for five televised interviews, plus a late-night appearance on top of the speeches he's been giving and holding rallies. this is the make-or-break push as criticism grows on both sides of the aisle over senator max baucus' long-awaited compromise bill on health care reform. also, a not guilty verdict for a former kentucky high school football coach on trial for the death of a player. prosecutors had said that jason stinson ran a brutal practice session the day sophomore max gilpin collapsed. the sophomore died three days later. in a moment, we will hear from the teen's parents. we begin, though, with stunning, new details emerging of an alleged multistate terror plot. the investigation triggered fbi raids in new york as well as denver, colorado, this week, and sources are now telling cnn that authorities are taking this plot seriously because it involves "real deal terrorists." an afghan national at center of this investigation is believed to have ties to al qaeda. the fbi has now been questioning him for days in denver, and that's where homeland security

correspondent jeanne meserve is live this morning following the developments for us. good morning, jeanne. >> reporter: good morning, kiran. this is still a very, very active investigation by law enforcement. two sources tell us that investigators have turned up instructions on how to make a bomb. one law enforcement source is telling us that they were found on a computer that zazi, the 24-year-old at the center of the investigation, had with him when he traveled to new york last weekend, but zazi's lawyer is denying it. >> i have no information confirming anything like that, and all i could possibly say is that my client has no comment at this time. if you have any questions, you can direct them to me. all i can say is that if they had found bomb-making materials in his car or on his computer, or one wild report i saw yesterday, something like there were enough explosives in one apartment to blow up two buildings -- do you think the fbi really would have allowed us to walk out of here last night?

>> reporter: zazi's lawyer continues to say that his client has no ties to terrorism, that he came under suspicion because he was staying with a friend who the fbi had under investigation. however, multiple sources tell cnn that backpacks were found during the raids in new york, and this is leading to a lot of theorizing by law enforcement about what the possible target of any terrorist action might have been. it brought to mind the bombings in madrid, the train bombings, and led to theorizing amongst law enforcement officials that perhaps what these people were considering doing was taking these backpacks filled with explosives into some sort of transportation hub where they would not have been airport-style screening, something like, let's say, a train or a rail station. however, let me emphasize, they do not know for certain exactly what the target of any plot might have been. they are, law enforcement calling this an unprecedented

investigation, saying unprecedented resources are being poured into it, but let me remind you that the director of the fbi, robert mueller, told congress the other day that he did not believe that any threat was imminent. kiran, back to you. >> all right, it would be interesting as this investigation develops and they try to find more information and perhaps get some information out of this person as well. jeanne meserve for us this morning, thank you. also this morning, the white house is fine-tuning a media blitz to push for health care reform. it's going to be hard to miss this media blitz if you live anywhere on earth. political joes this weekend, up to five of them, also david letterman's late-night stage. the president will be pulling a page from his campaign playbook, hoping overexposure will help convince people that now is the time to act. but as our dana bash reports, behind all those cameras, the fight to pass health reform in congress could be taking new stumbles. >> reporter: kiran and t.j., there's no doubt what senate finance committee chairman max baucus is proposing is more centrist, less liberal than the house democratic plan that drew

so much anger over the summer, especially from republicans. and because of that, the baucus plan is at the center of the health care debate, and that means it's a new bull's eye, and it's drawing fire even from fellow democrats. forget about republicans. even democrat jeff bingaman, who spent months negotiating with max baucus, isn't ready to support his health care proposal. >> i have favored having a public option available and voted for one in the health and education health committee bill, so i hope we can do that. >> reporter: in fact, outside a closed meeting of the senate finance committee, almost all the democratic senators we talked to said they wanted to change what their democratic chairman, max baucus, calls a consensus plan. one huge issue? >> affordability. >> affordability. >> affordability for middle class families. >> reporter: concern that americans would not get enough financial help buying the health insurance they would be required to have. >> this has to work for families, and i understand all of the trade-offs, but the

trade-off can't be that a middle class family can't afford the insurance in this bill. >> reporter: are you prepared to vote against this? >> yes. i can't support a plan that doesn't have the affordability of health care and doesn't have the affordability for my constituents in it. >> reporter: and many democrats don't like one way baucus helps pay for the health care overhaul, taxing insurance companies for high-price plans. it was john kerry's idea. >> yes, it was my idea originally. >> reporter: but now he opposes it, saying the way baucus structured the tax, it could penalize the middle class, including union members. >> we need to make it fairer to working people so that working folks don't get dragged into this at a level where they just don't have the incomes that support it. >> reporter: meanwhile, olympia snowe is still the one republican democrats think they can still persuade. >> it has to be practical, achievable and doable. >> reporter: in fact, baucus stood listening carefully as

snowe spoke to reporters and then told us -- >> whatever senator snowe wants to do, i'm for her. >> reporter: whatever she wants? >> whatever she wants. >> reporter: in all seriousness, senator baucus said he is willing to make changes for affordability and potentially taxing the middle class. he knows he has to in order to get enough votes from democrats to pass his health care overhaul in his critically important committee. >> and this sunday, president obama will be sitting down with john king on "state of the union." can't miss this interview, sunday, 9:00 a.m. eastern right here on cnn. well, it was a trial that parents and high school football coaches across the country were following, but the verdict is in, and former high school coach jason stinson has been acquitted in the death of one of his players in louisville, kentucky. it happened yesterday. alina cho is following this story for us this morning. this is a story we were following before, because this would be the first time a coach faced homicide charges in connection with a practice. >> and i think that surprised a

lot of people, guys. it took the jury less than two hours, and as you said, that trial is believed to be the first of its kind in the country. a coach charged in the death of one of his players. huge implications for every high school coach in america. >> we the jury find the defendant, david jason stinson, not guilty. >> reporter: with that, a huge sigh of relief from jason stinson and high school coaches everywhere. a jury cleared stinson of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in the death of max gilpin. the 15-year-old died of heat stroke after collapsing during football practice last august. his mother said the trial had still sent a message. >> we're disappointed, but you know, we said this going into it, the main objective was that max's death not be in vain. people are standing up to those football coaches now and people are reaching out. >> reporter: gilpin had been running sprints called gassers on a day when temperatures hit 94.

during the trial, players said stinson ordered the gassers as punishment for the lack of effort they showed at practice. prosecutors describe the sprints as barbaribarbaric. stinson's attorney argued, it was just football. >> it did not create a hostile and dangerous environment for football practice. >> reporter: even without a guilty verdict, prosecutors say the trial has raised awareness. >> every coach who steps on the football field now thinks about what he's doing a little bit more, maybe thinks about water little bit more, watches his players little bit more. we're all better off for having this case. >> one witness testified that gilpin could have been saved had he been immersed in ice water almost immediately after collapsing. medical experts for the defense said it was actually a combination of heat and the use of the dietary supplement creatine, which can dehydrate you, as well as adderall, which were the main factors that contributed to gilpin's death,

which they called an accident. classmates had testified that gilpin had been complaining he wasn't feeling well all day long on the day he collapsed. >> makes you wonder if this will change the way the drills are conducted in heat. we talked about it before. >> and t.j., i'm sure you know -- to punish players for not working hard in practice, that's a common thing among players. the big question is how far do you go? and as you can see, there can be huge implications. >> it's part of the culture, and maybe some coaches aren't trained well enough at times, especially on the high school level, to recognize. colleges, they have pros, they have people they hire to monitor the athletes and they use all kinds of technology to do so, but in high school, it's not the same. >> his temperature was 107 degrees when he collapsed. so, clearly, heat stroke played a role. >> when it comes to the coach here, a big-time legendary high school coach to see what he thinks about this. is this going to change the culture or just put coaches on notice and make them nervous about conditioning their athletes? alina, we appreciate you. we'll see you again later this

morning. we have other stories we are following, including the political fallout for acorn. we've got more of it to tell you about. the "wall street journal" reporting that the community organizing group may now abandon its chief mission of registering low-income americans to vote. acorn's been under fire since hidden camera video showed workers apparently offering advice to fake pimmps and prostitutes on how to skirt the law. meantime, the house thursday followed the senate's lead and voted to cut all federal funding for acorn. former vice president dick cheney is recovering this morning at a washington hospital. the 68-year-old had elective back surgery to deal with lumbar spinal stinosis, a narrowing of the spine that's a common cause for lower back pain, especially in older adults. cheney's doctor said the procedure went well and he expects him to be released soon. bernie madoff's long island beach house is now sold for more than $8.75 million. that was the asking price, and it went for little more than that. the unnamed buyer snapped it up just days after feds put the

seized property in new york on the market. the proceeds will help repay thousands of investors who lost, of course, billions of dollars in madoff's massive ponzi scheme. all right, well, we just talked about the acquittal there in that trial of coach jason stinson. we're going to be speaking with coach rush prokes after the break, a legendary football coach. and we'll see whether it leads to changes in the way practices are conducted at the high school level. 11 minutes past the hour. but i like this chicken tuscany. i like it too. but it has fiber in it. that's right. fiber? yeah. but i like it. (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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it's cloudy and 58 degrees right now. certainly doesn't feel like summer, but a little later, it's going to get sunny, 78 degrees. >> and just for clarity, the ringtone is hers. it might sound like she was suggesting that it was mine. it's on her phone. >> new album's great. >> yeah. >> sorry. 14 minutes past the hour now. new this morning, we already take our shoes off, our jackets off every time we have to go to the airport. we put our liquids in tcontaines and zip lock bags. now there's another layer to security. the transportation security administration is providing them with kits to test for explosive powders. at big airports, this is already happening, but they say the process should not really take that much longer. travelers can still carry baby powder as well as makeup. iran's president is refusing to stop its disputed nuclear program. we've got a new interview he did with abc news, and he says that and said some other stuff as well. mahmoud ahmadinejad said the enrechement of uranium for peaceful purposes will not be

shut down, but he also would not rule out the development of a nuclear weapon. also, he insisted that he won that disputed june 12th election fair and square. and we're getting our first look inside the home of phillip and nancy garrido. they're the couple charged with kidnapping and holding the jaycee dugard captive for 18 years. these photos were taken by inspectors showing debris piled in every room. the house has now been condemned. investigators are also revealing that they used ground-penetrating radar today after cadaver dogs picked up a scent that may indicate human remains on their property. well, as we reported, the verdict is in in a jury in kentucky, acquitting former football high school school jason stinson in reckless homicide in the death of player max gilpin. he collapsed after running wind sprints in 90-degree heat. this landmark trial was closely watched across the country, certainly watched by rush probst, a longtime football

coach, coaching in georgia. he was features on the show "two-a-days," and joins us now from his home. good morning to you. i guess, first, were you nervous about the precedent that a guilty plea -- or excuse me, a guilty verdict in this trial could have set? >> well, i appreciate, t.j., you and kiran having me on this morning, but yes, i was a little bit nervous about what precedent would be set if a guilty plea would have come down, but you know, it does catch your attention day in and day out when you know a fellow colleague in a profession in which you do every day is on trial. >> and we talked about the precedent a guilty verdict could have set, but also, talk to me about the precedent that it still sets, the fact that a high school football coach could be held and charged with a homicide in the case of a kid. that still sets a pretty scary

precedent, at least from a lot of coaches' eyes, does it not? >> i think that it would. i think it makes you as a football coach, obviously, you check your organization of practice and make sure that you look under every rock, under every leaf and make sure that everything you do is well documented and that safety is a key to the health of your players. and if you keep that guideline and add some common sense to it, hopefully, it won't happen to you or your community. >> you spoke there about common sense, and we all know, we all came up in the culture of athletics and you get pushed and it's a motivating factor. certainly, no coach is trying to hurt a kid. that's the last thing he wants to do. but from what we at least know of this case, was some common sense missing in that you hear about it 90 degrees, two-a-days,

it's always hot, especially in the south where you're coaching. but it's hot, we go through two-a-days. from pushing the kids to run the sprints, saying he's going to keep them going until somebody quit, did it sound like the coach had gone too far to you? >> no. i don't think so. i think that there's very few days if hardly any days that you ever go through from late spring practice through your summer, through, obviously, in south georgia right now, that this is not in the 90s, and you do push your kids extremely hard. i think that's not the issue of pushing them. you've got to obviously push your players. you've just got to make sure that you have enough water breaks and enough trainers and all the things you need to have for that child to take as much water as he can take. and i made this statement last night. i think a lot of times in high school football, when the child

leaves you after practice, you don't see that child again until the next day. so, you don't monitor his nutrition, his sleep habits. you don't know whether he's sick or not. they go home to their parents, like in college football, you know, you have pretty much total control over them 24/7. and obviously, it's that way in the nfl, but in high school, you do not. so, i think communication is the k key, more education of what to do and how to do for us as high school coaches in making sure we have everything we need for us to be able to go out and monitor our kids on a day in and day out basis. i think we here in the county do a great job with that. we weigh kids in and out before practice and we give them plenty of water and plenty of breaks. >> well, coach, last thing here, i guess, what good do you see coming out of this? unfortunately, this young man died, and maybe a precedent is set here, but what good could still come out of this precedent

to possibly put more coaches on notice, possibly get more training to get them to identify -- you know, this was a young coach. a lot of coaches don't have the experience that you have, but can that still change the game, if you will, this case? what good will we see come out of it? >> well, i think you're right. i think you said it, t.j. the educational part in us as coaches making sure we're doing everything possible that we can to be properly trained, and you know, to have the aids and all those being certified in first aid, having a certified trainer there, a communication with the doctor in town and everything that we can possibly do i think will be first and foremost in any school system. we'll have to take a look and not let your team go onto a field without a trainer and without proper trained people to take care of any incident that could happen on a high school

football field. >> well, coach rush propst, again, sir, i appreciate you taking the time out this morning to come talk about this. maybe you're right and something good will come out of this. if nothing else, just to get coaches to pay more close attention to their players. so, sir, thank you, and good luck under the lights on friday night this weekend. i know you've got a big game coming up, sir. we appreciate you being here. >> i appreciate you having me on this morning. >> all right. also, we'll be talking about this case a little more this morning. coming up at 7:30 eastern time, we're talking to that gentleman, john heck. he's one of the kentucky prosecutors in the case against jason stinson, and he says some of this that coaches do around the country could amount to child abuse. he's coming up a little bit later. but right now, it's 20 minutes after the hour.

