than three hours from now to meet with House Democrats. The House is expected to vote tomorrow on the Senate's version of the bill. Democratic leaders say they're confident they'll have the votes they need, but they're still trying to convince undecided fellow Democrats.

And tens of thousands of travelers are stranded after cabin crew workers at British Airways launched a three-day strike. The airline had to cancel more than a thousand flights, but it's hoping to operate at about 65 percent capacity during the walkout by using contract crews. Cabin crews are protesting a pay freeze and changes to their work schedule.

All right, our legal guys are back. Let's talk about Oprah Winfrey heading to court in Philadelphia though this is linked to her South African schools. Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor. Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor.

Welcome back, guys.

FRIEDMAN: Thanks a lot.

WHITFIELD: OK, so Richard ...

HERMAN: Hey, Fred.

WHITFIELD: ...help us understand this one. We're talking about -- there were allegations of some sexual abuse taking place at her -- Oprah Winfrey's South African schools, but then the headmistress says the things that Oprah said about her management of that case means that her character was defamed. And so therefore, she is taking Oprah Winfrey to court. Did I get that kind of right?

HERMAN: Well, yes, kind of right. A dorm matron ...

WHITFIELD: Just kind of.

HERMAN: ...there at the school was convicted of 13 counts of assault and indecent assault, et cetera. Students there complained to Oprah saying that the headmistress knew about this and covered it up. So, Oprah's defense is going to be a good faith basis. It's her opinion. Truth is always a defense in a defamation case. She relied on these students and let's remember, Fred, this school is so personal to Oprah ...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HERMAN: ...she personally hired the headmistress and not only that, she personally interviewed every student who was enrolled there. So, if you think that Oprah's going to lose a case in the United States, especially in Philadelphia, you can forget it. She's not losing anything.

WHITFIELD: So, Avery, so this headmistress is saying because Oprah believed what these students and others said and because she said that this woman should have handled it better, now the headmistress is saying I can't get a job anywhere, I am virtually unemployable and that's what this is all about?

FRIEDMAN: Well, it is and that's actually what's going on. It took the federal district judge 128 pages to say that, but what he did was he cleared the way for the trial, and in fact the headmistress ...

WHITFIELD: And why Philadelphia?

FRIEDMAN: Philadelphia because of the publicity that is the statements made. I mean, much of the opinion deals with the fact that she's a South African and Oprah lives in Illinois. So, much of the opinion dealt with jurisdictional issues. When it gets right down to it, the federal judge said that the remarks by Oprah are capable of being construed as defamation.

It is a very limited issue. The judge threw out all other claims, intentional infliction of emotional distress all thrown out, but the bottom line is shortly, this trial is going to start and actually ...

WHITFIELD: Monday.

FRIEDMAN: ...I'm in agreement with Richard. I think it;s going to be a very, very difficult case for the plaintiff to prove against her.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's Oprah, people.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, it's Oprah.

WHITFIELD: You know, it's just going to be tough. OK ...

HERMAN: The big O.

WHITFIELD: ...also in -- the big O. Also, in Pennsylvania, let's talk about the case of an appellate court saying to the prosecutors in a particular case, you cannot actually file federal porn charges against a teenager who allegedly took pictures of herself partially nude by way of cell phone.

Richard, this whole sexting thing is really getting huge, isn't it?

HERMAN: Well, it boils down -- it is huge, Fred. And it boils down to this. Young woman comes out of a shower, takes a picture of herself topless only, sends it to her friends. The prosecutor says, OK, either I'm going to prosecute you, you're going to face seven years on a felony and 10 years as a registered sex offender or you must take a mandated course that the district attorney's office is going to teach for five weeks.

That is not -- you cannot do that. That's impermissible. The appellate division struck it down, said no. District attorney, you can't impose your morality on this particular individual, and by the way, that DA is out of office.

WHITFIELD: Oh and so, Avery, now this -- the family is kind of turning this around, saying OK, now we're going to file a civil rights complaint. And they're now trying to sue, what, the prosecutors?

FRIEDMAN: Yes. There's immunity for the prosecutor, but you know what, this is the second highest court in America, Fredricka. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said correctly that when it comes to teaching morality, it's not a function of the government.

The parents argue they have a first amendment right to teach their children to do the right thing. It's clearly not pornography. The Court of Appeals said no probable cause on that and it is the function of mom and dad, not the government to teach morality. The three judges absolutely got it right.

WHITFIELD: Yes, you killed me, Richard, earlier when you were just like, and she only took pictures of the top part of her. And that's OK, huh?

HERMAN: Only.

WHITFIELD: I know.

HERMAN: Only.

WHITFIELD: OK, well, let's move on to the Casey Anthony case. We're talking about a mother who is at some point, I guess, going to stand trial for the disappearance and the murder -- can we say murder?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, you can say it. You can say it, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: The murder of -- yes, of her child. And so now, we're talking about ABC News. Her attorney actually admitted in court that ABC News may have helped finance her defense by providing them of $250,000. ABC News says for what? Images?

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

HERMAN: Videos.

WHITFIELD: And so, we've got a real problem here, don't we, Richard?

HERMAN: No, we have no problem at all, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Because apparently, she is also out of money -- she's out of money to continue, I guess, with this dream team, but at the heart of the matter is ABC News paying for material, which is also paying for her defense.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: She filed a financial statement claiming that she's indigent, that she has no funds, that she cannot afford her attorneys and therefore, we like to pride ourselves as being a civilized nation. And so, what we do is in cases where criminal charges are being brought, we provide counsel if you cannot afford one.

