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CNN Saturday Morning News
President Obama Set to Meet with House Democrats on Health Care Reform; Plight of Schools When Stimulus Money Runs Out; Employers Watching Workers on the Internet; Pope Apologizes to Sex Abuse Victims in Ireland
Aired March 20, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. From the CNN center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this March 20th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Abbie Boudreau. It's 8:00 in the morning here in Atlanta. Thanks for starting your day with us. As we get closer to the vote, several House Democrats are still trying to decide if they'll vote for or against the health care reform bill. We'll look at what's in the bill, how much it will cost and who's voting for it.
HOLMES: And they're used to the flooding in the Red River up there in Fargo, up there in Moorehead, Minnesota but they're still on edge right now. We'll explain why they are just a levee break away from a huge disaster. Our Reynolds Wolf is there for us in Moorehead. We'll be checking in with him in just a moment, but first we want to share with you the headlines.
BOUDREAU: And among our top stories this hour, health care reform. President Obama meets today with House Democrats. The House is set to vote tomorrow on the Senate version of the reform plan. Two hundred sixteen votes are needed to either pass or kill the Senate version of the bill. CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar tells us if that 38 Democrats vote no then the bill is dead. She says so far 29 Democrats plan to vote no.
HOLMES: Pope Benedict says he is truly sorry, breaking his silence on the Vatican sex abuse scandal, apologizing to the victims in Ireland. In a letter he released just an hour ago, the pope did stop short of holding the Vatican responsible. He also only addressed the allegations in Ireland despite new complaints that have been cropping up in six European countries, including the pope's homeland of Germany.
BOUDREAU: More than 1,000 flights are canceled today as one of the world's largest air carriers deals with the start of a three-day strike. Cabin crews have walked off the job after negotiations broke down last night with British Airways. The airline has chartered flights from some of its rivals to accommodate some of its affected passengers.
Well, this weekend, some of the biggest days we have seen in the health care reform battle on Capitol Hill. So we have pulled out the big dogs and there they are. White House correspondent Ed Henry is going to be giving us a preview of the president's speech to Congress a little later today. He's going to be speaking to Democrats. Hello to you, I haven't talked to you in a long time on air so say hello to you right now. How's it going?
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J., congratulations to you as well on your wedding.
HOLMES: Thank you so much.
Brianna will bring you in now. Sorry, we just had to have our moment there but our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is at the Capitol at the rotunda where lawmakers are preparing for that vote.
We do want to start with Brianna. Brianna, we have a Rules Committee meeting that's taking place this morning. A lot of people who have been watching this debate. You hear about this bill, that bill, this debate, that debate but now we throw in the Rules Committee. Explain to people why this is a big deal.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Normally, we don't care a whole lot about the Rules Committee meeting, but we do today. This is a big deal ahead of this expected vote tomorrow. Why? Because the Rules Committee is in charge of laying out the details about how the debate is going to go down tomorrow and this is really a point of contention between Democrats and Republicans.
T.J., all week long we've been talking about how they're planning to do this, this idea of deem and pass that what you would do is to -- what Democrats would do to avoid a direct vote on the Senate health care bill that they really don't like that they want to vote changes on to that bill is they would sort of stick it into the changes bill they're voting on and hey, when they vote on the changes bill, well of look, the Senate bill is deemed passed, right?
This is something that Republicans and a lot of voters have been saying hold on a second, that is not OK. This meeting is going to put that in stone and we're expecting it will. This is where it becomes official and just to give you a sense of how we normally don't even care about a meeting like this, it's held in a pretty small room, but for the first time ever we're hearing from the Rules Committee they've had to set up an overflow room so that people like -- reporters like me can watch it in an overflow room. Intense interest in climbing through the weeds here.
HOLMES: That says a whole lot. They're not used to accommodating that many reporters. They got to make some space for you, but we also hit on a news conference that's coming up at around 11:00 again. One in a series of big deals we are seeing happen this weekend. Everything is important.
KEILAR: Everything is important. This is anti-abortion Democrats. You say wait a second. Anti-abortion Democrats, there are some. They're a minority in the House Democrats, but there's enough of them that they really matter because they do not like this bill and if they don't get a change, if they don't get some stricter abortion language, they say they're voting no. So that's why we're paying so much attention to them.
When the House passed their health care bill in November, this was the issue that held everything up at the last minute. They had to strike an 11th-hour deal, Democrat leaders did with these anti- abortion Democrats to get their votes. But now Democratic leaders are saying that they're not going to change the bill, but at the same time some of those votes Democratic leaders really need.
So how is this going to shake out? Is this going to be the thing that really threatens the passage of this for Democrats last minute? We're not sure how it's going to shake out. That's why we're paying so much attention to this 11:00 presser with Congressman Bart Stupak who is really leading this charge and that T.J. is ahead of this 3:00 p.m. meeting very important, President Obama coming up here, the pep talk of all pep talks, a lot of attention on that.
HOLMES: Brianna thank you so much. I know we'll be talking to you again soon, but hurry over to the Rules Committee room and grab you a seat. Thanks, Brianna.
BOUDREAU: As Brianna just said, the president will be meeting with House Democrats at 3:00 this afternoon and remember, the president canceled his trip to Indonesia this weekend so he could be around for the vote and for everything else that's going on.
Our Ed Henry is at the White House this morning. Ed, a lot is at stake for the president this weekend.
HENRY: That's right, good morning, Abbie. I actually had my bags packed. I was supposed to be leaving for Indonesia just ahead of the president tomorrow morning. All that has changed as you mentioned. The president now headed out where Brianna is on Capitol Hill. And if there's an argument left he hasn't made I'm not sure what it would be, but if he's got it, he better bring it out now. Top aides have already said that this week alone the president's had more than 64 contacts either phone calls or one-on-one meetings with various wavering House Democrats.
In fact, there's a photo the White House put out late yesterday of the president making a phone call on the way to George Madison, George Mason University, I should I say, in northern Virginia where he had a big rally to try to sort of rally his base, build some momentum in advance of this House vote and what he's doing in these final moments, final hours is to really say, look, put aside the politics. Let's focus on how this can really help Americans all around the country.
BOUDREAU: Do you know if the president is planning any sort of big celebration if this were to happen, if this passes?