♪ ♪ that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good night ♪ welcome back to "american morning." it's 23 minutes past the hour right now. tonight's going to be a good night because christine romans is here "minding your business." and you got richer. >> you got richer in the last quarter. for the first time since 2007, americans' net worth went up. it went up because of gains in the stock market and stabilization in the housing market, and i'm proud to be able to tell you that you gained about $2 trillion in net worth for the country, about $51.3 trillion overall. stocks were up 22%, home prices up 2%, and that's how you got richer very subtly, because you're still digging out of a hole. before you start e-mailing me saying we're still down some $12 trillion, yeah, you're right, but at least this is a number

that's not continuing to fall, fall, fall. we have a long way to recovery. household wealth still down 19% from the peak or $12.2 trillion -- >> when was the peak? >> that was back in 2007. so, at least it's stopped falling and it's turned around here slightly. mutual funds values up 15%. 15% the gain in the country's holdings of mutual funds, but the jobless rate is still 9.7%. so, people are paying down their debt and they're still very, very cautious here. i don't think this is going to cause people to run out and start spending that $2 trillion in wealth. >> it's a better trend to move in the right direction. >> yeah, and i'm happy to be able to finally show things turning this direction, not always going down. >> is your numeral this morning somehow associated with the update of the $2 trillion we have -- >> it is. it is. i was telling you, the same report showed you all are paying down your debt, but the government is not paying down its debt. 21%. this is the surge in government borrowing. >> so 28% -- >> 28% -- >> that's the numeral, the surge in government --

>> 28% is the numeral, and that is, even as this report shows we're all paying down our debt, the government's loading up on it for the fourth quarter in a row. >> well, the government's paying for a lot of programs right now. >> that's right. >> for example, the $8,000 first-time home buyer credit. that ended up costing more than they expected, right? >> that's right. and one of the reasons why you're seeing household net worth go up is because the government is spending so much money, so, tricky times. >> thanks, government. i don't know, is it better for us to be broke or for the government to be broke? >> everyone's broke. we're all in it together. >> good to see you, christine. check in with you next hour. thank you very much. coming up here, the type of war changes, the type of enemy changes. so some time, the army has to change as well, change the way it trains. our jason carroll with the story after the break. [ thunder rumbles ] what is the sign of a good decision?

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. right now, every minute of every day, american troops in afghanistan facing some dangerous and advancing enemies. it's one of the reasons the joint chief chairman says that more resources, including more u.s. troops, are needed. but how do we adapt and train our men and women for this rugged, mountainous terrain? jason carroll knows firsthand here exactly how this went down. good morning to you. >> firsthand. good morning to you. they have a new program. i tried it myself. it is tough, but well worth doing. here's the reality -- soldiers in afghanistan have been suffering many noncombat injuries as a result of the heavy loads they carry in afghanistan's rough terrain. now the army is taking a tip from how professional athletes train to try and make a better soldier.

>> left, right. >> reporter: it's dawn, ft. campbell, kentucky, marching in formation. traditional calisthenics. for decades, physical training for army soldiers has changed very little, but now change has come. >> how do you feel? you feel all right? good. >> reporter: it looks a lot different. the results unmistakable. >> and the end result will be a stronger, faster soldier that will be less prone to injury. >> reporter: the new program is called the eagle tactical athlete program, etap. these are the first wave of soldiers sweating under etap, which emphasizes endurance, balance, speed and preventing injuries. etap's director, dr. scott lephart, says 40% to 60% of new recruits actually get hurt

during training. >> if, indeed, we can mitigate the risk of injury to reduce the injuries and enhance their capacity to perform their duty, it's a significant contribution on our part. >> reporter: training is based on the methods dr. lephart developed at the university of pittsburgh's department of sports medicine and nutrition. professional sports teams like the steelers and penguins pay top dollar for the training, but unl unlike ice or turf, these soldiers will be fighting in afghanistan. no problem. the program is customized to environment. >> they were observing a significant amount of ankle injuries due to the rough terrain in the elevation in afghanistan. therefore, we were able to integrate new exercises that would specifically work on the soldier's agility and balance. >> reporter: before training begins, the customized program uses computer technology to measure how a soldier lands, how much air they take in and strength. >> set and go to the right,

left. great effort. >> reporter: the tests are not easy. >> three, two, one, sprint as fast as you can get the pedals going. >> reporter: yeah, it's tough. tough and easy to measure weakness, but will this new program break decades-old training methods? >> i think if everybody gives it a chance, you know, and just tries it, they will come around to actually liking the program. >> well, the new training program is eight weeks. ft. campbell hopes to have all of the 25,000 soldiers in the 101st airborne division fully trained on the new program by early next summer. and you know, some of the early results actually show that those who went through the training program were 30% more physically fit than those who went to the traditional training methods. >> wow, stepping it up. >> yeah. >> how is it for you? it looked tough. >> it was really tough. it was really, really tough. you know, and it's so specific in terms of the sciences that they get out of it. they learn specifically how weak you are. so, for me, for example, i'm

more weak on my right than on my left. so for me, they would design an exercise program that would help me build the right side of myself as opposed to the left. >> wow. >> you looked a little off-balance this morning. >> that's the early hour. >> he keeps his dumbbells on the left side of his desk, you know. he's on the phone and is doing bicep curls. >> kiran's the one always showing off her muscles. >> yeah, right. i don't have any. thanks, jason. well, 32 minutes past the hour now. a look at the top stories this morning. a pro-palestinian rally turns violent in the streets of tehran overnight. supporters of iran's hard-line president mahmoud ahmadinejad battling with reformers. they were holding a simultaneous antigovernment march. witnesses say former iranian president khatami was pushed to the ground during the demonstration. he has sided with the opposition in the crisis that's gripped iran. massachusetts lawmakers are a step closer to a bill that would allow governor deval patrick to appoint an interim

replacement for senator ted kennedy. the house approved the measure thursday. now it needs to pass the senate. a special election will be held on the 19th, but this is important because they need someone in that seat to possibly cast that vote up on capitol hill on this heavily debated health care reform legislation. and the major tv networks hope that president obama will be a ratings grabber this weekend. the president is going all out to push his health care reform plan. he's going to be appearing on five sunday talk shows and then, to top all that off, he's going to visit david letterman on monday night. feature a special segment, "wingnut of the week," and my next guest says that a wingnut is a professional partisan or any unhinged activist who tries to divide rather than unite. and it's time for the "wingnut of the week" picks. john is with thedailybeast.com. as you put it, the far right and far left can be equally insane

as times, so you like to call them both out. let's start with your pick for "wingnut of the week" on the right. >> right. this is the outburst heard around the world. inevitably, joe wilson of south carolina, who infamously shouted out during president obama's joint session of congress "you lie." let's take a listen for those who have forgotten. >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie! >> that's not true. >> who knew we could hit a low so soon after the congressional recess. incivility on the rise already. >> so, he makes that comment, he makes that outburst, but in some ways, he's become a folk hero for the far right. people are, you know, some people are very happy with joe wilson and the fact that he did that. >> they sure are. you know, i attended the 9/12 tea party demonstrations in washington, d.c., and one of the things you saw was signs all over the place praising joe wilson, saying "joe wilson speaks for me," "joe wilson told the truth," "joe wilson speaks

for patriots," so he's become a folk hero for the right, and that's an increasing sign of polarization in partisan politics, dividing the country rather than unite it. >> it's interesting, because when it comes to fund-raising, his challenger got a lot of money donated to his campaign online, saying look, you've got to help this guy out, because look at joe wilson. and then subsequently, joe wilson raised money as well. >> that's right. in the ads, joe wilson was saying, joe wilson is under attack. help him stand up. so wilson plays the victim card and the cycle of hyper partisanship builds on itself. >> let's go to your choice for wingnut on the left this week. >> this is representative hank johnson, again, tied to the wilson outburst, and the official rebuke that congress passed, the first in 220 years, johnson made the argument that this was necessary because it raised the spector of a possible rise and return of the kkk. let's take a listen to what he said. >> i guess we will probably have folks putting on white hoods and white uniforms again and riding

through the countryside intimidating people. >> yeah, that's a bridge too far. in "wingnuts of the week," we've hit people against using hateful metaphors, whether the kkk or adolf hitler. the right reasons to dubuque joe wilson has nothing to do with his outburst logically returning to the return of the kkk. that raises more debate and raises stakes in a way that doesn't cross the common sense barriers for most americans. >> there are well respected people like president jimmy carter who did say there is a racial component to the opponents of president obama. so, race has been injected into the health care debate and in some cases tied to joe wilson. >> race may be part of this. i don't think joe wilson's outburst had anything to do with race per se, but if you look at the tea party protests, it is over government spending, but there is a fringe on the far

right that has racial connotations, whether they're using hate-filled signs or disrespecting the president. the emotionalism of anger at this president so soon is influenced by a heck of a lot more -- excuse me. >> you can say hell. >> okay, good, than simple policy disagreements. this rips off deeper divisions in american politics, and one of those divisions historically, no question about it, has been race. >> all right. once again, you can always check out who john has picked for "wingnuts of the week" by heading to cnn.com/amfix. john, great to see you, as always. thanks. >> thank you. all right, coming up here in just a bit, we'll be talking about an attitude problem that some co-workers of raymond clark said he had, but was that attitude enough to drive him to murder? tom foreman coming our way in 20 minutes. right now it's about 40 minutes past the hour. re trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green. algae could be converted into biofuels... that we could someday run our cars on.

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♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. 40 minutes past the hour. now, it's an attraction in the florida keys unlike any other, really. it's a massive yacht that's stranded off the coast, and its

multimillionaire owner has created a kind of tent city on board. it may seem like the tycoon himself has gone overboard, but as john zarrella tells us, he's just defending his legacy. >> reporter: the masts are gone, the paint is shot, windows in the wheelhouse smashed. "legacy," once a magnificent, 15-foot sailing yacht, is literally a wreck off key west. it's got to make you feel pretty sad, though, when you see it in that state. >> oh, it's heartbreaking. >> reporter: what's bizarre is that "legacy's"en has plenty of money to fix her up. he's a multimillionaire. and if you look closely at the bow of the boat, that's no mirage, those are tents. >> now you're entering camp legacy. >> reporter: camp legacy. >> this is where -- >> reporter: tent city! >> this is where i'm hanging out right now. >> reporter: he spends his nights and days right here on the deck. so, how does a man worth millions and millions of dollars end up living in a tent on a

sailboat? well, the story started nearly four years ago. "legacy" was torn from its anchors off key west during hurricane wilma in 2005 and tossed into a federally protected sanctuary where environmental laws prevented him from moving it. a year later, when we caught up with halmos, the boat was still there. at low tide, at times, "legacy" sits in just a few inches of water. halmos was living on "legacy" then, too, carrying his rifle to ward off pirates he says tried to steal his boat. >> right there. couldn't miss. >> reporter: finally, halmos, the federal government and an insurance company agreed on a plan to move "legacy" out of the sanctuary. it took the salvage company nine months. and how many feet a day were you able to move it? >> at times, we would get ten foot, and at times, we would get 50 foot. >> reporter: a year ago,

"legacy" was a float, but hasn't moved since. the insurance company paid halmos, $16 million, but he's concerned once he fixes it, they or a subsidiary will try to claim it. >> that, in effect, puts me in a hostage situation. >> reporter: the company that paid out says it doesn't want "legacy," never did, never will. but until he's certain, halmos says he'll just float here. why don't you just go buy a new one? >> because this is "legacy." she saved our life. >> reporter: periodically, supporters go by wearing halmos-provided t-shirts. >> free "legacy" now! >> reporter: while he serves up lunch on the deck. even on a stuck boat, life is pretty good in margaritaville. john zarrella, cnn, key west. >> all right, pretty cool. >> that's the life, isn't it? >> yeah, absolutely. well, we all know that michael jackson's mother is the one that's taking care of michael jackson's kids, but now we know exactly how much it's

costing to take care of those kids. we've got the numbers, coming up. even more freedom to the freest country on earth. so why should you be penalized for talking to someone, just because they're on another network. shouldn't you be able to call any mobile... on any network, at any time? it's a free country. knock yourself out. announcer: introducing the revolutionary. now on the sprint network yoe to call 250 million mobie without worrying about t. only from sprint. the now . deaf, hard of hearie with speech disabilities acc.

