Return to Transcripts main page
Issue Number One
Ties Between Oil and Terror Stronger Than Ever; Cost of Feeding Your Family Set to Rise in Next Decade; Green Cities; Savings For Everyone; Sex and the City
Aired May 29, 2008 - 12:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GERRI WILLIS, CO-HOST: The ties between oil and terror are stronger than ever. The cost of feeding your family set to rise in the next decade.
Hurricane season just days away. Why so many folks are not prepared.
And we'll show you one movie that is a big boost to one city's economy.
ISSUE #1 is your economy. ISSUE #1 starts right now.
Hello and welcome to ISSUE #1. I'm Gerri Willis. Ali Velshi will join us in just a moment.
But first, a quick check of today's headlines, the ones that affect your wallet.
The nation's economy not officially in recession, and showing slight improvement. Today, the U.S. Commerce Department released its revised gross domestic product reading. That's the broadest measure of the economy's health, and for the first quarter of the year, the economy expanded at a rate of nine-tenths of a percent. That's better than original estimates of six-tenths of a percent. Even so, the numbers reflect an economy still in the doldrums.
Also out today, updated unemployment figures which include 4,000 new applications for jobless benefits. That's higher than forecast. Total applicants this week, 372,000 people. The nation's unemployment rate now stands at 5 percent and could rise when the jobs report is released next Friday.
And then, of course, there is today's new record price for a gallon of gas. What's new here? The new national average, $3.95, just a nickel short of $4 a gallon. It's the 22nd consecutive day for record prices, and expect more as today's oil inventory reports from the Energy Department shows an unexpected drop of oil reserves by nearly nine million barrels -- Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CO-HOST: Thanks, Gerri.
The price of a gallon of gas is high. The price of a barrel of oil is high. But there is a connection between oil and terror that folks should be paying attention to. It's a connection that can have a dramatic impact on the price you pay at the pump. CNN's Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oil is the lifeblood of the Western economy. And terrorists and other militant groups are going for the jugular.
STEPHEN LEEB, LEEB CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: They don't have to worry about taking American lives. I guess maybe that's a bright spot. All they have to do is cut off oil and this economy really, really suffers.
ARENA: Violent attacks in Nigeria, explosions in Iraq -- all put pressure on oil prices here in the United States. Pipelines run thousands of miles over sparsely populated terrain. They're easy to attack, but difficult and expensive to protect.
ALI KOKNAR, GLOBAL SECURITY ANALYST: The key behind this seems to be the rising oil prices. It basically feeds the insurgents, the terrorists, to attack the oil supplies. The more valuable it is, the better idea it is, from their perspective to attack it.
ARENA: The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security estimates that attacks around the globe cut at least two million barrels a day from world oil supplies and pushed prices up about $40. Attacks are obviously not the only reason that oil prices are up, but the tiniest glitch these days can send prices soaring.
JIM LACAMP, RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Any time a pipeline is affected, any time any production gets shut down, you see oil prices jump up $1 or $2 a barrel, just because there are -- there is no slack in the system.
ARENA: That wasn't always the case. The oil market used to have wiggle room to deal with occasional supply disruptions. But supply today is tight, making the U.S. and other countries vulnerable.
LEEB: This is a problem of just epic proportions, and the terrorists recognize it. And if we want to basically preserve our way of life -- I'm not trying to sound overly dramatic here -- we have to recognize it, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: Experts say that the answer is simple and complicated at the same time. The U.S. needs to reduce its dependence on oil -- Ali.
VELSHI: And Kelli, and we're so far away from that. The reality is so much of the oil we use in the United States, so far the majority of it comes from somewhere else.
Where are we seeing the highest threat of violence or threat to oil?
ARENA: Well, experts say the threat is mostly concentrated in the Middle East and North Africa, places like Iraq, Algeria, Yemen. But the situation in Nigeria really is continuing to deteriorate. Just yesterday, a militant there group promised new attacks on oil installations to mark the one-year anniversary of the inauguration of that country's president. So lots of tension focused on Nigeria.
VELSHI: All right. Kelli, thanks very much.
Kelli Arena in Washington -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Fascinating stuff.
It's your turn though to weigh in on today's "Quick Vote" question. And that means it's time to check in with Poppy Harlow from cnnmoney.com.
Hi, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi there, Gerri.
Well, everything we do these days, folks, it seems like we leave behind some sort of footprint. In the case of global warming, we are talking about something called a carbon footprint. When we drive a car, take a train, hop on a plane, we are contributing to the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
So here is our question today. How big is your carbon footprint? Tiny, midsize, large or enormous? We'll bring you those results later in the show.
I hope it's not enormous for most of you out there. Please weigh in on cnnmoney.com -- Gerri.
WILLIS: We are obsessed with size today on this show -- Ali.
VELSHI: Coming up next -- let's try that again. It's a good thing this isn't a live show -- a disturbing new report about the cost of feeding families in the years to come.
Plus, preparing for hurricane season, one that is forecast to be the worst in years. What folks need to do right now to protect their home and their families.
