pick out the beer, we'll do the beer run. >> there's politics associated with everything. can you imagine if he would've said corona, he's outsourcing his beer drinking, even though it's probably made here. he could say stella, say bud. nothing's more american than some bud. >> there you go. thanks very much for joining us this morning, continue the conversation of today's stories, go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. >> hope to see you back here tomorrow. meanwhile, here's "cnn newsroom" with heidi collins. new evidence, new claims in the michael jackson case. cnn sources reveal the latest on the investigation into his death. and health care reform, congress drops a deadline, the president picks up the phone. and stretching your dollar, we have the list of what you should consider buying right now. good morning, everybody, i'm heidi collins, today is tuesday, july 28th, and you are in the "cnn newsroom." this morning, we are covering all of the issues of the health care debate. in fact, at the white house this morning, our suzanne malveaux is

looking at the latest blow to the president's top domestic issue. and on capitol hill, brianna keilar this morning is going to be asking the question, what now, what next? and our dr. sanjay gupta is going to cut through the clutter. our chief medical correspondent answers your question on what the changes would mean to you. so let's dive right in. congress makes it official, lawmakers are not vote on health care reform plans before friday as originally planned, that is a blow to the president who first set that deadline and the health care reforms that are a center piece of his agenda. cnn congressional correspondent from capitol hill this morning. are democrats in the house going to be able to work out their differences before they leave for their august break? >> reporter: well, they're certainly not going to be having a vote before friday. we heard that from the number two democratic after some late night negotiations, heidi. but whether they're going to be hanging around to work out those differences and to get a vote, that is still this question

mark, but at the same time, hayer trying to down play this. this is what he said late last night. >> this bill, most of it, will go into effect in 2013. so time is not running out in the sense. we have a postal service problem, time is running out on that because the money's running out. we're not in that situation. >> but still, the infighting right now going on between blue dog democrats and democratic leaders and key democrats, like that man you just saw henry waxman there, the chairman of the key committee considering health care. this infighting isn't over. after this late night meeting last night we did learn there is an offer on the table. henry waxman, the chairman of the committee where blue dog democrats have delayed this health care plan, he made them an offer. what's in the offer? we don't know exactly what's in it.

our blow dogs are going to accept this offer. we don't know at this point. they're mulling it over and considering their next move, and that's really where we've picked things up today and what we're watching today. >> obviously you're going to be trying hard to find out what is in that offer. in the meantime, seems unlikely there'll be a vote on health care in the house at all before september, right? >> it seems like a very heavy lift to do that. but at the same time, it's important to note that democratic leaders in the house aren't completely shutting the door on that. but they're not going to vote by friday. if they want to vote before they go away for their august recess, heidi, they're going to have to stay the weekend or stay into next week to get this moving along so they can have their vote. >> all right, understood, working all her sources today, brianna keilar on capitol hill. president obama is looking beyond the setback and reaching out directly to the public. today his focus is on older americans and suzanne malveaux with more on this. good morning to you, the president's been pushing health care, as we all know for quite a while now. what more can he do at this

point? >> reporter: really the strategy for the president is is not so much trying to arm twist when it comes to lawmakers, give him some space, some time, obviously brianna covering that aspect of it. the process, what the president is doing, an all out campaign, public relations campaign directly to the american people, taking the message of health care reform. today we're going to see him in a town hall meeting before aarp, they're calling it a teletown hall, essentially taking questions from an audience, but also phone calls, this type of thing to highlight how health care reform will help them, a deal that was made, struck between the white house and some drug companies regarding providing a drug coverage through medicare. this is just one of the first of three that we're going to see in the next 24 hours. tomorrow he's taking the show on the road, if you will. heidi, raleigh, north carolina, bristol, virginia, once again to push forward and to make the case directly to the american people. white house aides talk about the fact that they believe the more the president gets out there, talks directly to the american

people, in very plain language that it takes it outside of this washington setting and really does put pressure on members of congress to respond. that is something that they need here. you're not seeing the president yesterday making those phone calls, having those meetings with lawmakers as we saw the week before. he really wants this to kind of percolate, to put it out there with the american people and give those lawmakers the time, essentially, that they need to come up some of the back and forth of the negotiations that are taking place to find something that is acceptable for all sides, heidi. >> really quickly, suzanne, not sure if you know in the coming days and this is the older segment of the population, we learn today, we continue that same demographic or hit it completely different age group? >> reporter: it's basically going to be everybody, all folks here. today focusing on senior citizens and medicare. we've heard before he's talking medicaid and that he's going to broaden it, going to talk about specifically, you know, a lot of talk about those who aren't

insured, but they're going to focus on those who have insurance, who are happy and comfortable, but who are afraid they're going to have their taxes, basically, increase, somehow their own security in their system is going to be disrupted in some way. that is what a lot of the democrats are saying they're worried about and concerned about and their constituents and that's something he's going to address in the days ahead, heidi. >> very good. suzanne malveaux at the white house. we will have live coverage of president obama as he takes part in that aarp town hall meeting scheduled to begin 1:30 eastern, 10:30 pacific. in less than 15 minutes, we're going to debut a new segment, the insider with sanjay gupta. what would health care reform mean to you? make sure you stick around for that. judge sonia sotomayor is expected to move one step closer to the high court today. the senate judiciary committee scheduled to vote on her confirmation in a less than an hour.

some republicans on the committee say they will vote against her. sotomayor is still expected to win approval and have her nomination sent on to the full senate for a vote. troubling new developments in the michael jackson death investigation. and at the center of it all, jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray. he was with jackson before he died. ted rowlands has the latest. >> reporter: a source tells cnn that dr. conrad murray gave jackson the powerful drug propofol within 24 hours of his death. propofol also 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 to me is outrageous. particularly a patient who may have had as we all believe an opiate addiction. that is out of the question. >> reporter: 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 "manslaughter." murray is not a suspect in the case, but legal experts say that may change if propofol is found in jackson's system. >> having propofol in the system or diprivan in the system, depending on what the levels are, is not a positive indicator for any doctor who is affiliated with it. >> reporter: propofol, however, is not an illegal drug. it's not a controlled substance, so the fact he was giving it to him might not have been medically indicated. >> reporter: murray's lawyer released a statement in response to our report saying in part, quote, everyone needs to take a breath and wait for these long delayed toxicology results. i have no doubt they want to make a case. for goodness sakes, it's michael jackson.

