they restrained her, and she was brutally sexually assaulted for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. >> an 8-year-old girl, 8, is a victim of a brutal gang rape near a vacant apartment complex. you are not going to believe how old the alleged suspects are. also, still making waves, a troubling arrest of a black ivy league professor accused of breaking into his own house. what officials are doing to make sure the controversy does not hit home again. also he says people missed the humor. they say he missed the point. why governor schwarzenegger is catching heat over california's budget cuts. well, happy friday eve as we call it around here. we are so glad to have you with

us. we appreciate your company. you know, any moment now, federal authorities are expected to make an announcement about a major public corruption and money laundering bust, this was in new jersey, so let me tell you what we know, the fbi arrested dozens of people, many of them prominent officials, including the mayors of hoboken and seacaucus, the deputy payor of new jersey city and several rabbis were arrested in connection with the money laundering portion of this investigation. we're awaiting for a press conference and we will be watching that and bring you the details as soon as we get them. meanwhile, a new autopsy finds the third wife of former cop drew peterson was, in fact, killed. a forensic pathologist is now ruling kathleen savio's death a homicide. she and peterson were going through a bitter divorce when she was found dead in her bathtub in 2004. initially her death was ruled an accident, but they took a second

look after peterson's fourth wife stacy disappeared in 2007. now on "issues with jane velez-mitchell," lisa bloom described in detail the injuries savio sustained, which is the new information we're getting. and talking about why those are consistent with someone struggling to stay alive. >> he talks primarily about the bruises. and he says that there were a number of bruises on her body. a 1-inch blunt force laceration on the back of her head, five scraping abrasions and six blunt force black and blue contusions on her extremities, abdomen, and buttocks. some of them he couldn't see anymore, relying on the first autopsy, but some he could still see 3 1/2 years later. and he's saying that's indicative of a struggle and therefore this was not an accident. >> peterson's in jail charged with first-degree murder in savio's death. and stacy peterson has not yet been found.

possible gang violence left six people wounded as gun shots rang out on the southern university campus. a tsu spokesperson said investigators believe rival gangs in the houston area are behind last night's gunfight. now, describing the injuries as serious, but not life threatening, saying at least one of the injured was a tsu student. no arrests have been made, but police are reportedly questioning people and as many as 6,000 people were actually at the block party. investigators have seized new evidence from the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. dr. conrad murray, of course. he was paid $150,000 a month to care for jackson. his lawyer says los angeles police and dea agents copied files from a computer hard drive for forensic analysis. and they also seized 21 documents during a raid of the houston clinic, yesterday, which we were watching here live. murray's attorney says the search warrant seeking evidence of manslaughter came as quite a surprise.

>> this is a major development in the case. i mean, here we have conrad murray's attorney admitting there's an ongoing manslaughter investigation and we know that a los angeles judge has issued a search warrant. now judges can only issue a search warrant where there's probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, in this case, manslaughter, and there's probable cause to believe that evidence of that crime is at dr. conrad murray's office. so i think we can safely say that authorities are looking at him probably as suspects -- >> police have not identified, we want to point out, dr. murray whom you see here as a suspect. again, not a suspect, but the final coroner's report of what killed jackson could be released by next week. investigators also paid a visit to one of jackson's former nurses who claims the star asked her for the powerful drug diprivan. investigators wanted copies of medical files that she had on the singer.

>> joining us tonight exclusively since these subpoenas went out, that nurse, the former nurse to michael jackson, today, her office searched by the coroner's office and they have made it very clear publicly she is not a suspect. in fact, is cooperating, helping police in their investigation. cherilyn lee, thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me, nancy. >> i know you tried to stop michael jackson from his collision course. coroners at your office today, what were they looking for? what did they take? >> well, you know, i have been conversing with them ever since friday. actually friday before the july 3rd, before the 4th of july. and we were to meet at my office. and there was some traffic and right before holiday, we'd meet up in my office, one of the deputies was going to meet me at my office, that didn't happen. so we've been in communication, and i knew they wanted a copy.

they said i had a call last week, last friday that, you know, based on protocol that we have to issue you a subpoena. i said, i know, i understand that. and she said, well, what i'll do is e-mail it to you and you can fax it back to me. and i said, okay, then the more i thought about it, i said i went through so much. and everything that i've been stating, you know, is in details and in this file. so i wanted to make sure that it was very clear on every nutritional level, as far as testing everything, that everybody saw a clear picture. >> now, from the search from evidence, to the fight over jackson's multimillion dollar estate, hln's nancy grace will have all of the late-breaking developments tonight at 8:00 and 10:00 eastern right here on hln. welm, the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts, is meeting with the city's police chief today to discuss the recent arrest of henry louis gates jr.

gates, remember, was arrested in his own home last week when an officer arrived to investigate a possible break-in. he reportedly demanded gates show him identification and police say gates at first refused and accused the officer of racism. the mayor has apologized to gates and said she wants to ensure such a scenario doesn't happen again. but the arresting officer says he did nothing wrong. >> that apology will never come. it won't come from me as jim crowley and won't come from me as sergeant of the cambridge police department. whatever anybody else chooses to do in the name of the city of cambridge, it's beyond my control and i don't worry about that. i know what i did was right. i have nothing to apologize for. >> sergeant james crowley there arrested gates on a disorderly conduct charge. and he wrote in his police report that gates became belligerent upon questioning. gates dispute that and said he'd forgive crowley if he told the truth.

>> i haven't heard from sergeant crowley, i would be prepared to listen to him. if i were convinced that -- if he would tell the truth about what he did. about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report. i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. if this can happen to me in harvard square, this can happen to anybody in the united states, and i'm determined that it never happen to anybody again. >> now, during a prime time address last night, president obama said he thinks police made a mistake in arresting gates and applied race may have been a factor. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. race remains a factor in society. that doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. i am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made.

and yet, the fact of the matter is that, you know, this still haunts us. >> sergeant crowley says he's disappointed by the president's comments and says the president does not know all of the facts. so this brings us to your view today, should the arresting officer, first of all, apologize, or give us your stance in this respect. what do you think about the president of the united states commenting on this incident during his big push for health care reform? in the middle of the investigation, call us at 1-877-tell-hln, or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln or text us, views, comments, your name to hln tv, standard text rates apply. and we're going to update you throughout the day on what you are saying, what your fellow viewers are saying, we thank you so much for being part of the conversation. i want to share a programming note with you too. professor gates is actually just one person featured in "black in america 2," part two of the documentary airs tonight on our sister network cnn.

and soledad o'brien reports on people developing african-american leaders for the next generation. that's at 8:00 eastern on cnn. i've got to tell you, unbelievable details have surfaced in the case of an 8-year-old girl who police say was gang raped. how they say four boys lured the young girl to an empty room and why reaction from the girl's parents makes this case even more stunning.

well, we are learning chilling details on a brutal attack on an 8-year-old girl. phoenix police say she was gang raped by four boys who lured her into a storage shed with chewing gum. this was last week. police say the suspects between 9 and 14 years old held her down and brutally assaulted her for 10 to 15 minutes.

but here's what makes this story even more unbelievable and shocking. police say the girl's parents who are originally from the african country of liberia blame her for bringing shame to their family. >> the parents felt that they had been shamed or embarrassed by their child and that's not acceptable. >> the suspects are facing sexual assault and kidnapping charges. the girl, by the way, is in the custody now of child protective services. $1 billion worth of marijuana plants were seized in california. you heard me right, that's billion with a b, the fresno county sheriff's office says it's part of operation save our sierra. huge effort here to eradicate marijuana fields. 82 suspects arrested so far have links to mexican drug cartel. >> they come here, go on to our

public lands, grow the marijuana, actually live in the garden. >> the bottom line is our public lands are being destroyed by foreign drug trafficking organizations and heavily armed mexican marijuana cartels. >> now, the operation's expected to continue into the fall when colder weather makes marijuana growing more difficult there too. well, florida police officers are trying to find the people who heisted $70,000 worth of mexican beer. tampa officials say somebody took about 3,000 six packs and cases of beer when they stole two tractor trailers. >> beer is a commodity that everyone wants. those of us that drink. and i think also, it's a commodity probably they knew they can get rid of quickly. >> most retailers know they can't take any of the hi-jacked beer and it's a lot of beer for somebody to drink. >> they plan on beefing up security, obviously, in the

future, but the trailers that were taken were insured. arnold schwarzenegger may be taking the term budget cuts literally. the california governor is catching some heat for this video he put on twitter.

a private funeral for legendary news man walter cronkite will be held this afternoon in manhattan. it's starting in about an hour and 45 minutes. family, friends, and many cbs

colleagues will be there and speakers include "60 minutes" commentator andy rooney as well as cronkite's son. he will be buried at a cemetery in kansas city, missouri. the veteran journalist known as the most trusted man in america died last friday. he was 92. president obama is going on the road today continuing to push for health care reform. he's pleading a public forum outside cleveland. the president will also tour the cleveland clinic, which he cited as an example of a system that works well. last night, president obama told the country without reform, insurance premiums and out of pocket costs will skyrocket. and he says overhauling the system will not only help those who don't have health care, but also those who do. >> if you have health insurance, the reform we're proposing will provide you with more security and more stability. it will keep government out of health care decisions giving you the option to keep your

insurance that you're happy with. if you don't have insurance or you're small business looking to cover your employees, you'll be able to choose a health program through a health insurance exchange, a marketplace that promotes choice and competition. finally, no insurance company will be allowed to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition. >> congressional gop leaders taped a rebuttal before the news conference insisting that the current system is better than anything the democrats have proposed thus far. some republicans in the senate are now working behind closed doors on a compromise bill. >> we look forward to being able to move a health care proposal this year on a truly bipartisan basis. one that doesn't increase the deficit, one that doesn't put the government in charge of our health care, one that doesn't produce a system that in the end delays care in many instances denies care, and of course, in

order to do that rationing care. i don't think the american people want any of that, nor should we be trying to pass it. california governor arnold schwarzenegger, meanwhile, ruffled some feathers when he held a large knife in a twitter video about state budget cuts. now schwarzenegger says people missed the humor in his message. the governor held the 2-foot long knife while he was thanking residents for their creativity and their efforts to try and help eliminate the state's $26 billion deficit. >> hey, guys, i just want to say thanks very much for the great news you're giving me. we talked about making some cuts in the budget, getting rid of some of the state's cost and then all of a sudden you come up with the great ideas, why not just sign and sell it for more money. i love your ideas, give me more of those ideas, we need it. >> about 15% of the state's

40,000 cars will be autographed by the governor and auctioned off. that happens next month in august. and it's expected that they could raise about $24 million. meanwhile, the legislature is considering the budget compromise today and votes could come tomorrow. we learned one of osama bin laden's sons may have been killed in a u.s. missile strike. a u.s. counter terrorism official says there's no hard evidence he died in the attacks, but says there is intelligence that he was killed by a missile from a drone aircraft earlier this year in pakistan. the official says the younger bin laden is not a key player in al qaeda. okay. schwarzenegger's probably thinking this today too. you better watch you post on those social networking sites like facebook and twitter. hln money expert clark howard says what you say could cost you your next job. >> you know, with all that's been going on in iran, there's been so much talk about twitter

and facebook and myspace, and the instantaneous nature of communication. well, i want to talk about something about that. a lot of times people will post something in haste or in anger that later on they're going to regret. one area i want to mention to you is if you were laid off from your job or you're fired, be very careful what you twitter to somebody about that, be careful what you put on facebook or myspace because what you say in a moment of anger or that moment of upset stays there and can haunt you. so what should you do? any time you want to post anything that might be a little out there, take your time, sleep on it, you can always post the next day. and on the job front, be discreet, don't trash your ex-employer ever. for more smart tips, go to

cnn.com/clarkhoward. well, president obama says police in cambridge, massachusetts, acted stupidly when they arrested a respected harvard scholar. the officer at the center of the controversy says he's not apologizing.

cnn, headlines news, or msnbc are locked on your favorites? if they are i've got the gift for you. i'm gonna richardson and my next guest is ken pullson. a pleasure to have you here. >> good to be with you >> what is the museum. most people know. >> sometimes there you an a museum in articling ton, virginia called the museum. it was an effort to remind americans of the value of news

gathering in america and a nod to the first amendment. we did so well there so we decided to take it where the action is. we have a brand new museum called a the museum on pennsylvania avenue. it's a -- it's a 45 word sign out front with the words of the first amendment 'em blazed there. we think it's healthy for them to read that says congress shall make no law. we're attempting to put it in neon. >> it is flashing? >> it's not a tribute to journalists. we had a blogger say i'm not going to set foot in that museum until they do an extra special to copy editors. it is not about you. it is a museum of history but a different kind that reports what happened over the last several

centuries through the eyes of journalists. so you get contemporary coverage of the assassination of kennedy and arrival of the beatles and the civil war and fascinating >> exactly. what have the visitors reactions been for the first year? exciting. we see the full range of course. tremendous amount of school groups and a lot of tourists visiting washingt washingto was. we bill ourselves as the world's most interactive museum. young people can play the part of a reporter or an editor or a journalist. we can even stand up in front of what you and your business called blue screen, to tape a broadcast announcement for their friends and family and then send it out to friends at home. amazing exhibits there. i well tell you, i can say this with some degree of humility.

i just joined the museum in february, i've been the editor of u.s. a. today for the last five years. we have the largest piece of the berlin wall in north america. you can go there and see that and the guard tower in collaboration and partnership with the f.b. i.we celebrate their 100th anniversary and we have phenomenal artifacts. we have the unibomber's cabin believe it or not. and depending on your age, some of your viewers probably remember patty hurst and her tenure with the liberation army. we have the gun she used in the bank robbery and the leather jacket she wore. we have can coverage including

dillinger's death mask and the bullet pruf vest he zn wear on that night >> with you have so many different exhibits. what do you have planned for us your second year? >> one of the great things about working for a museum where news is in the title we're updating and reflect the headlines in the museum. not long ago when there was an uproar in iran we covered the social network and the twittering. when newspapers have collapsed and some markets we quickly reported that. upcoming exhibits include: throughout the next year you'll be able to see manhunt exhibit about the assassination of abraham lincoln and barack ob a obama. >> i'm so sorry. we've run out of time but everyone has got and go and see the museum. >> thank you very much