HENRY: You know what's interesting is that they sort of see the rally as coming today where, you know, they can get Democrats fired up in advance of that Sunday vote, but I'm told by the president's top aides that he's been telling them in private he doesn't want to do some sort of victory dance on Sunday after the vote largely because of what Brianna was talking about, that even after the House passes, the Senate still has to go through that fix-it bill over the course of the next few days.
So this is not done on Sunday. So he doesn't want to look like he's sort of counting the chickens. He wants to make sure that they make some public remarks on Sunday, saying we're glad the House moved forward if they do move forward on that vote, but they're not going to have a big celebration on Sunday, Abbie.
BOUDREAU: Thank you so much.
A quick tutorial here on the health care reform vote. This is an effort to try to make sense out of this.
Take a look. These are the Democrats who have not declared how they'll vote on the bill tomorrow. And you can bet, they're getting some intense pressure from both sides of the issue. The total number of Democratic no votes needed to kill the bill is 38. By CNN's latest count there are currently 29 Democratic no votes. Others remain uncertain. Throughout the day, CNN political teams are canvassing House members for an updates of these numbers.
HOLMES: We do know now how much it is expected to cost, but where is that money going to come from to pay for health care reform? The Congressional Budge Office, the CBO you've been hearing about, they put the estimated price tag at $940 billion over 10 years. A lot of is going to will come from an increase in the Medicare tax on high- income households. Also for the first time, there could be a tax that could be applied to investment income as well as wages. Also money would come from a tax on high-cost medical plans, but that would be delayed until 2018.
Another source of money would be penalties for those who don't get health care insurance. The only thing left here really, a lot of House members who are going to be taking part in Sunday's vote. We're going to have them right here with us. Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich, we know he has switched his vote. He says he is now voting yes. He's going to be with us.
Also Democrat turned Republican Parker Griffith. He's saying there is no way he's going to be voting for this thing and then also one person who is undeclared, Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar. We'll find out exactly if he's still undeclared or is he actually still undecided. You'll hear from all three of them on a special half hour of coverage we have coming up at 9:00 Eastern.
BOUDREAU: All right. Waiting and watching in Minnesota as the Red River rises. Governor Tim Pawlenty is confident measures in place could prevent massive flooding, but they're still not taking any chances. About 700,000 sandbags are being used to fortify the area with an extra 300,000 bags ready if needed, but engineers are keeping an eye open for any leaks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MILLER, FARGO ENGINEER: So you have a joint every six feet. Those joints, we believe, started failing and so we started getting water on the dry side of our levee system. MICHELE ERICKSON, TIMBERLINE RESIDENT: We're kind of at ground zero right out of our back windows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOUDREAU: Reynolds Wolf is live in Moorehead, Minnesota where the river is expected to crest this weekend. Reynolds, are you there?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Someone out there is watching you. It could be your boss. We'll tell you what employers are doing to track their workers.
BOUDREAU: You think money's tight now? What happens when your neighborhood schools after the stimulus money runs out. Josh Levs finds out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Another week and yet another set of schools in crisis. This week it was Detroit looking to close dozens of public schools to try to stay afloat.
BOUDREAU: Believe it or not things are not about to get better. They're going to get even worse and when billions of dollars from the stimulus runs out, you can only imagine. Our Josh Levs is here with us to tell us a lot more about this. Josh, what's this about a cliff? What are you talking about?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a cliff, and this is what's wild. We think things are bad now, right? Educators are calling it the cliff. They've gotten billions of dollars over the past year from the stimulus. That's going to end and then we're talking about things getting way, way worse at schools all over the country. I want you to see how drastic this is.
We got a video we're going to show you right now that highlights just a few examples of what's going to be happening in some cities across the country. Can we show everyone this video? We're going to start off with a look at one of the ones we've been hearing a lot about lately and that's Michigan. And the reason is, Detroit's hit so badly in this recession, they've got $1 billion from the stimulus just for their education system alone there and most of it already spent.
Now go over to California, $6 billion there from the stimulus just for the education system and the vast majority of that has already been handed out. Another really stark example is there in New York. Look at this. They're expecting a $2 billion shortfall after the stimulus money runs out there in New York. So those are just a few examples of what we're seeing when we hear about this thing called the cliff.
Unless I hear otherwise, I'm going to take a little walk over to the CNN magic wall and I want everyone to see how much money you've already gotten from the stimulus in your state and how much money in general has been going to education from the stimulus. Take a look here. This is the stimulus desk and I want to show everyone this screen right here.
Look at this, $100 billion, $98.3 billion from the stimulus has already gone to the Education Department. $71 billion guys, Abbie and T.J., has already been given out to the states. So with all those billions already delivered to the states for education, it's still so bad that they're looking at these massive shortfalls coming up in the next year.
BOUDREAU: So what does that mean for the schools and what does this mean for the country?
LEVS: It's really bad. In fact the AP did a really good story. The Associated Press, they spoke with a bunch of experts. Let me show you what they're saying because they boiled it down really well. When the stimulus money runs out, when you hit that thing called the cliff, what happens to school? More teacher layoffs, lower pay which means more unhappy teachers that are there. Larger classes in general, fewer electives, fewer extracurricular activities and what happens to the country, boom, look at this.
You have weaker public school systems in general. You have more -- higher unemployment in general because we know when schools get worse, it's harder for people to find jobs. You have higher unemployment in general, also it can kill the president's economic agenda for schools and finally, wider achievement gap, the gap between those kids who families can pay for private schools and those who cannot will get even worse, the education gap gets worse. So guys, very big stakes which is why we as a nation really need to find a way to tackle this crisis facing our schools.
BOUDREAU: Thanks so much, Josh. This really is a big problem especially in Detroit when we keep hearing about these stories about all these schools shutting down and everything. You really feel for these communities.
HOLMES: The community school is such a sense of identity for so many of these folks.
BOUDREAU: Thanks, Josh.
Checking our top stories. The pressure is on in the nation's capital. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a vote will be held tomorrow on the Senate version of that massive health care reform package we've been talking about so much. All of the Republican House members are against the bill. So far 29 Democrats oppose the measure. It would take 38 Democratic no votes to kill it.
