they now have each other. >> before i was lonely. being with my wife y feel good. because it's good to get out and discuss the issues together. >> reporter: they say there are many challenges ahead and issues they must discuss. at least having another child. but together, they say, they can achieve more. christian, cnn, nigeria. i'm don lemon, thanks for watching. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with drew griffin. drew, take it away. >> thank you, don. it is wednesday, the 19th day of august. here are the top stories in this "cnn newsroom." democrats consider the go it alone health strategy without republican support. why are prescription drugs often ten times more expensive than the very same drugs sold

overseas? reform may get generics on the market faster and shoppers arm would plast iic are about to ge more consumer rights. the new phase of federal credit card rules take effect. good morning, everybody. drew griffin in this morning for tony and you are in the "cnn newsroom." the health care fight could be headed for a major shift in strategy. a make or break maneuver. sources tell cnn democrats and the white house may be preparing to push through health care reform without republican support. when we say sources tell cnn they're actually telling senior congressional correspondent dana bash who has been all over the story joining us from washington and we also have elaine quijano live from the white house but, dana, what is this all about? what is happening? >> this is very interesting and the context of this should be that this idea, this idea of pushing health care through

without republican support. it has been privately discussed for some time that this is that possibility, even a probability when we get to the fall when it's do or die time for this bill. we should emphasize that both at the white house and on capitol hill our sources are telling us that nothing has been decided and they're going to continue to work through the process with republicans. however, what is going on here is that more and more from the white house and from capitol hill, what democrats are saying is that when they hear statements from republicans over the past 48 hours or so, like chuck grassley, a top republican who has said that he doesn't necessarily think that this can be done with just four republicans votes or something that he said at a town hall last week suggesting that the meetings he is having are just meetings and not negotiations. more and more you're hearing from democrats that comments like those and other republican leaders suggest that they're not serious. and that is why they're saying, look at these republican statements, that's why we

probably are going to have to, at the end of the day, do this without republicans but, again, no decision has been made. >> dana, we're going to get into the strategy in all this later in the show in our noon hour, but republicans have said for a long time. they haven't been invited to a lot of these -- agree with us or move away from the table. elaine, what is being said over the white house? is this white house still trying to reach out to republicans or are they now saying, look, we will go it alone? >> you know, white house press secretary robert gibbs just finished up a gaggle and he was asked this over and over again and are you giving up on a bipartisan route here. he said, absolutely not. that the administration is still hopeful, of course, that it could work with republicans on this issue and specifically he went into a little more detail saying, look, it wouldn't make any sense why on august 19th would we go out there saying we've given up on republicans while there are several weeks of

negotiations left and, again, those questions continue. can this white house, can democrats really get republicans on board with this? obviously, the white house saying, look, we're still very open. here's what they're saying publicly. they're still very open to getting republicans on board here, if they're willing. drew? >> dana y want to ask you, why the big push anyway? democrats could do this alone, why do they ever want to get republicans on board? why don't they just ram it through? >> in fact, when you look at the vote, they probably do need republicans because although they have 60 votes in the senate, they have an ailing senator kennedy who has not been there for a long time. there's one democrat down and robert byrd who is very old and has been ailing and somebody who has not been there as a reliable vote. right there you do need a couple republicans. and, you know, the fact of the matter is, it's not just that, you also have a healthy number of democrats of conservative democrats who said that they don't want to do this because

their constituents don't want them to do this with just a party line vote, that their constituents want this to be bipartisan. those are just a couple reasons. one other thing, drew. you heard elaine talk about the fact that they're not going to give up now. we just got a statement from that lead republican chuck grassley who the democrats are blaming for suggesting that this is not going to happen on a bipartisan bases and i'll read you the statement. he's saying that he still is working. i said all year that something as big and as important as health care legislation should have broad-based support, so far no one has developed that kind of support whether in congress or at the white house, that doesn't mean we should quit, we should keep working until we put something together that gets that widespread support. he says he is still willing to work at the table and i can tell you those negotiators at the senate who are working for months and months they will have a conference call tomorrow and they say they will continue to talk. >> all right, guys, we'll talk about this lot throughout the next two hours.

thank you for this and we want to know what our viewers think. should democrats and the white house move forward on health care reform without republican support? go to our blog and at cnn.com/newsroom and take a vote on this. you can also leave us a comment. we'll show you the results from our quick vote later on in the "cnn newsroom." the health care debate is likely to heat up in the south today. lawmakers holding a dozen town hall meetings across the region, really across the whole bottom half of the country from south carolina to texas, oklahoma, most of today's town halls are sponsored by house members, some holding multiple meetings in different cities. well, things got pretty hot at a town hall up north last night. massachusetts congressman barney frank firing back at a crowd in dartmouth. >> why continue to support a policy as obama had expressly supported the policy. why are you supporting it? >> let me, let me -- i will.

>> a real solution. >> when you can smee thaet question i will revert to my ethnic heritage. on what planet do you spend most of your time? answer the question. yes, you stand there with a picture of the president with a face to look like hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the nazis, my answer to you is, as i said before, it is a tribute to the first amendment that this kind of biocontempable nonsense is so freely propagated.

having a conversation with you is like arguing with a dining room table. i have no interest in doing it. >> despite that, he answered questions for two hours. he's one guy who doesn't mind taking heat. one question a lot of you are asking, will health care reform lead to rationing? you heard the arguments and now josh levs and the cnn truth squad have a verdict on this, josh. oh, it's coming. that's a tease. josh, i was all setting you up. if you'd like to see if any town halls are being held in your area, check out the special health care in america website on cnn.com. this is a great site. you'll find the latest from the town hall meetings fact checks, i-reports and other health care news. just go to cnn.com/health care. signing off on health care answers to your questions about what we can expect as part of all this reform. we'll be back.

welcome back. i'm rob marciano. watching hurricane bill, the new update for the national hurricane center breaking with the winds of 135 miles per hour, that has not changed much. winds gusting to 60 there. this is a strong category 4 and could possibly get a little bit stronger as we go through time. about 400 miles east of the leeward islands heading in that direction. look at the size of this thing and the eye of this thing very well structured and they just got hurricane hunter aircraft in and out of there with good data that adjust the wind field from this thing has really expanded. hurricane force winds have extended about 80 miles out from the center. what is the track? still same realm. weakness in that high and this trough with the front will suck it up the east coast and probably block it off towards the atlantic ocean.

so, national hurricane center forecast track brings it as a category 4 storm, probably strengthening just a little bit more. conditions are right for that and then likely shooting the gap between bermuda and the carolinas and taking a right turn as that trough takes it up. the trough this morning shift a little bit farther to the west, but right now cone of uncertainty takes it just off the nan tucket coastline and certainly hope that holds true because water here off the new england coastline and pretty much above normal for this time of year. here's some of the latest forecast tracks from the acxhl computer models. each one shows a particular model. they are getting clustered. that shows there are some good confidence with the computers and then get even better forecasts now that that hurricane hunter has been in there to get hard core data. back closer to home. hot temperature across texas and heat advisory across parts of the northwest and heat advisories for the fourth day in a row across new york city with high temperature there getting to 92 degrees. that is a quick check on

weather.

