president obama will bring harvard professor henry louis gates jr. and sergeant crowley to the white house for happy hour. will a few beers be enough to bring an end to the controversy around this case? ed henry straight ahead. >> deal or no deal on the hill. the senate says no go before the summer break. house blue dogs may have struck a deal. will it fly with the liberal colleagues. we begin with new developments into the investigation of michael jackson's death. we're given the clearest indication that the personal physician dr. conrad murray is the sole target of the criminal investigation. we're learning that dr. murray was drowning in debt and we're getting the first account of the frantic moments inside the jackson house on the day he died. randi kaye is following it all for us this morning. >> reporter: john, carol, a

federal law enforcement official telling us now that, quote, dr. murray is the only one that they're looking at. with three search warrants served on dr. conrad murray's property, he's the central focus. his lawyer told us they were searching those properties looking for evidence in the event of manslaughter. they don't think an arrest is imminent because they haven't seen any proof or a final autopsy report. his loan from the bank for his country club home in las vegas was $1.56 million. he failed to make his payment of just over $15,000 last january and has been racking up debt every since. he is facing the threat of foreclosure and he was told to be paid $150,000 a month by michael jackson. he was not paid by aeg, the tour promoter or jackson for the two

months he working for them, so he was low on money. jackson's final morning at his home. his personal chef is talking. she told the investigators dr. murray would come down to get michael breakfast around 10:00 a.m. the doctor did not come downstairs until noon. the receive sachef says dr. mury came downstairs screaming, hurry, get prince, get security. security guards were rushing around. the housekeepers were screaming and michael jackson's daughter, paris, was screaming, daddy, daddy. the chefs all gathered in a circle and they prayed at that point. finally we learned that this jackson case was not the first time he had a brush with the law. he was arrested in a domestic abuse case in 1994.

we confirmed dr. murray was arrested for, quote, domestic violence disorderly conduct. his girlfriend had accused him of having an affair and threw something at him and then dr. murray allegedly pushed her down. he was acquitted about five months later. john, carol, back to you. >> randi kaye reporting for us this morning. meantime, joe jackson is speaking about michael's long-rumored love child. in a news 1 television interview, michael jackson said he believes omar bhati is michael's son. cnn hasn't been able to confirm this and he himself is on record denying jackson is his daughter. that said, here's what joe said in the interview. >> michael may have had another child, omar is his name. he was sitting right there next to rebbie.

everybody trying to connect the dots. did you know it was michael's other son? >> yes, i knew he had another son. yes, i did. >> he looks like a jackson. >> oh, yes. he looks like a jackson, acts like a jackson. he could dance like a jackson. >> he's denying all this. raising eyebrows across the country. a boston police officer is apologizing for a racially charged letter in which he called henry louis gates jr., quote, jungle monkey four times. he was reacting to "boston globe's" column about gates' arrest when he wrote and he said in part, if i was the officer gates verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, i would have sprayed him in the face with o.c. or pepper spray.

the commissioner and mayor want him to be fired. late last night, barrett and his attorney spoke to our affiliate and tried to backtrack. >> i am sorry that i wrote that. i'm sorry that my family has to deal with this selfish motivation and feelings that i had. i regret i used such words as -- i have so many friends -- every type of culture and race that you can name. i'm not a racist. >> justin barrett didn't call henry gates a jungle monkey. he stated the behavior was like that of one. it's a characterization of the actions of that man. >> a fine line, john. >> i would not want my

attorney -- well, i don't know -- how can you? there's no defense. why hire a lawyer? and for what? >> and that one at that. >> we want to know what you think this morning. we welcome your comments, in fact, call our show hotline, 877-my-am-fix, and sound off about this. meantime, we're hours away from president obama welcoming henry louis gates jr. and the police officer who arrested him, sergeant james crowley to the white house. the men will gather around a picnic table, pop a few beers, and talk about the scandal that truly blew up when the president announced it on television last week. ed henry is with us this morning. the president said he hopes this is a teaching moment. what's he hoping to accomplish? >> the setting, the substance, and the suds for this beer summit. the setting is going to be the picnic table. that's on the south lawn of the white house. the president purchased that. he got a swing set with his

daughter. he's sitting out here with hillary clinton talking diplomacy. they have had their own differences in the campaign. he definitely believes this setting will bring people together. it's clear if you talk to the top aid on the substance that the president holds from this summit if you will to try to turn the temperature down on a situation that obviously got pretty hot in the last couple of weeks. as you noted the president saying he wants this to be a teachable moment. very clear from his initial comment at that news conferences that caused some controversy that the president nonetheless believes that a lot of people around the country, around the world, can learn from the fact that african-americans and latinos in this country have suffered from racial profiling over the years and something needs to be done about that. but by the same token, given the controversy of the original remarks, cambridge giving the police a fair shake, it's fair to say he wants people as well

to know that the police need to be listened to, cooperated with. and he wanted to hear from sergeant crowley as well. so, this is a real opportunity for the president to try to turn the temperature down on something that got hot in recent weeks. john. >> looking forward to see what comes out of that. you know, it always happens in washington. carol, you know about this too -- everything is under the microscope. even the type of beer they'll be drinking. now controversy over that. what are they talking about here? >> sergeant crowley wants a blue moon, professor gates wants a red stripe and the president is going to drink bud light. very politically correct in st. louis. now a democratic congressman from massachusetts ritchie neil has written the president a letter saying he wants him to serve sam adams. it's not only local to massachusetts and it's american run and budweiser, of course, is now owned by a foreign country. the president can use this as a

teachable moment as well. and say you don't have to just drink american beer, you can reach across the pond as well. >> beer datante. >> talking about the same thick -- why aren't they drinking sam adams? thanks so much. we'll talk to you later on this morning. other stories new this morning -- key republican senators say a bipartisan vote will not happen until after the august recess. not something the president wanted to hear. he's hoping the so-called gang of six senators could jump start the overhaul and the house conservative blue dog democrats struck a deal with the leadership to clear a way for the full house after the august break. the two hotels bombed in indonesia that have reopened and a terrorist group is claiming responsibility for these attacks. american businessmen of the jakarta hotels were the targets. they claim to be the indonesian

arm of al qaeda. we don't know if the message is authentic. the attacks killed nine, injured 50 others. troops in iraq may be going home early. robert gates on the way back from the visit in that country saying the security is better than expected. the better than 5,000 troops could leave ahead of schedule. most forces will stay in iraq until the elections in january. now the video you have to see before you head to work. check this out. this is dash cam video from utah. just your typical run-of-the-mill car chase. it's interesting as the car pulls off the road here and headed for sanctuary. typical car chase -- meandering through the streets. then, look at this -- oh, that's a 7-year-old boy. 7 years old behind the wheel of the car. >> the police officer can't outrun that boy. >> of course not, they run like

jack rabbits when they're 7 years old. he swiped the car to avoid going to church. guess who's going to be going to church every day of his life until he's 18. no one was hurt, no charges were filed. not your typical scene where the perpetrator jumps out of the car, is it? >> still laughing from that. house democrats. start the compromise in health care. moving forward. we'll talk to blue dog democratic congressman earl pom roy next.

is it a breakthrough or

breakdown on the house in health care. the so-called blue dogs took down the roadblock after striking a deal on the most contentious issues. the liberal wing in the party is up in arm calling it a spike in health care. one called it outrageous. it's good to see. are you ready to vote for this bill? >> the bill made progress in negotiations this week. now going to see we take a positive vote and each of the committees jurisdictions in the house would have passed the health care bill out and take this out and work with our districts over the august recess period, people get a chance to give us input on what they like about the bill before we vote in september. >> it's important to hear from your constituents before putting it to a vote? >> that's exactly -- the key blue dog demand was not hold a house vote until we had a chance

to discuss it at length with our districts. >> okay, three really big changes, i guess, that allowed the blue dogs to at least issue some sort of support for this bill, if not lower it outright. it lowers it costs -- brings the total cost to below $1 trillion. it exempts small businesses with payrolls less than $500,000. and in terms of the public plan, it won't use medicare schedules for payments, it will negotiate rates comparable for private plans. what does that mean for people who buy health insurance? >> it's going to mean that -- the thrust of this bill is that american families will always know they can buy health insurance for their family. right now, that's not the case. it's an important part of the reform and the changes made in the negotiations this week, i believe, mean that the newly competitive insurance marketplace is going to be fair and going to work well under the long term with efforts to keep

the out-of-control-costs comparable. we're trying to change what doesn't work and keep what works. >> conservative democrats are becoming more comfortable with this as a result of the deal. >> there's a split decision. seven blue dogs on the committee, four will support, three not. rather than a breakthrough, we look at it with a little progress, the bill will come out of committee, but there's a lot of work on both sides to make sure that the majority members are comfortable with it. hopefully we'll get minority members as well. >> the liberals are decrying this deal that was made between mike rossa and henry waxman. mike woolsley said, quote, i think they have no idea how many people are against it. they can't be taking us seriously if they're going to bring this forward. are you creating a new split in

the democratic party? >> democrats don't all think alike. they come from different parts of the country. they have strong views. poll one way, you offend some, poll it another way, you offend others. the speaker of the house has a challenging job as we try to pull it together. democrats are united in trying to improve our health care system. we want to make sure families have insurance to be able to get the coverage that family needs, more unites us than divides us. we have differences to iron out. >> congressman, some critics are wondering how much of the blue dog opposition is driven by special interests. 2008, you were the number three in health industry, tenth in congress in the health care industry overall. what do you say to your own party that claim it's all driven by special interests on your part. >> you're trying to improve the bill. i'm the only former insurance commissioner in congress. so i spent a good deal of time many my earlier years working

with how the insurance system worked. how we make things better for american consumers and that's the role on crime to play as health moves forward in the house. >> earl pomeroy, good to talk to you. we hope to get back to you after the august recess and see where your constituents are on all this. we appreciate you being with us. thanks. >> thank you, carol. later today, the president will hold a sort of -- well, it's a beer summit. sergeant crowley will be there, professor gates will be there. the president hopes it's a teachable moment. the most effective tool the president will be using is beer. we'll explain. it's 18 minutes past the hour. i've been growing algae for 35 years. most people try to get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful.

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. christine romans is minding your business this morning in a little madoff news today. it just keeps coming. a court-appointed trustee is

suing ruth madoff for $45 million more. ruth madoff is not charged with a crime but she's the wife of the ponzi schemer, bernie madoff. she's been allowed to keep $2.5 million. she's given up the palm beach estate, the montauk estate, the yachts, the cars, the fur coats, the whole bit. now the court-appointed trustee says we want to go after another $45 million. they can reach back six years before this arrest, before this scam was found and look at where she was transferring money, even back to her black amex. to see if there's more money they can get her. her attorney calls this whole thing perplexing. she's forfeited all the money. and she's not giving anything. she almost forfeited to the united states attorney's office almost all of the assets named in this complaint. the trustees action is wrong as

a matter of law and fairness. she's living a different standard of living. >> they have to give back all the things they bought with robbing the sfwhang. >> basically. $2 million left. sounds like they'll go after that and future money she'll make. i don't know how she can make any money other than social security going forward. meanwhile, there was a courthouse interview with bernie madoff in north carolina where he's sitting in the pen. this is the attorney for victims of bernie madoff. this is what he says bernie is doing now. >> he exercises, he walks around the track. he spends a lot of time reading and he's got a job. he's in the -- the sign factory if you want to call it that where he paints sign and clerks to make sure signs get painted. it's a long way from wall street. >> and that's the attorney for the victims of madoff. now he's painting signs. clerks for painting signs.

