going? the bank bailout top cop says some of it is being wasted or even stolen. plus, a mom and her kids trapped inside a burning suv. off duty firefighters go to work. good morning, everybody, i'm heidi collins, it is tuesday, july 21st. and you are in the "cnn newsroom." beginning this morning with several stories that are terror-related this morning. we're tracking them very, very closely. in fact, the obama administration says it will miss a deadline to file a report today on michigan ton moe detainees and how they plan to deal with them. suzanne malveaux will have that for you. also, our pentagon correspondent barbara starr has the very latest on efforts to rescue a soldier taken by the taliban. we'll get to her in a moment. and also, from the war front now. an exclusive. destroying a lifeline for the militan militants. u.s. war planes bomb a poppy field. washington has said they are

among the most dangerous terrorists in the world. today, they are in limbo along with guantanimo bay prison that houses them. the white house says it will miss today's deadline in its promise to shut down the prison. the issue at hand, how to deal with detainees. >> this first executive order that we are signing in order to effect the appropriate disposition detained at guantanimo and promptly to close the detention facility at guantanimo consistent with the national security and foreign policy interest of the united states and interest of justice and i hereby order. >> so what happened? and what happens next? let's turn to white house correspondent suzanne malveaux for more on this. suzanne, where do we stand today in closing guantanimo? >> well, you can imagine the obama administration really trying to get ahead of this story. they put out four senior administration officials brief reporters on this yesterday about missing this deadline that

has come and gone and saying there's going to be a six-month extension to look at how do you deal with all of these detain s detainees. what do you do with them? they are saying they made some progress, but not where they had hoped. they say they're about through half of the cases here to figure out whether or not they'll be taken to some other countries or their host countries or whether or not they will face trial, that there are about 50 they have processed so far. but clearly, heidi, this is something that has remained a bit more difficult than they had imagined here. they still insist these administration officials that they're going to make that deadline, that goal, if you will, of trying to shut down guantanimo bay by january 2010. they say they're trying to get it right. but it is going to take some time. there are some allies, some european allies who publicly said they will go ahead and take some of these dangerous terrorist suspects. there are others who say they

will make that commitment, but it hasn't been made publicly. a lot of politics and legal aspects. it is going to take more time for this administration. they're acknowledging that today. >> a lot harder than it may have first sounded. what's the white house saying and doing regarding the delay of these reports? >> reporter: well, what they're saying is they're going to give another six months for one task force to figure out what to do with the detainees. they're giving a separate task force that's dealing with interrogation techniques about two months to figure out what they're going to do. they are facing some criticism, heidi, already. the aclu coming out saying they're quite worried, does this mean indefinite detention for some of these folks. any effort to revamp the failed guantanimo military commissions is sure to be challenged in court and will take years before justice is served. so you can imagine there is going to be a lot of back and forth, very quietly working with a lot of these countries, their leaders to try to take in some

more of these people in the next six months or so, heidi. >> we will be watching closely obviously. suzanne malveaux outside the white house for us. thanks, suzanne. here's a quick look at the prison at guantanimo bay. at last check in may of this year, there were about 240 detainees being held there. about 1/3 of the number held there at its peak. at one time the inmate population exceeded 750 men. of those freed, the department of defense says 74 of the detainees have returned to terrorist activity. the pentagon now reacting to that taliban video showing kidnapped marine private first class bowe bergdahl, the u.s. says it is sparing nothing getting him back. >> reporter: private first class bowe bergdahl held by the taliban for three weeks clearly in fear missing his family. >> i miss them every day.

i miss them and i'm afraid that i might never see them again. >> our commanders are sparing no effort to find this young soldier. and i also would say my personal reaction was one of disgust at the exploitation of this young man. >> reporter: hundreds of troops have since bergdahl was captured june 30th. u.s. military officials will confirm few details of the urgent hunt, but have acknowledged they have cordoned off areas, conducted surges, and using drones to watch overhead for any signs of the 23-year-old soldier being moved. the u.s. intelligence community also continues to monitor cell phone traffic in the region according to officials. admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chief of staff just returned from the region. >> having been with the forces, in fact, who are conducting the operations to recover him or to

find him is -- they are extensive, vast, they're on a 24/7 -- >> reporter: the u.s. has been distributing these pamphlets in the region seeking information. one reading, if you do not release the u.s. soldier, then you will be hunted. but the biggest clues may come from this 28-minute tape. >> we teach soldiers if they can get on video, they should because it gives the united states proof of life. >> reporter: the u.s. military is now analyzing each frame for clues about who is holding bergdahl and where he is being held. >> barbara starr joining us now live with more on this. barbara, soldiers get training, do they not, in order to try and deal with the possibility of being captured? >> indeed, heidi, all troops before they go to the war zone get some level of training about what to do if they are captured. certainly pilots, special operations forces, they get the

most sophisticated training because they're most at risk. but an infantry man like bergdahl would've gotten some basic training, he would have been instructed to always remember under all circumstances to try not to say anything that would put other troops at risk, to only give basic information about himself, not to make his captors mad, and to look for any opportunity to escape in case his captors let up their guard. so far, that hasn't happened and the hunt for him goes on. >> absolutely. barbara starr, thanks so much, barbara. new information now on the murder of a prominent florida couple. just released court documents show a connection between the lead suspect in the case and the murdered couple. cnn's susan candiotti has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: was it a murder for hire? is it possible someone put out a hit on byrd and melinda billings? before the sheriffs denied it,

not any more. >> we're not taking any motive off the table. >> reporter: a possible contract hit is something the billings daughter finds inconceivable. >> do you know anyone who wanted to do harm -- >> i would not answer that question. >> i can't, actually. with the investigation. >> this is an ongoing investigation. and those are the kinds of questions -- >> i will say, you know, my parents were wonderful people and i can't imagine somebody having that magnitude of hate in their life. >> cnn has now learned the group did a dry run at the house a month before the murders. but the sheriff says it was not captured on the home security cameras. on the day of the crime, he says suspects stole not only a safe, but also a briefcase filled with personal papers. both items were recovered from the home of pamela wiggins. and a newly released police

affidavit, suspected master mind leonard gonzalez jr. allegedly spoke of knowing the victims and receiving past financial support for the opening of a martial arts studio. but the family attorney suggests it may have been one of many donations the billings made to the community. investigators also believe gonzalez jr. was once on billings' payroll. >> he worked, i think, for an automobile dealership. again, we're verifying that information that he worked with one of the companies that mr. billings had owned an interest in. >> there's also new information about the crime scene. police documents indicate the couple was killed in their bedroom. and for the first time, their daughter says they kept no guns inside the house. >> you must have gone over this in your head a million times. >> i play it over every second of every day. you know, you just think

about -- was there pain? were they scared? the children, it plays in my mind constantly. >> boy, susan candiotti live from pensacola, florida. so susan, i'm understanding that the children have returned to the home. any word on how that's gone for them? >> reporter: well, naturally the billings' daughter says it's a difficult time for them. as she tries to ease the children back into a normal routine but said oddly a kind of feel at peace there. a lot of help from the community, they've cleaned up the house, installed new windows, a new security system and gate out front. and she said, you know, it's always been part of my mother's will that if anything happened to me, to her rather, that i should step in and take over and she said i tell my brothers and sisters that's just what i am, their sister. they only have one mother and father.

