tribute to a famous fan from his hometown team. ahead, a family and a nation gets ready to say good-bye. and also we've got an update for you on tropical storm danny because it is moving its way along. our severe weather team is on top of that for you. and finally, a grim milestone for u.s. troops. august on track to become the deadliest month ever in afghanistan. remembering ted kennedy. today his family gathers for a private mass. and then a public farewell unfolds. a motorcade will accompany his body on a 70-mile journey from his cape cod home to the presidential library he helped build for his slain brother. there thousands of people will

file past his casket and pay tribute to the last brother of a political dynasty. president obama and all four living former presidents will attend his private funeral mass. he will be buried near john and bobby at arlington national cemetery. this morning, ted kennedy's family will gather for that private mass at their hyannis port compound where kennedy lost his battle with cancer and where his life is now being celebrated. in washington, last night kennedy supporters gathered to light candles and honor his work. they vowed his causes will not be abandoned. let's look at the plans now both private and public for just a moment. cnn is in hyannis port with the very latest. deb, good morning to you. >> reporter: morning, heidi, and when you think about those who are going to attend the public memorial service, it's really quite amazing. four presidents, four former presidents, including obviously the current president barack obama who is destined to give

the eulogy during the memorial service. also here, something more quiet, something more subdued, a time for reflection, a time to honor the men who are so essential to their lives. when we see ted kennedy driving in and out and he glances over, makes eye contact every now and again, you have to wonder what he is thinking. currently the only elected politician of the kennedy family serving in rhode island as a congressman. and now that his dad is gone, you have to wonder if he's considering going further ahead in politics. all of this as the family begins to pay their final respects. senator edward kennedy's final journey begins, a somber motorcade carrying him away from hyannis port, away from his boat and the ocean he loved so much and endless days a family past and present. >> we should celebrate his life. not, you know, not be sad about it. but he -- he did a lot of

things. >> reporter: since kennedy's death late tuesday, his sons patrick and teddy jr. have been among cousins keeping watch over uncle teddy, larger than life even in death. family friend theresa. >> he said my dad died in such a peaceful way, i was so afraid of what it might be like and it was wonderful. so when you hear a child say that, you feel so much better. >> reporter: the trip from cape cod to boston expected to take less than two hours, the senator's body will lie in repose in the memorial he built for his brother, john f. kennedy, changing it into a center for reform and change. a memorial to be held on friday at 7:00 in the evening. and saturday, a private mass nearby at one of ted kennedy's churches before he is flown to arlington national cemetery to be buried near his brothers. over the next 60 days, kennedy staff will archive the senator's materials and close his office. the secretary of the senate

saying they cannot continue any legislative or other work underway before he died. new senior senator john kerry is hoping to fight to have kennedy's seat temporarily filled. >> he's asking simply for a temporary ability to appoint someone who will not run, will not get in the way of other people that want to run, who will be there for a moment only. >> reporter: now a person just entered the road a moment ago, they've been coming in and out all day yesterday, helping the family with arrangements being made by friends of the family. also when you think about the masses that are taking place, heidi, senator kennedy was a deeply religious man. even the fact he is there at the home, that he's surrounded by his family, they were praying to the end, that a priest was with him. all of this just a reflection of the kind of man and the spirituality that he had. and as most people are mentioning, yes, it is a

celebration. more importantly, he spent his last year living fully his life according to a family friend, saying he did everything he wanted to do. it would have been nice if he could've passed health care, she said, but in fact, he spent the year the way he wanted. heidi? >> very interesting, deb, if you know more about it, we'd love to hear about the funeral. i imagine there'll be several different locations that that route will go through, right? >> reporter: absolutely. and there are going to be -- the route that's going to take him here from hyannis port. again, we're expecting a convoy to come here, leave here at about 1:00 in the afternoon, head over to boston, checking noise behind me, another law enforcement officer. and it's going to head over to boston, going to make crucial stops, places that ted kennedy identified with, places he loved. means a lot to the family and to him. you almost get the sense that he was involved in the planning that he kind of knew what he

wanted and knew how he wanted to be honored in his final days. >> all right. a look at how things will shape up. we certainly do appreciate that. meanwhile, for a decade, senator ted kennedy championed the cause of health care reform. and now the man who called kennedy his best friend in the senate said any adopted reforms should share his name. and byrd hopes kennedy's death will lead to cooler heads among lawmakers and a more civilized debate. and we will have live coverage of the motorcade from hyannis port to boston. stay with cnn for continuing coverage of the life and death of senator ted kennedy. his body will lie in repose until a memorial service set for friday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. private funeral services will be held on saturday followed by his burial at arlington national cemetery. the weekly report on jobless

claims is out now, and there is some good news to report. our christine romans is joining us from new york with more on this. so christine, jobless claims are down a little bit. we should remind everybody this is the weekly report. >> this is the weekly report. this is the number of the people who file for unemployment benefits in the most recent week, that 570,000 people, down. and there's also a drop in the continuing jobless claims, as well, 6.133 million. whenever you have 6 million people continuing to get jobless benefits, that's a sign of a weak labor market, but week by week and day by day is any kind of a sign that there's a turn. and these numbers have turn very, very choppy, which many say is the first seen sine you need to see before things look up. >> and the fdic is going to release the quarterly update on

how much money is still in the deposit insurance fund? >> in about 53 minutes, we'll get the quarterly update from the fdic, sheila bair who runs that, and how much money is available to bail these banks out and to bail you out in your money, you're insured up to $250,000 if your bank fails, remember, i want to be clear about that. your money is safe in your bank. but we know that bank failures have been ramping up. three years ago, a handful of bank failures. last year, 25 bank failures, this year so far 81 banks have failed. and that is straining and depleting the amount of money available to bail out those banks and protect your assets. in some cases in 2006, more than $250 billion in its funds, insurance funds, now down to about $13 billion. the fdic, i want to be very clear, it has basically an open checkbook with the treasury if it needs to, a big line of credit. but you can see that the amount of cash that it has had to spend in this banking crisis has

really mounted here. there is money on hand right now, but a lot of analysts are saying if you have two or three more years of bank failures as many expect, it's going to continue to deplete those resources. also, heidi, the fdic, easing private equitying fi infirms ca failed banks. they're investors who tend to come in and they slash costs, they cut a company apart maybe and sell it quickly in a couple of years. the fdic instituting some rules they can't just quick flip a bank or something, but shows you how important it is to find buyers for some of these institutions. >> absolutely. still, obviously, a lot to talk about here in this regard. we have sure do appreciate it. christine romans live from new york this morning. heading over to the hurricane headquarters where rob marciano over in the weather

center to tell us about tropical storm danny who is gaining strength. >> yeah, gained strength overnight, heidi. better organized, but still a lopsided storm. right now winds at 60 miles an hour gusting to 70. with a lot of the action kind of on the northeastern side of the system. it's not veriy symmetrical. that's when we look for things to explode as far as intensity. we do think it's going to intensify, but how much, probably not all that much anyway. all right, we've got it about 550 miles south to southeast of cape hatteras, a northwesterly movement. although it'll be a little closer than bill to the carolina coastline. forecast to increase in intensity to a category one storm and then early saturday morning, look for it to bypass the coastline of the carolinas. and then what it does after that, obviously further out, a little bit more nervous, and

eastern new england in this cone of uncertainty, keep in mind that most of the action is north and east of the center. if it becomes more symmetrical and gets farther to the west, we've got to worry about things in the northeast. all right, southwest, temperatures here in l.a., going to get into the upper 90s, maybe 100 degrees. a little haze and smoke in the air. because we've got wildfire issues not only in southern california but northern california, as well. a number of fires there and the excessive heat not helping things. red flag warnings posted for much of california, especially east of the fire. keeping track of that story, plus, the shuttle trying to launch. more about that in half an hour. >> yeah, weather could be another issue for that. rob, we'll check back later on, thank you. militants opened fire on u.s. troops, americans now approaching a troubling milestone in afghanistan. the deadliest month ever in operation enduring freedom. u) combines two powerful medicines

