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CNN Sunday Morning
Dems Predict Historic House Vote on Health Care; Fargo's Fight Against Flooding Nears Its Climax; Web Sites Dispel Census Myths
Aired March 21, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, everybody. From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING for March 21. Good to see you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Abbie Boudreau. Thanks for starting your day with us.
We are going to see something huge happen today: a vote on that landmark health-care legislation. House Democrats are still trying to get the votes they need, Republicans vowing to fight it. We are tracking all of it.
HOLMES: Also, 6 a.m. here in Atlanta where we sit, but it's 5 a.m. in Fargo, North Dakota, where they are waiting nervously for the Red River to crest. Expected to do so today. Our Reynolds Wolf is there. A live update coming up on the conditions in just a moment.
But of course, the big story will be the historic showdown on Capitol Hill. The U.S. House is debating that $875 Senate health-care reform legislation that passed the Senate back on Christmas Eve. The House convenes at 1:00 today to start considering the measure.
There are going to be three votes today. One is going to be on the terms of that debate; another on the compromise changes to the bill, the so-called "reconciliation bill"; and then finally, they'll vote on the Senate bill itself.
It's going to take 216 votes to either pass or kill that measure.
BOUDREAU: Iraq's prime minister is calling for a manual recount. It comes in response to demands by some of Iraq's other political groups. There are concerns if those demands are not met, there could be an uptick in violence.
Now, at this point, a secular block leads with the most votes in the overall total, but the prime minister's coalition has the support of several provinces.
HOLMES: A teenager has been charged with harassment and bias intimidation for allegedly getting on a Walmart PA system and telling all black people to leave the store. This happened last week, you may remember, at a New Jersey Walmart.
The 16-year-old was arrested Friday. He has now been released into the custody of his parents. BOUDREAU: And now getting back to our top story. The passage of the health-care-reform bill would lead to the largest expansion of federal health-care guarantees in four decades. Now, all of the Republicans in the Democratically controlled House plan to vote against the legislation. It will take 38 Democrats voting "no" to kill the bill.
By CNN's last count, 33 Democrats plan to vote "no."
HOLMES: And what an interesting day we saw on Capitol Hill yesterday. The so-called "deem and pass" -- that's dead. POTUS holds a pep rally. All of this going on, leading up to today.
CNN's senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, has details on an interesting day on the Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: T.J., Democrats worked late into the night counting the votes, hoping to have victory tonight on health care. And they got a personal push from the man who has the most at stake politically.
(voice-over): The president came in confident...
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are going to get this done.
BASH: ...and used his final pep rally for House Democrats to cast the moment in historic terms.
OBAMA: Is this the single most important step that we have taken on health care since Medicare? Absolutely.
BASH: He acknowledged political reality...
OBAMA: I know this is a tough vote.
BASH: ...but insisted, at the end of the day, voting "yes" on health care will be a political plus for Democrats.
OBAMA: I am actually confident -- I have talked to some of you individually -- that it will end up being the smart thing to do politically. Because I believe that good policy is good politics.
(APPLAUSE)
BASH: Yet even before the president's hard sell, Democratic leaders, for the first time, said they've secured the votes to pass health care.
REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Clearly, we believe we have the votes.
BASH: That prediction after a frenzied Saturday of last-minute meetings to count the votes and cajole fence-sitters.
(on camera): Do you think when you come out of the meeting, you're -- you're going to potentially have the firm 216?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still have a smile.
BASH (voice-over): In the midst of their 11th-hour scramble, House Democrats abruptly abandoned plans to pass health care with a controversial procedure, "deem and pass." That would have let House Democrats avoid a direct vote on the Senate health-care bill many don't like.
But the maneuver became explosive and backfired.
REP. DENNIS CARDOZA (D), CALIFORNIA: I don't support that and won't support a rule that does it that way.
BASH: Democratic leaders racked up some nine votes by resolving a regional issue: disparities in Medicare payments to hospitals.
REP. RON KIND (D), WISCONSIN: I think this resolution was crucial to getting them to a "yes" on this legislation.
BASH: Yet as momentum appeared to build, so did the opposition.
(CHANTING)
BASH: Protesters descended on the Capitol...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abortion is not health care! Vote "no"!
BASH: ...yelling for lawmakers to kill the bill as they walked outside on a sunny Saturday.
And cheering at the sight of the House Republican leader.
BASH: But the protests also turned personal, and ugly.
CROWD: Kill the bill! Kill the bill!
BASH: Inside this office building, a CNN producer overheard protesters yelling the word "faggot" at openly gay Congressman Barney Frank. And Congressman John Lewis, a civil-rights icon who marched in Selma, Alabama...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill the bill.
BASH: ...told CNN protesters hurled racial slurs at him, repeatedly yelling the "N-word."
(on camera): The turbulent and intense day here included more wrangling on the emotional issue of abortion. But the House speaker insisted she would not give into demands by anti-abortion Democrats for a new vote on language making a prohibition on taxpayer funding for abortion more restrictive -- T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. And thanks to our Dana Bash. She, of course, showed us some of the protests that were against the health-care reform. This is a rally now in support of reform. CNN i-Reporter Luci Kelly sent this to us.
The rally was outside Representative Jim Matheson's Salt Lake City office. Luci is holding a sign out there that says, "Health-care reform cuts the deficit, insures millions."
Matheson says he plans to vote against the bill.
BOUDREAU: All right. And of course, CNN is counting the votes. You can follow our special live coverage as the decision comes down to the wire, all day today, right here on CNN.
And there's been some pretty crazy weather across the country this weekend. It's supposed to be spring, of course, but some people are digging out of snow. And I hate getting out those shovels again. No one wants to do that.
A late-winter storm dumped more than seven inches across Kansas City, Missouri, yesterday. Meanwhile, farther north, the big problem there: flooding. One million sandbags are all that stands between parts of Minnesota and North Dakota and the rising Red River, of course.
HOLMES: Yes, it's expected to crest, that river, today.
Our meteorologist, our guy, Reynolds Wolf, he is out there.
Reynolds, it keeps inching up and inching up and inching up. Where is it now?
REYNOLDS WOLF, METEOROLOGIST: Little by little.
The latest we have is at, let's see, 36.93 inches of -- of -- of -- of (INAUDIBLE) -- is where it is right now. And easy for me to say. It's expected to top out around 37. That is certainly significant. It is well beyond major flood stage, but still not quite as high as the 40.8 that we had just last year.
