good mortgage, everyone. it is friday, july 31st and here are the top stories for you. in the "cnn newsroom," the government cash for clunkers auto rebate program may be out of gas already? after just a week snv? it looks like all the cash is gone. come back, please. mexico comes up with a novel stimulus plan for a tourist industry hit by swine flu. the die michael jackson died, the singer's personal chef tells cnn about that day.

let's do this. let's tend week with the american economy's very good week. it is issue number one in the cnn newsroom. stocks end at their best july in 20 years. new stat fell in the nation's gross domestic product. output is shrinking, but nearly not as much as before. housing numbers show sales and prices inching higher. let's talk about this week's rebounding numbers with cnn's business correspondent stephanie elam. stephanie, i'm going to ask you for a snapshot of what we've been watching this week. let's talk about stocks, gdp, home sales numbers. and maybe what is working here. keep me in check here. >> i'll tell you this, i was on

vacation all last week and the market was rallying while i was gone. i almost took it personally. take a look at it. you've got the last two weeks before this week, we had a nice rally. earnings coming in better than expected. that helped out. this week was a slow start but again, we got a nice rally yesterday. corporations are doing better with their earnings. so that factored in. on top of it, we found better than expected economic data that played its part, as well. just to give you an idea of what was going on between new home sales, up 11%. that was better than expected. we found out that home prices were better on a month to month basis, first time in nearly three months on that. then you've got the dow opening at nearly a nine-month high. nasdaq back over at 2,000 yesterday. we're close to that right now. all of this showing that there's a bit more confidence in there, but keep in mind, tony, that when you take a look at these corporate earnings report, a lot of the bars were set so low, that it's not that much of a

surprise that they were expected to be awful. >> wait a minute, stephanie. so all this good news is the recession just about over? is everything sort of fine and dandy? >> i don't think we can go that far, as much as some of us would like to say that. what we can say, though, tony, is that this data does seem to show us that the worst is behind us. take a look at that gdp report, it shows that the economy contracted by 1% in the second quarter. of course, we're going to get two more rescissions to this number before we'll really know, so we can't get all excited yet. take a look at this chart right there and it shows you what we've been going through. the last four quarters, we've been dealing with contractions. that's the first time we've seen this since the commerce department started tracking these numbers since 1947. negative 1%. it could take time to get back but it is giving people hope that perhaps the worst is behind us and people are looking to get back into the market. first time home buyers are gaining in the market, as well,

and that's where the weakness originally began was in the housing market so if we can get that market up and going again, it will help. this gdp number is a lagging indicator, it's behind us. it's only going through june. >> speaking of lagging indicators, employment is a lagging indicator, as well. >> big lagging one. you've got the economy that's driven by consumer spending. two-thirds of the economy is people going out, opening up their wallets and getting things. if they don't have jobs, they're not going to spend. on top of it, we can see people are hoarding their cash a bit. maybe they're afraid. savings rate is very high. we've got to get people spending again. but if they don't have jobs or job security, they're not going to do that. we need to see that number getting better, as well. >> good tough.

here is the president's latest assessment on the economy. he spoke thursday afternoon. >> if you look at the consensus of economists right now, it confirms that we have seen a significant slowing down of the contraction over the last several months. there are a lot of indicators out there that tell us that job losses, although still way too high, are not at the pace that we were seeing in january or february. housing prices went up for the first time in three years. the criticism, the banking system, the financial markets generally have settled down. you're not seeing the huge volatility or panic that you

were seeing. and so all of that is a sign that we have stepped away from the precipice. >> okay. the president's assessment on the economy from yesterday. now, here is the thing. you have got to move fast. the white house says the cash for clunkers program will continue at least through the weekend. buyers blew through nearly $1 billion in auto rebates in just a week. let's bring in our personal finance editor jerry willis. gerri, my goodness, talk about a gash burn. break down the numbers for us. >> let's talk about the numbers here. the white house said they're going to extend the program through the weekend. the michigan senator tells cnn that the michigan, ohio and indiana delegations are working on a extension. the program is close to burning through its funding. here is the map. take a look at these numbers.

already $146 million has been approved to be given out. that's according to the government. but if you talk to the industry, they are projecting $1.2 billion is projected to be given out. so they've gone through that $1 billion and more. as you know, the original allocation, $1 billion. so demand for this program, tony, is overwhelming. 23,000 dealerships have signed on. experts say the dealerships had started declining people for the program earlier this week. the program was supposed to officially end on november 1st, but it's hard to if you don't have the money to do it. >> absolutely. so through the weekend, everything is on line. we'll >> have to see beyond that. >> right. >> what if you have a confirmation you're eligible for this program or you've accepted and already have a new car, gerri? >> devil is in the details. what you should know and you may not have noticed when you bought, dealerships may have given you a waiver that you signed that indicated if the

program didn't go through that you had to pay back the voucher or you had to return the car. if you did get a new car, make sure you look for any documents like this. in the meantime, any purchase this weekend will be honored, according to the white house. so if you were in the market to get rid of your clunker now, you probably want to act quickly. of course, we're expecting congress to extend funding, as we mentioned. if the program is extended, you still want to move quickly. let me tell you, the demand here is unbelievable and you should know that the automakers are really stepping up their promotion of it. their websites, one of the big automaker websites got 750,000 hits for its cash for clunkers program. that's the kind of demand we're looking at, the number of people expressing interest. >> i've got to tell you, i see the ford commercials all the time with the mike guy from the dirty job show. he's on there all the time talking about this program. clearly, it is working for a lot of dealerships and cars are moving.

gerri, my understanding is that you'll be back with us in just a couple of minutes and you'll remind us all again of who qualifies for this program and what kind of vehicles? >> yes. it's complicated, but we can dig down and give you an easy cheat sheet to know if you can take advantage of this program and score a little dough. >> all right. we'll talk in a couple of minutes. thank you, gerri. >> and in just a few minutes, i'll ask an auto dealer how the cash for clunkers program has impacted his business this week and if all of it has been worth it. that's next hour in the "cnn newsroom." a health reform bill set to move forward today. a key committee is at work right now and the chairman, henry waxman, says he's confident the revised reform bill will pass today before house members leave on their august recess on the senate side bipartisan negotiators say they won't have a bill ready for a committee vote before their break. so let's get to our congressional correspondent, brianna keilar. she's on clim capitol hill for

us. brianna, it sounds like the work continues in the house until the very end. that's not a bad signal to send to the people you representative. >> no. that is the signal that democrats are trying to send, tony. i want to tell you about a meeting that's going on right now that we just learned about. house democrats at this moment are meeting with president obama's top adviser, david asterod as well as the president's top health care adviser. what are they talking about? they're talking about their message aes they are about to head out the door here for august recess. they're facing tremendous pressure from republicans who oppose them on health care reform and this is actually a document, a memorandum that was sent out to all house democratic members. we obtained this from a democratic aid talking about what they'll be doing over the august recess. countering the republican takeover message by saying things like they're holding the insurance companies accountable,

there aren't going to be copays for preventive care and it's all about, according to this memo, showing momentum and driving the debate because they're going to face tough criticism here. but this is where things stand in the house and there is somewhat a lack of momentum compared to what president obama initially wanted. obviously, no vote in the house before they leave, but we know this key committee, the third and final committee the health care needs to clear in the house that we're expecting they go them to go through a vote here in the early afternoon and move that through that committee. but in the senate, things moving slower. one key committee that health care reform needs to go through there, the senate finance committee. these bipartisan negotiators, these keep members who are trying to work out some agreement, they came to a bit of an impasse. democrats had to capitulate to republicans saying we can't be pressured into a vote on this committee before our recess and

it's even in jeopardy if they're going to to some sort of deal, let alone a vote before the senate leaves next week. >> and taxing cadillac health plans, is that still being discussed? >> this is something that's gaining bipartisan traction. this is proposed by senator john kerry. those cadillac plans, no co-payments, no deductibles and they're rather expensive. the average health care plan in the u.s., the premium is $12,000 a year. some of these cadillac plans go up to about $40,000. well, this plan is to tax insurance companies that provide them, not the people who get them. but i have to tell you, for all the bipartisan interest, this proposal is getting a lot of bipartisan opposition. unions, a democrat ally say no way, this tax will be passed back on to the consumer, it's going to hit our union members and we heard that, as well, from republican senator orren hatch from utah. he says it will get passed on to all insurance consumers, tony.

