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New Car Efficiency Standards; Inside Pakistan's War Zone; Shuttle Atlantis Starts Trip Home; Earphone Hearing Hazard

Aired May 19, 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: Covering stories affecting you in the NEWSROOM.

A New York toddler dies of flu-like symptoms. Was it H1N1? A live report, plus guidance from our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

And being told your ride must be cleaner and more efficient. President Barack Obama announcing new national standards on fuel economic cars but how much is that upgrade going to cost you.

And, also, parents outraged by the abuse of their special needs kids in school. Now there is a push to legislate what teachers can and cannot do. It is Tuesday, May 19th. I'm Heidi Collins. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The swine flu and an unsettling truth as the public fears winds down and the number of deaths adds up. Here's a look now at the latest tally.

A short time ago, the World Health Organization announced 79 people have died. Confirmed cases are also climbing. More than 9,800 and counting. More than half the confirmed cases are in the United States.

Meanwhile, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the outbreak is not winding down and he says widespread transmission continues. In New York now, health officials are investigating whether last night's death of a 16-month-old boy could be yet another case of swine flu.

CNN's Mary Snow is outside Elm Hurst Hospital in Queens.

So Mary, what's going on there now this morning?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the hospital took swab samples from the baby last night. What's happening today is the hospital is coordinating with the Department of Health and the CDC which will run tests on -- to see whether or not this little baby did have swine flu.

No conclusive results as of yet. Unclear right now when we will get results but it could be as early as later today. And this happened after the baby was brought here last night. A hospital spokesman says the mother noticed a fever yesterday. The baby at one point became unresponsive, came to the hospital, and the baby died within an hour. Two other children were also treated but they were released. The hospital says that they did not have high fever. This, of course, comes among heightened concerns in New York. Seventeen schools are closed and, of course, on Sunday, New York City saw its first death linked to swine flu. That was an assistant principal who's 55 years old...

COLLINS: Yes.

SNOW: ... who died on Sunday.

COLLINS: Yes. That's right. So, Mary, I wonder then how is the community reacting to all of this?

SNOW: You know a lot of concern. In fact, I just ran into a mother and her 10-year-old son who said that they had been here all night. They got here about 10:30. The little boy had the flu and they were worried because they heard about swine flu. He is said to be OK and he was sent home.

But it kind of highlights the concern here. This hospital says it has really been inundated with hundreds of more people than it usually sees, particularly in the pediatric unit. People who may not even have the flu but are concerned. And city health officials have said, yes, the flu is spreading, but for the most part it has been mild cases and pretty much in line with what they see during seasonal flu.

COLLINS: All right. Well, Mary Snow, stay on top of the situation for us in New York.

Thanks so much, Mary.

So for many of us, the increasing number of swine flu cases can be summed up with one question. Should we be worried? And here to answer that is, chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

So, Sanjay, how much can we read into this new case now in Queens?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there's a lot of thing that could cause sudden fever and possible death in a young child. They don't know that this was swine flu for sure.

Having said that, people have died of swine flu in this country and we expected it almost since the beginning. When we were down in Mexico a few weeks ago there was this idea that this was a new virus. It was spreading around the world. It was causing deaths in Mexico and would likely cause deaths elsewhere.

So this, in some ways, is not unexpected and to Mary's point and a point that you and I have made, Heidi, you know, again, seasonable flu causes tens of thousands of deaths so that's a good frame of reference as we start to think about this.

COLLINS: Yes. It is something like 36,000, I think, is that number.

GUPTA: That's right.

COLLINS: But what about the CDC's figure now. This 100,000 number -- it's almost 100,000 of confirmed cases. How much stock can we put into that?

GUPTA: Well, that's -- that's what they expected. I think, again, and something -- this is a virus that's making its way around this country. It started in the Americas. Now we're hearing about lots of cases in other places around the world as well. So a hundred thousand, again, you know, it's a high number but I think not an unexpected number overall.

I think what's going to be more important, I think, Heidi, is, most likely, this is going to eventually fizzle out as the weather gets warmer. These viruses don't transmit as well in the summer months. I think when fall and winter roll around, what is this virus going to look like?

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: How is it going to act? Is it going to become a dominant virus out there and could it become more virulent or more deadly?

COLLINS: Well...

GUPTA: That's what they're going to ask.

