adopting special needs children. details this morning on a $100,000 discovery. and an american bombmaker works for the good guys. how his biological invention could save your life. good morning, everybody. i'm heidi collins. it is july 22nd and you are in the "cnn newsroom." in fact, it is a big day for the president today. want to walk you through what's going to be happening. our suzanne malveaux is at the white house. account president overcome this growing tide of skepticism? we'll talk with her about that. we also put that question to dr. sanjay gupta. he actually worked inside the last white house that tried to overhaul the health care system. and finally, arwa damon is looking at another big issue for the president today on his calendar. she is previewing his meeting with iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki. we begin with the battle over health care reform. it could affect you and every other american. here's a quick look at where the debate stands right now. the obama white house has wanted

complete passage of the overhaul by early august but that looks pretty unlikely. republicans are objecting to parts of the plan. there's even reluctance among some democrats in both houses now. they say the plan is too complex and too costly to rush. president obama has said that republicans who oppose the plan are putting politics ahead of progress. but a recent poll shows that more americans are having doubts about the reform and whether the country can afford it in such a tough economy. health care reform has been president obama's top domestic priority, so he is really focused on trying to sell his plan. but the clock is ticking. an opportunity may be slipping away. here now, white house correspondent suzanne malveaux. >> reporter: president barack obama is raising the stakes. using a prime time news conference to throw all his weight behind health care reform. >> but make no mistake -- we are closer than ever before to the reform that the american people need, and we're going to get the job done. >> reporter: facing skeptical

lawmakers, including members of his own party, the president's strategy consists of private arm-twisting and public scolding. >> time and again we've heard excuses to delay and defeat reform. >> reporter: using his popularity and political capital early in the game. >> i don't want you to feel like you're alone. >> reporter: with town halls, tv interviews, and prime time aimed at building momentum and creating a sense of urgency to get health care legislation on his desk by mid-august. >> we have traveled long and hard to reach this point. i know that we have further to go. >> reporter: some say a risky strategy. >> i think from his point of view, there are many in the public who would like to hear from him but they'd also like to see him just sit down and negotiate the plan. they want to see leadership that says here's where we're going. not leadership that says i'm encouraging congress to make more progress. >> reporter: the effort comes amid recent polls showing approval for mr. obama's health

care plan dropping below 50% and americans now split over his handle of the economy. republicans are seizing the moment. >> we want to fundamentally reorient one-sixth of our economy in six weeks. that makes no logical sense to me. >> suzanne malveaux joins us now with a little bit more on this. why now is the white house doing this news conference today? >> heidi, really the timing of this in the high-profile nature of this press conference is really critical to their strategy here. obviously they're trying to push lawmakers as much as they can and they were really hoping that the president tonight could make some sort of good news announcement about where they are in this process. we still expect that the president is going to emphasize the positive, but clearly negotiations are still continuing. the state of play now, health care's still very much in flux. even the press secretary robert gibbs saying yesterday that this is the beginning, part of the process, that after the august recess, there's still going to be much work to do when it comes

to health care reform. >> all right, suzanne malveaux, busy day ahead for you as well. we appreciate it. also want to remind everybody to join us tonight for live coverage of president obama's news conference. it is scheduled fob 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific. in about ten minutes, we'll hear some unique perspective from our own dr. sanjay gupta. he worked inside the clinton white house, the last administration, to attempt health care reform. to iraq now this morning. gunmen attacked buses carrying religious pilgrims. five people are dead. that's just the latest in a string of attacks this week. 22 people died tuesday in a series of deadly bombings in baghdad and ramadi. 150 more were wounded. baghdad alone was rocked by at least seven explosions. several marketplaces were targeted, including one filled with day laborers. a bomb also went off near the entrance to the green zone, the home to key iraqi government offices and, of course, the u.s. embassy. security concerns in iraq will be front and center at the

white house today. president obama meets with iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki this afternoon. it is the first in a series of high-level meetings for the iraqi leader. our arwa damon is live now in baghdad today. arwa, good morning. what do we expect to come out of this meeting today? >> reporter: well, heidi, as you just mentioned, security most certainly will be amongst the main topics of discussion but also bearing in mind that everything here in iraq is interconnected. so the security situation is also directly connected to politics. what the obama administration is going to want to hear is some sort of assurance from prime minister nuri al maliki that his government is going to begin to very seriously address the underlying ethnic and sectarian tensions that could potentially jeopardize these relative -- i say relative stability that we are seeing in iraq. the iraqi prime minister, for his part, is going to try to muster up some sort of financial

investment, some sort of guarantees that the u.s. will also be focusing on trying to build up the iraqi economy. the obama administration -- and there is nothing secret about this -- wants out of this war. but it can ill-afford to leave behind an iraq that cannot stand on its own two feet. at the same time, the administration's commitment, unlike the bush administration, their commitment is no longer open-ended. the prime minister really has to begin taking some very serious steps. heidi? >> yeah. in fact, some of the restrictions on the u.s. military now seem to be changing the nature of the mission a bit. >> reporter: absolutely. the nature of the mission here especially for u.s. forces has changed completely. quite simply, under the security agreement, what we saw happening on june 30th was the withdrawal of u.s. combat troops from all iraqi cities and towns. at that point effectively control over this war was handed over to the iraqis. the americans don't have control

anymore. they are, by and large, confined to their bases only moving out at whim and fancy of their iraqi counterparts. this was all laid out in the security agreement but it is a very convoluted document that many commanders are struggling to try to interpret. this is causing frustration and fiction but it is also just one of the many stepping stones that the u.s. military and the iraqis have to go through so that when that date does come that american forces do leave, they leave behind an iraq that at least can maintain some sort of level of security. >> that is certainly the idea. all right, arwa damon, live for us out of baghdad, thanks so much. new protests to tell you about now in iran. this amateur video shows clashes with police who are trying to break up the crowd. we don't know right now exactly how many people were arrested in the latest opposition demonstrations. but iran's president is being ordered to fire his vice president now. iranian media reports the supreme leader made the decision

because of pro-israel comments made by president ahmadinejad's top deputy. secretary of state hillary clinton has a message for iran's leaders -- get back to the negotiating table because the u.s. won't keep the window open forever. speaking in thailand, she also said if the united states extends its defense umbrella over the region, iran won't be able to intimidate and dominate as they apparently believe they can, once they have a nuclear weapon." drawing attention to the plight of political opponents in iran, a group of prominent iranians in the united states are starting a hunger strike today. reza sayah joins us now live from new york with more. what's the deal? >> reporter: heidi, this group of celebrities want to do a few things here with this hunger strike. they've put up signs what they want to do. support iranian's quest for freedom, support the opposition movement. most of all, free all the political prisoners, the hundreds of people who have been detained after the elections on june 12th.

the hunger strike started about 8:00 a.m., it will go for three days. among those striking is this man, preeminent historian, professor hamid. you think the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei is concerned about what's going on here? >> oh, absolutely. i have no concern that he's very much concerned. the fracture within politics, it is a very divisive thing that's happened. the speech on friday from the center of gravity in political culture has shifted very much to the side of the civil rights movement. as a result the message is loud and clear to mr. ayatollah khamenei and mr. ahmadinejad that this is not going to die away with incarceration and arresting people and putting them in jail. if our brothers and sisters are

arrested in iran, there are millions of iranians around the globe who will rise up. >> the message is to the u.n. and obama administration to do something to apply pressure on the iranian leadership to rescue and free some of these prisoners. there is the scene here. you'll see song writers -- >> oh, unfortunately, it looks like our signal broke up just a bit with reza sayah but we will stay on top of the developments there once again. that hunger strike begins today in the united states in support of iran for the next three days. this story to tell you about now. paying taxes to smoke pot. a first for the nation. we go to oakland, california where voters have opted to tax medical marijuana. i'm rob marciano in the cnn severe weather center. we had record heat in spots, record rainfall, and an eclipse. we'll show you video of that when the "cnn newsroom" comes right back. need to talk to your doctor about aspirin. you need to be your own advocate.

