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Health Care Overhaul; Campaign against Swine Flu; Lone Surviving Gunman in Mumbai Attack Confesses; 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11; Mission to Save Black Men

Aired July 20, 2009 - 09:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Forty years ago today, Apollo 11 astronauts became the first men on the moon. Where were you at that moment in history? Let me know. Just go to my blog or now you can share your thoughts by phone.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. It is Monday, July 20th. Thanks so much for being here.

First, straight off this morning, we want to talk about your health care. This morning, our White House correspondent is covering the president. He is expected to make a new pitch for health care reform today. So, we'll have that for you.

Also, our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the very latest on a U.S. soldier captured by the Taliban. In fact, he's been seen in a new Taliban video. So we'll have the latest on that as well.

And an exclusive on the offensive taking place in southern Afghanistan. Our Ivan Watson is embedded with U.S. Marines. We'll talk to him just as soon as he becomes available to us.

First off, protecting your health. Are you willing to pay more to reinvent the nation's health care system? If your answer's no, then who should foot the bill? A lot of heated debate on that. And later this hour, we'll hear from the head of the Republican Party.

First, though, new signs of compromise in Washington. Here's our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Facing a tough week ahead, President Obama is trying to recapture the spotlight in the health care debate.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not sign on to any health plan that adds to our deficits over the next decade. MALVEAUX: This after a devastating announcement on Friday by the Congressional Budget Office that the administration's health care bill would raise health care costs and add $239 billion to the deficit over 10 years. The White House dispatched their head of health care, Kathleen Sebelius.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: This is a work in progress, the good news is the health and Senate are actively working and share the president's goal that overall cost haves to come down for everyone.

MALVEAUX: And the president's top money man, Peter Orszag, took up the argument.

PETER ORSZAG, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR: Still has to be deficit neutral. The president yesterday said he will not sign a bill that isn't deficit neutral.

MALVEAUX: Republicans seized on the deficit announcement.

SEN. JUDD GREGG (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: Those were pretty damning words, to be very honest with you.

MALVEAUX: The Senate's minority leader said the bill will not have Republican support.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: This is a bill that shouldn't pass at any point, either before the August recess or later in the year because it's not good for the country.

MALVEAUX: The Obama administration is pushing hard for the bill to be on the president's desk before the August recess, but many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say that's too ambitious.

REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Sure, we wish we had more time, but the president has given us a deadline, we're working on it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Our Suzanne Malveaux joining us now from the White House with more on this.

So, Suzanne, there are some new poll numbers out this morning showing support for the president's handling of health care down. Might this kind of shift be fuelling Mr. Obama's schedule for the week?

MALVEAUX: Well, Heidi, you bring up a very good point, which is the reason why you're going to see the president out this week. He's going to be at the Children's National Medical Center later this morning. He's also holding this prime time press conference on Wednesday, is because aides really want to build on this momentum.

They are afraid of losing steam, they are afraid of losing momentum. That is why they're pushing hard, stressing this sense of urgency here that they need to get this done. If it's a deadline or a goal by that August recess point.

That's the reason why you're seeing this big, big push from the administration because if it doesn't happen soon, they feel like they're going to lose some of that momentum and it's not going to happen, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Understood. All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning. Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

COLLINS: And, in fact, CNN, Wednesday night at 7:00, "THE MOMENT OF TRUTH" with Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner live from Times Square. Then at 8:00, the premiere of "BLACK IN AMERICA 2" part one.

That will be followed by President Obama's press conference at 9:00, and at 10:00, "BLACK IN AMERICA 2" continues. That again will be on Wednesday night right here on CNN.

Two days after a video showing a captured U.S. soldier was posted online, we have not heard again from that soldier or those who are holding him. The Pentagon has identified the soldier as Army Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl of Idaho.

Bergdahl was captured in -- southeastern Afghanistan, I should say, by the Taliban nearly three weeks ago. In the 30-minute video Bergdahl appears to be under duress, becoming emotional when he speaks of his family. The U.S. military called the video propaganda.

Back in Bowe Bergdahl's Idaho town, just a few people had known he was the soldier captured on June 30th. But out of respect for his family's privacy and fear that their comments could make the situation more precarious, they kept quiet.