>> my guest has been ken pullson president of i'll clean the pool if you clean the windows. pick the windows, pick the windows! anything but the windows. deal. oh! new windex outdoor all-in-one... cleans outdoor glass fast. just spray with water, wipe with a windex cleaning pad, and rinse for a streak-free shine in half the time. you're done? she pulled a fast one! ( laughs ) new windex outdoor all-in-one. a streak-free shine in half the time. s.c. johnson, a family company. i'm sorry. i can't hear you very well. announcer: does someone you know have trouble hearing on the phone? dad. dad, let me help you with that, okay? announcer: now, a free phone service shows captions of everything a caller says. i'd like to make an appointment to see the doctor. announcer: to learn more about captioned telephone, call 1-800-552-7724

or go to our website. i'll see you at 3:00! announcer: captioned telephone - enjoy the phone again! it is being called the largest public corruption bust in new jersey history. 44 people are charged. many of them prominent officials, and more arrests, we understand, are expected. flat out bribery is at the heart of this case, allegedly, cash stuffed into envelopes to go for political favors. among those hauled into fbi headquarters this morning, the mayors of hoboken and seacaucus, several rabbis were also arrested in connection with the money laundering part of this investigation. john corzine issued this statement "any corruption is unacceptable anywhere, any time, by anybody, the scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and

cannot be tolerated." you're looking at live pictures from new jersey of a news conference. we are waiting, you can see the podium and the mikes already. and we'll take you there as soon as they start this press conference to give us more information into these corruption charges and exactly what happened. meanwhile, the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts, is meeting with the city's police chief today to discuss the recent arrest of harvard professor of henry louis gates jr. now gates was arrested in his own home last week when an officer arrived to investigate a possible break-in. reportedly demanded gates show him identification. police say at first gates refused and accused the officer of racism. now the mayor's apologized to gates and says she wants to ensure such a scenario doesn't happen again. but the arresting officer says he did nothing wrong. >> that apology will never come. it won't come from me as jim crowley and won't come from me as sergeant of the cambridge police department. whatever anybody else chooses to do, in the name of the city of

cambridge, the cambridge police department is beyond my control. and i don't worry about that. i know what i did was right and i have nothing to apologize for. >> the sergeant arrested james on a disorderly conduct charge and wrote in his police report that he became belligerent. and gates disputes that and said he'd forgive crowley if he would tell the truth. >> if i were convinced he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions that he fabricated in the police reports. i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. because if this can happen to me in harvard square, this can happen to anybody in the united states and i'm determined that it never happen to anybody again. >> now, a man who took a picture of gates being led from his home in handcuffs said gates was slightly out of control and agitated when he saw him.

bill carter was walking by the house and said he could hear gates yelling and the officers trying to calm him down. >> mr. gates appeared to be agitated and i did not see the policemen making any fast moves, i would have to say it was probably mr. gates who was a little bit -- as the police report said belligerent. >> do you believe that professor gates was belligerent? >> i believe he was out of control. i didn't hear anything he was saying so i couldn't say he was belligerent. >> so we want to ask you what your view is on everything that's happened thus far. should the arresting officer apologize first of all? give us a call, won't you, at 1-877-tell-hln or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. you can text this to the word views, comments to hln tv standard text rates apply. your thoughts are important to us here, so thank you very much for taking part. a new autopsy finds the

third wife of former cop drew peterson was, in fact, killed. the forensic pathologist is now ruling kathleen savio's death a homicide, formally here. she and peterson were going through a bitter divorce when she was found dead in her bathtub in 2004. initially investigators said her death was an accident, but took at look after peterson's fourth wife stacy disappeared in '07. on "issues," lisa bloom went through the autopsy and describing in detail the injuries sustained and why they're consistent with someone struggling to stay alive. >> he talks primarily about the bruises. and he says that there were a number of bruises on her body. a 1-inch blunt force laceration on the back of her head, five scraping abrasions and six blunt force black and blue contusions on her extremities, abdomen, and buttocks. some of them he couldn't see anymore. he's relying on the first autopsy, but some of them he could still see 3 1/2 years

later. and he's saying that's indicative of a struggle. and therefore, this was not an accident. >> now peterson is in jail charged with first-degree murder in savio's death and stacy peterson has not been found. well, investigators have seized new evidence from the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. dr. conrad murray was paid, as we understand, $150,000 a month to care for jackson. murray's lawyer says los angeles police and dea agents copied files for forensic analysis. now they also seized 21 documents during a raid. this was of his houston clinic yesterday. you are watching that live with us yesterday. the doctor's attorney said the search warrant seeking evidence of manslaughter came as quite a surprise. >> this is a major development in the case. i mean, here we have conrad murray's attorney admitting there's an ongoing manslaughter investigation and we know that a los angeles judge has issued a search warrant. now, judges can only issue a

search warrant where there's probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, in this case, manslaughter, and there's probable cause to believe that evidence of that crime is at dr. conrad murray's office. so i think we can safely say that authorities are looking at him, probably as a suspect. >> police have not identified dr. murray as a suspect, we want to point out. the final coroner's report on what killed jackson could be released by next week. okay. right now, we want to take you to new jersey where folks are talking about a huge corruption sweep that's led to the arrest of several mayors and religious leaders. >> and in particular, from my office who coordinated this case, including our deputy chief ryan howe, two of our senior litigation council, mark mckaren, assistant u.s. attorney sandra moeser and maureen nakly. today, we're here to announce

the takedown of a large scale dual track investigation. on the public corruption side, the fbi and the irs have arrested and noticed for arrest 29 individuals. including assemblymen and mayors, underscoring more than ever the pervasive nature of public corruption in this state. on the other side, the fbi and irs have arrested and summoned 15 members of connected international money laundering rings, including five rabbis and their associates. as outlined in the complaints, these rings led by clergymen cloak their extensive criminal activity behind a facade of rectitude. let me tell you a few more details and then they will talk a little bit more about the investigation. and a few remarks.

arrested today, just going to be a couple of my highlights. daniel van telps from ocean county, harvey smith has to be summoned because he is out of state. he is also an assemblyman from hudson county. his warrant is unsealed at this time. some of his noteworthy statements as set forth in the complaint include the following. at one point when the cw referred to a $5,000 payoff and said he was generous to smith, smith's response was according to your standards you're generous, and another point he told the cw to stop talking about money. he said, i feel like i should pat you down. the next person i'll mention is peter camerano iii, i think he's been in office for about three weeks. some of his noteworthy statements include on may 19th at the malibu diner, talking about the runoff election in

hoboken saying i could be indicted and still get 85% to 95% of the vote. later in that conversation he told the cw, the cooperating witness, he broke the world down into three. people with us, you guys, people who climbed on board in the runoff, they have to get in line. and people who were against us the whole way, they get ground into powder. on june 23rd, when the cw offered $10,000, he says great. and we're going to be friends for a long time. the next person i want to mention is the mayor of seak seacauc seacaucus, the next one is the mayor of ridgefield burro. lou manzo, for jersey city

mayor. according to the complaints, his brother ron also charged today coached the c.w. so that when the c.w. said i'm investing in lou -- >> you're listening to ralph marro jr., the acting attorney there in new jersey. talking about this corruption arrest, of 44 people who are charged, a corruption probe. of 29 people including assemblymen and mayors and there are arrests and they've summoned five rabbis and associates of those rabbis, as well, saying that they were acting as these rings that were led by clergymen that pretty much hid some of this money laundering going on. he's here naming these people, one of them peter camerano iii, who he believes has been mayor for three weeks, i believe, of hoboken. and talking about some of the statements that they have from

those men when they did not know that they were being listened to. you can listen to the rest of this press conference here coming from new jersey live on cnn.com/live as he continues to break down everything that led to this investigation. some financial experts will tell you, this is one of the best times to start a new business. that's encouraging news, right? with the shaky economy. but how do you pay for it?@ stephanie elam asked our entrepreneur and discovered there's money out there if you know where to look in this edition of "money in main street." >> she's hooked on coffee. >> i had my first shot of espresso when i was 14, and it was pretty amazing for me. >> reporter: with the dream of opening a coffee house, she went to seattle to learn at the aprons of the best. >> i saw them pour that and i said i'm not leaving this town until i learn how to do that. >> reporter: she returned to

boston and last fall launched a mobile espresso catering company. >> this is where the magic happens. >> reporter: she knew her business acumen could use a jolt. so with the help of a few aids. >> i wrote my business plan with all of these business plan writing for dummies and things. >> reporter: then took her plan to the small business administration and directed to a company specializing in micro-loans. it had just begun a partnership with samuel adams to help small food and beverage businesses get funding and free advice. >> i love lucy's dedication to the quality of her product. and i'm a big believer that, you know, a great product and the patience they can bring to that. >> reporter: she started voltage with her $2,000 and the $4,000 loan she got through the sam adams brewing the american dream program. >> so it covered the espresso machine, the grinders, my

tables, the membership costs, licensing, and my costs for a few months with the commercial kitchen facility that i use. >> now, she's focussed on a store front. but she has to incorporate, find a space, and get a loan. >> i need to convince someone to give me $180,000. that's a good chunk of change. >> reporter: despite the economy, she remains undaunted. >> i'm going to keep working at it. i'm not letting up. i'm not letting up, boston. i don't care. >> reporter: stephanie elam, cnn, massachusetts. it is horrific and jaw-dropping. the case of an 8-year-old girl who police say was gang raped and police are describing how four boys were able to lure her to the empty storage shed, but the reaction from the girl's parents makes her story even more unbelievable.

it is so good to have you %ith us today. arnold schwarzenegger ruffled feathers. schwarzenegger says people missed the humor in his message here. he held that 2-foot long knife as you see actually while he was thanking residents for their efforts to help reduce the deficit. >> hey, guys, i wanted to say thanks very much for the ideas you're giving me. we talked about making cuts in the budget, getting ready for some of the state's costs, and then all of a sudden you come up with the great ideas, why not just sign the cars and since you're a celebrity governor, sign the cars and sell it for more money. that's exactly what we're going to do. i love your ideas. give me more of those ideas, we need it. >> so now about 15% of the state's 40,000 cars be

autographed by the governor and auctioned off in august and that's expected to raise about $24 million. meanwhile, the legislature is considering the budget compromise today and votes could come by tomorrow. a private funeral, the legendary newsman walter cronkite will be held today in manhattan. family, friends, many of the cbs colleagues will all be there. including "60 minutes" commentator andy rooney, and cronkite's son. he will be buried next to his wife betsy in kansas city, missouri. known as the most trusted man in america died last friday at 92. possible gang violence left six people wounded when gun shots rang out at a massive block party in texas's southern university campus. rival gangs are the houston area are believed to be behind last night's gunfire. she says at least one of the

injured was a tsu student, though, no arrests have been made, but police are reportedly questioning people and as many as 6,000 people were at that block party. we're really learning chilling details about a brutal attack on an 8-year-old girl in arizona. phoenix police say she was gang raped by four boys who lured her into a storage shed with chewing gum. this happened last week, police say the suspects between 9 and 14 years old held this girl down and brutally assaulted her for 10 to 15 minutes. here's what makes this story even more shocking. police say the girl's parents who are originally from the country of liberia blame her for bringing shame to their family. >> the parents felt they had been shamed or embarrassed by their child. and that's not acceptable. >> now, the suspects are facing sexual assault and kidnapping

charges. the girl is in the custody of child protective services now. an arkansas jury is deliberating right now sex crime charges against this man, tony alamo. they say he took underage girls across state lines for sex 15 years ago after marrying them. defense attorneys say the girls were traveling on legitimateala. the 74-year-old chose not to testify on his behalf and fell asleep during yesterday's closing arguments. i'm jane velez-mitchell and here's my issue. navigating the male-dominated world of sports has got to be tough enough for erin andrews. now while out on the job she was a victim of a repulsive and illegal invasion of privacy. some creep secretly taped her naked in her hotel room and

posted the videos online. radaronline says espn thinks one of their own is responsible. if true, then it shouldn't be too hard to narrow down the suspects. suspect. sexism comes in many, many disguises. especially in the sports world. violating an and undermining a female reporter using peephole perversion is just another high-tech form of the same old sexism that's been around long before baseball and it's a foul play. i'm jane velez-mitchell and that's my issue. >> tonight on issues, does michael jackson have a love child? there are rumors swirling that the king of pop actually has a fourth child. jane debates it. watch "issues" with jane velez-mitchell every night on hln. we're learning that an american pleaded guilty in january to charges of helping al qaeda and attacking military bases within afghanistan. now the indictment has just been unsealed. court documents show he was

accused of helping al qaeda get information on the new york city transit system. the fbi will not say whether he's been sentenced, but he's in the custody of the u.s. marshal service. secretary of state hillary clinton in north korea. trading some jabs and insults now, speaking in thailand, clinton said the reclusive communist state has quote no friends left to defend it from more u.n. sanctions. she also compared the regime to small children demanding attention. north korea, which has refused to give up its nuclear program says six-party talks are over. it released a statement calling clinton a funny lady who quote looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping, unquote. boy, talk about making a beer run -- thieves in tampa made away with $70,000 of brew, that sounds like a lot to carry. it turns out transportation, that wasn't a problem.

[ 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 ]-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-dd

a major corruption crackdown in new jersey, dozens of people are behind bars, including at least three new jersey mayors and five rabbis. president obama is weighing in on this, on harvard professor herry gates arrest, saying that the police acted stupid live. do you agree with this? your view. and in his days as action star, arnold schwarzenegger, he may have gotten away with brand issuing a weapon. now that he's governor of cash-strapped california, does this attempt at comedy cut a little too deeply? you'll decide on that, too, good thursday to you, this is hln news and views, so glad you're with us, i'm susan hendricks. we start in new jersey, it's being called the largest public corruption bust in new jersey history.

and it's been ten years in the making. 44 people are charged, many of them prominent officials. among those, called at fbi headquarters this morning, the mayors of hoboken and secaucus, a new jersey assemblyman and a deputy mayor of jersey city as well. five rabbis were also arrested in connection with the money laundering part of the investigation. flat-out bribery is at the heart of the case, cash stuffed into envelopes in exchange for political favors. authorities say politicians literally put themselves up for sale. we're quoting there. and even trafficked in human organs. >> in about two years, these defendants laundered over $3 million, just with rcw alone. i must also mention connected to the money laundering, we have one defendant, mr. rosenbaum, who we refer to as our kidney salesman. as set forth in the complaint, his business was to entice vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $10,000, which he in

turn would turn around and sell for $160,000. >> new jersey governor, jon corzine, issued this statement, saying quote, any corruption is unacceptable anywhere, any time, by anybody. the scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous, he says, and cannot be tolerated. another story we're tracking, a new autopsy finds evidence that the third wife of former cop, drew peterson, was in fact killed. a noted forensic pathology say kathleen peterson's saf yoe's did he have was a homicide. initially investigators said her death was an accident. but they took another look, after peterson's fourth wife, stacey, went miszing in 2007. on "issues" with jane velez-mitchell, lisa bloom witnessed savio's autopsy, in detail the injuries that she sustained and why they're consistent with someone struggling to stay alive.

