back to health. some one mixed toxic leaves into their feed. the owners of the horses says three are seriously ill. adams county hair, near quincy, illinois has a special attraction this one here. look familiar. michael jackson's ferris wheel from neverland. the king of pop paid $215,000 to have the ferris wheel custom made. the ride was the centerpiece of the amusement park at neverland ranch in california. coming up on the cnn newsroom at 3:00 eastern time. what is it look to be in a gang? rick baldwin rides through some of the most dangerous areas of chicago with a well-known gang member. we hear his personal story of life on the streets. imagine buying your dream condo expecting luxury living, then being the only one actually living there. it happened to a family in florida. after the arrest, the trial,

nearly 100 people go to court for protesting iran's disputed presidential election. deadline or no deadline, no deal. august comes and the house adjourns without taking final action on health care reform. confusion surround the government programs that was more popular than anyone expected. is there still time to exchange your clunker for cash? hello, i'm fredericka whitfield. you are in the "cnn newsroom." the central terminal at new york's la guardia airport has reopened after a startling incident at a security checkpoint. the terminal was evacuated for hours after a man walked up to a security checkpoint with a device attached to a backpack. cnn's national correspondent susan candiotti is in new york, a headache for so many now a serious investigation too.

>> fredericka, this man apparently didn't appear to be being sneaky about what happened. according to everyone involved in the situation. he is identified the suspect as scott mcgann in his early 30s believed to be from the new york area. he did, in fact, according to authorities approach the checkpoint. according to sources was carrying a backpack. attached to the outside of it were two square six-volt batteries with wires protruding from them. he was told by authorities to stop. he didn't. and they said he appeared as though he was trying to push a switch. nothing happened. it failed. at that point, the device was seized. the nypd bomb squad showed up on scene. removed the device. shot a water cannon at it. blew it up. it turned out to be fake. not before disrupting the entire operation at this particular terminal. causing massive evacuations. now, passengers obviously had no

clue as to what was going on. >> yeah, nobody said anything. it has been chaos. absolutely bizarre. i have never experienced anything. i have talked to agents. nobody seems to know what is going on. i wanted to go to kennedy to rebook. they said we don't know if you can do that. i am so frustrated. i don't live here. i live in oregon. i can't wait to get home. this is ridiculous. >> now, one source described the suspect as appearing intoxicated. again, his identity, scott mcgann charged with three counts by new york state including planting a false bomb at an airport, and also, for making terrorist threats. if found guilty he faces at least seven years in jail. he will be arraigned either tonight or tomorrow. we are trying to nail that down as well. finally, the airport does appear to be back to mainly normal operations. >> oh, good. >> for a time. >> yes? >> if you can imagine it turns out the control tower operations

are actually based in this central terminal. >> oh, great. >> that operation had to be evacuated for a time. there was a backup tower in the meantime. >> wow, what a real mess. hopefully folks will get where they are trying to go. thank you so much. susan candiotti at la guardia. appreciate that. state television in iran is reporting three american tourists are now under arrest after entering that country illegally. they apparently crossed over the border from iraq while backpacking in the mountains there. cnn's arwa damon is following the story from baghdad. >> reporter: this is the time line as we know it. four american tourists departed from syria. two were students there. heading for turkey. on the 28th of july they crossed from turkey into northern iraq to the city of irbil. 30th of july they went from irbil to another city. early morning, 31 us of july. three of them got into a taxi and went to an area, one stayed

behind because he was set to be sick. the three stayed in regular contact with their friend who stayed behind. until 1:30 p.m. local time on the 31st. where they called and said "we are surrounded by iranian soldiers." the area, very appealing for tourists because of the natural terrain, the beauty that exists there, also right up against the iranian border. local tourist police in the region are said to have run into the three americans and told them to be careful because of the proximity to the iranian border. the police said to them "you are americans not iraqis." these are very tense times, beware. the americans who stayed behind, then departed his hotel at around 4:30 local time on the 31st of july. at 6:00 p.m. local time, the kurdish security forces went into the hotel and took all of the american's belongings. the area of iraq's north is run