COLLINS: Yes, that is the big question. I mean, at this point, it's probably not safe to say that it's a sign that the virus is growing more deadly?

GUPTA: I don't think so. You know, there was a lot of conjecture that this may have mutated into a more deadly strain. I don't think so. Because think about it. Because you just said you have 100,000 suspected cases here and six or seven, we don't know yet, deaths from this. It's still a very low fatality rate.

You're not likely to die of this virus if you get it. So I don't think it's mutated to something. But, again, vigilance and delegation come fall and winter is absolutely the message.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. We will continue to ask you those questions, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent.

GUPTA: I'll be here. Thanks.

COLLINS: Thank you.

So we've been talking to you about whether you are worried someone in your family will get swine flu and we've got some new reaction now in our CNN Opinion Research Poll. It turns out only 1 in 6 of us are concerned about it.

Find out more about what the poll revealed and let us know how you are feeling, or if you have moved on. Just go to CNN.com/newsroom and click on my name.

A possible important first step in the race to find a vaccine for the H1N1 swine flu virus. Researchers in South Korea say they've manufactured a genetically modified version of the live virus in order to use it in vaccine. Our Center for Disease and Control and the World Health Organization have not had a chance to test it just yet.

The H1N1 virus is the main topic of discussion right now at the WHO's world health assembly going on in Geneva, Switzerland.

At the White House today, an announcement that could dramatically shape what fits in your driveway. Auto executives will join the president in announcing major changes to fuel efficiency and emissions. Effectively what goes into your vehicle and what comes out.

Jill Dougherty is joining us now live with more on this.

So, Jill, this is being called pretty dramatic and even historic. Why?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are trying to do two things. And the first thing would be to reduce the greenhouse gases that are produced by cars by 30 percent. That has never been done before. And then, also, they would increase efficiency for automobiles.

Now -- we're used to that, of course. Now the senior administration officials who gave some background into this say that that would be tantamount to taking 177 million cars off the road. And it would begin in model year 2012. And here's how the rules would work.

By 2016 cars would have to have 39 miles to the gallon and light trucks would have to get 30 miles to the gallon. So that averages out to about 35.5 miles to the gallon.

COLLINS: Right.

DOUGHERTY: Now environmental groups, you can imagine, are praising this, but also, there's -- you're going to be seeing the auto executives here at this event that will be taking place with the president in the Rose Garden, and things have changed. They are under a lot of economic pressure, as we know.

It's a new administration. But the former EPA director and now adviser to the president, Carol Browner, says that no one was twisting any arms when it comes to the auto industry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL BROWNER, ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT ON ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE: Nobody was bullying anybody. What we did is work with them. We listened to what they wanted. We said we need to have some significant environmental benefits, we need some consumer benefits but we're willing to give you what you need and we can weed the three together. And that's what the president will announce that today.

It's historic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: And another person who would be there in the Road Garden is California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He tried to do some of this stuff back in 2004.

COLLINS: That's right.

DOUGHERTY: But they couldn't get the waiver from the federal government.

COLLINS: Yes. So I guess that's the big question then. How exactly is this going to work, how much is it going to cost me or people watching at home?

DOUGHERTY: Well, already, for the laws that were on the books it would be an extra $700. This will cost an extra $600. So overall, as it comes...

COLLINS: Per person? Per car? Seven hundred dollars for...

DOUGHERTY: Correct.

COLLINS: OK.

DOUGHERTY: But what they are saying is it will be introduced over the course of five years and also the savings from the efficiency would be great. So it could be awash but it would certainly be very good for the environment.

And how it would work, just very quickly, remember when you get your emissions from the tail pipes?

COLLINS: Yes.

DOUGHERTY: They have checked a lot of things. Now they are going to check for the first time for a greenhouse gases.

COLLINS: Hmm. OK. Well, we are watching this story very closely today as you might imagine. Jill Dougherty coming to us live from outside the White House.

Thank you, Jill.

Saying good-bye to the Hubble telescope today. The shuttle Atlantis let go of the Hubble just moments ago so it can begin its journey home. Now astronauts went on five space walks, as you know, to fix and upgrade the telescope's system. We always love looking at the live pictures here.

