brooke baldwin, cnn, atlanta. >> the atlanta mayor is apparently aware of the drug trafficking in her city but her office is quick to point out the majority of drug-related crime isn't happening downtown but in the city's suburbs at brooke baldwin pointed out. local law enforcement is working closely with the dea. officers agree atlanta is the number one hub on the east coast. >>> i'm larry smith. 1.2 billion dollars and change not a stimulus plan or economic boost for education but the price of the dallas cowboys' new stadium, the massive facility opened earlier this summer but the cowboys played their first exhibition game there last fight. flawless, right? not so fast. in the pregame warmups the tennessee tight tan punter is trying to hit the roof and he does. jerry joans, owner, on the right. maybe that shouldn't be a problem. only if guys are trying to hit it -- oh, this is during the game. uh-oh, some issues there. is the roof too low? problem. the cowboys won the game and got to fix that little issue with the roof. oh, well. three days after unretiring again making his vikings

and all the best to you. >>> brooke baldwin joins me now and she has an update on the other importantes that we're following tonight. brooke? >>> democratic party leaders have dropped their plans to buy four corporate-style executive jets. they are under fire for adding delourz 330 million to the air force budget to buy the jets even though the pentagon did not request them. but they are still buying on four other aircraft for $220 million. >>> divers in new york have recovered the final two bodies from that horrific wreckage of a plane that crashed in the hudson river. the single-engine plane collided with a sightseeing helicopter saturday afternoon, killing a total of nine people. the national transportation safety board is investigating the cause. >>> and general motors saying its new electric car, you've heard of it, the chevrolet volt, could get 230 miles per gallon. the volt is powered by an electric motor and a battery pack. the volt is expected to go on sale in late 2010. >>> and, lou, we'll stay on top of those stories for you tonight. >> well, especially the gm volt, 230 mil

brooke baldwin reports. >> reporter: australia population 21 million. their health care system is called medicare. same name as in the united states, but much different. in australia everyone is covered. medicare pays for an entire visit to a public hospital and reimburses the trip to the family doctor. most medication is covered under the plan which does require a copay. the system is funded by income taxes, most australians pay 1.5% of their salaries. those with higher incomes pay an additional 1% and there are low-income exceptions. but the public option isn't the only option as victor, who studies health care systems around the world, explains. >> australia has a medi-gap private health insurance sector, similar to the french which allows coverage of supplementary benefits and some copayments. >> reporter: approximately 43% of australians opt to buy private insurance as well. according to ian butler, an australian doctor currently practicing in the u.s., a primary reason for buy it is that people can bypass long lines for electiontive surgery. >> if

brooke baldwin, cnn, chicago. >> fascinating report, brooke baldwin there in chicago. >>> we're going to continue to follow that story, until we get to the bottom of what's going on in chicago, to see what they're doing. >>> it's bad enough someone secretly taped espn reporter erin andrews in her hotel room, but how will this affect her ability to do her job or her income? how will it affect her life? our sports analyst, rick horrow will join us with some answers. >>> competitive swim something supposed to be all about the controversial high-tech racing suits, right? not really. well, except michael phelps wearing last year's infear yo speeder lzr, arch rifeed allow milorad cavic in the 100 meter butterfly at the world championship in rome. both men hit the wall at under 50 seconds, both setting the world record, a fever pitch this week with cavic even casting doubt on one of phelps' gold medals in beijing. hmm. all right. >>> another page in the saga of the secret video taping of erin andrews nude in a hotel room. paparazzi are camping out in front of her atlanta area home. here is p