by the kurdistan regional government. it has been spared of a lot of the violence that has ravished the rest of the country. it is considered to be fairly safe and very much a tourist destination. this incident still very much under investigation. kurdish authorities are saying they are putting all of their efforts into trying to find out exactly what happened to these three americans. they are believed to have been detained by the iranians. perhaps there is some intelligence indicating they are currently in custody in iran. but kurdish officials saying they're doing their best to try to make sure that these three americans get back home safely. arwa damon, cnn, baghdad. in tehran, trials under way for nearly 100 people arrested during the protest over the disputed presidential election. the state run news agency says the group includes several members of a reformist party. among the charges they face, destroying public property,

creating panic in public, and beating up members of the security forces. a government commission member says nearly half the roughly 300 detainees arrested in the post election violence were freed this week. a reformist website denounced the trials saying defendants had no access to lawyers and there was no jury. after last month's record-breaking death toll for nato forces in afghanistan, there are more casualties as august begins. three american troops were killed when roadside bombs ripped through their patrols in kandahar province in southern afghanistan. a french soldier was killed north of the afghan capital. cnn's ivan watson reports from kabul. >> reporter: a bloody day for u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. in southern afghanistan, in the province of kandahar, three american servicemen were killed saturday when their patrol hit two roadside bombs. improvised explosive devices, i.e.d.s are the number one threat to western troops here in

afghanistan. meanwhile, to the north of the afghan capital, a french soldier was killed when he engaged in a battle with taliban insurgents. this after july was the deadliest month yet for u.s. and nato forces of this entire eight-year war. of course, it is civilians who are bearing the brunt of this conflict. the united nations released a report this week announcing that civilian casualties due to the conflict had spiked some 24% in the first six months of this year over last year's death toll. that is more than 1,000 afghan civilians killed. the number two causes of these afghan civilian casualties are, number one, roadside bombs, and suicide bombs carried out by the insurgents, number two, air strikes carried out by u.s. and nato forces. now in the middle of all this bloodshed, there is an election campaign under way for presidential elections set to take place on august 20th. perhaps surprising is that the

candidates that are out campaigning, stumping, trying to win votes are not really talking about the taliban insurgency that is ranling in the south and east of the country. they're focusing more on the dire economic situation here, on unemployment and on allegations that the incumbent president, hamid karzai favored to win on the 20th, his government is riddled with corruption and inefficiency. charges he, of course, denies. ivan watson. cnn, kabul. florida condo owner never has to worry about the neighbors making to much noise. that's because there are no neighbors. we'll explain. welcome to the now network. right now

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let's check in with pretty wacky weather. last time i called jacqu mii, m sunshine, should i call you storm cloud? >> what, storm cloud? >> back up on that silliness stuff you have been taking over there, fredericka. let me tell you. the weather has been a little wacky. a lot of places are getting, weather extremes. too hot, too wet, too cool, it is too dry. you know, unfortunately, that spells not really fantastic weather for a whole lot of people over the weekend. people in massachusetts today are cleaning up. take a look at these pictures. nasty thunderstorms rolled through there yesterday

afternoon and evening. they can see, taking down trees, taking down power lines. in beverly there was even a couple people trapped in a car with live wires on top of them. i understand they were able to get out. and everybody was okay. and an example the type of things going on across much of the country. yeah, we have got the thunderstorms going on out there. as we speak. really focusing this weekend, across parts of the south. and the southeast, in terms of the real heavy wet weather. we'll focus in in the region where we have this train of thunderstorms, feeding along the i-30 corridor. you know arkansas, so wet for you, the rainfall for the month of july was record breaking. you haven't had this wet of a july since 1891. your rainfall surplus for july was more than 8 inches. yeah, 8 inches too much. we are still looking at flooding conditions here over the next couple days. unfortunately, some more of the wet weather continues. this is what you can expect as