Atlantis, though, is scheduled to land on Friday. We will have more on the mission coming up a little bit later right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Inside the war zone in Pakistan. Washington is closely watching this offensive against Taliban militants and, now we have the first images to come from the fighting.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. We have a little disturbance down in Florida. Wind and waves. Will it become tropical? Plus big heat and lots of cold records falling across the U.S. Weather coming up a little bit later in the program.

CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins comes right back.

ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Lawmakers abusing their expense accounts buying boats, tennis courts, and porn. A scandal has rocked Britain's House of Commons and, today, the speaker of the House, the man presiding over Britain's parliament, is expected to step down, something that hasn't happened in 300 years.

Robin Oakley is joining us now live from London to put some of this in perspective for us.

So, Robin, what is going on? Why is this such a big deal?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a big deal, Heidi, because the whole of British political and public life has been engulfed in a scandal over the expenses claimed by MPs, particularly on their second homes. People flipping different homes, claiming maximum allowances from the taxpayer for refurbishing them, selling them on, husband and wives, members of parliament, each declaring a separate second home in order to claim the sums.

Lavish expenditures on things like tennis courts, clearing moats, trimming the hedge around somebody's helipad. And the public, at a time when they're all being hit by a recession, are absolutely scandalized by these revelations which are coming out day-by-day in a newspaper which has got a hold of the receipts and correspondents.

Mr. Speaker Martin has been held not to be the man to institute the changes needed to clean up the system. He's presided over it. He failed to respond to pressures in the House of Commons yesterday. Everybody is pretty determined that he will go and we're expecting him to announce he will within 20 minutes or so, Heidi.

COLLINS: OK. So, yes, just to remind everyone. We are talking about Michael Martin here. He is the speaker of the House of Commons in Britain.

What is -- I imagine there are some pretty serious implications for Prime Minister Gordon Brown in all of this, too, right?

OAKLEY: Well, Gordon Brown has got massive problems anyway. His Labour Party is at the lowest position it's had in the polls. Historically, he is under more pressure than other party leaders simply because his party is in government and ministers, too, have been engulfed in this scandal. He had to pronounce today what he intends to do with the bad eggs within his Labour Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON BROWN, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: I made it clear to the national executive of the Labour Party today that no member of parliament or no candidate will stand for the Labour Party of the next election if they defy the rules. No minister will be in the cabinet or the government in the future if it is proven that they have defied the rules.

We are now setting up a process which will start today where we will examine the expenses of every MP going back every four years, if they have been found to broken the rules then action will be taken. I'm also making proposals when I meet the whole party of committee of people this afternoon and for the fundamental rethink of the system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OAKLEY: The big problem, Heidi, is that Gordon Brown talked there about people breaking the rules. Most of what has been done has been done within the existing rules, the rules that MPs set themselves. Now people agree the rules have got to be changed and a lot of people would like to see a lot of the MPs changed, too.

So the leader of the opposition, David Cameron, he's calling for an earlier election. Not one next year, it's this June, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we will stay on top of this story, too.

Thanks so much, Robin Oakley, for us live from London this morning.

It's spring cleaning time. A good time to recycle those electronics you don't use anymore. CNN's Gerri Willis is here now with some of the best ways to handle that.

What is this all about, Gerri?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, hi there, Heidi. Yes, starting -- you need to start getting ready for the switch, June 12th is when most TV stations will begin broadcasting exclusively in digital and that means there could be a tsunami of old analog sets heading to the trash.

If you're getting rid of your old TV look for opportunities to recycle. Here are some sites to check out to recycle. MyGreenElectronics.org, the National Recycling Coalition at NRC- Recycle.org and the E-cycling central at EIAE.org.

Now many charitable organizations will no longer accept analog TVs so check out the organization before you drop off your old electronics. Heidi? COLLINS: Well, what about recycling your computer? I always think about school and stuff. I mean can't some of those donations be made to schools?

WILLIS: Yes, absolutely. That's a great place to start. You may find that the company you buy your next computer from will take the old one off your hands, though, either for free or at nominal cost.

Manufacturers like Apple, Dell, HP provide computer recycling services. Keep in mind, though, some manufacturers will pick up your old computers and hardware but others manufacturers require you to shift those electronics to them and that costs you about 30 bucks.

If you want to recycle and iPod or cell phone, you can do that at an Apple store. Companies will accept used ink and toner cartridges since they can be filled and resold.

