>> the white house playing defense and struggling to stay on message as republicans slam the ongoing $787 million stimulus bill calling it, quote, a failure. democrats say they only spent about $100 billion so far and if that's the case, why are they talking about a second stimulus. a lot of questions. we're trying to answer some of them from washington. >> new details emerging from the investigation to michael jackson's death. what police investigators are telling cnn about the condition of jackson's body. and the most heart wrenching moment from the jackson memorial. if you missed it. we're going to show you what jackson's only daughter said about her father. >> we begin with president obama about to confront a world of economic pain. he just arrived from italy from the g-8 summit. behind the pomp and circumstance, the president is expected to get an earful of the crisis. the president's mission is to lead and to show that his plan

to kick start the economy can actually work. cnn's suzanne malveaux is live in italy this morning. and suzanne, what's the president's goal here in terms of the american economy getting that on better footing? >> we got a good sense of it yesterday, a preview if you will, marks in russia. he was talking about the need for transparency, opening up trade, opening up markets. also corporate responsibility. and also one of the things that he's been pushing is the economic stimulus package. he believes that using the money to stimulate the economy is the better way to turn things around despite the fact a lot of the money is yet to make it to the pipeline. it's a wait and see, if you will, to see if that's the right prescription. that's something he'll be talking about with the other world leaders and the world leaders don't feel secure about that. they're looking at tighter regulation. the president is going to sit down in private meetings in

group settings and come up with strategy so when things do turn around in the u.s. economy and the world economy that we won't get ourselves in this type of crisis again. kiran? >> suzanne, republicans are hamevering away at the president about the economic stimulus putting new ads out as well. what is the white house saying that some of the stimulus money is not out there where it was intended to go yet? >> kiran, they're simply saying wait and see. you have to be patient about this. 15% of that money, the $787 billion economic stimulus package has made its way through. but they're saying it's taking some time but eventually this money will get used, it will create the kinds of jobs they're hoping for. and one of the things that they say better that it happens slowly and responsibly than discovering there's a misuse and abuse and the projects they're putting forth are not worth the money and the time. >> i want to ask you where this is. we remember this because this is

the site of italy's deadly earthquake earlier in the year. why is it being held there? >> the leader, italy's leader berlusconi didn't feel it was appropriate to have them at a resort. they wanted to show progress being made. 350 people lost their lives, 50,000 that are still homeless. he wants to show the world community yes, they're making progress, restoring, trying to get people housed. they're trying to raise $40 million or so from the international community to help them it with the effort. there was a sense that it wouldn't be in good taste if the world leaders were wining and diming at a resort while so many italians are suffering. there's a concern, though, that raised before, is the aftershocks that continue to happen. there was one as recently as friday. we understand there's a con tip jeppe si plan to fly these world

leaders out of here, bring them back to rome if necessary if you have an aftershock that's very, very powerful. >> suzanne malveaux for us in la quill la, italy this morning. we have live pictures showing you speaking. what's going on right now. this is the president and president obama. they're speaking. dipping in to that later on in the morning. thanks. mixed messages on turning around the economy. president obama is taking time to defend his $787 billion stimulus package. three days ago, vice president joe biden said the administration misread how bad the economy was. so with unemployment at its highest level in more than a quarter century, republicans are pouncing. cnn's jim acosta watching it all from washington. good morning to you. what are the republicans saying? >> good morning, alina. the president is overseas. republicans here in washington

believe they have found mr. obama's achilles heel, the economy. top gop leaders are pointing to recent conflicting statements coming out of the white house on the stimulus, asking once again whether it was the right approach to ending the recess n recession. >> where are the jobs? we put the dogs on the money trail to find out. >> reporter: in the latest sign the economy is in the dog house, the republicans are sicking their bloodhounds on this ad which asks, where are the jobs. >> i'm john boehner. this is elie may. she hasn't found any jobs yet and neither have the people. >> reporter: it dogs the president all the way to russia where he clarified the statements by the president. >> there was a misreading of how bad an economy we inherited. >> reporter: not exactly according to the president. >> i would not say misread, we

had incomplete information. >> reporter: who still believes the stimulus is the right call. >> there's nothing we would have done differently. >> reporter: but the president points to president obama's dire warnings in february. >> we're moving quickly because we're told if we don't move quickly that the economy is going to keep on getting worse. we'll have another two or three or four million jobs lost this year. >> reporter: turns out, even with the stimulus, the economy has shed 3.4 million jobs in just six months. while the president says he's now open to a second stimulus, one of the top economic advisors is already calling for one. tyson told him in singapore, we should be planning for a contingency basis for a second round of stimulus. the white house can't get the story straight. >> they said the stimulus was necessary to jump start the economy. with half a million jobs lost every month, they start to admit

they misread the economy. these are costly mistakes and we can't take them back. >> reporter: despite a rough couple of weeks for republicans, gop strategists see their own political green shoots of recovery on the economy. >> nothing has galvanized them more than the stimulus bill. one thing that the president's popularity, while he's popular throughout the nation is taking hits in key states. try the key battleground of ohio for one. that explains why the white house is not alone in considering a second round of stimulus. democratic leaders including the house majority leader are kicking around an idea of a sequel even though some of the party are disappointed with the original. alina? >> jim acosta live in washington for us. thank you. still the bombshell announcement that sarah palin is quitting before her term is up.

a gallup poll has shown that she is not hurt but improved her standing. 2/3 said they want her to be a major national political figure in the future. however, 3/4 of democrats polled hope she won't be. a major topic on our hotline. 1-877-my-amfix. here's what you're saying. >> i do believe she's a good person and i do believe she has a bright future. she's very smart and she's doing the right thing for her. >> i think sarah palin's resignation is one of the biggest blunders of political history. >> i know they don't like about sarah palin, her christian values. she has the values that the founding fathers have. >> sarah palin, what she's about to do. don't be surprised. talk show, book deal. she's out to help the world. >> we want to hear what you think about this story or anything else on your mind.

call our show hotline at 877-my-amfix. also new, congressional democrats are getting their wish. karl rove spoke yesterday to attorneys for the house judiciary committee. the panel first subpoenaed rove back in 2007 as part of the investigation to the firing of nine u.s. attorneys. at the time president bush signed an executive privilege and refused to let them testify. a report this morning shows a stunning lapse of home labd securit land securities. they were able to smuggle bomb making materials past security. they were able to build the devices and carry them around the government buildings undetected. likely to be questions about the gao report at a homeland security hearing today. government agencies suffering a july 4 attack

cyberattack that knocked out websites including those used to fight cybercrime. the secret service, federal trade commission, and transportation department websites all down at some point in the weekend and into this week. south korean officials say their government and websites were hit too and the attacks may be connected. ten minutes after the hour. i think i'll go with the preferred package.

good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. 12 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. it is, as i said, 13 minutes past. new this morning, a dangerous situation unfolding as we speak.

here we go again. pirates have reportedly boarded a turkish-owned ship off of the coast of somalia. right now, no information on the condition of the 23-member crew. but the ship's owner said the vessel is still on course and heading for jordan. iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad calling last month's disputed election, quote, the most clean and free election in the world. he made the comments while addressing the nation yesterday. ahmadinejad's re-election, of course, was followed by deadly protests in the arrest of more than 1,000 people. texas billionaire t. boone pickens blowing off plans to build the largest wind farm in the texas panhandle. pickens has already ordered 687 giant wind turbines at a can stand 400 feet tall, taller than most 30-story buildings. now there's no place to put them in. his company is looking for other projects that could use some of the $2 billion worth of wind

turbines they have on order. michael jackson's death remains a mystery. the death certificate has been made public but the cause of death is still unknown. they're learning more about the condition of michael jackson's body and what it could mean. cnn's randi kaye has that part of the story. >> we have a gentleman who needs help and he's not breathing. >> cnn is learning new details about what investigators found when they answered the 911 call from jackson's house 12 days ago. sources involved with the investigation said jackson had, quote, numerous track marks on his arm and those marks, quote, could be consistent with the regular iv use of a drug like diprivan. it's the powerful sedative used in an anesthesia in a hospital. a nurse who worked for jackson told cnn he had begged her for

diprivan a few months ago. our sources caution the investigators can't say right now if the diprivan iv drip caused the track marks on jackson's arms. some of the marks appear fresh, others, older. in fact, some of the newest marks could have been caused when emergency medical personnel rushed into the house and used their own ivs in an effort to save him. the source would not confirm if diprivan had been found with jackson. but he told us numerous bodies of prescription medication has been found in jackson's $100,000 a month rented mansion. he described them as, quote, dangerous drugs, similar to those found in a hospital setting. that's as far as he would go. as for jackson's body, the source said he had never seen anything like it in decades of investigative work. he described it as, quote, lilly white from head to toe. was it caused by the disease jackson said he had? we don't know.

another source from the case described jackson's body as having, quote, paper white skin, as white as a white t-shirt. he also told me his scalp was bald. that the pop star had no hair. that may have been a result of injuries jackson received when his hair caught fire when he was making a pepsi ad years ago. jackson's veins were, quote, collapsed in both arms suggesting frequent intra venous drug use. the final note, the body was emaciated. despite the vigor jackson showed on stage in his final rehearsal just 6 hours earlier. randi kaye, cnn, los angeles. >> so many emotional moments yesterday at the actual memorial. quite spriszing we had known so long about michael jackson's death and had time to digest it. but still parts of that ceremony gave me goose bumps.

>> not only that, left you speechless. a lot of people were saying -- journalists and people there saying it's never been anything like this and we don't know if there will be anything like this again. >> a lot of people say this was a once in a lifetime. a performer type of person in this ceremony as well. >> there were so many emotional moments as you said. but a lot of people agree this morning that none really was more heart wrenching when jackson's 11-year-old daughter said good-bye. it's the first time really any of us have heard from the jackson children. watch. >> every since i was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. and i just want to say i love him so much.

