i believe our brianna keilar. is brianna ready? not yet. okay.all right, so, when the moment that we get brianna to talk about how that was handled, those questions were handled by the house speaker we'll get to brianna. right now, we'll get to reza sayah. demonstrations in the iranian capital, tehran. already reports of clash business between security forces and demonstrators. reza is at the news desk. what do you have for us? >> the first protests and clashes we've seen over the past couple years. we have the first piece of video and appears to be from the protest today. let's go ahead and run that for you. this is, we believe, somewhere near in the resolution square. as you see people chanting and those chants are getting aggressive. you used to hear god is great, now, when you listen to this video, you hear death to the dictator. also the chants of, hey government, they pulled off a coup, resign, resign. so, some pointed chants from demonstrators targeting the government. let's go ahead and pause this for a second and tell you where this is e

brianna, appreciate it.lling to give up to pay for health care reform? it's a question posted on our newsroom blog, this is terrific. thank you very much. you flooded the blog with responses, 800, 900, i don't know where we are. >>> the question also came up during debate on the house floor -- >> i'm just wondering which one of you members is going to give up your navy doctors downstairs to take care of you? which one of you are going to give up your federal health care plan which insures all the members of your family? which one of you are going to give up medicare for all of your constituents? which one of you are going to give up the veterans' care and the veterans clinic ins drure ict? whi in your district? which one of you is going to take away the military tricare program? yeah, government's involved in health care. sure is, that's what our country is surviving and living on. let's make this work and stop attacking each other. >> wow, here's how some of you responded to our blog question. cynthia says,

our congressional correspondent, brianna keilar, brianna is joining us now with breaking news. do you have for us, brianna? >> reporter: tony, this is about the health of connecticut senator chris dodd. we received a note from his staff saying at 2:00 p.m. eastern he's going to have a press conference about a personal health issue, and his aides also forwarded us an article where senator dodd had spoken to the "hartford current" telling them he had early stage prostate cancer. we need be clear, tony, oftentimes prostate cancer is very, very treatable. and this article stresses that dodd feels fine, that his plan is to have surgery after the senate goes into recess, after next week, and that he plans on being back at work after what he describes as a brief recuperation. as you know, senator dodd has been working very long hours lately. he's been sitting in as the top democrat on the senate health committee, because ted kennedy, the chairman of that committee, is -- is away from the hill recuperating and trying to recuperate from brain cancer. so, certainly he's been working some

brianna keilar on capitol hill this morning. brianna, will this be a party line vote today? >> we're expecting it to be almost a party line vote. all the democrats on this committee have voiced their support for son jusotomayor and most of the republicans have said they are going to vote against her, including the top republican on this committee, jeff sessions from alabama. here's what he said yesterday on the senate floor. >> and her personal story is certainly inspiring, however, based on her record as a judge and her judicial philosophy, i have concluded that she should not be confirmed to our nation's highest court. while differences in style and backgrounds are to be welcomed on the court, no one should sit on the supreme court or any court who is not committed to setting aside their personal opinions and biases. >> now, only one republican on the senate judiciary committee has said he is going to vote, yes, to confirm her. lindsey graham of south carolina. he gave her tough questions during her confirmation hearings and he said elections have consequences, basically m

let's check in first with brianna keilar on capitol hill. hi, brianna. >> reporter: hi, hidy. in just a few hours here, the members will make a beeline for the airport getting out of washington for their august recess. i'll tell you where health care stands at the top of the hour. >>> i'm rob marciano. the space shuttle is scheduled to land in a little less than an hour and we will have the weather for you. >> guys, thanks so much. we'll be watching for all of that.. >>> we will have more on our special focus this morning on the new gi bill and how it will help troops injured or trauma advertised by war. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars... and 889 safety patents. this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. >>> on our blog this morning, we've been asking you to tell us about your experience as a veteran or if you have a loved one who is a veteran tell us about them. we've been getting a lot of stories, ranging from a hear

b brianna keilar on capitol hill, thanks, brianna. >> thank you. >>> she became the symbol of a protest movement in iran. she was shot dead 40 days ago. today, the situation is tense, once again. as thousands of people have gathered to remember her with riot police pushing back. reza say ah is following the democrats over at our iran desk and we're getting more video in and all these people, something like 3,000, i think, we have been hearing have gotten together to remember neda. >> an estimated 3,000 people showed up at her grave site, sources in tehran telling cnn that security forces are firing into the air and using tear gas in an effort to disperse the crowd. this during more clashes this morning in tehran between security forces and opposition supporters. new video coming into the iran desk over the past hour. this is tehran's main cemetery where opposition supporters had gathered to mourn neda, the 26-year-old who was killed on june 20th, along with several other people eight days after the disputed elections. the opposition had asked permission from the government to hold a mou

