from the cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning" for the first day of august. hello, to you you all. i'm t.j. holmes. >> can you believe it had? i'm not ready. i'm brooke in for betty again this weekend. she's long away in vietnam doing great things. she'll be back next weekend. let's start on what we're working on, talking this morning about the health care plan. president obama is one step closer to congressal approval.

the house energy and commerce committee finally passed their version of the bill. two other committees have signed off. so we will probably be seeing some kind of full chamber vote sometime september/october. now they're long gone on recess. >> they're off of having to explain themselves to their constituents. we'll talk a lot about health care. also, honda says some other cars could literally kill you. at least one death being livged to a default in one of their vehicles. a couple of their vehicles. if you drive an accord, acura, civic, you immediate to stay tuned. check with your dealership. we'll tell you what's going on with these cars. also, reynolds wolf going on a mission to find out how dairy farmers are using cow manure to save money. apparently took things a little too far. take a look. >> cows are fed better than we.

very nutritiousist. >> oh, no, he didn't. reynolds! oh. >> look at it hanging out of his mouth. >> bad decision. i like that. we'll be getting the scoop from reynolds on how that tasted. how that went for him. >> see how he flushed that down. >> breakfast. let's talk news this morning. here are some of the stories we're following overnight. the u.s. looking at reports that three missing americans may have been detained in iran. according to kurdish officials in northern iraq, they were last seen near the unmarked raubian border. kurdish officials says it's likely the group accidentally crossed into iran. it is a popular tourist destination on the border. arwa damon following the story for us. we'll talk to her in a few

minutes. five more banks shut down this year. the biggest failure was mutual baivg of illinois. officials estimate the lastest batch of closures will cost the fdic $900 million. a lot of smaller and regional banks have been shut down because of the downturn in economy, a lot of families can't make the payments. so that's why some of these banks get into trouble. so far 69 banks have been taken over by the government this year. the murders of a florida couple last month may have been contract killings. that's what we're hearing a source familiar with the investigation is telling some reporters the state attorney's office thinks most of the suspects were only there to rob byrd and melanie billings but the alleged organizer of this whole thing, winter gonzalez jr. and other suspects may have been planning this hit all along. the state attorney's office says he cannot comment on that. >> my belief that the primary

motive for this murder was robbery. however, we will evaluate and review all possibilities and we will consider abdomen review all evidence as it relates to motive. that's been my position from the beginning. that's my position now. because the investigation is ongoing and because of the magnitude of this matter, i do not believe that it would be appropriate for me to comment further. >> seven people altogether charged with murder in the billings case. >> a legal expert who spoke with anderson cooper last night spoke about the case. >> i think most people when they heard about this first, i think most people probably said, the way this was carried out seemed to be a little bit more than a robbery. it was planned. the ninja-style outfits, it was precise. they practiced a month before. i think generally people were saying it just doesn't sound like a robbery. so the fact that now they're

investigating this murder for hire i don't think is so unusual. i think they're going to keep it close to the vest because they are still investigating. >> keep it close to the vest as they should. but the idea of a revenge killing in some way, what would be a possible motive for revenge killing many a case like this? >> well, we're not going to know anything until basically people start slipping. i think the woman that was arrested, the last one arrested for accessory after the fact, i think the bottom line is she's going to be the flip witness. she'll be the one who's going to strart talking in order to get a good deal. i think that's why now you're starting to hear this aspect of murder for hire because maybe some of them are starting to talk. that's why additional charges might come down and might be looking for additional suspects. we're going to have to wait and see. as this progresses, as people start talking, as more evidence comes forward, we'll hear more about it. >> what's interesting and what may complicate all this is that the same source also told cnn that the state attorney's office is working under the belief that most of the suspects in the case thought they were actually there

for a robbery and only some were plotting the hit. >> the sources and what i've read is the bottom line is people up for the shooter knew what was going on and the people below it were lassoed into the robbery. as a prosecutor, theories do change as evidence becomes more prevalent, as people start talking, especially in the case where you have more than one person arrested, more than one suspect, in this case eight people. people start talking so different theories, different portions of the investigation start coming forward as the case goes forward. >> couple they're talking about, they had 16 children many of them adopted with special needs. >> a strange case from the beginning. >> it keeps going. >> keeps on giving. who knows if we'll ever get to the bottom of it. we'll stay on top of it. we're on top of health care, president obama's desire to reform.

the bill passed last night has to be merged with another version. >> three versions. the final version will probably go before both chambers sometime september, maybe october. yesterday's vote came just where the house went on august recess. the senate probably won't reach a deal before it goes on recess next friday. so there will be plenty of unfinished business left in washington while all of these lawmakers are out and about vacationing for the month of august. >> however, as our dana bash zmraibs, summer vacation won't bring the health care fight to a halt at all. >> reporter: after the last vote, the exodus. house members rushing home for the entire month of august and if you're a vulnerable democrat, prepare for the political tsunami on health care. >> they're going to get the first shot in, the 30-second attacks. the more people know, they like what we're doing. >> reporter: tom is a freshman democrat who only won his conservative virginia district

by two-tenths of one percentage point. he's undecided about his party's health care plan and will use august with his constituents to decide. >> 18 counties, 18 tom in your towns and meetings with elected officials and doctors, road testing them. i haven't committed on the bill. >> reporter: of democratic leaders are hoping to defend democrats from withering republican attacks by arming them with a media strategy from power point to simple message ideas, hold insurance companies accountable, remove them from between you and your doctor. to get your message out, they suggest using town halls, twitter, facebook. pennsylvania democrat jason ault meyer rolls his eyes at those instructions. >> the house bill in my opinion is flawed. >> reporter: he's a vulnerable democrat who voted against his party's plan in committee and says democratic leaders have put democrats like him from conservative districts in a tough spot by including controversial proposals in their health care plan like a tax increase.

