good morning, everyone. it is wednesday august 12th. top stories in the newsroom right now. a senator and key republican player on health care reform faces an iowa audience. protecting democracy abroad. u.s. marines invade a taliban town ahead of afghanistan's presidential elections. the new gm charges into the future with a shocking claim. chevy says its new volt hybrid will get 230 miles per gallon. good morning, everyone. i'm tony harris and you're in the "cnn newsroom."

during this make or break month for health care reform. republican senator charles grassley holding a town hall meeting right now. grassley is one of the key negotiators working on a bipartisan reform plan, senior political correspondent candy crowley is covering senator grassley's town hall in winterset, iowa. candy, if you would, describe the mood of this event. >> well, listen, i would say that it is very polite but very pointed. you have heard some tough questions here considering, first of all, let me just tell you where we are, winterset is a conservative area. you're hearing a lot of concern from people here saying, listen, do we have to overhaul everything? this looks like a fickle government takeover. i'm concerned that i won't be able to go to the doctor i want to go to if i have to go into a federal health insurance plan. so, you hear a lot of that.

but you also hear them say when there are some doctors here, nurses here, some small business owners and you have a pretty wide swath certainly in terms of career and jobs and perspective. so, you are hearing but don't we need to reform the whole thing. i have to tell you that senator grassley has been doing these over the three decades that he's been a senator. he's now over the 2,800 mark in terms of town hall meetings, but he says that he senses that now is a different time. he called it, in fact, saying i sense that we are here at a time when people are scared for our country and he tied that to a number of things. he said that the stimulus plan was the bailout of the auto industry, both of which he was against. things like that. they do say here that he's done 71 town hall meetings this year over various breaks and he's getting two to three times the crowds he usually does. he said this started well before

the august recess. >> candy, let's have the audience watching us listen to a bit of the exchange. at least one exchange and this senator grassley taking a question from a woman who is a mom talking about shopping for health care insurance. >> senator grassley y have a family of four. i have been trying to buy my own health insurance for me and my children and my husband. primarily my children. i did estimates and the cheapest insurance that doesn't have a $10,000 a year deductible per person is 830 some odd dollars. this is a problem. i can't take my children to the doctor with no insurance. i would be more than glad to buy my own insurance, if it was more cost effective. i need to know what are you doing to these insurance companies that are putting everything in their pockt and just laughing at everybody else.

>> we probably don't fall into the category of people who have been denied based on pre-existing conditions, but that's the biggest discrimination we have and we've done away with that. then for people who have high costs and you have very high premiums and sometimes very low premiums, we're going to narrow the band of premiums and then for people that are below, what inm i telling you now has not been decided yet in our committee, but there is discussion going on right now of tax credits and if you're below 300% of poverty, it would probably be in the neighborhood of what we call a refundable tax credit for you to buy health to buy your insurance. >> now, candy, i think that's interesting because that is a kind of discussion that we would really love to hear more of.

there is a mom who is trying to shop for health care insurance for her family. she's got a real question and you can see the senator grappling with that real issue. it is separated apart from a lot, frankly some of the noise that we've been hearing and that's at the heart of the debate. these senators and representatives are having to grapple with. >> they are. i have to tell you that all the questions here have been that tenure. here's my problem with small business owners saying, just too expensive. i can't pay for my employees. we had a doctor saying, you know, as a primary care physician i just don't get enough reimbursement for medicare and things like that. they were very serious questions but very pointed questions and what's interesting about this woman's question to me, tony, is it shows you what the american people really are grappling with right here in this little

microcosm in winterset which is, we want reform. we want people to get insurance, but we don't want the government taking things over, so we don't want too much reform. so, it's fighting that sweet spot that these senators are grappling with, in particular, senator grassley who are in that core group of the senate finance committee who is trying to come up with something that would pass the senate. i have to tell you, he didn't sound that optimistic about the senate finance committee negotiations. he sort of pondered aloud that he might be pushed away from the tanl because of things he simply wouldn't support and he also mentioned that he was a little disturbed at something the president said yesterday because it sounded like the president was willing to push forward in what grassley called a partisan way. not all that much optimism about the senate finance committee negotiations, however, he's still at the table and still working on it. >> candy, look, let me spend more time with you because this is really, really important. i am a little confused by that bit of information and that revelation from the senator because i have heard him and i

know you have, as well, say on other occasions that he feels that that committee is anywhere from 90 to 95% there on crafting a bill. so, i'm trying to figure out what is going on here and what are the issues for him that may force him away from the table? >> that last 5% is always -- so that is kind of where they've been, absolutely. and the fact of the matter is, it's about that public system. it's about should there be a government alternative to try to drive down prices in the insurance industry, what that woman was talking about. also have to set the political theme for you to explain why senator grassley might bring that up here. very republican area, madison county, bridges of madison county and winterset and this is the republican area and senator grassley because he's in on these negotiations with democrats pushed from the right saying, wait a second, don't

compromise too much on things that are really important to us. he needs to come here and reassure people that he is still the senator they voted for and still a conservative and he thought it was his duty to be in on these negotiations and he said, listen, all the people say we're doing this too quickly and i want in to these negotiations six weeks ago. otherwise we would be marking this bill up in june. an issue you can read here simply because of where he is and trying to explain to the conservative base, listen, i am on your side and i'm with you on these issues when we have got to get something through. >> candy, terrific, as always. in winterset, iowa. candy, thank you. you know a lot of fear about health reform is over the government's role. you just heard that in candy's reporting but some reform advocates want more government involvement and among them, president obama's former doctor on cnn's "larry king live." he faced off senator ron paul

over the health plan. here's a bit of that exchange. >> the cost of private health insurance administration is $400 billion year. if we had a single pair, that would be eliminated $50 million or $48 million could be covered just by that saving alone. continuing private health insurance is crazy. the private health insurance companies have not shown that they can be trusted. why do we keep coming back and asking them to be that we can trust them and the pharmaceutical companies, why aren't we buying in bulk and negotiating the prices of the trug drugs? the rest of the world looks upon us with disdain. with 37th in the world in health statistics and even slovenia is ahead of us and we pay twice as much as our nearest competitor. this is insane. >> we have a one-pair system with medicare and we have, it's broke and so that's part of the problem that we have today. everybody agrees that we have

reform. but where i find we're missing the boat is the definition of what we're doing. for some reason, i think it's the fact that 35 years ago we introduced the notion of manage care based on the fact that people have the right to medical care. i don't accept that because if you do that means the majority can vote to demand anything they want from the minority and in a free society, protect the minority and not the majority. >> president obama says replacing the current employer-based system with a single payer-based system would be too radical of an overhaul. while on the road in new hampshire yesterday, the president said the aarp was backing a health care reform bill. is that really the case? josh levs is looking beyond what the president and others are saying to get to the facts on this. good to see you, john. >> good to see you, too, tony. in a couple words, not exactly. this is what the president said yesterday. >> we have the aarp on board

because they know this is a good deal f deal. aarp would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining medicare. >> aarp has responded and they sent out a statement and let's look at it. we have it right here. they start off by saying the president was correct that aarp will not endorse a health care reform bill that will reduce medicare benefits, indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in congress are inaccurate. i want to go on and show you another thing in the statement, if they shared president obama's commitment, our members appreciate his assistance that a obama package will not reduce medicare benefits. a concept they are agreeing with but they do not endorse. >> good, good, good. you're following claims coming from republicans. what do you have for us?