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afghanistan. good morning to you, atia. >> reporter: good morning, heidi, it has been a very, very bloody summer for both u.s. and coalition forces here in afghanistan. but it was expected when we saw thousands pouring in to help secure and hold areas. and we are seeing the number reaching up to what it reached last month. last month being the deadliest month for u.s. troops, four days is left in august right now, we're waiting to see if it's going to get deadlier. the taliban and insurgents having a successful summer when it comes to roadside bombs. though coalition troops are feeling a strong blow. but when i spoke to a top international force in afghanistan, he told me that the taliban have lost hundreds of their soldiers this summer. and although they will not release it, the taliban also dealing with a very, very heavy blow this summer. heidi? >> no question about that. live from kabul, afghanistan

this morning. thanks, atia. a man protesting against protestors find you shouldn't protest what police say. >> hands behind your back! >> get on the ground! >> officers threatened to taser the man, you'll see what happens next. and remembering dominique dunn, following the crimes of the rich and famous, a career shaped by personal tragedy.

the associated press is

reporting new mexico governor bill richardson will not be charged in an investigation into pay to play allegations. a decision not to pursue indictments against richardson and former aides was made by top justice department officials. a federal grand jury began an investigation last year into an alleged scheme in which lucrative state work went to a richardson donor. an update now on the alleged rape of an 8-year-old liberian girl. four boys, ranging in ages from 9 to 14 are facing charges in the attack, as well. authorities took the child away from the parents after a report from police, the father said he blamed the child for the alleged rape. and bankruptcy plans followed by game plan for michael vick. a hearing is scheduled to begin in just a few minutes in a virginia courtroom over a plan

for vick to pay back creditors more than $20 million. and tonight, vick plays his first nfl game in nearly three years. his new team, the philadelphia eagles host jacksonville in a pre-season match-up. these days, most people who need a doctor go to an office or a hospital. but for those people who cannot get there or afford medical care, one doctor is returning to his industry's traditional roots. making house calls. introducing us to dr. katz in today's health care in focus. >> your pressure's way up. on the underserved medicaid population. i go into neighborhoods in the inner city that are full of despair and low on the economic strata, boarded up townhouses, young men hanging out on the

corner, not uncommon to have shootings hours before or afterwards on the streets. i'm not a concierge doctor, sometimes i say this is the anti-concierge practice. 20% of medicare patients get readmitted after discharge from the hospital. billions of dollars are lost due to those readmissions and those could be saved by increasing services at home. >> when was that last filled? >> 8-3-09. >> reporter: about three years ago, we embarked on a test with the sickest of members to coordinate a team approach with field nurses, with the physician at the center trying to cross culture gap of noncompliance and distrust, build confidence and relationships with the patients and get them reengaged in their health care so that we could decrease our necessary emergency

room transports and hospital admissions and that's been quite successful. >> that was my mom's name. >> my dad was a combat medic in world war ii and later became a family practitioner in new jersey and did house calls with his primary care practice. >> these are some old tools he used. >> it was a standard part of the medical practice because there was no 911 system. they couldn't call 911 in the middle of the night, they called their doctor, so he did house calls and carried around that bag. >> this is a unique partnership where the interest of the insurance industry and health care providers really interface. i think he'd probably be interested, knowing him and he'd have some things to tell me how i could do it better. but i think in his heart he'd be pretty proud of me. >> if you'd like to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms could affect you

and your family, check out the section of cnn.com. fact checks, i-reports, and other health care news, plus the latest from those town hall debates you've been seeing. go to cnn.com/health care. a man who got into a shouting match with a group protesting health care reform face off against a tougher opponent, the police. that happened yesterday in brunswick, georgia. when police found the man didn't have his own permit to protest, they asked him to leave. >> i'm not going to move, and you are not going to arrest me. >> get on the ground! hands behind your back! get on the ground now! >> the man was charged with disorderly conduct. if there's a shocking crime involving the rich and famous,

dominick dunne was there. his next novel due out in november. he died yesterday of bladder cancer. anderson cooper remembers a master story teller. >> in his 83 years, dominick dunne lived many lives, traveled in many different worlds, he'd climbed the ranks of show business from stage manager to producer, but it was late in his life as a writer and chronicler of the crimes of the rich and famous he became a household name. he covered the trials of o.j. simpson, eric and lyle menedez. he was a consistent advocate for justice. >> i never do this equal time. then i have to -- i take a stand. it doesn't always make me popular. >> reporter: his stand was shaped by personal tragedy, the killing of his own daughter. dominique dunne, an actress who appeared in the film

"poltergeist." the outcome left him outraged. >> i was so horrified about what went on in that courtroom. and i realized that i had the power to write about it. and the ability to go on tv and talk about it. and all the sort of sham that goes on at the trial. >> reporter: dunne was a special correspondent of vanity fair magazine and wrote specialty novels. he enjoyed the success that was so hard-earned he'd overcome much and loved the life he created for himself. if you were lucky enough to know dominick dunne, lucky enough to call him a friend, you knew how loyal and true he was. he was true to the end. anderson cooper, cnn, new york. mourning senator ted kennedy, plans are made for the legend day lawmaker's funeral and public viewing. we'll tell you how you can pay your respects. a mom came into my store. her son's going to college..

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

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the economic signs have been pointing in the right direction for wall street. yesterday we learned both new home sales and order for big ticket items jumped last month. and the opening bell today, everybody excited about those numbers and today we have better than expected readings in the job market and the overall economy. susan lisovicz, who is that? at the new york stock exchange is back, and she's got details on it all. >> it'sed good to be back and welcome back to you, as well. >> thank you. >> we're expecting a little itsy-bitsy move, i'm not sure if economists spoo spe economists speak that way. wall street, heidi, getting used to reports showing that the economy is stabilizing, investors and all of us want more, we want real signs of growth. we're not there yet with the jobs market, but there is improvement, both new and

continuing jobless claims fell last week, but the numbers are still real high. give you an example, 570,000 workers applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week and a healthier economy, you'd want half that. another report shows the overall economy shrank at an annual pace of 1% last quarter, but that's much better than the 6% gdp drop we saw in the previous quarter. home builder toll brothers posting a quarterly loss of nearly $500 million, worse than expected, but the company says the number of buyers putting down deposits for new homes running much higher than last year. and finally, boeing says its troubled 787 dream liner plane will be ready for the first flight by the end of this year. certainly hope so, it's more than two years behind the schedule. checking the numbers, check it out, ms. collins, tacking on 10 points. that's not a lot, but hey, the blue chip's riding a seven session win streak.