>> go back to the district and explain to constituents why they took a politically unpopular vote. it was tone-deaf to me. >> reporter: he insists he's worried about the ads and protests that await him at home. >> it's encouraging debate. we didn't ram this through. we took the august recess to allow the country's vice to be heard. >> reporter: talk to just about any democratic lawmaker and they will tell you they were elected on a promise to reform the health care system and they believe at the even of the day it will rap happen, but the key is to regain the message back from the republicans. in words of one lay maker, explain what they're doing for you and not to you. they're very much treating this like a political campaign. one democratic leader said they're determined not to get slip voted during recess. dana bash, capitol hill. good morning. how are you? we've been talking about this video this morning. let's take this full here and show what we're talking about. video out of st. augustine,

florida. >> pretty intense, isn't it? you see pat of the intercoastal water way out in the distance. near highway a1a. there was an intense thunderstorm all the way from st. augustine through sawgrass, eastbound as far south as dayto daytona. it's the lightning capital of america. >> really? >> it is. the lightning capital of the world is actually in central africa. >> how do you know this stuff? >> because i'm a geek, a nerd, a meteorologist. >> these folks here at this house, you would think maybe serious damage or something. they didn't lose power. all they lost was their internet connection. that was it. >> i would have lost a lot more than that. no question. >> when you say the lightning capital of the u.s., this area you're talking about, do you have an idea of how many lightning strikes that means per year? >> i can tell you that lightning strikes our planet an average of

seven times per second. every second. lightning strikes are going crazy right mao. it just happens you have it in central florida because it's on the sea breeze. every afternoon 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., you have a chance of thunderstorms year round. there are times of year they're less noticeable. >> it's good talking to you. i learn so much when i talk to you. >> so much he doesn't learn when we talk off the air. in atlanta, it looks pretty good for the time being. there goes, t.j., low deck of clouds overhead. nothing in terms of thunderstorms expected here. maybe into the afternoon but by the midday hours we should be still in the clear. that's not the case as we go to the magic wall. right to the central plains, if you could draw a line through the region from kansas city southward to places like, say, back into oklahoma city, by the afternoon we could be dealing with rough stuff. this morning in kansas city southward to oklahoma city we'll be dealing with thunderstorms.

in dallas, nothing yet. that also will be the situation between 3:00 and 6:00. you could have delays at dfw, possibly into love field. as we take the next 30 seconds, the warm-up continues to be an issue in parts out west with. hot and dry conditions from places like southern california as far north as seattle where highs are going up to 8 degre9, san francisco, 81 in los angeles, 89 in atlanta, new york and boston, the 80s, the nation's capital 91. coming up, we'll be talking about something different. i'm going to take you to the hills of southwestern pennsylvania to the hillcrest sailor dairy farm where they drive their power not just from a power plant but their own power plant from horns. straight from the cows. we'll give you the stinky details coming up soon. >> you're a brave man. >> you have people talking about that already. >> i am terrified when i saw the video. 's freaky.

you forget some of those things, kind of block it out. but being able to revisit it, not always a good thing. >> we won't let you forget it this morning. see you soon. >> it's like that man man versus wild, reynolds versus wild. also, a little bit of a wild time. this past week i was in chicago. we're talking about chicago violence, what's it like to be in a gang. i sat down and rode along in some of the dangerous parts of the city with a gang member. we'll hear his personal story, talking about some of the violence, especially among kids on the streets. coming up. i use every day-- and save even more. so that's what they mean by unbeatable. save money. live better. walmart. it's what doctors recommend most for headaches. for arthritis pain... in your hands... knees... and back. for little bodies with fevers..

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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. i eat anything that i want. key lime pie, pineapple upside down cake, raspberry cheesecake... ... yeah, every night is something different. oh, yeah yeah... ... she always keeps them in the house. no, no, no. i've actually lost weight... i just have a high metabolism or something... ...lucky. babe... umm, i gotta go. (announcer) 28 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each.

yoplait, it is so good. i'm bricking nging in my cd compilation. >> reynolds wolf, not just your favorite krb krn meteorologist but getting down and dirty in pen. >> yeah. with the cows. i had a chance to go to the hillcrest dairy farm, a place that's been in operation over centuries. they actually pow the farm not with just regular electricity but electricity that has been formed by manure?

>> reporter: milking a profit from a dairy farm is not easy. the price of milk is dropping, but the price of running a farm isn't getting cheaper. how about one of these cows like 3095? what is her day going to be like? >> she is going to need to eat about 100 to 110 pounds of food. >> reporter: sean say lore owns this farm in pennsylvania and he's finding creative ways to make ends meet. >> that's wub of the scrapers that scrape the barn. >> it's not scraping dirt. it's scraping something else. >> a large pile of manure. >> reporter: all for power. >> that's right. sailor's 600 milking cows help power the farm. >> just another high-efficiency stomach. >> reporter: the gas generated inside of it generates enough electricity to generate the homes and farm.

