Transcripts For CNN The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20090730

we're going to switch over now to cnn.com/live where we'll continue the conversation with donna brazile as well as three of our guests that are good enough to share their situation, talking about health care with them, the reality of how it affects them. here now, though, is wolf blitzer. rick, thanks very much. happening now, cold beer and maybe cold feet. we're counting down the president's get-together with an african-american scholar and the police officer who arrested him. when it comes to this event, team obama suddenly seems a little camera shy. we're watching the story for you. another story we're chasing down right now is health care reform hitting a brick wall in the senate. new warnings from some powerful republicans that a final deal could be a long way off. and growing fears about a new wave of swine flu. could be bigger and deadlier and a new report says the federal government is not ready. i'm wolf blitzer in cnn's command center for breaking news, politics, and extraordinary reports from around the world. you're in "the situation room." in about the two hours, it'll look like happy hour over at the white house. pictures many of us have been waiting for. there will be three men, a back yard, and some beer. president obama, harvard professor henry louis gates and cambridge police officer james crowley. they'll all get together and they'll try to drown out that controversy over gates' arrest with some red, light, and blue. a reference to their beer preferences. we have fresh video of one of the men, professor gates, traveling to the meeting from martha's vineyard. meanwhile, they're buzzed because big changes are brewing. let's go to our white house correspondent, dan lothian, watch the story for us. what's the latest, dan? >> reporter: as you know, there's been a lot of buildtown this meeting but access really is being limited. in fact, this has really turned into a photo-op. all discussions will be taking place in private. now, initially this beer sum, if you will, was supposed to take place at a picnic table just outside the oval office next to the jungle gym, the play structure for the obama kids, but i guess that visual of adults drinking beer next to a playground was not appealing, so instead it has been moved to the rose garden. and now the media is being kept back 40 feet so they won't be able to shout any questions at all the parties at this event. so, i guess you could call it a real beer summit from a distance. cold beer diplomacy at the white house. president obama, professor gates and sergeant crowley trying to get rid of a nasty hangover from a controversial and racially charged arrest. >> they're decent, honorable, good men. to get together and talk about what's going on in this country is a positive thing. >> reporter: while the president has called this controversy a teachable moment, aides say no formal agenda, no after-action report, is on tap for this so-called beer summit. just dialogue around a rose garden table on issues like racial profiling. >> this is an issue, as you mentioned, of concern to a lot of americans, not just african-americans but a lot of americans. and i think as such it will be a topic that's continued to talk about. >> reporter: president obama plans to toss back a bud light. crowley wants a blue moon. gates is said to prefer a red stripe. but there's controversy brewing in the choice of beverages. massachusetts congressman richard neil had such a bad taste in his mouth that he sent this letter to the president, suggesting an american-owned product like sam adams instead of bud light, which is now owned by a belgian company. >> call the white house tonight. >> reporter: and this man protesting alone outside the white house doesn't think drinking beer at the meeting is appropriate because it sends the wrong message to the nation's youth. >> we want him to hold up some orange juice, something that's healthful. >> reporter: the president is just wrapping up a meeting with the president of the philippines at the white house, and someone asked a question of the president about this upcoming beer summit. the president says that this is opportunity for everyone to listen to each other. we hope to get more from those comments, wolf, once we get the tape of that event. >> for that tape. as soon as we get it, we'll play it for our viewers. let me get this straight, dan, some sense tiff stuff, especially for the news media and a lot of american who is want to see this. the three guys are going to sit down in the rose garden, you're saying, but they're not going to let the cameras get anywhere within earshot or hear what they're saying? just going to be a little picture we're going to get of this meeting? >> reporter: that's exactly what it is, wolf. they will be at the back end of the rose garden. there is a patio area with a table and some chairs around it. that is where they will be having this meeting. they're not going to be talking when the media is allowed to go in. they're just going to stand there. the cameras will be kept 40 feet away so really no ton to really shout any questions, to hear any reaction at all from the parties who will be attending. so, really being sort of kept at a distance from this event. and this is something that the white house really had been pushing now for quite some time. the president coming out into the briefing room, talking about this, saying how this would be a teachable moment. but right now all we're going to get is video opportunity. >> teachable moment indeed. thanks. we'll stay on top of this story. we're also standing by to hear what the president has just said -- told the reporters in another meeting on the philippines about this upcoming three-way summit in the rose garden. stand by for that. meanwhile, the president might need a beer or two after he gets an update on health care negotiations in the senate. just yesterday, he was applauding a new reform deal in the house as a step forward, but it's a different situation in the senate. let's go to our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, with more on this part of the story. what's the latest in the senate, dana? >> reporter: you know, wolf, i'm standing again outside of the office of the senate finance chairman, max baucus, where negotiations over a health care deal have been taking place daily. but now the republicans who have been working towards the compromise are dealing another blow to the president's time line for health care. coming from a republican, this may sound like good news for the president. >> -- that we'll get a bill to the president this fall. >> reporter: but what the president and democratic leaders really want is a bipartisan deal now, before the august recess, to help build much-needed moment t on health care. yet who people with the power to break that deadline are saying no. listen to the halls of the capitol. >> reporter: the senate democratic leader blamed top republicans for the delay. >> the only problem we have with having a bipartisan bill is the republican leadership in the senate. senator grassley and senator enzi have been under great pressure. >> reporter: both admit to cnn the three negotiators are feeling gop heat for negotiating with democrats and presh is sure both in private and public to slow down. this was the rep can leader's 30th senate floor speech saying a version of this. >> some in congress seem to be in such a rush, such a rush to pass any reform rather than the right reform. >> we're going to get back to dana in a moment. but we're told that the videotape of the president speaking about this upcoming summit with the police officer and the professor, we have the tape now. >> okay. jeff mason. >> first of all, what do you expect [ inaudible ]? second of all, what do you think will be the main message tonight in the rose garden? >> on gdp, i don't have a crystal ball and i haven't received figures yet. but i think if you look at the consensus, consensus of economists right now, it confirms that we have seen a significant slowing down of the contraction over the last several months. there are a lot of indicators out there that tell us that, you know, job losses, although still way too high, are not at the pace that we were seeing in january or february. housing prices went up for the first time in three years. the credit system, the banking system, the financial markets generally have settled down. so, you're not seeing the huge volatility or panic that you were seeing. and so, all of that is a sign that we have stepped away from the precipice. you know, as ben bernanke and others across the ideological spectrum have indicated, we were in a position where we could have gone into a great depression. i think those fears have abated. but i suspect that the gdp numbers will still show that the economy contracted in the second quarter, that job loss is still a huge problem. you don't have to read gdp numbers to see that. all you've got to do is talk to the american people, who are still losing job, losing home, and worried about their ability to keep their health care and finance their children's educations. so, we're not going to rest until we have seen not just a technical improvement in gdp but until the american people's job prospects, their incomes have rebounded, and that's going to take some time. with respect to tonight, you know, i have to say, fascinated with the fascination about this evening. as you know, this idea was prompted when i was talking with sergeant crowley and he said, well, maybe i'll have a beer in the white house someday and i said, well, you know, i'm sure that can be arranged. you know, i noticed this has been called the beer summit. it's a clever term, but this is not a summit, guys. this is three folks having a drink at the end of the day and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. and that's really all it is. this is not a -- this is not a university seminar. it is not a summit. it's an attempt to have some personal interaction when an issue has become so hyped and so symbolic that you lose sight of just the fact that these are people involved, including myself, all of whom are imperfect, and, you know, hopefully instead of ginning up anger and hyperbole, you know, everybody can just spend a little bit of time with some self-reflection and recognizing that other people had different points of view. and that's all it is. and so, you know, i will be surprised if you guys all make this the lead as opposed to a very important meeting that we just had with one of our most important partners in the world. but the press has surprised me before. thank you very much. >> all right. the president of the united states trying to play down this meeting. he's about to have in less than two hours over in the rose garden of the white house with the police officer who arrested the african-american scholar, henry louis gates. this is not a university seminar, he says. this is not a summit. it's all been hyped. just three guys going to have some cold beer. let's go back to our white house correspondent dan lothian. i guess that explains the white house rationale, why they're going to keep cameras and microphones at a distance. >> that's right. they really are, as you mentioned, wolf, trying to down play this. and we've noticed that all day where initially we had thought this would be something which would be a little broader than sort of this photo-op that we'd get a chance to perhaps be on the inside of some of these discussions. but in essence, what the white house wants to do is just have a casual, private conversation where they can discuss some of the issues that have transpired over the past few day, put sort of the past behind, and also, you know, draw a little bit of attention to bager issue and that is issues of racial profiling, something that the white house hopes will go beyond discussion here, will be carried out in police departments and communities across the country, wolf. >> dan, we're going to be in close touch with you as we get closer to the meeting in the rose garden. thanks very much. i want to go back to our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, to just wrap up where this stands in the u.s. senate. dana, your report was obviously very solid, but we're getting sort of conflicting signals from some of these republicans in the senate finance committee, senator grassley on cnn earlier today, basically suggesting, you know, they've worked out a compromise, no government option, if you will, no employer mandates. he's got a whole bunch of things. he sounded upbeat and eventually this would have bipartisan support. >> reporter: exactly. i think eventually is the key word here because there's no question he is upbeat. he is saying they have gotten a lot of progress done, but the problem from the perspective of senator grassley and another republican, one of the three, mike enzi, is that they don't want to be rushed and they are very concerned that the white house, the president himself, democratic leaders have made it very clear that they want this deal done in the next couple of days really in a way so that they can actually have a committee vote next week. and, in fact, as we were talking and listening to the president, i just got a statement from senator grassley making it very clear that he does not think it is helpful to have this kind of pressure, from his point of view, pressure from the white house to do it fast. he said it will be a lost opportunity of democratic leaders in congress and the administration forced action on health care legislation that's not ready because of the complexity of the issue. so, that just gives you a sense of where things are. pretty remarkably sane, if you will, behind those doors, but recently in the past 24 hours or so they've become much more tense and intense because of the fact that there is pressure from the democratic leadership and the republican leadership, both sides, to get it done or not get it done depending on perspective. >> opposite pressure coming from the two sides. >> yeah. >> thanks, dana. let's check in with jack cafferty for "the cafferty file." jack. the news media are fighting to survive, and dan rather thinks the government should help rescue them, us. the former cbs anchor man is calling on president obama to create a white house commission to help save the press. rather says such a commission could make recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to help the industry survive. rather says there are precedents for this kind of national commission which have helped other failing industries. dan rather says the stakes couldn't be nighny higher. he told the "aspen daily news" in an interview, quote, a truly free and independent press is the red beating heart of democracy and freedom, unquote. he says it's not just journalists who should worry about the fate of the press in this country, but, rather, every citizen. you also talked about the dumbing down and sleazing up of what we see on the news, and he blames that on the blurry line between news and entertainment, along with corporate and political influence in newsrooms. he claims that about 80% of the media is controlled by just a handful of large corporations. dan rather also talks about the decline in investigative and international reporting, says the loss of reporters covering the two wars that we're involved in hurts our nation. the bottom line is dan rather sees it, if somebody doesn't step in and take action, this country will eventually lose its independent news media. so, here's the question. should the federal government be involved in saving the news media? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog. >> i know the way you think. probably the same way i think. right, jack? >> i would guess we're on the same page. the republican governor of minnesota is coming out swinging at president obama today. is this tim pawlenty's way of saying he'll be a white house candidate in 2012? i'll speak with him and ask him. also ahead, president obama's former doctor is speaking to cnn. he's explaining why he thinks the white house plan to overhaul health care is bad medicine. he has some specific details. and a new shot of fear. the second case of swine flu. introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all new chevy equinox. this is one way of getting vitamins and minerals. this is another. new total blueberry pomegranate cereal gives you 100% of the daily value of 12 essential vitamins and minerals. plus the bold new taste of blueberries and pomegranate with crispy whole grain flakes and crunchy oat clusters. total, a truly delicious 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(announcer) the same professional monitoring you expect from brink's home securi, you can now expect from broadview security - for home and business. broadview secuty - the next generation of brink's home security. call now. investors push the restart button on a stock market rally. the dow jones industrials closed about 80 points higher today, inching closer and closer toward that 10,000 level. let's go to our chief business correspondent, ali velly. ali, explain what's going on. >> if you had your money well invested in the last two weeks you would have done better than you do in an average year in the stock market. the dow topped 9,200 in today's trading and that's a level we haven't seen in almost nine months. the s&p 500 hit its own nine-month high, the nasdaq at a ten-month high. the nasdaq has had five straight months of gains. let's look at some of the political milestones on wall street's wild ride. take a look at the dow. on the left side of the screen is mid-september of last year. the dow was just shy of 11,000 points. that's when lehman brother filed for bankruptcy. that event and aig collapsing after that turned the economic downturn into this global financial crisis, wolf. the dow dropped to about 10,325 three weeks after that when congress passed the t.a.r.p. legislation. that's the massive government bailout of the nation's big banks. now, jump ahead from then to election day, november 4th. more losses for the major marks. we saw the dow sliding to 9625, and by the time the president was sworn in in late january, the dow was down further, 7949. now, let's move forward to when the president signed the stimulus package. that was mid-february. the dow7500. it continued to slide until march 9th, which we now think was the bottom of the market in the 6500 range. but a somewhat steady march since then. now we're back to the levels we saw around election day. for those of you who shied away from the market, now might be a good time to think about reengaging based on your own risk tolerance, wolf. done jump in blindly, but this market seems to be on its way up. >> that's the key word, your own risk tolerance because what goes up can easily go down. down to 6500, up now to 9000 but it can still go down. everybody has their own tolerance. >> you don't back up the truck. you do it based on how old you are, how much time you've got to retirement. there are calculators to use. that's the way to do it. be smart about it but enjoy it. >> good point. all right, ali. thank you. credit cards and designer clothes. first lady michelle obama's sorority embroiled in somewhat of a scan dl. and one state has a novel idea on how to take a bite out of its financial woes, but it may be giving new meaning to the government for steal. ♪ (announcer) introducing new tums dual action. this tums goes to work in seconds and lasts for hours. all day or night. new tums dual action. bring it on. we're shopping for car insurance, and our friends said we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates, apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price. how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that? [ chuckles ] wow! good luck getting your remote back. it's all right -- i love this channel. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today. wit fredricka whitfield is monitoring other stories inco incoming to "the situation room." >> reporter: wolf, arizona state lawmakers are looking to close a huge budget deficit, considering selling the house and senate building. the state would then lease the building back over seven years before assuming ownership again. other considerations are being sold, and that includes the state prisons and a mental hospital, as well. all right. members include first lady michelle obama, alicia keys and maya angelou. the nation's oldest african-american sorority is racked by scandal. some members of the sorority are suing their sorority and the president amongst claims from barbara mckenzie. the board approved high compensation for her. she used her sorority credit card for designer jewelry and clothing and hundreds of thousands of dollars on a wax figure. she calls the claims malicious and without merit. wolf? >> fred, thank you. to our viewers, you're in "the situation room." happening now -- some call it force. others call it national defense. will the president make good on his veto threat? stand by. you can call it the rules taliban style. a little blue book laying out the militants' code of conduct. it's being passed around afghanistan. we have a look inside. and her death became a rallying cry for the opposition in iran. but a day of mourning for neda takes a violent turn. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." president obama may need so look over his shoulder and keep an eye on this man, a governor at the sent of a lot of buzz right now that he may, repeat, may challenge the president in the next election. right now he's keeping a rather high political profile, talking about ways for republicans to win and issues you care about. and joining us now the republican governor of minnesota, tim pawlenty over t at the rnc meeting in san diego. we'll talk politics a little bit later, but let's talk about health care reform first, governor, a key subject here in washington. i listened to republican senator chuck grassley, the ranking republican on the senate finance committee. he was on cnn earlier today, and he sounded upbeat about a bipartisan solution. listen to this. >> we've got some of the big things that were contentious, compromised. there's not going to be any government-run insurance company set up. and we're going to increase the competition for the present insurance companies through properties as we've known them for 150 years. and then another very important one is whether or not to mandate that every employer has to have health insurance for his employees. we're not going to have an employer mandate. >> all right. governor, senator grassley, you know him, he sounds pretty upbeat about a bipartisan piece of legislation. are you ready to get on board? >> no. we have to be very careful about keeping the main thing the main thing, wolf, and that is if you're making the case that we have to do something to control cost in the health care system and your answer to do that is the federal government to spend more money, that does not solve the problem. that's like you're saying you're going to balance the checkbook by writing more checks. so, i appreciate the two pieces of progress senator grassley flagged but there's a more fundamental problem with this, which is it's going to break the bank. >> he mentioned three, including the cooperatives. is that something, a cooperative, that you think would save the american public money? because a lot of folks aren't happy with their insurance companies right now. >> well, we have a couple things going on. number one is for those who don't have insurance, expanding access is a worthy goal. but for the vast, vast majority of americans, they do have insurance and their main concern they want cost containment. there's a variety of ways to do that. one of the ways we do it in minnesota is start the process of paying for better health and outcomes and results rather than just paying for volumes of procedures, because if you pay for volumes of procedures you'll get more procedures, a part of what's wrong currently. >> a good hospital, the mayo clinic, a lot of people are looking on for guy dance on what to do nationally. let's talk about the economy. do you see this recession coming to an end? >> well, what we see in minnesota and i think across the country is that it's getting worse less rapidly but it'ing still not yet bottomed out. we're hopeful we'll see that bottoming out in the beginning of the redhoefr fall or winter but it's too early to tell. the stock market is bullish right now, so that may be a leading indicator. >> in terms of the recovery funds, the economic stimulus money, congress provided almost $4 billion for minnesota, $3.8 billion, $2.7 billion has been allocated and $735 million has already been spent. i assume that money is helping the people of minnesota dramatically. >> well, as you probably know, wolf, the gao did a report on the stimulus bill that said of the nearly $800 billion that's being spent, only about $160 billion of it is actually stimulative. and if it turns out in retrospect the recession is over or will soon be over, the obama administration will have the uncomfortable phenomena of having the recession ended before most of the stimulus money was even spent. so, that's another validation of the fact that it was probably misguided or at least untimely effort. >> are you ready to give president any credit if, if this recession ends relatively soon? >> well, i think president obama inherited a very challenging situation, but if you're going to do a stimulus package it should have been targeted, things that got money into the taxpayers' pockets right away, like reducing the payroll tax for employees and employers and focusing on nonquirky infrastructure projects. but that's not what this bill was. that was a very small portion of the bill. the rest of it was largely sustaining government bureaucracies and that's not stimulative. >> you're at the republican national committee in san diego. a lot of speculation about you, buzz, that this is your coming out -- you're getting ready to think, at least, seriously about running for the republican presidential nomination in 2012. are you? >> well, i got a year and a half left to be governor of the state of minnesota and that's going to be the focus of my attention, but i am in minnesota and elsewhere going to speak to how my party can do a better job. we got our tails kicked in the last two elections. i think i have ideas to share but that will be focused on how to do better in 2010. not thinking beyond that. >> sounds at least like you're thinking about it, open to the idea, not ruling it out. a lot of people remember, i do, especially, that you were, what, the first runner-up for that republican vice presidential nomination back in st. paul. but we don't have to go through the ancient history. i do want to throw this sound bite to you, what your fellow now former governor sarah palin said in announcing one of the reasons why she was quitting. >> it is because i love alaska this much, sir, that i feel that it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical politics as usual, lame-duck session in one's last year in office. >> all right. well, you're in that situation. you've announced you're not seeking re-election a third term. you're a lame duck right now. how does that make you feel when you hear speaking like that? >> well, i don't know if she was speaking about me, necessarily. i consider sarah palin a friend and a colleague and somebody that i think has been a remarkable leader for alaska and i think for her she just fell her situation in alaska she was an impediment to getting things done or her situation was an impediment to getting things done so, she stepped aside. that's her call. but i think it's probably limited to her unique circumstances in alaska. you can't have people who just say any time that you don't have time left on your term you don't serve out your term. otherwise, you have office holder, like the governor of virginia, who has only one term as a matter of constitution, is always a lame duck. so, is that person to resign in the first couple months of office? >> i want to be clear, you have no plans to quit. >> i don't, no. >> okay, governor. thanks very much for coming in. good luck. >> all right, wolf. thank you very much. >> experts say a second wave of the swine flu is coming to the united states and they fear the federal government is not up to the crisis. also, a guidebook for taliban warriors in afghanistan and pakistan. their rules for living and for fighting. we have the book. hot! hot! hot! time to check your air conditioning? come to meineke now and get a free ac system check. at meineke, you're always the driver. it's a race against time and a dangerous flu, and right now the u.s. government is apparently not winning. we've been hearing warning after warning about a second wave of the h1n1 virus. when the flu season hits north america this fall. a startling report confirming many people's worst fears just coming out that we're not ready for this. mary snow is taking a closer look. >> reporter: the bottom line is the united states is not ready for a more severe round of swine flu. the government accountability office concludes that many gaps in pandemic planning still remain. among them, the gao says federal, state, and local agencies needs to coordinate betters personally when it comes to private sector. it also cites a lack of clarity when it comes to who's responsible for things like state border closures should they happen and distributing vaccines. another issue is being prepared for house services and supplies, especially, it says, if there are more patients going to hospitals than there are beds. now, we asked for a response from the department of homeland security and health and human services secretary since these two departments were targeted in the report. they challenge the findings. they say aggressive and coordinates efforts to plan for and respond to h1n1 flu have not wavered since the first signs of the outbreak emerged. working with our federal partners, as well as state, local, tribal, and territorial officials, we're taking the critical steps necessary to ensure the nation is prepared for the fall flu season. wolf? >> this report comes from the government accountable office, nonpartisan government office so, good credentials, good people working there. what do we know, what about the latest on a vaccine or two vaccines that may be necessary? >> well, at this point, the clinical trials are just getting underw under way. they'll determine how effective and safe these vaccines are. health officials don't expect to star a mass vaccination program until early november. an advisory panel just put out guidelines yesterday, and at the top of the list of people who will be a priority for getting vaccines, pregnant women, health care workers, fist responders, people with children under 6 month s old and when it comes t children, those under 6 months and up to 4 years will be on the top of list as well as along with people with chronic medical conditions. adding those groups alone, that's about 42 million people. >> obviously the vaccine won't be ready when kids go back to school at the end of august, beginning of september. mary, than very much for that report. political flashes on a young woman's grave. and in our strat ti session, the top republican complaint, the president is simply giving too much power to too many czars. does he have a point? and in new york right now, a roller coaster of emotions. %%% about 1:15 away from when the president will be receiving the professor and the police sergeant over at the white house for that so-called beer summit, although the president says it's not a summit, it's just a meeting between three guys to have a cold beer and talk about what happened in cambridge. that's coming up, 6:00 p.m. eastern later on the. for a president who's been very popular, it appears some of his appeal is sort of fading. a fresh cnn poll of polls, the president's approval rating has steadily gone down, though not necessarily by huge drops. what might be causing this decline? let's bring in our senior political analyst, gloria borger. you had a chance last night, at a focus group outside of baltimore with independent voters, not democrat, not republican. >> right. >> people who describe themselves as independent. they were critical to this president's election. >> yes, they were. and, you know, according to a recent "wall street journal" poll, they're less approving of the president right now than the overall number. 