>> one of the most, one of the biggest attacks people have heard about lately is coming from former alaska governor sarah palin. take a look here. politifacts.com. so the bureaucrats can decide based on subjective judgment of their level of productivity in society whether they are worthy of health care. pants on fire. that's their ruling there. let me give it some basic facts about this. let's go straight to this graphic. where this comes from and what it is about. definitely not what president obama or any president proposed. they go on to say in this next one, there is no panel in any panel of the health care bill and judges a person level of productivity in society to determine whether they are worthy of health care. they say conservatives might make a case that palin is justified in fearing the current reform could one day, that's not what palin said.

tony, that's important when we think about this because so many of, you and i talked about this. are people fearing that something will eventually happen. >> predictive, predictive, predictive. got to say it again and again. >> you know i love fact checking, but quee not fact check a prediction. i can't tell you what will or won't happen 10 or 20 years from now. what legitimate analysis says and what's actually in the bill. >> can't fact check a claim that is a prediction -- >> you can't know for sure. no way to be 100% sure, even if it sounds far fetched to some people, we can't tell you factually something will happen. what it really says in the bill and that's what we want everyone to understand. the concrete stuff that we have and all the bills that haven't been merged yet and yet alone anything getting close to the president. we want to see what's in there. >> you're back with us next hour. what are you working on? >> next time we'll show you key

websites. where to go to check it out, including, tony, the grand return of the cnn spot. let me take a moment with you here, you know, all of the screaming, shouting and shoving we're seeing at some of the health care reform town halls certainly makes for great tv. but too often the real questions and concerns get lost in that noise. that's why we're doing all that we can here in the "cnn newsroom" to cut the rules and rhetoric and rumors and to address your real concerns and fears about the future of your health care and where this debate is leaving our country. is all the fighting and frustration that we're seeing in these town halls a symptom of something bigger brewing in america? do you fear a big government takeover? does the prospect of doing nothing scare you even more? most people agree something has to be done, but what? okay, this is where you can help us. we want to know what you think.

send your comments, questions, your concerns to my blog page. you know the address by now. cnn.com/tony. look at our expectation is that most of your questions will take a little time to research, so we won't be able to get back to you right away, we're going to put together a really smart informed people in our shop from elizabeth cohen to dr. sanjay gupta to the cnn money team, dana bash, brianna keilar on capitol hill and suzanne malveaux and ed henry at the white house to answer your questions. we will, of course, go outside the shop for answers, if we need to. and once we're able to answer your specific concerns, we will air them for you right here in the "cnn newsroom. err error. ali velshi taking it to the streets to hear what's on the minds of americans when it comes to the economy and health care. we are talking to him live across multiple cnn platforms and that is straight ahead for you. ♪ well i was shopping for a new car, ♪

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you know the federal reserve wrapping optwo-day policy meeting this afternoon, not expected to move interest rates one way or the other. it seems that most folks really just want to hear what the fed has to say about the overall economy, but, man. ahead of whatever the fed announces. look at this rally. wall street resuming its summer rally this morning. the dow up 124, 125 points.

the nasdaq is up 33 points and investors appear to be, you know, just standing by, waiting to see what the fed does say and, again, no interest rate hike is expected. that is a nice-looking rally. but the fed's statement may give investors clues about the timing of any eventual rate increase. let's move on. you know, beyond some of the rallier town hall meetings real questions and concerns about health care reform. ali velshi is listening. >> my husband and i are 2 of the 47 million plus that don't have health care. and i'm not talking insurance, i'm talking health care. my husband has diabetes and just had a bout with cancer. what insurance company is going to cover us? if i get sick today, where am going? i am going to the emergency room. who is that costing?

that is costing us, the taxpayers. if they have to tax me more in order to get health care, tax me. tax me, tax me. i am willing to pay. >> let's talk about the 46, 47, 50 whatever million of people you want to use, what are your thoughts on that? >> i would love to drive a hummer, they're cool cars. i can't afford one, i don't drive one. i drive what i can afford. >> oh, my god, i can't believe you're saying people don't deserve health care if they can't afford it. >> when did i say that? >> you said you'd like to buy a hummer but you can't because you can't afford it. if you can't afford the hummer, you can't drive it. if you can't afford health care, you shouldn't get it? >> no, no, no. i'm saying you have the basic stuff. catastrophic illness, a car crash, something like that happens, of course, you get coverage for that. >> wow. this is it. this is it right here. ali is with the cnn express on the road from paducah, kentucky.

oh, taking it to the streets to the mt. vernon, illinois and he's also doing his radio show from the road today. he joins us live from benton, illinois. ali, i love that chupg. we are showing as many chunks of your town hall on the road over this program over the next few hours. what are you hearing from your listeners today and then we'll talk more about what you're hearing from folks on the road. >> well, we just got started a few minutes ago on the radio show and people can call us, part of us going into the middle of america and what you heard from paducah was quality. they were disagreeing, they were not on the same side of the issue, but there was more light than heat in that issue. they were not talking about things way off from health care. they were having a discussion on what they understand the health care system to be and what they understand the proposals to change it to be and why they feel so threatened by some of the changes and others were

saying why it is so important. we talked to people, as you heard, with pre-existing conditions saying they can't get insurance. we talked to others who couldn't afford health insurance if they could get it. so much more a calmer and more civil conversation that we're having and that's not just paducah, that's the tone of conversations we're having with americans. they pull the bus up to it's on everybody's mind and they feel a lot of misinformation out there. it is a very heated discussion, tony. >> love that you're doing this. i think i sent you a note to that effect this morning. what are you hearing from people about whether the recession is ending? >> well, this is an interesting one because we were on this bus back before the financial crisis really at the very beginning of the recession and, in fact, it's where we first heard that the economy was issue number one to so many voters. the reality is the people are struggling. some people, a few people think things are better. we spoke to a restaurant owner

that things were good and spoke to a owner in chattanooga that people are buying places. most people are still struggling through it. they're probably not all that interested in some economists from the northeast deciding that the recession is over. the recession is probably ending under us as we speak. that's true, but how many times did you and i discuss the fact that the while the stock market might be up, a while for that housing markt to come back and jobs, well, several months of us losing more jobs. >> i'll tell you what, i will give everyone the phone number so they can call you right now. 877-266-4189. there it is. you're on the road right now and we'll run extended chunks of your town hall. that stuff is terrific. ali, have a grit time. when you get to more folks and give us more tape and we'll get it on the air as soon as we can. >> absolutely will, tony.

thank you so much. still to come in "newsroom." u.s. forces in afghanistan engaging the enemy. inside the firefight as a new mission for many of our troops.

just in to the cnn newsroom. bring you the very latest. let's start with the map here. acworth, georgia, is about 40 minutes north of downtown atlanta. we have a helicopter that is down in a residential neighborhood in this town of acworth. suburban atlanta. i'm not sure when this exactly happened. but you can see the helicopter

right there on its side. obviously, pretty heavily damaged right now. in the bushes, not very far from the back of this home. the single family home in that development in that neighborhood. we understand that two people have been hurt in this crash. have been taken to an area hospital and no word on the cause and at least at no word of anyone on the ground being injured. we'll keep an eye on this story for you. actions from the front lines of the war in afghanistan. u.s. marines mounting a helicopter assault to see the taliban held town of dahaneh. their operation beginning before dawn this morning and marines fighting their way into town while others battled militants in the surrounding mountains.