>> why would bernie madoff talk to these people? i'm curious. >> i think they sat down. a couple of attorneys got him to sit down for 4 1/2 hours to tell the story. to tell the story because they were going to continue to pursue the rest of his family, i think. he wanted to tell the story of how he did it. it was in the '90s. not sophisticated at all. the bernie would think, oh, boy, they got me now. every time he sat down with the sec and said, wow, they've got me now. >> amazing. >> speaking of rich people and their money -- who doesn't love the subject? 400 -- it has to do with a clemency program at the irs. the irs is going after wealthy tax dodgers, people with a lot of money who put their money in offshore accounts. they have until september 23 to declare their incomes that they have sitting offshore and the irs says 400 people just last week came forward, four times as many as all last year.

so apparently people out there nervous they're going to be treated like mr. madoff. >> thank you so much. we talk about the dangers of texting while you're driving. a study outthe other day shows it dramatically increases your chances of getting to an accident. he takes a wheel in a high-tech simulator and starts texting while he was driving. wait until you see the results of what he's doing. >> he can't drive without texting. >> 25 minutes after the hour. check, please.

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to ensure our forces are safer and stronger. to take the world we share to tomorrow and beyond. announcer: around the globe, the people of boeing are working together-- to make a difference. that's why we're here. welcome back to the most news in the morning, happy hour is coming to the white house tonight. president obama hopes it will be

happy when louis gates jr. and sergeant crowley join him for a beer. >> they hope it won't be like the cartoon. tastes great, less filling. there it is. he hopes it won't be like that. no accident that the president is serving beer at his learning moment shindig tonight. first as he says in the past, he never turns down a beer. and second, a political fool, frosty, to level the playing field, really? >> it's a strategy that's spawned more than a few clever headlines like this one in the huffington post. obama named thursday drink a beer with someone who arrested you day or this one, "beer and loathing at the white house." it's tough to say if his diplomacy will help, but it may level the playing field between professor, president, and police officer. a tried and true tactic.

>> let's commit ourselves, everyday, american people, joe six pack. >> who can forget that. sarah palin is a master at appealing to the common sense average joe and she used a six pack to do it. in the democratic primary, hillary clinton tried something harder but mostly stuck with beer. and barack obama played to the beer-drinking crowd too, enjoying a few brews on the campaign trail. perhaps the only misstep in the latest beer diplomacy strategy is not inviting all parties to the shindig as to the woman who called 911 to report there was someone breaking in to professor gates' house. this is her lawyer. >> for the three highly trained guys who reacted bad by are getting together for a beer at the white house. but the one person whose actions have been kpefrp lair will be at work tomorrow at cambridge. i don't know, maybe it's a guy thing.

she doesn't like beer anyway. >> they can't make everyone happy. you can't. >> on the subject of beer, you wouldn't want to say, hey, let's go have a glass of wine together. you say, let's throw back a beer. >> some parts of new england you might do that -- martha's vineyard has george bush described it. how he described them. how i described them. been to the vineyard many times. >> i think that made it worse. >> there you go. >> half past the hour. checking the top stories now. federal law officials telling cnn that conrad murray is, quote, the only one they're looking at in the criminal investigation of the singer's death. and jackson's personal chef is recounting the frantic moments inside the house on the day that jackson died. she said jackson's children and staff gathered to pray as he was rushed to the hospital. the national average for unleaded regular is $2. 2

slightly higher than yesterday and the ninth straight daily increase. the average price of gas has gone up five cents in the past week. >> that brings back memories, rather, of a plane in the hudson river. a bird strike forced an american airlines plane to make an emergency landing in st. louis yesterday. the pilot noticed the bird fly into the engine as the plane took off. they landed a few minutes later. everyone onboard, thankfully, are safe. >> oh the laws against texting and driving could be as common as seat belt laws. ban the habit or lose the risk of losing federal highway money. drivers are 23% more likely to crash while texting. jason carroll now here to show you how dangerous it is. fascinating thing you did. went into a simulator. >> state of the art. did not do well. surprisingly, did not do well when it came down to it. here's what happened.

in the last three years, researchers at the university of utah have studied the effects of driving while using the cell phone. bottom line, texting or talking hands free, you are increasing your chances of crashing. five new york high school students killed, the driver texting before the accident. this bus driver caught on tape texting just before his crash. despite all the warnings. despite the risks, drivers say it is still common. >> texting, i think, is distracting. trying to keep awake and that. >> reporter: maybe drivers would try more if they knew what he learned with this driving simulator here at the university of utah. >> text messaging is a level of impairment that exceeds what we see of someone who is driving while they're drunk. >> exceeds it. >> driving while texting more take rouse than driving drunk? researchers found the driver with an alcohol level of .08,

legally drunk in most states is four times more likely to crash while texting and crashing, eight times more. >> you should be alarmed if you see someone texting as they're driving next to you. >> this simulator may look elaborate video game, it's science here. it records brain activity and more. for our purposes, a simple test. >> 65 is okay in the state of ut snut. >> he puts me in the simulator. >> send an e-mail and text message. >> a few insults from colleagues. >> she's sent me a text message. you're the dumbest person i know. you can't type when standing on two feet. who could drive with these kinds of insults? i couldn't. several near collisions. a study released by the virginia tech transportation institute using real drivers found a truck

driver's risk of accident 23 times higher while text messaging. the risk of using a cell phone hands free, slightly higher. hands free is still dangerous. >> people look but don't see important information. >> five states prohibit while talking on cell phones, 14 while messaging. now some have proposed a federal law requiring all states to ban teching while driving. >> texting while driving is even more dangerous than driving drunk. >> the proposed legislation also says states that do not ban texting or e-mailing while driving risk losing highway funds. i asked the professor what he's going to take. he says it will be a grassroots effort, much like the way madd got started. mothers against drunk driving. those that got together and pressured lawmakers to make a

change. >> did you crash? >> i never did crash. i came close to several crashes several times after the insulting e-mails from my colleagues there. >> i wanted to ask you, before the simulator thing, did you think texting while driving affected your driving that much? >> i did not. i am a good driver. i got a 98 on my driver's test in california. i thought i was a good driver. i thought i could do it. you're there and you see how easily you got distracted. >> i like the person who said you're the dumbest person i know, dumest -- >> that's alina cho for you. >> guilty of texting behind the wheel? scared of other drivers that do it? go to our blog, cnn.com/amfix. more scary driving stories. the kid in morning who was driving a train -- we have pictures and we're going to talk

to the guy who took the pictures, this little guy driving a train of people through new york.

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♪ everybody going to jump and shout ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. a quick check of the stories coming up on our a.m. rundown right now. extreme weather on the radar. rob marciano is going to tell us where things will be bad today. mesh's home grown terror threat. one-on-one with janet napolitano. the risk of what's being done to keep us safe. we should point out that's going to be tomorrow morning. a critic of president obama's health care plan. the president's former personal physician. you'll hear what worries him about the plan. kiran? new yorkers will tell you they've seen strange things underground on the subway. take our next guest, for example. the past weekend, he saw a child 8 or 9 years old in the train operators's cab and said it appears she was teaching the boy how to run the train. she snapped a picture with his cell phone before getting on

train. he joins us now. >> the story is unbelievable. even new york, shocking. >> you said you snapped the picture because you didn't think people would believe you. >> people say crazy things. you tell a friend and say that couldn't happen. this happened. >> you're sitting on the train. when does this first come to your attention that the child might be in the driver's seat of this subway train? >> left work, going home to watch a u.s. soccer game. and i heard someone kind of yelling instruction. but it didn't sound like a co-worker and a co-worker but a mother and a child. the tone was like that. >> what was she saying to the boy? >> the words, green, go, yellow, slow down. and that was kind of -- the mta has to have better instructed than this if they don't know that green means go. >> and at this time, the train was moving. >> yes. yes. >> doing a good job.

>> unreal. it was going and then we eventually -- the train stopped at union square and the train was delayed a little bit and all of a sudden a young boy came out and announced why the train was delayed. >> the little boy popped out and said why the train was delay? >> at this point, i didn't know that. he popped out and made the announcement. everybody on the train kind of nervously looked around and giggled like did that really just happen. and it's kind of shocking and he went back in. at that point i went up to the cab to kind of investigate and see what's going on. >> you went up to the cab to investigate. what did they tell you? >> i didn't say anything. i looked -- the window is fogged out, grayed out. so i leaned up. at that point, i saw the kid -- i saw the small individual and

the larger individual standing at the controls, which kind of shocked me. and i got out my camera because i didn't think it was safe. i didn't know if it was against the rules or illegal, but i thought it was kind of shocking. so i put the camera -- you know, pressed it up against the window. you can see the pictures in my reflection. held it up. at that point, somebody in there said, it's a camera. and i snapped it. >> all of this was happening, certainly in your mind, because we've had some pretty terrible train crashes lately. you know, washington, d.c. being the most recent example where people lost their lives. was that going through your mind as you saw the kid at the controls? >> i brought it to the press' attention. i talked to the mta and surgeon general office after it happened. provided the photo and told them what happened. we're incumbent, we're american

citizens, keep an eye out for each other. don't assume you're on public tran port everything is run properly. see something, say something, take a picture and make somebody aware of it and hopefully something will get done. >> i'm looking. do we have an mta statement? we do? okay. there it is. the new york city transit rules. the presence of an unauthorized person in the cab of a subway train is expressly forbidden and viewed as a serious infraction. depending on the outcome of the investigation, disciplinary charges may be filed against the employees you. have evidence in the picture. most assuredly something will happen. an investigation is under way. >> i didn't want this young man to get in any trouble. i don't want the conductor or the driver to lose their jobs over this. i just think it's a -- like president obama said, these are teachable moments and that hopefully something good comes

out of it. you know, i didn't want something to happen in a couple of weeks. a train being in an accident and people get injured or killed. and to think, god, i didn't do anything and hopefully this makes the system a little bit safer. >> good you have that handy cell phone with the camera in it. thanks so much. stick around. we're watching extreme weather as well. the latest for you from that front. it is 44 minutes past the hour.

we are watching extreme weather across the morning. rob marciano is all warmed up in atlantic city. you're watching storms in the dallas area? >> the warning has been extended eastward to the dallas area as well. the radar scope, a severe thunderstorm watch is in effect after the last couple of hours. the line continues to barrel to the east. here it is. the pink area is hail and also dallas county, those are the areas that are under a tornado warning for the next 30 minutes here as this line continues to move off to the east. radar indicated -- if you live in the dallas area, take cover. you're getting up, getting ready for work. hunker down for the next 10, 20 minutes until this line heads out of your way. it's a serious situation. if the tornado doesn't drop out of the cars, there's enough umpf

in the atmosphere to cause winds in excess of 60 miles per hour and that can do damage also. tranquil rain wisconsin to chicago. that might slow things down. the rains across the northeast coming to an end for now. northern northeast parts of the country in a bit of a flood watch for the time being. but more thunderstorms possible. not so much today, but if you head towards tomorrow for new york. 81 in atlanta. more record breaking across the pacific northwest. carol, john, they broke all-time records for places like seattle and western oregon. they can beg for some of the rain if dallas can't take any. if you live in dallas, take cover. the next 20 minutes, the rough weather there. >> what did it hit in seattle? 104? >> 103 -- it's an all-time record. vancouver, washington, 108. portland 106. regardless, a lot of folks up there don't have air conditioning. they're sweltering.

