>> listen, he's performed well in the past and they're going to bank that can he do it again in the future. >> go, brett. to continue the conversation on any of these stories, go to cnn.com/am fix. that does it for us today. hope to see you back here tomorrow. the news continues with don lemon in the "cnn newsroom." breaking news, smoke rises over baghdad. the iraqi capital rocked by six bombings in a matter of minutes. cars toppled like toys. a tornado tears right through beaumont, texas. our severe weather coverage updates hurricane bill. plus, not model behavior. a blogger who verbally attacked a model will be outed. good morning, i'm don lemon. heidi's off today. it is wednesday, august 19th. and are you in the "cnn newsroom." health care reform. a make-or-break month and what may and take it or leave it

ultimatum. elaine quijano's at the white house with the bold move considering by democrats. dr. sanjay gupta is in the newsroom to break it down for you. he worked in the white house, the last time an administration tried to push through health care reform. but first we start with break news out of baghdad. six bombings in one hour and at least 75 people are dead, hundreds more are wounded in this. some blasts went off near government buildings. it is the worst day of carnage in the capital since iraqi troops took over. arwa damon joins us live from baghdad with the latest on the developments. >> reporter: good morning, don. it has been a really devastating day here in baghdad with that death toll that everyone fears is going to continue to rise. the deadliest bombings, as you were saying, are targeting iraqi's government institutions. two rock bombs, one exploding in front of iraq's ministry of finance, the other in front of iraq's ministry of foreign affairs. that one, by far, the most devastating, literally blowing

through the facade of the ten-story building. we did manage to get down to the scene of that explosion. iraqi security forces there standing with expressions of sheer shock on their faces. ambulances screaming by. walking wounded and then those trying to save individuals whom they believed may have been trapped underneath the rubble. this is the deadliest day in iraq since the u.s. military completed the withdrawal of its combat forces from iraqi cities and towns on june 30th. since then the iraqi government has been very much trying to tout itself as being under control, convince the iraqi people that its forces are capable of securing this country. but today the insurgents very much striking back and striking fear in the hearts of many that perhaps the iraqis are not quite ready for this task just yet. also coming as the iraqi government has been trying to put or decrease some of the security measures that were put into place. removing blast walls from some chair. in fact, in front of the foreign ministry where the deadliest

bombing took place there used to and checkpoint with bomb detection devices. that was recently removed and now iraqis are paying for consequences. >> arwa damon in baghdad with breaking news, thank you. now back to health care reform and what could be a very risky strong-arm maneuver by democrats. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta brings us some special insights into this discussion. he served as a white house fellow during the clinton years and witnessed firsthand a failed battle for health care reform. but first a closer look now at the make-or-break move that the democrats are considering. elaine quijano joins us at the white house. >> reporter: good morning, don. top democrats close to the white house tell ed henry that in fact officials are "actively considering" this option. it is basically an obscure budget move called reconciliation. what it would mean is that in the senate instead of needing 60 votes to get the legislation through, they'd only need a simple majority or 51 votes. no final decision has been made on this, and in fact this is an option that has been on the table all along.

but what's different now of course is the context. it is august, just weeks away from when congress gets back from the recess. the white house is facing skepticism from conservative democrats as well. >> what about the white house message? there's been criticism that not everyone in the white house is carrying the same message, therefore the message may be confusing the american people. part of this thing that may be their own fault, part of the reason that americans are confused and some are outraged. >> right. one thing that happened over the weekend, confusion over a public option. what the administration's position was. there were some comments by not just the president himself but also his health and human services secretary clat lekathl sebelius that causes the white house to say, wait a minute. yesterday we heard from robert gibbs, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius basically saying the administration's position has not changed, the president still

believes a public option is the best way to make sure there is choice and competition. those are the buzzwords at the white house -- choice and competition are still going to be part of this health care reform system. but nevertheless some progressives still scratching their heads over those comments over the weekend when the president himself in their view made it sound as though a public option was in fact optional. >> mixed messages some say. elaine quijano from the white house, thanks. now let's look at the process of health care and for that i wan to bring back in dr. sanjay gupta, a white house fellow -- he was a white house fellow during the clinton administration, against offering unique perspective here. there appears to be mixed messages, or at least back-pedaling when it comes to the public option. >> it was somewhat difficult to cover for a journalists. what caught my attention is when president obama said the public option is just a sliver of health care reform. i think many people who have

been working on this for some time said it was really the basis for a lot of the health care reform. it was surprising. but then as elaine said, they're going back to saying public option is absolutely necessary. what's interesting, a lot of people who say it is not reform without a public option. unless you offer something like this you aren't going to create the increase in competition. >> same thing all over again. >> that's right. you may have insurance reform but a lot of people who are critics of the publix option say you don't need it simply have strong insurance reform, continue this nondiscrimination based on pre-existing conditions, try and get the insurance companies to rein in costs and you might achieve some of the same goals. therein lies the friction. >> you bring up a good point. there are many people who are happy with health care that they have. so why not just expand upon what we already have? is that a consideration or does that make sense? >> people have definitely talked about that. the president has always said, if you are happy with what you have, if you have access to

private insurance and your premiums aren't above a certain percentage of your income, that's what you'll stick it. but he talked about this idea of expanding medicare so people between the ages of 55 and 64 could buy into medicare at full price. he's also talk about medicaid as a possibility of raising the income level at which someone would qualify for medicaid. you could make more and still qualify under some of these proposals. possibly. you're right, this idea that you have the public option, popgs expand of medicare, possible expansion of medicaid are all being discussed. >> people think there's already a bill, they want to fight against this bill that's already there. let's talk about co-ops. came up over the weekend. kathleen sebelius made her thing saying over the weekend, you know what? it's not part of this private or single pay or what have you, it is only one part of the process. this idea of co-ops came out in the same day on john king's

show. is that a really viable option? >> it's non-government controlled, though it may take government money. it is non-profit as well. what happens is you buy into a co-op. you not only get insured but you are also a member of the co-op. you can own it. say let's discuss premiums, they're too high. discuss coverage, let's get more. as a board member as well as an insured, that's what you are. what's interesting is no one seems to like this idea. the democrats say this is giving up on the publix option. republicans say this is still public option, just in disguise. it seemed like a possible threading the needle alternative, but i think part of the back pedaling we were just talking about is when you float it out there, no one seems to be in love for it except for a few people. >> oh, boy. okay. >> it's like going to medical school all over again. >> the thing about co-ops, it is the same as many people in big cities, especially new york, own co-ops. you don't own the unit, you own part of a corporation. >> they'll tell you it has to be of a certain size to be

competitive. they say 500,000 people. if you don't have that many, how you going to compete against the private insurance industry? >> sanjay, stick around. sanjay will work very hard for a long time until we get this resolved. we want to know what you think on the latest twist. is going it alone a good strategy for the the democrats? go to kron.com/heidi or cnn.com/don, or find me on twitter, or facebook. don lemon cnn on both and share your thoughts. don't cover the violence. afghan government appealing to the media just hours before the presidential election. hurricane bill now a category 4. the forecast has shifted to the west. plus southeast texas got hammered yesterday. tornadoes on the ground. damage and injuries. whether's coming up. there's no way to hide it. sir, have you been drinking tonight? if you ride drunk, you will get caught... and you will get arrested.

