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Four People Charged in Alleged Grave Plot Selling Scheme; What Was Obama Able to Accomplish at G-8 Summit?; Racism Charges Spring Up at Private Pennsylvania Swim Club; Allegations of a Cover Up Made Against Two Senator; A New General Motors Born Today; Putting the Hollywood in Michigan; What Twitter Can Do to Make Your Life Easier; Jackson Case May Turn Into Criminal Probe

Aired July 10, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Here's some of the other stories we are watching right now. Illinois Senator Roland Burris expected to announce today that he will not run for re-election. Burris was the controversial choice by now former Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill President Obama's vacant Senate seat.

And one person is dead this morning in the traditional running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. It was captured in this amateur video. You can see a man in a striped shirt being gored by one of the bulls. The 27-year-old Spaniard died later at the hospital. This is the first death in the running of the bulls since 1995.

Investigators taking a closer look now at a coalmine in western Kentucky this morning. Eight minors were injured in an accident involving a train that transports workers around the mine. None of the injuries are considered serious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRITZ HENERSON, CEO, GENERAL MOTORS: Exciting day for general motors. Today marks the beginning of a new company, our company. One that will allow every single employee, including me, to return to the business of designing, and selling great cars and trucks in serving our customers. There's nothing that we want to do more than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The new GM launched this morning. The CEO talking about the direction of the firm, which you as the taxpayer, has majority interest in.

CNN's Poppy Harlow is here now with details of the automaker's evolution.

Poppy, good morning to you.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Good morning, Heidi. What a story. General Motors emerging after just six weeks in bankruptcy and we the taxpayer in by $50 billion for this company that is going to be smaller. It's going to be virtually debt free, and we are going to own 61 percent of it. Here's what we know. Three priorities for Fritz Henderson, the CEO: customers, cars and culture. They're going to keep just four brands. They're going to keep Chevy, Cadillac, Buick and GMC and they're going to keep about 4,100 of their dealers and what you're looking at there is the decline in market share. We'll get to that in one minute here but General Motors market share has fallen for decades. For decades now they have been struggling, Heidi, and they have under 20 percent market share.

And Heidi, they're down from having 50 percent market share at their peak and that's the whole goal. Make cars and make people buy more of them, Heidi, than they are right now.

COLLINS: Yes. And make money. You know, that's how business usually works. But you have to wonder if this new GM will be able to turn things around enough.

HARLOW: That is the big question and what we also know, is that more job losses are ahead. Because to turn things around, you have to trim down the company and you have to make it a smaller company and they're going to do that. They're going to try to be a stronger company by eliminating about 20,000 of their workers, Heidi. And what we are going to see, too, is a lot of new products rolling out of General Motors.

They're going to roll out 10 new vehicles in the United States. They're going to roll out 17 new vehicles across the world over just the next 18 months. So it's an aggressive goal and what you hear from the CEO. We are going to move very quickly. Take a listen to what he said this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRITZ HENDERSON, CEO, GM: Products and technologies we're launching this year and next are clear demonstrations of our long-term commitment to exciting design, great fuel efficiency and world class quality. These are the cars, trucks and crossovers that will put us back on the consumer shopping list and the road to profitability and success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. But Obama's head of the auto tax force, Heidi, Steve Rattner has said -- he said this week that the company cannot be truly viable if it continues to lose market share. That is the huge question for General Motors. Can they do it, Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, certainly. I got to ask you, quickly. I'm dying to see some pictures of these cars. There was one right next to Fritz Henderson there in the press conference. Have you seen what some of these new ones are going to look like?

HARLOW: I have not. I was actually at GM headquarters in Detroit, and we didn't see any of the new ones. So we'll be looking at those as they come out and Fritz is going to be talking to folks on the road about what they want. He is going to head out next month to talk to them, Heidi. But it's all about getting back to the customer. So I guess we're going to dictate the models as they come, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Well, Poppy Harlow, we sure do appreciate that.

Meanwhile, I got to get to this for you right now, we have President Obama getting ready for his meeting in Rome with the Pope. You see the line of dignitaries there as he goes through and make his greetings. We also have Ed Henry, our White House correspondent, traveling with the president on the ground there in Rome. We'll be checking in with him very shortly. Just keeping our eye on the president's travels immediately after the G-8 summit.

And one more major economic story to tell you about now. AIG trying to prevent more bonus pay-out backlash. "The Washington Post" reporting the company has asked the Obama administration to approve millions of dollars and promised retention incentives. The payments are scheduled to go out next week.

