all right. from the cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning" for july 25th. good morning to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. >> happy saturday. i'm brook baldwin sitting in for betty nguyen. it's 3:00 a.m. on the west coast. we thank you for starting your weekend with us. first, let's talk about an issue affecting your wallet and wellness. president obama trying extremely hard to push his plan to overhaul the nation's health care system. many republicans are saying, wait a minute, not so fast.

the president returning his focus to this challenging fight in this morning's radio address. we'll bring that to you. >> you said turning his attention back to because his attention was somewhere else for a while. as you know a couple days the harvard professor, friend of the president arrested by that white police officer really sparked conversation about racial profiling in this country. the president tried to back to down a little bit yesterday. i sat down in an interview with gates' attorney who is trying to back things down a little bit yesterday when i talked to him as well. take a listen. >> he's feeling the sense of indignity that people feel every day. it has nothing to do with race. there are people who feel powerless when they have done everything they can legally do to protect themselves. >> nothing to do with race. you heard him there. so when did this become about race? the full interview coming up in just a bit. first, we do have news stories to tell you about that happened overnight.

up first, the office that's investigating michael jackson's death now possibly being investigated itself. the coroner's office we're talking about here may have illegally leaked some information and now it's being looked into it. >> according to the coroner's office at least six employees who were not assigned to the case accessed his death certificate which is a violation of department policy and rules follow his death several tabloids published the details about the condition of michael jackson's body. we'll talk about that. it's moving time for alaska governor sarah palin tomorrow. her official last day in office. i guess that's the moving truck. palin's departure coming amid a flurry of ethics complaints. many of which have been dismissed. palin says she's the target of a personal destruction campaign and the cost of fighting false accusations part of the reason why she says she's resigning. voting is under way in

presidential and parliamentary region north of iraq. there are two dominant coalitions being challenged by a smaller coalition there trying to break the status quo. final results are not expected for the next couple days. hello to you. tell our viewers why this matters. >> reporter: good morning, t.j. these elections are significant for a number of reasons. first and foremost because they will cement democracy in the region. that's what some analysts are saying. also because of the recent increase in tensions that we've been seeing between iraq's kurdish population and the arab population. the kurdish region that you're talking about orders central iraq and along that borderline is something of a trigger line as well potential for conflict there because there are a number

of disputed paren ed territoriee of those are oil rich and run-up to the elections we've heard inflammatory rhetoric from kurdish leaders about how they are not willing to compromise on any front whatsoever. that's raised some concerns. grave concerns amongst the international community, the united nations and the u.s. military that wants to ensure that it is leaving behind a stable iraq. what we are hearing today from all sides is that these elections will help pave a way for the future of the relationship between the government up in the northern part of the country and the government in baghdad. t.j.? >> petraeus showed up there in iraq. >> reporter: that's right. he did. in fact, we had the opportunity to sit down with him exclusively yesterday to speak about not just the conflict here but the global war on terror. even though the u.s. is reducing its combat role in iraq, the

american general in charge of iraq and afghanistan told news an exclusive interview that iraq is still the center of the fight against international terrorism. >> you have the al qaeda connections with senior leadership in western pakistan extend into afghanistan threaten pakistan and then very much threaten the rest of the world. there are links from there to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula which re-established itself in south yemen and iraq is in the center of this. it's very, very important. >> reporter: that's mainly because of its location but also because control of iraq's natural resources, oil and gas, is so strategically important. he was one of the main orchestrators of america's surge strategy there. he says there are iraq lessons that apply to afghanistan. >> some of the lessons are very obvious again. you shouldn't start clearing until you have your plan to hold

and build. it wasn't just the surge. it wasn't just 30,000 more force here. it was the deployment of those forces in manner that focused on security of the people and did it by living with the people and then also sought to help the process of reconciliation because you cannot kill or capture your way out of this kind of endeavor. >> reporter: that realization is why america implemented another strategy in iraq it wants to carry over. reaching out to its enemies. in afghanistan's case, the taliban. >> there's always been activity at local levels which one would characterize as reaching out to elements that were willing to be part of the solution instead of the continuing part of the problem. >> reporter: those efforts not yet on the scale of what they were in iraq. there is the realization that when it comes to combat and global terror, troop force is not the solution. >> this is not a struggle where you kill or capture the bad guys

and take the hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade. at the end of the day it is about education. it is about in a sense accept ing pragmatic progressive leadership of countries and that's the ultimate solution and that's why i mention that this takes a whole government approach. you can't just kill or capture everybody. you have to kill or capture the condition. >> reporter: and trying to kill or capture those conditions is going to be a global challenge. t.j.? >> thank you so much. we'll see you again soon. back to what's been happening in washington. we've been hearing a lot about president obama coming out yesterday saying it was a cameo appearance talking about the arrest in cambridge of professor gates. the question now is really should the president have commented on the issue? some people say no. it's more of a local issue. this controversy surrounding the