♪ okay, i hope that's just foggy, atlanta, and it's not going to be too rainy, because i've got to get back in there today. >> yeah. you can't even see the tops of the buildings. uh-oh. >> that's not good. but good morning, atlanta. i'm coming home, hopefully.

68 degrees today -- right now, i should say. 77 going to be the high. always a mess getting in and out of hartsville jackson international airport. >> here, i have an offer for you -- if it gets bad, it gets canceled, you can hop in the minivan, my two kids in the back, and we'll drive you. >> i'll stay at the airport. i'll just hang out at the airport. thank you, though. >> sure. >> it's a generous offer. >> i just thought i'd try. >> it's 6:45 this morning, quarter to the top of the hour. up first here, michael jackson's mother katherine has his three children being taken care of financially, at least. court documents show they will get more than $86,000 a month from the late singer's estate. when you break these numbers down, $60,000 of that is for jackson's three kids. another $27,000, roughly, is for katherine jackson. of that, $4,700 goes to pay her assistant. another $3,500 is for clothing for the kids. well, it could be the biggest overhaul in college financing that we've seen in some 35 years.

the house approving a measure that allowed students to borrow directly from the federal government. it saves taxpayers more than $47 billion, according to the congressional budget office. that money could then be used to boost pell grants over the next decade. the measure now goes onto the senate. and there was a baby rex, we're told? this is a pint-sized precursor to t-rex. fossil hunters discovering the predator nicknamed it raptorex. >> what, part raptor, part t-rex? >> i'll go with that. it stood about nine feet tall, weighed about 150 pounds. not that big compared to the t-rex. scientists say it roamed china millions of years ago and lived about 60 million years before the big dog came along, the t-rex. >> so, nine feet tall but 120 -- >> skinny dude. >> like a stick? all right. maybe he played some dino basketball back in the day, right? >> oh, my goodness. >> anyway, always cool to find

the fossils. rob marciano keeping an eye on weather for us. flooding in tennessee, huh? >> yeah, flooding in tennessee. you know, whether that dinosaur or any reptile for that matter would do just well in. this is the area of concern, and it's the same spot. if anything, it's kind of expanded over the last couple days. this low has really not moved much. we're just waiting for it to rain itself out and eventually get kicked out of here, but the general flow of everything is up here and this guy's just sitting and spinning on, having its own party. as far as across the northeast this weekend, actually looks pretty good. i think this rain will stay to your south. here's what it looks like now with showers and thunderstorms across parts of northern mississippi, and with that sort of action, you're going to anticipate more pictures like this today. just south and east of nashville, you guys just got a couple inches of rain yesterday, but i had a number of rescues that had to be undergone with folks getting flooded out of their homes and roadways getting washed out. really, though, damage was done two days ago when they had five and six inches of rain in some

spots. but check out some of the numbers as of yesterday. pensacola, florida, a lot of states getting in the action, just to give you an idea of the broad scope of this thing. arkansas, georgia, south carolina and alabama seeing most of that action yesterday, and i think today we'll probably see a little bit more of that. again, widespread forecast, we're seeing rainfall that might very well be heavy at times. 82 in dallas, 74 degrees in atlanta and 76 degrees in new york. might see some delays at laguardia because of wind. might see some delays, t.j., at atlanta because of rain. so, best of luck to you. that minivan's never a bad option, although kiran's just looking for a free babysitter, so just keep that in mind. >> you go back in there, t.j. put in another dvd. >> oh, wow. all right. >> hopefully, the weather will clear up for you. >> but delays from the airport i'm leaving from and delays at the airport i'm trying to get into it. that doesn't bode well. >> hello, amtrak? >> yeah. thanks, rob

welcome back to the most news in the morning. raymond clark, the man now charged in the murder of yale graduate student annie le, has been moved to a maximum security prison. clark is being held on $3 million bond in what police say is a case of "workplace violence." they're looking into whether clark's attitude may have led to a deadly confrontation. co-workers tell police he was a control freak. he was also territorial when it came to the lab and the mice that he took care of. also, we're learning more this morning about the suspect himself and what may have triggered this brutal crime he's accused of committing. some of clark's childhood friends are shocked that he's now facing a murder charge. our tom foreman with that part

of the story. >> reporter: arrested and brought into court facing a murder charge at just 24, ray clark was not asked for a plea, just that he understood his rights. his answer, two words -- >> yes, sir. >> reporter: others, however, are saying much more. the police chief won't talk about reports of messages between clark and the murder victim, annie le, but he makes it clear, the lab where they both worked is where the violence was borne. >> this is not about urban crime, it's not about university crime, it's not about domestic crime, but an issue of workplace violence, which has become a growing concern around the country. >> reporter: 20 minutes away in clark's hometown, the idea of some sort of workplace eruption is puzzling for old high school classmates. >> he was incredibly nice. he was sweet. he came off as very caring. >> reporter: michelle criscuolo knew him as a fun-loving and athletically gifted boy with kind and giving parents.

even before a local paper reported it, she knew firsthand about a long-ago investigation into allegations that clark forced his then girlfriend into having sex with him. no charges were filed, so michelle never thought much of it. >> you know, he never was arrested or anything like that, but it just didn't -- it just seemed like there was a problem within the relationship, and you know, it was something between them two. >> reporter: branford police will not talk about that incident now, saying only that they are sharing information with new haven detectives. it is all painful for kaitlin mann. she, too, knew ray clark as a standout baseball player. and this is him right here. >> yep. >> reporter: and a fellow member of a high school club to promote understanding of asian culture. she does not believe he could have killed annie le. what kind of guy was ray clark in high school? >> friendly all the time, sweetheart, totally. >> reporter: so, what happened?

if police are correct, somehow, her job as a researcher and his job taking care of the animals that she worked with brought them into a collision in the basement of this building a little more than a week ago with tragic results. bail for clark was set at $3 million, and his attorney is not talking. many students of yale are breathing easier with the arrest, but many friends of annie le and ray clark have just as many questions about how this murder came to pass. tom foreman, cnn, new haven, connecticut. it is five to the top of the hour. you know, the guys who do a super job. introducing the superguarantee. go to superpages.com to find a business with the superguarantee. we're so confident in these super businesses we stand behind their services. you'll get the job done right or we'll step in and help to make it right. sign up for free at superpages.com the new superguarantee making the good guys easy to find.

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♪ ♪ because you're in hollywood, there's something in the air in hollywood ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. and get set for otv. not talking about oprah's new

network here, talking about the president, obama. he's going to be taking the sunday morning talk shows by storm. he's doing cnn, abc, cbs, nbc. he's getting a little comic relief in. he's going to visit david letterman. you see him there with jay leno from a previous appearance, butlerman on monday night is a media blitz you will not want to miss if you have a television. the last time he hit the talk shows was in march with jay leno, also the height of the aig bonus outrage. so, what is the white house trying to achieve? suzanne malveaux, the only white house correspondent that's live in d.c. right now. i know you love having that title, don't you, suzanne? >> reporter: i get up early, t.j. i want that title. >> i know you do. tell us, they seem to, the white house at least, still playing on this president's popularity. they still, no matter what his policies seem to do, they still seem to think he's personally popular. are they worried at all about at some point putting him out there too much? >> reporter: you know, t.j., it's a very good point here,

because on the one hand, it shows confidence from the president, but on the other hand, it shows that they really have not successfully gotten this message out on health care reform, and they desperately need him to get out there and convey this. there's a lot of buzz, t.j., this morning at the white house. they're going to be having those five interviews this afternoon. it's going to be a round robin, 15 minutes apiece. they're setting it up in the roosevelt room. and obviously, the question about whether or not they're overexposing him, aides are saying, look, the media is so fragmented at this point that if you get a bunch here, a bunch there, that he'll capture many different audiences. very interesting figure. a colleague of mine has been keeping track of this for 15 years. the presidential tv appearances. he says that the president has now had 117 media interviews, and that is 66 on television. this is not someone who's shying away from this. he wants, and he enjoys this, t.j. he once joked -- this is back in 2004 -- he was accused back then of being overexposed, and he

says, "i'm beginning to make paris hilton look like a recluse," so the president certainly embracing this, if you will. but it also does underscore the need for them to get that message out. they are far from completing what they need to do, and that is getting health care reform in a form that people will actually support it. >> and you know, suzanne, now that you mention it, where is paris hilton? i have not seen her in a while. so you make a good point there. where has she been lately? also, well, when all else fails -- and this comes right out of the campaign playbook -- if all else fails, let's bring out michelle obama. the first lady now going to get into the mix. >> reporter: she certainly is. she's jumping both feet forward in this. yesterday she was at a farmer's market, promoting healthy eating and exercise. today she's also going to be giving a speech. she's talking about women and families and how health care reform is important to them. clearly, she's very popular. she kind of has a soft side to this whole controversy, the health care reform debate.

they are counting on her to talk about some of those issues and not to, really to downplay this, she has some exercise in this. she was a hospital administrator, so she's going to come at this on both sides, as a mom and as someone who's really been involved in the health care profession. >> all right. well, suzanne malveaux, again, the only reporter who is up and reporting live up there at the white house right now. suzanne, always good to see you. thank you so much. see you again soon. >> reporter: okay. i'll be out here again tomorrow. >> all right. she loves that title. >> she's not directing paris hilton. >> she's not, yeah. good morning to you all again. i'm t.j. holmes sitting in for john roberts on this september the 18th. >> and i'm kiran chetry. thank you for being with us. here's what's on the agenda, the big stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. sources say the threat is very real, the fbi saying nothing. terrorists plotting an attack on new york city subways or commuter trains. raids in queens setting off the red flags, and the investigation

has now spread all the way to the rockies. we'll tell you what our sources are saying about this, next. and it was a tragic case, a teen being pushed to the limits at a football practice. this ended with a teenager dead three days later. the coach was charged with reckless homicide and now he's been acquitted. we'll tell you what happened in court and talk with one of the prosecutors in the case, coming up. plus, millions were spent at border crossings in the middle of nowhere, but is anyone safer because of it? the cnn special investigations unit has some tough questions for the department of homeland security as well as members of congress. we begin this hour with new developments on a story that we've been tracking for you all week, an alleged terror plot stretching from colorado to new york that could be targeting train stations and subways. it started with raids on apartments in queens a few days ago. sources are now telling cnn this investigation is ongoing and that the threat is real. an afghan national at the center of the investigation is believed to have ties to al qaeda. the fbi has been questioning him for days in denver, and that's where our homeland security

correspondent jeanne meserve is live this morning following all the developments for us. good morning, jeanne. >> reporter: good morning, kiran. this is still a very active investigation. multiple sources have told cnn that during the searches in new york, they did discover backpacks, a number of backpacks. and although investigators still do not know the scope of this possible plot or its target, the discovery of the backpacks, sources say, has led to theorizing that they may have been looking at a major transportation hub where there was not any airport-style screenings, something like a train station or a subway station. again, authorities don't know definitively if this was the target, but this is an operating theory that they're working on. two sources tell cnn that investigators did find bomb-making instructions. one law enforcement official telling us that they were found on a computer that was carried to new york by najibullah zazi.

