minnesota.s is about 45 minutes. >> i will make this as brief as i can but i think everybody has heard enough from me this evening. i was asked to introduce our guest speaker, government tim pawlenty, and i was honored. two months ago i was present with his wife, mary. we probably spent 45 minutes ago. you can tell that the political season has officially started because we have a governor from another state coming to new hampshire at least twice now. so i think he has heard the rumor that unless people in new hampshire meet you three times, they haven't decided about you. so he has made two wick trips -- quick trims. the governor very quickly puts people at ease when you meet him. you get into a regular conversation, nothing heavy, and he makes you feel very comfortable. he is not the tough, difficult, straight jacket conversation that you sometimes have with politicians. governor pawlenty makes no secrets about it. he is testing the presidential waters. during our conversation it was clear tha

the gentleman from minnesota, mr. kline, is recognized for eight minutes as the designee of the minority leader. the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself 1 1/2 minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kline: i came to congress seven years ago to do my part to make this country better. every vote i cast and every policy i help shape must be judged by whether achieves what my constituents sent me here to -- here to accomplish. as each member of this, the people's house, prepares to vote yea or anyway tonight -- nay tonight, we should all take a moment to remind ourselves of why we are here. our job is to ensure american employers have the tools and freedom they need to sustain jobs and create jobs. instead, this bill will destroy jobs at a time when we need them the most. our job is to ensure freedom, security and prosperity for future generations. instead, this bill will be paid for by our children and our zpwrands grandchildren and our great-grandchildre

the gentleman from minnesota. mr. oberstar: mr. speaker, i yield such time as he may consume, the gentleman from northern virginia, and yield myself 10 seconds to express my admiration for his concern of these federal employees, many federal employees reside in his district and even some of these 1,900 likely reside in the gentleman's district. i appreciate him coming forward to champion this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly, is recognized. mr. connolly: thank you, mr. speaker. and i rise in strong support of this bipartisan legislation, compensating those federal transportation employees who were unfairly furloughed on march 1 and 2 because of the lapse in the highway trust fund. i want to thank the chairman of the transportation and infrastructure subcommittee, mr. oberstar, and mr. mica, for their great service. and there's too many. mr. coble for his support on a bipartisan basis. their leadership is just critical in resolving this problem. h.r. 4786 a is -- is a simple, commonsense bill.

there and in neighboring moorehead, minnesota, volunteers filled their one millionth sand bag hoping to block the rising river. heather brown reports. >> reporter: along the red river, an army of volunteers is working to erect 37 miles of sand bags against rising waters as thousands of teenagers were let out from school this week to help save their town. >> families out here can't do it alone. >> reporter: they're hoping to fend off what is expected to become one of the worst floods in the city's history. >> my whole world is upside down right now. >> reporter: marjorie started sending boxes of valuables from her riverfront home to her kids in california and minnesota last month. >> this is tiring and certainly, you know, now it's going to be more tiring as we watch the dike. >> reporter: you see the ice out there? that's the river's normal level. now it's come up to 30 feet right here and by sunday, they think it could get all the way up here to 38 feet. but the city has asked these kids to build this dike to 40 feet just in case. last year, the waters went higher than that. nearly

minnesota. some of you may be old enough to remember eugene mccarthy from minnesota.me of you may remember schubert humphrey from minnesota. some of you may remember walter mondale for minnesota. some of you may remember paul wellstone. some of you will remember the current united states senator from minnesota, al franken. [jeers] >> when people talk about the challenges in the northeast or in massachusetts or the challenges of the conservative opportunity in the great lakes with the upper midwest are places like that, i know a little bit about that. i ran as a conservative two times in a state and one. a. nand won. we have taken the spending curve of a budget that went up 21% on average every two years. we have brought that down to about zero. for the first time in the state history, we actually cut spending. [applause] this next one may not seem like a big deal to those in the granite state. for 30 years, governors of both parties in minnesota have said can be at least get the state out of the top 10 states with taxes. you would not think that would be too much to a

we both work for knife river corporation in minnesota. a belly now and jean dress a dump truck. we live in all mullins, a small town about 40 miles northeast of minneapolis and ten miles east of interstate 35. i met chairman oberstar while working on high 35 project last summer. it was a stimulus funded project and i was filled by mr. oberstar took the time to come to the job in progress, to take the time to talk to someone like me, just a truck driver and painful to have a job. mr. oberstar told me about the new bill he was working on and the practice was making. i went home that evening and ready quick e-mail to the transportation committee thinking them for taking the time to visit in d.c. is hard work and action. as a belly dump driver, i transfer materials to and from a job. i haul materials such as class for the road base for a whole millington way do work tearout then i also haul makes to a paver. but i not only drive the track. i am expected to help maintain them. i griese moving parts. i checked the oil daily, crawling engine dep

the river is expected to crest in fargo, north dakota and moor head, minnesota.is not expected to reach last year's record level. reynolds wolf joins us from moorhead. how are people coping? >> reporter: they're doing well. these are hearty people in minnesota and back in north dakota. they have dealt with this. they have had roughly four major floods in the past decade. this certainly has been a big one. remember, the major flood stage is right at 18 feet. we expect the flood waters to rise to 37.5 feet by late tonight into tomorrow. that just blows me away in terms of how high the water is going to be. it should not reach the record we had in 2009 going up to 40.8 feet. behind me, you can see the red river starts right here. at one point we were told by locals you look off -- not way back there, but you see the iron railway trestle and trees, that's where the water used to be the red river. it escaped its banks because the snow melted quickly. with this particular river that runs up to canada, empties into lake winnipeg, it is obviously swollen past the banks a