>> wow. it's a tough story. susan candiotti, live for us this morning in pensacola, florida. bailing out the banks. this morning, the man in charge of your $700 billion goes before lawmakers and may raise some questions you don't really want to hear. cnn severe weather center, comfortably cool again across the southeast, that's about to change. temperatures in texas smoking hot all moving north. weather's coming when the "cnn newsroom" comes right back.

the bank bailout program, the $700 billion of your money. is it being well spent? next hour on capitol hill, we may get troubling answers from the man in charge. neal overseas t.a.r.p., he says the government is not doing enough to prevent waste and stealing. christine romans with more on this. what can we expect the t.a.r.p. watchdog to say today? >> well, he's likely to say he'd like to see better safeguards, like to see the banks keep a better accounting for how they're lending the money. he'd like to make sure that the program to buy and sell and trade toxic assets that the government is setting up. he'd like to see safeguards between the managers of that program to make sure their

private clients aren't benefitting from any of the public money they're also handling. he's got a whole host of things he'd like to work through and questions and better oversight he'd like see from the treasury department. also sort of giving a progress report about where we are. this is 12 programs involving $3 trillion. he's launched 35 different investigations into fraud, pilfering, and mismanagement, and here is the eye-popping number. a lot of political attention. 23.7 trillion, he says is the total potential government support for the bank rescues, the bailouts, the backing of loans, the bridge loans, the auto industry, everything all put together, $23.7 trillion, that's twice the size of the entire american economy. it's a big number, and look, my own count, we get up to $8 trillion, $9 trillion in terms of the value of all of these programs. $23 is a lot. he's also adding in there all of the debt that's been issued that has been backed by the fdic. put it altogether, it's almost

$24 trillion. >> the treasury department will tell you that number's inflated. >> or distorted because they rightly point out that some of these programs aren't in existence any more, some of them have been perfectly paid back. jpmorgan got a $14 billion loan to buy bear stearns, paid that back in full with interest. there have been $6 billion in dividend payments, $200 million in interest payments, and i mentioned all that debt issued and backed by the fdic, we haven't lost a dime on any of that. others will say, look, that's a big number, it includes everything, but it's not exactly what we could lose. some of these programs are actually closed. and he and his team point out that they're trying to put that $700 billion bank bailout into context. it's one part of a very big effort of government rescue, of the economy, and he's putting that into context for how much money we've spent overall. >> i never want to know how much we've spent overall. >> it's a lot of money.

>> is that by chance what the romans numeral is? >> the romans' numeral is 611. your share of that $24 trillion is $74,611. here's what the average american worker brings home every week, $611, so here we are with average weekly earnings, and we're watching our government talk about trillions there and trillions there and billions to bank, backstopping of loans. it's why, i think, so many people in america get so irritated about the bank bailout in general. they see $700 billion, and you put that into context of what the average american working family makes and it's stark. it's a very stark difference for sure. >> that's a big number. no question. >> a big number and a small number. >> no kidding. all right, christine romans, thank you. >> bye-bye. well, well, well -- >> hey. >> look who it is. it's rob marciano, everybody. he's back from foreign land. >> yeah.

can you hear the crickets? cricket, cricket. i don't know if you're looking for applause, but you're not going to get any. >> we had some good weather while you were gone. >> i got off the plane in atlanta last night, low humidity, comfortable temperatures. i thought i got rerouted somewhere else. the southeast again, as you said, very, very comfortable, very, very cool, low levels of humidity, and that's been the story really for the past few days. texas on the other hand has not seen that. check out some of these numbers. 107 in mcallen, del rio 106. some of these places have seen temperatures over 100 all but two days of this month, and most of those have been record. certainly nasty weather for those folks. on the map, temperatures warm down across the south, that's where you're going to see the thunderstorms. back through dale, dallas you're starting to -- a few -- i think i got them lined up here

somewhere. >> you remember how to work that? >> that's the problem. chew gum and walk, not me. laguardia, 35-minute delays. i guess dallas isn't on there. ground stop until 8:30 local time. we'll talk more whether in about half an hour. so nice to be back. >> welcome back. >> i did notice, absolutely. we'll check back later on, rob. thank you. a new number to add to any formula for a health care overhaul. 870,000 americans turning 65 every month. can they actually be covered? our dr. sanjay gupta is looking at the bottom line. a hot topic on our blog this morning, as well. there's an awful lot of talk about taxing the rich. today we're asking what is rich? ponder that and then go to our blog at cnn.com/heidi and post your thoughts. or you could call in your thoughts. the hot line to heidi, call that

number 1877-742-5760. we're going to read or hear some of your responses coming up later in the show.

harvard university professor

is accusing the police of racism. he was arrested at his home thursday and charged with disorderly conduct. police say they were responding to a report of a break-in at the home and found gates trying to get in. a police statement indicates gates refused to identify himself. gates' lawyer disputes that saying gates showed the officer his license and his university i.d. the lawyer says gates was only trying to open his jammed front door. professor gates is joining us live tomorrow night as cnn continues its investigation of the most challenging issues facing african-americans. what are the solutions? wednesday night at 7:00, the countdown to an all new black in america 2 live from time square. and then, at 8:00, president obama's news conference followed by the first night of cnn's two night event, "black in america 2." covering the bottom line in your health care coverage.

the congressional budget office says the democrats' health care plans would actually increase the deficit. when it comes to costs, one of the biggest questions is how many people will need health care in the future. great question to be thinking about. dr. sanjay gupta's joining us now to talk more about it. what are the uninsured numbers like right now before we look to the future? >> well, people talk about the number of people who don't have insurance. and they say it's around $46 million total and they're starting to project costs in terms of how much it would cost to get these people insured. get these folks insured. one thing that's starting to emerge. a little bit of a nuance and an important one. people uninsured right now don't simply cost nothing. they still access the health care system, and really, if you put a price tag on it, it's about $100 billion, and often time it's to treat what would otherwise be preventable diseases to take care of later stage cancers and take care of more chronic heart disease that

may have been prevented. that's something that enters into the discussion, as well. do you save money because they might get health care earlier and not let some of these diseases get as far as they would. this is where the cost discussion is starting to go. you're going to add more people to the insurance world, is it going to cost more in the immediate and long-term? how is that all going to play out? >> long-term is certainly -- >> over time. right. >> no question about that. but this is really interesting too. because to me, and i'm certainly not the guy writing the policy, obviously, but when you look at how many people are uninsured right now, i mean, when you fast forward several years and you try to look at the population that we would be dealing with then in the number of uninsured and the cost of that, this new census report has some staggering numbers about that because there's going to be a whole lot of people who are, what is it? the age of 65? >> over the age of 65. the demographics are changing. and keep this in mind as you think about the numbers, we do tend to spend the vast majority

of our health care budget in the last few years of life. that's the way it is for most people unless you've had some chronic disease your whole life. the numbers are staggering, they think 506 million hit the age of 65 or older in 2008. i think over the next 30 years, that'll be close to 1.3 billion people. so more than a third of our population falling into that highest spending of health care. and that's a concern. and that's where the concern has been as far as federal entitlements and providing health care for the older all along. what the proponents will say is, look, if you get these people insured early, create a more healthy population, if you sort of focus on prevention and wellness, you're not going to spend as much later in life. it's going to be one of those things where you don't have to spend the rest of your life in nursing homes or hospitals. >> but the numbers is more than double. >> so different than a lot of other industrialized nations around the world. >> well, we have a big one to be talking about, don't we? dr. sanjay gupta, appreciate that. and a reminder here, we are

going to be bringing you live coverage of the president's remarks on health care reform. that will happen this afternoon at 1:05 eastern. watch for that. blasting the drug pipeline. whoa, the military using 1,000-pound bombs to destroy flower seeds. against taliban's cash crop. enjoy one of life's little pleasures.