the fighting lasted several hours and taliban militants striking back with strong arms fire as well as mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. military sofls say they try to protect boating sites ahead of next week's elections. live to kabul and atia abawi. good to see you. what are the troops doing to try to fortify these voting locations? >> well, what they're doing, tony, they're trying to secure hold areas and they're going after the taliban and mostly they're trying to secure the area for the afghan people when they meet resistance, they fight. but their main tactic right now is to secure afghans to help them go out and vote, to make sure that they feel comfortable enough to vote. but afghanistan is only eight days away from a second ever presidential election and, yes, the picture that you saw from

the district of helmand province and eight days will not be enough for afghan villagers to feel confident enough and we might see the fighting continue in that area because the taliban are ready, they had time to prepare and the coalition forces and the u.s. marines they caught them off guard last month when thousands of u.s. marines flooded into southern afghanistan, but the taliban knew that the fighting was going to go on and it was going to come to them, so they had time to prepare and now they're retaliating against these forces. tony? >> i will ask you a tricky one here because of the safety concerns you've just cited, has any thought been given to possibly postponing the elections because you wonder if all the action that is going on right now is really going to be enough to make the afghan people feel safe in coming out and voting? >> well, we're hearing right now, tony, it won't be postponed

again. it was already postponed. it was supposed to be held in may. the elections must be held in may. they postponed it until august for security reasons, but when we spoke to a top u.n. official he said that it won't be postponed again, even though they know that certain areas are still under strong taliban control and even though they know a lot of fraud in this election and they know that some of these candidates will go out there and take advantage of the polling system and they'll take advantage of the ballot system and they will be fraudulent when it comes to these elections, but there's nothing that they can do about it. this u.n. official also told us that this is the circumstances that afghanistan is in, but the elections must be go on. >> okay. great to see you, thank you. u.s. soldier accused of being a hitman for a mexican drug cartel, our ed lavandera has the disturbing details. >> this is a chilling example of the reach and the influence of

mexican drug cartels. three men, one of them a young u.s. soldier accused of carrying out a deadly hit on u.s. soil. 18-year-old michael still wearing his military uniform in handcuffs and charged with capital murder. el paso police say he fired the shot that killed this man three months ago outside his home in an upscale el paso neighborhood. a member of the drug cartel. >> we feel this was retribution for the fact that the deceased person had pretty much gotten the person in trouble in jaurez and arrested by authorities over there. >> reporter: according to court documents, he was hired to carry out this hit and paid by reuben

rodriguez, a member of the cartel. court documents say he ordered the murder because they discovered the victim was talking to american authorities. >> i want to express that this was a payback situation and not something that like you see in mexico right now. a whole lot different. even though this could be considered to some degree still over and you don't look at it in the same way as it's occurring in mexico. >> reporter: according to officials in mexico, he joined the army about a year ago and worked as a crew member that launches patriot missiles, but his family says they don't believe the charges against him. >> he's in the top of his class, talked to all his sergeant, he's a good soldier. before he went in, he was, he was in with a bad crowd. >> reporter: for years we heard report of mexican authorities and officials being corrupted by the drug cartels, but now growing concern on the u.s. side that u.s. officials and authorities along the border

might be susceptible to the reach and influence of drug cartels, as well. ed lavlavandera, cnn, dallas. health care reform. what's in, what's out? the fact, the fiction. cnn i-reporters are weighing in. ♪

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justice is served at the white house. president and mrs. obama hosted a reception last hour for justice sonia sotomayor, the newest member of the united states supreme court. took the oath saturday. >> our constitution has survived domestic and international pommel. including the civil war, two world wars and the catastrophe of september 11th. it draws together people of all races, faiths and backgrounds from all across this country who carry its words and values in our heart. it is this nation's faith in a more perfect union that allows a puerto rican girl from the bronx to stand here now. >> pretty good. pretty good. justice sotomayor is the first

hispanic on the court and just the third woman. now a touchy subject. a new act in washington referring to the president's young daughters is causing a stir at the white house. here's cnn's elaine quijano. >> these ads are up only at one train station here in washington, but enough to for the white house to sit up and take notice. in washington's union station the ads never showed their pictures or mentioned first daughters sasha and malia by name but next to an image of a smiling 8-year-old, the question, president obama's daughters get healthy school lunches, why don't i? >> we wanted them to see that not once, not twice but over and over again so they're thinking about children, especially disadvantaged children all across the u.s. >> reporter: dr. barnard is with the group behind the ads. aimed at congressional staffers that pass through. barnard says the ads grab the

white house's attention, too. they called and said, basically, would we take the ads down and i'm quite sure that the president himself would be delighted with the ads but some handlers got nervous. >> reporter: the ads are still up. doug who wrote all the president's children doused president obama would be delighted. >> famous quote joe lockhart a. >> i think president's childrens are off limits. particularly the young ones. >> reporter: chelsea introduce her father at the 1996 democratic national convention. >> it would have been a magical political moment and the president and the first lady said no way. no way, if we use her for that, then she's fair game. >> daddy, what city are you in? >> reporter: fast forward to the 2008 democratic convention. still lockhart believes children growing up in the white house deserve to be kept out of debate, no matter what the cause.

>> these are young kids, they didn't sign up for this. they deserve their privacy. >> reporter: the white house isn't confirm wlg officials ask that the ad be taken down, but spokesman robert gibbs said the administration hopes others will be respectful and not use the first daughters as a publicity stunt. health care reform, the facts, the fiction, what's in, white house what's out, cnn i-reporters are weighing in. wellbeing. we're all striving for it. purina cat chow helps you nuture it in your cat... with a full family of excellent nutrition... and helpful resources. ♪ purina cat chow. share a better life.

cnn i-reporters are trying to cut through some of the noise in the raging debate over health care reform. tyson wheatley is watching it all from cnn.com i-report desk and, you know what, yes, there is some noise, but, it is, it is such a good and important debate for this country to be having right now, tyson. >> absolutely. let's go ahead and take a look at what i-reporters are saying about these town hall meetings on health care reform. that is what is driving a lot of this discussion right now on ireport.com. a couple new yorkers that are responding to accusations from the left that basically the disruptions that we're seeing in a lot of those town hall meetlings are being organized by the right. let's go ahead and take a listen.

come on, we all know the system we have is unworkable and it's changing. if it weren't for a democratic white house, this issue would not be in the public forum. >> there is such a thing as loyal opposition and the majority of the loyal opposition do not go and disrupt meetings. you cannot characterize an entire party, the republican party as organizing groups that go in and disrupt meetings. >> tony, there's one more i-report i want to single out for us today. this is from adriana maxwell and not only attended one a local town hall meeting, she's actually started reading the thousand plus page bill and she has made it up to page 183 and she's been talking about what she's been, what she's been reading. >> that's some reading. >> absolutely. >> we need a system that makes sense.

we'll see what actually comes out of the bill because right now there's four bills out there and the republicans have their version and the senate has their version and i think if people bow back a little and read it and then figure out how to improve it, we actually could end up with a fairly workable bill. >> wow. >> yeah. we didn't have time to show her entire video because she's actually going, not page by page, but really highlighting some key points. i encourage you to go to ireport.com and see the rest of aid reon's ireport and we want you to take part in this important discussion. weigh in on health care reform. if you've been reading the bill, let us know your thoughts and certainly if you're attending one of the town hall meetings, take photo, take video and just go to ireport.com. >> she is doing a great thing by trying to read this ands it's long and cumbersome and she's doing a great thing by working

her way through it. it's not just one bill at this point, there are versions, there are three different house committees that have been working on it and have some kind of a bill. i mean, there is what has come out of the health committee on the senate side and then the finance committee. we don't have a bill, one single bill yet that we can call the health care reform bill. so, she's doing a great thing and it's important to keep that in mind and one other point here, tyson. i think you have contact information on her? we'd like to have her on the program after she makes her way through the legislation there that's been crafted and proposed right now. you have contact information? >> yeah, absolutely. that's a real significant point to make. when you submit an i-report you're reaching out to cnn producers and we watch these videos and we want to hear from you. we reach out to you and set something like that up. absolutely. >> you can help us work on that? >> absolutely. >> you're the man.