>> just tore your heart out to see that, really. and just to close the ceremony. but those memorable moments we talked about, really, there were so many. one thing that stood out to me is when usher was saying gone too soon and he went right up and touched the casket. and there were moments of levity too. smokey robinson came up and he said i wrote that song. i thought i sang it. but it was just really something -- the moment in history, really was something to see. >> and you were there -- >> yeah, and a lot of people as you said had never seen the jackson children without either -- >> a veil. >> a veil and heard from them and they're beautiful adorable little children that are now facing life without their parents, really. >> that's right. >> they're going to need the love of their family around them and hopefully they'll have that. but that really broke your heart for sure. 19 minutes after the hour. dd (male announcer) if you've had a heart attack

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♪ 1, 2, 3, 4 ♪ uno, dos it's a special day if you're in to numbers. christine did a number. that's her job. she does the romans numeral which drives your money. that's not the only number we're talking about today. july 8, 2009, so it's 7, 8, 9. so at 12:34:56 you put the time next to the date, you get the straight number sequence. 1 rks 2 r, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,. what do numerologists say. it could be a very good day to make money. how about that? you didn't even have to call miss cleo. >> good day to spend money? >> you don't care? >> i don't care. it's interesting. i don't know that. >> it's fun with numbers. >> that's for sure. >> fun with numbers, the

stimulus. checking a reality check on the stimulus spending. the fight where the people say the money is -- a lot of ways people are fighting about the stimulus money. some people want more stimulus. they want another. some want the money spent faster and other people having tea parties saying, hey, you're borrowing money. so let's take a look at where this stimulus money has gone. it's complicated because there's stimulus project spending. about $499 billion has been allocated. another $157 billion is available but spent $56.3 billion. and senate majority leader harry reid said overall about slightly over 10% of the stimulus money has been given out for the places that he says it needs to go. 90% still is being spent. tax relief that you're starting to feel in your paychecks starting in may and there's relief in terms of jobless benefit extensions and food stamps and that kind of thing. the fight here is job creation.

the white house said it would save or create $750,000 jobs by august. i said this 1,000 times. it's so difficult, i'm going to say it's impossible to verify how you have saved or how many jobs you have saved. because we're just watching all of these jobs disappear. but the white house did say they were -- passing the stimulus would help prevent the jobless rate from going above 8%. we know it's dub th eeit's done. it's above 9.5%. this is what the fight is about. how much money should be spent. democrats want to see things moving quickly. this is meant to be time released. 70% of it out the door by september, 2010. that's a year away from now. >> so they're on track? >> a lot of people are telling me they might be slightly behind track. but they didn't anticipate there would be this many jobs lost and people say, wait, does this mean that -- we thought we wouldn't

see this kind of bad job loss if you didn't have the stimulus. the white house said it would be worse without the recovery act. it would be worse without it so it is helping to save jobs. very difficult to verify. and a congressional committee in may found that 21,000 highway jobs were made -- or created. 21,000 highway jobs. remember, we're losing jobs every single day over and over again. >> you said before, it's how people feel. it's how you feel at home. you can crunch all of the numbers you want to crunch. if you're out of a job, it doesn't feel like the stimulus is for you. >> i want to talk more about the second stimulus next hour. look, this is the second stimulus. we had a stimulus last year, $1 trillion committed to the economy in the past year, year and a half. this is the second stimulus. and we're still losing a lot of jobs. >> what's your numeral? >> numeral is six. it has to do with the job loss and why it's all so important, kitchen table economics.

they hear us talking about. >> a small number, christine. >> it means a number of job seekers for every job opening in america. >> oh! >> boys and girls, that's your competition out there. this is why people are at home sitting at the stimulus saying, oh, where's my bailout. the stimulus was supposed to be america's bailout and there are six job seekers for ever opening. it's a tough situation to get politically and economically for the white house. >> their dad is overseas but sasha and malia are generating a lot of the buzz as they travel with their mom. more on that. this is is view of the world from outside of your body as seen from the movie "ghost." swedish researchers are creating a similar thing in their lab. using 3-d goggles, they can see

participants to see themselves from above or the dummy in the room. >> you've been in your body all your life and you think your brain should know what your body looks like. in ten seconds, it can completely re-evaluate the situation and it's like the body of a different individual or gender. how does it work? researchers play video they want the person to see. when she looks down, this is what her eyes see. the researcher touches her body simultaneously. the test subject's brain makes a connection. presto, she's the dummy. the dummy is cut with the knife and will test subject reacts. >> i've experienced being a plastic man. >> the possibilities are endless. cameras could show how you appear to others and help to improve low self-esteem. amputees could use the therapy to give their new limb a sense

of feeling. >> a new body, gender, race. you change the way you think about yourself or other individuals. >> gary tuchman, cnn. ( dramatic music playing ) live a little... a lot. hi. the first ever is convertible from lexus. ( instrumental music playing )

- announcer: live a little... - ( crickets chirping ) - ( helicopter whirring ) - ...a lot. the first-ever is convertible from lexus. just about half past the hour. checking our top stories this morning. u.s. missiles reportedly score a direct hit on a taliban camp in pakistan overnight killing ten insurgents. pakistani intelligence says six missiles were fired from an unmanned plane exploring a mountain top community near waziristan. the second time in two days u.s. missiles have struck a militant

hideout in pakistan. >> stimulus -- this is personal stimulus if you spend a lot of money on gas. the price of gas continues to drop. triple a reporting the national average for unleaded regular is down to $2.59 a gallon, a penny less than it was tuesday. gas prices have dropped for 17 straight days. remember this number, back on july 17, 2008, gas was $4.11. >> we both remember that. guess what -- americans are using less gas and spending less time stuck in traffic. not so sure about that. the study by the texas transportation institute attributing it to economy and gas prices, congestion has dropped for the last two years in a row. traffic is still getting worst in los angeles. it tops it list for the worst traffic jams in the country. >> the obamas are in rome.

the president took care of foreign policy business, the obama girls are creating their first buzz. the first overseas reception, thanks for being with us, mia. >> good to be here. >> there's always big policy debates going on. but everyone wants to know, oh, what are the obama girls wearing and what are they doing when they're overseas? the interesting thing is there was a lot of extensive media coverage when they were traveling overseas but the russia trip resulted in fewer crowds and kremlin controls the media. so how was this trip portrayed if you were in moscow watching it? >> it was a little different. i mean, we saw, of course, the frenzy when the first lady made her first overseas trip and then again when the first family made an overseas trip a couple of weeks ago as well. it's been a little muted. a lot of emphasis and focus on

the first lady's garden. everybody is excited about that. russia has a traditional society. they talked about michelle as the mom in chief and as a fashion icon as we saw in her trips overseas when she was in britain and france. >> speaking of the fashion icons, we're going to show you the pictures now. this is sasha and malia. they're exiting air force one. they're both wearing j. crew and a spokeswoman promptly distributed a product description of those items along with pictures of the girls. the white house declined to comment. they liked the fact that the first children and first lady are wearing their clothes. what does it say about the marketability when they're going on the national stage and wearing j. crew. >> this is the gold mine, obviously, for j. crew. they immediately sent out this -- this press release about what this -- what the first daughters were wearing. and if you go to their website today, they have the coats that the first daughters wore during the inauguration and say the first -- the coat that everybody

has been waiting for, essentially. so you can tell that they are kind of latching on to this and certainly using this as a way to move merchandise. >> the other interesting thing, though, is j. crew is using the images to market some of the spring and summer styles. the first lady's office not commenting. earlier in the year, the first lady's office did criticize the company making the beanie babies for modelling dolls after their daughter. what's the difference there? >> it's a very fine line. you're right. when the beanie baby incident happened, they issued a statement that said they think it's inappropriate to use private individuals for marketing purposes. and this certainly seems like what j. crew is doing here. maybe the argument can be made that the girls in this capacity are in a public role here when they're on air force one. they're traveling in their official capacity and maybe they're not private individuals in this instance. so that might be an argument that could be made. but it certainly is a kind of a

fine and maybe even blurry line that they're walking. the bottom line is, the first family clearly likes j. crew. they like these clothes. and i think for a lot of people, maybe the beanie babies had a bit of a creepy factor and weren't sanctioned by the white house. >> as you said, if they wear j. crew, they can't put out a statement -- they really do wear it. great to see you as always. white house reporter for the politico. thanks. >> good to see you. 

♪ i go back to a two-tone ♪ ♪ short bed chevy ♪ driving my first love out to the levy ♪ >> interesting this morning. >> welcome back too to the most news in the morning. a quick check of the rundown. some stories we're going to be

talking about later. one is walmart. >> i'm surprised about this. >> walmart is setting up shop in india. very few people who live there will be able to partake in the everyday low prices walmart is famous for. >> can't wait to see that story. i want to move on to food here. all of us do pray certain foods, for me, chocolate chip cookies, pizza,mac and cheese. i learned yesterday when you got on the bag you took two bags of funyans. >> you never know when you'll need it. >> sorry to the person i was sitting next to yesterday. >> there's a reason we crave these foods, evidence that our brains are being hijacked by food. watch. >> reporter: ever wonder why that chocolate chip cookie seems to have so much power over you, or why potato chips are so addictive. >> just one. >> bet you can't eat just one.

>> reporter: researchers say our brains are being hijacked by fats, sugar, salt. >> add flavor, add color. what do we have? one of the great health epidemics of our time. >> dr. david kessler is the author of the new book "the end of overeating" by combining fat, sugar, and salt in all kinds of different ways, food makers are stimulating our desire to eat, even when we're full. >> the average bite had 20 chews. today food goes down. it's a wish, we get stimulated and we reach for more and more. >> we can't help ourselves. ask the four-star chef. >> spicy, sweet, the salty, the crunchy. >> he treated us to a tasting menu, a bite size symphony of sweet, salty, and fatty foods.

>> it's about fat. >> tasty fat. >> every taste -- >> it's so good. >> reporter: i found myself unable to stop eating. >> you don't know why. but it's still good. >> reporter: like the short ribs that melt in your mouth and mashed potatoes with cheese inside. sometimes you don't have to taste the food to know that you want it. >> you cross the room with a beautiful souffle or something and everybody is looking and saying, oh, i want that. >> reporter: he agrees with kessler that portion control is so important when it works. >> we don't control how much you eat of it. we control how much we give you. if you want more, that's out of my control. >> that's for sure. i found myself watching this michael jackson coverage. he said formulate thoughts in your mind, food rehab. instead of saying i'm going to have one bite because i can control myself. say, no, i can't control myself because i won't have the first

bite because then i'll have 20. i found myself doing that with the chocolate covered peanuts yesterday. >> i love that you got your own private tasting with one of the most popular chefs in our city. >> listen -- >> somebody has to do it. >> somebody has to do it. >> you can't eat just one. it's true. >> it is true. it's about fat, sugar, and salt. something about that connection that connects with our brain. anyway. if you want to read more about this story or sound off yourself, go to our blog, cnn.com/amfix. 42 minutes after the hour. [chocolate squirting] [conveyor belt humming] [squirting] [conveyor belt humming] [squirting] (male announcer) something new to crave. [squirting] the cr-v from honda.

watching a developing story. welcome back to the most news in the morning. thousands of u.s. marines on the move in afghanistan. their mission, to flush out the taliban, of course. the u.s. commanders carrying out president obama's new strategy for the war are expressing concern now over a shortfall of afghan security forces. cnn's barbara starr live at the pentagon for us. what are you hearing from your sources there? >> alina, good morning to you. we have spoken to senior u.s. military officials and they say absolutely, yes. they need more afghan troops on the ground in that combat in

southern afghanistan's helmand province. this is becoming a serious issue, they say. they simply don't have the afghan troops. if they can't get more on the ground there, what's the risk? the operation could basically stall. the u.s. commanders say they must demonstrate progress to the afghan people and it has to come at the hands of afghan security forces if they toss the taliban out, the u.s. troops know they're not going to see their lives. the critical issue as we enter the second week of this major combat operation in afghanistan. >> we're seeing deadly fighting across afghanistan. what is the latest from the region right now? >> well, even as the combat goes on down in the south. in the north and in the east, there's been a number of attacks against u.s. and nato troops. and just one sad marker on the wall -- monday alone ten nato troops including seven u.s. troops died in the series of

attacks in various places in afghanistan. it was one of the deadliest days in over a year. so it shows that this effort is getting hotter and the combat is growing more intense. alina? >> barbara starr live at the pentagon for us, thank you.

