discussion on your radio. >> folks can give us a call. i'll be streaming it live on cnn.com, and so we're taking all calls from everybody, your thoughts on the special last night. what you liked, what you didn't like, what you want to see. but also more importantly, where do we go from here? what's next? how do we keep getting better and keep improving? that's the most important thing. >> we look forward to it. people can hear it on cnn.com. great to talk to you. >> tell john roberts, i'm rocking the open-collar look for him this morning. >> is that a purple? >> yeah, got to have a little purple and pink pocket squares. >> love you, roland, thanks very much. stay tuned to cnn tonight, "black in america 2," examines today's pioneers. and continue the conversation on today's stories, go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. >> we'll see you back here tomorrow. meanwhile, here's "cnn newsroom" with heidi collins. president obama in full campaign mode. today he's on the road and on the stump for his health care

reform. a dramatic development in the michael jackson investigation, police raid the offices of the last doctor who cared for him. the doctor's attorney said investigators are looking for evidence of manslaughter. and a small town opens its heart for a missing soldier. their former neighbor is now being held by the taliban. good morning, everybody, i'm heidi collins, it is thursday, july 23rd, and you are in the "cnn newsroom." well, the impact on your wellness and your wallet. there's nothing else like health care reform that really affects us all. so our cnn crews are working hard to break it all down for you this morning. in fact, our white house correspondent suzanne malveaux takes a look at what the president said last night and what he'll say today as he makes his way to the heart land. and our medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is going to be looking at his words specifically. how accurate was he? and how much did you understand? and also, our congressional correspondent brianna keilar, you see her there, her eye on

the deadline to pass the whole thing, no matter how you look at it, the clock is ticking. first, to the white house, central command in this health care battle. the president is not backing down from the fight even though he's got plenty of opposition. white house correspondent suzanne malveaux looks at his demand to overhaul the system. >> absolutely it's my job. i'm the president, and i think this has to get done. >> mr. obama threw down the gauntlet. >> i'm not going to sign a bill that, for example, adds to our deficit. i won't sign a bill that doesn't reduce health care inflation. >> reporter: but he did say he supported limiting tax deduction for wealthy americans and imposing a surtax for those making more than $1 million a year, efforts to raise money to cover america's uninsured. >> the plan that has been -- that i've put forward and that what we're seeing in congress would cover the estimates are at least 97% to 98% of americans.

>> reporter: he also praised republicans for their idea, to create an independent panel of medical experts to advise congress on how to cut medical costs, and he called on americans and their doctors not to indulge in unnecessary and wasteful medical treatments. >> why would we want to pay for things that don't work? that aren't making us healthier? >> reporter: at the same time, mr. obama tried to reassure americans that despite the billions in federal bailout dollars, he was being responsible with taxpayers' money. >> the debt and the deficit are deep concerns of mine. i am very worried about federal spending. >> suzanne malveaux now live. the president is going to cleveland today to talk more about health care. what are we expecting in terms of message today? >> well, as you know, heidi, obviously the stakes are very high for president obama, he is putting all of his political capital into this one issue, his domestic priority of health care reform, hooe going to use this clinic in cleveland as really a model to say, this is how we want things to work.

he's going to talk about the fact that doctors aren't compensated for the number of tests they actually administered to patients, but rather how these patients are doing, if they're getting any better, how they're being taken care of. he says this is one place where they've managed to cut through a lot of the bureaucracy and red tape and really deal with things like that. streamlining all of that as well as costs and yet being able to treat their patients well. this is the kind of thing he's promoting, the kind of thing he believes his health care reform plan will ultimately accomplish. >> well, it's certainly world renowned. absolutely. suzanne malveaux, we know you're following the president closely today. also cnn will have live coverage of president obama's town hall meeting on health care reform, it's being held in ohio and scheduled to get underway just after 2:00 eastern time. did anything president obama said last night change your opinion on health care reform? we want to know about it if it did. go to cnn.com/heidi and hit the comments button. or you can call in your thoughts

to the brand new hot line to heidi, that number right there, 1-877-742-5760. now, let's take a closer look at exactly what the president said last night and how those claims line up with the facts. cnn senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. elizabeth, let's start with some sound if we could for the president's news conference last night. unfortunately i'm being told we don't have that right now. elizabeth, there are an awful lot of things that were said last night, a lot of questions that were asked, obviously. paraphrase for us some of the highlights if you would. >> i'm going to read you a long sentence the president said in his speech last night and then we're going to deconstruct it, take little parts of it. if you already have health insurance, the reform we're proposing will provide you with more security and stability, it will keep government out of health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your insurance if you are happy with it.

so let's take the first part of that. it will keep government out of health care decisions. now, some people would argue with that because part of the plan is to create a government-sponsored health program that you can join even if you're under 65. we already have medicare for people over age 65. so if you belong to this new government-sponsored health insurance program, well, the government is then involved in health care decisions in some way because they're administering the insurance. so i think some people would argue with that. >> absolutely. all right. well, what about the next one here? >> the next one is giving you the option to keep your insurance if you're happy with it. this has been a real sticking point between democrats and republicans. people who are happy with their insurance, will they be able to keep it after health care reform and the democrats including president obama say, oh, yes, if you're happy, you'll stick with what you have. the republicans have said, look, the government's going to put forth this option that is going to be significantly cheaper than the private options that are out there, so private insurance

companies how are they still going to compete? those private options are going to disappear over time and you won't have that option. that's what one side said. so again, this is a bit of a he said/she said, but there are people who would argue with whether or not that's a factual statement. >> subjective terms, i think, if you will, that could be argued on either side. any other ones you want to cover? >> yes, let's talk about the deficit. something the president has talked about quite a bit. the president also said that i have also pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade. and he added and i mean it. he has said this over and over again. however, the congressional budget office when they took a look at the house and senate plans were very concerned that, indeed, they would add to the federal deficit. now maybe what he means is that, well, i won't sign it then, i would not sign what's out there, i would sign what wouldn't add to the deficit. but what we have now according to the cbo does add to the deficit. >> that report that came out on

friday. we're going to talk more about it on the program today. we sure do appreciate that. thank you. >> thanks. next stop, capitol hill and cnn congressional correspondent brianna keilar. quite a bit pressure from the white house, but also a lot of questions from their constituents. a lot of americans still asking, what's in it for me. really just don't get this if i'm already insured. >> reporter: yeah, if you're already insured. here's what's in it for you according to democrats who are pushing the plans here in congress. they say they'll bring your costs down because they would cap your out of pocket expenses. they also say preventive care, mammograms, check-ups, that kind of thing would be covered. and if you were to lose your job, you wouldn't lose health coverage. you'd still be covered. and for parents with kids in their 20s, the senate health committee says they want -- they want it to be possible that kids up to age 26, not kids any more, but could stay on their parents' health plan, something that the

parents of college-age kids are for. >> what's in it for you if you're not insured? >> reporter: you would have to get insurance. and if you don't, you pay a fine. if you can't afford insurance, this is where the government would chip in with the subsidy and in most cases, employers would also help with the costs. insurance companies would not be able to deny you coverage if you have a preexisting medical condition. >> okay. if you're uninsured, democrats actually want to change how you buy insurance on the individual market. explain this idea of exchange or gateway, i think, is the other way i'm hearing. >> reporter: yeah, these are the terms you're hearing, gateway and exchange, and what this is this is a marketplace. this is the best we can describe it as democrats say it's a marketplace where you can compare, basically shop around for different insurance plans and take the plan and buy -- well, i'm trying to figure out