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a desperate situation catastrophic typhoon has killed at least 67 people. dozens of others from villages that are now buried in mud, still missing. cnn's tim lifter has the latest. >> reporter: the mud slivers down a mountainside like the tide of gray lava, sweeping up trees and rocks and carrying them into the valleys below. this was northern taiwan in the aftermath of typhoon morakot which has caused the worst flooding on the island in a half century. the wall of mud completely cut off the village of siaolin, and maybe 100 people have been buried ahive. the figure may be even higher. hundreds were evacuated traumatized after being trapped for four days.

this woman said she had seven family members still trapped in the village. please don't waste time, she pleads with rescuers, they need help. another woman evacuated begs for a young boy on a stretcher separated from his parents to be rushed to hospital. after three meters of rainfall in just a few days, normally placid rivers have cut a sway through valleys. this primary school in a town in central taiwan leans precariously towards the foaming waters below. nearby a road has been cut as if by a giant knife. in chiiasien township, the cleanup has begun. soldiers have been brought in to help people shift mud. but in some places the government is coming in for harsh criticism. the prime minister was confronted by angry villagers when he visited central taiwan. the typhoon came on friday, one woman berates him, and you

didn't shut the bridge on saturday, thousanow we have peoo are dead. what are you going to do about it? nearly 1,000 people have been airlifted to safety and tons of supplies brought into worst-affected areas, but some villages may be beyond recovery after the wrath of morakot, tim lifter, cnn, taiwan. you are reminded that this is the atlantic hurricane season for us and you want to swing us through the tropics? >> we've been talking about this thing percolating just west of the cape verde islands, which is right here. so, about five or almost 600 miles west of there. still over 1,000 miles from the windward islands, but the national hurricane center got a bead on it. winds of 35 miles an hour. a tropical depression, not a storm yet. if it becomes a storm, its name will be ana and a late storm to start things off. but the forecast so bring it west-northwest toward the leeward islands. it's not hurricane strength but that certainly could change. as far as what's going on around

the rest of the country, we've got thunderstorms that are going to be popping up across parts of the mid-atlantic. some of these could have some heavy downpours. and yesterday the storms we saw all the way from the northeast and the southeast and into the midwest, the storms that did pop had quite a bit of bang to them. so, just be aware of that. we're not seeing a whole lot right now, but as the day goes on especially across the mid-atlantic and the i-95 corridor, that's where we expect to see some action. it is will be hot elsewhere, like places like dallas. this shot from wfaa. >> yeah. >> temperatures almost 80 degrees, tony, but expected to get into the lower 90s. air quality alert now, which means if you're plansing to cut the grass today, it might be a good excuse not to do one. >> i'm always looking for one. >> put it off until tomorrow. >> you come up with more excuses. pass them along, all right? >> all right, man. >> we'll blog about it. all right, rob, thanks. we put the health care problems in focus next hour.

meet a man whose health insurance payments almost quadrupled forcing him to drop coverage. he worked in insurance for decades, and now he's angry about the entire industry. plus, you hear a claim about health care and you want to get the truth. which online sites you need to go through first. our josh levs will show you how to have the facts at your fingertips. and we're checking out the chevy volt hybrid. will it really get 230 miles per gallon like gm says it will? only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. that's a great call. one a day men's. ( music throughout )

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you want to cut to the chase on health care? you want to know what's wrong with health care? well, a recent study points to three factors.

americans are too fat. doctors are too sloppy. insurance companies are too fond of paperwork. here's cnn's tom foreman. >> reporter: this study by pricewaterhousecoopers identifies what it calls three key areas of massive waste, and the first is us. medical problems related to obesity, such as heart disease and high blood pressure cost our medical care system $200 billion a year. problems related to smoking over here cost us $191 billion a year. if we just took better care of ourselves, this study suggests we could save as much as $500 billion that we and our government your currently spending on our problems. the second big area of waste is clinical problems. doctors and nurses sometimes prescribe the wrong medication, they overmedicate, too. patients use emergency rooms for some problems like sore throats

that ought to be handled by their regular doctors. the cost, more than $92 billion. the study said sometimes doctors overcharge because they can make more money on it, but also because sometimes they are so afraid of malpractice lawsuits that they order many tests and procedures just to protect against possible accusations that they overlooked something. the cost of that? $210 billion. a year. that's why senators in support of reform like maryland's ben cardin are being confronted in town meetings by people demanding that legal reform be part of any health reform package. >> why isn't tort reform a part of any of these bills? >> of course, this study also found that sometimes doctors just overcharge because they can make more money that way. and finally, this study found waste in operational cost. just filing the papers to collect from insurance companies cost up to $210 billion a year. one case the researchers cited

is johns hopkins in baltimore, 700 different health plans, employers and other groups are involved in paying the bills there. each with its own rules and paperwork. all of these combined areas could add up to $1.2 trillion in waste, or as the study notes, more than half of our health spending. a volatile issue, a make-or-break month. we are following the latest developments in the fight over health care reform. more lawmakers are holding town hall meetings today. republican senator charles grassley fielded pointed questions from constituents in winterset, iowa. president obama on the offensive against critics of health care reform. he heads west this week for more meetings in colorado and montana. the white house has created a website to counter critics.

at the forum hosted by pennsylvania arlen specter was raucous. details from national political correspondent, jessica yellin. >> reporter: anxiety, fear, confusion. add summer heat and you've got a potent combination for a health care town hall. frustration on the sidewalk out front. >> why don't they take the health care being forced down our throat? yeah, why don't you go home! why don't i have freedom? because we elected somebody that wants to take our freedom. where does my opinion count at? >> we're entitled to be here just like you! just like you! >> reporter: and inside the auditorium. >> wait a minute! wait a minute. you want to leave? leave. >> i am going to speak my mind before i leave, because your people told me i could. >> i'm angry. i'm an american citizen. i'm a voter. i'm a taxpayer. i'm sick of the lies. >> reporter: the man at the center of it all? senator arlen specter worked to displmyths about health care

reform. >> you want to have a private option? you will have it. you can have that one where you'll not be charged for somebody who has an abortion. >> reporter: and for a cancer survivor, an issue close to his heart. when a voter declared that health care reform would mean 74-year-old cancer victims would be denied coverage. >> well, you're just not right. nobody 74's going to be written off because they have cancer. that's a vicious, malicious, untrue rumor. >> reporter: the senator later declared the gathering civil. democracy in action, he called it. and told another crowd their views will help shape the final bill. >> there will be very careful consideration to the ideas that i've heard here and the ideas you have when i go back to washington. >> reporter: when he returns to washington, these constituents will make sure the senator is listening. >> boy, and jessica yellin joins us now from washington.