You know, it's funny; it was just last year, some of the homes that we have behind me were in -- really suffering from some of the floodwaters. Right now, you see this one house we have, the blue one, it's got the -- the Red River all the way around it, in fact. And you'll notice, right at the bottom of the house, you -- you can see just kind of a wall of sandbags that is really holding back the river.
This is one of the fellows who lives here in the Oak Grove neighborhood, a suburb of Fargo. And basically, this home is an island for the time being.
Our CNN photojournalist Chris Davis (ph) has the opportunity to go over there just yesterday and take a look around.
Take a look at this video that we have from just yesterday. And really, it is a fort, a fort holding back the -- the waters of the Red River, that, as we mentioned, continue to rise. Should top out around 37 feet sometime later today, before beginning to fall back next week.
And again, just an amazing thing. I mean, he started building -- putting up the sandbags with the help of some of his neighbors, and certainly with the help of the -- the -- actually, the nearby school, the Oak Grove Lutheran School, which, as we come back to me for just a moment -- speaking of that school, we've got it. We're actually right on the school campus.
You can see this earthen dam that we have on one side, and then basically this school itself right here. Now, Chris, if you can, show America this wall right here. That's basically the line that you have. And just last year, those waters were actually inside part of this building. It flooded it out.
And this is just one of the things, unfortunately, that they have been dealing with, it seems like -- gosh, I guess it's four out of -- four times out of the last decade they've been dealing with these kind of floodwaters.
There is some good news though. There has not been -- thankfully, they -- they haven't suffered the kind of flooding they had last year. Certainly not of the same magnitude. They were actually starting cleanup efforts in a few places. A lot of the sandbags actually being dismantled. We're going to show you some video of that coming up very soon.
And they're -- they're very confident, but at the same time, they're vigilant. Because they know that, at any time, some of these dams could break. And if they do, that's going to cause more problems for more people.
Coming up in a few moments, we're going to speak to Dennis Walaker, the mayor of Fargo, to see how he's dealing with it and what he expects to happen in the days to come. Also, we're going to get a chance to speak to the fellow that lives right in that home, Mr. Ed Schmidt. That's coming up later on this morning.
But for now, let's send it back to you. And of course, we've got Karen Maginnis, my friend and great meteorologist, with the latest forecast, for not just here, but also for the rest of America.
Let's send it back to you.
HOLMES: All right. Looks like you -- he's up already. So he is probably expecting you. Hopefully, you're not just knocking on the door this morning. Reynolds. But I know you would.
Thanks, buddy. We'll talk to you...
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: We'll talk to you here in a bit.
Of course, the flooding there at the Red River; we're talking about that. But also, people in other parts of the U.S. dealing with a spring snowstorm. BOUDREAU: Right, and meteorologist Karen Maginnis is here. She'll be tracking all of it, and she'll have all those details next.
HOLMES: Also, thousands are getting ready for a major rally in Washington. No, it's not on the issue you're thinking. The story coming up.
Ten after the hour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
BOUDREAU: All right. You've probably gotten your census form in the mail; I know I have, even though it's sitting on my kitchen counter somewhere.
Anyway, do you -- do you know what it's all about? Josh Levs is tracking down a few Census myths for us this weekend.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, you got to get that off the counter in about a week.
BOUDREAU: OK.
LEVS: You -- you've got a little bit of time.
So here's a couple: What can the government do with the information you provide, and what happens to a census worker who spills the beans about your life?
We have the answers coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, WHITNEY HOUSTON, "COUNT ON ME")
BOUDREAU: (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: Yes. Scott (ph), who gave us that beautiful bump shot there, picked out the Whitney Houston music this morning.
BOUDREAU: Why?
HOLMES: I'm not really sure. (INAUDIBLE) -- he's a big fan.
BOUDREAU: OK. Who isn't, right?
HOLMES: But we're kind of going into it this way though. We're talking about this: If you haven't gotten it in the mail, you're going to get it soon. It's census time, but there are a lot of myths out there that are scaring people away from filling out that census form.
BOUDREAU: Right. And Josh Levs is here with the facts.
OK, Josh, break it down. What are these big myths you're talking about?
LEVS: See, it's all about counting; we got a little Whitney, and then I got you guys. That was quite a buildup.
By the way, we talked about this once yesterday -- I got so much feedback from people saying that they didn't realize a lot of these things. And some people still believe these myths. So yes, Abbie, T.J., I'm going to talk you guys through them.
Let's -- let's just go straight to this. There's a bunch of government Web sites around the country putting out lists of myths, and there's a really good one out in Seattle, from Seattle.gov.
First of all, this myth that it's OK not to fill out your form. You are actually required by U.S. code to fill it out. You can face a penalty if you don't. And if you don't, then they can send people to your house up to six times to get you to -- to do it.
The next is that it's only for U.S. citizens. It's not. It's actually for everyone living inside the United States at the time that you get this.
Another one -- they call it a myth that it won't help you. Well, here is a couple ways it does help you:
Filling out the census means that they get a better determination of how many people are there, which distributes congressional seats to various states. It makes decisions about community services. It helps the feds distribute $400 billion in funds to state and local governments.
So, fill it out; it will help you.
Two more myths to take a look at here: the idea that the information can go to the immigration services or to your landlord. It can't. In fact, no other government agency can see your information for 72 years. Even the courts can't get it; law enforcement can't get it. It's not allowed.
And finally, the form being long. A lot of people think that it's long and it takes a long time. And the best way to combat that myth is right here. Take a look. Census.gov gives us this interactive form right here that shows what the 10 questions are. You can take a look at it anytime you want. It's census.gov. It's basically how many people are living in your house and how old they are. A few basic pieces of information.
They say 10 questions in 10 minutes.
And guys, one more thing, as I bring it back to you, if any census worker spills the beans about your information, they can go to jail and they face a massive, massive penalty. So they have major incentive not to ever do that. So if you meet a census worker, you shouldn't have to be concerned about losing your confidentiality.
HOLMES: Well, there you go, folks. Fill those things out, especially the part about being fined and jailed and -- for it.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVS: Yes, avoid all that.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: Well, all right. A skunk gets stuck. Would you go save it? Well, you'd have to if that's your job, right?
We'll tell you about a skunk rescue, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOUDREAU: Top stories now.
Democratic sources tell CNN that former President Bill Clinton has been working the phones trying to convince House Democrats to vote "yes" on the health-care reform bill. The House is set to convene today at 1 p.m. Eastern, and of course, we will be covering all of this all day long on CNN, down to the final vote.
HOLMES: Well, in Georgia, a hit-and-run committed right in front of a police officer. And it was all caught on tape. It was actually caught on his dash cam.