brianna keilar on capitol hill, thanks, brianna. >>> health care reform certainly a hot topic for cnn's ed henry. on his radio show today ed is talking on the phone now with republican congressman, let me just double check that. he is, he's not on the phone yet. but we believe any moment that he is going to be speaking with republican congressman eric canter, the house minority whip. when we get word that that conversation is actually taking place, we will get back to ed henry and a little later i will actually talk to our senior white house correspondent after he wraps that interview, we'll check in with him in about 30 minutes or so. >>> you know, when it comes to health care reform, we've been asking this question all week, what are you willing to give up? the responses have been absolutely huge. can't thank you enough for participating. if you would, keep the comments coming. just go to our blog. this is our show blog, just go to cnn.com/tony and leave a comment and we will share some of your comments or responses your thoughts, your views, your opinions a little later in the progra

cnn's brianna keilar is watching and waiting. brianna, is the house vote still on track for today? >> reporter: were, it is on track today as far as we know, kyra. that's expected to come here in about the next hour or so. meantime, this is the scene, before the house of representatives leaves for its august recess. these doors over here, members here in the next hour or so are going to stream out of them. they're going to stream down these stairs over here, and they're going to head home to their home districts without ever having voted on health care. and that means that this august recess is all about trying to win the fight over the debate on health care and who is going to win. what you have is some democrats and conservative democrats, kyra, who are very vulnerable during this time. they're going to go back. they're going to listen to their constituents, and they are certainly going to face big attacks from republicans who are against the democrats' health care reform plan that is being pushed in the house of representatives right now. so, what you -- what you see with democr

they can plan the brianna, on e parties were very civil.ow much did capitol hill need it to be such? >> i think hearings like this are pretty civil. we were expecting going into this, remember when she was announced, there was a huge outcry from conservative pundits some of whom called her a bigot and you saw republican senators pulling back on that we saw a continuation of that during this hearings. they treated her with respect but also asked tough questions at the same time, but was the feeling that the capitol hill and senate judiciary committee had a lot to lose if it got out of control? >> i don't think that there was any sense that it was going to get out of control. remember, on the first day we heard from senator lindsey graham, he said to judge sotomayor, unless you have a meltdown, i expect you're going to be confirmed and he said he didn't expect her to have meltdown and certainly there was none. >> so, candy, this early on into this administration, how much of a feather in the skap a potential confirmation for this white house

>> brianna, this is the not the only tax being discussed, is it? >> no, it's not the only tax proposal being discussed in terms of once hitting the wealthy. in the senate, for instance, they're considering a few different ones, capital gains on wealthy investors and limiting the itemized deductions that the wealthy get, and a millionaire's tax, not set in stone, but certainly on the table. >> thanks, brianna. >>> president obama's ambitions to deal with climate change here in the united states is now stalled on capitol hill. democratic senator barbara boxer is chairwoman of the house environment committee has decided to put off action on the cap-and-trade bill until after the senate's august recess. and that breaks an early august deadline boxer had set for a committee vote. now, the house had approved the cap-and-trade bill last month by just seven votes. >>> there is new controversy tonight, as insurer aig plans to pay out millions of dollars in executive bonuses. now, this is the company that wouldn't exist if not for a series of massive taxpaye

brianna, what are we going to see today? >> well, heidi, we're going to be seeing some more questions. you'll probably recall on monday, senator lindsey graham, a republican critic of sonia sotomayor, he says he may vote for her. he says unless she has a "healthdown," she will be confirmed. a meltdown. so far no meltdown. she seems really within the lines with her deliberate answers to these senators' questions. as sonia sotomayor took the hot seat prepared to answer republican questions about her controversial off-the-bench remarks, democrats launched a preemptive strike. >> here's your chance. you tell us what's going on here, judge. >> reporter: judiciary chairman patrick leahy gave her a friendly audience as she explained her comment about a wise latina reaching a better conclusion than a white male. she says it was a misunderstanding, that she was trying to inspire hispanic students. >> i want to state up front, unequivocally, and without doubt, i do not believe that any ethnic racial or gender group has an advantage in

brianna keilar joins us now and now comes the vote. when is the vote, brianna? >> we're expecting a vote by the senate judiciary committee on tuesday then. we're expecting a vote by the full senate before congress goes on its recess in august. so, the expectation is that sonia sotomayor will be in place as a supreme court justice well before, actually, the court begins its new session this fall. >> we were watching these hearings closely over the past several days. of course, but, after sonia sotomayor was done with her part. some of the most interesting testimony, some might say, were from some of the witnesses that came, including some of the new haven firefighters that were part of that case, of course, that new haven 20. so, tell us what was the point first of all in having those firefighters there and what did they have to say? >> this was pretty compelling testimony. republicans invited these firefighters to testify and they were part of this case where they claimed discrimination after the city threw out a firefighter exam after no african-american firefi

brianna keilar sets the stage.

