in engelwood, aaron baskerville. i'm heidi collins. have a great weekend, everybody. we'll see you back here on monday. >> it is friday, august 7th. here are the top stories right here in the "cnn newsroom." >> you need to open it up to the free markets and you need to get the government out of our wayp. anger boils over at health care town hall meetings. shoving, shouting, replace thoughtful discussion. the nation's jobless picture takes an unexpected turn, this time for the better. i'll show you, also, life on less than a dollar a day. my trip from vietnam. good morning, everybody, i'm betty nguyen in today for tony harris and you are in the "cnn newsroom." all right, let's start with this.

an economic shocker. the nation's unemployment rate dropped in july to 9.4%. now, analysts thought the jobless numbers would keep trending up and they were wrong. personal finance editor gerri willis is in new york to break down the numbers and some numbers we can smile about, at least. >> a real relief. some people were afraid we might get 10% unemployment, but the real number for july came in at 9.4% and consider what that means to where we've been. in june the jobless rate was 9. %. the expectation was 9.6%. it's a long way from recovery, but, as you can see, it is an improvement. now, when you look at payrolls and these are job losses, you're looking at the numbers right here. we saw the lowest drop since august of '08. the number 247,000 jobs lost and even the june figure was revised higher to 443,000, that's good news. i'm sorry, the number was revised lower so that means

fewer jobs were lost and expectations far bigger for the month of 525,000. what does this all mean? as you know, betty, out there high jobless numbers are a big factor in a weak economy. people definitely want to see more jobs. it really adds to consumer confidence. let me show you some numbers here on sectors that are really losing jobs. number one, construction. the most jobs lost. 76,000. manufacturing, you've heard the story time and again about what's going on in detroit, auto manufacturing and those jobs down 52,000. retail, people aren't going to the mall in the middle of a recession. those jobs down 44,000. financial activities, those jobs still contracting. the one bright spot here, health care. that sector creating 20,000 jobs and there's another bit of good news, too, in this report, betty. the average hourly workweek, which is important. it tells you how many hours

people are actually getting paid for out there, it edged moderately higher. now, the reason why this is important is because at some point if that number keeps growing, employers will have to add jobs, bring in more workers to take on the extra work. so, we'll be keeping an eye on that and also keep an eye on part-time workers and that's another important positive indicator, too. finally, some good news on the job front. >> and i am happy to see it, as are many people. gerri, thank you for that. in the meantime, here is a question for you. buy agnew car. look for crowded show rooms this weekend. president obama signed a bill today extending cash for clunkers, you know, the government's popular auto rebate program and the measure supplies cash for clunkers with another $2 billion. that's expected to carry it through labor day. senators from michigan, of course, home base where the automobile industry, well, they are simply thrilled. >> this is a great thing not just for the automobile industry, but for consumers who

will now have a continuing opportunity to buy a car that they otherwise might not have been able to do. >> as of this morning, you are 180,000 deals that had been inputted and completed. we know that this will be a great weekend to go out and buy an automobile. >> little bit of a hint there. well, congress originally provided a billion dollars for a cash for clunkers, but customers eager for rebates up to $4,500 used up that money in just a matter of days. so, are president obama's adviso advisors hinting at a second stimulus plan. in just a few minutes we'll hear from ed henry on that very topic. also, august, could be a make or break for health care reform. passions in the debate, they are running extremely high. a forum in little rock, arkansas, concern about a government health care plan was one of the hot button issues. >> you need to open it up to the

free markets and you need to get the government the hell out of our way. >> oh, and there is more. lines were long, tempers, they were very short at a health care town hall in michigan. the forum in romulus, michigan, ended in a free for all. here's our affiliate. >> reporter: congressman drowned out by the boos and cheers. hosting town hall to hear what people think about the national health care. the 81-year-old could barely get a word in edge wise. crowds started showing up early to wait in line, both those for and against yelling out sinbefo the meeting ever got under way. once inside, it was a free for all at times. >> it got really heated and really loud. it was a lot of chanting, a lot of booing.

you know, some clapping. it just, at one point it felt like people were more worried about drowning each other out than listening. his wife vowing to set up another town hall. >> i will make sure that we can very quickly schedule another town meeting and get as many people as you want to get. >> reporter: so many questions about what the obama health plan really means. >> something has to be done in a way of reform, but not to redo our whole health care system. >> there's going to be more division in this country than ever and the majority of people want this bill stopped. >> reporter: marsha who was invited as a speaker here tonight and supports the idea of national health care had a hard time being heard over the crowd, but her message is this. >> i believe that it's immoral for us to have individuals in this country without health care. people are dying every day because of that. >> reporter: well, another health care town hall meeting turns into mayhem.

it just erupt under to a shouting match. people pushing and shoving and the problem started when an overflow crowd tried to get into the meeting room and meanwhile, though, inside the event. democratic congresswoman cathy caster was drowned out. want you to take a listen at what happened. >> get off of me! >> everybody back up! >> some town hall meeting. let's get to mike diazen in st. petersburg. what's going on there today? anticipate anything like that to

be happening where you are? >> they're not having the protests today, betty. what they are doing, try to reorganize and figure out how they can do this town hall meeting, once again. part of the problem, an overflow crowd and the room only held 250 people and more than 1,500 people showed up for the event. those who were opposed said that it was an organized effort to keep them out of the event. the democrats, meantime, say it's an organized effort to disrupt anything relating to the obama administration. so, they're looking for a larger room right now. we talked to congresswoman cathy caster to set up an interview later on today. we'll talk to her this afternoon. exactly about how they will do this, but she got no where at all last night and had to be sort of shuttled out of the room and didn't talk to anybody else and she got out of there and what was supposed to be a good moment for her to talk about the obama health care plan that turn under to a disaster for both her and the democratic party last night. betty? >> seems like no one was heard

with all the shouting and shoving. mike, thank you for that. is this public anger just part of the democratic process or something more insiddious? well, there are accusations that the gop is bussing in folks and coaching them on how to disrupt town hall meetings. politico.com senior political director joins me now to talk about this. run an ad that the democratic national committee has just released in response to what is happening. i want you to take a look at this. >> their goal, destroy president obama and stop the change that americans voted for overwhelmingly in november. >> it will break him. >> i hope he fails. this mob activity is straight from the play book from political operatives. they have no plan for moving our country forward, so they've called out the mob. >> why are these people ignoring -- >> call the republican party and tell them you had enough of the mob.

>> all right, so, that's one side of it. let me get your take on this, jonathan. what is going on behind the scenes. is this truly the democratic process at work or an attempt to disrupt public meetings? >> i don't think what you showed is airing anywhere on tv, it's only a web video. but, nevertheless, a few things. first of all, the democrats nationally are trying to do a judicial here. trying to gain strength from something that appears to be working against them. they're trying to portray these town hall protests at extreme and try to sort of damage the fight against health care by, you know, portraying the opponents of it as these radicals and you saw in that web video there, they're trying to conflate those who don't believe president obama was actually born in america with some of these folks at the health care town halls and now there may be overlap and there's no accident that they're trying to portray the opposition as radicals. now, for your question, is there genuine, you know, emotion about

this health care issue? absolutely. there's no question about it. is there also an orchestrated effort to try to get folks to turn out for these town hall meetings? of course there is. it's happening on both sides. folks here in d.c. are trying to rally support for and against the health care bills at these professional town halls all over the country and because of now, the fact that it's happening on both sides, you're seeing a ratcheting up of some of these outbursts. at first isolated here and there and mostly coming from conservatives and now you're seeing some real sort of clashes back and forth because both sides are now really engaged trying to get their hopes out during a recess to these town hall. >> it's happening in several states. let me ask you this, too. what does it say when you have david axlerod, you know, meeting with senate democrats and essentially providing a handbook on how to handle these town hall meetings? >> look, they're trying to win back the message here. they don't want to have this august recess totally dominated by people out in america, you

