and, president obama now plans a late spring visit to indonesia, where he lived as a boy. it is muslim, and democratic. plus, author marilynn robinson, who sees the holy in everything. >> so i have spent my life watching, not to see beyond the world, merely to see great mystery-- what is plainly before my eyes. captioning sponsored by the lilly endowment >> abernethy: welcome. i'm bob abernethy. it's good to have you with us. as health care reform faced a crucial vote in washington, new divisions among religious groups. catholic leaders are among those at odds and, this week, displayed a rare public split. the u.s. conference of catholic bishops opposes the plan, saying it does not go far enough in restricting abortion. but, the catholic health association, which represents most catholic hospitals, is supporting it. and, nuns who lead groups that represent many women religious sent a letter to congress, urging lawmakers to support the bill. they said it would extend needed care to millions of americans. meanwhile, the vatican faces growing anger over a burgeoning sex abuse

. >> president obama is delaying a trip to indonesia by four days hoping to sign a health care reform bill before he goes. that could be tough for the democrats to make happen. we have the latest from capitol hill. >> president obama decided to leave later to have more time to lobby wavering democrats on health care reform. >> it would be helpful to have a few more days here talking to members. >> into policy will go for final passage next week. >> i am delighted that the president will be here for the passage of the bill. >> but they still do not have the votes. abortion is the big issue. conservative democrats say they will not vote yes and seat -- unless tougher language is used. republicans are encouraging that. >> this country has had a longstanding tradition of denying government funding for abortion services. >> republicans claim their numbers are holding. >> making sure this bill never becomes law. >> in a classic congressional maneuver, they are sweetening their health care bill. fresh funding for college scholarships. they are trying to grab more democrats. >> as long as it

is the leaving of indonesia flexible at all? is it possible -- >> again, their information suggests that that vote could happen before we leave. >> meaning, though, that -- is there any flexibility there or are you going to leave as is? >> we're planning on, and have made plans to leave as scheduled. >> the lunch today for any significance to the fact that the c.e.o.'s are from the chicago area, are they all old friends? >> no, i think we've gotten different groups of people to come in at different times. >> they're all chicago c.o.e. -- c.e.o.'s. >> i think they were here on something separate and was added to the lunch today. but i think it's -- nothing more than a good cross-section to get for the president to get feedback and an understanding from them on what they're seeing in our economy. he's been in the meeting, i have not gotten a read on that yet. >> is robin carnahan the likely democratic nominee in missouri going to be at tomorrow's fundraising events? >> it's my understanding that these are joint fundraising events

indonesia also operates a sports for the triangle initiative which indonesia initiated and has become collaborative efforts with militia to develop [inaudible] we conserve the marine biodiversity area in the region known as the amazon of the seas. some 120 million people around this area is dependent on it. in the same spirit of conserving the resources we hosted the conference which australia strongly supported. we work with telstra leggitt to ensure the mainstreaming in the copenhagen accord. >> i would like to talk about health and hospital policy because the first thing i will say about it is that members opposite, the members of this government should stop telling lies. [inaudible conversations] >> order, order! the order of the opposition will withdraw. >> mr. speaker i withdraw and say they should stop telling grotesque and truth about the government and every single year between 1996 -- spec order! >> -- went up and went up massively. i don't claim to have been a surly the world's greatest health minister because i am not that conceded. i just say i was a better health ministe

>> he will be in indonesia.hat is the message from this year. >> [inaudible] >> if he went to the radio correspondents dinner last year and is going to the white house correspondents' dinner as well. yes? >> to follow on david if question, the energy meetings today, we shouldn't expect a tall figure passes we shouldn't expect the president to pivot and start pushing cap-and-trade in the coming days and months? >> let me not get ahead of the update the president gets today from those involved in these negotiations and in these talks. look, i know the president believes strongly we need to get something done and if you see the president has already demonstrated a willingness with his announcement on an additional -- a kalona for the first reactor built in three decades that we have to look how we address and tackle the problems of dependence on foreign oil with a broad approach that includes as i said a strong incentive to move towards a clean energy economy. >> first, congressman stupak said he felt more optimist

fast forward now to indonesia, september 2009. detachment which is indonesia's elite counterterrorism unit set up after 9/11 by the u.s., trained and funded, has been searching for several years for a man named mohammed top. he is the guy who was behind the bali bombings. he is also behind several hotel bombings in jakarta. is bent on about for years. he is the number one most wanted terrorist in southeast asia. the police detachment get a tip associate lives in central java. instead of rushing the house and rating it base and policemen and a the undercover surveillance for a week, gathering evidence. after that they capture the man, bring him in for an interrogation. and do they bring in to advise them on that interrogation, none other than monster. used to be the number three guy. but after he was captured, by the pleased in turn, he became an advocate against violence and now works with place and advises them on interrogation strategies. he wrote a bestseller in indonesia about why violent extremism is wrong. when they analyze

