temperatures. plus escalating tensions between israel and gaza militants. the most violent in over a year. we ll go live to southern israel for the latest. live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom. with lynda kinkade. we begin in washington, d.c. where a marathon voting session is currently under way in the u.s. senate. democrats are hoping to push through a sweeping healthcare climate and tax bill that tackles some of the key policy objectives. first, they have to clear one more procedural hurdle, what is known as a vote-a-rama, a series of back-to-back amendment votes with no time limit. the bill is ultimately expected to pass, then head to the u.s. house for a vote. cnn s jessica dean reports. reporter: senate democrats are pushing through midway through this complex budget process that will allow them to pass legislation focused on climate, healthcare and some tax provisions with just the senate democrats voting. they will not need senate republicans. but
boating accidents. and now, they re facing the danger of climate change. leyla santiago, cnn, miami. well, this mesmerizing scene is a volcanic fissure that has been erupting near the icelandic capital of reykjavik. officials say no ash was seen, but there are volcanic gases blowing south. the government says the eruption is relatively small and there is low threat to populated areas. the fissure broke open after several days of intense seismic activity. still ahead on cnn newsroom, the los angeles dodgers returned home this weekend for their first home series since the passing of legendary broadcaster vin scully. their tribute when we return.
i m going to show you a healthy alternative. but first, there was this mesmerizing scene, really, in cleveland this week, where ariel castro was sentenced to life in prison, plus 1,000 years for holding three women captive in his basement for a decade. now, before that sentence was read, castro apologized, but he also offered this explanation. i m not a monster. i m just sick. i have an addiction, just like an alcoholic has an addiction. that got some head-shaking, as you might imagine, eyes rolling. and we ve heard this before, this idea of sex addiction. it made us wonder, is it real and does it do anything to explain or even excuse terrible behavior? joining me to talk about this from new york is jane velez-mitchell, host of jane velez-mitchell on hln and also the author of addict nation: an intervention for america. jane, thanks for joining us. you ve been talking about this
mesmerizing scene really in cleveland this week where ariel castro was sentenced to life in prison plus a thousand years for holding three women captive in his basement for a decade. now, before that sentence was read, castro apologized, but he also offered this explanation. i m not a monster. i m a normal person. i m just sick. i have an addiction. just like an alcoholic has an addiction. that got some heads shaking as you might imagine, eyes rolling. we ve heard this before, this idea of sex addiction. it made us wonder, is it real? and does it do anything to explain or even excuse terrible behavior? joining me to talk about this from new york is jane velez-mitchell, host of jane velez-mitchell on hln and author of 0 addict nation. jane, thanks for joining us. you ve been talking about this for quite some time, answering a lot of questions. you ve also been very open about your own strug hes as a recovering alcoholic. you wrote the book about sex