>> cnn, los angeles. seven men are under arrest in north carolina charged with trying to carry out a terror-style killings overseas. they include this man, daniel boyd and his two sons. the investigators say boyd attended terrorist training camps in pakistan and afghanistan and recruited the others to train with him in north carolina. there were no known targets in the u.s. six of the seven suspects are u.s. citizens, they are due back in court on thursday. the defense secretary in iraq this morning, checking the progress of the military's new mission. we're on patrol with the troops as they adjust to their new role. and when we come back, we'll take a look at weather conditions in the northwest. oppressive heat, stifling temperatures, just how much longer is it going to last? and parts of texas have seen a drought like none other. more details in a few minutes. d. 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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but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots. ask your doctor about plavix, protection that helps save lives. (female announcer) if you have stomach ulcer or other condition that causes bleeding, you should not use plavix. when taking plavix alone or with some other medicines including aspirin, the risk of bleeding may increase so tell your doctor before planning surgery. and always talk to your doctor before taking aspirin or other medicines with plavix, especially if you've had a stroke. if you develop fever or unexplained weakness or confusion, tell your doctor promptly as these may be signs of a rare but potentially life-threatening condition called ttp, which has been reported rarely, sometimes in less than two weeks after starting therapy. other rare but serious side effects may occur. (male announcer) if you take plavix with other heart medicines continuing to do so will help increase your protection against a future heart attack or stroke beyond your other heart medicines alone. you may be feeling better but your risk never goes away.

help stay protected, stay with plavix. defense secretary robert gates is in iraq this morning. he made an unannounced visit to u.s. troops at one southern base before heading to baghdad for high-level meetings there. joining us now live from baghdad

this morning with more on this. what are you hearing was a purpose of the stop in southern iraq? >> reporter: well, the main purpose of that stop is to assess a prototype for these advisory and assist units that the combat battalions that aren't here are shifting over to. remember post june 30th, the u.s. military terminated its withdrawal of all troops in iraqi cities and towns. they are still there, though, in these new roles and there has been some friction generated because of this. this is all being dictated by the security agreement signed by both countries, but secretary gates very immature, trying to see how things are going. and we also got a firsthand look when we went out with a baghdad unit. >> reporter: the agreement hands full control of this war to the iraqis, and largely restricts u.s. troop movement. for example, the americans now need the iraqis' permission and help to execute this mission.

>> we tell them products they can work on. it's a start to them. >> reporter: u.s. forces are in less of an offensive and more of a passive training role. sitting on the sidelines of the battle. on june 30th, the u.s. military completed the withdrawal of its combat troops from iraqi cities and towns. this combat battalion is now classified as a supervisory unit. it's also been a significant change in mind set for the americans. and the iraqis don't have to take the americans' advice. >> that's right, and that's part of the difficult part of this. because we like to think, you know, i always have the right answer, and sometimes i do, but here's the difference in the mind set. at the end of the day if they're happy with it and their systems are in place and sustainable, that's it. >> reporter: american forces still maintain the full right to protect themselves. this is a perimeter patrol, they can exkuts on their own, but notify the iraqis ahead of time.

>> we've also been hearing from these american soldiers is this has been a massive leap of faith. it's not just about transiti transitioning security responsibilities, they have also had to place a significant amount of trust in the iraqis' capabilities. and both sides say tough as it is, it had to happen sometime. and heidi, that sometime, we are hearing might as well be now. while you still have over 100,000 troops to step in should the iraqis fail. >> all right. very good, arwa damon live out of baghdad today. thanks so much. more coast guard rescue teams are joining the search this morning for dozens of people still missing after their boat capsized. it happened off the coast of the caicos islands about 550 miles southeast of miami. at least six people are dead. search crews have rescued 113 people so far.

at sea for about three days before it capsized. a trapper, not a plumber, had to be called in to fix a clogged drain in florida that's because of that guy. 14-foot python decided to call it home. it took more than an hour for the trapper and his son to charm the snake out of the sewer. he says it wasn't about to be evicted. >> it lunged at me twice, hissing the whole time. i hated to do it, but i did have to hit him up side the head a couple of times. >> officials believe it may have been a pet and are still looking for its owner. and transition to karen mcginnis. kind of sad had to slap him on the head, but he looks to be okay afterwards. >> i would think that would take a lot of slapping around. that's a big snake. >> we're talking about rain and heat today. >> yes, very oppressive across

the west. record-setting temperatures the last day or so. it is not going to give up very easily. i want to show you all the way from seattle down through portland, further towards the south, this is the area that is going to see the worst over the next several days, there is an excessive heat warning out. temperatures in the triple digits, and stagnant air. also want to point out that a little bit further towards the east, right around that yakima area, we're looking at heat advisories, they're used to these temperatures, this is not so abnormal, but still these readings running about 5 to 10 degrees above where they should be for this time of year. i want to show you what's happening in seattle right now, looks kind of hazy out there as you would typically expect. look at that beautiful shot. for this afternoon, seattle, seatac yesterday, they were 94 degrees, that was a record. and we are looking at temperatures going to be in the upper 90s and then gradually expect those temperatures to cool off as we go later on in the workweek. take a look at that. seattle yesterday, 90 degrees,

portland, we saw 103 degrees for the afternoon, and vancouver, 103 degrees. go back to 1968 in portland to look at those record high temperatures. and we'll also expect some pretty big thunderstorms. and looks like we could see as much as 8 inches over the next five days. >> well, you've got a lot on your plate. thank you. the battle over health care reform. is the whole thing so complicated you can't even keep up? well, we are going to try to help with that in a couple of minutes. dr. sanjay gupta answers your questions on how the overhaul would affect you. en... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. unit ky ays .elp me bterdalong to help me breathe better nostoid it's not a steroid. announceit keeps mairwayen.. anunce kee my rwayopen... an's t a std.not a steroid. 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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the debate over health care reform, it's enough to give you a headache. all those facts and figures and all of the different plans. i want to take a moment here to give you some clear answers. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is taking your questions. in fact, this is a debut of a new segment called "the insider." sanjay, here's the first question. linda from dallas. >> caller: hey, 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 quote unquote experimental? if the house health bill passes, will they only cover the cost of standard procedures? >> great question. answer? >> well, first of all, even today as we're talking, some of the details of this bill are still being crafted. the right answers we don't know how this is going to look in the end. and this whole idea of are people satisfied with their government insurance? for example, medicare, or are they not satisfied. there's been a lot of surveys about this that sort of contribute to this answer, as well. look at a survey from the commonwealth fund, only 8% rate coverage as fair, or poor. and most of the other people think it's pretty good. some rating it as excellent. that's a good starting point, but to linda's question is this idea of how will my life change?

>> that's what everybody wants to know. so we gave specific examples regarding commonly done procedures. pap smear, medicare on average will cover that once every 24 months, many private insurance companies will cover it every 12 months, that's going to vary from private insurance companies -- >> you do it every year -- >> depends in many ways if you have some sort of abnormality. take a look at the next one, cholesterol and lipid. but does it make a difference to test these things more frequently? which is a question a lot of people are trying to answer. one more about virtual colonoscopies. medicare doesn't cover that, no utility, no benefit, but there are private insurance companies that still cover it. you probably will see some changes like that. the larger question, will it maybe a difference in terms of your health to get more frequent cholesterol checks?

>> it should, right? that's the idea. >> that's what they're going to study. what is the likelihood that one of these things will benefit your life? >> who, exactly then, gets to decide what will be classified as medically necessary or not? >> right, so right now, there is a committee made up of 17 health care professionals that determine reimbursement rates, which ultimately decide a lot of this because hospitals aren't getting paid for it, they're less likely to order the tests. that's what happens right now. what president obama has talked about an executive-level agency that looks at this issue, has a lot of people who make recommendations based on what seems to work. >> so wait, executive level, meaning not physicians? >> no, they would still be health care professionals but at the executive level of government. reporting to the white house. >> i'm sorry. >> making recommendations to the white house and they would take those things under advisement and try to figure out whether or not it makes sense to add more care for something, take away coverage for something else, all of it saying, look, we want to

subsidize what works. i want to subsidize things we think makes a value in terms of longer life, better life. the critics will charge as i think you may be about to say that's government getting in the way of the doctor-patient relationship. >> that's certainly -- i would imagine, part of, you know, the argument. but then also, a lot of these things we talk about, we just mentioned this preventative care idea, haven't been studied. what are you going to base those decisions on? where's the research to show this makes this better? >> and it's hard to study and people will say prevention means more screening, but that's not always the case. simply doing more screening isn't always the best form of prevention. should we be subsidizing athletic coaches to go into people's homes? nutritionists? i don't know how a lot of that will play out. >> well, hey, i love this. you're the insider. >> there's a lot to talk about. >> and quickly the reason we call it the insider because dr. gupta worked with the clinton white house on developing -- >> i was a few years there '93 and '94, strong interest.

