Detroit Schools on the Skids
LEMON: Tropical turbulence is probably a good way of putting it, Jacqui.</s>JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know things are all of a sudden really kicking. We have things going on in the Eastern Pacific, we have a little disturbance at the Atlantic, and really incredible pictures from the typhoon in the Western Pacific. Take a look at this. These are pictures from Taiwan. This was a tropical storm at the time. Look at that. This is a hotel building -- six stories -- that collapsed due to the torrential downpours just eroding, just washing away the soil underneath. The winds weren't terribly strong but the system just sat there for like 24 hours and literally put down nearly seven feet of rain. And that is not even storm surge. Dozens of people are feared dead with this. The storm also hit parts of China and about a million people had to be evacuated as that typhoon made land fall earlier today. Into the Eastern Pacific -- a little bit closer to home -- there you can see, Hawaii, we have tropical storm Felicia. Felicia is producing winds around 50-miles per hour. We are not real worried about the wind as it approaches Hawaii. It should be weakening and it is going to be bringing in some pretty good waves. We are talking 15- footers likely here tomorrow and into Tuesday. In addition to that, some flood advisories are in effect. We could see several inches of rainfall. If you live in a flood-prone area be prepared with this for Felicia. Now a little bit farther to the east of here we have a new tropical development. There's tropical depression 9-E, it is forecast to become Guillermo (ph) before tomorrow and that is heading towards the direction of Hawaii as well. So we will have to keep an eye on that. In the Atlantic, one disturbance coming off the coast of Africa but right now the potential less than 50 percent -- Don.</s>LEMON: All right, Jacqui. Thank you very much. First Chrysler, then General Motors. Now the Detroit public school system could be headed for bankruptcy too. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow joins me. Ok, Poppy, so what is going on? Obviously, education should be number one priority.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, you know, I think it is. But it all comes down to money, Don, and just how much money there isn't in a lot of municipalities especially in Detroit right now. We don't want to be alarmists, this is a story we've been following for a while here. But, yes, if we do see it, the Detroit public school system could be the first ever to file for bankruptcy. And let's show you why. You're dealing with a deficit of $259 million in Detroit. Take a look at the numbers we'll pull up for you. The graduation rate in Detroit proper -- the latest data shows 58 percent -- that's it -- versus the 76 percent graduation rate statewide. There's a lot of corruption that's been reported in the school system. And also, you have enrollment that is shrinking very quickly. So when I was in Detroit a few weeks ago, we spent some time with a parent and her daughter. We'll show you what they had to say in a minute but the numbers you are looking at now is the enrollment; Down 44 percent from 2000, Don -- in the last eight or nine years or so versus a population decline of just about 3 percent. So I spent a day with Fredericka Turner and her daughter, walking around Fredericka's old high school in Detroit. Take a listen to what she told us.</s>FREDRICKA TURNER, PARENT: My daughter has never attended any Detroit public schools and it is because of this. As a concerned parent, my daughter would never go to a Detroit public school as of now. Whereas I felt comfortable as a child going to school, I don't feel comfort to allow her to attend a Detroit public school.</s>HARLOW: And why, it's because you are looking at those pictures of her high school. It is now shut down along with 29 others. The emergency planner there, Robert Bob (ph) just put in place a little over a hundred days ago by Governor Granholm, trying to shut down schools, cutting about 2,400 employees so far, trying to do what they can. And we are following it; we'll see if they do have to file for bankruptcy.</s>LEMON: All right. Terrible. Thank you very much, Poppy. We appreciate it.</s>HARLOW: You're welcome.</s>LEMON: The fight over the future of health care is getting more heated by the day. That's a town hall in Tampa; it turned into a free-for-all. Why all the yelling? We are going to cut through all the arguing to give you the real debate. Plus, the inspiring story of Ruth Simmons, the first African- American woman to become president of an Ivy League school.