profiling. did race play a factor on henry louis gates jr.? you'll hear the tape this morning. also, with the buffalo plane crash, the deadly disaster waiting to happen? just-released transcripts now show that the co-pilot in february's crash was in no condition to fly. cnn's allan chernoff has reported extensively on this crash. he's going to be joining us with in uh developments this morning. we begin with the dramatic development in the investigation of michael jackson's death. the sources close to the investigation telling cnn that the personal physician, dr. conrad murray gave jackson the powerful anesthetic propofol or diprivan in the hours before he died. randi kaye is joining all of the stories for us, randi. a source close to jackson's family tells cnn that jackson's personal physician administered the powerful drug that investigators believed killed him. the drug is known by diprivan

and known as propofol. and we're told that jackson's doctor gave it to him within 24 hours of his death. this is incredibly significant because dr. conrad murray's lawyer has never commented on that drug known by the brand name dip livan. dr. conrad murray did not prescribe or administer anything that should have killed michael jackson. we know that he was at jackson's home the day he suffered cardiac arrest, june 25 and his lawyer said he gave him cpr and tried to revive him. there were numerous news reports of propofol at his home and la toya said he saw an i.v. stand in his bedroom. we know the drug is delivered through an iv drip. this put investigators on the alert. propofol is only to be use in a hospital setting used for surgery. he begged her for the drug. so if this drug wasn't jackson's

home and if dr. conrad murray provided it, it could be big trouble. dr. murray is in the center of a manslaughter investigation relating to the death. i was told, quote, we will not be responding to rumors, inwhen i do, or innuendo or unnamed sources. there was a meeting scheduled but never panned out. this will be the doctor's third meeting with authorities. he was questioned twice after jackson died and his car was seized and examined. last week they wanted to speak with him again and suddenly raided his clinic in houston. dr. murray is understandably concerned and feels he's made the scapegoat here. john, kiran, back to you. >> randi kai, thank you so much. a look at the criminal case against dr. murray with paul callan and mickey sherman. later on this hour, it's 6:40 eastern, we're digging deeper to

dr. murray's story. who is he? how long were they friends? erica hill is going to get that for you coming up in "american morning". also, recordings of a 911 call giving new insights to harvey gates. while the call will not end the bitter debate about racial profiling by police, a meeting over beers with professor gate and james crowley at the white house thursday could help smooth things over. elaine is live in boston. we're hearing about the 911 tapes. the caller never mentions race, initially. and later on when she's asked about it by police, she said maybe one of the men might be latino. but she never says black men. >> that's right, kiran. absolutely. that's going to come as a surprise to some. cnn reached out to dr. henry gates for his reaction to the tapes but he declined to comment. cambridge police, on the other hand, say these tapes speak for themselves.

the 911 call that eventually led to henry gates' arrest never mentioned two black men. ao. >> are they still in the house? >> reporter: at one point, the caller herself raises the possibility that the situation might not be an emergency. >> i don't know if they live there and had a hard time with their key. but i did notice they kind of used their shoulder to kind of barge in and they got in. >> reporter: cambridge police released audio of the radio transmissions from that day. the dispatcher can be heard repeating the 911 caller's description of two suspicious persons or sps. >> reporter: later after

sergeant james crowley arrived, this -- >> a gentleman says he resides here, a little uncooperative but keep the cars coming. >> an unidentified voice in the background can be heard as crowley calls in the identification. >> reporter: i.d. as henry louis gates. ao. >> the police are not forming a panel to conduct an internal investigation in to what happen, but rather to take a look at what lessons can be learned from it. meanwhile, as we mentioned at the top, a senior administration official is telling cnn that meeting that president obama suggested with him, sergeant crowley, and professor gates to talk about the incident over beers in the white house is now expected to happen on thursday at 6:00 p.m. kiran? >> there you go, penciling in the beers. thank you so much. it was funny because anytime you're asked this in the political world, who would you rather have a drink with -- hillary clinton or barack obama. they always say, what would you drink as well.

it was a hot topic in yesterday's white house briefing. let's listen. >> officer crowley's breaking blue moon. we hear gates is breaking red stripe or becks. what's the president drinking? >> the president had a budweiser at the all-star game. so why are you looking at me like that? that's what he drank. >> red stripe, becks. >> what's wrong with budweiser? why do you hate budweiser, wendell? look, i -- how about this -- how about you and i we'll go pick out the beer. we'll do the beer run. >> how about that wendell goler from fox news. he sort of -- >> he looked like he didn't believe him. turned his knows up at the idea of a bud. wendell, come on. >> let's look at this. come on. i love this rendering. our producer's take on how it might look there. there you go. the blue moon on the left with sergeant crowley. double fisted -- the harvard

professor double fisted. the red shirt at the top and the president with his budweiser. >> interesting that the harvard professor would drink a beer from jamaica or beck's -- is that holland? >> imports either way. other news, in a few hours, judge sonia sotomayor should be a giant step closer to becoming the justice. the senate judiciary committee will vote on her nomination this morning. republicans managed to delay for a week but the outcome is not in doubt. democrats have a majority on the committee. they're all expected to support sotomayor. after the vote, the nomination will move to the full senate. democrats are making progress on health care reform. house leaders conceded there'll be no vote before the august recess and citing the concerns raised by a group of fiscally concerned democrats called the blue dogs. the senate delayed the action on the bill until the fall. but they're optimistic of getting a health care reform

passed this year. the shuttle crew now preparing to undock from the international space station. the hatches are scheduled to close this morning at 10:23 eastern. "endeavour" is back on earth on friday. you want to know, is it a good -- is it a good school for my kids? will they have great job prospects when they come out? you don't check to see if there's a lot of keggers going on. >> i remember when my son started at the university of colorado. a year or two years after it got voted the number one party school in the nation. things are different for jody diagosino. >> they have a new list now. the prince ton review releases the annual party list. number one, penn state tops the list because of the, quote, widest use of gear. poor nittany lion. there he is crowd surfing right there as well. they define party schools by asking the students questions about the popularity of drug and alcohol on campus. university of florida, ole miss,

georgia, and ohio university round out the top five. colorado, in the clear. ao. >> all right, there you go. beck's beer, german, not dutch. >> an import nonetheless. >> that's right. the harvard professor drinks the imported beer. >> we have our own resident blood hound here in the morning. christine romans has been tracking the stimulus dollars. are they creating jobs? she joins us with the report, still ahead. keeps my airways o. 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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welcome back to the most news in the morning. with toxicology results still pending, it appears the investigation to michael jackson's death is zeroing in on his personal physician dr. conrad murray. a source tells cnn dr. murray

gave jackson the powerful sedative called propofol or diprivan authorities believe may have contributed to his death. joining us is paul callan. he's a former prosecutor and defended ans the eed anesthesio malpractice cases. good morning to both of you. if dr. murray was providing diprivan or propofol and that's a contributing factor, what's his legal exposure? >> he faces manslaughter charges. this is an extremely dangerous drug. it's administered in a hospital setting with ventilation equipment available in case something went wrong with the patient. if he was administering this drug in michael jackson's house, it's gross negligence and probably constitute a crime under california law. >> when texas police executed the search warrant on dr. conrad murray's house, they were

looking for, quote, evidence of the offense of manslaughter. is that an indication of where charges could go? >> clearly it's a criminal investigation. but generally you need some intent to commit the crime. a very tough decision for the law enforcement people as well as the jury later down the road to decide, is this man the doctor trying to help him? is he treating him? maybe it's unconventional. bad treatment, but a criminal defense, is there an intent to hurt michael jackson? i can't believe the doctor wants to hurt him. his negligence. so ratcheted up that it will amount to a criminal defense? >> i think you've seen this in your own practice. doctors tend to get jammed up sometimes when they overprescribe medications. sometimes there are doctors out there who are trying to make money by prescribing inappropriate medications to patients. i think that's where the focus here with conrad murray. was he paid a lot of money by the jackson people to get drugs for michael jackson? if that's the case, it's a makable criminal case. we have to see.

we don't have all of the facts here. >> the other thing, with propofol, it's a constantly administered drug in order to maintain sedation. you have to have an anesthesiologist pushing in the needle, a drip available, a machine, a pumper, whatever. here we understand that dr. murray algtdly gave him t ll ll him the diprivan beginning after midnight. he would have to have a dosage in some way, shape, or form. the fact that he had to have been maintaining this, does that increase liability. >> it sounds like it increases his civil liability if nothing else. the question is, does that rise to the level of criminal probability. and, again, i don't know if a jury or a grand jury or a prosecutor or a judge is going to say he intended or his recklessness was so high that it amounts to murder oremans or something of that nature. >> the other thing too is if you look at a toxicology reading,

you suspect propofol or diprivan may have been involved in the death, that's the case where some people have used the drug to get high, very rare, and died as a result and there were propofol vials all over the place. but if you're not looking for it immediately in the toxicology screen, is there a chance you don't find it. >> there is a chance. it's an interesting drug. it tends to disappear very, very quickly. unless they're focused on it early on, it may be hard for it to disappear and find in toxicology reports. then you're stuck in a situation that maybe he administered the drug or is that what caused the death. i have to agree with mickey here, it's not going to be an easy criminal case but it may be a criminal case. >> it happens sometimes when they're trying to get high. this is not the case. this is not michael jackson driving a late model bmw through a bad neighborhood buying drugs. he was being treated by a physician. he clearly had the demons and the history of abusing himself

physically through the various narcotics. we've seen it before, marilyn monroe, anna nicole smith, john belushi. when the unnecessary deaths occur, we want to blame somebody. we have to hold someone hostage. >> but here you have a doctor who's giving this drug to help michael jackson sleep. >> to help -- >> you're supposed to give this drug operating on somebody in the operating room. >> let me put the shoe on the other foot. paul callan, i want to hire you to defend me. how do you defend him? >> the only way to defend him is, hey, the doctor didn't intend to hurt michael jackson, he was trying to help michael jiangson. maybe he did have ventilation equipment. there was a nurse hanging around. there was a nurse nutritionist. >> there wasn't a heart monitor. >> that's another thing the anesthesiologist will tell you you have to have a heart monitor and ventilator. this is a dangerous drug. none of those things were present. so i think there's a defense here, of course, but it will be

a technical defense. >> you think this is leaning more towards the civil case than the criminal case? malpractice. >> back up the brinks truck and pay the estate a fortune. the question is, does it rise to the level of -- does it deserve to the level of being prosecuted? >> good to see you this morning. thanks for zroping by. dropping by. >> thank you. we're getting more information on that coal gan crash back in february. there are now transcripts out on why the co-pilot thought about backing out of that flight right before it took off. 17 minutes after the hour. brr 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. 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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welcome back to the most news in the morning. 7887 billion dollars. not so much if you say it fast. so what's president obama's stimulus brought us so far? according to a new house of representatives committee report, since the end of june it's created or saved more than 48,000 jobs, of those, more than 3500 were in washington state for highway repairs. on the flip side, georgia has not reported any jobs created or

saved by the stimulus. >> but we're tracking it all with our christine romans who's minding your business this morning for the look at more place where is the stimulus dollars are going. >> you can see, feel, and touch a direct on-the-job highway job. you can see those. you can see the -- you can see the cones, you can see the guys and the women working on the jobs. >> so they're saying in georgia, no jobs. it's interesting, because on the weekend, i drove a highway in georgia that had been repaved and it was a big sign there saying it was the american reinvestment act. >> really? i'll hand you the list and you can look for ga. there it is. so oregon -- >> 575. >> oregon, pennsylvania philadelphia, texas, at least 1500 infrastructure jobs, highway jobs created in the last month, 1795 jobs in iowa, my home state. these are on-the-job actual positions. and this committee says altogether, 46,300 created or sustained. you can look at all of this if

