vineyard. and that blue heron farm rents for between, what,s $35,000 to $5,000 for the week. the obama's paying for it on their own dime. >> wonder if they're getting a deal? >> i don't know. >> got to cut the president a deal, right? >> a little one. the "cnn newsroom" continues now with drew griffin. >> thinking just the same thing. thanks, t.j. and betty. we begin with hurricane bill, pounding surf, fierce winds. what it looks like this morning as hurricane bill swept past ber mud dar. our reporter originally from st. louis sent this video on his first encounter with a hurricane. pretty good one. a lot of surf there. bill is churning north towards massachusetts. folks along the east coast and on martha's vineyard on alert for more dangerous surf and rip currents. cnn's susan candiotti is at shore in massachusetts. you say it for me, candy.

i can't say those two together. chatham, massachusetts. a day where everybody runs to the beach? >> reporter: very crowded here along the beaches and you know what else is interesting, the streets are very crowded. why? because the beaches have been off limits since yesterday afternoon. and, again, that warning issued again, ordered issued by the governor of massachusetts. no one is aloud at the beaches because of tropical storm force winds, more importantly because of dangerous rip tides. that's key here. give you a quick view. a beautiful day. broken clouds. look at that. people filling the stands, taking advantage of the holiday season, labor day coming up. and here, of course, the warning flag. no swimming allowed. the red flag there. here joining us, a harvard master to talk about this. >> pretty strong currents under

normal conditions. so when you get a tropical depression coming up, it picks up the surf and dangerous rip currents. >> reporter: not only that, unusual about this storm is that it is so far offshore, not so much worried about the rain here and the wind, in fact, talking about 20 mile-per-hour, sustained winds, and the storm force may be 40 miles an hour, approaching that. so it's not so much the -- >> right. it's the surf that kicks up behind this, along the beaches and floods towns. >> reporter: people paying attention? >> so far they are. we have a lot of people reminding them. send notices out. >> reporter: as much as you warn people you'll always get the surfering out, kite borders, and this is very -- you've been doing this for year, surfing,

kite boarding, the whole bit. will you be taking a chance later tonight when the winds are really kicking up? >> yes, for sure. my friends will be out, and we've done this a lot here. so pretty knowledgeable about the currents and the waves and what we should and shouldn't be doing. >> reporter: newcomers, the weekend wearier, people not used to it? >> exactly. you know, we try to advise them and maybe watch over them if they're going where they shouldn't be going. >> reporter: what do you go out on a day like this? >> i think it's fun. exercise. high tide, doesn't get better than this. >> reporter: that's for sure. one more interview, and that's with some folks who have come here on vacation. uh-oh. here on a day when you can't get into the water jt what do you think about that, mom? >> it's unfortunate. because it's a beautiful, beautiful day. can't take the kids out. >> reporter: adisappointment, not to be able to go in the water. >> yeah. because i really like the water.

and i like to swim and jump over the waves, and -- i just want to, but i can't. >> reporter: maybe tomorrow will be a better day. we'll see what happens. the most important thing here, of course, is safety, drew, and that's what everyone is concerned about here. no one is going into the water today. they're not supposed to. surfers might, of course, won't be surprised about that, but the worst should hit in the overnight hour. that's good news, because no one's going to be swimming or surfing in the dark. back to you. >> susan, thanks a lot. turn to reynolds. keeping people out of the water. i'm with the surfer guy. you're waiting all year for this on the wrong coast. finally a wave comes. jump in. >> it is tempting. a great opportunity for people to go out in, if you happen to be a surfing, do long boarding, could be a good time. still if you're not a strong swimmer, you want to avoid it. perspective on the storm. obviously, the center of the storm right about here. you cy see the eyewall beginning

to form, the storm leaving bermuda. susan candiotti in chatham in that area, and the storm is expected to veer its way to the northeast. as it does so, still brushes parts of the coast. a direct part on the coast, bus dealing with all kinds of stuff in terms of rip currents, increased winds and scattered showers alonged coast, too. the latest path from the national hurricane center shows is the storm doing just that. moving to the north. by 8:00 p.m. tonight, winds at 100 miles per hour. fast forward into sunday, winds weakening a little, 85 miles per hour. interacting with cooler water and upper level winds and shear ripping the storm apart and the farther north it goes, expecting to veer off, moving right into the maritimes, right now we actually have tropical storm warnings in effect for parts of noesh skosh shoo, towards halifax and moving towards newfoundland moving into 8:00 p.m. sunday and monday possibly making landfall as a weak