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here's a story we're following for you this morning. democrats going it alone on health care. they don't want bipartisan support. do you think that this is a good strategy? if you think it is good or bad, go to cnn.com, or cnn.com, click on slash heidi, or slash don.

cnn.com/don or cnn.com/heidi. you can reach us on twitter, on facebook. we'll get your comments and questions on the air. we appreciate them. other news, this is coming from overseas. the afghan government is calling on journalists not to cover attacks on election day. they are worried people won't show up to vote if they hear about the violence. we are just getting word that seven election workers have been killed this week. today police stormed a kabul bank killing three armed robbers. local media reported those men were taliban members. atia has more on tomorrow's election. hi. >> reporter: hi, don. yes, tomorrow will be the second-ever presidential elections for afghans. but the question remains will they even risk going out to the polls? violence has increased throughout the country, including the capital city of kabul. kabul considered one of the safest parts of the country. just yesterday the second suicide car bombing in four

days. at least 15 people have been killed in those car bombings. we've seen rockets launched into the city. we've seen suicide attackers. we've also heard about that gun battle this morning. the taliban spokesperson says that wasn't it, that they have 20 suicide bombers infiltrating the capital city right now and it has many afghans fearing, is it even worth heading to the polls tomorrow, because it is worth their lives? do they want their fathers to go? do they want their mothers to go, brothers, sisters? they'd rather stay home because they think that their vote won't even count due to the fraud. don? >> now that we've talked about the government intimidation towards the media, atia, i'm sure that's not the only thing the taliban has been doing to intimidate people from heading to the polls. >> reporter: the problem with the people of afghanistan, they're getting intimidation from every which way they go. the taliban has threatened to chop off index fingers. when an afghan person goes out to vote, they deep their finger

in a bottle of ink to show they voted and they can't vote again. it takes weeks for that ink to come off. the taliban says if they see that on anyone's finger, they'll chop their fingers off. they've also threatened to cut their throats, attack polling stations. threats are coming to both foreign and american journalists. an e-mail was a requirement that we not report on the elections. if the foreign media reports on violence during that time period, they're told they'll be kick out of the country and the afghan media's organization will be shut down. >> atia, thank you very much from kabul this morning. the incumbent president and 40 challengers are on the ballot.

17 million afghans are registered to vote. international donors are helping pay for the $223 million election. 30 different groups, both domestic and international, will m monitor for possible fraud. what are the big issues at stakes in this election and why should you care about something happening so far away? we'll talk about that at the bottom of the hour. you should care about it. just like you should care about this story -- bill, now a cat 4. rob, folks along the east coast, should they be preparing? is it going to be a fish storm? >> we're hoping it is going to be a fish storm but it is too soon to tell, don, with everything kind of lining up to where it is going to at least get close to the u.s. northwest, looking at heat. east coast looking at heat as well. near 90 in seattle. 92 degrees expected in new york city. heat advisories out. that's weather that's affecting people right now. what could affect you in the coming days, hurricane bill, now

category 4, we have winds at 135 miles an hour, gusting to 160. look at this well-defined eye right there. my goodness, this is about 30 miles in diameter. this thing is a beast. hurricane-force winds extend 45 miles out. tropical storm-force winds extend even further out than that. looking at serious storm here. want to show you what's going on as far as the track of this thing. here are forecast models, they've shifted a little bit to the west, a couple of them are. it does go west of bermuda. the recurvature happens before it gets too close to new england. category 4, might even strengthen a little bit before it makes that turn. there you go. new england is in the cone of uncertainty. that's certainly something to keep in mind as we go through the next 24 to 48 hours. look at this, don. an f-1 tornado rode through southeast texas yesterday, did some damage to a kohl's an walmart. couple of people were hurt, no fatalities.

but it is still severe weather season. matter of fact, parts of new york city got hit with a pretty good hailstorm as well. we'll talk more about an hour. >> what's the well-defined eye tell you? is that the power of the storm or how compact it is? >> actually, smaller eyes can often whirl a storm around even quicker. so it doesn't necessarily determine how strong or where it is in the cycle. i'll tell you this though, it is heading into an area that's conducive for more strengthen g strengthening. we'll see over the next 24 hours. wanting to be heard in the debate over health care reform. americans with disabilities, some have insurance, others have been denied. our dr. sanjay gupta takes a look at what might change.

we're working to bring you the very latest on health care, the showdown on capitol hill. really all around the country. cnn has learned that democrats may roll out a new tactic. it is an obscure budget maneuver allowing them to pass a senate measure with a simple majority of 51 votes, not the 60 normally needed. in other words, not a single republican vote would be needed in all of this. watching the debate, millions of americans with disabilities, some, but not all, are covered by insurance. back, our practicing neurosurgeon, dr. sanjay gupta. first this question from a viewer in illinois. listen to this. >> hello, this is james windings. i am in west frankfurt. i just have a question about poom that have disabilities. will this health care reform affect us? >> well, james, first, thanks so much for calling in. we've been doing some homework on this. this may be surprising to people out there, there are 54 million

americans with some sort of disability, mental impairment, physical or visually. a lot of them don't have adequate insurance or are uninsured completely. those who do have insurance are covered through medicare, medicaid. getting to the specifics about what would happen under this proposed health care reform, if you have medicare an medicaid there would be no change in coverage but james, what we figured out, a lot of people fall through the cracks. here's why. imagine yourself, have you a disability. you make money but not enough to qualify for medicaid. but too little to actually pay all the medical expenses associated with your disability. therein lies the problem. that's why tense of millions of people fall through the cracks. that's why the white house said they'd address that specifically. if you're uninsured or purchase insurance but have a hard time affording it, you won't be discriminated against for pre-existing conditions. that's huge. not annual caps for insurance

premiums. you goat august, run out of money for your insurance premium, that can't happen. and make sure you have a choice between doctors and insurance programs. there is this community choice act that says hospital facilities have to all be wheelchair accessible. can you imagine that? that may change under some of these bills coming out. >> how does someone who's in a wheelchair get in? >> i don't know. i was surprised. the hospital that i work at is wheelchair accessible. i can't imagine if you're in a wheelchair, you go to a hospital, you'd expect you could get in. >> you talk about seniors and disabled really paying close attention to this because they're the folks now who are in this process and dealing with it right now. let's talk about another viewer said, why doesn't hr-3200, the house plan, include reform for insurance coverage or autism treatment. >> great question as well.

this was very interesting to us. first, the writer is correct, we look through the whole 1,017 pages and don't see the word "autism" mentioned. we did our homework, talked to autism speaks. they say they were surprised there is not specific autism insurance reform as a part of this bill. what the white house will say is, if you look at the overall plan, no pre-existing condition discrimination, cutting down on caps for insurance premiums, that's going to help the community that has autism pay for their bills. 36 states right now don't offer behavioral/cognitive therapy that's covered by insurance. very difficult. i don't know if this will address it or not. >> as we know, get it in writing. if you want to deal -- in they want to have their issues dealt with, it needs to be in that legislation as well. >> that's right. who knows how the final bill will look. had t may have it in there, but right now as far as we can tell, it doesn't. >> if you want to learn more about the health care reform and

how it could affect you, check on cnn.com. health care section. it has all the fast facts, everything you need to know. go to cnn.com/health care. advice from dr. sanjay gupta on there as well. josh levs looking into something a lot of people say they are worried about here. what is on their minds, josh? >> they're asking about rationing. you can see, cnn.com/health care, the latest from the cnn truth squad. you've heard the arguments on the different sides. will health care reform ultimately lead to government rationing? the truth squad has taken a look and we have a verdict.

