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5 Coalition Troops Killed in Baghdad; Former Soldier May Get Death Penalty for Iraqi Rape, Murders; Hundreds Die in "Safety Zone"; The "Top Gun" Pilot Turns Space Shuttle Commander; Cuban-Americans Divided on Travel Ban

Aired May 11, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A $2 trillion down payment toward your health care costs. This morning, President Obama gets big advance on his plan to provide medical insurance for all. Also, you can't get there from here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This used to be route 65 heading north out of Del Martin.

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COLLINS: Remember that highway? Well, now a river runs through it. Flooding changes everything in West Virginia. And tuition just part of your college student's bill. We've got tips on keeping the other costs down. Good ones, too.

It is Monday, May 11th. Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In fact, we have a whole lot to cover this morning in the NEWSROOM. We are expecting a U.S. journalist to walk out of a jail in Tehran this morning. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for spying. We're on top of that.

Also, hundreds of thousands of Pakistani civilians are running for cover now as the army there battles the Taliban. Our Ivan Watson is covering that for us.

And also, right here in the U.S., it's the future of your health care. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux on a boost for the president's reform plan, and Elizabeth Cohen on will it work.

So, here's what we know right now. This morning the president meets health care industry leaders. They have offered to slow their rate increases by $2 trillion over 10 years.

Now, that money would help pay for the president's plan for universal health coverage. So the Obama administration also viewing health care reform as a way to make a significant budget cut.

Let's go ahead and talk now to our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux for more on that. Plus, of course, what is in the plan for you. And that certainly, Suzanne, is something that everybody wants to know. What are we going to be hearing today?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, you may recall last week this is what we were focusing on. This is the budget from last weekend, saying there are going to be serious reductions in the budget. But it really just amounted to about 0.5 percent when it comes to the total spending of this budget.

One of the things that health care, rather senior administration officials were telling us is that they've got to make sure that they cut health care costs. That that is really going to be the big savings here in the tune of $300 billion. How are they going to do this?

Well, President Obama is going to outline that at least there are some industries that are willing to cooperate when it comes to, at least, reducing or slowing down the cost, health care costs, in the next 10 years. So we're talking about 1.5 percent a year in slowing down the health care costs for the next 10 years.

What does that mean for everyday folks, you and me, our families here? Well, obviously, they're talking about a family of four, the fifth year that this is actually enacted here, about $2,500 savings a year. So there is some savings for individuals and families.

What it means for the government overall? Well, administration officials are saying $2 trillion over the course of 10 years. Why is this important? Well, these hospitals, these unions, these health care providers are saying, look, there are ways that we can actually cut out some of the bureaucracy and the way we do things that we think we can pass along savings to health care customers, to patients, to people like us, and that that in some way will help us out in the long run, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Complicated plan. Why aren't some of the people, though, who had actually opposed reforms like these on board now?

MALVEAUX: Well, certainly, what you're going to see is that, very likely that Congress is going to take on health care reform by the end of the year. At least the administration officials believe that it's a game changer here. And so they'd like to get on board, they'd like to be a part of the process rather than being left behind here.

This is something that they believe -- they want to make sure that they know, OK, here's how we're going to change doing business, here's the cuts that were the kind of cuts we're going to make. We're going to make sure that we're part of the process here, that we're not going to be left behind.

Couple of important things to note, though, Heidi, this is completely voluntary here. There's no way that the government necessarily is going to force these unions or these health care companies to go along with this. And this is something that is going to be difficult to track whether or not it actually, they come through with these savings. So they're counting on these groups to help out in the long run, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. They need that cooperation. All right, our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux this morning.

Thanks, Suzanne.

So the big question remains, of course, will this work? Are we on our way the way to true health care reform? Or is this just more smoke and mirrors?

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is watching all of that for us this morning.

So, yes, President Obama says he's going to save $2 trillion over 10 years. How exactly is that going to happen?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, Suzanne Malveaux just nailed it when she said that there's a lot of bureaucracy in health care. If you get rid of some of that, you might be able to save some money.

Let me give you two examples. One has happened to me and I know too many people. You go to your internists, he does some tests, and refers you to a specialist. You show up at the specialist and he can't find the test results from the testing that your internist did. So he does those tests all over again, unnecessarily, just because he can't find them.

