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Federal Authorities Looking for Eighth Terror Suspect in Alleged Homegrown Terrorist Plot; President to Give Two More Town Halls About Health Care Reform; Police Departments Across Nation Get $1 Billion in Stimulus Money; Pregnant Women Beware of Swine Flu; Gates 911 Caller to Speak Out; GM Considers Getting Back into the Leasing Game; Michael Jackson's Doctor's Home and Office Searched by Police; Drought in Southern Texas May Affect Whole Country
Aired July 29, 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: Looking for an eighth terror suspect. Federal authorities say they're trying to find another member of the alleged group of homegrown jihadists.
CNN Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has more on the investigation and the supposed ringleader arrested in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Willow Spring, North Carolina, seems an unlikely place to find terrorists, but on Monday, a S.W.A.T. team swept down on this house to arrest Daniel Boyd, two of his sons and four other suspect were also picked up.
STEVEN EMERSON, INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT ON TERRORISM: They had all sworn to be martyrs and all sworn to carry out jihad operations and they had all sworn their hatred of the United States.
MESERVE: In the early 1990s Daniel Boyd fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Mere recently the government alleges he used his street creed and experience to recruit young men in the Raleigh area to wage jihad overseas. According to court documents they amassed a cache of weapons and trained with them in rural North Carolina.
THOMAS V. FUENTER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: I would compare this potential in this case that they could have conducted on another Mumbai-type attack. They could have traveled to a more populated area in the United States and using that tremendous arsenal before could have killed hundreds of people before being stopped by the police.
MESERVE: But they did not target the U.S. The government alleges members of the group traveled to Gaza, Jordan, Israel, Kosovo and Pakistan to wage violent jihad without success. A friend of Boyd's wife, Sabrina, read a statement on her behalf.
KHALILAH SABRA, MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY FREEDOM: Charges have not been substantiated. We are an ordinary family. We have the right to justice and we believe that justice will prevail.
MESERVE (on camera): Authorities say they're looking for an eighth man in connection with this investigation, but he may still be in Pakistan, where he allegedly went to wage holy war. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Raleigh, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is talking about terror this morning. Speaking in New York City just last hour. Napolitano said we all need to be more vigilant in our own communities and that all agencies, both federal and local need to work as partners to successfully react to terror threats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Now, President Obama has been very forceful about seeing the threat of terrorism in all of its complexity and in bringing all of our resources, not just the federal government to bear against violent extremism. So, today, I will speak candidly about the urgent need to refocus our counter terror approach to make it a shared endeavor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Napolitano went on to say the Department of Homeland Security is looking for a better alert system and if they find one, the color coded threat levels will be retired.
Health care reform may have sold on Capitol Hill, but the debate is being carried to the people. President Barack Obama trying to rally support among the public. Yesterday, he focused on older Americans during a town hall meeting with AARP. This hour, he heads south. First stop, Raleigh, North Carolina, then Bristol, Virginia. And Blue Dog Democrats are about to explain why they've opposed their own party's plans and the fiscal conservatives are holding a news conference as we speak.
This hour the president hits the road. He's taking part in two town hall meetings, including one at a Kroger Super market. CNN's Ed Henry is joining us now from Bristol, Virginia, with more on that. Hey, Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning again, Heidi. You know, what's significant about this town hall later today is it's going to be with Kroger employees who have pretty generous health benefits and they're not uninsured and there has been this sort of conventional wisdom in Washington that people with good benefits who are insured don't want to pay higher taxes in order to cover the 46 million people who don't have that insurance.
But I can tell you from talking to people in these supermarket aisles, that conventional wisdom may be turned on its head.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HENRY (voice-over): They're rolling out the red carpet in rural Virginia, but the president could get a chilly reception in the frozen food aisle where we found clerk Phil Younce, a McCain voter who fears health reform is being rushed, just like the stimulus.
PHIL YOUNCE, FROZEN FOOD CLERK, KROGER SUPERMARKET: Like the last package they pushed through, it was too hurried and a lot of mistakes, a lot of things that shouldn't be.
HENRY: But Cathy Montgomery, assistant produce manager, voted for the president and is pumped up he is getting tough with Congress.
CATHY MONTGOMERY, ASST. PRODUCE MANAGER, KROGER SUPERMARKET: I like the fact that he stepped up and he's being aggressive. I really do. I mean, I'm all for that.
HENRY: Thousands in this region showed up at a health expo offering free medical care this past weekend, exposing a problem all too familiar to doctors here.
DR. BENNETT COWAN, JR., HOSPICE MEDICAL DIRECTOR: Clearly we all recognize, any physician in the hospital would recognize it's a system in crisis.
