out that although there are tornadoes in kansas and texas, it is a bit of a red herring. he says the probability of a government building built to today's engineering specifications being danieled in either place by a tornado is pretty small. jeanne meserve, cnn, washington. stay here for the senate judiciary committee vote on sonia sotomayor. i'm heidi collins. "cnn newsroom" continues with tony harris. >> good morning, everyone. it is tuesday, july 28th. the michael jackson investigation. sources tell cnn that dr. conrad murray did give the singer anesthesia in the hours before his heart stopped beating. washington's health care overhaul. may gut key elements the president wants to see in a reform bill and here comes the judge. the senate committee gets ready to vote shortly on sonia sotomayor as the next supreme court justice. good morning, everien wity en i. i'm tony harris and you're in

the "cnn newsroom." there are striking new developments this morning in the michael jackson death investigation. a source close to it tells cnn jackson's personal doctor allegedly gave jackson a dangerous anesthetic 24 hours before he died. our ted rowlands is chasing the details. >> reporter: according to a source close to the jackson family with knowledge of the ongoing investigation into michael jackson's death, dr. conrad murray, the physician that was with michael jackson at the time of his death, his personal doctor administered propofol or diprivan to michael jackson within 24 hours of his death. it is significant, because it is the first clear connection between dr. murray, jackson's doctor and this drug, which has been talked about over the past few weeks. a possible drug that jackson sought earlier and was a

possible drug that investigators will looking at in terms of a possible cause of death. this is the first time we've heard from his source that has knowledge of the investigation that murray apparently gave jackson this drug. this is not a drug that is commonly used outside of the setting of a hospital or a clinic. it is a drug basically used for minor surgical procedures. not something that, by any stretch of the imagination, would be used inside someone's home. but this is what the source is telling us. meanwhile, still waiting for the l.a. coroner's report to come out. in that report we should have a final cause of death and that will be key. if, indeed, it will come out that jackson had that drug in his system and the cause of death was homicide, then dr. murray could, of course, potentially be facing charges. from murray's standpoint. no comment on this latest report. they simply said they're not going to comment on sourced reports or any rumors and they tell us that they're going to wait until that coroner's report

comes out before they make any more reports to the media, any more comments to the media. the significant development, however, today is that dr. murray, according to the source, has been linked to this powerful drug diprivan and had, apparently, according to the source, administered it to michael jackson before he did. ted rowlands, cnn, los angeles. >> on the phone with us now from new york is jane velez-mitchell covers high-profile cases for hln and the host of "issues with jane velez-mitchell." first of all, you have followed this case very closely. were you surprised, i watched your program yesterday, by what feels like a real bombshell here that jackson's personal doctor, dr. conrad murray, gave him this aniesthetic in the 24 hours before he died. >> tony, no. when authorities obtained the search warrants they were looking for evidence of manslaughter and now it seems that they have connected the

dots. and if this turns out to be the official stance, this doctor is in serious trouble. primarily because diprivan is never supposed to be administered in the home. it is for surgery. it is to knock people out for surgery. it is not supposed to be used to treat insomnia, period, end of story. it can also interact in a dangerous way with other drugs and if it comes back from the toxicology reports, which we haven't gotten back yet that he had a drug cocktail, as some sources are suggesting, then that's another problem. on top of that, there's supposed to be an ekg machine in the room any time you have diprivan administered. authorities found no evidence of an ekg machine. so, the list goes on and on and it's simply not supposed to be used in the home. and there it was and there he was. >> jane, what has been murray's position, or at least the position expressed by his attorneys on jackson getting

this medication. what medications does murray, his attorneys admit that the doctor was giving to jackson. >> well, he said he's cooperated with the investigation and they're not going to comment on rumor and innuendo and their official stance is that he gave nuthing to michael jackson that would have killed him. he was a cardiologist and not an anesthesiologist he should not administer something. a very, very fragile drug that has to be monitored very, very carefully. we know that this doctor has a history of problems. he had a medical suspension, we found that out when we found out what authorities confiscated when they raided his office. a suspension office from a houston hospital. we also know that he has a history of financial problems, including a bankruptcy in the '90s and some leiens and, again

he has not been charged with anything. i always said i want to hear his side of the story, but it looks, it looks like the road is getting narrower for dr. murray. >> so, jane, we have this statement from edward chernoff. everyone needs to take a deep breath and wait for these long-delayed toxicology results, which i guess are due later this week. the statement goes on to say that things tend to shake out when all the facts are made known and i'm sure this will happen here, as well. let me ask you this, is this a defense look? my patient demanded this of me. is that a defense? >> absolutely not. it's up to doctors to tell their patients what is medically appropriate, not for patients to tell their doctors what they want and how to misuse drugs. one of the things that i think is fascinating is that this doctor said he was a friend of michael's.

and i always get nervous when i hear that doctors who are prescribing meds are friends with their patients. we saw that same pattern in the anna nicole smith case. this is a big if, but it crosses the line to gross negligence and reckless misconduct that could cross the line into criminality, as well. >> she hosts "issues with jane velez-mitchell" every evening on our sister network, hln. thanks for your insights. we appreciate itp. sonia sotomayor's historic nomination to the u.s. supreme court the senate judishiary will vote in the next hour or so. brianna keilar is keeping watch on capitol hill. the only real question here is whether any republicans will back the judge today. >> we are expecting there will be one republican who will back the judge. lindsay gram said he will vote for her. he is a republican, of course, from south carolina. he said that elections have consequences so, in short, predz

obama will get his pick. otherwise, tony, we expect this to be a party line vote. democrats on this committee support her and every republican aside from senator graham has said that they're going to vote against her. listen to what the chairman of the committee, democrat patrick leahy said just a short time ago as well as the top republican, jeff sessions from alabama. here's what they both said just a short while ago. >> as set forth by the constituti constitution. as a prosecutor, as a judge, she has administered justice without favoring one group of persons over another. >> 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 justice. that is, if they should set aside their personal opinions and biases when they rule from the court. >> so, on the judiciary

committee, pretty much democrats and republicans divided on this vote. of course, there is a lot, there are a lot more democrats on this committee, so she is expected to be voted out of this committee and on to the next step, which is a full vote by the senate, tony. we expect that to take place next week and we expect sonia sotomayor to be confirmed as the first latina supreme court justice. >> what we're watching now with dick durbin, is that what is going to play out throughout the morning up till we get to the vote? each member will make some speech and eventually when everyone's done we'll get the vote. >> what we're waching right now, they're basically explaining why they should vote the way they vote and shouldn't be too long, tony. health care reform delayed in the house by so-called blue dog democrats, democratic leaders trying to strike a deal with the fiscal conservative. meanwhile a senate panel makes progress towards a bipartisan

alternative without, the key here, without a government insurance option. senior congressional correspondent dana bash live from capitol hill with the latest. dana, hang on here. what is the state of play on the senate's side? >> i'm here, once again, tony, outside max baucus' office and the difference between now and last week what is going on inside this room is that the group of negotiators, they have been talking for some time, but now just democrats, just democrats on the senate finance committee and they're getting updated on how the bipartisan talks with the six senators have been going and we're interested to see how some of the democrats continue to react to the fact that they don't have, they're probably not going to have an agreement that includes a public option. a so-called government-run insurance option. now, we've known for some time that any republican walking into that bipartisan meeting says that is no deal, no dice. that they won't go for that. the only thing they have been focused on is the nonprofit

