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American Morning
Tom Ridge Claims Pressure to Raise Terror Alert; Iraq Violence Rising; Counting Votes in Afghanistan; Stimulus Saves Police Force; Deployments Affect Military Divorces; Dealers Say Clunkers Reimbursement Slow; Cash-Strapped Schools Start "Pay to Play"
Aired August 21, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, once again, it is Friday, August 21st, welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us.
Here's what's on this morning's agenda. The stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
A new bombshell from America's first homeland security secretary. Tom Ridge suggesting the Bush administration may have encouraged him to raise the terror alert level for political reasons. In just a moment, we'll take you live to Washington.
CHETRY: Also, plus, more than 100 people killed by bomb blasts in Baghdad this week. And that has one ranking general at the Pentagon saying "Clearly there was a lapse of security." So will the U.S. step back in to keep the peace in Iraq? We're live from the Pentagon just ahead.
ROBERTS: You can expect a flurry of activity at car dealerships this weekend with the government putting the brakes on "Cash for Clunkers." The popular program will end Monday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, more than half a million vehicles have already been sold, generating about $2 billion in rebates. It's a big hit with customers, but dealers are mixed on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID PISCIOTTA, TOYOTA DEALER: It's worked. It has been a shot in the arm. Business has increased significantly. As of right now, August 20th, we have not been funded yet on one deal, about half a million dollars. And it's scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, when will the dealers see their money? At 8:30 Eastern, we're going to talk with George Pohanka, who runs a dealership group in the Washington area.
But first, explosive claims this morning, straight from one of the most senior officials who worked at the Bush White House. We're talking about former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. He's out with a new book, and in it he claims, the White House pressured him to raise the terror alert level just days before the 2004 presidential election.
Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry has got the details from the book.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Friday before the 2004 election, only two or three points separated Democrat John Kerry from President Bush. Suddenly, a twist. Osama bin Laden released a shocking new videotape and it played nonstop on the Arab language network, al Jazeera.
OSAMA BIN LADEN, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is on your own hands.
HENRY: The next morning, just 72 hours before the polls opened, the president's top security advisors, including Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft, huddled for an urgent meeting to decide whether to raise the color-coded threat level from yellow to orange. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge reveals an explosive new book, "a vigorous, some might say dramatic discussion ensued. Ashcroft strongly urged an increase in the threat level and was supported by Rumsfeld."
He goes on, "There was absolutely no support for that position within our department. None. I wondered, 'Is this about security or politics?' Post-election analysis demonstrated a significant increase in the president's approval ratings in the days after the raising of the threat level."
The Bush campaign was already pushing the envelope on frightening voters. Listen to then-Vice President Cheney just 10 days before the bin Laden tape.
DICK CHENEY, THEN-VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The ultimate threat is the possibility of their succeeding and getting, say, a biological agent or a nuclear weapon, smuggling it to the United States, into one of our own cities, and raising the specter of being able to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.
HENRY: In the summer of 2004, a few days before the Democratic National Convention, the White House had raised the threat level, drawing charges of political manipulation were sharply denied by Bush officials, like Ridge, at the time.
TOM RIDGE, THEN-HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security.
HENRY: But now, at that tense meeting, the weekend before the election, Ridge writes that it, quote, "seemed possible to me and others around the table that something could be afoot other than simple concern about the country's safety."
In the end, however, the threat level was not raised, after Ridge claims he and others pulled Rumsfeld and Ashcroft, quote, "back from the brink." But Ridge says the episode left him disillusioned. He writes, "I knew I had to follow through on my plans to leave the federal government." He tendered his resignation within a month of the election.
He concluded, "I consider that episode to be not only a dramatic moment in Washington's recent history, but another illustration of the intersection of politics, fears, credibility, and security."
But other Bush officials in the meeting, including CNN contributor Fran Townsend insists Ridge is wrong. Townsend says politics was never discussed at the meeting and the discussion was based solely on intelligence -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Ed Henry for us this morning -- Ed, thanks so much.
And stick with us, we're going to talk more about this and whether the Bush administration did try to use the fear of terrorism to win the 2004 presidential election. James Carville and Susan Molinari will be joining us, coming up in just a couple of minutes.
CHETRY: In Iraq, it's been a very blood week. It's finally coming to an end. Officials in Baghdad are saying that bombings killed more than 100 people across the country. On Wednesday, six blasts went off in the capital alone in just one hour.
Now, a Pentagon's man in charge of training Iraqi forces is saying, quote, "Clearly, there was a lapse in security."
So, is the U.S. rethinking its Iraq strategy? Our Barbara Starr is tracking this for us this morning.
And what are your sources at the Pentagon saying about this situation?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, if they want to change strategy, it is going to be very difficult, because under the longstanding agreement reached between the U.S. and Iraq, the Iraqis would have to ask the U.S. to step back in and it's not likely that the U.S. is going to reverse course on its strategy despite this terrible violent week.