That's one tiny thing. If you can cut out that kind of duplicate testing, you can save money.

Here's another one. Doctors get accused of ordering too many expensive high-tech tests. For example, doing an MRI when an x-ray would do, and an MRI is so much more expensive. So those are just two little ways in sort of a sea of many ways that money could be saved.

But it's all about changing the incentives for how insurance companies pay doctors when it comes down to it.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. It seems to me, though, that a lot of this is also got to be, you know, patient responsibility. I'm not going to let my doctor do a battery of tests that have just been done by a different doctor. I'm going to go and I'm going to track this down and get them to the specialist.

COHEN: You know, to some extent that's true, Heidi. But I think it's a lot to rely on patients to do that. If you show up at the doctor's office and he says oh, I can't find ABC, let's do DEF, I mean, it gets very confusing. Or if your doctor says hey, I want to give you an MRI, sure, the patient cay say, well, Doctor, is there a less expensive test you can do?

But really, I think that's a lot of responsibility to put on the patient. He's the guy with the medical degree. He says you need an MRI, in some ways, why should you question him? COLLINS: Well, if I've just had one, I'm going to question it. Definitely. But anyway, I see what you're saying and there's a lot to work out here. And really, the most important thing is try to figure out how much money it's all going to save.

All right. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Thanks, Elizabeth.

So keep it right here on CNN, because we will have live coverage of President Obama's announcement on health care cost. It will be happening at 12:30 Eastern, 9:30 Pacific. So make sure you watch for that.

Meanwhile, the father of an Iranian American journalist imprisoned in Tehran says she will be released at any moment. Roxana Saberi was convicted on spying charges last month and is sentenced to eight years in prison.

She has denied those charges and Iranian appeals court reviewed the case yesterday, and at the end of that session, Saberi's attorney said he was hopeful of a change in her case. A short time ago we spoke by phone to Reza Saberi. He's the journalist's father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REZA SABERI, JAILED JOURNALIST'S FATHER: We are in front of the prison waiting for her to come out. That should happen probably within an hour. That she will come out, yes. And then we will take her home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: You can imagine the excitement on the family's part. Of course, as soon as we get word of Saberi's release, we will bring it to you.

Also a battle brewing in Pakistan to tell you about and civilians fleeing to get out of the way. Troops are preparing a major offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley.

Ivan Watson is live for us this morning in Islamabad.

So, Ivan, will everybody be able to get out in time?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're certainly trying, Heidi. There's a wave of humanity pouring out of northwest Pakistan right now. More than 360,000 people, that's according to the United Nations, that's roughly the population of Minneapolis.

Among the people fleeing were a group of orphans that we'd recently spoke to who just escaped from the Swat Valley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (voice-over): These boys are orphans, and they're lucky to be alive. Just three days ago, they escaped from Pakistan's Swat Valley traumatized after their orphanage ended up on the front line of the government's war with the Taliban.

(on camera): This is a moment of peace and calm for 23 boys who spent days and nights terrified in the middle of a gun battle between Taliban militants and Pakistan army soldiers. They've been describing to me what that was like and how the children were crying at night from the sound of the explosions and the bullets whizzing past.

(voice-over): Over a simple lunch of flat bread and beans, the boys tell me how Pakistani soldiers set up sandbags on the roof of their orphanage, a four-story building that offered a lookout over the neighborhood.

The boys hid in a back room for days as the Taliban laid siege to the orphanage. These kids have seen more than their share of violence in the Swat Valley over the past two years. When I asked what the worst part of the fighting was, they say it was the suicide bombers.

(on camera): Scary, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yes. This is very dangerous.

WATSON: Very dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yes.

WATSON (voice-over): These boys finally escaped with several teachers by first clinging to the roof of a bus and then hitching a ride in the back of a vegetable truck. Orphanage director Mohammad Ali is overwhelmed. He worries these children may end up homeless.

MOHAMMED ALI, DIRECTOR, KHPAL KOR FOUNDATION: We remember our building. Our facilities.

WATSON: As the conflict threatens to tear this country apart, the cult of prayer brings these orphans back together and raises hope that the boys from Swat may one day be able to go home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: And Heidi, I can -- I have some good news, 24 orphans who were stuck in Swat Valley until yesterday, they finally fled on foot walking an estimated 40 miles and they just arrived to safety in Peshawar, exhausted but safe.

