Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20100324

president obama's signature issue is now the law the land. for republicans the fight is just beginning. we'll tell you the plans to slow or stop the bill that must be passed by the senate. the website cannot be uploaded. that's the message residents in china are seeing. the chinese government blocking searches with politically sensitive words and some users can't get service period. we begin with a different kind of reconciliation, president obama's closed door meeting with prime minister netanyahu. a moment of truth, israeli/palestinian state living side by side. first, israel and the united states have things to hammer out. jill, all of this comes at one of the most tense teams between the two allies. how much is on the line as far as u.s./israeli relations and the future? >> reporter: it is quite serious, both parties, countries that are friends and allies have been really at each other's throats about the issue of settlements in east jerusalem. 90 minutes with the president and benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister and the diplomatic body language was really bad. no photoop, not even a readout from the administration officials about what went on. if you hook at the meetings he had with other top officials, vice president biden and before that secretary of state hillary clinton, almost the same thing. it would appear that this attempt to bring the relationship back on track is not going well and probably didn't succeed. another point would be that defy ant speech by prime minister netanyahu when he spoke before apec, the american israel political action committee in which he said we can go ahead with settlements in jerusalem. jerusalem is our capital, not a settlement. this attempt does not look as if it's succeeding. >> we talk about the meetings and one of things that comes to mind the atmospherics. could it be they didn't let the press in for a photo op because they knew the questions were going to be what's the state of the relationship and maybe by saying nothing they could get further ahead. also, some of the specific issues the two sides of stuck on. >> reporter: that could be part of it, john the you could also send signals to either side by not giving a photo op. i would say there's probably both of that going on. the main issue, one of the main issues is settlements and that is what's called a final stat ugs us issue. they can't even get to point where they are agreeing on whether the final status issues will be part of negotiations. and right before all of this started, the israelis and palestinians agreed to something, it was indirect talks, what they call approximate i amity talks. one in -- that's not exactly great progress and even that is in jeopardy. >> jill dougherty, thanks so much. this morning america wakes up with a law as close to you universal health care as we may ever see. president obama signed the bill into law yesterday in the east room of the white house. the president paid tribute to the late senator ted kennedy, a champion of health care reform. and his son says his father would have been very proud. left a handwritten note that says, dad, the unfinished business is done. president obama used a total of 22 pens and gave moment of them away as memt mows. what do you think joe biden said when he got the pen? house speaker nancy pelosi also got one. two of them went to the archives and president obama kept one for himself. >> signing with 22 different pens. >> it takes a lot, particularly when you're left handed. >> exactly. >> while health care reform may be law, make no mistake the fight is over. the senate must still vote on a package of fixes to the law, the reconciliation bill. the republicans can offer any number of amendments and they are and it's making things politically difficult for democrats. one would band taxpayer drugs for buying erect tile disfunction drugs for sex offenders and the so-called sweetheart deals. >> they are provisions that were not allowed or provided to every other state in america. that's what makes them a special deal. that's what makes americans think the way we do business around here is not in their interest. it makes americans believe that we are cutting these deals in order to secure votes. >> this amendment is a stunt that really doesn't deserve the time that i'm going to give to explain the portion of it that refers to louisiana. the reason i say it's a stunt because it's actually written for television or the internet. not written for a serious debate here. it's beneath the senator from arizona at one time was a candidate for president of this country. >> democrat senators are being urged to vote against the amendment. tell us what you think about health care reform. join the live conversation on our blog, cnn.com/amfix. the pentagon is said to be considering a more humane enforcement of its don't ask-don't tell policy. defense secretary robert gates is expected to announce changes to the controversial policy this week. gates has supported president obama's call for a repeal of don't ask-don't tell. michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray, could lose his high seps. the california medical board plans to ask a judge to revoke the license while being prosecuted. murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. the coroner found jackson died of acute propofol injection. reynolds, get out the boards if you live in colorado. >> spring actually started this past weekend, 1:30 or so on saturday. winter weather still looms large from the central rockies, some places could see 1 to 2 feet of snowfall. it's going to be rough for you. you see everything shaded in the blueish greens or reds, those are the advisories or warnings. rough weather there. a little farther to the southeast we'll see more rough weather entirely different flavor. the chance of strong thunderstorms in the dallas ft. worth metro plex and love field and dfw. we've got more coming up in a few moments. back to you in new york. >> reynolds wolf, thanks so much. another sure sign of spring is an increase in pirate attacks. we're following an attack off the coast of somalia that was thwarted by private security guards on the ship. we'll get a live report in a minute. it's great. i eat anything that i want. key lime pie, pineapple upside down cake, raspberry cheesecake... ...yeah, every night it's something different. oh yeah yeah...she always keeps them in the house. no no no, i've actually lost weight... i just have a high metabolism or something... ...lucky. 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[ engineer laughs ] ten minutes past the hour. a dramatic pirate battle off the coast of somalia. private guards were able to defend the vessel before international forces swooped in to chase down the pirates. we're learning one pirate was killed. david, what's the latest. >> reporter: well, kiran, a very dramatic battle that happened sometime yesterday morning. it is a shot was on the way to mogadishu when it came under pirate vessels. first time in my experience, the private security that was on board thwart the pirates using small arms and pushed them back not one but two pirate attacks on that vessel. the e.u. forced were called in by the stress signal and swooped by helicopter to the scene and sunk one of those pirate vessels and they managed to take three pirates in custody. one was killed by those private security. very unusual and dramatic battle off the coast of somalia. >> david mckenzie. thanks for the update. if you want to be safe, be more like israel. robert harding told congress he wants u.s. airport security to closely resemble security at israeli airports, especially the part where they engage passengers in conversations to try to identify terrorists. israeli security has been criticized for profiling passengers. tsa considering installing devices in airports that can track your cell phones and pda. can tell them how long people are stuck at security check points and the information can be posted online to help passengers avoid long hines. as expected civil liberties group say the idea is certainly an invasion of privacy. >> you would think, and i could be wrong, by looking at the security line you might be able to tell how fast it's moving. do you need to track people's cell phones? >> yeah, i agree. it seems like a no brainer but then again -- >> there you are. still to come, the face-off between google and china, it's heating up. we'll talk with nick thompson about what this is all about and where it goes next. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i'm going to work with kids. i want to fix up old houses. 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[ female announcer ] together we can discover the best of what's next at aarp.org. if it's not there are over 50 international awards we'd better give back. the jaguar xf. the critically acclaimed result of a very different way of thinking. ♪ welcome back to "the most news in the morning." we're following china's counter offensive in the ongoing battle with google. we're told internet searching on the mainland is pretty tough. controversial content being blocked. >> it comes a day after google rerouted users to an uncensored site in hong kong. the cost has bigger implications in the business world abroad. here to help us connect all information together, nick thompson from "wired" magazine. let's put up a graphic here. some things are blocked and not blocked. not blocked, web and image searches, g-mail news, google documents and picasa, google groups blocked and google site. what's this all about. is this google kind of leading the charge to say we have a way of doing business and we're not going to change the way we do business because of you, china. >> that's what they are saying. google has always been uncomfortable in china, we don't like sensoring but we'll do it because this is a big market and bringing information to the people. two months ago, nine months ago china started blocking youtube. two months ago we learned china hacked. now we know it was trying to get in the g-mail accounts of political dissidents and that to google was outrageous. google started to fight back, we're not going to censor results and google said we're out of here. they got fed up and sergei brin got very fed up, one of the founders of google and grew up in soviet russia, where there was lots of censorship and says that had a big effect on him. there are some benefits to google, makes the company look good. this is the company that stood up to china. and it also has benefits with antitrust cops in the united states looking to see how google is behaving and we're saying we are a public trust trying to get the most information to the most people. it has huge business consequences. i think google is doing this mostly because they believe it's part of their job to make the world a better place and they don't want to cooperate any more with china censorship. >> this is interesting, we had our beijing bureau do a few searches on controversial topics for china. when they search the dalai lama and it says safari can't open the page. human rights next loaded but the interesting thing is when they clicked on it, no search results came up. tiananmen square, completely blocked. we know it is popular with academics and students in china as well. tell us about the implications for google if the fight continues and ultimately they are booted from the country. >> well, google can't be entirely booted. they have antroid, an open source flat form, any phone maker can use in their phone. you can't boot it. there are things from google that will be in the country. chinese companies that want to buy ads from google to run on google.com in the united states. google will have some presence. i think what's going to happen is google will gradually be kicked out. android can't be forced out but some chinese handset makers are starting to think, maybe they won't use android. a lot of people will be afraid of google products, a lot of chinese companies will be afraid of google products, particularly companies close to the state. >> because that will bring them to the attention of authorities. >> or google sort of a brand they have to be wary of. >> the main newspaper in china today accusing google of c co-luting with u.s. spies. >> china's reaction hasn't been to make this about google. they've been able to blow it into something larger, which has lots of implications for american foreign policy. china made a very deliberate choice to escalate this into something more than a struggle between two entities. we need china and china needs us in terms of economy. they are tightly linked. and there was an interesting survey that came up for american businesses. 