myanmar verdict. pro-democracy leader aung san suu kyi accused of violating house arrest by allowing an american to stay at her home. thrill seekers stuck for hours. and trapped pachyderm. a baby elephant in thailand gets in over its head. captioning funded by cbs good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm michelle guillen. this morning the leader of the pro-democracy movement in

myanmar aung san suu kyi was accused of violating her house arrest. originally sentenced to three years in prison, her sentence was reduced. barry peterson reports from tokyo. >> reporter: the ruling generals beefed up security before the verdict. when aung san suu kyi was sentenced to three years, they quickly stepped in and reduced it to 1 1/2 years. a sentence to be served under house arrest. she has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years, mostly held in her home. the case was sparked by an american who broke into that home. the military claimed his uninvited presence violated the terms of her previous sentence for house arrest. he was sentenced today to seven years in prison, four of those in hard labor. the military staged a coup in 1962 and later nullified the results of a 1990 election that suu kyi's party won. in 2007 the generals brutally endeded protests by monks against their regime.

suu kyi struggled for democracy earned her a nobel peace prize and was widespread support outside myanmar, also known as burma. a sign of that today in korea and the philippines, where protestors demanded her release, demands ignored again today by the military. barry peterson, cbs news, tokyo. president obama pitches healthcare reform in new hampshire today. he's likely to hear some rock hard opposition from skeptical granite state residents, particularly those who already have insurance. susan roberts is in washington with more. susan, good morning. >> reporter: michelle, good morning to you. these disruptive town hall meetings are really turning into shouting matches and drowning out the discussion of what's actually in the bills in the house and senate. president obama is expected to walk into this later today. the white house is expecting a tough crowd at today's town hall meeting in new hampshire. >> disgusting what they're doing. >> reporter: like this forum near atlanta last night, tempers

have been flaring across the country over the president's healthcare reform plan. critics insist his proposal would jeopardize medicare and result in limited insurance options. supporters say the overhaul is long overdue. >> we are having a vigorous debate in the united states, and i think that's a healthy thing. >> reporter: president obama's town hall this afternoon is expected to draw nearly 1,800 people. he'll take a different approach to his usual sales pitch, this time addressing the concerns of people who already have coverage. republicans argue the fiery debate in recent days is a sign of public dissatisfaction, but president obama says americans just need to allow time for the bill to take shape. >> i suspect that, once we get into the fall and people look at the actual legislation that's being proposed, that more sensible and reasoned arguments will emerge. >> reporter: the president is confident that congress will pass the bill after its summer break. until then, the administration is trying to clear up

misconceptions about the plan any way it can. the white house launched a new online campaign monday to provide a reality check, and president obama will continue taking his message directly to the people with two more town hall meetings later this week. and some democrats have accused actually conservative groups of manufacturing this outrage while others say it's a reflection of true opposition to the president's plans. michelle? >> it will be interesting. all right. susan roberts in washington. susan, thank you. government testing of the h1n1 flu vaccine is under way in eight u.s. cities. the study to test the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine began yesterday. nearly 3,000 volunteers will get the shot. health officials hope to have 160 million doses available by this fall. secretary of state hillary clinton finally had enough. traveling in africa she had been repeatedly questioned about her husband's trip to free two american journalist ins north korea.

yesterday mrs. clinton snapped following this question from a student in the congo. >> people hurt by the chinese contracts in this country, the interferences from the world bank against this contract. what does mr. clinton think through the mouth of mrs. clinton, and what does mr. mcdonald think on this situation? thank you very much. >> wait. you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state. i am. so you asked my opinion, i will tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channeling my husband. >> afterwards, it was all smiles and no hard feelings. the student told mrs. clinton he meant to ask about president

obama but something got lost in the translation. on the "cbs money watch" stocks in asia rose this morning. claire leka is here in new york. good morning. asian stocks headeded higher overnight. foreign investors are optimistic after new data showed government stimulus measures were working. japan's benchmark nikkei added .5%. hong kong stocks rose .66%. on wall street, the bulls are hoping to recharge the five month old rally that had stocks up 50% from their march lows. the dow jones industrial average starts the day off 32 points. the tech heavy nasdaq eased back 8. the the federal reserve opens its two-day meeting on interest rates today. it's widely expected that ben bernanke will keep interest rates at a historic low. even though all signs are pointing to the recession ending, they know the economy is still in a fragile state.