AIG doesn't need really approval because the payments are linked to contracts from last year before it received aid from the bailout fund. But The Post reports executives still are reluctant to pay without official approval. An earlier round of 2008 AIG employee bonuses sparked taxpayer and lawmaker outrage.

Family members left to wonder where are my loved ones? That's the scene near Chicago where police uncovered a scheme to resell grave plots. And now say more than 300 graves were dug up. Four people have been charged, and CNN's Cheryl Jackson has more on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERYL JACKSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What has happened in this historic African-American cemetery is causing sadness and outrage. Famous African-Americans like Emmett Till, whose sparked the civil rights movement and jazz singer Diana Washington are buried here. Their graves are undisturbed but others are heart broken by what they found.

BRENDA RAY, BROTHER BURIED AT CEMETERY: My brother this is where my brother is supposed to be. I want to know what do you do when you can't find your family members?

JACKSON: What do you do? Many like Brenda Ray are asking the same question. Police say at least 300 bodies were ripped from their graves and many crush into piles with the cement vaults they were buried in and also their graves could be resold.

RAY: He's supposed to be at 10-2, row 9, grave 21 -- there's nothing over there. It's no -- not even no tombstones and not even no flowers. It's like they just -- like they recut grass.

JACKSON: Four employees of the Burr Oaks Cemetery have been charged with felony, dismemberment of a body.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We presented formal charges against four individuals.

JACKSON: Facing those charges are office manager Carolyn Towns and grave diggers Maurice Daley, Keith Knicks and Terrance Knicks. Even police are shocked by the careless treatment of the people who were supposed to be resting here in peace on sacred ground.

SHERIFF TOM DART, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS: As I was waling around, I came across bones, clearly they were parts of skulls and parts of legs or arms. And they're just laying all in different places around here. There are piles that have been dumped here.

ANDORA MONTGOMERY, FAMILY MEMBERS BURIED AT CEMETERY: They're not human to me. They're not human.

JACKSON: And Andora Montgomery has more than a dozen family members buried here.

MONTGOMERY: My grandson, my sister, my brother, my mother, my father, my sister. To me, they don't have no heart.

JACKSON (on camera): The sheriff has said the FBI from all over the country will be involved in this investigation and that forensic people from all over the world will be involved in this investigation that is expected to take several months. We know that the suspects are still in the Cook County jail. We don't know whether or not they have attorneys, but we do know that two of them are cooperating with police. Cheryl Jackson for CNN, Alsip, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: One billion hundred hungry people in the world. G-8 leaders hoping to make a significant cut in that U.N. estimate with the food initiative. The details announced as the summit wrapped up earlier today in L'Aquila, Italy. The world leaders pledged $20 billion over the next three years to increase food production in developing nations. African leaders were at the summit table today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To have entire continents like Africa or Latin America not adequately represented in these major international forums and decision making bodies is not going to work. So, I think we're in the transition period. We're trying to find the right shape that combines the efficiency and capacity for action with inclusiveness and my expectation is that over the next several years you'll see an evolution and we'll be able to find the right combination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So, next up for the president today, we are actually looking at live pictures directly out of Vatican City as the Pope prepares for his meeting with, excuse me, as President Obama prepares for his meeting with Pope Benedict. Right now, as you can see by these photos that are being taken inside Vatican City, meeting with the cardinals and meeting with the Pope is pending coming up shortly. And our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is covering that angle for us as we look at these fascinating pictures right now, Ed, I'm not sure you can see them as the president is getting ready to sit and talk for a moment with the cardinals. Tell us what you know about what will happen next. He's going to talk with the pope.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Heidi. Certainly an important agenda. They want to cover a lot of ground, a lot of important subjects. They want to talk about, for example, Israeli-Palestinian peace. Trying to broker that. Something the president has been talking about in the early days of his administration and something the pontiff has been talking about around the world and pushing for. He just made a trip to the Middle East himself, if you remember, a few weeks ago.

Also, they're going to, obviously, talk about some of the hot button social issues back in the United States where President Obama doesn't exactly see eye to eye with the church, to say the least, in the fact that he supports abortion rights.

But what we've been told in advance by senior White House aides is that what President Obama plans to do is similar to when he talked a couple of months ago at the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, to try to stress how contrary to some of his critics he doesn't believe he has a radical agenda on abortion and that he's actually trying to bring people together to reduce the number of abortions in the United States.