Look at this here. Boom. You see that? The -- you see the officer's car; you see the vantage point. But then this car, this Jeep, comes out of nowhere, crashes into this woman.
Now, the officer actually stopped, didn't pursue the suspect, because he wanted to stop and help the victim. Her injuries are not considered life threatening, but right now, she's not able to walk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL FLOYD, HIT-AND-RUN VICTIM: I just remember crossing the street, and I saw a police car waiting for the light as I crossed. And it just came out of nowhere.
I just can't get up. My knee is swollen so bad. She needs to be arrested. She really needs to be arrested.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, police have released this video and are asking for the public's help in finding the driver, described as a white woman in that black Jeep Grand Cherokee.
BOUDREAU: Gosh.
Now, Google may have had it with China. According to a Chinese report, the company could announce tomorrow plans to shut down its operations there by April 10. Google is not confirming the report, but there's been speculation over whether or not the Internet giant will pull out from China.
All of this comes after a huge fallout over censorship and hacking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, STEALERS WHEEL, "STUCK IN THE MIDDLE")
BOUDREAU: I like this song better.
HOLMES: Do you like this song better?
BOUDREAU: I do.
HOLMES: Do you like this story?
BOUDREAU: This story -- I don't know. The video kind of creeps me out a little bit.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE), you were all excited about this (INAUDIBLE).
BOUDREAU: I was excited about it, but then I saw the video, and he -- I -- the poor little guy looks dead. I don't know.
HOLMES: He -- he's fine.
BOUDREAU: I know he's fine. But...
HOLMES: That's a cute, cuddly little skunk. He was actually -- he had his head stuck in a jar of peanut butter. And look at him. Ungrateful. Just runs off. Doesn't stick around to say thank you.
But he was sitting in the middle of a four-lane road for hours with that jar of peanut butter stuck on his head.
BOUDREAU: But -- but why for hours? Like, why didn't someone come and help him sooner?
HOLMES: Because it might have been a skunk.
BOUDREAU: Well, no, but seriously. And what was that pole (ph)? I mean, of course you don't want to get too close, right?
HOLMES: I think that's the key, is to stay away from the skunk.
BOUDREAU: Well, luckily, it was peanut butter though, because it slid right off.
HOLMES: OK, that's helpful. And he still has, you see, a little peanut-butter residue around his head there. But he ran off into somebody's backyard.
But, you know, those animal-control officers -- you can't pick which animals you go help and save rescue. You -- you help them all. So there you -- that's not so bad. BOUDREAU: Well, he looks OK.
HOLMES: All right.
Now, the Red River, we've been talking about this weekend. Reynolds is keeping an eye on it. It's still inching up a bit, but expected to crest soon.
Reynolds, but that doesn't necessarily mean the danger is over.
WOLF: Absolutely not.
I mean, the water is still rising as we speak, T.J. But I'll tell you that the spirits of people here in Fargo and across the way in Moorhead remain relatively high.
We're going to talk to some people coming up in just a few moments, including the mayor of Fargo. That's just moments away.
But again, for the time being, so far, so good.
We'll have more coming up. You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, good morning again and welcome back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BOUDREAU: And I'm Abbie Boudreau.
HOLMES: Well, our big story this weekend: After months of heated debate and political wrangling, decision day arrives for a landmark, and what some are calling a historic health-care measure.
Democrats are working up till the last minute, trying to round up the 216 votes needed to pass the legislation. The House is going to convene at 1:00 Eastern time today. They're going to have three votes. One of them is just going to be on the terms, the rules of the debate. Another will be on the compromise changes to this the bill, the so- called reconciliation package. Then finally they'll vote on the health care bill itself. Again, they need 216 votes to pass the measure.
BOUDREAU: Iraq's prime minister is calling for a manual recount. It comes in response to demands by some of Iraq's other political groups. There are concerns if those demands not met there could be an uptick in violence. At this point, a secular block leads with the most votes in the overall total. But the prime minister's coalition has the support of several provinces.
HOLMES: A teenager charged with harassment and bias intimidation for allegedly betting on a Wal-Mart PA system and telling all black people to leave the store. This, you may remember, happened last week at a New Jersey Wal-Mart. The 16-year-old was arrested Friday has now been released into the custody of his parents. Quick break here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING and we're right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, all eyes on the Red River, expected to crest in about an hour and a half this morning. But that does not mean that the danger is over for the folks in that area around the Red River. Our Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is keeping an eye on things. He's moved out to Fargo, was in Moorhead, Minnesota yesterday, but same issues for the folks there all along the Red River.
But explain the situation here, what we're keeping an eye on with this Red River and why just because it's crested doesn't mean we're done just yet.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's true, T.J. And as you mentioned, these dikes that we are talking about, these berms, these dams that people have made trying to hold back the river, there's always a chance that one of them might break. You may find a crack in there. If that happens it will test the fortitude of some of those things, yes, we could see problems.
Let me give you and the rest of America an idea of what's happening right here. I'm actually at Oak Grove Lutheran School. This is the gymnasium. You see here at our feet, we've got some dirt, over here you have a wall. On the other side of the wall you have the Red River, right there. You even have a couple of homes, you have one here to the right of me. You can see some of the lights on over there. You see one directly ahead of us, this beautiful powder blue house, which is basically surrounded by an island.
Luckily, this morning, we have a guest with us. Our guest is Mr. Ed Schmidt, you call that place home.
How have things been for you guys?
ED SCHMIDT, FARGO HOMEOWNER: Good, Reynolds.
WOLF: When did you start preparing for this flood?
SCHMIDT: We started preparing a few weeks ago with snow removal and chipping some ice out so we could get a solid base for the sandbags.
WOLF: I see. Well, you've done a pretty good job. Have you any issues in terms of leaks or anything around the house?
SCHMIDT: Sandbags leak, yes they do. We are cautiously optimistic.
WOLF: How have things been? You do have power in your house? You do have television? You're able to obviously function in the home?
SCHMIDT: That's right. Everything, the plumbing is up. Electricity is up. We need that to run the pumps that we have going.
WOLF: This happened to you how many years in a row? SCHMIDT: Well, this is the second year in a row. Last time before that was 2006.
WOLF: And you've been in Fargo your whole life?
SCHMIDT: Yes, correct.
WOLF: Let's be honest with you. I'm sure there are some people that are tuning in around America. They look at your situation. You've been dealing with this two years in a row. You have a beautiful home. You live a great neighborhood, but people might say, dude, why are you here? Why don't you move?
SCHMIDT: I understand that. You know. It's something we've looked at. There are some other issues, you know, with getting-moving on, I guess.