if it's exactly something like a search engine or something. but saying it would be in a central location and that all of the information, the prices on things and exactly what is covered and what is not covered would be out there. you would just have much more information than you do right now. but this, heidi, as you know is where the big sticking point comes in because a lot of democrats want there to be a government-run insurance plan among those options. they say it's necessary so that private insurers will have competition and be forced to bring their prices down. but republicans say it's going to basically kill the private insurance market, put everyone into the government insurance plan, and that's why we're really keeping quite a eye on a proposal coming out on the senate side. democrats and republicans hashing out their differences. we're expecting at some point although lots of delays here, we're expecting at some point they'll put out an alternative to that government-run plan, heidi. >> okay. well, boy, that's an awful lot to stay on top of. thanks so much. now, at the top of the hour,

we will talk with two senators on opposite sides of the aisle and the issue. they're going to be offering their grades on the news conference and then how they would fix the system. during the president's news conference, questions on race came up, specifically over an incident involving prominent black harvard professor henry louis gates jr. the president defended gates, a friend of his that was arrested last week in his home. the charges of disorderly conduct have since been dropped. >> i don't know not having been there and not seeing all of the facts what role race played in that. but i think it's fair to say number one, any of us would be pretty angry. number two, that the cambridge police acted stupidly. in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. and number three, what i think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is

that long history of african-americans and latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. that's just a fact. >> the officer, sergeant james crowley has said he will not apologize to gates, the mayor of cambridge has said she'd like to get everybody involved together to talk it out. gates says he's willing to listen. >> i haven't heard from sergeant crowley, i would be prepared to listen to him if i were convinced if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report, i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. because if this can happen to me in harvard square, this can happen to anybody in the united states and i'm determined it never happen to anybody again. >> gates says he plans to keep talking about the issue.

adding this is not about me, the vulnerable about black men in america. i want to get this breaking news out to you now. a pretty amount of large arrests have been taking place. the fbi and irs making these arrests. including new jersey mayors and several rabbis in both new york and new jersey. we're talking about public corruption and an international money laundering scheme. what's going on? >> that's right, they've been busy this morning, major public corruption round-up is underway in new jersey. 30 people have been arrested, pretty big cities, the deputy mayor of jersey city and a new jersey assembly men just to she you the reach of this. a two-prong investigation, heidi, involving public corruption, but also what officials are calling "a high-volume international money laundering conspiracy," and it involves several rabbis in new

york and new jersey. all of those who have been arrested are being processed in newark and they're going to be in court later today. there is going to be a press conference by the u.s. attorney in new jersey, around lunchtime to discuss all of the charges, but right now we're really seeing the tip of the iceberg on this, heidi. >> yeah, sounds like it. i've been reading the same stuff you are. pretty large cities, and then the rabbis, all the way into new york, as well. do you have any idea at this point, deb, and you may not know the answers to these questions, how long this investigation has been going on? >> you know, it's not clear. usually these kinds of investigations, in order to arrest the mayors of these places would be many, many months if not over a year. so while we'll take a look at that and hopefully have those details a little later on as some of the calls come back. >> absolutely. let us know what you find out. a new step in the michael jackson investigation. police raid the offices of his personal doctor, pushing ahead with a possible manslaughter

case. i'm rob marciano, dry for now across the northeast, but more rain moving in tonight. just how many days has it been above 85 in new york city this month? answer's coming up a little bit later. the "cnn newsroom" is coming right back.

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people taking part in a community service rally in houston sent scattering by gunfire, six people were actually injured in the drive by shooting on the campus of texas southern university. police are investigating whether there's a gang connection. the event was billed as a family block party to promote community service and voter registration. investigators are now working on a manslaughter case against michael jackson's personal doctor. and that's happening even though the coroner in los angeles still has not determined what really killed jackson. cnn's ted rolands has the latest. >> reporter: executing a search warrant at dr. conrad murray's houston clinic, then murray's lawyers release a bomb shell, a statement confirming that a

potential case of manslaughter is being built against the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. the statement reads in part, the search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter. >> this is the first confirmation we've had and its from the doctor's own attorney that there's a manslaughter investigation. we're not just talking about prescription medication and negligence there, an actual homicide investigation. that's a big development. >> reporter: agents took a forensic image of a business computer hard drive and 21 documents during the search. murray who was being paid $150,000 a month to care for jackson has been at the center of what until now has been simply characterized as a death investigation. murray's lawyer said they were surprised by the search, but they say they've provided everything detectives have asked for. in another statement released this week, murray's lawyer said

based on dr. murray's minute by minute and item by item description by michael jackson's last days, he should not be a target of criminal charges. dr. murray was the last doctor standing when michael jackson died. and it seems all the fury is directed towards him. meanwhile, the coroner paid a visit to los angeles nutritionist cherilynn lee. lee says she turned over her file on jackson. >> i actually did lab work. and this is one reason why the coroner wanted all of my records. >> reporter: dr. conrad murray is tentatively scheduled to meet with investigators for a third time later this week. meanwhile, the l.a. coroner continues to work on the final cause of death for jackson and a determination of what exactly was in his system at the time of his death. that report is expected to be released as early as next week. cnn, los angeles. teams of investigators in central california have found more than 300,000 pot plants.

their value, about $1 billion. the raids are part of operation save our sierra. 82 mexican nationals were arrested on dozens of marijuana farms. officials believe they are tied to cartels. most of these farms are found in fresno county, and it's larger than connecticut and the hard to reach mountain areas and ready water sources from rivers and lakes, and they get an opportune place to hide thousands of marijuana plants. rob marciano standing by now. actually a segue for you, rob, right? >> i don't know. >> i swear i didn't do that. >> well, i'll just say that the sierras are a beautiful mountain range, no matter how you -- >> experience them? >> yeah, not in fresno county. but up and down the spine of the sierras, of course. hi, heidi, good morning. >> good morning. >> let's talk a little weather. good growing weather out west, nice and hot, and out east remains on the cool side and

wet. the rainfall amounts have been, you know, pretty startling and widespread, south carolina, columbia, a little over 4 inches under two hours. bloomington, indiana, go hoosiers, and shelbiville seeing 2 inches, dayton, ohio, 1 1/2. a couple of things happening on the east coast, a bit of a squeeze play, disturbance along the gulf stream and this is a frontal boundary for the most part heading into quebec, but these will kind of converge a little bit, more so from the south, and that will spread some rain across the northeast, especially eastern parts of new england. say bridgeport east towards providence, rhode island, could see an inch or two of rain, flood watch posted for those parts of the world. 94 in dallas, that could be hotter this time of year. 87 degrees in atlanta, 77 degrees in new york city. and let's show you a picture of

d.c., which should get to 82 degrees. a lot of chitchat happening there last night, right now 76 degrees, over 85 six times this month in d.c., and only once in new york city, heidi has it been over 85. no times in june. so one time in may. only twice over 85 degrees in new york city. so our friends up there have been complaining it's been a cool summer. they have reason to do that. >> what does this all mean? >> well, so far it's been cool up there, and pretty comfortable across the southeast. i'm not complaining, gorgeous summer so far in the southeast. >> i agree. we'll talk with you later on. thank you. south carolina governor mark sanford and his family are in europe for a two-week vacation. the last time the republican governor was out of the country, you may remember he was on a secret rendezvous with his mistress in argentina. sanford says he wants to fix things with his wife and four sons. reportedly also told a charlotte tv station he wants to do some

soul searching. some more soul searching. a health care nightmare. too sick to work, but not disabled enough to get disability benefits. one woman appeals to president obama for help.