>> as i understand it, she does not need to be in the room. >> thanks, brianna. of course, we will have live coverage of the hearing on capitol hill. it will begin at the bottom of the hour right here on cnn. >>> today is a big day in the president's effort to get health care reform passed. three key house committees are meeting to discuss the democrats $1.5 trillion plan. we are expecting to see vote ins two of those committees. in the senate, the budget committee meets today. president obama is taking a personal approach and is meeting today with a couple of key senators who could swing the vote. so far, the battle is divided along party lines, but one woman is hoping her story cuts through the bickering. jim acosta has more. >> reporter: before washington takes another step on health care reform, one woman wants the politicians to hear her story. >> if we don't change this now, my story is going to be their story. >> reporter: her 17-year-old cancer stricken daughter made headlines when the family was denied a liver transplant in 2007. they raised a ruk kus an

brianna keilar is on capitol hill and christine romans is in new york. brianna, let's start with you. what is neil barofsky saying to lawmakers today? >> he is telling them he's not only worried some of the $700 billion might be wasted and we might never know because there aren't these mechanisms in place, but he also said something a little more alarming. he said some of it could be scammed from the government and he thinks there needs to be some fire walls in place to prevent things like insider trading. now, also, he was questioned, tony, about that huge number that made news overnight. that $27.3 trillion. that is a number, you see him right there now. he said this is the total amount of money that has been out there for the federal rescue of the financial system. so every federal dollar that has gone towards this, it is a number that department of treasury officials hit back on saying it was inflated and barofsky responded to that just a short time ago. >> if the numbers weren't inflated, it was us who inflated them. as far as the suggestion that we

cnn's brianna keilar on the hill. what can you tell us, brianna? >> reporter: some developing information here, kyra. addre as you said, it's democrat versus democrat in the house. there is some holdup. they haven't decided exactly on key points for moving ahead on health care. and what we're now learning that democratic leaders may consider bypassing some of their concerns and moving this whole health care reform bill to the floor. this is the -- the person we're talking about is henry waxman. he is the chairman of the energy and commerce committee. and, kyra, the way it works, you have three committees in the house that took up this bill, and they were supposed to pass it out of their committees and then go to the house floor. well, two of these committees were able to pass this bill through. but the third, it got hung up because of a group called the blue dog democrats. some fiscally conservative democrats who have major concerns, in a nutshell, about the costs of this and how you're going to pay for it, how the democrats' plan pays for this. in

thank you so much, brianna. >>> he was singing and dancing until the end. final rehearsals tell us about his health and his state of mind? i'll ask the vocal coach who was working on jackson's comeback tour. >>> plus governor mark sanford's story keeps getting stranger. did he spend any state funds on his trips with his argentinian lover? who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience. america is at a crossroads. with our health care system in crisis, some want a government takeover. some want to do nothing, letting health care costs jump 70 percent. but there's another way... forward. the president and many in congress are working to pass health reform, pro

brianna keilar reports now from capitol hill. >> reporter: with president obama overseas, vice president joe biden stepped in to push the administration's top priority -- health care reform. >> folks, reform is coming. it is on track, it is coming. we have tried for decades -- for decades -- to fix a broken system, and we have never in my entire tenure in public life been this close. >> reporter: biden touted a deal with the hospital industry. hospitals will give up $155 billion in medicare and medicaid payments over the next ten years. money that would help pay for health care reform. but the top republican in the house, john boehner, blasted the announcement, accusing the administration of cutting back-room deals to fund a government takeover of health care. democrats are divided on the issue of how to pay for health care reform's $1 trillion price tag. max baucus is chairman of the senate's tax writing committee. a key proposal to tax employer-provided health benefits once seen as a likely way to raise hundreds of billions of dollars may be dead. democrats aware that recent polls show

brianna keilar, we'll follow it. thank you so much. >>> the human costs of war, what the british military pays wounded soldiers who have lost body parts in iraq and afghanistan. we know why we're here. toto build tomorrow's technology iin amazing ways.@w and reshape the science of aerospace... forever. around the globe, the people of boeing... @w are working together -- for the dreams of generations to come. that's why we're here. me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it'

cnn's brianna keilar breaks it down for us this morning. >> reporter: here's what democrats say theirnsurance overhaul would do for you, insurance companies cannot deny you coverage for pre-existing condition, and you would be required to purchase health insurance, or pay a fine. can't afford insurance? the government would chip in. and in most cases, so would your employer. how much would you pay? house democrats say they will cap your health care costs. >> there will be an annual limit on out-of-pocket expenses and no life-time limits on care. there will be no more co-pays or deductibles for preventive care that can catch devastating illnesses in time. >> reporter: if you don't get insurance through your employer, some in congress want to change how you buy it on the individual market by creating a simple clearinghouse. it's also called a gateway or an exchange where you can buy insurance after come parg different plans. many democrats in the house and senate want a government-run insurance plan included among those options, insisting private insurers won't lower their prices withou