the president is supposed to leave town for indonesia sunday morning. >>> catholic nuns are breaking from their bishops in supporting the health care bill. women religious leaders representing 59,000 nuns sent a letter to lawmakers today urging them to pass health care reform. the catholic bishops say the language in the senate bill does not go far enough in restricting federal funding for abortions. the nuns disagree. >>> president obama is getting a jobs bill to side. the senate voted 68 to 29 today in favor of the bill that will give businesses tax credits for hiring unemployed workers. it includes money for highway construction. >>> five men from the d.c. area are facing charges in pakistan. they are accused of plotting terrorist attacks and pakistan and other countries. they pleaded not guilty today. they said they were heading to afghanistan when they were arrested last december. they face trial at the end of march and face life in prison if convicted. >>> in internet stinkweeds manassas detectives to the arrest of the masters -- internet staying -- sting leads detectives to in

indonesia is the fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. obviously they'll be incredibly important to international agreements on climate change. so the president believed it was important to give the issue of health care and the effort to get votes on health care a few more days, but also believes, as do those leaders in congress, that it's important to keep this trip on our schedule with two important partners. >> one other issue. the president looks to be homing in on his fed nominees. can you confirm that janet yellen is the leading candidate for nominee as vice chairman, and that sarah raskin and peter diamond are under consideration for other vacancies? can you give us any kind of sense of the timing, whether he's going to make an announcement before the trip, after the trip? >> look, we -- she is obviously somebody who -- a former chair of the council of economic advisers, somebody with great expertise in macroeconomic issues, the current president of the fed in san francisco. and she is a leading contender for the vice chair nominat

they're on their own without a staff or technical director and cannot influence china, vietnam, indonesia, or even three -- turkey. just save the new markets and allow people to communicate. we are waiting for the senate, the obama administration, to act. we are hopeful that with their employment that we can succeed. the most popular place for that energy, talk about how new our public policy is, i am one of three people and unfortunately i cannot be flying all around the world to open these markets. i have to do it from here in washington. we have met together to talk about these issues months before the hearing. google, microsoft, other companies like that, in order to do business in china had to make a very difficult decision. in response to the inquiry we said the opposite. weather is a lot in place, where there is a report from one of our producers going back to a company regarding infringing content, we work with the law of that country. let me give you a concrete idea and how it is different from the center ring discussion that was taken to mean. in germany, austria, 30, 40, 50 yea

though the republican -- though the president delayed his months -- this month's trip to indonesia toork on health care, he did take time to do an interview with indonesian tv. here our president is talking about the four years he spent growing up in indonesia. >> is it true you wrote a poll stating that your dream is to become a president? >> that's not true. i think that -- i remember reading one of my teachers saying that i was planning to be president when i was 6. you know when i was 6, i wanted to, i think, to be a fire. >> you know a fireman? >> well, let me tell you all boys wanted tibfireman when they grew up. i certainly did. >>> finally, power to the people. that's not apparently not slogan that louie gohmert of texas a big state's rights guy was trumpeting on the house floor yesterday. nostalgia for the old dates. the time before the 17th amendment. that's right before the popular election of u.s. senators. back when they were picked by state legislators. here he is. louie gohmert. >> since the 17th amendment took out the last check and balance on use of patient of state's

indonesia is the fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. they are incredibly important to international agreements on climate change. the president believes it is important to give the issue of health care and the effort to get votes on health care a few more days, but also believes that it is important to keep this trip on the schedule. >> what other issue -- can you confirm that janet yellen is the leading candidate for nominee of fed vice chairman? will he make the announcement before or after the trip? >> she is obviously somebody who -- former chair of the council on economic advisers, and somebody with great expertise in macro at -- macroeconomic issues. the current president of the fed in san francisco. she is a leading contender for that nomination. as you know, we are hoping to fill the vacancy of the vice chair in time for the end of the current term, which is june. i would say that sarah raskin and peter diamond are under strong consideration for additional vacancies. i do not have the timing announcement on any of those. >> a ma

we do know that for the second me, the president has postponed a trip to indonesia in anticipation of the vote on health care. mark, of long house democrats, what is the nervous nellie factor? >> it is considerable. we'll looking at a 14-point republican edge in the "wall street journal"-nbc poll in terms of intensity and interest and excitement about the election. and they know that. the one saving feature is that if you have already voted for it, voting against it is probably not political insurance. >> "politico's" taught at the margin refers to wavering house democrats as the drum up queen caucus -- drama queen caucus. is that fair, charles? >> this is a very unpopular bill. if you look at public opinion, massachusetts, and they know that this could cost them their seat in congress, it is not an easy vote. and if you want to give them credit for lack of selfishness, there is a question of whether you ought to represent the wishes of the constituency, or act under your own understanding of what the national interest. that is not an easy choice. >> evan, all it took for dennis kucin

