a plane crashes near a city street near oklahoma city just after take-off. what investigators know so far about how it happened. police may release audio videotape evidence in the arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates. and the california coast gets 20-foot high waves. among the spectacular show, danger. let's get you up to speed on three separate plane incidents that have taken place in the past 24 hours. two men and three women were critically injured when a single-engine plane crashed in oklahoma city today.

the pilot reported engine problems just after take-off. he tried to return to the the airport, but crashed into two trees and went down near a busy street. an american airlines flight made an emergency landing an hour after turning off. it returned to boston's logan airport after someone smelled smoke coming from the plane's rear bathroom. no one was hurt. maintenance workers are examining the plane to find out what happened here. an 84-year-old pilot was injured when the plane he was flying yesterday crashed here into an unoccupied trailer near florida's turnpike. no one else was onboard. the faa is investigating this crash. there may be a new lead in search of suspects wanted in a the shooing death of the search of a border patrol agent. a injured man was arrested in mexico near the crime scene carrying a border patrol-issued weapon. they are looking for two

suspects and they think one was hurt in the incident. that left agent robert rosas killed there. the fbi is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest. rosas was the first border patrol agent to die in a shooting in more than ten years. the fervor over the policeman, the professor and the president is not dying down again. henry gates said he accepted obama's invitation to come to the white house. gates was arrested outside his home after a 911 call about a possible break-in. he says he proved his identity to officers and the lead-up to his arrest in his home own was racial profiling. sergeant crowley said did he no wrong and was surprised at obama's reaction.

obama said he did give the impression he was maligning the police department, but did not apologize. disorderly conduct charges against gates have been dropped. alaska governor sarah palin has one more day in office. she is holding a series of picnics before she leaves. the first was yesterday in wasilla. there is one today in anchorage and another tomorrow in fairbanks. deputy political director paul ste steinhouser looks at what could be ahead for her. >> sarah palin steps down monday. yesterday in wasilla she held her annual picnic. thousands were there. there were chants of "sarah palin we love you" and "palin 2012." >> from the bottom of my heart, and especially this being my last time to speak to the valley community as your governor, i do want to tell you sincerely that

i love you, i appreciate you and your support, the support you've shown my family. god bless you and god bless america. >> reporter: so what's next for sarah palin? that is the next big question. she didn't take questions from reporters yesterday at that picnic in wasilla, but said she wants to campaign for candidates whose issues she agrees with and wants to fight for the causes important to her. that is sparking speculation maybe, maybe she wants to run for the presidency in 2012. she was john mccain's running mate last year. what do americans think about sarah palin? two new polls that came out show a majority of americans have an unfavorable view of sarah palin. abc/washington post, 53% have an unfavorable opinion. it is a different story when you break it down by party. you can see 7 in 10 republicans have a favorable view of sarah palin.

that drops to 4-10 interests and 2-10 democrats. there is definitely polarization. paul steinhauser for hln in washington. president obama is making a new pitch for health care reform. the new white house study suggests small businesses pay more per employee for health insurance than larger companies. in his weekly radio and internet address he calls that unacceptable and says that will change when he signs health care reform into law. >> after a lot of hard work in congress, we are closer than ever before to finally passing reform that will reduce costs, expand kofrmg and provide more choices for our families and businesses. it's taken months to reach this point. once this legislation passes, we'll need to move thoughtfully and deliberately to implement these reforms over a period of several years. that's why i feel such a sense of urgency about moving this

process forward. >> the big question is will health care reform reach the president's desk any time soon? house democrats are split on the current version and so-called blue dog democrats and republicans have enough votes to prevent the current version from passing. health leaders say they do expect to pass a bill by the fall. republican law makers say contrary to what president obama claims, the health care plan will actually hurt small businesses. in this week's gop address, congresswoman kathy mcmorris rogers says the president's plan will cost too much and reduce the quality of health care for those who have insurance. she said republican law makers have offered to work with democrats to craft bipartisan legislation, but she says democrats don't want their help. >> the democrats' health care plan, crafted largely behind closed doors isn't the right thing. it's a prescription for disaster. one that will put washington bureaucrats in charge of your family's personal medical

decisions. medical decisions that are some of the most personal decisions you'll ever make. >> people who live near daytona beach got a scare from sudden tornado. the tornado ripped roofs off the homes and scattered a bunch of debris. seven homes are destroyed and 163 homes damaged. one minor injury was reported. waves up to 20 feet high killed a body surfer in newport beach, california. life guards pulled him out with the help of other body surfers, but it was too late. swimmers in the area said they noticed conditions were more dangerous than usual. >> it's rough. the current's really strong. pulling you towards the rocks. i guess i heard somebody died today. i don't know. it's pretty dangerous. it's scary. i got caught inside and was worried. >> strong winds in the pacific kicked up the waves.