. >> appreciate it very much, brook baldwin. >>> coming up next, public reacting as democrats are trying to take a new approach in managing the health care message. >> yeah, it's pathetic. you know, i've watched the congress and i wonder how some of the people have been elected. when you hear and see what they say. >> we'll have more on this intensifying health care debate, including the political extreme, the left, the right driving much of this debate and what are independents saying about all of that? more importantly, what are they doing about it? we'll be right back. >>> joining me now is chris. good to have you with us, chris. here in new york, new york daily news, aaron, great to see you again. and former director of communications for the democratic national committee, karen, thank you for joining us. the rasmussen poll is showing 47% approval, the lowest approval rating for president obama. your reaction? >> the president came in with pretty high approval ratings and he's been willing to spend the capital on trying to save the problems that we face. he's had health care reform,

brook baldwin is here with the latest for us. >> a story that broke this afternoon, lou.ormer president bill clinton tonight has just left north korea after securing a pardon for two imprisoned american journalists. they are laura ling and una lee. they were arrested on the border between north korea and china just three months ago in march. president clinton apologized to kim jong-il for the journalists so called hostile acts. >>> and the full senate began a debate on whether to confirm judge sonia sotomayor to the supreme court. senators are expected to hold a confirmation vote this thursday. democrats believe they have enough votes to confirm judge sotomayor, but many republicans remain a bit concerned that she is a judicial activist who will try to amend the law. >>> and top senate republicans and democrats both this evening confident that the senate will expand the cash for clunkers program before they break for their august recess this friday. senators are considering a measure to increase funding for the program from $1 billion to $3 billion. the program is now at

brooke baldwin has our report. >> reporter: could it be? are we reading this right? one group of economists says the recession is over. diane swank was one of 27 economists who told the "wall street journal" this week the recession has ended. swank reports to several signs of progress. first, the housing market. she says the momentum has shifted from perpetual decline to some increases in activity, like a boost from first-time buyers. second, carmakers and dealers getting a much-needed boost from the federal cash for clunkers program. and third, unemployment. while the rate is rising, fewer jobs are being shed. swank predicts job gains could happen at the end of this year. >> they won't be strong at first. but any sign of gains along with 401(k)s looking better, that will make us feel a little better about the economy. at the end of the day we're talking about confidence in the economy that's come from the edge of the abyss to the recession lows we saw in 1981 and '82. >> reporter: echoing this opt anymore, the federal reserve. wednesday the central bank reporting ec

jill dougherty, cnn, the state department. >> and brooke baldwin has an update on other stories that are following tonight. brooke, what do you have for us? >> lisa, i want to start with pop star chris brown who was sentenced today to five years of probation for assaulting his girlfriend singer, rihanna. brown was arrested in february after that incident that took place in a rented lamborghini. brown reportedly punched and choked rihanna. along with probation, he will have to complete domestic violence counseling. >>> michael jackson's doctor today, coming forward sp dismissing claims made about jackson's last few hours of life. in a statement, dr. murray's lawyers said, quote, much of which was in the search warrant affidavit is factual. however, unfortunately, much is police theory. most egregiously, the time line reported by law enforcement was not obtained through interviews with dr. murray, as was implied by the affidavit. now, the time line dr. murray's lawyer is referring to shows different drugs given to jackson in his final hours. and according to the l.a. county coroner's o

first, brooke baldwin with an update on other stories tonight. >> divers have found the wreckage of thatne involved in a midair collision over the hudson river. and they say one of the two missing bodies is inside. the plane collided with a sight-seeing helicopter on saturday afternoon, killing nine people. >>> in hollywood, florida, beachgoers tried to rescue a mother whale and her calf. they became beached. crowds of people jumped in to push the whales into deeper water but the mother whale did die and the calf had to be euthanized because it was too tongue to survi young to live on its own. storm triggered mud slides and dangerous flooding. heavy rainfall washed out bridges and roads, limiting rescue efforts in some of the areas. helicopters rescued to manage 100 villagers. hundreds more may be missing. those are the stories we're staying on top of. >> thank you very much, brooke. >>> coming up, much more with our panel and secretary of state clinton making it very clear who's in charge at the state department. >> you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the s