>> he talks primarily about the bruises. and he says that there were a number of bruises on her body. a one-inch blunt-force laceration on the back of her head. five scraping abrasionings and six blunt-force black and blue contusions on her extremities, abdomen and buttocks. now some of them he couldn't see any more. he's relying on the first autopsy. but some of them he could still see. 3 1/2 years later. and he's saying that's indicative of a struggle. and therefore, this was not an accident. >> peterson is in jail, charged with first-degree murder in savio's death. stacey peterson has not been found. we want to tell you about possible gang violence, it left six people wounded when gunshots rang out at a massive block party on the campus of texas southern university. a tsu spokesperson said investigators believe rival gangs in the houston area are behind last night's gunfire. she described the injuries as serious, but nonlife-threatening. and she said at least one of the injured is a student. no arrests have been made so

far, but police are said to be questioning several people. as many as 6,000 people were at that block party. the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts, is meeting with city police chief, to discuss the recent arrest of harvard professor, henry lewis gates, jr. officers arrived to investigate a possible break-in. the officer reportedly demanded that gates showed him i.d. and police say that gates initially refused. the mayor has apologized to gates and says she wants to insure that such a scenario doesn't happen again. during a primetime address last night, president obama said he thinks that the police made a mistake in arresting gates. the arresting officer said he's disappointed by the president's remarks. >> he's the president of the united states and i support the president to a point. i think it's -- disappointing that he waded into what should be a local issue, and something that is really, that plays out

here. as he himself said at the beginning of that press conference, he didn't know all the facts. he certainly doesn't, based on those comments. i just think it was very disappointing. >> sergeant james crowley arrested gates on a disorderly conduct charge. he wrote in his report that gates became belligerent upon questioning and gates disputes that. >> i haven't heard from sergeant crowley, i would be prepared to listen to him if i were convinced that if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report. i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. because if this can happen to me in harvard square, this can happen to anybody in the united states. and i'm determined that it never happen to anybody again. >> president obama said he is friends with gates and implied race may have been a factor in this arrest. here he is. >> the cambridge police acted

stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. race remains a factor in this society. that doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. i am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made. and yet, the fact of the matter is, is that you know, this still haunts us. >> well the sergeant says he did nothing wrong and has no plans to apologize to gates. so what's your view on this? should the arresting officer apologize? or what do you think about the president of the you state commenting on this incident during his big push for health care reform? give us a call right now. we know you have a view on this one. 877-tell-hln. you can also text us. we have this just in to

hln -- authorities have captured the last of three inmates who escaped from a prison in indiana. there they are, mark booher was taken into custody at a hotel room in indianapolis, he was serving a 65-year sentence for murder and robbery. he along with convicted murderer charles smith and convicted rapist, lance battreal escaped july 12. smith was captured the next day. and battreal was caught this past tuesday. investigators have seized new evidence from the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. dr. conrad murray was paid $150,000 a month to care for michael jackson. well, his attorney says los angeles police and dea agents copied files from a computer hard drive for forensic analysis. they also seized 21 documents during a raid of his houston clinic yesterday. murray's attorney said the search warrant seeking evidence of manslaughter came as a big surprise. >> this is a major development in the case. i mean, here we have conrad

murray's attorney admitting that there's an ongoing manslaughter investigation and we know that a los angeles judge has issued a search warrant. now judges can only issue a search warrant where there's probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. in this case, manslaughter. and pls probable cause to believe that evidence of that crime is at dr. conrad murray's office. so i think we can safely say that authorities are looking at him probably as a suspect. >> police have not identified murray as a suspect. the final coroner's report on what killed michael jackson could be released by next week. we, of course, will keep you updated on that. meanwhile, investigators paid a visit to one of jackson's former nurses, who claims the star asked her for the powerful drug, diprivan. as sherylen lee told nancy grace, investigators wanted copies of medical files she had on the singer. >> joining us tonight, exclusively, as the subpoenas went out, that nurse, sheralyn

lee, her office searched by the coroner's office, and they've made it very clear, publicly, she is not a suspect. and in fact is cooperating, helping police in their investigation. ms. lee, thank you for being with us. >> caller: thank you, very much, nancy for having me. >> yes, ma'am. i know that you tried to stop michael jackson from his collision course. coroners at your office today, what were they looking for? what did they take? >> caller: well, you know, i have been conversing with them ever since friday. actually friday before the july 3rd, before the fourth of july. and we were to meet at my office. and based on traffic and you know, right before holiday, we didn't meet up at my office. one of the deputies was going to meet me at my office. so that didn't happen. so we've been in communication. and i knew, they wanted a copy. they said, i had a call last week, last friday, that you know, based on, you know,

protocol, that we have to issue you a subpoena. i said, i know, i understand that. and she said, well what i'll do is email it to you and you can fax it back to me. and i said, okay. then the more i thought about it, i said, i went through so much and everything that i've been stating, you know, is in detail. and in this file. so i wanted to make sure that it was very clear at every nutritional level, as far as testing everything, that everybody saw a clear picture. >> meanwhile, the "l.a. times" has reported security breaches in the jackson investigation. l.a. county coroners officials say at least six staffers improperly accessed michael jackson's death certificate and some employees may have even printed the document. jackson's death certificate has been viewed more than 300 times. from the search for evidence to the fight over michael jackson's multimillion-dollar estate, hln's nancy grace will have all the late-breaking developments. plus she's taking your calls. don't miss that, tonight at 8:00

and 10:00 eastern right here on hln. really a story dla is unthinkable, so horrific. new details have surfaced in the case of an 8-year-old girl who police say was gang-raped. how they say four young boys lured the young girl to an empty room and why reaction from the girl's parents make this case even more stunning. @

a private funeral for legendary newsman, walter cronkite, will start next hour in manhattan. family, friends and many of his cbs colleagues will be there. speakers include "60 minutes" kmem tator, andy roonny. cronkite will be buried next to his wife, betsy, at a cemetery in kansas city, missouri. the veteran cbs journalist, known as the most trusted man in america, died friday, he was 92. a billion dollars worth of

marijuana plants were seized in california. the fresno county sheriffs office said it's part of operation save our sierra, a huge effort to eradicate marijuana fields in the sierra mountains. the 82 suspects arrested so far have links to mexican drug cartels. >> they come here, they go into our public lands, grow the marijuana, actually live in the garden. >> the bottom line is our public lands are being destroyed by foreign drug trafficking organizations. and heavily-armed mexican marijuana cartels. >> the operation is expected to continue into the fall, when colder weather makes marijuana growing a little more difficult there. the first part of "black in america 2" premiered last night on our sister network, cnn and already, reporters are responding to it. desiree grover of chesterfield, pennsylvania, responded to the segment on the act of being

charitable, versus charity. >> i was especially pleased with the opening segment. where-in 27 youths from new york, from bushwood, new york. went to south africa to participate in charity work. kudos and blessings to melee, she made a powerful impression on me when she pointed out how far too often black youth are on the receiving end of charity, and not on the giving side. what she said is so true. i have personally watched affluent and well-meaning people practically dump charity on top of the neighborhood kids, without even learning their names. this repeated and redundant scenario has been damaging to the self-worth of poor black youth, in my opinion. it reinforces the false notion that black people are only weak enough to receive, but not strong enough to give. this happens far too often.

there's nothing more empowering than the ability to give. there is nothing more empowering than to know you have something to offer. >> we sure do appreciate all of the eye reporters sending things in. the second part of "black in america 2" airs tonight. we report on people who are developing african-american leaders for the next generation. at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cnn, stay close.

welcome back to hln on this thursday. the home town of a soldier captured by the taliban is showing its support. more than 500 people attended a vigil for private first class, beau bergdahl. his friends and neighbors marched from the coffee shop where he worked, before enlisting to a nearby park. he disappeared from his afghanistan base in june. he appeared in a video released by the taliban last week. we're learning chilling details about a brutal attack on an 8-year-old girl in arizona. phoenix police say she was gang-raped by four boys who lured her into a storage shed with chewing gum last week. police say the suspects, between nine and 14, held down the girl and brutally assaulted her for ten to 15 minutes. what makes this horrible story more shocking? police say the girl's parents, who are originally from the african country of liberia, blame her for bringing shame to their family.

>> the parents felt that they had been shamed or embarrassed by their child. and that's not acceptable. >> the suspects are facing sexual assault and kidnapping charges. the girl is now in the custody of child protective services. well, california governor, arnold schwarzenegger, ruffled some feathers, you could say, when he held a large knife in a twitter video about state budget cuts. schwarzenegger said people missed the humor in his message. the governor held the two-foot-long knife while he was thanking residents for their creative efforts to try to help eliminate the state's $26 billion budget deficit. >> hey, guys, i want to say thanks very much for the great advice you're giving me. we talk about making some cuts in the budget. getting rid of some of the state costs. and then all of a sudden you come up with the great ideas, why don't you sign the cars and

since you're a celebrity governor, sign the cars and sell it for more money. that's exactly what we're going to do. so i love your ideas, give me more of those ideas, we need it. >> about 15% of the state's 40,000 cars will be autographed by the governor and auctioned off in august. it's expected they could raise about $24 million. meanwhile, the legislature is considering the budget compromise today and votes could come tomorrow. you know, arnold may want to think about this, you better watch what you post on those social networking sites, like facebook and dwiter. hln money expert clark howard says what you say could cost you your next job. >> with all that's been going on in iran, there's been so much talk about twitter and facebook and myspace. and the instant nature of communication. well, i want to talk about something about that. a lot of times people will post something and in haste, or in anger. that later on, they're going to

regret. one area i want to mention to you is if you are laid off if your job or you're fired, be very careful what you twitter to somebody about that. be careful what you put on facebook or myspace. because what you say in a moment of anger or a moment of upset, stays there. and can haunt you. so what should you do? any time you want to post anything that might be a little out there, take your time. sleep on it. you can always post the next day. and on the job front, be discreet. don't trash your ex-employer, ever. i'm clark howard for more smart tips, go to cnn.com/hln/clarkhoward. >> get more great consumer advice from clark howard every saturday and sunday at noon and 4:00 p.m. eastern on hln. he'll help you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. president obama says police

in cambridge, massachusetts, acted stupidly when they arrested a respected harvard scholar. but the officer at the center of controversy said he won't apologize. your view, next.

1:30 eastern time, welcome back. the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts, is meeting with the city's police chief today, to discuss the recent arrest of harvard professor, henry louis gates jr. gates was arrested in his own home last week when an officer arrived to investigate a possible break-in. the officer reportedly demanded gates slow him i.d. police say gates at first refused and accused the officer of racism. the mayor has apologized to gates and said she wants to insure that such a scenario won't happen again. but the the arresting officer said he won't apologize because he was merely following police protocol. >> the reason i asked the professor to come outside was not, as some would suggest, because i knew i couldn't arrest him in his house.

i didn't know who he was. i was by myself, i was the only police officer standing there and i got a report that there was people breaking into a house. that was for my safety, first and foremost. i have to go home at night and i have three beautiful children and a wife who depend on me. so i had no other motive, other than to insure my safety. >> sergeant james crowley arrested gates on disorderly conduct charge. he wrote in his police report that gates became belligerent upon questioning. gates disputes that and said he would forgive crowley if he told the truth. >> i haven't heard from sergeant crowley, i would be prepared to listen to him, if i were convinced that, if he would tell the truth about what he did. about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report. i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. because if this can happen to me in harvard square, this can happen to anybody in the united states. and i'm determined that it never happen to anybody again.

>> durham a primetime address last night, president obama said he thinks police made a mistake in arresting gates. and implied race may have been a factor. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. race remains a factor in this society. that doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. i am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made. and yet, the fact of the matter is, is that you know, this still haunts us. >> sergeant crowley said he is disappointed by president obama's comments and says the president doesn't know all the facts. so what's your view on this? should the arresting officer apologize? or what do you think about the president of the united states commenting on this incident during his big push for health care reform? give us a call. you can also email us.

and text. the details of this one, it sounds something out of the "the sopranos," really, a ten-year-long public corruption sting hauls in mayors and lawmakers and a host of prominent new jersey officials. we were in new york when the officials made the announcement and joins us live. deborah, what can you tell us? >> reporter: well i'll tell you, this is really a scathing indictment of the state of new jersey politics. acting u.s. attorney, ralph marra saying that politicians quote willingly put themselves up for sale. this is democrats and republicans, mayors, deputy mayors, new jersey state assemblymen. so really, all sorts of politicians across new jersey. they were taking envelopes stuffed with cash, thousands of dollars worth. meeting at restaurants, diners, other places, in order to take money in large part for campaign contributions, the money largely

came from a cooperating witness for the government, acting on their behalf. it was this same cooperating witness who was actually helping the government investigate a money-laundering scheme by rabbis in monmouth county, new jersey. in that particular scheme, separate, the government was able to launder some $3 million worth of cash through an elaborate system that the rabbis had set up. laundering the money through religious organizations. >> this case is not about politics, it is certainly not about religion. it is about crime, corruption, it is about air against, a shocking betrayal of the public trust. it is about criminals who use politics and religion to cloak their criminal activities and to enrich themselves while betraying those who trusted them. >> reporter: now some 44 people

were, were indicted today. the majority of those were arrested, some of them were on vacation, they're scheduled to appear in court within the next half-hour. all of them to face either corruption charges or charges of money laundering. what's so surprising in all of this, given the number of people and the level of money and corruption that we're talking about, one person, a cooperating witness, really at the center of all of this. suzanne? >> thanks so much for the latest there. we're also talking about michael jackson today, investigators have seized new evidence from the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. dr. conrad murray was paid $150,000 a month to care for jackson. his attorney says los angeles police and dea agents copied files from a computer hard drive for forensic analysis. they also seized 21 documents during a raid of his houston clinic yesterday. murray's attorney says the search warrant seeking evidence of manslaughter came as a big surprise.

