Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Ted Kennedy's Final Journey Begins; Number of People Who Filed For Unemployment Down; Danny Gaining Strength; August on Track to Become Deadliest Month in Afghanistan; Pay-for-Play Case Over; Police File Child Abuse Charges Against Parents of Eight-Year-Old Who Was Allegedly Gang Raped; Bankruptcy Plan for Michael Vick; Still Making House Calls; Remembering Dominic Dunne; Keeping Eyes Healthy; FDIC Running Out of Funds?

Aired August 27, 2009 - 08:58   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins. It is Thursday, August 27th, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Today, mourning and remembering Senator Ted Kennedy.

Tribute to a famous fan from his hometown team. Ahead, a family and a nation gets ready to say good-bye.

And also, we've got an update for you on tropical storm Danny because it is moving its way along. Our severe weather team is of course on top of that for you.

And finally, a grim milestone for U.S. troops -- August on track to become the deadliest month ever in Afghanistan.

Remembering Ted Kennedy. Today his family gathers for a private mass. And then a public farewell unfolds. A motorcade will accompany his body on a 70-mile journey from his Cape Cod home to the presidential library he helped build for his slain brother. There, thousands of people will file past his closed casket and pay tribute to the last brother of a political dynasty.

President Obama and all four living former presidents will attend his private funeral mass. He will be buried near John and Bobby at Arlington National Cemetery.

This morning, Ted Kennedy's family will gather for that private mass at their Hyannis Port compound. It is where Kennedy lost his battle with cancer and where his life is now being celebrated.

In Washington, last night, Kennedy supporters gathered to light candles and honor his work. They vowed that his causes will not be abandoned.

Let's look at the plans now, both private and public, for just a moment. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is in Hyannis Port with the very latest.

Deb, good morning to you. DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Heidi, and when you think about those who are going to attend the public memorial service, it's really quite amazing. Four presidents, four former presidents, including obviously the current president, Barack Obama, who is destined to give the eulogy during the memorial service.

Also here, something more quiet. Something more subdued, a time for reflection, a time to honor the men who are so essential to their lives. You know when we see Ted Kennedy, son Patrick Kennedy driving in and out and he glances over, makes eye contact every now and again, you just have to wonder what he is thinking.

He is currently the only elected politician of the Kennedy family serving -- he serves in Rhode Island as a congressman. And now, you know, that his dad is gone, you just have to wonder whether he's considering going further ahead in politics.

All of this as the family begins to pay their final respects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): Senator Edward Kennedy's final journey begins. A somber motorcade carrying him away from Hyannis Port, away from his boat and the ocean he loved so much and endless days a family past and present.

ANNA GRISWOLD, CAPE COD RESIDENT: We should celebrate his life. Not -- you know, not be sad about it. But he -- he did a lot of things.

FEYERICK: Since Kennedy's death late Tuesday, his sons Patrick and Teddy Jr. have been among family and cousins, insiders say, keeping round-the-clock watch over Uncle Teddy, larger than life even in death. Family friend Theresa Hynes Kerry.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, KENNEDY FAMILY FRIEND: Listening to Teddy speak, he said my dad died in such a peaceful way, I was so afraid of what it might be like and it was wonderful. So when you hear a child say that, you feel so much better.

FEYERICK: The trip from Cape Cod to Boston expected to take less than two hours. The senator's body will lie in repose at the library he built for his brother, President John Kennedy, lovingly transforming it into a forum for change and public service. A memorial to be held there Friday at 7:00 in the evening.

And on Saturday, a private mass nearby at one of Ted Kennedy's favorite churches before he is flown to Arlington National Cemetery to be buried near his brothers. Over the next 60 days, Kennedy staff will archive the senator's materials and close his office.

The secretary of the Senate saying they cannot continue any legislative or other work underway before he died. New senior Senator John Kerry is hoping to fight to have Kennedy's seat temporarily filled. SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: He's asking simply for a temporary ability to appoint someone who will not run, will not get in the way of other people that want to run, who will be there for a moment only.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now a hearse just entered the road to the Kennedy compound just a couple of moments ago. They've been coming in and out all day yesterday, helping the family with arrangements, arrangements that are being made by friends of the family.

