>> but i'm a french fry aaholic. >> what's your favorite feel? >> chili cheese fries and a beer. you got me. yours is the molten chocolate souffle. time to go eat. continue the conversation on today's stories. go to cnn.com/am fix. thanks for joining us this morning. we will be right back here tomorrow. here's "cnn newsroom" with liedy collins. good morning, everybody. security in the spotlight this morning. we'll be talking about it here. that's for sure. our jason carroll is going to be reporting on an undercover investigation that could be revealing some frightening concerns about security at some federal buildings across the country. also our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is looking at possible snags in the new offensive in afghanistan. we'll tell you about that as well. and also cnn's paula newton has the very latest with the

president and the g-8 summit where global security threats are now being discussed. it is wednesday, july 8th, i'm heidi collins and you are in the "cnn newsroom." but it is the global recession that's taking primary focus as leaders of the g-8 nations meet in italy today. president obama arrived in rome just a few hours ago, and then choppered to the summit site near where a devastating earthquake hit in april. mr. obama is in the middle of a week-long overseas trip that will take him next to ghana. for more on the g-8 summit now we go live to cnn's paula newton in l'aquila, italy. paula, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, heidi. an ambitious agenda as always here at these g-8 summits. the point is what are they actually going to get done? some governments talking now about perhaps this global economy biting us again. in terms of guesting to that double dip. what they're discussing perhaps not formally on the agenda but a lot of leaders behind the scenes

telling president obama that we're afraid that we could hit the skids again here and that the recovery really is so vulnerable, so weak, that do we need another stimulus package. now here in the white house certainly official saying, look, whatever's done is done on a country-by-country basis. the point is what we heard time an again from many leaders is that if it isn't some kind of coordinated effort, it isn't going to work. white house saying it is looking into all options at this moment but as i said, an ambitious agenda here. we aren't sure what they'll get to, though we're here for three days. >> paula, this is the same town that suffered that massive earthquake back in april. we understand some aftershocks are still rocking that same area. what's the backup plan in the event of another earthquake while all this is going on? >> well, the tremors can be quite severe. i've been through a few of them and they really do throw you off your game. there are 12 helicopters waiting on stand-by to chopper the

leaders back to rome if necessary. but this area here is quite secure. the building is earthquake-proof so they assume that they won't be having any problems. but just a few miles from here, you still have people living in tents. tens of thousands of them. some of them writing banners i saw coming in saying instead of, yes, we can, they say "yes, we camp." they hope g-8 leaders will help. certainly president obama will be touring the devastation, as will michelle obama, later today. >> paula newton live from l'aquila, italy this morning with the president. thank you. we know the g-8 is made up of the world's leading industrialized countries but why else is it important? our josh levs has been looking into that. josh, what are you finding out? >> this group of eight nations can impact the things we spend money on every day from the price of gasoline to the cost of basics you buy at the grocery store. it can also take on the biggest

issues in the world like climate change, international politics. what happens at this summit seriously might impact how we live for years to come -- if this group of leaders -- meanwhile, building bombs in the bathroom. a new report highlights serious gaps in security at federal buildings. in ten high-level buildings undercover investigators were able to smuggle in bomb components and assemble explosives without being detected. cnn's jason carroll joins us now live from new york with more on this gao investigation. jason, what is the solution here? is there a way to fix what we're seeing? >> i think so, heidi. according to this report, basically what they might have to do is just find a different way of training some of these guards who were out there. but first, let me give you what the bottom line of this basic report is, which is basically that the federal protective service isn't doing a good job at protecting the government

buildings it's supposed to. the proof all caught on on tape. investigators were greeted by this sight. that's a security guard asleep at his post, heidi. investigators in plain clothes were not stopped, not once, as they smuggled bomb parts past guards at ten different security checkpoints. that's at ten different locations. they were able to pass through standard checkpoints like this one you are seeing now, gaining access to high-level offices at places like the state department, the department of justice, even at homeland security. there is another disturbing part to all of this, the undercover agents brought in real bomb parts for these tests and were able to build the bombs in bathrooms, and then walk around with them hidden in briefcases. they later detonated the devices at a remote site. take a look at the 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. >> there is also the appropriations bill that i think has a lot to do with it. you mention with the contract employees. it had gotten very expensive because they moved this agency under the per view urview, it w immigration for a while, now they're talking about moving it

to yet another body. it is apparently supposed to save some money. the overall question obviously is how much safer will everybody be. there were other examples of more security lapses? >> absolutely. one example was of a guard who was supposed to be manning his post and said instead he was looking at an adult website. another example of a baby in a carrier that was actually put through an e rx-ray machine. no one noticed. stunning lapses in security in terms of their report and their investigation. in terms of solutions, there is some thought out there perhaps what they need to do is hire more federal officers and stop contracting outside guards instead. >> yeah, if that's all possible. jason, we have a lot more coming up on this story today in our show. sure appreciate that. we'll talk with the former director of homeland security. we're also going to talk with a worker under the purview of the federal protective service. thanks so much for that. also want to let you know, the senate hearing on that

federal building security report gets under way just under an hour from now. we of course will keep an eye on it for you and bring you any new information that we get. there are about 9,000 federal buildings under the control of the federal protective service. president clinton ordered a review of security after the 1995 attack on the murrah federal building in oklahoma city. that review set up five security levels. level five buildings include the pentagon and cia headquarters. level four buildings, a lot of what we are talking about here, all have at least 450 federal employees and high-risk intelligence, confidential materials. those include federal courthouses. meanwhile a cyber attack is crippling government websites. over the past two days sites ranging from treasury to transportation have been hit. no one could get on those sites. a similar cyber attack hit government and banking websites in south korea at the same time. officials say the so-called denial of service attack was

unusually sophisticated. "the washington post" reports as many as 26 sites in the u.s. are now affected and those include the treasury department. federal trade commission. and the new york stock exchange. partners in the fight. when the u.s. sent 4,000 marines into southern afghanistan last week, they were joined by 650 afghan troops. they are battling the taliban in helmand province. now there is a call for a greater commitment by afghanistan's government to get more boots on the ground. cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr is joining us now live with more information on this. tell us more about what you're hearing from your sources. >> reporter: well, heidi, as combat now enters its second week in southern afghanistan, the marines are saying what they have been saying for many, many weeks, which is they need more afghan troops down south in helmand province. they knew that they wouldn't have enough going in but it is now settling in for the long haul as the marines are in many towns and villages up and down the river valley.

what has emerged of course is the need for afghan troops to hold these areas over the long term. we're already hearing that there will be a recommendation for an expansion of the afghan military and police force, part of the new effort in afghanistan. not clear how any of that will actually be paid for. but this is part of the 60-day review of what is going on now. down south there has been some combat but they really haven't had major head-on battles with the taliban. by all accounts the taliban are basically retreating, biding their time and seeing what happens next. heidi? >> barbara, couple things here. can you talk a little bit more about the afghan troops, their capability, how likely it is that more of them will begin taking part? >> well, it will be a matter of time. they have to get them trained up. by all accounts the afghans are pretty tough fighters. they're very capable. but the real reason they want afghan troops in this area is for cultural sensitivities.