hurricane or tropical storm getting into the early half of the week. one thing to keep in mind it is going to be an issue along the coast. out of north carolina, near nags head, complements of mark showing people enjoying themselves. take a look at this. the water going right up, very close to some of these pilings we is sheer and also very close to the condominiums. certainly what you'll deal with. talking dangerous surp at points ever the outer banks going anywhere from 15 to 20 feet above normal. a high tide with the additional water pushing towards the coast. you'll have issues with rip currents. coming up we'll give you an idea of what exactly a rip current is. how to avoid them and where to be on the lookout for them, too. a bunch of information we'll share coming up. drew, back to you. >> reynolds, thanks. sorry news, windows shatterrd during a prison riot that ended early today happening add the prison south of lexington, kentucky.

prisoners set fire to buildings before riot police resorted to tear gas to subdue them. sounds straight out of a movie. back in control, moving some of those inmates to nearby facilities. >> right now we're happy to report to you that the facility is secure. the inmates are accounted for. we had minimal injury, which are still being assessed to the inmates and as far as we know right now, minimal, if any, injuries at all to any staff or department of corrections personnel. just before going on vacation, president obama hitting back at health care reform critics saying people who talk about death panels are guilty of outright distortion. >> never been easy to move this nation forward. there are always those who oppose it and those who use fear to block change. but what is always distinguished america is that when all the

arguments have been heard and all the concerns have been voiced, and the time comes to do what must be done, we rise above our differences, grasp each others hands and march forward as one nation and one people. some of us democrats, some of us republicans, all of us american. >> cnn elaine quijano, where are you eeshgs lane? can't even see? in the bureau. >> reporter: i am. usually you're at the white house. we're going to talk about what the president had to say today about holding hands and marching forward. really, he's having trouble getting the democrats to hold each others hands and march ford on this issue? >> reporter: yeah, at the same time, trying to go and fight back against some of the claims made about the proposals, against what his administration says are myths about health care reform. in his weekly address the president also ran through some of them. for instance, saying illegal immigrants would not be cover under a health care bill, taxpayer dollars not funding abortions and addressed and

echoed at the town hall meetings across the country saying his administration, drew, is not planning a government takeover of the health care system. drew? >> yeah, but at the same time, we have speaker pelosi saying she's not going forward without a public option, which many people believe is a government plan? >> reporter: that's right, and in fact, what the president has been trying to do is push back against the notion that it is thought going to be some sort of government takeover. we heard it in the weekly address. he's also trying, you know, drew, fight back against some of the republicans who are also, of course, resisting the president's plan. in fact, in their weekly address, republicans said the president was not being straightforward about his proposal. and saying the president is playing "fast and loose with the facts." take a listen. >> opposition for the democrat's plan is rising.

the president would like to stamp out some of the disinformation floating around out there'sthe problem is the president himself plays fast and loose with the facts. >> congressman price a physician himself, based on his experience trying to navigate health care programs, believes washington is incapable of processing what he call as person and unique circumstance that patients and doctors face every day. you're absolutely right. a president is facing issues not only from reluctant republicans, again, having difficulty even getting some of the skeptical democrats onboard, and united. drew? >> very interesting, elaine. good reporting all week, by the way, on this. >> reporter: thank you. moving ahead. health care reform proposals continuing to cause problems. let me hear your concerns. send your questions on facebook. i'm sitting in for fred fredricka. and dune in today at 4:00

eastern, where our panel of guests will separate fact from fiction in this muddled health care debate. we have several hours to send in your questions on that. august has been, hasn't been -- virginia congressman hits the road for another health care town hall. we'll be there with the latest. during the lexus golden opportunity sales event, you can do both. special lease offers now available on the 2009 es 350. have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. at legalzoom, we'll help you incorporate your business, file a patent, make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes.

