president barack obama is on an official visit to the west african nation of ghana. why he is there and the message he's giving to the people of b sub-saharan africa. >> we understand the demand for information, we can't jeopardize a crime scene, becoming clear there are potential crime scenes littered throughout the cemetery. >> access blocked to a historic cemetery at the center of a major plot re-selling scam and the crime scene is expanding as police find more human bones on the ground there. also emotions high as a huge crowd gathers today for a final good-bye to steve mcnair, how friends, family, and fans will honor the former nfl star. you're watching hln this saturday morning. thanks so much for spending part of your weekend with us.

i'm susan hendricks. we want to get you updated now. the president is on an official visit to the african nation of gaun nachlt his arrival last night touched off celebrations in the streets of the country's capital accra. today, he has a full slate of events ahead including addressing the country's parliament. before his arrival president obama explained why he chose ghana for his first trip to africa as president. >> part of the reason that we're traveling to ghana is because you've got there a functioning democracy, a president who's serious about reducing corruption and you've seen significant economic growth. >> later this afternoon, president obama will leave ghana and travel back to the u.s. families may have to wait days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery because the grounds have been declare ad crime scene. hundreds of bodies at the cemetery allegedly were dug up and dumped in a scheme to re-sell burial plots. cook county sheriff tom dart

says he has received thousands of complaints about the scheme, half of which are about missing headstones. >> our goal is to re-open the cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so we're going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there is a crime scene and be allowing people in. >> four former workers seen here are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam which dates back at least four years. emmitt til's original casket was found in a garage on the cemetery grounds. the 14-year-old was murdered in mississippi back in 1955 after he reportedly whistled at a white woman. till's original casket was replaced with a new one after his body was exhumed in 2005 during a renewed investigation into his death. the original casket was supposed to be kept for a planned memorial. a huge crowd at least 8,000

people are expected to gather later this morning to say good-bye to seerve mcnair, the former nfl quarterback shot and killed last week by his mistress will be honored at a public service in hattiesburg, mississippi. he will be buried later today in a private service. more than 4,000 people turned out thursday in nashville to pay tribute to their former star quarterback. meanwhile a brief private funeral was held yesterday for mcnair's mistress and killer. passengers and crew got out of this plane as fast as they could when a smoky odor filled the cabin of that plane. 15 people were hurt during the evacuation that happened at phoenix airport yesterday. passengers apparently smelled the odor while the plane was preparing to take off for london. a fire department spokesman says the smoke may have been caused by electrical problems. a spokesman for pakistan's military says his government could help the taliban negotiate peace with the u.s. but says the u.s. would have to put more

pressure on pakistan's main rival india. senior officials say the obama administration is willing to address their conflict with india and talk to top taliban leaders. that could be the start of a possible breakthrough ending the afghan war that started after the 9/11 attacks. ♪ beat it, dancing, singing an outpouring of pride at michael jackson's boyhood home of gary, indiana paid tribute. as a musical celebration, the mayor thanked jackson for putting his city on the map. even the principal of michael jackson's middle school told the crowd about how, as a boy, jackson performed for classmates for ten cents apiece. michael jackson was born in gary. his father moved the family to hollywood when he was 11 years old. general motors has to get back to work selling cars.

one way the company plans to do that is by selling its entire line of cars on the internet. gm trying to hammer out a deal for ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california but could go national if it proves successful. at a news conference yesterday, gm's ceo said the company needs to embrace new business methods in order to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation and will work hard to repay the trust and the money that so many have invested in gm. the last 100 days has shown everyone, including ourselves, that a company not known for quick action can, in fact, and, indeed, move very fast. starting today, we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness and speed of these last several weeks and then transfer it from the battlefield triage of the

bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operation of the new company. and this will be the new norm at general motors. >> now, some analysts are saying the most important announcements henderson made was the hiring of this man. coming up why 77-year-old bob lutz could be key to gm's recovery. some good news for car enthusiasts, chrysler decided to keep making the viper sports car. the company previously said it would sell off the business and production would end this year. but, in an announcement yesterday, chrysler said it would keep making the v-10 car through 2010 and beyond. pretty pricey base models of it begin at around $90,000. a florida couple who adopted 12 children found shot to death thursday night. police say burt and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion. an employee of the couple found their bodies. eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred but were unharmed. some of the billings' children

have special needs. >> i can tell thought members in our investigative section are somewhat stunned by this, also, because if you was to go throughout the county and say, well someone is living in the wrong area or involved in an activity that would bring them upon them that, would not fit the billings' family because they do not fit that profile. >> authorities are looking for three men in a red van in connection to the killing. house democrats trying to get on the same page on health care reform. president obama wants to overhaul the system and give health care to about 50 million uninsured americans. as reported, some democrats are saying no to their own party's plan to pay for it. >> reporter: president obama is telling congress the clock is ticking on health care reform. >> i never believe anything is do or die. but, i really want to get it done by the august recess. >> reporter: a tall order for congressional democrats who

missed self-imposed deadlines. in the house 40 fiscally conservative democrats -- sent a letter to leaders, concerned congress isn't doing enough to cut ballooning health care costs. could you vote for the house health care bill as it stands right now? >> no. this is the biggest domestic issue that we will tackle this -- this century. and so, we think we need to slow it down a little bit and do it right. >> reporter: so far there, are two prevailing ideas, one calls for a government-run health insurance plan favored by house speaker nancy pelosi. >> the only debate on that is what it will be cost. the patient option -- write in your suggestions. >> reporter: the other a nonprofit health cooperative but after hours and hours of negotiations lawmakers are still struggling how to pay it for. in addition to cutting costs, congress will have to raise taxes to foot the trillion dollar bill. democrats on the house tax

writing committee agreed friday to increase taxes on individuals who make more than $280,000 and couples earning $350,000 or more. democrats hope to bring in $540 billion over the next ten years with that tax and have all but ruled out other proposals to tax health benefits provided by employers and sugary drinks like soda. brianna keilar, cnn washington. >> weather-wise out there we check with meteorologist reynolds wolf to see how it is looking where you live. hey, wolf. >> in summertime we experience heat and it has been the case in texas, just brutal. today should be the same deal, dallas going up to 101. houston with that 95 with hue humidity certainly will feel warmer. 89 in atlanta, 80s in both tampa and miami, also we can expect a few scattered showers across much of the sunshine state due to the stationary front so for the shuttle launch that is expected to take or at least scheduled to take place later tonight around 7:00 or so, i think there is a good chance it

may get canceled due to the chance of scattered showers. chance of severe storms expected across the gate lakes into parts of the ohio valley and back into portions of the central and northern plains, could see severe storms, still very warm in parts of the desert southwest and california looking cool, scattered showers again as i mentioned the great lakes looks like maybe a rainy time for detroit a good part of the day. that's a look at your forecast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. >> when it comes to buying a house one person's eyesore can be another's bargain. >> sheetrock ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew. lots of mold. >> habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged, foreclosed homes and wait until you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

seems we can do everything and anything these days online. so why not use the internet to help maintain a healthy lifestyle? sounds easy enough. dr. sanjay gupta looks at some of your options in today's "fit nation" report. >> we live our lives online these days, buy plane tickets and pay bills, why not fitness? >> when people want help a lot of times the internet is the best way to search for it. if you can get that help immediately online that's great. >> we put some of our "fit nation" experts on the hunt to look at some of the latest and greatest online fitness tools. check out the fit orbit a real live fitness trainer on line. >> i love the fact you can pick the type of activity level you're in, whether you have a desk job, whether you're a

frequent traveler. >> your trainer can adjust your goals an a daily basis and track your nutrition. the biggest downside. >> once it's online that intensity can be removed a bit. >> next, in the mood to run, g-map's ped om ter, a cool tool for a travel. >> as you travel, you map out your course, you see the distance and i guess once you check the weather you're good to go. >> nutrition your focus check out this online meal plan tool called sensei. >> -- each of those meal type options is an emphasis on healthy food choices. >> complete with recipes, shopping lists and a cost per meal calculator. if all you need is a little inspiration, a free healthy tips e-mail service called healthy mondays may be your one-stop shop. >> it really focuses on promoting small, sustainable changes. overall i think it is a great program used in conjunction with

other wellness initiatives. >> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. habitat for humanity is a great organization, known for building homes for low-income families. well now, it's buying them, too. that's because of the huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than to build one from the ground up. >> more efficient and effective use of our donors' money. >> we have done roofing, like ceiling -- >> the homes are usually badly damaged, someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here. but, it is still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for 30 to $50,000 compared to the $60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. good morning. we've all been there in life put in a position you didn't expect

and can either sink or swim. meet your new hero jonathan sanchez, only starting last night because randy johnson was put on the disabled list but boy, did he come through against the padres, a no-hitter. only one padre reached base and that was because of an error. his dad came down on the field after the game to give him a hug and broke out in tears. great moment and all it took was an incredible twist of faith but i think it is safe to say sanchez, yes, he'll get another start. golf now phil mickelson will not play next week instead lefty will stay home to be with his wife who had breast cancer surgery earlier this month and his mom just diagnosed as well. whenever he decides to come back on tour, the crowding will be behind him like never before. lance armstrong update can he really win the tour de france again at 37 years old? amazing, but he's hanging in there. this morning it was the first big mountain climb. he finished 21 seconds behind the stage winner.

he's now in third place overall and just eight seconds back of the leader. this is so good, it's worth calling it the play of the day. the u.s. women's open rachel heatherington, the long birdie attempt. the ball element stops but, no, there it goes, takes a right turn, activate the beams, stay in the target, stay on target it's in the hole. that's sports day. i'm jeff fischell.

aren't the only things that changed for the carmaker yesterday as bill tucker explains, the company also welcomed back a man some call gm's secret weapon. >> reporter: after a six-week sprint through bankruptcy, general motors emerged a new company. the new gm, a leaner, more focused company. >> our vision is clear, to design, build and sell the best vehicles in the world by focusing on, for example, in the u.s. four car brands, chevrolet, cadillac, buick and gmc. >> reporter: the changes mean gm's u.s. workforce will shrink to 64,000 by year's end down from 91,000 at the start of the year. henderson also announced sweeping management changes. the man who championed the developments of the dodge viper, the new malibu, the new camaro and cadillac cts is back at gm.

>> i'm happy to announce today we are unretiring bob lutz. >> reporter: at 77 years old lutz is something of an anoley, his nearly 50 years in the business at ford, chrysler, bmw and gm in stark contrast to the lack of car-building experience of gm's new chairman or the government-appointed car czar, whose' an investment banker and before that a journalist but never a manufacturer. industry experts applaud the news. >> bob lutz is gm's secret weapon. ceos that have never built cars are not a good thing. maybe the business school textbooks say they are, but i'm not one for textbook anything. this is the real world, and experience pays off in the real world. bob lutz is probably the best, most qualified auto executive on the face of the earth today. >> reporter: qualified and controversial. bob lutz is the man who once

said global warming is a total crock of [ bleep ] and stands by that statement and, yet, he's also the driver force behind the extended-range electric vehicle cherve ve volt and non-electric companion the chevy cruze, expected to get 45 miles per gallon. bill tuck der cnn new york. worry about swine flu caused a group of tourists to drive themselves to a florida hospital by bus. they wanted to get checked out after several kids on the charter bus got sick and complained of flu-like symptoms. the health department confirmed at least one child was diagnosed with influenza a earlier this week. right now 80% of influenza cases turn out to be swine flu. the hospital gave the kids medication and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. just call it the invasion of the lady bugs. >> i guess they all got together for a big party.

>> i can feel them calling up my leg inside my pants right now. >> look that, a crazy number of lady bugs are swarming a neighborhood. look at that tree. some neighbors want to keep this sight under wraps.

president barack obama is on an official visit to the west african nation of ghana. why he is there and the message he's giving to the people of sub-saharan africa. >> while we understand the demand for information we just can't jeopardize a crime scene. it is becoming clear there are potential crime scenes littered throughout the cemetery. >> access blocked to a historic cemetery at the center of a major plot re-selling scam and expanding as police find more human bones on the ground there. also emotions will be high as a huge crowd fa ga thers today for a final good-bye to steve mcnair. how friends, family, and fans will honor the former nfl star. you're watching hln on this saturday morning, thanks so much for spending part of your

weekend with us. we want to update you now. president barack obama is on an official visit to the african nation of ghana. his arrival last night touched off celebrations in the streets of the country's capital accra. today, he has a full slate of events ahead of him including addressing the country's parliament. before his arrival president obama explained why he chose ghana for his first trip to africa as president. >> part of the reason that we're traveling to ghana is because you've got there a functioning democracy, a president who's serious about reducing corruption and you've seen significant economic growth. >> later this afternoon president obama will leave ghana and travel back to the u.s. families may have to wait several days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery, because the grounds have been declared a crime scene. hundreds of bodies at the cemetery allegedly were dug up and dumped in a scheme to re-sell burial plots. cook county sheriff tom dart says he has received thousands

of complaints about the scheme, half of which are about missing headstones. >> our goal is to re-open the is cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so, we are going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there is a crime scene and we're going to be allowing people in. >> four former workers, seen here, are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. emmitt till's original casket was found in a garage on the cemetery grounds. the 14-year-old was murdered in mississippi back in 1955 after he reportedly whistled at a white woman. till's original casket was replaced with a new one after his body was exhumed in 2005 during a renewed investigation into his death. the original casket was supposed to be kept for a planned memorial. a huge crowd at least 8,000

people are expected to gather later this morning to say good-bye to steve mcnair. the former nfl quarterback who was shot and killed last week by his mistress will be honored at a public service in hattiesburg, mississippi. mcnair will be buried later today in a private service. more than 4,000 people turned out thursday in nashville to pay tribute to their former star quarterback. meanwhile, a brief private funeral was held yesterday for mcnair's mistress and killer. passengers and crew got out of this plane as fast as they could when a smoky odor filled the cabin of that plane. 15 people were hurt during the evacuation that happened at phoenix airport yesterday. passengers apparently smelled the odor while the plane was preparing to take off for london. a fire department spokesman says the smoke may have been caused by electrical problems. a spokesman for pakistan's military says his government could help the taliban negotiate peace with the u.s. but, he says, the u.s. would have to put