COLLINS: Oh wow.

WATSON: Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. Well, we are certainly thinking about them. I sure do appreciate that update. Ivan Watson reporting for us live from Islamabad.

Thank you, Ivan.

Pope Benedict appearing to endorse a separate Palestinian state. Israel is planning a welcoming ceremony this hour for the Pope. After touching down, he made a plea for everyone in the region to have a homeland of their own. He also acknowledged the victims of the holocaust and condemned anti-Semitism.

This is part of the Pope's eight-day tour through the Middle East.

And water woes across West Virginia. We're talking mudslides, flooding, washed out roads and trapped residents. We'll talk more about that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Quickly, we want to update you on a story that we have been following for quite some time now because with regard to Roxana Saberi who is the U.S. journalist that has been in a jail in Tehran. She was convicted of spying. You see her pictures there.

She is now, apparently, according to Associated Press, been let out of jail. So we want to get the very latest now from our producer in the area.

Shirzao Bozorgmehr joining us now with the very latest.

What can you tell us, Shirzao, at this time?

SHIRZAO BOZORGMEHR, CNN PRODUCER: I just talked to the lawyer in front of the prison, to Roxana's lawyer, and I asked him if she'd been freed because there were rumors among the reporters here gathered that they might have released her to another gate without us seeing her.

And he said, I don't know, but he said they were trying to do that. So we don't know for sure. I don't know how we'll be -- can confirm it. But nobody, no reporter here has seen her released or a car being driven out of the prison.

The lawyer was actually explaining the actual -- something to me that was the first time the court was convened. The defense said that she did not cooperate with agents of the country which were at war with Iran, meaning the United States. And the court dismissed that, did not hear that.

The second time of the appeal, they made the same plea, and this time the United States is not at war with Iran, therefore it is not an espionage case, which warrants eight years in prison, and warrants only two years, and the two years has also been suspended.

COLLINS: OK. Well, that's interesting. Just giving everybody some background, once again, as to how this case all came about. Because as we were hearing there from Shirzao there, talking about this case that was reviewed yesterday and why the change and why it is expected that she will be released if, in fact, that has not happened already.

Shirzao, we sure do appreciate that. Our CNN producer there on the ground, Shirzao Bozorgmehr. Appreciate it once again. Not able to confirm here at CNN just yet whether or not Roxana Saberi has, indeed, been released from prison. But Associated Press, as you've heard from our producer, is somehow confirming that.

Once again, we will follow the story very, very closely and make sure we bring you any new developments just as soon as they happen.

Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared in six counties in West Virginia. After a weekend of heavy storms and flooding caused major damage across parts of the state, 300 National Guard troops are in the southern coal field area helping emergency crews now.

And as many as 400 buildings are destroyed, another 1,000 severely damaged. Heavy flooding also triggered mud slides that flushed trash, debris, even a mobile home downstream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBRENIA BARTRAM, FLOOD VICTIM: Someone knocking at my bedroom window, telling me to get out. The big tanker, they just came out and picked us up. (INAUDIBLE) water about, oh, probably about that deep. I was really scared.

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COLLINS: Officials there are also keeping an eye on the rivers. Forecasters expect them to crest higher today than they did over the weekend.

Reynolds Wolf is standing by for us in the Severe Weather Center with an update now on all of that.

Hi there, Reynolds.

(WEATHER REPORT)

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And speaking of Oklahoma and in speaking of the fellow who'd normally be doing this job, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes.

WOLF: Talking about my friend Rob Marciano, he is in Oklahoma. He's going to be giving us the very latest from this incredible study from a bunch of incredible meteorologists. It is the VORTEX Project. And he's going to be talking about that coming up in short order.

COLLINS: So cool. We should tell people quickly. We're talking about tornadoes here.

WOLF: Absolutely.

COLLINS: And why they happen, why there -- some are stronger than others and how long they last. So I guess we're going to talk more with him.

WOLF: Absolutely. You know it's amazing. There are awful -- you know plenty of the storms, but there's so much mystery that surrounds them.

COLLINS: Yes.

