and every night before going to bed she'll take the chain off. so that gives her a visual for how long -- >> reporter: just a few links left. he is due home within days. others ready to their turn or another turn in the army's constant cycle of strain. >> cnn's john king. john newsroom continues right now with kyra phillips. >> we're pushing forward to the end of the line. time is running out to get cash for your clunker. you can still make a deal, but work fast. seven hours and counting. seconds thoughts in scotland but not from the judge who freed a lockerbie bomber, defending his decision and denying a quid pro quo. back to school means bracing for h1n1 keeping kids safe while keeping schools open is keeping educators up at night. i'm kyra phillips, you're live

in the cnn newsroom. money, school, safety nets, we're pushing forward on states pushed to the brink by recession. recession means fewer tax dollars paid in and a lot more dollars paid out. that means coast to coast battles over tax hikes and spending cuts or both. more than eight weeks into fiscal 2010, the states of connecticut and pennsylvania still haven't made ends meet. if pennsylvania doesn't have a budget by friday, it will almost be $900 million in to its public schools. schools are struggling all over. asking kids to bring their own light bulbs and toilet paper with them. in yonkers new york, buildings

are fall aapart. we can't forget the teacher in san diego who sold ad space on his exams to cover the cost of printing them. let's talk about the budget standoff in pennsylvania with megan, she joins me now live from harrisburg. megan, let's get away from the politics for a moment and get right down to the people. tell me exactly how this budget impasse is impacting real people right now. >> the budget impasse is impacting communities across pennsylvania. our county, there are 23,000 clients we serve and it's impacting every one of those, including private contractors and other businesses and child care centers. >> let's talk about these people that you're mentioning, these thousands of individuals. i'm looking at how they'll lose

housing, career programs. what will they do now? >> we don't know. thee kind of programs support the social infrastructure in communities. as they start to fall away, we're not sure what they'll do. in our communities, the faith community has started to help us fill gaps. those are only temporary measures. it is critical that a budget is passed soon. >> you say all of these cuts aren't due to the budget and budget cuts but rather it's a man made crisis. tell me what you mean by that. >> through the years our program has been in existence for more than 45 years. we've seen budget cuts and seen the new programs come and go. this time, it's the first time we've had to close our doors. and it's not due to budget cuts. it's due to the fact that lawmakers can't decide and come together and reach a compromise to pass a budget. >> what's your solution? >> well, you know, those of us in the community have been working every waking hour trying to figure out community is

solutions, i think the budget committee that should be working together that needs to resolve this should be doing this, meeting every waking minute to come up with a resolution. they haven't met for two weeks i understand it. >> you're seeing three weeks? >> two weeks. >> got it. megan, stay with u. we've heard how it's affecting your community programs. you've named the number of people that have been affected already. let's push it now forward and bringing governor ed rendell and talk about the fact that you heard megan bring up point that the budget committee hasn't met for two weeks. you would think as governor of the state you would be telling the budget committee, we've got thousands of lives in limbo here, we have got to make a decision. >> well, kyra, i have been calling for the conversation committee, what it's been called, i've been calling for them to get back to work every day of those two weeks. it's incredible that we have

these problems starting to crop up and the key committee that's assigned to hash this out hasn't met for two weeks. there are some behind the scenes negotiation, but that committee is charged with meeting in public to try to iron out the differences between the two sides. interestingly, the message in megan is dead right about that. the fight that's undertaken that right now is simply because i believe that we have to have a budget that balances with cuts and we've made almost $2.5 billion of cuts and reasonable revenue increases. we don't take child care programs and cut them by 50 prosecution. if we do, some of the programs would close down after six months or would have to layoff half of their personnel and service about half of the children they service now. that's an even worse result than the temporary shutdown now. that's what we're fighting for. the senate no-cut -- no revenue

budget would cause us to take a billion dollars out of public education. i don't know if you saw it, pennsylvania was reported by the national center for education policy to be the only state in the union in the last six years to make achievement at every grade level and in every subject tested in national tests. >> at the same time, steel ton highspir is taking out a multimillion dollar loan, this school district and day care centers are closings, food banks are cutting back aend librariris having to cut back. >> making sure those centers don't close for half a year, don't have to cut budget by 50%. we need to have reasonable revenues the answer ssh -- >> what can you do to get it conference committee to meet? >> i can't. why not? >> it is the sold per view of the legislature.

two budgets passed and they've got to reconcile the budgets and send them to me. i have given them two broad overarching principles. if they sent a budget that leaves no cuts for health care and education and sent a budget to balance this year and next year, i will sign it, regardless of whether i think it's best plan or program to meet those needs. it has to be a mix between cuts and we've made $2.5 million of cuts and revenue increases and we should get to work and do it. >> in the meantime what happens to the people that are -- have been left on the streets. you know if a decision isn't made and more cuts are made, you'll have a bigger problem down the line with unemployment and poverty. >> well, sure, but, again, what we're talking about hopefully is no more than a week or ten-day delay. it's more important we get it right than get it quick. as much as i want to avoid the

short-term pain, it's better to take the pain if it's means we won't have to cut 50% -- >> governor -- >> we're not going to cut 12,000 kids off the children's higt care program. >> i'll hold you that, a week to ten days i'll bring you back and we'll follow up. >> as i tell my constituents, they didn't elect me king. if so, we would have a budget on june 30th. >> you're the governor, a lot of people looking to you. we appreciate it. >> let's take you over to the cnn.com, to kind of put it in perspective. we talked about california and its budget crisis and looking forward to other states as well in trouble. on cnn.com, we actually have put together this map how the system husband stimulus can help the

state. also, foreclosures and this is just an example of the current unemployment and the states that are in the most trouble actually -- i think we do have the wrong. if you go to cnn.com and it's on our money section and i apologize for this. we got the wrong map up. you can click on unemployment or foreclosure and go state by state and actually see where the problems are the most and we'll hopefully follow up on each one of those states and look to the next state that could be on the brink and in the trouble financial disparity and we'll follow up. all right, let's move to cash for clunkers. if you still plan to trade in your clunker for cash, you have less than seven hours to do it. it ends at 8:00 p.m. eastern. the idea was to get drivers to trade in gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient cars. rebates were 4500 to $3500

launched july 27th and started burning through funding faster than expected. some dealers dropped out fearing uncle sam won't reimburse them. some recent numbers cash for clunkers credited for 625,000 deals. here's in consolation, you can get a $600 tax credit for buying a new car. we got state budget battles going on. schools with no money to restock the bathroom and cash for clunkers, what is this doing to the vibe on wall street? richard will put it in perspective for us. you've come over the pond from london, island. rip ard. spending time in new york city. give us the domestic perspective. >> reporter: as you know, i'm -- new york, london and hong kong

traveling to the three financial sectors to see how they are recovering -- >> you know, we always love what he has to say. we're having a mic problem, we'll try to get back to him. a story that gets even more grisly by the day. a swimsuit model killed, the suspect dead of an apparent suicide. it is only the beginning. of the world's most revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. this is the 9th generation e-class. me? find love on the internet? skeptical! oh, my gosh. (woman) find your perfect place at remax.com. (doorbell rings) you had me at "ding-dong."