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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.

on wall street, the dow's winning streak, the best run in more than two years. will it continue, though? that's the question as we listen to the opening bell. corporate earnings and the fed chairman too. susan lisovicz at the new york stock exchange now with a look at what we can expect. hi there, susan. >> good morning, heidi. stock futures tell us and we're seeing gains at the open. so the dow poised to extend that streak to a seventh day. investors, meanwhile, awaiting testimony from fed chairman ben bernanke scheduled at the top of the hour. the fed chairman set to give his semiannual report to congress today and tomorrow. an op ed piece the fed chief says that policy makers do have an exit strategy following the central bank's extraordinary actions over the past year. and today, we have new evidence that such a strategy will eventually be needed because there are signs of economic hope.

coke, texas instruments, and caterpill caterpillar's second quarter earnings all exceeded wall street's expectations. caterpillar, the world's largest maker of construction equipment also raised its forecast for the rest of the year says it sees signs of economic stabilization. cat shares right now are up 11%. continental airlines posted a loss topping $206 million. to cope, well, you know what, the carrier's cutting 1,700 jobs and raising baggage fees. your first checked bag will now cost $20, up from $15. so we'll await to see whether competitors will follow suit. continental shares right now are down 1.5%. yes, more nickel and diming. we are seeing the three major averages higher. the nasdaq up now for a tenth day, the s&p 500 at an eight-month high. heidi.

>> all right. >> i know you're focussed on continental. >> yeah. a hard time -- look at the other stuff, heidi. >> move on. all right, thanks so much, susan. we'll check in later on with you once again. meanwhile, we are watching developments in afghanistan this morning, including new suicide attacks on local leaders and a u.s. base. our ivan watson is with troops in southern afghanistan watching spectacular efforts to slow the drug trade and the pipeline. and chris lawrence in washington looking at a program that's helping marines talk to the people they're trying to help. berkas and bombs. launched nearly simultaneous attacks in two eastern cities. several used rockets and suicide vests to attack a government compound in the city of gardez. eight militants and six afghan

soldiers are dead. u.s. and afghan forces killed two of the attackers, a thursday was captured. defense secretary robert gates wants a bigger army. he announced the planned addition of 22,000 soldiers fill gap caused by operations in afghanistan and iraq. those extra troops would be added over the next three years through increased recruitment and reenlistment. the army's last expansion to 547,000 soldiers was just completed in may. breaking through language barriers in afghanistan and other combat zones. a new military crash course teaches marines to be fluent in some of the world's most difficult languages. chris lawrence tells us they only have a year to get up to speed. >> reporter: what kind of class could make a marine sergeant sweat? the one where he has one year to learn poshtu. >> what are the more difficult

sounds? >> they're the cough. it comes down, and it's like you're coughing. so there's that one and then the hey versus the huh. >> reporter: it is the primary language in afghanistan and the class is six weeks into the crash course. >> it's not just learning to repronounce an a, but actually reconstruct your throat and everything else to try and try to model the sounds that these people speak in their language. >> reporter: it's brand new, the fastest language course in the military for troops heading to the afghanistan pakistan region. we're protecting their identities because they're part of an elite group at the marine special operations command. it's total immersion, seven hours a day in class then five hours of studying, and eventually being dropped in a foreign country. in the next room, they're learning another afghan language dahri.

the woman in charge of the program says the marines will be able to explain operations and support opinions in the native tongue. >> it's not the answer any more. >> reporter: very few military translators speak the languages of southern afghanistan and pakistan. troops have to trust local translators, which isn't the same as a u.s. marine. >> their mission and their goals and certain things cannot be really disclosed to an interpreter. >> reporter: so while fellow marines practice their aim outside, the real battle for afghanistan may be won with words. >> chris lawrence is joining us now from our d.c. bureau. so chris, an awful lot of training in just a year. why such a fast pace? >> well, heidi, because it's essential to the new strategy in afghanistan, which is all about getting good intelligence, in building those relationships with the afghan people.

if this works, every marine special ops unit will have a fluent fellow marine on their team. and that's something that could become a model for a lot more of the military. i've got to tell you, i tried just a few phrases, i cannot believe where they are in six weeks. these are really, really tough languages to learn. >> yeah. and the training is very, very intense, i imagine. all right, chris lawrence, keep trying, we appreciate it. our pentagon correspondent this morning. let's talk now about saving money. got your attention, right? we'll show you three ways to cut your energy costs during the dog days of summer. ou 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. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm

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new and only from progressive. call or click today. as you know, we are in the middle of summer when cooling costs can drive up your energy bill. but gerri willis has ways to save right now. good morning to you, gerri. >> good morning, heidi. >> where do we get started? >> you think about the little things, switching out your regular computer monitor for a flat panel computer screen, the flat panel uses a third of the electricity of regular computer monitors. and if you're thinking about replacing that big screen tv, invest in an lcd, uses half the energy of a plasma, and think about the gadgets you keep plugged in day in and day out, your cell phone chargers, ipod chargers, digital clocks on your

stove. they all use energy when you're not actively using them. it may not seem like much, but if you keep your computer monitor on all the time, it adds up. the alliance to save energy estimates on a national, use about 5% of energy and cost consumers more than $8 billion annually. >> wow. that's crazy. >> much larger number than i would have expected. also got to remember because everybody's running their air-conditioners when it's hot, have to keep that thing clean. >> yes, you do. check your filters at least once a week to make sure they're not clogged with dirt. and if you live with a lot of dust or furry pets, be extra vigilant. it costs about $10, and you can get them at the local hardware store. you want to remove the filter and run it under the faucet to clean it. not only will you cut down on your energy bill, but increasing the life of your ac. and that's good news for everybody. >> yeah. also, i guess, people should be thinking about their landscape a little bit.