But the top commander, as you say in charge of training Iraqi forces, says he's frustrated and he's very concerned about what is going on. Have a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. FRANK HELMICK, U.S. ARMY: Clearly, there was a lapse of security or this would not have happened. Providing security in this country is a never-ending commitment. You are never good enough. Do we anticipate more attacks in the future? I think there are going to be some bad days ahead. I don't know if, in fact, how many bad days there will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So, in light of these bombings this week, which as you pointed out, killed about 100 people and wounded some 500 people, the Iraqis on their own say they are stepping up their security measures, more check points, more searches of vehicles, you would think they would already be doing that, but this security lapse apparently has now led to the detention of 11 Iraqi government officials to question them about what has happened.
General Ray Odierno, the top commander in charge is already responding to an Iraqi request for help with the investigation about the bombings this week. But any further help putting U.S. troops back on the streets of Iraqi cities, that still hasn't happened - Kiran.
CHETRY: And it's a tough situation because they were so eager for us to get out, they couldn't wait for U.S. troops to not, you know, or for -- you know, U.S. troops to not have that presence on the streets. And now, we're seeing some of the difficulties that are arising because of that.
STARR: Well, absolutely. And the problem, perhaps, for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is, even if he wants to ask for U.S. troops back on Iraqi streets, that's going to be a tough job for him to sell to his own people...
CHETRY: Right.
STARR: ... because the message he has to put out is that his government can control security in the country - Kiran.
CHETRY: Absolutely. All right, Barbara Starr, tracking all this for us this morning at the Pentagon -- thank you.
ROBERTS: Right now, votes are being counted in Afghanistan. The country's presidential election could have huge ramifications for America's mission there. Our Atia Abawi is breaking things down for us from Kabul this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, polling stations throughout Afghanistan are still in the process of counting ballots, and it will take sometime until we get the final results, September 17th, actually. And the reason for that is not just the security reason, but also the logistical reason. Let's remember that they had to deploy 3,000 donkeys to get ballots out to some of the most remote areas in Afghanistan.
In the meantime, back in Kabul, two campaigns already very confident they might be winning the campaign, although they have not claimed victory just yet. Both Dr. Abdullah and the current president, Hamid Karzai, believe that they have the lead -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Atia Abawi for us this morning. So, they've sent the donkeys out, and then the donkeys have to come back, which is why it's taking so long to get all of those ballots.
CHETRY: There you go. The democratic process is different in every country.
ROBERTS: It certainly is.
CHETRY: Well, other stories new this morning.
Hurricane Bill bearing down right now on Bermuda. Forecasters are saying this category three storm will cause heavy flooding on the island over the next two days and the U.S. coast could actually feel the wrath of Bill this weekend, as well. Dangerous waves and rip currents said to be -- are going to be in the forecast from Florida all the way up to the New England coastline.
ROBERTS: Also churning this morning, the Sarah Palin rumor mill. The latest rumor has the former Alaska governor moving to Rhode Island. A report in "The Anchorage Daily News" says Palin's plan is to, quote, "settle in Rhode Island with $7 million from her book and a contract with Fox."
Why the Republican Palin would choose Rhode Island is a bit of a mystery. Politically, the state is bluer than blue. You may also recall Rhode Island's former senator, Lincoln Chaffey, calling Palin a, quote, "cocky whacko."
CHETRY: All right. Well, another day, another race, and another world record for Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. At the World Championships in Berlin, Bolt shaved about a tenth of second off his Beijing Olympic time in the 200-meter race. He finished it in .19 seconds.
Here's the end of the race. You can see him way, way out in front. He makes it look so easy.
Earlier this week, Bolt broke another one of his old world records, that was in the 100-meter race.
ROBERTS: So, this is it, this is the new book from former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, in which he makes the claim that politics may have motivated a desire to raise the security threat level just before the 2004 election. Did it?
CHETRY: Did it?
ROBERTS: Did it?
CHETRY: Different stories are coming out of that meeting.
ROBERTS: Yes. Some people say yes, some people say no.
James Carville and Susan Molinari are going to kick that around for us and other political topics coming up right after the break.
It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Blockbuster allegations from the country's first secretary of homeland security. In a new book, Tom Ridge suggests the Bush White House tried to play politics with the terror alert level right before the 2004 election.
Here to talk about that and health care reform this morning, CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist James Carville. And Susan Molinari, former Republican congresswoman from New York State. She is now a senior principal with the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, from the lobbying and legislative matters, including health care. But she doesn't personally have any health care clients.
SUSAN MOLINARI, SENIOR PRINCIPAL, BRACEWELL-GIULIANI: Right.
ROBERTS: These disclaimers are getting longer and longer.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Let me -- let me read the quote from the Ridge book. Of course, we all know that there was a bin Laden tape that came out four days before the election in 2004, and there are some talk about raising the terror alert level.
Here's what Ridge writes. He says, quote, "A vigorous, some might say dramatic discussion ensued. Ashcroft strongly urged an increase in the threat level and was supported by Rumsfeld. There was absolutely not support for that position within our department. None. I wondered, 'Is this about security or politics?'"