>> still a lot going on, brianna keilar. appreciate it. thank you. health care cooperatives, they've been mentioned as an alternative to a government-run insurance plan. later this hour, elizabeth cohen explains what health insurance co-ops are and how they would actually work. iran's president taking it from both sides as protesters prepare to go on trial. president ahmadinejad lashes out at hard line critics.

auto dle really could use the rain. they got a couple of rain drops yesterday, mostly in southeast texas across the golden triangle into southwest louisiana. rain cooling in louisiana. miami, it will be 78 degrees in new york. west coast, you're starting to cool off a little bit today. i think tomorrow will be a better day for you with cool air, unseasonably cool air, as a matter of fact, coming into the upper midwest and person great lakes. that's the western pattern for the weekend. on and off torrential downpours and hot, dry conditions across the southwest and noticeably cooler across the northwest.

come multivitamin with more. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. that's a great call. one a day men's.

concierge claim centers. so i can just drop off my car and you'll take care of everything? yep, even the rental. what if i'm stuck at the office? if you can't come to us, we'll come to you in one of our immediate response vehicles! what if mother won't let me drive? then you probably wouldn't have had an accident in the first place. and we're walkin'! and we're walkin'... making it all a bit easier -- now that's progressive! call or click today. iran's president says there is no rift between him and the country's supreme leader. mahmoud ahmadinejad lashed out today as comments come a day after the latest post election violence. resi, if you would, bring us up to speed on these developments. >> never in the history of the

islamic republic has there been a disagreement with the supreme leader and the president. talk last week started when a controversial leader was selected. they made it clear that ahmadinejad should get rid of him. he delayed and when he finally did get rid of him, he turned around and appointed him his top adviser. many saw that as defiant. remember, in a few days, these men will be standing side by side in an inauguration ceremony. today president ahmadinejad came out and said, rift? what rift? we're like father and son. take a listen. >> translator: some have tried to cast doubt on our relationship through propaganda and imply that there's a rift between us. they do not understand that our relationship is based affection, based on faith and is a

father-son type relationship. its essence is not what they think it is. >> that was the president trying to convince everyone that they're all getting along. but during friday prayers today, more signs of infighting between hard liners between friday prayers. ayatollah janoti came out and criticized president ahmadinejad for firing his intelligence minister but there was plenty of opposition, too. he blamed deaths in the past week on opposition leaders saying they provoked them. he demanded an apology from those opposition leaders. also new pictures made public today during yesterday's protest. about 50 people were arrested. human rights groups say hundreds are in custody from previous protests. tony, 20 of them will go on trial tomorrow on security-related charges.

very interesting development in the next few days. >> right. reza, appreciate it. thank you. bombings targeting mosques across baghdad killed at least 27 civilians and wounded dozens more today. the roadside bombs exploded near five shiite mosques in the iraqi capital. the bombings shattered a period of relative calm in baghdad and come a month after u.s. troops withdrew from major urban areas. who will be the cnn hero of the week? well, when u.s. troops withdrawal from iraq, why one man will stay behind.

progress slows to a crawl on president obama's top domestic issue, health care reform. how is the administration responding to the delays and the setbacks? let's check in with senior white house correspondent ed henry. he is on the air right now the now with his weekly radio show,

44 with ed henry. and ed is inside, wow, the radio booth inside the white house. >> reporter: yeah. this stour digs. by the way, i've got some rootbeer here for the rootbeer summit for the show. we just had bill burton, the deputy white house secretary wag talking about health care and the economy. this is not that sweet digs, i guess. most people think it's glamorous here, but this is where we do our work day in and day out. >> ed, let me start with the cash for clunkers program because you got the news on this first. it looks like the program is running outs of cash if it's not already out of cash, but there are efforts on capitol hill right now to extend the program and find some more money. >> reporter: that's right. my colleague, brianna keilar saying there is probably about four to six weeks worth of money. but this program has been more popular than what was expected. despite the reports last night that this program was being suspended, he said it's still going on and that anyone who

goes out to buy a car, was planning to this weekend, those certificates are going to be honored as they work out what they hope to be a new deal. it looks like the administration and congress are going to come together on a deal of about an extra $2 billion to fund this so more of the so-called clunkers can be traded in for more fuel efficient vehicles. what the white house is trying to do is say, look, it's not only about stimulating the economy, getting car dealers more traffic, but trying to improve the environment by getting some of the clunkers off the road and getting more fuel efficient cars out of the road. >> ed, let's turn to health care reform. there is what you say publicly and what you say privately and what you love to get your hands on are some of those private comments. this house is trying to get a revised bill out of committee. nothing likely out of the senate finance committee before the rece recess. glass half empty, half full for this president on health care reform? >> well, i think it still is

half full, but barely because there certainly is some pessimism. no one else has to feel private. they still have a very confident faith. let's look at the facts, which is that this president set the deadline, as you mentioned, for both the house and senate to at least get the early stages of house through this xham better. the house is about to go out and they're not getting that done. they were supposed to be the easy chamber. now, the senate, they would not get it through full chamber before their vacation, but they were saying as of late last friday when the president met with max bachus here at the white house, that the take away from that committee is that at least the finance committee is going to try to get it out. that is not going to happen. so while they're still confident, there have been some blows to this laengz, but you can't count the president out. it's still early. even if everybody going goes home for august without getting it done, he's hitting this hard

in september and he's got a shot at it. >> let me run this by you. how concerned should this president be that republicans will spend the next month knocking the reform efforts going on on the hill? it certainly would explain, in art, the push to get something done before the break. >> absolutely. you're right. i think this white house is a bit nervous in private about exactly what's going to happen at those town hall meetings. but i would twist one thing that you said. i don't think they're as worried about what republicans are going to say about the rep reform effort because republicans are on record as saying they're against it. republicans still insist they have their own plan. what is more important is what happens with those blue dogs. when they go home, do they get pressure from their constituents saying this is too expensive? and do they come back in december and say, speaker pelosi, majority leader reed, we can't be on board.

all the house members and some of the senate members will be on the ballot for 2010. what are conservative democrats hearing from their constituents? >> and it would have to be difficult for those blue dog democrats to defend what isn't fully formed at this point, right? >> you know, the hard part about covering this story is it's like covering jello. where is it? we don't have the whole thing and it's ee loois loosive because the president doesn't want to be pinned down on specifics just yet. >> what is the phone n number? >> 877-266-4189. you can call in or send a question in on twitter. >> oh, wait, hang on a second. ed, i just wanted to let everyone know while you were there, in case aud comment, that the president will make comment on the economy at about 1:15 p.m. eastern time. >> that must have just come

across the blackberry. robert gibbs was saying earlier that these new gdp numbers suggesting i think it was about a 1% loss of growth in the second quarter is better than expected. so we expect the president to do is to try to say, look, things are starting to pick up. it's still not there yet. but he's going to point to some of the revised numbers last year to say, you know what? we pull this economy back from the brink. he's going to try to make credit for that moving forward. >> happy i didn't let you go. appreciate it. when civilian contractor brad blosser went to iraq, he found out one in seven iraq children live in a disability. he is staying to offer hopes to hundreds for children and their families. fred blosser is cnn's hero of the week. >> this is cnn heroes. disabled children, they're really the forgotten ones in

this war. they're in the back rooms, often not seen in society. i came to iraq as a civilian contractor. there were a lot of children that either drag themselves on the ground or they have to be carried. there were so many kids out there with a need and so many people willing to reach out and is touch the lives of these kids. in 30 days, we had 31 pediatric wheelchairs that had hit ground. my name is brad blosser. i brooip bring pediatric wheelchairs to iraqi children in need. people donate on my website. the wheelchairs are brought over and i distribute them to the different military units and help fit these children into the wheelchair. >> the experience for me on the first distribution was awesome to see the swhiel come over on their face and look at the mothers and fathers. >> it's all about humanities. we want iraqis to feel there is humanity in america and makes us happy to see such a thing.