38% feel more and more unwelcome. are things -- is this google fight going to spread to other companies that do business in china? >> i think it's spreading. we're seeing the fight over executive accused of spy and corruption, there are lots of stories in the news about foreign companies having trouble in china, concerns about the exchange rates. my guess actually, and my guess is things maybe stop escalating now. they escalated steadily, it's in everybody's interest they temper down a little bit. >> some people say it's the beginning of china saying thanks for the help, now we're going to do it on our own. >> we'll see. >> next up, is the party over? some republicans now thinking of moving away from the tea party movement. carol costello with an "a.m. original" next. thing as taking a chance? as having to decide to go for it? at the hartford, we help businesses of all kinds... feel confident doing what they do best. by protecting your business, your property, your people. you've counted on us for 200 years. let's embrace tomorrow. and with the hartford behind you, achieve what's ahead of you. ♪ let's wind 'em with precision. open our throttle to even more selection. and turn that savings swagger up full tilt. ♪ so when the time comes to bust open a can of doing... we've got all the tools for all the things we need to make 'em happen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now, get miracle gro garden soil for flowers and vegetables for just $3.97. well, the tiguan's great. mm. and the routan has everything we're looking for. plus, every volkswagen includes no-charge, scheduled, care-free maintenance. so, what's this punchdub days about? 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[ male announcer ] with great deals on all 13 models, it's a whole new volkswagen. and a whole new game. ♪ ♪ republican party and the tea party officially, there's no link between the two. but a new poll found 74% of tea partyiers seem to identify with independents that lean republican. >> we've seen racist overtones from a small number of tea party protesters and that has some republicans really uneasy. good morning to you, carol. >> reporter: good morning, john and kiran. the question this morning, should republicans not associate themself with tea partiers? they are walking a tight rope when it comes to the tea party moment. on the one hand it needs the passion but doesn't need the controversy. what should the party do? the republican party, continue to make nice or go its own way? it may be just a few bad apples in a sea of demonstrators. the message res natureses. not in a good way. while republican party leaders don't condone such behavior, katie connelly writes, they encourage the sort of anger that boils over into such foul insults. have the tea party protests become loud and mad and dangerous for the republicans? >> the children of america are in crisis. >> reporter: lenny mcallister is a proud tea party member and conservative republican. >> we have to speak out. it does not fit into our principles and morals and values. we cannot alienate the most conservative aspects at this point. he's calling on conservatives to help walk the tight rope in a way they did not in 2009 when michael steele denounced rush limbaugh's incendiary talk. >> rush limbaugh is an entertainer. >> reporter: found so little support after that ended up apologizing to limbaugh. they did con tell those that shouted racial slurs at black lawmakers this weekend and rejected the notion that its association with the tea party is dangerous. at its core it's about shared conservative values and limited government and lower taxes and individual freedom. some republicans say the real danger is not saying this loudly enough. >> good government in america. >> reporter: running for congress in arkansas. >> i'm proposing small town every day american principles i've got an overwhelmingly positive response from republicans and tea partiers. >> reporter: smith is one of some 30 african-american republicans running for congress, one of the biggest rosters ever. something says smith that if more widely known would help drown out any fringe element that tries to associate itself with conservatives. mcallister, who is a popular tea party speaker says the real danger is in not discouraging these fringe elements. when they see someone using the movements to further raise the agen agenda, they should shoot them down and erase them from the party. >> a couple of bad apples spoiling the whole thing, this is a movement that tends to sort of be self-policing. is it a possibility that some of these groups could take a look at these folks and say we don't want you with us. we don't like what you represent. get them out of it and then go on? >> reporter: that's what mcallister is suggesting. when tea partiers see the people holding the objectionable signs, they should say look you're not furthering our agenda, you're hurting it. put the signs away and you're not invited to the party any more. they should make those feelings known and make them known strongly. >> we're going to be talking more about in way, carol, with david fromm who calls the whole situation of health care reform bill passing into law waterloo but not for democrats, for republicans. leslie sanchez strongly disagrees. we'll get their take on where the gop goes from here. people can weigh in on the blog about carol's story cnn.com/am fix. during a tense time between two stong allies, netanyahu sat down with talks with president obama at the white house. it came as a shock to vice president biden who was in the country to jump start new talks with palestinians. president obama will hit the road to sell the health care reform law. republicans are offering a number of amendments to the reconciliation bill that could make things politically difficult for democrats, including one amendment for taxpayer dollars to be spent on viagara for sex offenders. clinton visited mexico yesterday along with defense chief robert gates and homeland security janet napolitano. plans to expand programs to help the social and economic development. john. >> if you're looking for work in this economy, plenty of experienced professionals are pounding the pavement with you. if you happen to be black, your odds of securing a job are a lot slimmer. according to an urban league report, it is almost twice as high as it is for whites in this country. joining us from los angeles is judy redmond, hasn't had a full-time job in three years, having two degrees. mark more yell, great to see both of you. to show the statistic for unemployment, 14.8% for african-americans. and 8.5% for whites. 24.7 african-americans living below the poverty line in total versus 8.6% for whites. 47.4% of african-americans own homes. 75% of whites do. 73% of whites complete coverage. look at this. 44.8% of african-american households have a computer at home and 64.6% of white households do. the numbers track similarly for hispanics. what's responsibility for that wide disparty? >> you've got long-term historic discrimination and a legacy of slavery and segregation. you would probably mark progress since the 1960s. what's important now is for the nation to embrace the idea while closing the gaps is not only good for african-americans but also good for the nation at large. when we have unemployed people, we also have people who could be contributing to the overall economy. that's why we strongly support a robust jobs initiative by the president and the congress. our report includes six recommendations in that regard. we'll be pushing that report over the next several months. >> mark, let's bring in judy redmond. thanks for getting up early in los angeles. we said you haven't had a full-time job in the last flee years. you do have two college degrees, a long resumes and a lot of volunteer service. why are you having so much trouble finding a full-time job? >> basically i think it's because i'm overeducated. which is a very sad thing. my parents worked hard to get me the best education possible. i got it and now they don't want to pay me for what i deserve to be paid, even though i'm willing to work for much less just to have a job. >> so what do people say, you sent out ten resumes a day. what are you hearing back? >> nothing, absolutely nothing. the phones are not ringing. one of the things i do hear is -- i have an issue with transportation, i don't have a car. i can't afford a car. i can't afford gas let alone a car and maintenance. so they say can you come for the job interview and be here within an hour, it's like. no, it takes three hours on a bus. if i have a job i will get there an hour early and be on time. unfortunately i can't get there to interview within an hour. i think it's discriminatory. >> mark, from what you know and found in this report, how common is judi's story? >> judy's story is common in this economy. we asked people last week as a part of our preparation for today's report to load up their personal stories. many stories people throughout the economy, people with masters degrees and no degrees looking for work. what i would offer judi is to go to the los angeles urban league to see if they can help. we want people out there to know the urban league in 100 communities across the country helps people connect with jobs. while we can't promise that we'll find them a job or an opportunity to enhance their skills, we can try to work with them. there's a lot of competition, six people looking for every job opening in the country. there are people out there, organizations like ours that are on the front lines in kmu communities. >> potentially maybe somebody watching the program will see judy and her depth of education and bright smile and say hey -- >> judi will get a lot of calls this morning. she no doubt wants to work is qualified. while the economy is tough and bleak, keep on fighting. contact your local urban league there are opportunities out there. it isn't what we needed to do. we want congress and the president to take further steps now that the health care discussion is over to rebuild the economy and create jobs. >> one more question, judi you've been without a full-time job for three years on your third unemployment insurance extension. the economy is coming back but the jobs aren't coming back at the pace that past recessions have recovered at. how much longer can you hang on? >> needless to say i'm very nervous. i don't know how long i can hang on. maybe a month. i'm very familiar with the urban league and in fact they are like -- their office is about six blocks from my home. and i do search their website. and i'm hopeful. i have to be. >> well, get down there and pay a personal visit, always good to show up in person. great to see you this morning. official release of that report coming out later on this morning. be watching for that. coming up on "the most news in the morning" why some are saying the president's latest plan to prevent foreclosures doesn't go far enough. stephanie elam "minding your business" next. 20 minutes to the top of the hour. time for "minding your business." stephanie elam in for christine romans, wednesday isn't wednesday unless you can say the word sig tarp. >> inspector general who is talking about whether or not any of this foreclosure help is having any impact. >> it's like the silicon valley days. let's look at the $75 billion plan that was supposed to help people through the modification program for the moer cloforeclo helping 1.5 to 2 million people, half of the obama administration's target. he's saying that it set meaningless and unclear goals and believes the program will fall short of its goals and says the implementation was mismanaged because it put people in trial modifications so it can never move forward. now there are a lot of people at risk of redefaulting on the mortgage so they will still lose their homes. through february, 169,000 perm nept modifications have been done. 1.3 million people put in the trial modification that's may go nowhere. and the treasury says 40% are expected to redefault because the program according to the sig tarp it will not follow into the borrower debt -- >> it's a mismanaged program. you need clarity about what the program is trying to do, make sure the servicers are allowed to find different ways of looking at all of the documentation of the people to make sure they have the right information verification there. also they need to work to minimize the rea defaults. all of that will spread out the mortgage crisis and so something needs to be done so the people can get out of the pain and move forward here. treasury saying it shouldn't be based upon -- their success should not be based upon permanent modifications. obviously there's issues. >> thanks for the sig tarp. >> he has a lot to complain about? >> and he's letting people know it. many of the survivors of january's huge earthquake in haiti had to have legs a.m. pu tated to survive. they had to undergo a.m. tagss. >> in quake-ravaged city like port-au-prince, it can be impossible to get around in a regular wheelchair. one inventor with ab ingenius solution to that problem. it's today's "edge of discovery." >> my name is amos winter, i'm the inventor of the freedom chair. in the developing world most people with zablts have to rely on own power to travel from point a to point b. you may have to go offroad long distances. using a conventional wheelchair is impossible. what's required some something you can travel long distances on rough terrain using your arms. you have to leafers you propel yourself with and as you slide your hand down, you create a greater rotational velocity which makes the chair go faster. you can take it to a rural village, if there's a guy who knows how to fix bicycles he knows how to fix it. we're talking it to guatemala to make 30 trial charls to be tested for a full year. after that year we'll get the feed back from the users and refine the design so it's rds for large scale production then have a model to distribute to any workshop and they can make it anywhere in the world. >> now, that's pretty great. >> amazing stuff. it's 44 minutes past the hour, we'll have reynolds wolf joining us in just a moment with the forecast for travel. >> in ten minutes time, joe biden drops the "f" bomb in yesterday's health care signing ceremony. jeanne moos looks at the other unscripted moments. at sharp, our goal is to reproduce every color in the world on tv. introducing quattron quad pixel technology. it adds a fourth color, yellow, to the standard rgb color system, creating a vast array of colors you can't see with your tv's three color technology. but, you can see this. whoa! oh my. 