you head throughout the rest of your weekend. unseasonably cool. torrential downpours. hot and dry conditions across parts of the west. what you see is what you are going to get for today as our weather pattern stays a little bit. >> not bad at all. micked bag. little bit of everything. all right, everybody should be happy. thank you so much, jacqui. >> all right. play it safe. and don't close any more cash for clunkers deals. that's what the national automobile association is telling dealers this weekend. the warning comes though the house has voted to put $2 billion into the program after it ran out. the senate is expected to vote next week. cash for clunkers lets americans trade in their gas-guzzling vehicles for more fuel-efficient ones. the federal government kicks in a rebate of up to $4,500. now some dealers are concerned they're not going to get their cut because it has been so hugely popular. well the white house says, don't

worry, go ahead, cut the deals. the money will be there. family's dream of moving on up, into a florida condo complex, is fading fast. they're the only residents in a 32-story, high-rise, thanks to the real estate boom that went bust. christina bailey of wftx, in fort myers, florida, explains. >> reporter: victor vangelakis and wife kathy dreamed of retiring in southwest florida and leaving this riverfront condo to their children. >> we sold a house up in new jersey and used that money as the downpayment for this building. this is everything we got we put into this. >> reporter: an oasis it is not. eight months after closing the family are the only one whose live in this 32-floor tower. a building they expected to become a bustling community amidst restaurants. movie theater and a marina. instead isolation. >> it's eerie. >> he says health and safety

hazards abound. this trash outside their door, a dark and deserted parking garage, and lack of promised security. >> the fire alarm system which is my business as a fire official has been out of service. we had an intrusion on june 29th, month ago from today, somebody came into the building and were pounding on the door where the room next to where my children are. >> they sold a lifestyle. that lifestyle has kind of -- fizzled. >> reporter: their attorney is working to get them what they paid for or get them out. >> what we're looking for from the group is to really step up to the plate. >> reporter: i called betsy mccoy, a vp with the miami-based developer, the related group to voice the family's concerns. >> we have not discontinued the service or done anything that would make life uncomfortable for them. >> reporter: she told me the family could move to the second tower while they tried working out a transition with their lender to buy next door. but after months of back and

forth, the family wants to be settled or be free. >> is the related group willing to buy back their condo so they can just be a clean break? >> at this point, no. one we don't have a contractual obligation to do so. >> our dream was to live in a resort type of building. and the oasis was going to be it. >> reporter: instead they feel all they will ever see here is a mirage. >> that is a drag. all right we are told that the only, only a handful rather of the people who actually put down the deposit is for units in the building closed the deal. and those who did well they swapped their condo for a unit in the tower next door. so that explains why they feel so alone. all right. they met, they talked, they even drank beer. did anything really happen at the so-called beer summit. some people hate hearing that terminology. we'll try to find out exactly what went down. ed about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. you know what's complicated? shipping. shipping's complicated. not really.

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all right. the professor and policeman say they will actually talk again after the moment at the white house. they plan to continue the die lg that began thursday when they all joined president obama and the vice president for a little beer and a lot of conversation. it was an attempt to calm the

racial controversy that began two weeks ago when sergeant joseph crowley arrested professor henry louis gates jr. in his home. neither crowley nor gates have apologized for the confrontation in and of itself. but both say that it is time to focus on the future. a commentator and blogger and writes for "the root.com" which also happens to be the blog site, website, in which professor gates is the editor-in-chief. she is joining us from washington. we spoke last weekend, as a prelude to this meeting. the beer summit which the president said he doesn't like that terminology. called the beer summit. let's talk about whether this indeed accomplished anything or was this the springboard, the starting point? >> hey, fred. thank you for having me. well, i think that we didn't get that teachable moment just yet. i think we are off to a good start however. my thinking has actually evolved on this since we talked last