>> there is no payment. it's not really safe here, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity knowing that you've done something for someone that nobody else has done before. i made a difference in the lives of these families. definitely, the sacrifice has been worth it. >> and you can come nate a cnn hero of your own on our website at cnn.com/heroes. but do it right now. nominations close tomorrow. 20 minutes later, she'll bring one into the world in seattle. later today, she'll help an accident victim in kansas. how can one nurse be in all these places? through the nurses she taught in this place.

johnson & johnson knows, behind every nurse who touches a life... there's a nurse educator... who first touched them. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference

could save 'em hundreds on car just telinsurance.e geico it's actually doing it. gecko vo: businessmen say "hard work equals success." well, you're looking at, arguably, the world's most successful businessgecko. gecko vo: first rule of "hard work equals success." gecko vo: that's why geico is consistently rated excellent or better in terms of financial strength. gecko vo: second rule: "don't steal a coworker's egg salad, 'specially if it's marked "the gecko." come on people. with annuities from fidelity. turn your savings into income -- guaranteed, and get a retirement "paycheck" for life -- guaranteed. call... to get started,

and learn how to secure retirement income that won't go down -- guaranteed. call fidelity at... for details about guaranteed income for life, and change the way you think about your retirement savings. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. we we learned just moments ago that president obama will make a statement about the economy seld fcheduled for abou5 this arch. here is what the president said just yesterday about the economy. >> if you look at the consensus

of economists right now, it confirms that we have seen a significant slowing down of the contraction over the last several months. there are a lot of indicators out there that tell us that, you know, job losses, although still way too high, are not at the pace that we were seeing in january and february. housing prices went up for the first time in three years. the criticism, the banking system, the financial markets generally have settled down. you're not seeing the huge volatility or panic that you were seeing. and so saul of that is a sign that we have stepped away from the precipice.

>> all right. and once again, the president is going to make a new statement on the economy, maybe he will reflect those statements. a 1:15 eastern time right here in the "cnn newsroom." you know, the cash for clupgers program has really hit a pretty big bump in the road after just a week. it looks like the auto rebates are about gone. the white house says the program will continue at least through the weekend. let's try to get more money out of congress before its august recess. let's bring in gerri willis and gerri, how do i know first of all if i am driving a rebate worthy clunker? >> well, this is a check you want to take care make before you go to the dealership this weekend. here are the rules. your old car must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date. it has to get 18 miles per gallor on less and it has to be registered or insured under your name for at least a year.

the new car needs to get at least 22 miles per gallon and the credit you get will be anywhere from $3,500 to $4,500 based on how many more miles per gallon your new car gets. tony. >> and if this program does get more funding, it looks like it might, what do consumers have in mind? >> well, if you want to take advantage of the program, you're going to have to act quickly. as we saw, there is huge pent up demand. get all your documents you'll need before you head off the to the dealership. one year's proof of insurance and/or registration going back a year. a clear title. tony, that means it must be free of liens. if you have any, you'll need to clear those up before going to the dealer. manufacture date, you'll need that found on the driver's side door proving the car is less than 25 years old. so the devil is in the details. if you want to take advantage, you'll have to act pretty darn quickr r quickly, i think. >> and gerri, you'll be back in

a couple of minutes. we'll dive into the e-mail bag? >> that's right. a key mt. is at work right now on health care reform and the chairman says he is confident the bill will pass today before house members leave on their august recess. bipartisan senate negotiators say they won't have a committee vote before their break. health insurance cooperatives, we've been hearing about them just a bit. we're hearing them mentioned as alternatives to a government-run health care plan. elizabeth cohen joins us now. who is talking about these cooperatives? >> democrats are talking about it, republicans are talking about it. it seems to be the new thing. they're not a government run program, they're not a health insurance company with stockholders. what they are is a cooperative owned by their members and let's take a listen to what senator kent conrad had to say about them recently. >> so that is not government

run, government controlled. it's membership run, membership controlled and very effective in terms of dealing with their membership. >> elizabeth, so that is kent conrad and he is, as you mentioned, he is the senator who really put forward this plan. but how does it work? how does a co-op even work? >> well, let's talk about them because there aren't very many of them. so it's sort of important to know exactly how the whole thing functions. there are a couple of key ingredients to a co-op, so let's go over what they are. first of all, it has to be a nonprofit organization. nobody is making money off of them. the patients elect a governing board 0.they need to have tens of thousands of members at least to make it work. so basically, it's a whole lot of people getting together, electing their own govern b board and they then sent out to negotiate with doctors and hospitals to get health care. >> it doesn't sound like a bad idea. i'm just wondering why there are so few health insurance co-ops.

>> because they are so -- they're hard to do. they are not an easy thing to accomplish. there's only a handful of them in the country and the reason why it was that third ingredient i had on there, you need a mass of people, at least tens of thousands, preferably hundreds of thousands of people to negotiate with doctors and hospitals. if that doesn't happen, financially, it won't work. and in order for this to work with health care reform, the co-op needs to accept people with pre-existing conditions. we all know how important that is. so to accept people with cancer and heart disease and -- >> no cherry picking. >> right. and for this to work with health care reform, you have to take everyone and that's not easy. >> how much is this going to cost? >> it's going to cost a lot of money and that's why the government is now interested because they're thinking not that they would fund these co-ops entirely, but that they would give them some seed money to get them started. but i'm not talking about a buck or two.

i'm talking about some states $4 billion, some states $10 billion. so it's going to need serious help from congress. >> so we'll continue to talk about it and see what ultimately emerges, right? >> yeah. may be the cool, new thing. we'll have to see. >> we appreciate it. have a great weekend. >> health care, cash for clunkers and the first six months of the obama presidency. do you have questions about any of these topics? well, the vice president's chief economic adviser, jared bernstein is answering your questions in the 1:00 p.m. hour of "cnn newsroom." send us an e-mail at mailtothechief@cnn.com or send kyra a tweet. come back to mexico, please, that is the plea from a desperate tourism industry. but wait until you hear what it is offering to get you there. healthy hair is soft, silky. and you can get it. fabulous, healthy hair.

all you need is pantene. salon names and fancy packaging are nice, but you don't need it. even experts agree. it's damage protection results leading salon brands can't beat. trust me on this, the blow dryer, the curling iron, and the flat iron, and my hair's still shiny. pantene moisture renewal. healthy makes is happen.

you know, we should have the music here, game taylor with mexico. you know, it's cheap in mexico right now. in an effort to get tourists back, the mexico city government is offering visitors free travel and health insurance through december and that sweetens some already sweet deals. nicole joins us now with a look at the deals you can get if you're feeling a little daring. what do you have? >> well, we've seen this before, tony. to dangerous locations, beirut, we saw it in baghdad because it

was war torn. here what we're doing with the trifecta of sorts, we're dealing with a weak u.s. economy, we're dealing with news about drug cartels and h1n1. so at first, mexico saw 25% capacity at hotels, so they decided to launch this website, mexicoupdate.com to try and be more transparent about it. but let me give you an example, tony. i light this site. farexee farecompare.com. newark to mexico city in the $300 range. a year ago, we were seeing it in the $500 range. and then the packages, talk about the packages. >> i'm ready to see this. >> this is like 50% off to cancun and cozumel. >> are you kidding me? >> yeah. we're seeing these online travel

companies discount anecdotally. we're hearing people go to mexico and come back and say, you know, we are seeing a lot of freebies, free breakfasts, free transportation. as far as the hard stuff that we were just talking about from mexico city's government, not a lot of information online right now. they're basically saying once you land in mexico city, you'll get a pamphlet that will give you all of the details. you get free health insurance, free dental insurance and if you get free swine flu, then you get free hotel stays and if for some reason you need legal fees, they cover that, as well. >> they cover all that? >> they're basically saying, please, come on back. >> cancun, there's a lot of options. all right, nicole, see you next hour. >> see you. >> gerri willis jones us next and we are talking credit cards, interest rates, loan consolidation, all your financial questions answered. back in a moment. using a mifi, a mobile hotspot

that provides up to five shared wifi connections. two are downloading the final final revised final presentation. - one just got an e-mail. - what?! - huh? - it's being revised again. the co-pilot is on mapquest. - ( rock music playing ) - and tom is streaming meeting psych-up music from meltedmetal.com. that's happening now with the new mifi from sprint, the mobile hotspot that fits in your pocket. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. the mobile hotspot that fits in your pocket. sprint. the now network. mom vo: my job is to give him mom everything he needs totory reposucceed.im. mom: that's why i go to walmart. vo: find all the brands those other stores have but for low walmart prices. vo: like dell, hp and toshiba. save money. live better. walmart.

let's see here. loan consolidation, cash for clunkers and climbing credit card interest rates. cnn person finance editor gerri

willis is back. three hits with gerri in the hour. that probably means we won't see you for a month. but are you ready to dive into the e-mail bag? >> i am, indeed. let's go. >> the first student. he says my student loan interest rate is 3.4%. my wife has multiple student loans ranging from 6% to 7.2%. how can we reduce our interest rate and can we consolidate both loans into one? >> azad, we really don't think you can do any better than the rates you have right now. here is why. first of all, you can't really consolidate your loans with somebody else's loan, even though you're married. you wouldn't want to give up the 3.4% interest anyway, and your wife may get better rate through private consolidation but only if her credit score improves significantly. what's more, the fact is her fico score was probably over 800 to qualify in the first place, so you're sitting pretty as it is right now.

