>> you didn't just do that. >> no, thank you. i'm wolf blitzer. join us week days in "the situation room" from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. eastern and every saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. and at this time every weekend, on cnn international. the news continues next on cnn. trapped in iran. americans behind bars in an anti-american state. this could be the beginning of an explosive international incident. also in iran, protesters, including some of the country's most prominent politicians, and a foreign journalist, on trial. they face tough sentences. murder motive. not one, but two possible motives surfacing tonight in the brutal slaying of a florida couple. plus, new details and new evidence surface. and whites only. not the 1960s. but right now. black city workers in philadelphia claim segregation, harassment, and humiliation on the job. and it's stories like this spread, we're hearing from you. i-reporters speak out on race in a very personal way, and we want

you to logon. because you're part of our deeper discussion just moments away here on cnn. hello, everyone, i'm don lemon. it is an ominous headline. three americans arrested and detained inside iran. that is the word we're getting from the hard-to-define border area between iraq's northern kurdistan region, and iran. the americans reportedly strayed into iranian territory while hiking. senior state department officials say the u.s. has identified three of the detainees and their families have been notified. for more, we turn to cnn's arwa damon who is monitoring all the developments for us from baghdad. >> reporter: the u.s. department of state has asked swiss diplomats to look into reports on iranian tv that they have, in fact, arrested three americans, and if this is true, to see if they could gain counselor access. iranian tv is reporting that the three were detained by the iranian military, along the border with northern iraq for illegal crossing into iran and failing to heed the border

guard's warnings. the three's journey started in syria with a fourth companion. from syria they went to turkey and then crossed into northern iraq. and arrived in sulaimaniya on thursday. on friday morning, three of them, one stayed behind because he was sick, traveled to an area right up against the iranian border. this is a beautiful tourist destination. very popular for hikers and people who admire nature, alike. the three were in regular contact with their friends until 1:30 p.m. on friday. that is when the last phone call was made saying we are surrounded by the iranian military. local police in ahmed awa did say that they warned the three, because of the close proximity, that they were in to iran, saying these are tense times, you are americans, not iraqis. kurdish officials reports are scrambling to try to figure out exactly what happened, dispatching a patrol to the area where they say the three disappeared, and they said that

they found a backpack that appears to belong to one of the americans. the concern right now is that this could escalate to an international incident. especially given the tensions between the iraq/iran/america triangle. arwa damon, cnn, baghdad. >> all right, we had gotten this reaction just in from the state department in to cnn. it stays a senior state department official says while they have not had access to the americans they have no reason to doubt the reports of their detention on iranian state tv. also in iran today, more than 100 people who took part in june election protests are on trial, accused of trying to overthrow iran's government. the defendants include a former vice president and other pro-reform political leaders. a prosecutor accuses the defendants of being tools of foreign powers, but reformists are blasting the trials, and they say defendants have been denied access to lawyers. itn has this report for us. >> reporter: this trial is an it

tempt by the authorities to defuse the growing criticism in iran of the abusive treatment of these detainees. by bringing about charges of rioting, holding illegal rallies, clashing with security forces, and acting against national security, the authorities are trying to legitimize their imprisonment. for the general prosecutor went much further with his conspiracy theory today, stating that the foreign media played a salient role in training the rioters and provoking unrest. and singling out canadian "newsweek" reporter bahari. he later appeared at a press conference where he said the media was a key element in this velvet revolution. he's not been seen by his family or a lawyer since his detention six weeks ago. it's not known how long the trial will last. but coming just days before president mahmoud ahmadinejad is to be sworn in for a second term, it will undermine the opposition movement. >> that was i tichlt n.