WOLF: And that's the game plan, just trying to unlock some of those mysteries, give us a better understanding of how, why they form. And it's so much to learn. No question.

COLLINS: Yes. And you meteorologists are very, very smart people. So this will be good questions to have answered.

WOLF: We are geeks, Heidi. Yes, it's true. I know what you're saying. I know what you're thinking.

COLLINS: Reynolds...

WOLF: Don't deny it.

COLLINS: We'll check back later. Thank you.

WOLF: You bet.

COLLINS: It is being called the most ambitious weather experiment ever, in fact. Scientists hope the VORTEX 2 Project may help us finally understand the intricacies of nature's most deadly weather phenomenon and that is tornadoes.

So our Rob Marciano is live now at the University of Oklahoma's National Weather Center with a full breakdown.

Hey there, smart guy.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Heidi, yes. Hi there, Heidi. To echo what you said to Reynolds, or at least disagree with it, the scientists and researchers that we'll be following here are a whole lot smarter than Reynolds and I put together. I promise you that.

They are some of the brightest and best minds in the weather business. And this is by far the most ambitious tornado research mission ever launched so far. Well, today, I should say, to be repetitive.

It's called VORTEX. It's a verification of the origins of rotation in tornadoes experiment. Anything in NOLA has an acronym, and we'll run through a lot of those throughout the week, for sure.

Hey, there may be some things you may be familiar with. You recognize this? The movie "Twister." All right?

COLLINS: Oh yes, look at that.

MARCIANO: Dorothy, they used this as a prop, the top flipped over and then the instruments went up into the tornado there and managed to get some readings in theory.

COLLINS: Well, that's... MARCIANO: This was also -- the competing research team used this little guy in that movie, as well. They were all based on this thing, which is called TOTO. It was developed in the '80s. Totable Tornado Observatory. Another acronym. And this is designed to be placed in front of a tornado and have these readings taken as the tornado went through it.

Never really happened, it got knocked over, got it sideswiped. So they've kind of tried to come up with better means. They've got similar things to this. They've got mobile radars that are on the back of flat bed trucks. They've got old ambulances that have been retrofitted to have scientific equipment including different types of radars.

They've got unmanned drones that will be flying around these storms. It's a five-week project. It will happen this spring starting today. It will happen again next spring and the goal, Heidi, is to -- well, unlock the mysteries.

We kind of know why tornadoes form, sort of. But we don't know why some get stronger than others, we don't know why some seemingly perfect thunderstorms don't drop tornadoes on the ground and some others do. How long do they stay on the ground and why? And how strong do they get?

And the end result is, we'll be able to give out more accurate warnings and save lives. So that will be launched today. And a cruel, many ironic things happening this morning. We have an intense thunderstorm come through.

COLLINS: Oh really.

MARCIANO: Which brought us inside. A lot of rain, as Reynolds was talking about, but not necessarily thunderstorms that are good to chase. On top of that, we're at the National Weather Center. This is the Mecca of storm chasing in the world, and it's just loaded with all types of radars here in Norman, Oklahoma.

Well, that was interfering with our signal and we had a hard time actually broadcasting.

COLLINS: No way.

MARCIANO: So hopefully the irony will thin out a little bit and we'll be able to get you some exciting TV over the next couple of days.

COLLINS: Yes, because we want to see you there, because you are like a kid in a candy store. It's very good.

All right, Rob Marciano, we will -- go ahead.

MARCIANO: All right. Is the excitement showing? I'm trying to hide it.

(LAUGHTER) COLLINS: We have a terrible delay, by the way, with the VORTEX and the interference and all that jazz. So we're going to let you go for now but we'll check back later. Thanks so much, Rob Marciano. Appreciate that.

We know college costs a lot, plus how about the books and the room and board and the beer and the pizza? Need help with your high education finances? We have some tips coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Paying college tuition during this great recession. Rising costs and fading funds could put a damper on your child's college dreams. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis joining us now with some great tips on how to get around the mounting college costs.

Boy, that is for sure.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Right.

COLLINS: Good morning to you, Gerri.

WILLIS: Hey, good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: You actually said go ahead and start with the books. What do you mean by that?

WILLIS: Well, you know, you've got to cut college costs, right? One of the easiest place to start college textbooks that can cost between $700 and $1,000 a year. That's according to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.