keeping your home cooler, right? >> it's not that obvious, right? but if you strategically plant greenery, believe it or not, you can save $250 a year, a 6 foot to 8 foot tree planted near your home will be shading windows within the first year and air-conditioning, shading the unit can increase the efficiency as much as 10%. trees should be planted to the south of your home to provide maximum summer time roof shading. trees with crowns lower to the ground are better planted in the west. >> okay. who knew? very good. >> just thinking about all of the angles. >> got that. gerri willis, thank you. >> my pleasure. american forces are also taking aim at afghanistan's cash crop now. and they're doing it in spectacular fashion. cnn's ivan watson is embedded with the marines in southern

afghanistan's helmand province. good morning to you, ivan. >> reporter: hi, heidi, well, it's been a bloody summer. it is the fighting season here in afghanistan. and one thing that the marines from the second reconnaissance battalion has done to try to cut down on the number of deadly roadside bombs that have been hitting american and nato troops is to try to go after the opium industry, it's a $300 billion a year industry for the taliban. so we saw marines gathering 1,600 huge sacks of poppy seeds, tons, piling them up in a big pile and then in a ceremony today, they made a very serious show of force, a message to the taliban and to the narco traffickers, against that seed of poppy seeds.

let's take a look at that now, heidi. >> gee, that's unbelievable. >> so yeah, a spectacular -- those were 1,000-pound bombs, and we really felt the impact from that. now, that's a warning, of course, to the taliban, and it is also a warning to the poppy farmers in this district. i mean, most of the crops that are raised here are poppies. that's the cash crop, that's what people do to put food on the table and this is an impoverished area. i asked america's top coordinator for economic and development affairs tony wade what is going on here. he's the u.s. military getting into the poppy eradication business. here's what he had to say, heidi. >> is the u.s. military now in the poppy eradication business? >> no, but they really not at all in the eradication business, but we realize there's a nexus between poppy growing and drug trafficking and money for the insurgency.

so when there's opportunity to find stashes like this that was discovered, dea is there with them, the afghan authorities, drug authorities are there with them and they help point the military to look here or they have intelligence to say, let's go look there and then it's part of the mission is to destroy that, to take it and destroy it. >> reporter: so there we hear it from a u.s. official describing that the u.s. military will not destroy heroin and opium when they find it. heidi? >> wow, incredible video, ivan. really good reporting. we appreciate it so much. just curious with the international community and afghan government is going to be doing to help some of these farmers who lose their livelihood. we should probably make clear that we're not talking about terrorists who are actually growing the poppies. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, heidi, these are ordinary

afghan very poor people. this is an incredibly poor country and the only way they can feed their children and their family. now, ambassador tony wayne did say that the u.s. government is going to funnel in hundreds of millions of dollars just to southern afghanistan for this very reason, to help with agriculture. also going to send in agricultural experts to help teach people to learn to grow other crops like fruits and vegetables, things afghanistan used to do before it was plunged into 30 years of war. he said these aid workers will need afghan partners, and that is a big challenge because if you talk to any afghan in this country, the central government's credibility is really on the line right now. after eight years, many people accuse the afghan government of being corrupt and being involved in this very same heroin problem. and we're going to see a test of that on august 20th, heidi, when

we see presidential elections here in afghanistan. >> a very good reminder of that. quickly before we let you go, i heard you say that the united states is going to be kicking in money to help some of these farmers. just the united states? or other countries and the governments themselves trying to help out? >> reporter: no the british are very active here. their soldiers are fighting here. they have lost lives. another british soldier killed by one of those deadly ieds yesterday. they also have experts in the area. they're trying to funnel in aid, as well, but this is an impoverished area. one of the programs they've organized is try to organize in the immediate term on the back of this marine offensive into southern helmand province, work projects to try to get some of these farmers, give them jobs immediately, salaries, and also vouchers to buy things like fertilizer and seeds for legal crops. >> yes. other types of crops, understood. ivan watson embedded with the

u.s. marines there. we sure do appreciate the reporting. thanks so much, ivan. two brothers risk their lives to save a mother and her two children. the dramatic rescue is all caught on tape.

in milwaukee, wisconsin, two brothers also offduty firefighters are being called heroes after they helped save a mother and her two young children. and a quick warning here, even though this is a great story, the video may be difficult for some people to watch. police say the woman hit a tree and her suv burst into flames. everyone inside was trapped. the men immediately jumped into action. >> step back! there's a baby in there.

>> the men broke the windshield and quickly pulled the mother and her 2-year-old daughter out from the flames. the 4-year-old boy had to be cut free from his car seat. and the boy has burns now on 30% of his body and is still in critical condition. and an envir. between consuming less and conserving more. there is one important word: how. and it is the how that makes all the difference. to the planet we all share.

health care reform and who pays for it? heating up the blog and phone lines this morning. we ask you to define the word rich. here's what laura from michigan says. >> i think $200,000 a year and above is rich. you live on less than $40,000, you would feel that way, too. >> and we also want to let you know what some of our bloggers are saying this morning. because we asked you to not only call in, but write in, as well. cnn.com/heidi. constance says this. donald trump is rich, so is bill gates and steve jobs.

president obama and wayne huizenga, too. there are lots of celebrities that are rich. no one knows who they are. a lot of the invisible millionaires, but, however, to put a number on rich would have to include how much does that person give back? that should be part of the equation. so, obviously, a lot of responses coming in this morning. everybody's idea of rich seems to be a little bit different. we wanted to hear what you had to say about it. go to cnn.com/heidi if you're a blogging kind of person or call the hotline to heidi if you'd like your voice to actually be heard on the air. 1-800-742-5760. a lot going on this morning in the next hour of the "cnn newsroom." let's begin with poppy harlow live in new york. >> $700 billion in t.a.r.p.

money, but the treasury department doesn't require the banks where all that money is going but a new report with some interesting findings. we'll dig deeper at the top of the hour, heidi. >> president obama continuing to push his health care reform and he said this morning if you don't set a deadline nothing happens and nothing gets done. he's setting the deadlines for the august recess. much more on that at the top of the hour. >> i'm susan lisovicz at the new york stock exchange. the dow is nearing the 9,000 mark. this is as investors await testimony from ben bernanke on the economy and the so-called exit strategy from recession. heidi, more on that at the top of the hour. also look at the gap of the wealth of white americans and african-americans. a welt building expert will join us to talk about what you can do to narrow the gap.

most ex-convicts will commit another crime and end up behind bars again. this revolving prison bar is costly for communities and devastates family. in black in america 2 soledad o'brien travels to oakland,

california, where one pioneering program is working to stop the slide back into crime. >> i'm different. i don't want to settle for this. this is not me. >> our first meeting with chris shurn is behind bars at san quentin. it was more than a year ago. >> been down for three years and six months and about to go home. i want to go somewhere and be somebody. >> where do you want to be? >> i want to have a house, i want everything an average american would want. >> reporter: how realistic are chris' dreams? like other felons, once released he will face setbacks, frustration and life with little money but he's not alone. everett is the lead case worker with project choice, a pioneering program to help ex-cons get support and keep them from going back to prison. how would you describe your job?

because you're an employment agency, mentor, role model, all the above. >> it's almost just like being somebody's assistant. you know, i'm taking care of this person's business in some sense. >> five months after we first met, chris shurn is released from san quentin. everett tries to help clients like chris develop a life plan, where he wants to work, where he'll live, how he'll avoid temptation. are you going to ever go back to san quentin? >> only to work, not to be an inmate. i'll go back there and teach something, not to be an inmate. >> never? >> never. >> he's an ex-con, so he can't get subsidized housing. he can't receive health care. he has no health care. what he does get is a job right away at good will industries.