HOLMES: Opponents of health care reform gathering on Capitol Hill today as well trying to send a message to Congress, nearly two dozen tea party organizations taking part in a noon time protest. Several lawmakers are scheduled to speak along with actor and activist Jon Voight.
BOUDREAU: Sea World in Orlando trainers have a new set of rules for handling killer whales. They've been ordered to keep their distance when extracting taking blood samples. Trainers were barred from getting in the water with the whales after the attack and there are indications that there could be change by the summer. Sea World says all the new decision are in honor of the woman who was killed after being dragged under water by one of the park's whales.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You ever feel like someone's watching you? Maybe they are if you're ever at work checking Facebook, email, ESPN, Twitter, all that stuff. Do not assume that your boss is not watching you. According to the American Management Association, more companies are electronically watching their employees. More people are also getting fired for what they're doing at work.
Our tech guru Mario Armstrong joins us with an important topic this morning. Companies spending more time keeping an eye on their employees in the first place. Why?
MARIO ARMSTRONG, TECHNOLOGY COMMENTATOR: Well, a couple of reasons. A lot of people take offense to this type of issue, but I'll break it down -- three quick reasons. Number one, companies are trying to do more with less. So they want more productivity out of their workers T.J. so they are trying to find out how much time are you spending on these other sites or doing other things that are not work- related?
Two, it's become really cheap and easy to install this type of software and these hardware devices to do the tracking. You no longer have to spend a lot of money doing that type of stuff and three, we're seeing more and more employees now spilling the confidential information from inside of their offices. They're bashing their bosses. They're talking about their co-workers and some of them are actually giving up details, insider information to bloggers that are out there.
HOLMES: That's a good point there. But something else interesting to point out there, they're not just looking to see if you're saying something bad or on a wrong website you shouldn't be on. They just want to make sure you are focused on work while you are at work. So that's a good point. How do you know? How would an employee ever know if you're being tracked by your employer?
ARMSTRONG: The bottom line is this is something that it's legal for them to do. As an employer they have the right to do this, but you really can't tell, T.J., unless your company has come forward and said hey, look, we are tracking you. Here are the reasons why we're monitoring you. That's the only real way to know unless you ask someone on the IT team or the tech team and they actually tell you so.
So there's really no visual signs for you to find out unless you end up doing something bad and you end up getting caught. But what I would suggest is you do is you check your human resources policy because it should state what type of tracking or monitoring should happen on any electronic equipment that's owned by the company.
HOLMES: Or you could just work when you're at work and try that and that will keep you out of trouble. ARMSTRONG: Imagine that.
HOLMES: Tell us though, you said there's no way to know so what kind of stuff are they using to track their employees?
ARMSTRONG: All types of things. Some are hardware devices that you can use, little small USB drives like this that you can actually plug into a computer. Smaller companies use this type of technology or they'll use say a piece of CD or software, rather that they'll install into all the computers. How in a larger company, they can do this across a net work a lot faster.
So it is mostly software and it is a combination of hardware as well. For example, maybe if you have a co-worker that's surfing pornographic websites and you tell someone about that, they can then confiscate that laptop and analyze that hard drive to be able to determine whether or not that computer was actually on a sexually explicit website.
HOLMES: And I think I heard you mention a moment ago that this type of surveillance is, in fact, legal and we kind of hit on what kind of thing you should do at work to keep from getting in trouble. One, just to do work when you're at work, but still you know, if you want to check your Facebook and all this every once in a while, is there a way to get around some of the this spy gear, if you will?
ARMSTRONG: There are always ways to kind of get around technology in some cases, but the issue is, do you really want to put yourself in that position? So the best thing to do is, if you really want to do personal things I suggest getting a personal cell phone so that you can send e-mail or do your calls on that or a personal laptop.
If you're receiving a laptop from work and you're taking that laptop home and then using it for Facebook or Myspace or Twitter, that information that's on that laptop is still legally tracked and monitored. It can still be legally tracked and monitored through that particular company.
One other thing to keep in mind, too, T.J., a lot of people don't do this and that is, when you walk away from your computer at work, log off. If you're still logged on to the computer and someone else can come to your desk, type in some information that maybe you didn't even type and then you're in the hot seat trying to defend yourself for something you didn't even do.
HOLMES: Great tips this morning. I got to let you go because I got to go wipe my hard drive clean. I will talk to you soon.
ARMSTRONG: Stay off the network. Stay off the grid.
HOLMES: Appreciate it as always. Mario Armstrong, of course, our tech guy. He joins us every Saturday at this time. Mario Armstrong giving us the latest scoop on the latest technology.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Welcome back, everybody, to the CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BOUDREAU: And I'm Abbie Boudreau. Thanks for starting your day with us.
Health care reform is our top story this hour. The House is pushing towards a vote tomorrow on the senate version of the bill. The House Rules Committee is deciding this morning how tomorrow's voting will play out. The full House convenes this morning in about 30 minutes.
Later today President Obama huddles with House Democrats for a strategy session; 216 votes are needed to pass or kill the reform measure.
TEA Party groups are gathering today in Washington and several other cities to protest the plan.
HOLMES: And Pope Benedict says he is truly sorry. He released a letter not long ago in regards to the priest sex abuse scandal that has rocked Ireland. In that letter he apologized for the harm caused and rebuked Irish bishops for, quote, "Grave errors in judgment". Many victims are accusing the church of covering up years of abuse.
BOUDREAU: Air travelers across the world could be feeling the effects of a labor strike. British Airways is canceling more than 1,000 flights today after a walkout by the airline's cabin crews. Last-ditch talks collapsed last night between the airline and the union.
HOLMES: And we are still sorting through the yes's and the no's, the undecided's and the undeclared. It's been a week of flip-flopping and political maneuvering as lawmakers battled the clock and they are battling each other over health care reform.
Let's try to count the vote, Lisa Desjardins is our Capitol Hill correspondent for CNN Radio and she joins us live. Where are we? We keep talking about these 216 number, who is the closest to it right now?
LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Well, neither side is declaring victory at this point. It is awfully close and I think T.J., today is make or break.
Just like Brianna Keilar has been telling you, we at CNN have counted 29 or 30 no votes. That 30th is someone that may change but 29 or 29 or 30 nos that means Democrats can only afford seven more of their members to jump ship that out of two dozen undecided's, it's very tight.