arrest of this prominent harvard professor escalated to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> dan lothian tells us after reviewing the situation, the president himself trying to calm it down. >> reporter: it wasn't quite an apology but president obama tried to put out a wildfire that was burning out of control placing a five-minute phone call to sergeant james crowley. >> i obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up. i wanted to make clear that in my choice of words i think i unfortunately gave an impression that i was malining the cam bridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically. i could have calibrated those words differently. the cambridge police acted

stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof they were in their own home. >> reporter: in his first sit down television interview, crowley said he never wanted to take such drastic action. >> i was continuously telling him to calm down because i didn't want this ear. nevertheless, that's how far professor gates pushed it and pro provoked and wouldn't stop. >> reporter: the president concedes that his good friend also played a role in how this turned out. >> there was an overreaction in pulling professor gates out of his home to the station. i also continue to believe based on what i heard that professor gates probably overreacted as well. >> reporter: this came just hours after a group of police officers in massachusetts made it clear what they wanted to hear from president obama. >> i think when the time is right they should make an apology to us.

the president should make an apology to all law enforcement personnel throughout the entire country that took offense to this. >> reporter: the president admitted that this controversy was taking away attention from health care reform. beyond smoothing this over with the arresting officer, mr. obama says he hopes this becomes a teachable moment. >> where all of us instead of pumping up the volume spend a little more time listening to each other and try to focus on how we can generally improve relations between police officers and minority communities. >> reporter: the white house says president obama called professor gates and had a positive discussion and invited him here to meet with sergeant crowley in the near future. the president and crowley earlier talked about all three of them getting together at the white house for a beer. dan lothian, cnn, the white house. >> all right. what is dr. gates saying? this san e-mail that don lemon

received after the president's remarks. >> yesterday his attorney said the two have not spoken or had not spoken, crowley and gates. they want it to happen. maybe it's on the way to happening now. by all means, you can comment on this story. many of you have already commented on facebook and twitter pages and blogs all over the place. continue to do so this morning. we'll read those comments. a lot of people ready to move on right now including gates' attorney who i talked to yesterday and talked about this situation and he tried to back things down a bit. you see him there. he wanted to take a step back yesterday. again saying that this could lead to something -- this could be a good thing that could help

police in dealing with citizens but also citizens dealing with police. >> the president referring to it as a teachable moment. we'll see. maybe we'll be schooled a little bit in the weather department. mr. wolf tracking severe weather in part of the country. mr. wolf. >> i like that. >> you like that? >> i do actually. one thing we'll see is window rattling thunder. rough stuff that's forming right now. i'll expand this window so you can take a look. we have ft. wayne, coming up next toledo, columbus and we'll give you an idea of where we could see more rough weather around the rest of the nation and temperatures way above normal for parts of texas. we'll tell you how long that will last coming up on "cnn saturday morning." reathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways.

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>> a little bit of a segue. >> this is out of chicago. a guy is trying to rob an office depot. it was foiled because -- >> because the guy behind the counter thinks fast and flips on the intercom so everyone else in the store can hear this whole attempted robbery go down. obviously the guy is hearing himself so what does he do? runs out the store. he's not done yet. >> he has a sweet tooth. >> he runs to a nearby candy store. not for candy. for the cash. he did rob a candy store. the most interesting detail i saw out of this after he robbed the candy store, he fled in a taxi. it's a white taxi he got away in. i don't know if he hailed a cab. i don't know if he just went and stopped the guy. >> follow the trail of candy. >> in the time the cab stops and he has to look at the meter, what does he pay with mr.

goodbar? how is this working? you would think there would be other options that may be higher on the mark in terms of getting money. i don't know. maybe the mug shot with chocolate in the side of the mouth is the man. at times you walk in the door and you have all kinds of weather to talk about. this is one of those mornings. rough weather in parts of the ohio valley. we have video from wisconsin where hail came down. it fell at a quick rate. only an hour or so as the storm drove through. strong winds. hail stones not very big but there sure were a lot of them. what we can anticipate is for much of that action now to move through parts of the mid mississippi valley and then eventually into parts of the ohio valley where we deal with strong storms this morning. let's show you the reason why we're seeing this activity first and foremost. we go right now to our magic wall and you'll see this frontal boundary extendediing through ps

of the ohio valley into the midwest. let's go to the ohio valley first on radar. you see the showers and thunderstorms. they're moving quickly. you'll have heavy rainfall but also wind that will pile in right behind it. we could see tree damage in places like columbus before the day is out. you're about 20 to 30 minutes away before you get rough stuff in columbus. a band of showers moved through indianapolis. more development farther back to the west. should be an interesting time for you. rain is not an issue in parts of texas but warm with high temperatures that will go right back into triple digits again as we wrap things up dallas to 101. houston, 96 degrees. 80 in chicago. 86 in kansas city. 63 in san francisco. you lucky devils. take a look at los angeles with a high of 83. that's a look at the forecast. it's a wrap. let's send it back to you guys. >> thanks, reynolds.