COLLINS: Yes.

WILLIS: It's not only manufacturers. Retailers accept computer equipment for recycling, too. And some retailers like Best Buy sponsor recycling events where you can drop off electronics of all kinds from TVs to fax machines.

You can check on the retailer Web site to see if there is an upcoming event in your neighborhood.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. We sure do appreciate all of that. Some good tips there.

Gerri Willis, thanks so much.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

COLLINS: Sick of credit card companies jacking up your rate without warning? Well, today, the Senate is pushing through new rules that could save you a bundle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Your credit card company would have to cut you some slack under a new bill the Senate is expected to pass today. The bill would stop the sudden rate hikes and outrageous fees. The differences with the House version will still have to be worked out. The president says he wants to sign the final version into law by Monday.

So what would the credit card reforms mean to you? Here to break it all down for us, Christine Romans of the CNN money team.

So, Christine, how will this affect consumers? Are we actually going to get like a phone call or something that says your rate is going up?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you could very well get -- there'll be an Internet Web site where people go and see very clearly what the fines and the fees and the late fees and the charges are for many of these credit card companies.

But make no mistake, Heidi. Every single person who uses a credit card will be affected. Big changes coming to the credit card industry. So here's what they are. As you pointed out, the Senate will take this on today. And the president is very clear, he wants something done.

Also the Federal Reserve is already started making some changes to credit card reform. So 45 days notice before they can raise your rate.

COLLINS: OK.

ROMANS: Sixty days -- and you have to be 60 days late on a payment before they can have a rate increase. They have to tell you why, too. They have to tell you why they are raising your rates. It would prohibit some fees and also there would be a minimum age requirement. Either 18 years or 21 years before they can market and bombard you with those advertisements for credit, Heidi.

COLLINS: So what are some of the reasons? Are they going to say I'm raising your rate because we want to make more money?

ROMANS: They're going to say we're raising your rate because you're not a credit worthy borrower, that you're showing some risk in your patterns of behavior and that that is concerning for us.

Now here's something that's very important in this story and it's something that I think hasn't been touched on a lot in many of the hearings and the like for this outrage about some of -- what many people agree are egregious.

COLLINS: Right.

ROMANS: Egregious practices by the credit card companies. For people out there who pay their balance every month, who don't have late fees, who basically are getting free money every month and they are paying it off, you could see some of the perks go away.

You could see maybe mileage programs be pulled back. Cash back rewards programs be pulled back. You could see a return of those $30 and $50 and $60 annual fees because these credit card companies are facing a whole new world here where they might have to pull back some of their lending for the riskiest borrowers.

That means they'll get fewer fees from the riskiest borrowers and that mean they may not be able to afford to extend the credit like they used to to people who were, essentially, getting money for free.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes.

ROMANS: So a lot of -- a lot of people are going to see some changes about this. So it'll take a while to shake it out. There's going to probably be a grace period before they have to put all of these into effect but, Heidi, I think people with good credit, people with bad credit, small businesses, everyone will see things differently because of these new rules.

COLLINS: Yes. There's no question about that. OK. We'll follow that with you. Meanwhile, I want to know what the "Romans' Numeral' is today.

ROMANS: The "Romans' Numeral" today is 82 billion. And it has to do, Heidi, with this credit card story.

COLLINS: Yes?

ROMANS: Because here's the conundrum. Credit cards, according to a stress test that the banks underwent a couple of weeks ago.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: Credit cards, basically are looking for losses of about $82 billion for the 19 biggest banks over the next two years. So think of that, $82 billion in credit card losses. So the very time we're very concerned about jacking up interest rates and jacking up fees on people who can least afford to pay it, the banks, which we own part of, are facing some big losses as millions of people are unable to pay their credit cards.

So we're in a real tight spot here right now with the credit card industry and it's going to be something that's going to play out in every pocketbook and billfold in America, I think.

COLLINS: Yes. No question about it. All right. Christine Romans, we're watching. Thanks so much.

Fighting industry. Suspected militants rounded up. We have the first images from inside Pakistan's war on the Taliban.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: Reassuring news about the housing sector sent stocks soaring yesterday and, today, we've got a new batch of housing reports so how will Wall Street react this time around?

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with a preview.