>> this is a major development in the case. i mean, here we have conrad murray's attorney admitting that there's an ongoing manslaughter investigation, and we know that a los angeles judge has issued a search warrant. now, judges can only issue a search warrant where there's probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. in this case, manslaughter. and there's probable cause to believe that evidence of that crime is at dr. conrad murray's office. so i think we can safely say that authorities are looking at him probably as a suspect. >> well police have not identified him as a suspect. the final coroner's report on what killed michael jackson could be released by next week. we'll keep you posted on that of course. meanwhile investigators also paid a visit to one of jackson's former nurses, who claims the star asked her for the paurl drug, diprivan. as cherilyn lee told investigator nancy grace, that the investigators wanted copies of files she had on the singer. >> that nurse, cherilyn lee, the

former nurse to michael jackson today, her office searched by the coroner's office. and they have made it very clear publicly, she is not a suspect. in fact, is cooperating, helping police in their investigation. cherilyn lee, thank you for being with us. >> oh, thank you very much, nancy, for having me. >> yes, ma'am. i know that you tried to stop michael jackson from this collision course. coroners at your office today, what were they looking for? what did they take? >> caller: well you know, i have been conversing with them ever since friday. actually the friday before the -- july 3rd, before the fourth of july. and we were to meet at my office. and based on traffic and you know, right before holiday, we didn't meet up at my office. one of the deputies was going to meet me at my office. so that didn't happen. so we've been in communication. and i knew they wanted a copy. they said, i had a call last week, last friday, that you

know, based on protocol, that we have to issue you a subpoena. i said, i know, i understand that. and she said, well what i'll do is email it to you and you can fax it back to me. and i said, okay. then the more i thought about it, i said, i went through so much and everything that i've been stating. you know, is in detail in the file. so i wanted to make sure that it was very clear, on every nutritional level, as far as testing everything, that everybody saw a clear picture. >> meanwhile, the "l.a. times" is reporting security breaches in the jackson investigation. l.a. county coroners officials say at least six staffers improperly accessed jackson's death certificate. and some employees may have even printed the document. jackson's death certificate has been viewed more than 300 times. from the search for evidence to the fight over michael jackson's multimillion-dollar estate. hln's nancy grace will have all the late-breaking velts. plus she's taking your calls

live at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern on hln. we have a feeling you'll remember this famous dog and catch phrase -- >> yo quiero taco bell. >> who could forget that, the taco bell chihuahua died on tuesday. we'll take a look at her career and hidden talents.

president obama is in ohio right now, to continue to push for health care reform. he's leading a public forum this afternoon at shaker heights high school, outside of cleveland. the president will also tour the cleveland clinic, which has cited in an example of what the system works well. an example of that. last night, president obama told

the country without reform, insurance premiums and out of pocket costs will skyrocket. he said overhauling the system will not only help those who don't have health care, but also those who do. >> if you have health insurance, the reform we're proposing will provide you with more security and more stability. it will keep government out of health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your insurance, if you're happy with it. if you don't have health insurance, or you're a small business looking to cover your employees, you'll be able to choose a quality affordable health plan, through a health insurance exchange. a marketplace that promotes choice and competition. finally, no insurance company will be allowed to deny you coverage, because of preexisting medical condition. >> congressional gop leaders stated a rebuttal before the president's news conference. they insist the current system is better than anything the democrats have proposed so far. some republicans in the senate are working behind closed doors on a compromise bill.

>> we look forward to being able to move a health care proposal this year on a truly bipartisan basis, one that doesn't increase the deficit. one that doesn't put the government in charge of our health care. one that doesn't produce a system that in the end, delays care and in many instances denies care. and of course, in order to do that, it would be rationing care. i don't think the american people want any of that, nor should we be trying to pass it. we are remembering a fast food icon, gidget the taco bell chihuahua, died tuesday at the age of 15. cnn.com's melissa long joins us with all the details. who can forget the saying or the dog? hi, melissa. >> and gidget is key, a doggie we always thought was a boy dog, was in fact a girl dog and was originally chosen to be part of the commercials as the girlfriend. but the director realized the

talents of the dog he had, and made it the star of the commercials. as you mentioned, susan, gidget died this week at the age of 15. that would be in people years, between the ages of 73 and 105. worked with a trainer since the dog was eight weeks old. also appeared in some films, "beverly hills chihuahua" and "legally blonde 2." her trainer said that gidget loved being on the set. a natural, knew where the camera was, even had an opportunity to ring the bell of the new york stock exchange one time. in addition to being cute and savvy with the television camera, also, suzanne, had a talent, that we didn't know about, for folding socks, she would pick them up on the floor, according to the trainer, and she could actually fold them. gidget was owned by animal services out of the studios of hollywood. >> i want to get a dog that can fold some socks. >> who knew that? >> she definitely had a great

life. another popular story on cnn.com are about some dogs who aren't as fortunate, but may have been a promising future. >> these are dogs that have been written off essentially, abandoned sometimes by owners or parents. left, labeled unadoptable by some humane societies. so they're actually getting a helping hand. they're getting help from inmates at the hutchinson correctional facility in kansas. it's a program called lucky dog. that essentially gives these dogs a second chance. so the inmates who have the status of being with good behavior, get to actually shelter the dogs, drain them, socialize and teach them. they live with them in their dorms 24/7. they say it helps them to reduce the stress of the environment for the inmates. and yes, after a few months, the dogs are ready to be adopted by someone outside that facility. outside that correctional facility. so it's difficult for the inmate, since they've bonded with them. after that, of course, there is another dog waiting in the wings to get that training and get that care as well.

susan? >> a great idea, a great program as well. thanks so much, melissa. it looks like arnold schwarzenegger may be taking the term "budget cuts" literally. the california governor is catching some heat for this video that he put on twitter.

at the top of the hour, pittsburgh steelers quarterback, ben roethlisberger is expected to respond to allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a lake tahoe casino last year. a 31-year-old woman has accused him of raping her, although she never filed a criminal complaint. instead, she filed a civil lawsuit against roethlisberger. this is his first public comment on the case. you can catch it right here on hln, 2:00 p.m. eastern time. in just a few moments. well california governor, arnold schwarzenegger, ruffled some feathers when he held a large knife in a twitter video about state budget cuts. schwarzenegger says people missed the humor in this message. the governor held the two-foot-long knife while he was thanking residents for their creative effort to try to help eliminate the state's $26 billion deficit. >> hey, guys, i want to say

thanks very much for all the great advice you're giving me. we talked about making some cuts in the budget. getting rid of some of the state's cars. and then all of a sudden, you come up with the great ideas, why don't you sign the cars, since you're a celebrity governor, sign the cars and sell it for more money? that's exactly what we're going to do. so i love your ideas, give me more of those ideas, we need it. >> i don't know if he needed the knife, do you? about 15% of the state's 40,000 cars will be autographed by the governor, and auctioned off in august. it is expected they could raise about $24 million. meanwhile, the legislature is considering the budget compromise today, and votes could come as early as tomorrow. $1 billion worth of marijuana plants were seized in california. that is $1 billion, with a "b." the fresno county sheriffs office says it's part of a huge

effort to eradicate marijuana growing. it's been linked to mexican drug cartels. >> they come here, go into our public lands, the marijuana, actually live in the garden. >> the bottom line is our public lands are being destroyed by foreign drug trafficking organizations and heavily armed mexican marijuana cartels. >> the operation is expected to continue into the fall when colder weather makes marijuana growing a little more difficult there. from marijuana to beer, florida cops are trying to find the people who heisted $70,000 worth of mexican beer. tampa officials say someone took about 3,000 six-packs and cases of beer when they stole two tractor-trailers. >> beer is a commodity that everyone wants. those of us that drink. and i think also it's a commodity probably that they knew they can get rid of quickly. >> most retailers know they

can't take any of the hijacked beer, and it's a lot of beer for somebody to drink. >> yes, it is. the truckyard where the beer was stolen plans to beef up security. the stolen trailers were insured. good to hear. well, this also good to hear. sales of existing homes were up again in june for the third straight month. sales rose 3.6%. one economist says it's a sign the housing market is healing. well, the government says 30,000 more people hit the unemployment lines for the first time last week. analysts say the unemployment rate is on track to top 10% by the end of the year. speaking of jobs, pounding the pavement took on a new look in philadelphia. two guys who just graduated from college spent rush hour handing out their resumes to passing drivers yesterday. they say with the tight job market, they just wanted to do something more creative that would make them stand out. looks like they succeeded. they managed to get a few business cards for their efforts as well as making the news. look at them all decked out.

gone fishing. a virginia father and son are about to finish an epic fishing adventure, but their biggest catch turned out to be something they didn't have to reel in. details next.

still making waves. the arrest of a black ivy league professor accused of breaking into his own house. will the arresting officer apologize? should he? we get your views on that. also, an 8-year-old girl is the victim of a brutal gang rape in her own apartment complex. you are not going to believe the ages of the alleged suspects. also, a massive money laundering and corruption probe by the feds. dozens of people in custody, including rabbis, city officials, and more arrests could be on the way. hey, it's friday eve. that's one way to look at it, isn't it? it's i'm christi paul. we're so glad to have you on board with us. thanks for sharing the ride with us today. we're waiting right now to hear from pittsburgh steelers

quarterback ben roethlisberger. should hear from him any minute. he'll be responding to a lawsuit filed against him by a woman who accuses him of sexual assaulting her last year. there are live pictures as we wait for him to come through the door and address the reporters. a 31-year-old nevada woman says the super bowl-winning quarterback assaulted her in a hotel penthouse. now, attorneys for roethlisberger have denied the allegations. we're going to bring this to you live as soon as someone steps up to the podium here. meanwhile, we have some other stories for you. this, of course, being a day to honor and remember legendary newsman walter cronkite. a private funeral is just about to get under way at st. bartholomew's church in manhattan. here are some live pictures for you. it looks like a full house. family, friends, so many news colleagues there. speakers include andy rooney, cronkite's son. cronkite will be buried next to

his wife betsy in kansas city, missouri. the veteran journalist known as the most trusted man in america died last friday. he was 92 years old, but again live pictures as everyone awaits the beginning of that private service. it's being called the largest public corruption bust in new jersey's history. and it's been ten years in the making apparently. 44 people charged, many of them prominent officials. among those hauled into fbi headquarters this morning the mayors of hoboken and seacaucu cirque, the deputy mayor of jersey city, five rabbis, also arrested in connection with the money laundering portion of this investigation. we're hearing flat out bribery is at the heart of this case, cash stuffed into envelopes to exchange for political favors. authorities say politicians literally put themselves up for sale and even trafficked in human organs. >> in about two years these

defendants laundered over $3 million just with rcw alone. connected to the money laundering we have one defendant, mr. rosenbaum, who we refer to as our kidney salesman. as set forth in the complaint, his business was to entice vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $10,000, which he in turn would turn around and sell from $160,000. >> new jersey governor jon corzine issued this statement. quote, any corruption is unacceptable, anywhere, any time, by anybody. the scale of corruption we are seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated. other news for you, authorities have captured the last of three inmates who escaped from a prison in indiana. mark booher was taken into custody in a hotel room in indianapolis. he had been serving a 65-year sentence for murder and robbery. booher along with convicted

murderer charles smith and convicted rapist lance battreal escaped july 12th from the maximum security prison. smith was captured the next day. battreal was caught this last tuesday. investors, look at this, you're kind of high right now. the dow crossed the 9000 mark fr t for the first time in six months. it helped when it was announced existing home sales topped forecasts as well. up to 9063 at this hour. hoping it holds, obviously, for the next couple of hours before they shut things down there. meanwhile, the full senate will not vote on health care reform before the august recess. senate majority leader harry reid says they will take up the issue in the fall. we'll get to that in a moment. finish that up. but we do want to get you back to ben roethlisberger as he

addresses the media regarding rape allegations. >> her false and vicious allegations are an attack on my family and on me. i would never, ever force myself on a woman. i am going to fight to protect my family and my reputation. i'm not going to discuss my private life or this civil case in the media. i will respond to her outrageous allegations in the appropriate forum. i have an obviously gas to our fa -- obligation to our fans, my teammates, our coaches, and everyone in the organization to remain focused on the pittsburgh steelers and doyle that. the allegations against me are reckless and false. as much as i would like to answer everyone's questions, i am going to respect the legal process and i am confident that the truth will prevail. thank you.

>> obviously, pittsburgh steeler ben roethlisberger has been under a bit of scrutiny lately, and this is the first time we've seen him address the media regarding these allegations of rape that we've been hearing about for some time. again, 31-year-old nevada woman says the super bowl-winning quarterback assaulted her in a hotel penthouse last year, but again you heard him there say that he's going to fight to protect his family and his reputation, that the allegations are false and reckless, and that he would never force himself on a woman. and, again, he's saying he wishes he could answer questions, but obviously because it's in the middle of a lawsuit and investigation he's not at liberty to do so. so we have heard from ben roethlisberger now for the first time since these allegations came out, and just glad to have been able to get that to you. we want to get back to a big story we're following, too, we were just talking about prior to this, the health care reform in the u.s. full senate, as i said, will not vote on reform before the august

recess. senate majority leader harry reid saying it will come up and they will take up the issue in the fall. president obama is in ohio right now, and he's continuing his push for health care reform there. in fact, in about 20 minutes he'll hold a public forum at shaker heights high school out of cleveland. the president also toured the cleveland clinic, which he has cited as an example of a system that works well. last night the president told the country without reform insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs will skyrocket. he says overhauling the system will not only help those who don't have health care, but also those who do. >> if you have health insurance, the reform we're proposing will provide you with more security and more stability. it will keep government out of health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your insurance if you're happy with it. if you don't have health insurance or you're a small business looking to cover your attorneys, you will be able to

choose a quality, affordable health plan through a health insurance exchange, a marketplace that promotes choice and competition. finally, no insurance company will be allowed to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition. >> congressional gop leaders taped a rebuttal before the president's news conference insisting the current system is better than anything the democrats have proposed. well, the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts, is meeting with the city's police chief to discuss the recent arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates, jr. he was arrested in his own home last week when an officer arrived to investigate a possible break-in. the officer reportedly demanded gates show him identification. police say gates at first refused and accused the officer of racism. now, the mayor has apologized to gates, says she wants to ensure such a scenario doesn't happen again, but the arresting officer says he willotize because he was merely following

police protocol. >> the reason i asked the professor to come outside was not as some would suggest because i knew i didn't arrest him in his house. i didn't know who he was. i was the only police officer there. that was for my safety. first and foremost, i have to go home at night and i have three beautiful children and a wife who depend on me. so i had no other motive other than to ensure my safety. >> sergeant james crowley arrested him on a disorderly conduct charge. gates disputes that and said he'd forgive crowley if he told the truth. >> haven't heard from sergeant crowley. i would be prepared to listen to him. if i was convinced that -- if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report, i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational

opportunity for america because if this can happen to me at harvard square, it can happen to anybody in the united states and i'm determined if never happen to anybody again. >> here is something else people are talking about. during a prime time news conference last night president obama said he thinks police made a mistake arresting gates and implied race may have been a factor. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. race remains a factor in this society. that doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. i am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made, and yet the factf the matter is that, you know, this still haunts us. >> sergeant crowley says he's disappointed by the president's comments and says the president just doesn't know all the facts. so what is your view? do you think that the arresting officer should apologize here or let's look at it from this

aspect, what do you think about the president of the united states commenting on the incident during his big push for health care reform? the president was very upfront about it saying he's a friend of gates. call us at 1-877-tell hln, or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. this one is unbelievable. the details that have surfaced in the face of an 8-year-old girl who police say was gang raped. how they say four boys lured this young girl to an empty room and why reaction from the girl's parents make this case even more stunning.