49% approve of him. 38% disapprove of him, which is about where they were during the campaign. but at this focus group, which was done by the democratic pollster peter hart, it was very clear that these 12 voters, for whom voted for john mccain, one supporting ralph nader, that these 12 voters are still giving the president, wolf, the benefit of the doubt. they say the country is going to, quote, hell in a hand basket, but they believe that he shouldn't be blamed for it yet. and what was stunning to us, wolf, was that right away these voters started calling president obama "barack." they referred to him as barack and the pollster, peter hart, says it shows how powerful his personal presence still is. >> what about the president -- he's very busy talking about his respective plans. is this strategy working for him? >> i think what we saw with these voters is is they're comfortable with him. remember during the campaign, the big question about barack obama was can voters get comfortable with this man. and the answer to that is yes. but there's a downside here. they're watching him all the time, and they say, look, we think he's trying to do too much. so, they're a little worried about that. they also think he buds in where he shouldn't, as in the gates issue. >> done go away. we'll come back to you, speaking about the gates issue. in the "strategy session," robert gibbs was peppered by questions about the staging of what some are calling the beer chat. >> what about the president? why is the president in silence on this? >> coupled with the way this is laid out and looks forward to -- >> if he wants to make it a teachable moment, he should come out and talk and teach. >> is president obama downplaying? 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(male announcer) if you take plavix with other heart medicines continuing to do so will help increase your protection against a future heart attack or stroke beyond your other heart medicines alone. you may be feeling better but your risk never goes away. help stay protected, stay with plavix. and an environment in balance. between consuming less and conserving more. there is one important word: how. and it is the how that makes all the difference. to the planet we all share. we're getting a glimpse of the setting where we think will be the scene of the so-called beer chat. professor henry louis gates has arrived at the white house. maybe those are pictures we're getting of the professor at the white house. they'll be getting together at 6:00 p.m. eastern, a little bit more than an hour from now weather the police sergeant, james crowley, and the p, and they'll all have a beer and discuss what's going on. remember, this was the comment that inflamed a lot of anger. >> the cambridge police acted stupid stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. >> the president, of course, has dialed back from that comment, hopes to put this entire controversy to bed late they are evening. we'll have coverage, of course, during our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour, a little bit more than an hour from now when all three of them get together in the rose garden. let's talk ak ibt in our strategy session. joining us, our cnn political contributor, democratic strategist donna brazile and republican strategist ron christy, former assistant to president bush. is this smart for the white house to have this teachable moment become almost an invisible moment if they don't let cameras hear what these three guys are talking about? >> wolf, i think what the president is trying to do is turn down the heat and have a cool and candid conversation about a very difficult topic. it ignited a firestorm across the country, so this is antun for the president to use the bully pulpit in a different way, sitting, talking, listening. that's how you create change. >> is that going to teach anybody outside of the three of them, give them a lesson learned from what happened if we don't know what they said? >> well, the visual is very important, wolf, but not until we know more about what happened. i'm sure the president and the two gentlemen might tell us something later. but for right now, let's turn down the volume and leetlet these three gentlemen sit down and enjoy a nice cold beer. >> that would be interesting if they emerged before the cameras afterwards. >> it would be. 40 feet back, only allowing about 20 seconds worth of media availability. i think they're worried, wolf, you know, are the three of them going to get along, have a good conversation. what a difference a week has made for this white house. the white house has been so focused talking about health care, this whole issue of, you know, the police department acting stupidly has taken this white house off its game. the question for me will be once this beer moment over, can the white house get back on track. that's what the president trying to do. >> race is always a distraction, especially when it's used in a way that creates a wedge and in ways to create tension. this is an opportunity to lower the volume, to bring people together and hopefully rebuild trust between the minority communities and the police, because we depend on each other. we need to have good relations between the minority community and the police departments across the country. >> what were you going to say? >> the only thing i'd say is if the president wanted it to be a teachable moment, he should have had a racial forum. we've heard so many forums about health care in the last few weeks, if you want to make it a teachable moment, why not have a dialogue in a town hall about race rather than a beer? >> it should start with you and me and wolf and everybody else and let the president get back to fixing the economy, giving us a good health care plan because he needs to focus on that. >> his preeries and his number-one domestic priority is getting this health care passed, which is in trouble, at least right now. >> i think the health bill right now is in life support. i think it's very unlikely the house and senate negotiators will have a product by the august recess. the question becomes what happens when these members go home? we talk about a town hall. were will these members hear from their constituents? most people like the healthcare coverage and insurance they have? do we need to fundamentally change the system or do we hear lawmakers say slow down? >> there are millions of other who is don't have any insurance or have insurance but hate their insurance companies because they don't let them get the treatment they think they deserve. >> absolutely. >> therein lies the crux of the matter for the republicans offering these piecemeal plans is how do we lower costs, how do we improve quality, how do we make sure what we pay for with these out-of-pocket expenses? >> there will be a lot of focus on health care, as there should be, and we're counting down to the meeting in the rose garden about an hour or so from now and -- >> the do the little, you know, what i call the pooh-pooh trays. >> little hors d'oeuvres, little hot dog -- >> little chips with salsa. >> good with peer or pizza. >> we can have our own beer moment. >> come on over. >> guys, thanks very much. how should violent extremists behave? we've learned there's a book of dos and don'ts for taliban. we have it. there it is right there. we're going to share it with you. we're also learning who will have custody of michael jackson's kids. there is an agreement between jackson's mom and the mother of two of his children. i was always going having to go in the middle of traffic and just starting and stopping. having to go in the middle of a ballgame and then not being able to go once i got there. and going at night. i thought i had a going problem. my doctor said i had a growing problem. it wasn't my bladder. my prostate was growing. i had an enlarging prostate that was causing my urinary symptoms. my doctor prescribed avodart. 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(announcer) avodart is for men only. women should not take or handle avodart due to risk of a specific birth defect. do not donate blood until 6 months after stopping avodart. tell your doctor if you have liver disease. rarely sexual side effects, swelling or tenderness of the breasts can occur. only your health care provider can tell if symptoms are from an enlarged prostate and not a more serious condition like prostate cancer. so have regular exams. call your doctor today. avodart. help take care of your growing problem on our political ticker, the white house reveals the 2009 winners of the presidential medal of freedom, calling them agents of change. here are some of names you might recognize. senator ted kennedy is the most prominent political figure on the list along with former supreme court justice sandra day o'connor and the late jack kemp, the former housing secretary but onetime republican vice presidential nominee. it's a varied group that includes the tennis legend billie jean king, the actor sidney poitier, the renowned physicist sidney b. hawkins, nancy brinker, krirgts leader geoff rend joseph lawrie and the first openly gay elected official and the subject of a recent film, harvey milk. check out cnnpolitics.com. let's go to jack for "the cafferty file." jack? question this hour is should the federal government be involved in saving the news media? dan rather, the former cbs news evening news anchor man, thinks the white house should form a commission to take a look at ways to keep the news media afloat. if you didn't see your e-mail, go to my blog at cnn.com/caffertyfile. look for yours there among hundreds of others. amen. to our viewers, you're in "the situation room." a new twist in the michael jackson saga and this time it's apparently a positive one. lawyers for the pop star's mother and ex-wife say a custody agreement has been worked out for his children. from hot tempers to cold beers, an african-american harvard professor and the police sergeant arrested in his home, they'll try to move from controversy to conversation. and iranian security forces clashing with demonstrators at the grave of neda, the young woman whose violent death made her a symbol of iran's election protests. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." a custody agreement has been worked out for michael jackson's children. it's being called a dignified outcome, a phrase that until now hannesly always applied to the pop star's death and its aftermath. but in this case, lawyers for jackson's mother and ex-wife say the right thing is being done for his kids. let's go live to cnn's krandi ka kaye, working this story for us. randi, give us details of the settlement between the grandmother and the mother. >> reporter: wolf, as you know, in michael jackson's will, he named katherine jackson, his mother, as the guardian of his three children. there was some discussion that possibly his ex-wife, debbie rowe, would try and seek custody of her two children that she had with michael jackson, the two oldest children, paris and michael jr. well, now we are told that there is a custody agreement in place, that katherine jackson, the grandmother of the children, will retain custody of all three children. debbie rowe did not seek custody, but she will have visitation rights. timing and the frequency of that visitation is still being worked out. both sides will be meeting with a child psychologist. they will be splitting the expense for that and figure out what's best for the children. and speaking of money and expenses, it's important to note here with all the talk about debbie rowe, quote, unquote, selling her children, possibly, and being paid off in this case, i'm being told that there was no money exchange, that debbie rowe has her divorce settlement with michael jackson, the $8.5 million they had agreed to. that is the only money she is receiving. she did not receive any extra money in terms of her part in agreeing to let katherine jackson raise these children. >> randi, what's the latest into the investigation into michael jackson's death? >> reporter: well, we can tell you that we are being told by a federal law enforcement official that dr. conrad murray, his personal physician who was hired to go on tour with him, who was at his home with him when he suffered cardiac arrest the day he died, they are telling us that dr. conrad murray is the only one they are looking at. now, that is coming from a federal source. it's also important to tell you that of course we know that other doctors' records have been subpoenaed, other doctors have been looked at. but in this case, it does seem that dr. cob rad murray seems to be really the person that the regular is focusing on. as you know, a source telling cnn earlier this week that dr. conrad murray had given michael jackson diprivan or propofol, as it's also called, that very powerful sedative that authorities believe killed michael jackson. we were told he was given that by dr. murray within 24 hours of his death. we also know that search warrants, numerous search warrants, have been executed on his properties in both houston, his clinic there and a storage facility and also at his home in las vegas and his clinic in las vegas. they took all kinds of things, including hard drives and e-mails, and clearly they are beginning to focus on him. we will tell you his lawyer is still saying they are being told dr. conrad mur vie a witness and not a suspect. >> randi kaye, thanks very much. appreciate it. more on the story coming up later this hour. jim moret of "inside edition" is standing by. a search for common ground on the white house grounds. less than an hour from now, president obama will drink a beer with the african-american harvard university professor henry louis gates and the man who arrested him in cambridge, massachusetts, police sergeant jim crowley pip's a stun lg turnaround from last week's arrest and the outrage that followed. let's go live to our white house correspondent, dan lothian, to set the scene. we're counting down to the meeting in the rose garden, dan. >> reporter: that's right, wolf, and i can tell you professor gates is now here at the white house. he arrived about 15 or 20 minutes ago. it's unclear whether sergeant crowley is there. both those men brought their family members along. they're expected to get a tour of the white house and then will sit down to talk with the president. now, mr. obama, who was earlier meeting with the president of the philippines, afterwards he was asked a question about what is being called the beer summit. he said calling it a beer sum is a clever term, but he said this is simply a meeting for everyone to sit down and talk to each other, a chance for self-reflection. >> i notice this has been called the beer summit. it's a clever term, but this is not a summit, guys. this is three folks having a -- having a drink at the end of the day, and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. and that's really all it is. this is not a -- this is not a university seminar. it is not a summit. it's -- it's an attempt to have some personal interaction when an issue has become so hyped and so symbolic that you lose sight of just the fact that these are people involved, including myself, all of whom are imperfect, and, you know, hopefully instead of ginning up anger and hyperbole, you know, everybody can just spend a little bit of time with some self-reflection and recognizing that other people have different points of view. >> the white house is clearly dialing back expectations from this meeting. in fact, wolf, we had thought we would get a little time to probably take a peek into the discussions that would take place. in fact, that will not be happening. this meeting that will be in the back of the rose garden on a patio there, the media or the pool press will be allowed to come in, stand 40 feet away from where the three men will be, and only be allowed to shoot pictures of the event for about 20 seconds before they'll be ushered out. wolf? >> you know what would be good afterwards the three of them emerge together, make a statement to the press, so maybe we'll get that teachable moment that the country wanted to see. thanks very much for that. we'll see if that happens. we'll have coverage obviously in "the situation room." cameras all over the place at the white house. in the continuing fallout from the gates i 'rest, by the way, a boston police officer was suspended for using a racial slur to describe the harvard university professor has now apologized. >> the boston police department has a top-to-bottom commitment to community policing. commune policing is based on trust. this time of venomous rhetoric is severely damaging. maintaining our community relationships is paramount to our mission to serve the citizens of boston. we all work with the community and have made great strides to earn their trust. we must not allow this action to affect the relationships that have been forged and the progress we have made over the years. >> they say the officer, justin barrett, used a slur in a mass e-mail. the police commissioner calls it venomous, saying barrett would face a termination hearing as soon as next week. >> i am sorry that i wrote that. imthat my family has to deal with this selfish motivation and feelings that i had. i regret that i used such words. i have so many friends of -- every time of culture and race you can name, and i am not a racist. >> you can hear more from officer justin barrett later tonight. he'll be speaking with larry king about that racially charged e-mail that he sent out and its consequences. larry king looich later tonight, 9:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. let's go to jack cafferty right now for the "the cafferty file." organic food is no healthier or more nutritious than regular food, but it is more expensive. that's according to a study commissioned by the british government and published in the american journal of clinical nutrition. researchers looked at 50,000 studies conducted over 50 years and found no significant differences in the foods. they focused on a wide range of crops and livestock, raised and marketed under organic standards. the few differences they did find were about the kind of fertilizer used, like nitrogen or phosphorous, and how ripe the crops were when harvested. they say these differences were unlikely to provide any health benefit to consumers. lit probably come as a blow to a lot of those who shell out the extra money to buy the more expensive organic products because they think they're healthier. sales of organic foods have skyrocketed in the united states in the last 20 years, topping $23 billion last year. critics of the report says it ignores possible side effects from pesticides and that organic farming may be better for the health of the animals. they say consumer who is buy organic are supporting a system that bans the you raoux teen use of antibiotics, hormones, treats the livestock better. but if you buy organic food because you think it's more nutritious, you may want to think again. plus, the regular food is cheaper. so, here's the we. what does it mean if organic food is no healthier or more nutritious than regular food? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog. >> i didn't know that either. i always assumed organic food must be healthier. >> somebody who starred out marking those products did a good job i think of convincing most of us for that. thought it was healthier, better for us, et cetera. it's not. >> regular banana, organic baba that, i go for the regular bana banana. >> that's your option. >> iranian police crack down on protesters. the latest clash occurs at the grave of the young woman whose death came to symbolize iran's postelection violence. and the taliban's little blue book being passed around the mountains of afghanistan and pakistan. we have a copy of what they call their code of conduct. plus, how is president obama handling the fallout from the professor gates arrest? candy crowley, paul begala and alex castilellanos are standing by. a great deal gets even better. let us recycle your older vehicle, and you could qualify for an additional $3500 or $4500 cash back... on top of all other offers.. on a new, more fuel efficient chevy. your chevy dealer has more eligible models to choose from - more than ford, toyota, or honda. so save gas... and money... now during the chevy open house. go to chevy.com for details. yet a lot of natural gas has impurities like co2 in it. controlled freeze zone is a new technology... being developed by exxonmobil... to remove the co2 from the natural gas... so we can safely store it... where it won't get into the atmosphere. exxonmobil is spending more than 100 million dollars... to build a plant that will demonstrate this process. i'm very optimistic about it... because this technology could be used... to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. ♪ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. now the colors of life can last a lifetime. valspar -- the beauty goes on. you have questions. who can give you the financial advice you need? where will you find the stability and resources to keep you ahead of this rapidly evolving world? these are tough questions. that's why we brought together two of the most powerful names in the industry. introducing morgan stanley smith barney. here to rethink wealth management. here to answer... your questions. morgan stanley smith barney. a new wealth management firm with over 130 years of experience. neda, young woman whose violent death made her a sill boll of iran's postelection protest. today, iranian security forces clash with thousands and thousands of demonstrators at her grave site. let's go to cnn's reza sayah at the cnn iran desk. this marks the 40-day period end of mourning, which is customary in islam. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, and opposition supporters took advantage of this day to come out in big numbers again, and once again today we saw violence and drama in the streets of tehran. an estimated 3,000 supporters defied a ban by the government and took to the streets. this time, the main cemetery in tehran, and there you see them, many of them wearing green, opposition leaders there, as well. the man in the white turban, one of the opposition candidates, that's where they were met with security forces and there using batons, firing their guns in the air and using tear gas, they dispersed the crowd. but once again, a show of defiance by opposition supporters. they had requested the government to go out and peacefully mourn neda in iran and shia islam. it is tradition 40 days after somebody passes away to have a commemoration ceremony. but iran's leadership rejected that request, and today the opposition leaders along with an estimated 3,000 people defied the leadership, showing up there. and once again, clashes today with security forces. wolf? >> and those disturbances spilled over onto the streets, didn't they. >> reporter: they did. the action took place for hours after that. once these crowds were dispersed, they headed up north to neighborhoods throughout tehran, especially the specific intersection and that's where you see this confrontation, security forces beating up on a protester. and if you listen closely, you can hear gunfire. we just heard it. and that gives you an idea. that puts in a nutshell the opposition supporters against the security forces. there you saw the security officer beating up that protester with a baton, but the protester defiant, standing his ground, like seven weeks of a putdown. >> all right. reza sayah watching this for us. important story. our condolences, of course, to neda's family. a guidebook for taliban warriors is being passed around the mountains of afghanistan and pakist pakistan. rules to live by and fight by. cnn's stan grant picked up a copy of this little blue pamphlet. he's got the story from islamabad. stan? >> reporter: the taliban code of conduct has been drafted by the militancy leadership and distributed to fighters in the field. over more than 50 pages. it covers chapters such as prisoners, regional issues, and things that are prohibited. it sets down a very strict hierarchy and limits the use of violence. suicide attacks should be at high value and important targets because a brave son of islam should not be used for low value and useless targets. this is clearly designed to limit civilian casualties and go after coalition troops or government officials. it goes on. it is strictly prohibited to exchange prisoners for money. the imam in this case is taliban's supreme leader, mullah omar. he also has the final say of whether, quote, any military infidel should be killed if they are captured. there is also a long list of donees, things that are prohibited. it says the taliban fiegers should not steal from civilians, they should not take civilians' weapons, around they should not smoke. now, this comes as the taliban is bogged down in fighting both in afghanistan and in pakistan. it is seen as an attempt to win the hearts and minds of ordinary civilians. it is being dismissed as mere propaganda. it also comes just ahead of the afghanistan elections. and the code of conduct calls the government in kabul a, quote, slave government. i just remains to be seen how closely this taliban code of conduct will be followed. wolf? >> stan gran, thanks very much for that report. pentagon pork. the house approves more than $600 million in spending on some big-ticket items the military says isn't even needed. not your run-of-the-mill traffic stop. introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all new chevy equinox. fredricka whitfield is monitoring some other important stories incoming to "the situation room" right now. fred, what's going on? >> reporter: hello again, wolf. hello, everyone. a georgia police department is investigating two of its officers. they're accused of running a criminal background check on president barack obama. the secret service notified the police department of the request and it isn't clear why the two officers initiated the background check. they're on leave pending the outcome of the investigation. a massachusetts woman accused of cutting a baby from her mother's womb was arraigned this morning in new hampshire. julie corey was arrested yesterday at a homeless shelter in plymouth, new hampshire, after an acquaintance became suspicious that she had given birth to the baby. the baby is in good health. corey is being held on a $2 million bail. south korea's fishing boat and its four-member crew have been seized by north korea after the boat entered north korean waters. south korea says the boat's satellite navigation system broke down, causing the vessel to drift into the north's waters. south korea is urging the north to free the boat and the crew, of course. north korea says it's investigating that incident. and here's some video you just have to see. looks like a routine traffic stop. right? yeah. that little person -- till that little person jumped out. 7 years old. a boy. this is the view from the police car's dashboard camera in plain city, utah. the boy says he took his parents' car for a ride because he didn't want to go to church. he's now probably hearing a sermon on repentance. and he may have been a pretty good driver, at least for a second, wolf. >> surprised he could reach the brakes tan gas pedal. lucky kid. >> must be a tall 7-year-old. >> a lucky kid he's okay. a dangerous situation. >> reporter: very true. >> much better off in church. beer and politics just may go hand in hand. we're taking a look at that as we stand by for the president's meeting with professor henry louis gates and the police sergeant who arrested him. little more than a half an hour from now will be at the white house for that. and what do the american people think of president obama's handling of the situation? brand-new poll numbers to share with you. and after watch what you tweet. a chicago woman faces a defamation lawsuit whooefr she wrote on twitter. specially formulated to promote hairball control and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. i think i'll go with the preferred package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. to our viewers, you're in "the situation room." happening now, brews over at the white house. president obama's meeting with the policeman and this the man he arrested, can they calm the storm over the issue of racial profiling? we're standing by. over the p's objection, the house passes a bill to give the pentagon dozens of new shich ships, planes, and armored vehicles that the military says it doesn't even need. and a warranty from your doctor. you get free follow-up care for any complications. it's actually happening as part of a radical new approach to medicine. we're going to tell you where that's happening. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." drinking cold beer on the white house lawn, a sharp contrast to the hot tempers surrounding last week's arrest of the harvard university professor henry louis gates. there's a certain hesitation behind the president's invitation and the police sergeant who arrested him. carol costello takes a closer look. >> reporter: some say it's no accident the president chose beer to serve at the shindig tonight, one, because as the president has said in the past, he never drinks down a beer, and secondly, beer has become quite the political tool because it levels the playing field. really. it's a strategy that's spawned more than a few cover headlines like this one in "the huffington post." obama names thursday drink of beer with someone who arrested you day. or this one in politics daily. beer and loathing at the white house. it's tough to say if mr. obama's beer diplomacy will heal the wound, but some say at the very least his choice of beverage will level the playing field between president, professor, and police officer. it's a tried-and-true political tact tactic. >> let's commit ourselves, just everyday american people, joe six-pack -- >> who can forget that? supporters say sarah palin is a master at appealing to the commonsense average joe, and she used a six-pack to do it. during the democratic primary, hillary clinton tried something harder but mostly stuck with beer and barack obama played to a beer-drinking crowd, too, enjoying a few brews on the campaign trail. perhaps the only misstep in the president's latest beer diplomacy strategy is not inviting all parties to his white house shindig, as in the woman who called 911 to report there was someone breaking into professor gates' house. this is her lawyer. >> so, the three highly trained guys who reacted badly are getting together at the white house for a beer. that's a good thing. the one person's whose actions have been exemplary will be at work tomorrow in cambridge. i don't know. maybe it's a guy thing. she doesn't like beer anyway. >> reporter: all joking aside, some say settings are important and an outside picnic with beer might induce people to talk more frankly and that's probably what the president is hoping for. wolf? >> carol, thanks very much. only about a half an hour away from that meeting in the rose garden. let's talk about that and more with our senior political correspondent candy crowley along with two of our political contributors, democratic strategist paul begala and republican strategist alex castellanos. the pew survey, they had a poll. how is the president doing, handling this situation in cambridge, the gates situation? 29% say they approve of what he's done. 41% disapprove. 30% don't know. he's got some work to do. >> he does have some work to do. it's hurt the president here. this takes us back. the elitist argument. president against working-class cop, that doesn't help him. but i want to give the president some props today, give him a thumbs up. he's doing something important. keeping this story alive has a political cost. has a political cost for him. politically, it's not smart for him to do. i think he's doing it for the right reason. i think he's doing it to tamp down the divisions we've seen. i think he's paying a price for doing the right thing. good for him. today we should be proud of your president. >> that's probably why the white house is limiting coverage of this event in the rose garden. you worked in the white house. would you have let the cameras in and listen to this entire conversation? >> no. but we're not limiting coverage of this either. it's fine. but, no, i think alex is right, actually. there's an opportunity cost he has paid and is still paying today. hopefully for his sake he won't be paying it more tomorrow. every minute that we spend on this that we're not on health care, his preferred item, is a minute that barack obama is losing. but hopefully it's a casual atmosphere, i think carol's report was right. fdr famously made martinis for churchill. i think, i might have my history wrong, but i think jimmy carter brokered the middle east peace deal with israel over jell-o shooters at hooters. >> i think you missed out on that. not exactly right. >> maybe a little bit. >> they're supposed to be sitting at a picnic table. i guess they're going to move that -- a picture there. i don't know if they're going to move it into the rose garden. that is the rose garden. that's not the picnic table. >> not the picnic table outside the oval office. this is a different thing. >> definitely not the picnic table they thought they were going to be using. >> the patio cost a trillion dollars. it's much nicer. >> one wonders, however, despite the props to the president doing this, would he be doing it had he not said that the police acted stupidly? and i think not. i think this was -- this is part repair. this is part kind of dialing this back and trying -- and he admitted again today in that quick oval office meeting that he was having that, you know, things got out of control and that people, including himself, are imperfect when they talk about things like this. >> not exactly a summit. he says let's calm down. it's three guys, they're going to have a beer, exactly the way your former boss, bill clinton's boss, brought yitzhak rabin and yasser arafat together on the south lawn of the white house for that handshake. you remember that. >> arafat brought a beer bong. sorry, yasser. >> i don't think that happened either. well, okay. >> our cnn poll of polls. these are the average of the major polls. how is the president handling on foreign affairs, for example. 