talking about, but the tea party members, we saw what happened outside jerry connolly's off. did they make any headway with democrats? >> not with jerry connolly's office, they didn't get in there, but my sense is a lot of these wavering democrats are very much staying in hiding. we were able to talk to one earlier this morning as you mentioned, but a lot of them, they are keeping their votes to themselves until they actually vote their position on this. and we may not find that out until this weekend when the vote is potentially going to happen. >> all right. we'll keep watching it closely. jim acosta, thanks so much. >> you bet. >> that's going to do it for us. happy st. patrick's day. see you back here tomorrow. >> the news continues on cnn with fredricka whitfield in for kyra phillips in the cnn "newsroom." >> have a great st. patrick's day. enjoy the parade in new york. good morning, everyone. >> thanks. >> i'm fredricka whitfield in for kyra phillips. osama bin laden on trial? no way, says america's top cop. what eric holder says will happen. and what do stock market

slides, natural disasters and thrilling sports climaxes have in common? they can kill you. but our stress busters can save your life. >> my kid has no underwear on. we can't get clothes for our child. our food's all gone bad. and they're telling us to back off. then they tell us to go home and we can't even go home. >> high water keeps hundreds out of their homes in the northeast. we'll explain why this spring could bring historic flooding. and shutting down schools. detroit is the latest system to cut back, but we'll tell you about one school's success story. the bottom line of health care reform. according to our latest count here at cnn, opponents of the overhaul are now just 11 votes away from defeating it. so far, 27 house democrats are apparently ready to join the republican opposition to the bill pap final house vote could come friday or saturday. but we're also following this developing story -- house speaker nancy pelosi is considering a maneuver that

could allow the reform bill to pass without forcing the democrats to actually cast votes on it. there's a lot going on this morning, and we're covering all the angles. cnn's dan lothian is at the white house, and senior congressional correspondent dana bash is on capitol hill. let's begin our coverage with dana. how many are truly believed to be on the fence? does pelosi have these votes in her back pocket? >> reporter: she does not have them in her back pocket. she is trying to get them. and that is what is going on big time as we speak, fredricka. but the issue is that we still do not have, and more importantly they still don't have, the final numbers from the congressional budget office telling members exactly what this new legislation would cost and how much it would reduce the deficit. and because of that, they actually haven't seen the legislative language. so things are kind of not going to move forward entirely until that happens because most of these undecided members say they can't decide until they see the language. >> and so, we're talking about

possibly nancy pelosi and others pushing for a demon pass. what would that mean? >> what it means is this is something that has actually been done many times before, but it is certainly stirring a lot of controversy because health care is something that is very big and unlike anything we've seen in a long time. it is something that is called a self-executing rule. so to make it in the simplest terms, fredricka, the house has to pass the senate bill, but a lot of house members do not like the senate bill both for the substance and politically. so they would have a procedural vote that would simply deem the senate bill passed. that's how they would get the ball rolling. republicans are saying this is outrageous, but to be fair, they've done it on other issues before. >> there are going to be more women than usual on capitol hill. that what's that all about? >> reporter: just in about an hour, the female members of the democratic caucus -- we're talking about almost 60 members of congress -- they're going to go and meet with the female house speaker, nancy pelosi. this is a meeting that went

out -- an e-mail went out to the members last night. i just got a little bit more information on what this is about from one of the female members. i just talked to her. she says she believes this is the core group of nancy pelosi's supporters and this is rallying time. so she wants her female posse, is the way this female lawmaker put it to me, to help her get the votes and that's what this meeting is about. >> maybe as many women as usual, just instead be concentrated in one place, at least for a while. dana bash on capitol hill, thanks so much. appreciate that. >> reporter: thanks. >> let's go to the white house now and cnn's dan lothian. so what's the white house going do if the president fails on his biggest domestic priority? >> reporter: well, you know, fredricka, that's a very good question, and the white house is now playing the what-if game instead. the public face has really been one of confidence that this will get done. you heard robert gibbs talking yesterday saying next week after the legislation passes. but nonetheless, there is a lot at stake for this white house politically and the white house

would say a lot at stake for the american people if health care reform goes down in defeat, and that's why you've seen this big push from the administration. first of all, the president delaying his trip to asia but also hitting the road, this road show so make a public appeal for the public to really push their lawmakers to vote yes, and then the president himself spending a big part of his day yesterday and will be doing so, as well, today working on those undecided democrats, trying to get them to vote yes, fredricka. >> all right. dan lothian on capitol hill, thanks so much for that. all right. interrogating detainees. general david petraeus says a controversial 96-hour rule is changing in afghanistan. the policy gave troops four days to question suspected insurgents before they were required to release them or hand them over to the afghan government. petraeus told a senate committee troops will now have up to 14 days to question suspects. there was a big concern four days simply wasn't enough time to collect evidence to keep

suspects behind bars. u.s. attorney general eric holder doubts those rules will ever apply to the world's most wanted terrorist. testifying before congress tuesday, holder predicted it's very unlikely osama bin laden would ever be captured and face trial, speculating he more probably would be killed by u.s. troops or his own people. bin laden is wanted in connection with the august 1998 deadly bombings of two u.s. embassies in africa. a shift in funds is in the works for the bush administration's highly praised plan to secure the country's southern border and keep illegal immigrants from entering the u.s. at issue, the so-called virtual wall technology. homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve joins us now from the security desk. jeanne? >> hi, fred. it was called the secure border initiative, sbi, a series of

high-tech cameras, sensors, communications gear. the idea was that if this was deployed along the southern border it would be a force multiplier for the border patrol. but secretary thnapolitano of t department of homeland security is putting the brakes on the program. she announced a couple things yesterday. $50 million in recovery act funding that was going to be used by sb inet, equipment is being moved, it is now going to buy off-the-shelf proven technology. in addition, she is freezing any more expenditures for sbinet beyond the section that's being built as an experiment in arizona until an assessment of this program and how effective it is is completed. she said in a statement, "not only do we have an obligation to secure our borders, we have a responsibility to do so in the most cost-effective way possible." this program, sbinet, has been called a boondoggle by some. it's been the subject of several very critical reports from the

general accountability office. and yesterday the chairman of the house homeland security committee, bennie thompson, also issued a statement. she said -- he called the program a grave and expensive disappointment, and these actions by napolitano, though not definitive, certainly indicate she's leaning in that same direction. back to you. >> jeanne meserve, thanks so much for that. jool turning to the vote count in iraq's parliamentary election. the coalition of former prime minister allawi, he is seen here, right there, has moved ahead of current prime minister nuri al maliki's coalition. but because al maliki's group remains ahead in some of the largest provinces, he still holds a lead in the expected number of seats in parliament. about 80% of the volt votes han counted.

it's deja vu along the banks of the red river this morning as fargo, north dakota, and morehead, minnesota, prepare once again for flooding from the swollen waterway. it's already 11 feet over flood stage. it's expected to reach major flood stage today and peak later on in the week. national guardsmen and volunteers are racing to fill sandbags to keep the floodwaters at bay. a scene reminiscent of last year when the river hit a record flood level of over 40 feet. melting snow and rain are the two big factors in the unfolding scenario on the red river. it's getting to be like a broken record. rob marciano in the weather center for the folks in fargo and elsewhere. >> yeah. wouldn't be so shocking if we weren't talking about last year's historic flood, which was supposed to be a one in 100-year flood. here we go again. so, 1% chance of getting it to happen again, they're seeing it this year. a lot of rain across the area during the fall, subfreezing

temperatures keeping that ground rock solid and keeping that snow on the ground for a longer period of time and of course a lot of snow across the upper midwest and the northeast. as a matter of fact, fredricka, a lot of the u.s., about a third of the u.s. is under above-average risk of seeing spring flooding. we'll run that down and look at the rivers and the forecast for st. patrick's day in just a few minutes. >> thanks so much, rob. saving money and closing schools. detroit will join a list of cities already doing this, but we'll tell you about one school that's defying the odds. even after you take it off. 98% of women who tried neutrogena healthy skin makeup thought so. does your makeup do that? neutrogena cosmetics.