but it's part-time and pays $10 an hour. a fraction of what chris was making selling drugs on the street. what's your big challenge of the day? >> trying to convert life styles. even though i changed my life, it's very, very hard to adjust to this new lifestyle. >> what do you mean? >> i'm used to having a lot of money. >> how much money do you have on you right now? >> enough to buy lunch, $10. >> will little money and lots of frustration lead to temptation? tomorrow night beginning at 7:00, the countdown to an all new "black in america 2" live from times square. at 8:00 president obama news conference and the first two hours of the "black in america" event. here's some other stories we're watching right now. a second inmate that escaped

from the indiana state prison is back in custody. he was found at his parents' home about 250ance tape of the three inmates that escaped july 5th. polar bears are invading washington this week trying to get the game legalized online. right now playing poker online for money is illegal. supporters are holding a charity game in washington to raise money for the uso and walter reed medical center. the watergate hotel in washington hits the auction block in 15 minutes. it is in foreclosure. watergate was closed in 2007 for renovations that were never done. where burglars broke into the democratic party headquarters that led to president nixon's resignation.

the bank bailout program. $700 billion of your money. is it being well spent? this hour on capitol hill we may get troubling answers from the man in charge. neil oversees t.a.r.p., the troubled asset relief program, he says the government isn't doing enough preventing waste and stealing. the latest from capitol hill and congressional correspondent brianna keilar. good morning to you. what is the deal here? these are words people don't want to hear, i imagine. >> a lot of people want to hear it, as well. they want to know where this money is going and what happened with this controversial program. we're going to hear from neil, he is the top cop, the big watch dog when it comes to the bank bailout program and he'll talk about a couple things in particular, after filing two reports here in the last few months, we're expecting to hear some very critical words about the department of treasury and we're expecting him to say that

he thinks they should do a better job of getting information from these companies, whether auto companies or financial companies that have gotten money from the bank bailout. they should tell the department of treasury where all this money is going. we're also expecting he is going to be talk about how some people illegally benefited from their knowledge of this program through insider trading and he wants there to be some fire walls basically in place so that they can't happen any more. the other thing, heidi, that dominated so much attention, the eye-popping number. i think we're probably going to hear some about that, too. >> what do you think we might hear? can you tell us? >> i think there is going to be some emphasis on it, of course. this is that big number which, you know, we talk about t.a.r.p., the bailout. $700 billion which is a lot. when you talk about $23.3 trillion that is the amount in this report that he said the federal government and all of

its programs do not just get financial, the financial industry through, but consumers through. that's how much money has been available just to move people and move companies through this economic meltdown. we are expecting them to hit on that and talk about that number and also, heidi, i think what we are going to be hearing are republicans who are going to be most critical in this hearing talking about the issue of transparency. they see a political opening here. the obama administration promised transparency with t.a.r.p. and in their words completely failed to deliver on it. look for political points to be scored. >> thanks so much for that. we want to bring in cnn.com's poppy harlow. since october the government invested $200 billion in like 600 banks or so. do we know what happened to that money? >> we don't know what happened to a lot of specifics. brianna set it up perfectly. where's the oversight and

taxpayer money going. the treasury department doesn't require the banks to explicitly spell out how they're spending the money through the t.a.r.p. program. like pouring money through the ocean. defuses so quickly, you can't really track it. the man in charge of all of this, he's not buying that and the latest report just out, he asked, 360 banks to explain what they have done with the t.a.r.f. funds that they have received. the report shows a few things. 83% of those banks have used it for lending. that was, of course, the original purpose of this program. but the banks have also used the banks for a number of purposes including boosting their own capital base and also making investments and paying down their debt and buying, acquiring other banks, not the purpose. now, he's not going to say this is good or this is bad, but if you ask these banks can account for where that money is and we should point out here, as well, the banks did not give exact dollar figures. 83% are lending with t.a.r.p.

money, but we don't know by how much and he's taking them at their word because he can't verify the findings. he is relying on the banks to tell them the truth. >> as brianna also mentioned, he warned that taxpayer expenditure could reach something like almost $24 trillion. that is a crazy number. how does it get to that? >> it's a crazy number and it's a number that's getting a lot of criticism. the way he gets to it. hard to put our head around $1 trillion yet alone 24. he's talking about all the government rescue efforts. we're talking about not only lending to banks and automakers and also debt guarantees for financial institutions and from the fed and fdic and the fannie mae and freddie mac programs and you add that up and you get $23.7 trillion. heidi, let's end on this. that's a worse-case scenario. we'll all be listening carefully. again, a lot of backlash and the

treasury calling it an inflated figure, heidi. >> we heard that, too. appreciate it. poppy harlow, thank you. new details for the rescue plan for cit, a company considered a lifeline for many small and mid-size businesses. some companies said they will not be able to survive without the lender. bondholders have struck a financing deal that will keep it out of bankruptcy, at least for now. reports it will pay more than 10% interest on the loan. plus, billions of dollars in maturing debt. we will continue to follow that story for you, as well. turning now to washington, the white house says it will not meet today's deadline of the terror prison at guantanamo bay. you may remember the obama administration vowed to close the facility by january, but that time frame may now be in doubt. the white house says it will need six more months before it can release its policy before dealing with terror suspects.

senior officials insist the prison will still be closed by january, as planned. president obama fighting back against critics of his health care overhaul plan. putting politics ahead of policy. the president plans more remarks on health care reform today. suzanne malveaux is that white house with more on this. suzanne, the president spoke about health care on the "today" show this morning. did he say anything different? >> he's reiterating the same point he has been making for the last couple weeks. if you don't set a deadline, nothing will happen in washington, it's inaction. he also said despite the fact that he is putting a lot of opolitical capital, as you know, behind this issue, the weight of this issue, he says this is not about washington sport here. this is about trying to address and solve an enormous problem with the american people. he acknowledged the part of that enormity, the congressional budget office and nonpartisan group that said, look, the plans that have been put forward so

far do not lower the health care costs. they do not necessarily even lower the federal deficit that it increases the federal deficit. the president was asked about that on "today" show whether he felt they were ready and designed to tackle these issues and he said they're not quite there yet, but they're working on the details. why don't you take a listen. >> i know exactly what they're saying. what they're saying is that the cost savings that are in those bills right now, some of them may actually work, but not enough to offset the additional costs of bringing in 46 million new people. >> heidi, really, it is the cunonedrum here. if you try to increase the number of people who get health care insurance, how do you lower health care costs that same time? the president acknowledged that right now they're still negotiating and they have to find more ways to save money. he was pushed, pressed a little

