dan lothian, cnn, the white house. >> as dan lothian referenced in that report, presidents have talked with students before. for instance, george w. bush, he read to students. and also talked about no child left behind with students in 2006. we go to president george h.w. bush, gave a speech similar to what president is obama is planning right now. it, too, drew criticism of democrats. and then there's president reagan back in 1988. he talked policy at the white house including tax cuts. so steve perry is the principal and founder of the preparatory school in hartford, connecticut and a cnn education contributor. dr. perry, why do you think here, when we take a look at this, the issues that we've been talking about so far, we want to know what is really practical about this speech? what can he get done by speaking out to children? >> i think what's most important is not so much what president obama can get done by the speech, but the issues that it brings up. the very fact that this is a country that is so politicized that the simplest gestures can be taken to this great length. that's

as dan lothian reports, school officials, even the white house are trying to calm fears and get backhave spoken to school children before, but it was the homework that the obama administration gave to students ahead of a back to school address that sparked the revolt. >> he might be introducing some of his agenda, which as a conservative parent, i don't agree with. >> my rights as a parent are being circumvented so this president can speak to the children. >> reporter: students be assigned to "write letters to themselves about what they plan to do to help the president." he plans to encourage them to stay in school. but some say he's pushing propaganda on school children. jim greer the head of florida's republican party even accused the president of turning to kids to spread his liberal lies. >> i think the president has enough to do focusing on economy and finding jobs on americans than writing lesson plans out of the oval office. >> reporter: school officials across the country scrambled to address the problem. the district advised teachers to notify parents if they planned on airi

dan lothian reports from the white house. it seems certain that the president and the democrats will be going it alone. >> reporter: well, it really does seem that way, but the white house is still insisting that the president very much want to get a bipartisan effort on health care reform even though for weeks democrats have been signaling they're willing to go along. and among the gang of six, the three republican senators and three democrats who have been working for quite some time to come up with a bipartisan proposal, and my colleague on capitol hill, dana bash, sources telling her, the chairman, max baucus, will be unveiling a bill tomorrow without the support of the senators because they have a lot of concerns. those republicans are saying they're not walking away from the table yet, they're still talking, and a white house official saying he's very, very pleased with that. meanwhile, the pretsident has been doing a full-court press on marketing health care reform making stops in ohio and pennsylvania. at one point, h

live to dan lothian in cnn's office at the white house. dan, the president is pushing hard on health care reform. does he have to change his message? we have so many bills out there it seems and so much discussion as to what to do. >> reporter: we've really seen the president kind of sharpen his tone this week. on thursday, he got to mostly a young audience at the university of maryland all fired up as he was pushing for health care reform. then as you pointed out he's hitting all the talk shows, the sunday morning talk shows, five of them, to be exact, where he'll be talking about a number of issues but in particular health care reform. the white house does believe that there are a lot of minds to be changed not only across the country but up on capitol hill. so, that's the reason you see this big push. now the president, as he sits down, he did sit down and tape those interviewed yesterday in addition to all the other networks, he also sat down with john king from "state of the union." he talked about, you know, how his family will be re

dan lothian is live at the white house. polls show a lot of america is very skeptical about reform so does the president think he can really reverse that attitude? >> well the white house certainly thinks so. that is why you're seeing the president go out there on the sunday morning talk shows, why even the first lady jumped into this battle for health care reform. they believe there is a lot of misinformation out there, and that there are a lot of minds that still need to be changed not only across the country but up on capitol hill, at least from the perspective of the white house, they believe that the president and to some extent the first lady are the best spokespeople to get out there, to spread the message to try to convince some of the skeptical americans, so that's why the president sitting down as you pointed out with these sunday morning shows, including "state of the union," john king interviewed the president yesterday and he touched on a number of issues, health care, h1n1 virus as well, but also on this contr

dan lothian reports from the white house. does the white house really think more media exposure is the answer? >> reporter: well, clearly they do. they don't think it's over exposure. in fact, what the white house likes to point out, in fact robert gibbs specifically, will say there was a time when reporters were asking a lot of questions about when the president was going to get more involved in the health care debate, when he was going to say more. now the questions are over exposure. they believe there are a lot of people out there who still need to hear the president's message, not only across the country but up on capitol hill and they believe the president is the best spokesperson for health care reform. as you pointed out, not just the president alone but now the first lady has been brought into the mix. today she was speaking to a group of women here in washington. talking about health care and how they oftentimes bear the brunt of the burden when it comes to the health care decisions for their families, their childre

but cnn's dan lothian says not everyone is happy about that. >> education matters. >> reporter: pastpresidents have spoken to school children before but it was the homework that the obama administration gave to students ahead of a back-to-school address that sparked a revolt. >> that he might be introducing some of his agenda, which as a conservative parent, i don't agree with. >> my rights as a parent are being circumvented so this president can speak to my children. >> reporter: the department of education had suggested that students be assigned to quote, write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. he in turn plans to encourage them to stay in school. but some conservatives say mr. obama is pushing propaganda on school children. jim greer, head of florida's republican party, even accused the president of turning to kids to spread his liberal lies. >> i think the president has enough to do focusing on the economy and finding jobs for americans than writing lesson plans out of the oval office. >> reporter: school officials across the country scramble to