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dispensary was behind the measure. >> we think it's appropriate to take some of our excess funds and circulate them back to the community in its time of need. >> given that the medical cannabis dispensaries are something that was legalized in california, why not have the revenue from it? >> oakland's pot tax could generate up to $1 million in annual revenue. some advocates hope it will even lead to legalizing pot for recreational use. back now to our focus on the battle over health care reform. tonight the president holds a prime time news conference to present his case. dr. sanjay gupta joins us now to talk a little bit more about this. there is something that caught our eye. a new cnn/opinion research corporation poll out there. it shows that only 20% of americans think they will be better off under obama's plan. 35% think they will be worse off. so you were working in the white house during the clinton era.

the other white house that tried to overhaul the entire system. was there some point where you sort of started to see the tide change a bit? >> i think there was a lot of similarities to what we're seeing now to some degree. lot of people think of the clinton plan as having been dead-on-arrival? it wasn't. it was quite popular in the beginning but by april 51% support for the plan, by august of '93, about 44% been the same as we're seeing now. the big difference -- the president points this out -- the consensus now. back then, remember the harry and louise ads? the insurance ads that a lot of people say derailed the plan? at least was part of the derailment? there is a lot of consensus now from the health care interest. back then in '93, the white house crafted the plan. then after they crafted the plan, congress picked apart every single detail. you remember that whole thing. the president has been very clear saying i'm going to draw out the broad messages here but this is something legislators

are going to draft. that's a little bit different between now and 15, 16 years ago. >> were they hearing the same type of concerns they're hearing right now? obviously one of them is money. it is always going to be money. >> yeah. it's going to be money, it is also going to be is it meeting its goals, are you actually insuring people, providing health care insurance that a lot of people agree should be provided to many people who don't have it right now. is this going to lead to some sort of rationing of health care or lead to some government takeover of health care? those are a lot of the same arguments you heard then and you're hearing now. >> we talk to you because not only were you in on this all those years ago with the clinton administration but you are also a physician. what do you think the president needs to say tonight to make people feel better about it, to make them understand it better? >> far be it from me to give him advice. a couple things stuck out. one, he has been consistent on message. he'll say heidi collins -- not your name necessarily -- but somebody, if you have health care insurance and are happy with it, nothing will change. he's said that almost since the

beginning. that's a consistent message. you'll hear that same message more emphatically or a little bit more after nuanced message, hey, we've taken some blows over the past few months but this is important, let's get it done. or you'll hear something totally different which speaks to the people who were concerned about whether this is going to help them. you may hear a message that says something like, this is not about you, it is not about you, it is about who we are as a country, what we stand for and people shouldn't die from preventable diseases in this country and here's how i think we can get thrust. he takes it away from the individual to the the nation as a whole. who knows? far be it from me. but it will be very interesting, whatever he says. >> thanks so much, dr. sanjay gupta. appreciate that. tune in tonight because we will have live coverage of president obama's news conference. 8:00 p.m., 5:00 pacific. immediately after prom speaks, don't miss "black in america 2," the first part of this

two-evening event gets under way at 9:00 eastern and 6:00 pacific. a second safe found in florida. discovery could shed new light now on what thieves were looking for at the home of a florida couple. what was inside that safe?

a showdown over packing heat. the senate is actually voting today on a measure that would allow people with concealed weapons permits the right to

carry their guns across state lines. supporters say those permits should be able to protect themselves when they travel to other states. well, opponents say the measure would force states with strict gun laws to accept permits from states with more lax laws. so what does that mean for you? gun control obviously providing a lot of ammunition on our blog this morning. we want to ask you this -- the question for you today, should people be allowed to carry concealed weapons across those state lines? make sure you go ahead and get on to our blog. reminding you with the actual address, cnn.com/heidi. go ahead on there and just post your comments. we'll share some of them with you a little bit later on in the broadcast. you can also give us a call. check us out now, it is kind of new. "hotline to heidi." 1-877-742-5760. we love to hear from you. we will either read or listen to some of your responses a little bit later on. )d)d)d)d)d)d)d)d)dd

new information this morning on the murder after prominent florida couple. a single shooter is identified and cnn has learned about a second safe that was found in the family's home. our susan candiotti has more on the investigation from pensacola, florida. >> reporter: cnn has learned there was a second safe in the billings home and that according to a source familiar with the investigation, apparently the suspects thought this was the mother lode. a source says that it contained at least $100,000 but for whatever reason, the suspects were unable to get to it. now this is significant because up until now we have only known about another safe that

contained less valuable items, including some family papers, some jewelry, and some medication for the billings children. on tuesday night, escambia county sheriff david morgan was asked about this development. >> the source familiar with the investigation telling us there was a second safe in the house containing cash. $100,000. can you confirm that for us, sir, and tell us about it? >> i cannot. i can only confirm the items that we have recovered or that -- excuse me, that we know were removed from the billings home and that was a small mid size safe and a black briefcase. >> are you saying there was not a second safe or that you just can't confirm that, sir? >> i'm saying, sir, that i'm not at liberty to address that issue. >> reporter: an attorney for the billings family also declined comment on this new information. however, on tuesday, there were other new developments. in court documents, one of the suspects charged in the case said that the suspected ring

leader, leonard gonzalez jr., was the only gunman who shot and killed byrd and melanie billings in their bedroom. the sheriff has said that he is looking for additional persons of interest and that he could be making more arrests. susan candiotti, cnn, pensacola, florida. millions of people got a chance to witness the longest solar eclipse of the century today. it cast a wide shadow over asia and the pacific ocean. beautiful. turning day to darkness for up to six minutes and 39 seconds in some parts of asia. visitors from lots of different countries, including britain, germany, australia, came to china to witness the celestial event. rob marciano joins us now. what a perfect segue over there to you. right? we were concerned though, rob, yesterday, that some of those folks in china weren't going to be able to see anything. >> we were. a lot of them -- they at least saw the eclipse shrouded in cloud cover. a little peek here, little peek there. can you imagine spending

thousands of dollars to go over there to see that? there are a lot of these eclipse hunters who do that. >> right. >> if i were forking out that kind of cash -- >> can't you get some sort of guarantee? >> there you go. this is the money shot. this is the clear shot somewhere in china. i can't remember the city. but that's the total lunar eclipse there. because the moon is a little bit closer to us for this cycle and because the sun during the month of july is at its furthest point away from the earth, you get a relatively long and intense eclipse there. that would certainly be a spiritual event, no doubt. here's a view in contrast of what you see every day. >> yeah. >> all right. we'll go on to weather. it's not so shabby. it's actually been quite nice lately. humidity and the heat will begin to rise. not only across the southeast where it's been relatively cool but into the north as well and dry day across parts of new york city where they are seeing a

very, very wet spring, no doubt about that, and into the summer. speaking of wet, arkansas, over five inches yesterday in newport and mena. north little rock seeing over three inches of rainfall. going to be hot out west. folks waking up in the southwest and across the inland parts of california, good morning. temperatures will be above normal there for the next couple of days. >> all right. very good. rob marciano, we'll check back later. thank you. remember all those billions that president obama said would stimulate the economy? where's all that money going, and is it helping? join us for a trip on the money join us for a trip on the money trail coming up. (voice 1) traffic's off the chart...

