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Police Charge 911 Caller with Murder in Mobile Home Massacre; Ted Kennedy Funeral; California Wildfires 42 Percent Contained; White House Preparing Its Version of Health Care Reform Bill; More Job Losses as Economy Slowly Recuperates; New Poll Shows Americans Unsure if We're Inching out of Recession; Deadly NATO Air Strike in Afghanistan Possibly Kills Civilians; Uproar Over the President's Address to School Kids

Aired September 05, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We do want to start this morning with a break in that mass killing case in Georgia. Police now say new evidence connects the man you see there walking in the middle of the screen there, connects him to the massacre. This was the brutal killing of eight people. They were found last Saturday in a mobile home.

Police say, not only is that man you're seeing, 22-year-old Guy Heinze related to the victims, he's also the one who called 911 to report the crime. Take a listen. Remember this 911 call?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OPERATOR: OK tell me what's going on, sir.

GUY HEINZE: I just got home -- I was out last night, I got home just now and everybody's dead.

OPERATOR: Who?

HEINZE: My dad's dead -- my uncle's dead --

OPERATOR: How many people are there?

HEINZE: There's like six. My whole family's dead.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HOLMES: You hear that 911 call. We're going to bring in our Sean Callebs, who's live with us now. Chilling stuff to listen to. It was chilling when we first heard it after the story broke. But now to think the one who was calling is the one police say is responsible. Why do they think he's now responsible?

CALLEBS: It certainly takes on a whole new meaning hearing that passionate and emotional 911 call. All we can tell you is that the police chief here in Glynn County held a news conference late last night saying that he found two new pieces of evidence late Friday and that led to the arrest of Guy Heinze Jr. The authorities have been extremely tight lipped in this. They offered no news conferences after Monday last week until this arrest. And he wouldn't comment about a possible motive. He wouldn't say what that new piece of evidence was. Boy, this is certainly something that got the attention of everybody along Georgia's coast. The fact that Guy Heinze Jr., not only allegedly killed his father but five other family members, two family friends as well.

He was arrested shortly after making that 911 call by authorities and charged with possession of drugs. He had some marijuana as well as Darvocet. He was charged with tampering with evidence. Authorities say he took a shotgun out of that mobile home and hid it in his car. Also charged with obstruction of justice for basically lying to authorities about what he was doing leading up to that crime. Now, he actually made bail yesterday about 4:15 in the afternoon and was arrested about an hour and a half later and charged with the eight brutal murders. Listen to what the police chief had to say about the viciousness of this crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MATT DOERING, GLYNN COUNTY POLICE DEPT.: We told you from the very outset we would do everything we can to assure we get the right person, and that time has arrived. It is here now. I can only assure the community we have the best team there is, and I can assure you that this person is responsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: OK, I want to take you to a funeral home about 45 minutes from here in Brunswick. There you see seven caskets inside this funeral home. Family members actually found out that Guy Heinze Jr. had been accused of these vicious killings while they were at a visitation last night. Now, the seven of the victims are going to be laid to rest in just a matter of hours, not terribly far from where we are now. We talked with some family members after the news conference last night, T.J. They said they were simply floored, that was the word that they used to hear that Guy Heinze Jr. was the man authorities say is behind this crime. Should point out that Heinze's attorney says he categorically denies he had anything to do with these killings. We don't know about arraignment but we'll continue to watch the story here along Georgia's coast. T.J.?

HOLMES: We see this video. I know you told us earlier that the family actually wanted the cameras in there to see these caskets, but it's something else to see all of those caskets and all of these family members in there. It's going to be a rough day. I think you said the funerals start up here in just a matter of hours. Sean Callebs we appreciate you this morning. We will be checking in with you again.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Anything is possible with this guy. That is exactly what police in Nevada are saying as they look into unsolved kidnappings and whether or not there might be a connection to Phillip Garrido. You know the name by now. Garrido is the man accused of abducting a girl from a school bus stop in California and holding her for 18 years in his backyard. Meantime, police towed away a van from Garrido's backyard just yesterday. There it is on the truck headed out, Garrido and his wife are accused of holding Jaycee Dugard in tents and sheds behind a home for all that time. Police say Garrido fathered two children with her. The couple is being held without bail.