co-op. not run by the government, but run by health insurance options and run by a so-called co-op. you know, talking to democrats who were on the committee who agree with the president that they want a government-run option to compete with private insurance companies, it will be interesting to see how that plays out in there. that is one thing that we believe they are being briefed on. >> dana, so interesting to me. is the president aware of this work that's going on in the senate finance committee and that, in essence, you know, one of the main pillars of his reform calls for this government option and, essentially, that is off the table for this all-important committee. >> absolutely he is aware. the white house is well aware and that is why you have heard for weeks, really, the white house softening their language when it comes to the demand for a public option. the president in his press conference last week said that is his preference but with the democrats in here telling the

white house is that if they have any chance at getting republicans on board, it can't be anything that is called a government-run insurance option. now, a lot of this, frankly, tony, is going to be marketing. let's just face it. when you talk about a so-called co-op i think at the end of the day if that is what emerges, you will probably hear democrats, "a," demanding that there is some kind of federal role or at least a federal backstop with that kind of insurance option and they're probably going to be trying to market it as something as a kin to a public option where if there are republicans that agree to that, they'll say just the opposite. they'll say, we'll agree to this, but it is because there is no government control of this. so, it's going to be interesting to see how they market what they have been talking asglout senior congressional correspondent dana bash. dana, appreciate that. president obama is taking his push for health care reform directly to the people again today. he holds a town hall meeting with an influential group with

older americans. suzanne malveaux following that part of the story for us if you would talk about the president's call-in town hall later today. >> dana brings up a good point, it is all about marketing. certainly, the president is all about marketing his plan and what he feels is necessary and the main thing is just get something done, put pressure on members of congress that the status quo is not acceptable. so, what are we seeing here today in about an hour or so, he's going to go before the aarp, older americans, senior citizens and they'll have a tell-a-town-hall and 1,000 or so people on the telephone that are linked into this town hall to listen to what the president has to say. some can ask questions of the president through a moderator and what their concerns are, what their demands are and we expect the president will talk about a number of things. one of them a deal that was made

with drug companies that would allow them to provide for prescription drugs and medicare for certain senior ship zn eniot are not covered in a specific income bracket. this is not seen as process story involving washington, but that it involves plain speak language that everyone can relate to about how this will impact your health care insurance and how it will benefit you. this, tony, is one of three town halls. just the first one. tomorrow he will be in raleigh, as well as bristol, virginia, and he's going to be taking his message directly to the american people. tony, it's all about marketing. >> have we learned any more about the plans for professor gates and sergeant crowley to get together at the white house -- >> we. >> we have, okay. >> we learned some details here. obviously, a lot of people watching this meeting and you'll get pictures of this meeting, we're told, 6:00 on thursday

evening. at the white house, very informal and it's going to be at the picnic table, we're told, behind the oval office. that's near the swing set and you got a chance to see the swing set where the girls play. that will be exactly where it is going to be and the families are invited. sergeant controly and his wife and kids are going to come. not sure who gates is going to bring. they'll be here for the white house visit. the beer for the adults, we're told, the kids will get ice cream or something like that. very informal. a chance there them to sit down and step back and talk and lower the temperature in all of this. >> this might be the photo-op of all photo-ops. at the white house, suzanne malveaux for us. summertime picnic. all right. new finding blame 10% of health care costs on obesity. that is a hefty $147 billion a year. americans can save simply by slimming down. we'll look into new facts and

figures on fat. there she is, cnn's christine romans, up next. but, first, let's see the numbers. big board. whoa. the dow in negative territory. big time so far. down 65 poenints. we'll follow the numbers.

you know, americans love

their chips and dips and fries and pies and a new government finding show obesity add billions of dollars to america's health care bill every year. critical information as washington weighs health care reform. here's how health activist michael milkin described the cost of overeating. he appeared last night on cnbc. >> if everyone in america lost weight and returned to the same weight levels of 1991, we would save $1 trillion. we would cover all the uninsured and be able to quadruple the money for medical research. >> christine romans, i don't know if those numbers are absolutely accurate, we'll fact check that. you have some numbers that you'll share with us that indicate those numbers are pretty darn close, right? >> this is a study published in the journal "health affairs" and almost 10% of all health spending, tony, is related to obesity and the cost of being

obese per year in your medical bills is $1,400 more a year per person than if you were at a normal, average weight. >> those are big numbers. >> $147 billion in overall obesity-related spending each year. this is going up from 1998 until now, according to the findings of the health affair findings. the cost of treating obesity has doubled over the years. that could be because we're more obese or more treatment of some of these related ailments for obese people and more expensive treatment of those people. but this is diabetes,ility it's heart ailments and other issues. the authors of this study say with calls for health reform, real cost savings are more likely to be achieved, they say, through reducing obesity and related risk factors. they're saying health costs when you talk about health costs you have to talk about obesity and prevention. yesterday the cdc had an

oobesity conference that had interesting studies. two-thirds of americans on average and 23 pounds obese and the director of the cdc said that we're eating now, on average, 250 more calories a day today than we did 20 or 30 years ago. >> we have to eat better, we have to exercise more. you know, if i'm a safe driver, my record indicates i'm a safe driver, i get a bit of a discount on my auto insurance, why can't i get that for health care? if i watch my weight and i'm out here running and sweating like, you know, and trying to stay in some kind of shape. if i watch my dit and coming in at my numbers, why can't i get a discount? that is an incentive. >> some people are still talking about taxing soda and junk food and something that is not popular with the people who make these products. >> everyone has a vested interest, one way or another. >> you can't tax your way to encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle, but i think

you'll continue to see this as we talk about health reform, finding ways to pay for the fact that obesity is eating up, sorry for the pun, i didn't mean to say that. eating up such a big chunk of the health care dollar. i think 16 cents of every dollar of the american economy is health care costs. a big and rising part of the cost in this economy and they have to get that under control. >> i called my mom this morning, do me a favor, just walk around the mall. just a couple times a week. >> tony, i keep saying all these fancy studies and what does your grandma say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. sometimes it's easy to grab that thing that is quick and packaged and survive a nuclear war. the apple, the apple. >> thank you. >> bye. still it come, boy, storm damage in the east and extreme heat in the pacific northwest. we will check in with cnn's karen maginnis, when we come back.

and good morning, everyone. i'm karen maginnis. hot temperatures in the northwest. looks like this heat wave will continue at least towards the end of the week and then we get a little bit of a break. seattle saw a temperature of 90 degrees, that was yesterday. and it is going to be hotter today in seattle and hotter the day after. want to show you a live picture out of portland. beautiful picture, but they are under an excessive heat advisory right now. and portland is also going to see temperatures, again, in those triple digits. also, we did see troutdale with triple digits. excessive heat warning out for this region also as you go towards the interior, they're expecting heat advisory for this area, as well. as far as storms are concerned, we do have a tornado watch out that incompasses a good portion of this arklatex region and some of the forecasts anticipating as much as eight inches of

rainfall. they're saying in cass county, texas, a lot of the roads there are impassable because of the severe flooding that is taking place with the heavy downpours. want to move on and show you what's happening as we look further towards the south. deep south texas, they need the wet weather. they haven't seen but fractions of what their normal rainfall totals will be for the entire year. in some cases, they've seen maybe five or six inches where normally they would see between 10 and 12 inches. tony, they're saying this can cause as far as crops and the value of cattle and that kind of thing, $4 billion. >> i believe it. all right, karen, appreciate it. defense secretary robert gates is in iraq today checking the progress of the military's new mission. we are on patrol with the we are on patrol with the troops. 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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well, the economy is issue number one and a new report says we could see the tide changing a bit after years of decline, home valus are finally starting to bounce back. susan lisovicz on the floor of the new york stock exchange.