a senate report is urging the u.s. and china to cooperate more to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions. the senate foreign relations committee report recommends both countries take advantage of high-level meetings next week to negotiate change. lawmakers are hoping to tackle president obama's climate change proposal before december. the president of the world resources institute was asked what he thinks of the bill. >> it imposes a cap on overall co2 emissions in the united states and reduces that cap over 40 years. every other piece of legislation i worked on had an end point. this case the whole economy will change by 2020, more by 2030, and more by 2040. it changes everything. >> your organization strongly supports this bill but other environmental outfits such as greenpeace and friends of the earth are opposed to t let me just read you something. greenpeace says that despite president obama's earlier commitment to the environment, quote, we are now watching him

put his full support behind a bill that chooses politics over science, elevates industry interests over national interests. how do you respond to that? >> i think my friends at greenpeace are just wrong on this one. it is actually a stronger bill than the president promised during his campaign, and as i say, it's going to completely change the u.s. economy. it's the first statement of political will from the world's largest source of global warming emissions. it's important. >> do you think greenpeace and friends of the earth and others like them can be brought around to them? >> well, they'd like more. we'd all like to see more, but we have to do something. we don't have a choice of a better bill. we have this bill or nothing. >> representatives from 170 countries are expected to attend a climate change meeting in denmark this december. you know, we are learning some really chilling details about a brutal attack on an 8-year-old girl in arizona. phoenix police say she was gang raped by four boys who lured her

into a storage shed with chewing gum. this apparently happened last week. police say the suspects between 9 and 14 years old, mind you, held her and brutally assaulted her for 10 to 15 minutes. here is what makes this horrible story even more unthinkable. police say the girl's parents, who are originally from the african country of liberia, blame her for bringing shame to their family. >> my little sister, she's 8 years old, and they say they rape her. >> the parents felt they had been ashamed or embarrassed by their child and that's not acceptable. >> the suspects are facing sexual assault and kidnapping charges. the 14-year-old is being charged as an adult. the girl is in the custody of child protective services. a new autopsy finds evidence that the third wife of drew peterson was killed.

kathleen ksavio's death is bein labeled a homicide. she and peterson were going through a bitter divorce when she was found dead in her bathtub. that was in 2004. initially, remember, investigators said her death was an accident, but they took another look after peterson's fourth wife, stacy, disappeared in 2007. legal analyst lisa bloom went through savio's latest autopsy and says they're consistent with someone struggling to stay alive. >> he talks primarily about the bruises, and he says that there were a number of bruises on her body. a one-inch blunt force laceration on the back of her head, five scraping abrasions and six blunt fort black and blue contusions on her extremities, buttocks. some of them he could still see 3 1/2 years later. he's saying that's indicative of a struggle and therefore this was not an accident. >> peterson is in jail charged

with first-degree murder in savio's death right now. stacy peterson has not been found. jon and kate, jon gosselin hanging out in some new circles. could he have another new girlfriend though? "showbiz tonight's" a.j. hammer tries to keep up with this reality star next.

well, from a home in pennsylvania with his eight children, of course, to hanging out in the hamptons with yet

another girlfriend? we don't know. we're, of course, talking about jon gosselin of "jon & kate plus 8." his latest adventure might be called jon and another kate. a.j. hammer in new york. i know you will be talking about this on "showbiz tonight." >> this is all very surreal. remember "jon & kate plus 8" was that happy family show with these couple and the eight kids. now things have changed. we're telling you last night on "showbiz tonight" how jon's new 22-year-old girlfriend, who happens to be the daughter of kate gosselin's plastic surgeon, says that she and jon are in love. well jon must have a lot of love to spread around because he's been spending time in the hamptons with another woman who happens to be named kate who says they are involved. she's kate majors, a reporter for "star" magazine. jon and the new kate were in the hamptons with none other than lindsay lohan's dad, michael lohan. kate major said she didn't mean for this to happen, she wanted

to do a story on jon. they ended up falling for each other. let's keep in mind the original kate in this whole saga in this once beloved family, she's business schlepping around the eight kids will jon is gallivanting in the hamptons with another kate. >> i think i need a chart. isn't this though kind of a conflict of interest? a reporter dating a subject in articles? >> you would think so. guess what? this just into the "showbiz tonight" newsroom, she resigned this morning citing a conflict of interest between her reporting duties for the magazine and her leadership with jon gosselin. remember, before the split jon was doing a lot of complaining about all of the attention he was getting. well, guess what, jon? you don't want all this attention, don't go out so conspicuously in the hamptons with a girlfriend and lindsay lohan's father. that's all there is to it. coming up on "showbiz tonight," more on this and plenty of michael jackson unsolved

mysteries. we will see you at 11:00 eastern and pacific. >> now that he's unemployed, i hope she's buying dinner. thank you, a.j. xxxxxx

well, live pictures coming to you as hundreds of friends, family, and colleagues are packed in a manhattan church to remember legendary newsman walter con cironkite. so many of his cbs news colleagues are there as well, we understand. andy rooney just finished speaking. and an emotional rooney said that cronkite had been such a great friend over the years. now, cronkite will be buried next to his wife, betsy, at a cemetery in kansas city, missouri. the veteran journalist known, as you know, the most trusted man in america, died on friday. he was 92 years old.

well, today for the first time we heard from pittsburgh steelers quarterback ren ba roethlisberger responding to allegations he sexual assaulted a woman at a lake tahoe casino last year. a 31-year-old woman accused him of raping her, she filed a civil lawsuit against roethlisberger. here is what he had to say a short while ago. >> i did not sexual assault andrea mcnaulty. saturday was the first i learned of her accusations. her false and vicious allegations are an attack on my family and on me. i would never, ever force myself on a woman. i'm going to fight to protect my family and my reputation. i'm not going to discuss my private life or this civil case in the media. i will respond to her outrageous allegations in the appropriate forum. i have an obligation to our

fans, to my teammates, to my coaches, and everyone in the organization to remain focused on the pittsburgh steelers, and i will do that. the allegations against me are reckless and false. as much as i'd like to answer everyone's questions, i'm going to respect the legal process and i am confident that the truth will prevail. thank you. >> obviously, very adamant there in what he's saying, and you heard him say while he fights the allegations he's just going to remain focused on the upcoming football season. it's being called the largest public corruption bust in new jersey history. this apparently has been ten years in the making. 44 people charged right now, many of them prominent officials. among those hauled into fbi headquarters this morning, the mayors of hoboken and secaucus, a new jersey assemblyman, the deputy mayor of jersey, even five rabbis were also arrested in connection with the money laundering part of this

investigation. the money laundering part again. now, we're hearing flat out bribery is at the heart of this case. cash stuffed into envelopes in he can change for political favors. authorities say politicians literally put themselves up for sale and even trafficked in human organs. >> in about two years these defendants laundered over $3 million just with rcw alone. i must also mention connected to the money laundering we have one defendant, mr. rosenbaum, who we refer to as our kidney salesman. as set forth in the complaint, his business was to entice vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $10,000, which he in turn would turn around and sell for $160,000. >> jaw-dropping charges there. new jersey governor jon corzine issued this statement. quote, any corruption is unacceptable, anywhere, any time, by anybody. the scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply

outrageous and cannot be tolerated, unquote. okay. all of you investors out there, you're going to get a smile on your face. the dow crossed the 9000 mark today for the first time in six months. major companies like at&t, 3m, they're helping to give the blue chips triple digit boosts. and existing home sales topped forecasts which is helping. there you have it. up 185 points right now, sitting at 9065 and hopefully that trend will continue as we close down the day in about an hour and a half. well, investigators have seized new evidence from the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. dr. conrad murray, he was paid $150,000 a month to care for jackson. his lawyer says los angeles police and dea agents copied files from a computer hard drive for forensic analysis. they also seized 21 documents during a raid of his houston

clinic yesterday, which you watched here live. murray's attorney says the search warrant seeking evidence of manslaughter really came as a surprise. >> this is a major development in the case. i mean, here we have conrad murray's attorney admitting that there's an ongoing manslaughter investigation and we know that a los angeles judge has issued a search warrant. now, judges can only issue a search warrant where there's probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, in this case manslaughter, and there's probable cause to believe that evidence of that crime is at dr. conrad murray's office. so i think we can safely say that authorities are looking at him probably as a suspect. >> now, police have not identified murray as a suspect, we need to point out. the final coroner's report on what killed jackson though could be released by next week. and the full senate will not vote on health care reform before the august recess. senate majority leader harry reid says they will take the issue up in the fall. president obama is in ohio right now. want to bring you some live

pictures as he continues his push for health care reform. this is a public forum at shaker heights high school outside of cleveland. the president also earlier toured the cleveland clinic which he has cited as be a example of a system that works well. last night the president told the country without reform insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs will skyrocket. he says overhauling the system will not only help those who don't have health care, but also those who do. >> if you have health insurance, the reform we're proposing will provide you with more security and more stability. it will keep government out of health care decisions giving you the option to keep your insurance if you're happy with it. if you don't have health insurance or you're a small business looking to cover your employees, you will be able to choose a quality, affordable health plan through a health insurance exchange, a marketplace that promotes choice and competition. finally, no insurance company will be allowed to deny you coverage because of a

pre-existing medical condition. >> now, congressional gop leaders insist the current system is better than anything the democrats have proposed thus far. some republicans in the senate are working behind closed doors on a compromise bill, in fact. the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts, meeting with the city's police chief today to discuss the recent arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates, jr. he was arrested in his own home last week when an officer arrived to investigate a possible break-in. the officer reportedly demanded gates show him identification. police say gates refused and accused the officer of racism. the mayor has apologized to gates, but the arresting officer says he will not apologize because he was merely following police protocol. >> the reason i asked the professor to come outside was not as some would suggest because i knew i couldn't arrest him in his house. i didn't know who he was. i was by myself. he was the only police officer standing there, and i got a report there was people breaking

into a house. that was for my safety because first and foremost, i have to go home at night and i have three beautiful children and a wife who depend on me. so i had no other motive other than to ensure my safety. >> sergeant james crowley arrested gates on a disorderly conduct charge. he wrote in his police report that gates became belligerent upon questioning. gates disputes that and says he would forgive crowley if he told the truth. >> haven't heard from sergeant crowley. i would be prepared to listen to him. if i was convinced that -- if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report, i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america because if this can happen to me in harvard square, this can happen to anybody in the united states and i'm determined that it never happen to anybody again. >> during his prime time news conference last night, president obama said that he thinks police made a mistake in arresting gates and implied that race may,

indeed, have been a factor. so we want to ask your opinion on this. i know there are a lot of facets to it, but, first of all, should the arresting officer apologize? or from this vantage point, what do you think about the president of the united states commenting on this incident during his big push for health care reform? give us a call at 1-877-tell-hln or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. we'd love to hear from you. thank you for letting us know how you feel. we do have a feeling, too, that you remember this famous dog and catch phrase. >> yo quiero taco bell. >> you remember that. gidget the taco bell chihuahua died tuesday. we're going to take a look at her career and hidden talents.

we are remembering a fast food icon. can we call it that? gidget the taco bell chihuahua died tuesday at the age of 15. reggie aqui joining us with more details, some things maybe we didn't know about gidget, is that right? >> that's right. i'm actually wearing brown but i should have wore black. >> i did. >> you sure did. and i know you did it for gidget. >> like that was intentional. >> i never realized it was a girl chihuahua playing a boy character in all those taco bell commercials. gidget or as those who knew her very well, gidgy died yesterday and gidgy did die of a stroke. 15 years old, that is a good length of time, and she certainly made the most of it. she was not only in the taco bell commercials, she also starred in "legally blond 2."

she was in "beverly hills chihuahua." her trainer says she loved being on set and she never had trouble finding exactly where her camera was when she was on set. she even got the chance in her lifetime to ring the bell at the new york stock exchange and apparently one of her hidden talents was that she could fold socks after picking them up off the floor. i find gidgy rather adorable and i'm sure she will be missed. look at that. >> obviously going to miss her. there she is. >> even had her own chair on the set. >> very privileged life as a dog star. let's talk about this other popular story, about some dogs not quite as fortunate but thankfully maybe having a more promising future now. >> and here is the thing. these dogs were apparently unadoptable for whatever reason. >> what? >> yeah. people did not want to take them into their homes. and so very clever idea, here is what they decided to do. they took the dogs to the local correctional facility. this is a story that is a video on our website that you can check out. it's a program called lucky dog,

and it happened in kansas. it continues to happen. so they pair inmates with these dogs, these unadoptable dogs. i find the dogs extremely cute. i'm not sure what the problem was. look at that one. he's got ears like my dog. maybe that's why. they pair them up with inmates at the facility and the inmates train them for a while. once they get them socialized and teach them to sit and other basic commands, they are released, and they try to get them adopted again. that is hard for the inmates because they've gotten very attached to the dawogs, but the will get another dog to train. these are inmates who have demonstrated good behavior while they're in -- behind bars. that's one of the rewards. >> obviously, a great program and very healing on both ends of that spectrum. some financial experts will tell you this is one of the best times to start a new business.

now, that's encouraging news with the shaky economy, but you're probably going how do i pay for it? stephanie elam asked one entrepreneur and discovered there is money out there if you know where to look. in this edition of "money and main street." >> reporter: lucy is hooked on coffee. >> i had my first shot of espresso when i was 14 and it was pretty amazing for me. >> reporter: with the dream of opening a coffee house she went to seattle to learn at the aprons of the best. she returned to boston and last fall launched voltage coffee, a mobile espresso catering company. her corporate headquarters. >> this is where all the magic happens. >> reporter: they shoe her business acumen could use a jolt. with the help of a few aides. >> i wrote my business plan with all of these business plan writing for dummies and all these things. >> reporter: they then took her plan to the small business administration and was directed to axion usa, a company

specializing in microloans. it had just started a partnership with samuel adams. >> i love lucy's dedication to the quality of her product, and i'm a big believer that a great product and the patience that an entrepreneur brings to that can carry a long way. >> reporter: she started voltage with her $2,000 and the $4,000 she got through the sam adams brewing the american dream program. >> it covered the espresso machine, the grinders, my table, some membership costs, licensing, and my cost for a few months with the commercial kitchen facility i use. >> reporter: now she's focused on the store front, but she has to incorporate, find a space, and get a loan. >> i need to convince someone to give me 180 grand. that's a good chunk of change. >> reporter: despite the economy, she remains undaunted. >> i'm just going to keep working at it. i'm not letting up.