>> check back with the tornado watch. appreciate it. >> you got it. a lot of concern about home grown terrorists. janet napolitano is talking about that and how america is protecting itself. mary snow talked with her. talk with her live tomorrow. more after the break. it's 49 minutes past the hour. ♪ ♪ 'cause now i'm driving off the lot in a used sub-compact. ♪ ♪ f-r-e-e, that spells free credit report dot com, baby. ♪ ♪ saw their ads on my tv ♪ thought about going but was too lazy ♪ ♪ now instead of looking fly and rollin' phat ♪ ♪ my legs are sticking to the vinyl ♪ ♪ and my posse's getting laughed at. ♪ ♪ f-r-e-e, that spells free- credit report dot com, baby. ♪

♪ new york, new york ♪ new york welcome back to the most news in the morning. nine minutes till the top of the hour. homeland security secretary janet innapolitano wants us allo get involved in fighting terrori terrorists.

she gave major addresses from outside and here at home. mary snow has the rundown of napolitano's new york city trip. john, carol, one thing that became clear is that the secretary of the department of homeland security feels it's imperative that the public plays a role in counterterrorism efforts. and we get a chance to ask her about the threat from home grown terrorists. visiting ground zero for the first time, the nation's homeland security chief, secretary janet napolitano tored the site of the worst terrorist attack on u.s. soil and spoke of constantly changing threat. >> home grown, radicalized, violent extremism. we need to be watchful for. >> napolitano wouldn't say how worried she is about the north carolina arrest and suspects accused of planning to commit violent jihad overseas. but a document shows cnn indicate anti-terrorism officials are concerned, urging police agencies to be on the alert for the home grown

terrorists. besides the north carolina case, there are instances of americans going to somalia to help militants and a new york man going to pakistan to join al qaeda. >> is it a new wave, do you think, of american-bred terrorism. >> not a new wave. but it's correct to say we've had a number just since i've become secretary. and it's something that we are monitoring. not just monitoring, but looking out closely with the federal partners and salo call law enforcement, they have the first eyes on the ground. >> to make her point about the need to work with local partners, the secretary worked with the mayor and police commissioner on the new york city subway. she announced millions in federal money for security for the transit system seen as a primary terrorist target. the theme of her visit and the speech she delivered while here was the need for the government not just to protect the public

but look for citizens for useful information to thwart a terrorist attack. >> the consequences of living in a state of fear rather than a state of preparedness are enormous. we may be better prepared as a nation than we were on 9/11 but nowhere as prepared as we need to be. >> the terrorists are living in a web 2.0 world requiring new ways of thinking. one thing that the department has done recently is hire a former computer hacker to identify weaknesses in the country's cybernetwork. john, carol? >> talk about health care reform too on american morning. coming up, why president obama's former doctor is against this health care plan. >> you know this, is such an emotional issue. we had earl pomeroy on. one of the blue dog democrats. getting e-mail. why are you having this guy on? all you want to do is block health care. the emotions are running high. >> it's going to cost everybody so much money, supposedly.

>> so many people have vested interest in this. the left, the right. it's incredible. so what do you think?

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. lawmakers won't be agreeing on health care reform anytime soon. september at the earliest. but doctors are gathered on capitol hill today to see if they can influence the outcome, including the president's former doctor from chicago. and you might be surprised by whose side he's on. our jim acosta met with him and he's not holding back. john, carol, president obama talks often about all of the forces lining up against his health care plan. but there's one critic you may not have heard from in this debate, mr. obama's former doctor, david shiner, he's passionate in his belief that the president's plan won't work. >> yeah, hi. >> chicago doctor david shiner has taken a hard look at president obama's prescription for health care reform and sees bad medicine. >> this isn't the kind of health

care program that i think is going to work. >> reporter: what makes dr. schiener so special? he was barack obama's personal physician for 22 years. he voted for mr. obama. but the doctor thinks the president's plan doesn't go far enough. >> i had to say a single one thing, which is the worst part of it, is that private insurance companies continue to be a part of the health scheme. everybody keeps saying we don't want the government getting involved in health care. the government is involved in health care and medicare and it wo works. >> reporter: schiener would rather see the nation involved in a single payer system like the ones in canada and europe. something an up and coming state senator of obama talked about six years ago. >> i happen to be a proponent of the single payer health care reform. we may not get there immediately. first we have to take back the white house and we have to take back the senate and we have to take back the congress.

>> during that campaign, the position evolved. >> if i were designing a system from scratch, then i'd set up a single payer system. but the problem is, we're not starting from scratch. >> this sabt the future. >> now the president favors giving americans the option of joining a government-run plan that would compete with private insurers. >> nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care. i'm tired of hearing that. >> reporter: dr. schiener points out no one has seen the details of that option making it a hard sell for the president. >> we don't know fully what the option is going to be. if the public option is too good, patients who are sick will flock to it and i'm not sure it will support itself. >> reporter: schiener almost had a chance to confront the president with his concerns. he was invited to a recent televised town hall with mr. obama. but he says he was blocked from the program. >> hoping congress and the

american public and the president would hear some of my words. we've got to do something better. >> reporter: dr. schiener will have a chance to have a say here in washington. he and other doctors who support a single payer system are gathering at the capital to meet with lawmaker and rally with supporters. he was may not be the president's doctor but he's trying to save the patient before it's too late. john, carol? thanks, jim acosta. hello to you. i'm carol costello in for kiran chetry this morning. >> john roberts. thursday, the 30th of july. thanks for joining us for the most news in the morning. here are the stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. the boston cop suspended for calling henry gates jr., quote, a banana-eating jungle monkey. that's what he said. he made the remark in an e-mail to a newspaper reporter. we're in boston this morning. the only doctor they're looking at in the michael jackson case is conrad murray.

the doctor's finances are a mess. randi kaye has new details on the money troubles and what jackson's chef witnessed. that's coming up. >> president obama poked fun at the national news magazine yesterday for claiming the recession is over. we'll show you what he said and how the audience reacted. but first, can a couple of cold ones chill some hot temp tempers? henry gates jr. and police sergeant crowley head to the white house to throw one back with the president. the gesture hoping to smooth over what's been a flash point for race relations across america. and just when it looked like the controversy was beginning to cool down, a boston police officer reignited things all over again by hitting the send button. the job is at risk over an e-mail in which he called professor gates, quote, a banana-eating jungle monkey. he's in the national guard. he sent the mass e-mail to other members of the guard and to "the boston globe." venting over a column on

professor gates. he uses the phrase jungle monkey not once, not twice, not three, but four times. three referring to gates, and once calling the writings of president abraham lincoln, quote, jungle monkey gibberish. gates, if he had been the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, i would have sprayed him with oc, or pepper spray. the comments were offensive and hurtful. but officer barrett and his attorney launched a defense of so sorts. >> i am sorry i wrote that. i'm sorry that the family has to deal with the selfish motivation and feelings that i had. i regret that i used such words as -- i have so many friends of -- every type of culture and race you can name. and i'm not a racist. >> justin barrett didn't call henry gates a jungle monkey.

he stated his behavior was like that of one. and it was a characterization of the actions of that man. >> i am sorry for the content of the e-mail. i'm sorry for how people are reacting to it. especially my fellow police officers. i am not a racist. i never have been, never will be. i treat people with dignity and respect every time. >> maybe at some point during that whole run of sound you did what we did this morning and you said -- >> what? >> what? so let's play again for you the explanation that attorney peter marano gives for what the officer wrote. >> justin barrett didn't call henry gates a jupgle monkey. -- jungle monkey to malign him racially. he stated his behavior was like that of one. it was a characterization of the actions of that man.

>> so he didn't call him a jungle monkey. he only said he acted like one. >> there's a fine line between the -- >> lord. >> i know. maybe the police officer is trying to save his job because, you know, at the height of this racial inferno, he sends this to "the boston globe"? it would be pretty hard for the boston police department to say, well, we'll just suspend you. >> some people should think long and hard before they hit the send button. >> they sent it to "the boston globe." he didn't think the -- >> at any rate, the woman who called police about a possible break-in says she feels vindicated now. the 191 tapes are out and she's talking to the press. we're tracking that side of the story for us this morning. she's live in boston. good morning, elaine. >> good morning to you, john. i was at that news conference yesterday when she spoke out. you know, she basically said she has been through the emotional ringer and she wanted to set the record straight.

joined by her husband and her attorney, lucille wailin reluctantly came before the camera. >> cambridge is a wonderful place. and when i was called racist, and i was a target of scorn and ridicule because of the things i never said. >> what she never said in her 911 call to cambridge police was that she saw two black men. >> only one -- >> well, there were two larger men, one looks kind of hispanic but i'm not really sure. and the other one entered and i didn't see what he looked like at all. >> reporter: in his police report, sergeant james crowley said he spoke to wailin on the scene and she described that, quote, what appeared to be two black males with backpacks. that's not whalen said she said.

>> the only words i exchanged where i was the caller and he pointed to me and said, stay right there. nothing more than that. >> asked about the discrepancy, a cambridge police spokesman said that's an issue that could be remooviewed in the future. it gave whalen vindication. >> now that the tapes are out, i hope people can see that i tried to be careful and honest with my words. >> reporter: and despite everything, whalen said she'd do it all again. >> you have to know we are concerned, we're concerned citizens. you should do the right thing. if you see something that seems suspicious, i would do the same thing. >> now, as for today's white house beer summit, whalen's attorney suggested her client's

forthright acts should have earned her an invitation too. wendy murphy joked about it and said, well, i don't know, it's a guy thing. but she doesn't like beer anyway. >> why would she want to be there? thanks so much. more on the michael jackson saga. michael jackson's father says he believes his son had a secret love child. it's true. joe jackson claiming this young man sitting with the jackson family at the memorial service could be michael's fourth child. he's 25 years old. and here's how michael jackson's father broke it to news one. >> michael may have had another child. omar is his name? and everybody was like, oh, i was sitting there right next to rebpie. and everyone was trying to connect some dots. do you know that as michael's other son? >> yes, i knew he had another son. yes, i did. >> and he looks like a jackson.