more pressure on pakistan's main rival india. senior u.s. officials say the obama administration is willing to address pakistan's conflict with india and talk to top taliban leaders that. could be the start of a possible breakthrough ending the afghan war that started after the 9/11 attacks. ♪ ♪ dancing, singing, and outpouring of pride as michael jackson's home of gary, indiana paid tribute to the late entertainer. at a musical celebration gary's mayor thanked jackson for putting the city on the map. his former music teacher remembered her most famous student as very energetic and wonderful. even the principal of michael jackson's middle school told the crowd about how, as a boy, jackson performed for classmates for ten cents apiece. michael jackson was born there in gary. his father moved the family to hollywood when jackson was just 11 years old. now that it's out of bankruptcy, general motors has to get back to work selling

cars. one way the company plans to do that is by selling its entire line of cars on the internet. gm is trying to hammer out a deal with ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california but could go national if it proves to be successful. at a news conference yesterday, gm's ceo, fritz henderson, said the company neither to embrace new business methods in order to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation and we'll work hard to repay the trust -- and the money -- that so many have invested in gm. the last 100 days has shown everyone, including ourselves, that a company not known for quick action can, in fact, and, indeed, move very fast. starting today, we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness, and the speed of these last several weeks and then transfer it from the battlefield triage of the

bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operation of the new company. and this will be the new norm at general motors. >> some good news for car enthusiasts chrysler decided to keep making the vie per sports car. the company previously said it would sell off the viper business and production would end this year but in an announcement yesterday chrysler said it would keep making the v-10 car through 2010 and beyond. pretty pricey, base models of the viper begin around $90,000. a florida couple who adopted 12 children was found shot to death thursday night. police say burt and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion. an employee for the couple found their bodies, eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred but they were unharmed. some of the billings' children have special needs. >> and i can tell you that the members in our investigative section are -- are somewhat stunned by in, also, because if you was to go throughout the county and say, well someone is

living in the wrong area or someone's involved in an activity that would bring this upon them, that would not fit the billings family because they just do not fit that profile. >> meanwhile authorities are looking for three men in a red van in connection to the killings. house democrats are trying to get on the same page on health care reform. president obama wants to overhaul the system and give health care to about 50 million uninsured americans. as brianna keeler reports some, democrats are saying no to their own party's plan to pay for it. >> reporter: president obama is telling congress the clock is ticking on health care reform. >> i never believe anything is do or die. but, i really want to get it done by the august recess. >> reporter: a tall order for congressional democrats who have missed self-imposed deadlines. in the house 40 fiscally conservative democrats including arkansas's mike ross sent a letter to leaders, concerned congress isn't doing enough to

cut ballooning health care costs. could you vote for the house health care bill as it stands right now? >> no. this is the biggest domestic issue that we will tackle this century. and so, we think we need to slow it down a little bit and do it right. >> reporter: so far, there are two prevailing ideas, one calls for a government-run health insurance plan favored by house speaker nancy pelosi. >> the only debate on that, what it will be called the patient option, public option, write in your suggestions. >> reporter: the sore a nonprofit health cooperative with less government involvement but, after hours and hours of negotiations, lawmakeres are still struggling with how to pay for it. in addition to cutting costs, congress will have to raise taxes to foot the trillion dollar bill. democrats on the house tax writing committee agreed friday evening to increase taxes on individuals who make more than $280,000 and on couples earning 350,000 or more. democrats hope to bring in 540

billion dollars over the next ten years with that tax and they've all but ruled out other proposals to tax health benefits provided by employers and sugary drinks like sodas. brianna keilar, cnn washington. one person's eyesore can be another person's bargain. >> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew. lots of mold. >> habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged foreclosed homes and wait ufnl you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

habitat for human is the a great organization known for building homes for low-income

families. well now, it's buys them, too. that's because of the huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than to build one from the ground up. >> they're moshe efficient and effective use of our donors money. >> we have done roofing ang shingling. >> the homes are usually pretty badly damaged. someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here. but it's still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for 30 to $50,000. compare though the $60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. worry about swine flu caused a group of tourists to drive themselves to a florida hospital by bus. they wanted to get checked out after several kids on board the charter bus got sick and complained about flu-like symptoms. the health department confirmed at least one child on board that bus was diagnosed with influenza

a earlier this week. right now, 80% of all influenza a cases turn out to be swine flu. the hospital gave the kids medication and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. i'm jeff fischel. wasn't so long ago you wouldn't have heard a peep about mixed martial arts in a sportscas but now is huge and reaches a milestone ufc 100 in las vegas, expecting a million buys on pay-per-view in the u.s. at 44.95 a pop you can do the math. serious coin for something that was considered a rogue sport a decade ago without any rules. ufc 100 will be seen in dozens of other countries in 20 different languages. the big fight tonight for the heavyweight title. cleveland browns wide receiver doent stall worth out of jail after serving 21 days for du spi manslaughter n. march he killed someone crossing a street after leaving a miami nightclub, suspended indefinitely by the nfl.

who says youth is wasted on the young? this 14-year-old is seizing the moment, the youngest player ever to qualify for the u.s. women's open and has been great after two rounz she's at two over par and five back of the leaders, old enough to be her mom. they are so uncool. san diego padres have been awful this year but management has come up with a new way to get the fans to the ballpark sunday breakfast. before each sunday home game for the rest of the season, you can have coffee, oj, muffins on the field. oh, and if a dog means anything to you, you can get a bloody mary, my mo sa. that's sports. i'm thirsty. a pennsylvania swim club director -- why he thinks it was okay to cancel swimming privileging to some young campers. stay tuned for this. .

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors general, to lawmakers says intelligence agencies were

collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, allowed the interception of some communication into and out of the u.s., without a court warrant. the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement in california's ongoing budget crisis. after talks broke down earlier this week, governor arnold schwarzenegger and lawmakers from both party are meeting again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion shortfall. major banks aren't accepting the state's i uh-ohs anymore but citigroup says it will accept them another week. so far the state has printed 91,000 ious worth more than $350 million and plans to issue nearly three billion dollars' worth to pay its july bills.

-- accused of racism when he canceled swimming privileges to a day care center with mostly african-american kids. some of the kids say they heard club members asking why black children were there. the day care's check was later returned without explanation and the director told the local tv station those kids changed the atmosphere of the club. but now, he says the club is just too small to accept so many kids and it could have presented a safety issue. he also says he didn't mean to offend anyone. you've heard about electric cars and hybrids, right? how about a vehicle made of vegetables and fruits and powered on chocolate fuel? sasha harriman take as spin in this lean green machine in this week's "eco solutions ". >> reporter: this is the latest formula 3 racing car and reaches a top speed around 140 miles an

hour. built by this team at warrick university to see just how green they can race. >> we looked at each part of the car, we tried to do something green for all the bits of it. >> fear of getting too literal. >> we have here an apple and chocolate bar and i'm told that car over there uses both, somehow. how on earth does it use these? >> -- the university is very innovative how they extracted the fuel from the chocolate. >> reporter: they say converting the cocoa butter to waste chocolate and bio fuel. and the apple. >> you can extract fuel from anything with voyles in it. >> i'd better give you this, then. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: the car as a whole, the diesel engine runs on waste materials some of the body work uses hemp fibers and recycle the bottles, the seat with foam from soybeans and the wing mirrors contain potato starch. that was the point of it. after all, the car is fast, 140

miles per hour, but not fast enough t. would need to hit 160 miles per hour to have a chance of winning a race and formula iii regulations don't allow bio diesel engines to race anyway. the answer lies in the application. >> these are the early days of these materials. so, some of them have been really quite challenging to make the parts on our car but in the future certainly we hope that they will spread into other forms of motor spot and road cars. >> reporter: what do experts think? first the environmental academic. >> it appears all very nice if you just think about your own little usage, oh, yes, question make ourselves green by using all this stuff that's made from corn or from sugarbeet or whatever. but then, if you say, well, okay what is this displacing and what's it doing for the poor people in the world in terms of their price of food, then there are very much limitations on how much one can grow that. >> reporter: and a racing expert. does it make the grade for

formula 3? >> not only are goug have to create new cars with new designers with new people and and a new factory to come to a new formula but you are suggesting maybe they are going to have a new energy power to. bring all that together at the same time is -- is probably quite a challenge. >> reporter: but all that doesn't put these guys off. the bottom line is. >> it's great fun. >> reporter: sure it's fun but -- how i get this thing off? i'm trapped. i'm stuck. sasha herriman -- >> pretty amazing there. to learn more about this eco-friendly car and other important environmental news head to our website. just call it the invasion of the ladybugs. >> i guess they all got together for a big party. >> i can feel one crawling up my leg inside my pants right now. >> look at that a crazy number of ladybugs are swarming a neighborhood. look at that tree.

some neighbors want to keep this site under wraps. 

president barack obama on an official visit to ghana. why he is there and the message he's giving to the people of sub-saharan africa. >> while we understand the demand for information, we just can't jeopardize a crime scene. it is becoming clear there are potential crime scenes littered throughout this cemetery. >> access blocked to a historic cemetery at the center of a major plot re-selling scam and the crime scene is expanding as police find more human bones on the ground there. also, emotions will be high as a huge crowd gathers today for a final good-bye to steve mcnair, how friends, family and fans will honor the former nfl star. thanks so much for spending part of your weekend with us.

i'm susan hendricks. we want to get you updated now. president barack obama is on an official visit to the african nation of gaun nachlt his arrival last night touched off celebrations in the streets of the country's capital accra. today, he has a full slate of events ahead of him including addressing the country's parliament. before his arrival, president obama explained why he chose ghana for his first trip for africa as president. >> part of the reason that we're traveling to gaun that is because you've got there a functioning democracy, a president who's serious about reducing corruption and you've seen significant economic growth. >> later this afternoon president obama will leave ghana and travel back to the u.s. families may have to wait several days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery. that's because the grounds have been declared a crime scene. hundreds of bodies at the cemetery were allegedly dug up and dumped in a scheme to re-sell burial plots. cook county sheriff tom dart says he has received thousands

of complaints about the scheme, half of which are about missing headstones. >> our goal to re-open the cemetery shortly. we're hoping, within five days or so, we are going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there is a crime scene and we're going to be allowing people in. >> four former workers, seen here, are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. emmitt till's original casket was found in a garage on the cemetery grounds. the 14-year-old was murdered in mississippi back in 1955 after he reportedly whistled at a white woman. till's original casket was replaced with a new one after his body was exassumed in 2005 after a renewed investigation into his death. the original casket was to be kept for a planned memorial.

a huge crowd, at least 8,000 people are expected to gather later this morning to say good-bye to steve mcnair. the former nfl quarterback who was shot and killed last week by his mistress will be honored at a public service in hattiesburg, mississippi. mcnair will be buried later today in a private service. more than 4,000 people turned out thursday in nashville to pay tribute to their former star quarterback. meanwhile, a brief, private funeral was held yesterday for mcanywhere's mistress and killer. a spokesman for pakistan's military says his government could help the taliban negotiate peace with the u.s. but, he says, the u.s. would have to put more pressure on pakistan's main rival, india. senior u.s. officials say the obama administration is willing to address pakistan's conflict with india and talk to top taliban leaders that. could be the start of a possible breakthrough ending the afghan war that started after the 9/11 attacks. ♪ beat it

dancing, singing and outpouring of pride as michael jackson's boyhood home paid tribute to the late entertainment. gary's mayor thanked jackson for putting the city on the map. his former music teacher remembered her most famous student as very energetic and wonderful. even the principal of his middle school told the crowd how, as a boy, jackson performed for classmates for ten cents apiece. michael jackson was born in gary. his father moved the family to hollywood when jackson was 11 years old. now that it is out of bankruptcy, general motors has to get back to work selling cars. one way the company plans to do that by selling its entire line of cars on the internet. gm is trying to hammer out a deal for ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california but could go national if it proves to be successful. at a news conference yesterday gm's ceo fritz hen ter son says

the company needs to embrace new business methods in order to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation and we'll work hard to repay the trust -- and the money -- that so many have invested in gm. the last 100 days has shown everyone, including ourselves, that a company not known for quick action can, in fact, and, indeed, move very fast. starting today, we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness and the speed of that's last several weeks and then transfer it from the battlefield triage of the bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operation of the new company. and this will be the new norm at general motors. >> some good news for car enthusiasts, chrysler decided to keep making the viper sports car. the company previously said it would sell off the viper business and production would end this year. but, in an announcement yesterday, chrysler said it would keep making the v-10 car

through 2010 and beyond. it is pretty pricey, base models of the viper begin at around $90,000. a florida couple who adopted 12 children was found shot to death thursday night. police say burt and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion. an employee for the couple found their bodies, eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred but they were unharmed. some of the billings' children have special needs. >> and i can tell you that the members in our ves gaytive section are somewhat stunned by this, also, because if you what us to go throughout the county and say, well, someone is living in the wrong area or someone's involved in an activity that would bring this upon them, that would not fit the billings family, because they just do not fit that profile. >> meanwhile, authorities are looking for three men in a red van in connection to the killings. weather-wise out there we check with meteorologist reynolds wolf to see how it is

looking where you live. hey, reynolds. >> hey, susan n. summertime we experience heat and certainly the case in texas, just brutal and today should be the same deal, dallas going up to 101, the expected high. hue stwon 95 with high humidity will certainly feel warm er 89 n atlanta. we can expect scattered showers across much of the sunshine state due to the stationary front so for the shuttle launch expected to take at least scheduled to take place later on tonight around 7:00 or, is i think there's a good chance it may get can kelled. chance of severe storms expected across the great lakes and into parts of the ohio vaem and back the central and northern plains could see storms. warm in the desert southwest and california looking very cool. scattered showers again as i mentioned in the great lakes looks like maybe a rainy time in detroit for a good part of the day. when it comes to buying a house one person's eyesore can be another person's bargain.

>> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew. lots of mold. >> well, habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged foreclosed homes and wait until you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

habitat for humanity is a great organization it's known for building homes for low-income families. well now, it's buying them, too, that's because of the huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than to build one from the ground up. >> a more efficient and effective use of our donors

money. >> we have done roofing, like shingling and painting. >> the foreclosed homes are usually pretty badly damaged. someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here. but it's still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for 30 to $50,000 compare that to the 60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. worry about swine flu caused a group of tourists to drive themselves to a florida hospital by bus. they wanted to get checked out after several kids on board the charter bus got sick and complained about flu-like symptoms. the health department confirmed at least one child on board that bus was diagnosed with influenza a earlier this week. right now, 80% of all influenza 8 cases turn out to be swine flu. now, the hospital gave the kids medication and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. good morning i'm jeff fischel. we've all been there in life, put in a position you didn't

expect and either can sink or swim. sometimes, even amaze yourself. meet your new hero jonathan sanchez, the giants' left-hander only started last night because randy johnson was put on the disabled list this week but boy did he come through against the padres, a no-hitter. in fact only one padre reached base and that was because of an error. his dad came down on the field after the game to give him a hug and broke out in tears. great moment and all it took was an incredible twist of fate. i think it is safe to say sanchez, yes, he'll get another start. golf now official phil mickelson one will not play next week instead lefty will stay home to be with his wife who had breast cancer surgery earlier this month and his mom just diagnosed with breast cancer, as well. whenever he decides to come back on tour the crowds will be behind him like never before. lance armstrong update. can he really win the tour de france again at 37 years old? it's amazing but he's hanging in there. this morning the first big

mountain climb. armstrong finished just 21 seconds behind the stage winner, now in third place overall, just eight seconds back of the leader. this is so good, it's worth calling it the play of the day. the u.s. women's open, rachel heatherington, the long birdie attempt. the ball almost stops but, no, there it goes, take as right turn and activate the tractor beams, stay on target. it's in the hole. it's the play of the day. that's sports, i'm jeff fischel. as you know summer is here and if you love the outdoorss you may want to consider a trip out west to zion national park a great weekend getaway with a family-friendly budget. >> when you're ready to step away from the neon lights of vegas, head three hours north to zion national park in utah.

>> the landscape looks like there is enormous sand castles set atop this canyons. >> entrance fees are inexpensive, a full carload costs just $25 and passes are good for the week. >> z on canyon is just a really unique canyon. we're surrounded by these red rock walls and all some long the sky is just this brilliant deep blue. it's fantastic. >> camping is considered a great way to enjoy the park. look for a spot right along the virgin river. >> we get a lot of visitors here and one of the words i hear a lot is "infamous" this is a little canyon, a kind canyon. and when you're in it, you feel good about being here.

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than

previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors general to lawmakers says intelligence agencies were collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, he allowed the interception of some communication into and out of the u.s. without a court warrant. the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement in california's ongoing budget crisis. after talks broke down earlier this week, governor arnold schwarzenegger and lawmakers from both parties are meeting again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion budget shortfall. meanwhile, some major banks aren't accepting the state's ious anymore but citigroup says it will for another week. so far the state has printed more than 91,000 says ious worth more than $350 million. it plans to issue nearly $3

billion worth to pay for its july bills. the president of a pennsylvania swim club is denying he doesn't want african-american kids to come there, accused of racism when he canceled swimming privileges to a day care center with mostly african-american kids. some of the kids say they heard club members asking why black children were there. the day care's check was later returned without explanation. and the director told the local tv station those kids changed the atmosphere of the club. but now, he says the club is just too small to accept so many kids and it could have presented a safety issue. he also says he didn't mean to offend anyone. all this year cnn and hln introduce you to extraordinary people making an impact on the lives of others. this week's hero is on the front lines of the childhood obesity crisis in her homestate of georgia battling to save the lives of kids in her communities. meet pamela green-jackson.

>> i feel not that great or not easy to carry around this weight. i wanted to get healthy and fit. >> where did we go wrong as a country where p.e. and goals are no longer a priority or children's health is no longer a priority. something had to be done and i just decided to be the one to do it. my name is pamela green-jackson and my organization the physical f fitness -- my brother bernard died at age 43 at the weight of 427 pounds. he didn't have to die and so i promised myself that i would do whatever i could to make sure that another child didn't suffer like he did. what we've done is converted vacant classrooms and turnthem into health clubs. this is a free program. we have personal trainers. dietitians that work with them.

we allow each individual child to set their own goals. >> miss pamela is my hero because she's always helping me to do things that i never thought i could do. >> we instill the habits in them early, being they will grow up and become healthier adults. that's really what this is all about, saving the lives of children. >> if you know someone who should be a cnn hero like pamela, just head to our website and tell about them cnn.com/heroes. and now, you can see exclusive heroes footage and get updates on facebook. just call it the invasion of the ladybugs. >> i guess they all got together for a big party. >> i can feel one crawling up my leg inside my pants right now. >> look at that. a crazy number of ladybugs are swarming a neighborhood. look at that tree. some neighbors want to keep this

site under wraps. >> we salute the troops every weekday and on the weekends, too. today's from army captain shane fitzgerald stationed in iraq. >> i want to send a salute out to the soldiers and officers of the saker military team here in tick crit and also to my beautiful wife christina. i'll see you soon and i love you. >> so sweet. shawn and christina recently had their wedding featured on a new tnt show "wedding day."

[ music ] >> welcome to comcast local edition, i'm donna richardson, and my guest this hour is christine bergmark who is the executive director of the southern maryland agricultural development commission. welcome, christine, it's good to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> that's a big mouthful, and i know that you're working on an extremely exciting program, bi-local challenge. >> it is an initial that we launched two years ago, and essentially what it is is the last full week of july we ask everyone across the state of maryland and beyond to take a pledge, and the pledge is eat something or drink from a farm every day during that week.

>> oh. so where do we get the information about where to find the farms or how do we sign up for this pledge? >> well, there's a website. it's www.by-local-challenge.com that website will give you all sorts of information why to buy local and where to buy local and it connects you to other statewide initiatives that are going on at the same time. if you go to the website, we've added a count. people used to say, where do i sign up? normally you have to go buy, eat something from a local farm. this year we decided to add a counter to the website. when you are' counted, you can receive a certificate with your name on it that you can put up in your office or your home or wherever. >> which is very, very important. it's reduces your carbon foot print because you're driving hopefully a shorter distance,

you have access to local products that are available, and also it helps the farmers. >> well, and in fact, our theme this year is healthy plate, healthy planet. all kinds of benefits to buying local, benefits for you, healthy, nutrition, it's fresh, and preserving our farms survive, we keep clean water, we keep clean air, we reduce the carbon footprints from things traveling 1500 miles, and it tastes good. >> exactly. now for those people who may not cook, how can they be a part of this? >> yeah, sometimes people say, well, i hate to cook. that's okay. you can go to a store or to a restaurant that features local farm products, and there are more and more restaurants every year, some of them are on our website, and you can click throughout to find out who they are,. >> what kind of items can we acquire localfully.

>> during the last week of july, there is so much product available. there's sweet corn, blackberries, all kinds of tomatoes and melons are in season, and of course, there's always wine, cheese, eggs, meatss. >> so we do have a wide variety of things we can get. say that i go and i go to a local farmer's market and purchase something, what is a vegetable that i'm not quite familiar with, how did i find a recipe. >> excellent question. there are recipes on our website. people can post their own recipes of their own events and own blogs by why they buy local. some of the things i wanted to mention is the economic benefits. we talked about the planet, we talked about the fact that it tastes good, and it's fun, but there's also the benefit of

supporting our farms, and if every household in the state mucofmaryland were to buy just 2 worth of products for 8 weeks, basically the summer season that, would put $200 million straight back into the pockets of our farmers. that would do a lot to keep our farmers thriving. >> which is so important. i know we have less than 30 seconds, but you have some partners that you wouldn't typically think of who have now joined in. >> yes. hospitals are joining in this year. fact, they're looking to do a competition to see how many people they can get involved. >> have you exciting. christine, thank you very much for coming in today. >> thank you. >> my guest today has been christine bergmark with the southern agricultural commission. if you're interested in what comcast is doing in your area, go to on demand and click get local. for comcast local edition, i'm donna richardson.

[ music ]

president obama is visiting the west african nation of ghana. he says the country is an example of a democracy that is trying to reel in corruption and has seen significant economic growth as a result. a grim milestone for the british military as the number of its troops killed in afghanistan has surpassed the number killed in iraq. in the past week alone, 15 british soldiers have died in fighting in afghanistan, bringing the total number of dead in the conflict to 184. nasa may have to scrub the launch of the space shuttle "endeavour" a third time scheduled to lift off for the international space station tonight but meteorologists are warning a 60% chance of thunderstorms. a check of your saturday headlines you're watching hln, so glad you are i'm susan

hendricks. we want to get you updated. new information about michael jackson's alleged addiction to prescription drugs. as reported, the claims come from someone who knew jackson for decades. >> reporter: michael jackson lived to begin his upcoming shows, this man says he likely would not have finished them. >> i knew he wasn't ready to handle them. i knew it was something that he could not do. he also knew that. >> leonard rowe had known michael jackson for 30 years. he said jackson hired him to handle the finances for his final tour. but one look at him and rowe had doubts. >> the reason i thought he couldn't handle it is easy. first of all, i saw the shape michael was in physically. michael weighed looked like to me 110 or 115 pounds. he was 5'10". >> reporter: rowe told me jackson did not want to work that hard and did not want to go ahead with a grueling concert schedule. he said the singer told him he

agreed to do ten shows but that the promoter, aeg, sold out 50. he said jackson asked him to figure out a more doable schedule. rowe says he asked aeg to cut back. >> i suggested to him that we do two shows a week but when i went to aeg, randy phillips and spoke to him on the phone first, he told me basically to shove off. he didn't want to talk about it. >> reporter: phillips denies they ever talked. aeg told cnn jackson passed a five-our medical exam in preparation for his tour and told 360 last week. >> all i know is the michael jackson that hugged me and said good knight was a healthy, vibrant human being. >> when i hear people saying that michael was in great shape and that he was raring to go, i know this is untrue and they know it was untrue, as well. michael was not in good physical shape and michael was not ready to go. >> reporter: in response to

aeg refused to make jackson's schedule easier, randy phillips told us jackson had agreed to 50 shows adding he needed the money. rowe believes jackson was weakened by what he calls the singer's addiction to drugs. >> it was common knowledge to everybody that michael was addicted to prescription drugs. wunt have to be an m.d. and look at michael and know he wasn't in good shape. you could look at him. physically he wasn't there. i knew when i looked at him i told him he was ender weight tremendously and he said he just don't have an appetite. >> reporter: rowe said he last saw jackson three weeks before his death at a meeting in his home. he said jackson was in his pajamas looking frail and thin. rowe told me just one week before michael jackson died he spoke with some of his family members about getting him help, including his father joe jackson and brother randy. he said they all agreed to get

jackson into rehabilitation but they never had a chance. he died before they could even make a move. whenever rowe saw jackson, he said the singer always wore long sleeves reports his arms were covered in track marks suggesting heavy i.v. drug use did not surprise rowe. what does surprise him is that those around jackson a daily basis didn't do more to save him. randi kaye, cnn, los angeles. families may have to wait several days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery. that's because the grounds have been declared a crime scene. hundreds of bodies at the cemetery were allegedly dug up and dumped in a scheme to re-sell burial plots. cook county sheriff tom dart says he has received thousands of complaints about the scheme, half of which are about missing headstones. >> our goal is to re-open the cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so, we're going to be able to have our hands around this

better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there is a crime scene and we're going to be allowing people in. >> four former workers, seen here, are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. a huge crowd at least 8,000 people are expected to gather later this morning to say good-bye to steve mcnair. the former nfl quarterback who was shot and killed last week by his mistress will be honored at a public service in hattiesburg, mississippi. mcnair will be buried later today in a private service. more than 4,000 people turned out thursday in nashville to pay tribute to their former star quarterback. meanwhile a brief private funeral was held yesterday for mcnair's mistress and killer. a spokesman for pakistan's military says his government could help the taliban negotiate peace with the u.s. but, he says, the u.s. would have to put more pressure on pakistan's main rival, india. senior u.s. officials say the

obama administration is willing to address pakistan's conflict with india and talk to top taliban leaders, possibly the start of a breakthrough ending the afghan war that started after the 9/11 attacks. passengers and crew got out of this plane as fast as they could when a smoky odor filled the cabin of that plane. 15 people were hurt during the evacuation that happened at phoenix airport yesterday. passengers apparently smelled the odor while the plane was preparing to take off for london. a fire department spokesman says the smoke may have been caused by electrical problems. now that it's out of bankruptcy, general motors has to get back to work selling cars. one way the company plans to do that is by selling its entire line of cars on the internet. gm is trying to hammer out a deal with ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california but could go national if it proves to can successful. at a news conference yesterday, gm's ceo, fritz henderson says

the company needs to embrace new business methods in order to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation and we'll work hard to repay the trust -- and the money -- that so many have invested in gm. the last 100 days has shown everyone, including ourselves, that a company not known for quick action can, in fact, and, indeed, move very fast. starting today, we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness, and the speed of these last several weeks and then transfer it from the battlefield triage of the bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operation of the new company. and this will be the new norm at general motors. >> some good news for car enthusiasts, chrysler decided to keep making the viper sports car. the company had previously said it would sell off the viper business and production would end this year. but, in an announcement

yesterday, chrysler said it would keep making the v-10 car through 2010 and beyond. its pretty pricey. base models of the viper begin around $90,000. a florida couple who adopted 12 children was found shot to death thursday night. police say burt and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion. an employee for the couple found their bodies. eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred but they were unharmed. some of the billings' children have special needs. >> and i can tell you that the members in our investigative section are somewhat stunned by this, also, because if you was to go throughout the county and say, well, someone is living in the wrong area or someone's involved in an activity that would bring this upon them that, would not fit the billings family, because they just do not fit that profile. >> meanwhile, authorities are looking for three men in a red van in connection to the killings. selling merchandise online

is getting a bit more tricky these days. hln money expert clark howard warns about a very unfriendly act called friendly fraud. >> i have a special warning for you if you are a business person who has an ecommerce site. there's a new hot rip-off going on that's being referred to as friendly fraud. i don't see anything friendly about it. i don't even know how they came up with that expression. but, this is how it works. you sell something to someone on your ecommerce site. you send it to them and then, they dispute the charge with their credit card company, saying they didn't receive the merchandise. even though they did. this is also happening according to the "wall street journal" to expedia people are buying airline tickets and later saying i can't go on that trip and disputing it saying they never got the ticket.

here's something to know as a merchant, sending expensive merchandise you need to send it with tracking and tracing and have it signed for so there's no question later on if it's disputed whether you sent the goods or not. i'm clark howard. for more ways to protect yourself, go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> get much more great advice from clark today at noon in the struggling economy clark will help you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. when it comes to buying a house, one person's eyesore can be another person's bargain. >> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew. lots of molds. >> well, habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged foreclosed homes and wait until you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

habitat for human is the a great organization. it's known for building homes for low-income families. well now, it's buying them, too. that's because of the huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than to build one from the ground up. >> more efficient and effective use of our donors money. >> we have done roofing, like shingling and painting. >> the foreclosed homes are usually pretty damagbadly damag. it is still a great deal, habitat buys foreclosures for 30 to $50,000, compare that to the 60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. worry about swine flu caused

a group of tourists to drive themselves to a florida hospital by bus. they wanted to get checked out after several kids on board the charter bus got sick and complained about flu-like symptoms. the health department confirmed at least one child on board that bus was diagnosed with influenza a earlier this week. right now, 80% of all influenza a cases turn out to be swine flu. the hospital gave the kids medication and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. i'm jeff fischel. it wasn't so long ago you wouldn't have heard a peep about mixed martial arts in a sportscast but now it is huge and reaches a milestone ufc 100 in las vegas, expecting a million buys on pay-per-view in the u.s., at 44.95 a pop, you can do the math. that's serious coin for something that was considered a rogue sport a decade ago without any rules. ufc 100 will be seen in dozens of other countries in 20 different languages, the big

fight tonight for the heavyweight title. >> cleveland browns wide receiver donte stallworth out of jail after serving 24 days for dui manslaughter n. march he hit and killed someone us crossing the street after leaving a miami nightclub, suspended indefinitely by the nfl. the youngest player ever to qualify for the u.s. women's open and has been great. after two rounds lexi at two over par and five back of the leaders old enough to be her mom. they're so uncool. padres have been awful this year but management has come up with a new way to get the fans at the ballpark, sunday breakfast. before each home game for the rest of the season you can have coffee, oj and muffins and also a bloody mary, vodka and lemonade. that's it for sports. i'm jeff fischel and i'm

thirsty. a pennsylvania swim club director defending the club from accusations of racism. why he thinks it was okay to cancel swimming privileges to some young campers. stay tuned to this.