make sure you stay with us. in just a few minutes i'll discuss this trials with a researcher and scholar with the carnegie endowment. make sure you stay tuned to cnn in just a couple of minutes. an intoxicated man, a mysterious backback and an airport security checkpoint. it added up to travel kayous at new york's laguardia pair port and the effect disrupted flights nationwide for hours. police say the man was arrested when he approached security with a bag containing wires, and batteries. the main terminal was evacuated while the bomb squad determined that the bag contained a phony device. cnn has learned that the suspect, 32-year-old scott mcgann, has been homeless for at least a year. he faces multiple charges and up to seven years in prison if convicted. and we are learning some new information tonight about the murder of the couple in the florida panhandle just a few weeks ago. the couple, byrd and melanie billings, were joan for adopting special needs kids. our susan candiotti has been following the story.

she joins us now live from new york. what are you hearing about the possible motives, with an "s"? >> don, we're now hearing from a source familiar with the investigation that the state attorney there in pensacola, florida, now has a working theory. under this working theory, both robbery and a contract hit are the motives involved here. now, what we're hearing, is that the suspected ringleader in this case, identified as leonard gonzalez jr., who has been identified by other suspects as the sole gunman, may be the person behind the contract hit, and possibly others, and then those involved in the robbery would be those below him. other people that could be involved. now for the first time at a news conference yesterday, the cher ever of pensacola, florida, escambia county, acknowledged for the first time that he has had some uncorroborated information, as he put it, from the very start, that would lead, as he put it, a reasonable person to believe that this is something that the authorities should look at. but, he adds, we're not

excluding any other possibilities. and the state attorney's office issued a statement, as well, to say on the record that robbery is still considered the primary motive but the office is looking at all other motives, as well. >> who would have put out this hit. would it have been gonzalez or do they even know now? >> well, that is the big question, isn't it, that everyone wants to know. if this was a contract hit, what would be the motive? would with the billings' be sought after as possible victims here? the sheriff has said repeatedly that the billings have not been and are not under any criminal investigation. however, through talking to a number of people and looking at records, we do know that mr. billings has been in the used car business for a very long time. is known and has a reputation for being a very shrewd businessman and he did very well in this business. and that frequently people who wanted to start up their own

used car lots would go to him for business loans, and he, in fact, would often lend people money to start up their businesses. sometimes these people didn't pay him back, and he legally went after them, sued them to get his money back. that's just one of many areas that the authorities are certainly looking at. >> all right, and still unfolding case. susan candiotti joining us from new york. thank you very much, susan. the man who threatened to quote assassinate the new president of the united states has heard from a federal judge. under a plea bargain, 21-year-old timothy ryan gutierrez has been sentenced to four years' probation with ten months of house arrest. gutierrez pleaded guilty back in may to making threats by e-mail. he also threatened to blow up the mall of america outside minneapolis. gutierrez could have gotten 18 months in prison. the house has adjourned for august break without taking any final action on health care reform. that means no vote until september. but they do have some health care work, homework from the president. he is urging lawmakers to keep up the momentum, encouraged by

last-minute thumbs up from a key committee. in a statement the president says this historic step by the house energy and kwhers committee moves us closer to health insurance reform than we have ever been before. the bill that they have passed will strengthen consumer protections and choice, while lowering costs and improving care. meanwhile, the senate still has a few days before leaving on summer break, and republican leaders are standing firm against the president's plan. >> 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 require minutes on medicaid. >> so what is the status on

health care now that they are going in to a recess? our josh leffs joins us to tell us about that. >> don, you know, our government can get incredibly complicated. what i want to do is try to simplify this for everyone. you've got bills, bills, bills. we're going to start off with the senate, because there's two things to know about the senate. there's actually a committee hat has already passed a bill in the senate. but there's this other committee we've been talking a lot about this bipartisan group of six lawmakers, and they are part of the finance committee, and this is what's been happening. this group right here is trying to work together to create a bill. when they have that created they will bring it to the finance committee and then the finance committee looks at it and ultimately has one that can go to the senate. but that's not the end. what needs to happen here is this bill and this bill from the two different committees have to be merged into one. that's when the senate will be able to vote on it. so there's still several steps right there. let's go over to the house where it's a similar concept, you have three committees in the house.