Also, you know, when you think about all the masses that are taking place, Heidi, Senator Kennedy was a deeply religious man. Even the fact that he is there at the home, that he's surrounded by his family, that they were praying even to the very, very end, that a priest was with him.

You know, all of this just a reflection of the kind of man and the spirituality that he had. And as most people are mentioning, yes, it is a celebration. More importantly, he spent his last year living fully. His wife, according to a family friend, saying that he did everything he wanted to do. It would have been nice if he could've passed health care, she said, but in fact, he spent the year just the way he wanted. Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, very interesting. Deb, if you know a little bit more about it, we'd love to hear about the funeral route. I imagine there'll be several different locations that that route will go through, right?

FEYERICK: Absolutely. And there are going to be -- the route that's going to take him here from Hyannis Port -- again, we're expecting sort of a convoy to come here, leave here at about 1:00 in the afternoon. It's going to head over to Boston -- just checking some noise behind me, just another law enforcement officer came.

It's going to head over to Boston. It's going to make some crucial stops, places that, you know, Ted Kennedy really identified with, places that he loved.

COLLINS: Sure.

FEYERICK: That means a lot to the family and means a lot, in fact, you know, to him. And you almost get the sense that he was involved in the planning that he kind of knew what he wanted and knew how he wanted to be honored, you know, in his final days.

COLLINS: All right. Deb Feyerick, giving us a look at how things will shape up. We certainly do appreciate that. Deb Feyerick, live for us this morning.

Meanwhile, for a decade, Senator Ted Kennedy championed the cause of health care reform. And now the man who called Kennedy his best friend in the Senate says any adopted reforms should bear Kennedy's name. Senator Robert Byrd also say he hopes Kennedy's death will lead to cooler heads among lawmakers and a more civilized debate over the issues.

And a reminder we will have live coverage of the Kennedy motorcade as it winds its way from Hyannis Port to Boston. Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of the life and death of Senator Ted Kennedy. His body will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library until a memorial service set for Friday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Private funeral services is going to be held on Saturday followed by his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

The weekly report on jobless claims is out now, and there is some good news to report. Our Christine Romans is joining us now from New York with more on this.

So Christine, jobless claims are down a little bit. We should remind everybody this is the weekly report.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is the weekly report. That's right. This is the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits, Heidi, for the very first time in the most recent week -- that was, excuse me, 570,000 people. That's down 10,000 from the week before. So slightly fewer people lining up for the first time for jobless benefits.

And there's also a drop in the continuing jobless claims, as well, 6.133 million. I want to be very clear here. Whenever you have six million people who are continuing to get jobless benefits, that is a sign of a very weak labor market, but what we're watching here week by week and day by day, with all these economic data, frankly...

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: ... is any kind of a sign that there's a turn. And these numbers have turned very, very choppy, which many economists say is the first sign you need to see before things start to look up.

COLLINS: Yes. And the FDIC also has some news today. They're going to release the quarterly update...

ROMANS: That's right.

COLLINS: ... on how much money is still in the deposit insurance fund? What's that all about?

ROMANS: In about 53 minutes, we're going to get the quarterly update from the FDIC, Sheila Bair who runs that, just how much banks are on the troubled bank list and how much money is available to bail these banks out and to bail you out and your money. You're insured up to $250,000 if your bank fails.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: Remember, I want to be clear about that. Your money is safe in your bank. But we know that bank failures have been ramping up. Just three years ago, there are a handful of bank failures. Last year, picked up, there were 25 bank failures. This year so far 81 banks have failed.

And that is straining and depleting the amount of money available to bail out those banks and to protect your assets. In some cases, you're looking in 2006, you have more than $50 billion in its funds, its insurance funds. Now you're down to about $13 billion.

The FDIC, I want to be very clear, it has basically an open checkbook with the treasury if it needs to, a big line of credit. But you can see that the amount of cash that it has had to spend in this banking crisis has really mounted here. There is money on hand right now, but a lot of analysts are saying if you have two or three more years of bank failures as many expect, it's going to continue to deplete those resources.

COLLINS: Exactly.

ROMANS: Also, Heidi, the FDIC, easing some rules for private equity firms yesterday so that private equity firms can buy failed banks and invest in failed banks. Private equity firms, as you know, they're investors who tend to come in and they slash costs, they cut a company apart maybe.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: And sell it quickly in a couple of years. The FDIC instituting some rules to make sure that they can't just quick flip a bank or something, but it just shows you how important it is to find buyers for some of these beleaguered institutions.