54% approved, 31% disapprove. on the economy, 48% approve, 45% disapprove. healthcare is most important domestic issue right now, only 43% approved, 45% disapprove. more americans right now disapprove of the way he's handling health care than approve. >> serious concern. first off, set aside foreign policy. an area of traditional strength, irrespective of party and most people will say he's handled it well. showed some strength with iran, north korea. that's all going pretty well. my concern and my advice to him would be, you're acting as if the world was created the day you were inaugurated. in other words, you forgot that george w. bush not only walked the earth but in the eyes of democrats created this mess. i think he has left that out. he's got to spend more time pointing fingers and assigning blame bp. >> he does that almost every speech. >> not enough for me. >> we're still in a terrible recession. i fear the recovery will be really slow in terms of job creation. he's going to own this soon enough. i think ownership too soon. >> he's sworn his finger to a nun that there isn't anything left here. these numbers are a concern, i'm sure. foreign affairs, i don't agree he's handled it all that well. but weakness in north korea, they fire a missile, but it doesn't hit grandma's house or affect us here. in iran, they kill protesters, their voters, but they don't touch ours over here, distant, far away. but those domestic issues, they do affect me. you take away my health care, that concerns me. a trillion dollars in debt, $2 trillion in debt, that affects me. that's why the numbers -- >> as important as health care is, candy, jobs and the economy, that's going to be even more important when all the political dust settles. >> in the end -- there's sort of inextricably linked in a lot of ways and he, in fact, has linked them. but you're right, it's the overall economy. if he cannot drive those job numbers down, that's a problem. again, he said that today. he said, look, because -- you know, there are some good numbers out there, but he rightfully is sort of dismissing them and said, listen, this is about getting people back to work and the economy being, you know, good at home. >> paul, with every month that goes by it's going to be increasingly more did i feel for him to blame bush. >> absolutely. but he has, as the poets have said, world enough in time. he doesn't have to run until 2012. he has his party up in 2010. >> they're nervous. >> nervous as a hooker in church. they want to make sure things are doing better by the time they run. they have to pass a health care bill, they have to, something the president can sign and -- >> even if the liberals don't like it? >> i think so, yes. having gone through this with bill clinton, it's the failure to pass a health care i think that croaked us in 1994 and they've got to have some accomplishment there. i think the health care bill will move irrespective of the criticism of the bill. >> he will have something by the end of the year that says health care reform on the top of it, and he will sign it, they can claim victory. will it be as soon as he wants? obviously not. will it be what he wants? not everything. >> sure. >> it has a trillion-dollar price tag on it. if it grows control of the government on your health care, democrats will pay a huge price for that in 2010. >> i'd rath ver that debate than the certainty of it failing. >> you know who's going to benefit? your old boss, the last president, to actually balance a budget and display some fiscal responsibility. the democratic party will be empowered. they'll be back. >> all right, guys. we'll leave it right there. >> they've had beer 30. >> given their beer preferences, red, light, and blue. those are the three beers. all right, guys. next thursday night, our 200-day special. 8:00 p.m. eastern. your chance to grade the president, grade the congress, grade the news media, grade a lot more. live coverage. 8:00 p.m. eastern thursday night. the cnn "national report card." finally something positive in the michael jackson death saga. who will get full custody of his kids. and a new defense spending bill full of pork. i'm robert shapiro. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. at legalzoom, we'll help you incorporate your business, file a patent, make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes. then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. word on agreement that's been reached in the custody of michael jackson's children and money apparently not, repeat, not an issue. jim moret, the chief correspondent for "inside edition." what happened on the money front between debbie row and michael jackson's mother? >> well, basically nothing. there is no new money exchanging hands in return for debbie rowe giving up any claims for custody of the children. she never officially soug custody but there was always the threat she would go into court, into the hearing that's scheduled for monday, and try to seek custody of two of her children. the two children that are biologically hers. she has under a previous agreement an agreement dealt with in 2000 when they got divorced, $8.5 million for spousal support, and she's not seeking any more money on top of that. this is really good news, wolf, because this is one less issue for the judge to deal with at that big hearing that's going to deal with the estate on monday. >> she's 79 years old, michael jackson's mother. she's not a young woman. we hope she lives many, many years. but god forbid if something were to happen to her, what happens then? >> you know, i talked to a prominent attorney here in los angeles. i said, do you think the that there's a provision for a nest in chain, so to speak, and the will specifically says that diana ross would be the next in line. and this attorney says he does not expect, based upon the agreement he's had with people in the past, that they've even addressed that. so, he fully expects that on katherine jackson's passing there may very well be another legal fight. one can only hope that at least one or more of the children will be of age so that won't be an issue. but there's no -- there's nothing of the agreement that's being made public to address that specific point. >> what about joe jackson, michael jackson's father? where does he fit into the child custody issue? >> well, he does not officially have custody. katherine jackson does. joe jackson and katherine jackson are still married, but they live separately. he lives in las vegas. she lives in los angeles in the encino compound. and dennie roe had spoke on the a reporter a couple of weeks ago saying she would seek a restraining order but there's no indication that's part of the agreement. so, we can presume that joe jackson will certainly have access to the children, but katherine jackson is the one with legal guardianship, legal custody. she will be the one to make all decisions regarding those children. >> take us a little behind the scenes, jim. tell us how they worked out the custody agreement. >> the judge was very clear with all the parties when they held their first hearing a few weeks ago. he said, look, i can make the decision for you. what i'd rather have happen is for all of you to work this out among yourselves. and we know that behind the scenes katherine jackson and debbie rowe's attorneys have been trying to do that. there have been some sticking points and debbie rowe has got an lot of bad press she doesn't deserve. a lot of people say she's selling her children again and clearly money is not an issue here. what happened i believe is that debbie rowe always felt michael jackson was great father. when he died, perhaps she thought i want to make sure these kids are well cared for. what is happening, and this is interesting, a child psychologist will be brought into the mix and introduced the children to debbie rowe. they don't know her as their mother, so this will take time. they're already grieving for their dad who's gone, but you have to now introduce debbie rowe into their lives through visitation as their biological mother. >> at least for two of those kids. >> that's right. correct. >> jim moret, as usual, thanks for helping us better understand what's going on. here's some advice from me to you -- be careful what you tweetd, what you write on your social networking site could land you in a lot of legal trouble. jessica gomez tells us about a chicago woman with a defamation lawsuit on her hands. >> reporter: the whole story started here at this luxury chicago apartment complex with a dispute between a landlord and a tenant. horizon realty group, which owns this apartment complex, says the taen nuclear power plant wasn't happy about a leak in the roof. that tenant took her complaint to the social networking site twitter, tweeting that there was mold in her apartment and that her landlord was okay with it. just 16 words later and they slapped her with this -- a $50,000 lawsuit. horizon refused to talk to us on camera but this statement says they're trying to protect their reputation. we wanted to find out whether or not this lawsuit has any legs. >> i don't think at the end of the day it has any legs. sometimes people bring defamation suits because they just want to clear their names and that may be what the realty company is thinking about. but i think they'll have a very hard time winning the lawsuit. in this country, we really like free speech, so we make it very hard for plaintiffs to bring defamation suits. they have to prove it was false. >> all right. next stop. internet cafe. let's check out what social networkers are saying. do you ever think about what you say, that it could offend somebody or could be grounds for a lawsuit? >> yeah, absolutely. i think there's a lot of censorship with that type of media and it's -- it's sort of a new -- it's a new thing that people have to sort of monitor themselves. what are your thoughts about this? >> you're on facebook, some of these social networking sites. what do you think? >> i think that people should have a right to say what they want to say but, you know, if she was already suing them, then maybe she was kind of digging a hole for herself. >> reporter: the tenant has since moved to a new neighborhood. we tried to get a hold of her but were unsuccessful. and her twitter account has been closed down. experts say while this might be one of the first few cases of its kind, it certainly won't be the last. jessica gomez for cnn, chicago. want to go back to fredricka. there's a story coming in from texas. what's coming in, fred? >> reporter: right. a big warehouse fire that's taking place just close to central texas. we're talking about an area called bryant, texas. you see the plume of smoke right there. apparently that kind of orangey golden plume of smoke could be seen miles away. it's unclear exactly what started this blaze, but they have put in place a mandatory evacuation, about a four-mile radius and that impacts about 80,000 people in that area. they're hoping that people would not inhale think any of these chemicals that are in the air. it's believed that fertilizer may be burning. that's what we know right now. >> all right, fred. just minutes away, maybe less than 15 minutes away. we're going to be going to the white house rose garden to see the president sitting down with the harvard professor and the police sergeant who arrested him. the reporters and the camera crews, they're in the white house briefing room right now. they're getting ready to be escorted out to the rose garden for that photo-op. we'll go there. there they are, the white house press corps. they're going taken out to the rose guard en in a few minutes to see what's going on and share that video with all of us. and some call it pork. others call it national defense. will the president make good? whento compliment theirflac benefits package ? aflac! it made a big splash with the employees yeaaaahhhh! find out more at aflac!... ...forbusiness.com (laughter) we now know that sergeant james crowley is over at the white house getting ready for this meeting with the president and professor henry lois gates. he arrived a little while ago as well. we'll have live coverage coming up in a few moments. congress wants to spend money on weapons that even the u.s. military says it doesn't want or need. our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is adding it all up for us. chris. >> reporter: 18 members of the committee came up for this bill, and it acted for one-third of all the earmarks contained in it. $600 billion won't buy you anymore f-22s. the house cut funding for the fighter jet that's never fired a shot in bajts battle. the pentagon didn't want that jet anyway, but it's still stuck with projects it did not ask for. defense secretary robert gates didn't want a new missile defense system or another engine for the joint strike fighter or nearly half a billion dollars for new presidential helicopters. come to think of it, even president obama didn't want those. they're all in the new defense spending bill. >> the department of defense has no history of being fruj ill. >> reporter: a nonpartisan watchdog group taxpayers for commonsense says the words pentagon and frug ill have never been connected before. >> we should listen to that. >> reporter: nearly $3 billion of the extra money goes to earmarks, which are projects demanded by individual congressmen. mostly for work in their home state. >> if they're so good, why do we have to earmark money for them? why don't we say compete on your own like everybody else? >> reporter: representative john m mirtha says cut the spending, and then his earmarks provide good jobs for workers and produce need he'd equipment like body armor. >> the biggest complaint i get from troops in the field, i don't know how often you visit the field, mr. slate. i don't know how often you come to the people that do this work. >> reporter: representative murtha is responsible for if earmarks, totalling $90 million. the most of any house peb. we'll have to see if they all make it through, because president obama has threatened to veto this bill and some of these projects were included. wolf. >> we'll see if he does. chris lawrence, thank you. a teachable moment in race relations in america. we're awaiting president obama's white house chat over a beer with a harvard professor and the police sergeant who arrested him. that's minutes away. introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all 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island makeover. the new rides are in the works. richard ross has more on how the controversial plan is supposed to work out. >> reporter: coney island. a new york city institution. the beach. the rides. >> you'll see them all, freaks. >> reporter: yes, the freak shows. >> getting those hot dogs down. that is a true champion. >> reporter: and, of course, the hot dogs. a long time ago brooklyn's coney island was the place to be. cooling off at a time when air conditioning didn't exist. on a summer afternoon at the famous nathan hot dog stand brooklyn-born irv millman came back to visit and reminisced. >> it was just a wonderful time. kids and the beach and the water and the sun. what else is there for a kid? ♪ coney island ♪ hey, coney island >> reporter: more recently historic coney island has been caught in a controversy about its future. new york city and developers want to revitalize much of coney island which became seedy and run down as city people moved to the suburbs. new york approved on wednesday a large redevelopment plan filled with hotels, apartments, and stores. >> to be honest about this. the best days for coney island have passed unless we do something, and here we are doing something to try to give it a real future. >> reporter: frustrated coney island activists watched the vote occur. they see corporate america destroying an iconic part of the fabric of new york. >> there's not enough acres left when you are stick all these hotels and stuff that doesn't belong in the amusement area. the rides are the very amusement that are attracting. >> reporter: the city says the cyclone and wonder wheel will survive along with new amusement attractions. jobs and housing are promised for local residents. 