>> sure. >> you know, to bring in aid, assistance, rebuilding, security, they want to put an afghan face on this. these towns and villages, these people are only going to be amenable to having a foreign presence, which is the americans, for so long. as one top commander said, if we can't bring in the after gans, if we cannot deliver the aid and assistance, all we've done for these villages is chase the taliban off. the real goal here is to make the conditions for these people better than they were, and that long term will help them turn away from any taliban influences. >> quickly the latest on casualties here now? >> it has been a very tough week in afghanistan. let's just go back a couple of days. monday, the worst day in over a year for troops in afghanistan. seven troops killed in one day. seven americans. a total of ten. later today the remains of those seven americans who lost their

lives in a series of attacks on monday, their remains will be returned here to dover air force base. >> barbara starr this morning, thanks. iran's president has a message of higher and grander things in his second term. but some iranians are trying to drown him out from their rooftops. i'm cnn meteorologist jacqui jeras. heavy rain and flash flooding pounding the gulf coast today. the storm prediction center just upgraded the risk of severe storms in the upper midwest. the latest on a stormy and steamy forecast is coming up.

a major player pulling out of the g-8 summit to deal with clashes back home. soldiers have moved into an area in northwestern china where ethnic violence is boiling over between muslims, uighurs and the hahn chinese. uighurs are the minority and feel they are discriminated against.

china's state-run media says president hu jintao left the g-8 in italy to address that violence. 156 people are dead after high yachts this past week. police have reportedly detained 1,400 people so far. in his first major television address since iran's election dispute began, president mahmoud ahmadinejad defended the legitimacy of the vote. even as the president spoke, chants of dissent could be heard from tehran rooftops. cnn's res za say ya who had been reported from tehran until government asked him to leave. this is the first time we've heard him speak as a president of a second term. >> those chants by the way of "god is great" were hear again last night during his speech. but we've had three weeks of violence, protests and demonstrations. but president ahmadinejad essentially got on television last night and said the elections were perfect, and in fact they were one of the best,

ever. this was his first televised speech since the disputed june 12th elections. he spoke about 30 minutes and called this a new beginning for iran. he said he planned to put the economy and job creation and housing at the top of his agenda. as far as the elections go, he said they were the best ever. >> translator: this has been the healthiest and greatest election ever. all the people realize this with their pure hearts, that this election has been a great event, and epic. has been absolutely healthy, because people themselves held the election. they themselves took part in that and they themselves counted the votes. >> obviously a lot of people in iran disagree with that assessment. now hours earlier opposition leaders mahdi karrubi, and mir hossein mousavi released a joint

statement again once again condemning the elections calling for the release of all of those people detained and describing the post-election crackdown and savage and shocking. still a lot of defiance there. lots of buzz about tomorrow, the ten-year anniversary of the student protests. there is a lot of buzz that will be mass protests again on the streets, something we haven't seen in a couple of weeks. >> even iran's state-run media saying 20 people have been killed. next to impossible for us to verify if there were more or not because obviously no foreign media allowed right now. but certainly -- i imagine it is not the end of all of this. >> no. this shows these two groups are not on the same page. you have the president calling it the best elections ever and still a lot of defiance out there. >> reza sayah, thank you. what can we really expect from iran? stick around for that. plus ant. has antibiotic ointment directly on the pad.

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with the unemployment rate approaching 10% now, some leading republicans are saying $787 billion economic recovery package has been a waste of money. still there is talk in washington circles about the need for a second stimulus bill.

confused? here to sort it all out, cnn's christine romans. christine, i'm glad you're here to solve all of this for us. how well is this first stimulus working when you look at the promises that were made and where we are now? >> i would argue this is actually already the second stimulus because we had a stimulus last year. $168 billion. how well is it working. a gao report due out later today says it is going to show the state part of this thing, the federal government giving money to the states is going slightly ahead of schedule. how have the projects spending part of this work? $499 billion has been allocated. $158 billion roughly still available to be spent. overall spent, about $56 billion. senate majority leader harry reid saying 90% of the money still has to go out the door so be patient. there's still a lot of work to be done. the white house has said that a 70% of the money for the stimulus should be out and working in the economy by september 2010.

remember, parts of this were time-released even as critics say we want more, we want it faster, it is not going quickly enough. >> that was part what have some people were saying, this is going to take so long to get in the system, what's it going to really be able to do as quickly as everybody wants us to turn things around. is it actually saving jobs though as the white house promised it would? >> it is impossible to verify how many jobs it has "saved." remember the white house promised that it would save or create 750,000 jobs by august? you remember that when this was sold the stimulus was sold earlier this year, we were told that it would keep the unemployment rate from topping 8%. that would be the peak if we got the stimulus through. the unemployment rate is at 9.5%. the job situation is worse than the white house had anticipated when it was selling the stimulus. that's why some people are asking for a second stimulus and saying we need more. but critics would say, look. let it work. others would say we didn't need

it in the first place. remember the t.e.a. parties across the country, people saying we've borrowed money to dig ourselves out of a debt problem and stimulated the economy, that doesn't seem to make sense. there is a lot of different voices on this. bottom line is money is going out the door. at least 10% of it is already out there going out the door but there is a lot more to be spent in a lot of different parts of the economy. >> all right, we are watching it. christine romans, thank you. jacqui jeras standing by now in the severe weather center to talk a little bit more about all the rain in the gulf coast. >> oh, my gosh. yeah. it is really wet out there, heidi. we're talking at least one to three inches have already fallen in some areas of the country in the last few hours. we could be talking about a good one to three inches on top of

what you already have. we are likely going to start to see flash flooding in this area as a result as well. we do have a couple of flood watches in effect for a few counties. then also here across the coastal areas of southeastern georgia, as well as south carolina. we expect some of this to be spreading into those areas today as well. now stormy conditions last night across the northeast, a little calmer today but still some wet conditions. check out these pictures out of the boston area right now. wow! take a look at that. almost looks like san francisco. doesn't it? 63 degrees right now! that's it! where is summer? i'd like to know. i think a lot of people would like to know as well. maybe 80 degrees or so as we head into the weekend. but the real heat today confined to parts of the south. 100 in dallas, feeling like 110-plus at times today. >> all right. >> are you coughing? are you choking in the heat? >> i'm stifled. all right, we'll check back later on, thank you. it is known as one of the