wednesday is the day we often listen in to our chief business correspondent ali

velshi on cnn radio and christine romans is sitting in while ali is recuperating from driving across the country last week. >> yeah, he totally is. he needs time off because he ate all that terrible food. did you hear the kind of food ali was eating? >> i was disgusted and feeling sick just watching it. are people talking about health care on your show? that's all they're talking about. they want to know about waste in the system and personal responsibility and prevention. we've got a lot of e-mails and you've been doing some of this, too. even as we've been trying to do the myth busting on some of the more outlandish kind of claims out there, people are still e-mailing cnn viewers and others are still e-mailing. they believe what they're hearing from other people, the word of mouth, the kind of grapevine rumors and still believe in that stuff and we're still kind of going through the bill and showing people exactly where something is and where something isn't and how maybe the, their worst fears aren't

going to come to fruition. >> people believe what they hear standing in line at mcdonald's rather than going to an actual bill and reading it. >> that says something, drew, about the trust. i mean, there's something -- >> that's what it is all about. people do not trust these people in washington, d.c., because they've been burned so many times. a bill passes and it completely changes. we're going to run through some questions, though, for you. you ready for these? >> go for it. >> these are from our website. why are the drug companies not more involved in these debates? i may be wrong, but isn't a large reason that health care costs are so high due to the fact that drugs are so high and being so marked up by these companies? that's from kate. >> well, the kate, the drug industry is involved in these debates and sent out a press release yesterday and today and they are for universal health coverage and for people is having access to affordable health insurance and they think that, you know, that too many

people are lacking insurance coverage or their co-pays are too high so they pass unneeded medical treatment and not just cost the system down the road. they were working with the white house to cut $80 billion in drug costs over the next ten years, i think. but robert reich, former labor secretary is very critical of what he says is too much drug industry interaction with the white house on this. he thinks it's kind of an unholy alliance and the people who will have to buy their drugs longer term and they'll agree to big cuts, $80 billion in drug cut costs and they'll get the access to a big and growing baby boomer market that will need more drugs in the future. but the pharmaceutical industry, kate, contrary to what you suggested there is at the table here in health care reform. they're in this. >> here's a question to ed. my insurance premiums for two adults has gone from just over $200 a month in 2003 to just

under $900 a month in 2009. more of a statement. the quality and accessibility of care is not, in my experience, the problem, it's the cost. >> that's when we look through this bill, drew. don't you find the parts that we will make sure that people aren't paying a rent payment, essentially, for health coverage. in some cases you're paying money for health coverage that might not cover you for everything you think it's going to, too. there's something about the math of paying more about your health insurance than you do for your rent that just seems off. and that's what they're trying to address in health reform. and the cost issue is something that has bedevilled this whole process. the president said he is not going to sign a bill that is not good for the american middle class that does not provide quality health care but also affordable and that's the question and doesn't add to the debt, you know, the deficit neutral. that's the question. meeting all those goals in this

big monster legislation with all the political horse trading that you have to do to get something done. >> have you seen that bill yet that he can sign with all those? >> i have. no, i have done it. and, you know, you looked at enough bills as i'm sure you have in your career that i'm sure you get to know what the coded language is and the language is and you can't understand and it's still a work in progress, but i can see why people who have taken this bill and put it in their own hands and might try to read it might be confused or have rumors out there have legislative language and it's dense and a lot of jargon. what we need here is a flow chart and maybe congress will do this before something is voted on and passed. if you are 65 years old you are on medicare and you have existing conditions and go to page 25, this is what it means to you. if you're 35 and mother of two,

this is what happens to you. if we could break it out like that, but we can't. it's changing too much. it's a big complicated problem and a big complicated bill. >> we have to leave you, but if anybody wants to call you, we will give out your phone number. 877-266-4189. i'm sure you guys are clogged already, but take a few more calls. 8 -266-489. thanks, christine. >> thanks, drew. bye. should democrats and the white house move forward on health care without republican support? you can go to our blog and at cnn.com/newsroom and you can vote. you can vote and you can also leave us a comment. we'll share the results from our quick vote a little later in the newsroom. well, it's the final hours before afghanistan voters head to the polls. a government appeal to the media, don't cover the violence and there's been a lot of violence in iraq. a bloody day.

six separate explosions. apparently part of a coordinated effort.

an explosion of violence in baghdad today six attacks all within an hour of each other apparently coordinated. listen to this, 95 people reported dead and over 500 wounded. car bomb outside the foreign ministry building. it damaged windows inside the parliament building. they were driving a car rigged with explosives, too.

it's iraq's bloodiest day since u.s. troops left the cities and turned security over to iraqi troops. when you head to bed tonight, afghan will be heading to the polls to choose a president. voting begins at 10:30 eastern tonight and it it takes place under threats from the taliban. cnn's ivan watson joins me from east central afghanistan. ivan, i have been watching your reporting which has been excellent. how is the security in that province at this hour? you know, the eve before voting starts. >> this province is remarkably safe, drew. it has not had the drum beat of violence that is in eastern afghanistan the car bombs and assassinations and campaign of intimidation that we have seen in those parts of the country. increasingly in northern parts of afghanistan, as well. disturbingly over the course of the last year.

with the election observers, election workers they say all the polling stations will take over. the province direct three the south of it election workers say more than 160 polling centers there will be closed on election day tomorrow due to taliban threats. the fact that they basically control those pockets of territory there. >> the taliban is telling people you don't vote and in afghanistan, you dip your finger in a bottle of ink to show you have voted. if you do vote, you come out of there a marked man. are there people you talking to, the afghans, are they fearful to go to the voting, the voting boxes? >> again, drew, i think it depends on the area. there have been very effective campaign of intimidation and broad swath of this country that are controlled by the taliban and the people there will say, okay, we may like the afghan government or nothing against afghan troops or the government,

but they do not remain here. it is the taliban here at night and it is very intimidating to try to stand up to armed men who are willing to break down your door at night. they are all enthusiastic about the election tomorrow and also participate in the vote, drew. >> i want to ask you one question about the media. the afghan media doesn't want reporting any violence a. you're there and reporting and atia is reporting there. you do not report any violence until this election is over? >> well, the afghan government has effectively thrown down the gauntlet here, drew. i mean, the rationale behind it the afghan foreign ministry is trying to protect the elections and trying to protect afghan citizens and we know that the taliban are trying to carry out spectacular sensations to try to intimidate people. that said, do we have a responsibility in the event of

major loss of life, loss of american troops perhaps? can we be asked to not speak and comment on something like that taking place? i think this is raising probably a lot of eyebrows in capitals that have been donating millions and billions of dollars to fund the afghan government what they are arguing is a democratic government to operate on the ground. of course, the afghan foreign ministry is arguing that it is within the afghan constitution to take such drastic measures in order to protect the afghan people. we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow, drew. >> all right, ivan, good luck with your reporting tomorrow. we'll look forward to it as the afghan people go to the votes there. let's switch gears and talk economy for general motors. one crisis after another and began with terrible sales and wloeted budget that led to bankruptcy but the new gm is out of chapter 11 and, believe it or not, it is calling some of its workers back.

susan lisovicz on the floor of the new york stock exchange with more good news. susan, you gave oslittle bit yesterday and now is this more? >> what recovery is all about and hopefully it will be a consistent daily report, drew, but, yes, a pleasant admiration and talking about gm and its workers and buy-out packages and we're talking about massive layoffs and buyout packages and in this case gm is calling 1,400 workers back to work. why is that boosting production? because of cash for clunkers. let me tell you where they're calling back workers. ontario, canada, where the chevy equinox is made and lordstown, ohio, which among other vehicles makes the chevy cobalt. now, ultimately, gm could, in fact, postpone some shutdowns of other plants. this could ultimately affect 10,000 workers, something very

pleasant to hear, as i mention, an admiration from gm. drew? >> what about the other automakers? have they been coming back, as well? >> enormously successful and some cavuates out there on wall street saying don't get too used to this program. it will have an expiration and we're seeing the enthusiasm temper a little bit and we are seeing ford, honda, toyota either increasing production or adding overtime shifts and we're seeing other sectors bringing back workers, as well. this is not just excluse toov the auto motive sector and not due to cash for clunkers. dell computer, truck maker oshkosh all bringing back workers. a new survey, drew, that shows 18% of the workers who got jobs were rehired by their former employees. that's encouraging, as well. what's also encouraging is that we're off the lows for the session.