know, crying out against the health care bill. they want it to be seen in the media, especially in the local media, local tv. there are two sides to this. they are equally passionate proponents of president obama's health care reform. that's why you saw president obama's aides on capitol hill anything the other side does, we can double that. they're mobilizing their support. president obama's political operation is trying to get their supporters out. >> essentially your saying this fight has only just begun. >> i think it will only get more heated from here. more folks are engaged and the more people sink these reports when a town hall happens in this community, they'll want to show up and express their views. now, that said, this is really drawing out folks on the extremes of both sides. now, where is the vast middle on this issue? >> and where are the concrete answers? >> i think a lot of people watching this want to know that there are valid questions out there. where can we go and get those

answers and actually get a solid answer and not shoving and shouting. jonathan, we're out of time. i wish we could speak to you here. this is very civil. we do appreciate your time. in the meantime, though, august is shaping up as a make or break month for health care reform and if you have the chance to talk face-to-face with your congressman or senator, what exactly would you say? well, you can tell us about it at our blog, go to cnn.com/newsroom and we'll share some of your comments later right here in the cnn newsroom. let's get to this, the unemployment rate among men higher than women. can you guess why? we'll break that down for you. also, the latest on the dow. let's take a look. it is up right now. we think 147 at 9403 and we have numbers on the nasdaq? up 31 points. not bad for a friday. we'll see how it ends out. stay with us, you're in the "cnn newsroom."

hi, folks. we have been talking about felicia, the hurricane over the last couple days and just over 24 hours ago it was a category 4 powerhouse churning through the pacific. things have changed in 24 hours. the storm now as a category 2 and we have a couple things standing in its path, or at least in the water in its path. cooler water and upper level winds that should cause this thing to weaken and that's what the forecast holds. tropical storm as we get into sunday and monday and then as we fast forward into tuesday and wednesday should be downgraded to a depression bringing rainfall to parts of the hawaiian islands. your warm temperatures going up to 92 degrees in memphis and hotter in texas going up to 100. austin, san antonio and triple-digit heat in atlanta. into the 90s, once again w hazy skies. a look at your extended forecast and also what you can expect for the rest of the nation as we go to the weekend. that's moments away right here on cnn.

well, the latest jobless numbers, they are out and they're not as bad as many expected. our senior white house correspondent ed henry joins us. he's in the middle of his radio show right now. president talks a little more than two hours from now. we got the jobless numbers and you just heard what the obama

administration is thinking what is going to happen with unemployment. play a little bit more of the interview in a few moments and some people can tune in at cnn.com/live. he said that the president had been teasing out that unemployment could reach 10%. it had been at 9.5% and now it's at 9.4%. does this mean now the trajectory is downward and it's not going to 10%. jared burnsteen said absolutely not. very interesting bit of news because the white house is very careful to manage expectations here. the president will come out in the rose garden in a couple hours and he is not coming out with a bottle of champagne saying happy days are here again. how things are getting better. when you look beneath those numbers, 247,000 people still lost jobs in the month of july, number one. they're hurting. number two, something like 400,000 people left the job market altogether to stop looking for jobs. that's not a good thing either. so, we've got to be really

careful with that top line number and remember that even if this suggests we're starting and express starting to hit bottom and that could be good politically for this president, there's still a lot of people hurting around the country. >> maybe this is an indication of it, as well. one of the president's people were hinting at maybe, just maybe a second stimulus package. what is that about? >> christina romer gave a speech here saying, look, the first stimulus package. $787 billion, a lot of republicans have said it hasn't worked and it has because it has changed the trajectory of the economy and things basically would have been much, much worse without the stimulus but still left the door open that if in a few months down the road, the recovery isn't moving as quickly as the president has promised there would be a second stimulus. he left the door oep on on the second stimulus and said we want to see whether the first one fully works yet. interesting, as well. the political back and forth. the house republican leader john boehner is on youtube with the

bloodhound. where are the jobs, mr. president, where are the jobs? he told me a few moments ago, i think john boehner needs a new bloodhand. they think that maybe the country is starting to turn the corner, but they're going to be very careful not to celebrate just yet, betty. >> ed henry spoke to the president's chief economic adviser and she he is coming tok to answer your questions. tweet us right here at kyracnn. >> thanks, betty, appreciate it. and just a reminder that the president delivers his remarks from white house rose garden. that is set for 1:30 eastern and, of course, cnn will bring that to you live. you can also listen to his remarks online at cnn.com/live. in the meantime, though,

stimulus dollars stuck on the highway. yeah, one of the first shovel ready projects to get government money has hit a road block. my name is chef michael. and when i come home from my restaurant, i love showing bailey how special she is. yes, you are. i know exactly what you love, don't i? - [ barks ] - mmm. aromas like rotisserie chicken. and filet mignon. yeah, that's what inspired a very special dry dog food. [ woman ] introducing chef michael's canine creations. so tasty and nutritious it's hard to believe it's dry dog food. chef-inspired. dog-desired.@i chef michael's canine creations.

all right, so, maybe you're trying to figure out how much house you can afford and looking at ways to dig out of debt, we know you have money questions and our personal finance editor gerri willis has answers for you today. she joins us live from new york and, gerriy have a question for you. this first one from hassan in connecticut. i owe about $16,000 in credit card debt and i am unable to pay. so, what can i do? i'm about four months behind and is consolidation a good solution? >> hi, betty.

it's generally not a good idea to take out new debt to cover your old debt and it's in your best interest to call your creditors and try to work out a repayment schedule. perhaps you can have your bills suspended and get out of paying late fees and penalties and maybe get your principal reduced. consolidation is not only hard to get nowadays, but unless you have a plan to pay off the new consolidated loan, just digging yourself deeper into debt without addressing the fundamental problem. >> the next question coming from the lone star state, texas, of course. this person says "i'm drowning in student loan debt without a real way to pay it and live. i have already exhausted forbearance options while searching for employment. after i pay, there isn't even enough to live on. any options to resolving my debt?" boy, this person sounds like he's in real trouble. >> if you have federal loans, you may be able to take

advantage of the government's income-based repayment plan. pegs your payments to your income and since you don't have any see if you qualify. but if it's private student loans you're talking bout here, you have less leeway and your best bet, call your lender and let them know about your hardship and explain you are trying to get a job. they may give you forbearance, otherwise, try to save up a little money each months, even if that means canceling cable or taking on a roommate to meet costs, it will be worth it in the long run. >> every penny counts. this one from kerry and how much money goes towards housing? would you be kind enough to give me some pointers as to what to look for or what to avoid? >> a lot of people thought they wi thought this four years ago. making an investment and making

sure you can afford it. if you agree to spend more than you can afford, you're setting yourself up for all sorts of problems. figure out how much you can borrow, get a handle on your income and then calculate your debt to determine how much you really can afford and those utility costs, insurance, maintenance costs and contact your local tax assessor's office for utilities. and type in standard utility allowance in the search tool for an estimate and you can check out state-by-state insurance estimates by iii.org. if you have any questions send them to me at gerri@cnn.com. this weekend your bottom line, how to wage a battle against your insurance company if your claim is denied and making the most of the miserable job solutions that don't involve sacrificing your paycheck. that's "your bottom line" right

here on saturday at 1:30 eastern. >> i'll be watching, thank you, gerri. we invite you to check out our special report. america's money crisis at a cnnmoney.com. so, let's get to those numbers, shall we, as gerri just told us at the top of the hour. 247,000 people lost their jobs last month, that sounds bad, but the fewest job cuts since last august. meanwhile, the unemployment rate actually fell. felicia taylor is at the new york stock exchange to break down the report for us. she joins us now, hey, felicia. >> let's put this into context because the it is a good news year and the report shows that the worst of the layoffs may be behind us and let's keep our fingers crossed that that is true. many employers have a hiring freeze in place. 14.5 million people in the united states are still without a full-time job. that is roughly the population, if you could imagine, of tennessee and new jersey combined. so, the troubling part is how long it's actually taking to find that full-time job.