>> oh, yes, he looks like a jackson, acts like a jackson, can dance reich a jackson. >> that's proof. cnn has not been able to confirm joe jackson's name. we're reaching out for a response. but he has denied being michael jackson's son before. there was only one doctor at michael jackson's side when he died and that would be dr. conrad murray. and investigators are now saying he's the only doctor in their sights. randi kaye has details of his finances and what it was like inside jackson's home on the morning he died. >> reporter: john, carol, a federal law enforcement official telling us now that, quote, dr. murray is the only one they're looking at. now we know that other doctors' records have been subpoenaed, but clearly now with three search warrants now served on dr. conrad murray's property, he's become the central focus. his lawyer told us they were searching those properties looking for evidence in the

offense of manslaughter. dr. murray's lawyer's office told me they don't think an arrest is imminent because they haven't seen any proof or a final autopsy report. murray's loan from the bank for a home in las vegas was $1.65 million. he turn failed to make his payment of just over $15,000 last january and has been racking up debt every since. i called his attorney about this. a spokeswoman confirmed he is facing the threat of foreclosure and told me, quote, he was to be paid $150,000 a month by michael jackson. he was not paid by aeg, that's the tour promoter, or jackson for the two months he worked for them. so he is low on money. meanwhile, if dr. murray fails to pay up by mid august, he could lose his house. we have insight to report about jackson's final morning at his home. the personal chef is talking. she's telling cnn dr. murray used to come down to get michael jackson's breakfast around 10:00 a.m. on june 25, the day jackson

died, the doctor did not come downstairs until noon. the chef says at that point, dr. murray came running half rey down the stairs leading to the kitchen in the house screaming, hurry, get prince, get security. the house became chaotic. the security guards were rushing around. the housekeepers were screaming and that michael jackson's daughter paris was screaming, daddy, daddy. the chef said everyone governmenter in a circle and they all prayed at that point. finally, we've learned that this jackson case is not the first time dr. murray has had a brush with the law. he was charge in a domestic abuse case in arizona back in 1994. deputies apparently responsibilitied to a domestic abuse call. we've confirmed dr. murray was arrested for, quote, domestic violence disorderly conduct. we're told by two police and the county attorney that his girl friend ape 'cused him of having an affair and threw something at him and dr. murray allegedly pushed her down. he was acquitted about five months later.

john, carol, back to you in los angeles. >> keeps getting uglier, doesn't it? >> like a big onion, keep peeling back the layers and something else pops up. president obama, his approval rating down ten points since the end of june. is it the typical six-month slide? or is something else at work?

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. new gallup poll numbers put president obama's approval ratings to a new low. 53% of those asked to approve of the president's job. the number that disapprove now up to 39%. as for the president's health care reform, two key senate republicans now say there's no way they'll have a deal before congress's august recess next week. over the house, a plan for

conservative democrats are upsetting liberals. for more on this, a senior advisor for the republican national committee. and karen phinney the former communications director for the dnc. health care, a little bit of movement in the senate now saying they're not going to have a vote by next friday. blue dogs in the house say they have a deal. liberals are up in arms. where do we stand in health care? is it too much push-pull going on? >> i think the pressure is going to be on to get something done. i hope that what happens is as members of congress go home over the recess, they are confronted with constituents who want to know, look, we voted for change. what's going on here. part of what we're seeing, though, is the impact of the negative advertising and the spin control that i think actually the republicans have put the democrats on defense, unfortunately. and unfortunately, we saw this movie back in the '90s. so i'm hoping -- we're all hoping that the democrats can kind of get it together.

it's good news, whether we're seeing on the house side with the blue dogs. obviously there's going be a little more work being done over there. on the senate side, look, a number of senators have drawn a line in the sand and made it clear we have to get a public option despite of what the so-called gang of six on the finance committee is trying to do. so clearly a lot of issues to hash out. obviously august is going to be a lot of activity from the rnc and the dnc? >> what will happen? does it go anywhere or will it get weighed down by its own lack of momentum now? >> the longer it's out there, the worse it is for president obama. at some point at the end of the day, there will be some type of health care reform, whatever form that may be in, it is still up in the air. i think obviously it's going to be something that's going to be tackled as soon as the members get back in session. i will say that it seems at this point, though, that the plue dogs, the president felt like the blue dogs were making him

look bad and he had to make some concessi concessions. he sold this as a cost-cutting plan where government is it going to come in and solve all of the problems and had to pivot off of that, realizing that the real unpopularity of the american people. some might give credit for that and give the blue dogs credit for that as well. they used to say for president bush, when both sides are mad at you, you might be doing something right. it applies here as well. >> same thing at cnn. the approval rating. the latest approval rating is 53% down from 58% a couple of weeks ago and down from 63% in late june. what's going on. is it typical of what happens after six months? do you have problems pushing the poll numbers down? >> first of all, when you start somewhere in the '70s, you know it won't last forever. six months in. things are tough. they're getting better. but people are still feeling the pain.

and there's still a lot of anxiety out there. again, i think some of this has to do with what we've seen the attacks from the republicans, from the right. and again i think the white house and the democrats need to get back on often and talk about proactively what was accomplished in the last six months. you have republican members out there talking about, well, the stimulus plan is a failure when we're six months in. >> did you have that much of an impact? you guys that good? >> well, i think republicans would like to take as much credit -- look, the hiring of this pointing the finger backwards and continuing to blame a past administration. at some point, you have to buck up, step up, take responsibility for your own actions and for your own proposals and plans. if popularity side, the president has been popular. the policies have not been popular. the likability factor has not kept up -- is not keeping up with the reality. and the reality is, this.

>> -- these policies are not popular with the american people. >> don't want to talk about happy hour after this. >> i disagree. part of what's going on here, people trust the president, they do like him. what is interesting is in the next layer of the polls and asked about some of the merits of these programs, they do like it. they do understand. part of this is there's spending going on in the surface as people are able to dig in and understand a little more like a health care policy, for example. they do like it. >> he ran as a centrist. he's governing as a liberal. that is what you're seeing. >> well, the left is angry at him. the right is angry at him. it's in the senate. >> we want to talk about happy hour here. there's the question -- it will be a little private get together. the public won't be allowed in. we won't know what's going on, the dialogue. is it sub stabs, suds? what needs to happen for this to be a teachable moment for

america and we'll get you to ring in. >> i first asked about the media, me included, to be a little more responsible in how we characterize this. certainly we understand the appeal of the president and the appeal of wanting to sit down with him, but at the same time, the issue is delving in to what the issues are going to be. not bantering about what kind of beer these guys will have. but the issue is whether the conversation will be moved forward. i don't know that it will be. i don't know if it will be more than a photo-op at this point. i hope it will be more than that. is gate going to apologize for overreacting. is the president going to apologize for throwing the entire police department under the bush in front of a national audience. how are we going to move the conversation forward about racial profiling? is it going to build upon a federal ban on racial profiling that we have? those are the kinds of things that americans would like to see coming out of this, not what

kind of beer americans are having. >> we have the responsibility for what comes out of this meeting is really on all of us. what the president has done, let the three of us come together and let the three of us have a conversation. i hope what comes out of it is not big pronouncements, but, you noah, three guys sitting down talking to one another. that's how we break down racial stereotypes and prejudices. when you have the opportunity to talk to somebody or be exposed to somebody who's different than you are saying, you know, that person -- i have something in common with them. that's how we break that down. some people are criticizing this as a potential for a photo on. we can't know what an impact seeing though images will be. for younger people, they may see those pictures and think, wow, these two guys are going to sit down together. we should think about how i deal with that in my own life. so pictures can be very powerful.

>> after this meeting and see what they have to say. thanks to see you. >> interesting conversation. "newsweek" had an interesting cover. the recession is over. is it really over, though? even the president took, well, he doesn't quite believe it either. we'll delve into this more. 21 after the hour.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. so, "newsweek" magazine is having a little fun with the economy with the latest story featuring a big blue balloon which reeds "the recession is over." what a great fantasy is.

and the cover caught the president's eyes. >> i don't know whether you've seen the latest cover of "newsweek" magazine on the rack of the grocery store. but the cover says, "the recession is over." now, i imagine that you might have found the news a little startling. i know i did. >> but, "newsweek" is already responding to the president in an article on-line and they're pointing out, the president seems to have missed the asterisk that adds -- good luck surviving the recovery. it's a joke. >> that's the whole thing. once the recovery begins, it's not going to feel any different for anybody. >> in there ready to talk too. >> oh, yeah, listen. everybody is talking about a recovery in home prices and home sales. and home values. the biggest asset you're going to buy. you want to go buy a house.

the numbers for realty track for the first half of the everything happening in the market is uneven. this is normal because it's local. the top city for foreclosures. what happens in vegas stays in foreclosure court, i guess. incredible the number of fort closures in vegas. ft. myers, florida, tough there. some of the cities in california are still up 60%, 70% from last year. the number of foreclosures. the number of foreclosures in big cities like seattle, phoe x phoenix. phoenix foreclosures and phoenix cut in half now from the peak. miami, tampa. a few places where the foreclosures are tapering off. st. louis, baltimore, new york, houston, boston. look at denver -- cleveland, the

beginning of this whole thing, cleveland's foreclosures have come down. that's because there are so many foreclosures there aren't more houses to foreclose on in some of these neighborhoods. it's a sign cooling off there. depending on where you live, the foreclosures are beginning to come off. the ceos in for the treasury department with a talking to why five months in to it why we haven't been able to modify some of the loans and refinance some of the loans. they haven't gotten that part of the equation right yet. >> it's just wrong. it's just wrong. >> i don't know how much of the home sales have been buying the foreclosed homes, investing, investments, and investors. >> suspect some of it. >> i'm pretty sure it's at least a quarter of it is that kind of activity. >> who has any money? first-time home buyers this, is a good time for first-time home buyers. i can't say it enough. it's a good time for the first time home buyers if you have a

job and you have money. >> health care, things are moving in the house a little bit. the blue dogs came up with a deal. what about the movement in the senate? the bipartisan representatives trying to put together a deal. talk with one of those people. senator charles grassley joins us coming up.