>> maybe we should take vacation more often. >> i think so. i should mention that i think a lot of folks are on vacation this week and the dow going into today's session was only up 37 points. but -- >> true. >> still moving higher. >> true, and seven's a lucky number, right? we'll take it. we'll check back later, thank you. the final journey for senator ted kennedy begins today. members of kennedy's family are holding a private mass at his compound in massachusetts. that will happen at noon. and then a motorcade will take the senator's body to boston where he will lie in repose. on saturday, a funeral in boston then kennedy will be buried at arlington national cemetery near his slain brother. meanwhile, the push is on to replace senator kennedy because of the critical debate surrounding health care reform.

kennedy sent a letter to the governor asking for someone to be appointed sooner rather than later. the governor talked about it on cnn's american morning. >> massachusetts needs two voices in the united states senate particularly in a time when such profoundly important issues are before the congress. what the senator said in his letter is that he like i supports the current law that provides for a special election about five months out after a vacancy occurs. and he also made a reasonable request that the governor be permitted to appoint someone to serve for that five month period until the special election occurs. and as i say, i think that's reasonable. >> stay with cnn for continuing coverage of the life and death of senator ted kennedy. as we mentioned, his body will lie in repose at the john f. kennedy national library. private funeral services will be held saturday followed by his burial at arlington national cemetery.

okay, let's get you over to the cnn hurricane headquarters. rob marciano has been tracking hurricane danny. not a hurricane yet, just tropical storm, but gaining some strength, yeah? >> absolutely. and as a matter of fact it's got winds now of 60 miles an hour, forecast to become a hurricane, but the problem it's running into, here's the center, you can kind of see it move with the image imagery, all of the action as far as heaviest thunderstorms and wind is north and east of the center. so it's not very symmetrical at this point. that hinders it as far as the strength is concerned, but it's close to hurricane strength already and forecasts to become the category one strength. here's the forecast track in the national hurricane center. 2:00 in the morning on saturday, maybe 250 away from cape hatteras, that takes it out of the cone of uncertainty, but eastern new england, that would include boston where they're having services for senator

kennedy saturday -- during the day on saturday, that could be affected, as well. but right now the center is forecast to remain offshore, we'll see if that forecast shifts that little bit farther towards the west. here's what's going on in florida, more in the way of showers and thunderstorms in the way of the florida peninsula. we've had problems, as you know with the launches of the space shuttle. first one was weather problems and then they had a leaky hydroden fuel valve. they got that fixed as of an hour ago. at noon they'll take another meeting if all things are good by 3:00 they'll start to refill that puppy and we're looking for a launch again tonight, another nighttime launch expected at 12:22 in the morning. threat for showers and thunderstorms around the launch pad at the kennedy space center, as a matter of fact, 30% probability of a go, no go deal again tonight. so we'll see if weather cooperates. temperatures down there will be in the upper 80s throughout the day today. >> all right, well fingers

crossed on that one. thank you, we'll check back later. the life and love of ted kennedy. his first marriage ended in divorce after more than two decades. his second marriage helped the massachusetts senator reinvent himself. we'll take a look back. 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.

now for a quick check of our top stories. people who loved and respected senator ted kennedy have a chance to pay tribute to him today. he will lie in repose at the kennedy presidential library in boston later today, that's after a private memorial at the kennedy compound in hyannis port, massachusetts. militants attack a coalition military patrol in southern afghanistan. one u.s. service member is dead. that pushes the u.s. toll to 44 deaths this month, one less than last month. july was the deadliest month for u.s. troops in afghanistan since the beginning of operation enduring freedom. michael vick back in a virginia court right now. a judge is expected to accept his plan to start paying back

some of the $20 million he owes. then it's back to philadelphia for tonight's eagles' game. vick is expected to play for the first time since his arrest two years ago on dog fighting charges. as you get older, your vision can weaken or your eyes can develop serious conditions. but there are things you can do now to keep your eyes healthy, elizabeth cohen explains. >> morning, how are you doing? >> when he was young, albert always had great eyesight. he prided himself on never having to wear glasses. when he started to get into his late '40s, he realized he couldn't see as well. >> i noticed some changes in my vision, primarily in church when i would open a bible or something, i would have to position myself under a bright light. >> he was diagnosed with the beginnings of cataracts, a condition where the central portion of the retina begins to deteriorate. >> as people approach their 50s

and later, they may have little yellow deposits that develop beneath the retina and that is the hallmark of what we call early age-related macular degeneration. >> reporter: there are plenty of lifestyle changes to make to slow that process. the best way to keep our eyes young, cut out tobacco. >> it's been related to several diseases in the eye, most noted macular degeneration. >> reporter: and a diet rich in vitamin e and zinc can help keep your eyes healthier longer. >> exercise and diet goes a long way in maintaining the health of our diet like the rest of the body. >> reporter: in middle age, you often can't read things, as well, it can occur causing the eye to lose the ability to focus on near objects. many patients rely on bifocals or reading glasses, and then there are cataracts. >> and attributal to our lenses

becoming cloudy. that's a natural aging process, akin to getting gray hair. >> reporter: in some people, macular degeneration can be a problem. many don't know they have it until it's already damaged their eyesight. >> we typically, you know, pick up a patient when all of a sudden they've had an acute bankrupt loss of vision. >> reporter: albert is lucky, he caught his condition before it began to ruin his eyesight. by having his eyes examined every few months and giving up smoking, he helps to keep his eyes healthy for as long as possible. for today's 30, 40, 50, i'm elizabeth cohen. too late to put the cat back in the bag. a baseball list of drug cheats should have been destroyed. i never thought i would have a heart attack, but i did. you need to talk to your doctor about aspirin. you need to be your own advocate. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

you take care of your kids, now it's time to take care of yourself.

well, apparently baseball's blacklist never should've surfaced. that is the ruling from a federal appeals court. they said law enforcement officials should've never seized samples and results from a 2003 league wide drug test. players like alex rodriguez, manny ramirez, and david ortiz have been named as testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in that test. a total of 104 players tested positive, in fact. the samples and results will now be destroyed. but, some of the names, of course, are already out there and others could still leak out later. here to talk about this list is

mlb.com senior correspondent. if you can hear me, do me a favor and clarify for us this list versus the investigation. >> well, you know, it's a very complicated thing. back in 2002, heidi, at the 11th hour of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, they agreed to have survey testing for steroids in major league baseball, the names were to be kept secret and all of that kind of thing and it's evolved into this. this list of those people who tested positive was seized by the government. what they're saying now is that seizing this list was illegal. so it kind of puts this to rest a little bit, but certainly doesn't help david ortiz and all of the players' names that have been leaked. >> there's actually 104 of them on this and the investigators actually only had a warrant for 10 drug tests, not all of these. so now what? >> that's right, heidi, and if you step back a little bit, the union, the union, the players' union was supposed to destroy those tests before they even

became available for the federal government. this didn't happen, and this opened the door for all of the things that have happened. you know, i've been saying for quite a while writing and talking about the fact, i think the whole list should be made public. i think the players who are clean would be protected by that, but by the same token, when they entered into the agreement to do the testing, the agreement was that the names would be kept secret. it's kind of a double-edged sword. >> and it's legalese at this point. and if you were the person who was named and thought you were going to be kept secret. the union was fighting very hard for that and trying to keep it secret still. >> that's correct. and all of the times i've talked about making it public, they keep saying the same thing, they promised the players the names would be kept secret and can't reveal the list. the major league baseball officials maintain they do not have the list, do not have the names. >> well, it'll be very interesting, i don't know, i smell a lawsuit possibly.