HOLMES: Well, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is now offering a $100,000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest of the person who authorities believe intentionally set the fire that is still raging in southern California. Here are some of the pictures we have been watching these for over a week now. This is the fire near Los Angeles, has destroyed about 150,000 acres, more than 70 homes and other buildings. Two firefighters died in this fire last week. Prosecutors could now seek the death penalty for whoever started this fire.

BALDWIN: And Reynolds Wolf has been out there much of last week really doing the yeoman's work in terms of covering this thing. I cannot even imagine for firefighters trying to battle that kind of blaze.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, you know we go out there in the field. We work long hours and we get covered with dirt and that kind of stuff. You're up for long hours. But nothing in comparison with what these guys do and plus they're putting their lives on the line trying to keep the rest of us safe. We have two firefighters that have lost their lives. There's still a fire that's only about 42 percent contained. It's still burning. Today the winds are supposed to pick up, some winds possibly 20, 30 miles per hour. Then on top of those mountain canyons, you can expect those temperatures to really warm up into the 90s, possibly even some low 100s. It's going to be a rough time.

Right now the temperatures tend to be a bit deceiving. Along the coast you've got 60s inland and places like Pomona north of Santa Clarita, high temperatures, rather temperatures currently in the 70s but expected to rise quite a bit as we get to the afternoon. So certainly some rough times. The winds are really going to pick up along the west coast. As you make your way across the four corners, some scattered showers. Fortunately, no such luck for that moisture to get its way back into parts of southern California. Across the nation's midsection, look for a chance of scattered showers, some possibly in parts of south Florida too. Your high temperatures Minneapolis, the twin cities sitting pretty with 79 degrees, 94 degrees in Billings, 82 in the mile high city of Denver. Tampa looks pretty good, same story up at Ibor City right around the I-4 corridor into Orlando. High temperatures going into the 80s, 89 Houston and 83 New York.

Coming up, we're going to give you a look at what you can expect as we round out the rest of the holiday weekend and for the most part, looks like a pretty good forecast. Back to you guys.

HOLMES: Reynolds, we appreciate you as always. Sounds good, we'll talk to you again soon.

BALDWIN: We'll take it.

As the president prepares to give a huge make-or-break speech Wednesday night to the joint session of Congress and really the nation next week, CNN has now learned that the White House is working to draft its own health care legislation. CNN's Kate Bolduan is at the White House this morning for more on this. Kate, we've been talking all morning about this. Now we're also hearing that the administration may be delivering this legislation to the hill some time after that speech. What are you hearing from your contacts as far as strategy? Why do this.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's a very good question. We know that the president clearly sees at this point the administration thinks they need to get more involved with this process and this debate. CNN has learned the White House is quietly talking about drafting its own health care bill as you mentioned. It's a sort of contingency legislation if talks fall apart on Capitol Hill. This move a possible reversal in course for a White House that has long left this solely to Congress to write this health care reform legislation. The White House late Friday stressed no final language has yet been written. A White House spokesperson in a statement saying, quote, "The president has been reviewing all of the various legislative proposals but no decision has been made about whether formal legislation will be presented." Sources close to the process again say the plan is still unclear but it is a sign the president, in addition to Wednesday's speech as we talked about, is ready to get more involved. Brooke?

BALDWIN: Big news here coming from the administration, so I imagine republicans must be reacting. They talked health care in their weekly address. What are they saying this morning?