i'm not letting up, boston. i don't care. >> reporter: stephanie elam, cnn, jamaica plain, massachusetts.

well, police in phoenix say an 8-year-old girl was gang raped by four young boys in a brutal attack that lasted up to 15 minutes. as marisa windgate reports, what make this is horrible story even more painful is the family's reaction. >> reporter: this is the shed where police say the rape happened. the apartment connected to it is abandoned but others nearby heard noises. >> we heard a lot of kids screaming. >> reporter: investigators tell us the kids took turns as they

raped the 8-year-old. >> she was restrained and sexual assaulted. >> reporter: she lured her inside with gum and other kids watched until a woman passing by broke it by broke it up. >> when we started to hear screams from a lady. >> reporter: neighbors sa the suspects scatters. >> you're from liberia. >> reporter: they're part of a liberian community, so he showed us where the victim lived. >> reporter: we found her 23-year-old sister who was baby-sitting when it happened. she's blaming her younger sibling. >> the guys are 9, 10, 13, and 14 and one of them the victim's own cousin. you want them out of jail? >> yeah. >> reporter: why? you want them out of jail? >> because we are the same people. nothing has happened to my daughter, nobody not touched my

daughter. >> reporter: the child'mother is denied anything happen and is angry cps has her child. >> when your child do something, you need to talk to your child. you need to talk to your child so your child listens to you. >> her father tells us. >> i want her back. >> police say he told them he didn't. >> the parents felt that they would been shame or embarrassed by their child. >> reporter: what do you want to say to your little strr. >> okay. here's the thing. marisa wingate told cnn rape wasn't even considered a crime in liberia until 2006. edward solay issued a statement saying, quote --

arnold schwarzenegger may be the taking the term of budget cuts literally. we'll show you what we mean.

it's probably one of the worst crimes that we've come across in many, many years in the city of phoenix. >> police say a little girl just 8 years old was brutally assaulted in a storage shed. her alleged attackers are children themselves, also shocking here, how her parents are reacting. a major corruption crackdown in new jersey. dozens of people are behind bars including at least three new jersey mayors and five rabbis. also, renary lewis gates jr., the harvard professor arrested at his own home wants an apology from the officer that put him in handcuffs. will he get it, and should he get his apology?

your views on this one. good thursday to you. this is "hln" news and views. we want to get you caught on everything we're following today. allegations of public corruption and money laundering in what's called the largest bust in new jersey history. that's our top story this hour. 44 people are charged, many prominent officials after a ten-year investigation. among those hauled into fbi headquarters this morning, the mayors of hoboken and secaucus and the deputy mayor of jersey city. five rabbis were also arrested. part of the investigation flat out bribery is at the heart of this case. cash stuffed into envelopes in exchange for political favors. politics literally put themselves up for sale, even trafficking human organs. the fbi says the case is cut and dried. >> this case is not about politics, it's certainly not about religion. it is about crime, corruption,

it is about arrogance, it is about a shocking betrayal of the public trust. it is about criminals who used politics and religion to cloak their criminal activities and to enrich themselves while betraying those who trusted them. >> new jersey governor jon corzine issued this statement saying -- back to this story now. police in phoenix say it is one of the worst crimes they have ever seen. they say an 8-year-old girl was gang raped by four young boys in a brutal attack that lasted up to 15 minutes. marisa wingate from ktvk joins us now. marisa, such a horrible story. what makes it more painful is how the young girl's family is reacting to this. >> reporter: that is right. they're all part of a refugee

group from liberia, close-knit community in phoenix. all know each other, and police don't want to stir up any controversy so the parents are supporting the suspects not the victim. in fact, one of the suspects is the victim's own cousin. this is the shed where police say the rape happened. the apartment connected to it is abandoned, but others nearby heard noises. >> we heard a lot of kids like screaming. >> reporter: investigators tell us the kids took turns as they raped the 8-year-old. >> they restrained her, and she was brutally sexually assaulted for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. >> reporter: officers say they lured her inside with gum, and then other kids watched until a woman passing by broke it up. >> when we started hearing some screaming from a lady. >> reporter: neighbors say the suspects scattered. they are all part of a liberian community, so we had this man

show us where the victim lived. >> >> we found her 23-year-old sister who was baby sitting when it happened. she's blaming her younger sibling. >> reporter: the guys are 9, 10, 13, and 14 and one of them, the victim's own cousin. do you want them out of jail? >> yeah. >> reporter: why? you want them out of jail? >> because we are the same people. >> nothing has happened to my daughter. >> reporter: the child's mother is denying anything even happened and is angry cps has her child. >> reporter: while her father tells us -- >> i want her back. >> reporter: police say he told them he didn't. >> the parents felt that they had been shamed or embarrassed by their child.

>> reporter: what do you want to say to your little sister? >> reporter: right now that child is with cps, and the family says she will stay there for three months and they will reassess the situation. as for the suspects, police say all four have admitted to the crime and the 14-year-old, they will charge him as an adult. back to you. >> marisa, it's hard to hear from the victim's family, especially the sister says it's her fault. what about the parents? it seems as though the father has changed his mind a bit saying we want our daughter back. any word of that happening any time soon? >> reporter: no word of that happening. we know they will keep the child for three months and then reassess the situation. police say that the family said

they didn't want her back. they changed the story with us staying they want her back, but he they say they're ashamed and barsed by what happened. obviously, a different culture there. in fact, in liberia they didn't outlaw rape until 2006. >> a horrific story all around. thanks for that live report. in liberia rape was not outlawed until 2006. tony we'der of the denver seminary grew up in liberia and immigra ammigrated to the u.s. t t. here he is. >> if the family has been shamed by her, not a crime but the name of the family has been degraded, and the news would get back to liberia and they're more concerned about that and the crime. the way you loob at rape here, some liberians would not be raped. until 2006 when the president became president, she outlawed rape. during the whole war, 14, 15

years of war, rape was used as a means of weapon and obedience. >> edwin sele issued a statement saying he's outraged and the girl's family should be embraced the alleged victim and not rejecting her. president obama is in ohio right now continuing his push for health care reform. he's holding a public forum at shaker heights high school outside of cleveland. earlier the president told the cleveland clinic which he cited as an example of a system that works well. mr. obama says the main critics of his pitch to overhaul health care don't have a lot of room to talk. >> i have to say, the folks have a lot of nerve who were helped us get us into this fiscal hole and then start going around trying to talk about fiscal responsibility.

i'm always a little surprised that people don't have a little more shame. about having created a mess and then try to point fingers, but that's another topic. >> the full senate will not vote on health care reform before the august recess. senate majority leader harry reid says they'll take it up in the fall. hundreds of friends, families and colleagues parked a manhattan church to remember walter cronkite. the private funeral is under way at church right now. live pictures of that service. family, friends and many of walter cronkite's cbs news colleagues are there of course. speakers included andy rooney and his son. walter kron cite will be married next to his wife betsy at a cemetery in kansas city, missouri.

he died last friday. he was 92. pittsburgh steelers quarterback ben roethlisberger says allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a lake tahoe casino last year are, quote, reckless and false. he read a statement denying the claim. he declined to take questions from reporters, though, saying he didn't want the case decided in the media. the woman accused him of rape and never filed a criminal complaint. she filed a lawsuit against roethlisberg roethlisberger. he says he'll remain focused on the upcoming football season. as you know, president obama has been focusing on health care today, and at a news conference last night, he also had strong words when asked about a controversial arrest. find out what he said.

the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts is meeting with the police chief to discuss the

recent arrest of henry louis gates jr. he was arrested last week when an officer arrived to investigate a possible break-in. the officer demanded gates show him i.d. police say gates at first refused and accused the officer of racism. the mayor apologized and says she wants to ensure this doesn't happen again, but the arresting officer won't apologize because he was merely following police protocol. >> the reason i asked the professor to come outside was not as someone suggested because i knew i couldn't arrest him in his house. i didn't know who he was. i was by myself. the only police officer standing there, and i got a report that there was people breaking into a house. that was for my safety, because first and foremost, i have to go home at night. i have three beautiful children and a wife who depend on me, so i had no other motive other than to ensure my safety. >> sergeant james crowley arrested gates on a disorderly conduct charge that was later dropped. in his police report crowley

wrote that gates became belligerent. gates disputes that and says he would forgive crowley if he told the truth. >> i would be prepared to listen to him. if i was convinced that -- if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report, i would forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. if this can happen to me in harvard square, it can happen to anybody in the united states and i'm determine that had it never happen to anybody ever again. >> during a primetime news conference last night, president obama said he thinks police made a mistake in arresting gates. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that nethey were in their own home. race remains a factor in this society. that doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has

been made. i am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made. yet, the fact of the matter is that, you know, this still haunts us. >> sergeant crowley says he's disappointed by mr. obama's comments and says the president doesn't know all the facts here. our sister network cnn is looking at what it means to be black in america, and tonight o'brien focuses on today's pioneers. one of the most important tools for up and coming leaders in the african-american community she says is mentorship. >> by any measure mia jackson is a success. at 26 she owns a home, a car, and earns $77,000 a year as an engineer. >> i knew that an engineering degree was going to be financially stable when i got out of college. chemical engineering is the most versatile. >> she's a prop manage at a

chemical manufacturing company with over half a million dollars in revenue. >> stand back. working at zep i had a lot of great opportunities. >> but she's experienced roadblocks and frustration. >> i couldn't see what my next step was, and i had no one to help me see it. i didn't want to get pigeonholed as that engineer. >> in taking charge of her own career, she's about to walk away from everything she has for an 18-month program created by this man, john rice. >> we have underrepresentation of minorities in corporate america and in the nonprofit world. yes, we do. we need to solve that. >> rice was an executive with the nba, but left to serve others in his innovative organization, management leadership for tomorrow. mlt teaches a series of prescribed steps.

step one, know your story. >> introduce yourself. talk to us. who are you? convince this group that you have the juice. >> step two, articulate your goals and passion. >> i'm most passionate about empowering others. >> and step three, build important relationships. >> we want to get to know you. >> you want to be an entrepreneur. >> that's what mia jackson has been doing for the past 18 months in mlt's mba prep program. >> i didn't know monthly assignments were going to be grueling and repetitive. it's definitely another full-time job. >> one final challenge before i mia's mlt journey begins. four rigorous days in the rain, around the clock training, crash courses in consulting, entrepreneurship, and investment banking. where mia must quickly digest information she's never studied.

>> my liquidity concerns. >> price time volume. >> can mia prove she's got the right stuff for corporate leadership? >> an inspiring story, and tonight on "black in america ii" soledad o'brien will tell the story of people developing african-american leaders for the next generation. you can see it at 8:00 p.m. eastern. don't miss that.

investigators have southeasted new evidence from the doctor with michael jackson when he died. conrad murray was paid $150,000 a month to care for michael jackson. well, his attorney says los angeles police and dea agents copied files from a computer hard drive for forensic analysis. they seized 21 documents from his houston clinic yesterday. murray's attorney says the search warrant seeking evidence of manslaughter came as a big surprise. >> this is a major development in the case. mine, here we have conrad murray's attorney admitting that there's an ongoing manslaughter investigation, and we know that a los angeles judge has issued a search warrant. now, judges can only issue a

search warrant where there's probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, in this case manslaughter, and there's probable cause to believe evidence of that crime is at dr. conrad murray's office. so i think we can safely say that authorities are looking at him probably as a suspect. >> now, we do want to point out that police have not identified murray as a suspect. the final coroner's report on what killed michael jackson could be released as early as next week. we, of course, will have that for you. from the search for evidence to the fight over jackson's multi-million dlar estate, nancy grace will have all the late breaking developments and more calls live tonight. don't miss it. hundreds of people attended a vigil for u.s. army private first class bowe bergdahl in his idaho hometown last night. they walked and rode bikes because that's the way he prefers to get around. he was captured in southern afghanistan three weeks ago and

held by the taliban. well-wishers have put up yellow ribbons as they pray for his safe return. >> i want to go up to the top of the mountains with you so you can look and see what this city has done for you. >> bergdahl's parents didn't come to the vigil but sent a note saying they were overwhelmed by their neighbors' support. one of sewn bin laden's sons may have been killed in a u.s. missile strike. they say there's no hard evidence that bin laden's son died in that attack, but there is intelligence that he was killed by a missile from a predator drone aircraft earlier this year in pakistan. the official says the younger bin laden is not a key player in al qaeda, is not. president barack obama says police in cambridge, massachusetts acted stupidly when the arrested a harvard scholar, but the officer says he won't apologize. we'll hear your views on this one.

pittsburgh steelers quarterback ben roethlisberger says a littllegations that he sexually assault aid woman are outrageous, reckless and false. a short time ago he read a statement denying the 31-year-old woman's claims. >> i did not sexually assault. saturday was the first that i learned of her accusations. her false and vicious allegations are an attack on my family and on me. i would never, ever force myself on a woman. i'm going to fight to protect my family and my reputation. i'm not going to discuss my private life or this civil case in the media.