. >> that's why he wants to get it out of the way as soon as possible and he's not going to indonesia. >> my fear is there isn't the same kind of passion for major legislative reform after the -- >> john, this is about power. you're exactly right. it has got ton where now one side's gonna lose and the other's gonna win and the democrats are being brought aboard saying you are not giving those right wingers. >> and the people are not involved. >> exactly. >> the people are involved because it expands health care coverage to 32 million people. >>> when we come back we come lady. when planning for retirement these days, the forecast is full of ifs. if i'm too exposed to downturns. if i'll go through my savings too fast. to help you feel more confident consider putting a portion of your savings in a metlife variable annuity. when the market goes up, it gives your assets a potential to grow. while protecting you if the market goes down with a steady stream of income. let america's number one annuity provider help you stay on course with guarantees for the if in life. get answers about annu

can mean learn something from indonesia and the last area from research?hat are other companies doing with the analysis of the detainee's we're not doing? a present this figure which the model of dealing with the medical model to study the target, . [laughter] maybe that as a doctor. we preach something similar in our training, but we don't go into detail how you analyze the person? look at the indonesian model. they assess the level of radicalism i was never exposed to in our training. what is the motive and the role of the network? that is the exelon model to crafting the approach strategy not based on stereotypes but based on each individual and why they joined the filing group is very specific and especially this one down here and most people i found in iraq i can tell you i never met said diehard jihadist common maybe one, a 12 year-old boy who was brainwashed by his father provide that a lot of people that joined al qaeda because they needed protection from the shia militia and people who joined because they were worried about this city access and th

indonesia is the largest muslim country in the world. obviously it has seen the impacts of horrific terrorist activities. australia is a country we enjoy a trade surplus with, something the president is anxious to highlight, as well as a strong supporter of hours in providing support for afghanistan. it is too important partners in a very important region of the world, and the president looks forward to making the trek. >> he seemed to back off on march 18 deadline by saying it could be a day or two, but does the president still want this thing passed before he gets on the plane? >> again, if it takes a couple of days extra, we will be happy to have it passed then. even if he has already taken off. i do not have any updates for you right now on the trip, except to say the president is going on that trip. cracks in remax and -- >> henry waxman has a plan to get the boat passed without trying to change the provisions. if stupak and co. vote against it, so be it. is that your understanding, and is that the strategy going forward? >> i do no

without an executive directer -- can actually influence the government of china or vietnam or of indonesia or of turkey when those countries decide to put in place barriers to prevent the free flow of communications and ideas. we believe it is the obama administration's important role to stand in the shoes of the great companies that are coming from the united states to open new markets and allow people to communicate, and so we have asked again and again and again for the senate to act, for the obama administration to act, for the prior administration to act, and we are hopeful with their participation and involvement we can, in fact, open up these new markets. we think that's the most profitable place for facebook to put its energies. you talked about how new our public policy office is. i am one of three people, and i can't be, unfortunately, flying all around the world to open these markets on my own, so i've got to do it from my seat here in washington. i think that's reall the first two important points. if i could respond to senator durbin's third point. again, we welcome his leader

fast forward now to indonesia, september, 2009. attachment 88 which is the counterterrorism unit set up after line 11 by the u.s. trained and funded has been searching for several years for a man named mohammed. he is the body behind the bombings, he is a leader of the al qaeda affiliated terrorist organization in indonesia and southeast asia. he's also behind several hotel bombings in jakarta and he's been on the run for years. he's the number one most wanted terrorist in southeast asia. the police get a tip. an associate lives in central java instead of the russian house and reading a decent policemen and they do undercover surveillance for a week gathering evidence. after that they captured the man, bring him in for interrogation and who they've bring in to advise on the interrogation? none of the van and an produce to be the number three guy. after he was captured by the police he became an advocate against violence and now works for the police and advises them on interrogation strategies. he wrote a best-seller about why viole