committee one, committee two and committee three. they have all now passed different bills. but don it's the same process. they all need to be merged into one bill that will at some point go before the house. so you have this extensive process and then both chambers, what we're seeing is a pretty long process. and this gets even more complicated. once the house and the senate ultimately do pass something, if they do, then, those two go into these committees where they need to be merged. so we're talking about a lot of steps. you know, one of our producers was mentioning to me recently, and it's true, that the founding fathers wanted really big tasks to be kind of tough. for congress. and they got their wish. >> all right. our josh levs helping us out with that. so what is the best way for millions of uninsured americans to get health care? our conversation is just getting started tonight. coming up in our 10:00 p.m. eastern hour we're posing tough questions to dr. peter thomas who advocates for uninsured african-american. we want to hear from you, as well. make sure you send us your

questions, your concerns and your comments. the president's second 100 days been better than the first? it is your chance now to weigh in. starting tomorrow, you can vote at cnn.com, and be sure to tune in on thursday night at 8:00 p.m. to see the president's final grades as part of cnn's national report card, the second 100 days. and remember the thousands of protesters on the streets of tehran? well more than 100 are on trial today. amideast expert ponders their fate. plus, it is not a story from the 1960s. claims of separate rest rooms for blacks and whites, on the job, now come to a lawsuit. it is just one of the topics we'll talk about this hour during our panel on race. you don't want to miss it. no-holds-barred. and you can join in it on it. twitter, facebook and i-report.com is how you get your comments to us. when you take a bigger, thicker slice of the best potatoes, people notice. introducing alexia crunchy snacks. a giant leap for snack kind.

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it has been a deadly day for u.s. and nato troops in afghanistan. three american service members died when two roadside bombs struck a patrol in southern kandahar province. meantime the french government says one of its soldiers died in a battle with insurgents. two french troops were wounded in that attack. two big stories coming out of iran today. the mass trial of anti-government protesters, and the arrest of three american tourists along the border with iraq. joining me now from washington to talk about all of this is karim sanjanpour of the carnegie endowment a longtime analyst of iranian affairs. let's talk first, karim, thank you first of all for joining us,

let's talk about the americans who are there. it has been said that border is not very well marked. that the americans were doing some hiking. it has been said, even by our own reporters and sources, that this can turn into a huge international incident. do you believe that? >> it is a cause of great concern, don, because there were reprimanded in iranian kurdistan, and there have long been accusations from the iranian regime that they're trying to fomention rest in kurdistan. there is a concern that the iranian regime will try to use these three unfortunate folks for domestic political reasons. and another u.s. citizen who i'm very much concerned about is actually a columbia university trained sociologist. he has a ph.d. in sociology, and he's been languishing in tehran's prison for the last four weeks. >> what is the status of that? is the government doing anything to try to get him home?

>> i think the obama administration frankly should be doing more and condemning these human rights abuses in iran and expressing concern about the flight of u.s. citizens in iran. >> where do you see this going, if you have the person that you mention and then you have these other citizens, do you see these people going on trial or do you see iran holding them to try to get something out of the u.s.? >> well, don, there's never real trials in iran. what we saw today, we saw glimpses of it, essentially a kangaroo court. sessions under duress, under threats of torture. and i think, really, don, after six weeks now, what's transpired today ask only further delegitimizes the june 12th presidential election. >> you're talking about the people who are on trial now in iran, the anti-government protesters, and some of whom, karim, are really, former vice president, very high profile politicians and even a canadian

journalist, in tocourt today. it is unprecedented, not since 1979 have we seen this many people, this high profile of people in court there. >> that's a good point. when i was based in tehran several years ago i used to go and interview these individuals, mohammed was the vice president then under former president khata khatami. these people were part of the government, senior political leaders in iran. and so see them today giving confessions, and allegations from their family that they've been tortured, it just shows you the tremendous rift amongst iranian political leaders. >> what do they say? >> i'm sorry? >> what do they face as far as sentencing? >> don, you know, in prison they're told if the that you don't confess we'll kill you or you'll spend the rest of your life in prison. in reality we haven't seen those types of harsh punishments but we've entered uncharted terrain.

