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U.S. and British Troops Experience Casualties in Afghanistan; Public Opinion Split on Sotomayor Nomination; President Obama visits Slave Port in Ghana; Kathleen Sebelius Acknowledges Tax Increase May Be Necessary to for Health Care Reform; Sectarian Violence Continues in Iraq

Aired July 12, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

TOM FOREMAN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. troops are dying in Afghanistan at a record pace. Bombs killed two Americans this weekend in Helmand province where marines launched an offensive earlier this month. That brings this year's death toll to 104.

CNN's Atia Abawi is in Kabul right now to tell us a little bit more about this. Atia, what do you know?

ATIA ABAWI, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, Thomas, two U.S. marines were killed in action yesterday in southern Afghanistan. Those happened in two separate roadside bombs, IEDs, a tactic being used by the Taliban and the insurgency, and it's been a very effective tactic.

Let's remember that Helmand Province is the area where thousands of U.S. marines have flooded into, starting operations last week, Operation Strike of the Sword. It has been an effective operation. They say that they have met little resistance, but they are experiencing casualties.

And the U.S. forces are not alone. British troops lost 15 of their men in a span of ten days. British troops losing 184 service members in Afghanistan, surpassing their death toll in Iraq -- Tom?

FOREMAN: Atia, let me ask you a question about all of this. You're correct in that since the military said up front that they felt like the insurgents, Taliban were retreating to the country side here.

But this is a pattern we've seen before, isn't it? You try to seize the main cities, they retreat, and then they attack from the outside and turn it to their advantage. The countryside much harder to control, isn't it?

ABAWI: Absolutely, Tom. This is a tactic that we've seen in the past. Sometimes we've seen areas that have been cleared out, and what the Taliban do is they go to different provinces and different villages, wait out the coalition troops, and come back in.

And right now they expect that to happen in Helmand because they've seen coalition forces come to these districts, come to these villages, but they've never had the manpower to stay.

But right now, when we spoke to the U.S. marines, we spoke to commanding general Larry Nicholson. He told us they have that manpower now and they won't leave. They're there to build institutions, to build cooperation with the Afghan people to show them they're the better choice, not the Taliban.

But of course, the Afghan villagers themselves are skeptical, because they know if they go towards the U.S. forces, if they go towards the coalition troops, and if those Taliban come back, they will be punished -- Tom?

ABAWI: There is also one more question I want to ask in all of this. Earlier this week we had a general say they must have more support from actual Afghan troops. They must join the effort, because if they join the effort, that will bring those locals around a little bit more, because obviously, they're more keen on having their own troops there than on having outsiders.

How long are we looking at a timetable here for more Afghan troops to be ready and willing to join this effort?

ABAWI: Well, Tom, there can be any timetable set to have Afghan forces come and have that Afghan national army, the Afghan national police.

But the problem is, is when they don't have that national pride -- you're looking at a country that has been broken apart for the past 30 years. You can't ingrain that nationalism into people who join the army, who join the police force. That's going to take time.

They're not like the U.S. forces. They're not like a U.S. official in the army. They're not like the U.S. Marines. Right now, they don't have pride when they look at the Afghan flag. And that's going to take time to build.

And that's what coalition forces hope to do. That's part of their mission to bring the Afghan forces in. But at the same time, they need that nationalistic pride, and that will take many years -- Tom

ABAWI: Atia, thanks. Atia Abawi reporting for us there.

It's important to remember, always, that these are largely tribal lands outside of Kabul, and many people there have just as much allegiance to their local group as any central government.

Almost two weeks after U.S. troops withdrew from Iraqi cities, sectarian violence seems to be increasing. Four Baghdad churches were bombed this weekend, injuring eight civilians.

In a separate incident today, gunmen assassinated a provincial official in Kirkuk. The victim was Christian, but we don't whether that had anything to do with the attack. A live report from our Michael Ware in Baghdad is just ten minutes ahead. Stick around for that.