BOLDUAN: They're basically saying as Congress is getting ready to return, they think it's time to press the reset button. In the republican address this morning, Minnesota Congressman John Kline says the goal of reform should be to fix what's broken in the health care system and preserve what works well. And he says he doesn't think that's what's happening in the democratic plans so far. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN KLINE, (R) MINNESOTA: Our plan is designed to make health care more affordable, reduce the number of uninsured Americans and increase quality at a price our country can afford. We'll make sure Americans who like their health care coverage can keep it. A stark contrast with the democrats' plan, which the Congressional Budget Office has said will shift millions of Americans out of their current coverage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Many republicans are strongly opposed to the government-run public option that is the core of the democratic proposals in the house. At the same time in the Senate we're told the attempt at bipartisan negotiation continues. Senator Max Baucus and the so-called bipartisan gang of six held a conference call yesterday in preparation of returning to Washington after the holiday. And in a statement, Chairman Baucus said the group is going to sit down Tuesday, take stock of where they are and determine how to best pass real reform, Brooke. He said, quote, "I'm committed to getting health care reform done, done soon and done right." This is all, of course, pushing forward to the big speech Wednesday when we're expecting to hear in understandable clear terms what the White House and the president want in this reform.

BALDWIN: Right. A lot of people waiting and hoping for specifics mapping out that strategy. A lot of people will be waiting to hear the words public option. We'll have to wait and see. Kate Bolduan for us in Washington. Again, just a reminder here, the president will be resetting his strategy on health care reform next week. Kate said it, he's addressing this joint session of Congress Wednesday night and, of course, you can watch all of that right here on CNN. Also, analysis from the best political team on TV, 8:00 Eastern Time here on CNN.

HOLMES: Did you hear her? She said in understandable, clear terms we're going to hear this on Wednesday.

BALDWIN: That's the wording from the vice president. And some are saying it could be a risk, depending on how specific he gets. You have the blue dog democrats, republicans not really sure about what some of what he's said before.

HOLMES: Understandable and clear.

BALDWIN: We'll see.

HOLMES: We're going to hold him to that. All right.

Meanwhile, the unemployment numbers staggering, of course. Overall the economy, however some would say is looking up. We're going to look at the big picture. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We could see some new rules on bonuses for bank executives. Finance ministers with the group of 20 have been meeting in London all day. One proposal will see bonuses partly paid in stock options, which, of course, can go down depending on a bank's performance. Many people blame banking practices for the recession. As various countries begin now to recover from the recession, some G- 20 ministers want to scale back the massive taxpayer funded stimulus packages. However, the British prime minister says that would be a serious mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Reaching the conditions for the return to growth, we are at a new and critical juncture for cooperation in the global economy. There is no cause for this, and this is not the time for economic complacency or for overconfidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well the leaders of the G-20 nations plan to meet in Pittsburgh at the end of this month. One issue really facing all of them here, we know this, the continuing loss of jobs. Here in the United States, unemployment is really at the highest level here in about 26 years. But that they say is not the whole picture. Here now, CNN's Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joel Johnson is working part time renting bicycles when he would rather have a full- time job. But he hasn't been able to find one.

JOEL JOHNSON, UNDER-EMPLOYED: I need a full-time job. Right now, if I can find a full-time job, I will be the happiest man in the world but I can't find it.

CHERNOFF: Nine million Americans share Johnson's problems, they're underemployed. But since they have some work, they're not included in the unemployment rate of 9.7 percent.

JOHNSON: Nobody wants to hire you. It's very, very tough right now.

CHERNOFF: The fact that the employment picture remains awful is increasingly frustrating for job hunters because there are signs the economy is emerging from recession. Home sales are up, manufacturing sales and shipments are improving and consumer confidence is rising. As the economy improves, more Americans should re-enter the job market. But there's typically a lag before employers have enough confidence to begin hiring again.

LAKSHMAN ACHUTHAN, ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: As demand begins to surprise them to the upside, they make everybody who's working for them currently work more. And then only when the demand outstrips what they could possibly produce do they begin to actually hire people.

CHERNOFF: A ray of hope in the employment picture is that job losses are diminishing. The August loss was the smallest in a year. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis emphasized to CNN.

HILDA SOLIS, LABOR SECRETARY: That isn't something that I want to stand up and scream for joy but I do want to say that there is some moderation occurring here.