30 minutes after the hour here are this morning's top stories. the doctor at michael jackson's side when he died are the sole focus of investigators and there are new details of the money problems and the chaos inside michael jackson's home in the morning he died. indicted by a federal grand jury in washington. 89-year-old james von brawn is facing seven separate charges. could be looking at the death penalty. >> and a boston police officer could lose his job over an e-mail in which he called henry louis gates jr., quote, a banana-eating jungle monkey. officer justin barrett sent it to several people and "the

boston globe" responding to the article over the gates' controversy. he's apologized and the attorney has said this, rather, his client is not a racist. >> justin barrett didn't call henry gates a jungle monkey. to malign him racially. he stated his behavior was like that of one and it was a characterization of the actions of that man. >> okay. >> what can you say after that? i don't know -- i can't believe they went on camera after the e-mail became public. >> they're trying to clean up a big mess. >> i don't think they're doing a good job. >> on to health care. three democrats and three republicans on the finance committee known as the gang of six are breaking off talks on health care reform. the reason -- two were saying there's no way to cut a deal.

one of the two is iowa senator chuck grassley. he joins us live from capitol hill. good morning, senator. >> good morning. it would be better for me to say that instead of saying there's no way we can cut a deal, there's no way we can get all of the compromising that needs to be done by an artificial deadline of friday of this week. so we're going to continue to work together this week and next week. but we're getting close. >> what's the major sticking point? >> oh, there's several. if you looked at all of the things we have to deal with, it's a small subset of everything we have to do. it's 50% of all of the controversy involved in it. but the point is to answer your questions there's several things on the revenue that has to be raised. i think we have them figured out. a lot of detail in those issues that have to be compromised yet.

and then there's places that we have policy that has to be figured out. big things that were contenti s contentious, compromised. not going to be any government run insurance set up. through properties as we've known them for 150 years. another thing is we're not going to man date that every employee has to have insurance for his employees. we're not going to have the payroll taxes on the employers that the house bill and the kennedy bill does. those are things that have been tough things and differences between republicans and democrats.

>> lawmakers bring their ideas. health care reform bring back their constituents. and it's more complicated. all you reached for might go by the wayside because individual constituencies might say we don't like that. >> well, carol, isn't our country a democratic government? doesn't it rule? or isn't it supposed to rule from the grassroots up? and if what we're trying to do here can't meet the test of public opinion, should we be doing it? i mean, after all, this is a democracy. and these are complicated issues. if they can't be understood by the public, we're passing along -- affecting every citizen. it's a life or death situation. >> there are ads on television put out by the dnc and the rnc

that complicate the issue and say things that aren't quite true for political purposes. i think many people are confused by them. well, they have an opportunity to talk to us on the influence by outside sources and they can express our views to us and we ought to be able to explain this. if you can't explain something, it -- you know, you're in a bad situation in our country. >> that's true. so, okay, if you were a betting man, when do you think health care reform will become a reality in america? >> think how far we've come on this whole issue. it will be the only bipartisan

approach before the congress and it takes bipartisanship to get anything done. and it ought to be bipartisan when you're restructuring 1/6 of the economy and also when you're affecting a life or death situation of every citizen in your country. so i expect this progress we've made is pretty good indication that we'll get a bill to the president this fall. >> senator grassley, thank you for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. >> glad to be with you. homelessness in america is a huge problem, right? so many people have wrestled over what to do about it. one city -- more than one city got an interesting solution. but is it the right solution. is it good to just shift the problem overseas? alina cho is looking in to that. she's got the details on it coming right up. 36 1/2 minutes after the hour. i drove my first car from my parent's home in the north of england to my new job at the refinery in the south. i'll never forget. it used one tank of petrol and i had to refill it twice with oil. a new car today has 95% lower emissions than in 1970.

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plus up to $160 in offers. when you're ready to ship, we'll even pick them up for free, no matter how many you have. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. call or go online now to get started. welcome back to the most news in the morning. cities are giving out one-way tickets to get homeless people out of town. is it a solution or an out of sight quick fix? alina cho joins us from washington. good morning. some people call it heartless, some people call it a

compassionate program. it depends on who you ask. good morning. there's no question that homelessness is a huge problem in america. in gaichb year, 3.5 million americans are without a home. people want solutions. some cities, including the nation's largest, new york, are using the city dollars to ship the homeless out of tents. free plane tickets to places like paris, puerto rico, casablanca, train rides and bus rides too. the homeless. the the taxpayers are footing the bill. >> we used to call it in a negative way, greyhound therapy. if it's done right, it's a good therapy. >> the national coalition of the homeless says cities across the country are using taxpayer money to get rid of homeless people sending them to places where they can find a temporary home, mostly with relatives. >> giving the cost, providing shelter for family, this saves the taxpayers of new york an

enormous amount of money. >> new york city's department of homeless services says on average it costs $218 per person for a one-way ticket. the cost of housing a family of three, $36,000 a year. justin little and eugenia martin owned back rents on their apartment in north carolina. so with their 5-month-old daughter, they came to new york last week for a fresh start. with no money, they went to a shelter, then they got the help they needed from family members. so three days later, the city paid to send them back on a greyhound bus. >> they paid for our tickets, they gave us food on the bus because we had no money. they even called and made sure we made it here and everything. so i'm grateful. >> we felt pressured. we felt pressured that they wanted us to get out of the system, get out of the state and go somewhere else. it was right from jump. >> linda contez and her husband moved to new york a year ago after her florida home went in to foreclosure.

anyone can pay for tickets back to florida. contez works as an advocate for homeless rights says it took three months to convince social workers a return is not an option. >> they can have houses and by all means, why were they here in the beginning. they couldn't live where they were before, they came here for a reason -- to get housing. >> critics of the program call it cosmetics. by shipping the homeless out, you're shipping the problem, really, from one city to another. you're moving everybody from a shelter bed and they went to the homeless. as you say they heard in the piece, $36,000 a year to house a family in a shelter, you're looking at thousands of dollars in savings. the interesting thing you heard is linda contez, she and her husband live in a shelter.

they have fulltime jobs. she's an advocate. he's a sanitation worker. you can't have a apartment in new york. >> these folks are having trouble in other cities across america. why do they move to new york where it's so much more expensive to live. is it better for the homeless? >> it's one reason that they could find shelter. you heard mayor bloomberg say there's a legal obligation to provide shelter. it's one of the only cities in the country that has something called a shelter law. you cannot tell the homeless you're too full. you have to provide shelter. in cases where you cannot, this is what happens. a lot of people are asking, we're in a recession. is this the best way to be spending taxpayer dollars. the city argues, listen, $36,000 to have a family of three in a shelter for a year versus $218 per ticket, we're saving thousands of dollars. so, there's an argument either way for it. it's a controversial program.

one thing for sure, with this recession, there are more and more homeless people. the numbers are jumping and it's only going to get worse. >> great story, interesting one too. >> thanks. >> you bet. >> a rundown on the am rundown. here's what's on the "a.m. run down." folks in new york are divided on the coney island. will all of the charm be swallowed up by swanky hotels? and paging dr. gupta to get real answers to your questions about health care reform. >> and at 7:55 eastern, a big change in the relationship between washington and havana with a flip of the switch. we'll explain that one. 43 minutes past the hour.

♪ new york, new york >> 7:00 in new york. nasty thunderstorms last night. but today, just a chance of those storms coming back. the high of 88 degrees.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. new york's coney island is getting a facelift, and no one is disputing the fact it needs one. >> but some people think that the city's upscale renovation plans will kill coney island's character. we're joined live from one of america's most famous beach towns. a lot of controversy about this, richard. what's it all about? >> that's right. my camera man told me his parents met under the board walk here at coney island a couple of years ago. may have been a lot of drama back then. not like what's occurring now. the fight over the restoration of coney island. >>. >> reporter: coney island, a new york city institution. the beach, the rides, yes, the freak shows. >> getting the hot dogs down! that's a true champion. >> of course, the hot dogs. a long time ago, brooklyn's coney island was the wrong place

to be, cooling off at a time when air conditioning didn't exist. on a summer afternoon, the famous hot dog stand, brooklyn native came back to reminisce. >> wonderful time, kids, the beach, water, what else is there for a kid? ♪ hey coney island >> more recently, historic coney island has been caught in a controversy about its future. new york city and developers want to revitalize much of coney island which became seedy and rundown as city people moved to the suburbs. new york approved on wednesday a large redevelopment plan, filled with hotels, apartment, and stores. >> let's be honest. the best days for coney island have passed unless we do something. and here we are doing something to try to give it a real future. >> frustrated coney island activists watch the vote occur.

they see corporate america destroying an iconic part of the fabric of new york. >> there's not enough acres left after you sit in a lot of hotels and stuff that doesn't belong in the amusement area for rides for the very amusement that -- >> the traffic -- >> the city says the cyclone and the wonder wheel will survive along with new amusement attractions. jobs and housing are promised for local residents. 55-year-old mark page was a the board walk with his family. he's seen the ups and downs of coney island as a life-long resident. >> it's modern. we have to step up to the future in the 21st century. but don't get rid of it. that's what i think is important. >> i hope they're repaying the feeling of brooklyn. brooklyn is like the world. >> still to come, new york city says it's going to buy back here

the land that it does own. there's still a development for the future. confident it's on the right track of years of sinking here at the beach. john, carol? >> is there a way they can renovate, upgrade it, and maintain the brooklyn kich that co-ny island has always had. >> that's the big issue. several proponents as noted at the city council meeting who are quite vehement that they cannot achieve that. the nostalgia, the historic charm will be lost. but the city mayor says, look, you need to do it desperately. you look around and you think it does need a lot of work here. so i think -- what the mayor said it's not going to be disneyland. we saw what happened with times square. there was a change there. a lot of people said it's for the better but it's missing what was there originally. >> all right. good morning, thanks so much. talking about health care all morning, right? you can be forgiven if you don't quite grasp it because it's complicated.

the house bill is more than 1,000 pages. but our dr. sanjay gupta is coming up. he's looking at all of this. he's your inside connection to getting the health care questions answered. he'll be right with us.

the debates over health care reform. it's enough to give anybody a headache. >> certainly is. we think it's time to simplify, that's where dr. sanjay gupta comes in. sanjay's taking your question. okay, lots of ground to cover with today's question. listen to vanessa from el paso.