you go to the community website. i want to tell you how difficult it is to track jobs outside of that. highway jobs are easy to track, but in doing that, 75% increase in actual work being started on the roads. but look at where some of the other money is going. look at the recovery.gov website and see these are the -- the little bubbles represent where this money is going. by far, you can see it's going to tax relief. that's what you're feeling in the paycheck. the $12 every paycheck or so if you qualified for the tax relief. state and local fiscal relief. that's helping to plug budget holes. >> absolutely. >> infrastructure and science is what we're talking about here now. checking the vulnerable. it's the extension of food benefits, unemployment benefits you. go down the list and see all of the different things. so in the -- in the highway jobs, we're counting the numbers, the transportation construction committee is counting the numbers. the jobs are indirect jobs they're calculating in there too. outside of that, we use the

formula, 92,000 of money spent, they count that as one job. that's how they estimate the job. christina roemer, past secretary of the president said difficult to track every job. got a numeral for us this hour? >> i do. the numeral is $2,050,000. this is stimulus money. we're investigating every little corner. this is stimulus money. >> she said her hint is -- i see dead people. >> this is how much money was spent on people who died, who got the stimulus social security checks. 8,200 people got stimulus social security checks, even though they were dead. >> that's right. >> 84% of those have been returned to the treasury. they've gotten most of the money back. but there's something called h-2 special beneficiaries who were just fired off the checks even though they weren't alive

anymore. >> i would like to know how many jobs this i-75 repaving in georgia. $18.6 million project. >> i'll find out. >> very nice surface. >> see there in the traffic. >> i was driving my motorcycle at 65 miles per hour. and it was about 94 degrees. >> see a lot of people working? >> were you texting while driving your motorcycle? >> no. >> we could do a story on that. you don't text while you drive, do you? >> i do not, no. >> i got to stop. >> you do? >> i have been when i'm at a red light. >> you can't do it. >> all right. ao. >> well, speaking of such a -- all right, never mind. i'll talk about it later. michael vick could be headed back to the nfl. he met with roger goodell. goodell is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. attorney is coming up to talk about the possibilities. next, stay with us. 24 1/2 minutes after the hour. r all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. new questions this morning about a crew on a commuter plane that crashed outside of buffalo last february. a new cockpit recording, the co-pilot says she felt sick, sick enough that she considered skipping the flight. allan chernoff is reporting on the crash. and alan, seems to be more evidence of the pilot fatigue issues we discussed and the fact that the pilots, some of them are paid so poorly that they don't want to take a sick day because it's going to cost them money. >> that's what happened here. she clearly was sick. she said so on the tape in the cockpit and admitted that she didn't want to call in sick because she would have to pay for a hotel room.

>> reporter: as colgan air flight 1347 took off from newark. the co-pilot telling the captain, i'm ready to be in the hotel room. she had flown as a passenger through the night from newark, new jersey to the flight to buffalo. if i felt like this when i was at home, there's no way i would have come all the way out here. but now that i'm out here -- you might as well responded to captain. an hour and a half later, the flight crashed five miles from the buffalo airport. there's no evidence that shaw's illness caused the crash. and air safety experts say there's no way to know for sure whether shaw was unfit to fly. >> every pilot has the right and the obligation to exercise their common sense and good judgment. >> reporter: but colgan air put blame on shaw saying flying fatigued or sick is not an option. every colgan air pilot has an

absolute obligation as a professional to show up for work fit for duty. >> i don't understand. it was a complete recipe for disaster from the moment that aircraft took away from the jetway. >> reporter: marvin rensw was at the controls, not the co-pilot. ntsb released information from gulfstream academy where he studied piloting. his performance at the academy was above average. indeed, it was only later in his career that renslow repeatedly failed test rides, some of which he failed to disclose to colgan air. >> was it renslow who made the mistakes in the final segments and maybe he had been suffering fatigue. they fly in to other cities. that's how they can afford to live. >> renslow had flown in from florida. he had been seen napping.

doesn't mean necessarily that he was the king. but he was seen napping. he was at the control as you point out. and yes, it is believed that he was the one who made the fatal mistake of having that nose pointing up rather than down to try to get the plane out of the fatal dive. >> just because the pilot has a knack, doesn't mean necessarily they are too fatigued to fly. intercontinental flights. transoceanic flights, sleeping quarters on the planes to give them rest. >> pilots try to nap when ever they can. we should point out because a pilot is feeling ill doesn't mean they're not qualified or capable to fly. >> it's fascinating how many aspects we're learning about. doing a great job keeping on top of all of it. 30 minutes past the hour right now. a bombshell report directly connecting michael jackson's doctor to a powerful drug that may have killed the pop star. a source close to the investigation tells cnn dr. conrad murray gave jackson a

powerful dose of the sedative, propofol hours before he died so that he could sleep. attorneys for dr. murray, the target of a manslaughter investigation said they won't comment on, quote, rumors, innuen innuendo, or other unnamed sources. secretary gates getting a firsthand look at the military's new role in iraq. gates arrived this morning and will meet with nuri al malaki. the troops withdrew from towns and cities and handed over security to iraqi forces. president obama putting the hard sale on health care reform. he'll participate in a town hall meeting sponsored by the aarp. he'll take questions from members of the audience and over the phone. both houses acknowledged that may not be able to get anything done by the august recess but they're still working to get health care passed in this session. michael vick is back in the game. now he needs to find an nfl team that will let him play. the former star quarterback who

just finished serving 18 months in prison for running a dog fighting ring received what's been called a conditional reinstatement monday from nfl commissioner roger good del. let's listen. >> i do believe this transitional approach that we've outlined for michael is the best thing for him. that it will have the best opportunity to lead to a success for a young man who has his life ahead of him. >> a ruling on vick's full reinstatement is not expected until october. but he could be cleared before then. before that, talking about vick's return to the nfl is talk show host. were you surprised when roger goodell said you can come back in. >> not at all. he had to give him a second chance. playing in the nfl is privilege, not a right. but there has to be some sort of forgiveness. he served 18 months. goodell is thinking let's bring him back in, not at a time frame immediately after his sentence, but after a little bit of time. >> what obligation does he have

to meet to be fully reinstated. >> michael vick submitted a plan to show what he has remorse and that he's going be an active good citizen and spokesman on the behalf of dogs. he'll work with the humane society to be a spokesman for them. his voice as a convicted felon of these kinds of crimes has a greater impact than someone saying don't abuse jobs. look at what he lost, he could say, this is why you should not hurt dogs. >> just to remind people who may have forgotten the conspiracy charge against vick for the role in the dog fighting venture on his property included executed eight dogs that underperformed. one of them, he got the okay to wet the dog down, electrocute them. one case they hung the dog, drowned them, slammed the dog's body against the wall. if you and i faced prison time for that, would we get our old jobs back? >> we would never get our jobs back. that makes it surprising in the overall scheme of things.

that's why the commissioner is taking this approach. the nfl doesn't just want people to come and play in their league and be good players, they want good citizens. he's trying to say, look, i don't want to take everything away from him. he served 18 months in jail. he served his time. but, i'm not going to let him back in unless he shows me complete remorse. not only is he going to be somebody who says i'm sorry, but he'll be the one to fight for the rights of dogs and make sure it doesn't happen again. >> the breasting thing is you said that roger goodell said in his statement that the playing for the nfl is a privilege, not a right. but he also said that a player is held to a standard of conduct higher than that generally suspected in society and it's held accountable when the standard isn't met. in this case, it seems, at least, yes, he served his time, but that wasn't being held to a standard higher than, i mean, you know, the dog-fighting ring is not anything that's acceptable to society. he's getting his job back. >> most people would not get his

job back. nfl players might look and say, you know what, this is unfair. i served my time. you're trying to hold me to a standard that's higher and i'm in the public eye all the time. maybe if i can show remorse. maybe if i can go out there and do things that the normal citizen can't do because of my stature, maybe i could be let back in. >> he cleared that hurdle. the next hurdle is finding a team that will take him on. what's the likelihood of this? >> that's going to be a real challenge. for now, he's going to have trouble finding a team. a lot of people out there saying let's give him another chance. but you know what, the moment he walks on that field, especially in the preseason, the attention for the team will be focused on him rather than the team development. and throughout, if you're going to his game, you're going to have to pass by peta protesters and all kinds of other people trying to tell you what he did. if he goes out and changes it way people view him, if he becomes a spokesman, that's really important for him. if he gets on the field for the first time, it will be michael vick, convicted dog felon. look how he changed his life.

>> mid season replacement? oh. >> he could come back as early as week one. the commissioner said i'll evaluate that. i think he'll come back mid season. i this i if he changes it way people look at him, i think we see him coming in october or something like that when someone gets injured. >> he has to play well, right? on top of that, he's been out of the game. >> he's been out of the game. so the good thing for the suspension for him is he gets to be in a preseason training camp. for some people out there who are opposed to what he did, me included, you included, it seems like, well, forgetting the chance to get back in shape, to play. he's given every opportunity to really kind of succeed here. but, the thing is, if he's going to get back on the field, if he's going to become a quality player, he has to get the practice going. have that in preseason. if you look at it in the larger scheme of thins, if he can go in here and change the way he's viewed, maybe success. >> getting help from tony dungy, the former coach of the colts. good luck to him in the end. everybody wants him to succeed, obviously. and turn his life around.

great to talk to you, ryan, as always. good to be here. >> good to see you, ryan. the man increasingly in the senter of the investigation in michael jackson's death. who is dr. conrad murray. we'll find out in a little while. first of all, i want to tell you a little something -- been one of those days where i'm getting ahead of myself here. >> on the other side of the break. >> on the other side of the break. >> all right, a little suspense for you. be right back for that. stay tuned. ays open... 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 itairways en... to helreathe all long 'nonot a steroid... announceit keeps my airwayop toelmereheetr aldang.and s not a erd. 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.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. michael jackson had a powerful sedative in his system when he died. and the authorities believed that the drug might have contributed to his death. a source tells cnn jackson's personal physician administered the dose. erica hill with more on dr. conrad murray. dr. conrad murray was one of the last people to see michael jackson alive. a man the pop star insisted on having by his side. promoter aeg live, only dr. murray would do for his upcoming london show. >> he said, you don't understand, my body is a machine that fuels this whole business, okay? i need that kind of attention. and you know what? when michael jackson says that to you, when there's this much at stake, you don't argue. >> murray became jackson's personal physician in may and explained the lead to current

patients as a, quote, once in a lifetime opportunity, an opportunity with a salary of $150,000 a month. plus travel, hotel, and per diem expenses. but how did he get to the singer's side in the first place? the two met in las vegas in 2006 when dr. murray treated one of jackson's children on the recommendation of a jackson bodyguard. murray's attorney told c nrk nrk's larry king their relationship went beyond a doctor and patient. >> let me clear up something -- make sure we understand -- dr. murray was not a doctor first, he was a friend first. they were close personal friend. and michael jackson really treated him as -- as family. >> conrad murray is 56. he graduated from a harry medical college in nashville and spent his internship and residency in california. he operates clinics in both nevada and texas, until signing on with jackson, most of his time was spent in las vegas. in a statement, his attorney said the cost to maintain

murray's texas clinic, quote, exceed any collection. and documents obtained by cnn show his nevada practice also suffered financially, with $400,000 in judgments for debt in the last couple of years. the famous client's death, murray has not spoken publicly, except through his lawyer. though, everyone is waiting to hear what the man who found michael jackson unconscious has to say. erica hill, cnn, new york. propofol is a sedative, one that is very tricky to use, could be extraordinarily dangerous leading in respiratory depression, respiratory arrest and death. it's known by the brand name diprivan. we'll learn more when we talk to dr. sanjay gupta at the top of the hour. the first study of its kind. the results are shocking. how much does texting behind the wheel affect your ability to safely operate a vehicle. >> it would be a no-brainer to

make things more difficult making things more distracting. researchers were put to the test. they took cameras and basically had the cameras in the big rigs, okay? and figured out what a driver was doing immediately prior to a, quote, safety critical event. and the study done by virginia tech put the cameras in the long haul trucks for a combined 6 million miles and texting boosts the risk of a crash by 23%. the video captured one driver using a full key board behind the wheel. >> ten states and the district of columbia have a complete ban on texting while driving. four more states plan to implement a ban by the end of the year. >> new york doesn't have a back on texting and driving. new jersey does have a ban. little towns, in my town, you can get cited for that. but statewide, not necessarily. >> it's a growing movement across the country. the same thing as using hands free versus holding a cell phone to your ear. >> texting requires far more distractions -- you're far more distracted. >> not looking at the road when you're texting.