zazi is the 24-year-old afghan national who is at the center of this investigation. his lawyer is disputing that information. >> i have no information confirming anything like that, and all i could possibly say is that my client has no comment at this time. if you have any questions, you can direct them to me. all i can say is that if they had found bomb-making materials in his car, on his computer or, one wild report i saw yesterday, there were something like enough explosives in the apartment to blow up two buildings, do you really think the fbi would have allowed us to walk out of here last night? >> reporter: and zazi is reportedly scheduled to meet again with the fbi this morning. that would be his third meeting with them. he worked for about six months for an airport limousine company here in denver. i spoke with someone at that company yesterday who described zazi as a good kid, nerdy, not religious. he said he laughed when he heard that he was being investigated as part of a possible terror

plot, but sources within law enforcement continue to insist that this is the real deal and that unprecedented resources have been poured into new york and into denver to deal with it. kiran, back to you. >> all right, jeanne meserve for us this morning, thanks. also, new developments this morning in a case that's watched by schools and parents and coaches across this country. it was a high school football coach accused of a player's death after a pretty rough practice on a brutally hot day. a jury in louisville, kentucky, has now found jason stinson, the coach, not guilty in the death of the 15-year-old student athlete. our alina cho has reaction and the latest developments for us this morning. and my goodness, this is going to have people talking for quite some time. might really change up the game across the country. >> that's right. a precedent-setting trial, to be sure, guys. good morning. you know, it took the jury less than two hours. the trial is believed to be first of its kind in the country. a coach charged in the death of one of his players. huge implications for every high school coach in america. >> we, the jury, find the

defendant, david jason stinson, not guilty. >> reporter: with that, a huge sigh of relief from jason stinson and high school coaches everywhere. a jury cleared stinson of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in the death of max gilpin. the 15-year-old died of heat stroke after collapsing during football practice last august. his mother said the trial had still sent a message. >> we're disappointed, but you know, we said this going into it, the main objective was that max's death not be in vain. people are standing up to those football coaches now and people are reaching out. >> reporter: gilpin had been running sprints called gassers, on a day when temperatures hit 94. during the trial, players said stinson ordered the gassers as punishment for the lack of effort they showed at practice. prosecutors describe the sprints as barbaric. stinson's attorney argues it was just football. >> it did not create a hostile,

dangerous environment for football practice. >> reporter: even without a guilty verdict, prosecutors say the trial has raised awareness. >> every coach steps on a football and now thinks about what he's doing a little bit more, maybe thinks about water a little bit more, watches his players a little bit more. we're all better off for having this case. >> you can bet that is happening across the country. now, one witness testified that gilpin could have been saved, had he been immersed in ice water almost immediately after collapsing on the field. medical experts for the defense said it was actually a combination of heat and the use of the dietary supplement creatine, which can dehydrate you, along with adderall, that were the main factors that contributed to gilpin's death, which they called an accident. in fact, three classmates testified that gilpin had been complaining that he wasn't feeling well all day long, guys, on the day that he collapsed. >> sad, sad story, no doubt. i think there were six deaths last year altogether in

heat-related deaths for athletes, but this is the first one we've seen a coach charged. >> and it's certainly one people have been watching across the country. and as we said, hopefully, precedent-setting. at the very least, coaches will be watching their players much more closely on the field. >> hey, that's a good thing. alina, thank you so much this morning. and a prosecutor in this case is going to be joining us here live in just a few minutes. jon heck is his name. we'll see what he has to say this morning about the outcome. they're calling it otv, obamapalooza, whatever you call it, the president is going to be all over television and the airwaves this weekend. so, we're going to be talking to two of the best in the business when it comes to public relations. is this a good thing or is there a risk of overexposure? eight minutes after the hour. boy: is that your new car? uh...yeah. boy: cool. thanks. i knew i wanted the new subaru legacy. i went back and forth on the hood scoop.

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♪ shot of the white house this morning on this friday morning. it's cloudy there in the nation's capital. 65 degrees right now. it's going to be sunny, though, later today, 80 degrees. right now it's ten minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. well, you think you've seen a lot of the president lately? get set to see even more. the obama media blitz is coming.

the president will be giving interviews to five networks on sunday, including right here at cnn. following that, he's going to appear on "david letterman" monday night, and some are saying, is it too much? veteran public affairs relations consultant ken sunshine who represents big names in business, entertainment and politics, joins us from london. we also have glen bunting, managing director of citric and company, a public relations firm specializing in crisis management and media strategy, from l.a. thanks for being with us. >> glad to be here. >> it seems everywhere we turn, we're seeing the president, appearing on five network shows, doing late-night. he was doing speeches and rallies, at the university of maryland yesterday. kent, what do you think, is there a risk of overexposure in trying to get out your message? >> i don't think so. i think, frankly, he was underexposed for too long, particularly on this health care bill, and he's turning it. he's turning public opinion, he's playing offense as opposed to defense, which is the cardinal rule in a political fight like this. he's going against the

misinformation that was out there or the wild exaggerations pulling the plug on grandma, and this guy knows how to sell something and he's pretty good at politics. he reminds me of the campaign. when he gets in campaign mode, it's hard to bet against him. >> now, glen, you say as a media strategist, you wouldn't advise most of the time for your clients to do back-to-back-to-back interviews. do you think there is a risk for overexposure and why? >> well, i do. i think kent's right. he is the person you want selling his program. and when he is in campaign mode, as you prove, there is nobody like him. he is the best. and the american people do want to hear from him. but we would never really recommend that one of our clients do five interviews like this, and it really has to do with preparation, it has to do with your ability to tell your message, and he has five journalists who are going to be gunning for him. each are going to be trying to get him to slip up, to get their kind of gotcha moment. and i just think that it's a very risky strategy. he'd be much better off doing

one, maybe two. doing five? i think it's a bit of a high-wire act. >> and ken, this is also interesting. when you do so many appearances and you're out there, is there a risk that people sort of start to tune you out? i mean, even the president, who we know is great when he speaks at the rallies. he was really credited with being a great campaigner and getting people very fired up. but at the same time, is there a tuneout risk? >> you know, there could be a tune-out risk if he weren't doing the same kind of shows, most of which are sunday morning, geared to a very specific demographic of opinion-makers, and it doesn't permeate middle america directly. if he were doing every prime time show on network television, it would be different. but i think it's very clever. it also ups the ante. mess with him. look the president in the eye and say that he's going to pull the plug on grandma. it also is seizing the moment and becoming offensive again as opposed to being defensive. this guy knows how to campaign. he's in campaign mode, and that is what i think has turned the

corner on this very complicated debate. >> glen, it's interesting, suzanne malveaux, our white house reporter, brought up one aspect that i thought was interesting, which is, is there a possible fear that perhaps he wasn't getting his message out the way that he wanted to get it out before, which is why he's being forced to now go on so many shows and try to sell this health care pitch, that the pitch wasn't working before? >> well, i don't think -- >> i think he was forced -- >> he was relying on other people to do it, and that's kind of the problem, you know, is that it was the spinmeisters, it was the people in his administration. and it began to just sound like clutter. and i think that he's able to get through that. and the american people have a lot of questions. primarily, how is he going to pay for it? and i think that's what he really has to focus on. and you know, this may be more of a policy problem than a pr problem. people have a hard time believing right now, you know, based on his message, that it is going to be solving waste, fraud and abuse is the way to pay for this. and he's really got to kind of nail that one.

i assume that that's what he's going to be asked about. so, i think he has to have some good answers. >> right. >> and i think the american people want to hear from him. so, that's really his challenge. >> ken, before we go, is this a double-edged sword for the white house? the media constantly asking for interviews, then they ask for five interviews and then letterman. then we ask, is he overexposed? is it a no-win situation in some ways? >> it's great. i love when the media gets what it wants and then complains about. it it's just the perfect media storm for the media to overanalyze the issue, as they always do. the fact is that health insurance companies are a lot less comfortable with the argument now as opposed to what they were a month or two ago, when i think they brilliantly seized the issue. and the president will, i think, change the whole course of this argument by being as aggressive and as, frankly, risky as he is. the one risk could be the gotcha moment, you know, the one interview that gets him to say something stupid or something that could be misinterpreted.

but i would bet against that really happening. but that is the one risk, in answer to your previous question. >> all right. we're out of town. i want to thank ken sunshine and glenn bunting for talking with us this morning. great perspective. thanks. >> thank you. >> thanks. well, it was the catch, release and then embrace that was seen around the country. and now the daddy and daughter that have become darlings will be here with us live in studio, and we are not handing her anything that is fragile. as washington continues the debate over health care reform,

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♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. 20 past the hour here. christine romans joining us, talking about a problem a lot of people saw coming, hoping it wouldn't come to this, but -- >> it's coming. >> -- some of the unemployment benefits, hold on. they'll only keep you afloat for so long. >> it's supposed to be 26 weeks. we've had an extension in some places. the only thing worse than trying to live on a jobless check is trying to live without a jobless

check when you have for every open job in this country, six qualified applicants. so it's tough out there. it's taking a record-long time in some cases to actually get a new job. so the house is considering another vote to extend unemployment benefits further. this would be in states, more than half the states, actually, that have 8.5% unemployment rate or higher. you can see the states here. this is where the house is considering extending your unemployment benefits to get an additional 13 weeks of checks. you know, the recession has lasted so long that, frankly, thousands and thousands of people are facing these checks running out. maybe 300,000, at least, 400,000 by the end of september, a million by the end of the year, depending which numbers you look at. so, this is a very serious situation. the house is going to take a look at it again. of course, you have to pay for all of this, but the idea is that you don't want hundreds of thousands of people coming off their unemployment checks when the job market simply is not going to have a job for them. >> is the clock ticking? i mean, is there enough of an urgency to this that it seems

like people are moving up on capitol hill that this needs to get done quickly? >> the house is looking at it. democrats say they want to do this, they definitely want to do this. advocates for people for the jobless say that absolutely you have to do it. you cannot have another kick to the economy when these things all expire and people are literally out there with no money and a housing market that's still very difficult. >> all right. you have a numeral. what is it this hour? >> i do. it's 9.4 million. look, 307 million people in this country, 9.4 million -- >> that's how many are collecting jobless benefits right now? >> that's the total number of people, including emergency benefits, all of the people on continuing claims, all these people who have already had their jobless check extended. more than 9 million people are paying the bills with a jobless check. >> it's a tough situation. >> yeah. >> no doubt about it. >> so, we'll watch it in the house. that vote's next week, so i'll let you know how that moves through the senate and if it does. >> whether or not companies start hiring again. >> yeah. >> christine, thank you. meanwhile, we talk about stimulus cash, right? well, this is a case of perhaps

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♪ shot of the white house this morning at 24 minutes past the hour. it's cloudy in d.c., 64 right now. a little later, though, it's going to be sunny, a high of 81 in the nation's capital. welcome back to the most news in the morning. we're tracking your stimulus dollars. it's a bill that many lawmakers reportedly didn't read. it's money that the government told us was desperately needed to prevent a global economic meltdown. and in this "cnn exclusive," our "special investigations unit" found out that a lot of it is going to the middle of nowhere, nowhere, montana, that is. drew griffin takes us there. >> reporter: we knew this one we had to see to believe, but after

driving for hours, we thought we might never see it. we've flown to billings, montana. we've been driving for five hours through a country that has more antelope than people, and i'll tell you, we've done the bridges to nowhere, the roads to nowhere, but this may be the topper. it was supposed to be $15 million to replace what appears to be a perfectly fine border crossing station, especially when you consider the bureau of transportation's statistics say this border crossing station at scobee, montana, sees fewer than 20 vehicles a day. it's not that you could just call this border crossing slow. here i am in the middle of the day sitting in the middle of the road. there's nobody here. it's even quieter here, the border crossing at whitetail, montana. the bureau of transportation statistics say that custom agents here get an average of

fewer than two vehicles a day. yet, this, too, was to see a $15 million upgrade, thanks to the federal stimulus bill. >> well, i think everybody was pretty well blown away that there's been $32 million in the county on new border stations. i believe they need to update it, but that just seems to be kind of a crazy number. >> reporter: why, suddenly, was so much money supposed to come to northeast montana border crossings, especially when you consider that these border crossings are so unused, they're both closed at night? could it be politics? since the democrats took over in the senate, montana's two democratic senators have become very powerful. senator max baucus is chairman of the senate finance committee. senator jon tester is on the homeland security committee. and both took credit for the millions allocated up here in a joint press release, saying they

pushed homeland security for the stimulus spending. this is good news for all of montana and especially communities across the northern tier, senator baucus said in that release. senator tester said the spending would "pay off for generations to come" by creating new jobs and opportunity that will benefit all of montana. and just this week, senator tester reiterated his support in a statement, saying through his spokesperson, "because our borders are only as strong as their weakest link, jon supports sealing up all security gaps and expects to see the work done as responsibly and efficiently as possible." the department of homeland security even told us that security concerns, not politics, drove this decision to spend on the ports. >> we feel that these ports, like all of the ports of entry, are a vital part of that network of security that we establish along the borders and that the investments that we're going to do at these ports of entry are a critical step in ensuring that we can perform our mission. >> my dad, paul.