>> hi, dr. gupta, i'm from el paso, texas. i am a mother, a working mother of two, happily married, i hate to admit, but i haven't had health insurance for about five years, my employer does offer the insurance, but the premiums are very high, and my family cannot afford. i'm hoping the new health reform bill passes soon. my question is, if the president does sign this bill in october, how long would i wait before i can sign up for the new public plan? thank you. >> thanks for calling in. this brings up a couple of different things. the myth about how fast this is going to take place. if the bill is signed in october, there's been rumors circulating within a couple of months -- the fact is it'll take a lot longer. as you might expect, this is pretty complicated. we've poured through the 1,000 pages trying to make sense of this. let's break it down a little

bit. 2011 a couple of years from now when the tax increases people have been talking about are going to start taking effect to pay for this. 2013, several things will happen, this is a critical year for health care reform overall. everyone would be required to have health insurance, again, 2013, preexisting conditions covered at that point. if you have an illness, a hard time getting insurance, that's going to change 2342013 under this plan. and exchange opens up businesses with under 10 employees only. if you look at 2014, it's going to broaden more, that exchange will open up to businesses with under 20 employees and the public option will be opened up to people who can't afford work premiums. in 2015, it's sort of interesting and gets to one of the big debates, this idea that everybody will flood to the public option if it exists. congress will vote on that point about whether to expand this public option even further and seeing if people who, you know, have health care insurance now

but want a cheaper option might be able to buy into that. but that won't happen in 2013. >> first of all, you mentioned the exchange a couple of times. can you explain what the exchange is and say that vanessa works for a company with over 20 employees, she won't have that option to join for about seven more years or so? >> this is the time island sort of indicated, it will be several years before someone would actually be able to join this public option or exchange. this is a government subsidy that's going to help provide health care insurance for those having a hard time affording it now. that's basically what it is. it gets a little bit more complicated than that, and our goal is to make this simple. let me add a couple of points. if you look at the numbers overall, if you have access to private insurance right now, most of what we've read in the 1,000 page bill is you're going to stay in that private plan unless that you're paying more than 11% of your overall income towards premiums. you can think about that, but if you're paying less than 11%, you're going to have a hard time

qualifying for this sort of public option. >> helping us to break it all down, thanks so much, doc. see you again soon. >> i admire him for reading all 1,000 pages of this plan. that's amazing. in cuba, the united states had the sign up and i guess it was proclaiming pro-american messages. there's been a decision to take that sign down. it's 54 minutes past the hour. (announcer) listening to you.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. signs of a thaw in u.s.-cuban relations. the obama administration quietly pulling the plug on the billboard in havana. but they weren't getting te message anyway. shasta darlington reports. >> good morning, john and carol, but the u.s. and cuba have made overtures since obama took office. but with this latest gesture, no news means good news for bilateral relations. >> reporter: cuba unplugged. the united states took off a huge electronic ticker in havana sending a message that times are changing. the sign board was unveiled in 2006.

it displayed news and human rights slogans and ignited a war of words with then cuban president fidel castro. this is a provocation of that nest of cockroaches as people call them and excuse me for offending the cockroaches. one message said one man isn't good enough to govern another. cuba retaliated. arresting a field of 138 black flags representing what it called the cuban martyrs of u.s.-backed terrorism. the ticker was effectively blocked. according to the state department, the sign was quietly unplugged in june. >> we believe that the billboard was really not effective as a means to delivering information to the cuban people. it was evident that the cuban

people weren't even able to read it. >> reporter: the shutdown went mostly unnoticed in havana. >> no. >> reporter: that doesn't have anything to do with us, she says. i only noticed because you told me. cuba has also done its part. when barack obama took office, aggressive billboards facing the mission were taken down. >> dueling billboards was not serving the interest of promoting a more productive relationship. >> reporter: the massive marches that fidel castro led past the building, also a thing of the past. both countries have ratcheted back the cold war era rhetoric, but they have a long way to go before they restore relations. john, carol? >> shasta reporting for us this morning, thanks so much. and good morning to you. it's thursday, july 30th. >> here's what's on this morning's agenda.

these are the stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes or so. a boston cop is suspended for calling professor henry louis gates jr. quote a banana eating jungle monkey. the president hoped a few beers would end this whole mess. >> they'll have more to talk about. new revelations about the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. dr. conrad murray is quote the only one they're looking at. his lawyers say they don't think an arrest is imminent because they haven't seen proof. they say he's deeply in debt his and his estate could face foreclosure. well, when you see our jason carroll trying to drive and text at the same time, it might just

scare you straight. and you may never touch your phone or your blackberry behind the wheel ever again. well, just when it looked like the controversy surrounding the arrest of professor henry louis gates jr. was cooling down. a boston police officer just reignited things all over again by clicking the send button. his job is at risk now over an e-mail in which he called professor gates a banana eating jungle monkey. he's 36 years old, his name is justin barrett, and sent the mass e-mail to other members of the guard and had the good sense to send it to the boston globe. barrett uses the phrase jungle monkey not once, not twice, three times, and once recalling the writings of abraham lincoln quote jungle monkey gibberish. he said if he had been the officer that he verbally assaulted, i would have sprayed

him in the face with oc, by the way, it's pepper spray. the boston police are condemning barrett's comments calling them quote offensive and hurtful, but officer barrett and his attorney launched a defense of sorts. >> i am sorry that i wrote that, i'm sorry that my family has to deal with the selfish motivation and feelings that i had. i regret that i used such words as -- i have so many friends of every time of culture and race you can name and i am not a racist. >> justin barrett didn't call henry gates a jungle monkey. to malign him racially. he said his behavior was like that of one. and it was a characterization of the actions of that man. >> i am sorry for the content of the e-mail, i'm sorry for how people are reacting to it,

especially my fellow police officers. i am not a racist, i never have been, never will be. i treat people with dignity and respect every time. >> meanwhile, the woman who called police to gates' house is trying to clear the air and now she feels vindicated. our elaine quijano is live with that side of the story. >> good morning, john. i was at that news conference yesterday when whalen spoke out. she basically said she has been through the emotional ringer and wanted to set the record straight. joined by her husband and her attorney, whalen reluctantly came before the cameras. >> cambridge is a wonderful place, and when i was called racist and i was a target of scorn and ridicule because of the things i never said.

>> reporter: what she never said in her 911 call to cambridge police was that she saw two black men. >> white, black, or hispanic? >> well, there were two larger men, one looked kind of hispanic, i'm not sure, and the other one entered and i didn't see what he looked like at all. >> but in his police report he said he spoke to whalen on the scene and she said what appeared to be two black men with backpacks. that's not what whalen says she said. >> the only words i exchanged was i was the 911 caller and he pointed to me and said stay right there. >> nothing more? >> nothing more than that. >> reporter: asked about the discrepancy, the spokesman says that's an issue that could be reviewed in the future. for the meantime, for whalen, vindication. >> now that the tapes are out, i hope people can see that i tried

to be careful and honest with my words. >> reporter: and despite everything, whalen says she'd do it all again. >> you have to, you know, if you're concerned, if you're a concerned citizen, you should do the right thing. if you're seeing something that seems suspicious, i would do the same thing. >> now, as for today's white house beer summit, whalen's attorney said her client's forthright actions should've earned her an invitation too. and that attorney, wendy murphy joked at one point saying maybe it's a guy thing. and then she said whalen doesn't like beer anyway. >> maybe she'll get an invitation. we'll see. >> perhaps. >> thanks so much. let's talk about the beer summit. president obama is hoping that meeting at the white house could bring an end to this controversy. now the 911 caller starts

talking as you see from elaine's story and the boston cop and his e-mail as we talked about earlier. mr. obama wanted his meeting today at the white house to be with professor gates and sergeant crowley, he wanted it to be a teachable moment. but if that's still possible. ed henry has been working his sources at the white house this morning. what does the president hope to accomplish? >> reporter: well, good morning, carol. you mentioned that teachable moment. white house aides saying that is still the president's goal. but in this morning they're adding that both sergeant crowley as well as professor gates will be bringing family members to the white house for this beer summit if you will. so obviously that personal touch, having family members here at the white house, the president could obviously bring his family along, as well, could really kind of turn the temperature down. that's more than anything what the president wants to do. the setting's going to be on the south lawn, the picnic table the president purchased and the swing set, he used it once before for a calm meeting with secretary of state hillary

clinton, his former rival. maybe that's an inspiration for bringing all of these folks together, as well. the president clearly expressed regret last week for inserting himself in this, and as he said, not calibrating his remarks. saying they may have acted stupidly. he wanted to bring light on the fact that african-americans and latinos have faced racial profiling and also wants to clean up what he said about the police and show that not every police officer in the country, obviously, is engaged in racial profiling. >> and every bit of this beer summit has been picked apart. there's even a controversy over what kind of beer they're drinking. >> reporter: we're told that professor gates wants to drink red stripe, and blue moon is the choice for sergeant crowley. the president is going to drink bud light. but now the folks at sam adams are saying why not have a

massachusetts beer, a u.s.-owned beer, in fact, since anheuser-busch is no longer u.s.-owned. and richard neil sent the president a letter saying, step up, serve some sam adams. so you're right, we found controversy in what they're drinking. >> it's insane, isn't it? we'll be watching with interest at 6:00 eastern tonight. ed henry live from the white house, thanks. >> people focusing on those issues? talking health care reform between six key senators, fall apart on capitol hill. two republicans say they can't cut a deal before the august recess. earlier on american morning we talked with one of them. senator chuck grassley. >> instead of saying there's no way we can cut a deal, there's no way we can get all of the troiz kproizing that needs to be done by an artificial deadline by friday of this week. so we're going to continue to

work together this week and next week, but we're getting close. i think we've got some of the big things that were contentious compromised. there's not going to be any government-run insurance company set up. >> that's the congressional recess for the month of august, by the way, starts on the 7th, next friday. hey, watch what you tweet, a chicago woman being sued for libel after complaining about her apartment on twitter. she said quote, who said sleeping in a moldy apartment is okay? the company says it has a good reputation and it wants to keep it that way. and check this thing out, llama caddy. every tuesday this north carolina golf course you can rent a llama to carry your clubs. apparently they read the greens very well too. just kidding, they don't. once they're trained, the club's owner hopes to hire them out to charity.

>> it's going to move a little left to right. >> let me discuss the llama. okay. there's more to the michael jackson saga than even you expected. supposedly he has this love child. >> and apparently a deal now too for custody according to his attorney who spoke on cbs this morning. >> and who can sort it out? jeffrey toobin. >> if anybody can. jeff in a couple minutes to sort it out for you. 10 minutes now after the hour. . (voice 2) they're pinging more targets... (voice 3) isolate... prevent damage... (voice 2) got 'em. (voice 3) great exercise guys. let's run it again. finally, good news for people with type 2