WOLF: Absolutely.
SCHMIDT: But it will be-it will happen. It's just a matter of time. It hasn't happened yet.
WOLF: Flooding obviously a very negative thing. But at the same time, there are some positives. Your neighbors are amazing people. The community has really helped you quite a bit, haven't they?
SCHMIDT: Well, especially Oak Grove Lutheran School. They have been a terrific neighbor. Always, over the years, not just flood fighting. Such things as they offer to rake your leaves in the fall. They're always offering to come to the school for visits. They're just terrific people to work with.
WOLF: I'll tell you, you've done a terrific job on your house, obviously, and with the sandbags around it. We wish you the best of luck. The river expected to go down today. It is expected to crest at 37 feet, then start sliding down later on today, and next week. Best of luck to you.
SCHMIDT: Thank you. We'll get that water off the sandbags, that's what we need.
WOLF: Absolutely. Thanks again.
SCHMIDT: Thank you.
WOLF: Folks, that's what we're dealing with here. I'll tell you the attitude that he has is very is similar to most of the people here. They're taking it in stride. They know they have been up against a big force of nature, this Red River, that again, two years in a row they've had major floods. There are the odds that yes, it could happen again. This is what happens when you live in a flood plain. You have this heavy snowfall and, then of course, you have the melting. These things happen.
The people are certainly up to the task, as we've been saying all morning long, T.J. and Abbie. They are very optimistic. The river expected to rise a bit, not as high as it was last year. Still, they're keeping a sharp eye and doing so with a bit of a smile and certainly with good wishes. That is the latest we've got here. Let's send it back to guys in the studio.
HOLMES: It is amazing to hear them. They do, they have done this. They have handled this. They certainly hold up better than the rest of us sitting around worrying about them, quite frankly, Reynolds. So, I appreciate you, buddy. We'll talk to you again real soon.
WOLF: Very true.
BOUDREAU: You think he just took a boat over to go talk to Reynolds.
HOLMES: Probably.
BOUDREAU: He didn't like swim through that?
HOLMES: I'm sure he didn't. Not this morning, no.
BOUDREAU: Sorry. OK.
Anyway, so there's weather all over the country that we're talking about. Not just in Fargo, not just in Minnesota, but all over the place. Meteorologist Karen-uh, sorry!
(CROSS TALK)
(LAUGHTER)
BOUDREAU: Karen Maginnis is here with us. She's going to tell us what's going on.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOUDREAU: Now getting back to our top story. The passage of the health care reform bill would lead to the largest expansion of federal health care guarantees in four decades. All of the Republicans in the Democratically controlled House plan to vote against the legislation. It will take 38 Democrats voting no to kill the bill. By CNN's last count 33 Democrats plan to vote no.
HOLMES: Several directions we can go with the House today. The lawmakers are in different categories right now. You have the people who have come out said they're going to vote yes. The ones who say they're going to vote no. You also have those who say they are undeclared. Then you have another group that is actually undecided.
Now, undeclared means House member, they're not saying how they intend to vote, publicly. They are not saying it right now. Undecided means they actually haven't made up their minds yet. They really don't know. Texas blue dog Democrat, Henry Cuellar, he was with us yesterday, he was in the category of undecided when I spoke with him during our show yesterday. But within the past 12 hours he has joined the yes crowd. Why? It was something he hit on yesterday when we spoke. The majority of people in his district can't afford health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HENRY CUELLAR, (D) TEXAS: I got a district that's in the top 10 most uninsured districts in the whole country. At the same time, as the blue dog, I want to look at what sort of impact this will effect on our country. What sort of impact it will have on our country. You know, the CBO numbers that came out are very promising. When you talk about reducing the deficit by $138 billion in the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the next 10 years, that's very promising. But it is the issue about the cost, it is the issue, of course, providing access.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH, (D) OHIO: I have fought long and hard for single payer. That's not in the bill. I fought for a public option, couldn't get it in the bill. Tried to protect the right of states to pursue single payers, couldn't get it in the bill. The last one I was looking at, was a decision whether to kill the bill, or enable it to keep breathing with the hopes that will be part of a larger discussion for comprehensive health care reform.
REP. PARKER GRIFFITH, (R) ALABAMA: This is a bad bill. It's been a bad bill because the premise of it has been faulty from the start. We would like for those who know that this is a bad bill to stay firm on their belief that it's not good for the American people. And it is certainly not good for our patients, and not good for the health care system in general.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. So, let's tell you where we stand right now. The House convenes at 1:00 o'clock, Eastern. Expect it to have three votes. If the House votes to change the bill's language in any way, if they want to change it up at all, that means it's going to get kicked back to the Senate and the Senate would then have to approve it all over again. Of course, you can follow the health care vote today with CNN's special live coverage. CNN, your place for politics, all day today.
BOUDREAU: Thousands are expected to march in the nation's capitol demanding change. Sandra Endo tells us not for health reform, but immigration reform, and finding a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Honduran immigrant Santos Reyes holds onto a few photos of her 19-year-old son Brian Gonzalez. Gonzalez is the youngest of her six kids.
SANTOS REYES, MOTHER (through translator) He's the type of person who loves to get involved and get in there. ENDO: Gonzales' mother says after he moved from Virginia to Honduras four years ago, her son quickly fell in love with the uniform.
REYES (through translator): His dream was actually to go to Iraq. It was like a dream for him to serve his country in that way.
ENDO: He was active in ROTC at school and wanted to become a pilot in the Air Force. But here's the catch. Gonzalez was in the country illegally and would never be able to serve in the U.S. military. And in June his mother says police stopped her son, discovered his status, and authorities eventually deported him.
REYES (through translator): I still haven't recovered from it. My son is the most special thing to me.
ENDO: Gonzalez's mother is one of thousands from across the country organizers expect to rally for immigration reform in the nation's capital.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm calling on behalf of the campaign to reform immigration.
ENDO: Immigration advocates have been gearing up for months to take their message to Congress. They're urging lawmakers to create a pathway to citizenship for the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the country. But the conservative leaning Center for Immigration Studies says there's no easy solution to reign in illegal immigration.
STEVEN CAMAROTA, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: It seems unlikely that rewarding people who have broken the law is going to discourage future law breaking. It is true that people argue, hey, we'll promise to enforce the law from now on. But, again, there's enormous credibility gap there.
ENDO: As for Reyes, she wants Congress and President Obama to act for her son's sake.
REYES (through translator): I'm asking that we have solutions to this. And no more promises.
