cnn's elaine quijano is at the white house for us this morning with the very latest. elaine, what is on the president's agenda today? and i have to ask, what is the fallout now this morning after we know there's been an apology late night? >> reporter: we haven't heard anything more on the apology. it will be interesting to hear what robert gibbs has to say later today at the white house briefing this afternoon. but the president today is actually going to be making more remarks on health care reform. that's coming up in the next hour. he's also going to be meeting with members of his cabinet and reporters will be allowed in at the very end of that meeting. but what we're really going to be keeping a close eye on, what we're really going to be watching here, at some point today, the president is expected to sit down with a group of more than a dozen centrist senate democrats. this was something that our ed henry reported last night, that senior officials say the president wants to get key fence sitters into the room together and try to start working them, basically. no

elaine quijano is live at the white house. crowley looking at what's next for the president's top domestic issue. but first let's turn to elaine. elaine, the white house promised specifics in this speech. did the president deliver? >> reporter: well, you know, not exactly, according to some, john. this was a high-stakes speech, coming on the heels of that politically bruising month of august and the president very much wanted to hit the reset button on health care. >> thank you! thank you. >> reporter: trying to retake control of the runaway health care debate, president obama asserted -- >> the time for bickering is over. the time for games has passed. now is the season for action. >> reporter: on the controversial public option, staunchly supported by liberals but decried as a government health care takeover by conservatives, the president again tried to carefully thread the needle, saying he prefers a bill include an option for government-run care, but added -- >> it is only one part of my plan and shouldn't be used as a han

elaine quijano, cnn, washington. >>> the lights are going down on "guiding light." opera, are you a big soap opera fan? the look on your face is hilarious. >> look at this. this is quality television. >> it ended yesterday, wow. the show is on the air, on the air was 72 years. now that means it was on radio before it was shot on television. it began broadcasting to auto radio in 1937 and the tv episode in 1952. >> i'll take your word for it. please, continue, tell me more. >> recently became the least watched show soap rah on tv, that's why the lights are turning out on "the guiding light" and what will replace it? the game show "let's make a deal" will take that slot there, but "the guiding light" is gone. i know you're really sad about it. >> you hate to see something go, been around for 72 years, that's a big deal. you wish you could hold on but people aren't sitting around these days watching. >> attitudes are changing. i used to watch the soap rahs. don't have time. >> which one? >> "days of our lives." you don't connect with any of them. >> victoria raoul is o

>> elaine quijano for us.ou. >>> meanwhile, half past the hour right now and we check our top stories. president obama is on a mission. for a second day, he's addressing the health of the u.s. economy. this morning he'll be traveling to a gm plant in ohio that is now rehiring, thanks in part to the cash for clungsers program. the president will then travel to pittsburgh where he'll speak at the afl-cio convention. >>> one of africa's most wanted may have been taken out by a u.s. air strike in somalia. military officials say is a lei me bann may have been one person killed when th d killed. >>> the iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at president bush last year has just been released from a baghdad prison. he served nine months of a year-long sentence and became an instant hero in the arab world, hurling his shoes at the u.s. president and calling him a dog, two of the worst insults in that part of the world. >>> well, "role call" is out with its annual ranking of the 50th wealthiest members of congress. the gro

elaine quijano, cnn, washington. >> here now some of the other stories happening at the moment.university employee taken into custody in the case of a graduate student's killing released to his attorney overnight. police searched raymond clark's home and collected dna samples from him. the body of annie le was found sunday on the day she was to have been married. >>> two men are under arrest for allegedly shining a laser pointer at two commercial flights from a gas station near columbus, ohio. they're also accused of pointing the laser at a police helicopter. one of the suspects is an army helicopter mechanic whose currently on leave. they both face up to eight years in prison. >>> police in kansas issued a silver alert for an older couple missing since friday. they thought they had break in the disappearance of bob and mary lou black when a car was found at the bottom of the missouri river near their home. divers check it out but it was not their car. >> the critical question is do we get bipartisan support at some time before we vote on the bill? my guess is that we will. >> s

elaine quijano it at the white house for us. congressional correspondent brianna keilar at her post on capitol hill. elaine, let's start with you. let's start with strategy. what's the president's strategy moving forward? he certainly was out this morning talking health care reform with members of the american nurses association. >> reporter: that's right. surrounded by members of the nurses association. the president tried to reiterate his case that health care reform needs to get done now. he said nurses understand full well. they are on the front lines of the health care fight and they know the urgency of the situation. the president also repeated that he intends to press ahead with a bill with or without republican support. take a listen. >> now is the time to act. i will not permit reform to be postponed or imperiled by the usual ideological diversions. we don't need more partisan distractions. if there are real concerns about any aspect of my plan, let's address them. if there are real differences, let's resolve them. but w