on wall street, the count continues as i'm sure you're aware. the dow has now climbed in the

past seven sessions. susan lisovicz at the thoeshgs with new york stock exchange with a preview of the day's trading day. >> good morning, heidi. we are not going to see dow 9 0 9000. we can wait though. in the last seven sessions, heidi, the dow has jumped 770, or more than 9%, putting the blue chip index back in the black for the year. nasdaq is riding a ten-straight win streak. a lot of that is because corporate america's finally showing signs of life. after all, we're in the thick of earnings season. pfizer, pepsico, boeing, yahoo! all beating estimates. but apple far and away the standout winner. apple sold more than 5 million iphones in the quarter. it couldn't keep up with demand, which is telling during this recession when consumers are giving up vacations and a lot of stuff but not their iphones. the company posted double-digit percentage gains in both profit

and sales beating wall street's estimates by a long shot. am shares right now are up 4% for apple. wells fargo shares right now are down 6.5%. the company's quarterly profits jumped more than 80% but investors are worried about the bank's exposure to the weakening commercial real estate market. something that ben bernanke, the federal reserve chairman was talking about yesterday. he may talk about it again today on capitol hill. morgan stanley, meanwhile, says it lost more than $1 billion in just three months. morgan shares are down 4.25%. looking at the overall numbers, yeah, little bit of give-back. finally, the dow, nasdaq, s&p rolled down about .5%. the streak also over for gas prices. aaa says the national average is now $2.61 a gallon, up just slightly from yesterday. that increase follows 30 straight days of declines. but to put it in perspective, a

year ago this month, the national average was $4.11. this is a lot better. >> that was nasty. all right, susan, thank you. $787 billion of your tax dollars is working its way into the economy. cnn's christine romans on the money trail in new york. how much stimulus money has been divvied up so far? >> it's moving out the door. $787 billion has been allocated by congress and signed by the president in february. now recovery.gov is the website that tracks this. the top line is how much money is available. $183 billion is available to be spent. so far paid out just shy of $65 billion. that's the second line there. the money is actually going out and getting to work in the economy, slowly but surely. one of the reasons why more money has actually been paid than is available is because some of these people who are recipients are trying to figure out how to tailor their contracts to make sure they're

meeting all of the strings that congress put on some of this money. >> all right. so where's the money going? >> some of the contracts we've been following. so many so we decided to pick a few for you. a rather small contract, $9,345. this is contracted to a company called shumen scale in new jersey for mesh chairs. office chairs contributed by the department of labor, some 20 chairs for $9,400. >> i need one of those! >> another contract here is in wisconsin. it is called a door replacement and bathroom remodel. on the surface it looks a little silly to replace a door for $198,000. but did some digging and this is actually for -- looks like an office for the forest service. this is actually a renovation of four different bathrooms and some elaborate doors there. $198,000. the guy who's vice president of the company that got this contract says he's been able to avoid layoffs because of that

money, $198,000 there. then the third one, interesting, actually this is helping us tell you this story because this is the recovery.gov website. it has a stimulus contract for $18 million. almost $18 million so that you can see what the government's doing with your money. they have gave out a stimulus contract for that for $18 million. you can go to recovery.gov and see all of this stuff up to the minute. some of it on the surface looks kind of silly, you do extra digging, but this is what your stimulus looks like. looks like a $64 million project to retro fit a big courthouse in lower manhattan. right down to a $9,000 contract for office chairs for the department of labor. on facebook there is a spirited fiery discussion about why we're spending stimulus money for office chairs, isn't that sort of like the operating budget, general appropriations? is that what stimulus's meant to be? each one of these contracts

generates a lot of controversy and talk about what are we doing with our money. >> tell me that the romans numeral will explain how many jobs have been created. >> this is money you'll feel in your pocket. $250. this is the stimulus contract that you're getting -- well probably not you and i because we don't get this, but this is payments one-time stimulus payments for veterans, railroad retirees, social security an ssi recipients. if you have not received your $250 yet, you need to talk to the social security administration or anyone of these places where you think you're getting the money because you should have probably been paid by now. now's the time to check on your debit card or the check. make sure you get the money. if you didn't, you call. some $54 million of those checks should have gone out by about last week. if you didn't get it, check. >> wow, okay. christine romans, thank you. in addition to the economy, president obama is trying to overhaul health care. he wants a plan in place before

members of congress leave for their august recess. but he's meeting growing resistance from within his own party. tonight, in a prime time news conference, he takes his case directly to the american people. catch it right here on cnn, 8:00 eastern. another big presidential push -- education. we'll introduce you to a principal who's innovative school has sent 100% of its graduates to college. that's part of tonight's new documentary "black in america 2."

want to get to rob marciano now, talk a little bit more about severe weather in colorado.

>> let's get right to it. this came in late yesterday afternoon an the night before, they got some rough weather in to the denver area and along the front range where we -- now -- see, you start with that, heidi? >> i was trying to help you out. >> i know but now we don't have the video. >> can't you draw a picture? >> i got backup. my father's an airline pilot. you're married to a pilot. >> yeah. >> they've always got back-ups. contingency. this is the atlanta picture of the city.ly wshowed you that lat half-hour. let's move on to some other things. high today in dallas, 92 degrees, 94 houston. not too bad. but records down across the border near brownsville, mcgowan, they once again got up to over 100 degrees in all but two days this month. mcgowan, texas has been over 100. i think yesterday was the 17th record high of the month. steamy stuff there. out west, mention that the

heat's going to start to build there. not so much along the coastline but inland valleys will see temperatures rise quite nicely, 108 in phoenix. this time of year you're in the monsoon. they had some rough weather yesterday with some thunderstorms. any time in the afternoon you get those thunderstorms, dew points are really high this time of year, so it is not that dry heat. it's sticky, soupy, it's fairly miserable in the southwest this time of year. but it is the only time during the year where it's miserable. thunderstorms across louisiana, across the mississippi, through parts of alabama. and the tennessee valley's where we'll be highlighting showers and thunderstorms today, some of which could be strong but at the moment nothing too entirely severe like what we saw in colorado. maybe we'll have that video later in the program. >> i think we will. absolutely. rob, thank you. charges are dropped against henry louis gates jr. but the prominent african-american scholar says the incident is far from forgotten. the harvard professor was arrested last thursday for disorderly conduct at his home in cambridge, massachusetts.