converting waste to power saves sailor almost $200,000 a year. >> you're talking system project costs, over a million dollars to build the system but a payback in five years or less. >> reporter: if your great-grandfather who started this operation were alive and you were to say, grandfather, we're powering our farm with cow waste -- >> probably disbelief. more like science fiction to him. >> reporter: i'm still in disbelief. i think the cue is, too. >> the cow is not happy. did you see him? >> what are you doing with that camera? yeah. it's a very weird thing when you go up there. just the whole idea of what they're doing, it seems in the face of kind of -- you look back, at the dollars and cents they're saving, how not only does the farm benefit but also parts of the community because they actually give some of the power back to the grid. many of the homes in the community get power from that farm. it is really a neat thing. we're probably going to see more

farms follow suit, do basically the same thing. >> $200,000 a year. >> and this is not a huge farm. this is not a big one. only around 600 cows. there are many cattle farms much, much larger. if we see this technology replicated in other parts of the country, who knows what kind of help it could do. >> people getting creative. >> stinky creative but creative nonetheless. >> reynolds, thanks. >> that was great. a lot of people as we know have a tough time right about now finding a job. a lot of people make mistakes, one of them may be that you seem too desperate what you were job hubting. >> not a good thing. >> but some people are desperate. >> i know. we'll have tips on what not to do to not seem desperate. also, we're talking to josh levs, a tale of two titans. >> this is one of the biggest things that's happened on the internet, microsoft and yahoo are taking on google, their goal to build the ultimate search engine. will it change the way you search online?

it started off as just a couple of guys in a garage, but

it became one of the biggest companies on the planet. talking about google. pretty much dominates the online search market. >> but is that about to change? two companies came together this weekend, in hopes of taking over. josh levs with the story. >> reporter: some are calling it microhoo, will this change the way you search online? we'll get some answers now. steven levy is joining us from wires magazine. big picture here. do microsoft and yahoo really have a shot of challenging google as the ultimate way to search online? >> i think it's a real long shot to think even in long term this microsoft/yahoo combination, they really can't supplant google even in the long term. they have a lock on web search, 75% in the u.s., even more in

western europe. microsoft is now a strong number two. >> they don't have a shot of becoming number one, why go for it? >> first of all, money to be made by being a strong number two. they could inch up their share, particularly if they buy their way into it it by buying places on browsers. the second thing is that google doesn't have permanentance everywhere. there's different ways search will go into people's lives, mobile search, video search, all kinds of other searches. i think microsoft puts itself in a strong position now to be a competitor in these future areas of search. >> is there a place a lot of people are saying, i like google except it keeps doing this thing wrong. where is it weak? >> microsoft tried to identify a few places so they concentrated on a few areas like health and travel. but it's very difficult to scale these things when you kind of pinpoint and take a rifle shot and search there. i think right now the difficulty

is going to be delivering much more varied multimedia results in keeping the simplicity. >> in reality, for most people out there who sit at their computers and search, are they likely to see any change in the next couple of years? >> i think they'll see improvement this is good for the consumer. it's good that google has a lot of competition abdomen the competition will be focused really to where it belongs, into the company which is most competitive with google and other areas. and then we'll see search companies like facebook and twitter in terms of realtime search of what people are doing now and to search their social grasps. so i think the consumers, they may not see it as a big sea change, a big bang, but they'll see improvements coming from all directions. >> steven levy, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> guys, back to you. recall. you need to know about it, involving one of the most popular cars in the country. one of these could be sitting in your driveway.

the recall is a deadly defect. >> talking about honda. still to come, we'll tell you what's going wrong with several of their models. also, question for you. is gang violence considered a public health issue? one chicago doctor i talked to this week says yes. i spoke with her and the young man whose life she saved, a gang member on chicago's streets. car headed from downtown chicago to the city of soublg west side, an area known with pockets of gang activity. and we're going to this interview, talking to a current gang member. he's willing to share his story about the vie leolence in chica but only willing to do it sloks we keep him in the car, we don't show his face and don't drive into any of their neighborhoods, gang turf, just to keep him and our crew safe.

welcome back to the "cnn saturday morning." i'm t.j. holmes. >> i'm brooke in for betty again this weekend. thank you for starting your weekend with us. another step forward for president obama's plan to reform health care, a key house committee passed a version of the bill late last night before going on august recess. now it has to be merged with two other versions passed by two other panels within the house and then the full chamber will probably get the final bill vote sometime in september. the senate probably won't reach a deal before it goes on recess next friday. honda is recalling 440,000 more vehicles because of a potential problem with driver's side air bags. this is in addition to a recall anoubsed in november. the cars affected are 2001 and 2002 accords, 2001 civics and

acura els. honda says in rare cases the air bag inflators have ruptured when the air bag deployed and shoots out metal pieces that caused injury and at least one death is contributed. a rancher in southern california is wondering who poisoned 23 horses on her ranch. three horses are seriously ill this moshg this moshg in the hospital. the owner says somebody broke into the ranch in california and fed these horses toxic leaves mixed in with their apples. she says she's still going to install a security camera. news agencies are reporting that trials began today as to the disputed presidential elections in june. charges include attacking government buildings and destruction of public property. in the meantime, some 17,000 other prisoners were pardoned or had their sentences commuted by iran's supreme leader.