HOLMES: And now, we hear these -- many of these Representatives say that they have read the bill. Now there are several bills that have been floating around up there, but the ones in particular we're talking about the 2,000-page senate bill and also the 153-page now reconciliation bill. How difficult is it to get through all that reading?
DESJARDINS: It is like reading a different language. It is almost hard to believe that this is English sometimes. The good thing about reading these bills and I know you've kind of looked through it -- is it's in large print so that's nice. And with all kind of jokes about why that is, but it's in large print, but I'll tell you why, you have to keep handy the U.S. Code, a table of contents.
You've got to look section by section because it's not written in a language that we speak. It's written Amend Section 5.9 of U.S. Code blah, blah, blah, all these numbers. Doesn't say what they're doing, you have to constantly cross reference, very slow going and usually takes me a week or two of staying up until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning every night to get through one of these 2,000-page bills. And I for one would be happy to not have to read another one for a while.
HOLMES: Well, we know that's not going to be the case. This might be the last health care bill at least ...
DESJARDINS: Right.
HOLMES: ... for a while, some up there are hoping.
But you're right, its legalese and it is a totally different language.
Lisa Desjardins, thank you for reading through it. Thank you for your time this morning. We're going to be checking in with you again here shortly.
Also on Capitol Hill, opponents of health care reform, protesters from nearly two dozen TEA Party organizations are planning to take part in today's noontime rally. Several law makers are scheduled to speak there as well along with actor and activist Jon Voight.
You heard me talking to Lisa there about the yes's and the no's and the undeclared's and undecideds -- we've actually got one of each of these. We've got three Congressmen who's going to be coming up here in a little bit who are going to decide what happens with your health care.
They're going to join us live: Dennis Kucinich, Parker Griffith and also Henry Cuellar all are our guests, coming your way in about 25 minutes.
BOUDREAU: All right. So from Washington, D.C., to Minnesota where we are headed to hang out with our friend Reynolds Wolf for just a little bit here. He's in Moorhead, Minnesota, where the river is expected to crest this weekend.
So Reynolds, behind you, the light is coming up and now we were able to actually see where you are and actually get to see you know, everything that's behind you right now. Are there a lot of people who live in that area ...
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. BOUDREAU: ... where you are right now?
WOLF: You know, it's certainly not the most highly-populated place in either Minnesota or on the other side of the river of North Dakota, but it's still a decent population, I mean. I would say it's a medium-sized city and many of the people you'll see over here along this bridge already are making their way across.
Abbie, it's -- these guys, I mean, they're just acting like it's a normal day for them. And I mean, for most ways, it is normal. They're getting up on a Saturday morning and they're going to get their coffee and they are just making things seem as normal as possible.
The big issue though is what's directly behind me. You could see the Red River which is much higher than normal. If you happen to see this and you've never been here before, well, this looks like -- you know, like a big river. Well, I'll tell you, it's actually kind of a meandering stream that stretches some 550 miles from the south to the north and empties up in Lake Winnipeg up in Canada.
Now, if you look at the sign right here it says 14.3 inches. That sign actually is kind of like the lines of a road that actually goes underneath for any high-profile vehicles they know they're the limitations of what can go underneath that trestle. Even farther down, if you were to follow along that length of bridge, the stream actually -- the river is actually relatively shallow and right in there people can actually have picnics and see, if -- of course, the water come by.
But that certainly has changed and the big reason why it's changed because of all the drastic snow melt, the snow that is still over here. I mean, take a look at this big pile here. Chris Davis, the photojournalist, and I know the sun is going to play a little bit of havoc possibly with the camera, so we'll be careful with this, but this snow melting with those temperatures that were above normal, is one of the big reasons, one of the culprits of the issues and the flooding that we have today.
Water expected to top out around 37.5 feet later tonight and into tomorrow, but there's a hope that it won't get quite that high.
Now, if you look at this parking lot, that's the parking lot where the water actually came up to my waist or so just about a year or so ago. Certainly not the issue now, but if we have any breaks in any of the levees into the dams that changes everything.
Some of the (INAUDIBLE) change and some of the action we've been seeing in terms of flash flood watches and warnings, let's go right to the weather maps very quickly if we can. As we go to those weather maps and we're taking them in full. You're going to see a lot of green on the screen. Green is going to indicate the place where we have really the biggest dangers for flooding.
Another big danger we have not along just this Red River, but the Red River to the south that makes it parts of the Texas and Oklahoma border. We could see some heavy snowfall there today.
Some of the snowfall totals are actually quite interesting. We're seeing some that could actually measure up several feet up especially back towards Colorado. We could see up to a foot of snow in parts of Oklahoma.
Now, the tail end of the system, it's not a snow maker, but a rainmaker and possibly some severe thunderstorms in parts of Texas as all of this cruises a bit more to the east, Abbie, we could see more thunderstorms develop in parts of Tennessee, perhaps, Alabama and maybe even Georgia. And there's the potential that we could have some flash flooding in low lying areas or spots with poor drainage.
As we wrap things up, that is the latest we have from here. Of course, we're going to watch the water rise as I mentioned expecting to reach that point of 37.5 feet tonight and into tomorrow before receding once again. And we're going to watch these levees very carefully hoping that they're going to be strong enough to hold back these waters.
Let's send it back to you in the studio.
BOUDREAU: All right, thanks Reynolds. We'll be back to you not too long from now. Thank you very much.
WOLF: You bet.
BOUDREAU: So golf fans are talking about it along with just about everyone else and everyone seems to have an opinion about it.
HOLMES: Of course, they do. Tiger is coming back and his golf bag might be a little heavier this time around. He's got a little more baggage when he hits the golf course. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, our top story probably for the hour and for the weekend, Washington, D.C. The House is pushing toward approving the senate version of the health care reform bill. All of the Republican members appear to be voting no. So that means if 38 Democrats join in, in voting no then the bill would be defeated. So far 29 Democrats have said they will vote no.
BOUDREAU: Election officials in Iraq are counting votes, too, but a delay in announcing a clear winner has the country on edge. At the moment it's a tight race between the two leading candidates. Experts believe without a stable government in place soon there could be a rise in violence that could also affect the agreement to allow U.S. troops by 2012.