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bombs in bathrooms. there is a new report out we'll be discussing later in the show. we want to know what you think about it. it's been done by the government accountability office, gao. they've been able to smuggle some bomb components past security of some federal

buildings across. country. we would like to hear a little bit more about what you think. you get a little bit of a synopsis of the story on our website which is cnnnewsroom.com/heidi. just go there and let us know what you think. should reports like this actually be made public or do they put a little bit too much information into potentially dangerous hands? we'll talk about that here. we welcome your blogs. back in a moment.

there you have the opening bell there for this july 8th. a wednesday. in fact on wall street, stocks are poised to have a quiet open again following the dow's more than 160-point tumble yesterday. susan lisovicz is at the new york stock exchange with a preview of today's market action and news of a big showdown in the tech world. very interesting story, susan. >> oh, yes, no question. of special interest to microsoft. overall the "wall street journal" says after more than three months of greed, fear is returning to global financial markets. that's something we've been seeing in recent days. could be also that the sell-off coming right ahead of the advance of the quarterly earnings season. alcoa's report, the aluminum

giants expected to report its third straight quarterly loss. overall the estimates for companies in the s&p 500 is for a decline of 35% in profits year over year. so still challenging times for corporate america. we're also closely monitoring the g-8 summit. begins in italy today. president obama meeting with leaders of other industrialized nations, including japan, britain and france, to talk about the world's economic outlook. now, about that showdown in the tech sector. google preparing to challenge microsoft's dominance of the pc operating system market. search engine giant launching its new chrome-of for lower cost am computers in the second half of next year. we'll have to wait for it but of course microsoft's cash cow has been its windows operating system. finally want to mention quickly, shares of amgen surging right now 15%.

the biotech companies says its experimental osteoporosis drug met a key goal of preventing bone injuries in breast cancer patients. very encouraging, investors responding and hopefully patients responding as well as that drug continues to treat patients suffering from such a prevalent disease. in the first minute of trading we are seeing a little bit of gains here. dow and north dakota, s&p 500 all up at least .25%. good start. >> susan, we'll check back with you later on. thank you. >> you're welcome. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad declaring a new era for his country while discounting the dispute over his re-election. in a televised address to iranians last night the president promised "higher and grander" things in his second term. but will we actually see any changes? a professor at the university of south florida joins us this morning. thanks for being with us again

this morning. if we could, i want to just put these words on the screen from president mahmoud ahmadinejad for our viewers at home. we heard him a little bit earlier but this was said in that nationally televised address yesterday. "this was the most free election anywhere in the world. it was a great event." are you at all surprised by those comments yesterday? did anyone think that he would actually come out and say maybe this wasn't so fair, we might want to really consider recounting all the votes and maybe i didn't actually win? >> good morning to you. no, i'm not surprised by what mr. ahmadinejad said. it is very clear that the election was an important event but that election has been disputed by a major portion of the iranian population, as well as a leading number of leading clerics and leading politicians in the islamic republic of iran and they're for mr. ahmadinejad to suggest that this is the end i think is premature. it is not the end of this

dispute. >> especially because in that same televised address across the nation, he never even mentioned the violence that broke out in this exact dispute. >> yes. i think what you're seeing here is an attempt by president ahmadinejad to pretend as if iran is back to good old days, that things have become normalized. in fact, the opposition to mr. ahmadinejad has claimed rightly so that iran now has entered into a new era in which the security forces are in command and this is unacceptable to many people inside the islamic republic itself, as well as by a significant portion of the iranian population. >> yeah. he also said something kind of interesting. i don't want to make too much of it, but curious of your thought -- criticism of the government is actually key to the success of the nation. do you see him wavering at all here? you see some of this change people are waiting for coming

from him? >> i read the persian text of his speech and i think there was a subtle message, a message that he is going to have a complete reshuffling of his cabinet. and i think this message is in response to a call by a leading conservative ayatollah for a government of national reconciliation. i think he's leaving the door open for inviting people from the opposition. now mr. ahmadinejad of course was not very explicit about this call. he essentially said that he's willing to make fundamental changs change in iran. in fact he said he is the epitome of change and that he's willing to make some changes in his cabinet, that some mistakes were made, but now i think he's trying to leave the door open for a possible cabinet of national reconciliation. >> i mean i think that's pretty interesting, you saying there could be this complete reshuffling of his cabinet.

you're saying that he would actually consider bringing on some of the opposition? >> i think to be perfectly honest with you, we know how this story has started. but nobody really knows how it's going to end. i think mr. ahmadinejad knows that there are powerful figures inside the islamic republic who are going to oppose him. and one way he can deal with this is to leave the door open for a possible compromise. >> understood. obviously u.s. relations with that country would be very, very interesting at that point if that in fact were to happen. we certainly do appreciate your insight today. thanks so much. from iran now to neighboring afghanistan where fighting is raging across the country. some of the violence is happening in the helmand river valley. u.s. forces launched an offensive against the taliban there last week and here is what we know. the offensive is going on in the south but attacks are up in the north and east as well. monday was the deadliest day for

nato in afghanistan in almost a year. ten nato troops were killed, seven of them were americans. u.s. military officials say they need more help now from afghan troops to make the helmand offensive work. here's a little more on that area. the helmand river valley is possibly the most dangerous area in afghanistan for nato forces. british troops have taken the security lead there since 2006. they've been joined by u.s. and other nato forces since then. the helmand river valley itself is a hot commodity. about two-thirds of afghanistan's opium supply comes from there. it's seen as a major financial source for the taliban. united nations says opium production netted insurgents between $50 million and $70 million last year. president obama right now joining other leaders of the world's top industrialized nations for the g-8 summit. mr. obama arrived earlier today for the session in l'aquila, italy. topping the ambitious agenda for the leaders, how best to handle

this stage of the global recession. two other major issues they'll be talking about, how to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and climate change. did you know the group of eight used to be the g-6? yeah, we remember that. some members want to add even more countries now though. josh levs is looking into it. >> hey, heidi. take a look at this behind me, g-8 tv is part of the main website of the g-8 event, the summit happening in italy. look at the venue where they'll actually be meeting. pretty incredible. i want to pop in here quickly, give you all basics facts on the g-8, where it comes from. a graphic gives you some important info. it is actually not an international organization. it doesn't even have a headquarters. it's really a process that leads to this annual summit. what's happening now, where president obama has gone, is what the g-8 is -- it is this annual summit and this is where