i know especially the family of kian tag bach is afraid they will hold onto him for a long time. >> karim, thank you very much. it's a story we're going to pay special attention to because of the people who are on trial there and the americans who are being held there. thank you so much. >> any time, don. >> this is a story that many of you will find hard to believe. black city workers in philadelphia claiming they have forced to use separate rest rooms. that's just one claim. there are others that will be shocking to you. their lawyer is going to join us live.

ork, listen to this story, you know, if you're sitting on the couch, whatever you're doing. just watch this. a whites-only bathroom in the city of brotherly love? two workers claim it has been that way for a decade at a philadelphia waste transfer plant, and now, they are filing a complaint against the city. they say john gill, the superintendent at the northwest transfer station kept a very close eye on who was using what bathroom. >> water cooler in his office, and he used. and the whites go in there any time they want to. but no one can't go in his office. >> blacks can't go in there?

>> no. just don't walk in his office. >> it's the difference of going one flight of stairs to the bathroom where all the white employees go to go five flights down where all the black employees go. that was very degrading. >> the city solicitor's office which is defending the case denies the allegations in the complaint. here's what they say. the officer leaked a statement to cnn saying quote the city does not discuss active litigation but believes these claims are meritless and their lack of merit will become apparent as the litigation proceeds. so, speaking of proceedings, what is next here? the lawyer who filed the case on behalf of those workers is joining us now tonight from philly. thank you so much for joining us, sir. harassment, humiliation and racial discrimination, you say this has been going on since 1996. then why file a suit now? >> well, they -- the gentlemen have raised other protests with city officials. but i would say that the real reason that they filed the suit now is they just had too much of it.

it was just too much for too long. for many years they were frightened. and now they found their own humanity and asserts their rights. >> is this just about the bathroom? there are other things in the complaint, other than just separate bathroom? >> there are several things. for a time in 2007, there was separate water fountains, which is really shocking. there are the mr. gill made it difficult for the african-american employees to use -- to look at a calendar in order to plan their vacation and holidays. there's also been some favoritism towards the white employees in terms of truck assignments. now at this time, a lot of the white employees have retired. but there's still favoritism among the white employees that are left. >> what are they seeking? >> well, they're seeking -- well, there's several things. one thing they're seeking, the

most important thing of all, is they're seeking -- they're asking the city to reaffirm their human dignity. secondly, there is -- they would like some monetary compensation. but that's not really the key in this case. the key in this case is the reaffirmation of their human dignity. and i would like to correct something that i saw one of the news wires. we have not asked that mr. gill be fired. no court really has the authority to do that. my clients do not hate the sinner. they hit his sin. they would like the city to reform and change the conditions of the northwest transfer system -- station. it's not a matter of having mr. gill fired. >> the city released a statement saying this was meritless and once it is out in the open, as this proceeds, then we'll be able to see that it is meritless. you want to respond to that? >> mr. lemon, this is litigation. what did you expect them to do, admit that they're guilty now? this case will wind its way through the litigation process,

and then, if it can't be resolved otherwise, then we'll have our day in court. >> yeah. you know, at least an allegation like this in this day and age is really quite shocking. really quite shocking. >> when these gentlemen came to see me, i believe at the end of 2007, i've been involved in employment law for over 30 years. i was full of disbelief. then when i got into it and found out a little bit more and interviewed some more people, i found out that it was true. it is quite shocking. the fact that it's shocking sort of accentuates how representry hencible the behavior of the city official mr. gill has been. >> the claims are quite shocking. we don't know if it's true or not. we shall see. we appreciate you joining us. >> thank you. >> forget for a moment, you know, about race. forget about clothing. for get about speech patterns, just listen to this man's story and think, what if this happened to you? how would you feel?

what would you do? >> the bus is coming, you know, i burst into top speed. i was like, i'm gonna catch this buzz. gonna catch this bus, gonna catch this bus. and i have to carry my beeper on the side, you know, to my pants and i felt my beeper falling so i'm holding my beeper and i'm running, and all of a sudden i hear freeze! don't move! .