HOLMES: Now, Pope Benedict apologizing for the priest sex abuse scandal in Ireland and also rebuking the bishops there for quote, "Grave errors in judgment". In a pastoral letter released just last hour the Pope railed against the abusers and said they must answer before God and civil authorities. Victims of the abuse accused the church of covering it up for years. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Yes. All eyes will be on Tiger. He is making his return to professional golf in about three weeks. A few days ago the world's top golfer ended speculation and announced he'll return to the sport at the very spot where he won his first major 13 years ago, the Masters at Augusta. Rick Horrow, our business sports analyst joins us morning.
Rick this is a tall order. He's been off for 150-plus days now. You know what? A lot of people thought you need to come back and do a tune-up event. Why would he go all out and go big?
RICK HORROW, CNN BUSINESS SPORTS ANALYST: Well, because that's the way Tiger is. Remember, he was number one and still is for 580 straight weeks. He won 56 events last decade. He won six events last year. Bottom line is he does great at the Masters; four of the wins of his majors are Masters wins.
The last four years he's placed sixth or better and listen, you only have one chance to come back from what he came back from or what happened to him and you need that controlled environment that a private club gives him the advantage of doing. This will be very, very well scripted. Everybody is not going to like it, but it's going to be well scripted.
HOLMES: Ok. So a lot of people say, in that regard, you just laid it out well. This is a good move. A lot of people don't realize how tightly controlled this course, this event is. But maybe beyond this, when he gets to more open places, open events where their rowdier crowds, how is he going to be received out there on the green?
HORROW: A lot of it depends on what happens between the ropes. If he plays well and he competes very well then everybody's going to say, "Look at this superstar, he's just four wins away from Jack Nicklaus' major record." If he doesn't do well, well, that scandal really affected him.
So the bottom line for the tour is it's very important to have him back. It is now certain that he is back and that is the key. So now that everybody knows he's back, the eyes of the golfing world are going to be on him does he play well or not? I'm not Kreskin, but I believe this is a world-class athlete. There is no glass ceiling for Tiger Woods.
HOLMES: I heard someone actually say that they believe this event, his comeback will mirror the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama. It's going to be that big. People are going to watch the Masters anyway, and now that he's back and you throw this in it, everybody is going to be watching but how down the road is this going to change the whole dynamic of the year out on a tour?
HORROW: Remember, ratings have been down 40 percent, 50 percent and Tiger Woods has been competitive golf. There have been great success stories the first three months of the season that people have largely ignored based on the uncertainty when Tiger's coming back or not.
Now we all know, and he has such a profound effect on the business that this is going to be the biggest story of the year no matter what happens.
Anybody have a chance of getting into this event if somebody was trying to go track down a ticket to get in there? Any chance?
HORROW: You have to have a lot of coin and you have to know somebody. And the bottom line is this is going to be the most historic event. So all those badges are now selling in the secondary market; $2,500, $3,000, if you want to go you have to come out of your pocket, my friend.
HOLMES: Are the sponsors are getting pretty excited down the road since we know he's going to be back? Are they starting to come back in droves? I guess the Masters probably does ok, but still down the road, are the sponsors certainly going to be coming back now that they know that Tiger is coming back? Do you hear me all right? I see you having an issue with the ear piece there. Do you hear my question ok?
HORROW: Yes. I can always hear you, no matter what. I can feel what your question's going to be. And here's the bottom line of all of it. Ok. Nike and EA are partners. So they understand that he's got to come back no matter how he performs.
A lot of those sponsors that walked away from him or vice versa, Accenture, Gillette; they're on the fence. All of the contracts with Tiger Woods and maybe everybody else in the future, even if there are new deals signed, they're going to be shorter and smaller and easier to terminate. That's what Tiger Woods has done to this business.
HOLMES: All right. Our business sports analyst, Rick Horrow. Buddy, always good to see you. I know you go every year to the Masters. Are you certainly going this year as well?
HORROW: Absolutely, my friend. Maybe I'll stop by Atlanta and pick you up. What do you think?
HOLMES: I will be out on the curb with my bag.
Appreciate you Rick. We'll talk to you again soon, good buddy -- Abbie.
BOUDREAU: All right T.J.
Responding to the child abuse scandal and the Catholic Church; just a short while ago, just last hour the Pope released a letter detailing his reactions at the allegations. A live report from Rome is coming up.
And we've been talking about this all morning long, yes vote, no votes and the undeclared. We have them all. Three Congressmen who will decide what happens to your health care will join us live in about 15 minutes. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOUDREAU: An apology from the head of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict says he is truly sorry for the priest sex abuse scandal in Ireland. The Vatican released an 18-page letter today which is expected to be read in churches across Ireland.
Diana Magnay joins us live from Rome.
Diana, now I understand that the Pope has a message for the perpetrators of the sex abuse scandal.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. He has some very strong words in this letter for the perpetrators. He's basically saying to them that they have to acknowledge their crimes and face justice, face properly constituted tribunals, not just before God, but also before civil law. And the Vatican spokesmen shortly after we were all given this document explained that a bit further.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEDERICO LOMBARDI, VATICAN SPOKESMAN: The Pope has also very strong words for the -- for the priests and the religious who have abused the children. He says that they have to respond to God and to the courts and also the justice of the state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MAGNAY: And Abbie, we know that the Pope has been working on this letter since last summer; so really quite a long time. It's interesting, it's written in a very simple, direct personal way. And I'll just give you a sense of the way it's written and what the Pope is saying.
"In the name of the church I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel, and at the same time I ask you to not lose hope." So the Pope acknowledges the pain that people have gone through at the hands of these priests within the Catholic Church who have committed abuse. He said he's very sorry and he's making very clear that it will not happen again, Abbie.
BOUDREAU: Diana, did he say anything about meeting with the victims?
MAGNAY: He did say that he would meet with victims again, not specifically necessarily to Ireland. He said, "I have met with victims in the past," and that was back in 2008. He met with victims of sex abuse in the U.S. in New York. He said he would be happy to meet with them again.
Something that was expected or some people expected out of this letter was a call for resignations of cardinals and bishops in Ireland. This did not come out in this letter and in fact the Vatican spokesman said that was because this is a pastoral letter. It's not a piece of legislation -- Abbie.
