cover from the white house after bonus payments back in march set off a national uproar. also this morning, a story you'll only see on cnn, exclusive information from a police report detailing michael jackson's staggering use of prescription drugs plus a surprising allegation by michael's father, joe, about the death of his son. violence in the streets of iran. hundreds arrested by the government since the election. a journalist who was jailed for weeks in iran. he discusses his ordeal. we begin with stunning news some would say that insurance giant a irk g which needed $180 billion of your money to survive now plans to pay millions in bonuses to dozens of top executives. "the washington post" is reporting that aig is asking the president's new so-called compensation czar to approve these payments. aig came under fire back in march for handing out $165

million in bonuses. christine romans is here minding your business. she's here with more details. is this going to be what we saw in march or have we learned a lesson? >> a smaller amount of money. it might be part of bonuses that have been argued over in the media and the treasury department. but a payment of $2.4 million. according to "the washington post," the aig took so much heat last march for giving out millions in bonuses, in that case, to people who actually ran the division that took the company down. $2.4 million in bonuses for 40 high-ranking officers in aig. aig has gone to washington to get the blessing of the pay czar to make sure everyone is okay with how they're working. this is what aig is saying, any time we write a check to

anybody, it's highly xrut ni ll scrutinized. we want to know that the government is comfortable with what we're doing. exceptional assistance, they need to con vince mr. feinberg, the pay czar, frankly they have struck the right balance to discourage excessive risk taking and reward performance for their top executives. i want to be clear, $2.4 million for about 40 corporate executives. it may well be part of another chunk of money, $9.6 million that was paid off in installments. we don't know exactly what the position is with the treasury department now, whether they're going to try to stop it, whether they'll let it go. it's politically tricky here. they know the outrage that people felt back in march when we found out american taxpayer dollars were going to pay bonuses to a company that had been so critically damaging to the american economy. >> they're going to argue, aren't they, that this is much less than some of the other huge

bonuses where tens of millions of dollars, the figure was much bigger. >> i want to be clear, i'm not sure if these are new bonuses or paying out the bonuses we've heard people so angry about. but it would be according to "the washington post" money going out. remember, our money has propped up this company. our money going out to some of these executives. we don't know if they're the executives who helped to get the company in trouble or the people who have come in and tried to clean it up. they have made progress in cleaning things up. you want to reward this in some cases, don't we? we want to make sure they're doing a good job and we want to reward the executives getting payback for us. >> thank you so much. we want to know what you think about the latest round of bonuses for aig executives. also following new developments in the michael jackson investigation. joe jackson is speaking out for

the first time since the memorial service while the family wants to learn why the son died suddenly at 50. he feels certain his son's death is not self-induced. >> i couldn't believe what was happening to michael because i just couldn't believe it, you know? and i do believe in the p-- i d believe that. >> that comes on the same day los angeles police chief william bratten told krrk nrk n invecnn not determined whether it's an accident or a crime. >> the inquiry into the death of mr. jackson is continuing. we still await corroboration from the coroner's office as to the cause of death. that is going to be again de dependent on the toxicology reports due to come back.

based on those, we'll have an idea of what we're dealing with. >> it's not over yet. the coroner's office say it will take two weeks before details come out. more suspected drug use. a confidential police document says jackson relied on staff members and doctors in several states to provide him with powerful prescription drugs and it paints a portrait of a desperate superstar. here's randi kaye. hello. i have a confidential police document from 2004 from the santa barbara county sheriff's department. i can tell you we're not naming the people involved in this document. but these interviews were done with two of michael jackson's former security guard. these are confidential documents. we're not going to name those. according to the document, michael jackson was taking,

quote, ten plus xanax pills a night. one of the employees said jackson was doing better because he was down to 30 or 40 xanax pills a night. one of the security guards told investigators he would get xanax for michael jackson under, quote, fictitious names including the security guard's own name. he named three other employees he said were doing the same thing. the other security guard question in the document that we have also backs that up. according to him, he said that he had also picked up prescriptions for michael jackson in someone else's name. we're not going to name the doctors mentioned in this, but i can tell you one of the security guards interviewed by investigators named five doctors who he said was writing prescriptions for michael jackson. again, not all of those prescriptions in michael jackson's name. the security guard said in

several states across the country including new york, california, florida, he personally drove jackson to different doctor's offices to get prescriptions. that paints a picture of doctor shopping. that's also in line of what our sources said that investigators want to interview every doctor that michael jackson came in contact with. also, i want to mention that one of the security guards described jackson with sharp and, quote, in tune. before he went to the doctor's office for those visits and afterwards, the security guard would say he would come out and he was, quote, out of it and sedated. all from this confidential document from the sheriff's department where two of michael jackson's former security guards were interviewed. that is the latest on the michael jackson investigation. joe, kiran? randi kaye for us. thanks so much. a potential blow for drug companies that could mean

cheaper prescriptions for you. the senate approving a plan to allow america to have low-cost drugs from canada into the internet. critics say it would expose us to on-line scams and unsafe drugs. it's not clear whether the measure will survive house senate negotiations on the pill. boston's logan international airport stepping up to prevent e efforts to prevent bird strikes. they're testing out a radar system used by the air force and nasa. the radar is able to locate birds more than four miles away. transportation officials are reporting an improvement on on-time performance by the top 19 airlines. the numbers are deceiving. 80.5% of all flights in may officially arrived on time up .5% in april but analysts are quick to point out fewer flights are scheduled and airlines have lengthened the estimates for flight times making it easier to

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good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. ♪ everybody's working for the weekend ♪ ♪ everybody wants a new romance ♪ welcome back. 11 minutes past the hour. new this morning, president obama is wrapping up meetings at the g-8 summit at l'aquila, ita italy. the economy as well as climate change dominated those talks. and the president and his family will be traveling to the vatican to meet pope xvi for the first time. the president and first lady will depart for the last leg of

the trip, ghana, africa. the philharmonic playing in cuba. washington will allow the philharmonic to travel there. it comes after a year after they made a similar trip to north korea. and michael phelps needs a new to-do list. he broke the butterfly record last night. the eight gold medals he won at the beijing olympics, the butterfly is the only one he failed to set a world record. now he's done it all. welcome back to the most news in the morning. disturbing allegations of racism in a swim club in suburban, philadelphia. members of the private club accused of making racist comments about black and hispanic kids from a visiting tumor camp. >> a camp's director claim their swimming privileges were cancelled because of the color of their skin. developments from huntington valley, pennsylvania outside of philadelphia. this is a story that had a lot of people talking this morning.

what are you hearing? >> it is, kiran. what a controversy. we're outside of that swim club just outside of philadelphia this morning. you can see on the gates of the swim club behind me, there are homemade signs left behind by protesters, one read, could sasha and malia swim here? of course, president obama's two daughters. now the human rights commission has launched an investigation into the allegations that some of the kids were asked to leave because of the color of their scare. skin. >> reporter: swimming once a week at the spacious huntington valley club near philadelphia. it sounded ideal for 65 kids described as black and hispanic at creative steps day care summer camp. >> i was excited, the parents and chirp were excited. >> when the students showed up to the pool after the day camp paid and sign a $1900 kraktd, this happens. >> ms. rice, ms. rice, they said

what are the black kids doing in the pool. >> marcus allen, her son, said he was sitting outside of the pool and heard adults say this. >> why are these black kids here? didn't even say oh i'm afraid they'll do something to my children. i don't know they might try to steal some of my stuff, try to like harm my children. and i'm like -- i'm amazed. i'm just a kid. we're just like your kids. >> reporter: mrs. rice told her the swim club's director told her he was embarrassed, held a board meeting and said yesterday that they could not come back. >> he said the memberships says -- let the chips fall where they may. >> you know, marcus, i see tears coming down your face. why does this make you cry? >> because, it was sad that people are still thinking like this. when i felt like those days were over.

>> this is 2009. children should not be subjected to that. >> reporter: the swim club's director is quoted by the local media said the day camp kids changed the, quote, atmosphere of the club. >> i'll be asking for the club's president's resignation. i think the comment he made although taken out of context was probably one of the stupidest comments i ever heard. >> he claims the club was overcrowded, not racist. he says two other unidentified day camps, both nonminority also got the boot. and the valley swim club has issued a statement saying the decision to cancel the contract was based on space, not race. quote, we underestimated the capacity of our facilities. our valley club deplores discrimination in any form. we talked with white members of this club who said that they think what happened here was, in

fact, shameful kiran, back to you. >> other members of the community are trying to step in and help the campers out. they're getting other offers. >> we talked with one college in particular that did offer to have its facilities open up to these kids. they're in negotiations to try to work that out. you saw the pictures of the kids frolicking in the pool. they already have contracted with the jewish community center and they're going there twice a week. but they did that before this even happened. back to you, kiran. >> all right, susan candiotti for us on that story. let us know what you think, cnn.com/amfix. love to hear your thoughts on this one. but we also speak mpgs so you can fly by gas stations. in fact, we speak mpgs so fluently, we can say one more thing. the new ford fusion is the most-fuel-efficient midsize sedan in america. and that's something no one else can say.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. today history will be made when president obama visits africa. he'll be the first president with african roots to set foot in that. but in kenya, the birthplace of the president's father, many are feeling snubbed.

cnn's david mckenzie is live in nairobi, kenya. david, why the disappointment? >> john, like the music you chose there. people aren't dancing in kenya but in ghana, it's the first trip by president obama to sub saharan africa. he's going there because of the economic development in that country. but kenyans are bitterly disappointed. >> reporter: a trip to foreign shores has been a way for u.s. presidents to reward america's allies. and a visit by president barack obama, one of america's most popular leaders, is a very big deal for some. his presidential trip to sub saharan africa, president obama chose ghana saying the country should be rewarded for the economic and reforms.

it's worth remembering that kenya is the center of obama-mania. his father is from the country. his grandmother lives in the west. he has family members all around including his half brother here in nairobi. in the leadup to the election, kenya was the center of major parties for the president. so many had hoped he had come here. some kenyan analysts believe president obama's decision is meant as a message to kenyan leaders. >> anybody of intelligence will know that he's sentimental. he may not be happy to be identified with kenya because of the situation that is prevailing. we seem to be yo-yoing. we're moving forwards and backwards and not getting anywhere. >> the prevailing situation is that of endless political bickering. and like ghana, kenya conducted disputed elections that led to violence and despite calls from the u.s. and others for reform, this african nation are stalled.

kenyans are of two lines. >> he should come back to his homeland. he needs to come for his own reasons. >> i think it's better to go to the african country that has maybe the same character like him. the leader should have the same character like him. >> he has roots in kenya. doesn't mean he's going to do anything for kenya. >> whatever the obama's add administration's reasons for not coming to kenya first, kenyans are unlikely to bear a grudge against their favorite son. and should the president hit these shores, the party would just start up again. well, john, you know the party is always here for president obama should he decide to come as you saw there. but, you know, the people here aren't angry at president obama. they're more angry with their leaders hoping that the changes could be made here to reflect the changes in ghana and perhaps

they'll come in in the future. chuck? oh. >> david mckenzie in nairobi. thanks for that report on the president's first visit to west africa. cnn's anderson cooper is on the way to west africa with the exclusive interview with president obama and you can see him right here. [excited crowd murmuring] it's got the line. it has a chance. will it? will it? (male announcer) something new to crave. the cr-v, from honda.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. a british tabloid under fire this morning. accused of hacking the phone messages of thousands of public figures and celebrity. trying to break into their voicemail. >> up, this is not good. now lawmakers in london are demanding answers. we have the story. >> reporter: it reads like a who's who on the red carpet. gwyneth paltrow, jude law, supermodel elle mcpherson. just some of the thousands of public figures whose private phone messages were allegedly hacked by british tabloid, "news of the world." paparazzi style journalism is not a surprise among britain's notoriously aggressive tabloids.

but what is surprising here is the sheer scale of the allegations. in 2007, the "news of the world" reporter was jailed for illegally breaking into the voice messages of members of the royal house hold. but british newspaper, "the guardian" now says "news of the world" authorized the hacking of thousands of professional and public figures that was not investigated by the president. >> we have a question of why the police inquiry starts but appears to stop short of the goal. i don't know what the answer is that. it worries me that someone very senior may have said, let's not get in the fight with this powerful newspaper. >> reporter: that powerful media group is newsgroup owned by rupert murdoch's news corp. news group maintains they had no knowledge of the phone hacking. "news of the world" has refused

to comment on the latest allegation. britain's metropolitan police has said it would review the case. reopening a police investigation may have a serious impact, not just on "news of the world" but on other papers as well says andrew neil, former editor of "the sunday times" also owned by news group. >> it's one of the most significant media problems in modern times because it suggests that a whole newsroom was corrupted by the use of private investigators. it suggests there was wide-spread illegal activity and suggests the journalistic efforts were dominated by people trying to break into voice mails and use of private data to get stories. >> reporter: news of the world finds itself under scrutiny. all right, now it's 28 past the hour. check our top stories. stunning new allegations of michael jackson's drug use in a

confidential police document obtained by cnn, jackson's former employees admit getting prescriptions for the singer under fictitious names or using their own names. one security guard said jackson travelled to different states including new york and florida to get prescription drugs. now the police chief says the jackson investigation could turn in to a federal probe. alaska's governor sarah palin is cryptic about why she's quitting before her term is up. her daughter's former fiance levi johnson thinks he knows why, money. he lived with the palin family for a month and he heard the governor talk about how nice it would be to take advantage of the offers from a book deal and a reality show. >> we have an opinion research poll this hour about how americans feel about her confirmation. 47% say the senate should vote in favor of sotomayor's

confirmation. 40% opposed. 13% not sure. they expect a fight. 38% believe there will be bipartisan agreement. you can follow those hearings live on cnn monday. now to politics in the weekly segment with our independent analyst john avalon calls out someone on the left and right that, according to john, tries to divide us rather than unite us. he calls them wingnuts. taking political name calling to the extreme. he joins us now. thank you for being with us this morning. who got your dubious honor on the left this week? >> influential california democratic cobman henry waxman who's been quarterbacking the cap on trade. according to some rhetoric we more recently heard on the right in recent years in an interview with npr. let's listen. >> it appears that the republican party leadership in

the congress has made a decision that they want to try to deny president obama success. which means in my mind, they're rooting against a country as well. >> you're right. we have heard this. so if you're not -- if you don't agree politically, you're rooting against america. >> that's right. you want the country to fail. you're rooting against the country. that seems like wingnutty stuff to me. that's demonizing the option. the idea that the republicans have to just get in line, there can't be option based on principle rather than going de fac facto. we called it out when the right did it in the past and only right to do it in the left. >> the cap and trade bill that waxman admits that he did sponsor it but did not read it in detail. that's one of the things that we hit both sides on. you put this stuff forward to change our policy and a 1200-page bill that no one's read. >> if waxman doesn't know what's

in the bill, who does? this is why folks are getting frustrated. they're laying the seeds for a big backlash and should be a wakeup call for the others down the pike. >> he chairs the energy and commerce committee. so when you call him out as a wingnut this week, is this an isolated incident for waxman? >> no question henry wacman is on the left wing of the party. he's a respected man. reasonable people sometimes say unreasonable thing. when you say things against the country, that's an unreasonable thing. >> on the left -- on the right. who would you pick? >> amazing story. talk about demonizing the competition, audra shea is running to be chairman of the young republicans, a vote that will take place next weekend. she's called president obama anti-american in the past. but her campaign became infamous when excerpts of a facebook campaign became public before

they were taken down. eric piker wrote -- it's the government making us commies. then he says, obama bin laden is a new terrorist. muslims is on their side. needs to take this country back from all these mad coops, and illegals. and audra said, you tell them, eric. l.o.l. >> laugh out loud. people on her facebook page took issue with the comments that eric piker put on there. what happened? >> she defriended the people who took issue and took on eric piker on for a few hours before he started to blow up and started to get publicity. 36 hours later, she issued a formal apology which she will read. she said --

>> what do you think? so this was one of the things that in the internet world, she responded to an earlier post? or was she responding after the criticism grew louder? >> there were eight minutes. the thing with the internet, we know exactly what happens. there were eight minutes between her comment and the previous post calling president obama bin laden. that seems to be a cause and effect. we have a problem with the republican party. we've seen a series of racist e-mails in the last month. young republicans this week have a chance to confront and deal with because this is a distraction of any hopes they have to reviving themselves as a party. >> what's the takeaway from the wing nuts this week? >> your political opponents are not your enemies. stop demonizing people who disagree. that's what the american people are sick and tired of. we have serious problems, they want serious solutions and civil dialogue. what's un-american is calling people un-american.

>> so she's still going to be elect? >> unclear. we have a race this weekend. it's wide open. she -- it's a conventional wisdom front-runner going in. it will be interesting to see what the young republicans do this weekend. it's a real cross roads in the wilderness for the republican party. >> keep us posted on that. by the way, you can join john for the discussion on the wing nut of the week after this interview. he's posting a blog. he'll be twittering about it. send suggestions about people you may have heard make some wing nutty comments as john puts it. on cnn.com/amfix. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah.

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♪ it's a beautiful day ♪ don't let it get away a quick check of the a.m. rundown. these are the stories coming up in the next few minutes. tracking extreme weather right now. reynolds wolf will tell us whether it will impact the weekend travel plans. improvised explosive device, or ied. they proved deadly to troops in iraq and they're taking a toll in afghanistan as well. what is being done to combat the growing threat there. we'll look at that. a group in texas are being held against their will, reportedly, with no food or water. joe? in iran, days of calm have been shattered. thousands of demonstrators filling the streets of teheran to protest last month's presidential election. since the protest began, 1,000 people have been arrested, including some reporters.

a free lance writer and photographer was covering the iranian election when he was detailed by the government. he was held for 20 days before being released. yassin joins us from athens, greece. good morning. thanks for coming in. >> good morning. >> just start at the beginning. it was about june 17, was it not, when you were detained. could you walk us through it? >> it was the last day of my press visa, my seven-day press visa. i was exiting the country with mixed feelings because it was right in the middle of the most serious demonstrations. heading to the airport i was picked up atticus toms and control by a gentleman wearing a uniform said i wouldn't be flying tonight and there were a couple more coming from teheran to interview me. >> you lived in teheran for three years. you're familiar with the people in the government. you have associations with them. so given the circumstances, a surprise to you or was it pretty

predictable? >> i figure that i was one of the most vulnerable people on the ground there because i didn't have a -- a proper affiliation in a sense that i free lance for "the washington times" in the number of other newspapers. i also knew that because of my 2 1/2 years of living in iran, i would be considered of particular interest to the intelligence services. but at the same token, i felt this meant they knew me pretty well. i had several exhibitions of my photography there. i'm not just a journalist but also an artistic photographer and i know they'd been giving a lot of talks in the u.s. in the last year trying to explain iran to a foreign audience. i thought it was quite unlikely they would charge me with espionage or anything like that. >> you were detained, questioned. you were taken to the even prison. could you describe that? notorious with the people familiar with iran. and give us some sense as to whether this is the kind of thing that would happen to demonstrators and protesters?

>> well, the place was chock full of demonstrators and protest protestors. the last cell i was moved to before i was freed was a old not used part of the prison reopened to deal with the excess capacity. i couldn't see around me when i was there. i had to wear a blind fold. i was held in the intelligence ministry control part of the prison so all of the people there were supposedly undercover. i wasn't supposed to see them. i could see under the bottom of the blind fold there were rows of prisoners sitting on the ground with their heads between their kneeings. other people were being interrogated in the corridors because there was no capacity in the interrogator room. they were full to bursting. the people who are being interrogated in the room next the us are the terrorists in charge of trying to blow up one of the main mosques here in teheran. >> as i read about this, it sounds like you were fairly assertive with the people who were holding you.

were you confident enough to -- to challenge them just a bit? and do you think that made any difference? >> well perhaps there's a certain amount of naivete on my part because i was convinced i had never done any kind of spying. my -- my innocence would be proven and i would be allowed to go home. since i've returned, i've had some doubts about the idea that i might have been used as a pawn for negotiations or anything like that. but certainly in terms of my second group of interrogators who were really very objective people, i felt, and wanted to get a deep psychological understanding of what motivated me, i had trust in them. the first interrogator i felt decided i was guilty before i came in the room and all he wanted to do is find evidence against me. in the second and conclusive round, i felt they were objective. >> yassin in athens. thank you so much for that. stay safe in your reporting.

a lot of people shipping up to boston, at least to cape cod and nantucket this week. there's a look at boston thanks to the friends. it's 58, 58 in the middle of july, going up to 75. lots of sun in the forecast, though. it's 45 minutes past the hour. time to fast forward through the stories making news later today.

the g-8 summit wraps up in l'aquila, italy. at 8:00 a.m. eastern time, president obama will hold a news conference. live here on cnn and cnn.com/live. at 10:00 a.m., hillary clinton presides over a town hall meeting at the state department expected to focus on the department's approach to diplomacy and development around the world. >> and after weeks of repair work to fix a hydrogen leak on the space shuttle "endeavour," nasa will give an update, saturday's planned launch for the spacecraft. they had problems with the repair work and the weather so hopefully things get off of the ground as they get ready for saturday. >> ask the guy you know. are you out there? what's going to happen? >> that's a great question. it's about a 50-50 proposition. a good chance of showers in the afternoon. but they're going to take that launcher in 11:00 a.m., it will

be a coin toss. but i will keep the fingers crossed for them. if you look at parts of the midwest and the show-me state of missouri, 100% chance of storms this morning. rough weather through kansas city. right along the i-70 corridor and st. louis. north of pittsburgh, kansas, cells are popping up. nothing severe this time. continue to take our way up to milwaukee and back to waterloo. eventually in chicago you could see the rain before the day is out. something else we'll be seeing as we advance the maps a bit more is the possibility of record high temperatures. check out the numbers, wichita falls yesterday. mercy me, going up to 109, 106, abilene, austin, 104 out by lake austin and mcallen, check it out. 104. that's six days in a row in mcallen where you had temperatures going up to record highs. it could happen again today. let's get prepared for that. we see the high temperatures we anticipate for today. 102 in dallas. 97 in houston. the humidity will make it feel much warmer.

atlanta, 85. tampa going with 87. it's a lot of folks driving armd in the gulf coast with air conditioners on. a lot of people are going to be waiting in the terminals with the delays. like chicago, mention thunderstorms. a 15 to 30-minute delay there. atlanta, the same story. the low clouds could keep you again waiting at times 15, to 30. tampa, orlando, same culprit. a chance of thunderstorms at the stationary front and the rough weather possible in the western great lakes and in to the midwest. that's a look at the forecast. keep your fingers crossed for the afternoon highs and hopefully they'll get off of the launching pad just fine on saturday. back to both of you. >> have a great weekend. thanks. >> you bet, guys. >> you bet. the thing about it is, if you look at the map, all the way on the southwest, it's blazing hot. but in the east, we've barely got a summer going on. >> it's the windows open, it's pretty cold. >> it keeps the electricity bills down. >> odd weather in july.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. a sobering assessment now of the war in afghanistan. >> general david petraeus yesterday morning being a long, tough fight. adding to the challenge this morning, a huge spike in improvised explosive device attacks. chris laurence has the story. >> reporter: children going to school. afghan police officers on the job. these are just some of the 25 people who died when a massive bomb exploded in kabul thursday. the blast sent shrapnel flying a

mile away. explosives in afghanistan now have more sheer power and target american troops. >> the biggest threat is really from ieds. improvised explosive devices becoming more and more sophisticated. >> and more common. look at the month of june in afghanistan. in 2005, there were 51 ied incidents. two years later, that jumped to 234. and then last month, it skyrocketed to 736. that's an increase of more than 1,000%. admiral mike mullen saw firsthand the damage inflicted by ieds as he watched the remains of american soldiers return home. four of these men died monday when a roadside bomb ripped their vehicle apart in northern afghanistan. humvees are light weight and have a flat bottom that absorbs blasts. that's why there's an intense push to get troops more mine resistant vehicles.

>> from an equipment standpoint, there's no higher priority than to get these vehicles in theater as rapidly as we can. >> there are less than 3,000 m rrk ath's in all of afghanistan and they don't work as well over a mountainous terrain. a new version now. but the first ones won't arrive until october at the earliest. but by december, the company will be pumping them out at a rate of 1,000 a month. and they are not cheap. a humvee costs less than $200,000. these are well over $1 million. but how much are they needed? of all of the marines that are being killed right now in afghanistan, ieds are killing 80% of them. 80%. joe, kiran. >> a lot of people are asking why didn't they build the new vehicles before sending 4,000 more marines to the fight. >> i think some of it was the fact that, a, you had to get the additional forces in that the commanders were calling for

ahead of the elections in august. also, it takes a lot of time to bid the contract,s feshlly to test these vehicles. you don't want to go and spend $1 million each on these, bring them to the theater, and then find out, they don't protect the marines or the soldiers. >> all right. sad situation for sure. chris lawrence for us this morning. thanks so much. a quick break. when we come back, we'll be talking about new exclusive details obtained by cnn on the search for prescription drugs in michael jackson's home.

♪ fly like an eagle to the sea ♪ >> checking back the national news this morning. for three weeks, boston's airport is checking out the same system that nasa is using to protect the space shuttle from bird strikes. the birds appear as red dots on the radar screen.

but buying the equipment for the airport would cost about $2 million. more e-mails with the governor of the argentinian soul mate. e-mails released by south carolina's commerce department showing mark sanford wanted to keep a night free on a tax-payer funded business trip to his mistress' home country. sanford admitted to the affair last month but told the associated press he's trying to fall back in love with his wife. and the fling with the former staffer was expensive for the parents. the parents gave the woman's family a gift close to $100,000. the parents found out about the affair from their son and decided to make the gift, quote, out of concern for the well being of long-time family friends during a difficult time. turning to a developing story in texas. police are on a desperate hunt this morning for a group of immigrants being held hostage for ransom, reportedly held for days without food or water. two arrests have been made so

far. ed lavandera has been working on the story from our dallas bureau this morning. good morning, ed. >> good morning, joe. one of the immigrants is being held in a trailer in the small town of dale, texas an hour south of austin, texas. i w he was able to escape and reach help. one of the captors as well as 20 other immigrants, all of the immigrants believed to be 25 or so were held captive in the trailer in a town of dale, as i mentioned. this is about 250 miles north of the mexican border. and obviously not a place used to dealing with this kind of international kidnapping and human smuggling ring. >> very actively looking for him. and based on the information we have, i mean, we're obviously concerned about these folks' well being. >> so they mentioned one of those -- one of those immigrants

was able to escape and alerted authorities as to what was going on. according to that immigrant who was able to escape, there was a group of 25 that were being held by three men with assault rifles. they went on to describe they'd been held without food or water for quite sometime. they were being eck torted out of more money to be smuggled in to the u.s. that they were making phone calls to the immigrants' families here to the u.s. to get money out of them. one of the captors along with a group of 15 to 20 immigrants was able to get away before authorities arrived. they were able to arrest two of the captors and save about seven of these immigrants who were being held. this is very interesting because this is very similar to the kind of scenario that has made phoenix, arizona, for example, been dubbed the kidnapping capital of the united states. this is very similar to what has been playing out there on those streets for quite sometime. so, very interesting this happened in such a niccolo occasion.

and authorities who have been investigating these types of places for years say it's never shocking these types of situations are unfolding in places where they're least likely to appear to happen. joe? >> the conditions don't sound good for those folks. do we know anything more about the conditions other than no food, no water? >> no. everyone appears to be okay they were being treated and hide rated and fed last night. the whereabouts in the other captor and the other immigrants is unknown. >> thanks so much, ed lavandera. it's the top of the hour. welcome to "american morning" on this friday, july 10. >> got all happy when you said friday. >> i love it. >> joe johns is in for john roberts who's on vacation. great to have you with us. >> glad to be here. here's some of the stories we're breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. prescriptions under fake names, allegations of doctor shopping

and many than ten xanax pills taken each night. former jackson employees about his dangerous pill habits. what bodyguards told police ahead. president obama is headed to africa later today. a moment of history for america's first black president. one african nation with the close ties with the president is feeling snubbed. live in kenya with the story. also ahead, a swim club outside of philadelphia accused of racism against children. campers said they overheard things like why are all these black kids here? the club says it's a big uning. we'll get the response ahead. susan candiotti is covering that story. new questions from police over the death of michael jackson. the inquiry could still become a criminal investigation and the chief is not even ruling out homicide. they say today that they're looking in to the history of prescription drugs and want to talk to michael jackson's past doctors as well. police also still waiting for a

full report from the coroner's office. >> the inquiry into the death of mr. jackson is continuing. we will still await corroboration from the coroner's office on the cause of death that will be dependent on the toxicology reports that are due to come back and have a question of what it is we're dealing with. i'll wait to see what the coroner comes back with. once he comes back with his determination, in a much clearer and a very open way what our course of action will be. but i'm not going to speculate at this time. we're going to wait. he has his role and responsibility. we have our role and responsibility. but the next move really is his. >> a nd to a part of the story you'll only see on cnn.

the addiction to pills including xanax adicks and doctor shopping under fake names. randy kaye has new details. >> good morning, joe, kir rap. i have a confidential police document from 2004 in the santa barbara county's police department. we're not naming the people involve in this document. but these interviews were done with two of michael jackson's former security guards. confidential document. so we're not going to name those guards. but according to the document, one of them told investigators that michael jackson was taking, quote, ten plus xanax pills a night. he said when he expressed concern to one of the jackson employees he was told, quote, jackson was doing better because he was down from 30 to 40 xanax pills a night. 30 to 40 xanax pills a night. now, one of the security guards dill tell investigators that he would get xanax prescriptions at pharmacies for michael jackson

under, quote, fictitious names, actually, including even the security guard's own name. he also named three other employees that he said were doing the very same thing. now the other security guard questioned in the document we had said he also picked up a prescription for michael jackson in someone else's name. now, we're not going to name the doctors mentioned in this. but i can tell you that one of the security garluards intervie by investigators named five doctors who he said were writing prescriptions for michael jackson. again, not all of the prescriptions in michael jackson's name. the security guard said in several states across the country including new york, california, florida, he personally drove jackson to different doctors' offices to get prescriptions. that paints a picture of doctor shopping. that's in line with what our source was telling us that he told us that investigators want to interview every doctor who

michael jackson ever came in to contact with. i want to mention that one of the security garluards describe jackson as sharp and, quote, in tune before he went to the doctors before the visits and afterwards, the security guard said he would come out and was out of it and sedated. all from the confidential document from the sheriff's department where two of michael jackson's former security guards were interviewed. that is the -- that is the latest on the michael jackson investigation. joe, kiran? >> randi kaye for us. thanks. there are questions of where jackson was buried as well. he might be laid to rest at his neverland ranch after all. santa barbara county has to get the green light. we'll have that story ahead on the most news in the morning. shocking alsos of racial discrimination at a pool this morning. whether day campers were kicked

out because of their skin color. the club is denying it but the incident allegedly happened here in the philadelphia suburb of hunti huntingdon valley at a swim club called simply, "the valley." that's where susan candiotti is now. good morning, susan. >> good morning, joe. the club is closed this morning. protesters left behind signs. home grown protesters out here until late yesterday afternoon. and now the pennsylvania human rights commission has launched an investigation. >> reporter: swimming once a week at the spacious huntingdon club. exciting for the kids at the creative day care summer camp. >> i was excited, the parents and children were excited. >> reporter: when the youngsters showed up to the pool, after the camp played a $1900 contract, this happened. >> the children came running down the hill saying miss rice,

miss rice, those people up there are saying what are those black kids doing in the pool. >> 12-year-old marcus allen, her son, said he was sitting outside of the pool and heard white adults say this -- >> why are these black kids here? they were saying, i'm afraid they might do something to my children. they might try to steal some of my stuff and try to like harm my children. and i was amazed they would say something like this because we're just like you. we're just like your kids. >> not enough room -- >> reporter: mrs. rice told her the swim club's director told her he was embarrassed, held an emergency board meeting, called the next day to say they could not come back. >> and he said the membership says, let the chips fall where they may. >> reporter: i see tears coming down your face. why does this make you cry? >> because it's kind of like sad because people are thinking like this. when i felt like this isn't over.

>> this is 2009. children should not be subjected to that. >> reporter: the swim club's director is quoted by local media saying that the day camp kids changed the, quote, atmosphere and complexion of the club. the club member reacted. >> i'll be asking for the president of the club's resignation today. because i think the comment that he made -- although taken out of context, was probably one of the stupidest comments i've ever heard. >> he claims the club was sfrply overcrowded, not races. he said two other unidentified day camps quote nonminority also got the boot. and the swim club issued a statement denying race had anything to do with the decision. quote, we underestimated the capacity of our facilities. our valley club deplores discrimination in any form. we talked to other members of the swim club who said they did not like at all what the club

membership did, what the board membership did. and, in fact, one person called it shame upfu fushameful. to take note, arlen specter has sent a letter to the club asking them to reconsider their decision. back to you, joe. >> susan candiotti, thanks so much. new this morning, the father of sarah palin's grandson, levi johnson said he knows why she is resigning, money. johnson said he lives with the palins for several weeks in december and january and he overheard governor palin saying she'd love to take advantage of all of the lucrative deals she was getting like a reality show and a book. the relationship with the palin family went sour and the wedding with palin's daughter, bristol, was called off. for the first time in 14 years there's been a death of the running of bulls in pamplona, spain. a man was gored to death this morning. nine was injured. one of the bulls got away from the herd and gored the man

there. and where's $800 billion going? cnn follows vice president biden looking for signs that the stimulus is making some kind of a difference.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. this new video surfaced on youtube in the washington area. it's a little scary if you have to ride the subway. it appears to show a dc metro driver asleep behind the controls of a moving train. metro officials also launched a zero tolerance policy for drivers texting on the job after the metro crash that killed nine people. also new this morning, another reason to go to krrk cn. "the new york times" might start charging for on-line access. the likely fee would be about $5 a month. the delegation for the new york philharmonic is heading to havana, cuba this morning. the orchestra has been invited

to play in the cuban capital. it's not the first bit of diplomacy for them. more flights on time? the u.s. airlines are doing a better job of staying on schedule this year. you have to keep in mind that airlines have been cutting the number of flights and also extending the estimated flight times so that they can appear to be on time more often. hawaiian airlines the best in the business, by the way, on time over 90% of the time. let's go there. >> absolutely. today. >> last time this happened, their workers received death threats. some were afraid to walk to their cars. insurance giant aig again reportedly ready to give out millions more in bones to the top executives. aig is not commenting on these reports this morning. but the company is only alive as we know because of a $180 billion taxpayer bailout. aig wants president obama's

blessing to give out more cash. congressman elijah cummings a big critic of the bonuses that aig gave out in march joins us from our bureau this morning. good to have you with us, congressman. >> good to be with you. >> aig received $180 billion in government bailout money. we heard about the outrage they were giving out $34 million in bonuses. some of the payments possibly as a result of all of the outrage ended up being deferred. so this morning, we're learning that the portion of these payment, including $2.4 million for bonuses in executives are still going to be distributed. what's your reaction this morning? >> i'm not surprised. aig is consistently out of tune with the rest of america and with so many americans that have lost their homes, their jobs, and their savings. and they just don't seem to get it. it's a whole different culture there. i think basically what aig is trying to do is go back to the way things were pre-united

states government owning 79% of the company. and i'm hoping that mr. feinberg who is the pay czar, the compensation czar that governor -- that president obama appointed, i'm hoping that as aig goes to him for cover that he will say, "how dare you." how dare you -- >> and let me explain this for people who don't understand. he is supposed to be overlooking some of the compensation with these companies. but he doesn't have any purview, right, to do anything over bones that were supposed to go out in 2008? so for aig going to him, this is trying to make sure, looking for cover perhaps it doesn't turn into a pr nightmare like back in snarnlg. >> that's exactly right. they're trying to get his blessings. they're hoping that mr. feinberg will say how dare you when you have not paid the american people one dime of the $180 billion that you've gotten from them. >> right. >> and one of the things that

i'm hoping mr. feinberg will say is that president obama has reiterated that bonuses should be tied to performance and should not be something that encourages unnecessary risk. well, where's the performance here when we haven't gotten a dime of our money back. >> here's a couple of things that aig is going to argue. the main argument is that the bonuses were promised last year. this is before the crisis and before they took the bailout money and they cannot legally be cancelled. if that's the case, can the administration or congress do anything about it? >> i think that if mr. feinberg said this is a bad idea, i don't think aig will do it. the fact is that they've got to deal with the american people who are very upset about these kinds of things. and i think just a pr nightmare will come back to haunt them, i think that's a problem. so i think probably pressure but particularly for mr. feinberg and from president obama will say to them, look, you know, why don't you just make sure that the american people are paid back first, at least a few dimes of their $180 billion.

and we'll look at bones for you. right now, we're going to see the performance matching up with the bones. >> the other argument is they need to provide these bonuses, aig said this before to retain the talented employees to assure the company's long-term success and to be sure they're able to unwind and untangle the mess they were in. >> kiran, they made that -- they've said that -- they've made all kinds of excuses for these bones. i'm just telling you, i've been dealing with aig for the last year. i heard everything under the sun. and this is just another one of the excuses, talking about retaining people. what we found out is a lot of the people still left, even after they gave them millions of dollars. keep them in mind, the millions of dollars of bonuses are coming out of a lot of the people who are watching this show right now -- coming out of their stock portfol portfolios, their kids' savings they were supposed to have to send them to school in september. the american people have to be individual lapt. th vigilant. this is our watch. we have to say no.

>> doesn't look like the company has set control over these bonuses. going forward in the future, we'll see if anything changes. elijah cummings, good talking to you this morning. >> good talking to you. speaking of your money coming up, one republican congressman from ohio is asking where all of the money is going from the stimulus bill. he's finding out, it's closer to home than he thinks. back in a minute.

♪ going from rags to riches ♪ if you would only say you care ♪ a little tony bennett this morning as we look at a wonderful picture of cincinnati, ohio where it's clear and 72 right now. it's going to be a sunny and 88. wkrc. >> i miss ohio. >> you do? you will be there. >> soon enough. all right. now to a developing story.

vice president biden stood outside of an abandoned warehouse in ohio yesterday and slammed the republican stimulus critics. and we decided to tag along looking for real signs of your money in action. here's our jim acosta in cincinnati. kiran and joe -- vice president joe biden came to cincinnati to defend the stimulus right outsider the home turf of one of the biggest critics. just up the road is the district of john boehner. as we found out, some stimulus dollars are starting to arrive in his district. in the first trip to ohio since the election, vice president joe biden jumped back in to campaign mode, setting his sights on republican critics of the stimulus. >> all of this talk about how we're going to waste money? that's a dog that ain't barked yet. >> it appeared to be a direct shot at john boehner that

featured a blood hound. some of the money has made its way to boehner's own district. >> the stimulus is working for me because i'm keeping my deputies and not having to lay them off. >> reporter: a republican who recently considered a primary challenge for boehner's seat got nearly $1 million in stimulus funds two months ago. he's using the money to hold on to correctional officers he was on the verge of letting go. >> if it wasn't for the stimulus money that's coming down right now, we may not have these pods man or woman. you have to have people to watch people in jail. >> that means what? >> without people, i would not hold people in our jail. they would be out on the street. >> causing trouble. >> hey, it's just -- just dangerous. >> reporter: just up the road from the sheriff, the ohio department of transportation is days away from starting repaving work on this portion of interstate 75, also in boehner's

district. the sign at the work site shows it, too, is a stimulus project. but boehner's office is saying the stimulus is taking too long to make a difference. the entire process has been absurdly slow moving just as republicans warned it would be last winter. >> what would they do? what would they do? >> reporter: mr. biden taunted his republican critics in front of an abandoned warehouse slated to get $1.2 million to turn the building into apartments. while the vice president said the project will create jobs, a developer told us, he's still waiting for millions in financing from the bank. no financing, he acknowledged, no project. >> you haven't quite gotten all of the financing for the project. is that correct? how is that going? >> we're very close with working things out with a local lender. and we've also been working very hard to make this happen. >> with polls showing voters in ohio losing patience with the president's economic plan, vice president biden called for patience. case in point, the cincinnati

river front. it's slated to receive $22 million of stimulus funds for a revitalization project. but local officials say, the project is just getting under way. kiran, joe. >> joe acosta for more on where the stimulus meets the street, read jim acosta's blog on the web sigh. it's on krrkcnn.com/amfix.

a tabloid accused of hacking in to the voice mails of the rich and famous. many are considering suing. >> there are questions about that investigation this morning. did the authorities look the other way? we have that story from london. >> reporter: it reads like a who's who on the red carpet. gwyneth paltrow, jude law, supermodel elle mcpherson. some of the thousands of public figures whose private phone messages were allegedly hacked by british tabloid, "news of the world." paparazzi journalism is not a surprise among britain's notoriously aggressive tabloids, but what is surprising here is the sheer scale of the allegations. in 2007, a "news of the world" reporter was jailed for illegally breaking in to voice messages of members of the royal house hold. but "the guardian" now says

"news of the world" also hacked thousands of personal messages of the public figures that was not investigated by the police. >> we have an unanswered question about why the inquiries start and then appears to stop short of the goal. i don't know what the answer is that. it worries me that somebody may have said, let's not get in to a fight with this powerful newspaper. >> that powerful media group is newsgroup owned by rupert murdoch's news corp. newsgroup claims they had no knowledge of any phone hacking. "news of the world" has refused to comment on the latest allegation. britain's metropolitan police said it has reviewed the case. reopening a police investigation may have a serious impact, not just on "news of the world" but on other papers as well says andrew neil, former editor of the sunday times, also owned by

newsgroup. >> it's one of the most significant media stories in modern times because it suggests that a whole newsroom was corrupted by the use of private investigators and suggests that it's wide spread illegal activity. and that it suggests that the journalistic effort is dominated by trying to break in to people's voice mail, get use of other private data in order to get stories. >> reporter: news of the world used to dishing the dirt on public figures now fipds itself under scrutiny. thanks. we're half past the hour. look at the other top stories this morning. the debut of the new general motors looking ready to emerge from bankruptcy later today. gm filed for chapter 11 protection 40 days ago and free of some of the massive debt that still brought it down. you, the taxpayer, still own 61% of the company. >> oh the man who took president obama's old senate seat not

seeking re-election. roland burress will not run when his term is up in 2010. his office won't comment but does say he'll make a, quote, major announcement this afternoon. there were problems from the second he came to washington since he was appointed by the disgraced illinois governor rod blagojevich who was accused of trying to sell that seat. a narrow margin, 47% of americans do want to see the senate confirm president obama's supreme court nominee, judge sonia sotomayor. the g-8 summit wrapping up in l'aquila, italy this morning. earlier today, president obama and world leaders met with african nations. they launched a program to help fight world hunger. the president heads to the vatican later today. first, though, he's scheduled to give a big news conferences at the top of the hour. our ed henry are traveling with the president. he joins us live from rome. what do we expect to hear from the president today, some of the topics on the agenda? well, the president wants to

highlight that food security initiative that you mentioned, $15 million from the g-8 leaders. what they're trying to do is to fight world hunger by not giving out aid but helping countries in africa farm better so they can sustain it and not keep getting aid from the dprksg-8. he wants to talk about climate change obviously. a bit of disappointment here for the president. he wanted to get them to go a bit further in terms of cutting green house gas emissions and making bigger promises in the days ahead. it's obviously, as he found here at his first g-8, very difficult for the american president, even someone as popular as he is around the world to bend all of the other leaders to his will. so it was certainly a learning experience for him. we'll undoubtedly talk about that at the news conference, what he learned here. and that audience with the pope later today, the first meeting with pope benedict at the va vatican behind me. that's going to be an important

moment, kiran. >> we're expecting to hear from the president in about 40 minutes. cnn will carry it live. check back in with you as well, ed, thanks. and america's first black president is heading to africa later today. but one african nation that claims our nation as our native son is wondering, what about us? even though president obama's father was kenyan, he's instead going to ghana. david mckenzie covering that story for us from nairobi. >> a trip to foreign soils has always been a way for u.s. presidents to reward america's allies. a visit by president barack obama, one of the president's most popular leaders is a very big deal for some. for the first presidential trip to sub saharan africa, president obama has chosen ghana saying the country should be rewarded for stable democracy and political reforms. it's generated excitement in

ghana but bitterly disappointing for kenya. kenya is the center of obama mania. his father, of course, is from the country. his brother lives in the west. he has members all around including his half brother here in nairobi. to the leadup of the election, kenya was the center for major parties for the president. so many had hoped he would come here. annualives believed president obama's decision was a message to kenyan leaders. >> he may not be happy to be identified with kenya because of the situation that's prevailing. we seem to be yo-yoing. we're moving forward and back ward, forward and back ward. and we're not getting anywhere. >> the prevailing situation is that of endless political bickering and like ghana, kenya conducted elections that ended in violence. this party's african nation seems stalled.

ordinary kenyans are in two minds about mr. obama's decision. >> he should come to kenya first. this is his homeland and his origin. >> i think it's better to go to a country, the african country that has maybe the same character like him, the leader shall have the same character like him. >> he has some roots in kenya. doesn't mean he won't do anything for kenya. >> whatever the obama administration's reasons for not coming to kenya first, kenyans are unlikely to bear a grudge against their favorite son and should the u.s. president hit these shores, the party will surely just start up again. >> that was david mckenzie reporting from nairobi. as the president continues his trip, cnn was with hip at every stop. on monday, as america's first black president visits africa. t

anderson cooper sits down with barack obama.

a major milestone was

reached in america when barack obama was elected the fist african-american president. but as the naacp celebrated the first 100 birthday here in new york, it's clear this has not mended a racial divide in this country. benjamin todd jealous is the president and ceo of the naacp. thank you for coming in. >> thank you. >> before we get to talking about the convention and the whole week here in new york, i want to ask you about a story that's developed this morning. you heard the story. a story of a lot of kids going to a swimming pool in pennsylvania. they thought they were going to be able to swim. suddenly they're kicked out. there are racial overtones. the naacp, i know, has made a statement about this. >> right. >> you've heard about it. what's your reaction to it? >> i think i first respond as a parent. it just hurts to think about kids being shamed in that way and pushed out of a country club pool. and the head of the country club statement saying that this would change the complexion of our

pool. we're in the 21st century. and we're also human beings. we should just treat our children that way. >> for sure. you've asked for an investigation. at the end of the day, you have situations like this that have occurred before, may occur again. what do you think should really happen? >> well, you know, this really in that town is a teachable moment. it's a time for the town to come together for folks to talk -- to actually invest in the kids getting to know each other. you know? they say that the white kids at the country club got out of the pool when the black and latino kids got in. well, ostensibly perhaps they were afraid, perhaps they felt they were strangers. there's a time here to bring these kids together to bring the town together, to get the kids to know each other, to get the parents -- we need more of that in this country. >> so now, speaking of the times. president obama had very high expectations when he came in.

>> yes. >> recent cnn "essence" magazine polls showed -- we have a graphic, i think. 44% of blacks believe president obama's election was the start in a new era of race relations. however, that is down from 51% in december. so do you think expectations have dropped? and were those expectations unrealistic? >> i mean, you know, on january 20, we all celebrated this transformative moment and i think hopes were as high as they could get. since then, life goes on. the crazy thing at the pool. you have thousands of people who have been discriminated against since. people's hope tempers a bit. but the reality is that we are in this moment right now where there is both great hope and great frustration. with great hope comes great frustration. the distance between a family's situation and the children's hopes is the exact scale of their frustration. so even as hope goes up, frustration goes up.

and the president has made some great strides, but there is great opportunity to do much more in this country. >> you know, with the naacp's 100th anniversary, people have talked long and hard about the relevance of the organization as times change. so now here we are at a time when we have an african-american president, things look a lot different than they did 50, 100 years ago, certainly since the organization was created. where do you see the organization fitting in at this moment in history? >> job one for us is to make the dream of this country real for all families. you know, when we get a black first lady, a black president, you know, one more person, one more family has gone through that great barrier in our society. but the goal for us is to be no more barriers in this society. this foolishness at the pool yesterday, for instance, shows there are huge barriers. the day black children are getting run out from swimming

pools should have ended 100 years ago, should have ended 50 years ago. the fact that we're still talking about shows that unfortunately for the vast majority of black people in this country, whether it's at the work place, whether it's at the justice system, whether it's in the housing market, whether it's at the pool, race is still a factor. >> ben -- i didn't know your middle name was todd. thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> he's written a commentary on this major milestone on our website. you can find it by going to cnn.com/amfix. meanwhile, coming up in the next 15 minutes, at 7:50, the latest on where michael jackson's family wants him buried. the attempt to make neverland the pop star's final resting place after all. the weapon that brought iraq to the brink now. a warning that ieds could make afghanistan a longer and tougher

fight than anyone expected. chris lauren is live at the pentagon. at 8:00 eastern, president obama will be speaking live from italy. what was accomplished at the g-8. we're going to take that for you. it's now 44 minutes past the hour.

46 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. president barack obama is staking a lot on winning the war in afghanistan. now he may have an opportunity to help end the conflict.

in a cnn exclusive, michael ware has learned that pakistan's military is talking to taliban leaders. the same people killing u.s. and nato soldiers. michael ware joins us from baghdad. what have you learned about these discussions? well, kiran, what we know is that pakistan military's association with these groups dates back decades. and as the official spokesman for the pakistani military told me on camera in an interview in pakistan that after the september 11 attacks, those links with the taliban changed, but they were not severed. for the first time ever, the pakistan military has gone public to say that we are talking with the leaders of the taliban, including mullah omar and including the afghan taliban commander who is right now believed to be holding an american soldier prisoner. now, the afghan -- the pakistan military spokesman, general

abbas, went even further. he said not only are we talking to these troops -- to their afghan taliban, but we can bring them to the negotiating table with the united states with the view to brokering a cease-fire. this is something that the bush administration waited almost seven years to hear from the pakistani military. these could potentially be the first major breakthrough in the long run in conflict. kiran? >> pakistan want in return? >> pakistan's made it very clear -- their number one rival, their military foe in the region is india. and what many americans don't understand is that much of the conflict in afghanistan involves that rivalry between pakistan and india. both of those nations are using afghanistan to compete for influence. indeed, in kabul, the indian

government has enormous influence with the the karzai government. the karzai government in relationship with pakistan is strained and full of friction. so what pakistan is saying is we will bring you the taliban to talk to but we want to tell india to back off. and senior u.s. officials have told me that the obama administration is ready not only to talk to india, but also to talk to mullah omar and the other taliban commanders. kiran? >> interesting to see if this is a turning point in any way, michael. we look forward to hearing that as you said you did that interview a little while ago. mible ware in baghdad for us. thanks so much. it's now 49 minutes past the hour.

♪ rock with you all night welcome back to the most news in the morning. it's been more than two weeks since michael jackson collapsed and died in los angeles and the question remains, where will his body be buried? it might be neverland ranch after all, but as our ted rowlands reports, that's not a sure thing just yet. >> reporter: according to the state, an attorney for the jackson family has inquired about burying michael jackson at neverland ranch, something jermaine jackson told cnn's larry king last week he'd like to see happen. >> i would love to see him here. >> do you have a place for him here? >> yes, there's a special place right over near the train station over there. >> to bury someone on private land in california, there are two steps. first, you need what's called a certificate of authority, state

cemetery and funeral bureau, that's no big deal, fill out this two-page application and shell out $400. the other thing you need is approval from the county, which in this case is santa barbara. at this point, nobody from the jackson family has contacted the county. if someone does that, they say it's possible they'll give the okay. >> we have had no formal application either from the jackson family or from the property owner and at that point in time, we would review the application to make a determination. >> reporter: what's unclear is if everyone in the family wants it to be his final resting place. joe jackson seemed to shoot it down when asked about it in the days after jackson's death. >> that's not true. >> reporter: the bottom line here is that people burying individuals on private land doesn't happen often. the last time was when ronald reagan was buried a different county than santa barbara county.

those folks in santa barbara say they've never seen it happen. if they do get an application, they'll review it. they're not against it, but at this point, they don't have a template on how to move forward. it could take some time. cnn, los angeles. >> thanks so much. and we're also looking into the angle of the potential for drug abuse at michael jackson and those around him. they talk a little bit more about that and cnn has uncovered exclusive police documents showing what they're alleging he was doing. this is from randi kaye.

56 minutes past the hour, welcome back to the most news in the morning. a sobering assessment, david petraeus is warning it will be a long and tough fight and adding to the challenge this morning, a huge spike in ied attacks. chris lawrence live at the pentagon. and what's the situation on the ground in afghanistan. why have we seen this big spike in these ied attacks? >> well, kiran, you know, in all

of the years that american troops have been fighting in afghanistan, they have never seen this level, this many ied attacks. >> reporter: children going to school, afghan police officers on the job, these are just some of the 25 people who died when a massive bomb exploded in kabul thursday. the blast sent shrapnel flying a mile away. explosives in afghanistan now have more sheer power and often target american troops. >> the biggest threat is really from ieds. improvised explosive devices which have become more and more sophisticated. >> reporter: and more common. just look at the month of june in afghanistan. in 2005, there were 51 ied incidents, and 2004 that jumped to 234, and last month it skyrocketed to 736. that's an increase of more than 1,000%.

admiral mike mullen saw firsthand the damage inflicted by ieds as he watched the remains of american soldiers return home. four of these men died monday when a road side bomb ripped their vehicle apart in northern afghanistan. humvee are lightweight and have a flat bottom that absorbs blasts, that's why there's an intense push to get troops more mine-resistant vehicles. >> from an equipment standpoint, there's no higher priority to get these vehicles in theater as rapidly as we can. >> there are less than 3,000 in all of afghanistan and they don't work as well over in steep mountainous terrain. a new version is being built right now, but the first ones won't arrive until october at the earliest. but by december, the builder will be pumping out about 1,000 of these new every month. they are not cheap, a humvee cost less than $200,000, these are well over $1 million.

but how much are they needed? of all of the means that are getting killed right now in afghanistan, ieds are killing 80% of them. 80%, kiran. >> chris lawrence with those sober numbers. thanks. and right now, coming up on a minute before the top of the hour this morning. again, it is friday, july 10th, i'm kiran along with joe johns. great to have you with us this morning. >> absolutely, and having a fine time. >> and we'll be hearing live from the president in a few minutes. he's wrapping up a meeting in italy. we're going to be talking about that because he's going to be holding a news conference shortly and we'll bring it to you live here. by the way on the agenda, we've been talking about global warming and the economy. and the president scheduled to hold a news conference in the next few minutes and we'll bring it to you live. breaking news this morning, cnn confirming general motors has officially emerged from bankruptcy. the new scaled down gm will be

owned mostly by the government and offer fewer brands and dealerships. and a day of fun goes horribly wrong in philadelphia. a swim club is accused of racism. campers said they overheard things like why are all of these black kids here? the club says it's a big misunderstanding. as you said we are awaiting a start of a live news conference from the president of the united states in italy. the president just wrapped up his meeting with world leaders at the g8 summit. and earlier today african leaders joined in the discussions, agreeing to launch a $15 billion world hunger program. later the president will head to the vatican with family and then he's heading for africa as well as going to be visiting gana. our senior white house correspondent has been traveling with president obama, he joins us live from rome. give us a preview. when are you guys expected to hear from the president, and what do you expect to hear? >> reporter: well, good morning,

kiran. clearly in the next few moments, is the president's assessment of how he felt he did at his first g8, and here's the big theme we're hearing from senior aides, he wants to talk about how he believes the u.s. is leading around the world again. this administration believes that the bush administration dropped the ball in terms of mending fences, building relationships around the world, in large part because of the war in iraq. and you're going to see the president try to stress how he believes he's turning the page. how did he do specifically on some of these policy areas? it's a mixed bag. the president clearly did not get all he wanted there. also on iran, he was pushing some of the other g8 leaders to potentially support new sanctions against iran over the nuclear program. instead these leaders put out a statement deploring the violence after the recently disputed election. but clearly stopped short of sanctions. this is a reminder for the president there are limits to these international institutions. a lot of times these summits end

up being a lot of talk, not necessarily a lot of action. and finally i think we should think about the domestic front, as well. even while the president's been here overseas, it's very likely the members of the press corps will be asking things about the economy. a lot of talk now not just among republicans, but some democrats about how the stimulus package has not worked quickly enough. he could get asked about that. or health care, as well. let's face it, the president's efforts to get health care reform right now, in some trouble right now. it's not republicans with opposition, there are democrats raising concerns about the cost of all of this, but also the specifics in terms of a government-run plan within this whole reform. so we're expected that we could get some on foreign policy, but also i think keep an eye on some of the domestic agenda, as well. white house aides have been throughout this trip, obviously, overseas, following what's going on back home on the economy, health care, all of those issues, as well, kiran. >> now the president's next stop is rome, ed, and he's going to

meet with the pope. can you give some sense of what they're going to talk about? >> yes, what's interesting is that there may be a new element to these discussions. clearly social issues like abortion are likely to come up. that's typical when the pope meets with a u.s. president. but there's a new subject, which is in the last few days, the pope put out a statement about how he thinks the u.s. should be leading along with some of these other major powers for more regulation of the market. that this financial crisis has hurt so many people around the world that the u.s. has to take a big leadership role. something clearly the president is familiar with. he has been talking about that, as well, at the g8, but it's a little odd, a little different perhaps to hear the pontiff talking about an economic financial issue like that. but just in the last few days, pope benedict put out a statement like that. and so we're expecting they will talk about that, as well. so, you know, the financial crisis may be added to the agenda that typically focuses on

issues like abortion on that delicate subject, we're told by top white house aides, that the president wants to talk to the pontiff about is what he did a couple of months ago at the commencement address at the university of notre dame and try to convince people, not just in the united states, but around the world he does not have a radical agenda on abortion. he wants to try to bring people together so there are as few abortions as possible. though, obviously, he still supports a woman's right to choose to have an abortion. that is obviously a subject that's likely to come up with the pope, as well, and we're going to see the president in private try to stress how he believes he's trying to bring people together instead of dividing people on this sensitive subject, joe. >> thanks so much, ed henry. and we'll be looking forward to your reports. >> and we'll be joined live again as the president continues his trip. cnn is with him on every step. on monday during president obama's trip to africa, our anderson cooper will be there. you can see that interview

monday night, 10:00 p.m. eastern on "ac 360" and coming up in five minutes, we expect that live news conference and we'll bring it to you live. breaking news this morning, as the debut of the new gm, cnn confirming general motors has officially emerged from bankruptcy. the announcement coming just 40 days after the troubled automaker filed for chapter 11. the government now owns nearly 61% of the stock in the new scaled down gm. the new company will offer fewer brands and about 1,900 fewer dealerships. christine romans is here minding your business. and about 20,000 fewer workers. so there will be some who watch this and know they will only be part of the old gm. some 19 plants being closed down. the new gm born this morning, the official announcement coming in about 55 minutes. the company's employees will be told first and then the ceo will have> eastern time to detail what co!xip+hu)s& look like.u/j

to try to compete in a market they have lost market share in consistently. we told you about the workers in the plant and that will employ 20,000 people that will not be part of the new gm. many employees will start to see they will lose their jobs over the next few months. and the brands and divisions that will be sold, dismantled, of liquidated, what remains is cadillac, buick, and gmc. this will be the four benchmark brands for this company as it goes forward. this went quite quickly as they promised. and we'll hear more in about 54 minutes. >> for what it means for workers and dealers. it's interesting that ford did not have to take government loans, ford is nipping on the

heels of gm in terms of market share in this country now. we'll be watching it, we'll be a dog fight for this new american consumer that might not be buying as many cars as they used to. >> and ford's probably happy they didn't day care that money. >> ford, chrysler, and gm have different positions. but ford was managed to stay out of the government loan business. a lot of people called the gm the new gm government motors. you and i own 61% of this new company but ford did not have to go down that road. >> thanks so much. it's also time to check now on new this morning. and one of them we'll be bringing you is the tragedy that happened at the running of the bulls in spain. for the first time since 1995, someone died. the man was gored to death this morning, nine other people injured. one bull got away from the herd and that's when that deadly goring took place. more bad pr for the washington metro system. no one on a subway train ever

wants to see this. a metro driver apparently asleep at the controls of a moving train. there you see it. you may remember just last month the city has its deadliest metro crash ever, nine people were killed there. senator john ensign's fling with a former staffer turned out to be expensive for his parents. ensign's attorney says the senator's parents gave the woman's family a "gift" of $100,000. they found out about the affair from their son and decided to give the gift out the concern of a long time family friend during a difficult time. and one of our own got a chance to sit down with conan o'brien. larry king the first member of cnn to appear on the "tonight show" and larry actually had the last laugh. >> we did a thing on the transformers where i said that larry king i didn't know this, but he was cast as one of the transformers and we showed it on the show. let's take a quick look. >> let's watch.

>> sacramento, california, hello. >> i got a tip from an unknown source that you were going to do that to me. >> really? >> so i through my vast staff at cnn have prepared a transform for you. >> me? a transform? >> can i signal them? >> yeah, go ahead. >> roll it. >> nicely done. >> nicely done. >> that's hilarious. you know, my son just the other day asked me if i'd ever seen a for real transformer. >> and what did you say? >> no, not yet.

maybe this will be -- that's what we need to do, do it on video. >> what would you transform into? i've seen you on that harley. >> a super hero. >> you'd be a harley. >> yeah, harley. now a big truck, monster truck? >> you'd be a monster truck and i'd be the minivan. it's ten minutes past the hour, way to go, larry.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. there's disturbing allegations coming out of a private swim club, this is in suburban philadelphia and they're accused of kicking out a group of minority day campers. they are denying it was any racial discrimination, they simply didn't realize they were going to be that cramped if they let in a whole group of kids. it's located in huntington valley, pennsylvania, outside of philadelphia, and susan candiotti is there now with more on both sides. it's heart breaking to hear from the little kids that they don't know what to believe. all they know they were made to

feel terrible and had to get out. >> reporter: especially heart breaking when you see them cry. we have something new to report to you that the swim club now appears to be open, the gate has reopened. one day after closing over this controversy, and the pennsylvania human rights commission is now involved, it's begun an investigation. swimming once a week at the spacious club near philadelphia, it sounded ideal for 65 kids described as black and hispanic at creative steps day care summer camp. >> i was excited, the parents and children were excited. >> reporter: but when the youngsters showed up at the pool june 29th after the day camp signed and paid $1,900 contract. this happened. >> the children came running down the hill saying, those people up there are saying what are those black kids doing in the pool? >> reporter: 12-year-old marcus allen said he was sitting outside of the pool and heard white adults say this.

>> why are these black kids here? saying i'm afraid they might do something to my children, afraid they might try to steal some of my stuff or try to con my children. and i was amazed by this because we're just kids. we're just like your kids. >> reporter: mrs. wright said the swim club's director told her he was embarrassed, held an emergency board meeting and said they could not come back. >> and he said the membership says let the chips fall where they may. >> reporter: i see tears coming down your face. why does this make you cry? >> because. this is kind of like sad that people are still thinking like this. when i felt like these days were over. >> this is 2009, children should not be subjected to that. >> reporter: the swim club's director is quoted by local media saying the day camp kids

changed the quote atmosphere of the club. a club member reacted. >> i'll be asking for the president of the club's resignation today. i think the comment that he made although taken out of context was probably one of the stupidest comments i've ever heard. >> reporter: he claims the club was simply overcrowded, not racist. he said two other unidentified day camps also got the boot. the valley club has issued a written statement saying "we underestimated the capacity of our facilities, our valley club deplores discrimination in any way. but now that a state agency is investigating, the controversy may not end any time soon." >> thanks so much. it's 15 minutes past the hour. mr. evans? this is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you.

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all right. there's a live look right now at the president of the united states motorcade pulling up there. this is going to be a news conference he's holding any minute now from italy. and there he is heading up to speak at the press conference. let's listen in and have some analysis afterward. >> i apologize for being a little bit late. good afternoon. we have just concluded the final session of what has been a highly productive summit here. and before i discuss what we've achieved these past few days, i would like to take a moment to express my thanks that the prime minister, his staff, the people of italy for their extraordinary hospitality and hard work in

setting up this summit. and particularly i want to thank the people of l'aqulia for welcoming us to your home at this time, and we've seen how you take care of each other. and we've been moved by your courage, resilience, and kindness. i'm confident that l'aquila will be rebuilt, and it will serve as an example to all of us in how people can rise up from tragedy and begin anew. and we will keep this place and the people in our prayers and our thoughts in the months and years ahead. we've come here for a simple reason, because the challenges of our time threaten the peace and prosperity of every single nation. and no one nation can meet these challenges alone. the threat of climate change can't be contained by borders on a map, and the theft of loose nuclear materials could lead to the extermination of any city on earth.

reckless actions by a few have fuelled a recession, and rising fuel prices means that one -- 100 million of our fellow citizens are expected to fall into desperate poverty. right now at this defining moment, we face a choice. we can either shape our future or let events shape it for us. we can let the stale debates and old disagreements of the past divide us or we can recognize our shared interests and shared aspirations and work together to create a safer and cleaner and more prosperous world for future generations. i think it's clear from our progress in the past few days the path we must choose. this gathering has included not just leaders of the g8, but more than 25 nations as well as representatives from major international organizations such as the u.n., imf, wto, and others. and after weeks of preparation

and three days of candid and spirited discussions, we've agreed to take significant measures to address some of the most pressing threats facing our environment, our global economy, and our international security. let me outline what i believe had been most significant items that emerge from l'al'aquila. i'm pleased that the united states has taken the lead on this reform at home from a sweeping overhaul of our regulatory system, a transformation on a scale we have not seen since the aftermath of the great depression. while our markets are improving, and we appear to have averted global collapse, we know too many people are still struggling. so we agreed that full recovery is still a ways off. that it would be premature to begin winding down our stimulus plans and that we must sustain

our support for those plans to lay the foundation for a strong and lasting recovery. we also agreed that it's equally important that we return to fiscal sustainability in the midterm after the recovery is completed. second, we agreed to historic measures that will help stop the spread of nuclear weapons and move us closer to the long-term goal without nuclear weapons. to advance global security by pursuing that goal. in moscow, president medvedev and i agreed to substantially reduce our warheads and delivery systems in a treaty that will be completed later this year. and this week, the leaders of the g8 nations embraced the strategy i outlined in prague, to encourage nations to meet their arms control, disarmorment, and nonproliferation commitments and secure nuclear weapons and volatile nuclear materials so they don't fall into the hands of terrorists.

i also invited leaders from the broader group of nations here to attend a global nuclear summit that i will host in washington in march of next year where we will discuss steps we can take to secure loose nuclear materials, combat smuggling, and deter, detect, and disrupt attempts at nuclear terrorism. now, we face a realtime challenge on nuclear proliferation in iran, and at this summit, the g8 nations came together to issue a strong statement calling on iran to fulfill its responsibilities to the international community without further delay. we remain seriously concerned about the appalling events surrounding the presidential election, and we're deeply troubled by the proliferation risks iran's nuclear program poses to the world. we've offered iran a path towards assuming its rightful place in the world. but with that right comes responsibilities, and we hope iran will make the choice to fulfill them and we will take stock of iran's promise when we

see each other this september at the g20 meeting. third, we took ground breaking steps forward to address the threat of climate change in our time. the g8 nations agreed that by 2050, we'll reduce our emissions by 80% and that we'll work with all nations to cut global emissions in half. in 17 of the world's leading economies, both developed and developing nations alike made unprecedented commitments to reduce their emissions and made significant progress on finance, adaption, and technology issues. in the united states, we've already passed legislation in the house of representatives that puts us on track to meeting this 80% goal. and we made historic clean energy investments in our sfim lus, as well as setting aside, setting new fuel efficiency standards to increase mileage and decrease pollution. because we believe the nation that can build a 21st century clean energy economy is the nation that will lead the 21st century global economy. we did not reach agreement on

every issue. and we still have much work ahead on climate change. but these achievements are highly meaningful and they'll generate significant momentum as we head into the talks at co. we have committed to investing $20 billion in food security, agricultural development programs to help fight world hunger. this is in addition to the aid we provide. going into the meeting we had agreed to $15 billion. we exceeded that mark and obtained an additional $5 billion of hard commitments. we do not view this assistance as an end in itself, we believe that the purpose of aid must be to create the conditions where it's no longer needed to help people become self-sufficient, provide for their families, and lift their standards of living. and that's why chose a new approach, one endorsed by all the leaders here. a coordinated effort to support comprehensive plans created by the countries themselves, with

help from multi-lateral institutions like the world bank, when appropriate, along with significant and sustained financial commitments from our nations. i also want to speak briefly about additional one on one meetings i had with leaders here outside of the g8 context. these meetings were tremendously valuable and productive, we spoke about how we can forge a strong, coordinated, and effective response from iran and north korea. we also discussed challenges we faced in managing our economies, steps we can take together in combatting climate change, and other important matters. and i believe we laid a solid foundation on these issues. ultimately the summit and the work we've done here reflects a recognition that the defining problems of our time will not be solved without collective action. the needs and aspirations of fellow nations. the only way forward is through shared and persistent effort to combat threats to our peace, our

prosperity, and our common humanity wherever they may exist. none of this will be easy. as we worked this week to find common ground, we have not solved all of our problems. and we've not agreed on every point. but we've shown that it is possible to move forward and make real and unprecedented progress together. and i'm confident we'll continue to do so in the months and years ahead. so with that, let me take a few questions. i've got a list that i'm working off of, and i'm going to start with peter baker. peter? i'm sorry, your mike's not working. >> hello? >> yeah. >> thank you, sir, we were told you made your appeal for the food security money during the meetings personal by citing your family experience in kenya, your cousin and so forth. i wondered if you could relate

to us what you said to them and talk about your family experience how that influences your policies and approach. >> well, you heard it true. i started with this fairly telling point that when my father traveled the united states from kenya to study. at that time per capita income and gross domestic product of kenya was higher than south korea's. today obviously south korea is a highly developed and relatively wealthy country, and kenya's still struggling with deep poverty and much of the country. the question i asked in the meeting was, why is that? there had been some talk about the legacies of colonialism and

other policies by wealthier nations, and without in any way diminishing that history. the point i've made was that the south korean government working with the private sector and civil society was able to create a set of institutions that provided transparency and accountability and efficiency that allowed for extraordinary economic progress. and there was no reason why african countries could not do the same. and yet, in many african countries if you want to start a business or get a job, you still have to pay a bribe. there remains too much, there remains a lack of transparency. and the point that i was trying to underscore is that as we think about this issue of food

security, which is of tremendous importance. we've got 100 million people who dropped into further dire poverty as a consequence of this recession. we estimate that 1 billion people are hungry around the globe. so wealthier nations have a moral obligation as well as a national security interest in providing assistance. and we've got to meet those responsibilities. the flip side is that countries in africa and elsewhere in the world that are suffering from extreme poverty have an obligation to use the assistance that's available in a way that's transparent accountable and that builds on rule of law and others

that allow long-term improvement. there's no reason that africa can't be self-sufficient when it comes to food. it has sufficient arable land. what's lacking is the right seeds, the right irrigation, but also the constitutional mechanisms that ensure that a farmer is going to be able to grow crops, get them to market, get a fair price, and so all of these things have to be part of a comprehensive plan. and that's what i was trying to underscore during the meeting today. what's that? well, the point i was making is -- my father traveled to the united states a mere 50 years ago. and yet now i have family members who live in villages. they themselves are not going

hungry, but live in villages where hunger is real. and so this is something that i understand in very personal terms. and if you talk to people on the ground in africa, certainly in kenya, they will say that part of the issue here is the institutions aren't working for ordinary people. and so governance is a vital concern that has to be addressed. now, keep in mind, i want to be very careful, africa's a continent, not a country. so you can't extrapolate from the experience of one country and there are a lot of good things happening. part of the reason we're traveling because you've got there a functioning democracy, a president who is serious about reducing corruption, and you've seen significant economic growth. so i don't want to overly generalize it. but i do want to make a broader

point that a government that is stable, that is not engaging in tribal conflicts that can give people confidence and security that their work will be rewarded that is investing in people and their skills and talents, those countries can succeed, regardless of their history. all right, michael fletcher, washington post. >> thank you, mr. president. as you've pushed for an agreement to reduce nuclear stockpiles between russia and the u.s., part of your rationale has been that you want to have the moral authority to then turn to north korea and iran to get them to suspend their programs. why will they listen to what the u.s. and russia have to say? why would it matter what we do? >> i don't think it matters so much that they will listen to

the united states or russia individually. but it gives us the capacity as the two nuclear superpowers to make appeals to the broader world community in a consistent way about the dangers of nuclear proliferation and the need to reduce that danger and hopefully at some point in time eliminate it. so, you know, there are countries that have decided not to pursue nuclear weapons. brazil, south africa, libya have all made a decision not to pursue nuclear weapons. now, part of the concept behind the nonproliferation treaty was countries could develop peaceful nuclear energy, they would not pursue nuclear weapons if

are, and would also reduce their nuclear stockpiles. and so part of the goal here is to show that the u.s. and russia are going to be fulfilling their commitments so that other countries feel that this is an international effort, and it's not something simply being imposed by the united states or russia or members of the nuclear climate. i am confident we can build a framework that works for all countries. and i think it's important for us to establish a set of international norms that can be verified, they can be enforced, and when we are speaking to iran or north korea, it's not a matter of singling them out, but rather, it's a set of international norms of behavior that we're expecting everybody to abide by. palo valentino.

>> mr. president, it seems that yesterday morning you had a very spirited and lively discussion within the g8 plus five plus one ignited by president lula objection to the adequacy of the g8 forum. i would like, what was your argument in this discussion? and whether or not you have the feeling that the days of the g8 are over. and the very second question, but very light. after six months, wheeling and dealing with the national forums, do you find it more complicated or less complicated to deal with that than with the american congress? >> oh, well -- on the second question, it's not even close. congress is always tougher. but in terms of the issue of the

gs and what's the appropriate international structure and framework, i have to tell you in the discussions i listened more than i spoke. although what i said privately what i said publicly which is that there is no doubt that we have to update refresh and renew the international institutions that were set up in a different time and place. some, the united nations, date back to post world war ii, others like the g8 are 30 years old. and so there's no sense that those institutions can adequately capture the enormous changes that have taken place during those intervening

decades. what exactly is the right format is a question that i think will be debated. as one point i did make in the meeting is that what i've noticnotice ed is everybody wants the smallest possible group, smallest possible organization that includes them. so if they're the 21st largest nation in the world, then they want the g21, and think it's highly unfair if they've been cut out. what's also true is part of the challenge here is revitalizing the united nations. because a lot of energy is going into these various summits and organizations in part because there's a sense that when it comes to big tough problems, the u.n. general assembly is not always working as effectively and rampantly as it needs to.

i'm a strong supporter of the u.n., and i said so in this meeting, but it has to be reformed and revitalized and this is what i said to the secretary general. one thing i think is absolutely true is that for us to think we can somehow deal with some of these global challenges in the absence of major powers like china, india, and brazil seems to me wrong headed. so they are going to have to be included in these conversations. to have entire continents like africa or latin america not adequately represented in these major international forums and decision-making bodies is not going to work. so i think we're in a transition period. we're trying to find the right shape that combines the

efficiency and capacity for action with inclusiveness. and my expectation is that over the next several years you'll see an evolution and we'll be able to find the right combination. the one thing i will be looking forward to is fewer summit meetings. because as you said, i've only been in office six months now, and there have been a lot of these. and i think that there's a possibility of streamlining them and making them more effective. the united states, obviously, is an absolutely committed partner to concerted international action, but we need to, i think, make sure that they're as productive as possible. >> -- other obligations.

>> yes, i noticed you're not hans. >> we swapped. anyway, thank you very much for the question. i would like to return to domestic issues, mr. president. health care. the momentum seems to have slowed a bit. the senate finance committee is still wrestling with the cost issue. the blue dog democrats, members of your own party yesterday said they had strong reservations about what's developing so far. i was just wondering, when are you going to be jumping in really full force with this? do you have any sweeteners planned? what is your push before the august recess? >> well, we jumped in with both feet. our team is working with members of congress every day on this issue and it is my highest legislative priority over the next month. so i think it's important just to recognize we are closer to

achieving serious health care reform that cut costs, provides coverage to american families, allows them to keep their doctors, and plans that are working for them. we're closer to that significant reform than at any time in recent history. and that doesn't make it easy, it's hard. and we are having a whole series of constant negotiations. this is not simply a democratic versus republican issue. this is a house versus senate issue. this is different committees that have different priorities. my job is to make sure that i've set some clear parameters in terms of what i want to achieve. we have to bend the cost curve on health care, and there are some very specific ways of doing this, game changers that promote

quality instead of quantity. there's a whole host of things that i want to see included. i've said that it's got to be budget neutral, it's going to be deficit neutral. and so whatever bill is produced has to be paid for. and that creates some difficulties because people would like to get the good stuff without paying for it. and so there are going to be some tough negotiations in the days and weeks to come. but i'm confident that we're going to get it done. and i think appropriately all of you as reporters are reporting on the gain. what i'm trying to keep focussed on are the people out in states

all across the country that are getting hammered by rising premiums, they're losing their jobs and suddenly losing their health care. they are going into debt, some are going into bankruptcy. small businesses and large businesses that are feeling enormous pressure. and i'm also looking at the federal budget. you know, there's been a lot of talk about the deficit and the debt and from my republican colleagues, why isn't obama doing something about this? ignoring the fact that we got into the worst recession since the great depression with a $1.3 billion deficit. fair enough, this is occurring on my watch. what cannot be denied is that the only way to get a handle on our medium and long-term budget

deficits is if we corral and maintain health care costs. nobody denies this. and my hope is that everybody who is talking about deficit reduction gets serious about reducing the cost of health care. and puts some serious proposals on the table. and i think it's going to get done. it is going to be hard, though, because as i said, i think, in one of the town hall meetings i had. as dissatisfied as americans may be with the health care system, as concerned as they are about the prospects that they may lose their job or their premiums may keep on rising, they're also afraid of the unknown. and we have a long history in america of scaring people that they're going to lose their doctor, they're going to lose their health care plans, they're going to be stuck with so

bureaucratic government system that's not responsive to their needs. overcoming that fear, fear that is often actively promoted by special interests who profit from the existing system is a challenge. and so my biggest job, even as my staff is working on the day-to-day negotiations with house and senate staff. my biggest job is to explain to the american people why this is so important and give them confidence we can do better than we're doing right now. >> is it pretty much a do or die by the august recess? >> i never believe anything is do or die. but i really want to get it done by the august recess. christy farrson, hometown girl,

is christy around? christy's not here. i'm disappointed. you know, do we have any members of the foreign press here? yeah, i'll use christy's spot for -- just so that you guys have a chance to ask a question. >> thank you very much. >> i'm sorry, i can't hear you, though. can somebody make sure the mike's working. >> it's on. >> yeah. >> on this treaty i've been talking about the state's sovereignty as a corner stone of international order. how do you reconcile that with the concept of responsibility to protect which used to be the corner stone? >> i'm sorry, how do i reconcile that with the responsibility to protect which used to be what? >> the corner stone of hope for lots of people in a post war. >> well, if i understand your question correctly.

on the one hand, we think that respecting the sovereignties of nation states is important. we don't want stronger nations bullying weaker nations. on the other hand, where you have nations that are oppressing their people, isn't there an international responsibility to intervene? it is one of the most difficult questions in international affairs. and i don't think that there is a clean formula. what i would say is that in general, it's important for the sovereignty of nations to be respected. and to resolve conflicts between nations through diplomacy and through international organizations and trying to set up international norms that countries want to meet.

there are going to be exceptional circumstances in which i think the need for international intervention becomes a moral imperative. the most obvious example being in a situation like rwanda where genocide has occurred. gordon brown, during the last session, told an incredibly powerful story. and i may not be getting all of the details perfectly right. but he said he had gone to rwanda, went to a some sort of museum or exhibition that commemorated the or marked the tragedy in rwanda. and there was a photograph of a 12-year-old boy and gave his

name and that he loved soccer and he wanted to be a doctor, and you know, provided his biography. and the last line on this exhibit said that right before he and his mother were killed, he turned to his mother and said don't worry, the united nations is going to come save us. and that voice has to be heard in international relations. the threshold at which international intervention is appropriate, i think has to be very high. there has to be a strong international outreach. it's not always going to be a neat decision. and there are going to be objections to just about any decision because there are some

in the international community that believe that state sovereignty, you never intervene under any circumstances in somebody's internal affairs. i think rather than focus on hypotheticals, what my administration wants to do is build up international norms, put pressure, economic, diplomatic, et cetera on nations that are not acting in accordance with universal values towards their citizens but not hypothesize on particular circumstances, take each case as it comes. okay? richard wolf. >> i guess have to follow on that, mr. president. is iran in that category? and are you disappointed that while you came up with a statement of condemnation from

the g8 you did not come up with any kind of extra sanctions having to do with their crackdown on protestors? >> yeah, i have to say i read, peter, your article and maybe some others. this notion that we were trying to get sanctions or that this was a forum in which we could get sanctions is not accurate. what we wanted was exactly what we got, which is a statement of unity and strong condemnation about the appalling treatment of peaceful protestors post election in iran as well as some behavior that just violating basic international norms. storms of embassies, arresting embassy personnel, restrictions on journalists. and so i think the real story here was consensus in that statement, including russia.

which, you know, doesn't make statements like that lightly. now, there is the other story there was the agreement that we will reevaluate iran's posture towards negotiatiing the nuclea weapons policy. we'll evaluate that at the g20 meeting in september. and i think what that does is it provides a time frame. the international community has said here's a door, you can walk through that allows you to lessen tensions and more fully join the international community. if iran chooses not to walk

through that door, then you have on record the g8 to begin with, but i think potentially a lot of other countries that are going to say, we need to take further steps. and that's been always our premise is that we provide that door, but we also say we're not going to just wait indefinitely and allow for the development of the nuclear weapon, the breech of international treaties, and wake up one day and find ourselves in a much worse situation and unable to act. so my hope is that the iranian leadership will look at the statement coming out of the g8 and recognize that world opinion is clear.

all right. thank you very much, everybody. >> all right. that was president obama speaking in l'quila, italy. joining us is the author of "independent nations." some very broad strokes, he touched on the economy, in a world hunger, he also touched on global warming, which necessarily wasn't so much of a success for him. what do you think the president gets out of this trip? >> i think he's establishing himself as really the leader of the free world again. he's confronting a world of problems. i thought the defining quote was. he said the defining problems of our time cannot be solved without collective action. it is very much a presidency embracing globalization, that unilateral action can't solve problems alone. and that is very much a break with the past. he covered a wide array of

areas, combatting hunger, the global economic crisis, iran, nuclear proliferation, all of which he's saying countries can lead. but at the end of the day, it needs to be a collective approach. >> it was also interesting that he said strong nations can't bully weak nations. what do you think he was referring to specifically? >> well, i think there are a number of different countries that could fall into that. given his recent trip to russia, it's possible that was a reference there. but you're seeing a brave new world. countries are developing. a lot of these powers are developing ways to bully smaller countries like cyber attacks, something russia's used against countries in its sphere. so i think in these and so many other ways president obama's trying to create a broader coalition to combat emerging problems. >> on the domestic side, a bit of talk there on the issue of the president's health care plan trying to push through the congress. he's certainly gotten just a bit of turbulence now. and when he comes back to the united states, he says his

priority over the next month is to get this through. in fact, he'd like to see it done by the august recess. >> it was always an ambitious target. you see the blue dog democrats pulling away saying, look, we need more fiscally responsible provisions than this. >> he's walking away waving and he, of course, as we know is heading to rome next. >> that's exactly right. i think the president has civil war within the democratic party on this issue. he realizes that independents in particular are starting to question the massive spending coming out of this democratic congress. i think it poses a political problem. if you listen to the way he framed the health care problem. he kept bringing it back to individuals paying more out of pocket but saying we need to solve the long-term budget deficit, get health care costs in check. this is a message aimed right at the center of the american electorate. >> and what do we -- because the independents, of course, a key to president obama's victory in

november. and we've talked with you a lot about the impact and how important those independents are. we have a gallup poll, but looking at independents seeing there's a bit of a shift and perhaps, these are people who voted for more effectively as they call it operational democrats because they voted in 2006 and 2008 that are now seeming to be up for grabs and they're questioning whether it has to do with the faltering economy and some of these ambitious proposals. >> and it does in my belief. independents are not only the largest and fastest growing, they tend to be fiscally conservative but socially progressive with a libertarian streak. it means the excessive spending, there was a bailout backlash going on. skepticism about the impact and the unrestraint spending they're seeing out of this democratic congress. this should be a wake-up call to democrats and accounts for the gap between president obama's broad popularity and the much lower popularity to the democratic congress. >> once you lose them, though, how hard is it to get the critical voting block back? is it tough?

>> it is tough because independents traditionally like checks and balances, and that's one thing that unified control does not afford. and one thing that's consistent, they tend to be deficit hawks, want to see balanced budgets, willing to put up with government action and economic crisis, but now they want to see a return back to balanced budgets and that's contrary to a lot of interests on the democratic side. >> one of things, of course, politics for members of congress plays in. so what happens if as last time we saw double digit unemployment we saw the sitting party, which was the gop under reagan lose 26 seats. >> that's right. it's never a good thing for high unemployment for the incumbent party. and you're going to see incumbents wanting to bring back checks and balances. the one catch is, the republicans not done themselves any favors building their brand and making it more attractive to voters in the center. that's the fighting chance that the democrats have got. >> thanks so much, john. >> sticking ar w