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors general to lawmakers says intelligence agencies were collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, he allowed the interception of some communication into and out of the u.s. without a court warrant. the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement in california's ongoing budget crisis after talks broke down early dwler week governor arnold schwarzenegger and lawmakeres from both parties are meeting

again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion budget shortfall. meanwhile some major banks aren't accepting the state's oous anymore by city group says it will for another week. the state has printed 91,000 of them. a pennsylvania swim club is denying accusations of racism. the club was accused because it canceled swimming privileges to some some minority kids. as reported, the club is sorry but the kids are not coming back. >> reporter: kids whose "parents" who belong to valley club were back in the water and having summer fun one day after controversy kept them away and youngsters who got to use the same pool only a day got an poll vee from the swim club but no invitation to return. >> it's just really unfortunate and we poll geez deeply. we regret deeply that this had

to happen. >> reporter: a day care center catering mainly to minority kids payed hispanic kids paid $1900 for the kids to use the pool for one week for an hour and a half but after a week visit the check was returned and the swimming camp cancelled. >> we severely underestimated the number of children and our capacity to handle these groups. we were not prepared for it. that's the only reason. it was a safety issue. that's the only reason, we felt it was not safe for them to be here. >> reporter: the day care center calls that a lie. it claims the club pulled the club because of racist complaints from some white members. >> if the children came running down the hill, mrs. wright, those people are saying, what are those black kids doing in the people. >> people are still thinking like this. when i felt like these days were over. >> if someone said that, i don't know. i didn't hear it.

people are going to say things but it is not our -- one person saying it is not the position of the club or the board. certainly not how we raise our children. >> reporter: the club flatly denies it discriminates and says two other day care centers were also canceled after one visit. >> it's just unfortunate that this had to turn into such a firestorm because this has been totally misrepresented in terms of our club and how welcoming we are. >> he doesn't deserve this. >> he is a kind, tolerant person that would do anything for anyone and teaches our children -- teaches me, you know, that everything can resolve with conversation. >> reporter: but considering the gap between both sides, conversation alone may not resolve this controversy. susan candiotti, huntington valley, pennsylvania. an ohio congressman is one of the biggest critics of the obama administration stimulus plan but now stimulus dollars

are making way to his turf. they said it would never last.

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ahhh! with plugins lasting impressions. and yes, it's glade. s.c. johnson, a family company. president barack obama is on an official visit to the west african nation of began that. why he's there and the message he's giving to the people of subsaharan africa. we can't jeopardy a crime scene. there are potential crime scenes littered throughout the cemetery. access is blocked to a historic cemetery at the plot of a major crime scene and the plot is expanding as officials find more human on the grounds there. a huge crowd will gather for a final good-bye to steve mcnair. how friends, family and fans will honor the former nfl star. this is hln for saturday,

july 11th. i'm susan hendricks. president barack obama is on an official visit to the african nation of began fa. in a speech he says african's future is up to africans. he stresses the importance of mutual responsibility and respect between africa and other countries. before his arrival president obama explained why he chose ghana for his first trip to africa as president. >> part of the reason rear traveling ing ting to ghana be have a functioning democracy, a president serious about reducing corruption, and you've seen significant economic growth. later today president obama will leave ghana and heads back to the united states. families may have to wait several days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery because the grounds have been declared a crime scene. hundreds of bodies were allegedly dug up and dumped in a scheme to resell burial plots.

cook county sheriff says he's received thousands of complaint, half of which are about missing headstones. >> our goal is to reopen the cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so we're going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there was a crime scene and allowing people in. >> four former workers seen here are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. emmett till's original casket was found on the cemetery grounds. the 14-year-old was murdered in mississippi back in 1959 after he reportedly whistled at a white woman. his original casket was replaced with a new one. the original casket was supposed to be kept for a planned memorial.

a huge crowd, at least 8,000 people, are expected to gather later this morning to say good-bye to steve mcnair. the former nfl quarterback who was shot and killed last week by his mistress will be honor the at a public service in hattiesburg, mississippi. mcnair will be buried later today in a private service. more than 4,000 people turned out thursday in nashville to pay tribute to their former star quarterback. a brief funeral was held for his mistress and killer. passengers and crew got out of this plane as fast as they could when a smokey odor killed the cabin of that plane. 15 people were hurt during the evacuation that happened at phoenix airport yesterday. passengers apparently smelled the odor while the plane was preparing to tail off for london. a fire department spokesman says it may have been caused by electrical problems. a spokesman for pakistan's military says his government could help the taliban negotiate peace with the u.s. but he says the u.s. would have to put more

pressure on pakistan's main rival, india. senior u.s. officials say the obama administration is willing to address pakistan's conflict with india and talk to top taliban leaders. that could be the start of a possible breakthrough in inding the afghan war that started after the 9/11 attacks. ♪ beat it beat it dancing, singing and an outpouring of pride in michael jackson's boyhoed home of gary, indiana, paid tribute to the late entertainer. gary's mayor thanked jackson for putting his center city on the map. his former music teacher remembered her student as very energetic. the principal of michael jackson's middle school today the crowd how jackson performed for classmates for ten cents apiece. michael jackson was born in gary. his father moved the family to hollywood when jackson was just 11 years old. now that it's out of

bankruptcy, general motors has to get back to work selling cars. one way the company plans to do that is by selling its entire line of cars on the internet. gm is trying to hammer out a deal with ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california but could go national if it proves to be successful. at a news conference yesterday, gm's ceo fritz henderson said the company needs to embrace new business methods in order to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation and we'll work hard to repay the trust and the money that so many have invested in gm. the last 100 days has shown everyone, including ourselves, a company not known for quick action can, indeed, move very fast. starting today we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness and the speed of these last several weeks and then transfer it from the battlefield triage

of the bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operations of the new company. and this will be the new norm at general motors. now, some analysts are saying the most important announcement henderson made was the hiring of this man. coming up, why 77-year-old bob lutz could be key to gm's recovery. some good news for car enthusiasts. chrysler has decided to keep making the viper sports car. the company had previously said it would sell off the viper business and production would end this year but in an announcement yesterday chrysler said it would keep making the car through 2010 and beyond. it's pretty pricey. base models begin at around $90,000. a florida couple who adopted 12 children was found shot to death thursday night. police say byrd and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion. an employee for the couple found their bodies, eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred but they were

unharmed. some of the billings children have special needs. >> i can tell you that the members in our investigative section are somewhat stunned by this also because if you was to go throughout the county and say, well, someone is living in the wrong area or someone's involved in an activity, they would bring this upon them, that would not fit the billings family because they just don't fit that profile. >> meanwhile, authorities are looking for three men in a red van in connection to the killings. a truly inspiring story here. two brothers turned their humble beginnings into a business empire. huge empire. they launched their own company in a historically black neighborhood in st. louis. now they're worth an estimated $1 billion. ed leben dara has their story in a special "black in america" report. >> reporter: you know you've arrived in the business world when your office can look like this. michael and steven roberts

launched their business empire from a historically black neighborhood in st. louis. they estimate their company, which holds everything from hotels to tv stations, to be worth almost $1 billion. so someone watching this saying, well, that's easy, they have millions and millions of dollars, they can buy whatever they want. i have two quarters to rub together. what do you tell that person? >> we also had two quarters to rub together. we weren't rich. we weren't poor. but we never had any money either. >> we tell folks, learn it, get your hands dirty, low sweat he can quit and then you know will it. >> reporter: the procedures say the key to success is putting ideas into action. thy are relentless workers, always looking to make a deal. >> we're creatures, animals of the earth. what other animal retires. if a lion retired today, you know, tomorrow morning because of breakfast, right? >> mike was selected first -- >> reporter: they were both elected to the st. louis board

of alderman. they created an empire made of of 77 companies with 1100 employees. they run tv stations, hotels, own commercial real estate in telecommunication companies. their name adorns every property. the roberts village, the roberts loft, but don't try comparing them to donald trump. >> what may appear today as ego, 40 years from now will be legacy. black folks need legacy. we have to have examples of successes in order for us to be able to let the generations to come know that many of the successes that occurred by african-americans in this country can be seen and pointed out and emulated. >> reporter: the orpheum theater symbolizes their quest. now the roberts brothers own the

theater. >> mom has been to the balcony? i assume she gets a front row seat? >> yeah, mom can sit wherever she likes. >> reporter: that is priceless. >> hey, mom, how are you doing? >> reporter: ed lavendera, cnn, st. louis. don't miss "black in america 2" on our sister station. when it comes to buying a house, one person's eye sore can be another person's bargain. >> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew. lots of mold. >> habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged foreclosed homes. wait until you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

habitat for humanity is a great organization. it's known for building homes for low income families. well, now it's buying them, too. that's because of the huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than to build one from the ground up. >> a for efficient and effective use of our donors' money. >> we are have done roofing, like shingling. >> now, the foreclosed homes are usually pretty badly damaged. someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here, but it's still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for $30,000 to $50,000 compared to the $60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. worried about swine flu caused a group of tourists to drive themselves to a florida hospital by a bus. they wanted to get checked out after a several kids on board the bus got sick. the health department confirmed

at least one child on board that bus was diagnosed with influenza a earlier this week. 80% of all influenza "a" cases turn out to be swine flu. the hospital gave the kids medication and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. good morning, we've all been there if life. you're put in a position you didn't expect and you can either sink or swim. sometimes you even amaze yourself. meet your new hero, jonathan sanchez, the giants' left-hander only started because randy johnson was put on the disabled list this week. sanchez came through against the padres. a no-hitter. in fact, only one padre reached base and that was because of an error. his dad came down on the field after the game to give him a hug and broke out in tears. great moment. it all took was an incredible twist of fate but it is safe to say, sanchez, yes, you'll get another start. golf, it's official, phil mickelson will not play at the british open. lefty will stay home to be with

his wife. she had breast cancer surgery earlier this month and his mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer as well. whenever mickelson decides to come back on tour, the crowds will be behind him like never before. lance armstrong update. can he really win the tour de france again at 37 years old? it's amazing but he's hanging in there. this morning it was the first big mountain climb. armstrong finished 21 seconds behind the stage winner. he's in third placeover all. just eight seconds back of the leader. this is so good it's worth calling it the play of the day. the u.s. women's open. rachel hetherington, the long birdie attempt. the ball almost stops. but, no, there it goes. takes a right turn and activate the tractor beam. stay on target, stay on target, it's in the hole. and it's the play of the day. that's sports. a pennsylvania swim club director is defending the club

from accusations of racism. why he thinks it was okay to cancel swimming privileges to some young campers.

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than

previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors general, two lawmakers, says intelligence agencies were collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, he allowed the interception of some communication into and out of the u.s. without a court warrant. well, the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement in california's ongoing budget crisis after talks broke down earlier this week. governor arnold schwarzenegger and lawmakers from both parties are meeting again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion budget shortfall. meanwhile, some major banks aren't accepting the state's ious anymore but citigroup says it will accept the ious for another week. so far the state has printed more than 91,000 ious be worth more than $350 million. it plans to issue nearly $3

billion worth to pay for its july bills. the president of a pennsylvania swim club is denying that he doesn't want african-american kids to come there. he was accused of racism when he canceled swimming privileges to a day care center with mostly african-american kids. some of the kids say they heard club members asking why black children were there. the day care's check was later returned without explanation. and the director told a local tv station, those kids changed the atmosphere of the club. but now he says the club is just too small to accept so many kids and it could have presented a safety issue. he also says he didn't mean to offend anyone. gm's finances and ownership aren't the only things that changed for the carmaker yesterday. as bill tucker explains, the company also welcomed back a man they call gm's secret weapon. >> reporter: after a six-week sprint through bankruptcy, general motor emerged a new company. the new gm, a leaner, more focused company. >> our vision is clear, to

design, build and sell the best vehicles in the world by focusing on, for example, in the u.s., four core brands, chevrolet, cadillac, buick and gmc. >> reporter: the changes mean gm's u.s. work force will shrink to 64,000 by year's end, down from 91,000 at the start of the year. henderson also announced sweeping management changes. the man who championed the development of the dodge viper, the new chevy malibu, the camaro, the cadillac cts is back at gm. >> we're unretiring bob lutz. >> reporter: at 77 years old lutz is something of ab an anoma anomaly. his nearly 50 years in the business at ford, chrysler, bmw and gm is in stark contrast to the lack of car building experience of gm's new chairman or the government-appointed car czar, who's an investment banker and before that a journalist, but never a manufacturer. industry experts applaud the news.

>> bob lutz is gm's secret weapon. ceos that have never built cars are not a good thing. maybe the business school textbooks say they are, but i'm not one for textbook anything. this is the real world. and experience pays off in the real world. bob lutz is probably the best, most qualified auto executive on the face of the earth today. >> reporter: qualified and controversial. bob lutz is the man who once said global warming is a total crock of [ bleep ]. he stands by that statement and yet he's also the driving force of the extended range electric vehicle, the chevy volt and the chevy cruise, which is expected to get 45 miles per gallon. bill tucker, cnn, new york. just call it the invasion of the ladybugs. >> i guess they all got together for a big party.