authorities said they responded to a call about a break-in. the police department calls his arrest regrettable and unfortunate. gates says what happened to him shouldn't happen to anyone. and he's considering a documentary -- yes, a documentary about racial profiling. tonight's the night. the long-awaited premier of "black in america 2." cnn's soledad o'brien is here now with a look ahead. good morning, soledad. what's on schedule for tonight? >> want to analyze what people were doing that was really working in the black community on some of the biggest issues. tonight we'll focus on one young man who is an educator. he told me the story of his parents who said to him, why do only rich people get good schools? it was that question that sent him on a quest to create a perfect school. >> good morning. good morning. good morning. good morning. where's your coat, man? tough guy. good morning. >> reporter: every morning at 7:30 a.m. you'll find steve

perry here. he's principal of capital preparatory magnate school in hartford, connecticut. each and every day he inthe vice principal greet each and every student as they walk through capital's doors. >> how are you today? >> reporter: for perry, being a principal is all about the details. >> who's grade is this? that's not ours. mr. carter, you got to be kidding me? that's the best you can move, son? >> reporter: from uniform inspections. >> where's your blazer, son? having it is not good enough. tut it on. >> reporter: to morning meetings. >> i know there are quite a few who haven't done curricular mapping. then keep your mouth shut. just keep it shut. i wake up at 4:45 in the morning and i drive kids to school. >> reporter: you take kids to school? >> i pick them up in my car. every day. >> reporter: why? you're the principal. >> i know. i'm bus driver in the morning though.

you do what you got to do to get it done. come on, georgia. get to where you need to be. >> reporter: and getting it done is priority number one for perry and his staff. >> we have a school that is designed to send children to college. if we don't send children to college we are not doing our job. >> reporter: how many of your kids go on to school? >> 100%. >> reporter: every child who graduates? >> every child who graduates goes on to a four-year college, period. >> reporter: like this 18-year-old. >> i hon noeftly believe if i hadn't gone to capital prep, i think i wouldn't have finished high school. >> reporter: in spite of a tough childhood, she's smart, hard working, a natural leader. and she's proud, she says, because she's surrounded by other motivated students.

>> reporter: how does capital send all of its graduates on to college? is there what we do right is design a school that's year round. there is no reason why children should be home during the summer. what we do right is we have a longer school day. what we do right is we go to school on saturdays. what we do right is work hard to get children to a place where they need to be steve perry is a remarkable man. we feature a lot of these people in the second part of our documentary, "black in america 2," it airs wednesday night and thursday night, two parts. heidi, just a sliver of these stories like this, success stories, in the community. people have tackled the problem and are really making it work. >> we'll talk with steve perry on the show in a little while. also wondered what's going to happen tonight? there is a panel discussion you can moderate. >> we're calling it "moment of truth." we have tom joiner, steve

harvey, d.l. hughley, bev smith will join us as well to talk about what was their moment of truth, who inspired them to push them in the right direction for success. what was the moment where they realized they could be successful, really inspirational stories. at 8:00 eastern time, president obama's going to be holding a press conference, we will break for that. 9:00 p.m. eastern time we show "black in america 2." >> all right, very good. we look forward to it, soledad o'bri o'brien, thank you. steve perry in soledad's piece is a straight-talking principap. we'll discuss three things he says we need to close the education gap between african-americans and whites. breaking down racial barriers. minutes away we will talk with the first african-american mayor of philadelphia, mississippi. the town known for its brutal killings of three civil rights workers decades ago.

changing times. 45 years ago, philadelphia, mississippi was known for the brutal killings of three civil rights workers. it was even featured in the movie "mississippi burning." now the predominantly white city

has its first black mayor and he's with us today. mayor james young joining us as we get ready to debut our black in america 2 documentary tonight highlighting some solutions. my question right off the top, mr. mayor, do you see yourself as one of the solutions in this country? >> a part of it. being elected i think chose the change of mindset, especially in our community. and i think all over the nation. which is a positive thing for the country, surely a positive thing for philadelphia, mississippi. >> you were sworn in to office on july 3rd. congratulations to you. how's the job going so far? >> i've -- i'm excited about the changes that i am proposing. i'm excited about the cooperation. i would say i'm 90% pleased at this point. knowing the territory, knowing

the political areas in which we operate, i'm pleased so far with the things that we are able to do. >> >> it is. it is a great step. i think it's one of the most kind of remarkable stories of change in our area. i think people just didn't believe it could happen because of our history. but hearts change, minds change and people change. enough to make a difference in our city and in our country. i'm pleased to be part of this

history. i'm just very pleased that at this season this happened in philadelphia. i think that scar or that shameful thing of the past is being eroded and that the healing is taking place. >> what's the racial climate like now? how do people react to you? >> as a majority, i get waves. both black, white, asian. people are congratulating me at this point. i believe some, most sincere. there may be a few fake smiles, but this is the territory of politics and philadelphia is no different than any other. i won by 46 votes, so it was not necessarily a mandate, a majority issue, but i won by including the whole community, the whole community elected me,

both black, white, again, asian, the whole community had a part of this. this is what is so special and may be even unbelievable to those outside the confines. >> well, we certainly do appreciate your time here today and, again, congratulations to you on being mayor of philadelphia, mississippi. mayor james young, thanks, again. >> thank you, heidi. have a good day. >> thank you, you, too. "black in america 2" premieres tonight. begins with "moment of truth" that includes an exclusive interview with henry gates. we told you the story a little while ago after forcing his way into his own home and then you can join us at 9:00 for the first night of the two evening all new "black in america" event. a lot going on in the next hour of the "newsroom" and cnn crew is here to break it all down for you. health care and suzanne

malveaux. >> president obama is pushing the high stakes, pushing health care reform using his popularity and a primetime news conference tonight. we'll give you the blow by blow. all that coming up at the top of the hour. >> if you have health insurance, ask yourself this question. are you willing to sacrifice anything to help pay for insurance for those who don't have it? we'll be talk ugbout that question at the top of the hour. i'm susan lisovicz at the new york stock exchange where the dow could make it eight for eight rallies. this despite some alarm bells in the banking sector. heidi, more on that in the next hour. >> good tease. all right, thanks so much, guys. also ahead this morning, many of you are commenting on my blog. should people be allowed to carry concealed weapons across state lines? the senate will vote on that issue today.

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thousand of u.s. marines in taliban taking on the stronghold. ivan watson is embedded with those troops in helmand

province. >> after living four days in the desert the reconssentence is heading back to its convoy outpost. it's been a bumpy, long ride. our vehicles have gotten stuck in deep sand while traveling through the desert trying to avoid those deadly improvised explosive devices that killed two men from this unit last week. the trip is far from hoerve. after days in the desert, seeing the waters of the helmand river, incredibly refreshing sight. you may not know this, but these vehicles are amphibious and everybody is impatient to get back to their outposts now. the combat outposts. and everybody's tired, sweaty and filthy and probably hoping to maybe take a dip in that river.