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introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all new chevy equinox. welcome back to the most news in the morning to a developing story now. after weeks of quiet on the streets of iran, a source telling cnn that thousands of protestors and mourners are at the grave of the young woman

known as the face of the revolution. you'll remember the video that apparently showed neda's murder during an election protest. it started a global outcry. one source telling us several hundred officers including riot police are there also said to be there, the man who lost the election to president ahmadinejad, mr. mousavi. now to new information on michael jackson's death. now federal investigators have named conrad murray as the only one they're looking at. what kind of legal trouble might the doctor be in? jeffrey toobin joins us. but also an interview with katherine jackson's attorney. he says a custody deal has been reached between katherine jackson and debbie rowe. do we know about this? >> well, we don't know the specifics, but this was in the work. he said very clearly that katherine jackson should be the

guardian of the children. but what's complicated is the mother of two of them, debbie rowe under california law might have a claim. apparently they've worked that out. the interesting question would be, did any money change hands? did -- >> talk about a few weeks ago which debbie rowe denied. >> she denied, but she has also gotten quite a bit of money in the past for surrendering some of her parental rights. it wouldn't be totally shocking if she sold them for some more. >> police have looked at records from other doctors who jackson has been associated with, aliases he may have used in order to procure prescription drugs but they say that dr. charles murray is the sole focus of this investigation. so what does that tell you? >> well, if you look at how police have acted in the last few weeks, it's clear that he's under very serious criminal investigation. you don't execute repeated search warrants of someone's house and office unless you think you were going to find evidence that that person

committed a crime. >> we're only being told we're a witness now -- >> no, that's just defies common sense. now it doesn't mean this person is going to be charged or is guilty of anything, but he is clearly the last doctor who had access to michael jackson, who was with him on the day he died at the time he died. so he's under a great deal of scrutiny. the question i have, given michael jackson's enormously complicated medical history and the fact that he had relationships with many doctors and his own relationship with prescription drugs, they better be very careful that murray alone is responsible if they want to charge him with a crime. >> what's his potential exposure in this? if he was administering a legal drug -- i mean the setting was atypical, propofol is typically used in a hospital setting, but there's nothing in the law that says you can't do it in a home. but if he was administering the drug and properly monitoring and

something went wrong, something goes wrong with anesthesia a lot, you know, you might have a civil suit for malpractice or something like that. do you have a criminal case? >> well, that's my question. and there are gradations of misconduct and the legal system has different ways of doing it. one of them is a civil lawsuit for malpractice, another is a proceeding challenging his right to practice medicine. the most dramatic thing could be a criminal case, perhaps a case for manslaughter. interestingly, the legal standards are not that different for all three of those, but there are questions of prosecutorial discretion. do you move in a criminal direction if it's a good faith mistake? that's what we'll have to learn if it was a good faith mistake or if it was really reckless and irresponsible. >> what about the other aspect of the case illuminated again by joe jackson who said quite directly that omar batty is michael jackson's love child. this is something omar body's

denied himself. could he contest the will? does he potentially have standing here if what joe jackson says is true. >> well, i saw that interview with joe jackson and like most interviews it was not entirely clear, but it did suggest to me that he was suggesting. >> looks like a jackson, dances like a jackson. >> that's right. it was a classic joe moment. yes, it is potentially possible that omer could bring some action. again, when there is this much money involved, there could be quiet settlements, but he is not listed as a beneficiary in the will. so at the moment, he gets nothing. >> the question is how much is the estate worth? anywhere to zero, according to some people, to well over $1 billion. >> i think given the fact that this is so complicated and michael's only been dead for about a month, it's going to take a long time to sort out what all of this is worth and

how the executors are going to deal with that. >> we could be talking about this for years. >> that's why we are having our own beer summit in the green room this morning. so all is well in the green room. it still holds beer. >> it's always great to see you. thanks for dropping by. carol? >> i'm going to the green room. we have this amazing video to show you of the car chase, but that's not the amazing part. actually the amazing part is who pumps out of that car eluding police. it's 18 minutes past the hour.

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the video you have to see before you head off to work, sit down and relax and check this out. this is police dash cam video from plain city, utah. seems like your run of the mill car chase, right? well, this is where it gets interesting. watch who gets out of the car when the car stops. here it comes. it's a little boy. he's 7 years old. police officers trying to catch him. he never does catch up to the kid. >> the kid ran into the garage. >> well, the child's father was apparently near the scene, he finally caught up with his child and i would have liked to witness the scene inside that garage between child and father. he's grounded. >> the kid says he swiped the car to avoid going to church. where do you think he's going to be going every day until he's 18. >> he's going to be going to confession every day. >> i guess. oh, my goodness. here's another great shot this morning. watch this catch.

and it's almost out of there, it's, hey there he goes, it's out of there. look at that, he one hands it with a baseball in one hand and a child holding a big drink in the other. >> he doesn't protect the child. he catches the ball. >> the kid didn't drop the drink either. it happened tuesday night at the philly-arizona game. >> if i'm his wife watching and it's my child, that man's in trouble. >> hey, at least he didn't hang him over the edge of the bleachers, right? >> that would have been much worse. and check out this daredevil. check it out. he is skating down a roller coaster, it's not your imagination, he covered 3,000 feet in just 60 seconds, by the way, that's a world record. >> oh, my goodness. >> isn't that amazing? that would be fun to do. he's considered to be the most extreme inline skater in the world. he already holds the world record for reaching speeds of

190 miles per hour as he was dragged along behind a porsche. well, lawmakers won't be agreeing on health care reform any time soon, but doctors will be on capitol hill trying to influence the outcome, including the president's former doctor from chicago. >> you might be surprised by whose side he's on. jim acosta met with him and he's not holding back. >> reporter: john and carol, president obama talks about the forces lining up against his health care plan, but there's one critic you may not have heard from in this debate. mr. obama's former doctor, david shiner, and he is passionate in his belief that the president's plan won't work. >> yeah, hi. >> reporter: chicago doctor david shiner has taken a hard look at president obama's prescription for health care reform and sees bad medicine. >> this isn't that kind of health care program that is going to work. >> reporter: what makes dr.

shiner so special? he was barack obama's personal physician for 22 years, he voted for mr. obama, but the doctor thinks the president's plan doesn't go far enough. >> if i had to say the single one thing, which is the worst part of it, is that private insurance companies continue to be a part of the health scheme. everybody keeps saying we don't want the government getting involved in health care, the governed is involved in health care in medicare and it works. >> reporter: shiner would rather see us adopt a single payer system, something an up and coming state senator obama talked about years ago. >> i happen to be a proponent of single payer universal health care. but as all of you know, we may not get that immediately because first we've got to take back the white house, and we've got to take back the senate, and we've got to take back -- >> reporter: but during that campaign that position evolved. >> if i remember designing a system from scratch, then i'd

probably set up a single payer system, but the problem is, we're not starting from scratch. >> this is about the future. >> reporter: now the president favors giving americans the option of joining a government-run plan that would compete with private insurers. >> nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care. i'm tired of hearing that. >> reporter: but dr. shiner points out no one has seen the details of that option, making it a hard sell for the president. >> we don't know fully what the public option is going to be. if the public option is too good, patients who are sick will flock to it, and i'm not sure it will be able to support itself. >> reporter: shiner almost had a chance to confront the president with his concerns, he was invited to a recent televised town hall with mr. obama, but he says he was dropped from the program. >> i just hope congress and the american public and the president will hear some of my words. we've got to do something better. >> reporter: dr. shiner will finally get a chance to have his

say here in washington. he and other doctors who support a single pare system are gathering at the capitol today to meet with lawmakers and rally with supporters. he may be the president's doctor anymore, but dr. shiner says he's trying to save the patient before it's too late. john and carol? >> jim, thanks so much. well, texting while driving. big problem, yeah? >> oh, yeah, i never do it. >> a lot of people do. >> i do, it's terrible because you think you can handle it but you really can't. >> just how bad is it? we've got empirical evidence of that. our jason carroll takes the wheel in a high-tech simulator that can show you what can happen because you're distracting while texting while driving. people are on sprint mobile broadband. 31 are streaming a sales conference from the road. eight are wearing bathrobes. two... less. - 154 people are tracking shipments on a train. - ( train whistles ) 33 are im'ing on a ferry. and 1300 are secretly checking email...

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it's now 29 minutes after the hour checking our top stories this thursday morning. the pacific northwest is having a heat wave. seattle recorded the hottest temperature in its history yesterday. 103 degrees, it was 106 in portland in salem, oregon, a break in the heat wave is predicted tomorrow, though. so hang on for one more day. >> arizona is considering selling the state house and senate offices to make ends meet. dozens of other state properties could also be on the block. the plan isn't just to sell them off, arizona plans to then lease them for several years before assuming ownership again. it's a plan that could save the state $735 million. in light of the debate over the arrest of henry louis gates jr., the nation's first black attorney general, eric holder tells abc news that he was racially profiled years ago. >> i was a young college student driving from new york to washington stopped on a highway,

and told to open the trunk of my car, the police officer told me he wanted to search for weapons. and i remember as i got back in the car and continued on my journey, how humiliated i felt, how angry i got. >> have we reached the point where law enforcement is color blind? >> no, not yet, but i think we're certainly in a much better place than we were. >> and holder says some people in minority communities often assume that police are doing something wrong. tonight president obama will have professor gates and the man who arrested him police sergeant crowley over for some beers. he hopes it will be a national teachable moment. it's been a learning experience for the president who helped create the rift with his response to this question at last week's news conference. >> thank you, mr. president. recently henry louis gates jr. was arrested at his home in cambridge. what does that incident say to you? and what does it say about race

relations in america? >> well, i should say at the outset -- >> the reporter who asked the question is the washington bureau chief for the chicago sun times with us this morning from los angeles. good morning, lynn. >> good morning. >> so after you asked that question and the president responded, you know, he's going to have this beer summit now, what do you make of the way he's handled this controversy that was really caused by your question? >> well, i think the controversy actually was caused by his answer. >> that's true. >> not really the question on it. and i think what he tried to do was to -- what he's doing today with meeting these gentlemen for a beer is just to try to diffuse and recalibrate the situation and i think it also shows that people don't -- i write about this on a column i did for politics daily that's out today on how you are allowed a second chance to take your words back. and not that things don't happen, but you don't have to be

trapped in an endless sound bite, and that's a little bit of the teachable moment that the president's trying to show. it certainly has taken on a life of its own at this point with this rather unusual meeting. at the white house with these men meeting again for the first time since that charged incident a few weeks ago. >> and you know, the controversy it's caused, it's fever pitch right now, this morning we hear word of a boston police officer sending a racially charged e-mail to the boston globe and some of his colleagues in the national guard. glenn beck on fox news called the president racist for his comments and how the way he's handled this controversy. did you expect this to become so heated and because it's heated, do you think maybe that will help in this teachable moment? >> i think it showed, usually president obama is so cool and so careful with language, that is one of the hallmarks of what he's about that i think one of the reasons people paid -- were

in a sense surprised, and all this kind of boils down, i think, to one word that he said in a longer, much longer statement in that was you said the word stupidly when he talked about the cambridge police, which he said he should've recalibrated his comments. part of this is when you have the persona that is as cool as president obama's has been. i think people also were just a bit surprised by it. and probably, i think that might have been a beginning of a conversation about the president that as much as anything because it was a very personal response, as well. >> you have sort of become part of the story because you asked this question. i want to play a clip from the john stewart show. let's watch.