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(announcer) not just sinus headache... ahhhh! but pressure... and congestion. introducing sudafed pe® triple action™. for more complete relief from the sinus triple threat. sudafed pe® triple action™. more complete relief. it is time for the moos news in the morning. republican maze be the ones cursing health care reform. >> the historic signing certificate moan,ny with a signature slip of the tongue. >> reporter: amid the big hugs and smiles, the thrill of health care victory had everyone fired up. joe biden was fired up all right. lavishing praise on the president. >> i've gotten to know you well enough, you want me to stop because i'm embarrassing you. >> reporter: actually he's about to embarrass him by dropping a bomb. >> three, two, one. >> pardon me? >> this is a big [ bleep ] deal. >> reporter: from joe biden lips to the media's ears. he has always had difficult putting a sock in it. >> reporter: another excuse to trod out the previous bleeper, the guy in the wheelchair. the other day when he referred to the irish prime minister's mother. >> got rest her soul and -- although, she's still -- your mom is still alive. it was your dad who passed. god bless her soul. >> reporter: bless his soul for providing us with fodder. >> who gives a [ bleep ]. >> reporter: this isn't the first time the mic has picked up dropping the "f" bomb. dick cheney used it in anger. do you have any regrets? >> no, i said it. >> reporter: if the white house regretted it about health care, they weren't letting on. press secretary gibbs tweeted, yes, vp, you're right. >> reporter: within two hours of his utterance it was already blazened on t-shirts. the guy known for salty language is rahm he manual who wouldn't tell on the president -- >> i do not curse in the oval office. >> does he curse? >> reporter: the curse of biden strikes the form of an actual curse. >> this is a big [ bleep ] deal. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> it was poetry to watch. he goes -- i don't want to embarrass you then ten seconds later, he did. >> you got to love him. you know. >> you do but the president is so controlled and it's hilarious to see the two of them together. he knew the second he said it the mic was still open. >> joe biden walks around with a big pin bursting the bubble. >> not intentionally, of course. >> what was going through his mind do you think? >> i don't know if much was. he was very excited. >> certainly seemed to be. top stories after the break. stay with us. this spring... sears has the prettiest colors, prints, and notice-me pieces at 40-50% savings. download your shopping pass at sears.com/style... for an extra 15% off. sears. keller graduate school of management, you'll have a professor with you every step of the way. whether you take classes on campus, online, or both, you get the same attention, the same curriculum, and the same quality. 85 locations nationwide and online. discover how to grow the business of you... at keller.edu. hey, ask our doctor about garlique, okay? garlique's clinically tested ingredient maintains healthy cholesterol naturally. eat right. exercise. garlique. good morning, thanks for joining us on this wednesday, the 24th of march. >> i'm kiran chetry. toyota firing back denying it conspired with government to keep critical safety information from the car buying public. automaker offering a new claim about the computers that run their cars, a claim one engineering expert is already calling into question. no public handshakes and photoops, all business, the meeting closed to the media. mending fences between israel and the united states before they even got to the middle east. we're live at the white house. prestigious universities accepting youtube videos as part of the application process, is that an effective way to gauge potential? we begin this morning with health care. can you join the trfrgs on the a.m. fix blog. cnn.com/am fix. a burning question toyota cannot seem to escape. it it an electronic problem causing the cars to come out of control? >> it could cost toyota billions of dollars to recall every vehicle. deb has been looking into it for a number of weeks. it's quite a challenge get together bottom of the acceleration problem. >> this is the engine control module we'll talk about this in just a minute. a team of electronic experts are in washington, d.c. meeting with federal regulators and congressional investigators. toyota continues to say it is confident electronics are not causing cars to accelerate suddenly. this is not just toyota but many automakers experiencing this problem, including ford. the british experts say they do believe it's the electronics. one is considered a leading expert in the area. >> automakers claim because they can find no defect after sudden acceleration then the sudden acceleration cannot be caused by design fault and must be the driver. in fact, this argument uses false logic. and most electronic faults don't leave any evidence, especially after you switched the ignition off which is the same as rebooting your computer at home. >> armstrong says despite toy a toyota's claims, he says it's impossible. he points to the space shuttle saying engineers found one bug for 10,000 lines of code. you can imagine how many are in the space shuttle. cars with 20,000 lines of code, toyota says many backup systems and safety feat you'res, the car should function properly. >> cars are -- you can imagine the computing power in a car is more than there was in the "apollo" module. did this problem occur when they replaced the accelerator with this electronic control module? >> they noticed a real spike in incidents with the electronic control system. that's when basically you got rid of the wire connecting everything. this is the module that we were talking about earlier, like virtual driving. computers talking to each other. the driver is no longer in control, this engine control model is the brains of the car. you step on the gas pedals and sends signals to the computer and sends signals to the throttle. it's the computer operating the throttle, not your foot. >> what's to say the wires can't get crossed or pick up signals from other sources, electromagnetic forces. >> toyota has consistency said they put them through millions of hours of testing. this week they released a video. toyota has never been able to preproduce sudden acceleration. considering how random it is, it will take testing 36 vehicles, 24/7 for ten years to rerep my indicate the problem. >> anybody knows a computer can function just fine and if you have mac, you have the spinning wheel of death. spinning hourglass. >> the engineers are saying it is like a home computer. the only way to get it to turn back on is turn it off first. christen taber says the computers are much more sophisticated with many more safety features and we spoke to her extensively about that. >> the electronics in vehicle are different than the electronics you use in your home or mobile devices. these are automotive grade equipment. we have to make our reliability such that it can operate under the vehicle conditions such as all kinds of environmental temperature, vibration, humidity. long-term exposure. it's really a different kind of electronics squall fiction for the parts in your car. >> that is far more sophisticated. what about the brake override. if you push the gas and push the brake at the same time, the brake is supposed to win? >> that's exactly right. that's interesting a lot of people are saying this is the answer. the british experts say the risk is that the brake override system is on the same system that's causing the malfunction to begin with so in order for it to work, it really has to be independent. like elevators that have a big red stop button, it's wired separately from the other controls. to be clear, these men are not involved in any lawsuits being brought against toyota. they were brought to the united states by people who in fact are part of the lawsuits. while they were independent they were brought by people who have a vested interest in this. >> deb, thank you. >> of course. it's being called a moment of truth for middle east peace, a meeting could set the tone for next three years or month. president obama sitting down for a long talk with israeli prime minister netanyahu. the prime minister ignoring reporters as he walked in the white house. jill dougherty is live at the white house. this comes at one of the most tense times between the allies did anything of substance come oust meet sng. >> reporter: substance is one thing, the way this transpired is interesting. ed henry talking to a white house official and getting interesting details. that meeting last night started the president and prime minister sit down, talked for 90 minutes. then mr. obama goes back to his residents and netanyahu, the prime minister continues to talk with his staff in the roosevelt room. then mr. netanyahu says can i have another meeting with the president? the president comes back and they have another 30 minutes. it is intriguing and you have to read the body language. after all of that, no readout or statement. almost no information. that's an indication i think kiran of how tense a lot of this is. the key point is settlements, settlements in east jerusalem. mr. netanyahu is making it clear, digging in his heels and not compromising. >> the white house juggles so many elements of the president's schedule. yesterday he was signing the health care overhaul into law. did he not want this situation to overshadow that? >> they are very different. health care, i would think he would have to say is so huge that was the big day. this relationship with israel is an intense territory and been going on for two weeks. the whole idea of the visit by the prime minister was to pull it back on track and look where we are right now. really no progress. defy ant statement by him when he gave the big speech in washington. and meetings he had with vice president biden and with hillary clinton also were kind of below the radar screen. not much is resolved you'd have to say. >> jill dougherty at the white house. thank you. also new this morning, today without the flash of cameras president obama will privately sign and executive order that prevents federal money for paying for abortions. before anti-abortion democrats, namely bart stupak would sign off, the president had to agree to take the abortion fundsing out of the insurance plan. california attorney general jerry brown is asking a court to bar conrad murray from practicing medicine while being prosecuted. state medical board will make a formal request to suspend murray's license. he has pleaded not guilty. bill gates may try his hand at making an advanced nuclear reactor. he wants to partner with tosh ib ba to create a traveling wave director, designed to run for 100 years without refueling compared to less fuel efficient reactors. may put several billion dollars of his own money into the project which could take a decade to finish. lawyers for gilbert arenas arguing he should not go to jail because he isn't aggressive or confrontation. a judge will sentence him on friday. they are asking arenas spend three months in prison. the tsa is considering installing devices in airports to track your cell phones and pxts das. could tell them how long people are stuck at security check points to help passengers avoid long lines. civil liberty groups are calling it an invasion of privacy. is it april? a storm could dump more than a foot of snow in colorado before all is said and done. >> let's check this morning's weather headlines. reynolds wolf in atlanta. colorado getting socked. what about the rest country? >> it's mostly going to be limited to the rocky mountains. everyone else should have a fairly easy day of it. let's go right to the maps. the snowfall totals yesterday, many of these places over a foot of snowfall. you're seeing on the map a bit of a bull's-eye in the dead center of the map. the area of low pressure will bring strong thunderstorms to parts of the dallas ft. worth area. pretty good in some places but in parts of new mexico and into colorado could see heavy snowfall. and maybe even the panhandle of oklahoma. more on that coming up straight ahead. back to you. also up ahead, surprising requirements that are very deep in the health care reform law. at 7:14, we'll tell you the changes you and your family will notice next time you visit a restaurant. retaliation from china after google sensored websites. at 7:40 eastern, america's growing weight problems. more american teens are at risk now more than ever. we'll look at the problem and how one 14-year-old is trying to turn her life around. it's ten minutes past the hour. ♪ ♪ with the stroke of a few pens, 22 of them, president obama signed into law a sweeping health care reform that will impact every man, woman and child in america. >> two provisions tucked deep in the legislation, restaurants with 20 or more locations have to post calorie counts on the menus. also, by 2013, the amount of money you can contribute tax free to flexible spending accounts will be limited to $2500 a year. also next year, you'll no longer be able to use your flexible spending account to buy over the counter drugs. president obama said and republicans, at some point in this thing tried to hash out differences. >> not one republican voted for health care reform. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius and mitt romney were asked why they remain miles apart. >> were you surprised they couldn't get one republican vote? >> well, i'm frankly disappointed because there are lots of republican ideas in the bill. unfortunately, this conversation got very partisan from the outset and i am disappointed that not a single republican voted for the bill, even though their ideas are part of the law of the land now. >> i think the decision to take the nuclear option as the president did to not secure a single republican vote in contravention of his promise during the campaign, that he would reach across party lines, that was very, very disappointing. >> what was he supposed to do, scratch it if he liked the plan, he ran on it? >> what he's supposed to do is have a plan that is bipartisan. >> we're getting more comments from you. let's check out the live conversation on the blog from tim. as much as i believe in health care reform, i believe the economy and job creation are much more important as of now. if you don't have a job, can you not afford health insurance. even if you have health insurance without a job who pays the co-pay. to the unemployed $35 is a lot of money. >> i'm in favor of the health care bill because it provides health care insurance to everyone. now everyone can finally be healthy. the abortion restrictions are great as well, we need restrictions included in the health care bill. i only believe it is right if you are raped or the pregnancy was by incest. great job, president obama. so keep the comments coming this morning. >> join the live blog on our website cnn.com/am fix. coming up in a little less than ten minutes. wheel break down what republicans are doing right and wrong when we talk to former bush speechwriter david frum and leslie sanchez. (announcer) it's one of the best mid size sports sedans in the world if it's not there are over 50 international awards we'd better give back. the jaguar xf. the critically acclaimed result of a very different way of thinking. ♪ been awake since the second world war. >> was that last week or the week before. >> you're too tired, you can't think. >> i can't remember anything i did two days ago. it's time for "minding quur business." a bull run on wall street, all reaching 18-month highs. a stock surge followed an encouraging report on home sales that experts say is the latest evidence that the economy is slowing improving. ever try to use a gift card only to find out it's expired. under the new rules you'll have five years to use the gift cards before they expire. they also ban hidden fees and limit other charges. they go into effect in august. >> i lose mine before they can expire. >> you never find them two years later and i wonder if this still works. >> sometimes they are just gone. >> sometimes, unfortunately. try to do a google search in china is complicated to say the least. they have retaliated against the decision to reroute users to a mainland site. the service is reportedly right now spotty at best. >> the censorship war has reached a boiling point. a newspaper even accused google of conspireing with american spies and dismissed the complaints saying for chinese people google is not god. even if it puts on a full on show about politics and value u.s., it is still not god. earlier we did talk to nick thompson from "wired" says google's push back is more than warranted. >> google has been uncomfortable in china, we don't like sensoring but we'll do it because this is a big market and we're bringing information to the people. two months ago -- nine months ago china started blocking youtube. two months ago we learn the last night, china hacked. now we know the hack was trying to get into the g-mail accounts of political dissidents and that to google was outrageous. they started to fight back, we're not going to censo results, can we compromise. china said no so google said we're out of here. they god fed up and sergei brin got very fed up. >> one of founders of google and grew up in soviet russia where there was lots of censorship as a young child. that had a big effect on him. of course, there are some benefits to google, makes the company look good an attractive place to work, this is the company that stood up to china. it also has benefits with antitrust cops in the united states looking to see how google is behaving and google is saying we are a public trust. it has huge business consequences. i think google is doing this mostly because they believe it's part of their job to make the world a better place and they don't want to cooperate any more with china sensocensorship. >> g-mail and news is fine. start to look for google groups, there's trouble. if you try to go on youtube, they are blocked. >> this video is just in from beijing office. you can see when you try to initiate a google search for the dalai lama, it won't get you anywhere. you can pull up results but can't click through to those results. the searching something seemingly inok use to us, leads to a dead end as well. are you smart? this is creative intelligence, some colleges are accepting youtube videos. but are youtube videos any sense of a person's potential? we'll find out and talk to alina coming up. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 (announcer) we believe in giving every investor a lot more for a lot less. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 that's why, at schwab, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 every online equity trade is now $8.95 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no matter your account balance, how often you trade tdd# 1-800-345-2550 or how many shares... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you pay what they pay what everyone pays: $8.95. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and you still get all the help tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and support you expect from schwab tdd# 1-800-345-2550 millions of investors. one price. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 investors rule. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 are you ready to rule? since arthur's been eating purina one, he has blossomed... into an incredibly strong, healthy cat. his coat is incredibly shiny and soft and very thick. everybody thinks he's the most handsome cat they've ever seen. 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[ announcer ] it's amazing what one can do. of the world's most revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars. this is the world record for longevity... and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪ hi, my name is elle woods, i'm going to tell all of you at harvard why i'll make an amazing lawyer. i feel comfortable using every day jargon in every day life. i object. >> using a videotape not just for the legally blond any more. one reexpected university is welcoming the practice. >> is this the best way to judge intelligence. alina cho joins us to examine the kind of smarts one needs to get into college. elle woods aside. >> emotional intelligence, creative intelligence, there's more to life than cognitive smarts. we know the college admissions process is competitive. good grades, high sxts ats, if you're applying to tusts, a video can help. does a youtube video measure a different type of smart. you be the judge. >> what you want -- >> reporter: what does this, this and this have to do with getting into college? >> hope the admissions will notice it and be like, this guy is really cool. >> reporter: tufts university is accepting personal videos as part of the application process. among the first in the nation to do so, not to replace essays but as a supplement. the videos are not required but students are getting into it. >> do the right thing and accept this as reality. i'll bring the goods like barnum and bailey. >> reporter: almost 1,000 students are taking parts out of the 15,000 applications they received. some of on youtube have been viewed by thousands. demonstrating creativity in animation, wilderness survival skills. cardboard box and pants and tin foil. >> reporter: a twist on a familiar phrase, walk a mile in her shoes. in her case literally. >> saying i have 3,000 shoes, i wanted to show a bit of who i am. the goal is with applications in general, these are humans looking at files and trying to discern who are you and would i be intrigued by you. >> reporter: what does the youtube video provide for an admissions officer that the application doesn't? >> well, you really get to see these applicants in their adoll he is cent best. you see the goofiness and cleverness and who they are as human beings, this is the point. >> reporter: former dean of admissions at m.i.t. calls the personal videos refreshing. >> it's easy to fall in love with someone in one minute and also easy to get turned off. what the students are doing by providing video this year is a very high wire act. taking huge risk. which is why i love them. >> reporter: showing a kind of intellectual hoots ba to go along with other credentials. >> can you tell me a change you got? >> reporter: i got 2300. >> 2300 out of 2400 on your sat? you didn't need that video. for others a place where playing with fire can be a ticket to college. >> everyone else probably talks about community service or being a varsity athlete. so i thought fire play really the only thing i know that i do that nobody else does. >> he may be right and it is called fire employ. they say it is committed to the essay writing of the portion. no matter what it is important to be able to express yourself elegantly in writing. the videos are i way to show the university is media savvy. the dean of admissions plans to put the best videos into a tufts idol contest. as one dean of admissions told me, you start to look at the applications, 30, 40 cases a day. the students do begin to look the same and start to get cross eyed. so the videos if they are looking for people who they can imagine walking the halls, walking the campus, these videos do help. >> and put maybe who don't do them at a disadvantage in a way. >> right now it's about 1,000 out of the 15,000 applications. they accept just under 1300 people. but it definitely is the way of the future, i think. a lot of the people we talk to say it's -- you're going to see colleges across america do this. tufts is the first. >> crossing the half hour. time for this morning's top tore stris, hillary clinton visiting mexico and saying the u.s. and is doing its part to fight a bloody drug war. she repeated that illegal guns bought here are fueling the violence. robert harding told congress he wants u.s. airport security to more closely resemble security in israeli airports, engaging passengers in conversations to try to identify terrorists. they have been criticized for passenger profiling. a developing story, a somali pirate shot dead off the coast of africa. it happened during a shootout with private security guards. the remaining pirates took off after a second try but were trace chased down. president obama in the midst of a victory lap, tomorrow heads to iowa city to convince americans this is the best medicine for the struggling health care system. but republicans feel very differently. they stood united in opposition to the legislation. not a single republican vote. they are now promising to repeal the law. how well is is this strategy working. former bush speechwriter david frum and leslie sanchez. good to see both of you. we have different poibts of view on this. david you wrote an interesting column called "waterloo" it's the republicans waterloo, not democrats, talking about missed opportunities and you say it's back fired. causing a little bit of a stir in washington. explain why you feel the republicans missed an opportunity and actually botched the health care debate? >> it should cause a stir. we need an accountability moment inside the republican party of the we gambled on a political approach to health care. with the top priority became defeating the president to pick up seats in november f that had worked maybe it would be justify ibl it didn't work. it will raise taxes more than it otherwise would. we know max baucus wanted the rep buy-in. we have a policy failure and failure and they are delewding themselves about the prospects of appeal. >> do you think to repeal the bill is the route the republicans should go? is this where the energy should be channelled? >> i think repeal would be overreaching, a full repeal is not going to happen. that's the political reality of this. more so, there was not a discussion about the need for health care reform. republicans and democrats agree, this bill was overreaching, too expensive and put a lot of burden on small business. we can go on and on. in good faith to answer, david, kind of what he's alluding to there was not a good faith effort to bring republicans to the table. we can go on and on, you'll hear about it especially on the campaign trail. there were good ideas left on the cutting room floor. if they ever made it, everything from portability, buying shegt insurance across state lines, tort reform, republicans tried to put the efforts forward and the democrats used sharp elbows and tough tactics to push through what they want zbld david, you said you think it's not going to pay off come the mid-term elections. there's still a lot of anger