it looks like health care, catch 22, a cancer-stricken woman says she's too sick to work, not disabled enough for disability, and too young for social security. now this 54-year-old arizona woman has taken her battles to the web with a personal appeal to president obama. she says she's in pain, is always tired, and often has to be on oxygen. she says she's been denied social security disability even though she cannot hold down a job. >> what about this american citizen who has worked hard all of her life? please, mr. obama, please help me. >> a spokesperson with a social security administration says they will review her case. president obama defending his health care reform plan last night, the news conference was on, there were lots of questions asked. it was right here on cnn, of course, and we are asking you now this morning. if you watched last night, did you change your mind about

anything? did anything become more clear to you by way of health care reform? i want to go ahead and let you know what some of our bloggers have said. went to the heidi collins page, clicked on heidi and posted their comments. mary d., i think you did great, i liked the fact that he was talking so much to the american people. for the first time, i believe a president cares about what is going on. i voted good. and the next one, says this, from chris, adds to my concerns. this is way too big of an issue to try to push through so quickly. i feel there are so many facets to the health care issue that need to be addressed rather than see how fast it can be passed. it makes me wonder why. just a couple of our comments this morning. go to cnn.com/heidi and post your thoughts on the blog, or you can always call the brand new hot line to heidi 1-877-742-5760. u.s. health care officials are calling for a few thousand volunteers of all ages to test

the swine flu vaccine. they need to know if they're safe and effective before they get the go ahead to make more in time for flu season this fall. would you be willing to roll up your sleeves for that? for a shot like this, let us know. go to our blog cnn.com, click on my name heidi, tell us what you think about the swine flu vak sooen. well, the dow finally gave some back of its gains. seven-session win streak we've been talking about it here. but the nasdaq is 11 for 11. today, though, investors have another big bath of corporate earnings as well as some economic reports to think about. a look at how it all may effect trading. let's get over to susan lisovicz on wall street. >> good morning. opening bell set in about five seconds. we haven't seen that kind of streak for the nasdaq since 1996

when economic conditions were a whole lot different. >> yes, they were. >> but here we have the opening bell and it looks like, heidi, we might have some up side even though dow components 3m, at&t, and mcdonald's all reported lower than expected estimates. meanwhile, ford motor said it made money over the past few months, more than $2 billion, in fact. largely due to a big gain from reducing, but even factoring that out, it still beat estimates. that's much less than the nearly $4 billion it burned through in the first quarter. ford shares right now up 9%. some economic news could weigh on investor sentiment today. new jobless claims jumped by 30,000 last week, coming in above 550,000, much more than expected. meanwhile, continuing claims fell to the lowest level since mid april, that could mean people are finding jobs, or that

their jobless benefits have run out. checking the early numbers, one minute into trading. well, we're seeing a little bit of selling. just a little bit, the dow is off 14 points, the nasdaq's down by one. but year-to-date, heidi collins, the dow industrials are up 1.2%, the broader s&p 500 is up 5.5%, and wait for it, the nasdaq is up 22% year-to-date. >> wow. well, you know, it's something, that's for sure. >> we got a lot of, you know, we got a lot of improvement that we need to make up for the losses. but, you know, i thought you might know that. yeah, we're on the positive side for sure, especially for the nasdaq. >> yeah, i'm seeing green, that's for sure. i like that color. before we let you go, i know you live in hoboken, new jersey. know what's going on there? the story that was breaking a little while ago. something like 30 arrests have taken place, fbi involved in this.

u.s. attorneys office. it's like a two-pronged investigation they're looking at public corruption and this massive international money laundering scheme. but they've arrested the mayor of your city, they've arrested -- >> and he was just elected. he was just elected. >> what do you know about him? >> it was a close election and i was just talking to a neighbor last night and he's a very young guy, i think he's about 31, i actually haven't read the news reports yet other than what i'm hearing now. and it was a very close election, there was a runoff, and one of my neighbors was just saying last night he's squeaky clean, unfortunately hudson county has a long history, a very long history associated with corruptions. >> couple of mayors ago, right? >> correct. was indicted, the county executive was indicted, and one of the most famous movies of all time on the water front was shot in our city. and it's all about corruption. >> yeah, all right. well, susan, we know that you'll have interesting things to say. >> we'll have some interesting

neighbor chats. >> yeah. well, listen, we have more to talk about right now by way of the same story. steve is joining us from the new york observer, the weekly paper and is very familiar with several of these players. and steve, if you're with me on the line, i want to remind everybody what we're talking about here quickly because these arrests have been made, 30 of them, some of the big names as we were mentioning with susan there, the mayor of hoboken, the mayor of new jersey, and assembly man and deputy man of jersey city. the list kind of goes on. that's all we have at this point. give us some background here, tell us a little bit more about some of these players. >> yeah, well, they're not all, but they're mostly from it looks like hudson county, you know,which is the sort of gritty urban county right across from new york city, you know, hoboken, jersey city, that area. notorious for political corruption. there's an old joke from the governor of new jersey, he would

say he wanted to be buried when he died in hudson county because then he could stay active in politics. they vote the dead there. there's a long history. it's not too surprising when you see elected officials from that area arrested on corruption charges. the mayor of hoboken is maybe the biggest surprise in all of this. he is -- >> yeah. >> he is 31 years old, he was elected just last month. he was on the city council before that. he's a guy who was seen until 20 minutes ago as a real up and comer in new jersey state politics. governor corzine, i'm sure was at his inauguration last month, this is a guy with the attention of a lot of democratic power players in new jersey and was supposedly going places. >> yeah, it'll be interesting to hear as this develops, we should remind everybody, as well, there is a press conference scheduled for around noon today.

so we expect to be getting a lot more information. but you haven't heard anybody, steve, in your reporting about how this came about or how long this might have been going on, because it's remarkable. you've got 30 arrests, couple of mayors of large cities in the state of new jersey. >> i've heard it's been going on for two years or so the investigation. it involves not only the elected officials in hudson county, also the assembly man is from the shore, an hour south of hudson county. and also a group of rabbis in brooklyn and in new jersey. and some kind of money laundering going on there. exactly what that is, nobody's seen the indictment yet, but at least a two-year investigation, and that means the other interesting angle on this, federal investigation for two years, it was launched when chris christy was the u.s. attorney in new jersey. he is right now the republican nominee for governor of new jersey. built his entire reputation and basically the entire foundation for his campaign on his reputation for going after

political corruption. he took down one conviction and plea agreements with more than 100 corrupt officials, democratic and republican. it is his calling card in this investigation and obviously launched on his watch, and so i imagine this is the kind of thing that, you know, his campaign is in some way going to be talking a lot about. >> absolutely. all right. well, you've given us interesting perspective there, we sure do appreciate you calling in. we will continue to follow this story as you might imagine, dppting to get more and more detail as the morning goes on. we'll be back in a moment. it's delicious. delicious. i know. but it can't have... can't have about half a i assure you it does. i was expecting... expecting sawdust and cardboard? i know. i can only taste... only taste the crunchy clusters, honey, and brown sugar. no madam, i don't have esp. ok. i'll take a box, but you probably already knew that. (announcer) fiber one. cardboard no. delicious yes.