HENRY: But like most employees back at the Kroger Supermarket, produced manager Steve Shipplett gets generous health benefits. Despite being an Obama voter, he's nervous those benefits may be taxed to cover the uninsured and is demanding more specifics from the president.
STEVE SHIPPLETT, PRODUCE MANAGER., KROGER SUPERMARKET: He is going to have to spit out some numbers and let the public know exactly what it is going to cost them and what they're going to have to give up.
HENRY: Shipplett says if the president steps up and sells it, then he's willing to step up himself.
SHIPPLETT: We've got to do something and if it means me paying those taxes to get this reform through, then I'd begrudgingly do it, yes.
HENRY: And back in the frozen food aisle, this Republican is ready to do his share, too.
YOUNCE: No matter what kind of a plan you're going to come up with, somebody has to pay for it. So, eventually, it comes down to us, the people that's working and paying taxes. We're going to have to pay for it one way or the other. I just hope we can come up with a plan that's worth paying for.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, it's important to note that all these employees told us they make less than $250,000 a year, and the president has reiterated his campaign promise that he is not going to raise taxes on people in that category. Nevertheless, all the employees, Democrats, Republicans were saying they'd be willing to pay more taxes as long as the president does get more specific. But also, they say, they want to make sure that the rich pay their fair share, and it's not just the middle class taking that burden. So, they're saying look, we'll step up, if others do, as well, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. Still, it's subjective. That term rich, depends on, you know, where you live in the country, it's just plain different. I think I would understand correctly wouldn't, Ed, that he seems to be sort of refining his pitch on healthcare reform to people who already have insurance because a lot of them are worried about their plans and their costs changing, too.
HENRY: That's right. You're absolutely right. And this morning, in advance of these two town halls. The first one in North Carolina and then this one in Virginia right on the Tennessee border, White House said were e-mailing all of us, the sort of new talking points. The eight-point plan that the president is going to have or is going to layout - eight specifics about why people with insurance are going to have more stability, more security with their insurance if there is reform.
Bottom line, a couple of quick examples that if you have a pre- existing condition, no longer will the insurance companies be able to deny you coverage. Also a cap on what you pay out of pocket. Something very important to people who, right now, they may have insurance but all of a sudden they get sick and someone in their family, some of these out-of-pocket expenses just balloon and balloon, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. All right. A very complicated story from right there, it's a grocery store. Thanks so much. Ed Henry, we sure do appreciate it.
HENRY: Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: From Bristol, Virginia.
The healthcare debates and the Blue Dog Democrats. A live look at their news conference happening as we speak. Lawmakers have challenged the president, along with Republicans, on his top domestic issue but say they won't betray their values as fiscal conservatives. We're going to be watching this news conference and bring you more details coming up later right here in the NEWSROOM.
And also a reminder for you. We will have a live coverage of President Obama's town hall meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, scheduled to begin next hour at 11:55 Eastern and 8:55 Pacific.
A powerful political consultant caught up in a New Jersey bribery scandal is dead. 61-yaer-old Jack Shaw was found in his Jersey city home. That's Shaw there in the blue shirt. Police have ruled out homicide and Shaw was accused of taking a $10,000 bribe. In all, 44 people were arrested in the corruption crackdown. You're looking at the video of those arrests. One of them, Secaucus mayor Elwell has since resigned. He is the first elected official to step down. But Elwell still says he has not done anything wrong.
An all-day rain in Topeka, Kansas and waist high water in the streets. The flooding so bad there. Police have to shut down some major roads, including one to the Goodyear plant. The city is getting a bit of a break right now before storms hit.
Karen Maginnis is with us today to talk a little bit more about this. Boy, if you could move that Topeka rain to Texas, right?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That would be perfect. But that is not going to happen, right across this area, extreme drought. But we're going to leave that for Jacqui to describe, coming up in just a few minutes.
Right now we've got some pretty big thunderstorms rumbling around Dallas. I want to show you what's going on. Wow, if that doesn't look a little on the gloomy side. They're expecting about 50/50 chance of storms, I dare say there's just about 100 percent chance that in the next few minutes you will see some thunderstorms rumbling around there.
All right. Let's move on towards the northeast and this last two months of summer in New York has been the coolest, the top three coolest. They made it to 85 degrees one time and beyond that, the last 45 days, the temperature has been at or below seasonable levels. Then we move on towards the Midwest. As a matter of fact, the James(ph) River beginning to fill up and flood warnings out. Plus got some pretty good thunderstorms across this region, as well.