out there and rallying for the gop. the tea party movement, they were sort of galvanized by this health care debate. you think all of this will start too dissipate by 2010 election snz. >> when people have it may pay off for republican, the first is no, the second is so what. even supposing that republicans take a house of congress, how often do majorities flip back and forth. this bill is forever. like medicare back in 1965. how many times has congress changed hands but medicare is still here. important thing is to shape the once in a generation, once in a half a century pieces of legislation. in this case, we have a bill that actually bears a resemblance to what mitt romney did in massachusetts. one last thing, the new formula is not repeal, but repeal and replace. with what? unfortunately, i think the republicans will discover, they don't have good answers to that question. and it's a little late in the game to be developing them. >> and leslie, the tea party is among the loudest voices. we had a poll out today showing 74% of tea partiers call themselves republicans or independents who lean republican. who do they whoo for the elections at the same time being careful about the fringe elements where we saw the hints at racism, talk of socialism and talk of the flame throwing when it comes to obama being a nazi or socialist? >> all of those tactics are deplorable. the distinct difference this was a movement generated with a deep concern about freedom and cost and deficits and spending. there is a tremendous pull over the american electorate in concern about the economy, is it moving, is this president leading us in the direction that will provide an economic recovery and not burden the united states with more debt? those are still real issues. to the extent it mobilizes tea parti partiers, independents, that's a good thing. you want individuals galvanized in your election come november. the reality is there's 25 to 30 seats very strongly in play. i think the democrats, many of them in the swing districts jumped off the cliff and hoping there's water in the pond come november. >> i want to ask you about that come november, in a lot of cases its the tea party folks helping the gop candidates take over seats in november. what do you think the focus should be for these gop candidates? >> look, i want to see republican gains in november and take over a house. if you, for example, defeat a candidate like john mccain and replace them with j.d.hayworth, republicans will lose a seat. there could be dark energy in the tea party movement. a lot of even -- if they avoid the pit falls you mentioned before, just out of ideologue cal extremism, you don't have to be full of extremist views to see i'm going to push my own idea logical convictions. >> interesting kiran, i want to add to agree with david's point. the more a movement like that is seen to be on the fringe or dominated by that type of language, the more it will defuse internally. they'll look for other candidates, other messages, more reasonable approaches. that's the advantage republicans have. >> great conversation from both of you this morning. thanks. 37 minutes past the hour. "american morning" will be right back. if it's not there are over 50 international awards we'd better give back. the jaguar xf. the critically acclaimed result of a very different way of thinking. will your savings be enough to fund your retirement? what will happen if your spouse outlives you by many years? what will happen if you outlive your savings? pacific life knows that tomorrow's questions require planning today. pacific life has the financial solutions and strength to help you and your financial professional develop a plan. pacific life...the power to help you succeed. ♪ now that president obama has signed health insurance reform into law, one of biggest problems facing america is our waistlines, our weight. the cdc painting a startling picture. in 1999, less than 20% of adults were obese. highlighted in the blue states. the base states, 20% and higher. fast forward nine years and the map looks different. the orange states, 25% are obese and the red states, it's 30% or higher. add them up, that's 32 states. 32 states with an obesity problem. the obesity epidemic is hitting our nation's youth harder than ever. here's the story of one 14-year-old teen this morning. >> reporter: her name is maria ka princip no, because of her weight people have been staring since she was a little girl. look at the family photos tell the story of maria's ongoing battle with childhood obesity. at 4 she weighed 79 pounds. by the time she was 7, 168 pounds, off the charts her doctors said. by 9, she wayed 250. last month at 14, she topped out at 445 pounds. >> does it hurt when people stare? >> yes, the first thing that goes through their mind why is she so fat? why isn't she on a treadmill. >> reporter: maria's parents are overweight too and admit they don't eat healthy foods. dieting never worked. a few years ago maria pleaded with her mother to find a doctor willing to do weight loss surgery on teenagers. the search led them here to national children's hospital in washington, d.c., dr. evan add letter. >> i had to help her, she was 440 pounds and going nowhere except for gaining more weight. >> reporter: maria was 12 and already pre-diabetic. >> her bmi put her in the highest risk category, not just morbidly obese but two categories higher than that. >> reporter: dr. nadler says 20% are overweight or obese. he believes those most obese face health risks such as high blood pressure and diabetes and depression that far outweigh the risks of any weight loss surgery. but some agree like dr. edward livington who turns away most young patients. >> kids don't know what they are getting into. you have to be really careful with children. >> reporter: before surgery, maria had to meet with a nutritionist, pediatric cardiologist and psychologist. she wrote a letter to her insurance coverage seeking coverage. >> reporter: he told them you need to to make it to your 15th birthday. >> doctors have told me for years, if i keep gaining weight i won't see 18. that has terrified me. i want to live. i want to do so many things. and i knew that this was my only option to do them. >> reporter: this is a life or death surgery for you you felt? >> yes. >> reporter: even so, some critics still argue not enough is known about possible long-term complications. >> i fully agree we need to study this more. but i don't think it's fair to the maria's of the world to keep them from having this procedure based on their age alone. >> reporter: in his own study the doctor followed 41 teenagers for two years after weight loss surgery. he says they lost half of the excess body weight and health had improved. last month maria had an experimental procedure known as a gas trektmy. 80% of her stomach was removed, including the area that makes her appetite hormones. >> i wasn't hungry after surgery, like normally i would have been starving. >> reporter: she has already lost 45 pounds and trimmed two inches off her waist. off junk food, getting regular exercise. and eating a high protein diet. what is your goal weight? >> it's not about the numbers. i want to be at the healthy size. i want to be able to run. i haven't been able to run since i was 5 years old. i want to be able to wear a bathing suit without feeling embarrassed. i just want to be able to be normal. >> reporter: normal and healthy. randi kaye, cnn, new orleans. now, all of these states with more than 30%, it's amazing. super sizing of america just continues. >> for this little girl, all the best. shed an experimental surgery, but similar to gastric bypass in some ways it limits the amount you can eat. she's making some healthy lifestyle choices, hopefully things continue for her. "a.m. house call" coming your way. it's 45 minutes past the hour. we'll be right back. 48 minutes past the hour. let's turn to reynolds wolf in atlanta keeping an eye on things for us, including snow totals in places where it certainly doesn't feel like spring. >> kind of hard to miss these spots. from jamestown, back to aspen springs, you have over a foot of snowfall and more is expected to fall today and possibly into early tomorrow as well. take a look. we see the areas shaded in green and red. those are spots we have the advisories and watches and warnings. back towards i-35 from oklahoma city southward to the dallas ft. worth area, heavy rain possibly thunderstorms in that area too. in both of those spots, can you see a few backups to say the least. into the afternoon things could get especially rough in the dallas ft. worth area. severe storms a possibility. we have a slight risk posted by the storm prediction center for this issue for you. issues for your travels, a few of those in boston, new york metros due to the wind, an hour delay in the d.c. metros, philadelphia, cleveland, fog might be a problem in denver. of course the snow and the wind is going to lower that visible. that is the latest on your forecast. back to you in new york. >> looking forward it to, reynolds. thanks so much. sanjay gupta just ahead with your "a.m. house call" this morning and fur explanation of the new health care legislation and what it means for you. we're back with the most news in the morning. it is time for your "a.m. house call," stories about your health. it's not just president obama's big idea anymore. it is the law. >> yes, so, there are plenty of questions about health care reform and what it means for you, and we have some answers this morning with our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta. he joins us from atlanta. good to see you. >> good morning. good morning. >> we have a lot of questions from viewers. this from virginia via twitter. virginia wants to know what will happen when there are not enough doctors to care for all the patients? >> yeah. this is a question we get a lot, and, you know, simply put, there's a predicted shortfall of primary care physicians of 40,000 short is what the prediction is, and you add to that of course 32 million more people likely to be insured over the next several years. and you can sort of see the problem there. add to that this idea that these new insurance plans are going to offer free preventative care, so a lot more people are probably going to be seeking out doctors. simply not enough. there's a model in massachusetts to look at to see what happened there. what we have found in the past couple years, waiting times have gone up in massachusetts probably for this very same reason. if you look through the bill, there are incentives to create more primary physicians, paying them more, helping pay off student loans. they're also banking on these community health centers, not hospitals but clinics that might be able to take care of the simpler, less urgent needs as well. it's a potential problem out there on the delivery side of things. >> next question this morning, sanjay, comes from jones in new jersey. does the elimination of lifetime caps under the new health care bill apply to existing policy holders as well as to new insurance sign-ups? >> the short answer is yes. we were looking that the very carefully, and within six months that should happen. there should be no caps over a policy's lifetime. now, if you look at the language specifically, they'll say every year there can be caps, as well, and those caps are going to become much more restrictive, although they still left some of the specific language and enforcement up to the department of health and human services. it's unclear how it will play out yearly but within six months there should be a cap on all person's policies. >> at question from twitter. what happens if i can't afford health insurance and don't qualify for medicaid? what are my options? >> there are a lot of people that fall into this group, and we get a lot of e-mails and tweets from folks just like that. their cost of living is simply too high to qualify for health insurance but they're not qualifying for government assistance right now. ultimately, if they have a medical problem now, they may be qualifying for what's known as high-risk pools so they can get insurance where they previously could nnt the past. but eventually they're going to have these health exchanges, and that's going to be the place where a lot of people, like this particular person, might be able to find their health care insurance. you know, with these -- you know, in 2014, people are going to be required to have health care insurance or pay a fine, $695 or 2.5% of their income, whichever is greater. but if they simply can't afford it, then they can get subsidy, and they have specific criteria for who's going to qualify for subsidies. it has to do with how much you're making and how big your family is. >> one final question. my dad owns a small business that doesn't offer his six employees health care. how will health care reform affect his business structure? >> yeah, you know, there's a lot of incentives sort of for small businesses exactly in this category to provide health care insuran insurance. they're not required to do so as you know right now. there's only three phases to this. within this year, there will be a tax credit to small businesses that offer health care to their employees. 