>> i can feel them crawling up my legs. >> a crazy number of ladybugs are swarming a neighborhood. look at that tree. some neighbors want to keep this under wraps. ddddddddd

president obama says afri africa's future is up to kaf cans. speaking to ghana's parliament this morning, the president promised to make sure u.s. aid to africa gets to the people who need it most. mr. obama, his wife and daughters arrived in ghana from italy last night. a milestone for the british military as a number of its troops killed in afghanistan has surpassed the number killed in iraq. in the past week and a half, 15 british soldiers have died fighting in afghanistan, bringing the total number of dead in the conflict to 184. well, it looks like nasa may have to scrub the launch of the space shuttle "endeavour" for the third time. it's scheduled to lift off tonight, this evening, but meteorologists are warning there's a 60% chance of

thunderstorms. this this that is a check of your saturday headlines. you're watching hln. i'm susan hendricks. we are getting new information about michael jackson's alleged addiction to prescription drugs. as randi kaye report, the claims come from someone who knew jackson for decades. >> reporter: if michael jackson had lived to begin his upcoming london shows, this man says he likely would not have finished them. >> i knew he wasn't ready to handle them. i knew it was something he could not do. he also knew that. >> reporter: leonard rowe had known michael jackson for 30 years. he said jackson hired him to handle the finances for his final tour. but one look at him and rowe had doubt. >> the reason i thought he couldn't handle it is easy. first of all, i saw the shape michael was in physically. michael weighed, liked like to me, 110, 115 pounds. he was 5'10".

>> reporter: ro. we e told me jackson did not want to work that hard and did not want to go ahead with a growling concert schedule. he said he agreed to do ten shows but that the proceed moster, aeg, sold out 50. he said jackson asked him to figure out a more doable schedule. rowe says he asked aeg to cut back. >> i offered to him we do two shows a week. when i went to aeg, randy phillips and spoke to him on the phone first, he told me basically to shove off. he didn't want to talk about it. >> reporter: phillips denies they ever talked. aeg told cnn jackson passed a five-hour medical exam in preparation for his tour. and told "360" last week -- >> all i know is the michael jackson that hugged me and said good night was a healthy, vibrant human being. >> when i hear people saying that michael was in great shape and that he was raring to go, i know this is untrue and they know it was untrue as well.

michael was not in good physical shape and michael was not raring to go. >> reporter: in response to allegations that aeg refused to make jackson's schedule easier, randy phillips told us jackson had had agreed to 50 shows, adding, he needed the money. roew believes jackson was weakened by what he calls the singer's addiction to prescription drugs. >> well, it was common knowledge to everybody that michael was addicted to prescription drugs. you wouldn't have to be an m.d. to look at michael and know he was not in good physical shape. physically, it wasn't there. i knew when i looked at him, i told him he was underweight tremendously. he said he just don't have an appetite. >> reporter: rowe says he last saw jackson three weeks before his death, at a meeting at his home. he says jackson was in iz pajamas looking frail and thin. he told me one week before michael jackson died, he spoke with some of his family members about getting him some help,

including joe jackson and randy. he said they aagreed to get jackson into rehabilitation, but they never had the chance. he died before they could even make a move. whenever rowe saw jackson he said the sing i always wore long sleeves. reports that his arms were covered in track marks, suggesting heavy iv drug use, did not surprise rowe. what does surprise him is those around jackson on a daily basis didn't do more to save him. randi kaye, cnn, los angeles. a huge crowd, at least 8,000 people, are expected to gather later this morning to say good-bye to steve mcnair. the former nfl quarterback who was shot and killed last week by his mistress will be honored at a public service in mississippi. mcnair will be buried later today at a private service. more than 4,000 people turned out thursday in nashville to pay tribute to their former star quarterback. meanwhile, a brief private funeral was held yesterday for

mcnair's mistress and killer. families may have to wait several days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery. that's because the grounds have been declared a crime scene. hundreds of bodies at the cemetery were allegedly dug up and dumped in a scheme to resell burial plots. cook county sheriff says he's received thousands of complaints about the scheme, half of which are about missing that headstones. >> our goal is to reopen the cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so we're going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there was a crime scene and we'll be allowing people in. >> four former workers seen here are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. emmett till's casket was

foubd on the cemetery grounds. he was murdered in mississippi in 1955 after he reportedly whistled at a white woman. his original casket was replaced about i' new one after his body was exhumed in 2005. the original casket was supposed to be kept for a planned memorial. a spokesman for pakistan's military says his government could help the taliban negotiate peace with the u.s., but he says the u.s. would have to put more pressure on pakistan's main rival, india. senior u.s. officials say the obama administration is willing to address pakistan's conflict with india and talk to top taliban leaders. now, that could be the start of a possible breakthrough in ending the afghan war that started after the 9/11 attacks. passengers and crew got out of this plane as fast as they could when a spoky odor filled the cabin of that plane. 15 people were hurt during the evacuation that happened at phoenix airport yesterday. passengers apparently smelled the odor while the plane was

preparing to take off for london. a fire department spokesman says the smoke may have been caused by an electrical problem. now that it's out of bankruptcy, general motors has to get back to work selling cars. one way the company plans to do that is by selling its entire line of cars on the internet. gm is trying to hammer out a deal with ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california, but could go national if it proves to be successful. at a news conference yesterday, gm ceo fritz henderson said the company needs to embrace new business methods in order to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation. and we'll work hard to repay the trust and the money that so many have invested in gm. the last 100 days has shown everyone, including ourselves, that a company not known for quick action can, in fact and

indeed, move very fast. starting today, we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness and the speed of these last several weeks and then transfer it from the battlefield triage of the bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operation of the new company. and this will be the new norm at general motors. >> some good news for car enthusiasts. chrysler has decided to keep making the viper sports car. the company had previously said it would sell off the viper business and production would end this year. but in an announcement yesterday, chrysler said it would keep making the v-10 car through 2010 and beyond. pretty pricey. base models of the viper begin at around $90,000. a florida couple who adopted 12 children was found shot to death thursday night. police say byrd and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion. an employee for the couple found their bodies. eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred

but they were unharmed. some of the billings' children have special needs. >> i can tell you that the members in our investigative section are -- are somewhat stunned by this also because if you was to go throughout the county and say, well, someone is living in the wrong area or someone's involved in an activity that would bring this upon them, that would not fit the billings family because they just don't fit that profile. in a red van in connection to the killings. how is it looking for you weatherwise? we check in with meteorologist reynolds wolf to see how it is where you live. >> hey, susan, in summertime we obviously experience heat. that's been the case in texas where it's been brutal. today should be pretty much the same deal. dallas going up to 101 degrees, expected high. houston, with the high humidity going to feel higher than that. 80s in both tampa and miami. we can expect a few scattered showers across much of the sunshine state. for the shuttle launch that is

expected to take -- expected to take later on tonight, i think there's a good chance it will get canceled. chance of severe storms expected across the great lakes and into parts of the ohio valley. and then back into portions of the central and northern plains could is he see veer plains. california looking very cool. scattered showers. the great lakes looks like a rainy day in detroit part of the day. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. when it comes to buying a house, one person's eyesore can be another person's bargain. >> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew. lots of mold. >> well, habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged foreclosed homes. wait until you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

habitat for humanity is a great organization. it's known for building homes for low income families. well, now it's buying them, too, because of a huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than build one from the ground up. >> a more efficient and effective use of our donor's money. >> we have done roofing, like shing shingling. >> the foreclosed homes are usually pretty badly damaged. someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here but it's still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for $30,000 to $50,000, compare that to the $60,000 it takes to build a habitat home.

hello, it wasn't so long ago you wouldn't have heard a peep about mixed marshch martial art sportscast buzz it's reached a milestone. they're expecting a million buys on pay per view in the u.s. that's some serious coin for something that was considered a rogue sport a deng aid ago without any rules. ufc 100 will be seen in a dozen other countries. it's for the heavyweight title. dante stal woronte stallwor jail. in march he hit and killed someone crossing the street after leaving a miami nightclub. he has been suspended indefinitely by the nfl. who says youth is wasted on the young. 14-year-old alexis thompson is seizing the moment. she's the youngest to qualify for the u.s. open. after two rounds she's 2 over par and just 5 back of the

leaders who are old enough to be her mom. san diego padres have been awful this year but management has come up with a new way to get the fans out to the ballpark. sunday breakfast. before each sunday game for the whole season you can have coffee, oj and muffins on the field. oh, and you can also get a bloody marry, mimosa and vodka lemonade. a pennsylvania swim club director is suspending the club from accusations of racism. why he thinks it was okay to cancel swimming privileges to some young campers. i'm robin meade. we salute the troops every morning on salute the troops. our troop is sean fitzgerald stationed in iraq.

>> i want to send a salute out to the soldiers and officers of the saker military transition team here in tikrit, the wolverine team, and a salute to my beautiful wife christina. i'll see you soon and i love you. >> so sweet. shawn and christina, by the way, who's also an army captain, recently had their wedding featured on a new tnt show "wedding day." go to cnn/robin and you can catch salutes every morning on "morning express with robin meade."

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors general, two lawmakers says intelligence agencies were collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, he allowed the interception of some communication into and out of the u.s. without a court warrant. well, the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement

in california's ongoing budget crisis after talks broke down earlier this week. governor arnold schwarzenegger and lawmakers from both parties are meeting again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion budget shortfall. meanwhile, some major banks aren't accepting the state's ious anymore but citigroup says it will accept the ious for another week. so far the state has printed more than 91,000 ious, worth more than $350 million. if plans to issue nearly $3 billion to pay for its july bills. a pennsylvania swim club is denying accusations of racism. the club was accused because it canceled swimming privileges to some minority kids. well, as susan candiotti reports, the club says it is sorry but the kids are not coming back. >> reporter: kids whose parents belong to valley club were back in the water and having summer fun one day after controversy kept them away. le and youngsters who got to use that same pool for only a day got an apology from the swim

club but no invitation to return. >> it's just really unfortunate. and we apologize apologize dee deeply this had to happen. >> reporter: a daycare sent erp catering mainly to minority black and hispanic kids paid to use the pool once a week for 1 1/2 hours. after one visit their check was returned and summer swim trips canceled. >> we severery underestimated the number of children and our capacity to have these groups. that's the only reason, it's a safety issue and we felt it was not safe for them to be here. >> reporter: the daycare center calls that a lie. it claims the club pulled the club because of race its complaints from some white members. >> the children came running down the hill saying, miss wright, those people up there are saying, what are those black kids doing in the pool? >> it's sad that people are

still thinking like this. when i felt like this was over. >> if someone said that, i don't know. i didn't hear it. people are going to say things, but the it's not our -- one person saying it is not the position of the club or the board. certainly not how we raise our children. >> reporter: the club flatly denies it discriminates and says two other daycare centers were also canceled after one visit. >> it's just unfortunate this had to turn into such a firestorm. this has been totally misrepresented in terms of our club and how welcoming we are. >> he doesn't deserve this. he is a kind, tolerant person that would do anything for anyone, and teaches our children, teaches me that everything can be resolved with conversation. >> reporter: considering the gap between both sides, conversation alone may not resolve this controversy. susan candiotti, cnn, huntington valley, pennsylvania. an ohio congressman is one

of the biggest critics of the obama administration's stimulus plan, but now stimulus dollars are making their way on to his turf. what does he have to say about it? i'll clean the pool if you clean the windows.

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president barack obama is on an official visit to the west african nation of ghana. why he's there and the message he's giving to the people of sub-saharan africa. we can't jeopardy a crime scene. there are potential crime scenes littered throughout the cemetery. access is blocked to a historic cemetery at the center of a major plot in a crime scene and the plot is expanding as officials find more human remains on the grounds there. a huge crowd will gather for a final good-bye to steve mcnair. how friends, family and fans will honor the former nfl star. this is hln for saturday, july 11th. great to have you with us. i'm susan hendricks.

president barack obama is on an official visit to the african nation of ghana. in a speech he says african's future is up to africans. he stressed the importance of mutual responsibility and respect between africa and other countries. before his arrival president obama explained why he chose ghana for his first trip to africa as president. >> part of the reason that we're traveling to ghana because you have a functioning democracy, a president serious about reducing corruption, and you've seen significant economic growth. later today president obama will leave ghana and heads back to the united states. families may have to wait several days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery because the grounds have been declared a crime scene. hundreds of bodies were allegedly dug up and dumped in a scheme to resell burial plots.