>> no -- don't answer that! >> and you know, we can laugh about that, but he's saying that, you know, and some people have actually accused you of setting the president up with that question because the questions were supposed to be on health care reform and there you go the last question asking about race in america. >> well, let me correct that. let me correct that very precisely. and that was -- you're not right. this was a press conference and anyone could ask anything. there was no mandate about what could be asked. no, the reporters -- no one made that a requirement of going there, ten reporters asked questions, three including me asked about other topics off of health care. this was a press conference like many press conferences that the president's call, this is the fourth one for president obama, and there was no requirement about any kinds of questions. what obama wanted to do and he did was make a statement at the

beginning of this prime time press conference to talk about health care. and as is the norm, the first questions usually are on the big story of the day, which was health care. and, you know, as is the norm, reporters then ask about other stories and issues in the news of which this was one of them. this gates arrest, i believe it was on that day the front page story on the washington post. your network as well as other cable channels were featuring it even then. so in that sense, it was a question in the news that the president was asked about as is routine for many presidents, many press conferences. >> thank you, lynn, setting the record straight and for enlightening us. we appreciate it. the washington bureau chief, the chicago sun times. join us tomorrow, we're going to be talking with janet nepalitano. we're also going to have a six-month report card on president obama's performance so far.

the senior adviser to john edwards' campaign and susan molinary join us. and the author of the new book will be here to tell us what you don't know, don't want to know, but should know about the person who is serving your next restaurant meal. >> i don't think i want to know. especially if it's bad. >> well, one of the things he advises is how to behave to avoid spit in your food. it's in the book. just saying. the dangers of texting and driving. jason carroll takes us behind the wheel to show you how dangerous it is to pull out your blackberry or your phone while you're driving. stay with us. 36 1/2 minutes after the hour.

♪ a laws against texting and driving could become as common as seat belt laws. >> well this week, we learned the drivers are 23 times more likely to crash while they're texting. but we're going to do more than tell you it's dangerous, we're going to show you. and who better to do it than our jason carroll? our resident formula 1 driver.

>> yeah, yeah -- >> you thought you were a good driver? >> i thought i was a good driver and i am a good driver. >> you're going to hear why that's the case a little later. basically, went to the state of the art simulator from some of the folks in utah. researchers have been studying the effects of driving while using cell phones. bottom line, whether texting or talking hands free, you are increasing your chances of crashing. >> reporter: five new york high school students killed, the driver texting before the accident. this bus driver caught on tape texting just before his crash. despite all the warnings. >> i see a lot of people texting while they're driving. >> reporter: despite the risks, drivers say it's still common. professor david strayer says maybe drivers would try more if

they knew what he learned with this driving simulator here at the university of utah. >> text messaging is a level of impairment that exceeds what we see with someone who is driving while they're drunk. exceeds it. >> reporter: driving while texting more dangerous than driving drunk? strayer's researchers found a driver with an alcohol level .08 is four times more likely to crash. while texting a crash is eight times more likely. >> you should be, frankly, quite alarmed if you see someone texting as they're driving next to you. >> reporter: this simulator may look like an elaborate video game, but there's science here, it records brain activity and more. >> this is an eye tracker we use. >> reporter: for our purposes, a simple test. >> 65's okay in the state of utah? >> reporter: he put me in the simulator. >> send an e-mail -- >> reporter: a few insults from cnn colleagues.

>> sent one saying you're the dumbest person i know. you can't even type when you're standing on two feet. who can drive with these kind of insults? >> reporter: i couldn't. several near collisions. a study released by virginia tech transportation institute, using real drivers found a truck driver's risk of accident 23 times higher while text messaging. the risk using a cell phone hands-free only slightly higher. but strayer says hands-free is still dangerous. >> people look, but don't see important information. >> reporter: five states prohibit drivers from talking on hand held cell phones. for teens, banned drivers from text messaging, now some states proposed a federal law requiring all states to ban it. >> texting while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. >> well, the proposed legislation also says states that do not ban texting or e-mailing while driving risk

losing federal highway funds. well, that should be an incentive for some of the states to get on board. >> but you know, seriously a lot of people think they're great drivers and they can handle texting while driving, no problem. >> and that's the problem. and the other thing is, you don't find out until it's too late how dangerous it is. >> hopefully they'll pass a law soon. >> there were a lot of people who thought they would drive and operate the a-track machine. that didn't work either. >> playing a little duran, duran. are you guilty of texting behind the wheel? we want to know if you're afraid of other drivers who do it? go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. and pharmacy shopping, we've been hearing of how many people are getting illegal prescription drugs and they're becoming hooked on it. how easy is it to get these narcotics? dr. sanjay gupta has our investigation 43 minutes past the hour. g new nutrisystem d, the

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♪ if you took all of your money and opened a small business right before the recession hit, you might be reeling right now. today's money in main street, reynolds wolf found a family that got slammed but now they're bouncing back. >> reporter: john and julie hamilton took their life savings, borrowed money from family and the bank to invest in their dream. they opened a kid-friendly franchise.

in charlotte, north carolina, last year. an entrepreneurial strong city and then the economy took a nose dive. >> we knew we were going to have to get creative and proactive. >> reporter: that meant with a marketing strategy to get customers in the door. they focussed on children's birthdays and smaller, less expensive parties and even some weeknight activities. >> we now have party packages that start at $150, and we have from all different kinds of sizes, all different budgets, and that seems to have really helped a lot. >> it's not just a weekend business, which is originally we bought into it for. now we have parties on the weeknights, summer camp during the day, open bounce, as well. >> reporter: they're seeing a payoff. the business has increased by 20% with zero layoffs. it's a common story in charlotte. and according to the chamber of commerce, more than 7,300 jobs have been created by new

business so far this year, mostly small business. the hamiltons say tv, direct ads, and online marketing and fund raising partnerships have helped. >> we have called every school and every church and every youth group and every scouting group and talking to them about our different programs. >> reporter: all part of the plan to get people through their doors and keep them coming back. >> it's really easy to get on the inflatables and play with the kids and see them laugh. but at the end of the day, it's mom and dad feeling like they got a good value for what they paid for. >> reporter: building their business with every bounce. reynolds wolf, cnn, charlotte, north carolina. for inspiring stories of businesses that have figured out a way not only to survive, but to thrive in a rough economy, watch our series money in main street cnn tonight at 8:00 eastern. well, pharmacy shopping, how easy is it to get narcotics? our dr. sanjay gupta goes to the pharmacies to investigate. you want to see this coming up. i think right now it's a phenomenal time

for somebody to buy a home. the first step in the process is to educate them. bank of america is highly committed. we do have a vast array of programs that will enable buyers to purchase a home and feel comfortable. for credit qualified buyers, the government will give you a tax credit up to 10% of the purchase price or $8000, and as long as they live in that home for 3 years or longer, they don't have to pay it back. due to the market guideline changes, fha has had a resurgence in the market place. va is also one of the things that's coming into vogue again. there's more veterans out there that qualify for these programs, and they'll come back and they'll utilize these. everything starts with the first time home buyer and moves up from there. sometimes these are the first people in their family to own a home and it's hugely rewarding. we are doing everything that we can to take the opportunities that are available and help the people. be there for them, and allay

some of their fears and concerns. we're in that process every step of the way. that creates a customer for life and that's what we're looking for. that's what we do here at bank of america.

♪ good morning, atlanta, georgia. as you can see the weather's not so great there yet. it's cloudy and 72 degrees, and won't be so great later either.

scattered thunderstorms predicted with a high of 82. >> strange weather this year. 82 degrees in hotlanta and 106 in portland, oregon. >> strange. well, with all of the attention on michael jackson's drug use and death, we wondered just how easy is it for people abusing narcotics to get their hands on them? >> because if you're doctor shopping, you need a pharmacy to fill out those prescriptions. we're paging our dr. gupta. he went undercover at the pharmacy and came back with this report. watch this. >> reporter: i'll tell you, john and carol, i write prescriptions for narcotic medications all the time in my job for a neurosurgeon. but i do wonder and worry to some extent, are my patients getting these medications elsewhere? are they doctor shopping. how easy is it? i decided with the help of my producer, he's going to follow me inside and we're going to put this to the test. let's take a look.

>> reporter: that took about 15 minutes, about $20 on my charge card, they asked me for my address and i walked out with 40 pills of narcotics. the pharmacist in here has done nothing illegal at all, the real question i have is, how much more narcotics could i possibly obtain today. take a look. >> so we made our way to another pharmacy to try to figure out. i've got another prescription here, can i get my hands on more narcotics? >> hi, how are you? >> doing well. >> can i get that filled? >> can i see your i.d.? >> and the keyword here is as needed. there's more information about the medicine, again, just be careful. >> okay.

>> when i -- when a patient comes in for these types of pills, how do you know that they're not doctor shopping our getting pills from all sorts of different sources? >> the only way -- if we don't know the patient, we actually try to verify, you know -- >> you verify the prescription, so is there anything else you can do? >> if i walked in here with cash or a credit card having just gotten narcotics at another pharmacy, i can get some from you, it's no problem. >> again, i would not know, nobody would know. >> i wasn't trying to do any kind of got ya journalism, but are you surprised about what i was able to do over the last hour? >> you know, you're a clean cut, well dressed man, educated man, not unusual i'd verify the prescription. i usually -- the second the person crosses that threshold, i can tell if something's not right. if i don't feel right, i don't fill it. >> a lot of it's based on you

and your instinct. >> that's exactly right. >> appreciate it. >> reporter: it's one of those things. i haven't seen that side of things. i write these prescriptions quite a bit, but that's how you can get your hands on lots of them. nobody did anything wrong there. this is sort of how the system works. people can get multiple prescriptions from different doctors and get your hands on lots of narcotics in a single day. >> sanjay, you're advocating some sort of centralized data base. but doesn't the dea track this stuff already? every doctor's got a dea number, right? >> so there's a couple of things like that. it's by no means instantaneous. if you're getting a few different prescriptions from different pharmacies within a single day, it's not going to be able to catch up with you. second of all, the way it works now, john, there has to be some degree of suspicion. go in, somebody you're not quite sure about and query that person and start to figure out where they're getting other medications from. you have to have some suspicion

to protect the confidentiality. it didn't flag things so this guy might be a potential problem. >> i want to ask one thing. the first guy you had a hidden camera, the second person you went in with a tv camera with you. can you describe that situation? >> yeah, the second person we wanted to see how -- would he be able to fill that prescription, as well. he didn't know we had the other prescription already and after he filled that, you know, just doing his job, we showed him the other prescription and asked him if we could ask a few questions and he agreed to do that. >> great report, thanks so much. 56 minutes now after the hour. i've been growing algae for 35 years. most people try to get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green. algae could be converted into biofuels... that we could someday run our cars on. in using algae to form biofuels,

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capitol building this morning where it looks like nothing's going to get done on health care until they get back from the august break, which begins the end of next week. mostly cloudy and 77 there, partly cloudy and a high of 91 later on today. >> there will be something going on at the white house later

today. the beer summit with sergeant crowley and professor gate and is the president. and they're going to sit down and hash things out and hopefully that teachable moment will come. >> i hope we hear from them afterwards. what did they learn about the whole thing? >> it would be nice to see all three of them together talking live to the nation and saying this is what we talked about, this is what we want to share with you and let's calm the rhetoric. there's been some really vile rhetoric about this story. >> it was about a week ago kyra phillips suggested they get together for a beer. maybe they'll hear your suggestion and come out and talk about it. >> i'm not as powerful as kyra phillips, though. that does it for us this morning. tomorrow's friday, and we look forward to that. we also want to know what you think will be accomplished by this beer summit. >> go to our blog cnn.com/amfix and let us know. now it's time for newsroom with heidi collins. have a great morning. the health care debate,