With Senate confirmation hearings scheduled to start tomorrow, the debate over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is heating up. President Obama called her this morning to wish her good luck. He nominated Sotomayor to fill the seat of retiring Justice David Souter.

She is a 55 year old New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, a Yankees fan. She graduated from Yale Law School and worked as an assistant district attorney in New York for five years. She's been a federal judge since 1992, and she's been on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 1998.

What does the public think about Sotomayor? They don't get a real vote in this, but CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser has been looking at the numbers nonetheless.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR, CNN: That's right, Tom. Our CNN Opinion Research Corporation National Poll, we broke it down by party. And take a look at this. Our poll suggests a major partisan split over the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.

You can see from these numbers Democrats overwhelmingly, nearly seven in ten, says they think she should be confirmed by the Senate to the Supreme Court.

Independents, they're pretty much split over whether the Senate should confirm Sotomayor. And Republicans, only about one in four feel that Sotomayor should be confirmed.

But take a look at that number in the lower right there, 65 percent of Republicans indicating in our survey that Sonia Sotomayor should not be confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Our polling Keating (ph) Holland director tells me that number is higher than the number of Republicans who opposed the confirmation of John Ginsburg back in the '90s, and it's higher than the number of Democrats who opposed the nominations of Alito and Roberts four years ago.

Take a look at this. This is also interesting. You can see right here, if Sotomayor is qualified, should senators still vote against her because of her stance on the issues?

Now you can see Americans are pretty much split on that answer. But that's a big difference from the old days. Back in the day, it used to be public opinion was pretty much, if a nominee were qualified, the Senate should vote for that nominee, that the issues, his stance or her stance on the issues really should not be part of the problem or the equation.

But obviously this is a much more partisan time than in the olden days.

One thing it seems Americans agree on according to our poll is this. Check out these numbers. Six in ten say they think the confirmation hearings this week are going to be a major fight between the parties.

A little less than four in ten think there'll be some bipartisan agreement among the senators. They think it'll be a kumbaya moment.

So that's kind of what our poll spells out just days now before Sonia Sotomayor goes before the Senate for her confirmation hearings -- Tom?

FOREMAN: Thanks Paul. We will have, of course, complete coverage of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor this week, follow the pointed questions about her background, the rulings, the controversial comments and speeches, all live on CNN starting tomorrow at 10:00. It will be interesting.

The first family is back in Washington. President Obama arrived just after midnight from a trip that included arms talks in Russia, meetings with leaders of the world's largest economies in Italy.

The family's last stop a 17th century castle in Ghana that held Africans to be sold in the slave trade. Our Anderson Cooper had exclusive access to Mr. Obama on his trip, and he was there with Mr. Obama as he visited that slave port in Ghana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think what happened here still has resonance in America, that the slave experience still is something that should be talked about and should be remembered and should be present in everyday life?

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, you know, I think that the experience of slavery is like the experience of the holocaust. I think it's one of those things you don't forget about.

I think it's important that the way we think about it and the way it's taught is not one in which there's simply a victim and a victimizer, and that's the end of the story.

I think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant, is because whether it's what's happening in Darfur or what's happening in the Congo or what's happening in too many places around the world, you know, the capacity for cruelty still exists.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: You can see more of Anderson's interview with the president tomorrow night. Anderson will share his exclusive access on his historic journey to Africa. It's Monday night. Make sure you join us, 10:00 p.m. eastern only on CNN on "AC 360." A terrific show.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says she's open to all options when it comes to funding a massive health care overall, and that includes Representative Charlie Rangel's proposal for a new tax on the wealthiest Americans.

Sebelius appears on CNN "State of the Union" this morning saying all this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: I think the bottom line is it's got to be paid for, and that we all have a shared responsibility, that we all need to play a role.

The House and Senate version also have employers included and individuals included. And what's been remarkable, Wolf, is the stakeholders in the early '90s were the most vocal opponents of anything changing in the health care system are really at the table with their own suggestions of how to pay for --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Just to be precise, you're open to Charlie Rangel's proposal?

