Holy War with Health Care?

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Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah promised a “holy war” on the 2,000 page health care reform bill that Senate leader Harry Reid unveiled yesterday. Democratic leaders want to move the health care bill to the floor for a full debate, but they need 60 votes to get there. The bill would add 31 million Americans to the rolls of the insured, and has a total projected cost of $849 billion over ten years. We’ll speak with Rick Klein, senior political correspondent for ABC News and author of the network’s Washington tipsheet, The Note.

‘Teaching Hope’

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Southern California teacher, Erin Gruwell, drew national recognition when she turned the journals of her inner city students into a best-selling book called “The Freedom Writers Diary,” which eventually become a Hollywood movie. Now Gruwell is out with a new book – this time from the perspective of teachers. Erin and her original Freedom Writer students trained 150 teachers in how to reach out to their students. Their collection of essays is called “Teaching Hope.” Erin Gruwell and Cathy Capy Cantu, who went through the Freedom Writers Foundation training, join us.

Texas Execution

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The fate of a man facing execution tonight for his role in a fatal robbery is in the hands of Texas Governor Rick Perry, after the state parole board recommended that the death sentence be commuted to life in prison. The board made the rare recommendation for 34-year-old Robert Lee Thompson, who was not the triggerman in the fatal shooting of a Houston convenience store clerk. The shooter, Sammy Butler, was convicted and received life in prison. Houston Chronicle Investigative reporter Lise Olsen joins us to talk about the case.

• Listen to former Texas governor Mark White, on why he is rethinking his position in favor of capital punishment

Another Army Murder Spree

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As a Senate Committee today begins an investigation into whether authorities missed red flags before the Fort Hood shootings, we take a look at another shooting spree on an Army base — this one in Fort Carson, Colorado where authorities may have missed some signals, too. Our guest is L.Christopher Smith, who has written “The Fort Carson Murder Spree” in Rolling Stone Magazine.

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman

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Genus Agnes Letestu & Mathieu Ganio (Zipporah Films, Inc.)

For his 38th film, award-winning documentarian Frederick Wiseman focuses his camera on one of the world’s greatest ballet companies, the Paris Opera Ballet. The film is called “La Danse.”

Music from the show

• Christian McBride, “Theme for Kareem”
• Radiohead, “There There”
• Nathan Milstein, “Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin”