still needed. and we got these posts. theresa says some form of affirmative action is still needed. i'm a female firefighter that only received a chance because my fire department feared being sued after years of keeping women out. >> and she says i have been refused work simply because i'm not hispanic, dozens of employers and placement agencies have refused to hire me because i'm not hispanic. sounds like reverse discrimination. it's all discrimination, this idea of reverse discrimination. >> discrimination is discrimination. >> go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. i'm still awake and drinking part of this. if the energy drinks taste like cough syrup, this tastes like dry cleaning fluid. it certainly smells that way. >> here's heidi collins. good morning, everybody. it is friday, july 17th, welcome to the "cnn newsroom," we have an awful lot going on this morning. i want to get straight to it this morning.

two luxury hotels were bombed, at least eight people are dead in jakarta, we're going to be live from the scene coming up in a few minutes. also this morning, tens of thousands of people gathered together in tehran for a powerful cleric address. and he's got a strong message for the country's leaders, as well. and health care reform. stalled in the senate, why? well, our dana bash is looking at what is stopping lawmakers from making a deal. a terrorist strike in the heart of a tourism district. several americans among the casualties. we want to get the very latest straight from jakarta. dan rivers on the scene of this morning's bomb attack joining us now. dan, good morning, what do you know at this point? >> reporter: well, at the moment, heidi, we are being told that there were a total of eight bodies recovered from both hotels. the marriott, which is just there and the ritz carlton a few meters away on the other side of the road, this is how it's

breaking down at the moment. in the ritz carlton, two bodies, a victim and a suspected suicide bomber, and then in the marriott, further six bodies, four of those unidentified. one, they think, was a suicide bomber, and then a further body of a new zealand gentleman who died after he was taken to the hospital. on top of that, a large number of casualties, as well, more than 50 from a whole host of different nations, including the united states. we're trying to get details on the breakdown of that. but both hotels were clearly popular with westerners. and the -- the guess at the moment was they were targeted because they're popular with westerners possibly by this regional terrorist network. >> yeah, are there any concerns that there could be more explosions? i'm aware of a bomb that they did find that had not gone off yet. >> reporter: that's right. and this is intriguing.

they found a third bomb on the 18th floor of the marriott in room 1808. they think that the terrorists were using that room as some sort of command and control center, and they've been there for a number of days. they were until this morning, supposed to check out this morning, but obviously they didn't, devastation came instead just before 8:00 at both hotels just ten minutes apart the blast. now obviously what they're doing is this area is still sealed off. the police are in there working through the debris trying to ascertain as much as they can. interestingly, they think the explosives were similar to a cash of explosives that were found a fç weeks ago which they think had links to a renegade member who has been involved in a number of bombings over the years here. >> yeah, very intriguing. but dan, formally no one has

taken responsibility for this action yet, right? >> reporter: that's right. no one has claimed responsibility, but all indications do at the moment point. police saying there are other possibilities, could be linked to political violence, they just had a presidential election. it could be some sort of business link, these are popular with big international companies. ceos that companies had regular power breakfasts every friday morning there. we don't know for sure, but isl terrorism looks like the most likely. >> dan, we appreciate that and we'll stay in contact with you getting more developments as they come out. we are also getting first-hand images now from people inside the blast zone. this is an i-report photo taken from across the street. it shows windows blown out at the ritz-carlton hotel. witnesses say it looks like the blast erupted inside the hotel

restaurant. we do have crews on the grounds in jakarta scrambling to collect the information. at the bottom of the hour, we'll have the latest and the video from our i-reporters. we always appreciate them. a plea for forgiveness this morning in iran. powerful cleric and former president rafsanjani delivered friday prayer, and in it, he called for the release of people jailed saying iran should not give the rest of the world a reason to criticize. there was great anticipation for rafsanjani's speech. tens of thousands of people gathered in and around tehran university to hear him speak. and our reza sayah is at the iran desk with the latest on this. tell us what happened in these crowds. this is a big deal we haven't seen him for quite some time. >> huge crowds turned up to

friday prayers to hear tayatollh rafsanjani. eyewitnesss on the ground telling cnn they're estimating tens of thousands of people showed up there. you see a picture for iran's state-run news agency. many of these people showed up to see rafsanjani to see what he had so say. you also had the first video posted online. if you can take a look at that. according to eyewitnesss on the ground, many of these people were wearing a green wristbands and arm bands, but many of them were dressed very conservatively. they had been worn by opposition organizers not to incite any violence. at times, some members of the crowd did get rowdy, and they were dispersed by security forces before and after the sermon. there were a few clashes, but not many clashes, according to eyewitnesss. security forces for the most part using tear gas to disperse

the crowds. when they heard the ayatollah speak. this was not broadcast on television, it was on radio, so nobody inside iran or outside saw it on television, they heard him on the radio. he delivered some criticism to the iranian leadership. it wasn't harsh, sering criticism, but criticism nonetheless. and he lent his support to the opposition not shutting the door on the opposition, which is something that the opposition wanted to hear, heidi. >> that's what i was wondering. did he do a good job of explaining what the opposition wanted to hear? >> well, there are some members of the opposition who say he didn't say enough. but for the most part what they're satisfied with was he didn't shut the door on the opposition. he did criticize the leadership saying that the election aftermath, especially the crackdown was not a good idea. let's show you quotes of what he said. a lot of support for the people. he said the lost trust of the

people must be restored, this will not happen overnight, we must slowly create an atmosphere where everyone can say what they have in mind. let's show you another quote. this is where he got one of the biggest responses from thousands of people gathered outside of the university when he called for the people detained to be free. there is no need to have these numbers of people imprisoned, let them come back to their families, let the enemy not laugh at us and criticize us. he also had a number of solutions that he proposed to solve this crisis. he said people must all obey the law. he said we should be able to freely discuss this situation. he also said the media should be free, as well. at this hour, according to eyewitnesss, most of the crowds have been dispersed. they're thinning out. not a lot of clashes just a few. so according to eyewitnesss, the opposition movement for the most part satisfied with what he had to say. >> when he's talking about the enemy, though, i'm curious, reza, let the enemy not laugh at

us. who is he talking about? >> he's talking about the enemies, the western powers. whenever an iranian, whether it's a member of the reformists movement, the opposition party, or the regime, they talk about the enemies, they're talking about foreign powers, washington, london, specifically. >> yep, okay. that's what i thought. sure do appreciate it. live from our iran desk this morning. back to your health now. any chance of a bipartisan deal on health care reform this week is now gone. a top democrat is blaming the president for stalling the process. dana bash has the story. >> do you see -- >> reporter: it was a democrat who asked the question. will any of their health care plans actually reduce skyrocketing medical costs? the answer, no. >> in the legislation that has been reported, we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that will be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount. and on the contrary, the

legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs. >> with that, the head of the congressional budget office whose words carry enormous weight in congress dealt democrats a devastating blow. since president obama repeatedly says curbing health care costs is a central goal of reform. >> i've set some clear parameters in terms of what i want to achieve. we have to bend the cost curve on health care. >> reporter: but cbo director warned that democrats' plans would raise costs because many, including the president, are resisting what he calls a critical element to keeping medical spending down, taxing employer-provided health care benefits. it had been one of the ways a bipartisan group of senators planned to pay for health care reform. now that it's off the table, they're having trouble making the numbers add up. and in a stunningly candid moment, the frustrated democratic finance chairman blamed the president.

>> basically, the president does not -- is not helping us with the tax exclusion off the table, it's still difficult to come up with the revenue measures and other savings measures. >> reporter: because of the president's prodding to move faster, there had been hope for a bipartisan deal this week, but that's no longer in the cards. >> and cnn's dana bash is joining us now with more on this. i have to wonder, dana. what is all of this having to do -- what is the impact going to be on possibly getting this health care deal by august, which is what the president has wanted all along? >> reporter: well, publicly, heidi, both at the white house and here, at least when you talk to democratic leaders here, they say, well, it doesn't have much of an impact, they're trying to down play both the impact of the cbo director's warning and the open frustration we heard from max baucus there. but privately i can tell you

democratic aides understand this is a big problem. because when you have somebody with the enormous power in his words as a cbo director does saying publicly on -- and under oath that he believes that the democrats' plans won't do enough to curb costs, that plays right into a divide that already exists, heidi, within the democratic party. you already have conservative democrats in the house especially almost in revolt saying that they don't agree with the plans that are going through done by their own party for the very reason the cbo director mentioned. so basically adds fuel to that fire among democrats. >> all right, well, we will be watching and i think we'll be watching for quite some time. dana bash this morning. health care reform. thank you, dana. part of the house democrats plan, tax surcharges on americans making more than $350,000 a year. on our blog this morning, we're asking if you think it's fair to tax the rich to pay for health care reform. go to cnn.com/heidi and post your comments there.

one year ago today, drivers here in the u.s. hit a milestone, what was it? and where do we stand today? and we've got two big weather stories we're following today. one of them will be the chance of severe weather along much of the eastern sea board, including parts of the northeast. and the second big story, a big-time cooldown in store for a big part of the country as we move into the weekend. your stories coming up right here on cnn. you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions.

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quickly want to get to these pictures that we are getting in. coming out of miami beach, florida, this morning. an awful lot of smoke due to this fire that is going on. this is a very wealthy area. million dollar mansion we're being told is on fire. not quite sure how this all happened or why. we also are not sure if anyone was inside the home when this whole thing began. but as you can see, rescue crews on the scene there. they're even fighting with the fire boats there from the water. both from the water and the other side of the home they're fighting with water from the streets, as well. so if you're familiar with the area, this is north bay road, we understand that some of the roads in the area have also been shut down because this fire is

so intense. really an awful lot of smoke coming out of there. hopefully that means they're getting closer to extinguishing this fire. we will keep you posted and give you some more information as soon as we get it. miami beach, florida, this morning. all that's left now is the votes. after three days of direct questions from the senate judiciary committee, supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor looks to be in a pretty good spot. more now from cnn congressional correspondent brianna keilar. >> reporter: gun rights dominated the discussion as sonia sotomayor spent her last day on the hot seat. >> my constituents in oklahoma understand as most do americans is the right to own guns hangs in the balance, may very well hang in the balance with your -- >> reporter: as tom coburn pressed her on the second amount for the second day in a row asking whether americans have a fundamental right to bear arms, she demured. >> would you want a judge or nominee who came in here and said, i agree with you, this is

unconstitutional before i had a case before me, before i had both sides discussing the issue with me? i don't know that that's a justice that i can be. >> reporter: lindsey graham signalled he may vote to confirm sotomayor and hopeful she will keep an open mind on gun rights. >> i think fundamentally, judge, you're able, after all of these years of being a judge to embrace a right that you may not want for yourself. to allow others to do things that are not comfortable to you, but for the group they're necessary. >> reporter: but even he, once again addressed her off the bench comment including her wise latina remark. >> you have said some things that bug the hell out of me. >> i regret that i have offended some people.

i believe that my life demonstrates that that was not my intent to leave the impression that some have taken from my words. >> you know what, judge, i agree with you. >> reporter: though not many republicans seemed won over. >> you appear to be a different person, almost, in your speeches and in some of the comments that you've made. >> reporter: still with sotomayor's confirmation almost certain, democrats were already looking ahead. >> the experience and wisdom will benefit all americans. you walk under that piece of vermont marble, over the door of the supreme court, speaking of equal justice under law, i know that will guide you. judge sotomayor, thank you, god speed. >> brianna keilar joining us now live from capitol hill. so the time line here, brianna, for a vote on sotomayor's confirmation? is that the next step we're talking about? >> reporter: a voting committee and a vote before the full

senate. and this could be a done deal here in the next few weeks, heidi. you may recall before this hearing, some republicans felt this confirmation process was just going too fast. well, we heard yesterday, they said they're not going to try to delay or block it. what we're expecting now is that voting committee to come tuesday and then a full vote of the senate before congress breaks for its month-long august recess and that would put sotomayor on the supreme court in time for its new fall session. >> okay. all right. very good, well, we appreciate it. live from capitol hill this morning. thanks. african-americans have the highest rate of obesity of any ethnic group. our dr. sanjay gupta looks at this new research and what needs to be done to get those dangerous rates down.

if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act.

the american medical association now endorsing the house democrats health care overhaul bill. this comes as many see the need for universal health coverage in a new report on obesity rates. dr. sanjay gupta looking at both of these issues for us this morning. good morning to you, sanjay. >> good morning. >> let's begin with this ama endorsement. seems like a pretty big deal, isn't it? >> yeah, i think it is a pretty big deal and i think a lot of people weren't sure exactly how the ama was going to come down

on this. a lot of back and forth over something specific, this public option, something that you and i have talked about by endorsing this house committee bill, they have endorsed this public exchange, as well. a couple of things i think are worth pointing out. two issues that really the ama was focusing on besides the fact of trying to get more people health care insurance. one was tort reform overall looking at lawsuits towards doctors. that is not addressed at all in either the letter sent by the ama to the house committee members or in the bill itself and the other was this thing a little more con saluted. this was a lot of language early in the morning. what's important, medicare has been sort of regulating payments to doctors based on this formula. and the ama has said that formula was flawed and led to lower reimbursements to doctors. so part of this bill, they say specifically the language here is that there's going to be a repeal of the sustainable growth

rate formula. how much money that's going to mean over the next ten years, probably a lot, maybe $200 billion to $300 billion, more money coming out of medicare to pay doctors. that's a couple of things i noticed. they also talked about the fact there will be a mandate for health care insurance. president obama and at that time went back and forth in the campaign. but the president now agrees there should be a mandate. and that's what this bill reflects, as well. >> very interesting. just as some of the democrats bailing on this we see the ama jumping on board. a lot more to the story. we'll be watching it -- >> they say it's not a political issue. they took great pains to say that, but you're absolutely right. it's going to be interesting from that standpoint. >> definitely. and then the other side of this is one of the u.s.'s biggest health problems trying to cover medicare, it's obesity. talk about these new numbers, this new research. >> well, you know, it's interesting, when i first started reporting on overweight and obesity, we pretty much talked about overweight and now obesity is becoming such a

larger percentage than we ever possibly imagined. this study broke it down by state and by race specifically. heidi, the numbers speak for themselves. take a look there. more than 1 in 3 african-americans are now considered obese, not just overweight, compare that to 29% of hispanics, 24% of whites, and 40% of black women. there are parts of the country that are worse than others, such as the south and midwest, but pretty uniformly across the country these numbers have increased. and the issue is it's linked to about every chronic disease out there which is why it ties in perfectly with health care reform. >> with all angles of the story today. thank you, sanjay. a front row seat for the sotomayor hearing, one junior senator in the spotlight, but he's pretty used to it.

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introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience. four straight gains on wall street, can you believe it? susan lisovicz at the new york

stock exchange with a preview of the day's market action. i feel kind of like the bait and switch thing going on here, susan. >> hey, heidi, we've had a terrific week. this is our first opening bell together of the week. but what a week it has been. the dow industrials have rallied more than 560 points so far this week, an increase of nearly 7%. the nasdaq is up seven straight days. maybe a little weakness at the bell. this is rallied by expectations of positive news from some banks, and today we have a double dose. bank of america clocking in with the second quarter profit of more than $3 billion, beating wall street consensus, still, the ceo, ken lewis warning of more weakness ahead for the global economy. don't forget, b of a has huge credit card business, so it's vulnerable to rising unemployment. citigroup reporting profits of more than $4 billion, also topping forecasts. the results here, though, coming

largely from citi's sale of the smith barney wealth division. both banks have received nearly $100 billion in t.a.r.p. and the tech sector search engine giant google profits of $1.5 billion. the company says more clicks, it's seeing, but people are spending less. they're searching around for bargains. but it also, says he sees signs of stabilization. that's encouraging. also topping estimates this morning, ibm, mattell, and general electric. and we're seeing a little bit buying at the open for the dow, the nasdaq, meanwhile, is flat. let me just mention quickly, heidi, because it's a good segue in your next story. oil today is trading at $62 a barrel. one year ago, $130. >> unbelievable, isn't it? >> unbelievable. >> unbelievable year. thanks for looking at our rundown, though, and knowing what stories are next. by the way, are we nearing 9,000? is it okay to say?

>> i think you can. yeah, we're 8,720 -- i'm sorry, i didn't hear you at the beginning, heidi, a lot of noise here. >> it's okay. >> but, yeah, 8,700. you can say 9,000, 14,000, we'll wait. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. i remember all of that. susan lisovicz, thanks so much. have a good weekend. >> you too. one year ago today as susan was mentioning, you may not remember exactly where you were, but it probably cost you a whole lot to get there. on july 17th, 2008, u.s. gas prices hit their all-time record. the national average peaked at just over $4.11 a gallon. today, the national average stands at $2.48 a gallon. that's nearly 40% less than the record high. and the price continues to fall. it's now been 26 straight days that pump prices have gone down. i want toe get you the latest on the deadly hotel bombings in jakarta, indonesia. at least six people were killed, more than 50 others hurt when

explosions rocked the jw marriott and ritz-carlton hotel. the president calls them a terrorist attack. an unexploded bomb also found on the 18th floor of the marriott. indones indonesian authorities have detained several for questioning, but no one has claimed responsibility as of yet for these blasts. now the u.s. state department says several americans were among the injured. the jakarta marriott was a site of a terrorist attack you may remember in august of 2003. that attack killed 12 people. cnni-reporters were at the scene moments after the hotels exploded. jill captured these images of the aftermath and emergency response. and here's how i-reporter and witness greg describes what he saw. >> i just got back to my hotel room and my apartment room and there was a huge explosion and i looked out the window and the first explosion was at the marriott.

there was a big plume of black and brown smoke. i work for one of the local television networks on tv. i ran downstairs to my phone to see what it was all about. and as i got down to the ground floor, there was another huge explosion at the ritz carltonment when i got out to the ritz-carlton, there was smoke billowing out of the building all over the place and all of the windows blown out on the street side quite extensively with smoke and there was already some people starting to move outside. and i go up the driveway toward the lobby, and there was all the windows blown out on the lobby side, as well. i was able to go into the restaurant and have a look around. and having stayed in that hotel many times, there was total devastation and you couldn't even recognize it from what it was before. and i did see one mutilated body on the floor, which could have been one of the suicide bombers and i did see some other people getting escorted out with minor injuries.

>> greg, as you're speaking, we're showing the photos that you sent to our i-report from inside what i believe is the restaurant, the restaurant in the ritz-carlton hotel. describe a little bit more about what we're seeing. right now we're looking at the restaurant with wires hanging from the ceilings, now we're looking at crowds outside. give us more of a detailed picture of what you saw as you walked through this restaurant inside the hotel. >> well, as i said, the windows were all blown out in the cafe area beside the restaurant, and as i walked into, there was just glass all over the floor, the ceilings were blown out. they were just all the furniture's blown around everywhere. just pieces hanging down from the ceiling. it was basically unrecognized. it was just a massive destruction of the actual building of the area. and as i said, i've been in

there many times and you couldn't even recognize it. and off to one side i then walked further in and then there was this body laying on the ground, extremely mutilated. it was a very disturbing thing. >> again, those words from our i-reporter as he spoke with cnn international anchor pauline chu there. and the death toll, once again, six people dead, at least six people dead and two of the bombers we know, as well. so total at this point eight people dead. we will keep our eye on that story. meanwhile, secretary of state hillary clinton is condemning the jakarta attacks, saying the u.s. is ready to give indonesia any assistance it needs. clinton is headed to india this hour for a week long visit to southeast asia. it is her first international trip since he broke her elbow last month. yesterday, clinton scoffed at media reports she had been sidelined by the white house in shaping u.s. foreign policy. as she put it, i broke my elbow, not my larynx.

senate democrats are pushing for a quick committee vote on supreme court nominee judge sonia sotomayor. they want the vote on tuesday. sotomayor wrapped up a third day of questions from the senate judiciary committee. democrats want the committee vote to happen next week. the hearing was a chance for the senators and american people to get to know judge sotomayor. and it also gave everyone to get a better look at the junior senator from minnesota. jessica yellin has more now on al franken's eventful first full week. >> i -- >> reporter: the senate's newest star seemed comfortable in front of the cameras, but less at ease with procedure. he looks to his committee chairman to approve a request. >> i would ask that it be entered into the record. sir, can i enter it into the record, okay. thank you.

>> reporter: franken's national debut seems to be amusing his old peers on the comedy circuit. >> i keep waiting for him to go "live from new york". >> reporter: and his new peers in the senate. earning chuckles after switching seats with leahy. franken also hit some serious notes reading from a pocket constitution. >> section one, the right of citizens of the united states to vote -- >> reporter: asking judge sotomayor about the voting rights act, whether internet access should be protected and for the definition of an activist judge. even went where the administration did not want democrats to go, pressing the judge on abortion rights. he argued that abortion rights don't have to be written into the constitution to be protected. >> are the words birth control in the constitution? >> no. >> are the words privacy in the constitution? or the word. >> the word privacy is not. >> reporter: but the water cooler moment of the hearing came when senator franken asked the judge who had revealed that

she's a lifelong fan of the tv show perry mason to name one case that perry lost. she couldn't. >> and you don't remember that case? >> i know that i should remember the name of it, but i haven't looked at the episode. >> didn't the white house prepare you for that? >> reporter: next franken has said he'd like to lay low and learn the ropes of the senate. but if the intense media interest is any indication, that will be a difficult task. jessica yellin, cnn, washington. pope benedict xvi is out of the hospital and on the mend this morning. the vatican says he broke his wrist last night. he apparently fell in his room while on vacation in the alps. the 82-year-old pontiff went to the hospital this morning, but only after celebrating his daily private mass. he'll wear the cast for about a month. a blown out tire on a family road trip leads to dramatic rescue. how the family managed to escape

this terrifying scene.

the fbi is investigating a death on board a cruise ship off the mexican coast. 55-year-old shirley mcgill was found dead in her cabin on the carnival elation. her husband faces murder charges. the fbi believes a domestic dispute tuesday night may have led to her death. and dramatic police video near atlanta after a family road trip does not go as planned. a tire blew on their minivan and caught fire. two of the four family members were trapped inside. police were able to pull them to safety. believe it or not, no one was seriously hurt.

that florida couple known for adopting special needs children being laid to rest today. the couple was murdered in what police say was a home invasion robbery. eight people have been arrested in connection with the case. ed lavandera from pensacola, florida, with the very latest. ed, are there any special plans now for this funeral? >> reporter: well, yeah, that will be held later on this morning. we expect a large gathering of people as they come to pay their final respects to byrd and melanie buildings here in pensacola. that will continue to go on this morning. there was a viewing yesterday that had a lot of friends and family turning out and people who had known the couple well, including the many people who had worked with them and helped them care for the children, as well. but in the meantime, the investigation here in pensacola continues even though authorities here don't have anything scheduled as far as today is concerned so far. they know -- we know they are

continuing to process those key pieces of evidence that were gathered yesterday, including the safe, which was found on one of the properties owned by pamela wiggins, and authorities here say there are still two or three other people of interest they're looking into and possibly another arrest that could be made at some point next week. so clearly things aren't quite over, although investigators here, heidi, are saying that the bulk of their investigation, the toughest part of their investigation is over at this point. >> yeah, i understand. it sounds like they are releasing a little bit more information on the path of that investigation. but i have to ask you, you know, it seems like we haven't heard, ed very much from people in the area about how they feel and how they're reacting to this whole unbelievably sad story. >> reporter: everywhere you go here in pensacola, heidi, people have been stunned and talking about this story for the last

week. you know, this has been the talk around town everywhere you go. >> yeah. all right. well, ed lavandera following this story for us and the latest on the investigation, as well. thanks so much, ed, live from pensacola, florida. >> you got it. do you have a bad relationship with your bank? if you're trying to get out of the relationship, we can help. how you can make a clean break.

if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act.

♪ well, that is a great wake-up for about anybody. the shuttle astronauts woke up to the beatles a short time ago. today they're scheduled to dock with the international space station. but first, they'll fly by to give the station's cameras a chance to get a better look at endeavor's underbelly. if you remember, they're looking for any possible damage from the foam debris that fell off during the launch. nasa, in fact, is launching a major anniversary this week, it was 40 years ago yesterday apollo 11 lifted off for the moon. and it'll be 40 years ago monday that neil armstrong took a giant leap for mankind.

nasa has something new to show you. >> that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> reporter: it's the iconic image of our efforts to explore space. and now as we approach the 40th anniversary of man's first visit to the moon, nasa has restored and enhanced the original grainy black and white images, including that one that riveted the planet. astronaut neal armstrong setting foot on the lunar surface on july 20th, 1969. the new high definition video is an improvement over the original, but nasa officials believe that somewhere out there is video that could take our breath away. images like this but sharper and clearer than anything seen before. the problem is, no one knows where it is. >> and liftoff of endeavor.

>> reporter: regular shuttle missions and the crisp color images they transmit have space fans a little spoiled. we forget just how complicatedc it was to transmit pictures from space to earth in 1969. here is how it it worked. a small camera built into "apollo 11" scanned the lunar landing in a regular formatt mat unsuitable for tv. those were transmitted to tracking stations in southeast australia and california's mohave desert where they were converted to a stander format and sent on to houston, losing picture quality every step of the way. but veterans of the "apollo" mission reminded nasa that technicians recorded the transmissions on to special tapes, which, if converted now with modern technology, would produce the highest quality images of man on the moon ever seen. a search has been launched, but three years into, after scouring multiple nasa facilities,

there's no sign of those tapes. now many fear the images on them, images far superior to anything wev ever seen may be lost forever. tom foreman, cnn, washington. speaking of amazing, reynolds wolf joining us now. can you not speak? >> they said the original. the originals are missing. losing that. >> i have a feeling they will surface. >> let's hope so. hey, you know something else surfacing the chance of seeing storms develop into the afternoon. a bout of severe weather into the nation. let's show you what i'm talking about right here. frontal boundary pulling away from the great lakes and later this afternoon we have a chance of strong storms developing from atlanta northward through the carolinas all the way to new york city and even long island sound before the day is over a

big boom of thunder and possibly strong storms and maybe even tornado os along the eastern seaboard. as we pull back to the west, north texas and oklahoma panhandle and even parts of new mexico and even kansas and colorado could get storms there and development and large hail into the development into colorado in the afternoon. also notice a cool down. i know coolness isn't something we mentioned too much. that may be in the cards as we get into the weekend. frontal boundary into the great lakes. as we make our way into tomorrow, saturday and sunday, the frontal boundary sag its way to parts of the eastern seaboard and many places dealing with record-low temperatures. we're talking about wisconsin and even minnesota as we get into monday morning, temperatures in the 30s and 40s. a massive cool down a welcome change to a lot of people. >> very good. those storms, d.c. area, i'm headed there in a little while for the sunset parade honoring

the marine corps. we'll have some rain. >> bring the umbrellas with you. rough into the afternoon. certainly be advised. >> sunset parade, we're hoping it will be gone by then. thank you, reynolds. meanwhile, cnn crews are chasing the latest news around the world. check in with some of our correspondents beginning with reza sayah following the latest protests in the country. >> hi, heidi. high drama in the streets of tehran. tens of thousands opposition reporters taking the streets. new pictures just into the iran desk and we'll show them to you at the top of the hour. >> i'm dana bash on capitol hill where democrats plan for health care reform were dealt a devastating blow by somebody who has a lot of sway in the tumultous debate. more on that at the top of the hour. >> i'm barbara starr at the pentagon, cia and military assass assassins, is it really just in the movies? more in the next hour.

>> thanks, guys. also ahead, an update on a cnn investigation. if focused on government-funded student exchange programs. the state department saw the report and is now taking action. drew griffin will tell us why. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. the place that inspires her to go faster... and slower, elk mountains, colorado.

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rising atm surcharges, higher minimum balances and increasing fees, doing business with your bank is getting costlier. but you don't have to put up with it. personal finance editor gerri willis has been to tae kwan do and she's here how to break up with your bank if you're unhappy. good morning, gerri. >> good morning, heidi. more and more people are switching banks because of fees. 4 % of people site fees as the reason they duck out on their bank. one is overdraft fees. they're called fees but actually small loans that your bank issues without your knowledge and without your permission and if you make a purchase without having money to cover it, 35 bucks each time in most cases, it can run up quickly if you're out there using an atm card. >> if you want to break up with your bank, which is the best way to go about doing that? >> it is a hassle to switch, but

you may pill your bills online and get account alerts and the easiest want to do this is get a switch kit the bank you are going to may have a switch kit at the bank or online. keep some money in that old account. you want to make sure your new accounts are open and operable and all your outstanding checks have cleared and you can get money from your new networks and have closed accounts verified in writing. it is really worth it to ask the branch manager or call customer service to see what they will do to keep your business, whether it's dismissing fees or maybe giving you favorable rates on your checking accounts. banking is competitive and you can always compare terms at bankrate.com and checkingfinder.com. >> great advice. sure do appreciate it. >> my pleasure. the story we've been

watching all morning long, pictures still coming into us. live pictures, in fact. still a massive cloud of smoke there. miami beach and this is a very wealthy area, multi-million dollar mansion on fire. a lot of celebrities live in this area. we don't have any word on whose home this may be. but we have been watching them battle this thing from out on the road and in the water. still active flames there that you can see. we do not know the cause, as you would imagine, just yet and we also don't know if anyone was home when it all began. we'll continue to watch that. few roads are even closed in the area because the fire and the flames are so intense. we'll keep our eye on it and bring you any new information just as soon as we get it in here. in france now, authorities are investigating a fatal accident involving madonna's european tour. earlier this morning we learned a second worker has died in

westside france. several other workers were injured when a crane collapsed during stage construction. the singer was in italy at the time. at least one show has now been canceled. hundreds of firefighters are battling a wildfire in central california, not far from sacramento. so far, the fire has burned more than 500 acres. several families had to leave their homes. the fire is about 40% contained this morning. we are watching a couple developing stories, as well. in jakarta, indonesia, at least six people are dead in two bombings at two luxury hotels. dozens more are injured and in iran a leading cleric and former president is calling for the release of all people imprisoned in the crackdown on post-election protests. those stories in just a moment, but, first, working to save health care reform. lawmakers and doctors are making a new push. here's what we know. the house ways and means committee has approved a tax increase on the wealthy to help

pay for the democrats' plan. the taxes would raise an estimated $544 billion over ten years. in a bit of a surprise move, though. the ama, american medical association, is endorsing the house democrats bill now. the bill meets its goals of expanding coverage while providing patients with a choice of health plans. but the congressional budget office has bad news for democrats. the cbo's director says their plans would raise medical costs. cnn's dana bash has the latest. >> reporter: it was a democrat who asked the question. will any of their health care plans actually reduce skyrocketing medical costs? the answer, no. >> and the legislation has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount and on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal

responsibility for health care costs. >> reporter: with that, the head of the congressional budget office whose words carry enormous weight in congress dealt democrats a devastating blow. since president obama repeatedly says curbing health care costs is essential goal of reform. >> i've set some clear parameters in terms of what i want to achieve. we have to bend the costs on health care. >> reporter: but democrats plans would actually raise costs because many, including the president, are resisting what will keep spending down. it had been one of the ways the bipartisan group of senators planned to pay for health care reform. now that it's off the table, they're having trouble making the numbers add up. in a stunningly candid moment, the frustrated democratic finance chairman blamed the president. >> basically, the president is

not helping us. with the tax exclusion off the table, still difficult to come up with revenue measures and other savings measures. >> reporter: because of the president's prodding to move faster, there had been hope for a bipartisan deal this week, but that's no longer in the cards. dana bash is joining us now from washington with more on this. dana, what is the cbo's director warning mean for democrats? >> we're trying to gauge that right now. it certainly isn't good, i'll tell you that much. the leadership in terms of democrats and the white house they're trying to downplay it. let me read you one quote from a senior democratic leadership aid. this aid said that this is a potentially devastating one-two punch. the punch being from the cbo director and talking about what max baucus said there. the source said it couldn't come at a worse time, a difficult time just got more difficult. so, you know, you have this

news, this bombshell, basically, dropped saying these plans aren't going to do what president obama wants them to do, which is to raise the cost of health care and you have two committees, as we speak, trying to grind through and get this done and you've got, already got conservative democrats. let's talk about the house, conservative democrats who are balking for the exact reason the cbo director gave freedom to. >> everyone is wondering if it hurts their push for a deal this summer. >> it could, definitely could. already, let's just remember where this week began. the week began with president obama really trying to muscle this through in a way that he hasn't done up until now saying, look, i want this done by this summer. everybody said, okay, let's do it. the senate side, in particular, that's where the action is going to be. that is where they're going to ultimately make the deal and they couldn't get the deal done, primarily, because they had to

take the idea of taxing benefits off the table because the white house doesn't want it. that has made their work a lot harder. that is one example of how hard it is to get the goal done. >> no question. thanks for that. dana bash this morning, thank you, dana. part of the house democrats' plan tax surcharges on americans making more than $350,000 a year. on our blog we're asking if you think it's fair to tax the rich to pay for health care reform? go to cnn.com/heidi and post your comments there. we'll share some of them later on in the show. tens of thousands of people gather in tehran, iran, this morning to hear a plea from former president rafsanjani. he calls for the release of jailed opposition demonstrators. the crowd greeted his appearance with chants of freedom. reza sayah is watching the developments from our iran desk

this morning. as we said, haven't seen rafsanjani in quite some time. >> it's been a couple months. he showed up in public and so did tens of thousands of people. the witnesses coming into the iran desk and some of those clouds did crash with security forces and new video coming into the iran desk and let's go ahead and show it to you. again, eyewitnesses estimating that tens of thousands of people showed up to hear ayatollah rafsanjani. there you see security forces on motorcycles, witnesses telling cnn the security forces also using tear gas to disperse people after the sermon. a couple of chants that we hadn't heard before. by the way, that's one of the disgruntled candidates, opposition leaders who showed up to hear hashemi rafsanjani speak. russia, same on you.

these are slogans we haven't heard before. russia, one country that has supported the iranian elections and its aftermath. let's talk about this speech. what was rafsanjani going to say? was he going to support the opposition or the regime? he turned out to criticize the crackdown on the elections and also went out in support of the people, support of the opposition. let's go ahead and show you some quotes from the speech delivered about 1:15 local time in iran. the lost trust of the people must be restored. this will not happen overnight. we must slowly create an atmosphere where everyone can say what they have in mind. let's go on to the next quote. this is something he got a big response over from thousands of people gathered outside of tehran university. this is when he asked for all the protesters who were detained to be freed. there is no need to have these numbers of people in prison, let them come back to their

families. let the enemy not laugh at us and criticize us. again, he got a big response after that. let's show you who was at the ceremony. many people anticipating this man to be there and, according to this picture coming into the iran desk, opposition leader mir hossein mousavi was there and this speech, this sermon was not broadcast on state-run television in iran or outside, it was broadcast on radio and, again, he did criticize the leadership. he basically left the door open to the opposition to continue its movement. at this hour, we've been talking to eyewitnesses, the crowds are getting thinner, but, still, pockets of protesters still out there and so are many, many security forces, heidi. >> all right, as you would suspect. reza sayah for us the very latest out of iran. appreciate it. meanwhile, the tourist strike in the heart of a tourism

district. two luxury hotels hit in jakarta, indonesia. talking about the marriott and ritz-carlton there. right now, looking at new video just coming into our newsroom from the explosion from inside the jw mauruate. several americans are among the casualties. we'll just wait here and watch for a moment. once again, brand-new video just coming into the cnn newsroom from inside the marriott hotel. i can tell you a couple things about this, indonesian authorities have detained several witnesses now and others for questioning. there you see the explosion just going off, boy, right in the lobby there, where you would expect quite a few people to be. so, clearly, the plan was to get as many people as possible in all of this. six people were killed, along with two suspected bombers and five of them were inside the ritz-carlton and then one inside the marriott there where you just saw.