this report shows that a record number, about 5 million people have been without a job for more than six months at a time. so, obviously, finding that full-time job with benefits is still pretty tough. so, what's the good news that wall street likes about this report? that number, the 247,000 cuts are no where near the 700,000 job losses that we saw back in january. so, steadily, we are seeing those job cuts decline, which is what the good news is. here's where the markets stand about two hours into the trading day today. the dow industrials are at their highest levels of the session so far. up about 1.5%, as is the nasdaq and the s&p 500. so, all across the board, the markets like what it sees on this friday ahead of the weekend. >> let's just delve a little bit deeper and look at these unemployment numbers. men versus women, who is getting hit harder? >> the unemployment rate for men now stands at 9.8%.

as you had mentioned, we had seen the overall national average decline to 9.4%, but for men, it's higher. 9.8. for women, it's 7.5%. here's why it becomes a gender issue. the construction and manufacturing sectors have been the hardest hit, traditionally those areas are more male-dominated. the health care in education sectors have been adding jobs. and, traditionally, those areas are more female dominated. and here's the surprising thing. i didn't realize this, women tend to have higher degrees. more women hold a master's or a ph.d. than men. so, break it down. the more education you have, the easier it is to find a full-time job. betty, i'm going back to school. >> well, i was going to ask, does that mean we're smarter than men? is that what you're alluding to? >> well -- >> thank you. let's talk about this now, money to build and repair roads and bridges is a big part of the stimulus plan, but some

contractors complain that the money is not moving fast enough. cnn's kate baldwin reports now from rockville center, new york. >> reporter: your stimulus dollars at work. filling cracks and replacing concrete slabs on new york southern state parkway. the first stimulus-funded highway project to break ground on long island. cost, $1.7 million. that should be music to the ears of mark hurps, head of the long island contractors association. it may surprise you to hear this. >> here we are in the heart of the construction season and 34% of the workforce on long island is still not working. we haven't seen construction that low in the workforce in decades. and the stimulus program hasn't put the people back to work at this point. >> reporter: nearly six months after president obama signed the stimulus bill, he complains transportation dollars are only trickling down. >> generally, too much red tape?

>> too much red tape. by the time we get to work and the money flows and gets here, we'll be in the dead of winter. we won't put the shovel in the icy ground. >> reporter: he's not alone. sherry runs a construction company that recently won a stimulus bid to replace this aging bridge in pennsylvania. >> it has to be designed and you have to get permits and environmental clarence and it still has to go through the agency and get all of their approvals. >> reporter: but, wait, transportation officials insist recovery money is moving faster than ever. new york expects a total $1.1 billion for highway and bridge project. >> the recovery act funding is going out, people will see their dollars at work. from my perspective what will happen next is the motorists on long island will complain about all the construction. >> reporter: in washington, the secretary of transportation says the focus is not only on speed. >> we want to get it out quickly, but we want to make

sure it's done by the book. no earmarks and no sweetheart deals. >> reporter: but the question is, are all the checks and balances causing a stimulus slowdown? d.o.t. estimates every $1 billion of transportation spending will create 11,000 jobs. the contractors warn if more money doesn't hit the ground here soon, this ground could very well be frozen until next construction season. kate baldwin, cnn, rockville center, new york. well, as you know, very well at this point, weekend almost here and that means a lot of you will be hitting the yard sales, well, rob marciano, specifically. he is at the mother of them all right now. rob, are you broke just yet? >> not yet. but the bargains are just about to start, betty. this is the first couple days of the longest yard sale in the world. it stretches 654 miles and we're live here all morning long. the shoppers are out bargain hunting and we're going to be

hunting and we're going to be coming back live right after the break.

all right, the weekend almost here and a lot of people getting excited about it. but not this right here.

>> we have this area of low pressure crawling its way towards parts of the great lakes and when it does so, a chance of rough weather for chicago and the twin cities and as far as des moines and even parts of michigan and chicago before all is said and done. for the gulf coast, scattered showers and hot in parts of the southeast and the west, four corners very dry. you know, speaking of the weekends, betty, let's see, t.j. is off this weekend, but we'll have rob with us. >> he's working. he's on assignment. >> that's what we're calling it. >> rob marciano on assignment, as we speak. i don't know if this is work, he is at a yard sale. >> it is the mom, the grandma, the granddad the whole family together in a yard sale. >> 654 miles exactly. that's how far this thing stretches in donelap, tennessee. i understand earlier you broke something, does that mean you

broke something, do we have to pay for that? >> i had to dodge the owner of that teacup. i'm down two bucks already and i'm coming home empty handed. this is where it's happening. as reynolds said, this is the granddaddy of them. that is reynolds wolf, territory, by the way. doesn't go through texas, but goes all the way up to the michigan/ohio border. >> 600 miles. >> why aren't you guys out here? i'm joining you all for the weekend show tomorrow. >> one can dream, but those dreams don't always, you know, reach reality. but if you can, rob, looking for a pink flamingo or yard duck or frog. something that's tasteful. >> i haven't seen many used pink flamingos. i have seen these gorgeous painted gourds. isn't that gorgeous? i've seen plenty of that.

more rose lamps. i haven't seen any leg lamps yet. but we're in the market for that. and then, betty, for the, for the ax murderer in you -- >> how did you know. >> a blade. >> i can't wait. >> thousands of people come to this thing. some people their entire vacations are spent right here. some people, the vendors collect all year long and thousands of dollars are exchanged. some people, some $8,000, $9,000 or $10,000 spent right here. rent it out on somebody's lawn for 25, 30 bucks a day and you go to work. so, we've seen people from texas, from missouri, to new jersey. they hustle right up 127 and just sort through the junk. >> why not? why wouldn't you spend the day there, right? it's great stuff. you know, rob, just a little side note for our viewers. rob and i like to collect small

porcelain figures, remember, that's what we collect now. >> in this recession, are you seeing more people participate in this because they want to make some cash off of what they have lying around the house? >> we've seen a few newcomers. one guy loaded up his u-haul and he said i need to make a couple bucks and drove up from florida with sports memorabilia. i don't know where he is now, because we weren't about to give up our spot, you know. he didn't have any therman munson rookie card. that was the own oly thing i was going to trade for. they're hoping for it to be busier this year. bigger and better than ever this year. in part, possibly, betty, because of the recession. you can hear the ice cream truck going. little steamy out here, but spirits are high and folks are picking up the stuff, putting it down, picking it up. >> you don't need to touch anything else, you have already

broken a tea cup. keep away from the items. we'll talk with you shortly. thanks, rob. and actually, rob and reynolds will join me at the anchor desk tomorrow. we have our show coming up. >> long day for you. >> yeah. that's all right. it's good to be working. >> absolutely. >> much more coming up right here in the "cnn newsroom," as well. up next, keeping kids out of trouble when there isn't much for them to do. today's cnn hero is doing just that with music. we'll meet him, next.