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a yupg girl swept out to sea, the deadly legacy of hurricane bill.

congress is still in recession and still the nation grapples with public option in the health care debate. critics call it a govern take-over of medicine. cnn's jim acosta has the latest. >> reporter: with the president hitting the beach on martha's vineyard, the time may be turning against the idea of a government-run insurance program or public option in health care reform. >> i'm afraid we've got to think about putting a lot of that off until the economy is out of

recession. there's no reason we have to do it all now. >> reporter: add connecticut's independent joe lee lieberman to the list. >> i believe it would be the president abandon the government option. >> reporter: the president is feeling the heat from liberals in the house, threatening to vote no unless it has the option. >> i vote no -- >> absolutely. >> reporter: at her own boisterrous town hall, maxine waters urged the president to start twisting arms in the senate. >> to reorganize the pressure on the senators, some of whom are -- we want you to use every weapon in your -- >> reporter: in his weekly address the president was more interested in what he sees as

twists of the truth. >> we've heard the charge that reform will bring about a government takeover of health care. that sounds scary to many folks and it sounds scary to me too. here's the thing, it's not true. >> the beach is nice this time of year. >> reporter: but before the president could see cowabunga. an ad accused the white house of a government takeover. >> because the government option health care could lead to government-run health care. >> i can't speak for republicans, but i can tell you without message discipline, this has been a difficult uphill battle for the president. >> reporter: this week the volunteer network organizing for america is urging members to show up at town halls and rally near local congressional offices. the move right out of the playbook of reform opponents who have raised their voices at town halls for weeks. jim acosta, cnn, washington.

bill is not a hurricane but it left a tragic legacy in its wake. the remnants of bill moving away from the canadian coast after churning up gigantic waves, that swept a group of surf watchers into the sea off the maine coast killing a 7-year-old girl and also a florida swimmer. chad myers, where is the storm now and how strong do you think it is? >> it doesn't have the warm part in the middle. it's now lost that identity. but it is going to be traveling up to scotland here in the u.k. this is going to be like thursday morning. and that's still a 30-mile-per-hour storm. and by the time you get that far north, you also get more force, which makes things spin and could spin worse than that. here's where it is right now, there's nova xoe sha.

this will slide off to the northeast. there was an awful lot of surf in newfoundland as well. the big surf was the one there in maine where the little girl lost her life. the whole thing is basically done now, completely out the way for the u.s. the waves are still coming down in spots. we will see showers in parts of flor daxt later tonight, approximately 12 hours, we're going to try to launch the shuttle, 20% it doesn't go because of lingering showers or lingering high clouds from the showers of today. other than that, s you may want to stay up to watch the late-night launch. knows are always great. the only ones i've ever seen is at night. and it's very cool. >> it is. thanks, chad. firefighters in greece

scrambling to take advantage of a brief lull in the winds. 90 wildfires have been burning since friday around athens devouring hundreds of homes and burning 60 square miles, trying to keep the flames from invading the capitol and classic monuments. no deaths reported there. hundreds of fires burn in greece every summer, many are intentionally set. just hours left to trade in your clunker for something more fuel efficient. the cash for clunkers program comes to an end at 8:00 p.m. eastern. some dropped out fearing uncle sam would not reimburse them. the home coming sparked global outreach.

kenny macaskill tells parliament there was no financial deal behind the decision that was prompted by compassion for the cancer stricken terrorist. one manhunt is over and another beginning the man suspected in fiore's death has been found dead of an apparent suicide. authorities are trying to identify a woman who was seen dropping him off. who killed dr. jorge mario gonzalez, five suspects are out there somewhere and every cop in texas is looking for them. ththth

we've got our technical glitches worked out and state

budget battles going on and schools with no money to restock bathrooms. what is all this doing to the vibe on wall street? let's get back to richard, who can usually talk so loudly we don't have to worry about technical glitches. richard, great to see you. >> reporter: the problem was we didn't put enough money in the meter, there was a recession and we were trying -- you've got to save every bit where you can. >> i thought you didn't pay your audio tech. >> reporter: i'm on wall street. last week i was in hong kong, which is 12 hours a trip where there was great optimism. i arrived in new york expecting the lights to be switched off and everybody huddled around a campfire. it wasn't quite as bad as that. i have to tell you, one of things i did discover within the last few days of being here, from my friends contacts, there

is a feeling there's a greetdy verge ens between real life and wall street life. wall street goes up 30, 40% from the flow and real life seize job losses continue and credit and bank loans not available. when you put that in perspective, things are starting to turn around. one architect i was talking to last night said for the first time in six months, his phone is starting to ring again. and that's not just because he paid the bills. >> you've been talking about a lot of similarities from overseas to here. what have you found to be the biggest difference as you've been going through all of financial institutions. is it the issue of bonuses you brought up while in hong kong? >> within the financial institution, yes, it's a morality, between say the far southeast and what they view as

being the naked greed of wall street and the city of london that has got everybody in the mess in the first place, mainly the city of london. but i think the really big question is one of confidence. when do people feel things are getting better again of the at the moment in asia they do believe things are getting better. in parts of europe we look on the anglo-american world as being the source of the confusion. people believe it's an an glo-american issue, but what i'm hearing now, people see markets rallying ahead, that's why i'm in new york, with prices and property and bankers and consumers and all of those issues. what they are telling me so far, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

is it the end train coming? >> good to see you, richard. we have a sad story we got word of about an hour or so ago. buffalo new york, a city in mourning after two fallen firefighters killed when the floor of this burning convenience store claollapsed io the basement. mees can't confirm reports about a third person. a civilian may be trapped inside the are you abrubble there. a prominent doctor shot to death while police comb the state. t.j. holmes is pushing the story forward for us. >> that might be a good way to put it, convoy of killers, five guys that the police are looking for who went into the doctor's ranch in the middle of the day, broad daylight, busted in, shot him and his ranch hands. the ranch hand survived but the doctor was killed. his name is dr. mario gonzalez,

jorge mario gonzalez the head of the critical care clinic at the methodist hospital in the houston. they released a statement a short time and surely he's 56 years old, certainly been around and in the medical community for a while. the statement from them said that the methodist hospital mourns the death of dr. gonzalez, he has been a pull monetary medicine leader for decades. we'll miss him as a friend and outstanding clin igs and researcher. thoughts go out to the family during this tragedy. they asked people to put up comments on the message board as well. what happened here. there is no motive for this right now. he had a ranch outside of houston, 60 miles out. on saturday these five men burst in, killed him, his wife and 2-year-old son were hiding in the home in a close et at the time. they were not harmed and not

injured at all. his family a short time ago, he has three adult children as well. one of his sons came out and talked about what kind of man his father was. >> he didn't want to harm anybody, why would anybody harm him? he had nothing to do with anybody. he was a peaceful man and wise man and here to make people better. and nothing else. >> another detail here, when police arrived, they responded to the scene after the 911 call the suspects were apparently still there and met in the driveway. they passed each other, three suspect vehicles and the police car. well according to police one of suspects in one of those vehicles fired on the police officer. the police officer was not hit. his vehicle was not hit either. later police were able to find a vehicle they think matches the discrimination of one of suspect vehicles but found the owner of that suspect vehicle what they thought was, that owner checked

out and he was allowed to go. right now police believe they have five men on the lose, armed and dangerous, don't know if it was a burglary or if the doctor was in fact targeted. a strange story and strange set of circumstances, but a lot of questions right now. one of those biggest questions, who are the five men and where are they right now. >> thanks, t.j. cia mock executions of terror suspects and others threatened with a gun and power drill. we're digging deeper. 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.