SEBELIUS: Well, I think everything is on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: As politicians debate the best way to reform health care, they're looking for models everywhere, all over the world, in different states.

One county in Maryland has come to light as providing one example. Our Kate Bolduan was there. She spoke with a woman who says the county's plan saved her life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can't tell now, but Henryette and Jim Neal have gone through a tough few years. In 1999, 63-year-old Henryette fought and survived breast cancer only to lose her health insurance when the company she worked for closed.

HENRYETTE NEAL, CANCER AND HEART PATIENT: My concern was the cancer, never even thinking that I had heart problems, none.

BOLDUAN: But it was Neal's heart that almost killed her. She discovered she needed triple bypass surgery just one month after finally finding affordable health care insurance. She got it through a program called Healthy Howard Access Plan in Howard County, Maryland.

BOLDUAN (on camera): Do you think Healthy Howard saved your life?

NEAL: Yes, most definitely. Without question, without second thought, yes, because had they not been there for me, again, I wouldn't have gone to the hospital.

BOLDUAN: Because you were afraid you couldn't pay?

NEAL: Yes, exactly.

BOLDUAN: Neal showed us her only bill from surgery.

NEAL: You saw it, $100. BOLDUAN (voice-over): How? Healthy Howard is an experiment of sorts. As the national health care debate rages on, Howard County decided to go it alone, using a combination of public and private funds and pro bono doctor care, the county is trying to offer affordable insurance to every resident. The average premium is between $50 and $85 a month.

DR. PETER BEILENSON, HOWARD COUNTRY, MARYLAND HEALTH OFFICER: There's no other program in the country that provide primary and preventive care, specialty care, prescription coverage, hospital and emergency room care, and health coaching. That's why our program is unique.

BOLDUAN: Patients are also assigned a coach, like Maureen Pike, to guide each individual health plan.

MAUREEN PIKE, HEALTH COACH, HEALTHY HOWARD ACCESS PLAN: I think the biggest thing is just trying to shift the focus from playing catch-up once people are already sick to increasing their well being and trying to prevent some of these risk factors from turning into disease later on.

BOLDUAN: The approach may not work everywhere. Howard is one of the wealthiest counties in one of the country's wealthiest states.

But officials think they're at least setting an example -- 300 participants so far, and they've found about 2,500 more who are eligible for existing insurance programs but didn't know it.

As for Neal, she's feeling better than ever and hopes both the uninsured and the policymakers are paying attention.

BOLDUAN (on camera): What do you think Washington and lawmakers can learn from your experience and what you've gone through?

NEAL: That there is a lot of Henryettes out there.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Kate Bolduan, CNN, Columbia, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: California lawmakers are rolling up their sleeves for another intense day of closed door budget negotiations. There's growing optimism they could reach a deal on the state's $26.3 billion budget gap this week.

Major sticking points include Governor Schwarzenegger's social service reform proposal and funding for public education. While they try to work all of that out, California continues to pay its bills with IOUs.

Michael Ware will join us live from Baghdad in just a few moments with the latest on those church bombings over there.

And, a new fight for the U.S. military, and this one is over smoking. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: We are turning now to Iran. Could leaders there be getting ready to talk with the west? That's the big question this weekend.

Iran's state-run news agency says high-level preparations for such talks are underway. The report quotes Iran's foreign minister, who says Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is working on guidelines for potential discussions with the west. That would be quite a change.

Meanwhile, words of warning to protesters from a top Iranian general. The chief of Iran's joint armed forces says government troops are ready to sacrifice their own lives rather than back down in the face of protests. No doubt that will be a sticking point to any talks that might be proposed.

And this shown live on Iranian TV earlier today -- the return of five Iranians held in Iraq for two years by U.S. troops. U.S. officials say they're still concerned that the release of these fellows could prevent a security threat to American troops in Iraq.

But, they say, a U.S. security agreement obligated them to release the Iranians after all this time.

A story developing out of Iraq at this hour, the bombing of six churches in a 24-hour period. CNN's Michael Ware is in Baghdad.