investors will be looking for any hints in the fed's policy statement about an exit strategy from the unprecedented steps it's taken to prop up the economy. the steep drop in home values across the country is slowing, according to real estate website zillo.com, the value of homes fell by 12% in the second quarter from a year earlier. but the rate of decline slank for the first time since prices began to fall back in 2007. even so, rising foreclosures and a high level of underwater mortgages are still a big threat to any housing recovery. according to zillo, home values nationwide posted their tenth straight quarterly decline, falling to $186,500. and 230 -- that's the number of miles per gallon gm's new chevy volt will get from city driving. seen at the detroit auto show earlier this year, it's

scheduled to hit floors next year. it will be the first vehicle in history with a triple digit fuel economy rating. that's three times more than toyota's prius hybrid. gm is scheduled to announce the rating later today. michelle? >> incredible. claire leka here in new york. claire, thank you. just ahead on the morning news, typhoons cause devastation across asia. plus a shaky morning in japan as an earthquake strikes. first, katie couric has a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." >> nearly 12 million children face serious barriers to getting dental care due to the high cost or the lack of insurance. but now clinics all across the country are trying to help. our special series "children of the recession" continues tonight only on the "cbs evening news." i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then...well... i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble concentrating, the lack of energy.

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a second night of fires and rioting in a suburb east of paris. angry young people torched a tourist bus and about half a

dozen cars. the unrest began after the death sunday night of a teenage pizza deliveryman fleeing a police check on his motorcycle. some witnesses claim a police car hit the motorcyclist. earlier this morning, two powerful earthquakes rocked asia. one hit japan, where one person was killed and dozens injured. the first quake hit the indian ocean, measuring 7.6, and triggered tsunami watches in bangladesh, indonesia, and tie lan, but the watches were lifted, and no injuries were reported. the second quake measured 6.5, caused buildings to shake in tokyo. two nuclear power plants had to be shut down, and trains were stopped. at least 63 people were injured. and on top of the earthquake, japan was pummeled by a typhoon. the powerful storm slammed into japan yesterday. 12 people were killed, and others are missing. a more powerful typhoon hit taiwan and china, where at least 40 people were killed and hundreds remain buried by

mudslides. peter sharp of britain's sky news reports from beijing. >> reporter: the rains have gone, but the devastation remains np in taiwan in one village, hundreds of people are said to be caught up under a massive mudslide. the only way in is from the air as the storm swept away roads and left the land totally submerged. this is the worst flooding taiwan has seen in more than 50 years. entire communities have been cut off, and a major rescue operation led by the army is under way across this typhoon-prone land. but those that have been rescued hold out little hope of seeing their loved ones again. some are totally overcome. typhoon morakot tore an equally devastating trail across china's east coast. more than 1 million people in the provinces of xi jang and fujian fled their homes. this shows the strength of the

120-mile-per-hour winds that tore through this region. it's the landslides that proved deadly. throughout this village in southern china, rescuers searched for families trapped when their apartment buildings were swept away. in this town, cleaning up is a dangerous business as rain-soaked earth continues to come crashing down. and across southeastern china, heavy flooding closed entire roads cutting off communities. in japan, a second typhoon struck the west coast, bringing strong winds and heavy rains with devastating effect. the death toll across this region is expected to rise today as the floodwaters ebb and the rescue teams dig through the landslides brought down by the ferosity of the wind and rain. still ahead, your tuesday morning weather. and in sports vladimir guerrero hits a big round number against the rays. my health is important to me. it's critical that i stick to my medication. i cannot be one of the 61 million americans

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here's a look at the weather in some cities across the country. chicago, sunny and 81. denver, 84. los angeles, sunny and 80 degrees. time now for a check on the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows it's cloudy across the mid-atlantic states and the northeast. it's gray and stormy over portions of the mid-mississippi valley, and the rest of the

nation is clear. other than the northwest coastline, which will be cool and gray, the west and high plains will be sunny and hot. scattered thunderstorms will rumble across much of the east. storms also expected across the tennessee valley and southern plains. it will be a beautiful day across the midwest and great lakes. in sports, a little guy had a huge night in colorado. shortstop troy tul wits ski had two singles, a double, a triple, a home run, and seven rbis against the cubs. but the best play of the night had to be this catch by dexter fowler. they win 11-5. in anaheim, vladimir guerrero's second home run of the game and the 400th of his career put the angels ahead. with two outs in the ninth, ben zobrist almost tied it, but juan riff ya saved the angels' victory. tiger woods will have to pay a fine for criticizing a tour

official. the official, enforcing the rules on sunday, told woods and padraig harrington to play faster. woods told the reporter that the official had gotten in the way. nascar drivers hit the famous road course at watkins glen yesterday. on lap 62, hornish hit jeff gordon and a few other cars. the race was stopped for a while, but no one was hurt. tony stewart went on to get his fifth victory at watkins glen. when we return, a look at the nation's top stories. and thrills turn to terror after roller coaster riders get stranded.