Susan Molinari, possible that politics was at play?
MOLINARI: You know what, I honestly don't think so. I mean, look, we know this president. We know that the president -- prior President Bush -- took national security very seriously. He made it, you know, the corner stone of his presidency.
I know as a former New Yorker and I'm sure you do too, John, we all woke up on September 12th, convinced that there was going to be another attempt of an attack on our homeland. And there never was.
So, I guess, maybe I'm just, you know, going to be grateful for the rest of my life that, you know, we've been able to put in place a homeland security division and White Houses with procedures that have kept us safe.
ROBERTS: James...
MOLINARI: Osama bin Laden, you know, it was a political issue in the 2004 campaign.
ROBERTS: Yes, no question about that.
MOLINARI: I think it had more to do with Osama bin Laden sending out this videotape right before the presidential than anything else.
ROBERTS: James, do you agree with Susan? I mean, particularly in light, too, of the fact that the terror alert level was raised after the Democratic convention and we later found that that was based in part, at least, on information that was three years old?
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right. What we do know is, is this is not a shoe clerk making this allegation. This is a twice governor of a large state. This is a combat -- decorated combat veteran and this is the first secretary of homeland security.
I think that the real thing to do is, I think we ought to get some testimony. We ought to find out. This is the most serious allegation you can have in any democracy in any country that politics is being used in terrorism. And I have no idea what the truth is, but this is a very serious thing that Secretary Ridge has stated and I think we need to get to the bottom of it as we can.
We do know that this is an administration that played politics with the United States Attorney's Office. So, I don't know if people would really be shocked if they'd be playing politics with terrorism. But I don't know that to be the case, but we need to find it out.
ROBERTS: Already, former administration officials, we had Fran Townsend on this morning...
MOLINARI: Right.
ROBERTS: ... coming out to say what Ridge is absolutely not true. They were there in the deliberations. Scott McClellan, the former press secretary who wrote his own tell-all book was quoted in the "Politico" was basically saying that he better have some information, some evidence to back this up or he's going to get crushed by the former administration officials.
MOLINARI: Well, look, I do think -- you know, it's hard for anybody to know what the truth is at this point. It does not seem -- based on the people that I knew in the White House -- that this would be something that they would do. Fran Townsend was clearly in the room and her recollection is totally different.
So, I think, you know, these are serious charges. Tom Ridge is a friend. He was a great homeland security. James is right, homeland security secretary, a great governor, and a great Republican. So, you know, I think we all wake up today with a lot of questions on our mind.
ROBERTS: And, James, this was reported on back in 2004, you know, the "New York Times" covered it. There are people who covered it and they talked about the deliberations, should they raise it? And they said, no, they shouldn't raise it. Nobody interjected politics in it back then, not now until Ridge comes out with this claim.
CARVILLE: Well, he does, and I think so there's also a question of some phone calls that were outside of that meeting. But these are the kinds of things that we don't know. But we do know that this is about as serious as it can get. And I think the public is entitled to some answers and some answers pretty quickly.
And Susan's absolutely right. If Secretary Ridge put this in the book just to sell books, then he will be severely embarrassed by this. And I don't know what the real case is. I do know -- I do know Secretary Ridge. He is a good Republican. He's a very accomplished guy, a honorable guy, and something tells me he would've thought about this long and hard before he put it in there.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Let's turn to health care, if I could, just for a moment, because we only have about a minute left and it's very important that the people want to know about. President Obama came out for the first time in the last 24 hours, Susan, saying that he'd like to get Republicans on board, but if he can't get on board, he may have to go it alone.
Do you blame him for potentially going alone here?
MOLINARI: You know what? I don't understand why the conversation has anything to do with Republicans at this point. President Obama's got a much bigger issue and problem in the Democratic Party.
I mean, today, we pick up the papers and read that Speaker Pelosi has said that it is mandatory that government-run option is going to be in the health care bill. And Senator Baucus is saying, we think we're now going to take the pieces, that the Democrat senator who's leading the charge in the Senate, we're going to take this or we're going to break it apart in smaller pieces. And we know in the United States Senate, they can't pass it without it. We have Howard Dean saying that, you know, it's a sellout if it's not a government- run option.
So, I think before we start saying the Republicans are taking this down, the Democrats, with the 78-seat majority better figure out how they're going to come to an agreement. Then they can take blame.
ROBERTS: What about that argument, James, that the president may have as much trouble with his own party as he does with the loyal opposition?
CARVILLE: Well, of course, he got problems with Democratic Party.
I think if you can accuse this administration of anything until now, it's been extremely naive to believe that they could reach across the partisan divide and it's all good. While they were doing that, the Republicans were saying that Obama was out trying to kill your grandmother. Well, people that accuse you of trying to kill their grandmother are not likely to sit down and sat at the table of commonality with you, not to reach out and try to work hard on something.