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good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. okay, the president, the professor, the policeman. what began as a 911 call in cambridge, massachusetts, culminated two weeks later with this small gathering at the white house. dubbed the beer summit. the white house didn't want to dub it that. they thought it was clever but said it wasn't a beer summit, it wasn't a summit. at the table, harvard professor henry gates, cambridge police sergeant james crowley and president and vice president of the united states. all were trying to find some closure in an incident at gates' home on july 16th that got him arrested for disorderly conduct.

and crowley accused of racial profiling. afterwards, crowley described what the men accomplished over a few glasses of beer. take a listen. >> what was accomplished was this is a positive step in moving forward as opposed to reliving the events of the past couple of weeks, in an effort to move not just the city of cambridge or two individuals past this event, but the whole country to move beyond this and use this as a basis of maybe some meaningful discussions in the future. >> all right so now as part of this ongoing dialogue on race relations here in the united states, this week we asked cnn viewers to submit their experiences of what they believed was racial profiling. timothy dart of the wrongs in new york said he had too many too count. but one encounter with police left a lasting impression, and you may find the language offensive, but we thought it important to let him speak uncensored so you can make up your own mind. >> one incident i should say that i really remember was actually not in the bronx, it was in queens. and i was -- i was -- i was on

82nd street, and the bus was coming. you know, the bus was coming. the bus is coming so i'm like a block away. and you know, i used to love to run. the bus is coming. you know, i burst into top sp d speed, that was like, i'm gonna catch this bus. i'm gonna catch this bus. i'm gonna catch this bus. and i used to carry my beeper on the side, you know, like tucked into my pants. and i felt my beeper falling, so i'm holding my beeper and i'm running, and all of a sudden i hear, freeze! don't move! and i look and there's these two cops and they're like stay there. stay there. why? what am i doing? why are you running? i said because i'm running to catch the bus. and they're like, what bus? and i said the bus i just missed. oh, you trying to be a smart ass? i'm not trying to be a smart ass, i just missed the bus.

you just asked me why i was running and i just told you. >> a lot of people had similar stories and woe would like to say timothy dark's experience was unusual. it wasn't. we received many other accounts of people who believe they were minding their own business, doing nothing wrong, and yet suddenly found themselves confronted by police. so let's take a harder look at this. dr. richard weinblatt is the director for the institute of public safety at central ohio technical college. he is also a former police chief. also joining us is amos brown, senior pastor at the third baptist church in san francisco. and in washington tonight, eduardo rodriguez jr. of the raven group, who work on racial profiling issues as they affect the hispanic community. okay so thank you very much for joining us. my first question, i wanted to go to the former police officer. okay? former police chief, i should say, richard weinblatt. you heard that young man's account of what he believes was racial plow filing. he wasn't doing anything wrong.

we do know that the police are under considerable pressure. there's a lot of crime here. so how do you justify the two there? >> well, absolutely. i mean, as, you know, don, you've lived in different places around the country, in louisiana, and philadelphia, i've been in law enforcement in different parts of the country, and the common thread that runs here is, how do you treat people with respect, treat people that feel that they are disenfranchised, that their perception is their reality, that they are being disenfranchised and still balance that with officer safety? and that's a really hard thing to do. and that's one of the things that we're making a lot of stride in police education and training to try to do that. because, that young man's story, as you pointed out, is not unusual. and while some officers may not agree with his version of events, it is still an important version of events for him, and for many others. and we have to address it. >> all right. let's listen, i want to listen to one more from timothy dark, as we go here, and then i will get comments from the other gentlemen.