BOUDREAU: All right. Thank you, Diana, a very much.
HOLMES: We are getting into the power of numbers this morning on Capitol Hill. It's left to fewer than a dozen lawmakers to decide the fate of health care reform. We will have the latest as both sides try to pull some of those fence sitters off that fence.
Also, it's the first day of spring? Seriously? Try telling that to some of those snow-weary folks in certain parts of the country. We'll tell you who's dealing with blizzard-like conditions on spring time.
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BOUDREAU: Checking our top stories, at least 12 people are wounded following a series of Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip. The air strikes come just one day after a rocket believed to have been fired from Gaza killed a worker in southern Israel. Israel says the strikes are retaliation for attacks by Palestinian militants.
Today is the first day of spring and it feels that way here in Atlanta, but somebody forgot to tell them in Oklahoma. There's a state of emergency there right now across all 77 counties because of a powerful winter storm. High winds are expected and up to ten inches of snow. The DOT is asking drivers to keep off the roads.
More than 1,000 flights are being canceled today as one of the world's largest air carriers deals with the start of a three-day strike. Cabin crews have walked off the job after negotiations broke down last night with British Airways. The airline adds chartered flights from some of its rivals to accommodate some of the affected passengers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: We've made clear it's time to scrap this bill. They'll continue to ram, ram, ram this bill through the Congress.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just the co-pay for one month is $350.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), REPUBLICAN WHIP: Where people vote on this bill will have a huge factor and it will have a huge impact on whether they're here next year or not.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What's it going to mean for Obama? Will his presidency be crippled or will he be -- or -- or will he be the comeback kid?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The clock is ticking this morning, and lawmakers in Washington are making an 11th-hour case for and against health care reform. At this very minute the full House is getting ready to convene. Also, the House Rules Committee is going to be meeting in about an hour.
Very important this morning, the meeting of the Rules Committee because they're actually going to be voting and going to be explaining and laying out exactly how the rules are going to go, how this whole vote will play out. Also anti-abortion rights Democrats are planning a news conference coming up around 11:00 Eastern time this morning and then mid-afternoon, Democrats only meeting on Capitol Hill and to be heading up that meeting will be President Obama -- yes, making his way to the Hill.
You're seeing a live picture -- I believe we do have -- we were trying to show you this morning of them getting ready to convene, the House floor this morning.
There they are, starting to usher their way in or being ushered in and find their way in and find their spot because the debate is about to get going again this morning and a vote could happen tomorrow.
Now, before they talk with anyone else today, House members are going to be talking to us and they're going to do it right now. We have a yes, a no and an undeclared representative that will be joining us this hour.
Up first. Five days ago, Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich, he was not backing the president's plan. In 24 hours, he now plans to vote yes, and he's joining us this morning from Washington, D.C. There he is, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, sir, good morning to you. We're going to show our viewers some video that I'm sure you're familiar with. You were with the president this week on Air Force One.
He went to attend this health care rally in his district and he actually called you out in front of your constituents there. Let me ask you first of all, you switched your vote after that, any chance as we talk right now that you would switch back?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: I don't think you need to denigrate this huge decision which I had to make which was to think about how we could keep the health care debate going. I have fought long and hard for single payer. That's not in the bill.
I fought for public option, couldn't get it in the bill and tried to protect the right of states to pursue single payer, couldn't get it in the bill and what I was looking at was a decision whether to kill the bill or enable it to keep breathing with the hopes that that will be part of a larger discussion towards comprehensive health care reform after this passes.
So I chose to keep the discussion going, keep hopes alive that we can continue to move in the direction of health care reform. If the bill's killed I think that it will be years and years and years before Washington will ever seriously talk about any kind of health care reform, whether it's within a model of a private for profit system or whether we can expand towards a more national health care system.
HOLMES: Well, certainly, sir, I don't mean to certainly put down everything you had to go through to make that decision, to help deliberate that decision was. We were used to hearing you talk about this bill and how it was a bad idea, saying things along the line that it was much better bill for insurance companies and investors than it is for the American people. So to hear your language like that for so long and then hear you turn around and say I support the bill now. A lot of people are scratching their heads.
KUCINICH: I don't take back any of the criticisms I made of the bill. You know, in life sometimes you make decisions on things that you really would prefer not to do in order to create the possibility that down the road, you can get back to where you want to go. It's like if you're driving a car and you head down a road, you hit a roadblock, you can choose to go the route you planned on and maybe go over a cliff or you can take a detour and in that detour you're still looking at the destination where you want to arrive.
I want to arrive at an America some day that will have a 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.
HOLMES: Well, sir, you talked about that detour and it has certainly been taking you down the road that for so long you have been saying that you did not want to go at least. So have you been given any assurances by the president or Democratic leaders that if you give this vote on this bill that they will go back and address some of the concerns that you had, that single payer system that you're talking about. Do you have any confidence that you will get back on that road.
KUCINICH: President Obama made it very clear. He's not for single payer, but what he did tell me is this. He said that some of the other concerns I have about health care, which includes diet, nutrition, complimentary alternative medicine that he would be willing to work with me as we proceed through an increasing and an increasing important health care discussion in this country but without this bill passing, what we're looking at is for a presidency that's crippled.
And not only that, you're looking at no talk about health care because it took us 16 years to have a discussion about health care once the Clinton bill went down. Again, I just want to tell you that I am not retracting any of the criticisms I made. I am not giving up my hope that I can help create possibilities for people at the state level to move towards single payer model.
But right now it's not the bill that I want, but it's the bill that I think that can serve as a step towards a larger, more expanded comprehensive health care reform, you know, however flawed the process and the bill is.
HOLMES: Sir, give me an idea of what you have been hearing from maybe constituents and maybe critics and maybe supporters of you for so long who know you were a champion of health care and then to hear you say, you will support something that you have called terribly flawed, you called a bailout to insurance companies. You're voting for that now. What kind of responses have you been getting? KUCINICH: There have been people on both sides of the issue. People want me to vote for it. People want me to vote against it. You know and I have to make a decision in the end, do I want to be the vote that kills health care reform? Because this is a very close vote.