Michael, what can you tell us about this?

We have a little difficulty with Michael not being able to hear our signal. I'll check back with him. I'm sure he'll have the facts when we get to them.

FOREMAN: Smoke them if you've got them could soon be a thing of the past in the armed forces. A new study by the Pentagon and the Veteran Affairs Department is recommending a complete ban on tobacco in the military. That means no smoking by anyone in uniform, not even combat troops in the thick of battle.

The Pentagon's top doctors are studying the report. They'll pass along recommendations through Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Pentagon policy team soon. And we'll see what happens with that.

After three straight delays back here at home, the space shuttle Endeavour is on the pad, fueled up and ready to go. Will a fourth launch attempt be the charm?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: We're following the news out of Iraq about the bombings of six churches in a 24-hour period. As promised, we have gotten CNN's Michael Ware back in Baghdad. Michael, what can you tell us about all this? MICHAEL WARE, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, Tom, what I can tell you is that in the last three hours or so, there's been five targeted bombings of Christian churches here in the capital, Baghdad, roughly around the time of Sunday evening services.

There was also an addition bombing late last night at St. Joseph's church here in Iraq. But, fortunately, because of the late hour, no one was there.

The tragic news, Tom, is that in this evening's five bombings, at least four people have been reported killed and 32 wounded.

Now, we're seeing continued spasms of violence here in Iraq as Al Qaeda and its allies maintain their bombing campaigns. But this evening, this is very clearly targeted at what little remains of Iraq's Christian community.

Now, attacks on the Christians have been underway since at least 2004. And while no one has an exact figure, it's believed of Iraq's estimated original 1 million Christians, most have fled the country in the wake of the violence targeting their communities.

Indeed, just October last year, in the northern city of Mosul, it's believed as many as 1,000 Christian families had to flee for their lives across Iraq's borders after Muslim extremists threatened them with death or conversion to Islam.

So in a nutshell, six more bombings of Christian churches in the last 24 hours here in the capital. Four people killed, and the onslaught against the Christian community here in Iraq clearly continues -- Tom?

FOREMAN: Michael, you and I have been talking for years now about the notion that when troops pulled out, there might be a realignment again of people pushing for power, trying to make sure that certain groups did not get any power.

Is this what we've been talking about all these years, or is this simply a continuation of what's been going on?

WARE: Well, the bombings themselves are a continuation of what's been going on.

If you remember, as I said, the Christians have been targeted for years. Under America's watch, hundreds of thousands of Christians had to leave Iraq for fear of their lives.

Minority groups, minority religious groups have been targeted. The most devastating attack of all was against a minority sect known as the Uzeties (ph), where as many as 500 people were killed in one coordinated attack alone.

So to some degree, this does not reflect the handover from American to Iraqi command. The jockeying for power, the positioning and the maneuvering, that, nonetheless, continues unabated. But so far we've not seen that translate to violence on the streets. And one would hope that we won't see it do so, Tom, at least until next year's election. And we test how the losers of that ballot will respond to whatever defeat they may suffer -- Tom?

FOREMAN: And quickly here, Michael, what about the bigger picture right now? It's been almost two weeks now since the U.S. troops moved out of the cities. Is that going well? Is that going poorly? What do you think?

WARE: Well, the withdrawal itself has been under way for six months. It began in January last year. It was a military maneuver, a military redeployment. It was on its face entirely successful. The troops were withdrawn in an orderly manner.

The violence, nonetheless, was happening in the last days of the American-led phase of this war, and the violence continues in the beginning days of the Iraqi-led phase of this war.

I think the world forgets two things. One, there are still 130,000 American troops in Iraq even though they're not actively engaged in combat operations at the moment. And secondly, there's still a war going on -- Tom?

WARE: All right, many thanks, Michael. Six church bombings in the past 24 hours, the latest news out of there. Thanks for keeping us up to date, Michael.