white house is saying that the president wants to complete health care reform before he leaves for indonesia on sunday. >>> ohio has passed a law against mandatory health care. this would require the state attorney general to sue the government the residents are forced to buy insurance. virginia passed a bill last week and three other states are considering doing the same thing. >>> new this morning, a fire at a gas station in virginia is under investigation. the two alarm blaze broke out at 1:30 this morning. investigators say that it started in an office area. no one was hurt. route 236 had closed, but that's open now at this hour. >>> taking a look at the other stop tore as that we're following this morning. >> it is not going the bring stacey back and it is not going to change what happened to christy. you are never the same person after sometng like this. as tragic as it is, a part of you dies, or a part of me died with stacey. >> christy reed who is 45 and lives in texas, has returned to virginia to attend the execution. >>> six men are behind bars accuse of raping a woman. she said th

president obama canceled his sunday trip to indonesia, hoping for a signed bill by monday. >> the president is determined to see this battle through. >> they're going to continue to ram this bill through the congress. >> all we need is enough democrats in the house of representatives to do the right thing for the american people. >> that is the key. how many boats will split shot? >> more than one dozen -- how many votes will splishift? >> more than one dozen democrats have said that they would support the bill with those numbers. >> and still ahead, the new regulations officials hope will keep your teenager tobacco-free. >> and in tonight's medical alert, how a jolt of electricity could change the face of certain medical procedures. >> why is this happening and why this could be part of the cover- up. >> and the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the cap -- the catholic church is moving ever closer to the vatican. >> there is rain as close as the carolina coast. but it does not look like it's coming this way. coming this way. how do we know how many town roads we need? the census helps us

i actually had my bags packed supposed to be heading with the president to indonesia tomorrow morning. if there's an argument left he hasn't made i'm not sure what it would be, but if he's got it he better bring it out now. top aides have already said that this week alone the president's had more than 64 contacts either phone calls or one-on-one meetings with various wavering house democrats. in fact, there's a photo the white house put out of the president making a phone call on the way to george mason university, should i say, in northern virginia where he had a big rally to try to sort of rally his base, build some momentum in advance of this house vote, and what he's doing in these final moments and final hours is to say, look, put aside the politics. let's focus how this can help americans all around the country. >> do you know if the president is planning any sort of big celebration if this were to happen, if this passes? >> no. you know what's interesting is they sort of see the rally as coming today where, you know, they can get democrats fired up in advance of that sunday vot

in indonesia, a man watches a sunset from the coast of a beach in bali.wo turtles return to the sea after laying their eggs on the beach. "hot shots," pictures worth 1,000 words. >>> the crowd estimates may vary widely on today's tea party 7x$jo on capitolí#8 thing is clear, the group's push to be heard on health care reform. jeanne moos has a most unusual look at the kill-the-bill follies. >> reporter: a bunch of homicidal protesters descended on washington. their intended victim? >> kill the bill. kill the bill. >> reporter: unless you are wondering which bill to kim, there's president obama popping out of the health care coffin. you can read their minds by reading their signs. angry? you betcha. >> i'm american and i'm mad. >> reporter: russia called, they want their socialism back. can't remember, write it on your hand, stop spending! >> so many wonderful signs, this one back here says "stop being a democrat, start being an american." >> reporter: stop spending money we don't have on things we don't want, pelosi spits in america's face. >> arrogant el

and finally president obama recently sat down for errant view with an indonesia television station and some memories from his time spent there as a young boy. this one was a new detail. >> do you remember breaking someone's arm? >> yes, i do, actually. when i was -- by accident. >> you tickled a guy? >> we were riding a bike together. and he fell. it was a great -- i was very traumatized. >> did you tickle him from the back? >> and we fell on the bike. and i do remember that. >> i think he's okay. >> is he okay? >> i think so. >> please tell him that i apologize for that. i felt so bad. i remember feeling terrible. >> bret: our top story at the bottom of the hour, the administration is trying to fix a gap in the health care reform law that has left children who have medical problems without a guarantee of insurance coverage, at least for now. how the american people feel about the law will be determined, of course, in november. national correspondent steve centanni looks at the war of words coming soon to a television near you. >> it's march, and that means it's madness. but not basket

. >> reporter: later, white house officials announced the president has postponed his trip to indonesia and australia until june. spokesman robert gibbs said that while mr. obama had been scheduled to depart on sunday, he's staying to continue his lobbying effort. >> passage of health care reform is of paramount importance and the president is determined to see this battle through. >> reporter: both white house aides and democratic leaders talked optimistically today of getting the votes they need. they did not say how close they are. >> brown: and for a closer look at the bill's costs and savings, i'm joined by neera tanden of the center for american progress. she served as a senior advisor for the obama administration at the department of health and human services until last month. and gail wilensky, economist and senior fellow at the "project hope foundation. she served in republican administrations and on medicare payment commissions. she also sits on the board of the insurance company united health group. first, let's start by helping people understand what the c.b.o. report is. ne