♪ changes ♪ turn and face ♪ changes 49 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. walmart making a debut in of all places? india. one of the world's holiest city. >> our sara cider is live in new

delhi to tell us about the store which is not your typical walmart. >> typical. but india's economy is growing despite the world economic downturn. so, it's no big surprise that the world's largest retailel ei trying to find its niche in this country. here in the city of the golden temple, an american retail giant is hoping to strike gold. walmart has made its way to india and joint venture in one of the key enterprises. >> they offer the retailing. we understand the psyche. i think it's a good mix to find out what the indian consumer needs. >> this is a wholesale store. here only licensed business people, hotels, or institutions are allowed in. india's strict business rules forbid foreign companies from direct retail for fear the

multinational corporations will wipe out the little guy. big box stores are almost nonexistent in india. 95% of the buying and selling happens in mom and pop shops. you want luggage, you buy it here. you want rice, you have to go somewhere else. vegetables? yet another place. for businesses it could mean visiting up to 25 places every day just to stock the shelves until now. >> you talk about stationery, cutlery, kitchen, your meat and fish, everything is available under one roof. >> the store also appeals to this person who owns a tiny shop. i travelled 40 kilometers but i save a lot of money and get good quality. i visit the place four to five times a week. but not everyone is excited about the new store in bun jab. he's worried. he said his business has dropped 15% in the month walmart has

been open. but with more than a billion people in india to serve, there's room for everyone to do good business here. >> very good move and we have high hopes for the opportunities to be able to grow this format in other parts of india. >> walmart plans to open 15 stores across india in the next few years. now, because the store is so unique in this town, it's actually become also a place for business people to socialize and network and walmart says more than 30,000 people have signed up for membership. kiran. >> all right, sarah, thank you so much. we want to know what you think of walmart's globalization in india's holy city. call our show hotline at 877-my-amfix.

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55 minutes after the hour. we co welcome back to the most news in the morning. president obama moving from russia to italy trying to tackle the crisis at the g-8 summit. the president touched down in rome a couple of hours ago there to meet with other world leaders. a tough balancing act to say the least of work with the world to try to do what's best for your bottom line. suzan suzanne malveaux is traveling with the president. what's the president's goal here in terms of getting our economy on better footing? >> well, alina, it starts with building better relationships with the leaders. want to show you fresh pictures coming in, president obama with the president of italy, in napolita napolitano. the two met. they're going to make comments later. he'll meet with berlusconi. a all of this to figure out the world economy, to deal with the global crisis. we did get a hint of what the

president's message would be yesterday before some russian business leaders emphasizing the need for transparency, open markets, free throw trade, corporate accountability, those types of things. the president, unlike other world leadse leaders have focus stimulus, economic stimulus. that's not something the other world leaders have agreed. they want tighter regulations. these are the conversations that the president is going to have. it is building up to what they hope is more coordination between the world leaders so that when the economies do turn, when things do get better this kind of crisis doesn't happen again, alina? >> suzanne, you know the g-8 summit was supposed to be held in rome initially. the last change of plans and it's being held in l'aquila. outside of rome. we remember it because there was a deadly earthquake there in that region earlier this year. but what is the significance of

moving the g-8 summit there? >> that's exactly where we are. it's in this mountainous town where a lot of people were devastated by the earthquake. 50,000, alina, who are still homeless. but prime minister berlusconi did not believe it was in good taste to have the world leaders to be wined and dined in a resort location that he wanted to call attention to this area to show that there is progress in trying to put people back in their homes. and there's money to the tune of $40 million in international donations to help out with the effort. it's twofold. we should let you know there's a backup plan, an emergency plan as we got the aftershocks, one as recently as friday. but if they have strong, powerful aftershocks, we're going to helo these guys, transport the world leaders back to rome so they can continue with this summit. alina? >> that would be quite a picture if that happens, suzanne.

suzanne malveaux traveling with the president. >> we're going to stay here. >> suzanne malveaux traveling with the president. great to see you as always. as the president continues his trip, cnn will be there every step of the way. on monday, an historic moment. america's first black president will visit africa. and anderson cooper will sit down exclusively one-on-one with president obama. you can see that interview monday night, 10:00 p.m. eastern time right here on cnn. good morning, everybody. welcome to "american morning" for wednesday, july 8. welcome back. kiran, back from los angeles. >> good to be back. ten minutes from the top of the hour right now. here's on the agenda. the stories we're breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. a shocking new report shows how vulnerable some of our federal buildings may be. major security lapses uncovered across the country. undercover agents got their security with everything they needed to make the bomb and to put the bomb together in a bathroom. jason carroll with a story and a wakeup call for the feds just ahead. plus, on the attack,

republicans asking, where are the jobs? president obama's stimulus isn't working. now the president may want another stimulus package. the debate over your money and your future next live from washington. also, a group of british scientists claim they've made human sperm from embryonic stem cells. it will help doctors understand fertility. medical breakthrough or science fiction? sanjay gupta will make sense of it all for us. we begin with shocking new details about security in this country. a brand new government report that raises some serious questions about the safety of government buildings across the nation. after undercover agents were able to smuggle bomb parts past security virtually unchecked at several federal offices. jason carroll has been pouring ov -- poring over the details of the report. we know at oklahoma city the federal report there. >> this is why this particular report is so frightening to so

many people. one president called it a disturbing pattern. here's the bottom line. according to the report, federal protection services isn't doing a good job of protecting the buildings it's supposed to. the proof caught on tape. they were greeted by this site, that's the security guard asleep at its post. investigators in plain clothes were not stopped, not once, as they smuggled bomb parts past guards at ten difference security check points. they were able to pass through standard security check points like this getting to high level offices including offices of federal lawmakers. the state department, the department of justice, and even homeland security. and here's another disturbing part, the undercover agents brought in real bomb parts for the test and they were able to build the bombs in bathrooms, then walk around with them in hidden briefcases. they later detonated the devices at a remote site. take a look at the result.

very powerful. the guards in question all work for the federal protection services and the agency that handles security at 9,000 federal buildings, mostly through the use of private contractors. all of this part of the report from the government accountability office which is the investigative arm of congress. the report says federal protective services routinely fail to give guards proper training. one reason guards haven't been fully trained on x-ray machines since 2004. the gao says the agency is already taking some steps to improve some oversights and the senate committee on homeland security could take up the issue and senate hearings later today. senator joseph lieberman chairman of the homeland security committee called it unacceptable. incredible if you look at the details of the report. >> when you see the explosion that took place, the potential for a real loss of life.

and the report -- this report you're telling is it wasn't just one isolated incident, it's routine. >> right, and, again, what they seem to think is a pattern here. not just one, not two, not three, ten. >> let us know how it turns out. >> thank you. something else that came out of the government accountability report, the gao report, that may surprise you. many cash-strapped states are using their stimulus money just to stay afloat. 787 billion dollars was intended to jump start the economy, build new schools, create jobs. but in many cases, that money is being used to keep the lights on. that's part of a bigger developing story this morning. the house oversight committee hears testimony today on how safe possib states are using their cash. there are signs that the administration isn't on the same page. there's talk of a possible second stimulus before they spend the first as national unemployment approaches 10%. a lot to digest. jim acosta watching it all from

washington. good morning. >> good morning. the president is overseas. the republicans here in washington believe they found mr. obama's achilles heel, the economy. conflicting statements on the stimulus, asking once again whether it was the right approach to ending the recess n recession. >> where are the jobs? we put the dogs on the money trail to find out. >> reporter: in the latest sign the economy is in the dog house, the republicans are sicking their bloodhounds on the stimulus with the video that asks, where are the jobs? >> i'm john boehner. this is elie may. she hasn't found any stimulus jobs yet, and nite verse the mesh people. >> reporter: it's an issue that dogged the president all the way to russia when mr. obama clarified statements made by his own vice president on the reception. >> there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited. >> not exactly according to the president. >> i would actually -- rather

than say misread, we had incomplete information. >> reporter: who still believes it stimulus was the right call. >> there's nothing we would have done differently. >> reporter: but republicans point to president obama's dire warnings back in february when he urged the congress to pass the stimulus. >> we're moving quickly because we're told if we don't move quickly, that the economy is going to keep on getting worse. we'll have another 2 or 3 or 4 million jobs lost this year. >> it turns out with the stimulus, the economy shed 3.4 million jobs in just six months. while the president says he's now open to a second stimulus, one of the top economic advisors is already calling for one. tyson told an economic seminar in singapore said we should be planning on a contingency basis for a second round of stimulus. the republicans say the white house can't get the story straight.