And do you think your city is green enough? We're going to check it out.
This is ISSUE #1 on CNN. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: It's looking more like a summer of discontent in Detroit with more job cuts coming to Ford Motor Company, where as many as 2,000 white collar workers may soon be seeing the door. Ford officials won't confirm that the so-called involuntary layoffs involve anywhere from 10 to 12 percent of the company's salaried workforce. This, in addition to planned voluntary buyouts of blue collar factory workers previously announced. Meanwhile, Honda Motor Company retools with its North American workforce in mind, moving production of its Pilot SUV and Ridgeline pickup truck models from Canada to its plant in Lincoln, Alabama. Now, the move won't create or cut jobs, but some good news. Honda plans on adding 2,000 more workers later this year with the opening of a new plant in Greensburg, Indiana -- Ali.
VELSHI: Thanks, Gerri.
That's an interesting move, because Honda builds those Civics at the plant in Canada. And they say they're selling more of those, more fuel-efficient Civics, and that's why they're making that move.
Well, food prices, you all know this, are already rising. And now we're hearing that the next decade or so could see prices around the world continue to rise. And along with it, the cost of feeding your family.
Jennifer Westhoven is here with details on this very thorough and complicated study, but one that has some big implications for us.
JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really does. It has big implications for the whole world. The trouble is that food inflation, basically the problem here is not going away.
We've been covering this story. There have been riots in some countries. This study says this problem could be with us for a while, that food prices will rise for the next nine years. And it's very much intertwined with higher gasoline prices.
Now, this was put together by two really public agencies, the OECD, which is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the FAO, which is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N.
Now, why are we in this problem? Well, the group is ringing the alarm bell on biofuels. It says the United States has profoundly affected markets because we're putting so much grain into ethanol for cars. And it takes all of that food off the table.
Then there is supply and demand. So if you think about the world population keeps growing, but the food supply doesn't grow very much. So you've got an imbalance there. There's been bad weather. A huge drought in Australia is just one example.
Speculation might be a factor here as well. You know, these foods trade just like oil does.
And get this -- changing diets. You know, as people in China diet get richer and richer, they want more foods like milk and beef. And that takes up a lot more grain that's out there as well.
Now, it had this as a backdrop of exceptional increases in food prices in the past. When you look at some of the basic wheat and rice prices, more than quadrupled. There's maize and corn up sharply as well, and these are staples for billions of humans. I mean, the good news is, what this report says, is that over these nine years, the food prices, the increases won't be as fast. But again, that is not much comfort for the millions of people who are just scraping by now. Here you see beef and pork prices up 20 percent, sugar up 30 percent, for example.
So, that's millions more people, this group suggests, this study suggests, who will be hungry and undernourished, especially in poor countries. They say right now a lot of families are spending more than half their budget on food. There is just not much left over.
VELSHI: And obviously, there are consequences to people being malnourished, or a certain people whose basic foods are being affected by this. In some cases it's turned into violence.
WESTHOVEN: Yes. We've been seeing that in Haiti, is just one example. But it's happening in some spots.
And you know, one of the things that this group says is, to feed everyone, there have to be some changes. Short run, you can do things like humanitarian aid. You always try to teach people, how can you farm better?
But long term, it says there are two things we want to consider. One they talked about is GMO crops, genetically-modified crops, so we could have more crops out there, which, you know, in Europe, that has not gone over very well at all.
But the other idea they said is right now, just putting food into biofuels, they say, is really not a good choice. And that is something that is largely affected by what we are doing here in the United States.
VELSHI: Right, the idea that we take corn and soybeans and make it into fuel.
WESTHOVEN: Yes.
VELSHI: Jennifer Westhoven, thank you so much on that very important topic -- Gerri.
WILLIS: Up next, breaking news from the presidential campaign. We'll have that for you.
Plus, why so many people are ill-prepared for the upcoming hurricane season.
And how the middle class can benefit big-time from government savings programs for kids.
You're watching ISSUE #1.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: We have some breaking news now for you on CNN. The health records of Senator Barack Obama released for the first time, we believe.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with more.
Is it the first time, or do we even know that at this point?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't know if he released medical records when he was running for senator. I don't know that. But certainly in this campaign this is the first time we've seen records like this.
WILLIS: And what did you find?
COHEN: What we found it's not terribly surprising, that Mr. Obama is a very healthy man. A man his age, you can see from his build that he is a healthy, slim man. But we found some -- got some numbers that we hadn't seen before.
His doctor says that on physical examination, his blood pressure was 90 over 60. That's a nice low number. And pulse 60 beats per minute.
And then it goes on to talk about -- boy, these are details most people don't know about themselves. That his triglycerides is way below normal, which is good.
WILLIS: What is that?
COHEN: Oh, I'm sorry. See, I forget -- triglycerides, it's almost like cholesterol. It's kind of fat in your blood. It's bad.
WILLIS: OK.
COHEN: You want the number to be low.
WILLIS: OK.
COHEN: And the same for cholesterol. You want your cholesterol, your total cholesterol, to be below 200. And Obama's is 173.