>> no, because in minnesota we don't have that. >> larry: what do you do in minnesota?> 17 states have these machines. they need to get rid of them, and states that don't have them don't get them. in minnesota you still have to mark a ballot, and it goes into the machine then, and so that if it's a close election, like we had between senator franken and senator coleman, well, then they can pull them ought owl and they can hand-count them. with these new voting machines, you can't do that. >> larry: more with jesse ahead. should marijuana be bought and sold in the united states like liquor? jesse's thoughts on that. lots of other things. the book "american conspiracies," don't go away. oh sure, we have plenty of employees that... you can label as "different." like janice. uh-huh. yeah. fashion deficient. and tom... copy incapable. it's open kimono time. looking good, dan. oh, we want to make sure all our ducks in a row. yeah. volume control syndrome. but we focus on the talent and skill that each person... brings to the team. i mean, no one's really concerned about label

that resonated with me with the people in minnesota.portant that people understand, too, that all of us have an obligation to add to the system and to pay for the services that we consume. >> larry: okay. we got some more coming and then we're going to meet todd bridges. don't go away. >> larry: get in a couple calls. new freedom, pennsylvania. [ male announcer ] when we built our first hybrid, youtube didn't exist. and facebook was still run out of a dorm room. when we built our first hybrid, more people had landlines than cell phones, and gas was $1.75 a gallon. and now, while other luxury carmakers are building their first hybrids, lexus hybrids have traveled 5.5 billion miles. and that's quite a head start. ♪ >> larry: get in a couple calls. new freedom, pennsylvania. hello. >> caller: hello. good job, larry. this question is for senator bachmann. >> larry: go ahead. >> caller: i'd like to know where they're getting their polling numbers from. no one ever polled myself and a lot of other people. and, also, would she be willing to gi

joining us now is senator amy klobuchar, democrat of minnesota. it is very nice to have you back on the program. thank you for being here. >> well, thank you, rachel. i did want to report, what is it that you called us, i'm live from dysfunction junction? a nice way to introduce me. >> do you deny the senate is where legislation goes to die now? >> could i point out that, in the last month, we passed that major jobs package? remember, with some bipartisan report. we got the faa reauthorization passed, which actually is a big deal, for getting our air traffic modernized. we are starting to get things done in a big way. you will see a big thing with health care. as you pointed out, they are going to delay and obstruct every step of the way. you can call it the voter-rama-drama. it will be going on into the night. our people, despite what you may poke fun at us, we will not waver and we will get it done. you saw this in december when we got every single one of us together to vote about that bill. you can't say that actually about the house. harry rei

that resonated with me with the people in minnesota.portant that people understand, too, that all of us have an obligation to add to the system and to pay for the services that we consume. >> larry: okay. we got some more coming and then we're going to meet todd bridges. don't go away. rogaine? i'm just a skeptic so i don't necessarily believe that anything is going to work but i was like, hey, this actually works. (announcer) only rogaine foam is shown to regrow hair in 85% of guys. i'll check it out and i'm like, nice. (announcer) rogain foam. stop losing. start gaining. [ male announcer ] years ago, the world was faced with a challenge. and lexus responded by building the world's first luxury hybrid. today, 5.5 billion miles later, lexus has four hybrid models on the road... including the hs, the most fuel-efficient of all luxury vehicles. ♪ see your lexus dealer. (pouring rain) i had a great time. me too. you know, i just got out of a bad relatio... it's okay. thanks. goodnight. goodnight. (door crashes in, alarm sounds) get out! (p

reynolds wolf is there for us in moorhead, minnesota. reynoldings, seems like you do this story, what, i don't know, every year? >> reporter: seems that way. they have it down to a science in this part of the world. i'm coming you from moorhead, minnesota. across the way is fargo and in between is red river. two cities, one river, one flood of historic proportions. we'll talk about how this has been affecting thousands of people. spring begins today. we have a may josh winter storm in parts of the nation. in oklahoma, in fact, the state already declared a state of emergency. all 77 counties in the state of oklahoma under that emergency possibly getting up to a foot of snowfall. another busy weather morning, talking about all of it coming up in a few moments. >>> of course, health care reform is our top story this hour. after months of debate, the house pushes toward a vote tomorrow on the senate version of the bill. the house rules committee meets at 8:00 a.m. eastern today and decide how tomorrow's voting will play out. the full house c