Two weeks ago, it was widely reported that I was a pivotal vote on this, and when you look at the moment, and you see either you're going to make something happen or you're going to stop something from happening, it becomes a matter of conscience. You have to think about the implications of the vote and you have to think about is there any opening at all that you might have to be able to use this passage to continue a comprehensive discussion about health care reform.
And hopefully get some day to where you want to go, and I thought that I would be in a much stronger position on behalf of my constituents to be part of a process that at least moves the bill forward than to gain a position where I take the singular responsibility for killing health care reform.
And that might cause some people to celebrate me for about a single day and after that they're going to ask me, "hey, Dennis, why didn't you think about it? Why did you dig in? How come you're so inflexible." I mean, these are things that, you know, we are here, we have to look at things as they are, not always as you would like them to be.
HOLMES: Congressman, we know this is a heavy decision weighing on a lot of your colleagues up there in D.C. we will certainly be watching. We appreciate you, stepping over to our camera this morning. And we'll be talking to you soon. Thank you so much.
KUCINICH: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Not everyone, of course, as you know agrees with Congressman Kucinich that this plan is better than no plan at all.
We'll try to get that to you a little later, but some words there that are resonating with Dr. Parker Griffith. You're going to hear from him as well. This is a congressman who left the Democratic party in December and became a Republican over the president's proposed health care reform.
What is it about the bill that he just can't take? You'll find out. He's up next live. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF: Good morning to our friends across the nation and beyond. I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf for CNN, and I happen to be in Moorehead, Minnesota. This right here just to my immediate left is the Red River that escaped its banks and then on the other side, you got Fargo, North Dakota and this big stretch of water, this big bubbling reach (ph) is really in major flood stage.
In fact, flood stage in this stretch of the river, major flood about 18 feet is anticipated that these waters will rise to 37.5 feet, and what I'm standing on is the reason for the flooding. We've had widespread flood with temperatures that have been well above normal over the last couple of weeks and with that melting pouring into the river obviously we're going to have all kinds of issues.
Now, one thing that they've been doing in this part of the world is they've been stacking up sandbags. Obviously, not here at my feet, this is just some snow that's been left over. We do have sandbags hundreds of miles up and down this river to help combat the flooding and there's a chance we still might see a bit more of it as we make our way through tomorrow. Certainly, we're going to watch these levies carefully. If one breaks, the situation could change here very quickly and very badly.
Also we got another storm that's forming across parts of the central plains that could bring up to a foot of snowfall to Oklahoma. We're going to bring you that coming up very soon. You're watching CNN "Saturday Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PARKER GRIFFITH (R), ALABAMA: We have 92 Nobel laureates in physiology and medicine in America, more than the rest of the world combined. This is a system that has worked and worked well. It is being misrepresented by the Democratic party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: This half hour we're talking with representatives who are voting yes, no and undeclared. You just heard from Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich on why he switched his vote this week from no to yes. Now we'll be talking with Parker Griffith. He's a freshman representative from Alabama, who switched parties over this whole health care issue. He's a retired oncologist and he is against it.
Congressman Griffith, good morning to you. Thank you for being here with us. At this point, can I ask you, is there anything that would change your mind at this late juncture and maybe you'll get onboard and vote yes.
GRIFFITH: Well, no, there is nothing that will change my mind and thank you for having me on. I did just receive a call from the House physician's office and there's an unusually large number of shoulder and arm injuries being reported today in the House physician's office. So although I am not one of those, I would not change -- would not change my mind. This is a bad bill. It's been a bad bill because the premise of it has been faulty from the start.
HOLMES: Well, we know how you feel about it there. You've talked about you not liking the bill. At this point though what are Republicans doing behind the scenes? Are you still trying to pull over a few more no's or are you all content just to sit back and watch the Democrats scramble to try to get enough votes for this bill? GRIFFITH: Well, they're scrambling very hard, but I think both sides are making their case. I think that 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 certainly not good for our patients and not good for the health care system in general.
HOLMES: Well, Representative Griffith, where do you put the number right now, where do Republicans think the number is as far as the yeses and no's on this bill.
GRIFFITH: I think we're four up. I think we're winning.
HOLMES: Four up?
GRIFFITH: Yes. I think we're about four up. The count, depending on whose little charts you're looking at might go to three, it may go to two, may go to five, but I think it's in a flux right now, but we're hoping that those individual Congress people that understand that the GAO number, I don't think anybody over four years of age believes the number that was put out by the GAO.
I think the almost a trillion dollar number doesn't ring true with anybody in America because we've never known a federal program to come in under budget or at budget. So this is a false number. So when we hear Congress people use that as a reason to change from no to yes. We know there's other things going on in the back ground, but we hope that those who are no remain no, and it would be a real victory for the American people.
Representative Griffith, I want to get back. I'm talking about numbers. I want to get back to your numbers. Are you talking about depending on what charge you're looking at, we keep talking about the number 216 to pass or to fail, but you're saying you might be as many as five up. You think you're somewhere around 220 no's on this bill.
GRIFFITH: We could be at 220 no's, yes. We could be. I think some of the people who have said how they're going to vote over the last 48 hours may not be there. I think we're hearing from our constituents on an hourly basis. Some of our Congress people have been refusing to take calls from their constituents, and I think that's been a mistake. But I think we're beginning to hear and see that this is a very, very serious bill and had this been a good bill, we would not -- you and I would not be having this conversation.
If this was a good bill, if this was a bill that the president understood, or Nancy Pelosi understood and could explain to the American people, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
HOLMES: Well, Representative Griffith, we just heard -- I don't know if you're able to hear them, Congressman Kucinich who, of course, switched his vote from no to yes. He said he did that because he liked to keep at least the conversation going and if this bill goes away and dies, it will be another decade or two before we get to this point again. Do you see some logic in that before we put away a year's worth of work? Would you think it's a better idea to just keep it going and make changes along the way over the years? GRIFFITH: I think Congressman Kucinich is a brilliant man, but I think that 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. Once this bill is law it is going to be very, very difficult to change it, and what's going to happen, and I think that maybe Congressman Kucinich may not realize this and many, many other Congress people may not realize it, but I've been a physician for 40 years.