then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

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. there is a congressman, newly elected congressman in

virginia. a democrat. he won by less than 1,000 votes. he's in a conservative district. i think the guy that he beat is running against him in next year's election. so there is a lot at stake for congressman tom as he tours the state with his "tom in your town a"town hall meetings on health care reform and he has been getting an earful on these town hall meetings. he has one today and our kate bolduan is live in virginia where the next one's going to take place, and, kate, what has he been hearing? >> reporter: hey there, drew. they're expecting about up to 100 people 59 this town hall. we're in alberta, virginia, you mentioned, at a community college here, about 2.5 hours away from washington. we're waiting to see congressman tom perryellis, on his way. this 14th of now we hear 21 total town hall meetings he'll hold during this recess. quite a list. he says he really want to hear

from his constituents. right now he remains a no vote ho he wants to become a yes vote for whatever final legislation does take shape. us a mentioned, he 15 freshman democrat. this is a conservative district. he won the district by just 0.2% of 1 percentage point. very close election and likely a republican target in the 2010 election and says throughout the town halls they have been tense. he has definitely heard passion from the crowds here and we'll see what people have to say just in about an hour. drew? >> also the undertone of his congressional leadership probably pushing him from the left. what are the constituents actually saying? are they just as split as the vote when he won? >> reporter: he says he is definitely hearing from both sides. definitely strong voices on both sides in this district. he likes to kind of build himself as an independent. trying to steer from both sides of his district before he makes

a decision. he is a no vote, but we'll see how he votes when he does get back to washington. he's described the mood of this town hall. we just talked a few minutes ago. he describes 2 as a strong summer but not yet a boil, which i naught was quite interesting. the main issue he's hearing from constituents on both sides it the question of costs. either they want to know how much health care reform will cost me or how will health care reform help bring down my insurance premium in the end? definitely a challenge ahead of him. says he's here to listen and also make sure they know they are going to be heard. it's a tough position politically, drew. you just alluded to it. while he's a freshman democrat, likely republican target in the election, he needs to appeal to conservatives inned group. many are strongly opposed to the government-run public office we talk and. 59 the same time, he doesn't want to anger the more liberal progressive group of voters who helped get him ae elected, many

of which won a public option to win a public election, required. >> in a hot heap right now. >> reporter: i like that. emotions are running high at town meetings, like the one kate's about to cover. today we are live with the health care reform debates. you can hear from people from all sides of the stake, and get questions and answer on how town hall was today, at 2:00 f.m. eastern right here on cnn. and one state says debt collectors are going too far. authorities make a prove to shut them down.

let's keep you on top of the news at this hour. headed for a beach along the each shore beware of rib currents. hurricane bill churning north along the atlantic coast after swiping by bermuda. minor damage reported there. bill is not expected to hit the u.s. mainland. it's a lot calmer today. the central kentucky prids's after inmates set fire to it overnight. it took two hours to get control of the center near lexington, kentucky. eight inmates and eight staffers were hurt.

iraq's foreign minister predicts bigger and more powerful attacks in baghdad's future. the iraqi government, listen to this, investigators security forces collaborated in wednesday's blast that killed 101 people. the foreign minister says anyone who helped the bombers must be held responsible. another check of our top stories in just 20 minutes. a threatening phone call, impersonating the plishgs the new york attorney general says a group of debt collectors used those tactics and worse. now he's trying to shut them down. mary snow has the report. >> reporter: michelle says she'll never forget the calls she got the same day her daughter was diagnosed with autism. a man posing as a lawyer claim shed owed $4,400 and said her arrest was imminent if she didn't pay up. >> getting very insirchlt and started -- i don't remember all the words, started talking about your kids being arrested. if nobody's there, your husband

can't make it home, chilled protective services will take your kids. >> reporter: wasn't actually in debt but feeling the pressure, gave her bank account number and lost $900. and listening to the voicemail over a $107 bill she'd already paid. >> you are totally ghetto. second of all, ma'am, learn english. get an easy kags. sitting on your fat derriere all day long making money off the population in the country. might want to get educated enough to say payment plans instead of payment pan. you uneducated reject. >> reporter: andrew cuomo says that call and others in which were impersonating were tied to 1 companies he's trying to shut down in new york. >> the tactics are so disturbing. so threatening, that they tend to be affective. that's why they do it. >> reporter: privatetarian joe

more oh represents debt collection abuse victims. he says there's been an increase in cases tying it to the economic downturn. >> there is no money to be pulled out of consumers these days, and as that happens, debt collectors become more desperate. >> reporter: but the grade group for debt collectors says don't paint them all with the same brush. it estimates rogue collectors make up about 10% of the industry. >> the harassing phone calls and aggressive behavior is absolutely unacceptable. >> reporter: timed a lawsuit against the benny smith group as well as 13 companies, we called several and they were either disconnected or out of service. three individuals in buffalo, new york, were also named, a lawyer for one who says he's fight the charges. mary snow, cnn, new york. bring in our legal guys here. amy friedman a civil rights attorney and law professor, and a new york criminal defense attorney and law professor. avery, cuomo is going after the companies here. what do they have to prove, that the companies train these people