minnesota's governor says he thinks the flooding this weekend will be manageable. live report on this coming your way at the top of the hour so stay tuned for that. >>> meantime, education secretary arne duncan wants to make sure the ncaa's scholar athletes don't ignore the scholar part of the equation. he's proposed a new rule barring any college basketball team with less than a 40% graduation rate from competing in march madness the next year. now if that rule were in effect right now, 11 of the teams that are competing in this year's ncaa tournament would be out, and that would include number one-ranked kentucky. >>> bill leach is the editor of deadspin.com. arne duncan says if you can't graduate just 2 out of your 5 players, something's out of whack. does very a point? >> in a way that, yes, these are college points. but certainly the 40% is a pretty aepre pretty arbitrary number. he's looking at six-year graduation rates which ultimately punishes people that are playing now for faults of previous administrations. >> tell me what happens. say a teen does not ma

drew griffin, cnn, granite falls, minnesota. >>> back to the nation's capital.ting and poising themselves in the capitol building for the president who just arrived. his motorcade, has, that is. it's parked on the east side of the capitol building. after they get things in place the president will be swept inside and he will be going to that democratic caucus meeting where he will join the last-minute pep talking and pushing toward a health care reform vote that he is favoring. the schedule vote taking place tomorrow. the news of this afternoon has been that these house members decided to do away with the controversial deem and pass method of getting this measure through. instead now they will be voting on the resolution, the package of amendments, i should say. this reconciliation package and also voting on the senate bill. if there is passage of those items, they'll then be moving on to the president's signature and then of course the senate will go through its wrangling and voting throughout the next week. first we've got to get through this weekend with the

i'm also proud that the university of minnesota is leading the way.the u of m was one of the first universities in the nion to switch to direct lending. i recently met with students and administrators at several campuses, and they told me that the direct-lending program is working very, very well. not only does it provide students with the same benefits as the bank subsidy program at a we administrative headaches of financial aid officers by decreasing the number of entities that they have to deal with. to be blunt, our choice here is simple. we can continue to waste billions to line the pockets of banks or we can i certainly don't want to go home to minnesota next week and explain to my constituents that the senate decided to keep forking over their hard-earned tax dollars to banks rather than helping their kids go to college. and for many families, it really is the opportunity to send their kids to college that's at stake here. most of the money that would be saved from switching to direct lending would be used to strengthen the pell grant. pell gra

governor ed rendell of pennsylvania and senator amy klobuchar of minnesota join us. >>> the congressman who admits to screaming "baby killer" on the floor of the house apologizes for having done it and immediately tries to fund raise off the fact that he did it. another texas congressman proposes ending your right to vote for your united states senate. senator scott brown's best available fund-raising weapon turns out to be a big surprise. apparently senator scott brown best available fund-raising weapon, um, is me. he is trying to raise money using me. that very strange story tonight will make me a guest on my own show for the first time ever. that is all coming up. we begin with an historic day in washington. today president barack obama did what generations of presidents before him only dreamed of doing. he put his pen to legislation which officially made health reform the law of the land. mr. obama joined by a huge

the health care bill create financial problems for minnesota?h care bill is misguided and going to create problems. if we implement within part the extension of medicaid to single adults without children, it is going to cost my state six or 700 million dollars in the next two years. >> greta: when someone shows up at the er and is seriously ill and ends up in the icu? >> they get treated. question is who as? >> greta: who does pay? >> we have state-based problems that -- programs that take care of that need some gets eaten by the hospital. >> greta: if you have to pay for it any way, does it make a difference how you pay for it? whether it comes -- explain this. >> it makes a huge difference. if you want to give people assistance in need, disadvantaged, that's a worthy goal we should do that by empowering individuals not by having the government take the system over in minnesota we'll say we'll give awe sis tans you are going in the private market from private plans. >> greta: people from wisconsin and minnesota when they vacation they go south.

>> no, because in minnesota we don't have that. >> larry: what do you do in minnesota? >> 17 states have these machines. they need to get rid of them, and states that don't have them don't get them. in minnesota you still have to mark a ballot, and it goes into the machine then, and so that if it's a he close election, like we had between senator franken and senator coleman, well, then, they can pull them all out and hand-count them. with these new voting machines, you can't do that. >> larry: more with jesse ahead. should marijuana be bought and sold in the united states like liquor. the book "american conspiracies," don't go away. [ female announcer ] it's lobsterfest. the one time of year red lobster creates so many irresistible ways to treat yourself to lobster. like our new wood-grilled lobster and shrimp with parmesan scampi... our succulent lobster lover's dream, with both sweet maine and buttery rock lobster tails... and eleven more choices, each served with a salad and our freshly-baked cheddar bay biscuits. come celebrate lobsterfest. right now at red lobster.