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. to finish what you started today. for the aches and sleeplessness in between, there's new motrin pm. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. new motrin pm.

closing schools to save money while improving education. that's the plan in detroit. the man behind the proposal says the closures are designed to

help boost graduation rates to a near perfect 98%. our allan chernoff is live in detroit at a school that is already beating the odds. allan? >> reporter: fredricka, i'm at the cornerstone schools here in detroit. there are actually three of these institutions within detroit, one independent, this one, and then two that are part of the public school system. but at all of these schools the students are excelling. virtually all of them go on to graduate high school. they test well above the grade average. but they don't teach to test here. they have a holistic approach -- eth ethics, morals, very, very important, music and the arts. in fact, beginning in kindergarten these kids begin learning chinese. can you believe that? now, compare the situation here with what's going on at the detroit public schools. only 58% of the students graduate high school. so detroit today is announcing a

big plan, shutting down more than 40 of its schools. it's all part of a program to revitalize detroit schools. what they want to do is within five years boost their graduation rates, right now only 58% are graduating high school. they want to get that up to 98%. very ambitious. they also want the students to test at the national average within five years. they're a long way from that. what they are going to do is recruit top principals, recruit top teachers, but there's also another key component, something that is done here that's a key part of the success here at cornerstone. >> we say that you have a responsibili responsibility, too, not just the student. we expect you to be at parent/teacher meeting. we expect you to see that a child's homework gets done. >> reporter: the parents have to play a key role. educators say that is so, so important, and it is a major

problem in some failing schools. not just parents but also over here they recruit people from the community, mentors, professionals in the community, who come to also meet with the children and encourage them and tell them exactly what they can become once they get out of school. fredricka? >> and so, allan, there's some expectation that there will be a change in the population. to what degree and how will this impact this school or other schools? >> reporter: right. well, part of what's been going on in detroit, you know, there's been a huge exodus out of the city into the suburbs, other city, as well so, the population of school children has been declining dramatically. this is not the first time they're closing schools in detroit. and they're actually forecasting that over the next four years the school population is going to drop by one-third. so that's another reason that they're shutting down so many schools. i should point out, though, that they do plan to consolidate

some, modernize others, build some new schools but have smaller schools. that's the emphasis here. >> still, this is very controversial in what way? >> reporter: it is. part of the plan actually calls for having some campuses at high schools right now, convert some high schools into facility where is you have children beginning in pre-k, mixing at the same school with college students. so a high school would become a facility where you have kindergarten, you have elementary, high school, and then even community college and even masters programs. that's part of this big plan that they have. again, very ambitious, and that's certainly a very controversial aspect, of course. >> allan chernoff, thanks so much, in detroit. in the next hour, we're going to talk to one principal who turned an underperforming chicago school around and now sends 100% of its graduates to college. she'll weigh in on the situation

in detroit and schools across the nation, for that matter. flooding problems from that nasty weekend storm are still being felt in the northeast. tens of thousands of people are without electricity still and hundreds remain in shelters. t a river in rhode island is recede bug not expected to drop below flood stage until tonight or maybe tomorrow. what remains are a lot of flooded basements and broken hearts. >> we've had it. we've been here for 22 years. this is the fourth flood, and this is the ultimate. in 2005 it was bad, but i can't handle this anymore. i just can't. and i'm sorry. >> governors from new jersey to new hampshire are asking for federal assistance to help with the cleanup costs. very nasty weather all weekend long, and it just is never-ending. rob marciano in the weather

center. your heart really goes out to that lady because there really is nothing you can do. you don't know who to be angry at. >> right. >> especially when this happens over and over and over again to your home or your community. >> this is not the only spot this has happened. folks who live in north dakota, they've increased their flood insurance. last year when these floods happened there was about 4,000 people that had flood insurance, now it's over 13,000. i guess that's one thing you can do, but if you live in a floodplain sometimes you can't get the insurance. you feel for these people. jersey, rhode island, still under flood warnings, also parts of eastern massachusetts as these rivers continue to try to unload the water they've built up with the snow pack and the rains this past weekend. try to get that into the atlantic ocean. they have crested but it's going to be a couple days before those riverings go below flood stage. this river, the red river, which flows to the knot, is rising and rising quickly. it's risen about 13 feet in the

last five days. it has just gone into major flood stage and expected to get up to within 37 and 39 feet, and that's very close to the historic flood stage that we saw last week. check out this. this is a depiction of how much water is locked up into the snow pack right now, and that deep bright purple is anywhere from 5 to ten inches of equivalent rainfall if this were to melt all at once. we're hoping that it melts slowly, but with temperatures today expected to get into the upper 50s, that's not going to help matters much. little bit of rain across parts of the southeast today. that is a sore spot, i suppose, for your st. patrick's day. it will be 53 degrees in atlanta. look for 53, as well -- 59 in memphis and 60 degrees in chicago and 64 degrees in new york city. so, bright spot of this flooding situation, fredricka, is a lot of folks are enjoying a nice st. patrick's day. and hope far lot of evaporation,

maybe weather the sun heating things up into the lower 60s. >> oh, that would be nice. rob, thanks so much. see you in a few. >> sounds good. well, we might want to start calling the stock market the stress market. there's a new study out that links your financial health to your heart health. we're going to have dr. gupta out here to talk about that. and while it can never be fully answered, it helps to have a financial partner like northern trust. by gaining a keen understanding of your financial needs, we're able to tailor a plan using a full suite... of sophisticated investment strategies and solutions. so whatever's around the corner can be faced with confidence. ♪ northern trust. look ahead with us at northerntrust.com.

your top stories right now. an about-face from secretary of state hillary clinton. she backpedalled yesterday saying both countries enjoy a close, unshakable bond. the spat began with u.s. vice president joe biden's arrival in israel coinciding with the jewish government's announcement of building plans in the palestinian-claimed east jerusalem. and one traffic stop netted two suspected drunk drivers last week in a very close call for an observant officer. police in kansas city, missouri, say one driver had already been pulled over when another plowed into the stopped car. both drivers were arrested, but neither was injured. the officer was slightly hurt but is now back on the job. a wild ride on wall street. it's take an toll on your stocks but what about your health? today, new evidence that your heart follows the ups and downs of the market.