i'll respond to her outrageous allegations in the appropriate forum. i have an obligation to our fanls, to my teammates and my coaches and everyone in the organization to remain focused on the pittsburgh steelers, and i will do that. the allegations against me are reckless and false. as much as i'd like to answer everyone's questions, i'm going to respect the legal process and i'm confident that the truth will prevail. thank you. >> well, he declined to take questions from reporters saying he didn't want the case decided in the media. while he fights the allegations, roethlisberger says he'll remain focused on the season. what phoenix police are calling one of the most brutal attacks against a child they've seen. they say an 8-year-old girl was gang raped by four boys who lured her into a storage shed with chewing gum last week. police say the suspects between 9 and 14 held down the girl and

brutally assaulted her for 10 to 15 minutes. police say the girl's parents, who are originally from the african country of liberia, blame her for what happened. >> the parents felt that they had been shamed or embarrassed by their child, and that's not acceptable. >> the girl is now in the custody of child protective services. a reporter covering the story for us in phoenix says rape was not considered a crime in liberia until 2006, believe it or not. a liberian diplomat tells cnn he's outraged by the case and the family should embrace the alleged victim. a new evidence autopsy finds evidence that the third wife of drew peterson was, in fact, killed. a private forensic pathologist is ruling it a homicide. he conducted an autopsy at the request of her family. she and peterson was going

through a bitter divorce when she was found dead in her bathtub in 2004. now, initially investigators said her death was an accident. they took another look after peterson's fourth wife, stacy, went missing in 2007. legal analyst lisa bloom went through the latest autopsy and says her injuries are consistent with someone struggling to stay alive. >> he talks primarily about the bruises, and he says that there were a number of bruises on her body. a one-inch blunt force laceration on the back of her head, five scraping abrasions and six blunt force contusions. some he couldn't see anymore. some of them he could still see. three and a half years later. and he says that's indicative a struggle and therefore this was not an accident. >> peterson is in jail charged with first-degree murder in savio's death. stacy peterson has not been

located. authorities have captured the last of three inmates who escaped from a prison in indiana. mark booher was taken into custody in indianapolis. he was serving a 65-year sentence for murder and robbery. booher along with charles smith and lance battreal escaped july 12th. smith was captured the next day and battreal was caught on tuesday. california governor arnold schwarzenegger ruffled some feathers you could say when he held a large knife in a twitter video about state budget cuts. schwarzenegger says people miss the humor in this message. the governor held the two-foot long knife while he was thanking residents for their creative efforts to eliminate the state's deficit. >> hey, guys, thanks very much for the great ideas you're

giving me. we talked about making cuts in the budget and getting rid of state cars. all of a sudden you come up with a great idea, why not sign the cars since a celebrity governor, sign the cars and sell it for more money. that's what we're going to do. love your ideas. give me more of those ideas. we need it. >> did he need the knife? that's the question. about 15% of the state's 40,000 cars will be autographed by the governor and auctioned off in august. that could raise about $24 million. meanwhile, the legislature is considering the budget compromise today and could vote tomorrow. check this out. a billion dollars worth of marijuana plants were seized in california. that is billion with a b. the fresno county sheriff's office says it's part of operation save or sierra, a campaign to eradicate marijuana fields in the mountains. the 82 suspects arrested so far have links to mexican drug cartels. >> they come here, they go into our public lands, grow the marijuana, actually live in the

garden. >> the bottom line is our public lands are destroyed by foreign drug trafficking organizations and heavily armed mexican marijuana cartels. >> the operation is expected to continue into the fall when colder weather apparently makes marijuana growing more difficult there. secretary of state hillary clinton in north korea, they're trading jabs and insults, speaking in thailand, clinton said they have no friends to defend it from u.n. sanctions. she compared the regime to small children demanding attention. north korea which refused to give up the nuclear weapons program says six-party talks with over and released a statement calling clinton a funny lady who looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a parishioner going shopping. angelina jolie is in iraq. part of her duties as good will ambassador for the united nations.

today she visited a refugee camp to draw attention to the iraqis still displaced by the sectarian violence. in an exclusive interview with cnn, jolie says now is not the time for the outside world to turn its back on the people of iraq. >> this region of the world, the stability of the region is important to all of us. there are still 3 million people displaced, innocent families. we have still many young men and women from our country who are fighting every day. there are many men and women from all countries that have lost their lives, and this is a time to try to make some positive change and so we have to -- this is -- in working in cambodia and other areas of the world i've worked in, so often you find these countries years on have all these little problems because it was this moment that wasn't given enough attention. it was this moment that we

didn't have enough support, they didn't have the right education. so this is the moment. >> jolie says it's critical for the iraqi government to succeed and stand on its own. she says the government success is crucial to security in both the u.s. and the middle east. a massive money laundering and corruption sweep in northern new jersey. dozens of people under arrest, and the list of suspects includes mayors and religious leaders.

i'm jane velez, mitchell. here's my issue. navigates the male-dominated world of sports is tough enough for erin andrews. whiteout on the job she was the

victim of a repulsive and illegal invasion of privacy. some creep secretly taped her naked in her hotel room and posted the videos online. radaronline says espn thinks one of their own is responsible. if true, then it shouldn't be too hard to narrow down the suspects. sexism comes in many, many disguises, especially in the sports world. violating and undermining a female reporter using peephole perversion is just the latest high-tech form of the same old sexism that's been around since long before baseball, and it's a foul play. i'm jane velez-mitchell, and that's my issue. >> jane is fired up. find out what else she has on her mind. watch issues with jane velez-mitchell every night. allegations of public corruption, money laundering, and what is called the largest bust in new jersey history. 44 people are charged, many of them prominent officials after a

ten-year investigation. among those hauled into fbi headquarters this morning, the mayors of hoboken and secaucus and a new jersey assembly man and five rabbis were arrested in connection with the money laundering part of the investigation. flat out bribery is at the heart of the case. cash stuffed into envelopes to exchange for political favors, authorities say politicians literally put themselves up for sale and even trafficked in human organs. the fbi says the case is cut and dry. >> this case is not about politics and religion. it is about crime and corruption and arrogance and about a shocking betrayal of the public trust. it is about criminals. >> all right. new jersey governor jon corzine is speaking out as well saying this.

we'll follow this story. here's some advice. you better watch what you post on social networking sites like facebook, twitter. clark howard says what you write could cost you your next job. >> you know, with all going on in iran, there's been so much talk about twitter and facebook and myspace. the instantaneous nature of communication. well, i want to talk about something about that. a lot of times people will post something in haste or in anger that later on they're going to regret. one area i want to mention to you is if you are laid off from your job or you're fired, be very careful what you twitter to somebody about that. be careful what you put on facebook or myspace, because what you say in a moment of anger or upset stays there and

can haunt you. so what should you do? anytime you want to post anything that might be a little out there, take your time. sleep on it. you can always post the next day. on the job front, be discrete. don't trash your ex-employer ever. i'm clark howard. for more smart tips go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. >> great advice from clark howard. you can catch more every saturday and sunday at noon and 4:00 p.m. eastern time on "hln" news and views. he'll help you save more and spend less and avoid getting ripped off. of course, president obama's election was a pivotal moment in history, and its opened the door for other african-americans to help shape the country's future from inside the white house. meet some folks doing it right now.

welcome back. the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts is meeting with the police chief to discuss the recent arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates jr. gates was arrested in his own

home last week when an officer arrived to investigate a possible break-in. the officer reportedly demanded gates show him i.d. police say gates at first refused and accused the officer of racism. the mayor has apologized and wants to ensure this doesn't happen again. we've just learned that the arresting officer is a racial profiling expert. he says he won't apologize because he was merely following police protocol. >> the reason i asked the professor to come outside was not as someone suggested, because i knew i couldn't arrest him in his house. i didn't know who he was. i was by myself. i was the only police officer standing there, and i got a report there were people breaking into a house. that was for my safety, because first and foremost i have to go home at night. i have three children and a beautiful wife that depend on me. i had no other motive but to ensure my safety. >> sergeant james crowley arrested gates on an disorderly conduct charge. wrote in his police report that

gates became belligerent upon questioning. gates disputes that and says he would forgive crowley if he told the truth. >> i haven't heard from sergeant crowley. i would be prepared to listen to him. if i were convinced that -- if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions he fabricated in the police report, i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. if this can happen to me in harvard square, it can happen to anybody in the united states. i'm determined it never happen to anybody again. >> what's your view on this? should the arresting officer apologize, or what do you think about the president of the united states commenting on this incident during his big push for health care reform? was it appropriate? give us a call right now and let you know or e-mail us. from the president on down african-americans are certainly playing key roles in this white

house. whether it's helping to push health care reform, education, or other new initiatives, dan lothian shows us that the significance of being black in the white house is not lost on the president's staff. >> reporter: they help manage the message and policies of the president. hard-driving staffers fueled by coffee and soda. >> that's the fuel? is that the fuel? >> this is the fuel. >> reporter: no one at the white house dwells on the issue of race, but it's hard to ignore the obvious. young african-americans now on the inside. >> now that i'm here it's surreal and an extraordinary honor, but it's something that you definitely don't take for granted. >> reporter: karen richardson who was focused on health care for the office of public engagement is 30 years. press assistant kevin lewis is 26. and michael, valerie jarrett's chief of staff, is 40 years old. as i went behind the scenes, i found loyal aides with a sense of pride and purpose.

>> i read all the time about the african-americans who have had a chance to participate in history. and it seems like the people that have made the most impact have, you seems like the peopl have made the most impact have connected with something beyond themselves. >> reporter: this is their connection. lewis has seen what that means especially to older blacks on the street. >> they adopt me. >> reporter: lewis was raised by a single mother in new york joined the obama campaign five days before it launched. he rode the wave to the white house and was pinching himself on his first day at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> i didn't know i could walk through the gates of the white house. i walked through the gate and couldn't stop smiling. >> reporter: his journey began with an internship offer. >> reporter: what do you think of barack obama? >> he is a guy with kenyan roots.

>> reporter: the president's love for basketball and he plays a mean defense. he met the first couple in chicago when he was a paralegal and they were engaged. now this lawyer is on the inside looking out, taking friends and family along for the ride. >> you can imagine to call your family members from air force one. they are so stunned they don't know what to say. >> reporter: all of these white house aides could make a lot more money doing something else, instead, they are cashing in on history. >> you can't put a price on what i'm doing and what it represents. >> reporter: all three of the people we profiled say they are mentoring young people, giving speeches about their experiences and how they got there. it is chance to show with hard works the options and possibilities in life are limitless, dan lothian, cnn, the

white house. gone fishing. a virginia father and son are about to finish an epic fishing adventure. their biggest catch turned out to be something they didn't have to reel in.

a major corruption crackdown in new jersey. dozens of people in jail, three new jersey mayors and five rabbis. pittsburgh steelers' quarterback ben roethlisberger responds to rape accusations. why he is staying tightlipped and refusing to answer reporters' questions. days as an action star arnold schwarzenegger might have gotten away with flashing a weapon, does this attempt at comedy cut too deeply. well, pittsburgh steelers' quarterback ben roethlisberger says that's not where he plans to fight the rape allegations,

tv, the papers. a woman filed a civil lawsuit against him claiming he assaulted her at a lake tahoe casino. he kept his message short and to the point. this was his first public response. >> i did not sexually assault and ra mcnulty. saturday was the first i learned of her accusations. her false and vicious allegations are an attack on my family and on me. i would never, ever force myself on a woman. i'm going to fight to protect my family and my reputation. i'm not going to discuss my private life or this civil case in the media. i will respond to her outrageous allegations in the appropriate forum. i have an obligation to our fans, to my teammates, to my coaches and everyone in the organization to remain focused

on the pittsburgh steelers and i will do that. the allegations against me are reckless and false. as much as i would like to answer everyone's questions i'm going to respect the legal process and i am confident that the truth will prevail. thank you. >> that was the entire thing. authorities in nevada say the woman did not file a criminal complaint against roethlisberger so they don't intend to open a criminal investigation. one of the top stories of the day, three new jersey mayors, two state legislators and several rabbis are in jail, part of a ten-year federal investigation of corruption in that state. we are in newark with the latest on this. >> reporter: here is what we can tell you. this began as an international money laundering investigation involving rabbis laundering tens of millions of dollars through their religious organizations

and getting a fee, a kickback for doing that. it turned it into a scathing indictment of political corruption here in new jersey. the united states attorney calling it "politicians willingly putting themselves up for sale." another prosecutor saying new jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst if not the worst in the entire country. this involved democrats and republicans, mayors, state assemblymen. one of the mayors of hoboken is quoted as dividing the world into three different categories the people who support him, those who don't and those somewhere in the middle saying those who don't support him will get nothing. he is accused of taking $25,000 in kickbacks. they met at diners, restaurants, brazenly taking envelopes stuffed with thousands of

dollars of cash in return for political favors. >> this case is not about politics. it is certainly not about religion. it is about crime, corruption, it is about arrogance, it is about a shocking betrayal of the public trust. it is is about criminals who used politics and religion to cloak their criminal activities and to enrich themselves while betraying those who trusted them. >> reporter: what is interesting is in money laundering case and public corruption case are two separate cases. what they have in common is a cooperating witness posing as a real estate developer. he provided some of the millions to the money launderers. he was offering bribes to various politicians and they were allegedly taking them very readily in part to help pay off some campaign debts. now, about 40 people are in federal court right now.

initial appearance. they are getting the charges against them read. a lot of people inside, all of them lawyering up. richelle. >> this like a movie. it is unfortunately, real. live from newark, new jersey. deborah, thank you. investigators have seized new evidence from the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. dr. conrad murray who was paid $150,000 a month to care for jackson. his lawyer says los angeles police and dea agents copied files from computer hard drives for forensic analysis. they took documents from a raid of the houston clinic. murray's attorney says the search warrant seeking evidence of manslaughter came as a surprise. >> this is a major development. conrad murray's attorney admitting there is an ongoing manslaughter investigation.

judges can only issue a search warrant where there is probably cause to believe a crime has been committed and evidence is at dr. conrad murray's office. we can safely say authorities are looking at him probably as a suspect. >> but to be clear, police have not called murray a suspect. the final coroner's report on what killed jackson could be released by next week. "the l.a. times" is reporting security breaches in the investigation. six staffers improperly accessed jackson's death certificate and some employees may have printed the document. jackson's death certificate has been viewed more than 300 times. hln's nancy grace has the late-breaking developments in the michael jackson estate dispute. president obama was in ohio

continuing his push for health care refoerm. this is at shaker heights high school outside cleveland. the president toured the cleveland clinic, he used it as an example of a system that works well. saying overhauling the country's health care system would benefit all americans even those with a history of health care problems. >> you won't have to worry about preexisting conditions because never again will anyone in america be denied coverage because of a previous illness or injury. >> the full senate will not vote on the health care reform before the august recess. senate majority leader harry reid says they will take up the issue in the fall. police in cambridge, massachusetts, acted stupidly when they arrested a respected harvard scholar. the officer at the center of the controversy says he will not apologize. you are fired up.

we will reflect on some of your views.

the mayor of came bridge, massachusetts, is meeting with the police chief to talk about the recent arrest of harvard professor henry lewis gates jr. arrested in his own home when an officer came to investigate a reported break in. the officer asked for identification. gates accused of officer of racism. the mayor apologized to gates. the arresting officer who is a racial profiling expert says he won't apologize because he was following police protocol. >> the reason i asked the professor to come outside was not, as someone suggested, i couldn't arrest him in his house. i didn't know who he was.

i was by myself. i was the only police officer standing there. that was for my safety. first and foremost i have to go home at night and i have three beautiful children and a wife who depend on me. i had no motive other than to assure my safety. >> officer crowley arrested gates on disorderly conduct. he says gates became belligerent. gates said he would forgive crowley if he told the truth. >> i would be prepared to listen to him. if i were convinced, if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions he fabricated in the police report, i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. if this can happen to me in harvard square it can happen to anybody in the united states and i'm determined it never happen

to anybody again. during the primetime press conference president obama responding to a question says he thinks police made a mistake arresting gates. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was proof they were in their own home. race remains a factor in this society. that doesn't lessen the progress that has been made. i'm standing here as testimony to the progress that has been made and the fact of the matter is this still haunts us. >> sergeant crowley is disappointed by the president's comments and says the president doesn't know all the facts. we've been asking all day, what do you think? should the police officer apologize? should the president have

commented. barry calling from florida. go for it, barry. >> caller: we've been hearing this over 200 years but it seem is we have a black president, black first lady, dog, when is it going to stop? when are they going to stop pulling it out of their back pocket. >> pulling what? >> caller: they use this card. he is a professor. there are people in countries that are black and they don't use the race card. as many times as people are going to keep bringing it out of their pocket it's never going to disappear. you should watch "cops" once in a while and see what the police officers go through and to make sure they get home safe and sound to their family. >> you don't think race had anything to do with it. he was doing his job.