And another issue that is quite interesting that you would not expect discussed at a meeting between the president and the pope is the financial crisis. But in the last few days the pope put out a statement where he was saying that he is expecting world leaders to show, to add more authority over the financial markets in the days ahead because of the pain that the financial crisis has caused so many people around the world in terms of throwing them into poverty and the like.

So, the financial crisis, as well, is now expected to be on the agenda with the pope urging, we're expecting President Obama, to have the United States, obviously, play a lead role in adding some of that authority and making sure that markets are better regulated. Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, it would be wonderful to have some sort of godly intervention into the financial crisis across the world. That is for certain. Hey, Ed, I'm just curious, it's a very interesting discussion to me to be talking about President Obama meeting with the pope and discussing these different issues. What about Obama's official church?

HENRY: Back home, he has not selected one in the Washington, D.C. area. He had expected to do that by now. You'll remember, given Reverend Wright and the controversy in the presidential campaign, the president essentially left the church and has been sort of practicing his spirituality and his faith sort of at Camp David and on his own with individual ministers, according to White House officials. They were expecting to pick a parish or a church somewhere in the Washington, D.C., area, but they have not been able to settle on one just yet.

This is a obviously a very personal decision. One of the reasons we're told they have not decided on one yet is that the White House, the president and the first lady very concerned about the security problems it presents for churches when the first family visits. Metal detectors have to be added for parishioners coming in and the like.

So, they mostly have been doing their practicing of faith in private, as I mentioned, either at the White House or at Camp David with various ministers, spiritual leaders. So that is obviously something that would expect that would come up because the president's personal faith is obviously a very, very important issue that he would want to discuss with the Pontiff.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely.

All right. What's next for the president? We know that he is going on to Ghana, correct? The people of Kenya maybe not so happy about that?

HENRY: Well, since the president has roots in Kenya, there are some people in Kenya who have been saying they have been hoping that his first trip as president to a majority black African nation would be to Kenya. The White House has been saying that the president wanted to go to Ghana first, in part, because of the government there, because the growing democracy.

He wants to use that as sort of an example for the rest of the continent in the days ahead and he's going to be giving a speech to the parliament in Ghana where top White House aides say they will hitting on that theme a lot about people in Africa demanding more of their leaders throughout the continent and not allowing some of the bribery he was talking about this morning in terms of food aid -

COLLINS: Right.

HENRY: And some of the corruption to continue to dominate the continent and that he wants to push for sort of a new day in the continent. So it's a quick stop in Ghana, but he will get there late tonight. He'll give that speech tomorrow at the parliament and of course, he's going to give an interview to our own Anderson Cooper while he's there. So we'll be hearing a lot about that in the next few days, Heidi.

COLLINS: We will. All right. Our White House correspondent on the ground there with the president in Rome today. Ed Henry, thank you.

President Obama's meeting with the Pope taking place very shortly. We're going to bring you pictures from the Vatican just as soon as that meeting happens. Live pictures for you right there. Beautiful, beautiful shots coming to us today.

Meanwhile, a day trip for day campers and in tears at accusations of racism. The outing to a pool that's raised questions and debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: All they wanted to do was go for a swim. Instead, they were banned from the pool. Now the head of Pennsylvania's Human Relations Commission says he's going to investigate what happened at that swim club in suburban Philadelphia. CNN's Susan Candiotti has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swimming once a week at the spacious Huntington Valley Club near Philadelphia. It sounded ideal for 65 kids described as black and Hispanic at Creative Steps Day Care Summer Camp.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was excited. The parents and children were excited.

CANDIOTTI: But when the youngsters showed up at the pool June 29th, after the day camp signed and paid a $1,900 contract, this happened.

The children came running down the hill saying, Ms. Wright, Ms. Wright, those people up there are saying what are the black kids doing in the pool?

CANDIOTTI: 12-year-old Marcus Allen says he was her son was sitting outside the pool and heard white adults say this.

MARCUS ALLEN, DAY CARE PARTICIPANT: Why are these black kids here? And then they were saying, oh, I'm afraid they might do something to my children. Because I'm afraid they might try to steal some of my stuff or try to like harm my children and I was like amazed they would say something like this because we're like just like you, we're just like your kids.

CANDIOTTI: Mrs. Wright says the swim club's director told her that he was embarrassed and held an emergency board meeting and called her back the next day that they could not come back.

And he said that the membership said let the chips fall where they may.

(on camera): You know, Marcus, I see tears falling down your face. Why does this make you cry?

ALLEN: Because this is kind of like sad that people are still thinking like this. I felt these days were over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is 2009. Children should not be subjected to that.