>> all right. our next question comes from ed. he writes in with this particular question on the cash for clunkers program. we've been talking about it a lot this morning. >> right. >> is there an income restriction in order to get the credit? >> well, ed, news out this morning cash for clunkers will continue throughout the weekend. congress is trying to secure a $2 billion extension of the program. as you know, the program was close to running out of funds. that said, if the program does get more funding, you'll have to act fast. the good news for you here there is no income restriction. doesn't matter what you make. >> got you. time for one more, gerri? >> i sure do. >> this person writes, my credit card company informs me that my interest rate was hiked to around 16%. >> ow. >> for many years it was around 5.99%. i've had this card since 1998. how should i approach this company to minimize the apr? what are your thoughts on this, gerri? >> it's likely that you'll never see the 5.99% again. the average rate these days,

13%. but, hey, i got to tell you, it's worth calling your credit card issuer to see if you can get the 16% rate lowered. negotiating a reduced interest rate is still something credit card companies are doing for good customers, and it's certainly easier than having a it raised or doing a debt settlement. if you do call, it will help if you don't have a balance and you're not afraid to playing hardball. tell the issuer you're thinking of transferring to a competitor's card and mention specific offers, if you have a fico score of 740, you should be able to get an interest rate below 10%. so, that's what you're aiming for. if you have any questions, send them to us at gerri@cnn.com. we answer the questions right here every friday and we love to hear from you. >> we're not finished with you yet, gerri. give us a preview of the big "your bottom line" show tomorrow. >> 9:30 a.m. saturday morning right here on cnn. we're talking about health care and what's going on there. and if you had a problem with your doctor, we'll tell you how to fire your doctor if you want to do that.

we'll also tell you the scams to watch out for. we've got a lot of ways to save you money. tomorrow morning, 9:30, right here on cnn, "your bottom line." >> boy, you've been terrific for us this hour. appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> have a great weekend. >> you, too. as always, cheg out our special report, "america's money crisis." on cnnmoney.com. out of gas already, seriously? we will hear from car dealers and analysts about the cash for clunkers program and whether it is long for this world. also, be careful what you tweet about. a snarky post on the microblogging site twitter leads to legal trouble for a chicago woman. also ahead, we will tell you about a program here in atlanta that gives homeless men and women a second chance. it's "what matters" and it's coming up in the next hour of "cnn newsroom." (announcer) introducing new tums dual action. this tums goes to work in seconds and lasts for hours. all day or night. new tums dual action. bring it on.

new tums dual action. and my dog bai@íy and i love to hang out in the kitchen... so she can watch me cook. you just love the aromas of beef tenderloin... and, ooh, rotisserie chicken. yes, you do. [ barks ] yeah. you're so special, you deserve a very special dog food. [ woman ] introducing chef michael's canine creations. the deliciously different way to serve up your love at mealtime. chef-inspired. dog-desired. chef michael's canine creations.

new developments now, police label michael jackson a drug addict in a search warrant. the document identifies seven doctors who treated jackson. it lists 19 aliases police say the singer used to get, quote, illegal prescriptions. police searched the las vegas home and office of jackson's doctor this week for a paper trail on the drug diprivan. a law enforcement official tells cnn conrad murray gave jackson the anesthetic and remains the central focus of a federal investigation into the singer's death. michael jackson's chef describes events the day the singer died. kai chase told cnn's larry king she was making lunch for the family on what seemed to be a normal day, when the mood suddenly changed. >> around 12:00, 12:05, 12:10, dr. murray comes down the stairs into the stairwell that leads into the kitchen and he's

screaming, hurry, go get prince, call security, get prince. >> larry: prince is? >> michael jackson's eldest son, uh-huh. and he -- so i drop everything that i'm doing and i run into the den, which is very close to the kitchen. and i go get prince. and prince and i run back and, you know, he meets with dr. murray at the stairs. prince stays downstairs with us. and dr. murray goes upstairs. within minutes the paramedics are there. and the security's running upstairs, skipping stairs. and all of a sudden we're all, you know, panicked, you know, what was going? what's happening? so, the energy in the house had just kind of changed from that happy, kind of day that we were having, and preparing lunch and having a good time to just kind of eerie. >> larry: hmm. >> chase says the security told her to leave the house. she says she didn't learn michael jackson was dead until she heard it on the radio. we don't know if he passed

go, but we do know a game of monopoly sent a man directly to jail in michigan. how, you ask? well, police say the man's female friend refused to sell him park place and boardwalk. so, what did he do? he hit her in the head hard enough to break her glasses. the man was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery. in massachusetts, a stolen iphone leads police to the teenager now strongly suspected of swiping it. the phone was taken from a locker at a ymca. when the owner realized it was missing, he logged into a computer at the "y" and turned on the phone's gps tracking device. that led to what police called a perfect storm for the suspect. and nice weather for shuttle landing. "endeavour" returned to earth about a little more than a half hour ago at the kennedy space center in florida, ending a 16-day mission to the international space station. the crew dropped off an american astronaut and gave one from japan a ride home.

they also installed the porch-like platform outside the space station. a mad dash for cash. a group of lawmakers scrambling to refuel the cash for clunkers program before congress takes its summer break. congress provided a billion dollars worth of auto rebates and thought that would last through october. but it looks like that money is gone, in just about a week. senior white house correspondent, ed henry, joining me now. ed, good to see you. i believe you wrapped up your radio show. here's my question for you, ed, if you're a dealership today, what's life like for you over the weekend? do you continue offering this program? what's the latest? >> well, tony, white house spokesman, robert gibbs, was stressing today, look, if you were planning to go out this weekend and purchase a car with the so-called cash for clunkers program, it's going to be honored. he's insisting the federal government is behind it. there were reports late last

night saying all of a sudden this is no longer good, that will have to suspend the program. he said the program is up and running. he said they'll honor certificates over the weekend. and more importantly, the president wants to expand the program. when you talk to various leaders on capitol hill, including debbie stabenow, what she is saying today, they are trying to get an infusion of about $2 billion more to expand this program. >> we have agreed that we're going to work to try to continue this program. first of all, it continues as-is today, until otherwise notice, until dealerships are told otherwise. and the house intends to pass a bill today that would add an additional $2 billion to the program. it would come to the senate, and then next week we would vote to try to pass that. >> and how do you pay for the $2 billion? where does the money come from? >> it would come from unused recovery funds that the obama

administration has identified, working with appropriators as a -- as a source of funding. >> so, you could hear right there, our congressional producer deirdre walsh was interviewing debbie stabenow. this is obviously pumping up the economy, it appears anyway, because you have people sort of rushing into car dealers across the country. robert gibbs saying this is a good way to stimulate the economy. but they have to figure how to process it. i have republicans e-mailing me asking already how much is it going to cost to process this for people that were going to go out and buy cars anyway. that's something we'll have to dig into. robert gibbs saying there are 20,000 certificates that are backlogged that already involved in car sales that government bureaucrats are trying to process. there was such a backlog they thought they might run out of money. >> we heard last hour that the president is going to make a statement next hour, 1:15, what are we likely to hear from the