Let's just live in the past. I think I'll just read yesterday. Can we do that?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That was -- that was wonderful news from Lowe's. Yes, stocks got high off Lowe's. I think that was how CNNmoney.com wrote it up yesterday.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes.

LISOVICZ: The problem is yes, you just can't pinpoint it with the Lowe's. The market is much bigger than that. And we have more news today from the housing market, Heidi. The futures -- futures dropped after we got news -- just about an hour ago, new home construction plunged last month to a record low due to a steep drop in starts on apartment buildings.

Single family homes, though, rose. Also, building permits, which is a sign of future activity, dipped by nearly 3.5 percent. Wall Street was expecting both reports to show an increase. So that's why futures dropped.

But Home Depot posted a nearly 45 percent jump in quarterly profits. That beat the Street's estimates. The nation's largest home improvement chain has been cutting costs because sales are still falling and this, of course, comes a day after Lowe's upped its forecast for the year saying that, you know, consumer confidence had improved in rent weeks and that home price declines were slowing.

But we still have other issues to contend with, Miss Collins, like the jobs market. American Express is cutting 4,000 jobs or about 6 percent of its work force. This is on top of 7,000 cuts Amex announced just last fall.

Some big banks, meanwhile, are trying to show that they are healthy. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley reportedly applying to refund a combined $45 billion in government funds.

The banks can't return the money until the Fed approves it. They want to escape new rules on pay limits and hiring and there was the bell. And well, we're seeing things a little flat at the open.

Just wanted to tell you, Heidi, that the NASDAQ is up nearly 10 percent year-to-date. The S&P 500 is higher by about 1 percent and the Dow is only down 3 percent. That is a big comeback in the last two months.

COLLINS: Yes, yes. Absolutely. Who thought we would be where we are right now. It seems most of us...

LISOVICZ: Those green shoots have done wonders.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes.

LISOVICZ: Off the street.

COLLINS: Oh yes. All right. Thanks so much, Susan. We'll check in later on.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Strict new guidelines for car efficiency. President Obama announcing those rules at 12:15 Eastern today. Later, he's meeting with a group of former White House officials including former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and George Schultz. They will be talking about ways to stop nuclear threats worldwide.

Then at 3:30, he will honor achievement in small business at a White House ceremony.

Back to that first item on the president's agenda. New car standards. It's a move to cut down on greenhouse gases, but it could cost you when it's time to buy a new car.

Peter Valdes-Dapena is joining us now live from New York with more on this. He is a writer for CNNMoney.com.

Peter, thanks for being with us on this one, because there is a lot to talk about here. It gets a little bit complicated.

First off, everybody wants to know, how much it's going to cost the viewers at home, and you and me.

PETER VALDES-DAPENA, WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. Well, the estimates are this is going to cost about $600 per car. This is on top of an additional $700 added to the cost of cars by just fairly recently enacted for the timely standard.

COLLINS: So $1,300?

VALDES-DAPENA: This is on top of that.

So $1,300 altogether. They are estimating about $1300 added to the cost of the car.

COLLINS: OK. What are these new cars going to look like? I mean, how is it all going to work?

VALDES-DAPENA: Well, the way they are working is they are trying not to penalize companies, particularly domestic companies, that specialize in making larger vehicles by arriving at a 35.5 mile per gallon fuel economy overall by 2016 by making every type of vehicle increase its fuel economy to some degree.

So different companies will have different standards they have to meet, depending on the type of vehicles that they produce. That will make it a fairer game in which a company like Honda, which only makes small cars and doesn't make large trucks has an easier time than a company like Ford which makes large trucks and business smaller.

COLLINS: Exactly. Well, yes. I think that's a really good point. I mean, how is all of this going to affect these domestic carmakers, given the state of the industry right now?

VALDES-DAPENA: Right. And that's obviously going to be big consideration already. We have this administration is giving funds to two domestic automakers so you don't want to add to their troubles with something like this. The plus side of it is it simplifies what was looking like it could have been a really scary and fragmented fuel economy picture in the U.S. with different agencies setting different standards for fundamentally the same thing, for fuel economy.

COLLINS: Yes. And some of the other things that I think people are going to have questions about, how do we know this is going to work? I mean, what are the tests that have been done? And we're talking about greenhouse gases here, too. Something that hasn't really been measured before, right?

