our cnn political analyst bill schneider is joining us live. bill, did president obama, did he suffer any kind of political damage from the controversy that unfolded and how he handled this? >> reporter: a little, not a lot. gates gate was pretty asch local story until president obama weighed in with his assessment. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. >> reporter: do americans think the police officer acted stupidly? we asked, in a cnn poll conducted by the opinion research cooperation, fewer than a third of whites believe he acted stupidly. most african-americans think he did. do people think professor gates acted stupidly? most whites do. african-americans are divided. president obama later expressed regret. >> and i could have calibrated those words differently. >> reporter: do people think president obama acted stupidly when he made his original

bill schneider. hello, bill. >> hi, don. >> the president and congress will be on the road this august. who are the voters they're trying to persuade here? >> there's going to be a big lobbying efforts. it's the great rescue plan to save the reform package, and they'll be targeting the voters who are the satisfied majority, the americans who say they're happy with their health care and they're satisfied with their health insurance. they like the idea of reform, because they want people who don't have it to get health insurance. they want to control costs and inflation, they want to be sure that they'll be able to keep what they have, but they're worried that somehow this big trillion health care plan will limit their choices and make things more experience up. >> we get a lot of responses, you know this from viewers. is this really the biggest issue to voters? >> no. >> people are still work about what pop,just reported. the sex most important concern to people is government. >> then who has the adva

let's bring in cnn political analyst bill schneider. any time you mention middle class tax hike, any time you mention taxes a lot of people get nervous especially when times are already as tough as they are now. >> i should think so. most people identify as taxpayers and president obama got elected on a pledge not to raise taxes on middle income americans, and he said 95% of americans will not see a tax increase. if taxes do go up they will be at the highest levels and that's what's been proposed by many of the plans now being considered for health care, that's why when the members of the administration start talking about tax increases not primarily falling on the middle class, a lot of people get nervous. what does that mean? "not primarily falling on the midd middle. class." are middle class taxes going up for health care and the deficit? >> it doesn't mean middle class taxpayers are exempt from anything saying primarily. >> there's a history of washington in the country of raising taxes and disguising that, done by republicans and d

bill schneider with our report. >> where do the people stand on health care reform? divided. in our new cnn poll conducted by the opinion research corporation, 50% favor president obama's plan. 45% oppose it. politicians pay attention to intensity and opponents of health care reform feel more strongly about it than supporters. opponent also say they're more likely to attend a public forum on the issue. why are democrats having so much trouble rallying support? here's one reason. solid majorities of americans say they're satisfied with their health care and their health insurance. a whopping 71% are satisfied with both. there, the satisfied majority. how does the satisfied majority feel about health care reform? they're inclined to propooppose reform, but may be persuadable. >> if we do not act, everybody's health care will be in jeopardy. >> reporter: critics mean it's too much government control over health care. >> the democrats believe you've got to change the entire health care system in america, including the so-called government option, which we believe would lead to a

bill schneider, will join us to talk about that. iain clayton. mr. evans?s is janice from onstar. i have received an automatic signal you've been in a front-end crash. do you need help? yeah. i'll contact emergency services and stay with you. you okay? yeah. onstar. standard for one year on 14 chevy models. >>> well, despite weeks of street protests, iran's mahmoud ahmadinejad has been sworn in as the country's president. now there are reports of hundreds more protesters flooding the streets with riot police at the ready there. our international correspondent, reza sayah, is at the iran desk with the very latest developments out of tehran, really all of iran. reza? >> yeah, don, whether you like him or not, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad will serve a second term. it became official this morning in tehran with a swearing-in ceremony before lawmakers in parliament. we can go to video of that ceremony, taking place, 9:00 a.m. local time. there you see president mahmoud ahmadinejad next to the head of the judiciary. the president taking an oath and then

bill schneider, thanks so much. appreciate that. president having a very busy schedule coming up, bill underscored, yes, be in indiana, elkhart, indiana, talking the economy as well as a little bit of health care and also be, on monday, marking the launch of the post-9/11 gi bill, which expands benefits for those that served on or after september 11th, particularly if they want to go on to school. we want to hear from you can the national report card. how do you suppose the president is doing in this second 100 days? you can already start to log in on cnn.com and voice your concerns. give a grade and we will be issuing that national report card on thursday, 8 p.m. eastern time right here on cnn. >>> all right. debate over health care reform is playing out in television ads. senior political correspondent candy crowly ey is tracking the messages. >> reporter: have microphone, will travel. >> if you like your doctor, you keep your doctor. if you like your health care plan, you keep your health care plan. >> reporter: nothing like the b

bill schneider joins us live. >>> and the health care battle not just in the lals of congress.upporters and opponents of reform take their fight across the u.s. i think i'll go with the preferred package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. >>> happening now, a deadly shooting at a pennsylvania gym. police say a man on a mission to kill opened fire. four people are dead, including the suspect. what was the motive? we'll have a live report. >>> new information about a horrifying accident in new york. police now say a woman smoked marijuana and drank before plowing her minivan into an suv, killing eight people, half of them children. >>> and window washers in boston hanging on for their lives. 37 stories up. details on the unbelievable rescue mission. wolf blitzer's off today. i'm suzanne malveaux, and you're in "the situation room." jo we want you to grade the obama administration's handling of health care reform. thousands of you have already weighed in both online at cnn.com/reportcard or ca

hurricane bill and tropical depression ana. bonnie schneider is here to show us where the storms are headed. the cones of uncertainty. >> it is uncertain. once you start getting past 72 hours, chuck, you have a more widespread outlook of where the storms will go. we'll break it down for you. as you can see t three storms all in one weekend. "a", "b", "c." it's still happening now. gulf coast. posted for this reason. i took a closer look to show you where the rain and winds are. notice the wind direction out of the southeast. a lot of tropical moisture from claudette. there's the thunderstorms. hitting atlanta right now. all related to claudette. so is montgomery, alabama, facing flooding from rain coming in and runoff from streams and rivers. now out to the eastern atlantic for our brand new first hurricane of the atlantic season, hurricane bill. category 1 right now. the forecast for bill is to grow and intensify in size and strength. possibly becoming a category iii major hurricane in the next couple of days. take a closer look at the track f