>> nice in san francisco. kind of cold out there. >> that breeze makes all the difference. no question about it. >> we appreciate you. see you shortly. we've been talking about the story. the president came out yesterday and made comments to calm everyone down. i yesterday as well sat down with charles ogletree the professor for professor gates who seemed to back everyone away from the edge if you will. >> people are wondering about legal issues that may arise from this. >> not on the table. no lawsuit on the table. he also said it's not entirely about race. take a listen. did professor gates do anything wrong? not in a legal sense in break some law but did he do anything wrong as a private citizen as an upstanding citizen as a responsible season and not give due reference to the police officer? >> no. of course he's angry. he's given two forms of

identification. he said i am who i am. he said, you know, i want to file a complaint against you because you're not listening to me. i want your badge and your number. >> you acknowledge that maybe he did come across as upset or animated or belligerent interpreted by the officer as that. >> i'm not sure how the officer would interpret that. if you ask a homeowner how you feel in your own house and you produce identification and the officer knows it's you, how do you feel, i can't imagine many people wouldn't be upset. >> i want to ask your opinion. is professor gates guilty of some sort of profiling where he sees a white officer and he sees it as this officer is out to get me because i'm a black man rather than this is an officer doing his job? >> you never heard me use the

word the officer engaged in racial profiling. i believe he engaged in bad judgment. i think there's a lot that hasn't been determined yet. the only time this was not calm is when professor gates said i'm going to file a complaint. maybe he should have fought that and not said that. once he said i'm going file a complaint, i want your name and badge number, the dynamics changed. that's what he said. that's repeated over and over again. why are you doing this? is it because i'm a black man and you're a white police officer? >> was he saying it as calmly as you're saying it to me? >> the recordings will show. you can imagine he's feeling a sense of indignity that people feel every day. >> more from him in a little while. also we'll speak with professor gates' daughter, elizabeth, about her father's arrest. that's coming up later at 10:30 a.m. eastern here on cnn. how are you doing on facebook twitter thing? >> i tweeted six times.

i'm working on it. i'm trying to get hip. >> what was your last tweet? >> that i was in new york last week working. >> last week was the last tweet? >> sorry. >> i'll handle this. go to my twitter page. >> you're carrying all of the weight this morning, t.j. rough morning for you. >> chime in on whatever you would like to. we'll share comments and let us know what's on your mind. >> maybe i'll tweet now. in washington it's been a week full of attacks and claims about health care. time now for a reality check. >> josh levs looking into it. >> good morning. i'll tell you what we have coming up. president obama is getting a flop and a claim by a gop hand maker gets hands on fire. we'll show you what that's about. i use every day-- and save even more. so that's what they mean by unbeatable. save money. live better. walmart.

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♪ what's going on >> love that one. that's a classic. here's what's going on overhauling the health care system. there may be no issue in washington that greatly affect your wallet or wellness.

>> stakes are high. we want to check claims on both sides of the issue to see if they stand up to the smell test if you will. josh levs has the fact check. >> the health care debate is heating up and obviously right now we have claims flying back and forth left and right literally and we needed to reality check them. we're bringing in bill odaire. one of the latest that you have you give president obama a full flop on holt care. what's that about? >> it has to do with something that he said back during the campaign. back in the early part of the campaign for the democratic nomination, hillary clinton and john edwards mandated that people get health insurance coverage as part of their health coverage plan. that was what led it to be universal. obama did not. he made a point of saying he would not mandate it because he

was afraid that people couldn't afford it. obama is now supporting a mandate. >> this is one of the most memorable clinton versus obama moments of the entire presidential nomination campaign last year when she was waving those flyers saying barack obama, shame on you. he had ads out about her. that's what he was getting at. this idea of a mandate for everyone to have health insurance. >> he criticized her for having that mandate and that led to the big shame on you response. in our view that makes this really a full flop so that's how we rated it on our flip-o-meter. >> this began as an editorial but was picked up by a lawmaker. what's this about? >> the claim is on page 16, very precise, of the health care bill is a provision that would outlaw

private individual health insurance. and that was in investors business daily and picked up by many bloggers to say, look, this health care bill that's pending could be disastrous and it would outlaw your coverage, they say. it's not true. if you go to page 16 as we did it has no such thing. it's so ridiculous. we gave it our lowest rating of pants on fire. >> back to you. >> president obama seeking support for the health care fight. >> we'll talk weather. tornadoes in florida. a look at the aftermath and a look at how people are coping. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways.

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announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to batheteall . i't er nounce my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. welcome back to "cnn saturday morning." i'm t.j. holmes. >> i'm brooke baldwin in for betty. thank you for starting your day with us. the president is on the phone. seriously. that guy you see there on the right is sergeant crowley. he was the one in the middle of that mess with professor gates you see from harvard. the president called yesterday to tell him, sorry about some of those comments i made and wanted

to really make an impression that he wasn't trying to degrade the officer or the police department. the president came out yesterday saying he sounds like a good man and outstanding officer after having the conversation. this is more of what the president said in a surprise to us all when he stepped out yesterday for the daily briefing. >> i want to make clear that in my choice of words i think i unfortunately gave an impression that i was malining the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically. i could have calibrated those words differently. >> the president said it certainly is a testament to how big of an issue race is in this country. after he made his comments at his press conference that it garnered so much conversation in this country. we'll have more about what the president had to say to sergeant crowley coming up later. >> also garnering a lot of