>> inside there. all right, very good. thank you, sanjay. their country owns more than $1 trillion of our debt, our country very critical of their human rights record. so what to do? now u.s. and chinese officials are in the same room together, but will their talks really accomplish anything? l 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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if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act. 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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but yes, we have more news in the housing market, a report out at the top of the hour shows home prices may be stabilizing. according to the s&p and case shiller home price index, prices in the nation's 20 largest cities declined 17% in may compared to the year before. but for the fourth straight month, the pace of decline is slowing, and heidi, get this, prices actually rose from the month before. it's the first time that's happened in nearly three years. prices, of course, are down substantially, but the fact that we're seeing prices inch up is yet another sign along with indications we've seen elsewhere, pending home sales, new home sales, existing home sales, that this very troubled area is starting to see improvement. meanwhile, what else we're watching, bank of america planning big cutbacks, the "wall street journal" says the bank is planning to shrink its branch network of 6,000 banks by 10%,

no word on when the closures will occur. new proof it's not just american automakers struggling, toyota's local sales fell more than 25% in the first half of the year. still toyota sold enough cars to retain its title as the world's number one automaker. it also makes the prius. consumers aren't buying high-end handbags either. coach says the quarterly profit fell more than 30% from a year earlier, the leather goods retailer has been cutting back a bit on the amount of higher-priced bags and accessories it sells and unveils its more affordable poppy handbag line late last month. we hope our colleague poppy harlow gets some royalties on that. meanwhile coach shares down 25%. a little giveback in the first minuting of trading. remember, we closed the day out yesterday at the highs of the year. and we've had quite a win streak, heidi. back to you. >> all right, susan, sounds pretty darn good, i think, i think we should talk a little bit more about it.

we will check back with you later on, keeping our eyes on those numbers, of course. but the housing market's stabilizing, at least a possibility of that. very interesting to a lot of people and certainly the overall economy here. gerri willis is joining us now to talk more about this. gerri, yesterday, we saw that big number, pretty much a surprise to everybody by way of new home sales. now today, another indication maybe, just maybe there's a little bit more of a stabilizing factor here in the housing market. >> and i can't tell you what good news this is for homeowners across the country, heidi. the fact that home prices not just going sideways, but actually increasing month to month, that is very good news for american homeowners out there, many of whom are underwater in their mortgages they owe more than their house is worth. any sign of stabilization is good news for them. let me tell you about one of the cities that's actually showing improvement here and there are 13 metro areas that did in this

case-shiller s&p 20-city index. cleveland gained 4%. now, when we say home values, what we're talking about is prices. that's critically important to your bottom line. what your home is valued at, what your equity is in that home. if that can improve, we will see an improvement in the bottom line across the country. as we say here, this is one month. obviously we want to see a repeat on this. we spoke yesterday about how new home sales were seeing improvement, the best numbers in nine years, and this on top of that would seem to suggest that the housing market is really stabilizing, poised here for a slow, but true recovery that would mean so much to consumers out there. one of the big things -- big questions out there that remains and could set us back in coming months -- >> yeah. >> unemployment. that's the old-fashioned way that people go into foreclosure and lose their homes because they lose their income so they can't make their payments. we're going to have to keep an eye on that. but i have to tell you, one of

the things that's so encouraging about this, there's a lot of criticism about the president's plan making home affordable, that it isn't getting enough traction. it's not doing enough work. so we're seeing these improvements without really a huge benefit from the president's plan. which is very good news indeed. maybe the market out there is finding its bottom and recovering, that's what all homeowners are hoping for. >> yeah, absolutely. forgive me if i'm totally cautious, though, because like you said, one month. we'd love to see a couple more months in a row, definitely. >> we'll keep scouring the numbers for you. >> please. >> gerri willis, nice to see you, thanks. >> my pleasure. u.s. and chinese officials sitting down for a second day of policy talks in washington. now security and the environment are coming up in these discussions. but it is the economic haggling that could have the most impact if there's any impact at all. peter is a professor at the university of maryland, he is joining us live from washington.

you know i always have to say go terps before we start anything. nice to see you, peter. i was fascinated by some of the discussions yesterday that were going on. i'm not altogether sure that everyone understands the imperative relationship between the united states and china. why? >> well, serve essentially theyr largest customer and we're their largest customer. they finance our debt, we buy their goods. so we need to get it right. unfortunately trade is at a balance, china exports the united states almost five times more than it imports and this creates an enormous drag on the u.s. economy and china has been subsidizing its exports and undervaluing its currency is hastening the end of recession in china, but lengthening in the united states. >> you've actually said this, nothing is more important to a sustainable u.s. economic recovery than recalibrating trade with china.

that may leave some people going, what do you mean? everything says made in china on it. what's the real situation? >> well, we don't pay for what we buy from china by making things here and selling them to china. instead we borrow money from china and that gets cycled through, they buy bonds, it becomes mortgages and bid our houses up and have a bubble and then we have the collapse we've had. now, mr. summers and the white house is quite correct when he says we have to have an export-led recovery. if we're going to do that, then the country we buy the most from has to start buying from us. but china simply doesn't want to do that. you know, one of the most popular products in china are buicks, american buicks, but they won't let general motors sell buicks in china that are made in michigan. general motors is essentially required to move them to china and move the suppliers there. that's what doesn't work. >> that's one of the issues. but also as you're mentioning,

china being one of the u.s.'s largest creditors, probably the largest, bought more than something like $800 billion in treasuries. what if they decide they don't want it anymore? what are the options? >> they don't have a lot of options. each month because they undervalue their currency, they have to print you on, and sell them for dollars -- >> -- >> they sell their currency to us and buy dollars to keep the currency low. they flood the market. they have these dollars, what do they do with them? they can't invest them any place other than to buy treasuries, so if they didn't buy the treasuries, that would take the dollars they buy out of circulation. and the federal reserve could turn around and put them back into circulation by buying the treasuries china doesn't buy. and the net effect would be china would have pictures of george washington that don't earn interest and the federal reserve would have the bonds that do earn interest and it would give the interest back to our treasury. so in the end of the day, we'd get the debt for free.

now, the chinese don't have us by the throat. unfortunately it's sort of group think in washington of some kind that they do. and the obama administration just doesn't want to listen to arguments that we do not -- the chinese don't have leverage on us the way they think they do. it's the old story if you owe the bank $1,000, you got a problem, but if you owe $10 million and can't pay, the bank's got the problem. >> very quickly before we go, this is the second day of these meetings, is anything going to happen? >> not on the economic or environmental front. until we put real pressure on china, china's going to keep exporting its recession to us. on the security front, there'll always be progress because their interests and ours are quite aligned. >> very good. we will continue to watch this issue very, very closely. so important to the overall economy here. thanks for your views, appreciate it. >> take care. raise your hand if you want to save money. there are always some great buys at the end of summer, we're

going to take a look at a few coming up in the "cnn newsroom." . 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.