And now with his identity released and with permission of his father, the soldier's friends are speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM BAKER, FAMILY FRIEND OF MISSING SOLIDER: Bowe, if you see this, know that we love you and we are praying fervently for you and prayers are going up for you from all over the world. Stand tall and stand firm.

And to all of our valiant men and women in uniform, know that the American people believe in you, support you, and are 100 percent behind you. And we thank God every day that you have our backs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Like the people who live in Bowe Bergdahl's his Idaho community, the military had previously kept his identity under wraps. And CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon now with what officials are able to say today.

Barbara, we're probably going to get a whole lot more details about this in coming days. But what do we know right now?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, according to the official accounts, Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl of Idaho disappeared on June 30th from his combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan. This 28-minute video now surfacing.

His captors ask him a number of political questions about the war, and of course, because he is being held, his answers reflect that he is in captivity. But let's get right to it. Let's hear from Bowe Bergdahl about how he feels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOWE BERGDAHL, CAPTURED U.S. SOLDIER: Scared I won't be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: The military, of course, continuing to search for him and you reflected that his family is trying to keep this very private. They've asked not to be approached by the media, but over the weekend they issued a brief statement in which his family said, quote, "We hope and pray for our son's safe return to his comrades and then to our family and we appreciate all the support and expressions of sympathy shown to us."

A lot of this is being kept very quiet, Heidi. The feeling in the U.S. military is if they can keep this fairly low key, it only enhances their chances of finding him and getting him back. Heidi?

COLLINS: Absolutely. Do we know any more details, though, about the circumstances surrounding his capture?

STARR: Well, again, the official account I have to tell you is that he simply walked out of his combat outpost with other Afghans and he was captured as soon as he basically left the security of the post, the outpost of where he had been stationed.

It remains to be seen once he is released when the official account really comes out, what the circumstances really were. On the tape, Private First Class Bergdahl says that he was captured when he fell behind on a patrol. Clearly indicating that he is saying, he was on patrol, perhaps the last man in formation, and he was captured when that happened.

That's not what the military has been saying and of course it remains to be seen when all of this is resolved what the final story really is, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Barbara Starr, I know you're following it closely. Thanks so much. Sure do appreciate that.

Meanwhile, a fighter jet crashes in southern Afghanistan today. The fourth air wreck in that country in three days. Here's what we know at this point. The crew ejected safely and is now being treated. The other incidents, including a U.S. fighter jet, crashed on Saturday where two crew members were killed. There was also a civilian helicopter crash and a military helicopter hard landing. NATO reports none of the aircrafts were shot down.

Afghanistan accounts for 90 percent of the world's heroin supply. U.S. Marines were involved in a nighttime mission to destroy chemicals involved in one drug-making operation.

CNN's Ivan Watson went along on the mission in Garmsir District. Here's what he found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And right now the Marines back here are rigging these chemicals with explosives, C-4 plastic explosives. You can see them getting ready for what will be a controlled explosion in a couple of hours.

Now the reason for this, the reason that these C-4 plastic explosives are being placed here is because these chemicals are believed to be used to process heroin. More than 90 percent of the world's heroin comes from Afghanistan and a bulk of that comes from this very province in southern Afghanistan, which has not really been under the control of the Afghan central government in years.

Part of the reason why this operation over the course of this month is such a big deal is because the Marines have moved into areas where the Taliban have been able to operate freely -- where drug cartels have been able to operate freely, in the fields around this town where we're located right now.

You can see miles of poppy fields growing there where the heroin is and later produced using some of these chemicals. In addition to this, the Marines have found chemicals used for improvised explosive devices, these deadly weapons that have helped make this bloodiest month yet for NATO forces in Afghanistan.

In a couple of hours, we expect before the sun comes up that these shop market stalls here in this busy bazaar, normally a busy bazaar, will go up in smoke.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: All right. We've got the opportunity now to bring in our Ivan Watson who is embedded with the U.S. Marines as you saw there. He's live for us now on the phone from Helmand Province.

Ivan, what can you tell us at this point?

WATSON (via phone): Well, Heidi, sure enough, the explosion did go off before dawn this morning. We should have some video of that massive explosion in the chemical fire that burned for at least an hour after that controlled explosion.