cook county sheriff says he's received thousands of complaint, half of which are about missing headstones. >> our goal is to reopen the cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so we're going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there is a crime scene and we're allowing people in. >> four former workers seen here are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. emmett till's original casket was found in a garage on the cemetery grounds. the 14-year-old was murdered in mississippi back in 1959 after he reportedly whistled at a white woman. til's original casket was replaced with a new one. the original casket was supposed to be kept for a planned memorial. a huge crowd, at least 8,000

people, are expected to gather later this morning to say good-bye to steve mcnair. the former nfl quarterback who was shot and killed last week by his mistress will be honored at a public service in hattiesburg, mississippi. mcnair will be buried later today in a private service. more than 4,000 people turned out thursday in nashville to pay tribute to their former star quarterback. a brief private funeral was held yesterday for mcnair's mistress and killer. passengers and crew got out of this plane as fast as they could when a smokey odor killed the cabin of that plane. 15 people were hurt during the evacuation that happened at phoenix airport yesterday. passengers apparently smelled the odor while the plane was preparing to take off for london. a fire department spokesman says it may have been caused by electrical problems. a spokesman for pakistan's military says his government could help the taliban negotiate peace with the u.s. but he says the u.s. would have to put more pressure on pakistan's main

rival, india. senior u.s. officials say the obama administration is willing to address pakistan's conflict with india and talk to top taliban leaders. that could be the start of a possible breakthrough in ending the afghan war that started after the 9/11 attacks. ♪ beat it beat it dancing, singing and an outpouring of pride in michael jackson's boyhood home of gary, indiana, paid tribute to the late entertainer. gary's mayor thanked jackson for putting his center city on the map. his former music teacher remembered her most famous student as very energetic and wonderful. even the principal of michael jackson's middle school today the crowd how jackson performed for classmates for ten cents apiece. michael jackson was born in gary. his father moved the family to hollywood when jackson was just 11 years old. now that it's out of bankruptcy, general motors has

to get back to work selling cars. one way the company plans to do that is by selling its entire line of cars on the internet. gm is trying to hammer out a deal with ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california but could go national if it proves to be successful. at a news conference yesterday, gm's ceo fritz henderson said the company needs to embrace new business methods in order to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation and we'll work hard to repay the trust and the money that so many have invested in gm. the last 100 days has shown everyone, including ourselves, a company not known for quick action can, indeed, move very fast. starting today we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness and the speed of these last several weeks and then transfer it from the battlefield triage of the bankruptcy process to the

day-to-day operations of the new company. and this will be the new norm at general motors. now, some analysts are saying the most important announcement henderson made was the hiring of this man. coming up, why 77-year-old bob lutz could be key to gm's recovery. some good news for car enthusiasts. chrysler has decided to keep making the viper sports car. the company had previously said it would sell off the viper business and production would end this year, but in an announcement yesterday chrysler said it would keep making the v-10 cars through 2010 and beyond. it's pretty pricey. base models begin at around $90,000. a florida couple who adopted 12 children was found shot to death thursday night. police say byrd and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion. an employee for the couple found their bodies, eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred but they were unharmed. some of the billings children

have special needs. >> i can tell you that the members in our investigative section are somewhat stunned by this also because if you was to go throughout the county and say, well, someone is living in the wrong area or someone's involved in an activity that would bring this upon them, that would not fit the billings family because they just don't fit that profile. >> meanwhile, authorities are looking for three men in a red van in connection to the killings. how the democrats are trying to get on the same page of health care reform. president obama wants to overhaul the system and give health care to about 50 million uninsured americans. as brianna keeler reports, some democrats are saying no to their own party's plan to pay for it. >> reporter: president obama is telling congress the clock is ticking on health care reform. >> i never believe anything is do or die, but i really want to get it done by the august recess. >> reporter: a tall order for

congressional democrats who admit self-imposed deadlines. in the house, 40 fiscally conservative democrats including mike ross sent letters to leaders saying congress isn't doing enough to help bloong health care costs. could you vote for the health care bill as it stands right now? >> no. this is the biggest domestic issue that we will tackle this century, so we think we need to slow it down a little bit and do it right. >> reporter: so far there are two prevailing ideas. one calls for a government-run health insurance plan favored by house speaker nancy pelosi. >> the only debate on that is what it will cost, the patient option, public option, write in your suggestions. >> reporter: the other is a nonprofit health cooperative with less government involvement. after hours and hours of negotiations, law makers are struggling how to pay for it. in addition to cutting costs, congress will have to raise taxes to fit the bill.

democrats agreed friday evening to increase taxes on individuals who make more than $280,000 and on couples earning $350,000 or more. democrats hope to bring in $540 billion over the next ten years with that tax. they all but ruled out some other proposals to tax health benefits provided by employers and sugary drinks like sodas. brianna keilar, cnn, washington. we have a look for you weatherwise out there. we check in with meteorologist reynolds wolf. >> hey, susan. in summertime we fear the heat. in texas it has been brutal and today should be the same deal. dallas 101 degrees. houston with the high humidity will feel warmer. tampa and miami and we can expect a few scattered showers across the sunshine state due to the stationary front. for the shuttle launch that is expected to take or scheduled to take place tonight, i think

there is a good chance it may get canceled due to the chance of scattered showers. chance of severe storms expected across the great lakes into the parts of the ohio valley, and back into portions of the central and northern plains could see severe storms. very warm for you in parts of the desert southwest and california looking cool. scattered showers in the great lakes, looks like it might be a rainy time for detroit a good part of the day. that is a look at your forecast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. when it comes to buying a house, one person's eye sore can be another person aybar gain. >> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew, lots of mold. >> habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged foreclosed homes. wait until you hear how it's paying off big.

habitat for humanity is a great organization. it's known for building homes for low income families. well, now it's buying them, too.

that's because of the huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than to build one from the ground up. >> a more efficient and effective use of our donors' money. >> we are have done roofing, ceiling and today we're painting. >> now, the foreclosed homes are usually pretty badly damaged. someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here, but it's still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for $30,000 to $50,000 compared to the $60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. worried about swine flu caused a group of tourists to drive themselves to a florida hospital by bus. they wanted to get checked out after a several kids on board the bus got sick. the health department confirmed at least one child on board that bus was diagnosed with influenza a earlier this week.

80% of all influenza "a" cases turn out to be swine flu. the hospital gave the kids medication and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. it wasn't so long ago that chamique holdsclaw was the lebron james in her class. all her wins on the court pale in comparison to winning her latest battle. she is back in the wnba after two years going with a long battle with clinical depression. she says she is playing for everyone who suffers from the disease to show they can rebuild their lives. tonight, a great homecoming for the new york native. her team the atlanta dream takes on the new york liberty at madison square garden. lots of friends and family will be there. it's good to see her back in the league doing well. tonight in las vegas, a milestone for mixed martial arts. it's ufc 100.

they are expecting a million buys on pay per view in the u.s. and at $44.95 a pop, you can do the map. that is serious coin for something that was considered a road sport a decade ago without any rules. here is a man who loves hand-me-downs. tom wilkerson can't always afford to buy new parts so he buys used parts from the other drivers. they are catching on and starting to get stingy because he keeps winning. plus they learned that old parts can still get you across the finish line first. catcher's mitt? i don't need no stinking catcher's mitt. jorge posada has a moment. loses his mitt, but still somehow makes the catch. a pennsylvania swim club director is defending the club from accusations of racism. why he thinks it was okay to cancel swimming privileges to some young campers. stay tuned.

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors general to law makers says

intelligence agencies were collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, he allowed the interception of some communication into and out of the u.s. without a court warrant. the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement in california's ongoing budget crisis after talks broke down earlier this week. governor arnold schwarzenegger and law makers for both parties are meeting again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion budget shortfall. meanwhile, major banks aren't accepting the state's ious anymore. citigroup will accept them for another week. so far the state printed more than 91,000 ious worth more than $350 million. it plans to issue nearly $3 billion worth to pay for its july bills. the president of a

pennsylvania swim club is denying that he doesn't want african-american kids to come there. he was accused of racism when he canceled swimming privileges to a day care center with mostly african-american kids. some of the kids say they heard club members asking why black children were there. the day care's check was later returned without explanation. and the director told a local tv station, those kids changed the atmosphere of the club. but now he says the club is just too small to accept so many kids and it could have presented a safety issue. he also says he didn't mean to offend anyone. gm's finances and ownership aren't the only things that changed for the carmaker yesterday. as bill tucker explains, the company also welcomed back a man some call gm's secret weapon. >> reporter: after a six-week sprint through bankruptcy, general motor emerged a new company. the new gm, a leaner, more focused company. >> our vision is clear, to design, build and sell the best vehicles in the world by focusing on, for example, in the u.s., four core brands,

chevrolet, cadillac, buick and gmc. >> reporter: the changes mean gm's u.s. work force will shrink to 64,000 by year's end, down from 91,000 at the start of the year. henderson also announced sweeping management changes. the man who championed the development of the dodge viper, the new chevy malibu, the camaro, the cadillac cts is back at gm. >> i'm happy to announce that today we're unretiring bob lutz. >> reporter: at 77 years old lutz is something of an anomaly. his nearly 50 years in the business at ford, chrysler, bmw and gm is in stark contrast to the lack of car building experience of gm's new chairman or the government-appointed car czar, who's an investment banker and before that a journalist, but never a manufacturer. industry experts applaud the news. >> bob lutz is gm's secret weapon. ceos that have never built cars

are not a good thing. maybe the business school textbooks say they are, but i'm not one for textbook anything. this is the real world. and experience pays off in the real world. bob lutz is probably the best, most qualified auto executive on the face of the earth today. >> reporter: qualified and controversial. bob lutz is the man who once said global warming is a total crock of [ bleep ]. he stands by that statement and yet he's also the driving force of the extended range electric vehicle, the chevy volt and the chevy cruise, which is expected to get 45 miles per gallon. bill tucker, cnn, new york. just call it the invasion of the ladybugs. >> i guess they all got together for a big party. >> i can feel them crawling up my legs. >> a crazy number of ladybugs are swarming a neighborhood.

look at that tree. some neighbors want to keep this under wraps. gggggggggg

president obama says fricke's future is up to africans. speaking to ghana's parliament this morning, the president promised to make sure u.s. aid to africa gets to the people who need it most. mr. obama, his wife and daughters arrived in ghana from italy last night. a grim milestone for the british military as the number of its troops killed in afghanistan has now surpassed the number killed in iraq. in the past week and a half, 15 british soldiers have died fighting in afghanistan, bringing the total number of dead in the conflict to 184. well, it looks like nasa may have to scrub the launch of the space shuttle "endeavour" for a third time. it's scheduled to lift off tonight, this evening, but meteorologists are warning there's a 60% chance of

thunderstorms. >> that is a check of your saturday headlines. you're watching hln. i'm susan hendricks. we are getting new information about michael jackson's alleged addiction to prescription drugs. as randi kaye report, the claims come from someone who knew jackson for decades. >> reporter: if michael jackson had lived to begin his upcoming london shows, this man says he likely would not have finished them. >> i knew he wasn't ready to handle them. i knew it was something he could not do. he also knew that. >> reporter: leonard rowe had known michael jackson for 30 years. he said jackson hired him to handle the finances for his final tour. but one look at him and rowe had doubt. >> the reason i thought he couldn't handle it is easy. first of all, i saw the shape michael was in physically. michael weighed, looked like to me 110, 115 pounds. he was 5'10".

>> reporter: rowe told me jackson did not want to work that hard and did not want to go ahead with a grueling concert show. he said he agreed to do ten shows but that the promoter aeg sold out 50. he said jackson asked him to figure out a more doable schedule. rowe says he asked aeg to cut back. >> i offered to him we do two shows a week. when i went to aeg, randy phillips and spoke to him on the phone first, he told me basically to shove off. he didn't want to talk about it. >> reporter: phillips denies they ever talked. aeg told cnn jackson passed a five-hour medical exam in preparation for his tour. and told "360" last week -- >> all i know is the michael jackson that hugged me and said good night was a healthy, vibrant human being. >> when i hear people saying that michael was in great shape and that he was raring to go, i know this is untrue and they know it was untrue as well. michael was not in good physical

shape and michael was not raring to go. >> reporter: in response to allegations that aeg refused to make jackson's schedule easier, randy phillips told us jackson had had agreed to 50 shows, adding, he needed the money. rowe believes jackson was weakened by what he calls the singer's addiction to prescription drugs. >> well, it was common knowledge to everybody that michael was addicted to prescription drugs. you wouldn't have to be an m.d. to look at michael and know he was not in good physical shape. you can look at him. physically, it wasn't there. i knew when i looked at him, i told him he was underweight tremendously. he said he just don't have an appetite. >> reporter: rowe says he last saw jackson three weeks before his death, at a meeting at his home. he says jackson was in his pajamas looking frail and thin. rowe told me one week before michael jackson died, he spoke with some of his family members

about getting him help, including joe jackson and randy. he said they all agreed to get jackson into rehabilitation, but they never had the chance. he died before they could even make a move. whenever rowe saw jackson he said the singer always wore long sleeves. reports that his arms were covered in track marks, suggesting heavy iv drug use, did not surprise rowe. what does surprise him is those around jackson on a daily basis didn't do more to save him. randi kaye, cnn, los angeles. a huge crowd, at least 8,000 people, are expected to gather later this morning to say good-bye to steve mcnair. the former nfl quarterback who was shot and killed last week by his mistress will be honored at a public service in mississippi. mcnair will be buried later today at a private service. more than 4,000 people turned out thursday in nashville to pay tribute to their former star quarterback. meanwhile, a brief private funeral was held yesterday for mcnair's mistress and killer.

families may have to wait several days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery. that's because the grounds have been declared a crime scene. hundreds of bodies at the cemetery were allegedly dug up and dumped in a scheme to resell burial plots. cook county sheriff says he's received thousands of complaints about the scheme, half of which are about missing that headstones. >> our goal is to reopen the cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so we're going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there was a crime scene and we're going to be allowing people in. >> four former workers seen here are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. emmett till's casket was found in a garage on the cemetery grounds. the 14-year-old was murdered in

mississippi back in 1955 after he reportedly whistled at a white woman. till's original casket was replaced with a new one after his body was exhumed in 2005 during a renewed investigation into his death. the original casket was supposed to be kept for a planned memorial. now that it's out of bankruptcy, general motors has to get back to work selling cars. one way the company plans to do that is by selling its entire line of cars on the internet. gm is trying to hammer out a deal with ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california, but could go national if it proves to be successful. at a news conference yesterday, gm ceo fritz henderson said the company needs to embrace new business methods to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation and we'll work hard to repay the trust and the money so many have

invested in gm. the last hundred days has shown everyone, including ourselves, that a company not known for quick action can indeed move very fast. starting today, we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness and the speed of these last several weeks and transfer it from the battlefield triage of the bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operation of the new company. this will be the new norm of general motors. good news for car enthusiasts. chrysler decided to keep making the vipir sports car. the company previously said it would sell off the vipir business and production would end this year. in an announcement yesterday, chrysler said it would keep making the v-10 car through 2010 and beyond. it's pricey. models begin at around $90,000. a florida couple who ado. ed 12 children was found shot to

death thursday night. byrd and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion. an employee for the couple found their bodies. eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred, but they were unharmed. some of the billings' children have special needs. >> i can tell you that the members in our investigative section are somewhat stunned by this also. if you was to go throughout the county and say, well, someone is living in the wrong area or someone is involved in an activity that would bring this upon them, that would not fit the billings family because they do not fit that profile. >> meanwhile, authorities are looking for three men in a red van in connection to the killings. when it comes to buying a house, one person's eye sore can be another person aybar gain. >> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew. lots of mold. >> habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged foreclosed homes, and wait until you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

just ahead. >> somebody might have just figured out your social security number.

habitat for humanity is a great organization. it's known for building homes for low income families. well, now it's buying them, too, because of a huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than build one from the ground up. >> a more efficient and effective use of our donor's money. >> we have done roofing, like shingling.