former falcons quarterback michael vick back in the nfl. it remains to be seen if a team will pick him to play. he could be in a game as early as october. vick served nearly two years in federal prison for bankrolling a dog fighting ring and still has to serve three years of probation. he also filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. so that is the question today, and we want to know your thoughts on it. should michael vick be allowed to come back and play in the nfl? well, what we want to do is go

and remind you how to give your comments. i want to know what you think on everything. but today this is the question, cnn.com/heidi and hit on the comments button. we will get some of these responses out on the air a little bit later on in the show. also, if you are more of a telephone kind of person, you can call in your thoughts to the brand new hot line to heidi number, 877-742-5760. if you are looking for a great deal, timing is usually everything. our personal finance editor gerri willis is here to tell us how we can save money just by knowing the best time to shop. what deals are out there right now, gerri? >> it's all about a calendar. you may have seen sunscreens and picnic baskets selling at discounts, but that's not the only thing. furniture right now is hugely discounted as much as 50%. i don't know if you've been to one of these stores lately, they really want to move products. >> i'm taking notes right now. >> you can really negotiate if you don't like the price of the

discount. patio furniture, grills are typically discounted as the end of summer approaches. it's a great time to buy that. and if you planned your purchases right in a warmer climate, you can get a couple of months of good use out of those chairs, you want to think about that. >> don't tell my husband about the grill thing because if we have one more grill in our lives, i'm going to lose my mind. >> i love that. >> let's talk more about the major purchases. when is it the best time to buy a car? >> we talk about cars that -- clunker cars and what you really want to do if you have your mind on a specific car, you buy in the fall because automakers release new models and dealers want to get rid of last year's leftovers. so you go in the fall for an even better deal, go at the end of the month like in september, dealers are under pressure to hit their monthly sales target, fine tune your timing even more by shopping when they're not crowded like early mornings or mid-week, you get a lot of attention and be able to negotiate the deal you want. >> saturday not so good usually

when they have the free popcorn on the balloons and stuff. any back to school deals now on the radar? >> well, we know, you know, people are going to be spending a lot on back to school. it's one of the best times, though, typically to score a good deal on a computer. this year is no different. but thanks to the rollout of a new windows operating system in october, you may find even steeper discounts on computers that won't have this technology according to experts. walmart has increased the stable of affordable notebooks. to keep your own tabs on the prices of specific laptops, go to fatwallet.com and techbargains.com. so check out those deals, it's really all about the calendar. and if you time your purchases, you can really save money, and that's what we're all about right now. >> you know, go back to school in less than two weeks? >> oh, my god. >> got to get out there and get the deals quick. >> you don't have a lot of time. >> that's true. gerri, appreciate it, thank you.

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new developments in the michael jackson death investigation. a source close to the case tells cnn dr. conrad murray gave michael jackson the powerful drug propofol, within 24 hours of his death. also known as diprivan is normally only used in a hospital setting to sedate surgical patients. anderson cooper talked with specialist dr. drew last night on a.c. 360 about the case. >> when you heard michael jackson had an anesthesiologist on tour with him during the "history" tour, did they make any sense to you? >> no, what i thought was, uh-oh, this is a very serious problem. look, even an anesthesiologist should not be prescribing this outside the hospital, and not for insomnia and not with an addict history. it's really just something that

is just unfortunately really outlandish. >> murray's attorneys released a statement yesterday saying they would not comment on rumors, innuendo, or unnamed sources. police in mississippi arrest a woman accused of carjacking and robbery. what's the big deal? well, turns out all she was wearing during this alleged crime spree was a bikini. nick kenny from our affiliate wmc has more on the woman dubbed the bikini bandit. >> reporter: straight from an evaluation at the emergency room, morgan hailey's wearing a hospital gown in her mug shot. but at the time of her alleged crimes, she wasn't wearing much at all. >> what was she wearing? >> a bikini. >> reporter: that's right charged with carjacking and attempted robbery all while wearing a two-piece bathing suit. >> reporter: thursday afternoon hailey showed up wearing her bikini. south haven police say she walked up a stranger's driveway, claimed to have a gun, demanded the woman's keys and stole her car. allegedly drove around the block

to the super center, claimed to have a gun again and tried to rob the place all while wearing her bikini. employees didn't believe she had a gun so they had a gun, so they tackled her, holding her in place until police showed up. >> not in the commission of a car jacking or robbery. this one was a little usual. >> reporter: haley told police she lived at this two-lane road address. the house is 3 1/2 miles from the carjacking where neighbors like jim sanders say neither crime nor skin are commonplace. are there random girls wandering around your streets in bikinis? >> no. >> reporter: this street plans to keep eye s peeled, should th bikini bandit appears again. >> she appeared to be under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of the carjacking and attempted robbery.

karen maginnis in the weather center now. looks like texas you have there. oklahoma, oregon, hot, hot, hot, everywhere. >> especially across this deep central texas region where they have seen half as far as rainfall goes. near san tan ownio and austin and lake travis and buchanan and down between 55% and 48% of their volume. in lake travis they found a stolen vehicle, a sports car from 1988 that still had the keys in the ignition. >> in bikinis? >> they haven't reported bikinis lost or anything like that. anyway, zee the rainfall and rain in texas, but just not where we expect it to be. across this region and long-range forecasts and outlooks they are expecting eight inches of rainfall. they'll get plenty. however, if you were to travel further towards the south, a

tornado watchout for that arklatex region. they desperately need the wet weather. oppressively hot in the northwest for the next several days and not a break until this weekend. >> okay, well, good luck to everybody down there. thank you so much. check back later on. a lot going on in the newsroom in the next hour, our crews are in place to bring it all to you, let's check in first with brianna keilar on capitol hill this morning. forgive me, it doesn't look like we have brianna keilar in that three-shot. susan lisovicz, let's start with you. >> the market's not looking so good, but you know what is looking good or better, heidi, the housing market. for the second day in a row, we're digesting a report that shows the housing market is finally, finally stabilizing. yesterday, it was home sales and today home prices. i'll all have the numbers, heidi, in the next hour. >> i'm christine romans in new york. a story for you about the cost

of calories. it costs more than just your waistline or buying a new pair of jeans. why calories and what we weigh figure into the debate over reforming health care. i'll have that at the top of the hour. >> i'm arwa damon in baghdad. secretary of defense gates is in iraq on an unannounced visit, specifically to look at the new dynamics between u.s. and iraqi soldiers. we'll have that story coming up next hour. >> all right, thanks so much, ladies. appreciate that. brianna keilar is on capitol hill talking about health care and what the next plan may be. also a story that will get just about everybody talking. paying for illegal immigrants health care. what is the deal now and will it change?