>> people were looking down as long as five seconds which is how much time you need to stop if a car in front of you stopped, swerve if there's something in the word. >> started with the 8-track tape and now moved to texting. anything to take your eye off of the windshield. why would you put an infectious disease center, some people are asking, right smack dab in the middle of tornado alley. jeanne meserve looking at this for us.

44 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. homeland security has a plan to build a new infectious disease lab. it's going to be built in kansas. critics are saying it's a bad idea to put deadly biohazard in

the middle of tornado alley. are there arguments about pathogens or politics? jeanne meserve is live in washington with more on this. what are the critics saying about where they're building this facility. >> i tell you, lit be locate in a town called manhattan, kansas. but a draft government accountability report is fanning the flames of a fierce argument over whether the decision is a dangerous one. >> reporter: a powerful tornado hit manhattan, kansas last year, doing $20 million of damage to kansas state university. but this is where the department of homeland security has decided to put a new agricultural laboratory to research the most dangerous animal pathogens, like highly contagious foot and mouth disease. critics say after it's built, another tornado could damage the facility, resulting in a relief and a catastrophe. >> it's absolutely unsafe. all they need is that tornado to hit and it will cause billions of dollars of damages to the

u.s. economy, it will wipe out tens of millions of animals. >> reporter: joe frey represents a group that wants the lab and the economic benefits in san antonio, texas, one of several competing sites. he and others are seeking a draft government accountability office report which says the dhs decision to put the lab in kansas is based on flawed risk and economic analyses. it concludes this questionable methodology could result in regrettable consequences. what is the gao talking about? foot and mouth disease was in d inadvertently released in a research lab in britain in 2001 leading to eight outbreaks in near farms which were contained by massive animal slaughters. an official counters the gao report saying we feel we've done a thorough assessment of the risk, the security, and the safety of this particular facility and proponents in kansas insist it will not pose a

hazard. >> the safety and security measures that go to this research have enhanced dramatically. this research takes place safely and securely on the mainland in cities like atlanta, georgia at the centers for disease control every single day. >> reporter: the construction of the kansas lab will result in the closure of the outdated plum island animal disease center off of long island, new york. the gao report concludes it will be less risky to continue animal research there than to move it to the agricultural heartland. but dhs has no plans to revisit its decision. as for the tornado issue, we talked to a specialist at the national oceanic and atmospheric administration who points out there are tornadoes in kansas and also in texas is a red herring. he said the probability of a government building built by today's engineering specifications being damaged in either place by a tornado is small. kiran, back to you.

>> doesn't sound so good. in reality, probably safe? >> they say that even in a very, very strong storm, it would be an outer layer that would be able to withstand the winds and protect the inner core. that's the idea. i'm not an engineer, but a lot of people are vouching for that plan. >> jeanne meserve there for us in washington. thanks. >> you bet. big day for judge sonia sotomayor. the judiciary committee voted on her confirmation. what will the vote be? strictly on party lines? what will that portend for the vote of the full senate coming up. breanna kieler breaks it down for you coming up.

♪ hey you i don't like your girlfriend ♪ ♪ no way no way i think you need a new one ♪ ♪ hey you you ♪ i can see your girlfriend >> there's a beautiful picture of miami this morning. look at those clouds. 77 there right now. chance of storms, 90 a little later on today. >> beautiful now. a little later we run to the ac. >> always this time in floridament one of the most incredible things in florida this time of the year are the incredible thunderstorms that roll in off of the everglades.

every day at 1:30, boom. >> the skies open up, you're drenched. and about 15 minutes later -- clear sky again. >> but like pouring water on the rocks on the steam. it makes it hotter. karen is monitoring the weather this morning. what you got? some areas receiving quite a bit of rainfall through the tennessee river valley and the lower mississippi river valley. but, we're expecting for south texas, not a whole lot. not going to be much in the way of change. but back across the panhandle, slight risk of severe thunderstorms later on in the afternoon. in the pacific northwest, not a lot of change going on here. hot temperatures. that will continue as we go towards the end of the week. and we'll start to see those temperatures really drop off. all right, i talked about texas. this is an area that i've been very familiar with. i'm doing a lot of photography. some trips. in some of these areas, right around here in mcallen and brownsville, texas, it's been a

year since they've seen any rainfall. this is the worst in the country. all the way from austin to san antonio, lake travis, they're saying 55% below its normal volume. they even had a report of a sports car that was found in the lake because the water levels are so low, from 1988. it still had the keys in the ignition. so, not a lot going on there. temperaturewise, though, we've got quite a bit to tell you about. in to the pacific northwest. seattle, yesterday, a record high. seattle, you're going to be even higher for this afternoon. 93 degrees, going to be in the 90s again tomorrow. thursday, we tart start to see pull back a little bit. for seattle, a typical high temperature this time of the year would be around 81 to 82 degrees. 10 to 15 degrees above normal. not just there, but interior sections, john, kiran, looking at triple digits through thursday. a little bit of a break by this weekend. back to you. >> karen, thank you so much. see you later this morning.

winning the lottery once, that's lucky. winning twice in one night. that's unbelievable. that happened to a guy in massachusetts. he won first $1,000 on a scratchoff ticket, right? it's not that bad, that's great. he decided to test his luck again. >> it was $1 million. and at that point i didn't know what to do. i was kind of in shock. >> were you shaking in what were you feeling, thinking? >> i'm still kind of shaking. >> you hear about people winning these things all the time, but you never know it will be you winning it. >> twice in one night. >> exactly. especially twice in one night. >> the guy's good luck did have its limits. he said he got a flat tire on the way home. >> in the middle of a thunderstorm as well. >> that's right. he had $1,001,000 to get it changed. my name is chef michael.

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the morning. more grid lock on capitol hill with lawmakers split over president obama's plan for health care reform. some conservative democrats in the house say they will not support it. but the chamber's number two democrat is trying to sound upbeat. >> this bill, like most of it, will go into effect in 2013. so time is not running out in the senate. we have a postal service that has a problem. time is running out on that because the money is running out. we're not in that situation. >> let's bring in our conversational correspondent brianna keiler. she's on capitol hill. the senate is inching towards a bipartisan deal on health care. the snag seems to be in the house. what's holding things up there. >> the in-fighting between the blue dog democrats and the house democratic leaders who are pushing this proposal. the in fighting has not been resolved yet. although there is an offer on the table last night after a meeting that went well in to the evening. henry waxman, the chairman of

the key committee where blue dogs held up the health care proposal. he made an offer to blue dog democrats. what's in the offer? are they going to accept it? we don't know the answer to that at this point. we know coming out of this meeting that steny hoyer was sounding upbeat but he made it official that the house will not vote on health care reform before they leave for the august recess. we knew that the senate was not going to do it. the bottom line here is you have both chambers missing the deadline that president obama initially set out on his key domestic priority, health care reform. >> have to wait a while for that. talking, by the way, to one of the blue dogs, congressman jim cooper coming up in a little while. on a different topic later on today, the judiciary committee there in the senate will hold a vote on supreme court nominee judge sonia sotomayor. what can we expect? strictly along party lines or might they be able to peel off

one or two republicans? >> we know they'll peel off one. but other than that, it will be along the party lines. democrats voting for her, republicans against her with the exception of lindsey graham, south carolina republican who said elections have consequences. he has concerns about sotomayor, he's going to vote for her. and the next stop here, we're expecting a debate and then a vote next week before the full senate. so we're expecting sonia sotomayor to be confirmed as the first latina supreme court justice before the senate leaves for the august recess, john? >> brianna keiler on capitol hi hill. thank you so much. at a brings us to the top of the hour. thanks for joining us on this most in the morning. i'm john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. the story we're breaking down in the next 15 minutes. new developments in the michael jackson case, all coming from a source close to the investigation that tells cnn the doctor who was with jackson the day he died gave him the powerful drug, propofol.

our ken rollins has the latest on the upcoming coroner's report. >> the 911 caller that phoned cambridge police never mentioned two black men when responding to the break-in in the home of henry louis gates jr. new controversy and the hear the tapes for yourself. behind closed doors, tough talk at the white house. the obama administration hosting officials from china speaking about the economy. christine romans on america's soaring deficit and addiction made to things in china and how it can affect your bottom line. explosive new development in the michael jackson death investigation. it could mean trouble for the doctor with jackson when he took his last bharat. dr. conrad murray put jackson to sleep with a powerful anesthetic propofol that experts say should never be used in someone's home. ted row lands joins us now with the latest. >> reporter: john, kiran, this is significant because the first time this connects dr. conrad

murray, jackson's personal physician with this drug, which never would be used typically outside of a hospital or a clinical setting. a source of knowledge with the investigation of michael jackson's death tells cnn dr. conrad murray gave jackson the powerful drug propofol within 24 hours of his death. propofol known as diprivan is normally only used in a hospital setting for sedating surgical patients. >> for a patient to be administered diprivan in their home or in the outside world is outrageous. particularly for a patient as we all believe an opiate addiction. that's out of the question. >> investigators including agents with the dea served a search warrant at dr. murray's houston clinic last week. the warrant read that investigators were seeking evidence of possible, quote, manslaughter. murray is not a suspect in the case but legal experts say they

may change if propofol is found in his system. >> having propofol or diprivan in the system depending on what the levels are is a -- is not a positive indicator for any doctor that's affiliated with it. >> propofol, however, is not an illegal drug. it's not a controlled substance. the fact he was giving it to him may not be medically indicated but nothing, per se, wrong with it. >> murray's lawyer released a statement that says that everyone needs to take a break and breath while they await the toxicology results. i have no doubt they want to make a case. for goodness sakes, it's michael jackson. the coroner's reports are expected to be made public as early as the end of this week. john, kiran. >> ted row lands for us. thank you. for more on the powerful drug the investigators believe may have killed michael jackson, a doctor's perspective, we bring

in sanjay gupta from atlanta now. thanks so much. you told us about this drug -- they call it milk of amnesia, used for procedures in operating rooms. how can this drug kill you? >> it's called milk of amnesia because it's got a milky, white substance. causes memory loss in the short term. it's not a sleeping medication. that's what people talked about, asked about quite a bit. it's an anesthetic, a powerful sedative. it is used in operating rooms. i never heard of it being used outside of the hospital settings either. it shuts down really the whole brain. sort of puts you in a medically induced coma that has an effect on the brain and effect on the heart and lungs too, possibly causing the heart unable to regulate itself or causing an arrest of the heart which is something that we heard a lot about in the beginning of this scare, the idea that cardiac arrest and what caused it. but, again, this is a medication given by iv. not a pill.