>> reporter: mark's family has been farming this border for generations. his land is adjacent to the border crossing in scobey. in winter, entire days go by, he says, where you won't see a single car. an idea to build a new border station that sees fewer than 20 cars a day at a cost of $15 million tax dollars he says could only have come from washington. >> well, when you're spending somebody else's money, cost is no big deal, right? if i'm spending your money, what do i care, as long as you've got a big pocketbook? why do i care whether i spend it? the accountability we need to have and the sensibility and the common sense needs to apply here. i mean, the senators did a fine job as far as getting money for northeast montana. absolutely great. but would it be wiser spent on something more useful to the public generally? >> reporter: scobey and nearby whitetail would have received a

temporary boost to the local economy, but not anymore. shortly after the dhs defended the project to cnn on camera, the secretary pulled the plug, ordering a full review of how her department makes spending decisions. drew griffin, cnn, scobey, montana. >> all right, and now, to be clear, cnn tried to get comments from the two u.s. senators from montana for two weeks before that project was put on hold, and the only response that we received you heard in the report. >> wow. >> good stuff from drew griffin. >> drew griffin out in the middle of nowhere, tracking down this money. great piece there, drew. we do want to check our other top stories this morning. an afghan national from colorado at the center of a terrorism investigation facing more questions from federal authorities. cnn has learned officials think the target of the alleged plot could be new york city's subways and trains, places without tougher airport-like security. the fbi not commenting now, but

sources say they think the plot involves "real deal terrorists." police in california say that two different cadaver dogs each working on its own, showed interest in the same spot on phillip and nancy garrido's property. in just a few hours, they will check that spot with radar equipment that will let them see what's under ground. the couple is accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard and keeping her in backyard tents and sheds for two years. phillip garrido is charged with fathering two children with her. meanwhile, police think the couple could be behind two other disappearances in the area. raymond clark, accused of killing yale graduate student annie le, won't be in court until october 6th. according to a judge yesterday, he did not enter a plea. bond was set at $3 million. his friend sat down exclusively with larry king last night and he says he's completely stunned by all these developments. >> absolute complete shock. cannot understand the position that ray's in right now, why he's in this position. i mean, obviously, we do know

what is going on but it's like, it's a complete shock because this is a dear friend of ours and -- dear friend of mine, who i've grown my entire life to know, and it's -- the whole country and everybody else in branford are wondering what questions -- i mean, we want answers to all of our questions. everybody has questions. he's being portrayed right now as, you know, being a murder suspect, and that's not the raymond clark who i've known my whole entire life. >> another of clark's close friends told larry "i just can't picture him doing something like this." we'll turn to another case now that brought strong opinions from parents, coaches and students. but now a jury in louisville has acquitted former high school coach jason stinson. he was charged with reckless homicide and deliberate endangerment. the reason? one much his players on his football team, 15-year-old max gilpin, collapsed during a tough practice on a hot summer day last august. that teenager died three days later. so, did the jury here make the right call in acquitting that coach? let's bring in one of the prosecutors now on the case, jon

heck joins us now this morning. sir, i appreciate you being here. let's start with your reaction to the jury's decision. now, do you think they didn't see it your way because there was an issue with evidence or testimony or just do you think that some people have a hard time stomaching holding a coach responsible in this way for a kid who had a tough practice on a hot day and charging and convicting that coach of homicide? >> well, obviously, they had a problem with the evidence, or hopefully, they would have convicted. but to me, we had two things here. one is we're dealing with a man who is from a tight-knit community. he was involved with that community. he was involved with his kids and he did a lot of good with these kids. so, he had a great deal of community support going into this case. and i think the second most important factor, besides that, is the one that you just mentioned, we're dealing with football here. and i think that we accept things on a football field that we wouldn't accept in any other arena. >> now, on that point you make

there, just kind of the culture of football. >> right. >> now, you said you just thought this was necessary to bring this case forward. were you hoping to make a statement and change the culture or did you really think you had a guy on your hands who had acted criminally? >> well, you know, you shouldn't bring a case against a specific individual to try to change the way people think about anything. that's not fair to the individual defendant. no, we believe -- and really, it's not for me to make the decision, it's for a grand jury in the state of kentucky to make the decision. the way our process works, in order for someone to be charged with a felony, a grand jury must hear evidence first, deliberate, and then decide whether or not there is sufficient evidence to charge somebody with a felony offense, and all those steps were followed and he had two felony charges against him going into this case during the trial. >> so, i guess, why was it necessary, in your opinion -- i understand what you're saying there about the grand jury, but you decided to put that case before them.

what do you think -- what were you seeing that made you think he had stepped over a line that a lot of people just admit, this happens in practices all over this country. so, why did you think this coach stepped over the line? >> well, whether it happens in practices all over the country is -- i mean, that's a matter of -- whether it happens everywhere is a matter of opinion. >> well, do you think it does? >> no. i think that this was excessive. now, a jury has disagreed with me. so, as a matter of fact, he's not guilty of the offenses, you know, the conduct that i'm about to talk to you about. >> yes, sir. >> nevertheless, my review of the case was that at some point during this practice, these kids are running and they couldn't stop until one of them quit the football team. that's excessive when you're dealing with children. they were showing signs of heat illness. they were vomiting, they were stumbling. the victim in this case, max gilpin, was a 15-year-old, a young 15-year-old. people describe that he was turning white, he was stumbling. and the running wasn't called off until, in fact, someone quit the team. it was my opinion that when someone is dealing with

children, that's wrong. that's excessive. and a grand jury agreed with me. now, the trial jury did not, but -- >> yes, sir. let me ask you this question on this point, because i think i read where you played in athletics in your life and i have as well -- >> yes, sir. >> and a lot of people know this is how it goes. it's how it goes in practice, accept it or not, it's how it goes. but if this young man had not died and you saw this practice going on, would you still feel like you are looking at a case of child abuse and that coach still needed to be brought up on charges, even if a kid didn't die? did you still think this was a case of child abuse? >> t.j., i think you look at the undisputed facts of this case, and that is that many people, many of whom played football when they were younger, were watching this practice. now, they were actually there to watch a girl's soccer game at the adjoining field, but the way they were running the gassers, they basically ran into this crowd of people. they started complaining by e-mail and phone calls the following day while max was still in the hospital.

he wasn't dead yet. they didn't know whether or not he was going to make it but he wasn't dead yet, and that's when we started getting our first round of phone calls from people saying, look, i've played football, i know it's tough, and this was excessive. now, having said that, a jury heard that evidence and has found him not guilty. so, i want to be cautious there. >> but again, i just want to be clear -- was it abusive? i mean, would we be talking about this, if you were standing out there watching that practice and a kid had not died, would you still think this man was committing child abuse with his treatment of the kids? >> well, the parents who were there watching the soccer game absolutely thought that, and a review of the statements, i thought that before it went to the grand jury, absolutely. >> well, jon heck, i know it's been a rough year there for all the people there in your community, and this case has ended, unfortunately, a young pan has died, no doubt, but hopefully something will come out of this and coaches will pay a lot more attention and closely monitor the young athletes as they try to condition them out there to get to the field and win. jon heck, thank you for taking the time this morning.

>> thank you, t.j. have a good day. >> all right. all right from that sad story to a very happy one relating to sports, at least one that made people chuckle if they saw it. it was the lifelong phillies fan, the dad catching that foul ball and then handing it to his 3-year-old daughter, who promptly threw it back. well, they've been getting a ton of attention after this happened. his reaction, her reaction, warm tarts everywhere. well, they're here. they're going to talk to us about what it's been like after that infamous throw. 37 minutes after the hour.

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♪ it was the video that made us all say aww. it was hilarious to see what happened. it all started with a dream come true for a lifelong philadelphia phillies fan after phillie jayson werth hits a foul ball, fan steve makes the catch, his first ever. so he celebrates. he's thrilled, obviously. and he hands -- here we see it. he makes the catch, so excited. everyone's cheering, fists bumping in the stands, there you go. hands it to his daughter, emily,

who's 3, and boom, she throws it right back over. well, his dream was thrown away, literally. and if that wasn't funny enough, dad's sweet reaction, of course, caught everyone by surprise, and everyone just absolutely loved checking it out. well, here to talk about that endearing moment with us, and now the whole internet sensation around, is the whole family. we have steven, his wife kathleen and daughters emily and cecelia. thanks so much for being with us this morning. just walk us through what it was like. do you guys go to phillies games often or was this a rare event to take the family? >> i'm a season ticketholder. i go to a lot of games, usually with a brother or with a friend. we've been to a few games together with the whole family, but not very often. >> okay, so -- but your daughter knows how much you love baseball. >> yes, yes. >> and what was it like when you caught the foul ball? >> i was just -- i didn't think the ball was going to make it up to the upper deck. and once i realized it did, i was just thinking, don't drop it, steve. 40,000 fans in the stands all see me drop it. so once i caught it, turned

around and celebrated, i knew i was going to give it to emily. i just didn't suspect she was going to toss it right back. >> what was your first reaction when she threw it? >> my first reaction is, oh, my gosh, there goes the first foul ball i ever caught. who knows if i'll get it back. but i think emily was a little startled, because there was a lot of laughter and shock from the crowd and i just wanted to give her that big hug to let her know it was okay. >> so she gave you that look -- >> it was the wide-eyed look, like did i do something wrong, daddy? and i wanted to let her know it was okay. >> and emily, what did you think when you threw the ball back? were you doing what daddy taught you to do, throw the ball? show us, throw it right now. >> can you throw that ball? >> i'll catch it. oh, good job! there you go! we already have a future softball pitcher on our hands. what was it like after this happened? did you realize how many people saw it and how it became an internet sensation? >> absolutely not. we thought we were just going to

the phillies game, having a good family night and had no idea it was going to turn into what it did. >> what's she been saying since this at home? this has been a whirlwind. you've come up to new york, talking to people, friends and family. >> she just says she thought he was playing with catch with daddy. she was like, i had the ball and then all of a sudden, i didn't have the ball anymore. i don't think she really realizes everything. i think she just thought it was natural, like her and steve playing catch in the front yard. whenever they play ball. she calls it let's play phillies. so her reaction was to throw it back. >> because i -- >> tell her what happened. say what you did. >> what did you do? >> daddy, remember, i throwed it into the tree? >> yeah, i remember that time. that was fun. >> she threw it into a tree also? you're really good with that baseball. that's pretty impressive. and you've got your shoe off,

too. there you go. i love it. it's really funny and everybody can sort of commiserate when you think about it, because your kids do things, and we were laughing, your kids drop your blackberry in the toilet and you don't want to be too hard about them. it's an adult world. but i have to laugh because a lot of guys might not have as nice a reaction. were you so relieved when they caught your husband in this moment and everybody sees the nicest dad in the world? >> yeah, that is totally steve. i think we just thought, isn't that what every father would do is just give the ball to their daughter and just be like, oh, my gosh. those things happen. you never know what children are going to do. so, we're just kind of shocked. >> what about you, steve? >> yeah, i wanted to make sure emily knew it was okay. i could tell she was startled and scared -- >> daddy, look. >> that's you. we brought something for you guys. we're going to bring it in now. look at the phillie phanatic. he came to see you, too. >> look at that! >> look who that is. >> we've got one for both of you. >> look.