elaine quijano, cnn, washington. >>> let's head over to rob marciano now in the severe weather center. and it looks like, at least from what i can see there, rain, in the south? yeah? not texas, i hope. >> no, moving out of texas, leftover showers in dallas, but most of the action is heading east. it's really spreading out and fingers of this low rotating around. reaching as far east as the smokey mountains. getting a little more expansive, but not moving any quicker. and because of that, a threat for flooding is going to exist today for a good chunk of the southeast. namely, i think it's going to be mostly southern arkansas, northern louisiana, and then stretching up into parts of northern mississippi. some of these thunderstorms will be resulting in heavy rain and there are flash flood watches that are posted for this area. not only through today, but right on through tomorrow afternoon. kind of a cool shot. this is the memphis tower camera. a little bit of a green thing going on. that's not entirely because of the sky, but probably the camera there. dolly par don bridgton bridge. r

elaine quijano, cnn washington. >>> that's t.e.a. a racist-in-chief, and a welfare thug among other things. in an interview with our anderson cooper. they begin by talking about an op-ed piece from columnist murr reen dowd. have a listen. >> she said some people, and i quote, some people just can't believe a black man is president and will never accept it. there is, increasingly you hear from sop liberals and some democrats, particularly african-american democrats in congress who say they believe there is an undercurrent of racism in some of the criticism of the president, in some of vitriol being expressed. when you hear that, it has to probably anger you. how do you respond? >> i dismiss extremists of all colors especially maureen dowd. i saw three witch doctor signs in 16 days. as for the people on the fringes, they are no part of the mainstream america than are the hippies that wear nipple clips and feather bowas in san francisco streets during peace demonstrations. you saw working-class americans in the streets many of whom were

here's cnn's elaine quijano. >> who is hillary clinton?r: it started small, during last year's presidential primaries, a federal court said campaign finance laws barred this ad for an anti-hillary clinton movie by an advocacy group, a nonprofit corporation. >> if you thought you knew everything about hillary clinton, wait until you see the movie. >> reporter: but now the supreme court could make a monumental change in how money influences politics. deciding in the name of free speech whether there should be any limits at all on corporate campaign spending. >> allowing corporations to flood our elections and use campaign expenditures to buy influence would fundamentally undermine our democracy. >> reporter: fred wertheime rest of democracy 21 warns overturning a century of precedents would shut average citizens out of the political process. >> the little guy would have no role here, because the dominant force in our politics, the dominant force in washington decision making would become corporations. >> reporter: but david bossy of citizens

elaine quijano, cnn, the white house. >>> despite condemnation over its secret nuclear facility, iran't giving many details but says two types of missiles were fired. it may iran said it tested a missile capable of reaching parts of europe. today's tests are part of an exercise expected to go on ten to 11 days. >>> film director roman polanski has been arrested by swiss police on a 30-year-old rape charge here in the u.s. you may remember that in 1978 polanski fled to france after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. this morning we learned he was arrested on his way to the zurich film festival. the 79-year-old won an academy award in 2003 for "pianist." he also wrote and directed "rosemary's break." >>> for two years social security will pay out more than its taking in. it's the first time this happened since the 1980s and officials say a spike in early retirement claims from laid off seniors is a big contributor. there is good news, the deficits won't affect payments to retirees because social security has a surplus from previous years but this will add to the over

elaine quijano has more. >> reporter: this is the building in northwest washington which is the setting book. it's the headquarters of the the scottish rite freemasonry. and we got a chance to look inside. this is the al for in the opening scene of dan brown's new book "the lost symbol" takes place. a secret initiation building that free maysons of the scottish rite call the temperature. the truth is definitely more boring than fiction. >> he has his candidate drinking wine out of a human skull. >> reporter: that doesn't take place here? >> not they know about. >> reporter: this is a formal meeting room where ceremonies do take place, but he explains that freemasonry is not -- >> george washington was wearing the ceremonial apron when laying the corner stone of the capitol. in a town where conspiracy theories flourish, even the book's arrival was shrouded in some mystery. washington's tourism bureau is embracing the novel and all the attention. even partnering with the publisher to market the city with this video. elliott ferguson is president of destination d.c. >> i think the book exp

here is elaine quijano with more on that. >> reporter: there's an unusual building in northwest washingtont's the headquarters of the scottish rite of free masonry of the southern jurisdiction of the united states. and we got a chance to take a look inside. this is the actual room and the ceremonial altar with the ritual in dan brown's book takes place. a secret initiation ceremony in a building that free masons of the scottish rite call the house of the temple. one historian says in this case truth is definitely more boring than fiction. >> he has his candidate drinking wine out of a human skull. >> that doesn't take place? >> never seen it. >> wine drinking at all? >> not that i'm familiar with. >> reporter: dehighwaya says this is a formal meeting room where ceremonies take place but explained free masonry is not a secret sinister society. >> it's the world's oldest and largest fraternity. >> reporter: george washington, the most famous free mason, was wearing the ceremonial apron when laying the cornerstone of the capitol. still in a town where conspiracy theories flourish even the boo