the u.s. military may have dealt a damaging blow to the taliban in pakistan. a pakistani official says the leader of the taliban there has been killed. it is believed that mehsud was killed in a u.s. drone attack. a pakistani official says they won't know for sure until they do more investigation, including dna processing. mehsud was believed to be behind the assassination of benazir bhutto in the summer of 2007. there is new insight this morning into the arrest of two american journalists released by north korea this week. lisa ling says her sister, laura, and euna lee briefly cross under to north korea. quoting here, maybe 30 seconds. the two journalists returned to the states wednesday after

former president bill clinton intervene would pyongyang. the two journalists never set out to enter the communist country. >> we know for certain that laura and euna never intended to cross the border when they left u.s. soil and laura's actually very eager to tell the story of what actually happened and i want to let her do so, but right now she's really just getting reacclimated and the process has been slow and, you know, she's still very, very weak but very anxious to tell the story. >> the journalists work for current tv and they were arrested in march and sentenced in june to 12 years of hard labor. well w the nation's highest murder rate and one of the highest crime rates, new orleans still struggling after hurricane katrina. two murders this year involve kids who were just 14 years old. cnn's hero of the week is fighting hard to keep kids off the street and out of trouble using the power of music.

>> music just always been with me. i love to play, i keep drum sticks in my hand. the music legacy in new orleans is really dying fast. life after katrina is really hard for a kid. vithe violence, the drug life. i'm just tired of it. my aim is to get kids off the streets. my name is derrick and i started a free music education program for the kids of new orleans. let's go, arms up. we do more than just teach music. we also have transportation and instruments and i feed you, give you tutoring. you don't have no excuse why you're not here. you don't have to have any experience. we meet five days a week year round. we are constant lly learning something new and that's what keeps the kids coming back.

>> when i'm here i practice, when i'm at home i practice. he just changed my life. >> i love seeing kids happy. just having fun. keep teaching these kids culture. i am saving lives and a whole different life. >> you can find out more about derrick or any of our heroes on our website at cnn.com/heroes. in just a few weeks, we will announce the top ten cnn heros of 2009. well, an entire generation grew up on his movies and we're going to take a look back on the films that perfected teen ankest.

well, judge sonia sotomayor will be sworn in as a supreme

court justice tomorrow, and the ceremony will be open to television cameras, of course. a supreme court first, though, the senate approved sotomayor thursday 68-31. just 9 republicans voted for her, and sotomayor will be the first latina justice on the high court, and just the third woman. she will replace justice david souter. see sotomayor's swearing-in ceremony on cnn when it happens right here on saturday. well, as we focus on health care reform and the ailing economy, half a world away, millions live on less than a dollar a day, and health care options, well, they're often nonexistent. i'm talking about vietnam, where i was born. i just returned from a humanitarian aid trip that showcases the importance of international aid organizations even during a recession. >> reporter: our journey begins at the crack of dawn. as relief supplies are loaded onto a bus. we're headed away from the hustle and bustle of ho chi minh city, formerly known as saigon,

to poor farming villages in southern vietnam. it's a long and bumpy ride. and once we arrive, the heavy lifting begins. all this aid was donated through the nonprofit my family founded called help the hungry. now that this boat has been loaded with supplies, we're headed to remote villages along the mekong delta to give you an indication indication of this area, the red cross says the families live on less than a dollar aid. it's important that we distribute the humanitarian aid before the deadly monsoons flood the region, but you don't have to look far to find those already in need. hundreds gather at the shoreline. they'll take the food, clothing and hygienic supplies back to their huts. in fact, some are so small, even a child can't can't stand up inside it. what's even harder to believe, a family of five lives here.

she says they've lived here for about three years. in a corner is their makeshift kitchen. they scratch out a living fishing from the sam murky canals where they bathe and get their drinking water. they can't even afford to keep their children in school. her 12-year-old daughter only made it to the second grade, yet when i ask what she wants to be when she grows up, her face lights up, as she says she wants to be a teacher. it's a heartbreaking battle between hope and poverty. that continues to play out as we go from village to village all the way to the vietnam/cambodia border. but this is life for the people who live here. this is a difficult life. and no matter how much we bring and how many times we come, you never leave feeling like you've done enough. there's so many people in need here. which is why we continue to come back, year after year.

proving the poor are not alone in their struggle, and maybe, in some way, it will instill the kind of hope and determination needed to rise above seemingly impossible odds. it is indeed a difficult journey, and for more information on how you can help, please go to help-the-hungry.org and you can join us on cnn saturday morning that's tomorrow from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. eastern. here's what's up next on "cnn newsroom." health care reform is boiling over, with those on either side of the issue trying to outshout each other. we'll show you one that turned violent. and gi uniforms meant to provide brief but critical protection against fiery explosions, just who will make them? and battling street violence. don lemon will bring us a story about how bad boys are turning their lives around. i've been growing algae for 35 years.

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oh, yeah, that song from "ferris bueller's day off," one of the many films from john hughes. >> how could i possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this? >> i love that movie, ferris bueller, of course, "16 candles," "the breakfast club," so many to list. these movies really defined the 1980s and made a lasting impact and so did director john hughes. he died thursday of a heart attack at the age of 59.

cnn's thelma gutierrez looks back at his legacy. >> reporter: for young people, his films defined the '80s. n-m coming-of-age comedies like "16 candles," writer-director john hughes showed american teenagers coping with real-life social problems. >> what in god's name is going on in here? >> reporter: most of his stories were set in illinois, a fictional town that reflected his suburban chicago upbringing. 1985 "the breakfast club" centered on a group of high schoolers that bonded over weekend detention. it fueled the careers of the brat pack, stars like emilio estev ves, judd nelson, anthony michael hall and molly ringwald. lighter fare like "ferris bueller's day off" and "weird science" followed and "pretty in pink" and "some kind of wonderful." like his young characters hughes

graduated to the adult world, writing and directing "planes, train & automobiles" and he carved out a new niche as the creator of family films like "beethoven" and the wildly successful "home alone" starring macaulay culkin. in his later years hughes retreated from the hollywood spotlight, occasionally contributing the odd story idea. but he'll be remembered best for the films in which a generation of teenagers saw themselves. thelma gutierrez, cnn, hollywood. well, august could be a make-or-break month for health care reform, and it's shaping up to be long, hot month for lawmakers on summer break. the health care debate is boiling over at town hall meetings all around the country. take a listen -- >> they'll receive -- >> lines are long, tempers, they were short at a forum in michigan yesterday. democratic congressman john dingell could barely get a word in.