In specific, you want -- particularly, you want your bad cholesterol -- that's the bad cholesterol -- to be below 130. And his is 96. So that tells you something right there.
They also said that various blood tests like a complete blood count were all normal. They said that he exercises regularly, and his doctor went on to say that he's only been to the doctor recently over the years for things like upper respiratory infections, which many of us get, minor injuries. Nothing big here.
WILLIS: A solid report. Good to hear.
Elizabeth, thank you for that.
COHEN: Thanks.
VELSHI: Well, the official start of hurricane season is just days away. And despite severe storms in recent years, a large number of folks in the hurricane zone are not prepared.
CNN's John Zarrella has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Neil Rubin is getting a new garage door installed at his home.
NEIL RUBIN, HOMEOWNER: This one is supposed to withstand I think 150 miles an hour, or in that area, which is a lot better than I had. And since I have the accordion shutters, why have a weak spot on your house?
ZARRELLA: And the garage door is considered the weakest spot in a home.
JACK TROUT, ELECTRONIC DOOR LIFT: You lose the garage, you lose the roof, you lose the contents of the house. Everything is gone.
ZARRELLA: But a new Mason-Dixon poll conducted for the National Hurricane Survival Initiative found a staggering 95 percent of the 1,100 adults questioned didn't know this. And 30 percent said they would not start preparing their homes until a hurricane warning is issued.
CHUCK LANZA, BROWARD EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: All the water is gone from the stores in 24 hours. The plywood is gone from all the larger stores. People need to make those plans early in the season.
ZARRELLA: The survey found bad habits resurfacing that existed before the devastating wakeup call season of 2005 -- Katrina, Rita and Wilma. An astounding 50 percent said they had no disaster plans or survival kits.
Why the complacency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because we've been through it so many times that, you know, most of the time it doesn't hit.
ZARRELLA: Emergency managers say while many people may not be prepared for the long aftermath, they do in most cases enough to survive a storm.
LANZA: People still at the last minute usually will make the right decision. The problem is that they don't have a plan in place and they haven't bought the supplies that they needed.
ZARRELLA: And this may not surprise you. The high price of gas is compounding the underpreparedness problem. That's because people aren't buying the supplies they need because they are spending so much money to fill up their gas tank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: It's interesting how much the economy is impacting all this. You know, we used to have just in Florida alone a hurricane tax holiday, sales tax holiday. Because of the budget cuts, the state budget cuts, they did away with that this year, Ali. So there is some concern as to whether people are even going to buy the supplies they need because they are not going to be saving that sales tax.
VELSHI: John, you've really gone through so many of these hurricanes. We've all seen you there right in the midst of it. Is it strange to you that in the middle of a place that has had so many hurricanes, that people don't -- I mean, is it laissez-faire? They just sort of figure they'll get ready when it comes?
ZARRELLA: Yes. You know, I was shocked, because just three years ago Wilma, the last of the big ones in '05, after Katrina and Rita, 24 hours after that storm hit in Florida, there were lines of people lined up for fuel, lined up for propane, lined up for food, and everybody, particularly in Florida, knows you've got to have a three- day supply on hand of water and food. So it really is shocking.
VELSHI: Right.
John, thanks very much. We'll have lots to talk about on this story as the summer goes on.
ZARRELLA: Yes, indeed.
VELSHI: John Zarrella -- Gerri.
WILLIS: One of the bravest correspondents at CNN, I have to say.
Well, either you live in a hurricane zone or chances are you know somebody who does. There are steps though you can take to stay safe this season.
Lesley Chapman-Henderson is president and CEO of one of our favorite organizations. FLASH, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. She's joining us now.
Welcome, Leslie. Good to see you.
LESLIE CHAPMAN-HENDERSON, CEO, FLASH, INC.: Hi. Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: All right. Well, let's start at the very beginning here.
You know, we just heard that 30 percent of folks don't even make a plan until they hear a warning. But you say you've got to start early. What is the first thing that you do?
CHAPMAN-HENDERSON: Well, you know, you've got to dust off your plans every year for how you are going to protect your home, your family, and your finances. So the first thing you need to look at is your insurance policy.
Make sure all your coverages are up to date, that you understand your deductible, which is the amount, as you know, that you are on the hook for at the beginning of any type of claim process. And also update your home inventory. Take a disposable camera, take your video cam, and go around and make sure you know what you have, so when it comes time to present a claim, you are ready to do it.
WILLIS: Always a good idea to get replacement cost coverage, too.
Let's talk about the structures, though. You really want to walk around your house, take a look at it.
What are the big vulnerabilities out there?
CHAPMAN-HENDERSON: Well, the big vulnerabilities are in two buckets, the roof area and openings. As we just heard, the garage door, the windows and the entry doors. Those openings have to protect you from flying debris, as well as the constant pressure of the wind.
You've got to win the war against the pressure and the debris. And by doing that, you will survive the storm.