because it's iv, you have to give it continually. you can't just give one shot and have much of an effect. you have to give it continually in the way we're hearing about, kiran. >> that's what we're talking about in the newsroom as well. if you have to give it continually, that would mean there's a doctor or a person doing it. is there any other way that it would be administered where the person wasn't actively there monitoring it. >> any other way would be unsafe and unregulated. the interesting thing about propofol which is interesting. i learned a lot about this over the last few weeks, it's not a controlled substance, there's no specific rules on where it can be administered but it's got to be administered by someone who's trained to do it. can give the medication and monitor oxygenation, and heart and that kind of thing. >> could a doctor hook up an iv to the person and then not monitor them continually? >> yeah. that certainly could happen.

you have people who are, even within hospitals who may not be as diligent as monitoring those things as other doctors. but the reality is, most settings, doctors go through separate training to learn to administer this drug. let me say this week in the toxicology, is that, you know, i said this from the beginning, we may not have an exact discrete relationship between high levels of propofol -- we didn't know it was propofol at that time, but high levels of medication and death because propofol disappears quickly. my guess is they're looking for a lot of physical evidence to support that. but you see propofol in the room, you see an i.d., you have propofol in the line. they say, this is what caused it. to have the exact high level of propofol and the cause of death, we may not see that. >> but after the much-awaited toxicology reports come out, we may not know for sure what led to michael jackson's death. >> that's right. that's a very unusual substance.

used to testing for it. sometimes they find the breakdown product of the propofol as opposed to the propofol itself. it will be interesting to see. if i look for all of the other evidence, they're basically trying to find out what happened and build a case. >> all right. perhaps the person who knows best is the people, including this doctor, who were with michael right before he died. sanjay gupta this morning, thanks. >> thanks, kiran. the government charged seven men in north carolina of committing terrorism. one of the men, an american citizen named daniel patrick boyd travelled to pakistan and afghanistan to train for violent jihad. two of boyd's sons also among those charged. $1 billion federal dollars handed out to help american cities and states hire 4,000 more police officers and cope 900 more on the beat. vice president joe biden will announce the federal grant in philadelphia today. the aid is just a fraction of what was requested. for every dollar given, another

$7 in requests had to be rejected. pittsburgh, seattle, and houston got nothing because the department of justice decided the need was greater elsewhere. and the 911 tapes that brought the cambridge police to the doorstep of henry louis gates jr. and the tape of sergeant crowley's communication with fellow officers. what does it mean for the case and the controversy? insights from a 30-year police veteran coming up next. . and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. 's t eroid. unceit kee my op...to help e aldalong. 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. announceit keeps my airways.

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on thursday, the president will meet with henry gates jr. and the sergeant crowley who arrested him. the communications are raising some new questions this morning. for more on all of that, i'm joined by police detective lieutenant steven rogers, 30-year veteran of the nutley police department and the author of "proven strategies for

effective community oriented policing." a book i have in my hands right now. you can take a picture of it. steve, thank you for being with us. listen to a little bit of the 911 call, the woman who called in after talking with a neighbor who says she saw a couple of people trying to break in to the home of henry louis gates jr. the official police report said the 191 call described two african-americans trying to break into a house. whalen's attorney disputed that saying she never said two black men were breaking in the house. and one of the discrepancy. and, b, based on that 911 call, what would sergeant crowley have expected he was coming upon when he went to henry gates jr.'s

house. >> obviously a discrepancy. that's something that the police department is going to have to work through. however, i'm troubled, john, over the fact it's become a discussion about racial profiling. that was never the case. these police officers responded to a scene that was burglarized once before. and they never brought up race. which troubling about this is that the president of the united states made this into an issue of stereotyping the color blue. this is a problem police officers have nationally. we can't look at every police officer as being prejudice and profiling as a result of responding to any crime scene that involves a person of color. so what i'm saying is that these officers acted properly. they did what they had to do according to law. and unfortunately, race has come into this picture. >> so do you think that the president overstepped when he responded to the "chicago sun-times" question about this case? >> yes, john. the president did what people

across the country do when it comes to police actions like this. he'll stereotype. he shouldn't have done that. he should have gotten the fact. nowhere was race part of the picture. those officers have responded to a scene of a crime. they didn't pick out a white man, black man, hispanic man. when they got there, there was a situation they had to deal with and they dealt with it professionally. >> we know that race never became an issue here? professor gates insists that he believes he was being racially po fil profiled in his own home. we have radio transcriptions of the communications between sergeant crowley and his dispatcher. hit's listen to some of those and discern what we can take away from that. >> says he presides here. uncooperative. but keep the cars coming. >> he says, a, the gentleman says he resides here. he's being uncooperative. keep the cars coming. so he's got a case where he -- maybe his reason to believe that gates actually lives there.

but he continues to call for backup and hep says that he's being uncooperative. >> the key is uncooperative. i've responded to many scenes where people are in their own home. i don't know that they live there. they had not yet shown me identification. so i would say please step outside just like these officers did. you don't know if that person lives there, they may have weapons in the house, someone else in the house. >> why do you ask the person to step outside. supporters of dr. gates say he asked him to step outside so that he could arrest him because he couldn't arrest him in his own home. >> no, i don't think that's true. i think the police officers asked him to step outside because they did not know that he actually was the person who lived there. i don't believe that -- >> for identification. >> i don't believe he did that before he asked him to step outside. if you look at the whole transcript, the professor was rather combative in the beginning. he said, don't you know who i am? the officers didn't know who he feels. so you step outside because they could be someone else in that

house. you want to control the situation. i don't believe the police asked him to step outside to arrest him. i just think they wanted to make sure they're safe and they tried to contain the situation, but professor gates inflamed the situation. >> all of them are getting together for a beer at the white house on thursday. president obama says he hopes he can use this as a teaching moment. if this is to be a teaching moment, what's the take-away message? >> the teaching moment is to the president of the united states, don't stereotype police officers. that's the teaching moment. i believe -- >> you think that's the only teachable moment here? >> i think that's a very primary teaching moment. in other words, something we should take away from this. there is -- >> nothing about how the interaction between the -- between the police officer and the -- and dr. gates could have been -- >> no, i believe -- >> could have defused a tense situation. >> the police did not cause this situation. they did their job according to the standard operating procedures of that police department and police agencies across the country. sure, we need to lower the rhetoric. we need to lower the rhetoric, but with the truth. the truth of the matter is, the

police did their job. the professor was offended that they didn't know him. and we have the president of the united states injecting himself in a local issue that would have never got this far if he didn't involve himself. >> i think there are probably people in this country that may argue with that. >> sure they will. >> steve, good to talk to you this morning. thanks for coming in. >> appreciate it. now that you've heard the tapes and want to say what you think about the case, leave a entry on our blog or call our hotline at 1-877-my-amfix.

you know what today's selection reminds me -- someone's ipod went wacky on shuffle. we have hip-hop. nice mix. christine romans minding your business. good morning. >> good morning. i'm following the second talks in washington today with a huge delegation from china.

150 chinese leaders in washington with what the administration is saying is the first strategic economic dialogue. not the first. it started under treasury secretary paulson and a continuation and broadening out of the same conversation. what the president has to say about the relationship between china and the united states. >> the relationship between the united states and china will shape the 21st century. which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world. that really must underpin our partnership. that is the responsibility that together we bear. >> now, the china watchers are saying we have to have a long, long, long time horizon. we're talking about progress in the economic relationship. this is a relationship that began, you know, eight administrations ago. you're seeing here a montage of all of the people who have had strategic and economic dialogue with the chinese. the united states has a long, long list of things it wants fixed.

it wants the currency not to be pegged in a way that it is that favors their manufacturers. it wants human rights to be addressed. hay boar, environmental candidates to be addressed. all of the things take a back seat. the united states is in a position where it has to defend what it's doing in the -- in the economy, all of the money we're borrowing. it has to defend what we're doing for the chinese because the chinese own $800.5 billion. behind closed doors at these meetings, the chinese are asking pointed questions, what are you doing to get your fiscal house in order so you don't hurt the investment, the value of the dollar, spark inflation. a lot of the china watchers, including the people supportive of american manufacturing say some of the things they're pushing for to help american manufacturing and workings take a back seat because the delegation has to defend what they're doing right now. >> you prefaced this by saying

that the romans numeral is a numeral you give us every day and it's driving a story about your money. today's number is -- >> the year, 1985. >> the last time i didn't have credit card debt. >> we have to work with that. 1985 -- this is the last time. 1985, the last time the u.s. government issued so much debt. this week, the u.s. government is issuing a ton of debt, some $200 billion of debt. we are borrowing money for all of the stimulus, for all of the rescue. borrowing all of this money. we have to issue bonds. a huge amount of bonds going out this week, the most since 1985. >> that's why we need china. >> that's why we need china and at the same time they're worried we're going to hurt their investment down the road. pretty crazy -- pretty crazy territory we're in right now for how much money we're borrowing and spending. that's a technical term, crazy territory. we're borrowing a lot of money right now. >> we're betting it's all going

to turn around. >> we're borrowing the money to try to fix our problems so we can grow and prosper again. >> christine, thank you so much. 23 after the hour. 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. 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. you all want to run your businesses more efficiently, so we've brought in a team of experts to help. one suggestion is to make your shipping more efficient with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. call or go online for a free supply and up to $160 in offers from authorized postage vendors.

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♪ got to help me out >> welcome back to the most news in the morning. from prison to the playing field, nfl quarterback michael vick has been reinstated with the nfl. there are conditions, and after nearly two years behind bars for running a dog fighting ring, some are also asking are there teams that are going to take him. >> it does mean, though, that there is a team out there that the former atlanta falcon quarterback could be playing football this fall. carol costello has been gauging reaction to the nfl's decision. what's the buzz this morning? >> a lot of people are talking about it. you know teams will pick him up. mid season, the team's losing. >> oakland is going to take him.