well, people in indo nesia are munch -- indonesia are munching on a new kind of snack. >> you'll be surprisedwhat the healthy treat is made of. >> people are eating dirt. >> yummy. >> one woman is the sole creator. she makes them from northeastern patty fields. >> even though there is no data to back the claim. but they say it is a natural painkiller. >> everything comes from the dirt. >> i think i'd rather eat a little chocolate roll that looks the same. >>> eyewitness sports is next. >>> this is mark viviano. maryland and morgan state arrive at their ncaa tournament site. we'll have a scouting report. and the latest opposition and stunning drug news by a former manager. boss: so word's gettin' out that geico customers could save even more on their car insurance by signing up for other things - like homeowner's or renter's insurance. nice work, everyone. exec: well, it's easy for him. he's a cute little lizard. gecko: ah, gecko, actually - exec: with all due respect, if i was tiny and green and had a british accent i'd have more folks paying attention to me too... i mean - (faux english acce

to us that the best course of business was to reschedule nearby niche and australia -- reschedule indonesia and australia for june. >> i heard there were plans for the president to bring his family, do you think that might be reconsidered given he spent four years of his life as a child there? >> those plans will be made as we look toward scheduling in june. i think the president is disappointed based on the relationship that we have with a growing democracy, with an important country in our counterterrorism relationship in a country that's the largest muslim country in the world. the president looked forward to building off what he talked about in cairo. but we'll get a chance to visit both countries in june. >> on dee the slaughter rule, the president is a constitutional law expert himself, would he sign a bill -- >> he would sign that bill, yes. >> he's not worried that it's constitutional? >> he would sign that bill, yes. >> robert, are you worried that the sort of calendar vise grip you have the house in with this trip now being gone, they'll take advantage of this delay and maybe dill

number of countries that have big fields, mexico and indonesia are two where their production is down substantially. >> we need more oil. that's what you're saying, we need more oil to get the price down. it makes sense to me. >> more than half a drill. we need maybe four drills. >> another quickie. this cap and trade bill serkulated. lindsey graham, john kerry, joe lieberman. they are going to put some carbon caps on your industry. how that going to affect you? >> i don't really have a good read yet on how that would affect everything. obviously, to the degree that you raise the prices, does it hurt the economy, but it dampens demand. demand for oil could go down around the world if they do that, which i presume would lower the price except for the impact of taxes that raise it. >> the global demand in places like china that doesn't play with these caps might keep rises but the u.s. production might not so you would have an imbalance that could contribute to higher prices, couldn't you? >> absolutely. i mean, we have seen china and india and other countries that are industrializing,

honestly, we're talking about japan, we're talking about near indonesia now. >> haiti. >> haiti.of these quakes somehow related and, suzanne, you go first? >> most of the experts we talked to said it's coincidence. >> it's a crazy coincidence. >> but, chad, prove me wrong. >> no, i just know that sometimes coincidences are pronounced coinky-dink. the 8.8 quake made the earth go faster and it's smaller like a skater bringing her arms in, the earth spinning faster because the earthquake, because the solid mass is a little bit closer to the center. i think some of that movement could be making some of these. but they're not directly related from one to the next. it can happen. and it does. that if it -- you shake it addre at 2:00 and the wave and the shake gets to japan at 3:00 and japan has the quake, certainly those were connected. but we just haven't seen that time/distance continuum on any of these being enough and proper and connected. >> good stuff. i'm fighting back a cough, so suzanne is handling the tease. >> she's doing the rest of the show. tony, you're done, have a nice

you had the chief economist of the imf, a man who spend his time in russia, in indonesia, and what does he see center he comes back and travels around the world and comes back and sees in america what he called a financial -- allegory. i don't know why other people haven't focused on it. i wrote the book to flesh out the basic argument that there was in deed some sort of cue there was a social change that was extremely significant. i wrote it also to show the destructive effects because when the financers use the corporations to extract capital, not to make things or provide jobs, one of the things that happens is the assets, the real property, the skills under the control of the corporations are destroyed. i wrote it also to give a sense of what the principles of the previous political economic system looked like, the one that was overthrown by the chicago schoolers, by reagan and then ratified by clinton. what to do. simplest thing is to make our corporations, make our banks smaller. we have the laws. we just have to reframe them. we had antimonopoly laws, pricing laws, myriad laws. a