so, if you've watched your fortunes rise and fall on wall street, this may be only mildly shocking to you. those big plunges in your portfolio can also take quite a toll on your health. cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joining us now with the results of this new study. no surprise here because a lot of times when your, you know, pocketbook gets hit, it hurts in the heart. >> it does. i think anecdotally we've known for some time people who are stressed out or get angry about something can have problems with their heart. but there's more evidence that's true. your blood pressure will go up, your heart rate. the study was fascinating. they were looking at a period of

time the stock market was taking a lot of plunges. instead of individual, they were looking more globally at society, and found with what you said, the number of people coming in with chest pain, having heart attacks, number of people needing procedures seemed to go up as the the stock market went down. they extrapolated to the same can be said of a hurricane or a natural disaster. >> you get stressed out. >> you get stressed out. when that happens, you release all this adrenaline. you can feel that sometimes. it can cause electrical changes in your heart, cause inflammation to build up and cause something called broken-heart syndrome where your heart is stunned for a period of time. it won't show up on tests, but you'll go to the hospital and they'll say everything is fine but you've had a little stunning of the heart they call it. >> what can you do? you can't control what your portfolio is going to do. >> can't control the market. >> right. so then what? how do you manage this? >> some of the longest-living societies around the world say

we have stress as well, but it is about management of stress. if you look at some of those societies, there are some simple things that people do. you know, pray and meditate for about 15 minutes a day, for example. i do that by the way now, fred. i never thought i'd meditate for 15 minutes a day. >> i like it, too. >> make time for happy hour. even on st. patrick's day. not saying you have to drink but taking some time for yourself. obviously that makes a difference. sex seems to make a difference. simply laughing. there's this group of people that engage in laughter yoga. >> i remember that. >> they laugh and simply forcing themselves to laugh seems to decrease stress levels, increase happiness. >> i can get into that, but laughing, folks say, i needed a good laugh. >> that's right. >> it makes you feel good. >> just to do it sometimes, the act of it. and it could help your heart as well. >> dr. sanjay gupta, thanks so much. maybe next time we can find something to laugh about. >> that's right. >> the falling markets, not funny. >> no. >> thanks so much. there are new questions about toyota now.

is the automaker hiding information stored in its vehicles' data recorders? however you picture your retirement, pacific life can help... using 401k savings, life insurance, and annuities to provide a dependable income for the rest of your life. with more than 140 years of experience, pacific life can help you achieve your vision of the future. ask your financial professional about pacific life... the power to help you succeed. but look below the surface. your mouth is no different. brushing leaves teeth looking clean, but millions of plaque and gingivitis germs are left behind. a quick 30-second rinse with listerine® antiseptic cleans deeper. [ boom! ] its unique penetrating formula destroys germs [ boom! ] brushing leaves behind. [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] ...for the deepest clean and the healthiest mouth. listerine®. clean deeper. get healthier.

is difficult to attain. a reputation for unsurpassed quality and industry-leading customer service, even more so. which is why it must be earned. every day. every mile. with every driver. we've earned ours by relentlessly asking one simple question... how can we make it even better tomorrow? lexus. the pursuit...of perfection.

slowly but surely as the market opens now, the dow jones industrial average has been creeping higher and higher. the blue chips -- there's the bell -- have been grounded the last few trading days. stephanie elam has a look at the market today. premature exulting with the clapping before the bell. >> reporter: yeah. got to get the early claps on. got to get ready for the day, fred, when you're down here. i'm still trying to figure out if i should be worried about being on wall street with dr. gupta's last segment there. >> stay calm. >> and laugh. but there's nothing to be sad about because we've got some green on the screen already starting off the day. over the past six days the gains have been relatively small, just a little more than 1%, and today could be more of the same. still, investors are encouraged

that the fed and the japanese central bank are holding interest rates steady. here in the u.s., policymakers have done that because a report out just around an hour ago says inflation is, in fact, in check. fed chief ben bernanke will be back in the spotlight today, testifying before a house committee about the central bank's role in supervising banks. and another financial company is taking steps to pay back its government bailout money. hartford financial services is offering $3 billion in stock and bonds. that will all be just to raise money for that need. let's take a look at the numbers here. look at that. it's like st. patrick's day is just spreading onto wall street. the dow up 29 points, 10,715, nasdaq higher by five points at 2383 as we get going early on. finally, fred, new york city restaurants are going to have to display the report cards. the board of health approved rules that will force restaurants to display large letter grades at their entrances. they range from a to c and shows

how clean the restaurant is. a restaurant with lower than a c could be shut down and you probably don't want to go in there because it's probably pretty nasty. >> stick with the as and the bcss. >> stay in that zone or go home. >> all right, steph. thanks so much. >> sure. all right. the final countdown of health care reform according to the latest cnn tally, opponents of the overhaul may be getting closer to killing the measure. by our count, they need only 11 more members of congress to vote against it. according to our numbers, at least 27 democrats are apparently ready to join the opponents. a final vote in the house could come as early as friday. so right now, the undecided democrats are feeling the weight of the vote. democratic leaders are applying pressure. opponents are providing the heat. cnn's senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, shadowed one freshman congressman from a swing district in ohio.

>> the decision i'm faced with is voting on an imperfect bill or doing nothing, and we just had calls from constituents, my chief of staff, his wife works for a small business, and understands that they just had an increase in premiums. i'm not afraid to stand up and take a tough vote, even if it means taking on, you know, our leadership. and it was a very difficult decision to come to, you know, on the first version. our office is under siege right now. we're getting calls from not only in the district but all over the country. >> reporter: look at this. the phones have not stopped ringing. >> you should see our district office. i answer my calls from time to time and hear what folks have to say. this is congressman bochierry. we can agree on this, that the system needs to be reformed and we need to do it in a way that allows folks to have better choices. would you agree? >> reporter: you're a freshman. this is a tough vote, could decide whether you come back or

not. >> and like i said, whether i serve two terms or 20, we want to make the right decision for the people of our district and ohio and the country. >> all right. the congressman had earlier voted against the reforms but says today's measure does more to address his concerns like cost containment. he's exactly the kind of democrat that the white house and party leaders are wanting to turn to. golf fans are talking about it, and so are people who couldn't care less about the sport. tiger woods making his big comeback, not that he was gone that long, but he's got a little more baggage than he did when he left the sport. but do fans even care? [ monkey screeches ] ♪ [ male announcer ] a bath becomes even more pleasurable when you know that your water is being heated in an environmentally conscious way, while saving you hundreds of dollars on your water heating energy bill. introducing the geospring water heater from ge with advanced hybrid technology.

heating the water in your home any other way is just going to seem primitive. ♪ this is not more benefits at greater cost to your company insurance. this is not how does it fit in my company's budget insurance. this is help protect and care for your employees at no cost to your company insurance. with aflac, your employees pay only for the coverage they want or need. and, the cost to you - nothing at all. if all you know about us is...

aflac! ...then you don't know quack. to find out why more businesses provide aflac, visit getquack.com

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. a kentucky mom and dad might not be seeing their infant son for a while. the child is with his extended family after he spent the night in the oven. >> there are victims associated with the use of drugs and the

use of alcohol, and i just can't say how strongly we feel that it's a miracle that this child didn't perish this morning. >> the sheriff's office says larry long was high on marijuana and drunk on whisky when he put his baby son in the oven on sunday and left him there overnight. the oven was not on, and the baby is okay. long is a cook, believe it or not, and he is facing child endangerment charges. where was the baby's mom during all of this? the sheriff says she had finished the bottle of whisky her husband had actually started. a look at our top stories right now. victims of drug violence being remembered in juarez, mexico. mexican president felipe calderon made his third visit to city in less than a month to talk about fighting organized crime. the latest visit follows sad's killing of three people connected with the u.s.