But there are ways to cut those costs. Check out AbeBooks.com. This is an online site where students can get used and international books at a discount. Students will also want to check out Half.com and CheapTextbooks.com. So a bit of price comparison.

These online sites are a great way to start. Some states are even cracking down on overpriced books at campus bookstores. Some are waving sales taxes. Others are separating out CD-ROMs from textbook orders. So there are ways to get around these high costs.

COLLINS: Yes. How can students save some of their money? Got to get creative, right?

WILLIS: Yes, you've got to get creative and there's a lot of money, you know, you don't think about spending that you do. Sometimes being a college student can qualify you for discounts. Check out StudentAdvantage.com, in fact Campus.com. Here you'll be able to buy a student advantage card that gives you discounts when you travel on Amtrak, or with Greyhound, or on and health clothing discounts so you want to check that out.

COLLINS: All right. Well, any advice on how college students can keep track of their budgets? Because I know every college student has one. They write down their expenditures. They keep a really good list of what they're doing and where the money's going and how they might be able to cut costs, right?

WILLIS: Yes, Heidi, especially those nights on the town, the dinners out, right? You really track that. But you've got to get this together, obviously. It can be a recipe for disaster figuring out the final tab. But there are some online budgeting tools if you're up for it.

Check out Buxfer.com. This site will let you log in using your regular Google, AOL, or Facebook account. You can then set up groups to divide up expenses evenly or track your monthly budget expenses. BillMonk.com is another free site that lets you track who's been borrowing your books or your CDs and also keeps track of who owes you money and who you need to settle debts with.

Let me tell you, at the end of the day, there's nobody who needs budgeting more than college students because they don't have a lot of money.

COLLINS: Yes. That's true. All right. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis.

Gerri, thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: Investors have been riding a wave of optimism, but a two-month rally could be put on hold today.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange now with a preview of the trading week.

Good morning to you, Susan. Happy Monday.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Happy Monday and happy belated Mother's Day to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Thank you very much.

LISOVICZ: The NASDAQ's riding a nine-week win streak, up 37 percent during that time. The Dow and S&P 500 are up eight of the nine past weeks. That said, Heidi, we aren't expecting a lower open. There are no economic reports on tap. But there's plenty of news to focus on, including that in the financial sector.

Three banks that passed the government's stress test are already planning to repay the bailout funds they got last fall. To do that, U.S. Bancorp, Capital One Financial, and BB&T are planning to sell more than $5.5 billion in common stock.

Another shake-up in the works at General Motors. The "Wall Street Journal" says the automaker has hired an executive search firm to help it find replacements for at least half of its 12 directors since the government could end up with the controlling stake in a bankrupt or restructured GM. It's expected to flex its muscle and name some of the directors as will the United Auto Workers union.

Remember the government already pushed out the CEO, Rick Wagoner, not too long ago. And this comes, yes, just two months after that ouster took place.

On Capitol Hill, the Senate expected to vote this week on the Credit Card Holders' Bill of Rights. The House passed it last week. President Obama supports it. It's designed to limit interest hikes and fees. We're not seeing any hikes in the three major averages. Seeing a little bit of pullback, not surprising.

The Dow is off about one percent at this point. NASDAQ is down 1.5 percent. We are talking about other hikes, though. Mailing a letter, Heidi, you know, it's going to cost two cents more starting today. First class stamp, now 44 cents.

COLLINS: I'm a Forever stamp girl. So I don't have to pay any attention to that.

LISOVICZ: As long as your stash lasts forever, Ms. Collins. You are protected from inflation there.

COLLINS: That's true. Yes, I love that. I wish that was the case in many other parts of my finances.

LISOVICZ: Exactly.

COLLINS: All right. Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much.

LISOVICZ: See you in a little bit.

COLLINS: OK.

They fled from combat and ended up in the heat of battle. Civil war heats up, and the U.N. says civilians are dying in what's called the safety zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Very quickly, I want to tell you about this. President Obama's health care plan getting a booster shot from the private sector today. The health care industry is planning to cut costs to the tune of approximately $2 trillion. But there is, of course, a lot to be worked out. The president will talk about it today, 12:30 Eastern, 9:30 Pacific. So stick around. We're going to bring that event to you live, of course.