mean democrats on the hill were relieved, they were astonished that he was still talk go-going to indonesia, australia, and new zealand that is something he will have to time to do. if this goes down i will have time to be a world traveler because he won't have much of a domestic agenda to push. he's got to sign the bill as soon as it passes. and then push the senate. >> lehrer: explain that. >> okay. >> lehrer: this is a -- >> this is the senate-passed bill. you can only use reconciliation on enacted law. a law that has been passed so you have to pass this into law. and -- as soon as the house passes the president has to sign it. the changes that the house makes then go to the senate to be acted upon. the republican strategy in the senate is to delay. if you delay with amendments, a couple hundred amendments it can take you into the jewish holiday and that is a killer. i mean because that ends the whole thing. and so he has to be here and as soon as it does pass finally, to be able to make the case to the nation, what this is about, why we should be proud of what we have done, it proves, i

when we lookq at countries like turkey, dubai, indonesia, we see middle classes that are getting richy global economy that see their future and interests in global economy are religious. but the kind of religion they follow is in some ways globalization-friendly. so it's conservative. it's pious. but it's supports capitalist activity and living harmoniously with others in a global economy. >> what ramifications did the business class have in american foreign policy? >> well, we don't pay as much attention to them as we ought to. we don't think of the fact that what transformed china, transformed india, transformed latin america, eastern europe and asia that created stable, prosperous democracies was the middle class in those countries that were dependent on private sectors and integrated into the global economy. and we don't think in the muslim world you're not going to get them to where brazil, argentina, taiwan or korea are unless the same class that got those countries where they are also becomes empowered in the muslim world. so we're looking for a solution in the muslim world wit

thailand, they started to look around and say, you know, is something going wrong in korea as well and indonesiand other nations? before you know it, all emerging markets around the world especially russia are having an all-out crisis. that has had a real impact on the global economy. the fear is that greece could be the first step in the same kind of thing this time around. >> woodruff: how to avoid that fate was on the agenda today for the american born and educated papandreou. i spoke with him at his washington hotel. prime minister george papandreou, thank you very much for talking with us. >> thank you. it's good to be on your show. >> woodruff: many countries around the world are having serious debt crises right now. why has your problem in greece created such turmoil, do you think? >> that's a good question. obviously we were affected by the international situation also. greece being a smaller country , people were wondering, well, will it be able to deal with this deficit problem? and then we became a target. that could happen to pretty much any country. as it happened to a bank even in

it is wood or mahogany or malaysia or indonesia it looks like in has the design for the environment and they said you need to get out a little bit more. [laughter] and they gave me some important feedback that changed our i communicate as an activist. because i am assuming you are all activist and want to make up plays better as well they said i was using way too much jargon and when i use words that they did not know they try to find a place in their brain four that were then i was on to the next thing but i think a part of me thought that i was dumbing down or being patronizing but i realize that there is so much environmental and economic information out there by some experts and there is so much jargon it serves to exclude people from participating in a conversation. they said i was starting of conversation 20 years into a. we haven't been going to factories or dumps for 20 years. it reminded me of the famous statement of talk to people where they are at not at over you are at. where my center of gravity and talk from my heart. that i was full of parts per million and statistics but

there is talk of indonesia. we have pursued the idea in egypt where you studied. syria is not necessarily on the -- i have a niece that will study their in a few weeks. >> really? >> she is a student. is encouraging to me that we have young people in this country to talk about syrian studies. they are pursuing the cultural and linguistic abilities in the arab world. we need more and more of that along the way. there is a broad range of issues. senator kerry and i had an interesting meeting a couple of years ago. we made a visit to the region. i hope my opening comments will be put in the record, as well. one question i have is as i understand it, things have not changed much. the syrians in terms of their negotiations with the israelis would like to begin the process where things have left off. the isvr(áhr understand it, would like some preconditions, understandably. can you give us a sense of how you might square that circle. ? it was suggested that that avenue may offer more promise initially then the relationships between the israelis and palestinians. that co

cause pretty severe damage in some locations, but it wasn't anything like the tsunami that we saw in indonesia determines the energy of that tsunami? >> well, even though 8.8 seems huge, it's definitely smaller than the 9.2 that created the sumatran tsunami. and the tsunamis are directly created by the change in the shape of the sea floor during the earthquake. as a fault moves upward and displaces that water, the fault that moved in this chilean earthquake is about 300 miles long whereas the one in the sumatran earthquake was about a thousand miles long so much more water was displaced and therefore went out. we also seem to have been lucky to some extent. you can see that as it travels out across the ocean you get sort of little, you know, focusing areas that are stronger than some others and none of those seem to have really come in at the more distant sites. but, of course, nobody in chile would consider themselves lucky. it was a very damaging tsunami there. >> now, watching that wave move across that screen, i now finally understand why i was required to have tsunami insurance on my hous