55-year-old mark paige was at the boardwalk with his family. he has seen the ups and downs of coney island as a life-long resident. >> i know it's modern, and we have to step up to the future. it's the 21st century, but don't get rid of the essence. that's what i think is important. >> i hope they retain the feeling of brooklyn. brooklyn is like the world. >> reporter: new york will now seek to buy back the precious coney island land from the current owner. kohler coaster ride for this unique stretch of old new york is not over. richard ross, cnn, new york. now let's go to jack cafferty. >> you ever ride the cyclone at coney island? >> no, i'm scared. >> bone chf jarring roller coaster ride, but rilts great. question this hour, what does it mean if organic food is no more healthy than regular food? lynn writes in south carolina, "it means you're ignoring the effects of pesticide on the land and the animals. the run-off into our rivers and oceans and the efforts of family farmers over the agribusiness corporations. i frankly rather pay more money to the small responsible farmer. there are too few of them left in america." john in arizona, "another glaring example of how gullible the american consumer is. especially those suave, upy intellectuals that like to preach about how and what we should eat." casey in minneapolis, "i'll always be willing to pay more for produce that isn't treated with environment-harming chemicals and from meat that came with animals treated a little more humanely. not everything is about us, jack." gene in colorado writes, "it means i'll continue to shop as i always have, ignoringing the organics and not wondering anymore if i'm making a mistake. shelly says i buy organic all the time. i don't usually think it's healthier. i think this study misses the point. the reason most of us buy organic is because we know the food has been grown without pesticides and hormones. that's healthier, is it not?" jamie says, "dear jack, i don't always buy organic, but i'll tell you that when you go into a store here in oregon that sells organic or even our local supermarket which offers local organic food, it looks way better, smells better, and tastes much better." jenny says, "jack it means someone is being fleeced beside the organic sheep, of course." if you didn't see your e-mail here, go to my blog at cnn.com/cafferty file. look for yours there among hundreds of others. wofrl. >> jack, thank you. to our viewers, you're in "the situation room" happening now. they're breaking out the beer over at the white house. we're standing by for president obama's remarkable get together with an african-american scholar and the police sergeant who arrested him. our cameras are zeroing in on the white house for the so-called teachable moment for america. maybe it's turning into an invisible moment. standing by. health care that comes with a warranty. it's part of one medical group's prescription for treating you better while spending less. cnn's jessica yellin with a story you will see only here on cnn. i'm wolf blitzer in cnn's command center for breaking news, politics, and extraordinary reports from around the world. you're in the situation room. take a look at this. when we say we're covering the president's attempt at beer diplomacy from all angles, we really mean it. five live cam ares are now trained on various locations over at the white house, but we may not see much of the president and his two guests. harvard university professor henry lois gates and police sergeant james crowley. if you are expecting any big pronouncements about race in america, don't necessarily hold your breath. let's go straight to our white house correspondent dan lothian to set the scene for what might happen this hour. dan. >> that's right, wolf. that meeg has either started or is about to get underway. i can tell you that both sergeant crowley and professor gates are here at the white house. we saw professor gates arriving here earlier in the hour. both of their family members got a chance to tour the white house, also meet the president, and all three men will be sitting down for what has been called a beer summit for the president and this white house believes will be a teachable moment. >> reporter: cold beer diplomacy at the white house. president obama, professor gates, and sergeant kroully getting rid of a nasty hangover from a controversial and racially charged arrest. >> this is three folks having a drink at the end of the day and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other, and that's really all it is. >> reporter: while the president has called this controversy a teachable moment, aides say no formal agenda, no action report is on task. just a dialogue around a rose garden table on issues like racial profiling. >> this is not a university seminar. it is not a summit. it's an attempt to have some personal interaction when an issue has become so hyped and so symbolic that you lose sight of just the fact that these are people involved, including myself, all of whom are imperfect. >> reporter: president obama plans to toss back a bud lit. krouty wants a blue moon, and gates is said to prefer a red stripe. >> reporter: this man protesting alone outside the whougs doesn't think drinking beer at the meeting is appropriate, because it sends the wrong message to the nation's youth. >> we want him to hold up an orange juice, something that's healthful. >> reporter: of course, if it had been orange juice, you know what would have happened? someone would complain that it wasn't florida freshly squeezed or tropicana. it would have been controversial no matter what they decided to drink here at the whougs. once the cameras will be allowed to go in, only about 20 seconds to really display the scene, do a photo op. we do hope that later on after this meeting has concluded, perhaps the players, the key players, mr. gates and crowley, will come out to the microphone and talk to us. perhaps we'll hear if anyone issued an apology. wolf. >> it would be great if all three of them came out to the press. let's hear about this teachable moment. white house pretty sensitive to the fact that they're restricting media at the event. >> they are. you know, robert gibbs was questioned about this, and they really believe that just that picture alone, showing all three of these men together, is a teachable moment. as robert gibbs pointed out, had anyone at the initial controversy said, hey, all three of these guys are going to sit down together and talk at the white house, that would have been unthinkable. they think says this a powerful picture. >> dan lothian, stand by. we'll be getting back to you. the president seemed eager to announce his plan to raise a glass with professor gates and sergeant crowley. now it seems he can't enough or do enough to try to downplay this event, as we just heard. let's bring in cnn's tom foreman to walk us through what was supposed to be and what will be. >> sure, we'll take a look at what you are not going to see, wolf. you spent some years in the white house. you come to the front of the white house, and we'll come around back here and show you where it was supposed to be taking place. there's a location right around back here where they've got -- you heard a lot about it or seen a lot about it. you move over this way. this is where the playset is that was set up for the girls over there. it's an area that's also featuring this little playground. a little picnic table. i want to stop my video for a second before we move on. this is originally where this was going to happen, over at this picnic table. for some reason that's not where it's happening now. we put all that aside, and then you move over this way toward the rose garden area. this is now where it's going to happen. i want to stop that again and show you the area we're talking about because this is that same table they're going to be seated at. rose garden here. a few more pictures of it right in this area. that's going to be happening in this area, but look at this. we talk about the buffer zone that dan was just talking about a minute ago. this is where it will happen. that's 40 feet away, which is roughly where the media will be kept. somewhere way out in here to take their pictures of it, and, again, for maybe 20, ho seconds. wolf, a teachable moment goes, and i'm not sure that alcohol has been hidden this much since prohibition, but we'll have to see what they come out with afterwards. >> we'll stand by for that, tom. thank you. this isn't the first time the president has reached for a cold one in public. he nay just like beer. the political analyst see it as an toemt to reach out to middle class voertsz, or as sarah palin used to call them, joe six-pack americans. back in the presidential primary in 2008 john mccain had a clear edge with beer drinkers. by contrast, our cnn opinion research corporation poll showed the president had the advantage with more upscale wine drinkers. let's go to michael eric dyson, georgetown university professor and author named by "ebony magazine" as one of the 100 most influential black americans and syndicated columnist and radio talk show host larry elder. they're joining us to discuss what's going on. michael eric dyson, first to you. are we over exaggerating the importance of this so-called teachable moment? . >> not at all. i think that it might be more teachable should we hear some of the consequences of the dialogue that the three men share. i think it might be instructive for us to understand, for instance, how they were able to amicably reach a conclusion that they should come together in the first place and beyond that that even despite their differences, real problems remain. i think it becomes a teachable moment when we find out who is doing the curriculum, who is the professor, and whose classroom are we speaking to, but more broadly, i think what's important, wolf, is this moment in america is being watched by so many people, and, indeed, around the globe, and i think they can say some important things to diffuse some of the tension and help shed light on racial profiling, prejudices across the board, class inequality, and some of the hostilities that are obtained on both sides between police people and the community. >> larry, what would you like to see emerge from this three-way session? >> well, i tell you what i hope doesn't emerge. i hope, wolf, that the beer doesn't flow so freely that sergeant crowley ends up arresting the president and professor gates for being drunk and disorderly. i don't think that would be a teachable moment. as to professor dyson's point, this is a situation where if i were sergeant crowley, i would be flattered that the president invited me to the white house, but i would respectfully say until and unless you directly apologize to me and to my department for accusing me falsely of racially profiling professor gates, i refuse the invitation. i don't like the idea that the president seems to feel that these are parties who are equal at fault. gates made this a racial incident, falsely accused the officer of profiling him, made all sorts of horrible comments about him, including about his mother, and for obama to reward him by inviting him to the white house as if they were both equally at fault i think sends the wrong message. >> what if that happens? we're just speculating now, michael eric dyson. let's say sergeant crowley says, you know what, you really should apologize to me for some of the things you said and then the professor says to the sergeant end, you know what, i think you should apologize to me for arresting me in my own home. what does the president do in a situation like that where one or both are seeking an apology? >> i think that's pretty well vetted. i don't think that's going to be the reality. i think that what mr. elder said earlier is problematic. he is taking the sergeant's word for what mr. gates said. that's part of the problem here to begin with. secondly, i think that, look, the issue of racial profiling doesn't begin making this a racial incident doesn't begin with professor gates believing that he is being racially profiled or treating differently because he is an african-american. the situation and the context itself suggests some racial possibilities. that is to say when a police person engages with a citizen in his own home and having been proved that this person is in his own home and then moving forward, professor gates has the reasonable suspicion that race plays a role here, so i think mr. elder is neglecting that element. beyond that, i think we're not going to get much out of this personalizing this incident. that professor gates says with shooting arguments against sergeant crowley, sergeant crowley shooting darts against professor gates, i think obama has already worked that out. this is a friendly conversation over beer where people hash out their particular individual differences, but the broader landscape is something that all of us will have to hash out over beer and wine in many bars across america. >> larry, go ahead and respond. >> well, wolf, i think a lot of people voted for president obama because he's black. not just only because he is black, but that was certainly a factor. why? because it makes a statement about how far we've come in race relations in this country and many people thought that barack obama would help to bring us together to the extent that tensions still remain. instead during that press conference, he immediately sided with professor gates and implied that this thing was about racial profiling. as opposed to saying the police ought not stereotype blacks and blacks ought not stereotype the police. the police have a difficult job. they're willing to get up in the morning and take a bullet for somebody you don't even know and within the black community, blacks -- a crime is committed disproportionately by blacks against black people. we need the police, and we have to appreciate and respect the kind of job that this year doing, and barack obama struck the wrong tone then and in his semi-apology, he still never took back the implication that this is about racial profiling despite the complete and total lack of evidence. >> professor, hold on a second. >> michael, hold on one second, because i want to continue this conversation, but i want to update our viewers right now. we're learning -- we're just getting some new information coming into "the situation room" about a letter that sergeant crowley might be bringing to this beer chat they're having right now over in the rose garden at the white house. we'll tell you who wrote it, what it says, stand by. introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all new chevy equinox. we're now coming back in the briefing room over at the west wing at the white house with the vaid videotape. we'll get that to you as soon as it's cued up. let's go to don let me monday because he has been talking to some folks in cambridge, and he got some new information, don. share it with our viewers. >> just moments ago i got an e-mail in here, and i wanted to get it on "the situation room" for you. this is from sergeant leon, the cambridge police officer on the scene during that arrest at professor gates' home. i believe we have a picture of him. bald guy, african-american. he sent me an e-mail saying he sent a letter to -- with jimmy crowley, sergeant jimmy crowley at the white house, and he asked him to read it. he said dear jim, would you be so kind to mention the following to professor gates and the president during the meergt. he says one of the major problems stemming from the events of july 16th is that i, i think he left a word out, am now known as the black sergeant have had my image plastered all over the internet, television, and newspapers. subsequently, i have also become known, at least to some, as an uncle tom. that's a quote from him. i am forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the trooutd and coming to the defense of a friend and colleague, who just happens to be white, that i have somehow betrayed my heritage. please convey my concerns to the president that mr. gates' actions may have caused grave and potentially irrepairable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world. in closing, i would simply like to ask that mr. gates deeply reflect on the events that have unfolded since july 16 and ask himself the following questions -- what can i do to help heal the rift caused by some of my actions? what responsibility do i bear for what occurred on july 16, 2009? is there anything i can do to mitigate the damage done to the reputations of two respected police officers? thank you in advance, your friend, leon k. lashley. he is a 26-year veteran of the cambridge police department, wolf, and wefr the words that he believes caused this controversy when he spoke out and when he stood