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up one day, down the next. that is the way things have been going on wall street. all this week. that pattern is likely to continue this morning.

we're expecting a sharp drop at the open following yesterday's down day. susan lisovicz is at the new york stock exchange. you hear the bell right there. >> i think i hear your voice. good morning, don. nobody said that the dog days of summer would be completely exclusive of volatility. that's what we're seeing this week. as with monday's sell-off, investors here are taking their cue from overseas markets. the shanghai composite tumbled more than 4% due to fears that the chinese government's easy credit policy won't fuel a sustainable recovery. that's wheresome because china is a bim solve growth. also sitting confidence, nearly 20% drop in hewlett-packard's quarterly profits. pc and pint printer ink sales r weak. hp shares right now are down 3%. a. a new top dog in the home building market.

shareholders approving pulte's purchase of rival centex. shareholders encouraged the deal. they said a bigger company would be stronger and survive the housing downturn. the price, nearly $1.5 billion in stock. the dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 each down about 1%. let's end on a bright note, mr. lemon. you could have made quite a bit of money if you bought google shares when the company went public five years ago today. that ipo priced at $85 at their high. google shares soared above $700. today, google shares trading around $445. a gain of 425% for five years. woulda, shoulda, coulda. >> i'm actually saying that

because i had the opportunity. but i'm still working right here. susan, always good to see you. let's go overseas to afghanistan. it is about 12 hours away from holding only its second election since the overthrow of the taliban back in 2001. here's what we know right now. security is a very big concern. the government has asked the media not to report on violence on election day to avoid scaring people away from the polls. the taliban has vowed to disrupt the election. the terrorist group has said it's behind several recent attacks. incumbent president hamid karzai is the front-runner. he faces 40 challengers, including his former foreign minister who is the top challenger there. now to the front lines of tomorrow's election. cnn's ivan watson is on the ground for us in the central afghanistan. it is a relatively peaceful part of the country but security is still am major concern.

>> reporter: compared to southern and eastern afghanistan, and increasingly northern afghanistan where the taliban insurgency is so active and bloody, this is a virtual oasis of calm. that's because many people who live here are an ethic group called the hazarras. you may see the cave where a 150-foot tall buddhist statue that dated back at least 15 centuries where it was destroyed by the taliban more than eight years ago. we went out with trucks delivering ballot boxes today for tomorrow's vote. let's look at what we saw during that journey. we're in a convoy on a police truck. we're escorting this truck up ahead of us. in the dust you might be able to see it. it is taking ballot boxes up to some of the polling stations here in afghanistan's central bamiyan province. as you can see, security is important here even though this is one of the safest provinces

in the country. despite that good track record, election workers say in some parts of the province, they've heard of armed men going house to house warning people not to vote. also there's been a spike in violence and insurgent attacks over the past three months as insurgents have tried to disrupt this election process. now you can tell the roads here are not paved. despite the fact that bamiyan is one of the safest provinces in the country, it's been spared the daily car bombs and roadside bombs that the south and the east of the country have seen and some of the assassination attacks. it still hasn't really benefited from recon instruction. there are fewer than five miles, five kilometers of paved road, in this entire province. that makes this election a real logistical challenge. you can see the posters over there of some of the candidates for provincial council and for president. people here, they say they are going to participate in the

elections tomorrow, and there is a lot of support here for the incumbent president hamid karzai. in part, because some of the traditional ethnic hazarra leaders have endorsed the incumbent president hamid karzai. don, western officials i've talked to here do predict hamid karzai is expected to do quite well here. i talked to one shop keeper who said "i am not going to vote for that man. he promised to held rebill my province and he hasn't done anything here." he pointed at the unpaved road right outside his shop and the clinic across the street. he said eight years after the taliban was overthrown there was a new clinic there but no doctors and no medicine. >> ivan watson in central afghanistan. an election taking place while war rages? a key test of democracy in afghanistan. we'll talk to one expert on the region why tomorrow's vote is so

crucial and why you should care about it. the obama administration's battle for health care reform. there could be a major shift? strategy underway or at least under consideration. top democrats close to the white house tell cnn they could push through a bill without republican backing. cnn's ed henry delivered details last night on "ac 360." >> it is a budget maneuver, very could be secure, known as reconciliation where they'd only need a simple majority, get 51 votes instead of 60 votes, to push through health reform. republicans would scream this is a power grash, an underhanded move. but white house officials privately are already laying groundwork by saying we've been working with republicans for months. if they don't get something done in the next few weeks we'll have to take drastic measures. as one top advisor of the president put it to me, if we have to push it through this way, no one's going to remember how messy it is. what they'll remember at the end of the day is that we got health care reform done. "a win is a win." as his advisor said. that's what people will

remember. if will be messy, but if they have to do it, they think people will forget get about the process and remember the substance. we're following the health care debate all morning and of course working all of our sources in washington to try to get you the latest and the facts on what's going on. when it comes to health care reform. we're being bombarded with tv ads, spin from washington, and a lot of stuff online as well. here to help us sort through all the facts and the fiction, and tell us what's really the facts in this, we're hearing about rationing care, josh. what's that all about? >> it is a big buzzword. one thing we're doing is focusing largely on what we're hearing from viewers. i'm going to show you an example. this is from jason rogers in san antonio, texas, who asked us if care will be rationed under governme government-run health care system. the white house is saying right

here reform will stop rationing, not increase it. that's their side of it. let's look at what president obama said the other day. >> what we've proposed is not to reduce benefits, benefits on medicare would stay the same. it is not to ration. what we are asking is that we eliminate some of the practices that aren't making people healthier. >> the president was talking about what's been proposed. it's true if you look at what's been proposed, no one is proposing something that would be rationing. however, it's not that simple. look at what i'm showing you now. from the cato institute, a non-profit think tank that leans libertarian. they've said, the costs of a government-run plan could ultimately skyrocket. the next screen shows the point they're making, if that were to happen, they say since the government will be the only entity in their view with any incentive to actually control costs, the government will basically find itself, they say, having to ration care. so our verdict here is on this

next screen. we're going with this in dispute. you might say, wait a second, there are two different sides, what are you giving me here? what we're giving you here is that even though the white house states as a fact that it will not ration care, that it will cut back on rationing or avoid some concerns about rationing, we cannot tell you definitively that will ultimately be the case. that's really important. a lot of this stuff when it comes to health care reform is predictive, what will cese we s some day, what will happen. the concerns about will the government ration could exist for years to come and it could be something people watch out for. >> my mick name for you -- the answer man. >> oh, my goodness. i'm going to start compiling a list. >> josh, appreciate it. i'm rob marciano in the severe weather center. also the hurricane headquarters. we have a hurricane. bill now a category 4. what are the chances of it hitting the u.s.? weather still to come. "cnn newsroom" is coming right back.