We just developed a new toolkit called a DIY, or a do-it-yourself toolkit, that's going to allow a homeowner to go online and get tools so that they can do a self-propelled free home inspection and figure out how safe or unsafe their structure is as the season approaches. This is really important, because when we talk about, you know, more and more people living close to the coast and evacuation, you have to make an informed decision. Do I evacuate? Can I safely stay at home? And you're not going to know what to do until you figured out, you know, is my roof going to be here in a high wind event?
So, starting with roof, you can go in your attic, if you can safely do so, and look for things like water leaks. And if you can see the sky with the lights off in your attic, if you can see the sky through cracks between where the roof and the walls come together, you need to take steps to change that.
WILLIS: Yes, that is not just a problem in a storm, is it? I mean, that is a problem for installation and everything else. A very big deal.
A DIY toolkit. I love that idea.
Now, you've got another great idea when it comes to preparing. You say don't do it on your own. Enlist the neighbors.
CHAPMAN-HENDERSON: That's right. Homeowners tell us that, you know, say, for example, your most cost-effective opening protection is plywood. But plywood can be pretty heavy. So over the years we've heard from homeowners who worked with their associations or just the ones around them to make teams ahead of time.
And what they said it takes, you help me, I'll help you. So you can go now, get your plywood measured, (INAUDIBLE). But you've got a buddy system in place. So if you need to put it up, you can get it done more quickly and reduce the stress on the family in the event of a storm.
You know, when the watches and warnings go up, the stress levels go up, as well. But the more prepared you are and the more of your kit you have together, the better off you'll be.
WILLIS: A very scary time, you're totally right.
If you do have to evacuate, you are in the middle of that scary time. You say a shelter may not be the best solution.
CHAPMAN-HENDERSON: No, the shelter is actually the last place you should plan to be. The thing to do is make -- you know, think about the family or friends you have that are out of harm's way and not in the path of the storm. But don't go too far.
During Hurricane Floyd, people left North Carolina and went as far as Ohio. That's overkill. And with the price of gas, it's just not a good idea.
Go to your friend's house. Be comfortable. And that's where you also know you can take your pets. You know, most shelters are not going to take your dog or your cat. So what are you going to do with them as the storm approaches?
WILLIS: That's a very good point. Shelters don't take pets all the time.
Leslie, great suggestions.
And just a reminder, they have a DIY toolkit. That's Flash.org.
Thank you so much.
VELSHI: Well, coming up next, just how green is the city in which you live? We're going to have a look.
Plus, why government savings programs for children are a very big deal to the middle class.
We're also talking "Sex and the City," and how the soon-to-be- released movie means big bucks for New York City.
And make sure you check out an ISSUE #1 special event, "4 Bucks! What's next? America's Fuel Nightmare." It's airing Saturday and Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Stay with us. You're watching ISSUE #1. And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: Welcome back to ISSUE #1. Time now for your CNN "Energy Fix."
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is here with more.
Hi, Poppy.
HARLOW: Hi there, Gerri.
We started this yesterday. We hope it helps all of you out there.
Today we're talking about oil, supply and demand. We know that OPEC and the other major producers of oil are near their output capacity. So there is really not a lot more oil likely to hit the market. And that's why rising demand is such a big issue.
We've reported on rising demand from China and India as their economies boom. And now the biggest producers of oil are becoming the biggest consumers of it, as well.
"The Wall Street Journal" today reports the top producers in the Middle East -- we're talking about Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar -- are all significantly boosting their internal usage of oil. That leaves a lot less for exports to us and to the rest of the world. So this all developed pretty quickly. And unlike the growth in China and India, it came as a bit of a surprise. The journal said, since 2004, the Saudis have increased their domestic consumption by 23 percent. The Energy Department says those six Mideast countries that I just mentioned are using an additional 318,000 barrels of oil a day. So that means that a lot is not available to export. Now even though their production has remained the same or gone up, their export last year fell by 2.5 percent.
Gerri.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: Poppy, thank you for that.
HARLOW: Sure.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, we continue to talk about oil and matters to do with that. Time now to get you up-to- speed with the rest of the day's headlines in the CNN "Newsroom." Brianna Keilar is there now.
Hi, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Ali.
Let's get you the latest information on a story that we're following out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is a helicopter crash atop Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital. You're looking at new video just in to the CNN "Newsroom." New pictures here.
The first reports of this crash coming in roughly 90 minutes ago. Authorities there say the chopper was attempting to take off from this hospital. CNN affiliate WZZN says there are reports of injuries with patients and staff being evacuated from the top floors of the hospital because this crash actually caused a fire. Police say, though, it is out now. We will continue to update this story for you next hour in the CNN "Newsroom."
Meantime, we're also keeping our eye on some severe weather.
Jacqui Jeras, what are we watching? JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Brianna, we're watching for the threat of tornadoes again this afternoon and this evening. And this is a high-risk day. Those days don't happen very often. So we're real concerned for the folks who live in Sioux Falls, Sioux City, down towards Omaha. All in this pink area is where we have that high risk. Moderate risk from Kansas, extending up to Minnesota and a slight risk for you in the twin cities. Also over towards Des Moines and even into parts of Wisconsin.