>> home, sweet, home. >> we're in the helmand river and the kind marines who have been taking us around town, i guess what is this going to be, the first bath in a while. >> oh, yeah, couple days. >> all right, not only are these marines enjoying the swim, but they're also washing their clothes and i think i'm going to partake, as well. cnn, helmand river, in afghanistan. >> got to do what you can do to find the water. right? right now a really intriguing story about a bombmaker and the scientist he works with. they work for the u.s. government and try to find every crack and every weakness in airport security. in other words, their job is to keep you safe. they transform items like radios into bombs and then use those devices to test screening machines. sometimes they even detonate those items inside old airliners

in order to see if they can bring down a flight. here's some of the other stories we're watching. the nfl commissioner said the league will look into the case against pittsburgh steelers star quarterback. a woman has accused ben roethlisberger of raping her in a lake tahoe hotel last year. canada's biggest city, its are e been 30 days since garbage workers went on strike. still no sign of a compromise with the city. 240 volunteers are rolling up their sleeves for a vaccine that will hopefully protect them against swine flu. the first human trials of the vaccine. two drugmakers said they hope to have enough initial results in by october so the government can distribute it to everyone. we begin this hour with the battle over health care reform. the debate involves you and

every other american but being fought mostly in washington. facing more criticism, even from the president's fellow democrats now. president obama is taking his case direct three the american public in a primetime tv appearance. suzanne malveaux is joining us with the very latest. good morning. >> goodern moing, heidi. white house aides said this is the best strategy to talk directly to the american people. the fourth primetime press conference in his time in office. meeting with neury al maliki to discuss the progress being made there, but tonight, heidi, all about health care reform. president barack obama is raising the stakes. using a primetime news conference to throw all his weight behind health care reform. >> but make no mistake, we are closer than ever before to the reform that the american people need and we're going to get the job done. >> reporter: facing skeptical

lawmakers, including members of his own party, the president's strategy consists of private arm twisting and public scolding. >> time and again we've heard excuses to delay and defeat reform. >> reporter: using his popularity and political capital early in the game. >> i don't want you to feel old. >> reporter: with town halls, tv interviews and primetime aimed at building momentum and creating a sense of urgency to get health care legislation on his desk by mid-august. >> we have traveled long and hard to reach this point, i know we have further to go. >> reporter: some say a risky strategy. >> i think from his point of view, many in the public who would like to hear from him and also just sitting down and negotiating out the plan. what they look for is a leadership that says here's where we're going to go. not only leadership that says i'm encouraging congress to make more progress. >> reporter: recent polls showing approval for mr. obama's

health care plan dropping below 50% and americans now split over his handling of the economy. republicans are seizing the moment. >> we want a fundamentally reorient one-sixth of our economy in two weeks. that makes no logical sense to me. >> reporter: heidi, one thing that the white house has been actively involved in is trying to figure out who would actually be taxed, just how wealthy or how rich one would be in terms of that surtax to help out what health care reform costs. democrats talking about people made 280,000 plus dollars over a year or so. the white house engaged in looking at something that is perhaps a bit higher and making it more palatable for folks looking at that class, the middle class and the wealthy to determining who will pay for all this. >> very good. we know that tonight, his press conference that the president is holding is part of a sell job here. is this likely the last one we'll see or are there going to be a lot more of them?

is this his last chance? what do you think? >> he's going to be very much high exposure. we're talking about tonight, we're talking about tomorrow and takes the act on the road in northern ohio. likely this is going to keep happening because they believe if you put him out there and talk directly to the american people, this is an opportunity to really sell this. the timing of this and high profile, certainly no mistake. what they were hoping for, heidi, that he would have a good news announcement that he would bring forward today. obviously, he will talk about some of the progress being made, but they recognize, as well, even the press secretary robert gibbs saying even after the august recess they'll have a lot of work to do when it comes to health care reform and this is really just the beginning of this. >> sounds like it. white house correspondent suzanne malveaux, thanks, suzanne. on capitol hill democrats know the clock is ticking and momentum may be slipping away. we get that view now from cnn's

congressional correspondent dana bash. >> sometimes body language is more telling than words. >> we're making significant headway. i'm probably more upbeat and optimistic where we are now compared to earlier. >> reporter: max baucus wouldn't give details about why he's more upbeat about bipartisan health care talks, but senate sources say negotiators are considering one new idea for a vexing problem, how to pay for costly health care reform. the president and other democrats have nixed, imposing a new tax on some americans employer-based health care benefits. >> health care plans that has transformative. >> reporter: now john kerry is proposing a tax on health insurance companies only on their high costs, cadillac plans. intrigued senate negotiators say it could help with two goals. paying f paying for health coverage for more americans and reducing

costs. >> this is one of the things you need to do to bend the class curve in the right way. >> reporter: the president isn't ruling out the idea and even raised it unsolicited in an interview with the news hour. >> i haven't seen the details of this yet, but it may be an approach that, you know, doesn't put additional burdens on middle class families. >> reporter: but some sources at labor unions helping block the idea of taxing employer-based benefits tell cnn they also oppose a tax on insurance companies, even if it is strictly targeting the most expensive health plan. democrats here on capitol hill appear to be increasingly frustrate would the president for not giving them specific enough direction on health care reform, which is his top priority. one democratic senator told me he was baffled and another senior democratic source said while they appreciate him ratcheting up the rhetoric, what they want is for the president to weigh in and make decisions on some of the issues that are

vexing them here. dana bash, cnn, capitol hill. join us tonight for live coverage of president obama's news conference that is scheduled for 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific. the president's money men have their eyes on the road to recovery this hour federal reserve chairman ben bernanke is back for more give and take with lawmakers. a live shot for you there. yesterday he told them that the economy has started to show signs of stabilizing. peter orzag will speak on fiscal responsibility. expect more blunt criticism from neil barofsky who overseas t.a.r.p. here's what he told cnn's "american morning" before heading back to the hill. >> the original point of the

t.a.r.p. it when it was first announced take $700 billion of toxing assets off the books. one of the other goals was to increase lending, i don't think that happened either, although i think there is far greater decrease in lending absent the t.a.r.p. if it was to avoid a systematic failure and complete collapse of the financial system the t.a.r.p. along with other programs may have achieved that goal. >> he is set to appear before a house subcommittee a little bit later on this afternoon. president obama is scheduled to meet with iraq's prime minister this afternoon, security and reconciliation are expected to be the major points of their discussions. their first meeting since u.s. troops pulled out of iraq's major city. the president and prime minister al maliki will hold a news conference at about 3:00 p.m. we'll bring that to you live when that happens. a series of deadly bombings

in two iraqi cities. 22 people died in the attacks on tuesday and wednesday in ramadi. ramadi was rocked by seven explosions. a bomb also went off near the entrance to the green zone, the home to key iraqi government offices and the u.s. embassy. vice president joe biden heading from kiev, ukraine to georgia today. his influence, russia's influence on former soviet nations. the vice president told reporters he rejects russia's push for more influence over russian soviet nations. no nation should veto another nation's choices. secretary of state hillary clinton hitting the security tihi lites in thailand today. she is attending a security conference in the country with counterparts from korea and north korea. permanent dismantling of the nation's nuclear program was the only option.