we sure do appreciate your expertise on this one. thank you. >> thank you, heidi. when you think of lay aways, you probably think of holiday gifts, but more retailers are offering that for back to school items. gerri willis joining us now to talk about this. how exactly do these lay away programs work? >> hi there, heidi, before we get to how they work, i want to say it's not my favorite way to finance things if you can help it. a lot of people are going to feel like they have no other choice than using a lay-a-way plan. well, when you use the policy at a store, what happens is you put down a small fee, $5 in some cases just to get the contract in the first place and then you leave a deposit, usually a percentage of the purchase price and pay over time. in return, the retailer's going to hold that merchandise for you in reserve and once you paid for your stuff, then you can take the merchandise, you don't need a credit card, this is an option to a credit card, and

traditionally they were used for bigger ticket items like electronics and tvs, more and more folks are putting back to school supplies and clothing on layaway and that shows you how stretched consumers are right now. heidi? >> what exactly should the consumer be aware of if they're using this plan? >> get the poll in writing first off. here's details you should have. find out how much time you have to pay. usually they don't last more than a year, find out what the minimum payment is, inquire about extra fees, and what are the penalties for late and missed payments? you'll want to know that. also think twice about putting something on layaway at a store on the brink of bankruptcy. >> what if you decide, gerri, you don't want that stuff later? are you obligated to keep it? >> there's a cancellation fee. you're going to have to pay $10 to $25, and the rest of your money will be given back to you, but others may just give you a credit for the amount you've paid. make sure you understand the policies and remember if you put something on layaway and it goes

on sale later, let the store know, you may be entitled to a lower sale price. if possible, pay in cash, i know cash. a lot of people using these lay away policies don't have credit cards and this may be the only way they could afford back to school. >> gerri, we sure do appreciate that. this topic prompted some questions we'd like to hear from our viewers. we'd always like to hear from you. do you think getting back to school is getting just plain too expensive and you're looking at some of these lay away plans? send us your feedback on heidi collins page let us know how much you spent this year. make some comparisons, if we could. maybe you tightened your belt. once again, cnn.com/heidi. we'd love to hear from you about going back to school. meanwhile, an awful lot going on in the "newsroom" and want to begin in hyannis port

with deborah feyerick. >> that mass coming up, more on that coming up at the top of the hour. i'm christine romans in new york. how many banks are on the fdic troubled bank list. 81 banks have failed so far this year. just how healthsy the nation's banking system? >> i'm rob marciano. threeites of concern. wildfires in california, two they'll launch the shuttle and problems there and tropical storm danny could become a hurricane later today. the latest forecast track at the top of the hour. >> thanks, guys. in our snapshot across america. three physicians take on health care reform. is it too much, too little, too late? a debate you don't want to miss right here. achoo!

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senator edward kennedy is being remembered for his political achievements, but the sometimes troubled personal life of the youngest kennedy brother often overshadowed his good deeds.

randi kaye looks back at the life and love of ted kennedy. >> reporter: introduced him to the woman who would become his first wife. joan bennett. the couple had three children, but the marriage, though it lasted more than two decades, was not easy. david hayman has written about the kennedys for decades and said joan sought help from jackie kennedy. >> she said to jackie, how do you deal with these kennedy men? there's this constant womanizing on the side. it meant something to joan kennedy because it drove her to alcohol. >> reporter: the marriage was not easy their son lost a leg to bone cancer and joan suffered through several miscarriages. at just 28, she campaigned for his re-election while he was in the hospital with a broken back. five years later in 1969, a pregnant joan kennedy was that

senator's side for the funeral of mary jo kopechne. she miscarried again the following month. in 1982, the couple divorced. >> joan tried to be a rock, but her own fragile nature prevented her from being that. >> how are you? >> reporter: a decade later, ted kennedy found his rock. >> we're very happy. i think reggie is someone i love very much and we're looking forward to spending our lives together. >> reporter: kennedy's second wife, vicki reggie, understood politics. she came from a powerful, political family in louisiana. >> she had endured a lot herself. she was divorced and she was the single mother bringing up two young children. >> reporter: in 1991, vicki invited the senator to her parents' anniversary party. he soon proposed at the opera. they married in 1992. vicki helped turn his image around. she shared his political

interests and together they advocated for social issues. she also curbed his drinking. >> she never allowed her husband to be photographed with a drink in his hand. he was well cress dressed and he looked official, he looked senatorial. she really rehabilitated ted kennedy. >> reporter: for the senator who loved to sail, vicki kennedy was both first mate and soul mate to the end. randi kaye, cnn, los angeles. >> here's a quick look now at some of the other stories we're watching. august may become the deadliest month ever for u.s. troops in afghanistan. a u.s. service member is dead. the victim of a militant attack in southern afghanistan. 44 u.s. troops have died in the country this month. that's one fewer than last month's total. the associated press reporting new mexico governor bill richardson will not be charged in an investigation into pay to play allegations. the decision not to pursue

indictments against richardson and former aides was made by top justice officials. the investigation was the reason ri richardson dropped out as president obama's nominee for commerce secretary. the success of the cash for clunkers program may be pushing new car prices higher. dealerships are expected to have a lower inventory over the next few months, meaning higher prices for consumers. around 700,000 people took advantage of the cash for clunkers program. the agency that backs banks has been hit hard in the wallet and this hour we should find out just how bad the damage is. sheila bear is taking questions at a news conference and one question sure to be asked, is the fdic running out of money? our christine romans joins us from new york now with more on that. is that even possible? can the fdic run out of money? >> technically it's not possible. they have a direct line to the united states treasury and if

were to run out of money $500 billion line of credit with treasury and they would take a loan from treasury and pay it back with interest. but what it tells you is that there is a failing, a failing bank problem in the country right now, heidi. just a few years ago several banks failed. and then last year it jumped to 25 banks and now so far 81 banks have failed and many analysts, heidi, say many more banks will fail. you know, the fdic has a troubled bank watchlist and it doesn't tell you the names of the banks but tells you how many were on there. 305 banks on that list and we're waiting to hear from sheila bear how many are on it and many expect hundreds more banks to fail over the last few years and your money is safe in those banks and you're insured up to $250,000 per account and no change in that. your money is safe there. but what it tells you is that some of these banks are facing tough times and the fed, the