big stuff happens. got a map for you here highlighting what the members are. canada, usa, uk, france, italy, germany, russia and japan. nations around the world get together and discuss the major topic. here is a few of what's on the agenda. the economic crisis obviously. they are working to boost international trade. i know that sounds big picture-ish, but that affects the prices of groceries, prices of almost everything. they are also planning to take on climate change, talk about what these nations can do. they are going to talk about development in foreign nations and that's where you also get to a lot of controversy, a lot of people saying these wealthiest nations are not doing enough. we have more about that at cnn.com. that's one of the big sticking points every year, do these wealthy nations do enough to reach out to poor nations. >> no question. every one of these summits has a theme. right? >> yeah, they have an interesting one this year. take a look at this. they're calling it "people first." this is their statement.

they say if we're going to make it through the crisis we have to consider social aspect. they say place people in the center of government action by pursuing policies designed to restore people's confidence. coming into this summit where president obama and these other leaders are, that's what they are focused on. will they achieve that? i know we'll hear controversies on both sides and that's what we'll be watching for. >> josh levs, thank you. a strike affecting city services in toronto is now in its third week with the biggest stink over garbage pile-ups. toronto's reputation as one of the world's leanest cities now being put to the test. to keep garbage bags off the sidewalks, the city has set up temporary dumping sites at a park, and an arena. another dumping site was closed when it filled up. one community has also created a composting site so residents are feeling the effects and smelling them, too. what about the tourists? >> trash is all over the place and it's kind of messy. really. we came from montreal and it is

perfect there. but here, sort of dirty. >> the 30 how ,000 city workers strike fighting for benefits and sick pay. an emotional musical, star-studded tribute for the king of pop who for one little girl will always be "daddy." %%

a sleeping guard and a baby

in a stroller going through a metal detector. that's just part of what undercover investigators saw during their review of security at some federal buildings. a new report shows they were also able to smuggle bomb components right bast the guards. david wright is the president of american federation of government employees, local 918. that's a union that includes federal protective services guards. he joins us now from our washington bureau to talk a little bit more about this. david, thank you for being here. first off, more than 1 million government employees work in these 9,000 facilities all across the country that we're talking about, guarded by the federal protective service. the least of 350,000, i believe, in the washington area. when you saw this report, which i'm not sure when that was, how concerned were you? >> well, to be accurate, i've not actually seen the report yet. that's not been made available to me.

i've been given some highlights. but the findings are disturbing. actually i represent the law enforcement officers of the federal protective service and the administrative employees in the federal protective service. i have to make a distinction that the guards that were caught sleeping and the other problems that we have are contract -- private contractors. >> let's elaborate on that for a moment if we could. because the best that i can tell, after looking at some of this and reading the reports that were then put out after this investigation went down -- we should say by the gao here -- that is part of the problem, is that -- and has been part of the problem with several other investigations that revealed some concerns here. contract workers. take us through that. >> correct. it's a huge problem and specifically with federal protective service, we were originally under the general

services administration since its inception in 1971. in 2003 we had approximately 7,000 private contract guards across the nation in our federal buildings. >> right. >> since 2003, let me back up just a bit. in 2003 we had over 1,400 employees and federal law enforcement officers in federal protective service for oversight. in the intervening years, the number of contract guards have doubled and the size of the federal protective service has shrank. it is absolutely a funding issue. >> it's expensive. right? >> it's expensive, number one. and to be more accurate with the funding issue, federal protective services funded through security fees. so federal protective service basically receives 66 cents per

square foot in every general services administration property. that may be a way to run a business but it's no way to run a law enforcement agency. >> well, i guess overall the question for you would be, today, are people inside those buildings safe, or not? >> i would absolutely like to look at the report before i make comments. i have absolute concerns and i absolutely know that there is plenty of room for improvement. and federal protective service is going to be here. union will be here to bring these issues to the fore. we will be speaking to congress on solutions. >> there is a hearing on all of this today as well that we'll be following closely here. also talking with the former director of homeland security on this issue. david wright, sure do appreciate your time here. thanks so much. want to take a moment to get over to the severe weather center. jacqui jeras talking about some

of this rough weather in the northeast as well. last night. right? >> yeah, a lot of people went to bed, 10:00, 10:30 for the night and woke right back up about an hour later. check out the pictures that we got here, heidi. really incredible. this is from westchester county, yonkers getting hit very hard. that's hail that you're looking at there. yeah. so thick, so heavy that some people actually shovelled this stuff out. there was also a lot of tree damage, thousands of people without power still at this hour. those storms have moved on through now and there you can see that most of it is offshore. some getting clipped in the cape area right now off of massachusetts but we do expect some redevelopment here this afternoon but not really expecting severe weather. isolated severe storms though a good possibility. in this area here across north florida, look at that train of thunderstorms that's going to continue to push on through that area. we expect to see some torrential downpours at times, as much as one to three inches of rain can be expected here today, as well into coastal parts of georgia, also into the carolinas.

and the temperatures are really up there, except for, say, boston, for example, where you're cloudy and wet. triple digits certainly for the heat index across much of texas today. heidi? >> all right, appreciate that. blue vests and bulk buying. a familiar site in unfamiliar territory. what happens when the world's biggest retailer meet the world's second biggest population. yes, we do. and we can say 700 miles on a single tank and epa estimated 41 mpg city and all the words stick because they're true. we speak the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in america. we speak the all-new 2010 ford fusion hybrid. get in... and drive one.