u.s. officials are checking on reports that three american tourists may have been detained in iran. the americans were last seen hiking in iraq near the iranian border. cnn's arwa damon polling the story in baghdad. any idea where they are right now? >> reporter: good morning, t.j. well, the kurdish authorities in the heart of northern iraq believe that these three americans are in iranian custody in iran itself, but they are still looking into the exact details as to what happened after these three americans went missing. this is what we know, confirmed from three senior officials in iraq's kurdish north. three four americans started out their journey in syria. two of them are students there. from syria they went to turkey. on the 28th of july they crossed into northern iraq from turkey to. from thursday they drove and checked into a very cheap

backpacker-like type hotel. they left that hotel early friday morning but only three of them left. one was sick and stayed behind. the three went to this area called ahmed awa, it's a tourist attraction because of the natural beauty that exists there. it's mountainous. there are a number of waterfalls. they were in regular contact with their friend who had stayed behind, talking about what a wonderful time they were having. then things began to change because at 1:30 p.m. on friday local time the last foeb call that their friend who stayed behind received from them was that they were surrounded by the iranian military. that is the last that anyone has heard from these three. now, tourist police in the area say that they did spot them prior to that phone call being made that they did warn them about the proximity that they were into the iranian border and that they should watch out because they were americans, not iraqis, and also saying that these were very tense times,

t.j. >> arwa, do we know what happens now? and when do or has u.s. officials gotten involved here? >> reporter: well, according to our sources in the kurdish north, the one who stayed behind is in the hands of the u.s. embassy right now. quite frankly they haven't been disclosing any information to us other than to say that they are investigating this incident. this is a very, very tricky situation right now. iraq also does not want these three to be in iran yian custod right now. it's diplomat cli difficult to maneuver and navigate this. iraqi officials are certainly going to be talking to their counterparts in iran. they're going to try to get these three back. we did hear from senior kurdish officials that there were ongoing meetings into very late last night as to how to get these three safely back home because the last thing that anyone wants to see happen is

having this blow into some sort of isht national incident. >> arwa damon in baghdad, thank you so much. we are pushing forward this morning, talking about violence in chicago. according to the pd, they say homicides are down compared to this time last year but shootings are up. one of the major reasons why, gang vie lebs. i spoke with one young man just 31 years of age, joined a gang when he was just 13. met him on the streets of chicago in the southwest side. he insisted we call him bob, but he told his story about how he recently recovered from a horrific beatdown on the streets. we talked to his doctor, talking about violence and educating in particular kids on the dangers of gang banging. we're in a car headed from downtown chicago to the city of southwest side, an area with known pockets of basically gang activity. and we're going to this interview, we're talking to a current gang member.

he's willing to share his story about the violence in chicago, but he's only willing to do it as long as we keep him in the car, we don't show his face, and we don't drive into any of their neighborhoods, any of their gang turf, just to keep him and our crew safe. do you have any idea how many people you've shot in your lifetime? >> nope. >> did you ever feel remorse for anything you've done? >> no. >> born and raised on chicago's streets, this man who insists we call him bob says he joined a gang when he was just 13. >> it's actually fun to be honest with with you. the rush you get from what you are doing. it's like a drug. you can't get enough of it. >> reporter: shootings in chicago have set grim records this summer. according to police, even though homicides are down, shootings are up. more than 6%. this week 15 people were shot in

a single night. it's midday, broad daylight, what are they doing? >> making money. dirty money. >> reporter: heroin is the drug of choice on these streets according to bob. a corner dealer can bring in up to several thousand dollars on a good day. but if someone doesn't pay up, bob says that's when the shooting starts. >> shoot by gang or money. it's never going to stop. i don't care who you lock up or anything. it's never going to stop. >> reporter: bob says he's been locked up three times, most recently serving six years for attempted murder. one of the reasons we can't show you his face is because he has some very specific markings of a gang member, tattoos, facial tattoos, all up and down his arms and marks of this recent horrific beating. he's been shot, stabbed and this month bludgeoned with baseball bats left on the street to die.

>> it was more of an issue of brain damage. >> reporter: this doctor was part of the medical team at chicago's mt. sinai hospital that helped save bob's life while doctors have to alert police about shooting victims, according to the american college of emergency physicians, there is no federal law requiring doctors to track the number of gunshot wounds. the doctor says it's an epidemic that goes underreported. >> to put it in perspective, for the h1n1 or swine flu, alerts go out to all the hospitals about how to recognize it, treat it, report it. so that's 20 and this is 2000. i'm a little bit confused about why this isn't an emergent public health issue. >> reporter: this doctor is the only way bob agreed to do the isht view. he promised to tell kids they have a choice. >> they don't have to turn to gangs if they don't want to.

they just feel like they do at some point. the whole thing -- >> reporter: despite that tough talk, bob says his love for the gang remains. he is not getting out. still he survived these streets to fesee his 31st birthday. >> it's bound to end. it would be nice to be right. >> what an interview. just riding along and talking to him and can you imagine not being able to walk in the neighborhood next to yours for fear of being shot, for fear of being killed. gang violence in chicago, not to chicago, but it's interesting just hearing the inside perspective and how i think a lot of people feel they can't get out. his message to me was to kits, just don't join in the first place. >> it's unfortunate. we've done stories about the violence in chicago. if they could get a handle on

that, we'd love to see that. thank you for bringing that to us this weekend. we've got a picture to show you this moshrning, folks. you remember air force one or pictures of a plane that looked like air force one over april where new pictures have been released. back then the white house oebl released one photo. now they've released some 145 others. but this was essentially just a photo op for air force one. technically it's not air force one unless the president is on it. it looks like air force one, photo op over new york city, the statue of liberty, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, sent people in new york rubbing in the streets because they saw a low flying jet. one man resigned over this actually, but they are beautiful pictures. we were talking about it when they released that very first one which they were with hez tabt to do. they released the first one, a beautiful shot but not worth -- >> a lot of people on the ground in new york calling it squa ini

one. reminiscent of 9/11 in seeing planes fly low. not a smart move. >> pretty pictures shgsz not work it. trees crashing into homes, debris flying all over the place. what's it like to be in the middle of a storm? >> then all of a sudden the stuff just fell right in front of my van and i couldn't move. all the wires were around it and everything is sparking. >> reynold taking a look to see if any of these people are in the clear. plus, the program is running out of gas. congress decided, fill her up.