consulate. and we have an update on a story we've been following from haiti. a dna test has been performed on a baby pulled from the earthquake rubble and airlifted to a florida hospital. the test found the baby is, indeed, the child of haitian parents who had been fighting to get her back from a family that had her. we'll have more on this story from our senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, in the next hour. and golf sensation tiger woods says he's ready to get back into his profession. he'll play at the masters tournament next month. woods admits that he still has a lot of work to do in repairing his personal life. he has spent weeks in therapy after a sex scandal came to light. and we're talking about tiger woods on the blog this morning. we want to know what you think about his comeback. if you need it as a fan, if the sport needs it, what's going on. what are your thoughts? go to cnn.com/fredricka and post your comments. so, one of the most bizarre

accident stories that we've heard. a plane trying to make an emergency landing on the beach, a jogger in the wrong place at the wrong time. -d-d-d-d-d-d-d-dd

>> the plane picked back up and maybe 200, 300 yards further down the beach. the tires were down, and it hit a person in a red shirt many the

upper body, and he fell on the ground. >> we talked about what a twist of fate. here's a guy just out looking at the ocean or exercising and he's gone. >> oh, boy. authorities say jones was killed instantly. both people in the plane are okay. the ntsb is now investigating. well, it was a nasty weekend of weather, and it continues in the northeast, still pretty soggy. rob marciano is in the weather center. what else is new? >> well, you know, for st. patrick's day it's not too shabby for a lot of the country. >> good. >> but down across parts of florida, southern georgia, alabama, a little bit of rain to deal with and this is where probably the yuckiest weather for -- you know, if you're irish -- down across this part of florida. but everywhere else it's really not all that bad. we still have the flood risk across the upper midwest. this is going to continue through the weekend into next week for sure, so they're

scrambling to pile up those sandbags as the red river continues to rise. it is now officially in major flood stage. it will be approaching historic flood stage over the weekend, expecting the crest 37 to 39 feet, somewhere in there, so very close to where it was last year, and they managed to save the city last year from getting into catastrophic flooding, and they're certainly using the same practices this go-around, but nonetheless, it is a 24/7 operation trying to get that city to where it needs to be prepwise. 62 degrees the high temperature in minneapolis today so you're talking about temperatures that are well above average by almost 20 degrees. that's definitely going to speed up that melting. 60 degrees in chicago where the rivers are green, 64 degrees in new york where the east side certainly is green. and look at temperatures out west. 80 degrees in los angeles, and 85 degrees expected in phoenix. some of these numbers out west are on the record-breaking side. speaking of -- not so much record breaking, but this is a map i meant to show earlier in

the broadcast. this is the flood risk potential issued by noaa yesterday, highlighting the fact that about a third of the country, everything in orange and bright red, is under the risk of seeing flooding as we get in through the spring snow melt. we've had a lot of rain across the south, a lot of fall rains across the north and followed by a lot of winter snow, in some cases record breaking, and the cold air locking in all that snow. as we start to unwind that, warm the atmosphere up and melt the snow, these are the areas where we think we're going to see some above-average flood runoff. i'll say this about this winter, fredricka, el nino usually hammers california. they certainly got peppered with a couple of storms. but the south and the mid-atlantic and even the northeast may be looking at el nino in a different way because they got the brunt of this winter for sure. >> wow. >> a few days left until we get into spring, and it certainly can't come soon enough. >> i know it. thanks so much, rob. appreciate that. >> you're welcome. okay.

getting into the spirit a little bit. a little st. patrick's day history for you. did you know the first st. paddy's day parade took place in new york, not ireland? well, now you know. march 17th, 1762, before the u.s. was even born. irish soldiers in the english military marched through the city to celebrate their irish roots. and of course the parade is still going strong 248 years later.

as we've been reporting, the city of detroit plans to close dozens of schools in an effort to fix a failing district. the school system also counting on $300 million in federal

stimulus funds, and officials there say that's not enough. how much money do our nation's schools need to do their job? cnn's josh levs is tracking that is all from our stimulus desk. what are you learning? >> you know what, fred, the stimulus fundamentally changed a lot of ways our economy works and it's had huge ripple effects throughout our entire country. i want you all to understand we're seeing more major steps being taken by school districts. doesn't it seem like every couple days you're hearing about another school district taking huge steps, closing schools, firing teachers, whatever it is. a huge part of the reason, believe it or not, is the stimulus. they are on the one hand fighting for a lot of dollars. aalso have a lot of dollars to work with. take a look at detroit's plan. we have these numbers for you. they're trying to figure out what to do with their schools. look at this. they are announcing a $540 million plan to revolutionize the school district there. look how much comes from the stimulus. $310 million of that will come from the stimulus that passed

last year. and guess what, just like fred was just saying, they're also saying that's not enough. the they want, on this next screen, another $80 million for something they call race to the top. this is what that is. race to the top program, the $4.35 billion program that the education department says will fundamentally change schools in america and what they're trying to do at this point is they're trying to battle for those dollars. we have a map for you. there are only 15 states that are still in the running to get some of those dollars. 15 states in washington, d.c., michigan is not one of them, but they're hoping in the next round this sum us to get more stimulus money from race to the top which they hope will carry out huge steps at this school. back to the 310. was it 310 million of stimulus money? >> yeah. >> how much of that is expected to create jobs because isn't that what the stimulus was all about? >> really interesting, when we've seen the schools take these step, we don't know

whether it will lead to a lot of jobs and based on everything that will happen so far we're seeing teachers get fired and then they want to make other changes. i can tell you this to be fair and this is the last number. overall the education department has gotten $100 billion out of the stimulus. 98.3 billion, a ton of money there, and they are saying more than 300,000 jobs have been funded by that money already so far. so it's a lot of jobs coming from that, but in terms of these things that they're doing in individual schools now, we are not so far able to tell you if these thing especially race to the top will lead to a lot of jobs. >> josh levs, thanks so much. next hour, we're actually going to talk to the principal of chicago's providence st. mel, a school that was failing and now 100% of its graduates go to college. education, health care reform and flooding just three of the big stories we're working on in the next hour of the cnn

"newsroom." we start with poppy harlow. detroit's public schools in the worst shape in history, the worst shape of any in the country. a major overhaul being announced today, the tune of $1 billion and school closings. we'll break it all down in the next hour. i'm dana bash on capitol hill, leaders are scrambling to get enough votes to pass health care legislation and try to send it to the president's desk. i'll take you behind the scenes on what they're trying to do coming up at the top of the hour. i'm rob marsian o a nice day for st. patrick's day with warming temperatures and that doesn't bode well for folks in the upper midwest where the melting snow is causing problems. the red river in fargo has gone into major flood stage, possibly reaching historic levels over the weekend and we'll run down that at the top of the hour. >> thank you, ladies and gent. nothing like fresh oysters, but this year's harvest in south alabama will not be hitting your

plate for week, if not months to come. and what are their goals. and then we plan. it's a very good feeling as an advisor to work with people and help get them to their goals. once people perceive that they can control their destiny then they accomplish unbelievable things. [ male announcer ] we're america's largest financial planning company. meet us today at ameriprise.com. [ male announcer ] competition... it pushes us to work harder. to be better. to win. but sometimes even rivals realize they share a common goal. america's beverage companies have removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools, reducing beverage calories by 88%. together with schools, we're helping kids make more balanced choices every day. ♪

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.

