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American Morning

Bone Fragments Found Near Garrido's Home; Wildfire Surges Toward L.A.; Major Arrest in ID Theft Scheme; SAT Test Prep is Big Business; Health Care Debate Continues through Congressional Recess; Bob Dole Weighs in on Health Care Debate; Nationwide Ban on Texting while Driving Gains Support

Aired September 01, 2009 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, and thanks very much for joining us on the Most News this morning on this Tuesday, the very first of September. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here's a look at the morning's agenda. These are the big stories we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.

First, Jaycee Lee Dugard in a secret location this morning with her family. Psychologists are working with her and her children. Meanwhile, police are opening up their investigation now into the man who allegedly kidnapped her when she was just 11 years old, Phillip Garrido. A bone fragment found near the convicted sex offender's home, now police want to know, are there even more victims?

ROBERTS: Also developing this morning, an out-of-control wildfire devouring acre after acre just north of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles county sheriff's department says five people who ignored evacuation orders are trapped. In a moment, we'll take you live to the fire lines in Southern California.

CHETRY: And we're heading into the final showdown on the make- or-break issue of health care and what happens now could decide if one of the president's biggest domestic priorities goes forward or goes the way of say the Clinton health care plan. We're going to find out where things stand when we talk to Republican strategist Ed Rollins and Democratic strategist Lisa Caputo and also former Senate majority leader Bob Dole.

ROBERTS: But first new questions in the investigation of Phillip Garrido, the man accused to holding Jaycee Lee Dugard captive in his backyard for nearly two decades.

Police say they found a bone fragment near Garrido's house and they want to know whether the convicted sex offender may also be behind other cold case murders and kidnappings in the area.

Let's bring in our Ed Lavandera for more. He's live in Antioch, California, this morning. What are we hearing about this latest discovery, this bone fragment, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it took place not necessarily on Phillip Garrido's property. Remember, they had turned this crime scene and expanded it into the backyard of the home right next door. And that's where that fragment was found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The shadow of suspicion surrounding Phillip Garrido is growing. Investigators are already looking into whether Garrido carried out a series of murders in the 1990s. The victims were found near his workplace.

Now, authorities are also asking if Garrido could be the culprit in the disappearance of two other young girls. One of the victims is 9-year-old Michaela Garecht, who disappeared in 1988. Her mother says investigators are comparing notes.

SHARON MURCH, MISSING GIRL'S MOTHER: I've been asked a few questions, but -- regarding evidence. Along the lines of what kind of clothing Michaela was wearing.

LAVANDERA: Investigators say Garecht's disappearance is somewhat similar to Jaycee Dugard's capture -- both girls resemble each other, a similar car was used in the abduction, and a sketch of the suspect looks like Garrido. Garecht's mother says the news makes her hopeful.

MURCH: Jaycee's mother got up and went to work one morning, like every other day and in the middle of the day, she received a phone call that changed everything and I believe that that can happen for us also.

LAVANDERA: Investigators searching the crime scene around Garrido's home dug up a small bone fragment in the next door neighbor's backyard. It's significant because authorities say Garrido had access to the property.

JIMMY LEE, CONTRA COSTA COUNTRY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT: So, we're taking that bone back for further examination. We don't know if it's human or animal, and we're going to take it back for further testing.

LAVANDERA: While the spotlight has focused on Phillip Garrido, much less is known about his wife. Nancy Garrido appeared to cry in court last Friday. She's been described as brainwashed. Cheyvonne Molino, who knew the family, simply describes her as strange.

CHEYVONNE MOLINO, ACQUAINTANCE OF PHILLIP GARRIDO: My personal opinion, she's crazier than he is.

LAVANDERA: Phillip and Nancy married in 1981. He was an inmate in the Leavenworth Federal Prison. She was a visitor coming to visit a relative. Neighbors say she often left the house wearing scrubs.

MOLINO: She was kind of quite. She stayed to herself. But she would talk to me. She would come in, you know, "Oh, how you doing," "Oh, OK," you know, she was just -- she was kind of quiet and stay in the background. Whatever he said, she said, "Yes."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: You know, John, we've talked a lot over the last few days about missed opportunities for Jaycee Dugard to escape from this home. But what's interesting is it was Nancy Dugard who, we presume, was the only person around Jaycee Dugard, but during a four- month stretch back in 1993 when Phillip Garrido was picked up on a federal parole violation and sent back to prison. What happened during those four months is still an area of this investigation that has a lot of unanswered questions.

ROBERTS: Boy, he seems to have touched, potentially, so many lives in such a negative fashion.

Ed Lavandera for us this morning -- Ed, thanks so much.

CHETRY: We're also following developing news this morning outside of Los Angeles, where massive wildfires are still burning and on the move. More than 100,000 acres destroyed, and right now, 12,000 homes are threatened. Firefighters are also dealing with another problem.