we saw a sharp drop at the open. right now the dow is just off 17 points and the nasdaq down 7. drew? >> thank you so much. we have some sad news to report. you know, we lost a legend yesterday, bob novak, now another news giant has apparently passed away. cbs news website saying that don hewitt the creator of "60 minutes" has passed. the new era for managing credit and debt. how could the new credit card law help you?

from the cbs news website they are reporting a passing of a legend in journalism, don hewitt the creator of "60 minutes" and news magazine reporting a true legend in the business has died. he was 86 years old. mr. hewitt just served as a pallbearer for walter conkrit and his funeral. he had been in new york with cbs since 1948 and worked with some of the legends there. "see is now" is one he produced

and the harvest of shame and working alongside all the real true giants of this business. we'll get more on this. 86 years old, a true legend in this business. well, the debate over health care has grown, we've all been bombarded with ads and messages on how this could affect you and cnn truth squad is weeding out fact from fiction and getting answers to your questions, as well. josh levs joins us with the latest. >> i have that verdict for you. you knew it was coming, right? >> i did. >> tell everyone off the top. you can see these at any time. let's zoom in. click on the fact checks and we'll bring you this along with information about them. drew, what i really like that we're doing, we're focusing on answering a lot of questions from viewers out there. came from jason rogers who asked us whether health care will be rationed under government-run

health care system. we are hearing from the white house that that will not be the case. the white house set up what they're calling their reality check website and reform will stop rationing and not increase it. president obama made a comment the other day. take a look. >> so, what we've proposed is not to reduce benefits, benefits on medicare would stay the same. it's not to ration. what we are asking is that we eliminate some of the practices that aren't making people healthier. >> now, when you look at what's actually been proposed, sure, it is true that no one is officially proposing any kind of government rationing but there are groups that study this that say the costs of health care are going to go way up and that could ultimately lead to rationing. right here, i'll show you a quote from them. the cato institute. we have it right there before you. since the government is the only entity with only instentive to

control costs, the government will have to ration care. that's their position. the cnn truth squad looked at these different arguments and we weighed how these look and you can see it right here on the next screen. the verdict is in dispult. wait a second, you gave me two sides and the key here, something important to understand, even when you hear some lawmakers say it definitively will lead to rationing or definitivety won't. there is no way to know at this point. drew, we can keep in mind if something passes or if there is health care reform legislation, concerns about the possibility of rationing will last months, years into the future. this will be something that people will continue to watch out for and, ultimately, we just have to see how it plays out. >> josh, it occurs to me when the president said eliminate practices that are not making people healthier, a lot of the skepticism is, who is going to decide that and what is he talking about? i know there is a lot of confusion out there, but that's one issue that i know people are concerned about.

that somebody would have to make the decision. >> that is one part of it, ultimately who would make -- you are also hearing people on the other side say, i feel like my care is being rationed right now by bureaucrats at these health insurance companies that say you can have this procedure and not this procedure unless you want to find tens of thousands of dollars you don't have. we are hearing these arguments and even though rationing is not proposed, what will result from this? we'll have to keep a close eye and see what happens. >> democrats talking about doing this on its own. and vote and you can also leave us a comment. we will share the final results from our quick check a little later in the "cnn newsroom." let's look at the results so far, though. surprisingly, a big portion of you, 83% say, yes, the democrats should go alone without support from the republicans. so, there you have it. more now on don hewitt who

has passed away according to cbs news. the creator of "60 minutes" who passed away really just weeks after walter cronkite passed away. don hewitt was a legend in this business and went to cbs in 1948 and work would the monsteres over there, eduard r. murrow, fred friendly, developing the style of news we call television news and of documentary-style reporting on tv. this was the man who really put it together and created, i think what still is probably the most successful television show ever created, "60 minutes." which continues to bring in record numbers and such fantastic recording. we will get more on donah huwi from those who know him.

breaking news sad news out of new york. cbs news reporting the passing of don hewitt lemgenedary newsman who created "60 minutes" who worked with the giants in this pioneering industry. don hewitt 86 years old has passed away. we are talking to people who have known him, who have worked on him and an incredible life

honored with eight emmys and two peabody awards and the producer of a show that continues to get fantastic record-busting ratings. even last sunday with their exclusive interview with michael vick. just bringing in some incredible ratings as the staff there, such great reporters. you know, don hewitt, he came to "60 minutes" back in 1948. almost, you would say it's almost the invention of tv and joining us now from new york is a man who knew him well and who we know well, the president of cnn news, john klein. john, you worked at "60 minutes" and you oversaw this program. >> i never got to work on the staff with "60 minutes." at one point when they made me a supe i was overseeing "60 minutes" along with other stuff, but, you know, don hewitt didn't

need a boss, he needed somebody to bounce ideas off of. he took me to lunch and said, listen, kid, it's very simple. i have ten ideas a day, nine of them are terrible. your job is to tell me which one is great. that was pretty much the relationship. he lived up to that. i would say he had more than ten ideas a day. he was bursting with passion for what we do, telling stories. that was it in a nutshell for don. >> what was it like in the story process because i'm always fascinated by their stories and by their writing and how they put stories together. how involved was he in directing the traffic there and directing the pros that land on "60 minutes"? >> he empowered all those great reporters like mike wallace and ed bradley and harry reasoner at the beginning and dan rather and later others he empowered them

to decide what stories they wanted to do and then he brought those stories to them and then pick and chose which stories made it to air. they did all the hard work of being reporters who he said, look, i'm not a great reporter, i'm a great editor. he took what they did and shaped it. he was brilliant in the editor room and he took great pride in writing and he loved to tell the story of how he shocked his friends and family when he left newspapers for this medium called radio back in the '40s and then left radio for television. you know, he was always cutting edge and always looking for the next thing. in the '90s this internet thing, everybody is so up in arms about it, it's just a vehicle delivering the information to people. why don't they understand that? >> you joined him when they were at the pinnacle of his career, riding high in the '80s.

did he ever talk about whether he was scared or knew what he was doing when they actually started out those old programs? >> he had exuberance. i don't think he had time to be scared. he was brimming with ideas and he had so many new thoughts all the time. just for an example, for our folks watching right now, the influence that don has. if you look on the bottom third of the screen, all those graphics and the thing that says my name or the subject matter and don hewitt has died, those are called supers, right? don invented supers. he said, you know, on the screen we need another way to convey information to viewers, maybe we can superimpose them and he figured out technically a way to do it. he was a director, which is a technical job in television and he figured that out. he also invented the term anchorman. because he says, you know, these guys, they're like, as i recall, the way he told it to me, wasn't that they anchored the broadcast

in terms of holding it down, he said it was more like a relay race where you had your best guy run the anchor leg and you have all these correspondents in the field, but your absolute best one, that would be your anchorman and that is where that term came from. that came straight out of don's head. another thing that you see when you watch the news you'll see a reporter and then covers the reporters' interview. in the old days you had left the reporting talking and then don invented this idea that you could then roll a "b" roll of film and lay it over to illustrate what the tv reporter was talking about. he made all this stuff up as he went along. and that was his joy was constantly thinking about new and better ways to tell stories. he also thought the writing was extremely important. you know, don't worry so much

about having quote/unquote great pictures. tell a story. he said i never like to do subjects, i always cover people and those people illustrate subjects. not the other way around. >> all that still rings true in my head, john. just what you tell me. >> i'm just parroting don. i learned so much from him when i was theoretically his boss and so many others have learned just as much, if not more. he was really a phenomenon. one of a kind. >> john, thanks for coming to the set and talking about don hewitt. 86-year-old passed away today. be right back.