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. okay. some developing news here. a wave of explosions in baghdad. six blasts in one hour. it is the deadliest day since u.s. troops handed over security to the iraqis. authorities say at least 75 people were killed and more than 400 wounded. government buildings and commercial buildings were hit. iraqi official say two suspects believed to be senior leaders of al qaeda in iraq are under arrest. now in afghanistan. afghanistan's second presidential election ever happening tomorrow. in the middle of a rising tide of taliban violence in the country, it's happening. coalition forces have made a big push against the militants in the south, though security is still a concern nationwide.

joining us to talk about all of this, this election, why it's so important, a former u.s. state department official and currently with the coalition on foreign relations, daniel markey. thanks for joining us. my first question, obviously it is terrible people are losing their lives. it is because they don't want people to go to the polls, that's terrible because they should be able to vote. but why should the average person if you're listening on sirius, watching on cnn right now, why should we care about that? >> well, the average american should be worried because the entire project in afghanistan, the reason why we have tens of thousands of troops there, is based on the idea that eventually we'll get a stable and effective government and this election is one piece in that process. if it's thoroughly discredited by the taliban, if it leads to more instability, then the political side of the equation won't come together and the military side won't be enough to hold afghanistan together over the longer term. >> is it indeed true that the taliban, whoever's doing this -- and the government is saying

that it is the taliban -- they're doing this to keep people away from the polls or is that just karzai saying that for his own good? >> i think they're certainly trying to keep people away from the polls, trying to discredit the entire process and also playing to an international audience, playing to your viewers to try to show them this is an unwinnable war and to demonstrate that to the world and to presumably change minds in various capitals in europe and back here in washington. >> is it hamid karzai's own fault? he baen kr he's been criticized for not evening trying to reach across to see if in any way he can coerce them to not being so violent, programs that he's put into place have come under fire saying they weren't effective at all and nothing really happened. is it his own fault? >> it's partially karzai's fault. his government has been seen as both corrupt and ineffective. a number of his political

challengers are taking him to task for that. but we should be clear, this has been a failure over years by both karzai, the international community, the united states. afghanistan is incredibly challenging project and we can't lay all the blame at karzai's feet. >> we should also care, too, because didn't the president just commit more troops to going to afghanistan in our men and women's lives are on the line there. >> absolutely, no question. we should care about our troops and also care about stability in afghanistan so we don't see a return to something that is like pre-9/11 afghanistan. >> does it look like in this election karzai will end up being the winner? >> it does like liook like he'l eventually win. some polls suggest he's more at 45% of the vote which would cause a run-off in another month. that period of a month could be a very difficult time in afghanistan. >> i have a short time left.

if he does win, then what happens? if he doesn't win, i hate to say this, but are we looking at sort of instability comparatively as to what's going on in iran? >> well, in iraq, i think basically afghanistan is going to see a heavy period of fighting no matter what happens in this political process. the injection of more troops, u.s. troops, in the south is forcing a lot of violence down there. >> i meant iran. the unrest in iran. i didn't mean iraq. >> oh. in iran. >> similar unrest for people disputing the election. >> i'm sorry, i didn't understand. yes, there is potential for widespread public unrest particularly if they perceive that the election came off in a thoroughly corrupt way. if karzai were to announce he had 60%, 70%, 80% of the vote after this election, i done think many people would believe it. i think a lot of his chief contenders, abdullah abdullah supporters would probably come

to the streets. >> daniel markey, we appreciate it. thank you. absolutely. let's head now to our meteorologist in the cnn severe weather center, keeping track of all that is going on, including bill. right? >> this is a big storm, don. with winds of 135 miles an hour we certainly have to contend with this. it is only about 400 miles -- less than that -- from the leeward islands, antigua, barbuda. this why is 30 miles wide in diameter, getting more defined in the last couple of hours. it is forecast to get into slightly warmer waters here and also less in the way of winds that will upset it. so it could even get stronger than it is and unlikely to become a category 5, but who knows? i mean at one point we didn't think we'd get to category 4. more importantly, where is this thing going to go? kind of sneaks up this weakness in the ridge, gets blocked a little bit by an approaching cold front. but if the front couldn't get

there soon enough, that will allow bill to get closer to the east coast, maybe even make landfall there. right now though computer models are not saying that, national hurricane forecast keeps it a category 4 strength, actually does increase its strength to about 145 miles an hour. you might be seeing that right now. 3 or 4 as it shoots the gap between bermuda and the carolinas. sharp right-hand turn to the right. notice the cone of uncertainty skims the eastern seaboard of new england. that's got us a little bit on edge right now especially if it shifts over towards the west. one other item of concern is this -- all this mess is what's left of ana which still is not forecast to develop but it will be drifting into the gulf of mexico. we'll watch that very carefully as well. that's the latest from the tropics. big heat across the east coast, west coast. summertime heat. stay cool out there. >> you talked about the tornado damage and all of that happening down in texas. right? >> yeah, big tornado damage. check out some of this video. it is impressive.

these cars outside after walmart parking lot being tossed and turned around. also a kohl's parking lot in beaumont, texas. golden triangle hit with an f-1 tornado yesterday, winds over 120 miles an hour there. certainly doing some damage. severe weather in inland states also a problem. >> thank you, rob. a maryland lawmaker in hot water for creating the perfect romantic setting. why? on bended knee. could mean much more than a marriage proposal 37.

heidi's off today, i'm don lemon. we're taking your comments on the democrats side that they may go it alone to push this health care bill through. twitter here, finally, the dems have taken a page from the repubs or handbook for years. 51 votes to pass everything from now on. let's see what you're saying on our blog here. we're watching you in civics class in oakland, tennessee. not sure why the dems would push this bill. let's see if i could get one more frayou from the blog.

the demhas been going it alone, what's changed? it's about time. thank you, logon to cnn.com and go to heidi or don or go to cnn.com/newsroom and you can click on our twitter, facebook, my space and also get your comments. grounding adults in new jersey. grounding adults. it sounds extreme, but officials in patterson are considering a citywide curfew for everyone after a series of deadly city shootings. the curfew would last for two months and bar any loitering between midnight and 7:00 a.m. penalties could include a $200 fine and 90 days in jail. if it passes, legal experts say it could lead to a whole bunch of lawsuits. a modal who was slammed with a bunch of derogatory comments online is a step closer to finding out who posted them. a new york supreme court judge ruled a canadian-born model has the right to know who her online

heckler was. she'sd done shoots for "vogue" and other online magazines. the judge ordered goog tool hand over any information. google released this comment. it says, we sympathize with anyone who may be the victim of cyberbullying. we also take great care to respect privacy concerns and will only provide information about a user in response to a subpoena or other court order. does this mean the end of the blogging of free speech online? does it mean that? people who are blogging. should they have the same standards as journalists? we want to know. a whole lot of people could be outed by this. make sure you join us to talk about the legal ramifications here on cnn and go online, go to our newsroom blog. send us your comments and we will try to address them and get them on the air for you.

cnn.com/heidi and find me on twitter or facebook and please find your thoughts with them. a lot going on in the next hour of "the newsroom." let's check in first with christine romans in new york. >> your credit card interest rates might be rising, no surprise. it has been happening in the first six months of this year. we'll tell you why and tell you about new important new rules for consumers that go ineffect starting tomorrow that could help your credit cards and what the unintended consequences might be. >> i'm susan lisovicz at the new york stock exchange where we expect ubs to name names. nearly 4,500 of them. the swiss banking giant is being forced to reveal the names of americans who hid money in secret overseas account. don, more on in the next hour. >> i'm rob marciano in your hurricane headquarters. the national hurricane center will have an update in the next hour.