The truth of the matter is, the Republican Party has never wanted health care reform. It's not on their agenda. Their health insurance companies and everybody's making gazillion dollars now. If you're a Republican, why do you want to change that system? And families, premiums have gone for $6,000 to $12,000. There's more money for people to make.
MOLINARI: People throughout this country are showing that they are very concerned about the length and breadth and cost of this policy. And that's what's putting the problems with the health care bill back on President Obama's desk. It's the polling numbers that are going down, it's the American people, not the Republican Party.
ROBERTS: You know, there are some legitimate concerns with, you know, the health care reform, but I think James is correct to say that there has been a lot of disinformation and misinformation out there. So...
(LAUGHTER)
MOLINARI: You know, and, John, let me say this. And when we passed -- when Republicans were in charge and we passed, you know, welfare reform, tax cuts, balanced budget, we did that with a 25-seat majority. The Democrats have the 78-seat majority. If they wanted to, if the American public were behind them, we wouldn't be having this conversation by now. The president would be signing a bill.
ROBERTS: We're going to wrap up folks. But it's always great to check in with you, Susan Molinari in Washington and James Carville, one of my favorite cities, New Orleans this morning. Thanks so much. We really appreciate it -- Kiran.
MOLINARI: Thank you.
CHETRY: All right. Still ahead: We're going to be talking about stimulus dollars. Where are they going to help out small towns? Christine Romans has been digging into some places where they are. We're going to take a look at the impact on one small town -- still ahead.
Nineteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Does this look pink?
ROBERTS: Sort of. What is it?
CHETRY: They call it coral.
ROBERTS: I'm a guy, it's pink.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we made it a top priority here at CNN to show you where all this stimulus money is going. And we found one struggling police department that's actually seen it and used the money to save half of their force.
ROBERTS: It really was a force that couldn't stand to lose anybody. Here's CNN's Kate Bolduan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): John, Kiran, $1 billion in stimulus funding is going to help law enforcement officers across the country keep officers on the job. In this town, that means saving half the police force.
(voice-over): Officer Rick Burrows making the rounds in small town Wardensville, West Virginia, population 275.
OFFICER RICK BURROWS, WARDENSVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: It's one mile from the west -- or the east end to the west end, and we have a variety of everything here from -- like I said -- from petty theft to drugs.
BOLDUAN: After 14 years in law enforcement, Burrows faced certain unemployment because of the economy and a budget shortfall.
Scottie Miller is the town's mayor.
MAYOR SCOTTIE MILLER, WARDENSVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA: If you don't have the money, you don't have the money.
BOLDUAN (on camera): You were supposed to be laid off in July.
BURROWS: Right.
BOLDUAN: That must have been rough.
BURROWS: It was scary. Yes, ma'am.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): The thing is, Burrows represents half the department. Jeff Driskill is the police chief.
JEFF DRISKILL, WARDENSVILLE POLICE CHIEF: A small community. When you're talking about losing 50 percent of your department, 50 percent of your operational capacity, that's a lot.
BOLDUAN: But then, they say the stimulus came to the rescue, a $156,000 rescue for this rural community. Wardensville is one of more than 1,000 agencies, a fraction of the total grant requests picked for a stimulus boost through the Justice Department program Community- Oriented Policing Services, known as COPS.
But that small town assistance has some big city police departments complaining they were passed over. Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder explained how agencies were selected.
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We received applications from more than 7,000 cities and towns. And made funding decisions based on crime rate, financial need, and community policing activities.
BURROWS: You want a sucker? Two for the price of one today. There you go.
BOLDUAN: And for a soft-spoken officer who admits he tries to fight more crime with sweets than with fire power, Burrows says he's just glad this time around Washington didn't forget towns like Wardensville.
BURROWS: I don't have words. I just thank God the money came through.
BOLDUAN (on camera): These grants pay for both salary and benefits for the next three years and require the local agencies to cover those costs for at least one additional year. Towns like this one across the country are counting on the economy to turn around by then -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Kate Bolduan for us this morning -- Kate, thanks so much.
And we played some Aerosmith music going into it.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Steve Tyler, of course, fell off the stage at Sturgis and hurt himself. "Boston Herald" says that apparently, the band is going on strike because they say he's hit in the head and that's why...
CHETRY: Fell off the wagon, fell off the stage.
ROBERTS: ... fell off the wagon and the stage at the same time.
CHETRY: We wish them the best because they're a talented group.
ROBERTS: I love Aerosmith. I don't want to see. You know, they're getting up there, of course, all of us are, but, you know, come on, Steve, get it back together. Come on.
CHETRY: All right. Good luck with that one.
Still, Cash for Clunkers, you have, what, about 84 hours.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: You got 84 hours left to try to cash in on this program. The problem is, are these dealers that are, you know, fronting this money to give the rebates to people buying the cars, are they getting paid back by the government? Or is it happening too slowly? We're going to check in one with of those dealers coming up.