high surf advisory is in effect for los angeles, orange and other coastal counties fl tonight. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. a chance of stormy weather across parts of the ohio valley and into the midwest. here's the culprit. we've got a lot of moist air coming in from the gulf of mexico. that will clash with this frontal boundary across cincinnati, columbus, ohio. as you make your way farther out to the west, to montana and idaho we could see a chance of severe storms late in the day. biggest threat will be possibly large hail, maybe damaging winds. farther south looks like we could see scattered showers. a mixture of sunshine and clouds for much of the california coast. then in texas, the big story is the heat and plenty of it with high temperatures going back into the triple digits. dallas 101, the expected high. 96 in houston. when you couple that with a high humidity, it will feel warmer. 92 in memphis. 86 in new york. 89 in miami. tampa with 91 degrees.

back into denver, 78 degrees. 91 in salt lake city. a cooler day for you in vegas. all things considered with 98 degrees. 104 in phoenix. that is a look at your forecast across the nation. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. o.j. simpson is trying to get back some of that memorabilia he says was stolen from him. you'll remember his last attempt to do that ended up with him getting convicted for armed robbery and kidnapping. this time, he's going about it a little differently.

we are beginning to see the consequences of a new jersey corruption scandal. it may ruin governor corzine's re-election bid. many have discussed replacing corzine on the ballot. corzine did ask for and get the resignation of his community and affairs commissioner whose homes and ochses were raided by fbi

agents in thursday's sweep. corzine is already trailing chris christi in early polls. christi is running on a campaign promise to clean up new jersey's culture of corruption. 44 people were arrested in thursday's bust including three new jersey mayors. an investigation is on to find out if employees at the l.a. coroner's office illegally released descriptions of the prescriptions in his body. they were published by tabloid newspapers in the days after his death. at the time, jackson's body was in the coroner's custody for an autopsy. the los angeles county supervisor's office asked the sheriff to conduct a preliminary inquiry. that will determine if there is enough evidence for a full investigation. tonight on hln "news and views," shocking search warrants just released in the michael jackson death investigation. an extensive inventory of items

seized from his personal doctor in texas. what explosive secrets do they hold? nancy grace has the latest breaking developments. o.j. simpson wants to get back some of that stuff he was was taken from him. he filed a decoration in court yesterday asking police to return footballs, ties and other memorabilia to him. back in 2007, simpson confronted two mihm bellia dealers in las vegas claiming they stole those items from him. he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping and sentenced to at least nine years in prison. the mother of the octuplets signed a contract to star in a reality tv show with her kids. they will get $250 a day during the filming. that means her family will get $250,000 over three years. suleman signed with a european company that made the biggest loser and "breaking bonaducci."

filming is expected to begin in september. suleman gave birth to the world's longest-surviving octuplets in january. the hubble's first science observation since astronauts repaired and upgraded it in may. scientists believe the mark on jupiter was probably the result of a small comet or asteroid dlid colliding with the planet monday. sints are calibrating a new camera and had not planned to start using it till late this summer. they decided to put it back into action to capture this rare occurrence. an auschwitz leader visits his homeland. o leader visits hi homeland. us leader visits his homeland. t leader visits his homeland. e leader visits his homeland. d leader visits his homeland.