CHERNOFF (on camera): The stock market is jumping for joy. Have a look at that increase all the way since March. What's going on here? The stock market always looks forward, while the employment picture, well, that's a lagging indicator. Economists say come next year, the employment picture will pick up, it will improve, and the economy will actually be creating jobs instead of losing them. Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Even as jobless worries linger, economists think the U.S. may finally be inching its way out of the recession. But does the public agree with that? CNN's deputy political director and friend of our show here on CNN Saturday and Sunday Morning, Paul Steinhauser has a closer look at what Americans see with this economy. How are we right now, glass half empty or half full?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think they agree with Allan Chernoff there. You heard it in his piece, that people are frustrated about a lack of jobs. T.J., we had a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll out this week, nearly nine out of 10 said we were in a recession. Look at this number right here too. We asked how are things going in the country today. You can see right there on the bottom, nearly seven out of 10 Americans say things are going badly. I guess they're not that optimistic. But is there a silver lining? Go ahead to the next screen on that same question, that's 69 percent now. You can see it's a lot lower than 83 percent back last November. Maybe people are slightly becoming a little more optimistic. T.J.?

HOLMES: I will tell you somebody who is pretty optimistic, the vice president. He was talking about the progress of the recovery plan. Let's take a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN: The recovery act has played a significant role in changing the trajectory of our economy and changing the conversation about the economy in this country. Instead of talking about the beginning of a depression, we're talking about the end of a recession eight months after taking office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right, he sounded pretty optimistic himself. Sounded like he was certainly trying to let the administration take credit for what's happening with the economy. Do Americans want to give the Obama administration credit?

STEINHAUSER: Our poll suggests maybe not. Check out this other number from that same survey, a national survey, we asked are the president's plans on the economy or his policies, have they approved the economy? Four in 10 say yes. About a third right there you can say has made things worse and about a quarter say, you know what, no effect whatsoever as of right now. The other thing, T.J., our poll suggested a slight majority still approve of what the president is doing, his plans on the economy. But that number as well is going down, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Paul Steinhauser breaking down the numbers for us as always. We appreciate you. Good to see you.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: A Georgia man who called 911 to report his entire family was killed in their mobile home, he is now charged with their murders. His name, Guy Heinze Jr., he was arrested yesterday on eight counts of first degree murder. One of the victims was his own father. Police have not released a motive. A massive California wildfire burning just north of L.A. finding new fuel to burn now. It is creeping deeper they say into dry forest to the east. But firefighters have also been making some progress. The latest number we have as far as containment, 42 percent, the station fire, 42 percent contained. More than 76 homes have been destroyed.

President Obama says he wants to make it easier for Americans to save for retirement. During his weekly address, the president said the federal government is taking steps to allow people to have their federal tax refunds sent as savings bonds. Another initiative automatically enrolls employees into employer-run savings plans unless the individual decides to opt out. We get another check of the top stories in about 20 minutes.

HOLMES: Investigators in Afghanistan are on the scene right now, and they want to know what really happened in a NATO air strike there that's believed to have killed civilians.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: When it comes to the mission in Afghanistan, should we or should we not send in more troops? The top senator of the Armed Services Committee says President Obama might have some trouble getting those additional troops in Afghanistan. Michigan Democrat Carl Levin says the U.S. should focus more on building up Afghanistan's own security first. Levin just returned from a two-day trip to that region, and they're currently about 60,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan right now.