This fire isn't just wind-driven. The smoke is piling up all over Los Angeles. It's making the air hazardous to breathe if some places, also forced several schools to close.

Our Rob Marciano is from -- is joining us now from the fire lines with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE SARKISSIAN, RESIDENT: So here we are in the Tujunga Canyon, watching this fire go through, trying to protect the buildings. And here's a picture of it coming up probably through one of the closest spots of the property that could catch a building. So, I'm going to tape it so you guys can see how fast this thing progresses.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): In just minutes, Michael Sarkissian is surrounded by flames, the fire reaching for the sky with thick clouds of smoke and ash swirling around him.

SARKISSIAN: This ridge was really bad. There were fire tornadoes going up into the sky.

MARCIANO: Fire crews planned to use this space as a safety zone, but had to beat back the encroaching inferno.

SARKISSIAN: (INAUDIBLE) where Mike's trailer was. Can you believe it didn't go any further?

BOB FAIETA, HOME OWNER: That's unbelievable. That's unbelievable.

SARKISSIAN: And as you could see, it didn't really get into the middle of the valley. It climbed the sides out.

MARCIANO: Michael rents a room from race car driver Bob Faieta who was racing in Canada during the height of the fire.

FAIETA: He got up here and when I came to the gate and saw the shop standing, the house and Mike here, the dogs were fine, it was just unbelievable. Unbelievable feeling. Better than winning any race, I'll tell you that.

MARCIANO: His neighbors weren't so lucky. Nearly all the homes up canyon in Vogel Flats burned to the ground. Smoldering rubble is all that is left. A similar scene down canyon where the smoke lingers eerily in the air -- while the fire continues its devastating path across the Angeles Forest towards even more populated areas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: You would think holding back and staying with your property wasn't the smartest thing, but the key is, they were able -- to clear a lot of that shrub before the fire even started, so much so that the Fire Department was using their property as kind of a safe zone. But it's still an amazing inferno.

This particular part of the canyon, not as well cleared. You seem some of this brush, there was no chance for this home to be saved. And that's what the Fire Department does. They'll take a look, they assess a situation -- does this home even have a chance of being saved? If not, they go on to the next one. Look at how just charred this is.

News out of Mount Wilson this morning -- still no word whether or that has been burned. They have been heavily protecting that, probably fortifying it. But 105,000 acres have burned with 5 percent containment. The southern flank of this fire is what they're most concerned about. That is what is most heavily populated.

It's going to be another hot day today. Red flag warnings have been dropped, but still another hot day today and tomorrow, slightly cooler weather expected as we get towards the end of the week.

But all that said, day don't expect to have serious containment of this thing for at least two weeks. And with the lack of winds, it makes it unpredictable, and the smoke and the ash just -- not only this fire making it difficult to breathe, but you can taste the smoke all the way into L.A. and points of the south and west, and it's difficult to breathe in those areas as well.

So, even if you're not near the fire, John and Kiran, it's affecting millions of people here in southern California. Back over to you.

CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. Just a real tough situation for them right now. Hopefully, they'll get a little bit of break in the weather and hopefully they'll be able to get a better handle on it in the next couple of days. Rob, thanks.

ROBERTS: Also new this morning, Hurricane Jimena is roaring toward Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, almost hitting category five status. Winds are nearing 155 miles an hour. Mexican police, firefighters, and navy personnel are scrambling to get about 10,000 people living in slums out of the storm's path. But many are reluctant to leave, saying they're afraid that their few positions will be stolen.

CHETRY: Former beauty queen Carrie Prejean is suing Miss California USA. She was stripped of her crown and title back in June after she missed a string of appearances, but her lawyer is claiming she was dethroned for her public opposition of same-sex marriage, that was a question that she was asked at the competition that raised a lot of controversy. Her lawsuit also claims she suffered from religious discrimination.

ROBERTS: Also new this morning, for the very first time since his arrest and conviction for assaulting pop star Rihanna, Chris Brown breaks his silence. The R&B star told Larry King he's ashamed of what he did to her and that he's still in love with her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": When you look at this, do you feel like you're looking at someone else?

CHRIS BROWN, R&B STAR: Yes. From the outside looking in, when you see on TV, when they're saying this and they're saying that...

KING: Really, you punched her a number of times.

BROWN: Yes.

KING: You threatened to beat the blank out of her. When you got home, also said you warned you were going to kill her. You bit her on the ear, and that you hear all that. Obviously, this is always the disparagement here -- you have a lawyer here. You don't appear like a violent person at all?

BROWN: No.

KING: You appear rather calm, rather nice. So what happened to you, do you think?

BROWN: Well, I have to say, I guess that night is just one of the nights I wish I could just take back and I really regret and I feel totally ashamed of what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Chris Brown is sentenced to five years probation and a court order says he must remain 100 yards away from Rihanna for the next five years, 10 yards if their attending the same event. You can see the entire interview tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern on "LARRY KING LIVE" right here on CNN.