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are cnn has learned the army has opened up an investigation into the disappearance of private bowe bergdahl. they want to know how he was kidnapped by the taliban. back in his hometown, they aren't wondering how or why, they want to know when he's coming back. ed lavandera has more now from idaho. >> reporter: they came on

bicycles and they walked several hundred people honoring a hometown boy in harm's way. >> what's so proudly we hailed -- >> reporter: his parents did not show up to this candle light vigil, but family friends say they're overwhelmed with a show of support not just from their friends in idaho, but a message from bob and jane, they hope their son can hear whenever he is. >> to bowe, our only son, know that we love you and that people around the world are praying for your safe return to our arms. >> reporter: private bowe bergdahl deployed five months ago, wayne clayton is a long time friend of the family saying weeks before his capture, he wrote home describing a violent ambush he'd survived. >> he e-mailed his dad and explained about a vehicle they were riding in.

got the axils blown out of it. it a mine or something. >> clayton says he cringed when he read the e-mail, but he says bowe bergdahl sounded calm. >> he wasn't scared, he was upbeat, just typical 20-year-old soldier in the united states army, you know. just really experiencing everything he can. >> there's always a light in your heart for bowe and his family. >> reporter: a somber mood hangs over the town of hailey, but residents are starting to sound more hopeful, talking about a day they'll share a bike ride with bowe, the avid cyclist. >> bowe when you come back, i want to go up to the top of the mountains with you. >> reporter: they remain in their home on the outskirts of the town. but they do say their emotions have started to settle in a slow burning desire for his safe return. ed lavandera, cnn, idaho.

>> once again, ed lavandera reporting on that. we, of course, will stay in very close contact and bring you any developments that happen with that story. meanwhile, an african-american female is about to make history in the military. sergeant major theresa king joining us in the newsroom. cataracts are often part of getting older, but african-americans are nearly twice as likely to develop cataracts earlier in life than other groups because many blacks suffer from diabetes and hypertension which can contribute to certain forms of cataracts. cnn looks at what it's like to be black in america, dr. sanjay gupta reports on how they effect us. >> reporter: she never goes outside without her sunglasses ever since she was diagnosed with cataracts in her early 50s. >> i experienced blurring of vision, problems driving at night. >> reporter: she didn't expect to develop them so early in life. >> i was a little surprised. i had some prior surgeries and

that that gave me a predisposition to early cataracts. >> reporter: it is clouding of the eyes, when we're born the lens is clear. as you age, it may begin to cloud up, producing a cataract. >> cataracts usually grow very slowly throughout life. >> reporter: although they primarily effect older people, eye doctors say young peerm are becoming more susceptible a number of reasons, including too much sun exposure, diabetes, radiation, and even trauma. in your 30s, the best way to prevent cataracts is to wear sunglasses to protect the eyes against the sun's rays. >> really the only effective thing you can do to retard the formation is to wear uv-blocking sunglasses and to put a uv-blocking clear coating on your regular glasses. >> reporter: don't like sunglasses? wear a hat. anything with a brim to keep the sun of your eyes and check your family history. if you have cataracts in the family, get your yearly eye

exams to check for cataract growth. in your 40s and 50s, diabetes is one of the main causes for fast-forming cataracts. watch what you eat and exercise. both can keep you from developing diabetes type ii. and talk with your family doctor about the drugs you take. certain prescriptions can cause problems. >> medications can give you early cataracts, especially steroids. >> reporter: when you have your eyes examined, make sure the eye doctor knows about all of the medications you take. for 30, 40, 50, i'm dr. sanjay gupta. i was in the grocery store when i had a heart attack. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time.

don't miss "black in america 2" on air, online, and only on cnn. african-americans have played a role in our wars in history, of course, and are still making history. in fact, our next guest is about to take on one of the toughest challenges, commanding the army's drill sergeant school. she is sergeant major theresa king, the first female in that role at ft. jackson, south carolina. first off sergeant major, congratulations, thank you for your service, which includes about 30 years to the united states army. we very much appreciate it. you take this position in september, are you excited? >> very excited, heidi. >> what are you expecting? by way of sort of the challenges and the different ways that you will drill down if you forgive the pun, into your

students exactly what you want them to be doing? >> well, you know, i'm a trainer. my nature is to train and lead soldiers. i don't expect it to be very difficult because i just -- i just love training soldiers. and i do love working with drill sergeants. their job is to train at a higher level of proficiency. so i'm looking forward to working with them. >> are drill sergeants mean people? >> no, heidi. they're just if you will, they're just high-tech ntos that are expected to perform at a high level and they're motivated on their own and they have visions of soldiers that can move up from being maybe a low-performance soldier to a

high-performance soldier. that's a lot of work. >> yeah. >> and by the time they become drill sergeants, they're just great ntos who volunteered to come into the program. >> noncommissioned officers, we should say. tonight is part two of our documentary we're doing here at cnn, "black in america." tell us what it means to you. not only to be the first female commandant, but also the first african-american in this role. >> well, i would tell you growing up in rural north carolina, i did see some issues with being black in america. but with the people that had a hand in raising me and moving me into positions, i think you see that in my biography. i don't think that made a difference with the skin color.

and matter of factually, you know, i had a lot of males and one thing i'm thinking about right now is commander sergeant who is a white male and he is retired there in north carolina somewhere and he put me in all those positions that would elevate me, i think, for the consideration of becoming the next commandantcommandant. >> i am sure she appreciates the shoutout right now. who put you where you are on that track. again, we appreciate your

service so very much. love to hear how it goes at the start in september of you taking over the drill sergeant's school. sergeant major theresa king. >> you're welcome, heidi. >> the second part of our two-night "black in america 2" event. the most challenging issues facing african-americans and people who use ground-breaking solutions to change the black experience. that is tonight right here on cnn. and jeep dealer, and get up to double the government's cash for your old car. now get up to $4,500 for your old car... plus, up to an additional $4,500 cash allowance. no turn-in? no problem. your dodge, chrysler, and jeep dealer guarantees everyone up to $4,500 cash allowance... on virtually every model. get to your dodge, chrysler and jeep dealer on the double, and get double cash for your old car!