let's go ahead and look at that video, once again, as we bring in cnn's dan rivers. he is live this morning on the scene now with the very latest. dan, i'm not sure if you can see this video or seen it already. it is spectacular to watch the cameras inside the marriott. >> yeah, i haven't seen it, heidi. but as you're describing it, that ties in with exactly what we know so far. the picture we're building up of a twin suicide attack. one in the marriott behind me and one at the ritz-carlton right over the road there and it appears they were targeting the busiest part of the hotel at the busiest time, right in the morning just before 8:00 when we know that certainly in the ritz-carlton, there is a regular friday morning power breakfast that brings lots of leading breakfast men together. we don't know if that is the target but chilling images

nonetheless. at the moment, as you say, confirmation of eight dead in in total. we think two of those were the suicide bombers and four of the bodies are unidentified and we know a new zealand man is confirmed as being among the dead. as for the american casualties, one empty is telling us five americans were wounded. the associated press are reporting eight in total. no americans killed, thankfully. but plenty of other nationalities caught up and injured in this, as well. as who did it, we don't know. but we think it is linked to infamous terrorists in the region. >> all right, dan rivers on the scene for us there in jakarta, indonesia getting the very latest information out of there. obviously, more and more just keeps coming in. secretary of state hillary clinton is condemning the jakarta attacks. the u.s. is ready to provide indonesia any assistance it may need. she is headed to india this

hour. it is her first international trip since she broke her elbow last month. yesterday clinton scoffed at media reports that she had been sidelined by the white house in shaping u.s. foreign policy. as she put it, "i broke my elbow not my larynx." the nation's first african-american president helps the nation's oldest civil rights administration. the pain of discrimination is still felt. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. dinner bell sfx: ping ping ping

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the nation's first african-american president says the pain of discrimination is still felt by many minorities. tough words in a wide-ranging speech to the naacp. suzanne malveaux covered the president's address in new york last night on the 100th anniversary of the civil rights organization. hi, suzanne. what else did he have to say? >> he paid homage to the civil rights organization. the journey that led him to being the 44th president of the united states. he talked about the fact that things are bad for americans, but for many aphfrican-american they're worse when it comes to health care or aids or jobs. he said the discrimination still does exist and institutional barriers but at the same time, heidi, he also talked about the need of accountability for personal responsibility urging people to basically seize and claim their own destiny. this is a line that got a lot of support. it was inspiring also

controversial, as well. take a listen. >> we've got to say to our children, yes, if you're african-american, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that somebody in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. that's not a reason to get bad grades. that's not a reason to cut class. that's not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. no one has written your destiny for you, your destiny is in your hands! you cannot forget that. that's what we have to teach all of our children. no excuses! >> heidi, very blunt statement. no excuses, essentially. the president of the naacp took issue with some reports suggesting that was the focus, the highlight of the speech, the kind of tough love, if you will, saying that there were many other messages to institutional

racism and the problems that still exist and this was something that was 10% of the speech came in 23 minutes in the speech, but, clearly, a very powerful message to this community one that has generated some support and some controversy in the past, heidi. >> suzanne malveaux, appreciate that. thank you. our reporters cover the stories developing every day in the black community and now soledad o'brien has been working on stories that we will only see here on cnn when we present "black in america 2." all new stories right here on cnn. hey, reynolds wolf with some cooler weather, but severe storms. >> yeah, i know. got to take the good with the bad. the cool getting the cool down in parts of the nation as temperatures will drop quite a bit as we get into saturday, sunday and monday. by monday morning places like wisconsin, even michigan could drop into the 30s and 40s for

lows. that's then. today what we're going to see, a chance of strong storms developing along parts of the eastern seaboard and some severe into the afternoon, that includes the nation's capital and back over to new york and back into boston. boston right now, things look good for the time being. temperatures right now in the 70s warming up to the 80s. something else that we could see warm up are temperatures across parts of the central plains like dallas. this is north on parts of i-35 and oklahoma city. you could have not only warm temperatures, but scattered showers and storms. video of storm damage yesterday in oklahoma. let's show you that now if we can. pretty intense in a few spots. you see the straight line winds causing some kind of damage and tearing up a lot of telephone poles there and little bit of roof damage to say the least. before the day is out, we could see that erupt one more time. it is all erupting along this frontal boundary. as we pull back into parts of the oklahoma panhandle and into portions of new mexico, colorado, moisture coming in

from the gulf of mexico combined with your daytime heating and then boundary will give you a chance of those strong storms, but, again, the cool down. the good side of this. the cool temperatures we were talking about beginning to filtnfil filter into parts of the midwest. let's send it back into you at the news desk. >> very good. reynolds, thank you. doctors charging fees for missed appointments. a recent empower me friday topic that got such a great response.

okay. so, a lot of you are fired up about this one. doctors charging fees to patients who miss appointments. we got several hundred responses

to those patients and doctors after an earlier segment that we did. elizabeth cohen is here with a follow up in this week's empower me friday. you managed to get doctors pretty upset with this one. >> oh, yes, that is pretty is lightly. i have been demonized on doctor's list services at this hour because we had someone who write in who had a weekly appointment at 10:00 a.m. and after several weeks it changed to 11:00 and he missed it and the doctor charged him $300. >> what is the deal with that? >> doctors can do that and i offered advice to this patient, if you really feel like you've been treated unfairly, you can just leave this dentist and not pay and that got doctors really angry. we'll read you a couple of the comments. how irresponsible of you, that would be me, in reporting this story. i am appalled. when a patient does not show, it costs me money. you make it sound like doctors are doing something

inappropriate. when you make a reservation at a hotel or restaurant they require a credit card deposit. here's a third one, it costs hundreds of dollars an hour to run a dental office. every working hour needs to be maximized to cover costs. so, what these doctors were making the argument, you know, it costs ocelot of money and when someone doesn't show up, why shouldn't we charge them? >> patients are outraged, too. some of them, you know, they're doing exactly what they think they should be doing. just kind of missed the appointment. we don't know he had changed it. >> it had been at 10:00, it had been at 11:00 every morning and then changed to 10:00 and he had just goofed. why couldn't they just cut me some slack here and the doctor said, no, 300 bucks, please. >> this is another one, too. this guy says, can a patient who schedules a 2:00 appointment and

isn't seen until 3:00 or later then charge the doctor? people take time from their work and may not get paid. this is what patients say. >> that's what patients want to know. we got that question in various forms. if my doctor keeps me waiting and i lose money because i can't work, can i charge the doctor? no. that's the answer. >> well, of course not. >> sorry to tell everyone this, no. nice idea but the answer is no. >> anything at all the patient can do? >> there are some things you can do. if your doctor habitually keeps you waiting. here's some strategies to try. don't stay silent for too long. if you're waiting 15 minutes, go up and say, hey, it's been 15 minutes, don't just let it fester. also, you can stage a revolt. this is a patient whose gynecologist was making people wait for huge amounts of times and all the patients got together and wrote letters to this doctor saying, hey, you're

keeping us waiting a lot and the doctor changed her ways because so many people wrote to her. also, be a smart scheduler. get the first appointment in the morning or after lunch and you're less likely to have to wait. >> people have to be able to contact you. >> every friday we answer your questions about how to get the best medical care and how to be an empowered patient. send me your questions. empowered question at cnn.com and maybe we'll answer your question on friday of next week. >> my least favorite is when you go to the pediatrician and you have the small children and the people who are supposed to understand children keep you waiting half hour, 45, an hour. >> that is annoying. there is no question. your child scheming. >> thank you for the therapeutic moment. thank you so much. terrorists, should the u.s. kill them before they can kill americans? in washington, new claims ignite a passionate debate. imodium multi-symptom relief