rob marciano, your hurricane headquarters. here's the latest on what's going on with hurricane bill. right now winds of 135 miles an hour. a well-defined eye. the hurricane hunters have been in this thing. there it is, 32 nautical miles wide. and the hurricane winds are extending outwards in almost all directions at about 80 miles. so, it has expanded in its scope

of its actual size. i want to show you a couple things here. first of all, this is some of the computer models that we actually use to illustrate exactly where bill's going, or at least one of them is going. this thing will actually show you the strength here and the brighter colors that you get there, the stronger it is. and the actual path, you can kind of see it starting down here and scooting around bermuda and scooting and making that right turn. we certainly hope that that happens. a lot of the computer models are saying that, and that's where the forecast track is happening. that's a good thing. let's look at this. anytime you see yellow, that's where temperatures are above average. up here in the delmarva and new jersey coastline and even long island and cape cod, temperatures there are above average, and as far north as cape may, it is conducive to hurricane strengthening, so we certainly want to it go out to sea. here's the 11:00 advisory,

category 4, and it makes the northeasterly turn and splits the gap between bermuda and north carolina. notice as it passes nantucket and martha's vineyard, it's still a category 3 storm probably because the winds or the waters are still pretty toasty. i want to show you what's going on across the country, the threat of thunderstorms across the nation's heartland. yesterday in beaumont, texas, an f-1 tornado touched down and tore up a walmart and kohl's department store, the winds 110 miles per hour and doing damage there, flipping cars over at that point and also injuring a few people. this video courtesy of performan performancecaraudio.com. and bill is moving west-northwest at 18 miles an hour. still a little less than 400 miles north of the leeward islands, but getting closer to the u.s.

we will not likely take a direct hit. but the northeasten coastline interaction. >> a big storm, yes. >> we'll pass it over to you. here's what we're working on the next hour. the politics of going it alone on health care. we have the latest on the rumored shift strategy for democrats to pass reform without republicans. we'll also hear from this man, the mayor of milwaukee. he was beaten over the weekend just trying to help a woman in distress. his first news conference on the attack is next hour. and michael jackson's doctor is speaking out. what he has to say about the singer's death and his involvement.

lots of questions and

concerns in this heated debate over health care reform, and we've got the answers from our insider, chief medical correspondent, practice idr. sa has the answers to your question. this one comes via twitter. will the current reform push the sale of generic drugs? >> it's a great question and something we've been looking in to quite a bit. brand-name drugs, generic drugs, what costs what. let me give you a couple of numbers. 7 out of 10 prescriptions filled in the united states currently are for generic drugs and these generic drugs on average are about 80% to 85% cheaper. to give you an idea why there is so much interest here in terms of cost savings. we've asked the white house specifically about your question, trying to figure out how exactly can you make it so the generic drugs are more easily available. here's what they say, and this is a lot of language or lingo. but listen. create pathways for generic

drugs and create incentives for research and innovation and prohibit anti-competitive agreements. sometimes there are collusions, for example, you have a brand name drugmaker who will go to a potential generic drugmaker and how about we give you money so you don't make the generic drugs, potentially good for the company but bad to the public because they don't get access as quickly. for you at home, what it really mean is if health care reform passes and the changes take place, you should be able to get generic drugs on average faster. a lot of it is still fluid and dynamic. it could help cut costs if it happens. there was a discussion. a lot of people may have had heard about the discussion between the white house and the pharmaceutical industry. the pharmaceutical industry promising to reduce their draws on medicare by about $80 billion. we really wanted to know what it meant and what it would mean for you. what we found was that ultimately it would probably eliminate some of the coverage gap. people talk about a doughnut hole. let's say you have lots of

prescriptions that you have to fill and they cost more than $10,000 every year. the way the doughnut hole works for the first $2,100 or $2,700, rather, it's covered, and then there's a gap in coverage until you spend at least $6,100, again. that's a huge gap. over $3,000. so, that's $80 billion might go towards reducing the doughnut hole and also trying to create discounts for certain drugs as well. critics will say, look, if you negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry like this, how can you possibly negotiate with them later on? what is that dynamic going to be in the future? again, as i pointed out several times, this is a fluid situation. lots happening even as i talk to you now. if it comes to us, we'll bring it to you. back to you for now. it could be a make-or-break maneuver in the health care fight. sources telling cnn democrats and the white house may try to push through health reform legislation without republican support. details on the possible strategy shift from senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, and

cnn's elaine quijano at the white house. first to you, dana. what is this that you are hearing from your democratic sources? are they actually going to go it alone? >> reporter: final decision has not been made yet at all. but what we know, and frankly what we've known for quite some time, is that democrats in the senate have been really preparing for the concept and the possibility of not having any republicans on board for months. and that preparation basically includes dealing with and laying the groundwork for some pretty tricky and pretty intense parliamentary maneuvers to do that. a decision has not been made to go forward with that, but here's what's going on, drew. what's going on is that over the past two or three days, democrats say they are hearing more and more from republicans, both in leadership and, more importantly, they insist, from the republicans who are supposed to be and have been negotiating, that some pessimistic language. and they are thinking more and more that this partisan negotiation -- and the negotiations have been going on

for some time -- aren't going to bear fruition. now, privately they thought that for quite some time. in fact, i just got a quote from a democrat who says it looks increasingly likely that house and senate republicans are betting on this president to fail. so, that is the dynamic that is playing into our sources telling us that it is increasingly likely that in the fall they might have to use this parliamentary tactic which would allow them to go forward without republicans. because the bottom line is, democrats in the senate still have 60 votes. they have 60 democratic senators. however, there are 2 democrats they can't rely on, ted kennedy, who is ailing, and robert byrd who is elderly and also not reliably there. so, that's why they have to prepare for something that allows them to pass health care potentially route the republican votes because they still don't have the 60 needed to break the filibuster. >> elaine, i want to go to you, because it seems while the democrats are debating, the white house is debating itself with a lot of these things, and i'm not sure where the white house stands on this

democratic-only health care reform. >> reporter: look, white house press secretary, robert gibbs, drew, was asked all about this at the gaggle earlier today. he was asked point-blank, you know, have there been strategic discussions about going at this alone, with just democrats. and he said point-blank, no. he said, what we're focused on right now is the work going on among lawmakers, the senate finance committee, he did note, of course, republicans, at least some republicans, what they've been saying certainly doesn't indicate that they're willing to be a part of health care reform. at the same time, he did say that the white house does believe that there are still, though, some republicans who are working in a constructive way, who are trying to move things forward. but as for whether or not this white house has given up completely on a bipartisan plan, robert gibbs saying flatly, absolutely not. drew? >> all right, elaine, thank you. there's also whether or not the democrats are willing to go it alone, especially some of the blue dogs who are hearing so