>> one time i went to the metro card machine. you know how the metro card machine, when you stick your debit card in there, sometimes it doesn't catch it right away, so you have to do it like five or six times. you want to do it again? yes. do you want to do it again? yes. and by the tenth time, it finally says yes. so the cops were watching me the while time, so as soon as i walk away from the machine, they stop me. oh, well, you know, you did that, you were swiping your card so many times. we have reports of people, you know, trying to, you know, jimmy the machines. i mean they padded me down. they checked my pocket. come on, dog, jimmy the machine with a -- come on? like i just thought because i was a black dude and i had a hoodie on you're going to stop me. that's how i felt. you know what i mean? that's how i felt. and i been feeling like this my whole life. >> mr. rodriguez, he is african-american, but it doesn't only happen to african-americans. it happens to hispanics, as well? >> definitely. it happens a great deal.

and it's not just about the apparel within the hispanic community. at this point, we have, over the last four to five years, seen a dramatic increase in an anti-immigrant sentiment that picks up every single latino, u.s.-born, legal status, or undocumented. so, in this circumstance, he's talking about his apparel, and that may be the case in certain situations with the rattan community and their apparel. but by and large, it's just your appearance of being brown and hispanic, that many times it will get you stopped with the eventual goal of finding out whether or not you're a legal citizen in this country. >> okay. our talk is going to continue. mr. brown, amos brown, not to worry. i'm going to get you in and you're going to get a big chance to talk after this. because i understand that you want to talk about this supposed beer summit and what went on in cambridge, massachusetts. so stand by, all of you. more from our special guests as we talk about race rate here in the newsroom. and then coming up at the top of the hour, cnn, "in essence"

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so racial profiling can come in many different forms, and not just from police. i want you to listen to this story from i-reporter alberto willis in kingwood, texas. >> my wife and i went to purchase a car. a black sales person looks at us, doesn't say anything. a young white kid comes up, shows us several cars, within one hour, we purchased the car. were we racially profiled? of course. by whom? a black person. >> okay. so many times it is learned in -- by growing up or just in society. i want to go back to our panel now. i want to talk to mr. brown. you can be -- you saw the gentleman there, amos brown. you can be racially profiled, it's not just white people. you can be racially profiled by anyone of any race. this particular story coming out of cambridge, massachusetts, hit

you in a hard way. your field -- you have very strong feelings about it. talk to me about that. >> yes, because it's startling in this country, african-americans have been disproportionately victimized by this institutionalized, legalized racism. and i feel that the conversation that the president had at the white house, and even his words, though many have taken issue with them initially, turned the light on to this age-old dark and dismal past, which we have refused to confront the sickness of racism, and all of these instances have been cited, just symptoms of the deeper sickness. >> so what are you doing about it? are you planning something? >> we're calling on leaders all across this country of all faith communities and racial backgrounds to pray on this sunday and the first sunday in

september, and also have truth telling sessions with their congregants. >> okay. >> about this issue, and to work toward reconciliation and resolution to this age-old problem. >> okay. stand by, all of you. another i-reporter or another i-report talking about driving a car and being profiled. listen. >> we fit the description of four black males in a green vehicle, when there were six of us in a red vehicle, and we knew right away that it had nothing to do with that. it was just that we were being profiled. and once he saw we were high school kids and not thugs that stole a cadillac, he let us go. so it was very upsetting to all of us. >> actually was getting stopped because i drove a porsche. i was in my 20s. it wasn't because i was selling drugs or anything, but because i was young, and i had the wrong type of car.