the others were in ohio, uta alabama, also minnesota. federal regulators moved in yesterday and took them over. now the fdic was able to find other financial institutions to buy all of the troubled banks except the one in utah. 37 banks have failed so far this year. >>> earthquake victims in haiti probably feel like they can't catca break because yesterday they endured one of the heaviest rainfalls since the deadly earthquake struck the area. the rain swamped homeless camps. next week former presidents bill clinton and george bush will travel to haiti to meet with relief workers and government officials. >>> it's a startling statistic. nearly one in eight americans is on fd stamps. well, now it looks like efforts to prevent fraud have created new opportunities for scammers. a ten-week undercover operation revealed transactions for alcohol, cigarettes, even cold-hard cash, and it could be costing you millions. take a look. >> can i get $100 back off of this. >> what did you want? >> i wanted it back. >> she's out felt small bag in her han

the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. the senator from minnesota. mr. franken: mr. president, i wish to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. franken: thank you, mr. president. 50 years ago this month a group of athletes gathered in squaw valley, california, for the winter olympics. part of the u.s. contingent, the 1960 men's ice hockey team surprised the world and brought home the olympic gold medal by beating the soviet union, czech and canada. three were from my great state of minnesota. as anyone can see from watching this year's games, this outsized contribution from minnesotans continues to this day. 28 years after this forgotten miracle, team u.s.a. defeated finland and the soviet union to genuine the gold medal. 13 minnesotans played for the 1980 miracle on ice team and the 14th was their coach. this year's olympic men's ice hockey team was considered by many not to have a chance for a medal. they were too young, too inexperienced, they hadn't played together before. and the u.s. men hadn't defeated canada in the olym

, with more, peter. >> reporter: i am here in moorehead, minnesota, across the red river from fargo.e red river is supposed to have the banks, 2 football fields from where i am standing at a normal water level of 18 feet. and right now it is double that and is expected to still rise, will not crest will tomorrow, and you can see, where i am standing there is still snow, and that is good news for the people here, because, the colder the air is the longer it takes the floodwaters to rise up. and, all day the temperatures today have been below freezing and unfortunately, though, they will rise tomorrow which means the floodwaters are going to rise faster than they have and in the neighborhood they say this floodwaters from the red river will come up through the people as back yards and through their holes, up to the temporary dirt legislativy, that is built to protect up to 40 feet which is how high the water came last year and the national guard has been hear all day long with the army corps of engineers making sure that it is fortified, and, they have been doing a great job making sur

for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? mr. oberstar: i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 4786, to provide authority to compensate federal employees for the two-day period in which authority to make expenditures in the highway trust fund lapsed, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 4786, a bill to provide authority to compensate federal employees for the two-day period in which authority to make expenditures from the highway trust fund lapsed, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from minnesota, mr. oberstar, and the gentleman from north carolina, mr. coble, each will control 20 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from minnesota. mr. oberstar: mr. speaker, thank you. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill h.r. 4786, and to include extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordere

waiting and watching in minnesota as the red river rises. governor tim pollenty is confident flooding but they're not taking chances. 7,000 sandbags are being used to fortify the area with an extra 300,000 bags ready if needed, but engineers are keeping an eye open for any leaks. >> just so you have a joint every six feet. those joints, we believe, started failing and so we started getting water on the dry side of our levee system. >> we're kind of at ground zero right out of our back windows. >> reynolds wolf is live in moorehead, minnesota where the river is expected to crest this weekend. reynolds, are you there? >> i am right here. we're looking at -- >> i have a question for you reynolds, i was fascinated by the frozen sandbag that you showed us in your last live shot. what good are they if they're frozen? >> reporter: that's a great point. the idea is when temperatures were a bit above normal -- or above freezing, the idea was to mold them and to put them in shape then and when you have the temperatures dropping and things freeze up an

. >>> the red river continues to rise between minnesota and north dakota.ta officials say they're prepared to handle the influx of water. the river is supposed to crest today at 20 feet above flood stage but predicted to be below the number of sandbags in place. >>> ten people are dead following an explosion in the helmand province earlier today. the civilians were killed by a suicide bombing. seven people were injured in the attack, which took place on a busy road filled with merchants. >>> a volcano has erupted next a glacier in southern iceland, forcing about 450 people to evacuate as a precaution. there were no immediate reports of danger or of damage or injuries. >>> those are your top stories right now. shannon, back to you. >> thank you very much, caroline. >>> up until today, all the attention has been focused on the house. but what happens in the senate? james rosen is following the latest and explains how it all happens. >> democratic leaders in the senate say the upper chamber will take up whatever reconciliation package they receive next week. w