>> but people are buzzing about it this morning. we asked our viewers about whether michael vick should be reinstated. a good number said, he did his time and can take a shot. the nfl agrees. the commissioner said if a team picks him up, he can participate in practices, he'll be able to play in his club's two preseason games providing a club picks him up. and it is possible that he can play in the regular season game by week six. he'll be suspended for five games and he'll get to play in game six. listen to what the commissioner said. >> one of the most important things that we talked about is that nobody gets through life alone, that you always have to have a mentor, you have to have someone who will give you guy dab guidance, support at critical moments. >> he's going to get it from tony dungy. dungy will be his mentor. he'll have other professionals around michael vick helping him

out psychologically. his probation officer will report back to the nfl with progress reports. essentially what this means one tiny little slipup by michael vick and he's out of there again. >> what about pshs eeta -- peopr the ethical treatment of animals, they vow to protest unless michael vick got a brain scan proving that he was sorry. >> no evidence that a brain scan could prove that. he did see psychologists. so that said, peta is still going to protest that game for whatever team picks him up. the humane society is a whole different story. the humane society talked to michael vick in prison. heel work with the humane society traveling around the country teaching young kids not to get involved in dog fighting. he'll make some public service announcements appearing on television. if he does all that, maybe, maybe the public will kind of -- >> i don't know why you have to be taught it's not good to soak

dogs in water and kill them electrocute them. >> i'm going to play devil's advocate. he started in dog fighting when he was 8 years old. it's a cultural thing. he was used to that sort of thing growing up. it's part of the reason why it's gone out of control. so, you know, imagine him playing a game for a team and they play against the philadelphia eagles. imagine -- >> that's a good team to decide. they would have a field day. imagine -- i don't know if you can hear any calls from all of the screaming in the stands. but that's one of the things that the teams have to consider if they decide whether or not to pick them up, use him as replacement. what's it like for the rest of the team to have to play while the fans have a field day. >> in the end, isn't it all about winning in the nfl? let's not be like -- i know i'm cynical. if you're -- >> i know. >> i know, but if you're losing by mid season and you really need a quarterback, maybe you'll take a chance on michael vick. >> what could carol do with the

lions. >> going to have a tough time. >> i'll cry. >> you're going to need a brain scan. >> i'm betting on mr. stafford. >> carol kcostello for us again this morning. thank you. >> sure. as always, we want to hear what you think. go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix and weigh in. tell us what michael vick being reinstated in the evils of dog fighting. is it better for dogs or better for michael vick? we check the top stories this morning. defense chief robert gates is in iraq. he made an unannounced visit. he's in the command post where u.s. forces mainly serve as advisors to the troops and in this case a prototype of the support. secretary gates meet with political leaders including iraq's prime minister nurry al maliki. the space shuttle "endeavour" will undock from the international space station. that will end the largest

meeting ever. 13 astronauts on the crews and the shuttle on the space station. the seven astronauts on "endeavour" still have a few days in space. they're scheduled to return home on friday. hit hard by the economy. more airlines boosting fares and seeps to stay out of the red. even low-cost carriers like southwest and airtran has added up to $10 to $20 on their round trip fares. delta, american, continental, along carriers upping their checked bag fees by another $5. 30 minutes past the hour. the senate working toward a bipartisan proposal for health care reform. democrat leaders in the house are saying there will not be a vote on the president's health care reform before they hit the august break. a group of fiscally conservative democrats calling themselves the blue dog coalition, one of the roadblocks in the way. they'll meet today to talk about any plan that the president and the congressional leaders need their support. but with thee estimates of the

plan hitting $1 trillion, it will be a tough sell. joining me from washington, one of the blue dog democrats, congressman jim cooper. thanks for being with us. >> delighted. >> you are fiscally conservative house democrats, 52 of you known as the blue dog commission. you have concerns without the health care overhaul making its way through congress right now. what are the key areas you take issue with. >> one of several democratic groups that are worried about the particular parts of the bill. our primary concern is that the bill is too expensive. we want everybody covered but the president is clear, he wants a deficit neutral bill and he wants one that bends the cost curves in the right direction, in other words, doesn't add to our long-term problems. we could get a bill like this. we could get a bipartisan bill. they're working on that in senate. but unfortunately, the house is reluctant to take that approach. the senate will be the real gap. they have to get 60 votes to pass anything. that requires some form of bipartisanship. >> the congressional budget office is claiming that the

current bill in the house right now will add $239 billion to the deficit, that's one of the major sticking points for you guys. as you look to possibly figure out ways to, as you put it, bend the cost curve or find ways to making programs like medicare and medicaid more affordable and sustainable, what needs to happen in your opinion? >> we're spending $2.4 trillion in health care in america every year and we're not getting our money's worth. we're not getting results. people are not living longer and healthier like they are in some other countries. how do you get more value for your money. you have to change practice patterns. that's a tough thing to do. doctors are set in their ways. it's a cultural thing. it will take time and effort to change. >> the argument for this public option that many of you guys are opposed to is that that's how you keep the costs down, having a program to compete with private insurers to bring the costs down. you don't buy that? >> i'm open to the public

option. the blue dogs as a whole are not. it's on a playing level field and not squelch private sector competition. what the overall plan is supposed to be look like is the way federal employees have shopped for health care for four or five years. let everyone shop from that angle. the federal employees have never had a public option, never asked for one. it's possible to do it several ways. but the key is that we have vibrant competition. >> you were breached on the meeting, i understand late into the night with the chair of your committee, henry waxman. we understand he offered to address some of the concerns of the blue dog conservatives. what would you guys need to see to accept any proposal in the house right now? >> there are no bright lines right now, kiran. he took some key areas like medicaid and affordability off of the table entirely. when the whole key is affordability. that's what the president has stressed. we have to make sure this plan is affordable for every american. right now it looks like the

conversational budget office. so we need to make sure we have a sustainable health care plan that works for every american. >> a couple of op-eds are blasting the blue dogs today for opposing a gloft plan. a government plan would help people in your districts, in rural areas that you guys represent. many farmers, ranchers, self-employed right now cannot afford private insurance and benefit from a government program. isn't the goal to help out people in your district who may not be able to afford health care currently? >> absolutely. whatever works. there are types of a public plan that can work as long as it's on a level playing field. but, remember, the leading public plan in america today, medicare, a much-beloved program, if you look at the accounting of it, it's on thin ice. it's $234 trillion in the hole. that's not a program on sound financial footing. we need to make sure medicare is stronger and whatever public option that's involved is on strong financial footing. >> your concern is not

necessarily -- you're thinking separately of from what the blue dog coalition is concerned about, that many of them don't want a public option in general. you're not so concerned about the federal involvement in insurance, you're saying that the kos would have to come down. you would support a public auction if there was some way you could end up bringing down costs over the decade. >> exactly. months ago, i did a memo outlining 18 possible public options. so many advocates don't know what nay ear advocating and so many opponents don't know what they're opposing so it's important to get the definition right. >> sure is. likely not happening before the august recess in congress, but hopefully there will be some sort of bipartisan consensus on this. thank you for being with us. congressman jim cooper from tennessee. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. a couple of great guests you'll want to know about. ambassador richard holbrooke is the point person on south asia.

afghanistan, pakistan, and india will join us to talk about a new way forward in afghanistan. and then, if you thought gators were tough, wait until you meet florida's only licensed female alligator trapper. all that ahead. 36 minutes after the hour. 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.

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. ♪ it's all about soul ♪ ♪ it's all about knowing -- >> this may not be a problem that all of us have, but it's still a little bit frightening. you go out back of your house on a hot day and there's an uninvited guest in your pool. stop one of the neighbors, it's an alligator. who are you going to call? >> it's for people who live in some parts of florida, this is a common occurrence, right? >> absolutely. >> they seem to like the chlorine. you know? you call and live in florida, you have to call the gator lady. john zarrella, the resident alligator analyst captures the state's only female alligator animal trapper who takes on eight feet of fury for a living. >> reporter: once in a while, julie gets snigers and behind-the-back laughs from, of course, men. >> take it in stride. like today, i had a few doubting thomases around here. >> didn't think you could do it,

huh? >> it's understandable because she's the only woman contracted with the state of florida to trap alligators. yep, she catches gators. the territory, tampa and surrounding hillsboro county. >> better not have gotten loose. someone is going in after him. it ain't me. >> reporter: earlier, she heads to a back yard pond. she had baited a hook for a nuisance gator that had taken a dog. >> trapper tires for the gator. the gator breaks the surface, he's seven, maybe eight foot. with his southern humor, harter adds -- >> he's a mel, uncooperative. >> he captured gators in the 1990s. after his death six years ago, julie applied for and got his trapping contract. >> this afternoon when i was baiting this hook, i was

lineback, okay, tell me where to put it. kind of thinking maybe i should have listened to him a little bit more. >> by the looks of the trophy catches inside the home, julie learned just fine. her biggest one, over 800 pounds. >> you had some help. >> i'm not stupid. >> not every nuisance gator is a monster that shadow on the bottom of the pool, yeah, gator. the family had just moved here from boston. the kids spotted it first. >> daddy, a gator by the pool. what? i went back -- i didn't expect to see one back there. >> for harter, these are the easy ones, but at two feet, he would have left a nasty bite with its mouth taped, the kids get a little education from julie. >> all of these are little bones all over him. >> reporter: the bigger gators are processed for meat and hide. the little ones, under four foot, get relocated.

>> see you, baby. >> wouldn't dream of doing anything else? >> never. never. i'm pretty damn good at it. >> reporter: and she proves it every day. john zarrella, cnn, tampa. we know why we're here.

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♪ good morning, mr. mr. president. here's your daily weather forecast. mostly cloudy, 74 degrees right now. later on, isolated thunderstorms. and a high of 91 in nation's capital. well, right there behind the white house, you see part of the national mall there in front of the washington monument. it's known as america's front yard but it's in really bad shape. the department of interior says the national mall runs between the capital building and the lincoln memorial needs a facelift but only getting $450,000 in stimulus money. brian todd looking at what some people call a national disgrace. good morning, john, kiran. we have a perfect example of what we're talking about here, juxtaposed images that are contradictory. the washington monument in all

of its glory. the jefferson memorial here. but our photographer is going to zoom into the sea wall area right there, right here on the tidal basin. how brown and muckish that is? that area gets breached once a day. whole stones falling in to the tidal basin. as is the case in this town, it's a matter of money and influence. >> reporter: it's enticing enough to draw 25 million tourists a year, more than yellow stone, the grand canyon, and the yosemite national park combined. this is what they stumble on. the sea wall breached every day. it sunk six inches in three years. this kind of disrepair is all over the national mall. >> one of the best known landmarks in washington, the reflecting pool looks terrific in postcards and movies. if you see it up close, this is what you're treated to. goose droppings stretching as far as the eye can see. the water is polluted with it. it's supposed to be a pool with a filtration system. it's never had one. standing water, essentially.

it's cleaned out a couple of times a year. the national parks service doesn't have the staff or resources to come down and clean it up enough. caroline cunninghamm calls the mall a disgrace and sometimes a deadly one. >> this is the capital reflecting pool. what happened with the ducks last year? >> 17 ducks died because of avian botulism the watter is so foul. >> reporter: she's the president for the trut for the national mall, a nonprofit trying to raise fun funds to match money from the congress. cunninghamm estimated $400 million needed for the mall's upkeep hasn't been spent. some in congress simply has not realized the scope of decay. steven ellis says many lawmakers who control purse strings like senator robert byrd have no problem sending money home for shall we say less trafficked monuments. >> $100,000 for the mother's day shrine in a small town in west virginia.

>> contacted by cnn, a spokesman for senator byrd e-mailed us saying that shrine was built in 1873, an historic landmark itself, and the senator responding to the constituents and the need to help restore the structure obtained the money for the repairs. senator byrd would have supported the package of $200 million for mall repair polled earlier this year because some members of congress said it was not stimulus worthy. back to you. >> i'll never figure that out about washington. talking about the stimulus bill. it was 26200 million. people said, it's outrageous. now people are saying, why aren't we spending this money. make yourself crazy here. >> same thing. go over a pothole in your car. how much do you fix on this darn road? wait a minute, how much are you going to spend on road work, this is crazy. >> in con grewty in washington. we love it so much.