attention, california's budget crisis. apparently it appears to be over for now. lawmakers wrapped up a 24-hour marathon session to cut programs, shuffle some funds around. they say they sliced $25 billion from a new budget but it fell short of the goal and what that means is that governor arnold schwarzenegger will have to use his veto power to eliminate another $1.1 billion in programs. for weeks the cash strapped state has been forced to pay bills with ious. the white house saying it will not stop work on health care reform even if congress goes on recess in two week's time without passing a thing. in the house some of the more conservative democrats are holding up their bill over some cost concerns. in the senate, harry reed saying a vote will not happen until after the break. president obama is pushing congress to pass health care legislation before the august break but resistance in the senate and house makes that

impossible at this point. with his deadline looming, he continues to make the case for sweeping reform at town hall meetings, weekend web addresses and in wednesday night's prime time news conference. >> 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 consequences of inaction. these are the stakes of the debate that we're having right now. >> paul steinhouser is a friend of our show here on "cnn saturday morning." paul, he's been out there a lot talking about it. is the public impressed with how he's handling the health care situation? >> it seems americans are divided on the issue. we put out a poll of polls this week average of the most recent national surveys on how americans think the president is doing on health care. americans are divided. 47% approval. 44% disapprove of how barack

obama is handling health care reform. a lot of these polls now as you can see he's under 50% approval. that's down from earlier this year. >> we've seen the numbers. what about the other side? do americans like what republicans say about health care reform? >> the tough news for barack obama doesn't mean good news for republicans. one of the polls we averaged in abc news and "the washington post" asked that specifically. 54% trust the president to do a better job on health care reform than republicans of congress. only 34% think republicans would do a better job than president obama. >> and you and i have talked about this before. how much is his popularity still carrying him? we talk about political capital. does he have that much more to expend? will that get his health care changes in place? >> the best way to figure out a president's political capital is to look at his approval rating. that's why we do it.

look at our cnn poll of polls on the president's approval rating you can see 56%, that's still a very good number but you notice it's down from 62% in early june and 61% just a few weeks ago. there has been some slippage and that's troubling to the white house. overall, i think he still has enough clout according to approval ratings to get things done. >> and we're talking about this deadline he had for august. okay. if it gets pushed back, is it in trouble of failing all together? >> it doesn't help. it's not impossible. it doesn't help. two reasons why. opponents of health care reform the people that want to bring the president's plan down will have an extra month to go out and advertise and beef it up and turn up the volume. you'll see more anti-health care reform commercials on television and that won't help the president when congress is on break in august. you'll come back in september

and congress will have to come together and the president want it on his desk by the end of the year. next year is an election year. you don't want it to go into next year. >> always good to see you. appreciate you, buddy. >> thanks, t.j. >> all right. this is our top story on our website. for more you can logon to cnn.com. president obama trying to push health care legislation through before the congressional recess. his comments on how it will affect small businesses released just a couple minutes ago. how about this, t.j.? anyone? free bentley. got to be some strings attached, right? we'll tell you what that string is coming up. to help me breather all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long.

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it's kind of a tough housing market. a lot of people offering different perks throw it in with the house. there is one very large perk for someone looking for a home outside of san diego. the asking price on this home -- not the car -- the home is $1.8 million. they are willing to throw in the bentley for free. >> the house is 4,000 square

feet ocean view. can't sell it. been on the market for a year. he's throwing in the coupe. >> they'll see this house compared to another house and the car and say if i'm going choose the house, i'll pick the one with the bentley. >> wow. speechless. >> the only bentley i know is on "the jefferson's." that's a sweet ride. >> i would be so afraid to drive that thing. if you got a scratch to fix it would be 1,000 bucks. >> it's a $200,000 car. betty would lose her mind right now. that's the car she wants. that is it. the same color. the convertible. >> she could rock a bentley pretty. >> how much is it again? >> $200,000. >> only. >> you get it free with the house. what a deal. >> can you imagine driving that thing through rough weather like a hail storm? look at this video that we have

shot yesterday. rough stuff there. strong winds caused all kinds of damage near port orange, florida. it would cause havoc if you had a bentley. rough times there. they'll clean up today. strong storms today. we've seen a few in the ohio valley and parts of the upper midwest. we'll talk about that throughout much of the morning. there's a wrap. >> you have to get crazy insurance on that kind of car. >> i would think so. a wise thing to do. >> okay. coming up, students trying to go to school fighting problems at home and trying to stay out of trouble themselves. . and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid.

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>> want to know what you think here. check out t.j.'s twitter pages. president obama made this cameo appearance during the white house press briefing yesterday talking about the arrest in cambridge with professor gates and a white officer. it is causing a lot of people to comment. we want to hear what you have to say. write in. check out twitter, facebook and you can go to weekend blog. we'll be right back.