>> they said the stimulus was necessary to jump start the economy. with half a million jobs lost every single month, they're starting to admit they simply misread the economy. these are costly mistakes and we can't take them back. >> reporter: despite a rough couple of weeks for republicans. gop strategists see their own green shoots of the recovery on the economy. >> nothing has galvanized the republican party more than the stimulus bill. the president's popularity, while he's still popular throughout the nation is taking hits in key states. >> which states? the key bellwether battleground of ohio. that may explain why the white house is not alone in considering the second stimulus. democratic leaders including the house majority leader in congress are kicking around the idea of a sequel. even though some in the party are clearly disappointed with the original. with all of the issues on capitol hill, this is the one issue, alina, where democrats are not on the same page.

the senate majority leader said yesterday that he doesn't think the second stimulus is in order just yet. >> jim acosta live for us in washington. thank you. >> you bet. we heard about the second stimulus. it would be the third one according to our christine romans. she's here with a reality check this morning, minding your business. hey, christine. >> president bush, president bush -- $168 million stimulus. remember? that would help us avoid a deep recession. the $787 billion stimulus in just a little over a year and not all of the must be is in the economy working yet. think of that. you look at the projects part of the stimulus projects so far, about $56 billion has been spent. and senate majority leader harry reid saying slightly over 10% has been spent. let's let it work. one of the president's advisors on the campaign trail, a well known economist said she thinks it's time to consider another stimulus to think about an infrastructure stimulus.

it would be politically difficult. the white house has made some promise about the stimulus that would be difficult in political talk. it would create jobs by august -- very hard to verify how many jobs are created. and they said they would keep the unemployment rate from topping that 8.5%. the unemployment rate is 9.5%. so we know that some of the targets have been overshot. imagine how difficult it would be. and imagine how it would -- how it would really empower the right who has been so concerned about how this borrowed money has been spent if they're talking about another stimulus. >> and the romans num rag this morning, this hour's roman numeral. tell us about it. >> 92,000. has to do with stimulus and jobs. and this is if you look at the white house calculus on how we're creating jobs, each $92,000 translates to one job.

the more money that gets out there, slowly but surely, it will create more jobs. but a tweet at amfix said people who expect the stimulus package to turn the economy around are dreaming. the economy is a ship, not a steam boat. it will take a while. >> the president said himself, it may not happen in the first 100 days or even the first term. it takes some time. people get impatient. you do point out interestingly enough, we may be a little behind but basically on track in terms of dolling out the money. >> it's true. people get impatient when your neighbor doesn't have a job. your credit card is lowering your limit. you can't pay some of your bills. >> okay. >> get it moving. >> may be the government's timeline, but your personal timeline, you're about to get foreclosed on, it's different. >> and we go on with how much of an impact government can make anyway. you know, in your personal and financial dshl. >> that's right. >> for the record, if we're talking about it, it would be a third stimulus. this is the second stimulus.

it is the second stimulus. >> christine has an interesting thought from the potential political fallout frf this. >> more evidence that people are hurting, guys. new this morning, you're late paying your credit card bills? guess what, you're not alone. a new report from the american bankers association find more people than ever, nearly 3.25% are defaulting on payments. the aba says it's another sign of mounting job losses and a weakening economy. figure skating champ and olympian nicole bobek is free on bond this morning after police arrested the 31-year-old in her jupiter, florida home. she's accused of being part of a drug ring. she was charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamines in new jersey. bobek won the u.s. figure skating title back in 1995. plus, track marks on his arm and, quote, dangerous medicines in his mansion. a source gives us shocking new details from the michael jackson

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good morning, ft. lauderdale. a pretty shot. partly cloudy, 82 right now. this afternoon, the afternoon storms. the monsoon-like storms that last about 30 minutes and it goes away, 94 for the forecast. >> a reported tornado ripped through our county outside of new york. woke me up at midnight. >> which means you got about an hour and a half of sleep. >> what are you going to do? driving in, trees down, power's out. >> glad you made it in. >> exactly. former mayor marion barry may have had his former girlfriend on the payroll. he was arrested for allegedly stalking her. according to "the washington post," records show he hired

donna for a political consultant and paid her taxpayer funds. barry denied the shocking allegations. t. boone pickens ditching plans for the biggest wind farm. the billionaire wanted to wean the u.s. off of foreign oil. the capital markets have dealt us all a setback. and a flight cheaper than a fill-up. airlines have slashed fair fares to the lowest in years. southwest is offering one-way tickets up to $30 for routes up to 40 miles. the ceo of best fares.com said we haven't seen $30 fares in 15 years calling it the biggest best fare sale in the year. for some airlines, that sale ends today. alaskan governor sarah palin is facing more criticism after her surprise decision to resign. there's talk she could be the ultimate gop superstar.

"the new york times" is asking are we overanalyzing it. i'm joined by tina brown, the founder in chief of the daily beast.com and the editor of the new majority and former speech writer for george h.w. bush. great to see you this morning. thanks. >> thanks. >> you said the palin press conference she seem ed wacky an overcaffeinated. you said she seemed terrifying and her m.o. was to cloak it in her grandiosity and shine for the camera. you said she's crying out for help? >> i do. we become obsessed with what wader will drop next with sarah palin. she's an ongoing reality show. she reminds me of a way with princess diana on the unraveling. she keeps saying she's victimized by the media. she was thrust into the

spotlight way too early unprepared and she's been screaming for stability every since inside. if she had just simply said, i do have to take a time-out right now to get my life in order, i mean, her family life is become a reality show. she's on ethics charges. she's completely out of her debt, her state is in bad shape. but instead of that, she's attracted all of the time to make the grandiose statements and sticking herself in the limelight. i do think that palin doesn't want to admit how crazy she feels inside. >> david, this is interesting because number one, it seems that the more she's criticized on the blogs, the more she's criticized in the, quote, main stream media, the more her supporters galvanize around her. we have a new "usa today" poll that's out that says 2/3 of republicans think she could be a major candidate and that she should run in 2012. so is the more criticism sort of lobbed her way, the more popular she becomes?

>> i fear that's so. and i worry less about sarah palin and more about what her court will do to my party -- the republican party. we face right now the worst economic crisis since at least the middle 1970s. maybe since world war ii. the president said in your previous segment has launched a plan that's hugely costly and won't work. we in 2012 may be facing a crisis of the american economic system. and yet republicans are advancing the candidates from everything we know is a 37% barry goldwater-style disaster. we saw her impact in 2008. republicans need to be uniting around coherent ideas for economic renewals. they need to be igniting around candidates that can govern. tina said we have this emotional bath that's taking the party that could be the party of reform and change and quarant e quarantining us away from the national concern. >> the interesting thing, the same study, tina, the same poll, 75% of democrats don't want to

figure on the national stage. that's interesting. at one point, people talk about how easy she would be to beat because she's a controversial figure. >> she's kind of crazy like a fox. we have a good piece today by a writer who makes the point that politics is hyperpolitics. you almost have to quit your job to run two years ahead and all of the candidates out there potential candidates are having to get out of their jobs and run. it's a celebrity culture that's performance. so palin discovered she's a megawatt celebrity who doesn't need office to run for president. >> and i want to ask you, you wrought it brought it up a few moments ago with the situation with the economy. the gop lost 26 house seats in the midterm election. what are we looking for now as to whether or not the unemployment rate and some of the questions that the gop is starting to put out there about whether or not the stimulus is working will affect the balance of power in congress.

>> in 1982, the republicans lost all of those seats as you say, they were following an economic plan with a clear explanation of how it would work and deliver. a plan aimed at the actual problems of the economy as they were then. but what the president has done is facing an economy following this terrible crisis. he took a lot of democratic pork barrel ideas rattling around for a decade, extremely slow, costly, labeled them stimulus, disregarding better ideas that would have gone to work. he's vulnerable. >> do you think there's a vulnerability there? oh. >> i think there's a huge vulnerability there. obama lost focus or at any rate made him lose focus. and i'm told by people in the uk, for instance, that the uk wanted a far more drilled down on the economy, the g-8. obama didn't want that. he wanted to widen the agenda much more. he said climate control will be

an issue. as we saw with the t. boone pickens news about abandoning his new energy efforts because of the markets, unless the economy improves, all of these efforts to create energy are going to go by the wayside. >> you have to go to the investors to make sure the changes happen. tina brown, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. just a day after the world said good-bye to michael jackson, there are new shocking details emerging right now about the condition of jackson's body. and that's raising new questions about possible prescription drug use prior to jackson's death. 19 minutes after the hour.

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22 minutes after the hour. track marks on his arms. bottles of prescription pills in his mansion a day after the world stopped to celebrate the life of michael jackson, we're learning some disturbing and dark new details this morning about his death. our randi kaye has the latest on the police investigation.

>> we have the gentleman here who needs help and he's not breathing. >> cnn learning new details about what what police investigators found when they answered the 911 call from jackson's house 12 days ago. a source involved with the investigation tells us jackson had, quote, numerous track marks on his arm and that those marks, quote, could certainly be consistent with the regular iv use of a drug, like diprivan. diprivan is the powerful sedative commonly used in anesthesia in a hospital. a nurse who had worked for jackson told cnn he had begged her for diprivan a few months ago so he could sleep. our source cautioned investigators can't say right now if a diprivan iv drip caused the track marks on jackson's arms. some of the marks, the source said, appeared fresh. others, older. in fact, some of the newest marks could have been caused when emergency medical personnel

rushed into the house and used their own ivs in an effort to save him. the source would not confirm if diprivan had been found with jackson. but he told us numerous bottles of prescription medication had been found in jackson's $100,000 a month rented mansion. he described them as, quote, dangerous drugs, similar to those found in a hospital setting. that's as far as he would go. as for jackson's body, the source said he had never seen anything like it in decades of investigative work. he described it as, quote, lilly white from head to toe. was it caused by the disease jackson said he had? we don't know. another source with knowledge of the case described jackson's body as having, quote, paper white skin, as white as a white t-shirt. he also told me his scalp was bald, that the pop star had no hair. that may have been a result of injuries jackson received when his hair caught fire while making his pepsi ad years ago.

this source also said jackson's veins were, quote, collapsed in both arms. suggesting frequent intra venous drug use. his final note -- the body was emaciated. despite the vigor jackson showed on stage during his final rehearsal just 36 hours earlier. randi kaye, cnn, los angeles. >> there you go. again, it's always -- it's hard to wrap your head around. that video is shot two days before he passed away. he looked great, he looked healthy. >> -- talking about how sharp his moves were. he looked thin, a lot of people were saying. his moves were sharp. he looked strong in that video. >> and a week later, there's a memorial service for him. and -- >> you were there, of course, just the move, being there. it must have been -- you were talking about -- it was a memorial service, the likes of which we may never see again.

in some ways it was like a concert too. >> or like that. i remember thinking it's a little strange. pulling in to dodgers stadium. getting the tickets with glee, waving their tickets around. but actually watching the memorial itself, it was very solemn. it was really a beautiful tribute to him. and i'm glad that that didn't take on a different atmosphere. >> a lot of people who weren't big fans like it's funny. i was reliving the love of music as a child. in recent years, i didn't think of michael jackson. i was moved the tears when usher was singing "gone too soon." he went up and touched the caskets. there were moments of levity, smokey robinson coming up and saying i wrote that song. he paused perfectly and he said, i thought i sang that song. so there's lots of incredible moments, certainly memorable. >> rest assured that video one more time of his daughter.

that's the part where most people said they were reduced the tears, an 11-year-old daughter, paris, katherine, just saying i'm going to miss my daddy, he was the best daddy in the whole world. i loved him so much. she's surrounded by her aunts and grandmother. >> three kids left behind. important to note too i was struck by what a beautiful girl this was, what a brave little girl this was. the first time really the world has seen these children without their veils. every time they go out they were covered for fear of kidnapping. we'll have to wait and see. we hope certainly they're able to live some semblance of a normal life going forward but without their parents, without michael jackson. >> that's right. oh we have much more ahead in the next hour. we'll talk about the situation in honduras with the coup. the former vice president, that country will join us in a few minutes. 27 minutes after the hour.