CANDIOTTI: The swim club's director is quoted by local media saying the day camp kids changed the "atmosphere and complexion of the club." A club member reacted. JIM FLYNN, CLUB MEMBER: I'll be asking for the president of the club's resignation today because I think the comment that he made, although taken out of context, was probably one of the stupidest comments I ever heard.

CANDIOTTI: He claims the club was simply overcrowded, not racist. He said two other unidentified day camps both non minority also got the boot. Senator Arlen Specter put the club on notice in a letter. "Without getting into all the legal issues, it is my suggestion that you promptly reinstate the contract and welcome Ms. Alethea Wright's group back to the pool. Whether they accept is up to them."

The club issued a response denying race had anything to do with their decision "We underestimated the capacity of our facilities. Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any form."

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And on our blog we are asking you what you think about this story. Do you believe the pool was crowded, or do you think that there were some hints of racism here and all that happened at that pool? Let's get on over to the blog right now because we have gotten quite a few responses in on this. Once again reminding you Cnn.com/heidi.

If you would like to tell us what you think -- the first one here says, "Hearing the children give their reactions was so heartbreaking. Children should not have to deal with this. I am angry that such a thing could still happen for the children to even overhear adults talking like that is shameful. This just goes to show that bigotry is still around with us, even in 2009."

Also this one. "People see what they want to see. Has anyone stopped to think that maybe this wasn't a racial remark but only a way to identify a group of people? Our law enforcement and government officials separate and identifies people in this matter every day. Just maybe this remark wasn't racist."

So once again, we are interested to hear what you have to say about this story. If you'd like to log on, just go to CNN.com/heidi and tell us what you think.

Meanwhile, now $96,000 for your son's mistress. That's what the parents of Nevada Senator John Ensign paid. They say it was just a gift. But the woman's husband thinks there's more to it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: All right. Happening right now, as you well know, we have been covering the president's travels. Right there you see the Pope and the president of the United States. Quite interesting pictures for us to be able to be bringing you live right here on CNN. Directly from Vatican City. We are understanding, at least from our correspondent, Ed Henry, who is traveling with the president that they will be discussing many issues.

One of the first and foremost issues the situation with Israel, Palestine talking about the relations there and what more can be done. Boy, oh, boy, how would you feel in a meeting like that with the pope and all of those cameras flashing inches from your face? Fascinating, fascinating pictures to see.

There will be other issues that they will be addressing. Some of them may be personal ones, again, according to our correspondent Ed Henry, who has been telling us a little bit about if the president will be speaking to the pope about his choices with religion and his thoughts and his position on abortion, of course, being one of them.

So, again, we will continue to follow these pictures and this story as the president travels from here with these meetings with the Pope on to Ghana in Africa, of course. I believe it's more of the discussions and issues that will be handled with the pope. We'll center around that as well as we talk more about poverty and food crisis in the developing nations.

So, I believe those were possibly some interpreters that may have been sitting down with the pope and the president at that table just moments ago. Really great stuff coming out of Vatican City. We'll continue to follow it for you, bring you any more pictures just as we get them here at the CNN NEWSROOM.

Meanwhile, I want to get into this story now. Allegations of a cover up being made against two U.S. senators. Nevada's John Ensign admitted to an affair last month with one of his staffers, and now that woman's husband is saying he was paid off. He also says Oklahoma's Tom Coburn was involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He paid severance to dear wife out of his pocket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To my knowledge, that is correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll know, she's your wife. Was it more than $25,000?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot more?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Ensign and Coburn deny any wrongdoing, but Ensign's attorney said the senator's parents sent checks totaling $96,000 to Doug Hampton, his wife, Cindy, and their two children. He said those payments were made out of concern for long-time friends during a difficult time.

New calls for South Carolina's Governor Mark Sanford to resign. A few dozen people gathered at the state house yesterday, taking part in a so-called resigned or impeached citizen's rally. The rally came two weeks after Sanford returned to work after disappearing for six days. Sanford revealed he was on a rendezvous with his mistress in Argentina. The protestors says while the affair is a private matter, the governor should resign for abandoning the state without passing authority on to the lieutenant governor.