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let's get back now to that breaking story we're following out of jakarta, indonesia this morning. we're just getting a response right now of president obama on the deadly hotel blast. the president is condemning the attacks and says the u.s. stands by indonesia in this difficult time. at least six people are dead. more than 50 others hurt. when bombs exploded today at the jw marriott and the ritz-carlton hotel. the authorities believe two suicide bombers have checked into the marriott early today, carried out those attacks. they also are believed dead. the blasts are drawing condemination from governments across the world, including the united states. hit squads and assassination

plots. how far can the u.s. go in hunting down terrorists. that question is fueling new debate and concerns in washington. barbara starr takes a closer look. >> reporter: in the movie "the bourn ultimatum" matt damon plays an agent in the exotic world of a cia assassin. but does it really exist? cia director leon panetta just shut down an agency program reportedly aimed at killing al qaeda terrorists. congress may not have been informed. >> that's a serious breach. look, you can't gloss over it. >> reporter: but experts say nobody should claim to be surprised that the u.s. is hunting down terrorists. >> we have seen a range of al qaeda leaders that have been assassinated since september 11th in afghanistan, in pakistan and a range of other places. >> reporter: indeed, cia drones flying over pakistan have killed dozens of suspected terrorists in recent years. but jones says one of the di

diciest missions, u.s. troops seekerantly on the ground in 2008, trading gunfire with al qaeda. >> a special operations force, direct action engagement in, it was for a very short period of time. >> reporter: other hits, somalia, 2007. air force ac-130 gunships launched strikes into southern somalia, but failed to kill their al qaeda targets. iraq, 2006. the u.s. military hunts down and kills abu musab al zarqawi. 2003, saddam hussein's sons are killed. yemen, 2002, a cia drone kills an al qaeda operative the u.s. says was involved in the bombing of the "u.s.s. cole." but whether it's the cia or u.s. troops on the trigger, there are rules to be followed. >> the united states cannot,

ipso facto kill individuals in foreign countries. i mean, they're generally with foreign fighters there has to be a determination that this individual and general is plotting and does threaten the homeland of the united states. >> our barbara starr is now joining us from the pentagon with the very latest on this. barbara, we know the cia pulled the plug on the program they were thinking about making active. why? >> well, nobody really knows, heidi. but what it turns out is these assassination or hunt and kill programs are a lot tougher than they look in the movies. one problem is, of course, you really have to have the permission of the host government where you're going to operate because if you don't and you're found out, it's a diplomatic disaster that really can reverberate around the world and, you know, you can't send in a bunch of tall, blonde hair, blue eyed military personnel into a country that doesn't have a lot of blonde hair, blue eyed

people. they tend to stand out. it is difficult to be done but it's being done. that's the reality check we wanted to take a look at. >> barbara starr, thanks for that. we appreciate it. i have to get back to this story that we've been following here. an explosion that happened in chicago. we have just a little bit of information for you. 9:00 a.m. central time, 10:00 eastern and apparently a factory explosion inside this factory, four or five people are unaccounted for, but have, were unaccounted for and now have been found. so, that is great news. we understand that the building did collapse, however. so, we are continuing to get more information on this story and we, of course, will bring it to you just as soon as we get that information. but there's a map for you. western side of chicago. again, we'll stay on top of this one just as soon as we have more information, we'll get it out.

it's the last trading day of what's been a huge week of gains on wall street. and though the upbeat corporate earnings reports continue to roll in, the market is off to a sluggish start today. susan lisovicz at the new york stock exchange to explain why, why, why we couldn't have five days of the good news. >> i don't want to jinx it, but the dow is on the plus side right now. >> a little bit. >> that's right. we'll take it and, you know, maybe a little bit of positive mo in the session. think of the numbers we've seen leading up to today. the dow rallied more than 560 points or nearly 7%, let me not get ahead of myself. the nasdaq and s&p 500 are also up by that amount and really what we're hearing from corporate america is that things are stabilizing. lots of concerns about consumer behavior in the second half, still. but that things, we're seeing a floor and that's encouraging. let's start with the financial

sector. bank of america posting quarterly profits of more than $3 billion, better than street expected. ken lewis warns of more weakness ahead. think about it, b of a is a huge credit business and it's vulnerable to rising jobless rates. citigroup, another troubled financial company, its profits topped $4 billion, also beating the street's forecast. of course, here it was largely the sale of the smith barney division, but these banks, the two of them, have received $90 billion in tarp. so, it's encouraging that their bottom line is on the plus side. surge engine giant google sought profits of $1.5 billion. it had less clicks but people are spending less. we're seeing positive frults the dow. at the moment, blue chips are up 17 points and nasdaq seeing a little bit of pressure going into today's session. it is riding a seven-session win

streak. i want to mention one thing that has been buried, nice housing starts, heidi collins. housing starts up for the second month in a row, building permts up. little bit of stabilization in the housing sector and also a good thing. >> yeah, absolutely. we'll be following that one very closely. susan lisovicz, thanks so much. have a great weekend. >> thanks, you, too. as you fill up your tank, think about this, exactly one year ago today you were paying the highest price for gasoline ever recorded. how much have prices come down since then and will they keep heading lower? alison kosik has our energy fix from new york. >> on july 17, 2008, the nationwide average for a gallon of gas hit $4.11 the highest price ever recorded by aaa. today the average price is $2.48, a drop of nearly 40 cents from that all-time record.

so, the question is, how much more money is that in your pocket? we went ahead and did some back of the envelope calculations. 13,000 miles a year and 13 miles per gallon. the difference translates into savings of more than $900 a year. not too shabby, heidi. >> i love the back of the envelope calculations. >> me, too. >> that's a fair chunk of change, though. everyone is wondering what is nextt and are the prices going to continue to go down? >> analysts we talked to expect that gas prices will fall a bit more and dip below $2 in some markets. they don't expect to see last year's lows again when gas was around $1.60, $1.70 per average. it lost steam as more americans stayed home during the traditional driving season. prices have now fallen for the past 26 straight days and we could see prices slip even more, if oil continues to decline. crude hit an eight-month high of more than $73 a barrel on june

30th, but it's come down more than $10 a barrel since then. but, heidi, let's not forget, it's hurricane season and a lot of gasoline refineries along the gulf of mexico. if a big storm threatens like hurricane ike did last year, we could see gas prices spike again. i'll tell you what, that no one sees it getting close to the record high that caused so much pain a year ago, heidi. >> that is it good news. we sure do appreciate it. alison kosik. thank you. a cnn special investigation. foreign exchange students getting a memorable experience in pennsylvania. some may want to forget they were ever there. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? taking 8 pills a day... and if i take it for 10 days -- that's 80 pills. just 2 aleve can last all day. perfect. choose aleve and you can be taking four times... fewer pills than extra strength tylenol. just 2 aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day.

if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act. ( sighs )

( music throughout ) hey bets, can i borrow a quarter? sure, still not dry? i'm trying to shrink them. i lost weight and now some clothes are too big. how did you do it? simple stuff. eating right and i switched to whole grain. whole grain... studies show that people who eat more whole grain tend to have a healthier body weight. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains... and 110 calories per lightly sweetened serving. more grains. less you. multigrain cheerios. part of the house democrats' plan, we're talking health care reform tax surcharges on americans making more than $350,000 a year. so, on our blog this morning, we are asking if you think that's fair to go ahead and tax the wealthy in order to pay for health care reform. let's go ahead and get to some of these responses because you wouldn't believe how many we

have been getting. just 130 or so in the last few minutes. let's go to the first one says this. yes, entirely fair. the divide between rich and poor has widened in a staggering way. it's one of the problems. and then this one. as a successful small business owner that works ten hours a day and employs 30 people i feel i am penalized by my success by these outrageous surcharges. one way to make up for the extra taxes, i have to pay is for me to lay off a few people. is that how we boost our economy? the last one we want to show you here, quickly. goodly percentage of the uber-wealthy got that money by uber-overcharging the system for health-related services and products. we appreciate your responses today and whether or not the wealthy should be taxed for health care reform.