Now in addition to this, it's very important to note, Heidi, a year ago the Marines, a smaller detachment, moved into this area, it made a push in clash...

COLLINS: Wow.

WATSON: ... with Taliban insurgents. In that time frame, I was told by the Marines that they were not going to target the narcotics industry here. It's a booming $3 billion trade on this visit with the Marines. It's a much larger detachment. The U.S. military presence in Afghanistan is being doubled since last year.

The narcotics industry appears to be targeted. The Marines have gathered more than a ton of poppy seeds, probably the next season's harvest, and they're going to send that up in smoke in the next 24 hours here.

COLLINS: Wow.

WATSON: Good question, though, how do replace that economic activity to the impoverished farmers here? That's a big challenge for the Afghan central government and for the diplomats if and when the Marines can actually push the Taliban insurgents out of this area.

COLLINS: Yes. Understood. And Ivan, you're right, we did have that video while you're talking there. Incredible, huge, huge explosions. Appreciate you being there and, of course, we'll keep in close contact as well as we can with you.

Ivan Watson reporting for us, on the imbed with U.S. Marines, Helmand Province.

Meanwhile, a lender that's considered a life blood of America's small business teeters on the verge of bankruptcy. We'll tell you about the new hope that the CIT Group can be saved.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. The temperatures seemed either too hot or too cold for this time of the year. We're going to see a little switch up with that. Your forecast is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Wall Street making a boost today on reports that a rescue package could keep CIT Group out of bankruptcy. Well, why should you care about that? Well, CIT specializes in loans to small and mid-sized businesses, the companies that keep millions of Americans, of course, at work.

Let's get the latest now. Christine Romans is part of our CNN money team.

So, Christine, what do we know about the emergency funding here?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, CIT being very quiet and cautious this morning. We're waiting for an official announcement, but discussions over the weekend, a numerous reports from the "Wall Street Journal," "Financial Times," Reuters and others that CIT was able to get some emergency funding, some emergency financing from its bondholders to the tune of $3 billion.

If that is, indeed, the case, and this company gets breathing room, Heidi, to try to restructure to itself so it can go on and continue to be that top lender to small and mid-sized businesses.

COLLINS: So, obviously, we know that partially that's why this company is so important, but is there more that people should understand here?

ROMANS: Well, look, this is a company that is sort of the name that you know if you are a small business owner, you're trying to start up, say, a Dunkin' Donuts.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: Or a retail manufacturer or an apparel company, or a manufacturer to serve any of those sort of household names. And this is the company that does the financing if you're starting up and it also does something called factoring, that is sort of forwarding you some money while you're in the process of manufacturing and selling your products so you can keep the operational money flowing.

The biggest small business lender. It's got a million customers. It operates in some 30 different industries, but very big in retail and textile, also restaurants, and it is the top lender to women and minority-owned businesses, as well.

So, this is, as the CEOs said last fall, Heidi, that the bridge between main street and Wall Street, and that bridge, most of the lanes on that bridge at this hour are closed, trying to see whether they can keep them open if they can get this emergency financing.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, you have to ask. Why did Washington decide that they wouldn't bail this one out?

ROMANS: It's interesting it looks as though the Treasury Department and the administration has decided that the system has healed enough, that this company should be allowed to go it alone. It got more than $2 billion in funds from the bank bailout last fall, but it has not been allowed to participate in some of the other bailouts this spring and some government-backed debt issuance alike.

And what the Treasury said, basically, is even during periods of financial stress, we believe that there is a very high threshold for exceptional government assistance to individual companies. Essentially, this one's going to have to go it alone.

And it's a real test, I think, Heidi, and a new phase in the bailouts. On the one hand, there are people who are advocates for small businesses who say, look, Washington is abandoning small business and it has helped the big, you know, the big guys, the big banks all along the way.

But on the other hand, this is saying, look, the financial system is healthy enough that we should let the system work, we should let the bondholders and other banks come to the aid of this company if, indeed, it needs to, to avoid bankruptcy. You have to stop somewhere on the bailouts.

COLLINS: Somewhere. Yes.

ROMANS: You know, you can't bail out every company forever. Looks like that's the test here.

COLLINS: Yes. All right. Christine Romans, appreciate it, thank you.

ROMANS: Sure.