♪ we are going to see the king ♪ soon and very soon ♪ we are going to see the king ♪ one final entrance. michael jackson remembered yesterday by many as the greatest entertainer. a man whose music united people of all ages, religions and ages. he was rehearsing on that very stage the night before he died.

millions watched from around the world and tears flowed when jackson's only daughter poured out her heart. >> 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. >> the family held a private service before the memorial. still no word on where michael jackson will be buried. there's a lot going on in the next hour of the "cnn newsroom" let's begin with jim acosta. has the white house stumbled on the stimulus? i'll have that story next. and plans for a wind farm in

texas have hit a major roadblock, what will t. boone pickens do with more than 600 wind turbines coming his way. human sperm manufactured in a lab from stem cells. what will they think of next? >> that will get you to listen up. thanks, guys. also, how safe are you in a federal building? a new report raises serious questions about security. we'll tell you what undercover investigators found.

walmart takes heat in this country for its effect on mom-and-pop stores, but the world's largest retailer is open for india. and smaller stores may welcome it. here in the holy city of the golden temple, an american retailer is hoping to strike gold. walmart is in a joint venture can one of the country's bs-known enter prices. >> we understand the consumer and i think it's a good mix to understand. >> reporter: but not everyone

can shop here. 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 multinational corporations will wipe out the little buy. big box stores are almost nonexistent in india. 95% of the buying and selling happens in mom-and-pop stores. you want rental tables, you go to yet another place. for some businesses it could mean visiting up to 25 different places every day just to stock the shelves, until now. >> the whole industry is a blessing, because everything you talk about stationary, cutlery, kitchen, groceries, even meats, fish, everything is available under one roof. >> it also appeals to

sunarsingh. >> i travel 40 kilometers, i visit this play four to five times a week. but not everyone is excited about the new store in pun jab. this small distributor says his business has dropped by 15% in the month that the walmart is open, but the bharti partnership says there's room for everyone to do good business here. >> we believe it's a very good move and have high hopes for the opportunities to grow this format in other parts of india. >> bharti walmart plans to open 15 stores across india within the next few years. here's some of the other stories were watching right now. a british soldier is dead following an attack in southern afghanistan. he's part of the force fighting taliban in the helmand province. bernie madoff's wife has her passport back, but ruth madoff's

attorney isn't saying if she's got plans to leave the country. she's surrendered that passport back to get her husband out of prison. bernie madoff was sentenced last week to 150 years in prison. bombs smuggled into federal buildings, a recent security review gives failing grades to guards, the new report detailing lack of security found in high-level federal buildings, is also the subject of a senate hearing getting under way right now. this video shows undercover investigators going through security. they are carrying bomb parts. they later put them together in a bathroom. it wasn't just in one building, either. they took them into ten buildings in all the, including the state department and the department of homeland security. here's something else they found. they sent this picture of a sleeping guard at one of the federal buildings. we should point out that the

problems found at the federal buildings were all with contract workers, not law enforcement officers from federal protective services. this is the agency we're talking about. earlier i talked with the head of the the officers' union says that lack of federal funding may actually be the culprit. joining me is fran townsend a former national security adviser under president bush. thanks for being with us today. wow, when you read there, it's like, are you kidding me? bomb materials were actually brought into these buildings and some of the agents asleep on the job. how concerned into the american public be? >> the american public should be very concerned and i would be particular concerned if i was a federal worker in one of those buildings. one of the things the union president didn't mention is the people supervise response for supervision are indeed the officers. what were they doing with the resources they had? and why weren't they inspecting

and tsing they contract guards? after all, the liquid bomb threat goes back to a 2006 plot emanating out of london. it led to the ban of liquids on airplanes. what we learned today, heidi, is the american flying public is better protected than the federal civil servants who work in these federal buildings. >> i want to sew what gary schenckle said, because he is the current director. he says this. this is going to be testimony he gives today. now, you were the direct oor of homeland security. what was the state of fps in 2007. can you elaborate on that? >> as you know, i left the white house in january of 2008.

there's no question that additional resources had been given to places like the department of justice, the department of homeland security in order to increase our security posture. i don't have any doubt more needed to be done, but certainly no one was raising the alarm that we didn't have adequate resources, at least that i was aware of, that we didn't have adequate resources to test the contract guards. it needs to be clear the training that is required, they're armed training, screening training, and certainly nobody ought to find it acceptable that a guard is found sleeping, or as one of the examples in the report cites, running an adult website from a federal site where he's supposed to be protecting people. >> when we look back at some of the other investigations that is done, this was done by the ggao report, there was another report in april that faulted this contracting process that we've been talking about.

another one by gao found the agency was incredibly short-staffed. what's the deal here? is the federal protective service a good thing? or is it something that needs complete reorganization? >> i think we have to be careful. we tip dale dpind a problem and overreact to it. the answer is not necessarily hiring more federal employees. you can have contract guards, but there needs to be guidelines set, they need to be inspected, tested and the federal protective service needs to exercise control and responsibility over that process. i think we need to take a hard look at that and what are the standards for federal contract guards and their training. >> yeah, because we know the white house actually right now is in favor of this appropriations bill that we have been talking about and trying to explain, because the federal protective service has been under all of these different agencies. they want to move from immigration and customs enforcement to the protect at.

people at home are saying who scarce? what will happen next year and what needs to be done? >> you raise a good point. it's a real washington solution, when you find a problem, let's reorganize. that's not always the best answer. >> it dosss money, too, to reorganize. >> that's exactly right. i think what's important is did they have adequate resources against the responsibilities they've been given? it looks like right now based on the performance the answer is no. it may be that this could have done better with the resources they had, and i expect you'll see senator lieberman and senator collins today asking some tough questions to make sure we understand where the problems are and what the best options for solution are. >> in fact we've already seen them quoted in some of the papers this morning, obviously. we spur appreciate your time. fran townsend, we appreciate your time. you can share your thoughts

at if cnnnews democrat room@cnn.com. and one of the questions is should these detailed reports be shared with the public or is that impacting our national security? how much should we really know? how transparent should the government be? we'll be looking at those a bit later on. going overseas where president obama is joining the other g-8 leaders in italy. topping the agenda, a recession. the draft leaders say efforts to stipulate the economy must continue while at the same time a focus must be on wrapping -- while the -- the summit host is being dogged by scandal. here now, cnn's paula newton. >> reporter: with his roots in

showbiz, silvio berlusconi has also pursued what iltan kraus 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, pa triesia admitted being a high-paid prostitute, 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 is here telling the things and no other women dare say. >> reporter: birr coin has denied all charges, but lurid pictures hit the papers, some are questioning not just his judgment, but whether he's fit

to lead italy. "the xhi" has also had an opinion on that. this is how it greeted his latest victory, and still the editors admission. >> a number find him charming and cheerful, and his brushes with the law they almost sympathize with, because the italian state is not highly respected by many italians. >> reporter: and what's frustrating is the more, the more popular he becomes with italians. >> mr. berlusconi is a very tough man, especially when he's in the midst of a fight, and i think he's going to be taking this g-8 with the usual energy and enthusiasm. >> reporter: but this larger than life personality is a tabloid dream. incidents too rich too long to catalog, but here's just one at the g-20 with the queen earlier

this year. the queen took a good-natured swipe at him asking why he had to be so loud when calling out to president obama. to all this, berlusconi recently told cnn he had never committed a gaffe. >> every one is invented by the newspapers. >> reporter: as the cameras roll, it appears sometimes the newspapers don't have to invent a thing. berlusconi has always done it his way. even his enemies admit not even this scandal will likely get in his way. paula newton, cnn, rome. protests timed to the summit are going on across italy. they threw tree branches and trash on to rome's streets to block the traffic.