>> did you than cars have event data recorders similar to the recorders in planes? these recorders can actually help shed light on what causes accidents. sounds like the perfect thing

for toyota considering the mess it's in, but think again. cnn's deborah feyerick reports. >> reporter: these houses, the trees, the white metal fence. they were some of the last things monty hardy saw the day he and three friends died. >> mr. hard he a perfect driving record and all of a sudden his car shoots through a stop sign, crashes through a metal fence, rick shays off a tree and winds up upside down in a pond. >> reporter: what happened inside that 2008 toyota avalon? it wasn't the floor mats. those were in the trunk right where hardy put them after receiving toyota's recall notice a few weeks earlier. it wasn't a seizure, although hardy was on medication, the autopsy ruled that out. so what really happened? what if the car could talk? well, essentially it can. most vehicles have what's commonly called a black box known as an event data recorder

or edr. >> in those kind of accidents edr data will be invaluable. >> reporter: sean dennis is a forensic engineer who reconstructs car crashes for law firms and insurance companies. >> it's hidden way up underneath the dash. >> yep. yep. yep. >> reporter: it is tied into the air bag system and records two to five seconds of pre-crash data, things like engine speed, throttle, brakes, accelerator, seat belts. >> we see here 2.3 seconds before -- before the crash this person, this driver has gone from brakes off to brakes on. >> chrysler, gm and ford give people like dennis access to information through a crash data reader anyone can buy. >> it's compatible with this particular system and toyota is not compatible with this system. >> toyota calls its black boxes, experimental and the data is only for research and

development and not reliable for accident reconstruction. >> i think it is. if it provides any kind of data to me about what's going on with the vehicle, it can be used as a reconstruction tool, without a doubt. >> reporter: lawyers for the hardy family thought so, too, but toyota requires individuals to get a court order, instead police and federal regulators stepped in, compelling toyota to download and decipher the data which only its own engineers are trained to do. the data the hardies were expecting was apparently nowhere to be found. >> what we see is -- is a section here to record brake and acceleration and there's nothing. they have -- for whatever reason they've decided not to program their boxes to record this information. >> are you suggesting that perhaps toyota does not want its cars to record what's going on with the braking or acceleration

system? >> we know that they are not programming it to collect. that's what we know, and it makes us very, very suspicious. >> reporter: there is no law yet specifying which data automakers must record. toyota says the information they record depends on what features the vehicle has and what kind of data they want to know. the only information the hardy family did get was speed, 45 miles an hour or 15 miles over the limit leaving them and their lawyers still searching for answers. >> if you're confident that your car is safe and that it's working in a safe manner you should want to be able to document that all of the systems were functioning properly. it makes me think that they have something to hide. >> so deb feyerick now joining us from new york. so the black boxes, do they record continuously just like on airplanes? >> well, they don't. they only record the five seconds prior to the crash. there's no voice or images, but still, it contains a lot of very

significant date that helps these forensic engineers put together what was happening in the seconds prior to the crash. toyota has limited that amount of information at least that you can get through the black box. >> deb feyerick, thanks so much from new york. appreciate that report. a about the of the top stories right now, former iraqi prime minister okay, yada, lawy h is headed by the prime minister. it still holds a lead in the expected number of winning seats in parliament. 80% of the votes cast in the march election have been counted. a former teacher at catholic schools in spain has been arrested in chile on suspicion of sexually abusing children. the suspect has been held since last year on suspicion of filming the abuse and processing images of sexually abused boys. authorities say the possession charges occur in chile, but the aled sexual abuse and filming of it apparently occurred earlier

in spain. a strange ending to an assault case in mareland. a 29-year-old man faced charges for allegedly attacking his live nf in girlfriend, but when he went to court he told the judge he wanted to marry the woman. he got a license and the judge took care of the rest. so the new wife invoked her marital privilege and the assault case was thrown out. last week it was kansas city. today, detroit rolls out its school plan. the motor city has taken one of the worse beatings in this economy and it's looking to close dozens of schools. today we find out which ones are on the list. a nervous day for many students, parents and teachers. poppy harlow of cnnmoney.com is here with the breakdown for us. poppy? >> hi, fred. this is quite a day in detroit.

it's a city with the school system in the worse shape of any in this country. i want to outline for you what exactly is coming today. it's a $1 billion plan, extremely aggressive and what they're going to announce today is they're closing more than 40 schools within detroit proper by this summer and more to follow after that. their graduation rate golan astonishing 98% and when you look at the city right now their graduation rate is an abysmal 58%. the idea here is if you close these schools where there aren't enough kids to fill the class rooms you can folk the $1 billion in funding on the schools that need to be performing. the school system is telling us teachers will get laid off as a result, but they hope in the end you will have kids in classrooms and the class sizes won't be too big, but they're actually going to get the facilities and the money that they need for the school system to improve dramatically. they're facing a $219 million

deficit right now and the whole issue here is that the amount of kids in school is dropping precipitously year after year after year. right now they have 84,000 students enrolled and that's expected to drop to 56,000 kids by 2014. that's a major, major decline and you see more and more parents taking their kids out of detroit system, moveing to the suburbs and putting their kids in those schools because they're not pleased at all with the options they have in detroit. there is a man trying to change all of this. his name is robert bob, the emergency financial manager for detroit. we spoke to him about why this is so critical and what immediate changes have to be made. take a listen to him. >> for the parent who took the child to the suburban school district. parents will do what's best for their children. the second conversation we have is the issue of academics. the first conversation is will my child be safe in your school? >> and that's critical. the issue of safety and, fred,

that is the man, robert bob, who will be making this big announcement today at 11:15 eastern time in detroit about how they're going to turn the school system around. >> i know you spent a lot of time in detroit. give us a sense of what parents and students might be feeling about now. >> we spent a lot of time and that's us in detroit last year with fredericka turner and her daughter and fredericka is one of those parents and this is her old high school, it's broken down and the windows are blown out and it's shut down. she won't send her daughter to a detroit public school and here's why. >> my daughter has never attended any detroit public schools and it's because of this. as a concerned parent my daughter would never go to a detroit public school as of now whereas i felt comfortable as a child going to school, i don't feel comfortable to allow her to attend a detroit public school. >> now, detroit's trying to change that and keep the students in their schools, in their city and keep the funding there and what we've seen from

our five-plus trips to detroit over the past year is that education is the key to fixing this city. we did a whole series called how to survive in detroit and time and time again people said education. listen to what the people in detroit told us. >> how do i survive in detroit? >> education. um -- >> that's hard to say. >> go to school. don't be like a person like me out here selling drugs. >> just perseverance and education, going back and getting your education. you have to be persistent in this city to achieve what you want to achieve. >> so there you have it, fred. just some interesting insight to hear from the people on the ground, and this is hopefully the. >> all right, poppy harlow,

thanks so much. we want to go to capitol hill because dennis kucinich is making an announcement which may make a huge difference and it pertains to the vote on health care reform. >> we've witnessed a slow and painful unfolding of a democratic pageant of striving, of resistance, of breakthroughs, of opposition, of unrelenting efforts and of eventual triumph. i've spent my life struggling for the rights of working-class people and for health care. i grew up understanding first hand what it meant for families who did not get access to needed care. i lived in 21 different places by the time i was 17 including a couple of cars. i understand the connection between poverty and poor health care. the deeper meaning of what native americans call hole in the body, hole in toe body, hol.