>> caller: he was doing his job. he was alone. that is why they had to put dash cameras in their cars. plus he should be respectful of the police officer in the middle of the night calling. >> i appreciate your point of view but we have a lot of people. tanya from california, what do you think? >> caller: i do think the officer should apologize because there is a race problem in the united states. and, yes, president obama did have a right to speak up. he is our president of the united states. he has the right just like everybody else has a right to their opinion. >> tanya, thank you. you have been blowing up my facebook page with comments. charles says if anyone should apologize it is professor gates. the police officer was doing his job. he answered a call of an alleged burglary. professor gaits matched the description of the alleged burglar.

he asked to see his i.d. and professor gates refused. kevin says i believe the police officer should apologize and he should be required to take a diversity class of some sort. the officer is an expert in racial profiling classes. there you have it. candy wrote obama was right when he said the cop acted stupidly. he had both of the man's i.d. what else did he want. douglas wrote this, the president was wrong to say the police acted stupidly just after he said he didn't know all the details. it is possible mr. gates was pretty mad. it is possible the police officer was being rude and disrespectful. douglas can see a middle ground. thank you to everyone who articulately made their point. we are going to do something like this tomorrow. you can make your comments at

"hln knews and views." "prime news" at the top of the hour. you can make your point known there as well. another big day on wall street. we'll check the number ahead and business plus, unbelievable details have surfaced in the case of an 8-year-old girl police say was gang raped. four boys lured the young girl to an empty room and why reaction from the girl's parents makes this case --

phoenix police say it is up with of the most brutal attacks. an 8-year-old girl was gang raped by boys. the boys are charged with sexual assault. the suspects between 9 and 14 years old held down the girl and brutally assaulted her for ten to 5 minutes. officials in maricopa county says the 14-year-old is being charged as an adult and the rest as juf niles. the authorities say the girls parents from liberia blame her for what happened. sergeant andy hill says it is a lot to take for this little girl. >> it happened on several levels. it happened with a young victim and young children suspects and you have that compounded by the family issues and cultural issues. there are so many things for us

to deal with. which is why when we have a child crime in phoenix we immediately bring in child protective services, we work with everybody to provide that child especially the victim an environment to help them break that cycle of violence they are facing for the rest of their life. >> a reporter covering the story says rape was not considered a crime in liberia until 2006. a liberian departmee beeberian outraged. arnold schwarzenegger ruffled feathers when he held a large knife in a twitter message about state budget cuts. he held the knife while he was thanking residents for their efforts to eliminate the $26 billion deficit. 15 of the states cars will be

autographed by the governor. it is expected they can raise $24 million. stocks on wall street went on a tear with the dow soaring 200 points to an eight month high. we have a look at the final numbers. and what is the verdict, allison? >> it was a great day. the bulls were back on wall street after taking a breather yesterday. the last time the dow closed above 9,000, it was january 6. the blue chip recent rally helped to eclipse the psychological milestone. dow closed 9069, nasdaq extended the win streak to 12 days, the s&p 500 gained .33%. today the auto industry got a boost from ford the only u.s. auto maker not to file for bankruptcy posted a $2.3 billion

profit. at&t and 3m helped lift sentiment. previous owned home sales rose. median home prices showed that the demand for housing is still bottoming out. >> thanks, allison. >> family, friends and some of the biggest names in the news business packed a manhattan church to remember walter cronkite. a private funeral was held at st. bartholomew's church. an emotional rooney said cronkite was a great friend. he will be buried next to his wife in a cemetery in kansas city, missouri. the journalist known as the most

trusted man in america died last week at 92. investigators are looking at links between at least one doctor and the death of michael jackson. jane velez-mitchell looks at where this investigation can go next.

phoenix police say four boys aged between 9 and 14 face charges in kwex a gang rape of an 8-year-old girl. the 14-year-old is being charged as an adult with two counts of sexual assault and the other three boys are charged as juveniles. according to police they lured the girl into a storage shed with chewing gum. the suspects held her down and brutally assaulted her for ten to 15 minutes. what makes this worse f that is possible, authorities say the girl's parents from liberia, blame her for what happened. sergeant andy hill says it is a lot to take for this little

girl. >> it happened on several levels. it happened with a young victim and young children suspects and you have that compounded by the family issues and cultural issues. there are so many things for us to deal with when we have a child crime in phoenix we immediately bring in child and family services and everyone to provide that child to break the cycle of violence they are facing for the rest of their life. >> a reporter covering the story says rape was not considered a crime in liberia until 2006. a liberian diplomat says he is outraged. the family should be embracing the alleged victim. thousands packed a manhattan church to remember walter cronkite. a legendary funeral was held at

st. bartholomew's church. an emotional andy rooney said cronkite was a great friend. >> we were both covering the eighth air force. walter was with the united press and i was with the stars and stripes. that is when i got to know walter cronkite and got to know him well. you get to know somebody pretty well in a war. i just feel so terrible about walter's death that i can hardly say anything. he has been such a good friend over the years. >> wow. cronkite will be buried next to his wife, betsy, in a cemetery in kansas city, missouri. the veteran journalist known as the most trusted man in america died at the age of 92. pittsburgh steelers'

quarterback ben roethlisberger doesn't intend to fight rape allegations in the media. a woman filed a civil suit claiming he assaulted her at a lake tahoe casino where she worked last year. he kept his message short and to the point. his first public response to the allegations. >> i did not sexually assault andrea mcnulty. saturday was the first i learned of her accusations. her false and vicious allegations are an attack on my family and on me. i would never, ever force myself on a woman. i'm going to fight to protect my family and my reputation. i'm not going to discuss my private life or this civil case in the media. i will respond to her outrageous allegations in the appropriate forum. i have an obligation to our fans, to my teammates, to my coaches and everyone in the

organization to remain focused on the pittsburgh steelers and i will do that. the allegations against me are reckless and false. as much as i would like to answer everyone's questions i am going to respect the legal process and i am confident the truth will prevail. thank you. >> usually we'll show you a small piece of a statement. that was the entire thing. authorities in nevada say the woman did not file a criminal complaint against roethlisberger so they don't intend to open a criminal investigation. it is being called the largest public corruption bust in new jersey history. it has been ten years in the making. 44 people are charged. many of them prominent officials, among those hauled into fbi headquarters, the mayors of hoboken, secaucus and the deputy mayor of new jersey.

rabbis arrested. cash stuffed into envelopes in exchange for political favors. politicians put themselves up for sale and trafficked in human organs. >> in two years these defendants laundered $3 million with rc alone. connected to the money laundering we have one defendant mr. rosenbaum who we refer to as our kidney salesman. his business was to entice vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $0,000. which he in turn would turn around and sell for $160,000. >> new jersey governor jon corzine issued this statement. any corruption is unacceptable, anywhere, any time by anybody. the scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply

outrageous and cannot be tolerated. investors are on a high right now. the dow closed above the 9,000 mark for the first time in eight months. at&t and 3m helped give the blue chips a triple-digit boost by reporting results that beat expectations. it was helped that existing home sales topped forecasts. the dow closed up 188 points at 9069. good for us. all right. >> president obama was in ohio continuing his push for health care reform. earlier the president toured the cleveland clinic he used as an example of a system that works well. president obama says an overhaul to america's health care system can't come soon enough. >> you won't have to worry about

preexisting conditions because never again will anyone in america be denied coverage because of a previous illness or injury. >> the full senate will not vote on health care reform before the august recess. senate majority leader harry reid says they will take up the issue in the fall. investigators have taken new evidence from the doctor who was with michael jackson when he died. dr. conrad murray was paid $150,000 a month to care for jackson. his lawyers say los angeles police and dea agents copied files from a computer hard drive. they took 21 documents during that raid of his clinic in houston. murray's attorney says the search warrant seeking evidence of manslaughter came as a surprise. >> this is a major development in the case. here we have conrad murray's attorney admitting there is an

ongoing manslaughter investigation and a judge issued a search warrant. judge cans only issue a search warrant when there is probably crime has been committed and evidence is at dr. conrad murray's office. we can safely say authorities are looking at him probably as suspect. >> let's be clear, police have not called murray a suspect. the final coroner's report on what killed jackson could be released by next week. henry lewis gates jr. the harvard professor arrested at his own home, wants an apology from the officer who put him in handcuffs. will he get it?

got some great news coming from the world of sports. white sox mark buehrle pitched a rare perfect game today. playing against the tampa bay rays. the score was 5-0. the first major league no-hitter in five years. that is why we thought we needed to tell you about it. there have been 16 since 1900. congratulations to him and his team. how about that? the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts, is meeting with the police chief to talk about the arrest of henry lewis gates jr. when the officer got there to investigate a possible break in. the officer reportedly demanded gates show him identification. he refused and accused the officer of racism. the mayor apologized to gates.

the arresting officer who we have just learned is a racial profiling expert says he won't apologize because he was merely following police protocol. >> the reason i asked the professor to come outside was not, as someone suggested, i couldn't arrest him in his house. i didn't know who he was. i was by myself. i was the only police officer standing there. that was for my safety. first and foremost i have to go home at night and i have three beautiful children and a wife who depend on me. i had no motive other than to ensure my safety. >> sergeant james crowley arrested gates on a disorderly conduct charge. he says gates became belligerent. gates disputes that and says he would forgive crowley if he told the truth. >> i haven't heard from sergeant crowley. i would be prepared to listen to him.

if i were convinced, if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions he fabricated in the police report, i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. if this can happen to me in harvard square it can happen to anybody in the united states and i'm determined it never happen to anybody again. >> another element now. during the primetime news conference president obama responding to a question says he thinks police made a mistake arresting gates. he implied race may have been a factor. we are remembering a fast food icon, gidget, the taco bell chihuahua died. we have details on this passing. is this why you are wearing black, nicole. >> i'm mourning the death of

gidjet. >> at the age of 15, actually 73 to 05 human years. so this dog lived quite a life. she was in "legally blonde." remember her the cameo appearance the mom of bruiser. >> i do, actually. >> she was in "beverly hills chihuahua." she got to ring the bell at the new york stock exchange at one point. man, i would like to come back at gidget in my next life. that is a good life. she could fold socks, she picked up from the floor, according to her trainer. she was owned by the studio animal services, richelle. here is the kicker, her death was even reported by people magazine. i don't know if i would be

reported by people magazine. if i went but gidget was. rest in peace, misgidjet. >> what a rock star. >> she a rock star. so many things happening in the world, health care, gates and gidget is number one on the most popular list. read more at cnn.com. >> i'm sure people will, nicole. thank you for that. appreciate it. some financial experts will tell you this is the best times to start a new business. that is encouraging news for the shaky economy. how do you pay for it. stephanie elam asked a entrepreneur. this is today's "money & main street" report. >> lucy is hooked on coffee. >> i had my first shot of es presso when i was 13. it was amazing.

>> reporter: with the dream of opening a coffee house she went to seattle to learn at the aprons of the best. >> i'm not leaving this town until i learn how to do that. >> reporter: she launched voltage coffee. her corporate headquarters/. >> this is where the magic happens. >> reporter: with the help of a few aids -- >> i wrote my business plan. >> reporter: she took her plan to the small business association and she was referred to axiom usa that provides milk ro loans. >> i love lucy's dedication to the quality of her product and i'm a big believer that a great product and the the patience an entrepreneur brings to that can

carry a lot of way. >> reporter: she started voltage with her $2,000 and the loan she got through sam adams brewing the american dream program. >> it covered the es presso machine, the grinders, my table, membership costs and my cost for a few months with the commercial kitchen facility i use. >> now she is focused on the store front. >> i need to convince someone to give me 180 grand. that is a good chunk of change. >> reporter: despite the economy she remains undaunted. >> i'm not letting up. i'm not letting up, boston. i don't care. >> reporter: stephanie elam, jamaica plain, massachusetts. ÷

"prime news" is coming up.

let's check in with mike and get a peek at his rundown. he has notes. >> michael word his death certificate was viewed possibly hundreds of times ill leely, unlawfully possibly. you can't do that. we'll find out high. how many people exactly. how did they get access to this? the cynic in us tells us how many different things they can do with it. they can try to sell information to the pab loids off of it, print a copy of themselves. who knows? we'll dive into that. call 1-877-tell-hln. in the state of rhode island, underage girls can legally strip. yeah 16-year-olds. there's no law on the books preventing that. the after-school job for a 16-year-old could be stripping just as long as they're off the pole by 11:30 at night. >> are you okay? >> you know this is the kind of story that gets the blood

pressure pumping. call in on that one if you like. hopefully in rhode island they'll get emergency legislation out there to protect some of the young girls. a story we're following up on. it was basically a trooper, oklahoma state high wa patrol versus a paramedic. in the midst of that we had a lady who needed to get to the hospital in the back of an ambulance. the highway patrol thought the ambulance should have given him the right-of-way. they didn't. they pull him over. the trooper and the paramedic get into it. trooper has been suspended five days without pay. the paramedic is suing the trooper. we'll bring that back up for you and talk about does the paramedic have a case or not? call in. richelle and i come your way in less than ten. >> be there in a bit, mike. one of osama bin laden's sons may have been killed. there's no hard evidence that he died in the attack. but there was intelligence he was killed by a missile from a

predator drone aircraft. officials say the younger bin laden is not a key player. jon gosselin is hanging out in new circles. could he have another new girlfriend?