. >> looking forward to that, brianna. the confirmation hearings could last all week. here are some of the highlights you could expect to see. today at 10:00 a.m. eastern, each of the 12 democrats and seven republicans on the senate judiciary committee get ten minutes to make their opening remarks. judge sotomayor will then be sworn in and make her own opening statement. tomorrow, each senator gets 30 minutes to question the judge. that's when we really begin to see potential fireworks here. alabama senator jeff sessions is really the one to watch here. he's like three take on a prosecutorial role as the ranking republican on the committee. minnesota's newly sworn in democratic senator al franken will also question judge sotomayor. on wednesday, sotomayor supporters like mayor michael bloomberg will testify. the committee will hear from critics like frank ricci, one of the firefighters that lost a discrimination suit before sotomayor. the supreme court reversed her ruling last month. do you want judge sonia sotomayor's nomination to the supreme court? head to our blog

brianna, what are you hearing?s have laid a pretty ambitious timeline for overhauling health care and how now some questions about whether they can follow it. president obama is telling congress the clock is ticking on health care reform. >> i never believe anything is do or die, but i really want to get it done by the august recess. >> reporter: a tall order for congressional democrats, who have missed self-imposed deadlines. in the house, democrats including arkansas's mike ross sent a letter to leaders, concerned congress isn't doing enough to cut ballooning health care costs. could you vote for the house health care bill as it stands right now? >> no. this is the biggest domestic issue that we will tackle this century. and so we think we need to slow it down a little bit, and do it right. >> reporter: so far, there are two prevailing ideas. one calls for a government-run health insurance plan favored by house speaker nancy pelosi. >> the only debate what it will cost, the patient option, public option, write in

brianna, what can judge sotomayor expect today?, but after that, her time on the hot seat is over and then we're going to be hearing from the firefighters and other witnesses testifying for and against sonia sotomayor. i want to give you a sense you close the firefighters have been sitting to her. really just about 20 feet away from her yesterday. frank ricci and ben vargas. they brought a suit claiming discrimination after the city threw out a firefighter exam after african-american firefighters didn't pass it. they claim discrimination. the case went up the court system and ultimately, sonia sotomayor's appeal judge panel upheld a lower court's ruling against these firefighters. in the end, the supreme court overturned this decision. they say it's an example of sonia sotomayor showing some bias in her decision. we should tell you though, sonia sotomayor, as we understand it, doesn't have the stick around and listen to this testimony again. >> and i bet she won't. and also, she doesn't really have to answer specific questions abou

brianna set it up perfectly. where's the oversight and taxpayer money going. the treasury department doesn't require the banks to explicitly spell out how they're spending the money through the t.a.r.p. program. like pouring money through the ocean. defuses so quickly, you can't really track it. the man in charge of all of this, he's not buying that and the latest report just out, he asked, 360 banks to explain what they have done with the t.a.r.f. funds that they have received. the report shows a few things. 83% of those banks have used it for lending. that was, of course, the original purpose of this program. but the banks have also used the banks for a number of purposes including boosting their own capital base and also making investments and paying down their debt and buying, acquiring other banks, not the purpose. now, he's not going to say this is good or this is bad, but if you ask these banks can account for where that money is and we should point out here, as well, the banks did not give exact dollar figures. 83% are lending with t.a.r.p. money, but

so the time line here, brianna, for a vote on sotomayor's confirmation?is that the next step we're talking about? >> reporter: a voting committee and a vote before the full senate. and this could be a done deal here in the next few weeks, heidi. you may recall before this hearing, some republicans felt this confirmation process was just going too fast. well, we heard yesterday, they said they're not going to try to delay or block it. what we're expecting now is that voting committee to come tuesday and then a full vote of the senate before congress breaks for its month-long august recess and that would put sotomayor on the supreme court in time for its new fall session. >> okay. all right. very good, well, we appreciate it. live from capitol hill this morning. thanks. >>> african-americans have the highest rate of obesity of any ethnic group. our dr. sanjay gupta looks at this new research and what needs to be done to get those dangerous rates down. if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage beca

appreciate it, brianna, another big day. thank you. >>> about the only fireworks on the first day of sotomayor's confirmation hearing came from anti-abortion protestors. >> four demonstrators were arrested, including the plaintiff in the landmark legal case roe versus wade. the woman in that 1973 supreme court ruling is now a staunch opponent of abortion rights. and as we mentioned in just a few minutes, we'll be hearing from two members of the senate judiciary committee, one republican, one democrat, they'll be sharing their impressions from day one in the hearing and looking ahead to what will be going on today. stay with us for our live coverage of this pivotal day of the confirmation hearing. day two is set to get underway at the bottom of the hour. if you cannot watch it live on cnn, see it on our website, go to cnn.com. >>> turning to other news now, president obama believes community colleges could play a key role in getting our economy back on track. so today, the president is traveling to warren michigan to announce