president? >> two things, he'll take a look at the gdp numbers, gross domestic product, and it said look at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, the economy was in much worse shape than anybody thought. so, he's going to use that, because he's been doing it at town hall meetings politically to say, look, give me more time. i inherited a mess, in fact, a mess that was even bigger than the critics thought. second point he's going to try to make is when you look at the -- at the growth numbers for this latest quarter, it's a little bit better than economists -- economists expected. and that we -- the sort of the contraction in the economy is not quite as bad. it's bad. but not as bad as they expected. and he's going to try to use that to say, look, we're starting to pull out of this. >> right. >> things are starting to get better, but don't take your eye off the ball, because there's still a lot of people without jobs. >> absolutely. >> a lot of people without health care and he'll use this point to push for health care reform again, tony? >> our ed henry with us, a busy

day for you in morning. thank you. in just a couple minutes i'll ask an auto dealer how the cash for clunkers rebate program has impacted his business this week. also auto analyst lauren fix will join us as well. new figures on gross domestic product are out today. they confirm the output shrank in the second quarter by 1%. that's not as much as analysts were predicting, and some say that suggests the recession is winding down. gdp has contracted for four straight quarters now. that is the first time that's happened since the commerce department began keeping records back in 1947. build some bridges, will you? or fix a few. the house transportation committee is giving stimulus spending a checkup today. one congressman praised the states for quickly spending stimulus cash to repave roads. but he says they need a kick in the pants and focus on big-picture projects like bridges. >> we find that they say with

most funded projects relating to transportation, they focus on paving improvements. and there's nothing wrong with that, and i have to compliment the department of transportation and state departments of transportation for trying to pick the low-hanging fruit, get the money out as soon as possible. but many of those jobs are short term. some of the money's been spent. the jobs are already closed down. the problem we have is building the larger infrastructure projects that are multiyear and, you know, significant and in complexity. i have to admit that. okay, around 2,500 bridge projects were slated to get some stimulus money. does the latest round of economic numbers indicate the so-called great recession may be coming to an end? we know what analysts are saying. we want to know what you think. here's what you do -- go to cnn.com/tony.

leave us a blog comment, if you would. do you believe that we have hit bottom? and are we on the way up? share your thoughts, or a story or two with us, at our website. we'll have some of your remarks a little later this hour. congress is considering spending billions for weapons and programs the pentagon doesn't want. pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence, said you can thank pet projects for that. >> reporter: $600 billion won't buy you any more f-22s. the house cut funding for the fighter jet that's never fired a shot in battle. the pentagon didn't want that jet anyway, but it's still stuck with projects it did not ask for. defense secretary, robert gates, didn't want a new missile defense system, or another engine for the joint strike fighter or nearly half a billion dollars for new presidential helicopters. come to think of it, even president obama didn't want those. they're all in the new defense spending bill. >> department of defense has no

history of being frugal. >> reporter: the president of taxpayers for common sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group, says the words "pentagon" and "frugal" have never been connected before 3 >> when they actually say we don't need this, it's pretty extraordinary. we should listen to that. >> reporter: nearly $3 billion goes to earmarks which are projects demanded by individual congressmen mostly for work in their home state. >> if they're so good, why do we have to earmark money for them? why don't we say compete on your own like everybody else. >> reporter: representative john murtha sponsored the bill to cut the f-22 money but said his earmarks provide good jobs for american workers and produce needed equipment like body armor. >> the biggest complaint i get from the troops in the field, i don't know how often you visited the field, mr. flake, i don't know how often you come to the work -- the people that do this work. >> reporter: representative murtha was responsible for 23 earmarks, totaling $90 million, the most of any house member,

but we'll have to see if they all make it through, because president obama has threatened to veto this bill if some of these projects were included. chris lawrence, cnn, the pentagon. today is the day british forces are set to fully withdraw from iraq after six years there. in recent months their mission focused on training the iraqi army. at the peak of the war, about 46,000 british troops were stationed in iraq. britain was a key ally of the u.s. when president bush ordered the iraq invasion. 179 british soldiers have died in iraq since the war began. a u.s. army colonel says american troops are doing more harm than good in saying in iraq. colonel timothy reis, who advises the iraqi military in baghdad, said the u.s. should declare victory and withdraw in a year. he wrote a memo last month saying the training of iraqi troops has reached a point of rapidly diminishing returns and is actually generating more opposition. right now u.s. combat troops are

set to withdraw from iraq by this time next year. another contingent is staying until the end of 2011. house members heading home in just a few hours. and they're likely to get an ear full from their constituents concerned about health care reform. congressional correspondent, brianna keilar, live from capitol hill for us. and, briannbrianna, this is a r critical period, what can lawmakers expect to hear when they get back to their home districts? >> reporter: well, they're certainly going to be feeling some pressure from constituents who will be voicing their opinions on health care, tony, but also a lot of democrats, especially those in swing districts, are going to be very null verable to any attacks that republicans who oppose the democratic health care reform plan may lob their way. i want to tell you, they're really gearing up for this. there was just a meeting on the house side of the capitol, with all of the house democrats and david axelrod, one of the president's top advisors, as well as nancy-ann deparle, the

top health care adviser, and they got together to work solely on what the message will be. this memo also went out to all house democratic members, and it says that this may be the most consequential district work period -- that's what they call recess -- that we have ever faced. this memo outlines that they need to counter the republican government takeover message. how are they going to do that? they say through district health care events and telephone town halls and this goes on for three pages. so, they're really trying to circle the wagons, democrats are, and even because they are somewhat vulnerable and they have not had a vote before the full house floor and some members may be changing their minds before they come back and they want to circle the watchingens and have a unified message. it will be tough. >> if you would, brianna, give us a quick update on where we stand right now. >> reporter: the initial goal was to have both the house and the senate vote on health care reform. obviously not going to happen. the 68 scaled-down goal was to

get health care reform through the key committees on the house and the senate. on the house side, it looks like it will happen. the energy committee is the last of three committees that needs to vote on health care reform and we're expecting that they'll do that early this afternoon. but on the senate side, even though the senate isn't leaving for its recess for another week, it's not going to happen. the last committee that health care reform on the senate needs to go through is the senate finance committee. last night, democrats had to capitulate to republican demands. they're not going to do that. they're going to keep working, but it's doubtful, tony, if they're even going to reach a verbal agreement on how they move forward. >> boy, a lot on your plate. brianna keilar for us on capitol hill, appreciate it. thank you. car customers are rushing to take advantage of the cash for clunkers program. what's the impact on the people selling the cars? i'll ask a dealer. that's next. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol... a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills.

just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthritis pain all day.

space shuttle "endeavour" back on terra affirma. the orbiter landed just before 11:00 eastern at kennedy space center in florida, ending a 16-day mission to the international space station. boy, look at that. is that nice or what? the crew dropped off an american astronaut and gave one from japan a ride home. they also installed a porch-like platform just outside the space station. the seven american astronauts

were part of the biggest gathering ever in space. counting the six station residents and the crowd totaled, what, 13? chad myers, that was a beautiful landing. it really was nice. i got to tell you something, man, look, the astronauts are back home. it's friday. it's getaway day for them after a debrief. it's getaway day for all of us. the weekend is here. and my understanding is folks all around the country are trying to get to the airport and someplace fun. >> some kids here in atlanta have to go back to school. >> that's right. that's right! >> what happened to labor day? anyway. that was a great landing, though. >> it really was. >> i want to mention that, because of how much trouble they had getting off the ground in the first place because of weather. >> uh-huh. >> they had a great weather landing. this thing can't land in the rain. a normal airplane, flying through the rain, lands no problem. you can't have something that's thousands of degrees going through a thunderstorm or any shower to get on the ground. otherwise you crack all those

ceramic panels, and they certainly don't want to do that. perfect weather today. rain showers in atlanta. slowing down the airport here. and although it's not raining, at least right now, in new york, it did rain a little bit ago. those showers have now moved off into connecticut. those showers are slowing down the airports. atlanta, you're about an hour delayed right now. boston, an hour, ten minutes. houston, the same. laguardia pushing two hours. and at that point, it's almost -- you're almost unable to catch up those two hours, because by the time your flight is supposed to be a 9:00 flight, it's an 11:00 flight, then you can't take off, because it's too late. they have to make some cancellations there, one or two cancellations, to get all the planes to fit. make sure you get to the airport just enough ahead of time if your plane is going or the plane before you hasn't left or whatever. newark you are an hour, almost two hours. philadelphia, an hour and 25. let's get to the map because i want to do one more thing. take you out west. >> nice. >> take you out here and show you what's going on still with the temperatures.