up for his friend. i spoke to them right after that press conference they held on friday when they asked for an apology from the president. we'll play that for you later. that's coming from the black police sergeant who is on the scene and supporting sergeant crowley. >> it's obvious that he is very passionate about this, and you had a chance to break that story when you were up in cambridge. the feelings are still intense. as much as the white house would like this to all blow over and everybody starts singing together, it's not necessarily happening, at least not yet, is it? >> no, it's not. i think for the most part the people in the white house and people around the country believe that this part of the story is the president's own making because the police in cambridge dropped the case so they could move this along very quickly, address it and then get it behind them. they said after the president made his remarks that evening at the white house, that acted stupidly remark, they believe it just brought it to a whole new level. so, yes, that conversation is happening about that, but also in the african-american community, there are reports, you hear it on the radio, where this officer, the sergeant, is portrayed really, quite frankly, as an uncle tom, and is he concerned about that, and he wants that to be told to the president, because he thinks that african-americans should examine their stance, what they think about race, look at themselves. not only for this situation, but about racial profiling and race in the country in general. >> john, i want you to stand by. don't go away, because we're only a few seconds away from getting the videotape that is now coming in. they're going to be cueing it up within a few seconds, and we're going to see the picture that a lot of us have been waiting for, at least for a week since the president announced that he was going forward with this extraordinary meeting. at least a few days ago, last friday, when the president announced he wanted to bring these two men together for a brooe beer over at the white house. the press pool went out there and shot some video of the three of them. i believe the vice president, joe biden, was also at this meeting, and now this video is going to be shown. this is the video that is about to go out to the entire world. watch this right now.b7l67e-behs >> thank you, everyone. thank you. there it is. that's what the white house allowed us to shoot. when i say us, i mean all of the national news media. they had a pool, a camera that went out there. you saw the rose garden. they kept the reporters, they kept the camera crews, the photographers pretty far back. they couldn't shout any questions. you see the professor, the sergeant, the president, and the vice president sitting around a white table in the rose garden. dan lothian is our white house correspondent. dan, help us better understand why so far at least this is all we're going to get from this meeting which was supposed to be a teachable moment for all of us. is that why the white house decided this was going to be it, unless they change their mind and come back to the cameras after the meeting? >> that's a really good question, wolf, because robert gibbs said that time and time again. if the white house is putting out there that this is such a teachable moment, a chance for all the parties involved to make some kind of a same time about what happened and perhaps what the country needs to do to make sure that these kinds of controversies don't occur again in the future, that why we weren't given sort of more access to be able to listen into the conversation. the only answer is that essentially they thought a picture that all these parties sitting down together was a powerful picture. that, in essence, what robert gibbs said is if you had asked someone a few days ago whether or not they thought that in the midst of this controversy that all of these folks could sit down and chat around a beer. they believe by showing people with different views who have strong feelings can come together and sit down, that this is a teachable moment. i don't feel we're hoping we can find out more about the language of the teachable moment. if anyone decides to come out to the microphones afterwards and give us a statement, but, wolf, essentially what the white house hopes will happen from now on here going forward is that they can put this behind them. this has been a distraction. the president talked about this when he made his visit to the briefing room last friday, that this had been a dis traction from some of the more key issues like health care reform. they would like to put their emphasis and focus on that again. >> sergeant crowley has decided he will speak publicly after this event. maybe tell us what happened around that table. four men -- there were supposed to be three, but the vice president, joe biden, was there as well. i want to continue this conversation. jessica yellin is here. it's a light moment, if you like the bud light, for example. >> there are a lot of people making puns right now about this incredibly well covered beer. ed henry has wondered whether this did quench the thirst for diplomacy. the event was called the odd affect of hops. and cbs news says the coalition of the swilg. it is nice to have a beer in the lap, but does anybody think we could give nancy pelosi and john banter and the health care debate could be ended once and for all? why should we play along with the idea that a brew will do the trick? does anyone think that the most retractible problems can be solved by throwing back a cold one? president obama said, as we have repeatedly said, this should be a teachable moment, but this beer summit, as we have also reported, is a way to put the brouhaha behind us. is the president missing an opportunity to teach us something here? wolf, is he missing a window to have a national discussion about race in america? >> good question. let's discuss it with gloria borger, our senior political analyst, candy crowley, our senior political correspondent. what's the answer? >> i think the answer is the white house doesn't want to have a huge discussion about race right now. they want to have a discussion about health care and what the reason this is even occurring is because the president stepped into this in a news conference and this was another way to kind of dial it back. so -- and i think one of the reasons on to dan's report here that they don't want reporters out there listening to what's going on is i think that you will find what jessica just suggested that even in this singular case, you are not going to have people change their minds very easily, i doubt, after a beer. these two men are going to change their minds about what happened. >> is the president, though, missing an opportunity here? >> a lot of people probably think that is he missing a window here. this is the first kind of racial flare-up of his administration. it will essential be more. i think people are wondering what he does next time, because this eth, i mean, they've done everything necessity they can to essentially make it ag nonevent. this whole idea of being a teachable home, i think we're still wondering what the lesson is. >> i'm surprised. i guess i shouldn't be surprised that the former white house -- more than seven years covering a president. they kept the reporters so far away, 40 feet away, they couldn't even shout a question. they could have ignored the question, but you couldn't even hear reporters shouting questions they kept them so far away. >> it's one of these odd things that happened at the white house, which is you're allegedly having a private conversation with had00 reporters standing behind a line trying to get your picture. i think candy is right. the president of the united states was trying to change the subject again. he wants to get back on to health care reform. if there's a teachable moment, as we keep calling it, it isn't going to occur in the white house. it's going to occur in the country and in the public debate that's ensued after this incident, and the sergeant can come out and talk about it. gates can come out and talk about it. i don't think president obama wants to do a lot more talking about it. >> all right, guys. hold on tore a second. soledad o'brien, our correspondent is here as well. soledad, is this going to blow over in a day or two, and we'll move on to health care or and all other sorts of issues. >> when racial profiling blows over. absolutely not. i was at a national urban league conference today, and we're -- we were seeing all the jokey headlines about the brouhaha, et cetera. perfectly serious, 100% serious talking about racial profiling. people more concerned actually that president obama didn't use this as an opportunity to have a serious conversation about race. i mean, you see the waiter here, right, bringing the beer out. a frosty beer out. look how everybody is dressed. the president, vice president have their sleeves rolled up you. the two at the center of the controversy, professor gates and sergeant crowley in jacket and tie. you know, it's the sort of staged and not really comfortable casual conversation happening right there. it's a conversation that's also not comfortable that the country has to have. it's not going to be a teachable moment. i don't think it's possible. i think this is something that is maybe more of a teachable long-term discussion and hoping that it blows by quickly, those two things, teachable discussion and moving past it are kind of contradictory. >> i'm really anxious to get michael eric dyson, the georgetown university professor, and larry elder, the -- from los angeles. both of your thoughts on whether or not the president right now and the vice president could be there as well. they're missing an opportunity. first to you, mike. >>. >> i think absolutely right. i was on that panel that soledad just referenced. i think what's critical here is to understand that the president has been lulled or at least reluctant to engage in the discussion of race. we can understand that. he doesn't want to be ghetto-ized as the black president. that's a far cry from saying at the same time you have to use your bully pulpit to help fellow citizens. i think he has a special responsibility to white citizens and non-latino citizens as well to engage in enlightning conversation and goes to the heart of some of the more vicious problems that we confront in this cult, and one of them is racial profiling. by not having the conversation -- i'm a professor. i know about a teachable moment. you have to be able to deconstruct it and break it down and tell us what was going on and the moveable parts. perhaps in the aftermath, if they step to the microphone and talk about what they did say and where we can go in the future, that might be helpful, but otherwise, this will not blow over. the problem of racial profiling is deeply entrenched in america, and unlike mr. elder, i don't think there's an equality of means here. there's the one hand if black people have stereotypes about policemen, they don't usually involve them being murderers, but the policemen who have stereotypes about black people, there are flying bullets, falling bodies, and there are dead men. >> those are very strong words, larry elder, and i suspect you strongly disagree with michael eric dyson. >> i do, and the reason, as candy crowley put it, that the president is trying to dial this back is because of that wonderful powerful letter that was written by that black officer in which he challenged professor gates to talk about his responsibility and how he made things worse and how he can make things better. the fact is that there is a lot of tension between blacks and the police within the black community, and this country has gone a long, long way in race relations. professor gates lives in a city, cambridge, that has a black female mayor. he lives in i state, massachusetts, that has a black governor wresh lives in a country that has a black president, and the chairman of the republican party happens to be black. this is not your grandfather's country. it's not your grandfather's police department, and a lot of the accusations, knee jerk accusations against the police by blacks often egged on by so-called civil rights leaders and other people of influence are irresponsible. the people that get hurt are blacks living in the black community because they are more likely to be victimized by other blacks. so this automatic black officer -- white officer, black civilian or black victim, or black suspect, ergo, racial profiling, i think, is incredibly unfair, and the president, i believe, should have taken that challenge on, but he didn't. >> don lemmon spent some time up in cambridge studying this story with us in cnn. don, you shared with us just a little while ago a very moving e-mail that you received from sergeant leon lashley, the black officer who supports his fellow white officer who is sergeant crowley who is at this beer meeting with the president and vice president, and professor gates. i want you to give us some of the background, including what you promised you auto would do, some of what sergeant lashley originally said that caused an uproar, especially in the african-american community. >> yeah, wolf. why don't we play that real quickly, and i'll talk to you about everything that you mentioned there, but this was the press conference on friday right after the press conference, cnn, the only news ofrgs allowed to go in to to speak to those officers while sergeant crowley was with him. take a listen to leon lashley. >> from what i see, and i was there, he did nothing wrong. this situation right here was not a racial motivated situation. >> you know people, obviously, they're going to pay closer attention to you because you're an african-american man. i'm just being honest. you are support this white officer that is -- has been put out there by some that he was, you know, racially profiling dr. gates. they're going to pay attention to you. >> i hope they would. they -- i heard one of the comments. a rogue cop. there's nothing rogue about him. he was doing his job. >> what i got there, wolf, last week right after this incident happened, the cambridge police department, the police commissioner himself said that the men and women of that police department were deeply wounded by the president's comments, and the turn of events within the president's comments that followed, and they were concerned about speaking to the press. i had to gain their confidence and tell them, you know, i want to play your side of the story. i'm not going to do gotcha journalism. i just want you to speak to us and tell us what you are thinking. there's no judgment in that. so as i spoke to them, as i gained their confidence, they spoke to me about that and said, you know, we would not stand behind this officer, black, white, puerto rican, whom ever, if we thought that he did the wrong thing, and it wasn't just a mart of glue, about police officers sticking together. they look at this officer as family. not only as a colleague, but as family. they simply were stand iing by someone they feel was wrongly harmed. in this letter i read just moments ago, this sergeant, who is a 26-year veteran, and also the other young lady who is a 16-year veteran of the police department, police officer kelly keen, they're concerned about the perception, especially among blacks, that they are in some way betraying their heritage because they are standing by this officer. just to talk about what michael eric dyson was saying and what soledad has been talking about, being at the urban league and also larry elder. i do think this can make a difference if out of this there is some constructive conversation. if they come out of this with solid points about where we go from here, what we're going to do to address this issue. the concern in the community in the african-american community and also in the larger culture is that this is only a photo op and it only adds to the fodder and the conversation rather than solutions and i'm sure soledad can attest to that. that's what her black in america it. >> she did a black in america one and black in america two. soledad is working on a latino in america. you spent so much time studying race relations in the united states. i would love to hear what you think needs to happen right now. >> in one of the panels suggested it's out of the president's hands. he wants to get the conversation back on health care, so here we have a photo op, and then it will be closed from his percent bekt. i think for people who really want to have a conversation, i think we have torque as professor dyson said, deconstruct the