. >>> more on our top stories tonight, let's turn to brooke baldwin who was the latest for us. >> the obama administration this evening saying that north korea's decision to release two american journalists is not linked to nuclear negotiations. those journalists, both laura ling and euna lee returned to a joyous welcome in north carolth. president clinton met with leader kim jong-il. it was the first top meeting with north korea in nearly a decade. >>> new concerns tonight about the military threat to this country from russia. a senior u.s. defense official saying two russian submarines have been cruising just off the atlantic off the coast of the united states in international waters. it's been years since russia conducted patrols near our coast. our military is fully aware of the russian navy's activities. russia has also increased long-range bomber patrols near alaska. >>> and in virginia, a federal jury convicted william jefferson on 11 out of 16 counts of corruption. the verdict comes four years after federal agents seized $90,000 in cash from jefferson's freezer. the 62-year-ol

brooke baldwin, cnn, atlanta. >> should the u.s.exico's tactics and are we focusing on the wrong target? tim padgett, as i mentioned, mexico has decriminalized small-time drug possession. would something like that work in miami, other cities across the u.s.? do you think we will see a domino effect? >> there are a growing number of people especially officials who think it will. in el paso, the entire city council annan mousily passed a resolution to ask lawmakers in washington to consider legalizing marijuana because they feel that would do more than the conventional interdiction we are involved in on the border to put a huge crimp in the cash flow of the cartels that traffic marijuana. >> what is catching a lot of people's attention, there has been the debate of legalizing marijuana, but when you hear lsd, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, wow. that puts a lot of people on the tip of their toes. >> yeah. i don't think anyone is calling for the legalization of those drugs. what people are pointing to is much research shows marijuana

. >> and i'm brooke baldwin sitting in for betty. 11:00 a.m. on the east coast, 80 o'clop a.m. on the west coast. and everyone at the central terminal in new york was ordered outside. >> i was actually on the plane, and this happened. we were all ready to go. >> what word did you get? what announcement did they make to you on that plane? >> they didn't make any announcement than you need to evacuate. i thought it was a standard procedure. witness we got out of the plane, kept pushing us back and back, out of the terminal, out of the actual airport, past the actual parking garages, and there's a whole mass of people here. >> i have to ask you this question. out of curiosity here. how close were you to actually taking off? was the door to the plane closed? >> i was. we were minutes away. >> okay. susan candiotti is live for us outside laguardia. susan, question number one, what, or perhaps, who, sparked all of this? >> reporter: brand new information that we can confirm for you. according to a law enforcement source who is close to this investigation, the name of the suspect in t

brook baldwin tells us. >> reporter: these are the last pictures of the dogs. by now, 11 adults and five puppies have been euthanized per court order. friday night, on this rural road, the same pack of dogs mauled carl and sherry sweider to death. they say sherry had gone out for a walk that evening. when she didn't come home, her husband went looking for her. >> it's a huge shock, a huge shock. >> reporter: mark's parents' bodies were found saturday morning mutilated, riddled with hundreds of dog bites according to the county coroner. the dogs still standing guard above their prey when authorities arrived. >> it appears she was attacked and killed by the dogs in some manner. at some point. possibly, later on, he came up. we feel sure she was probably attacked first. >> animal control was called in to capture the dogs. the sheriff described them as aggressive. after the animals attacked two of his deputies, tranquilizer had to be used. the dogs were wild according to county officials. they say an 83-year-old man, the only man to live on this road, had been feed

brooke baldwin, cnn, atlanta. >>> atlanta's mayor is shirley franken.he's aware that drug trafficking in the inner city, but like brooke pointed out, the majority of this crime isn't happening in downtown, but the greater metro atlanta area. local law enforcement in atlanta working with the dea, but the officers all agree, atlanta is now the number one hub on the east coast for this kind of activity. >>> so, how do those drug cartels impact crime across the u.s.? josh levs looking in to that for the next hour in the "newsroom." and he'll also detail the key players in these cartels and the status of each of those. >>> we're also going to bring you the story of a very sick 12-year-old girl from california. state budget cuts threatening to take away her home health care. jessica's story, the struggle to survive california's financial crisis. >>> and collecting money owed? desperate debt collectors, posing as attorneys, even law enforcement officers. this is disturbing tactic of some collection agencies, and efforts to stop them. >>> all that ahead in our