>> everybody back up. everybody back up. >> yeah. some town hall meeting in tampa, florida, well, it turned into a shoving-and-shouting match when an overflow crowd tried to get into the meeting room. our affiliate wtsp has more on how the meeting turned to mayhem. >> reporter: hundreds lined up, and at 6:00 it started off as a town hall meeting about an important issue. >> when it comes to your health care -- >> reporter: but before congresswoman kathy castor could even begin getting through opening remarks, the protests began. >> it's my choice! >> reporter: in fact, things quickly turned violent. >> get off of me! >> everybody back up! >> get away. >> yeah. >> step back. >> reporter: freelance videographer mark bishop was one

of those roughed up. >> it was the most violent, it was surprising to say the least. >> reporter: outside, hundreds more were locked out as the children's board building quickly filled to capacity. people banged on windows and doors. and became so loud the congresswoman was eventually escorted out. some argue it was mainly health care reform supporters allowed inside the building. >> everyone's voice should have the right to be heard, and tonight was not a good example of that. there were a lot of people that were shut out of tonight's meeting. >> reporter: but others who attended said many were so outspoken, it became impossible to have a discussion at all. >> they think they're exercising their right to free speech, but they're only exercising the right to disrupt civil discourse. >> unfortunately i feel like a lot probably wasn't accomplished

tonight. somewhere in a lot of the screaming back and forth, no one got hurt. >> reporter: in the end there were only minor injuries reported. police did their best to allow free speech, but eventually were forced to call the meeting short, ordering everyone go home. all right, so, there is a lot of debate about whether all the health care outrage is genuine, or whether it's being orchestrated. cnn political editor mark preston joins us now from washington to talk about that. so, you know, mark, any truth to the claims that the gop is stoking the flames here, or is there a real divide when it comes to health care reform? >> well, you know something, betty, clearly there's a divide when it comes to health care reform. cnn's latest poll, the cnn/opinion research corporation poll, americans think president obama's approach to health care right now, he only receives a "c" minus, you know, as more and more details came out about the health care bill, people seemed to get angrier and angrier. now, we do see these very violent images on television, we have seen them for the past week

right now, but we should note it's not just conservatives or republicans who are at these health care rallies, it's also democrats or liberals who are really advocating and talking about the issue and getting loud about it. it just seems that so far, the -- the conservatives have been the louder. >> yeah, and when it comes to the allegations about the gop, the criticism, my question is this, what is so wrong with providing people with talking points if there are some real questions and some real concerns, i mean, shouldn't those be asked? >> absolutely. there's nothing wrong with that. the question really is, is it orchestrated, is it organic, is it real? and both sides do this. before democrats left from washington, before they went back to their districts, they were given talking points. before republicans left, they were given talking points. the rub is when outside groups distribute talking points to constituents and instruct them how to act at these meetings, that's where, really, the big rub is on this. so, again, it's -- it's a very delicate situation, betty, because, you know, democrats and republicans both have a lot to

lose because of this. you know, and let me just tell you, very quickly, for democrats to call people mobs and inciting mobs -- >> that's strong language. >> strong. and it's very dangerous, because these people are voters. but, again, as we saw from some of the images you've just shown, to have images of nazis and to have very strong language and violence, doesn't help the republican party. >> no doubt. but let's look back at this, whether it's the clinton administration or other administrations, why has this country had such a difficult time passing health care reform? >> it really is. it's a question that befuddles the mind, really, but it comes down to this, it comes down to money. it's extremely expensive in order to insure everybody. but you have to stop and say morally should we be doing so, such as a nation as the united states, and that's the really big fight right now, you know, do we have the money to do so? and given the amount of money spent so far by the obama administration to help the banking industry, the housing industry, the auto industry, a lot of people have questions if this is the right time. >> here's a question for you,

and i don't know if you can answer it, but i'm still going to answer it. how close do you think the final bill will be to the kind of health care reform that president obama is envisioning? >> there will certainly be parts of it if we do see a health care bill. but at the very beginning when they talked about up versal health care reform and it will get through and there won't be problems and it will be what the white house wanted, we're at a different stage right now. there are too many questions being asked and it will have to include republican compromise. >> let's talk about it for a second. florida senator mel martinez, we're expecting to hear him say he will resign. what's going on right there? >> it's a story that we broke first here on cnn, myself, and we found out that mel martinez has decided to resign. he was going to retire anyway, so when you look at the numbers going into 2010 elections, that's not going to change much, but what the dynamic in florida is who exactly of charlie crist, the florida governor, going to appoint. the interesting number about that charlie crist himself is

running for that seat in 2010, so we'll have to see if he, in fact, wants to appoint himself, which is probably unlikely or if he'll put a placeholder in that seat. >> mark preston, we appreciate your insight, as always. thank you. >> thanks, betty. august is shaping up as a make-or-break month for health care reform. so, if you had a chance to talk face to face with your congressman or senator, tell us what you'd say. tell us, go to our blog at cnn.com/newsroom. we'll shoir your comments later. a big vice, the unemployment picture improved in july. yeah, the jobless rate inched down to 9.4%. it is the first decline in 15 months. analysts predicted unemployment would actually move higher, despite the improving jobless thms, though, the economy, well, it still lost 247,000 jobs in july. but that is just a third of the job losses of last january. so, let's see if those jobless numbers have put a smile on the president's face. he is scheduled to make remarks

about the economy in the next hour. and cnn white house correspondent, dan lothian, joins us now. dan, what's the reaction there to these jobless numbers? >> reporter: that's right. probably a smile on the president's face. they're not celebrating here, but they're certainly encouraged by those numbers. but press secretary robert gibbs pointed out that this is just more evidence that the economy has pulled back from the brink or the edge of a depression. having said that, what he did point out is, he still believes that the unemployment numbers will at some point hit double digits, to kind of put it all in context, he used the analogy of a patient who was facing a life-threatening condition, he said that patient has been stabilized, but will have good days and bad days. the bottom line, though, for the administrati administration, as we heard from the labor secretary earlier on cnn, is that they feel that it's moving in the right direction. they are pleased but not satisfied. >> this is a very high number of people that are still unemployed, but you also have to recall that when we inherited this recession, we came in with well over 700,000 people who had

lost their jobs. now it's been almost cut in half, but that's still not good enough. the president and i are not satisfied with seeing one job lost. >> reporter: and you hear that time and time again from the president himself and his spokesman here at the white house when asked if, you know, there are any -- or are they encouraged at all by the numbers they're seeing where the economy might be getting better, and they always say the president is not satisfied and will not be satisfied as long as there is someone out there looking for a job and who needs a job and doesn't have one yet. betty >> all right, speaking of something that might also keep a smile on the president's face, that being the cash for clunkers, got a little extra cash. >> reporter: it really did. this was a program that was more popular than anyone expected. a chance for people to trade in those gas guzzlers for energy-efficient vehicles. and get some cash in return for it to help them buy that new vehicle. it was funded with $1 billion, and there was concern that that billion was running out because it was so popular. well, congress acted and this

morning the president signed an extension, an additional $2 billion. the white house here believing this is not only a good program for the environment, but also good for the economy. because it's more business that the small auto companies, the auto suppliers are also getting some jobs out of this. so, they believe jobs are being created by this, while at the same time the environment is being helped out. >> all right, cnn's dan lothian joining us live from the how. dan, thank you. >> reporter: okay, my pleasure. well, once again president obama is set to make his remarks on the economy at 1:30 eastern, and cnn will bring that to you live when it happens. fanning the flames over made in america. find out why a fight over where material is made could impact the safety of u.s. troops. you're not like everybody else --