>> okay, so mr. weinblatt you see there, most people come in contact with the police and they believe are racially profiled during a traffic stop. now i don't expect the police to walk over and go, hi, mr. lemon, how are you? did you know you were speeding, doing whamp? but i don't expect them to walk over either, hey, give me your license, boy. which has happened. so what is the happy medium here? >> and we were talking on the break, don, it is how sometimes you're approached, and it's perception. and the majority of officers are fine folks, fine men and women trying to do a tough job. and what happens is, is that there's misperceptions. and what we try to do in trainers and educators and police administrators is put forth the idea that you treat people with respect. and that's the best way in the world. it's better than anything else. because we want the officers to do well, and we want the public to do well. because we're part of the community. in many cases we live right in the communities we police. and i think if we put a human

face on each other, and that's what happened with president obama there, with the beer summit, is they put a human face, and sergeant crowley said afterwards, now he sees the perceptions a little differently. and the perspective of professor gates a little differently than he did before. >> all right. let's talk true solutions. i want to talk true solutions. hold that thought. we're going to dig a whole lot deeper and really have frank discussions about solutions here, and it's not really about who's right and who's wrong, but how to change it and make it happen less frequently. because you'll never stop it. we're back in a moment with our panel.

all right now back to our panel. we're talking racial profiling here, and how to -- really solutions. how to keep it from happening so frequently. would be great to keep it from never happening again. okay, so let's start with you mr. amos, what is -- do you have a solution for me? >> yes. first, there must be respectful and careful surgery before you

can have healing and reconciliation. and that's why we are calling for truth telling about this problem in the nation. >> what do you mean -- explain that. what do you mean? >> i mean that we must candidly, honestly, on both sides of the issue, sit down and talk with each other. not around, over and under each other, about race. in this nation. >> okay. >> the officer who was suspended in boston used some pejorative statements about dr. gates, calling him a banana-eating, jungle monkey. and yet he comes out and says, i'm not racist. how contradictory is that? >> and we need to talk about that. mr. rodriguez, what is your solution? because it's not just blacks, it's hispanics and others? >> well, as it relates to latinos, it's even more complex. so i don't have -- i don't have a clear solution here. i know there's a lot of work that needs to be done. the language issue by itself, in prince williams county a woman was just recently pulled over. she didn't understand the police

officer, was beaten severely because of that misunderstanding of what was going on. ultimately charges were dropped against her. the police officer's under investigation. but how do you get a solution, how do you arife at a solution when you don't even understand each other? so whatever conversation happens within the community, there needs to be an understanding, an extra effort on the police department's behalf to have people on staff that can speak the language, be it spanish or any other one. we need to have an ability to communicate before we can arrive at a solution. >> i like what you said, an extra effort. we know police officers have very tough jobs. but i think in light of what has happened here with this racial -- so-called racial profiling case in cambridge, is that we all need to talk about it. and there does need to be an extra effort on the police department. because all of these people who are voicing their opinions and telling their stories about racial profiling, they're not lying. and it doesn't happen in a vacuum. so i think police departments across the country need to examine how they teach racial profiling.

mr. weinblatt, since i made that statement, you're a former police chief, go ahead and community on that. >> yeah, absolutely, don. you're absolutely correct. i like what mr. brown said. that's fantastic. we need to put a human face on the police. the sergeant a human face on the police, the sergeant crowleys and dr. gates of the world let them see each other as human beings and understand each other's realities and that's when we can bridge that gap. most of the folks are trying hard as you put it in difficult jobs. i would encourage will brown and be glad to help him in any way i could. bring law enforcement into that discussion, into that reconciliation and truth-telling sessions. now all of a sudden, we'll see each other as people as opposed to us versus them. >> i said to one of the people who work here is that you know, we have an opportunity here. >> absolutely sfwhul special media and cnn to have a nationwide town hall meeting at churches online and here on television to really talk about

these issues and hear people out without judging them. i appreciate all of you for this. your frank discussion, amos brown, senior pastor of the third baptist church in san francisco, estuardo rodriguez and richard weisblatt in centralie technical college. great, thank you guys. here's what you guys are saying. this was coming from twitter, some coming from facebook. canada smith said i was profiled while having breakfast with my 6 and 2-year-old kids in california. i don't think race issues will ever be resolved unless the world starts all over with all new people and no trace of history. ed gorehopper says of course, i'm not surprised. i've been profiled dozen of times in the 67 years since my 13th birthday even when in clerical garb.