We're getting ready to create a two-tier system of medicine in America. We're going to have the Neiman Marcus medicine for about 25 percent of Americans and then we're going to have, the rest are going to be dollar general medicine. You cannot reform a system around the shortage. We have an acute shortage of physicians. The physicians are not able to see the patients that are out there now. There's a difference between coverage and access.
You can have a card in your pocket that says USA health care, but you still cannot see a physician because there are not enough of them. There are not enough primary care physicians, there are not enough cardiovascular surgeons. There are not enough neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons. I mean, this bill is poorly thought out and it's going to lead to acute shortages and those who have are going to be fine. The poor, the near poor and the middle class are going to suffer because they're going to have a card that says they can have care, but there's going to have no access to it.
HOLMES: Well, Representative Griffith, a lot of people, as you know, disagree and this bill is well thought out and has been talked about as some would even say. But Representative Griffith, thank you for taking the time as well. I know you're going to be working today. I'm sure we'll be catching up with you again. We'd love to get a look at your chart that says 220 at some point as well.
Representative, thank you so much. We'll talk to you again soon. All right.
GRIFFITH: Thank you. Appreciate you.
HOLMES: All right. We're just hearing from congressman who is voting yes, that was Representative Kucinich. We heard from Representative Griffith there who is explaining his no vote. Now the wild card in the debate. The lawmakers who will ultimately determine what happens to health care in this country. The all-important undeclareds. What's keeping a Democratic congressman from signing on to the bill? His party is pulling out all stops to pass. He's joining me after the break.
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HOLMES: The future of health care reform comes down to a handful of votes. They are the all-important undecided and undeclared lawmakers. Here's how it breaks down right now.
Twenty-nine tell CNN they are still undeclared. 15 others haven't said how they'll vote and keep in mind, lawmakers still have 24 hours to change their minds or to make up their minds. We're talking about Democrats here. 38 Democrats decide that they are going to vote no then that would essentially defeat this legislation.
Now this half hour we're talking with representatives who are voting yes, no and undeclared. You just heard from Alabama Republican Parker Griffith. He's voting no. Earlier Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich explained why he is now voting yes and now it's time to hear from one of those important undeclareds.
A blue dog Democrat, Congressman Henry Cuellar from Texas. He's here with us. doesn't like the idea of spending taxpayer money possibly for abortions but he also represents a district that ranks in the nation's top 10 for residents without medical insurance. So you have a lot to consider here, sir. I will ask you first of all, you are an undeclared but can you tell me have you made up your mind yet? We are getting close to 24 hours from the vote. Have you decided what you're going to do?
REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D), TEXAS: I'll certainly do it before the vote itself, I could say that much. But I think you hit it right on the nail. I've got a district that's in the top 10 most uninsured district in the whole country. At the same time as a blue dog, I want to look at what sort of impact this will affect our country, what sort of impact it'll have in 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's the issue about the cost. It's the issue, of course, providing access, but the other thing is you have other factors. You know, I'm a tort reform person. I want to see tort reform also.
HOLMES: Representative, you kind of slid right past my first question now. I know you're undeclared. What I'm asking you personally behind the scenes, have you decided if you're going to vote yes or no tomorrow?
CUELLAR: No, I haven't, but there are some things that are very promising. I will tell you that.
HOLMES: What is the hold up then, sir? This debate has been going on -- the bills have been out there a long time. The reconciliation bill, yes, just about 48 hours or so, but what is still your hold up that 24 hours before the vote, you are still not sure?
CUELLAR: Yes, sir. I'll tell you what it is. First of all, as a small business person I still want to know what sort of impact it will have on the small business. I've been in a small business person. I want to make sure this, you know, we do this correct. We've looked at the Senate bill that's been out there. The reconciliation came out.
Let's keep in mind that there 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 any other changes they might add at the last minute. HOLMES: Sounds like you're leaning yes. 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 in that direction.
HOLMES: Well, sir, there is also a report out that you actually want to do this independently. You don't want anyone trying to influence your vote and that you're actually not even taking calls from the White House, is that correct?
CUELLAR: That's correct. With all due respect to the White House, this is my district. This is the 650,000-plus people that I represent as a congressman. I know my district better than anybody. It's not the White House decision. This is my decision as a congressman, and I want to make this in an independent manner
HOLMES: Now, do you think that's even -- are you worried about how they may feel about that over at the White House, the president of the United States calling and you won't even take his call.
CUELLAR: Well, again the White House did call. I will say this. I got elected on my own. It's the people on District 28 that elected me and those are my bosses.
HOLMES: All right. Well, with the federal, there's something that you're not comfortable with. The funding and you want to make sure there's no federal funding of abortions. Now, are you confident in the language you're seeing so far in the Senate bill and also the reconciliation bill?
CUELLAR: Yes, sir. I have looked at it very carefully. I prefer the Stupak language but we've been looking at the Senate language. We've looked at some analysis and I've looked at the language last night and I looked at it over and over again. And one of the things that I just want to make sure that at the end of day there is no federal dollars being used for abortions. There are a lot of protections there.
Now even when people look at it, you know that Catholic bishops still have concerns but at the same time you have the Catholic hospitals. You see the Catholic nuns that have come out and support. They feel comfortable with this language. So you can see that even now, there are still differences of opinion on this language. I just want to look at the legal analysis to make sure that -- as an attorney, I just want to make sure that Henry Hydeman, who basically says middle no federal funds will be used for abortions.
HOLMES: Now, sir, will you get a chance to speak? I know the president's coming over to the Capitol today and will meet with the Democrats. Do you plan on attending that meeting and are you going to try to grab the president's ear there or like you say, you're not taking his calls or are you going to try to avoid him?
CUELLAR: No, no, no. Not that. I'll be there at the caucus. I'll see what the president has to say, but again, this is my district. I got elected by the people in district 28. I got to see what's good for that particular district and of course, what's good for the rest of the state and the nation.
HOLMES: All right. Well, Representative Henry Cuellar, one of those all-important undeclareds right now. Sir, we appreciate you taking the time and good luck with your deliberation and we'll see you for the vote tomorrow.
CUELLAR: Thank you, T.J.
All right. Thank you so much. All right. Coming up here next, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with our own Stephanie Elam coming your way right after the break and of course, we'll be back with more live news at the top of the hour. 10:00we continue our coverage of this big weekend in health care reform. Stay with us.
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