>> i am a black teen and i expect to be treated with respect. >> i expect to be loved. >> expect to be heard. >> don't forget. >> that i am a human being. >> just like everyone else. >> that's poetry presented by sixth graders in atlanta. it's part of cnn's "black in america 2" event. >> kids can be mean sometimes when you come up in middle school and high school and high school can be tough for any student especially if that student doesn't have the support he or she needs at home. makes it tougher if at home a parent is missing because one of the parents is in prison. that's a struggle that a lot of

kids are dealing with. our soledad o'brien introduces us to a woman helping these kids not just stay out of prison themselves but succeed in life. >> reporter: for these high school kids in houston, texas -- >> all phones off. >> reporter: this class is a lifeline. >> if we cry it's okay. you keep it real. >> reporter: this is no more victims. a program for children whose parents are incarcerated. >> i'm only 16 years old. if i was to tell you everything i've been through, it would make you cry. >> reporter: each of these children have seen their share of hardships and here they can share their pain. support each other. for these kids no more victims is a family and marilyn is mom. >> how does it feel having one or both parents in prison? >> it hurts because, like, my dad and even my mom -- this is

one of the newest members of the family. >> we didn't have another parent to do it. i had to do all of it by myself. it hurts me. it hurts my mom. >> she came for two weeks and cried in every class. do you want to talk? no. okay. maybe tomorrow. >> reporter: her father and stepfather are in jail. she's helping her mom raise her six younger siblings and like many kids, she's holding a lot in. >> if you look at me, you won't really tell what i've been through and stuff and so the person that i am i just like to have fun or whatever so you

won't see that i have any problems. >> reporter: you want nobody to know that? >> yeah. >> reporter: marilyn is talking and sharing leads to healing. how does talking about the problem make it better? >> saying it out loud. letting it go is one aspect but being loved and supported no matter what and finding out the key. >> reporter: another key element of no more victims, this community center is a safe place where the kids can hang out, use a computer, have a meal. marilyn is here often and available to the kids 24 hours a day. >> we have to be around. the stability is critical. a stable person not here today and gone tomorrow or i'll see you a month later and check on you and stability and unconditional love and providing

the basic needs. the most basic needs. nothing fancy. >> reporter: her approach isn't fancy but marilyn's success rate is astounding. since starting the program in 2000, 700 kids have been part of no more victims. most graduated high school. few had ever gotten into serious trouble. >> i want to be a normal family. >> reporter: this girl says it changed her life. she joined in 2005. >> this class is really important to me. most of us feel like killing ourselves before we got in this class. when we got into this class, we saw love. >> reporter: this was her then. this is her now. two jobs going to college. a veteran member able to help out younger kids. for five years marilyn has been there even while her mother was in prison. >> she goes to our graduation.

she gives had husband birthday gifts. >> reporter: it took years for her to open up about all she's been through. something that they are learning. >> one day want to stay over. i got her to talk. okay. ever since that day, she's full of energy and happy. no more tears. it's like she let go and set free. >> reporter: how do you feel about yourself? >> i feel that i'm smart and i have made it. >> i have judge mathis with us.

i'll get to you in a second. marilyn, what is it these kids are not getting? >> a safe place and what we've created for them in the classroom setting at school and our facility and a safe place to come where you won't be hurt, where you're not judged about what family issues you're dealing with. you're honored. your loved. your respected. birthdays are important. it's a safe place filling a void and relieving some of the responsibility that we can from this child so they can breathe and feel a lot better about themselves and mostly safe. >> judge greg mathis with us here. a lot of people know you from your tv show. you have a story that some would call it quite frankly. former thug. you have seen the wrong side of a jail cell before a judge. you made it. how were you able to and you can

probably relate to that story i just saw. how were you able to get your mind right and not end up where she's trying to keep these kids from ending up. >> two things when i was released from jail i was told to get a ged as a condition of my parole. i did that. i was able to escape the environment in which i had grown up in through an affirmative action program. i was in an environment that was conducive to educating and re-entry into mainstream society. >> how hopeful would it be to implement this thing nationwide? >> i think it would be of immense help. a program would boost the opportunity for young people. >> marilyn you can pick up on that possibility. any chance of it going nationwide and we saw in the piece that it was minority students and black students in

particular in that piece but what percentage is african-american students and do you have other minorities and white students in there as well? >> we have majority of 85% african-american and we have hispanic children is the next largest number and maybe five or ten white children. this is the nature of our community. this program is capable of going absolutely nationwide. this child assist in every school district in this country. there's millions of children. we don't even talk about them. they're referred to as thrown away children. we need to implement it in schools. that's where we'll help most children. one place they come to. this is across the board. racially. this child exists across the board in every aspect of this country. >> marilyn, really good to have you with us this morning. again, you said those were tears of joy. i'm glad they were. applaud you for what you are able to do and, judge, applaud you for what you were able to

accomplish. if you aren't familiar with judge mathis' story, you need to look it up. he didn't just show up and they gave him a robe. went through a lot to get it. thank you both for being here this morning. we want to remind you all if you missed a minute of it, you can see it in its entirety running it tonight and tomorrow 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific time. >> i was sitting for "balack in america" on wednesday where professor gates was arrested in cambridge. we were talking a lot about that this morning and questions surrounding the possibility of professor gates seeking legal action against the cambridge police department. >> i got that answer yesterday from gates' attorney. also was told that this case is not about race. you'll hear him explain that, the attorney for gates, coming up. >> good interview. also, what do you do when you see a great sale?

ladies, you're with me. with so many great deals on houses these days, bidding wars are breaking out. how do you win the house of your dreams without getting caught up in this bidding frenzy? we have tips coming up in half an hour. stay here.