Twenty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
And this week, at our special series, "The War at Home," we've seen how difficult it can be to make the transition back home after months and in some cases years in the battlefield.
CHETRY: That's right. We're starting to see the stress of long and repeated deployment reflected in families, military families, even in divorce rates. I had a chance to meet one couple whose marriage was pushed to the breaking point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): When Shawnda and Ralph Van Houtem first met, she says it was love at first sight.
SHAWNDA VAN HOUTEM, MILITARY SPOUSE: I saw him there and that was it.
CHETRY: They married and began their life together in his native Holland. After moving back to the United States, Ralf struggled to find work. And when the Iraq war began, he decided to join the army.
S. VAN HOUTEM: There was no argument, you know? I was like, all right. We're going to go on another adventure.
CHETRY: Now, with two children, the adventure was harder than they expected.
RALPH VAN HOUTEM, ARMY RESERVIST: As a family, we hardly had any down time. I went from school to field training to school again. You don't have time to think.
CHETRY (on camera): And then, you know, on top of all of those changes -- I mean, what you're basically dealing with is knowing that your husband's going to go to war. And so, how did you deal with that?
S. VAN HOUTEM: I did not do well emotionally.
CHETRY (voice-over): During her husband's training and deployment, Shawnda grieved the loss of all four of her grandparents, the losses and the long separation became unbearable.
S. VAN HOUTEM: I used the word numbness. It is. I became someone I was not. I told him that I didn't want to be married anymore.
CHETRY (on camera): And how did you handle what she was going through knowing that, you know, she was hurting so much and you can't be there to help her?
R. VAN HOUTEM: I was helpless because I couldn't fix anything.
CHETRY (voice-over): But he tried through letters.
R. VAN HOUTEM: Babe, I love you, you're truly beautiful in every way. Your Raffy.
CHETRY (on camera): What was that like to receive his letters?
S. VAN HOUTEM: Heartbreaking. There's nothing like looking in the mirror and asking yourself, begging God to bring that feeling back for you, you know, that love that you have for your husband. It was gone.
CHETRY (voice-over): Ralph was understanding, but angry.
R. VAN HOUTEM: And I was like, hey, what's going on? You know, I'm the one getting -- who was getting shot at every day, fears for his life and wants to make it back to his family as soon as possible.
COL. MARK SACHS, ARMY CHAPLAIN: Sometimes, when the soldier comes back, it's not because the soldier's broken that their family breaks up, it's because the spouse is broken.
CHETRY (voice-over): Army chaplain Mark Sachs is a leader in the Army program Strong Bonds, which helps military families prepare for and cope with the stress of deployment.
SACHS: This program, you know, is a great program. We just need to do more of it.
CHETRY: The Van Houtems say they did not get enough support from their base in Germany. Ultimately, they decided to separate, not from each other, but from the army.
R. VAN HOUTEM: I had to fight two battles, and when I was a soldier, I put the battle of the Army, you know, in front of my family, and I really learned to turn that around. I put my family first and the Army second.
CHETRY: They spent the past two years healing and finding each other again. Shanda now has a message for other military families.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can do it, and as far down as we got, you know, you can...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't give up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't give up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: There you go. So they managed to find a way together and just working together to make it happen. They have two little girls as we saw there.
And Ralph now is in the reserves. He decided he had to leave the army to try to heal his situation at home. And so...
ROBERTS: But he could go back out again, right?
CHETRY: That's right. He had two-year deferment, and now as July 30th, the phone could ring again.
ROBERTS: So does she have the tools and the skills to deal with another deployment or is the same thing going to happen all over again?
CHETRY: Well, she said feels she's in a much better place now and could handle it. She went through a tough time losing all four of her grandparents, including her gram, she said who raised her.
But anyway, it's a difficult situation. Families are going through it and they're not alone. There are a lot of military families going through the similar thing.
That program Strong Bonds is just one way that the military's trying to help, but everybody admits they could do more and they could -- people say you prepare for so much in the actual training to go to war, but you're not necessarily prepared in what it's going to do to your family.
ROBERTS: There were so many different effects. The suicide rate is very high, and there are organizations like TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for survivors that are trying to help out there too, but a lot of people just out of the goodness of their heart trying to help out folks.
CHETRY: All right. People can find out more, by the way, about this series. Go to our Web site. We've been covering this all week and we'll continue to follow it on our show, CNN.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Yes.
And we are now about 32 minutes past the bottom of the hour. Checking our top stories now.
Hurricane Bill bearing down on the island of Bermuda. Forecasters say the category three storm will cause heavy flooding on the island over the next two days.
The U.S. east coast could also feel the wrath of Bill this weekend with dangerous waves and rip currents from Florida all the way up into New England.
CHETRY: College students are staring to get ready to head back to campus for the fall. And the government is warning that the schools need to be prepared for swine flu. Officials say that sick teachers and students need to be isolated until a full day after any fever subsides. That's just one of those recommendations coming out. The CDC says colleges should consider canceling classes if a significant number of students come down with the flu.