Nothing really happening just yet. We've had some showers and thunder showers across Iowa. Not really reaching severe levels. We've had a little bit of hail and a couple of strong, gusty winds near Fort Dodge earlier. We think things will kick up mid to late this afternoon.
We also have our first tropical storm of the season in the Eastern Pacific, Brianna. This is Alma and it's packing winds around 65 miles per hour.
KEILAR: Thanks, Jacqui. We'll get the latest from you at the top of the hour.
Well, American service men and women, they're facing death and danger every day on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. But now they are dying in record numbers by their own hands. We have details on very alarming suicide rates. That is ahead in the CNN "Newsroom."
I'm Brianna Keilar. Let's head back to Gerri and ISSUE NUMBER ONE.
WILLIS: Thank you, Brianna.
These days it's all about the environment and how individuals can make a really big difference. But what about where you live? How green is your city as a whole? A new report detailing the carbon foot prints of Americans, well, it just might surprise you. CNN senior correspondent, Allan Chernoff, is here with more.
Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gerri, this is really all about, as you said, how much we're really throwing up into the atmosphere in terms of our carbon. That's what a foot print is all about. A carbon foot print. This is measured in terms of metric tons.
What is that? Well, it's a little more than 2,100 pounds of carbon. And it's all really a matter of, what are we doing? Are we driving, are we walking, are we heating our homes, cooling them? That's how this is all measured.
And what they found, the authors of this study, they found that the people who live in urban areas have a foot print of about 2.4 metric tons each, which is less than the average in the country.
WILLIS: Well, that's fascinating. OK. Let's get down to the cities. Drill down. Tell me who has the lowest.
CHERNOFF: OK. Well, we gave a little hint there. Let's go back to that graphic now and you'll see the lowest carbon foot print actually is Honolulu, believe it or not. That's mainly a function of warm weather there. Of course, they don't have to heat their homes. They don't do a lot of highway driving. Also, electricity costs are very high in Honolulu. So there's an incentive for the people there to be very conservation-oriented.
Los Angeles is second on the list. This is a bit of a surprise, frankly.
WILLIS: Completely surprising.
CHERNOFF: Yes. And as a former resident of L.A., I have to say, I just don't agree with the methodology they used here. All they did was include L.A. County and Orange County. So they excluded some very far commuters. People have to drive very far to work. Of course, because of the weather, people in L.A. do use little heat.
Portland is next on the list. The people in Portland are probably thinking, we ought to be number one. Clean hydropower, that's great. Mass transit, a real tradition in that city of being very environmentally conscious. And good building practices as well.
And let's move on to number four. Guess what, let's give ourselves a pat on the back here. New York City. Of course, lots of mass transit.
WILLIS: How do we rate here? So it's all about the mass transit?
CHERNOFF: New York, frankly, is one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the nation as a resident. Partly because of the mass transit. People don't drive very much. Densely populated. Let's think about that. If you live in an apartment building with say 200 other people, all of you together in that one building, that's far more environmentally efficient than 200 separate homes.
WILLIS: Well, let's get quickly to the other end of the spectrum. OK, who's the bad actor here?
CHERNOFF: It's really the places where they're using lots of coal. Let's have a look at our list and you'll see. Lexington, Kentucky. Also, Cincinnati, Indianapolis. These are cities where they are very heavily dependent on coal for their electricity. That, of course, tremendous emissions over there. As a result, people who live in those cities have a big carbon foot print.
WILLIS: Allan, thank you for that.
VELSHI: And more than half the country's electricity is generated by coal burning plants. Now we know which cities need to reduce their carbon foot print. How exactly do they do that? Howard Gould is an eco entrepreneur. Bet you don't even know what that is. But he joins us now to explain. It means he really knows a great deal about this and he's one of these people who's ahead of the game because he's making some money out of the fact that we are going to have to get -- we're going to reduce that carbon foot print.
HOWARD GOULD, ECO-ENTREPRENEUR: That's right.
VELSHI: I was at the theater the other day and some guy was just taking napkin after napkin after napkin. I said, dude, your carbon foot print. And he looked at me like I had three heads, because people don't know what it means. How do we reduce our carbon foot print as individuals -- take less napkins -- and a cities? What does a city do to change its ways?
GOULD: Well, first of all, a city has to recognize exactly what is causing those emissions. And as we just saw, there's a wide variety of different types of things. It could be in an area that needs quite a lot of cooling or it needs a lot of heating or it could be that people are traveling, you know, extensive distances. Or it also could be, what type of energy sources that they're using, you know, such as Portland has a very low emission because they're on hydro, whereas other cities are not. So they need to identify what is causing that. And then think about, what is the technology that we can possibly implement to reduce those emissions. So is it possible to use geothermal or solar or hydro, you know, in some of these other cities as we move towards a greener future?
VELSHI: You know, cities like New York and others have incentives for when you build a building, for instance, to make it carbon neutral, which means you're not -- like what does that mean? You're not putting out as much carbon?