hey, look, for a lot of us, our principal investment and we need the home to be our piggy bank, again. i'm sorry, i shouldn't say that. >> that is exactly right, tony harris. listen up, home prices rose in may. >> come on. >> home prices rose in may. and we had not seen a month-to-month increase since the summer of 2006. what's more, in this report, that's a case-schiller report. 20% showed increases. the prices are still cheap. in fact, the economists in this survey say prices are still at 2003 levels. good time to buy. we like the trend. the pace of declines we've also seen a decline in this report. yet, more evidence that the h e home, the housing market, which is the root of this problem here, is bottoming out, tony. >> you mentioned it, good time to buy, if you have a job. here's the thing, the federal

reserve just recently said unemployment could top 10%? >> oh, yes. look, it's a good time to buy when you have a job, anything, whether it's a house, a purse, a suit. and that's one of the problems for the overall economy. consumer spending. the engine. in terms of buying homes, yes, people aren't buying when they don't have jobs. they can't even hold on to their homes when they don't have a job. that's why we've seen these record foreclosures and it's the second, addressed in the second major report we have today. consumer confidence lifting for the second consecutive month. we saw a nice rebound in spring and the summer seems to be having a little, why? consumers are worried about the labor market and a lot of corporate earnings reports. coach. maybe you don't know this company, tony harris. >> i know -- >> quarterly profit declined 32%. coach last month unveiled a lower price line, the lower price line, tony, priced between

$200 and $300, which is like $200 more than, well, you think is valid. but in any case, shares down 6%. we're seeing the market give back a little bit. the dow almost accelerating down 84 points and nasdaq is down 15. remember, we have had a big run up leading up to this week, tony. >> yeah, anything in a coach store, not even a value at half the price. >> just don't go in, tony. >> susan, appreciate it. see you next hour. the new role of a u.s. military in iraq under review right now by defense chief robert gates. he arrived unannounced today in the war-torn country. let's go there live now to arwa damon. learning first hand how the pullback from the major cities is going. >> that's right, tony. in fact, his first stop was a base in southern iraq where they're starting to put together something of a prototype on what

these advisory and assist battalions will look like. they're trying to shift the combat units into that role. in fac, we got a first-hand look ourselves at what the u.s. troops new role looks like. 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. >> always pass intelligence progress that they work on and a start for them and hopefully detain somebody. >> u.s. forces are now in a less offensive and more 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 "superadvisory unit." setting aside the logistics of trying to implement a vague agreement has also been a significant change in mindset for the americans. and the iraqis don't have to take the americans advice.

>> that's right. that's part of the difficult part of this because we like to think, always have the right answer and sometimes i do. but here's the terms of mindset if they're happy with it and their systems are in place and sustainable, that's important and i consider a home run. >> reporter: american forces still maintain the full right to protect themselves. this is a perimeter patrol they can execute on their own, but 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 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 some time. and the logic is that that some time might as be right now while we still have over 100,000 u.s. troops in country should the iraqis show any sign of weakness. tony, secretary gates is also

meeting with iraq senior political leadership and this is just as important because as we know here, politics and security are very closely intertwined. >> absolutely. all right, arwa damon with us in baghdad. good to see you, thank you. in north carolina today, seven men are looking at the possibility of life in prison. they're charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism and murder abroad. prosecutors say the ring leader, leader,arleader, rali dry wall. cnn affiliate wral has the story. >> reporter: people move to neighborhoods like this one to get away from the commotion. big news here, according to jeremy johnson is someone getting pulled over riding a dirt bike. this is bigger. >> look a war zone. there's like fbi. >> reporter: people from all around came to see investigators surrounding the house on lakeside circle. >> they're just going through the house and probably bringing things out. >> reporter: it's the home of

daniel boyd, the alleged ringleader of a terrorist plot. his two sons are also accused. they say there were also two other children living in the home. heather lives two doors down and did not see this coming. >> great neighbors and we never had any trouble with them. and their kids play with our kids. >> reporter: lorry said she talk would boyd about religion and his conversion from christianity to islam and open to talk about his faith. >> very, very nice couple and everyone in the neighborhood is just shocked. >> reporter: signs outside the neighborhood point people to a yard sale at boyd's house, it says everything is on sale. now, neighbors are questioning everything they thought they knew about their quiet neighborhood. >> it's scary, man. it's scary. >> you just don't know. you just don't know who your neighbors are. >> boy, prosecutors say there is no evidence linking the men to al qaeda. intensifying a search at sea.

rescue teams racing to see dozens of haitians after their boat capsized and sank. 550 miles southeast of miami. the u.s. coast guard says up to 200 people were onboard the vessel. 113 have been rescued so far and another 6 are confirmed dead. the boat struck a reef as it tried to allude police. race quickly became the debate quickly in the arrest of gates but what do the recently 911 tapes show? we'll have a listen. better all day long. and it's not a steroid.

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well, the man charged with killing a late-term abortion doctor is expected to enter his plea today. he is expected of gunning down george tiller in his wichita church back in may. although he had never admitted responsibility, he did tell the associated press that the killing was "justifiable." he is charged with fwirs degree murder and if convicted he faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. michael vick is getting a second chance at pro-football. nfl commissioner roger gadell has reinstated the star quarterback. that means vick can participate in workouts and the final two preseason games if he can find a

team to sign him. he won't be eligible to play until a regular season until october when a final decision is made on the reinstatement. the date is set for the white house meeting between harvard professor, henry lewis gates, and the police officer that arrested him. gates and sergeant james crowley will meet with president obama on thursday. gates' arrest touched off a racially charged debalt, but as cnn's elaine quijano reports, the initial 911 call made no reference to race. >> reporter: the 911 call that led to professor henry gates' arrest never mentioned two black men. >> are they still in the house? >> they're still in the house, i believe, yeah. >> white, black or hispanic? >> two larger men. one looked kind of hispanic, but i'm not really sure. and the other one entered and i didn't what he looked like at all. >> reporter: at one point the caller herself raises a possibility that the situation

may not be an emergency. >> i don't know if they lived there and just had a hard time with their key, but i noticed they kind of used their shoulder to kind of barge in and they got in. >> reporter: 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 sps. >> both sps are in the house. unknown on race. one may be a hispanic male, i'm not sure. >> reporter: later after sergeant crowley arrives, this -- >> i'm up with the gentleman who says he resides here, a little uncooperative. >> reporter: sergeant crawley calls in the identification. >> henry louis gates. >> cambridge police set up a panel to advise but the committee will not investigate the gates' arrest. the senate judiciary vote is

expected any time now for sonia sotomayor's nomination. we're taking a closer look at the apparent lack of republican support. that's coming up. and the tour de france winner blasts lance armstrong. now armstrong is fighting back. the public war of words between two champions. wow. we will show you, we will tell you, you will hear what they're saying when we come back. 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. anelmereter y d it'noeroid.anno keepsayopnoun. 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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all right. let's get started here. the senate judiciary committee will vote on sonia sotomayor in the next few minutes. republican support will be scant. let's talk about this with maria car don'ta, a democratic strategist and former adviser to hillary clinton's presidential campaign. maria, good to see you. thanks for your time this morning. >> nice to be here. >> ron christy, former domestic policy adviser in the second bush white house. ron, good to see you, as always. >> always a pleasure. >> ron, let's get started here with you and be honest with me here, why will -- it looks like just one republican member of the judiciary committee vote to