>> yeah, yeah. >> come here to seattle. 65 today. how about that one? >> wow. >> we get all the way down to portland, 66. you remember the numbers yesterday? they were already in the upper 70s. >> that's right. >> almost 80 degrees. that's what a little bit of wind off the ocean will do, compared to downhill heating you up. >> wow, that's a big shift. >> you bet. a change of heart at gm, the automaker will keep about 50 dealerships slated to be closed open, many are small you town, rural dealerships. for example, gm executives got 2,200 letters from a missouri town of 2,500, asking that the family owned dealership remain open. gm agreed. other dealers saved themselves by pointing out the great distances gm customers would have to drive to buy a car. gm notified 1,300 dealers in may they'd be closed as part of the company's restructuring. a group of democrats are scrambling to get more money for the cash for clunkers program before congress goes on vacation.

the auto rebates will continue through the weekend at least, but it looks like the program has burned through the $1 billion congress allotted. that happened in just one week. the money was supposed to last through october. let's talk about cash for clunkers with auto analyst lauren fix, and rochester, new york. lauren, it's great to see you, as always. >> thank you for having me back. >> all the time. whenever. and i've got jeffrey volanker with us, the president of the an auto motive group which runs ten dealerships in metro washington. jeff, good to see you. lauren, let's start with you. as i recall, you had bigtime reservations about this program not that very long ago. are you ready now, on this program, lauren fix, to declare cash for clunkers a great idea and a huge success? >> no, i am not. believe it or not. you knew i wasn't going to change my opinion, and i still have reasons, because there's so many people that were totally

excluded from this program. and even though you think, oh, the recycles are making money, they are making nothing off of this. they are making less than $100 of car and they have tons of paperwork on their hands. the only one who is making money, thank goodness, the dealerships are making money. they are getting rid of the 2008 and 2009 cars before the 2010s come in. that's the only positive thing about this program. >> jeff, help me out. if cash for clunkers were a movie, is this a horror story for you, because of all of the work and all of the -- i understand that it's -- it's -- it's labor intensive here. is it a horror show, or is it one of those feel-good movies? >> this is a box office hit, no question about it. >> you hear that, lauren? did you hear that lauren? lauren, did you hear that? >> for the dealer, it is. yes, i do. and, yes, i'm so glad you guys are making some money. but i think what happened was we overstimulated a lot of consumers who stopped purchasing cars waiting for this to happen.

they may have purchased cars anyhow and they sat on their hands and waited. and when the program became available, they jumped in, and that's what you're getting now is a huge influx of people but it will not be continual and forever. we will not see 16 million cars being sold in 2009 or 2010. i hope it does come back, because i'm all for the auto industry. >> jeff, will you talk to lauren, please? >> yes, i will. most customers don't know about this program. they are learning slowly. it's not a new program, it's been used around the world, in europe, and south america and china. cars are 20% of the retail sales in our country. our sales are down 35% to 40% year to date. and unless we get the car business going again, there's no way we get the national economy going. the government is faced with two things with stimulus. i have not seen any benefit of stimulus until this particular program. do we pay to put money in the auto manufacturers and pay for factory workers to stand around or should we stimulate the

wheels of commerce? getting car sales going again to put those factory workers back to work? >> yeah, yeah, lauren, yeah, yeah! >> this is working. >> would you every see every driver in the united states get $1,000? anyone who has owned a hybrid, you can't trade it in. you can't trade a high fuel economy car in. many people get excluded where the program keeps changing. people would go and see what their car mileage was, and it was always changing. it doesn't help people that lease. and the leasing program that goes for the cash for clunkers is a five-year lease. i don't think you would recommend it to any of your customers. although i do agree with you, we do need to help stimulate the economy and had is the only thing that has. >> it does three things. it doesn't just get new car sales going. it gets old clunkers off the road. that's why it's called cash for

clunkers. the average car in the united states is 9 1/2 years old. they are not as safe. they don't have the safety standards. they don't have the fuel standards. and put a car in cash for clunker program it has to be fuel inefficient. we do three things. we get the wheels of commerce turning again, which is very important. we get old, fuel inefficient cars off the road. 50% of america's air pollution comes from ten% of its older cars. so, this will benefit all three areas. and it's working in other countries. it's working great. we need more money for it. >> you need more money for it. has it been cumbersome to process it all, to get everything that's required to get the program on track and can working for you? >> you would not believe. it should be easy to take an old car and trade it in. there's 300 pages of regulations. i can only imagine what cap and trade and health care would look like. this is a hard, complex program. but it's working, we need more. >> i have something to say about some of the factors. we forget is any car, new or old, that is poorly maintained,

as proven from the car care council statistics, if you don't maintain a new car, it will pollute more than an old car. there are many people who have taken care of their cars and the impact to the small guy who includes your service department where people aren't getting their cars serviced is affecting your bottom line as well as the small midas store and the little guy down the line. if people don't maintain their cars, it will affect the economy and everybody as well. >> also? >> also. there's one other thing, these cars are going to salvage yards and they are absolutely dead weight. look at what the salvage recycles are saying, they are worth less than $100, the engines that had the most value of the vehicles are worth nothing. you take them off the road, it means less salvage cars. used car values go up. i would rather have them go to charity and do meals on wheels or taking kids that are underprivileged places. at least it would have a better purpose than having environmental waste on them. >> i don't believe in any of that. i talked to a lot of customers

who brought their old cars in. they are happy. they are sky high. i like the program and it works and as intended. the only problem was the government was going to put $5 billion in the program which would stimulate up to 1.25 million car sales, which isn't chump change, but they only put $1 billion in the program. and that $1 billion has been used in a week's time to sell 50,000 cars. this will put americans back to work. it will get more fuel-efficient, newer cars on the road, it will reduce the pollution. it's the cheapest stimulus that money can buy. >> i hear john louis sousa in the background. i didn't have to do a thing. i hope the program works and i hope it works for your automotive group. thank you both. that was terrific. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i didn't know it was going to be that good. still to come, more fallout from the crackdown in iran. we'll get the latest on the demonstrations, the arrests and

the battle for power from our iran desk. to being able to manage your diabetes properly. it's very important for me to uh check my blood sugar before i go on stage. being on when i'm feeling low can be like a rollercoaster. it does at times feel like my body is telling me to do one thing... and, my mind, my heart is telling me to do something else. managing my highs and lows is super important. with my contour meter i can personalize my high/lo settings so it really does micromanage where my blood sugar needs to be. i'm nick jonas and never slowing down is my simple win. (voice 2) how bad is it? (voice 1) traffic's off the chart... (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.

let's get you to washington, d.c., now and to capitol hill. our congressional correspondent,

brianna keilar, brianna is joining us now with breaking news. what do you have for us, brianna? >> reporter: tony, this is about the health of connecticut senator chris dodd. we received a note from his staff saying at 2:00 p.m. eastern he's going to have a press conference about a personal health issue, and his aides also forwarded us an article where senator dodd had spoken to the "hartford current" telling them he had early stage prostate cancer. we need be clear, tony, oftentimes prostate cancer is very, very treatable. and this article stresses that dodd feels fine, that his plan is to have surgery after the senate goes into recess, after next week, and that he plans on being back at work after what he describes as a brief recuperation. as you know, senator dodd has been working very long hours lately. he's been sitting in as the top democrat on the senate health committee, because ted kennedy, the chairman of that committee, is -- is away from the hill recuperating and trying to recuperate from brain cancer.