facing outrage at home and abroad, the scottish justice secretary is defending his decision to free the convicted bomber of pan-am flight 103. the lockerbie bomber was allowed to return home to libya on compassionate grounds because he's dying of cancer. an emergency session -- okay. let's get to another story that we talked a lot about this morning. it was sort of a juxtaposition of two stories taking place ironally on the same day.

18 days from now we'll mark one of darkest days in the history of our country. eighth anniversary of 9/11. can you believe it's been eight years. those terror attacks were hatched from al qaeda camps in afghanistan and that's why president bush ordered the invasion of that country less than a month afterward. eight years later we're still fighting that war. presidential elections held there last week are being called corrupt. today the final beam as you'll see here in a minute was removed from the world trade center when 9/11 happened. it's actually being returned to ground zero, 58 tons, 36 feet high, this column was a make-shift memorial to the victims of the attack and it's being placed here. on the ground in afghanistan, the war against the taliban is going badly and getting worse. that's the bleak assessment from joint chief chairman michael mullen. he spoke with john king.

>> he is serious and deteriorating. i've said that over the past couple of years that taliban insurgency has gotter better, more sos fisty indicated. >> growing signs the top u.s. commander will ask president obama for more troops. from what you're seeing and hearing atia, is it as bad as what admiral mullen is saying? >> reporter: it depends on where you go, kyra. in the south they have thousands of marines trying to secure and hold areas for the election. we know that it was south and east of the country where many afghans did not come out to vote in fear of the taliban threats and intimidation. that being said, there were districts in helmand where they did go out to the polls. the afghan that were afraid to before but still the turnout was

lower than the 2004 elections and 2005 parliamentary elections. there are certain parts of the war going well and there are other parts. you have to also remember the afghan government, they don't necessarily trust at the moment. they didn't necessarily not go to the poll because of safety reasons but because they didn't trust their government. accusing president karzai of stealing the elections of fraud. >> the afghan people view the community as they get into the credibility of the process. they feel in their mission it will have consequences for afghanistan. so i hope that all together we'll be able to save it. >> reporter: dr. abdullah there asking the international community to make sure massive fraud does not occur, that the results don't come in until the

complaints are filed and investigated. he feels that he is the -- at the same time the karzai campaign not taking this sitting down, they feel they are in the laid and dr. abdullah is using pop propaganda. >> they are making irresponsible comments and this is disrespectful to the process and the mechanism in place and to the people. obviously the elections, there are violations all over the world in the elections but there are mechanisms to take care of it. the only way is to respect the mandate of the institutions. if we do their job, we have not helped democracy. >> reporter: the good and bad of this situation you do see democracy there, two presidential candidates fighting

for their position. they want to be the president. they fought for it. they have the supporters that have supported them. but the bad side of this when you talk to the average afghan, they see this fighting and see the accusations and they don't feel that their government is really looking out for them as much as they are looking out for their own parties and own candidates and not for the afghan people. >> as we mentioned, that last steel column removed from ground zero returned there today as a symbol of rebirth. we look at this and remember what happened eight years ago. i think we all can agree we'll never forget that moment. pothole:h no...your tire's all flat and junk. oh, did i do that? here, let me get my cellular out - call ya a wrecker. ...oh shoot...i got no phone

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gathering dust, as pollen floats through the air. but with the strength of zyrtec ® , the fastest, 24-hour allergy relief, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. with zyrtec ® i can love the air ™ . and your top stories, ace gris grisly mystery, bones from more than one infant turned up. investigators aren't sure what crimes if any were committed. car for clunkers is in the final hours designed to spur car sales and save gas winds down at

8:00 p.m. eastern, a little over six hours from now. dealers love the foot traffic but hate the paperwork and delays in getting paid. a town in oklahoma is stunned by the murder of a visiting pastors, carol daniels was found dead in the church which doesn't have a congregation. an autopsy is planned for today. elizabeth, university of kansas is telling students who come down with the h1n1 virus, commonly called swine flu, they have 47 apparent cases and main campus 30,000 students, the kind of close quarter where it thrives. they are asked to stay put in their dorms. swine flu has health

officials getting ready for what's being called the biggest vaccination drive in u.s. history. you were actually at the white house recently, right? listening to what they were saying about swine flu. a perfect excuse for kids not to go to class but people are getting concerned about what to do. >> at the white house, federal officials were clear they knew they have a tough job in front of them. trying to vaccinated half of the population of the united states in less than three months. that's because the swine flu vaccine isn't ready yet. they are expected to have some ready in mid-october but not all of it. let's look at who is supposed to get the swine flu shot. these people should be first in line, pregnant women, anyone 6 months to 24 years old. anyone 25 to 64 with health problems and parents and caregivers of babies under the

age of six months. there are problems trying to vaccinated this many people between the middle of october and december, there are other problems too. you'll notice people on the list, younger people, pregnant women. people who are not used to getting flu shots. there's some concern that some of them won't want to get flu shots, when really the cdc wants people to get vaccinated. >> the question we have to ask and bring up, there's always a few people in the editorial meeting, more people get the regular flu than the other types of flu. put in perspective the difference. >> we don't know how many people will get each type. what's interesting is that symptomwise there aren't a lot of differences between swine flu and the regular flu we see every year. the big difference is who gets very sick from each kind of flu. swine flu victims are much younger than victims of the regular flu that we have every year. 75% of hospitalizations under

the age 49 for swine flu -- 75% of the people hospitalized with swine flu are under 49, very different than regular flu mostly hospitalizes older people. this is a very different group of people than what we usually see for flu. >> elizabeth, thanks, we'll be back at the top of the hour with answers on how schools plan to stop the swine flu, we'll talk with lisa barrios. the malaise yan government decided it wasn't ready to give it. the beer controversy still brewing.