HOLMES: New information this morning on a NATO air strike in northern Afghanistan. Associated Press reporting that the top U.S. commander there has now confirmed civilians were wounded. That air strike was only supposed to target Taliban fighters who had hijacked two NATO fuel trucks. Our Atia Abawi joins us now live from the Afghan capital. Atia, give us the very latest. We are just trying to figure out who exactly was injured and killed in this NATO strike?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That seems to be what everyone's trying to figure out right now. Investigations are under way in this NATO air strike that targeted those two fuel tankers that were hijacked by the Taliban. Afghan government officials telling us that 90 people were killed, dozens of civilians and dozens of Taliban as well. Investigations as I said are under way when it comes to the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, and the Afghan government. Let's listen to what ISAF had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. GREGORY J. SMITH, INTL. SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE: Two fuel trucks that were stuck in a sand bar. There were two bombs dropped on that area. (INAUDIBLE) there were insurgents there, but we need to discover what really happened, what people were there, what local villagers might have been affected by this. So we're really trying to learn and understand. We're listening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABAWI: President Karzai also sending up an envoy to northern Afghanistan to investigate on the Afghan government's behalf. We have seen civilian casualties from NATO air strikes and we have seen both sides, the coalition forces and the Afghan government, performing separate investigations. The interesting thing will be when the investigations come in and what the numbers will be, how many civilians were killed, how many were injured, how many were Taliban? We usually see differing numbers when it comes to the Afghan investigation and the coalition investigation. Let's also remember that the commander of ISAF forces, General Stanley McCrystal, just two months ago sent out a new directive NATO forces not to target militants if they are in the vicinity of civilians. Because right now their most important goal at the moment is to win over the Afghan support. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right, Atia Abawi for us in Kabul. Atia, we appreciate you as always.

BALDWIN: A firestorm over a speech that hasn't even happened yet. Why are parents so up in arms about their children hearing what the president has to say about education?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It may actually be the Obama administration that learns a tough lesson from the president's upcoming speech to school children.

BALDWIN: Talk about an uproar here. Really a huge uproar generated by this talk that's happening Tuesday. It's causing the White House to release a complete text of the speech early on Monday. But the question is, will parents still let their kids listen? Here's our own Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Call it a fast lesson in public pushback. The president's plan to speak to school kids on Tuesday has some conservative parents saying he's trying to brainwash their kids into buying his politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that, it just really upsets me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politics is up to the family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So will I send my child, I don't know. Right now I would say no, I'll keep them home.

FOREMAN: Across the country many school districts are encouraging students to watch. In New Orleans it will be required but that's an exception. In virtually every state at least some states schools have decided to either not show the speech, review it first or make viewing optional. Some cite schedule conflicts and technical difficulties but this was not what the White House expected. The president's speech will focus on keeping kids in school, a subject he's promoted before.

OBAMA: Unfortunately nearly 30 percent of U.S. high school students aren't making it to graduation.

FOREMAN: But the core complaint seems to be with supplementary teaching materials from the Department of Education. Originally they called for students to write, quote, "What they can do to help the president."

(On camera): The White House has since changed that, suggesting the children now write about their own educational goals. Furthermore, the text of the president's speech will now be put online Monday, so any teacher, parent or politician can preview what's going to be said.

(Voice-over): Plenty seemed fine with that, including the national president of the PTA.

CHARLES SAYLORS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL PTA: We have an opportunity here in the United States for parents, teachers and students to take part in a tremendous civics lesson.

FOREMAN: Still, just like the crowds at all of those town hall meetings, others are far from satisfied.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My rights as a parent are being circumvented so that this president can speak to my children.

FOREMAN: And they clearly resent the notion that they are unfairly questioning the president's motives.

GEORGE BUSH: Education matters, and what you do today and what you don't do can change your future.

FOREMAN: After all, they point out, when the first President Bush spoke to school kids on TV in 1991, top democrats called that just political advertising on the taxpayer's dime. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And if you would like to, you can watch the president's full address to the nation's school children on Tuesday. It starts at noon eastern, 9:00 A.M. pacific and, of course, you can watch it all right here on CNN.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, kind of curious now, even if you weren't even into it or thinking about it. All of this hubbub about a speech and the president speaking to the country's schoolchildren seems a little much.

BALDWIN: It makes you want to watch.

HOLMES: It makes you want to watch, there you go. Reynolds, we will be watching that next week.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: A lot of crowds are going to be gathering as we said this holiday weekend. People might want to cover your mouth. You might want to watch the shaking of the hands and things like that because h1n1 is a real issue, it's a real problem and it is spreading. How worried should you actually be about it? When can we possibly see a vaccine? We're getting some answers from the CDC.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Checking the top stories now, better training and resources for Afghan troops before sending more Americans to fight the Taliban. That is exactly what Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, says he will suggest to President Obama after Levin's visit to Afghanistan this past week.