confirm judge sotomayor and move her nomination to the full senate. >> well, tony, looking at some of the statements from senator sessions, the ranking republican on the senate judiciary committee and others, it appears it's based on philosophy. she's written numerous opinions and given speeches and then when she came before the senate judiciary committee, i think a number of senate republicans said this is not the same woman we heard from from the past 20 years. it sounds like she had a so-called hearing room conversion. based on those concerns expressed by those members in the republican side and the senate, that's why a number of the republicans aren't going to vote. >> it's about trust, you think, ron? >> i think it's about trust and i think it is what she really believes on the issues that face us. will she really interpret the constitution. >> hey, maria, what is all this about? what is the bottom line on this? >> the bottom line, their votes aren't credible and the problem the republicans have and the statements they made as to why they're voting against her is

that based on her record, the only thing you can galther from her record is that she's going to be a justice that is fair, moderate and measured. that's what her 30-year career shows. that's what her 17 years on the federal bernch, which is, by th way, more experience than any other supreme court nominee. she is strictly in the main stream. this is what lindsay gram said that no one can credibly say that she's not prepared for this or not clearly in the main stream of american politics. it is a purely partisan vote and republicans are going to pay there it. >> ron, i'm just sort of curious. maybe it is what you suggested it is, all about judicial philosophy and folks not trusting that she appears who she says to be and the way she presented herself before the committee. i heard some analysis this is all about president obama, a chance to get back at him. the fact that he voted against alito and roberts, what do you think about that? >> i don't think that's very credible. i think the people in the united

states take their responsibilities far too seriously and we're going to cast a vote just to get back at the president. i think they have a very solemn responsibility and and that is, course, to advise and consent, that's what their role is in the constitution. and they're looking at the justice's philosophy and her temperament and ability to interpret the constitution. what i would say is unlike the situation with miguel estrada who was nominated to the d.c. circuit here in washington, d.c., senators, biden, clinton and obama blocked that vote. i think republicans you'll see have allowed her a vote in the judiciary committee and they'll vote up and down her nomination on the floor, a stark contrast from just a few years ago. >> maria, you're smiling and the eyebrow is raised. >> they would love to compare to it miguel estrada where the record with miguel estrada cannot compete with sonia sotomayor, number one. the second thing is when you look at judicial philosophy, look at her 4,000 opinions, look

at the 300 decisions that she has written and what comes out, clearly, is that she is measured, moderate and fair and that she sticks to legal precedent. the only thing that the republicans who are voting agenls h against her is a couple of speeches. and she happens to be the first latina on the supreme court but women and independents as well who overwhelmingly support her who know that she will be a fair justice for all americans whose story is a quintessential american story that everyone can understand. >> ron, do republicans pay a political price for not supporting this nominee? >> no, i don't think so. i think it is simplistic to suggest that the american people will penalize one particular party for not voting for someone based on whether or not they're a woman or they're a certain ethnicity. i think that's insulting. i think the important thing is the american people expect their men and women in the united states senate to look at people fairly, to give them an

opportunity to express themselves and unlike what my friend maria said, at least justice sotomayor had the opportunity to be heard before the american people. the democrats did not allow miguel estrada the same opportunity. it's about fundamental fairness and doing what's right. >> but the american people understand this is the best-prepared jurist in over 100 years. top of her class at princeton and yale. there's no reason why anybody could credibly vote against her and say she is not prepared for this job. that is where i think republicans get in trouble because they are clearly looking at their future in terms of listening to the extreme right wing of their party who are clearly being very loud and wanting them to vote in opposition of sotomayor, and that's who they are listening to. >> let me give you the last word. >> republicans and democrats should give deference to the president in power when -- >> well, okay. >> i think they should. >> excuse me. i think they should have the ability to be heard in the

senate judiciary committee and have a full vote. that's my concern. the republicans nominees have been blocked and not have that opportunity. justice sotomayor have been given the opportunity. and they should step away from the brink and allow the nominees to have their time before the committee. still to come in the "newsroom," new revelations in the michael jackson case. a source tells cnn that police believe jackson's doctor administered a powerful drug that may have killed him. and newly released transcripts from the crash of a commercial plane near buffalo, new york, suggest the copilot was feeling bad but decided to fly anyway. 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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okay. very quickly now we want to get

you to the senate judiciary committee. we are moments away from the roll call vote on the nomination of justice sonia sotomayor to be the next associate justice of the united states supreme court. let's listen to the committee chair, patrick leahy. >> -- just a moment. then after that i'd please ask everybody to please just stay for another couple minutes. there will be a motion to take up the four other nominees en banc and then have a voice vote on the en banc. but the clerk will call the roll on the nomination of sonia sotomayor to be a justice of the u.s. supreme court. >> mrs. feinstein? >> aye. >> mr. feingold? >> aye. >> mr. carter? >> aye. >> mr. whitehouse? >> aye. >> aye. >> mr. franken? >> aye. >> no.

>> no by proxy. >> mr. graham? >> aye. >> mr. cornen? >> no, by proxy. >> aye. >> mr. chairman, the votes are 13 yeas and -- >> the name will be sent to the full senate for its action. i ask unanimous consent for thomas mcclellan, christopher schroeder, cranston mitchell, those nominees be considered en banc. without objection, they will be considered en banc. those in favor of those four nominees, signify by saying aye. opposed? the ayes appear to have it. and i would note that we have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, blah, blah, blah, 15 -- >> boy, let's do this. let's recap this moment.

certainly an historic moment. boy, judge sonia sotomayor, her nomination to become the next associate justice for the united states supreme court voted out of the committee in the affirmative. let's get to capitol hill right now and brianna keilar is there for us. and as expected, there was one republican member of the committee, senator lindsey graham, who voted aye for sonia sotomayor. >> reporter: that's right, lindsey graham has said, he's been saying this now for some time, tony, he said elections have consequences. he said basically president obama won the election. would i, lindsey graham, have chosen sonia sotomayor as the nominee? no, i wouldn't have. we have issues. i think we disagree on some issues. but president obama won the election essentially and he gets his pick. so, we only saw one republicans who voted for sonia sotomayor, all the democrats voted for her,

of course, as we expected. 13 yea votes and 6 nay votes. and the next step is this goes now for a full vote on the senate floor. we're expecting that to happen next week. and we expect sonia sotomayor will be confirmed as the first latina justice. >> brianna keilar, thank you. a quick refresher now, may st justice david souter announces he will retire from the u.s. supreme court. 25 days later president obama reveals sonia sotomayor is his choice to replace souter. she'd been a leading candidate for the seat even before souter's surprise retirement. june 29th the u.s. supreme court reverses a second circuit court of appeals panel which included sotomayor in the new haven firefighters' reverse discrimination case. the senate judiciary opens

hearings on the sotomayor nomination. no fireworks. and that brings us today to send the nomination to the floor of the senate. you know, there is a striking new twist in the michael jackson death investigation. a source inside the probe tells cnn jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray, allegedly injected the entertainer with a powerful and dangerous anesthetic to help him sleep. the drug known as diprivan is only used in hospitals to seven date surgical patients. it might have led to jackson's death. murray said he never gave the entertainer anything that might have killed him. like so many people, michael jackson fought insomnia and was apparently desperate for a good night's sleep. last night anderson cooper asked addiction specialist, dr. drew pinsky, about what might have gone wrong. >> insomnia is a very common