ousted honduras president made good on a move he promised. he crossed the border and return to honduras yesterday afternoon. it was a brief visit. he spent a few minutes over the border crossing before retreating. he was surrounded by reporters. soldiers and the national police were nearby to arrest him if he went any further. zelaya supporters gathered in a city. it was near the point where he crossed into honduras. police fired on that crowd and a cnn correspondent says two people were wounded. secretary of state hillary clinton called his trip reckless. human rights supporters in dozen of cities worldwide are

holding demonstrations today to protest iran's treatment of pro democracy activists. groups including human rights watch and amnesty international are asking the united nations to investigate a ledged human rights abuses in iran and urging iranian authorities to release hundreds of people detained for protesting last month's re-election of president mahmoud ahmadinejad. demonstrators say tehran must allow freedom of expression and assembly. this gathering in seoul is one of the smaller rallies. larger ones took place in tokyo, london, brussels and throughout australia. the violence raging across afghanistan shows no sign of stopping. today taliban fighters were in suicide vests and stormed a number of government buildings. some blew themselves up and others killed in a gun battle. seven militants died and four other people hurt. a british soldier was killed by a roadside bomb. u.s. and british troops stepped

up offenses against taliban targets in southern afghanistan. july is now the deadliest month of a nearly eight-year war. at least 66 coalition troops have died. as unemployment rises across america, there is more pressure for companies to make sure their workers are legally eligible to hold a job. using a web-based verification system could become mandatory. >> reporter: the internet-based system is everify. employers put the name and personal information of prospective employees and the system will tell whether the person is authorized to work in the united states. e-verify is now a voluntary government plan. a bipartisan group of law makers proposed legislation to make it manneded try for all u.s. employers. as a way to reduce the hiring of illegal workers. >> with high unemployment, 500,000 people losing their jobs every day, we have to ensure

americans and legal immigrants get those jobs. not those who are breaking the law. >> reporter: currently arizona, mississippi and south carolina have passed laws that require all employers in the state use the e-verify system. u.s. chamber of commerce this week asked the supreme court to review the arizona law's constitutionality. others say e-verify is not full proof and can lead to an increase of identity theft. >> e-verify in some instances has been beaten by simply using a stolen identity. some employers, there is a meat packing case a few years ago when as many as 15% of the work force beat it by using stolen identity. >> reporter: still the system is gaining in popularity with companies, growing at a rate of 1,200 employers every week. >> they are no longer paper-based. it's free to use and most importantly for them, it's credible deniability if the federal government comes to them

and they have work site enforcement issues. if they've been using e-verify, it shows good faith on their part. >> reporter: currently more than 133,000 employers are using e-verify. add to that list soon federal contractors and subcontractors. the obama administration twice delayed implementation of a rule that would require e-verify by companies that do federal business with the government. department of homeland security said the rule will now take effect in september. lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. cash-strapped california finally passes a new budget. the california state legislator has voted to slash state programs and shuffle money around to close a $25 billion budget gap. things have gotten so bad there that the state's been issuing ious. law makers wrapped up a marathon 24-hour session to get the budget approved yesterday. after governor arnold schwarzenegger said all californians will feel the pain.

>> i know college students will pay now higher tuitions. i know teachers will be laid off and i know our state workers will get less money. we have to do that. it's the only way to solve the problem and to save our great state. the only way to do it is to spread the sacrifice. >> when asked if the budget would be a long-term fix, one law maker says, "i have no way of knowing." there is still a $1.1 billion shortfall but governor schwarzenegger says he can make up for that with cuts he has the authority to make without legislative approval. are these tough economic times putting the squeeze on your finances? money expert clark howard is on hln each week to help you. log on to cnn.com/clark and submit your i-report. you could be profiled on our network and get valuable advice from america's money coach. watch "the clark howard show in. "tomorrow at noon eastern here on hln.

what has an adorable face, five legs and a chance to be in a side show? up until thursday the answer was a puppy named lily. what's changed since then?

nowhere does quick access to care mean so much. from triage, we continue to shape the trauma care at home. beyond the conflict zone in the lab of researchers, new wave medical advancements have the potential to change health care. >> i'm confident this will be used in the military and hopefully in physicians' offices and hospitals around the world. >> military medical technology in this edition of "vital signs." hello and welcome to "vital signs," a global look at health that knows no boundaries. i'm dr. sanjay gupta, cnn

medical correspondent and a practicing neuro surgeon. when you think of military medicine, you probably think tournquets over high technology. nothing could be further from the truth. they are developing robots to help doctors treat troops around the world. they talk, they walk. they even take pictures. so is my and other doctors' jobs in jeopardy? let's find out. an explosion in iraq. combat medics are among the first to arrive. the clock is ticking and they have less than an hour to stabilize the wounded. doctors on the frontline know the challenges in emergency medicine. now they are using lessons on the ground to advance medical technology. so we are here at the brook army medical center in the burn icu. i am making rounds with an unusual partner today.