I want to show you some of the airport delays. Now, for Atlanta, it's gloomy, it's overcast and they had delays and the delays went away and now the delays are back again. These departure delays, about 30 minutes. San Francisco, visibility is greatly reduced in San Francisco right now and that's why we're seeing some delays there. Also in Newark and later on this afternoon, Heidi, it looks like for the major airports in New York and Washington, is going to be impacted by some pretty big thunderstorms later on.
COLLINS: OK. Thanks for the update. Karen Maginnis, appreciate it.
$1 billion shot in the arm for police forces across the nation, but not all law enforcement agencies are getting a share of the federal stimulus funds. So who's in and who's out? We'll tell you coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Your stimulus dollars at work. The newest beneficiary, police forces across the nation. Here's CNN's Mary Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some major cities were skipped, but more than 1,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, even stretching to the U.S. territory of Guam are getting $1 billion in stimulus money. The goal is to prevent layoffs, even hire new officers.
Attorney General Eric Holder says in a sign of how tough economic times are, the Justice Department could only provide money to a fraction of the department's requesting aid.
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We received applications from more than 7,000 cities and towns and made funding decisions based on crime rate, financial need and community policing activities.
SNOW: And it means there were plenty of cities not getting grants through the program known as COPS, Community Oriented Police Services. New York, Houston, Seattle and Pittsburgh were among those on the empty-handed list. The vice president tried to soften the blow.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I know our friends in New York were very disappointed. They didn't get any C.O.P.S. money this time. What they're getting today is getting $6 million additional local aid immediately for this justice assistance grants.
SNOW: But New York City's police commissioner said the nation's largest police force has different challenges than other cities. He says New York deserves additional federal money and was hoping to put more officers on the ground.
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE: We have been attacked successfully here twice. We had eight major plots since September 11th. We know terrorists want to come here, if they can.
SNOW: It's not the first time New York and Washington haven't seen eye-to-eye over police costs. In 2006, the city had anti-terror funds cut under the Bush administration that caused an uproar. This time around New York mayor says while he's frustrated maybe it's a compliment that New York didn't get grant money because its crime rate is down.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: It's a compliment we got left out. It's not a compliment that I like the results of, but I do like the recognition that we are doing well.
SNOW (on camera): But the departments that did get money, the attorney general says these grants will allow nearly 4,700 police officers to remain on the job for three years. Departments must retain those officers for a fourth year on their own. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So, just which cities are getting the money and which aren't? Our Josh Levs is joining us now with some examples of this. Good morning, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi. It's a big report. It's actually 50, 60 pages in there. We have been piecing through it. What I want to do is take you to the map here because I want to give you some examples around the country of some places that are getting some money. So you'll get a sense of it here.
We're going to start off with Philadelphia. I think that's an interesting one because we've been hearing about the crime in Philadelphia. Philadelphia from this is getting $10.9 million. Now, that is a pretty big chunk of the bit that is being sent out. Let's go to a couple smaller cities. We're going to zoom over west. I want you to see Huntsville, Alabama. They are one of the places getting $2.6 million. Here we are at Huntsville. So they got $2.6 million and there are some other cities out there that are saying, hey, if they can get that much, why couldn't we?
Let's go way over west...
COLLINS: Josh, excuse me, one second. Do we really know the situation there? I mean, how many people have they had to lay off and how many police officers are working? And what is the crime rate?
LEVS: Sure.
COLLINS: Population? I imagine they took all of that into analysis when they decided what was going to go where.
LEVS: They did, and I'll tell you what they did and kind of what we're hearing from Mary as well. They looked at the latest crime rates. They looked at how many officers have been let go. There are some cities out there challenging it saying, hey, we have looked at these cities and we think when you compare what's really happened to us that we apply, as well. But you got the government saying we are absolutely confident that we crunched the numbers here, the number of people that you have to get rid off and the percent to which that was affected by the stimulus is the reason why they made these choices.
The government really standing by this, Heidi. Definitely. And we can take a look right here. I think we're over at Fresno, California. That's one of the cities getting a lot right here. They're getting another $10.2 million, as well. And you are hearing, again, the federal government saying these are the reasons for it. Fresno has really been affected. And let's show our way up to Anchorage, Alaska. I find that one interesting. Anchorage has been in the news because of the governor's situation, as you know. And if you look at Anchorage, they are also getting the same amount there, $2.6 million.
But we also heard from Mary Snow, several cities that are not getting funds, right? Some of the big ones, at least from this specific pot. I want to show you one that I find interesting. Just when you and I were just talking about. Let's shoot down to Miami. Miami is one of the cities getting zero. And we have a statement that just come out today from the Miami Police Department.