she drank the beer almost two years but the hangover won't

go away. she's getting a reprieve. she'll still be caned but has another month or so to think about it. >> it's been a dramatic day, the mother of two was prepared to face her punishment, that was of course, receiving six lashes of the cane and a week in prison for drinking alcohol in a public hotel here in malaysia. this is a crime as a muslim. officials came to the family home and led her away. she only got 100 meters up the road before authorities intervened and issued her a temporary release. there was a great deal of confusion as to what this actually mept meant. but amid concerns she would still be punished and still be first women to be caned in

malaysia, it will be taking place after the holy month of ramadan that we are currently on. let's i don't know what's happening. i don't know. i need time. >> reporter: legal representatives met with katika and her family. they believe she's been deeply traumatized by this 18-month saga. she has chosen not to appeal the sentence. one of the reasons being is she feels she has brought shame to her family and she just wants to serve her punishment so that it can all end. the lawyers say that the sharia legal act, the criminal act, must be overturned, it must be reviewed, otherwise it will set a dangerous precedent for other muslims here in malaysia.

stories we're pushing forward next hour. literally, dressed to kill. would-be suicide bombers detained in pakistan, accused of targeting the very heart of the government. cnn lands the exclusive. also ahead, our i.d. with the vip in just over an area. the crypt of marilyn monroe goes to the highest bidder. more from the woman selling it on ebay and booting her husband to do it. speaking of marilyn, she's got a brand new namesake. remember this video we showed you friday of deb feyerick playing midwife to a cow? of course you do. we can't forget it. turns out after all that hard work, deb and the crew got to name the newborn. meet little norma jean. she cleans up real nice, doesn't she? six south carolina men set to be sentenced today for one of the biggest armored car heists in u.s. history. well, they're beging the judge

for mercy. their families are saying these guys are misguided youths, not hardened criminals. let's see, three guys beat a guard, broke his nose, his bones, knocked out his teeth, duct taped him and left him for dead on a deserted road. then they spent some of their stolen millions on strippers and sneakers. oh, and by the way, mother's day gifts, too. clearly not criminal masterminds, but mercy? we will let you know when the sentences come down. a sprinter's sex hurdle doesn't faze folks back home. they're running to the defense of their golden girl after her gender's called into question. ( revving, siren blares ) there's no way to hide it. sir, have you been drinking tonight?

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for 18 years, theyhave known her as a her. friends and family of the south african runner being gender tested are furious that her success is being spoiled and suggesting maybe this is more black and white than it seems.

more now from cnn. >> reporter: in south africa, caster semenya's mother proudly shows off her daughter's achievements but in berlin, where the teenaged runner won yet another gold medal last wednesday, the spotlight was on her gender. the decision by athletics body iaaf to verify her sex has angered many in her home country. if she hadn't won would they be asking these questions, her mother asks. preparations are under way for a huge celebration, when the athlete returns on tuesday. i'm not worried at all, i'm not even stressed. i know what my child is because i gave birth to her. i'm not going to be shaken by anyone, says her mother. she believes jealousy and racism are to blame for the hold debacle. white people don't want to be outperformed by black people, she says. that's why they are causing all this trouble. the iaaf began looking at

semenya's gender last month and admits the private inquiry should not have become public just before the berlin games. still, it strongly denies racism was behind the decision. it is here on this dusty field in rural south africa that caster laid the foundation of a gold winning athletics career. before the world championships in berlin, where controversy around her gender arose, she won gold at the commonwealth youth games last year and again at the african junior championships. her former headmaster says while some kids used to remark that semenya runs like a boy, at school, there was little doubt. >> i'm 100% sure that caster is a girl because when we admitted her, we admitted her and knew that she's a girl.

this was a shock. >> reporter: this woman says she used to run and play football with caster and they shared a room on many occasions during high school trips. >> i feel angry because i know caster's a girl. >> reporter: the south african government and the public have rallied behind the gold medalist. people in her home village have been rejoicing for days. to them, she remains an inspiration. we're pushing forward now. it's in every state, it's killed hundreds of people. now there's fear swine flu may be waiting in your child's classroom. from preschools which can be germ factories all the way to colleges like the university of kansas, now telling six students to shut themselves in their dorms. new classes, new books, new worries.

health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius holding a news conference on the h1n1 virus. we will take it live as soon as it begins. chill out, take a walk on the beach. that's president obama's advice for reporters covering his family's vacation on martha's vineyard. the first family arrived on the island for a week-long stay yesterday. the white house says no public events are on the agenda but we know that work of some sort usually pops up during these presidential summer vacations. we already know one big issue on the president's table this week, a special terrorism interrogation unit to be supervised by the white house. administration sources tell cnn that mr. obama has approved the new unit, also a new justice department report comes out today and we have learned it recommends reopening dozens of cia prisoner abuse cases. the report contains examples of alleged harsh mistreatment of terror suspects. here's cnn's elaine quijano. >> reporter: in separate incidents, cia interrogators threatened the man suspected of plotting the deadly bombing of

the "uss cole" according to knowledgeable sources familiar with the cia report. sources confirm one interrogation session involved a gun, another an electric drill. both meant to scare the suspect into giving up information. mock executions were staged, including one where a gun was fired in a room next to a detainee to make him believe another prisoner had been killed. the american civil liberties union, which sued to get the caa report released, called the tactics under the bush administration quote, not only reprehensible but illegal, and said the american public has a right to know the full truth about the torture that was committed in its name. although the government had authorized such controversial techniques as waterboarding, the use of a gun and drill fell outside approved tactics. a cia spokesman said quote, the

cia in no way endorsed behavior, no matter how infrequent, that went beyond formal guidance, and added that justice department officials reviewed any cases of alleged misconduct. but the report could renew questions about whether the bush administration went too far in the name of national security. former vice president dick cheney has maintained the interrogation program as a whole was needed to keep the country safe. >> the intelligence officers who questioned the terrorists can be proud of their work, proud of the results, because they prevented the violent death of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people. >> reporter: for the obama administration, the report's release means a delicate balance. >> we will not be doing anything that would endanger the american people or in some ways lessen our national security. >> reporter: but some fear the release will have a chilling effect on intelligence officers trying to do their jobs. >> we will teach timidity to a

work force that we need to be vigorous and active. >> reporter: attorney general eric holder is expected to announce soon whether he will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the bush administration's interrogation policies. elaine quijano, cnn, washington. bill is not a hurricane anymore but it's left a tragic legacy. the remnants of bill now moving away from the canadian coast in the atlantic after churning up gigantic waves. waves like this swept a group of surf watchers into the sea off the main coast yesterday, killing a 7-year-old girl. bill is also blamed in the death of a 54-year-old florida swimmer. chad myers, where is that storm now and how strong is it? >> well, it's still a fairly large storm, and the satellite picture here, i will take you to that first because it is really moving. now, 45 miles per hour, it is just hauling itself away now, caught in what we call the

westerlies, the west winds just blowing it out into the atlantic ocean. but it will take it very close to scotland and the uk and wales so as this low comes through, it still may be a 40 mile per hour wind maker for the areas here to the north of london, which would be down there. london could see 20, 30 mile per hour gusts as well and a lot of rain as it goes by because even though it's not really in the tropics anymore, it's still a fairly large hunk of moisture. that hunk of moisture will fly itself across the atlantic and right into the uk, right into great britain itself. then the whole storm system, i think the big story here is where we did lose that little girl up here in maine. the distance between where it was, there's the line of the track of the storm, and where the fatality occurred, 250 miles away. 248 miles away. now, it was a lot closer to nantucket. that's about 177 miles away.