Today is "Empower Me Friday," when we take your health care questions and, boy, this one is a doozie. How do you fight your insurance company? Well, people want some advice on that, I bet.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now for more on this. All right. Elizabeth, let's dive into this very first one. Our first question comes from Natasha who says this. I was referred to an in-network allergist who billed me for a $314 consultation. My insurance company has refused to pay for the consultation claiming that I was referred to see an allergist only for allergy testing. Now that I'm stuck with that bill, how do I refute the charge? So, what can she do? She was referred for the consultation, but got the testing. What did she get?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. What did she get? And Natasha probably feels a little David and Goliath here, because now she's fighting this big insurance company. In terms of what she says happened, she says that she was referred to an allergist and she had testing and she had a consultation with the allergist, which is kind of what usually happens but then the insurance company turned around and said, no, you were referred only for the testing. You weren't referred to have a consultation with this allergist. We're not going to pay for his consultation which she says costs about $300.

So now, the question is - what does she do? It's Natasha versus the big insurance company. She doesn't want to be paying that $300 something. We talked to some experts and here are four things that Natasha can do in this situation.

The first thing she needs to do is get the paperwork. She needs to get the referral from her family doctor to the allergist so that she can show that to the insurance company. So she needs to appeal to the insurance company, maybe multiple times, but experts tell me that usually if you appeal and appeal again, usually you will win. Usually the insurance company will just say all right, and they'll just pay the money as long as there is some merit to the case. Also, she can ask the original doctor for help.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: She can ask the original doctor for help. She can ask her family doctor and say, look, you sent me to this allergist and now I'm stuck with this big bill. Can you please do something to help me and oftentimes doctors will help in that situation. Finally, when all else fails, get a lawyer. Lawyers will sometimes take these cases on because they can make money off of them because often when a lawyer signs a letter an insurance company will pay and sometimes there's extra money in there for the lawyer.

COLLINS: We may need a lawyer in the studio right now, things falling all around. But that's interesting because the lawyer is not going to take the case pro bono or anything. You as the client, you're going to be paying for that, too.

COHEN: Well, not necessarily, because sometimes in these cases there is extra money that when he goes and gets that money then the insurance company has to pay for the sort of the hassle they've given you.

COLLINS: Aha, well hopefully that's the case.

Yes. This is exactly why people get frustrated. She is supposed to get the testing done but not hear a word about what the doctor said,

COHEN: It is crazy.

COLLINS: All right. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Love "Empower me Friday." Thank you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

COLLINS: For decades Michigan was riding high on the fortunes of the auto industry and then the bottom fell out and jobs disappeared. Now, the state is setting its sights on Hollywood.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to show you these pictures just in to us at CNN. Coming to you out of London, central London, to be exact. Live pictures, in fact. You're looking at smoke coming from a building, and we're telling you about this simply because we don't know very much. We're trying to figure out exactly what is going on here.

But, apparently, there are quite a few firefighters in the area. We actually have one of our correspondents there, trying to figure out what's going on. We are learning from the London fire brigade that they got a call about this fire. It's a four-story building. If you happen to have any idea about the geography of London or familiar with the city, Dean Street is what we're talking about here. Some sort of commercial establishment, obviously, but they have something like 12 fire engines and 55 firefighters at the scene.

And the pictures are pretty interesting coming out of there. We'll continue to keep our eye on that for you and let you know what's happening there for you just as soon as we learn more.

A new General Motors born today. A leaner company now after emerging from bankruptcy in six weeks. The government taking a majority stake in the automaker, which still has a tough road ahead. The new company will bank on four brands to help it return to profitability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRITZ HENDERSON, CEO, GENERAL MOTORS: Our vision is clear: to design, build and sell the best vehicles in the world, something that general motors was known for many years ago, and then something we need to reestablish.

One way we'll achieve this goal is by focusing on, for example in the U.S., four car brands. Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. And populating these four brands with just 34 nameplates next year, down from 48. It's about getting every nameplate right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Fritz Henderson says the automaker will launch a Web site next week to allow customers to share concerns and ideas with senior management.

Happening right now on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appearing before two House committees. He's talking about the president's plans to change financial regulations. We are monitoring that for you and, of course, bring you any news out of those hearings.

Meanwhile, the treasury secretary specifically wants more rules on unregulated derivatives that are so difficult to value and to assess their risk. Stephanie Elam is at the New York stock Exchange now to make it all make sense for us. I love when we have you do that. Hi, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. We know what happens. Usually you say a word like derivatives, and people say, "Tuning out. I don't know what you're talking about." So we're going to break it down a little bit here.

These tools are a huge part of the marketplace, actually, and they have really been blamed for part of what is going on with the economy right now. Now, a derivative is essentially a financial contract that's derived from an asset. This could be something like a stock option offered by a company. They can be used to hedge against economic risk, as well.