Let me open it to you right here. We'll open up the whole screen. Miami-Dade Police Department. These officers would have been assigned to community-oriented policing units to strengthen partnerships for safer communities. And they're calling it unfortunate. That's their word there, Heidi, that our agency was not awarded these federal coverage stimulus dollars. So, what we are seeing here is that there are some police departments out there that are really unhappy. But to contextualize it, I want everyone to see this. Right here. $8.3 billion total, is what was being requested. You had police departments all over the country asking for a total of 39,000 officers. Obviously, there were not enough funds for that. They had $1 billion to go to 4,699 officer positions. So we knew from the beginning, Heidi, that there are going to be some unhappy people out there.
And let's keep in mind, this is not the total that they have. There's one other bit of funding here. The stimulus includes a total of $4 billion to help local law enforcement agencies and it's not just establishing police departments, it's also helping community crime units...
COLLINS: Sure.
LEVS: And helping community agencies that are in other ways fighting crime. So we are seeing a few different ways in which the stimulus is helping. But absolutely, this fight(ph) that we've seen today is going to continue for a while, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Josh Levs for the breakdown. Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: You got it. Thanks.
COLLINS: A warning now for pregnant women. Beware of swine flu. We have the latest recommendations from the CDC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The military may step in to help out if there is a major outbreak of swine flu. Defense official say the Pentagon is considering a plan in which the military would work in conjunction with FEMA and provide support to civilian relief efforts. Now that may include everything from air transport to testing viral samples from infected patients. The proposal needs final approval from Defense Secretary Robert Gates himself.
A new study released by the CDC reveals some interesting information about swine flu and pregnant women. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now to explain. So tell us first, Elizabeth, what's in the report?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What they found in the report is that pregnant women are more likely to get complications from swine flu than people who aren't pregnant. Let's take a look at some numbers. There are very revealing. They found that pregnant women infected with H1N1 are four times as likely to be hospitalized as people who aren't pregnant.
When you look at deaths, the numbers are -- it's a little bit scary. There are 266 people have died in this country from swine flu so far and 15 of those have been pregnant women, which means that six percent of deaths have been pregnant women. That sounds small, but that is more than the percentage of people who are pregnant at any one time. So you can think about it as there is sort of over represented in this group of deaths. They're more likely to die from swine flu than someone who is not pregnant.
COLLINS: So is this specific to swine flu or wouldn't they be more at risk with the regular flu, as well?
COHEN: They're finding with swine flu that it's particularly bad. That these numbers are particularly high?
COLLINS: OK. Why? Why pregnant women?
COHEN: A couple of reasons why. I don't know if you remember when you were pregnant, but you don't have a lot of room in your lungs.
COLLINS: Oh, I remember everything about it.
COHEN: That's right. It's not necessarily a pleasant sensation. And so your lungs get kind of squished when you're pregnant because of the size of the baby and so it affects your entire respiratory process. The other reason is that a pregnant woman's immune system is more easily compromised than someone who is not pregnant. So those are two reasons why they seem to be having this reaction to swine flu.
COLLINS: OK. So where do we stand on the vaccine now? We have been talking about that for a while.
COHEN: We have. So they're still hoping that it will come out in October. And since when it first comes out they may not have enough for everyone who wants one. And so they'll have to prioritize and we're told that pregnant women will be on the list of people who have high priority along with people with immune problems. People with other kinds of diseases but pregnant women will be right up there at the top of the list.
COLLINS: Are they going to want it? I mean, because when you're pregnant, you know, you're told over and over again, be very, very careful about medications that you take.
COHEN: You know, I think they're going to have a tough time convincing pregnant women to get the vaccine. They've done studies that show that even though the CDC has said for years get a flu shot if you're pregnant. You definitely need one. Pregnant women don't really listen and to some extent doctors and nurses, studies have shown, don't really listen either.
I remember when I was pregnant standing in line going to get a flu shot and the nurse tried to talk me out of it. She said, you're pregnant, you shouldn't get a flu shot, well, no actually, I should get a flu shot. I had to talk her into it.
COLLINS: And then she gave you one that really hurt.
COHEN: Right, exactly. (INAUDIBLE) Exactly. But they're going to really -- the CDC will have to turn this whole concept on its head because pregnant women and their healthcare providers sometimes think they shouldn't be getting it.
COLLINS: Yes. Boy, it's confusing when you're the actual pregnant woman.
COHEN: Right, which is true
COLLINS: No kidding. Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, Thanks, Elizabeth.