to do this kind of garage? >> drew i got to till, i don't know where they dig up these debt collector es. these are subterranean submum humans who do this. they're supposed to be trained. good point. new york attorney general andy cuomo is doing the right thing. we'll see more and more of these cases because there is a connection between the downturn and the economy, and these aggressive tactics. you know what? the companies and the individuals doing it are in a world of trouble. >> drew, there are federal and state laws to protect consumers against this outrageous, insane behavior. >> yeah. >> these morons working under the guise of this company in particular, this benny smith company, are going to wreak havoc, bankrupt the company because of this now. there's going to be massive litigation against them and it's going to send a strong message to debt collectors, you cannot conduct yourself in this manner. >> that's my question. i mean, the company ares going to be sued, most likely. these companies will evaporate

and probably have no assets to get to. it i'm asking, the heads of these companies, these people, these debt collectors, in the seat with the phone, are they going to face criminal charges? >> oh i think ownership of the company, as well as the individuals. sometimes, drew, you undertake public litigation to get the bad guys you knowing there's not going to be money. unless you put a stop to the ultimate criminal perspective, some of the heads of the company are going to jail. it's the only way you'll stop guys like this. >> sadly, i don't think the owners will get touched. saying they had no knowledge think was going on. didn't see it, therefore, they're going to be absolved. >> richard, move on to another umbrella company that does another thing in another state. right? i mean, really? >> absolutely. >> well, before we leave if you're getting these phone calls, something was interesting. can you tape these calls? can you tape them and use them as evidence? or do you face any -- you yourself --

>> drew, depends. each state is different. you have to find out the laws of your state. in new york, you can take them surreptitiously without consent. other states require consent of a person. >> richard nailed it. you've got to fwind out the lauf the state. if you can't, take them your best evidence. >> all right. avery, talk about representing something here. let's turn to oprah and dr. oz, the phenomenon of selling a product with these two people's endoersment when they didn't endorse them. how can oprah protect her image here? >> by doing exactly what she's doing. actually, what her lawyers did in advance, drew, was a smart thing. they wrote letters to these companies. 500 of them, if not more, saying, cease and dissift, by associating the product with oprah and dr. oz. they failed to do it. what we saw, the launching of the first lawsuit. 267 pages and guess what? in addition, the illinois tch

attorney general is jumping alongside. those companies rying to hook up with oprah improperly are in a big bowl of trouble. >> richard, surprised me. the illinois attorney general did jump onboard, but oprah doesn't need madigan or an andrew cuomo. she's probably got a better legal staff than both of them together. >> drew, let me tell you, the rich get richer is all i can say. she's going to nail these people and get a massive civil award for it. oprah wants her name in lights when she wants her name in lights and she's not going to put up with this type of behavior. all around a very magical weight loss product. the company in florida is being investigated by the economic crimes division. big, big trouble. oprah's too big for this. >> she's the university unto herself. >> really is. >> let's talk about the final subject in this segment, which is weird. this radio host, supposedly a right wing radio host. >> i love this case. >> he threatens federal judges and everybody wants him charged,

and, you know, convicted of threatening federal judges and then he says, hey, guys, i'm just doing what the fbi told me to do. what? come on, avery. what? >> let me tell you something. this is a bad news guy who actually not only suggested that you kill federal judges, but then put their picture up there. i want to see him make this defense. not only is the behavior outrageous but the defense being advantaged by his criminal defense team is even more outrageous. i think this guy is going down. >> wait. richard, wait a minute. he says he got paid $10,000. the fbi says he can't comment. >> that's how the fbi comments. by saying they can't comment. >> right. >> i've seen this defense before, drew, but here, even if he was schooled by the fbi, even if he did perform for them, it was during the period 2002 through 2007. the type of behavior that's being challenged hero kurred after 2007, while he was not under the employ, spoetzedly of the fbi and to say to the public

on a right wing radio station, or a blog, to say, i think these jumps should be killed, and that these congressmen don't follow the constitution they should -- follow the constitution or die, you know, that goes beyond the constitutional protections under the first amendment. >> exactly right. >> tell you what, guys, i never heard of that guy until this whole thing came up. i don't know where he's broad casting or blogging. i'm sure he's around. >> he'll be going soon, drew. >> are you coming back? >> back in a little bit. >> all right. we'll hold it right there. thank you. >> see ya. well, purple inked fingers were supposed to fight election fraught in afghanistan. instead, taliban extremists are using them to fight the advance of democracy. this is a sick story. we'll explain that next.