why not go to other nations like brazil, indonesia, china or india that do not have the cap-and-trade cost and therefore be more effective and cost-effective? >> host: what about the american leadership acting as a role model? >> guest: if the role model causes the largest the matters of the world china and other developing nations, to smile and say they made our life easier they are cutting and cutting as we grow we have not help the world that is not the leadership the world needs in. we can pursue a course which in my view perhaps has a more compelling reason to pursue it to that is pursue a course of energy independence. the course that would allow us to become energy independent has eight important byproduct production of greenhouse gases we need to use a lot more natural guest that is a lot less co2 emitting energy source then cool we need more nuclear power plants. fad is a non emitter of co2. we have a way of making america a far more leadership role in the world without the same time putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage with nations that are competing for the very

i suspect he's very happy he did not go to indonesia and australia today as he was supposed to go. guys, thanks very much for coming in. we're going to continue our coverage. i'll be back here in the "situation room" tomorrow. there will be more, of course, on "larry king live" throughout the week. thanks very much for joining us. don lemon picks up our coverage right now. >>> it's a victory for the american people. and it's a victory for common sense. >> it is a cinderella story for president obama and the democrats. votes came through. health care reform has passed. >> just because some politicians got attacked they shouldn't be whines and crying about it. >> the vote might be over, but the debate over the name calling and heckling continues to heat up. >>> plus, it's tiger woods' interview since news of his affairs service in november. how he strayed from the straight and narrow. >>> good evening, everyone, i'm don lemon at cnn world headquarters in atlanta. health care reform is now history. >> on this vote the ayes are 219, nays 212. the molt to concur the senate amendment is

he postponed his trip to indonesia to be in washington to make a final push for his top domestic initiative. white house correspondent, dan lothian joins us live. the ez president wanted to be i washington when this vote went down. >> reporter: had he kept to his schedule, he would have been overseas. this is such a critical vote. the president wanted to be here to make sure he could push health care reform across the finish line. i just heard from a white house aide that told me the president will be continuing to working the phones behind the scene to reach out to the house democrats who are still on the fence. that's what we've seen from the president over the last few days, our own version of march madness as they are in the fourth quarter of this major health care game, if you will, trying to make sure that the democrats, who can really help them win this, vote yes. so the president we saw yesterday going up to capitol hill making it clear to those house democrats exactly what is at stake. >> i am just curious, do we -- >> we are bound to let whatever light we have shine. we have been

we had our bags packed for guam, indonesia, and australia, and in fact early tomorrow morning the press corps was going to be going a couple hours ahead of the president. he was going to leave late morning. all that has been delayed at least until june. this is the president's top domestic priority. a lot on the line. the president has had a lot of hands-on involvement here. white house aides say since monday the president has had 64 contact with various wavering democrats. he was making calls yesterday on the way to george mason university in northern virginia where he had a big rally. he's also been doing some one-on-one meetings, and he's going to be on the hill later today and the pitch basically was laid out at this rally yesterday where he's urging his fellow democrats to put politics aside and do what he believes is right. >> it's a debate that's not only about the cost of health care, not just about what we're doing about folks who aren't getting a fair shake from their insurance companies. it's a debate about the character of our country. about whether we can still meet the cha

president obama has delayed a trip to indonesia, guam and australia by three days to push health care reform to a final vote. the white house announced today the president will leave on sunday the 21, instead of thursday the 18. press secretary robert gibbs said congressional leaders asked the president to put off his departure. >> i think everybody believed that him being here was more important. we didn't postpone the trip for any image's sake. this is not done for anything other than a few extra days to getting health care reform through the process, as well as keeping that important trip. >> sreenivasan: house speaker nancy pelosi today predicted final passage of the overhaul within days. she suggested congress might delay its easter break, scheduled to begin on march 26. >> we stand ready to stay as long as it takes to pass the bill. i think members are eager to pass the bill. and again, it won't be long before we'll be making a real difference in the lives of the american people. >> sreenivasan: pelosi and other house leaders continued trying to round up enough democratic votes.

>> they have confident and they have been since the president canceled his trip to indonesia and australia. many said the president did not and would not cancel that trip if he thought he was staying in washington to watch a defeat. the president has worked the phones yesterday and will today if necessary to get the votes. as carl cameron said, it appeared the democrats had the votes but the white house is not sure every commitment is there to get to the magic number of 216 so the president and his chief of staff stand ready to make calls if necessary. >> there is talk that the president might sign an executive order reaffirming the amendment that no federal funds will be used for abortions to pick up some of the prolife democrats. is that something that they will do? >> there have been intense conversations on this very topic and i'm told that that executive order is necessary to get them to that 216 magic number and possibly above. the white house itself will not comment. i tried very hard for the white house to give me some sense of where the president is on this. my reporter from capit