to discover 16 years ago a near-cure in alternative medicine and through following a plant-based diet. i've learned with difficulty the benefits of taking charge personally of my own health care, and i know there were few exceptions when i needed it. i've had access to the best practitioners, as a result i received the benefits of vitality and high energy. health and health care is personal for each one of us. as a former surgical technician i know that there are many people who dedicate their lives to helping improve others' lives. i also know their struggles with an insufficient health care system. there are those who believe that

health care is a privilege based on ability to pay. this is the model president obama is dealing with, attempting to open up health care to another 30 million people. within the context of a for-profit system. there are others who believe health care is a basic right and ought to be provided through a not-for-profit plan. this is what i have tirelessly advocated. i carried the banner of national health care in two presidential campaigns, in party platform meetings and as co-author of hr-676, medicare for all. i've worked to expand the health care debate beyond the current for-profit system to include a public option and an amendment to free the states to pursue single payer. the first version of the health care bill, though badly flawed,

contain provisions which i believe made the bill worth supporting in committee. the provisions were taken out of the bill after it passed committee. i join with the progressive caucus saying that i would not support the bill unless it had a strong public option and unless it protected the right of people to pursue single payer at a state level. it did not. i kept my pledge and voted against the bill. i've continued to oppose it while trying to get those provisions back into the bill. some have speculated that i may be, this time, in a position of casting the deciding vote. the president's visit to my district on monday underscored the urgency of this moment. i have taken this in congress

because i know what my constituents experience on a daily basis. come to my district in cleveland and you understand. the people of ohio's tenth district has been hard hit by an economy where weight has accelerated upward. small business failings and lack of access to credit, foreclosures and the high cost of health care and limited access to care. i take my responsibility to the people of my district personally. the focus of my district office is constituent service which more often than not involves social work to help people survive economic perils. it also involves intervening with insurance companies. in the past week it's become clear that the vote on the final health bill will be very close. i take this vote with the the most seriousness.

i'm quite aware of the historic fight which has lasted the pert part of the last century, to bring america in line with other democracies and describing pressures being asserted to prevent a minimal recognition of this right even within the context of a system dominated by private insurance companies. i know i have to make a decision, not on the bill as i would like to see it, but as it is. my criticism of the legislation has been well reported. i do not retract those criticisms, i incorporate them into the statement. they stand as legitimate and

cautionary. i have doubts about the bill. i do not think it is a step toward anything i've supported in the past. this is not the bill i wanted to support even as i continue efforts until the last minute to try to modify the bill. however, after careful discussions with president obama, speaker pelosi, my wife elizabeth and close friends, i've decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation. if my vote is to be counted, let it count now for passage of the bill. hopefully in the direction of comprehensive health care reform. we must include coverage for those excluded from this bill. you must free the states and you must have control over private insurance companies and the

costs their very existence foek poses on the families. we must strive for a significant pledge and religious health science practice and the personal responsibility aspect of health care which include diet, nutrition and exercise. the health care debate has been hampered by fear, myths and hyperpartisanship. the president does not clearly advocate socialism or a government takeover of health care. the fear that this legislation has engendered, has deep roots not in foreign ideology, but a lack of confidence, timidity and a mistrust and fear which post 9/11, americans have not been able to shake. this fear has so infected our politics, our economics and our

international relations that as a nation we're losing sight of the expanded vision, the electrifying potential we caught when we caught a glimpse of the potential of the election of president obama. the transformational potential of his presidency and of ourselves can still be courageously summoned in ways that will reconnect america to our hopes for expanded opportunities for jobs, housing, education, peace and, yes, health care. i want to thank those who have supported me personally and politically as i've struggled with this decision, and i ask for your continued support in our ongoing efforts to bring about meaningful change. as this bill passes, i will

renew my effort to help those state organizations which are aimed at storing a single-payer movement which eliminates the predatory role of private insurances who made money not by providing health care, by taking a detour through supporting this bill, but i know the de destination. i will continue to lead for as long as it takes, for whatever it takes to an america where health care will be firmly established as a civil right. thank you. >> ohio representative dennis kucinich there saying, quote, this is not the bill that i wanted to support, but after careful discussions with the president, with house speaker nancy pelosi and his wife elizabeth, he will cast a vote in favor of health care reform. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash has been following this development. how much will his decision

influence or indeed change the landscape of the pursuit of this bill? >> you know, the immediate future, it changes the landscape just one vote, obviously and that is his vote which they need every single one they can get in the democratic leadership and this gets them one more vote closer to passing health care, but in terms of the layout of the democratic party, frederick a dennis kucinich is obviously on the left of the party. most of the undecideds or potential no votes are to the right of the democratic caucus. those that are in republican-leaning swing districts. so in terms of anybody really following him, unclear how many really will because he was kind of a lone soldier on the left. there are a lot of progressives who agreed with him that they did not think that the house bill which was further to the left than the senate bill if that went far enough and most of them voted yes. so unclear how much this is really going to change other people's votes.

i'll tell you in terms of kucinich personally, i think is interesting because he voted no before, not just that. you see the pictures of kucinich with the president earlier this week. this is an example of the president doing some serious one-on-one arm twisting and succeeding. i talked to dennis kucinich, fred, just a couple of weeks ago and i had an interesting conversation with him about the fact that he really still thought he was going to be a no, however, just as he eluded to in this statement today he really felt personally bad about the direction of the administration. he said that he felt bad that just a year ago that there were millions of people who were cheering on the president and how much things had changed. he actually said that that was something that he was thinking about after an earlier meeting with the president and other members of congress. so this is -- this is perhaps -- perhaps one example of what the president may be able to do and certainly has to do one-on-one individually with other undecided democrats.

>> and so dana, house speaker nancy polices was one that kucinich mentioned. however, she still has in her back pocket this possible deem pass maneuver as opposed to allowing to count how many democrats were really onboard. >> reporter: that's right. this is something that we called the self-executing rule, but it's really unclear and it doesn't really seem as though that is going to change many of the votes and really what we're looking at now to move the ball forward even further to make some of those undecideds decide is something we really don't have that still. that's the language, fredericka. we're talking the bigger picture here. the congress passing the fixes and that is the reconciliation process. we don't yet have the package of fixes. the democratic leadership and they're waiting to put that in legislative language and have everybody see it until they get

the cost estimate from the congressional budget office. how much it would cost and how much it would reduce the deficit. they thought they would get that earlier in the week and they're still trying to go back and forth trying to make it a product that they think will pass. they haven't done that yet, so that is the next critical thing we're waiting for here. >> dana bash, thanks so much. we'll check back with you as things progress there on capitol hill. meantime, if you're an oyster fisherman in alabama, well, you might have struck gold in a shell. >> it's been a long time since anyone's caught oysters in alabama. >> the oysters are back by the boatload, but not quite ready for the market. first in ordy, some good, clean therapy. if only this detroit school could bottle and sell its formula for success, it might be a way to revolutionize education without pink slips. that story in about two minutes. that promise to make my patients look younger. but nothing works like this. [ female announcer ] new neutrogena® clinical skincare,

with 10 breakthrough patents, goes beyond lines and wrinkles for a firmer, more uplifted look. exclusive ion2 complex combines with the activating cream to boost collagen depleted skin. 100% of women showed improvement in wrinkles, firmness, or definition in just 4 weeks. the results? amazing. [ female announcer ] new neutrogena® clinical skincare from the number one

a mystery in haiti solved thanks to dna. weeks after the earthquake we know a baby's real name now and we know who the parents are. nne. sustaining every living thing. there's nothing more important on our planet, than water that's why brita has partnered with the surfrider foundation. because cleaner water in our world, is just as important as cleaner water in our homes. reduce lead and other contaminants... with the advanced filtration system of brita. reduce lead and other contaminants... host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: is ed "too tall" jones too tall?

host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: does a ten-pound bag of flour make a really big biscuit? the city of detroit is announcing plans to close more than 40 schools. the goal is to help improve a failing public school cnn. cnn senior correspondent allan chernoff is in detroit where he found one school who is already making the grade.