bit about whether or not he agreed on one house plan for those making $280,000 a year whether or not they would have a surtax, if you will. he said that he didn't believe that taxes should be beyond those who make $250,000 and last he left the door open for that possible plan, that possibility and he says he doesn't believe that it's punishing the rich, per se. it's about living in a community and providing for those who cannot. so, still negotiations going on and this president, heidi, putting himself out there every single day. there has been a health care event and continue throughout the week really trying to push this idea of getting this thing done by august or at least fairly soon. >> suzanne malveaux for us this morning. thank you. live coverage happening this afternoon at 12:15 eastern. health care is the hot topic on our blog this morning, as well. taxing the rich to pay for tax

care reform and we are asking, what is rich? we ponder that and go to our blog at cnn.com/heidi or call in your thoughts to the new hotline to heidi number right there on the screen. you can see it for yourself. 1-877-742-5760. and we will read or listen to some of oyour responses coming up later in the show. there will not be a vote today on judge sotomayor. republicans successfully pushed for and got a delay of today's vote. they will now vote next tuesday. democrats wanted a quick vote following last week's confirmation hearings. bnchlths a harsh sentence for a shocking crime. a chicago judge gives a teenager 100 years in prissen for killing the son of two anti-violent

activists. 18-year-old michael pace was looking out for rival gang members when he oep oened fire on a bus two years ago. witnesses say the victim pushed a friend down on her seat before getting hit. his mother says the sentence sends a clear message. >> i just think this sends a message across the country, actually, not just here in the city of chicago that if you kill a child and you're proved guilty that you're going to get a stiff penalty and you're going to go to jail and do time and you're going to do every day. >> another boy was sentenced to ten years in jail for providing the gun. i'm rob marciano. hi, heidi, how are you doing? >> i was going to welcome you back, but you just take it away. >> i always like chatting with you, but i see that animation and it just means go. we'll take a quick break, heidi. when we come back, the record-breaking cool temperatures in some parts of the country. meanwhile, record-breaking heat and it will all kind of mix up a

little bit and we'll talk about where all that hot and cold is going when the "cnn newsroom" going when the "cnn newsroom" comes right back. (woman) the dust might be settling...

the pentagon says it's making every effort to get back a kidnapped soldier. he went missing june 30th. these pictures are from a taliban video of private bergdahl that surfaced on the internet. robert gates called it

disgusting. military officials believe he is still being held somewhere in afghanistan. they are using search squads and unmanned drones to look for the missing soldier. we're watching that story for you closely. also, defense secretary robert gates wants a bigger army. he announced the addition of 22,000 soldiers to fill gaps. those extra troops would be added over the next three years through increased recruitment and reenlistments. right now army has 537,000 soldiers and there are close to 200,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan and iraq. seven people are dead and more than two dozen are wounded after two separate bombings in baghdad. one bomb went off near an entrance to baghdad's green zone where both iraqi offices are located. construction workers hang out in sadr city. they believe the bombers may

have targeted a convoy for one of their ministers. rob mar ciano joining us no to talk about summertime. for some people it doesn't feel like summertime over the last couple days. >> places that would be pretty hot and humid, this includes maybe the eastern third of the country, especially near the atlantic seaboard, comfortably cool in some places, maybe too comfortably cool. you'd like summer to come back at you. what we had across the midwest last night and last night across the plains pretty rough and tumble weather and we see what went through kansas and oklahoma and brought winds and hail that you might see in april and may as opposed to july. late season deal and all heading towards this way and rough weather in it and certainly frequent lightning and gusty winds. less violent variety of rain, certainly something the folks in the new york city metro pallten

area have gotten used to the last few weeks, months. moisture off the ocean and temperatures on the chilly side with temperatures about 64 degrees. there's a shot of central park. so, not the best day to go out there and do your thing around the reservoir. heavy rain right now and that's going to continue, as you can see here on the radarscope. tomorrow looks to be better of a day, but 86 degrees in atlanta and still very, very cool. and temperatures in the 90s and over 100 in texas and that's where the record-breaking heat has been. start of a shift and high pressure out towards bermuda this time of year, finally going to get there and that will start this influx of humidity and heat for the folks who typically see it this time of the year. the southeast, the mid-atlantic and parts of the midwest and up through the northeast, but that won't come until tomorrow and next day and in the meantime the folks who have been enjoying the comfortably cool air, heidi, should continue to enjoy it.

couple airport delays, but nothing too major at this time. >> i don't know, golfing weather to me. >> do it. i haven't played in like a month. >> you still play? >> still poorly. >> we'll talk about that off air. thanks so much, rob, appreciate it. pregnancy and air pollution. concerns about the iqs of children being born in urban areas.

a new study links urban air pollution with lower childhood iq scores. children exposed to the most pollution in the wumer had lower iqs.

dr. sanjay gupta here to talk more about this. you know me, who did the study, how many people did they talk to? what is the scoop here? >> we're not ready to draw an absolute cause and effect here. this is something i have been fascina fascinated with for some time. they had 700 women, pregnant women walking around new york city with these backpacks. they're sort of like these lungs, these fake lungs that measure all these different toxins that a woman would likely breathe in while she's pregnant. is there a relationship between pollution, the amount she breathes in and the impact on your developing baby. that was the real crux of the question the researchers are trying to figure out. after they followed the pregnancy and followed the delivery and the kids for five years out, kids who had exposure to the highest pollution in the womb had iq points that were slightly lower, four to five points lower. which is not a lot.

but sort of speaks to this issue, is there some relationship between pollution and your overall, and the development of a baby. they really focused on the, don't need to remember that, pchs, but one thing about these substances, you can see them. that's what they are. >> makes you cough. >> it also crosses the placenta, which is something that i think is important here. i spent time with the lead researcher fredricka about the issue and she points out we're not talking about huge differences but over time continued expoesher to this pollution, are you starting to bend the curve downward in terms of intelligence level. >> as we look at video like that, when we say exposure to pollution, we're talking everyday life of new york city where some of that was shot. you're just walking down the street or are we talking about people who work in a factory or i'm sure all of that was accounted for. >> one thing worth pointing out, you don't have to live next to a

factory to get the exposure. on the other hand, probably things you can do on any given day to try to mitigate your risk, mitigate the impact of this. >> like? >> i talked to her specifically about this. i'm hearing all this and tell me what you do. here's what she said. >> since i spent the day with you here, it's a little bit scary when you think about being outside and breathing in all this stuff and these assaults on our bodies. how do we know how to protect ourselves without overdoing it, with being sensible? >> i think that's the key, being sensible and not panic and doing things that are reasonable. >> yes, went on to say shutting your windows during high pollution season and trying to plan your walking routes to avoid the most congested parts of the day. but it's not all on the individual, part of it is in the city. not letting your car idle in front of buildings and starting to make a difference in air qualities, but studies like this remind us of why we have to do

this. >> interesting to do studies like this around other parts of the world. all right, dr. sanjay gupta, thank you very much. very interesting. also, we're watching this story today, it's a big dwgap a it's growing. discussing ways to level the paying field.

your money. it is front and center on capitol hill today. right now, federal reserve chairman ben bernanke is discussing the economy. is a recovery on the horizon? and in another hearing, lawmakers are getting an update on the bank bailout and they'll hear some troubling warnings.