the atlantic, people either running to the beach or run ago

way from the beach. betting on really your level of strength in the water, because of the rip currents. >> a big contract. isn't it? >> if you happen to be a weak swimmer it's not the place to be. it's made to order. if that's what your hoping for. >> talking about rip currents, folk. one of the big issues we have, a lot of major big storms offshore. they can cause a ruckus, a lot of issues on the beach and the big erosion and rip currents. here is the latest to give you an eye-opener on the weather picture. >> here in florida on the east coast conditions couldn't be better. partly cloudy skies. people enjoying themselves. you never know roughly 1,000 miles away we have a major hurricane brewing. and although we don't have the wind and of course the heavy rain here, there's still a threat from the storm. we're talking about rip currents. the question is, what is a rip current? to get an answer we go over to this guy. gino. what is it? what's a rip current? >> rip current's a channel of water. what usually happens when we

have winds, ten miles sustained a lot of water accumulates against the shoreline and channels the water, pulls it back out to sea. >> reporter: when an increased volume of water is pushed towards the shore line by a tropical storm or nor'easter is recreeds back into the surf creating channels opinion an unsuspected swimmer caught in the water is at mercy of the current. the key to survive the is remain calm. >> the ski don't panic? >> never panic and do not swim against a rib tide. >> reporter: sounds easier than done. try it out for ourselves. five minutes later, 50 yards offshore, a definite added flow of the ocean's rhythm. the life guard is with me and he says that if carried away from the beach, the best course of action is to swim parallel to the shoreline and with, not against, the rip current. then slowly women to shore. the best way to avoid problems

is to use common sense. look at the flag that the life guards have up. they're aware of the water conditions. always swim near a life guard tower. if you're not a strong ocean swimmer, on a rough water day, steer clear of the water. >> basically when in doubt, don't go out. >> exactly. >> right. >> there you go. >> here's the weird thing about this. you can have mostly sunny sky, look great outside. the water at the surface can be nice and gentle. it's the current underneath that can be the kicker. more interesting, you can have rip currents in places like the gulf of mexico. have them in the great lakes. you can have them in a lot of spots, and, again, appearances can be very, very deceiving. >> i was trying to explain this to somebody. for people who hadn't been in the ocean, hadn't been in a real rip current situation. you know that movie "finding nemo." the turtles jump on that little -- that's what it feels like, the rip current. like a river in the water. >> conveyor belts. pullsy right down and can be a strong thing.

pretty scary. >> thanks, reynolds. we've seen a lot of fireworks in town hall ace cross america, talking about rip currents. all through the country. legislators facing concerns on health care reform, but how much of an affect has that had, on americans opinions and the job the president is doing? joining us live with some polling that i'm not sure it shows either way. interesting number, nonetheless. to say the least. >> the ke you ask, everybody is ask, so much coverage in the media of the town hall protests mostly shouting against the president and the democrats' plan on health care. is it registering with americans? check out this poll from a couple days ago. this is an nbc news poll, and it suggests that, you can see there at the bottom, 62% of americans say all the protests aren't making a difference on their opinions of the president's health care proposal. up top, 16% said the protests

make they are more favorable towards the president and 19%, one in five, say less favorable. the other question about these town halls, drewance appropriate or not? is this democracy in action. check this out from yesterday. an abc "washington post" poll suggesting americans are divided slightly more say the protests are appropriate, 45% say they are inappropriate. drew? >> the voter isn't going to have a vote in this. it's the members of congress and the members of the senate. i'm wondering if the president has enough clout now after these meetings, after the heat that particularly his democratic congressional allies in congress to get this passed? >> one way to measure clout, the only way i can, take a look at opinion polls of the president. his approval rating. check this out. four new polls out. national surveys of the president's approval rating. you can see ranges anywhere from 57% in abc's "washington post"

to 51% by the pew research. lower than they were. used to be in the 60s, low 60s as late as june. this number, specifically on health care. approve of the job the president's doing? this poll just out yesterday, abc "washington post" suggests americans are divided, slightly more disapprove than approve. the president's numbers dropped, drew, on health dmar a couple of these national polls over the last few weeks but it doesn't mean the republicans are going up. they're pretty much staying where they are. half the support the president has, drew. >> and on that health care poll, so does that, in your mind, does that reduce his clout? does that weaken his armor on this? >> you could say this. looking at the drop of the approval rating and drop on health care. maybe he doesn't have the clout he had earlier in the month or last month, buttre this is a tr fight that will take place in congress over the next few moss.