today we'll be painting. >> the foreclosed homes are usually pretty badly damaged. someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here but it's still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for $30,000 to $50,000, compare that to the $60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. worry about swine flu caused a group of tourists to drive themselves to a hospital by bus. they wanted to get checked out after several kids onboard the charter bus got sick and complained about flu-like symptoms. the department confirmed at least one child was diagnosed with influenza-a earlier this week. 80% of all influenza-a cases turn out to be swine flu. the hospital gave the kids medications and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. hello. just think how big it was for

giants' pitcher sanchez. his dad just flew in to watch him pitch. last night sanchez threw a no-hitter. it took an incredible twist of fate. sanchez was only starting because future hall of famer randy johnson got injured. his dad came down on the field afterward and broke down shedding tears. i think sanchez just might get another start and it wouldn't surprise me at all if dad is there, too. well, this is the story that has sports fans buzzing. no one has seen the videotape. nike is being so protective of lebron james' image, they confiscated a tape of a high school kid jamming in lebron's face. courtney lee of the orlando magic did it not once, but twice in their playoff series with lebron's cavaliers. nike said it was against the rules to tape a pick-up game. now someone is selling a shirt that says, "i dunked on lebron, but he stole my videotape."

that's just awesome. >> this is so good it's worth calling it the play of the day. the women's u.s. open. the long birdie attempt. the ball almost stops, but then get it going again. takes a right turn and activates a tractor beam, stay on target, stay on target and it is in the hole. that is the play of the day and that's sports. i'm jeff fischel. do you think your social security number is as secure as maybe your atm pin code? you may want to think again on this. jennifer westhoven is looking out for you and your wallet. >> reporter: hi, i hope you are enjoying your summer weekend. this is a pretty scary story. some researchers say they've cracked the social security code, meaning they claim they can guess your social security number. they say all they need is a little bit of simple information

like the same kind you might put on a website like facebook. from that they can figure out the first five digits of your number and one time out of ten they can get all nine numbers. they are from carnegie-mellon, but they say criminals can figure it out, too, and hijack your identity. social security administration spokesman says they think the researchers are exaggerating, but they say they have come up with a new system for assigning numbers in the future. you keep seeing headlines about americans getting sick from salmonella and other outbreaks. the white house wants to completely overhaul the nation's food safety system. to make your eggs safer, the agriculture department will have new standards to cut salmonella by year end. the numbers are staggering. 76 million people get six every year from their food and 5,000 people die. in addition to making your eggs safer, they want to make your meat safer.

usda say they will test more at meat-packing plants and fda will work on vegetables to make sure your food is safer. looking out for you, i'm jennifer westhoven. you can get great money advice each morning on "morning express in. "from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern. a swim club director is defending the club from accusations of racism. why he thinks it was okay to cancel swimming privileges to young campers.

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors general to law makers says intelligence agencies were collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, he allowed the intersection of some communication into and out of the u.s. without a court warrant. the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement

in california's ongoing budget crisis after talks broke down earlier this week. governor arnold schwarzenegger and law makers are meeting again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion budget shortfall. meanwhile, major banks aren't accepting the state's ious anymore. citigroup says it will accept the ious another week. so far the state has printed more than 91,000 ious worth more than $350 million. it plans to issue nearly $3 billion worth to pay for its july bills. a pennsylvania swim club is denying accusations of racism. the club was accused because it canceled swimming privileges to some minority kids. as susan candiotti reports, the club says it is sorry, but the kids are not coming back. >> reporter: kids whose parents belong to valley club were back in the water and having summer fun one day after controversy kept them away. youngsters who got to use that

same pool for only a day got an apology from the swim club but to invitation to return. >> it's really unfortunate. we apologize deeply, we regret deeply this had to happen. >> here's what happened a day care center catering mainly to black and minority hispanic kids paid $1950 for the kids to use the pool but after one visit their check returned and summer swim trips canceled. >> we underestimated the number of our children and the capacity to handle these groups. we were not prepared for it. that's the only reason. it was a safety issue. that's the only reason that the children, we felt it was not safe for them to be here. >> reporter: the day care center calls that a lie. it claims the club pulled the plug because of racist complaints from some white members. >> the children came running down the hill saying miss wright, those people up there are saying what are those black kids doing in the pool. >> it's kind of like sad that like people are still thinking

like this when i felt like these days was over. >> if someone said that i don't know. i didn't hear it. people are going to say things, but it's not other -- one person saying it is not the position of the club or the board. certainly not how we raise our children. >> reporter: the club flatly denies it discriminates and says two other day care centers were also canceled after one visit. >> it's unfortunate that this had to turn into such a firestorm because this has been totally misrepresented in terms of our club and how welcoming we are. >> he doesn't deserve this. he is a kind, tolerant person, that would do anything for anyone and teaches our children, teaches me, you know, that everything can be resolved with conversation. >> reporter: considering the gap between both sides, conversation alone may not resolve this controversy. susan candiotti, cnn, hunting don valley, pennsylvania. an ohio congressman is one

of the biggest critics of the obama administration's stimulus plan. but, now stimulus dollars are making their way on to his turf. so what does he have to say about it?

president barack obama is on an official visit to the west african nation of ghana. why he's there and the message he's giving to the people of sub-saharan africa. >> while we understand the demand for information we can't jeopardize a crime sign. it's becoming clear there are potential crime scenes littered throughout the cemetery. access is blocked to a historic cemetery at the center of a major plot in a crime scene and the plot is expanding as police find more human bones on the grounds there. also emotions will be high as a crowd gathers for a final good-bye to steve mcnair. how friends, family and fans will honor the former nfl star. this is hln for saturday, july 11th. great to have you with us. i'm susan hendricks. we want to get you updated,

president obama is on an official visit to the african nation of ghana. in a speech this morning the president told the country's parliament africa's future is up to africans and also stressed the importance of mutual responsibility and respect between africa and other countries. before his arrival, president obama explained why he chose ghana for his first trip to africa as president. >> part of the reason we're traveling to ghana is because you've got there a functioning democracy, a president who's serious about reducing corruption, and you've seen significant economic growth. >> later today, president obama will leave ghana and heads back to the united states. hundreds of bodies at the sem me a tarry were allegedly dug up and dumped in a scheme to resell burial plots.

cook county sheriff says he's received thousands of complaint, half of which are about missing headstones. >> our goal is to reopen the cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so we're going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there is a crime scene and we're allowing people in. >> four former workers seen here are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. emmett till's original casket was found in a garage on the cemetery grounds. the 14-year-old was murdered in mississippi back in 1959 after he reportedly whistled at a white woman. till's original casket was replaced with a new one. after his body was exhumed in 2005 after a renewed investigation into his death. the original casket was supposed to be kept for a planned memorial.

passengers and crew got out of this plane as fast as they could when a smoky odor filled the cabin of that plane. 15 people were hurt during the evacuation that happened at phoenix airport yesterday. passengers apparently smelled the odor while the plane was preparing to take off for london. a fire department spokesman says the smoke may have been caused by electrical problems. ♪ beat it beat it dancing, singing and an outpouring of pride as michael jackson's boyhood home of gary, indiana, paid tribute to the late entertainer. at a music filled celebration gary's mayor thanked jackson for putting the city on the map. his former music teacher remembered her most famous student as very energetic and wonderful. even the principal of michael jackson's middle school told the crowd about how as a boy, jackson performed for classmates for 10 cents apiece. michael jackson was born there in gary. his father moved the family to hollywood when jackson was just 11 years old.

a huge crowd is expected today in mississippi for a final farewell to steve mcnair, the former nfl star shot and killed last week. larry smith is outside the site of the memorial service with more. >> reporter: mourners began lining up three hours before the start of this service which will commence at the top of the hour. the first of a capacity crowd of more than 8,000 expected to say their good-byes to steve mcnair. he was more than a he tired football star here. he was an active, leading part of this very tight it in mississippi community, his son the star wide receiver for a local high school football team and it was two weeks ago that mcnair staged his final football camp here on the campus of southern miss. he was 36 years old, led the tennessee titans to their only super bowl a decade ago and named the most valuable player at one time in his career. the tone will be one of a celebration of a life's accomplishments, not the decision he made in recent months a murder/suicide.

we'll have reports throughout the day on hln. larry smith reporting from mississippi. now it's out of bankruptcy, general motors has to get back to work selling cars. one way the company plans to do that is by selling its entire line of kars on the internet. gm is trying to hammer out a deal with ebay for a pilot program that would initially be limited to california but could go national if it proves to be successful. at a news conference yesterday, gm's ceo fritz henderson said the company needs to embrace new business methods to be viable moving forward. >> we deeply appreciate the support we've received during this historic transformation and will work hard to repay the trust and the money that so many have invested in gm. the last 100 days has shown everyone, including ourselves, that a company not known for quick action can, in fact, and, indeed, move very fast. starting today, we want to take that intensity, the decisiveness

and the speed of these last several weeks, and then transfer it from the battlefield triage of the bankruptcy process to the day-to-day operations of the new company. and this will be the new norm at general motors. >> some analysts are saying the most important announcement henderson made was the hiring of this man. coming up why 77-year-old bob lutz could be key to gm's recovery. would you buy back your own garbage? a crazy concept, right. one woman used that idea of recycling waste to help provide jobs and money to some struggling families. cnn's tony harris explains in today's impact your world. >> reporter: garbage it is everywhere you look in indonesia's capital. the streets are covered. the canals are clogged. >> they do not have the municipal funds to afford clean streets. you know, they can handle as

much as they can afford for flood control. >> reporter: what's an eye sore to some is a meal ticket for others. an estimated 350 to 450,000 trash pickers make a living, collecting the waste from jakarta streets and ann wiser reached out to local trash pickers in her community and offered them above market prices to begin collecting plastic consumer packaging. this nonrecyclable material became the inspiration behind wiser's environmentally conscious line of products. >> this is a floor pillow made from the leftover waste from excess projects. we made these as a way to use that up. >> reporter: as the need for sustainability grows, wiser realizes her work is just beginning. >> there are many, many groups now doing this and that is very heartening. >> reporter: as awareness takes root, wiser continues to dream up new ways to combat the trash problem. one wrapper at a time.

for impact your world, tony harris. if you would like to learn more about the excess project or maybe other groups working for a cleaner, safer world, here's what you do, go to our website, cnn.com/impact. find a wide variety of resources that will help you impact your world. when it comes to buying a house, one person's eye sore can be another person's bargain. >> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildemildew, lots of mo >> habitat for humanity is snatching up those foreclosed homes. wait until you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

habitat for humanity is a

great organization. it's known for building homes for low income families. well, now it's buying them, too. that's because of the huge amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than to build one from the ground up. >> a more efficient and effective use of our donors' money. >> we are have done roofing, ceiling and today we're painting. >> now, the foreclosed homes are usually pretty badly damaged. someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here, but it's still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for $30,000 to $50,000 compared to the $60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. worry about swine flu caused a group of tourists to drive themselves to a florida hospital by bus. they wanted to get checked out after a several kids on board the chartered bus got sick and complained about flu-like symptoms. the health department confirmed at least one child on board that bus was diagnosed with influenza a earlier this week.

right now, 80% of all influenza "a" cases turn out to be swine flu. the hospital gave the kids medication and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. hello. i'm jeff fish shell. it wasn't so long ago that chamique holdsclaw was the lebron james of women's basketball, the super star on her college team that won three national titles and dominated in her first years in the wnba. all those pail in comparison to winning her latest battle, back in the nba after two years after going through a long battle with clinical depression. she says she's playing for everyone who suffers from the disease to show they can rebuild their lives. tonight, a great homecoming for the new york native. her team the atlanta dream takes on the new york liberty at madison square garden. lots of friends and family will be there. it's good to see her back in the league doing well. tonight in las vegas, a milestone for mixed martial arts. it's ufc 100. they are expecting a million

buys on pay per view in the u.s. and at $44.95 a pop, you can do the map. that is serious coin for something that was considered a rogue sport a decade ago without any rules. here is a man who loves hand-me-downs. funny car driver tom wilkerson can't always afford to buy new parts so he buys used parts from the other drivers. but they're catching on and starting to get stingy because he keeps winning. plus they say in this bad economy they've learned old parts can still get you across the finish line first. check this out. catcher's mitt? i don't need no stinking catcher's mitt. the yankee's jorge posada has a moment. with shawn figgins in the pop-up. loses his mitt. still somehow makes the catch. for hln sports i'm jeff fish shell. a pennsylvania swim club director is defending the club from accusations of racism. why he thinks it was okay to cancel swimming privileges to some young campers. stay tuned.