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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello there from cnn center this is "cnn saturday morning" for july 25th. i'm t.j. holmes. >> i'm brooke baldwin sitting in for betty nguyen this morning.

thank you for starting your day with us. want to get straight to breaking news we're getting out of afghanistan which seems to be an attack in progress right now. taliban militants attacking government buildings in a southeastern city. >> this is an ongoing situation. a battle still going on between forces there and the taliban. apparently they had ak-47 rifles and launching grenades. three suicide bombers blew themselves up. we have ivan watson in afghanistan. we're trying to get him on the phone. he's collecting information. a breaking situation. more details as they come into us. >> we're hearing the military says there were reasons to believe there are two bombers in the area that have not attacked targets yet. we'll get the latest. an issue that affects your wellness and wallet. health care and what's happening on this whole debate. will they pass anything before the two-week recess in washington? talking about that.

we'll see what they're saying in d.c. >> doesn't look good about meeting that deadline before they get out of there for their recess. we'll have the latest on the situation with the president coming out yesterday trying to diffuse the situation of professor gates from harvard and the cambridge police department. we'll look at those things this morning. there's something else that will be a new governor of alaska. >> starting tomorrow. moving time for alaskan governor sarah palin. there's the moving truck outside of the governor's mansion in juneau yesterday. tomorrow is her last day in office. palin's departure coming amid a flurry of ethics complaints. palin says she's the target of a personal destruction campaign and the cost of fighting all of these false accusations she says is just part of the reason why she's resigning. >> also turn to africa now. the democratic republic of congo

new fighting sending thousands fleeing their homes. 35,000 more people are on the run right now. that's on top of a half million who were forced out earlier this year because of fighting between government forces and rebels. iran may have clamped down on protests after the re-election of president mahmoud ahmadinejad but it can't stop scenes like this one out of seoul, south korea. rallies are happening in cities around the world and here in the u.s. supporting iranians who protested last month's election results. many of them saying they were fraudulent. authorities in iran cracking down and killing some and arresting many others. cnn on the scene live at several of these protest sites around the world. right now we want to take you to berlin. we'll talk to frederick who is at one of those rallies. fred, it's perhaps raining where you are in berlin. what are you seeing? set the scene for us.

>> reporter: there are 2,000 iranians at this protest. they just fled under the roofs of the buildings that are around us because there was a substantial thunderstorm going on for the past couple minutes and it just started. this is one of the many global protest venues against the iranian regime organized by amnesty international. there are people that say their relatives have been killed in the recent clampdown during the unrest over the disputed presidential election. in germany leading up to the protest today, there have been a hunger strike going on for three days and protesters from here, the 3,000, joining the hunger strikers in a different venue here in berlin. certainly this is very much a part of those global protest.

the message is being sent out as all of the other globals calling on the iranian government to recognize human rights and to uphold human rights. and to release the political prisoners who have been imprisoned after those disputed elections in iran and this is an important point. also calling on the international community to get very tough on tehran especially in those negotiations about iran's nuclear program. >> fred, it seems like a lot of these rallies globally are just a symbol, a show of solidarity for iranians for democracy. i know it's loud. there's music happening there. have you had a chance to speak directly to some of these folks at the rallies? what are they saying? >> reporter: it's interesting. we've had a lot of chances actually to speak to exiled

iranians. there's a mix feeling. they are worried about what's going on in their country and angry at the government of mahmoud ahmadinejad. some of people feel that the international community has not come out as forcefully as it should have and also on the part of a lot of them there's a lot of hope that they express. they say they believe that the protests that have been going on in iran and appear to be continuing in iran is a very hopeful sign and there is something like an upheavele against the government of ahmadinejad. a lot feel that's a good sign. nevertheless they are very, very worried about what people will face back home in that country. >> very worried and passionate. fred, thank you. the president making some phone calls yesterday. one of those was to the cambridge police officer who arrested his friend, sergeant crowley is the name. he arrested, of course,

professor gates, one of the friend of the president. let's listen to the president yesterday when he came out surprised us all. >> cameo appearance in the white house. >> i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically. i could have calibrated those words differently. i told this to sergeant crowley. i continue to believe based on what i have heard that there was an overreaction in pulling professor gates out of his home to the station. i also continue to believe based on what i heard that professor gates probably overreacted as well. >> the president calling this like many have a teachable moment that maybe got out of