♪ ♪ >> reporter: violin lessons for everyone begin in third grade. mandarin chinese is mandatory beginning in kindergarten and individualized computer challenges reinforce what's taught in a classroom. in a city plagued with academic underachievement, cornerstone schools one prief and the two charter schools that are pat of the public system are over achievers. students on average test a year above grade level and 95% go on to graduate high school. students here come with no special advantages. half live below the poverty line. fourth grader caitlin rogers recently transferred public school to cornerstone. >> at my old school nobody really cared and they'd fall asleep in the classroom. >> at cornerstone, students, teachers and parents care enough that the school year is 11 months long. >> i only get one month this summer vacation. >> does that bother you? >> not really when you get the chance to learn about the school because it's actually fun at the

school. so it's, like, we're actually on vacation. >> reporter: easy to see why with after-school activities like fencing, a new experience for caitlin. >> cornerstone to me embodies what education should be. you get the reading, the math and arithmetic and you're learning how to be a well-rounded person, how to love each other, how to get along. >> cornerstone also motivates children to achieve. this hallway is decorated with college banners so every day as students walk into the classroom, they see that goal of a college education. >> cornerstone constantly assesses students, but doesn't teach to test like many public schools that focus on standardized exams. >> we need to know about every individual student, what makes that student tick? what makes that student learn? what are the challenges that that student is facing? >> teachers are so committed they work here even though many

earn less than they could in public school. parents or guardians also must make a commitment to be involved in their child's education. >> we say that you have a responsibility to no, not just e student. we expect you to be at parent teacher meetings and that the child's homework gets done. >> it involves three cs, a culture of education, commitment to learning and community, a nurturing environment embracing parents and professionals willing to mentor the children. >> reporter: they have plans to open dozens of new schools over the decade and it's looking to institutions like cornerstone to help in that rebirth of the public school system. fredericka? >> allan chernoff, thanks so much from detroit. our next guest runs a school as successful as the one that allan just told us about. janet devela is the principal at

providence st. mel, a private school in chicago that's improved dramatically under her leadership. janet, first off, what did you take this school, once a catholic school and in a very tough school district and how did you get the students motivated and actually get the test scores up? >> well, actually i think the principal's job is to be the instructional leader and that's exactly where my passion is. hiring terrific people, working really hard for common goals, making sure our expectations are high, making sure that our curriculum is set in a way that not only motivates students, but nurtures students to even be better. one of the things that we need to do in education, i believe, in districts like our district, we're in a tough neighborhood and the psychology of what we do in our school has to be more enticing and greater than the psychology of the streets. >> enticing in what way? because i'm hearing a philosophy

that i would think most educators would subscribe to. what kind of innovations need to take place? >> well, i think important things like worth and support in the classroom, making sure principals are helping and developing teachers. one of the things that i loved to do is celebrate our student's accomplishments and making sure that student understand that they can and they will succeed. the whole culture has to be set up in such a fashion that all students know that they can have a piece of the american pie and get into the best colleges in the country. that's something that you need to do. >> how can a public school have this? >> well, i think one of the first things we have to do is remember to keep everyone accountable, not only the children, but also the faculty. our parents are extremely accountable. our parents understand what we're doing. we collaborate with them so that they can help us become better in who we are in the education

of their children. >> and how about money? how much is that a dealmaker or a dealbreaker as it pertains to your school, an independent school and schools in the public school district? >> well, we also have a charter school and we have two schools. we have our school on the west side of chicago and then we have a charter school providence englewood on the south side of chicagos and actually more difficult in the private schools to raise money to make sure that we're able to operate, but because we do such a great job with our outcomes as you probably know, for the past 30 years 100% of our students have been accepted to college and for the past eight years we have an average of them getting into tier-1 schools. >> is that the success rate like the charter school which does rely on public funding? >> yes. we do our charter school is making significant progress.

we're in the fourth year. our isat scores, our students are 67 right now proficient across the board. they were somewhere around 13% proficient when we took the school over so we're very excited about the growth in that school. again, the principal of that school is really into instructional leadership just like i am at providence st. mel school. >> do you agree with the fact that some of the schools are closing because they're underperforming and do you agree with school districts in rhode island because it fires teachers because of underperforming schools? >> well, i think the first thing we have to do is look at teachers and make sure that we're holding them accountable and our expectations are high for our teaching community as well as our student bodies. i think a lot of times we get caught up in all of the bureaucracy and we forget about children and outcomes and instead of concentrating on things that aren't positive for children, i think we need to concentrate more on raising the

bar and making sure our outcomes are above the proficient level. these children need that. >> yeah. janette dibell a principal of providence st. mel of chicago. appreciate your time and all of the best in the rest of the school year, too. >> thank you. at 11:15 eastern time, detroit officials lay out their plan for education and you will hear it here live on cnn. 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.

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.

a look at our top stories right now. is your latest online friend really the feds? u.s. department of justice has released a document outlining how federal law enforcement officials can utilize social networking sites such as facebook, myspace and twitter in their fight against crime. one traffic stop netted two suspected drunk drive drivers in a close call for an observent officer. one driver had been pulled over

when another plowed into the stopped car. both drivers were arrested and neither was injured. the officer was slightly hurt, but is now back on the job. >> and golf sensation, tiger booeds says he's ready to get back on course. he'll play the masters tournament next month. woods admits he still has a lot of work to do in his personal life and he's spent weeks in therapy after his sex scandal erupted late last year. we're talking about tiger woods on the blog this morning. we want you to know what you think about his comeback. go to cnn.com/fredericka and post your comments. i'll read some of them on the air later on this hour.

. i'm rob marciano in the cnn severe weather center.

we're watching the sun come up and warm things up across much of the country for the st. patrick's day and it's also melting a lot of snow. flood warnings posted and major flooding happening now across parts of the dakotas with the rivers still rising and we'll run that down when the cnn "newsroom" comes right back. or maybe our new savory shrimp jambalaya. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 at red lobster.

sweet & salty nut bars... they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley.

so remember baby patricia? the 2-month-old who was rescued after spending five days in rubble following haiti's earthquake. a couple came forward claiming to be the baby's parents but could they prove it? elizabeth cohen is here with the latest on the story. what's the verdict? >> no more mystery, they are the parents. the parents have been informed that a dna test proves that they really are the parents. the international red cross gave them this dna test and yesterday, as you can see, here is nadine and junior alexis getting into a red cross vehicle. they were brought to a red cross

compound in port-au-prince and told yes, the dna test showed that you are the parents that's according to a florida state official who i spoke to earlier today. as you can imagine, i'll bet they are very, very happy. >> oh, my goodness. so the baby is still being cared for in the u.s. what's going to happen next? how do the parents and the baby reunite? >> let's talk a little bit about what happened before before i talk about what happens next because you bring up a good point. what happened is this baby was in the rubble for five days before she was discovered and she was brought to the hospital where i was and spent five days and run by the university of miami and she was worked on by doctors frantically and they thought the baby was an orphan and they shipped her off to mime to get care and now they found out she wasn't. the next step is they're going to try to get these parents to florida as soon as possible. that's the term that was used in court today in miami, get them to florida as soon as possible, but we don't know if that means in a few hours or a few days.