The woman who called police to report a possible break-in at the home of Harvard professor Henry Gates says she's being hounded by the media. Now she is set to speak publicly for the first time since the controversy ignited on racial profiling.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: The face behind the 911 call. The woman whose phone call brought police to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates' home where the whole incident ended with police arresting him, will speak publicly for the first time today.
CNN's Elaine Quijano is following the developments in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Elaine, good morning to you. I understand the president will soon have that beer with Gates and Officer Crowley, as well.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That's tomorrow. I'll get to that in just a moment, Heidi. But you know, a lot of the anger, at least some of the anger and emotion that's really been stirred up by this controversy has been aimed squarely at the 911 caller. Her name is Lucia Wayland and just a short time ago, Heidi, I got off the phone with her attorney, Wendy Murphy, who tells me that the reason her client wants to come forward today, really is because of a couple of things.
First, as you can imagine, the media has been relentlessly hounding Lucia Wayland since all of this happened and not just her, but members of her family, as well. In addition to that, Wendy Murphy tells me that her client has really been the target of some very vicious verbal attacks that some people have tried to paint her as somehow being racist. That she was a white woman who was scared to see black men in her neighborhood and that's why she called 911.
Well now we know the reality that, in fact, Lucia Wayland never mentioned two black men on that 911 tape. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LUCIA WAYLAND, CALLED POLICE TO GATES' HOME: I don't know if they live there and they just had a hard time with their key. But I did notice that they kind of used their shoulder to try to barge in and they got in. I don't know if they had a key or not because I couldn't see from my angle, but, you know when I looked a little closely that's when I thought -
911 OPERATOR: White or Hispanic? Are they still in the house?
WAYLAND: They're still in the house, I believe. Yes.
911 OPERATOR: White, black or Hispanic?
WAYLAND: Well, there are two larger men. One looks kind of Hispanic, but I'm not really sure. And the other one entered and I didn't see what he looked like at all. I just saw it from a distance and this older woman was worried thinking someone's breaking in at someone's house. They've been barging in and she interrupted me and that's when I had noticed. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have noticed it at all, to be honest with you. I was just calling because she was a concerned neighbor, I guess.
911 OPERATOR: Okay. Are you standing outside?
WAYLAND: I am standing outside, yes.
911 OPERATOR: Police are on the way. You can meet them when you get there. What's your name?
WAYLAND: My name is (BLEEPED OUT).
911 OPERATOR: We're on our way.
WAYLAND: OK. I guess I'll wait, thanks.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
QUIJANO: So, there you have it. Lucia Wayland, we'll hear from her at a news conference coming up in the noon hour in nearby Cambridge. Meantime, in Washington, tomorrow night that meeting is set to take place with President Obama, Sergeant James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Gates. They'll be sitting down to talk things over over some beers at a picnic table on the South Lawn of the White House, Heidi. We'll see what take-away lesson there might be from what President Obama has called a teachable moment. Heidi?
COLLINS: Elaine Quijano, appreciate that. Live from Boston this morning, thank you.
QUIJANO: Sure.
COLLINS: Secretary of State Colin Powell weighing in on the arrest of Professor Gates last night on "LARRY KING LIVE." Powell faulted both Gates and the Cambridge police officer for letting the situation escalate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": You're saying Gates was wrong? COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I am saying Skip, perhaps, in this instance, may have waited a while, come outside, talked to the officer, and that might have been the end of it. He should have reflected if whether or not this was the time to make that big of a deal.
But, he's just home from China and just home from New York. All he wanted to do was get to bed and his door was jammed, and he was in the mood where he said something. When you're faced with an officer trying to do his job and get to the bottom of something, this is not the time to get in an argument with him. I was taught that as a child. You don't argue with a police officer.
In fact, in our schools today, in order to make sure that we don't have things escalate out of control and lead to very unfortunate situations, we tell our kids, when you're being asked something by a police officer, being detained by a police officer, cooperate. If you don't like what happened or if you think that you have been exposed to something that's racist or prejudicial or something that's wrong, then you make a complaint afterwards and you sue them.
KING: Were you ever racially profiled?
POWELL: Yes, many times.
KING: Didn't you ever bring anger to it?
POWELL: Of course. But, you know, anger is best controlled, and sure, I got mad. I got mad as a national security adviser of the president of the United States and I went down to meet somebody at Reagan National Airport, and nobody recognized -- nobody thought I could possibly be the national security adviser of the president. I was just a black guy at Reagan National Airport. It was only when I went up to the counter and said, "Is my guest here waiting for me?" and they said, "Oh, you're General Powell." It was inconceivable to him that a black guy could be the national security adviser.