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by unitedhealth educational publishing group. it will help you better understand all your choices. so don't wait. call today for your free guide. we have some really compelling video just in to cnn. take a look out of this out of long beach, california, this is a window washer, in fact, who is hanging from a safety rope because part of the scaffolding, you see right there, one side of it, has given way. now, we understand there were, in fact, two window washers. and you can see some of the emergency crews, that being the long beach fire department. they have actually rescued one of the other window washers. and we see a firefighter trying to go down right now to save the

person who is hanging right now, really, by nothing more than a rope. a safety rope. but the scaffolding, as we can -- we have no control over these pictures. but below the firefighter who is trying to scale part of this building right here, he is headed down right now. you can't see from this vantage point how tall the building is. but no doubt it is a frightening sight. it's something that they have to move with extreme caution. and this window washer, in fact, was toward the very top of that building. this gives you an indication of, in fact, some of the dangers that could take place. as you look outside that crystal clear window and see the view, well, someone had to get up there and clean it and that guy is one of them. and he's just in a precarious position right there, as part of the scalding, the scalding rig, i guess you would call it, has given way. but, wow, look at the work of the long beach fire department there, as one firefighter has pretty much scaled down to the

building and he is hooking up to the window washer. i'm being told right now by my producer that we have joshua johnson on the phone right now with the long beach fire department. joshua, we're looking at some incredible pictures right now of a rescue that's taking place. give us an indication of exactly what happened. >> i'm sorry, are you talking to me? >> yes. can you tell us about that? >> basically what they are doing is one of our firefighters has tied off at the top of the building and we're trying to get the second individual who was trapped on the scaffolding right there. so, basically what he's doing right now at this point is tieing the individual off to the harness. the harness the firefighter is wearing is a very well-designed harness to where you can attach the person being rescued to the harness of the fireman. so, what they'll do is tie him off, make sure he's tied up completely. and what they'll do, at the top of the roof, they'll pull them both up to the top of the roof and check the individual out and make sure he's okay. >> we are watching that right now. they are trying to hoist him up.

he's attached to the mechanism you're talking about. it's very strong and going to be able to get him to the top of the roof of the building. we can't see from this vantage point, joshua, do you know how tall this building is? >> it's 14 stories. >> so, they were quite a ways up toward the top of the building. >> you can see right now they are pulling him up. >> they are pulling him up. that has to be a frightening sight when part of the scaffolding gives way and you are just hanging there. do you know how long they had been hanging there before you guys were able to get on the scene? >> we got the call at 8:30 this morning, so, you know, it's been about 45 minutes. they were able to pull up the first individual roughly about half hour ago. and this -- it's a good sign to show that he is alert. appears he doesn't appear to be injured in any way. but, you know, once we get to the top, we'll check him out and calm him down and we'll take him to the local area hospital and get him checked out and then, you know, they'll have to figure out a way the company will get the scaffolding taken care of. >> it looks like at this point they are about to raise him up.

there he goes. as firefighters working very hard to get him to safety at the top of that building right there. any idea, joshua, again, we have joshua johnson on the phone with the long beach city fire department, what happened, what caused this scaffolding to give way? yeah, there he is on top of the building right now just for our viewers who are watching. he has made his way to safety, thank goodness. >> and that's a great sign. in answer to your question, no, i do not know how the scaffolding got loose. >> is this something that happens, i mean, fairly often? i've never seen a rescue like this. >> i was asked that question with another interview this morning, she asked the same question. i have seen a couple of times on tv myself. this is my first experience with live television. it happens from time to time. no reason why the scaffolding fell, it can be many different reasons. but the main thing we got both individuals to safety and now we'll check them out. and, you know, we have our urban search-and-rescue team which

we're able to tie off all the appropriate ropes. highly trained individuals that train for this all the time in this particular instance. it's one of those instances where it doesn't happen all the time. so, all that training comes into play here and they're able to get the individuals up and we'll get the firefighter back up and we'll check the guys, both individuals out, and make sure they are okay. >> it appears they are checking them out right now. those are lucky guys and they were in quite a precarious situation for several hours, and it probably feels like a couple days when you're hanging with nothing but a safety rope with 12, 13 stories below you. joshua johnson live from the long beach fire department to give us indication of what happened there. but the good news is it appears that both window washers have made to it safety on top of that building. well, let's get you to the weather outside, because we are watching something called felicia. yep, hurricane felicia in the pacific has weakened to a category 2 storm. hawaiians, in fact, are preparing for that storm. they are stocking up on food and water.

it's likely to weaken, though, to a tropical storm sometime tomorrow, and let's get the latest from an expert on this. that would be chad myers. so, felicia has finally arrived? >> betty, yeah, but it's getting into colder water now. a hurricane grows because it's in warm water. that's the fuel to its fire. and people that have lived in hawaii a long time will remember a storm called iniki. iniki happened in 1992. iniki snuck down here about 10 degrees north in the very warm water and then turned and smashed into kauai. this storm is way over her. a vim pressive storm yesterday. it was a category 4 storm. but instead of staying down into the warm water it's heading to the cold water and will make an approach to hawaii the wrong way, the right way if you live there. the wrong way if you want it to get bigger and bigger and clearly we don't. and it will be losing steam for the rest of its life, which is quite short.

georgia seeing sunshine and clear skies, but we also see the potential for some thunderstorm activity as the area around georgia, very humid. the area over hawaii is very humid as well. but we have some shear over america. that shear will make severe thunderstorms over parts of the united states. it's a different type of situation when you're making one thunderstorm. when you add shear to a hurricane, you lose the energy of the hurricane. it goes from a category 2 to a category 1 to only a 30-mile-per-hour storm by the time we get in tuesday. so, although some people are getting ready for it, getting prepped for the storm, and it could be something for some people, i believe if it stays on its current track, betty, it will affect the large island, the big island. hilo, you could get 6 to 12 inches of rainfall and also still wind smacking that side of the island with a storm surge even without an eye making landfall. there still could be flooding. >> all right. we'll be watching for it. thank you, chad. >> sure. >> we do appreciate it.

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president obama is marking his 200th day in office today. and we asked you to grade the president's performance so far. well, the report card is in. and as cnn's tom foreman reports, health care reform and the economy hurt the president's grade. >> reporter: we told you how to vote yesterday, and here are the results. for the general handling of the economy, a "c" minus almost all across the country. it's not looking very good. we're going to circle an area and i want you to pay attention, because it really matters. but, first, let's show you what really happened that made such a big difference here. i want to go to a particular date. if we go up here to the 17th, listen to what the president was saying about health care reform. >> so, this is what health insurance reform will mean for the average american. it will mean lower costs, more choices, and coverage you can count on. >> reporter: he had been trying

to sell that message over and over and over again. but if you go back here to 167, this is part of the problem. here's joe biden talking about the overall economy. >> there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited. now, that doesn't -- i'm not laying -- it's not our responsibility. so, the second question becomes, did the economic package we put in place, including the recovery act, is it the right package given the circumstances we're in? >> reporter: so, those were the messages that were coming out of the white house, but this was the result. they got hammered on the economy. and look at this, on health care they really got hit, and they got hit by this part of the country. why? that's part of the older part of the country. more people here are older than elsewhere. these are people that gave them much better ratings earlier on, the question was how did you handle swine flu, it was good. health care and overall economy

really beat them up quite badly, and when you move down the line here to the overall ranking of president obama, you see what happens. he winds up with a "c" minus, even in his home state of hawaii down here, the best he can do is a "c" plus. not the kind of ratings he wants, especially when you look back 100 days and you see back then much, much, much, much higher ratings all the way around. >> all right, so here's how you can go in and see how everything fared in this national report card. you just go to cnn.com/reportcard and it will pull up this map, as tom foreman showed you. and on the map you can go to the individual states. so, when it comes to the economy. here are the topics at the top. the economy, in texas, a "c" minus, but if you go right here in georgia, he got a "c." if you want to know about the other issues, you can, for example, click on this link right here and it will tell you how the republican leadership did in congress and then, of course, you can go to the different states and it will give you the average. the overall average was a "d."

we even checked out the media and how we scored in this report card. and not so great. we got a "d" average, too. but if you go to, again, all the different states, you can see how they fared. and all of it is at your fingertips at cnn.com/reportcard. so, you can check it out for yourself. well, the surgeon says it's time to treat street violence like a disease. his solution? give victims the vip treatment.