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather.scattered thunderstorms will rumble from the tennessee valley to the northeast coastline. sunny and pleasant around the great lakes. and the high plains and rockies will stay dry.

here's another look at this morning's top stories. president obama holds a town hall meeting on healthcare reform in new hampshire today. the meeting could get rowdy thanks to protestors as the president explains how his plan will affect those who already have health insurance. this morning a myanmar court found pro-democracy leader aung san suu kyi guilty of violating her house arrest for allowing an american to stay at her home. she was sentenced to another 18 months confinement. the american got seven years in prison. and desperate rescue operations are under way in typhoon ravaged taiwan. taiwan's military saved more than 250 people buried by mudslides, but hundreds more are still missing. in santa clara, california, what was supposed to be a 72nd thrill ride on a roller coaster turned into a four hour rescue ordeal. joe vazquez of our san francisco station kpix spoke to some of the teenagers who were rescued. >> reporter: six members of the espinoza family of san lorne sew

ranged from 14 to 24 years old were among the riders on the vertigo roller coaster when it broke down just after 1:00. they were stranded for four hours. >> we heard some clanging sounds and then like metal started sparking off from the top. >> reporter: 14-year-old dennis espinoza shot this video with his cell phone camera as he was suspended on the ride. he says he was scared and upset it took four hours to get him down. >> it was a terrible feeling because i was scared and my butt was numb, and my back hurt, and i needed to go pee. >> reporter: 24 riders were stuck for hours as the fire department had to arrange for tall ladder trucks to come from other jurisdictions and get in place inside the gates of the great america theme park. >> we had to secure them in thr seats. we had to release the restraint mechanism on the ride, and then we had to lower them into the basket and bring them down to the ground. and we had to do that 24 times. it takes a while, one, to get

the people inside the park, and, two, to do that on each person. >> reporter: meanwhile, rescuers were talking to the riders, keeping them calm, giving them water. the ride got stuck as it was ascending to the top of the 80-foot high roller coasters. riders were stranded at an uncomfortable angle, but no one was hurt. >> i thank god we were still alive. >> reporter: what exactly went wrong? park officials will only say there's an issue with the lift chain, the chain that lifts the roller coaster up. state inspectors are on the scene to get to the bottom of it. joe vazquez for cbs news. another rescue operation in thailand, this one to save a struggling elephant. somehow the baby pachyderm fell into a manhole sunday as its handlers were leading it to work. it was trapped in the drainage ditch unable to move until rescuers brought in an earth mover. the whole operation took about three hours.

finally, as the crowd looked on, the elephant emerged from its ordeal, none the worse for its wear. this morning on "the early show," white house press secretary robert gibbs on today's healthcare town hall with president obama. i'm michelle guillen. this is the "cbs morning news." i'm a diabetic and i want you to know over 230,000 u.s. doctors have authorized their patients to receive their diabetic supplies through liberty medical. and that begins with the one touch®ultra2 meter. easy to use, fast results... at no additional cost! liberty helps keep you on track by delivering diabetic supplies to your door... and filing your claims. i never feel i'm going to run out of anything. with liberty i always have someone to talk to and now they refill all my prescriptions. call now to receive a diabetic cookbook free. call to receive the one touch®ultra2 meter at no additional cost and find out why 230,000 u.s. doctors and over a million people with diabetes trust liberty medical.

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. hello again, four minutes before 5:00. there's evidence some people got rain over night. marty is in the first warning weather. some folks did have rain. i am searching. there's a huge pattern around the virginia doppler site. what i am doing is using that scan that shows us whew hah is a lull, takes a mosaic of all the radars around the region. we are not seeing a lot there's a little moisture over baltimore but what i am thinking right now. come back here, fog indicators are lit up this morning. we may be seeing a little fog trying to form around the area,

another stuffy day but not as hot as yesterday. that heat is done, and another full first warning weather forecast coming up. thank you. in the news still heated over health care, the national debate takes center stage here. this morning why some feel the government should pull the plug on the current proposal. >> a dramatic rescue a tree falls on a car trapping a person in a car. >> and brooks&dunn, why they are calling it quits after 20 years together. more news, first warning weather and your first traffic report of the morning in a couple of minutes.

. this is wjz, wjz-dt and wjz.com, baltimore. good morning, maryland. now, don