it's not very clear right now. >> once the parents were to arrive in the states to be reunited with the baby, for how long would they stay? what are the circumstances? >> that will be dictated by the baby's medical condition and what we are hearing is she has medical problems and a few more than what we thought. for example, what we learned in court today is the baby is having trouble gripping anything with her left hand. you can see her being worked on right here. i talked to these doctors and they said she was almost dead. she spent five days alone in the rubble, in the arms of her dead babysitter and so she suffered during that time and it's amazing that she's alive, first of all and what's amazing is she's recovered with some problems. problems with use of the left hand and also they're concerned about skull fractures, and they'll do more tests and she eats and coos and the giggles. >> i cannot imagine the joy that the parents must be feeling even though they're not with the baby

right now. baby patricia, is that the name that the paramedics gave the baby. what's the baby's real name? >> that's right. the baby's real name is jenny. baby patricia was the name of the ambulance driver so they gave her that name and the real name is baby jenny. >> you hope that the baby will get the grip. >> and full recovery. >> baby jenny. >> thanks so much, elizabeth cohen. appreciate that. >> tiger woods making his big comeback at the masters. he's got more baggage this time, though. it's not golf baggage. do fans really care?

osama bin laden wanted dead or dead? the nation's top law enforcement official says the al qaeda leader will never be taken

alive. hear eric holder's comments for yourself in one minute. back in 60 seconds.

top stories right now, it's st. patrick's day, when irish eyes are smiling. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> and everyone joins in to sing. a few places celebrate the day like savannah, georgia. it is the 186th year for the town's formal celebration of the irish roots. the white house is also showing a bit of green today. if you look closely at the fountain, yes, a tinge of green there. and in new york, of course, they'll be celebrating a big st. patty's day parade throughout the day. an about-face from u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton about israel. after the announced settlement

plans as insulting to the u.s., secretary clinton back peddled yesterday saying both countries share a close, unshakeable bond. the spat began with u.s. vice president joe biden's arrival in israel coinciding with the jewish government's announced building plans in palestinian-claimed east jerusalem. here's another matter raising eyebrows in washington. yesterday on capitol hill u.s. attorney general eric holder faced some tough questions about putting terror suspects on trial and then the topic turned to osama bin laden. the al qaeda leader behind the 9/11 attacks. >> granting osama bin laden the right to appear in a u.s. courtroom, you are clothing osama bin laden with the protections of the u.s. constitution, that's unavoidable and something that you skipped right past and it's giving constitutional rights to enemy soldiers that is the profound problem, sir. >> we're talking about a hypothetical that will never occur. the right is we'll be reading

mirranda rights to the corpse of osama bin laden. he will never appear in an american courtroom. >> but it is -- >> that's a reality. that's a reality. >> holder says he's still a few weeks away from deciding where to hold the trial of khalid shaikh muhammad, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and holder is trying to decide whether the trial will take place in a civilian or military court. a winner in the iditarod races. we'll show you the musher who not only took the grand prize, but made history. you take just once a month. it's simponi™, and taken with methotrexate, it helps relieve the pain, stiffness, and swelling of ra with one dose a month. visit 4simponi.com to see if you qualify for a full year of cost support. simponi™ can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious and sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, cancer in children and adults, heart failure, nervous system disorders,

liver or blood problems, and allergic reactions. before starting simponi™, your doctor should test you for tb and assess your risk of infections, including fungal infections and hepatitis b. ask your doctor if you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, or develop symoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start simponi™ if you have an infection. [ female announcer ] ask your rheumatologist about simponi™. just one dose, once a month.

>> lots of soggy weather in the northeast, parts of the gulf coast and it's rather cold in other places.

rob marciano is in the weather center with more on this prelude to spring. >> yeah, but it's warming up. it's starting to warm up and it is cold in some spots or chilly in some spots but the strong march sun is trying to do its work on st. patrick's day. what's going on in florida, it's not the best day to be outside, but it could be worse. gray skies and light showers up toward the gulf of mexico in through the pan handle and this was a storm that was in texas yesterday, but it hasn't strengthened into a whole lot and it just scooted off into the south carolina coastline and won't be a bad nor'easter like we've seen. let's talk fargo and the red river and the tribute ears trying to flow up into canada like it did last year. we have ice jams and snow pack, we have frozen ground and we've got a lot of warming now. so that's got some problems. i think we have pictures of what they're doing now. the sandbagging are in place and

they're trying to get them in place to, in major flood stage and near record flood stage later on this weekend. temperatures rising into the 60s. we'll end with this. i believe this is savannah. some of our irish friends there getting out and walking around, having a good old parade. happy st. patrick's day. >> that's fun. always fun. all right, thanks, rob. so see you later. he did it again, in fact, he's done it four times. lance mackey has won the iditarod dog race for the fourth year in a row. he crossed the finish line in nome, alaska, wrapping up the 1,049 mile race. mackey is a throat cancer survivor and he's the only musher in the history of the iditarod to win four consecutive races. for winning, mackey gets a new dodge truck and $50,000. the truck big enough to help

carry all his dogs. hurricanes, red tide and a rainy winter season are just three reasons why -- >> it's been a long time since anyone's caught oysters in alabama. >> so why are you going to have to wait weeks to eat them? serve no oyster before it's time. 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. ♪ [ male announcer ] competition... it pushes us to work harder. to be better. to win. but sometimes even rivals realize they share a common goal. america's beverage companies

have removed full-calorie soft drinks from schools, reducing beverage calories by 88%. together with schools, we're helping kids make more balanced choices every day. ♪

>> a welcome sight for seafood lovers this year. oyster fishermen netting their catch, before you reach for the horseradish, they must get cleaned au natural. tiffany craig tells us why from mobile bay, alabama. >> reporter: for hundreds of oyster men, this is the day they've been waiting for. >> it's been a long time since anybody's caught oysters in alabama. >> reporter: bad weather stole the livelihood from so many who love to work on alabama waters. >> you know with the storms and

all we had there, you know, it's been tough around this end. >> reporter: and then a gold mine is discovered. 6 million pounds of oysters in north mobile bay. but the oysters need to be moved for harvest and have a 15-mile journey to a reef near fall river. >> they say the waters don't ever get good up here in the conditions so they're trying to move them south where the good water's at so we'll be allowed to harvest them. >> reporter: on the first moving day, more than 900 oystermen show up for work. >> it's going to help on alabama oyerrenles tongs, each fetches >> i've loaded 131 sacks on our boat and that's why i'm sweating. >> reporter: the plan is to move 100,000 sacks or ten days' worth, whichever comes first. >> it's just going to be short, though. >> but it's something. >> but it's something. >> reporter: more than 1 million

federal dollars are paying for the oyster project. the hope is that the reef will kickstart alabama's oyster business. >> so that was tiffany craig reporting that $1.5 million came from the federal grant in the wake of hurricane katrina and we should know in about a month if the oyster cleansing was a success. tiger woods making his big comeback at the masters. he's got a little more baggage this time, though, and it's not golf baggage. do fans even care about that baggage? 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.

band now we're insuring overts do18 million drivers. gecko: quite impressive, yeah. boss: come a long way, that's for sure. and so have you since you started working here way back when. gecko: ah, i still have nightmares. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. detroit schools' emergency financial manager robert bob is set to unveil his new plan by closing more than 40. that's at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. cnn will bring that to you live.

okay, tiger woods is set to be at the masters april 8th, so that brings us to our blog question. we've asked you what you think about tiger woods' comeback. here's some of what you said. i do not agree with the way tiger lived, but i do love his golf game. he is the best and the game of golf needs him back. from julian, who cares? tiger woods is just a golfer. truly, the only time i want to hear about a tiger is if one is loose, that way i can get to safety. this from antonia,