COLLINS: Absolutely. All right. Still, obviously, a lot to talk about here in this regard. We have sure do appreciate it.

ROMANS: Sure.

COLLINS: Christine Romans coming to us live from New York this morning.

Heading over to the hurricane headquarters now where Rob Marciano is standing by to tell us about tropical storm Danny who is apparently gaining a little bit of strength. Is that right?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, gained strength overnight, Heidi. Got a little bit better organized, but still kind of a lopsided storm. Right now winds at 60 miles an hour gusting to 70. With a lot of the action kind of on the northeastern side of the system, so it's not very symmetrical in that regard. And that's good news for a couple of reasons.

One, when it becomes more symmetrical, that's when we really look for things to explode as far as intensity. We do think it's going to intensify, but how much, probably not all that much anyway.

All right, we've got it about 550 miles south to southeast of Cape Hatteras, heading in that direction in north, northwesterly movement in about 10 miles an hour. So, with that sort of movement, and a forecast turned towards the north, we have a very Bill-like scenario, although it'll be a little bit closer, it looks like, to the Carolina coastline.

Forecast to increase in intensity to a category one storm and then early Saturday morning, look for it to bypass the coastline of the Carolinas. And then what it does after that, obviously further out, we get a little bit more nervous, and eastern New England in this cone of uncertainty, but keep in mind that most of the action is north and east of the center.

If it becomes more symmetrical and gets a little bit farther to the west then we've got to worry a lot about things in the north and the northeast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: Because we've got wildfire issues not only across southern California but northern California, as well, a number of fires there and the excessive heat not helping things.

COLLINS: Yes.

MARCIANO: Red flag warnings are posted for much of California, especially east of the fire. So keeping track of that story, plus also the shuttle trying to launch. We'll talk more about that in about half an hour.

COLLINS: I know. Yes, yes. Weather could be another issue for that.

MARCIANO: Exactly.

COLLINS: All right. Rob, we'll check back later on, thank you.

MARCIANO: Sounds good.

COLLINS: Militants opened fire on U.S. troops, Americans now approaching a troubling milestone in Afghanistan. The deadliest month ever in operation enduring freedom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A U.S. service member is dead. The victim of a militant attack in southern Afghanistan this morning. The death pushing August closer to being the deadliest month ever for U.S. troops there.

CNN's Atia Abawi is joining us now live from Kabul, Afghanistan. Good morning to you, Atia.

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. It has been a very, very bloody summer for both U.S. and coalition forces here in Afghanistan. But it was expected when we saw thousands pouring in to help secure and hold areas. And we are seeing the number reaching up to what it reached last month.

Last month being the deadliest month for U.S. troops, four days are left -- is left in August right now. We were waiting to see if it's going to get deadlier. The Taliban and insurgents having a very successful summer when it comes to roadside bombs.

And although coalition troops are feeling a strong blow at the moment, let's remember that they do not release the deaths of Taliban but when I spoke to a top international source here in Afghanistan, he told me that the Taliban, they have lost hundreds of their soldiers this summer.

And although they will not release it, the Taliban also dealing with a very, very heavy blow this summer. Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes. No question about that. All right, Atia Abawi joining us live from Kabul, Afghanistan this morning. Thanks, Atia.

A man protesting against protesters find you shouldn't protest what police say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground and put your hands on your back now!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Officers threatened to Taser the man. You'll see what happens next.

And remembering Dominick Dunne. We follow the crimes of the rich and famous, a career shaped by personal tragedy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The Associated Press is reporting New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will not be charged in an investigation into pay-to- play allegations. A decision not to pursue indictments against Richardson and former aides was made by top Justice Department officials.

A federal grand jury began an investigation last year into an alleged scheme in which lucrative state work went to a Richardson donor.

An update now on the alleged rape of an 8-year-old Liberian girl who lives in Phoenix. Our affiliate KTVK reports police have filed child abuse charges against the parents of the victim. Four boys, ranging in ages from 9 to 14, are facing charges in the attack, as well.

Authorities took the child away from the parents after a report from police. The father said he blamed the child for the alleged rape.