dryer buzz says the appearance of prejudice has been perpetrated by media. >> racial profiling is alive in the city of brother love. have i been a victim many times. pr 135 says yes, why is it when we talk about race it's only about black people? other races have suffer it had also. let's be fair. we also want to talk about profiling among the muslim community. that happens a lot, too. we'll have that discussion here on cnn, as well. thanks to my panelists and you guys is weighing in, twister, facebook, myspace.com is how you get on the air. coming up, cnn and "essence" present "black in america 2," "reclaiming the dream." they'll xl unique and inknowvative solutions to issues facing black americans tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. bounce with me. bounce with me. bounce with me. you got to get creative and

active to get business these days. we'll go to bounce u. i think right now it's a phenomenal time

for somebody to buy a home. the first step in the process is to educate them. bank of america is highly committed. we do have a vast array of programs that will enable buyers to purchase a home and feel comfortable.

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

well, it sounds like a winning business. a place where you can drop your kids off and let them have as much fun as they want with little maintenance. but in this recession, even a place like this, it struggles. so the owners got creative and active. reynolds wolf takes us to bounce u. >> reporter: scott and julie hamilton took their life savings, borrowed money from family and the bank to invest in their dream, these parents of three boys opened a kid-friendly franchise, bounce u in charlotte, north carolina last year. an entrepreneurial strong city and then, the economy took a nosedive. >> we knew we were going to have to get creative and proactive. >> reporter: that meant coming up with a marketing strategy to get customers in the door. they focused on children's birthdays and smaller, less

expensive parties and even some weeknight activities. >> we now have party packages that start at $150, and we have all different kinds of sizes all different budgets. that seems to have really helped a lot. >> it's not just a weekend business which is originally what we bought into it for. now it's something that we have parties on the weeknights, we have summer camp during the day, we'll have open bounce as well. >> reporter: they're seeing a payoff. the business has increased by 20% with zero layoffs. it's a common story in charlotte. according to the chamber of commerce, more than 7300 jobs have been created by new business so far this year. mostly small business. the hamiltons say tv and direct maile ads, online marketing and fund-raising partnerships have all helped. >> we have called every school and every church and every youth group and every scouting group and we're talking to them about our different programs. >> reporter: all part of the plan to get people through their

door abc keep them coming back. >> it's real easy to get on the inflatables and play with the kids and see them laugh. at the end of the day it's mom and dad you want to go home feeling they've gotten a good value. >> building their business with every bounce. reynolds wolf, cnn, charlotte, north carolina. >> wow. that looks like a whole lot of fun, jacqui jeras. >> heck, yeah, have you ever been to one of those places? >> i have, all the heat and rain, it's probably a good place to go. i think there's one here. don't you take their kids? do they let adults? >> got to love the monkey joe's. do they let you jump up and down. >> sometimes yes, especially if you have a private party for your children there, jump and do flips. i'll invite you next time. >> okay, i'm going. >> lots of people spending time indoors this weekend with showers and thundershowers all across the south and the southeast. really heavy rain, torrential downpours. we're talking about flooding. believe it or not especially along the i-20 corridor and

northward. rain moving through the nashville area. isolate std thunderstorms have been rolling across parts of the northeast but this isn't going to be enough really to impact your plans, just short-term. boy, it's been hot, oh, yeah, again. 100 degrees in austin right now, still 100 degrees in san antonio. a number of records fell again today across the state. in fact, in san antonio, it was 106 this afternoon. and that makes it the 36th day of 100 degrees plus. that is the most days, it ties with the most days ever recorded of 100 plus in this city and it was also the hottest july recorded last month. just the heat continues, unfortunately. tomorrow's forecast showing you a chance of severe weather pushes a little further to the east. the delmarva down to the carolinas. warm weather out west, cool weather across the nation's midsection and as always, we're keeping our eye on the tropics. a tropical storm southwest of hawaii should st