much from their own constituents criticism about this health care plan. thank you, elaine, dana, thank you very much. the politics of going alone, we'll talk about if it's even possible. dana will rejoin us with that discussion along with cnn's political director mark preston about the politics and the potential pitfalls politically if they do go it alone. so, how would the "go it alone" strategy work exactly? levs at the magic wall to walk us through this, josh? >> it's one of the complicated procedures that they reported from washington. it's one of those times, the schoolhouse rock here at the magic wall. we want people to understand why it is possible and why it would work in the first place. so, we have some fun pictures. check this out. thanks to the graphics department upstairs, this is what we have to represent a filibuster. the way it works in the senate you need 60 votes to break a filibuster. you see the lawmaker, talking. you need the 60 votes, right? well, this is what is different

now. in budget, you can do this thing called a budget reconciliation. if you're able to get it inside the budget. and for this year, cnn reported in the spring, we did, for the 2010 budget tucked inside of this, we have this, a health care reconciliation. you can get these reconciliations in. they are debated and this one was controversial at the time. but it did pass this part of the budget. once you have the reconciliation in here, all you need is this, a simple majority in the senate. so, now, the senate would only need 51 votes, drew, to pass this reconciliation. the theory here is if they cannot get the 60 votes they would usually need to break a filibuster. this is a whole nother way to circumvent it. let's use the reconciliation and get a simple majority of 51 votes and potentially pass the bill. >> is that the nuclear option that we've heard in the past? >> we've heard the term used and that was used to try to get through judicial nominees through a filibuster. it's a similar concept, but we're not talking about that term. it's not the term being used.

instead it's about the specific thing, the reconciliation that got inside the 2010 budget. >> some are calling it ramming it through. >> well, some might see it that way. if, let's emphasize, we don't know if it is going to happen, but if it were to happen, this is the way it would be reasonably possible. what do you think, should the democrats move forward on health care reform without republican support? go to our blog cnn.com/newsroom and vote. the vote has been pretty dramatically one sided the last time we checked. let's check it out now. many of our viewers have been saying yes to that. i guess we don't have those results or do we? if we do, i can't see it. looking for more of what you've been seeing on cnn, check out cnn.com/healthcare. this is really where you're going to get answers about everything circling about what's in the bill, what's not in the bill, where the debates are, where they're not, the hown tall meetings, the key players, the different plans and sticking

points of those plans. really, this is where the rumors end. it is at our website, cnn.com/healthcare. well, it's back on the production line for more than 1,300 general motors workers who had been let go. gm is going to boost production by about 60,000 cars this year. the automaker spent 40 days in bankruptcy this summer. now it's seeing a bit of a spike in demand, thanks in part to the cash for clunkers program. mary conway from affiliate wxyz, she tells the rehired workers aren't the only ones who will benefit from this. >> i am excited! >> reporter: workers are thrilled that they will boost production. gm confirmed that it will keep this plant open two months longer than originally scheduled and will add a number of overtime shifts to meet the demand for the hot-selling malibu. the plant currently works four ten-hour days, a number of friday shifts are expected to be added. >> it shows that, you know, people are out there buying our

product, and the economy's picking up. >> well, that's good news for us, that we're working overtime. and cars are starting to come in, and people are get -- buying cars again. >> reporter: are you looking forward to some overtime? >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> everybody could always use money, you know, these days. >> reporter: suppliers say the increase will help the supply chain. >> oh, it's excellent. it's good for me, too. keeps me employed. >> reporter: the extra work is good news for guido's pizza that delivers to workers at the plant. >> it's very important, because, of course, it will, you know, help us out a lot. we do a lot of deliveries out there. they really like the product, so we're hoping that, you know, their success is our success. breaking news today. pioneering newsman don hewitt died today. best known as the creator of the long-running news magazine "60 minutes" on cbs. what a legend this guy was. did you know that hewitt was the producer of that first televised presidential debate between john

kennedy and richard nixon in 1960? where president nixon was sweating, he wasn't president at the time, but blamed a lot of that outcome of that election on what happened then. cnn's news president jon klein worked with hewitt at cbs. i spoke with him just a short time ago. >> don hewitt didn't need a boss. what he needed was somebody to bounce ideas off of. the very first day on the job. here i was 37 years old, supposedly on paper, overseeing a legend like don hewitt. he took me to lunch. he said, listen, kid, it's very simple. i have ten ideas a day. nine of them are terrible. your job is to tell me which one is great. and that was pretty much the relationship. and he lived up to that. i'd say he had more than ten ideas a day. he was bursting with passion for what we do, telling stories. that was -- that was it in a nutshell for don. >> certainly a formula that has worked and continues to work. he earned eight emmy awards and

two peabodys. he was 86 years old. well, hurricane bill is blowing hard. our chad myers is tracking where this huge storm is headed.

chad myers, this baby is big, but so far far away from anybody. is it coming? >> it is coming. just even waves that are going to generate with a 140-mile-per-hour storm. they are ginormous no matter where you are. the leeward islands and puerto rico and winds gusting to 160 miles per hour. the forecast was a category 4 storm to drive itself right between bermuda and the east coast. finally now -- finally -- and i don't say this lightly, we have a couple of models that have made some land fall here across parts of the northeast. that little hook that sticks out there, cape cod, could get affected. i don't think it's going to be, because we only have 1 out of basically 100 models that are even saying that.

but the storm can turn around bermuda and head out toward the northeast, but still atlantic, canada, you are in the forecast. bay of fundy, all the way up to newfoundland, it will be a 100-mile-per-hour storm has it comes up there. and new jersey and the east coast, you are on the watch for it. this thing has been on the same track for four days in a row now, and so, you know, at least all the computer models are basically agreeing to where this is going, drew. >> what scares me just a little bit is just how the strength doesn't seem to dissipate with those tracking models. it's a 4 right up to the top almost. >> yeah, it's a 4 all the way up and then we lose to a 3. but by the time we lose into the colder water, we go all the way back down to a category 1. and that's just how it goes as you get up into the colder water, uh also get some shear from winds that are up here in the northwest. the reason it's not going down is because the water

temperatures are the same. so you get the category 4, 4, 4, although that's a 145-mile-per-hour storm right there. drew, what's happening is we have this high pressure that's sitting right here right now. >> yep. >> it is pushing the storm in this direction for now. now, as that high moves away and then as that high moves well out into the eastern part of the atlantic ocean, the high winds around that high will turn like this. and that is actually going to allow that storm to turn, we hope. >> great. chad, take a look at this video. cell phone video, beaumont, texas, chad, look at the shot. this was a tornado. >> beaumont, texas, there wasn't a tornado warning on it. it took everybody by surprise. we were getting calls in the weather center, hey, you don't believe what happened in beaumont in the mall. the windows out at the macy's and the kohl's at the mall and it was only on the ground one or two minutes but it sure did damage. a lot of people hurt with flying

glass. performance car audio took the shots. you can see the wipers going on the cars. >> it was quick. but it sure did a lot of damage as small as it was. >> good job shooting this on a cell phone. good luck following the storm. hopes it takes the pinball track and missing just about everything. congressman barney frank is pushing back against those who want to disrupt his town hall meetings. take a look a this. >> disruption never helps a cause. it makes it look like you're afraid to have a rational discussion. you just drive people away. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all new chevy equinox.