we had 50 people that had to be rescued from wrightsville beach, look at that, 467 miles away from that beach. 50 people caught in the rip current there, taken out into the ocean and they all had to be rescued. literally, putting the rescuers at risk as well, as they had to go out there and get those people even though for how many days did we say please don't go play in the surf. kyra? >> that's what i don't understand. the warnings go out, people are told not to do it but a number of times there are thrill seekers. >> i'm sure people were disappointed but at least some parts of the new jersey and new york beaches were actually closed. they just said don't do it, we don't want to go out there and save you and when the waves calmed down, they opened it back up. that was the safest thing for a lot of people, just say you can't. a buffalo, new york is mourning over two fallen firefighters today. they were killed when the floor of this burning convenience store collapsed into the

basement. lieutenant chip mccarthy was a married father of three, a 22 year veteran of the department. firefighter jonathan croom, 34, a ten-year veteran, and father of one. it's the deadliest day for the buffalo fire department in 26 years. it's wildfire season which you know firsthand if you live in parts of california, but a large chunk of greece is burning, too. children's hospital, summer camps, even a monastery have been evacuated as dozens of fires raged north of athens. phil black is there. >> reporter: the situation has eased a little overnight. it's given some respite to firefighters in their work. they started early this morning with serious water bombing, trying to get an upper hand just in case conditions worsen again. so they have been hitting the fires behind me, they are still burning here. this is just north of athens. there are no fires burning still within those northern suburbs of athens itself but there are still active fire fronts just

north of that and the fear is that should the conditions turn bad, should those winds whip the situation up yet again, then it could once again go out of control. we have seen the winds behaving unpredictably, driving the fire fronts forward but blowing embers ahead, starting new fires. that's what firefighters have been dealing with in recent days. certainly the residents have been in areas directly affected. we have seen scenes of not quite panic, perhaps, but certainly a lot of anxiety. a lot of residents have chosen to stay behind and try and fight the fires, protect their homes as much as they can. some of them have chosen to flee sort of towards the last moment or so. there are suburbs across northern athens that are still this morning evacuated where flames came right up to homes and destroyed some of them. firefighters are still working there to essentially mop up what remains. most of the flames are gone but it is still very hot there.

there's still a lot of smoldering going on. as long as there is the threat of high wind, there is always the chance that these fires could pick up again in those areas. so you got a clunker and you want government cash? you better hurry up. under six hours to go before the cash for clunkers deal hits the end of the road. 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.

it's the end of the road and it's out of gas.

whatever car-related metaphor you want to use, cash for clunker is coming to an end in less than six hours. the program not only spiked sales but the tedious paperwork as well. >> reporter: with a fast approaching deadline, customers flocked to car dealerships over the weekend, looking, hoping to be one of the last to drive home a deal. >> i came here and there were so many people here. >> reporter: david is trading in his van with more than 150,000 miles on it for a new toyota. thanks to a $3500 cash for clunkers rebate. >> for me, of course, a new car always good. >> reporter: as of thursday, the transportation department reported more than 450,000 clunker deals nationwide, worth nearly two-thirds of the $3 billion set aside for the program. but dealers say the paperwork and the payback is a major

concern. >> 15 to 20 documents like this for every deal? >> right. >> reporter: tammy is vice president of dark cars auto chain in greater washington. she has people working around the clock to meet the deadline. they have made 1400 clunker deals so far, fronting as much as $4500 for each rebate. to date, they have only been reimbursed for nine. >> especially coming out of the times that we have just come out of, and then to have this kind of cash flow hanging out there, it's very unnerving. hard to sleep at night knowing that you have, you know, $6 million outstanding. >> reporter: the national automobile dealers association is urging the government to give them an additional week to process all the deals they expect in the twilight hours. transportation secretary ray lahood assures the money is on the way. >> they're going to get their money. we have the money to provide to them. >> reporter: as for customers like sarah nesbitt, she's rushing to cash in on a deal she just couldn't pass up. >> with all the dings and dents and scratches and dog hair and

all that, into one of those. >> reporter: so what are people buying? this dealer says nearly 80% of all their clunker customers are buying foreign brands and about 80% of what people are turning in are domestic vehicles. kate bolduan, cnn, silver spring, maryland. now recent numbers. as of this morning, cash for clunkers is credited for 625,000 deals, with nearly $2.6 billion in rebate vouchers handed out. if you missed out, here's some consolation. you can still get a $600 tax credit for buying a new car. we are continuing our coverage of the health care systems around the world and what we can actually learn from them. we want to take a look at ireland. ireland ranks 15th in a european survey on quality of health care. the life expectancy in ireland is almost 80 years. almost two years longer than here in the u.s. one of the problems facing ireland, though, shrinking tax revenues that are making it difficult for that country to pay for its own reform plan.

here's kitty pilgrim. >> reporter: five years ago, flush with prosperity, ireland started to reform its health care system. it began centralizing health care and offering higher salaries to doctors to switch to the public system of health care and give up their private patients. richard saltman of emory university has studied many european health care systems. >> essentially what they did was increase the pay for hospital physicians, increase it quite a good deal, but in return, those hospital physicians had to restrict or eliminate seeing private patients in the hospitals and having them in private beds. >> reporter: every citizen is covered under the public health plan, but 50% of the population buys supplemental private insurance to avoid the long wait times on elective surgery. >> in the public sector, one can wait up to three years for a hip replacement or corneal lens transplant. >> reporter: patients in need of

immediate care often flood emergency rooms. >> in hospitals, waiting times in emergency room for urgent or emergent care in ireland is longer perhaps than i have seen it in any other developed nation. >> reporter: there is one doctor for every 333 people, compared to one for every 416 in the united states. ireland spends 7.5% of its gdp on health care compared to 16% in the united states. and $3,424 per person compared to $7,290 in the united states. life expectancy, 79.7 years compared to 78 in the united states. costs are starting to strain the system as tax revenues decline in the current economic downturn. one thing ireland has done well is foster the development of the pharmaceutical industry. >> the government was providing

significant tax benefits to entice the pharmaceutical industry to invest in the manufacture of chemicals in ireland. it actually helped fuel the economic engine of the celtic tiger and so there is a very congenial relationship between the ministry and the industry. >> reporter: kitty pilgrim, cnn. the demand for services in the last few years, many illegal immigrants that flooded ireland in boom times have now returned to their home countries after the recession wiped out their jobs. so it's taken some of the pressure off the health care system there. lots of folks may be getting a reality check on their social security income. stephanie elam live with what you need to know. i had felt fine. but turns out... my cholesterol and other risk factors... increased my chance of a heart attack. i should've done something. now, i trust my heart to lipitor. when diet and exercise are not enough,