Also, need to tell you about this. Unfortunately, CNN now confirming that five coalition troops have been killed at Camp Liberty. Camp Liberty, of course, in Baghdad. We don't know exactly what happened here, but we, of course, have our crews on the ground there. Our Cal Perry is in fact working the details on this story.

At this point, what we do know and can confirm is that five coalition troops have been killed. Camp Liberty in Baghdad. We'll bring more to you just as soon as it becomes available to us.

A jury convicted him of raping an Iraqi teen, and then killing her and her family. Former Army Private Steven Green did not act alone. But after today, he could be the only one put to death for it.

Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joining us now live with more on this.

So, Chris, what's happening in court today?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the same jury that convicted Green on Friday, will now decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison. This all concerns the case that happened about three years ago while Green was a soldier in the U.S. army. It happened in an area called Mahmoudiya, which is south of Baghdad. And Green was convicted with four other soldiers of taking this Iraqi family, going into their home, some of the soldiers heard it, the mom, dad, and the 6-year-old girl in one room, while two of the other soldiers took turns raping this 14-year-old Iraqi girl.

Green was then convicted of coming back into the room, and then shooting the father, shooting the mother, shooting the 6-year-old girl, then rejoining the other soldiers, raping the 14-year-old, and then killing her.

During the trial, the defense really raised the issue of context, putting the war into context that Green's unit didn't have a lot of discipline, that he was very upset about some of the insurgent ambushes that have taken place in which he saw fellow soldiers killed - Heidi.

COLLINS: What makes Green's case different, though, than the other soldiers who are convicted for these crimes?

LAWRENCE: Well, he could become the first former American soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a civilian court. That's because Green was discharged back in 2006 about a month before the investigation wrapped up, and prosecutors actually brought charges. And there's a law in the books that's relatively recent law in the last ten years, but it allows the U.S. government to bring charges against American soldiers for crimes committed overseas.

COLLINS: All right. Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence.

Thanks so much, Chris.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney picks a side in the fight over his party's future, and he's not siding with former colleague Colin Powell, who wants to see Republicans move back towards the center. And Cheney told CBS, he's more in line with the well-known conservative voice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, if I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh, I think. I think my take on it was Colin already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Rush Limbaugh has called on Powell to leave the GOP, while Powell has urged members of the party to ignore Limbaugh's message.

Trapped in a relentless barrage of gunfire. We are hearing from the United Nations hundreds of Sri Lankan civilians lie dead this morning inside what they thought was a safety zone. They were caught in a cross-fire of a bitter civil war between Tamil rebels and government forces. The United Nations estimates nearly 200,000 civilians are being forced to flee combat areas.

That civil war causing headaches for Canadians. A look at that. Thousands of sympathizers poured on to this major highway in Toronto yesterday blocking all lanes of traffic. Cars gridlocked for miles in both directions. It stayed that way well after midnight. Protestors went home after a government official promised to address their concerns today. The demonstrators want Canada to help negotiate a cease-fire in Sri Lanka.

Some things you should know about the civil war in Sri Lanka. It's been going on since 1983. And Tamil rebels are demanding an independent state in the northern part of the country. So far as many as 70,000 people have died in the conflict. The United States, the European Union, and 30 other countries have declared the Tamil Tiger rebels a terrorist organization.

Fifty people died when his plane crashed, and he wasn't trained to handle the situation. That is the word on Captain Marvin Renslow from the "Wall Street Journal." He was at the controls during that crash near Buffalo, New York in February. The paper says Renslow did the opposite of what he should have done when he saw a stall warning leading to the crash. The article also says he failed several flight tests along the way.

Police say texting on the job caused a trolley crash in Boston. A trolley operator told police he was sending a text message to his girlfriend when he rear ended another trolley Friday night. Twenty people suffered minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board said the trolley did not have any mechanical problems. The trolley operator could be fired and could face criminal charges.

Detroit's new mayor gets sworn in this afternoon. Dave Bing won in a special election. He's a former Detroit Piston and long time businessman. Bing will fill the remainder of Kwame Kilpatrick's term. Kilpatrick had to leave office as part of a deal when he plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges.