And bankruptcy plans followed by game plan for Michael Vick. A hearing is scheduled to begin in just a few minutes in a Virginia courtroom over a plan for Vick to pay back creditors more than $20 million.

And tonight, Vick plays his first NFL game in nearly three years. His new team, the Philadelphia Eagles, hosts Jacksonville in a pre- season match-up.

These days, most people who need a doctor go to an office or a hospital. But for those people who cannot get there or afford medical care, one doctor is returning to his industry's traditional roots. Making house calls. Photojournalist James Michael introduces us to Dr. Katz in today's "Health Care in Focus."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEFFREY KATZ, PHYSICIANS HOUSE CALLS: I'm Dr. Jeff Katz. It's Dr. Katz. I do house calls. Your pressure's way up. On the underserved Medicaid population. I usually go into neighborhoods in the inner city that are full of despair and low on the economic strata, boarded up townhouses, there are groups of young men hanging out on the corner, open-air drug markets. Not uncommon to have shootings just hours before or afterwards on the streets.

I'm not a concierge doctor. And I say sometimes this is the anti-concierge practice. Take a deep breath.

Twenty percent of Medicare patients get readmitted after discharge from the hospital. Billions of dollars are lost due to those readmissions and those could be saved by increasing services at home.

When was that last filled? When was the Oxycodon filled?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 8-3-09.

KATZ: About three years ago, we embarked on a data test with the sickest, highest (INAUDIBLE) of members to a coordinated team approach with field nurses, with the physician at the center trying to cross culture gap of noncompliance and distrust, build confidence and relationships with the patients and get them reengaged in their health care so that we could decrease our necessary emergency room transports and hospital admissions and that's been quite successful.

That was my mom's name so it was on his jeep. My dad was a combat medic in World War II and later became a family practitioner in New Jersey and did house calls with his primary care practice. These are some old tools that he used.

It was a standard part of the medical practice because there was no 911 system. Patients couldn't call 911 in the middle of the night. They called their doctor, so he did house calls and carried around one of those large black bags.

This is a unique partnership where the interest of the insurance industry and health care providers really interface. And they coalesce into one mission. I think he'd probably be interested, knowing him, and he'd probably have some things to tell me how I could do it better. But I think in his heart he'd be pretty proud of me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: If you would like to know more about the health care debate and how the reforms could affect you and your family, check out the special "Health Care in America" section of CNN.com. We've got fact checks, iReports, and other health care news, plus the very latest from all of those town hall debates you've been seeing.

Just go to CNN.com/healthcare.

A man who got into a shouting match with a group protesting health care reform face off against a tougher opponent, the police. That happened yesterday in Brunswick, Georgia. When police found the man didn't have his own permit to protest, they asked him to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a permit to be protesting around down here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I have what? I'm not going to move, and you are not going to arrest me.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care what you have! I don't care...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands up to your head right now. Put your hands on your back or I'll shoot you with a Taser now!

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground and put your hands behind your back now! Get on the ground!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The man was charged with disorderly conduct.

If there was a shocking crime involving the rich and famous, Dominick Dunne was there. No Pat in hand. His next novel was due out in November. He died yesterday of bladder cancer. CNN's Anderson Cooper remembers a master storyteller.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his 83 years, Dominick Dunne lived many lives, traveled in many different worlds, he'd climbed the ranks of show business from stage manager to producer, but it was late in his life as a writer and chronicler of the crimes of the rich and famous that he became a household name.

Dunne covered the trials of O.J. Simpson, Claus von Bulow, Eric and Lyle Menendez. A constant presence in the courtroom, he was a consistent advocate for justice.

DOMINICK DUNNE, AUTHOR: I never do this equal time, you know, than I have to -- I take a stand. And it doesn't always make me popular.

COOPER: His stand was shaped by personal tragedy, the killing of his own daughter. Dominique Dunne, an actress who appeared in the film "Poltergeist," was strangled to death by her estranged boyfriend. The jury called it manslaughter. Not murder. The outcome left Dominick outraged.

DUNNE: I was so horrified about what went on in that courtroom. And I realized that I had the power to write about it and the ability to go on TV and talk about it. And all the sort of sham that goes on at the trial.