fdic has just yesterday loosened some requirements and rules so the private equity firms could take investments in banks because there aren't many healthy banks out there or the healthy banks aren't in position to take up some of the weak ones. we'll get a better sense and in terms of running on empty, in 2006 they had $50 billion in their insurance fund and then as you can see from this line chart, that number has gone down to $13 billion right now because of the epidemic of failing banks they had to use so much of their insurance money. remember, they have a direct line to the treasury so they can tap into that to make sure that you are covered and you are insured and you will be up to $250,000, if your bank were to fail. >> if you look at that diagram, looks just like a cliff, doesn't it? >> it tells you how much trouble. some of these small and mid-size banks have been hammered and the first part of the problem is all

these home lending that turns out to be such a bust and now they're worried about commercial lending and that will come back and haunt some of these banks. >> we'll keep a close eye on that today. i also want to mention this, a good sign for the economy, in fact. the labor department reporting new jobless claims have dropped. 570,000 new filings last week. that's down 10,000 from the previous week. the government says the number of people filing for ongoing claims also went down. quickly now, let's get a quick check of the big board right there. we see, actually, dow jones industrial average down by double digits. 65 points to the negative. resting at 7479 or so. we'll continue to watch those numbers right here throughout the day right here. >> ted kennedy was about redemption, reconciliation and

reaching across the aisle and over a period of time kennedy's tenacity and his ability to survive the political cycles was remarkable. >> he wasn't only the patriarch of the senate, he was the patriarch of that family and i want to share with you something. i found a note when i did this interview with ted kennedy that jackie kennedy wrote him as a thank you after he took caroline kennedy down the aisle. and she wrote to ted, she said, on you, the care for youngest brother fell a burden a hero would beg to be spared. everyone is going to make it because you are always there with your love. >> and today, that love, is returned. in tributes that will be both public and private. this morning ted kennedy's family will gather for a mass at their hyannis port compound and then a motorcade travels to boston. along the 70-mile route the procession will pass sites that meant a great deal to the senator and to his family.

it is part of the celebration of his life that gets under way a couple hours from now in hyannis port and that's where we find our own deborah feyerick this morning. what is the latest from there this morning? >> here's what we can tell you. the family mass will begin at noon and senator kennedy is lying in repose in the sunroom in the main house overlooking the water. the kennedy family is deeply religious and they often celebrated mass inside the home. it will last 30 to 45 minutes is what we're being told and the casket will then be brought outside accompanied by a military honor guard. the family began arriving yesterday including joseph kennedy jr., that's bobby's son, maria shriver, that's ueunice's daughter. and a lot of places throughout boston that they feel connected to. places with special meaning. for example, the motorcade will

pass by jfk's house and the office building, the federal office building and pass boston comen and thannial hall. these places meant a great deal to the senator and his family. they will honor the senator and tributes have been pouring in since his death late tuesday. now, senator kerry was here yesterday and he really talked about the man, just how no matter what was thrown at him, he still was able to manage it in a way that had a lot of heart, a lot of empathy, focused on the issues, focused on what was really most important. >> love people, they love the give and take of politics, they have respect for everybody and, you know, despite all the things that were thrown at him, he always talked about the humanity and morality and the things that were important to people and that is a good lesson for a lot of people in politics to learn.

>> and, so, heidi, really, the memorial service tomorrow, the fitting of a man of his stature, almost presidential in nature four living presidents will join barack obama to pay tribute to this man who meant so much to all of them. and that's really what's so incredible. just how many lives he touched. so, this really is befitting. almost presidential farewell. heidi? >> you bring up a good point that people might not be aware of. fortunately and unfortunately i have been to many irish celebration of life and i have an idea that maybe there will be a lot of uplifting moments that we will see as well as those somber remembrances of the senator. any idea right now what the sense inside the house is? >> well, you know, that's a really interesting question. it is very quiet here. there's almost a heaviness on the part of the children. you know, those who are the

grandchildren of joseph kennedy because there's a sense that ted kennedy was one of the last of that generation and now it is their turn, they're the family elders. we're told by a family friend that children are running in and out of the house and dogs are running in and out of the house, but, really, just quiet. again, when you think of that image, heidi, that we're told of the senator's casket lying in the sunroom, a room just filled with sun overlooking the water, you almost realize that's what he wanted. >> yeah, absolutely. all right, we will continue to stay with the story, obviously, here throughout the day today, tomorrow and saturday, as well. deb feyerick, we sure do appreciate that. want to give you a couple more details on that. if you stay with cnn for continuing coverage of the life and death of senator ted kennedy. live coverage of today's motorcade and then upon arrival, senator kennedy thought he would lie in repose at the john f. kennedy presidential library and

thel that memorial service which is set for friday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. private funeral services held saturday followed by his burial at arlington national cemetery. rob marciano standing by now in our hurricane headquarters to talk more about tropical storm danny and also some fires that you are watching, right? >> a number of things to fire up here, heidi, including the fire, so to speak. this is the latest satellite imagery run back about 12 or so hours from tropical storm danny. wind now gusting to 70, but sustained at 60. it has strengthened overnight and the center of it, we noted it right in there, moving along to the western edge of the cloud pattern and this cloud canopy and all the strength of the thunderstorms and most of the heavy winds are north and east of the center. very asymmetrical and almost subtropical in its design and that's good because we want to make it slow to strengthen and, two, keep most of the worst

weather off shore and right now it's about 450 miles south, southeast of cape hatteras. here's where we think the forecast track is going to be. the national hurricane center. this might be updated, might be before this forecast is done. category 1 storm and pass east of cape hatteras early saturday even tomorrow night as a category 1 hurricane and then accelerating rapidly towards the new england coastline. right now, eastern new england is in the cone of this forecast path and look for the forecast to bring it there some time saturday night into sunday morning. still, as a category 1 storm. we have other weather issues on the west coast. southern california dealing with a couple issues and the fire burned 1,700 acres and another fire outside of los angeles started yesterday. that about 20% containment and 1,200 firefighters not including the air arsenal that is trying to take these fires down.

red flag warning that is up and temperatures again today up and over 100 degrees in some spots, that's certainly not helping the cause. across parts of the western great lakes, looking at showers and thunderstorms here, this is all going to kind of get its act together. it's all slowly moving off towards the east. so, regardless of the path of danny over the weekend, i think especially saturday and this would include boston, heidi, i think it will be a pretty soggy saturday for much of new lengened. so those services up there in boston and for lesser extent down in arlington will be affected by there weather. >> yeah, sounds like it. all right, rob, we'll keep our eye on that with you. also y know you are well aware of this. nasa going to try again to launch the space shuttle "discovery." a leaky valve and bad weather forced them to scrub two other launch attempts this week. new tests of that faulty valve went well and "discovery" will lift off just after midnight tonight. mission engineers will make their final decision during a

noon meeting today. we should know more then. u.s. troops patrolling in dangerous places, attacked again in afghanistan. pushing them closer to a grim milestone. imodium multi-symptom relief combines two powerful medicines for fast relief of your diarrhea symptoms, so you can get back out there. imodium. get back out there. i switched to a complete multivitamin with more. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration.