week. >> why? >> i think the more i have talked about this with friend, colleagues and written about it and listened to folks, both african-americans and white americans, they see things very differently on this issue. so when everyone came together at the white house, the president, the vice president, officer crowley and professor gates, i think that what it was teaching us at least at that point is look these are all people, they're all good people, and that we can have stereotypes and biases that are built into our experiences based on what cultures we come from. thus, leading us some times to have conflict that, at least on the surface doesn't appear to be racially motivated or gender based et cetera. i think they're going to start to have the dialogue, professor gates and officer crowley and hopefully bring the rest into it. >> what do you suppose the conversation, full disclosure you are working for the blog, editor-in-chief happens to be professor gates. you didn't happen to talk to him post this meeting? >> no, i have not.

>> what do you suppose the conversation or meeting will be like the two of them said we will do this again. in fact, sergeant crowley spoke after the white house meeting talking how he thought the vice president and the president were interesting and very friendly and engaging. but we haven't heard from professor gates really on his thoughts? >> he did release a statement that is on theroot.com. after the meeting and think he spoke with "the new york times." both officer crowley and professor gates were very much on the same page. in fact if you go to theroot.com site. a lengthy statement. and i put excerpts on my facebook page where professor gates talks about, poignant, this is a moment that he and sergeant crowley find themselves by happenstance if you will and they are engaged in an opportunity to take this nation perhaps in a different direction on race and how we see each other, how we listen or not listen to each other. and i think that, it is going to get real interesting. i thought both statements were good. i, i actually came away thinking

officer crowley is probably a pretty likable guy. and like i said my thinking has evolved on this how i looked at it at least initially and see it now. >> professor gates didn't go on camera to talk about it afterward. he has been quoted in print. now this moment of them meeting again. might this be or should this be a very private moment? or should this be in a public setting similar to what we saw in the white house for it to be the teachable moment, professor gates initially said he was hoping this entire experience would be and like you said it has evolved in terms of their dialogue so that the teachable moment is being crafted or perhaps defined in a different way? >> well, i want to say two things. one i think the president should get some credit for what he did. i know everybody think he's put his foot in it at the press conference and perhaps he did to some degree. truth of the matter is he did a very human thing. he brought the two gentlemen together so they could face each other and sergeant crowley said they agreed to disagree on the

events of july 16th. i think their next meeting should be a private one. and i think fred that in any relationship we have whether with our loved ones, spouse, et cetera that we are going to have conflict. and the key to resolving conflict is communication and listening. and respecting the other person's point of view. not invalidating what the other person says. professor gates says he feared for his life when he saw the officer at his door. that is years and decades of fears of a black man in america. an many whites don't see that as justified. the officer, likewise went to the door and saw he had a breaking and entering call. an unknown black man in the house at the moment. he is a human being. he has fears and biases. so i think that both of the took a turn for the worst. and they both probably played into the worst of some of the things we have seen in our country and our history. >> while people's opinions may have changed over the past few days, of the sergeant and professor you, mention, the president getting a lot of flak for, you know stepping into it,

he was blamed in part for helping to heat it up. should he also be getting credit now for helping to cool it down? >> i think he should. it would have been easy for him to say i am the president of the united states, i got better things to do. i said what i said. get over it. he didn't dupe that. i think he, we need to remember he is a human being too. and this issue of race is a complicated one in our country. and the dialogue that i have been having and that i have been seeing on facebook and with friend, et cetera, you would be amazed. you wouldn't be amazed. but black and white people see race differently and see aspects of race differently. i think we need to help educate one another, each other's upon the of view in a civil, instead of throwing around the r word, racist, bigot. we need to back off that discourse. sit down and have a beer or cup of coffee or have some tea with some one and talk about it. >> keep the dialogue going. sophia nelson. thank you so much. always good to see you. appreciate your time. >> thank you for having me. thank you. >> president obama, well he has

not been shy about taking on some other tough issues. now, are the american people getting tough on him? we'll take a look at some of the latest poll numbers. to stay on top of my game after 50, i switched to a complete 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.