brianna keilar, thank you. >>> we want to hear from you.we want you to weigh in on had health care discussion because obviously reform will require changes, look, from all of us. so, do this for you, if you wouldn't mind. just go to our blog page at cnn.com/tony and tell us what you think. what are you willing to give up to help? be sure to include your name and the city where you live. we want to start to track responses by regions here. just to see what we find out. and we'll read some of your comments on the program a little later this hour. >>> cnn, of course, will bring you live coverage of president obama's news conference tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, that's 5:00 pacific. >>> what is the message president obama wants you to take away from tonighted news conference? i'm going to ask a member of the president's communications team that very question. multivitamin. only one a day men's 50+ advantage... has gingko for memory and concentration. plus support for heart health. that's a great call. one a day men's. >>> we knew this would be

congressional correspondent brianna keilar is following this story and we will get to brianna in justouple of minutes with the latest on this developing story. >>> president obama's former doctor is weighing in now on the health care reform debate and his position may surprise you. the story now from cnn's jim acosta. >> reporter: chicago doctor david shiner has take an hard look at president obama's prescription for health care reform. and sees bad medicine. >> this isn't the kind of health care program that i think is going to work. >> reporter: what makes dr. shiner so special? he was barack obama's personal physician for 22 years. he voted for mr. obama, but the doctor thinks the president's plan doesn't go far enough. >> if i had to say the single one thing, which is the worst part of it, is that private insurance companies continue to be a part of the health scheme. everybody keeps saying we don't want the government getting involved in health care. the government is involved in health care and medicare and it works. >> reporter: shiner would rather see the nation adopt a single

brianna keilar on capitol hill. brianna, appreciate it.tout at an apartment in jersey city, new jersey, the pictures are amazing here. eight police officers are hurt, one critically. look at this. two suspects are dead. a police official says one of the wanted men, quoting here, came ready to do war with us. five of the officers were shot, the other three were injured during the shootout. >> the entry was attempted to be gained to the apartment, and the people inside just started firing through the door and through the wall. one of our jersey city officers was hit in the neck and the chest. he had a bullet-proof vest on. he went down, he's been operated on. and things look good for him right now. another one of our officers, that was immediately behind him, was also hit in the face. he was in very, very bad shape, life-threatening situation. >> wow. the mayor later said the condition of the officer shot in the face has improved. so, some good news there. >>> more amazing video to show you. take a look at this. this is hazel park, michigan,

that's where we find our own brianna keilar. brianna, what can we expect today?e left of sonya sotomayor on senator john cornyn, republican from texas. he has a large constituency of hispanics and he's in the situation where he has to come down with some hard questions on likely the first hispanic supreme court justice. now he wears another hat as the chairman of the republican senatorial campaign committee. he's in charge of getting more republicans into the senate. confirmation hearings are opportunities to fund raise and score political points for the opposition so he's wearing a couple of opposing hats here. to sonya sotomayor's right, keep an eye on al franken. he is of course only in the senate, been in the senate now for a little over a week. former saturday night live comedian. this is really going to give us the first chance to see him really publicly and unscripted perform his duties as a senator, john. >> looking forward to that. do they still have that high-tech footstool underneath the desk for her? >> they do and i've been told not to fool with it.

brianna keiler is tracking developments live from capitol hill. break this down for us.od morning, joe, this is a long and winding story. let's start at the beginning. back in mid may, house speaker nancy pelosi accused the cia of misleading congress in a secret 2002 briefing that she received. this is a briefing that had to do with harsh interrogation tactics. the bush administration was using on terror suspects, including water boarding. she said the cia misled her. the response from leon panetta said it was not the practice of the cia to mislead congress. so fast forward now to about two weeks ago. on june 26, the seven members of the house of representatives sent this letter right here. seven members of the house intel committee. they sent the letter to the cia. they referred to some testimony that had happened a couple of days before according to one source, testimony of cia director panetta behind closed doors with the intel committee. and in this letter, they reference it saying recently you testified that you have determined the top cia officials have concealed s

brianna, thank you very much. john mccain on president obama. does the former presidential rival think the president has brought rival parties together? i put the question to senator mccain. >>> as lawmakers head home for the summer recess, why they may face backlash for not making progress on health care reform. >>> and a massive new recall. >>> i was on capitol hill a short time ago far conversation with senator john mccain. we talked about war, the health care conflict, war, progress, and the economy. one of the issues i brought up -- has the president, in his view, kept his postelection process to make washington bipartisan? just before the inauguration, the president had a dinner in your honor and he said you were an american hero and a guy that reached across the aisle and that is the tone he wanted to set when he came to washington. on this point, has he failed the test he laid out at that dinner to be truly bipartisan? >> i'm afraid they have, and, look, they've got the votes. they had it in the stimulus package, the budget, the omnibus,