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your top stories now, a mystery at a mobile home park near ft. worth, texas. remains of an infant turned up into a bag left by a former tenant. investigators aren't sure what crimes were committed. the top official in afghanistan is calling last week's presidential election a real achievement. he also admits there were problems. an independent watchdog says he has gotten about 45 complaints that could affect the outcome if they're confirmed. officials results won't be known for weeks. scotland's justice secretary defending its division to free the lockerbie bomber and send him back to libya. his hero's homecoming sparked global outrage last week. today, secretary mccaskill says

there was no financial deal behind this decision which he says was prompted by compassion for the cancer-stricken terrorist.

health care in focus now. if your license plate says maryland, you paid a fee, $11, into a program that's the envy of the country. even some other countries.

maryland's medivac helicopters save thousands of lives every year at no cost to patients. cnn photojournalist oliver janney brings us the story. >> reporter: in 1970, the maryland state police aviation command performed the first civilian medivac ever, transporting over 300,000 patients on our helicopters in the past 30 years. >> my name is dick elfman. i was involved in a head-on collision, a person coming in the other direction apparently fell asleep or was otherwise distracted and crossed the center line. >> about 8,000 missions a year. of those 8,000, about 5,000 are medivac patients. we can get a patient within 25 minutes, we have over a 90% chance of getting that patient to a trauma center within what we call the golden hour. >> i wouldn't be here right now if i hadn't been flown out.

>> this is syscom, the emergency medical resource center, the hub of the statewide communications system. where calls come to when a helicopter's requested. >> 17 has landed safely. >> 44-year-old female. >> copy. >> maryland has the best medivac system in the world. there are people who come from other countries to see what maryland has done. >> i never got a bill for the helicopter ride. it's an amazing thing. in our system, we don't charge any patients for transport. it's paid for by a surcharge on vehicle registrations. >> we have a system that works. we have choppers that take people no matter where -- it's not a question of who it is that's injured. it's not a question of whether the person is a child, an adult, a bad guy, a good guy, a cop, a crook. it's not that kind of question. it's a question of here's a person in need, we got to get them here.

that's what a society ought to be doing. >> thanks for putting that together for us. the millions of americans who rely on social security benefits have gotten used to their checks getting bigger and bigger every year but don't expect that to happen next year, or even the year after. stephanie elam at the new york stock exchange with details on this cost of living adjustment. >> reporter: this is something people do not want to hear but it is the raw truth. trustees who oversee social security say there will not be a cost of living increase for the next two years. that hasn't happened since 1975. now, we're not going to get the official announcement on this one until october but the cost of living increase is tied to inflation, specifically third quarter consumer prices. i know the third quarter's not done yet but last week we got the july consumer price index numbers. that showed that year to year, prices fell by the biggest amount in 59 years. why? cheap oil and gas. remember last year when we were paying crazy, crazy amounts for

a gallon of gas? well, oil went nearly $150 for that period. today it's going for $74, much cheaper, but no doubt this is still a big issue for the 50 million americans who get social security and that's why they care. inflation is not so much of an issue but it does affect the social security check. >> even though energy prices aren't as high as last year, health care costs are rising and that's a huge concern for older americans, right? >> reporter: no doubt about it. that's the situation that's not going to change for all of us. we're all going to get older and there will be things that break down in the system for us physically. so this is what people care about. inflation is down but medicare premiums are rising. since six million people get their premiums automatically deducted from their social security checks, their check could actually decrease. the national committee to preserve social security which is an advocacy group, says out of pocket medical costs eat up $3 out of every $10 of the average social security check. they also point out that it's a bad time not to boost social

security because many are struggling with smaller retirement portfolios, but then you've got the critics who point out that social security was boosted in january by nearly 6% and that was the biggest jump in 27 years. some people saying they have already gotten an increase, others saying it's not enough. i also just noted paying social security that many times back-to-back is hard. >> it's hard to say that word any time you have to say it, certainly when you look at the numbers that come through and see what you have to this point. thanks. money's running out. more than 650,000 americans will have used up their unemployment benefits by next month. 1.5 million will actually run out by the end of the year and for many, there's no job in sight. cnnmoney.com poppy harlow spent the day with two people facing that reality firsthand. >> reporter: rachel and anthony don't have much in common. rachel is 28 and worked in recruiting after graduating from college. anthony is 46. he worked on wall street for 20

years but never went to college. the thing they do have in common, a $430 weekly check from the government. like six million other americans, it's life on unemployment after losing a job. >> i definitely didn't think that i would be sitting here nine months later, you know, without employment. >> reporter: rachel lost her job in november. for anthony, it's been more than a year. >> when i first was let go, i figured maybe a month, two months, you know, and i didn't think it would last this long. >> reporter: but it has, and each day brings more work to find work. >> this afternoon at 2:30, i have the recruiting meeting with somebody i was not working with. >> reporter: the responses are few and far between. so you have applied for more than 650 jobs? >> correct. >> reporter: how many interviews have you had out of that? >> maybe ten. >> reporter: anthony has applied for hundreds of jobs, too. if it were up to him, he would

extend unemployment benefits. >> i think they should just keep continuing it until the job picture gets better. >> reporter: unemployment benefits have already been extended but the labor department forecasts 4.4 million americans may lose their benefits before finding jobs. for anthony, that will happen by the end of this year. and rachel expects to lose her benefits in january. >> i would go out and get a waitressing job. i would have to. >> i'm going to put like a deadline as to when i'm going to have to really seriously, you know, look for something, whether it be department store or something like that. >> poppy harlow joining us live from new york. what about rachel and anthony getting temporary jobs? >> reporter: it's a great question. i asked them but here's the deal. they take home about $1700 a month through those unemployment checks. that is more than they would make at most entry level jobs, really certainly at some waitressing jobs or bartending

jobs. unemployment's their best bet. what's interesting about this is there is really no incentive for either of them at this point to go out and find part-time work which i thought was really fascinating but at the same time, a real glitch somewhat in the system, because they don't have any real push to go out and get part-time work because then they can't get any unemployment benefits. that's a big problem. >> could we see the government extend unemployment benefits again? >> reporter: probably. it's been extended a number of times through the stimulus package up to 79 weeks in some states, as we have reported before. there are bills right now introduced in the house and senate pushing to extend those benefits for another 13 weeks but at the same time, you will remember last month, we saw the unemployment rate fall slightly so there's others that argue why pay for that, why take more government spending to lengthen unemployment benefits when we see the job picture improving somewhat? but we're seeing some people push for that. that's exactly what you heard anthony in the piece, that's what he wants to find. they have applied for hundreds of jobs and no bites yet. >> appreciate it.