>> what do you think? >> emily -- >> what do you say? >> you know the phillie phanatic. oh, we have another one for you, cecelia. >> cecelia. >> that's bigger than you! >> that's cool, huh? >> thank you. >> as i understand it, the phillies gave you the ball back. >> they did. the phillies gave us this ball shortly afterwards. they presented us with these jerseys and a signed ball. fantastic. >> nice. all's well that ends well. it's probably a game you guys didn't expect would be so much fun in the end. >> not at all. >> well, thanks for being with us and coming in and sharing your story. we all loved the video. you guys were great. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> t.j.? >> i was just waiting for her to toss that phanatic in your face over there. stay with us, folks. it's a quarter until the hour. (music plays)

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the guy who founded cirque du soleil is going to fly up to the international space station, and he says it's his dream to be the first clown in space, so he says he's going to wear a red nose and he's going to tickle the other astronauts. that's all true, yeah. apparently, it's also his dream to be the first man murdered in space. you don't tickle -- >> that wouldn't go over well, would it, with the nasa scientists up there trying to do all the research? >> then you have to get your corner up there and it'd be a mess. >> right. rob marciano in atlanta for us keeping an eye on things, and things are a bit of a mess

today. good morning to you again, sir. >> good morning, t.j. good morning, kiran. yeah, a lot of counties highlighted in this area, flash flood watches, and actually, mostly warnings. so, we've got a lot more rain on the way and we may very well see more scenes like this. this out of rutherford county, tennessee, just south and east of nashville yesterday. the day before is really when the damage was done. there was a tremendous amount of rain. we just had a couple inches yesterday, horses having a hard time, but a lot of neighborhoods cut off. they got out there with boats and tractors to try to get people out and even threw the life preferencers on. a tremendous amount of moisture. florida, arkansas, georgia, south carolina, alabama, everybody in the south in the soup, and it's really just a thick, very dense, stagnant air mass of a lot of moisture, and things will bubble up as we go through the afternoon once again today. so, when it rains -- excuse the cliche -- it's going to pour. 74 degrees in atlanta today. it will be 76 degrees in new york city. let's point out some good news. pretty much everybody from d.c. into the northeast looks pretty

good not only today, but i think the weekend looks not too shabby for you folks in the big apple. and that's for you, kiran. of course, t.j., back here in the soup in atlanta, everything's waiting for you. >> did anything change, by the way? did any of the airport delays clear up? delays clear up? >> they'll pile up as the day rolls along. the forecast hasn't changed. >> very nice. well, thanks, happy. still ahead, a.c.o.r.n. in damage control. the house now passing an amendment to cut funding for the community organizing group in the wake of this undercover video out there. still a lot of questions about that as well. we'll bring you up to date. 50 minutes past the hour. -d-d-de

welcome back to the most news in the morning. it's 53 minutes past the hour now. and for the nonprofit group, a.c.o.r.n., the bad press and the bad news just keeps coming. you've probably by now seen the videos. two conservative filmmakers going undercover, posing as a pimp and prostitute trying to get advice from a.c.o.r.n. staffers on how to break the law. >> and as our abbie boudreau reports, it sent a.c.o.r.n. into damage control mode. >> the nays, 75. >> reporter: it wasn't even close. by a 345-75 vote, the house of representatives voted to kill all federal funding for the community organizing group a.c.o.r.n. >> a.c.o.r.n.'s trying to claim that they're cleaning up their act, but i think it's too little, too late. >> reporter: it wasn't just republicans. 172 democrats also voted to defund a.c.o.r.n., an indication of the deep wounds inflicted by hidden camera videos. >> your business is a performing

artist. >> a performing artist. >> which you are. okay? so you're not lying. >> reporter: videos that show a.c.o.r.n. workers offering help and advice to a couple of conservative activists posing as a pimp and a prostitute. a.c.o.r.n.'s damage control effort has included saying the tapes were doctored, threatened to sue the filmmakers, and ordered an independent investigation. >> i immediately took swift action and i said, you know what, we're going to look at this, we're going to make a review from top to bottom so that this thing never happens again. we work too hard to have some trumped up thing like this happen. >> reporter: the newest tape purportedly shows an a.c.o.r.n. work in national city near san diego advising the undercover filmmakers on how to get underaged sex workers from el salvador over the border from mexico. >> this is confidential right? >> yeah. >> thank you. >> reporter: but a.c.o.r.n. tells cnn, the worker was just trying to deal with a, quote,

bizarre and challenging situation, and that he was playing along with o'keefe and giles to get information, which according to a.c.o.r.n., he passed on to his cousin, who is a detective with the national city police department. and now this video released by an a.c.o.r.n. worker in philadelphia. she says she reported the couple to the police. >> it appears mr. o'keefe lied to get his appointment. he was not dressed like he is on the internet and when we got suspicious about the questions he was asking at the philadelphia a.c.o.r.n. housing office, we called the police and filed this report. >> reporter: and there are other cases where a.c.o.r.n. workers said the videos didn't show the full story. this a.c.o.r.n. worker seen on one video claims to have killed her ex-husband in self-defense. >> and then i just picked up the gun and said [ bleep ] you and i shot him and he died, right there. >> reporter: but teresa kaelke tells cnn, she was just playing games. her ex-husband's just fine. >> he's alive and well. >> reporter: and local police

confirm that. but coming on top of earlier tapes, which clearly show a.c.o.r.n. workers bending over backwards to help o'keefe and giles, questions about whether the tapes were taken legally, doctored, or even deliberately misleading seem to have been drowned out in the clamor. abbie boudreau, cnn, atlanta. >> well, an investigation continues into a possible terror plot in new york city. one that authorities now say could have targeted new york city subways. that story, coming up. when you're sick, you go to the doctor for answers.

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bicycle, i've missed you. 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 ™ . good morning, everybody. welcome to this "american morning" for this friday, september 18th. i'm t.j. holmes sitting in today for john roberts. >> and i'm kiran chetry. glad you're with us this morning. we have a lot on the agenda. here's a look at the big stories we'll be breaking down in the next 15 minutes. sources say that the threat is very real. terrorists in the u.s. allegedly

plotting an attack on new york city subways or commuter trains. the investigation has spread from new york all the way to the rockies. we'll tell you what our sources are saying this morning. also, disdain growing among republicans and some liberal democrats over senator max baucus' long-awaited health care plan. so is there any hope of producing a bipartisan bill? we'll find out when we talk to former senate majority leader tom daschle. he's a man, of course, no stranger to getting legislation through congress. and from wrestling to the senate, wwe's chief executive officer is stepping down to run for the senate against chris dodd during a 2010 election. linda mcmahon will be joining us to talk about her run, coming up. we want to begin this hour with new developments on a story we've been tracking all week. an alleged terror plot. right now we're getting new information on what officials say may have been a plan to bomb train stations and subways. sources are telling cnn the investigation is ongoing and the threat is real. we want to talk to our homeland security correspondent now,

jeanne meserve. jeanne, seems like the more we hear about this thing, a little scarier it gets. >> reporter: t.j., this is very much an ongoing investigation. authorities are really trying to get a good handle on what exactly they're dealing with here. sources have told cnn that multiple backpacks were found during searches of residences in new york on monday. backpacks, you'll remember, were used in the madrid transit bombings back in 2004 and sources say their discovery in new york has led some in law enforcement to theorize that perhaps any alleged plot might have focused on a transportation hub where there wouldn't even intense screening of things like backpacks, a place like a subway station or a train station. now, two sources also tell cnn that bomb-making instructions have been discovered. one law enforcement source says they were on a computer that was brought to new york by najibullah zazi. zazi is the afghan national who's at the center of this

investigation. his lawyer is disputing those charges. >> i have no information confirming anything like that. and all i can possibly -- sorry. my client has no comment at this time. if you have any questions, you can direct them to me. all i can say is that if they had found bomb making materials in his car, on his computer, or one wild report i saw yesterday, that there were enough explosives in the apartment to blow up two buildings, do you think the fbi would have allow us to walk out of here last night? >> reporter: zazi is reportedly going to meet again today for a third time with the fbi. meanwhile, law enforcement sources are saying they do think this is the real deal. they think extra resources have been put into new york and into denver, but there have been no arrests in this case. t.j.? >> and no arrests, but najibullah zazi, the one they have their eyes on, the suspect, what do we know about this guy? >> reporter: well, we don't have a full picture of the kind of man he is.

we know he was born in afghanistan, emigrated to the u.s., eventually came out here to denver. he worked here in denver for the last six months or so for an airport limousine company. i called the company yesterday and talked to a man there who describes zazi as a good kid, as nerdy. he said he was a good character. and he said when he heard he was under investigation for possible involvement in terrorism plotting, he said he laughed out loud at the prospect. back to you, t.j.. >> our jeanne meserve for us live this morning. thank you so much. well, iran is on edge this morning after a pro-palestinian rally turned violent in the streets of tehran overnight. a lot of the protesters were wearing green. that's the color adopted by former presidential candidate mir hossein mousavi. many in the crowd could be heard chanting "death to the dictator," and many protesters called "liar" as mahmoud ahmadinejad addressed a crowd for friday prayers.

and ahmadinejad said that the enrichment of uranium for peaceful purposes will not be shut down. he also could not rule out the development of a nuclear weapon. >> are there conditions under which iran would weaponize? >> translator: well, nuclear arms, we believe they belong to the past and the past generation. >> so may i assume, then, your answer to that question is no? >> translator: my response to what question? >> is there a condition under which iran would weaponize? >> translator: we don't need such -- we don't have such a need, nuclear weapons. >> so the answer is no, sir? >> translator: i don't know what you mean by "no." >> i'm asking if there are any

scenarios in which you would change what you say is your course and move into creating a nuclear weapon. am i correct that the answer is no? >> we do not see any need for such weapons. >> people will remark that you did not say no as i've asked you three times the same question and you did not say no. are you sure you want that to be your final answer, sir? >> translator: well, you can take from this whatever, madame. >> all right. there you have it. president ahmadinejad also insisted that he won the joon 1 12th election fair and square. another soldier died in afghanistan dyinging at the hands of a suicide bomber and we're seeing more violence after washington doubled troop levels there. so do we need even more troops on the ground. our barbara starr is tracking this story for us this morning. barbara, as we heard, general mcchrystal, the man in charge of the war, what is he saying right

now about upping the troops in afghanistan? >> well, publicly general mcchrystal, kiran, is not saying very much, because, privately, it appears he's been told by the pentagon, don't call us, we'll call you. >> reporter: latest suicide car bomb attack in the heart of kabul. another day when insurgents made clear the capital city is not safe. but suddenly the obama administration and the president's top military advisers are split on the urgency to fix afghanistan's security problems. just days after the top military officer said -- >> a properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces. >> reporter: the vice president said, not so fast. >> a decision on additional resources is premature and a distance off. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview, vice president joe biden told cnn east chris lawrence no more troops will be sent until the current 21,000 troop increase is in place and

the afghan election results are finalized. all still weeks away. but a senior u.s. military official tells cnn general stanley mcchrystal, the top u.s. commander, as now decided how many more troops he needs, but he has been told by washington, don't send that request until you're asked for it. >> there's been a lot of talk this week and in the last two or three weeks about afghanistan. and frankly, from my standpoint, everybody ought to take a deep breath. >> reporter: the reason may be the white house is not ready to hear what the general has to say. all indications are mcchrystal now believes he needs 30,000 to 40,000 additional troops, military sources tell us they worry it's a huge decision the white house does not want to get in the way of other issues like health care. but senior military officers have long signaled they can't

wait too long, given afghanistan's collapsing security. >> i think it is serious and it is deteriorating and i've said that over the last couple of years, that the taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated. >> plans may not stay under wraps for long, because there is growing pressure from some republicans in congress to have general mcchrystal come to washington and openly testify about what he thinks he needs to win the war. kiran? >> barbara starr for us this morning from the pentagon, thank you. and former vice president dick cheney recovering this morning at a washington hospital. the 68-year-old cheney had elective back surgery to deal with lumbar spinal city noesz, a narrowing of the spine. a common cause of lower back pain in older adults. the procedure went well and he's expected to be released soon. and a white house reporter getting schooled in sneezing by kathleen sebelius.

it happened when nbc's chuck todd dared to sneeze into his hand. >> i think that -- bless you. >> i'm still learning. >> i mean, what is that about? geez! who's got some purell. give that to mr. todd right away. a little hand sanitizer. good, good. we'll have elmo give chuck a special briefing. we'll get elmo over. elmo knows how to sneeze. >> man, that's embarrassing. elmo knows how to sneeze. my 3-year-old daughter knows how to sneeze in his elbow, but chuck todd doesn't. john king's always sneezing in his elbow. you never have to worry about it. >> glad she called him out on it. it's the simplest thing and folks do it around here. i see people doing it this morning, sneezing right into the hands. >> and then going like this and

getting right on the keyboard. >> what does john do over here with his keyboard -- >> i sneeze all the time, i haven't ever seen him sneeze. done a lot of other things, but sneeze, not so much. let's turn to this now. something you may remember, the blogs were lighting up after then-senator obama posed with this statue of superman. he got some geek creds. and after his inauguration, he teamed up with spider-man for a special edition of the marvel comic. >> that must have been huge geek cred there as well. i know this because the geeks downstairs, my geek buddies were very happy about this one. >> you have geek buddies? >> yeah. >> does that make you a geek? >> they want to keep it in the original -- >> oh, that thing. >> important. the next move may get him even more attention from a galaxy far, far away. there you see, our 44th president of the united states playing with a "star wars" light

saber. it happened earlier this week at the white house and the event was to drum up support for chicago's bid to host the 2016 olympics. >> how does that help? >> it's a new category. you didn't know? dress up as your favorite "star wars" character. no, i don't know. i'm assuming fencing? >> maybe. >> yes, fencing. martial arts. >> they wouldn't give him the real deal. >> exactly. >> maybe he could take one of those light sabers up to capitol hill and try to get his health care legislation passed. but since he doesn't have that, you know who he does have? tom daschle on his team.

are you zond ent and confused about the health care issue in this country? are you fed up and just don't feel like you can carry on? have you had enough? well, i don't know what to tell you.