brianna keilar is keeping watch on capitol hill. the only real question here is whether any republicans will back the judge today. >> we are expecting there will be one republican who will back the judge. lindsay gram said he will vote for her. he is a republican, of course, from south carolina. he said that elections have consequences so, in short, predz obama will get his pick. otherwise, tony, we expect this to be a party line vote. democrats on this committee support her and every republican aside from senator graham has said that they're going to vote against her. listen to what the chairman of the committee, democrat patrick leahy said just a short time ago as well as the top republican, jeff sessions from alabama. here's what they both said just a short while ago. >> as set forth by the constituti constitution. as a prosecutor, as a judge, she has administered justice without favoring one group of persons over another. >> based on her record as a judge and her statements, i am not able to support this nomination. i don't beli

brianna keilar, cnn, washington. >>> we have a look for you weatherwise out there. with meteorologist reynolds wolf. >> hey, susan. in summertime we fear the heat. in texas it has been brutal and today should be the same deal. dallas 101 degrees. houston with the high humidity will feel warmer. tampa and miami and we can expect a few scattered showers across the sunshine state due to the stationary front. for the shuttle launch that is expected to take or scheduled to take place tonight, i think there is a good chance it may get canceled due to the chance of scattered showers. chance of severe storms expected across the great lakes into the parts of the ohio valley, and back into portions of the central and northern plains could see severe storms. very warm for you in parts of the desert southwest and california looking cool. scattered showers in the great lakes, looks like it might be a rainy time for detroit a good part of the day. that is a look at your forecast. i'm reynolds wolf for hln. >>> when it comes to buying a house, one person's eye sore can be another

let's go to our congressional correspondent, brianna keilar. she's up on capitol hill. this is causing quite a stir up there. >> reporter: sure is, wolf. the house is set to take up a big intelligence agency bill. since this is an opportunity for republicans to again attack house speaker nancy pelosi for comments she's made about the ci airks, democrats are launching a preempive strike. to hear democrats tell it, the cia has been keeping congress in the dark for the last eight years. what does this mean? >> it means that something very serious broke down. >> reporter: anna eshoo and six other democrats say leon panetta himself revealed the cia mislead members of congress. in a letter to panetta they say recently you testified you have determined top cia officials have concealed significant actions from all members of congress. and misled members for a number of years. >> he informed us that there was an operation that was in place from 2001 until the tday before he came to notify us. >> reporter: the top republican down played it. >> i heard about a concept and a plan a

where do we stand right now, brianna? >> remember, kiran, initially president obama said that he wanted the house and the senate to vote on health care before they left for their august recess in a week or so, but president obama now saying he will accept a temporary delay as long as lawmakers are working towards consensus. really, he doesn't have too much of a choice, it seems, because the top democratic in the senate indicating yesterday that it is just not likely in the senate that they, at least, will have a vote. now that the senate finance committee and bipartisan agreement, members there trying to hash out an agreement. they've asked for more time. meantime, on the house side of things, there are also some delays. only it has to do with democrats sort of arguing with democrats. conservative democrats, the blue dogs have raised mysterious concerns about costs and how to pay for health care and they succeeded in delaying moving health care out of the it. one key committee in the house, even though house speaker nancy

. >> baltimore county police need your help to find a missing girl. 16-year-old brianna michelle by yearisappeared, white, 5'6, 235 pounds. and brown eyes, brown straight hair. she might be pregnant. police say byer could be in the north avenue area in north baltimore. anyone with information is urged to call police 3103 -- >> students, parents and alumni of towson catholic furious at the administration's decision to close. yesterday they posted. today they are calling for an investigation into the monsignor's budget. they claim he took extravagant vacations and unnecessary expenses. school lost about a third of the enrollment recently and that severely cut into the revenue. >> five months now since congress approved the president's $787 billion economic stimulus package. now lawmakers are asking where is the stimulation. >> even as the obama white house touts the jobs being created by recovery act spending. >> starting to see progress. >> unemployment has soared to 9 1/2 percent. and 3.4 million jobs have been lost in the past six months alone. republicans say the stimulus is not workin

good morning, brianna. >> good morning, john. log jam in the senate over how to pay for health care reform. the idea here is to tax insurance companies instead of american taxpayers. they're the best health insurance plans money can buy. in washington, they have a name -- >> supergold-plated cadillac plans. >> reporter: what makes them so great? >> no deductible, no co-payment, no co-insurance, unlimited choice of drugs, no restrictions on networks. >> reporter: these plans are marketed to the wealthy, costs as much as $40,000, far above the national average of $12,000. they encourage the overuse of doctor visits and procedures. a chance to tax the insurance companies that gain these pricey plans is gaining bipartisan support in the senate as a way to get health care reform and keep costs down. >> tax an insurance company and that will then put pressure on them to try to make sure that people look for more cost-effective health care packa packages. >> reporter: some lawmakers say a tax on plans with premiums over $25,000 could ra