Lots of home heating companies, for example, they'll buy their oil during the summertime because that's when the prices are low, betting that prices will probably spike during the cold winter weather. Or as an individual investor, you may pay a discounted price for stocks, but you can't go in and cash it in for a certain amount of time. And the idea of being there that you hope the price rises during that timeframe.

However, those are derivatives in their most basic forms, but they can really become very complex, especially when you start hearing words like "credit default swaps" and "mortgage-backed securities." Those credit default swaps are blamed for nearly toppling AIG and are mostly composed and traded by a private financial institution. So, because of this, you might be told you're getting a certain asset at a great price, but you have no way of knowing what the true value is because of the complex composition that its price is based on. That's why you're hearing the treasury secretary today, Heidi, saying they want to make this much more clear.

COLLINS: That would be great. We appreciate that. And, also, the treasury secretary seems to just want to make things easier, possibly, for everyday investors. Is that accurate?

ELAM: Yes. There's really no reason people should buy something they truly don't know the value of. The treasury secretary mainly wants to help prevent market manipulation and fraud and make the contract associated with these derivatives more standardized.

They will go through the same clearing house, and everyone will go through the same way and that's what they're hoping will happen here. So, that's what we're talking about. I know, it's a confusing one.

So, with that, let's take a quick look at the numbers here on Wall Street, where we have a mixed day but not too much off the flat line. The Dow on the downside by 24 points, 8158. NASDAQ up 6 points at 1759. So, a mixed start to the day so far, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Could be a lot worse. All right. Stephanie, sure do appreciate it. Thank you. Happy weekend to you.

ELAM: You, too.

COLLINS: People in California who have IOUs issued by the state have fewer places to redeem them now. At least two major banks, that's Wells Fargo and Bank of America, will stop accepting the IOUs after today. But more than 60 credit unions will still accept the paper. You remember, the state started giving out IOUs last Thursday to conserve cash while lawmakers try to close a $26 billion budget deficit.

All right, I want to get back to central London right now because we've been showing you some of these live pictures coming out of there about this fire that is going on. We could still see the smoke, obviously, and the London fire brigade is telling us they got the call at this four-story building. There's a lot of firefighters on the scene there.

In fact, one of our correspondents, Jim Boulden, is in the area. I believe we have him on the phone to try to tell us more about this. Jim, what do you know?

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Heidi, you can see the smoke from this building right in the heart of the historic SoHo district of London, and it is very thick, white, gray smoke billowing into the sky. It's a four-story building, sort of an eighteenth-century building and very historic area. Dean Street.

Many tourists in the Dean Street -- full of cafes and bars, and it's the center of the film industry and music industry, as well. I can see over a half dozen fire trucks, and here are some ambulances. And I'd have to say at the moment the scene is pretty calm. They have, of course, evacuated the area and evacuated a lot of the pubs and restaurant restaurants. We have been pushed back , I'd say, about two blocks from the fire, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, well, Jim, appreciate you being there. Let us know if anything develops and if, in fact, if you find out what may have caused all this. We sure do appreciate it.

Reporting live from London for us, Jim Boulden on this fire that is going on right now. We're still trying to figure out exactly what is happening here.

Meanwhile, with unemployment rate higher than 14 percent, Michigan is desperate for jobs. Despite auto industry woes, there is hope from an unexpected place. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Don't be surprised to see George Clooney or Robert DeNiro next time you're in Michigan. Those Hollywood A-listers have joined others like Clint Eastwood to make major motion pictures in the embattled state as it works to reinvent itself.

GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), MICHIGAN: We're focused entirely on diversifying our economy, for example, and create an economy -- for example, in the creative economy, whether it's filmmaking...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: You stay away because if I have to come back here again, it is going to be ugly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Clint Eastwood's "Grand Torino" takes place just a few miles from Detroit. So what's the incentive to film here? A 42 percent tax break for studios that hire local workers rather than bring in their own crews.

Sounds great, but here's the problem. Even though Michigan has a skilled labor force, most don't have any experience working on film sets.

MORT MEISNER, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR FILM STUDIES: Okay.

HARLOW: Enter Mort Meisner and The Center for Film Studies. Started in March, the school gives Michigan workers a chance to hone their skills to meet the needs of movie execs.

MEISNER: I don't think Hollywood woke up this morning and decided, "Hey, let's go to Michigan." They're coming to Michigan because the tax incentives are here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are normally painted black...