GOULD: Well, your emissions. You're reducing the amount of emissions that are going into the atmosphere.
VELSHI: That changes bit by bit. Does this have to be done in terms of incentives and providing reason for people to put out less of a carbon foot print or is this a massive infrastructure change?
GOULD: Well, I don't think it's necessarily a massive infrastructure change. I think as we move forward you see things like lead, which is an environmental design thing that's . . .
VELSHI: It's like a certification.
GOULD: A certification that's being put in place for brand-new buildings. But also retrofitting old buildings is very important, too. So, you know, we need to slowly adopt these things as new buildings come online. But as more money comes into the market place, we need to kind of retrofit these older buildings as well.
VELSHI: If you would like to reduce your personal carbon foot print, there are many things you can do. The first one is using less fuel perhaps. What are some of the things that individuals should think about?
GOULD: Well, I think you kind of hit the nail on the head right now, using less fuel. I don't think anybody with the gas prices right now is going to object to that. I think that the idea of using mass transit is probably the number one thing that most people that are commuters need to think about. And that could be, you know, taking a train. Trains are actually really not that bad for the environment. Or now we're actually putting in busses that run on hydro. You know, or think about getting a hybrid car. There are new cars that run 300 miles to the gallon. If you can't afford one of those things, you can think about offsetting the vehicles that you do drive with a company like Aterapss (ph) or something like that.
VELSHI: That means you pay money so that some company is doing something good to offset the damage that you're doing by driving your 15 mile per gallon.
GOULD: Exactly. So you've kind of net-netted it out.
VELSHI: Right. Sometimes when you buy a plane ticket you can do the same thing.
GOULD: Exactly.
VELSHI: But, fundamentally, that's a great idea certainly for corporate America, for companies that have to pollute. But as individuals, we should probably just try and generate less.
GOULD: Well, you've got to think about turning things off when you leave the house. And even unplugging things. I mean the fact is that power is still running through to appliances when they're still there. So, you know, checking filters. Whether it's your air conditioning or your heating system. You know, and conserving less water. Water is going to be another big issue for us. I mean we'll be here probably in two year's time talking about clean water.
VELSHI: I'm a big fan of not shipping water around the world in little bottles. That's the money (INAUDIBLE).
GOULD: I agree with you. Couldn't agree more with you.
VELSHI: Howard, good to see you. Thank you. We'll be talking about this a lot more.
GOULD: Thank you.
VELSHI: Howard Gould, an eco-entrepreneur.
Gerri.
WILLIS: I love that segment. You know, you might want to turn off that second fridge, too.
Up next, why government savings programs for kids might do a great deal for middle class and poor of this country.
And then we turn the show over to you. Answers to your e-mail questions. It's the Help Desk. The address issue1@cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WILLIS: Welcome back to ISSUE NUMBER ONE. There is a push in Congress to make our next generation a little more financially prepared than the rest of us.
VELSHI: Now the idea is to give every baby born in the United States a tax advantage savings account with $500 from the federal government right at the beginning. Right to start them off. Professor Michael Sherraden came up with this idea nearly 20 years ago. We spoke with him earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: The idea is the power of compounding. The idea that you're encouraging people to save right from the beginning for their children's education. Is that the theme?
PROF. MICHAEL SHERRADEN, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: That's right. We think it's important that everyone accumulate assets throughout their lifetime to invest in education, homes and eventually retirement security. And a lot of people are not in these systems. As you know, about half the population has a 401(k), or something like that, but about half the population is not building assets. And we think that building assets for education is the best -- the first approach.
WILLIS: Well, Mike, I think it sounds like a really attractive idea but I'm thinking, we can't fund Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. So many obligations on the national plate here. How do we afford this?
SHERRADEN: It's actually not that expensive to put $500 into an account at every child at birth. That's only about $2 billion a year. So we're talking, compared to the expenditures that we make, for example, to support 401(k)s, this is a small fraction.
VELSHI: So at $500, if we put that in and contribute nothing more but you had the normal rate of return, you could have a few thousand dollars by the time the kid's 18. That's not the full thinking behind this, right? The idea is that that account exists and people will contribute to this over time?
SHERRADEN: More people will contribute over time. It may be that additional deposits would go in from government. We find a lot of businesses and philanthropic organizations very interested in this idea. So it could be that, for example, a business would adopt a school and help them build accounts for their education.
What's important is the account. And once the account is in place, then resources can be found to build the accounts.
WILLIS: Now you say this really targets the middle class. It's going to help people who really are at risk now with rising college prices. Tell us a little more about that.
SHERRADEN: Well, we would like all people to have an opportunity to, for post secondary education, whether that's college or some kind of post secondary training. And it's really important for the whole economy that we enable all young people to maximize their talents for their own economic well being and for the well being of the country. So it's really a good investment to invest in college education for every child.
VELSHI: You've been working on this for 20 years. Any idea that maybe we're in the home stretch here? We said that it's in Congress. Does that mean that there's some sense that this might become a reality?