president bush hits the road to travel to ohio and hitting the famed cleveland clinic. it is known for lowering costs and improving quality care. >> cardiac intensive care unit at the cleveland clinic. both known for its high-quality care and it's comparatively low costs. those that work here like dr. steven nissen as washington debates a radkling restructuring of america's health care. >> everything that we've done is

done with the patient at the center of the picture and not the doctor. >> reporter: many hospitals work in different departments. here, all under one roof. the business model that translates into more collaboration and less competition for patients and for health care dollars. >> the cleveland clinic is not a service model. i get paid a salary. we all get the same check, doesn't matter whether we do an operation or angioplasty. so, we have taken that issue of income out of the equation. now, unfortunately, that's not the case across the country, though. and that does lead to excess costs. everybody wants to do their procedure. >> reporter: ceo is an outspoken advocate of reform and also sound several cautionary notes as washington debates just what to do and how to pay for it. >> 50% of a hospitals in the united states are running in the red. so, if you begin to look at

reducing the amount of money that's coming to hospitals to look after patients, i think you're beginning to look at failure of a group of hospitals. >> reporter: cleveland clinic holds itself out as how to lower costs and also improve results. >> it is time for you to go home, home. >> reporter: the emphasis is to reduce the need for extensive procedures and surgeries. >> again, to reimburse for wellness. right now if i do a heart operation y get paid for doing a heart operation. if i prevent somebody from needing a heart operation by helping them understand their diet and exercise, you don't get paid anything. >> reporter: wellness is a cleveland clinic obsession. farmers market on campus, yoga classes for employees and patients. >> 70% of the cost in health care is from chronic diseases and chronic diseases come from really three big things. from obesity, from lack of exercise and from smoking.

so, we have got to go after the prevention and wellness aspect. and that all brings down the level of disease across the entire country. we live longer, we live healthier and we live cheaper. >> cnn will have live coverage of president obama's town hall meeting on health care reform scheduled to get under way at just 2:00 eastern time.

quickly want to get you updated on a story we have been following. clearly we're getting developments as the morning goes on. all happened in new jersey and a small portion of the story also happening in new york. here's the deal, appreciately 30 arrests have been made this morning. there's a federal investigation going on, apparently for quite some time. still trying to learn exactly when this investigation occurred, began, i should say, but now there's public corruption and an international money laundering that has been investigated. we have been able to confirm that the mayor of hoboken and secaucus and the deputy mayor of

jersey city have all been arrested. there are many others and the other line of this story, the money laundering version includes arrests made in both new york and new jersey and rabbis involved and take nn to custody, as well. deborah feyerick has been working on this story as hard as possible and she joins us with more. since last week spoe, have we been able to get any more information on how this all went down? >> this was a huge operation started three years ago in the spring of 2006. breaks down into two separate cases linked by common players. the public corruption aspect and the money laundering aspect and now a source close to the investigation describes the public corruption as "straight bribery" cash-filled envelopes and this involved republicans and democrats and state and local officials including several mayors, deputy mayors and councilmen.

now the money laundering component laundering tens of millions of dollars through their religious organizations. this, according to a source close to the investigation and they were laundering the money, basically, for a fee. so, there was overlapping the players that began as public corruption and then seems to have blossomed out to this money laundering component. all of that under investigation. >> any idea what they wanted to do with the money or what the plan was? >> that's all sort of under investigation but the money was being laundered by this group of rabbis down by the beach area. the area that was involved in this. so, again, right now we're waiting for that attorney's conference and this is the information we're getting by a source close to the investigation. >> anybody heard from the governor of the state, governor corzine? >> no, not yet. in fact, the mayor of hoboken was seen as an up and coming player. so, clearly, this is going to

send some reverberations through the governor's cabinet and through the government's administration in terms of the people who were involved, especially because they were so well supported by the governor. >> absolutely. we'll wait for that. deb feyerick, we appreciate the reporting. president obama intensifies his fight for reform. he travels to cleveland to hold a town hall meeting and you can probably bet he repeat the stern words from last night's news conference. no longer trust their health to a system that is broken and only getting worse. >> if we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit. if we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. if we don't act, 14,000 americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day. these are the consequences of inaction. these are the stakes of the debate that we're having right

now. >> now, we want to talk to two senators on opposite sides of the aisle and the issue. what did they think of the president's tv appearance last night and lamar alexander serves on the senate appropriations committee and senator ted conrad, chairman of the budget committee. first, nice to see you both standing next to each other. we appreciate you coming on the show and standing together. let me start with you, senator alexander, do you think the president changed any minds last night? >> i think maybe he changed his mind last night. he didn't talk very much about getting it done quicker than we have time to read the bill, he talked about costs, which is where we ought to be. the bills we have now plus that test and make sure americans can afford the health care insurance and senator conrad has been a leader on it and when we're finished they can afford the government. >> senator conrad, what do you

think you have to say about that? do you think he muddied the waters? >> i think he made progress and he said the right notes and just as lamar indicated, it is absolutely critical that we get a hold of this cost explosion. we are spending twice as much per person as any other country in the world on health care and we have excellent health care in this country, but on many metrics, we're pretty far down the list in terms of overall performance. but this cost explosion simply must be contained we're spending one out of every six dollars in this economy on health care. we will spend 1 out of every $3 on health care and that's totally unsustainable. >> the congressional budget report, i'm sure you're very familiar with it. the house democrats' plan would cost $1 trillion over ten years and then actually increase the deficit, which is also a big issue by about $65 billion over the same amount of time.

you both hold these key positions on committees that we mention and control the purse strings. how concerned are you? senator alexander? >> medicaid and raise state taxes and, as you said, the congressional budget offices that were adding to the deficit and the president has said no addition to the deficit and we don't want you to lose your insurance and the legislation we've seen so far does both. so, i'd say if it were a baseball game, we're at the bottom of the first inning and we need to keep working and focus opcosts. >> baseball games are usually pretty long. senator conrad, your thoughts. >> this is a case where senator alexander and i totally agree. look, we have to do a better job. at the end of the day we'll be judged on history. getting it right to me means,

number one, having it fully paid for over ten years, reducing the cost curve beyond that so that we don't have these continuing explosion of premiums for our families and making our businesses less competitive and really putting the government itself at risk because not even the government has deep enough pockets to be able to explode to be able to afford the exploding health costs. >> is it going to pass, senator conrad? >> well, first of all, we have to get it right. we will reserve judgment. i think it's very important we take this on -- >> you don't know. >> taking it on, we've got to get it right. >> well too, the both of you, we appreciate your time very much. senator lamar alaxeneder and kent conrad. senator, forgive me. okay, i thought senator alexander was trying to say one more thing. >> i would be glad to say one

more thing. >> sadly, we're out of time. will you come back? thanks so much, gentlemen, we appreciate the time. did anything president obama said last night change your opinion on health care reform? your opinion at home, that's what we want to know. that's the question we have been asking. make sure you go to cnn.com/heidi and hit the comments button or call on your thoughts. new thing called hotline to heidi. you see the phone number there. 877-742-5760. tell us what you think. a reminder we will bring you live coverage of president obama's town hall meeting on health care reform being held in ohio and scheduled to get under way just after 2:00 eastern time. now this, taking on the taliban. u.s. marines battling enemy fighters right now. we'll take you live to the battleground. gecko vo: geico's the third-largest