FOREMAN: NASA has finished fuelling the space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank. It's sitting on the pad poised for liftoff less than five hours from now if all goes well.

Yesterday's launch was delayed while managers checked for damage after 11 lightning strikes less than half mile away. Last month liquid hydrogen leaks forced two launch attempts to be scrubbed.

Endeavour's 16 day mission is to deliver and install the final piece of Japan's Kibo Science Lab.

(WEATHER BREAK)

FOREMAN: Details about a secret counterterrorism program withheld from Congress. Now the CIA says former Vice President Dick Cheney was responsible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: The CIA has told Congress former Vice President Dick Cheney ordered intelligence officials to keep lawmakers in the dark about details of a secret counterterrorism program. That confirmation is coming now from the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Senator Dianne Feinstein says CIA Director Leon Panetta informed lawmakers last month about Cheney's role. Efforts to contact Cheney for reaction have been unsuccessful so far. But lawmakers voiced their opinion on CNN's "State of the Union." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D), MICHIGAN: I think the person who's been undermining the credibility of the CIA is the former vice president, by his actions, if, in fact, this is true. This is very, very serious, and I think it goes beyond even the -- to the credibility of the CIA. And we all want a strong, effective, credible CIA. We have to have that as part of our national security. It's integral to our national security.

But this really goes to a larger question that we struggled with throughout the Bush presidency, which is checks and balances. You know, the presidency or even the vice president, who said he wasn't a part of the Senate; he wasn't part of the administration -- I'm not sure where he fell in his mind in the Constitution, but the reality is that there is a reason why there are checks and balances.

SEN. JUDD GREGG (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: This is a big issue, not only from the standpoint of whether -- what the vice president did, but from the issue of the morale and capacity of the CIA to develop information -- and other intelligence-gathering sources.

And I sense -- and I've been here before and you have, too -- that we're heading back into this Frank Church atmosphere in this Senate and in this Congress, where, basically -- where people use the CIA as a whipping boy and, instead of supporting their initiatives in overseas intelligence gathering, they become a symbol of the errors of a prior administration and it becomes taken on at a level that basically leads to legislation or to just hearings that basically fundamentally undermine the atmosphere and the morale of this agency, which is absolutely critical to us right now. And we saw it happen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Attorney General Eric Holder may pursue a criminal investigation into the Bush administration's interrogation practices on suspected terrorists. The "Associated Press" reports Holder is expected to decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor within the next few weeks.

If Holder moves ahead with the criminal probe, it will put him at odds with the White House. President Obama has resisted launching an investigation, saying the nation should look forward, not backwards. The Justice Department says holder will, quote, "follow the facts and the law."

New developments today in the search for the killers of a Florida couple known for adopting special needs kids. Police are questioning two persons of interest. Our David Mattingly is in Pensacola with more on the investigation into the death of Byrd and Melanie Billings. David, what do you know?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tom, the sheriff yesterday told us very clearly that this investigation wasn't going all that well. They were running into all sorts of roadblocks until about this time yesterday when tips led them to a very large red van.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): It is a critical piece of evidence and investigators are combing through it to see what they can find. They believe this is the same van recorded by a home security camera the night someone broke into the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings and shot them dead.

SHERIFF DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: Once we had located the van, developed an address where the van had been registered to, interviews with associated neighbors and friends and family then led us to two persons of interests. As you know, we are looking for a total of three.

MATTINGLY: Three young white men also recorded on the family's security system as they broke into the Billings' home. Investigators won't say if anything was taken from the house or what kind of weapon was used. But the men who did this worked so quickly that authorities believe they had some kind of experience.

MORGAN: We were surprised with the rapidity of the crime. And that's, you know, about the most I could say about it.

MATTINGLY: Investigators will not discuss motive. Byrd and Melanie Billings were known for their kindness. They had adopted a dozen children over the years, many with special needs. Eight of the children were at home at the time of the murders, none was harmed.

But why were the Billings targeted? Was it robbery? Or was it something else?