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. now i'd like to yield three minutes to the gentlelady from washington, mrs. mcmorris rodgers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. mrs. mcmorris rodgers: i thank the gentleman for yielding and thank you, mr. chairman. i rise today in strong support of h.r. 4247, the keeping all children safe act. and i urge my colleagues to support it as well. when is it appropriate to lock up or tie up a child or handcuff a child to a desk? common sense tells us these extreme measures should not ever be used against children with autism or downsyndrome or other learning disabilities. yet, the truth is there are thousands of incidents reported involving the inappropriate use of seclusion and restraint, reports by the national disability rights network, g.a.o. and others reveal our children are at risk for serious injury and even death in the school setting. the bill we're considering today outlines a minimum standards that must be incl

rick reichmuth is standing near the red river in minnesota. a lot of problems this morning. problems and today will be the crest of the river. right at about 37 feet. it had been predicted to crest at 38 feet. keep in mind last year, 48 feet. all-time record. but 37 feet is well above major flood stage. 19 feet above which causes a lot of concern and many temporary levees had to be put in place and many things had a happens is a water rescue and we're on the border between two states and the coast guard gets involved. explain to me how the coast guard is involved in something in north dakota. >> anytime we have two states separated by waterway, lake, river, it ends up being a federal jurisdiction and we manage those waterways. >> okay, and one of the things you guys have been doing is going out and there have been some water rescues that had to be done. can you tell me about that? >> yes, we've gone to several places so far and pulled people out that that no longer want today stay in the flood fight. i goes they tired out and want today come in, we brought them in. >> are th

minnesota and moorhead, minnesota and reports of widespread damage.anice dean is in the extreme weather center tonight. when do the flood waters start to recede. do we know? >> yeah, slowly, but surely a decline, this is the red river of fargo. the graph we get from the national weather service, the crest 46.99 feet and as we go by sunday this should be at major flood stage, will be 30 feet. so excellent news across minnesota and also north dakota. >> shepard: yeah, snow in north mississippi, it snowed in oxford today, very weird. winter weather in parts of the country this weekend? >> yes, my friend. let's take a look at arkansas. this will be northwest arkansas in the town of rogers, as well as bentonville. snowplows can't keep up with the snow flurry activity. eight inches of snow here. >> shepard: wow. >> accidents along the interstate and shepard in fayetteville, arkansas, 13.5 inches of so, a record for them. >> shepard: okay. so hopefully over the next two days we'll have clear skies and some sunshine to melt some of that snow. >> shepard: man.

the others are in ohio, utah, alabama, and minnesota.7 banks closed since january 1st. >>> a federal judge has turned down a $657 million settlement for people who got sick from dust and ash after the world trade center fell on 9/11. the money would have gone to some 10,000 first responders, but the judge says the deal did not contain enough money and shortchanged ground zero workers. he wants now more negotiations. >>> well, a wave of student suicides being called a public health crisis at cornell university. there have been six confirmed or suspected suicides at the ivy league school the past two semesters. >> the stress of classes and whatnot, it can get you to that point and cornell has -- it's so big and you really have to push yourself to go out there and get to know people. you just get lost and you get lonely and i can see why people would want to jump. >> we have been knocking since friday, been knocking on every residential door reaching out to individual students and in groups. >> the university is also posting guards on bridg

. >>> coming up, michele bachmann took the gloves off in duluth, minnesota. minnesota hate merchant is painting civil rights icon john lewis as a liar. "the nation's" katrina vanden heuvel will respond to that next. and help this one go down. v8. what's your number? but we're also in the showing-kids- new-worlds business. and the startup-capital- for-barbers business. and the this-won't- hurt-a-bit business. because we don't just work here. we live here. these are our families. and our neighbors. and by changing lives we're in more than the energy business we're in the human energy business. chevron. diarrhea, constipation, gas, bloating. that's me! can i tell you what a difference phillips' colon health has made? it's the probiotics. the good bacteria. that gets your colon back in balance. i'm good to go! phillips' colon health. >>> it's not too late to let us know what you think. tonight's text survey question is, do you think congress should take action to balance political talk radio? text "a" for yes, "b" for no to 622639. "for men" doesn't mean it is. n

eric horng reports from minnesota. >> reporter: at this doctor's office -- >> deep breath -- >> reporternsurance cards, no endless forms to fill out. if you've got cash, you've got care. after decades of dealing with insurance company red tape, dr. james alcmema had enough. >> i thought this isn't why i went to medical school. >> reporter: patients pay on the spot for cash or credit. $36 for one ailment, $52 for two. the doctor will even make a house call. >> it's one-on-one what it should be without the third party. >> what physicians are saying, insurance companies, get out of my exam room. >> reporter: cutting out insurance allows him to charge less. >> i went on his website and checked out the prices. it's two-thirds less. >> reporter: bob k ompos avoide having a physical? >> how's your hearing? >> what? >> reporter: all for -- >> i think i saved $700. >> reporter: no pregnancy care or hospital work. for that, you still need insurance. >> if you have to have follow-up tests on a very frequent basis, then it would make more sense to stay with the traditional plan. >> reporter: and for

in morehead, minnesota, fox news. >>> from flooding in the midwest to snow in the rockies.ing starts tomorrow, you know that, but old man winter is not giving up in the mile high city. people in denver are getting one more blast of winter weather. they have an advisory until midnight. >> our snow is a distant memory but it's replaced by spring fever. >> temperatures will be like mid-april than mid-march. gary mcgrady has more on that. >> how about that. some 15, maybe 20degrees warmer than where we should be. the good news, it will last through the weekend. we can't always say that but it looks like we will have a pleasant weekend. here is why. you look at true view, you can't find clouds out there. it will remain mostly clear overnight tonight and for the better part of the weekend there will be clouds coming in sunday. believit or not associated with this snow that we were just talking about and showing you pictures lifting out to the central plains. in kansas, most of western kansas is under the gun for a little snow. before it's said and done, the texas panhandle will g