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that was the first video. >> it was. >> mtv, 1981. >> yes. >> entered by i think mark jack goodman or j.d. jackson. >> on this day 28 careers ago. >> yeah. the british pop group. >> t.j. knows. mr. jam.

>> i didn't know -- i'm puzzled. >> a long time ago mtv used to show videos all the time. now you have "cribs". >> sneaking over to my friends house and making them turn on mtv to watch videos. nowadays there's barely videos on. >> i know. nor do we with emulate the way these guys dressed. and what a great look that was. >> you had those shades. >> still do. >> and that jacket. >> i do have the jacket. >> good times, man. >> the anniversary is coming up, how also are they going to commemorate and celebrate? with michael jackson's specials. it took a while for them to play his music abdomen videos. once they did, the rest is history. >> good partnership. >> reynolds, we're talking more weather. >> yeah. we're going with the mainly boom, boom, boom variety. it really did hammer parts of the northeast, especially

massachusetts. sudd sudbury, look at this, power lines, trees down, even small fires. lynn from wcbb in boston has the full scoop. >> then all of a sudden the stuff just fell right in front of my van and i couldn't move. all the wires were with around it and everything is sparking. >> reporter: shattering the afternoon calm. the whipping winds lasted five minutes or less. >> the trees were flying everywhere, and then all of a sudden a big huge tree was coming flying at my car and i had to swerve. >> reporter: police helped these two women out of their cars after wires and trees came down around them. >> everything went crazy. everything went nuts. >> reporter: the winds were strong enough to snap this massive ash tree at its base where the trunk is five feet wide. the tree came crashing down onto cab ott street bringing power liebs down with it. >> i heard a lot of wind. when we with went outside, the

trees were with like crushed. >> the branches, everything like going like really fast just flying off trees and breaking off. you look over, you go to the field over there and just saw the trees split apart. >> it's black all of a sudden and the rain came out of nowhere with. power's out, trees down all over the place. >> strongest wind i've ever seen. >> reporter: residents including this one believe it was a microburst that blasted their neighborhood. >> pretty mild crash. >> did you know it was that one? >> yeah, i did. it's a nice tree, but oh, well, what are you going to do? >> microburst, straight-line windows, tornadoes, it doesn't matter. they have damage they need to clean up today. a little further south in new york, the view was terrific. little haze in the atmosphere, but in terms of rough stuff, you have to go farther to the west to deal with that. we're going to move into the central plains where from kansas city to oklahoma city splash abdomen dash thunderstorms, later on today it could be dallas under the gun with rough

weather as one big weather story we're following. the next big weather story is not in the east or center of the u.s. but rather toward the west where we have hot and dry conditions. we've been talking about an intense heat wave in parts of the pacific northwest. that's going to happen once again today. in fact, dallas 89 degrees, same temperature in the pacific northwest in seattle, 89. many places right into parts of central and especially eastern washington, same steer for oregon, high temperatures going up from 100 to 107 degrees. other temperatures a bit farther to the south, 61 degrees, 107 in los angeles, 78 degrees in kabz cannes city, 91 in washington, d.c. and atlanta with 8 nieb. that is a look at your forecast across the nation. we're going to give you the latest details on your weather information through the weekend coming up in just a few moments. back to you. >> reynolds, thank you, sir. see you shortly. we've got a situation going on in laguardia airport in new

york where you certainly need to check your flight information. concourse c has been shut down according to the port authority. they're telling us that it has been shut down, closed, and is evacuated. they have evacuated concourse c. we do not know why at this point, but laguardia airport in new york, a busy hub, a lot of back and forth out of that airport. >> saturday morning. >> especially on a saturday morning. people trying to get in and out of there, this is again not something weather-related. oftentimes we see situations with flight delays out of this airport, this is going to be a new situation. check your flight schedule. concourse c in laguardia shut down and has been evacuated. we are working to find out why. when we get that in, we will certainly pass that along to you. well, president obama's second 100 days in office just about over. the question is, how is he going in the poll? we'll show you the numbers. another gi bill goes into effect today. families will be able to cash in, but how else does it differ from the first one?

a major upgrade for the military. not on the battlefield but in the classroom. >> talking about the new gi bill, goes into effect today giving veterans new opportunities for better lives after the military. here now, our heidi collins.

>> reporter: an historic change in the gi bill now gives new incentives for troops serving on the front lines in iraq and afghanistan. after they're done serving our country, their opportunities for education will be completely different. millions of vet rabs have used the gi bill to help pay for college since it was first introduced back in world war ii. but a lot has changed since then for the gi bill, adapting for today's military. >> you could have two individuals, for example, patrol willing the streets of baghdad, one individual being on active duty and another individual being a guard reserve member tall called up. when they return, they would have received very different benefits. now under this program because it's based on active service, those individuals can receive the same benefit. >> reporter: the new bill allows veterans to serve at least ten years to pass unused benefits on to their families. >> my daughter now who is 16 will get her first two years of

college paid by this gi program. my daughter who's 10 will receive the second two years. >> when i have kids and it's time for their to go to school, i'll let them use the gi bill and pay for education rvlgts then there's joe. he served in the army in world war ii and used the benefits to learn a lifelong trade which he still is using now as age 82. >> a lot of veterans in all fields of endeavor benefitted from the gi bill. >> reporter: back then, veterans only got 500s a year at the most to further their education via college or apprenticeship. today the bill has a cap of about $16,000 a year. the new bill can only be used toward a college or university education. but it kicks the amount of money way up, matching the cost of some of the most expensive state schools in the country. overall, the director of the

program says the major changes will make it easier to get new recruits and keep the more experienced troops longer. heidi collins, cnn, atlanta. are you looking to get rid of that gas guzzler that's sitting in the driveway not doing much for you? the cash for clunkers program isn't over yet. how you can take advantage. also, a lot of you remember the story, a kid in philadelphia not allowed into a country club to swim. remember that? they found an even better place to play. of the outdoors for your cat. specially formulated to promote hairball control and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses.