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a distorbing story to tell you about from louisiana. a 3-month-old girl killed from rats. she died last week in a rental home in westwego. her body was covered in rat bites. the family says they are devastated. >> they were good parents. she would have never let anything happen to this child. >> i hope my sister, it was a

freak accident. i know she didn't mean it. i know she was a good mother. >> now the parent are battling to regain custody of their 14-month-old son who was placed into state care. and more shocking news, four boys under arrest in phoenix for allegedly raping an 8-year-old girl. >> they restrained her and she was brutally sexually assaulted for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. >> police say the boys range in age from 9 to 14. investigators say the girl and the four suspects are refugees from the west african nation of liberia. police say the girl's parents blame her for being victimized. >> the parents felt that they have been shamed or embarrassed by their child and that's not acceptable. >> investigators say each of the

boys admitted to sexually assaulting the young girl. during the president's news conference, questions of race came up, specifically over an incident involving prominent harvard professor. he defended gates after a confrontitation at his home in cambridge, massachusetts. the charges have since been dropped. >> i don't know not having been there and seen all the facts what role race played in that. but it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. number two, that the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. and, number three, what i think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of

african-americans and latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. that's just a fact. >> the officer, sergeant james controly said he will not apologize to gates and the mayor of cambridge has. gates says he's willing to listen. >> i haven't heard from sergeant crawley, i would be prepared to listen to him if i was convinced if he would tell the truth about what he did and the distortions that he fabricated in the police report, i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. using this as an educational opportunity for america. if this could happen to me in harvard square, this could happen to anybody in the united states and i'm determined that it never happen to anybody again. >> gates says he plans to keep talking about the issue, he went on to say this is not about me, this is about the vulnerability of black men in america. renewed action in southern

afghanistan this morning where u.s. marines are facing off with taliban fighters. ivan watson is embed would the marines in the treacherous helmand province and he joins us now to talk about what is going on. good morning to you, ivan. >> good morning, heidi. i am in a town within the walls of an old castle, an afghan castle that the marines captured earlier this month and now living out of. i don't know if you can see in the background here, the mud brick walls, it's like we've gone to another century here and this is the place marines are calling home. this is the southern most point that the u.s. military has advanced to, heidi, since they launched an offensive earlier this month. 50 miles left to go to the pakistani border and where i'm located right now, the marines have been exchanging fire with insurgents over the course of this day. the insurgents have lobbed mortars at this location today

and in retaliation we've seen the marines firing huge artille artillery, huge canons at those insurgent locations and mortars from here in retaliation for the insurgent incoming mortar fire. that's why i'm wearing a flat jacket right now. this is a place that the marines moved in to and part of the reason why the commanders say it's important is that they have brought afghan government official os to this location, which was controlled by the taliban just a few weeks ago. they brought afghan national army soldiers perhaps a little bit more than 30 and they're trying to start to plant roots for the afghan central government, which hasn't had any presence here for at least four years, heidi. so, there's an important experiment under way here, heidi. >> absolutely. anybody talking about how they feel about the potential success of that experiment? >> well, i think the commanders

are excited about what's going on here within 24 hours of rolling in here earlier this month. they had orders to set up meetings with the tribal elders in this area and daily outreaches going on with the local afghan government officials that were brought down here. but as we've seen from today's exchange of mortar fire, this area is still not under control. the insurgents are firing back, they've been lobbying rockets periodically at this location and mortars today and in addition to this, the road that we took in here, there was a deadly incident last week during which a roadside bomb blew up and killed two marines on that road. so, it's a sign that this area is still not pacified and this is coming on a month, heidi, that has been bloody for u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. a record number of losses this month for both the u.s. and for nato. two more american soldiers killed yesterday, sorry, troops killed yesterday in southern

afghanistan by a roadside bomb and one more british soldier killed in southern afghanistan also by a roadside bomb. there's a long way to go before the afghan central government can claim to control this part of afghanistan, heidi. >> we sure do appreciate you keeping us updated. ivan watson there embed would the u.s. marine down there in helmand province. we'll stay in contact with ivan. doctor's care. what you look like, could that affect the way doctors treat you? how to tell if your doctor might have a hidden bias.

in our empowered patient segment, a new study finds at least one large new york city health care network, more than 40% of doctors react negatively to obese patients. doctors said they felt frustrated treating obese patients, but obese people are not the only one experiencing differences. troubling statistics. first off, why would doctors be frustrated with obese patients? >> part of it is they get frustrated because they want to help these people.

they teld their obese patients to lose weight and then it doesn't happen because we all know how hard it is to lose weight and the doctors feel frustrated like their job is to help these people and it's not happening. that's one reason. but another reason that's interesting, when we talked to the study authors they said, look, some people are just bias towards fat people. they see someone who's overweight and they just don't feel good about them. doctors are human beings and they sort of detected that perhaps there's just a human bias sometimes against obese people and these doctors felt it and it kind of translated into a negative attitude towards their obese patients. >> i'm sure that the study addressed, you know, doctors are very close to the health issues of people who are obese and, so they probably are talking a little bit about prevention in keeping their care a little bit more manageable. >> right. i'm sure there are doctors who look at an oobese patientant and think, why can't you just lose

weight? you won't get -- blood pressure will go down and everything will get better and when the patient doesn't do it for many doctors, that is very frustrating. >> obesity isn't the only thing the study looked at. >> this study looked at obesity but doctors' attitudes about other aspects of a patient's appearance, including their race and what those studies have found is that doctors decisions about how to treat a patient are affected by race, even when the patients all have the same insurance. even when money is not an issue. so, for example, a doctor if it's a black patient verse as white patient, they're not as aggressive treating the black patient. a black patient comes in with a heart attack they're less likely to describe life-saving drugs. >> quite a big claim. i'm thinking about the hippocratic oath. >> i don't think there are doctors, maybe there are, but the doctors who do this aren't

like, he's black, it is more of a subtle bias you might call it that gets translate under to how you might look at someone based on the color of their skin. >> i know tomorrow is empower me friday and we usually get a lot of oquestions here. people need to know how to get a hold of you. >> we like to help people with any questions they have write to me at empoweredpatient@cnn.com. >> thank you, appreciate that. also remind you president obama goes on the road and on the offensive in his fight for health care reform. we'll tell you what he's saying and how republican leaders are responding. to silence headaches... doctors recommend tylenol... more than any other brand... of pain reliever. tylenol rapid release gels... release medicine fast. so you can stop headaches... and feel better fast.