CHETRY: Well, a lot going on in Washington. Of course, we're talking about health care reform. We're talking about the economy. Then there's the war in Afghanistan. There's a report that came out as well.

The Obama administration has many balls in the air right now and they're facing some opposition, interestingly enough, from some of their strongest allies in the past. What do they need to do to get back on track? We're going to speak to Ed Rollins and Lisa Caputo after the break.

It's nine minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHETRY: It's a shot of the White House this morning as we say good morning to the nation's capital. It's fair right now, 61. A little bit later, it's going to be sunny and 77 for the first day of September. A lot of people are saying, where has the summer gone? Perhaps they're saying at the White House as well, a lot still on the agenda, of course.

It's 11 1/2 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

You know, President Obama's taking a little bit of downtime this week. He needs to rest up, it's gearing up to be a tough month for the president. We have health care on the agenda, as well as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran -- all crucial turning pointing as well.

And joining me now to talk about this, senior political analyst and Republican strategist Ed Rollins, as well as Democratic strategist Lisa Caputo. The team is back.

Great to see you guys again.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: So, it's funny. Let's just talk about how this is being described. David Broder, a noted "Washington Post" columnist, called it scary season right now at the end of summer and what we're heading into right now. And they say the major challenge, of course, besides Afghanistan, is getting health care passed.

And there are people, you know, Lisa, even people who have been supportive of the president before, like Arianna Huffington and Frank Rich and others saying, "What's going on?" How has he lost the debate?

LISA CAPUTO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, you know, I think if you take a step back, you have to observe that this president tried to take some lessons from the Clinton health plan and that effort back in the early '90s. And I think what's happened here is he went to one extreme, which is he left it all to Congress.

Now, nobody works Congress better than Rahm Emanuel, he's the best. But you can't as the commander in chief, as the principal advocate of your major piece of agenda leave it all to Congress. He's more on the sidelines and he's to step in now and take bull by the horns and take charge and really try to drive the health care agenda, instead of leaving it to Capitol Hill, because he's lost control. It's imperative for him to step in.

CHETRY: Ed, I want to ask you about that, because a lot of people were hailing that as a smart political move, saying, "Oh, look at what President Clinton did, as the whole White House hammered together this health care plan and it got picked apart in Congress."

ED ROLLINS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The difficulty with the Clinton plan is they locked everybody out. And those academics that put it together, nobody knew who it was. This has to be the president's plan at this point in time. He is out selling a concept that nobody knows what the details are. And at the end of the day, more and more Americans are becoming very, very concerned.

And you have to remember, 80 percent of Americans have some sort of coverage and then you have the people on Medicare -- all of those people feel threatened at this point in time that they're going to lose what they have today and cost them more. And I think that's a very tough sell to make.

CAPUTO: You know, one of the things that they have to do -- to Ed's point, and I agree with him -- I just said, he's got to communicate simply about this. That press conference where he was laying out the plan and then it was kind of taken off track in the media by the Skip Gates fiasco, no one walked away with a clear understanding or a clear message of what the health care changes are going to mean to the average American and that's what he's got to do.

CHETRY: Isn't it because no one knows right now? I mean, the interesting thing is that there really is no set bill.

(CROSSTALK)

CAPUTO: And I thought Bob Dole was very interested in what he had to say yesterday in his op-ed about, you know, how he could come back and sort of reshape the agenda by putting fort his own proposal through the Democrats on the Hill.

CHETRY: OK. So, we're going to be talking about Dole, by the way, in just a couple of minutes, but he's suggesting about people that are -- who don't know about this to scrap it and start over. Do you think that's a smart...

(CROSSTALK)

ROLLINS: No, you can't scrap it. I mean, I'm a big admirer of Bob Dole and nobody knows more about health care, and if he was still there, he'd be a great advocate to help this president get the health care passed.

But the bottom line is, you can't -- you have to take what's there. You've got to work on the House bill, the Senate bill has got to get finished here. And you can't put these deadlines on it. You can't have it by the middle of September, end of September. I mean, it's the bottom line, do I get it done this year, do I get done the beginning the end of next year.

The added problem is the president's numbers are dropping -- they're dropping dramatically. And he's now, you know, in a place, not a spiral, but he's got nothing but bad news ahead. Afghanistan is a very, very tough sell to the American public. Unemployment numbers come out this Friday, they're not going to be good.

And I think, to a certain extent, what people see now is a lot of federal spending and not much in results for them.

CHETRY: And, Lisa, Ed referenced to the numbers falling, but it's the chicken -- or what came first, the chicken or the egg? Some people are saying it's because of the health care situation and the health care fight that we've seen a drop in support for the president.

CAPUTO: Well, I think it's a couple of things. I mean, this president had probably a six-month honeymoon and, you know, that's a long time.