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bottom of the hour. 3:30. some of the stories we're working on in the "cnn newsroom." about 100 iranians went on trial today for protesting the elections. including several prominent politicians including a former vice president. i ran says its security forces have arrested three americans who allegedly crossed the border from iraq's kurdistan region. iranian tv describes the americans rather as backpackers who had been warned to stay away from the iranian border. in this country, the house of representatives has adjourned until september without taking a final action on health care

reform. it has cleared house committees, but president obama was hoping to get a bill passed before the recess. republicans however continue to fight the legislation. >> in this difficult recession, americans and our government are already overextended. the democrats who control congress have been spending money and racking up debt at an unprecedented pace. and their plan for government-run health care would only make things worse. once implemented 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. cnns elaine quijano at the white house. what is the president saying and doing while he has got most of congress in recess? >> well, you can imagine, fredericka, the president obviously is pleased the key house committee last night went ahead and passed its own version of health care legislation. the president released a written

statement this morning saying, quote, this historic step by the house, energy and commerce committee -- the white house knows fredricka it is in for a very tough fight. the month of august is going to be very critical here. lawmakers here back in their home districts could make or break health care reform. certainly in fact the pace of how quickly things get done this year. fredericka. >> how will the president do this. we know he is going to be on the road again similar to how he was earlier in the week. >> that's right he is going to be heading next week to elkhart, indiana. they were hit by the recession, saw thousand of jobs disappear from the community because of the decline of the rv manufacturing industry. well today, in the president's weekly address we heard him talk about this. keep in mind, elkhart county is an area that has an astounding

17% unemployment rate. so the president basically in his address, trying to frame the economic recovery along with the need to get health care reform done saying that businesses at this point in time really don't need to be saddled with these skyrocketing health insurance costs. >> here we are. past the six-month point as you put it. the president's popularity has been dipping a little bit as he has been pushing more and more for health care reform. what are they saying aat the white house how to get the numbers back up? >> what they're doing is a big powwow, the second day today of an administration retreat. basically a chance for everyone to take a step back a little bit. 22 cabinet-ranking members invited and met here on the white house ground today. to basically look at how they have done over the past six months. this is also an opportunity for them going forward to look ahead and make sure that they're all on the same page in terms of moving the president's agenda forward. so the meeting we saw a convoy

of black suvs disappear from the parking lot behind us here. we are guessing though we don't have official word, that it probably wrapped up. look to see what readout there is. elaine quijano at the white house. thank you so much. president obama has been making a case for health care, directly to the american people as we say. at a townhall meeting in raleigh, north carolina this week he ratcheted up his criticism of insurance companies. >> if you have got health insurance then the reform we're proposing will also help you because it will provide you more stability and more security. because the truth is we have a cyst temperature today that works well for the insurance industry but doesn't always work well for you. [ applause ] so what we need and what we will have when we pass these reforms are health insurance consumer

protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and insurance companies are held accountable. let me be specific -- we will stop insurance companies from denying you coverage because of your medical history. i, i told this story before. i will never forget watching my own mother as she fought cancer in her final days. worrying about whether her insurer would claim her illness was a pre-existing condition so they could wiggle out of paying for her coverage. how many of you have worried about the same thing? a lot of people have gone through this. many of you have been denied insurance or heard some one who was denied insurance because they had a pre-existing condition. that will no longer be allowed. with reform.