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it's in every state. it's killed hundreds of people and now there's fear that swine flu may be waiting in your child's classroom. here's the most recent u.s. numbers. 53 states and territories are reporting cases, nearly 8,000 people have been hospitalized and more than 500 deaths are blamed on swine flu. the numbers are already scary enough, so what's the government doing to keep schools from adding to those totals? here's what education secretary arne duncan told wolf blitzer in "the situation room." >> what i hear you saying is there are federal guidelines, if you will, but it's really up to the local school districts to make these decisions. is that right? >> absolutely. local school districts working with the local health officials. this is going to be very much based at the local level, absolutely. we want to empower them with great facts to make the right decision. >> so the federal government putting a lot of the responsibility for the fevers and runny noses on the states. for more on the swine flu school prep, let's bring in senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen and also lisa barrios live

at the centers for disease control in atlanta. she heads up the division of adolescent and school health. lisa, let's start with you. i mean, we're hearing the secretary there, arne duncan, saying okay, we're leaving it up to the locals to decide what to do, but obviously, this is a across the country problem and we look to you at the cdc to give us some type of guidance because you're the experts. so what are you doing with regard to getting the flow of information to the local level? >> right. well, we are putting out guidance. we put out guidance a couple weeks ago for schools and last week for colleges and universities, other institutions of higher education, that's based on what research we can look at, what science we know, what experts who have been dealing with flu and looking at this particular h1n1 flu are thinking are the best things to do. we have been able to put all that together in guidance but as secretary duncan said, it does come down to what is feasible, what's doable at the local

level. >> so what is the guidance, lisa? while i have you, what is the guidance right now from pre-k to the college level, especially in light of this story coming out of the university of kansas and all these students getting sick? >> right. we do know that h1n1 flu is circulating in the country right now and that is a rare thing. it doesn't often happen that we have flu circulating through the summer in this country. so we do expect that people will be getting sick. what we're recommending are really very basic kinds of activities that people can do to try to reduce the spread of influenza, especially before we have a vaccine available, and those are very simple things like staying home when you're sick, that goes for kids as well as faculty and staff, making sure that people are vigilant during the school day and if someone does seem to be sick, that they separate them from well people as quickly as possible until they can be sent home. it also includes the basic hand

washing, covering your coughs and sneezes that we have all been talking about for a long time. it's even more crucial to do that now. it's the best way that we have to try to prevent the spread. >> i have a question for you. it's elizabeth cohen. if a school has a death and they call you for guidance about what to do, will you tell them to close down if they have five deaths, will you advise them to close down? what will the cdc be advising in those situations? >> right now we are not advising that schools close. what we are doing is keeping a very close eye on what's happening with the flu during the fall and the winter, so we're looking at the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths, we're looking at whether or not there are changes to the virus that make it seem that it's getting to be more severe. if that does happen, then we may recommend that schools close but right now, we are not recommending that, even though we would expect to be seeing some influenza in schools.

>> i understand that these decisions are up to the schools about when to close but if my child's school had children dying of h1n1 and the cdc didn't advise them to close down, i would find that a little strange. >> again, it is up to the schools to make that decision and it really is a local based decision. you need to keep in mind that closing schools can have a lot of negative consequences and based on our experience in the spring and the summer, we really think those negative consequences at this current point are outweighing the benefits of closing the school. we need to remember that schools provide necessary care for children throughout the day, they feed children, they provide health services for children, in addition to their educational progress. so it's important to try to balance the risks with the benefits of keeping kids in school. >> you bring up an interesting point about balancing the risks. elizabeth and i were talking about this. you're sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't, because you don't want to blow anything out of proportion and scare people

but at the same time, you don't want anybody dying. so is this the type of situation where you just have to sort of give your basic advice on how to stay home if you're sick and wash your hands and you know, the things that we have heard over and over until something drastic does happen, and then step in and advise? >> right. i think what we are doing is trying to keep a really close eye on what's happening with the virus, and we are trying to be very clear to people that we may change our guidance if we see that things are changing with the virus and with how it's affecting people in this country. we may change that guidance and we have put out there the things that we would consider doing. that would include things like closing schools or keeping home well siblings of children who are ill in order to try to prevent the spread. >> before we let you go, where do we stand now with regard to how you feel about the spread and the number of cases, does it look like everything is holding steady, do you see it as getting

worse, is it certain parts of the country? what is the latest information you can tell us? >> we have got cases across the country in various different places. for the most part, it's sporadic and regional. there's a few places where it's more widespread. again, it's unusual to be seeing any flu in august, but the levels overall are not tremendous and we are not seeing a lot of differences from sort of during a normal seasonal flu season. >> lisa barrios from the cdc, thanks so much. we have been getting tweets at kyracnn on all this flu stuff as well. one viewer says two schools closed in kentucky, one in perry county, the other in bourbon county from h1n1. then a request and suggestion. hurry up, vaccinations and wash your hands constantly. kyra, the only question i have is why is this h1n1 being overreacted to?

more people die from a common cold than this. similar thought, dude, seriously, kyra, what's so special about this h1n1. all it is is the flu. come on, all the media hype for what? like four deaths? actually, there's been more. i got to fact check you on that one. the cdc's count, they have been 522 swine flu deaths in the u.s. through thursday. thanks for tweeting us. keep them coming. i think i'll go with the preferred package.

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breaking news to tell you about. "the washington post" reporting that eric holder will appoint a special prosecutor. his goal, to examine nearly a dozen cases in which cia interrogators allegedly tortured terror suspects in custody. sources tell the "post" that holder is set to name john durham, a justice department prosecutor, from connecticut. this comes as president obama proves a special interrogation unit to be overseen by the white house and amid a cia report detailing possible prisoner abuse. other top stories, one search is over, another begins in the killing of a swimsuit model, jasmine fiore. the man suspected in her death, ryan jenkins, has been found dead of an apparent suicide. authorities are trying to identify a woman who was seen dropping him off at a hotel room. the daughter of a convicted child rapist plans to testify against him before a grand jury. david earl is scheduled to leave

prison 19 weeks after pleading guilty to raping a 4-year-old girl. earl's daughter and two other women say that earl's raped them, too, and they want him to stay behind bars. t-minus 11 hours to liftoff for the special shuttle "discovery." the shuttle is delivering equipment to the international space station. three space walks are planned.