The sheriff identified this man as one of the persons of interest. He said his appearance matches one of the men seen by security cameras. At the time he was seen by our camera, he had not been named as a suspect and no arrests had been made.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And that has not changed at this hour. Still just two persons of interest being interviewed, looking for a third. No charges filed as yesterday. Tom?

FOREMAN: Interesting story, David. Tragic, too. Thanks for keeping us up to date.

Grieving and angry families are joining the Reverend Jesse Jackson for a prayer vigil today outside the locked gates of that Chicago cemetery where four former workers are accused of reselling and reusing burial plots. The Cook County sheriff's office is figuring out how many graves were disturbed. It's proving difficult because hundreds, maybe thousands were unmarked. One official says there are not even maps for some sections of the 150 acre African- American landmark, including an area specifically for babies there.

Authorities in Chicago continue to wrestle with a terrible year of youth violence. Lots of places have problems, of course. And so far the Windy City has had more than 40 school-age children murdered since the start of the last school year. Police and community groups alike are trying to step up their efforts to stop these killings. With the middle of summer coming on fast, we checked in this weekend on their progress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAWN TURNER TRICE, COLUMNIST, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: It's almost like if it's not happening in my neighborhood, then it's not happening to me. And so there isn't a sense of interconnectivity. And I think -- what happened? I don't know exactly when it happened. But I know that there has, over the years, there seems to be this kind of -- there's a distance.

And there's this great chasm that's growing between the people who really understand and want to get in and solve these problems, whether you live in these types of neighborhoods or not, the embattled ones. And people who just kind of feel like, you know, I've got so many other things on my plate. The economy's bad. And I'm worried about my own house and I don't have time right now.

FOREMAN: Tio, what do you think makes the difference in terms of a neighborhood moving away from youth violence or moving more toward it? What's the key?

TIO HARDIMAN, DIRECTOR, CEASE-FIRE: The key is everybody across the nation has to look at violence as a public health issue. Because at Cease-Fire, what we do is we pretty much hire credible messengers that can get access to the communities where most of the violence is taking place and make sense out of the madness.

What's going on is we have two realties here in America. You have the working-class people, then you have the subculture, which is the gangs. The drugs play a key role in the violence. But at the same time, you have to have people who can go in there, talk them down. This year alone we've mediated over 155 conflicts in Chicago that led to somebody being shot. So you can't turn away from the violence. You just have to appoint credible messengers throughout Chicagoland. As a matter of fact, Cease-Fire is a scientifically proven method now. We've shown that we can reduce violence at least 13 times over the communities in which we work in.

FOREMAN: What is a credible messenger in this kind of circumstance?

HARDIMAN: OK. People like -- we hired -- we call the guys violence interrupters, professionally trained team of guys that go in and out of these communities and some young ladies. These are people that used to be a part of the subculture, people that used to run in the gangs, people that know what's going on in these particular sticky situations that lead to violence. That's what I'm talking about as a credible messenger, someone who has been there and has been through a lot of different situations on the streets.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOREMAN: As we have been talking about this weekend, a lot of you have had thoughts about how to handle youth violence. And you can check out some of the response on our blog. Just head to CNN.com/Fredricka and you can read what some of the comments are.

Electric cars, they might just be the wave of the future. But our Josh Levs found out that for now, one model has limitations to say the least.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, guys. We're about to drive an actual electric car through the streets of Atlanta. There's a pretty serious speed limit on this. Let's see how this goes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: We'll see how Josh did in his little yellow car.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: It's not quite a little red Corvette, but with all the emphasis on green energy these days, automakers are busy developing new lines of electric cars. Some are already on the market, although not all of them will answer all of your driving needs. Our Josh Levs took one out for a spin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEVS: So, we got the Anvil here today.

MIKE TOMBERLIN, CREATOR, ANVIL ELECTRIC CAR: Correct.

LEVS: Tell us what we're looking at. What is this?

TOMBERLIN: You know, it's a LSV, which means a low speed vehicle. It is certainly a lot more creative than what you're accustomed to seeing, wide-track technology. We made it a little more aggressive. Big automobile wheels.