now, we won't allow that. we won't allow that. with reform insurance companies will have to abide by a yearly cap on how much you can be charged for your out of pocket expenses. no one in america should go broke because of an illness. we will require insurance companies to cover routine checkups and preventative care like mammograms, colonoscopies. eye and foot examples for diabetics so we can avoid critical illnesses that cost not only lives and money. no longer will insurance companies be able to drop or water down coverage for someone

who has become seriously ill. it's not right, it's not fair. we will stop insurance companies from placing arbitrary caps on the coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. so my point is whether or not you have health insurance right now, the reforms we seek will bring stability and security that you don't have today. reforms that will become more and more with each passing year. >> what do americans think about the job president obama is doing? cnns deputy political director, paul steinhauser has these latest polls. >> fred, this week, barack obama marks 200 days in office. one of the big questions -- how is he doing? one way to gauge that is take a look at his approval ratings. this past week a slew of national polls asking just that. what we did here at cnn we put together a cnn poll of polls the

average of the national surveys. take a look at this on the approval rating in our survey, our average. 54% of americans are giving barack obama a thumbs up. they approve of how he is handling his duties in the white house. 37% disapprove. 54% is a pretty good number. check this out. it dropped 7 points from late last month. at 61% in our poll of polls in late june. what's the reason for the drop? well, two-fold, one the economy. also, health care reform. remember that has been the big thing this white house has been dealing with the last couple months. our cnn poll of polls on how barack obama is dealing with health care. you can see americans are split. 43% giving barack obama a thumbs up on how he is handling health care reform. 45% disapprove. so, does this drop in approval rating mean a rise for the republicans? you would think if something goes down something goes up. no. in this case, no. the republican numbers have not jumped that much over the last couple months. most americans still think the president would do a better job

on the economy and health care reform than republicans in congress. fred. >> now you know the answer. how about the second 100 days. better or worse for the president? well it is your time to weigh in. starting tomorrow. you can vote at cnn.com. be sure to tune in thursday night, 8:00 p.m. eastern to see the president's final grade. it's part of cnn's national report card "the second 100 days." president obama says health care reform is his top legislative priority. it is easy to get lost in all the competing plans and claims being put forward. what is in it for you? we'll put health care reform under the microscope in our next hour. and our josh levs is already here with a preview to help people understand what is in it for me? >> fred, we are of course getting a lot of posts at the blog, also on facebook. lot of things coming in right now. we're following basically every kind of feed that we have to hear from you. zoom into the board. hearing on ireports.

ireport.com. one of the main topics there. this is the blog to cnn.com/fredericka. a lot of people sending in questions and comments. we'll be posing some of your questions to lawmakers. marie is saying -- i voted for change. not the change planned with health care. over here. anthony saying that the rnc, republican national committee, want to tell the public that the money should be spent in the iraq war is worth more than its own citizens. we want to get responses on all side. mentioned hearing on facebook. let's go to the graphics. you can see how to weigh in. now you can see the fred page. that will show you. go straight to the blog. cnn.com/fredericka. fred, i will be camped out with you through the 4:00 hour, getting people's questions, comments. getting answers. >> yeah, a phone number people can call too. we'll try to get some of the

comments and questions on the air. already, josh, as you know, you are seeing your inbox there, getting flooded with questions and comments. i got this on my blog from jay, as a senior citizen i am concerned about the level of care i will receive under obama care. will it be the same as i have known under medicare? or will tests and procedures be limited to me according to my age? and this from jeanne. while i have my great health plan, my daughter pays over $600 a month for family of four. and may have a $5,000 deductible. josh, i wish people would stop falling for scare tactics and think of their families. so a lot of the questions and comments we're posing to, going to have two lawmakers. as well as some patients. one who is uninsured. another who is doing cobra. a great dialogue, eastern 4:00, hash out what is in the health care plan for you and for me. all right. so he went to iraq. as a civilian contractor.

now his mission is helping iraqi children in need. we'll introduce you to cnn's "hero of the week." when you think about all you can do in an all-wheel-drive subaru... you'll find there is a lot to love. that's why we created the subaru a lot to love event. where you can get a great deal on any new 2009 subaru. and see theee really is a lot to love. hurry in and lease a 2009 impreza for $179 ppr month. now through august 31st.