ENDO (On camera): There seems to be some hope that Congress will take up the issue this year. President Obama supports immigration reform and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated it the comprehensive bill can be worked out, it will be put on the legislative agenda.
Right now Congress has a lot on its plate and bigger issues, like health care reform, to work out first. Sandra Endo, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOUDREAU: The health care vote is coming down to the wire. So who are the Congress members still undeclared? Josh Levs takes a closer look. JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, guys. We actually have a list that you can keep up with throughout the day. Coming up we are going to show you some of the key players today who have the future of health care in their hands. What are they looking for?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOUDREAU: See the lights on at the White House? So, that must mean the president is up and working? I don't know. There are only hours left and the president is projecting confidence. But does he have the votes? A handful of congressmen could make or break today's health care vote. Who are they? Our Josh Levs is here with that.
Josh, how many people are we talking about?
LEVS: I'm pretty sure they're up at the White House.
BOUDREAU: I think that they probably are.
LEVS: Yes, I'm pretty sure-
BOUDREAU: Did you see that sunrise, by the way? That was beautiful.
LEVS: Yes, I know. It looks like it is going to be really nice there today. Shouldn't be too bad other places. Look at that. That is really nice.
BOUDREAU: Yes, it was nice there yesterday, too. Remember the red-huge red sunrise? It was like the sky was on fire.
LEVS: When we get Karen Maginnis back in here, she can explain how some of those beautiful sunrises and sunsets work. It really is beautiful.
All right. So, let's talk about some numbers. Here's the thing. Today is the big vote. As you said, the president is projecting a lot of confidence. Let me show you the numbers and where they stand, first of all. We have that for you.
I want you to understand why we're looking at it this way. Why are we looking at "no" votes? The reason is, CNN has been following this very closely. And the number of "yes" votes for today, among Democrats, has changed a lot. It has been hard to get a firm number there. What has stayed relatively the same is the number of "no" votes throughout the process. It changes a lot less often.
So what we have now, the total number of Democratic no votes that would be needed to kill this bill, 38. The number that they have to kill the bill, the number of Democratic no votes is 33. So they are five away from that. So, at this point you are saying five people really could swing it one way or the other. And CNN, throughout the day, is canvassing these people to find out where they stand.
I have some specific examples for you. I'm going to open it for you here. For example, we have been following Representative Brian Baird, from Washington. He's one of these undeclared Democrats, and I have some notes about him. We now that he's been undecided-he's been undecided for quite a while. We are in touch with his people, we're following him today to see if he changes where he's standing on this.
Let's look at this. Representative Jim Cooper, from Tennessee, another undeclared example. He also has been saying that he's waiting to see the final language. A lot of these representatives said they wanted to see the CBO report, which is the Congressional Budget Office, about money. They also wanted to spend time. Remember it is a massive bill that the House is looking at here. They wanted to piece through it for some specific language.
Let's take a look at a couple more here. This is an interesting one. Representative Kathy Dahlkemper, she is from Pennsylvania,. She was specifically interested in the abortion language. She opposes abortion rights, she identifies with the pro-life camp. She wanted to keep a careful eye on that language. She said she was waiting to see the language and the amendment and how some of that would shake out. She's one of the key votes people are looking at today.
I have one more for you here. Representative Jerry McNerney, who is an example of somebody I was just talking about. He's a Democrat from California. He has been saying that he has concerns about deal making. As we know, there were some deal making to get the votes so far in the stage. Also, he wanted to check on the number of people who will ultimately be covered.
Now, this is just four examples. Here on the Web, at CNN.com, you can see a full list that we are literally updating every two minutes throughout the day. You want to see how this is shaking out. There it is. I've linked that for you at my page. It's up at my Facebook page, Facebook.com/joshlevsCNN. It is also at blog, CNN.com/josh.
Let us know what you think. Weigh in there. We will be keeping an eye on all these players throughout the day. As we said, this is the day that could make or break, potentially, at the end of a very long process this health care vote.
Abbie, back to you.
BOUDREAU: It's being updated every two minutes?
LEVS: Every two minutes, literally.
BOUDREAU: OK.
LEVS: Every to minutes by our folks in D.C. And every time they get new information, boom, it's out there.
BOUDREAU: All right. Thanks, Josh. Appreciate it.
LEVS: See ya.
HOLMES: Do you know how your representative of Congress is going to be voting on health care? You can go to cnn.com/politics for a list of the votes. We have been asking, we want to know, if you know who your representative is, first of all, but do you know how they are voting? Do you agree or disagree? I got some different responses. We asked the question yesterday.
Also asked another one, this morning, that's starting to get attention. That you all are starting to answer. Simply, do you think this thing is going to pass at all? So we're going to be sharing all these comments. I'm going to share a few. We can go -- not sure which board the Twitter page is on. There it is.
Mark says, "No matter what happens the Dems will walk the plank in November for sure."
Sweetcotton95 (ph), says, "I think it will pass. It's not perfect. You have to start somewhere."
One more says yes, "I think it will pass by just one vote. But this is just one battle in a four-year war."
Someone else, on Facebook, I don't have it up there. But a comment that came in from Olivia just says, "I believe it will pass. The next great hurdle is the Senate. So this is far from over, but as someone uninsured, a recent graduate college graduate, I want universal health care for all."
That's what people have online. We appreciate you sending those into us. Remember, e-mail us. Send it to us at Facebook.com, Twitter.com and CNN.com/tj.
BOUDREAU: It represents a big step in reinforcing the democratic process in Iraq, now there is a call for a recount in that country's tight election. We'll go live to Baghdad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Two weeks after Iraqis cast their ballots in the nation's parliamentary election, the race still too close to call, votes still being counted. Winners have not been declared. Now the prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, wants a recount. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom, live in Baghdad for us this morning.
Mohammed, hello to you. And are you kidding me? A lot of people are probably thinking, wow we've been waiting this long for results. Now we're talking about going back and recounting? Why?
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Hello, T.J.
Today the already very complex Iraqi electoral process got even more complicated, as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki is calling for a hand recount of the vote counts on March 7, in order to preserve the integrity of the electoral process here.
No, you know it's been a very tight race here since the votes were cast on March 7. What you've seen in the past week, members of the top blocs have been coming out and alleging voter fraud, and asking for recounts. Even today, besides Nouri Al-Maliki coming out asking for a recount, you have President Jalal Talabani asking for a recount. Really, what you are seeing is a pattern here, of the more the vote margins narrow for candidates the more calls you are going to be seeing for a recount. It's just getting more complicated.