radio. >> president a obama arriving in a l'aquila, italy. the town suffered the worst earthquake in years. 300 people were killed. there's an afterplan in place. could be taken out by helicopter. an alarming lapse in homeland security. the government accountability office said investigators are able to smuggle bomb-making material past security. not at once, but ten federal buildings. once inside, it somehow managed to construct explosive devices in bathrooms and carry them around government buildings without detection. >> it may sound repetitious. but it's the news you like hearing over and over again. triple a reporting gas prices is down again. $2.59 a gallon. the 17th straight day in a row gas prices have dropped. >> more on the developing story.

crisis in honduras. hillary clinton met with manuel so ork zalaya. now the president of costa rica has agreed to mediate with honduras by sitting down with him and the man who took his job. the former vice president of costa rica serving under the current president of costa rica as i mentioned. going to be mediating a crisis trying to broker a deal there. good morning to you. why the u.s. is getting involved in such a high level. the policy you think of iraq and afghanistan. iran, north korea is real. not honduras. why do you think the u.s. is getting involved. >> well, partly because this is not just about honduras. this is about the whole region. as president obama himself said,

allowing this coup to stand as it is would set a terrible precedence for the whole region. that's number one. number two, i'm going to be very frank here. the u.s. played a construction role in honduras. i can't see any way the u.s. would play a role in solving the really delicate and complicated crisis out there. the israeli-palestinian conflict, korea, so on and so forth. it's a good thing they're getting involved. >> the man who used to be your boss. president trying to broker a deal. he's a nobel peace prize winner. get into your mind. tell me how you think this is going to play out. >> it's not going to be easy. i have no doubt whatsoever that the right man for the job. not only is he very perspective

across the board in the region, but he also brings to the table the vast experience of conflict resolution. that's why he got the nobel prize in the first place. and thirdly, he happens to be holding the rotating presidency for the integration system which is lucky coincidence. so he's really the right person for the task at hand. >> i want to remind our american viewers about the story that may not be following it closely. we don't hear about military coups that often in this case. we're talking about a sitting head of state who is roused out of bed by the military in his pajamas, taken out of the country. he tried to come back over the weekend. landed his plane. couldn't do that. he met with secretary of state clinton. bottom line here, do you think if you had to guess, do you think this military coup is going to stick or do you think

zalaya is it going to be returned to power? >> no one knows at this point. but my sense is he'll return to the presidency, not necessarily to power. those are two different things. my sense is that some kind of deal will be brokered, the makings of which have been obvious all along. the president ought to return to the presidency number two, he will have to give up on his plans to amend the constitution. number three, he will very likely have to put some distance between himself and hugo chavez. number four, some kind of power sharing agreement will have to be arranged whereby he remains in the hands of the government. but some of the people chip in. and number five, some kind of general amnesty will have to be enacted or nearly everybody turns a blind eye on the legal behavior. >> lots of scenarios there. former vice president of costa ri rica. thank you for joining us this

morning. >> my pleasure.

senior producer said he had

to with this music. who is it again? >> journey. we like to call him captain obvious with the music. don't stop believing, brian. seriously. 38 past the hour right now. partly cloudy. doesn't look partly cloudy. john roberts would say, it's not partly cloudy. i don't see a single cloud. sunny, 85 degrees. welcome back to the most news in the morning. the unemployment rate released higher toward double digits. wouldn't -- i had to channel him. it's coming back. >> but it's -- meanwhile, back to our problem at hand. we do have one with the unemployment rate. there's been a lot of questions of whether or not the democrats on the hill are going to see the approval ratings taking a hit. will they be judged on the economic recovery for good or for bad. >> it is. long time to the midterm

elections. politics and the united states, we go months and months, right. barely six months in to office as unemployment is 10%. misread how bad the economy was. how long will the public be patient and give the chance to work and how big is the chance next year if the jobless rate tops 10%. >> two presidents, different parties, with striking similarity. both incredibly popular, both faced with rising unemployment. ronald reagan's experience instructive for democrats today. the gop lost 26 seats in the 1982 election. reagan's popularity could not trump double digit unemployment. >> if we look back to 1982, as soon as the unemployment rate hit 10%, there was a political dynamic that changed significantly and became much harder for the incoming parties to be able to make the case. >> reporter: the jobless rate today, 9.5%, above the peak of

8% the white house predicted earlier this year. >> we and everyone else misread the economy. >> reporter: not everyone. some economists have long forecast jobless rates this high. now politically dangerous done digits are at hand. the white house concedes 10% is likely in the next couple of months. >> 10%, multiple people are unempl unemployed. you begin to worry about whether you're going to be unemployed yourself or your spouse and it creates an anxiety amongst voters. the white house stressed the mess is not its doing. >> for businesses and families alike. >> reporter: and that the president is working quickly to fix it. investing and trying to reform energy, health care, the banking system, to say nothing of an historic $787 billion economic stimulus plan. but how long will voters wait? >> president obama, if he fails to match public expectations that he's going to fix the

economy or if the economy gets in the view of the public, that could hurt the democratic party very much in 2010. >> the democrats have a solid majority and it's more than a year before they face voters again. reagan was fighting joblessness and inflation and high interest rates. president obama has a full plate, but inflation and high interest rates are not on it. the white house will have to convince americans that things are getting better, at least not getting worse. president obama has promised to save or create jobs. the economy is losing jobs every month. it's impossible to verify whether the president specifically has saved any jobs so far. even if they can create the stimulus jobs, it will not hold back the job cuts they're expecting. that could make for tricky politics for democrats from now to 2010. >> the last time we saw double-digit unemployment and

the effect it had. >> double-digit unemployment throws a rench in to politics. it really makes incumbents nervous. >> i know we talked about this before. but excuse me, the whole notion of how do you measure how many jobs you save? >> you use an elaborate formula and say this is how much money we spent. that's translating to this is the number of jobs we save. unless you have the list of people who have those jobs, i don't know how you verify it. it's an estimate. people don't feel like their jobs are being created because they see their neighbors lose their jobs every day. here's what's coming up on the am rundown. 7:50, dr. sanjay gupta is looking at a claim that they made human sperm using embryonic stem cells. at the top of the hour, undercover federal agents sneak bomb making materials in to government buildings. they do it all without getting

caught. it calls in to question how safe government offices are from terror attack and what we can do about it. 8:04 eastern time, is the stimulus working? we heard christine's take on it. more and more republicans on the hill are saying no. they are pointing the finger at the president. we're going to have more on whether or not the new ads out by the gop are having an effect. it's 43 past the hour. ( whooshing ) you could buy 750 bottles of water... or just one brita faucet filter. - ( plinks ) - brita--

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♪ i'm not here

for your entertainment ♪ ♪ you don't really want to mess with me tonight ♪ >> check it out. beautiful day in new york. clear and 61 degrees. apparently, the clouds are going to come in. it doesn't look like that right now. partly cloudy later today and 81 degrees. >> oh and also you know, if you are into numbers, today in your day. it's july 8, 2009. so it's 7, 8, 9. but at 12:34.56 this afternoon, you're going to be able to -- this is so cool, you get a straight number sequence, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. numerologists say means it could be -- could be, a very good day to make money. we hope that's the case. jacqui jeras is following the weather. we felt it was a tornado that swept through in westchester county just outside northeast of new york city. it woke me up straight out of bed. i felt like the house was going to collapse, seriously. >> you know, we had some damage

out there actually. wicked winds. was a tornado warning in effect at the time. the weather service hasn't confirmed that. what they have confirmed, certainly, take a look at the pictures, golf ball sized hail so thick folks were shoveling it out of the way. you can see it getting inside houses, along cars, trees down, power lines down. thousands of people this morning without power. westchester county, among the hottest hit areas. those storms went through waking you guys up or waking up a lot of people or maybe they didn't quite get to bed yet. calmer area today. we could see a little redevelopment here later on this afternoon and not anticipating the events like we saw yesterday. today, the worst weather here across parts of nebraska on to southwestern iowa to northwestern parts of missouri. strong thunderstorms, heavy rain, flash flooding. flash flooding, a good possibility here along the gulf

coast states today, especially in the northern parts of florida. all of this wet weather will be moving in to the big bend area. we could see a little bit of flash flooding, we think, in some of the areas around here, the carolinas and also in to parts of georgia. wow, northern florida has been wet. we've been getting record temperatures across parts of the south. and very hot conditions across parts of texas, kansas, oklahoma, 100 degrees in dallas today, guys. very, very warm temperatures sticking around for the next couple of days. >> jees, wow, okay. jacqui jeras. thank you very much. 48 minutes after the hour. coming up, stem cell breakthrough involving -- can't make this up, human sperm. dr. sanjay gupta will look into the story. he'll be with us after this. thth

welcome back to the most news in the morning. we've heard about big medical break-throughs in labs, but this one is a first. a team of scientists say they have created human sperm in the laboratory. we're paging dr. sanjay gupta for this one. cnn's chief medical correspondent. sanjay is in atlanta for us. hey, sanjay, good morning. this is fascinating stuff. so what does it all mean? >> well, it really is fascinating. i've been reading and re-reading this particular study. it is one of those pivotal moments i think in this whole embryonic stem cell history. i'll show you an animation in a second, how it all works. basically speaking, in proof of principle, we have pea all thought these embryonic stem cells could be converted into just about any other cell which makes them so attractive for treating many disease, studying

diseases certainly. the big question is could it be turned into sperm or eggs. and the answer seems to be yes with regard to sperm specifically. look at the animation. what they did was took these embryonic stem cells, they added a little vitamin a derivative, then used this green stain. i can't tell you exactly how they did it. they started separating it out with lasers, trying to figure out what these cells are. the cells underwent this very specific process of division, called myo sis. you don't need to remember that but ultimately over time as they watch these cells over a few months they coaxed some of these cells into sperm cells. they took these again embryonic stem cells and threw some various interactions created these sperm cells. important because they want to study infertility. if you look at infertility across the globe, about a third of cases of infertility are caused by men and they could create these sperm cells within

three months which it takes typically 15 years for sperm to mature. you get an idea of how important this is. >> guys in the crew were joking around at least we need men still for chopping wood and stuff like that. but all jokes aside, this does raise some concerns and some questions about making humans in a petri dish. is that even possible? we're not there yet. >> no, we're not. even researchers will say these are in-vitro-derived sperm cells. could one day these possibly be used for insemination? the answer seems to be, well possibly. years and years down the line they might be able to for example someone who's been infertile because of chemotherapy or something like that be able to create this opportunity to create sperm. but right now british law where these studies are being done prohibits this sort of thing. this is being done really solely for the process of studying infertility. you study how sperm develops, you might get a lot more answers as to why infertility occurs. >> a fascinating development. >> i thought you might have some

fun with that, alee know, for sure. men are still necessary. >> for more than just chopping wood. >> that's right. >> sanjay gupta, thank you. jason carroll's going to join us in a few minutes with a stunning report about a lack of security at federal buildings, plain-clothed agents were able to sneak in bomb-making parts, assemble them in bathrooms and that's a look at how powerful they were when set off in a dem know afterwards. this is not just a one-time thing. this was at ten different checkpoints in federal buildings around this country. jason carroll will have much more on the fallout. 55 minutes past the hour.