moment. let's talk about it. let's figure out the actual numbers and what happens and what are people's rights? for a lot of black people they say for someone like professor gates, whether he was angry -- maybe he said something to the police officer, maybe he said, yo mama, whatever. at what point does it make it okay to arrest somebody who you have already cleared as being the homeowner and no longer involved in any crime? i think that that's the perspective of the people we were talking about. at what point is it okay to arrest someone that is a renowned black professor? on the other side of it people said professor gates was the first one to tell me he would be glad to call the police if someone was breaking into his home in martha's vineyard. there's this balancing act, and i think the only way to have a resolution is not along the white house. it just elizabeth. it's going to end, and they'll get back to health care, and we have to sit down and maybe even hold some kind of a town hall or a forum to really talk about these issues. i think. >> it would be excellent if one of these four or two of the four or all four decided after they finished their beer and their discussion in the rose garden around that table they came to our microphone over there at the west wing of the white house to share some thoughts for this teachable moment would not go unheard. soledad o'brien, thanks so much. don let me monday, thanks to you as well. of course, we want to thank michael eric dyson and larry elder, a good serious discussion. we're going to keep our panelists here, because we have i lot more news coming up, including the president's number one priority right now. the issue of health care reform. he says the president's health care plans are simply flat out wrong. we're not talking about a republican critic or a blue dog democrat. we're talking about the president's own personal physician for many years. we're going to explain to you why he thinks the president is wrong. stick around. lots of news happening right here in "the situation room." president obama battling health care plans from many, many sources, but an unusual opponent is having the president an unusual twist. let's get more from cnn's jim accosta. >> well, president obama talks often about all of the forces lining up against his health care plan, but there's one critic you may not have heard from in this debate. mr. obama's former doctor, david shiner, and he is passionate in his belief that the president's plan won't work. >> reporter: voted for mr. obama. the doctor thinks the president's plan doesn't go far enough. >> if i had to say a single one thing which is the worst part of it is that private insurance companies continue to be a part of the health scheme. everybody keeps saying we don't want the government getting involved in health care. the government is involved in health care in medicare, and it works. >> reporter: shiner would rather see the nation adopt a single payer system, like the ones in canada and europe. it's something an up and coming state senator obama talked about six years ago. >> i happen to be a proponent of single pair universal health care, but as all of you know, we may not get there immediately, because rs first, we have to take back the white house, and we have to take back the senate and we have to take back -- >> reporter: during the campaign, that position evolved. >> if i were designing a system from scratch, then i would probably set up a single payer system, but the problem is we're not starting from scratch. >> this is about the future. >> now the president favors giving americans the option of joining a government-run plan that would compete with private insurers. >> nobody is talking about some government takeover of health care. i'm tired of hearing that. >> reporter: dr. shiner points out nobody has seen the details of that option, making it a hard sell for the president. >> we don't even know fully what the public option is going to be. if the public option is too good, patients who are sick will flock to it, and i don't know if it will be able to support itself. >> reporter: shiner almost had a chance to confront the president with his concerns. he was invid to a recent televised town hall with mr. obama, but he says he was dropped from the program. >> i just hope congress and the american public and the president will hear some of my words. we've got to do something better. >> reporter: dr. shiner will finally get a chance to have his say here in washington. he and other doctors who support a single payer system are gathering at the capitol to meet with lawmakers and rally with supporters. he may not be the president's doctor anymore, but dr. shiner says he is trying to save the patient before it's too late. wolf. >> interesting stuff. thanks very much, jim accosta. sdmrimplts let's go back to the best political team on television and jessica yellin. let's get some more on this health care debate, which is really heating up. >> now we get to hear what americans think about that health care plan. the "wall street journal" and nbc news asks people if they think president obama's health care plan is i good idea. 42% say no. bad idea. 36% say good idea. 22% unsure. really? that's impressive since there is no plan. again, there is no plan. it is clear people feel confugsd. the president hasn't released a plan. congress have many. the confusion of the people is he evident right here. >> do you think we even know what the president's health care plan is? >> no. he has come out and said i think he doesn't know what's in the plan. >> i hear a lot of people saying it's socialism. you're not allowed to have willing will. if you need a liver transplant, the government gets to decide if you get it or not. >> i don't think anyone knows what's in this president's health care plan, including congressmen and senators. >> i'm trying to follow it. it's complicated. >> why are we asking people if they support the president's plan when it doesn't exist, and who should be doing a better job of explaining what is at stake here? congress, the president, or the media? wolf. >> good question. let's get some answers, gloria. what do you think? >> well, i think this president has been very good at explaining the problem we have in this country, but he doesn't have a plan, and what he is finding is that it's very difficult to sell an ab strakz, and voters that i have talked to lately say they want the president to start drawing the line in the sand, taking sides, telling people what you are going to support and what he are not going to support so they can decide if they support him. >> he deliberately doesn't have his own detailed blueprint because of what happened in is the the 3 and 1994 during the clinton administration when there were 1,000 pages of hillary care as it was called then that collapsed. >> right. some people think is he taking that lesson too much by being vague and giving it all to the folks in congress. now, i think one of the problems is that in this vacuum, even though there's all this chatter from congress and the media and the president, there's also these sound bites that are arriving from ads and all of the people fearing that their sodas are going to be taxed and things like that. he has had a problem getting his message out. >> the damage to whom right now, candy? these members of the house and senate going on vacation will reach that back to their district, hear if their constituents in their states and in their districts right now, and they're going to be bombarded with both sides, advertisements, as well as a lot of folks just complaining or loving or whatever. who gets the advantage in this month-long recess? the president and his allies, or the republicans? >> i would think it's the critics of the plan, be it republicans or the blue dogs. if you are a blue dog, by the way, you really should be on the boonedoggle. sdhoo those are the fiscalry gvsh democrats. sdoo they are really going to be bombarded. it's not just by the ad. they've got constituents. these districts are relatively small places. they're going to be in their district offices. they are going to get an earful one way or the other from their constituents. why the president? because in washington d.c. a controversial piece of legislation that goes on for some time in the public conversation is a pinata, and people beat the heck out of it, and so every day -- it's why the president wanted this done quickly. let's go, let's go, let's go. he is at the peak of his power. we all know that the first year, second year, it goes down. he also knows that these big long waiting periods just people fill the void with criticism. >> that's why he wanted the deadline before the august recess, didn't get it. >> he wanted all the stake holders sitting around the table, joining hands, saying we're going to sign on for a deal. at a srn point he has to decide who he is with and who he is against. if he starts talking about the big bad insurance companies, he may get more people to be with him, and i bet that's what you are going to see happen over the recess. >> it's a big bad company versus the big bad government. >> we'll see who is badder. thanks very much. disgrace and imprisoned. now released and reinstated. the foreman atlanta quarterback michael vick makes a surprise revelation, and we finally learned who will have custody of michael jackson's children. lots more news happening right now right here in "the situation room." for clunkers program, a great deal gets even better. let us recycle your older vehicle, and you could qualify for an additional $3500 or $4500 cash back... on top of all other offers.. on a new, more fuel efficient chevy. your chevy dealer has more eligible models to choose from - more than ford, toyota, or honda. so save gas... and money... now during the chevy open house. go to chevy.com for details. sfx: coin drop, can shaking hear that? that's the sound of people saving. saving money, saving time, and saving for the future. regions makes it 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(announcer) introducing new tums dual action. this tums goes to work in seconds and lasts for hours. all day or night. new tums dual action. bring it on. a stock market rally on wall street today pushes the dow to it's highest level in nearly nine months. the dow jones industrials closed about yalt points higher today, inching closer to the 10,000 level. another round of earnings reports is giving investors new reasons to be optimistic about the economy. and the the custody battle over michael jackson's children is over. just hours ago, attorneys for both the pop icon's mother and his ex-wife reached an agreement. katherine jackson will remain the sole guardian of her son's three children. debbie rowe, the biological mother of the two eldest, will receive visitation rights. attorneys for mrs. jackson says they are pleased this matter is resolved and was handled in a caring, thoughtful, and courteous manner. and britain's highest court has ruled in favor of a woman's fight in how she chooses to die. debby purdy has multiple sclerosis and wants to have her husband by her side if she decides to have an assisted suicide. she spent years challenging an ambiguous law that didn't make it clear if her husband would be prosecuted for helping her. and former atlanta falcons quarterback, michael vick, claims that he's close to signing with a football team. vick made the comment to reporters as he left a courtroom after a hearing in his bankruptcy case. he didn't elaborate. vick was conditionally reinstated by the nfl this week with after serving a sentence for running a dogfighting ring. wolf? >> fred, thank you. it's a race against time and a dangerous flu. and right now the u.s. government apparently isn't winning. we've been hearing warning after warning about a second wave of the h1n1 virus when flu season hits in the fall. a startling report confirming now many people's worst fears that we just are not ready. let's go to cnn's mary snow. she's been looking at this study. what do we know? >> this report comes from the investigative arm of congress. the bottom line, the government accountability office concludes many gaps remain in pandemic planning and preparedness. the gao says federal, state, and local agencies need to better coordinate efforts, especially with the private sector. it cites a lack of clarity when it comes to who's responsible for things like state border closures. and it says work needs to be done to prepare for shortages, like not having enough hospital beds for patients. we asked for a response from the homeland security and the health of human services since these two departments were specifically targeted in the report. they challenge the finding, saying our aggressive coordinated efforts to plan for and respond to h1n1 flu have not wavered since the first signs of the outbreak emerged. working with our federal and state partners, they're taking the critical steps, they say, to ensure the nation is prepared for the fall flu season. wolf? >> what's the latest on the effort to get a vaccine or two? >> well, at this point, as you know, clinical trials are just now getting under way. they'll determine how effective and how safe vaccines will be. so health officials at this point do not plan to start a mass vaccination program until october. an advisory panel came out with guidelines just yesterday, and at the top of the list of people who will be a priority for getting vaccines, pregnant women, health care workers, first responders, people with children under six months, and children six months to four years old and also older children who have chronic medical conditions. but when you add those groups alone, the top targeted groups, we're talking about 42 million people. >> going to be a huge challenge for the country. we'll watch it. thanks, mary, very much. let's go to lou dobbs to see what's coming up at the top of the hour. >> wolf, in just a few moments, we'll be reporting on the president's beer summit at the white house. professor henry louis gates and police sergeant james crowley joining him. is this really a teachable moment? what will happen? also, the obama administration's efforts to reach a health care deal in congress hitting another major setback. democrats versus democrats in the house. and this showdown, the subject of our "face-off" debate here tonight. and tumultuous weather sweeping the nation from torrential rain and flooding to extreme heat and drought. we'll show you what's happening to our weather this summer and why. join us for all of that, all the day's news and a lot more coming up in just a few moments right here on cnn. wolf, back to you. >> all right, lou. thank you. proof a man can do two things at a time. watch this. >> -- against right-handed pitchers. >> oh, we had an unbelievable -- >> what a catch. jeanne moos takes a look at that and some other extraordinary catches in baseball. and an inside look at the president's meeting with professor gates, sergeant crowley, and vice president joe biden.  geemy most with a catch of a lifetime. >> reporter: it was the crying baby versus the soda kid. did you catch the guy's catching foul balls with one hand while holding kids in the other? >> an unbelievable play. >> reporter: sure, it happens every once in a while, guys catching pop-ups with their kids propped up in their arm. but for it to happen twice in three days has sports fans raving with competing superlatives. was this the best foul ball catch ever? >> dad with the catch! and the baby. >> reporter: or was this? >> contract time. >> reporter: websites compare the two barehanded catches. fans gave points for difficulty, with a heavier kid. they subtracted points because this ball seemed deflected by someone and thus easier to catch. they gave props to this kid for how he fielded his soda. >> he can hold this gigantic soda and not drop it why the dad doesn't drop the ball. that kid is awesome, and so is the dad. >> reporter: bobbie crosby show nould. he also multitasked while catching fly balls. >> isn't holding a camera a little bit like holding a baby? >> definitely tougher to hold a baby. they don't come with those nice straps that strap to your hand. >> reporter: bobby attends about 75 dodgers games a season. he likes to tape himself catching balls during batting practice. >> oh, man! >> reporter: he sees what a ball can do to somebody. in fact, he's prevented a few people from getting smacked. >> hello. >> oh, yeah! >> reporter: though catching with a glove isn't quite as entertaining. catching with a pizza box -- bobby even taped himself giving a ball he caught to a kid.

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