SHERRADEN: There's both Republican and Democratic support for this idea. Some of the bills in Congress are sponsored by Republicans. Some by Democrats. So we -- I'm confident there will be a very positive discussion going forward. And I'm reasonably hopeful that we'll get an account for every child in the U.S., just like we have in the United Kingdom now.
WILLIS: And how did that go? I mean, did that work out well in the United Kingdom and Britain? Is this really working out great guns?
SHERRADEN: In the United Kingdom, every child now gets an account at birth. And children in lowest income households get a larger deposit. It's going very well. Many, many households are putting in additional deposits and they're finding that on birthdays, some family members and friends will put deposits into the account instead of giving a gift.
VELSHI: And that's full circle. You're saying once that account is established, it becomes an obvious gift for people.
SHERRADEN: Yes.
VELSHI: Great idea. Michael Sherraden, thank you for joining us.
SHERRADEN: A pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: All right. Coming up next, nothing like a movie to spice up the economy. Why "Sex in the City" means big business for New York City.
And we'll open up the Help Desk. They're all right there behind me. The address is issue1@cnn.com. Answers to your questions next from the CNN Money team.
You're watching ISSUE NUMBER ONE on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIS: Time now for the Help Desk. Answers to your e-mail questions. Joining us today, Stephen Gandel, is a senior writer for Money, Terri Cullen is assistant managing editor for "the Wall Street Journal" Online, and Dani Babb is back. She's the author of "Finding Foreclosures."
Guys, welcome all. Great to have you here. Let's get right to those questions.
The first one from Martha in New York who says, "my daughter owes $210,000 in student loans, half which I cosigned. Can the student loan lender put a lien or take possession of my home if I can't keep up with the student loan payments?"
Terry, what do you think of this? I've got to tell you, she's in trouble.
TERRI CULLEN, PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST, WSJ.COM: She's in trouble. But they're not going to go right after her home. What she really needs to do is start talking to the lender now. If she thinks her daughter isw going to be in some financial hardship or she's going to be having trouble making these payments back, talk to the lender. The good news is, with these federal programs, much more flexible than other types of debt in terms of working out modifications.
WILLIS: They'll actually let you have some breathing room, right?
STEPHEN GANDEL, SENIOR WRITER, "MONEY": And they can't actually take your house or put a lien on your house. They can garnish your wages. So you definitely should talk to your lender. But they can't take your house.
WILLIS: And having your wages garnished is one step away from having your house repossessed I think for most of us out there. OK.
Steve in Kentucky asks, "Property taxes are based on my home value. Should I have my home reappraised to save on my tax bill?"
Dani, what do you think?
DANI BABB, AUTHOR, "FINDING FORECLOSURES": Absolutely. It's called a reassessment. Most counties will let you do it on the web site. You go on the web site. Check. If it's not out there, call them and find out how to do it but definitely have it reassessed.
WILLIS: But do we -- I mean, is that really a good -- I've got to give you some push back here because then you're saying, hey, my house is worth a lot less. Some day you're going to sell it. I mean how do you make sense of that?
BABB: It's really a county record and it really has to do with property tax. I mean the only area it's going to comp any (ph) less (ph) is in the assessment area, not in the comps. And the comps are what really matters for sales.
WILLIS: Great point.
GANDEL: I'm with her on that one. But you don't want to hire your own appraiser. You can just go to the county assessor's office and file an appeal.
WILLIS: File an appeal. OK. Great advice.
Mary in California asks, "is there any way to get an extension of unemployment benefits if you haven't found a job and your benefits are running out?"
Stephen, I know Congress is under great pressure to extend, what is it, the 26 weeks that you get jobless benefits. What do you say to our viewer?
GANDEL: Right. So the answer may be changing. But tight now it's no. There are times where states will extend unemployment benefits when there is high general unemployment. We don't have that now. So right now you're not going to get an extension.
The Democrats wanted it in the last stimulus plan. It didn't pass. A bill just passed the House to extend unemployment benefits, but it's not necessarily going to pass the Senate. And so far the president is saying he's going to veto it. So probably no.
Dani.
BABB: But being from California, I have several colleagues who have filed, got the initial six months and then filed an extension and were granted that extension. So since she is from California, I would recommend at least looking into it.
WILLIS: There could be help. There could be help.
BABB: Yes.
WILLIS: All right.
Well, Leslie asks, "I've never invested in stocks but I am interested in technology stocks and doing it on my own. I want to start small. Any suggestions on where to start?"
Terri, you know, we get questions like this all the time. I'm a newbie. How do I get started investing? And they always want to buy individual stocks, which to me is not the right answer. What do you think?
CULLEN: It makes a lot of difference as to where you're coming from. But if you're just starting out and you've got a little bit of money to spend and you want to go into technology, look for an exchange traded fund that focuses on the technology industry. This way you're not spending to much money up front. You've got it all in one basket and you can buy it through a broker very easily.
WILLIS: I love that idea. That's great.
Listen, guys, you did a great job. Great effort today. Appreciate it. Terri, Stephen, Dani, thanks for helping us out today.