And just one week after 22-year-old Guy Heinze Jr. alerted police of the brutal slaughter in his own mobile home, police in Brunswick, Georgia, charged him with eight counts of first degree murder. Seven of the victims are being buried today.

HOLMES: We heard about the h1n1 virus for the first time just months ago. Now a new White House report warns that up to 50 percent of the U.S. population could be infected by the virus by winter. President Obama says he wants to be ready with answers before that ever happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We're also making steady progress on developing a safe and effective h1n1 flu vaccine, and we expect a flu shot program will begin soon. This program will be completely voluntary, but it will be strongly recommended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, Dr. Beth Bell, an epidemiologist with the CDC joins me now. Ma'am, thank you for being here. We just heard the president say there that we are making steady progress on developing a safe and effective vaccine for this h1n1. How close are we to having a safe and effective vaccine right now?

DR. BETH BELL, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, CDC: The clinical trials are going on right now, and we are anticipating that vaccine should be available by mid-October. We are working as fast as we possibly can. We know people are eager to receive the vaccine. So we are focusing on getting this done as soon as possible to make sure that we do have a safe and effective vaccine.

HOLMES: You feel pretty good that you're working on something you say trials. You think you'll have one by October or so. It sounds like at least you have something you believe will be effective?

BELL: Yes, these vaccines are being made in a way that's very well known to us, it's very similar to the way we make seasonal influenza vaccines. As you probably know, more than 100 million people receive seasonal influenza vaccines each year. So we have every expectation that we will have a safe and effective vaccine.

HOLMES: Dr. Bell, tell us, there's a lot of talk out there about once a vaccine comes out, what it will look like. Will this be one vaccine or will people need to get two separate shots? Which way so far are we leaning on that?

BELL: That's one of the big questions that we expect to answer with the clinical trials. We think that probably at least some people, maybe children, will need two doses of the vaccine but we really won't know for sure until we are able to look at all of the study data when the clinical trials are completed.

HOLMES: So I guess Dr. Bell, how problematic could that be if people have to get one shot and then go back a few weeks later to get a second and I guess they're not fully covered and protected against this until later in the year. We could be going for another month or two or maybe beyond with everybody running around in this country still not -- not necessarily immune but with no resistance to the swine flu.

BELL: Well, you know, even now with the seasonal influenza vaccine, children 9 years and younger do need two doses. So it's not surprising that some people might need two doses of the new vaccine as well. You know, this 2009 h1n1 really has not gone away at all since it first appeared in the spring. We continue to see activity throughout the summer. There were outbreaks in camps. Now that school is starting, I think we can expect to see disease increasing and actually even now in the southeastern part of the country, where schools opened a few weeks ago, we are starting to see increases in disease activity in many parts of the southeast.

HOLMES: So do you think that is directly the cause of some -- I was going to ask next where we're seeing it, but some of the locations we're seeing it, do you attribute that to the fact that people are starting to go back to school?

BELL: Well, you know one thing about influenza is that it's very unpredictable. We've always seen lots of variation across the country in terms of what areas have a lot of disease at any particular time. It's hard to be sure of exactly why disease appears to be increasing right now in the southeast. But certainly possible that one factor might be that schools opened just a few weeks ago.

HOLMES: One thing here, and I want you to break this down as simply as possible. Because I know this is on the minds of a lot of people. Just a very simple way to break it down. I don't get the flu vaccine every year, I know I should, but I don't get a flu shot. I got the flu last year, I fought it off, I drank my fluids, I got some rest and I was fine. If I don't get a swine flu vaccine, h1n1 vaccine, and I happen God forbid to get h1n1, will my body be able to fight it off just the same way as the seasonal flu, or do I have more to worry about?

BELL: You know, anybody can get very ill from seasonal flu, although most people do fine. And it seems that things are fairly similar in terms of the 2009 h1n1. HOLMES: OK. A lot of people, we're trying to educate folks because a lot of people seem to be certainly are and should be concerned but we don't want everybody to be necessarily just alarmed at the same time. We appreciate you coming on and continue to educate us about this. Thank you so much, Dr. Bell.