here's cnn's brooke baldwin. >> reporter: the white house, playing the role of america's advocate oret off alarm bells in certain circles. at issue, a proposal to reverse a decade-old ban on the tracking of users who visit government websites. the tracking technology known as a cookie keeps information about computers and users who visit websites. the white house says that just like cookies facilitate communication on social networking websites, they would help government be more accessible and transparent. the american civil liberties union agrees but argues -- >> there can also be certain precautions taken so that people are confident that their personal internet usage patterns are not being collected and stored and used by the government for some perhaps nefarious purpose. >> reporter: the white house says it understands these concerns. government spokesman kenneth baer says any update of current policy will balance the need to use new web 2.0 technologies to open up government with the imperative to protect privacy. this comes just days after some criticized a white house blog po

here's cnn's brooke baldwin. >> reporter: clunkers program, and third, unemployment. while the rate is rising, fewer jobs are being shed. they predict job gains could happen at the end of this year. >> they won't be strong at first, but even any sign of job gains along with peoples 401(k)s looking better, that will make us feel better about the economy, but at the end of the day we're still talking about the confidence in the economy that has come back from the edge and the abyss in 1981 and '82. >> reporter: echoing this optimism, the federal reserve. wednesday the central bank reporting economic activity is leveling out. conditions in financial markets have improved further in recent weeks and household spending has continued to show signs of stabilizing, but remains constrained. but are americans buying this bullish news? >> i'm hopeful, but, still, we're not there yet. >> i don't get the feeling that it's as bad as they thought it was going to be. >> technically the economists may argue we're out of the recession, but people on the street, the public, aren't going

cnn's brook baldwin talked with a gang member who nearly died after a recent attack. >> we're in a crewar to a pocket of gang activity. we're going to this interview. we're talking to a current gang member who is willing to share his story about the violence in chicago, but he's only willing to do it as long as we keep him in the car. we don't show his face and we don't drive into any other neighborhoods, any other gang tur turf, just to keep him and our crew safe. do you have any idea how many people you've shot in your lifetime? >> nope. >> did you ever feel remorse for anything you've done? >> no. >> born and raised on chicago's streets, this man who insists we call him bob says he joined a gang when he was just 13. >> it's actually fun to be honest with with you. the rush you get from what you are doing. it's like a drug. you can't get enough of it. >> reporter: shootings in chicago have set grim records this summer. according to police, even though homicides are down, shootings are up. more than 6%. this week 15 people were shot in a single night. it's midday, broad daylight, what

. >> and i'm brooke baldwin sitting in for betty again. it is shaping up to be a busy, busy first saturday of august. right to a developing story we've been telling you about. the central terminal in new york's laguardia airport evacuated around 6:30 this morning. all kinds of video of people heading out. why? all we know, they had detained a gentleman inside with some sort of suspicious bag. what's inside it's bag, we still don't know at this point. the good news is that all of those people who were hanging out outside of laguardia this morning are back in the airport. >> once they get back inside, they're finding the bad news, they knew would be waiting, flight delays and also flight cancellations and in some cases, again, talking about a good two or three-hour period where no plane was allowed to land or take off from the airport. a busy hub. people taking off on vacation or taking off for a short weekend trip. whatever it may be it is causing a mess and backup not just there at laguardia but at several airports around the country. no w

brooke baldwin with our report. >> reporter: for the last 40 years, the maggio family has made a living crushing cars and reselling parts for profit. >> cutting off the brake line. >> reporter: while washington celebrates the stimulus its created for automakers and dealers, hackensack auto wreckers in new jersey says it's not seeing the cash. under the cash for clunkers program, to get gas guzzlers off the road, the dealer must seize out the engine before the salvage yard collects the car. >> i need the five-spoke wheel. >> reporter: that leaves sammy with minimal parts on the shelves to resell. potential profit, $300. compare that with a normal car with its engine still intact, maggio may make up to $2,000. that's a big loss of income to offset the rising costs. >> i have to pay for my drivers to go and tow it in and then you're paying for your manpower to dismantle the car. you pay for the gasoline to be removed. we pay for the antifreeze, the oil. all of those things have to be paid. >> reporter: in the last two weeks, hackensack auto wreckers have received 100 cars, 30 of them from