>> we do not intend to reward north korea just for returning to the table. nor do we intend to reward them for actions they already committed to taking and then reneged on. the path is open to them and it is up to them to follow it. unless and until they do, they will face international isolation and the unrelenting pressure of global sanctions. >> secretary clinton also offered a warning to iran saying the u.s. won't wait forever for iran to come to the negotiating table. a fast-moving storm lit up the morning sky in phoenix, dumping more than an inch of rain in just a couple hours. reports of downed power lines and a few traffic accidents. officials say the storm quickly gave way to clear skies yesterday, but it's now the wet season. so there's a chance there could be another storm later on today. just the guy to tell us more, rob marciano is standing by with a look ahead. >> we always talk about how

phoenix is 100 some degrees and a dry heat, but there's a time of year about a month and a half, two months. right around now where they get that monsoon flow and it is swampy and humid. a threat of seeing showers and thunderstorms, but most of the weakness in the atmosphere moved over towards new mexico, but around phoenix, we're seeing a little bit of showers trying to pop up and we'll see a few of those later on today. this is a vegas shot where temperatures there will get easily up and over 100 degrees, as well. probably not much in the way of showers and thunderstorms. we're seeing a fair amount of across mississippi and across central louisiana and alabama, as well and parts of the tennessee valley. right now they're not terribly strong but may get more punch as the afternoon wears along. nashville heading up towards columbus, ohio, and cincinnati and also seeing some rain. chicago might see a thunderstorm or two develop, but i think for the most part t will be dry.

warm out west and maybe 10 or 15 degrees above average and cool again across the western great lakes and temperatures into the 70s and daytime highs down in texas in the 90s, although near the border well up and over 100 degrees again today. talk about that eclipse. didn't see it here, but they saw it across parts of asia. a magical experience if you got a clear shot of it. spots where it was shrouded but there it is peeking out of the other side of the moon as that sucker blocked the sun. just blows my mind. i never witnessed a complete solar eclipse. >> really? >> well, they're not as frequent as the lunar eclipses are. but a lot of people, they go hunt them down. >> this one only in this century, isn't that right? >> well, it was the longest and largest because july is when it's the sun farthest away and just so happens that the moon during this particular orbit is pretty close to us.

so, by relatively speaking gives you about a six minute or so -- >> that horn that i keep hearing, did that happen in real life? >> i don't know. i like that horn. like the king is showing up. >> rob, we'll come back and find you a little later on. >> all right, see ya. black protesters and white supremacy groups go head-to-head in texas.

tensions rising and flairing in houston, texas. black protesters clashed with white supremacy groups over the death of a 24-year-old african-american man they believe was run over by a truck, dragged and killed. our affiliate ktxa has the story from paris, texas. >> reporter: it started out as a peaceful protest. >> someone has to stand up. >> reporter: brandon mcclellan's family joining others and rallying for justice. his family says the 24-year-old was run over by a truck and dragged more than 70 feet in september. >> what i'm really learning is justice does not prevail. i need to know the truth.

>> reporter: just a few hours into the protest the screaming and chanting intensified. the tension was intense between black separatists and white supremests. >> cross that street and we will give them exactly what they came to cross the street for. >> reporter: protesters were warned to stay separate. at one point police formed a wall to keep the two apart. but before the day was over, two men were arrested for disorderly conduct. >> my home boy, shannon filly is my home boy. >> reporter: shannon finley and charles crostley were charged with the murder. the charges were dropped last month. >> somebody did this. >> prosecutors initially charged with two men with murder but they dropped the chargers when a

truck driver said he accidentally may have accidentally run over mccleland. a resounding yes. make oakland the first city tax proceeds on medical marijuana. the man who runs the largest dispensary was among those backing the measure. it could generate from $300,000 to $1 million in annual revenue. some advocates hope it will even lead to legalizing pot for recreational use. packing heat. a vote is expected in the senate today on a measure that would allow people with concealed weapons permits the right to carry their weapons across state lines. brianna keilar looks at both sides of this issue. >> reporter: in vermont a 16-year-old can carry a concealed weapon without a permit when they cros over to

new york, that right evaporates. senator john thun a republican from south dakota wants to change that. he is pushing an amendment that would allow people with concealed weapon permits from their home states carry their gun into other states. >> since criminals are unable to tell who is and who is not carrying a firearm just by looking at a potential victim, they're less likely to commit crimes when they come in contact with an individual that is armed. >> reporter: but new york's chuck schumer and other senators representing states with large urban areas says changing the law will put americans in danger. >> this hypothetical vermonter would be free to stroll through central park or times square with a backpack full of loaded guns. >> reporter: 450 mayors from across the country oppose the change, including new york city mayor michael bloomberg. >> this flies in the face of states rights, it flies in the

face of what, in fact, the nra has always argued that states should be allowed to set their own regulations, own laws and not have anybody else do it. >> reporter: like many democrats who will vote yes on this, harry reid is from a western state, nevada in his case, where there is a strong tradition of gun ownership and consequences for bucking the will of gun right supporters in the national rifle association. and we are told by republican top aides, as well as democratic top aides they expect this expansion of gun rights will pass the senate. brianna keilar, cnn, capitol hill. okay. so, gun control providing lots of ammunition on our blog this morning. that question, once again. should people be allowed to carry their concealed weapons across the state lines. just go to cnn.com/heidi, click on that page and you can put your comments there. also, want to remind you that we have this new thing, check it

out. hotline to heidi. call in and tell us what you think. leave your message, 1-877-742-5760. we will read or hear some of your responses a little bit later in the show. no job, no health care and diagnosed with cancer. we're taking a look at the uninsured in america.

the fight for health care reform rages on in washington with the president gearing up for major push tonight.

watching closely, the millions who are sick right now with no insurance. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is joining us now to talk more about this. hi, elizabeth. >> many of us are following the health care reform debate, but if you don't insurance, i bet you're following it more closely than anyone. i spoke to one such woman who does not have insurance and she does have breast cancer. let's hear her story. >> reporter: in early 2008 life was going great for pamela, she had a good job and was about to get married. then in march of 2008, the plant where she had worked for more than 20 years in sarasota, florida, shut down and she lost her job. and with it, her employer-paid health insurance. >> i was upset butted i i thought i'd be all right. >> reporter: but two months later, an even bigger bombshell. >> i found out i had breast cancer. >> reporter: the federal stimulus bill helps her pay for cobra, which allows her to keep her employer's insurance but

only for a limited amount of time and that doesn't pay for everything. >> reporter: she is $20,000 in debt because of her medical expenses. one doctor has refused to see her until she pays her bills. when people don't have health insurance, they often end up here in the emergency room and that costs all of us. it's one of the major reasons why insurance premiums have sky rocketed. in many respects we all have paying for the uninsured. those who don't have health insurance are actually impacting those who do. >> reporter: despite efforts from the president, congress and others -- >> i think there's no question that it is likely to get worse before it gets better. >> reporter: as for pamela, she's done with her cheem therapy and for now she's cancer free, but more surgeries lie ahead. >> i just try to keep a positive attitude. >> so, elizabeth, when you watch that, i think in our hearts everybody wants to help her, but then you have to think about your own personal situation, i

guess, and your own family and can you afford to try to help out someone else and then make sure that your family is also taken care of. >> reporter: that's right. some would say there's a possibility that people who have health insurance would be affected in some way. their insurance might possibly change, although i think the democrats would argue with that. you might be paying higher taxes, again, some people would argue, but it's a possibility. so you want to ask the question, gosh, how do people feel about health care reform? how do they feel it will affect them? the first one a "washington post" poll it is about a month old at this point. how concerned are you about your family's health care future? 59% said they were very concerned. the second one asked the question, if obama's health plan is passed, your family would be better off, worse off or about the same. more than a third think they'll be worse off and only 20% think they'll be better off and aonly

half think they're about the same. very interesting that only a third think they're worse off. here's another question from a cnn poll. if obama's health plan is passed, the amount you pay for medical care would increase or decrease or stay the same? more than half think it will increase. there appears to be a perception that you're going to be paying more after health care reform, that your family situation could very well get worse. when you're feeling that way, are you willing to help out others? that's a little iffy. >> i know you talked with a lot of people on this, people who are decisionmakers and people in the health care industry and those who are analysts. what are they going to be listening for tonight? >> what they're listening for is to hear what barack obama is going to say. is he going to repeat the same thing, what is the point of heth care reform or get edgier because he now has a little bit more of a fight than he did a month or two ago. will he change any of the

wording that he has used in the past and, also, there's still this sort of thought out there that somehow america is going to go to a canadian-style of health care. the u.s. is going to be like england. is he going to try to squash that as he has in the past? is he even going to step that up? >> it's there for the watching, that's for sure. we'll have it right here on cnn. thank you, elizabeth, appreciate that. you can join us for our live coverage of president obama's news conference scheduled for 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific. tough love, straight talk, success is the only option. we'll introduce you to a principal whose innovative school has sent 100% of its graduates to college. it's part of our new documentary, "black in america 2."