And as you can imagine, the Prime Minister Al Maliki, he is the top political leader here in Iraq. If he's calling for a recount there's no telling how much longer this going to take. We have spoken the Independent High Electoral Commission. They expect to issue a statement later on today and respond to this. But at this point this just gets messier and messier.
HOLMES: Mohammed, one more thing if you can, quickly, if the results were declared today, no one has so much of a majority that it's clear who is going to govern?
JAMJOOM: That's right, T.J., even when they get to 100 percent, we have known for a while now, that none of these parties, none of these coalitions are going to have enough seats in order to try to form a government on their own.
In a sense all of this has been a prelude to when the real negotiating and the real bargaining goes on after the election, after the results are announced. That is when you are going to see all these different parties really going into prolonged, painstaking negotiations to try to form a functioning government here in Iraq. It's really going to take a lot longer, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. A lot longer, we've been waiting. Going to have to wait some more. Mohammed Jamjoom, always good to see you. We appreciate you, buddy. Thanks so much. Our next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING starts right now.
Hello to you all from the CNN Center, here in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm T.J. Holmes on this March 21. Glad you can be with us here on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
BOUDREAU: I'm Abbie Boudreau. Thanks for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: All right. This is it, we think. A historic day, a historic vote happening. We are expecting on Capitol Hill, a beautiful, beautiful day that really doesn't give you the whole picture of exactly how ugly it has been in this debate. We are all over this story. Our reporters there are tracking this from Capitol Hill, also from the White House. You see our Dan Lothian. You see our Brianna Keilar. We're going to check in with both of them.
The House Democrats are still trying to get the votes they need. Republicans are vowing to fight to the very last minute.
BOUDREAU: Right.
Plus, a one-two punch -- severe weather in the Midwest and flooding concerns in North Dakota and Minnesota where the Red River will crest next hour. Our Reynolds Wolf is there with stories from the flood zone. HOLMES: But, of course, our big story, history-making story possibly by the end of the day is what's happening on Capitol Hill. The U.S. House of Representatives convening at 1:00 Eastern Time here on this Sunday to take up that $873 billion Senate health care legislation, which, of course, the Senate passed back on Christmas Eve.
The House is going to take three votes today. One of them will be on the terms of the debate, the rules. The other will be on that compromise package of changes. And then finally, they will vote on the health care bill itself. It's going to take 216 votes to pass or kill that measure.
BOUDREAU: Iraq's prime minister is calling for a manual recount. It comes in response to demands by some of Iraq's other political groups. There are concerns if those demands are not meant, there could be an uptick in violence. At this point, a secular bloc leads with the most votes in the overall total. But the prime minister's coalition has the support of several provinces.
HOLMES: A teenager has been charged with harassment (AUDIO BREAK) for allegedly getting on a Wal-Mart P.A. system and telling all black people to leave the store. This happened last week at a New Jersey Wal-Mart. The 16-year-old was arrested Friday. He's now been released into the custody of his parents.
Well, what is it? Six hours now that we're away from the beginning of what could be a historic vote in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers vote today on that health care reform legislation. Our Brianna Keilar is in the rotunda of the Capitol, which has been a busy place and will be a busy place today.
All right. This is it, Brianna. You might not have to lift up that 2,000-page bill anymore after today, hopefully. But if it is brought to the floor -- are you looking for it? Do you have it on standby, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have it propped up because I'm not carrying it anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: OK. That's all right. You don't need to. But if they take that thing to the floor today, are we talking about -- this is done, it's over, or not?
KEILAR: If they do, and if they can get to those 216 votes, Democratic leaders are clearly very confident about this. You really felt that tone yesterday. But, T.J., they're not there at this point, because by CNN's count -- what we're doing is we're counting the noes, because Democrats, if 38 of them are to vote "no," because all Republicans are opposed to this package -- if 38 were to vote, then this bill -- that would be it.
Right now, what we have, the count at, is 33 Democrats saying "no." But yesterday, we saw a whole rash of Democrats come out and say that they were going to vote "yes." A lot of yes declarations.
And at this point, we know that former President Bill Clinton has been calling some of these undeclared Democrats, trying to win them over. But, you know, bottom line is, President Obama said yesterday, let's get this done. And we're still waiting to see if House Dems go ahead and say, OK.
Democratic leaders told us they were going to be working through today to get those votes. And they have sort of put a provision in the debate today that says they could postpone that vote if they need to. But, you know, at this point, there's no discussion of that.
HOLMES: All right. And here we are, all these numbers we get and there was a score by the CBO. But even on this -- at this late hour, on the very day, we're still talking about costs being tweaked.
KEILAR: Yes, and this is really a slight tweak. You know, we knew the nonpartisan, the Congressional Budget Office said that this package would reduce the budget by $138 billion over 10 years, because yesterday they were some slight changes that were filed, it's now at $143 billion. I mean, $5 billion is nothing to sneeze at, but this isn't -- this isn't a huge change.
HOLMES: A billion here, a billion there. But this -- I was really surprised and shocked and disturbed when I saw this story come across the wire yesterday about just how ugly it kind of turned. I mean, I don't want to put this on everybody who's a part of the debate. But still, a couple of individuals here and there, some personal insults and racial slurs being hurled around up there on Capitol Hill.
KEILAR: That's right. There have been massive protests -- tea party protests -- around the Capitol. It was -- it was quite a show yesterday to see the entire Capitol surrounded by protesters. But it did turn very ugly in the afternoon.
We know right now of at least a couple black members of Congress who, you know, at least one protester was yelling the "N" word at them and that includes a civil rights icon, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. He said that happened to him. He was actually walking with another member of Congress who said, yes, that did happen.
There was also one of these black members of Congress who was also spat on by a protester.
And then you have Barney Frank, who's a Democrat from Massachusetts, he's openly gay, and one of our producers actually witnessed a protesters yelling a derogatory term at him, calling him a "faggot." And here's what Barney Frank had to say to the cameras.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Individuals are responsible for themselves. There are leaders in the Republican Party and elsewhere who kind of egg these people on, who legitimize (ph) not simple disagreement with the bill, which is, of course, what people should be doing, but denunciation of people's motives, personal views. That's really unfortunate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Frank said that he thinks some of the protests are a proxy for many different sentiments aside from being mad about this health care plan. He said some of those are ugly and racist. Right now, Democratic leaders are condemning what went on yesterday. And we're still waiting to hear from Republicans, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Brianna Keilar, keeping an eye on all things up there -- a busy day, long day, maybe a historic day even as well. Brianna, thank you so much.