I think, secondly, you have the moderate Democrats on the Hill who are looking at this health care legislation. We're about to go into the midterms and they're in this for survival. I mean, these guys will outlive this president through various re-elections to office. So, you have the moderate Democrats trying to position going into the midterms.

You've got the liberal base who is corralling around the public option, and if they don't get the public option in the health care bill, they'll be upset.

So, he's in a tough position. And I think that's why, I think, he's got to insert himself in a more proactive way in this debate. There's no way you can scrap it -- as Ed and I just said.

CHETRY: Right.

CAPUTO: But there is a way for him to get into this mix and try to take charge of the agenda again.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Ed, one quick thing that Lisa asked about the midterms and about slipping support and whether or not he's going to lose Democrats who are afraid of losing the midterm elections, Charlie Cook said that this could be a bad year. That Republicans could pick up 20 seats. Do you think that's an overly optimistic estimate?

ROLLINS: No. You know, I've lived with House seats for a long, long time. So, the problem is, if that becomes the buzz around Washington, that you can lose 20 or 30, those 20 or 30 out of probably 50 become very panicky and they basically start polling. They start going to their district. Their district is saying no health care, no this, no more spending, and they basically are saying, survival is the most important, getting re-elected is what I want to do. Otherwise, I don't get to vote anymore or have the best job I've ever had.

So, I think the reality here is that this president wants to be loved. I'm not sure he wants to lead and I'm not sure he can lead.

CAPUTO: Well, remember, this president wanted to do health care because of the opportunity that existed with a jointly controlled Democratic Party in the House and the Senate. So now was the time to do health care. And once you get into that midterm election cycle, as Ed points out, it gets very difficult.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: It is difficult -- I mean, and one of the things -- we're almost out of time, but when he talked about health care on the campaign trail, he also tied it into the economy and said, A, number one, it's important that everybody gets it as a right, not necessarily a privilege, but also, health care is why we've found ourselves in a big mess.

CAPUTO: Yes. But I also think, you know, he's taken this on at a time where we have tremendous economic problems, and -- as Ed pointed out -- you know, we've got Afghanistan, we've got Iran, we've got Iraq. So, he's got a lot of competing agendas that are right now on the table.

ROLLINS: And trillions and trillions of dollars of debt.

CHETRY: All right. Well, as we said, a scary season, or at least David Broder put it that way, as we get ready to head back into the fall session.

Great to see you both this morning, by the way, Lisa Caputo and Ed Rollins.

CAPUTO: You, too.

ROLLINS: Thank you.

CHETRY: John.

ROBERTS: We told you the other day if this person can be a victim of identity theft, virtually anyone can. Ben Bernanke, the Fed chair, has his identity stolen. Well, guess what? There have been some arrests in the case. Christine Romans has got the news coming up right after the break.

It's 18 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Just into CNN, Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" with some rather interesting news on the Ben Bernanke identity theft scam.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: A major arrest in this in Miami. And this woman will be arraigned at 1:30 this afternoon. Her name is Shonya Michelle Young. And she's described by one investigator to me as a major player in here. She was a check casher.

This was a big ring you may have heard about. Ben Bernanke's wife was in a Capitol Hill Starbucks. She had her purse over the back of her chair and it was pickpocketed. It was stolen. It had her Social Security number and credit cards, all kinds of information I.D.s in there.

They became part of -- as Ben Bernanke later said, the Fed chief -- part of a -- one of 500 families who were targeted by this very sophisticated ring, $10.2 million confiscated, 10 different financial institutions involved.

And now, the Feds are -- you know, they're cracking down. They got six more people to arrest. But this woman, Shonya Michelle Young, she was on the lamb, they've been looking for her, I believe, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she's from. They found her in Miami, at an airport and she has been charged with conspiracy and bank fraud.

Apparently, she had somebody else's I.D. in her pocket, according to investigators. She had wigs with her. She would go, they say, part of the scam would be to completely assume the identity of someone else like Ana Bernanke and go and drain the checking account. That would be -- her job would have been of draining the checking accounts.

But the sophisticated ring hired pickpockets. They're people hired all along the way, sharing this money all the way down. The interesting thing about these I.D. theft rings, this is still the most common kind of identity thefts -- actually stealing the person's purse or wallet and then recreating their identity and getting a different driver's license, different documents, changing the phone number, even.

ROBERTS: They become you, literally.

ROMANS: That's absolutely right. And so, they're trying to unravel all of this. I'm told by investigators (INAUDIBLE), there's maybe six or seven more arrests that need to be made. But this woman, they say, Shonya Michelle Young, they say she was the girlfriend of the number three in the organization and that they consider this a major arrest in breaking up this sophisticated ring.

CHETRY: Christine Romans with that news that just came in. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: You know, if Ben Bernanke can get his identity stolen...

CHETRY: Right.