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♪ 51 minutes past the hour. time to fully understand the health care reform battle, a new bill, we talked about in congress, 1,000 some pages. it leaves a lot of people wondering what would be covered under any so-called public plan and what would not. the bottom line for many people is this, will my care be covered? we're paging dr. gupta. answering questions about the

plan in plain gisenglish. this is from linda in dallas. let's listen. >> caller: hello, dr. gupta, i'm linda from dallas, texas. my dad had prostate cancer and i suffered complications during pregnancy. both of us benefitted from procedures that technically were not classified as standard of care. who decides what procedures are standard versus "experimental"? if the house health bill passes, will they only cover the cost of standard procedures? >> all right. well, linda, there's a couple of important points there. first of all, the right answer's is we don't exactly know what the bill will be covering because it hasn't been formalized and there are details to work out. also there's a large amount of satisfaction overall with medicare as a rule. when you think about these, think about the things that are

covered, people unsatisfied with medicare in terms of what they cover. let's take your specific question point by point here if we can. look at a couple of specific issues when it comes to, for example, pap smear exams. once every 24 months, private insurance companies all over the map on this. a couple of the big ones we talked to are going to cover it every 12 months, this changes if there's an abnormality. you get an idea of what will be covered specifically, when it comes to medicare once every five years, private insurance, once every 12 months, again, it's going to make a difference in terms of what specifically people -- if they have some sort of abnormality. and you talk about things like colons come of course pi.

do they seem to help? here's a little bit where the rubber hits the road in terms of the specifics of the bill. >> that was interesting, cholesterol testing only once every five years when it's a big indicator for heart and future problems. >> it raises two questions. one is if there's some sort of abnormality, it'll be covered more often, if your cholesterol is high and you're on medications. the larger question is, does it make a difference to check it more frequently? and that's what a lot of this bill is about. what works the best and saves the most money at the same time? >> and so also, who gets to decide? this is what people are worried about, as well, what is medically necessary for you to be healthy or for you to get treatment? who gets to decide what works? >> well, you know, as you might imagine, a lot of this is based on what ends up getting covered by medicare, and right now you have an independent agency, 17 physicians, health care providers who make that decision.

there's going to be an independent agency, as well, that's going to be at the executive level. they're going to make recommendations to the president and congress on what should be covered and a 30-day waiting period to decide whether they'll be covered or not. >> trying to clear up the questions people have about this, thanks so much. by the way, if you want a question answered by sanjay, send it to us, cnn.com/amfix. you can also send sanjay a tweet. he's at sanjay gupta at cnn. and sanjay simplifying health care reform. he'll be your inside source right here on american morning. defense secretary robert gates says the united states has a year to turn things around in afghanistan, not to win, but just to show progress there otherwise the world may wonder why we're still there and what the end game is. man charged from the state department and administration to turn things diplomatically is ambassador holbrook. he'll be joining us about

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. eight years after launching enduring freedom in afghanistan, the u.s. military is trying to end a stalemate there. richard holbrook is the special representative to afghanistan and pakistan. he joins us this morning. ambassador, it's good to talk to you this morning. secretary gates said the u.s. has got about a year to turn things around there in afghanistan, not to end what's going on there, but to show clear, visible progress. and my question to you this morning is how do you do that? >> well, the united states government under president obama's made tremendous changes in our policy on both the civilian and military side. bob gates and admiral mullen has sent out the first team, general mcchrystal and general rodriguez, and the team in the field, this is as good of military team as i've ever seen.

on the presidentmented at -- all these people are changing the policy. let me give you quick examples. agriculture, we used to spend more on eradicating poppy fields than we did helping build the once vibrant culture sector. we're ending the wasted money on eradicating poppy fields. we're focusing on interdiction, the u.s. army has just destroyed an immense amount of opium. and now we're going to build up agriculture, we're going to downgrade crop ratification, huge success already. we're going to stress afghan governments. afghanistan's a tough place and this is a tough situation. but we do think we'll be able to show the american people by this time next year that this effort, which is supported by the international community, that's why i'm here in brussels, will be able to show that this effort

will pay off. >> so a question about, you know, poppy cultivation versus opium production. unless the u.s. department of agriculture are willing to step in there with hundreds of millions of dollars, whether you eradicate the poppy crop or you go after the people that these farmers are selling the poppies to. you're still hurting the farmer, right? >> no, it's completely difference. the u.s. used to assist poppy eradication, driving farmers who were after all, poor people, were growing their number one cash crop, driving them into the hands of the taliban, now the u.s. army interdicts huge supplies of drug paraphernalia. the farmer already sold them to the taliban are the ones that got nailed here and you did a terrific piece of this last week, you showed the whole thing. >> right. >> and meanwhile, in agriculture, you mentioned the

u.s. department of agriculture. i spent an hour and a half yesterday in kabul with our teams and general nicholson came to join the discussion. and we talked about how we're going to integrate all of these efforts, and there's not going to be an a.i.d. or u.s. department of agriculture in helmand. and we are going to help rebuild the ag sector. they used to export food, now they import it. we've gotten tremendous positive feedback on that. >> i'm wondering what the ultimate goal is here, to bring peace and stability to afghanistan? to eradicate the taliban and al qaeda? boost the strength of afghan security forces so that they can take care of the country? when will you be able to say you've got a success in afghanistan? >> first of all, we're not going to abandon the country as happened in 1989 and 2004. but we do have to transition

over time from a combat-driven operational effort to a situation, which the afghan security forces can take care of their own security while we help them rebuild their country, which has been torn apart by 30 years of war since the soviet invasion in 1978. i think you put your finger on the key thing, we have to rebuild the forces so they can overtime replace the u.s. and other nato allied forces. and that is why we're putting so much emphasis on strengthening the afghan security forces. i spent a long time talking to general mcchrystal and the man in charge of that effort on this project. we are going to revamp police training, which has been a mess. and we're going to do a lot of other things to focus on that point. >> and how much does the reelection of karzai -- how much of this does hinge on the reelection of karzai? he faces strong challenges,

surprisingly strong challenges and now, of course, he's been accused of trying to buy reelection by many people in afghanistan. if he doesn't get reelected, does all of this come apart? >> i met with four of the 41 candidates, including president karzai and three of his leading opponents. i don't think anyone should assume the outcome of this election either way, but i want to stress, first of all, that the u.s. neither supports nor opposes any individual candidate. i work with -- i and my colleagues work with the government led by president karzai just the way the united states only has one president at a time. but in terms of the campaign, we're really truly neutral. and the ambassador has gone out of his way to emphasize that. the election is going to be an extraordinary event. the first contested election in afghanistan history. last week they had the first presidential debate. they had an empty podium. you're familiar with those,

john. >> oh, yeah. >> it's democracy in action in war-time situations. it's an extraordinary event to watch, and i will go back out there at the president's and hillary clinton's instructions to do -- to help with the observing of it. >> you've certainly got a tough job. a. ambassador holbrook, great to catch up with you. that brings us to, almost four minutes after the hour now. tuesday, the 28th of july, thanks for joining us on the most news in the morning. i'm john roberts. we have a lot of stories on the agenda, we'll be breaking them down for you in the next 15 minutes. first a new focus on michael jackson's personal physician and his role in the singer's death. a source close to the investigation is telling cnn dr. conrad murray allegedly gave jackson a powerful anesthetic or sedative propofol in the 24 hours before he died. police are releasing the 911

tapes that led up to the arrest of henry gates jr. there's been speculation about what was and what wasn't said. find out if race was mentioned. also a february plane crash, you may remember this crash near buffalo. was it a disaster waiting to happen? there are just released transcripts now showing the co-pilot was in no condition to fly. allan chernoff has reported extensively on this accident. he's going to be joining us live with the latest on what these reveal. meanwhile, a dramatic turn in the investigation of michael jackson's death. it involved jackson's live-in doctor, conrad murray who was there when jackson took his last breath. a source close to the investigation telling cnn that murray allegedly gave jackson a powerful sedative in the hours before he died. all the latest developments. >> john and kiran, the latest headline tells cnn that

jackson's personal physician administered the powerful drug that investigators believe killed him. it's known as propofol, and jackson's doctor gave it to him within 24 hours of his death. his lawyer has never commented on the drug. all the lawyer told us in the past was quote dr. conrad murray did not prescribe or administer anything that should have killed michael jackson. this is the first time dr. murray has been connected to propofol. his lawyer said he gave him cpr and tried to revive him. there were numerous news reports at his home and his sister la toya saw an iv stand in his bedroom. this all really put investigators on alert because it is supposed to be used only in a hospital setting, very

powerful s sedative used during surgery. if this drug was inside jackson's home and if dr. conrad murray provided it, this could mean big trouble. dr. murray's already at the center of a manslaughter investigation related to jackson's death. when i asked dr. murray's office about this, i was told, "we will not be responding to rumors, innuendo, or unnamed sources." a meeting was scheduled to meet with the doctor last week, but never panned out. this would be, by the way, the doctor's third meeting with authorities, his car was seized and examined. it is curious that last week they announced they wanted to speak with him again and suddenly raided his storage facility in houston and now the third meeting has yet to be scheduled. dr. murray's lawyer's office says he is "understandably concerned" and feels he's been made the scapegoat here. back to you. >> randi, thanks so much. this morning, recordings of a 911 call are giving the u.s. new insight into the arrest of

harvey louis gates jr. and while it won't end the debate of racial profiling by police, a meeting over beers with professor gates and james crowley at the white house this thursday could cool the anger. elaine quijano is live in boston with us this morning. what can you tell us about what the 911 tapes show? >> well, these tapes don't answer the question of who is to blame. but they do shed light on what started all of this. and that is that 911 call. cnn did reach out to professor gates for his reaction to these tapes but declined to comment. cambridge police, on the other hand, say these tapes speak for themselves. the 911 call that eventually led to professioner henry gates' arrest never mentioned two black men. >> are they still in the house? >> they're still in the house, i believe, yeah. >> are they white, black, or

hispanic. >> one looked kind of hispanic, but i'm not sure. and the other one entered and i didn't see what he looked like at all. >> at one point the caller herself raises the possibility the situation might not be an emergency. >> i don't know if they live there and they just had a hard time with their key, but i did noticed they had to use their shoulder to try to barge in and they got in. >> cambridge police also released audio of the police radio transmissions from that day. the dispatcher can be heard repeating the 911 caller's description of two suspicious persons or s.p.s. >> both s.p.s are in the house, unknown on the race, one may be a hispanic male. not sure. >> reporter: later after sergeant james crowley arrived, this. >> the gentleman here says he lives here but uncooperative. >> reporter: then a voice in the background can be heard -- >> henry louis gates.

>> reporter: now cambridge police say they are forming a panel not to conduct an internal investigation into what happened, but rather to take a look at what lessons can be learned from it. meanwhile, a senior administration official tells cnn that meeting that president obama suggested with him, professor gates, and sergeant crowley to talk about the incident over some beers at the white house, that meeting is now set to take place on thursday night. john? >> love to be a fly on the wall there. elaine quijano for us this morning. we want to know your thoughts on the 911 tapes. do they change your opinion of dr. henry louis gates' arrest? well, there are some new transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder being released from the deadly colgan air flight that crashed over buffalo this winter. we have new details about the co-pilot who complained about feeling ill and wondered whether or not she was going to fly that flight. allan chernoff joined us with the latest on the investigation.