COLLINS: So, will Wall Street surge on this latest glimmer of optimism? At the bottom of the hour, we'll check in with Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.

Also, a public memorial is being planned now for Walter Cronkite, the legendary newsman who died Friday at the age of 92. A memorial service for the iconic broadcaster will be held at New York's Lincoln Center. But details about that are not yet being released.

Cronkite was once voted the "Most Trusted Man in America." His calm presence on "CBS News" reassured so many people through such crises as assassinations, the Vietnam War and Watergate.

Over the weekend, we learned Cronkite will be laid to rest in his native state of Missouri. He'll be buried beside his wife of 64 years, Betsy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We choose to go to the moon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Forty years ago today, Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Where were you when the news broke?

We are launching "Hotline to Heidi" today so you can actually call in with your story. We would love to hear it. The number, 1- 877-742-5760. You see it there on the screen.

We are also talking about the moon landing on our blog. Very curious to know our question today. If you could afford it, would you fly to the moon? There's been some talk about that, at least in the future anyway.

Once again, you can get on CNN.com/heidi and just post your comments. We'll read some of them throughout the show here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Trying not to panic as swine flu keeps spreading across Europe. Britain is the worst hit now with 55,000 people infected last week alone. The people are getting even more worried.

Officials say people should go about their lives, but should wash their hands regularly. We've been telling you that a lot here. They also say pregnant women should stay away from large crowds on public transportation if they can.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are now saying passengers suspected of carrying the virus will need that doctor's note in order to fly.

H1N1, better known as swine flu, is also taking its toll south of the equator in countries where flu season is already in full swing. Some feel we may see the same thing when our flu season begins this fall.

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been tracking the virus for us and she is joining us now with more on this.

So, it kind of sounds like, Elizabeth, officials are bracing themselves for this challenge this fall to keep this thing under control.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right and the reason why is that most people don't have immunity to it. So when seasonal flu hits, at least some of us have already seen it. Our bodies kind of recognize it.

COLLINS: Sure.

COHEN: However, for H1N1, most of us really have very little, if any, immunity. So take a look, for example, at what's happening in Australia where, for them, it's kind of like mid-January for the United States. This is the height of flu season. In July 6th, they had about 5,000 cases of swine flu.

Now check this out, July 17th, 11 days later...

COLLINS: Wow.

COHEN: ... those number of cases more than doubled. Yes. It's a wow. I mean that is a huge, huge difference. And they now have -- now I'm going to point this out, though -- 31 deaths.

Now when you see that many people sick, and it's probably even more than that, to have 31 deaths. This virus is sort of spreading throughout the population. The people are not dropping dead right and left. I think that's an important point to make.

COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely. So remind us again, who's most likely to get H1N1?

COHEN: Well, this is one of the really interesting things about H1N1 is that sometimes you think oh, it's going to be old people or babies. But actually in this case, the big -- the bulk of the cases are people between the ages of 5 and 24.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: So, it's a lot of young people -- you know, sort of kids and young adults, and that's unusual.

COLLINS: Yes. And then there are different degrees of how sick people get, too. Who is the most likely to get severely ill?

COHEN: OK. Now that is very similar to seasonal flu. The people who are most likely to get severely ill are pregnant women and also people with medical conditions. People who have asthma, people who have lung disease, people who have all sorts of medical conditions.

So those are the folks who need to worry if they do get sick. And those are also the folks where if there's not enough vaccine to go around, they're going to be the first to get it.

COLLINS: Got it. OK. Again, can you do anything to prepare for this?

COHEN: Find a babysitter. The reason why I say that because I know you have kids, is that there's a study out just today from "The Lancet" is that school closings actually work. When you start to see swine flu in a school, closing down that school actually works to stem the spread of the virus.

So, I think we can expect to see quite a few school closings. So you need -- parents need to come up with a Plan B.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: And also all the usual stuff that your mom told you. Wash your hands.

COLLINS: Exactly.

COHEN: God hygiene. All of that kind of thing.

COLLINS: Yes. Yes. Sounds so severe when you do a school closing, but...

COHEN: But it's works.

COLLINS: They're saying it's working.

COHEN: Right. It's working. Yes.

COLLINS: All right. Appreciate that. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

COLLINS: We know you're staying on top of the swine flu for us. Meanwhile, reflecting on Apollo 11, 40 years later. We'll talk with an astronaut and doctor, Mae Jemison, who also made history herself as the first female African-American astronaut. Hear her thoughts on NASA's most famous mission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: Stocks are set for a higher start on Wall Street this morning as investors keep their fingers crossed for a possible deal to help CIT.

Susan Lisovicz in the New York Stock Exchange now with more on that. And a look ahead to the day's market action.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.

The Dow was up 5 for 5 last week, its best weekly point gain since March.

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: The NASDAQ, meanwhile, Heidi Collins, is riding an eight-session win streak. I should bring out that cow bell back out.

COLLINS: I know, I'm always wondering where it is.

LISOVICZ: Well, you know -- we're not looking at that big of an open. So, I'm a little bit restrained here. But we are looking at some positive mo. CIT's battered shares in the pre-market up 85 percent. All things considered, the troubled lender stocks now less than $1.50 a share.

Published reports say the board of the small business lender has approved a deal for of $3 billion in emergency financing. CIT, of course, has been scrambling to raise money after the government decided not to provide additional assistance last week.

Well, we've seen stocks rising. Well, the appetite for risk means oil prices are edging higher for the fourth day in a row, trading right now about $64.50 a barrel. The jump comes thanks to a rally in Asian stocks overnight. Of course this is nothing compared to what we saw a year ago.

In the first minute of trading, yes, the Dow, the NASDAQ, the S&P 500 all up about at least 1/3 of a percent. Last week, Heidi, all of the major averages jumped by 7 percent or more. We really -- whether we're going to see duplicate this week depends on more earnings. We're trying to get a crush of companies reporting.

Caterpillar, Morgan Stanley, Boeing, Apple, American Express. Many others on tap.

A lot of folks, Heidi, say, what we saw last week raised the bar for the rest, you know, to follow.

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: That's one of the reasons why the major averages were up so high last week. So we'll have to...

COLLINS: OK. All right. Well, we're watching. We like the plus signs, obviously.

Susan Lisovicz, check back later. Thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Reinventing the nation's health care system. The criticism adds up and the White House backs down. The Obama administration says it will trim costs and even ignore the August deadline it set for Congress to act. The leading Republicans say their party will never support the reforms or the risks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL STEELE, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Candidate Obama promised change. President Obama is conducting an experiment. He's conducting a dangerous experiment with our health care and with the quality of our lives. He's conducting a reckless experiment with our economy. And he's conducting an unnecessary experiment with our tax dollars.

Experiments that will transform the very way of life of our country and its citizens. The president is rushing this experiment through Congress so fast, so soon, that we haven't had a moment to think if it would work, or worse, to think about the consequences to our nation, our economy, and our families if it doesn't work. The Barack Obama experiment with America is a risk our country can't afford. It's too much, too fast, too soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: RNC chairman there Michael Steele speaking just a few minutes ago. In fact, he's still speaking right now at the National Press Club on health care reform.

Meanwhile, President Obama has repeatedly said he does not want a government-run health care system. His vision, creating the option of government coverage and making private insurance companies more competitive with their rates.

CNN Wednesday night at 7:00, "The Moment of Truth" with Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner live from Time Square. And then at 8:00, the premiere of "BLACK IN AMERICA 2" part one. That will be followed by President Obama's news conference on health care once again coming your way at 9:00 Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We chose to go to the moon.

NEIL ARMSTRONG, APOLLO 11 ASTRONAUT: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Where were you 40 years ago today? Probably in front of the television watching Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the moon. That was then, and this is now.

This morning, the Apollo 11 astronauts are reuniting for a news briefing at NASA's headquarters in Washington. And then this afternoon, President Obama welcomes them to the White House. The astronauts are expected to call on the president to support a manned mission to Mars.

Coming up in just a few minutes, in fact, we're going to be talking with Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut. We'll get her thoughts on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the future of the space program.

And that giant leap for mankind 40 years ago paving the way for another out of this world event scheduled for later today. Taking a stroll in space. Astronauts on the shuttle "Endeavor" are planning a second space walk for about 11:30 a.m. Eastern. They wrapped up the first space walk over the week. The astronauts are attaching the final piece of the space lab to the International Space Station.

Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras standing by now to talk a little bit more about these cooler temperatures, and also, I don't know if you want to talk about the potty situation. I though they'd be up there working on the potty today.

JERAS: You would think. I know, we talked about this over the weekend. That was the big deal. 11 men and 2 women sharing one bathroom.

COLLINS: I know. That's not pretty.

JERAS: Not pretty.

COLLINS: Yes.

JERAS: Bummer for them. Hey, you know, what's been pretty, though?

COLLINS: Weather.

JERAS: The weather?

COLLINS: Love it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Yes. Well, too good to be true, I guess, for too long.

All right. Jacqui, thanks. We'll check back later on.

JERAS: OK.

COLLINS: A confession in those deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The lone surviving gunman talks in court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A tragic story to tell you about from Australia. A 15- year-old girl returning home from studying abroad finds out her entire family had been bludgeoned to death while they slept. Australian officials say the girl's parents, her aunt, and two younger brothers ages 9 and 12 died from wounds to the head and upper body. They believe they were killed in their home in a suburb of Sidney sometime this weekend. Police say there were no signs of forced entry and nothing was stolen from the home.

We have developing news this morning from those deadly terror attacks in Mumbai, India. Indian officials say the only surviving gunman captured after the attack confessed in court.

You may remember back in November, at least 10 heavily-armed men killed more than 160 people after they planned a series of attacks in the country's financial capital.

Our Mallika Kapur is joining us now live from Mumbai with the latest on this confession.

Good morning to you Mallika. Wow, this is pretty amazing.

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. A really dramatic turn around today in an Indian courtroom, which left everybody in the courtroom, the judge, the media, the prosecution, even the defense lawyers completely shocked. This was not what anybody had expected. For months now the lone gunman has been pleading not guilty to 86 charges against him. And all of a sudden, this morning, he stood up in the courtroom, asked to speak to the judge and these are his words.

He said, "Sir, I plead guilty to my crimes." And he then went on to detail how he came to India that night from Pakistan, how he and nine other terrorists boarded the boat, traveled to India, and how they carried out the terror attacks that night. So after months of saying he had nothing to do with it, this is a very dramatic revelation from the one terrorist who survived last year's attacks.

COLLINS: Well, do we have any idea now? I mean, as you say, this is such an amazing surprise. Any idea what will happen next now as far as where they'll go with his confession?

KAPUR: That's a very good question. The court now faces two options. Well, first of all, they have to decide whether this confession was made voluntarily or whether it was made under duress. They also have to ask themselves if (INAUDIBLE) is doing this to pass the blame onto other people. Is he is trying to pass the blame onto his dead accomplices? Is he doing this because he's getting some messages from groups outside India, for example?

And then they have two options. They can accept his confession at face value, give him a sentence and close the trial, or, which is more likely, they will go ahead with the trial just because it's the proper thing to do. They have to give him a proper chance to defend himself, and they want to go through all the evidence that they have against him.

COLLINS: All right. Mallika Kapur, we certainly do appreciate. Excellent reporting. And I know Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is there in the country, as well. And I imagine this topic will come up.

Thanks so much once again.

It is one man's mission to put an end to a disturbing trend affecting black men. As a part of "BLACK IN AMERICA 2," special correspondent Soledad O'Brien looks at how he hopes to achieve that goal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: We choose to go to the moon.

ARMSTRONG: One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I don't know about you, but I still get goose bumps every time I hear it. Just like the Apollo 11 crew 40 years ago, Dr. Mae Jemison also made history in space.

In September of 1992, she blasted off aboard the space shuttle "Endeavor. She was the first African-American woman to go into space.

Dr. Mae Jemison joining us now live from Houston this morning.

Don't you still get goose bumps when you hear those words?

DR. MAE JEMISON, FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO GO INTO SPACE: I get goose bumps when I hear those words. I get goose bumps when I see the footage, and I get goose bumps when I see a shuttle takeoff or when we talk about what we're going to do in the years to come.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, I imagine it is quite a big day for you.

Tell me where you were 40 years ago today.

JEMISON: Well, I was in Chicago. I was going to Chicago public schools, and my parents were -- we knew that we're going to watch the event. We watched the landing, and then I think I fell asleep. And then they woke me up for the actual descent out of the capsule.