ROMANS: I mean, that just tells you.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Exactly right. So, yes, we'll keep following for you when there are more arrested.

ROBERTS: Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Thanks so much.

You heard Lisa Caputo just a couple of moments ago say that President Obama needs to take control of the health care debate. Well, former Senate majority leader, Bob Dole, says that he needs to step further. He needs to not only take control of the debate; he needs to put his own ideas for legislation out there, stop letting Congress run the whole game and create the legislation.

We'll be talking with the former senator -- coming up in just a couple of moments.

Twenty-three minutes now after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes pasts the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

Taking the SATs of course makes high school kids nervous. A lot of parents also worry about their children's scores. And so, they fork over big bucks for courses to help them prepare for the tests in hopes of getting better scores.

Well, in our special series, "Educating America," we're looking at the big business of the SATs and millions and millions of dollars.

Carol Costello joins us now from Washington.

So, there's a lot of money to be made, right, with these SAT prep courses?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think a lot of money is an understatement, Kiran. You told you yesterday, some 800 universities are now SAT optional for most applicants because they don't think it really demonstrates what your kids can do in college.

So, is this a trend? Will more universities go SAT-optional? Some critics say, unlikely, not just because many universities still value the SAT, but because SAT is no longer a simple test, but an industry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): They are the buzz words in the SAT biz: test anxiety.

ED CARROL, THE PRINCETON REVIEW: I started in this business as a test teacher and a tutor. You know, private tutor working with people in their homes. And I -- after a while -- felt more like a test prep therapist.

COSTELLO: SAT tutor Ed Carroll says parents' desire to cure test anxiety has transformed what was a simple test into a growth industry. Take New York's Princeton Review. This for-profit test prep service pulled $138.7 million last year in revenue. And it's just one of hundreds of such services across the country. Never mind the man who oversees the SAT says such anxiety-beating services are unnecessary.

LAURENCE BUNIN, THE COLLEGE BOARD: I always tell parents and students, keep it in perspective. The SAT is just one thing they look at. They're looking at your grades. They look at what else you do, sports, athletics, music, art.

COSTELLO: Still, the College Board, the nonprofit organization that offered that advice, sells its own online course for $69.95, and it offers a study guide for $21.99.

That bothers Robert Schaeffer of FairTest, a consumer watchdog group that opposes pretty much all standardized tests from No Child Left Behind to the SAT. He claims the College Boards' drive to make money has impacted its mission to, quote, "connect students to college success and opportunity."

ROBERT SCHAEFFER, FAIRTEST: It's a huge business, multiple hundreds of millions of dollars a year in test and test prep material that come out of our parents' pockets and into the pockets of test makers.

COSTELLO: The College Board does generate big money. According to its 2007 federal tax returns, the College Board pulled in some $621 million. Because it's nonprofit, it's tax exempt.

While the College Board would not comment on camera about how much money it brings in, it did tell us, "We do not generate profits. All revenues from our products, services or grants are reinvested into improved services that support our mission."

But Schaeffer says the nonprofit uses a lot of that revenue to line the pockets of its executives.

SCHAEFFER: The top officers of the College Board, allegedly a nonprofit organization, earn $500,000, $600,000, $800,000 a year. That's where lots of that money is going.

COSTELLO: According to 2007 tax returns, Gaston Caperton, the president of the College Board, made nearly $900,000 in salary, benefits, and perks. And 12 of the nonprofit's top executives made more than $300,000 a year in salary and benefits.

Schaeffer says that's excessive. He'd rather see more of the College Board's money working to make the tests more fair for students who can't afford those pricey college prep classes. The College Board says it already does that.

BUNIN: We have a lot of free programs and services. Each year, we give away $30 million, $40 million, $50 million worth of free services to low-income students.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: As one expert put it, what citizens expect of the nonprofit and what the law says are two entirely different things. It is not illegal for a nonprofit to turn a profit, so to speak, as long as those moneys go back into the organization. It is also not against the law for nonprofits to pay their executives high salaries.

The fact is -- and I'm generally speaking here -- there are many large nonprofits who pay their executives just as much or more than the College Board -- Kiran?

CHETRY: Very interesting story this morning, Carol. Thank you.

And also, we want to know what you think -- are these huge salaries OK for the people behind the SAT in your opinion. Sound off on Carol's story at CNN.com/amFIX.

Also, look for our story tomorrow on our special series, "Educating America" on a very big battle and a successful inner city charter school. The kids' grades are bucking the trend, but there's a dispute over money that could get in way of their progress.

ROBERTS: Well, we are now coming up on the half hour.

And checking our top stories this Tuesday morning, first day of September, by the way.

Today, Vermont's new law allowing same-sex marriage officially takes effect. In fact, some couples held ceremonies right after midnight.

Vermont is now one of five states that allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The others, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Iowa.