BELL: Thank you so much for having me.

BALDWIN: High-end fashion, it's pretty big business, right? But it has hit a snag during the recession. I will take you inside a New York design house that is trying to make due with a whole lot less.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You may not associate the bright lights, big city nature of New York with being a bastion for manufacturing jobs but it is if you step into Manhattan's garment district. But as I recently discovered, thanks to this whole downturn with the economy, the apparel industry's manufacturing sector is really starting to unravel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): In New York's world of high-end fashion, big-brand designers mean billions of dollars in business. But before the catwalks and cash comes the clothes, cut and sewn by hand by thousands in Manhattan's garment district. Timmy Rosales has made a career here for the last 15 years. His pay, almost $12.50 an hour. But with slumping sales in a down economy, the city's apparel industry has hit a snag. In the last year and a half, Rosales' factory has slashed its staff by 60 percent.

(On camera): Is this busy time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It should be, but we are not.

BALDWIN: I see machines over there that are dark?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because we have to move people and put it closer and try to save electricity because there's no work.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Manhattan's garment district is home to about a third of New York's 29,000 apparel manufacturing jobs. Nationwide, the number of jobs in that sector has fallen by more than 60 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now that the business is shrinking --

BALDWIN: Factory owner Tony Singh fears his business may go the same way. He says the recession, rising rent and cheap overseas labor are destroying jobs in the garment district. Only three percent of clothing sold in the state is made in the USA.

TONY SINGH, FOUR SEASON'S FASHION: It is tough because they're sending most of the work overseas like China, Indonesia, India, and those places. That's why the business is, you know, they're going more for cheaper labor. That's why there's not enough work in the United States.

BALDWIN: Manhattan's apparel manufacturers see their future in high end, small batch production that designers don't want to send overseas. It's work that would preserve the now 9,000 manufacturing jobs in the garment district.

ANDY WARD, GARMENT INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT CORP.: Those workers are the ones that really created this industry, and without the workers, we really won't have an industry.

BALDWIN: Workers like Timmy Rosales.

MANUEL "TIMMY" ROSALES, GARMENT DISTRICT WORKER: This is what I learned. This is what I love. I love to do this job.

BALDWIN: Who hopes his job will survive both this economic unraveling and a global shift. And keep Manhattan at the heart of this billion dollar fashion industry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: You know, fashion week, you're kind of hip on this, right?

HOLMES: Am I? Yes.

BALDWIN: It would be fun to go to sit in on fashion week.

HOLMES: It would, yes.

BALDWIN: You know what, this is the time of year when typically the folks in the peas, the sewers, the pattern makers, the machine operators, are so busy because they're making these spring collections to debut and they are not busy at all. So it's so tough for them right now. Just a group of people you don't often think about.

HOLMES: And this is supposed to be the time for them. This would be the busiest time of the year.

BALDWIN: You got it.

HOLMES: You hate to hear that. But it's hitting everybody. You don't think about it but yes, even the fashion world.

BALDWIN: I know. Fredricka?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's sad. I have a little tidbit to offer on that. A lot of the high end stores that are used to selling a lot of the couture or you know rather upper echelon kind of priced things, they've even cut back on their stockpile because the recession has hit even though some will argue that one percent of America, the wealthy America, it hasn't hit them like it has the rest of the people but a lot of the stores are stocking less. Because they don't want to -- 50 or 75 percent markdowns later. Well, also, this season --

HOLMES: Hello, by the way.

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry. I kind of barged in on your conversation.

HOLMES: No, no, no.

BALDWIN: We like it.

WHITFIELD: Let me introduce myself. Coming up in the noon eastern hour, schools, colleges across the country, this is the time of year not only going back to school, but a lot of the football athletes, the college level and high school athletes, are heading to the fields there. It's very hot which also underscores a case now in court this week. We're talking about a family pitted against a Kentucky coach. The family, their 15-year-old died of possibly heat stroke. They're in court right now and so lots of reminders going out to a lot of school districts across the country about the dangers of working out in the heat.