COOPER: Dunne was a special correspondent of "Vanity Fair" magazine and also wrote best-selling novels including "A Season in Purgatory" and the "Two Mrs. Grenvilles." He enjoyed the success that was so hard-earned, he'd overcome much and loved the life he created for himself.

If you were lucky enough to know Dominick Dunne, lucky enough to call him a friend, you knew how loyal and true he was. He could be counted on. He could be called on. He was true to the end.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Mourning Senator Ted Kennedy. Plans are made for the legendary lawmaker's funeral and public viewing. We'll tell you how you can pay your respects.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The economic signs have been pointing in the right direction for Wall Street. Yesterday we learned both new home sales and order for big ticket items jumped last month. And as you see here, the opening bell today, everybody still excited about those numbers.

And today we have better-than-expected readings from the job market and the overall economy.

Susan Lisovicz, who's that, at the New York Stock Exchange is back, and she's got details on it all.

Welcome back, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's good to be back and welcome back to you, as well.

COLLINS: Thank you.

LISOVICZ: Heidi, we missed you. Well, we're expecting a little itsy-bitsy move, I'm not sure if that's -- economists speak that way. But we're expecting, yes, the blue chips to go a little higher and that's what we're seeing first few seconds of trading.

Wall Street, Heidi, getting used to reports showing that the economy is stabilizing, investors and all of us want more. We want real signs of growth. We're certainly not there yet with the jobs market, but there is improvement, both new and continuing jobless claims fell last week, but the numbers are still real high.

Just give you an example, 570,000 workers applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week. In a healthier economy you'd want half that.

Another report shows the overall economy shrank at an annual pace of one percent last quarter, but that's much better than the six percent GDP drop we saw in the previous quarter.

Home builder Toll Brothers posting a quarterly loss of nearly $500 million, worse than expected, but the company says the number of buyers putting down deposits for new homes running much higher than last year.

And finally, Boeing says it's troubled 787 Dream Liner plane will be ready for its first flight by the end of this year. And certainly hope so, it's more than two years...

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: ...behind the original schedule.

And checking the numbers, check it out, Ms. Collins, the DOW Industrials tacking on 10 points. Ok, that's not a lot, but hey, the blue chip's riding a seven session win streak.

COLLINS: Maybe we should take vacation more often.

LISOVICZ: I think so. Well, I should mention that I think a lot of folks are on vacation this week and the DOW...

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: ...going into today's session was only up 37 points, but...

COLLINS: Yes, true.

LISOVICZ: ...still moving higher.

COLLINS: True and seven is a lucky number, right? So we'll take it.

LISOVICZ: Yes.

COLLINS: So we'll take it. All right Susan, we'll check back later, thank you. The final journey for Senator Ted Kennedy begins today. Members of Kennedy's family are holding a private mass at his compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. That will happen at noon.

And then a motorcade will take the senator's body to Boston where he will lie in repose at the JFK Presidential Library. On Saturday, a funeral in Boston then Kennedy will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his slain brothers.

Meanwhile, the push is on to replace Senator Kennedy because of the critical debate surrounding health care reform. Kennedy sent a letter to the governor asking for someone to be appointed sooner rather than later. The governor talked about it on CNN's "American Morning."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. DEVAL PATRICK, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts needs two voices in the United States Senate particularly at a time when such profoundly important issues are before the Congress. What the senator said in his letter is that he -- like I -- supports the current law that provides for a special election about five months out after a vacancy occurs.

And he also made a reasonable request that the governor be permitted to appoint someone to serve for that five-month period until the special election occurs. And as I say, I think that's imminently -- imminently reasonable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Stay with CNN for the continuing coverage of the life and death of Senator Ted Kennedy. As we mentioned, his body will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and a memorial service which are set for Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Private funeral services will be held Saturday followed by his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Ok, let's get you over to the CNN hurricane headquarters. Now, Rob Marciano has been tracking Danny which we should be cleared. Not a hurricane yet, just tropical storm, but gaining some strength, yes?

MARCIANO: Absolutely. And as a matter of fact it's got winds now of 60 miles an hour, forecast to become a hurricane. But the problem it's running into, is that here's the center you can kind of see it move with the satellite imagery, all of the action as far as heaviest thunderstorms and wind is north and east of the center.