35% is going to be the amount of that tax credit. within a few years it's going to go up to 50%. but within time they're going to create sort of this pools, as well, for small business owners. it's called shop. it's a small business health option program, and that allows small businesses that don't have that many employees to pool together and try to become more competitive in negotiating a rate. 35% now, 50% within a few years and eventually these pools will be created for just this situation. >> dr. sanjay gupta for us this morning with your "a.m. house call." thanks so much. >> thanks. >> top stories coming your way. we love getting our outback dirty. because it seems like the dirtier it gets, the more it shines. the subaru outback®. motor trend's 2010 sport/utility of the year®. hurry in to the subaru love spring event for great deals on all models. now through march 31st. good morning to you. thanks for being with us on this wednesday. it's march 12th. >> here are this morning's top stories. no public handshakes, no photo-ops, all business as president obama met with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, the meeting closed to the media. mending fences was on the agenda, first between israel and the united states, before they even got to the middle east. we're live at the white house this morning. defense secretary robert gates demanding more information about the way the military gathers information. he wants answers following some revelations about a possible spy network in pakistan and afghanistan using your tax dollars. we're live at the pentagon ahead. has the famous "last supper" been supervised? according to a new study, it looks like "the last supper" has gotten bigger and bigger over the last 1,000 years. we're talking with the study's author just ahead. we begin with president obama's closed-door meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. mideast experts are calling it a moment of truth for any chance of negotiating a two-state solution, an israeli and palestinian state side by side. first, though, israel and the u.s. have to hammer things out for themselves. jill, it comes at one of the most tense times between the two allies. first of all, tell us about what happened at this meeting yesterday, what was out of the ordinary from your point of view in terms of just how much this was talked about and how much information was shared with the press and the public afterward. >> reporter: yeah. very little information, kiran. but look at this. we have -- it was behind closed doors, no photo-op, really no readout about exactly what they discussed. and then 90-minute meeting. that's quite a long meeting. and then the details coming out from a white house official tell the tale, because it started out with the president and the prime minister meeting in the oval office, then after that meeting, mr. obama, we are told, goes to his residence. the prime minister and his staff sit there and discuss some things in the roosevelt room. then the prime minister asks for another meeting with the president. president obama comes back and meets again for 30 minutes. so it's pretty -- pretty rare type of diplomatic choreography. and then, as you mentioned, it does come at a critical time in the relationship, and they have been really on the outs for two straight weeks over that issue of settlements in east jerusalem. and then finally, a testing of the alliance between the two countries. the whole idea of this trip was to try to bring things back on track. and you'd have to say, looking at what they got, not much. the administration did not get much. mr. netanyahu goes back, having delivered a really strong statement and not backing down over the issue of settlements. >> all right. it will continue to be a thorny issue for sure. jill dougherty, thanks so much. sorry about that. i was only half right earlier when i said it was march 12th. it's march 24th. must have turned back the time, right? >> time so by so quickly, it feels like march 12th was just yesterday anyways. a team has been ordered to spend two weeks evaluating the way the defense department gathers information. that command comes from defense secretary robert gates following reports a pentagon official may have misused $24 million in information gathering to set up an illegal spy ring. our barbara starr joins us live in the pentagon this morning. barbara, what is the secretary hoping to learn from this evaluation? >> reporter: well, john, secretary gates wants to know what information he's paying for and who he's paying to get that information. he has ordered this review, but there is also a much more formal military investigation going on into contractors and the people they hire to collect information in afghanistan and pakistan. you know, it's going to sound like a spy novel. a former iran contra operative, former military commandos all under hire by this man. we have a picture to show you. this is michael furlong, a dod civilian employee who ran more than $20 million in contracts. it must be said that mr. furlong has denied any wrongdoing in any of this, but the information that these contractors collected was turned over, we have confirmed, to military officials for possibly targeting the taliban and the al qaeda. and, john, we have obtained documents here that we can detail to you but can't show you too much about. these are documents that show the kinds of information collected, information about taliban and al qaeda meetings, information about what mullah omar was up to, information about safe houses in kabul, not collected by the cia. very sensitive information collected by private contractors. the question now is what were private contractors doing this for and generally it is prohibited for contractors to collect intelligence, especially in pakistan, which doesn't allow u.s. officials, u.s. military operations inside their country, john. >> and, barbara, some potentially odd characters involved in all of this, as well. >> reporter: absolutely. let's show you. this is the man, dewey claridge, dewey duane claridge a former cia operative. he was once tied to the iran contra scandal, pardoned many years ago by president george h.w. bush for his alleged role in iran contra. we have confirmed that mr. claridge is working on this program and has received money. he is using some of his old contacts in both afghanistan and pakistan to obtain information for the pentagon, and there may well be, experts tell us, a diplomatic furor, when pakistan realizes that contractors were collecting information, intelligence, about what was going on in their country. john? >> bit of intrigue here. barbara starr for thus morning. barbara, thanks so much. >> reporter: sure. the ink on president obama's signature was barely dry when critics launched battles. attorneys general from 14 states filed lawsuits arguing congress has no constitutional power to require americans to buy insurance. all but one of the attorneys general are republican. it was led by florida attorney general, and there was one democrat. the white house, though, calls the suit a, quote, waste of funds during the worst economic crisis in a generation. meanwhile, this afternoon, president obama goes behind closed doors to sign an executive order to ensure federal funds will not be used for abortions. the promise of that restriction was critical in getting some democrats like congressman bart stupak to switch their no vote to a yes on health care reform. and this morning republicans are in the midst of their counterattack, senate republicans offering a number of amendments, making things politically difficult for democrats who still have to vote on the fixes to the law. republicans are also launching a new campaign to defeat democrats in the november elections. >> repeal and replace will be the slogan for the fall. there are some things in the bill, unfortunately a small percentage of the things in the bill, that we could have agreed on on a bipartisan basis months ago. but there are other parts, for example, the half a trillion dollars in medicare cuts, half a trillion dollars in new taxes, higher insurance premiums that are coming on individual purchasers, that are not a good idea and we're going to remind the american people of that in the future and hopefully we'll be able to repeal the most egregious parts of this and replace them with things that we could have done on a bipartisan basis much earlier this year. >> well, once again, we are taking your comments on the new health care law. tell us what you think. join the live blog on our website, cnn.com/amfix. there's an interesting back and forth going on right now you should check out. we'll take a break and read more, but there's a big back and forth. someone said now i don't have to pay for health care, and somebody else said somebody has to pay for your health care. >> that's the great thing about blogs. a live discussion. reynolds wolf is in the weather center this morning. >> hey, guys. snow is the big story, snow early and talking about possibly some heavy rain and maybe some thunderstorms later on. let's go to weather maps. what we have first and foremost, the areas of the watches and warning, shaded in that bluish-green and that red. red is where you're going to have the warnings and maybe the heavy snow, some places up to a foot of snow, possibly several inches of rain across kansas, oklahoma, and maybe some strong thunderstorms towards texas. could see delays in the dallas/ft. worth area, also some possible delays in the northeast due to the windy conditions. that is the latest on your forecast. we've got more coming up in just a few moments. back to you in new york. >> all right. reynolds for us, thanks so much. next on the most news of the morning, is the party over? some republicans are thinking of moving away from the tea party movement. to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. ♪ [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze, my eyes water. but with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. it works on my worst symptoms so i'm ready by the time we get to the first hole. and that's good because the competition's steep today. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air.™ well, the republican party and the tea party, officially there is no link between the two, but there's a new quinnipiac poll showing a vast majority, 74% of tea partyers, also called themselves republicans or independents who lean republican. so on the surface they may actually seem like the perfect political pairing. >> but we have seen some racist overtones from a small number of tea party protesters, and that has some republicans really uneasy. our carol costello is live this morning with this "a.m. original." good morning, carol. >> good morning, john and kiran. republicans are walking a tight rope with the tea party movement. on the one hand, it needs its passion. orlando, it doesn't need the controversy, especially if it's racially tinge. what should the party do? continue to make nice with the tea party or go its own way? >> reporter: it may be just a few bad apples in a sea of demonstrators, but the message they're sending resonates. and not in a good way. while republican party leaders say they don't condone such behavior, newsweek.com writes -- they encourage the sort of anger that boils over into such foul insults. have the tea party protests, she wonders, become loud, mad, and dangerous for the republicans? >> the children of america are in crisis. >> reporter: lenny mcallister says he's a proud tea party member and a conservative republican. >> we have to speak out against this stuff because it does not fit into our principles, morals, or values. at the same time, we cannot alienate the most active aspects of the conservative base at this time. >> reporter: he's calling on conservatives to help the republican party walk that tight rope in a way they did not back in 2009, when republican national chairman michael steele denounced rush limbaugh's incendiary talk. >> rush limbaugh is an entertainer. rush limb baupg, his whole thing is entertainment. >> steele found so little support after that he ended up apologizing to limbaugh. steele and other republican leaders did condemn those who shouted racial slurs at black lawmakers this weekend but rejected the notion that its association with the tea party is dangerous because a at its core it's about shared conservative values, limited government, lower taxes, and individual freedom. some republicans say the real danger for their party is not saying this loudly enough. >> good government in america. >> reporter: prishe is running congress in arkansas. >> i'm a small-town girl so i'm espousing small-town, everyday american principles, and i've got an oemverwhelmingly positiv response from republicans and tea parties. >> reporter: smith is one of some 30 african-american republicans running for congress, one of the biggest rosters ever. and something, says smith, that if more widely known would help drown out any fringe element that tries to associate itself with conservatives. mcallister, who is a popular tea party speaker, says the real danger for the republican party and the tea party movement is not discouraging these fringe elements. when they see someone using these movements to further a racist agenda, they should shout them down and disinvite them from the party. >> carol costello, thanks so much. on another topic, we've been asking people to weigh in on our blog to cnn.com/amfix on the health care debate and we've got some interesting dialogue. >> there's a back and forth. rose from canada wrote in. she's a 25-year-old female. she's so happy this health care bill was signed. she said, i can't imagine what it would be like if i had to pay into my health care. congratulations, america, and be healthy. and a