so, certainly he's been working some tough hours, and he's facing a tough re-election here coming up in 2010. >> that's right. >> reporter: but according to the "hartford current" it won't change his plans to seek re-election. he plans to seek re-election as he was after the brief recuperation. >> all right, brianna, appreciate it. thank you. iran's president lashes out at his critics in a speech today. president mahmoud ahmadinejad defended his relationship with iran's supreme leader and denied there was any rift. his remarks come a day after more postelection violence. cnn's reza sayah is following developments from our iran desk. and, reza, if you would, give us an update. >> yeah, tony, president mahmoud ahmadinejad came out today and said the supreme leader and i, we're like father and son. there is no rift. it was his attempt at saying the two are getting along. of course, talk of a rift came up last week, when president ahmadinejad made a controversial vice president's pick.

hardliners, along with the supreme leader, made it clear that this was not the man. they suggested the president get rid of him. but ahmadinejad kind of dragged his feet. he delayed the decision. and when he got rid of him, he turned around and made him his top adviser. many said that was defiance against the supreme leader. but today the president telling a gathering that all this talk of a rift is a plot by foreign governments. take a listen -- >> translator: they are waiting to propagate it and make it a big deal. they imagined they could take advantage of it. no way. that way is blocked to the il-minded enemies of the revolution and to the devil, god willing. >> of course, the two men will be standing side by side at an inauguration ceremony in a few days. it's going to be very interesting. also today, new pictures of individuals arrested during protests yesterday. let's take a look at those pictures. according to state-run television, 50 individuals arrested.

and there you see how they're arrested. the security forces in street clothes, simply grabbing them by the wrist, and who knows where they take them to. the government says hundreds of people are already in custody from previous protests, but human rights groups say the number is more in the thousands. one human rights group saying 2,000 people in custody. very interesting tomorrow, tony, 20 of these protesters, according to the government, will go to trial on security-related charges. a lot of anger by opposition groups about how these detainees are being treated. stay tuned to how they react to this trial starting tomorrow. >> i know you'll be following it for us. our reza sayah from our iran desk, thank you. this economy is hitting a lot of people hard. i'm going to show you one program reaching out to those in need.

ies who need assistance getting around their homes. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little to no cost to you. stay tuned for this important medicare benefit information and free scooter guarantee. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... great news. your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. why should you call the scooter store today? because their mobility experts are also medicare experts. and that means the scooter store is your best shot at qualifying for a scooter that costs you little to nothing. hi i'm doug harrison. at the scooter store, 97% of our medicare customers

pay little to nothing out of pocket. how do we do it? we know what it takes to get you your power chair or scooter. it's our strength. it's our mission. and we back it up with the scooter store guarantee. if we qualify you and medicare denies your claim for a new powerchair or scooter, i'll give it to you absolutely free. i paid into medicare all my life, and when i needed it the benefit was there for me. the scooter store made it so easy. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. medicare and my insurance covered it all. the scooter store got me back out in the world again. and they're some of the nicest people you'll ever talk to. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little to no cost to you. call the scooter store for free information today! improve your mobility and your life. call the number on your screen for your free, no obligation information from the scooter store.

find out if you qualify for medicare and insurance payment on a brand new power chair or scooter. call the number shown. i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. let's see. we are three hours into the trading day, but before we get to the numbers from the big board. new york exchange, as always, we like to remind you to visit our

website with the best analysis on the financial crisis that you can find anywhere. just go to cnnmoney.com. our "money" team is a terrific team. you can't do any better than that team. now, let's get to the big board. as you can see, the dow trying to end the week in positive territory, off of session highs. the dow is up 19. and the nasdaq is up just a couple. we will be following the numbers throughout the day with stephanie elam in for susan lisovicz. right here in the "cnn newsroom." remembering a literary pioneer. it's what we're talking about today in our "what matters" segment in partnership with "essence" magazine. a memorial service for author e. lynn harris will be held in atlanta. in august, harris died. while on a tour promoting his latest book, "basketball jones." he became a popular writer of gay black fiction, who once sold books from the trunk of his car.

harris wrote 11 novels, 10 of them became "new york times" best sellers. the neighborhood you're raised in could determine how much money you make later in life. and middle-class blacks may be the most affected. according to a pew study, 66% of black children raised in poor neighborhoods, even if they are considered middle-class, that is compared to 6% of white children. researchers say that causes more black children to fall out of the middle-class as adults. they say growing up in a poorer neighborhood has a greater impact on a child than the parents' education, employment or marital status. it is a hand up instead of a hand-out, a program in atlanta is giving homeless men and women a second chance. samaritan house helps people with a home-cooked meal, a warm smile and the skills to help them move back into the workforce. i recently paid a visit to see how many people are going from poor to productive. >> reporter: ernest butler is a

hurricane katrina evacuee. he came to atlanta with no job, no possessions, and no family. but because of samaritan house, he was able to find a home and help at cafe 458. >> cafe 458 is a special place. it's where we help men and women who are unable to work because of disabilities. we offer a great meal that's cooked in a restaurant environment, unlike a soup kitchen. >> i got to get those, too. >> reporter: what has this place -- >> it's meant a great deal to me, man. they accepted me when they walked through the door. i walked through the door, some shorts on, a striped shirt, and i wore those clothes five days without a bath. and i ate in the same dining area. and they accepted me every day just that way. after that, i started slowly pulling myself together. >> reporter: cafe 458 is one of the programs samaritan house uses to help folks transition back into the workforce. while the cafe satisfies their hunger, the edge program nurtures their job search with a computer lab, clothing, storage for their belongings, showers,

and laundry facilities. in the meantime, there's the clean street team, which provides samaritan house clients with temporary janitorial jobs, until they can find full-time work. >> what samaritan house is offering us a chance to get back into the world. >> reporter: 2 1/2 years ago richard taylor was homeless and living under a bridge, and now taylor is a clean streak team leader managing five other workers. >> it gave me some responsibility, and i'm thankful for this place. this place helped save my life. >> reporter: if people watching spent some real time with homeless people, what would they see? >> they would see that persons that are homeless are no different than they are. the fact is that they are homeless, because of their situation, but it's only a temporary situation, they're able to make a difference. >> cafe 458 also has a sunday brunch open to the public. the proceeds support the programs at samaritan house. and for more information, visit their website at

www.samhouse.org. there it is. and for who are of "what matters" for everyone, join us at saturday and sunday 8:00 eastern for a premiere of "black in america 2," "reclaiming the dream" brought to you by cnn and "essence." welcome to our mcdonald's. yours? really? it's been our dream since we were kids. uh, that long, huh? why not? mcdonald's really supports entrepreneurs. they spend over $5 billion dollars... with businesses in communities like ours. you two really know your stuff. we've done our homework! time for breakfast. mom! not in front of the customers. wake up! wake up! - i just had the most amazing dream! - me too! opportunities inspiring big dreams. mcdonald's.

- i just had the most amazing dream! - me too! you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience.

i got to tell you, we've been talking so much about getting rid of those used clunkers, we thought we'd have a little bit of fun with it. nicole lapin is with us once again. he's a hot actor, right? he's on a real roll. >> he is. >> jeremy priven. >> piven, p-i-v. >> he has the hot show on our sister network, hbo, "the entourage" and he has a new movie. priven? >> piven. check it out. it says it right there. p-i-v-e-n. >> but i can't read. >> in hbo, he either wants you to be an agent or be scared of one. >> okay. >> he's at it again, tony, a new comedy that either makes you

want to be a used car salesman or run from one. >> yeah, yeah. >> no smoking on airplanes. >> i know. it's ridiculous. >> you keep doing that, i'll have to report you to the faa. >> did you know in 1969 when smoking was allowed on all flights we put a man on the moon? >> i had no idea. >> it starts with ashtrays and it ends with all of our precious freedoms being stripped away. but we don't have to take it like rosa parks and david lee roth when he left van halen, we can say enough injustice. we can smoke one for america! >> who are you? >> i'm don reddy. and i got the goods. >> yeah. it is so funny. i saw the preview of this. it is from the people, tony, that brought you "talladega nights." >> okay. >> it's like a smart, lowbrow comedy. it has a brilliant cast. will ferrell is in it. james brolin is in it. >> like him. >> so, it looks like this whole

world that we're talking about, the cash for clunkers, we're looking at this with a humous lens. it is kind of a spoof. so, when i interviewed jeremy piven -- >> piven, piven. >> -- i asked him how he got into that used car salesman character. >> there's a great documentary called "slashers" about car salesmen that i took a look at. and i went to a bunch of lots and i've also been sold a lot of cars. and i'm what's known as a sucker, and as soon as they see me coming in, they know that they're going to take my money. so, i kind of took that and i reversed that and i'm no longer a sucker. >> he's no longer a sucker. the character's a little bit like the one he plays in "entourage." >> he's really good in this show. yeah, yeah. >> yeah. he is, of course, based on the brother of rahm emanuel. ari. abrasive. i asked him about the long jest of the show, he wants to stick around with it. he even wants there to be a movie. >> nice, i like that good.