welcome back to the most news in the morning now. right now on the ground in afghanistan, the taliban is confirming on its website that it is holding an american soldier hostage. u.s. forces have been desperately trying to rescue this service man since he was reportedly seen walking off of a

base last week. the taliban report does not elaborate, give detail on where this soldier is being held. it also provides no proof that they actually captured the soldier. also this morning, u.s. commanders carrying out president obama's new strategy for the war in afghanistan and they are expressing concern over a shortfall of afghan security forces. cnn's barbara starr is live at the pentagon. what are you hearing from your sources there? >> well, kiran, in just about two hours we will hear from general larry nicholsonicholsonp commander overseeing this fight. he's quoted as saying he needs more afghan troops. sources we are talking to say, absolutely, yes. a problem that's rapidly emerging in this bat until southern afghanistan's helmand province. they don't have enough afghan troops. they need those afghans to be in these towns and villages and interact with the people and make this much more of an afghan operation in order to avoid the typical resentment that understandably comes when u.s.

troops come in to a town and village and stay there. that is becoming a significant concern. also we are hearing from top pentagon officials, they are watching very carefully the supply line into this area. it's a very remote area. they're trying to get more water, more combat gear, more equipment in to the area and they're trying to get it in as quick as possible. these are the kinds of things that can stall an operation. that's what they don't want to have happen. kiran? >> barbara starr for us with more on that, thanks so much. we're coming up on two minutes before the top of the hour on this wednesday, july 8th. good morning, glad you are with us on this "american morning." i'm kiran chetry. >> i'm alina cho, john roberts has a couple of days off. good to be with you. stories we'll break down in the next 15 minutes, a shocking new report showing government offices around the country are at risk of a terrorist attack. undercover agents got bomb-making materials through security and put devices

together inside federal buildings. jason carroll has details. he'll be with us in just a moment. republicans are slamming the $787 billion stimulus asking where are the jobs th? the administration says it's only spent $100 billion so far. if that's the case, why are some democrats talking about yet another stimulus. the debate over your money live from report. we got this development overnight. secretary of state hillary clinton says more sanctions may be needed to deal with iran's repressive regime. it comes as president mahmoud ahmadinejad calls the country's recent disputed presidential election "the most beautiful, clean, free election in that country's history." we're going to talk with iran expert reza aslam in a moment. a brand-new government report raising serious questions about safety at government buildings across the country. jason carroll has been pouring over details of this report. we're not talking about one

building, we're talking about ten. >> it is incredible. isn't it? just how easy it was for these undercover agents to penetrate security. it's absolutely stunning. here's the bottom line. according to the report, the federal protective service isn't doing a good job at protecting government buildings like it's supposed to. the proof caught on tape. take a look at this. investigators say they were greeted by this sight -- a security guard asleep at his post. investigators in plain clothes were not stopped, not once, as they smuggled bomb parts past guards at ten different security checkpoints. they were able to pass through standard checkpoints like this one, getting access to high-level places like at the state department, the department of justice, even at homeland security. here's another disturbing part. the undercover agents brought in real bomb parts for their tests and were able to build the bombs in bathrooms, then walk around with them hidden in briefcases. they were detonated at a remote

site. take a look at the powerful result. the guards in question all work for the federal protective service, an agency that handles security at 9,000 federal buildings. mostly through the use of private contractors. all this part of a report from the government accountability office which is the investigative arm of congress. the report says that federal protective service routinely failed to give these guards proper training, in one region guards haven't received training on x-ray machines since 2004. the gao says the agency has already taken some steps to improve oversight and the senate committee on homeland security will actually take this up in hearings later today. absolutely incredible when you look at all this. >> it really is. i mean from the simulated explosion to making the bomb materials in the bathrooms, to guards asleep at the whole!

>> we found other examples, an example of a guard who was looking at an adult website instead of looking at the computer like he was supposed to. and in another case, an infant in a stroller was taken through the x-ray machine because the device was not online as it was supposed to. nobody noticed. an infant going through an x-ray machine. >> these willen contentious hearings, you can bet. jason carroll, thanks so much. some government agencies are still suffering the effects of a july 4th cyber attack that knocked out numerous websites, including those used to fight cyber crime. the associated press is reporting that the treasury department, secret service, federal trade commission and transportation department websites were all down at some point over the holiday weekend. even into this week. south korean officials say their government and private websites were also hit and that the attacks may be connected. turning to the most politics in the morning now, an ambitious agenda awaiting president obama at the g-8 summit in italy. the president will tackle a

number of pressing issues, including global warming, as well as iran's nuclear ambitions and the global recession. back here at home with unemployment at its highest level in more than a quarter century, republicans are pouncing. cnn's jim acosta is live in washington this morning. the republicans releasing a new ad and saying that the stimulus isn't working. >> reporter: yes, that's right, kiran. a whole lot of barking here in washington as we are about to show you. with the president overseas, republicans here in washington believe they have found mr. obama's achilles heel -- the economy. top gop leaders are pointing to recent conflicting statements coming out of the white house on the stimulus, asking once again whether it was the right approach to ending the recession. >> where are the jobs? we put the dogs on the money trail to find out. >> reporter: in the latest sign the economy is in the doghouse, republicans are sicking their bloodhounds on the stimulus with this video that asks -- where are the jobs? >> i'm john boehner.

this is ellie mae. she hasn't found any stimulus jobs yet, and neither have the american people. >> reporter: it's an issue that dogged the president all the way to russia where mr. obama clarified statements made by his own vice president on the recession. >> there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited. >> reporter: not exactly, according to the president. >> i would actually, rather than say "misread," we had incomplete information. >> reporter: -- who still believes the stimulus was the right call. >> there's nothing that we would have done differently. >> reporter: but republicans point to president obama's dire warnings back in february when he urged the congress to pass the stimulus. >> we're moving quickly because we're told that if we don't move quickly, that the economy is going to keep on getting worse. we'll have another 2 million or 3 million or 4 million jobs lost this year. >> reporter: turns out even with the stimulus, the economy has shed 3 hadn't 4 million jobs in just six months. while the president says he's

now open to a second stimulus, one of his top economic advisors is already calling for one. she told an economic seminar in singapore "we should be planning on a contingency basis for a second round of stimulus." republicans say the white house can't get its story straight. >> they said the stimulus was necessary to jumpstart the economy, yet now with about 500,000 jobs lost every single month they've started to admit they simply misread the economy. these were costly mistakes and we can't take them back. >> reporter: despite a rough couple of weeks for republicans, gop strategists see their own political green shoots of recovery on the economy. >> nothing has really galvanized the republican party more than the stimulus vote. one thing that we've seen is that the president's popularity, while he is still popular throughout the nation, really is taking hits in key states. >> reporter: which state is he talking about? for one, he is talking about the key battleground of ohio.

there is a new poll out there showing the president's numbers slipping when it comes to the economy, and that may explain why the white house is not alone in considering a second round of stimulus spending. democrats in congress are also kicking around the idea of a sequel, including the house majority leader, even though some in the congress, in the democratic party, are clearly disappointed with the original. the senate majority leader, hairy reehai harry reid says is he not convinced a second stimulus is needed. when it comes to the stimulus, when it comes to the economy, they are all over the map on that one. >> jim acosta this morning, thanks. other stories new this morning, the embattled former attorney general alberto gonzales has landed on his feet. "the new york times" is reporting gonzales will teach a political science course at texas tech. he resigned from his bush administration post two years ago. he was much maligned during his

tenure over illegal government wiretapping and the alleged politically motivated firing of several u.s. attorneys. another famous face may try his hand in politics. actor alec baldwin telling "playboy" magazine he is seriously considering a run for congress. he says he's even considering moving to connecticut and would "love to run" against joe lieberman. alaska governor sarah palin may have had 20 million reasons to quit before her term was up. now palin already has a $4 million book deal and a report in the "bailey beast" says between speaking fees and a possible tv or radio show, palin could be earning as much as $20 million a year. her governor salary -- $125,000 a year. >> there you go. meantime, there is a new gallup/usa today poll suggesting sarah palin's sudden resignation has actually improved her standing among republicans. two-thirds want her to be a "major national political

figure" in the future. three-fourths of democrats polled hope she will not be. there you see the big difference. palin's decision to quit a still a major topic on our show hotline, 877-my-amfix. here's what you guys are saying. >> i do believe that she is a good person and i do believe that she has a bright future. i think she's very smart and i think she's doing the right thing for her. >> i think sarah palin's resignation was one of the biggest blunders of political history. >> i know what they don't like about sarah palin. it is her christian values. but she has the values that the founding fathers had. >> sarah palin, don't be surprised, talk show, book deal. she about to help the world. >> we want to know what you think about the story or anything else that's on your mind. call 877-my-amfix. it looks like david letterman is still using sarah palin as a punch line even

though he took a lot of heat for some comments he made last month. let's listen. >> the governor of alaska, sarah palin, has announced that she's stepping down, she will no longer be the governor of alaska. yeah. today first thing, woke up, went out on her porch and waved good-bye to russia. waved good-bye to russia. obama was waving -- >> i can see russia from my house. >> which she didn't say, which tina fey says. >> you're right. >> but if you ask most people, they think sarah palin said that because of that spot-on impersonation. >> letterman, this last time, even though he took some heat, it is ratings gold. he edged ahead in the ratings ahead of conan because of that. he knows what jokes work. >> exactly. nine minutes after the hour.

good morning, new york. partly cloudy and 67 degrees right now but guess what? forecast looks pretty good. mostly sunny and 79, a great day to be in new york.