response, you said your health care for nothing on the back of someone else because it isn't free, you're just a burden to someone else. a big back and forth between them and other people joining into the conversation as well. yes, she's from canada, but she's weighing in on the debate, which is now over in the u.s. >> rose later on admits she actually does pay into health care because you do in canada. it's about the same amount as we pay here for medicare, 2.5% of income. and she acknowledges that. so it's not free, and that was one of the big myths when everybody was discussing this health care debate here in the united states, that canadians get their health care for free. they certainly don't. they do have to pay, and plus all the other taxes are elevated, as well. but it's great to see that rough-and-tumble back and forth on our blog. we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, alina cho on all the things you have to do applying for college. we'll add make a video and make it good. imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again. can your moisturizer do that? dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula... now proven to build a moisture reserve... so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. save at aveeno.com. ♪ 19 minutes now after the hour. stephanie elam here for christine romans this morning, "minding your business." talking about gift cards and new regulations going into effect. >> that's true, and this is something you need to know about. you give somebody a gift card, you think they'll use it, the greatest gift they can want, but a lot of people lose them as the case may be for someone sitting at this desk. >> somewhere. >> somewhere over there. well, they do have a time limit. let me tell you what's going on. the federal reserve wants to put these rules together to protect consumers. the rules go into effect august 22nd of this year. they'll limit fees issuers can charge on gift cards, including for inactivity, dormancy and other fees. they'll have to clearly state the terms and conditions of these fees so the consumer knows what they're up against here. they'll only be able to charge fees after a year of the card not being used and after that the fees will be limited to one a month, and they can't charge fees -- i should say they extend the expiration date for gift cards to at least five years. should be plenty of time for you to go out there and get that toaster oven, whatever it is you need to do. it will be based on the date of issuance or the last time funds were added to the gift card. but a lot of people said there wasn't a lot of clarity about the gift card. you go to use them and you say, hey, they're taking out a little money each time so as much as you thought you had, you didn't. >> how many people get gift cards over the holidays and throw it. >>-in a drawer or something like that and maybe 12, 14 months later, oh, a gift card, they use it and -- >> they find out it's not as much as they thought or a lot of people who got married or baby showers, not that i would even think about that at all right now. >> what would you know about baby showers? >> i know nothing right now. >> cold, hard cash. >> people get gift cards and may not need to use them at the time they get them, especially if you get a lot at one time. it's important to put them in place so you don't waste money. >> put them in one place that's not the trash. >> i've got to find it. i'm sure it's around there somewhere. >> where could you possibly lose them? got to be somewhere. they haven't moved or anything. >> no, but, i mean, it could have fallen out somewhere. that's my problem. just like fallen out. >> just walk around -- she's like pig pen, walking around and things go flying off of her. >> stephanie elam, thanks. >> sure. coming up we'll have an interesting guest. two brothers, a scientist, one of them, they analyzed the artwork of "the last summer" and how we've supervised "the last supper" over generations. >> from the last nibble to the last feast. hey! increase in 6 months. pete, back it up! ( marker squeaking ) when business travel leaves you drained, re-charge with comfort suites. spacious rooms, free hi-speed internet, and free hot breakfast. comfort suites. power up. now stay two separate times with comfort suites... or any choice hotel and earn a free night. book at choicehotels.com. youtube didn't exist. and facebook was still run out of a dorm room. when we built our first hybrid, more people had landlines than cell phones, and gas was $1.75 a gallon. and now, while other luxury carmakers are building their first hybrids, lexus hybrids have traveled 5.5 billion miles. and that's quite a head start. ♪ and that's why you should vote for me, future lawyer for the class of 2004. >> elle woods. welcome to harvard. >> applying for college using the videotape. it's not just for the legally blond anymore. in fact, at least one highly respected university welcomes the practice. but is a video the best way to judge an applicant's intelligence? >> well, this week in our special series, "are you smart," alina cho takes a look at all aspects of intelligence. she joins us to examine the kinds of smarts a student needs to get into college. >> elle woods, she was blond but she wasn't dumb. did very well in the movie. >> the implication was she got in because she was in a bikini in the video. >> good morning. we all know that the college admissions process is super competitive. you do have to be smart, good grades, high s.a.t.s, but if you're applying to tufts university, a personal video can help, too. it's actually part of the application. so, does a youtube video measure a different kind of smart? you be the judge. what does this, this, and this have to do with getting into college? >> i hope the admissions officers will notice it, be, like, oh, hey, this guy's really cool. >> reporter: tufts university near boston is now accepting personal videos as part of the application process, among the first the nation to do so, not to replace essays, grades, or s.a.t.s, but as a supplement. the videos are not required, but students are, well, getting into it. >> do the right thing. accept this israeli. i'll bring the good like barnum & bailey. >> reporter: already, almost 1,000 students are taking part out of the 15,000 applications they received. some on youtube have been viewed by thousands. demonstrating creativity and animation, wilderness survival skills. >> i'm making a light weight reusable oven out of a cardboard box. >> reporter: and in one's case, a twist on a familiar phrase -- walk a mile in my shoes. in her case, literally. >> i wasn't trying to come off as, you know, imelda marcos and say i have 3,000 shoe, but i just wanted to show a bit of who i am. i think that's what the goal is with applications in general, that these are humans looking at files filled with so many papers and trying to discern who are you, would i want to meet you, would i be intrigued by you? >> reporter: what does the youtube video provide for an admissions officer that the application doesn't? >> well, you really get to see these applicants in their adolescent best. you see the cleverness, and you see their goofiness, and you see who they are as human beings, and this is the point. >> reporter: mara lee jones, former dean of admissions at m.i.t., calls the personal videos refreshing. >> it's very easy to fall in love with someone in one minute. it's also very easy to get turned off. what these students are doing providing these videos this year is a very high wire act. they're taking huge risk, which is why i love them. >> reporter: showing a kind of intellectual chutzpa to go along with the other credentials. can you tell meringue what you got on the s.a.t.? >> out of 2400, i got 2300. >> reporter: 2300 out of 2400 on your s.a.t.? oh, my gosh. you didn't need that video. for others, a place where playing with fire can be a ticket to college. >> everyone else probably talks about community service or being a varsity athlete, and so i thought the only thing that i know that i do that nobody else does. >> reporter: he did burn his stomach twice, though, we should mention. tufts says it's still committed -- >> don't bring those things to the dorms. >> that's right. tufts says it is still committed to the essay writing portion because they say that, you know, for the application process, it is important still to be able to write elegantly, but these videos really are a way to show that they are media savvy, too. you know, in this youtube age, in this twitter age, in this facebook age, it's something that they feel they have to do, right. but one dean of admissions i spoke to said something really, really interesting. she said, listen, this first year that this is being allowed into tufts, it's great because there's some authenticity, but these things quickly get gamed. so in a couple years, two, three year, some of the more wealthy kids will hire hollywood directors and soon they'll be showing at sundance. there is a danger in that, but right now it does show a different side, a different kind of intelligence, a creative emotional intelligence that doesn't come out on paper. >> it will be interesting to check back in with tufts and see how many of these thousands of these were admitted. >> we will. we'll see more colleges do this. >> maybe back to the future. how about a personal interview? >> well, this is the new form of the personal interview is what they're saying. you're right. >> as you said, you can game the system. >> that's right. you can. >> interesting. >> pros and cons. >> alina, thanks so much. half past the hour. time for a look at our top stories. president obama will soon hit the road selling the health care reform law. right now republicans are offering a number of amendments to the reconciliation bill that could make things politically difficult for democrats, including one amendment that would prohibit taxpayer dollars from being spent on medications like viagra for sex offenders. the pentagon said to be considering a more humane enforcement of its don't ask, don't tell policy, which prevents gays from serving openly in the military. cnn has learned defense secretary robert gates is expected to announce the changes tomorrow. gates has supported president obama's call for a repeal of don't ask, don't tell. a dramatic pirate battle off the coast of somalia. one pirate was killed during a shoot-out with private security guards hired to protect that cargo ship. the remaining pirates took off. they were eventually captured by a spanish navy vessel. has the meal in the "last supper" reached biblical proportions? two brothers, both college professors, think so. using computer technology, they compared the size of the jesus and his disciples' heads to the size of their food. >> they found in more than 50 of the paintings in the last 1,000 year, the food actually got bigger and bigger. in fact, the main dish growing by 70%. the study was published in april's "international journal of obesity." interesting stuff. we brought one of the co-authors of the study on to talk about it today. craig wansink, at virginia wesleyan college, thanks for being with us this morning, professor. >> great to be here. thank you. >> your brother couldn't be here because he's on a book tour. >> in china. >> there you go. i want to ask you guys about this because you studied 52 different paintings, depictions of the "last supper" over a thousand-year period. what was the idea behind this? >> you know, the original idea, this is sort of a collaboration you would see between two brothers. he studied -- he studied economics. i study religious studies. we just started looking at the paintings for some other reasons, for art historical reasons. and then gradually we began to see within the paintings sizes. we began to look at food and see how that changed over time, how sometimes you see different foods because of cultural reasons, maybe historical or social reasons. but gradually began to see that the food sizes began to grow. the plate sizes began to grow. what started as a late-night observation and just -- i was going to say between two brothers whose kids had finally gone to bed and we were just talking. we didn't know it would turn into an article. >> it is very, very intriguing. what was your frame of reference for determining how the food size had grown? >> well, it's difficult. there are so many different variables. it's sort of like shooting skeet on a roller coaster. you have to contain some variables, make them dependent. so what we did was took the head sizes on the paintings and used those and compared them to the size of the food, and that was one way for us to make sure that there wasn't too much variance. otherwise, it would absolutely be comparing apples and oranges. >> it's really interesting. let's put up a few graphics so people can see the findings. the entrees increased by 69% in size. the plates themselves grew by 66% in size. bread, one of the meals there, grew 23% in size. so, this is portion distortion, as some may call it, imitating art or vice versa? >> no. it's -- yeah, it's a difficult thing to say. clearly coming out of the middle ages -- or coming out of the dark ages you're going to see more and more food on the table. and i think that garage yumly becomes idealized. larger portions come to be seen as good in general. you know, when we look at the paintings, we have to be sensitive to the art itself, but what's fascinating is you see a clear trajectory, the size of the food, the size of the