BOUDREAU: President Obama is trying to rally the troops. He met yesterday with Democratic House members in an effort to boost support for the reform legislation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're a day away. After a year of debate, after every argument has been made by just about everybody -- we're 24 hours away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOUDREAU: Our Dan Lothian joins us from the White House.
Hi, Dan. Was -- how you doing today? You're going to be really busy --
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Pretty good.
BOUDREAU: -- I have a feeling, huh?
LOTHIAN: That's right, a long day.
BOUDREAU: Yes. So, do you think the president's final push is enough?
LOTHIAN: Well, we'll have to wait and find out. I mean, certainly, this is a critical moment for this White House. It's the top domestic initiative for the president. And so, he's been pushing very hard to get health care reform across the finish line.
And this White House is getting some help from former President Bill Clinton. According to Democratic sources, the former president is reaching out to an unspecified number of House Democrats, to sort of show them the way that they should vote "yes." And President Obama, we're told by those sources, was very grateful for the help of the former president.
But as he just pointed out, you know, the president went up to Capitol Hill to really make that final big push with House Democrats to lay out and make very clear what's at stake here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: Don't do it for me. Don't do it for the Democratic Party. Do it for the American people. They're the ones who are looking for action right now.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Now, of course, we are told by White House aides that after the critical vote, we are expecting to hear something from the president but it will be low key. And, obviously, if there's a victory, there will be no celebration because there's still a lot of work to be done in the Senate, Abbie.
BOUDREAU: All right. So, no real celebration plans then, huh?
LOTHIAN: Not yet. Not yet.
BOUDREAU: OK. All right. Thank you so much, Dan.
All right. And don't forget, CNN, of course, is counting votes. Follow our special coverage of the decision comes down to the wire all day today right here on CNN.
HOLMES: And reaction is pouring in after the Pope releases a letter apologizing for the Catholic Church sex scandals. Coming up at 8:00, we'll talk to our senior Vatican analyst John Allen about the Pope's letter and the reaction we're getting around the world.
Eight minutes past the hour. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: Well, you would think they'd be ready to go around the Red River. But they stay year after year after year, and they deal with that river. You know what? They're still there and they're going to make it through this one as well.
Our Reynolds Wolf is there. He's in Fargo, North Dakota, for us this morning.
They know how to deal with this. They take this all in stride. It's something to see.
Oh, Reynolds, I think you can still hear me, buddy, but we are not hearing you on the audio.
We will get back to Reynolds here in a second. But, of course, we're keeping an eye on the Red River up there, expected to crest, actually, I believe within the next hour or so.
We do have our Karen Maginnis standing by in the weather center as well. I believe her microphone is working this morning.
But we're keeping an eye. Well, we got about an hour we're saying now. It should reach its high point but it --
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right.
HOLMES: -- will be a long time before it goes back down.
MAGINNIS: Yes. This is not one of those floods where the river rises and then goes down maybe a few hours or half a day, or a day later. This is a thing that just kind of gradually tapers off. They've had so much snow. And the snow melt has been so significant that this is not going to be a situation that will be alleviated very easily.
All right. So, from Fargo, the river flows north. So, from Fargo to Grand Forks, this will take about 24 to 36 hours before there's a crest at Grand Forks.
Moderate to major flooding along the river here, but you can see also extending down towards Minneapolis. I looked at some of the conditions there. They have got moderate to major flooding taking place there. This is the more immediate danger.
And, yes, there is a crest that should take place this morning. Maybe within this hour, we're looking just over 37 feet -- still considered a major flood but not at that record-setting level. As Reynolds was there and has been there for several days now, they've been very well-prepared for this.
All right. We've got an iReport out of Oklahoma City. This is from Patricia Smith. She says she was getting in her car, getting ready to go to a wedding, but then this happened -- this snowfall. Take a look at this.
And she said, well, this is a little crazy, kind of treacherous to drive on the roads. Hopefully, we'll get that iReport for you. All right, we don't have that for you.
But, nonetheless, all the way from Oklahoma City -- they got a terrible winter. Extending up into Missouri, Ark City, which is just about in this vicinity, they saw about nine inches of snow. While Kansas City saw seven inches. And those were record-setting snowfall totals. Also, at Overland Park, nine inches of snowfall reported there.
On the backside of this system, we're looking at very gusty winds. We could see wind gusts close to 35, maybe 40 miles an hour. Road conditions are really going to deteriorate here. Where you see those pink shaded area, this is where we're looking at kind of that icy mixture. So, as that area of low pressure just kind of tricks in this direction, right along where the area of low pressure is, that's where we're looking at rain/snow, or maybe some sleet and freezing rain before it changes over to all rainfall as we go towards this evening.
And this is really going to pack a wallop. This is where we had, extending from north of Dallas towards Kansas City in this red shaded area, winter storm warnings between four and six inches of snowfall. I think a lot of the areas are not going to see quite that much, but we'll pick up the rainfall later on today. We'll have more news right after this.
HOLMES: All right. We appreciate it. Yes, we're actually going to get some more news right now.
MAGINNIS: OK.
HOLMES: We're going to get it from Reynolds. I think we have him back on the line. I believe that microphone is working just fine.
Let's be sure, though, Renny.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, T.J. I'm just messing with you.
HOLMES: I know.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: You got to have that sound. You got to have the sound, man.
The reason we got to have sounds is we got to tell you a story of what's happening here up at the Red River in Fargo. We were across the way over in Moorhead yesterday. The situation is the same on both sides of the river. People are watching it very carefully. And, you know, you don't have to live right near the water to have the water come to you in this part of the world.
Case in point, you look over here. This part of the Oak Grove neighborhood. You see a couple houses here. And they're both surrounded by water for the most part. I mean, you do see a small ring of porches, if you will, of sandbags that encircle both homes, and that protects them from the waters of the Red River. And this thing is falling pretty quickly.
In fact, Chris Davis, our photojournalist -- Chris, if you can get a shot of that water reflecting -- the light reflecting off the water. The stream flow is pretty significant. I mean, this thing is just moving in and moving on through.
What's interesting and makes this area so prone to flooding is just the river itself. The river is a fairly shallow body of water. It is like a thin winding ribbon that goes through the landscapes some 550 miles to the north where it empties up in Lake Winnipeg in Canada and unlike, say, parts of the Ohio River, even the Mississippi River that is broadened, is a very deep channel at some places.
This again, watch out there, (INAUDIBLE).
Actually, this brings up a good point. Chris is actually standing on one of the reasons why we're seeing the flooding, too, not just the shape of the river because of all the snow that we've had, and temperatures that got up a bit above normal. And, of course, when you have that melt, the melt empties into the floodplain. It spreads out, hits the river and goes into these neighborhoods.