LEVS: Let's break this out for our viewers. Wide-track technology means it's a broad car. It's a wide car.

TOMBERLIN: Very wide -- which gives you more features inside, a better cockpit.

LEVS: So, where is all the electric gears? Is it underneath it? Is it all packed into here into a much smaller unit?

TOMBERLIN: Some of it.

LEVS: I didn't just break it by knocking on it, did I?

TOMBERLIN: No, you did not.

LEVS: OK. TOMBERLIN: It's very durable.

LEVS: OK, good.

TOMBERLIN: Smart charger up front. You got the battery pack underneath the seats and the drivetrain in the back.

LEVS: What honestly distinguishes this from just a glorified golf cart?

TOMBERLIN: Well, let's say a golf cart may have seven horsepower. This has up to 50. A golf cart has maybe a 46 inch wheel path. This has 60 inches.

We're not going to rub shoulders inside. We got heated seats. Full automotive gauge. More intuitive movements. It's great.

LEVS: Let's give it a shot.

First of all, you have this, which is forward and reverse instead of a gear shift.

TOMBERLIN: Correct. And then on the left side here, the first button there with the T, it works as a boost or a turbo button. So, it gives you 30 seconds of peak horsepower.

(MUSIC) LEVS: It feels like an average car. It's a little bit harder to speed up. But once it does, it just carries on its own. You don't need to hit the gas or anything.

(MUSIC)

LEVS: We're driving on the kinds of roads that are best for this kind of car. Since it only goes up to 25 miles an hour, it's best to be on roads that only go up to 35 or only up to 30.

(MUSIC)

LEVS: And tell me why would someone buy this car when they can spend the same amount of money and get a car that has side windows and is completely covered and has air conditioning.

TOMBERLIN: Certainly, it's green. It's doing the right thing. It's fun to drive and it doesn't use any fuel.

LEVS: If you're a family, you have a couple of cars, but you want to do the right thing and save money on gas, get this as a third car.

TOMBERLIN: Absolutely. And that's happening every day -- within 6.9 miles of residential homes, Americans are driving about 15 billion miles a week. We can make a difference in that segment. And hopefully, the consumer will drive the demand.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOREMAN: There are a lot of other options in electric cars. Some of them actually go 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds. They're really fascinating vehicles, very different from that one that you really should check out. Go to CNNMoney.com. You can see some of the models, get some ideas for yourself.

A home invasion stopped by an octogenarian. How the unarmed senior chased off a bear that broke into his house.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: Well, it can be a frightening scenario. You ever hear one of those noises in your house in the middle of the night and you get up? I usually go wandering around with a golf club. What good that would do me. But the simple truth is, it happens all the time and people usually think it's not a big thing.

But a California couple is sharing their story this weekend with Rowena Shaddox of CNN affiliate KTXL.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUS HETLAND, CONFRONTED BEAR: That used to be the screen.

ROWENA SHADDOX, KTXL REPORTER (voice-over): Eight-six year old Gus Hetland isn't sure what got him out of bed around 2:00 in the morning. He just knew something wasn't quite right.

G. HETLAND: Didn't know what it was. I thought well is that a burglar? God, I don't want -- I'm an old man. I can't face any burglar.

SHADDOX: To his surprise, it wasn't what he initially thought.

G. HETLAND: I walk a little farther and I get to about right here when it stands up. I said, my god. It's a bear. Just on impulse, I went, arf, arf, arf. And that was it. Man, he turned and run. He jumped right through this window right here. That's the way he came in.

SHADDOX: It all happened so quickly that Gus's wife slept through the whole thing.

JUDY HETLAND, BEAR BROKE INTO HOME: I didn't believe it when he woke me up later and told me there was a bear in the house. And I said wake me up this time of morning to tell me that? Because he's quite a jokester.

G. HETLAND: He would have just tore it to shreds. Anything that he can smell food, probably was a she, come to think of it.