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13 minutes past the hour, welcome back to the most news in the morning. there were some new questions this morning about the crew of the commuter plane that crashed outside of buffalo last february, all 49 people on board and one person on the ground were killed when that plane went down. >> well, in a new recording, the co-pilot says she felt sick, so sick that she considered skipping the flight. allan chernoff has reported extensively on the crash. joining us live. the pilot fatigue issue we've discussed and some pilots because of the financial considerations made and having to travel from city to city to fly the aircraft are maybe making decisions as they should have. >> they did not earn much murn at all, and we do have here the co-pilot on tape admitting she was under the weather, but not wanting to call in sick because she'd have to pay for a hotel room.

>> reporter: as flight 3407 prepared for takeoff from newark, co-pilot rebecca shaw sniffled in the cockpit telling renslo, i'm ready to be in the hotel room. she'd flown as a passenger through the night from seattle to newark, new jersey, for the flight to buffalo. if i felt like this when i was at home, there's no way i would have come all the way out here, but now that i'm out here said, shaw, you might as well, responded captain renslo. 3407 crashed five miles from the buffalo airport. there's no evidence that shaw's illness caused the crash and safety experts say there's no way to know for sure whether shaw was unfit to fly. >> every pilot has the right and the obligation to exercise their common sense and good judgment. >> reporter: but colgan air puts blame on shaw saying flying fatigued or sick is not an option. every colgan air pilot has an

absolute professional to show up to work fit for duty. robin, who lost her husband on the flight faults the airline. >> it was a complete recipe for disaster from the moment that aircraft took away from the jetway. >> reporter: the ntsb monday released a summary with executives from gulf stream training academy where renslo had studied flying. his performance at the academy was above average. >> indeed it was only later in his career that he repeatedly failed test rides. >> allan, you've been doing a great job on covering, peeling back the layers of the onion here. 15 1/2 minutes now after the hour.

good morning, dallas. it is mostly cloudy right now, 73 degrees later on today, isolated thunderstorms. going to be fairly cool there today compared to how it was a couple of weeks ago, only 89 degrees, no triple digit temperatures there in dallas today, which is a good thing, 18 minutes after the hour. christine romans here minding your business, talking about obesity and the high cost of health care. >> and this fits into the debate right now, trying to figure out how to control costs in health care because this is the single largest thing that our economy gobbles up. it's health care costs. i think it's like 16 cents on the dollar right now, and when you look at this new journal of health affairs article about health care costs, you can see why. think of this, $1,429 more per

year per person for obese medical spending than for a normal weight person. that's $147 billion in overall obesity related spending. these researchers found nearly 10% of all health spending is for obesity. so within the context of discussing health reform and health care costs, obesity and the treatment of obesity and the prevention of obesity is pretty key here. and it's something that you've been hearing about in the debate on health care spending. it's interesting because last week there was a cdc obesity conference and there they came up with strategies that they presented for different communities to try to figure out how to address this, and that could be everything from avoiding the sugary drinks and the soda and the pop and sugary foods in the schools. it can mean where we put our supermarkets and what neighborhoods we have supermarkets with fresh foods and vegetables. it can be, even some people talking about taxing these things, but treating some kinds of foods the way we used to treat tobacco and other kinds of things, making it more expensive

to use some of these things. >> what's shocking too, we've seen this skyrocket, it said 89%, a jump in obesity-related illness since 1998. what are we doing differently from ten years ago in. >> feeding people crap. making it easier to get crap than good food. >> we're working hard, working two jobs, the quick, easy. the cheap -- the cheapest thing to get is something that's been processed with ingredients from 400 different countries that's traveled 6,000 miles to get here. not the apple, sanjay always says that, and it's true, it's hard to get an apple, it's quick to get something. 23 pounds overweight is the average person, and 2/3 of the country is overweight or obese. you can see this is a health issue that isn't going away. and this journal health affairs issue study is very interesting about just how -- a big part -- no pun intended, of the health care cost. >> you go anywhere, it is so much easier to get a greasery

burg greaserybugreasery burger loaded with cholesterol and fat -- we are fattening up america with this lousy food. >> and it's a globalization story too. i did a story recently where you walk down the aisle of a grocery store and the guy was showing me, look, this probably traveled 3,000 miles, burning the gas and the jet fuel and the oil to get here and it's got all of these calories. >> and there's much more of a push on to eat local and right now as we said one of the things we're buying in recession is seeds. >> it's true. and this whole idea of deglobalization, but fits into this idea of getting back to basics and you look at how fat we've become as a country. it's remarkable and part of the health care process. i wanted to give you the romans' numeral 250 calories. the average american consumes an average of 250 more calories per

day. it's easier, it's easier. >> portions are bigger at restaurants too. >> and for a processed food, you can get to 900 calories in like 10, 12, 15 bites. >> i do this almost every friday. thinking i'm a little peckish because i ate a bowl of cereal at 3:00 in the morning. and they give you the calorie content now and there's almost nothing you can eat that isn't 500 calories, at least. >> and those calories are money, money on the economy, on the health care system, taking money out of our pockets to pay for health care because we're not as healthy and not as well. >> cheer up. >> i'm going to go get a bacon, egg, and cheese -- >> you start on that globalization. it's only tuesday, christine. >> i know. >> i can't wait for that whole series on deglobalization. >> christine romans, minding your business this morning. thanks so much. the maker of the stun gun taser rolling out now a new version that can apparently shock three people without having to be reloaded.

it's a new gun. i'm sure this guy is thrilled. it's a new gun, makes it easier for officers to subdue offenders, let's see it, let's see it. >> even when people just see the laser from it, that's enough to have people go, okay, i give up. >> and if the person doesn't comply, now -- >> we're causing pulsations in his muscles, locking him up, falls down, he recovers -- >> muscles contracting 19 times a second. incapacitating feeling, you cannot do anything. it does lock your whole body up. >> there it is, that's what the gun looks like. there you see the three tasers. >> i was going to say that you haven't put a taser gun to the test until you let -- >> poor guy deserves a break. he looks like he was wishing he wasn't the one to sign up. i wondered if he drew the short

straw as police were figuring out who was going to be -- you can see it. >> they choose the biggest guy in the department too. >> there you go. department of homeland security wants to build a new infectious disease laboratory, biohazard, all of this stuff out there. where do they want to put it? tornado alley. >> oh, no. >> some people are wondering if it's the right thing to do. our jeanne meserve looks into that. eroid. 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. 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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♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. the department of homeland security has a plan to build a new infectious disease

laboratory in kansas. critics, though, say it's a bad idea to put deadly biohazards in the middle of tornado alley, but are there arguments about pathogens or politics? the project is worth at least $500 million in federal funding. and when kansas won the bid, other states lost out. our jeanne meserve is in washington taking a look at the whole thing this morning. >> reporter: a powerful tornado hit manhattan, kansas, last year doing $20 million of damage to kansas state university. but this is where the department of homeland security has decided to put a new agricultural laboratory to research the most dangerous animal pathogens like highly contagious foot and mouth disease. critics say after it's built another tornado could damage the facility resulting in a relief and a zacatastrophe.

>> it absolutely is unsafe. it will cause billions of dollars of damages to the u.s. economy, it will wipe out tens of millions of animals. >> reporter: he represents a group that wants the lab and its economic benefits in san antonio, texas, one of several competing sites. he and others are seizing on a draft government accountability office report which says the dhs decision to put the lab in kansas is based on flawed risk and economic analyses. it concludes this questionable methodology could result in regrettable consequences. what is the gao talking about? foot and mouth disease was inadvertently released from a research lab in britain in 2001, leading to eight outbreaks on nearby farms which were contained by massive animal slaughters. a dhs official counters the gah reports saying we feel like we've done a very thorough assessment of the risk, security, and the safety of this particular facility and proponents in kansas insist it will not pose a hazard.

>> the safety and security measures have advanced dramatically, such that this kind of biocontainment research takes place safely and securely on the mainland in cities like atlanta, georgia, at the centers for disease control every single day. >> reporter: the construction of the kansas lab will result in the closure of the outdated plum island animal disease center off long island, new york. the gao report concludes it would be less risky to continue animal research there than to move it to the agricultural heartland, but dhs says it has no plans to revisit its decision. >> we talked with specialists at the national oceanianic atmospheric administration points out while there are tornadoes in kansas and texas, he says the probability of a government building built in today's engineering specifications being damaged in either place by a tornado is pretty small. john and kiran, back to you. >> so it may not sound good when you say it, but in the end,

probably safe. >> may not make too much of a difference. >> maybe not. >> hopefully. 30 minutes past the hour. defense secretary robert gates in iraq, making an announced trip to the country. u.s. forces mainly serve as advisers now to iraqi troops. and this base is a prototype as the pentagon's role in issuing shifts to one of support. secretary gates meeting with political leaders, including iraq's prime minister al maliki. the shuttle endeavor is scheduled to dock from the international space station. 13 astronauts in total between the crews, but the endeavor have a few days in space, they're scheduled to return home on friday. are airline prices going down or are you ending up paying more with these boost in fees and rates? well, hit hard by the economy, more airlines are boosting their fares and fees to try to stay out of the red. according to the "chicago tribune," even the low-cost carriers like southwest and

airtran have added $10 to $20 to their fares, upped their bag fees by another $5. well, more now on our developing story involving the death investigation of michael jackson. a source close to the investigation is telling cnn that jackson's doctor allegedly administered the anesthetic or sedative propofol less than 24 hours before the entertainer died. if it turns out to be true, dr. conrad murray could find himself in trouble with the law. senior cnn legal analyst joins me now to talk about this. so first of all, what do you make of the fact that there are sources close to the investigation right now saying that they're looking into whether or not this was administered by dr. murray the night he died? >> well, certainly this is not good news for dr. murray if, in fact, he administered the drug that was the cause of death. but i think it's a long way from establishing any crime was committed here, much less a crime that murray could be charged or convicted of.

>> so he's apparently cooperating with police, right? they've interviewed him. i understand they conducted a raid on his clinic and took out some of these medications as well as files. but he's cooperating for now? >> so far he is, although if i were his lawyer, i probably would advise him to start taking the fifth given how clearly they're focusing -- they're focusing on him. but remember, we don't even know what killed michael jackson at this point. there has been no autopsy report issued, no cause of death established. so the idea that he could be charged with causing jackson's death, i think, really is just speculation at this point. >> well, the police seem to think that they can at least say that he died when he died and what happened in terms of possible overdose, right? in the subpoena that they issued to raid him, they said they're looking into potential manslaughter. >> sure, and that is a reasonable grounds for investigation. but, again, we don't know -- even if it is true that dr. murray gave him propofol and it

caused his death, it is not an illegal drug, it's not a controlled substance, it is certainly an unusual drug to give in a home setting, but you'd have to know what the context was, who prescribed it, what other doctors were involved, how long jackson had been using it, whether jackson had access to it himself without the doctor's involvement. there are just is a lot of questions to answer before you say that, you know, murray committed some crime. >> now, when we talked to sanjay about it, he says he's learning more about what this drug is and how it's able to be used. one of the things that, i guess, there seems to be consensus among doctors, it needs to be in a controlled environment, not necessarily a clinic, but monitoring set up. so if, indeed, and we still don't know from the toxicology reports which are not out yet or the autopsy not released yet that propofol contributed to michael jackson's death. what would be the culpability?