HARLOW: A full course isn't cheap. It costs five grand. But 75 percent of the workers in the program are getting a free ride, thanks to funding from Michigan's No Worker Left Behind program. At this class, construction workers that are used to building homes are learning how to build sets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like the movies are coming here. There's a demand for carpenters, so I want to be -- we're actually right at the front of it right now. I want to be right there.

MEISNER: The real mission, pure and simple, is leave a legacy of jobs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Poppy Harlow joining us live from New York with more on this. How much more of a movie Mecca is Michigan really becoming?

HARLOW: Not a movie Mecca yet, Heidi. But crossing its fingers and hoping to become one. We're seeing a lot of progress. When you look at the numbers, 35 movies were filmed in Michigan last year. That brought in $125 million in revenue for the state, and that is up, Heidi, from just about $2 million in 2007.

So, they're making progress, and the real hope there from a lot of those carpenters and the teachers at the school that I talked to -- their hope is that once they get this up and running, Michigan will start producing its own films. They said "We have the writers and the directors. Now we have the people who can build the set." So, they really want to change the industry. Wouldn't it be interesting to see it -- from the Motor City to the Movie City, right? We will see, but the state doing all they can to bring Hollywood in.

COLLINS: Yes, well, I understand why. Poppy Harlow, thank you.

HARLOW: Sure.

COLLINS: Can you tweet your way to a new job? We're going to tell you how Twitter may be a great tool in your search strategy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: In a rough job market, you need all the help you can get to find a job, and Twitter just might be able to help. Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joining us now live with more on this. So, Gerri, Twitter is not just for telling the world every detail of everything you do?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Right, aside from sending out tweets about what restaurant you have gone to and your take on Jon and Kate, there are actually some practical ways to use Twitter. You are looking for a job, and you want to get new job postings sent immediately to you via Twitter. You want to check out tweetsmyjob.com. You want to go there...

COLLINS: That sounds a little profane.

WILLIS: Doesn't it? You know, you're right. But here's how you would use it. You would get these job postings sent directly to you, and they're not just from obscure dot-com companies. They're from GE, Cisco, IMB, Bank of America. So, really legitimate places. And then you can send your resume back to them by tweeting at tweetmyresume.com. You get your online profile and your resume sent back.

Now, these two sites -- they belong to the same company, but if you are looking for a job, it's a good thing to check out. If you decide to use Twitter to get job postings, hey, make sure what you tweeted in the past is appropriate, and keep in mind that if your current employer is on your follower list, they'll see what you're following on tweetmyjobs. Instead, think about creating a new Twitter account just for the purpose. Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, that sound like it would be much safer. This is so much fun. What are some of the other benefits of using Twitter?

WILLIS: Saving money. Getting deals that you might not have known about otherwise on restaurants, clothing, you name it. Check out coupontweet.com. Here, you'll find coupons on everything from groceries to restaurants and car rentals.

Here are some other general Twitter coupon feeds, "AdCoupons" and "AtMomsWhoSave. And Heidi, you're going to love this. Some companies -- big airlines like JetBlue, Delta, they're advertising special travel deals on Twitter. Just this past Monday, Jetblue had a $9 fare, New York to Nantucket. It is was a special one-week deal, but something you might want to check out. You definitely want to see that. You just sign up for those things.

COLLINS: One way or was there a return?

WILLIS: It's one way. That's how JetBlue sells their tickets, one way. But nine dollars, even one way, that's a great deal. You can go to Fare Compare. They're tweeting deals to people. You have to get on it, I guess.

COLLINS: Yes. What about some Twitter don'ts. I mean, you have to know what you're doing on this a little bit, don't you?

WILLIS: Listen, online scam artists. We've seen them on the web, we've seen them on the telephone and now they're using Twitter to lure victims to get-rich quick and work-at-home schemes.

Here's how it works. Companies promise to pay Twitter users hundreds of dollars to tweet, but they have to sign up for a free training kit buried in the fine print. It says you're going to be billed $100 every month. You think it's free, not so much. In reality, you're buying a moneymaking scheme, but really getting ripped off. Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes. I've still been getting those e-mails I have been telling you about, too. That I have become the beneficiary to millions of dollars from a baron in Norway or something.

WILLIS: Ignore that.

COLLINS: I keep hoping, maybe, maybe that's real.

WILLIS: Delete button. That's what it is for.

COLLINS: Gerri, sure do appreciate it. Thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

COLLINS: Michael Jackson's death. New allegations now about his use of prescription drugs. What investigators are uncovering.