some 20 activists were detained. greenpeace says demonstrators have occupied four coal-fired plants today, urging the g-8 to do more to fight climate change workers at two of the plants held counter-demonstrations. back here in the united states, president obama is under fire over his economic recovery plan. critics say it's not creating jobs. live picture from capitol hill as the house oversight committee is hearing testimony on how states are spending their portion of this $787 billion package. government auditors say many are using the money to simply stay afloat and not no larger way toss jump-start the economy. republicans think they have found the president's weakness, and they plan to capitalize on it. more on that coming up in the half hour.

say good-bye to the king of pop, los angeles honored jackson with a moving memorial. ♪ i reach out my hand to you >> many of the entertainment world's biggest named paid tribute with performances and emotional good-byes. millions of people worldwide watch it all on tv. the hardest moment for a lot of people was when jackson's 11-year-old daughter poured her heart out. >> i just want to say, ever since i was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagi imagine, and i just want to say i love him so much.

>> there is still no word yet of the final resting place for michael jackson. we'll have the latest on his death investigation coming up in our next half hour. attributed to a murdered star of the gridiron, the tennessee titans are opening their field to fans today and tomorrow to pay their respects to quarterback steve mcnair. he was found dead in neighborville saturday next to the body of sahel kazemi, who police say he was dating. no ruling on her death yet, but they call mcnair ace death a homicide. a suspected serial killer had a rap sheet, why was he on the streets? also ahead, the heat is on, and meteorologist jacqui jeras is tracking those high temps all across the country for us. hey there, jacqui. >> whether it's sultry, steamy,

stifling, it's hot in texas and oklahoma. we also have stormy conditions in parts of the country. find out where coming up in your forecast. (announcer) imagination soars with crayola at an unbeatable price. save money. live better. walmart. (announcer) introducing new tums dual action. this tums goes to work in seconds

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a suspected serial killer police say went on a terrifying killing spree, now permanently off the streets in south carolina, but as the panic and

paranoia settle it is, outrage is growing. patrick burris had been arrested 30 times in north carolina. why was such a notorious career criminal allowed back on the streets. reginald lloyd is joining muss to talk more about this. director lloyd, it is a fair question, it seems. let me give a bit of background. as we said, he's been arrested more than 30 times, convicted of crimes in florida, virginia, west virginia, maryland. he had violated parole a bunch of times. now, you're a former judge, federal prosecutor, do you in some way blame the north carolina judicial system for the deaths of these five people? >> actually, one of the things we've tried to discuss over this is last couple days, when you look at his rap sheet, it's 25 pages long, there are weapons crimes throughout it, burglaries, strong-arm

robberies. >> it's unbelievable. at some point i think we need to ask the question of why did this individual not receive a much longer sentence at some point in his criminal career? >> he had spent eight years, i believe, in jail, at one point, yeah? >> right. a little less than eight years, and actually our understanding is that he actually qualified for early release and -- >> model prisoner? >> our understanding is he was not a model prisoner, he had several infractions, yet he still qualified for an early release. you know, i think the criminal justice system has got to decide what we're going to do with habitual career offenders, and i believe much longer sentences are deserved in those cases. >> not only sentences, but then, you know, availability for parole, obviously needs to be looked at as well for something like this.

this is an incredible story for the state of north carolina. 100 investigators from both north and south carolina working on this case now. the suspect is dead, but there are these two other people. can you update us on what it is that is going on in the investigation at this point? >> sure. one of the things that after the shooting in north carolina that we wanted to do is go back and start piecing together his actions and movements over the last couple waex. obviously we're still try to go link him to activities in and around gaffney, south carolina, his movements in that area. we're also trying to, along with north carolina, to determine if he's been involved in any unsolved crimes, whether murders, burglaries or anything else. since he's been out of prison. so we're concentrating on that, concentrating on continuing to link evidence that we found,

either in a residence that he was using, or his vehicle that links him to the killings in south carolina, and we've had very good luck on that. so we're just continuing to try to put this together in terms of an investigation just as if he were alive. >> you know, the thinking about the relatives of those who were killed, certainly devastating for them. the rest of the people in this town, gaffney, south carolina, are they still afraid? i mean, this is terrifying. >> it was, and they were certainly -- they had cause to be worried during this spree. i've got to tell you, though, we're so proud of the tips that came in, we're very proud of the way the community reacted. checking on neighbors, checking on family members, they were very cooperative with law enforcement throughout this. they deserve better and i think deserve answers to why this

individual was out, why he targeted not only this community, but these particular victims, and we're still trying to piece that together so we can give them those answers. >> they deserve better, and certainly do the family members. reginald lloyd, thank you. >> thank you, heidi. they needed snowplows in the middle of july in yonkers, new york after a double whammy of hail and sleet did a number on the area yesterday. heavy winds and rain, downed trees, took out utility poles, causing a whole lot of power outages. jacqui jeras has been watching all of it and joins us now. hi there, jacqui. >> hey there, heidi. today our big focus at this hour is the heat. let me tell you. it is smoking hot in texas today. temperatures already well into the 80s, and we're looking at heat indices between 100 and 115 degrees. this really, you know, dangerous

levels. heat advisories from austin all the way down towards the rio valley. austin looking hazy at this hour, temperatures up to 103, we think, this afternoon, and it's going to stay in the triple digits right through the weekend. that's on you tower exam. kxan-tv, maybe we need some windex there. who else is under the heat today? this is really going to be building over the next couple days. it's been lasting for a couple days as well. mcallen, texas, had a report yesterday of 109, the fourth consecutive day with a record high. it's one away from the all-time record, hottest it's ever been in that city. ft. lauderdale yesterday up to 97, hopefully some of those florida temperatures will be cooled a smidge today. really hot here across the plains states, really cool across parts of the northeast.

staying cool there, with a chance of storms today. we're also looking at heavy showers across parts of florida. look at all this wet weather into the gulf of mexico right now. you know where it's going, yeah, right into northern parts of the state. you've seen already between two and five inches of rainfall here. we could see another one to three on top of what you already have, and a couple of those thunderstorms could reach severe levels. we're monitoring the threat for severe weather. storm prediction center highlighting here a moderate risk across parts of the dakotas, so look for that rough weather to develop later on this afternoon. heidi? >> jacqui, thank you. scientists say they have created human sperm in a lab. a closer look at that claim and the implications, in the "newsroom."