VALDES-DAPENA: Right. Well, it certainly been measured before. A matter of fact, CO2 emissions is how they measure fuel economy. When the EPA measures fuel economy, what they test for the CO2 coming out of the tailpipe. The reason that works is that CO2 is produced in direct proportion of the amount of gasoline burned unlike other emissions. We regulate emissions of this country all the time. The problem is CO2 is the only way to reduce CO2, which is a greenhouse gas that causes global warming. The only way to reduce it is by improving fuel economy.

COLLINS: Yes. I guess I'm just not used to hearing it -- we called greenhouse gas -- because I don't go to my emissions guy and say could you measure my greenhouse gas output on my car. You know, you just haven't heard about it that way before.

But are these vehicles going to have to be smaller then? Or because you mentioned the SUVs.

VALDES-DAPENA: Right. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

VALDES-DAPENA: And, no. Well, the idea here -- and this is kind of interesting. The idea here is that, no. They are going to try to make every type of vehicle more fuel-efficient. So there will be standards set for large SUVs, standards set for mid-sized SUV. A different standard for cars. And then all of that is going to come together to be this 35.5 mile per gallon average.

Obviously, the standards are going to shift. I mean, let's say people start saying, wow, these big SUVs are more fuel-efficient. I'll start buying more of them. Well, then they're going to have to do something about...

COLLINS: Exactly.

VALDES-DAPENA: ...changing the standard so that the average in the end comes out to 35.5 miles per gallon.

COLLINS: So then -- is it a national standard or not?

VALDES-DAPENA: It is a national standard. It's a national standard that's different for different types of vehicles rather than just saying all trucks have to get this or all cars have to get that. They are taking into account that different people are going to have different needs in their vehicles, and we need to attack every type of vehicle in the system in order to get the goal.

COLLINS: Yes. Could fluctuate a little bit, though. It sounds like.

Real quickly, this is all coming together, is it not? Four years sooner than the deadline, I mean -- than anticipated?

VALDES-DAPENA: Yes. Yes. Originally, the tougher fuel economy standards that we recently passed, we had a goal of 35 miles per gallon overall for all vehicles by just 2020 in that one. So now they've made it a half mile gallon tougher, 35.5 miles per gallon and four years earlier in 2016. And this is going to start in 2012.

COLLINS: OK. All right. Well, we're watching closely and trying to understand it all along with you.

Thanks so much. Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com.

Thank you.

It may be Washington's most watched military action that doesn't involve U.S. troops. It is Pakistan's offensive against Taliban militants. We're now getting our first look from inside that combat zone.

CNN's Ivan Watson has the story now from Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Pakistani army says these are the bodies of Taliban militants. For the first time, the military has released evidence to back its claims that more than 1,000 Taliban fighters have been killed in more than three weeks of fighting. Most of the pictures are too graphic to show on TV.

Included here, photos of what the army says are captured fighters and their weapons. The military won't say where or when these pictures were taken.

For weeks, Pakistani war planes, helicopters and artillery have pounded suspected Taliban targets in northwest Pakistan. Now the top brass say they are sending in the infantry for urban warfare.

MAJ. GEN ATHAR ABBAS, PAKISTANI MILITARY SPOKESMAN: Now the infantry is going into the cities and towns, and they will conduct the street battles and fight.

WATSON: Fighting between the soldiers and the militants has flared periodically across northwest Pakistan over the last five years. But this time, Pakistani journalist Zahid Hussein says the army is going in for the kill.

ZAHID HUSSAIN, EDITOR, NEWSLINE MAGAZINE: This time I think there will be change of tactics and strategies. They want really to go after the leadership.

WATSON: The Pakistani government is trying to consolidate domestic support for the war, calling for unity against the Taliban at a meeting of the country's political parties on Monday.

And, for the first time, dozens of Muslim clerics in Pakistan have publicly condemned the Taliban, calling its violent tactic of suicide bombing and beheadings an Islamic. The offensive is taking a devastating toll on ordinary Pakistanis.

These chaotic scenes are from the Swat Valley, where desperate civilians are fleeing the conflict zone. They rushed past bomb out buildings, clutching their belongings, using any means of transport possible. Some may not survive the journey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Ivan Watson joining us now live from Islamabad.

So, Ivan, I understand there are new pictures of Taliban captives. What are they telling authorities about the Taliban?