and, jessica, that last point from senator specter is the point you made with us yesterday. and i asked you to repeat it again, and if i had time, i would have had you repeat it a few more times. there is no health care reform bill now, one bill. but i've got to ask you about the crowds at some of these events. you know, a lot of times we see seniors at these events. we don't see a lot of african-americans, we don't see a lot of hispanics at least at a lot of the events i've been paying attention to, and as an african-american, not seeing more african-americans is a bit disturbing to me. but that crowd at arlen specter's event seemed younger. who were the folks protesting? and what with their concerns? >> tony, you're absolutely right. they're almost uniformly white. and the folks who were there at the first event were much younger than some of these -- the senior crowds i've seen elsewhere. there are a lot of young parents

who say they are concerned that the health care reform bill would change medical care in a way that would be worse when their children are grown up, that would also put an undue tax burden on their kids. and there is a lot of general fear about how this will be, in their view, invasive for their families. >> yeah. >> they're really worried about health care as what they see as excessive government control in their lives, tony. >> yeah, that really came through yesterday and we're blogging about that as well today. pretty much because of what you talked about and what wasse evident in arlen specter's town hall. there also seems to be a lot of misunderstanding and confusion. share with us some of the biggest myths you're hearing. >> first is the one you point out at the beginning, is that there is a health care bill that's steamrolled through congress. and who matter who dispels the myth, whether a senator or the president, folks or protesters don't believe them when you tell them there is not one bill.

there are many bills out there right now. nothing is done yet. the other idea is there will be some way the government can decide who lives and dies. they're certain that somehow in the bill that will somehow eventually become government policy, that some panel somewhere will be able to decide who gets the plug pulled on them. just not true. and then the other one is that illegal immigrants will be covered and that you will have to pay for other people's abortions. and politicians have been very clear about saying both of those things will not be in the final legislation. but, again, everybody who was a protester at these events doesn't want to believe it. >> right. and we can do the best job we can in explaining what is. and, you know, in some cases people will just believe what any want to believe. one more quick one for you. how about those who favor reform? who were they? and what are their concerns? >> some of them were union folks or nurses, doctors. but also a number of people who

had had horror stories with insurance companies, where they had been denied coverage, a loved one had been denied coverage, and they had either suffered or died because of it, and they just want to see some change. but they were outnumbered by the organizers for the other side. but, still, a very passionate group. a passionate minority of people who feel that at least we need insurance reform, tony. >> just fascinating to watch. jessica yellin for us, thank you. health care in focus now. one of the challenges in the health care debate, how to provide affordable insurance. los angeles photo journalist tim hart presents a man who spent years in the insurance industry, now struggling to pay coverage. >> well, i started as an agent in 1967. at the age of 23. i was an insurance agent for 35 years. i loved the business because it rewarded you for the effort.

over the years of my career, i saw the coverage get more expensive. but you got less. here's my tax return from 2002. our medical expense that year, a month, was $960. now we go to 2007 and the cost came out to $1,990 a month. that's almost $24,000 a year, we couldn't afford that cost, we did the unthinkable. we dropped our insurance. >> it's a little scary not to go to the doctor when you think, maybe, we should have it checked. >> but we finally got her coverage. it was around $500, not a very good plan. >> and still today with the change in my deductibles, higher deductibles every year and still the costs keep going up, up, up. >> it took a huge chunk of our income. >> we cut back on most of our expenses. we just don't do the things we used to do. not knowing and not knowing that you could lose everything if something happened.

that's what was scary about it. >> i still feel nervous and uneasy about it. and i shouldn't be. i shouldn't have to feel that way. in my senior years i should be able to feel secure. >> we had planned so many years for our retirement and be able to do things and travel and spend time with our grandchildren. >> go outside? >> as an american citizen, i know i have a right to an education. if i get in trouble with the law, i have a right to an attorney. why don't i have a right to health insurance, affordable health insurance? there's something wrong with that picture. >> that's just strong, strong stuff. all right, let's say you're at one of these town hall meetings and you hear a claim that just doesn't seem right, how do you get the facts in a hurry? josh is here to show us some websites you can get on your smartphone. what's that, a smartphone? that's bust some of these big myths. >> most cell phones now are smart. smarter than the computers were

when i was born, you know? >> i'm just hoping that's not a brand and we haven't just offered up a commercial. >> no, i don't think so. >> don't lead me down that dark road. >> but, listen, look, there are obviously some people who go to the protests and who do know a lot of facts and read the bills and have strong feelings and it's great and some who don't as we heard from jessica. no matter what your concerns are, we want to empower you with a series of websites that you should be able to get on the internet wherever you are. i want to zoom in and show you where many of the websites are. krahnpo cnnpolitics.com is a great website. the cnn truth squad has returned. here's one right here. >> how long have we talked about it? we wanted it back and it's back. >> it's back. the truth squad did a lot during the campaign and we've come back focusing on health care. you'll hear the answer to this one next hour.

so, be with us at the top of the 1:00 hour. there are also good fact-checking wek sites out there. cnn isn't the only one. factcheck.org is very strong. the annenberg policy sector. i followed these fact checkers all the time and i don't remember seeing one issue get so incredibly many fact checks. factcheck.org and a frequent guest here, politifact.com does the same thing. you see obama facing a town hall, and the truth-o-meter and palin facing the truth-o-meter. they have all the rulings coming in very often. mostly true. pants on fire is false. a whole series. i'll show you where. those are the analyses. maybe you want to read the bill yourself. i'll show you two government websites to look at. one is actually the cbo, congressional budget office. let's zoom in. i want you to know about this. we're often hearing the cbo invoked because ultimately the cbo will be the place that will tell the government, including president obama, when they analyzed a bill, will it be

budget neutral. you hear cbo invoked a lot. cbo.gov allows you to see what they're saying without being filtered by pundits at all. if you want to be involved in the legislation. i pulled up one of the bills. there's ton of them out there. way too many that have to be verged, far from the president. if you want to read a bill, here's house bill 3200 and some of the claims are based on a single line buried in there. that was a lot of stuff. easy place to find it. check it out, our "newsroom" blog, cnn.com/josh. and cnn.com/tony. i linked it to you, too. >> good, good. >> you go there. all the links i told you about are right there. and you've got my page. as soon as i'm off the air, i'll post the links to facebook.com and twitter.com/joshlevscnn. and i've checked them all on the mobile, i tried them on my cell phone, they work well. anytime you hear a claim, you should be able to go to the list and pull up some facts and

inform those around you what the truth is. >> is that a new photograph of you? >> we just switched it. you like that one? they just switched it to that one. you like the other one? >> you're a big deal. you're getting photo shoots and everything! >> oh, no. i hope it's smaller than yours. >> there goes our budget. all right, josh. >> thanks, graphics. let me take a moment here. all of the screaming, the shouting and shoving we're seeing a few of these health care reform town halls. look, i'll be honest with you. it makes for great television. we put this stuff on and folks gravitate to it. but too often the real questions and concerns get lost in the noise. that's why we're doing all we can here in the "cnn newsroom" to cut through the rhetoric and the rumors to address your real concerns and fears about the future of your health care. and where this debate is leading our country, is all the fighting and frustration we're seeing in these town halls a symptom of something bigger brewing in america right now? do you fear a big government

takeover? does the prospect of doing nothing scare you even more? most people agree something has to be done, but what? we want to know what you think. send your comments, your questions, and concerns to my blog at cnn.com/tony. our expectation is that most of your questions will take a little time to research, so we won't be able to get back to you right away. we're going to be pulling together really, really smart, informed people in our shop from elizabeth cohen to dr. sanjay gupta to the cnn money team to dana bash, brianna keilar. you just saw jessica yellin, candy crowley, suzanne malveaux, ed henry at the white house, to answer your questions. we'll go outside the shop, of course, for answers if we need to. once we're able to answer your specific concerns, we will air them for you right here in the "cnn newsroom." and moving on. honoring the new justice at the white house today. president and mrs. obama host a reception for sonia sotomayor,

the newest member of the united states supreme court took the oath saturday. >> i am humbled by the sacred responsibility of upholding our laws and safeguarding the rights and freedoms set forth in our constitution. i ask not just my family and friends, but i ask all of them, to wish me divine guidance and wisdom in administering my new office. i thank you all again for the love and support you have shown me, and i thank president obama and the -- and the united states senate, for the tremendous honor and privilege they have granted me. >> man. justice sotomayor is the first hispanic on the court and just the third woman. as southeast asia recovers from a damaging typhoon, it looks like it's time for us to