the chungbot. he makes rounds in an icu like this. we'll get an idea how it works. >> how is the patient doing? >> he is doing great today, sir. we are adjusting his fluids to match the tpn increase. >> okay. >> sergeant, what are his bed settings right now? >> dr. chung regularly sees patients via the wireless robot. he can be inside a patient's room from just about anywhere. >> we are in texas. he could be controlling a robot in this hospital or anywhere around the world, right? >> anywhere around the world. >> the robot moves freely. pretty fast. with three motorized wheels. there are sensors around the torso that signal any obstacles in the way.

in a high-quality camera allows the robot to move its head from side to side and record images from all angles. there is a laptop and remote joy stick that lets the doctor zoom in and check a patient's pupils, vital signs, even examine their brain scans remotely. >> i had a situation in iraq i was the only neurosurgeon out there. they asked me to take off my journalist cap and put on the surgeon's cap and perform operations. could a robot have helped them in a situation like that? >> absolutely. let's say the general surgeon had never done that particular procedure you performed, theersically, that person, as quickly as they are able to pick up the phone, call somebody, have them log into a robot that's prepositioned at that location. >> a surgeon could talk someone through an operation as if they were doing it themselves in realtime. >> make an incision like this behind her hairline, something

like this. >> right. >> they would see that. >> then you do a craneotomy. >> that is remarkable. >> that is a powerful component. it's particularly useful in that situation where you are doing surgery or any type of procedure. >> chung used the pro bot while deployed in baghdad to fetch updates on soldiers he treated and who returned to the united states. >> could be a big morale booster. >> it was. to visually see that patient in a bed with stable vital signs halfway around the world. that did wonders to see it. >> patient in baghdad. two days later you are looking at that patient on a robot in a hospital in the united states. >> right. >> remarkable. >> to be clear, this technology isn't quite ready for primetime yet. here is a problem that happens sometimes. i think we lost wireless

connection. >> i hit a dead spot. >> it happens sometimes. you see again they went into stand-by mode. that is probably one of the limitations of a robot like this even in a big hospital. dr. chung? hello? chung says despite the occasional hiccup in technology, he has successfully treated over 200 patients thanks to the robot. >> based on what you know, are we going to see robots everywhere within ten years at hospitals like this? >> i think this type of technology is highly valuable. at some point, you are going to see, as we try to stretch our expertise, our assets to different places around the country, this type of technology will help with you that. >> scientists hope these critters will spill their secrets. how is the mexican salamander able to generate its body parts?

this could hold the key to human regeneration. u.s. department of defense granted over $6 billion to a team hoping to tap into this. human regeneration is limited to different tissues. salamanders allow them to recreate a complete structure like a limb. here is a look through time-lapse imagery the way an amputated limb grows in about 90 days in a salamander and animated simulation of what is going on inside the body. here is a salamander with a completely new limb. it looks perfect, inside bone, nerves, muscle and can wiggle. if severed, good news is it grows back. we see the wound healing. now a look at what the salamander can do that we cannot do. cells are streaming out of the surrounding tissue into the area of the wound, forming what we call a blastema, cells that are like stem cells. they are multicolored because

they come from skin, muscle and even cartilage. they have a miraculous memory of what they used to be and are able to form a perfectly functional limb. researchers hope mapping the salamander genome will help them one day gain the ability to emulate this process for human burn victims and amputees. sonar, universal naval technology onboard ships and subs capable of picking up a small mine in the largest of oceans. in a few months, another search will become just as universal, breast cancer detection. using software originally developed by the usa navy to enhance images of undersea mines, aie has translated the technology to improve images of dense breast tissue in mammograms. up next, developers hope

technology will improve other medical devices like ultrasound and mri. keeping the soon to be 60,000 troops in afghanistan fit and xwad-ready is the job of a highly trained military doctor. rebuilding the country's health care system is going to take much, much more.