ROBERTS: Brand new poll numbers just out this morning show the health care debate may be taking a toll on President Obama. The latest numbers from a "Washington Post"/ABC News survey show less than half of Americans, 49 percent think the president will make the right decisions for the nation. That's down from 60 percent at President Obama's 100-day mark back in late April.
And as President Obama struggles to regain the grip on the debate, he took his fight yesterday to the air waves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm confident we're going to get it done.
And as far as negotiations with Republicans, my attitude has always been let's see if we can get this done with some consensus. I would love to have more Republicans engaged and involved in this process.
I think early on, a decision was made by the Republican leadership that said, look, let's not give them a victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And the president is taking a bit of a break from health care reform. The first family is scheduled to leave Washington this afternoon for their summer vacation. First of all, they're headed to Camp David in Maryland before jetting up to Martha's Vineyard on Sunday.
CHETRY: And just four shopping days left to take advantage of the popular cash for clunkers rebate program. It actually ends 8:00 p.m. eastern time on Monday.
The feds say nearly half a million clunkers have been traded in for new, fuel-efficient models, in some cases totaling nearly $2 billion in rebates.
A lot of dealers, though, say that Uncle Sam has been way too slow in reimbursing them for deal already signed, sealed, a delivered. And Jeff Pohanka is the president of the Pohanka Automotive Group. He joins us from Marlowe Heights, Maryland this morning. Jeff, thanks for being with us.
JEFF POHANKA, PRESIDENT, POHANKA AUTOMOTIVE GROUP: Thank you.
CHETRY: As we know you run a bunch of dealerships there in different parts outside of D.C. and Maryland. How many cars did you guys sell because of Cash for Clunkers?
POHANKA: Well, by 8:00 Monday, we'll have sold more than 800 cars under the program. This has been a wildly successful program with the consumer and will result in about 750,000 car sales nationally in the four-week period.
It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. This program has been used in Europe, South America, and Asia with tremendous success.
CHETRY: How many cars have you been reimbursed for, though? You said it was a tremendous success for the consumers. And what about the dealers?
POHANKA: Yes. It's been a bureaucratic nightmare from the beginning. They've made what should be an easy process of trading an old car and new car very complex, 18 pages of law, 160 pages of regulations.
Of the 800 cars we expect to do, and we have hundreds of applications in right now, we're selling cars literally as we speak, under this program we've only had 10 claims paid.
I think I understand stimulus program better now, a lot of promises and very little follow through.
CHETRY: So you're not happy with the situation, although you think it did help boost auto sales for you guys, right?
POHANKA: This is wildly successful for selling cars. But the success is going to hurt dealers tremendously. Our whole industry has been on its knees with sales down about 35 percent to 40 percent. Dealers are struggling financially,
And to put out hundreds of thousands of dollars in our case and millions of dollars in this program with the hope of being paid promptly -- we were promised to be paid within ten days under this program. And so far most of our claims have not even been looked at.
CHETRY: Here's what Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said about it. He said that he understands that dealers are frustrated. His quote is "There will be no car dealers that won't be reimbursed." Do you trust his word?
POHANKA: I always believe action and not words. And I'm very -- America's automobile dealers are very skeptical.
We like the program. I think they should fix the bureaucratic inefficiencies and continue with the program.
Now, they funded $3 billion of what should be a $5 billion program. This is a wonderful program. Don't stop the program because of bureaucratic inefficiency. Fix that and continue the program. This is putting Americans back to work.
You're going to see some huge sales numbers nationally this month. And this is stimulus that works.
CHETRY: Yes, now, actually we are also getting word from the Department of Transportation that they have actually brought more people on the case to review and pay out these claims. So hopefully that will change.
But you said you haven't destroyed some of your clunkers yet. Why is that?
POHANKA: We're scared. Most of our cars we have retained as of other dealers. We're scared we're not going to get paid. And we're not going to get paid, we have to dispose those cars otherwise. If we destroy that engine, that car's value is tremendously diminished.
So all of our lots are full of cars, as are dealers across the country. Now, we have to dispose of a couple now because we don't have room. But this has been really ineptly handled by the government.
But it's a great program. Don't stop it. Fix the problems and continue it.
CHETRY: Now listen, big picture, there's been a jump in car sales as we've said. We have GM and Ford saying that they're ramping up production, rehiring workers as a result of this program.
But what's happens next when the program's done? Is this a turning point for dealerships and for manufacturing and the car industry in general?
POHANKA: Well, that's a good question. I've talked to a lot of customers and the naysayers, and there are naysayers, and I understand why they have questions about the program. We've never done it here before.
But I've been looking at other countries in anticipation that we would do it, and I'm on the showroom floor and asking customers, were you in the market? We you ready to buy a car, trade a car in? And by and large, the people were not. They're driving old cars. They've maintained them. They were going to drive them until they died.
So these people we're in the market. So we really weren't pulling ahead. But what's going to happen is the sales uptick is going to wipe out dealer inventories and it's going to take a while to replace those inventories.