inviting the taliban to the table a tricky prospect. but as nic robertson explains, the british want to see more talking and less fighting in afghanistan, even after declaring a major victory there this week. >> reporter: operation panther's claw began five weeks ago in a

blaze of publicity. one of the biggest air assaults in british history. it has ended. ten soldiers died, but it is being hailed a success in advance of afghanistan's presidential elections next month. >> we have brought back into, as potential, electors and voters between 80,000 and 100,000 of the afghan population in the helmand river valley. we brought back and we intend to keep under our control, a very large and significant economic sector. >> reporter: within hours of the announcement and barely a few dozen miles of the battle of panther's claw another 22 soldiers were killed. 191 since the war began. the british people told to expect more. >> we know recent sacrifices will not be the last and we'll also explain the seriousness of

the security situation in afg n afghanist afghanistan. >> reporter: in britain, the burden of the eight-year war, not just panther's claw, is being keenly felt. at times nearly continuous funeral bringing the dead home from battle have cut deep into the national will to fight the afghan war. for a minister offering a new approach. >> we will not force the taliban to surrender just through the force of arms and overwhelming might. nor will we convert to our point of view through force of argument and conviction. >> reporter: at the same time afghan president har midkarzai was doing just that, making a deal with the taliban in a remote proves. its success was called into question when battles broke out soon after. the afghanb leader under pressure to talk to his enemies. u.s. commanders, too, see this as an important part of the way

forward. >> you can't kill or capture all the insurgents there. you have to have recognition and certainly the effort will go forward in the local level to do that over time with, you know, some principals and concepts that are applied in concert with our afghan partners. >> reporter: when i met with one of the taliban members, he told me that talks were necessary, but don't expect a lot of long, behind the scenes secret negotiations. they should have studied their history before coming into afghanistan. his point was the afghans have never been defeated. nic robertson, cnn, london. less than a month until afghanistan's presidential elections and today gunmen opened fire on a campaign team near kabul. the team worked for the former foreign minister, one of his campaign managers was killed in

an attack a month ago. on sunday, one of the incumbent president harmid karzai's running mate survived an ambush. the man accused of killing an abortion doctor, he will enter a plea in tiller's murder. he was shot and killed in a wichita, kansas, church may 31st. the toronto trash strike may come to an end. the cities and the unions came to a tentative deal to end the smelly strike. day care workers were also on strike, they all walked off the job in a dispute over sick days. the union's vote on the proposed deal tomorrow. the shuttle astronauts are checking the hatches right now, preparing to unhitch from the international space station. "endeavour" is scheduled to land on friday. they have been up there on 12 1/2 days working on a special

laboratory at the space station. we are watching capitol hill right now waiting for the senate judiciary committee to start their vote on supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. some republican senators have already said they would vote no but her nomination still expected to pass. we'll bring you that vote live just as soon as it begins. now, to troubling new developments in the michael jackson death investigation and at the center of it all, jackson's personal physician dr. conrad murray. he was with jackson before he died and cnn's ted rowlands has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: a source with knowledge of the investigation into michael jackson's death tells cnn that dr. conrad murray gave jackson the powerful drug propafal also known as diprivan is normally only used in a hospital setting for sedating hospital patients.

>> for a patient to be administered diprivan in their home is outrageous, particularly a patient who may have had, as we believe, an adikdz. that is out of the question. >> reporter: investigators including agents with the dea served a search warrant at dr. murray's houston clinic last week. a warrant read that investigators were seeking evidence of possible "manslaughter." murray is not a suspect in the case, but legal experts say that may change if propofol is found in jackson's system. >> having diprivan in the system, depending on what the levels are used, is not a positive indicator for any doctor who's affiliated with him. >> reporter: propofol is not an illegal drug. >> not a controlled substance. the fact that he was giving it to him, might not have been medically indicated but there is nothing, per se, wrong with it. >> reporter: murray's lawyer

relysed a statement saying, "everyone needs to take a breath and wait for these long-delayed toxicology results. i have no doubt they want to make a case for goodness sakes, it's michael jackson." ted rowland, cnn, los angeles. now for more on the medical perspective on the drug propofol we turn to dr. sanjay gupta. >> important to point out a couple of things. we're not talking about a sleeping medication here. everyone seems to agree that propofol never puts anyone into sleep that people like to get at night, typically. this is typically used in hospital settings and other medical settings. this is a very unusual circumstance to begin with. when you talk about what propofol does, it quiets down the entire brain. think of it as a medically induced coma and impact on the heart and lungs and cause

cardiac arrest in high doses. now, this is a safe and widely used medication, again, in the hospital setting. i've used it myself in hospitals. we do a lot of procedures as a neuro surgeon using this medication. what happens sometimes is medical examiners will test for this particular substance but because it has a short half life it could be difficult to test for. sometimes they'll look for the specific breakdown products of diprivan or propofol or some other evidence it had been used. physical evidence. if you saw somebody had their iv in the room and propofol in the room, that may be the evidence. raids looking at offices trying to find out the use of the medication and where it was at any particular time. but the toxicology, against, because of the unusual nature of this medication and it may be hard to show an exact response between high levels of propofol

and cardiac arrest. >> we are learning more about michael jackson's personal physician dr. conrad murray. he is 56 years old and graduated from meharry medical college in tennessee and spent his residency years in california. he operates clinics in nevada and texas. murray became jackson's personal physician in may and was paid a salary of $150,000 a month. dr. murray treated one of jackson's children on the recommendation of the jackson body guard. now, let's get back to the vote on supreme court nominee judge sonia sotomayor. whether to send the nomination on to the full senate. brianna keilar on capitol hill this morning. brianna, will this be a party line vote today? >> we're expecting it to be almost a party line vote. all the democrats on this committee have voiced their support for son jusotomayor and

most of the republicans have said they are going to vote against her, including the top republican on this committee, jeff sessions from alabama. here's what he said yesterday on the senate floor. >> and her personal story is certainly inspiring, however, based on her record as a judge and her judicial philosophy, i have concluded that she should not be confirmed to our nation's highest court. while differences in style and backgrounds are to be welcomed on the court, no one should sit on the supreme court or any court who is not committed to setting aside their personal opinions and biases. >> now, only one republican on the senate judiciary committee has said he is going to vote, yes, to confirm her. lindsey graham of south carolina. he gave her tough questions during her confirmation hearings and he said elections have consequences, basically meaning president obama will get his pick because he won the

presidential election. of course, the next stop here would be after this vote today where she is expected to move through the judiciary committee, next stop is a vote before the full senate and that we're expecting to happen next week and we expect she will be confirmed to be the first lutina supreme court justice. >> why are we expecting this to be so divided, brianna? >> part of it is pay back, especially for the confirmation of alito. he was replacing sandra day o'connor a liberal justice and democrats really gave him tough treatment in their votes but then the other point of why this is so divided is because republicans find themselves in a bit of a tight spot here, heidi. on one hand, they want to reach out to hispanic voters. this is the first latina supreme court justice, if she is nominated. a lot of judicial advocacy

groups who say a vote for sonia sotomayor is a vote against our point of view and these are groups that conservatives, you know, they really want to be in good standing with, especially when they look at the nra. they will score this vote and grade different members of congress on how they vote for things on certain issues over the course of the year. they are actually grading this vote as if you vote for sonia sotomayor you vote against gun rights and we'll hold that to you when we score you throughout this year. >> very, very interesting process. brianna keilar on capitol hill this morning. thank you. health care reform. president obama's top priority suffers a setback. congress will not vote on the plans by friday, as the president first demanded. what happens now? suzanne malveaux is joining us with more on this. great question. any new strategy out there for the white house? >> i just got out of the briefing with robert gibbs, an