problem. many people suffer from it. and this medication is not a medication that is commonly used for insomnia. there's many different ways to treat it. it wouldn't make sense for most physicians, for any physician, to use this in someone's home. >> dr. drew, have you ever heard of a situation where this drug was administered outside a medical facility in someone's home? >> i have never heard of such a thing. "b," i have seen propofol addiction in anesthesiologists and physicians, it's the only time i've ever seen it, because they're the only ones that are aware of this medication. it doesn't exist outside of a hospital. it's a very dangerous medication that requires careful monitoring. there isn't a protocol on this planet that includes propofol, "a," and, "b," it's a very serious problem with an addict. when it's combined with other things it's likely to cause breathing problems and it's been associated with cardiac disturbances. the combination may have been the thing that really did him in. >> are there people who -- i

mean, these people who do take it and get addicted to it who are anesthesiologists you're talking about, do they like the feeling it gives this em? does it make them feeling high? or is it, what, a woozy feeling? >> yes, they like to feel high and disconnected. people that are trauma survivors don't like to feel the pain they walk in day in and day out. and there's also report of michael jackson been having a pain problem. this may have been a desperate attempt for relief but not a safe one and not an appropriate one and certainly never appropriate for somebody with a history of addiction. >> okay, let's bring in our ted rowlands, ted is on the phone with us right now. and, ted, i understand the investigation has taken you to las vegas. tell us what your following. >> well, tony, right now, i'm outside of conrad murray's home, where a source familiar with the investigation tells us a search warrant is being served at this moment at his home. another search warrant is

expected to be served at his clinic here in las vegas. this comes after the warrant last week was served at his houston clinic. clearly they are looking for as much information as they can on conrad murray. and right now, there are police officers outside his home, sort of guarding his home. this is in a gated community in las vegas. near the red rock area, sort of outside the town in las vegas. but there -- there -- at this moment serving another search warrant on conrad murray, this time on his private home in las vegas. >> and, ted, if you would, remind us, has the doctor been clear on what he gave michael jackson, if anything, in the 24 hours before his death? >> one thing that they right away came out on, murray and his lawyers came out publicly and said, was they did not give him demerol and they did not give him oxycontin. and then also they said that

nothing that dr. murray prescribed or administered to michael jackson should have killed him. and the key is "should" there. that's been their statement from really the outset of all of this. but they have not talked specifically about diprivan. and yesterday when the story came out that indeed murray had been connected with diprivan, they refused to comment on it, only to say that they won't comment on innuendo, but they did go on to say -- this is murray's lawyer -- that they do expect the case to be built against murray because it's michael jackson. >> all right, ted. ted rowlands for us following the trail of this investigation. he is in las vegas now. ted, appreciate it. thank you. where is the stimulus? billions of dollars to rejuvenate the economy and create jobs. where is your money going?

six minutes after the hour. welcome back, everyone, to the "cnn newsroom." i'm tony harris. getting a firsthand look at our new role in iraq. defense secretary robert gates on the ground.

the search for common ground on health care reform intensifies on capitol hill. democratic leaders trying to strike a deal with fiscal conservatives, the so-called blue dog democrats. wheenle, the senate panel makes progress towards a bipartisan

alternative without -- key word here -- without a government insurance option. senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, live from capitol hill for us. and, dana, look, you've been out -- you've been parked out there the last week or so it seems outside the room where senate finance committee members have been meeting. this is this group of six. but, you know, there is also a lot going on over on the house side as well. tell us about that. >> reporter: well, actually, if it's okay with you, tony, let me just tell you what's going on here. >> right. >> reporter: since you and i last talked, we've had several democratic senators come out of this room and talk to us about some of the discussions that they've been having. specifically i think what's most interesting is something that you and i talked about first last week, which is consensus building on how to raise revenue to pay for the near trillion dollar price tag and to control medical costs. it is building around the idea of taxing insurance companies. this is an idea that's been put forward by senator john kerry of massachusetts. >> senator kerry. >> reporter: exactly. we're getting a little more detail on that, as a matter of fact, one of the senators came out and just told us, what they

are talking about is taxing plans worth $25,000 and they say that could generate between $90 billion and $100 billion and that could go a long way when you're talking about trying to chip away at the trillion dollar price tag. so, that's something that has been interesting in listen to the democrats come out. look, many of the democrats say they on the issue of this government-run option, they say, look, of course, that's their first priority, but they also realize, several democratic senators said, they also realize this is about trying to find compromise. so, if there's a way to have a so-called nonprofit co-op option instead of a government-run insurance plan, it may be something that they'll have to deal with. it's something they have to work on crafting, that's what we've heard from democrats. >> we're talking about a pay-for for whatever comes out of that committee. talk about for us, if you would, what's going on on the house side. >> reporter: there's still a divide, big time, among democrats. what's going on is there are negotiations, hot negotiations, going on still between the house

democratic leaders and those so-called blue dog democrats. last night the leaders gave the blue dog democrats some options that they said they hope would go towards assuaging some of their concerns and the biggest concern that they have they don't think that the leadership's plan controls medical costs and controls costs in general of in. the blue dog democrats, they're taking this proposal that they got from their leadership. they're going to -- they're thinking about it. there could be some deal-or-no-deal action going on in the next 24 hours. but listen to what one of the blue dog conservative democrats told us a short while ago -- >> last night i think we did make some progress. but we're not there yet. and our biggest concern is making sure that we control costs, and that has to be determined by cbo. they have to give us a -- a, you know, what it's all going to cost. until we get that information, we're not ready to support a bill yet. >> reporter: so, that's what

they're doing, those conservative democrats, they are meeting. they are trying to figure out if there is some middle ground there. but in terms of the goal that they had initially based on the president's deadline that was to actually pass a health care bill by the end of this week, this is the week that they leave for august recess, that is looking more and more unlikely that they can actually come up with a deal that gives them ultimately the votes they need to pass it. >> yeah, i got to do a little bit more work on this. i do see someone coming out that you want to grab? >> reporter: we're waiting for senators to come out. sorry to look distracted here. >> that's okay. >> reporter: no one's coming quite yet. go ahead. >> i'm thinking to myself when i hear the representatives say we've got to control costs, we've got to control costs and we've got to get more cost savings in the bill. i have to drill down on that a little bit more. i need to find out what specifically is being talked about. is that the same as saying we got to get a handle on medicare, medicaid, before we're talking

about adding more people, insuring more people, is that what of what's being talked about here? >> reporter: that's part of it. but i think, look, they actually have a list of ten problems, very concrete problems that they have with the leadership -- >> ten of them? >> reporter: ten problems. they have ten item wish lists, if you will. but i think the main issue that they have is, something we've heard the president talk about and you and i have talked about this, they say the goal of reforming the health care system should be to bring down medical costs. >> yes. >> reporter: those medical costs that end up bankrupting so many people in this nation. they feel that the plan that they have now doesn't go far enough to do that. >> as always, dana, if you want to grab one of the senators and you want to grab the senator, just give us a shout and we're right back to you double time. >> reporter: thanks, tony. $787 billion of your money. so clearly, we are talking about the stimulus package, so where is the money going, and is it helping to create jobs? christine romans of our "money"