>> hey, i don't either. but welcome back to the most news in the morning here. right now the efforts to overhaul the nation's health care system are at a critical point, especially after senator max baucus' compromise fell a bit flat with some republicans and some democrats. so where do we go from here? former senate majority leader tom daschle is here. he's advised the president on health care reform. also advised many in the health care industry through his role at alston and bird. sir, you just heard david letterman making a joke. i don't know what to tell you. at this point, do you know what to tell us? we thought this baucus bill was supposed to be the compromise that people would be able to get around, but it seems like it has split people just as much as the other bills. >> well, t.j., i would say that the message is, help is on the way. i really think you're going to see a consensus over the course of the next couple of weeks. obviously, these are very difficult issues. and if you were going to start from scratch, you might do things differently. but we're trying to build on the system we've got and it's a tough, tough job. we've not been able to do it for 70 years.

i think we're going to do it this year. >> do it this time. let's go with the baucus bill that many thought would be the one. it was a group of six, three republicans, three democrats, and as we know, there are a lot more democrats and republicans that need to agree on this thing. let's talk about what you might like about it. first, do you like the cost? the cbo says $774 billion, $856 is what the finance committee said it would cost. that's below that $900 million marker, but some are saying the downside here is because it cost a little less, it's not going to help people as much. >> you've got to like the cost, but you put your finger on the problem. i think it that when it comes to how much help there is for the states and the middle class, we'll have to adjust those figures. we've got room in the budget now to address those figures a little more successfully. my guess is you'll see those numbers tweaked over the next few days. >> you say tweaked, that sounds like more expensive.

how much more expensive are we talking about here, senator? >> i think within the realm of the budget. we're shooting for something below $900 billion and i think we'll do that. we've got several billion dollars to deal with here. i think most of those resources will go into making insurance more affordable for more people. >> and there are five bills out there are that are thousands and thousands of page, but we have a general idea. this particular bill does not have the public option in it. some saying, a democrat was here with us yesterday, representative weiner, said this one is dead on arrival. so how does this bill move us forward? if you have a democrat even saying, this bill doesn't have a chance in heck if it does not have the public option in. >> well, the prospects for a public option, t.j., are different in the house than they are in the senate. a calculation has beened made that the votes just aren't there today, but i think perhaps before the end of this process, you'll have some votes. you'll have a vote up or down probably on some form of a public option either in

committee or on the senate floor and then we'll know. but clearly, we've got to move forward and that's exactly what the democrats and some republicans are trying to do. find what common ground we eck. we'll find out whether that includes a public option or not in the senate. >> you say there'll be an up or down vote at some point. i guess, at that point, do you expect and is there just hope that democrats will then just, you know, stake their position and vote together, no matter what this public debate is like, just hoping that maybe once it does come to the floor, that democrats will get together and this might just have to be a partisan bill. >> this is a test of governance. we are facing one of the biggest challenges in the country, domestically, with health reform. we've got to demonstrate that we can address that challenge successfully. democrats are in the clear majority in the house and senate. we have the white house. we've got to perform. we've got to get this job done. i think you'll see democrats coalescing around a final version that will give us the unity we need to do that job

within the next few weeks. >> all right, sir. before i let you go here, let me just ask you just about the president. you, of course, have the ear of the president and he has your ear as well. tell us. he has said several things publicly, but from what you understand, will the president sign a bill that does not have the public option? >> the president's going to wait and see until the final product is delivered before he makes any final decision on what he's going to do, tnl. he's going to look at everything. he's going to look at whether there's a public option, something he and i both strongly support. but he's going to look at the whole package and make a decision at that time. >> and last thing here, he is going to be doing a whole lot of television this weekend. is that good or bad? does the president need to maybe -- he's playing off his personal popularity, but is he running a risk here of overexposing? >> well, he's our best spokesperson. and, you know, it's -- now is the time. now is the -- is really his best opportunity to make the case to the american people, using the media, talking to members of congress, talking to groups, as

he did yesterday on a university campus. he is doing everything he possibly can to ensure that we've not left one stone unturned in getting this job done. >> and i know you said the best spokesman, i know i've got to let you go here, but, still, as part of the problem as well, he talks about my plan, but what he has right now are my suggestions. do you think he needs to send a bill up there that says health care by barack obama instead of leaving it to them up there on capitol hill to put something together. >> well, we now have five hills, two in the house and three in the senate. >> yes, but none of them are his. do we need his? >> well, we'll have his. he's said he'll work with congress to deliver a bill that is both his and congress zmaand that's the way it should be. >> senator daschle, thank you for taking the time with us. you were this close to being the health and human services secretary, and maybe you do or don't wish you had that job, but thank you for being here. >> and this sunday, president

obama sitting down with our john king on cnn's "state of the union." we're going to be joined by jay conn carroll when we come back. he had a chance to check out the army's new training regiment. they say if they get the soldiers into a better type of shape using smart new technologies, they actually do much better once they're deployed, especially? places like afghanistan. jason carroll put it to the test as well. they'll show us what they're trying to do to make a stronger soldier. 19 minutes after hour.

♪ hello. welcome back.

i'm scaring t.j., because when a camera is not on us, i dance just to make him laugh. miami, that's a better shot than me trying to dance. partly cloudy, 88 degrees a little bit later. only going up a degree for a high. 89 degrees and scattered thunderstorms this morning. >> you're a fine dancer. >> thank you. i just sat here like this. i don't know what you're referring to. gerri willis is with us. we're talking about student loan reforms on the horizon. the house passing a bill that would prevent banks from making loans to college students. instead, it would be uncle sam as the main provider of the loans. >> this is being called the biggest reform in student loans since the 1960s. >> what we're talking about is actually taking the government out as the middle man in college student loans. and you may not know this, but the federal government actually prides capital, guarantees, and subsidies to banks to make these loans. so it's really all about the government, but the banks are really the handout in the

community, really reaching out. they want to change that, in the subsidies, boost pell grants for needy students. but some of that money that would have gone to banks can now go to pell grants and pay for community college reform. this is a very big change in the way that college student loans are divvied out. >> so you're saying they're cutting out the banks as the middle man and it could end up allowing them to even make more loans because of the money that they're saving. >> more money for pell grants, more money for needy students, more money for community colleges. >> so is it going to happen? >> well, it sailed through the house, the senate could be another story. they have to put this into effect, but this takes a long time for the college themselves to do and they say, i can't make this deadline right now. the critics say this would cost more money, in fact, and there would be a lot of job losses because there are a lot of people who work at banks right now, this is all they do is make these college loans and this would be a bad time to get rid

of those loans. but you can imagine parents out there, students out there, so many more relying on loans, 47% this year saying they will rely on loans to pay for college against 37% last iyear. this is a big need out there. >> a lot of students and parents sat up when they heard this and said, oh, the senate, you've got to wait on them to do something. gerri, appreciate it as always. still ahead, she's throwing her hat out of the ring, i guess you could say, we're talking about wwe wrestlinging family super star ceo linda mcmahon. she's actually going to be running for senate. she'll try to take on chris dodd. what are some of the biggest issues she wants to take on if she does end up being a senator for connecticut? we'll talk to her in just a minute. if you've had a heart attack

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♪ welcome back, everybody, to the most news in the morning. right now, every minute, every day, american troops in afghanistan facing a dangerous and advancing enemy. it's one of the reasons the joint chiefs chairman says more resources, including more u.s. service members, are needed. >> and they're also asking a lot of questions like, how do we adapt as a military, train the men and women for this rugged, mountainous terrain and increase their odds of making it out safely. our jason carroll joins us now with a sneak peak at a new army program that you ran through the rigors of some of it. >> yeah. it's tough, really tough. but the idea is to make a better soldier. soldiers in afghanistan have been suffering many noncombat injuries as a result of the heavy loads they carry in afghanistan's rough terrain. now the army is taking a tip from how professional athletes train in order to make a stronger soldier.

>> left, right, left. >> reporter: it's dawn, ft. campbell, kentucky, marching in formation. traditional kacall sthetices. for decades, traditional training for army soldiers has changed very little, but now change has come. >> how do you feel? feel all right? good. >> reporter: it looks a lot different. the results, unmistakable. >> and the end result will be a stronger, faster soldier that will be less prone to injury. >> reporter: the new program is called the eagle tactical athlete program, etac. these are the first wave of soldiers sweating under etac which emphasizes endurance, speed, and preventing injuries. etac's director says 40% to 60% of new recruits actually get hurt during training.

>> if, indeed, we can mitigate the risk of injuries, reduce the injuries and enhance their capacity to perform their duty, it's a significant contribution on our part. >> reporter: training is based on the methods that dr. lephart developed as a professional sports team trainer. unlike ice or turf, these soldiers will be fighting in afghanistan. no problem, program is customized to environment. >> they were observing significant amount of ankle injuries due to the rough terrain and the elevation in afghanistan. therefore, we were able to integrate new exercises that would specifically work on the soldier's agility and balance. >> reporter: before training begins, the customized program uses computer technology to measure how a soldier lands, how much air they take in, and strength.

>> set and g. to the right, left. >> reporter: the tests are not easy. >> three, two, one, sprint, as fast as you can go. >> yeah, it's tough. >> reporter: tough and easy to measure weakness. but will this new program break decades-old training methods. >> i think if everybody gives it a chance and just tries it, they will come around to actually liking the program. >> the new training program lasts about eight weeks. ft. campbell hopes to have all of the soldiers in the first 101st airborne division fully trained by early next summer. >> they're talking about just the 101st there, but eventually all soldiers? would they like them all to go through? >> that's exactly what they're hoping. they're hoping other areas of the military will adopt this. and in fact, dr. lephart, who you saw there in the piece, he's planning no meet with the green

beret s, he's already met with the navy s.e.a.l.s. >> very interesting. thanks a lot, jason. a look now at the other top stories this morning. an afghan national from colorado who's at the center of a terror investigation facing more questions now from the feds. cnn has learned officials think the target of the alleged plot could have been new york city subways or trains. places without tougher airport-style security. the fbi right now not commenting, but sources say they think the plot also involved, quote, real deal terrorists. police in california say two different cadaver dogs each working on its own showed interest in the same spot on phillip and nancy garrido's property. in a few hours, they'll check the spot with radar equipment that lets them see what's happening underground. the couple's accused of kidnapping jaycee lee dugard and keeping her in backyard tents and sheds for 18 years. they think they could also be involved in two other

disappearances in that area. and raymond clark will not be back in court until october 6th. in front of a judge yesterday, he did not enter a plea. bond was set at $3 million. clark's best friend sat down exclusively with our larry king last night, saying he is completely stunned by clark's arrest. >> absolutely, complete shock. could not understand the position that ray's in right now, why he's in this position. obviously, we do know, you know, what is going on, but it's like, it's a complete shock because this has a dear friend of ours, a dear friend of mine who i've grown my whole entire life to know and it's -- the whole country and everybody else are wondering. we want questions -- i mean, we want answers to all of our questions. everybody has questions. he's being portrayed right now as being a murder suspect. and that's not the raymond clark who i've known my whole entire life. >> well, another close friend of clerk's told larry, i quote, just can't picture him doing something like this. we are also tracking your

stimulus dollars this morning. it's a bill many lawmakers reportedly didn't read. it's the money the government told us was desperate needed to prevent a global economic mettledown. >> now in this cnn exclusive, our special investigations unit found that much of it is going to literally the middle of nowhere in montana. our drew griffin takes us there. >> reporter: we knew this one we had to see to believe, but after driving for hours, we thought we might never see it. we've flown to billings, montana, we've been driving for five hours through a country that has more antelope than people. and i'll tell you, we've done the bridges to know where, the roads to nowhere, but this may be the topper. it was supposed to be $15 million to replace what appears to be a perfectly fine border crossing station, especially

when you consider the bureau of transportation statistics say this border crossing station at skobey, montana, sees fewer than 20 vehicles a day. it's not you could just call this border crossing slow. here i am in the middle of the day, sitting in the middle of the road. there's nobody here. it's even quieter here. the border crossing at white tail, montana. the bureau of transportation statistics say the custom agents here get an average of fewer than two vehicles a day. but this too was to see a $15 million upgrade thanks to the federal stimulus bill. >> well, i think everybody was pretty well blown away that they're spending $32 million in daniels county on new border stations. i believe they need to update, but that just seems to be kind of a crazy number. >> reporter: why, suddenly, was so much money supposed to come