The movie's "Top Gun" was a smash hit back in the day. Now meet the man behind the moves. You didn't think it was Tom Cruise really flying those planes, did you?

Did you really?

The "Top Gun" pilot turns space shuttle commander, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Quickly now, we want to get over to Reynolds Wolf who is standing by in the severe weather center.

We have a lot of flooding to be talking about.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right. Very good.

Thank You, Reynolds. We'll check back.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You bet.

COLLINS: Meet the man behind the moves in the movie "Top Gun." He's gone from flying jets to landing space shuttles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Doesn't that always get you revved up? That song.

If you think you feel the need for speed, you've got nothing on this guy. His love for flying at Mac 1 has taken him everywhere from the movies into deep space. And as John Zarrella tells it, you may not recognize the face, but if you've seen the movie "Top Gun," you know a lot of his moves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Retired Navy pilot, Scott Altman, commander of the Atlantis mission, knows a little something about flying space shuttles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flight deck is starting to look neat, but crowded.

ZARRELLA: He also knows a little something about flying airplanes in a movie.

SCOTT ALTMAN, SHUTTLE ATLANTIS COMMANDER: Flying a space shuttle is a little more challenging than what we did in the movie. I have to admit that. Although the flying was a lot of fun.

ZARRELLA: The film was the 1986 hit "Top Gun," starring Tom Cruise. Altman had just gotten back from a 7-1/2 month tour on board an aircraft carrier when he got the call.

ALTMAN: The skipper of our squadron picked four guys that he thought he could trust to have this kind of cart launched to break the rules a little bit.

ZARRELLA: And they sure broke the rules.

Altman now making his fourth trip into space says in ways that would guarantee you lose your wings if you did them for anything but a movie, like buzzing the control tower. He's in one of the film's most memorable scenes. While flying upside down, inverted, Altman gives the pilot of the enemy plane the finger.

ALTMAN: But they said go ahead and gesture at the other airplane. So when you're looking at the scene where he's communicating with the Russian or the bad guy pilots in the movie, that would be my finger.

ZARRELLA: On one occasion, Altman says crews who played the young naval aviator flew with him in the backseat of the F14 Tomcat. Other actors did, too. Altman got $23 a day for his work. And the plane $7,600 an hour. But Altman says some of the footage with the actors in the jets didn't work out so well for the director.

ALTMAN: After a week of spending that much money on the airplanes, he decided that he couldn't use the footage. He didn't think it was worth the money because the actors all looked a little green, he said.

ZARRELLA: Altman may be one of the unheralded stars in the movie, but he didn't get to see it right away. He was on another seven-month carrier tour of duty when it was released.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Wow, great story, John. Very cool.

They call that a photo double, I guess, to the extreme, right?

Scott Altman...

ZARRELLA: Yes.

COLLINS: Sorry. I know you are actually covering the shuttle now. There's two of them on the launch pad, right?

How come?

ZARRELLA: Yes. That's exactly right. The first time in the history of any space program. No, they've had two shuttles on the pads before. Atlantis is over my left shoulder. Endeavor is over on Pad B. And Endeavor is specifically there as a rescue vehicle if for whatever reason the shuttle Atlantis crew got in trouble while it's up there trying to repair the Hubble Space telescope. The shuttle Endeavor could be launch within a week to go and rescue the crew. A series of space walks from Atlantis to Endeavor to rescue the crew. And that's because they're not going to the space station, Atlantis. And they can't get there from the Hubble orbit 350 miles up.

And real quickly, Heidi, because we know that guys like their tools. Well, look, this was developed by ATK for the Goddard Space Flight Center. And when you see the Hubble astronauts doing those space walks...

COLLINS: Right. ZARRELLA: ...and this is the tool that they use for all of the drilling out and all of the taking out of the screws and the bolts. And here's the latest one that they just made. And this is specifically because they've got something like 100 tiny screws that they've got to remove. And you can imagine with those space suits on how difficult that is. It's got lights.

I think you can see the lights on this drill.

COLLINS: Yes.

ZARRELLA: And then they've got a case that they'll put those 100 screws in so that they don't float around in space out there. That would make for a bad day. But lots of cool tools that the astronauts will be using on that repair of Hubble, coming up in just a few days.

COLLINS: Yes. Very interesting.