COLLINS: Wow.

JEMISON: So, it was very exciting, because I always kept the house in an uproar to make sure that we were following space exploration, because I wanted to be involved, and I thought it was really important for humans.

COLLINS: Absolutely. So this was a day that influenced you pretty greatly I imagine for your future.

JEMISON: Well, I always wanted to be involved in science and technology, so I ended up chemical engineering, medicine and a number of other things. But I always thought space was one of those places that we as humans needed to be involved in, where we were going to explore.

COLLINS: It's just cool, isn't it? I also know, obviously, as we've stated here that you were the first African-American astronaut. Did that add some pressure to when you went up in Endeavor?

JEMISON: Well, I was a first African-American woman to go up in the space, and the only one in the space NASA program.

COLLINS: There you are now.

JEMISON: OK. In the NASA program at that time. But, you know, the pressure, I think, more comes from internally. You want to make sure that, first of all, you have to do your job.

COLLINS: Sure.

JEMISON: And so for me, I wanted to be involved in space exploration no matter what. But I think the other thing that being a first. Does it help to give you a platform from which to think about and talk about things? And for me that platform is really, you know, what has all of this meant to our world? What does science and technology mean to our world? And the fact that all of us have been involved?

If you look around the globe, every culture, every society has had astronomers.

COLLINS: Yes.

JEMISON: People who try to understand the heavens. And so it's very much a part of who we are as a species, let's say.

COLLINS: Yes. And I'm just getting a kick out of watching you doing the walk to the "Endeavor." We're looking at some of that footage from back in 1992. It's great, great stuff.

Listen, you know, this week we're focusing on "BLACK IN AMERICA." And I know that after you came back from space, you said some of those things that the U.S. needs to do more to recognize the contributions of both women and minorities to the society.

It's 2009 now. JEMISON: Yes?

COLLINS: Do you think of -- any of that has been accomplished? That recognition?

JEMISON: Well, I think we have accomplished a lot of that, but I think we focus on single individuals, or single individuals who have done quote, unquote "unique things."

But every day, if you go and you look at the people who are helping to put together the shuttle, the technician, they're women and African-Americans and Hispanics in this.

COLLINS: Right.

JEMISON: All kinds of people. So what we need to do is to understand that all of this, this technology, this design work goes on with the contributions of all the talent that we have in society. So what we need to do now is to really focus in and say, "OK, what are we going to do in the future? How do we develop all of our children's scientific potential and expertise?" They don't all have to be professional scientist, engineers, but they need to be science literate.

COLLINS: Absolutely. Quickly, in five words or less. Where does the space program go from here?

JEMISON: I think where we have to go is, is have a vision that the American public understands and that they understand how much space exploration -- whether it's with people on board or whether it's robotic missions or telescopes...

COLLINS: Sure.

JEMISON: How much it's changed our world, and how much it has to offer. And let's go to Mars immediately.

COLLINS: You're getting on board for that one.

All right. Dr. Mae Jemison, a pleasure talking with you. Happy anniversary, if you will, on this 40th anniversary of walking on the moon.

Thank you so much.

JEMISON: Thank you.

COLLINS: Our iReporter Greg Force from Greenville, South Carolina, sent us these pictures that we want to share with you. He said he played a very small part in Apollo 11's return to earth, when he was just 10 years old.

Look at this shot. His dad Charles Force was the NASA tracking station director on Guam at the time. His dad had Greg help make last-minute repairs to a NASA antenna that had problems after Apollo landed. Now Greg was the only person with an arm small enough to reach in and make that fix.

Here's his dad, Charles Force, along with Greg and astronaut Neil Armstrong. Greg says he even got a thank you note from Neil Armstrong for making those repairs.

And here's the picture of discovery on the launch pad, and a picture of Greg's dad, Charles Force, with the first President George Bush.

Very cool.

We are asking you to call in with your memories from the moon walk. Here's what Peggy from Iowa had to say.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: I was a young girl at the time. And we were having a family reunion when this took place. Every person in my family who was just in awe at this great thing that happened. I think it was one of the best things that ever happened to the United States, and I would like to see the program continue on.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COLLINS: All right. Very cool. So we are also talking about the moon walk on our blog today.