. >>> and a little deja vu in moorhead, minnesota, this morning where the red river is expected to crest this weekend. that's where we find our reynolds wolf. >> reporter: that's right, guys. i have come from moorhead. off in the distance you can find fargo and right between the two cities you can find the red river. it's expected to rise to 37.5 feet overnight and into tomorrow. a major flood. we're going to give you the latest coming up in just a few moments. >> thank you, reynolds. >>> our top story today and this weekend, health care reform. a real pressure cooker. the house pushing toward a vote on the senate version of the health care bill tomorrow. brianna keilar is at the capitol for us. democrats are in a meeting. you said this is not usually where you would be hanging out, but a lot of eyes are on it today. explain to people why and what's going on as we move forward today. >> reporter: this is the rules committee. they lay out the groundwork for how this vote is going to go tomorrow. we're expecting it to be tomorrow. t.j., there are nine democrats and four republicans, and th

until recently he was president and ceo of the mayo clinic in minnesota.re known for their high quality and unique approach for patient care and lower cost as well. the mantra right now, as you well know is that this is a country that costs -- i mean charges and pays way too much and gets too little in return. who's wearing the black hat? is there someone that you point to and say there's the problem? there's the black hat in all this? >> i don't think there's any one place to point to. i think it's been an evolution over many years. over the past several years payment has really been linked very much to whatever is done. we ended up with a model that is now called fee for service where we are paid for doing things to people. the ultimate of that, if carried to the extreme would be the sicker you are, the more money we make as physicians. the more times you come into our office, the more money we make. the more procedures we do, the more money we make. that's just the opposite of what high value care should be all about. do we pay the most amount of money

a 3,000 square foot building in duluth, minnesota, rent-free for two years. have to do is bring six new jobs to its strained neighborhood. >> i want to make something happen, and jobs is a great impetus to make something happen. >> reporter: slow business led lewis to close the 90-year-old building her grandfather built and move operations to another branch. >> i want to see the building occupied. i want to see it used. >> reporter: this is what lewis is trying to prevent. nationwide, 17% of commercial retail and office space is vacant. that's the highest rate since they started keeping track of it in the late 1970s. some say scenes like this could trigger a downward spiral of neglect. >> it just takes one. >> reporter: rob west is head of a local development group. >> it is a new business that creates new momentum, creates excitement, interest and enthusiasm. >> reporter: back in the 1900's this neighborhood was a company town built by u.s. steel. the mill closed in 1981, spelling the end for most local businesses. >> we will have people that support whateve

maybe that one is in minnesota. play with me here. no.ust want you to go right on. >> we are looking at a little rain ourselves. nothing that will give us that nasty weather. it has been two years in a row that that has had to deal with massive flooding. for us a good forecast for today. temperatures mild but we have to have a little cloud cover before the rain comes our way. 71, i think that's a good forecast still. partly cloudy skies this morning, mostly cloudy this afternoon. and down right overcast by tonight. the rain i think moves in sometime after 10:00. maybe an isolated thunderstorm within that rain. the rain through mid-morning tomorrow keeps us pretty cold. we will see some clearing late in the day. we will see that sun very late but it is a cold weekend in store for us. this front coming from canada as we will see. momslikeme.com bus stop forecast, partly cloudy skies this morning. temperatures chilly but at least the wind is staying light. it is going to be a jacket day to short sleeves by this afternoon with the 70-degree t

. >> larry: joining us in washington, congresswoman michelle bachmann, republican of minnesota. she's championing what's billed as the health care declaration of independence. and congressman alan grayson. last fall he said the plan is don't get sick, but if you do, die quickly. congresswoman bachmann, what's wrong, since it's happened so many other times, with an up or down vote? >> it's a good thing, larry. it's just how many votes will it take? 60 or 50 votes? >> larry: what's wrong with majority rules? >> well, because that's not how the senate works. the senate works with 60 votes. and now what the president is promoting is a nuclear option, which is 50 votes. so we should have an up or down vote. >> larry: but it used -- it used that majority rules on the bush tax cuts, was 51 votes. >> well, the house uses straight majority rule, the senate doesn't. what this would mean, larry, is the senate has to break their own rules in order to pass the bill. >> larry: and that's wrong? >> oh, i think so, sure. >> larry: and congressman grayson, why do you think they should break this