>> the worst thing that could happen is he's criminally prosecuted for manslaughter. but there could be an investigation about whether he should keep his medical license or there could be a civil lawsuit for malpractice. there are a lot of different gradations short of putting him in jail. >> as you look at precedent, how much does the patient's involvement go into this? if a patient in some of these cases where we've seen high-profile celebrities overdose on medication they were given. the jury is is still out of whether or not the doctors involved are going to get in trouble. at the end of the day the patient wanted that medicine and took it. that's always a big factor in these cases. you can have sort of a mid-level kind of prosecution in the anna nicole smith case, the doctors who gave her the medication were not charged with manslaughter, but they were charged with misconduct relating to the prescriptions. so there are a lot of different crimes that you could possibly

charge. but you really have to know all of the facts and circumstances. it's a little like the skip gates case we've been talking about. you hear about it at first and you need to know the details of what happened before you can establish whether anything unlawful went on here. >> all right, and big day ahead, of course, for sonia sotomayor. they're going to be voting at 10:00 today of whether or not she'll be confirmed. what do you think? >> looks like she'll only get one republican vote, lindsay graham, which suggests she will be confirmed in something of the nature of some 65 votes in the senate. that's not a big margin, but you know what? it doesn't matter. >> doesn't matter, right. it'll also be 20 some more votes than alito got. >> a little less than that, but clarence thomas got 52 votes, they call him justice, ruth ginsberg got 90 votes, doesn't matter. >> when you're in you're in.

>> really t get. good to be here. 35 minutes after the hour. l. 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. 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. 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.

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♪

some of the most popular videos right now on cnn.com. if the recession is driving people to the bottle, they're not choosing australian wine. exports are down 9% this year. wine makers say the price point on australian wines is already scraping the bottom of the barrel. also, a massive sink hole in a busy street in toronto. look at this, 46 feet deep. it takes up two lanes of traffic. toronto has been drenched by rain since friday. you know how hockey pucks it's going to take to fill that hole? and a man turns violent after a game in beijing, turns the aggressions towards the ref. they were angry about being hit with several red cards. >> wow. taking that seriously. well, michael vick could be getting back in the game. it's one of the most popular stories right now on cnn.com. vick who just finished a prison term for running a dog-fighting ring has been reinstated by the nfl. earlier we asked sports attorney ryan smith about the

commissioner's decision to bring vick back with conditions. >> the nfl doesn't just want people to come and play in their league and be good players, they want good citizens, what he's trying to say is, i don't want take everything away from him, he did his time, but i'm not going to let him right back in unless he shows me complete remorse, unless he shows me not only is he going to be somebody who will say i'm sorry, but he's going to be somebody fight for the rights of dogs and make sure this doesn't happen again. >> vick can now sign with a team if he's picked by one, he can play in the pre-season. a ruling on his full reinstatement will not be expected until october, but could be cleared before then. should michael vick get a second chance? we want to know your views, a lot of people weighing in on twitter, cnn.com/amfix. remember back when the stimulus was being debated in congress. and they were all up in arms, outraged there was $200 million in there to repair the national mall and the cry was, what does that have to do with stimulating the economy?

>> didn't they say it was already repaired? >> they did. and now they think it's a disgrace it's falling into disrepair. >> we're exactly the same. >> yin and yang. >> why are there so many holes in the road? can you believe they're out there spending money? our brian todd breaks it down for you this morning. coming up. 41 minutes after the hour. d. 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. 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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view from the white house this morning where it is partly cloudy and 77. later on, isolated thunderstorms, 91. behind the white house in the upper right hand portion of your screen, you see the bottom of the washington monument and a little bit of the national mall there, known as america's front yard, but the national mall is in terrible shape. the department of the interior says the national mall needs a $400 million facelift but it's only getting $55 million in stimulus money. they wanted $200 million, but that was taken out. brian todd taking a look at what some call our national disgrace this morning. >> reporter: good morning, john and kiran, we have the perfect example of what we're talking about here juxtaposed issues. the jefferson memorial here, but our photographer is going to zoom into that sea wall area right there, right here on the

basin. that area gets breached at least once a day. you've got whole stones falling into the basin and as often the case in this town, it's a matter of money and influence. it's enticing enough to draw 25 million tourists a year, more than yellowstone, the grand canyon, and yosemite national park combined. the sea wall at the jefferson memorial breached once a day, sunk at least 3 inches in three years. >> reporter: this is one of the best known monument, looks terrific in most cards and movies, this is what you're treated to. goose droppings on the side stone stretching as far as the eye can see towards the memorial, the water is polluted with it. this is supposed to be a pool with a filtration system, it's never had one, it's standing water essentially. it's only cleaned out a couple of times a year. the national park service doesn't have the staff or resources to come down here and

clean it up enough. >> reporter: caroline cunningham calls it a disgrace and sometimes a deadly one. what happened with the ducks here last year? >> last year 17 ducks died because of avian botulism. >> reporter: cunningham is president of the trust for the national mall, a non-profit trying to raise private funds to match money from congress. that's part of the problem. cunningham estimates some $400 million needed for the mall's upkeep hasn't been spent. she says some in congress simply haven't realized the scope of decay at their doorstep. steve ellis from the watchdog group taxpayers for common sense says many lawmakers who control pursestrings like robert bird have no problem sending money home for shall we say less trafficked monuments. >> including more than $100,000 for the mother's day shrine, which is in a town, a small town in west virginia. >> reporter: contacted by cnn, a spokesman for senator bird e-mailed us saying that shrine was built in 1873, it's a

historic landmark itself and the senator responding to his constituents and the need to help restore the structure obtained the money for the repairs. senator byrd would've supported a package of about $200 million for mall repairs that was pulled earlier this year because some felt it was not stimulus worthy. john and kiran, back to you. >> all right. there you go. what did she call it? avian botulism? poor thing. all right, we are going to take a quick break. when we come back, we're breaking down the health care plan. dr. gupta is is going to be answering viewer questions. is is ththis going to change th for me? 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.

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♪ 50 minutes past the hour. maybe you don't fully understand health care reform, it's understandable. the new bill is more than 1,000 pages, many are wondering exactly what would be covered under a public plan. and what wouldn't. in other words, would your care be covered. we're paging dr. gupta, our chief correspondent is answering questions about the plan in plain english and we have one, sanjay, by the way, from melissa in cleveland. she writes, my mom turns 65 years old, is covered by medicare, but her benefits aren't as good as she had before. i'm worried if the health bill passes and i get switched to the public plan certain services that i've used to having will no

longer be covered. how do you -- is that a real possibility? >> well, it's tough to address the concerns specifically now because there's a lot of details regarding the bill that still haven't been worked out. but a couple of things worth pointing out. there's going to be a lot of discussion about the quality of health care and the quality of a public option, as well. one thing that surveys on this particular issue, one from the commonwealth survey says that only about 8% to 10% of people rank their medicare coverage of being fair or poor. the vast majority of people say their medicare coverage is good. it provides them what they need. melissa, to your point specifically, let's look at how some of these things play out. when it comes to something, for example, a pap smear exam, medicare will cover that once every 24 months, many private insurance every 12 months. all of this changes if there's abnormalities. cholesterol testing, medicare

says every five years, private insurance, every 12 months. if you have problems, the numbers will change. but the question a lot of people ask, the does it make a difference to check them more frequently than every five years? here's one i thought was interesting, kiran, virtual colonoscopies. some insurance companies will cover it. this gets to the heart of how some of this might change as the health care reform debate continues on. >> one of the things that, of course, people that are opposed to this have been showing and that famous little flow chart they were showing on capitol hill where this is the doctor, this is the patient, and here's all the people -- seriously, breaking it down, who does get to decide what's medically necessary, what's a treatment that worked best for you? >> well, it ultimately depends on reimbursements. right now there's 17 health care professionals, doctors, nurses, who sort of determine the reimbursement rates and that

trickles down to how things are covered and ultimately what doctors are likely to order. president obama's talking about creating this independent executive level agency that's going to look at outcomes. how does it benefit the patients? does it benefit the patients? should it be covered? and they will make recommendations to the president and congress and there will be a waiting period to determine how this is all going to play out. should a certain procedure get covered or not? it is going to be a lot of layers to that as you can hear from that, but the ultimate goal is to try to reduce costs and get the best outcomes possible. the critics will charge that's another layer of government interference between the doctors and the patients. >> good stuff there, sanjay, and as always, if you have a question for sanjay, he's answering your questions all morning long here. so send in your health question, go to cnn.com/amfix, also send him a tweet sanjay gupta cnn. at legalzoom, we'll help you incorporate your business,

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to ease tensions, president obama has invited harvard professor henry louis gates and the police officer who arrested him to join him for a beer at the white house. they're going to have a beer. yeah, and -- if that works out, obama's going to have ahmadinejad and netanyahu over for jaeger bombs. when the president speaks, people listen. often they parrot what he says, that's not necessarily a good thing. >> the president's initial response to the arrest of professor gates spawned a whole new buzz word stupidly. here's jeannie moos. >> reporter: after being endlessly mocked as perfect -- >> he's barack obama, come to save the day. >> reporter: now he's got to save himself. >> the cambridge police -- >> reporter: from himself. >> -- acted stupidly. stupidly, stupidly, stupidly. >> reporter: even after the president admitted he could've

recalibrated his words, that one word reoccurs. >> acted stupidly. >> they acted stupidly. >> the cambridge police were acting stupidly. >> reporter: or as the english say -- >> stupidly. >> reporter: next thing you know, it went from the president's mouth to t-shirts, stupidly to bumper stickers. stupid is as stupidly says. who looks stupidly now? even the professor's words have been featured. the words professor gates reportedly said to officer crowley. i'll speak with your momma outside. the celebrity website tmz chased down the professor. >> do you have any good yo mamma jokes. >> reporter: now he's been portrayed with his foot in his mouth with a teachable moment with vice president biden who advises, i like it with salt. john stewart joked about trying to save the president. >> what does it say about race

relations in america? >> don't answer -- >> too late. >> acted stupidly. >> oh, the president's stupid, or the cops are stupid, or we're all stupid. >> reporter: we've all said things stupidly. for instance, the time i called former president nixon president reagan. >> mr. reagan, sorry, president nixon. >> i've been called worse than that. >> too many obgyns aren't able to practice their law with women across this country. >> reporter: and living forever on the web there's that from the beauty queen. >> south africa and iraq and everywhere such as. >> reporter: america's a free country where everyone's free to act -- >> stupidly. >> reporter: jeannie moos, cnn, new york. >> we really are in no position to laugh, are we? >> no, are you kidding? but i was there that president bush said too many obgyns aren't

able to practice their love with women across america. and we all said what? what did he just say? >> wow, he was misunderestimated there. president obama, by the way, hoping a little drink diplomacy will clear the air. hosting gates and crowley for a beer at the white house this thursday evening. already the drink orders are in. it was even a hot topic during yesterday's white house briefing. >> officer crowley's drinking blue moon, we hear gates drinking -- what's the president drinking? >> the president had a budweiser at the all-star game -- why are you looking at me like that? that's what he drinks. what's wrong with budweiser? why do you hate budweiser, wendell? >> maybe i don't -- >> i don't -- how about this, how about you