team joins us lifve. you did a great job yesterday, more of the same today? >> more of the same. let's show you what recovery.gov shows you. it shows the bubbles that shows you where the money is going. most of it for tax relief, $280 billion for tax relief. that's what you're getting in your paycheck. that's the tax relief. state and local relief, allows them to fill the budget gaps, education training. look at the bottom, the infrastructure, $111 are billion, some jocks have been created in highway jobs and projects, according to the house committee on highway infrastructure. 48,600 jobs been saved. a lot of jobs in washington state, oregon, pennsylvania, illinois, texas, utah, 1795 jobs

created my home state of iowa. others all highway-related jobs, and we're seeing those happen in the house committee which is tracking that money, they say a lot of projects have been started over the past months. so, if you see the orange cones in your state? it's also, you know, the season to patch the highways, but a lot of the stimulus money is going to do that. and then i got this other little one to tell you about, your stimulus money going to pay social security, onetime $250 stimulus benefit for the social security recipients and the social security administration confirming to us that dead people received some of the checks. it's not unusual to have checks go the wrong place. you know, they're facing a tight deadline and the like. on the other hand, conservatives say, look, let's track all of this money. >> button it up, yeah. >> let's button it up. i will say that the social security folks say, 84% of that

money, has been returned. >> good. >> and not cashed. so, there you go. >> boy, push/pull on the stimulus dollars getting out the door. you want to get the dollars out quickly, but you don't want to waste it. you gave us a number yesterday that was -- >> $55 billion. >> yeah. >> if you figure that sev7% projects will have fraud or waste or egregious mismanagement, that turns out to be $55 billion, that's a whole lot of money. look, i could tell you three projects. >> right. >> and somebody would be wired in a way to say, well, that is absolutely wasteful. and somebody else would say, that's good for america. so, it's so subjective what you think about each of the proje projects. >> that's the same argument you hear about earmarks. >> yeah, it's true. >> all right, christine, appreciate it. >> bye-bye. let's get you to cnnmoney.com, our terrific money website. i tell you what, the team there, christine romans is part of the terrific team at cnnmoney.com, just doing a terrific job of offering you the latest financial news, pinpoint, sharp analysis of what's going on with

stocks, your money in particular. cnnmoney.com is the destination. quickly we want to get you to the new york stock exchange, with a quick peek at the big board. just moments ago, boy, we saw stocks were down still in the same range. it looks a bit off of session lows at this point. the dow was down 64 last check, down 65. and nasdaq is down 14 points. we're following the numbers with susan lisovicz throughout the day. is the president keeping his campaign promises when it comes to health care? josh levs is here. what are you finding, josh? >> tony, the truth-o-meter. >> i love it. >> i know you love it. zoom in for a second. politifact.com they are giving the president a full flop for one of the issues. and they are giving a republican lawmaker a pants on fire. we'll show you the latest. you can get them shoes from names like danskin now and starter. ♪ select eyeglass frames are just $9 at walmart -- and they have a 12-month guarantee.

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the new role of the u.s. military in iraq under review right now by defense chief, robert gates. he arrived today unannounced in the war-torn country. let's go live now to cnn's arwa

damon in baghdad. arwa, here's the thing, i want you to tell us about this, you've been able to see firsthand how the new u.s. role will look. share with us your experience, what you saw. >> reporter: well, tony, we actually had the opportunity to see that firsthand yesterday, when we were on an embed with a u.s. military based in northeastern baghdad, it was a unit which was once a combat battalion and is now being called more of a supervisory unit. the dynamics in the streets have changed completely. this was a war up until june the 30th when the u.s. military withdrew its combat troops from iraqi cities and towns was run by america. that is no longer the case. the iraqis run this war. the iraqis now do have the final say. the u.s. military has to run just about all of its missions past this iraqi counterpart, they have to be notified of patrols, of convoys going out on

logistical routes. the u.s. military in many cases is handing over all of its intelligence that it has gathered on some of the targets and giving those to their iraqi counterpa counterparts. >> yeah. >> reporter: and the iraqis don't necessarily have to take a u.s. team out with them, although they do tend to ask the americans for air support. but it is shifting dynamics, and there has been some friction amongst the troops. there have been some misunderstanding about the security agreement governing this dynamic, that's what we've actually seen secretary gates coming here today. he went to one base to specifically look at a, quote-unquote, prototype of these souped-up advisory and assist units. >> well, arwa, i'm sort of curious, you mentioned there have been some moments of friction here. what sort of interaction did you witness? >> reporter: well, actually, the unit that we were out with had a very -- and has a very healthy relationship with their iraqi counterparts. >> good, good. >> reporter: both the police and the army, because -- this is what they did.

in getting ready for this mission and knowing that such a transition was going to take place, they preestablished their relationship. so we, we did ask them if they felt less secure because the iraqis were out on the streets a lot more, because they couldn't necessarily patrol the neighborhoods as closely as they would have liked. we asked them if the frictions caused them any problems on the ground. they said, you know, it did the first few nights because we had the different interpretations of what we were allowed to do, but at the end of the day they managed to work through it because they did already have sort of this partnership relationship. other units, though, are fr struggling a lot more, because, remember, the american military has always been on the offense there. it's been out every day pounding the streets on the incredibly aggressive patrols and they have to take the back seat, more passive advisory role. and if the iraqis don't want to take their advice, the iraqis don't have to take it anymore. and that's something that's difficult for your average american soldier to comprehend. >> absolutely. arwa damon for us in baghdad, thank you.

defense secretary gates is also focusing on iran during his trip to the region. gates said the u.s. will seek international backing for much tougher sanctions on iran if it rebuffs the offer of talks on its disputed nuclear program. live now to cnn's pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. if you would, drill down on this point for us. what is the pentagon saying? >> well, you know, tony, as you pointed out, before mr. gates got to iraq, he went to israel and jordan and took the opportunity, make no mistake, to take a very hard, rhetorical line against iran's nuclear program. in the middle east he was very strong in saying that president obama's offer of talks with iran is not open-ended, that the clock is running on all of that, that iran is a threat to the region and the united states, if it pursues nuclear weapons, and he made clear what he thinks the next step will be. have a listen. >> if the engagement process is not successful, the united

states is prepared to press for significant additional sanctions that would be nonincremental. in other words, we would try and get international support for a much tougher position. our hope -- our hope still remains that iran will respond to the president's outstretched hand in a positive and constructive way. but we'll see. >> a lot of people say "we'll see." very questionable about whether the iranian regime really wants to engage in talks, whether they care, officials point out, whether they even care if they face more sanctions. >> right, right. >> because we've been down this road for so many years. even secretary of state, hillary clinton, this week making a case, taking a very hard line that the u.s. will not tolerate letting iran have a nuclear weapon. all options remain on the table, you can read that to mean military options, but the u.s. and israel both saying they

really do hope a diplomatic solution can be found. we'll see. tony? >> we'll see, barbara starr at the pentagon for us. barbara, thank you. is your health coverage going to change? our dr. sanjay gupta takes some of your questions. that's next in the "cnn newsroom." people notice my devotion to family. people notice my love for animals. my smile. my passion for teaching. my cool car. people notice i'm a good friend and a good listener. people notice that i'm a good boss. people notice my love of nature.