well, cnn is your source for money news, and check out cnnmoney.com, in fact, for the latest financial news and analysis. and wall street, though, you know, we got the new employment numbers and they're not as bad as people expected, 9.3 4% for the job losses, and that is helping the dow today. it is up 130 points. the nasdaq, not doing too bad either, up 30 points. we'll keep an eye on wall street for you. in the meantime, though, experts say the improving job-loss picture is the

strongest signal yet that the recession is easing up. personal finance editor, gerri willis, is in new york, she joins us now to break it all down for us. hey, gerri. >> hey, betty. good to see you. these are amazing numbers. wall street had been expecting 9.6%, they got 9.4%. it was much improved over june, 9.5%, and a 26-year high. we even had a revision of payroll data, june data, of course, almost 500,000 jobs lost in the original report. they scaled it back to 443,000 jobs lost. and look how good it gets for july. 247,000 jobs lost. obviously you want to see this number go away. you don't want to see job losses at all, but it looks like the trend is in the right direction, which you can easily see from that graphic right there. i want to drill down just a little bit to these numbers, betty, and talk to you about the sectors that are using jobs and where we find jobs growing. now, as you can see from this

graphic right here, construction jobs falling, pretty dramatically, the worst category in the group, down 76,000. manufacturing, you've been seeing the stories out of detroit, jobs on the showroom floor, down 52,000. retail, people aren't going to the mall, down 44,000. financial activities, we know wall street is in the doldrums. we lost another 13,000 jobs there last month. now, you are seeing jobs expand in health care. 20,000 jobs added just last month. depths of the recession, health care initiatives out there, people are actually hiring doctors, nurses, orderlies, you name it, which is great news. and there was other good news as well in terms of the workweek. people were working a little bit longer. that's something we like to keep an eye on, because as you know, a lot of employers out there, betty, have cut jobs. they've also scaled back hours, and they've asked people to take furloughs. so, as the economy improves, we'll see those people starting to work more hours, full time.

and then at some point, we'll really get to adding employees in the mix, and that's what we're really looking for. that will be a real sign that the economy is -- is -- is firing on all cylinders. but as you know, this particular economic indicator, the jobless rate, is a lagging indicator. it's the last thing to turn up in a recovery. and, of course, as you know, we're expecting that recovery to come -- full recovery to come next year. betty? >> all right, gerri willis, as always, we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. so, how do you think the president is handling the economy? we've been asking you, the viewer, and the number of responses, they are off the charts. cnn's deputy political director, paul steinhauser, joins me now from washington. paul, what grade are americans giving the president when it comes to the economy? >> good stuff here, betty. you know, we did the online poll. we also did a scientific poll by cnn, the opinion research corporation. take a look at these results. very interesting stuff. overall grade for the president for everything, a "c" plus. but specifically on the economy,

you can see it's a little bit lower there, a "c." and that "c" that the president got on the economy in our poll is the same he got at the 100-days mark. so, you can see americans think he's doing maybe a little less well on the economy than he is overall, betty. >> so, who do americans blame when it comes to the recession? >> i guess this is a bit of good news you would think for the white house. take a look at these numbers from the same cnn/opinion research national corporation poll. 44% of the people we questioned blamed republicans and most likely the previous administration. only 23% blaming democrats. you can see right there, about 1 in 4 americans say, you know what, both parties are to blame. >> paul steinhauser, as always, we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> see you tomorrow. in the meantime, jobs, cash for clunkers, health care, lots of issues affecting "your bottom line." do you have questions about them? i'm sure you do. we are getting answers, in fact, for you from the vice president's chief economic adviser, that being jared burn stein. just over an hour ago bernstein

told our own ed henry the white house still expects the unemployment rate to reach 10%. we shouldn't start celebrating today's number to them. send us your questions, or tweet us at career racnn. that kyracnn. that's in the 1:00 p.m. eastern hour. hillary clinton's 11-day trip to africa, it's what we're talking about today in our "what matters" segment in partnership with "essence" magazine. she arrived in south africa last night on the second leg of her seven-nation african tour. and she met today with south africa's foreign minister. clinton urged south africa to keep the pressure on robert mum gaby to stick with a power-sharing agreement reached last year. clinton later called on south africa to help lead the continent out of its financial mess. she also met with former president nelson mandela. a new federally funded ad

campaign is encouraging more black families to adopt from foster care. the donaldson adoption institute said 500,000 of the adopted children are black and these are less likely than whites to be adopted. the new ads out this fall are aimed at changing all of that. the tag line, quote, you don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. i want to turn to a startling statistic. census figures show that gun violence kills more than 8,000 african-americans a year. that's about 23 every single day. it is a vicious cycle, but as cnn's don lemon found, it's one that can be broken when the right people get involved. >> this is where i used to get busier, you know? >> reporter: adrian barnes admits he was a bad boy on baltimore's street. he admits he even shot a man. he got a victim of the violence he'd inflicted with a two bullets in his leg.

>> when i was laying there, i was just thinking about all the stuff i did to people. and i had to learn from my lesson. >> reporter: recovering in maryland's shock trauma center, he had a conversation that changed his life. >> basically, back then he worked for the program, asked me there, if i want to change my life. and i thought about it. i thought, yeah, because i'm tired, you know, living where i'm living. >> reporter: the program barnes is referring to is the violence intervention program, or v.i.p. surgeon carnell cooper started it after he saw the same shooting and stabbing victims again and again. >> we all get frustrated with seeing patients that we worked so hard to save then come back. i grew up in a neighborhood in south carolina. the guys were the same, just like me. i did not feel that these were individuals who were so steeped in that way of life that we could not turn them around. >> reporter: cooper treated street violence as a disease. >> we need to have the same

approach to violence that we had with heart disease and smoking. and embrace this problem of violence in our kids, because they're dying. >> reporter: cooper's cure? a combination of drug rehab, education, and jobs. >> the patients who got our intervention were much less likely to be convicted. >> reporter: patients like adrian barnes, who turned his life around. >> all's you need is somebody to help you, show you that they care about you. the program's been real good to me. it never turned its back on me. well, one reason health care is so expensive in this country is fraud. we'll show you what happened when one patient discovered her own doctor was cheating the system. may i help you? hello, down here! you hiring? good! yes, but...

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there you go. as students head back to school, the obama administration is releasing new guidelines to stem the spread of the so-called swine flu which is the h1n1 virus. and the guidelines remind students and teachers to stay home when they're sick. they also loosen the rules a little bit. advising parents to keep infected children out of school for only 24 hours after a fever has been eliminated instead of seven days. >> i have two young children, a second grader and kindergartner going back to school, and i think i want what every parent wants, we want our children safe, first and foremost, and keep them learning. so, we're asking schools to take a tiered response. if there are a handful of students that are sick, we want parents to keep those children home. >> government officials have warned of a possible resurgence in the h1n1 virus this fall. one of the forgotten issues in this health care debate over reform, that being fraud. senior correspondent allan chernoff reports on just how

widespread this problem really is. >> reporter: the problem is fraud, tens of billions of dollars is lost to health care fraud every year. it's a major reason our health insurance premiums keep rising and medicare and medicaid are draining the treasury. yet for all the talk in washington of controlling health care costs, the issue of fraud is getting little attention. therese sha knew her podiatrist was cheating bluecross blueshield of michigan when she read her insurance statement. dr. jeffrey cook had billed thousands of dollars to surgically remove dozens of warts when therese sha only had a discolored toenail. >> like robbery. i mean, they were overcharging for a procedure that wasn't done. >> reporter: therese sha called bluecross, which investigated. ultimately, leading to the arrest and imprisonment of podiatrist jeffrey cook. health care fraud perpetrated by doctors, pharmacists, even organized crime gangs is rampant.