CHETRY: It's already hallowed ground. Now Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar says the government will buy the land outside of Pittsburgh where flight 93 went down on September 11th, 2001. The cost, $9.5 million. The plan is to open a memorial there by the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks in 2011.

ROBERTS: And Tom Ridge, the nation's first Homeland Security Secretary has a new book out today that's already getting a lot of heat. In it, he seems to question whether politics played a role in a push to raise the facing's terror alert level before the 2004 election.

I asked him about that earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TOM RIDGE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The end of the line that I'm trying to describe, more importantly, a process we went through on a -- not a frequent basis, but you never report the times that we meet and decide not to go up. It's a tough judgment call.

But there's never been any doubt in any mind that any of these individuals, Secretary Powell, attorney general Rumsfeld -- Attorney General Ashcroft, Secretary Rumsfeld, the FBI Director Mueller, they always had the security of America as the number one reason they would say, let's go up or let's not go up. I don't think it was ever politics.

ROBERTS: You don't think it was ever politics?

RIDGE: In the political environment, a lot of people were thinking it was generated by that. But the president himself created and oversaw the creation of a process that even he couldn't influence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Ridge also all but closed the door on any political future, saying he has no plans to run for Congress and the possibility of a White House run in 2012 was, quote, "very unlikely." And he actually said, flat-out, "no" that he had run for the Senate.

As lawmakers get ready to head back to Washington after their August recess, we want to know how you're feeling now about the two biggest issues, the economy and health care reform.

So our Ali Velshi is taking a road trip on the CNN express, and he is in Evansville, Indiana, this morning. Ali, what are you doing and war you hearing there?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: John, we pulled into Evansville last night. We left Atlanta. We're on our way to Minneapolis. Evansville is the site of a whirlpool factory. In fact, it was called the refrigerator capital of America. Whirlpool announced it's shutting that factory down, moving 1,100 jobs to Mexico to build the refrigerators there.

We had in the last hour discussion just on these steps. We had it last night with some of the citizens, some of those workers from whirlpool.

But the discussion kept going between whirlpool and manufacturing and health care, which is a major, major concern for the citizens of Evansville. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Health care, to me, is a moral issue and it's a civil right, and we feed to move with the rest of the developed world and have a real health care program.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely!

(APPLAUSE)

VELSHI: Let me get a sense of that from you. How many people think that the administration is on the right path with respect to health care reform, roughly on the right path? How many of you think the administration is not on the right path with health care reform?

OK. One of you want to tell me about that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I disagree that health care is a civil right. I think it's a civil right to be able to keep your own income and buy with it what you want.

And I think the health care crisis is highly over-exaggerated. It's not something that the government should be running.

And I'm sorry that people are going to be out of health care, but everybody has been at one time or another, and you go out and you build yourself back up again and you get it. But it's not everybody else's responsibility to give it to everybody else.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We pay 17 percent of our gross national product for health care. Canada pays 9 percent and covers everybody, and we leave all these people uncovered.

20,000 people die every year because they don't have insurance. This is a real number. That's more than six times as many as died in 9/11 and it's happening every year.

VELSHI: Do you think health care is the biggest issue facing us right now? Put up your hands if you think health care's the biggest problem facing us, one of.

OK, I'll give you another option. How many of you think jobs, unemployment, how many of you think that's a bigger problem.

And some of you voted twice.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ali, I've got to say, once we get past this socialist smoke screen that we hear so much about, everything that any government does is socialist, OK?

Let's at least, on the health care, why don't we at least give catastrophic coverage to the young families. You go to any store or any gas station, you walk in, there's some poor, young family got a little four-year-old daughter dying of leukemia. Insurance is not covering the care for her.

What they have to have -- they have to have charity benefits, ask for donations.

(APPLAUSE)

If on the 5:30 news we can brag about $1 million shot weapons systems, why can't we help save our dying children, at least?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: John, very much like the other town halls that we've had on the last road trip a couple of weeks ago, civil discussion, but real disagreement about health care, about which way to go with this.

We're going to be wheels up in just a few minutes. We're going to be heading deeper into southern Illinois now and talking to more people across the country, having this same discussion, what they think the biggest concerns are and how they think this government should be dealing with health care -- John?

ROBERTS: I don't you're not going to be wheels up, Ali. I don't think that bus can fly. I might be wrong.

VELSHI: We'll keep the wheels on the ground. We'll move and pull out.

ROBERTS: Thank you, rubber side down. That's always best.

Ali, good to see you, my friend. Thanks very much, and real terrible stories for those folks there in Evansville.

It's 36 1/2 minutes after the hour. Bob Dole coming up next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: President Obama's top domestic priority, but on the make or break issue of health care reform, he still faces major hurdles from Republicans and Democrats.

So what's the White House to do? Former Republican Senate leader Bob Dole says they need a fresh start on health care reform. Senator Dole joins us now from Washington. Senator, it's great to see you this morning. Thanks for stopping by.