to northeast montana border crossings, especially when you consider that these border crossings are so unused, they're both closed at night. could it be politics? since the democrats took over in the senate, montana's two democratic senators have become very powerful. senator max baucus is chairman of the senate finance committee. senator jon tester is on the homeland security committee and both took credit for the millions allocated up here in a joint press release, saying they pushed homeland security for the stimulus spending. this is good news for all of montana and especially communities across the northern tier, senator baucus said in that release. senator tester said the spending would pay off for generations to come by creating new jobs and opportunity that will benefit all of montana. and just this week, senator tester reiterated his support in a statement saying through his spokesperson, because our borders are only as strong as their weakest link, jon supports

sealing up all security gaps and expects to see the work done as responsibly and efficiently as possible. the department of homeland security even told us that security concerns, not politics, drove this decision to spend on the ports. >> we feel that these ports, like all of the ports of entry, are a vital part of that network of security that we establish along the borders and that the investments we're going to do at these ports of entry are a critical step in ensuring that complete our mission. >> reporter: mike's family has been farming this land for generations. in winter, entire days go by, he says, where you won't see a single car. an idea to build a new border station that sees fewer than 20 cars a day at a cost of $15 million tax dollars, he says could only have come from washington. >> well, when you're spending somebody else's money, cost is

no big deal, right? if i'm spending your money, what do i care as long as you've got a big pocketbook, what do i care what i spend it? the accountability that we need to have and the sensibility and the common sense needs to apply here. i mean, the senators did a fine job as far as getting money for northeast montana, absolutely great. but would it be wiser spent on something more useful to the public generally? >> reporter: skobey and nearby whitetail would have received a temporary boost to the local economy, but not anymore. shortly after the dhs defended the project to cnn on camera, the secretary pulled the plug, ordering a full review of how her department makes spending decisions. drew griffin, cnn, skobey, montana. >> and i want to be clear here that cnn did try to get comments from the two u.s. senators from

montana. we tried for two weeks before the project was put on hold. the only response we received was the one you heard there in the report. we'll take a break. when we come back, rob marciano tracking severe weather. we have the south soaked by heavy rains. now there are flood watches in some parts of the country. he'll bring us up to date. ♪ need a lift? hey buddy, i appreciate the ride, you know. no problem. ♪ mind if i take a shortcut? yeah, sure. ♪

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. could she be the next jesse ventura. linda mcmahon is stepping down as ceo of world wrestling entertainment, wwe, to enter the race for u.s. senate in connecticut as a republican. exchanging the wrestling ring for the political ring, mcmahon will have a tough fight ahead of her. joining me now from stanford, connecticut, to discuss her bid for senate is linda mcmahon. linda, thanks for being with us this morning. >> thanks for having me, kiran. >> i just want to know, first of all, what made you decide, i'm going to go for this year, i'm going to go for -- try to get through the primary and try to challenge chris dodd? >> you know, kiran, i'm a businesswoman and i've been watching what's going on. the mounting debt that we have, people out of work, reckless spending going on in washington

and i couldn't sit on the sidelines and watch anymore. i really wanted to get in, to do something. i've found also as i've traveled around connecticut and talked to people, there's been a growing sentiment and really consistent that our citizens have lost faith and trust in chris dodd. it was a good time to get in. it seemed the right time to get in. so i want to get will and make a mark for the people of connecticut. >> you know, i mean, politics is, you know, some people say, hey, it's sort of like wrestling, if you will, because you've got to get your hands dirty. you, as you said, are a successful business woman. you and vince started this with 13 employees and years and years and decades you've built upon this. very successful business, publicly traded company now. did you talk about it with your husband and your family and what did you guys go over when it comes to the pros and cons of making yourself so public out there, trying to run for office? >> well, i clearly have the support of all of my family and

good friends as well. and you know, kiran, you talked a bit about spending 30 years build this business. that's true. and we haven't always been in the position that i am now. because, at first, when vince and i started out, we actually went bankrupt. we lost our house, we lost our credit cards. we couldn't even rent a car. so i know the angst of that. i know the embarrassment of that. i know what it's like to wonder, are you going to have a job, are you going to be able to make your mortgage? so i think i walked in the shoes of some of the folks here in connecticut and, really, in the country. and i understand their plight. so i know what it's like to be in that position. and we have to get people back to work. our economy's not going to change until we actually create jobs or have businesses grow. and small businesses, they create about 70% of the jobs and they can't get credit today. and in a small business, if you can't get credit for a bridge loan, sometimes you have to fold up shop, you certainly can't grow. so that's my goal. i understand creating jobs.

and i want to be able to help do that. >> jesse ventura, when he ran, he took a lot of flak at first, and we saw endless video of him in the ring and him in his audacious costumes, and i'm sure you'll get that as well, trying to make that switch. here is one that's pretty funny with you and your daughter. let's take a look. >> you're simply a conniving [ bleep ]! >> what, that's her mother! what the hell is wrong with her?! oh! stephanie struck her mother down! stephanie slapped her own mother! >> i come from a long line of wwe fans, so i actually saw that when it happened, but are you nervous that maybe some of these

performances will come back to haunt you on the campaign trail? >> you know, kiran, what i have to do in connecticut is travel around and talk to our people, because they don't know me. i want to travel around our state. i want our citizens to be able to look me in the eye. i want them to get to know me and to know what i stand for. and i want to hear what they have to say. i want to hear their ideas, because i don't think you can go to washington just entirely with your own ideas. you have to know what the citizens of your state expect out of you. so i trust that when i have that opportunity, they'll make their decision next year and i will have convinced them i'm the right one to be their voice in washington. >> so you don't care -- you don't care if your competitors try to use some of your best wrestling moments against you? >> i think the citizens of connecticut will see that that's an entertainment product and they'll get to the crux of the matter. our citizens are very smart. they enjoy our product, but they also know that it's an entertainment product that's on television and the company that's behind that is a very

strong company. it's traded on the new york stock exchange. >> of course, absolutely. >> so i think they'll have a good idea about that. >> i want to get your opinion on just a couple of things that are percolating right now in the congress. quickly, if you will, what do you think about this whole debate about overhauling health care? do you think that what's in there right now in the senate, this bipartisan -- hopefully bipartisan proposal by max baucus is going to make it and should make it? >> i'll tell you, i do think we need health care reform. i don't think anyone questions that, but what we do question is, how are you going to pay for it and what are the things that our citizens are afraid they're going to lose? what i hear in talking to the people of connecticut are pretty much the same as you hear everywhere. that is, are we going to have loss of benefits for our seniors. how does it affect the doctor/patient relationship. and those are real concerns, but cost is at the center of it. i'm going to look very carefully. if i were in the senate now, i would be looking very carefully at the bill and we need to probe it and do it right, and we don't

need to rush through it, but we need to get it right. >> good luck to you and thank you so much for joining us this morning. linda mcmahon, great to talk to you. >> thank you, kiran. if you want to know more, go to linda2010.com. >> got your website up already. that's definitely a start in the right direction. thanks, linda. >> so differently to see her sitting here talking about health care and then getting smacked in the ring by her daughter. >> it's a family affair. >> it's entertainment. wouldn't you love to see that scene on the senate floors? >> sometimes. >> sometimes it does look like this. stay with us. a lot of you traveling today, flying, might have some issues with a few of the airports because of the rain-soaked south.

♪ good morning. atlanta, georgia. i can't believe we are playing any kanye. we should be playing some taylor swift this morning. okay? i'm sorry. but good morning, atlanta. >> hold on, i have to interrupt you a second. that's a really good toss, but i just want to say, rob marciano's the best weather caster ever. >> rob, please take it. i hope you got that. >> i like some more time when beyonce comes up as well to give my thanks to the fans. and god bless all those kids. showers and thunderstorms across the south again. it's gong to be a problem. some of the action yesterday across parts of tennessee, just south and east of nashville.

a number of roads overflooded, about 19 homes evacuated, including the horses in trouble. had to get out there with tractors and boats to get some of these people out of here. as far as what we can expect for the next day or two, more rain. showers and thunderstorms to fill in throughout the day today and the forecast looks about the same as yesterday. a foot of rain in mina, arkansas, and cookville, tennessee, seeing 10 inches of rain. if you are traveling today by air, atlanta and charlotte looking for delays because of rain. new york city, some winds. but the northeast looks pretty nice this weekend. so you guys have that to enjoy. t.j., see you back here in the atl, which will be wet regardless of what kanye has to say. >> we appreciate you, rob. hope to see you soon. please, be on standby in case i can't make the show tomorrow morning. >> you'll get there. you'll get there. still ahead, are you an overnight success? it may seem like it at times,

but these fashion designers that helped dress michelle obama, they've been at it a long time in some cases. but we've certain benefited by the first lady choosing their designs. we'll talk to one of those designers. i'm a single mom. not having a car, i have to take three buses every morning. i also depend on a friend of mine to get my kids to day care, because of the way the buses run, i'm unable to do it and get to work on time. i know what it's like to have the fear of losing my job because i can't get to work. i was hitchhiking. that didn't last long, because of the kindness, actually, of a stranger. he said, i'll let you use one of my vehicles. he was put in my path to help me move forward and made me realize i could make it. i'm susan jacobs and i provide

working wheels to keep families working. this is susan with wheels of success. our goal is to try to step in to work with employers so that before they lay someone off, hopefully we have a solution. the cavalier's done too? >> yeah. >> we started taking donated cars and doing repairs. you pay a monthly payment for a year based on a sliding scale and give three volunteer hours a month back to the organization. >> i just wanted to tell you, thank you so much. >> you're so welcome. >> receiving a car is more than just the car. and people, literally, see how their life's going to change. >> this is awesome. i got my own car. >> i love what i do. my life has made a difference. ♪ you're the one

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animal two people here that can dance. >> only two? >> of the female persuasion, i might add. >> obviously, a selection from alina cho's ipod. but it is so delicious this morning. a dream come true for have a fashion designer to having a high-profile woman pop up in something that you created. >> and how about the first lady wearing your design on inauguration day. meade isabel thereoledo a house name. >> it's been eight months, and we wanted to know, what's

changed in her life. they called her a designer's designer, but most of america had never heard of her. that is, until michelle obama walked out on inauguration day wearing that lace dress and coat that toledo designed. eight months later, how's she doing? we went back to pay a visit, and boy, has her life changed. what goes through your mind when you look at this now? zm oh, my go ahead neodness, i' proud. >> preserve, protect, and preserve the constitution of the united states. >> reporter: so much so that famous dress, the one michelle obama wore on inauguration day now sits in a glass case. isabel toledo designed it. when the first lady wore isabel's dress and coat, she probably had no idea just how much that choice would change this designer's life. for starters, isabel and her husband and collaborator, rubin.

>> such an honor. >> reporter: are now celebrities. what do people say to you? >> they're just so happy to meet me. and to be a part, they always tell me about what they were doing on that day. they give me their stories, which is wonderful. >> reporter: people want to peak into their lives. there have been reality show offers. >> yes, plenty of it, but who wants to do a ricky and lucy show. that was good for ricky and lucy, but -- >> reporter: a new book and something toledo seemed most proud of, a retrospective at the museum in new york. it include another toledo dress that mrs. obama owns and the inspiration behind the inauguration coat. this coat right here is the body of the shell, believe it or not, and this is 1995. >> reporter: at the time, the coat was never mass produced. now it's a part of history. toledo also designs new collections with the first lady in mind. >> i can go back to my archive and with michelle in mind, think

of what pieces are very michelle. when i last seen toledo on inauguration day -- >> i was so happy. >> reporter: she had tears in her eyes. today -- >> they're still there, actually. because of the happiness. it's been really wonderful. >> such wonderful people. just could not have happened to nicer people. that inauguration dress and coat, by the way, that toledo designed, could end up at the smithsonian, but it's not a given. now, the gown that the first lady wore will end up there, but mrs. obama still owns the toledo creation, so, ultimately, it's her decision. and right now, guys, toledo tells me that museums everywhere are furiously bidding for it. and you were asking with, is that the actual dress and coat that mrs. obama wore -- it is. >> what did you call the material? >> what's interesting, it's actually swiss lace and it's very warm. it's wool lace.

but the swiss government found out, they got so excited about it that they invited the toledos to show their new collection at the swiss embassy. so they're going to do a runway show in november at the swiss embassy in washington, d.c. >> yes, life has changed. >> it has. >> and they're adorable, as you said. they've known each other since they were 13. >> rubin said he knew right then and there he wanted to marry isabel. he had to wait until after they graduated from high school to actually date. but they're actually collaborators, they're co-designers, really. she explains what she -- her ideas, and he draws them. he's a fantastic artist. and so their creations are really their creations. you know, her name's on the label, but it's their creations. >> back to the first lady, the coat, the yellow -- you said the museums are bidding for it? >> they are. >> they'll have to pay her for it? >> donated? >> it's unclear. ultimately, i think, that the first lady would donate it. you know, again, the gown will become -- the gown that she wore, that