So it's not very symmetrical at this point. So that hinders it as far as it's strength is concerned, but it is close to hurricane strength already and forecasts to become that category one strength.

Here's the forecast track in the National Hurricane Center. At 2:00 in the morning on Saturday, somewhere 150 a 100 or maybe 250 away from Cape Hatteras, so that takes it out of the cone of uncertainty, but eastern New England and that would include Boston where they're having services for Senator Kennedy Saturday -- during the day on Saturday, that could be affected, as well.

But right now the center is forecast to remain offshore, we'll see if that forecast shifts a little bit farther towards the west.

All right, here's what's going on in Florida, more in the way of showers and thunderstorms in and around the Florida peninsula. We've had problems, as you know with the launching of the space shuttle. First one was weather problems and then they had a leaky hydrogen fuel valve. They got that fixed as of an hour ago, that was a go.

COLLINS: Ok.

MARCIANO: At noon they'll take another meeting if all things are good by 3:00 they'll start to refill that puppy (ph) and we're looking for a launch tonight, again another night time launch expected at 12:22 in the morning. Still that threat for showers and thunderstorms around the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, as a matter of fact, 30 percent probability of a go, no go deal again tonight.

So we'll see if weather cooperates. Temperatures down there will be in the upper 80s throughout the day today.

COLLINS: Ok, all right, well fingers crossed on that one. All right Rob, thank you, we'll check back later.

MARCIANO: Ok.

COLLINS: The life and loves of Ted Kennedy. His first marriage ended in divorce after more than two decades. His second marriage helped the Massachusetts senator reinvent himself. We'll take a look back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Now for a quick check of our top stories.

People who loved and respected Senator Ted Kennedy have a chance to pay tribute to him today. He will lie in repose at the Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston later today, that's after a private memorial at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

Militants attack a coalition military patrol in southern Afghanistan. One U.S. service member is dead. That pushes the U.S. toll to 44 deaths this month, one less than last month. July was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Michael Vick is back in a Virginia court right now. A judge is expected to accept his plan to start paying back some of the $20 million he owes. Then it's back to Philadelphia for tonight's Eagles' game. Vick is expected to play for the first time since his arrest two years ago on dog-fighting charges.

As you get older, your vision can weaken or your eyes can develop serious conditions. But there are things you can do now to keep your eyes healthy, CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SHARON SOLOMON, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Good morning, how are you doing?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: When he was young, Albert Budacz always had great eyesight. He prided himself on never having to wear glasses. Though, when he started getting into his late '40s, he realized he couldn't see as well.

ALBERT BUDACZ, EYE PATIENT: I noticed some changes in my vision, primarily in church when I would open a missal or a Bible or something like that, I'd have to position myself under a bright light to see it.

COHEN: Budacz was diagnosed with the beginnings of cataracts, and the onset of macular degeneration, a condition where the central portion of the retina begins to deteriorate.

SOLOMON: As people approach their 50s and later, they may have little yellow deposits that develop beneath the retina and that is called drusen (ph) and that is the hallmark of what we call early age- related macular degeneration.

COHEN: As we get older our eyes begin to age. But there are plenty of lifestyle changes we could make to slow that aging process. The best way to keep our eyes young, cut out tobacco.

SOLOMON: Well, tobacco use has been linked to several diseases in the eye, most notably age-related macular degeneration.

COHEN: And watch what you eat; evidence shows that a diet rich in anti-oxidants like vitamin E and zinc can help keep your eyes healthier longer.

SOLOMON: Healthy diets and exercise goes a long way in maintaining the health of our eyes just like the rest of the body.

COHEN: In middle age, you often can't read things, as well, presbyopia can occur causing the eye to lose its ability to focus on near objects. Many patients rely on bifocals or reading glasses to correct the problem. And then there are cataracts.

SOLOMON: And they are attributable to our lenses becoming a bit cloudy and we call that cataract. So that's a natural aging process, akin to getting gray hair.

COHEN: In some people like Budacz, macular degeneration can become a problem. Many people don't know they have it until it's already damaged their eyesight.

SOLOMON: So we typically, you know, pick up a patient when all of a sudden they've had an acute abrupt loss of vision or change in this quality of their vision. COHEN: Albert Budacz is lucky; he caught his condition before it began to ruin his eyesight. By having his eyes examined every few months and giving up smoking, he hopes to keep his eyes healthy for as long as possible.