probably be very different bills pup one a public option, one may not. it only gets tougher. >> certainly does. thanks a lot, paul. emotions running high at the town hall meetings nationwide and we are covering health care reform and part of that is air uninterrupting town hall meetings and hear from the people on both sides of this debate "in their own words." the questions and answers on town hall raw, today at 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. ballot counting is under way in afghanistan. the country held its second ever presidential election thursday. despite the taliban making good on its threat of election day violence, we're hearing that at least two incidents where extremists cut off the ink stained fingers of two men. british troops paid an even higher price for afghan democracy. >> reporter: 24 hours since afghanistan voted for a new president and still more questions than answers.

many miles from her, whether it's worth it. soldiers opening ballot boxes where so many died to make the province safe for elections. widely held belief turnout was low perhaps in fewer than one in ten voted. and playing it safe, figures don't sound like a great -- >> but the people, if the people do come through, of course, we are -- depends on the people. >> reporter: the people were here to hear president karzai already claiming outright victory. a claim by his chief rival, an afghan. >> i don't want to say that --

but they are why he did, i win election. >> reporter: do you think a lot of cheating in this election? >> i think a lot of cheating going on, because there are people that don't want to see. >> reporter: at each polling station they've put up local results. there were many complaints. the key question now for afghanistan is whether these election results have enough credibility to stick, and for britain, whether they justify the loss of so many soldiers' lives. it is friday and override emotions here relief the election is over. now rioting inmates, so much damage to a kentucky prison, many are being transferred to other facilities.

the fire caused extensive damp to six buildings, destroying much of the prison's food supplies near lexington. eight inmates and eight staffers were injured in that violence in kentucky. in southwestern, ohio, the pilot of this biplane and a female passenger kim wld it crasheder into a high school football field outside cincinnati. the picture as it was going down. kids were holding a scrimmage at the time of the crash. none injured there. the national transportation safety board is trying to determine what exactly happened. and in the atlantic as we've been covering all morning, all eyes watching that hurricane, bill. category 2 storm now churning its way past bermuda toward the east coast causing scattered hauer outages and tropical storm warnings are posted along coastal massachusetts. a youtube message from michael jackson's doctor. he says he doesn't know anything in the news is being used

against him. ready to weigh in on this one. my health is important to me.

it's critical that i stick to my medication. i cannot be one of the 61 million americans who do not refill their prescriptions on time. readyfill at cvs pharmacy automatically refills my prescriptions and reminds me to pick them up. you mean, reminds me to pick them up. [ chuckles ] stop by your local cvs pharmacy to ask if readyfill is right for you, and get a $25 coupon book. readyfill, only at cvs pharmacy.

the michael jackson saag sga. this week his doctor post add message on youtube.

against a lawyer's advice what lawyer would let him do it? we turn to our legal guys. before we start, though, guys, i want to give a listen to anybody who missed it. the doctor with michael jackson that last night, basically posting a youtube to supporters. >> the messages give me strength and courage and keep me going. they mean the world to me. please, 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 could do. i told the truth and i have faith the truth will prevail. god bless you, and thank you. >> richard, i've been trying to get an interview with this guy since this happened. his attorney keeps telling me, mow no e no, pe won't make

statements. what's to be gained by this? >> drew, if you're a michael jackson fan, a news flash, not everybody is. this conrad murray is the worst -- worst, pathetic, evil doctor in the world and the cause of michael jackson's death. what they tried to do by this video, and i believe his attorney was part of it, too. i don't think this guy went on his own. i think that they're trying just to humanize him, show he has a heart. he's a god-fearing man and he's not an animal. they're just trying to humanize him. >> what do you think the public thinks is? he hasn't been charged yet? >> knowing he's going to face manslaughter, drew. i am mystified. if everybody remember's the old chestnut. anybody you say may and will be used against you in a court of law and secondly, if the lawyer, if richard's right, if the lawyer's advising him, stay away from the mayor onberry syndrome. you get in trouble, invoke the name of god.