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COLLINS: Next week, millions of people will tune in to the confirmation hearings of Sonya Sotomayor. The witness list is beginning to take shape. Republicans are expected to bring a white firefighter from Connecticut. He was the lead plaintiff in a reverse discrimination case rejected by Judge Sotomayor. Judge Sotomayor's ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court just last week.

The Democrats' witnesses include New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and former FBI director Louis Freeh. According to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll, 47 percent of Americans want Sotomayor confirmed. Forty percent say they're opposed to her confirmation. If she is confirmed, Sotomayor the first Latino to serve on the high court.

As you can see, Sotomayor's confirmation hearings right here on CNN followed the pointed questions about her background, rulings, controversial comments and speeches. It will all happen live on CNN next week.

Let's head over to Reynolds Wolf standing by in the Severe Weather Center now.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Come on over!

COLLINS: Sadly, people are looking for some serious shade in Texas. I mean, this is just getting relentless.

WOLF: Take a look at this. We had record highs set up from just yesterday. 109 in Wichita Falls. You look at Abilene and even Austin, getting into the triple digits, but check out McAllen, Texas. They've had six days in a row record heat and just yesterday, 104, and they could deal with more of that today with 104 expected in Dallas. Houston with 97 degrees and the farther north you go, a little bit cooler the weather becomes. Like 89 degrees in Kansas City and 82 in Minneapolis. Back over to Chicago, 82.

Little bit cool in this area and one reason why is because the cloud cover we're seeing, and not only the clouds, but a few scattered showers and few embedded thunderstorms. And as we make our way through the afternoon hours, there's the chance, Heidi, that some of this stuff could get fairly severe, especially along this area of low pressure and this frontal battery (ph) that extends through the western Great Lakes and back into parts of the Central Plains. And going to be that moist air that feeds up from the Gulf of Mexico combined with the daytime heating in this frontal boundary that could make for rough stuff, including some delays.

If you're hoping to fly back to Chicago, get your weekend started, you might have a few issues there. Into parts of south and central Florida, showers a possibility, and we may see the rain drops stick around to tomorrow. We have the shuttle launch tomorrow evening, and might have a delay there. And as we make our way back towards the West, not much in terms of precipitation, but the surfing is going to be great at Pismo Beach this weekend.

That's a look at your forecast. Let's send it back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: I love it when you can get the shuttle and surfing forecast all in the same sentence.

WOLF: They're synonymous. One always goes with the other.

COLLINS: That's right! All right, Reynolds, thank you.

The final resting place for Michael Jackson. Where will it be? Family members have their own thoughts. We'll take a look at one possibility.

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COLLINS: New details coming out now in the Michael Jackson death investigation. Here's what we know. Sources tell CNN the Jackson family knows the probe may turn into a criminal case. Investigators are looking into Jackson's prescription drug history.

And L.A. police say they have spoken to doctors who have treated Jackson over the years, but police are also saying they are still waiting on toxicology tests to determine a cause of death.

Where will Michael Jackson's final resting place be? It's still not clear what the Jackson family has decided, but our Ted Rowlands tells us the Neverland ranch could be a possibility.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: According to the state, an attorney for the Jackson family has inquired about burying Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch, something Jermaine Jackson told CNN's Larry King last week he'd like to see happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: I would love to see him here.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Do you have a place for him here?

J. JACKSON: Yes, there's a special place right over near the train station right over there.

ROWLANDS: To bury someone on private land in California, there are two steps. First, you need what's called a certificate of authority from the State Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. That's no big deal, just fill out this two-page application and shell out $400.

The other thing you need is approval from the county, which in this case, is Santa Barbara. At this point, nobody from the Jackson family has contacted the county. If someone does, they say it's possible they'll give the okay.

WILLIAM BOYER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: We have had no formal application either from the Jackson family or from the property owner, and at that point in time, we would review the application and make a determination.

ROWLANDS: What's unclear is if everyone in the family wants Neverland to be Jackson's final resting place. Joe Jackson seemed to shoot it down when asked about it in the days after Jackson's death.

JOE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S FATHER: That's not true. That's not true.

ROWLANDS: The bottom line here is that people burying individuals on private land just simply doesn't happen very often. The last time it happened in California was when Ronald Reagan was buried at Simi Valley. That's a different county than Santa Barbara county.

Those folks in Santa Barbara said they've never seen it happen. If they get an application, they'll review it. They're not against it. But at this point, they don't have a template to move forward, so it could take some time.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The new GM emerges. Next hour, we dig deeper into what's ahead for the automaker. For now, I'm Heidi Collins, and CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Tony Harris.