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well, they didn't realize

they'd be taking a vacation. we're talking about a group of kids from philadelphia who earlier this summer as part of this camp wanted to go to a country club and take a swim in the pool. well, the country club said no. they canceled contracts with the day care center because of space, crowding. what happened? this entire group of kids ended up at disney world thanks to tyler perry. he said, hey, if you can't swim in a philadelphia country club pool, i'll do one better. these are the first few pictures we're getting from the trip. >> of course, the story really touched a lot of people around the country. really struck a nerve because a lot of these kids were crying to our reporters because they had overheard some people actually saying, we don't want the kids there because they're black. heard derogatory things that no kid should be subjected to so that really got a lot of attention, national attention and got the attention of tiyler perry as well.

as you can see, he came through. and made it happen. sent them to disney world. one better than the pool. >> glad they got a happy ending there. but we are just starting here this morning on "ccn saturday morning". >> we thank you for starting your day, your month of august, with us here. >> we just got information in we are working to find out what's exactly going on. a busy airport, one of the busiest in the country, laguardia airport, concourse c has been evacuated. people have been taken out of their. we don't know why yet but it's evacua evacuated. as soon as we get more information, we'll let you know. people have been told to get out of the concourse. >> moral of the story, check your flight. want to talk quickly about health care. president obama's health care plan now one step closer to cob gregsal approval. last night, here's the information we have, the house energy and commerce committee passed the reform. the house is now at a month-long

recess so just to explain here, this is the third version of the bill, two other committees have previously signed off. when they all come back together, the entire chamber ask slated to vote on this sometime september or october. other stories we are following for you now, there is new evidence in the michael jackson case to suggest that the pop star p shopped around for a doctor who would give him a powerful anesthetic called propofol, brand name diprivan. that is the drug investigators suspect dr. conrad murray gave jackson hours before he died. this latest piece of information comes from a search warrant which names dr. allen messkerr. he says he previously denied jackson's request for the drug. former philippine president has died at the age of 76. she had colon cancer. a foal spokesman says she died from cardiac arrest. her election in 1986 ended the rule of a dictator. she was the first woman to become president in the

philippines. her husband was an opposition leader during marcos' rule. she got into politics after he was assassinated in 1983 in manila. a sailor charged with killing this man at camp pendleton in san diego last month has committed suicide according to military officials. petty officer jonathan was found dead in his jailcell yesterday. cam poes was being held at the camp pendleton brig. officials say no indication that the killing was a hate crime. president obama says new gross domestic product numbers show that the economy is leaning toward recovery, but long-term investments are still necessary to make sure the economic recovery continues. here is more now from his weekly address. >> strong enough to withstand future economic storms and support lasting prosperity. next week i'll be talking about

that new foundation when i head to elkhart county in indiana, a city hard hit not only by the economic crisis of recent months but by the broader economic changes of recent decades. for communities like elkhart to thrive, we need to recapture the spirit of issue know vegas that has always moved america forward. that means once again having the best educated, highest skilled workforce in the world. that means a health care system that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to innovate and businesses to compete without being saddled with skyrocketing insurance costs. that means leading the world in building a new clean energy economy with the potential to unleash a wave of innovation and economic growth while ending our dependence on foreign oil. that means investing in the research and development that will produce the technology of the future, which in turn will help create the industries and jobs of the future. >> that was just a snippet of his web and radio address. the president also talked about the fact that even as we

continue to rescue this had economy, what we must also work to rebuild it stronger than ever before, the gop weekly address was on health care. we will hear from that in just a few minutes. president obama is waging his health reform battle with some of the lowest poll numbers he's had since the start of his administration. so what has the american citizens concerned most? paul steinhauser, a friend of us saturday and sunday and deputy political director has been going over the latest numbers. paul, let's start with the all-important approval rating numbers. where is he with that number? >> t.j., this is where we have at cnn, a poll of polls, a bunch, seven or eight, national polls this last week. we averaged them all. take a look at the number. you can see the president at 54%. 54% of americans in our average are giving barack obama a thumbs-up. 37% disapprove of how he's doing. now, that is interesting because

that's still a good number, but take a look at this, t.j. you can see just last month, late june, the president's approval rating stood at 61%. it has dropped seven points in our average over the last month. that is of concern to the white house. the approval rating is important because it measures how much political clout and political capital a president has. >> still, 54% as you said not soed add bad. a lot of presidents would have been happy to have that. but down from where he was. what's behind the drop in his numbers? >> i think two things may be behind the drop. those are the economy and health care. take a look at this because there were a lot of questions about how the president is handling the economy. you can see in our cnn poll of polls we averaged out the surveys that asked specifically that. americans appear to be split, 48% giving barack obama a thumbs-up, 45% disapprove. that number is down a little bit from where it was earlier this year. and health care, of course, that's the domestic issue that's consuming the white house and congress right now. here is our cnn poll of polls on