Also in the noon eastern hour, a prelude to our big Kahoona at the 4:00 eastern hour. We're going to be focusing on the h1n1 virus, all the things you need to know about how to protect yourself this fall and winter. We're already seeing a pretty high number of cases, more than 500 cases across the country already. We're all having to be cognizant of what to do, how to be safe, the vaccine that might be available come mid-October.

BALDWIN: Or two? Is that right?

HOLMES: Might have to take two.

WHITFIELD: That's right. So everything you wanted to know, 4 o'clock Eastern Time. But we'll start talking about it in the noon eastern hour as well.

HOLMES: Got a lot of questions. Looking forward to it. Good to see you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Just send your questions to my blog.

BALDWIN: We'll do that. He's always tweeting.

HOLMES: Can I just ask you while we're sitting up here?

WHITFIELD: OK.

HOLMES: Thank you Fredricka, we'll see you here in just a minute.

BALDWIN: While we here are still taking the pulse of how people feel about health care reform. Ali Velshi hit the road and he is finding out exactly what people are saying during his last stop on the CNN Express.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All across the U.S., you have been sharing your views about health care reform, whether you're for it, you're against it. Ali Velshi has gotten an earful, I think.

HOLMES: He stopped the CNN Express at a health care town hall in Madison, Wisconsin. Take a listen.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Brooke and T.J. on this trip around America, what we found is that the conversation tends to revolve around the economy or health care. Those two topics came together in Evansville, Indiana, where Whirlpool has just announced that it's shutting down a refrigerator plant and moving much of that manufacturing down to Mexico. Even though people there were very concerned about the economy and about trade, the conversation still gravitated back to health care reform.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Health care to me is a moral issue and it's a civil right. We need to move with the rest of the developed world and have a real health care program.

VELSHI (on camera): Let me get a sense of that from you. How many people think that the administration is on the right path with respect to health care reform? Roughly on the right path? How many of you think the administration is not on the right path with health care reform? OK. One of you want to tell me about that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I disagree that health care is a civil right. I think it's a civil right to be able to keep your own income and buy with it what you want, and I think the health care crisis is highly over exaggerated. It's not something that the government should be running. And I'm sorry that people are going to be out of health care, but everybody has been at one time or another and you go out and you build yourself back up again and you get it. But it's not everybody else's responsibility to give it to everybody else.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We pay 17 percent of our gross national product for health care. Canada pays nine percent and covers everybody. We leave all these people uncovered. 20,000 people die every year because they don't have insurance. This is a real number. That's more than six times as many as died in 9/11 and it's happening every year.

VELSHI: Do you think health care is the biggest issue facing us right now? Put up your hands if you think that health care's the biggest problem facing us. One of. OK. I'll give you another option. How many of you think jobs, unemployment, how many of you think that's a bigger problem? OK. Some of you voted twice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to say, once we get past this socialist smokescreen that we hear so much about, everything that any government does is socialist, OK? Let's at least on the health care, why don't we at least give catastrophic coverage to the young families? You go to any store or gas station, you walk in, there's some poor young family got a little 4-year-old daughter dying of leukemia. Insurance is not covering the care for her. What they have to have charity benefits, ask for donations. If on the 5:30 news, we can brag about million dollar a shop weapons systems, why can't we help save our dying children? At least.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Now Brooke and T.J., as you heard there, a lot of people are concerned about the fact that even if they had health care through their employers, because of that plant closure, more and more people are going to be dependent on some other option, either COBRA or finding insurance privately. That's why unemployment is continuing to cause a concern for people when it comes to health care. These new employment numbers that just came out only serve to make that problem a little bit worse. Brooke, T.J.?

HOLMES: All right thanks, Ali. As his journey continues.

Right now, our journey is ending. We need to hand it over to Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CENTER: So that my journey can begin.

BALDWIN: Hello Fred.

WHITFIELD: Hello, you all have a great day. Journey on for the rest of your Saturday.