on wall street, there have been signs that the tide is changing. after all, banks like goldman sachs, jpmorgan chase and bank of america have all reported better than expected earnings this month, but, there's always a but, today's reports are a reminder that things are still quite fragile. susan lisovicz standing by with the details. hi, susan. >> hi, heidi. after all it's been called the financial crisis. everybody is interested in knowing how financial companies, especially giant financial companies are doing. so, let's start with morgan stanley, well, it's on a roll, unfortunately, not a good roll. third straight quarterly loss. it lost $1.2 billion. think of it. three months, $1.2 billion. i should mention, though, a good chunk of that was a charge for repaying the government t.a.r.p. wells fargo, a different story.

its profits soared more than 80% in a three-month period. it was a record for the company. both stocks under pressure. wells fargo off 1.5% and the averages are bobbing and weaving. right now, the dow is down, but just modestly after a seven-day win streak and the nasdaq is up, helped buy those apple shares which you were talking about. apple on a very positive roll with its quarterly reports. heidi? >> sounds like it. wells fargo, this 80% jump in profit y mean, it sounds good, but you have to consider where they started. >> well, you know, i think one of the things that you always look at what happened in the last quarter and going forward, i think there is a big question as to sustainability and also some of the other issues that loom out there. for instance, wells fargo still dealing with big problems in the real estate market, particularly the commercial real estate market. and we should say, also, that's the same thing with morgan stanley.

also wells fargo taking more provisions for credit losses. after all, the unemployment rate is rising. morgan stanley saying it saw some improvements in its key investment banking business, but, obviously, not doing the gang buster business like some of its competitors like goldman sachs are doing. a lot of people talking with the problems of commercial real estate markets. ben bernanke talking about it. i don't know if you saw the headlines about the watergate hotel failed to get any bids at an auction yesterday. infamous hotel fell back into the hazardous lenders. that's another example of the problems out there in the commercial real estate market. guess who's got expoesher to it. big financial companies like wells fargo and morgan stanley. >> you thought somebody might have bid on it. susan, we'll check in later on. >> you're welcome. finishing high school and going to college. it is part of the american dream, but african-american

students fall behind whites in this achievement, partly because of higher dropout rates. in 2007, nationwide, 5.3% of whites dropped out of high school compared to 8.4% of african-american students. joining me now is dr. steve perry, the author of ragtie schools and founder and director of magnet school in connecticut and, boy, oh, boy, have we heard a lot about that place. thank you for being with us, dr. perry. we appreciate your time here, as always. i want to ask you off the top, what is your secret? because you guys have 100% graduation rate and then of those kids that graduate, they all go to college, too. what's the deal? >> 100% of our graduates go on to four-year colleges. what the deal is, our school was designed to be successful. we're a year-round school because there's no reason for children to be home during the summer except to give teachers the time off. we're designed to be successful because our day is longer and more important than that, we're

designed to be successful because we don't just focus on the academic side, we focus on the effective side. every child needs to know that somebody is watching them and loving them. >> and caring. >> quite a bit. >> you have longer days, you have no summer, you ever get any slack from the kids? >> the kids don't want to be home. after about a day and a half of swinging that wii around, they don't know what else to do with themselves. in fact, what often happens is the kids will call us and ask us if there is something they can do. when thithe kids know you love them, they'll do anything virtually for you. >> one of the mangles from the no child left behind goal was to reduce this achievement gap. in your eyes, has it worked? we're talking bout the differences in achievement from blacks to whites. >> there is an unconscionable difference between the performance of african-american children and white children. >> why? >> the reason why is because our children, for the most part, are

going to the worst, some of the worst schools in america. and we accept the achievement gap as if we accept weather. it's hot outside, so it's just that way. nothing we can do about it. when the fact remains that we know how to run successful schools. we know that large, ineffective schools, large urban schools are in effective and we also know in the suburban schools, african-american children are being outperformed by every single group. not just the design of the school, but our parents. our parents have to value education. black parents have to make education as important as important as we make aau basketball and modeling schools that we pay for. we have to do an audit of our time and resources and we have to ask ourselves, what do we do to make sure education is important in our children's lives. >> what happens to all these public schools, close them up? your school is small, but the success rate is undeniable, create more of those? >> sure, that is the start. have an honest discussion about

vouchers. every single child needs to have the opportunity to choose his or her school. we agree with medicaid and agree with medicare. we agree with food stamps and section eight and agree with federal financial aid. >> why is that so controversy snl. >> teachers unions don't want competition. if they get competition, they'll get smoked. i mean it. if they have to compete for our children, they will lose. >> well, i know in your book anyway this raggedy school book we've been showing you talk about why the public schools don't work. very fascinating issue. do you see yourself going to the white house to argue more of these issues? >> i honestly hope to be part of the solution. my reason why is because i'm fired up. we just had a former basketball player and he's starting a school in the su ddan and i'm a brother who's starting a school and we're working together to

make sure that children throughout the world have access to quality education. that's what makes a person feel human when they have access to the system itself. >> you are featured in "black in america 2" we saw the preview. >> they've been showing that on tv. >> what do you hope that this documentary or the discussion around it really accomplishes? >> that's a great question, heidi. what i want people to do is i want them to look at me, a regular dude, who saw a problem and decided to do something about it. i am one member of a phenomenal team of educators, but i know our community, when i say our community, i don't mean just the black community, but our community of people who care about children are inspired as we have taken "black in america 2" around the country, people have left it inspired and excited about what they can do in their own lives. that's what "black in america 2" is about. having people look at themselves and say where do i fit in in my solution. how can i help my community out

and my community being the community of america. >> steve perry, the founder of capital prep, a magnet school in parker, connecticut, and the author of "ragtie schools." "black in america" begins at 7:00 eastern with "moment of truth" an exclusive interview with harvard professor henry gates, his first tv interview after being arrested after forcing his way into his own house and followed by president obama's new conference falledo by "black in america." still ahead, breaking down the reforms. what would a health care overhaul mean to you? we'll get a closer look.

consiled weapons and whether people should carry them across state lines. the senate honest today and firing up the phone and blog lines this morning. here's what herb from new jersey has to say. >> i'm for the concealed weapons

amendment, with one provision. i believe it's the responsibility of citizens to be prepared to come to the assistance of law enforcement officials. >> all right. so that's just one of the resmaunss we've gotten and we're getting a lot of them on our blog this morning. cnn.com/heidi. let's look, once again. that question, should people be able to carry guns across state lines. concealed guns, i should be more specific. greg said, what about someone bringing their legal guy marriage across state lines? i guess states' rights only count when republicans like what they are fighting for. and then this one from steven, a driver's license is valid outside the state of issue. why not a concealed carried permit? there you go a couple of our responses in. just remember, the lines are still open. go to cnn.com/heidi. you're a blog kind of person or

call the heidi hotline if you'd like your voice to literally be heard on the air. that number 877-742-5760.