SHADDOX: This former Mustang pilot from the war never even got scared. I would be.

G. HETLAND: Well, you're a girl. Girls are supposed to be that way. That's why you've got men to protect you. Right? SHADDOX: You're right.

G. HETLAND: That's why God made men stronger and everything else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Good for him. Ever had that problem?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I've never had that problem. But now I know what to do. Bark like a dog.

FOREMAN: You call him.

JERAS: Or that.

FOREMAN: He'll come over.

JERAS: Could you imagine that? Ever have an animal in your house at night?

FOREMAN: Yes, we've got a lot in our house at night. Unfortunately they're still there in the morning.

JERAS: Hot. Crazy hot. Do you like ice cream? Fan of ice cream?

FOREMAN: What's the best in the world?

JERAS: Like flavor?

FOREMAN: Yes, what do you like?

JERAS: Mint chocolate chip.

FOREMAN: What kind?

JERAS: Mint chocolate chip. All right. Do you like the Drumsticks? That's where I was going with this. I actually had a purpose.

FOREMAN: Sure. I like the Drumstick.

JERAS: All right, roll the video, shall we? All right, we've been talking about the heat and just how bad it's been in parts of Arizona. Well in Maricopa County out there in Tent City, so hot that they decided to give them ice cream. Yes, Drumsticks for the inmates. I guess everybody deserves a treat, right, when it's so hot. The temperatures have been way up there in the triple digits, 114 yesterday, about 113 today.

The big problem then is that the temperatures in the overnight are not dropping down a whole heck of a lot. And we've been dealing with overnight lows in the mid to upper 80s. And that's why these conditions are just so dangerous out there across much of the area.

(WEATHER REPORT)

FOREMAN: You said my name like the schoolteachers did, like are you paying attention?

JERAS: I can't just call you Tom. There's something about it, you're Tom Foreman.

FOREMAN: Yes, the prisoner video looked like a lost scene from "Cool Hand Luke" or something, like the ice cream scene. Thanks, Jacqui.

A particularly serious illness that hits African-American women harder than anyone else. Now a doctor goes on a mission to find out why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOREMAN: A Michigan doctor is searching for clues in a deadly mystery. Why does an aggressive form of breast cancer hit African- American women especially hard? Soledad O'Brien has the story. It's part of CNN's upcoming series, "Black in America 2."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Breast cancer is the focus of Dr. Lisa Newman's life for two important reasons. She's waiting for her own biopsy results after a troubling mammogram. And for years, she's been tracking a particularly deadly form of the disease called triple negative breast cancer or TNBC. TNBC disproportionately kills black women and Dr. Newman wants to know why. Her extraordinary commitment leads to an extraordinary journey. She's taking her search for answers all the way to Africa.

DR. LISA NEWMAN, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: The women that are most likely to be afflicted with the triple negative breast cancer are younger aged women, women in the pre-menopausal age range and women with African ancestry.

O'BRIEN: These clues have led to her a provocative theory.

NEWMAN: Whether or not African ancestry might actually predispose women to a biologically more aggressive form of breast cancer.

O'BRIEN: To test her theory, Newman regularly travels to Ghana. Why Ghana? Because 60 percent of the women here who have breast cancer have triple negative.

NEWMAN: I will give you an injection to your skin so that I don't hurt you with the biopsy procedure. You'll feel a little pressure here. You'll hear the popping sound in a moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wow.

NEWMAN: Yeah. O'BRIEN: Newman takes these samples from African women and compares them to the DNA of American women. Nearly 200,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Black women are twice as likely as white women to get TNBC, a little known killer, with black women squarely in its sight. Lisa Newman knew she had to help. You're doing the kind of work that generations will benefit from.

NEWMAN: I certainly hope so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: You can watch more stories of people stepping up, taking charge and creating solutions. The documentary "Black in America 2" premieres July 22nd and 23rd only here on CNN.

And coming up at 4:00 p.m., despite the recession, how one car company is beating the odds. Right now, grab your wallet. "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.