making news in america this morning -- 216. that is the magic number of votes to get president obama's health care bill passed on capitol hill. and if you don't think every vote counts, think again. falling behind. a new report says the nation's boys aren't doing too well in school, while the girls are making major strides. and what did he say? vice president biden at a white house ceremony. another case of open mouth, insert foot. it's thursday, march 18th, 2010. good morning. thanks for being with us on this thursday. the battle over health care reform is now down to its final

days. democratic leaders have put off releasing a final version of the bill, while they wait for budget figures. >> and they are still trying to round up yes votes from two dozen or so undecided democrats. t.j. winick joins us from washington with the latest. good morning, t.j. >> reporter: good morning. the house vote will take place on sunday at the earliest. and as you mentioned, all eyes will be on about two dozen democratic lawmakers. scott murphy is one of the most wanted men in america today. >> congressman scott murphy to listen to us. not the insurance companies. >> reporter: he is being targeted by both the left and the right. >> thank him for standing up for jobs. and against this health care bill. >> reporter: as president obama hunts for enough votes to pass health care reform. he met with murphy privately last friday. but the new york congressman wants to read the actual legislation, which is going to be presented before making up his mind. >> i'm waiting to see the language that the president puts forward. i'm going to look at it and review it. >> reporter: 216 is the magic

number for the president. the latest vote count in the house, according to abc news, 206 no or leaning no. 200-plus yes or leaning yes. and 20 undecided or undeclared. the white house got encouraging news wednesday. ohio congressman dennis kucinich who originally voted against the bill in november, but flipped his vote to yes. >> something is better than nothing. that's what i kept hearing from my constituents. >> reporter: republicans accuse democrats of using procedural moves usually reserved for smaller bills to force reform through congress. >> the american people get it. they understd there's an attempt being made to not have the kind of accountability and disclosure and transparency that were promised. >> reporter: the bill's final cost estimate could be released today. it's then expected to be 72 hours before a final house vote. vinita? >> time is ticking. t.j. winick reporting from

washington this morning. thanks, t.j. president obama is set to sign an $18 billion jobs package this morning. the first of what he says are many more to come. it's expected to create about 250,000 jobs, offering tax breaks to companies taking ununemployed workers. hiring starts in the next few weeks and continues through the summer. most of the jobs will be available in retail, manufacturing, distribution and hospitality. plans for the virtual fence between the u.s. and mexico are on hold this morning over charges of mismanagement. a new gao report today finds the government and its main contractor, boeing, did a bad job of testing for the test. the house homeland security agency takes up the bill. the haitian children taken by american missionaries are back with their parents this morning. the families were reunited in a joyous reunion. the children had been living in an orphanage as each case was sorted out. each family was given about

$260, some blankets and food. the head of the missionary group remains jailed in haiti. back here at home, there's a new report about who we are living with and how. it says 6.6 million households, with three generations live together. that's up 30% since 2009. and a record 49 million households or one in six americans, lives in a household that includes two adult generations. they say it's a sign of the economy. particularly what's been known as boomerang kids who have been moving back in with mom and dad. swollen rivers have finally started receding in northern new jersey. but hundreds of homes are still under water. and thousands of people remain without electricity. crews have been working nonstop to clear power lines and fallen trees. the governor of new jersey toured some of the most devastated areas yesterday. and fema plans to do the same today. and from the dakotas to the upper midwest, they're still bracing for some of the worst flooding in years.

volunteers are piling up sandbags along the mississippi river. and they're building dikes in fargo, where the red river is expected to crest over the weekend. and now, for this morning's weather around the nation. other than flooding, it's a nice, sunny day in the midwest and northeast. showers in the south from raleigh, myrtle beach, atlanta and miami. a mix of rain and snow in south dakota, nebraska and utah. 50s in salt lake city today. boise and seattle, as well. 73 in sacramento. 83 in phoenix. 60s across much of the northwest. the northeast is warmer than parts of florida today, with boston, new york and baltimore just shy of 70 degrees. when we come back, the fed chairman stands his ground when it comes to regulating the nation's banks. and keeping your family pet safer. that's the idea behind some new safer. that's the idea behind some new pest control product labelood.