For today's "30, 40, 50," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Too late to put the cat back in the bag. A judge rules that baseball list of drug cheats should have been destroyed. Oops.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Well, apparently baseball's blacklist never should've surfaced. That is the ruling from a federal appeals court. They said law enforcement officials should've never seized samples and results from a 2003 league-wide drug test.

Players like Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz have been named as testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in that test. A total of 104 players tested positive, in fact. The samples and results will now be destroyed.

But, some of the names, of course, are already out there and others could still leak out later. Here to talk about this list is mlb.com senior correspondent Hal Bodley.

Hal, if you can hear me, do me a favor and clarify for us this list versus the Balco investigation.

HAL BODLEY, MLB.COM: Well, you know, it's a very complicated thing. Back in 2002, Heidi, at the 11th hour of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, they agreed to have survey testing for steroids in Major League Baseball. The names were to be kept secret and all of that kind of thing and then it has evolved into this.

This list of those people who tested positive was seized by the government. What they're saying now is that seizing this list was illegal. So it kind of puts this to rest a little bit, but it certainly doesn't help David Ortiz and all of the players' names that have been leaked.

COLLINS: Yes, because there's actually 104 of them on this and my understanding is that the investigators actually only had a warrant for 10 drug tests, not all of these. So now what?

BODLEY: That's right, Heidi. And if you step back a little bit, the union, the union -- the players' union was supposed to destroy those tests before they even became available for the federal government. This didn't happen, and this opened the door for all of the things that have happened.

You know, I've been saying for quite a while writing and talking about the fact, I think the whole list should be made public. I think that the players who are clean would be protected by that, but by the same token, when the players entered into this agreement to do this testing, the agreement was that their names would be kept secret. It's kind of a double-edged sword.

COLLINS: And it's legalese at this point it seems except if you were one of the people who was named and you thought you were going to be kept secret. In fact, the union was fighting very hard for that and trying to keep it secret still.

HODLEY: That's correct. And all of the times I've talked about making the whole list public, they keep saying the same thing. That they promised the players the names would be kept secret and they can't reveal the list.

The major league baseball -- the officials and commissioner's office maintain that they do not have the list. They do not have the names.

COLLINS: Well, it's going to be very interesting, I don't know. I smell a lawsuit possibly. Hal Bodley and he'll be back. Hal we sure do appreciate your expertise on this one. Thank you.

BODLEY: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: When you think of layaways, you probably think of holiday gifts, but more retailers are now offering that option for back to school items.

Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis is joining us now to talk about this. I'm not aware of this until this morning, Gerri. How exactly do these lay away programs work?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi there, Heidi, to start with -- before we get to how they work, I just want to say it's not my favorite way to finance things if you can help it.

A lot of people out there though, they are going to feel like they have no other choice than using a lay-away plan at this time.

COLLINS: Yes. There's a lot of stuff to buy for this, obviously.

WILLIS: Yes, right. Well, when you use a lay-away policy at a store, what happens is you put down a small fee, $5 in some cases just to get the contract in the first place and then you leave a deposit, usually a percentage of the purchase price and then pay over time.

In return, the retailer's going to hold that merchandise for you in reserve and once you paid for your stuff, then you can take the merchandise. You don't need a credit card, this is an option to a credit card, and while traditionally these plans were used for bigger ticket items like electronics or TVs -- which sort of make more sense -- more and more folks are putting back to school supplies and clothing on lay-away and that shows you how stretched consumers are right now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: What exactly should the consumer be aware of if they're using this lay-away plan though?

WILLIS: Get the policy in writing first off. Here's some details you should have. Find out how much time you have to pay. Usually these policies don't last more than a year. Find out what the minimum payment is. Inquire about extra fees. And what are the penalties for late and missed payments? You'll want to know that.

Also think twice about putting something on lay-away at a store that's on the brink of bankruptcy. Don't do that. You could lose your money -- Heidi.

COLLINS: What if you decide, Gerri, you don't want all that stuff on layaway later? Are you obligated to keep it?

WILLIS: There's a cancellation fee. You're going to have to pay to get out of it -- $10 to $25. Of course, the rest of your money will be given back to you, but other retailers may just give you a credit for the amount you've paid.