I know gravity makes it pretty difficult, too. Taking down the pictures that they have to take down and all that stuff.

Great drill.

ZARRELLA: Yes. But at least, at least the tools will be weightless up there. It won't weigh anything, because they're kind of heavy.

COLLINS: That's true. That's true.

All right, John. Thanks so much. Appreciate that. We'll keep our eye on what's happening down there.

ZARRELLA: You got it, Heidi.

COLLINS: Kennedy Space Center. John Zarrella. Thank you.

Concerns over the H1N1 flu altered a tradition at the University of Illinois, Chicago graduation. Watch this video now.

There were no congratulatory handshakes during commencement. Instead, graduates were just handed their diplomas.

The university said it felt this was the best way to keep students and faculty safe from the virus.

They were looking for the fist bump or the elbow bump or something.

But anyway, Vice President Joe Biden delivered the commencement address to the class of 2009 at Syracuse University. Biden is a 1968 graduate of the school's college of law and was presented with an honorary doctor of law degree. He told the 3400 graduates to embrace the challenging time as an opportunity to make real change in the world, and no matter what, remain optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I must admit, if anyone had told me then, I'd be more optimistic and idealistic in the year 2009 than I was then, I would have told them they were crazy. But it's the God honest truth. I am more optimistic today than I have ever been in my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And coming up right here at 10:30, we'll have a college student who tells us what it's like graduating in New Orleans after Katrina. Interesting story there. Not to miss.

A lot going on this morning. Here's what we're working on to bring you in our next hour. We begin with Elizabeth Cohen.

COHEN: The president announces he wants to save $2 trillion in health care. How is he going to do it, and what does it mean for you? I'll have that at the top of the hour.

MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in the tornado capital of the world. Norman, Oklahoma, where today they will launch an unprecedented research mission chasing down those killer storms. That's coming up at the top of the hour.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in the heart of Jerusalem's old city. Pope Benedict XVI has been here for just a few hours and is making headlines. Coming up, a sobering visit to the holocaust memorial site. I'll have that at the top of the hour.

COLLINS: OK. Very good. Thanks, everybody.

Also at 10:00, the credit card holder's bill of rights. What's in it for you? We'll spell it all out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: President Obama's order to allow Cuban-Americans to visit family on the island is stirring up heated debate in this country.

CNN's Susan Candiotti hears from both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Grammy Award-winning musician Paquito D'Rivera defected from Cuba 28 years ago. Painter Geandy Pavon left more than a decade ago after his father, a political prisoner, was released from jail and granted a visa. Yet, both artists hold different views about a recently lifted travel ban for Cuban-Americans to visit family on the island.

D'Rivera says despite the joy unlimited visits can bring, it is wrong, unless the Castro government changes.

PAQUITO D'RIVERA, MUSICIAN: Lifting sanctions, you know, to such a horrible and cruel and long-lasting regime, it's like, you know, taking the kids that fail everything in the school and then you take them to Disneyland.

CANDIOTTI: Despite that exile view, President Obama's decision to wipe out three-year restrictions imposed by the Bush administration has charter flights soaring. One Miami company, CNT Charters, reports more than three times the passengers heading to Cuba last month, compared to April a year ago.

A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows overwhelming support, 64 to 34 percent, for lifting a travel ban to Cuba so every American can go there. Painter Pavon applauds taking a step in that direction.

GEANDY PAVON, ARTIST: Obama is calling the bluff on the Castro's regime.

CANDIOTTI: Easing the travel ban for family visits he hopes will chip away at Castro government policies. As a painter, he says he has had his work confiscated.

PAVON: Morally, it's good for the United States to show like what Obama is doing, that he is willing to have a conversation.

CANDIOTTI: But Paquito D'Rivera argues, so far, it's a one-way conversation.

D'RIVERA: What type of business? I give you everything and you give me nothing. Watch out, President Obama.

CANDIOTTI: For Pavon, it's one step at a time.

PAVON: For me, it's very hard to think that there is no hope. I prefer to think there is hope.

CANDIOTTI: Two portraits of Cuban exiles, who share a hope for change -- but disagree on how to get there.

(on camera): What a treat.

(voice-over): Susan Candiotti, CNN, Union City, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)