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when civilian contractor brad blazer went to iraq he found out that one in seven iraqi children live with a disability. so, he decided to stick around. though he u.s. troops are withdrawing. and he has a new mission, meet our cnn hero. >> disabled children, they are 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 dragged themselves on the ground or had to be carried. there were so many kids out

there with a need and so many people willing to reach out and touch the lives of these kids. and in 30 days we had 31 pediatric wheelchairs hit the ground. my name is brad blauser i 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 wheelchairs. the experience for me on the first distribution was awesome to see the smiles come across their face and look at the mothers and fathers they have definitely been changed. >> all about humanity. he wanted iraqis to see there is humanity in america. which makes us happy to see such a thing. >> there is no paycheck. it is not really safe here. this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. knowing that you have done something for someone that nobody else has done before.

i made the difference in the lives of these families. definitely the sacrifice has been worth it. he is an incredible inspiration. you can nominate a cnn hero of your own at our website, cnn.com/heroes. remember, nominations actually close today. better act fast if you have got someone in mind. who needs an exclusive swim club anyway? not a bunch of now happy kids from philly who were barred from the pool thanks to tyler perry they got a much bigger treat. we'll tell you where they went for the fun in the sun.

all right, now, new across america. 65 kids barred from a suburban philadelphia swimming pool, went to disney world instead. they were the guest of filmmaker tyler perry who saw a news report about the children being turned away in philly. perry thinks the kids were barred from the pool because of racism but the pool operators

say it was a matter of overcrowding. and there's unusual soccer tournament taking place in washington, d.c. right now, that's what you're looking at. all the players are homeless. there are 16 teams including this one from texas. a group called street soccer usa sponsors the tournament to promote self-esteem and social interaction. the winning team will go on to an international tournament. and their wedding was 20 years in the making. tracy emic was 14 years old when she decided to support u.s. troops in operation desert storm by writing to a soldiers, she ended up becoming pen pals with jeremy clayton but they lost track of each oh, years later, she found him on facebook. they met in person in march and got married just two weeks ago. the mean streets of chicago. we talked to a gang member who's brush was death has given him a new mission in life.

educating kids about the dangers of life in a gang. >> it can be d dance... even play a little hide-n-seek. i'm breathing better... with spiriva. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, or have vision changes or eye pain. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma, problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate, as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects may include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. every day could be a good day to breathe better. announcer: ask your doctor if once-daily spiriva is right for you.

chicago has seen an explosion of violence this sum, much of it gang related. cnn's brook baldwin talked with a gang member who nearly died after a recent attack. >> we're in a crew car to a

pocket of gang activity. we're going to this interview. we're talking to a current gang member who is 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 other neighborhoods, any other gang tur 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 2,000. 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 interview. he made her a promise to teach

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. i don't want them to live the way i live my life. >> reporter: despite that tough talk, bob says his love for the gang remains. he is not getting out. still he survived these streets to see his 31st birthday. >> technically we're not meant to be here forever so it's bound to end. it would be nice to end the right way though. >> chicago's gang violence has gotten washington's attention. attorney general eric holder says the numbers coming out of chicago are simply unacceptable. all right, top of the hour now. 3:00. here's some of the stories we're working on in the "cnn newsroom." paegts are back on the their

way at laguardia after officials spotted a device inside a man's bag that resembled a bomb. police later determined are it was a hoax and they arrested the man and charged him. ed president says reform is closer than ever. yesterday, key house committee approved a sweeping overhaul plan. republicans criticized what they call a costly and dangerous experiment. we'll be devoting our next hour to this debate. what's in it for you? three u.s. troops have been killed in southern afghanistan kandahar province. road side bombs hit their patrol last month it was the deadliest for coalition forces in afghanistan since the war began. all right, you've been hearing a