Make sure you understand what those policies are and remember if you put something on layaway and it goes on sale later, make sure you let the store know, you may be entitled to a lower sale price.

If possible, pay in cash, I know a lot of people using these lay away policies don't have credit cards so this may be the only way they can afford back to school.

COLLINS: All right. Well, Gerri, we sure do appreciate that.

This whole topic sort of prompted some questions that we'd like to hear from our viewers. In fact, we always like to hear from you, as you know.

Do you think going back to school is just plain getting too expensive and maybe you're looking at some of these lay away plans? That is the topic of my blog today. Go ahead and send us your feedback right here on Heidi Collins' page. Just go to cnn.com/heidi.

Let us know maybe even how much you spent this year. We'd like to sort of make some comparisons, if we could. Maybe you tightened your belt a little bit because things are getting pretty tough out there.

Once again, cnn.com/heidi; we'd love to hear from you about going back to school.

Meanwhile, an awful lot going on this morning in the NEWSROOM and our CNN correspondents are ready to break it all down.

We want to begin in Hyannis Port with Deborah Feyerick this morning. Hi Deb.

FEYERICK: Hi, Heidi. Well, new details of the Kennedy family mass taking place today at noon. We'll have that coming up at the top of the hour. ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans in New York. We're waiting for word about just how many banks are on the FDIC's troubled bank list. It was more than 300 last quarter; 81 banks have failed so far this year. Just how healthy is the nation's banking system? I'll have that at the top of the hour.

MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Severe Weather Center. Three items of concern: one, wildfires in Southern California; two, they're going to try to launch that shuttle again tonight, weather concerns there; and finally, tropical storm Danny could become a hurricane later today.

We've got the latest forecast tracker at the top of the hour.

COLLINS: Ok. Very good. Thanks, guys. We'll check back with all of you a little later on.

And in our "Snapshot Across America" today. Three physicians take on health care reform. Is it too much, too little, too late? It's a debate you don't want to miss right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Senator Edward Kennedy is being remembered for his political achievements, but the sometimes troubled personal life of the youngest Kennedy brother often overshadowed his good deeds.

CNN's Randi Kaye looks back at the life and loves of Teddy Kennedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In 1957, Ted Kennedy's sister introduced him to the woman who would become his first wife, Joan Bennett, a striking blond and former beauty queen who dabbled in modeling. The couple had three children. But the marriage, though it lasted more than two decades, was not easy.

David Heymann has written about the Kennedys for decades and says Joan sought help from Jackie Kennedy.

DAVID HEYMANN, AUTHOR, "BOBBY AND JACKIE": She said to Jackie, how do you deal with these Kennedy men? There's this constant womanizing on the side. It certainly meant something to Joan Kennedy because it gradually drove her to alcohol.

KAYE: The marriage was not easy. Their son lost a leg to bone cancer and Joan suffered through multiple miscarriages. Still, she continued to stand by the Senator.

In 1964 at just 28, she campaigned for his re-election while he was in the hospital with a broken back. Five years later in 1969, a pregnant Joan Kennedy was at senator's side for the funeral of Mary Jo Kopechne after Chappaquiddick. She miscarried again the following month. In 1982, the couple divorced.

HEYMANN: Joan tried to be a rock, but her own fragile nature prevented her from being that.

KAYE: A decade later, Ted Kennedy found his rock.

SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We're very happy. Vicki Reggie is someone that I love very much. And we're looking forward to spending our lives together.

KAYE: Kennedy's second wife, Vicki Reggie, understood politics. She came from a powerful, political family in Louisiana.

HEYMANN: She had endured a lot herself. She was divorced. She was the single mother bringing up two young children.

KAYE: In 1991, Vicki invited the senator to her parents' anniversary party. He soon proposed at the opera. They married in 1992.

Vicki helped turn his image around. She shared his political interests and together they advocated for social issues. She also curbed his drinking.

HEYMANN: She never allowed her husband to be photographed with a drink in his hand. He was well dressed, he was well-coiffed and he looked official, he looked senatorial. She really rehabilitated Ted Kennedy.

KAYE: For the senator who loved to sail, Vicki Kennedy was both first mate and soul mate to the end.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)