cnn congressional correspondent brianna keilar live with more on this. you got a copy of that letter from house democrats. how does it read? >> reporter: yeah, this is the letter right here, heidi. now, what we've learned here is that two weeks ago, cia director panetta came before congress, he test -- came before members of the house intelligence committee, and he testified before them. what did he say? it is revealed in this letter and it says in part, this is a letter sent to panetta. it says in part, recently you testified that you have determined the top cia officials have concealed significant actions from congress from 2001 to this week. meaning late in june. i spoke with congresswoman whose website this was posted on. here's what she said. >> the executive branch had the responsibility to keep the congress fully informed and in a timely fashion. so this is, this is very, very serious. to have withheld information. we cannot have secret operations going on without being informed. >> reporter: so democrats here raising the question, who is holding

brianna keilar, cnn, capitol hill. >>> okay. so, gun control providing lots of ammunition on our blog this morning. that question, once again. should people be allowed to carry their concealed weapons across the state lines. just go to cnn.com/heidi, click on that page and you can put your comments there. also, want to remind you that we have this new thing, check it out. hotline to heidi. call in and tell us what you think. leave your message, 1-877-742-5760. we will read or hear some of your responses a little bit later in the show. >>> no job, no health care and diagnosed with cancer. we're taking a look at the uninsured in america. >>> the fight for health care reform rages on in washington with the president gearing up for major push tonight. watching closely, the millions who are sick right now with no insurance. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is joining us now to talk more about this. hi, elizabeth. >> many of us are following the health care reform debate, but if you don't insurance, i bet you're following

>>> and also, our congressional correspondent brianna keilar, you see her there, her eye on the deadline to pass the whole thing, no matter how you look at it, the clock is ticking. >>> first, to the white house, central command in this health care battle. the president is not backing down from the fight even though he's got plenty of opposition. white house correspondent suzanne malveaux looks at his demand to overhaul the system. >> absolutely it's my job. i'm the president, and i think this has to get done. >> mr. obama threw down the gauntlet. >> i'm not going to sign a bill that, for example, adds to our deficit. i won't sign a bill that doesn't reduce health care inflation. >> reporter: but he did say he supported limiting tax deduction for wealthy americans and imposing a surtax for those making more than $1 million a year, efforts to raise money to cover america's uninsured. >> the plan that has been -- that i've put forward and that what we're seeing in congress would cover the estimates are at least 97% to 98% of americans. >> reporter: he also praised republicans for their ide

brianna keilar is watching the howling, who are the blue dogs and why are they powerful especially rightow? >> reporter: they are not really blue and they're not really dogs, but they are conservative democrats. when they lost the majority? the house, there was a group of yellow dog democrats, basically southern democrats, who said they felt choked blue by the far left and the far right. this is the story that they'll tell you, kyra, and so they call themselves blue dog democrats. now, as democrats have taken over some of these seats in typically republican-leaning districts, the blue dogs have seen their coalition grow. they're now up to 52 members at this point in time, and they're pretty powerful because of the numbers they have. so, on health care they've got many demands, but couple of key ones they want to see include cost savings and revamping incentives. cost savings, what they want to see is the money to pay for health care come out of squeezing the fraud and the inefficiencies out of health care before you go on and start talking about taxing americans to pay for it. and on rev

just to be precise, brianna, you know this area well.e senate side of the u.s. capitol? >> reporter: this is really about a block, not even, north of the capitol building, itself. it is about a block west of some of the senate side office buildings. it's really just steps from what's called upper senate park. so this is almost, it would seem as a tourist, that it would seem to be on capitol grounds between some park area very close to the capitol, wolf? >> is it fair to say, brianna, that the incident is now resolved, over with and they are dealing with the post incident? >> reporter: they certainly haven't said there is any other suspects. there is still a lot of activity going on, police tape, dozens and dozens of officers if not more than -- i don't want to speculate too much. dozens and dozens, i would say somewhere in the vicinity of 50 to 100 if not more. >> this incident was taking place just as the confirmation hearings for ss ss weewn sonya sotomayor were taking place. let's walk over to cnn over here at the magic wall for us. y

. >> reporter: 13-year-old brianna smith was bringing home fs from school. claire net now has her hitting higher note and better grades. >> what teaches me is that i know that by me playing in the band is -- i have fun doing it. >> reporter: the fun suspect just here but here, too. >> okay. 10 to the second power. >> reporter: program co-founder allison reinhardt helps make even math something to smile about. >> all of our kids have gone up a letter grade in mathematics and language arts. >> reporter: a success rate worth bragging. >> i see only like one kid who came here who wasn't really interested and changed his mind. he is actually to our band captain right now. he is doing the number one kid in my program. >> reporter: that would be tuba player terrence knockham, who loves the lesson he is now teaching other kids. >> just keep doing it until you good at it. >> reporter: this 15-year-old about to graduate from the program has big plans, like derek playing in his school band before one day earning a spot in a big band like rebirth, on a big stage. fredri