12 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. to hear iranian mahmoud ahmadinejad say it, last month's election was "the most clean and free election anywhere in the world." he made those comments in a nationally televised address. opposition leaders of course claim that election was rigged. they're now in the midst of a three-day general strike under the cover of an islamic religious holiday. the author of "how to win a cosmic war" joins us now from los angeles. reza, good morning. president ahmadinejad called the election the most free and clean election in the world. he also called for changes saying the structure of government should changes, changes in government should be considerable. sounds like he is making some concessions here. but if he's still in power, is it going to make a difference? >> well, i'm not sure if i would call it concessions necessarily. this is kind of a blusterous speech, vintage ahmadinejad in some ways. but you know what?

it is interesting that there are some real cracks in figures starting to appear at the very highest levels at the regime. when ahmadinejad talks about changes, what he's talking about is something very fascinating. he's talking about an even greater role for the executive office. what's perhaps unexpected about the last four years of the ahmadinejad regime is as disastrous as it may have been for both iran and i think the international community, he has managed to put even greater power behind the office of president, which as you know, was not all that powerful of a position. >> i found this interesting. you wrote in the "daily beast" that you spoke to one aide to opposition leader mousavi who told you -- i want to put this up -- "please tell the western media to keep paying attention to us. please let them know that if they are watching, fewer of us will be killed. it is when america stops paying attention that the regime loses all restraint." it's just interesting to see that. who could forget those protests

just after the election. but of course, western media access to a large degree has been cut off. so if those protests -- if we're not seeing those pictures that you see on the screen right now, does this mean the end for protestors and does ahmadinejad ultimately just stay in power? >> well, i think in the west we do have this sense that perhaps the revolution or uprising, however you want to refer to it, has come to an end, as a result of the brutal crackdown that you were referring to. but nothing could be further from the truth. this is far from over. i think what's happened is that although the number of people on the streets have obviously diminished, the uprising itself has, in some ways, shifted from the streets to the halls of power, and more interestingly, to comb the religious center of iran. right now it seems as though the two sides, the pro-ahmadinejad and the anti-ahmadinejad side, have fairly solidified. it's the people in the center, which is primarily the clerics,

the religious establishment, that has yet to go one way or another. some groups have already committed to the reformist movement, some have committed to the ahmadinejad movement. but the body itself hasn't decided one way or another and really that's going to decide where iran goes from here on out, where the clerics put their weight. >> i find this interesting, because we're in the midst in iran of a three-day islamic holiday and some are using this as an opportunity to have a general strike. so i mean is this really sort of the protestors' way of hitting the government where it hurts, in the wallet? >> yes. in fact, this seems to be now the primary strategy of the protest movement, is to try to use a general strike, withdrawing money from state-run banks, spending less money, in some ways, as a way of hurting iran exactly where it counts. because as you know, iran has an economy right now that's in just shambles.

the annual inflation rate is about 26%. the official unemployment rate is about 20%, but some people in iran say that unofficially it may be as high as 40%. and now with greater isolation as a consequence of the way in which the election was carried out and the brutality of the regime in responding to the protestors, iran's government could very easily collapse. it is going to be very difficult for this regime to continue business as usual under ahmadinejad. >> well, i think we should remind people, this is officially a holiday of prayer and solitude. as one protestor said, "i dare the government to come after me as i'm praying in the mosque." reza aslan, thank you for joining us from los angeles. 7

there is a shot this morning, good morning, d.c. right now it is beautiful and sunny, 69. later today, 83 for a high. new this morning, the federal government is officially acknowledging that african-american slaves built the u.s. capitol building. there will be a marker inside of the new capitol visitor center which will come from some of the original stones excavated by the slaves, placed there in their honor. historians say african-american slaves worked six days a week without any pay to build it. t. boone pickens wants to wean the united states off foreign oil so he spent $60 million promoting what he calls the pickens plan.

it was well publicized. now a change of plan. he says the capital markets have dealt us all a setback so the wind farm, that's on hold. up side to the economic downturn, americans across the country are spending less time stuck in rush hour traffic according to a study done by texas transportation institute. they attribute it to changes in the economy and gas prices saying traffic is getting better in los angeles although "better" would be a relative word since the city tops the list for the worst traffic jams in the country. we made to the airport though. >> you did. caught the flight. no problems. home prices likely to keep going down. christine romans "minding your business." >> this is likely the biggest investment you will ever make, in your house. for those of how are watching the value of that house continue to decline, there is troubling news from the pmi mortgage insurance folks who did a survey and found it is likely that home prices for frankly most of the country could continue to go down for the next couple of

years. as many as 324 of the nation's 381 metropolitan areas are now facing a higher risk of lower home prices into 2011. what are the riskiest home markets? no surprise here, really. according to pmi, riverside, california, miami, florida, los angeles, california, ft. lauderdale, florida and las vegas, nevada -- remember these were incredible hotspots over the past two years. the building and home price spikes there were just phenomenal, and now that bubble has popped and the pain there is expected to continue for a couple of years. the most stable housing markets though, if you live here, cleveland, ohio, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, columbus, ohio, san antonio, texas and houston, texas. frankly, i need to do a piece about this. there's something going on in texas. when i look at it, towns in texas that have been doing pretty well. speaking of the dropping home values, it's also meaning that equity lines are vanishing. that's proven to be a little bit troublesome for people who rely

on equity lines for entrepreneurs, small businesses and the like. that's another off-shoot of this story, putting a crimp on small business. if you're wonding whaer going to happen to your biggest asset, your home, at least this survey shows it could in many of the nation's metropolitan areas be flat or continue to fall over the next couple of years. >> the other side, if you're looking to buy -- >> that brings us to the "romans numeral." 98% is the romans numeral, the number we've used every day to try to advance this story. home affordability improves across 98% of the housing market. as these home prices have fallen, your asset, if you own it, has been going down and that has been troublesome. but if you are looking to get into the market, it is more affordable now than it has been in years. interest rates are low. that's part of the story. home prices have been falling. that's part of the story. for first-time home buyers, the kind of people who would be buying home insurance for the first time from this pmi group

who put it out, this is likely. they say these lower prices are going to continue to ensentivize repeat and first-time home buyers. just knowing if prices to continue to fall, no more flipping, folks. you buy a house and you live in it and you don't take all the money out of it. the new normal. >> the other flip side of being harder to come by equity lines, a lot of people were encouraged or pushed into taking out these equity lines of credit that ended up taking the money out of the value of their home. >> you use that money to send a kid to college? now you got to pay the money back and the house price is down. it is your biggest asset. we'll keep track of your house for you. >> christine, thanks. >> 25 minutes after the hour.

27 minutes past the hour. breaking news this morning, one of michael jackson's doctors is speaking out. his long-time dermatologist dr. arnold klein. he was the subject of some tabloid rumors about whether or not he was the father of some of michael jackson's children, including the two oldest children. he made this statement just a short time ago to abc news. >> all i can tell you is best of my knowledge i'm not the father of these children. i'm telling you, if push comes to shove, i can't speak anything about it. but to the best of my knowledge i'm not the father of these children. >> all right. that leaves maybe some more questions than answers, "to the best of my knowledge." he said that twice. klein went on to say he didn't think jackson appeared to be in poor health and says that the singer even danced in his office just three days before he died.

a medical first. it's being called a scientific first. scientists have created human sperm from stem cells in a laboratory. yes, you heard that correctly. researchers say this break-through could ultimately help treat male infertility. also, a frail looking kim jong-il. north korea's leader made a rare appearance in north korea. the country marks the death of its founder, kim's father, this is the second major state event kim jong-il has attended since reports surfaced last summer that he had suffered a stroke. he is now 67 years old. today president obama moving from russia to italy trying to tackle a global economic crisis. the president arrived in l'aquila a couple of hours ago at the g-8 summit. it is a tough balancing act trying to do what's best for your bottom line, as well as dealing others into the fold. our suzanne malveaux is with the

president. we're talking about a global recession. so everybody's looking out for their home country but also figuring out a way that we can all get on better economic footing. quite a challenge. >> absolutely. when you think about it, these world leaders have different ideas about what is best for their own economies. we've seen president obama really pushing for an economic stimulus putting money into the economy to turn things around. but there are other world leaders that say we want tougher regulations for financial institutions. we saw the president early this morning, he met with president napolitano in italy. later he'll meet with the prime minister silvio berlusconi. here's what he said he thought the priorities were when dealing with the economy and other significant issues the next couple of days. >> we are working hand-in-hand in places like afghanistan to ensure that we are isolating extremists and strengthening the forces of moderation around the

world. on the international front, we discussed the importance of europe and the united states raising standards on financial institutions to ensure that a crisis like the one that's taken place will never happen again. >> part of it is trying to get everybody on the same page here to come up with a strategy after this is over so that it doesn't happen again. we heard the president emphasize over the past couple of days, just yesterday in russia, talking about the need for transparency, for accountability, tough regulations, opening those markets. those are the kinds of things that he's going to be talking about sitting down with world leaders here over the next couple of days. >> suzanne, where you are, that's a town that suffered that massive earthquake back in april. some 300 people lost their lives. we understand aftershocks still hit that region from time to time. is there some sort of back-up plan in the event of another quake? >> there certainly is. that's a question that's come up a number of times.

robert gibbs, the press secretary, said that there is definitely an emergency plan, backup plan, that is in play in case there is really strong aftershocks. one happened on friday. they seem to be getting weaker, but if there is a strong aftershock then these world leaders will be choppered out of here, airlifted and sent to rome about 60 miles or so. that's where they can complete the summit, continue their business here. but there is a plan in place. and they're also here, we should let you know that president obama's going to be touring some of the earthquake damage in the site later this afternoon. it is part of an effort, berlusconi's effort, to bring attention to some of the progress that's being made for some of the folks, italians who are homeless and also to try to drum up some funds, some money to help in the recovery efforts. kiran? >> suzanne malveaux for us this morning from l'aquila, thank you. what exactly is the g-8? why should you care? here's more in an am extra. it is an even owl meeting of the eight industrialized nation --

japan, uk, france, italy, germany, canada, russia and the united states. leaders meet once a year to discuss major world issues to sum up their discussions with a final statement as well. other countries are also allowed in. this year more than 30 world leaders will be attending the summit representing more than 90% of the world's economy. on a lighter side, tonight show host conan o'brien is making a joke out of the president's speech yesterday in moscow. look. >> today in russia president obama delivered a speech to the graduating class of moscow's new economic school. that's right. the title of his speech was "can we borrow 4 trillion rubles?" >> he always does this at the end. 32 minutes after the hour. he always does that at the end. i digress. italy is hosting the g-8 summit there. self-yo berlusconi embroiled in

a series of sex scandals. people are following this very closely. accusations of hiring prostitutes, having relations with teenagers. his wife is divorcing him now. is he fit to lead? he seems to be brushing it all off. we'll have a live report from italy after this.