In fact, our question is, "Would you travel to the moon today, if you could afford it?"

Here are some of your responses. Let's head on over to Heidi's Mac to take a look. Remember just go to CNN.newsroom/heidi. Click on my name there. And then go ahead up and give us your comments.

The first one says this. "Of course, I would travel to the moon without any hesitation. However, I wonder what is the fee for that first checked luggage?"

I thought that one was pretty good.

And then this one. "Good morning, Heidi. I couldn't see going on the moon. We have rocks and sand down here. I wouldn't mind taking a couple of orbits and seeing what space looks like, though."

All right. So we sure do appreciate that.

By phone, by blog and by ESP. We want to hear from you. Just call this number. You can see it hopefully on your screen. If not, here it is -- 1-877-742-5760. That's the hot line to Heidi or just go to cnn.com/heidi. We'll take your comments.

Meanwhile, there's an awful lot going on in the next hour of the NEWSROOM. And CNN crews are in place to break it all down for you. Let's begin this morning with Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.

Hi, Suzanne. MALVEAUX: Hey, Heidi. Well, President Obama is engaged in aggressive public relations campaign to sell his health care reform plan. He's going to be speaking before the Children's National Healthcare Center and to push that plan. I'll have more of that at the top of the hour.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans in New York. Is CIT close to a second chance? Emergency financing so it can keep the credit flowing to small business America? We'll have the details at the top of the hour.

JERAS: And I'm Jacqui Jeras. The temperatures have been flip- flopped across the country. They're too hot or too cold. We're going to see some big changes with those temps coming up in your forecast.

COLLINS: Never can make everybody happy, can you, Jacqui.

All right. Thanks so much, guys.

Also with home values way down in Detroit, some people see the real estate market there as an investment of a lifetime. Others say it could be a huge risk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's a disturbing trend. Black men dying earlier than men of other races from preventable causes like heart disease, HIV, cancer and violence. It's one of the stories special correspondent Soledad O'Brien brings us in "BLACK IN AMERICA 2" on Wednesday.

She visits a pioneering men's health clinic on Chicago's South Side that's trying to stop those trends by any means necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Thomas.

DR. PETE THOMAS, PROJECT BROTHERHOOD: All right. Good. Good.

Deep breath in and out for me.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Pete Thomas is a pioneer.

THOMAS: I refilled these inhalers for you.

O'BRIEN: On a mission to save the lives of black men. Men whose life expectancy is eight years less than the national average. And he's found an innovative strategy to do it.

THOMAS: We're going to slowly try to really work with your diet.

OK, what's going on with your leg?

Stop smoking.

O'BRIEN: It's called Project Brotherhood. Its goal, to treat the whole man.

THOMAS: We know how to get men to the health centers. And it's not by advertising free colonoscopies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: HIV is preventable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to exercise.

O'BRIEN: Project Brotherhood begins here in this and many other Chicago barbershops.

(on camera): So why barbershops. Why are they so critical to you?

THOMAS: Well, this is a staple in our community. So men feel comfortable coming into the shop and, more importantly, they feel comfortable talking about what other health issue that they may have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a great thing to be able to share with people.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Whether it's a fear of being exploited, going back to the Tuskegee experiment, the economics of it all, including a lack of health insurance, or the fact that most doctors don't look like them, black men are notoriously reluctant to go to the doctor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen to your heartbeat...

O'BRIEN: Every Thursday, men come to Chicago's South Side for free haircuts, conversation, classes, meditations and, yes, free doctors visits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?

MARCUS MURRAY, CO-DIRECTOR, PROJECT BROTHERHOOD: It's looks like, like a public health. So health to us is mental, physical, social, economic and spiritual. If one aspect is off in a man's life, he's not going to be too healthy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

O'BRIEN: Everything Project Brotherhood offers is free of charge. A much-need lifeline during these tough economic times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep up the good work, and then here's your return visit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN Wednesday night at 7:00. "The Moment Of Truth" with Steve Harvey and Tom Joyner, live from Times Square. And then at 8:00, the premiere of "BLACK IN AMERICA 2," part one. That will be followed by President Obama's press conference at 9:00. That's Wednesday night right here on CNN.