Now, let's understand something, a novel concept. She's innocent until proven guilty and in this particular case, they're looking to terminate her life. First degree murder, they want to kill her. So, the judge is saying, OK, I reviewed your analysis. I see you got money from ABC. Where did it go? OK, I accept that. I'm going to review the statements that come in every month to make sure you do not exceed spending caps and I'm going to approve paying your fees.

FRIEDMAN: The issue here -- that's right, but ABC failed to disclose, hid information from the public while covering this case that they provided $200,000. The only reason the matter surfaced is because Casey Anthony has a right to counsel. They burned up the $200,000. They burned up other money. The only reason this surfaced is because the petition by the lawyers, not because ABC was honest about paying for the pictures. That was hidden in this thing.

So for two years, ABC's been covering it and they've never disclosed the fact that they turned over $200,000. That's I think, from a journalistic perspective, a big deal, right.

WHITFIELD: Yes, so it's an ethical issue, but then, it's also a legal issue.

FRIEDMAN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: If you're out of money, you are supposed to be able to be afforded some sort of legal defense, even if it means at the taxpayer's expense.

FRIEDMAN: Two red hot issues, Fredricka, in that case.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right.

HERMAN: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: We'll be talking about that I'm sure some more.

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Because we'd love to have you all back as always. Every weekend, we look forward to it. Avery and Richard, thanks so much. See you again next weekend.

HERMAN: OK, Fred.

FRIEDMAN: It's a pleasure. Take care.

HERMAN: Have a good weekend.

WHITFIELD: All right, it's a date. All right, thanks so much.

All right, a heart-pounding chase, but, as you can see, right here it ends well. You thought I was going to talk about something else, right? Well, you're going to want to stick around to see exactly what these little guys went through and what are they, by the way? It's an incredible series coming out and we're going to talk to the cinematographer and the executive producer right after this.

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WHITFIELD: When we come back, life and survival as you've never seen before, an 11-part television series that begins tomorrow. You don't want to miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, now to the latest child sex abuse scandal to rock the Roman Catholic Church. An Irish priest is awaiting extradition to Ireland from the U.S. He's accused of molesting a boy some four decades ago.

Drew Griffin with CNN's Special Investigations Unit visited a small Minnesota parish where he once worked and found out some surprising details about his past.

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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carrickmacross, Ireland, a proud Irish town where the local pub owner's son, Francis Markey, dreamt of becoming a priest and serving parishioners all over the world. But by age 25, the newly ordained Father Markey was heading towards a dark future.

Now, 82-years-old, he awaits extradition from a jail in Indiana back to Ireland to face the charge he raped a young boy more than 40 years ago. His story, part of a growing crisis in the Irish-Catholic Church, now admitting that for decades, its leaders hid, moved and even exported suspected pedophile priests to cover up horrific crimes.

PATRICK WALL, AUTHOR, "SEX, PRIESTS AND SECRET CODES": The Roman Catholic Church has the largest body of knowledge of non-incarcerated sex offenders in the world.

GRIFFIN: Francis Markey was first suspended in 1964 and sent for psychiatric treatment in Dublin. In fact, during the '60s and '70s, Francis Markey would be suspended and sent for treatment three times, eventually being sent to New Mexico where the church ran a treatment facility for priests with various addictions or sexual problems.

(on camera): Markey would mysteriously resurface here in 1982 in this tiny town of Granite Falls, Minnesota, filling in for a priest at the very, very small parish of St. Andrews.

(voice-over): And it was here in 1982 that a young boy would come to this priest's house just across the street from the church and find himself in Father Markey's arms.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As I was leaving, he gave me a hug and when he did so, he stuck his tongue down my throat and he had been drinking. There was alcohol. I can't say if he was drunk, but he was definitely drinking.

GRIFFIN (on camera): And you were a little boy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very young.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The man is trying to protect his identity to save his family from embarrassment. He claims the abuse never went any further, but Markey's arrest in Indiana last year based on the accusations being made in Ireland has refocused attention, not only on Ireland's church secrets, but perhaps secrets of a small town Minnesota church.

(on camera): Hi, Father Moran (ph)? Yes, this is Drew Griffin with CNN calling. So, you're saying you didn't know him at all?

FATHER JAMES MORAN (via telephone): ...but I had no contact with him.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Father James Moran was pastor of St. Andrews. Markey had filled in for him while Moran was studying in Rome.

MORAN: Who's the one who called?

GRIFFIN (on camera): Drew Griffin.

MORAN: I'll talk to you and only you, though. I don't want any -- you have any of your programs or anything like that.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): As we sat on a couch just outside of view of the camera, Father Moran insisted he knew nothing of the allegations against Father Francis Markey, but the diocese overseeing St. Andrews told CNN Father Markey was sent from this church to treatment because parents were concerned he had an unnatural attraction to minor males. He never came back to the parish.

Markey's attorney has not returned calls to CNN. In Granite Falls, those who did know him now wonder if there are more secrets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To this day, I wonder how many people are wondering whatever happened to him? How many people had encounters with him? I can just imagine how many victims, people he affected.

GRIFFIN: Now, it seems likely some of them will see their priest again. Not in the pews of his old parish, but in the benches of an Irish courtroom where Markey is expected to stand trial.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Granite Falls, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we promised you a sneak peek look at an 11-part television series called "Life." Well, because we've had some technical problems, we're going to have bring that to you later on today in the 4:00 Eastern hour. So, we hope you stay tuned for that.

And stay tuned throughout the day for the latest breaking news. Meantime, "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.