>> thanks to you all. why americans paid so much for prescription drugs. dr. sanjay gupta looks at how the government is dealing with that question in the reform debate. -d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-dd

he pulled out all the stops. he wanted her to say i do. but now a lawmaker is saying, i'm sorry. terry oowens from our affiliate tells us how this guy may have used his clout and city resources to create the perfect setting for his marriage proposal. >> reporter: they delegate john carton he wanted to make his fiance's night perfect. his plan to propose to her on a boat on august 7th. having a helicopter hover overhead as city marine police searched the boat. but commissioner has ordered an investigation. he wants to know if this was more than just a case of bad judgment. >> i don't know, though, that this is much beyond the scope of a couple officers who used poor judgment and i'm going to

reserve much more comment until i know more of the facts. >> reporter: the commissioner also wants to know why he's only hearing about it now, even though state employees have been talking about it for a while. apparently, it was the talk of last week's commission. the commis upset this is happening when budget cuts threaten. people believe the police department is doing everything it can to stop waste. >> i think people will put this in context and i think they will understand bad judgment or human error differently than they would understand systemic waste. >> reporter: delegate carton has contacted the department for reimbursing their cost. >> he put the baltimore police department in this kind of

predicament and spotlight. >> just in case you are wondering, his fiancee said yes. we're focusing now on your money, specifically some big changes with your plastic. the first provision of a credit card reform law will take effect tomorrow. christine romans is going to join us now from new york to go over the new rules here. christine? >> this affects, don, millions and millions of americans. anybody with a credit card or two or three or four in your pocket or billfold, this story is for you. starting tomorrow, these new provisions and these credit card bill of rights are going into effect and some of the provisions don't get under way until february and some not until later next year and here is what some of them are. you have the right to reject a rate increase if your credit card company tells you it's raising your rate, you have the right to reject that rate increase and say i will repay my

balance at the currenteralty. they have to give you 45 days note before they raise your rates and they have to mail you your bills 21 days before the due date and now they can do that 45 days before the due date. you can also start looking, as soon as your october billing period for some of these changes and how it might affect you. what the industry has been doing, they have been raising interest rates for people who have less than stellar credit and missed some payments and the like. they have been closing accounts for some people saying it isn't a good cost of doing business for some of you, frankly, any more. higher interest rates, we've seen that coming earlier this year and riskier borrowers could be shut down and annual fees for good customers. we've already been seeing them, some of the rewards programs and some kind of interesting ways they have been pulling back on the rewards programs for good customers. you used to be able to get 5%

cashback on all purchases on some cards. now you only get 5% cashback on different categories in different months. if you are a good customer, you always pay on time, you might start seeing your own credit card terms and relationship with the credit card company changing over the next days and months, don. >> very good. thank you very much, christine romans. >> sure. coming up at the bottom of the hour, the changes you'll see and more changes are on the way and we'll fell you what to expect from credit card companies next year. we have it all for you. cash for clunkers is apparently a good deal for gm and other automakers. the automaker is announcing it's recalling more than 1,300 laid off workers and 10,000 current workers will get some overtime. >> people are out there buying their product and the economy is

picking up. >> that's good news for us that we're working overtime and the tires are starting to come in and people are buying cars again. >> gm's production increase coming just five days after ford announced plans to boost its production. nearly all automakers have reported increases due the clunker's program, but analysts suggest interest in the program may be slowing because many customers who have been waiting for good deals have now already made them. want to check in now on wall street. take a look at the numbers on the big board there. there we go. the dow is down some 19 points and back trading at 9,200. down 17 points. we'll check in with our susan lisovicz for a full report from wall street coming up in just a bit. loet let's go now to our hurricane headquarters and check in with rob marciano. what do you have for us, rob? >> still a hurricane of category 4 status, but the wind of 135

miles per hour and we will get an update here by the end of the hour to see if the national hurricane center is going to actually upgrade that. it has gotten even more well-defined and has the eye and the last couple hours you see it there and really see right down into the ocean with even better development across the southwestern side of this. so, it's getting into an area that is conducive for strengthening. will it become a category 5? that's possible. but it has some work to do that. what do we think is going to happen? here's a couple computer models and skating by bermuda to the west and everything has shifted farther to the west and that's good and bad news. we still have the recurving but the shift to the west. that brings the u.s. into play a little bit more. the east coast of new england may be in that cone of uncertainty and that margin for error as we get into saturday afternoon and sunday afternoon.

i tell you this, friday and saturday, you will feel the effect in big waves and big breakers in the east coast. the jersey shoreline and also the carolina coastline. 89 degrees in seattle and 96 in dallas and some eat there and also 92 degrees in new york city. my goodness. this is a shot from our affiliate in portland, oregon. that's koin. channel 6 there. that looks like a desert. they're under a heat advisory. the sun is coming up, but under a heat advisory today and temperatures get into the 90s and a massive heat wave a couple weeks ago where they reached up over 100. in august it's tough to get over 100 degrees because the days are a little bit shorter and for that reason they'll probably stay below 100, but smoking hot. severe across parts of the heartland. severe weather yesterday in beaumont, texas. f-1 touching down there and did

some damage and thunderstorms could be quite violent today across the central part of the country. >> i couldn't even make it out. >> i worked in portland for six years and i had no idea where that camera was pointing. it's definitely going to be hot there. >> thank you, rob. let's go overseas now. a wave of explosions in baghdad. six blasts in one hour. the deadliest day since u.s. troops handedorve security to the iraqis. authorities say at least 75 people were killed and more than 400 wounded. government buildings and commercial buildings were hit. iraqi officials say two suspects, believe to be senior leaders in al qaeda and iraq are now under arrest. security is a major concern as voters in afghanistan go to the polls, a little more than 12 hour s from now. seven election workers in attacks yesterday. the afghan media is calling on the media not to report election

video for fears it will go to the polls. atia joins us now live from kabul. >> that's right, don. we want to try to see what the election preparations were. we were turned away from four polling stations. we have independent electoral cards to allow us to go in. unfortunately, we can't report to you how well the preparations are going, but violence is increasing throughout the country, including here in the capital of kabul where we saw two suicide car bombers in the span of four days and increased rocket attacks into the capital, including one that hit the presidential compound yesterday injuring a staffer and now we're also hearing from the foreign ministry that journalists are banned from reporting about any violence tomorrow from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. they're in fear if the afghan people hear about the violence they won't head out to the polls but many media organizations, particularly afghan organizations refuse to go along with this ban. they say it's unconstitutional

and they want the afghan people to know if they're at risk. the foreign ministry has threatened journalists and they say the foreign media, if they do report on violence, they will be threatened to leave the country and local media will be shut down. don? >> atia, thank you. health care reform, the stakes rise and a confrontation bill, democrats are considering a bold move that could ignite new outrage.