the battle over health care reform. where the debates stands right now. the obama white house wants to complete passage by early august and that is looking pretty unlikely at this point. republicans are objecting parts of the plan and reluctance among democrats in both houses. president obama has said that republicans who will pose the plan are putting politics ahead of progress. but, recent polls show that more about the reform and whether the

country can afford it in such a tough economy. as politicians rangel over the specifics, many americans say spare me the details, tell me what health care reform means for me. alison kosik has the breakdown from new york. it is a big question, alison. >> at this point, heidi, we don't know what the final bill will look like, but how this sweeping reform could affect us all. let's go ahead and start with the 160 million americans who now get their insurance through work. if that's you, you probably won't see much of a change. you'll keep your insurance, although it's possible your particular plan could change if your company decides to offer different choices. at the same time, your premiums probably won't go down, in fact, the congressional budget office predicts premiums will probably keep rising just as they have been, at least initially. critics argue that all these new options could lead to a shift

away from employer-sponsored health care. that remains to be seen, heidi. >> what about people who buy insurance on their own? >> 14 million americans fall into that category. national insurance exchange, giving you an opportunity to shop for your plan, setting opmore direct competition. and one of the most controversial elements of the plan involve the government-run option including more competition. opponents are worried that could put private insurers out of business. the bills also prevent insurers from denying coverage or charging higher premiums because of pre-existing conditions, and that is another reason you could be paying less, heidi. >> what about the 49 million americans that don't have coverage at all? >> those numbers will shrink because those bills will require people to be insured or pay a penalty. the poorest would be eligible for an expended medicaid program. if you buy a plan, subsidies for people earning four times the poverty level. so a family of four making

around $88,000 a year could qualify. if you want more information on how you could be affected, go ahead and check out our story on cnnmoney.com. heidi? >> alison, sure do appreciate it. join us tonight for live coverage of president obama's news conference scheduled for 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific. palme with its revolutionary web os. they're running multiple live applications at the same time. - ( thunder and rain ) - 3 million are using the simply everything plan. each is saving $1200 - over an at&t iphone plan. - ( cash register dings ) together that's over $3 billion. - enough to open a dunkin' donuts in space. - ( walkie-talkie sounds ) from america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. get the palm pre from sprint. only on the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

you knew this was bound to happen. the naked cowboy throwing his hat into the ring for mayor of new york. he's been in new york's time square you've seen him posing for pictures wearing only a cowboy hat, boots and white briefs. robert burck plans to run a transparent campaign. there could be more legal trouble for outgoing alaska governor sarah palin. a report suggests she may have violated state ethic laws by

letting them set up a legal defense fund for her. she rejects that notion saying she had nuthing to do with the funds. she cites the reason as one reason she's stepping down. nearly 20 years on death row for killing a police officer. a number of people said he did it, but most of them are now telling a different story. it's the case of troy davis. not long ago, this man had limited mobility.

last month, this woman wasn't even able to get around inside of her own home. they chose mobility. and they chose the scooter store! if you or a loved one live with limited mobility call the scooter store! no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to guarantee your complete satisfaction. if we pre-qualify you for a new power chair or scooter and your claim isn't approved, the scooter store will give you your power chair or scooter free. that's our guarantee.

they were so helpful and nice. they filed all the paperwork, and medicare and my insurance covered the cost. we can work directly with medicare or with your insurance company. we can even help with financing. if there's a way, we'll find it! so don't wait any longer, call the scooter store today. convicted nearly 20 years ago, now many people argue the state of georgia has the wrong guy on death row. here's cnn's gary tuchman. >> reporter: it's anything but a routine question. how scared of you are possibly

being executed? the man i'm talking to, troy davis, may soon be a dead man. a jury only took a few hours to determine he murdered a police officer in savannah, georgia. a few more hours to decide to send him to death row. >> he was definitely guilty. all of the witnesses, they were able to, you know, to i.d. him as the person who actually did it. >> reporter: the primary reason he was convicted, the witness testimony. the slain police officer's wife agrees. >> they were just so adamant about what they saw, when they saw it. >> reporter: but this is how the juror feels now. >> if i knew then what i know now, troy davis would not be on death row. the verdict would be not guilty. >> reporter: what she knows now is this. almost all the prosecution star witnesses have changed chair stories. some saying police pressured them to say troy davis did it. darryl collins who signed a

police statement implicating troy davis. >> i told him over and over i didn't see this happen. >> reporter: 20 years ago this summer, savannah police officer mark was working an off-duty job here. he was providing security at night for this bus station and this burger king restaurant that is currently out of business. this there was a homeless man in this parking lot that was being intimidated and the officer ran over and seconds later he was shot and killed. it was tragic, horrifying and chaotic and two decades later, it all still is. the man who admitted huresing the homeless person went to police the next day and said he saw troy davis shoot the wanted person. a reward to catch the cop killer. racial tensions inflamed. after the shooting, troy davis was in atlanta four hours away. his sister said scared for his life. >> my brother decided to turn himself in. >> reporter: this man, a pastor,

got in touch with davis. he volunteered to drive him back to savannah to surrender. troy davis insisted he was innocent and the pastor never told a story to the reporter before and was stunned. the d.a.'s office never interviewed him. >> you're bringing him back to savannah in police custody and never interviewed you. never asked you a question about your journey. if he admitted to the crime, if he had a weapon, if he didn't admit to the crime? >> this was the one case that nobody wanted to know and i don't think now looking back that anybody cared. >> reporter: the pastor is one now of many who believe that troy davis was going to be arrested for murder. their witness interviews were taken properly, no coercion and prosecutors have stood by the conviction, but a number of witnesses assigned afts changing their original testimony. dorothy ferrule is one of them. a former prison inmate. i was scared if i didn't cooperate with the detective, he

might have me locked up again. i told the policeman that troy davis was the shooter. and a witness named jeffrey sapn now writes the police came to me and put a lot of pressure on me to say troy did this. the only way they would leave me alone is if i told them what they wanted to hear. then this woman who purposely left out testimony. >> sylvester coals came up to you after the shooting and said, would you hold my gun? >> yes. >> reporter: he is the man who admitted harassing the homeless person and the man who fingered troy davis who talked to tonya johns johnson near her old home near the crime scene. >> he oepthened screen door, which this was not here. it was a wooden screen door. this was tore out. he oep oened the door and set the gun here and shut the door. >> reporter: did you think he did the shooting? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: did you ask him? >> no. but the way he was acting. >> reporter: you were scared to

ask him. >> i was scared of him. still cascared of him. >> reporter: he's still here in town? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: free man? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: how come you're talking to me? >> i don't want to see a man get killed for something he didn't even do. >> reporter: tried to convince jurors that he was the killer. we talked to family members but we couldn't track him down. >> i don't believe brad coals killed the officer at all. >> reporter: he had a 2-year-old daughter and newborn son looks at sylvester red coals in a very different light. >> sylvester came forward and he didn't have to and i also know that troy ran and he didn't have to. if he was innocent, he should have come forward. >> reporter: what does she think about people like tonya johnson with their new information? >> five minutes of fame. >> reporter: pope benedict has