But this is putting workers back on their jobs. GM's cranking back up. Honda's adding work days, Hyundai's got their plant going again. And you'll be surprised at the sales numbers once the data is in at the end of the month. It'll be a big uptick because of this program.
CHETRY: Well, hopefully you guys will get your checks paid to you quickly, as well, and hopefully they will be able to take care of that soon, the bureaucratic red tape sometimes unfortunate.
Jeff Pohanka, president of Pohanka Auto Group, thanks.
POHANKA: Thank you.
ROBERTS: It really is a good news-bad news situation isn't it. The good news this works, unlike most government programs, but like most government programs, it also doesn't work.
CHETRY: It's a tough thing. GM, in fact, is saying, don't stop it to the dealerships. We'll front the money until you get reimbursed by the government.
ROBERTS: I'm sure they car dealerships would love this continue as long as they get their cash back.
CHETRY: Well, speaking of cash, some school systems are so strapped that they're asking parents to foot the bill for a whole lot of things. We heard about, can you bring us office supplies?
Well, the tab for sports is going up too. Our Christine Romans is watching your money. It's coming up next. Twenty minutes to the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, New York City, where it's partly cloudy now and 81 degrees later on today. Scattered thunderstorms and a high of 88, but those storms should hold off probably until this evening.
It's back to school time, and the recession is making its way into lesson plans. Schools across the country certainly are strapped for cash in this bad economy.
CHETRY: And so they're faced with the problem, how do you pay for these extracurricular activities? And some schools are announcing it's up to the parents to pay the tab.
Increasingly, we're seeing pay to play at America's high schools. And Christine Romans is watching it for us. So the extracurriculars that sort of used to just be part of it. You could play soccer if you wanted to. You didn't have to pay anything extra.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You've got two choices. You can either cut the programs because you don't have the money. Or you can try to find the money. And where you find the money, mom and dad get out the checkbook, $50 for junior to sing in the choir, maybe, another $150 to play in the band, $100 to $300 to play a sport, to be a cheerleader, each sport, depending on where you live.
Cut the sports clubs and extracurriculars, schools are getting creative, and you are footing the bill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Head to head competition for a spot on the team. No guts, no glory, sure. But no cash, no football? Each of these kids pays $100 to play.
Budget cuts left this New Jersey school district no choice. Jobs were cut, some class sizes got bigger. Now they've turned to new fees to keep sports and extracurricular activities alive, $100 per student in the high school, $75 in the middle school. There is a $200 cap for families.
JANICE DIME, WEST ESSEX REGIONAL SCHOOLS: We looked at a variety of possibilities, including the cutting of a middle school program, the cutting of some coaches. And ultimately after listening to so many parents, they were in favor of the other option, which was to institute the activity fee.
ROMANS: A growing number of schools in 33 states are doing the same after cutting to the bone.
BOB GARDNER, NATIONAL FEDERATION OF STATE HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS: They're trying to find ways to eliminate costs where they can. But with the difficulty with the economy, we're seeing the amount of dollars that parents are being asked to pay to support programs increasing.
ROMANS: Parents have mixed feelings.
HENRY ZIMMERMAN, PARENT: At first I felt a little funny about it. But then I thought about it. If the sport is going to die, I'd rather pay to keep the sport alive.
ROMANS: The superintendent of West Essex says many parents feel the same way, and participation hasn't been hurt. But she sees the strain on families. Essex County has the second highest property taxes in the county.
DIME: One of the things the parents raise is there's a lot of fundraising that also goes on with respect to musical programs or athletic programs.
So, you know, the activity fee was on top of all of the other contributions that parents make all the time. But they wanted to see all the programs stay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, so what about the kids whose parents can't afford to play? Are they excluded then?
Well, most schools have special provisions for people who can't afford the fees. At this school, the New Jersey students who are on the free or reduced lunch program, they have the fee waived overall.
And the schools will consider doing the same for students with special circumstances. The point is not to shut out families that can't afford it, but to keep the opportunity for everyone. Otherwise, frankly, these programs are going to disappear.
But parents are already being shaken down for a lot of different things, support the band, we need some more money, we're doing this fundraisers. By the way, it's $100 for this sport, $50 for that. So you can see how parents are a little concerned.
ROBERTS: I'm wondering though, as the economy gets better, will they reduce or eliminate these fees, or will they say, wow, here's an extra source of revenue.
ROMANS: That's a very good question. Maybe they use the new money to get another coach or to start a new program and they keep picking your pocket.
CHETRY: Don't they say they never really repeal a new tax? After a tax is put in place and they're getting money from it, they're not going to cancel it when things get good.
ROMANS: At this point these schools are just trying to keep these programs alive. They would like to have that problem having when the economy gets good and what to do on whether...
CHETRY: We're just optimists, Christine.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: What's the first vehicle you ever drove?
ROMANS: I think it was a Chevy scooter or something.
ROBERTS: It was a tractor.