off-camera briefing and we call it the gaggle here in his office. essentially that he's going to go before members of the aarp this afternoon and going to be about 100,000 people, we're told, that are going to be on the phone. senior citizens that will call in questions directly to the president through a moderator through the aarp to get their questions answered. the president is reaching out directly to the american people. this is all about making the case, once again, that the status quo was not acceptable and there were ways to make health care more affordable, specifically to senior citizens. this is something they're focusing on and also happen in town halls tomorrow when he travels to virginia and north carolina. one thing he was asked about robert gibbs specifically this idea, this notion of the gold plated cadillac plans. that big plans that are given to the goldman sachs executives that are offered through health insurance companies. their kind of coverage, their

plans costing about $40,000. are they going to be taxed? an idea that is gaining some steam. robert gibbs saying, well, that's an idea and if it's even less than $40,000 worth of coverage, perhaps that will be taken into account, as well, to raise more revenue. he called it the toyota camera to mid-size cadillac plans. but that is a possibility, as well. looking at some of those more expensive pack ages that are offered to execs and taxing those health insurance companies for those big-time plans. just one of the many ideas being tossed around, but, clearly, heidi, this president very much interested in putting pressure on members of congress and talking to ordinary folks and finding out what are their concerns and priorities and addressing them directly. >> gibbs also coming up with those interesting parallels. suzanne malveaux, we appreciate it. live from the white house this morning. also a reminder, live coverage of president obama as

he takes part in that aarp call-in town hall meetings scheduled to begin 1:30 eastern and 10:30 pacific. at the bottom of the hour, a different perspective on health care for you. patient rights and your money. at issue, an undocumented immigrant deported by a hospital. his story and both sides of the bait. meanwhile, a crew member that was onboard that commuter plane that crashed in buffalo in february almost never made the flight. we'll tell you what some new transcripts revealed.

transcripts just released from commuter flight 3407 that crashed near buffalo, new york, in february add a twist to an already tragic story. a crew member nearly did not board the doomed plane, our allan chernoff tells us why. >> reporter: as colgan air prepared for takeoff co-pilot rebecca shaw sniffled in the cockpit. i'm ready to be in the hotel room. she had flown through the night. if i felt like this when i was at home, no way i would have come all the way out here, but now that i'm out here, you might as well, responded captain.

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 clgan air puts blame on shah 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. >> it was a complete recipe of disaster the moment that airplane took away from the jetway. >> reporter: the pilot was at the control, not the co-pilot. they released an interview summary with gulfstream training academy where she had studied piloting. win winslow's performance at the academy was above average.

he repeatedly failed test runs. some of which he failed to disclose to colgan air. allan chernoff, cnn, new york. quickly we're following this story today. live pictures from the senate judiciary committee and what they're trying to do is pass along their nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to the full session. jeff sessions, we have sound from him coming in. >> on the floor yesterday based on her record as a judge and her statements, i am not able to support this nomination. i don't believe anyone should be on any part of the united states that is not deeply committed to the ideal of american justs and that is if they should set aside their personal opinions and biases when they rule from the court, but in speech after speech, year after year, judge sotomayor set forth a fully

formed judicial philosophy that conflicts with the great american tradition with fidelity to the law as written. her words and speeches are not being taken out of context, as some have suggested. she has repeatedly said among other things that judges must judge when "opinions, sympathies and prejudices are appropriate." she accepts that who she is will "affect the facts i choose to see as a judge." it is her belief that "a wise latina woman with the richness of her experiences will more often than not reach a conclusion than a white male." and there is "no new tralacy in judging just a series of perspeckives." well, those are phrases and words that have meaning.

for once i will agree that her testimony did, was not consistent with those repeated phrases and statements, but i have to say her testimony to me was, did not have the clarity and the compelling nature that would overcome those speeches. but, for example, on the question she testified when i first asked her that she was agreeing with justice oo'connor, but, in fact, when judge o'connor said a wise old woman and a wise old man should reach the same conclusion. >> just giving you a little bit of flavor here as to the meeting that is going on right now. senate judiciary committee trying to put their nomination forward to the full senate for vote. sonia sotomayor to the security. moments ago, also, we did hear from chairman leahy. patrick leahy saying he will

cast his vote in favor of judge sonia sotomayor. keeping our eye on that story today, as well. pushing up health care costs, a closer look at obesity and the effects on our wallet.

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pregnant women could be among the first to get vax nalted against the h1n1 virus. they have been hit unusually hard by the swine flu. 6% of flu deaths in this country have been pregnant women and they only make up 1% of the overall population. health officials meet tomorrow to set the priority. swine flu fears have ruined a much-anticipated vacation for 64 high schoolers. instead of exploring china they have been in quarantine. first in beijing and now in the city of dengfeng. three students tested positive for the flu on sunday and by the time the quarantine is lifted, they will have four days left of their trip. the nation's expanding waistlines are affecting the bottom line, meaning a big rise in health care spending because of obesity-related health issues. christine romans joining us live

from new york on this. we don't usually have you doing health stuff, but very interesting how it is playing into the economy here. how much of a disparity are we talking about? >> calories mean money. when you look at rising health care costs the study found that there is an undeniable link between rising links of obesity and rising medical research. it found $1,400, $1,429 spending more per year, per person for someone who is obese compared with someone of normal weight. overall that is $147 billion in obesity-related spending each and every single year. nearly 10% of all health spending is related to oobesity. that's diabetes and the rising rate of diabetes and other health issues that are related to our expanding waistline and the health implications of simply being a larger population. you know, the cdc estimates

about two-thirds of americans are overweight and that, in fact, people are about 23 pounds overweight, in fact, on average. so, this is an issue that continues to be a problem and in this study, in particular, it says amid all the calls for health reform, real cost savings are more likely to be achieved through, they say, reducing obesity and related risk factors. so, again, addressing oobesity and the causes for the health care costs they say, is critical. >> who did the study? >> health affairs. government health economists and health experts and also private ones, as well. >> i think we were talking about some of the other aspects of this study with dr. sanjay gupta earlier. what are we doing about this problem right now? >> it comes after a cdc sponsored health conference. how will we address these issues in communities that don't have

ready availability of fruits and vegetables and a lot of convenience food, fast food, are we going to start talking about taxing certain kind of foods or give incentives to eat better foods and, also, in the stimulus, i will point out, $1 billion in the stimulus for prevention, disease prevention and some of that is prevention of things like this and virus programs and the like. but there is a focus and it's one of the cores of the obama approach on the president obama approach on health care and that is prevention. trying to stop these problems before they get very, very costly. 16 cents of every dollar is related to health care. that's a lot of money. >> a lot of people out there saying the government is not going to be telling me what to eat. i don't think there's money in there for a personal choice in the stimulus, right? >> an apple away keeps the doctor away. who needs all these big, fancy studies when you can listen to what grandma said a long time ago.