WATSON: Well, I think the Pakistani army is feeling a little more confident now, Heidi. And it has started releasing more information, more footage from the front lines.

This footage coming from the Swat Valley around a town they say of Mata. And there, they show a couple of men that they say are Taliban captives. One of them looks quite young and says that he was forced at gun-point by the Taliban to join the militants and to be trained and to fight against the Pakistani army.

We've also seen some other footage emerging over the course of the last 12 hours from a different area of five captured men that the Pakistani army says are Taliban militants. Two of them from Saudi Arabia, Heidi. This, again, according to the Pakistani military. One from Libya and another, an Afghan - Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Ivan Watson, working the story for us there. Live from Islamabad.

Ivan, thank you.

And now the Pentagon where Barbara Starr has new information on U.S. health for those refugees that we've been talking about.

So, Barbara, what can you tell us?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, it's the human toll of this war certainly that is so disturbing to so many people. As you saw those pictures in Ivan Watson's piece, thousands, tens of thousands of people now fleeing the fighting. The Pentagon accepts the notion, we are told, that there are more than one million displaced Pakistanis. The Pentagon now looking to see how it can help.

We are told there may be an announcement as soon as today about U.S. military flights carrying aid into Pakistan. The Pentagon quietly has been preparing a number of C-17 flights to go into the region carrying food, water, water trucks, tents with air-conditioning and pounds and pounds of supplies to help these people out.

What Pentagon officials are saying is there's no way that they can offer enough assistance for one million people, but they want to start making the effort and do what they can.

Of course, this is so sensitive to the Pakistani government and the Pakistani military. Any U.S. military presence in this region inside Pakistan could be very difficult, very sensitive. But the Pentagon acknowledges they are preparing to do just that. Get the final approvals for Pakistan, and begin sending in C-17 flights with aid on board - Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow. All right. Barbara Starr for us this morning, live from the Pentagon.

Thank you, Barbara.

High drama in the House of Commons today. You are looking at live pictures from Britain's parliament. Now, the speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, just announced his resignation over an expense account scandal. He is the first speaker forced out in more than 300 years.

A London newspaper has been printing details of the misuse of lawmaker expense accounts not just by the speaker. It includes charges for building a tennis court, mortgage payments and porn.

So listen up if you can. Your mp3 player could be doing permanent damage if you don't turn it down.

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COLLINS: Want to head over to the severe weather center now. Rob Marciano standing by to talk about some possible tropical trouble?

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COLLINS: Wolf Blitzer took some time out of "THE SITUATION ROOM" to give a key note address to graduates of St. Bonaventure University in New York. He told the graduates he hope they end up in jobs they love and are passionate about.

There he is, receiving an honorary doctorate degree. How about that?

St. Bonaventure is a private Catholic university located in western New York. There it is on the map.

Leaving Hubble all alone. Now that the repair mission is over, the shuttle is on the way home. Pushing away from the space telescope as the last humans ever to possibly see it up close in space.

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COLLINS: Leaving the Hubble behind. Shuttle Atlantis dropped the Hubble telescope back into its orbit a short time ago after one week of repair work.

CNN's John Zarrella joining us now live from Miami with more on this.

So, wow. It's been 19 years that that thing has been in orbit.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's it. Nineteen years and hopefully, with all of these upgrades and repairs, it will go for another five to ten years. Scientists I've talked with said that if you think about where Hubble was in 1990 to where it is today after five servicing missions, it's a 1,000 times better instrument today than it was back then.

And as you mentioned, Hubble now free flying, released from the shuttle "Atlantis" at about 8:57 a.m. Eastern Time. We haven't had any pictures from NASA yet of that release, because they've been using the shuttle's radar to monitor the Hubble and track it as the shuttle is pulling away.

Watching that, so right now, they're about -- the orbiter is about 12,000 feet now away from the Hubble Space Telescope, moving very rapidly now to underneath and away from Hubble. So it is all alone on its own.

And, you know, Heidi, there have been five servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope. In all, 16 different astronauts participated in those space walks totalling over 160 hours.