in a medical first, british scientists say they have developed human sperm using embryonic stem cells. they say it could help doctors better understand infertility in men. joining me is cnn's medical correspondent elizabeth cohen.

what did they do? >> they were curies and said, gee, i wonder if we can make sperm. what they did, took an embryo, took the stem cells, and they made sperm. it doesn't look exactly like sperm, but they say the cells have the same properties as sperm. i just got off the phone with one of the co-authors, and he says in five to seven years we think we could tell an infertile man, we're going to help out, we're going to make you sperm with your genetic traits. in other words, like sperm that would be your sperm if you were actually fertile. some krein 'tises are skeptical, they say this really isn't sperm, some of them, and they also have great ethical concerns about making human reproductive cells in the lab. there's some ethical issues there as well. >> well, i mean, i guess you have to consider each one of the cases separately in all of this. as we get further down the road,

if in enact it becomes viable, could the sperm get a woman pregna pregnant? >> i asked that, and he says yes, he thinks a woman could get pregnant, but he thinking the offspring would be abnormal. they obviously have to tease that. >> very much so. >> and that's why some are saying why are you even going there? >> did they try it in mice? >> they did get girl mice pregnant, but the baby mice were abnormal. that's why some ethicists saying, why are you trying? it will be interesting to see if they even get permission to try this. >> keep you posted if they get past the girl mice. >> right. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. show me the jobs, that's the outcry, and critics say the president's economic recovery plan isn't working.

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i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. this hour vice president vice president is set to make what's billed as a major announcements. we're getting words that he'll reveal hospitals are about to give up payments over the next ten years. live pictures there. the savings could be used to help pay for coverage for millions of uninsured americans. the global economic crisis topping the agenda at the g-8 summit. leaders from eight world powers, including president obama, are

meeting in l'aquila, italy today. he's expected to spend his time there pushing for more international stimulus packages. other issues, climate change and stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. and security, as you would imagine, is high. italy claims it arrests six terrorists planning to attack the summit. back home, republicans say it's not working to jump-start the economy. a house oversight committee is hearing testimony on how the stimulus money is being spent. meanwhile, republicans smell blood, they think they have found president obama's weakness. we have this report. >> where are the dogness we've put the dogs on the money trail to find out. >> reporter: in the latest sign the economy is in the doghouse, republicans are siccing their

bloodhounds on the. >> they ellie mae, she hasn't found them yet, and neither have the american people. >> reporter: this issue dogs the president all the way to russia. >> there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited. >> reporter: not exactly, according to the president. >> i would actually, rather that i say misread, we hadal incomplete information. 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, the economy will keep getting worst. we'll have another 2 or 3 or 4 million jobs last this year. >> reporter: turns out even with the stimulus, the economy has shed 3.4 million jobs?

just six months. while the president says he's open to a second stimulus, one of his top economic advisers is already calling for one. laura dee andre tyson said -- the republicans say the white house can't get the story right. >> they said it was necessary to jump-start the economy, yet now with about a half million jobs lost every single month, they've started to admit it simply misread the economy. these were costly mistakes, and we can't take them back. >> reporter: despite a rough couple weeks for republicans, gop strategists see their own shoots of recovery on the economy. >> nothing that is galvanized the party more than the vote. while the president is still popular across the nation, is really taking hits in key states.

>> jim, how likely do you think this stimulus is? >> boy, that depends on who you talk to. the president is in a stuff spot with the stimulus and with the recession. not only does he have critics on the republican side, which he probably expected, there are some on the left of the democratic party who say the stimulus wasn't big enough to begin with, and we need a second, stronger stimulus, no matter what the deficit tells us right now. so he's in a stuff spot, especially in places like ohio, where a recent poll shows less than half the people there don't like the job he's doing on the economy. ohio, as we know is a bellwether/battleground state. the white house is paying very close attention to that, heidi. >> i think everybody is when we talk about money, taxpayer money, that's for sure. >> absolutely. >> jim acosta, thank you. >> you bet. a search engine giant is dropping a bomb on microsoft t plans to debut its own operating

system to take on microsoft's vice-like grip on the market. susan lisovicz has more. good morning once again. >> good morning, heidi. that cheeky google, it's calling out microsoft. that's right, it is going to debut its chrome operating system in the second half of next year, which is a direct challenge to microsoft's windows operating system. chances are, if you're not on a mac, you're on windows. it is dominant not only here in the u.s., but worldwide. what google wants to do is debut an operating system that will primarily be used in netbooks, which are lower-power, cheaper laptops, do less things, but certainty are becoming more and more popular, especially in this economy. not a whole lot of details yet, but we're seeing a reaction on wall street. google shares of up nearly 2%,

microsoft shares are down nearly 1%, overall market is showing a bit of a bounce after the sell-off yesterday. highi. >> well, we do know how popular google is as a search engine. how well-established microsoft is with software, so this is a battle of the titans, isn't it? >> that's why it's such a delicious story. come on, heidi, competition is good to us, it brings out invasion, oftentimes more choice. we should talk. you know, this is not the first time this has happened. others have tried and failed to go against windows, among them ibm and linux, also there's press porosity, because microsoft has been trying to get into the search engine market. last time i looked i think we were still using "gaggle" as a verb, but we aren't using "bi e

"bing." that's what we're talking about. google has been try to go create some software to challenge microsoft to little effect so far, heidi. >> how do they plan to differentiate themselves, google? >> one of the vulnerable areas for microsoft is with security. earlier this week we were talking about microsoft warned of hackers attacking windows xp and the windows systems 2003. google says it wants to design security of its chrome system so people don't have to deal with, quote, viruses, malware and security updates. on the google website executives say it should just work. >> well, we'll leave it at that. good luck to them. >> yeah, we would like that, too. >> susan, appreciate it. >> you're welcome. the winds of change for

oilmen turned renewable energy advocate t. boone pickens to build the world's largest wind farm is blowing colder. poppy harlo has our "energy fix" now. what's the deal here? >> definitely he's still on track. still on track for a wind farm, if not the wind farm as quickly as he was hoping in texas. it all comes down to money and funding. he told us just a bit ago he has slowed those plans. this wind farm you heard a lot about it. it could have powered 1.3 million homes, just slowing down that process, saying it was the transmission issues that were a big problem. you have to route it to a central grid. it's very expensive to build those transmission lines and he said just wasn't able to tap the funding he needed to do that right now, but he wanted us to reiterate this project is not disappearing. he's ordered 667 wind turbines