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rescuers have located about 1,000 people who were feared dead after a devastating typhoon hit taiwan and buried entire villages in mud. the survivors are being taken to makeshift relief camps. typhoon morakot is being blamed for deadly mud slides and the worst flooding in taiwan in half a century.

at least 67 people on the island have been killed. taiwan's fire agency says as many as 100 people are still missing. and chad myers, in the severe weather center. chad, you look at those horrible pictures -- >> yep. >> -- and it reminds us that we are in the atlantic hurricane season right now, and we can't lose sight of that. >> yep. things like that can happen here. although what happened in taiwan was really because of the mountainous area and how it hit and how that water went down. look at these numbers. these are not millimeters. leave that shot up there. that's almost, like, almost eight feet, nine feet worth of rain that came down in literally 72 hours. and that's why the water went downhill. yushan at 82 inches of rainfall. that's a very high mountain range there. the highest mountain in taiwan. and you were talking about the atlantic. well, here would be south america. here are the islands. the british virgin islands and the american virgin islands and

florida. the tropical depression number 2 getting more organized than yesterday. but still forecast to be a 40, 50, 60-mile-per-hour storm and turn up into the atlantic. now, i'm not sure that turn will continue, but it might. we'll have to keep watching it as the days go on. this is what is left of felicia, which was essentially nothing. getting a little bit of a flare-up today just east of, say, maui county. this is a mess. but that's great news, because we didn't want the thing to get anywhere else. especially when it was, it was a category 4 hurricane for a while. but i want to show you what stormpulse.com can show you. this isn't movable. but here's tropical depression number 2. there is another system over here that actually may be stronger, i'm going to zoom in for you. here's 2. that's it. it's kind of a baseball over here. this thing's a soccer ball over here. >> yeah. >> we'll have to keep watching. that would be maybe number 3 as it comes along. the first thing i do believe, though, today that tropical depression 2 will be called ana,

the first named storm of the season. a-n-a. see you soon. oil be here. and thank you. the federal reserve is wrapping up a two-day meeting a couple hours from now. they're expected to announce they are holding interest rates near zero. most economists don't expect the fed to fiddle with rates especially for a year because inflation remains low and employment pretty weak. >> the next economists' views are by no means official, but they are certainly interesting. most surveyed by "the wall street journal" say recession, what recession? it's over! huh? cnn's christine romans -- huh? christine romans joins me now. christine, i didn't get a chance to get to this story in "the journal" today for all the health care work we're doing, but, boy, share this with us. >> okay, well, a majority of economists surveyed by "the wall street journal" said that the recession is already over, tony. they interviewed, 54 -- 47 -- or 52, and 47 of them responded to

their is yourvy and of those 25 said the recession is already over. another 11 said it will be over this month or next month. >> we've still got negative gdp, what are they talking about? >> what about the third quarter, a lot of people think cash for clunkers, more than $100 billion government stimulus money is out the door that has to be reflected at some point, right? this is what recession looks like. you've got four quarters here, four quarters in a row, unheard of for negative economic growth and now niece economists at the "journal" their survey on average 2.4% economic growth for the third quarter is what they are expecting. another survey by bloomberg news, tony, is forecasting four quarters in a row of 2% plus of economic recovery. what will ill-feel like? a jobless rate still rising, a lot of people think it could go to 10% and that means even if there is a recovery for many people looking for a job or heading on to their job for dear life, they will be saying what

recovery? it's interesting, too, tony, because the stock market has really been telegraphing this for some time now, the big spring and summer rally, a lot of people think the stocks are headsing higher because of the end of the recession. the average recession is ten months. this has been almost 20 months. this is the s&p, tony, i want you to take a close look at this. you see the rally from 676? i use the s&p because it's more stocks. not just the dow 30. look at this, you still would have to have another 500 points, another huge rally, 50% more, to get back up to where we were when this recession be gan. even if someone tells and rings a bell and says, the recession is over, you have not clawed back your stock market losses. we have not clawed back job losses. we still have a lot of danger signs out there. so, i want to be very, very clear about that. but the majority of economyist s are now saying they believe the recession is behind us.

the nber, the official arbiter will tell us when it's ended. we won't know until it's done. but it doesn't matter really, it matters what you feel and it's about jobs and your own personal information. a lot of people call and e-mail me. i was on ali's radio show, and people say, what does it mean? if there's a recovery, what does it mean for the average american? the sense i'm getting if you have money, you're trying to figure out how to grow it and capitalize on this turn that may be coming. and if you don't have money and a job, it still feels exactly the same to you. so, you know, it depends on where you are, and that's always the way it is at the end of a recession, quite frankly. >> good stuff. always appreciate it. good to see you, lady. >> nice to see you. you read the headlines, and the numbers seem pretty incredible. a car that gets 230 per gallon. how real is it? and how soon before a brother can get it into his garage?

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okay. chevrolet is charging forward with its new electric hybrid, the volt. the car will be in showrooms in 2010. and carry a $40,000 ticket whice. whoa. there's a lot of buzz about gm's assertion that the volt gets 230 miles per gallon. a top gm exec was all sales when he spoke to our colleagues at cnn international. >> this car will be sold around the world. it meets safety standards the world over, so it can be sold as-is in any country in the world. but -- >> but it's reported to have a rather chunky price tag on it, we're talking about $40,000. >> that's true. >> that's prohibitively expensive, isn't it, for many consumers? >> well, that's true. but it is an extremely well equipped car, a very safe car, and in the u.s. at least anyone who buys it will get a $7,500 credit from the federal

government which brings the price down to $32,500. what makes it affordable. we are on our way to selling 20,000 camaros that are priced are considerably -- average transaction price is considerably over that. >> is it safe to say that gm is going to make a significant loss, though, on the volt, though, bob, within the first few years? does that concern you at all? >> no, it doesn't. because anytime you introduce new technology, you can't expect -- you can't expect to be in the milking phase at the same time that you're in the investment phase. right now we're investing in this technology. we believe it is the future. but obviously in the first generation, the electric motors which are built in relatively small quantities, are expensive. the lithium ion batteries are in their first or second generation. very expensive. the power electronics that shift all the power from the different sources, they are expensive. and all of these costs are going

to come down so that we're very confident that this -- this vehicle is a flagship of general motors' environmental technology. it's the first commercially available vehicle in the world that can travel 40 miles electrically and then basically do another 450 kilometers using the gasoline engine as a generator to drive the battery -- to feed the battery as fast as the car is taking energy out. >> it seems awfully confident, don't they, about this volt? let's talk about the volt's impact with our stephanie elam at the new york stock exchange. and, steph, let's drill down on this. what impact is this announcement going to have? i'm thinking on the car industry as a whole? >> yeah, it's definitely going to have an impact, no doubt about it, tony. there's a lot of things that we have to talk about, though, because for consumers, they have to weigh the costs, especially because this is the car's first generation. you just heard the vice chairman

talking about that. >> yeah. >> that's when the cost is the highest, when it's in its first iteration. edmunds said the purchase price will be much higher than existing hybrids and it will take a year for the buyer to pay off its price preemup. j.d. powerpoints out that even with the tax credit, the higher price will eliminate a lot of the market. gm says beyond the tax credit, they may have to go ahead and subsidize the volt. when he was talking to cnn international, they know that they're going to have to take a hit for this, at the same time they're hoping that the technology is so strong and that it is strong enough that it will be worth it. and one of those sticking issues is the miles per gallon. right? that mpg. >> right. >> which is hard to talk about when you're talking about electric, too, that's one of the differences there, too. but they've been touting that 230 mpg and most an is are skeptical about it, because the number has not been confirmed by the environmental protection agency. >> good point. >> so, this is something that is still going to have to be worked