how the president is handling health care. 43% approval, 45% disapprove. again, that approval number, t.j., down from where it was earlier in the year. >> so should we automatically assume that just because the president's numbers are going down a bit, does that mean the republicans' numbers are on the rise? >> you would think that, right? because what goes up comes down and the laws of physicses but not in this case. the republican numbers in most polls across the country have not really jumped or increased much over the last couple of months. in fact, when you look at americans in most of these surveys, americans say they still think barack obama would do a better job than the republicans in congress. >> paul, we appreciate you as always. >> thanks, t.j. facing foreclosure. there are ways to stop the bank from taking your home away from you, but they come with their own set of risks. we have expert advice on making that decision that will probably work best for you. reynolds, talking about some severe weather this saturday.

good morning. >> that's right. yesterday in parts of the northeast and southeast in florida. right now we're seeing strong storms raging through the central plains, moving into the midwest. we're going to talk about where the storms are heed next, coming up in just a few moments on "cnn saturday morning."

possibly law makers underestimated just how many clunkers are out there on the road. cash for clunkers program was a

good idea and it worked, but it worked so well that now it's running on empty. >> basically rebates for exchanging these gas guzzlers for more efficient cars, but the money is running out quickly. our bill tucker tells us more might be on the way. >> reporter: it took the house just a few hours to pulp an additional $2 billion into the cash for clunkers program and send the bill to the senate and the president praised their quick action. >> thanks to quick bipartisan responses, we're doing everything possible to continue this program and to continue helping cob assumers and the auto industry contribute to our recovery. >> reporter: washington is in love with the cash for clunkers program. >> it's a success that there's kesh that too many people are buying cars. that's a good thing. >> reporter: dealers are enthusiastic. >> it's going to be a huge success. can't wait to do another 100 of

them. >> reporter: but what is all this these yax baenthusiasm bas? a survey of 2,000 dealers reporting an average of 13 deals ready to be approved nor the program. the program has been declared the billion-dollar budget spent. >> there's definitely a reason to just take a deep breath for a moment. if congress goes ahead and we get fiebl approval on the $2 million more, that's great, but everything just seems a little bit rushed. >> reporter: on the senate side, there appears some who want to slow it down. dianne feinstein and susan collins are asking the department of transportation for a report on exactly what vehicles are being traded in and bought. the ceo of auto nation told cnn

money that demand is tilting in favor of foreign carmakers, yet cash for cluvgers was designed to put more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road and boost the u.s. auto industry. bill tucker, k cnn, new york. it ran all kinds of stories on how the recession has forced people out of their homes. this week we saw just a tiny ray of hope in this new report from reality track showing foreclosures are easing in some of the worst hit areas of the country. for example, foreclosures are down in new york, boston, cleveland, even detroit. all four cities are downdigits. but not out of the woods yet. aathe lot of areas still in trouble cities provo, utah, boise, idaho, eugene, oregon, and salem, oregon. increases on the cities unemployment is to be blamed.

what if you find yourself hitting a hard financial spot? what if your situation is so dire it demands foreclosure on your home? that's a reality for thousands of people. they're now considering what's call theed chapter 13 bankruptcy, filing a proper chapter 13 stops the foreclosure dead in its tracks but of course there are curveballs here, things to consider. joining me to iron stuff out, our housing expert, chief thinker, clyde. i've heard of chapter 11. >> okay. >> chapter 13, what is it? >> chapter 11 is tore businesses, 13 is for individuals, restructuring of death. you have chapter 11 or 13. 13 is what you'll actually pay back the debt. usually out of a lower monthly payment. >> chapter 13 versus 11. >> 7 is a total wipeoff of dead. mostly all debt can be included except student loans and tax liens. for the most part, you wipe the debt off. >> should you file chapter 13

bankruptcy just do save your home? >> you really have to look at the whole picture and consult with an attorney. you really have to determine, can i make the payment? if i file chapter 13, there's still fayements that have to be made. if you've lost your job, it may not be the best thick to do and try to keep your home. you have to decide, can i afford this home? >> here are other tips. you talk first about mortgage payment, calculate a lower rate. >> right. calculate the lower payment. they're going to take all of your debt, consolidate it. you'll make one payment to the bankruptcy court. then you also have definitely more forgiving thab a chapter 7 as well. you have that in consideration. a lower payment, you can stay in the house during the process. it buys you time and also relieves the home buyer of the detissuecy judgment. if you sold your house or you bankrupt wub $50,000 is what you sold it for but you owed $200,000, you're going to have a $50,000 deficiency judgment that will come off after the bankruptcy. >> a lot of major issues at stake, big decision. what should people really sit

down and consider before making this decision to file? >> really what they have to look at is can they make the payment, is there any other option? it's a temporary fix, like putting a band-aid on a big wound. you still have issues that will affect your credit, hit them hafrd hard. we've talked about it before. almost a couple of hundred points on your credit. both have a huge impact. >> you mentioned the band-aid. this whole idea of filing, this couldn't be a possible cure-all for your financial woes. >> oh, no, no. it's not going to fix everything. it is temporary. you have to have a plan. what's next? after i file bankruptcy, what do i do now? what's my budget? can i stel afford what i had before or do i need to let things go? that's what you have to ask yourself. >> i'm always learning something from you. clyde anderson, chief thinker this moshg. t.j., over to you. >> who puts that on your business card? >> this guy. chief thinker. you're jealous. >> we're not kidding about it. we do have the card here.