ROMANS: Oh, no, first vehicle. The first vehicle was a tractor. I thought you meant the first car you ever owned.
ROBERTS: No, first vehicle.
ROMANS: A tractor, of course. I'm from Iowa.
ROBERTS: Did your tractor look like these?
ROMANS: No. That's not a tractor, that's a little scooter.
CHETRY: That thing's a big --
ROMANS: Pull back. Oh. I thought he was still on a little gator.
ROBERTS: No. Rob has managed to talk himself into one of these hyper horsepower tractor pulling machines.
ROMANS: Does our insurance cover that?
ROBERTS: There you go. It's not your average little green tractor. Rob's coming up next. Stay with us, coming up on 48 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: I knew it was a matter of time before Rob was able to sweet talk himself into a big juiced up version of the tractor.
ROBERTS: Scam his way onto a tractor.
CHETRY: He's on a road trip today, and he's got a lot of horsepower on this one, a lot of noise.
ROBERTS: It's kind of like the NASCAR for tractors.
Every Friday our Rob Marciano hits the road for what we call "Rob's Road Show." It's take already the world's largest yard sale in Tennessee, the world yo-yo contest in Florida. Today we're in Bowling Green, Ohio for the world tractor pull championships. What do they call it? Pull city or something?
Oh, look at Rob. Look at Rob, he's got a ride.
MARCIANO: I'm cruising, I'm moving. All right, this is the mini modified division here. When it's cranked up, John...
ROBERTS: Is that thing going, Rob, or is somebody pushing you?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right, show them, Larry. All right, I'm -- I've got to put the brakes on here at some point.
CHETRY: The tractor pull.
MARCIANO: Thank you, Larry, nice work there. That's Larry Koester, he's -- he and his son have been trading off championships here for several years in the mini modified division.
We spent time with him yesterday. He has a unique story, actually, lost his legs in a farming accident but manages to be the forefront and the ever present leader in this particular division. Listen to what he had to say about his experience with tractor pull.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KOESTER, TRACTOR PULLER: Without my legs, you know, I strap myself in, I strap my legs in, I use my stumps to pull up on the brakes. So it's a whole different feeling.
I actually drive better now than I did before I got hurt. So it's really cool because, you know, they say you drive by the seat of your pants, and for me that's where I'm at all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: There's my man. There's Larry. He's obviously a special breed here, one of 60 competitors, or 300 competitors, I believe. There's a handful of women here. The competitors come in all shapes and sizes, all ages down to the teenage level, as well.
That's the track. And that's the reason we weren't able to pull, because they're still grating the track. It's 100 yards, and they're still working on that thing. It's going to start later on tonight for the 43rd annual national tractor pull.
They're going to have the mini modified division. They have the unlimited division. That's what you saw earlier when we cranked those up. Those have 12,000 to 13,000 horsepower, crazy, crazy stuff.
And it's one of those things like NASCAR -- until you go, you haven't experienced it.
Oh, by the way, guys, the "Road Show" has a new sponsor. We're running out of money, so I'm hoping that Pennzoil maybe takes care of us for the next go, which will be next week. Send us your suggestions.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Look, something arrived in my e-mail box.
CHETRY: Rob, you look great in that thing. I'm sorry you didn't -- they didn't trust him to hit the gas. He had to be pulled, literally, in his tractor.
MARCIANO: It would be dangerous and right now, quite frankly, I'm stuck. So hopefully I'll see you guys next week.
ROBERTS: All right, Rob. Take care, have fun there. We'll see you back next week.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: It's 54 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
During this make-or-break month for health care reform, one cancer survivor is making a life-saving comeback, literally. Meet our CNN hero of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "CNN Heroes."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been completely denied all insurances.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been unemployed and basically have no income.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they told me I had breast cancer. And I did not have any insurance, so I came here.
FAITH COLEMAN, MEDICAL MARVEL: If they have no insurance, and they have no money, what's going to happen to them?
In 2003, I discovered that I had kidney cancer. I am a nurse practitioner but I have no health insurance. I was able to mortgage my house to pay for the surgery.
If it could happen to me, than certainly it could happen to anybody.
I'm Faith Coleman. I cofounded a free clinic for Americans who don't have health insurance. We welcome every patient here who is uninsured and who meets the federal poverty guidelines.
We usually see 80 patients every other weekend. We have what I call controlled chaos. It is busy, busy, busy, go, go, go.
Having kidney cancer was one of the best things that ever happened to me, for the one main reason is I can truly empathize with patients.
Any questions at all? Nothing you can think of? I'm going to see you back in here in two weeks. OK, awesome. Good.
I'm so proud of you.
We are treated equally, and we all have the same rights. I'm sorry the right to have care is just right up there with the rest of them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, that's going to do it for us on this Friday. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for being with us, and we'll see you back here on Monday.
ROBERTS: Continue the conversation on today's top stories. Go our blog at CNN.com/amfix.
And the news continues now with Betty Nguyen in the CNN "NEWSROOM."