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( drop plinks ) brita-- better for the environment militants attack a nato patrol in southern afghanistan this morning. one american service member is dead. this pushes august closest to the deadliest month for u.s. troops in the country. cnn's atia is joining us live now from kabul afghanistan. atia, good morning to you. >> good morning, heidi. yes, a very grim milestone. last month with 44 u.s. service

members killed in afghanistan and now we see that today, as well, with a few days left in august. this was not unexpected. these high casualty figures. whenever you have thousands of u.s. marines and coalition forces and hold it for the elections we did expect the taliban and the insurgency to go on the defensive and they have been successful when it comes to roadside bombs. but although the coalition forces do not give out casualty figures on taliban deaths, top international source here in afghanistan did tell me that the coalition troops have been very successful in killing hundreds of taliban, but the reason they do not release those figures is because to them it's not a war to defeat, just the taliban. but it's the secure afghanistan and, primarily, the mission this summer was to secure and hold areas so afghans can go out and vote. right now we're still waiting to hear what will hap fn there will be a new president in afghanistan or a runoff in the election. heidi? >> that's what we wanted to talk

with you a little bit more about. yesterday you were telling us about the final results of the election not being expected until early next week. any early indications, though? >> well, the independent election commission today canceled their press conference and they canceled it for tomorrow, as well. yesterday they revealed that they have 17% of the votes in. president harmid karzai in the lead right now. the rival is short of him. again, the president needs 50% of all the votes to win and what we're hearing at the moment as president karzai will keep heading up that ladder because the votes that have come in so far are from northern afghanistan, primarily and he may have already seen all of his votes. southern afghanistan where president karzai has his supporters we're still waiting to hear those tallies. we expect president karzai to take a very strong lead. heidi? >> atia abawa, thank you. also want to tell you about this, next month anderson cooper

takes you live from the battle zone beginning september 7th only on cnn. in northwestern pakistan now, six people are dead and at least seven others wounded in a suspected u.s. drone attack. the strike took place in the tribal region of south waziristan. ariel attacks by u.s. drones and the taliban stronghold is the suspected target. the u.s. routinely offers no comment on reported cros border strikes from afghanistan. the attacks have claimed hundreds of civilian lives. pirates open fire on a u.s. navy helicopter off somalia, the first of an attack like this on an american military aircraft. the navy says a helicopter was conducting a surveillance flight over a fishing vessel, which the pirates hijacked back in april. the helicopter was not hit and no one was injured. the pirates have used the vessel as a base for attacking other

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morning. that pushes the u.s. toll to 44 deaths this month, that's one less than last month. july was the deadliest month for u.s. troops in afghanistan since the beginning of operation "enduring freedom." for the second week in a row now we're watching a storm in the caribbean. tropical storm danny has weakened a bit and moving northwest now. forecasters are telling people from the carolinas in new england to stay vigilant. keep your eye on it. here's a lesson for would-be protesters. a man confronted health care reform in georgia yesterday and then faced off with police. >> do i have what? and you're not going to arrest me! i don't care. >> get him! >> put your hands on your back. now! >> put your hands behind your back. get on the ground and put your

hands on your back. >> probably not going to win that fight. the man was charged with disorderly conduct. an iowa farmer find a way to express his unhappiness with president obama's health care reform ideas. the farmer plowed the words say no to obama in his field. the farm is located near lubbock international airport and it is visible from planes taking off and landing. i have flown into the lubbock international airport many times, believe it or not. as flu season begins, many of you may be trying to figure out exactly what to do. which flu vaccine should you get this year? the flu vaccine or the swine flu vaccine. if you get the flu, how do you know what strain you got? cnn's elizabeth cohen has some

answers in this week's empowered patient. i bet you had a lot of questions this week. >> i'll answer the second question first. how do you know which strain of flu you have, you don't know. you don't know. you could have h1n1, swine flu or regular old flu and you could have some other type of virus. no way of knowing unless you go to your doctor and get tested. they don't see a reason to go to that extent for testing. just want to clarify that right there. the other question about what kind of vaccine should you get. this is going to be a complicated year because some people are supposed to get just the seasonal regular flu shots and other people should only get the swine flu shot and some people need to get both. >> your sex, your age -- >> gender not so much, except for pregnancy. >> if you're pregnant. >> here's the list of people who are supposed to get both. pregnant women are supposed to get both, anyone ages 6 months to 18 years old is supposed to

get both. also adults ages 25 and 64 years old with chronic health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, they need to get both and anyone taking care of a baby less than six months old need to get the seasonal and h1n1 and the reason is because babies that young can't get the shots themselves. >> a lot of people worried about how safe the vaccine is, it's brand-new. >> the swine flu vaccine is brand-new and it won't go on the market yet and a lot of people asked me, do i want to get something that is brand-new? so the answer is, yes, it's new, but it has been tested on a number of people. by the middle of october, it will have been tested on several thousand people, including 3,100 adults and then in addition, 240 pregnant women will have taken the shot in clinical trials and also 1,200 children. so, when you add that up, if you go to get a shot in october, at least you know they have tried it out on other people before.

not tens of thousands of people, but they certainly tried it on some people. >> and the results of that testing? the side effects, they didn't get sick, they did get sick. >> so far no red flag side effects. >> when do you get the shots? >> the seasonal flu shot, that's the shot people get every year, you can get that now in many places, so it won't be that hard to find. the swine flu shot supposed to be out in the middle of october, may not be enough for everyone who wants it. you may have to wait until later in the season to get it. >> something a little bit different in your web column this week. you'll talk about senator ted kennedy. >> we decided because of senator kennedy's passing yesterday to focus on the kind of health care that the senator gave his family, gave his children. he was an incredible empowered patient on behalf of children, two who had cancer. if you want to get health care like a kennedy. it is amazing the power all of us could yield even if we're not

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good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. plans have been made for the family and the public to say good-bye to senator ted kennedy. here's what we know, members of kennedy's family are holding a private mass at his compound in hyannis port, massachusetts, at noon. the senator's body will lie in repose at his brother's presidential library tonight and tomorrow. on saturday, president obama will speak at kennedy's funeral at a boston church and then kennedy will be buried at

arlington national cemetery near his slain brothers. stay with cnn for continuing coverage of the life and death of senator ted kennedy. we will have on live coverage of today's motorcade. his body will lie in repose, as we said, at the john f. kennedy presidential library and memorial service set for friday at 7:00 p.m. eastern and then private funeral services held saturday followed by the burial at arlington. taking the economy's pulse. does it even have one? today we have new readings on jobless claims and overall economic activity. susan lisovicz has information with more on what these numbers mean. >> heidi, the answer is yes. the u.s. economy does have a pulse. you have to listen very carefully. you have to be very quiet. it's very faint, but there is, in fact, some encouraging news that would indicate, yes, that