from general electric that cost him $2 billion. you can't just return those, so he's looking in kansas, in idaho, canada, for place toss start new projects. >> so it's definitely not the end of the pickens plan, but if he can't get the funding, it makes me wonder how many are buying into the idea in the first place. >> it's a great question. we asked him that. he wanted us to clarify something. he said, listen, this is getting a lot of headlines today, but we've told this story three times since the beginning of the year. it's just getting attention today. the government funding isn't there yesterday from the stimulus bill, but remember, he announced the pickens plan, which wind was a part of, a year ago when oil was $130 a barrel and higher, it's less than half so, that decline in prices diminishing the urgency, but he says he's adamant about cutting our dependent and is willing to

work with canada. so i wouldn't be surprised to hear him tell us in the next few months where we'll see those wind farms, and i'll some will be in canada and in this country. >> is it creases he could tapped into the billions earmarked specifically for renewable energy from the stimulus bill? >> you would think he would be the perfect candidate for money from the stimulus plan. here's the problem. the guidelines haven't been defined yet, so there's two key provisions, one is a 30% cash incentives for companies like him and the other is federal loan guarantees for projects like this. he could have used them. so he said this is still going to happen, we just need the government to move along quicker. >> poppy harlo, thank you. >> you're welcome. iran's president has a message of higher and grander things in his second term, but

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provide with even one people of document from irrogue layers or vote fraud. >> a. amajor player pulling out of the git. hu jintao left the g-8 to address the violence in the northwestern part of his country. ethnic violence is boiling over from the weers and han chinese. at least 160 people are dead after riots this past weekend. police have reportedly detained 1,400 people so far. mediation talks are set for tomorrow to resolved the political crisis in hon during. its ousted president jose manuel zelaya met with secretary of state hillary clinton yet.

he was overthrown in a military-led coup ten days ago, and despite the violence some of his supporters have faced, they keep demonstrating. among those speaking out, his wife. >> translator: from here in front of the embassy, i want to thank the understand government for the signs of support. as we have seen, they do not recognize any other position that is not manuel zelaya. >> both have agreed to meet tomorrow in costa rica. we have been talking about a new report on security at federal buildings. the senate homeland security committee is hearing testimony right now. what we know is undercover investigators were able to smuggle bomb parts including liquid explosives past those guards at ten federal buildings. this is some of the video from that investigation.

moments as mark gold steen was asked if funding at the service was the main problem? >> a lot of the management issues have nothing to do with level of resources per se, not having national guidance and standards for when and how to inspect guards, not having better standards -- >> and on our blog this morning, we are asking you whether reports like this should in fact be released to the public. we want to let you know what some of those responses are. let's head to cnn.com/newsroom. you can see a bit about the investigation, the details there. were our first comments says this -- releasing the details of security shortcomings is thoughtless and extremely dangerous. who in his right mind would tell the world including terrorist cells that seek to harm us that our security upgrades have been proven to be flawed. once again, reminding you

there's a hearing with all the this information being released going on right now. also another blog says this, yes, the information should be shared with the public after the problem has been fixed. finally, just letting you know, there is a link available right here as well to the full report wring by cnn right here. cnn.com/heidi, you can go there and share your thoughts with us. once again, should reports like this be released to the public when we're talking about a matter of security. so we'll look at those responses, some move of them later on. meanwhile, what are police investigators finding as they look into michael jackson's death? we'll have the latest from the investigation.

even in death, michael jackson is still the undisputed king of pop. according to "billboard" his albums are storing. they currently hold all ten spots in the "top pop catalog albums" chart. he also has five singles in the top ten list of music additional downloads. after the memorial, his body was wheeled out of the staples center in a golden casket. ♪ we are going to see the king ♪ soon and very soon ♪ we are going to see the king ♪ at this point we do not know just where the pop star will be buried. family and friends held a

private memorial at a cemetery in l.a.'s hollywood hills, but sources say he won't be buried there. no plans have been announced for the neverland ranch, either. a question many still want answered is what killed the king of pop. a toxicology report has been not been released. the cause of death is deferred on the death certificate. randi kaye has new details from the ongoing investigation. >> we have a gentleman here that needs help, and he's not breathing. >> reporter: cnn has learned disturbing new details about what precisely police investigators found when they answered the 911 call from jackson's house 12 days ago. >> he's not conscious, sir. >> okay. >> reporter: a sort involved with the investigation tells us jackson had, quote, numerous track marks on his arms and those marks, quote, could certainly be consistent with the regular iv yew of diprivan. it's commonly used as anesthesia

in a hospital. a nurse who worked for jackson said he begged her for it so he could sleep. our source cautioned said investigators right now can't determine -- some of the marks, the sort 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 in 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 sort said he had never seen anything like it in decades of investigative work. he described it as, quote, lily

white, was it caused by the disease jackson said he had? we don't know. another source with knowledge of the case described him as having paper-white skin, as white as a white t-shirt. he also told me that his scalp was bald, that the pop stair had no hair. that may have been a as a result of injuries jackson received when his hair caught fire while making this pepsi ad years ago. this source also said his veins were, quote, collapsed in both arms, suggesting frequent intravenous drug use. his final note, the body was emaceated. despite the vigor jackson showed on stage during his final rehearsal just 36 hours earlier. randi kaye, cnn, los angeles. ? just a moment, we'll check in with jacqui jeras. the weather across the country -- hot. vo: find all the brands those other stores have

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jacqui jeras is standing by with the hot weather across the country, but that's not really accurate. texas, right? >> it's expanding over the next couple days. it's covering a lot of real estate, of course the biggest real state, texas. they do everything big. we also have an air quality alert in dallas here, as the high pressure has that sinking air in place and just kind of developing that smog in that area. we do have some heat advisories in effect from the austin area.

cool across the northeastern quarter, though, only 67 in boston, they would love to see some of that heat. heavy rain has been moving in from the gulf of mexico across parts of florida. check this out. from gainesville to jacksonville, about an inch or two of rainfall so far, another one to two on top of that today. heidi? >> yuck, it is hot. thank you, jacqui. the federal government may fall way short again in a hurricane causes major damage. the government has the option to buy 38,000 temporary homes to help victims of natural disasters. 140,000 were needed after katrina and rita. the committee is hearing testimony right now. fema's administration tore is telling the committee it's made progress, but has a lot to work. i'm heidi collins.