John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel yesterday finish the fifth and final Hubble space walk of this mission. And as you mentioned, it's the last time that anyone will see the Hubble Space Telescope. And on a sad note, in 2020, a robotic spacecraft is supposed to go up, grab Hubble, pull it back down to earth after its life expectancy is done, and it will burn up over the Pacific Ocean, what's left of it will fall into the ocean. Kind of sad because you think it really needs to belong, it really needs to be in the Smithsonian. That's for sure. But there just won't be any way to get it - Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Wow. That's really -- I didn't realize that.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

COLLINS: What have we gotten out of Hubble so far? I mean, I know there's an awful lot to cover there. But just giving a brief idea of this huge history.

ZARRELLA: Well, I mean, it's pushed back the dating of the universe to more than 13.7 billion years. They say that it will allow them the ability to even date the universe even further back in time, get a better idea. It's discovered that nearly every galaxy has a black hole at the center of the galaxy. They've discovered an atmosphere around a planet using Hubble. And what the make-up of that atmosphere is through the shuttle's spectrograph. And you could go on and on and on in a litany of things that the scientists have discovered from the telescope.

COLLINS: Yes. And way to take that question on the fly there. Thanks.

Recently, we talked for a while about this particular crew being out there and doing this repair work. And having it, it would be pretty dangerous because of all the space debris. Obviously, it went well because they're moving along with things, yes?

ZARRELLA: Yes, but what they've got to do now is as soon as the shuttle clears Hubble today, later today, they're going to do an inspection of this because they were flying in an area where there's lots of debris, there's going to be one more post inspection of the orbiter to make sure they didn't get hit by anything while they were up there doing all that repair work of Hubble before they come home in the next couple of days.

COLLINS: Yes. Exactly. That would be very important.

All right, John Zarrella, thanks so much for the update on the Hubble. Appreciate that.

We have a lot more going on this morning as well. CNN crews working hard to bring it to you.

Let's check in now begging with Abbie Boudreau.

Hi, Abbie.

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. A hearing on Capitol Hill this morning uncovers widespread abuse in some special needs classrooms throughout the country. What investigators say needs to happen to protect students with special needs at the top of the hour.

DOUGHERTY: I'm Jill Dougherty at the White House, and new proposed rules to make cars more efficient and less polluting. I'll have that story at the top of the hour.

LISOVICZ: And I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange where Home Depot is seeing signs of life, but Home Builders are not. Home building stocks, well, they are under a little bit of pressure.

Heidi, we'll have more on that in the next hour.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Thanks, guys.

We also focus attention on teen pregnancies within the Latino community. We'll go beyond the numbers.

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COLLINS: It seems like pretty much everybody is listening to an iPod or some other mp3 player these days. But be careful. Cranking up the tunes can do permanent damage.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look.

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GUPTA: Well, two things seem to make a difference when it comes to hearing loss. How long you're listening to this music and how loud it is as you might expect.

Let me show you this animation here. This is fascinating stuff. This is how sound is typically transmitted through the ear. You see here coming in through the outer ear across the eardrum, those are the bones that are transmitting sound to the cochlear over here. What is so important is that sound, that sound energy is then transferred and transformed into an electrical signal. And that's what's sending a message to the brain. You can see these little hair cells here transmitting those yellow electric signals. Over time, it starts to slow down. Hair cells start to disappear. And those electrical signals start to turn red.

That is a problem. That is hearing loss. And more importantly, I think, is that it's irreversible hearing loss. Question for a lot of people, how loud is too loud?

Well, if you look at your MP3 device, typically the loudest you can get is about 115 decibels. Eighty-five decibels that prolonged/repeated levels can cause hearing loss. Again, irreversible. One hundred decibels, which again isn't even the maximum for even 15 minutes can cause hearing loss, as well.

So this is pretty scary. I mean, you're carrying around a device that almost by definition can cause hearing loss unless it's used appropriately. Those little ear buds sit right at the beginning of the ear canal, and are transmitting sound directly as you saw here. A lot of things to keep in mind.

First of all, if you're in a loud environment, you're likely to turn up the mp3 player and make it even louder. If you wear those noise cancellation headphones, they may be of some benefit because you're not required to turn it up as loud.

Best piece of advice I think I heard in all of this is go to your settings, do it today, and turn down your maximum volume, your iPod or your mp3 player can get, turn it down to about 60 percent. If you do that, you're not going to get louder than 75 decibels, you can listen safely all day long.

Back to you.

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COLLINS: All right, Sanjay. Thanks.