brooke baldwin has our report. >> reporter: imagine a health care system where 99% of the population is covered. there's no hassle in seeing your doctor of choice, and the majority of patients are satisfied with the quality of care. france, a nation of more than 60 million people, provides basic, universal health insurance. most of the funding stems from a payroll tax, but employees do pay a small percentage. but unlike traditional single-payer systems, michael tanner with the cato institute said france is different. >> it's a system that relies heavily on consumer cost sharing and market forces to control health care costs. >> reporter: according to the commonwealth fund, a nonpartisan research group, only 33% of the french say their system needs fundamental changes compared to 46% in the u.s. they have a higher doctor-to-patient ratio, and the french live longer. however, the french are starting to pay more out-of-pocket costs. some shell out up to 40% of the costs of drugs and treatments in co-payments, and health care now consumes 11% of gdp, second only to the united states. fra

that means cash for car buyers, dealers and wrecking companies, but as cnn's brooke baldwin reports,en't completely happy with their cut. >> reporter: for the last 40 years, the maggio family has made a living crushing cars and reselling parts for profit. >> in cutting off the brake lines -- >> reporter: while washington celebrates the stimulus its created for automakers and dealers, hackensack auto wreckers in new jersey says it's not seeing the cash. under the cash for clunkers program, to get gas guzzlers off the road, the dealer must seize out the engine before the salvage yard collects the car. that leaves sally with minimal parts and a shell to resell. potential profit -- $300. compare that with a normal car with its engine still intact, they could make up to $2,000. the big cost of income that offsets her driving cost. >> have you to pay for your driver to go in and then you pay for your manpower to dismantle the car. we pay for the gasoline to be removed, antifreeze, oil. all of those things have to be paid. >> reporter: in the last two weeks, hackensack auto wreckers receive

brook baldwin is here with details. brook, this must have been horrifying for the child?e felt like. we have all seen the surveillance video from outside the billings whom. part of the 700-page document, this is from the florida d.a.'s office. i want to start with what you started with, this child, in the billings bedroom that night. through a nurse, this autistic child has explained he heard a knock on the bedroom door and saw two men in black masks barged in. two bad men said, you are going to die, one, two, three and then, no way, no way. dad grabbed one of the suspect's next and mom got shot in her shirt. another child told the nurse he had heard seven booms and then he kracrept into the hallway. melanie and byrd billings were shot multiple times in the face, head, chess the and body. wolf? >> we know there are eight suspects, seven of whom have been charged with first-degree murder, home invasion, robbery. is there information now coming out that at least some of them had been planning this murder for some time? >> the short answer is, yes, we should mention that all

cnn's brook baldwin is at a cnn center in atlanta with those details. what can you tell us?caught, put down. still on the loose tonight, one. i talked to the county coroner. he described to me the hundreds of flesh wounds as traumatic. these are the last pictures of the dogs, by now 11 adults and five puppies have been youth niced for court order. friday night on this rural road, this same pack of dogs mauled a couple to death according to investigators. they say sherry had gone out for a walk that evening and when she didn't come home, her husband went looking for her. >> it's a huge shock, a huge shock. >> mark's parents' bodies were found saturday morning mutilated, riddled with hundreds of dog bites according to the county coroner. the dogs still standing guard above their prey when authorities arrived on the scene. >> it appears at this time that she was attacked and killed by the dogs in some manner at some point. and then possibly later on he came up, but we feel sure that she was probably attacked first. >> reporter: animal control was called in to capture the dogs.

. >> thank you very much, brooke baldwin. >> how the mayor tried to stop a crime and became a victim himself. grandmother he's a great brother and a -- he's been in good shape. he'll be fine. he did sustain some pretty significant injuries. >> police say the mayor was hit in the head and torso. he also broke his hand when he punched it the suspect. the california mom accused of killing and raping 8-year-old sandra cantu will be back in court today. melissa huckaby was supposed to return to court next month but the proceedings were moved up to today. huckaby is accused of killing cantu, who was her daughter's playmate. her body was found stuffed inside a suitcase in a drainage pond about a month after she went missing. huckaby faces a number of charges. she has pleaded not guilty. >>> a group from texas will search for the missing florida girl, haleigh cummings. a spokesman explaining that's when the weather and vegetation will improve. she turns 6 today. she's been missing for six months. >>> nancy grace hosts one of the most popular programs anywhere on television and is also a best