hand and both men maybe at fault and pride and ego on both sides trying to man up on each other and no one had the good sense to back off. >> i love at the end of the daily briefing he said i hope to have croweley and gates at the white house to have a beer. >> we'll see a pick you ature o three men together. it will help with the healing. i had a conversation with the attorney for professor gates yesterday. he was trying to back this thing down a bit and get away from a conversation necessarily just about race. >> he says why are you doing this? is it because i'm a black man and you're a white police officer? >> as calmly as you're saying it to me? >> recordings will show. he's feeling a sense of indignity that people feel every day. people feel powerless when they've done everything they can legally do to protect themselves and find what professor gates

found in a moment you've been arrested. >> more on that later. we'll also speak with professor gates' daughter this morning. we'll have her live talking about her father's arrest at 10:30 a.m. eastern time. you know how who find us on twitter and on our blog. give your comments about this topic and anything else you would like to talk about. you know where to find us by now. >> we brought you the breaking story at the top of the hour. we're talking about taliban bombings in eastern afghanistan. right now authorities are searching possibly for more bombers. cnn was reporting the military had reason to believe that there were still two bombers in the area. one of the targets we're hearing was an afghan military hospital. no word on casualties yet. >> the battle is still going on. ivan watson is on the ground now in afghanistan. he's in the area. i know you have been making phone calls. give us the latest on what you

have been able to find out. >> reporter: i'm far from where this action is taking place. i'm in the south of the country. cnn is working the story. what we have gotten so far from khost was an attack mounted. a suicide bomber attacking near an afghan military hospital and there are fears that there are other suicide bombers out on the loose right now and we're getting reports from the sources that afghan troops are out in force in the streets trying to crack down and trying to maintain security in those streets. those accounts don't match with what the associated press has been reporting, t.j., quoting the defense ministry spokesman who described up to three suicide bombers launching a series of attacks on government buildings in that town backed up by other fighters using rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles in that attack.

that fits a pattern we've seen in the past evolving in afghanistan. sophisticated attacks where there are waves of fighters initially with suicide bombers who break open defenses and they are followed soon after by fighters on the ground with small arms showing that this insurgency has definitely evolved from the early days when it was much less competent at mounting attacks on the fortified buildings. >> i know you'll continue to work your sources. we appreciate you. we'll talk to you again soon. we're also talking about extreme weather in the midwest this morning. reynolds wolf keeping an eye out on that. where was that hail we saw? >> the hail we were talking about earlier was in wisconsin. about 1,000 miles south in texas not hail but heat and plenty of it with high temperatures today soaring into triple digits. some people 90s with high humidity feeling warm. a live shot for you in austin.

compliments of kbue. picture perfect. the limestone will warm up and sizzle today. complete forecast coming up soon here on "cnn saturday morning." back to you guys at the desk. >> all right. we appreciate you. see you again soon. and it sounds great for first-time home buyers. a lot of housing prices are down. a good time to get in and get a deal. a lot of foreclosures. you can get out there and get a good deal. you have to fight for it sometimes because other people have the same idea. they want the house and they'll try to bid you. >> bidding wars happening. we'll talk to our resident expert sitting in the seat over there to see how we can help you win the house of your dreams. but now they have new areas where i can find the brands i use every day-- and save even more. so that's what they mean by unbeatable. save money. live better. walmart. right now 1.2 million people are on sprint mobile broadband.

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when you see a good sale, don't you jump on it? ladies, you're with me. what about houses? with the high foreclosure rates these days there are steep discounts on homes. great deals to be had. some cities are seeing markdowns by 60%. so with all of these different good deals out there, thousands of people are bidding on the same houses and the condos trying to get the deal but many times find themselves on the losing end of the stick. how do you know if your bid is too low, too high? how can you get the home of your

dreams? joining me now for bidding advice is housing expert clyde anderson and author of what had happened was. we had this massive bubble when we talk housing market. with prices lower, people really can get in on a nicely priced home but that's not the case. >> right. well, i mean, it's because prices are so low right now it's causing a bidding war in a lot of places. investors are buying up these properties creating a bidding frenzy. you have to watch out and know what you're doing. >> when you were learning on how to do this and some people are bidding on multiple homes in one days, this is only happening in the last couple months, how do you know if your price is too high? >> you have to have a good real estate agent. that's one of the keys. you have to have a real estate agent that knows what they're doing. knows the market. you have to go in and look at several factors you have to explore to make sure you're

right in line. >> there's a big reason this is happening right now. because of investors. >> we were talking about it. investors cause a lot of these problems in the first place. investors aren't all bad. a lot of times they'll go in and push up those prices and so you get those prices beginning to inflate and you want to make sure we're keeping it in the true value. you have something to weigh it against. comparable. how it compares to those sold in the last six months. >> this is what we saw before the bubble burst. investors getting in. let's talk about dos and don'ts. >> there are several things to look at. have a real estate agent that knows the market. be sure that they know what they're doing. they know the players in the market. they can definitely help you. also know the comp. if you're in a hot market, look at the last 30 to 45 days to know what you're getting into. look at properties that are