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well, yelling and booing, sometimes pushing and shoving. lawmakers seeing it at town hall meetings all across the country. but jim acosta tells us when congressman barney frank took the podium, the aggression, well, it just wasn't in the crowd. >> congressman barney frank. >> reporter: it didn't take long for the shouting to start. >> somebody said it's a lie. what's the lie? >> hey, hey, enough. >> which one of you want to yell first? >> reporter: and before the first question was asked, massachusetts democrat barney frank was swinging back at opponents of health care reform. >> disruption never helps your cause. it makes it look like you're afraid to have rational

discussion. you're just driving people away. i'm not here -- this is the council on aging, not kindergarten. >> reporter: frank tried to dispel the bogus claims out there. to that some in the crowd shouted read the bill, and he did and found the section that illegal immigrants are excluded. >> it's right in the bill. i will go to it. >> reporter: but even that didn't satisfy everyone. >> it is a little odd to be accused of not having read the bill by people who object when i do. >> reporter: several audience members insisted reform would bust the budget. >> we're going to pay more taxes because of you, sir! >> this bill would practically bankrupt the economy of the united states government. >> reporter: time and again, frank took that grenade and threw it back. >> and 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, frank talked at length about his support for the public option. >> i am not voting for any bill that forces anybody into anything. they will have a public option. >> reporter: and tried to reassure seniors there were no death panels in the bill. >> this notion that something in this bill would require people who are elderly or sick to be denied medical care and killed is the single stupidest argument i have ever heard in all my years of politics. >> reporter: it was that absurdity of the health care debate and retiree mary consento was happy to be put to rest. can i tell you that i know for a fact they'll not plug the plug on grandma. >> they're not going to pull it on me, i tell you, because i'd fight to the death. >> reporter: unlike fellow liberals, frank is not insisting

that there be a government-run insurance program or government 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. and as we've been reporting, a risky move, but sources say the democrats and the white house maybe -- may -- preparing to push health care reform without republicans. a make-or-break strategy during this crucial month. senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, breaking a lot of this story yesterday. she joins us now to talk about it. along withan are's political editor, mark preston. and, mark, i want to begin with you on this strategy, because it seems like they're ignoring the problem they have, where democrats may not be able to go it alone. they're having a lot of trouble with other democrats on this one. >> well, and it really depends what exactly they end up doing. if the white house and congressional democratic leadership does try to push through this strategic move called reconciliation to really try to get health care passed.

but you'll tell you, drew, if he does do that, president obama favors this and pushes it through, it will cause a lot of problems. it will forever hurt his ability to work with centrist republicans and centrist democrats for the rest of his administration on other issues on capitol hill, you know, and at the same time, you know, people are going to start questioning whether the talk that he had on the campaign trail about trying to change washington and bringing bipartisanship here to d.c. was just that, talk. >> yeah. dana, that aside, the other implication is 2010, with the midterm elections. and we've been seeing, a lot of democrats are going home and seeing their own constituents really upset about this. if they do pass health care reform, i think it's fair that nothing will be in effect during that november 2010 election except the ire of these constituents. >> that's right. and the ire definitely as we've seen in these town halls and, you know, even heard from members of congress who are not attending these town halls, the ire is going both ways.

and you talk about 2010, just gives an opportunity to talk about the problem that democrats are having politically. because you're exactly right, nobody is really -- whether or not this passes, nobody is going to be able to see the substance of it and the content of what it will mean for average, everyday americans, and it's all going to be in the context of political rhetoric and who's up and who's down. having said that, when it comes to democrats, we know that a big part of their support comes from the labor movement. so, many of these democrats who are up for re-election and the afl-cio, the secretary-treasurer just released a statement today warning -- warning -- democrats that if they don't support or vote against something that has a public option or a government-run option, insurance option, for health care, ha that they won't get support from labor unions. so, that's just unexample of the balancing act, the political balancing act, that these democrats in particular are trying to deal with right now. >> you know, mark, i was talking about andy stern not too long

ago, the head of the seiu, to that exact point. they have a $10 million war chest really aimed and he said at democrats who don't do what they want. they want health care reform and they want it to pass. is this kind of turning the table and trying to make this a republican/democratic thing, a way that the democrats who want health care reform can kind of mask the problems they're having within their own party? >> well, you know, i got to tell you, just this morning, drew, i was talking to several republican strategists about what they're going to do the next couple of weeks and how they view this civil war that's going on in the democratic party. and by and large, you are going to see republicans take a step back the next week or so and allow democrats fight this out amongst themselves because, you know, there's no better offense than to have your opponent fight amongst one another. you know, at the same time, look for these republicans to try to flip the switch. i've heard this phrase a few times now, flip the switch at the end of the month and really go full bore against the democrats, really try to cast

some doubt regarding the public option in the minds of the elderly, the folks, the aarp members, and others as well who think that a government-run option really is not the way to deal with this issue. >> and, drew, mark makes an excellent point with regard to the republican strategy and how democrats are using that. because a big part -- in fact, the main reason, i think, why ed henry and i and others are hearing more and more from democrats that it is a possibility they may have to go it alone, because they are pointing to statements from some of the lead republicans who have been negotiating like chuck grassley and even some republican leaders, saying, look, they are sounding much more strident, much less likely to have a deal. so, they are using republican statements and holding them up almost to justify and lay the groundwork for something that privately they've been telling us is a possibility for and maybe even a probability for some time, that they are going to have to do this without republican support. and that is a big part of that, and this has been illustrated

for the past 48 hours, the big debate over the public option, a big part of that is because of the intense differences about this public option in the democratic party. >> man, what a chess game going on, and these players aren't even town. it's amazing. thanks for joining us, you two. listen, so what do you think? should democrats and the white house move forward on health care reform without republican support? you can go to our blog at cnn.com/newsroom. and vote there. you can also leave us a comment. we're going to share the final results from our quick vote a little later in the "newsroom," "cnn newsroom." let's take a quick look at our results so far, though. overwhelmingly -- this has been for the last hour and a half now -- yes. our viewers, or the people who are calling in and voting, are saying, the democrats should go alone. there you go. a big city mayor beaten while trying to help a woman in trouble. how did it happen?

cbs news reporting now that don hewitt has indeed passed away at 86 from pancreatic cancer. he was the creator of "60 minutes," really the creator of a lot of tv news. and people in the industry are remembering him. jeff feager the current executive producer at "60 minutes" is releasing a statement saying it's a sad and difficult time for all of us who work at "60 minutes." don was a giant figure in our lives and will always have an impact on this broadcast. that from jeff feager the current executive producer of the show, "60 minutes," that don hewitt, created. he was at cbs since 1948, and he was involved with so many of the big, huge improvements and

reporting in this industry, we call tv news. well, the mayor of milwaukee has been released from a hospital where he was being treated after a brutal beating. cnn's erica hill has more on what happened and how he is doing. she filed this report last night. >> reporter: until this weekend, most of the questions surrounding milwaukee mayor tom barrett's future had to do whether he was planning a run for governor. that all changed after the mayor was attacked late saturday night while trying to help a woman and her granddaughter. >> emergency, 911. >> my granddaughter, her father just tried to pull her out of the car, broke my cell phone, threatened to shoot us and to shoot himself. >> where is he right now? >> he ran down the -- ran down orchard street. there were some people from the fair that were walking past, and i jumped out of the car and i shouted for them to call 911. >> reporter: one of the people who heard the woman's call was mayor barrett. heading to the car after