. >> reporter: 13-year-old brianna smith was bringing home fs from school and clarinet has her hittingher notes and better grade. >> what keeps me coming is that i know that by me playing in the band is, i have fun doing it. >> reporter: the fun isn't just here, but here too. program co-founder allison reinhardt helps make even math something to smile about. >> a lot of kids have gone up a letter grade in mathematics and language arts. >> success rate worth bragging. >> one kid who came here wasn't really interested. it changed his mind. he is actually a band captain right now. >> reporter: that would be tuba play play player terrance nokum. this 15-year-old about to graduate from the program has big plans. just like roots of music founder, play in his school band before one day earning a spot in a big band like rebirth on a big stage. fredericka whitfield, cnn, new orleans. >>> in the past year, children from the roots of music have already marched in five mardi gras parades, jazz fest and other festivals in louisiana. while reporters are covering the story developing every day in the

brianna keilar reports from capitol hill. >> reporter: to hear democrats tell it, the cia has been keeping congress in the dark for the last eight years. >> what does this mean? >> it means that something very serious broke down. >> reporter: anna eshoo and six other democrats on the house intelligence committee say cia director leon panetta himself revealed that the cia misled members of congress. in a letter to panetta they say, you determined that top cia officials have concealed significant actions from all members of conditioning and misled members for a number of years. >> he informed us that there was an operation that was in place from 2001 until the day before he came to notify us. >> reporter: but pete hoekstra, the committee's top republican, downplayed the significance of panetta's briefing. >> i heard about a concept and a plan and some preparation on a program. a program that was never implemented. >> democrats and republicans wouldn't give specifics, because they say the information is classified. but house speaker nancy pelosi, who's already weathered republican criticism f

senior political correspondent, candy crowly is on that along with our capitol hill correspondent briannaeeler coming up. what this means for the obama presidency. >> put in the record -- come on in. you're invited to the chevy open house. where getting a new vehicle is easy. because the price on the tag is the price you pay on remaining '08 and '09 models. you'll find low, straightforward pricing. it's simple. now get an '09 silverado xfe with an epa estimated 21 mpg highway for under 28 thousand after all offers. go to chevy.com/openhouse for more details. >>> beautiful summer day across much of the country and includes some cooler than usual temperatures. very much welcome, right, jacqui jeras in the weather center. i liked it. usually like it really hot. but i liked it this morning. >> it was awesome. can't tell you how many comments on my facebook page. what's going on? what's with the great weather? so fantastic. and is it in usual, yes it is. unusual enough. >> it's july. >> and this is a handful of what, is probably a good dozen records that were broken today. valentine, nebraska.

as brianna keeler reminds us, the hearings were an ordeal for nominee and critic alike. >> reporter:ights dominated the discussion as sonia sotomayor spent her last day on the hot seat. >> my constituents understand that the right to own guns hangs in the balance. it may very well hang in the balance with your ascendency. >> reporter: as republican sen torey, tom coburn pressed her. >> would you want a judge or nominee that came in here and said, i agree with you, this is unconstitutional before i had a case before me, before i had both sides discussing the issue with me. i don't know that that's the justice that i can be. >>> fel >>> fellow republican, lindsey graham, said he may vote to confirm sotomayor. >> i think, fundamentally, judge, you are able, after all these years of being a judge to embrace a right that you may not want for yourself, to allow others to do something that are not comfortable to you but for the group, they are necessary. >> reporter: even he addressed her off-the-bench comments, including her wise lat tea na remark. >> you said some things that bugged the h

brianna keilar with our report. >> reporter: in vermont a 16-year-old can carry a loaded concealed weaponut a permit. but when a vermonter crosses into neighboring new york, home to some of the strictest gun laws in the country, that right evaporates. senator john thune, a republican from south dakota wants to change that. he's pushing an amendment to allow people with concealed weapon permits from their home states to carry their guns to other states that allow concealed weapons. >> reliable research shows that states can concealed carry lows enjoy significantly lower crime rates than those states that do not. >> reporter: new york's chuck schumer and other democratic senators representing states with large urban areas say changing the law will put americans in danger. >> if this amendment is adopted this hypothetical vermonter would be free to stroll through central park or times square with a backpack of loaded guns. >> reporter: many democrats support gun rights. including senate majority leader harry reid, who has said he will vote for the amendment. like many democrats who will vote

brianna, there was a big setback over the weekend.l us about that and how health care negotiations are going in the house so far today? >> reporter: well as we left you last week, there was all of this democratic infighting going on in one of rare bright spots was the democrats managed on one of the ideas on how to save money in the health care discussion. over the weekend the nonpartisan congressional budget office said this one particular idea for saving money actually saved hardly any money, $2 billion over the course of ten years. compare that to the $1 trillion price tag that health care reform is expected to cost and it really is not that much money. meantime, the rif we were talking about between house democratic leaders and key democrats on key committees here continuing with these fiscally conservative democrats the whether dog. they are expected to meet later today. but at this point they haven't made any progress. listen so what nancy pelosi said, she sounds optimistic about getting a vote on the house floor. >> it's a ques