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so, just 30 minutes ago the senate judiciary committee approved the nomination of judge sonia sotomayor. >> 13 yeas and 6 nays. >> the nominee has been approved by the committee. the name will be sent to the full senate for its action. >> sotomayor will become the first latina to sit on the u.s. supreme court and just the third woman. only one republican, south carolina's lindsey graham, voted to approve sotomayor. the full senate is expected to vote next week. and barring any bombshells, sotomayor looks to be on her way to easy confirmation as the 111th -- 111th -- justice.

lawmakers in the house and senate trying to come up with a health care reform compromise. on the senate side, a bipartisan group is making progress on a plan with no government insurance option. house plans include a government option, but the issue, still a topic of debate among republicans and democrats in the house. >> in order to attract republicans, maybe even some conservative moderate democrats, are you willing to abandon the public option? >> no, we're not willing to abandon the public option. there are a number of different facets that it can take, but we're not willing to abandon it at this point in time. we believe it will be in the house bill. >> when you start to ask about a government plan, there is such resistance, not only on the part of the republicans here in congress but across the country. everyone knows that a government bureaucrat is not going to be able to keep down costs and keep up the kind of quality care that most americans are used to. >> bipartisan members of the senate finance committee are proposing insurance cooperatives as an alternative to the public option.

so, who's telling the truth, and is the president keeping his promises? time to check the truth-o-meter, here's josh levs. >> the health care debate is heating up, and obviously right now we've got claims flying back and forth, left and right, mettorically, literally. we need to reality check them, and to fact check them, we'll bring in bill adair from factcheck.com. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> i want to start with the latest one on politifact.com, you're giving president obama a full flop on health care. what's that about? >> well, it has to do with something he said back during the campaign. back in the early part of the campaign for the democratic nomination, hillary clinton and john edwards mandated that people get health insurance coverage as part of their health coverage plan. that was what led it to be universal. obama did not. in fact, he made a point of saying that he would not mandate it because he would afraid that people couldn't afford it.

fast-forward to today, obama's now supporting a mandate. >> actually, this is one of the most memorable clinton versus obama moments during the entire presidential campaign last year when she was waving the flyers saying barack obama, shame on you, and he had the ads out about her. that's what she was getting at, the mandate for everyone to have health insurance. >> exactly. he criticized her for having the mandate and that led to the big "shame on you" response. so, you know, in our view, that makes this really a full flop. so, that's how we rated on it our flip-o-meter. obama has acknowledged that much. a full from for this one. >> got to love politics. let's look on the other side. you have one on republicans. it's interesting. this began, as i understand it, an editorial but was picked up by a lawmaker and you're giving this one your "pants on fire" rating. what's this about? >> the claim is on page 16, very precise of the health care bill, is a provision that would outlaw

private, individual health insurance. and that was in "investors business daily" in an editorial, and has been picked up by congresswoman michele bachmann and many bloggers to say, look, this health care bill that's pending could be disastrous, and it would outlaw your coverage, they say. well, it's not true. if you go to page 16, as we did, it has no such thing. it's so ridiculous we gave it our lowest rating pants on fire. >> thanks so much. >> thanks, josh. okay, about an hour from now, president obama takes part in an aarp town-hall meeting on health care. live coverage of the event scheduled for 1:30 p.m. eastern time. you know, there is still plenty of debate over the tactics used to save the economy. last fall, the billions in bailouts and a host of new regulations. now, some wall street insiders are looking back at those harrowing times, and they talked to cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow. and poppy's in new york with the

breakdown. can't wait to hear what you learned from this discussion, poppy. >> hey, tony. yeah, it was a fascinating panel. we sat down with the former chief financial officer at citigroup, also former new york governor and attorney general eliot spitzer to get their take on this crisis, the bailouts, the role of the regulators. and spitzer has really made news recently, tony, by criticizes the fed. he went so far as on national television to call the fed a giant ponzi people. he said it's a huge cause for concern. take a listen to what he told us. >> the fed unilaterally has issued trillions of dollars of capital and guarantees, most of it guarantees, to the banks across wall street after they failed. probably that needed to be done, but we don't know why, how, what the terms were, what the logic was. >> i'm glad that we had the luxury of sitting here to debate what they should have done and could have done, right? i think if we bring ourselves back to last september, make no

mistake, it was terrifying. [ inaudible ] >> i think we -- all right. i think we just lost poppy. we'll -- oh, shoot. we'll try to get poppy back in just a couple of moments. changing our relationship with the middle east, how the obama administration's attitude is different than past presidents. day ng and 'not 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 kps mrws .. hp breatetall. 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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hopscotching across the middle east in pursuit of peace? top u.s. envoy, george mitchell, is blazing a new trail. our cal perry explains. >> reporter: a whirlwind trip for the envoy of an administration that seems set on changing the u.s.' relationship with the middle east. the top american diplomat, george mitchell, charged into the region on saturday, not starting the trip with a visit to the u.s.' staunchest ally, israel, rather beginning with syria. the bush administration considered syria a renegade regime and a state sponsor of terror. the obama administration has struck a very different tone. >> in terms of the syrian/american relationship,

the united states is committed to a dialogue based on mutual interest and mutual respect. and a solid foundation for discussion of our shared goals and of our real differences, where they occur. syria is a country blessed with talented people and a long and impressive history. >> reporter: syria and the u.s. now share many goals. for starters, obama is ramping down military action in iraq, and ramping it up in afghanistan. in order for that to be a success, the border between syria and iraq must be secure. there is also the broader goal for mitchell and obama, middle east peace. syria controls access to the external leadership of the palestinian militant group hamas, men like this man who still resides in damascus. but this week syrian officials were ocuss ifocusing on differe issues.

statement by shaaban said stressed a mutual peace, among all parties. we welcome all of this. it is, of course, natural that we may have our differences, but we spoke about them. this is an altitude that is based on dialogue and respect and the region at large. mitchell then flew to israel where the u.s. finds itself dancing diplomatically around israeli concerns over iranian weapons. the secretary of defense, robert gates, seemingly standing by israel's concerns. >> the nuclear-armed iran would be profoundly destabilizing to the entire region. we are in full agreement on the negative consequences of iran obtaining this kind of a capability. >> reporter: mitchell seems to have flexibility in this latest diplomatic push, even shifting his schedule midtrip, making a brief visit to egypt before returning to israel. >> very interesting, all right, cnn's cal perry joining us live

from beirut. look, george mitchell is also getting in the middle of the sensitive settlement issue. how is that going? >> reporter: yeah, sensitive, i think is an understatement, tony. i think you're absolutely right. this is a key issue to middle east peace and we've heard that the israeli prime minister and george mitchell met today and said they are making progress on this, but really no details. when you look at the settlement issue, it's twofold, thee are talking low jistically about 300,000 settlers living in the west bank. you remember the withdrawal from gaza, that was incredibly difficult for the israeli soldiers to pull the settlers off the rooftops of gaza. imagine ten times that in the west bank. the social issue is quite fascinating. in israel everyone has to serve in the military except for the settlers, so when you speak to israeli soldiers you'll often find that there is this social

issue where the soldiers feel like it's a bit unfair that the settlers are exempt from military service, they, themselves, men have to spend three years and women have to spend two years and once you're in the israeli military, you are a reservist forever. it's not an issue for the settlers. it's a social issue as well, and it's a country that does not want its internal problems while looking at a broader middle east peace. >> it's so comecat kate complicated. thank you, cal. daniel boyd and his two sons, investigators say boyd attended terrorist training cammens in pakistan and afghanistan and recruited others to train with him in north carolina. there are no known targets in the united states. six of the seven suspects are u.s. citizens and we heard earlier from a member of the muslim american society. >> we know that islam is always under the microscope and these