the story we're following all morning. democrats say they may go it alone and push through a republican health care plan without any public support. go to cnn.com/heidi or cnn.com/don or also find us on facebook and twitter. please, share your thoughts with us. debate over health care reform, it is enough to give you a headache, really. all those facts and figures, not to mention all the spin from bloggers on both sides of the aisle. we want to give you clear answers here, our chief medical correspondent who is an insider and also practicing neurosurgeon. dr. sanjay gupta taking your questions. the insider in there and just kind of funny. you're a neuro surgeon and our chief medical correspondent. that's pretty big, right? sanjay was on the ground to cover today's questions for us. so this one, sanjay we want to get to from twitter.

prescription drugs. here's the question. will the current reforms push the sale of generic drugs, sanjay? >> this is an important question, in part, because such a focus around costs. how do you cut costs and drug costs are something a lot of people focus on. a couple facts that you might find interesting. out of every ten prescriptions are for generic drugs. therein lies some of the cost savings we're hearing about. going to the white house to ask specifically about how this might work in terms of taking brand name drugs and making them generic more quickly. a long answer, but a lot of different answers. they establish legal pathways for legal drugs and create incentives for research and invasion and here's something you didn't know and this is something i found interesting. a brand name drugmaker go to a generic brandmaker and say we will pay you some money instead

so you don't. the company may benefit, but the public doesn't. >> why does that happen? >> they don't want the drug to go generic, they are making more money as a brand-name drug. so, this is part of the anti-competitive agreements that we're hearing about. we don't know how it will play out, but the idea that you could get generics a little bit more quickly is a possibility. not everyone loves that. people say i want my brand name drugs and i don't want a generic. >> it's all about that. all about the dollar. i got to ask you, didn't the administration make a deal with the pharmaceutical industry so how does that factor in to all this? >> well, the deal specifically has been crafted that the pharmaceutical industry agrees not to draw down as much money from medicare specifically. about $80 billion over ten years. what that means specifically for medicare recipients you might see lower drug costs overall and affecting this thing called

doughnut hole. think of it like this, say you have $10,000 in drug costs the first 2,100 might be covered and then won't be covered again until you get to 6,100 in costs. 4,000 you have to pay right in the middle. they don't want to pay the 4,000 and discounts for drugs is part of this. the criticism you reported on that people heard about is this idea if the white house is negotiating with the pharmaceutical industry, does it take away their bargaining power in the years to come. can that really happen if this goes through? >> all right. very good information from the insider. the insider. >> we should talk about this all hour. >> did you go to school and get a title for insider college? thank you, sanjay. health care reform, democrats are considering a bold move that could ignite new outrage. ♪

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the talk of the nation has been on health care reform. a make or break month for it and a make it or take it ultimatum. democrats could push their arms through the senate and they could do it without a single republican vote. a developing story for us that we're following and elaine quijano at the white house. elaine, as i understand, the president just spoke and did he say anything about this go it alone strategy? >> the off-camera gaggle in his office just moments ago, don. all this stems from a "new york times" story this morning and this morning in his office just now, robert gibbs pushed back

against the idea that somehow the white house has made up its mind to go it alone without the help of republicans and pushing forward health care reform. robert gibbs saying that asked whether or not that was necessarily the case and he said absolutely not. he said that the president has said all along and continues to believe that, in fact, anybody and everybody who wants to work on health care, that's who the white house is going to work with on this. he noted the finance committee is still trying to hash out details on this and that the administration remains hopeful that they can get bipartisan support. he also talked about the timing. why on earth on august 19th when a vote is still weeks away. we're talking fall here, september, october, why would the white house necessarily say we've given up on republicans entirely and that is the white house position today, again, pushing back on this information. don? >> did gibbs talk at all about

what appears to be an inconsistency in their message and the administration's message? >> he was asked about that right off the bat, the idea of this public option and whether the administration is backing away from it. as you know, some liberals have been quite concerned because of comments over the weekend that both the president and his health and human services secretary made indicating to some liberals in their view that perhaps the administration was backing off the public option. robert gibbs said, again, look, we'll do this dance again. he said it's not changed. the white house position has remained consistent, he said, over the last few months that, in fact, the white house all throughout the administration, in fact, believes that the best way to overhaul the system would be to include a public option, but, of course, the debate over whether the administration's depositid position changed and, again, robert gibbs insisting that nothing at all has changed in the white house's view.

>> since we have you here, we'll keep you longer than i had planned. i want to ask you about this, later today the president will participate in a conference call with faith leaders to discuss health insurance reform. how big of an initiative is this to include vangalists in garnering support for health reform? >> obviously, this is significant. the president is reaching out trying to get the message to really all corners and trying to drum up support for this. whether or not we'll hear anything new remains an open question. yesterday robert gibbs was asked about this and he joked and said what you'll hear is "boring consistency" in the message here. reel talk about the importance of trying to provide health care for millions of americans who don't have it right now. will there be some kind of different emphasis in his message and he said the president will continue to talk about what he thinks is important in the health care debate. >> elaine quijano, a lot of news coming out of the white house.

immigrations' impact on health care reform. some call that issue the elephant in the room. right now the center for immigration studies is talking about, talking about that and had a panel discussion in washington. the group estimates one out of three people in the u.s. without health insurance is either a legal or illegal immigrant. yet, it says the enormous impact it could have on health care system has generally not be acknowledged in the current debate. if you want to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms could affect you and your family, check out the special health care in america section and get the very latest on the town hall debates, the fact checks and other health care news. go to cnn.com/healthcare. a case of online heckling puts free speech right at the center of the spotlight. why a blogger may learn the hard way to just hit delete. (announcer) your doctor knows

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we've been talking all morning about big changes in credit card rolls that affect your money. for more on that and what folks have to say about these changes, let's check in with poppy harlow in new york. good morning. what do you have? >> this whole change is aimed at helping consumers. it goes into effect tomorrow and some of the rules, the credit card companies are going to have to send you your bill 21 days before you have to pay it. it used to be a 14-day advance notice, that extends you by one week. you have to have 45-day notice before raising rates and that used to be just 15 days notice and that can help you out. you can also keep in mind decline the new rate if they jack up your interest rates and pay off your existing balance,

don, on a card as the old rate. if they raise your rate too much, thanks, but no thanks. i'll pay what i owe you and then good-bye. >> this is just the first round of protekdz. what are some other changes that take effect? there are some changes in february, right? >> most of them will not go into effect until february. here are some of the key ones we want to highlight for eye. first of all, the credit card companies won't be able to raise the rate on existing balances unless you're at least 60 days late in your payments. you have two months leeway there. also, when you make a payment, it has to be applied toward that part of your balance with the higher interest rate, that didn't used to be the case. also, credit card companies are no longer allowed to use this universal default. today, right now, if you default on one card payment, the other credit card companies of cards you may hold can raise your interest rate, as well. that can't happen and also, don, starting in february, only the card you can default on can hike

your rate. >> when this law was passed in may, i think the credit card company was passed in may, it would make credit card more expensive and less available, is that what you're seeing? >> it's exactly what a we're seeing. credit card companies make a lot of money when they don't pay their bills on time. rate going up and riskier accounts close, people that have been defaulting more, they just get shut down completely. reduce credit limits, higher to get a credit card in many cases. also fees have been rising and this is because the credit card companies need a way to profit and they profit from higher fees. people are writing in to me on facebook telling me interesting things. good news coming in, she said my husband just got a notice from his credit card company raising interest rates and various fees. what is surprising is that it was written on a single page document written in plain english. encouraging news there. scott wrote in, we had some of our rates randomly raised right