Ali. VELSHI: Thanks, Gerri.
Why "Sex and the City" means big business for the big apple.
And speaking of big, how big is your carbon foot print? That's today's Quick Vote question. Not to late to weigh in on cnnmoney.com. Your carbon foot print is the amount you waste in the environment.
You're watching ISSUE NUMBER ONE. We're coming right back on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Well, it's time to get the results of today's Quick Vote. Poppy Harlow is here from cnnmoney.com about your carbon footprint.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, we've talk about it throughout this show today. Here are the results. The majority of people said their carbon foot print is midsize, about 44 percent there. Thirty percent of you, very impressive, say it is tiny. Thirteen percent of you, though, say your carbon foot print is enormous. And I just really want to know how big Ali's carbon foot print is?
VELSHI: Well, it depends. Most of -- I've done a little calculation. When you travel a lot by plane, when I do a lot of traveling, it gets a lot bigger. In my normal life, I don't really burn much gas.
HARLOW: Just stay at home.
VELSHI: Stay at home. A very good way to reduce your carbon foot print.
Gerri.
WILLIS: OK. After four long years of abstinence, "Sex and the City" returns. Viewers aren't the only ones getting their money's worth. CNN's Lola Ogunnaike explains why the movie means big business for the big apple.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIM CATTRALL, ACTRESS, "SEX AND THE CITY": Vivian Westwood (ph), a British designer.
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, ACTRESS, "SEX AND THE CITY": Home. It's birth place. (INAUDIBLE) material. So it's really just about the most privileged a person can feel honestly.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Sarah Jessica Parker is happy to be back. And fans of "Sex and the City" are elated. But the people with the biggest smiles are New York City merchants.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who love, love, love, love, loves the show. OGUNNAIKE: Business is up 20 percent at On-location Tours, which takes hundreds of obsessed fans to the spot where Carrie and her crew lived, ate and partied.
PARKER: Here's to us without men.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you remember when Carrie and Big argued about the back and front of the building?
OGUNNAIKE: New York City's other Mr. Big says the series has done wonders for tourism, which is up 9 percent.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: We see people having a good time. We think, if I were there, I would have that much of a good time.
MARTINA PODGORSKI, CROATIAN TOURIST: I think those girls put the love in me for New York a and I said, I've got to go there.
OGUNNAIKE: Hotels aren't missing out either. Many are now offering "Sex and the City" packages. $3,000 at the Mandarin Oriental gets you a premier suites with lots of perks, like your own trivia game.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the fashion show, who called Carrie fashion road kill?
OGUNNAIKE: Stanford Blanche (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow, you are good.
OGUNNAIKE: Bars are expecting cosmo sales to skyrocket. And Magnolia Bakery, the girl's favorite desert spot, is hiring.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just making sure our people can ice cupcakes as fast as they can.
OGUNNAIKE: The shoe company Manolo Blahnik, which became a household name because of the series, is also gearing up for an onslaught of Carrie Bradshaw wannabes. Including me. You'll see this $835 satin pump in the upcoming film.
Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it just the most beautiful shoe ever made?
OGUNNAIKE: Five inches of fabulous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.
OGUNNAIKE: One business that isn't booming, Mayor Bloomberg's acting career.
So I heard you were in the movie. Talk to me about that. BLOOMBERG: Well, I think they got together and they decided they wanted more sex and less city, so they cut out my scene. I was devastated. It was my big chance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OGUNNAIKE: You know, the entire film was actually shot in New York. And they spent about $60 million to $64 million to make it and about 50 million went to New York City. So the movie's already done phenomenally for the city. Mayor Bloomberg is actually really committed to bringing more films here. And he's saying, why should you shoot fake Manhattan in Toronto when you can have the real Manhattan here? And he . . .
WILLIS: Absolutely. I love that.
VELSHI: Why you guys got to be hating on Toronto. That's my home town.
WILLIS: All right.
OGUNNAIKE: Toronto's great, but real Manhattan, yes.
VELSHI: But you're right, for many years it was a real advantage, particularly with the dollar lower. But no that there's no advantage in terms of currency going to Canada, you might as well use the real Manhattan.
WILLIS: You're all about Canada.
OGUNNAIKE: And there are no tax abatements as well. So he's giving them a real incentive to be here. "Ugly Betty" is on its way here, too.
WILLIS: That's big news.
OGUNNAIKE: Big news.
WILLIS: All right. Now Lola and I were talking about this. We were considering, you know, like a new "Sex and the City." So now what character would you be?
VELSHI: I don't know anything about this thing. The only thing is, once somebody told me I look like that guy Harry.
OGUNNAIKE: You look exactly like Harry.
VELSHI: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: You look like twins.
VELSHI: But he had a nude scene. I don't know anything about that.
WILLIS: No nude scenes.
OGUNNAIKE: Instead of Mr. Big, you'll be Mr. Bald.
WILLIS: We've got to get back to the CNN "NEWSROOM" with Brianna Keilar and T.J. Holmes. That's starting right now.