We've been speaking with some of the people earlier this morning. We spoke with Ed Schmidt. He lives in that house right there, the powder-blue one that's encircled by them.
It's amazing, guys, that the spirit of these people have -- not only them but the others in the community that so freely give their time to help neighbors. And what's even more incredible is the people you have that come from all over the country here. They converge in this area and they help. They build the sandbags. They do not complaining but with smiles on their faces and they do it freely.
And I'm telling you, that same optimism extends today. Even though that water is going to rise a little bit more, possibly leveling out right around 37 feet, their spirits remain very high also.
That's the latest we have from Fargo.
Coming up in just a little bit, we're going to speak to the mayor, Dennis Walaker, the man who has not been sleeping since this whole latest flooding episode has begun. We're going to get some information from him and share it with the rest of America. That's coming up very shortly.
Let's send it back to you in the studio.
HOLMES: We look forward to hearing from him. Reynolds, we do appreciate it, talk to you soon, buddy.
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: All right. By now, a lot of you out there, you've heard just about everything it seems about the health care bill. So, what are the real facts and figures behind this proposal?
BOUDREAU: And Josh Levs has the answers in this morning's reality check.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, guys. So, the president says health care reform will save the nation $1 trillion. Is that true? Plus, we're checking a GOP claim. Is the Democrats maneuvering really unprecedented?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, everybody could use a little pick-me-up, right? Well, we have something here on the weekends that we called your weekly Motivational Minute. It's not coming from me. I need a pick- me-up myself. But let's listen now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA DAWN JOHNSON, MOTIVATIONAL MINUTE: Good morning. It's Melissa Dawn Johnson here with your morning motivation. As we're shifting into the new season of spring -- can you believe it's upon us already? I want to talk to you about today, your reinvention-intervention plan. I know change is not always comfortable, but it is a necessity when we're looking to go to the next level in life.
So, as you consider this week your reinvention-intervention plan, it's very easy. I call it CPR. "C" is for clarity around your purpose and passion. "P" is around a plan of action to make it happen. And "R" is a resolution, making sure that you resolve to keep moving forward every single day.
Until next week, you know what to do and make every single day brand-tastic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. They got to vote today. Both sides are expressing a whole lot of their own opinions. But do they have their facts straight?
BOUDREAU: Our Josh Levs does. And he is checking some of the big claims that are out there.
And, Josh, you're starting with something that the president said, right?
LEVS: Yes, exactly. You know, I got a little bit of a tricky task here, because what happens is we hear these claims out there and then I need to tell you what the truth is. And sometimes, the truth is a little more complicated, but I need to boil it down to make as much sense as possible.
Lets' do this -- just like Abbie said -- we're going to start off with something the president has been saying. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: This bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which is the referee, the scorekeeper for how much things costs, says will save us $1 trillion. Not only can we afford to do this, we can't afford not to do this.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. So, the Congressional Budget Office, this nonpartisan group -- does it really say it will save the country $1 trillion? And he goes onto say that's over 20 years.
Well, let's take a look at what they actually said. The first thing is concrete, and I'm going to show you. The Congressional Budget Office says this health care reform package would save the country $138 billion over 10 years. So, they are saying it will save the country money. They're saying $138 billion.
They were then asked to look at the next 10 years, what would happen. They don't usually do that. But they did here.
And this is what they said. They said that it would save a little piece of the GDP, the gross domestic product. So, they said that they think over the next decade, it will save around 1/2 percent of GDP.
They also said they don't know what that will be. There are so many variables. Our economy keeps changing. But then the Obama administration took that, they guessed what the GDP will be. And now, they're saying it will save the country $1 trillion. So, it's not as simple as true or false, but it's not exactly what the CBO is saying.
Meanwhile, we're taking a look at this GOP claim as well. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CLIFF STEARNS (R), FLORIDA: There's no precedent for what the Democrats are doing. We have never written a reconciliation bill to amend a law that does not exist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So, is this really unprecedented? And is it accurate, that there had been none before?
Well, there's a great Web site I want to tell you about right now called PolitiFact.com, that you may have seen before. And what they do is they check all sorts of claims from politicians. And this is the one they were taking a look at right here from Representative Cliff Stearns.
Well, what they gave it here is they're rating, half-true. And this is why -- I can show you a couple of screens here. What they did is they talked to a whole of experts about the history. Experts do say that there are actually plenty of similar examples of what the Democrats are proposing to do in this case.
However, they do go onto say here that he's actually right that this -- and look at the language here because this is a reminder of how many maneuvers there have been here. This was the first time Congress has written a reconciliation bill to amend a law that does not exist. So, short version, there is something new here that the Democrats are doing, even though some similar things have happened in the past.
And you can weigh in on all of this at any time, of course, at our blog at CNN.com/Josh. And also, Facebook and Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. We're always following the facts for you. We're always updating them on CNN.com.
So, Abbie and T.J., I encourage everybody to keep an eye closely on the Web site, always finding out new facts.
BOUDREAU: All right. Thank you so much, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: And we've been hearing a lot from lawmakers throughout this whole health care debate. Now, we are hearing from you. Your responses that you've been sending in online to us -- next.
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BOUDREAU: All right. Today is busy schedule on Capitol Hill. The House convenes at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. First order of business, setting the ground rules for debating the Senate's health care legislation, and then comes the debate itself. And following the debate, the House members will vote. Up or down, today's vote will surely be historic. And we're bringing it to you live.
HOLMES: Well, we're asking you out there -- asking if you agree with how your congressmen or woman is going to vote. And also asking, here we are today. This is supposed to be the history-making day. Do you think it will actually happen?
We've gotten some responses from you all. I will share a few. One from Twitter.
From Professor Jones who's responding saying, "I think there will be last-hour drama, twists and turns and it will pass." Johnny says, "It's my sincere hope that it wouldn't be brought to a vote if they couldn't pass it." And then one more from Lacytee, who says, "I hope the bill will pass, Americans need health care. But, I don't think it will. Too many Democrats are undecided."
We appreciate you sending those responses in. We, of course, will continue to share those throughout the morning. But interesting to see what some people are saying right now and they hope it will. Some not so sure something will come up. Well, too many Democrats on the fence, she says there. So --
BOUDREAU: Absolutely. And everyone has an opinion on this.
HOLMES: Oh, of course, they do.
BOUDREAU: Everyone is going to be watching all day long. And we'll see how it goes, minute-by-minute, huh?
HOLMES: Yes.
And we will be back at the top of the hour with more live news. But first, we want to hand it over to "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." which starts right now.