BOB DOLE, (R) FORMER SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: John, thank you.

ROBERTS: You wrote an interesting "Washington Post" editorial yesterday that President Obama should be out front with his specific plan, his specific plan on this make or break issue.

You say, quote, "Many of us were taught that the president proposes and Congress disposes. Today, Congress is doing both with the president relegated to the role of cheerleader in chief."

We were talking about this earlier with Lisa Caputo, who agrees with you that he needs to get out in front. Why do you think he needs to get out in front on this?

DOLE: Well, I think he has such popularity and so much going for him, but he doesn't have a bill. When he goes out, he's working very hard. I think the press secretary of the White House was indicating he was working on it. He's working very hard, but I think it's not very productive.

In my day in the Senate, I was Republican leader for 12 years, and the president, if he were Republican, would send me a bill, and I would introduce the bill on behalf of President Reagan or President Bush.

And I don't know why they've chosen not to have an Obama bill. This is the biggest, biggest thing that's going to happen to him this first four years, and he ought to be out not only working hard, but it ought to be his bill.

And when he puts his stamp on it, you watch the numbers go up, because the American people are going to say, well, this is president Obama's bill, and I voted for him, I like him, and minds will start to change.

And Republicans who have been a little reluctant to get into the fray I think will start their strategy and maybe an amendment, maybe offering a substitute.

ROBERTS: Right.

DOLE: But we're just not doing it right. I mean, and I'm not being critical of the president. I want to help. I've been through health care reform since 1977, when I introduced a bill with Senator Danforth of Missouri and Senator Menichi (ph) of New Mexico.

So we're in the game and want to help. We just made that suggestion.

ROBERTS: You talked just a second ago there senator about the potential positive effects of the president having his own bill out there.

In fact, let me take a little excerpt from the editorial you wrote yesterday to illuminate that a little more fully. You said, quote, "Obama's approval number of would jump ten points if Americans knew that he was fully in charge. A tactical move of introducing his own plan would also stir more Republicans to become active for reform in critical areas."

Why do you think that would happen, because everything that we have seen so far during the month of August was that Republicans don't like any of the Democrats, and they, for the most part, have the support of the president?

DOLE: Right. And I think he's going to have to trim his sales. I also in the article mention President Reagan has always been a myth, whatever President Reagan wanted, he got. That's not accurate.

He would whisper to me or tell me more than once, you know, I want all of this, but if you can get me 70 or 80 percent, grab it and run. I'll get the rest later. So I think presidents do put more into a bill than they expect to actually get.

But there's something about being the president of the United States, which I tried to be, but there's something about being the president, that cache, this is Obama's bill. It's not Waxman's bill or it's not some Republican's bill.

And I think it carries a lot of weight. And he's got a lot of credibility. He's still very popular, despite his numbers have dropped some, but not precipitously.

ROBERTS: In the editorial, senator, you also spoke out against both the public option and this proposal of having co-ops for people to get health care through. You say you think the industry can clean up itself.

There are maybe some skeptics who say there has been no evidence thus far that the industry has been able to clean up itself, why should you have faith that it will be able to do so in the future?

DOLE: Well, they're under the gun. And the recommendations that our little bipartisan policy center made with Senator Baker, myself, Senator Daschle, and Senator Mitchell until he got this special envoy job.

We have a five-year period in which time the insurance industry, health care industry has a time to work out the precondition thing and the administrative expenses, and some of the other glaring problems. And we believe they'll do it, you know, that they want, at least they say they want health care reform. And this would be a test.

And if they don't do it in five years, then we direct in our recommendations that certain things happen, and it be done at the state level, not a federal option.

So I think most people, once this thing starts to roll and people get in the spirit of this is the right thing to do -- it's not the right thing to do in the shape it's in now, but I think it could be in the right shape and ready to go and ready to roll, depending on what happens in the first couple of weeks when they come back, a week from today.

ROBERTS: Well, no question, still, a lot more discussion on this. And it's interesting to hear your voice thrown into the mix as well, senator.

Senator Bob Dole, thanks very much for being with us this morning. It's great to see you.

DOLE: If anybody needs a vote, I'm available.

(LAUGHTER)

ROBERTS: All right! We'll let them know. Thanks, senator.

And we know that you've got lots of questions about health care reform. We're helping you sort fact from fiction and putting all the answers together online. Just head to CNN.com/healthcare.

CHETRY: All right, well, still ahead, his house of cards collapsed, as we know, but his beachfront home going up on the market. Federal authorities selling off Bernie Madoff's cottage in Long Island, right at the tip, Montauk, New York. It's part of an effort to try to pay back burned investors.

The Ponzi schemer himself valuing that property at almost $3 million. We're going to take you inside when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's 49 minutes past the hour.