foreign exchange students come to the u.s. looking for a special experience, but in the case of some students, in scranton, pennsylvania, they got a lot less than they bargained for. cnn special investigation unit correspondent drew griffin has their story. >> reporter: tanzanian was told he would be living with a prescreened loving family. he ended up in a second floor apartment with a 72-year-old man and hardly any food. >> you're the guy that passed out at track. >> reporter: carlos came here from columbia for a year in high school. it cost his family $13,000. >> i ended up in a house living with a couple of ex-convicts with low amounts of food, which

i lost a lot of body weight and in an unsafe environment. >> reporter: there was a drug bust on this street the week carlos moved in. his host, a local reverend who according to the local prosecutor also houses his drug-dealing grandson. were you not feeding him? >> do you think i would have a kid and not feed him? i have two of my own. heate. get that camera off me, would you, please. >> we signed up for a family that was going to transport us from our homes to schools and feed us three times a day and, basically, that was going to be a family. >> reporter: this norwegian girl who doesn't want us to show her face, found herself in a sort of flop house and took pictures of the dog droppings all over the floor. mother and daughter sleft on the couch and you slept on the bed and a man who stayed somewhere else. >> in the apartment. >> reporter: health officials in scranton actually condemned part

of the house and county officials say the girl and four other students were taken out of their host homes. what happened to these guests of the u.s. is now a criminal investigation. >> they expect it to get certain degree of quality of life for the money that they provided and, obviously, weren't. that's one possible crime that we'd be looking at, as well. >> reporter: this is the local placement agent who placed youngsters in the homes of ex-cons and rooming houses and was paid $400 per student. she kicked a local television station out of her home and so far has not responded to calls and door knocks to cnn. she worked for aspect, the san francisco firm that takes in millions of dollars bringing students here with a state department approval. while local prosecutors are looking at charges against aspect and its director placement in scranton, there is a much bigger question going on in washington. >> it's inexcusable that our

government didn't do a better job of oversight and it's inexcusable that this foundation hasn't done the job to provide basic protection for children. >> reporter: aspect gave conflicting responses to cnn, while calling the scranton situation deplorable, it also said based on its investigation in talks with county officials, no student was abused, malnourished or dehydrated. that, county officials repeatedly told cnn, is just not true. aspect said it fired its local agent and two other of its officers have resigned, but that was after the fact. cnn has learned aspect knew about the problems in scranton way back in october when a student sent photos and an e-mail pleading for help and the state department, which spends $34 million a year on exchange programs, well, it knew, too. >> i'm the father of four daughters, okay? i would never want my daughter,

nor would any parent want their son or daughter exposed to these kind of conditions. >> reporter: e-mails show the state department knew about the problems here since last october and did nothing for months. and then the state department allowed aspect, the agency that placed the students in these homes, to investigate itself. d.j. crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs says that was a mistake. >> i think a large respect because we put too much emphasis on the program agents to police themselves and we recognize that has not worked properly. >> reporter: dan yell, who has been tracking exchange student abuse for years says the typical scenario is kids complain, the state department does nothing and agencies around the country keep recruiting students. >> it's self-regulated, unmonitored and underreported and students becoming raped, placed in the homes of convicted felons and placed in the homes of registered sex offenders come

to the united states and lose 20, 30, 40 pounds. >> reporter: despite the living conditions, he's loved his time in the u.s. >> all the people are good. >> reporter: he plans to come back, but next time, he says, not to a home where he needs to wonder where his next meal is coming from. >> boy, oh, boy. what a story. drew griffin joining me now to talk more about this. first off, the state department going to do anything about this? >> they sanctioned the company involved here, aspect. they are going to do something about it. we got an e-mail from them yesterday. the department of state is taking a close look at the oversight of these programs, ways they can improve and protect against terrible incidents like in scranton. but in addition, they're going to have an audit system set up. you wonder why this wasn't already set up in advance and an 800 number for students to use if they feel threatened or maltreated and they're also going to try to send staff out to these u.s.-government funded programs to check on these kids. but, again, this kind of abuse,

we're finding out, has been going on for years and the state department has known about and the bureaucrats have done nuthing. >> does the aspect handle any foreign exchange students going overseas from the united states or only those coming in? >> as far as we know, just those coming in. they're actually part of both state and u.s. department of state programs and other just for profit or, you know, individual programs that bring students in. altogether, 30,000 students a year together are coming into the united states. it's a big deal when you have them paying $13,000 each. >> other ones, we should say, handling things properly, we hope. >> as far as we know. >> drew griffin, i know you'll do more reporting on that. thanks so much. appreciate it. live pictures now, we're getting new pictureses in on this story i mentioned to you just a few minutes ago. out of chicago, talking about the west side here. this factory that has exploded.

they knocked down the fire. you can see some pictures on the left and live pictures on the right of rescue crews. according to the chicago fire department, at least two people have been injured. just a few moments ago we were watching them take care of someone who was in a stretch tlr. they were literally hosing that individual down and sort of scrubbing his body because this is, we are being told, a level two hazmat situation. so, not quite sure at this point what factory this is, but, obviously, they are concerned about some hazardous materials there. so, we'll continue to follow that. once again, this happened about 9:00 a.m. central time. 10:00 a.m. eastern and according to the fire department there in chicago, at least two people have been injured. we'll bring you the latest just as soon as we hear it here. affirmative action. is it time to do away with it or is it still necessary? we'll take a closer look at that very debate. between consuming less

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in the white house and a woman is it time to do away with affirmative action? cnn's carol costello looks at the debate. >> reporter: affirmative action helped minority students like sonia sotomayor get into elite schools like princeton. >> i am a product of affirmative action. i am the perfect affirmative action baby. my test scores were not comparable to that of my colleagues at princeton or yale. >> reporter: keep in mind, back then only 12% of law school students were women and only 7% minorities. today the numbers have changed dramatically. almost half of law school students are women and 23% are minority. and minorities and women overall seem to be acceling. america boasts a black president, a woman secretary of state and the list goes on and on and on. >> i'm just saying. >> reporter: time to say no to

affirmative action? >> for us to operate on, under the nomenclature of affirmative action is idyaldic and counterproductive. >> reporter: echoed by clarence thomas who wrote in his memoir of his yale law degree, i graduated from one of america's top law schools, but racial preference had robbed my achievement of its true value. and we found plenty of other americans who agreed with him. >> i don't see the point in it any more. >> let's have it go away. >> i think it's time to consider ending it. >> i don't think it's relevant any more. >> there is always some group that need it. >> i believe affirmative action should have never been in place in the first place. >> reporter: yes, we have a black president, but there is just one black senator and two hispanics. >> the day that we have a nominee for the supreme court and we don't bring up the word latina or woman, i think that's a great day. here's our new nominee and we're going to ask her questions, then

we won't need affirmative action. >> reporter: black in america 2, cnn presents this groundbreaking series july 22nd and 23rd two primetime nights and documentaries. all new stories right here on cnn. so what do you think?

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want to get this out to you, just getting it in the cnn newsroom. in regard to the two blasts at the marriott and ritz-carlton in jakarta,