there is a pulse. why is that? the u.s. economy shrank at a 1% pace in the last quarter. okay, it shrank, it didn't grow. 1%. that's a whole lot better than the nearly 6.5% drop we saw in the first quarter. why is the economy getting better? why is it stabilizing? one thing we've been talking about a lot lately is the housing market and we got news today from one of the nation's biggest home builders, heidi. home builder toll brothers says it's seeing improvement in important areas like the new york city suburbs. i know you're familiar with them. of interest. raleigh, durham, north carolina, washington, d.c., parts of virginia, connecticut, florida, delaware. the company says deposits on houses are up compared to last year. up about 25%. still, the company is losing money. it lost nearly $500 million, but the fact is, it is seeing some

interest, some growth and we have seen a trend in the new home sales that we saw that were just reported yesterday, heidi. >> keeping all my fingers and toes crossed, however. >> the bad news is, or it could be anyway. when we mix in today's jobless numbers more than half a million people filing for unemployment claims darkens the picture a little bit. >> i would say a lot. you know, when you look at the gdp number, right, this is the greatest economy in the world and we are the biggest consumers in the world and consumer spending, despite cash for clunkers, despite the fact that home prices are so cheap, consumer spending dropped 1%. yes, we did have declines in new and continuing jobless claims but, as you said, still at high levels. new claims at 570,000 continuing claims above 6 million. they need to be worked down considerably and that's why you're seeing some pressure in the three major averages. but, remember, we're coming off a seven session win streak for the dow.

heidi? >> always down on the positive note. appreciate that. thank you, susan. >> you're welcome, heidi. the american defenders are looking for a home. the defenders are probaseball team in nashua, new hampshire. they were locked out of their stadium because of $45,000 in unpaid rent and security costs. the city put new locks on the gates and even parked a tractor on home plate. >> i can't expect the taxpayers to subsidize the cost of running the team, so they need to pay their bills. >> they have been fighting money troubles for a little while, so, you know, just doing what they got to do and the city finally had enough and locked it up. >> we're going to watch the defenders play and so far no luck. >> well, the team says they ran out of money because not enough people were coming to the games. they've moved the rest of their home games to new jersey. the government's cash for clunkers program is over, so, what were the results? take a look at this. great news for toyota, in fact. the corolla and camrefinished

number one and three respectively on the list of new vehicles purchased in the plan. the honda civic is number two and the ford focus at number four and the ford escape at number ten were the only cars from american automakers in the top ten. but, listen to this, american manufacturers held all ten spots on the list of trade-ins. the ford explorer was tops. around 700,000 new cars were sold as part of the program. the new cars average 29.9 miles to the gallon while the trade-ins got 15.8. that's a 58% jump in fuel efishany. perhaps no american city has been hit harder by the recession and the decline of the auto industry. of course, then detroit. but a rock star from the motor city is doing what he can to try to turn things around. cnn's money.com poppy harlow reports. >> reporter: this is no ordinary concert. it's kid rock performing at his

biggest headline show ever, bringing 80,000 people to his hometown of detroit. talk about a city that needs an economic stimulus like that. ♪ bitter sweet and brings us to our knees ♪ ♪ it makes us who we are in times like these ♪ >> reporter: detroit he's never seen times like these, but the people of this city have an unexpected patron from detroit. he has become the voice of a city in peril. how long have you had this? >> this? oh, geez, probably ten years. >> reporter: you won't leave, will you? >> no, i'll never leave. one more song for you. >> reporter: the downfall of the auto industry hits home for kid rock whose father made a living selling american cars. >> it's mind blowing. >> reporter: in this perilless time this son of detroit is working on more than just his

music. >> as i've gotten older i have become more in tuned with that and realized that how much of the stuff that i'm doing can help people. >> you look at the impact that he's having here in detroit in terms of the foundation in wane state university and fund music scholarships for kids there and a major, positive impact on detroit which is something this economy needs right now. >> reporter: kid rock's music scholarship is funded by t-shirt sales and recently launched american beer, that could be thanked for creating jobs in the state. more than 400 jobs, he says. >> no way to get love back or respect if you don't do it first. i always try to give everything i have to this city. >> reporter: but battling unemployment this city has bigger problems than this rockker solve. >> it has to bring up. you almost need an angel.

♪ this is my home town >> wow, what a great story. poppy harlow joining us now from new york. obviously, this guy is very, very committed to doing what he can to help out detroit. >> it's true, heidi. we went there, as you can see, we spent a day with him and setting up for his big headline concert. he talked to me about politics and the corruption in this city and he said, listen, i'm barack obama's health care plan but don't we need to focus on the kids that don't have access to healthy food? isn't that an issue first and foremo foremost? you don't expect that from someone like kid rock. all the things that he's doing for this city. he didn't talk about it pub lackly and didn't want to do it at first. it took a lot of convincing. he's relatively soft spoken and on that facade of a rock star and i got to tell you, he says at the end detroit needs a name, so, i spoke with his father who

is an auto dealer at the concert and he said in many ways i think kid rock is detroit's angel. >> concerts were they free or donating the money to the auto industry or do we know about that? >> part of the proceeds from that concert, 80,000 people, by the way, went, will help returning vets from the war and also he's doing a lot in terms of the music scholarship to help kids in detroit and specifically on the auto beat and he said in the longer piece that's on cnnmoney.com. he and his father could never imagine the back bone of america, gm and chrysler going into bankruptcy. so, i think he'll continue to do great things for the city. >> we'll check that out on cnnmoney.com. the extended version of poppy's interview there. thanks so much, poppy harlow appreciate it. >> we asked you this morning on our blog about back to school expenses because a lot of retailers are apparently offering lay away plans to get

all your notebooks and glue sticks and back to school clothing on lay away. just wondering what you thought. is back to school getting too expensive? we had quite a few responses. let's head over to the heidi mac right now and head over. the first one here from dan says my parents had to pay for my school books and they had to pay nearly 500 bucks and that's without the back to school items. and this one coming in from kimberly. i have used the lay away programs previously and allowed me to buy the needed items my children needed for school and clothing that fit my children. my husband and i have watched over the last 20 years seven children total, wow, and a list what parents must provide has grown every year costing more and more. finally from mary, i have two children that just went back to school this week and i started saving money out of my paycheck four weeks ahead of time. i had to borrow some money that i would have put on bills so

that i could accommodate my kids and their school needs. as always, we love when you share your thoughts with us right here on the "cnn newsroom" and like to share them with the viewers at home. thanks for that, everybody. one is all for health care reform and another doesn't like what's being proposed and a third is so fed up he's only taking cash. all three are doctors. you're looking at them. they're right here in "newsroom" in a moment. paying $8 a day for lunch can add up fast. so i'm packing my own lunch now-- for less than $3. thanks to walmart. just two times a week

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some of the top stories we're following. we're learning at least 20 people were killed after a bomb blast today in pakistan. you could see the map. it apparently happened right

near the border with afghanistan. this is what intelligence officials are telling cnn. our cal perry is in the area and working to bring you the story. meanwhile a new mexico governor bill richardson will not be charged in a federal pay to play association. the justice department will not pursue indictments. richardson was at the center of a year-long probe into an alleged scheme to reward a political donor with lucrative state work. the federal probe derailed richardson's nomination as president obama's commerce secretary. you might want to double check your window coverings. six companies are now recalling 5.5 million blinds and shades after three children became entangled in the cords and died. the recall were announced by the consumer product safety commission. we certainly have been hearing a lot about health care reform this month from a lot of you. today, it's the doctor's turn.