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health care reform. if you're like a lot of people, you don't have a clear idea of what it means. wading through 1,000 pages of legislation is enough to send anyone running for an aspirin bottle. so, today, we're starting a new segment here in the "newsroom" called "the insider." our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, answers your

questions about the government's plans to revamp health care. we start with linda in dallas. >> 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, quote-unquote, experimental? if the health bill passes, will they only cover the costs of standard procedures? >> well, first of all, linda, thanks for calling in. obviously a hot topic, and a lot of people trying to figure out the answer to your very question, how would my life change potentially as health care reform potentially happens. first of all, we don't know the details of the specific bill, and a lot of those details are going to be very important with respect to your questions. also there is a lot of satisfaction when it comes to medicare, according to the commonwealth survey.

take a look there. less than 10% of people rate their medicare quality of coverage as either fair or poor. other people rank it higher than that. but there are specific issues i think that might be relevant to you. for example, standard of care when it comes to something like a pap smear examine, medicare on average once every 24 months. private insurance companies, once every 12 months. that's average. cholesterol and lipid testing, medicare, once every five years and private insurance, once every 12 months. does it make a difference? people don't know the answer to that and that's going to be important, again, if you have abnormalities. it's going to change. here's something i found very interesting. something called virtual colinoscopies, medicare doesn't cover it. many private insurance companies in many states will still cover it. but it gets to the root of the question, what really makes a difference when it comes to your health care and what doesn't.

there are health care professionals who determine reimbursement rates and that dictates a lot of what is covered and what is not. while president obama has suggested is creating an executive-level agency to try and deal with these same issues, figure out where money is best spent, make those recommendations to the president, make those recommendations to congress and then have a waiting period to determine how this is all going to change. stay tuned, though, linda, i'll tell you a lot more to come on this particular issue. back to you guys for now. >> sanjay, appreciate it. thank you. if you are 50 or older, president obama is focusing on you and your health care questions. in 45 minutes, president obama takes part in a health care town hall meeting. at 1:45 p.m. eastern. let's get to chad myers, boy, are you going to focus on all the heat in the pacific northwest? >> numbers where i wish my cholesterol were. did you get yours checked lately? >> not recently.

i'm a little -- >> 303, how did that happen? >> when did that happen, how does it happen? and what does it mean? you can't eat anymore? >> 12-ounce burger and the rack of ribs before my test, not a good thing. >> not a good move. >> a couple of bratwurst as well. look at seattle, that hot. 90 degrees. portland, 103, vancouver, 103. these are all record-breaking numbers. here's the live shot from kpro in seattle, you should be able to see for miles. you can see for about three. the haze and the humidity is in, and the temperatures are going to be up all day long. temperatures are going to be well above 100 degrees from portland, and everywhere away from the water. when you're in bellingham and so on and so on, if you get a little bit of an ocean breeze, it might be able to help you out and the temperatures will not be as hot. the other giant story of the day, and our jacqui jeras is out in texas looking at this, the drought. >> yes. >> port mansfield, less than 6

inches of rain so far. this year? >> this year. >> they're 10 inches below where they should be this year. if you take a look at the drought monitor all the way from the hill country in austin and waco, southward, they're having crop failure, they're having literally to having to water the cows and the horses way more than they could, because there's nothing in the field. there's no moisture in the field for the animals and the livestock to get to. we'll have that story coming up on the weekend, tony. >> we need the tropic to cook up a little bit. we are not talking about a cat 5, but we could use it. >> you are right on the money. but many of these crops, it's too late. you are not going to revive some of the stuff, because the drought is so far gone, the crops literally withered away, but wouldn't it be nice to get a tropical, 30-mile-per-hour system, sit here for a day, keep moving. i don't want to it sit there for 15 days, but then it would be flooding. watch what you ask for. >> yeah. >> but we will get some rain showers here and obviously some rain when the tropical season

does start. sometime when tropical season does start. >> yes. >> tony. my job depends on it. >> exactly. all right, chad, appreciate it, thank you. boy, boy, a war of words between the winner of the tour de france and the biggest cycling gem of all-time. alberto contador and lance armstrong having at it. you think it's hot out there in the pacific northwest, you ain't seen nothing yet. josh levs is here to tell us all about it. it's good. >> it's anger. this is angry. we'll show it to you. >> it's been heated. >> it's one of the top stories on dotcom. we have photos of them together. we'll show you one of the headlines. here it is. contador, i will never admire armstrong. he went back -- they were teammates. >> they were teammates. >> he went back after winning, he went back to his town near madrid and said something. i have a graphic of his quote. i want everyone to see what the quote that he said once he said

about lance armstrong. this is what he said. my relationship with lance armstrong is nonexistent. check this out, tony, even if he is a great champion, i have never had admiration for him and i never will. let's see one more. he goes on to say basically more, he's not respecting the man, it hurt the team and it didn't help the dynamics and he said in a sense they paid a price. now lance armstrong -- we got to go? >> i got to go. the chair of the senate finance committee, max baucus, is speaking now. let's listen in. >> it was a -- well, as we move toward a solution that is ma marked-up bill and so forth, it's very important, spent a lot of time with all colleagues who believed in health care reform. that is all democrats. it's most republicans. and meetings with democratic

senators in the committee alone, this is the second one we've had in the last couple months or so, they're very productive. they're very helpful. a lot of questions asked. what about this, what about that. and -- and the time when they get the answer, they like it, oh, gee, i didn't know that, that's helpful. a couple areas -- one area we spent quite a bit of time on is, you know, the fancy term is medpac on steroids, that is, empouring either medpac or an independent agency with authority to in effect make the update -- provider updates themselves rather than in congress making it, that is, the more authority to give that agency, they make the -- the updates, provider updates, and congress then has to overturn

it, a brac-like -- >> here's what we'll do. we'll continue to monitor the comments here from senator max baucus. he's a little bit in the weeds here as to what's going on with the committee work, but he did mention they are moving towards a markup, which means they're getting close to an agreement of some kind of a framework of a bill. that's a bit encouraging. i'm not sure what else he was talking about there, but we'll continue to monitor his comments. want to get back to josh. now, josh, when we left you to get back to the senator, you were talking about the comments from alberto contador. you want to finish there or get to what lance armstrong was saying? >> basically we established that, that, yeah, he was criticizing lance armstrong and now lance armstrong is fighting back today. i got a twitter page open. this is one of the top stories on cnn.com. he said, seeing the comment s from a.c., if i were him, i'd drop this drivel. and start thanking his team.

without them, he doesn't win. there's no "i" in team. a champion is measured on how much he respects his teammates and opponents. you can win a race on your own and not a grand tour. you got this back and forth, tony, we'll keep an eye on this. obviously interesting people all over the world. >> josh, appreciate it. d a hear. my doctor told me i should've been... doing more for my high cholesterol. what was i thinking? but now i trust my heart to lipitor. when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor may help. unlike some other cholesterol lowering medications, lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk... of heart attack, stroke, and certain kinds of heart surgeries... if you have several common risk factors... or heart disease. lipitor has been extensively studied... with over 16 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems... and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems.

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at meineke, you're always the driver. all right. i believe we have some live pictures here now, is that what we have scottie? just the house. all right, from a short time ago. investigators, we understand, although these pictures are from a short time ago, are right now with a search warrant in hand at the las vegas home of michael jackson's personal physician, dr. conrad murray. and, okay, these are live pictures from our affiliate ktnv. los angeles police and drug enforcement agents are on the scene right now, and it comes just one day after a source told cnn that murray put jackson to sleep with a powerful anesthetic in the 24 hours before he died. now, last week, you may recall, authorities searched murray's clinic, that in houston, texas. we will continue to follow these live pictures and the developments out of las vegas.