these images are from kabul, afghanistan, a place where the average life expectancy is only 48 years. a location where health is continually crippled by conflict. it's estimated 70% of medical services come from the outside. u.s. military, countless aid organizations, but still statistics are shocking. according to the united nations development program, more than 13% of babies die shortly after birth. 26% of children die before reaching the age of 5. the maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. in the search for the basic human right of health care, our reporter finds strength and hope

in a land. >> reporter: we believe this has been controlled by the taliban. >> reporter: the war in afghanistan may no longer be forgotten. the true victims always are. women and children continue to pay the ultimate price after decades of conflict simply because their lives are considered not precious enough to save. misguided cultural pride often prevent men from allowing their women to see a doctor because the doctor may be a man. a woman dice every 29 minutes due to child birth complications in afghanistan. that's the second highest maternal morality rate in the world. newborns also pay the ultimate price, 20% of them dying because of the lack of health care and medical facilities in their cities and villages.

this is the midwivery training center in kabul. this gives them a glimpse of what to expect. a mother waits as her child lay dying. the training midwife step by step attempted to save the baby's life. in the end, reality takes over when the baby dice. the women have to cope with the loss. although they were just acting, this scene is played out in real life all too often in hospitals and homes throughout afghanistan. it's very heartbreaking, sadi tells me. when the training is over, she'll play the caregiver in real life. the reason she wants to be a midwife is to offer something new to afghan women after years of war, depression and

isolation. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: the women here come from various places and are of varying age. they are learning skills that will help other women. sympathy for women in afghanistan is the biggest motivator shared among the students here. they know what it's like to be ignored and forgotten. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: these women are in their second semester of training and have two more to go. some days are spent in the classroom, others in the

hospital with real patients. they do things like inserting ivs and checking blood pressure. all the while, reassuring the scared mothers. even at this privately-funded hospital in the capital city of kabul, these women work on just the basics. >> right now they are counting the heart beat of the baby. they are using my watch because everything is bare bones here. as you noticed, there aren't many machines, there is one iv. they don't have an ultrasound machine. these women are trying their best to make sure this woman has a healthy delivery. if you see the rudimentary clinic they have here at this hospital, they don't have enough equipment for these mothers, for these children. this is why the morality rate at birth from both mothers and children is so high in afghanistan. in many cases, it's not just women who die due to child birth related issues. it's young girls forced into

marriage before they even reach pubt. their still-forming bodies can't handle the intricacies of child birth and it will take many years to change the mindset instilled by decades of brutality and male domination. at least these women and 2,000 others train to be mid wives in afghanistan are taking the initial steps needed to bring forth change and hope that the next generation can fix the mistakes of the last. cnn, kabul, afghanistan. it's a stunning story. i can tell you there's a lot more to it. we ask ed her to provide the story behind the story. you are not going to want to miss her reporter's notebook. thanks for watching.

a plane crashes near a busy city in oklahoma city. what investigators know about what's onboard and how it happened.

police may release audio videotape evidence in the arrest of harvard professor henry louis gates. and the california coast gets 20-foot high waves. among the spectacular surf lies danger. i'm natasha curry, thank you for joining us. let's get you up to speed on three separate plane incidents that have taken place in the past 24 hours. two men and three women were critically injured when a single-engine plane crashed in oklahoma city today. the pilot reported engine problems just after take-off. he tried to return to the airport, but crashed into two trees and went down near a busy street. an american airlines flight made an emergency landing an hour after taking off. flight 1937 returned to boston's logan airport after someone smelled smoke coming from the plane's rear bathroom. no one was hurt. maintenance workers are examining the plane to find out what happened here. an 84-year-old pilot was injured when the plane he was

flying yesterday crashed here into an unoccupied trailer near florida's turnpike. state troopers say no one else was onboard. the faa is investigating this crash. there may be a new lead in search of suspects wanted in a the shooting death of a border patrol agent. a injured man was arrested in mexico near the crime scene carrying a border patrol-issued weapon. investigators are looking for at least two suspects and they think one was hurt in the incident. that left agent robert rosas killed there. he was killed while responding to a suspected illegal border crossing in san diego county thursday night. the fbi is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading ton arrest. rosas was the first border patrol agent to die in a shooting in more than ten years.