Would you buy Bernie Madoff's house? Federal authorities are now selling off his cottage in Montauk, New York, and here's your first look inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROLAND UBALDO, SUPERVISORY DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL: What we have here is a four-bedroom, three-path house. The living room, the kitchen, and the master bedroom all own a view of the ocean.

From the master bedroom, it leads out to a porch over here with an amazing view, left to right, nothing but ocean shoreline.

Full market value is $7 million, and that's what we're looking for. What we gain from the sale of this house is going directly to restitution for the victims.

All the personal property will go to an auctioneer and be auctioned off. And I'm talking about from Chinaware to silverware to the rocking chair that Ruth Madoff may have sat on while reading a book watching the waves roll in to the desk that Bernard Madoff used here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: There you go. So that's a look at the property on Montauk. Also up for sale, his Manhattan apartment, and his estate that he had in Florida. All of it, as we said, in an effort to try to break up some of that money, divide it up and pay back some of his investors.

ROBERTS: So a lovely little "cottage," $7 million "cottage."

(WEATHER BREAK)

ROBERTS: So driving while texting, we know how dangerous it is. Jason Carroll showed us when he got behind the wheel in a simulator.

Well, there is growing momentum now for a nationwide ban on texting. We'll give you the very latest on where that all stands.

It's 52 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: What a beautiful day in Atlanta this morning -- not. Cloudy and 68 right now. Later on today, we're going to have some showers and a high of 77 degrees -- ick. Not nice at all.

Welcome back to the most news in the morning.

Recent studies have shown that texting and driving can be a dangerous, even deadly mix.

CHETRY: And now one highway group has really done a 180 when it comes to joining the growing chorus for a nationwide ban on texting while driving. Jason Carroll is following the story, and you actually really got into it. You saw what it was like to try to text and drive.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, in one of those simulators. And you learn just how difficult it is. And what this group is learning after getting more information and after speaking to them, they decided that they've done their 180 after getting a lot of information and seeing a very controversial PSA, which we'll get to in a moment.

The group initially said texting bans would be hard to enforce. They now say police would be able to enforce it the same way they do with seat belt laws. The group also says it's necessary to keep the road safe.

And we should also warn you that some of the video you're about to see is very graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): Some drivers call it fallout from life on the road in the digital age -- texting while driving.

A graphic public service announcement produced in the U.K., widely seen on the web in the United States, illustrates a violent end.

This spot is part of the reason a group once opposed to new laws banning texting while driving has reversed its position.

VERNON BETKEY JR., CHAIRMAN, GOVERNORS HIGHWAY SAFETY ASSOCIATION: We're certainly in favor of the ban, and we're willing to support a texting ban.

CARROLL: Vernon Betkey Jr. is Chairman of the governor's Highway Safety Association, a national group representing state highway safety officials.

In July the group came out against laws banning texting while driving, Betkey saying new laws would be impossible to enforce. But Betkey did an about-face following a meeting with the group's members, who'd seen that PSA and some alarming studies.

BETKEY: I think as a result of those discussions, the decision was made to readjust our policy.

CARROLL: Senators, including Charles Schumer, who have proposed a federal law requiring states to ban texting while driving, say the Highway Association's new stance could go a long way.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: We saw that this was so important to do because it's so dangerous, that they took the leap. And it's going to give our legislation a major boost.

CARROLL: Another boost, recent studies like the one from Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which found a truck driver's risk of crashing 23 times higher while text messaging.

Another study, done by Professor David Strayer at the University of Utah found another disturbing result.

DAVID STRAYER, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: Text messaging is the level of impairment that exceeds what we see with someone who is driving while they're drunk.

CARROLL (on camera): Exceeds it?

STRAYER: Yes.

CARROLL (voice-over): Strayer's researchers found a driver with an alcohol level of .08, legally drunk in most states, is four times more likely to crash. Texting, that driver is eight times more likely.

Currently, just 18 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving.

CARROLL (on camera): So what's your prediction from this point?

SCHUMER: I think we can get a bill done within the next several months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Well, the Obama administration is planning to hold a summit on the issue of texting while driving as well as cell phone use next month. Betkey says his members will be attending that particular summit that they're going to be putting together.

And it really seems as if this whole idea of having some sort of a federal law is gaining momentum.

ROBERTS: You know, that commercial, too, that public service announcement, is graphic and very controversial, but it is creating a buzz.

CARROLL: It's incredible, isn't it, how that one commercial seems to be having an effect? You heard from Betkey about how it affected some of its members that saw it online.

CHETRY: If it changes behavior, that's a good thing. CARROLL: Yes.

CHETRY: We'll see what happens. Thanks a lot, Jason.

CARROLL: We want to continue the conversation on this story and all our stories today. You can head to our blog, CNN.com/amfix, to weigh in. We always love to hear from you guys.

And thanks so much for being with us today. That's going to do it for us. We'll see you back tomorrow.

ROBERTS: Right now here's CNN "NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.