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36 minutes past the hour. these are top videos on cnn.com right now. crowds drenched but ecstatic at the london premier of the new harry potter movie. the young star was soaking it all up. >> i'm having far too much fun as it is.

honestly i've never heard so much screaming at a premier before. >> it is mad. it is absolutely mad. but it is great. and you can't -- i mean you have to take it in. i'll never have anything like this again. >> it opens in theaters in the u.s. on july 15th. a playing a game of eye spy. these pictures were posted on his wife's facebook account. pictures were publ accomplished by the british newspaper "the daily mail." in his new post he will be the head of cyber security. maybe he should start with the privacy settings on his wife's facebook. they made billions and broke barriers. today in our special series "black in america," ed lavendera introduces us to two brothers who have built an empire literally from the ground up and they never forgot where they

came from. >> reporter: you know you've arrived in the business world when your office can look like this. michael and stephen roberts launched their business empire from a historically black neighborhood in north st. louis. they estimate their company which holds everything from hotels to tv stations to be worth almost $1 billion. >> so someone watching this who says that's real easy for these guys. they've got millions and millions of dollars, they can go out and buy whatever they want. i have two quarters to rub together. what do you tell that person? >> that we also had two quarters to rub together. >> we weren't rich, we weren't poor but we just never had any money either. >> retail folks learn it, get your hands dirty, little sweat equity, then you will know it. it becomes yours. >> reporter: the roberts brothers say the key to success is putting ideas into action. they are relentless workers, always looking to make a deal. >> we're creatures, animals of the earth. what other animal retires? if a lion retired today,

tomorrow morning because of breakfast. right? >> mike was elected first. >> reporter: they were both elected to the st. louis board of alleged alderman. they run tv stations, hotels, they own commercial real estate and telecommunications companies. their name adorned every property. the roberts village, the roberts loft, the roberts mayfair hotel. but don't try comparing them to donald trump. >> what may appear to you today as ego 40 years from now will be legacy. black folks need legacy. we have to have examples of sexes in order for us to be able to let the generations to come know that many of the successes that occurred by african-americans in this country can be seen and pointed out and can be emulated. >> reporter: this theater in downtown st. louis symbolizes the roberts quest for legacy.

decades ago their mother and other black people were only allowed to sit in the highest balcony. now the roberts brothers own the theater. >> mom has been in the balcony. i assume she gets a front row seat? >> oh, yeah. yeah. mom can sit wherever she likes. >> reporter: that is priceless. ed lavendera, cnn, st. louis, missouri. for more stories of people stepping up, taking charge and creating solutions, watch the documentary "black in america 2" premeani .

this shot from kgo, san francisco, california, where it is clear and 56 right now. little bit later sunny and 64. you know what they say -- >> what do they say? >> the coldest -- the coldest winter i ever spent was a summer in san francisco? >> yeah, yeah, right. >> it is cold there this time of year. we used to drive from sacramento, it would go down 20

years. pretty though. >> a lovely shot. >> the water's for looking though, not swimming. if you are into numbers, today is july 8, 2009. it is 7/8/09. what are you going to be doing at 12:34:56 this afternoon? >> hopefully taking a nice little nap. >> newman ro >> newm >> numerologists say this could be a day to make money. jacqui jeras joins us now. we know what it was like yesterday in some parts of the area. i thought it was unusual actually for a tornado like wl weather to sweep through the new york area. then when i sent you the article, there was just a tornado in 2006 but it was the

exact week. >> she thought she was getting up to the second research. turns out poor sleep deprived kiran is digging up research from 2006. >> we did have four of them in 2006. they say one rolled through westchester county last night was probably not a tornado but a lot of hail and probably some damaging winds as well. take a look at that. it almost looks like winter. doesn't it? some people actually got shovels and had to scoop the hail out. it got into homes. we had trees down, power lines down, even this morning thousands of people are still without power. the storms have subsided and we are looking at pretty nice conditions this morning in new york city but we're probably going to see some redevelopment especially into parts of new england as we head into the afternoon hours. be aware that we could have some stronger storms later on today. kiran? alina? >> thank you. also new this morning, it is

that time of year again. take a look. you know, don't you worry about those people? don't you wonder why they do it? >> tradition but -- >> four people were slightly injured, thankfully only slightly. second day of the running of the bulls in pamplona, spain. an annual tradition. bulls came from a ranch with a reputation for raising fierce animals. thankfully though no serious gorings. >> it looked like it was running pretty smoothly actually. >> yeah. >> like i said, rock on with the tradition. >> won't catch us there. italy, as we know, is hosting the g-8 summit. that's due to get under way today in fact. but its prime minister civil overberlusconi embroiled in this sex scandal, allegations of

hiring prostitutes, relations with teenagers, his wife is going to be divorcing him. he's been brushing it off but there is a big question about whether he is fit to lead. what are italians saying? we'll go live to italy to fine out in a moment. 46 minutes after the hour. turn your savings into income -- guaranteed, and get a retirement "paycheck" for life -- guaranteed. call... to get started, and learn how to secure retirement income that won't go down -- guaranteed. call fidelity at... for details about guaranteed income for life, and change the way you think about your retirement savings.

49 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. president obama is in italy right now meeting with italian prime minister silvio berlusconi. that's ahead of this week's g-8 summit but that's not what most italians will be reading about in their morning paper. instead all of the headlines there are about their prime minister's latest sex scandal. paula newton is watching it all from l'aquila, italy. paula, the headline here says it all -- ""mamma mia!." what's going on? >> absolutely. i have to say, just when you think you've seen it all from silvio berlusconi, here comes another one. what triggered this was a very open and public demand for divorce from his wife and the rest right now is history. take a look. with his roots in show biz,

silvio berlusconi has always pursued what italians call "making a good show of it." the g-8 meeting, his third with hosting duties is no different. but the scandal swirling around him this time beats all, even for berlusconi. in an interview with cnn, a woman admitted being a high-paid prostitute that's now at the center of an investigation into whether italy's prime minister paid for sex. >> translator: i feel that i am the only one that's here telling the things that no other woman dare say. >> reporter: berlusconi has denied all charges. but as lurid pictures of parties at his lavish villa hit the papers, some are now questioning not just his judgment, but whether he's fit to lead italy.

the "economist" magazine has always had an opinion on that. "mamma mia!" was how it greeted his latest election victory. and still its editors admit -- >> surprisingly large number of italians find him rather charming and cheerful and his brushes with the law, they almost kind of sympathize with because the italian state is not highly respected by many italians. >> reporter: what has been incredibly frustrating for both the opposition and his supporters, the more popular he becomes about italians. >> obviously berlusconi is a very tough man especially when he's in the midst of a fight. i think that he is going to be taking this g-8 with the usual energy and enthusiasm. >> reporter: to all this, berlusconi recently told cnn he had never committed a gaffe. >> translator: i have never made

any gaffes. not even one. every gaffe is invented by the newspapers. >> reporter: the papers don't have to invent it. we can't make this stuff up, alina, in terms of the kinds of incidents that we have with him on camera. i sat down with him a few weeks ago for more than an hour. he cracked several jokes throughout. he says, alina, this whole scandal won't touch him and almost to prove him right in the last few days, new polls say his approval ratings here in italy have barely budged, just down a few points. he'll be using that charm here at the g-8 summit, trying to use it on barack obama. he's built a basketball court for him here. that's what he's going to rely on to try and prove to people that despite all this, look, i can charm the pants off these people, so to speak, and we can get a lot done here at the table. >> he seems to sort of let everything slide off his back. i was struck by the way he responded to the allegations of prostitution by saying, listen, this sort of just takes away the whole idea of conquering a woman. the whole conquest aspect of it.

why would a man pay for sex? but, yeah. he seems to be bullet-proof, if you will, in the eyes of the italian public. but you will be watching it all for us, paula newton, i am sure of that. thank you for that live report. kiran? still ahead, we will look into why we crave certain foods. it might just not be our lack of self-control. it may actually be that we're scientifically wired to get taken for a ride by certain types of food. 53 minutes past the hour. this is the view of the world from outside your body, as seen in the movie "ghost." swedish researchers are creating a similar experience in their labs. using 3-d goggles and cameras, researchers enable participants to see themselves from above, or even feel like they are the dummy in this room. >> you are a within your body all your life and you think the brain should know what your body

looks like. then in ten seconds it can completely re-evaluate the situation and accept the body after different individual, a different gender even. >> reporter: how does it work? first the subject wears a head-mounted video unit. researchers play video they want the person to see. when she looks down this is what her eyes see. the researcher touches her body and a dummy simultaneously. with this view the test subject's brain makes a connection. presto, she's the dummy. the dummy is cut with a knife and the person reacts. >> you experience being a plastic man. >> reporter: the possibilities are endless. cameras could show how you appear it others and help improve low self-esteem. amputees could use the therapy to give their new prosthetic limb a sense of feeling. >> if you have a new body, maybe a different gender or different group or race, maybe that can change the way you think about yourself, feel about yourself and think and feel about other individuals. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn.

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♪ all right, 57 minutes past the hour now. there is a beautiful shot this morning of lady liberty on just a big milestone this weekend. right? with the fourth of july weekend when they opened up her crown for the first time since 911. beautiful day out there, 68 right now, going up to about 80 in new york. you have food cravings? we all do. right? why is it always ice cream, chips, pizza? we never really crave broccoli and celery. do we? >> we should maybe train ourselves do, but we don't. there is actually scientific evidence that shows that our brains are being hijacked by food. ever wonder why that chocolate chip cookie seems to have so much power over you? or why potato chips are so

addictive? >> just one? >> bet you can't eat just one. >> reporter: researchers say our brains are being high jacketed by fat, sugar and salt. >> add flavor, add texture, add temperature, add color and what do we end up with? one of great public health epidemics of our time. >> reporter: the former fda commissioner is author of the new book, "the end of overeating." he says by combining fat, sugar and salt in all kinds of different ways, foodmakers are stimulating our desire to eat, even when we're full. >> back 20 years ago the average bite had about 20 chews. today food goes down in one or two chews. it is a wash. we get stimulated and we reach for more and more. >> reporter: we just can't help ourselves. just ask four-star chef daniel balou. >> the sweet, the salty, the crunchy. >> reporter: he treated to us a tasting menu, a bite-size symphony of sweet, salty and

fatty foods. >> it's about tasty fat. >> reporter: with every taste -- this is so good -- i found myself -- oh, my god -- unable to stop eating. >> you don't know why but it feel good. >> reporter: like the short ribs that melt in your mouth, and mashed potatoes with cheese inside. sometimes you don't even have to taste the food to know that you want it. >> sometimes it is the eyes. you cross the room with a beautiful souffle or something, and everybody's looking and say, i want that. >> reporter: why he agrees that portion control is so important. when it works. >> we don't how much we eat of it. we just control how much we give you. if you want more, that's out of my control. >> those mashed potatoes were the best thing i've ever had in my whole life. there was cheese inside the mashed potatoes. that molten chocolate cake, it had chocolate and caramel mixed. you don't