>> "the goods" comes out in a couple of weeks. maybe this is a little like life imitating art, the cash for clunkers. he goes to extraordinary length to sell the cars. >> lee wouldn't need the cash for clunkers to sell the cars. it's priven. jeremy -- >> help me. >> nicole, good to see you. have yourself a good weekend, why don't you? >> you got it right? still to come in the "newsroo "newsroom", got a lot of comments on our blogs. the sign of improvement in the economy. several signs, actually. today's gdp numbers show a slowdown in the economic decline during the second quarter. so, that brings us to our blog question, does the latest round of economic numbers indicate the so-called great recession may be coming to an end? nicholas says, things might be looking up, but i doubt it's over. one slipup could send this thing right back down the tubes. salina tells us, i believe that the worst of the economy has passed. i wish my creditut the

e time to patch this macroeconomic wound and even lonr for individual consumers to recover. you could weigh in and join the conversation at cnn.com/tony. >> uh-huh. president obama has made a big commitment to change in afghanistan. what does that mean for u.s. troops on the ground? we're going to take you along.

there is word the general at the helm of combat operations in afghanistan may request additional u.s. troops. military officials and others familiar with the report due from general stanley mcchrystal say he is likely to recommend significant changes. those changes tied to a new strategy of clearing provinces taliban militants have pushed into. in the request for more u.s. forces would require discussions with congress and the white house. this month, 4,000 u.s. marines launched an offensive into afghanistan's turbulent helmand province to try to take back territory from the taliban ahead of presidential elections.

cnn's ivan watson traveled to the town of khan neshan, the southern-most point of the american advance to see how the marines are trying to establish law and order in what just a few weeks ago was a taliban-controlled town. >> reporter: in an old fort at the southern edge of afghanistan, an experiment in nation building is under way. in makeshift offices where music from a laptop provides the only distraction from the scorching heat, behind a crumbling walls of the citadel, nicknamed the castle, the coalition of americans and afghans are trying to build a fledgling local government, in a dusty town long controlled by the taliban. every morning at 7:00, we conduct a meeting with the personnel that are here in the castle. >> reporter: the commander of the marines, captain jere

require dem. ster, welcomed the recently arrived afghan police chief and his scruffy group of officers. moments later, tempers flare. "since i arrived here last night, your men won't allow me to bring my police trucks into the castle," the police captain says. "you don't trust me." >> use the vehicles. drive them down here. unload them. take whatever you want. but the vehicles cannot stay inside in the castle. >> reporter: it's an uphill battle, overcoming cultural barriers between allies -- >> outgoing! >> reporter: -- while sending off eneattacks on enemy insurge. marines and police head out on their first joint patrol. today is friday. it's supposed to be the busiest day of the week. and the bazaar is all but deserted. these shops are boarded up. and around the corner even, the bakery, which sells the staple food for afghans, is closed. we're hearing that somebody in the baker's family has been

kidnapped. the new police chief tries to reach out to the locals, but they're scared and angry after last night's battle. the situation is bad now? people are afraid and fleeing the area, these men say. because of you americans. the marines are also tense. every passing motorcycle could carry a suicide bomber. this war is very frustrating. >> sometimes we have a lot of lives lost on our side. >> reporter: back in the castle, the corporal tries to teach mostly illiteral afghan security forces the laws of war. >> you want to take every opportunity to make sure he's not an innocent civilian before you kill him. >> reporter: the campaign to win hearts and minds, includes hiring boys to clean the bazaar, and offering health care to a town with no hospital. the doctor is from the afghan ministry of health and he's come here with the u.s. military.

he's treating this little boy, akbar john, who doesn't even know how old he is, for burns received yesterday when a pot of hot, calleding water landed on his leg. this is the only afghan doctor in this town. akbar john limps away. one small victory perhaps in a war in afghanistan that's been going on for eight long years. ivan watson, cnn, khan neshen, afghanistan. and coming up in the 2:00 p.m. hour, right here in the "cnn newsroom," we are expecting connecticut senator chris dodd to tell all of us in a news conference what he told his local paper at the "hartford courant" that he has early stage prostate cancer. we want to talk about this with our senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, and elizabeth, what's ahead for the senator? >> well, what's ahead for the senator is we're told that he's going to have surgery. >> yes. >> which is a not uncommon approach for prostate cancer. it's an interesting cancer in

that people do different things. some men actually choose to do watchful waiting, mean that they don't actually do a therapy or a surgery. other people have surgery. sometimes people will do surgery and radiation. people do all sorts of different approaches. however, the good news about prostate cancer is that especially if it is -- if it is caught at the right time, it is quite survivable. if that's a word. >> survival rates are high? >> survival rates are high. ten years after a prostate cancer diagnosis, 91% of the men are still alive. >> okay. >> so, that's a good number. >> all right. >> that's a good number. >> our senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll take a break. and we want to make sure that we enable our customers to be successful homeowners. bank of america is lending. whether it's a purchase, a refinance, line of credit... we're here to assist our customers. so we try to make it as simple as possible especially for that first time home buyer. there's a lot of opportunity right now with what's happening in our economy to really get out and educate.

this is responsible lending. it's a lot more conservative than it once was. but in reality, it's a lot smarter. we, at bank of america, have simplified the process by offering the clarity commitment. this is a one-page document, very simplified, letting the customer know what they're going to sign up for. and there's not a lot of loan mumbo jumbo that most people don't understand. it's about educating someone. it's about making them feel comfortable. it's not just one piece of it, home ownership, but it's about everything kind of along the way. we're going to be able to hold your hand from this from step one to the end and welcome to bank of america.

it is friday. we're crazy around here in the "newsroom." just want to give you a quick reminder. 1:15 p.m., about 18 minutes or so from right now, the president will be making comments on the economy. and kyra will, of course, have those comments for you live right here in the "cnn newsroom." so, boy, from health care, cars, cash for clunkers, and the first six months of the obama presidency, here's -- do you have any questions about any of these topics? the vice president's chief economic adviser, jared bernstein, is answering your questions in the 1:00 p.m. eastern hour of the "cnn newsroom" with kyra. so, here's what you can do, you can send us an e-mail at

mailtot mailtothechief@cnn.com. or twitter.com/kyracnn. did i handle that all right? >> i think you're my agent. can you mention it one more time? >> love that kyra. lesson of the day, watch what you tweet to kyra and everyone else for that matter. your comments could get you in legal trouble. cnn's jessica gomez tells us about a woman facing a lawsuit over what she wrote on twitter. >> reporter: the whole story started here at this luxury chicago apartment complex with a dispute between a landlord and a tenant. horizon reality group which owns this apartment complex said a tenant wasn't happen. about the leak in the roof. that tenant took her complaints to the social networking site, twitter, tweeting that there was mold in her apartment and that her landlord was okay with it. just 16 words later and they slapped her with this, a $50,000 lawsuit. horizon refused to talk to us on camera, but issued this statement, saying simply they're trying to protect their reputation. so, we wanted to sort of find

out whether or not this lawsuit has any legs. >> i don't think at the end of the day it has any legs. sometimes people bring defamation suits because they just want to clear their names, and that may be what the reality company is thinking about, but i think they'll have a very hard time winning the lawsuit. in this country, we really like free speech, so we make it very hard for plaintiffs to bring defamation suits. they have to prove it was false. >> reporter: all right. next stop, internet cafe. let's go check out what social networkers are saying. do you ever think about what you say, that it could offend somebody, or it could be grounds for a lawsuit? >> raw, absolutely. i think there's a level of censorship with that type of media, and it's -- it's sort of a new -- it's a new thing that people have to sort of monitor themselves. >> reporter: what are your