a senate investigation found medicaid in recent years paid nearly 500,000 claims to people posing as doctors who were dead. such fraud costs every american. it drives up prices for medical insurance, treatment, and drugs. >> i think it's just a domino effect. it ends at the consumer. somebodies got to reimburse for that. somebody's got to fund that. and ultimately it gets passed down. >> reporter: that's why major health insurance companies have special investigations unit to weed out fraudulent claims. >> we want to get that money back. >> reporter: investigators estimate that fraud accounts for a minimum of 3% of all health care spending. $72 billion a year. other experts say the figure is more than three times that, topping $200 billion. >> if we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. >> reporter: president obama warns health care reform is needed to get medical costs under control. but one of the biggest culprits,

fraud, gets little mention in the congressional reform effort. >> they are certainly aware of this problem. they don't seem to know the magnitude or the seriousness. they don't seem to be acting with the kind of urgency that i would like. >> reporter: the health reform bill, approved in the house, 1,018 pages long, devotes only 40 pages to the issue of fraud. it and bills in the senate would add $100 million a year to combat fraud, waste, and abuse. that's the amount of health care fraud occurring in this country every 12 hours! using the most conservative estimates. that level of corruption is one of the big reasons our medical bills rise steadily every year. yet the big push in washington has been to provide health coverage for more americans. experts warn if fraud isn't addressed more aggressively, american taxpayers will be paying billions more than needed to provide health insurance for those who don't have it. allan chernoff, cnn, new york. all right, so, here are some

of the responses that you have sent in to our health care blog question. what would you say if you could tell your congressman face to face about health care reform? and this person right here says, i'd ask my congressman why can't i be on your health care plan? after all, i'm paying for it. that coming from stephen paul. also we got this, i think it is so hypocritical of republicans to now say it is our right to show dissent for the administration, were but when democrats exercise the same right under the bush doctrine, we were called terrorists, un-american, and were basically told if you don't like it, leave. that from margaret. and quoting here, people are rising up because they disagree with what our politicians are trying to do, which is push bills down our throats without even knowing how much these bills will cost the american citizen. that from rob in new york. and you can send your comments to the cnn.com/newsroom and, of course, we do appreciate them, and we'll continue to read them on the air. in the meantime, though, will a fight for jobs trump safety for u.s. troops?

well, three members of the british military have been killed in afghanistan. they were members of britain's parachute regiment. an explosion hit their vehicle in helmand province, and a fourth member of the patrol is reported in critical condition. a made-in-america fight over soldiers' uniforms, it's a life-or-death issue regarding flame-resistant material. chris lawrence reports on the battle on capitol hill. >> reporter: an ied explodes. and the only thing protecting american troops from the blazing heat is a special fiber in their uniforms. >> they have a three to five-second delay before it's penetrated, which gives you time to put the fire out. reduce the burn to the soldiers. >> reporter: but this fire-proof

rayon is not made in america and may have to be removed from american uniforms in a few years. there's a fight over who gets to make these uniforms. a job worth hundreds of millions of dollars to corporate boardrooms. >> some companies like dupont, for example, have already lost hundreds of jobs. >> reporter: we traveled to north carolina state university, where the army commissions tests on fabrics from two dozen companies. >> whether or not if it ignites, if it ignites, how long it continues to burn, the after-flame. >> reporter: the heat and flame simulate fires on the battlefield. >> in ordinary clothing a person would be burned in a fraction of a second. >> reporter: and sensors record how much of that heat hits the skin. you can feel it through the glass outside the chamber. the army said the best one was from tenkata. they have exceeded our expectations. this has proven to be a valuable

fabric and well-received by our soldier. the company makes them in georgia, but imports the fiber from austria. for all kinds of environmental reasons, that special rayon is not made in america. >> it breathes. it is fire resistant, and it is not matched by any american product. >> reporter: so congress passed a special waiver, allowing the pentagon to import outside materials for the uniforms. that waiver expires in a few years. and congress is debating an amendment to extend it indefinitely. it was just defeated in the senate, with one opponent calling the amendment -- >> an exception that favors foreign suppliers of rayon over our own american companies. >> reporter: some lawmakers believe american companies will develop a similar fabric by the time the waiver runs out in 2013. >> the efforts are being made in virginia and south carolina to produce this product here domestical domestically. >> this will allow american industry to come in with a whole spectrum of ideas and alternate materials.

>> reporter: an american uniform with all-american materials. >> and i understand that from a business standpoint, but from the safety of our troops, if you don't have a superior product, it shouldn't be what our troops are -- our troops should have the very best. >> defeated in the senate, now the amendment has to be worked out in the house, if the waiver goes away, other companies have three years to come up with the uniform that's just as good. it's only a problem if they can't. because at that point, you would not be able to import any more of the rayon fiber. chris lawrence, cnn, the pentagon. well, we are learning more about the arrests and the release of those two american journalists in north korea. laura ling and euna lee returned to the states on wednesday, and you're looking at a part of that reunion there. well, lisa ling says her sister laura and euna lee were kept separate during their nearly five months in detention. >> well, my sister says that for the most part, they were treated fairly and humanely.

and we were very surprised that she and euna had not seen each other at all. they just found out, when they were reunited, that they were in the same facility but on opposite ends. and we were told by president clinton that as soon as they got on the plane, they wanted them to rest, because they could tell they were so tired, but the two of them were just chatting away and comparing their experiences and spent a lot of time talking to president clinton as well. >> the journalists had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. north korea released them after a personal plea from former president bill clinton. well, two doctors team up to take on health care reform, all on their own. and you might like their results. these days, when you have to spend, shopping online can help save. doing it with bank of america can help save a lot more. up to 20% cash back from over 300 online retailers with our add it up program.

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two doctors in rhode island are putting their own version of health care reform into practice. the bottom lynn? less bureaucracy, more doctoring. cnn's photojournalist bob pearly shows us today's "health care in focus report." >> my partner lisa and i opened a small practice, i guess it's

been a year and a half now. all set? when you walk in the door, you're going to see a big arrangement of flowers where you normally would see a secretary sitting. >> we don't have a secretary. we don't have a nurse. we don't have an office manager. >> you are probably not going to see other patients because we don't double book. we put the bell there because we got tired of people saying "are you there?" hi, jennifer. it's called ideal medical practice. how have you been? it allows you to spend more time with them. and the idea is to just lower your overhead. good. so that you can see fewer patients and spend more time with patients. really focus on quality care. hello, family medicine. >> this is a practice that's been completely redesigned. what can i help you with? we use computers a lot to usually do what a staff does. so, we can click a button and our prescriptions get sent off to the pharmacy, and we can push a button and our referrals get faxed over.

do you have your insurance card? and our computer automatically e-mails each patient before their visit to remind of their appointment. we want to be the kind of doctors we were trained to be. we both really value the relationship with our patients. >> we're doing a home visit for a newborn. we do a check, he's 2 weeks old. we go to people's homes. yeah, this is it. hi. >> hi. >> how are you doing? >> not many people do house calls. >> okay, big guy. it's great for the patients. lovely for a mom with the toddlers. big boy! >> it's hard to get out the door with a newborn. so, it's nice to have them come to you. >> see you guys. >> bye. >> bye-bye. >> this is what the medical assistant usually does. i mean, in the traditional primary care doctor's office, you need to see patients quickly, every ten minutes in a traditional setting. you should be good to go. and i think that's where you