our snapshot across america takes us to portland, oregon, where dr. eric venson and create a health practice of health practices in new york that relies heavily on social media and dr. christina johns is a ped atric e.r. specialist. we love hearing what you guys have to say in this very detailed discussion that has been going on for quite some time. dr. swenson, i want to begin with you. you're against the current reform bill. what is it that just doesn't sit very well with you at this point? >> well, first of all, i'm not exactly sure all what is going to be involved in the reform bill. i am for reform and for improving health care to americans. one of my major concerns, however, is the medical liability system is not on the table. we know that over $200 billion a year is wasted in the system, which could be money used to pay for the uninsured. we hear politicians say they

don't know where the money is and yet it is on the table right there for the taking and, yet, we're told by the present administration that medical liability reform will not be part of this package and it is not on the table and that is a major mistake. the doctors work in an atmosphere of fear, a fear of being sued, intimidation by the government and, yet, the same administration says that we do too much testing and i absolutely agree with that. and the reason we do too much testing is because of that fear. so, i think that we need, we need to have some trust in the government to come back and support us and say, yes, we will take care of the liability system. we do need to be looked at, but we need to be looked at by our peers, not by a hostile trial lawyer. >> obviously, talking about malpractices here. i know that you attended a town hall recently, what was your reaction to what you saw there and maybe from your patients, as well? >> well, i saw a lot of frustration and a lot of distrust between, unfortunately,

the congress and the people in the town hall meeting and, again, the misinformation that people think is coming forward is very disheartening and the government says that, for instance, it was said that surgeons make $50,000 to take a leg off and, in fact, they get paid $800 and for the next 90 days i take care of all the care for free. statements like that really upset people. i think people are concerned that the government doesn't have their best interest at heart. >> yeah. >> when it comes to health care, you're kind of used to the politician playing politics with taxes and things like that. when it comes to your health care, playing politics is a very scary thing. >> everybody would certainly agree with that, whether you're a patient or a doctor. i want to get to you for a moment here. you got insurance companies and you decided, i'm going to take cash only. how did you get to that? >> well, exactly. i realize that working in the

insurance base system that we currently have really distracts me from focusing on managing my patients on doing what's best for them. so, i stopped taking health insurance and that reenabled me to design my medical practice to best meet the needs of my patients. so, i often describe my medical practice as being hi tech and hi touch. i see my patients in the office and i communicate with them online using e-mail, chat and instant messaging. this is all done by a very forward thinking health i.t. company. >> you call it hello, health. >> it's called hello, health, exactly. we're trying to create an eco system of doctors and patients that seemlessly communicate and exchange information. what i'm doing currently in my practices using the platform is insuring continuity of care which means office visits. >> you say high-tech,

high-touch, is it high cost? >> physicians spend 30% of their revenue just dealing with their revenues. not having that burden, i'm able to pass on the benefits to my patients. i don't have to see 30 to 40 patients a day to stay afloat. i see less patients and spend a lot more time with them. by doing that, i can deliver much more appropriate and effective care. >> more comprehensive. all right, dr. johns, you are an e.r. doctor for kids to be specific and i know that you see first hand a lot of people who don't have insurance. what is the biggest problem with the reform bill that we're looking at now in your eyes? >> well, i think the thing that concerns me most is that i see the patients who can't pay $7 to get their penicillin prescription for strepthroat. are will we make sure these people will be insured adequately and have appropriate access to primary care?

i think that's the thing that worries me as an e.r. physician i see people after it's too late when it's reached a crisis situation and i'm seeing more and more of them. so, we need to make sure that whatever system we set up that it is going to be appropriate for all of those individuals who may have a job maybe just getting by, but can't spend that extra $7 to $10 to get a basic thing that they need. >> given everything that you see on a daily basis, most of these situations end up being pretty precarious. most of it has to happen right now. what do you see right now as the best solution here? >> well, you know, again, my personal opinion is that we need to have a system of health care system in this country that everybody can participate in. everybody's involved in, but more than that, we need to fix its components. we need to make sure, this is mine, i am a firm believer in the medical home. that people have to have a good

primary care doctor that they can access, who's well compensated enough that it's worth it for him or her to stay in practice, see their patients regularly and get them well, keep them well and when they're sick, fix the problem before it gets to the breaking point. >> we certainly do appreciate the discussion this morning from those of you who are really on the front lines of all of this and we will continue to have more discussions like that right here. thanks, again dr. eric swenson in portland, dr. christina johns in washington. >> thank you. we'll get over to rob marciano hawse beez he's watching tropical storm danny and some fires.

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this is just in to the cnn newsroom. story out of pakistan. at least 20 people were killed in a suicide bombing that happened near the border of pakistan and afghanistan. this is according to intelligence officials telling us here at cnn. the victims were apparently security personnel that were getting together for a meal to end the daily fast which takes place during the muslim month of ramad ramadan. the suicide bomber apparently went into the barracks of a paramilitary force in the district and blew himself up. so, again, we will continue to follow this story throughout the day and get you more details and bring it back to you. let's get you over to rob

marciano now who has been tracking tropical storm danny. >> heidi, we have the very latest. this is the 11:00 advisory. let's get you up to date on that. winds at 60 miles per hour and still gusting to 70, but according to their discussion, it lhas become better organized and you can see here the cloud canopy and all the infured imagery showing the action and starting to wrap around a little bit. but right now about 550 miles or so from cape hatteras and more than that, actually. movement is northwesterly at 13 miles per hour. what has changed since we last talked it has jogged a little bit to the west. you see it in the movement to the west. it has shifted the entire track a little bit. the next 48 hours that brings cape hatteras to the cone and brings more of eastern new england into the cone but still the forecast track has it off shore. they do point out that any more westerly jog or adjustment in

that track would warrant a more likely u.s. landfall. of course, if they decide to do that and so far the forecast models aren't bringing it on shore but if that happens, we'll certainly bring it to you first. one more note, the space shuttle will give it the third try tonight just shortly after midnight. and right now weather about 30% chance that prohibiting it from happening. >> which means 70% not. >> we should try to be more positive. >> third time's a charm. thank you. >> you bet. four years since hurricane katrina devastated the gulf coast. new orleans will host its annual bell ringing. coincides with the time the levees breached deluging the city with water. also the reminder of the lives lost in the storm. four years later, a lot of progress has been made towards rebuilding. a new report shows $26 billion in construction is either completed or now under way. anderson cooper, in fact, is live in new orleans with a look

back at katrina. michael vick set to suit up in an nfl game tonight, but before the first snap there is a little matter of a court hearing. upbeat rock ♪ so i could hear myself myseas a ringtone ♪hone ♪ ♪ who knew the store would go and check my credit score ♪ ♪ now all they let me have is this dinosaur ♪ ♪ hello hello hello can anybody hear me? ♪ ♪ i know i know i know i shoulda gone to ♪

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vick's in a virginia courtroom this morning for