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president obama goes on the road today for sell his plan for reforming health care. he viz thets cleveland clinic in ohio and takes part in a town hall meeting. today's message will probably

sound a lot like what he said last night. adopt a plan that overhauls the system. >> i'm rushed because i get letters every day from families that are being clobbered by health care costs. and they ask me, can you help? so, i've got a middle-aged couple that will write me and say our daughter just found out she has leukemia and if i don't do something soon, we just are either going to go bankrupt or we're not going to be able to provide our daughter with the care she needs. and in a country like ours, that's not right. so, that's part of my rush. >> republicans say the democrats' plans are too complex and too costly to rush into passing. they say democrats need to be willing to work with them towards a better solution. >> we look forward to being able to move a health care proposal this year on a truly bipartisan basis and one that doesn't increase the deficit, one that

doesn't put the government in charge of our health care, one that doesn't produce a system that in the end delays care and in many instances denies care and, of course, in order to do that, rationing care. i don't think the american people want any of that and nor should we be trying to pass it. >> that republican opposition makes it unlikely that both houses of congress can pass bills before their august recess. now, we are asking if president obama may have changed your mind about health care reform last night in his news conference. we've been getting a lot of blogs about that. go over to the heidi mac and let you know what some people are saying. cnn.com/heidi. that's how you get on. everett says this, heidi, the president's plan is like a rescue ship being built and awaiting launch in the shipyard. those needing to be rescued cannot continue to wait for lawmakers to debate over wanting

a perfect ship to be built. we should launch whatever we have and make needed repairs, if any, along the way. i am more concerned than ever, the president did in his speech on what i used to do in papers in college when i did not do enough readings to speak specific on a topic. go to cnn.com/heidi to postyour thoughts on the blog or call the hotline to heidi. that number is 1-877-742-5760. this reminder, we will have live coverage of president obama's town hall meeting on health care reform and is scheduled to get under way just after 2:00 eastern time. part of the president's plan is eliminating waste in the federal health care system. like in the case of a wheelchair paid for many times over. >> so far this very wheelchair taxpayers have spent more than $1,200 just to rent it.

>> reporter: how much does this wheelchair cost if you just bought it? >> about $400. >> our drew griffin is on the case trying to find out why taxpayers are paying so much for that wheelchair. and want to give you a look at the big board because, guess what, i think we've gone through that -- well, we were. just before i pulled it up, of course, we went above the 9,000 mark for the dow jones industrial averages. first time since january we have been above the 9,000 mark. there we go, did it again. well, yesterday, the dow closed down about 35 points and today we were aware that things were probably going to go up a little bit but right now to the positive, triple digits about 120 points. we're watching those numbers, as always, right here. the second part of our "black in herk" documentary airs tonight on cnn. the most challenging issues facing african-americans and, of course, one of those is

unemployment and racist. 8.7% of whites were unemployed. that's compared to 14.7% of blacks. in our snapshot across america, we look at the challenges blacks face in the job market. joining me here in atlanta is mia jackson who is applying for mba program. there she is. in new york, sonia is a career lifestyle editor for "black enterprise magazine." and in chicago, mark welsh, he's the director of global diversity and inclusion for northern trust corporation. welcome to all of you. appreciate you guys being here. lots to talk about. mia, i want to begin with you. i know that you've been laid off and then rehired and you ended up forming your own consulting firm and now you're applying for mba programs. first off, great tewativeness on your part. what are some of the biggest obstacles that young african-americans are facing

right now in the job market? >> some of the biggest obstacles is trying to be creative and trying to stay within our jobs and be able to perform and be as competitive with our count counterparts. but i think the main thing is re-create our selves and have all the tools in our tool kits to be successful. >> every young person is trying to do that. what is different about being african-american and having these same challenges in this same economy? >> i think it's more, it has to do with confidence, too. i think it's some things we have, some perceptions and i think people have perceptions of us and we have perceptions of ourselves that when we walk into a room, you know, we have to have the confidence that we belong there and it may be subtle, but i think it's very important when you're working in a workplace, a diverse workplace. >> sonia, i know that you cover career development and

diversity, transfer black enterprise magazine. what in your mind are some of these obstacles that are african-american, specifically. what makes the difference in the workplace for african-americans? >> mia outlined many of them. that's why it's important for african-americans and minorities in general to make sure they have mentor support. >> is that out there? is that easy to come by? >> it is if you search for it and seek it out. what is great about a lot of the companies today, particularly those who are heavily recruiting for an entry-level position is that they do have these set up. they have formal programs set up internally. so, even if a new entrance is a little leery about, you know, approaching someone herself, there are programs that are set up in major institutions to help them go through the process. but mentoring is a single most important thing that you can actually do to alleviate some of the stress and frustration and gain that confidence that mia's talking about. >> yeah, absolutely.

everybody can use a good mentor. hey, you mentioned recruiters and that's a great way to get to mark. the same question for you, i know that you're in charge of diversity and inclusion at northern trust. what do you see as some of the obstacles that african-americans specifically deal with in the workplace that other races may not? >> well, i don't know that i would necessarily categorize them as difficulty that other races don't deal with. i think the challenge is always and i think sonia and mia both outlined this very well. the challenge is one of access. the issue is not finding diverse candidates but they have access to hiring and they have acstees the organization. they're exhausting the best possible means in getting in touch with organizations whether using social networking sites like linked in or twitter or facebook the most important thing is making sure that you have access and that you're creating strong networking relationships and that should be able to sustain to get you

access to an organization. >> very good. listen, we'll continue this conversation. you guys stay right where you are and same with you guys at home. we'll be back in just a minute talking about job losses and how to overcome of the challenges and get to some of the solutions. %%%%%%%%%%%

back to our discussion now on the challenges facing african-americans when it comes to unemployment. joining me in atlanta sonia and in chicago, mark welch. thanks, again, guys.

you already pointed out some solutions here to what african-americans can do by way of beginning a job search and succeeding in this particular market. mia, you mentioned confidence is important and, sonia, you mentioned mentoring and, mark, you mentioned access. you're talking about social networking and so forth. i just want to ask all of you, in order to wrap all of this up, where do you get started? mia, you have been through a lot, a lot of ups and a lot of downs. what advice would you give? >> it's about finding what you're good at. knowing your passion and when you know your passion and you'll be able to apply that to anything. my passion is continuous improvement and i was able to apply that, create my own small consulting firm, one employee and that's all i needed and i was able to go back and contract for my company. if you find your passion, you'll be able to create an opportunity or a niche for yourself and be able to leverage that in the

workforce. >> sonia, what about you? >> i would tell folks not to get caught up in the negativety of there's no jobs. i think we have been repeating there's no jobs, no jobs and the truth of the matter is that companies are hiring and they're hiring in a number of different areas and you have to be more proactive and a little bit more creative to be able to find your opportunity, but the opportunity is there. >> mark, how about you? >> well, i would actually build on something that mia said earlier which is the issue of confidence and i would also add to that that you want to do your research to find organizations that actually do practice a strong belief in diversity. you want to have the confidence to roach out and you're in line with an organization that is not only going to bring into the organization that they retain you and giving you opportunities to move ahead. diversity is not enough. you just can't start with diversity, make sure people are moving along in the organizations and greater

leadership role. >> depending upon qualifications and all of that goes without saying, i would imagine. >> absolutely. absolutely. no difference between a diverse candidate or any other. we're looking for the same qualifications. >> thanks, guys, for the conversation. we sure do appreciate it. mia jackson right here in atlanta and mark welch in chicago. >> thank you. >> thank you. paying too much for health care. >> so, who would come up with a system where renting this wheelchair would cost four times the amount of money it would take to actually buy it? let me give you a hint -- >> cnn investigates. why are we paying so much for one woman's wheelchair? and... of pain reliever. tylenol rapid release gels... release medicine fast. so you can stop headaches... and feel better fast.

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all right. we want to show you this because it hasn't happened in quite some time. dow jones industrial average is sitting at 9,027. things could change, but up by, i've seen it go up as much as 150 points right now. so, some interesting and exciting news there. a lot of earnings reports coming in today. several already have come in and even more will come in after the closing bell. so, clearly having an impact there. we'll continue to watch those numbers, as always, throughout the day. also, always watching the weather and we have just the guy. hello, rob. >> hello, heidi.