>> what about today's roman numeral. >> 250. 250 calories, heidi. >> an apple. >> the average an american consums, according to the director of the cdc, consums 250 more daily calories today than two decades ago. >> that's not that much, is it? >> 250 calories more a day? >> i don't know. we're not doctors. >> i know. >> christine romans, thank you. very interesting. appreciate it. two topics with a lot of passion. illegal immigration and health care. those issues collided in a florida courtroom and a critically injured man is caught in the firestorm. all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to helmeathe b all y ng not a steroid. and its not oid. to helmeathe b anceiteeps maiays open... all y ng not a steroid. 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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we are keeping an eye on capitol hill this morning after the senate judiciary committee is getting ready to vote on president barack obama's security nominee, judge sonia sotomayor. they're deciding whether to send the nomination to the full senate. we'll take you back to capitol hill for the vote just as soon as it begins. health care reforms and new developments, new delays. both houses of congress now say they will not vote on the plans by friday as originally planned. what's not clear is if the house will delay a summer recess then in bringing the plan to a vote over the weekend or some timp next week. any delay a blow to president obama who had set the deadline and it's a setback to the issue that has been his top domestic goal. today the president tries to drum up support among older americans and he's taking phone calls as part of the town hall meeting with the aarp. medical care, the issue becomes deeply personal in this

story of a patient's rights and the taxpayer's burden. here's the run ddown. a man is injured by a drunk driver who suffers major brain injury and does not have insurance. fast forward two years and $3 million in unpaid bills, they deport him. the man you see is an undocumented immigrant who is now unable to care for himself. we get the story from brian garner from cnn's affiliate in west palm beach, florida. >> reporter: for over a month jurors listened to attorneys argue about the medical care of this guatemalan man. when he was struck by a drunk driver he ended in the e.r. of martin memorial hospital in stewart. the jury has to decide if the court acted appropriately when they hired a private jet to fly him back to his home country after he racked up $2 million in unpaid medical bills. >> it was 3-3. in other words, a real deadlock.

>> reporter: it took a day and a half of deliberating before they did ded issed unanimously in favor of the hospital. >> cost is in the background of everything, but i don't think that was really the major motivater. >> the jury found that we acted in the best interest of mr. jimenez. >> reporter: attorneys for both sides agree, while this verdict does vindicate what it did in the case of mr. jimenez, it does not give hospitals a road map for how they should act in future cases. >> we certainly need a national solution. this cannot be left for individual hospitals to deal with on a case-by-case basis. >> reporter: martin memorial ceo says he hopes the jimenez case will push lawmakers in washington on how they should handle undocumented immigrants and who will pay for their care. >> hospitals will want to take care of their patients when they're in need, but they can't

do it on the backs of the local citizens of the community. >> jimenez's cousin in florida was named his legal guardian because of the brain injuries. his attorney said he's considering an appeal. there is no doubt that this state government and the federal government has to address the situation. in his words, they can't let something like this happen again. the case raises troubling questions and stirs deep passions, but one thing that can't be debate would millions of undocumented immigrants living in the united states, the stakes are huge. we have two guests to delve deeper into this issue. jane is the chief executive office for the national alliance of hispanic help and a group that works to reduce legal and illegal immigration into the united states. ladies, thanks to the both of you for being here. this case out of florida, some would say, it's extreme and anecdotal, but it got us thinking a little bit about this issue because, everybody knows there's an estimate, anyway, of

about 10 million to 12 million immigrants in this country. how do they fit into health care reform? dr. delgado, i'll start with you. >> with health care reform, we have to remember what the american values taking care of people here and working. little has been said about this drunk driver that injured this person and what the consequences of that was or if there was insurance or anything like that. brings up many discussions, but like others have said, this is not a case that should be used to say this is what we should do in health care reform. we should be compassionate and take care of people and we need to provide the care that they need. remember that in the '60s the united states made the decision to provide care for people over 65, regardless of income. that's a very different decision. >> regardless of whether they're in the country as the united states citizens legally. >> well, i think the issue is, if people are in the united states, we need to provide them care.

for example, right now, if you're in the united states, legally, you have to waste five years before you receive any kind of benefit, even though you're here legally. even though we know that these people will become citizens and in the interest of people to have good health care. >> okay, rosemary, i'll give you an opportunity here. >> clearly this is a population that should not be in the united states. our laws say they should not be here. of course, we have to provide emergency medical care to anyone who needs it, but the bottom line is that we have to draw a line. first of all, hospitals should not be put in the position of having to decide whether to spend $2 million to care for an illegal alien. the illegal alien should not be here in the first place and if we enforced our immigration laws, that would be the case. we would start to see if, for example, we took away the job's magnet and start to see the illegal population decline. that's the solution. but american taxpayers cannot afford to pay for health care,

for health insurance for illegal aliens. they have low incomes, they don't pay enough taxes to pay for their own services and, so, it's not a fair burden to ask the taxpayers to pay, particularly when people have broke on the law to get here in the first place. >> dr. delgado, do you see any connection or any link to what rosemary is saying about the tax payer and the burden? >> i think it's statements that sort of rile up taxpayers because they have this misconception that undocumented persons are taking all these health resources, but that's not the facts. this is an exceptional case under extraordinary circumstances and that's how we should see it. and the idea to use this as an opportunity to do what amounts to bashing immigrants who are here working who got hit by an american drunken driver -- >> i want to be very clear, i want to be very, very clear because as i said many people will see this case as extreme

and anecdotal. the bigger issue and the reason we brought the two of you on is to discuss how health care reform will or will not include illegal immigrants in this country. so, let me then ask you what do you think should be done? how do they fit in to the picture of what people will be paying for health care? >> well, right now illegal immigrants are part of our health care system and they pay with cash because they aren't part of any program. so they're already in the system. so, i think anything that rules them out is not koog our health care system justice. we need some answers. for example, what was that hospital doing that they spent $2.5 million or $2 million providing care to a person who's now in a place where their care is only costing dollars a day. there are other issues to be answered and we have to think about, this is not a case about, you know, that we should use to mold our health care system,

but, at the national level, we have to leave room for exceptions like this so that people can answer them in a way which is humane and american. >> no one can say or document whether instances like this happen often or infrequently. certainly leaving allowances, which is exactly what we're talking about today. rosemary, i want to give you a chance. shouldn't this issue be part of the health care reform discussion? >> of course, it should. we are talking about an uninsured population of about 45 million illegal aliens represent a minimum, a minimum of 10% of that. so, this is huge cost. of course, it should be part of the discussion. we have to address this issue and, by the way, illegal aliens are not all paying cash for their medical services. a lot of them are using emergency medical care, which is precisely why emergency rooms in parts of the southwest are actually closing their doors. if you're a u.s. citizen or legal resident leaving in an area where your emergency room has closed, you now have to be

transported to another city, which could mean the difference between life and death for you. that's not fair. that's not the answer. we have got to start enforcing our immigration laws because, again, this is a population that does not have a right to be here because they have broken the laws to get here and we need to address that in all kinds of ways. of course, we can't deny emergency medical care, but the bottom line is, we must reduce this population and by enforcing our immigration laws. >> to the both of you, we sure do appreciate your views on this and i believe it is a discussion that continues and needs to be an open one. to the two of you, thanks so much. >> pleasure. for the second day in a row now, we have a surprisingly strong housing report to talk about. how about that. yesterday we learned new home sales surged 11%, we thought they were going to go up 2.3 and ended up being 11. the home prices may actually be

stabilizing. susan lisovicz on the floor of the new york stock exchange with details on this. susan, one month, so, are we jumping to conclusions too quickly here? >> no, heidi, because i think what we're seeing here is a trend. and this one is really important, heidi, because home prices rose 0.5% in may. now, you may say, that's not a big deal. it is a big deal. it's the first monthly increase we've seen in three years. now, let's put it in persfe perspective. yes, year-over-year, prices are still down. but the fact is, we've seen the pace of decline slowing for four months and it supports other things that we've been seeing, most recently, what we saw yesterday was that 11% jump in new home sales. heidi? >> looking at this a little deeper. where exactly are we seeing the gain in the housing market? >> well, this particular report,