platters keeps getting larger and larger. >> of course, craig, the most famous rendition of the "last supper" is davinci's. let's put that up quickly. just give us an idea of what this describes in terms of the amount of food on the table. >> i was going to say, leonardo's painting really was the starting place for the study because it got us interested in looking at the plate, looking at this in general. it stands out because of proportions and because of the disciple, probably doesn't stand out as much because of food. one of the interesting points about it is there's eel on the table. eel garnished with orange slices. and what i think is pretty fascinating about that is, if we can use the term iron chef here, that was basically an iron chef food in the time of leonardo, so people did all sorts of things with it, so it was included in the painting perhaps for that reason, really reflecting the time. >> three comparisons you wanted to take a look at. one from 1311, one from 1524 and another from 1624. tell us about the revolutions and the comparisons. >> these are fairly random shots but in one, the table is sparse, you see the plates are small, the bread is pretty small. if you look at the holbein, with something like this there was a challenge because there's clearly an empty platter there. we can tell something about the size of the platter, how much it grew. when we finally get to crespi, boy, it looks like a buffet. there's lots of food. there's lots of platters. anyone who wants to see this as a passover meal or a satyr or anything like that, that bread is not unleavened. that is puffy, puffy bread. and so, these are just some actually pretty random images that show the evolution of what we began to see. initially we saw images like this and began to wonder about it. then when we looked at a number of images we just began to see the a clear trend time and time again. >> it's also interesting from an anthropological standpoint. what does it tell us about the role and meaning of food in our culture and how that's changed over the years? >> absolutely. my brother wrote a book called "mindless eating." he talks about portion distortion, and what's happened particularly in the last 20 years. what he wanted to see here, what we wanted to see was whether or not we could see anything historically. i think what ends up happening after a while is what we see as an ideal in these paintings is attainable today, and so as a result, sometimes people embrace maybe what should only be an artistic ideal. >> well, i tell you, it's a unique study, no question about it. and obviously proving that the supervising of our food is nothing new. craig wansick, great to talk yo to you. >> thank you very much. >> we'll take a quick break. much more ahead. oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. aah! 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>> just five per week. >> reporter: sanders got a break from the recession by coming here to work. he used to work for an automotive supply plant that fell on hard time. >> well, i'd been in automotive for almost 30 years. as the industry declined, i found myself having to leave the employer that i was working for at the time. so in december of '08, i left, and then in june of 2009 i started here. >> reporter: 230 people work at this plant 24 hours a day five days a week, and building just one of these blades is a huge job. they can weigh 15,000 pounds, 45 meters long. it takes almost 24 hours to build just one. and there are other people here who might have been out of work but for the appearance of these green jobs. ed burnett had jobs at three different steel plants before it all dried up. he's grateful to be working here. so what's better, steel working or this? >> i don't want to say. >> reporter: you go where the work is? >> go where the work is. sure. you have a family, have to feed your family. you do what you have to do. >> reporter: it took about three months to figure out the new job and even less time to see one of the upsides. >> most of the guys who work here like the idea of it being green. we like the idea that it's cleaning our environment up. and a lot of people here, you know, like that idea. >> reporter: creating green jobs is something the president talks a lot about, but to tell the truth, the u.s. lags behind western europe in windmill production and use. so in the end, the real job may be standing up the windmill industry in the u.s. so it can create more jobs, more energy, and compete in the global market. joe johns, cnn, pennsylvania. >> pretty cool. we're following all your comments on our blog this morning. coming up, sanjay, dr. gupta, answering your questions about the new health care law. join the live blog on our website, cnn.com/amfix. let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. reynolds wolf is in this morning. good morning, reynolds. good morning, guys. today, a big bull's-eye of rough weather in parts of the central u.s., showers and storms in parts of dallas, texas, and colorado, could see up to a foot of snowfall in some places. travel could be rough going in and out of denver, not just the skies but the freeways. same deal in parts of oklahoma city, southward into dallas. this is the culprit, this area of low pressure that will bring rough weather to parts of the central and southern plains. as we fast forward into tomorrow's forecast, we'll see that low track a bit more to the east. as it does so, you'll see the opportunity of strong storms developing into parts of alabama, louisiana, arkansas before all is said and done, breezy conditions moving into the central plains and as far as today is concerned, your travel troubles will be limited to boston, new york metros due to the wind. could see an hour delay for all airports in the d.c. area, including philadelphia and cleveland. could have issues with fog in denver. the snow and wind will hamper the visibility. could have some backups there as well. that's a quick check on your forecast. more updates throughout the day right here. back to you guys. >> reynolds, thanks so much. appreciate it. , you know, the health care bill signed into law yesterday, but a lot of people have a lot of questions still about what does this mean for me. our dr. sanjay gupta breaking that all down for you, answering your questions coming up next. br even after you take it off. 98% of women who tried neutrogena healthy skin makeup thought so. does your makeup do that? neutrogena cosmetics. how about a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad combination? or maybe our new savory shrimp jambalaya. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 at red lobster. if it's not there are over 50 international awards we'd better give back. the jaguar xf. the critically acclaimed result of a very different way of thinking. welcome back to "american morning." ten minutes till the top of the hour. time for your "a.m. house call," stories about your health and questions about health care reform. they're pouring into us here on "american morning." >> our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, joins us with answers. great to see you. >> good morning. >> first question comes from twitter. this person says will this bill allow people who are hiv positive to get health insurance? will they be able to buy new policies? >> the short answer is yes on this, and it's really two phases. first of all, people have been talking a lot about pre-existing conditions and that eventually insurance companies will not be allowed to discriminate against people based on pre-existing conditions. that takes place in 2014, that whole policy. what's going to happen sooner than that, within 0 d90 days of implementation of this bill, high-risk pools will be set up around the country so if you have a medical problem and you're uninsured you can qualify for a high-risk pool. the way that works is the federal government is putting essentially $5 million into these pools to offset the costs of insuring people who have some sort of medical issue. >> we get a question from our blog, and this question is about defensive medicine. isn't it a big factor leading to overtreatment both at the beginning and at the end of life? >> this is a great question, and, you know, a lot of people talk about malpractice and malpractice reform, doctors behaving differently because of the threat of lawsuits. first off, just look at lawsuits in total, the numbers really aren't that large. there's only about 11,000 lawsuits a year that are paid out. there's a lot more that are settled, obviously, but the fact of the matter is if you look at the amount of money that is spent on settling lawsuits or paying for lawsuits, it's really only about 2% of health care expenditure, not that big a number. but defensive medicine, doctors behaving differently, health care professionals behaving differently, ordering more tests, for example, than may be necessary, one poll recently said 9 out of 10 doctors said they may have performed some sort of test or procedure because they're worried about lawsuits. the total cost of that is probably hundreds of billions of dollars a year. the blogger is right. it's more common at the beginning of life than at the end of life so, cutting down on that would certainly help pay for some of this health care plan. >> next question comes from deb via twitter. sanjay, we heard a lot about rationing health care early in the process. she wants to know is there anything in the bill about rationing health care? >> no one's going to put the term "rationing of health care" in a bill or really talk about it in any kind of a formal fashion. what people are concerned about is this term that makes a lot of people's eyes glaze over. it's called comparative effectiveness. and sort of briefly put it's this idea that, you know, figure out what really works in medicine and what doesn't work and pay for those things that do work, and if you're not sure about something, it may or may not get funded in terms of getting -- physicians getting reimbursed or hospitals getting reimbursed. some people will say that's the way we should practice medicine, push towards those things we know work. others say medicine is more of an art than a science, and we have to try new things and if you stop funding those things, some may call that rationing. some people say rationing exists in the system now, as we've talked about for over year now, insurance companies denying claims or dropping people off their plans. so, again, rationing is not a word that's discussed publicly or formally but it occurs. >> last question. i'm a senior worried about medicare. will there be cuts? grace in virginia. >> in some ways it depends who you ask. people who look at how this health care plan as a whole will say that a lot of the way that it's getting funded is by looking at inefficiencies in medicare, looking at fraud in medicare, which really exists, and trying to stop that and use some of that money to may for this health care plan. seniors have been worried, look, will that translate into me getting care that's not as good as it is now? will it translate into doctors not accepting medicare reimbursement so it will be even harder to find a doctor? those are real concerns. and this idea, figuring out how doctors and hospitals will get paid in the next ten years, that's still a little bit of an open question. the proponents of the bill will say, look, ultimately this bill is designed to cut down on prescription drug costs for seniors, closing that so-called doughnut hole, starting with some changes immediately and hopefully closing it in the next several years. so it depends on who you ask with this. >> sanjay gupta for us this morning with some great answers. doc, thanks so much. >> anytime, guys. the vice president, live tv appearances. is he going to have to be put on a delay? 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[ female announcer ] ask your rheumatologist about simponi™. just one dose, once a month. already. it's time for the moos news in the morning. >> vice president joe biden did it again, a signature slip of the tongue, this time at the signing ceremony of the health care law. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: amid the big hugs and the big smiles, the thrill of health care victory had everyone fired up. joe biden was fired up, all right, lavishing praise on the president. >> i've gotten to know you well enough, you want me to stop because i'm embarrassing you. >> t-minus 10. >> reporter: actually he's about to embarrass him by dropping a bomb. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: pardon me? from joe biden's lips to the media's ears. >> he has always had difficulty putting a sock in it. >> reporter: another excuse for us to trot out the vp's previous bloopers. the time he urged the guy in the wheelchair. >> stand up, chuck. let them see you. >> reporter: the other day when he referred to the irish prime minister's mother. >> god rest her soul and -- although, wait, your mom's still alive. your dad passed. god bless her soul. >> reporter: bless his soul for providing us with fodder. >> every ten minutes there's a shift in sort of what the strategy is. >> who gives a [ bleep ]? >> reporter: this isn't the first time a mike has picked up the vp dropping the f-bomb. but the previous vp, dick cheney, used it in anger telling senator patrick leahy to you know what himself. >> any regrets? >> no. i said it. >> reporter: if the white house regretted vice president

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