that's exactly what dr. conrad murray did. i am mystified strictly from a legal perspective why he would ever do something like that. >> if they go to trial in this case, i don't blee they'll be a trial, he'll get indicted and there's going to be a deal. if they go to trial, conrad murray will have to testify. this video will play into his hands. >> absolutely. >> talk about the trial, richard, doesn't this -- the first thing you want to do if charged try to get some kind of really low plea deal out of this and this -- i would assume would kick off the prosecutors more than anybody else. >> there is so much public pressure on this prosecutor to indict conrad murray, they targeted him day one. they built their case around him and the pressure is enormous to indict this guy but drew, it's a very difficult prosecution to have to prove gross negligence. all the more reason -- >> all the more reason why he shouldn't have done youtube. what's he doing, "real world"

next? makes no sense. >> avery, can you set up what's going on with the caylee anthony thing? >> again, another astounding thing. i guess when you hook up with your bounty hunter, anything you say to them, to him, is privileged like a lawyer? i mean, it's mind-boggling to me that now there's an effort to try to block what, what ms. anthony said to the bounty hunter. that evidence, i don't even understand the theory. >> drew, this guy calls crawls out of a rock from northern california, infuses himself in the case in orlando, florida. posted bond. he's a bondsman. all of the sudden he's a bounty hunter, live wig her so she didn't flee so his money the protected and during the course of living with them, engages her in conversation, gets information out of her, and immediately runs to the authorities. but if you look on this guy the website, apparently avery, he's a lawyer! so you know -- a privileged

conversations. >> i don't think so. there's no lawyer/client relationship. he's a bounty hunter. that evidence isn't getting in. >> i'm voting he's a bounty hunter just based on the facts. the cowboy hat and black leather -- >> interesting. >> take care. and we want to move on to other stories now. former british prime minister tony blair is defending himself in the wake of the release of that lockerbie bomber. going to hear his exclusive interview he gave to cnn.

two days ago scotland outraged a lot of people here in the u.s. when it released a bomber of the papp pan am flight 103 over lockerbie, scotland. remember that crash, that explosion, took 270 people. even more outrage came when you're seeing there, the terrorist returning to libya to a hero's welcome. now we're hearing reports there

may have been some kind of deal going on between britain and libya for this man's release. in a letter now to the scottish secretary, fbi director, a federal bure other of investigation for robert mueller is writing to the scottish government saying i'm outraged at your decision blithely defend and grounds of compassion. your action in releasing megrahi, the bomber, as in inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice. it make as mockery of the rules of law. megrahi supposedly is dying of pancreatic cancer. britain the prime minister, former prime minister, tony blair is also speaking out. this is san exclusive interview. >> let me make one thing absolutely clear. the libyans of course are raising the case all along. not just with me but everybody. this is a major national concern. but as i used to say to them, i don't have the power to release

mr. megrahi and the release that has taken place is a decision boon the scottish executor which has taken place on compassionate grounds and those compassionate grounds didn't even exist a few years back. the court is absolutely right. libya's always -- this could be dealt with, screws up proper procedure. >> the deal, $900 million oil and gas deal with the libyans has nothing to do with it? >> how could it? i wasn't in a position to say he should be released. that's not the way the british system work, and the -- the release of mr. megrahi, as i understand it harks been done by the scottish executives, execut executor, not only myself but my successor has no influence over, on compassionate grounds, defining his own rules in the megrahi case. it's confusion of two separate

thing. the libyans were always raising this. assess major issue. one other point, however. i actually think it is good, though, we have a situation today in which libya has come back into the cold, into the community of nations. you know when i came to power back in 1997, libya was still a pariah nation and not just sanctions applied vigorously against the united states of america and also pursuing an act of -- chemical and the nuclear program, and so the fact that we have changed the relationship with them here is a good thing, and this is being talked about as i just explained, these are two completely separate questions. i think i'll go with the preferred package.

good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. checking top stories in the "cnn newsroom." tropical storm warning out as hurricane bill barrels upwards on the atlantic side. the hurricane blew by early today dropping some rain but leaving most relatively unscathed. kentucky's governor, a state's correction department for