the others were in ohio, alabama and minnesota. the fdic was able to find other financial especially tugss to buy all the troubled banks except the one in utah. 37 banks have failed so far this year. >> anyone can be forgiven from stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, but the man who stole the cash from girl scout cookies may not be forgiven so easily. >>> police in atlanta have arrested a 20-year-old man who may have killed a teenager for his cell phone, broderick smith is charged with gunning down 19-year-old anthony beavers. police say beavers refused to turn over his cell phone to smith. it happened at a city train station. officials say it's the worst incident at one of the stations in four years. police in washington state are on the ookout for a real life cookie monster. check out this guy. a surveillance camera actually caught him swiping money from a girl scout who was selling girl scout cookies. >> i didn't really sleep last night because his head is in my mind. i started to pack up my cookies and i bent down to grab a b

in minnesota it is close to 20,000 jobs. in fact statistic show every medical technology job has been shown to generate an additional two jobs i creating the need for secondary positions such as technicians. additionally each medical technology payroll dollar generates an additional $1.12 in payroll to account for the increased number of positions and skills required to fill those jobs. it is not just the larger companies we all are friendly with but almost every week by two are in my district these smaller companies that are fighting to create that lifesaving technology and i want to make sure they have the research and development tools to help modern medicine and not send these jobs overseas. so these medical technology companies will improve the quality of life as they do right now and save lives for consumers. it fosters fosters that innovative spirit i think that is so important that is kept minnesota and america at the forefront of medical innovation for decades and i thank you for allowing me the opportunity to testi

. >>> and it's the rising crow river that's causing problems in parts of minnesota. local media report a bridge leading into downtown delano has been closed. the authorities are worried the strongful waters could wash out the bridge. >>> a storm warning issued for the first day of spring. up to six inches of snow could fall. just yesterday it was 70 degrees in oklahoma city, but today the snow is causing problem at will rodgers world airport. several flights have been delayed by an hour or more, and continental airlines canceled all the departures for the day, along with some arrivals. best advice -- call ahead before heading to that airport. >>> check out this video here, a shocking pedestrian accident caught on tape. the woman is okay, but wait until you hear what the driver did afterwards. >>> a woman crossing a street was hit by an suv, caut on a dash cam. we want to assure you, this woman is okay. as you can see tre, she was crossing the street in a crosswalk. what the video does not sw is the driver leaving the scene of the accident. a police officer saw the ac

that is very good news for the residence here in moorhead, minnesota and fargo on the other side.hey have already laid out about 1 million sandbags, sort of fighting this flood 30-pound sandbag at a time. they are very confident that they've done the job the right way this year. you can't really say that for folks who live in the rural areas, because the red river basin is so shallow, that when the river does come over the banks, it just spreads right out and there are a number of farming communities that are essentially cut off because the roadways have all been flooded. but here, now, what we can talk about is our friend and for the last time, we'll show him to you -- the stop sign who is still over my shoulder and still barely hanging on for dear life. >> yeah. but i haven't been able to detect an increase in the water. because your camera was showing that earlier to us. it looks like the water hasn't risen too, too much. i guess that's good news, as long as it just levels off and doesn't rise much further. kevin,ky ask you real quick, behind the stop sign, are those sandbags o

the flood in rushford, minnesota. no one will forget grand forks. no one will forget how close woe got last year with fargo and the minnesota city of morehead. the floods in iowa in the last two years, these are real disasters. all regions of america are susceptible to flooding, whether it's torrential seasonal rains, hurricanes, thunderstorms, or even the recent tsunami across the pacific social that struck after the tragic earthquake in chile. we can't escape the powerful force of nature. flooding by its nature is unpredictable. families and businesses need to know that if the worst happens they will have the tools to help them get back on their feet. in my state, the flood insurance program is vital to those who live in any area susceptible to flooding. however, at this time of year, our attention is focused on families living across the red river basin in northwestern minnesota. last spring, above-average rainfall, compounded by an untimely melting of snow, resulted in, as we all saw on tv, devastating floods along the red river which hits the h

reroute some of the rising river around populated areas through either north dakota or neighboring minnesota. >> basically, you'll have the same amount of water coming down the river, but some of it will be diverted to a side channel that would only be wet during a flood. >> reporter: until funding is found, the annual risk remains. and for many, it's getting to be too much. >> it hijacks my life when we have a flood. i don't want to do this again. >> reporter: and brian, the red river is still expected to crest some time on sunday. hopefully for everyone here, below last year's record levels. brian? >> kevin, thanks. i don't blame her for not wanting to do this again. >>> here in the northeast it's been four days, still over 100,000 people are without power after the storm with no name that whipped the area with the force of a hurricane. the storm killed 11 people. hundreds are still in shelters tonight. the damage is widespread and severe river flooding continues, especially in parts of new jersey. >>> at lax in los angeles today, air travel was disrupted for a time because of another so-c