spending the evening with his family at the wisconsin state fair. but he didn't make it home that night. >> what's going on? >> there was a beating on 88th and orchard. there's some guy arguing with his girlfriend, and my uncle just tried to step in. the guy took a stick to him and he hit him over the head and he's bleeding all over the place. we need an ambulance. >> reporter: that was mayor tom barrett. >> tom stepped up and did the right thing. he called 911 and tried to calm the situation, protecting the grandmother and her grandchild. as a result of his actions, tom was attacked and struck repeatedly with a metal object. >> reporter: an emotional john barrett on sunday, outside the hospital, where the mayor was being treated. on monday, he gave cnn more details about the attack and how his brother ended up laying on the street in a pool of blood. >> the individual after he knocked the phone out and stomps on the phone says "you're not

calling," he says, "i have a gun and i'm not afraid to shoot everybody here." and then tom's kids start to cry. so, tom says to my sister, you know, get -- get the kids out of here. >> reporter: but the mayor stayed and took a punch in the gut that doubled him over. he came up swinging and shattered his hand. when it was all over, the mayor had also lost some teeth. had to have plastic surgery for cuts on his face, and according to his brother, also stitches in the back of his head. tonight, the mayor is home recovering. and a 20-year-old suspect arrested on sunday is behind bars. the little girl's grandmother tells cnn they're both fine, while john barrett is both proud and relieved. >> i'm just glad that he's okay. he's my brother, and i love him, and i just am glad that he's okay. >> reporter: erica hill, cnn, new york. and very soon from now, we expect the mayor to step up for that podium and tell us exactly how he is doing. it will be the first time he's spoken u

spoken publicly since he was attacked. we'll bring you the news conference as soon as it gets under way. so what do you think?

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cnn is your source for money news. check out cnn.com for the latest financial news and analysis. it started out as a down day on the dow, but, hey, things have turned around. right now the numbers on the big board up 64, almost 65 points. and last check we had nasdaq up about nine. so, things turned around there just in this intraday trading. when you tell a bunch of middle schoolers that some big names are coming for a visit, they're probably hoping for the jonas brothers, not politicians, but this was still a day to remember at orlando's jackson middle school. vice president joe biden and education secretary arne duncan dropped by a little while ago. schools like this one have received billions in stimulus money, and the vice president says the dip in unemployment last month shows the act is doing what it's supposed to. >> we don't measure less worse as good. i don't want you to think we think this is success.

this proves the act is working. but it doesn't get us where we have to get. we're not going to be happy till employment is growing again. that we're creating good, solid, middle-class jobs that people can live and raise a family on. another $4.3 billion in tax dollars will be going to schools based on how well they've used the money. they have already gotten. focusing now on your money and some big changes with credit cards. the first provisions of a credit card reform law take effect tomorrow. what does that mean? cnn's cnnmoney.com poppy harlow has "the breakdown" from new york. hi, poppy. >> these goals are to help consumers. let's go through some of them. first of all, what's going to take effect tomorrow? starting tomorrow, first of all, credit card companies must give you 21 days between when you get your bill to when you pay it. that used to be just about 14

days or two weeks. also, you're going to get 45 days' notice before credit card companies can raise your rate. that used to be just 15 days. so, a big increase there in your benefit. and also, you can decline the new rate and just pay off your existing balance on your credit card if they raise it higher than you want to pay, drew. so, these are all things that are really going to help consumers, drew. >> i just want to point out one thing on the last one. you can decline the rate. >> yeah. >> but you won't be able to use that credit card anymore, it just basically turns into that interest of a loan you're paying back. >> that's a great point. you can't. but you can say, hey, i want to pay this balance off over "x" number of years that they give you and then you can't use it again. but at the same time you're not going to be automatically be charged the higher rate on the existing balance. am some other things we want to tell you about, some rules that go into effect starting february. let's go over those. credit cards won't be able to raise rates on existing balances unless you are 60 days late or more. also, when you make a payment, it will be applied towards the part of your balance that has

the highest interest rate. it makes sense, but it was not the case before. and also, drew, this is an important one. no more universal default. if you default on your payments for one credit card, other credit card companies can't raise your rates as a result of that. so, starting in february, only the card that you've defaulted on can increase your rate, drew. >> yeah. you know, when this law passed, it credit card companies said it would make credit more expensive and less available. >> right. >> are we seeing that now? >> we are seeing that. they lobbied against it, because credit card companies, as you may well know, drew, make a huge profit over people paying their bills la it and paying those fees as a result. what we're seeing is rates are going up. riskier accounts are being closed. you're seeing some of your credit limits being reduced. the cap may not be as higher as it was. some people are not getting credit cards these days. and it's to help the companies to profit where they were not profiting on before. we want to tell you what people

are saying on facebook. this person says, my husband just got a notice from his credit card company raising his interest rates and various fees. what is surprising is that it was a single-page document written in plain english. that's welcome news. scott said, we've had some of our rate's randomly raised as well as the minimum monthmy payments dramatically increase which only backs us into a corner. this will help people out. the first ones taking effect on thursday, all the rest will take effect in february. >> i got one of those in the mail, the rate jacks right before thursday, right? >> that's exactly right. >> thanks a lot, poppy. u.s. soldiers killed in afghanist afghanistan, with voters in afghanistan just hours away now heading to the polls. what is being done? u gtt half and you get half. ( chirp ) team three, boathouse? ( chirp ) oh yeah-- his and hers. - ( crowd gasping ) - ( chirp ) van gogh? ( chirp ) even steven.

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just hours before voting begins in afghanistan, the u.s. military reporting that three more u.s. troops have been killed in the southern part of that country. that's in addition to three other u.s. deaths announced earlier today.

there are 41 candidates competing for the presidency in thursday's election. incumbent hamid karzai is favored, but he needs to get more than 50% of that vote to avoid a runoff. the taliban threatening to disrupt the voting there. afghanistan's government is even directing the media not to report acts of violence to avoid scaring voters. election officials are scrambling with last-minute details today. cnn's ivan watson is on the road with poll workers in afghanistan. >> reporter: we're in a convoy on a police truck. we're escorting this truck ahead of us, in the dust, you might be able to see it. and it's taking ballot boxes up to some of the polling stations here in afghanistan's central bamyian 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. and 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 part that damyian 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 benefitted from reconstruction. there are fewer than five miles -- five kilometers of paved road in this entire province, and that makes this election a real logistical challenge. you can see the posters over there for 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 hazaraa leaders, this is a dominant hazarra province. they have endorsed the incumbent president, hamid karzai. the election leaders using 3,000 donkeys to get materials to the polling places. and this is milwaukee mayor tom barrett coming to the microphone. he was beaten with a pipe when he was trying to help a grandmother. >> hi, i'm joined by my wife chris, my sister betsy and my niece molly. and we want to thank you all for being here this morning. first, i want to thank my wife, chris, for being at my side throughout this.