it says chief thinker of the company. that's brilliant. keep thinking over there for us. >> thinking hard. up next, the getting your habds dirty for love of the game. how did this guy's mud become an important part of baseball? we'll have that story. also, helping you navigate health care this morning. josh? >> you know, you hear this battle, but do you know what's actually being proposed? we have key websites to get the facts. we'll show you right here. @@@@@@

. looks like somebody is pretty upset about health care right knew. president obama's plan to reform health care will hit the house floor in september. when it does, it will face stiff opposition from a lot of conservatives. >> in the weekly republican party address, it's laid out, his party's main objection. >> the democrat plan would spend more than $2 trillion and further increase our exploding

deficit. their plan would pile up higher costs, create new washington bureaucracies and burden every state through new requirements on medicaid. governors and state legislators from both parties have said that increased medicaid costs would overwhelm their already strained state budgets. in fact, one democratic governor last week called the increases proposed by congressional democrats the mother of aulg unfuu all unfunded mandates. in my state, the new requirements could require $45 million a year in new state spending. that may not sound like much, but for a small state required by law to balance its budget every year, it's a lot. that money would have to come from somewhere. that means either higher taxes or cuts to other priorities. that's what we're facing not just inned south dakota but nationwide. >> so the house is on recess. the senate probably won't reach anything on reform before their rece

rece recess starts. >> it's easy to get lost in rhetoric and miss important facts. >> josh levs is all about the facts. show us important websites to sort out fact from fiction. >> take a look at some of the most important websites, zoom right in. the best thing i want to show you is cnnmoney.com has set up a special section that focuses on fixing health care. if you go to it, check this out. every time you see a blue line, that's another separate story. sometimes we'll have ten in wurn day that take you through the basics. a lot of people visiting this, healthreform.gov. if you want to know where president obama stands and get past some of the claims out there about what he has said, check out healthreform.gov. it's getting a lot of traffic. he has put together a little map which you can click on my state and he'll tell you why he believes his plan is good for your state. i clicked on pennsylvania, for example. his argument for why to go there. let's look on the other side. gop.gov. you want to look at what a lot

of republican points are? this has a lot of traffic. they're putting together the organizational chart of the house democrats health plan and basically they're doing this massive, ridiculous bureaucracy that makes no sebs. democrats struck back with this, organizational chart of the republicans' health plan and basically it's only question marks. i'm showing you that from talking points memo. two more things. then i'll tell you where you can get the whole list. this is really important, politofact.com. let's take a look. there's a chain e-mail going on right now that claims this, all non-u.s. citizens illegal or not will be provided with free health care services, they say no way, not true. factcheck.org does something similar. that's a lot of websites i just told you about. all you need to do is go to one place. let's go to the graphic here. i have them listed on the cnn blog and facebook and twitter. cnn.com/newsroom, type in josh

levs cnn. i'll post all the links and more so you can make sure to get the facts. t.j., brooke, back to you. >> josh, thank you. our health care special begins at 9:00. we're going to break this down and simplify, simplify, simplify for you. take a look at how your coverage may change and whether it's going to cost you more as well. again, we'll dedicate our 9:00 half hour to it. before that, let's eat gumbo. chef jeff will be in the house. jeff henderson is cooking up his soul food favorite just for us. he's handing down his recipe. we're asking you to hand down yours. visit our blog, cnn.com/newsroom. i'm hungry. of the outdoors for r cat.

specially formulated to promote hairball control and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses.

performance enhancing drugs, a lot of people getting tired of hearing about it. we heard two more big names linked to another list back in 2003 of major league players who tested positive, david ortiz of boston, manny ramirez. but a lot of people getting tired of it and calling for a cleanup of major league baseb l baseball. >> but one man thrives on keeping it dirty. here's the story in "how we got started." >> reporter: it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. >> i don't mind the mud. >> reporter: several times a year, this man treks to a secret location afternoround the delaw

river and take this and turn it into baseball mud. >> in the 1920s, a batter was killed by a wild pitch. the umpires were looking for a way to get a better grip for the pitcher on a new baseball. a player and manager of himself knew of a mud that might do the trick. through trial and error came up with a convict koks. >> reporter: with a little spit and a good rub, it worked like a charm. today the mud is used by every team in major league baseball. in late 1950s, blackburn passed the business to his best friend, jim's grandfather. it's fwhn the family ever since. >> i was in the mud when i was 9 years old. >> reporter: jim says mud doesn't bring in enough money to live on so he has another job, but despite the hard work, he wouldn't give it up for anything. >> it's the history and tradition. from 1938 on, all those record home runs and those thousands of strikeouts, my mud's been on every ball.

. here is a frightening number. 15 million americans out of work looking for jobs right now. so we've compiled this big massive list of dos and don'ts.

>> who knew some of these things you're not supposed to do. this career expert says there are several things people do wrong when they're looking. the first one here gets your taeks because these are desperate times for a lot of people, but one with of the first things they tell you is don't appear too desperate, even though the list i have doesn't really go with the list on the xreeb. we'll go with the one on the screen. okay, we'll go with my list here. don't appear disparate it says. another says don't rely solely on ads, online job sites. don't list a bunch of activities on your resume. but do need to detail your achievements. don't go to the interview unprepared. >> that's obvious, right? don't do that. don't confuse networking with asking for work. ask people you know for advice, not a job. that's a good tip. >> interesting. >> i still ask definitely for advice. don't treat staff poorly. t.j., the rumors about you you, awful, awful. just joking. 61% of executives say they ask