welcome back. it is time, now, for a check of market activity, starting overseas. tokyo's nikkei average fell nearly 1% today. hong kong's hang seng is lower. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow starts the day at its highest level of the year, after climbing 47 points yesterday. the nasdaq added 11 points. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke was on capitol hill yesterday, defending the fed's turf. bernanke warned lawmakers that a proposal limiting the fed's

oversight powers is a bad idea. >> we are quite concerned by proposals to make the fed a regulator only of the biggest banks. it makes us essentially the too big to fail regulator. we don't want that responsibility. >> bernanke argues that the central bank needs to be connected to both wall street and main street to get a complete picture of the economy. kraft is the latest company to give in to pressure to make foods healthier. the nation's biggest foodmaker says it is cutting the salt in its products by an average of 10% over the next two years. that affects more than 1,000 products including oscar mayer and velveeta. general motors lost about $88 billion from 2004 until it entered bankruptcy last year. but the automaker's new finance chief says there's a reasonable chance of earning a profit this year if the economy cooperates. he also says the company could sell stock to the public later this year. but executives are in no hurry to do that. nine-month investigation

finds products intended to rid cats and dogs for fleas and ticks kills hundreds of pets each year. now, the government is mandating changes to these labels. david kerley has more. >> reporter: jeremy and vinita, the epa is telling us that the spot-on products are safe if used correctly. but the labeling has been a mess for consumers. it was last year that the epa launched this investigation, after a huge spike of reported illnses and deaths. a 62% increase in 2008, with six deaths reported. what happened? the epa believes the makers of the flea and tick products were good at advertising them and their products. but they believe that a small dose was used on a large dog. there is a fear that the cats could lick the dogs' treated fur and get sick. since no products are being banned or taken ofshelves. the industry is pleased.

and its action to changing the label, according to the epa has been positive. jeremy and vinita? >> david kerley. they say sex else is. the rights to the domain name sex.com will be auctioned off in new york. >> bidding begins at $1 million. it was last sold in 2006 for $14 million. >> any number of people could be going after that domain name. when we come back, it's time for march madness. >> we told you which teams had it in me.

now, for a look at morning road conditions. wet on the southern end of i-95 in the carolinas, georgia and florida today. snow on i-15 and 25 in the northern rockies, mostly in montana and much of wyoming. and flooded roads in the midwest. >> if you are flying today, it should be easy going. there are no weather-related

airport delays to report this morning. well, teachers and parents are taking a look at a troubling, new report on how poorly boys are doing in school. while gis e gaining much stronger math skills, boys are falling farther behind in reading. ron claiborne hamore details. >> reporter: this report is very good news for girls. but it describes what amounts to a crisis for the nation's boys. >> there's a consistent pattern here that says boys are not learning how to read as well as girls. >> reporter: the findings by the center for educational policy show a consistent pattern. in every state in the country, at every grade level studied, girls dibetter in reading than boys. in some states, thgender gap was staggering. in virginia, middle school girls did than boys in reading by 15 percentage points. in new hampshire, also 15 points. in new york state, girls were 13 points ahead of boys. at the ronald mcnair high school in jersey city, new jersey, english teacher don dello says he sees the difference. >> in an english classroom, there's always been a tendency for the girls to be more interested in the literature

than the boys. >> they just have a lot more focus. and i think they tend to spend a lot more time devoted to reading. i mean, guys are more into sports and being outside. >> reporter: even in math, a subject in which boys traditionally have done better than girls, girls are now roughly even with boys nationwide. why the difference between the sexes? in reading, one theory points to differences between the brains of boys and girls. girls' brains are more verbally oriented, which makes reading skills easier for them to acquire. boys' brains are more visually stimulated. another theory is that boys are more physically restless than girls. recess time has been cut in some schools in the push for better achievement test scores. >> they can read. but they need to be moving around, many of them, or they need to be doodling. they need to be doing something that's activating their brains. >> reporter: and boys aren't just dropping behind in reading. they drop out of school at a higher rate than girls. alarming trends for american

boys. and how have girls caught up? what's the difference now than 30 or 40 years ago when girls lagged in math? and were roughly the same as boys in reading? some experts say the women's movement. many girls study harder because they have career opportunities and expectations, diane, that they did not have years ago. ron claiborne, abc news, new york. california corrections department records show that john gardner lived near a preschool for 15 months before parole officials caught on to him and forced him to move out. gardner is accused of murdering 17-year-old chelsea king from san diego. she disappeared while out for a run last month. he is also a suspect in the investigation of the murder of amber dubois. a report out this morning shows that convicted ponzi schemer bernard madoff was badly beaten by an inmate in december. madoff was treated for a broken nose, fractured ribs and a cut on his face. one said a despite was over

money. prison officials deny that the attack ever happened. lawmakers have approved legislation that would reduce the balance of jail time for offenders found with crack versus those caught with cocaine. possessing five grams of crack and transferring 500 grams of powder cocaine have the same sentence. the new law would make it an 18-1 ratio. ron washington admits he made a huge mistake last season using cocaine and failing a drug washington says he offered to resign. but rangers' nolan ryan turned him down. michael jordan's record at the helm of the charlotte bobcats is now 1-0. they beat the oklahoma city thunder last night, hours after the nba approved his $275 million bid to take over the financially-struggling team. the deal makes jordan the first explayer to become a majority owner in the league. speaking of basketball, hurry up and fill out your brackets. this year's edition of march