white house correspondent dan lothian joins us more with details. the president has really beefed up his effort to keep the momentum going on this health care issue. >> reporter: he really has. as the white house believed, there are a lot of people who have gotten misinformation and they believe that the president can clear things up. so, you saw on thursday at the university of maryland the president being very forceful, getting young people fired up, telling them what health care reform will mean, not only to them but also their families. and then just yesterday, as you pointed out, the first lady jumped into the fray in a big way at an event for the white house counsel for women and girls. the first lady took on the fight for health care reform and framing it as something that will be equal to women's equality. women, she pointed out, bear the brunt of the burden for making some of the health care decisions in a family, whether it's taking their kids to the doctor, taking care of their spouses. but they are often the ones who don't have a lot of

white house correspondent dan lothian joins us with details on that. the president has really beefed up his effort to keep the momentum going on health care and now his wife being very involved. >> reporter: that's right. the president as you pointed out has really ramped things up and yesterday we saw the first lady jump into the battle, speaking at an event put on by the council for women and girls here at the white house. she talked about how her family had dealt with some health care hurdles, her father, she said, had multiple sclerosis, one of her young daughters, sasha, when she was just a few months old had meningitis. and so she was telling a personal story, putting a personal touch and a human face on the fight for health care reform. in the push for health care reform, first lady michelle obama appealed directly to women. >> no longer can we sit by and watch the debate take on a life of its own. it is up to us to get involved. >> reporter: speaking to a diverse group of women, the first lady tied the issue of equality to the need for reform.

let's go to our white house correspondent dan lothian. he's got the details. >> reporter: robert gibbs here at the white house saying there's no real new strategy here, but a senior administration official telling me that the first lady does plan to really step up her involvement in the push for health care reform. and we saw the beginning of that today. she was at an event sponsored by the white house council on women and girls. and the first lady was pointing out how women often bear the burden for making a lot of the health care decisions in the household, for their children, often for their spouses. but they are the ones who are often left out of what's covered for some of the critical tests that are needed. she was really trying to frame it as an issue of equality for the need of reform. >> for two years on the campaign trail, this was what i heard from women. that they were being crushed, crushed by the current structure of our health care. crushed. but these stories that we've heard today and all of us -- if we're not experiencing

here's cnn white house correspondent, dan lothian. >> reporter: they came to life selling a candidate. now they're selling his message. >> hi. we are looking for support for obama's health care policies. >> reporter: organizing for america is trying to recapture the glory days of the obama campaign. once a grassroots operation, the network now has the muscle of the democratic national committee, with staff in 46 states. volunteers are back on the road, and at a farmers' market near you, pushing the administration's signature domestic priority, health care reform. >> we have leaders that we're training, educating on health insurance reform issue. they're educating their neighbors, and their neighbors are in turn educating their neighbors and families. >> reporter: the national political director says enthusiasm and loyalty remain high, despite critics who argue their left-leaning volunteers have been deflated, turned off by mr. obama's sometimes centrist approach. >> our folks are behind him. they want to support him. they are supporting him with not just their words but their actions.

checkpoints are planned for route 4 in lothian.itional officers will also be on duty in the area south of annapolis. >>> tomorrow marks the 8th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the world trade center. >> reporter: the eight years since 9/11 seem like an eternity for an impatient nation, waiting to see ground zero rebuilt. >> all i want to do is build these buildings. >> reporter: but the most impatient of all may be developer larry silverstein. >> this is the critical part of the infrastructure. >> he blames delays on the port authority who has control over rebuilding ground zero. >> this structure here. >> reporter: authority executive director chris ward calls it the world's most complicated site. and says progress is being made. >> it's not a pit. it's not ground zero. now it is time to rebuilding. it's the sign of real hope. >> reporter: so how complex a construction site is it here at ground zero now? 16 acres. six stories of work. >> this is the back side of tower 4. >> to start, we took a walk along greenwich street t

this all began on wednesday morning in anne arundel county at the boone mobile estates in lothian. that's where the suspect theodore blandford killed his exwife exand her sister. he led them on a chase, shot and killed by officers, apparently was pulling a gun by police. he recently lost his towing business and was going through several problems. >> i talked to him several times. he said things are not, you know, as good as they should be. >> court records show august 27th sheena blandford was granted a restraining order. her husband was supposed to stay away from her and surrender any firearms he owned. >>> today maryland corrections officials plan to test technology to detect cell phones inside prison walls. the tests will be conducted in the closed maryland house of corrections in jessup. illegal cell phone use has been a concern in our state and other states because the phones enable criminals to plan and coordinate crimes behind bars. you recall the high profile murder of witness carl lackl whose killing was order from a cell phone in a prison. >>> baltimore city police will s

let's go to dan loathe lothian, our white house correspondent. what is the white house saying?e is saying that this criticism is silly and makes no sense. the white house has pointing out that they wanted to sit down and have a bipartisan effort when it came to health care reform, the president working behind the scenes meeting with republicans and democrats and sending top aides up to capitol hill and the democrats believing they have created an honest environment to get health care done, wolf. >> the president was speaking on health care today, what was his message? >> the president was speaking to a much louder audience today. there were a few boos when he brought up the baucus proposal. but for the most part it was a very adoring audience, a very loud audience, the president saying he will get health care reform done but he also called out his critics. >> we have all got a stake in getting this right. that's why i said i will embrace good ideas wherever they come from. we already have. but we have also seen the same kind of partisan spectacle that has left so many people di