KING: How do you deal with it?
POWELL: What are you going to do? It was a teaching point for him. Yes, I'm the national security adviser and I'm black and, watch, I can do the job. So, you have this kind of -- there's no African- American in this country who has not been exposed to this kind of situation. Do you get angry? Yes. Do you manifest that anger? You protest, you try to get things fixed, but it's kind of a better course of action to take it easy and don't let your anger make the current situation worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The professor's arrest has spurred a discussion in the media over race relations in America. So, we want to hear from you. Have you been a victim of racial profiling or if you work in law enforcement, what are the challenges you face while policing diverse communities? Share your personal stories on video, and you can be featured here on CNN. Last year, America made history by electing its first black president. This weekend, Soledad O'Brien leads a panel of some of the most influential American voices to examine unique and innovative solutions. Critical issues facing the black community. CNN and "Essence" presents "Black in America: Reclaiming the Dream" Saturday and Sunday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.
Car buyers could get new financing options. The nation's biggest automaker considering jumping back into the leasing game now. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with details. Hi, Susan .
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. This has important repercussions for us consumers alike. GM tells CNN it is looking at ways to get back into leasing.
Now, we don't know a lot of details, for instance, such as which models. That is still being worked out, but there are reports this could happen by August, which is just around the corner now. GM stopped offering leases last August. Different story then. Resale values were sinking, sales overall were tanking, cash reserves were dwindling, but then Uncle Sam stepped in.
And between GM and GMAC, $60 billion -- really actually closer to $65 billion administered to both of them. So, we're starting to see the car resale values, Heidi, are rising. GM, of course, emerged from bankruptcy court this month. And so, this is an important tool for them for overall sales, and it could happen very quickly, Heidi.
COLLINS: OK. But people have been getting at least some financing from credit unions, other lenders. How important exactly is this?
LISOVICZ: Well, to GM, it's huge. Really to almost any car. I mean, leasing by some estimates 20 to 25 percent of GM sales. And you know, I mean, how many people do you know that's leased their cars, especially high-end cars?
So, this is something GM wants to get a piece of the action. And, of course, to do the fiancing, to do one-stop shopping, that's what they want to do. So, that's what's happening with GM. We did get a report on big-ticket items such as cars and it took the biggest drop since January, and you're seeing stocks dropping, too, right now. One hour into trading. The Dow and the NASDAQ each down about 0.5 percent. Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, Susan Lisovicz, we'll keep our eye on those numbers, as always. Appreciate that.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is on a mission to change the habits of computer users who normally use Google to find Web sites. The software giant has reached a long-awaited partnership with Yahoo. Under the ten-year deal, searches on yahoo.com will be powered by Microsoft's new Bing search engine. Yahoo, in turn, will be responsible for attracting premium advertisers. Microsoft will pay Yahoo 88 percent of the revenue it gains from searches on Yahoo's sites. Child welfare, AIDS prevention, even state parks. All targets of last-minute cuts in California's $85 billion budget. Signed by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday. The Associated Press says the governor called the cuts "ugly." But he used his line-item veto on them to have more money to close California's massive deficit. Democrats are asking whether some of those vetoes went beyond the governor's authority.
A move is on in California to legalize marijuana for personal use. Supporters filed paperwork yesterday to put the measure on the state ballot in November 2010. Last week, Oakland became the nation's first city to vote to tax medical marijuana. The proposed measure would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of pot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD LEE, SUPPORTER OF LEGALIZING MARIJUANA: Cannabis doesn't kill you, Alcohol -- we have overdose deaths every year. Alcohol causes violence. Cannabis does neither of those. Citizens should have the right to choose a less dangerous substance.
TONY RIBERA, FORMER SAN FRANCISCO POLICE CHIEF: It compromises your ability to drive a car, it causes many -- compromises to your behavior. Of course, you can make comparisons to alcohol, but, again, I'm not arguing here that alcohol is a good thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: OK, so talking two issues here. Medical marijuana and then legalizing pot as a whole. Backers need more than 400,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot. They claim legalized pot could bring the state nearly $1.4 billion in revenue. So, lots of talk lately about things like marijuana to bring in extra money for state or federal programs for that matter.
We want to know this from you. What would you actually tax to help pay for health care? In specific, what would you tax to pay for health care? Here are some of the comments we got from our blog. Go to CNN.com/heidi and you can weigh in.
The first one says this, "How about a premium tax on computer games, especially the violent ones." This one, "I say tax the one thing that has truly replaced God in the hearts of many Americans, sports. Especially football. If they would tax alcohol, anything to do with sex and sports, they would be able to pay for a great many things that benefit the decent people of this country." Hmm.
This one says, "Mother-in-laws when they stay over at your house for more than two days." All right. I'd like to get more on that story. "Tax Congress, one dollar for each word that comes out of a mouth that doesn't answer the question that was asked of them." Finally, this one here. "I would tax toilet paper, that way everyone pays." That is why we love our viewers.
Not too late to sound off, either. Go to CNN.com/heidi to post your thoughts on the blog or call the "Hotline to Heidi." That number is, once again 1-877-742-5760.
The agency in charge of regulating the trade of commodities like crude oil says it has a responsibility to protect the American people from skyrocketing prices. Now, it's proposing new rules to prevent a spike in oil prices like the one we saw last summer. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York. Hi, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi, Heidi. This is known as a commodity features trading commission. To think of it as PFTC (ph). They're holding hearings this week, rather controversial, getting a lot of attention this week, trying to figure out the best way to protect us from surging prices and therefore painful prices at the pump because of excessive speculation.
Now, I want to separate this speculators and actual consumers of oil, because you have airlines that buy their oil to run their planes through these futures contracts. That's an attempt for them to save money in the long run.
But there's hedge funds, investment banks and everyday investors like me and you that can buy those oil futures contracts. We don't collect the oil in the end, that's the big difference. We just bet on the price as an investment. We have seen more and more investors over recent years pouring their money into oil, betting on oil prices, driving the price higher.
In fact, CNN's Allan Chernoff reported on this back in 2007. So, this isn't a new issue. What is new, though, the CFTC is proposing trade limits on those financial companies, those hedge funds and those banks in order to not see the spikes in oil that we have seen. There's widespread support for this, Heidi. Interestingly enough, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange came out just this week, saying they are in support of that and that is, of course, the world's largest commodities exchange where all of that oil, a lot of it, Heidi, is traded.
COLLINS: Yes. Sounds really tricky, though. The CFTC said last summer, in fact, that excessive speculation did not actually cause prices to go up, and that it was mainly a supply-and-demand issue.
HARLOW: Exactly right. You know what, officially on the record to us, they're not reversing that statement, but I'll tell you, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that that exact agency is going to issue a report next month saying that indeed, speculation played a significant role in the surging oil prices and therefore the surging gas prices that we all felt last summer.
If that happens, Heidi, and we will be watching, that's a complete reversal of what they said about six months ago when they came out with that previous report, but they said the Journal's report is premature and inaccurate. But they did tell us they're in favor of curbing speculation to protect consumers from surging costs.
Want to show you two charts to give you the real numbers, and you can't argue with these numbers. What you see there, first of all, if you see consumption, and what you see is consumption bottoming out in September of 2008. And then I want to show you the price of oil, and what you see there is the price spiking above 140 bucks in July and then bottoming out after that, Heidi. Put the two numbers side by side. Hard to make the argument that an increase in demand caused that spike in oil prices.
COLLINS: Very, very big picture to all of it. Obviously, important. Poppy Harlow, thank you.
We have been hearing a lot about Propofol, the powerful sedative Michael Jackson may have been given before he died. We go inside an operating room to see exactly how it works.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It may be next week before we learn the cause of Michael Jackson's death. That's when the coroner's office is expected to release autopsy results. Yesterday investigators searched the Las Vegas home of Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician. They left with cell phones and a computer hard drive.
Investigators also searched Murray's office. Jackson's attorney said the warrant allowed investigators to look for Jackson's medical records. The search came one day after a source with knowledge of the case confirmed Murray gave Jackson the powerful drug Propofol. Authorities believe that drug is what killed the pop star.
Normally, Propofol or Diprivan, as it is commonly called, is administered in a hospital setting. Our chief medical correspondent and surgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's been a lot of discussion regarding Propofol. How exactly to use it, and is it considered safe in any setting other than a hospital or medical setting? So, I decided pictures are worth a thousands words, I'm going to take you inside my operating room to show you firsthand what really happens. Come on in.
So, we are here inside the operating room with Dr. Vershan (ph). He is the chief of anesthesiology here. Propofol is a medication he uses all the time. So, is this it right over here?
DR. VERSHAN (ph): Yes.
GUPTA: Milk of amnesia, they call it.
VERSHAN: Milk of amnesia. Vincent, you okay? We have to monitor his EKG and we have to make sure he's breathing, we have to see a saturation, we have to make sure he's ventilated.
GUPTA: That's all typical stuff any time...
VERSHAN: Standard of care, yes.
GUPTA: OK, so the Propofol... VERSHAN: (INAUDIBLE). You're going to get a little sleepy, Vincent. Give me some good, deep breaths.
GUPTA: Take a look at his eyes, how quickly he's...
VERSHAN: Deep breath, Vincent. You're doing great, may feel a little burning, OK?
GUPTA: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
VERSHAN: There is a reason for his heart rate increase. His eyes are closed.
GUPTA: His eyes closed. And what else there...
VERSHAN: Now, look up here. He stopped breathing. So, this is watching his inutile CO2, and he's not breathing anymore, and my wonderful (ph) is going to help him breathe.
GUPTA: Take a look over here. All the breathing right now is taking place at this bag and this mask. Without that medication, he couldn't breathe on his own without those things. There you can see that problem. Just with that much Propofol there he has stopped breathing and will need a breathing tube.
What's so attractive about this medication?
VERSHAN: (INAUDIBLE) In the last 10 years, 15 years, just basically a quick-on and quick-off. That may answer why people think it is something they can do at home, because if it gets out of hand t goes away quickly. The problem is, if it gets out of hand and nobody can resuscitate you, nobody can bring you back.
GUPTA: That was pretty quick. You just gave some of the medication. Five, ten minutes gone from being completely awake to completely asleep.
VERSHAN: He's not breathing. I'm breathing for him.
GUPTA: One thing worth pointing out is that this is a hospital that uses this medication thousands of times a year, but they do use this medication in non-hospital settings, like outpatient clinics. Doctors here will tell you they never heard of it being used in a home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: In case you were wondering, the patient you saw going under during Sanjay's report there gave us permission to videotape him during the procedure. He is doing just fine today. He's awake. No complications.
On to this story now. We've been talking about it all morning. Extremely dry in Texas. The state dealing with an extreme drought this summer. So, how are people handling it? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to take you over to the Severe Weather Center now where Karen Maginnis standing by because we're talking about the unbelievable temperatures, like I never heard of this in the Northwest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Holy cow. All right, we're watching closely. Appreciate that, Karen. Thanks so much.
Also, want to get to this weather story, too. Parts of Texas in dire straits right now dealing with an extreme lack of rain and temperatures topping 100, and way too often, those conditions have led to a drought, the likes of which many haven't seen in 50 years.
In fact, our Jacqui Jeras is working on that part of the story live from Austin, Texas this morning. Jacqui, hello again to you, again. Explain to people again how bad this really is.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is really bad and really widespread. In fact, drought conditions encompass nearly 50 percent of the state of Texas now, and 77 counties are under what we call exceptional drought, and that is the highest of all categories.
You mention those temperatures and you mention no rain, well, it's literally evaporating the reservoirs. We're at Lake Travis in the Austin area, and the lake's levels are about half of what it should be. It's also hitting the community really hard, and farmers are in a state of crisis.
Numbers are staggering, too. About $3.6 billion have already been lost, farmers are selling their cattle because they can't afford to feed them and crop yields are at a small percentage of what they should be or even a complete loss. State agriculture officials say it will impact the entire country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD STAPLES, TEXAS AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER: The real consequence is not just today, but it's long term. It means a reduction in farming families when that's one of the biggest threats to domestic food supply today is having our farmers and ranchers sustainable in the agricultural business, and that's what really all American consumers should be worried about today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JERAS: And farmers are hoping for some help through their insurance claims and also government subsidies.
Now, recreation is suffering, obviously. Check out these dry docks. The boats can't get into the water, marinas are having to close their door. Not all of them, but some of them, and there you can see the boat ramp behind me. Yes, only one that's open still on the lake.
This is also the drinking supply, Heidi, for much of Austin. About a million people get their water from here. They put very tough restrictions in place and not just in Austin, but Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, 200 other communities. It's also unearthing some very interesting things. The lake should be 30 feet over my head where I am -- just broke it, not like it matters.
A boom box, old wires here, an old hat, a tire over here and in addition to all of this, Heidi, we're also very concerned about the danger of wildfires. So much dry grass everywhere you look across the state. Of course, that has firefighters on edge. One other note, check out the skies. Look at that. Yes, little bit of gray clouds and some rain up to the north. Everybody's hoping it comes a little further on down to the south, but, unfortunately, nothing real significant in the forecast, as Karen will tell you.
COLLINS: Sounds like they'll need an awful lot. Jacqui, we sure do appreciate it. We'll stay on top of the story all week long. Jacqui Jeras live in Austin.
I'm Heidi Collins. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris after a quick break.
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