comparable in size and style and square footage and that sort of thing to make sure you're right in line and review tax records. you can see what the taxes have been on the property for the last two, three years. >> what don't you do? >> the don't. very important. make sure that you don't buy above the fair market value. make sure that you're going into it with a seller that's willing to sell. sellers have different motives. know that seller's motives. that's what having a good real estate agent does for you as well. bidding less than the asking price. multiple bids can be the same that will kill you. do not bid less than the asking price if other people are interested in the property. you have to be in the right price. leave emotions at the door. we talked about shoes and clothes and you get caught up in emotions in buying decision. it's strategic. may have cookies baking when you come into the home, don't get

caught up in it. this is a business transaction. keep that in mind. that's key. >> you could fall into great deals right now. quite interesting. good tips. >> thank you. >> thank you, sir. so don't get caught up in emotions. does that mean you shouldn't take into account they're throwing in a free bentley with the house? >> that's a little bit different. that's a little bit different. those emotions are different. >> he's going with it. >> come on housing expert. we need something straight down the line here. >> i don't know. >> good to see you. health care talking about that this morning. president wants health care for all. how many people would it help if he gets his way with the legislation? josh levs is looking into it for us. >> the number of uninsured americans could be inflated. ays. to help me breathe better all day long.

and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid.

president obama's call for health care reform is drawing mixed reaction from businesses. he cites a white house study that shows where insurance costs are the highest and most

crippling for small businesses. >> these are the mom and pop stores restaurants, beauty shops and construction companies that support families and sustain communities. they're the tiny startups with big ideas hoping to become the next google or apple or hp and shown in a new report released today right now they are getting crushed by skyrocketing health care costs. because they lack bargaining power that large businesses have and faced higher administrative costs her person, small businesses pay up to 18% more for the very same health insurance plans. costs that eat into their profits and get passed to their employees. as a result, small businesses are much less likely to offer health insurance. those that do tend to have less generous plans. in recent surveys, one-third of small businesses reported cutting benefits. many dropped coverage all-together. many have shed jobs or shut

their doors entirely. this is unsustainable. it's unacceptable and it will change when i sign health insurance reform into law. >> president obama says small businesses should find cheaper rates and receive tax credits to help offset the costs. >> republicans not feeling it. they don't buy the idea that this plan will be good for small businesses. that's what they're talking about in their weekly radio address. they say it will ultimately cost jobs. >> families, seniors and future generations will not be alone in struggling with this bill's cost. america's small businesses will pay a steep price as well because the democrats plan is bankrolled by a small business tax, more jobs will evaporate. we lost more than 3 million jobs since the beginning of the year and americans have every right to ask where are the jobs? according to the national federation of independent business, the democrats' plan

will destroy a million more small business jobs and according to methodology developed, the democrats government takeover of health care will cost 4.7 million jobs over the next ten years. because of these extraordinary costs to families, small businesses and future generations, alarm bells are sounding across the country. >> throughout this -- is everything okay? are you well? do you need a minute? >> good. >> the show must go on. a lot happens behind the scenes. wish we could show you but you probably wouldn't watch again. throughout this whole debate we keep hearing lawmakers talk about the millions of americans who are uninsured but the number we keep hearing, what if that number is not correct? >> josh levs crunching numbers for us this morning. josh, how many people are uninsured? >> this is where it gets tricky. the government is telling me what you're saying that the

number may not be accurate. this is one example. president obama saying it just the other night. >> this is not just about the 47 million americans who don't have any health insurance at all. >> he said 47 million. me million. let's go to the screen. i want you to see where this comes from. the census bureau does say that 45.7 million people were uninsured for all of 2007. that's their number. when you hear 45 million, 46 million uninsured it comes from the census. here's what most people don't realize. the next screen here, the census that gives that number says health insurance coverage is likely to be underreported. what does this mean? they say 45.7 million is probably too big. it's probably not that many. it's not as many people as we think that don't have health insurance for that long. that benefits the side out there that says the number is inflated. then you have the flip side. people arguing it's even bigger.

look at this. a private group out there that are pushing for people to have more health insurance and say it's twice that. they say it is nearly 90 million people uninsured. the reason is the census asked did you not have health insurance for an entire year? this private group did a survey where they asked was there a point where you didn't have health insurance at all? they said they got a bigger number when they did that. you have competing claims. at the core of it you do have a census figure there that even census saying it's not that big. >> what about families that could afford health insurance? >> that's the other thing. some of the people are by choice. we know that. let's show this one quickly. this is another part of the trick. 20% of the uninsured have family incomes of $75,000 or more according to the census. if your family is making 75,000, you would like to think it's enough for your family to have health insurance. it doesn't mean that you may not have access.

pre-existing conditions. can't say in every case. you would like to think that they could afford insurance. >> all right. health care is a big topic. appreciate you, josh. big topic and it's our top story on our website. for more on the health care debate you can logon to cnn.com. >> another big story, did you see this? dozens arrested. the number was 44 arrested in new jersey. elected officials caught in a bribery scandal. just a small sampling of politicians caught with their hands in the cookie jar we'll see. why do they think they'll get away with it? tough questions as we've been hearing about professor gates. i asked questions of his attorney to see if he thinks both sides may have reacted a bit badly. en... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid.

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