we're here in moorhead, minnesota.e other side of the red river you were talking about. the red river is supposed to have the bargainings at the try line behind me, but it's completely flooded and it's up to the sand bags and they're expecting it to continue to rise. and right now the water level is 36 1/2 feet and they're expecting it to rise another foot to 37 1/2 feet tomorrow and that's right now the forecast crest and you see the national guard keeping an eye on the temporary levees, that's designed to protect the home on the other side from 40 foot water levels. that's where it was last year and there's a chance it could go there this time. most the people in the homes have actually taken voluntary buyouts from the city and expecting the water from the red river to come right up through the people's back yards, up to the dirt levee and there's already a small leak on the other side of the levee and they say that's typical. brian, the last few days, at least for today, the temperatures have been below freezing, wh

not just in minnesota. but all over the place. meteorologist karen maginnis is here with us. going to tell us what's going on. >> yeah, abbie, just want to take another look at the red river. we have this green shaded area that essentially follows interstate 29. we have a number of bridges and roads that have been closed because of the severe flooding. it was mentioned about 30 minutes ago. this is not the kind of flooding where the waters rise like they do in the south, maybe a few hours and a day or so later they drop. these rivers stay high fairly long. we're talking about a week or so. this is not at record setting flood stage, the red river. by the way, this river flows north. i think it will be in the next 24 to 36 hours we'll see the red river crest there. but this is a flood situation that remains for the next seven to ten days. because of the volume of snowfall they did see, and just generally speaking, the rivers run high during the springtime months. we'll tell you more about that right after this.  >> now getting back to our top story. the passage o

national guard representatives john kline and tim walz from minnesota along with the rest of the minnesota delegation and representative bruce braley from iowa whose tireless work on this issue should not go unnoticed. mr. speaker, when it comes to our veterans issues, partisan pal ticks are not an option. we all share a common goal in congress to support our troops and have worked together to ensure that those that serve our nation get the respect and the recognition that they deserve. while we authored legislation that would have provided an immediate fix for this issue, a major hurtle we faced was that many members of congress did not know the problem ever existed. despite the fact that 19 states had 500 or more constituents who had not received money many members were unfortunately aware which was a major hurdle in passing this legislation. so we made it our mission personaly to educate members of congress about the problem and we tried to raise awareness about the issue. we also sent numerous letters to the defense proportion authorization committees so we could begin to address the p

the flood level off of the minnesota-north dakota dack border. the red river is expected to crest.er the past week. let's hope that continues. volcano forcing others. democrats closed in on a historic vote on health care reform. what will the massive overhaul mean for the feture of medical care in this country. joining me now for a debate. dr. mark seagal and dr. cath lin lundon. back again on the day of the vote, tell us what it means. let's start there. let's say it passes today. president obama signs it into law. dr. seagull. what is the first thing we'll see as a practical matter when it comes as medical care in relationship with the doctors? >> i am concerned about the legislator. we have a problem in doctor's office with having an inability of seeing all of the patients and decreased reimbursements and what it is a super medicaid extension . more with medicaid and sounds good on the service. but medicaid is dysfunctional and the reason that peter johnson junior talked about the states wanting to rebel and call it unconstitutional because the states cannot handle it. californi

minor flooding is still a problem in parts of minnesota but the trouble is over for one lucky dog.or days to a log fleeting in the mississippi river. he was likely living on a small river island which disappeared recently as the river leveled went up. the humane society had tried to rescue him before the flooding bame too seere but when they got too close, they noticed a leach and figured he belongs to somebody but he is okay. tht is good. >> he had a collie face and a greyhound body. >> that is what happens when somebody was messing around ja.d darned cute. >> indeed. >> okay. >> tony perkins has a look at the weather. >> 'll leave that story alone. >> he is a cute dog. >> he is very cute. let's take a look at what is going on with yesterday's high temperatures. very ne, warmer. i will say warmer than i thought it would be. i thought it would top out around 64, 65 degrees. we got up to 68-degree at reagan national. 68degrees at dulles international. bwi marshall, 65 degrees for your high yesterday. i think we'll do better than those temperatures across most of the region today. cu

residents in north dakota and minnesota are bracing for more flooding. the red river is still rising. it is expected to crest tomorrow. we'll get a look at it now with kevin tibbles, who is live in moorehead, minnesota. let's get that look right now. are things looking okay, better than expected? >> reporter: people who live along the red river can be excused today for thinking they might have somehow been transported to venice overnight. as you can see over my shoulder, street signs that normally would be on streets. that would normally be carrying traffic are completely under water. they have been for days here as the red river continues to creep up. it's come up about two feet over the last couple of days. there is some good news to report today. that is that the predictions for the crest of the red river are mitochondria lower than last year's 40-foot redded river surge that caused a lot of anxiety up and down the red river, especially in the fargo area, on the other side of moorehead which is where i'm standing. when this thing crests tomorrow, that