>> been cool across the northeast for a good couple months now and more rain on the way. kind of a squeeze play. two items of concern, this guy right here, kind of a low pressure that is developing right over the gulf stream and this signature, little disturbance riding a front, that's heading more towards the north but either way they're close enough where new york will get wet here before the day is done, more so, i think, this evening and more so eastern marts of rhode island, connecticut and eastern new england. we'll see an inch or two of rainfall and that's on top of all the rain they had over the last couple weeks. flood watches posted for that part of the country. 77 in new york, 82 degrees in d.c. and 87 in atlanta. that certainly could be worse for this time of year. anything under 100 is pretty comfortable. get up to over 100 in phoenix and 98 in vegas and 100 degrees in salt lake. our west coast folks are starting to heat up, at least in the inland part and that will continue to be a problem.

where we saw most of the rain yesterday, columbia, south carolina, saw almost four inches of rain in a little under two hours. they got a good soaking there. bloomington, indiana, home of the hoosiers, 2.38 and dayton, ohio, got an 1.5. bligatory animal video, here you go. i used to live in jersey for a while. this is, there is a bird in bergen county. wild turkey apparently antagonizing the mail man. >> i thought dogs were supposed to do that. >> apparently this turkey is doing it. i'm not sure he would be walking around so confidently if the month was october or november. >> true. >> but, nuonetheless, that's what's happening. we don't have any video of the bird attacking anybody and animal control has yet to be called in because there haven't been any injuries for the mailman. >> hey, thanks for that. i think it really added to the

show. i appreciate it. >> you ask and i deliver. >> rob marciano, thank you. some senators want the u.s. and china to cooperate more on curbing greenhouse gas emissions. a report from the senate foreign relation committee suggests that could be the key to global solution to climate change. by 2012, tough new efficiency standard mean most traditional light bulbs on the market today will be phased out. don't go stockpiling them just yet. it turns out the threat of extension has curved invasion. alison kosik has our energy fix from new york. what is all this about? >> a lot going on with the light bulb these day. two years ago congress passed a law mandating new efficiency for lighting which accounts for 70% of the energy in this country. now rolling out bulbs to meet the new 2012 standards. the first one on the market are

from philips the energy savers you can only get them at home depot or amazon.com and they're 30% more efficient but cost a lot more, about 5 bucks each. they're also working on more efficient incondesants and they'll sell for about 3 bucks apiece. heidi? >> i remember when they first came out a lot of discussion about how expensive they were and how much longer they really, really lasted and i wonder now how they compare to compact fluorescents. >> they still aren't as efficient. compact fluorescents use 70% less energy and they offer only a 25% to 30e% improvement but not everybody like the cork screws, some people find the lighting too cold and others complain they take too long to light up and they don't work with the dimmer switches. they contain mercury and many people don't know that. if you break one, you have to be really careful. the epa has information opits

website about how to clean up a spill and it includes even ventilating the room for 15 minutes. heidi, the new efficient incondesants will be popular with people who aren't fans with those. >> makes up 7%, though, of the inenergy. interesting. alison kosik, appreciate it. thank you. do you think your money is being spent wisely in washington? get ready to be mad. drew griffin has a math lesson on medicare. >> people will be shocked. this costs how much a month? >> $129. >> and you have had that for -- >> six years. >> that adds up to thousands of dollars wasted for just one person. but you have to see the story.

president oxwauma says he wants to do away with the waste in the federal health care system. that's part of his reform push. but what does that really mean? drew griffin brings us one example of silly spending. >> reporter: to debbie brown it's really easy to understand why medicare is going bust. since a back surgery gone bad six years ago, she's had plenty of time to think about it, to think about the wheelchair the government has been renting for her with medicare dollars.

for this squeaky chair? >> yeah. it's kind of embarrassing. >> reporter: so far, for this very wheelchair, taxpayers have spent more than $1,200 just to rent it. how much does this wheelchair cost if you just bought it? >> about $400. >> reporter: could that possibly be true? yes. here is the exact same wheelchair being sold on the internet for $440. free shipping. but, wait, it gets even better. brown's wheelchair is rented to her from a national health care product supplier named apria health care, one of the largest of medical suppliers and they have already billed the government $1,200. to check prices, we decided to buy our own chair. the company we called said brown's model is no longer being made, but this one, made by the

same company is even better. >> these have been pretty sturdy and steady, right? >> reporter: the price just $349. the company selling it to us, apria health care, the same company charging medicare $1,200. so, who would come up with a system where renting this wheelchair would cost four times the amount of money it would take to actually buy a it? let me give you a hint. >> in congress such congress rules and how they have to pay for health care services. >> reporter: jonathan blum is president obama's pick to try to change how the centers for medicare and medicaid services, cms, has been paying for things. he points out it's very different from how the rest of the country shops. congress, it turns out, sets the

rules for how much a wheelchair should be rented for and congress has determined that wheelchair should be rented for a period of 13 months instead of just buying them. and congress has determined price is not as important as other considerations. like small business contracts and availability. >> you can't imagine anybody who actually had to pay for this would go out and get the same price that the government is being handed. >> it's wrong. the good news is we have new authority right now to use competitive bidding, which would give the program much more flexibility. >> reporter: that new authority is to actually have companies bid on the prices for things like wheelchairs. >> mr. speaker, i would urge us to defeat this bill. >> reporter: problem is, congress has been very reluctant to allow competitive bidding. it's been delayed for years. started last year and then stopped after just two weeks because of complaints from congress. they will try again this fall,

but congress is complaining again. in this letter, signed by 84 members of congress saying the competitive bidding system is unfair. find out exactly why members of congress are against competitive bidding, we took our wheelchair to the halls of congress. to the top republican and democrat who signed that letter. betty sutson the democrat. what better way to contain costs than to have a competitive marketplace? >> i am a big believer in competitive bidding, so, at the outset, i absolutely concur. but this program, as it has unfolded, as it's been developed, it really is a competitive bidding process that isn't competitive at all. >> reporter: marsha blackburn is the republican. >> on the free market, this $349 wheelchair is pretty cheap. when the government is paying

for it, it's so far costs four times as much money. >> that is right. and any time you have a bureaucracy that is going to make those decisions and is going to decide what that price is going to be, look what it ends up costing. and as we talk about health care reform, that is one of our points. >> reporter: both say they support competition just not the rules the government has set up. what's this really about? the american association for home care represents businesses who have been billing the government for things like wheelchair rental. in a statement, the association said the bid program would sacrifice care for seniors and people with disabilities as it reduces patient access to and choice for medical equipment. and the association claims competitive bidding will actually increase medicare costs because it will lead to longer, more expensive hospital stay.

how does apria account for the disparity in pricing of these two wheelchairs? the company says its own employee made an honest mistake and should have charged cnn $949 for the tracer. $949 for a wheelchair whose manufacturer suggests a list price of $655 and a wheelchair we, again, found online even cheaper than when we first bought it for $289 and $249 free shipping. apria says it charges more for its wheelchair because of extensive government paperwork and its full service, 24 hours a day including free delivery. john rother with the retirement advocacy group aarp says industry is just trying to protect profits w