and obviously my children, who have been just wonderful as well. molly and betsy were there throughout this entire incident. and molly was just super. she was the one if you listen to the 911 voice, that was molly, the sophomore frock marquette university, did a great job. great job. saturday night chris was in california with her two sisters and her mother, visiting her 80-year-old aunt for her birthday. and i was looking for a way to avoid making dinner. and it was about 5:00 and i got a call from my sister, mary, another sister, who was interested in going to state fair to listen to a band that she likes a lot. and my daughter, annie, was working at the state fair at the time. my son tommy had just gotten home from the state fair. so i said to my two younger daughters, erin and xate, how

about we go to state fair with aunt mary? and in the interim, we called betsy and our brother john, and so the four barrettes, adult siblings, all met up at the state fair to listen to music. and that was the reason that my fantastic security personnel was not with me. this was a "spur of the moment" decision by myself to in essence have a little family reunion with my siblings, and everything was going great until we started walking back to the car a little after 10:00. that's when i encountered something that i think virtually any other citizen in this city would have reacted the same way. we were walking down the street, and my two daughters, molly, too, i think at that point, said someone's yelling "call 911, call 911." and there was a woman holding a baby. our immediate thought was that there was something wrong with the baby. so, i quickly pulled out my

phone, as i think molly did, and we started calling 911. within seconds, we realized the problem was not with the baby. it was with the man. and he came up and was very, very agitated. and events took off from there very, very quickly. because of the criminal nature of this, i'm not going to go into that any further. some of that has come out already. some more of that will come out in the coming day. but we don't want to in any way jeopardize that criminal case. but i think -- i think it's fair to say that things got very, very ugly very, very quickly. from there, though, it was the incredible response. first of molly. again, i have to point to molly, who kept her cool throughout this whole thing and did just a great job, and then the west

alice police were fantastic, the emergency transport people were fantastic, the milwaukee police. the staff at freighter was phenomenal and they got us in there very, very quickly and got things stabilized very, very quickly as well. as you can see, i got hit in the face. i have some cuts on the back of my head and the top of my head and will have that -- i'll be back to the doctor on friday for that. my hand is fractured. i was at the doctor earlier this morning and will return friday to see what the prognosis is for my hand. but overall, i think -- what i want to stress is how -- i've been in situations in this community my whole life, and i can't think of a situation like this where people would not have responded the way i did. when someone says "call 911," you call 911. it's that straightforward.

and exactly what happened here. it was only at that point where the response was so bizarre that things took off in the wrong direction. but i want to thank the incredible outpouring of support that i've had from people within this community, from outside the community. people have just been incredibly kind. even my son was surprised i had friends. so, even teenagers can be surprised at an event like this. but, again, to the -- to the many people in our community who have reached out to me and my family, i want to give a heartfelt thank you. so, we're on the mend. everything's headed in the right direction. and i just wanted to let you know that i'm still standing. >> mr. mayor, what was going through your mind as this was -- >> because this is really bad, that this is really bad. that's what was going through my mind, this is really, really

bad. [ inaudible question ] physically, i need -- i need more rest right now. i'm going to take this week off, and i'm going to rest. this was supposed to be our vacation week, so so much for that. but we're spending some mind. we're having a stay -- a stay-cation, is that what they call it? although she got a better offer, she's on her way to dohr county with our 10-year-old. i would say physically my mouth hurts a little bit. my hand is going to -- that's where i'm most concerned, but, again, i've been very impressed by the medical personnel working with my hand. >> how are your young daughters doing? >> i think they're doing remarkably well. i think they're doing very, very well. >> we have hundreds of get-well wishes from fox 6 that we'd like to give to you. >> sure, thank you. >> they want to say you're their hero. what would you like to say? >> i would say that molly is my

hero. >> do you think that all things went the way that -- [ inaudible ] -- how it all -- >> i think what it does is it's given me an opportunity to see the criminal justice system, the emergency transport system from that side. and i've been blown away at how professional it is. i've been very, very, very impressed. and i think it's pretty accurate to say certainly this guy didn't know that i was the mayor, and i wasn't going to tell him, because i just thought that that could make things worse. and i don't know that any of the emergency personnel people knew i was. maybe they did. obviously at some point somebody did, but i think -- and i hope and i'm confident -- just the response i got is the same response every single citizen in this community would get. and i think that's something the citizens can be proud of. >> are there issues with violence going on? >> well, i think it highlights the seriousness of the domestic violence issues and -- and just what an explosive issue that is. and i've said this to my own

security detail, and i think we've seen this time again locally and nationally, that domestic violence incidents can be the most -- the most dangerous incidents of them all. >> are they telling you that you are somehow responsible for what has happened. what's your reaction to that? >> my first reaction is that's pretty bizarre. and i mentioned it to chris, and she had a little different reaction, i think, in terms of the mother, and maybe it's important, that a mother's love is blind, and maybe a mother's love should be blind. but, again, this will come out in the criminal -- in the criminal case, but, i mean, we were literally walking down the street, and so that -- i don't want to say anything more than that. we were literally walking down the street. >> the president called you. what did he say to you when he called? >> the president was very cordial. i did indicate i would prefer to be called for pitching a perfect game, no-hitter, rather than

this, but he was very nice, and just thanked me for stepping forward. and i've gotten other nice calls as well. it's been very -- again, it's been very heartening the support that i've gotten. and i really am very thankful. it helps. because it's tough. and it's helpful that people are out there and they care. >> mayor, do you have any more obligations to intervene because you are head of the city, you work with police regularly? did that cause -- >> i honestly think when your 10-year-old and 12-year-old daughter and 20-year-old niece say call 911, you call 911. so, i think anybody at all would have done the same thing. i would hope that anyone would have done the same thing. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you. >> that's the mayor of milwaukee, tom barrett, talking for the first time publicly about being beaten at the fair. he was just trying to help out a woman in trouble, called 9 lef. and police have made an arrest, they arrested anthony peters who police say was intoxicated and was involved in a domestic

dispute when he attacked the mayor. we'll have more on the death of news legend don hewitt. perso. mom: just one breakfast a week and the savings really add up. save money. live better. walmart. well, if you'd like your own personal tour of paris, there's an app for that. or, you'd like to figure out the metro, there's an app for that. or you'd like to send a postcard home, there's an app for that too, because there's an app for just about anything. only on the iphone. my daughter was with me. i took a bayer aspirin out of my purse and chewed it. my doctor said the bayer aspirin saved my life. please talk to your doctor about aspirin and your heart. i'm going to be grandma for a long time.

we've been reporting all morning on the death of cbs "60 minutes" creator don hewitt, dead in new york at the age of 86 of pancreatic cancer. the legendary newsman, well known to our own legend, cnn's larry king, who joins us now live via phone. larry, your thoughts on hearing the news that this really pioneer in our business has passed away? >> we're losing him too quickly, drew. walter cronkite and don hewitt are -- >> go ahead, larry, i'm sorry. >> don hewitt was an innovator

is the first thing you can -- i don't know what that sound is. >> but it's not good. larry, let's try one more time, larry. you were talking about him be an innovator and you had him on your show many times. >> we had him on. i think it totaled 12 times. he was a true innovator. he was a giant. just go back to -- [ inaudible ] >> larry -- larry, do you have your tv on? maybe i can ask you to turn off your tv. >> i have nothing on. maybe i'm on a defective phone or you're on a defective phone. you want to call me back and i'll go to another one of my phones. >> we'll have kyra phillips. she's taking over. thanks, again, larry for joining

us. again, we were reporting on the death of that man right there, the "60 minutes" creator, don hewitt, dead at the age of 86 of pancreatic cancer. not only did he create "60 minutes," but he created so many shows working with the legends, edward r. murrow. he even produced that historic first televised debate of presidential candidates richard nixon and a guy named john kennedy. really landmarks in this business, and he was certainly a giant. we want to turn it over now to kyra phillips, who's beginning the rest of the news here at cnn. you know, the news never stops here, and kyra phillips going to take it over for the next couple hours as she always does, kyra? >> thanks so much. some congressmen call them listening sessions. barney frank prefers to fire back. take a listen. >> ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with dining room table. i have no interest in doing it! >> table the health care debate, no chance. wait until you hear what may be on the table right now.