out. but no doubt the fuel economy is likely to be really good. and one analyst said the volt will likely get better miles per gallon than current offerings like the toyota prius and other cars that get 50 miles per gallon. it is different, because they do still have gas tanks and you can plug it into a normal outlet, one charge is 80 cents to go the 40 miles and after that you can switch over to gas which will turn it into electric in your car and that will add another 50 miles and that's how they're coming up with these numbers. but it is -- it's a different way of looking at things, so the way they measure it might be different as well. >> yeah. >> so, that's what we're looking at here. >> you see that number, 230 and, you know, that's a -- that's an eye-popping number. and it really seems to change the debate. i mean, it really does. so, you know, it's got to be verified. it's got to be worked out. but that -- boy, they've got pr working for them today. >> and they're banking on it, too. because think about it, if it takes 80 cents to charge it for 40 miles, most people drive

within 40 miles every day. so, for most people, that's normal for them. that's not going to be an issue. so, this puts gm on the list, the green list, as an environmental leader, and it could be putting pressure on other companies -- >> absolutely. >> -- to do the same. and then, therefore, when that happens, they are all making more electric cars and the costs should come down and it should be easier to find a local plug-in instead of a gas station. >> it's a real talker. good to see you. >> thanks. a little later in the "newsroom" we'll focus on one of gm's post-bankruptcy strategies, selling new cars online through its new partnership with ebay. ali velshi and the cnn express are rolling across the country right now talking to people about health care. we will check in and see what they're saying. not a lot of activity. you read the news. and yet, some people need to sell and other people want to buy. this is a moment of challenge and opportunity. fortunately, re/max agents have the experience to help you meet the one and recognize the other.

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health care reform. we heard some of those real concerns expressed at senator chuck grassley's town hall in winterset, iowa, this morning. our ali velshi is on the road listening to those concerns as well. he held an informal town hall meeting in paducah, kentucky, and the conversation was fascinating! >> reporter: we're here in paducah, kentucky. we are hearing different things from people wherever we're going. but i haven't found too many people around here who are opposed for reforming health care. >> i'm for the idea, but i don't think that congress and the president have done a good job of disseminating the information. i'm just hearing a lot of flak and not a lot of meat and potatoes. >> reporter: what about you? >> i think right now we have a lack of choice. i mean, health care's expensive. i mean, the average costs of the coverage i found more often than not are more expensive than the actual care. i would think any choice -- any viable choice would be better than what we've got now.

>> reporter: what do you think? >> my understanding, there is about 48 million people that's not covered. those people need to be covered. >> well, my husband and i are two of those 47 million plus that aren't -- don't have health care. and i'm not talking insurance. of course, we don't have insurance, but i want health care. my husband has diabetes and he just had a bout with cancer. what insurance company is going to cover us? there aren't any. if i get sick today, where do you think i'm going? i'm going to the emergency room. who's that costing? that's costing us, the taxpayers. so, is it going to cost my bottom line if they have to tax me in order to get health care. tax me. tax me, tax me. i am willing to pay. >> reporter: let's talk about the 46 million, 50 million, whatever number of people that are not insured in this country. tell me about that. >> i would love to drive a hummer. they are cool cars. i can't afford one, so i don't drive one. i drive what i can afford. >> oh, my god, i can't believe you're saying that people don't deserve health care if they can't afford it. >> where did i say that, heather? >> that's what i hear you

saying. >> reporter: you did say you would like to buy a hummer and you would like to buy a hummer because you can't afford it. so, you're saying if you can't afford a hummer, you shouldn't drive it. if you can't afford health care, you shouldn't get it. >> no, no, i'm saying you have the basic stuff. you get a catastrophic illness, you're in a car crash an accident, something like that, when that happens, of course, you get coverage for that. and ali velshi is on the road in southern illinois. i love that town hall meeting that you conducted yesterday, ali. you know, i'm always accused of looking to the positive and, you know, rosy and rose-colored glasses, but it's the way i live my life and so be it. but i have a real sense that we are starting to turn the corner on a lot of the real anger and heat and we're starting to get at the real issues here. and let's keep in mind that those -- that real input on real issues should help inform the representatives when they go back to washington. am i close to being correct on this?

>> reporter: i think you're very correct on that, tony. that's exactly how i'm feeling. we have people coming up to this bus, on both sides of this issue. they're not all in support of reforming health care or the way the government wants to do it, but we're having real discussions. i had a woman just moments ago come up to me before we pulled out of benton, illinois, saying to me that she's been a nurse for 30 years. her daughter stopped getting health insurance after she moved out of the house to go to college, got pneumonia. she's still trying to pay for the bills. the daughter can't get health insurance. but the bottom line even like those that you saw in the town hall meeting, which was entirely organic, we pulled up to paducah and people came to talk to us, the restaurant across the street brought up chairs. and the civility and the respect in the discussion we had was very different than what you're hearing in some of the town halls. >> okay, and very quickly, because you don't want the shot to freeze up, i love the fact that it was impromptu. you show up in the express, and organically this comes together.

are you on the facebook -- i'm sorry, are you on facebook? are you twittering? where are you going to be so folks can join you? >> reporter: yeah, we're generally twittering the route we're taking. so, we've headed from benton, illinois. we're headed to east st. louis and st. louis, missouri, right now. sometimes we've got an advance car that goes ahead to tell us where the bus might pull over. that's all the warning we get. and people see us pull up and you can talk to us. you can follow us on twitter at cnnexpress or go to my facebook page, alivelshicnn and every time we get something, tony, we'll get it to you so you can put the word out there so you can tell them what americans are worrying about it. >> there's the music. ali velshi taking it to the streets. we love that you're doing this for us. thanks. still to come in the "newsroom," government officials want to track who is using their websites. is this the case of big brother out of control?

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sarah palin's resignation as governor of alaska may be taking

a toll on her poll numbers. a new cnn/opinion research survey found palin's favorable rating has dropped seven percentage points since may. 39% of all americans say they have a favorable view of palin. her favorable rating among republicans is down as well. that number has plummeted 16 points since may to 64%. it's worth noting this was done before palin's blisterering remarks on health care which were made last weekend. the white house is fighting off big brother accusations after it planned to track the government websites you visit. here's cnn's brooke baldwin. >> reporter: the white house, playing the role of america's advocate or big brother? proposed changes in the federal government's online privacy rules have set off alarm bells in certain circles. at issue, a proposal to reverse a decade-old ban on the tracking of users who visit government websites. the tracking technology known as

a cookie keeps information about computers and users who visit websites. the white house says that just like cookies facilitate communication on social networking websites, they would help government be more accessible and transparent. the american civil liberties union agrees but argues -- >> there can also be certain precautions taken so that people are confident that their personal internet usage patterns are not being collected and stored and used by the government for some perhaps nefarious purpose. >> reporter: the white house says it understands these concerns. government spokesman kenneth baer says any update of current policy will balance the need to use new web 2.0 technologies to open up government with the imperative to protect privacy. this comes just days after some criticized a white house blog posting that advised users if you get an e-mail or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, e-mail us. critics worry the move could stifle free speech. >> yes, we can. >> reporter: and could be an

attempt to gather names of supporters for political purposes. the white house insists, it's no big brother. >> nobody's collecting names. >> reporter: but if the government is doing no wrong, then the nonprofit electronic privacy information center has this question -- >> what's the justification for the alteration of the policy? clearly the government's intending to do something with them. at this point, they're either unwilling or unable to tell us what. >> reporter: brooke baldwin, cnn, new york. gm has cut back its dealers. now it wants to sell you cars. online? boss: so you've been doing a nice job out there

helping people save money on car insurance. gecko: aw thank you, sir. boss: but i think there are a few other things you can say about what a reliable company geico is. gecko: right. uh, well maybe how geico's the third-largest car insurance company in america? nice tidbit there. boss: exactly. and i've been thinking, looking a bit more businesslike might help too. gecko: oh my. uhhh, no it's, what's, what's the word... vogeico. 15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance.