this coming to us now through the associated press. listen to this. a newly declassified cia report is saying that interrogators here in the u.s. actually threatened to kill the children of a september 11th suspect. we're just now getting this information. apparently this document that was just released today by the justice department goes on to say that one interrogator here in the u.s. said that a colleague had told khalid shaikh

mohammed, you remember one of the men convicted of the september 11th attacks, apparently this interrogator told him that if any other attacks happened in the u.s. that quote, we're going to kill your children. another interrogator allegedly tried to convince a different terror suspect detainee that his mother would be sexually assaulted in front of him, though the interrogator in question denied making such a threat. this is all detailed in a document that was just released today and we're getting a chance to read some of the highlights of this document that was released by the justice department. apparently this report was written in 2004. it was examining the cia treatment of terror detainees following the terror attacks of september 11th back in 2001. it has been declassified and that's how we were able to get our hands on this as part of the lawsuit that we have been telling you about that's been brought forward by the aclu. we will continue to follow up on the information that's now

slowly being released from these declassified documents, now being released by the justice department due to this lawsuit by the aclu. this week marks the fourth anniversary of the onslaught of hurricane katrina and in too many places, the wounds are still fresh, but sean callebs actually found parts of new orleans where the outlook is more upbeat. >> reporter: new orleans has been shielded in the aftermath of katrina, not by levees. it has been an economic buffer, federal and private money as the city rebuilds. jazz great irvin mayfield opened a club in the french quarter but wants to talk about his job as commissioner of the new orleans redevelopment authority. >> redevelopment is just another word of self-investment for citizens. i think that passion has always been important to new orleans. we are now trying to figure out how to transform the passion for music and food into different areas of redevelopment. >> reporter: after katrina, close to 80,000 homes had to be

rebuilt, attracting legions of construction workers. it's helped keep new orleans' unemployment rate at about 7.2%, while the national average is closer to 9%. with its hotels and night life, new orleans has its share of service jobs but entrepreneurs are also investing here, finding there are benefits to being in this city. nick perkins is ceo of the receivables exchange. cohave started his business anywhere. >> from pennsylvania, darryl from england, john from boston. >> reporter: new residents know about the problems. crime, a poor education system, the slow pace of rebuilding. but they are convinced the positive outweighs lingering deep-rooted problems. >> to have an operation like this would be literally five, six, seven times more for us in new york or san francisco. the quality of life that we have here, you can live in new orleans exceptionally well under a startup salary. >> reporter: home prices are up

1.1% from 2008 to 2009. nationally, they plunged about 10% over that same period. new orleans is a long way from being whole. entire neighborhoods remain in ruin and thousands are still displaced. >> i think a lot of people who see this may say look, you guys have been at this for four years, why isn't this done already. i think people need to really understand the volume of things that we have done and we're doing. >> reporter: in many ways, the city has something it couldn't claim four years ago. optimism. in many ways, new orleans remains a tale of two cities. the central business district, the french quarter and areas the tourists see are coming back in a big way. however, many outlying areas are still in dire need of repair and revitalization. sean callebs, cnn in new orleans. american morning has special reports leading up to the fourth anniversary of hurricane katrina and we will, too, every morning in the 10:00 a.m. eastern hour of "cnn newsroom."

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team sanchez, what you working on for the next hour back there in your little hole? >> well, one of the things we're working on is what you were just talking about, the cia investigation. this is amazing stuff. we got bob behr here and for my money, he's one of the most

knowledgeable cia guys we ever worked with. he will tell us whether these things are really routine, if anybody has ever done this kind of stuff before at the cia, if it's prosecutable. we have been drilling down on one case, so to speak, throughout the day where agents or contractors actually used a drill to threaten a suspect, a terrorism suspect. obviously that's going to come into play. we will be all over that. also, we just got this tape in we will be sharing with you, a tape of one of these town hall meetings. it's a real head turner. it's very dramatic what senator tom coburn is asked. but the story of the day, the video of the day, is a new psa being released in england. >> on the texters. >> watch a little bit of this. watch a little bit of this. let's listen.

yeah, it goes on for about another four minutes. it's kind of like watching a movie. it's done that well. high drama. the message is obvious. for those of us who like to e-mail on our way home from work, adults and kids who can't stop texting to save their lives, including my kids, this is a warning. this is the kind of stuff that can happen and has. >> it makes you think of that group of girls coming back from a cheerleading camp and they were texting and they were all killed. we actually saw that on friday and it was hard to stomach. it goes on for such a long time. >> we have watched it and we decided that people should probably see this. that wasn't an easy decision to come to, but given the alternative, i think people should see this. >> i think there's a good lesson. absolutely. rick, see you in a little bit. let's do a final check of today's swine flu h1n1 tweets. journal project asks how do you protect yourself from getting this flu? most have talked about what

those who get it should do. what about the rest? and hey, journal project, there's lots of good info at cdc.gov/swineflu. mercury writes how come there's still a delay in getting out the vaccine? get people vaccinated soon. that's why we need a government health care option soon. this comes from galaxy 5007, who the heck cares about swine flu. it's a mild flu, not any worse than the nasty flu i got last winter. thanks for tweeting, guys. packed with ball bearings and explosives. their purpose, to kill and maim. target, pakistani government officials.

the war against the other taliban, those in pakistan

fighting to overthrow the government. now we're learning an attack aimed at the heart of the country's leadership has apparently been foiled. here's cal perry. >> reporter: suspects are paraded in front of the media. the government says these men were planning to become human bombs. a dragnet has fallen across pakistan. six members of the taliban arrested. powerful explosives were found. the district police commander tells cnn these men were planning to bomb mosques and police stations. it is pakistan's wealthiest province. a strike here would be a clear blow to the country. in the southern port city of kurachi, seven men with links to al qaeda arrested. police say drugs and explosives were found. their targets, unknown. on sunday, cnn gained exclusive access to these suicide vests. the government says they uncovered a plot some four weeks ago. the vests were intended to strike at the heart of the pakistani government.

the parliament is a five-minute drive from pakistan's most powerful intelligence agency, the isi. both are in the heart of the pakistani capital. >> they were staying in one house and had hidden the suicide jackets not far from there in the hills which we have recovered. obviously, they had a plan. >> reporter: hitting back at the government would seem to be a high priority for the newly appointed leader of the pakistani taliban. he's said to be a brazen and young commander linked to attacks along the afghan border on nato troops, striking high profile targets would send a clear message that the group still has a fight left in it. which is why the government

continues its assault on the taliban. rumors of a cease-fire during the holy month of ramadan quickly shot down. >> now when they are the weakest moments and everybody knows that their back is broken, so we won't give them time to get energized. >> cal perry joining me live. why now? why do we think this is happening at this time, cal? >> reporter: you know, i think we're talking about not just a war of ideals here but a war for public perception, a p.r. battle going on between the pakistani government and the taliban. the taliban wants to prove they're still here, they want to hit back and they want to do it now because all we have been talking about has been their leadership being taken out. the other thing is this intelligence document that says 50 suicide bombers are across pakistan. we asked the interior minister if this was true. he said absolutely not but with every single successful raid that we see by the pakistani government, it only raises the

question, is it possible that there are dozens of more attackers out there. >> cal perry, appreciate your reporting. that does it for us. rick sanchez picks it up from here. coming at you right now, an emergency session in scotland. >> it fell to me to decide whether mr. al megrahi should be released. i stand by my decision. >> lawmakers called back as outrage grows over the release of a killer and terrorist who gets a hero's welcome. new video of fiddel castro from death's door to remarkable comeback? what is his story? is nature trying to tell us something? watch the iceberg melt and the waves form as if on cue. a new report on torture. now, will there be prosecutions? it's breaking news and we're on it on