>> you know, it's, yeah, i would say that there is hope, but we have to be patient and it's not easy to do so when we're in such a long recession and when so many millions of americans are suffering. i mean, this is basically what every fed chairman does. he goes on capitol hill for two days and talks about the state of affairs. what the fed chief is saying in his prepared statement is that the recovery is likely to be a gradual one and it will begin next year. the fed, the central bank is focused on fostering economic recovery and that the fed has an exit strategy. in fact, in a rare "wall street

journal" op-ed piece today the fed chairman said "economic conditions aren't likely to warrant tighter monetary policy for an extended period. we will calibrate the timing and pace of future timing to best foster our dual objectives of maximum employment and price stability. that is a quote from the op-ed page. the bottom line is, the fed's not ready to use the exit strategy just yet. the economy, the recovery isn't there yet. stabilization, yes, not recovery. heidi? >> yeah, no. can you talk a little bit more about the exit strategy and i would imagine in the middle of it all, you have to consider inflation. >> well, that's the bottom line. you know, ask you to think of the economy as a very, very sick patient. the federal reserve has thrown all sorts of medicine at it. some extraordinary therapies. the fed knows that, yes, if the patient can recover from that,

but there are all sorts of side effects from these therapies and it has to withdraw. just when is the big question. if you withdraw too quickly, of course, there could be a setback. in this case, the economy. but on the other hand, inflation. what can the fed do? it can raise interest rates, but the fed has said it will keep the interest rates near zero for extended periods. all this extraordinary lending that has occurred, the balance sheet which has become so much larger. the fed lending, bernanke said, letting the banks drop to $600 billion, that's huge, but it was $1.5 trillion at the end of last year. so, you're seeing just sort of recovery there and the fed is keeping its eyes on the prize to withdraw this stimulus as soon as it can without setting the economy back. just quickly, what we're seeing here on wall street in the meantime, the dow up for a seventh straight day and nasdaq giving back a little bit.

heidi, back to you. >> susan lisovicz, thank you. california now. the budget stalemate may be over and the state may be able to issue checks, once again. remember, the state ran out of cash earlier this month and had to pay bills with ious. arnold schwarzenegger and legislative leaders hammered out a budget plan and balance the budget and close a $26 billion shortfall without raising taxes. until now, they haven't compromised on where the cuts can be made. >> we've accomplished a lot in this budget and i wanted to thank the legislative leaders for hanging in there and negotiating all this weeks and especially the last few hours. it was like a suspense movie, but, like i said, we have accomplished a lot. >> the budget deal comes up for a vote on thursday. it calls for deep cuts to programs and relies on borrowing from local government.

still talking about numbers and we want to tell you about some startling ones now. big wealth disparities between african-americans and whites. numbers from the federal reserve suggest the average black family only has about a tenth of the cash average white families have. some people are teaming up with advocacy groups to help shrink that gap, including george frasier. he is the ceo of frasier net and the author of "success runs in our race." and he is with us today. thank you, george. we appreciate your time today. first off, when i give that statistic that the federal reserve has put out there, why the wealth gap? what is the deal with that? >> sigsent reasons. first institutionalized health reasons in america which has impacted our financial heritance and lower home ownership sxloeer marriage rate in the black

community and we have mismanaged much of our money in the black community and that is the result of poor education and thinking and networking and modeling and complacencies. zee to fix that and that has resulted, quite frankly, in us being the baby boomer generation and the first generation of african-americans to raise another generation of african-americans who will not do better than us. our ancestors must roll over in their graves. >> that has to do mostly with racism. >> motmostly with racism, but a long history of racism. this is a land of opportunity and we're not poor people, we're just broke people and we need to fix that in the 21st century. $900 billion consumer spending economy. so we have to manage our money much better than we have in the last 10 to 20 years. >> yeah, it was interesting that we hear president obama talking to the naacp.

i'm sure that you were aware of that speech in talking about stop thinking of being black people as victims and focus more on education and money. what do you have to say about that? >> i think the president was spot on when he said that. and i think that's really sort of the macro vision for black america in the 21st century. that's what we teach with the black professionals in our network. one get beyond victim thinking and use new technology and use coaching and our black psychiatri psychiatrists. yes, we must focus on education, no doubt about that. we must get involved with the education of our children and add to the whole educational component teaching entrepreneurship and networking and teaching african and black history. so the educational component is

critically important and that must not only be driven by our primary and secondary school and our colleges, but also driven into our historically black organizations and childrens, as well as we have to deal with the economics. >> you talked a lot about wealth building. tell people what that is and what you mean. i think you mean something different than just saving. a lot goes on here when you talk about building wealth. >> wealth determine wheres you live. where you live determines where you send your children to school. where you send your children to school, determine where they will get a higher education and where they will get a higher education will determine their life-long earnings and that will determine where your children live and determine where your grandchildren go to school. wealth is critically important, no question about it. then a democratically based economy, until our pile of green is as high and deep as any other

group's, we will never be considered an equal. finally, on that point, when we finish montifficating at our issues, somebody's got to write a check. we have to put ourselves in a position to write a check and economics is critically important. we have to recycle our dollars and spend more money with our businesses and go into business development because the wealth of this country is about equity and ownership. >> cnn black in america 2 premierer ing tomorrow and one starts its own urban project and it's in ord oer to build wealth does wealth need to be built in the community? >> absolutely. i think the two fundamental goals when it comes to economics, one, to help black people transfer their wealth into generation, to build wealth that can be transferred

generationally and by creating working jobs for our people, recycling our dollars, the atlanta business league has an interesting statistic. blacks in atlanta in the five county area spend $21 billion a year and less than $5 billion of those dollars are recycled into businesses. if 5% was recycled back, that would create 40,000 new jobs in atlanta in a single year. so, recycling dollars and building businesses and creating working jobs for our people is the only way to raise up the poor and we have to do that. that has to be the macro plan for black people in america. get beyond victim thinking and focus on education with a caveat of emphasis on entrepreneurship and not just get a good education and get a good job, that's important. but get a good education and create a job. that's critically important. so, we have to have a macro and a micro strategy. >> we sure do appreciate your time here. thank you very much. in fact, some astonishing stories on "black in america" are on cnn.com.