there as the minimum monthly payments dramatically increased as it backs us into the corner. this will all change starting tomorrow, don. >> thank you, poppy. >> sure. let's head to another part of new york right now and talk to susan lisovicz because the swiss banking jisent naming names thousands of americans have been hiding money in off shore accounts but it's not a secret any more. susan lisovicz with all the details. you see the numbers there. >> we're watching shares of ubs, as well. shares trading in new york right now. down 2.25%. why is that stock under pressure? ubs has been under pressure this coming as a result of an agreement between the irs and the swiss government and now this huge swiss bank is handing over nearly 4,500 names to the irs. why is that? i mean, swiss bank loves secrecy. well, so do wealthy americans. the irs says that these folks

evaded taxes by hiding their money overseas. ubs was forced to do so. another 5,000 names could be revealed. those are people who confessed to the irs on their own. at one point, don, the accounts held $18 billion. needless to say, the u.s. government could use that kind of money right about now. >> you can say that again. the u.s. government can use that kind of money right about now. what will happen to these people? will they face any legal action or jailtime maybe? >> don't know. naming names the first step. back taxes will be paid and there are reports that criminal cases are being built, but there may be some separation between those who were forced. their names were outed and others who, themselves, came first. they may have some sort of amnesty. we do note, there is no

question, a lot of people confessed prior to this news today. 400 people confessed in the first week of july compared to less than 100 of last year. and next month and just quickly i'll just look at the numbers for you since you see the big board there. the dow is off its lows of the session. that's a good thing. right now it's just sort of marginal losses. looked like a rough open, but we saw the bulls trying to fight back. >> thank you, susan. again, always good to see you. some of the homeless in sacramento could soon have a temporary place to stay. officials are working on a plan to create a camp site for homeless people. camp site for homeless people. kevin johnson assembled a task force to organize the stepping stone camp site which will house 60 people and provide basic services like running water and

garbage pickup. the city council would have to approve the plan before it could go into effect. well, you can blog, but you can't hide. a blogger who posted derogatory and malicious comments about this model online learned that the hard way. pay attention, everyone, to this story even if you comment online. a judge ordered that google hand over information that identified the blogger. does this mean the end of blogging or free speech as we know it? >> joining us right now security privacy and cyberspace attorney. thank you for joining us. i am very interested in this story because as someone who is in the public eye, most of the things out there online about people are untrue. right? because there's no governing online. finally, there appears to be at least another step because this happened before and to making sure that people are accurate online and some accountability. >> well, i think people are accountable online as they are

off line, but a lot of us don't recognize it. free speech only covers a certain amount of speech and doesn't cover defamation or harassment and if you're doing that online this case and a lot of others before it say we'll find you. >> shouldn't people online, especially if you're writing and especially now with the how big bloggers are getting and i want to make sure i phrase this correctly. bloggers are being seen now to have sort of the same legitimacy as news organizations. if that is, indeed, the case, shouldn't they be held to the same standards as news organizations? >> they should, except news organizations have a lot of money and credibility and policies behind them and bloggers can just create an account and anybody can be one. i think what you need to do is look at the difference between the bloggers that are really news reporters and those who are people who are talking about their dogs online and people they hate. that line you will start seeing shift. if you have a gripe, we can find

out who the person is behind it. >> just real quickly before we get to the specifics on this case. should we still have that sort of mentality, whatever you see online should be a grain of salt until you check the facts yourself? >> absolutely. never believe anything you see online unless you know how credible the person is who is saying it. unless you know their facts are right and that you can trust them, you shouldn't. >> let's talk about this particular case. by the way, this isn't the first time that a company has been asked to hand over information, right? this is the first one we're picking up on and a model and it seems like a succession and it could continue. >> as a lawyer, i have been bringing these cases since just about the internet was created. policies in place at all the companies from goog tool aol and microsoft to turn over your information whether someone asks the right way, whether it's a cop or a lawyer. >> if you're in a similar situation to this young lady and you're being harassed online or something that is being written

about you that's wrong or if there's something that you're afraid of, what should you do in this case? >> well, you have to determine whether or not it's criminal. most of the states have the cyberharassment law and you have to make sure it qualifies as one. the first phone call is to the police and they'll do it for you and for free. if it's defamatory and something you think you have legal roilths to do it about, then you have them do it. rude people online you may not be able to take to court. know that you do have rights and you have to do something to protect yourself. >> very interesting. even with that online, i mean, that lives online forever. so, whether or not this person is revealed, that's still going to live online and a lot of people will believe it. >> that's it. what you post online stays online forever. you should set up in this case, a google alert. put in your name. >> what should the industry do or law enforcement do in that case? is that just the way it is or should changes be made. >> well, changes are being made

i run the largest internet safety charity and we help people and help them get things down off the internet. remember, this is a moving target. you need to recognize you have rights, ask you the ability to stop somebody from hurting you and you can reach out to lawyers and police to give you some help or you can follow us, wiredmoms on twitter. >> thank you. very good information. checking some of the responses online. i want to get you back to talk about it, very interesting subject. what do you think about this story? should bloggers and people who comment online be held to the same standards as journalists and should they, you know, should they be revealed? so, let's see some of the bloggers can only be taken as commentary. stand-up people stand up to their word. there should be nothing to worry about if you are doing the right thing. so, a lot of people are saying, yes, they should be revealed. let's go to the blog real quick

and see what the blog is saying. no more anonymity for bloggers and i'm sure some people commented. i agree with the judge, for anyone to hide behind the internet screen reeks as a coward to me. i would like the person to stand up and speak his or her mind face-to-face. very good comment there. also, as a blogger and student journalist, i find this legislation troubling. people need to understand that anyone has a right regardless of how ignorant it may be. okay. thank you. freedom of speech. got to include hate speech, as well. thank you for your comments, we really appreciate them. town hall meetings on health reform. where heth care collides and constituents vent. (mom) kraft easy mac is irrp4istible.

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inthe battle for health care reform and new strategy in washington. top democrats tell cnn that they're considering a way to push through a bill without republican backing. it is a budget maneuv ee eer ob but powerful. a simple majority of 51 votes, not the 60 needed to push through health reform. the white house is downplaying the possibility that it is still pushing for bipartisan support. on another front, a pair of house democrats are requesting detailed financial records from house insurance companies. the ap says congressman henry waxman and bart stupack want financial records on highly paid employees.

well, this is considered a make or break month for health care reform. lawmakers are back home, often getting lots of feedback on this hot button issue from constituents and jim acosta sat down in a rowdy town hall meeting just last night. >> congressman barney frank. >> it didn't take long for the shouting to start. >> hey, hey, enough. which one of you wants to yell first? >> reporter: before the first question was asked, massachusetts democrat barney frank was swinging back at opponents of health care reform. >> makes it look like afraid to have a rational discussion and you just drive people away. i'm not here. >> frank tried to dispel some of

the bogus claims. to that, some in the crowd shouted read the bill so he did and found the section where illegal immigrants are excluded. >> right in the bill i showed you. >> reporter: but even that didn't satisfy everyone. >> not having accused of read the bill by people who object when i do. >> reporter: several audience members insist reform will bust the budget. >> we will pay more taxes because of you, sir. >> this bill was practically bankrupt. the economy and the united states government. >> reporter: time and again, frank took that grenade and threw it back. >> i do worry about the deficit. that's one of the reasons, not the only one, that i voted against the single most wasteful expenditure in the history of america. the iraq war. >> reporter: the chairman of the house financial services committee took only a few questions on reforming wall street.