madness is hours away. the first of 16 games tripped off at 12:20 p.m. eastern time. >> the president's final four are kansas, kansas state, kentucky and villanova. the president predicts kansas will win the title. >> jayhawk fans hope he's right about that. we'll see. some pro hoops being played last night at altitude. >> we get the details on who is high in the sky from our man at espn. >> good morning, america. i'm steve weissman with your espn news update. lebron james and the cavs can clinch the central division for the second-straight year. lebron doing his chalk thing. hosting the indiana pacers. first quarter, all tied up. mo williams, to lebron. one-handed on the jam. watch it again. he gets fairly high in the air. cavs led by as many as 18 in this one. fourth quarter we go. lebron in the lane. fading away. he can do that, as well. lebron with 32 point, 9 assists and 9 rebounds. just missing a triple-double for the second-straight game.

oh, yeah. he can swat it, too. 6 points, 2 blocks and 4 steals in the final minutes. cavs clinch the central division title. meanwhile, dwight howard and the magic hosting the san antonio spurs. orlando started seven of seven from the field. vince carter on the drive. he had 24 points. also, a season-high eight assists. later, here's one of them. carter to dwight howard. magic lead 76-54. if it ain't broke, don't fix it. superman, nine points, seven rebounds. magic victorious, 110-84. on the ice, marc-andre fleury and the penguins, visiting the devils. rough night for fleury. new jersey rocking the retro red, green and white sweaters. that's paul martin with his first goal of the season. devils up 3-1. now, jamie langenbrunner. travis zajac and how about zach parise? devils win 5-2.

and top the division with 87 points. that's your espn news update. i'm steve weissman. back to you in new york. vice president joe biden is known for going off-script. sometimes that means saying things that get him in a little trouble. >> yesterday, he blessed the late mother of the irish prime minister. but there's one problem with that. listen. >> he knows a lot about it. his mom lived in long island for ten years or so. god rest her soul. although -- wait, your mom's still -- your mom's still alive. your dad passed. god bless her soul. i got to get this straight. >> well, the vice president then said a silent mouth is sweet to hear beforehanding the podium over to the president. up next, the stories we'll be following today, including the health care vote search among wavering democrats on capitol hill. and we'll hear from jihad

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it's expected to create 250,000 jobs by offering tax breaks for companies taking unemployed workers. hirings related to the bill are expected to start for the next two weeks and continue in the summer. the would-be terrorist who called herself jihad jane is expected in court in philadelphia. she is expected to plead not guilty in connection with a plot to kill a swedish cartoonist. david headley is expected to plead guilty in federal court in chicago. new documents are released today in the case of last october's deadly sweat lodge incident near sedona, arizona. james arthur ray, the motivational speaker at the center of the case has pleaded not guilty to three counts of manslaughter. and march madness. the ncaa college men's basketball tournament kicks into high-gear today. the national champion will be crowned indianapolis on monday, april 5th. get the brackets filled out quick. for some of you, your local

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set out on a project that may easily take a lifetime to complete. >> it involves a pen, a note pad and thousands of unsuspecting people on the streets of new york city. without ever knowing it, this man, eating barbecue, and this jogger, and this construction worker, have become part of what could be the most ambitious art project ever. who are you drawing right now? >> i'm drawing that guy over there. he's wearing a blue shirt. >> reporter: yeah. >> and maybe a leather coat. >> reporter: he's completely unsuspecting right now. >> yeah. he might never know that i drew him. he probably won't. >> reporter: another one drawn. another 8.3 million people to go. no one ever accused jason poland of being an underachiever. he hopes to one day sketch every person in new york city. >> this is a guy i saw this morning. >> reporter: the 27-year-old professional illustrator's work has appeared in "the new york times," and "esquire" magazine. but he spends his free time in

parks and sidewalks, drawing new yorkers one by one, almost every day, for two years now. >> there's so many people here doing so many things. >> reporter: and around a city like new york, it was only a matter of time before someone famous became one of his subjects. >> the other day i was eating cheeseburgers with a friend. and he saw jerry seinfeld. >> reporter: did you draw him? >> i did draw him. >> reporter: he does this to interact with others in a city where others are anonymous. every day, he posts the drawings on his blog. a few people who have heard about the project have logged on and spotted themselves. but he has no illusions. it will be a while before he's finished, if he's ever finished. in two years, he's only done about 10,000 drawings. very cool. >> is that okay? >> reporter: i like it. make that 10,001. i feel privileged to be pabt of