heidi, has 20 of the largest cities in the u.s. and what's encouraging here is that 13 of the 20 actually showed price gains. in fact, let's give you a few of them. cleveland showed a month-to-month price gain of over 4%. dallas, nearly 2%. boston, 1.5%. and these cities have shown month-to month increases before. so, again, it's the trend we're looking at and the trend is encouraging. heidi? >> so if you're a home buyer you're say, oh, shoot, i thought i was going to get a deal. >> that's true, heidi. but you have to remember, for every transaction there is somebody on the other side. how many times you want to buy a home or you can't sell your home or you're selling it at a loss. the terrible phenomenon we have with the upside down mortgages where you owe more on your house than it's worth. also the psychology of buying a home. a lot of folks waiting, waiting,

waiting because they think prices will decline even further. finally, the fact is, heidi, prices are cheap. they still really are cheap. in fact in cities like, for instance, las vegas, phoenix, prices are down more than 50% from where they were in 2006. so, prices are cheap and i just want to mention stocks are also a little bit cheaper today. we're seeing some modest selloff for the dow and nasdaq. remember, we had pretty incredible rally over the last couple weeks. >> all right, well, we are watching it all. we appreciate it. susan lisovicz, thank you. a new role in iraq. u.s. troops getting used to important change in their mission while welcoming a very special guest. eseseseseseseseses

defense secretary robert gates is getting a first-hand look at a new role in iraq for u.s. troops. he arrived there for an unannounced visit earlier this morning. first he stopped off at a base in the south before heading off to baghdad. arwa damon is heading us live from baghdad this morning. clarification on why the secretary stopped in southern iraq, first. >> well, it was among the main priorities of his trip, stopping in southern iraq to take a look at a "prototype "of these new advise and assist battalions at the u.s. military trying to turn his combat units into. this is very critical, as the u.s. is going through this transition because it has literally handed over all security responsibility to the iraqis. this has not been without a number of problems and challenges. in fact, we took a first-hand look at these challenges ourselves.

full control of this war to the iraqis and largely restricts u.s. troop movement. for example, the americans now need the iraqis permission and help to execute this mission. >> always pass intelligence projects that they can work on, it's a start for them. hopefully detain somebody. >> reporter: u.s. forces are now in less of an offensive and more passive training role. on june 30th, the u.s. military completed the withdrawal of its combat troops from iraqi cities and towns. this combat battalion is now classified as a "superadvisory unit." setting aside the logistics of trying to implement a vague agreement also a significant change in mindset for the americans. and the iraqis don't have to take the americans' advice. >> that's right and that's part of the difficult part of this because we like to think, you know, always have the right answer and sometimes i do, but here's the answer. at the end of the day if they're happy with it and their systems are in place and sustainable,

that's what i consider a home run. >> reporter: american forces still maintain the full right to protect themselves. this is a perimeter parole they can execute on their own and they notify the iraqis ahead of time. what we've also been hearing from these american soldiers is that this has been a massive leap of faith because it's not just about transitioning security responsibilities, they also had to place a significant amount of trust in the iraqis' capabilities. and both sides say, tough as it is, it has to happen some time. and, heidi, that some time we are hearing might as well be now. when you still do have over 100,000 american troops here at the ready to step in, should the iraqis fail. >> all right, cnn's arwa damon live for us in baghdad today. arwa, thank you. you've seen people do it and you may have done it yourself. texting while driving. we'll look at the risks to you and to everyone else on the and to everyone else on the road. long.

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michael vick is back in the nfl and just remains to be seen if any team will pick him up. he was reinstated on a conditional basis yesterday and could be in a game as early as october. vick served two years in federal prissen for a dog fighting ring and he still has to serve three years of probation. he also filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. so, we wanted to know from you, should michael vick be allowed

to play in the nfl again? want to get to some of your comments that you sent into the blog. just go to cnn.com/heidi and you can always post your comments. the first one here says my opinion, second chances are for those who unknowingly do wrong. he knew what he was doing and needs to earn his rights back first. and then this one, as well. he did his time, which means he is corrected. that is what jail/prison is for whenever you are released, you are a free man. let him play, i assure you, he will never do it again. i hate when people won't give prisoners a second chance. there you go, once again. not too late to sound off. go to cnn.com/heidi to post your thoughts on the blog. or call the hotline 1-877-742-5760. okay, for many people it is a habit, even if you don't want to admit it. you're on your blackberry all the time. researchers say you also need to know whether to put it down, otherwise you could be risking your life.

our josh levs is here to talk about this because pretty scary numbers out there right now. some people might say, duh, don't text or blackberry while you drive, but you say -- >> sometimes it takes a number to drill that in. a brand-new study that came out that is stunning. cnn.com/cars has a lot of information. virginia tech transportation institute. they've done a study funded by the government. let's get right to it. i want everyone to see this first number we have on a graphic for you that will highlight this. check this out. they looked at heavy vehicles and trucks, heidi. texting increased the risk of a crash 23 times. >> how did they do this study? >> here's how they did the study. they actually put cameras inside the truck. this wasn't a simulator. they have cameras ined is the trucks and in two different places they followed the driver and also the kinetic movements, the person's eyes and how long it would take a person, how long they would look away and one thing that they found which is pretty amazing here.

we have a google earth here. one thing they found here is that when you're looking away, we pulled up one football stadium. when people are texting in these situations they will often look away for about five seconds and the study says that is the same as driving the entire length of a football field, heidi. >> if you count out one, two, three, i mean, that just freaks me out. >> you're going 55 miles per hour. you can go the entire length of a football field and not see what is in front of you. >> i didn't mean to rush you there. remind me, again, the graphic, 23 times. >> 23 times. actually, i have one more. if you're texting, that's 23 times worse and if you're dialing, it increases your risk 2.8 times in cars. now, the bigger risk is, obviously, texting, it takes a lot longer. stunning new numbers here, heidi and this can help drill in for people, be careful out there. >> all right, josh, appreciate that. thank you. also want to show you this.

a look at tornado damage in manhattan, kansas, last year. is this the safest place to build a lab full of infectious diseases? the department of homeland security seems to think so. betr 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.

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a tornado can snap trees like matches and level entire neighborhoods. what would happen if one hit a building full of infectious diseases. jeanne meserve explains. >> 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. after it is built, another tornado could damage the facility, resulting in a release and catastrophe. >> it is absolutely unsafe. all they need is that tornado to hit and it will cause billions of dollars of damages to the u.s. economy and wipe out tens of millions of animals. >> reporter: 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 which says the d.a.'s decision to put the lab in kansas, it concludes it could result in regrettable consequences. what is the gao talking about? foot-and-mouth disease was 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 report saying, "we feel like we've done a very thorough assessment of the risk, the security and the safety of this particular facility." proponents in kansas insist it will not be a problem. >> plus, this kind of biocontainment research takes place safely and securely on the mainland in cities like atlanta, georgia, that 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 heartland. but dhs says it has no plans to revisit its decision. as for the tornado issue, we talk