instead, fred talked at length about support for the public option. >> i am not voting for any bill that forces anybody into anything. it will have a public option. >> reporter: and tried to reassure seniors that there were no death panels in the bill. >> the notion that something in this bill would require people who are elderly or sick to be denied medical care and killed, is the stupidest argument i have ever heard. >> reporter: it was at absurdity that retiree and health care representative was happy to see put to rest. can i tell you that i know for a fact that they're not going to pull the plug on grandma. >> they're not going to pull it on me, i tell you. i fight to the death. >> reporter: congressman frank is not insisting that there be a government-run insurance program or public option in the final health care reform package. while he remains a strong supporter of the public option, frank says he does not want to negotiate the final bill in public. jim acosta, cnn, dartmouth,

massachusetts. all right, jim, more lawmakers meeting with their constituents today and here's a look at where town hall meetings are scheduled today. scattered across six states from alabama to texas and oklahoma. if you want to know more about the health care reforms and how it will affect you, check out our special health care in america section at health care in america. go to cnn.com/healthcare. michael jackson's doctor, the man who was there when he died. he breaks his silence. you want to hear what he has to say.

nearly two years after michael rashard was executed, judge sharon keller is on trial for ethic violations. she is answering questions about why she refused to keep the texas court of criminal appeals open past 5:00 p.m. when his lawyers asked for more time to file appeals. she said she was never told of the delayed filing. in about two hours we expect to hear from the mayor of milwaukee. the first comment since beaten saturday night after rushing to help a woman and her 1-year-old granddaughter. police say the man who beat him was the baby's father. he is in custody. the mayor suffered a shattered hand and cuts to his face and plus he lost a few teeth in the whole thing.

tune in for at least the next couple days because rob r marciano says we should be looking at what's going on with bill. >> the most recent information, 11:00 advisory just posted and they have a p3 noaa airplane in there. an old plane that they used to hunt down submarines. they flew it in there and they're thinking about sending back good information. one, that the winds are still at 135 miles per hour. that was a good estimate. the eye itself, which is well defined at 30 nautical miles, but what the plane has found, i'm just kind of reading this because it's hot off the press, the hurricane-force winds have extended outward from 45 to 80 miles from the center. so, the center, the size of this thing has gotten larger, not just the cloud canopy, but the

wind feel. that gives you an idea of how strong it is. south of the leeward islands and west, northwesterly movement at 18 miles per hour and that has picked up some and the winds are guszing to 160 miles per hour. let's look at where this is going. subtropical ridge here shoots it to the west. trough kind of sucks it up and then the front kind of blocks it out towards the northeast. that's what we're hoping for as far as this recurvature is confirmed. cat 4, cat 3 shoots the gap between bermuda and the carolinas and still has that curve that will hopefully leave new england out of the equation. still too early to completely rule it out, but the forecast is trending in that direction. either way, this is going to be bringing a big swell to the atlantic seaboard for sure starting about friday and lasting right on through the weekend. the only big story weatherwise, the heat near record-breaking heat across the northeast and the northeast also seeing some big-time heat and we'll see

severe weather today across the central plains here and the heartland will get some and southeast texas, boy, they got hit pretty hard yesterday. this an f1 tornado that cruised through beaumont, texas, tossing some cars around and they're getting tow trucks in here to straighten things out. some injuries with this big tornado that rolled throughout southeast texas. all eyes on bill here, don, as it is a very strong and well-organized category 4 storm. >> all eyes should be on it. thank you very much, rob m marcia marciano. >> you got it. dr. conrad murray. he was there when michael jackson died. he has been questioned extensively by police. his home and office is searched and he is speaking out now, sort of. here's cnn's ted rowlands. >> reporter: in a soft, accented voice, michael jackson's former doctor dr. canrad murray broke his silence with what his lawyer

says is a thank you to his supporters. >> because of all that is going on, i am afraid to return phone calls or use my e-mail. therefore, i recorded this video to let all of you know that i have been receiving your messages. i have not been able to thank you personally, which, as you know, is not normal for me. your messages give me strength and courage and keep me going. >> reporter: but near the end of the minute-long video, which was posted on youtube, there is also a message that seems to be directed to the general public. >> don't worry, as long as i keep god in my heart and you in my life, i will be fine. i have done all i can do. i told the truth and i have faith the truth will prevail. god bless you. and thank you. >> i think it was very well executed, very smart and a great

pr move. >> reporter: howard bragman says the video brings murray to life transforming him from just a voiceless potential suspect. bragman also applauds the way the message was delivered. >> he kind of sites the myspaces and youtube and facebooks are a great way to get messages out there without having some of the risks of the main stream media. when i say risk, i mean tough questions. >> reporter: and there have been plenty of questions for murray to answer since jackson's death subjected to search warrants at his home and offices in las vegas and houston, he has met with detectives twice since jackson's death. his lawyers say he continues to cooperate with the investigations. ted rowlands, cnn, los angeles. all right. the usual steps one country is going through to stop the spread of aids. a mom came into my store. her son's going to college..

he needed a computer. it was kind of like a surprise present. he needs to, you know, write papers and go online. budget was definitely a concern. she was like, "help me." so i'm thinking: new cool thing is the netbook. two pounds, three pounds, 160 gigabyte hard drive. really great battery life. we get the netbook. i said, "bring him back into the store. let him pick out his bag." she introduced him to me. and it was like, "you're the guy who got me the netbook." he says, "this never happens, but i'm totally going to hug you right now." i get hugged all the time. how could you not hug this? i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice.

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until now, some people in nigeria had no hope of finding love and no less get married and then their government stepped in. >> reporter: a traditional muslim wedding in northern nigeria. two families joining hands in taking on the modern scourge of aids. the bride and groom are both hiv positive and they're getting married in a

government-sponsored program, encouraging people with aids to marry to try to stop the virus from spreading. >> loves her and can give ourself very healthy. >> reporter: according to the un, nigeria has the third largest hiv population in the world and the regional government is hoping to put a dent on those numbers. a state public health agency treats aids victims with free anti-viral drugs and so far also claims to have help marry more than 100 hiv positive couples. the agency even offers to pay the wedding dowry and provide counseling. the hope is that by keeping iv couples together, they will stop aids spreading to anyone not infected. >> hiv and aids.

that means there will be no transition. >> reporter: un aides, the u.n. agency has its doubts about the program. that such marriages do not prevent the spread of aids. >> prevention of hiv and aids and rather than encouraging that kind of union, hiv infection is universal axis to prevention treatment and care. >> reporter: no scientific evidence that these hiv marriages actually stop the spread of aids, but for all the couples we have spoken to, the marriages provide a partnership of support and that personal fight against aids and also against stigmatization by society, family and friends. people from suffering from aids in nigeria often face discrimination. but this hiv positive couple say