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors general to lawmakers says intelligence agencies were collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, he allowed the interception of some communication into and out of the u.s. without a court warrant. the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis

based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement in california's ongoing budget crisis after talks broke down earlier this week. governor arnold schwarzenegger and lawmakers from both parties are meeting again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion budget shortfall. meanwhile, major banks aren't accepting the state's ious anymore. citigroup says it will accept the ious for another week. so far the state printed more than 91,000 ious worth more than $350 million. it plans to issue nearly $3 billion worth to pay for its july bills. the president of a pennsylvania swim club is denying that he doesn't want african-american kids to come there. he was accused of racism when he canceled swimming privileges to a day care center with mostly african-american kids. some of the kids say they heard club members asking why black children were there. the day care's check was later

returned without explanation. and the director told a local tv station, those kids changed the atmosphere of the club. but now he says the club is just too small to accept so many kids and it could have presented a safety issue. he also says he didn't mean to offend anyone. gm's finances and ownership aren't the only things that changed for the carmaker yesterday. as bill tucker explains, the company also welcomed back a man some call gm's secret weapon. >> reporter: after a six-week sprint through bankruptcy, general motor emerged a new company. the new gm, a leaner, more focused company. >> our vision is clear, to design, build and sell the best vehicles in the world by focusing on, for example, in the u.s., four core brands, chevrolet, cadillac, buick and gmc. >> reporter: the changes mean gm's u.s. work force will shrink to 64,000 by year's end, down from 91,000 at the start of the year. henderson also announced sweeping management changes.

the man who championed the development of the dodge viper, the new chevy malibu, the camaro, the cadillac cts is back at gm. >> i'm happy to announce that today we're unretiring bob lutz. >> reporter: at 77 years old lutz is something of an anomaly. in today's post-bailout car world. his nearly 50 years in the business at ford, chrysler, bmw and gm is in stark contrast to the lack of car building experience of gm's new chairman or the government-appointed car czar, who's an investment banker and before that a journalist, but never a manufacturer. industry experts applaud the news. >> bob lutz is gm's secret weapon. ceos that have never built cars are not a good thing. maybe the business school textbooks say they are, but i'm not one for textbook anything. this is the real world. and experience pays off in the real world. bob lutz is probably the best,

most qualified auto executive on the face of the earth today. >> reporter: qualified and controversial. bob lutz is the man who once said global warming is a total crock of [ bleep ]. he stands by that statement and yet he's also the driving force behind the extended range electric vehicle, the chevy volt and the nonelectric companion vehicle the chevy cruze, which is expected to get 45 miles per gallon. bill tucker, cnn, new york. just call it the invasion of the ladybugs. >> i guess they all got together for a big party. >> i can feel one crawling up my leg inside my pants right now. >> a crazy number of ladybugs are swarming a neighborhood. look at that tree. some neighbors want to keep this under wraps. hospital acquired infections

are a big problem in the united states. these are infections where people go into the hospital without an infection and they acquire a germ in the hospital. so in other words, the hospital gets them sick. let's take a look at some stunning statistics from the centers for disease control. 1.7 million infections happen in hospitals every year. 99,000 people die each year, yes 99,000, because of infections that they get in the hospital. now some people say hospitals haven't done nearly enough to stop this trend, so in this week's "empowered patient" we honor four hospital workers who said hey, the buck stops here, i'm going to do everything i can to stop infections in my hospital. these people are paul levy, at best israel hospital in massachusetts, alfonzo torres, at pacific hospital in long beach, california, michelle farber and peter provost who have done the best to stop infections in their hospital.

we know that chances are you're not at one of their hospitals, you're somewhere else. if you are concerned about getting an infection when you're a patient or someone you love is a patient take a look at these four tips. you should ask every doctor, nurse and anyone else who walks in to touch you, can i see you wash your hands. if you take off gloves and then put on a new pair with dirty hands you've dirtied that second pair of gloves. secondly ask if you can be clipped instead of save shaved. when someone is shaved it creates knicks and that's where bacteria can fester. before a surgical procedure you should have preoperative antibiotics. too often those antibiotics are forgotten or they're given at the wrong time. ask if you should be getting them and what time you should be getting them. for more information about hospital inquired infections go to my website, cnn.com/empoweredpatient. for empowered patient i'm elizabeth cohen.

president obama says africa's future is up to africans. speaking to ghana's parliament this morning, the president promised to make sure u.s. aid to africa gets to the people who need it most. mr. obama, his wife and daughters arrived in ghana from italy last night. a grim milestone for the british military as the number of its troops killed in afghanistan has now surpassed the number killed in iraq. in the past week and a half, 15 british soldiers have died fighting in afghanistan, bringing the total number of dead in the conflict to 184. well, it looks like nasa may have to scrub the launch of the space shuttle "endeavour" for a third time. it's scheduled to lift off for the international space station

tonight this evening but meteorologists are warning there's a 60% chance of thunderstorms. >> that is a check of your saturday headlines. you're watching hln. so glad you are. i'm susan hendricks. we are getting new information about michael jackson's alleged addiction to prescription drugs. as randi kaye reports, the claims come from someone who knew jackson for decades. >> reporter: if michael jackson had lived to begin his upcoming london shows, this man says he likely would not have finished them. >> i knew he wasn't ready to handle them. i knew it was something he could not do. he also knew that. >> reporter: leonard rowe had known michael jackson for 30 years. he said jackson hired him to handle the finances for his final tour. but one look at him and rowe had doubt. >> the reason i thought he couldn't handle it is easy. first of all, i saw the shape michael was in physically. michael weighed, looked like to me 110, 115 pounds. he was 5'10". >> reporter: rowe told me jackson did not want to work

that hard and did not want to go ahead with a grueling concert show. he said the singer told him he agreed to do ten shows, but the promoter, aeg, sold out 50. he said jackson asked him to figure out a more doable schedule. rowe says he asked aeg to cut back. >> i suggested to him we do two shows a week, but when i went to aeg, randy phillips and spoke to him on the phone first, he told me basically to shove off. he didn't want to talk about it. >> reporter: phillips denies they ever talked. aeg told cnn jackson passed a five-hour medical exam in preparation for his tour. and told "360" last week -- >> all i know is the michael jackson that hugged me and said good night was a healthy, vibrant human being. >> when i hear people saying that michael was in great shape and that he was rearing to go, i know this is untrue and they know it was untrue as well.

michael was not in good physical shape and michael was not raring to go. >> reporter: in response to allegations that aeg refused to make jackson's schedule easier, randy phillips told us jackson had agreed to 50 shows, adding, he needed the money. rowe believes jackson was weakened by what he calls the singer's addiction to prescription drugs. >> well, it was common knowledge to everybody that michael was addicted to prescription drugs. you wouldn't have to be an m.d. to look at michael and know he was not in good physical shape. you can look at him. physically, it wasn't there. i knew when i looked at him, i told him he was underweight tremendously. he said he just don't have an appetite. >> reporter: rowe says he last saw jackson three weeks before his death, at a meeting at his home. he says jackson was in his pajamas looking frail and thin. rowe told me one week before michael jackson died, he spoke with some of his family members about getting him help,

including his father joe jackson and his brother randy. he said they all agreed to get jackson into rehabilitation, but they never had the chance. he died before they could even make a move. whenever rowe saw jackson he said the singer always wore long sleeves. reports that his arms were covered in track marks, suggesting heavy iv drug use, did not surprise rowe. what does surprise him is those around jackson on a daily basis didn't do more to save him. randi kaye, cnn, los angeles. a huge crowd is expected today in mississippi for a final farewell to steve mcnair, shot and killed last week. larry smith is outside the site of the memorial service with more now. larry? >> susan, mourners began lining up three hours before the start of this service which will commence at the top of the hour. the first of a capacity crowd of more than 8,000 expected to say their good-byes to steve mcnair. he was more than a retired

football star here. he was an active leading part of this very tight knit mississippi community. his son was the star wide receiver for a local hospital's football team and it was two weeks ago mcnair staged his final football camp on the campus of southern miss. he led the titans to their only super bowl a decade ago and was named the nfl's most valuable player at one time in his career. the tone will be a celebration of life accomplishments not the decision he made in recent months that led to his death a murder -- suicide. reports throughout the day on hln. larry smith reporting from mississippi. families may have to wait several days to visit loved ones buried at an illinois cemetery because the grounds have been declared a crime scene. hundreds of bodies at the cemetery were allegedly dug up and dumped in a scheme to resell burial plots. tom dart says he has received thousands of complaints about the scheme, half of which are about missing headstones.

>> our goal is to reopen the cemetery shortly. we're hoping within five days or so we're going to be able to have our hands around this better to where we can identify certain sections where we don't believe there was a crime scene and we're going to be allowing people in. >> four former workers seen here are accused in the scheme. authorities say they made about $300,000 in the scam, which dates back at least four years. passengers and crew got out of this plane as fast as they could when a smoky order filled the cabin of that plane. 15 people were hurt during the evacuation that happened at phoenix airport yesterday. passengers apparently smelled the odor while the plane was preparing to take off for london. a fire department spokesman says the smoke may have been causeded by i electrical problems. a florida couple that adopted 12 children was found shot to death thursday night. police say byrd and melanie billings were probably victims of a home invasion.

an employee for the couple found their bodies, eight of their children were home when the shootings occurred, but they were unharmed. some of the billings' children have special needs. >> and i can tell you the members in our investigative section are somewhat stunned by this also because if you was to go throughout the county and say, well, someone is living in the wrong area or someone's involved in an activity that would bring this upon them, that would not fit the billings' family because they do not fit that profile. >> meanwhile, authorities are looking for three men in a red van in connection to the killings. when it comes to buying a house, one person's eye sore can be another person's bargain. >> sheetrock was ripped from the first floor to the second floor. lots of mildew. lots of mold. >> habitat for humanity is snatching up those damaged foreclosed homes and wait until you hear how it's paying off big in one city.

selling merchandise on on-line is getting more tricky these days. money expert clark howard warns you about an unfriendly act called friendly fraud. >> i have a special warning for you if you are a business person who has an e-commerce site. there is a new hot ripoff going on, being referred to as friendly fraud. i don't see anything friendly about it. don't even know how they came up with that expression. this is how it works. you sell something to someone on your e-commerce site. you send it to them and then they dispute the charge with their credit card company saying they didn't receive the merchandise. even though they did. there's also happening, according to the "wall street journal" to expedia. people are buying airline tickets and then later saying, i can't go on that trip, and then

they're disputing it saying they never bought a ticket. here's what you need to know as a merchant. if you're sending expensive merchandise you need to send it a method with tracking and tracing and have it signed for so there's no question later on if it's disputed whether you sent the goods or not. i'm clark howard for more ways to protect yourself, go to cnn.com/clark howard. >> and you can get much more great advice from clark, that's today at noon. in the struggling economy clark will help you save more, spend less, avoid getting ripped off.

habitat for humanity is a great organization. it's known for building homes for low income families. well, now it's buying them, too. that's because of the huge

amount of foreclosed properties up for sale. habitat in charlotte is finding it cheaper to repair a foreclosed house than to build one from the ground up. >> a more efficient and effective use of our donors' money. >> we have done roofing, like ceiling and today we're painting. >> now, the foreclosed homes are usually pretty badly damaged. someone ripped out the sheetrock and stole the furnace from this house right here, but it's still a great deal. habitat buys foreclosures for $30,000 to $50,000 compared to the $60,000 it takes to build a habitat home. worry about swine flu caused a group of tourists to drive themselves to a florida hospital by bus. they wanted to get checked out after a several kids on board the chartered bus got sick and complained about flu-like symptoms. the health department confirmed at least one child on board that bus was diagnosed with influenza a earlier this week. right now, 80% of all influenza a cases turn out to be swine flu.

the hospital gave the kids medication and masks to wear on their 12-hour trip back home to mississippi. hello. just think of how big of a night it was for giants' pitcher jonathan sanchez his dad just flown in from puerto rico to see him pitch in the majors the first time. last night against the padres, sanchez threw a no-hitter and it took an incredible twist of fate, sanchez was only starting because future hall of famer randy johnson got injured. his dad came down on the field afterwards and broke down, shedding tears, such a great moment. i'm thinking sanchez might get another start and wouldn't surprise me if dad is there too. this is the story that has sports fans buzzing and no one's seen the videotape. nike is being so protective of lebron james' image they confiscated a tape of a college kid jamming in lebron's face at a pick-up game. everyone is asking, what's the

big deal? it was back in may. courtney lee of the orlando magic did it not once, but twice in their playoff series with lebron's cavaliers. nike says it was against the rules to be videotaping the pick-up game. now someone is selling a shirt that says "i dunked on lebron but he stole my videotape." that's awesome. this putt is so good it's worth calling it the play of the day. the u.s. women's open. rachel hetherington, the long birdie attempt, the ball almost stops. but then, get it going again. takes a right turn and activate the tractor beams, stay on target, stay on targtsz, and it is in the hole. that is the play of the day and that's sports. i'm jeff fischell. a pennsylvania swim club director is defending the club from accusations of racism. why he thinks it was okay to cancel swimming privileges to some young campers. stay tuned for this.

the bush administration's domestic surveillance program was actually much bigger than previously acknowledged. a new report from inspectors

general to lawmakers says intelligence agencies were collecting unprecedented amount of data after 9/11. president bush, as you know, he allowed the interception of some communication into and out of the u.s. without a court warrant. the new report says the surveillance program relied on factually flawed legal analysis based on the advice of only one justice department attorney. there are signs of movement in california's ongoing budget crisis after talks broke down earlier this week. governor arnold schwarzenegger and lawmakers from both parties are meeting again today to discuss ways to close a $26 billion budget shortfall. meanwhile, major banks aren't accepting the state's ious anymore. citigroup says it will accept the ious for another week. so far the state printed more than 91,000 ious worth more than $350 million. it plans to issue nearly $3 billion worth to pay for its july bills. the president of a

pennsylvania swim club is denying that he doesn't want african-american kids to come there. he was accused of racism when he canceled swimming privileges to a day care center with mostly african-american kids. some of the kids say they heard club members asking why black children were there. the day care's check was later returned without explanation. and the director told a local tv station, those kids changed the atmosphere of the club. but now he says the club is just too small to accept so many kids and it could have presented a safety issue. he also says he didn't mean to offend anyone. ♪ you've heard about electric cars and hybrids, night how about a vehicle made of vegetables and fruits and powered on chocolate fuel? sasha harraman takes a spin in this lean green machine. take a look. >> reporter: filled with vegetables and powered by chocolate this is the latest

formula 3 racing car and reached the top speed around 140 miles per hour. it's been built by this team at warwick university to see how green they can race. >> we looked at each part of the car, we tried to do something green for all the bits of it. >> reporter: fear of getting too literal. >> i have here an apple and a chocolate bar. i'm told that car over there -- how does it use these? >> the guys that work at university have been innovative in how they've extracted the fuels from the chocolate. >> reporter: they say they've converted the cocoa butter from waste chocolate into biodiesel and the apple? >> the apple is very much the same thing. you can extract the oil from anything really that's got oils within it. >> great. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: so let's look at the car as a whole. the diesel engine can run on waste materials. some of the body work uses hemp fibers and recycled bottles. the seat uses foam made from soy beans. the steering wheel is made from

carrots and the wing mirrors contain potato starch. but what's the point of it? after all the car is fast, 140 miles per is fast at 140 miles an hour, but not fast enough. it would need to hit 160 miles an hour to have a chance of winning a race. and formula 3 races don't allow biodiesel cars to race anyway. the answer lies in the application. >> these are the early days of the materials. some have been quite challenging to make parts in on our car but in the future we hope they'll spread into other forms of motor sport and road cars. >> reporter: so what do the experts think? first environmental academic. >> it's nice when you think of your own usage, oh, yes, we can be green when we use this stuff from corn or sugar beet or whatever. then you think okay, what's that displacing and what's it doing for the poor people of the world in terms of their price of food?

then there are very much limitations. >> reporter: and the racing expert -- does it make the grade for formula 3. >> not only are you going to have to create new cars with designer and a new factory to come up with a new formula, but you're suggesting maybe they're going to have a new energy power. to bring all that together at the same time is probably quite a challenge. >> reporter: the bottom line is -- >> i'm a slightly frustrated racing car driver yeah. but it's great fun. >> reporter: how do i get this thing off? i'm trapped. i'm stuck. >> pretty amazing there. to learn more about this eco friendly car and other important environmental news, just go to out of bounds website cnn.com/ecosolutions. now stimulus dollars are making their way on to one

congressman's turf, so now what does he have to say about it? they said it would never last.

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