they sent me to indonesia to run a factor. hibiscus it cannot be a step that could then wind up when you take any chances going to take any big chances on you by running a big factory in illinois so we'll give you one in indonesia with a rice patty. it was a big family decision i had two children at the time and one who was newly in college. but i went to indonesia. family enjoyed it. we had a great time. they had great international schools there. the people were wonderful there. so our business went from about $25 million a year, one of my predecessors had set it up and got it started to about $100 million inside the three years that i was there. so i was hanging on and growing as fast as we could grow with the assembly plant. and getting to know a lot of, you know, the local politicians and thinking about how we expanded our reach across the s ossion group of countries. my mentor became the chairman. i was asked to come back as the president of our gas turbin division in san diego and be sort of the ceo of that business. an

the president postponed his trip to indonesia and to asia to the end of the week to try to be here to put more pressure on house democrats to vote. speaker pelosi has also said that she's confident when they bring it to the floor that they will have the votes and it will take the time they need. but again let's remember this two-week break. if this bill does not pass at least in the house before that break starts, members will go home for two weeks and then it usually takes a while to kind of get the steam back when they come back. you're talking about mid april before the senate consideration would begin. and then again if the house doesn't pass it they have to return to it after that break and so that really pushes the calendar back. >> ifill: the president leaves for this foreign trip on sunday afternoon. this is just another do-or-die moment for health care reform. >> it certainly could be. >> ifill: it could be or it couldn't be. we never know. >> every time you set a deadline they blow through it. we'll see what happens. >> ifill: thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> ifill: st

pay far more expensive prices for energy in this country why not go to other nations like brazil, indonesia, china, india that don't have those cap and trade costs and therefore can be more effective and cost-effective. >> host: what about american leadership? america acting as a role model? >> guest: if the role model causes the largest theaters in the world, which are china and other developing nations to simply smile and say they've made our life a lot easier america is cutting and going to veto cutting. we really haven't helped the world and that's not the kind of leadership the world needs. what america can do is we can pursue a course which in my view has perhaps even more compelling reason to pursue and that is to pursue a course of energy independence and the course that would allow us to become energy independent has as a byproduct an important byproduct production of greenhouse gases to become energy independent we need to use a lot more natural gas. that is a far less co2 emitting energies worse than coal and oil to become energy independent we need to meet more nuclear power pla

it is possible that they might try to put that issue off until this trip to indonesia. i do not think the options here have been developed to the point where they are ready to go to the president. the white house is trying to turn the temperature down a little bit on this. host: we're talking with josh gerstein, white house reporter for "politico." return to military tribunals it came out early this morning. actually, early yesterday morning. you can read that as well as the other things that he has written on their website. thank you for being on the program. back to the telephones and our discussion on the ban of credit checks for job applicants. a virginia is our next caller. cal then, an employer. caller: i feel that the credit checks should not be used and everything because i hire a lot of felons straight out of the present -- prison and i give these people a second chance in a coming back into the job market. i feel like a credit check would not allow these people a second chance at coming back and giving it readjusted to the work force. i feel that it is a hindr

i assume when he was going to be going to indonesia but canceled those trips because of the health careto go to afghanistan at that point anyway. you know, he did spend some time last fall and made a courageous decision to send more troops to afghanistan. he gave a big speech at west point but then you didn't hear much from him and in fact, "the new york times" reported that, i think, it was over 50 public appearances in -- from january, he hadn't mentioned it even once. so good for him to go. not only is it important for the troops to see him but he's responsible for rallying the nation to take care of the troops, especially while they're there and when they get home. one thing that's interesting in your clip, president obama says that the americans -- americans do not quit. i'm glad to hear him say that now. as candidate, he didn't say that. he was willing to quit iraq but thankfully that's turned around as well. >> that's a very interesting point, dana. what do you make about the fact that i think this is the deadliest month or last couple of days in afghanistan that preceded his vis

. >> they'll be asking him ad nauseam about indonesia and australia about democracy over here.e better get a much better indonesia briefing for the president. >> but i mean, he's prepared to be there during that -- during that week? >> yes. and i'll say this, michael, more seriously, when the president, as i said last week when the president talked to the speaker and the majority leader, while there was an agreement to give both sides a few extra days of the president's time to help passage, the president was also -- the president and the leaders also agreed of the foreign of the trip. -- importance of the trip. i went through some of that on the trip and we're critical to indonesia in helping on counterterrorism and ultimately on protecting our country. the type of trading relationships that we have with these two countries and that we hope to expand with these two countries. help grow our economy. so it is -- it is -- it is an important trip that the president will take. and i think he's -- he looks forward to it? >> can i just follow up? >> sure. >> are there people that you