our josh levs standing by with a few examples of this. pretty extensive website, josh. >> he went all out on this. we'll zoom in on this. cnn.com/blacki cnn.com/blackinamerica. every time you see a green line, that's a different story. we're packed with all sorts of different stories here. one of the popular features, this is called journeys. we have a little video. take a look at this. >> action! >> my name is malik and i'm 12 years old and this is my documentary. >> are you doing the video journal thing? >> this is a clip from someone

for journey for change. next, let's zoom in for a second. you can see a lot of young people, each was given a camera. journey for change that was organized by activists. well, cnn gave some of them cameras and they took them with them on their trips to south africa and visit the united nations and washington and very interesting to see their stories and couple other things i want to show you here. cnn.com/black cnn.com/blackinamerica tracing michelle obama's slave roots. what you can do is see about her ancestry. this right here, a former slave house in which some of her ancestors live. she has roots there. this is believed the first lady's great, great-grandfather lived in one of these slave homes. very interesting. also, some other lighter stories. like this one apcelebration and story about black hair. this is about a white family that adopted a girl and what it signifies on a broader level

culturally speaking and discussion about that. whether it is short, straight, weave, hair is an important part of identity and also a $9 billion industry. looking at business, looking at history, looking at culture, so many things all packed into this one website and all the way up to the big show tomorrow night. >> all right, very good. thank you, josh, appreciate it. josh is right, tomorrow night starting at 7:00. the countdown to an all new black in america 2 live from times square. at 8:00 president obama's news conference and then join us for a two evening "black in america" event. singer chris brown breaks his silence. what he has to say months later after pleading guilty to assa t assaulting his girlfriend reana. %

right now secretary of state hillary clinton is in bangkok, thailand, and talking about the possible military links between myanmar and north korea. a relationship like that would be destabilizing and troubling. clinton goes to the city tomorrow for a regional summit. vice president joe biden also on the go today. he's in kiev, ukraine, reassuring its leaders. russia opposes it and polls show so do most ukrainians. he visits georgia tomorrow. cnn meteorologist rob mar e marciano in the house. do you speak german and greek and all sorts of things.

that's very good. extremely impressive. okay, that's pretty good. >> means you're a beautiful woman with lice. i'm sure you don't have lice. >> okay, okay. >> hey, listen, as long as we're on the international thing. you mentioned our world leaders poking around a little bit. talk about what will happen tonight on the other side of the world. that is a total eclipse of the sun. this is the path across parts of asia. india's going to see it, parts of china will see it. weather will get in the way of it in some places, including shanghai china, where this is the most populated part of the world where we'll see this. whether it will not cooperate in spots. a lot of people are just flying to it. they may not get a good look at it and we won't either because we will be sleeping and it will be dark. that is the latest on the -- >> thanks, rob.

>> you know. some of our viewers care about what's going on over there and they may have friend over there. what is going on across parts of the atlantic. here we've got a couple spots that the national hurricane center is watching. one off the bahamas and one in the eastern caribbean for potential development for a tropical depression or a storm. problem is, we've got some pretty good winds that are cranking out of the west and the east and typically knocks these down. at this point, we don't expect to see a whole lot, but, nonetheless, the national hurricane center is certainly keeping a lookout for that. meanwhile, across the lower 48, we have thunderstorms across the southern plains, including texas. there you go, little rock back towards dallas and last night heavy duty thunderstorms with big-time hail and a lot of wind and the hits just keep on coming across new york metropolitan area with rain on the way. few temperatures, comfortably cool. 86 degrees in atlanta and most

folks who have been seeing these cool temperatures will start to see things warm up with more humidity and more summertime weather in the next couple days. >> they'll like that. going golfing. >> tomorrow report back with your score. no cheating. >> i don't cheat, but i don't keep score either. wree finally hearing from r&b singer chris brown. he publicly apologized after pleading guilty for assaulting his girlfriend rihanna. here's what he had to say in a video statement posted on his personal website. >> i wish i had a chance to live those few moments again, but i can't. i can't go into what happened and most importantly i'm not going to sit here and make any excuses. i take great pride in me being able to exercise self-control and what i did is inexcusable. i'm very sad and very ashamed of what i've done. >> a publicist has not responded

to cnn. the judge said he cannot have contact with rihanna, again, until that is complete. is health care reform becoming a modern-day robinhood story? we look at one example of how the rich could foot a big part of the bill. you're not like everybody else --

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and, if you have any questions about medicare, call today and get your free copy of "medicare made clear," by unitedhealth educational publishing group. it will help you better understand all your choices. so don't wait. call today for your free guide. it's called measure "f" as in funding. oakland, california, the first city in the country to tax medical marijuana, that could mean an extra million dollars a year for a city that is $80 million in a hole. a major backer of the tax the businesses that dispense the medical marijuana. owners say they want to help the city and hopefully improve their image. new developments as lawmakers work to crack health care reform today. senate leaders meet today to try to work out a plan. baucus said there was an

agreement on major significant issues but he gave no details. an aide to speaker pelosi said she's open to a change. charging the surtax for individuals making up to $500,000 and families making $1 million. small businesses facing lower surtax starting levels. president obama says the wealthiest americans should pay more than others to help create a new health care system. cnn's carol costello looks at how big a bite that can be. >> reporter: on the subject of health care reform, president obama is fighting back. >> one republican senator said, and i'm quoting him now, if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo, it will break him. >> reporter: but mr. obama and the democratic national committee are not about to be broken, not even by their own party. the dnc launched this ad, aimed

at conservative democrats. >> it's time. >> it's time for health care reform. >> reporter: turns out some democratic small business owners who make over $280,000 a year don't want to pay a surcharge on their income to pay for the president's trillion dollar health care program. the democratic house speaker nancy pelosi has come up with an alternative plan. instead of raising taxes on those who make more than $280,000 a year, she wants a proposed surcharge to apply to individuals making over 500 k a year and couples making more than $1 million. pelosi figures you hear $500,000 a year and you think, my god, that's not me. but me does apply to around 1% of taxpayers and some of them aren't happy either. according to the nonpartisan tax foundation, an employed couple making $1.5 million a year in montgomery county, maryland,

pays $583,863 in total taxes. after 2010 when the bush tax cuts expire their taxes will go up more than $62,000, throw in a 5.4% surtax for health care reform, that's $9,000 more. total estimated taxes on the year, $655,126. and while that may sound like a fine way to raise revenue, economist peter says that won't begin to pay for the kind of health care reform the president wants. >> he is going to need that surcharge on the wealthy and it's going to be bigger than anticipated or he's going to have to tax everybody. the congressional budget office is weighing in, too. he says the house bill as it is now will increase by 2019 and that's something the president doesn't want to see happen. he wants to combine cost savings with extra taxes on the rich, that way the deficit will not grow.

carol costello, cnn, washington. >> we will be bringing you live coverage of the president's remarks coming your way this afternoon at 12:15 eastern. also take a minute to bring you some of these pictures. we're looking at some pretty serious storm damage here. these are pictures from the denver area. as i said our station there talking about 50,000 people without power, flooding and lightning, hail, all kinds of stuff. you tell me what you know. >> this is the remnants of what happened last night. all is quiet for the most part right now. last night colorado, including parts of kansas and nebraska, as well, saw a system and we mentioned this earlier, very similar to what you'd see in maine or early june. more when primetime severe weather season happens. jet stream further to the north and you don't get quite the punch in the atmosphere, but

last night, these guys did. a tornado warning that was out for about 30 minutes in denver and jefferson and arapaho counties for that matter. a very thin tornado touched down in arapaho county. big winds and in some cases over 70 miles an hour. you're seeing some of that damage. not only done damage to the car and the roof, but also the power outages, which you mentioned. >> looks like hail there on the ground. i'm reading in arvada something like inches and inches of marble-sized hail. >> it will pile up, especially in places that are a little bit at altitude and denver being the low spot of 5,000 feet. >> thank you, rob, appreciate it. ck at 53. i had felt fine. but turns out... my cholesterol and other risk factors... increased my chance of a heart attack. i should've done something.

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