general motors is taking its road to recovery online. it's launched a new marketing strategy on ebay. so, if you're looking to buy a new car, this may be an option

for you. our dan simon explains. >> reporter: you could call it electronic haggling. 225 dealers just in california for now are putting their new inventories on ebay. you won't find cadillacs there. the company apparently doesn't want to cheapen the brand. you will find the company's other cars and suvs like the popular chevy equinox. >> is there much room for negotiation, or did you try to price them at the buy-it-now category? >> some cars are priced at the buy it now, some priced to be able to negotiate them. >> reporter: and you don't want to tip your hat right here on cnn? >> not necessarily. >> reporter: but consumers might feel more empowered making their purchase through ebay. the site shows potential buyers what different dealers are asking for the exact same car. >> we have great expectations for the program. the fact that we'll be offering consumers some of the most competitive prices on gm inventory and the fact that we're doing it in this new and

very compelling way for consumers we think will be a great combination. >> reporter: gm's use of ebay is temporary. the program lasts for about a month. but if successful, it plans to extend the partnership and launch it nationwide. the company, meanwhile, is seeing some positive signs elsewhere. it's had more sales than any other automaker under the cash for clunkers program. an 18% share, according to the transportation department. and the company is getting a lot of buzz over its highly anticipated electric car, the volt. which launches late next year. gm says it will get up to an unprecedented 230 miles per gallon. as for the ebay/gm partnership, selling cars online, of course, is nothing new, but this is the first time an automaker has done it in such a well publicized fashion. as for why gm chose california, well, this is a state they've struggled in recent years, and they're hoping this will turn things around. dan simon, cnn, colma, california.

you know, some people have called detroit a food desert, where it's easier to buy liquor than lettuce. could urban farming be the answer? cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow has our breakdown from new york. good to see you. >> good to see you, tony. we've been spending a lot of time in detroit. before i'd been there, i'd never heard of this, urban farming, but it's catching on in detroit. you're looking at a city with 140 square miles and a population that has fallen from about 2 million in the 1950s to just about 830,000 today, so needless to say there's a lot of empty space in detroit. and that has more and more people talking about this idea of urban farming. it's essentially these large community gardens where people grow their own food. right in the middle of the city. and we stopped by one. it's run by a foundation called earthworks. it's two acres, and they produce about 7,000 pounds of food a year. i think we have some video we can show you here of that. but this all plays into the fact that there's a major problem of access for food -- >> yes.

>> -- in detroit. you have no independent chain grocery stores there anymore. you've got some smaller supermarkets, but no big chain grocery stores in the entire city of detroit. it's caused a big problem. take a listen to one person explain that. all right. we don't have that sound for you, which is too bad. but what they're talking about here is the fact that you've got a lot of kids in the city with no access to this healthy food. when we were there, we had a hard time finding many places to get breakfast outside of mcdonald's, tony. so, that's a big problem. and you also have reports of more and more people applying for food stamps and more and more people -- >> yeah. >> -- going into these food banks, tony. so, it's a big problem in detroit. it's interesting to see the solution they're coming up with, which is urban farming, tony. >> absolutely. that gets into the whole notion of co-ops as well. >> yeah. >> but you're talking about -- you're talking about unhealthy food, fast food chains, it goes on and on and on. and that leads many to talk about obesity. poppy, thank you so much. got to skate, because we need to

get to the white house briefing with robert gibbs. but my sense is that people wanted to take the opportunity to find out from the president, to have him answer their questions about why he's doing what he's doing and the concerns they may have on the legislation. that's why he asked, let's take some questions from those directly who have some concerns, at that point i think, you know, do you want to -- do you want to take that opportunity to have a discussion with the president of the united states about what he wants to see on health care reform? i think most people took that opportunity, as something that was positive. i think it was a good conversation. i think the president thought it was a very productive conversation, about the issues that we were dealing with. and as jake said, we -- we -- you know, the president, you

know, went out of his way to bring up, in fact, some of the misinformation that churns out there in order to address it, because i think obviously he understands he has a pulpit that is large enough to deal with some of the misinformation that some people might not ordinarily ask or inquire about, because they've read it somewhere, and they just assume that it's true, even if it's not. >> what does he think is the biggest obstacle to passing this legislation -- >> the people that want to keep the status quo. the people that believe that somehow what we have is working for the millions of americans who are watching their health care premiums skyrocket every day, who are watching small businesses drop their coverage, who are part of the 12.5 million people over the past 3 years that have been told by an insurance company in seeking to

buy insurance on the private market, that they're not eligible because of what somebody has decided there's a pre-existing condition. i think that would be what the president would believe is the greatest obstacle, and has been for 40 years, are people that have a vested, in some senses, monetary interest in keeping things as they are. >> isn't it his fault because he's not getting the message across, the misinformation? >> look, no, i don't think the president's under any illusion that with his presidency, with the ascendence of his presidency, it would be the end of misinformation. i do think the president believes -- look, i'm sure there are communications experts that would tell you, well, anytime you're -- you know, what's the old thing? if you're explaining, you're losing. well, i think the president believes these town halls provide an excellent opportunity to explain exactly what his ideas and principles are. and, more importantly, if he can effect misinformation by telling

people what isn't in a piece of legislation, i think he'll take that opportunity. dan? >> in addition to the town halls and the website to knock down these myths, is the white house considering other venues to try to correct the record as well? >> i don't -- i don't -- specifically -- >> thinking of doing anything else, or is there a need to do anything else? >> well, you know, we've got two town halls later in the week, one in montana, one in colorado, and then the president has -- he'll be back here for a bit and some down time with his family. look, i don't doubt we'll take this battle up in some earnestness in september, but i don't think there are any specific venue announcements. again, i think the president believes the format of the town hall, and the ability to discuss directly with people what their

cares and concerns are, he finds to be and always has been tremendously valuable. >> and is there any concern at all that if this misinformation machine continues and the record can't be corrected, as the white house would like it to be, that it could potentially make it more difficult to get health care reform passed? >> look, if the debate is dominated by something that's not true, of course. i don't think the president believes, though, that when all is said and done that most people will make their decisions on something that is false and something that has been said is false. but, you know, i rant on cable a little bit, dan, as you in your exhaling noted in answering another question. you know, take a couple questions at a town hall meeting. you guys, lord knows, have shown enough video of people with concerns about the bill.

take one of those concerns and address its factualness. >> do you think now that so much attention is being focused on the myths and debunking the myths, that that in essence will help you? >> i do. i think if people believe, for some reason, that this plan is government-controlled health care -- which it's not -- if the president can address that each time he goes out there and more and more people believe the truth, then, sure, that helps -- i think that helps the prospect of millions to see health care reform this year. yes, ma'am? >> it seemed yesterday the president really wanted soliciting tough questions and casting about for real skeptic in the audience, and not finding one, just meeting one